Category: All Posts

Wii-ality

Wii Hands

In the Wii hours of this morning Eric’s Christmas wiish came true at last. Those are his hands clutching the Wiimote — that’s Nintendo’s pun, not mine!

Thanks to this Web site, Carol was confident the local Target store would have the Wii in stock. She was number 9 in line for 70 units — by far the largest shipment since the day the Wii was released. If the Wii had kept its original name, the Revolution, Carol would have been Revolution 9!

Sensor Bar

The motion sensor bar fits perfectly on Eric’s TV. The digital camera captures the bar’s infrared light.

Petula Clark – 1954

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Here’s a big 5-year jump from the last post. I wish there were more material available from the years in between, because I’d like to know exactly when Pet was put on the wrong track after she outgrew her singing sweetheart days. Most likely it was the fault of her domineering manager-father.

Everything about the way Petula is presented in this 1954 film, with the unfortunate title “Gay Dog,” doesn’t work. She looks 30, not 21. The dress and the hair were undoubtedly the style de rigueur, but the look doesn’t suit her. Based on this clip alone it’s apparent her movie career was going to stall in England.

That’s Wits, Not Twits!

A few months ago I highlighted something about my alma mater, Westfield State College, “the little college that could” — sometimes, anyway. The school has made good on its promise to help save a regional TV quiz show for high school students, As Schools Match Wits. Click here or, if that link hassles you, click here.

Elsewhere in Westfield State news, the search is narrowing for candidates for the President’s office. The last president quit after only two years. Doesn’t even count, really. I am very, very tired of WSC having incompetent, or short-lived, presidents. There was a drunk in the office with the initials RR when I was there, and he was followed by a major creep named Pilecki. A shameful record, to be sure.

You’ll Never Get Rich

My friend Morris grew up in the 50’s, and he’s a big fan of The Phil Silvers Show, also known as You’ll Never Get Rich, aka Sgt. Bilko. I watched the shows in re-runs in the 60’s, but like The Honeymooners I didn’t fully appreciate the comedy until I was an adult.

Sgt. Bilko was the basis for numerous shows that followed, including McHale’s Navy (featuring my mother’s old buddy Ernest Borgnine), F Troop, and even M*A*S*H (yes, I know it was first an Altman movie).

There’s an excellent DVD collection available of Bilko shows. One of the episodes is called “The Big Scandal.” It originally aired on May 14, 1957. The premise is that the character named Doberman is accidentally hypnotized into thinking he’s in love with the wife of the colonel in charge of the Army camp. Bilko intercepts one of his calls and thinks there’s a “gigolo with greasy sideburns” on the make. The colonel’s wife is about to visit her daughter and grandchildren, who have chicken pox, so the camp doctor is stopping by to inoculate her (a neat trick, as a chicken pox vaccine didn’t exist until the 1990’s). That’s Julie Newmar at 23 as the maid.

That’s the setup. Got it? Here’s 10 minutes of the show. Watch and laugh.
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