20080229

TODAY IS OPIE'S BIRTHDAY!

BUSHBERRY RFD is not for sale. It was done as an artistic parody on the politics and politicians who would exploit small town America.

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This Day in History:

Birthdays: Ron Howard (Opie!), Roger Daltrey, Harry Belafonte, David Niven, Glenn Miller, Yitzhak Rabin

1932 - Charles Lindbergh III ( "the Lindbergh baby") is kidnapped.

1961 - The Peace Corps is established by President Kennedy.

1969 - Mickey Mantle retires.

1973 - The Honda Civic debuts.
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Today is Opie's Birthday!

Opie, better known nowadays as Ron Howard, is a Hollywood dynamo. He is an actor and a director and/or producer of such hits as Splash, The Da Vinci Code, Cinderalla Man, A Beautiful Mind, How The Grinch Stole Christmas, Apollo 13, Backdraft, Parenthood, Willow and many many more.

As an actor, Howard has appeared in The Music Man, The Andy Griffith Show, Happy Days and American Grafitti. Did you also know he was in one or more episodes of the original Twilight Zone, The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, Make Room for Daddy, Dennis the Menace, Route 66, The Courtship of Eddie's Father, Dr. Kildare, The Fugitive, I Spy, Gentle Ben, The F.B.I., Daniel Boone, Gunsmoke, Lassie, Love, American Style, M.A.S.H., The Waltons, Bonanza and Frasier???

Here is a highly accomplished and talented actor, director and producer, a triple threat with dozens of nominations and awards to his name, including an Emmy and two Oscars and I still think of him as Opie - or Richie Cunningham.

For that I must apologize, but the multi-talented and highly skilled professional that he has become will always bring to my mind a picture of that freckle faced boy with the lisp from The Music Man, the red-headed tyke who grew up on The Andy Griffith Show and the fresh faced teen from Happy Days. Probably because, like so many other baby boomers, I have watched Ron Howard grow up, albiet from a distance and through a camera lens.

I have to wonder, after seeing his truly wonderful "Arrested Development" if Mr. Howard would ever do a parody on Mayberry. If he did maybe he could call it "Bushberry RFD."

Mr. Howard, though I may always be reminded of Opie and Richie when I am enjoying your latest project, I want you to know I have great respect for your body of work, you talent and your many successes. So, Happy Birthday and may you have many more so you can continue to bring us great entertainment for another 50 years!

"Well, now, take down your fishin' pole and meet me at The Fishin' Hole,
We may not get a bite all day, but don't you rush away"
- lyrics from "The Fishing Hole" - Theme to the Andy Griffith Show, 1960 - 1968

I DON'T KNOW NUTHIN' BOUT POSTING NO BLOGS, MIZ SCAHLET!


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This Day in History:

Birthdays: Dinah Shore, Jimmy Dorsey

In 46 B. C. the first "leap day" was added to the Roman calendar by Julius Caesar

1972 - Hank Aaron becomes the highest paid player in Major League Baseball after signing a $200k deal with the Atlanta Braves.

1940 - Hattie McDaniel becomes the first African-American to win the Oscar (Gone With The Wind, 1936)
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Gone With The Wind (GWTW) is one of those movies I watch every year. I read the book every couple of years. I don't know why it never gets old - maybe because the characters are so powerful and the setting so dramatic.

The movie was over 20 years old the first time I saw it on television. I fell madly in love with Rhett, thought Scarlett was a damn fool and decided Ashley was a coward. I haven't changed my mind in over forty years or through multiple viewings of the movie and readings of the book.

I have, however, developed a sneaking admiration for Scarlett as I have aged. No matter what, Scarlett went after what she wanted. That green dress made from her Mother's drapes - how many of us could look that good in a pair of curtains??

Many times I have used her famous phrase "I can't think about that now, I'll think about it tomorrow" to get me through a difficult time. "Fiddle dee dee" is a wonderful and quaint form of verbally stamping your foot and "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn" can be used in myriad formats!

There's just something about that rapscallion, Rhett, and the scandalous Scarlett that still speaks to the strumpet in my soul. Hmmm, I feel another GWTW marathon coming up!

20080228

SATURDAY MORNINGS, MAYPO AND ROY ROGERS

An artistic tribute to my favorite singing cowboy, Roy Rogers. Happy Trails is not for sale, it is a dedication to the King of the Cowboys and his partner and wife, Dale Evans.

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I grew up on the Saturday morning serials of the singing cowboys and "B" westerns on TV. In the 1950s I would sit in front of our old black and white TV console, eating my Maypo and watching cartoons and then my favorite cowboys, Roy Rogers, Sky King, Hopalong and the Lone Ranger (and Tonto!) bringing justice to the bad guys. And I always had on my little red cowboy hat and had my cap guns holstered and ready to shoot!

If you enjoy the old westerns, here's almost an hour of a really retro Roy Rogers Movie from 1938, starring Roy and Mary Hart, called "Come On, Rangers", Enjoy!



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Today in History:

1953 - Watson and Crick discover the chemical structure of DNA

1983 - The last episode of M.A.S.H. airs.

1984 - Michael Jackson's album "Thriller" wins 8 Grammy Awards

1993 - The beginning of the 51 day standoff between the Branch Davidian's and Federal Agents from the ATF in Waco, Texas

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20080226

Goodnight, Peter Pan, Fly Free

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Birthdays: Johnny Cash, Fats (Antoine) Domino, Tony Randall, William "Buffalo Bill" Cody, Levi Strauss, Victor Hugo

Today in History:
1957 - The last episode of the Dragnet radio series airs.

1993 - The World Trade Center is bombed at 12:18 p.m.
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May the winds lift you high
and take you to your beloved.
May you sail through the heavens
where you wings will touch the clouds.
May the Universe welcome you
and keep you safe and soaring.
May you float on dreams
until I come to meet you
once again.

This post is written in loving memory of my 37 year old Cockatiel, Peter Pan who left me in the early hours of the morning. I will miss you, my little Petey.

20080225

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO AN IDOL - SIR GEORGE HARRISON, of the BEATLES

When The Music's Over, Turn Out The Light is my artistic tribute to those musicians who gave music to my life, so many of whom we lost tragically. This piece is not for sale, it was done as a dedication to those talented people who left us too early.

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This Day in History:

Birthdays: George Harrison, Jim Backus, Zeppo Marx, Pierre Renoir

1938 - The first drive-in theater debuts in Miami, Florida.

1948 - Communists take over Czechoslovakia

1950 - You Show of Shows debuts on NBC, watch: "Life Begins at 7:45" Sid Caesar, Imogene Coca

1956 - Soviet Premier Nikita Kruschev denounced Joseph Stalin at a Soviet party conference

1964 - Boxer Cassius Clay (22) (soon to become Muhammed Ali) takes the World Heavyweight title from Sonny Liston (33). Watch: 1964 World Heavyweight Championship, Part 1, 1964 World Heavyweight Championship, Part 2, The Legend of Cassius Clay, narrated by Cassius Clay/Muhammad Ali, accompanied by Liberace, where he predicts becoming champ in 1964!

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I am and have been a Beatles fan since I was 13 and saw them on the Ed Sullivan show in 1964*. So today I pay homage to Sir George Harrison on what would have been his 65th birthday. The "Quiet Beatle" died November 30, 2001 at age 58. It was another sad day for Beatles fans, having lost John Lennon to a madman in December over 21 years earlier.

Serving as the lead guitarist for the Beatles, George was a talented musician and composer. He wrote "Here Comes The Sun", "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" and "Something", a song Frank Sinatra called "the greatest love song ever written."

After the Beatles split George continued his music in "The Traveling Wilburys" with Bob Dylan, Jeff Lynne, Tom Petty and Roy Orbison as well recording the hit album "All Things Must Pass", his homage to fellow Beatle John Lennon, "All Those Years Ago" and my favorite, "I've Got My Mind Set On You".

Though as a teeny-bopper I was madly in love with Paul McCartney, later in my life I came to admire the subtle gentleness of George Harrison's personality and music style. Though overshadowed by the more colorful personalities of McCartney, Lennon and Ringo Starr, George was a talented musician and producer in his own right. Thirteen years before "Live Aid", George organized a star studded concert for Bangladesh and was responsible for the movies "The Long Good Friday", "Time Bandits" and "Mona Lisa".

Sir George and the Beatles gave me the soundtrack to my life. So many important events in my life are accompanied in my memories by a Beatles song. I owned every Beatles album made from 1963 on. I even managed to get my hands on an album where Pete Best was the drummer, before the advent of Ringo. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I was a Beatlemaniac. I still am.

Happy Birthday, George, I've got my mind set on you.

*While you're watching this video - take a close look at the logo on the airplane - Pan Am Clipper Beatles!

20080223

A GENERATION OF EASY RIDERS - BABY BOOMERS ARE BORN TO BE WILD!

The Sixties Generation is available on PopArtDiva.com as archival prints and giclees on canvas.

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Birthdays: Peter Fonda

1945 - U.S. flag Raised on Iwo Jima

1954 - The First mass innoculation with the Salk vaccine against polio began.

1997 - Scottish scientists announce the successful cloning of the sheep named Dolly
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Today is Peter Fonda's birthday, he is 68. Peter Fonda - Easy Rider, the two are synonymous in my mind. Written by Fonda and Dennis Hopper, Easy Rider was the rebel biker film for the sixties and it's theme song, "Born to be Wild" by Steppenwolf, was the anthem for our generation. We were outcasts - anti-establishment, anti-war, anti-everything. At least we saw ourselves that way.

Easy Rider was a symbol of all that we thought ourselves to be - wild, untamed and authority challenged. We were going to change the world and to some extent we did. We were told to trust no one over 30 and we took that to heart.

Almost forty years have passed since Easy Rider and my generation is now well over 30. Many of us are more than twice that age. Time marched on while we marched in protest. Most of the protests we participate in now are the ones in our creaking bodies. We're still anti-things, it's just anti-gas, anti-inflammatory and anti-aging.

Yeah, man, we got old. But we are still rebels. We are not going gently into that good night, we will not let age define who we are, we are still a generation who loves change. We demanded more from our world then and we demand more from our world now. We even expect more for our old age - Dennis Hopper says it all in a current ad when he says "time to redefine...your generation is definitely not headed for bingo night."

You got that right, Dennis. We redefined the sixties and we will redefine our golden years. Our motors may have slowed but they're still running and we're heading down that highway in the twilight of our years - still looking for adventure, racing with the wind. Never wanna die!

Peter, Happy Birthday.. It was great to see you in "Wild Hogs" looking pretty darn sexy for a man of 68. You go, Captain America, you still da man!

20080222

"FATHER KNOWS BEST" - The Nuclear Family in Modern Times

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TODAY IN HISTORY:


Birthdays: George Washington, Robert Young, Drew Barrymore, Julius "Dr.J" Irving, Edward Kennedy

1932 - The Purple Heart Medal was reinstated

1980 - "The Miracle on Ice" - The U.S. Ho
ckey Team beat the Soviets at the Olympics at Lake Placid by 4-3

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One of the birthdays today is actor Robert Young, who played the father on one of my favorite shows from childhood - "Father Knows Best". He was an insurance salesman, married to Mrs. Anderson (Jane Wyatt - also the mother of Spock on the Original Star Trek series), with 3 children - Betty (Princess), James, Jr. (Bud), and Kathy (Kitten).

"Father Knows Best" was the epitome of the wholesome American family as portrayed by television of the 1950s. I grew up with this image in my mind and, because my family was a real life doppleganger of the show, I saw this as a black and white version of my life. I had an older sister, an older brother and I was the youngest daughter vying for the attention of my parents. There were many times that Kathy's problem was a mirror of my problems. Poor Kathy, the hi-jinks she got up too!

Looking back nearly 40 years later I see how cliche the plots were, how these situation comedies (sitcoms) simplified life to an almost absurd degree. Life's problems cannot be solved in half an hour, most dad's don't have sage advice on the tips of their tongues, and the "nuclear family" has been torn asunder in the modern world.

There was something about those family shows that defined the term "family" for me. Though now I believe that the idea of a "nuclear family" is outdated and restrictive, I would often feel orphaned because I was no longer a member of a traditional family. This concept of family was ingrained into my generation and it is something we should overcome in this day and age for our peace of mind.

I no longer have a "nuclear family". My parents and my siblings are gone, I am not married and I have no children of my own. My family now consists of very good friends, an adorable little Yorkipoo named Pixel and an ancient Aussie bird called Peter Pan. In my "golden years" I have made adjustments to the concept of family and it has brought me a sense of belonging and peace.

Family is not what someone else says it is. Family is the love, caring and support of people who love you, and those people don't necessarily need to be your blood relations. The next time you're watching an old family sitcom on television keep that in mind.

Into retro tv and pop culture art? Stop by PopArtDiva.Com for a time capsule filled with visual memories!

20080220

Retro Jingles, Slogans, TV Themes and Catchphrases - Do you remember any of these?


TV's Greatest Hits, Vol. 1 is my artistic tribute to the television of my childhood. This image is not for sale, it is a dedication to all the great baby boomer TV classics. Visit this dedication page for some fun trivia and sound bytes from the golden age of tv!

While working away yesterday I realized I was humming a tune that was stuck in my head. When I realized what it was I cracked up. I was humming the Oscar Mayer song! You know the one, "My bologna has a first name it's O-S-C-A-R....."

For some reason my mind has retained many of the old jingles and slogans from my childhood of television viewing. My mother was constantly saying, "Don't sit so close to that TV! You'll go blind from radiation!"

I didn't go blind but it must have affected some of the synapses that control trivia retention. I can't remember where I put my keys, but I can sing the entire Gilligan's Island theme (Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale, a tale of a fateful trip that started from this tropic port aboard this tiny ship . . . .) plus a couple of hundred more TV themes and commercial jingles!

Let's see how many of these you remember - can you fill in the blanks???
  1. Brylcreem - " a little dab ___ ___ ___."
  2. Wonder Bread - "it builds strong bodies ___ ___"
  3. Oscar Mayer - "My bologna has a first name, it's O-S-C-A-R. My bologna has a second name it's __-__-__-__-__." (Remember the rest?)
  4. You'll wonder where the yellow went when you ___ ___ ___ ___ ___.
  5. Superman - "Fighting a never ending battle for Truth, Justice and ___ ___ ___."
  6. Hey Kids! What Time is it? ___ ___ ___ ___!
  7. M&Ms - "They melt in your mouth, ___ ___ ___ ___."
  8. McDonalds - "You deserve ___ ___ ___."
  9. Coke - "I'd like to teach ___ ___ ___ ___." (I'll bet we all know that one!)
  10. Pepsi - "It's the __ __."
  11. Dr. Pepper - "I'm a Pepper, He's a Pepper, ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___?"
  12. Alka Seltzer - "I can't believe I ___ ___ ___ ___."
  13. Alka Seltzer - "Mama mia, that's a spicy ___!"
  14. Alka Seltzer - "Plop, plop, fizz, fizz, ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___."
  15. "(N-_-_-_-_-_-S) makes the very best (_________)!"
  16. Timex - "It takes a ___ ___ ___ ___ ___"
  17. Maxwell House - "Good to the ___ ___."
  18. "See the U.S.A. in your ______."
  19. Hamm's Beer - "From the land of ___ ___ ___ "
  20. "There's something about an ___ ___ man." (hint: this is an ad for after shave)
  21. "Promise her anything, but give her ___." (hint: this is a perfume ad)

As Jimmy Durante used to say "I got a million of 'em", but let's see what you can come up with! Come on, what jingle do you secretly hum when no one's listening? What slogans do you remember? Let's all take a little trip down the Memory Lane of Retro Television themes and media jingles and ads. Okay, sing it with me now:

"Hot dogs, Armour hot dogs.
What kind of kids eat Armour hot dogs?
Big kids, little kids, kids who climb on rocks
Fat kids, skinny kids, even kids with chicken pox
Love hot dogs,
Armour hot dogs,
The dogs kids love to bite!"



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20080213

Happy Valentine's Day - Be Mine, Be True, Say Yes

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE - A Valentine's Day Pop Art. Available in various sizes as an archival print or a giclee on canvas at PopArtDiva.com.

Do you remember Valentine's Day when you were a kid? Those shoe boxes you decorated up in class, plastered with red and pink and cupids galore? School paste all over your fingers that you licked off? A little slit in the top where everyone could drop in their wishes for a Happy 14th of February?

Remember the cards your mom bought for you by the bag? Hundreds of little die cut, single layer missives that extolled the virtues of love and said what was in your heart? Did you always panic that that special someone would not leave you a card, or worse yet, no one would leave you one? Yeah, emotional stress of the highest level!

Remember the little heart candies made by Necco? The ones that said corny things like Be Mine, Forever, My Man, Be True, Say Yes? I guess nowadays they have updated the sayings to things like "Hot Stuff" and "Yo, Babe!" or something else in the current slang. Too bad. Those corny sayings had a charm, didn't they? We knew 50 years ago they were corny and we didn't care. They were still sweet and they were candies with a message!

Though I have my issues with Valentine's Day (you might enjoy reading my Valentine's Post - Is Cupid the Gangsta of Love?) I still like Valentine's candy. I love the chocolate and the big huge boxes shaped like a heart. Okay, I may not be a St. Valentine's Day fan, but I'm okay with sweets!

Anyhoo, for those of you who are in love, love the idea of being in love, hope to be in love or just love life, here's my latest Pop Art, LOVE, LOVE, LOVE - A Valentine's Day Pop Art inspired by the oncoming event of Valentine's Day and those little heart candies from my childhood.

Happy Valentine's Day! And stop by The Martini Diva for my Valentine's Day Martini - The Chocolate Covered Strawberry Martini

20080210

TAGGED BY A MEME - Does that have anything to do with Senior Moments?

THE TV COWBOYS is not for sale.
This art was not done for profit. It was done as a tribute and dedication to those wonderful TV Cowboys who brought so many hours of entertainment into my life. I spent many Saturdays in front of the old black and white riding the range, shootin' bad guys and singing along with Roy Rogers, Hopalong Cassidy and the Lone Ranger. Thanks, Boys, you were my heros!


I just got tagged with a meme - please don't ask me to explain "meme", I have a hard enough time in my advanced years trying to remember where the hell I put my glasses!

Here's the game, write a post on SIX UNIMPORTANT THINGS ABOUT MYSELF:

Here are the rules:

1. Link back to the person who tagged you.

2. Post the rules on your blog.

3. Share six unimportant things about yourself.

4. Tag six random people at the end of your blog entry.

5. Let the tagged people know by leaving a comment on their blogs.

So, I was tagged by Vicki M. Taylor, who's blog Real Women, Real Life is inspirational and a must read for baby boomer women looking to find their empowerment! Thanks, Vicki - I'll get you for this! (Insert smiley).

Since this is my pop culture blog I decided to post six unimportant things about myself when I was a gangly, weird little kid growing up in Wichita, Kansas.

1. I was actually in the Peanut Gallery on the Howdy Doody Show

2. I could not say the word "scissors" - I said "skizzers" and when I was 12 I named my little kitty Skizzers in honor of my single speech impediment. Skizzers was demented and shredded my mother's brand new furniture. Skizzers went to live on a farm - or so I was told.

3. I learned how to swim at a Boy Scout Jamboree in New Mexico. My father was an executive director with the Boy Scouts of America, my mother was a den mother, my older brother was a scout (from Cub to Eagle) and my older sister was a Girl Scout. Because I have always been a perverse little brat, and to avoid wearing yet another hand-me-down (my sister's Brownie uniform), I became a Camp Fire Girl!

4. I left my box of crayons in the car one summer vacation. It was hot and they melted all over my mother's red jacket from the Philmont Boy Scout Camp. I also lost one of those little chameleons on the same trip - the kind they used to sell at the circus, with a tiny red string around the lizard's neck and a safety pin on the other end so you could chain the little green bugger to your clothes and watch it change color. My mother wouldn't let me bring it into my aunt's house overnight and my little lizard died overnight! His last color was gray.

5. I loved Roy Rogers, The Lone Ranger and Hopalong. I was going to be a cowboy when I grew up. My brother told me I couldn't be a cowboy because I was a girl. I yelled, "Annie Oakley" and shot him with my cap pistol. Got him right between the eyes. Annie ain't got nothin' on me fer shootin' straight, Pilgrim!

6. When I was about six I had a little boyfriend named Bruce who's mother made the best cookies. Bruce had a butch hair cut and he always wore this jacket that I now recognize as a Pendleton with a Santa Fe design. Every May Day he would bring me a little paper cone filled with those cookies and hang it on my door knob. Bruce moved away and then, a few years later we moved to a different location in Wichita. In Sixth grade, when I was 10, I saw Bruce in the hallway of my new school and, I swear to God, he was wearing the same jacket. I never did ask if his mother still made those great cookies.

So, there you have it SIX UNIMPORTANT THINGS ABOUT MYSELF. See my memory is not as bad as I thought it was! Now I'm tagging Diva Beverly Mahone, Artist Karlyn, My Aussie Diva friend, Deb, my nutritionist friend Claudia, My new boomer friend Rosie and my Nifty friend Joanie!

20080204

The BEATLES IN SPACE - N.A.S.A.'S 50th ANNIVERSARY!

This is my art tribute to my favorite musical group of all time, The Beatles - "In and Out of Style - dedicated to the Fab Four". Visit the page for some fun facts and trivia on The Beatles!

Today, as part of their 50th Anniversary, N.A.S.A. will be beaming the Beatles Song "Across The Universe" out into space (yeah, yeah, yeah, across the universe - get it?)

I gather they used this lesser known Beatles song primarily because of it's title, but also because today is also the 40th anniversary of the original recording of the song.

The song will be beamed out at 7 p.m. E.S.T. so turn on all your tri-corders to witness this historic event - the first time a song has been sent into space! (No, I'm sorry, your gigantimous speakers in your car do not count - loud as they are their sound never carried past the ionosphere!) It's being sent in MP3 format so let's hope who ever is out there has an Ipod!

Traveling along at 186,000 miles per second towards the North Star should bring the tempo up past dancing rhythm - at least on this planet. Who knows how fast little green men (and women) like to dance? Appropriately, Sir Paul McCartney's response to this honor was "Give my love to the aliens". I wonder if Sir John's response would have been, "We come to Give Peace A Chance"?

N.A.S.A. has given The Beatles a Ticket to Ride!." Happy Birthday, N.A.S.A, and thanks for giving us the moon!!