Friday Check In

Big event today: The Mrs drove to the supermarket ALONE for the first time since the beginning of February. Then to top it off, she drove to a different one to get things the other didn't have! AND most important... she came back! That was exhausting.

The weather is marvelous here for the long Memorial Day weekend and that means BBQ time! ... and powerwalks in some hot sun for a good workout ... and sitting outside on the porch going through old things toward some future unspecified downsizing.

I have scorecards for virtually every pro baseball game I ever went to, and I'll be scanning them as part of this process. The scorecards have no value, but they do to me. And nowadays you can get the complete box score for every major league game online so that can round out a nice package. I have a bunch of games from the miraculous 1969 NY Mets season. My fave is already framed, when they beat Juan Marichal in the bottom of the 14th inning, and he was still in the game, and he got better after the 8th inning! Great memories ... so that project starts this weekend.

Losing track of days -- so to figure that out we look at what day it is on our vitamin and pill container

Best to all!

Great news about Mrs. GB. I used to have a box of 1930's, 1940's baseball cards that was the era I loved. I know I still got them somewhere. Got them when I was a kid at a second hand shop. Came in a box some other junk i was interested in at the time. Loved all the knicknames. "Whitey", "Rabbit" They were black and white cards.

There's been a lot of Led Zeppelin playing here in Midland lately because even though we don't have a levy, two damn dams broke and added to the already fierce devastation.

The University where I taught for 42 years is again completely submerged and evacuated. And we thought the Flood of '86 was bad; that was known as the 100 Year Flood, and this one is the 500 year flood, setting new records. The Tridge (three legged bridge) was almost literally floating with water up to its foot path.

Many evacuations, though now the cleaning up has begun. Joyce and I (Praise be to God) were untouched by the water, having already paid our penance last July with the sewer back up. Thankfully our part of town is east of the flood plane, though we're just on the cusp of the Watch Out area. But today is overcast with a high of seventy degrees, so until we have more showers (small but coming this weekend) we can breathe a bit. It's pretty ugly but no casualties so we're blessed in that regard.

With Covid, this was a one-two punch for sure, but the rushing waters have had their fun and are going back to quasi-normalcy. And for all his bluster about withholding funds from MI because he doesn't like petitions for absentee balloting being sent (which is perfectly legal), Trump did sign a relief bill, though he snarkily attacked our governor and attorney general for noting he wasn't wearing a mask when he visited a Ford plant in Ypsilanti. As John Lennon said, strange days indeed, pretty peculiar, Momma.

So our weekend is tentative in action: just continuing to watch the first season of *Peyton Place* on disc (my wife is absolutely hooked on it), wading through paperwork and blaming it on the rain like Milli Vanilli.

Hope all are safe.
Jeff

Good news Jeff as I was still tunnelling your way I made sure to add extra bilge pumps just in case. As you know I am tunneling in a full size late model Pontiac Stationwagon as I needs my luxury and 8-track player.

And Peyton Place was my Mom's fave soap when we moved to North America back when the road went on forever and a rootbeer float was a Friday night sorted.

Day 62 in captivity. But there's a glimmer of hope for freedom. I shall yet bask in the light of freedom. Lately, I've been fantasizing about bikes again I'm torn between the Indian Scout Bobber, https://www.indianmotorcycle.com/en-us/scout-bobber/ and the Harley Street Bob https://www.harley-davidson.com/us/en/motorcycles/street-bob.html .

But the wife says I'm stuck between "When pigs fly" and "A cold day in Hell". But neither one of those is a "No", right? So, I've decided to interpret that as a MAYBE! WOO HOO!!!

Lately, I've been binge watching the first two seasons of Night Court. Warmhearted zaniness at it's 80's best. I add in a bit of anime and a few classic movies for variety. I've also gone into my collection of Ace Double Novels and have been losing myself in classic sci-fi. A.E. van Vogt, Andre Norton, Phillip K. Dick, Clifford Simak, Ray Cummings and more. As I type this, I've begun wondering where my Jandar of Callisto books are?

Well, be safe folk's. But remember. Life's too short. So do something hare brained every once in a while. It's the spice that turns a bowl of mush into a savory stew.

Finally... a "caught up" weekend after weeks of "catching up" days and weekends.

Still working on Foyle's War, into Season 8 now, as it's referred to on AcornTV though the numbering seems to vary considerably whenever and wherever it's been aired. What's so strange is that despite Acorn's promotions that they have all the episodes, Season 7 episode 2 is missing (as is a Season 2 episode of Vera) and we've been told we have to pay to watch separately on Amazon Prime -- YIKES that's strange. And then the other night the closed captions which we use to make sure we catch the local jargon and police lingo was minutes off! So very strange!

Will be working on my editing of the Casey book and I think this is a good weekend to capture notes from the interview with the first Suspense producer Charles Vanda that was done in 1971 or so and has not been heard for decades. Vanda was always ticked at how when he came back from the war he could not get Suspense back. Then when Spier had one of his many heart attacks, Vanda filled in for three episodes and only got air credit for one, and then even in the mid-1950s, a tiny blurb about Spier in Variety said that Spier created Suspense! If the two men were in a room and if flies happened to go between them, the flies died immediately, that's how much animus there was. But Vanda became marvelously wealthy as a TV pioneer, so there's no need for sadness in that sense. From that point on, whenever Spier would be asked about creating Suspense, he always made it clear that Vanda created the series. I've listened to the interview once, and there's lots of interesting background about the pilot episode and how badly received it was.

And I guess it's another weekend of Taiwan baseball, too.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Another Friday. Current situation: Sitting on the patio, wondering when they're gonna light that oversized bottle rocket. Sipping on some Dark Roast Kona and puffing on a Dominican Cohiba Robusto. Yes, I'm in rare form today. But it's a bit of a pre-emptive celebration. Things seem to be winding down and I should be going back to work in three or four weeks. And the wife and I have decided to not cancel the Vegas trip in July. It could still get the Deep Six at any time prior to boarding the flight, depending on how safe we feel it will be for her to travel. But we've decided to keep making arrangements and purchases as if we're going.

I hope everyone else has reasons to be hopeful as well.

I am also waiting for Dragon Crew to lift off. Very excited to see this process forward. Weather looks iffy for Saturday so lets see.

Weather has been roasting this week. Not complaining just means I have to get up earlier to walk when its cooler.

Doing the usual schedule, work, reading, listening to music. Exercise and walking. For the most part staying pretty positive. Staying safe when I am outside.

Anyone find any interesting shows or music they want to share?

Stay safe folks and stay thirsty....

Pull up a chaise lounge and watch as the endless parade of Tsk-tsking politicians tour Midland for a photo opportunity as they survey the flood damaged disaster zone we suffered last week, shake their heads, pledge support and echo the President who I feel is growing closer to mimicking Rain Man every day: "This is bad, bad, bad, not good not good."

I'm going to forsake the Nightly News and prime up the grill if it doesn't rain, man, again. This weekend we're diving back into the next 33 episodes of *Peyton Place*--we love the drama and pause periodically to yell at the screen, "You think YOU'VE got problems?" and blissfully hope Leslie Harrington gets his in the end.

I'll also be burning music (along with the steak and hot dogs) onto disc while digging up the income tax papers again. And we'll set aside some time to thank God we weren't hit with the flood waters that some of our friends were. Say a good thought for them if you would.
Enjoy.
Jeff

Jeff, your Peyton Place reference somehow reminded me, that at some point in the not too distant future, I've gotta revisit...

My nephew bought the entire run of Barnabus and his crew for my sister for Christmas one year. She said she'd gladly loan the whole series to me when I wanted. Hmmm, something to sink our teeth into, eh?
Jeff

If you'd like to give it a try, it's available for free streaming on the Tubi app. That's a cross platform app, so you can stream it on just about any platform. There are two series' listed. You want to start with Dark Shadows: The Beginning. That's the premier series from 1966. The Dark Shadows series listed is the continuation, after the initial run. There's a total of 31 seasons available to stream. And that's a Helluva binge by anyone's standards.


This should give you a sense of the "flavor" of the series. And remember that this was played in Soap Opera time slots.

Oh I used to run home from school to catch it. And look how I turned out!
Jeff

Friday already? Didn't we have one last week about this time?
Been watching baseball from Taiwan. Two good games today.
Broadcasts are in English, but highlights are on the Twitter pages in Mandarin. Love the enthusiasm of this play's call...
https://twitter.com/i/status/1268861936218681344
Have gotten to like baseball for breakfast!

Some more Suspense work underway as I sent Keith Scott a list of some of the most awful recordings I have. His sound about the same but he has reels from early collectors Skip Craig (who was production engineer for Jay Ward Productions (Bullwinkle, etc) and to whom John Dunning dedicated Tune in Yesterday, Ken Greenwald, who transferred lots of CBS stuff in the Pacific Pioneers of Broadcasting collection, and some others. Some of these have defied upgrades for decades, and still do. One of them, The Cellar, is an aircheck made in the 60s off an Armed Forces Radio station in Europe by a serviceman or a family member. It's the only copy that has surfaced ever! It's dreadfully horrible. I seem to have raised the sound to be awfully horrible, which is an improvement. It will be posted soon.

Watched A Confession on Britbox and it was so engaging we did 4 of the 6 episodes yesterday.

We watched Stalag 17 for the first time in decades the other night. Reading about it I was reminded it was a stage play first. It is funny to see all the little things that Hogan's Heroes used from it.

Not sure what we'll watch but the really warm weather is here and I just love powerwalking in it. I know, sounds strange.

Vintagebroadcast.com posted some Lund YTJD not in circulation (3) and some network/WBBM airchecks of episodes that are great replacements for some of the awful AFRS recordings we have of that series.

Dark Shadows is also streaming on Amazon video. I watched some the other night. Production cost on the whole run was $9.87 and that included a $5 deposit on the camera that they got back. Lots of good actors ran through that show and for some they couldn't run quick enough me thinks.

Today after 2 weeks of constant sunshine it rained liked the apocalypse I was on the look out for the four horsemen. Was good as we needed the water.

After a Covid break my record club is back pressing vinyl. So I have no idea what is coming as I told them just surprise me send anything. I will see how long I last and if the choices are good I will keep the surprises coming. I will take back picking from the catalog if too many Tiny Tim records come in the mail.

Same old, same old. Work, walks, exercise, reading, music the odd show. Have really been enjoying the series "What we do in the shadows" the absurdity of Staten Island vampires pleases me.

Just enjoying the drifting....stay safe Cobalters...

.

Tip toe through the window. . .

I hate to admit it, but I was one of the thirteen people who bought *God Bless Tiny Tim* when it first came out on vinyl through Reprise records. (I still have it in my collection downstairs. It was not hit by the backwash we suffered last July, somehow.)

With some luck I hope to buy the new Flower Kings album on vinyl; I have it on digital download, but vinyl is finer. In the meantime I have so far exhausted all the options I can find for *Peyton Place*, having scrounged up the fifth volume, even though Amazon says it's unavaliable. We are finishing Volume 2 tonight--the first 66 episodes. Interesting to see the talent who came and went through that show.

My sister will loan me her *Dark Shadows* collection, so that may be next. Camp to end all camp.

Another Friday here with vacuuming, cleaning, films (we just finished the Beach Party run except for the 2000 reboot, which will be here in a few days. . . .). So we'll see what comes next.

Say a good word for peace and good health while we explore again the Hydra's head of racism and decide we've had enough of it once and for all. Hearts are heavy here, but tomorrow it's not supposed to rain, so we'll remain optimistic.
Be well, Cobaltia. Be blessed.
Jeff

Another pretty boring week, except for the "incident". Oh well, there's always next week.

I've been head down chasing Vaughn Monroe shadows all week after completely forgetting about the Check-In last week. Even though I've been retired for eons now, the days have just seemed to all blend together recently for some reason.

Mrs CDM and I just celebrated our 46th anniversary last Monday. Didn't eat on the premises but we did pick up take-out from our favourite go to restaurant and it was just as yummy as usual. Good on the power walking Greybelt. I used to be able to do that but have had to forgo the usual early morning walks the last couple of days because of the high early morning temps and bad air.

Have continued with the scanning process and old VHS tape editing. Most time consuming but getting it done bit by bit.

Hope everyone is staying safe.

Its been a stormy week here with lots of rain which we really need. Cannot believe I am saying we need rain in Ireland. But climate change is hitting us here. Last 5 weeks were warm and sunny hardly a drop of rain. So now when it rains its 5 days of torrential build a ark quick rain.

Keeping healthy, happy and trying to be wise. Waiting on my surprise vinyl delivery I will be either happy or cursing the vinyl gods.

Keeping busy so thats good. Lots of reading is getting done.

Hope everyone is staying safe and keeping busy.

I'm still wading through tons of photos and negatives as Mrs CDM has now taken up her scrapbooking hobby again. She had done our three boys up to the age of ten and now has started on a book for our daughter. Seeing as how the youngest is 36 this year I think you will now understand the task in hand. For both of us that is!!

I'm still plodding through Vaughan Monroe. Not finding much in the way of broadcasts but am finding a large number of radio scripts on the tobacco lists, mostly for Camel Caravan.

Our weather is now hitting the hundreds most days. That is not the main problem - it's the air quality again and especially when the overnight low is still in the 80's. We had to stop walking in the morning for three days because of the poor air.

Stay safe all.

So, I'm reading the new "Lost" novel by Robert A. Heinlein. It feels more like an "Heirs of the estate" cash grab attempt. I read for a bit, then I sit and fume. I read for a bit, then I grumble curses in the general direction of California (where I know those heirs live).

This is NOT a new novel. The first third of this work is The Number of the Beast, by Heinlein. The rest of the book is the storyline he originally wrote and rejected for that novel. Folks, this is a disgusting thing to do to the legacy of a deceased legendary author. Sorry, I just had to vent.

On the bright side, I managed to give the wife a merry birthday yesterday. This was really important this year, because with her damaged immune system she hasn't been out of the house for three months. I managed to organize a video conference spanning six time zones, which included all of our kids and grandkids. She was a happy lady.

I hope everyone is happy and well.

A momentous weekend ahead:

My 2004 Intrepid (with less than 60,000 miles on it) is presently a two-ton paperweight. No dead battery, mind you--just a totally dead car issuing no sound whatsoever when I turn the key. If the pandemic were not enough to keep me indoors, now I don't even have access to the world beyond walking until it's fixed.

On another front I finished the third *Killing Eve* novel by Luke Jennings--hated it though I love the TV series. WAY too much "love" (physical! and emotional) between Eve and Villanelle. . . taken in a totally different direction than the series. But that's a creator's prerogative I suppose. I'm reading Brian Wilson's self-titled memoir next.

A couple new movies have come in, and the weather is pleasantly cooler now after a week of heavy knife-cutting humidity and torrential rains. Life plods on with hopes that everyone else's days are skipping and running and jumping with joy.
Jeff

*Breaking News*

A major positive share with the group. After my earlier post, I received a phone call. I've been recalled and will return to work on the 21st.

Let's hope that this is a positive indicator and that the world can start moving safely into a happier existence. I'm about to break out the Courvoisier and raise a single glass to hope for the future.

Great news Space!

While the COVIDian restrictions have strangened our lives (why not make up a word or two now and then) I've been able to get powerwalks in to somehow replace the better workouts I get from karate. It is funny how I can't find a way to duplicate the intensity of the karate workouts alone. My walks would typically be 3.5 miles on my regular route but have gotten that extended to yesterday when I hit 5.5 miles. Or, as they are more accurately measured, I walked the length of an entire YTJD five-parter. Love the hard walk in the hot weather.

Speaking of YTJD, when this little Suspense update is done, I have a bunch of YTJD upgrades, including 3 new episodes from the Lund run and lots of network copies that can replace the bad AFRS ones in that part of the series. So I will start posting those.

Been watching the new season of Grantchester on PBS.org which has been getting better at posting full seasons after the initial episode airs on the stations. We finally started Brokenwood Mysteries on Acorn. The first half of the first episode had me kind of nonplussed and I figured I'd just watch now and then. But the second half set up all the structure of curious continuing themes, so I have a sense that I am hooked.

We so miss traveling. The various fall nostalgia conventions have already cancelled or are about to. When you think about it, all of the guests are in the at-risk groups... and more and more of us attendees are, too.

Neglected the Casey book all week. Have to fix that this weekend.

Sunday is Father's Day. Calories -- BAH! I laugh at such nonsense -- for those 24 hours