Buried Treasure Review

Click here to read about Buried Treasure on Fox’ site in a new window

Buried Treasure, Fox 5 NY, Wed 8pm, w/ 2nd show at 9pm

My family, like a lot of others, is into collectibles and antiques. I have, along with my brothers, collected antique glass since I was in gramar school. I’ve literally dug antique glass out of 150 year old rubbish heaps as well as bought & sold it at shows, auctions, online and through magazine want ads. I’ve been a dealer at shows as well. So naturally, we like Antiques Roadshow. It’s a great show. It was one of the first reality shows. It made stars of the Keno brothers, the identical twins who do the furniture reviews on Roadshow.

In the last 2 years, you have seen several shows get into that space: Pawn Stars and Pickers namely, but there are several others that center around auctions and appraisals and even restorations. Apparently, PBS’s show just scratched the surface of the true demand in this space that they so expertly pioneered. Now, after over a decade, they have spun off the Keno’s into their own show. My first thought was “boy, was that late–they should have done this 7 years ago!”.

My mother and I watched the first shows and even though we were really fired up about the concept, we were scratching our heads as to how they decided to implement it. I don’t know a lot about TV, but I assume that the Producer or Executive Producer is the one who shapes the show’s final look and feel. Here is the blurb on the website as to who this is:

BURIED TREASURE is a production of ITV Studios America. The series is co-created by Joe Livecchi (“What Not to Wear”) and Tim Miller (“White House: Behind Closed Doors”), and executive produced by Livecchi, Miller, Paul Buccieri (“Eleventh Hour”), Leigh Keno and Leslie Keno. Tim Eagan (HELL’S KITCHEN) serves as co-executive producer.

So I guess our beefs are directed at one or all of these folks.

Anyway, our beefs are many. First off, we watch these shows to

(a) learn about the pieces and to
(b) see the pieces and
(c) then hear an appraisal with regard to condition issues.

In this show, we don’t learn much about the pieces. On Roadshow, which is the gold standard, we get a real concise but thorough education about a piece by an expert.
We don’t always see the pieces long enough or in enough detail. There are too many edits to the Kenos and to the people sitting there trying to ratchet up artificial drama. Treat it more like Roadshow. Put everyone in one big shot for the “payoff” moment. While we’re building up to it, let’s see the piece!

The single most annoying thing about the show is the producer attempting to build tension and tease the big price reveals. DON’T ABUSE your audience! We know you’re going to talk price so just do it and get ON WITH IT! For heaven’s sake, don’t have the Keno’s stutter in their sentences to build up phony tension! It’s annoying! Ask the Kenos if they would EVER treat a client that way in their biz–they wouldn’t DREAM OF IT! But you think nothing of doing that to your audience like we are idiots! Speak plainly like they do on Roadshow! Save it for last, ok fine, but don’t tease it so much and don’t have them try to add drama with spoken pauses! That’s just obnoxious!

There are other more mildly annoying things about the show. One is that they try very hard to inject some personal tales of woe into the narrative. Most of the time, it’s a reach. One woman was a borderline hoarder; one wanted money for a child’s education; one wanted to (get this) feel “closer” to his dead brother! These are thinly disguised and thoroughly manufactured premises. We see through them. Just reveal the items and educate us and appraise them. It’s nice that they might want the money for a child’s education, but it doesn’t materially change the item, what it’s worth and the appraisal. I honestly DO NOT care if someone will, or will NOT, sell their item. It’s moot. I am not all tied in knots because a guy won’t sell his Superman comic book worth 20 G’s. I just don’t care. It’s his book and his life. If finding out you have a 20 thousand dollar bill there is causing you conflict, I think that’s phony-baloney. I suspect the producer is TELLING you to act this way for his dopey vision of what a good show is, or is not. I smell a rat. It’s immaterial. The item, the history and the appraisal, are why I’m tuning in and the phony, ginned-up “drama” is why I probably WON’T be tuning in much longer.

Look, it’s a neat idea. Keep it simple. Some people have big jumbles of old stuff and may not know what they have. You want to bring in pros to sort through it and highlight the highlights, then great! That concept stands on it’s own merit. The teases and delays and repeating things after the break are just obnoxious and get in the way of a nice concept. You have something the other shows do not–the Kenos! Put them in the best light, doing what they do best and LET THEM DO IT! People LIKE them and what’s more, people feel they know them and trust them so let them lead in an uncluttered way.

It’s not too late for the show, but you have to be ready to really rethink some of the things you’re doing and simplify it. Force it less. Let it flow more via the Kenos, otherwise, why have them?

Good luck.

Babe Ruth In The Papers

Click here to open the story in the Washington Post in a new window. You may have to register a username and password but it is not a big deal.

This is the photo that is currently on the front page of the Washington Post’s Sunday Metro section:

Before I go any further, let me make sure that I take time to thank the staff at the Gaylord National Hotel inWashington, DC for their tremendous professionalism and attention to every detail. These people are the standard for their industry. I have, in all honesty, never seen such elan in my life. It was a real treat. With the hotel slated to open in a few days, you could ride on the energy of these folks as they readied their jewel of a hotel.

I would also like to thank Michael Hudson of Gaylord Hotels. He is a throwback to a more civil time in America and in business. He is a true gentleman and a visionary in his field. You don’t run into too many people like him and it was my good fortune to have done so. Thanks Michael, for everything.

This is a shot someone took for me with my camera during the installation.

The Babe Ruth statue is now permanently on display at the Gaylord National Hotel & Resort in Washington, DC at the new National Harbor area.

I went down there on Tuesday and stayed until Thursday and The Babe was installed and well received. The Washington Post came by and did a story on the hotel opening and included a fair amount of interest on the statue. I was not sure how much would run on the statue but I was pleased to have folks in Washington DC call and tell me the good news.

The full story of the statue and everything surrounding it is on the Birrerart.com website:

Click here to open the Birrerart.com website up in a new window

Other things that were noteworthy while I was down there was the fact that the Nationals has declared the sportsbar in the Gaylord as the official sportsbar of the team. Because of this, they had sent over the last home plate used at RFK stadium so it could be permanently installed at the entrance to the sportsbar. Here are a few shots of that and the Washington Post getting their story at the time:

That’s Michael Hudson, Director of Brands at Gaylord Hotels, with homeplate from RFK Stadium.

And here is the laying ceremony while the PR folks take photos.

***
The Gaylord National Hotel is so immense that it is difficult to photograph it all in one frame. The atrium that overlooks the Potomac River and Old Alexandria, Virginia, on the opposite bank, is 18 stories high. There is a village of little shops and fountains and trees and restaurants all inside the enclosure. It is so big that you mostly aren’t aware that you are inside.

Here is a view of the upper part of the atrium. These gaslights are 20 feet high. The scale is just hard to fathom.

On the 24th floor, there is a state of the art nightclub and one of the unique features is, believe it or not, the men’s room. Here are the fixtures and the view is outrageous. The Washington Monument can be seen while you are, well…ahem, you know. It’s just one of a myriad of details that make this hotel one of the most amazing in the world.

How will the GW crowd make this The West’s fault?

Robert, Read This!

Global Warming: To be taught in public schools: Click here to open in a new window 

Study: Ice growing in Greenland; Global Warming guys say: “…hey, the climate fluctuates” Click here to read in a new window

 

 

Bactine for Babe

Another in the Babe series.  Here is proof that I can shift gears a little.  There was too much meat on the shoulder so out come the 1/4″ die grinders and belt sanders and off comes some shoulder.  It feels weird because the thing is mostly done back there and then I’m taking a step back to get something right.  That’s why I like to start striping up finished areas because that helps you see the right things.  Things that you wouldn’t see in wood or primer will become more apparent.  Remeber my mantra: do the easy stuff first and then the hard stuff becomes easy.

Yes, you are seeing the hands on the big guy now.  That’s as of 1am yesterday morning and now the job is to get them looking right, sanded and sealed.  Tonight was more of that and today was a really light day for a Saturday because of the stuff I talked about in the last post.  Too much family stuff going on to do much but I did force myself down there to get a coat on because when dry time is in play, you have to take advantage of the time.  Tomorrow has to be a big day.  I was hoping to be past this point by this time but you do what you can do.

And the Andy Griffith 4-pack was disappointing.  Two of them were on last night.  So I watched Antiques Roadshow.  Roadshow is a good program to work to because I don’t have to look at the screen really at all.  I can just listen to what the appraisers say and the laymen jabber and I’m ok.  If the piece is stunning, I can quickly glance and then get my eyes back to the end of the die grinder or what have you.

I have a little FM base station plugged into the TV and I wear wireless headphones to pick up the sound.  It’s great because they block the sound of the machines and act as noise dampers (that I would have to wear anyway) and with a little flick, I can mute all the dopey ads–every *** **** one of them.  Did you ever really stop and listen to how they scream and yell at you and insult your intelligence in just about any TV commercial you can name?  It’s really amazing when you think about it.  And movie trailers?  Don’t get me started.  Why does EVERYthing in a movie trailer have to WHOOOOSH and BOOOM at you like you have your ear on the subway track at rush hour?  Do they think we are monkeys?  It’s just raw f****n noise people!  I don’t know about you all, but if an ad is obnoxious enough, I will avoid buying it within reason.  –fog 

Some Creedence for Page

Just ordered the complete Creedence Clearwater Revival boxed set on amazon containing every note they ever put on vinyl as well as some outtakes which are always fun. Fogerty is unique and the playing is great for the sculpting work–long jams that get you in a groove and keep you there. So it’s basically a business expense. It’s amazing how quickly you blow through 11 gigs of music on an MP3 player while sitting/crouching/kneeling/standing around with the tools and wood. So much so that I’ll even take a flyer on some Edith Piaf. Anything.

And musically, I don’t much care anymore about the music that I used to get all worked up about in my youth. In fact, the one overwhelming thought whenever I listen to, or think about the music that I listened too (mostly classic rock, the usual), is embarrassment. Because we took this stuff so seriously and it is SUCH A JOKE! These guys had really very little talent and we just worshipped them all out of proportion with what it was. I see it all from my dad’s perspective now. Dad, you were right. They were a bunch of overpaid bums.

That’s not to say that I still won’t appreciate some artistry from time to time, but for the most part, it’s not worth talking about. Take Jimmy Page for instance. I was listening to the new Zeppelin channel on XM coming into work today and they were playing the live Dazed and Confused and they get to that part where Page plays the electric guitar with a violin bow (cue Spinal Tap). I almost drove off the road laughing and I was laughing at how reverently we kids talked about this act. How much esteem we held this in. It was like Page was Jesus for banging a bow on a guitar and making just the most rudimentary amplified noisy sounds! hahaha! He’s a real Joshua Haifitz, isn’t he? hahaha. What a rocket scientist there. Actually, it was brilliant, just not musically, but rather it was brilliant in the same way that P.T. Barnum was brilliant in that he hoodwinked a generation of some pretty smart people into thinking this was “cool”. I bought in. Now I laugh.

But Page is special musically in some ways still. I laugh at his sloppy play and just horrible technique; particularly live. You can listen to the drugs take his playing as the years go by. It starts out decent and steadily declines all the way from 1970 to 1980, when he was so cooked that he wouldn’t have won a high school talent show (Knebworth). But Page was a great producer of records and he got some great sounds like the tube miking for Houses of the Holy and In My Time of Dying. Good production, sloppy play. But the sloppy play is forgivable because most don’t listen close enough to really hear it anyway and it certainly didn’t hurt their sales.

There is a phrase in the song, In My Time of Dying where Plant is singing in silence, “Oh My Jesus, Oh My Jesus, Oh My Jesus, Oh My Jesus,” several times. On the “Oh”, start counting. 1-2-3-4, 1-2-3-4 etc. Page comes in with the slide on a 3, and I’ve always thought that where he comes in is TOTALLY unexpected, but perfectly brilliant, if such a thing can be. The timing is exquisite. I would never think to DO that, if it were me. And I find that while listening to Page, you follow along and mentally try and anticipate what note should follow and he’s always going to a note that (a) I wouldn’t think to (b) is very pleasing.

So I look at it this way. If you broke everyone’s guitar solos/riffs into one-note-at-a-time, and graded them for each note selected in “pleasingness” to the general public, Page’s batting average would be Ty Cobb high. He just “gets it” and selects the best note most of the time or certainly a high percentage of the time. There’s a reason everybody liked, and still likes, those Zep tunes. You want to say he’s brilliant? Ok, fine, whatever. But leave the bow out of it.

Reading a tremendous book on Kid Delicious called Running the Table. What a great book! You hate to finish it because you just don’t want it to end. It’s interesting reading for me also because of the statue I’m doing. I find a lot of the stuff Delicious deals with or experiences to be similar–very, very, eerily similar, but of course on a much smaller scale. The maniacal aspect of it and the highs and lows of self esteem and mood swings, tied directly to how it’s going. Getting in the zone when time becomes elastic and you just feel like superman for a while. Then also the times where it all seems so elusive and pointless. A very good book. I hope they don’t scroogie up the movie (they will). Kid Delicious should play himself!

Click here to launch Kid Delicious’ site in a new window

Delicious’ Road Partner is a pretty fair painter.  I like the style and I am tough

Grand Ole Babe Ruth

I’m back after a pause of several months.  As I explained in my last comment, I was curtailing the blogging activities in favor or regaining some kind of time/impulse management for my life.  A lot has gone on in the past few months and many have written emails to me ask why I’m not commenting and what do I think of this and/or that?  I’ll try and cover the basics and also try to post at least 3 things per week, so those who got out of the habit of coming here, may want to swing by now and again.

The Tommy Show: Going strong and now in its 4th sold out month.  Tommy is getting bigger and smiling and laughing and grabbing things.  He looks around.  He likes to do the “assisted sit up” and he makes faces.  We love him.  He’ll be rolling over any day now.  And, he still has the long arms.

The Babe Ruth Statue: (This is one big reason I’m no longer posting) is sold.  I have a tentative agreement at this point to complete and deliver The Babe to the Gaylord National on the Potomac, Hotel in Washington DC by Jan 1.  This is the reason that I spend every night at my “second job” and get full of sawdust until midnight or 1am, if things are going well.

The photo above is from last Feb, about the time that I had halted work on him to coach 8U baseball with my nephew (and write this blog–but since the blog is apparently how the folks at the Gaylord found me, my lack of impulse control paid off in this case).   My point is, the statue is well beyond this point and per our discussions, I have concentrated on the head so that I can get that finished and send some photos down to the buyer so they know better what they are acquiring.   To that end, the head is 80% finished and it looks like a disembodied Babe Ruth head–a ringer.  And a bit unnerving due to the realism.  Already, it has freaked out Mrs. Pinetar and grandma.  Tommy doesn’t seem to register it yet.  In a week or two, I should have some shots of it fully painted and looking like The Babe.  I should also have some better progress shots up soon.  Stay tuned.  We’re excited and the further into this I get, the more convinced I become that The Gaylord Hotel folks are going to be floored by the finished Babe.  This thing will be turning heads for a long time.

A word about the Gaylord properties.  Click here to launch their site in a new window 

I had not heard of them prior to their contacting me.  Their original property is the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, or, Opryland.  This is a major, signature property in Americana.  Now I know that most of my readers are NorthEasterners who know nothing of country music, but trust me, this is baseball, hotdogs, apple pie and American music all rolled up into one.  They also have top shelf, first cabin properties in Dallas and Kissimmee, FL.  The newest property is the DC property and the hotel has 5 or 6 restaurants, one of which, is the sports bar in which The Babe will reside.  I’m excited to see it.  I’m also excited about the Nationals opening their brand new ballpark next April.

Which brings me to the next topic.  The Mets.  Most thought I was despondent when they lost in spectacular fashion.  Truth?  I was not bothered at all.  The older I get, the more I watch baseball for individual and team stories.  I do not just root for one team.  That worked great up until 1986 and then as I got older and realized the business side of it and what was really happening, it became less and less important to me that the Mets “win”.

I’m also annoyed at how the team is run.  I don’t feel any connection to the Mets of my youth.  When I go to the game at Shea with my 8 year old nephew, I am afraid of where they are going to park me (mostly a riddle inside a puzzle), annoyed at the $14 parking charge.  Then, when I get into my seats, the PA system literally deafens me.  I can’t even speak to my nephew in the seat next to me because the jackass marketing wizards at Los Mets think that I paid $75.00 to hear 25 year old Bachman Turner Overdrive music blared at pain-threshold levels.  After that, the Mets usually put on some type of Spanish-themed dance or musical act (also ear-splittingly loud), to the point where, I feel like I might be in Puerto Rico or the Caribbean.  Now I have many Hispanic friends, and I’m not prejudiced at all, but going to Shea now makes me feel like I’m in a foreign country.

And the players now dance, seemingly after every base hit.  I don’t want my little Tommy thinking that celebrating after every play is ok: It isn’t.  It’s unprofessional and it shows up the other team.  It is insecure.  It says to the world, “I’m so insecure, that I have to try and remind you that I just succeeded”.  To me, there is nothing cooler than just doing the bit on the field and letting the crowd cheer.  To do anything else is to be an a**.  But Los Mets would rather dance, at times, it seems, than play.  And don’t think the other teams and especially the umps, see this.  Think you saw the Mets get a lot of close calls down the stretch?  Hmm?  I saw them get jobbed.  I don’t blame the umps.

And now I hear that the Mets are looking at getting  A-Rod.  Nothing more needs to be said.  I’m not surprised.  He has no class and the Mets are long devoid of class.  He’s probably taking the dancing lessons from Reyes right now.

The Mets are also spending 120 million.  That’s the most in the NL, kiddies.  I don’t want to root for dopey Fred and Jeff Wilpon’s real estate wallet.  Face it, most of what people think of as pro sports is rooting for a non-sporting, rich (nothing wrong with being rich) guy’s wallet.  Kids might-as-well be on the playground taunting each other, “…my owner’s got more assets than YOUR owner…” Because that’s what it comes down to.  That’s why I like to see new stories each year.  Stories like the Rockies and Tulo and Braun and Fausto.  Great stuff.  And Cleveland.  Haven’t won since 1948 when they had the last, good, player manager in Lou Boudreau.  That’s exciting.  That’s fun.  Not the Yankees spending 220 million every year and pummeling everyone.  That’s pro wrestling.  That’s the Harlem Globetrotters. 

I’m this close to being a Washington Nationals fan.  Long live Joel Hanrahan!

Many asked me about Torre.  He turned down a LOT of money.  I never understood why the Yankees overpay for the manager.  The job is unique in all the world.  Geez, take a micro economics course.  The people who do that job are fetted by kings and emporers.  Why would you OVER pay a guy to hang out with McCartney and Rudi and get a table at LeCirque just for walking in the door?  All the endorsements and perks?  My goodness.  Why do they pay Joe Torre 7 million when the next highest paid guy is 2.5 or 3 million?  Collossal stupidity.  Joe should pay THEM to have that job.

And get this straight.  I don’t think Joe Torre is all that.  Look kids, he wasn’t Miller Huggins with the Mets and Braves.  Repeat after me Yankee fans: He managed the largest payroll in MLB EVERY SINGLE YEAR HE WAS THERE, with the exception of 1997, when Baltimore edged the Yanks by like a million or so.  I think 72 million to 71.  He ALWAYS had the highest payroll in the industry.  Winning with the 1996 Yanks doesn’t make you Houdini.  You SHOULD win with all that talent.  His biggest skill, for my money, was having the thick skin to take all of George’s insults and degradations over the years.  But George was stupid enough to pay him f***-you money and eventually, he had enough money to be the first guy to tell Big Stein, “Shove it”.

And that’s the beauty of Joe Torre (and old New York baseball Giants fan btw).  He was the only guy to tell George, “I’m not your boy…” and for that we love him.  And now that he has taken Mattingly out of moneystripes, I mean, pinstripes, and put him in the NL, in Dodger Blue, I love him even more.  Go Joe!  Win it all!  Ethier, Kemp, Loney, Broxton, Saito, Martin, Penny…win it all and laugh all the way to the bank that George has missed the playoffs without you! hoo hooo.

Last point that has been driving me buggy.  During the world series, when I was carving the Babe Ruth head hour after hour.  I kept seeing this advertisement on TV about how people wanted their cars to be more “green”.  They said that they wanted to “plug their car in” and have the car’s fuel “grown”.

Because the media is being completely slanted politically on this, people are being misinformed.  And now the car companies and oil companies are reinforcing the myths surrounding the hybrids and “green” fuels.  And folks like Al Gore are either too stupid (I know, a guy who invented the internet?) or just too calculating to set the record straight, so people continue to be misled.

While it’s admirable to drive a smaller car and look to curtail personal fossil fuel consumption, one glaring thing is missing.  Many folks think that is something is electrical, it is somehow non-polluting.  That’s nonsense.  It doesn’t pollute locally, where the machine is being run, but somewhere, to be sure, there is a coal or oil, or gas-fired generating plant that BURNS FOSSIL FUELS and converts the chemical energy stored in the fossil fuels to mechanical energy that turns dynamos to generate electricity.  ANYtime you are using electricity that didn’t come from a solar cell or a hydro plant, you are burning fossil fuels, genius!  The actual carbon emissions might be in Oshkosh, but they are there.

And we’re not done yet.  Anytime that you convert energy from one source to another form, you LOSE in the conversion.  Add to that they electrical engines are less efficient than gas, and what you have is that the “green” person is actually burning MORE fossil fuels than if he had a traditional, gasoline engine.  Now that doesn’t figure in the disparity between the huge SUV and the little hybrid and I get that, but how many people really understand, or are being told, what lays behind the phrase, “plug my car in”? 

Babe Ruth Grave Robbers

It used to be that if you were famous, you’d be buried in Westchester, NY.  The place is crawling with cemeteries.  Right across the street from my workplace is Kensico, where Lou Gerhig is buried and on the other side of the valley is the Catholic burial ground where Babe Ruth and Billy Martin are buried.  I was on the website for the place and noticed that even though they are Roman Catholic, Arthur Flegenheimer is buried in there.  Anyone know who that was?  That’s right, it’s Dutch Schultz.  Schultz was perhaps one of the worst mass murdering gangsters the USA has ever harbored, and, by the way, he was Jewish.  Go figure.

When I did my Yankee talk at the home, many were surprised that I hadn’t been to Ruth’s grave.  I’m not into graves, what can I say?  I DID carve a life size statue of the guy, however, and am carving another, so I thought that someday I’d go over there.  Yesterday was that day.  It took 5 minutes to drive over.  What fascinates me about this stuff (besides the unbelievable ornateness of the cemeteries up there) is what kind of stuff people think to leave at the grave.  We saw quite a few bats and balls and weird stuff at Gehrig’s grave and so I thought this would be no different.  It wasn’t.

This is the view as you walk up a sharp hillside from the access road.  Behind you is a fantastic view of the valley.  It’s a shame that they waste the view on the stiffs. 

At first, Ruth’s stone looks overblown, but it gets lost in the grandeur of the other monuments and mausoleums in this place.  We’re talking top shelf.  In fact, all in all, I’d say the Bambino estate has shown some restraint, believe it or not. 

 

The first thing that you notice is the flags.  Little Yankee flags.  Not too bad.  Go Yanks, right?  Then it gets better. 

 

I love this.  There were maybe 5 different of those little “helmet Sundae” helmets.  You know, the kind that the ice cream comes in?  The 9 dollar ice cream is great and apparently, they make a great tribute to the Babe.  The “K” hat?  I have no idea.  The stones?  Anyone know who does this or why?  Gehrig’s grave and Martin’s grave all have the little rocks on them.  I do not understand that.  DaVinci Code?  Harry Potter?  Col. Potter? 

 

I wonder if Cardinal Spellman knew how many professional girls that Babe took up with?

I love this one: Sunflower seeds!  Haha, as if the Babe can enjoy them!  Sure, he’ll love that.  I don’t think they even knew what those seeds were in the 1920′s, but hey, go for it.  Score some posthumous points with the Babe.  Another little sundae helmet. 

 

The baseball cards strew around were another puzzling one.  There were dozens of them.  And almost no Yankees of any kind.  Guys like Marcus Giles and Joe McEwing.  Guys who had NO POSSIBLE connection to the Babe or the Yanks or the Roaring Twenties or baseball greatness.  I mean, we’re talking Joe McEwing!

And there were all manner of balls left there.  Mostly baseballs but a few softballs and several plastic whiffle type balls as well.  Most of them were signed by the leavers.  Some just said things like “To: Babe From: Maria” as if Ruth would know and appreciate Maria’s gesture.  Some of it was kid handwriting, so you can give that a pass, but others were definitely left by adults. 

 

Here’s a good one: A Yankee Schedule and soggy.  Perhaps the Babe needs to KNOW who the Yankees are playing today?  Now, he can reach up and thumb through the soggy schedule.  How thoughtful.  And the Yo-Yo was a nice touch.  Maybe the Babe would get bored in there and need to “walk the dog” with the light up YoYo.  Note the sunflower seeds as well.  Hey, a guy can’t YoYo without some chaw, right?

 

The usual: balls, rocks and cards but I really love the Yankee beer-stand concession cup.  Only 10 bucks for a beer and wouldn’t George Herman love a beer about now?  Hoo Yea.

 

Here’s a mixed bag: A 1979 penny, deliberately placed there, no doubt.  No idea re significance.  A Rockies baseball card–because you know, Ruth played a lot of games in Denver.  The bracelet is one of those Lance Armstrong jobs but another color.  The Cigar is classic.  You KNOW he’d want to take a haul off of that, having died from oral cancer from smoking those things!  And the ticket on the right is apparently from the recent Hall of Fame inductions as it has Oriole/Ripken overtones and says Cooperstown Hall of…you know.  On the bottom is the ball point pen inscription, “Babe, you are better than Hank Aaron and [unintelligible]“  No words on Bonds but it’s a safe bet that if they didn’t like Aaron, they weren’t digging Bonds’ act. 

 

There you have it.  A snapshot of the flotsam and jetsam that people actually take the time to leave on the grave of a person that they have never met and do not know, although each and everyone THINKS they know him.  The lesson?  If you get mega-watt famous.  Really, really famous.  We’re not talking Paris Hilton, flavor of the month famous, but really, really Winston Churchill famous, people will leave odd things on your grave.

How about this for a measure of fame.  If, after everyone who you physically met in the flesh while you were still alive had passed away, and people were STILL visiting your grave, you were famous.  But even that if fleeting.  Mary Pickford was by far the most famous female human in the world for over ten years and she couldn’t get arrested now if she came back to life.  –fog 

Beatles on Tonight Show, Johnny Carson, Joe Garagiola

There was a post recently and someone asked about the Beatles Lennon/McCartney appearance on The Tonight Show while Joe Garagiola was the guest host. I have never seen the bit and would guess that it doesn’t exist or it would have turned up somehow, somewhere. I seem to recall that much of the early Carson 1960′s era shows were not saved. That stuff always amazed me but I guess it was considered too expensive. You can buy every show Jack Benny ever did from 1938 to 1960 on ebay for about 10 dollars. Go figure.

But this had come up and I wrote the original post from memory and the memory was reading a book by Craig Tennis called “Johnny Tonight”, published in 1980. I was at my parent’s house last night and I found the book in a desk and opened it right to the Beatles page. Weird. So since I was photographing old family photo albums to digitize the shots, I took shots of the story from Tennis’ book. His words:

 

 

Tommy on Tommy

Here is Tommy getting weighed on the same scale that my mom used to weigh her children. He doesn’t seem to mind but sometimes he squawks. This thing is pretty darned accurate–down to the ounce.

Here is the very first time that Tommy hears ANY Mississippi Delta Blues at all and of cour