The Whole Earth Catalog...Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish!

You have to remember The Whole Earth Catalog! It was the bible of the American counterculture. Published in 1968 by Steward Brand, his goal was to have anyone to be able to pick up a telephone and find complete information on anything.
The publication was an access to tools and education for the reader to shape his own environment and find some inspiration. This was a large book and later editions were an inch thick. In 1972, the catalog won the National Book Award, the first time ever for a catalog.
In 1966, Steward Brand initiated a public campaign to have NASA release the rumored satellite image of earth as seen from space. He felt this image of our planet would be a powerful symbol.
In 2005, the catalog was compared to Google search engines in paperback form. In the 1960's, there was no Internet or hundreds of cable channels. As the web and blogs arrived, Whole Earth Catalogs disappeared. Everything The Whole Earth Catalog did, the web did better. It became a transfer from counterculture to cyberculture.
There were seven sections in the 1968 catalog:
~Understanding Whole Systems
~Shelter And Land Use
~Industry And Craft
~Communications
~Community
~Nomadics
~Learning
In each section, the best tools and books were listed by the editors. This included reviews, images, uses, supplies and prices.
The catalog was a huge success for hippies and survivalists. The publication was not intended for very long, just long enough for the editors to complete a good overview of available tools and resources for everyone that needed them.
In these times, I think The Whole Earth Catalog is just the ticket. It will take you back to the times when life was a bit more wholesome and basic. I found my old original copy. It's got the whole earth in my hands.

It's Tom Terrific And Mighty Manfred The Wonder Dog!

I bet you remember Tom Terrific. I just loved it! What a great cartoon. My friend once gave me a brand new giant red plastic funnel and I wore it like a hat, just like Tom Terrific. This was about 5 years ago.
Simple and sweet, in case you have forgotten, Tom Terrific was a boy hero who lived in a tree house. Thanks to his magic funnel cap, he could transform himself into anything and also became smarter.
Tom Terrific debuted in 1957 on the Captain Kangaroo show. The budget was small, but the imaginative scripts and stylized designs hid this fact. The scripts were simple and the music was minimal too, mostly just an accordion. Lionel Wilson did all of the voices.
Each episode on the Captain Kangaroo show consisted of a 5 minute cliff hanger everyday and in a week the story was completed. Confident, but never violent, Tom Terrific took on a variety of criminals. They were Sweet Tooth Sam, The Gravity Maker,The Silly Sandman, Captain Kidney Bean and his arch enemy, Crabby Appleton who was rotten to the core.
Here is a flash back for you:
My name is Crabby Appleton,
and I am simply awful.
It does my heart a lot of good
to do a deed unlawful!
I'm fond of gloom, impending doom,
I think good deeds are sappy!
I laugh with glee. It pleases me
when everyone's unhappy!
Mighty Manfred The Wonder Dog was always at Toms side. Manfred really never liked the whole crime busting routine. He was a big baggy-eyed pooch who would rather avoid trouble than stop it. To him, a big long nap would beat a good deed any day.
There were twenty-six full adventures or 130 episodes of the cartoon over a four year period.
"When there is trouble,
I'm there on the double,
From Atlantic to Pacific,
They know Tom Terrific!

Just In Time For The 4th Of July.....Tang Pie!

One of my readers alterted me to the fact that there is a Tang Pie. Well, I couldn't let that get by me so I did a search. Just in time for tomorrow. Impress your friends with this all American (sorry cherries and apples) pie! Be brave and go for it. Your friends and family will love you for it!

Ingredients:
1/4 cup Tang orange drink powder
8 oz. sour cream
12 oz. Cool Whip
1 can sweetened condensed milk
2 graham cracker pie crusts
Preparation:
Mix all ingredients together well. Pour in the 2 pie crusts and set in refrigerator overnight.
Put a twist of an orange slice in the middle of each pie for decoration.

Now how easy is that!
Enjoy the holiday!

Indescribable...Indestructible! Nothing Can Stop it! The BLOB!

Beware of the Blob! It creeps and leaps and glides across the floor. It crawls... It creeps... It eats you alive!
Don't you just love it? It doesn't get any better than this! In 1958, this independently made science fiction/horror film depicted a giant amoeba alien that terrorizes the small town of Downington, Pennsylvania. Today this film is a cult classic.
The film was Steve McQueen's third feature film, but his first starring role. Because of him, this film became a hit in the drive-in theaters. Aneta Corsaut played his girlfriend and Olin Howland was the elderly old man.
In the film, the Blob comes from outer space and lands on earth inside a meteor. The two teenagers, McQueen and Corsaut drive the car to find out where it landed. Meanwhile, the elderly man heard the crash too, finds it and pokes it with a stick.
The rock breaks open and voila! There's the blob which crawls up the stick and attaches itself to his hand. It's all over from there.
By the time the teenagers get the old guy to the doctor's office, it engulfs him and eats the doctor and nurse too.
The film ends with the words, "The End", which then morphs into a question mark. Will the Blob return? Only time will tell.
The blob was filmed in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania and several scenes were filmed in Downington. If you are around that area on July 10Th, don't miss the Blob Fest and Ball in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania.
During this movie, Steve McQueen was offered $2,500 or 10% of the profits. He took the $2,500 for food and rent,not thinking this film would be a hit. Little did he know, this film ended up grossing $4 million.
What was the Blob made of, you ask? It was originally created with a modified weather balloon for the sky shots and later made from silicone gel.
Wes Hark, a horror movie fan and collector, actually owns the Blob. It was love at first fright!



The Blob - Movie Poster - 27 x 40
The Blob - Criterion Collection

Tang.....The Space Age Drink

Tang is short for tangy and is supposed to have the flavor of tangerines. With more vitamin C than oranges, Tang was the breakfast drink of choice during the 1960's.
Tang was introduced to the public in 1959 and was marketed as the modern breakfast beverage. In 1965 the Gemini astronauts took the drink into outer space and made Tang a household name.
Made by General Foods, Tang is a sweetened drink powder, artificially flavored and colored. It's one of America's favorite chemically treated foods.
The Apollo and Gemini missions took the drink into space and drank it out of silver pouches. Just add water and you can have a days worth of vitamin C.
Actually, Tang had nothing to do with the space program and was developed by General Foods in 1957, 12 years before anyone went into space. But, because of the advertising, "Tang Takes Off," the space program became a valuable asset to the marketing and sales of the drink.
Sales of the drink today are not what they were back then. I'm sure most people decided that drinking real orange juice instead of mixing tangerine flavored chemical powder with water with a six year shelf life was much better for you.
One household tip is that Tang is an excellent cleaning agent and can be used to clean your dishwasher. Just run Tang through the cycle instead of soap.

Kookie, Kookie, Lend Me Your Comb!

Wasn't Kookie the ginchiest? Born July 30, 1933, Edward Byrne Breitenberger starred in the TV series 77 Sunset Strip as Gerald Lloyd "Kookie" Kookson. He was a valet at Dean Martins "Dino's Lodge" restaurant next to 77 Sunset Strip. Sometimes he helped out the PI's trying to solve their cases.
He knew the word on the street and called everyone "dad." Always snapping his fingers he had a cool beatnik style. He was constantly combing his dovetail hair which led him to become a teenage idol heartthrob.
Later in his career, Edd Byrnes was hired to host the pilot of the "Wheel of Fortune" game show. That didn't work out for him and was replaced by Chuck Woolery.
Recently, Byrnes traveled to car shows selling his autographed pictures. But because of his unprofessional behavior and charging above average rates for his photos, many car shows have banned him.
In 2007, at the Blast From The Past car show in Texas, Edd Byrnes started yelling obscenities at a little girl and her father for videotaping him. He doesn't want anyone recording him for free. Well there you have it. Kookie, the cool cat turned into a guy with a big ego. In my opinion, the dude is just grasping at straws and living in a moment somewhere in time.
If you would like to read more about the life of Ed Byrnes, he wrote an autobiography in 1996 called, "Kookie No More."

Out Of the Clear Blue Of The Western Sky Comes......Sky King!

In the 1940's and 1950's Sky King was a radio and television adventure series. Schuyler (Skyler) King was an Arizona rancher and aircraft pilot living on the Flying Crown Ranch in the town of Grover, Arizona.
The show had strong cowboy elements and Sky always captured criminals, spies and also helped lost hikers in his plane.
Songbird was the name of his aircraft. In the beginning of the series, Sky flew a Cessna T-50, owned by the star who was a pilot in real life. The plane was made out of wood and became unsafe to fly and was replaced.
Sky King's niece Penny and sometimes his nephew Clipper also lived on the ranch. Penny and Clipper were pilots too, but somewhat inexperienced. Penny raced planes and Sky trusted her to fly Songbird. Now, I find that highly unfair. As you read in my Camero post, being the aspiring racer I was, my dad would not let me use his car and I am positive a plane would have been out of the question.
In the show, Kirby Grant played Sky King, Gloria Winters as Penny and Ron Hagerty was Clipper. Like most cowboy hero's, Sky never killed the bad guys. It was largely a show for kids, but became an icon for the aviator community. Many pilots, growing up were influenced by the show.
One memorable feature of the series was Penny's radio calls from the ranch. She always said, "Flying Crown to Songbird, Flying Crown to Songbird, Come in Uncle Sky."
A unique introduction to the show featured the triangular Nabisco logo flying across the screen. Nabisco put plastic characters of the series in packages of Wheat and Rice Honey's.
The series was filmed in the high desert of California. It was expensive for a kids show because most of the budget went into the aircraft shots and vehicles. The show features low level flying, a way to show the speed of the plane as the desert flashed by.
In my search for Sky King, I came across a very cool web site which you can watch all the episodes of this series. To check it out go to:
http://www.americanflyers.net/entertainment/skyking.asp

California!

May 1, 1969

Dear Daddy,
The last time I wrote, I think we were in the desert. Guess what! We made it to California and I saw the ocean!! We were going over the Golden Gate Bridge and everyone yelled, "There's the ocean!" Well, I couldn't see it really. Don't worry, I wasn't stoned. It's just that the white clouds and white waves looked just the same and there wasn't any middle to divide them. Does that make sense? Anyway, it was far out. We are going to stay at Keeper and Mary's house in Santa Cruz. They are pretty cool. Mary plays the flute and does Zen macrobiotics and Keeper is an artist. There are going to be about 15 people crashing there until everyone decides what they are going to do. We are heading up the coast to Washington sometime, but I don't know when. Don't you wish you could be like me and not worry about time? Well, gotta go. I will call you from the phone booth on the hill when I can panhandle some spare change.
Well, stay cool,
Love and peace,
Joyce

1968 Camero Rallye Green, What A Machine!

When I was about to graduate from high school, my dad bought me a 1968 Camero for a gift. My uncle owned a Chevy dealership and that is all we drove.
Wow! What a gift it was and I got to pick it out. Rallye Green with a white racing stripe around the front, 327, 4 on the floor and bucket seats. What a fine car for an aspiring race car driver and for a girl child growing up in the 50's. If you haven't read my older post, Teacher, Mother or Nurse, You can read what I went through back then and understand the importance of this car.
This car was my best friend, my constant companion, my freedom. One day, I decided to let it rip on a newly built highway. It was my test run, the salt flats, my highway to heaven. And it was almost that. After traveling 120 mph, the exit ramp not only awarded me with a ticket, but also a flat tire.
I had to go to court. The judge was the father of my sister's best friend. Thank God!
"How many feet per second were you going at 120 mph?" he asked. "Hmmm.... I don't know, how many feet per second is that, Judge?" Silence. All at once the entire courtroom burst out laughing. I was saved.
My dad threatened to put a governor on the engine. Every time he drove my car, the cops would follow him, thinking it was me.
One afternoon, I was conducting my weekly time trials on a cool winding road from one town to the next. I was powerful, free, and in a great deal of trouble, when I spun out and hit a tree. I tried to escape but the engine wouldn't start. A seminary was down the road, and the students along with the priest were running towards me, probably to see if I needed my last rights. The end result was having my precious car towed and a ride home from the state patrol.
"Look, I said, my dad is going to freak out, so I would appreciate it if you would just drop me off, and quickly take off." No deal. When my dad saw that cop car, he flung open the door, stepped out on the porch and yelled, "Where's the Car!!" That was the first time I ever saw my dad cry.
Well, what am I driving now, you ask? I have a yellow Nissan Xterra. Perfect for my canoe, dogs, and bicycle. It's not the same though. I am not washing off the mud on the sides of the Xterra, from the long winding driveway back to my house. I am hoping for an image of Jesus or the Virgin Mary, and sell the thing for a small fortune on Ebay. Then, I will have the money to finally buy the car of my dreams, a 1968 Camero!

Hokey Smoke! It's Rocky And Bullwinkle!

I loved the Rocky and Bullwinkle Show! I always wondered what kind of grass the writers were smoking. Jay Ward and Alex Anderson created the show from another, called "Frostbite Falls Revue." It was about a group of forest animals running a TV station.
Did you know that the name (Bullwinkel) came from a man that Jay Ward knew? He owned a Ford dealership and had a big nose and a funny personality. What a perfect name for his moose.
The pilot of the series began with Rocky The Flying Squirrel in 1958. Eight months later, General Mills signed a deal to sponsor the cartoon only if the show ran in the late afternoon to target children. Ward hired the production staff of writers and designers. He convinced the advertising firm at General Mills to outsource the animation to a studio in Mexico.
This move caused problems, though. The work was turned out to quickly and was not quality. Mustaches popped on and off of Boris, Bullwinkle's' antlers and colors would change, and costumes would disappear.
The first broadcast was in 1959 at ABC Television Network as Rocky And Friends. In 1961 the show moved to NBC and was called The Bullwinkle Show. In 1964, the show went back to ABC and was canceled in a year. Re-runs of the series still continue today.
General Mills still retains all of the United States television rights to the series. For a little flashback, some of the elements in the show were, Bullwinkle's Corner, Dudley Do-Right Of The Mounties, Aesop And Son, Peabody's Improbable, and Fractured Fairy Tales. Remember Boris And Natasha, the scheming villains, commanded by Mr. Big and Fearless Leader? There is so much to talk about in this series with puns and the narration, I could write about it all day.
Anyone live near Seattle? Check out the upcoming Bullwinkle Family Restaurant. Finally, a great quote from Bullwinkle, "Well, if you can't believe what you read in a comic book, what can you believe?"