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?"

It's A Bird, It's A Plane, It's The Flying Nun!

Remember the TV show the Flying Nun? I always wanted to fly like that, but without being a nun. The show was inspired by a book called "The Fifteenth Pelican." The series was about the adventures of the Daughters Of Charity nuns in the convent San Tanco in Puerto Rico.
Patty duke was offered the role of Sister Bentrille, but declined. It was offered to Sally Field and she also turned it down. What's up with that? Nobody wants to be a flying nun? The role was then offered to Ronne Troup, but Sally changed her mind and got the part.
In the story, Sister Bertrille arrived to New York City from Chicago after being arrested for being involved in a protest. Now that's my kind of nun! She came from a family of doctors and decided to be a nun instead. Her real name was Elsie Ethrington. She could solve any problem that came her way by the ability to catch a passing breeze and fly.
She weighed 90 pounds and her head gear probably weighed more. The Roman Catholic Orders commended the show for humanizing nuns and their work.
There were problems with the series, as the story lines were limited and the writers struggled to create new situations for the nun.
Sally Fields was caught up in the role so much, that it was a difficult typecasting situation for her to overcome.
Another problem the producers had to deal with during the third and final season, was that Sally Field was noticeably pregnant with her first child. (Kind of hard to get off the ground like that!) How ironic for the public to see a skinny celibate nun pregnant. So, the problem was solved by using props and scenery to block her body from view. There also was a stunt woman for the flying scenes.
Thirty years later, televsion producers wanted to bring the series back, but Sally Field declined.