Last flight.

Kermit Love, the costume designer, who along with Jim Henson, created such amazing puppets like Big Bird, Oscar the Grouch, Cookie Monster (my favourite) and Snuffleupagus died this past Saturday. He was a versatile designer in demand with the ballet elite including Twyla Tharpe and Jerome Robbins.

Jim Henson sketched out Big Bird for the 1969 debut of Sesame Street and Love created the actual puppet, all 8 feet of it. He started making puppets in 1935 for a federal Works Progress Administration theater (I`ll have to look that up), and was a costume designer for Orson Wells Mercury Theatre before working for the New York City Ballet.

He also couched puppeteers in getting into the role of the puppets personality. And no, he`s not Kermit the Frog`s namesake. See ya Willy.

Gypsy!

Getting at it a bit late tonight. In the middle of moving so I am down to a spoon, a tin pot and branch water for another day and half. After that I'm taking a few well earned days off then back at the Barn. To relieve the obvious tension I live under, I am listening to Reverend Horton Heat, Webb Wilder and the Legendary Shack Shakers. I just might make it.

Sooo. whats on tonight?

The Knowledge Network has an interesting take on death and sickness with Ancient Clues:
Mass Death in Marseilles. Scientists isolate the DNA of the infamous plague of 1720 which killed half the city in three months. It`s on at 8pm.

Catch the last half of the Fall of the Roman Empire on TCM. It started at 7 and features Sophia Loren. Stay up late (2:30am late) for Man of La Mancha. Peter O`Toole + Sophia Loren.

At midnight History Television has Rome: How Titus Pullo Brought Down the Republic.

tu-es-da-y. twice as robust as mo-nd-ay

TCM has an odd little flick called the Mountain Road on at 6:30. James Stewart stars in this tale of American road builders in WWII China.

Grab a shovel at 8pm. Digging for the Truth: Angkor Wat: Eighth Wonder of the World on History Television, then Finding the Fallen: Loos 1915: The Underground Clone "Archeologists, historians, and forensic experts excavate the lip of a giant crater created by a massive underground explosion. " Nothing on the surface for at least 2 hours.

On PBS at 8 also is Nova: Secrets of the Samurai Sword.

And to round things off for the night the History Channel has Ancient Discoveries: Ancient Chinese Super Ships at 9pm, then get ready for Mega Disasters: American Volcano at 11.

I told you it was full of grit.

Spread the news.

On this day in 1963 Walt Disney opened the Enchanted Tiki Room. It was Walts first animatronic attraction. Featuring over 200 animatronic animals and characters (flowers and, of course Tiki gods and goddesses). Disney designed a 15 minute show and it still runs today. In it's quiet understated way it has kept the Tiki torch burning for over 40 years. Thanks Walt.

Monday night in town.

As per usual, History Television has Dogfights on of a Monday with Thunderbolt. "America's P-47 Thunderbolt blazes a reputation as the most rugged fighter of World War II; Robert S. Johnson is jumped by 16 German planes; George Sutcliffe tries to elude 40-plus enemy fighters." Yes. Right after, at 9m they have the 2004 flick Alexander. Um . . . no. And they run it all night too.

The History Channel serves up Modern Marvels: Ice Cream at 8pm, then the Lost Pyramid at 9 (just how do you lose something that big?) and at 11pm, yay, a Mega Disaster: Dam Break.

Odd little Monday. I'm gonna watch Dogfights the go to bed.

Why June 19th is notable.

Jim Davis rolled out his Garfield comic strip this day in 1978.

The first movie censorship board was formed on June 19, 1911. Wonder what was cut in a silent movie?

Moe Howard, as in Larry, Curly and Moe was born this day in 1897.

This is the day in 1953 that Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were executed.

And in 1369 Duke Philip the Stout marries Margaretha van Male. This worth a closer look. I'll keep you posted.

More fun than that a toaster in a bath. See ya.

Thursday viewing, not at all like yesterday.

TCM continues with some intriguing WW II era tales tonight. They have been doing that lately. Many of the movies are fictitious but based around that time. Totally watchable.

Good old History Television delivers with War Planes: Airplane to Air Force, "The history of the war plane and its many roles from France in 1914 to the Middle East in 2003" It's at 8. Right after they have the second part War Planes: Air Force to Air Power.

If you're fast you can catch the end of the Blue Max on AMC. Started at 5 and stars George Peppard. Ho boy. At 8:30 they have Geronimo: An American Legend 1993 version.

If you thought you knew your axe then you're in for a surprise. The History Channel has Modern Marvels: Axes at 8pm. It's modern, not mega.

I'm good for now.

Hump day. Better gas mileage already.

For those of you into this stuff, TCM has a bunch of Sophia Loren movies on tonight.

And for those of you who dig this stuff, Space has Zombiemania on at 6pm. Zombie history and such. Very important.

Wow, it's niche history tonight. History Television has Mob Stories: King of the Bootleggers at 9pm. At midnight they have the continuation of the Rome series with Rome: The Stolen Eagle and at 2am How London Was Built: Railways. OK, so now you know.

Over at the History Channel its monster night with back to back Monster Quests on starting at 8pm with Vampire Beast and then the Ohio Grassman at 9. Wonder if they are bad enough to be mega monsters?

I'm off to get into my next rant. Joe's History Barn, growing every day.

Charles Nelson Pogue where are you?

Now that gas is more expensive than steak our attention is turning towards ways of stretching our fuel dollars. Gadgets abound from little fans that "spin" the air going into your engine to devices that inject water into your gasoline. "Hypermilers", drivers who tweak their cars and driving habits to squeeze the most out of their tanks probably produce the only genuine "tricks", making gains in the 10-15% range.

Messing around with gas mileage doo-dads isn't new. In 1935, Charles Nelson Pogue built a device called the Winnipeg. He was from Winnipeg after all. It was a modified carburetor that was claimed to be capable of getting 200 miles out of a single gallon of gasoline. Now this is gas sold at God knows what price in 1935.

Without a real long technical harangue, Pogue's idea vaporized the gas before delivering it to the cylinder. The heat to do this came from the exhaust or radiator. There is some history on these so called vapour carburetors, with lots of spooky oil companies buying up the patents. Trouble is most attempts to make one of these gizmos has usually failed, even when qualified engineers get at shot at it.

It's back to turning the engine off going down hill I guess.

Tuesdays crop. 10% smarter than Monday's.

TCM has an interesting theme tonight with a series of movies based on the end and aftermath of WWII in the Pacific theatre. At 6:45 you can catch Bad Day at Black Rock, The Teahouse of the August Moon (Marlon Brando in this weird comedy) at 8:45.

More serious fare can be found at 8 on History Television with Digging for the Truth: Pirates: Terror in the Mediterranean. At 9 it gets even more serious with Finding the Fallen: Beaumont Hamel 1916: Wounded "A team of archaeologists, forensic experts, and historians travel to the front lines of the Battle of the Somme." And, if this intrigues you, at 2am you can catch How London Was Built: Palaces wherein you can find out all about Hampton Court, Buckingham Palace, Alexandra Palace and the Natural History Museum. Bet there's no particle board.

The History Channel has a few goodies too. Ancient Discoveries: Ancient Super Ballistics at 9, and at 10, History Channel's penchant for anything"mega" continues with Mega Disasters: Dam Break, and if that doesn't fill your mega cup, stick around for more Mega Disasters with Hypercane. Oh my.

That's whats on and it isn't my fault. See you tomorrow.

Monday- I have been away, so . . .

History Television has Dogfights: Night Fighters at 8pm. Carrier based dogfights of the Second World War. At 9 they have Kingdom of Heaven, a so-so historical epic from the time of the crusades.

The History Channel has Surviving History: 01- Surviving History at 11. Boy, thats a confusing name. According to the good folks from HC it's "Master craftsmen from The Scarefactory in Columbus, Ohio survey the past to experience the most inventive devices and technologies ever created"

That, gentle readers, is the crop, such as it is, for tonight. Definitely low cal.

Waldorf salad please.

Ho boy. TCM has a boatload of Charlie Chan movies on tonight.

Digging for the Truth: Mummies of the Clouds at 8pm on History Television. At 9 it's Secrets of the Snake Goddess (good God) "Scientists re-evaluate the Minoan civilization, commonly considered the cradle of European culture. " Late, late, late at 2am they have Battlefield Detectives: Civil War: Shiloh

The History Channel is back to delivering history type shows tonight with Ancient Discoveries: Ancient Computer? at 9pm and then 2 back to back Mega Disasters: Volcanic Winter and Mega Tsunami starting at 10.

A so-so night for a Tuesday.

Noose wurthee

Lessee now. Just a jumble of new-ish stuff I wanted to pass on. The owner of a company that does online tarot card and psychic readings, Tom Higgins, bought Charles Dicken's writing desk and chair and plans to use it to write letters on. Oh good. This is the desk Great Expectations was written on. He better not put a TV on it.

Here's one that's dear to my heart: according to the Canadian Press, 43000 railway wheel sets have a "have a high susceptibility to loosen", so says the The Transportation Safety Board of Canada. OK, so fucking tighten 'em. Seems the railway industry has some history with statistics like this. Lets lock the passengers in, or keep driving over cast iron bridges, or make trains too long for the curve. An update to that article claims that the number is actually 12000. I feel better already.

And, CBC sez that "Guy Ritchie, the British filmmaker behind crime capers Snatch and Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, is set to give iconic literary sleuth Sherlock Holmes a modern-day makeover."

And to top the day off here's an AP story about Bill Shatner. Seems he'd been laid up after surgery and couldn't sleep, so, late at night he found an old episode of Star Trek on. Shatner confess he rarely watches the shows or movies he is in and was pleasantly surprised. "I haven't seen myself playing Captain Kirk in a long, long time," he says. "And I watched it now, from my perspective of 40 years later, and I thought, 'You know, that's rather good.'

Monday night shows. Do not adjust yer set.

TCM gets the night rolling with They Died With Their Boots On, an Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland monster about General Custer. It's on 1t 6pm. It's the start of an evening of hay burners. At 7:30 they have Sitting Bull, Seventh Cavalry at 9:30, and at 11, a real cool movie called Little Big Man.

AMC has The Hustler at 12:45am. Stay up for this one.

History Television gets their licks in with Dogfights: The First Dogfighters at 8pm then Rome: De Patre Vostro (About Your Father) at 9.

CBC has Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room at 1:05am. Nasty little eye opener. Great doc.

A&E has The Impressionists: The Road to Impressionism at 1am. Just in case you can't watch that other show.

The History Channel has a decidedly NON history line up tonight. Better write a letter.

I can't help it

I was so depressed about not finding any good TV on tonight I went looking for some humour to cheer me up. In my usual lost while looking for something else way of getting at the truth I came across a bit of joke history.

Seems the ancient Egyptians had the jump on joking around. Picture based jokes (cartoons) were the most common. Animal cartoons the favourite. Many were very crude. Depictions of odd couplings with obvious reference to politicians of the day were very popular. Nothing new there.

Many of the animal cartoons weren't rude, but amazingly modern. Cartoons featuring cavorting monkeys playing musical instruments or ducks and cats biting people on the ass appeared throughout Egypt. Even the dogs playing cards and smoking was upstaged by the silly Egyptians. There is an ancient papyrus with a lion and an antelope playing checkers or something.

The ancient Greeks liked jokes too. Here's one from Philogelos or The Lover of Laughter, a 4th century joke book, replete with 265 jokes.

No.9"Wishing to teach his donkey not to eat, a pedant did not offer him any food. When the donkey died of hunger, he said "I've had a great loss. Just when he had learned not to eat, he died."

or

No. 203: Someone went to a charlatan prophet and inquired if his rival would come back from a voyage. The prophet promised that he could not. But the man found out a few days later that he had come back. "Well," said the prophet, "how shameless can you get?"

Wed nes day . Pod people

You know, before I begin, I must say that I sacrifice alot to put this little directory up of what's watchable on the history front. Any idea what it's like reading TV listings? And I mean I read all of them to catch any good shows. But for the love of Christ do you any idea what's on TV anymore? Shows about parking and tow trucks. Shows about dating, relationships, brothers, sisters, jello and big trucks. And lots of them. People wacking each other with paddles. Sorry.

That said there is absolutely sweet dooda on tonight. I've been stumped. But if you want some cool flicks just for fun, TCM has Sophia Loren movies on all night. Stylin.

Tuesday, June 3

No surprises tonight. History Television kicks it off with Digging for the Truth: Timbuktu at 8. At 9, more digging, this time its in Holland with Digging Up the Trenches. Then, if you can, stay up for Battlefield Detectives: The War of 1812: The Chesapeake and the Shannon at 2am.

An odd little night going on at TCM. They seem to have a whole shit load of Japanese / English silent movies on, a la Lon Chaney-Lillian Gish variety. Try and watch em all.

Over on the History Channel they have, as usual, mega shows. Starting at mega 9pm they have Mega Disasters: Comet Storm and at 10pm it's Ancient Discoveries: Mega-Structures of the Deep. OK.

Good for now readers, have fun.

Tiled walls are best.

I pride myself in being able to whistle pretty good. I may not do complete sonatas but I can warble a very recognizable Four Seasons. As anyone who whistles knows, there are a few choice spots that just have the right acoustics to give your twitterings body, depth and dimension. No other place serves this purpose better than a good public bathroom. The tiled walls, the yards of mirrors, the hard floors breath life into this simple instrument.

One melody I enjoy most is the Star Trek theme from the original TV series. I have been whistling it for years. I am ashamed to say I never took the time to find out where it came from. I, like most others, just thought, well, it came from the TV show. Some contract writer pumped it out.

Well, that isn't too far from the truth. Alexander Courage, a musical arranger for Twentieth Century Fox got the nod to do the theme for the pilot. In one of those weird twists of business fate, Gene Rodenberry wrote some lyrics to go with it, (believe it or not) and in so doing cut in half any royalties Courage would have received on the playing of that song over the past 40 years.

Alexander Courage was definitely the real deal. Emmy winner, Oscar nominated. He arranged such hits as My Fair Lady, Hello Dolly and Fiddler on the Roof. But you do just one thing that marks your career for ever. And that was Star Trek in 1965. He also did some music for The Waltons and Lost in Space.

Courage died May 15 at the age of 88.

S'monday.

Ooooh. Dogfights: Jet vs. Jet. The first jet fighter battles anywhere in the world happened between the F 86 Sabre and Mig 15's during the Korean War. History Television at 8pm, naturellement. And at 9, that other superb series Rome, with the latest episode: Deus Impeditio Esuritori Nullus (No God Can Stop a Hungry Man)

And TCM has a bunch of Glenn Ford hayburners on all night. Whoa.

Over on the History Channel at 11pm they have Man, Moment, Machine: Al Capone and the Machine Gun Massacre.

That's the crawl. Looks like an early night.