5 Ding Dong School



Seen Monday through Friday, the Ding Dong School was one of the first educational shows for kids. It pioneered the style later used by Mr. Rogers and others. Our "teacher" was Dr. Frances Horwich, who was head of the Education Department at Roosevelt College in Chicago. But we knew her as "Miss Francis."

The opening sequence was a hand ringing a bell. This prompted producer Reinald Werrenrath's three year old daughter to give the show it's name! My Mom bought me a fingerpainting set, probably because it looked like so much fun in "school"

4 Captain Kangaroo



Captain Kangaroo taught us good manners, respect and fair play. Mr. Green Jeans taught us to be nice to animals. We learned a lot from that show and had fun doing it.

3 Howdy Doody



The show took place in Doodyville, a circus town which had both puppet and human inhabitants. The audience of kids was called the Peanut Gallery and there was a huge waiting list for tickets to the show. Everybody wanted to sit in the Peanut Gallery! The show typically had a short film, a song or two and visits by the various residents of Doodyville. The original Clarabell the Clown was Bob Keeshan who left to become Captain Kangaroo. Other residents included Mr. Phileas T. Bluster, Dilly Dally, and Princess Winterspring Summerfall. I vaguely remember there was a Heidi Doody at one time.

2 Mickey Mouse Club



Although the Mickey Mouse Club TV series premiered on October 3, 1955, the Mouseketeers made their first television appearance on July 17, 1955 - on the ABC broadcast special celebrating the opening of Disneyland.
Walt Disney was adamant that the Mouseketeers be regular kids, not actors. Producers searched schools looking for kids with that special spark. The Mousketeers went to school 5 days a week on the Disney lot. Not only did they work 6 days but Sundays were often spent performing for the public. Being a Mousketeer wasn't easy.

The original Mousketeers were:

ºoº Sharon Baird
ºoº Bobby Burgess
ºoº Lonnie Burr
ºoº Tommy Cole
ºoº Annette Funicello
ºoº Darlene Gillespie
ºoº Cubby O'Brien

Days of the Week themes for the shows.

Monday - Fun With Music Day
Tuesday - Guest Star Day
Wednesday - Anything Can Happen Day
Thursday - Circus Day
Friday - Talent Round-Up Day

Meeska Mooska Mouseketeer, Mouse cartoon time now is here. LOL.

1 The Cisco Kid



These guys operated a lot like Robin Hood. Although the law regarded them as desperados, they defended the weak and helpless. One of the reasons for this show's longevity in syndication was the early decision to film in color. I never saw it in color, we had black and white TV.

Their signature signoff was "Oh, Cisco" and "Oh, Pancho" as they rode off into the sunset. My other nickname came from my parroting their sign off. In my case Cisco was Crisco and Pancho was Spancho. Dad alternated between Crisco and Spancho until he finally settled on Spancho. It got shortened to Spanch and he calls me that to this day. Hey, it's better than Crisco...fat in the can.

We are getting an ice storm that is pretty impressive here. It's still dark and I'm on-line because at the moment I have the power to do so. I can't guarantee that I will keep my electricity today. I'm also swamped at the moment with calls from girls that can't get to work. Talk to you all later, if I can.

We had a television in the 1950's. I barely remember what it looked like. My recollection is one of a large wooden box with veneer that encased a huge picture tube. When you took the back off there was a metal board that all these different sized tubes of glass were set into. When something didn't work, a repairman came to the house and replaced one of those tubes and you were back in business

I was not limited to any particular number of hours of watching. I could watch anything I wanted up until Dad came home. Then the TV was his and we watched what he wanted. I didn't like everything that he watched but there were shows that I hated missing. They may have been in black and white, but I don't remember that spoiling my enjoyment one bit.

Perry Mason



Erle Stanley Gardner wrote the original Perry Mason books and formed a company, Paisano Productions for the TV version of his character. Although he didn't write the scripts, he had approval and stacked the production team with real lawyers to keep things interesting.
The formula was consistent. Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) got a new client and the first half hour was about the crime. Paul Drake (William Hopper) was sent out to investigate but rarely found anything close to a smoking gun until the trial had begun.

Perry was assisted by his able and loyal secretary, Della Street (Barbara Hale).

His principle adversary was District Attorney Hamilton Burger (William Talman). Hard as Burger tried, he couldn't beat Perry.
In most episodes, the real guilty party broke down under Mason's grilling cross-examination. Or blurted it out from the spectator's gallery. Then Perry, Della and Paul would recap the case, just in case we hadn't figured it out.

The Ed Sullivan Show



When asked on air by Jack Benny, what do you do on this show, Ed Sullivan replied, "I introduce the acts."

He was awkward looking, had horrible posture, spoke with an odd accent, couldn't sing, dance or act and was on television for 23 years. Why? Ed Sullivan was one of the greatest showman who ever lived. It was a really good "shew".

Sunday nights the family gathered around the TV and watched Sullivan. We saw jugglers, opera, ballet, lions and tigers and bears, singers, comediennes, puppeteers and ventriloquists. As the I got older, I wanted the plate spinning, tumbling, knife throwing to end fast so I could see the Rock stars.

77 Sunset Strip



The prototype for the suave Private Eye show!

Stu Bailey (Ephraim Zimbalist Jr) was an Ivy League Ph.D. who had been an OSS officer. Spencer (Roger Smith) has also been an undercover agent and was a lawyer. Both were judo experts.

Their offices were at 77 Sunset Strip in Hollywood.
Next door was the posh restaurant, Dino's Lodge at number 79, where the "ginchiest" carpark of all time, Kookie (Ed Brynes) worked and gabbed. The dreamboat Brynes became a heartthrob and recorded "Kookie, Kookie, Lend Me Your Comb" with Connie Stevens.
I was too young to know what a heartthrob was, but I knew I liked him.

In my family this was "Must See TV" before there was such a phrase. There was no nudity, partial or otherwise, no blatant sexual suggestions. Well written scripts and plain old fashioned entertainment kept the average family sitting in front of the television when reception was poor, and you only had 3 or 5 channels depending on where you lived. In order to tolerate the snow and the interference you had to have good quality shows to capture an audience. We were captured, and still are.

It's an "innie" by the way. Not that it matters greatly, but "innies" are much more attractive than "outties". When contemplating ones navel it is best to focus on that which one finds attractive. Of course when contemplating ones navel one really isn't paying much attention to ones navel...exactly. When meditating, it's best to sit comfortably erect. The spine should be straight with head lifted and eyes closed. Obviously the navel is not visible while in that pose, in which case one can have as beautiful a navel as one wants.

Meditation happens from a starting point in the mind. To find that point it is necessary to relieve the mind of it's tendency to work overtime processing all the day to day stress that we experience. I always laugh when I hear a meditation instructor command one to "empty the mind". Like this is possible? What does one fill it up with...air?

No, actually one fills it up with a visual point of reference or with a chant of some sort. For me the navel works admirably. It is the source of life, the center of the universe. It's the first scar we receive to our bodies, caused by the cutting of the umbilical cord at birth. We spend 9 months in the womb and our main source of nutrients is our umbilical cord. Meditation lowers bloodpressure, increases oxygen to our cells, increases memory, decreases stress, and facilitates healing. It can even be used to control pain. It may be why I have only experienced one headache in the 2 years I've been meditating. It also may be why I have been able to reduce the anti-inflammatory I take for the pinched nerve I suffer from.

When I meditate, I start with contemplating my navel and before I know it I'm off on a journey. I mentally roam gardens and forest paths. I speak to the animals I encounter as if they were old acquaintances. I hear the water flowing through the brook, the birds sing, and I feel the sunlight on my face. It is perpetually spring or a balmy day in summer. I am never too cold nor too warm, always just right. I am always easy in my mind, not bothered by the reality of daily life. I have escaped the cold and snow, and am taking a brief vacation in the Bahama's maybe, or some South Sea Island. I breathe deeply, hear my heartbeat and radiate peace and well being. I don't even mind having to come back to Central New York in the dead of winter, probably because I carry my special place with me all the time. After all, my navel is always there for me, I don't have to do anything at all to it. Well...I do have to clean the belly button lint out, but other than that it's always good to go.

I went to work today, the way the BOSS requested me to. The coordinator was coming back today, and she knew that. There is another duty they want to add to the coordinators position. She needs to be trained to do this particular duty. The boss planned on having me work while they trained her. The last thing the boss said when she left at 2pm yesterday was for me to be in the office by nine. I was.

It turns out that the person who needs to do the training on this new duty hasn't himself been trained. She knew that. Furthermore, the instructor is the payroll clerk and the computer will be tied up all day today doing the payroll. She knew that too. Basic commonsense should have told her having me come into the office would be a waste of time. Yet, she told me to come into the office.

We all have our own ways of doing things. Most of us know when we're traveling the wrong way on a one way street, which doesn't always stop us from trying it. It's usually a matter of needing to learn by doing rather than learn through the advice of others. I apparently have a boss who needs a reality check, or a new direction. I think I better get a roadmap.

Our office coordinator is having a family emergency so I am working in the office until things are restored to normal. I spent the day listening to how little I do as an on-call. They are right, I don't really get that many calls, but I do more than they give me credit for. Who else is dumb enough to take a job where you can get dragged out of bed in the middle of the night?

If one of the girls is up sick at two in the morning, they call in at that time. I could get up and call around to see if anyone will take the case, but chances of finding someone that won't be mad that I woke them up are few and far between. I will work in the office when asked, I'll even work cases when asked. What more can I do? My whole feeling on this is if they think they can get someone else to take my job, go for it.

I would have thought given the number of on-calls they go through at some of the other offices in the same length of time I've done my job, they would get a clue. Then again, maybe it doesn't matter, maybe it was just Monday for the boss too.