The Return of Shane (1966)

 

When it comes to classic TV, you never know what show is going to hop out of the vault and make it onto DVD.  Or in some cases, whether a classic series is being left to waste away in the vault.  (I’m looking at you Disney and those classic shows from World of Color/Disney).   Some series you think should be released never are, and some you didn't think would ever see the light of day again,  end up in the marketplace. 

That’s how I would categorize this release.  Shane, based on the classic movie from 1953 that starred Alan Ladd, Van Heflin, Jean Arthur, and Brandon De Wilde.  It ran less than one full season (10 episodes), and starred the late David Carradine and the late Jill Ireland who was married to both David McCallum of NCIS and Charles Bronson.  Carradine would go on to star in the Wester/Martial Arts mix known as Kung Fu, a series that had a three season run in the seventies.(Don’t mistake it for the remake which also starred Carradine).

The only thing I can tell you is that at the time, I thought it was a really good show, although I have no memory of individual episodes.  I think its short run had more to do with some pretty heavy competition, and the fact that it was a more quiet story driven Western then the usual shoot ‘em up people were used to.  Unfortunately it also came at a time when the popularity of Westerns was just beginning to fade.

The series premiered in 1966, and holds a lofty 7.1 rating on the IMDB.  So obviously somebody besides me remembers it. 

While people continue to moan and groan about theatrical classics wasting away, there is hardly anything said about the many hundreds and hundreds of television series that are crumbling in some vault.  Many are gone forever.  These shows deserve better.  These shows tell as much about who we are and who we were as a nation at any given point in our history.  And for just about anybody, this stuff is all new material since you’ve never seen it before, and all of it is a million times better and more fulfilling then turning into the endless reality bullshit cranked out like so much waste products these days.

As for Shane, the price is hovering between $14 and $16.  That averages out to about $1.40 an episode.

These TV shows are heavy with guest appearances by well known actors and actresses, some who would go on to win many movie and TV awards.  For instance, guests appearing in Shane include Robert Duvall, Wayne Rogers, James Whitmore, Diane Ladd, Charles Grodin, J.D. Cannon, J. Pat O’Malley, Daniel J. Travanti, Constance Ford, Joseph Campanella and many more.

If you’re interested either click the picture or use the ad (turn off adblock).  I’ve already ordered mine and release date is in March.

What Do These Songs Have In Common?

1. Mistletoe and Wine, Sir Cliff Richard (1988)
2. Blue Christmas, Shakin' Stevens (1985)
3. Christmas Wrapping, The Waitresses (1981)
4. Little Saint Nick, The Beach Boys (1963)
5. All I Want For Christmas Is You, Mariah Carey (1994)
6. When A Child Is Born, Jonny Mathis (1972)
7. Christmas Time (Don’t Let the Bells End), The Darkness (2003)
8. Do They Know It’s Christmas? Band Aid 20 (2004)
9. Merry Christmas Baby, Mae West (1960)
10. Wonderful Christmas, Paul McCartney (1979)

I guess it depends on your taste in music.  But these were the ten finalists in a most hated Christmas Songs contest held in 2013 by the British coffee house chain, Costa Coffee.  I ran across this list because I was looking up some information on song number one, Cliff Richard’s Mistletoe and Wine, a Christmas tune I was unfamiliar with but was going to add to my collection which tells you a lot about my shitty taste in Christmas Carols.

The prize for the winner of this dubious distinction was banned from being played in all of Costa Coffee’s stores. 

Sir Cliff Richard's singles may be as synonymous with Christmas as turkeys and tinsel, but you won't hear them in Costa Coffee during this festive period. The British coffee house chain has banned Sir Cliff's yuletide number Mistletoe and Wine from their 1,600 stores after the 73-year-old's song was named the most hated Christmas song of all time in a poll. Songs by Sir Paul McCartney, Shakin' Stevens and Band Aid 20 also made the top-10 list, based on Costa's survey of 3,000 Brits. Kevin Hydes, Costa's UK retail marketing director, said the song would be banned from all Costa's in-store playlists over the Christmas season because "the festive happiness of our customers and staff is our upmost priority".

In an effort to rejuvenate familiar Christmas songs, Costa has given £10,000 to Youth Music, a charity which gives young people the opportunity to make music to overcome personal challenges in their lives.

How popular was Mistletoe and Wine at one time? Damn popular I guess until the Brits got tired of overplay and it became more like Stilted toes and Whine than anything to do with Christmas.

Mistletoe and Wine became Sir Cliff's 12th number one single when it was released in 1988. It spent four weeks at the top of the UK chart, and sold over 750,000 copies that year. It also secured the 1988 Christmas number one spot. Sir Cliff's other Christmas hits include Saviour's Day and Millenium Prayer.

Sir Cliff Richard's singles may be as synonymous with Christmas as turkeys and tinsel, but you won't hear them in Costa Coffee during this festive period. The British coffee house chain has banned Sir Cliff's yuletide number Mistletoe and Wine from their 1,600 stores after the 73-year-old's song was named the most hated Christmas song of all time in a poll. Songs by Sir Paul McCartney, Shakin' Stevens and Band Aid 20 also made the top-10 list, based on Costa's survey of 3,000 Brits. Kevin Hydes, Costa's UK retail marketing director, said the song would be banned from all Costa's in-store playlists over the Christmas season because "the festive happiness of our customers and staff is our upmost priority". In an effort to rejuvenate familiar Christmas songs, Costa has given £10,000 to Youth Music, a charity which gives young people the opportunity to make music to overcome personal challenges in their lives.

Mistletoe and Wine became Sir Cliff's 12th number one single when it was released in 1988. It spent four weeks at the top of the UK chart, and sold over 750,000 copies that year. It also secured the 1988 Christmas number one spot. Sir Cliff's other Christmas hits include Saviour's Day and Millenium Prayer.

But maybe you love the song and can’t get enough of it. If that should be the case you can buy it at Amazon and Maybe I’ll make two or three cents. Use the ad link, turn off your blocker to see it. Merry Christmas

Quill Pen How Do You Brighten Up My Day?

You write up a pretty good takedown of the Ebola of Texas known as Rick Perry, and the state of Texas that continually gives refuge to these diseases.  I have no regard for Perry at all, and damn little regard for Texas at all.  Funny how a state that likes to talk about how big they are is the stomping ground for so many backwards thinking small minded politicians and the people who keep them in office.

This entertained me so much, I just had to share.  Here are some highlights but you can read this essay “No Texas Messiah: A Requiem for Rick Perry” in its entirety at Politics USA:

Governor Rick Perry is another in a growing collection of Republican banditti, though one with less personal integrity than his more famous counterpart across the border, Pancho Villa, who at least was fighting for more than personal aggrandizement.

Pancho Villa actually cared about the future of Mexico. Rick Perry cares only about his own future. The United States does not enter into the picture. In the old days, the Texas Rangers would have been hunting Rick Perry down. In today’s Texas, he was their boss.

It must be remembered here that Perry (and this is to take nothing away from Perry’s complete lack of a moral compass) is a symptom of a greater ill: Texas. Under Republican governance, Texas has produced not only Rick Perry, but George W. Bush, and now provides refuge for Allen West, who couldn’t summon sufficient IQ points to qualify as a Floridian.

Texas is also a state in which Perry’s successor as Governor, the equally unethical Greg Abbott, can meet with a “patriot” militia leader (and shake his hand) days before his arrest on weapons charges, and still win election to governor.

And I haven’t even mentioned Rick Perry’s mythical “Texas Miracle” yet: In Two Sentences Team Obama Shatters The Myth Of Rick Perry’s Texas Miracle. That’s right, there is no Texas miracle, unless you’re a corporation, in which case you can blow Texans up with impunity…….


…………That’s right, you can check all the boxes: Rick Perry hates immigrants, hates women, loves himself some Religious Right theocrats, and hates gays. He’s a Republican all right, bona fides confirmed. And that doesn’t even get into his gun infatuation (because everybody needs a grenade launcher)………..

……..at a big speech he forgot what state he was in, or when he said America’s ally, Turkey, is our enemy. Here we had Bachmann fearful of the Soviet Union, two decades gone, and Rick Perry who wants to attack our allies.

And then there was the time Gaffer-in-Chief Rick Perry thought Solyndra was a country. Considering he once wanted to invade Mexico (a dream he shares with fellow GOP border bandit Sheriff Joe Arpaio), Solyndra should be worried……..

………And I’ll just let Rick Perry’s belief that he can pray away drought and other problems speak for itself. The thought of a president who thinks he can pray away problems also speaks for itself.

Perry is leaving center stage now, and thinking about a bigger venue – President of the United States – which is pretty funny because the secessionist tenther once entertained the idea of being President of Texas. Of course, if Texas Republicans get their way, he may still get that chance.

Which would negate my earlier concerns about Santa Anna’s generalship.

But Rick Perry’s ego is bigger than his prospects will ever be. A new bandit has taken his place in Austin, and Perry wants to take his crime spree to the nation’s capital. But stature-wise, Perry is nothing more than a male version of Sarah Palin or Michele Bachmann.

As I said, you can read the article in its entirety at Politics USA and it’s well worth your time.  You will be entertained.

Fifty Shades of Grey–Hot or not?

I’m still leaning towards not.  I think someone chickened out when faced with the reality of the explicitness of the Fifty Shades of Grey novel.  Whether it was Universal Studios (my guess in an attempt to hedge its investment) or the actors or the director, or choose your own culprit(s).  If it was Universal, the irony will be that they could possibly have actually hurt themselves more than help themselves.  Ask anybody who has read the book: Cleanliness is not next to Godliness in this case.

Possibly at least one actor could be a fly in the ointment as well which makes you think that because of Charlie Hunnam’s unexpected departure, they were forced into signing Dornan with not much time to consider too many alternatives. 

In a recent interview Jamie Dornan came off as a stodgy really uptight prude to the point where he had it written in the contract not to show his penis on film.  So he’s going to have to be one helluva actor to be convincing as Christian Grey.  In a key role, Dornan may be a huge mistake.

 

Dakota Johnson on the other hand, at least has a hint of being Anastasia Steele and appears to be willing to go the distance. 


At any rate, Universal’s Focus Features will try to convince you with this trailer that Fifty Shades is going to be really hot, even if they did clean it up for the mass consumption of audiences while crapping on those who made the book a phenomenon in the first place.  But I’ll let you decide for yourself.  Trailer 2:  Hot or Not.

A Vegas Musical Based on Dork Dynasty? Hold Your Nose.

Las Vegas is going to become a less pleasant place to visit.  Anybody who would spend money to see a play based on these bigoted disgusting holier than thou bearded shitheads  really really need to take a lesson in lifting up their self esteem.  Why punish yourself?

Better that you do something useful like put that money into a slot or playing the roulette wheel.  The only thing you'll get from watch this over glorified crap is the need to immediately head to your hotel room and take a shower to wash off the stench. 

Forget that.  The putrid stink of this endeavor is liable to blanket the entire West.  Keep it up, Uhmer’ca.  Soon, we can go back to living in the age of Neanderthal Man.

So how much are they going to white wash these bigoted homphobic jerks?  Probably a lot.

Variety:

“We’ve enjoyed the process of making a musical alongside the team who is interested in telling the Robertson family story from an outside perspective,” Willie Robertson, chief executive of the Robertson company Duck Commander, told the Times.

“The Robertsons are so unusual, their story so juicy, and theater shouldn’t be limited to telling stories about people you resemble or revere,” said David.

Jeff Calhoun (“Newsies”) serves as the musical’s director, according to the Times, and Steven Morris is a composer.

The news comes nearly a year after the family drew massive criticism — as well as support — for Phil Robertson’s anti-gay comments, made in an interview with GQ in December 2013. A&E suspended him after the remarks went public, though it ended the suspension later that month.

The only good thing about this is inspired me to come up with a new label for stuff like this. File this project under totally worthless crap.

Redbox Mucks Up Their Web Page Some More. I Think I’m Done.

Sometimes, you have to wonder what goes through some the mind of some corporate web designers or the big shot executives who tell them what to do.  Lately, any time Redbox has decided to tinker with their web site, they manage to really muck it up. 

I’ve always had my little quibbles with Redbox.  Many of their practices are hardly consumer friendly and they seem to be totally unwilling to make the effort to change.  Make a complaint and you’ll get a brush off.  Oh yeah, occasionally they’ll try to give you a free rental when what they should be giving you is a refund for their incompetence.

You may know that drill.  You reserve a movie and you go over to get it from the machine a few hours later and the machine is broken and not working.  And since you have no clue as to when it might be working again you can either accept your losses or call the Redbox number where the poor patsy on the other end of the phone will try to shove that rental credit on your ass, even if you have no idea when you might get to use it.

Refund?  That would be too much trouble.  After all they don’t really want to give you your money back even though its no fault of yours the machine wasn’t working.  Because that would inconvenience them, and one thing corporate big wigs don’t like is to be inconvenienced.  Better the customer put up with their lousy policies and bullshit nonsense instead of issuing a damn credit on your Visa. 

I can hear them now:

”Hey what’s the big deal?  We have a few million customers so why does one poor shlub in some hick town matter?  Let him/her get pissed off.  Beside, where the hell else are they going to go?  Blockbuster is no longer around, and Netflix takes forever.  We’re practically a monopoly so why should we give a damn?”

Yeah, I think that’s the same attitude Blockbuster took for years and look at them now.

One time I had four movies on reserve at a particular store that has two Redbox machines.  They were in Machine B.  Of course when I went to pick up the movies, it was machine B that wasn’t working at all.  It had even been unplugged to keep people from trying to use it.

This time I called the Redbox number on my cell phone right there in the store.  Basically their answer was that I was shit out of luck.  Could you switch my movie rentals to Machine A since all four movies were in that machine ready to be rented.  Nope, couldn’t do anything like that.  That would be too difficult. 

Could I get a refund?  Nope, and you could almost hear the person on the other end chuckling to themselves over that idiotic notion.

What they could do was give me a credit and I could rent the movies.  Well, eventually I could.  The problem was that their computer, which must be a Commodore 64 the way they run things, would continue to show me with four movies reserved until that reservation ran the clock out.  And the limit on movie reservations at one time is 5.

Therefore, I couldn’t even use the credit until after 9:00 the next night when I would have no use for the damn things because we in the real world have to work this thing called a job. 

There have been other instances as well and if you do a few searches on the internet, you’ll read some real horror stories.  But honestly, with their latest act of corporate stupidity and uselessness, I think I’m done.  You finally have to draw the line somewhere just to keep your sanity.  You can’t say, “What were they thinking?” because obviously they weren’t, and they don’t.  Sometimes policies are invented just to annoy you.

It used to be when you went on the Redbox web site, after having saved “your locations” you could click on one of them and see what was in that particular machine at that location at that moment in time.  If a movie wasn’t showing either it wasn’t in the machine or all copies were checked out.  If they were all checked out you could scroll to the bottom of the page and see a somewhat faded entity marked “not available.”  Pretty simple.  Then you would just click on one of your other locations (if there was one) to see if the DVD or Blu-ray was there, or just choose something else.

In my case, there are three Redbox Vending Machines within a half mile or so radius from where I live.  One of these is just two blocks away.  After that, you have to travel eight miles to the next Redbox and unless you have Quaker Oats for brains, you’re not going to make that trip.  You’ll just wait for the movie to arrive or be checked in or whatever.

But now you no longer know if it’s in or not because Redbox Executives in their infinite wisdom decided to no longer make it readily apparent whether a movie was at your chosen location or not.  Now, they simply list all their movies available at all locations, whether it’s checked out or not or whether its in the machine or not.   In my town, which seems to be last on the delivery list, this often happens.  What a machine in the big city may get on Tuesday, we may get by Friday, if we’re lucky.

So now when you click on a title that’s not even at the location you are browsing, it says “Find DVD nearby” instead of just telling you the damn thing wasn’t there in the first place.  And just checking one certain movie right now, I’d have to drive 30 miles to get it.  Some recommendation that is.

 

Why the change?  Why not just tell you up front that a movie is not at the location you’re browsing and let you make your own choice as to whether to check a box that isn’t 30 miles away?  It worked for me just fine.

Because like politicians, Redbox thinks you’re too stupid to do that.  And I guess they think somebody’s willing to spend $10 worth of gas to drive to a Redbox and get $1.20 movie so they might as well make that sales pitch for the stupid people.  It’s just idiotic and unnecessary.  And worse, you still don’t know if all copies of that movie are all just checked out or if it even arrived at that location yet.  IF ITS NOT AT THAT LOCATION JUST SAY SO INSTEAD OF ME JUMPING THROUGH HOOPS TO FIND THAT OUT!

Really, I think I’m done.  I’ll just order them from Netflix.  It may take longer sometimes, but at least I can watch them at my leisure and not deal with the frustrating antics of Redbox and their total disregard for customer convenience.  I can only be annoyed jumping through corporate hoops before I change the game plan.  Having helped do Blockbuster in, I don’t think copying that company’s little regard for their customers is a great idea.  I’m sure with all their customers, Redbox won’t miss me.  But I won’t miss them either.

Sims 4: Here Comes The Swimming Pools!

EA has released an update for Sims 4 that brings swimming pools back into the fold.  If you’ll recall, the majority of Sims fans weren’t too pleased when EA in its infinite wisdom (uh huh) decided to shit can toddlers and pools for The Sims 4.   There is nothing so bad in EA world as a Simmer scorned.

The cost is free, and along with it are things that will make your pool experience a happy one with new bathing suits and the ability to put your pools anywhere you damn well please.  Except in the basement.  Because there are no basements and no way to make them.  And there are still no toddlers to swim…oh well, never mind.  Toddlers never could swim in The Sims.

Plus the usual abundance of fixes that will fix some things and probably break others.  So here you go.

From EA:

One of the aspects of pools in The Sims 4 that I’m personally very excited about is the new way to build. For months now, we’ve been talking with you about Build mode and just how easy it is to create homes. All that great technology has now been applied to pools, making pool building faster and easier than ever before.

First off, we have diagonal pool building! Many of you have asked for this so we’re happy it will now be included in The Sims 4 after you update your game.

I’ve always longed to recreate those visually dramatic pools that are often seen at exotic resorts. Now, players can place windows on the walls of pools to create an infinity-pool aquatic escape for your Sims. And we’ve also added the ability to adjust the depth of your pools by adjusting wall heights.

Rooftop pools! Yes, in The Sims 4 you can now build pools on the ground level, on the second floor and even on the roof!



But what about your Sims? They need awesome poolside outfits. Check out the new line of swimwear in Create A Sim! You can mix and match swimwear pieces or try out the “Swimwear” Styled Looks for today’s hottest trends. Now your Sims can really dress the part before taking a dip.

Your Sims don’t have to swim, they can sit along the pool ledge and chat with other Sims who are in the pool or snuggle close to a loved one. Spectators beware – they could be subject to some splashing from the other Sims in the pool. Watch out for that angry Sim who is cooling his temper by swimming around.  

Of course pools would not be pools without a new death type. Yup, our old favorite, Death by Drowning is back!  And you will see that the resulting ghost may be a little more wary of water than before.

You can read more about this particular update and patch fixes by using the link.  Have fun!

Updated:  Can’t have pools without a pool video can you?

All Fall Down–A Short Indie Horror Film (remastered) by Kyle Riesenbeck.

A relative of mine asked for this to be shared.  So I thought this was the best way I could fulfill that wish.  Let me know (or him) what you think either here or on youtube.

EA Announces New Sims 4 Content including Ghosts, Pools, and……..STAR WARS!

 

Hopefully this will stop some of the whining over the Sims 4.  No, still no Toddlers.  But I’ve been playing the game and I don’t really miss them.  In fact, I thought they were always a bit of a nuisance.   

But if you make a lot of videos or need them for story telling, I could see a problem.  Could I have done without them in my Sims stories?  I think I could have written around that facet of life.  Toddlers were never an integral part of any of them.

But we will get pools soon and as of today, The Sims own version of the walking dead is back. 

And hey, Star Wars crap!  They should have put that in the premium edition.  It would have flown off the shelves.

From EA:

First, a rundown on the October update: October brings the spoooooky addition of Ghosts to The Sims 4. Your dead Sims can now rejoin the world of the living, where they maintain all the attributes they had a as a Sim, but with special new behaviors based on how they died.

Invite them to join your Sims’ household and they can be playable characters; if you dare, you might even find a way to bring your ghosts back to life.

Did you feel that disturbance in The Force? It was probably our new Star Wars Costume Set. Outfit your Sims in Luke Skywalker’s X-wing pilot suit, Leia’s white robes and awesome cinnamon buns, Darth Vader’s suit and, yes, even Yoda. I mean, who out there hasn’t dressed as Yoda for Halloween, right?

Now you can in The Sims 4, too! Community requests like new eye colors are in there, too. I have personally just given all my Sims purple eyes. Because I can. We’ve also fixed a few minor bugs as well.

Next come two more major updates: In November, get your Sim-suits ready (too much pun? Sorry!) because pools will make their triumphant debut in The Sims 4. December is Put-Your-Sims-To-Work Month, as we introduce new Career paths and rewards.

All of these updates will be free for our players in The Sims 4. Just log in to Origin and download the patches as we release them. Each update will be full of great content and some surprises. Think that gnomes only live in gardens? Clearly, you’re not playing enough of The Sims 4.

There's also the usual Corporate suck up to the customers in the article but you'll have to use the link to read that. Hey EA, what about the video of my houses? I thought it was pretty spectacular too! Oh well, maybe next time.

All of this is free so maybe things are looking up for Sims players and this is the new EA.  Time will tell.

Overnight Comedy Moment: Checkers or Chess?

 

 

 

Overnight Comedy Moment: Out With The Old

 

Overnight Comedy Moment: Cheaters

Overnight Comedy Moment: Just Jokes - Lost & Found, Waking Up, Exercise, and Under The Sea

Tonight’s Overnight Comedy Moment: Walk Like An Egyptian

 

 

Overnight Comedy Moment: Batter Up, At Least I Have A Job, & Puppet Man

 

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part One Trailer

I’m sure no one will put this up will they?  Here it is anyway.

Overnight Comedy Moment: The Sore Winner

Bonus Jokes
(Because I missed a day)

Still Real After All These Years: The Real McCoys

 

I found out today that the final two seasons of The Real McCoys went on sale in August.  I also found out that they are sold out already.  Why did I just now find out about this Amazon, when you have a record of me buying the other four seasons?  Isn’t your “recommendations” supposed to be the best system on the internet?

So I just checked again, and they now say available in 5 to 11 days.  I guess that’s narrowing it down, right Mr. McFeely’s Speedy Delivery?

Season Six would be a curiosity piece at best since that was the year they killed off Kate and shipped the kids out, thus totally wrecking the show.  Even in the sixties TV Executives were a bunch of know-it-all dumbasses.  Decades later, and nothing has changed.  But I still want it, because I always like to complete a set of my Classic Series when possible. 

If you are unfamiliar with the series, as I’m sure many of you are Read On.

From Wikipedia, my favorite source of infallible information:

The Real McCoys revolves around the lives of a mountain family who originally hailed from fictional Smokey Corners, West Virginia. The McCoys moved to California and became dirt farmers.

The family consisted of Grandpa Amos McCoy (Walter Brennan); his grandson Luke (Richard Crenna), Luke's new bride Kate (Kathy Nolan), Luke's teenage sister Hassie (Lydia Reed), and his 11-year-old brother, Little Luke (Michael Winkelman).



The double-naming of the brothers was explained in the first episode by the elder Luke: Because their parents were so excited over the birth of the younger boy, "they forgot all about me!" Only Crenna was in every episode.



The McCoys' farm had previously been owned by an uncle, Ben McCoy, who died. The former West Virginians joined the Grange farm association and acquired a Mexican farm hand named Pepino Garcia, played by the Puerto Rican-born Tony Martinez.

In the episode which aired on January 8, 1962, Pepino becomes an American citizen and takes the surname name "McCoy".

The McMichaels, a brother and sister combination played by Andy Clyde and Madge Blake in twenty-nine and twenty-one episodes, respectively, lived on the hill not far from the McCoys. Amos McCoy and George MacMichael, both rather devious individuals, would sometimes quarrel, particularly over their games of checkers.



Kate was friendly with Flora McMichael, George's sister, and became involved with life in the community. Though still in her twenties, Kate served as a mother figure for Luke's younger siblings, Hassie and Little Luke, and one episode shows her bewilderment in trying to entice the children to take responsibility for their school studies.

Many episodes have a moral theme consistent with the conservative views of Walter Brennan, such as two 1957 segments entitled "You Can't Cheat an Honest Man" with Joseph Kearns, later of Dennis the Menace, and "Gambling Is a Sin," in which Amos allows a casino to advertise on McCoy property before the ethics of the matter is brought to his attention.

Other such episodes are "Go Fight City Hall", "The Taxman Cometh," "You Can't Always Be a Hero", "You Never Get Too Old," "Where There's a Will", "Beware a Smart Woman", "Money in the Bank", "How to Win Friends," "You're As Young As You Feel", "Honesty Is the Best Policy", and "Never a Lender Be".

I must have them.  So hopefully they’ll still be around come next pay day.  Season Two, after having been out of print for a while is now available with the same waiting period.  Season One is still showing “not available.”  But I suspect they may finally reissue it because the price gougers who were charging over $100 and they are nowhere to be found.

I highly recommend the series because after watching the first four seasons, I found them to be much more entertaining then I remember from back when I was five or six or eight or whatever it was.  Meaning, I didn’t really remember a damn thing about them except for the “divining rod” episode which is mentioned in the Wikipedia article.

And if nothing else, it is my honest opinion that Kate McCoy (Kathleen Nolan) was the hottest farm wife to ever grace your TV screen and that’s reason enough to own this set.  I’m sure you’ll agree.



Of the original cast, only Kathy Nolan and Lydia Reed survive.  Brennan died in 1974 at the age of 80, Crenna passed away in 2003 at age 76, and Tony Martinez in 2002 in Las Vegas at age 82.  Michael Winkelman, who also served in Veitenam, would die at the age of 53 in Riverside, California.

Anyway, if you’re familiar or curious, you might invest in at least a season or two because don’t count on them coming back if they disappear this time.  I’ve been waiting about five years or so for these final seasons so that should give you a clue.  And you won’t be shortchanged.  Although the price may seem steep, remember there were 30 episodes or more in a season in those days.  Plenty of entertainment in that deal.  Use the picture of the DVD set at the top of the page for a link.

Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid? Dead Men Walking? Weekend at Clementes? D.O.A.?

So, you’re a grave digger.  Your assignment:  Dig up the grave of a one of your patrons so it can be extended so that the deceased man’s recently departed wife can be tossed in there to keep the guy company whether he wants her there or not.  For all we know, she may have been an old nag who sent him to an early grave.

So an uncle and a niece show up, you dig the old guy up, and they decide that since they are having this family reunion anyway, why not make it the photo-op of a lifetime?  Not all of us have that opportunity, so I say, go for it.

From The New York Daily News expressing their own faux outrage:

A Spanish gravedigger has been suspended after a creepy picture of him posing with an exhumed corpse went viral.

The cemetery worker reportedly dug up the body of a man who'd died 23 years ago so his recently deceased wife could be added to the family tomb. But when he opened the crypt he discovered that the man's body had become mummified and was still practically intact.

Rather than break up the body so another corpse could fit into the same space straight away, he decided to contact members of the deceased man's family.

His nephew and niece arrived — and the woman took a photograph of her dead relative standing next to the digger and her living relation.

The niece is then believed to have sent the snap to another family member via messaging service WhatsApp. It then quickly spread and was posted on several different social media sites, reports The Local.

What do I think?  I think it’s perfectly genuine and those who are expressing outrage should just take it elsewhere.  I mean, can one really be horrified over an actual dead corpse after watching live walking zombies on The Walking Dead for the past four years? 

If it was any old Tom, Dick, or Harry, off the street you might have a point.  But since it was the relatives, why not have your Kodak moment even though the once largest maker of film and cameras is deader than your departed uncle.  It’s almost poetic.  And share your joy with the world, on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or in this case, What’s App?  You now have a Christmas Card insert for all of eternity.

You’ve also made your uncle more famous than he ever was or hoped to be when he had a heartbeat, so why not let him hang around for a while and enjoy all the cool gadgets we didn’t have when he keeled over two decades ago? 

I mean, sit him on the couch and let him watch that 70 inch flat screen while you play your blu-ray copy of Weekend At Bernie’s you have in your library and he’ll feel right at home.  Not only that, when you do watch The Walking Dead, you’ll have your own movie prop right there with you.

And hey, maybe you can get him booked on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon?  He’d be the perfect guest considering how dead that show has been since Fallon took over.

As for myself, if twenty-three years after I’m gone, some relative wants to dig me up and post my picture on a billboard or whatever, that’s fine with me.  If they are still having that family reunion thingy back there every summer, you can take me along and we’ll have a meet and greet.  Let’s Party.

Overnight Comedy Moment Doubleheader: The Mummy & The Marriage Counselor

The Sims 4: My Take on the Newest Edition of the Maxis Franchise Part Two–Build Mode Updated: 9/12/2014

This video appears to be a lot better than the first one I uploaded.  In this edition I talk more about the game, things that are in and things that are out.  Where it succeeds and where it fails.  And I do this while completely remodeling Biff Bumstead’s dreary home in record time….thanks to video editing.  It actually took me about a good eight hours to do this home.

Anyway, as promised here is Part II of my thoughts on The Sims 4.

UPDATED:  In the video I lament about the fact that there are a great many inaccessible items that one could use to furnish their Sims home.  In order to get these items, your Sim has to achieve certain career goals and even then they still have to pay for them.

So no sooner do I post the video then someone from Mod The Sims issues a downloadable fix.  Simply download the Zip file into your Mods folder.  You don’t have to unzip it according to the instructions on this one.  If it works, I may do  another house real soon from scratch.  Use the links to download the file (I think you have to sign up for Mod The Sims but if you haven’t your undoubtedly new to the franchise.)

 

Overnight Comedy Moment: The Sleepover - Part Two

Overnight Comedy Moment: The Sleepover - Part One