"Bean Bag Exchange!" - Brad, second-grade gym class
As the Fall set into our life in our new Echo Hill home, Mom and Dad kept me pretty busy with gatherings, events, and short trips for us to partake in as the weather turned crisper and cooler. There was always plenty to do in the pre-cable, pre-video game, pre-VCR/DVD days, and we still seemed to be happy. Read the rest of this entry »
Tommy Kirk was the quintessential Disney child actor from the mid-1950′s to the mid-1960′s. His first big claim to fame was his role in The Hardy Boys series as part of The Mickey Mouse Club when he played Joe Hardy in The Mystery of the Applegate Treasure (1956), and then followed it up with another Hardy Boys series called The Mystery of the Ghost Farm (1957). Later in 1957, he starred as Travis, the older of the brothers in the Disney classic Old Yeller. Read the rest of this entry »
In 2006 and 2007, Thanksgiving was held at my mouse for my Mom’s annual family gathering. Although they were great events and I enjoyed them immensely, as you might guess it was a lot of work to prepare the house and then clean up afterward – although I never directly had to do any of the cooking. It was almost just as hard on Mom and Bob as they had to haul a multitude of tables and chairs over to my house. So it was a relief this year to hold the gathering at Jim and Jan’s house. Read the rest of this entry »
After we had seen the Playboy Mansion and had our chance encounter with Brian Wilson on the morning of Monday, October 6, 2008, Jimmy, Dick, and I – while in the Beverly Hills area - decided to stop by the Will Rogers Memorial Park and check out the surroundings. Yes, this park is best known for the incident in which Wham frontman George Michael was arrested in the men’s room for acts we won’t go into here – but to me, it was more significant as being the spot where Laurel and Hardy filmed the opening scenes of their 1932 feature Pack Up Your Troubles. Read the rest of this entry »
I’d have to say that Thursday, July 17, 2008 was the least eventful day of any during the two weeks that we spent in Europe. This was mostly due to the fact that we used almost the entire day to travel from southern Switzerland back into Germany. And besides, it was crummy, rainy weather all day. However, this was the second of only two days in which we stepped foot in four countries: Switzerland, Austria (where we actually only stepped car tire), Germany, and Liechtenstein. Yes, I said Liechtenstein. Read the rest of this entry »