The Terrible Catsafterme

American History has long fascinated me, so I love visiting places that continue to further my historical education. Instead of a strict daily breakdown of all events from my last trip through Virginia (and other similar trips I have taken and will hopefully continue to take), I have decided to combine locations that pertain to particular Presidents of the United States into one posting. Although I typically find all of the other people, places, and things that I have visited very fascinating, my primary goal is to find all of the Presidential locales, those being birthplaces, homes, places of employ, Presedential Libraries if applicable, and graves. Not surprisingly, the first locations I have chosen to share are those that pertain to our first President, George Washington. Read the rest of this entry »

Our first annual cousins party was held on Saturday, June 17, 2000. The fact that it was only held annually for two years doesn’t detract from the excitement generated by our first soiree. My oldest Murphy cousin Cathy had recently held a generic party at her house in Dayton, one she had recently acquired and was anxious to show off. If memory serves me correct, it was during this party, which featured an ample number of cousins already, where the idea was generated to have a get-together exclusive to the Murphy cousins and their spouses and/or better-halves. So that was the genesis of the short-lived series. Thanks to Susan, here are some photos from the spectacle. Read the rest of this entry »

On the morning of Saturday, July 28, 2007, the buses were all convening at the Culver Hotel where Bob and I had spent the night. Some were transporting guests who had stayed at the Westin near the LAX (the location of our mixer the night before) and others were driving locally to the Culver Hotel to catch an empty bus. Whichever the case, each person would check in and receive a booklet describing the Laurel and Hardy locations in the immediate walking area. As I described in my last posting about the Culver Hotel, not only was the hotel itself a prime film location but Main Street itself was used in no less than ten of the Laurel and Hardy silent films. Read the rest of this entry »

He’s got one of those faces that any TV addict would instantly recognize. I knew him best as playing Leander Pomfritt, the teacher in The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis…but his credits just keep going on. With over 300 different film and TV roles – and still working today, most recently appearing on How I Met Your Mother – William Schallert is the quintessential character actor. His credits include (but are most certainly not limited to) The Twilight Zone, Burns and Allen, Leave It To Beaver, The Untouchables, The Rifleman, The Andy Griffith Show, The Lucy Show, Gunsmoke, Little House on the Prairie, Coach, Lois and Clark, ER…I could go on and on. Not to mention all of his movie appearances. Go check out the IMDB if you don’t believe me. Read the rest of this entry »

My Dad was obviously quite into baseball as he wandered through his pre-teen years. He had quite a vintage baseball card collection, which he still has today – and is probably quite valuable. He also fancied himself a ball player and sometime around 1960 these great photos of him playing baseball with his Dad were snapped. And as today is his 60th birthday, I thought it appropriate to share them. His parents obviously thought these pictures were keepers because they had them printed up in nice, glorious black and white 5 x 7 prints. Read the rest of this entry »