The Terrible Catsafterme

Okay, I was young and uneducated at the time. I hadn’t seen many of the silent Our Gang films at that point. They just really weren’t very available for viewing in 1980. So at the time I scarcely knew who Mary Kornman was, much less her little sister Mildred. And the clincher was that the Kornman Mom – Verna Kornman – was also on hand for the Our Gang reunion. Mary, who had passed away from cancer in 1973, was THE leading lady of the silent Our Gang – as much as Darla was the leading lady of the sound Little Rascal films. Read the rest of this entry »

Cubby O’Brien was one of only nine children to star as Mousketeers for the entire run (three seasons – plus a fourth which consisted of all reruns) of The Mickey Mouse Club from 1955-59. Cubby was also distinctive as being the only musical Mouseketeer who was permitted by Disney to be shown on screen playing his instrument. Closely associated with his drums, Cubby actually went on to be a professional drummer later in life. Read the rest of this entry »

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 »