The Terrible Catsafterme

Tippi Hedren is best known for her role as Melanie Daniels in Alfred Hitchcock’s 1963 thriller The Birds…and little else. Although Hitch tried to make her a big star by casting her as leading role in this film as well as the lesser-acclaimed Marnie, it never really happened for her. She was quickly relegated to low-budget films and fleeting television appearances (but did also star in A Countess From Hong Kong, notable as the last film of Charlie Chaplin).

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On Friday, October 7, Bob, Jimmy, and I headed from Bob’s place in San Bernardino toward Las Vegas. The main reason: to see the Penn & Teller live show at the Rio, which I covered in a previous posting found here. But while we were in town, Bob wanted to show us around a bit. I thought that this sounded great as it would provide even more great things to do and report in our family Christmas Newsletter. As much as my website helps drive many of the adventures I go on these days, the Christmas Newsletter helped drive events back in 2005. Read the rest of this entry »

Bob and I woke up bright and early and rarin’ to go on the morning of Sunday, July 27, 2008 at the Travelodge in Fremont, Ohio. Unfortunately, we had discovered the night before that the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center didn’t actually open until noon that day. So after tending to my scorched ear hairs following Bob’s expletive, we decided to make the most of it and have a nice big breakfast at a nice little local restaurant after stopping in the center of town in Fremont and getting a new face-in-the-cannon photo.   Read the rest of this entry »

As our nation’s nineteenth President from 1877-81, Rutherford B. Hayes had the good fortune to serve his single term during a quiet part of American history. He effectively ended reconstruction of the South following the tumultuous Civil War…and the Spanish-American War was still seven years away following his term. This means that although he did a good job in office, today he is relegated to the bin of ‘forgotten Presidents’ In fact, most grade school students will likely only remember Hayes for his seemingly out-of-control chin whiskers. Read the rest of this entry »

There was no end to the fun to be had in St. Petersburg during my all-expense paid (by my parents) trip in the Summer of 1977 when I was a mere five years old. The Odyssey hotel, the wax museum, the pool, Ira and Mildred’s house, the Kapok Tree, Disney World, the seagulls, my gal Mary, and especially the white sands of the beach and refreshing salt water of the ocean were all ingredients for one of the most memorable trips of my life. Read the rest of this entry »