Paul Harvey R.I.P. (Updated)

Breaking news from ABC News, the ledgendary radio broadcaster Paul Harvey has died at the age of 90.

The LA Times Obituary

http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-paul-harvey1-2009mar01,0,6426181.story

a profile from the Washington Post

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/rawfisher/2009/03/hello_americans_paul_harveygoo.html?hpid=moreheadlines

Cool Things

For all you rock devotees who like collectibles, these are the newest items to hit the shelves
http://www.knucklebonz.com/productcatalog.html
and of course I would love the Elvis one but all of them are very cool.

And thanks to Blabbermouth.net for this http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=115007
I never really wanted a pair of converse until I saw these.

Are you really that stupid?

Here is a new game we can all play "Are You Really That Stupid?". Today's contestant is a nurse who had a facebook page and decided that patient privacy wasnt something she was concerned with even though it would be hard to resist posting something like this...
http://www.wisn.com/cnn-news/18796315/detail.html

Random Front Page

Not much to add to this from the NY Post (I love their headlines). From the execution of Saddam Hussein in 2006. If you get the chance to see "House of Saddam" the HBO movie I highly recommend it. Also comes with the Chad Thompson seal of approval.

Todays #1 Song Videos, Two for Tuesday

From March 5th 1966,"The Ballad of the Green Berets" by SSGT Barry Sadler. It spent 5weeks on the top of the Billboard Hot 100 just before the escalation of the Vietnam War that would really outmode this type of patriotic hero songs.


Now lets step back a few months to Sept of 1965 to the complete antithesis of the first song, "Eve of Destruction" by Barry McGuire. It spent one week at #1 wedged between the Beatles "Help!" and The McCoys "Hang on Sloopy".

Wrestlemania Memories

Well we are getting ready for Wrestlemania 25 this coming April 5th in Houston Tx. I will probably be either watching it here at home or at Chad's.

Way back in 1987 I bought tickets to see Wrestlemania III on closed circut ppv at the Indianapolis Convention Center. It was myself, my uncle Phil and our good buddy Kevin. We had a great time booing Hulk Hogan because as usual it was a very pro Hogan crowd. This was in the days before PPV was on every cable system and satellite dishes were still the giant size dishes which I had neither available to me. It was a great crowd to watch on the movie screen and they were as just into it as if they right there in Detroit.

I have posted the program I bought there and a list of the matches. The highlight was of course the Randy Savage/Rick Steamboat match but sadly I had to witness Andred the Giant get pinned by Hulk Hogan. At this time Andre was gravely ill and it took all the strength he had just to move around the ring. He had a huge backbrace to help with the pain but he was a pro and he was there to do the job for Hogan and give the people what they came for, Hogan bodyslamming Andre the Giant.

Steroids in Baseball

here is the front page of the NY Post when Barry Bonds broke Hank Aaron's Homerun record in 2007.

I also have included A-Rods front page appearance for hitting his 500th Homerun.

I thought it would be interesting to look back.

Upcoming

I have been going thur some of my 20 year old and 30 year old scrapbooks and I will be posting things from them and my memories of them. A lot of wrestling related things and sports related pictures and articles.
I have some old things to put up also. I will be posting soon.

What's My Line? and Fred Allen

As you know I am a big fan of the original "What's My Line?" and I have been taping them and saving them to dvd for several years now. Today I was dubbing off the episode in which they announced the sad death of the great Fred Allen. Mr Allen (as John Daly called him) died the night before during his nightly "midnight walk". He suffered a heart attack while walking near his New York city home. This was episode #302 in the 7th season. Now this is an unusual episode with the passing of Fred Allen but the contestants in this episode are remarkably famous group and not just the usual "celebrity mystery guest". The show started out with future hockey Hall of Fame goaltender Jacque Plante. The Canadiens were in town for a game against the NY Rangers. The panel of course didnt know him on sight but it didnt take long for Bennett Cerf to figure out since he was from Montreal that he might play hockey. The next conestant was of all people, Ann Landers or as she signed as Mrs Jules Lederer. The panel took a little longer but did guess her line fairly quick. Up next was the celebrity mystery guest and it was the incredibly beautiful Cyd Charisse, the film star and dancer.
Below I have posted the opening of this episode where John Daly talks about the passing of Fred Allen and the fact that his widow ask them to do a regular show as a tribute to Fred's professionalism, the show must go on mentality that he carried all of his career.

Happy 200th Birthday President Lincoln

Today is the Bicenntenial birthday of Abraham Lincoln and it was marked by speeches and presentations all over the country. The have issued a series of pennies depicting scenes from his life. You can read about them here:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090212/ap_on_re_us/lincoln_s_birthday_penny;_ylt=AjbUT5B.ThdkqL2FbzA.2FsDW7oF

Also the LA Times has a story about Springfield IL. Having been there it is fascinating to see the Lincoln home, the offical Presidential Museum the old State House.

http://travel.latimes.com/articles/la-tr-lincoln15-2009feb15

See pictures from the different events held today in Springfield

http://www.sj-r.com/multimedia/x114015220/Lincoln-Bicentennial-Celebration

Stump!

here is the winner of the 133rd Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show last night in NYC.

His name is Stump and I have included a link to his story. He is the oldest dog to win the Best in Show. The crowd loved him and he was quite the showman. He didnt eat up the attention like Uno did last year but you could tell he was enjoying it.

http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/NATLStump-is-Westminsters-Top-Dog.html

Just because I this oddly fascinating

this video goes along with the book I am reading now about the real story of pro wrestling from its earliest days. this video is of Joe Stecher and Earl Caddock.
some have said this was the last of the "shoot" or non faked matches for the World Heavyweight wrestling title. I tend to think it was a little shoot and worked or predetermined. The ending may have been predetermined but by the looks of it as they just shoved each other around for and staying in holds for long periods of time which was was they most shoot matches went and why they went by the wayside as crowds tired of the long bouts that could last hours and then called a draw.
this is apparently the oldest wrestling footage ever found. The beginning is pretty bad film but the footage of the actual bout seems pretty good at times.

#1 Songs of the day

This first one is from May/June of 1975 and also topped the Billboard Country charts just before topping the Hot 100.
"Thank God I'm a Country Boy" by John Denver


and speaking of Billboard's country chart, here is the song that "Thank God I'm a Country Boy" replaced at #1 on that chart. "I'm Not Lisa" by Jessi Colter, also known as Mrs Waylon Jennings.

Things I thought I would never see

Watching Nascar's Bud Shootout on Fox and I am watching the #43 on a non Richard Petty owned car and its red and not Petty Blue. Things have changed and I dont know yet if its for the better.

What I am reading now

Here are the 2 books I have on my table right now. I am almost finished with "Boys Will Be Boys" and its just what I thought it would be, the insided workings of a 3 time SuperBowl Championship team. All the women, drugs, fighting and success that the Cowboys of the 90s saw under Jimmy Johnson and Jerry Jones...and Barry Switzer too.

Ringside is the true story of pro wrestling in America with how the "exhibition" matches started in the early part of the 20th century and the real story of the sport and the behind the scenes doings that show this as an entertainment business and less sport.

Found

Well I was looking for a good video of Don Mclean singing his "American Pie" because today is actually the anniversary of the "Day the Music Died", the aforementioned deaths of Buddy Holly, Big Bopper and Ritchie Valens. I couldnt find a good one that had the whole song but I did find a video of the original lineup of Deep Purple singing the monster rock hit "Smoke on the Water" awesome stuff.

Big Monday

Well this is a big Monday. Its the day after SuperBowl XLIII and the Steelers are World Champs, although they had a fight on their and hands. With some generous calls going there way they were able to keep the Cardinals at bay and claim the 6th SB title in Pittsburgh Steelers history.
Today is also the 50th anniversary of "The Day the Music Died" according to Don Mclean in his smash song "American Pie", the plane crash that claimed the lives of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and JP "Big Bopper" Richardson.
Its also Groundhog Day the 15th Anniversary of the movie "Groundhog Day". Well I wont speak on that movie much because I dont care for it and didnt really find it as funny as others say it is, but thats ok because I find lots of movies funny that others dont get.
So lets say today is a BIG MONDAY and remember and celebrate the lives, the teams and yes even the movie.
What do you say?