That one comes in better on the Wikipedia.
Posted on 09/10/2013 8:32:11 PM PDT by lee martell
Nowadays, thanks to the internet, cable, and satellite media, there is programming literally around the clock, at least in today's United States. There is never a time when you could turn on your state of the art, flat wall screen tv, press all the button combinations, only to find "nothing is on". This seems to be what the public wants, a never ending access to shows, movies, youtubes and music. It is nice to have but a short road to almost any type of production, at almost anytime. Of course, all depends on a reliable electrical grid to keep everybody connected, if that's what you want. I recall when local stations would sign off, I mean really sign off the air for the whole night. Many local stations would end the day with a solemn reading by a famous historic figure, or when it was near Christmas and Easter, Psalms were read. Then a test pattern, then a fade to black, or all night static. One Easter, the Kyrie by Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina was used; a combination adult and children's choir.
As late as in 1983 this was the case. I recall vividly the weekend the world found out that Lady Astronaut Sally Ride had gone into space. After all the interviews and hoopla, it was time for Channel 4 to go off the air. Channel 4 then played what is probably my favorite, a piece by Gabriel Faure called Pavane, Opus 50 for flute and orchestra. The scene shows a swan on the water slowly going to sleep.
I was a fan of the late shows, when I got older, the late-late shows, long before pioneers like Tom Snyder of the Tomorrow Show gave more of us a reason to stay up late. We no longer had to settle for yet another showing of a B movie. When I say B movies, I mean something like the one with Tallulah Bankhead, called 'Die, Die, My Darling!", or Bette Davis and Joan Crawford in "Whatever Happened To Baby Jane?".
Other classic B films came out during the "rodents are the perfect pet" phase, one was "Ben" a story about a Boy and his Rat. Theme song by Michael Jackson, prior to his 10th facial reconstruction. The second Rat film of the time would be "Willard" with Ernest Borgnine. This film centered around a nerdy young man who was as they say nowadays; bullied. His only friends were rats, which he trained to do his bidding. the Willard character was being pushed around by whoever Ernest Borgnine was playing. Willard's classic line was "Tear Him UP!!" as he sicced his ratty pals on poor Ernest B.
My grandfather had a great big attic fan in his house.
When he would cut that sucker on, every curtain in the house was waving in the breeze, wasn't that bad even at midday.
I'm 60 now and still physically active in my business. I can still do everything I've ever done as a tradesman, but I pay more for it these days.
While dripping with sweat on the job the other day, it occurred to me that one day I'll actually miss the all the hard work. I'm pretty sure most guys who work with their hands come into the same thoughts eventually.
For the life of me, I can't recall any places that were air conditioned in my youth. 'Course, I'm from California, so there ya go. Most places probably never had it.
I do remember the big ceiling fans in the schools, and just about every other public place.
You mean back when public schools still actually taught patriotism?
Not us, no fans I can recall.
Hey mom and dad had 5 kids, 2 boys, 3 girls in a 2 bedroom house plus the enclosed back porch -leaky when wet.
There was no hall, the bathroom was connected to one of the bedrooms. We had bunk beds, of course.
Maybe the theater, we had a dollar theater back then.
now it plays movies from India.
That one comes in better on the Wikipedia.
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XRYg70HHkQs&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DXRYg70HHkQs
This was my favorite sign off from the 70’s/ early 80’s
The family across the street had a huge front porch, it was the place all the kids hung out.
I prolly should have tried to adjust the horizontal knob. :)
Fairly cool and you could watch the *heat lightening* show over the gulf, usually a pretty good south wind blowing.
“The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there.” - Hartley
What I remember was the sign - off - the national anthem with a waving flag. If you got up early the first program on was a very short morning devotion - usually by a pastor or such.
A different country. We have not improved.
Very Clever! I had to re-read and rethink your remark before I realized you meant
“President” O.
Thanks. I’m a sucker for a good opening :-)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6Aq6fhIVzk
Can’t believe I found it.
Channel 11 WPIX (in NYC we were rich in TV fare; we had SEVEN VHF stations - ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS, and then 3 other stations that showed a lot of old movies and shows.) I often closed on channel 11 because they had a lot of old movies late at night.
As a child I was a movieholic, would get up and sneak downstairs and watch tv and eat out of the fridge all night while everyone else slept. Never needed much sleep.
I remember the late night movie theme was Gone with the wind. That tune takes me back to late night movie watching, not the actual Gone with the wind movie.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPTQRmwCOWs
Funny how things worked out. Our own Indonesian Nobel Peace Prizer has a favorite pose while in public; I call it his EL DUCE look, as with Mussolini, chin haughtily raised, eyes distainfully squinted so as not to see the great unwashed voters desperately trying to get his attention.
As I move on to late middle age I think back to those days of fifty years ago. I did grow up on Beaver Cleaver's street, or close to it. I lived with my family in a large 3 bedroom, 2 bath Victorian home with a white Pickett fence and my neighbors had similar style homes and you knew each other. Chestnut trees grew on my street and in summertime they would shade the street from the sun. That is until they developed a fungus of some sort and were removed. We had the metal milk box on the porch and the milk truck would come with those thirty ounce glass bottles. There was a guy with a truck selling and calling out, ''STRAWBERRIES TODAY! FRESH STRAWBERRIES and PEACHES!! And I remember the Fuller Brush man too. I remember our family doctor, Doctor Harvey. Doc Harvey had been a medic in WW2 and he made house calls. That America has vanished. I miss those long ago days so much.
Today there is a new version of Doctor Harvey, where for a set fee, patients can and do have the doctor coming to the house again. Many Doctors decide to deal directly with the patient as much as possible, cut out the Government’s unnecessary redundancy and mumbo jumbo. Their motto is’ Don’t Hate, Negotiate!
With the ObamaCare Blob fast approaching, some Doctors actively discourage their children from staying in the family business. That means we’ll be getting imported Doctors who may or may not be fluent in our language and cultural norms.
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