Chicken Fat: July 2011

Sunday, July 31, 2011

Town & Country Shopping Center - 1962

I think this picture was put on Facebook by either Joe Jenkins or Skip Are – and I, of course, lifted it like a fine refined thief.

See the dirt strip in the foreground? Not long after this picture was taken in 1962 the dirt strip became the home of Shrimp Boat and a trampoline jumping place. I think about 4 or 6 rectangular holes were dug and a rectangular shaped trampoline was installed above each. Then, you paid and jumped away all you couold afford.

Not in view but I think it was probably still there at the time was a two storied green tower in the middle of the parking lot. It looked something like a short air traffic control tower. It was owned by either WFOM or WBIE Radio Station. They ran live broadcasts from there and had giveaway contests. It must have been designed as a crowd getter. I won an iron, which still holds the record of being the only thing I ever won

Also not shown in the picture is the huge parking lot. I remember about March of 1961 a huge ice storm hit Metro Atlanta which virtually paralyzed everything – except for the young and foolish. We rode around looking for good places to slide our cars. Town and Country Shopping Center parking lot did not have a car in it. We had a slip and slide party. I learned a lot about the physics of car slipping and sliding and car traction in ice that day. Really. I think what I learned have got me through driving in some terrible snowy and freezing weather.
I vaguely remember that one of us driving and sliding around the parking lot hit the curb and the car turned over and smashed into the new Kroger’s grocery store. But that may have been my imagination.

*Except the many times I won a free trip to Florida to look at a land deal or something (I never accepted).

SUNDAY FUNNIES - TRUMP #1 and the Russians

This is from the first issue of TRUMP magazine, edited by Harvey Kurtzman and published by Hugh Hefner in 1957. It had one more issue to go. Back then, we were having a cold war with Russia. We didn’t trust them or like them and we were also scared of them; that is all but comic heroes and some movie heroes, they were beating them one right and left.
Now we have moved on. We have newer adversaries to fear and distrust.
This comic article was illustrated by Arnold Roth, poking fun of a little side-war the U.S. and the Russians were having, of who invented what first.

And to top things off, I also copied the first page after the Inventing article. It is a full page cartoon by Ed Fisher that shows Fisher had an excellent ironic wit about him.

Besure to click to enlarge to be able to read the captions.

Friday, July 29, 2011

Looking In a Fishbowl

At the concert last night watching the people parade by I got the notion this was something like being on the outside of a fishbowl looking in.

It looked as if a lot of the people went to a lot of trouble to be impressive: Ye Dawgies or La Te Dah!

OM Sheila

OM Sheila Wester Johnson Tucker at the 2006 Bell Reunion. She is a surviver of having a few dates with me over 50 years ago.

Thursday, July 28, 2011

Alex the Multi- Affluent Languge Monger

Jeopardy TV-game host Alex Trebek ruptured his Achilles tendon while chasing alleged robber Lucinda Moyers after Trebek caught Moyes allegedly in his room stealing valuables.

I would love to have seen that. If you know the game show JEPARDY you know Alex Trebek can speak a number of languages affluently, and does so often. Close your eyes and picture Trebek chasing a thief down the corridor of an exclusive hotel cursing him in Spanish, French, Japanese, Dutch, and Swahilis

Sharee And Her Amazing Hula-Hoop Show

I told my cousin Sharie (?) that I would have her on Youtube with her Hula-hooping and I did. But she was just one of many at my aunt Jeannette’s birthday party last week.

Here we go again, the same clip her but this time solo. If this works good maybe I can talk her into finding a wide sidewalk with plenty of pedestrian traffic. All she has to do is put down a big hat upside down and put the first dollar in it to prime it then Hula-Hoop away! I am going to demand 25% as an agent’s fee.

Checking out THE LINCOLN LAWYER.

In the movie THE LINCOLN LAWYER Matthew McConaughey plays a sleazy cocky rude lawyer by the name of Mickey Haller. Is that really acting?

I think THE LINCOLN LAWYER is named that because he does his wheeling and dealing in the back seat of a plush Lincoln while being chauffeured around Los Angeles.

The character Mickey Haller did a lot of quick thinking and fast talking and he wasn’t above bribing officials and conning someone for a quick buck, but basically he had some good in him. You would never know that until he discovers his client is also guilty of a murder years ago of a call girl that his client- then was serving time for. It just wasn't ethical.

The lawyer finds himself in a dilemma: should he break his oath of lawyer-client confidentiality and tell the authorities that his present client killed a prostitute that his past client is being punished for. Didn’t he take an oath to watch out for the old client’s best interests too?

If there was no conflict there would be no interesting story.

It also stars Marisa Tomei and William H. Macy which makes it even better.

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

A WILD HARE cartoon movie 71 Years Old Today

Bugs Bunny first movie, A WILD HARE, hit the screens 71 years ago today. He was nude from the start and has always appeared nude since, except sometimes wearing a hat, like the Pilgrim hat he wore in that Thanksgiving cartoon.

On the other hand, his distant cousin Brer Rabbit wore clothes all through his one and only movie.

GOBAG Meeting - Nobody Called it to Order

Here we go again!

The Stone Lady That Weeps

Speaking of cemeteries this nice carved marker/memorial is in the St James Espiscopal Cemetery, across from the Maritta Junior High School, and what used to Marietta High School, when I attended.

Through the years this graceful lady and her twins had to sit motionless by while vandals threw paint on them, chipped off pieces of them, and no telling what else. They are just a stone's throw from Jon Benet' Ramsey's grave. Literally!

It has been said that at midnight if you walk around the mother and her children three times and ask her what happened to her twins she will weep. I doubt it. I think if she could do that she would throw grab the paint bucket and throw it back at them.

Liberty, Old, Cemetery, Union Co, Ga

This is the Old Liberty Cemetery of Union County. The New Liberty Cemetery was on this blog last week. In this area I have family ties to the Englands, Collins, Lance, Duckworths, Nixes, and Southers. The ones that are below that do not have those surenames are below because they look unique for one reason or another or maybe the markers are just shiny, and I am attracted to shiny objects, kind of like catfish.

Elizabeth Collins

Emaline Collins

Ivan Collins' CSA marker

Ivan Carr Collins

Connie Dale

Ronnie Dale

Rev Beford Duckworth & Bonnie Mae

Jimmie & Mae England

John W. and Pauline England

Mary Elizabeth England

Roy Nix & Rosie Idell

William Rathbone

Myrtle Souther Hunter

Willard Souther

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Birds Swooping as a Group

Have you ever seen hundreds of birds just sitting in a tree and then just suddenly take off in the air, all in some kind of formation in relation with each other. Suddenly the huge swoop in formation, make a swoop, or a loop and come back to the same tree they were perched in.

I have a few questions: The first one would be Why? They all flew out and flew back in and landed. What did they accomplish? The next question would be How? I mean, without bumping into each other in flight or know when to turn up or down or swing around the exact moment all the other birds do the same? And the last question, did each bird land in the same spot he or she was previously in?

My last question could possibly be answered if all birds had bands on their little ankles that gave off electronic message as to where they were sitting in the tree before and after.

Wait! I have another question. Where each bird sit, is it assigned according to rank…. Or, you might say “pecking order”. Parton me, I couldn’t resist that.

This scientific study would help me with my readers. I think they more or less group think like a flock of birds. They suddenly do something, like leave for a day or two, then suddenly come back.

True! They do. Today about 130 of my flock left my blog tree and I suspect they will return in a couple of days. Are they out making one huge swoop now? They did it before and the numbers were about the same.

Maybe I should put some ankle bands on them.

Monday, July 25, 2011

OM Marvalyn

Marvalyn Bolding Long at the Bell Reunion 2010. Last Marvalyn sent me a Facebook message asking when the Bell Reunion is this year. I responded that "the Bell Reunion is always the last Saturday of September".

Now, watch them change it and prove me wrong.

Sunday, July 24, 2011

Jeannette Hunter's Birthday Bash Videos

These two videos are a brief summary of Jeannette Hunter’s birthday party held Saturday, July the 23rd. The bulk of the people you will see are off-springs and their spouses. The rest of us are nephews, nieces, sister-in-law, spouses, and friends.

The reason for two video parts is that it is difficult for me to upload anything to Youtube over five minutes long. I tried and there was a system error. I went back and cut it into two videos. There’s more than one way to skin a cat.

It was nice seeing the Hunter kin herded in one yard again.

Part 1

Part 2

Tranquilla of Marietta, 1892, GWTW?

Tranquilla, above, was owned by Andrew Jackson Hansell. He went off to fight with the CSA in the Civil War. His wife, Mrs. Hansell, refused to leave Tranquilla. A group of Yankees came through and threatened her. She pulled out her gun and said she would kill the first man to take a step towards her.

Years later, before GONE WITH THE WIND was written, Margaret Mitchell visited Tranquilla with the owners of that time. Was the Mrs.Hansell story handed down with the heritage of the house. Did that inpire the staircase scene in GWTW?

SUNDAY FUNNIES!! TFTC's OPERATION FRIENDSHIP

This story was orginally published in EC Publishing's TALES FROM THE CRYPT, issue #41 in 1954, and later republished by Russ Cochran publshing Company. The story was illustrated by Jack Davis and probably written by editor Al Feltstein & publisher William Gaines.