The Great Halloween Turnip

Ireland Halloween tradition was that the Jack-o'-Lanterns were hollowed out turnips.*

The tradition came to the in United States in the 1800s and Pumpkins replaced the turnips.*

Now, you know just a wee bit more by reading Chicken-Fat than you did two minutes ago, even it is plagiarized, but reworded, material.

*UNCLE JOHN'S BATHROOM READER page-a-day calendar, October 31, 2011

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Be generous to the Trick or Treaters. Remember, their first name is Trick.

Zombies Occupying Glover Park

Speaking of people occupying public places what about the non-living occupying public places? They have rights too! This was taken in downtown Marietta at Glover Park yesterday just before they went on their ZOMBIE WALK. They were all so good in what they did.

SUNDAY FUNNIES!!! Where There's a Will

Tis the season to be frightful, scary, and creepy. Trying to fit in with the spirit of the current holidays folks. This story comes straight out of EC's THE VAULT OF HORROR #34, and the orginal publishing date is unclear (to me). The artist is Graham "Ghastly" Ingels. Instead of saying, "Ho HO!" like the other big holiday, I will say, "Heh Heh"., and rub my hands together.

The New Courthouse from Kennesaw Mountain by Tim Hunt

Wow! Tim Hunt took this picture while on Kennesaw Mountain taking fall colorful pictures. I would estimate that he was about 1.5 miles or slightly less from the courthouse. That is good photography.

Creatures of the Night - Rerun

If sitcom MODERN FAMILY can run reruns when you don't expect them to, I can too! This is actually last Halloween. Pardon me folks, I'm just trying to get some more milage out of it.

Old Postcard of Lenoir, NC

My ancestor Andres (Andrew) Killian (1701-1788) is buried in Lenoir, North Carolina. He was born in Koenigsberg, , Germany. He is buried at Saint Paul's Lutherine Church, Lincoln Co., NC. But Lenoir is not in Lincoln County it is Caldwell County.

Well... I just don't Know.

Prince Charles and Vlad the Impaler - Blood Kin

Prince Charles’ office today released that he is related to Vlad the Impaler of Romania.

Vlad the Impaler, a cruel warlord, got his nickname of “The Impaler” because he liked to impale people at a whim. He impaled thousands of people. He skewed them by ramming a rod or spear through their anus and it came out their mouth. Then he would have the pole drove upright in the ground. As an added insult he would sometimes drink their blood while the victim was watching and dying in pain.

Because of The Impaler’s eccentric behavior inspired Bram Stoker to write DRACULA which was published in 1897.

Being that Halloween is upon us, is that a timely press release or what?

Strand Theaters and It's Neighbor Merchants

On one of the pictures above Jones Drug Store was on the right on the Strand Theater in Marietta and the other picture Fox Jeweler was on the right. I think Jones Drug Store moved out on Roswell Street, across from Roswell Street Baptist Church about 1959. I think, then Fox Jewelers moved in next to the Strand.

This Day In History, October 26...

1962 - The Soviet Union made an offer to end the Cuban Missile Crisis by taking their missile bases out of Cuba if the U.S. agreed to not invade Cuba and would remove Jupiter missiles in Turkey.

In the picture above is me taking an oath to enlist into the Navy only a few days earlier. President Kennedy announced to the world on Oct 22 about the Cuban Missile Crisis and he was ordering the Navy to blockade Cuban from receiving Russian missles. It was a call to action. It was time for me to join the Navy and serve my country.

My show of strenght must have worked, the USSR backed down.


1970 - "Doonesbury," the comic strip by Gary Trudeau, premiered in 28 newspapers across the U.S.

You need fearless political-minded cartoonists like Gary Trudeau to keep elected people doing the right thing.

Helpful Information About Fun Farting

Sometimes I wonder if this blog is universal enough. It definitely has a local outlook.

Here is some information you might find useful:

It takes 45 minutes for gas to pass through your system and become a fart.*

This might be useful if you are an adolescent and want to impress your peers or an elderly person and want to shock a young person by using the “pull my finger” surprise joke. You need to plan your surprise 45 minutes ahead of time.

I should also warn you to use caution. Remember, the fart is coming straight “Off the stuff” so to speak. With just a little unintended added grunting might “backfire” on you.

Is that Universal enough for you?

*UNCLE JOHN’S BATHROOM READER Page-A-Day Calendar, Monday 24, 2011.

SUNDAY FUNNIES!! MAD's MISS POTGOLD Contest

This is ripped off the pages of MAD #17. It is a lampoon of beer company well known in the New York area annual beauty contest. I think the name of the beer company is similar to POTGOLD. For this story editor Harvey Kurtzman chose Basil Wolverton to illustrate it. Basil was not a regular contributing artist but an infrequent contributor. To MAD fans he is noted for the hideous humans he was able to draw and bring to life. But, back in his day he had several comics going: POWER HOUSE PEPPER, who was kind of a street-smart superhero - sort of; a science-fiction on-going story of a charactor sort of like BUCK ROGERS. I think he also illustrated for THE LIGHTHOUSE - yes, he was a Jehovah Witness too.

Sighting of the Invisible Man at GC BBQ

We went to our favorite barbecue eatery yesterday, Grand Champion BBQ.

This was our 4th visit. As the other times we entered the first person we saw was one of the owners smiling as always. She instantly recognized us. She remembered what I had last time and the time before that. This time I tried the pulled pork.

She told me there was somebody there that knew me. Me? Nobody knows me! I thought. She said somebody was there that reads Chicken-fat and he was there because of my recommendation.

Did I get that right? Somebody actually followed my recommendation. Wow! And what is even more amazing they just happened to be there, in mid-day, with only two other customers in the dining room. Is that synchronicity or what?

As we were about to sit down a man walked up to me and said something witty like, “They don’t have chicken-fat on the menu!” He was a real chicken-fat reader. I didn’t know if I should have walked around him and pinch him or pull his nose to see if he was real or what.

It didn’t take too many sentences for me to know who he is. We have communicated on at least two occasions. He has made comments via emails about things as I said on the blog and he is also a neighbor to an ex-postal coworker.

His nice wife walked up and we talked to her also. She had her pocketbook, so I think that was a signal to him it was time to go. It was a nice conversation. At the end, he punch-lined it by saying, “See? you are not so invisible after all.”

They left and I sat there dazzled thinking a real person with no ties reading Chicken-fat. Unbelievable!

The pulled pork was very moist and delicious. The bbq baked beans had a body of its own and the coleslaw was chunky with apple chucks.

I meant to say this in my last posting about GC BBQ but when typing it slipped my mind: They play good old fashion Delta Blues, which seems to complement good BBQ.

I guess he was right, I’m not invisible after all. Oh by the way, here is a picture of my favorite GC BBQ part-owner and me. How do you like my new ballcap?

Foot Stomping Bluegrass at the American Legion

Last night we went to a free bluegrass performance at the Powder Springs American Legion. A gentlemen gave us a flyer about the performance while we were at the Tuesday jamming session in front of the Australian Bakery on the Square. The Legion event is held every 3rd Thursday of the month. Say free and we are there!

While at the square jamming session, we met and sat with a young lady named Shannon. She had a little black and white Havanese dog with pink bows at her ears. Early on we watched as she asked a homeless man to hold the dog’s leash while she went inside to get some food. I felt the old homeless man was intimidated, standing among all those part time musicians that apparently were not hurting financially. He didn’t let that stop him from being there, enjoying the music. He was quiet a sight, standing there with the expensive-looking little dog, softly talking to it. When Shannon came back, she gave him something to eat and a cup of coffee. That was a kind gesture letting him earn his dinner. As we talked to Shannon she told us her friend was the fiddle player. She was the type that never met a stranger.

Last night Shannon’s fiddle playing friend, Clint Brooks, was there performing with the band OUT OF THE BLUE. There were two blue grass bands that alternated every 30 minutes. The other band THE GOOD TIMERS seemed to specialize in gospel music and did it well. During the second set, Shannon came in and sat by us. She explained her GPS system was playing tricks on her making her arrival late. I thought to myself that is why we were there one hour before it started, to allow for our tricky GPS, wrecks, or anything else. Retired folk can do that and of course, we are compulsively early.

We enjoyed the bluegrass music by OUT OF THE BLUE since that is what we came to hear the most. Several years ago we saw them at the Acworth Opry, but the fiddler was different then as the players change over the years. Last night Clint Brooks was playing the fiddle and sang a couple of solos. His voice was excellent as he orchestrated the instrumental solos during his vocals.

Anna was on my left with Shannon on my right. After a while I sensed movement, and saw Shannon working with her ipad looking at maps. I found out later she was planning a trip to Ohio, routing thru Asheville to visit a friend that has cancer. She is not one to sit idle.

It was a pleasant evening.

TGIF!

Jerry's Sendoff

As you can see this is a dark video. It is dark because of the absence of light in the evening. It is not dark because of the mood of a good friend passing. They were jubilant to share what fun they had with Jerry.

I have been trying to decide whether to run it or not. As you can see I decided to run it. What was said about Jerry McBee by his friends overruled my vanity of dishing out poor lightening. At least you can hear the happy words.

OM Carole Jordan

Another OM surfaced recently. Carole Jordan came out of the woodwork. Carole is an assistant in the photography class I am taking. She is very knowledgeable about the trickery and magic of picture editing. She is also into local history by being a volunteer at the Marietta Museum of History. She is probably in the MHS Class of 1962.

Marietta Square Opry

NOTE - Please click on the bottom right of the video to make it as big as your screen. The video was taken at night, so it has to fill the screen to see the people.

We went to the Bluegrass jam sessions last night that they have at the Australian Bakery every Tuesday night on the Square. We went two years ago and enjoyed it.

As you watch this, some of the music stops sudden and gets into another tune. That is because of the wild-ass cameraman/film editor. He just tried covering to much in a few minutes. But I think he still deserves a big raise.

We have seen one of the ladies perform at the Acworth Opry and remember she was good. I may have her mixed up with somebody that looks similar to her but I asked her if she was related to Johnny Cash and she said, “No, but my sister dated Buck Owens.”

We Are Almost There . . .

On This Day in History, October the 17th

1781 Cornwallis defeated at Yorktown.
1919 Radio Corporation of America (RCA) created.
1931 Al Capone convicted of tax evasion, sentenced to 11 years in prison
1933 Albert Einstein arrives in the US, a refugee from Nazi Germany.
1959 Queen Elizabeth is fined $140 for withdrawing her race horse.
1967 The play "Hair" is 1st performed.

Above is an old postcard of the Atlanta Penitentiary. Al Capone spent some of his time behind bars at that facility.

I had a relationship with the Atlanta Pen,but not nearly as serious. For three months I worked for a magazine distributor in Atlanta. The Federal Pen was on my route.

One morning my boss gave each of us route men hundreds of different kinds of books that didn't sell well. Our orders were to leave that at a customer on our route and leave them a bill for the publicatons. I think the bosses knew they would have to pick them up the next week and give issue credit. I think they probably did that to get out of paying taxes on inventory in the building.

I was stuck with 1000 coloring books to pawn off on some customers. I had no idea how to get rid of them. Then it hit me. The Pen! They didn't look at anything I delivered. I delivered them 1000 coloring books and the guard signed for them and ordered some prisoners to take the boxes in the warehouse. I was probably smirking when I drove away.

The next week when I went back I was expecting to see those boxes on the loading dock with the same guard patting his foot with his arms folded. Nope! As far as I know they kept them.

Oh Stop It! I'm Blushilng.

William & Emaline Ray Hunter
2nd class class school c1948

7th Grade Class, 1949/50 Waterman Street School


"Imitation Is The Sincerest Form of Flattery."
- Harvey Kurtzman. Harvey said that when asked about all the MAD comicbook (that he created) imitations. He may have been quoting someone else, I don't know.

While surfing Facebook this morning I came across the above pictures side by side. The top one is of my great grandparents William A. and Emaline Ray Hunter at their home on Main Street in Woodstock, Georgia. The second picture is my 2nd grade class at Waterman Street School in Marietta. I'm one of the short sqirts sitting on the front row. The 3rd picture right alone beside the other two, which has been on my blog also, of my sister Frances' 7th grade class. So, whoever posted these pictures on Facebook, thank you for flattering me (I think).

SUNDAY FUNNIES!! EC'S FRONTLINE COMBAT, CW issue

This FRONTLINE COMBAT editor Harvey Kurtzman proclaimed it to be their special issue about the Civil War. It was first in FRONT LINE COMBAT #9. 1952, EC Comics, illustrated by Jack Davis and probably written by Harvey Kurtzman. Because this is the 150th anniversary of the start year of the Civil War, we thought I thought I would try to work in all the stories before the close of the year. Damn! Why didn't I run across this sooner?

Psst! Be sure and click on each page to make it more understandable.

CELEBRATE THE LIFE OF JERRY McBEE!!

There will be a celebration of Jerry’s life this coming week:
Date: Wednesday, October 19th
Time: 5 PM – 7 PM
Location: Marietta Country Club, Stilesboro Road.

For Directions:

Click Here.

Jerry McBee Left Us Yesterday

I think Jerry was very well thought of. He made a great impression on everyone he came in contact with. With Jerry's positive winning smile girls instantly had crushes on and the males wanted him as a friend. I don't write obituaries because I know I cannot do a person justice. I know Jerry will be missed by many.