AS SEEN ON TV: JAMES ANGLETON

JAMES ANGLETON

AS SEEN IN:
'The Company'

AS PLAYED BY:
Michael Keaton

From Wikipedia:
James Jesus Angleton (December 9, 1917 – May 12, 1987) was a long-serving chief of the Central Intelligence Agency's (CIA) counterintelligence (CI) staff. His official position within the organisation was "Associate Deputy Director of Operations for Counterintelligence ADDOCI)".

According to one-time Director of Central Intelligence Richard Helms: "In his day, Jim was recognized as the dominant counterintelligence figure in the non-communist world."

Investigative journalist Edward Jay Epstein agrees with the high regards given to Angleton by his colleagues in the intelligence business, and adds that Angleton earned the "trust... of six CIA directors -- including Gen. Walter Bedell Smith, Allen W. Dulles and Richard Helms. They kept Angleton in key positions and valued his work."

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: THE MAYFLOWER

THE MAYFLOWER

AS SEEN IN:
'The Simpsons'

TV DIMENSION:
The Tooniverse

From Wikipedia:
The Mayflower was the ship that transported the English Separatists, better known as the Pilgrims, from a site near the Mayflower Steps in Plymouth, England, to Plymouth, Massachusetts, (which would become the capital of Plymouth Colony), in 1620. There were 102 passengers and a crew of 25–30.

The vessel left England on September 6, 1620 (Old Style)/September 16 (New Style), and after a grueling 66-day journey marked by disease, which claimed two lives, the ship dropped anchor inside the hook tip of Cape Cod (Provincetown Harbor) on November 11/November 21. The Mayflower was originally destined for the mouth of the Hudson River, near present-day New York City, at the northern edge of England's Virginia colony, which itself was established with the 1607 Jamestown Settlement. However, the Mayflower went off course as the winter approached, and remained in Cape Cod Bay. On March 21/31, 1621, all surviving passengers, who had inhabited the ship during the winter, moved ashore at Plymouth, and on April 5/15, the Mayflower, a privately commissioned vessel, returned to England. In 1623, a year after the death of captain Christopher Jones, the Mayflower was most likely dismantled for scrap lumber in Rotherhithe, London.

The Mayflower has a famous place in American history as a symbol of early European colonization of the future United States. With their religion oppressed by the English Church and government, English Dissenters called Pilgrims who comprised about half of the passengers on the ship desired a life where they could practice their religion freely. This symbol of religious freedom resonates in U.S. society and the story of the Mayflower is a staple of any American history textbook. Americans whose roots are traceable back to New England often believe themselves to be descended from Mayflower passengers.

The main record for the voyage of the Mayflower and the disposition of the Plymouth Colony comes from William Bradford who was a guiding force and later the governor of the colony.

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: NIKITA KRUSCHEV

September 15, 1959 – Nikita Khrushchev becomes the first Soviet leader to visit the United States.

NIKITA KRUSCHEV

AS SEEN IN:

'Playhouse 90' - "The Plot To Kill Stalin"

AS PLAYED BY:

Oskar Homolka

From Wikipedia:

Khrushchev was invited to visit the United States, and did so that September, spending thirteen days. Khrushchev arrived in Washington, DC on his first visit to the United States on September 15, 1959. The first visit by a Soviet premier to the United States resulted in an extended media circus. Khrushchev brought his wife, Nina Petrovna, and adult children with him, though it was not usual for Soviet officials to travel with their families. The peripatetic premier visited New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco (visiting a supermarket), Iowa (visiting Roswell Garst's farm), Pittsburgh, and Washington, concluding with a meeting with US President Eisenhower at Camp David. Khrushchev was supposed to visit Disneyland, but the visit was canceled for security reasons, much to his disgruntlement. He did, however, visit Eleanor Roosevelt at her home in Hyde Park, New York. While visiting Thomas J. Watson, Jr's IBM headquarters, Khrushchev expressed little interest in the computers, but greatly admired the self-service cafeteria, and, on his return, introduced self-service in the Soviet Union.

Khrushchev's US visit resulted in an informal agreement with US president Dwight Eisenhower that there would be no firm deadline over Berlin, but that there would be a four-power summit to try to resolve the issue, and the premier left the US to general good feelings. Khrushchev returned from the US convinced that he had achieved a strong personal relationship with Eisenhower (who in fact was unimpressed by the Soviet leader) and that he could achieve détente with the Americans. He pushed for an immediate summit, but was frustrated by French President Charles de Gaulle, who postponed it until 1960, a year in which Eisenhower was scheduled to pay a return visit to the Soviet Union.

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: HANDEL

On this date in 1741, Georg Friedrich Handel completed his oratorio "Messiah".......

GEORG FRIEDRICH HANDEL

AS SEEN IN:

"Handel's Last Chance"

AS PLAYED BY:

Leon Pownall

From Wikipedia:

Messiah is an English-language oratorio composed in 1741 by George Frideric Handel, with a scriptural text compiled by Charles Jennens from the King James Bible and the Book of Common Prayer. It was first performed in Dublin on 13 April 1742, and received its London premiere nearly a year later. After an initially modest public reception the oratorio gained in popularity, eventually becoming one of the best-known and most frequently performed choral works in Western music.

Handel's reputation in England, where he had lived since 1713, had been established through his compositions of Italian opera. He turned to English oratorio in the 1730s, in response to changes in public taste; Messiah was his sixth work in this genre. Although its structure resembles that of conventional opera, it is not in dramatic form; there are no impersonations of characters and very little direct speech. Instead, Jennens's text is an extended reflection on Jesus Christ as Messiah, moving from the prophetic utterances of Isaiah and others, through the Incarnation, Passion and Resurrection of Christ to his ultimate glorification in heaven.

Handel wrote Messiah for modest vocal and instrumental forces, with optional settings for many of the individual numbers. In the years after his death the work was adapted for performance on a much larger scale, with giant orchestras and choirs. In other efforts to update it, its orchestration was revised and amplified by (among others) Mozart. In the late 20th and early 21st centuries the trend has been towards authenticity; most contemporary performances show a greater fidelity towards Handel's original intentions, although "big Messiah" productions continue to be mounted. Since a near-complete version was issued on 78 rpm discs in 1928, the work has been recorded many times.

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: MICHELANGELO

I thought I'd retire the "Two For Tuesday" concept, but I couldn't resist one last entry....


September 13, 1501: Michelangelo begins work on his statue of David.

MICHELANGELO

AS SEEN IN:
'Monty Python's Flying Circus'

AS PLAYED BY:
Terry Jones

MICHELANGELO

AS SEEN IN:
"Monty Python: Live At The Hollywood Bowl"

AS PLAYED BY:
Eric Idle

BCnU!

SKED ALERT: "THE DICK VAN DYKE SHOW" BLOG-A-THON!

You may have noticed a paucity of prose here at Toobworld Central the last few weeks. It's because I've committed myself to an Inner Toob project that will be part of the greater good. ("The greater good......")

On October 3rd, my blogging buddy Ivan of "Thrilling Days Of Yesteryear" (link to the left, swabbies!) is hosting a blogathon dedicated to the classic and classy 'Dick Van Dyke Show', which will be celebrating its fiftieth anniversary on that date.

I pledged myself to do a timeline for the series, not only of the events within the show, but also of people and events that were mentioned during the course of the show.

It's amazing how many there are! I was thinking okay, Abe Lincoln, Fletcher Christian, Danny Thomas, the Gettysburg Address, maybe a few more.....

Most of the pop culture references are to historical facts and figures, plus a few movies. In the three seasons I've finished re-watching so far (two to go), there have been only a few references to TV shows - the staple/crutch of pop culture references in today's TV shows. 'The Defenders', 'The Untouchables', 'What's My Line?', 'Gunsmoke', a few more.....

(I'm convinced that the current practice for TV shows to mention the "hip" shows of today as punchlines will cost them in the long run. Syndication sales may be affected because those references will fade from memory.)

So I'll probably have to put aside my dream of doing a 24 hour marathon of posts about 'The Dick Van Dyke Show', one every hour, (like I've been doing the past few years with 'Doctor Who' on New Year's Day - "Who's On First", get it?) and just focus on the timeline.

As it is, the timeline is getting so huge that I may have to split it up into several posts.

(After all is said and done that day, if there's any site interested in taking the whole thing and giving it a nice home in a permanent website, you'll have my blessing.)

There'll be plenty of other blogs joining in on the merriment and you'll be able to find all the links on October 3rd at "Thrilling Days Of Yesteryear". But here are most of the goodies promised so far:

Anthony Balducci's Journal – “My Blonde-Haired Brunette”

Caftan Woman – “The Return of Happy Spangler”/”The Return of Edwin Carp”

Cinematic Opinions You Didn't Know You Had – “What’s in a Middle Name”

ClassicBecky’s Brain Food (“Brains!”) – “Coast to Coast Big Mouth”

Classic Film and TV Café – “My Blonde-Haired Brunette”

Fedoras and High Heels – "Bupkis"/"The Case of the Pillow"

The Flaming Nose - “I’d Rather Be Bald Than Have No Head at All”

The Forty Year-Old Fan Boy – “Uhny Uftz”

The Girl with the White Parasol – Bye Bye Birdie

Gonna Put Me in the Movies – “The Redcoats are Coming”

The Horn Section – Don't Worry, We'll Think of a Title

I Am a Child of Television – TBD

Inner Toob – Several Toobworld posts, including "Buddy Can You Spare a Job" and "Sam Pomerantz Scandals" (But right now I can only promise the timeline.)

in so many words… - “A Day in the Life of Alan Brady”/”Long Night’s Journey Into Day”

In the Balcony – Never a Dull Moment

Java's Journey – TBD

The Lady Eve’s Reel Life – TBD

The Land of Whatever – Overall view of series

Micro-Brewed Reviews (W.B. Kelso) – "That's My Boy"/"The Ghost of A. Chantz"

My Reader’s Block – TBD

A Mythical Monkey Writes About the Movies – “My Part-Time Wife”

The Nervous Purvis – TBD

Pretty Sinister Books - "The Sound of the Trumpets of Conscience Falls Deafly on a Brain That Holds Its Ears...Or Something Like That"

Resilient Little Muscle - "Buddy Sorrell, Man and Boy"

She Blogged by Night – “The Masterpiece”/"The Man from My Uncle"

A Shroud of Thoughts – TBD

The Stupendously Amazingly Cool World of Old TV - Overall view of the series

Thrilling Days of Yesteryear – “Never Bathe on Saturday”

True Classics: The ABCs of Classic Film – “It May Look Like a Walnut”

Wide Screen World - Cold Turkey

So to sum up, I'll be toiling away on the Petrie Timeline for the foreseeable future.  But fear not, I do have plenty of other stuff that's been waiting to be shared here in the IN box!

Eventually.....

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: GLENN BECK

On this date in 1972, Dr. Irving Henry Saxe and John St. Marco had their patent application for a douche bag syringe published. (Application number: 05/052169)

GLENN BECK

AS SEEN ON:
'Saturday Night Live'

AS PLAYED BY:
Jason Sudeikis

From Wikipedia:
A douche is a device used to introduce a stream of water into the body for medical or hygienic reasons, or the stream of water itself.

Douche usually refers to vaginal irrigation, the rinsing of the vagina, but it can also refer to the rinsing of any body cavity. A douche bag is a piece of equipment for douching—a bag for holding the fluid used in douching. To avoid transferring intestinal bacteria into the vagina, the same bag must not be used for an enema and a vaginal douche.

"Yes, I am a douche bag."

Josh Peyton

'Harry's Law'

BCnU!

LETTERMAN REMEMBERS 9/11

A NEW LOOK AT "JONNY QUEST"

As a nine-year old when this show first aired, I couldn't wait for the next weekly installment!

And here's a little something from Cartoon Network's Boomerang along similar lines...

I'm definitely getting the series on DVD for my nephew come Christmas-time!

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: DICK CHENEY

September 11, 2001 is a clear demarcation point between the world of Today and the comparitively idyllic life we once had.

But some things never change - even before the attack on the Twin Towers, Vice President Cheney was viewed as a Dick.....

VICE PRESIDENT DICK CHENEY

AS SEEN IN:
'That's My Bush!'

AS PLAYED BY:
Edmund L. Shaff

BCnU......