NAMING NAMES

Who's the actor forever associated with Westerns who has the best name in all of show business?

CHUBBY JOHNSON

I'm having a hard - er, difficult - time picturing him as a porn star with that name though......

BCnU!

QUICKSAND - THE GOOD OLD DAYS

My Super Six list from the other day dealt with quicksand in TV shows.

Here's a classic scene from 'Cheyenne' that uses quicksand. (Embedding was disabled, so you'll have to click the link.....)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Czo_S3sdDUk

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: TOM JEFFORDS II

AS SEEN ON TV: TOM JEFFORDS

TOM JEFFORDS

AS SEEN IN:
'Broken Arrow'

AS PLAYED BY:
John Lupton

From Wikipedia:
Thomas Jonathan Jeffords (January 1, 1832 – February 21, 1914) was a U.S. Army scout, Indian agent, and later a stagecoach driver in the Arizona Territory. His friendship with Apache leader Cochise was instrumental in ending the Indian wars in that region.

Born in Chautauqua County, NY, Tom Jeffords came west to Arizona in 1862 as a scout for the U.S. Army. Warfare with the Chiricahua Apaches had begun the year before, when Cochise, one of their chiefs, was accused by the Army of kidnapping an 11-year-old white boy from a nearby ranch. (The abduction was the work of Pinal Indians.) Hearing this, Cochise came forward under a flag of truce when summoned by the Army to declare his innocence. The Army chose not to believe him and tried to place him under arrest. Cochise pulled his knife, slashed the wall of the tent in which the meeting was being held, and escaped into the brush. The six men who had accompanied him, including three relatives, were held and then hanged.

Wakanoi, formerly inclined toward peace with the white settlers, now joined other Apache chiefs in hostility to them. It was not long before the Army retaliated, and the war was on.

Jeffords was the superintendent of a mail line that later became part of the famous Pony Express system. After some of his mail riders were killed by Apache raiding parties, he rode alone into the camp of Cochise to parley. This bravery so impressed the chief that he became friend and blood brother to Jeffords, granting his mail riders safe passage.

President Grant sent General Oliver Howard to the Arizona Territory in 1871 with orders to end the Apache wars by negotiating treaties with the tribes. Howard was an apt choice, as he had been head of the Freedman's Bureau, the agency responsible for assisting freed black slaves after the Civil War. General Howard enlisted the help of Jeffords in concluding these treaties. Learning of his work with the Freedman's Bureau, Jeffords knew that Howard was honorable and would be respected by Cochise, and eventually conducted the general into Cochise’s camp.

A treaty was signed in 1872, ending the decade-long war with the Chiricahua Apaches. Cochise requested that his people be allowed to remain in the Chiricahua Mountains and that Jeffords be made Indian agent for the region. These requests were granted, and the Indian raids subsided.

However, certain white residents of the area disapproved of this arrangement because it denied them access to the copper and silver that had been discovered on Apache lands. They branded Jeffords “Indian lover” and wrote scathing reports to politicians back in Washington. In 1875 he was removed as the federal agent and the Chiricahua Apaches were relocated to the San Carlos Reservation. Wakanoi was spared this; he had died less than a year after signing the now broken treaty. The Indian wars began again, but were ended in 1918 Arizona with the Battle of Nogales, between U.S. Cavalry and Yaqui Indians.

Jeffords became a stagecoach driver, a deputy sheriff of Tombstone, AZ and finally a gold prospector. He lived out the last 22 years of his life in the Tortolita Mountains north of Tucson, AZ, at a homestead near the Owlhead Buttes. He died on February 21, 1914 and was buried in Tucson's Evergreen Cemetery.

The story of Tom Jeffords, General Howard, Cochise, and the Apache wars was told in historically-based but dramatized form in a novel by Elliott Arnold that was adapted into a 1950 film and a 1956 television show that ran for 72 episodes. The novel, movie, and television show were titled "Broken Arrow".
BCnU!

TIDDLYWINKYDINKS: MARIE OF ROMANIA

Russell:

“Tell me what you are.”
Sookie:

“I’m a waitress.”
Russell:

“Yes, and I am Marie of Romania.”

'TRUE BLOOD'

I haven't done an official "Tiddlywinkydink" in a while....

Marie of Romania

Marie of Romania (Marie Alexandra Victoria, previously Princess Marie of Edinburgh; 29 October 1875–18 July 1938) was a British Princess by birth and Romanian Queen by marriage.

In 1918, writing for The Century, William T. Ellis profiled this "Soldier Queen", as her nation prepared for war east and west.

In all the terrible days of last winter, when plague and death ravaged the remnant of Rumania, she visited the hospitals, going among the smitten ones, indifferent to infection. Always she rides about without an armed escort. Her laughing disdain of the anti­aircraft shrapnel which rained about us from the skies on the motor ride is of a piece with her complete disregard of all considerations of her personal safety.

Two days after my visit with the queen at the Regina Maria Hospital I went to the front-line trenches, though with endless difficulty, because the commanders did not want an American killed while their guest. It chanced that I saw the very trenches where a few days earlier her Majesty had approached to within fifteen yards of the Prussians, so that her companions conversed with them, without betraying, of course, the presence of visitors.

For a journalist the venture was right and proper, for it is in his day's work; but for the queen it was too grave a risk. The road by which she approached was under fire and torn by big shells. I found that she had gone not only into the first-line trench, but also out into the observation-posts. How constant is the peril was illustrated by the fact that when the Germans heard an officer and me talking, they exploded a hand-grenade to try to catch us. Yet on speaking to me of her visit to the front, the queen had mentioned only its interest, never its danger.

She was also referred to in a number of contemporaneous literary sources, including Dorothy Parker's poem "Comment":

Oh, life is a glorious cycle of song,

A medley of extemporanea;

And love is a thing that can never go wrong,

And I am Marie of Roumania.

Russell Edgington, the vampire king of Mississippi, must have known Marie during her lifetime. (Being over 3,000 years old, he probably knew the televersions of a lot of famous people.) Perhaps it was her transformation of Castle Bran, an ancestral home of Vlad Tepes, that drew his attention to her.....

BCnU!

"THE NIGHT OF THE BURNING DIAMOND" MUSIC VIDEO

AT THE SPEED OF DIAMONDS

In "The Infinite Worlds Of H.G. Wells", Dr. Mark Radcliffe overdosed on a formula that could increase his body speed at Imperial College back on September 17, 1893. The overdose had him live perpetually in the two hours between 3 and 5 pm on that sunny afternoon for the next fifty years. It's never stated in the mini-series as to what made up that concoction but when different TV shows share the same world, then we might find the ingredients in some other series. And for this accelerative fluid, I'm thinking Radcliffe used melted diamonds, just as Morgan Midas did just over a decade earlier - as seen in the episode of 'The Wild Wild West' entitled "The Night Of The Burning Diamond". While researching his nerve medicine formula, Radcliffe may have come across the notes made by Midas before his death from friction burns. Just an idea.....

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: PATTILLO HIGGINS

PATTILLO HIGGINS

AS SEEN IN:
'You Are There' -
"Spindletop - The First Texas Oil Strike (January 10, 1901)"

AS PLAYED BY:
Robert Bray

Edited from Wikipedia:
Pattillo Higgins (December 5, 1863-June 5, 1955) was a businessman as well as a self-taught geologist. He earned the nickname the "Prophet of Spindletop" for his endeavors in the oil business, which accrued a fortune for many. He partnered to form the Gladys City Oil Gas and Manufacturing Company and later, established the Higgins Standard Oil Company.

In his youth, he was a violent troublemaker, pulling pranks and harassing African Americans. When he was seventeen, he pulled a prank on a black Baptist church that got the attention of a sheriff deputy. The deputy fired a warning shot over Higgins' head, after which Higgins fired back and delivered what would later turn out to be a fatal hit. The wounded deputy managed to fire again, striking Higgins lower left arm. Higgins' arm would later become severely infected, requiring amputation from the elbow down. Higgins was put on trial for the murder of the deputy, but he would be found not guilty by a jury that perceived his act as self-defense. Studying geology on his own, he dedicated himself to finding these clues [for finding the presence of underground oil] by reading all the United States Geological Survey reports and books that he could find. The details he learned reminded him of what some Beaumont locals back home referred to as "Sour Hill Mound", a place where he frequently brought his Sunday school students for outings. This mound was described as "sour" due to the unpleasant sulfur smell that came out of the springs around it.

Convinced that this salt dome mound had oil below it, Higgins first partnered with George O'Brien, George Carroll, Emma John, and J.F. Lanier to form the Gladys City Oil, Gas, and Manufacturing Company in 1892. It was during this time that other formally trained geologists dismissed the idea of finding oil along the gulf coast region of the United States. Higgins' personal integrity was even challenged by the local newspaper.

However, his informal training in geology influenced his belief that the Spindletop field contained oil below due to the presence of mineral water and gas seepage, and he managed to convince the partners to proceed with the venture. Work began the following year, but all three of the shallow drilling attempts failed to locate oil due to the shifting sands and unstable clay under the hill. Higgins held onto his ownership and leases of land over the salt dome, but resigned from the company.

On January 10, 1901, the six tons of four-inch (102 mm) drilling pipe began to shoot up out of the hole, sending the roughnecks fleeing for safety. The geyser shot oil over 150 feet (46 m) high and flowed an estimated 100,000 barrels per day (16,000 m3/d). The well was at a depth of 1,020 feet (310 m), and as it turns out, was at the precise location as initially predicted by Higgins.

Higgins sued [Captain Anthony] Lucas and Gladys City Oil, Gas and Manufacturing Company for royalties, using the basis that the second lease was invalid due to the fact the first lease had not yet expired when the second was enacted. After the parties settled out of court, Higgins formed the Higgins Oil and Fuel Company located at the center of Spindletop. Higgins maintained his leasing rights to his land, and would establish the Higgins Standard Oil Company.

In addition to residing in Beaumont, he owned estates in Houston and San Antonio. He remained a bachelor until the age of 45. In 1905, he adopted a young woman named Annie Johns, who at the time was fifteen. Three years later Higgins married her, and later had three children with her, despite the scandal. Higgins died in San Antonio, Texas on June 5, 1955.

He died the day before I was born....

BCnU!

VIDEO SATURDAY: "CASINO ROYALE"

Having written about the first appearance of James Bond on television in an adaptation of "Casino Royale", I thought some of my readers might be interested in seeing that 1954 production. And what better day to do it than Video Saturday?

The show was thought to be lost until 1981, when a copy was found by a film collector. And now it's available on DVD.

But first, here's a fan-made trailer for the show, as if it was the original movie in the franchise:




And now, on with the show!




















Many VHS copies ended there. But it's not complete; the story continues to a true Bondian finish showdown between 007 and Le Chiffre. Those other versions probably didn't want to deal with the poor video qualities of this last scene, but it should be seen:





BCnU!

THE SUPER SIX: TV SHOWS THAT COULD USE SOME QUICKSAND

I figured my version of a Top Ten list should have a more TV-oriented name. So I'm changing it from "The Deep Six" to "The Super Six"........

My thanks to Bill Crider for sharing this story:

For now, quicksand has all but evaporated from American entertainment—rejected even by the genre directors who once found it indispensable. There isn't any in this summer's fantasy blockbuster "Prince of Persia: Sands of Time" or in last year's animated jungle romp "Up". You won't find quicksand in "The Last Airbender" or "Avatar", either. Giant scorpions emerge from the sand in "Clash of the Titans", but no one gets sucked under. And what about 'Lost'—a tropical-island adventure series replete with mud ponds and dangling vines? That show, whichended in May, spanned six seasons and roughly 85 hours of television airtime—all without a single step into quicksand. "We were a little bit concerned that it would just be cheesy," says the show's Emmy-winning writer and executive producer, Carlton Cuse. "It felt too clichéd. It felt old-fashioned."

For more, click here.

I felt bad when I heard about this. The threat of quicksand has always sent a thrill up my spine - the scenes on the moors in "The Hound Of The Baskervilles"; I can still recall Stephen King's description from the victim's P.O.V. in the novel "The Dead Zone". The Fire Sands scene in "The Princess Bride".....

Here's some information on the quality of quicksand from Wikipedia:

Quicksand is a colloid hydrogel consisting of fine granular matter (such as sand or silt), clay, and salt water. Water circulation underground can focus in an area with the optimal mixture of fine sands and other materials such as clay. The water moves up and then down slowly in a convection-like manner throughout a column of sand, and the sand remains a generally solid mass. The water lubricates the sand particles and renders them unable to support significant weight. Since water does not usually go up to the surface of the sand, the sand on top appears solid and can support leaves and other small debris, making quicksand difficult to distinguish from the surrounding environment.

For more......
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quicksand

So here's my "Super Six" suggestion - Six shows that should have quicksand used and in some cases, often!

And it starts off with a cheat.......

1) 'Miami: CSI', 'Dexter', 'Burn Notice', 'The Glades'
I probably could have filled this list with all Florida shows, but where's the sport in that? These four shows are still on the air and they all have close proximity to the Everglades.

2) 'Spartacus: Blood And Sand'
You've already got the sand in the title; it'd be a shame not to put it to good use with the gladiators!

3) 'Glee'
Come on, you love them now, but I believe the time will come when you'd like to see Kurt or Rachel or somebody on this show sink without a trace.

4) 'Memphis Beat'
It's on the Mississippi River and it has the Memphis sand aquifer. Sounds to me like they should have at least one quicksand scene....

5) 'Mad Men'
Come on! They drove a John Deere tractor through the office! Surely they can work in some quicksand upstate. Be a mighty fine way to get rid of Betty Draper once and for all!

No! I said Betty, not Joan!

6) 'Hot In Cleveland'
2010 is the Year of Betty White. I predict 2011 will be the Year of the Betty White Backlash.

I'm just sayin', is all......

BCnU!