“LIVE FROM NEW YORK, IT’S SATURDAY NIGHT”

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Original cast (l to r): Laraine Newman, John Belushi, Jane Curtin, Gilda Radner, Dan Aykroyd, Garrett Morris, and Chevy Chase

Hard for me to imagine, but also sharing the Kowalski Heat Treating 40th Anniversary this year is another “one-of-a-kind” – Saturday Night Live, a late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show, created by Lorne Michaels. As most people know, the show parodies contemporary culture and politics performed by a large and varying cast of characters (over 130 since its inception), hosted by a celebrity guest and most often features a musical guest. Some of my favorite actors, actresses and comedians got their start on SNL. Most of us remember John Belushi as the Samari Warrior, Lisa and Todd, Chevy Chase falling and Gilda Radner dancing. I could go on and on, but I thought it would be more fun to give you some trivia you may or may not know:

  • The show airs from Studio 8H, NBC’s Headquarters in the Comcast Building, and to date has aired over 785 shows

  • The original cast members included Laraine Newman, John Belushi, Jane Curtin, Gilda Radner, Dan Aykroyd, Garrett Morris, and Chevy Chase – all of which went on to become huge stars.

  • Movie spinoffs Wayne’s World and The Blue’s Brothers grossed nearly $300M, while a little known movie It’s Pat lasted one week and grossed under $61K.

  • The show was narrated by Don Pardo for years, and later by actor Darrell Hammond

  • The writing begins late on Tuesdays and includes the guest host and producer, with most sketches selected on Wednesdays, including the full support staff who begin set designs, costumes and any needed special effects.

  • A 1975 performance by pop group ABBA was the first and only act to feature lip-synching,[97] until the controversial 2004 performance of Ashlee Simpson, who is the only person to ever walk off stage during a performance.

  • George Carlin was the first host of the first episode.

For more, visit SNL on Wikipedia.

 


 

BRING ON THEM DOGS!

TOP ROW LEFT TO RIGHT: Tiki Dog, the Frito Pie Dog, the French Onion dog, the Monte Cristo Dog, BOTTOM ROW LEFT TO RIGHT:  the Nacho Dog, the Bacon-Jack Dog, the Onion Dip Dog and the Vietnamese Dog

TOP ROW LEFT TO RIGHT: Tiki Dog, the Frito Pie Dog, the French Onion dog, the Monte Cristo Dog, BOTTOM ROW LEFT TO RIGHT: the Nacho Dog, the Bacon-Jack Dog, the Onion Dip Dog and the Vietnamese Dog

“With summer upon us, I thought it’s a good time to visit a Kowalski Heat Treating favorite – good old fashioned grilled hot dogs. Whether you like them lightly toasted or “black and crispy”, hot dogs rock. My “go-to” favorite, especially when I’m golfing, is spicy mustard, onions, chili and a pickle, but I must admit, I love to experiment and try other toppings. Sauerkraut, ketchup, hot sauce, peppers, cheese – you name it and I’ll give it a try. My wife and daughters love that about me.

For inspiration, I went surfing, and found these awesomely dressed dogs, compliments of Joshua Bousel at seriouseats.com. His top picks include the Tiki Dog, the Frito Pie Dog, the French Onion dog, the Monte Cristo Dog, the Nacho Dog, the Bacon-Jack Dog, the Onion Dip Dog and the Vietnamese Dog. Visit HERE for the recipes. My goal is to try them all.

So next time you’re in the supermarket, skip the pre-packaged franks and pick up a dozen from the deli case. Add in fresh buns, potato chips (ripple cut of course)—don’t forget the French onion dip and some lemonade. Fire up the grill and think of your pals at KHT working on your PIA (pain in the @#$) Jobs.

Bonus – if you have a favorite recipe topping, or one you think I need to try, shoot me an email or give me a call – I’ve got the lemonade chilling’ and the grill ready for grillin’.

 


 

Get Up & “Do the Hustle”

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At Kowalski Heat Treating, we’re all about hard work, problem-solving and having some fun.  Sharing our 40th anniversary celebration this month is a famous disco song, “The Hustle”, by songwriter and arranger Van McCoy and the Soul City Symphony.  Sweeping the nation it hit #1 in July 1975 on Billboard Hot 100, Hot Soul Singles and top 10 playlists around the world. Creating a buzz on dance floors as “the must play” dance tune of the summer, it went on win the Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Performance in 1976.  Said one song lover – “there’s no way you can sit still after playing that tune…”

A little history, (compliments of Wikipedia) McCoy composed the song after his music partner Charles Kipps watched patrons do a new dance called “the hustle” in the Adam’s Apple nightclub in NYC.  The band consisted of McCoy on piano, Gordon Edwards on bass, Steve Gadd on drums, Richard Tee on keyboard, Eric Gale and John Tropea on guitars, and Philip Bodner on the lead melody piccolo.  Years later, after McCoy passed away, a longer version was remixed, using synthesizers and is often the version played today.

So next time you are faced with a “PIA” (pain in the #@$) problem, give us a call and send it our way.  We’ll “hustle” on it, while you can sit back and enjoy the music.

Bonus – if you know of another top hit from the summer of ’75, or have a favorite dance tune to share, send me an email or give me a call, and I’ll send you one of our KHT “disco” shirts you can wear when boogieing at home. Come on, sing it “do, do, do, do do do do do, do, do do ……”

 


 

 

 

Congratulations to NASA on their most recent “PIA” job

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New Horizons was about 3.7 million miles (6 million kilometers) from Pluto and Charon when it snapped this portrait late on July 8, 2015. Image Credit: NASA-JHUAPL-SWRI

After a more than nine-year, three-billion-mile journey to Pluto, it’s show time for NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft, as the flyby sequence of science observations is officially underway.

In the early morning hours of July 8, mission scientists received this new view of Pluto—the most detailed yet returned by the Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) aboard New Horizons. The image was taken when the spacecraft was just under 5 million miles from Pluto.

This view is centered roughly on the area that will be seen close-up during New Horizons’ July 14 closest approach. This side of Pluto is dominated by three broad regions of varying brightness. Most prominent are an elongated dark feature at the equator, informally known as “the whale,” and a large heart-shaped bright area measuring some 1,200 miles (2,000 kilometers) across on the right. Above those features is a polar region that is intermediate in brightness.

“The next time we see this part of Pluto at closest approach, a portion of this region will be imaged at about 500 times better resolution than we see today,” said Jeff Moore, Geology, Geophysics and Imaging Team Leader of NASA’s Ames Research Center. “It will be incredible!”

We at Kowalski Heat Treating salute the hard working engineers and scientists who have accomplished this amazing feat.  (courtesy nasa.gov website)

 


 

Happy Independence Day – From Our Family to Yours

 

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Tomorrow, as we all celebrate the 239th Independence Day of this great nation, we at Kowalski Heat Treating are also pleased to be celebrating our 40th anniversary by looking back to all the men and women of the KHT family who have helped make this anniversary year so special.

This holiday weekend, celebrate with your family – as John Adams wrote: “as the great anniversary Festival, to include “Pomp and Parade…Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other.”