I have a solution…

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(row one) rough drawing of the drinking tube, Joseph B. Friedman and his more refined patent drawing; (row two) The Flex-Straw was first marketed to hospitals; In the early 1950’s, Roy Rogers endorsed the Flex-Straw in an ad aimed at kids; (row three) The Flex-Straw infused with strawberry, chocolate and coffee (for mom?); 1940s – 1950s packaging. (other images) These straws were totally made for sharing a beverage with your BFF…or not.

 

Problem solving and ideas – the “backbone and spirit” of Kowalski Heat Treating – it’s what keeps us on “our game” every single day and what our customers expect from us – solving your pesky PIA (Pain In The @#$) Jobs.  As the guy at the top, like most leaders, I get such a charge when my folks come in and say “Steve, we’ve worked on a bunch of different solutions, and we’re pretty sure we got it.”  BAM.  Just like that, problem solved.  And the best part for me is when I get to pick up the phone and call my customers and say – “yep, we figured it out”.

Recently I was reading an article about an inventor who was born in Cleveland back in 1900, and invented, to this day, one of my all-time favorites – the bendy straw.  Like so many inventors, he saw a problem (this one happened to be with his daughter and sitting at a soda shop), experimented, came up with a solution, and then went on to prototyping, a patent and manufacturing.  So, to fully enjoy this post, make yourself a yummy root beer and ice cream float, (oh yea, one of my favorites), put in a flexible straw, sit back and enjoy the read.  I’m not sure about you all, but one of my favorite things is to blow bubbles in the glass – certainly takes me back and Jackie will just shake her head, again!  Special thanks to Smithsonian, Wikipedia and the Atlantic Magazine for confirming the facts for me.  And thanks Joe for your problem-solving solution – KHT salutes you!

  1. Historians don’t know what civilization first came up with the idea of sticking tubes into cups and slurping, but the earliest evidence of straws comes from a seal found in a Sumerian tomb dated 3,000 B.C. It shows two men using what appear to be straws taking beer from a jar. (BRILLIANT!) In the same tomb, archeologists also found history’s first known straw – a tube made from gold and the precious blue stone lapis lazuli.
  2. In the 1880’s, gentlemen sipped their whiskey through long tubes made of natural rye that lent a grassy flavor to whatever drink they plopped in. For many centuries, it was not uncommon to order a gin and tonic and wind up drinking it infused with natural grass flavors. Marvin Chester Stone didn’t have much patience when it came to non-mint plants floating around in his mint julep, and did something. He reinvented the straw.
  3. In his first try, he wound paper around a pencil to make a thin tube, slid out the pencil from one end, and applied glue between the strips. Voila: paper straw! Also: glue? Stone refined it by building a machine to wind paper into a tube and coat the outside with a paraffin wax to keep it from melting in bourbon. He patented the product in 1888. Today, Marvin Chester Stone is considered the godfather of the paper straw.
  4. Joseph B. Friedman, born October 9, 1900 in Cleveland, Ohio, was a first generation American and the fifth of eight children. An independent American inventor with a broad range of interests and ideas, Friedman is credited with inventing the flexible straw.
  5. By the age of fourteen, Friedman conceptualized his first invention, the lighted pencil, which he deemed the “pencilite,” and was attempting to market his idea. Over the course of his inventing career, he would experiment with ideas ranging from writingimplements to engine improvements, and household products to sound and optic
  6. In the 1920s, Friedman began his education in real estateand optometry. He would use both of these careers at different points in his life to supplement his income while improving his invention concepts. Although he was working as a realtor in San Francisco, California, ]the 1930s proved to be his most prolific patenting period, with six of his nine U.S. patents being issued then.
  7. While sitting in his younger brother Albert’s fountain parlor, the Varsity Sweet Shop in San Francisco, Friedman observed his young daughter Judith at the counter, struggling to drink out of a straight straw. Sitting on the stool, the cool beverage was too high on the counter to reach. Afterwards back home, he took a paper straight straw, inserted a screw and using dental floss, he wrapped the paper into the screw threads, creating corrugations in the straw barrel. After removing the screw, the altered paper straw could now bend conveniently over the edge of the glass, allowing small children to better reach their beverages.
  8. After fine tuning his approach, U.S. patent #2,094,268 was issued for this new invention under the title Drinking Tube. Friedman would later file and be issued two additional U.S. patents and three foreign patents in the 1950s relating to its formation and construction. In his application, he wrote:

“Applicant has met a problem long existing in the art. A view of any soda fountain on a hot day, with the glasses showing innumerable limp and broken straws drooping over the edges thereof, will immediately show that this problem has long existed.  Where we have the conditions where certainly the straw is old, where corrugated tubing is old, and where no inventor, during those years, has seen fit or has been able to solve this problem, whereas applicant did, that situation alone is prima facie evidence of invention.”

–courtesy of the Joseph B. Friedman Papers, 1915 – 2000, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution.

  1. Friedman attempted to sell his straw patent to several existing straw manufacturers beginning in 1937 without success, so after completing his straw machine, he began to produce the straw himself. Friedman’s younger English relative, Michael Fabricant, would later write that his great uncle’s invention was “arguably the most significant technological achievement of the twentieth century”
  2. On April 24, 1939, The Flexible Straw Corporationwas incorporated. However, World War II interrupted Friedman’s efforts to construct his straw manufacturing machine. During the war, he managed the optometry practice of Arthur Euler, O.D., in Capwells’ Department Store in Oakland, California, and continued to sell real estate and insurance to support his growing family.
  3. Friedman obtained financial backing for his flexible straw machine from two of his brothers-in-law, Harry Zavin and David Light, as well as from Bert Klein, a family associate. With their financial help, and the business advice of his sister Betty, Friedman completed the first flexible straw manufacturing machine in the late 1940s. Although his original concept had come from the observation of his daughter, the flexible straw was initially marketed to hospitals, with the first sale made in 1947.
  4. Betty Friedman played a crucial role in the development of the Flexible Straw Corporation. While still living in Cleveland and working at the Tarbonis Company, she corresponded regularly with her brother and directed all of the sales and distribution of the straw. In 1950 Friedman moved his family and company to Santa Monica, California. Now doing business as the Flex-Straw Co., sales continued to increase and the marketing direction expanded to focus more strongly on the home and child markets. Betty Friedman moved west in 1954 to assume her formal leadership role in the corporation.
  5. On June 20, 1969, the Flexible Straw Corporation sold its United States and foreign patents, United States and Canadiantrademarks, and licensing agreements to the Maryland Cup Corporation, and the Flexible Straw Corporation dissolved in August 1969.

 

 

 

“Honka Honk”

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Canadian Geese are really, really cool birds!

The sights and sounds of fall are all around us.  Just the other day I was out for my morning run, and I enjoyed one of my favorites – the “honk honks” (click here) of the big, black-necked Canada Geese, with their signature white chinstrap, migrating south, filling the sky with an enormous long V formation, just as the sun was coming up over the beautiful Cleveland skyline.  I’m kinda fascinated by the birds, their innate migration patterns, and just the fun of watching the big formations fill the sky. (Yes,  I love order!) I just don’t like them flying directly over head, it may not end well for me! So, I decided to investigate a bit and share the information with my ornithologist (looked up the spelling!) pals out there.  Enjoy, and special thanks to allaboutbirds.org from Cornell University for science and detailed information.

 

>> Get in the spirit with 20 seconds of geese honking!  🙂
>> Canadian geese fly-over in V formation :15
>> This is funny: Canadian Goose flying alongside a car at 40 mph :48

 

  1. Canada Geese are big water birds with a long neck, large body, large webbed feet, and wide, flat bill. They have a black head with white cheeks and chinstrap, black neck, tan breast, and brown back.  Canada Geese feed by dabbling in the water or grazing in fields and large lawns and are often seen in flight moving in pairs or flocks; flocks often assume a V formation.
  2. Birds measure, on average, 30-43 inches in length, with a wingspan of 50-67 inches and weight of between 106 and 317 oz. In comparison, they are larger than a mallard and smaller than a mute swan.  In general, the geese get smaller as you move northward, and darker as you go westward. (sun tan?)
  3. Some migratory populations of the Canada Goose are not going as far south in the winter as they used to. This northward range shift has been attributed to changes in farm practices that makes waste grain more available in fall and winter, as well as changes in hunting pressure and changes in weather.
  4. Canada Geese live in a great many habitats near water, grassy fields, and grain fields. They are particularly drawn to big, open lawns for two reasons: one, they can digest lots of grass when they are feeding with their young and two, manicured lawns give them a wide, unobstructed view of any approaching predators. That is why they are especially abundant in parks, airports, golf courses, and other areas with expansive lawns. At least 11 subspecies of Canada Goose have been recognized, although only a couple are distinctive.
  5. Individual Canada Geese from most populations make annual northward migrations after breeding. Nonbreeding geese, or those that lost nests early in the breeding season, may move anywhere from several kilometers to more than 1500 km northward. There they take advantage of vegetation in an earlier state of growth to fuel their molt (feather replacement). Even members of “resident” populations, which do not migrate southward in winter, will move north in late summer to molt.
  6. The “giant” Canada Goose, Branta canadensis maxima, bred from central Manitoba to Kentucky but was nearly driven extinct in the early 1900s. Programs to reestablish the subspecies to its original range were in many places so successful that the geese have become a nuisance in many urban and suburban areas. – Canada Geese are common and increased between 1966 and 2015, according to the North American Breeding Bird Survey. The total North American population in 2015 was between 4.2 million to over 5.6 million. The species rates a 6 out of 20 on the Continental Concern Score. It is not on the 2016 State of North America’s Birds Watch List. – Some 2.6 million Canada Geese are harvested by hunters in North America, but this does not seem to affect its numbers.
  7. The oldest known wild Canada Goose was a female, and at least 33 years, 3 months old when she was shot in Ontario in 2001. She had been banded in Ohio in 1969.
  8. In spring and summer, geese concentrate their feeding on grasses and sedges, including skunk cabbage leaves and eelgrass. During fall and winter, they rely more on berries and seeds, including agricultural grains, and seem especially fond of blueberries. They’re very efficient at removing kernels from dry corn cobs.
  9. Nests consist of a large open cup on the ground, made of dry grasses, lichens, mosses, and other plant material, and lined with down and some body feathers. Usually on a muskrat mound or other slightly elevated site, near water, they prefer a spot from which they can have a fairly unobstructed view in many directions. Females select the site and does much of nest construction. She adds down feathers and some body feathers beginning after the second egg is laid. She does all the incubation while her mate guards her and the nest.
  10. Geese have 1 brood per year, usually 2-8 eggs. The incubation period is 25–28 days, with a nestling period of 42–50 days.  At hatchling, the chicks are covered with yellowish down and their eyes are open. They leave the nest when they are 1-2 days old, depending on weather, and can walk, swim, feed, and even dive. They have enough energy remaining in their yolk sac to survive 2 days before feeding.
  11. Soon after they hatch, goslings begin pecking at small objects, and spend most of their time sleeping and feeding. They remain with their parents constantly, though sometimes “gang broods” form, especially in more southern latitudes. These can include at least two broods, and sometimes five or more, that travel, feed, and loaf together, accompanied by at least one adult. Just like when our kids were young!
  12. Geese mate “assortatively,” larger birds choosing larger mates and smaller ones choosing smaller mates; in a given pair, the male is usually larger than the female.
  13. During spring, pairs break out from flocks and begin defending territories. Spacing of these pairs is variable and depends on availability of nest sites and population density; where population is large, even after a great many fights birds may end up nesting in view of one another, and some populations are semi-colonial.
  14. When threatened, displays may involve head pumping, bill opened with tongue raised, hissing, honking, and vibrating neck feathers. When an intruding goose doesn’t retreat, geese may grab each other by breast or throat and hit each other with their wings. Fighting may result in injuries.
  15. In winter, geese can remain in northern areas with some open water and food resources even where temperatures are extremely cold. Geese breeding in the northernmost reaches of their range tend to migrate long distances to winter in the more southerly parts of the range, whereas geese breeding in southern Canada and the conterminous United States migrate shorter distances or not at all. Individuals tend to return to the same migratory stopover and wintering areas year after year.

 

 

Got the craving?

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(top bunch of photos) Mmmm. From a pumpkin spice latte to pumpkin spice muffins, pies, pancakes, dough nuts, bread and creamy soups, these wonderful smells and tastes tell you it’s fall. (row two left) Raw pumpkin spice–see the recipe below. (row three) Just a sampling of the many, many products that add pumpkin spice flavoring this time of year. Most are a lot of fun but pumpkin spice Doritos, even for me, is over the top. (row four) Speaking of over the top, really? These products need pumpkin spice flavoring & smells?? Really??? Hahaha… Turns out these are all fake. The creations of people with a working knowledge of Photoshop and a bunch of time on their hands making a statement on the pumpkin spice craze. BTW, the pumpkin spice Dorito’s are fake, too. Whew!

 

Each fall, as the leaves turn golden, footballs start flying and the crisp autumn air carries the scent of pine, I anxiously wait for Jackie to bring home one of my favorites – the fixens to make pumpkin pie, of course it must also include the “a la mode!”  Everything is always better with a la mode!  You know me, and my love of food.  To be honest, I think this pumpkin spice craze is kind of funny – but then find myself stopping to “sample” a latte, eating an entire box of pumpkin-spiced Cheerios or the whole package of orange and black fall flavored Oreos.  Scientists and nutritionists call the current trendiness of pumpkin spice “a fantastic example of the psychology of consumer behavior and fads.” Here’s some fun facts, science and links to some great recipes – enjoy those lattes!

 

  1. History shows that pumpkin spice-like combinations have been used for millennia in various cultures,” says Kantha Shelke, an adjunct professor of regulatory science and food safety at Johns Hopkins University. “Similar mixtures of spices are used in Indian masala chai and Middle Eastern baklava. These mixtures are often used in celebratory occasions, most often to ease the digestive impacts of overindulgence.”
  2. The sweet smell and tantalizing taste of pumpkin spice triggers a nostalgic emotional response in our brains. Spice blend has been used in popular baked goods for quite some time, but mostly in home-baked goods.  Since these are popular spice combinations, it’s very likely we have encountered some or all of them combined in a favorite baked good in a comforting situation, like a family gathering, early in life. (ever walk into a home that’s smells like cinnamon or hot apple cider?)
  3. Pumpkin spice seems to have emerged as a common seasonal scent and taste in the home and food market a couple of decades ago, when spiced pumpkin candles grew in popularity. Back then, a few high-profile companies, like Starbucks, ran some super successful experiments, and then you add in the fantastic marketing strategies, and you’ve got a fad that turns into a trend.
  4. Most pumpkin spice mixtures don’t involve an actual pumpkin. Typically, it contains ground cinnamon, nutmeg, dry ginger and clove or allspice mixed together.
  5. When many food companies use a pumpkin spice flavor, they often develop a synthetic version with various compounds and aromas designed to trick your brain into thinking you consumed a mix of cinnamon, nutmeg and other spices. Included in many of these synthetic pumpkin spice flavors are top notes that mimic the aroma of butter browning with sugar, which creates an olfactory illusion of a freshly baked pumpkin pie.
  6. Starbucks first developed its pumpkin spice latte, known as the PSL, in early 2003. In a news release, Peter Dukes, the product manager who led the development of PSL, said, “Nobody knew back then that it would grow to be so big – It’s taken on a life of its own.” The seasonal beverage, which has its own verified Twitter and Instagram accounts, returned to stores nationwide last week for the fall.
  7. The marketing behind many pumpkin spice-flavored items, like the latte, condition our brains to expect that pumpkin spice is the flavor of fall and to anticipate the flavor’s arrival each season as something comforting.
  8. According to scientists, we don’t have innate odor responses. We learn odors through associations, but the associations we make with pumpkin spice are generally all very positive. Though, even without the seasonal marketing, the brain has a special response to pumpkin spice when the flavor is mixed with sugar. It’s kind of addictive.
  9. When an odor or flavor — and 80% of flavor is actually smell — is combined with sucrose or sugar consumption in a hungry person, the person learns at a subconscious, physiological level to associate that flavor with all the wonderful parts of food digestion. By combining the recognizable pumpkin spice flavor with sugar, we train your brain and body to remember how delicious the combination is – and as soon as you smell or even imagine pumpkin spice, our body has an anticipatory response and craves it.
  10. On the other hand, natural pumpkin spice mixtures without added sugars, fat or salt offers some potential health benefits if used in a pumpkin soup or to flavor vegetables. Pumpkin is a source of vitamin A, fiber and other nutrients. Spices are powerhouses of phytochemicals — chemicals that the plant makes to protect itself — that can afford us health and protection from many health issues. Like with any food, the amount consumed determines the experience and the benefits.
  11. All spices come from plants. There are no spices from the animal kingdom, so spices are perfect for vegetarians, vegans and those who follow Halal and Kosher diets.
  12. As with all good marketing, sometimes the manufacturers go a little too far with the pumpkin-spice trend – Just consider – Pumpkin Spiced (PS) Twistix Dental Chews for Pets, PS buttery blend margarine, PS Pringles, PS Bar soap, PS body powder, PS bagels, PS peanut butter and Milano cookies.

 

So, go ahead and enjoy your pumpkin spice and everything nice.  And here’s a simple recipe to make your very own pumpkin spice at home (fresh is better!

INGREDIENTS

  • 3 Tablespoons Ground Cinnamon
  • 2 teaspoons Ground Ginger
  • 2 teaspoons Nutmeg
  • 1-1/2 teaspoon Ground Allspice
  • 1-1/2 teaspoon Ground Cloves
  • Splash of sugar

INSTRUCTIONS

In a small bowl, whisk together cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice, cloves and sugar until well combined. Store in a small jar or container.

 

 

 

What if…

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They’re not the “Fab Four.” In fact, they are best known for being the “Prefab Four,” but they were good. Like, really really really really good. (above) Vintage Monkees promotion photos. (upper right) Some of their album covers (lower left) Jimi Hendrix actually opened for the Monkees on tour in 1967. The Monkees crowds had no idea what Jimi Hendrix was playing, much less playing his guitar with his teeth. (lower right) Peter Tork, Davey Jones and Micky Dolenz pose during portrait session to announce the bands 45th anniversary tour held at The Groucho Club on February 21, 2011 in London, England.

 

Some Monkees to listen to while reading this post:

Some Monkees to watch if you have some time on your hands:

______________________

 

Ever have an idea?  You know, something that feels right at the time.  Not with some crazy big goal so much, or the “twenty years from now, people will…” kind, but just an idea.  We have them here all the time.  Dad started this thinking back in the day, and it’s helped us build a great company, founded on solving your PIA (Pain In The @#$) Jobs!  Just the other day I had one of the guys say, “Steve, what if we tried it this way?”  And it worked.  I love it, and really encourage my gang to have ideas and give them a try!  Our best ideas have always started with WHAT IF…

In 1965, over 400 people responded to a talent call ad seeking zany young men for a new television show about a mythical rock group. Kind of quirky, kind of fun, and just the right ingredients at the right time.  And so was born – The Monkees, starring Davy Jones, Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith, and Peter Tork premiered in September 1966.  Audiences adored the humorous antics of the band. Though made especially for TV, The Monkees had real-life hits. Some of their best-loved and number one hits included Neil Diamond’s “I’m a Believer”, “Last Train to Clarksville”, “Little Bit Me, Little Bit You”, Gerry Goffin and Carole King’s “Pleasant Valley Sunday”, and “Daydream Believer” by John Stewart of the Kingston Trio.  I remember watching the show with my brothers and sisters, and dancing around the house to the “stereo” sound – it was just plain old fun.  Here’s some trivia I thought you’d enjoy. (thx Wikipedia)

  1. Aspiring filmmaker Bob Rafelson developed the initial idea for The Monkees in 1962, but was unsuccessful in selling the series. He had tried selling it to Revue, the television division of Universal Pictures. In May 1964, while working at Screen Gems, Rafelson teamed up with Bert Schneider, whose father, Abraham Schneider, headed the Colpix Television and Screen Gems Television units of Columbia Pictures, and ultimately formed Raybert Productions.
  2. The Beatles’ film A Hard Day’s Night inspired Rafelson and Schneider to revive Rafelson’s idea for The Monkees. As “The Raybert Producers”, they sold the show to Screen Gems Television on April 16, 1965. Rafelson and Schneider’s original idea was to cast an existing New York folk rock group, the Lovin’ Spoonful, who were not widely known at the time. However, John Sebastian had already signed the band to a record contract, which would have denied Screen Gems the right to market music from the show.
  3. On July 14, 1965, The Hollywood Reporter stated that future band member Davy Jones was expected to return to the United States in September 1965 after a trip to England “to prepare for a TV pilot.  Jones had previously starred as the Artful Dodger in the Broadway theatre show Oliver!, and his performance was later seen on The Ed Sullivan Show the same night as the Beatles’ first appearance on that show, February 9, 1964.
  4. On September 8, 1965, Daily Variety and The Hollywood Reporter ran an ad to cast the remainder of the band/cast members for the TV show.  Out of 437 applicants, the other three chosen for the cast of the TV show were Michael Nesmith, Peter Tork and Micky Dolenz. Nesmith, to work alongside Davey Jones. Of the final four, Nesmith was the only one who actually saw the ad in Daily Variety and The Hollywood Reporter. Tork, the last to be chosen, had been working the Greenwich Village scene as a musician, and had shared the stage with Pete Seeger; he learned of The Monkees from Stephen Stills, whom Rafelson and Schneider had rejected as a songwriter. Dolenz was an actor (his father was veteran character actor George Dolenz) who had starred in the TV series Circus Boy as a child, using the stage name Mickey Braddock, and he had also played guitar and sung in a band called the Missing Links before the Monkees, which had recorded and released a very minor single, “Don’t Do It”. By that time he was using his real name – he found out about The Monkees through his agent.
  5. The band’s music was initially supervised by producer Don Kirshner, backed by the songwriting duo of Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart.  For the first few months of their initial five-year career as “the Monkees”, the four actor-musicians were allowed only limited roles in the recording studio. This was due in part to the amount of time required to film the television series. Nonetheless, Nesmith did compose and produce some songs from the beginning, and Peter Tork contributed limited guitar work on the sessions produced by Nesmith. They eventually fought for and earned the right to collectively supervise all musical output under the band’s name.
  6. Dolenz described the Monkees as initially being “a TV show about an imaginary band … that wanted to be the Beatles, [but] that was never successful”.  The actor-musicians became, ironically, one of the most successful bands of the 1960s. The Monkees sold more than 75 million records worldwide and had international hits, including “Last Train to Clarksville”, “Pleasant Valley Sunday”, “Daydream Believer”, and “I’m a Believer”. At their peak in 1967, the band outsold the Beatles and the Rolling Stones combined.
  7. During the casting process Don Kirshner, Screen Gems’ head of music, was contacted to secure music for the pilot that would become The Monkees. Not getting much interest from his usual stable of Brill Buildingwriters, Kirshner assigned Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart to the project. The duo contributed four demo recordings for the pilot. One of these recordings was “(Theme From) The Monkees” which helped get the series the green light.
  8. When The Monkees was picked up as a series, development of the musical side of the project accelerated. Columbia-Screen Gems and RCA Victor entered into a joint venture called Colgems Records primarily to distribute Monkees records. Raybert set up a rehearsal space and rented instruments for the group to practice playing in April 1966. Kirshner called on Snuff Garrett, composer of several hits by Gary Lewis & the Playboys, to produce the initial musical cuts for the show. The producers quickly found that when brought into the studio together, the four actors would fool around and try to crack each other up. Because of this, they would often bring in each singer individually.
  9. According to Nesmith, it was Dolenz’s voice that made the Monkees’ sound distinctive, and even during tension-filled times Nesmith and Tork sometimes turned over lead vocal duties to Dolenz on their own compositions, such as Tork’s “For Pete’s Sake,” which became the closing title theme for the second season of the television show.
  10. The Monkees’ first single, “Last Train to Clarksville” b/w “Take a Giant Step”, was released in August 1966, just weeks prior to the TV broadcast debut. In conjunction with the first broadcast of the television show on September 12, 1966, on the NBC television network, NBC and Columbia had a major hit on their hands. The first long-playing album, The Monkees, was released a month later, spent 13 weeks at #1 and stayed on the Billboard charts for 78 weeks. Twenty years later, during their reunion, it would spend another 24 weeks on the Billboard charts. This first album is also notable, in addition to containing their debut single, for containing band member Nesmith’s first foray into country-rock, “Papa Gene’s Blues,” which mixed country, rock and Latin flavors.
  11. In assigning instruments for purposes of the television show, a dilemma arose as to which of the four would be the drummer. Both Nesmith (a skilled guitarist and bassist) and Tork (who could play several stringed and keyboard instruments) were peripherally familiar with the instrument but both declined to give the drum set a try. Jones knew how to play the drums and tested well enough initially on the instrument, but the producers felt that, behind a drum kit, the camera would exaggerate his short stature and make him virtually hidden from view. Thus, Dolenz (who only knew how to play the guitar) was assigned to become the drummer. Tork taught Dolenz his first few beats on the drums, enough for him to fake his way through filming the pilot, but he was soon taught how to play properly.Thus, the lineup for the TV show most frequently featured Nesmith on guitar, Tork on bass, Dolenz on drums and Jones as a frontman, singer and percussionist.
  12. Unlike most television shows of the time, The Monkees episodes were written with many setups, requiring frequent breaks to prepare the set and cameras for short bursts of filming. Some of the “bursts” are considered proto-music videos, produced to sell the records. The Monkees Tale author Eric Lefcowitz noted that the Monkees were—first and foremost—a video group. The four actors would spend 12-hour days on the set, many of them waiting for the production crew to do their jobs. Noticing that their instruments were left on the set unplugged, the four decided to turn them on and start playing.
  13. After working on the set all day, the Monkees (usually Dolenz or Jones) would be called into the recording studio to cut vocal tracks. As the band was essential to this aspect of the recording process, there were few limits on how long they could spend in the recording studio, and the result was an extensive catalogue of unreleased recordings.
  14. Pleased with their initial efforts, Columbia (over Kirshner’s objections) planned to send the Monkees out to play live concerts. The massive success of the series—and its spin-off records—created intense pressure to mount a touring version of the group. Against the initial wishes of the producers, the band went out on the road and made their debut live performance in December 1966 in Hawaii.
  15. They had no time to rehearse a live performance except between takes on set. They worked on the TV series all day, recorded in the studio at night and slept very little. The weekends were usually filled with special appearances or filming of special sequences. The last show of the premiere season, “Monkees on Tour”, was shot in a documentary style by filming a concert in Phoenix, Arizona.
  16. During the summer 1967 tour of the United States and the UK (from which the Live 1967 recordings are taken), they were backed by a band called the Sundowners. In 1968 the Monkees toured Australia and Japan. The results were far better than expected. Wherever they went, the group was greeted by scenes of fan adulation reminiscent of Beatlemania. This gave the singers increased confidence in their fight for control over the musical material chosen for the series.
  17. With Jones sticking primarily to vocals and tambourine (except when filling in on the drums when Dolenz came forward to sing a lead vocal), the Monkees’ live act constituted a classic power trio of electric guitar, electric bass and drums (except when Tork passed the bass part to Jones or one of the Sundowners in order to take up the banjo or electric keyboards).
  18. The Monkees went on to produce three years of television, countless concerts and individual recordings.  To learn more, visit: http://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-monkees-mn0000478603/biography.

What’s your idea today?

 

 

Honey, Are You Sure We’re Going the Right Way?

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(top) How we used to pinpoint our location was with a push pin, marker, crayin, etc. (second from top) How we do it now. GPS satellites cost billions of dollars more than a push pin but, these days, both are at our finger tips. (left column) Maps aren’t totally out of style. (or are they?) What people are doing with maps these days: Umbrella graphics, paper dress art, a guy in Germany is selling crumpled maps in a bag of major world cities (haha…), incredible paper sculpture art and of course…wrapping paper. (right column) Go to Google Maps, put in 3611 Detroit Ave Cleveland, Ohio 44113. Those satellites will triangulate the location of Kowalski Heat Treating. Then you can go from maps to satellite view and keep zooming in to my location in 3D and finally the street view. Technology is simply and literally out of this world.

 

When we were kids, Mom and Dad were really superheros.  They’d think nothing of packing up the car, loading in the kids, and heading off for our end of the summer vacation.  I can remember Mom fussing with the road maps, trying to follow the red line they drew on the maps.  Of course, Dad at the wheel, we’d occasionally hear “are you sure this is the way”? By the time my baby brother and sister were 21 years old, they had actually visited all 50 states on family vacations!  It was nothing for us to go on cross country trips of exploration and wonder!  Thinking back, I can say that I have been blessed to have been able to visit 38 states across this incredibly beautiful country that is filled with caring and generous people along with being able to sample amazing food!  Today, we are blessed with amazing GPS technology, in our cars, on our phones, or stuck to the windshield.  We can preprogram the routes, and then listen to a nice lady tell us where to turn, or even suggest shortcuts.  So, with my investigative curiosity peaked, I dove in to learn more, and of course, share with you. Enjoy, and thanks to howthingswork.com and Wikipedia for the extended history lesson.

  1. The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a network of about 30 satellites orbiting the Earth at an altitude of 20,000 km. The system was originally developed by the US government for military navigation but now anyone with a GPS device, be it a SatNav, mobile phone or handheld GPS unit, can receive the radio signals that the satellites broadcast.
  2. The GPS system does not require the user to transmit any data, and it operates independently of any telephonic or internet reception, though these technologies can enhance the usefulness of the GPS positioning information. The GPS system provides critical positioning capabilities to military, civil, and commercial users around the world. The United States government created the system, maintains it, and makes it freely accessible to anyone with a GPS receiver.
  3. Wherever you are on the planet, at least four GPS satellites are ‘visible’ at any time. Each one transmits information about its position and the current time at regular intervals. These signals, travelling at the speed of light, are intercepted by your GPS receiver, which calculates how far away each satellite is based on how long it took for the messages to arrive. Once it has information on how far away at least three satellites are, your GPS receiver can pinpoint your location using a process called trilateration.
  4. The technology works this way – Imagine you are standing somewhere on Earth with three satellites in the sky above you. If you know how far away you are from satellite A, and do the same for satellites B and C, you can work out your location by seeing where the three circles intersect. This is just what your GPS receiver does, although it uses overlapping spheres rather than circles. The more satellites there are above the horizon the more accurately your GPS unit can determine where you are.
  5. GPS satellites have atomic clocks on board to keep accurate time. General and Special Relativity however predict that differences will appear between these clocks and an identical clock on Earth. General Relativity predicts that time will appear to run slower under stronger gravitational pull – the clocks on board the satellites will therefore seem to run faster than a clock on Earth.  Furthermore, Special Relativity predicts that because the satellites’ clocks are moving relative to a clock on Earth, they will appear to run slower.  The whole GPS network makes allowances for these effects –  proof that Relativity has a real impact.

This animated GIF is from a fabulous learning site for kids 14 and under called MOCOMI. Check it out HERE. It’s great for adults (parents, teachers…) who want to help kids understand the world around them.

 

  1. The GPS project was launched in the United States in 1973 to overcome the limitations of previous navigation systems, integrating ideas from several predecessors, including a number of classified engineering design studies from the 1960s. The S. Department of Defensedeveloped the system, which originally used 24 satellites for use by the United States military and became fully operational in 1995. It was allowed for civilian use in the 1980s. Roger L. Easton of the Naval Research Laboratory, Ivan A. Getting of The Aerospace Corporation, and Bradford Parkinson of the Applied Physics Laboratory are credited with inventing it.
  2. The design of GPS is based partly on similar ground-based radio-navigation systems, such as LORAN and the Decca Navigator, developed in the early 1940s and used by the British Royal Navy during World War II. Friedwardt Winterberg proposed a test of general relativity — detecting time slowing in a strong gravitational field using accurate atomic clocks placed in orbit inside artificial satellites.
  3. When the Soviet Union launched the first man-made satellite, Sputnik 1, in 1957, two American physicists, William Guier and George Weiffenbach, at Johns Hopkins’s Applied Physics Laboratory (APL), decided to monitor Sputnik’s radio transmissions. Within hours they realized that, because of the Doppler effect, they could pinpoint where the satellite was along its orbit. The Director of the APL gave them access to their UNIVAC to do the heavy calculations required.
  4. The next spring, Frank McClure, the deputy director of the APL, asked Guier and Weiffenbach to investigate the inverse problem — pinpointing the user’s location, given that of the satellite. (At the time, the Navy was developing the submarine-launched Polaris missile, which required them to know the submarine’s location.) This led them and APL to develop the TRANSIT system
  5. The first satellite navigation system, TRANSIT, used by the United States Navy, was successfully tested in 1960. It used a constellation of five satellites and could provide a navigational fix approximately once per hour. In 1967, the U.S. Navy developed the Timation satellite, which proved the feasibility of placing accurate clocks in space, a technology required by GPS.
  6. In the 1970s, the ground-based OMEGA navigation system, based on phase comparison of signal transmission from pairs of stations, became the first worldwide radio navigation system. Limitations of these systems drove the need for a more universal navigation solution with greater accuracy.
  7. During the Cold War arms race, the nuclear threat to the existence of the United States was the one need that did justify this cost in the view of the United States Congress. This deterrent effect is why GPS was funded. It is also the reason for the ultra-secrecy at that time. The nuclear triad consisted of the United States Navy’s submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs) along with United States Air Force (USAF) strategic bombers and intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs). Considered vital to the nuclear deterrence posture, accurate determination of the SLBM launch position was a force multiplier. Precise navigation would enable United States ballistic missile submarines to get an accurate fix of their positions before they launched their SLBMs.
  8. The USAF, with two thirds of the nuclear triad, also had requirements for a more accurate and reliable navigation system. The Navy and Air Force were developing their own technologies in parallel to solve what was essentially the same problem.
  9. To increase the survivability of ICBMs, there was a proposal to use mobile launch platforms (comparable to the Russian SS-24 and SS-25) and so the need to fix the launch position had similarity to the SLBM situation.
  10. In 1960, the Air Force proposed a radio-navigation system called MOSAIC (Mobile System for Accurate ICBM Control) that was essentially a 3-D LORAN. A follow-on study, Project 57, was worked in 1963 and it was “in this study that the GPS concept was born.” That same year, the concept was pursued as Project 621B, which had “many of the attributes that you now see in GPS” and promised increased accuracy for Air Force bombers as well as ICBMs.
  11. Another important predecessor to GPS came from a different branch of the United States military. In 1964, the United States Army orbited its first Sequential Collation of Range (SECOR) satellite used for geodetic surveying. The SECOR system included three ground-based transmitters from known locations that would send signals to the satellite transponder in orbit. A fourth ground-based station, at an undetermined position, could then use those signals to fix its location precisely. The last SECOR satellite was launched in 1969.
  12. With these parallel developments in the 1960s, it was realized that a superior system could be developed by synthesizing the best technologies from 621B, Transit, Timation, and SECOR in a multi-service program. During Labor Day weekend in 1973, a meeting of about twelve military officers at the Pentagon discussed the creation of a Defense Navigation Satellite System (DNSS). It was at this meeting that the real synthesis that became GPS was created. Later that year, the DNSS program was named Navstar, or Navigation System Using Timing and Ranging. With the individual satellites being associated with the name Navstar (as with the predecessors Transit and Timation), a more fully encompassing name was used to identify the constellation of Navstar satellites.
  13. The effects of the ionosphere on radio transmission through the ionosphere was investigated within a geophysics laboratory of Air Force Cambridge Research Laboratory. Located at Hanscom Air Force Base, outside Boston, the lab was renamed the Air Force Geophysical Research Lab (AFGRL) in 1974. AFGRL developed the Klobuchar Model for computing ionospheric corrections to GPS location. Of note is work done by Australian Space Scientist Elizabeth Essex-Cohen at AFGRL, concerned with the curving of the path of radio waves traversing the ionosphere from NavSTAR satellites.
  14. After Korean Air Lines Flight 007, a Boeing 747 carrying 269 people, was shot down in 1983 after straying into the USSR’s prohibited airspace, in the vicinity of Sakhalin and Moneron Islands, President Ronald Reagan issued a directive making GPS freely available for civilian use, once it was sufficiently developed, as a common good. The first Block II satellite was launched on February 14, 1989, and the 24th satellite was launched in 1994.
  15. Since its deployment, the U.S. has implemented several improvements to the GPS service including new signals for civil use and increased accuracy and integrity for all users, all the while maintaining compatibility with existing GPS equipment. Modernization of the satellite system has been an ongoing initiative by the U.S. Department of Defense through a series of satellite acquisitions to meet the growing needs of the military, civilians, and the commercial market.

If you have any “fun” map or GPS stories, be sure to send ‘em to me at skowalski@khtheat.com.

 

“What’s Happening???”

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(top) A diagram of “What’s Happening”. (middle) The path across the country, kind of a lunar road trip; (bottom l to r) Partial Solar Eclipse from Indonesia in March 2016;  Total Solar Eclipse from the Faroe Islands on March 20, 2015.

A winged dragon eating the sun, demon wolves howling in the darkness, winter constellations appearing in summertime and warriors shooting flaming arrows into the sky – what? Like you, I am fascinated by Monday’s coming Solar Eclipse and just had to write about it, mixing in a little science, a little astronomy and a whole bunch of folklore.  Enjoy!  And thanks to the Farmer’s Almanac for the insights and history lesson. (almanac.com)

  1. To the naked eye, the sky is an inverted bowl hosting thousands of glowing points and two disks. The points—stars and planets—exhibit no size because of their immense distance from Earth. But why does the moon and sun appear exactly the same size? The Sun is 400 times larger than the Moon but also 400 times farther from Earth than the Moon. These facts allow the Moon to fit perfectly over the Sun’s face to create a total eclipse. Yet, it’s not so big that it blocks out the Sun’s dramatic hot-pink corona or atmosphere and not so small that it leaves the Sun’s blinding gas surface (photosphere) uncovered. This bizarre alignment does not hold for any other planet.
  2. The perfect lineup of the Sun and Moon to form a total solar eclipse does not happen often—just once every 360 years, on average, for any one point on Earth. The S.mainland is currently experiencing its longest totality drought in history. The last total solar eclipse occurred on February 26, 1979, over northwestern states and south central Canada.
  3. If you are in the right place, a solar eclipse creates darkness in daytime along a 140-mile-wide ribbon of Earth. The brightest stars come out in midday but not as you might presume: During totality, they appear in seasonal reverse. In summer, the winter constellations emerge; during a winter solar totality, summer’s stars appear.
  4. An uncommon mind-set takes over people when the Sun, Moon, and your spot on Earth form a perfectly straight line in space. Many observers shout and babble. Some weep. Afterward, everyone proclaims it to be the greatest spectacle they have ever beheld. Many are speechless. Even animals exhibit odd behavior, such as falling strangely silent.
  5. During the 10 minutes before and after totality, when the Sun is more than 80 percent eclipsed and its light arrives only from its edge, or limb, earthly colors turn richer and more saturated, while shadows become stark and oddly crisp—as if a different type of star is illuminating Earth.
  6. As the Moon slides over the Sun, not only is light blocked in the ribbon of space, but solar heat is, too. The steady drop in temperature usually results in a haunting eclipse wind.
  7. At 1 minute before and after totality, all white and light-color ground surfaces underfoot (sidewalks, sand, the like) suddenly exhibit shimmering shadow bands everywhere. (Think of black lines on the bottom of a swimming pool that appear to wiggle.) This eerie phenomenon can make your hair stand on end, yet it cannot be captured on film.
  8. For many, a total solar eclipse generated fear. After all, the Sun is a constant in our lives—and integral to our well-being. We truly couldn’t live without the Sun’s light. Ancient peoples thought that the world would come to an end or a great evil would follow. Myths often involved a beast trying to destroy the Sun with the fate of Earth hanging in the balance—or, a Sun-god becoming angry, sad, or sick.
  9. Fear led Chippewa people to shoot flaming arrows into the sky to try to rekindle the Sun. Tribes in Peru did the same for a different reason; they hoped to scare off a beast that was attacking the Sun.
  10. Native people in Colombia shouted to the heavens, promising to work hard and mend their ways. Some worked their gardens and other projects especially hard during the eclipse to prove it.
  11. In Norse culture, an evil enchanter, Loki, was put into chains by the gods. Loki got revenge by creating wolflike giants, one of which swallowed the Sun—thereby causing an eclipse.
  12. In India, the demon spirit Rahu steals and consumes the nectar of immortality but is beheaded before he can swallow it. His immortal head flies into the heavens. The Sun and Moon had alerted the gods to his theft, so he takes revenge on them: When Rahu swallows an orb, we have an eclipse—but the orb returns to view because Rahu has no body! Also, many believed that when an eclipse occurs, a dragon is trying to seize the two orbs. People immerse themselves in rivers up to their neck, imploring the Sun and Moon to defend them against the dragon.
  13. Similarly, in China, Mongolia, and Siberia, beheaded mythical characters chase and consume the Sun and Moon—and we experience eclipses. In Indonesia and Polynesia, Rahu consumes the Sun—but burns his tongue doing so and spits it out!
  14. In Transylvanian folklore, an eclipse stems from the angry Sun turning away and covering herself with darkness, in response to men’s bad behavior.
  15. Many cultures thought that the Sun was in a fight with its lover, the Moon! To the Australian Aborigines, the Sun was seen as a woman who carries a torch. The Moon, by contrast, was regarded as male. Because of the association of the lunar cycle with the female menstrual cycle, the Moon was linked with fertility. A solar eclipse was interpreted as the Moon-man uniting with the Sun-woman.
  16. In German mythology, the hot female Sun and cold male Moon were married. The Sun ruled the day, and the sleepy Moon ruled the night. Seeking companionship, the Moon was drawn to his bride and they came together—thus, a solar eclipse.
  17. West Africans of Benin switch the gender roles of the Sun and Moon and suggest that the orbs are very busy, but when they do get together, they turn off the light for privacy.
  18. In Tahitian myth, the orbs are lovers who join up, providing an eclipse, but get lost in the intimate moment and create stars to light their return to normalcy.
  19. The fog or dew or other precipitation resulting from an eclipse was considered dangerous. The Japanese thought that poison would drop from the sky and covered their wells.
  20. In Transylvania, they believed that eclipses could cause plague. Alaskan natives believed that the moisture and dew could cause sickness; dishes were turned upside down and affected utensils were washed.
  21. As recently as 2010, during the near annular eclipse out of fear, people stayed home. Few were on the streets, restaurants and hotels saw a dip in business and most schools closed when students did not show up.
  22. In Cambodia, in 1995, instead of screaming and banging during a solar eclipse, soldiers shot into the air to scare the mythic dragon from the sky. It was reported that the only scattered casualties were from the bullets.
  23. The human response that stands out the most is related to pregnancy … Many ancient people worried that an eclipse caused pregnancy issues such as blindness, cleft lips, and birthmarks.
  24. Pregnant women are sometimes warned to stay inside, not eat, not carry sharp objects, and not eat cooked food from prior to the eclipse.
  25. Some say that the baby superstitions date from the Aztecs, who believed that a celestial beast was biting the Sun—and the same thing would happen to a baby if the pregnant mother watched.
  26. Eclipses did not incite fear in at least one group – Bohemia’s miners, they believed that the event portended good luck in finding gold.
  27. Some North American Indian tribes believed that an eclipse was simply nature’s way of “checking in” with the sky, perhaps a sort of cleaning house. The Sun and the Moon temporarily leave their places in the sky to see if things are going all right on our planet Earth.

Remember, do not look directly at the eclipse – real, lasting eye damage can occur!

 

 

 

 

Recognizing Merit

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Running a business is quite a challenge these days.  As the boss of many people from all different backgrounds, experiences and situations, I never ‘really’ know what each day will bring us. Like many of you, my team and I have our ups and downs, But, every once in a while, someone does something really extraordinary – serving a customer, fixing an issue out on the floor, doing that extra little thing or solving one of your PIA (Pain In The @#$) Jobs.  When I can, I like to recognize that merit right on the spot. Watching the news this week, there was a story about the Purple Heart, established by George Washington 235 years ago this week.  It gave me pause, to think about the brave men and women who have served, and continue to serve,  keeping our country safe and secure.  May God bless all our service men and women who sacrificed so dearly for our amazing country, and thanks, once again to Wikipedia for the history and insights into this award.  God’s speed.

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“It’s got a good beat and you can dance to it”

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(clockwise from lower left) Dick Clark was at the center of it all for decades; Dick in position on his show; Every male in the 50’s had to have an Ace comb in his back pocket; Dick Clark was a master at promotion; A show pass; Guys in suits and girls in dresses, that’s how it was done; Late 50’s boggie on afternoon TV; John Travolta Sept. 15, 1976; The start of Michael Jackson’s many appearances; Dick Clark’s typical sign off.  

 

Ever have one of those days, when everything is clicking, and you just wanna dance?  I do, thanks to the awesome work of my gang here at KHT.  It’s an absolute blast for me to walk around the different plants, checking on your PIA (Pain in the @#$) Jobs, and chatting with the crews.  With all the doors open, the sun shining in and the weather so nice, I find myself ‘dancin’ from building to building as we solve our customer’s problems. (yes, this really happens!)  When we were kids, we had tons of fun music we listened to and danced to (my sisters and brothers also could really dance along with Dad and Mom). On the weekends, when not out playing, we occasionally turned on American Bandstand to hear the latest hits, marveling at the kids swingin’ to the beat. Now, as I have gotten older, Jackie and my girls continue to “teach” me the latest moves.  In all fairness, I do have my favorite dance moves and while writing this post I can see them all shaking their heads!  Tomorrow marks the 60th anniversary of Dick Clark’s debut on ABC television.  As we all know, Dick went on to be a huge radio and television voice for decades – rock, blues, disco and soul music.  Special thanks to Wikipedia for the insights and little known history of AB.

 

  1. American Bandstand (AB) first premiered in late March 1950 as Bandstand on Philadelphia television station WFIL-TV Channel 6 (now WPVI-TV), as a replacement for a weekday movie that had shown predominantly British films. Hosted by Bob Horn as a television adjunct to his radio show of the same name, Bandstand mainly featured short musical films with occasional studio guests.
  2. After a few years, Horn was disenchanted with the program, and wanted to have the show changed to a dance program, with teenagers dancing along on camera as the records played, based on The 950 Club, hosted by Joe Grady and Ed Hurst.
  3. In spring of 1956, the ABC television network asked their O&O’s and affiliates for programming suggestions to fill their coveted 3:30pm time slot. Dick Clark, active with the show, decided to pitch it to ABC president Thomas W. Moore, and after some badgering the show was picked up nationally, officially becoming American Bandstand on August 5, 1957.
  4. A typical show included popular music, dancing teens and a small studio audience.  Clark interviewing teenagers about their opinions of the songs being played, most memorably through the “Rate-a-Record” segment. During the segment, two audience members each ranked two records on a scale of 35 to 98, after which the two opinions were averaged by Clark, who then asked the audience members to justify their scores. The segment gave rise, perhaps apocryphally, to the phrase “It’s got a good beat and you can dance to it.  Featured artists typically performed their current hits by lip-syncing to the released version of the song.
  5. The program was broadcast live, weekday afternoons and, by 1959, the show had a national audience of 20 million. In the fall of 1961, ABC truncated American Bandstand’s airtime from 90 to 60 minutes, then even further as a daily half-hour program in September 1962.  Beginning in early 1963, all five shows for the upcoming week were videotaped the preceding Saturday, allowing Clark to produce and host a series of concert tours around the success of American Bandstand.] On September 7, 1963, the program was moved from its weekday slot and began airing weekly every Saturday afternoon, restored to an hour, until 1989.
  6. From the late 1950s and most of the 1960s, Clark’s on-camera sidekick was announcer Charlie O’Donnell, who later went on to announce Wheel of Fortune and other programs hosted or produced by Clark, such as The $100,000 Pyramid.
  7. Production of the show moved from Philadelphia to the ABC Television Center in Los Angeles (now known as The Prospect Studios) on February 8, 1964, which coincidentally was the same weekend that WFIL-TV moved from 46th and Market to their then-new facility on City Line Avenue. The program was permanently in color from September 9, 1967. The typical production schedule consisted of videotaping three shows on a Saturday and three shows on a Sunday, every six weeks.
  8. Bandstand originally used “High Society” by Artie Shaw as its theme song, but by the time the show went national, it had been replaced by various arrangements of Charles Albertine’s “Bandstand Boogie,” including Larry Elgart’s big-band recording remembered by viewers of the daily version. From 1969 to 1974, “Bandstand Theme,” a synthesized rock instrumental written by Mike Curb, opened each show. From 1974 to 1977, there was a newer, orchestral disco version of “Bandstand Boogie,” arranged and performed by Joe Porter, played during the opening and closing credits.
  9. From 1977 to the end of its ABC run in 1987, the show opened and closed with Barry Manilow’s rendition of “Bandstand Boogie,” which he originally recorded for his 1975 album Tryin’ to Get the Feeling. The Manilow version was replaced by an updated instrumental arrangement of “Bandstand Boogie” when Bandstand went into syndication, arranged by David Russo.  From 1974 to the end of the ABC run in 1987, Bandstand featured another instrumental at its mid-show break: Billy Preston’s synth hit “Space Race.”
  10. As Bandstand moved towards the 1980s, the ratings began to decline. Many factors were involved in this, particularly the launch of MTV and other music programs on television. The increase in competition hurt Bandstand and the variety of options for music on TV decreased its relevance.
  11. The other reason ratings declined was that American Bandstand was pre-empted on many occasions by televised college football games, which expanded greatly in number in the wake of a court-ordered deregulation in 1984).
  12. Making matters worse, for the 1986–87 season, ABC reduced Bandstand from a full hour to 30 minutes; at Clark’s request, the final ABC episode (with Laura Branigan performing “Shattered Glass”) aired on September 5, 1987. Two weeks later, Bandstand moved to first-run syndication, restored to its former hour length.
  13. After a ten-month hiatus, Bandstand moved to USA Network with comedian David Hirsch taking over hosting duties. In another format shift, it was shot outdoors at Universal Studios Hollywood. Clark remained as executive producer. After 26 weeks, it was cancelled, and its final show (with The Cover Girls performing “My Heart Skips a Beat” and “We Can’t Go Wrong”) aired on October 7, 1989.
  14. In 2002, Dick Clark hosted a special 50th anniversary edition. Michael Jackson, a frequent Bandstand guest, performed “Dangerous” and The Village People performed their legendary song, “YMCA” for a live audience in Pasadena, California. Other performers including Brandy, members of KISS, Dennis Quaid and his band The Sharks, Cher, and Stevie Wonder.
  15. In 2004, Dick Clark, with the help of Ryan Seacrest, announced plans to revive the show in time for the 2005 season; although this did not occur (due in part to Clark suffering a severe stroke in late 2004), one segment of the revived Bandstand—a national dance contest—eventually became the series So You Think You Can Dance.
  16. The show’s popularity helped Dick Clark become an American media mogul and inspired similar long-running music programs, such as Soul Train and Top of the Pops. Clark eventually assumed ownership of the program through his Dick Clark Productions company.
  17. American Bandstand played a crucial role in introducing Americans to such famous artists as Prince, Jackson 5, Sonny and Cher, Aerosmith, and John Lydon’s PiL—all of whom made their American TV debuts on the show.  American Bandstand on radio and tv became ritual for many teenagers throughout the nation. The Top 40 hits that everyone heard were matched with fun routines performed by relatable teenagers. It became a staple in homes and heavily influenced American society culturally, musically, and socially. It also was a prototype for musical television properties including cable channel MTV and Fox’s reality-competition show American Idol.

The original Bandstand Boogie by Les Elgart, listen HERE.
Words were added by Barry Manilow in 1975, listen HERE.

 

 

“The Champion”

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(top row l to r) Jordan Spieth after his big Open win at Royal Birkdale; One of Royal Birkdale’s interesting sand traps. (row two) Golf really is a great family game. (row three) A very early leather golf ball; An exploded view of Nike’s newest golf ball; A highball in a golf ball glass I saw on Amazon. (bottom) I really, really, like golf.

Last weekend, after visiting with great friends for breakfast on Sunday morning, I had a chance to watch some of the British Open, and the amazing finish by Jordan Spieth. I was mesmerized by his shot making, patience, creativity and approach to the game, as he battled shot after shot with his closest opponent Matt “kooosh” Kuchar.  As a golfer myself, and one who clearly understands PIA (pain in the #$%) Jobs, (something I equate with my own golf game – often!), I thought it would be fun to dig into the archives and find some random trivia about the game we can all share with friends while on the course. Ironically, I have had a golf shot named after me, granted this was years ago, so next time you see me ask about the “Kowalski”. Special thanks to golfandcourse.com for the insights.

  1. The game of Golf was invented over 500 years ago in Scotland, however it is claimed that the Chinese developed a similar game as far back as 943 A.D.
  2. Between 1457 and 1502, golf was banned in Scotland on three separate occasions to prevent Scots from being distracted from preparations to defend against an English invasion.
  3. The origin of the word “golf” is thought to have come from the Dutch word “kolf” or “kolve”, meaning “club” and the passed into Scottish language and became to “golve,” “gowl” or “gouf” because of the eccentricities of Scottish dialect.
  4. The “birdie” was coined by an American named Ab Smith who initially referred to a “bird of a shot” which later became a “birdie.”
  5. A “caddy” is derived from the French word “cadet” (with has roots in the Gascon Occitan as capdèth or capdet, meaning chief then younger boy) used to refer to the Cadets de Gascogne, the youngest sons of the aristocratic families of Gascony who were captains serving in the French Army during the 15th century.
  6. A “scratch golfer” is a golfer with a handicap of zero.
  7. On February 6, 1971, Apollo 14 member Alan Shepard hit a ball on the moon with a six-iron. Shephard had to play the shot with one-handed because of his space suit.
  8. The longest putt ever was a huge 375 feet by Fergus Muir in November 6, 2001 at St Andrews.blank”>Try watching this video on www.youtube.com</a>, or enable JavaScript
  9. Michael Hoke Austin of Los Angeles, California holds the record for the longest drive on an ordinary course. On September 25, 1974 in the US National Seniors Open Championship at Las Vegas, Nevada he hit a phenomenal 515 yard drive.
  10. Coby Orr is the youngest golfer to make a hole-in-one. In 1975, at just 5 years of age he achieved every golfer’s dream on a par 3 in Littleton, Colorado.
  11. Richard Lewis holds the record for the most number of holes of golf played in a single year. Between January 1st and December 31st 2010, he played 11,000 holes, every one of them at the Four Seasons Resort and Club in Irving, Texas.
  12. The longest hole-in-one record has stood since March 1961 when Lou Kretlow aced the 427 yard 16th hole at Lake Hefner course, Oklahoma City, USA.
  13. The Honor (or “you have honors”) is when a golfer is entitled to tee off first, usually having won the last hole, or maintained “The Honor since the last hole with a winner.”
  14. A “condor” is the name for a score of 4 under par. There have only been four verified condor’s, all hole-in-one’s on par 5s.
  15. Links golf courses are characterized by being built on the thin strip of grass, sand and dunes between the sea and typical agricultural land. Parkland courses typically have lush, well maintained fairways, mature trees and woodland, deep rough and bunkers and Heath-land courses have rolling fairways, sculpted through the natural landscape with bushes, shrubs and few trees.
  16. A “mulligan” is a bad shot which, by mutual agreement between playing partners, is cancelled and replayed (truly one of my favorite shots)!
  17. Striking the ground before making contact with the ball was called a “sclaff”.
  18. The chances of making two consecutive holes in one is at the edge of the realms of possibility and odds have been put anywhere where between 25,000,000 and 65,000,000 to 1. But at the 1971 Martini Tournament in Norwich, England John Hudson did just that, with aces on the 11th and 12th holes.
  19. In 1963 Jack Nicklaus became the youngest player to win The Masters.  In 1986, he became the oldest player to win The Masters.
  20. In 1744, the first golf club was founded, The Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers which played at Leith links.
  21. Founded in 1754, The Royal & Ancient Golf Club at St. Andrews set the standard of the 18 hole golf course.
  22. The first golf club to open in the United States was the Chicago Golf Club opened in 1893. The club moved two years later and has resided in the same location since 1895. Downers Grove Golf Course is at the original site.
  23. The oldest known rules of golf were written in 1744 by the Edinburgh Golf Club. The first golf instruction manual was published in 1857 “The Golfer’s Manual”, by “A Keen Hand” (H. B. Farnie).
  24. The International Golf Club in Massachusetts is the home of the longest golf course in the US (at 8,325 yards the course plays to a par of 77).  The Nullarbur Links in Australia, begins and ends (depending on the direction of crossing) in the goldmining town of Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, and measures 1365 kilometers (1,482,940 yards) – clearly the longest course.
  25. The Sano Course at the Satsuki Golf Club in Japan boasts the world’s longest hole. The 7th hole on the course it is a par 7 and is 964 yards long.
  26. Pine Valley Course in New Jersey has the world’s biggest bunker. Affectionately named “Hell’s Half Acre”.
  27. The largest green in the world measures in excess of 28,000 square feet.
  28. The Augusta National Golf Club, the home of The Masters, was closed for 3 years during World War II to support the war effort. The course was used to raise cattle and turkey.
  29. Cast golf clubs are made by pouring molten metal into a mold, around 90% of golf clubs are made using this process.  Forged golf clubs have a softer steel, stamped or beat into shape which is what give forged clubs “a better feel.”
  30. Up until the 1920’s two-wood golf clubs were referred to as “the brassie”, three-wood clubs “the spoon”, four-wood clubs were “the baffy” and five-wood clubs “the clerk”.  A five iron was called “the mashie”, and an 8 iron was called “the pitching niblick”.
  31. There are 336 dimples on a regulation golf ball.  The number of dimples range between 330 and 500.
  32. Golf balls were originally made from thin leather stuffed with feathers. At the time, tightly packing feathers was the most effective way to produce golf balls that flew the longest distance.
  33. Before the use of tees, golfers would tee-off from a pile a sand (something my friend Rob has known to use on our annual golf trips).  It wasn’t until the 1920’s when the plastic and wood golf tees today started to gain popularity.
  34. You’re not allowed to carry more than 14 golf clubs in your golf bag for a sanctioned tournament.  Before the 1890s, there were no golf bag, caddies would tie a strap around clubs to carry them.
  35. 80% of all golfers will never achieve a handicap of less than 18.
  36. If you walk an 18 hole golf course, you’ll walk roughly 4 miles and burn 2,000 calories.  If you ride around an 18 hole golf course on a golf cart you’ll burn around 1,300 calories.  And if you flag down the beverage cart, for a cool drink and a snack, you are most likely right back to zero.
  37. It’s common for Japanese golfers to have insurance for getting a “hole-in-one”. Having made hole-in-one it’s customary to throw a party and present gifts to all your friends to share your good luck.
  38. Johnny Weissmuller, famous for his role as Tarzan, was playing golf in Cuba during the Revolution when he was surrounded by a group of rebels. He immediately gave his trademark Tarzan yell. The soldiers recognized it and were so delighted to meet Tarzan that they escorted him to a safe area.
  39. South African golfer Gary Player wore a pair of trousers with one black leg and one white leg at the 1960 Open Championship in St Andrews to protest against Apartheid.
  40. Golf is a game – it should be fun to play.

 

 

 

Watermelon

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Glorious Watermelon!

Aaahhhh.  The sweet, refreshing taste of watermelon.  On a hot, summer, day, there’s something special about biting into a big slice of cool, juicy watermelon, enjoying the sweet flavor, and then spitting out the seeds.  As a kid, I remember Mom and Dad bringing home lots of watermelons for us kids to eat. For any of you who know me, this would almost never end well for my siblings! 🙂   Do you know how many seeds are in a large watermelon and how far you can spit them? (that’s a topic for another post!)   Needless to say, Mom would not be happy with us once we were finished having a seed spitting contest. Even the dogs would get into the act!  So, for our post today, I did some diggin’ just so we all can be a bit smarter about this fun summertime treat.  Enjoy!  Special thanks to watermelon.org (of course there is a watermelon dot org, right?) It’s loaded with fun facts and really great recipes.

  • The origins of watermelon have been traced back to the deserts of southern Africa, where it still grows wild today. The ancestor of the modern watermelon is a tough, drought-tolerant plant prized for its ability to store water for tribes crossing the Kalahari.
  • The first recorded watermelon harvest occurred about 5,000 years ago in Egypt and is depicted in Egyptian hieroglyphics on walls of their ancient buildings. Watermelons were often placed in the burial tombs of kings to nourish them in the afterlife.
  • From there, watermelons were brought to countries along the Mediterranean Sea by way of merchant ships. By the 10th century, watermelon found its way to China, which is now the world’s top producer of watermelons.
  • The 13th century found watermelons spreading through the rest of Europe via the Moors.
  • By weight, watermelon is the most-consumed melon in the U.S., followed by cantaloupe and honeydew.
  • Early explorers used watermelons as canteens.
  • According to Guinness World Records, the world’s heaviest watermelon was grown by Chris Kent of Sevierville, Tennessee in 2013, weighing in at 350.5 lbs.
  • The United States currently ranks 5th in worldwide production of watermelon. Many states grow watermelons with Florida, Texas, California, Georgia, and Arizona consistently leading the country in production.
  • You need three things to grow watermelon: sun, bees, and water.  Farmers generally grow watermelon in rows (8 to 12 feet apart) and in raised beds (4 to 12 inches high) composed of well drained sandy soils. Tiny watermelon plants from a nursery are transplanted into soil beds.
  • Honeybees must pollinate every yellow watermelon blossom in order to fruit. In a month, a vine may spread 6 to 8 feet, and within 60 days, the vine produces its first watermelons. The crop is ready to harvest within 3 months.
  • The rind of a watermelon is not as tough as it looks, so it is handpicked. Watermelon pickers look for a pale or buttery yellow spot on the bottom of the watermelon, indicating ripeness.
  • Watermelon’s official name is Citrullus Lanatus of the botanical family Curcurbitaceae. It is a cousin to cucumbers, pumpkins and squash.
  • More than 300 varieties of watermelon are cultivated in the United States and South America, where complementary growing seasons provide a year-round supply of watermelon in an array of shapes, colors and sizes. Because there are so many varieties, they are often grouped according to characteristics, like fruit shape, rind color or pattern, and size.  The most common watermelon options are:
    • Seeded: The classic watermelon comes in a wide range of sizes. (15-45 lb, round, long, oblong)
    • Seedless: Due to high demand, the majority of watermelon cultivars grown today are seedless – and they are getting redder and crisper thanks to seed breeding advancements. They are not the result of genetic engineering, but rather hybridization – the crossing of two different types of watermelons. (10-25 lb, round to oblong)
    • Mini: Petite “personal watermelons” are easy to handle and their thinner rinds can mean more flesh per pound. Hollow them out for a compostable serving bowl. (1-7 lb, round)
    • Yellow & Orange: These varieties lack the lycopene that gives red-fleshed watermelon its color, yellow and orange varieties add a surprising element to the plate or glass. (10-30 lb, round)
  • To pick a good watermelon, look the watermelon over. You are looking for a firm, symmetrical watermelon that is free from bruises, cuts or dents.  Next, lift it up.  The watermelon should be heavy for its size. Watermelon is 92% water, most of the weight is water.  And finally, turn it over.  The underside of the watermelon should have a creamy yellow spot from where it sat on the ground and ripened in the sun.
  • A two-cup serving of watermelon contains excellent levels of vitamins A, B6 and C, and serves as a valuable source of potassium. At 92% water, watermelon delivers needed fluids and nutrients to the body, including lycopene – which has been studied for its potential role in reducing risk of heart disease, various cancers and protection to skin from harmful UV rays – and citrulline – which can help maintain blood flow within the heart and cardiovascular function.
  • 100% of watermelon is useable and compostable – 70% flesh and 30% rind.  On average, a typical watermelon yields about 11-12 cups of cubes and 6 cups of juice.
  • If you are traveling this summer, there are dozens of watermelon festivals to choose from – here are just a few coming up:  North Carolina Watermelon Festival (7/21) Fair Bluff, NC; Outer Banks Watermelon Festival (8/3) Kitty Hawk, NC; Watermelon Carnival in Water Valley, MS (8/4) Water Valley, MS; Knox County Watermelon Festival (8/5) Knox County, IN; Denton North Carolina Watermelon Festival (8/5) Denton, NC; Hope Watermelon Festival (8/10) Hope, AR; Straffordville Watermelon Festival (8/26) Straffordville, Ontario, Canada
  • Enjoy more at The Slice – What About Watermelon blog.

Two FUN Recipes to try:

Watermelon Rind Stir Fry

 Ingredients

  • 2 cups watermelon rind, julienned (white part only, from about 1/2 of a seedless watermelon)
  • 1 cup julienned carrots
  • 1 inch piece of ginger, minced
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1/2 cup chives, cut into 3 inch pieces
  • 1 tablespoon honey
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon fish sauce
  • 2 teaspoons sesame oil
  • 1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, torn
  • 1/4 cup mint leaves
  • 1/4 cup cilantro leaves
  • add some spices, like red pepper flakes to taste
  1. Heat sesame oil in a wok over high heat. Add the watermelon rind and carrots and stir fry, stirring constantly, for 1-2 minutes. Let sit over high heat for 1 additional minute without stirring. Add the chives and stir to combine.
  2. In a small bowl, whisk together the honey, soy sauce, fish sauce, garlic and ginger.
  3. Pour the sauce over the watermelon rind and cook, stirring, 30 seconds to 1 minute until fragrant.
  4. Transfer to a serving dish. Add the basil, cilantro, and mint, tossing to combine.
  5. Sprinkle with red pepper flakes, if desired, and serve as a side dish.

Watermelon Poke Bowl

 Ingredients

  • 1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
  • 1/4 – 1/2 cup watermelon juice
  • 1 teaspoon sriracha chili sauce
  • 1 teaspoon sesame oil
  • 2 green onions, cut on the diagonal with whites and greens separated
  • 3 medium cloves garlic or 2 large cloves garlic, minced
  • 1/2 tablespoon minced ginger root
  • 1/3 white onion, thinly sliced
  • 3/4 pound ahi tuna, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
  • 1 small avocado, diced
  • 2/3 cup diced watermelon
  • 1/4 teaspoon sesame seeds
  • serving pickled ginger or chopped fresh ginger
  1. In a medium bowl, mix soy sauce, watermelon juice, chili sauce, oil, the white portion of green onions, garlic, ginger root and onion. Add tuna, toss and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
  2. 10 minutes before serving, add avocado and return to refrigerator.
  3. Plate over white rice seasoned with rice wine vinegar and top with watermelon and green onions, then sprinkle with sesame seeds. Serve with pickled ginger and garnish with dried seaweed for extra Hawaiian flare.