A Gentleman's Domain

Blasphemy!

The first time I went to the USA I was 18. I stayed with my aunt in Manhattan. She worked for a very big advertising agency, and she was able to arrange for me a tour of the CBS Building. I wasn’t part of a regular tour; I had a page, scarcely older than me, all to myself, to show me round. It was very interesting. Among other things I saw the early evening news team reading that day’s news, saw Captain Kangaroo in his blue blazer, and spent a few minutes in an editing suite.

 

At one point, we saw a distinguished looking gentleman in suit and tie walking along a corridor towards us. He seemed to know the page, and said hello to him.

 

“Good evening, Mr. [I didn’t get the name]. This is Nicholas Templesmith [he didn’t pronounce the hyphen] from England, come for the tour.”

 

The gentleman shook my hand and said it was nice to meet me and that he hoped I was enjoying the tour. I thanked him and said I was finding it very interesting. Then the fellow nodded a goodbye an went on his way.

 

Wide eyed and awestruck, the page said, “That was Walter Cronkite!”

 

“Oh,” I replied, “Who’s he?”

Oh I see. That's what the new table is for.

Fun!

Wouldn't it be luverly!

Fun

 

The Second Amendment is dangerous, obsolete crap. Dump it!

Black Friday Prank

This was a harmless and rather charming Black Friday prank.  There's a sort of feel-good about it.

 

 

Billy Cotton & his Band, "That Lindy Hop" 1931

 

The late Brian Rust described this as one of the most exciting recordings made in Britain between the wars. In the early 1930s, Billy Cotton's Band put out some very hot music indeed, especially when they were recording for Columbia, and this is an excellent example. The band included Nat Gonella and Sid Buckman on trumpets, Joe Ferrie on trombone (before all three were poached by Roy Fox later that year), Syd Lipton on violin and Joe Gibson on string bass, right up front.

 

This programme used to be my regular Sunday evening entertainment

  My friend Brian Rust died last year.  His knowledge of vintage jazz was unsurpassed.

 

One sunny afternoon on County Road 232...

 

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Actually this is the ventilation system for a huge milking shed.   I suppose I should have guessed that, what with all those cows and all.

I most certainly will!

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Seen at a rest area off I-75 in north Florida yesterday.  The question must be: how badly does one need to use the washroom?

Prioities!

The cat lover in me totally agrees!

Thursday Thirteen #96

Here’s another selection of titles from my To Be Read shelf. The thing that these ones have in common is that they are the 13 longest books I own but have not yet read. All of these are over 600 pages long – some are considerably longer than that. Maybe it is the sheer size of these books that has put me off reading them. Anyway, friendly TTers, can you tell me anything about any of these? Any that you recommend? Any that you would like to warn me not to bother reading? All opinions and comments will be most welcome.