Blergh

How could I have overlooked it but today's Uno Wutt seems to have brought light to my abiding dislike: Geraldo Rivera. NEVER could stand him but what was especially revolting was the way he'd try to ape being Phil Donahue re crying crocodile mawkish tears for victims of horrific abuse that he had no qualms exploiting all over again on his show . Meanwhile, it was public record that not only did he treat marriage as a joking revolving door but also was alleged to have been just about as bad to other women as his victims excuse me, talk show guests had happened to them. I mean, at least Phil Donahue was sincere in his empathy for the guests on his show and had no accusations of being less than honorable to the women in his life! Just UGH!

How did he manage to get those past your mom? Just curious. OK, in honor of tomorrow's Uno Wutt, it should be noted that the Ancient Chinese were about the first to be able to predict solar eclipses . However; even though they knew WHEN these were supposed to happen, they believed that this meant that a Celestial Dragon would be trying to EAT the sun . Hence; it was imperative that they'd knew in advance so everyone would be at the ready with drums and gongs to beat to distract said dragon from swallowing the big yellow ball. It seems in 2134 BC, two astronomers failed to do this and all the Chinese up to the Emperor were furious at how close they'd dodged the bullet with the dragon so when they found the astronomers had been drunk, the emperor had them beheaded for their negligence nearly causing the world to end.

So will France fly its flags at half-mast with this news of Mr. Lewis? I wonder if the upcoming Labor Day Telethon will attempt any kind of tribute despite the not entirely-friendly parting of ways. Considering ALL he survived, it's a bit of a shocker! RIP, Mr. Lewis.

Fairly good article re Dansk Cookie boxes, Giselle (though I'd have preferred reading a small summary here rather than just click to the link but that's just MO). Anyway, that's gotten me to think about the fact that for over a half century, my mother's kept my sibs' and my own baby teeth in her jewelry box. I wonder how many other folks' mothers have done the same- and has anyone actually gone to the trouble of doing a survey to find out if what percentage of women have kept their descendants' and/or other relatives' baby teeth in jewelry boxes.

Thank you- and, of course, it ALSO seems to mean that everyone who doesn't fit in the lockstep conformist mold needs to be nagged,pressured, etc. to take bunches of pills they may not need (never mind that nonconformists managed to survive and even thrive for millenia without medications others now seem to think are as vital as air)! I know our POVs aren't the most trendy or popular but I thank you for saying this!

Tattle Teeny- Thanks for bringing up ANOTHER of my Pet Peeves- the need to tag everyone who has a quirk, foible or just follows their own drumbeat with trendy acronyms- despite the lack of official psychological diagnoses. What wrong with being a lovable eccentric or even a harmless flake?

Cab Calloway and Ethel Merman had something in common: they both had their earliest known filmed appearances doing live action performances then singing within Betty Boop cartoons when they were each 24! Mr. Calloway was first shown conducting his swing orchestra and doing a proto moon walk in the live action opening cartoon in which he then sang and 'voiced' several scary characters taunting Betty and her companion Bimbo while singing his trademark song in the Betty Boop cartoon of the same name "Minnie the Moocher"! Miss Merman was seen uncharacteristically sedately singing in someone's window box the song "Let Me Call You Sweetheart" three times while encouraging the movie audiences to do the same- then lastly voicing a rather aggressive black cat singing the song while chasing newly hatched baby chicks! The main cartoon itself of Betty Boop within that framework had nothing to do with the song. One odd note is that in the credits the year was stated as '1930' but it wasn't actually produced until 1932 .

Although at times he was far from the easiest person to get along with those who knew him, he DID make some outstanding contributions to the music scene and even had some good comedic chops when he pressed to do that. Hopefully, he's in a place where his music and memory have been restored. RIP, Mr. Campbell!

raven, Cute story! I'm glad they actually gave the kid some incentive to work hard and want to join their team as an adult. I recall when I was about his age, I told folks at summer camp that I wanted to be an astronomer- and they said to be an astronomer, I had to extend my middle finger! Yes, it didn't take that long before my older sister told me this that was NOT the mark of an astronomer. However; looking back I'm kind of grateful that I was able to get to that age without knowing the implications and having no memory of anyone else having ever used it in front of me.

Sean Connery and the late Harpo Marx have something in common: they are the only adult stars so far to insist on having being shoeless when having their footprints immortalized in front of Grauman's Chinese Theatre.

All this talk of crunchy reminds me of a food pet peeve of mine: I dislike crunchy cereal and will try to wait several minutes for the milk to turn it just the right 'limp'. No, I don't like it soggy either but even that would be preferable to have to crunch first thing while I'm not quite awake and the caffeine hasn't yet kicked in.

Man, he had the job nearly every boy wanted even if he had to be in a stinky, cumbersome costume- to get PAID to destroy a city that looked smaller than he! RIP, Mr. Nakajima.

But where is Mr. Lowe going to find friends 'his own age' who also look the same age as their own kids? Perhaps the question will arise re whether the kids will be willing to stay pals with him when they start looking older than him.

I seem to recall folks not happy George Clooney was not having kids in his 30's and 40's then getting upset when he'd finally married and had twins in his mid 50's. Yeah, the male body has zero to worry about re pregnancy and childbirth but there's still the issue of how late-in-life kids will fare should one or both of their parents not live to see them graduate college. As for Aaron Carter, I don't get why he was willing to spend the last decade or so in relative obscurity dealing but has recently decided to make his issues everyone's business.

I have a relative who never gets the hint that I'd like to talk to other folks on my own during get-togethers and will go out of their way to be sure to sit close to where I'm sitting to monopolize the entire conversation with the other person leaving me a log bump even though I'd have preferred to talk to the other person. I've even tried the 'why don't you sit on that side of the table so we can each entertain other folks' to no avail. Another pet peeve: Public restrooms with automatic timed lights. Let's just say there have been times I've been desperate for nature to take its course all on my own there when suddenly everything goes pitch black and I have to suddenly stand up and walk around to try to get said lights to return. ARGGH!!

Funny episode in which Bob, after capping off a rather lousy morning, has Emily talk him into making it a point of telling his mother he loves her -only to find himself putting it off and even putting obstacles in that path! It was interesting that Bob's parents seemed to live in the same city as their son yet he didn't interact with them nearly as much as his officemates or even Howard. Prolific performer Martha Scott whoplayed the well-meaning yet smothering if sometimes passive-aggressive Eleanor Hartley on an occasional basis throughout the whole series and this would give good insight as to why Bob was so undemonstrative and coy.

"Mary the Writer" was a bit unexpected in that it actually showed a flaw in Mary's character beyond just hosting lousy parties. She wrote this short story and virtually cornered Lou to read&critique it and, despite him being as diplomatic as he could be while being Lou, Mary was livid when he admitted that he thought it stunk. Afterwards she dug the hole even deeper when she lied about it being published in "Reader's Digest" and kept maintaining said lie until Georgette guilted her! As I said, this was somewhat refreshing to see that Mary had a shallow side. Even so, it seems as though this would have been far more in character for Sue Ann who was nowhere around this ep! P.S. There was one scene that definitely wouldn't be allowed or not interpreted as having the most sinister of connotations, when Lou tried to force Mary from her snit over his dislike of her article, he actually tickled her ribs and sides. Can anyone imagine that being done in a workplace comedy today?

He was married eight times-the same number of times as Mickey Rooney! Can we hope Mr. Hardin's exes got more from their times with him than Mr. Rooney's seemed to have? I'll leave it at that! One can't say he'd had a dull life. RIP, Mr. Hardin.

True- not to mention that the show drew out some humor from Bob's collegiate nickname- 'The Mooner ' which the shrewd Emily seemed suspicious about but the adult Bob was too coy to actually explain HOW he got it much less what it meant! I guess it showed that while 'The Peeper' stayed stuck in his fratboy mode his entire adult life, Bob went back to his nebbishy persona after college that he'd had up to college but had temporarily shed away from his parents.

No, not Siegfried! He and Peter Davison (later the Fifth Doctor Who) were indispensable as the Farnon Brothers who made life an endless adventure for the protagonist James Herriot in "All Creatures Great and Small" one of the best series to celebrate animals and their veterinarians ever made! He DID make it to 91 and even a few months ago still gave rousing interviews looking decades younger than one would have guessed. He also did an outstanding job playing Winston Churchill in quite a few productions. Thanks, Silver Raven for also mentioning his contributions to the above effort. The "Mary Rose" was this Tudor warship that was sunk in battle in 1545 in the Solent Strait that separated the Isle of Wight from England and was actually salvaged and brought to the surface in its own museum in 1982 so it's nice to know that Mr. Hardy was more of a Renaissance man than I'd have imagined. RIP, Siegfried.

Had the odd dream of driving to a 1970's theme park- that is, that it looked like a typical town with typical businesses,etc. from the 1970's. I even went inside the McDonald's which surprised not only how it looked exactly as it had in the 1970's but also because I hadn't liked going there even back then! I wonder if there might be anyone else who'd like a theme park like that?

Saw "Tennis Emily" in which she took up the hobby after Bob urged her to combat her summer boredom- and virtually every female got enthralled with Emily's tennis instructor while the instructor sought Bob's professional help for being too attractive and believed Emily was interested in him beyond tennis ! What I liked was not only how effectively Emily shot down that idea while admitting that she did find him attractive but she also sincerely yet amusingly reiterated her devotion and love for the somewhat insecure Bob. Can anyone imagine Joanna having done the same thing on "Newhart"- with any believability?

Saw "Mary Midwife" a few days ago. While the script itself of Mary and Lou helping Georgette deliver her and Ted's baby girl (offstage in Mary's bedroom) was amusing enough, it was unintentionally funny how not only did Mary and Lou had perfectly clean hands and sleeves after all that, but Georgette literally didn't make a peep while giving birth and kept her curls intact! Of course, the latter deal is somewhat in character. Yes, I know it was a comedy and not a documentary but it's still funny.

janetstclair, As sad is it must be for your friend's donor's family, at least they know that a part of their relative not only is living on but also is giving another person a chance for life they wouldn't have had otherwise! I pray that this one will be lasting.

That ad reminds of those times in childhood and teens when obnoxious relatives and/or peers would deliberately say or do something upsetting and then, the instant I frowned would try the 'you're not REALLY mad. I'm just teasing and I'll make you laugh at yourself for being such a grump' deal to the amusement of other relatives and peers. Nope. I'm STILL calling you out! P.S. And I HATE Twizzlers!