You Tube just makes me happy

Howie

I have long been a television aficionado, and have written about my thoughts on the subject often over the years, in this very blog. There are too many posts to mention here, but for anyone who is interested, just type “television” into the search box at right to check them out.

My television viewing began at a very early age--coincidentally--both mine and that of the industry. I remember well, those black and white shows and movies as our family gathered in front of the round screen in the living room to experience what was then a brand new innovation.

I was only about three- or four-years old when my older brother Bobby and I used to visit our grandparents, just next door, to watch “Lassie,” every Sunday night at 6 o’clock. That was our time. My memories are vague about those days, but I’ve heard the stories my mother tells. She said Grandma made us snacks, often popcorn and apples, and sometimes cheese and crackers. Sometimes, there was a rare treat - iced tea and layer cake with coffee-flavored frosting.

The adults in my family always had a pot of coffee brewing. What a perfect way to use the last of what was in the pot. It was, so to speak, the icing on the cake. I don’t often bake these days, but if I make a cake, you can bet the liquid in the frosting is not milk or cream, but coffee. One taste of it, or come to think of it, the very thought of it, always brings me back to Grandma’s kitchen.

While so many details of those days in Grandma and Grandpa’s house are sketchy, I’ve seen “Lassie” many times in reruns over the years. I loved that show. There was always a lesson to be learned, family was the most important thing, and I was smitten with the way Jeff and later Timmy bonded with what I’ve always believed was the most beautiful dog I’d ever seen.

Lassie was portrayed as a hero, a friend, a loving companion, and the adult in me would have to add, well-behaved and smart.

That show has been so imprinted on me that several years ago I had the occasion to buy a Collie, one that looked just like Lassie. We named him Howie. That’s him, top right, and I swear he was the best dog I’ve ever known.

Today I’m a cat person, but if there was a sable-colored, rough-coat Collie that needed a home, the cats and I would make room without a second thought.

Watch on You Tube

“Lassie” and so many other vintage programs and videos that take me all the way back to the early days of my life can be seen on You Tube. 

 It is the latest addition to my TV addiction.

Watching You Tube videos is my go to these days when I can no longer handle all the bad news and ugly politics that fills the airwaves. I briefly touched on this subject in my most recent post, “Hey there, Hi there, Ho there,” as I related to filling the hours that used to be spent with favorite TV shows, still on hiatus due to the writers’ strike this summer.  

In addition to reliving days gone by, I have used You Tube to study instructions on how to repair this or that. I’ve sought answers to the ever-growing questions that elude me like who was that actor or what was that movie.

I’ve watched videos about the neighborhoods where I’ve lived. Pleasant memories always fill my head and my heart as I ‘travel’ to another place and time. I’ve watched countless quilting videos and learned how to knit socks.

You Tube, now owned by Google was purchased for $1.65 billion in Oct. 2006. It is the second most visited website in the world, only after Google Search, according to Wikipedia. It was founded on Valentine’s Day 2005 in San Mateo CA by Jawed Karim, Chad Hurley, and Steve Chen.

I certainly appreciate their work because today, I use You Tube to seek my own happy place and it does not disappoint.

 

Sometimes a movie really moves me

Little did I know when I read the description of a movie about three women working for NASA in the 1960’s that I was about to experience a host of emotions, from inspiration, nostalgia, and a personal recollection of national pride.

The story itself was excellent and was based on real events—events that I remember when I was 11 years old.

The movie was “Hidden Figures,” released by Twentieth Century Fox in 2017. It was one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time.

I’m not sure how I missed this movie, which has won several awards, including a Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture and a BET for Best Movie. It received three nominations for an Oscar, including that of Best Picture.

The story, detailed the career and struggles of three brilliant African-American women, but highlighted the mathematical genius of Katherine Johnson, who was largely responsible for the mathematical calculations that made possible the launch of Friendship 7, the space capsule piloted by John Glenn, the first man to orbit the earth in 1962.

Johnson as well as Dorothy Vaughan, computer programmer and Mary Jackson, an aeronautical engineer as well as Christine Darden who later joined NASA and was not noted in the movie but was in the book of the same name, helped to shape the space race between the United States and the Soviet Union, which was the first to send a man into space.

I recall those times. The charismatic President John F. Kennedy inspired our national interest in the exploration of outer space. Even as a child I remember the intensity of concern during Glenn’s four hour flight.

Television sets across the country were tuned in to watch the launch of the Mercury rocket. The nation held its collective breath as Glenn’s space capsule re-entered the earth’s atmosphere and subsequent communication silence. There were problems with the heat shield and it was unknown if the craft would make it back. But then he remarked that the parachute had deployed and the capsule splashed down into the waters of the Atlantic Ocean.

Interestingly, this flight took place during the cold war with the Soviet Union, which is not unlike the adversarial mood today with Russia. The difference between then and now is that back then the country was completely united. Today it is completely divided.

The movie depicted the struggles of these women, African-American women in a white male-dominated workforce. Despite the amazing work they performed, they were still forced to sit in the back of the bus, unable to attend necessary classes in all-white schools, and to use an inconvenient “colored rest room,” at their workplace.

It was exhilarating to watch as the barriers came down. These strong women nudged their way to equality and justice, not through raucous demonstration as exemplified by the times, but through quiet, deliberate achievement. They were certainly not the “squeaky wheels,” which may be the reason they remained hidden figures for so long. Yet the results of their actions were epic.

Katherine Johnson, who turned 101 years old last August, Christine Darden, along with Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson posthumously will be the recipients of The Hidden Figures Congressional Gold Medal Act, which was signed into law by Donald Trump weeks ago, on Nov. 8. The Congressional Gold Medal is the highest honor to be given to a civilian.

A good movie is so much more than mere entertainment. I love a movie that inspires, teaches and evokes real emotion. This was such a movie. I was more than a spectator. I felt the struggles. I relived the moments. I remember some of the scenes of actual footage. I relived the feelings of jubilation and pride of a unified nation, if only for a little while.

Email Mystery--How's This for Nostalgia?

I got a big surprise recently when I opened an email from a friend.

While I appreciate the gesture, as a general rule I ignore forwarded emails meant to inspire, enlighten, or entertain me. First, I don’t want to contract a computer virus. Second, I have far too many unread emails already. I usually delete them, but there are always exceptions. At times, a good joke is just what I need. The email I reference here, came to me twice from two different people. The first time I took notice, but the second time, I really took notice.

As a baby-boomer with a penchant for the good ole days, I decided to take a look at this one, entitled, "How's this for nostalgia?"

Perhaps you have seen it too. It began with a picture of 'those ugly gym uniforms' we all used to wear. I smiled as I scrolled down looking at the pictures that resonated with me from the past.

When I got to the part that statement, "They (teachers) threatened to keep kids back a grade if they failed…and they did it!" there was a picture attached that really caught my eye. 

Immediately upon seeing the picture, I recognized some of the kids.

This is my class, I thought. As I looked at them, I began to remember a few of their names—Gilbert, David, Elmer, Sue, Sally, Jimmy, Rosanne, Theresa, Sharon, and Cynthia. That was all I could muster. I have no idea any of their last names were, except for Sharon. I attended her birthday party. She lived across the street from our school. I wasn't in this picture, but I still believe this to be my class. If this was my class, this picture had to be taken around the late 1950's.

I struggled to read any identifying information on the plaque placed on the floor, front and center with the name of the school and date the picture was taken, but to no avail. It was all too blurred to read. I could tell that it said, Chicago, Ill., however.

I immediately went to an old photo album where I located my kindergarten and first grade pictures—1957 and 1958. The pictures contained those same kids I mentioned. I believe this picture was taken the following year after my family had moved out of that school district.

The picture above is from my first grade class. That's me—front row, fourth from the left.

In '57 and '58, I attended James Hedges Elementary School on Chicago's south side. The school is still there today, but the website yielded no information about those good ole days. I plan to write to the Chicago Public School District to see if there is any way to verify this information.

This picture so haunted me that I googled "How's This for Nostalgia." I learned that several sites by that name contained similar, but not identical information. Only a few sites contained this picture. That leads me to believe that someone, perhaps one of my long-lost classmates, added their own school picture to the nostalgia email.

I would love to solve this mystery, so if you know anyone in this picture, or anything about the origination of this email, please comment or send me an email.