Big Blue Huddle

 There have been numerous montages of dance routines, clips, etc from movies that I have posted previously. I have received a few new ones and if anyone is interested, please sit back and enjoy. Things like this are never to be seen in movies anymore.

Maybe the best of the lot is a montage assembled to Uptown Funk

There was the original and then another version of a bit more 'modern' films. then still another.


https://youtu.be/M1F0lBnsnkE



https://youtu.be/UGsfzsWkybc



https://youtu.be/l6owzlwCYTk

I don't know if anyone watches this show, or has been watching for the past month or more. We do try and watch as often as we can, but when we heard about the new Jeopardy guy who was winning over a million dollars and really seemed unbeatable, we started watching every day.

Matt Amodio was the 'new' guy who was going to try and beat Ken Jennings's record of most wins and money. Really, he seemed unbeatable, until yesterday

https://www.msn.com/en-us/movies/news/who-is-jonathan-fisher-meet-the-man-who-ended-matt-amodio-s-jeopardy-streak/ar-AAPqcfV?ocid=msedgntp

When he was dethroned by Johnathon Fisher.

Maybe we are out there, but I always suspected that Jeopardy sort of needs guys/gals like this who bring added viewers back to the TV to watch. Like a super Mega lottery that makes everyone buy a ticket, Jeopardy sort of needs a super contestant every so often to promote their show. Could it be a coincidence or more in planning? I have always felt when something like this needs to happen, they find someone, ultra-smart, and pair him with contestants who might not be as brainy. They have to know who might be a better contestant and who might be a weaker player.

Whatever, if you didn't see Matt Amodio play you missed a great contestant, and, for sure, he will be part of any Jeopardy HOF players.

See the Newest "Playboy" Cover Model, Who Just Made History

https://bestlifeonline.com/news-bretman-rock-playboy/

Bretman Rock has just made history as the first openly gay male star on the cover of Playboy. In the photos posted on the company's website, Rock sports the classic bunny ears and a corset, like many Playboy stars have worn before him. (Playboy, which was founded in 1953, transitioned to be exclusively digital last year, so Rock's cover

Some of US older folks will relate to this, A LOT. This WAS my life during the late '50s and early '60s. I don't think I ever walked out of my house without my Spaldeen. If you know of this pink phenomenon, then you know exactly what this means.

The Spaldeen:


This story is about a ball, the most wonderful ball ever invented.  It's better than a baseball, basketball or football.  It's better than any ball you can name.  It was gone for 20 years, but it is back now.

It is called a Spaldeen, which might not mean anything to you, unless you grew up on the East Coast, preferably New York City before 1979.  I grew up in Brooklyn in the 1950s and 1960s, which means my childhood memories are filled with Spaldeens.

Starting in the 1920s, the Spalding Co. manufactured tennis balls at its home base in Chicopee, Mass.  But overruns would occur, so there wasn't enough of the fuzzy stuff for the outside of the tennis balls. Some anonymous genius -- and I use that word "genius" with reverence -- got the idea to market the bright pink, unused rubber cores as the "Spalding High-Bounce Ball."

Because New York City people don't talk so good, they pronounced Spalding as "Spaldeen" -- as in, "Hey, Joey, you wanna play?  I got a Spaldeen."  Spalding would box the Spaldeens and ship them down to New York City, where kids would buy them for a quarter each.  And, my God, when you bought a brand new Spaldeen, the aroma alone would cause ecstasy; it was the smell of Bazooka bubble gum and summer and childhood and joy and hope.

Then you would go out and play.  All those legendary New York City street games began and ended with Spaldeens.  I'm talking about games you've heard about but might never have played -- stickball, punchball, stoopball, hit the penny and a million others.

When it came to inventing games with a Spaldeen, the only limit was your imagination.  We didn't have baseball fields or any other kinds of fields.  We played ball on playgrounds -- really slabs of concrete surrounded by cyclone fences -- or we played in the street, using sewer covers as bases.

The virtue of a Spaldeen, besides that you could whack it a mile, was that it didn't break things. You hit Mrs. Smith's Olds 88 with a Spaldeen, no big deal.  No broken glass.  No broken mirror.  No broken nothin'.  Of course, Mrs. Smith would come running down her steps, screaming, "I'm gonna tell your mutha."  I apologize, Mrs. Smith, wherever you are.

I mostly played in the playground of P.S. 156.  And every kid would come to the playground with a Spaldeen in his back pocket.  If someone had a stick, we'd play stickball.  The stick was an old broom handle or a dowel from the closet.  We'd draw a box on the wall and pitch to it, and if the batter hit it over the fence, it was a homer.  We'd play handball with the Spaldeen, and sometimes we'd go to a friend's house for stoopball.  A kid would throw the ball at the steps in front of someone's house, and as the ball sailed back, you'd try to catch it on a fly.  If it bounced once, it was a single, twice a double, and so on.

But the king of Spaldeen games all over New York City was punchball.  You'd toss the ball over your head.  You'd swing down overhand as if you were serving a tennis ball.  And then you'd punch it with your closed fist.  Guys could hit it 200 feet, long fly balls that seemed to never come down.  The puncher would be running around the bases -- painted squares on the playground's grimy concrete -- while the outfielders ran like mad after the Spaldeen.

THOSE WERE THE DAYS MY FRIEND -- WE THOUGHT THEY'D NEVER END !!!!!

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/us-president-reagans-shooter-john-hinckley-wins-unconditional-release/ar-AAOSqAb?ocid=mailsignout&li=BBnb7Kz

A U.S. judge on Monday said he would grant "unconditional release" to John Hinckley, who wounded former U.S. President Ronald Reagan and three other people in a 1981 assassination attempt.

Personally, I find this deeply disturbing to allow anyone who tried to kill a sitting President, out unconditionally.

And this is after they are going to release the guy that killed Bobby Kennedy.

Sorry, but these guys should do 'hard time' without ever being able to be granted parole, if, for nothing else, than to keep anyone else from trying things like this. I don't care if they have been the perfect inmate, their crime and conviction should be life imprisonment with no parole.

Would Oswald be eligible for parole, if he had survived?

THE YEAR WAS 1955.. (If I hadn't lived through it, I wouldn't believe it myself.)

                                               

Did you hear the post office is thinking about charging 7 cents just to mail a letter? But we still had penny post cards.

                                               

If they raise the minimum wage   to $1.00,   nobody will be able to   hire outside help at the store. 

                                               

When I first started driving, who   would have thought gas would someday cost 25 cents a gallon?  Guess we'd be better off leaving   the car in the garage.   

                                               

Did you see where some baseball   player just signed a contract for   $50,000 a year just to play ball? It wouldn't surprise me if someday   they'll be making more than the President. 

                                               

I never thought I'd see the day   all our kitchen appliances would be electric. They're even making electric typewriters now. 

                                               

It's too bad things are so tough   nowadays. I see where a few married women are having to   work   to make ends meet. 

It won't be long before young   couples are going to have to hire   someone to watch their kids so they can both work.

                                               

I'm afraid the Volkswagen car   is going to open the door to a   whole lot of foreign business. 

                                               

Thank goodness I won't live to see the day when the government   takes half our income in taxes. I sometimes wonder if we are electing the best people to   government. 

                                               

The fast food restaurant is   convenient for a quick meal,   but I seriously doubt they   will ever catch on. 

                                               

There is no sense going on short trips any more for a weekend. It   costs nearly $2.00 a night to stay   in a hotel . 

                                               

No one can afford to be sick anymore. At $15.00 a day in   the hospital, it's too rich for   my blood. 


                                               

If they think I'll pay 30 cents for a haircut, forget it. 

                                               

The year was 1955

Just unbelievable nonsense


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVZJhsW2Eq8&t=6s&ab_channel=DOCTORLIFEEXTENSION

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_cMi7y5uqk&ab_channel=NefDefFilms

So it's back, our favorite (or not so favorite) show to either like or knock. I think we can all agree that the time to end this series has long passed but now it is finally here. I believe they will have a longer season to end it, so let's get to it.

I rewatched the last episode from last season just to get back up to speed and I have watched the first 2 episodes of this new season.

I will comment as I would think anyone reading has seen them. If not, back off as I will give away info.

Thru 2 episodes I feel it is better than it has been for a couple of years. There is a lot of action, and the usual hijinx, but overall it has been better than I expected. Don't get me wrong, everything isn't peachy as they still spend just too much time on things that have basically no consequence.

I feel the main thing that has made this new and final season so interesting is the Maggie/Negan confrontation. Maggie came back and Negan had been sort of the 'hero', if we can use that word. he killed Alpha and saved many lives in doing so. As I have said all thru his time on TWD, when he is on screen the entire show perks up, when he is not, then things just lag.
So now we have Negan and Maggie (and others) going out to save their whatever and the bitterness that Maggie feels is there. How can anyone blame her after all he killed Glen, her husband, in cold blood. If I were she, no matter what, I could never forgive him. But Negan can talk, and talk his way out of many things. When he turned his back on Maggie and walked away, I said, how the hell is he going to talk his way out of this one, but he does. --So far, good storyline and lots of great action.
If I have to quibble, when they are killing the walkers in the subway car, and more and more keep coming. You would think there would be a pile of them so big that the others would have to work a bit to get past them. They have had to kill at last 40-50 of them yet they just keep coming as if no one was in front of them.

AND we find out that the walkers' sleep, even cover themselves up to be comfortable. 

As for Eugene and company and the Star Wars rejects, who knows where that is going, but I have always enjoyed Eugene's character so I'll hold off judgment on that part.

Simply amazing


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IItTUaRCvDI&ab_channel=GotTalentGlobal

I thought I was posting this on the main board. If you want to delete it, OK.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/entertainment/news/singer-don-everly-of-the-hall-of-fame-duo-everly-brothers-dies-at-84/ar-AANBptF?ocid=msedgntp

Shall I say it again, another part of my early years has passed away.

I was a huge Everly brothers fan, saw them several times in concert and they helped pave the way for Rock and Roll today.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTseFBze0NM&ab_channel=Doris0815007

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTYe9eDqxe8&ab_channel=ReelinInTheYears66

Say Hi to all the other great up there for us.

RIP

OK all you trivia buffs, today I learned something that had had me puzzled for maybe 50 years.

I am a huge, huge, huge fan of the Columbo TV series. In all that time, the question has been asked, what is his first name? In the entire length of the series it has NEVER been mentioned, but he does have a first name, and today I found out what it is.

Sure if you want to know, just google it, but instead, does anyone know what his REAL first name is and it is NOT Lieutenant.

https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/central-park-confrontation-goes-viral-white-woman-calls-cop-on-black-birder/2431773/

Don't know if everyone was able to know about this. It happened maybe a year ago and was broadcast all over the news. This lady was crucified, lost her job now has a suit against her former company about it, and was basically driven into hiding, all because of a phone call and a clip-on someone's cell phone.

NOW, it has come to light that there is more to this story than the news media cared to share with the public.

https://www.newsday.com/opinion/columnists/cathy-young/cathy-young-1.50331946

Seems the media saw a good chance to vilify someone without all the facts and SELECTIVELY chose to show a clip that really didn't tell the entire story.

As the article says, the lady who screamed wolf, wasn't maybe the nicest person in the world, but her reasons and actions were plain, once we see the entire story.

How many stories and video clips that we see about certain things do not tell the entire story, maybe what led up to the filmed incident. We see 15 seconds of a story that maybe takes 5 minutes to happen and we make conclusions from that.

Again, this still may not be a nice lady, but I hope she gets justice for things that were not all her fault.

Is this guy maybe the biggest moron out there

Texas' governor is now asking for out-of-state help for COVID surge after banning mask mandates


https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/texas-gop-governor-is-now-asking-for-out-of-state-help-for-covid-surge-after-banning-mask-mandates/ar-AANdqp3?ocid=msedgntp

Sorry guys, you can't have your cake (banning mask mandates) and eating it too (having Covid bypass your state)


This guy is killing people, really and he is still in office while, well we'll leave it at that.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzjWQF1oP2M&ab_channel=ScrippsRanchOldPros

Don't hold back Tommy, tell 'em what you really think.

 Ed got me a bit sentimental, so I really went back to some stuff I had saved for years and years. I was looking for some old pix from some of our BBH get-together days.

I really didn't find what I was looking for, but I did come up with some I don't think many have seen in quite a while. I am still having trouble matching some of the faces to names.

So, take a look and see what we looked like years ago.




See how many we can remember



I do not remember the guy far left, after that George, Rich, Tom Reed, Myself, Spider, I think the guy in the back is Dasher Dale, Ed, Frank, the next 2 are blank, and then Kevin. I know one of the two blanks, but for the life of me, can't remember his name)



Again, don't remember far left, Tom Reed, Rich, George, Myself, Dasher Dale (??), Spider, Ed, Behind Ed ???, Frank, Kevin another ?? and my son Wade.




















For the life of me, I do not know where the pixs are from the Harry Cason BBQ, among others.

Hope you enjoy it and if you want to move it where more people can see it, be my guest.

We really need to restart these things once again. They were a whole lot of fun and brought many of us closer together.

We were fortunate enough to get a refund for last year's taxes. More just a sort of minor amount. The problem is we haven't received this refund as of yet. I get my refunds thru direct deposit and filed right at the deadline. I went to the IRS website looking into it. I entered the info they asked for and it came up--  'still processing'.

Anyone else experiencing this?

I think we all have had things, sometime in the past, that we wish we still had, as they seem to be worth a lot of money today.

What did you, or someone else, get rid of in the past, that you wish you had held onto for today?

Myself, when I was a youth, I used to go to Ebbetts Field on a regular basis to watch my beloved Brooklyn Dodgers. Back in those days, players were more than happy to sign anything you put in front of them and do it again and again, During my times a fan with these Dodgers, I acquired, let's just say, a plethora of autographs, that, on the market today, I might be a rich man. I must have had over 10 Jackie Robinsons, everything from programs, to baseball cards, even an old 8x10 of him. I had basically every Dodger player who played, Duke Snider, Gil Hodges, Pee Wee Resse, etc. Add to that, I had several opposing players also, like Stan Musial, Hank Aaron, and the immortal Willie Mays.
Add to that all the baseball cards from that day, like several Mickey Mantles.

I shudder when I think that my dear Mother, decided to clean up my room when I went into the service and thought this shoebox full of 'stuff' was a waste of time, so out it went. I could be on a yacht somewhere in the Pacific right about now (my OWN yacht).

So what did anyone else have that they just wish they still had possession of today?

Boy is this one subjective, but overall, I think it pretty much hot s a triple at least. Sure w all have our favorites and if they aren't on there, the list sucks, but I really can't find too much fault with the top actors.

If I had to say one thing, I really don't see how Robin Williams makes a list like this. He was OK and even good in a few movies, but he IMVHO wasn't a great actor. I would also add Gary Cooper to this list and without going back I don't think I saw Henry Fonda on it. Again, IMVHO Fonda should be in the top 10.

https://newarena.com/entertainment/ranking-the-30-best-actors-of-all-time/?amxt=new_pag_dt_2021_inview&utm_campaign=tb_jc_dt_30actor&utm_source=tb_ae&&utm_term=msn-anaheim-us&utm_content=Ranked%3A+The+30+Greatest+Actors+of+All-Time&utm_medium=tbdt-new_pag_dt_2021_inview

https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/life/g35037648/famous-actors-first-movie-roles/?utm_source=taboola_arb&utm_medium=cpm&utm_campaign=arb_tb_ghk_d_c_g35037648&utm_content=msn-anaheim-us#tblciGiDk5Q4X4PIr-BYpcBQ9rkgH2jxnJw5JT46Hd8Z71SQx2iC8mkQo2KyDqaHFxawV

WOW, reality check for some.

Many of us are huge fans of Alfred Hitchcock and his movies. We all have our favorites.
We also know Hitch had a 'thing' for putting himself into each movie, sometimes for a split second, sometimes in a shadow, sometimes just right here in front of you.

Here is a great site that shows (or not) every appearance he made in his movies

https://www.msn.com/en-us/movies/news/every-cameo-that-alfred-hitchcock-made-in-his-films/ss-BB1gzWXm?ocid=msedgntp

https://www.msn.com/en-us/lifestyle/shopping-all/iconic-stores-you-grew-up-with-that-are-no-longer-around/ss-BB1d6Dby?ocid=msedgntp

Some of these I never heard of as they were probably located in parts of the country where I never visited.

Locally, I can name many more that were fixtures in the NY Metro area for so many years and sadly have gone

Abraham & Strauss department stores  (A&S)
E.J. Korvettes
Sterns Department stores
Caldor
Filene's Basement
Robert Hall
Learners
Sam Goody
J.J. Newberrys
Alexanders
Levitz furniture and then don't forget the Supermarkets
Waldbaums
Pathmark
Grand Union
A&P

And maybe the best of them all  Crazy Eddie

WE are vacationing in Virginia right now, in the Shenandoah Mountain area.

When buying gas thru out most of the northeast, it is always 10% ethanol. Since we have been here,  I have filled up with gas that is all gas and no ethanol. Immediately I have noticed that I am getting much better gas mileage. I seem to be averaging about 5 miles more a gallon because of it.

Anyone else have experience with gas not ethanolized?

https://www.chicagotribune.com/nation-world/ct-aud-nw-nyt-climate-drought-western-us-20210617-ueojc3bc5jhifeehfxz3yxpn3a-story.html

It is unbelievable the numbers for heat in the other parts of this country. I listen to the news and shutter, how can it be that hot and it's not even summer. We seem to say this every year and it just keeps going.

And then there is the drought that has gripped the Western States going on 5 years now with no relief in sight. My brother lives outside Durango, Colorado and after speaking to him last night, they are in bad shape. This is supposed to be the season where they get the runoffs from winter snows, yet it didn't happen and the drought is much worse. It will affect many of the major cities out west.

Is there a long term solution?

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/we-ve-been-telling-the-alamo-story-wrong-for-nearly-200-years-now-it-s-time-to-correct-the-record/ar-AAKSLsZ?ocid=msedgntp


Imagine if the U.S. were to open interior Alaska for colonization and, for whatever reason, thousands of Canadian settlers poured in, establishing their own towns, hockey rinks and Tim Hortons stores. When the U.S. insists they follow American laws and pay American taxes, they refuse. When the government tries to collect taxes, they shoot and kill American soldiers. When law enforcement goes after the killers, the colonists, backed by Canadian financing and mercenaries, take up arms in open revolt.
As an American, how would you feel? Now you can imagine how Mexican President Jose Lopez de Santa Anna would have felt in 1835, because that

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/newsus/hoover-dam-a-symbol-of-the-modern-west-faces-an-epic-water-shortage/ar-AAKLo2I?ocid=msedgntp

Eighty-six years after its completion in 1935, the infrastructure at Hoover Dam continues doing what it was designed to do: holding water and sending it coursing through intake tunnels, spinning turbines and generating electricity. The rules for managing the river and dividing up its water

The US Navy's new pilotless tanker plane just refueled an aircraft carrier fighter jet for the first time, and this is what it looked like

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/news/the-us-navy-s-new-pilotless-tanker-plane-just-refueled-an-aircraft-carrier-fighter-jet-for-the-first-time-and-this-is-what-it-looked-like/ar-AAKN57J?ocid=mailsignout

We were talking about how warfare has changed over the course of history. Here is a definite advancement.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/realestate/inside-the-amazing-bunker-city-the-size-of-manhattan/ss-BB15cjRH?ocid=msedgdhp

Inside the amazing 'bunker city' the size of Manhattan


Explore the world's largest survivalist community
While countries around the world continue to grapple with the current pandemic, there

https://www.msn.com/en-us/video/peopleandplaces/this-bouncing-robot-can-hop-four-times-its-own-height/vi-AAKrCHy?ocid=msedgntp

Pretty cool. Now if they would take my advice and market it. I know my grandkids would be howling for one, or two, or three.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/newsworld/hero-rat-who-sniffed-out-dozens-of-landmines-is-retiring/ar-AAKIjua?ocid=msedgntp

Is there a 'rat' HOF???