Weekend Roundup...
Good News - Friday's here.
Bad news - Monday is about 72 hours away!
** We start off this rainy Midwestern day with some sad news (for me, anyway).
Milton Supman has died...
Now I know a LOT of you (even some my age) probably don't know WHO the hell Milton is (or was).
How's about we try it THIS way?
Soupy Sales has passed on to that great pie-making factory in the sky.
He was 83 years old.
The WIKI link for this is here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soupy_Sales
Now, I grew up watching Soupy, and found it to be one of the funniest and innovative shows of it's time.
This was a perfect case of "less being more".
The set was cheesy, the jokes were corny, and the slapstick was predictable...all the trappings for a successful kid show of the 1950s and 1960s.
It might interest people to know that Soupy beat Dick Clark to the "teen dance show" on TV (Soupy's Soda Shop) in 1949. It makes me wonder WHO had a television set THAT far back...we sure didn't...LOL.
Soupy was one of those people that seemed to be always doing something, either on air, or off.
Another interesting thing was that "Milton" (after leaving the navy when WW2 ended) attended and graduated Marshall College with a MASTERS IN JOURNALISM and while there, he performed at nightclubs as a comedian, dancer and singer (gotta pay for college SOMEHOW - no "bailouts" in THOSE days).
Like I say, he was from an era with a good work ethic, and was raised knowing the value of a buck.
...And I will miss him...and White Fang, and Black Tooth, and Pookie.
(Thank God for DVDs)
** Another death this week was that of Joseph Wiseman, otherwise noted for being the FIRST (movie) Bond Villain, (and one of the best portrayed ones, imho), Dr. No.
Here's the WIKI for him:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Wiseman
He was 91 years old.
You might find this interesting, and I'll explain WHY later on below...
** Chart-topper Lil Wayne likely gets year in jail
((In the midst of a career surge that has made him one of rap’s biggest stars, Lil Wayne is bracing for a year behind bars after pleading guilty Thursday in a two-year-old gun case.
A glum Lil Wayne said little as he admitted illegally having a loaded gun on his tour bus in 2007, moving to end a case that had churned along as he collected Grammys and gold records. He’s expected to get a year in jail at his sentencing in February.
The rapper, who boasts the country’s No. 1 pop song ("Down" with Jay Sean), acknowledged he had a loaded .40-caliber semiautomatic gun when the bus was stopped after a New York concert July 22, 2007. His lawyer had disputed the gun was the rapper’s, in part by questioning the reliability of a highly sensitive DNA test that prosecutors said tied him to the weapon.
Lil Wayne, 27, is due back in court Dec. 15 before his sentencing date, which has yet to be set.
Lil Wayne also is scheduled for trial in Arizona in March on felony drug possession and weapons charges stemming from a January 2008 arrest at a U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint. He has pleaded not guilty in that case. ))
Now THIS crap just breaks my frigging heart...NOT!
(Be nice if they..."lost the key")
We can now add HIS punk ass to the LONG list of "black role models" for inner urban youth.
More like an ANTI-ROLE MODEL, if you ask me.
(Unless the "role" you wanna play is some thug bastard with more tattoos than Bradbury's Illustrated Man)
And you know, this is EXACTLY what is behind a LOT of the problems with today's kids...
NO GOOD ROLE MODELS!
Perhaps I should "revise" that to say NO good role models that are being "fronted" in the manner in which all these gangsta rappers or felonious sports figures are.
Anyone remember people like JACKIE ROBINSON...or WILLIE MAYS?
THESE men were ROLE MODELS.
Do the names FREDERICK DOUGLASS, or BILL COSBY, or JIM BROWN mean anything these days?
And what about GEORGE WASHINGTON...or JAMES MADISON?
(Guess politicians aren't even on the LONG list THESE days...LOL)
Hell, used to be a time when if you had a notion to see a role model, all you had to do was go see DAD...or MOM.
When I was growing up, my PARENTS were my role models, along with other neighbors, and my teachers.
They were actually MORE than "just" role models...
They were MENTORS, and my personal HEROES, even if "they" never knew it.
Those of us in the "baby boomer" era can probably recall times when asked what we wanted to be when we grew up, we'd reply:
"I wanna be just like my Dad".
Today, half of the kids out there don't know WHO their dad is, or even care.
Maybe "dad" was an SOB..OK, I can deal with that aspect.
Maybe "dad" wasn't grown up enough to understand the responsibilities involved with children...or just plain didn't give a rat's ass.
Too many "maybes"...and not enough "trying to figure it all out", I suppose.
Sad part as that our society didn't hold 'em all accountable (that was the court's job) for their actions and the consequences.
And the generations of children that followed us and our children bear silent testimony to that.
Now my parents would be the first ones to tell you that when I as born, I DID NOT come with a handbook of instructions...none of us did, nor ever will. That's just the way this is played out.
You LEARN AS YOU GO. Call it "On the job training".
There is good, and there is bad.
You will succeed, and you WILL make mistakes. Trouble is, too many parents just wanted to focus on the GOOD, and deny the "bad".
Allowing kids to "find themselves", or stroke their "self-esteem", without proper tutelage only makes for a fertile place for evil to take root.
And the violence on our streets and in our schools between youths today bears that out in no certain terms.
By our very own words, we have allowed freedom of speech to be taken to the wrong side of the morality scales, tipping it dangerously in the wrong direction.
The first Amendment is a great thing, as is every word of our founding documents...BUT, when no guidelines are established and no morality or civility is present, chaos will be the result.
Think of it as a driver less car.
As long as someone is behind the wheel, properly navigating the roads, and making correct course adjustments...all is well, and you get from *A* to *B* in fine order.
Take the driver out of the equation, or have an IMPAIRED operator of the vehicle, and you have CHAOS.
Many people that are being passed off as "role models" are chaotic...plain and simple.
Look at their lifestyle to see the truth.
Do you want YOUR child to emulate a person who can;t stay the hell our of the court system?
Do you want your child to look up to a wife-beater? Do you enjoy watching you child beat on the family pet, saying he's imitating Michael Vick?
The answer should be obvious.
You should want your child to look up to YOU, primarily.
I looked up to my parents (even when I was taller than them...lol).
Were they "perfect"? Hell, no.
They had flaws like everyone else.
They cursed, and smoked, and got snockered once in a while, but I was NEVER the "target" of any of their angst or anger.
But they DID know the value of "doing the right thing" when it was required.
And they stuck to their guns, even if it meant suffering for a while.
They were philanthropic, always helping others that needed it, and were wary of something that looked "too good to be true". They wanted more for me than what they had (growing up), but were also willing to teach the value of a dollar to me along the way, so that I would never "expect" something to be handed to me for no reason at all.
They preached that GOD was important, PEOPLE were important, FAMILY was important, and that I should always make my word...my bond. You learn by asking questions, and you instruct with wisdom.
Lying was something to be avoided, as was stealing. It was the Golden Rule in our house, along with the 10 commandments.
Can we say today that this is close to being practiced in households across the nation?
I'd love to believe so, but it's lacking.
Or are our kids too busy looking for that next "role model"?
Where are the Soupy Sales today?
Where are the Lone Rangers today?
Where are the ROLE MODELS?
And are we doing all we possibly can to be a good example for our children...and our future?
Now, if that isn't something to think about this weekend, I don't know WHAT is.
Have yourselves a great fall foliage-filled weekend, and remember...
Stay safe out there, America.