mmmmmmmmmmmmm..........

....who wants some bacon this morning?

Marty
Morehead, KY
(Enjoy the veal.....I'm here all week!)

Only 9 more shopping months until my Birthday!!

Marty

We have a Wiener....and a CHA...CHA...CHA!!

Lots of good "technical answers" this week....
and lots of 2 out of 3 answers.....
but it takes a good cop to know some good TV cops....
so this week's TT GRAND PRIZE goes to....Mr. Dan the Man!!
Your Grand Prize will be arriving on your door step soon!!

Martin Miller (Pete Malloy)
and Kent McCord (Jim Reed).....star in Adam-12.

Kent was teen pals with Ricky Nelson....
real name was Kent Franklin McWhirter.
Small roles in Elvis movies landed after meeting Elvis in a pickup football game with the King and Ricky.


No....not Sal Mineo....but Frank Sinatra Jr. who turned down a role in the TV version of Star-Trek.....although a fan...only wanted to play an Alien.
Was kidnapped at age 19 by a couple of nutjobs....interesting story...
with a Jan & Dean twist.
Click on link below....
http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/gangsters_outlaws/outlaws/frank_sinatra_jr/1_index.html

Cha...Cha....Cha....
Nancy Jane celebrating her BIG day under the warmer skies of Pleasanton, CA this week with old friends!!

Enjoy!!

Marty
Dearborn, MI

You know you're in Detroit when......

.....the President is running the car companies and the gas stations.

Oh.....Yes He Can!!

Marty
(...at the corner of Plymouth/Wyoming)
Detroit, MI

La..La..La..La......

I can't watch this enough....

Marty
Detroit, MI

Trivia Tuesday Trio!!

OK.....so this is the week that I will triumph!!
Be the FIRST correct email to unobuckeroo@aol.com to correctly name all 3 of the gentleman above, and you will win this week's GRAND PRIZE and TT bragging rights for the next 7 days!!!

Hints....

Left....
born in Detroit....starred on Broadway....avid fisherman with a fishing radio show.

Center...
once on "The Sopranos"....almost in Star Trek....kidnapped in real life....
worked at Disneyland for a summer.

Right....
was in a couple of Elvis movies....part time Auto racer....Ozzie and Harriet cast mate.


Marty
Scottville, MI

Fun Facts.....

Chicago Auto Show by the Numbers
34,666,666 Number of iPod Nanos to cover the floor of McCormick Place
11,681,456 Number of dollars it would take to cover the floor of McCormick Place
10,340,000 Total pounds of freight (est.)
8,340,000 Pounds of freight unloaded & spotted the first night (16 hours)
133,333 Square yards of carpet to cover the floor of the Chicago Auto Show,

enough to carpet 571 average American homes
2,184 Number of semi-trucks to fill McCormick Place
1,700 Dedicated professional carpenters, decorators, teamsters, riggers, electricians,
cleaners, porters, crate handlers, stage hands and official contractor personnel
1,300 Hoist motors for the trusses
1,097 Tractor trailers total
866 Number of Starbucks that could fit into McCormick Place
400 Semi Tractor Trucks unloaded in the first 16 hours of the targeted freight move in
158 Total number of forklifts
68 Three-man crews to handle the first nights freight
50 Boom lifts
40 Scissors lifts
25 Sears Towers on the floor! (If you lopped the antennas off the building)
24 Times is McCormick Place the size of Wrigley Field
23 Times is McCormick Place the size of U.S. Cellular Field (for all of you Sox fans)
13 Metropolitan Opera houses would fill McCormick Place
7 Days to set up the entire show
6 Number of exhibits worked around the clock for
three days to be set for the first day of
the show's media preview
4 Hours taken to remove the cars from the show floor when we close
2 Days to completely clear the McCormick Place show floor upon closing
1 Ranking of Chicago as North America’s biggest auto show.

Also....in case you want to buy that '53 Packard from the Auto Show....

go over to the Volo Auto Museum.....

bring $79,500....

send me a 10% finders fee...

and drive it home today!!

Click on link below....
http://www.volocars.com/1953-packard-model-2678-caribbean-c-370.htm

Marty
Westville, IN

Chicago Auto Show...2010.

My favorite car of the Auto Show....
from my favorite movie The Blues Brothers....
1974 Black/White Mt. Prospect Dodge Monaco Sedan...
complete with an awkward "subwoofer" on the roof (available aftermarket accessory)


Kind of ironic after yesterday's Detroit post....
I saw my first Packard....only 52 years after they shut down.

1964 GM Concept Car.....the "Runabout"

Katie has a few more years until she starts driving.....but she's got the color down.

So after spending a half a day at the Auto Show yesterday.....I figured out what Detroit's problems are....

• #1....GM's CEO, Ed Whitacre, will be getting a 9 million dollar compensation package it was announced .....just as I was paying $19 to park and $11 a person to get sticker shock!

• #2...GM's old CEO, Fritz Henderson.....who unexpectedly resigned in December.....was just brought back this week as a consultant at almost $60,000 a month and expects to only "consult" for about 20 hours a month...so let see........that's about $3,000/hour.

• #3...I went to check out the Ford Flex....which is a kind of mini-van on steroids. Comfortable....roomy......stylish.....all this for "ONLY" $40-$50,000 depending on package. Way too many cars in the $40,000 and up range....this is almost the benchmark now. I know that this is only a few hours of work for Fritz....but should a car sell for the American median annual household income?

• #4...Forget the Camaro.....Charger....Challenger....Mustang....and all of these retro throwbacks.......bring back the Packard and the Dodge Monaco.

Marty

MOTOWN.......

Michigan Central Station.....Built in 1913.
Vacant since 1988.
Ironically....
it's downfall was due to the popularity of the Automobile.

The Michigan Theatre .....Built in 1926
This glorious building functioned as a performance space until 1976,
when it was converted into a parking garage.

After spending a week in Detroit this week....
it is simply amazing to see the deterioration of the City's building infrastructure since the "heyday" when Detroit was the Car Capital of the world.
Old Packard Plant on the East side is still intact....but a ghost town.

The population has literally been cut in half since the '50's....and building upon building and block after block in certain areas are simply empty as if this part of the city had some type of nuclear attack......eerie.
There are huge high schools and grammar schools that sit on acres of land....empty.

Here are a couple of cool links that show Detroit's demise.....sad really.

http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1864272,00.html

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/gallery?Site=C4&Date=20080417&Category=NEWS&ArtNo=804170803&Ref=PH&Params=Itemnr=1

http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1882089,00.html

Other news.....
Detroit's own Aretha Franklin (who still lives in town) was auditioning dancers for her upcoming summer tour at the Holiday Inn Express I was staying at.....
I wasn't invited back for the second round.

Off to the Auto Show......maybe a Ford Flex?

Marty

We Have a Wiener!!!

Well....Well.....Well.......

if it isn't Mr. James Farrell back in the Wiener's Circle again this week!

He was just minutes in front of many this week with the correct answer.....

Mr. Dennis Hopper.

Only a couple of Paul Newman guesses.....but this one was easier than I anticipated!

• Mr. Hopper was nominated for the screenwriting piece of "Easy Rider" and for Best Supporting Actor in "Hoosiers" (great role).
• An avid art collector who bought one of Andy Warhol's "Campbell Soup" originals for $75.
• Married to former "The Mamas & the Papas" singer Michelle Phillips for 8 days....before she filed for divorce.
• Hopper's quote about this brief marriage was...."the first 7 days were great!"
• Currently diagnosed with advanced Prostate Cancer....
• Pretty impressive resume....

Filmography
Rebel Without a Cause (1955)
I Died a Thousand Times (1955)
Giant (1956)
Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957)
Cool Hand Luke (1967)
Hang 'Em High (1968)
Panic in the City (1968)
Easy Rider (1969) (Director)
True Grit (1969)
The Last Movie (1971) (Director)
Apocalypse Now (1979)
Rumble Fish (1983)
The Osterman Weekend (1983)
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (1986)
River's Edge (1986)
Blue Velvet (1986)
Hoosiers (1986)

Well.....almost anyway.
Super Mario Bros. (1993)

Marty
Westville, IN

Archer Express......

Cross India off my list of possible vacation destinations.

Marty
Allen Park, MI

Commercial of the Week......

I'm on a horse.....

Marty
Detroit, MI

Trivia Tuesday!!

OK......
It's Tuesday again....and another puzzler!
First email to unobuckeroo@aol.com to correctly name the gentleman above.....will win this week's GRAND PRIZE and TT bragging rights for the next 7 days!!

Hints.....
A painter...photographer....sculptor...director...actor....screenwriter.
One of the world's top collectors of Modern Art...
Married 5 times....once to a mama for a week.
Nominated for an Oscar for both acting and screenwriting.....
Good friends with John Wayne and Vincent Price.....
Voted "Most Likely to Succeed" in H.S.....
Huge fan of Shakespeare....


Marty
Dearborn, MI

Hoot!

GOOD OWL......




EVIL OWL....




Watch this one in HD and Full Screen.


Marty
Macomb, IL

Don't forget your Valentine!!

Happy Valentines Day!

Marty

How do you like my lapels sweetheart......

Back when "The Tonight Show" was relevant.

Marty

We have a WIENER!!!!!

Fresh from a week off from her last TTT (Trivia Tuesday Turkey).......
Molly Flynn chimes in first with this week's correct answers.....
Elizabeth Anne "Betty" Bloomer Ford
and George Meadow "Meadowlark" Lemon.

Several correct answers this week....I'm impressed....
but the first correct one takes it.

For all of you new TT players...
who would like to top Mz. Flynn.....
the post hits EVERY TUESDAY MORNING AT 10am sharp....
so set your clocks and let's go!!

Betty....
--was born in Chicago and played Carnegie Hall with her dance troupe.
--Dad died when she was 16.....
carbon monoxide poisoning in the garage while "fixing the car"?
........mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm?
--Marriage to Gerry was her second....
--was the first lady....and the second lady...when Ford was the VP.
--oldest living former occupant of the White House at 91.
(Although Hillary looks older)

Meadowlark...
--was known as the "Clown Prince" while touring with the Harlem Globetrotters.
--currently a minister
--has acted....well kind of...(Diff'rent Strokes...and Hello Larry)
--cartoon character in the Hanna-Barbera The Harlem Globetrotters
Cartoon Show....early 70's.
--Neil Sedaka wrote the Meadowlark song in the clip above....sounds a lot like "Sweet Georgia Brown" to me....
--Married to Dr. Cynthia Lemon

Marty
Southfield, MI

Tertiary problem.....

...........yeah I've been reading the dictionary.

Marty
Frederic, WI

SNOW DAY!!!!

Do like the Russians do...
obviously no Play Station 3's available here.

Marty
Eau Claire, WI

Trivia Tuesday Twofer....and a CHA...CHA....CHA!

First email to unobuckeroo@aol.com to correctly name both the lady and gentleman above will be this week's GRAND PRIZE winner....
and have TT bragging rights for the next 7 days.
WARNING WILL ROBINSON.....
I will need the "exact names" of both of this week's participants.....
you've been warned!

Hints....
Mr. "Bad 70's Suit".....
Born in N.C...was known as a clown....a minister...an actor...a recording artist...and a cartoon character..has 10 kids and is married to a Dr......has travelled over4 million miles in his career while visiting over 100 countries....had a song written for him by Neil Sedaka.

Mrs. "I'm hiking the wrong kind of ball".....
Born in Chicago....was a model and a dancer....played Carnegie Hall.....was first and second at some point in her life...has appeared on the Mary Tyler Moore Show & Dynasty....has her own Institute & Center.



Katie is turning double digits today....CHA..CHA..CHA!!

Marty
Springfield, IL

You know your town is "Athletically Challenged" when....

Marty
Diamond, IL

Super Stash Sunday........

Don't know the players...
Don't care who wins...
Looking forward to the commercials....


Here's another tease....



Marty

Sold!!!!

A funny thing happened on my way to a project in Memphis, TN,
on Super Bowl Sunday morning 2 years ago.....

I left home in the morning heading south on I-57.....
cold Feb morning in the mid-20's.
About 4-5 hours later, I had to stop for gas in Marion, IL...
and when I got out of the car it was a balmy 62*.
Same day....same state....obviously living north of Effingham in the winter was a cruel "Effing" joke and the folks in Southern Illinois
weren't letting anyone in on the secret.
This is a place I could retire someday I thought.

Fast-forward to the summer of 2008.....
while spending a weekend in Marion with the kids on a fact finding mission....
we realized really how beautiful Southern Illinois is with the rolling hills, winery's and the gateway to the Shawnee National Forest.....
and not to sound cliche....
but everybody's a whole lot friendlier down there....a whole different pace.

Using all of the most state-of-the-art home searching tools like....
Zillow.com....Homes.com....UnitedCountry.com.....Realtor.com....
we were off house hunting.....and you know how it goes....
looks great online....and in person....it's another story.
Which leads me to the picture above with the FOR SALE sign tacked to the tree.....

During one of my solo searches while in Marion....
I ended up on a dead-end road near the Lake of Egypt, that had some pretty cool houses and was a real quiet spot.....
"nothing available" I thought until I got to the end of the dead-end and turned around to head out....and in the corner of my eye was this FOR SALE sign....
but unlike the picture above....
it was tacked to a tree close to 16 feet up in the air....
to where I couldn't read it and had to take a pic of it....
and zoom in on it when I got home to read the phone number,
written in weathered black marker.

Come to find that the 80+ year-old owner Wilma, knows nothing of Zillows.com/Homes.com etc....
and thought that this For Sale sign was a great way to market her home....
because she "wasn't going with a Realtor!"
Her and her husband were developers who started up in New Lenox, IL back in the day and still have property there.....they built this home on the Lake in the early 90's all to the specs and drawings of her husband.....who by the way was a Quadriplegic and managed everything from a wheelchair. He passed away a few years ago....and it was time for Wilma to move on. Very proud and strong woman who knows every brick/wire/beam and outlet in her house....
and not fun to negotiate with.
Needless to say after a long back and forth....
she accepted our offer on the same evening my Dad died back in Sept.
Not sure if Joe had anything to do with that or not....
but I will assume that he did for the sake of this post.

We closed on the house this afternoon.....very sentimental for Wilma....who now officially has to let go and move on to the next chapter of her life.....
as we open the next chapter of ours.
She broke down during the closing recounting her memories there....
and there wasn't a dry eye in the room.

She gave us photos of the building process and the original blueprints of the home that her husband drew up.....class act.

Pretty cool actually.....
considering her FOR SALE sign worked....just liked she planned it.

Not moving from Lockport anytime soon.....
but are looking for some strong backs who would like to trim some trees to earn
Reward Nights for a future weekend stay!





Best part of the day.....
was to think that it is early Feb....and the bass boat above was heading to his favorite spot.

Worst part of the day.....
When Wilma was giving Maribeth tips on avoiding the snake in the garden.

"You are my wife.....goodbye city life!"


HA!

Marty
Marion, IL

We Have a Wiener!!!

Now here's a "feel-good" story....

After weeks and weeks of trying to win TT...
and then having to overcome the hurdle of her company's IT department
cutting off TT from her computer....
Maggie Pollard took it upon herself to buy a pack of cigs....start smoking...and along with the help of her I-phone...took a smoke break at precisely 10am on Tuesday morning.....and WALA.....she is this week's Trivia Tuesday WIENER!!
Congratulations Maggie....your GRAND PRIZE will be in your mailbox soon...and you will see that it was worth the wait and the cancerous risk of smoking.

"Sir" Alfred Hitchcock.....was this week's correct answer.
--attended St. Ignatius College in LONDON.
--Won an Honorary Oscar for his directing...not an actor but does appear in several of his movies in cameo roles.
--Walt Disney banned him from filming a segment for his television show....after finding out that Hitchcock directed "Psycho"
--Hosted the television show "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" in the late 50's/early 60's
--Maggie's fav film is "Notorious"....mine is "North by Northwest"......yours?


Marty
Marion, IL

And you though I had too much time on my hands...

Marty
Diamond, IL

Happy B-Day to you....CHA..CHA...CHA!!

Well.....Well......Well.....
Look who's the BIG 48 today.........it's Cupid himself!!

And to my surprise.....I have found enough pictures like this to last until you are 97!

Marty
Waukegan, IL

Trivia Tuesday!!!

Such a pic for a snowy day.....

First email to unobuckeroo@aol.com to correctly name the gentleman catching snowflakes on his tongue.....will be this week's GRAND PRIZE winner and have the TT bragging rights for the next 7 days!!

Hints.....
Devout Roman Catholic and attended St. Ignatius....
Has his own stamp....
Oscar winner that has appeared in several movies....
Was born a day before his wife....
Always wore a suit to work...
Walt wasn't a fan, so no visits to Disneyland.....
Television producer and host....
You should call him Sir.

Marty
Diamond, IL

You know you're in Indiana when.......

Marty

Springfield, IL

February we will be playing nothing but LOVE songs.....

the rules are..... that it has to have the word "LOVE" in the title.....

I found 60...

but am looking for good suggestions...

please no Air Supply.

unobuckeroo@aol.com