Weekend Open Thread

… the first network television series to star a woman and have her character as the title was Honey West? On September 17, 1965, Honey West debuted on ABC. Starring Anne Francis (1930-2011), the series centered on a private detective who was created as a kind of combination of fictional detective Mike Hammer and actress Marilyn Monroe (1926-1962). In the mid-1960s, the notion of a female private detective was somewhat unorthodox, but the show was popular and did well in the ratings. It lasted only one season, though, due to two factors: competition from the wildly popular Gomer Pyle, USMC, and cost – ABC executives deemed it cheaper to import the British series The Avengers than to continue the Honey West program. Despite the limited run, Francis was nominated for both an Emmy™ and a Golden Globe™, winning the latter. Additional trivia note: the first series ever to have a woman star and be named for its main character was Annie Oakley, a syndicated program which ran from 1954 to 1957. This show starred Gail Davis (1925-1997) in a highly fictionalized version of the famous rodeo performer and sharpshooter Oakley (1860-1926).

… scientists now think many dinosaurs had feathers? Over the years, the old image of dinosaurs as being lizard-skinned reptiles has been replaced by new schools of thought, especially since some fossil remains of land-dwelling dinosaurs show evidence of feathers. Many scientists today believe that the dinosaurs did not all die out when the asteroid hit Earth 65 million years ago; the survivors eventually evolved into birds. (Funny … the fearsome Tyrannosaurus rex is now a chicken. Very funny.)

… the man who created James Bond was himself a spy? Author Ian Fleming (1908-1964) worked for British Naval Intelligence during World War II. He oversaw two intelligence units and was involved in the planning of Operation Goldeneye, an Allied plan to remain in Spain after Francisco Franco (1882-1975) formed back-door alliances with the Axis powers during the war. Much of what Fleming learned in Naval Intelligence found its way into the novels about Agent 007. (“Fleming. Ian Fleming.”)

… people used to wear lightning rods? In the 18th Century, an attachment to hats called the Franklin wire dragged along the ground, in order to divert lightning from the wearer. As you might expect, it was named after Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790), who conducted famous experiments involving kites, keys and lightning. (Shocking, absolutely shocking.)

… a popular dance was named after the fellow who first performed it? Many people who have taken up dancing are familiar with the foxtrot, and even people like me – who couldn’t dance if their lives depended on it – at least know what it is. But where did its name come from? Most of us have never seen a fox actually trotting. The name comes from vaudeville performer Harry Fox (1882-1959), who in 1914 first performed the dance that consisted of rapid, trotting-style steps. Dance Mad magazine wrote about the dance, calling it “Fox’s Trot” … and the name stuck. (Dance around that one, if you dare.)

… cocaine was once used as an anesthetic? In 1884, Dr. William Stewart Halsted (1852-1922) performed surgery on a patient using cocaine as an anesthetic. Of course, there’s a bad side to it as well – Halsted’s is the first recorded instance of a cocaine-addicted physician. (That’s one way to get your name in the history books.)

Now … you know!

The guns were laid, sighted in, with lanyards pulled tight for a full blown ToT Fire Mission to regain the Crown, CW. The cupboards are bare, the place is trashed with cases of Red Hated Soft Wear and crayon boxes. MOPP Level IV Gear will be required to get up to the standards that you used to leave.

ToyotaThon is a more real Holiday than Kwanza. A nice Christmas gift would be publication of “Book 3”. Jus’ sayin’. You ain’t getting no younger.

I’ve heard that there’s a place in France where the women wear no pants. Is that because they have to swim to get there?

I thought JEH was the female agent?

I gots a pair of crocs but I can only amble at the mosey in them.

I don’t eat what my fish eat. mr ducks have taken over the fish pond. Saw it as a sign from our dear departed Lioness, EX-PH2. Her ducks always came South this time of year.

I remember the days when a Capitola Flour Coin would get you into the Saturday Matinee’ Movie Theater, a bag of pop corn, some JuJu Beans and a CoCola. And it was air conditioned!

Another name for that medical condition is “snowflake”.