Actor Paul Sorvino Passes At 83

Actor Paul Sorvino, known for his roles in Goodfellas and Law and Order passed at the age of 83. His wife Dee Dee Sorvino said in a statement  “Our hearts are broken, there will never be another Paul Sorvino, he was the love of my life, and one of the greatest performers to ever grace the screen and stage.”

Another star from Good Fellas, Ray Liotta passed away two months ago at the age of 67.

Ever Eat A Pine Tree? Euell Gibbons Remembered

If you grew up in the 70’s you have to remember ole Euell Gibbons on the Grape Nuts cereal commercials for General Foods. Although you can’t locate the pine tree commercial on the internet the “ever eat a cattail” commercial is a close example of the ad. Euell wrote the book Stalking The Good Life and became known as a naturalist and cited as leading the way for eating healthy with natural foods. He was known for saying”Its naturally sweet taste reminds me of wild hickory nuts,” he often said of the Grape Nuts.

I remember Johnny Carson and other shows making fun of him and the commercials but the spoofs on Carol Burnett Show in 1973 were the most memorable. Even the children’s TV show The Electric Company got into the act with this spoof.

General Foods voluntarily withdrew the ad campaign and its advertising agency Benton & Bowles faced action from the Federal Trade Commission in 1976.

McAshtrays

Not all memories are happy ones. I remember as a kid thinking to myself that if McDonald’s was mostly for kids, why did they have smoking in the restaurants? I hated when they were at a table we were at or near! The glass ones were really old school with the tin ones taking over in the 80’s. Smoking was banned in 1994.

Will Hart of the Delfonics Passes at 77

According to TMZ, the Grammy Award-winning lead singer of The Delfonics Will Heart  passed away on Thursday, July 15, 2002 after complications of surgery. He was 77. The former barber from Philadelphia formed the Delfonics with his brother Wilbert. In 1975 after a number of hits the brothers split into two Delfonics groups. A judge ruled both brothers could use the name Delfonics if they properly informed the audience of the distinction between the two groups, so Will became Will Heart and the Delfonics.

Hart’s lead vocal led to  hits like “La – La – Means I Love You,” “Didn’t I (Blow Your Mind This Time)” and “Ready or Not Here I Come (Can’t Hide From Love).”

Midnight At The Oasis by Maria Muldar

I remember when the song came out in 1973, the lyrics were quite controversial. I was fifteen at the time and the soft porn lyrics coming from the radio was of course enjoyed by any teenage boy. It raised an eyebrow in my home, but it was quickly shrugged off. But the song just had a nice flow to it and brings me back to those times.

At age 30, Maria’s marriage to her musician partner and husband Geoff Muldar was coming to an end. She played with a couple of bands in the 1960’s. Now, she was expecting to be waitressing to support her and her seven year old daughter their hometown of Woodstock, New York.

In 1973 Maria Muldar was looking for one more song to complete her newest album. In a Something Else interview Maria was quoted as saying “While recording the album, Muldaur had no desire for pop stardom or a Rolling Stone cover “but it just happened to me,” she tells us. “I just collected a bunch of songs that I knew and liked. I was just following my bliss. Pop stardom and fame never really interested me, but this success was a blessing. It has allowed me to support myself and continue my 50-year-plus odyssey through various parts of American roots music.”

Asked if she still enjoys playing the same song for almost fifty years she said she does. She really enjoys seeing the audience faces light up as the song begins. In an article on Songfacts she said “Reason number two is I love the look of the faces of the audience when the band strikes that number up, when the band goes into the intro of that number. Because apparently, from all the stories that have been told to me when I meet my fans after the show to sign my CD, that song was the soundtrack to many a love-and-lust affair, and if I had been writing down all the stories of what people tell me they were doing or were inspired to do because of that song, or as that song was playing, I could have written quite the little x-rated book. So when I start that song, people’s faces light up and I see very happy, maybe slightly x-rated memories flitting across their faces.”

Although it was a one hit song for her, the song tends to evoke some strong memories. I told you my memories from the song. What are your yours?

Here is an early live performance. I like how she improvises from the studio release:

Here is a later version uploaded to Youtube in 2011. A little more jazzy!

He Should Be As Famous As Edison

Most of the things you use today Nick Holonyak Jr. had a hand in it. We all know Thomas Edison invented the light bulb, but who invented the LED light bulb? Nick Holonyak Jr. is receiving the credit for that energy saving device. Your TV, computer and phone screen are more than likely LED. Although the LED was around for a while, Holonyak made the first visible light from and LED and credited as the father of the LED light.

Holonyak won two Nobel Prizes. The first for co-inventing the transistor and the second one for explaining superconductivity (Google that one). He holds 30 patents. “His work is responsible for the technology used to develop red lasers in CD and DVD players, the ability to transmit information over the Internet, and applications in replacing conventional lighting with LEDs. Holonyak also created the basic electronic element of household light dimmer switches” (see https://www.invent.org/inductees/nick-holonyak-jr).

At the time of this writing (May 2022) he is still with us and enjoying retirement at the age of 93.

To learn more about his of course Google him or see:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nick_Holonyak

https://mntl.illinois.edu/ssdl

https://mntl.illinois.edu/ssdl

Easter Kodak Moments

Kodak, the memory keeper. Birthdays, weddings, Easter, you name it Kodak preserved our memories. I don’t miss waiting a week to see if I correctly captured the image! This ad was from 1950. Those images taken from the Brownie Camera was due to the large film format. It was the same film size most professional photographers used until digital photography took over.

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