The LuLac Edition #605, Oct. 18th, 2008

PHOTO INDEX: OUR TOP 40 LOGO, WILKES BARRE COUNCILMAN BILL BARRETT, EDIE ADAMS AND LLOYD THAXTON.

THANKS KING’S COLLEGE

For the past few nights, we’ve been posting past midnight. A few of our e mailers and callers were wondering if it had to do with a work change or my illness. Neither. You see, Father O’Hara’s Drunks from King’s College have been tearing up North Main Street with loud, lewd and obnoxious behavior. After 1AM. Now our next door neighbors, young ladies hold parties but they are quiet ones. There are other marauders though who think it’s a basic right to keep the neighbors up with their antics. The Police came and hopefully hauled a few of their drunk asses away or gave them a warning. And by the way, do the colleges not have Friday classes anymore? Seems like Thursday is the new party night. When I was at King’s, I threw back a few but never invaded anyone else’s rights to sleep, comfort and quiet at a reasonable hour. Even in an off campus setting, the college administration should take responsibility for off campus hoods. The city police and administration do their best to respond to the problem. But apparently not the college. Perhaps the grand strategy is to buy up the 200 block of North Main Street and turn it into campus housing so that more FODs can reside here. Buy me out, guys. I have 13 rooms with two baths and a big back yard with plenty of room to construct a boxing ring so they can beat each other punch drunk. Oh wait, they already are punch drunk. Or just drunk.

TRANSITIONS

We can’t let an edition go by without mentioning the passing of Edie Adams, Levi Stubbs, Lloyd Thaxton, Frank Rosenthal or Tom Tresh and Tim Karlson. For those of you interested in Karlson, you can go to my 590 FOREVER BLOG. Here’s the link:

http://david-yonki.blogspot.com/
On Edie Adams, she was in one of my favorite political movies, “The Best Man”. Her story was unique, born in Kingston, she made it to the big time. Married Ernie kovacs who when he died left her penniless. Frank Sinatra and his friends decided to throw her a bash to bail her out but unlike the Wall Street crowd, Edie Adams took jobs of all sorts to pay her debt down. On her own. Edie Adams also was the spokeswoman for a Cigar in the 60s made at the Consolidated Cigar Company in West Pittston. Both my parents worked there for a time and Edie was front on center on the boxes of those plastic tip cigars that encouraged both sexes to light up. She was great and will be missed.
Levi Stubbs was the main voice for the Four Tops. Saw him in concert in the 80s and he wowed the crowd at Atlantic City’s Trump Plaza. Stubbs stayed in Detroit, staying close to his roots. He was one of the founding fathers of Motown and his voice, his moves and his style will live on as long as there’s a radio, MPI, CD player or TV around.
Lloyd Thaxton was an American writer, producer and television host best known for his syndicated pop music television program of the 1960s, The Lloyd Thaxton Show, which began as a local show on KCOP Los Angeles in 1961. The format, much along the lines of American Bandstand, featured local high school students dancing on the soundstage to the latest records. The show was almost totally unscripted and spontaneous. Thaxton frequently clowned around on stage to the music, lip-synching the vocals and accompanying the records on guitar or piano. One favorite recurring skit had the costumed Thaxton on his knees, impersonating painter Toulouse-Lautrec while lip-synching a current song. The Lloyd Thaxton Show, with its mix of new music, spontaneity and comedy skits, immediately shot to number one in the time period with a viewership of at least 350,000 homes, including on the East Coast. Many leading rock 'n roll acts of the time like The Byrds, Sonny & Cher, The Kinks, The Bobby Fuller Four, and others appeared on this program.
The show went into national syndication in 1964, becoming the highest rated musical entertainment program in the United States for the next eight years. The Thaxton show was shown locally on WBRE TV. On his blog, Thaxton’s wife announcing his passing wrote, “Lloyd has moved on”.
If you ever saw the movie “Casino” then you knew about Frank Rosenthal. He was the guy that Robert Dinero based his character on in the film. Rosenthal was a sports handicapper and a former Las Vegas casino executive. He also hosted a television talk show in Las Vegas during the late 1970s. . He died at the age of 79 in Florida, they say because of natural causes.
Tom Tresh came up to the New York Yankees in the 1962 season to replace an injured Tony Kubek and had one heck of a year. He played short and left for the Yankees and was supposed to be the next Mantle. He won two rings with the Yanks and appeared in three World Series. When the Yankees went south in the standings, so did Tresh who was later traded to Detroit. He died this week at the age of 71.

LAYOFFS?

According to the Times Leader, two of the five city council members said they think layoffs could be coming as a way to save tax dollars. Tony Thomas Jr., council vice chairman, and Bill Barrett are the only two elected officials who would comment on Mayor Tom Leighton’s proposed 2009 budget, which was released this week. Both said all city expenses will be looked at and, if necessary, jobs may be lost. At least there are a few Council members looking to eyeball this. Good luck getting a quorum but good for these two making an effort to escape the rubber stamp label Council has had.

ELECTION TOP 40

CONSERVATION #17

McCAIN

John McCain is proud of his longstanding commitment to conserving America's natural resources and promoting environmental stewardship. John McCain knows we face immense environmental challenges that will impact the quality of life we leave our children and future generations. A McCain White House will reflect the guiding principles of Theodore Roosevelt, America's foremost conservation president.
Our nation's conservation movement began over a century ago as westward expansion encouraged clearcutting logging practices, unsustainable grazing policies, and the overhunting of game and fish populations. Visionaries such as Teddy Roosevelt, John Muir, and Ding Darling rallied Americans behind unprecedented efforts to save our wild landscapes, important watersheds and migratory bird corridors. Their labors led Americans to embrace principles of multiple-use public lands management and natural resource conservation based upon sound science. This heritage must be understood and reignited in Americans to meet the challenges we face.
Our national parks, national seashores, wildlife refuges and national monuments embody America's commitment to preserving our most precious natural treasures. Unfortunately, Congress' failure to devote the proper resources towards operations and maintenance has caused many park units to fall into disrepair. As we reconnect with our outdoor heritage we must focus on maintaining these areas. From the Grand Canyon to Gettysburg, to the Indiana Dunes and the Everglades, we must preserve the cultural significance and natural beauty of our most wild and historic places. These irreplaceable landscapes deserve our renewed attention.

OBAMA

As president, I will restore the force of the Clean Air Act. I will fight for continued reductions in smog and soot, and continue my leadership in combating toxins that contribute to air pollution. Unlike President Bush, I will listen to my scientific advisers on air quality standards. And I will reverse the Bush administration's attempts to chip away at our nation's clean air standards and the integrity of our national parks. I will also protect roadless areas in our national lands.

HUMOR #16

OBAMA

Senator Obama has used an understated humor in trying to make his points with Senator McCain in the debates. Obama, maybe because he is the front runner has not done any satirical shows like “Saturday Night Live” or others like that. Maybe he feels there is too much parody to go around for his affectations and doesn’t want to encourage them. He can give a one liner with the best of them and uses humor sparingly. That is when it is most effective at least from where I sit.

McCAIN

John McCAin is not afraid to approach humor or make a joke. Even if it falls flat on its face, McCain soldiers on and tries a new tact. His retort to Tom Brokaw’s question about who his Treasury Secretary would be, “Not you Tom” fell short but he didn’t seem to care. McCain has been singing on Saturday Night Live (as a Senator not a candidate) as well as tangling with Letterman and Leno. McCain has a wonderful sense of humor and he doesn’t shy away from using it. He can afford to let his humor show through mainly because he is behind but people don’t seem to mind his jokes. Whether that humor transfers into votes, we shall see.

Here's an ad from Muriel Cigars with Edie Adams in it. A classic!

Lloyd Thaxton was fond of imitating performers. Lip Sync might have been invented by Thaxton. Here he is doing a Georgie Fame song.

And finally, from 1965, the late, great Levi Stubbs and the Four Tops.