Howdy Doody himself was a freckle-faced boy marionette with 48 freckles, one for each state of the union. Howdy Doody was a children's television program with a frontier/western theme. It was broadcast on NBC in the United States from 1947 until 1960. It was a pioneer in children's programming and set the pattern for many similar shows. It was also the first show we watched on out new TV, and, it was also a time when there were only 48 states in the United States.
The name of the puppet "star" was derived from the western U.S. expression "howdy do", a familiar form of the greeting "How Do You Do?" There also were several human characters, most notably the mute Clarabell the Clown, who communicated by honking horns on his belt and squirting seltzer, and Chief Thunderthud, head of the Ooragnak tribe of Native Americans (kangaroo spelled backward, possibly from Bob Keeshan), who originated the cry "Kowabonga!" Princess Summerfall Winterspring, originally a puppet, was later played by the actress Judy Tyler. The characters inhabited the fictional town of "Doodyville."
A peanut gallery is an audience that heckles the performer. The term originated in the days of vaudeville as a nickname for the cheapest (and ostensibly rowdiest) seats in the theater; the cheapest snack served at the theater would often be peanuts, which the patrons would sometimes throw at the performers on stage to show their disapproval. The phrases "no comments from the peanut gallery" or "quiet in the peanut gallery" are extensions of the name. In the late 1940s the Howdy Doody show adopted the name to represent their audience of 40 kids.
If the cry "Kowabonga!" does not ring a bell, or if your first love was not Princess Summerfall Winterspring, you are probably younger than I.
A familial generation is defined as the average time between a mother's first offspring and her daughter's first offspring. This makes a generation around 25 years in length give or take a few years.
- Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
- And sorry I could not travel both
- And be one traveller, long I stood
- And looked down one as far as I could
- To where it bent in the undergrowth;
I am sorry I could not travel some of the roads that crossed my path. The sounds of the peanut gallery are distant memories. One activity that all three brothers have shared over the years has been cycling. Tom had recently been identified as the cyclist whose participation in Tour de Cure benefit rides goes back more than 15 years (more than all other New England Riders). Tour de Cure is a series of fund-raising cycling events held in 40 states nationwide to benefit the American Diabetes Association (ADA).
My brother Tom and I celebrated my most recent milestone birthday last night. Tom mentioned that the ADA had no records going back to the early rides. We tried to test our memories, when Tom mentioned he had a log of all the rides he has made over the last 20 years! After much searching of his hard drive (B for bicycle, C for cycling, T for trips) we found the file. M for mileage! Some highlights of a generation of fun, exercise and companionship:
- Sep 1987 Grape Nuts Bike Festival- 33 miles. I can be a ghoul, (Throughout the vast shadowy world of ghosts and demons). We called this the body bag ride. An Olympian led the ride, weekend warriors tried to show off. One hit wet railroad tracks and rode over a cliff.
- Jun 1993 Lake Champlain Tour de Cure Classic- 150 miles. This was a two day ride. Some lucky riders spent the night with host families. One wealthy family thought that we were a mother, father and two young children. Surprise, The Egan's were four hefty adults. I can still picture the polite calm of our hostess as she brought us warm, fluffy robes. She had told us to take advantage of her hot tub. We all got in at once. Water naturally poured over the top and flooded the room.
- Sep 1994 Boston to Provincetown- 120 miles. Mary's Bed and breakfast, on Cape Cod will always be remembered for the smell of fresh baked cinnamon buns in the morning and a house full of puppets.
- Jun 1997 Tour de Cure Northboro MA- 100+ miles. My first Century! Hills, and more hills. Rain, Jerry throws away his route map in frustration and rides way, in the wrong direction, up a steep hill. I wave good-bye and continue in the opposite direction! Brotherly love only goes so far.
- Jul 1997 Make A Wish Ride Colorado- 440 miles. Monarch Pass 11,312 feet, Trout Creek Pass 9,346 feet, McClure Pass 8,755 feet, Freemont Pass 1,320 feet, Tennessee Pass 10,420 feet, Hoosier Pass 11,541 feet.
- Mar 2006 my brothers and I went mountain bike riding on the trails of Moab, Utah. We are all in our fifties and are not expert trail riders. On day one we arrived at the Poison Spider Bike Shop and had two concerns: would our guide take us out in a snowstorm?; did the Poison Spider sell winter riding clothing? Fortunately the answer to both questions was "Yes". While we were being introduced to our guide and picking out gloves and hats for the ride there was a commotion going on. A group of five guys in their twenties were arguing with the bike shop owner-they wanted their deposit back because: "No one can ride in this weather." We tuned them out, our guide was confident we would have a blast, and we were oblivious to any risk. Unfortunately Specialized and the other bike Companies were not filming that morning. They missed some great shots!
- Sep 2008 - Last year Tom, Jerry and Cheryl rode 500 miles over some of the Finest Roads For Cycling In The Country. They cycled from the Shenandoah National Park in Virginia to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in North Carolina. It was be a test of will as they climbed over 50,000 vertical feet.
I no longer think in terms of generations, but seasons! This is the season to start growing more greens, for salads and side dishes. I proudly wave my "eat green" freak flag!. A diet based more on plant-based foods than meats and dairy can lead to extra years of healthy living. This is also prime riding season, no excuses, I have no shortage of layers and Gortex! If I follow a healthy plan, I may have entries for another list, over a generation, give or take a few years.
Happy Easter: May I recommend for your enjoyment: Mel Gibson would have freaked, too much Passion, too much fun
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The Swamp Thing was a creature originally conceived as Alec Holland mutating into a vegetable-like creature, a "muck-encrusted mockery of a man". However, under writer Alan Moore, Swamp Thing was reinvented as an elemental entity created upon the death of Alec Holland, with Holland's memory and personality intact. He is described as "a plant that thought it was Alec Holland, a plant that was trying its level best to be Alec Holland."
Alan Moore's Swamp Thing had a profound effect on mainstream comic books, being the first horror comic to approach the genre from a literary point of view since the EC horror comics horror comics of the 1950's, and broadened the scope of the series to include ecological and spiritual concerns while retaining its horror-fantasy roots.
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