As a kid I spent hours playing the game of Showboat. I had a choice of plays with scripts and actual cardboard characters to move around a stage complete with changes of scenery. All taking place within the confines of a plastic Showboat. Very cool, very clever. Here’s a look at what I’m talking about.

http://www.boocoo.com/auction/detail.asp?n=remco-show-boat-toy-vintage-1960s&id=238937

http://www.etsy.com/listing/29414042/1960s-remco-showboat-play-stages

Per Wickipedia: The Remco Showboat, less popularly known as the Arthur Showboat Theater Playset, was a toy theatre in the shape and style of the typical Hollywood idea of a showboat, a sternwheeler complete with twin smokestacks, much like the one seen in MGM’s 1951 film Show Boat. Manufactured by Remco in 1962, the toy contained playscript adaptations of famous stories such as Pinocchio, Heidi, Cinderella and Wizard of Oz and came complete with miniature cutout dolls and theatrical settings, so that children could use these dolls to present the stories contained in the playscript.

In addition to this but not directly related to the theatre thing…I used this intriguing teaching aid that came along with our encyclopedia collection. For me encyclopedias were THE go-to source for book reports and all questions in general. In addition to the A-Z books, we had this wonderful thing called the Cyclo-Teacher. A hard plastic, flat device where you inserted a printed cardboard like template of your topic of research, closed the lid and cycled through the rotating cardboard disk to complete a Q&A that appeared through various windows. Again, here is a visual aid for what I’m talking about. Turns out ebay was all I could find for reference photos.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Cyclo-Teacher-Kit-Learning-Aid-Educational-Tool-Homeschooling-/110816632025?_trksid=p3286.m7&_trkparms=algo%3DLVI%26itu%3DUCI%26otn%3D2%26po%3DLVI%26ps%3D63%26clkid%3D6400870021169971278#ht_6134wt_942

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&_trksid=p4340.l2557&hash=item19cd90aecd&item=110822993613&nma=true&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&rt=nc&si=JIXa9VccK0HlmxKNNcUtEAD7T%252B4%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc#ht_1067wt_1171

If nothing else, this is where I learned the difference between a Chow Chow and a beagle. The dog section was great.

OK, and now Camp Granada because not only did I play this game a lot but I was obviously influenced by the constant presence of Alan Sherman, his TV appearances and the major hit song. What a prime example of one helluva marketing campaign. Go to youtube and you’ll find he’s still singing that tune.

http://www.etsy.com/listing/42918927/vintage-1965-allan-sherman-camp-granada

Time for another piece from the archives. I purchased this original charter at a yard sale many years ago. I seem to vaguely remember the fellow mentioned it was his mother’s and there it sat in a broken frame and water damaged. I quickly snapped it up and gave it a home where it continues to hang over my desk. I consider it a valuable document and below is some very brief background on David Dubinsky the president of the International Ladies Garment Workers Union. This particular charter is dated March 10, 1937 and from a shop in Gilman, IL. In 1937 the ILGWU briefly joined the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO); it then temporarily became an independent union and finally rejoined the AFL in 1940. Under the presidency of David Dubinsky, the ILGWU grew into one of the nation’s most powerful and progressive unions, with a wide range of member benefits. It’s a rich history and  I feel very lucky to have this charter complete with the pen and ink signatures.

http://www.dol.gov/oasam/programs/laborhall/dd.htm

http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/bus/A0825349.html

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067275/

http://www.leonrussellrecords.com/memory_lane.shtml

http://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/media/view/?id=3a0ec59f-330e-49f0-9ab0-d369de34d668

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01b9jp0

I check in from time to time at TED to listen to new talks on a variety of subjects depending on my mood. Came across this one today.

http://www.ted.com/talks/derek_sivers_keep_your_goals_to_yourself.html

What do I do now! I posted on my blog homepage that I intend to learn Mah Jong. Cripes! While only about five visitors have seen the post to date, still I shouted it out there and committed to it publicly. Luckily, two weeks ago me and my cohorts did meet for the first time and gave it a good effort. In fact, after a few hours we did come to the agreement that we will forge ahead but learn the Chinese version vs. the American which I have to say, is way too complicated for beginners.

Some background on the topic…my mother and her lady friends used to play on friday nights every month and when it was her turn to host, we kids had to go to our rooms while she had her party behind the closed kitchen door. Me and my sister recall having to go to bed early to the sounds of laughter, tiles clacking and the wonderful aroma of coffee and perfume. It was mysterious and our mother’s secret, social life. They played the American version and after attempting myself to play with those cards of tile combinations from 1967, I completely understand why she never wanted to explain the game to us, even after asking long into adulthood. Mom has been gone a long time now but I still have her set and yes, we’ll be continuing to plug away on it and learn. I’m following through on this for the time being. Your heard it here first.

So, not sure how to take the TED 6 minute speech above, but I have experienced what he’s talking about and feel it’s half true and an interesting concept for a long discussion.

http://www.wernerherzog.com/index.php?id=64

To contemplate not only the discovery of this cave but the process needed to preserve it is the most important part of the film for me. That and the additional short documentary on the composer of the soundtrack and his 5 string cello, worth a peek.

It took months to land a job and never having gone away to college myself, I filled that time roaming the campus, hanging out in the library reading and mingling amongst all the colorful characters a classic southern college town has to offer. Of course, living on the perimeter included lots of opportunity to be invited to house parties and the music scene was just blossoming but that’s another chapter unto itself. For the moment, I want to stick with one of the first people I met at one of these parties.

Not sure how I wandered into this party in the first place, but once there, I guess my accent stood out in the conversation I was having and a very tall, young, Abe Lincoln-like gentleman introduced himself. He said he went to U of C as a teenager and loved Chicago. Just not enough to stay there alone as a genius kid. The combination of his slow, southern delivery and extremely lumbering physique made him an instant character for me and we began a friendship I’m forever thankful for. Turns out John Seawright was the official ambassador of Athens and a well respected master of oratory. When I eventually did get a job at the newspaper and fell in with a group of performance artists, we convinced John to join us in our first performance that established the Rat and Duck Playhouse. Me and John together with Michael Paxton, wrote and performed a spectacular one act that was filmed on reel to reel tape. (As a side note, I’m in the process of transferring those orignal tapes into a digital format to place here on the blog, but that’ll have to wait for Part Two or Three of the story). For now, back to the point of this post.

Ten years ago John died suddenly, alone in his house. Admittedly, I hadn’t kept in touch with him for many years and got the news via a phone call. It was beyond sad for me and Michael (yes, we’re still together) and I felt very regretful for the lost time. Last month on facebook I saw a post by another old Rat and Ducker with a link to a Kickstarter project by John’s brother, Sam Seawright, who is mounting a show of photographs documenting John’s shrine of a house. Believe me, it was a museum and world unto itself. Assemblages, still-lifes and endless chairs. This project gave me an opportunity to contribute to the story that is John and keep it going in a small way. As part of my donation, I received yesterday a 5×7 print of one of the photographs that will be in the show, so I thought I’d write about him.

None of this begins to capture what it felt like as an outsider, arriving in a new town with a city girl’s skepticism to be completely won over by someone’s genuine kind nature and mastery of storytelling. Never got to tell him this face to face but at least now you all know and that’s better than nothing.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1569547152/the-poets-house-john-seawrights-vision

http://www.athica.org/exhibit.php?ID=129