Archives for January 2020

“FUTURE, n. That period of time in which our affairs prosper, our friends are true and our happiness is assured.”

Ambrose Bierce, The Devil’s Dictionary

Newsreel footage of Bing Crosby and Bob Hope singing “Mairzy Doats,” a chart-topping 1943 novelty song, at an outdoor show for enlisted men stationed at the air base outside Santa Ana, California. Crosby and Hope, both together and separately, gave countless such performances for American soldiers and sailors throughout World War II:

(This is the latest in a series of arts- and history-related videos that appear in this space each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday)

“A man’s feet should be planted in his country, but his eyes should survey the world.”

George Santayana, The Life of Reason

From 2006:

I woke up this morning at nine-thirty, an hour later than my normal get-up-and-go time. As I descended from the loft in which I spend my nights, it struck me that I had nothing whatsoever to do today: no deadlines, no shows to see, no meals with friends, no plans of any kind. For a moment I felt myself revving up, trying to think of culture-related activities with which to fill all those empty hours. Then a new, unfamiliar reflex kicked in. Why not do nothing? I asked myself, and a smile flickered across my face….

Read the whole thing here.

“I reckon being ill as one of the great pleasures of life, provided one is not too ill and is not obliged to work till one is better.”

Samuel Butler, The Way of All Flesh

The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., is interviwed by Merv Griffin on an episode of The Merv Griffin Show, taped in New York in 1967:

(This is the latest in a series of arts- and history-related videos that appear in this space each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday)

“If I hit you and you hit me and I hit you back and you hit me back and go on, you see, that goes on ad infinitum. It just never ends. Somewhere somebody must have a little sense, and that’s the strong person.”

Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., “Loving Your Enemies” (sermon, November 17, 1957)

Don Stewart and Carl Marlow, who held Perry Como’s cue cards on his weekly TV series, appear as the mystery guests on an episode of What’s My Line? John Daly was the host and the panelists were Richard Boone, Arlene Francis, Martin Gabel, and Dorothy Kilgallen. This episode was originally telecast live by CBS on February 22, 1959:

(This is the latest in a series of arts- and history-related videos that appear in this space each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday)