Thanks For Everything Dad!.. R.I.P. Donald Ladd 1930-2014

Nothing ever prepares you for the news that your parent has passed away.
So began this week with my dad in a hospital, then the emotional roller coaster of he's getting better, no, he's getting worse.
He's having surgery...he pulled through...oh no...farewell.

Then the wave of emotions hit, and the tears flow.

Geez, I was already a crier!
:)
One of the many things I got from my dad, and one that I acknowledge quite often. I have to leave the room when those holiday commercials come on just to avoid Niagara Falls!!

My love for movies?
I picked that up from him.

Weekends watching westerns and war films and Abbott and Costello.  Good times all!

Still love movies to this day, and one of the reasons I even post these reviews.

The other thing that dad gave me growing up was my love of reading.

And if we're being specific, my love for comics!

I can't tell you the hours we spent in The Book Bin in Albany perusing the shelves of used books. We didn't buy them all, but I think mom thought we did.

:)

It was there that he bought me my very first comic book: Avengers 200.

Still the greatest comic book cover of all time.

While I didn't get his artistic ability, I channeled my lack of artistic skill into the printed word, and I think I've done okay with that over the years.

It led me to my English degree, and fulfilling a lifelong dream of being a teacher.

Not bad, dad.

Thanks for everything!

My sense of humor? Totally dad.

I try and go through life with the same sparkle in my eyes that I always saw in his.

So far, so good.

Finally, I'd like to think I learned a thing or two about being a great dad from him.

While I don't think I was a carbon copy, I used many of things he taught me (and threw a few I didn't care for away!) and modified in my own special way.

My biggest regret is that life in the military kept us always 3000 miles (or more) from home, so he never got a chance to see his grandchildren growing up.

Thankfully, he's got a great seat up above us now, and should be able to see them all the time.

Boy, are my kids in trouble!

:)

So yes, the tears come, and they come when I often least expect them.

I'm sad for myself and my family, that we'll get no more memories, no more chances to talk to dad.

I'm happy for him because he's in a better place, no pain, no more illness.

Plus he gets to see his dad again, my namesake!

:)

Take care dad, and I'll see you again someday!

Until then, I'll keep trying to make you proud of me.

Thanks for everything.

Love forever,

Serge

An Old-Fashioned Sunday Western..."The Sons of Katie Elder"

The Sons of Katie Elder (1965)

Not Rated

Starring John Wayne, Dean Martin, James Gregory, Dennis Hopper, George Kennedy

Directed by Henry Hathaway

The Story:

Katie Elder has passed away, and her three of her four sons return home to see her buried. However when the oldest (Wayne) comes back into town, there's a hitman (Kennedy) waiting to send him packing, and an overzealous lawman waiting to put him behind bars. It appears another rancher (Gregory) had swindled the Elder ranch away from Katie and their father. Since their dad was gunned down and no murderer was ever found, the boys decide to do a little investigating on their own.

Ah, this takes me back to my days of growing up.

Westerns, Our Gang comedies and Abbott and Costello movies were a staple for me growing up, watching them on the weekends with my dad.

For dad, Roy Rogers was the pinnacle of cowboy hero, but most everyone else probably gives Wayne the nod for cowboy hero of the cinema.

As for me, this movie was rather slow.

The most interesting character in the film was Katie Elder.

We knew more about her than anyone else in the film, and that's a credit to all the information given by all the characters in discussing the late Mrs. Elder.

Wayne plays John Wayne, and by this time in his career, it was pretty much auto-pilot.

Dean Martin signed on to co-star with Wayne again and gets the most screen time and plot of all the brothers not named John Wayne. :)

Naturally, a lot of conclusions are jumped to by the townspeople as the movie rolls along.

It's a bit tedious with all of the circumstances that stack up in this movie.

At least it's all tied together with a lovely Elmore Bernstein score.

:)


Available to stream instantly on Netflix as of this writing.

Final Grade: C

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: Nope, once was plenty on this one.

Casey Kasem R.I.P. 1932-2014

Father's Day brought an end to the life and times of Casey Kasem.  A weird story with some bizarre occurrences in the last days of his life.

Basically, he had a whacked-out family.

But enough about them, this post is meant to honor and remember, at least for me, the greatest on-air radio personality in my lifetime:  Casey Kasem.

Little did I realize at the time, that I had known Casey's work much earlier in life before I ever switched on a Pop station in the 80s and became hooked on 80s music forever.

But more on that in a minute! ;)

As you can see by the picture, Casey was hard at work making sure kids of the 60s/70s and early 80s enjoyed some quality television.

I'm not sure which order I met him first, was it Shaggy then Robin, or vice versa?

Either way, he was the perfect voice for one half of two of the best dynamic duos in cartoons.

Holy Sidekick Batman, it's hard to believe that the same guy who voiced Robin could turn around and give the same life to the ultimate 60s stoner-who's-not-a-stoner, Shaggy.

But really, if you take Shaggy away from Scooby Doo, that's like taking Abbott away from Costello: it just doesn't work.

I love that Hanna Barbera kept Kasem as the voice of Shaggy for future generations as well.  It's an amazing legacy, and if he had done nothing further, I'd still be typing this remembrance for him.

But no...

Casey brought me Pop Music every weekend in the form of American Top 40.  I was there, counting them down every week, watching my favorites climb the charts while past favorites dropped out of favor.

I used the cassette function of my boom box (!!!) to make compilations of some of my favorite songs.  I even played a bunch of tapes on the school bus for those long 30 minute rides to school.  So well-played back in the day, I still think of songs that would come next on my tape when I hear them on the radio, or the squelch of stopping Casey in mid-speech as we came out of a song.

:)

When they let Casey go in the late 80s and replaced him with Shadoe Stevens, I left the countdown as well.  Would catch Casey doing his Top 10 on television on occasion,  but it just wasn't the same.

Listening to what AT40 has become under Ryan Seacrest is a travesty... arbitrary rankings, sleaze versus actual stories about the artists....

I weep for future generations of music lovers.

And today, I weep a bit for the passing of a very influential part of my growing up.

However, while I don't have Sirius XM, our local station does play replays of American Top 40: The 80s every Sunday from 8-nooon.

It's a great trip down memory lane, and one I try to catch at least a few minutes of every week.

Rest in Peace Casey, and thank you!

As you advised me every week growing up, I will keep my feet on the ground, and keep reaching for the stars!

100 Greatest Movies of All Time...That I Own. # 35 ~ Bud Abbott and Lou Costello Meet Frankenstein

One thing that this list is short on, are horror/monster movies.  Again, going with the criteria of "do I get to enjoy it with the whole family?", the majority of scary movies don't make the cut. 

Today, we have an exception.

Of course, it had to be made in 1948, and feature the classic Universal Monsters, but it still qualifies.

: )

Bud Abbott & Lou Costello Meet Frankenstein is a classic romp featuring the trademark rapid-fire humor audiences had come to expect from Abbott & Costello by then.  Now, while the title refers to the boys meeting Frankenstein, that wasn't the only Universal Monster they wound up meeting.

In fact, while Karloff did not play the monster, they were lucky enough to snag Bela Lugosi as Dracula and Lon Chaney Jr. as the Wolfman.  Add a last second cameo by the Invisible Man (Vincent Price) and I would say you more than get your money's worth from this film.

Unlike nearly every other Abbott & Costello movie, in this film, Costello actually gets the upper hand on Abbott in much of the word-play, and going after the leading ladies.  The fact that they are all nearly falling over Lou does seem unlikely, but the real reason behind it is revealed before too long:

His brain!

The movie works as equal part loving homage to the Monsters, and classic Abbott & Costello romp.  The Monsters are played straight and not made fun of, which is why the movie works so well.  They could be easily mocked, or they could have played the movie as one giant "well, only Costello actually sees them..." but by bringing Abbott in on the shenanigans, the film works even better.

This one normally gets a spin in the household at least once a year, normally as we get closer to Halloween.

If you don't own it or haven't seen it in ages, it is available to stream on Netflix as of this writing.