We Hardly Knew Ye: Marcia Wallace

Carol Kester from The Bob Newhart Show and Edna Krabappel from The Simpsons is dead at 70.
***

Happy 74th, Fred!

Fred Willard hits the big seven-four today.

He's been in a countless movies and TV shows over the last 40 years, including personal faves King of the Hill, Anchorman, The Simpsons, This Is Spinal Tap and The Bob Newhart Show. However, he's never been funnier than in Christopher Guest's trilogy of mockumentaries: Waiting for Guffman (1996), Best in Show and A Mighty Wind (2003), from which the above clip comes.

Then there was this unexpected bit of unpleasantness last year.
***

2012: The Year of the Chickens!

In this, the last of this blog's measly 26 posts in 2012, I'll recap the stuff I've covered over the previous year, along with some things I didn't address. For starters, in February, Eliza and I installed a chicken coop in our backyard, and then brought home four two-month-old pullets: Rocky, Dolly, Rhodey, and Li'l Sweetie (above, shot by Eliza). Sadly, Rocky and Dolly succumbed to Marek's Disease, but Sweetie and Rhodey have thrived - since May, those gals have pumped out a whopping 334 eggs!

In other bird news, a day after Rocky was put to sleep, three robins were hatched in a nest by our back porch. Here are two of the eggs...

Within a day, all three robin chicks were eaten by some goddamn crows.

In non-bird deaths, in 2012 we said goodbye to the Beastie Boys and Ween, Ralph McQuarrie, and John Belushi (albeit 30 years after the fact). Also passing this year, but unacknowledged by this blog, were Matt Groening's Life in Hell, and the Seattle TV clown who inspired Krusty the Clown on Groening's The Simpsons, JP Patches... In July was I driving through the U-District when I happened upon the demolition of the UW's Lander Hall, a dormitory where I lived for a couple years in my late teens and did many grown-up, um, things, that I never done before...

Celebrating birthdays in 2012 were Paul Stanley and Muhammad Ali, as well as the 50th anniversaries of Mad, the Rolling Stones, the Seattle Monorail, the Seattle World's Fair and Spider-Man, along with the 25th anniversaries of Pleased to Meet Me and the 1987 NBA All-Star Game.

On top of this being the sixth full calendar year of the SteveMandich.com blog, I continued to maintain two other blogs -- Super Ichiro Crazy! (where the big news was his trade from Seattle to the Yankees) and Bigfoot is Real (which I just put on "temporary hiatus"). Upon the (galaxy) golden anniversary of the Seattle World's Fair, I started a commemorative blog. It was soon aborted, due to lack of both interest and inspiration. Still, I came away with this cool photo of some Space Needle models, taken at an art gallery near the Needle itself...

I visited Minnesota and New Mexico in 2012, though I didn't blog about my April SoCal trip -- in San Diego I met up with another Steve Mandich, a swell guy who's a credit to our name...

In Anaheim, my pal JP and I saw the Edmonton Oilers beat the Ducks, and the next night, we saw the eventual Stanley Cup-winning Kings beat the Oilers in L.A. I stupidly lost all my photos from those games, so here's a picture I took of the Watts Towers...

Earlier, and closer to home, I rode the Amtrak Cascades up to Vancouver, where I witnessed the Canucks beat the Coyotes in an overtime shootout. While in town, I attended the Vancouver International Boat Show, if only to see the insides of the revamped BC Place Stadium...

Here's another Vancouver photo, taken in Stanley Park...

In medical news, my Morton's toe that I viciously stubbed in 2004 finally got fixed in October -- the good foot doctor shaved away some arthritic bone and inserted a temporary three-inch pin. Here's a gnarly pic of how it looked a week after surgery...

Though 2012 was the Year of the Chickens, Eliza and I figure 2013 will be the Year of the Babies -- we're expecting fraternal twin girls on January 9! Here we are in our backyard on Thanksgiving...

Going into the new year, if I'm not blogging about it here, I'll be posting it on facebook.

As always, thanks for reading!
***

Hot New Mexico Action

I spent a few days last week in New Mexico, bringing the number of states I've visited to 43. (However, 15 of those I haven't spent a night in, and in two of 'em -- Florida and Nebraska -- I didn't even get outside the airport. Still haven't been to Iowa, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Alabama, Vermont, or either Dakota.)

Anyway, upon touching down last Sunday at the Albuquerque airport Sunport, I visited Isotopes Park (above), home of the Triple-A Albuquerque Isotopes (so named after a certain Simpsons episode). Then I drove down a nearby stretch of Route 66, though I was disappointed that it didn't look as cool as in this 1969 Ernst Haas photo. Time for a late lunch, so I had a footlong and Frito pie at the Dog House...

After checking into my downtown hotel, I drove up to the Santa Ana Star Center (a small arena on the edge of the desert) for a performance of Batman Live. Despite the Cirque du Soleil-type bullshit, I enjoyed it anyhow -- it was a good story, and besides, I'm a sucker for all stuff Batman. For dinner I ate a burrito at the Frontier Restaurant, then headed over to the Launchpad to see the Melvins on their record-setting tour. Nobody rocks a muumuu like King Buzzo...

Monday morning I rode the Sandia Peak Tramway to its 10,378-foot summit, the highest elevation I've ever been on land...

Back in the city I had a so-so Lotaburger at local chain Blake’s...

Belly full, I motored four hours to the south and west through desert, mountains, and Truth or Consequences to my sister and her husband's house outside Silver City, where I spent a couple nights in their Airstream...

On Tuesday we drove an hour north to the Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument (below), and soaked in some nearby hot springs.

Wednesday I headed back to Albuquerque and flew home, changing planes at the Phoenix airport Sky Harbor. Next time I visit, I'll fly into either Tucson or El Paso, both of which are closer to Silver City than Albuquerque, and neither of which has a stupid airport name.

New Mexico's license plates refer to the state as a "Land of Enchantment," though I also found it a land of hot-air balloons, Kokopellis, dreamcatchers, green chile, blue crystal meth, and bloody, crusty boogers, which I woke up to every morning (I'm not used to the dry climate). However, thanks to melatonin and proper hydration, I slept much better at these relatively high altitudes than I had in the past. Still, I was glad to get home, down at sea level during a rainy stretch of weather.

***

Your Attention Please: Bigfoot is Real

Somehow I forgot to mention here my new-ish Tumblr micro-blog, Bigfoot is Real. I'm keeping it minimal, though I do aim to do at least one post per day. I've also added a link in the right-hand column here.

Thanks for your time.
***

The Simpsons Meet Bigfoot

The Call of the Simpsons (February 18, 1990).
A near-nude Homer is lost in the wilderness. After bees sting him in the mouth and he falls into some mud, a random photographer in the area mistakes the hollering, mud-caked Homer for Bigfoot. The forest quickly becomes a carnival of souvenir stands, burger shacks, and cardboard cutouts: "Get Your Picture Taken with Bigfoot." Homer is eventually hunted down, tranquilized, and taken to a lab for testing. Upon observation, scientists can't discern if Homer really is Bigfoot, or merely "sub-human." A TV news anchor reports that the photographer "was most impressed by the creature's uncivilized look, its foul language, and most of all, its indescribable stench." After a reporter interviews Marge, a tabloid runs articles with the screaming headlines: "I Married Bigfoot," "Bigfoot's Wife Pleads: 'Call Him Homer,'" and "The Bigfoot Diet: 'Pork Chops Aplenty.'" Here's a clip.

Mr. Plow (November 19, 1992).
We see a brief outtake from an upcoming Fox TV special, "In Search of Bigfoot," which spoofs the infamous 1967 Patterson-Gimlin film. Then we hear the off-camera director yell at the guy in the Bigfoot costume, "Hold it Bob, we can see your wristwatch!" Bob looks down at his watch and exclaims, "Aw, dammit." Here's a foreign-language clip (I think it's Spanish).

Homer Bad Man (November 27, 1994).
Facing sexual harassment charges, Homer appears on the tabloid TV news show Rock Bottom. As an aside, he tells the interviewer, "I saw that report you did on Sasquatch. It was fair and even-handed." Homer later asks the interviewer, "Say, can you introduce me to the Sasquatch? I like his style." Sasquatch never appears onscreen, so no images or clips for this one.

The Bart Wants What it Wants (February 17, 2002).
The Simpson family travels to Canada. A bus pulls into a Toronto bus station, and we see a Mountie, a hockey player, Bigfoot, and then the Simpsons themselves disembark. Here's a clip with some rock soundtrack -- blink and you might miss him.

Spanish Fry (July 13, 2003).
This is actually from an episode of Futurama, but since that series also came from the mind of Simpsons creator Matt Groening, close enough. Anyway, the Futurama gang camps out in Duraflame National Forest. It's a National Bigfoot Preserve, where the park ranger shows them a film short, "Bigfoot: Endangered Mystery." True believer Fry, who calls Bigfoot his hero, is saved by the creature at the end of the episode, just as a space monster is about to chop off Fry's "lower horn." Note that Futurama's Bigfoot closely resembles The Simpsons' Barney. Can't find a proper clip, but take a look at this.
***

Cool Hockey Shit

In honor of my current hockey obsession, here's a bunch of cool hockey shit, like the upcoming Winter Classic -- that's the 2009 contest pictured above. Below, the mighty Pittsburgh Penguins logo...

Also, there's Super Chexx...

Bubblegum cards...

The Hanson Brothers (from Slap Shot)...

The Hanson Brothers (from Victoria)...

Mattel Electronics Hockey...

Seattle's puck history, including the Metropolitans, Eskimos, Sea Hawks, Ironmen, Bombers, Americans, Totems, Breakers, and Thunderbirds...

Bobby Orr Power Play pinball...

Backyard rinks...

Lisa on Ice...

And, of course, fights...

Bring the NHL to Seattle!
***

Cool Halloween Shit #2

***

Steve's Spring Cleaning!

Happy April Fool's!

I've spent Q1 of '10 working exclusively on Quatchi Watch, but now it's time to return to my regularly (un)scheduled blogging. Here's a bunch of stuff that's gone down so far this year...

In January, Eliza and I made a pre-Olympic Vancouver visit, where we checked out the fantastic UBC Museum of Anthropology. In the nearby garage, we parked on "Squirrel" (above)...

Later in January, we had our first-ever curling experience at Seattle's Granite Curling Club, where "kindly feelings" raged...

Around that time I made this Homer Simpson latch hook rug for my pal Jay. I strayed from the pattern a bit, customizing him with extra-big pupils, as in the episode where Homer licks toads...

On the Bigfoot front, check out my pal Darren Garnick's exclusive Bigfoot interview, and then check out this amazing Bigfoot autopsy video...

Sad St. Patty's Day news outta New Orleans: Alex Chilton died of an apparent heart attack at age 59 -- read all about him on Pitchfork. I don't really play music, but if I did, Paul Westerberg would be my number-one influence. By the same token, Westerberg calls Chilton his "mentor" in this touching New York Times remembrance. Below, Westerberg backs up Chilton in 1987...

Westerberg fronted the Replacements, whose "Alex Chilton" remains my all-time favorite song from my all-time favorite album. When I first heard the tune (also in '87), I knew nothing about Big Star (no Wikipedia then) but it did lead me to Chilton's Live in London LP, which I continue to dig. In 1992 I saw him play a solo show -- fronting a three-piece, opening for an acoustic Robyn Hitchcock -- at the Belly Up Tavern in suburban San Diego. The two songs I clearly remember are "What's Your Sign Girl" and "Little GTO," which he introduced as "the best song Brian Wilson never wrote."

Then in 2000 I attended the reunited Big Star show at Seattle's annual Bumbershoot festival. Great to hear those Posies-enhanced classics live, along with the odd cover of "Duke of Earl." Eliza was at that show too, years before we met. She and Alex shared a mutual friend, who arranged for them to meet while in Alex was in town, just so that he'd have someone to hang out with. Eliza is a big fan of Elliott Smith, who also happened to be playing at Bumbershoot, and like the other festival performers, he also happened to be staying at the Sheraton. Eliza pointed Elliott out to Alex in the hotel lobby, and she later introduced Alex to Elliott's music, playing him one of Smith's tapes in her car. Later on, Alex and Elliott met up in the Sheraton's smoking area, and later still, Elliott covered Big Star's "Thirteen." Today Eliza told me, "So weird that both are dead now."

Also, Alex gave Eliza a Best of Bobby Womack cassette, which he picked up at a truck stop. He said he bought it for the song "I'm Looking for a Love" -- we still have that tape in our car. After we heard he died, Eliza recalled that Alex told her that if he taught a kid to play an instrument, he'd have the kid play piano instead of guitar, 'cause piano's more logical.

Chilton had so many great songs, many of which still raise goosebumps: "What's Going Ahn," "Daisy Glaze," "You Get What You Deserve," "Big Black Car," "Kangaroo," "Nightime," "Take Care," "Hey Little Child"... Here's a 1967 clip of 16-year-old Alex with the Box Tops, singing his first/only hit, "The Letter."

Alex Chilton, we hardly knew ye.

Finally, Snooki...

***

We Hardly Knew Ye: Edo Vanni & Tom Poston

Edo Vanni died Monday at age 89. Vanni was long considered the embodiment of Seattle's baseball history (as well as its dean, its face, its heart and soul, etc.). Born in Black Diamond and attending both Queen Anne High School and the UW, the speedy Vanni played right field as a rookie on the first Seattle Rainiers team in 1938. Until his death, he remained its last surviving member. Vanni's fiery presence helped the Pacific Coast League Rainiers win three consecutive pennants between 1939 and 1941, turning Seattle into a baseball-mad city. After managing the final Rainiers team in 1964, he was employed by every subsequent pro Seattle ballclub in various capacities -- coach, manager, general manager -- except by the Mariners, who honored him with a lifetime pass. He called the Seattle Pilots "the biggest farce I ever saw," but remained a big M's fan (his favorite player was Ichiro). He lived the rest of his life in Queen Anne, where he ascribed his longevity to daily constitutionals and lots of wine, and his marriage of 58 years. See him in action in this great Rainiers video, and read Larry Stone's 2005 profile.

Tom Poston died Monday at age 85. Poston was a comedic actor who mostly appeared on TV in his 56-year career, usually playing slow-witted, bewildered characters. He often worked alongside Bob Newhart: his best-known regular role was simpleton handyman George Utley on Newhart (1982-1990). He also played Bob's old college roommate in five episodes of The Bob Newhart Show between 1975 and 1977, along with appearances on Bob (two episodes in 1993), George & Leo (one 1997 episode), and the 1971 theatrical movie Cold Turkey. Besides being a frequent game-show panelist, he's had guest appearances on seemingly every sitcom of the last 20 years, and also voiced animated characters on King of the Hill (as Mr. Popper, the old vaudevillian who turns Bobby on to ventriloquism) and the The Simpsons (as the Capital City Goofball).

Tenuous link: Suzanne Pleshette played Bob's wife Emily on The Bob Newhart Show. Emily grew up in Seattle during the '40s and '50s, where there's a good chance she saw Edo Vanni in action at Sick's Stadium. In real life, Pleshette married Tom Poston in 2001.
***

Bart Cobain

Recently I stumbled across what appears to be a macabre Simpsons reference, one I haven't heard of elsewhere...

This lurid photo was taken on April 8, 1994, the day Kurt Cobain's corpse was discovered in his home, and it appeared on the front page of the next day's Seattle Times. Photographer Tom Reese supposedly climbed a tree in the park just outside the house to capture the image, with police investigating the suicide.

Less than three years later, on March 2, 1997, came the Simpsons episode My Sister, My Sitter, in which Lisa is assigned to babysit Bart. After Lisa accidentally breaks Bart's arm, the rebellious Bart locks himself in his bedroom and pounds his head on the door until he knocks himself out. Lisa climbs a tree outside Bart's window and finds him prone on the floor, in the same position as Cobain, as seen from the same through-the-window angle, with the same foliage in the foreground.

Too bad it wasn't Courtney Hole.
***