Tom Lehrer Set the Periodic Table of Elements to Music—and It Worked

This musical Ivy Leaguer made a song out of a scientific building block.

by Rich Watson 

Last July, Tom Lehrer died at the age of 97. For much of his life, he was a teacher, of math and musical theater, but people knew him best for his satirical music, often about current events but mainly about things one first learns in the classroom. 

Who would imagine, for example, that someone, anyone, would take the periodic table of elements and put it to the music from a world-renowned opera?

Five Members of Spike Jones’s City Slickers

This wacky bandleader had a band full of (talented) oddballs like him.

by Rich Watson 

Spike Jones (not to be confused with Spike Jonze) was a bandleader and musician from the forties and fifties whose public persona was, in a word… odd. He wore the loudest suits, performed the weirdest songs, and led a band that was different from others of the era.

To put it mildly.

How “David Seville” Created Alvin and the Chipmunks

The story of the songwriter who, with a little audio experimentation, made an entertainment franchise.

by Rich Watson 

Cartoon musical groups were once very popular on Saturday morning TV: the Archies, Josie and the Pussycats, Jem and the Holograms, not to mention dozens of shows about teens who also happen to play in bands. Occasionally the songs you heard on their shows became hit singles, blurring the line between fiction and reality.

Alvin and the Chipmunks were unique in that they began as a novelty singing group that went on to animated success on TV and the movies. 

Pasadena’s Rose Parade Precedes the Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day

This California town celebrates the start of the new year—and the many college football bowls—with a parade.

by Rich Watson 

New Year’s Day, for over a century, has been for “bowl games,” college football matchups at the end of the season that lead to a national championship for the winner.

The Rose Bowl, in Pasadena, California, is one of the most prestigious. Before the game, however, audiences enjoy the spectacle of the Rose Parade.

In “The Freshman,” Harold Lloyd is a Wanna-Be College Football Player

The four-eyed comic took advantage of the college football craze to make this, one of his most beloved films.

by Rich Watson 

In silent film comedy, three names tower above all others in Hollywood: Chaplin, Keaton, and today’s subject, Harold Lloyd. His spry, earnest screen persona carried him through much of the silent era and well into the sound one, for fifty years.

One of his biggest hits, the 1925 film The Freshman, put him on a college campus as an aspiring football player.

BRW: Behind the Blind 9

I came across an article that resonated with me deeply, about the need to reclaim quiet spaces within our culture. Apparently libraries are no longer as much of a haven from excess noise as they used to be.

Ever since I renewed my library card earlier this year, I’ve been frequenting mine more often. The first couple of visits required an acclimation to the modern library experience, including how to check out a book. Now, I come in with a want list of authors and/or books, head for the fiction section, search for and pick a book, and check it out. So I don’t linger.

But I have noticed my library is more of a place for social interaction and less for quiet.

Vince Lombardi Was One of the “Seven Blocks of Granite” at Fordham University

The twenties and thirties linemen at this Bronx school’s football team were dominant, with a player who would become a coaching icon.

by Rich Watson 

Vince Lombardi was such a big deal as a head coach in what became the NFL, they named the championship trophy for him. You know Green Bay, Wisconsin exists because of him. The shadow he cast over professional football was long.

Once upon a time, though, he was a young lineman on a team at a Bronx university called Fordham. The line on that Rams team was special.

They were granite.

Why Does Keith Jackson Have a Toilet in the University of Nebraska’s Stadium Named After Him?

The legendary broadcaster, known for his love of college football, received a peculiar tribute.

by Rich Watson 

For over a generation, Keith Jackson was the voice of college football. Every Saturday afternoon, fans counted on his presence, providing the play-by-play on televised games from Tallahassee to Pasadena, from Ann Arbor to Austin. His death in 2018 was mourned deeply.

The University of Nebraska boasts one of the top football programs in the country. Jackson was as much loved in Lincoln as in any other major college town.

But why does Memorial Stadium have a bathroom dedicated to him?

The Secret Society That Studies Humanity While It Sleeps in Alex Proyas’s “Dark City”

The movie Dark City imagines a spooky nocturnal world existing beneath the one we know.

by Rich Watson 

This post is part of The Secret Places and Trippy Houses Blogathon, a blog event devoted to “the movies and TV shows over the years that have used secret places in their plots.” At the end, I’ll tell you where to find more posts like these.

Music video director Alex Proyas followed his 1994 movie The Crow with another moody, atmospheric film which treaded the more sinister territories of fantasy and sci-fi, in 1998. Dark City was not as big a hit, but time has treated it well.

It’s about beings who experiment on humans in a hidden underworld.

Did the Devil Leave His Mark On This Rock in a Brooklyn Cemetery?

Don’t walk too closely next to this rock in Brooklyn. Satan himself may have touched it.

by Rich Watson 

This is the time of year for accepting the supernatural, if only for fun. New York has its share of corners where ghost stories are still told and unexplained phenomena have been thought to occur.

In a prominent Brooklyn cemetery, for example, there is a certain rock, which some say bears the hoof print… of the Devil.

#popculture84: Mighty Orbots: The Other Transforming Robots

The life and premature death of this Saturday-morning animated series about robots who also were more than met the eye.

by Rich Watson 

To a Generation X kid growing up in the eighties, cartoons about transforming robots were the coolest thing since light sabers. They usually were made in Japan, and we were learning that Japanese animation looked way better and had more action than what we were used to seeing.

In a year, 1984, in which transforming robots were hot, ABC released one series less remembered today than the others, called Mighty Orbots.

#popculture84: Frankie Goes to Hollywood Versus the BBC

When the band recorded “Relax,” one of the biggest hits of the eighties, the British media tried to censor what they perceived as a dirty song.

by Rich Watson 

Frankie Goes to Hollywood had a brief shelf life as a pop band during the eighties, but boy, did they make their mark. Their impact on fashion and sexuality was felt here in America, but it did not compare to that of their native England. They made their fellow Brits uncomfortable, to say the least.

Especially those within the BBC.

#popculture84: “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” Debuts Amidst a New Wave of Independent Comics

Turtle power! The original incarnation of the heroes in a half shell was in a creator-owned comic book that took off in a big way.

by Rich Watson 

The eighties saw a wave of independently-produced comic books hit the market, created by entrepreneurial artists of wildly varying talent. Many went unnoticed against the likes of Spider-Man and Superman.

One that launched in 1984 was an odd martial arts book with a cumbersome title—Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

It became a juggernaut.

BRW: Behind the Blind 8

So. NaNoWriMo is kaput.

I took part in 2013 and completed the goal of writing 50,000 words in 30 days. Here’s part of what I said about the experience at the time:

We take writing for granted because it's an everyday task, something the average person with a high school education can do, but to put together a story good enough to be sold on the market? I don't care whether you're the hackiest hack writer that ever owned a typewriter or Stephen King, it ain't as easy as it looks, and I have new respect for anyone who does it on a regular basis.

People on the NaNo message boards planned trilogies and even entire series based on what they created. Perhaps it comes as no surprise that many of the participants I saw worked in sci-fi or fantasy, unlike me. I thought they were crazy, that they should concentrate on finishing one book first. 

At real-life NaNo writing sessions, I didn’t make many new friends. I cared more about writing. 50,000 words seemed daunting. Completing it as soon as possible was my concern.

It was tough.

#popculture84: Hulk Hogan Wins First WWF Championship, at Madison Square Garden

Hulkamania ran wild over everyone when the wrestler claimed the WWF championship in “the world’s most famous arena.”

by Rich Watson 

[The news of Hulk Hogan’s death has prompted me to push this piece up, even though I had it scheduled for late September. I’m keeping everything as is since the emphasis is on a period in his career, not his whole life. Please note that I’m not interested in discussing his politics.]

When World Wrestling Entertainment was still known as the World Wrestling Federation, the eighties was their time to shine. There were other wrestling leagues, with varying levels of recognition and popularity, but the organization, under the leadership of Vince McMahon, experienced unprecedented growth to the point where it’s a household name today.

The turning point was the ascension of its greatest champion, Hulk Hogan.

#popculture84: Soap Opera Star Gets Facelift—And So Does Her Character

When Jeanne Cooper had work done on her face, the procedure was incorporated into her TV character.

by Rich Watson 

The Young and the Restless debuted on CBS daytime television in 1973. You probably know the theme song. One year later, Jeanne Cooper joined the melodrama at age 46, after a long career in the golden age of TV, appearing in many shows.

In 1984, she was ten years older and felt she needed a facelift. Then her character did the same.

And it was shown.

#popculture84: Whose House? Run-DMC Debuts, Straight Outta Hollis

The good news is that there is a crew. Not five, not four, not three, just two.

by Rich Watson 

Rap music began in the late seventies but took off in the mainstream during the eighties, through the black neighborhoods of New York.

One of its biggest success stories was Run-DMC, who debuted in 1984–a group from a part of Queens which spawned a number of stars.

#popculture27: “Sunrise” and the Rise of German Expressionism in Film

This Hollywood silent film was the product of a unique cinematic movement in Germany.

by Rich Watson 

The early decades of film saw it developed in different ways in different countries. 

In post-World War One Germany, the unusual style developed there led to an influential movement. It led to some of the medium’s greatest early films, such as the 1927 drama Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans.

#popculture27: The Gershwins Make the Musical “Funny Face,” Starring Fred & Adele Astaire

The songwriting brothers—and the dancing siblings—teamed up for a Broadway production, with songs that endured in future shows.

by Rich Watson 

The story of modern American musical theater would be incomplete without George & Ira Gershwin. Their heyday was the twenties, but their influence endured for longer.

One of their hit musicals is little remembered today but it inspired future ones: the 1927 show Funny Face.

#popculture27: W. Somerset Maugham Writes the Play “The Letter”

A real-life murder inspired the short story and play by this celebrated writer.

by Rich Watson 

W. Somerset Maugham was a European writer from the early twentieth century, best known for such books as Of Human Bondage, The Painted Veil and The Razor’s Esge.

He also wrote short stories and plays. One of his short stories became one of his greatest plays: The Letter.