May 08 2009 at 10:45:23
Name: Teb Blackwell
Topic: Jerry Adams
Email: tebii at comcast dot net
Comments: Where is Jerry Adams...60s/70s Tulsa radio DJ, 70s/80s OKC TV news anchor? I need to contact him for information for my book. Thanks.

We heard from Erick in GB 282 that he was still living in Oklahoma as of 1996.

May 08 2009 at 08:49:49
Name: John Boydston
Topic: Mex Restaurant
Comments: Anyone remember or previously mentioned El Charrito? I remember eating there as a kid with my parents. I had a grilled cheese sandwich that I remember being pretty good every time. Do not remember the location, but could have been 11 & Lewis area.

I remember eating a lot of the El Charrito TV dinners (Queso Dinner, Beef Dinner, Mexican Style Dinner, Saltillo Dinner, Taquitos) as a bachelor. According to Wikipedia, they were made by the same company that owned the El Chico chain.

May 07 2009 at 18:37:04
Name: M Terry
Topic: Pancho's / Mexican Restaurant
Email: mterry at cox dot net
Comments: In the 1950s, my parents took me to an "authentic" Mexican restaurant. My idea of authentic was a restaurant where the employees spoke little English.

I mentioned this to friends in the past but no one knows what I am talking about. It was located in a large white house and I am sure it was on the south side of Admiral several blocks East of Harvard. I think it was known as Pancho's. It would have been just west of the grocery currently known as Piggly Wiggly. Does this sound familiar to anyone?

May 07 2009 at 14:20:12
Name: Janna Bailey, Silverdale, WA
Topic: Trade Winds West, 1970
Email: quickshots aht wavecable daht calm
Comments: I love your website and I wanted to send you a picture of me and my brother at Trade Winds West in Tulsa 1970. I remember KAKC being there and I thought that Donny Osmond was really inside singing, not realizing they were playing records.

May 07 2009 at 08:13:07
Name: Beverly
Topic: Pancho's
Comments: I had always heard that Pancho's was just east of 11th and Harvard. I don't remember it, though. A friend who lived right by it has told me how good it was. She loved going there as a child with her family. She said it was in a house on the south side of 11th. It may not have been Pancho's... possibly another Mexican restaurant.

May 06 2009 at 20:39:46
Name: Rose Bowl Bunker Commander
Topic: Tex-Mex in Tulsa
Comments: I believe the restaurant near 11th and Lewis was Pancho's. Excellent food, and some nights there was guitar.

May 06 2009 at 18:49:10
Name: Rick M
Topic: Mexican Restaurants
Comments: I'm surprised no one has ever mentioned El Rancho Grande, 11th & Utica. I searched the archive and got no hits.

Been there forever on old Rt. 66. Apparently still in business and with the original neon sign.

May 06 2009 at 15:05:09
Name: Scott Linder
Topic: Mexican food in the 60s
Comments: OK... I remember having great Mexican food back in the 60s at a family-owned place located in a former house on the south side of 11th Street, just East of Lewis. I can't recall the name, but the food was authentic and very tasty. Does anyone else remember this place?

May 06 2009 at 14:37:56
Name: Scott Linder
Topic: Tex-Mex in Tulsa
Comments: Casa Bonita not withstanding, what are the good Tex-Mex resataurants in Tulsa these days?

Meanwhile, I had a very nice chile relleno yesterday at Chevys in Burbank. I prefer small family joints, but Chevys is really quite good. The plates are large and they make fresh guacamole at your table with cerranos. In addition, the tortillas are made fresh before your eyes. Chevys appears to be a small-ish chain. Is there one in Tulsey-town?

May 06 2009 at 11:33:35
Name: Erick
Topic: Casa Bonita / Crystal's
Comments: Casa Bonita is still Casa Bonita. I ate there just a few weeks ago. The food was tasty, the magic show was mildly entertaining, and we walked away with a few gifts from the game room.

If only Crystal's would come back. I had hope when the Dollar General closed that formerly occupied Crystal's spot, but that location has now opened as some kind of clothing store.

Courtesy of Beryl Ford Collection/Rotary Club of Tulsa, Tulsa City-County Library and
the Tulsa Historical Society. The future Crystal's Pizza location at 21 and Sheridan

May 06 2009 at 10:59:02
Name: Jim Reid
Topic: Swine Flu and Events
Comments: I saw Mike comments about the events being cancelled due to the flu scare. Down here, Dallas and Arlington said "go to the events at your own risk" but didn't cancel anything. Fort Worth on the other hand cancelled Mayfest, Cinco de Mayo and school last week. Oddly enough, Dallas has more people with Swine Flu than Fort Worth. Go figure.

May 05 2009 at 20:18:30
Name: Mike Bruchas
Topic: Cinco de Mayo
Comments: Happy Cinco de Mayo! Now ya'all skeedaddle out to what used to be Casa Bonita before they close. I could use an icy frozen margarita and major queso-filled entree from El Chico right now. Vamenos!

May 05 2009 at 10:27:32
Name: Joe
Topic: Karen Black and Easy Rider
Comments: Speaking of Karen Black and Easy Rider, this summer marks the 40th anniversary of its release. Quirky, independent and low budget, yet there are some great truths in it.

"it's real hard to be FREE when you are bought and sold in the marketplace."

May 04 2009 at 23:07:37
Name: David Bagsby
Topic: Karen Black photo
Comments: Karen Black on the set of STUCK (with David)

May 04 2009 at 21:23:22
Name: Rob Forbes (via email to the webmaster)
Topic: Mona Smiley?
Email: robert dot forbes at uconn dot edu
Comments:

About a lifetime ago I went on a student trip to Europe and got to be friends with a sweet kid from Tulsa named Mona Smiley.

A year or so later I got a postcard from Mona with her and King Lionel doing the weather. I found Lionel through your site—anybody remember Mona? We’re talking 1972 or '73.

Lee Woodward responded via email:

If Mona Smiley sent a post card depicting her and Lionel doing weather, she must have had a photo made into a post card. I never had anyone assist on air. The only thing I can think of, would be that Mona came into the studio and found a photo opportunity.

That was a long time ago, but I have no recall of such an event. The name doesn't ring a bell. I do know that I have posed with many people over the years, with and without Lionel.

Sorry I can't be of more help in the search.

Lee added as an afterthought:

I was remiss in my statement that no one ever helped with WX. Skitch Henderson did once. I remember it because Lionel offered to sing with the Philharmonic. (Skitch was the conductor then.)

Skitch asked Lionel what range his voice was. Lionel responded that he was a "Castrato." That broke Skitch up.

May 04 2009 at 17:22:40
Name: Scott Linder
Topic: The Plaza Three Theatre
Comments: I worked the Plaza Three Theatre when it was new. It had a large single booth that served all three theatres. As I recall, it had Simplex XL machines, Christie lamps and Norelco platters.

I remember running "The Omen" there for many weeks. The film was very popular, and we actually ran it on all three screens with packed audiences at every show. The manager ordered two extra prints, but we devised a method for running the same print on all three screens for the first weekend. It was quite a feat, and only possible within a single booth and with skilled operators.

At the time, I was doing the Boman Twin in the afternoon and the Plaza at night, but the BA switched me to doing both shifts at the Plaza during "The Omen" run.

Thanks for jogging my memory. By the way, the Plaza was "way out in the country" back then.

May 04 2009 at 12:02:12
Name: Erick
Topic: Karen Black
Comments: Ironically, I was up late last night watching a Family Guy re-run where "Karen Black" landed a commercial jet after the pilots were accidentally killed by "Death" (portrayed by main character Peter Griffin). Just like she almost had to do in "Airport 1975".

Karen Black...what an obscure reference.

May 04 2009 at 11:21:41
Name: Webmaster
Topic: TTM contributor John Boydston featured
Comments:

In today's Tulsa World: "Go-Go music: A band that's all in the family".

May 02 2009 at 23:12:49
Name: Gary Chew
Topic: Back to Black
Email: Just Northeast of Eden
Comments: David Bagsby wrote here recently about working on a film shoot recently that has Karen Black in the cast. I only thought about Karen Black for the first time in a long time a few weeks ago, getting only my second shot of seeing Hopper's "Easy Rider" on DVD.

And just prior to that, reading Nathaniel West's novel "The Day of the Locust." That being a film (for which Black got an Oscar nomination) from the mid-70s about Hollywood during the Great Depression.

I'd forgotten this bit of curious trivia from "Locust": Donald Sutherland plays the role of Homer Simpson in it, and he ain't married to Marge. Nathaniel West gave us Homer, initially. D'oh!

May 02 2009 at 17:00:51
Name: Webmaster
Topic: TTM readability tips
Comments:

Do the letters on these black pages look jagged? The effect is more pronounced on LCD flatscreen monitors. To smooth them out, try this on your Windows-based PC:

• Right-click on your Desktop, and select Properties.
• Click the Appearance tab.
• Then click the Effects button.
• Under 'Use the following method to smooth edges of screen fonts', select 'ClearType' instead of 'Standard' from the drop-down box.
• Click OK on that box and the next.

This can increase clarity on an LCD by up to 300%. More about ClearType here.

-----

Also, to see larger letters:

• Click View at the top of your browser.
• Under 'Text Size', select Larger or Largest.

Most sites look best, design-wise, at the Medium setting, but easy reading trumps designer vanity.

May 02 2009 at 15:48:04
Name: Bill Jaynes
Topic: Theatres from the 80s
Email: wjaynes at hotmail dot com
Comments: Reading some of the blogs here and a movie nut to boot, I'm not old enough to have been to Tulsa's Orpheum or Gem theatres, but, I did go to many movies at the suburban pre-multiplex theatres before the AMCs and Cinemarks came in, and and in turn have obviously rendered those as obsolete.

A place I spent many a fun-filled afternoon seeing movies was the old Plaza 3 Theatre at 21st and 129th. Having returned to the area nearly 18 months ago, I see that a church has apparently taken it over?

Seeing that there was someone who worked at one of the old movie palaces downtown, is there anyone here who may have worked at this theatre or others back in the 1980s? I would love to hear from you!

More about the Plaza 3 on the 1978 in review page.

May 01 2009 at 23:22:13
Name: Mike Bruchas
Topic: May's here
Comments: In Chicago, the Cinco de Mayo Fest is failing; people are scared of the swine flu. Rainy weather too is causing a minimal turnout and the Fest may lose a lot of money.

But something else is a weekend "highlight" and you won't have in Tulsa is "The Polish Constitution Day Parade".

What? It was always a footnote or a joke when I was growing up in the 1950s and '60s, however NOW it is a big Chicago event with CBS 2 and WLS 7 both covering it live. And because of new digital frequencies with HD's advent, they need low-cost programming on those extra digital channels.

Don't expect one in Tulsa.

May 02 2009 at 00:52:25
Name: David Bagsby
Topic: Karen Black
Comments: Steve Balderson's new 'Women in Prison' film called "Stuck" is now in production. It stars among others, Karen Black. She has performed in over 100 films and you may recall her from "Trilogy of Terror"...a Dan Curtis (Dark Shadows/Night Stalker) production and Robert Altman's "Nashville". She was nominated for a Grammy for the song she wrote and performed in that flick. I just got back from a week of shooting for it as an extra and production assistant. Info at: StuckNoir.com

Very interesting... sounds like fun. Who could ever forget the third story in the 1975 ABC Movie of the Week, "Trilogy of Terror"? (See the Movie of the Week opening on YouTube in GB 289).

David was also an extra in an earlier Balderson movie, "Watch Out". He talked about the experience in GB 266.

Mr. Bagsby lives in the very house where the 1962 cult classic "Carnival of Souls" was shot. See it in GB 137.

And he is a prolific and inventive musician and filmmaker himself. See his and brother Steve's site, Bagsby.com, and this site's The Tulsa Project CDs.

May 01 2009 at 09:55:30
Name: David Bagsby
Topic: Public Health Announcement
Comments: Just got back from a week of filming in Macon, GA with Karen Black. I went through 3 major airport hubs: DFW/Atlanta/Houston and all the TV's and newspapers were screaming about this alleged 'Pandemic'. More people are hurt by the real flu than this media generated fear tactic. Fly with confidence and turn off the hype. The Houston paper's front page yesterday was nothing but this crap. Every air filter mask in the city is sold out...those things don't work. My guess is that a major new miracle cure is about to be announced by some pharmaceutical conglomerate.

What's all this then about filming with Karen Black??

May 01 2009 at 02:42:56
Name: Webmaster
Topic: "Shock!"
Comments:

James Vance, writer, playwright and former high school classmate of mine, does a movie and TV blog, The Shadow Cabaret.

James reviews the new documentary, "American Scary" (Amazon link), about TV horror hosts. He discusses the "Shock!" TV horror movie package of the late 50s, hosted by Igor and Count Gregore in Tulsa and OKC, respectively, and mentions Mazeppa:

"G'night, Whatever You Are"

(Here is TTM's Shock Theatre page for those arriving late.)

April 30 2009 at 00:30:05
Name: Mike Bruchas
Topic: Amazon link
Comments: The Bridge by the late Doug Marlette was on the TTM/Amazon link page tonight. Good read; my relatives in NC lived a lot of the mill worker stories in their own ways.

April 29 2009 at 18:23:58
Name: Guphus Anonymous
Topic: The Man From U.N.C.L.E.
Email: Northeast of Eden
Comments: All right, Bruchas! Enough of your derisive comments about Robert Vaughn's greatest hit!!!

Spookily yours, Illya Kuryakin

April 29 2009 at 17:51:34
Name: Mike Bruchas
Topic: Vern Gosdin
Comments: I heard that he has passed.

"Set 'em up, Joe..."

TheVoiceOfCountryMusic.com

April 29 2009 at 17:42:27
Name: Mike Bruchas
Topic: NCIS in real life
Comments: When I lived in DC, was interviewed 3 times by NCIS for folks re-entering military service after the first Gulf War.

For security and background checks. They didn't wear guns, wore beepers and were in their 40s. Both displayed a badge and creds and practice was to leave them on the interview table, not to intimidate, but as their "bona fides". They took notes and asked questions off forms.

The woman agent I had actually met with twice, for 2 former employees re-upping and she seemed more a retired school teacher than Fed. The male agent (from another visit) wore a well-worn JC Penney suit and was bored, Jack Webb matter-of-fact and just trying to finish his day's assignments. This was all in the 90s.

Funny how NCIS is "this action-filled, crime-fighting service" on TV. They might as well be a new generation of Man From U.N.C.L.E. for all of the silliness - they already have David McCallum.

I like NCIS a lot. It reminds me of the feel of Robert B. Parker's Spenser books; humor is integral to the stories. Plus all the high-tech Sherlock Holmes touches. I don't need to believe I'm seeing a faithful depiction of the real NCIS. TV Guide once described The Man From U.N.C.L.E. as "high grade malarkey", but that didn't spoil it for me.

April 28 2009 at 16:48:15
Name: Scott Linder
Topic: TV now
Comments: Well, that sums up what I've been shooting here in Hollywood for the last couple of years. Sad... very sad.

April 28 2009 at 15:37:48
Name: Mike Bruchas
Topic: TV "truthiness"
Comments: Rosie and Denise Lundy and I were remarking on WHAT tv looks like now...maybe you might want to contribute...

--------

98% of the women are glamorous with pencil-thin bodies and hair extensions - like human lollipops

Fat people are comic relief or derided trailer trash

Jerry Springer still has NOT run out of trailer trash to exploit

If Oprah! likes it - we must OBEY...I'm twittering in my shoes...

Everyone is stalked by papparazzi

2 megapixel cel phone cameras have more zoom lens power and better clarity than the Hubbell...

Yes - space aliens and demons live among us....they program TV, too.

The CW now seems to be "Curse Word" or language that the FCC would have fined for, 20 years ago....

No one knows what The CW stands for - we fell for it...

23-25 year old guys and gal are Police captains or Special Agents

Only "evil cops" use a Taser and no one uses non-lethal weapons on arrest subjects. The Taser always used to kidnap someone.

Miranda? Who's she? Physical interrogation is back! Slam them suspects around!

Immigrants are always illegal, afraid, and have no skills like stone cutters or marble artisans...no one is a Nigerian prince of an internet scam....

Some shows add wacky assistants at "HQ" who are forensic geniuses or can rule the world from a single PC - but never, never go out for "field work"...nor have heard of dressing even "office casual"...

There are far MORE psychics, mediums and delusional folks as heroes.

Quirky detectives drive their personal cars instead of motor pool vehicles - some times the story plots have them in their cars across the country - yeah who paid for that?
And they NEVER wear seat belts.

City people are always SMARTER and more sophisticated than country folks - except on Andy of Mayberry or Northern Exposure -- wait both are dated reruns...

A small town diner waitress knows more than the FBI - always...

The "kill crazy" vet characters from the Viet Nam era are back but as "kill crazy" Iraq/Afghanistan vets...no normal vets allowed...

In small towns - all are idiots save "the kindly doc" - no matter in the US that many places have NO docs.

Nurses are either easily intimidated or "Nurse Diesel" stereotypes.
23 year old interns can diagnose and perform brain surgery.
23 year old doctors are SMARTER than any nurse....

There are NO contracted docs in ER's.

It's a Nextel world - 98% of all cops shows have sworn off Motorolas

Movie theatres still have ushers - who are either witnesses with world class memories or "the body finders"...

Female cops in the mid-20's age group never were street cops - no one has to "pay their dues" if you are glamorous.

Female cops - unless those on Law & Order or the ones on The Unusuals - never carry hand-cuffs.

They wear non-business suit clothing but always have a big handgun and badge on clothing with no belts. And flash all in public everywhere.

Private jets lay on standby for investigators to race cross country. "Field office" agents are always submissive to 23 year old quirky genius agents.

Newspapers have either fighting reporters or hacks. But wait - some cities no longer have daily papers...

Radio reporters are only "background players"...

TV reporters can feed to the world with a wireless mic and a wireless camera - magically to satellite trucks
No TV crews use tripods but even tiny market stations have sound and lighting guys

Bloggers are hero reporters - uncovering wrongs in the US - but I am unsure who pays them.....

Old people are "crusty" or "have problems". If they speak with a foreign accent - Nazis!

Lawn and grounds personel are always foreign-born and live in fear of the ICE

People making $30,000 a year in real life - have palatial apartments or homes in NYC or L.A.

Everyone drives an expensive car as a personal vehicle

Nobody but trailer trash mamas are working more than one job

No one pays in restaurants or carries wallets...

No one orders Fried Chicken or Chicken-Fried Steak

Everyone has access to "roofies" - the date rape drug

Families - are either weird or a plot element for mad kidnappers

AMTRAK does not exist - in name. Amazingly little passenger railroads thrive in this country...

Losers always travel by bus

Everyone has a cel phone and cyber cafes are found with free computers in every coffee shop in every town in America

No one but losers can qualify for "unemployment"

State trooper are either lummoxes or "body finders"

CSI now seems to act as investigator, judge and jury - and they are CRIME LAB or CSI - never i.d. themselves as police...

There are only shyster defense attorneys out there...

The last time Buicks were seen as "cop cars" was on the original Kojak...

Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver can be interchanged as locales for Tulsa, DC and Chicago or NYC.

No one shops at WalMart...

Scott Linder adds:

Those credited as a "PA" last season when they ran errands have now become "Associate Producers" who make more in one episode than any crew member makes in a year.

April 28 2009 at 14:09:03
Name: Frank Morrow
Topic: Wages of Fear
Email: frankdotmorrow@cox.net
Comments: I wonder if it was in the Gem theater in 1955 where I saw my first foreign movie, "The Wages of Fear" (IMDb). It starred a young Yves Montand. A superb work, it seems cliche-filled today because it was the first movie to use the methods that became copied so much in subsequent films.

According to CinemaTour, the Gem closed in 1951.

April 27 2009 at 23:39:31
Name: Mike Bruchas
Topic: John Snyder in Wichita
Comments: John Snyder, who anchored Sports on KWTV 9 in OKC in the 1980's and went on to NBC. When I was in Charlotte - he was the #2 anchor at a station there. He's moved and looks a bit older - to Wichita.

KSN.com/content/about/team/news/jsnyder.aspx

April 27 2009 at 21:34:33
Name: Sonny Hollingshead
Topic: Gregg Howard
Comments: Old time Channel 8 alums will remember Gregg Howard, who passed away last week.

His memorial service will be this Sunday morning, May 3rd, at 11 a.m. at Park Hill Presbyterian Church near Tahlequah.

He left Channel 8 before I arrived, but many folks who visit these pages will remember him and probably worked with him.

April 27 2009 at 17:31:21
Name: Scott Linder
Topic: Another KVOO memory
Comments: Ok, here's another KVOO memory. One of my tasks as a novice "engineer" at KVOO was to set and test the microphone used for the live broadcasts of the Tulsa Philharmonic at "Convention Hall", now known as the "Brady Theatre".

I usually arrived about 2:00 pm at the theatre and met with manager/stagehand steward John Jack. The microphone used was a Altec model 21B condenser which was hung over the conductor on a pipe just downstage of the symphony shell ceiling. The stagehands on the call (usually Harry Chichester and Miles Connely) would drop the pipe to allow me to hang the microphone. This was quite easy, as the mic cables were marked to provide the proper position and easy set-up.

The power supply for the 21B was located on the fly-floor stage right, and was tied to a telco line via a Jensen transformer line-matching box. After installing, I would call the station to confirm the signal when the line was made active at about 4:00pm. I then hung-out with the stagehands and enjoyed the music before striking the mic at the conclusion of the concert.

I often went to the Knotty Pine Barbeque with the stagehands for some dinner before the concert. I remember feeling so proud the first time they invited me to join them for dinner. As it turned out, this may have been my first introduction to the IATSE and why I was made a member of Local 354 many years ago.

The Altec 21B "pencil" is a tube condenser with omni-directional characteristics. It's frequency response is quite wide, although the broadcasts were restricted by the obvious bandwidth of the telco line. This microphone is now quite rare.

I apologize for all the KVOO stuff, but my memory seems to come in waves, these days.

April 27 2009 at 15:25:08
Name: Scott Linder
Topic: The KVOO craftsmen
Comments: Mike, yes the guys at KVOO then were true craftsmen, even if they didn't realize it. Jack Bushnell and Les Nichols taught me about electronics and engineering, Tubby Young showed me how to run a music library, Jack Moore and Mo Billington schooled me on production while doing "The Gilcrease Story", Jack Campbell/Jay Jones/Bill Ryan/Don"Dean"Gilbert/Dick Charles and Don Cummins showed me how to do a radio show and Ernie Frisco gave me lessons on how to cut a spot disc on a Rek-O-Kut lathe.

By the way, I was dating Ernie's daughter Ann Frisco at the time. She was a student at Monte Casino High School. I really liked her cute little uniform...

OK, I'd better stop now...

April 27 2009 at 15:12:44
Name: Mike Bruchas
Topic: NYC USAF flyby today
Comments: My friend, Sam, is a CNN NYC audioman. He sent me this e-mail:

"...it freaked a lot of people out. Turned out DOD told
the mayor's office and NYPD, but they didn't inform the
public. I hope someone's head rolls -- seeing large
commercial airliners on unconventional routes around Lower
Manhattan, with fighters pursuing, is understandably a bit
off-putting."

If I saw fighters and a 747 too low over Tulsa or Chicago downtown - I would have been scared.

April 27 2009 at 14:50:32
Name: Mike Bruchas
Topic: The Gem Theatre + NYC today
Comments: Where was that (The Gem) located at, Brother Ruddle?

-----

Did you see the NYC Statue of Liberty USAF fly-by today? I hear it scared a lot of folks. The dumb USAF warned the NYPD and PATH of it coming, but for "national security" did not inform the media in advance. Geez - it was a USAF photo op.

See a photo of the Gem Theatre (618 S Main) at CinemaTour.

April 27 2009 at 14:45:46
Name: Mike Bruchas
Topic: KVOO radio guys
Comments: When I first met Ernie Frisco, because he was dragging a guard's clock thing with him, I thought he was a security guard at KVOO. He later gave me good conversation about cutting disks there.

My then citca 1974 room-mate, Wayne McCombs, pulled a shift at KVOO radio.

Lotta lore about Ernie and Jack Moore. I probably had a chance to talk to Jack about 6 times and he constantly was surprising.

Really good folks at the then KVOO radio. Committed and craftsmen.

April 27 2009 at 13:22:54
Name: Scott Linder
Topic: Jack Bushnell
Comments: Mike, you are so right about Jack Bushnell. Of couse, he was CE for KVOO radio and television when I was there in the mid-60s before he moved to WKY in OKC. He was very kind and always open to sharing his vast knowledge. I clearly recall him showing me how to build a passive mixer using resistance bridges.

Being at KVOO at that time was like going to college... with Jack Bushnell, Les Nichols, Ernie Frisco, Mo Billington, Tubby Young and Jack Moore as professors. What a privilege to have known them.

April 27 2009 at 11:22:56
Name: Erick
Topic: Spec Hart
Comments: Mike Bruchas - I just had a flashback!

The name Spec Hart sounded oddly familiar to me, and for good reason. I remember he spoke to my 6th grade class when he was at 25. This was maybe 1989?

I think I was the only kid who was even vaguely interested in what he was saying.

April 27 2009 at 10:23:14
Name: Jim Ruddle
Topic: Theaters
Comments: I worked--briefly--as an usher at the Orpheum in the late forties. Looking back, it was weird.

We wore uniforms that resembled formal wear of the British Raj, in India. We had flashlights that we used to show people that there was chewing gum on the floor and where they were to sit. We heard the same dialogue over and over until madness set in.

At that point, I hung around after my shift sometimes and sit in the middle of a crowd where I would give the upcoming line. Then another. I was asked to leave the ranks of the ushers, but not for this. There was something else but I can't recall what.

The Gem was my favorite theater at that point because it was the only place in Tulsa to see foreign films and there were some great ones right after World War Two.

April 26 2009 at 15:35:27
Name: Mike Bruchas
Topic: John Bushnell, CE
Comments: Though I never got to work for him, I met him on several occasions. He WAS a class act and one of the smartest Chiefs ever seen in OK. Well-read and funny and always curious about what other stations were doing.

Spec Hart was another OKC TV engineering great and a wonderful, funny guy.

Bless 'em both - good folks.

April 26 2009 at 00:07:53
Name: Webmaster
Topic: Previous GroupBlog link
Comments:

Archived GroupBlog 289.