The Story of A 19th Century Oddity – Millie Christine
While recently highlighting one of the silliest movies ever made, The Thing With Two Heads, we came across stories of other human anomalies.
Co-joined twins Millie and Christine (or Christina) McCoy (or McKoy) were famous in the 19th century, sometimes billed as “The Wonderful Two Headed Girl,” “The Two-Headed Nightingale,” or “The Eighth Wonder of the World.”
The truth about this “two headed girl” was quite different than what was advertised. Continue reading →
Blac Rabbit Plays The Beatles “If I Needed Someone” & “She Said”
If you search on YouTube you will find many videos of Beatles covers done by hundreds of artists. I think these guys are among the best.
Twin brothers, songwriters, singers, and guitarists Amiri and Rahiem Taylor from Rockaway Beach, NY, make up the nucleus of Blac Rabbit. The brothers have been featured on the Ellen TV show.
Here the duo play at the Mall in Central Park on September 4, 2020.
While videotaping I was flabbergasted that no onestoppedto listen. People kept walking by as if this was just a normal performance. Uh, no. These two musicians are super talented, especially handling vocal harmonies.
Among the “crowd” were about 12 people sitting 50 feet opposite the brothers, politely clapping after each song.
As I watched them breeze through spot-on renditions of many Beatles classics, quite a number of people, including myself, did make a contribution in the guitar case. After 25 minutes, regrettably I had to leave.
I believe John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr would be pleased with the handling of their songs.
Blac Rabbit also compose and perform originals which are pretty good.
Though I did not start the camera quickly enough I did record a good amount of She Said.
This beautiful night scene of Herald Square was taken in 1912. The Herald Building between 35th & 36th Street and Broadway and Sixth Avenue is brilliantly illuminated as the presses work to get the next morning’s paper out.
Lining the roof of the McKim, Mead & White designed Herald Building are 20 gilt owl sculptures. Electricity would light up the owl’s green eyes. The two illegible lighted discs in the front of the building are a clock and wind dial.
Herald owner James Gordon Bennett Jr., was obsessed with owls. Continue reading →
If You Rooted For The Yankees, Could You Root For Tom Seaver?
Tom Seaver pitching two-hitter in the seventh inning as he makes a bid for his 15th win of the year. August 7, 1975 photo: Paul DeMaria (Seaver wound up with a 3 hit complete game 7-0 shutout over the Expos)
Hall of Famer and baseball great Tom Seaver died Monday, August 31 at age 75 and a piece of my childhood died along with him. The accolades, recollections and recounting of stats will continue to flow for the next few weeks.
But not everyone who saw Seaver play rooted for this consummate pro. Especially kids like me.
Being a Yankees fan in the late 1960s and early 1970s was not fun. A New Yorker has to choose teams. A real New York fan can’t root for both the Rangers and Islanders or the Jets and the Giants. You certainly cannot be a fan of both the Yankees and the Mets. So you make choices.
As a New York baseball obsessed kid who collected trading cards, I examined both teams carefully. I chose to be a fan of the on-his-last-legs Mickey Mantle led Yankees. Bad choice. Mantle retired immediately upon my declaration of loyalty.
The 70s Yankees teams featured players like Jake Gibbs, Jerry Kenney, Mike Kekich, Steve Kline, and Horace Clarke.
Arguments on the summer camp bus about who was better, the Yankees or Mets ended with the words Tom Seaver.
Rooting for the Yankees meant rooting against Tom Seaver. Comparing Tom Seaver to any Yankee player was a futile exercise in partisanship.
Newlywed Game Host Bob Eubanks Asks An Innocent Question And Gets An Honest Answer
The Newlywed Game is one of those shows that puts people in potentially embarrassing situations with great effect.
Asking questions to newly married couples can lead to… well let’s just say some interesting revelations.
In this one minute clip from the 1970s, host Bob Eubanks asks what should be a straightforward question and ends up with a few moments of hilarity. This is one funny game show answer. Bob Eubanks quick follow-up and the audience’s reaction is priceless.
The youtube title “Old Game Show Dumb Blonde!” is very unfair. Continue reading →
The 1970s Saw The Release of The Exorcist, Carrie, The Omen and Halloween
It Also Had These Horror Movie Clunkers…
1970s audiences had the opportunity to see some of the all-time great horror classics when first released in theaters.
There were also imitators of horror. Low budget affairs plagiarizing a title or borrowing a plot. Many of them downright laughable, like Beyond The Darkness and The Night Evelyn Came Out of the Grave.
A trailer is akin to a writer describing his vision for a film to a studio executive. The two minute trailer is supposed to convince an audience to see a movie. Picture some producer listening to a writer’s pitch and then signing a check to get a turkey made. And the 70s saw lots of ’em. For every Alien (1979) that was made, there were a dozen horror catastrophe’s like Death Bed: The Bed That Eats (1977).
Based on these trailers, who in their right mind would pay money to see any of these?
Cornelia & West 4th Street Greenwich Village August 25, 1900
This portrait of a group of children in the heart of Greenwich Village was taken 100 years ago today.
Photographer Robert Bracklow frequently traversed the city taking pictures of city scenes.
Today nothing from Bracklow’s Cornelia Street photo remains except the street itself. This is what the intersection looks like in 2020 from West 4th Street looking south. Continue reading →
Roberto Clemente Involved In A Strange Play At Home
WHOOPS !
New York, August 21, 1962 – It’s just that Roberto Clemente of the Pittsburgh Pirates objects to being sat upon by catcher Joe Pignatano of the New York Mets after sliding into home plate with a run in the first game of a twin bill Tuesday. Pittsburgh won the first game 8-6 but lost the second 5-4. Photo: Associated Press
Nolan Ryan Displays The Baseball From His 383rd Strikeout -1973
Nolan Ryan holds the baseball used to set a single season record of 383 strikeouts. September 27, 1973 AP wirephoto
Gerrit Cole and Max Scherzer are amazing pitchers. In 2019 Cole struck out 326 hitters in 212.1 innings and Scherzer fanned 300 batters in 220.2 innings in 2018. Chris Sale and Clayton Kershaw have also struck out more than 300 batters in the past five years.
You’d think in this age of batters striking out more frequently than Le Pétomane farting, a pitcher will one day break Nolan Ryan’s 1973 single season record of 383 strikeouts. But unless Chris Davis, Joey Gallo or Gary Sanchez is the opposition at every at bat, Ryan’s record is probably safe.
It comes down to the number of innings pitched. Modern managers and baseball analytics have pitchers rarely going through the batting order a third time. A “quality start” is one where the pitcher has completed six innings – a ridiculous two thirds of a game. That’s quality? Continue reading →
The truth about this “two headed girl” was quite different than what was advertised. Continue reading 
