Streets of Mexia

A popular local joke recalls two individuals (commonly Aggies) passing through town, arguing over the correct pronunciation of the city (one arguing for "muh-hay-uh" – the proper pronunciation; the other insisting on "mex-ee-uh" – the incorrect one). They stop in at a local eating establishment to settle the matter, asking, "how do you pronounce the name of this place?" The proprietor (waitress is also used in some versions) responds, "Deh-ree Kween." (from TexasEscapes.com)

115 miles W of Nacogdoches, 43 miles E of Waco, Mexia, Texas is named for a Mexican general, José Antonio Mexía, who joined an unsuccessful uprising against Santa Anna and died before a firing squad. A gas discovery in 1912 and an oil gusher in 1921 made it a boom town. From just 3,482 people the population exploded to an estimated 35,000 in 1922. It became so rowdy that martial law was imposed.

photograph from Mexia Blackcats 1959 (The Unofficial Blog of the Mexia [Texas] Graduating Class of 1959)

After the initial boom, the population decreased to a more manageable 10,000 by the mid-20s, but the onset of the Great Depression forced people to leave Mexia to find greener pastures. The population stabilized around 6,500 in the early 1930s, but the number of businesses reported fell by one third. A German Prisoner of War Camp was built in Mexia in 1942. The population was given as 6,618 in the early 1950s, not far from today's figure of just under 7,000. (History from TexasEscapes.com and The Roads of Texas)

Commerce Street in the 1930s or early '40sphotograph from Mexia Blackcats 1959 (The Unofficial Blog of the Mexia [Texas] Graduating Class of 1959)

Quite frankly, Mexia seemed pretty rundown. There was a fairly clear demarcation line separating what was left of the old downtown, and the virtual ghetto just a block away. I turned a couple of corners (on foot) I wasn't sure I should have taken.




Safeway?

City Hall/Civic Center
Ghosts in Mexia:



"Bull Durham" - do you see it?
1898 First Presbyterian Church


What lured me to Mexia:
Now a Spanish, Pentecostal church


And finally, I drove right past this lonely, little place as I pulled in to Mexia, and I just had to stop and take its picture as I left:

The Cowsills, revisited

The Cowsills are one of those musical "entities" which fascinate me. I find their story to be such a poignant one. At a very early age (the youngest, Susan, was nine), they had phenomenal success and were the recipients of intense adulation. It ultimately didn't last. Along the way, they had their share of tragedy, as well. They are now a fairly obscure, musical footnote. While researching them for my previous Cowsills post, I discovered that there's a documentary in the works. I hope the makers finish it!

Until that one comes out, here is a rather short documentary (2 minutes), explaining, among other things, why lead singer Billy was kicked out of the group by his father, and what it was like after the group dissolved in 1971:


This one is even better (includes a few seconds of them performing "The Rain, The Park, and Other Things" live). It's a little over 4 minutes:



It all started with the pure, bubblegum-pop psychedelia of "The Rain, The Park, and Other Things." This is a 1967 promo film for the single (it reached #2 in the U.S.). The footage is rather bad, but I love the song so much, I can bear it:

Here they are after they reunited (minus Barry and Billy) in 1990, appearing on The Joan Rivers Show. This is a great interview, and it is the one in which Susan voiced her frustration as to never being able to figure out which of the two girls on The Partridge Family was supposed to represent her(!).


Returning to their "glory days," here they are performing on their November 23, 1968, TV special A Family Thing. The song is "Indian Lake," and as pointed out at Bedazzled!, Susan is in fact quite a groovy dancer. I figure she must have watched Laugh-In every week.


There's a great summary of the special (including transcripts of each skit) at this Cowsills site.

halcyon days?

This Is Spinal Tap (1984)

This Is Spinal Tap is a 1984 "mockumentary" directed by Rob Reiner and starring members of the heavy-metal band Spinal Tap. The film satirizes the wild behavior and musical pretensions of Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, The Rolling Stones, The Who, Queen, Aerosmith, KISS, Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, The Beatles, etc.

Much of the film was ad libbed, and several dozen hours of footage were shot before Reiner edited it down to the released film. A 4½ hour bootleg version of the film exists and has been traded among fans and collectors for years.

Nigel Tufnel (Christopher Guest) showing off his guitar collection to Marty DiBergi (Reiner) whilst wearing "my exact inner structure, done in a tee shirt. Exactly medically accurate."

That scene:
"Pop, Look & Listen" - British TV, 1965, David St. Hubbins (Michael McKean) on the right
John "Stumpy" Pepys (Ed Begley Jr.), one of the first in a long line of Tap drummers

Performing "Give Me Some Money" (in color!):
Helping to spread "the word" (love) in '67 with a performance of "(Listen To The) Flower People":


Bass player Derek Smalls (Harry Shearer)


And their more recent incarnation:Music video for "Hell Hole":

"Hell Hole," of course, is off of Tap's classic Smell the Glove LP from 1982:

none blacker

U.S.S. Enterprise ornament

Received a new Hallmark (click on the link to find a short video of it "in action") ornament this year:


Too bad they sold out of this one:
Check out this short video. I'm transfixed by it.

Elvis, '73

Candid Central has a few "new" pictures of Elvis, backstage at an Atlanta concert on June 29, 1973. Then Governor Jimmy Carter and wife Rosalynn were there, too. Strangely enough, the majority of the pictures feature just Elvis and Rosalynn.....

"Circle of Life"

Combining Hamlet, Bible stories of Joseph and Moses, and their own Bambi (1942), The Lion King (1994) was at the time of its release the culmination of the Disney animation team's fifty-plus years of experience and hard work.

I remember reading a review back in 1994 in which the reviewer pointed out how The Lion King was the first cartoon to accomplish this foreground/background focus shift effect.

And in an era of computer-animated films, it is doubtful Disney will return to creating such types of work any time soon.

I was fortunate enough to see the Broadway production back in 1999. Anyone who has seen it knows how during the opening number ("Circle of Life"), every square inch of the theater is used - every aisle, every balcony - thereby knocking down that "fourth wall," and intermingling audience with performers.
The result was a genuinely moving and transcendent moment I shall not soon forget. Obviously, the Broadway production was competing with and trying to accomplish what the animated film was able to achieve.


The "Circle of Life" segment, alone, qualifies The Lion King as a masterpiece. If you aren't moved by it, you may already be dead, so check your pulse:






The Lion King reference in The Simpsons "Round Springfield" episode

"Stay out of the cradle, nose!"

Phil Hartman as Sinatra in the Saturday Night Live parody of the Duets album (here's the transcript):


While Sinatra was well known for allowing his film directors only one take, he was a bit more of a perfectionist when it came to recording music. But by '93, he was probably a bit like he's portrayed: "Okay, cut it, print it and ship it - I'm buying that one!" I know he was reported to have said out loud in the studio while recording Duets: "Why are we doing this one (any of the songs, which he had already recorded and sung for years) again?"

Giving it to Bozo

Obviously, the meeting between Frank and Becca's favorite guy went a whole lot better than portrayed:





Previously: "The Sinatra Group"