We remember Joe Nuxall (1928-2007)

Joe Nuxhall was born in Hamilton, Ohio, on this day in 1928.  We remember Joe for pitching at age 15 for the Reds, winning 135 games and turning into a ver popular play by play announcer.

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We remember Peter Jennings (1938-2005)

Time flies and we remember that Peter Jennings was born on this day in 1938 and died in 2005.  

Jennings looked like a guy who could play James Bond in a movie.   He was handsome, sharp and great with words.   

Back in the 1980's, ABC had the best news lineup on TV. There was David Brinkley, George Will, Cokie Roberts and Sam Donaldson.   They were good and my favorites for election night coverage. 

Add Ted Koppel's "Nightline"  and they were good.

Time took its toll on ABC News.   Brinkley died. Donaldson and Roberts moved on and replaced by Stephanelous on Sunday.  "This Week" is not the same without Brinkley, Donaldson, Roberts or Will.

I still miss Peter Jennings at 5:30 pm in my little office TV.  

P.S.  You can listen to my show (Canto Talk).  If you like our posts, please look for ”Donate” on the right column.

In the early hours of July 26, 1960

My late father would often relate this story.  He was listening to the game on the radio in Havana and then all hell broke loose.

From 1954 to 1960, Havana had a AAA franchise in what they used to call the International League.  It included Toronto and Montreal.   The Havana team was the Reds' AAA franchise at the time.  Therefore, Cuban fans had a chance to see young future Hall of Famer Frank Robinson, who broke into the majors in 1958.

It's worth noting that having an AAA franchise in the late 1950's meant more than a passion for baseball.  It was further evidence that the island's economy could support a minor league team with ticket sales, radio and TV programming.  Remember that Havana had to compete with other U.S. cities for that franchise.

In the early hours of July 26, 1960, my father and lots of Cuban fans were caught up in an extra inning game between Havana and Rochester.  The game included future major leaguers like Mike Cuellar, Luis Arroyo, Leo Cardenas, Elio Chacon, and Cookie Rojas.

This is what happened:   

Shortly after midnight the morning of July 26, while the Sugar Kings and Rochester Red Wings were in the 11th inning of a game at Gran Stadium, demonstrations began in the streets of Havana, marking the anniversary of the 1953 attack on the Moncada army garrison in Santiago de Cuba by a band of rebels led by Fidel Castro, an event viewed as the conception of the eventual revolution.
During the course of this observance, a wild burst of gunfire broke out, and a pair of stray bullets found their way into the ball park, striking Rochester’s Frank Verdi, who was coaching third at the time, and Havana shortstop Leo Cardenas.
Neither Verdi nor Cardenas were seriously injured, but the incident nearly ended professional baseball in Cuba. The Red Wings left the country immediately, refusing to play the final game of the series, and they and other International League teams expressed fear and reluctance at returning to Cuba.

It was over for the Havana Sugar Kings.  They eventually moved to Jersey City. The professional league played one more winter season but professional baseball ended that night.

What was my father thinking that night?  He was not thinking about leaving Cuba and settling in the U.S.  Like most Cubans, he thought that the storm would pass and things would settle down.   

A few years later, we landed in the U.S.  My brother and I then started collecting baseball cards, including many of those who were playing that night.

P.S. You can listen to my show (Canto Talk).

"El Moncada 1953" and a few other thoughts with Jorge Ponce

"El Moncada 1953" and a few other thoughts with Jorge Ponce.....click to listen....

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We remember Marjorie Lord (1918-2015)

We remember Marjorie Lord who was born on this day in 1918.  She died in 2015.
It was a great era of American TV.   

The 1950s TV shows were a lot of fun, as we can now see in these reruns.   It was a time of wholesome families and hilarious comedy.   

Marjorie Lord was Danny Thomas' wife on "Make room for daddy".     

P.S.  You can listen to my show (Canto Talk).  If you like our posts, please look for ”Donate” on the right column.

 

 

"Doo wop" and the chapter of "wonderful harmonies" in rock music!

Doo Wop is one of the most interesting and fun chapters of rock music:

"Doo-wop is a style of vocal-based rhythm and blues music, which was started in the black community and became popular in the 1950s to the early 1960s."

It was before my time. I learned to love the music later when I began reading about "doo wop" groups. I love the tight harmonies! I love the songs and catchy melodies. Doo wop was great!

Let me pick some of my favorites.

It starts with The Chimes singing "Once in a while".

The next selection is "Just two kinds of people in the world" by Little Anthony and The Imperials.

My third selection is "You belong to me" by The Duprees".

The next selection is one of my real favorites. It is "This I swear" by The Skyliners.

The Four Seasons came around a little bit later. They borrowed many of the vocal arrangements from the previous "doo wop" groups. This is "Rag Doll".

The Platters were the best of the "doo wop" groups. They were so elegant and recorded songs like "My prayer".

As I wrote before, the "doo wop" chapter was way before my time. Nevertheless, I loved the sounds and the arrangements. They were great songs!

 P.S.  You can listen to my show.  If you like our posts, please look for ”Donate” on the right column of the blog page.

We remember Don Knotts (1924-2006)

We remember Don Knotts who passed away in 2006 at age 81.

Over the years, I've had my share of laughs over Barney in Mayberry and the funny landlord in "Three's company".   As I remember, he was a pretty funny character in Disney movies, too.

Overall, a very good acting career. We will miss Don Knotts!

P.S.  You can listen to my show (Canto Talk).  If you like our posts, please look for ”Donate” on the right column.

July 18, 1969: Chappaquidick and Ted Kennedy

On July 18, 1969, most Americans were tuned in to Apollo 11’s lunar mission.   

Over in Chappaquiddick, Senator Ted Kennedy was attending a party with friends and campaign workers.  Here is the story:     

“Just after 11 p.m., Kennedy left the party with Kopechne, by his account to drive to the ferry slip where they would catch a boat back to their respective lodgings in Edgartown on Martha’s Vineyard. 
While driving down the main roadway, Kennedy took a sharp turn onto the unpaved Dike Road, drove for a short distance, and then missed the ramp to a narrow wooden bridge and drove into Poucha Pond. 
Kennedy, a married man, claimed the Dike Road excursion was a wrong turn. However, both he and Kopechne had previously driven down the same road, which led to a secluded ocean beach just beyond the bridge. 
In addition, Kopechne had left both her purse and room key at the party.
Kennedy escaped the car and then dove down in an attempt to retrieve Kopechne from the sunken Oldsmobile. Failing, he stumbled back to the cottage, where he enlisted Gargan and another friend in a second attempt to save Kopechne. The three men were unsuccessful; her body was not recovered. The trio then went to the ferry slip, where Kennedy dove into the water and swam back to Edgartown, about a mile away. He returned to his room at the Shiretown Inn, changed his clothes, and at 2:25 a.m. stepped out of his room when he spotted the innkeeper, Russell Peachey. He told Peachey that he been awakened by noise next door and asked what time it was. He then returned to his room.”

To say the least, it became a huge scandal for Senator Kennedy.   It probably ended his presidential ambitions, although he did run against President Carter in 1980.

Kennedy died in 2009. 

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1956: Grace Kelly and "High Society", her last film

On this day in 1956, "High society" was released.    It was Grace Kelly's last movie before marrying Prince Rainier of Monaco.    She was one of the most popular ladies of Hollywood in the 1950s.

She died in 1982 after an automobile accident.   It was quite a shock.  I remember hearing about the car crash and the death the next day.    

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President Ford, the man with the pipe

President Ford was born on this day in 1913.  He died in 2006.

The 38th president spent much of his post presidency enjoying a well deserved retirement.  He made a few appearances but generally stayed home and enjoyed his wonderful wife and family. 

Yes, President Ford often smoked a pipe in public. He may have been the last president to smoke in public.   

Who remembers this from the day he became president:

"I am acutely aware that you have not elected me as your President by your ballots.   So I ask you to confirm me as your President with your prayers."    

I remember Pres. Ford making that statement. I think that it went over very well with much of the country.

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2013: Cuban food with Marta & Sonia

Cuban food with Marta & Sonia....click to listen....

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1953: Ronald Reagan looking good in "Law and order"

Doesn't "Law and order" sounds great for a Ronald Reagan movie?    It was released in 1953.

After all, wasn't he the "law and order" governor in who stood up to rowdy students at the universities in California?    Didn't he fire the air controllers when he became president in 1981?

I enjoyed it.  Reagan was Marshall Johnson in this movie based on a W R Burnett's novel.

It was another of the 1950's Westerns about good guys vs bad guys.    The plot was simple and Dorothy Malone was the pretty girl in the story.

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1953: "The naked spur" is a great movie

What a great movie.  I caught "The naked spur" with James Stewart and Janet Leigh a few days ago.   It was worth every second.   

The movie was released in 1953 and this is a summary:    

The title of The Naked Spur refers to a piece of gear worn by the main character, introduced during the credits with an abrupt pan from picturesque mountains in the distance to a jarring closeup of the spur. With the flair and economy that distinguish Mann's best movies, this prepares us for both the setting of the story-it starts and finishes on mountain heights--and its emphasis on the characters' intense, sometimes brutal emotions.

The plot centers on Howard Kemp, a former rancher who's hunting down Ben Vandergroat, a nasty galoot with a $5,000 price on his head. Unable to climb a steep mountainside and capture Ben at the top, Howard accepts help from two strangers who happen to cross his path: Jesse Tate, a gold prospector with rotten luck, and Roy Anderson, recently kicked out of the Union army for his "unstable" character. They soon get hold of Ben and his reluctant girlfriend, Lina Patch, and all five characters start a trek to Kansas, where the three "good" guys plan to turn Ben in and split the reward.

The rest is up to you.  Watch the movie. 

P.S.  You can listen to my show (Canto Talk).  If you like our posts, please look for ”Donate” on the right column.

Our friend Bill Katz remembers the 1960 election!

The 1960 election was one of the most controversial in US history.  It was Kennedy vs Nixon:  110,000 votes out of 76 million cast.

Everything changed when JFK was assassinated in Dallas. He became a legend and myth.

Today, Democratss remember whatever they want to remember about Pres. Kennedy.  What most of them forget is that JFK would not fit in today's party.  In fact, it's very likely that JFK would have joined Joe Lieberman and walk out on the party's irresponsible national security agenda.

Bill Katz was a college student and a party volunteer on Election Night 1960.  Today, he runs Urgent Agenda, one of my favorite websites.

This is an audio history. Listen here! You will enjoy it!

The tragedy of the 1919 Chicago White Sox

On this day in 1921, the Chicago White Sox were accused of throwing the 1919 World Series.  

They were one of the greatest teams of their generation.    

The roster included Eddie Cicotte who won 209 games, as well as 28 and 29 in 1917 and 1919 respectively.    He was one of the masters of the “junk pitch”!    

The other big name was Joe “Shoeless” Jackson, perhaps the greatest hitter of the decade after Ty Cobb.     Jackson was a .356 career hitter, including .382 in 1920 and .408 in 1911!    His On Base Average was .413!   We can safely predict that he’d challenged Ty Cobb for career batting average and hits.     Jackson would have definitely been selected to The Hall of Fame.

The trial was a circus and the players were eventually acquitted.   Nevertheless, MLB Commissioner banned 8 of the players from ever playing again.      

It was not a good moment for baseball, specially the owners and justice.   The players never got the money from the criminal elements but I agree with the Commissioner’s ultimate decision. 

Again, it was very sad, specially the case of Jackson, Cicotte and Buck Weaver, another great player on that team.

In the late 1980’s, the story came back when Eliot Asinop published “Eight men out”.   It was also a great movie released in the 1990’s. 

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Why did our parents have so many babies? Listen to their music!

Why did our parents have so many babies?   I guess it depends but music had a lot to do with it!   

 LITTLE ANTHONY & THE IMPERIALS

TWO KINDS OF PEOPLE IN THE WORLD

"There's just two kinds of people in the world Why can't we fall in love? Just two kinds of people in the world They are a boy and girl Boy meets girl and love begins Oh, what a feeling you get from within Oh, I should know for I'm i-in love I'm the boy, you're the girl, all the stars up above Just two kinds of people in the world Why can't we fall in love? Just two kinds of people in the world They are a boy and girl Boy meets girl and love begins Oh, what a feeling you get from within Oh, I should know for I'm i-in love I'm the boy, you're the girl, all the stars up above Just two kinds of people in the world Why can't we fall in love? Just two kinds of people in the world Why can't we fall in lo-lo-lo-love? Lo-ove?"

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We remember Noel Neill (1920-2016)

As we remember from the comics,  Lois Lane and Clark Kent worked at "The Daily Planet".   

Noel Neill played Lois in the TV series in the 1950s.   She died at age 95 on this day in 2016.

Noel was born in Minnesota in 1920.  She retired after the cancellation of the TV series in 1957. 

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1946: "The dark corner" a movie with Lucille Ball

Not long ago, I clicked channels and found myself watching "The dark corner" from 1946 with Lucille Ball as a detective's secretary.

For me, it's hard to watch Lucille Ball without thinking that Desi Arnaz is about to enter into the scene.    

Nevertheless, it was a good movie with Clifton Webb, William Bendix and a few other faces that I recognized.

Here is the movie:

Lucille Ball...."The Dark Corner"....1946........... https://t.co/R3yOGy2DSX via @amazon

— Silvio Canto, Jr. (@SCantojr) July 9, 2018

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July 2, 1964: It was many years ago today....

It was 1964, many years ago today that my dad, mom, and the three kids woke up in Cuba knowing that things would never be the same.  A few hours later, we caught a flight to Mexico City and then Jamaica.  We waited in Kingston for a couple of months until our papers were ready to fly to the U.S.  All five of us slept in a small room, my parents on the bed, our little sister to their side and my brother and I got the floor duty.  We rented the room from a Jamaican fellow who worked in Cuba and now helped other families as well.  He worked in the sugar cane fields as a guest worker or something that many Jamaicans used to do in pre-Castro Cuba. They'd cut sugar, earn a few Cuban pesos and send something to their families.  The Cuban peso was worth something back then.

Nobody said a lot that morning of July 2nd 1964.  My parents had decided to leave after the Cuban Missile Crisis and the “communist radicalization” of Cuba.  They did not want us to attend government schools where kids were taught communist ideas and history was rewritten to justify “la revolucion.”  Does some of that sound familiar if you have kids in school today?  Rewriting of history?  Fidel's version of CRT, or something like that.

My parents knew that this day would come but it was still a bit hard for them to take.  Cuba was all that they knew.  They were born there and never expected to leave their country to pursue a better life anywhere else.  Cubans did not leave the island back then.  Instead, they moved to the island from other countries.

My friend, author Carlos Eire, wrote about this a few years ago:   

Between 1900 and 1930, the first three decades of Cuban independence, about one million immigrants flooded into the island, mostly European, and mostly northern Spaniards. This population tsunami also included Asians, Levantines, and Jews. 

These immigrants doubled the population of the island and changed its complexion, literally. Tens of thousands of immigrants continued to flow into Cuba every year after that, up to 1958. Immigration from the U.S. was comparatively slight, but in 1958 there were more Americans living in Cuba than Cubans in the U.S.A. 

Emigration from Cuba was minimal during this half century.

Rates of immigration as high as this and of emigration as low require a robust and growing economy, and a considerable degree of political stability.

By the way, one of those Spaniards who moved to Cuba was my mother's father who settled in the island looking for a better life.  He found it, along with his brothers who came with him.  They became successful entrepreneurs, but everything was "nationalized" or stolen by the communists.

My father and mother are now gone and my brother and sister have their own lives and families.  I used to call my parents on this day and joke with them about the family anniversary.  I would always say in Spanish something like do you know what day this is?  Of course, they knew and usually remembered something about that day.   

It just does not seem possible that it happened so long ago.  I will always be grateful to my late parents for bringing me here. It was very hard on them but they did it for the three of us.  They did not want us to grow up under communism and I thank them every day for that.

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