Thursday, June 29, 2006

Paul McCartney after The Beatles!


Truth behind The Beatles split finally explained as unseen photo ...
In the 1960's, it was Paul and the Beatles. It's hard to think of the 1960's without whistling a Lennon-McCartney tune.

Paul left the Beatles in 1970. He recorded a bunch of great songs by himself or with Wings. They were good songs and the common denominator was Linda.

From 1969 til her death from cancer in 1998, Paul and Linda had a great marriage.  It shows in all of their videos and recordings from that period!

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Monday, June 26, 2006

June 26, 1948: The Berlin Airlift starts

Remember when we had a president who made consequential decisions rather than pander for votes with unconstitutional decrees?

Years ago, Pres Truman started the Berlin Airlift of 1948:
"On June 24, 1948, the Soviet Union blocked all road and rail travel to and from West Berlin, which was located within the Soviet zone of occupation in Germany. The Soviet action was in response to the refusal of American and British officials to allow Russia more say in the economic future of Germany. The U.S. government was shocked by the provocative Soviet move, and some in President Harry S. Truman's administration called for a direct military response. Truman, however, did not want to cause World War III. Instead, he ordered a massive airlift of supplies into West Berlin. On June 26, 1948, the first planes took off from bases in England and western Germany and landed in West Berlin. It was a daunting logistical task to provide food, clothing, water, medicine, and other necessities of life for the over 2 million fearful citizens of the city. For nearly a year, American planes landed around the clock. Over 200,000 planes carried in more than one-and-a-half million tons of supplies. 
The Soviets persisted with the blockade until May 1949. By then, however, it was apparent to everyone concerned that the blockade had been a diplomatic fiasco for the Russians. Around the world, the Soviets were portrayed as international bullies, holding men, women, and children hostage in West Berlin and threatening them with starvation. The unbelievably successful American airlift also backfired against the Russians by highlighting the technological superiority of the United States. By the time the Soviets ended the blockade, West Germany had become a separate and independent nation and the Russian failure was complete."
It was a victory for the West.  It showed that we had a president who was willing to stand up to the Soviets.  In other words, we had a leader rather than "a panderer" for votes.

I should add that Pres Truman made this decision in an election year.  He could  have played it safe and avoid the issue.  Thankfully, Pres Truman put the US, and the West, over his own reelection and demonstrated leadership.

The Berlin Airlift was also the story of the "candy drops" for children.  It showed the valor and heart of the pilots who flew these dangerous missions:
"In the beginning of the candy drops, Halverson used his own weekly candy ration. Soon the other pilots and support staff started giving their candy and gum and their handkerchiefs. The project grew so big that his old army base also began to contribute candy and handkerchiefs. The city of Mobile, Alabama, formed a drive to request help. Soon, candy and handkerchiefs from around the country began arriving for the pilots to drop. One week, Lieutenant Halverson flew 368 pounds of candy and fifty pounds of handkerchiefs from America back with him in his C-54 airplane that he had brought to the states for maintenance work."
Overall, a great day to recall presidential leadership and to remember the men who carried out these missions.  

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Saturday, June 24, 2006

1955: Harmon Killebrew hit the first of 573 HR

On this day in 1955, a young Harmon Killebrew hit # 1 as a member of the Washington Senators who became the Minnesota Twins in 1961.   

Harmon Killebrew was one of the great power hitters that I grew up watching and following.    

He finished his career with 573 HR & 1,559 RBI.

Killebrew won 6 HR titles and led the AL in RBI 4 times.   He was the AL MVP in 1969.

P.S.  You can listen to my show (Canto Talk).  If you like our posts, click send, and drop a dime here.




1948: The Berlin Airlift & President Truman


Thursday, June 22, 2006

We remember Erich Maria Remarque (1898-1970)


portrait
Erich Maria Remarque was born on June 22, 1898 in Osnabruck, Germany.    
He wrote “All quiet on the western front” or arguably the most famous book about World War One.   

Years later, it is still a must read for those trying to understand the story of what we now call World War I.  
P.S.  You can listen to my show (Canto Talk).  If you like our posts, click send, and drop a dime here.

Tuesday, June 20, 2006

Monday, June 19, 2006

The Battle of Waterloo 1815 with Barry Jacobsen


Related image


Friday, June 16, 2006

We remember Frank “Pancho” Herrera (1934-2005)


Juan Francisco (Villavicencio) Herrera was born June 16, 1934 in Santiago de las Vegas, Cuba.   He was known as Frank or Pancho or even Panchon.

Herrera began his baseball career in 1954 with La Habana in the Cuban Winter League.    His manager was the legendary Adolfo Luque, a major leaguer from the 1920’s.


The Philadelphia Phillies signed him in 1955 (their first black Latino player) and he spent the next few years between the minors and the Cuban league.    He played with fellow Cubans, Tony Gonzalez, Tony Taylor and Octavio Rojas in the Phillies’ organization.


His major league career was short but he hit .281 with 17 HR & 71 RBI in 1960.    He was second to Frank Howard in the 1960 Rookie of the Year vote!


He came back with 13 HR in 1961.   


Herrera was sent back to AAA in 1962 and hit 32 HR but never got another chance to play in the big leagues.    In retrospect, that’s hard to believe because Herrera proved that he could hit and expansion brought 4 new teams in 1961-62.


After the majors, Panchon played for various seasons in Mexico.  He led the league with 39 HR in 1969.   They remember him as one of the great power hitters in Ciudad del Carmen, Mexico!   He was a big favorite there with Mexican baseball fans.


Herrera died in Miami in 2005.    We remember him as one of the last Cuban players to play in the US and the old Cuban Winter League.
 
P.S.  You can listen to my show (Canto Talk) and follow me on Twitter.  We always recommend "The pride of Havana", a great book about Cuban baseball:


We remember Ken Johnson (1933-2015)


Image result for ken johnson houston colts images
We remember Ken Johnson who was born in Florida on this day in 1933.   He died in 2015.

Ken Johnson went down in baseball history for something that happened on April 23, 1964 or the day that he pitched a no-hitter but lost 1-0.  

Ken broke with the A's in 1958 but became a starter with the expansion Astros in 1962.   He pitched well and won 32 games over 4 seasons.

In 1965, Johnson was traded to the Braves winning 45 games in 4 seasons.

Johnson retired in 1970 with 97 wins and a good 3.46 ERA.

P.S.  You can listen to my show (Canto Talk).  If you like our posts, click send, and drop a dime here.


Monday, June 12, 2006

June 12, 1987: The Berlin Wall & President Reagan



Time flies.   On this day in 1987, or many years ago today, we watched President Reagan call on the USSR to tear down the Berlin Wall.    

According to Peter Robinson, a speechwriter, the "line" was discussed and argued about in the US State Department.  Some of President Reagan's advisers throught that the line might be seen as provocative by the Kremlin. 

At the end, President Reagan said it anyway. 

What a great moment it was. 

I can still remember holding our 3-week old son and watching it on TV back then. 

Did President Reagan see the future?  We will never know but he definitely knew that the USSR and the Berlin Wall were doomed for failure.  As we know now, The Berlin Wall eventually came down 30 months later! 

P.S.  You can listen to my show (Canto Talk).  If you like our posts, click send, and drop a dime here.




Saturday, June 10, 2006

Joe Nuxall, the answer to a great baseball question


It was the week of D-Day 1944 and most of the players were fighting the war.

The Cincinnati Reds brought up a 15-year old rookie named Joe Nuxall.  He became the youngest player in baseball history when he appeared on this day in 1944.

After baseball, Nuxall was the Reds' broadcaster on WLW. I remember catching a few Reds' games on the Ohio Turnpike.

Nuxall was a great announcer and a pretty good pitcher as well:  135 wins & 3.90 ERA.  

So remember. Who was the youngest man to play major league baseball? The answer is the late Joe Nuxall.


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Friday, June 09, 2006

We remember Les Paul (1916-2009) and the electric guitar!


Les Paul live 3.jpg
Les Paul was bon in Wisconsin on this day in 1916.   

We don't think of Les Paul as a rocker. However, he had a huge impact on every rock song recorded with an electric guitar.

This is from the AP:
"As an inventor, Paul helped bring about the rise of rock 'n' roll and multitrack recording, which enables artists to record different instruments at different times, sing harmony with themselves, and then carefully balance the "tracks" in the finished recording.
He was a wonderful guitar player and set the table for guitars to come!

PS: You can listen to my show (Canto Talk) and follow me on Twitter.   If you like our posts, drop a dime here.

Tuesday, June 06, 2006

A great book about the heroes of D-Day

Image result for D-Day images


A few years ago, I met a local man whose father died on D-Day.  My friend was only 3 months old and never got to know his father.

On June 6, 1944, many of our fathers and grandfathers landed on French beaches to liberate Europe. 

Thousands were killed that day. It took a massive effort by the Army Rangers and paratroopers to survive day 1.

Before leaving England, General Eisenhower spoke to them and said that our goal was victory.


We remember the heroes of D-Day in this book by Stephen Ambrose.

P.S.  You can listen to my show (Canto Talk).  If you like our posts, click send, and drop a dime here.







Monday, June 05, 2006

2004: President Reagan died






We remember another anniversary of President Reagan’s death.

He was born in 1911 and died on this in 2004.

As the 40th President, he was consequential, optimistic and very patriotic.  

President Reagan inspired me, and lots of other people, to join the conservative movement in the late 1970’s.

I am very happy that he did!

P.S.  You can listen to my show (Canto Talk).  If you like our posts, click send, and drop a dime here.

Thursday, June 01, 2006

Tony Snow died much too young!


Image result for tony snow images

We remember Tony Snow who was born in Kentucky on this day in 1955.  
Back on July 12,  2008, we heard that Tony Snow died of cancer.
Tony was a journalist, a speechwriter for President George H.W. Bush and the first host of FOX News Sunday.
After that, he became President George W. Bush’s press secretary until his resignation for health reasons.
One of my memories of Tony Snow’s career was his responses after Fidel Castro resigned in 2006:
Q: With Castro sidelined, has the United States reached out to his brother, Raul, to try to turn the page, look for anything new?
MR. SNOW: No. Look, the one thing that this President has talked about from the very beginning is his hope for the Cuban people finally to enjoy the fruits of freedom and democracy. And for the dictator, Fidel Castro, to hand off power to his brother, who has been the prison keeper, is not a change in that status. So Raul Castro’s attempt to impose himself on the Cuban people is much the same as what his brother did. So, no, there are no plans to reach out.
Unfortunately, the Obama administration reached out and we know how that turned out.
We miss Tony Snow. Our best to his wife and children.
P.S.  You can listen to my show (Canto Talk).  If you like our posts, click send, and drop a dime here.


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