APROPOS OF NOTHING #89 - 18 JULY 1902 - CHILL WILLS

Available for freelance writing commissions on a variety of subjects including family history, nostalgic Belfast and its famous people, shops, shoppers & shopping (40 years in retailing), the golden age of Hollywood (including westerns) and humorous pieces on life's weird and wonderful. Op-eds, columns, non-fiction book reviews too. 

joecushnan@aol.com & @JoeCushnan

I have a portfolio of features, reviews, poetry and short fiction published in all sorts of places - Belfast Telegraph, Tribune, Ireland's Own, Dalhousie Review, Fairlight Books, Reader's Digest, Reality, Lapwing Poetry, Ink, Sweat & Tears, Spillwords, Dear Reader, Amethyst Review, to name a selection.  Oh, and the odd BBC radio contribution. I wrote a book on retailing, on dealing with job losses and a biography of Stephen Boyd.

This is a series of very short items that have nothing to do with the current news agenda.  Swift diversions for a moment or two.

Apropos of Nothing #89 – 18 July 1902

Actor and singer, Theodore Childress “Chill” Wills was born on 18 July, 1902.

He was lead singer in the Avalon Boys Quartet in the 1930s.  The group appeared in the Laurel and Hardy classic film Way Out West (1937). Wills provided Stan Laurel’s deep voice on The Trail of the Lonesome Pine song.

He was a very familiar supporting actor in many a western on big and small screen.   He appeared in Giant (1956) alongside Rock Hudson, Elizabeth and James Dean.

He was the voice of Francis, the talking mule in several films.

He was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Academy Award for The Alamo (1960) but it was reported that he ran an aggressive, some say blatant and embarrassing, campaign to ensure he won.  His efforts failed and the Oscar went to Peter Ustinov for his role in Spartacus. 

He has a star on the Hollywood Blvd Walk of Fame.

Sources: Various.

APROPOS OF NOTHING #88 - 17 JULY 1899 - YANKEE DOODLE DANDY

Available for freelance writing commissions on a variety of subjects including family history, nostalgic Belfast and its famous people, shops, shoppers & shopping (40 years in retailing), the golden age of Hollywood (including westerns) and humorous pieces on life's weird and wonderful. Op-eds, columns, non-fiction book reviews too. 

joecushnan@aol.com & @JoeCushnan

I have a portfolio of features, reviews, poetry and short fiction published in all sorts of places - Belfast Telegraph, Tribune, Ireland's Own, Dalhousie Review, Fairlight Books, Reader's Digest, Reality, Lapwing Poetry, Ink, Sweat & Tears, Spillwords, Dear Reader, Amethyst Review, to name a selection.  Oh, and the odd BBC radio contribution. I wrote a book on retailing, on dealing with job losses and a biography of Stephen Boyd.

This is a series of very short items that have nothing to do with the current news agenda.  Swift diversions for a moment or two.

Apropos of Nothing #88 – 17 July 1899

Actor, singer and dancer, James Francis Cagney was born on 17 July, 1899.

He was one of the most distinctive screen stars playing tough guys, vaudeville characters and comedy in a varied career, starting in 1930 and ending in 1984, although there were long gaps in his last two decades.

On top of his game, he was mesmerising, fast-talking and energetic.

Some of his films linger long in the memory – Angels with Dirty Faces (1938), The Roaring Twenties (1939), White Heat (1949), Love Me or Leave Me (1955), Mister Roberts (1955), and his Academy Award-winning role as George M. Cohan in Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942).

He was terrific in the 1961 comedy One, Two, Three, directed by Billy Wilder.

James Cagney died at 86 on 30 March, 1986.

APROPOS OF NOTHING #87 - 16 JULY 1981 - HARRY CHAPIN

Available for freelance writing commissions on a variety of subjects including family history, nostalgic Belfast and its famous people, shops, shoppers & shopping (40 years in retailing), the golden age of Hollywood (including westerns) and humorous pieces on life's weird and wonderful. Op-eds, columns, non-fiction book reviews too. 

joecushnan@aol.com & @JoeCushnan

I have a portfolio of features, reviews, poetry and short fiction published in all sorts of places - Belfast Telegraph, Tribune, Ireland's Own, Dalhousie Review, Fairlight Books, Reader's Digest, Reality, Lapwing Poetry, Ink, Sweat & Tears, Spillwords, Dear Reader, Amethyst Review, to name a selection.  Oh, and the odd BBC radio contribution. I wrote a book on retailing, on dealing with job losses and a biography of Stephen Boyd.

This is a series of very short items that have nothing to do with the current news agenda.  Swift diversions for a moment or two.

Apropos of Nothing #87 – 16 July 1981

Harry Chapin, singer/songwriter, philanthropist, political and social activist, with a passion for finding ways to eradicate world hunger, died at 38 on 16 July, 1981.

He was hugely successful and popular with songs like Taxi, W-O-L-D, Cats in the Cradle, Sequel and Remember When the Music.

My favourite of his (and a tough choice amongst so many brilliant songs) is Story of a Life which contains my all-time favourite lyric:

“Sometimes words can serve me well and sometimes words can go to hell……”

Soon after his death in a road traffic accident, I wrote this song lyric.  I have my own simple guitar strum to it, but if any musical collaborator is out there, get in touch.

HARRY'S SONG

You took me to some places

and not once did I say no

from the deck of a sinking ship

to some local radio

you took me higher than an eagle

and you never let me down

you taught me simple lessons

of a world a-spinning round

It's so sad that Harry's gone but I can bring him back

with an electronic needle on a hundred album tracks

it's so sad to lose a singer before the final song

now the angels buy his music

it's so sad that Harry's gone

You made my dreams a little sweeter

and my smile a little wide

you made me laugh a little louder

and cry deep down inside

you took me by the hand

and you told your stories well

when the wheel stopped turning

there was still much more to tell 

It's so sad that Harry's gone but I can bring him back

with an electronic needle on a hundred album tracks

it's so sad to lose a singer before the final song

now the angels buy his music

it's so sad that Harry's gone

APROPOS OF NOTHING #86 - 15 JULY - ST. SWITHIN'S DAY

Available for freelance writing commissions on a variety of subjects including family history, nostalgic Belfast and its famous people, shops, shoppers & shopping (40 years in retailing), the golden age of Hollywood (including westerns) and humorous pieces on life's weird and wonderful. Op-eds, columns, non-fiction book reviews too. 

joecushnan@aol.com & @JoeCushnan

I have a portfolio of features, reviews, poetry and short fiction published in all sorts of places - Belfast Telegraph, Tribune, Ireland's Own, Dalhousie Review, Fairlight Books, Reader's Digest, Reality, Lapwing Poetry, Ink, Sweat & Tears, Spillwords, Dear Reader, Amethyst Review, to name a selection.  Oh, and the odd BBC radio contribution. I wrote a book on retailing, on dealing with job losses and a biography of Stephen Boyd.

This is a series of very short items that have nothing to do with the current news agenda.  Swift diversions for a moment or two.

Apropos of Nothing #86 – 15 July

St. Swithin’s Day, also called St. Swithun’s Day, is a day on which, according to folklore, the weather for a subsequent period is dictated. 

In popular belief, if it rains on St. Swithin’s Day, it will rain for 40 days, but if it is fair, 40 days of fair will follow. 

St Swithin was bishop of Winchester from 852 to 862. 

At his request he was buried in the churchyard, where rain and the steps of passers-by might fall on his grave. 

According to legend, after his body was moved inside the cathedral on July 15, 971, a great storm ensued. The first textual evidence for the weather prophecy appears to have come from a 13th- or 14th-century entry in a manuscript at Emmanuel College, Cambridge.

St. Swithin's day, if thou dost rain, 
For forty days it will remain; 
St. Swithin's day, if thou be fair, 
For forty days 'twill rain na mair.

Sources: Britannica and others

APROPOS OF NOTHING #85 - 14 JULY 1913 - GERALD FORD

Available for freelance writing commissions on a variety of subjects including family history, nostalgic Belfast and its famous people, shops, shoppers & shopping (40 years in retailing), the golden age of Hollywood (including westerns) and humorous pieces on life's weird and wonderful. Op-eds, columns, non-fiction book reviews too. 

joecushnan@aol.com & @JoeCushnan

I have a portfolio of features, reviews, poetry and short fiction published in all sorts of places - Belfast Telegraph, Tribune, Ireland's Own, Dalhousie Review, Fairlight Books, Reader's Digest, Reality, Lapwing Poetry, Ink, Sweat & Tears, Spillwords, Dear Reader, Amethyst Review, to name a selection.  Oh, and the odd BBC radio contribution. I wrote a book on retailing, on dealing with job losses and a biography of Stephen Boyd.

This is a series of very short items that have nothing to do with the current news agenda.  Swift diversions for a moment or two.

Apropos of Nothing #85 – 14 July 1913 

Gerald Ford, the 38^th President of the United States was born on 14 July, 1913.  He served in that role from 1974 to 1977.  He died at 93 on 26 December, 2006.

Famously and controversially, he granted a full pardon to his predecessor, Richard Nixon, for his involvement in and association with the Watergate scandal.

But today’s nugget is not about his politics, it is about golf.

In 1981, he took part in the Bob Hope Golf Classic at Moor Park in Hertfordshire.  It was a mixture of top professionals and celebrities.  Stars like Hope, Johnny Mathis, Bruce Forsyth, Ronnie Corbett and Telly Savalas all participated and entertained the crowds.

I was there on the Saturday and I took a few photographs, including Gerald Ford in a snazzy red jumper.  And, although not great quality, here it is (and one of Bob Hope):

 

 

Source: Me

APROPOS OF NOTHING #84 - 13 JULY 1985 - LIVE AID CONCERTS

Available for freelance writing commissions on a variety of subjects including family history, nostalgic Belfast and its famous people, shops, shoppers & shopping (40 years in retailing), the golden age of Hollywood (including westerns) and humorous pieces on life's weird and wonderful. Op-eds, columns, non-fiction book reviews too. 

joecushnan@aol.com & @JoeCushnan

I have a portfolio of features, reviews, poetry and short fiction published in all sorts of places - Belfast Telegraph, Tribune, Ireland's Own, Dalhousie Review, Fairlight Books, Reader's Digest, Reality, Lapwing Poetry, Ink, Sweat & Tears, Spillwords, Dear Reader, Amethyst Review, to name a selection.  Oh, and the odd BBC radio contribution. I wrote a book on retailing, on dealing with job losses and a biography of Stephen Boyd.

This is a series of very short items that have nothing to do with the current news agenda.  Swift diversions for a moment or two.

Apropos of Nothing #84 – 13 July 1985 

On Saturday 13 July, 1985, Live Aid benefit concerts took place at Wembley Stadium, London and the John F. Kennedy Stadium, Philadelphia.  Following an idea from Boy George, it was organised by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise funds for relief of a severe famine in Ethiopia.

The total amount of money raised by Live Aid varies across different reports but it is suggested that more than £150 million was donated.  There was and is controversy over where the money went and how much was stolen by corrupt politicians. and governments. But there is confidence that a substantial amount reached people who were in desperate need.

The concerts were triggered by a BBC news report from Michael Buerk who described what he saw in Ethiopia as ‘a biblical famine in the twentieth-century’ and ‘the closest thing to hell on Earth’.

Prior to the concerts, Geldof and Ure pulled together a supergroup called Band Aid – including Bono, Phil Collins, Boy George, George Michael, Sting, Paul Weller, Status Quo, Queen, etc. – to record a single - Do They Know It’s Christmas? - which went straight to number one and stayed there for five weeks.

The global television audience for Live Aid was over 1.5 billion people in 160 countries, making it the biggest live broadcast in history.

Sources: Various

APROPOS OF NOTHING #83 - 12 JULY 1950 - WINCHESTER '73

Available for freelance writing commissions on a variety of subjects including family history, nostalgic Belfast and its famous people, shops, shoppers & shopping (40 years in retailing), the golden age of Hollywood (including westerns) and humorous pieces on life's weird and wonderful. Op-eds, columns, non-fiction book reviews too. 

joecushnan@aol.com & @JoeCushnan

I have a portfolio of features, reviews, poetry and short fiction published in all sorts of places - Belfast Telegraph, Tribune, Ireland's Own, Dalhousie Review, Fairlight Books, Reader's Digest, Reality, Lapwing Poetry, Ink, Sweat & Tears, Spillwords, Dear Reader, Amethyst Review, to name a selection.  Oh, and the odd BBC radio contribution. I wrote a book on retailing, on dealing with job losses and a biography of Stephen Boyd.

This is a series of very short items that have nothing to do with the current news agenda.  Swift diversions for a moment or two.

Apropos of Nothing #83 – 12 July 1950

On 12 July, 1950, the western film Winchester ’73 went on general release in the US.  It had premiered the previous month.  

The cast included James Stewart, Shelley Winters, Dan Duryea, John McIntire, and in early roles, Rock Hudson (25 years old) and Tony Curtis (also 25).

The film was shot in black and white and was directed by Anthony Mann.

The plot is a series of chapters held together by the over-arching story of the journey of the famous repeating rifle as it changes hands.

No overuse of the word here, it is a classic western.

It began a collaboration between Stewart and Mann that stretched over seven films, mostly westerns.

Winchester’73 was remade as a 1967 television movie. Dan Duryea, from the original, was in the cast. They shouldn’t have bothered. 

 

Sources: Various