June 15, 2018

Veronica and Archie 2018, as seen today by Harry Bliss

Ancestry.com is pitching their DNA test as the perfect Fathers' Day gift.  I'm wondering how it's gonna go over when somebody finds out that Pops isn't exactly their biological father.

Just kill me now.  I get to go to Starbucks twice a week, and on Thursdays I look forward to my "plain bagel, lightly-toasted, with butter."  Last week they were out of plain bagels.  I know my hearing is going, but I don't think the barista was very clear.  I somehow ended up with a Sprouted Grain Vegan Bagel -- and I don't think it was toasted.  Reminded me of the great line from the Odd Couple.  "You want a green sandwich or a brown sandwich? says Walter Matthau."  "What's in the green sandwich? asks Jack Lemmon."  "I don't know.  It's either old meat or new cheese."

It didn't get any better at Subway, when I brilliantly calculated that a Tuna Wrap would solve the problem of tuna squishing out of the bread and rolling down my shirt.  It almost didn't happen.  I couldn't answer the first question.  "What kind of tortilla do you want? asked the sandwich maker.  "A PLAIN tortilla!, I shouted.  "Sorry, you have to choose between Habanero, Spinach or Tomato Basil."   Aggghhhhhh!!!  I went with Habanero.

I turned down another Facebook friend request this week.  This time it was from someone I know and like.  Nothing good ever comes to me from accepting these requests.  Either I'm inundated with wiggling puppies or fresh-from-the-oven Pineapple Upside Down cake or -- worse yet -- political diatribes.  Email me if you want and explain why in the world you'd want to be my Facebook friend.  PS -- I rarely, if ever, post from my personal FB account -- just the Colt Corral.

Just when I've had it with Facebook, something wonderful happens.  Someone was fondly recalling Consuelo's Mexican Restaurants which eventually led to the best web site ever -- Classic San Diego Mexican Restaurants.

Bob McGehee, a '65 Point Loma grad, is looking for a photo of Don's Hamburgers.  This is the best I could provide.  The McGehees lived in the Crawford area long enough for brother Richard to graduate in 1960 then moved to Point Loma.

The June issue of the quarterly, 12-page Crawford Alumni newsletter is in the mail.  I've made the 1968 Pacer Staff the Playmate Centerfold.  Those of you who subscribe should be on the lookout.  Those of you who've been thinking about subscribing, or didn't even know there WAS such a thing, can click HERE for more information.

Holly Acosta Gray '71 decided to test out her new scanner.  She's forwarded a photo of her 1959 Kindergarten class from John Muir Elementary.  Click HERE to look at an enlarged version on the web site.

June 8, 2018

Both Colts on Tuesday's ballot cruised to victory.  Ernie Dronenburg '61 (above) will serve a third term as County Assessor.  Bill Gore '65 will retain his job as County Sheriff.

Pam Woodberry '62 was enjoying the sites on Beale Street in Memphis, Tennessee when she looked down to see this.  Turned out to be a different John Fry, the late founder of Ardent Studios in Memphis.  Click HERE to read more.

This photo popped up on Facebook this week.  Recognize it?  It's the old Mission Valley Bowlero bowling alley.  You might recognize it as the Scottish Rite Event Center.

Mike Roberts '62 has shared his collection of Euclid Elementary class photos, plus the 1955 Safety Patrol boys photos.  It's also the first time I've created a new web page with SeaMonkey software.  Click HERE to see how it came out.

It's been a while since I shared the decal collection of Sally Brett '63.  Click HERE to check it out.

June 1, 2018

I don't think he went to Crawford, but 19-year old Norman Xiong learned to play golf at Colina del Sol.  He has just turned professional and hopes this week to qualify for the U. S. Open.  Click HERE to read the entire article in this past Tuesday's Union-Tribune.

Here's the KCBQ Hit Parade Survey for June 3, 1958 -- sixty years ago.  Click HERE to check it out.  Many of my all time favorite songs are on this list.

Here's something else from sixty years ago -- the 1958 Guaranty Chevrolet Pony League team photo, shared a few years ago by Tom Christensen '63.  Click HERE to see an enlarged version with some names.

Steve Basko '70 passed away May 16th.   A memorial is to be held at the Mission Beach Women's Club, 840 Santa Clara Place, San Diego, CA 92109 at 1:00 PM, Sunday, June 3rd.

May 25, 2018

Well, THAT year went fast!!  It's time, once again, to remember those who gave everything for us.  Click HERE to visit the Colts Who Died In Vietnam page.

I've held on to this for a year -- I just can't remember who sent it to me originally.

Last Sunday's San Diego Union-Tribune Entertainment Section was all about the upcoming Lipinsky Family Jewish Festival.  That's Jeffrey and Sheila Smith Lipinsky above.  Yale Strom and his wife Elizabeth Schwartz (below) will perform on June 5th.  Sheila is a 1964 Colt, while Yale graduated in 1975. 

I came across a cute historical snippet by Angela Landsberg.  It's about a 1977 bus ride from her home on Park Boulevard to Palisade Gardens in North Park.  Click HERE and enjoy!!

Angela Landsberg's 1977 trip to Palisade Garden took place 41 years ago.  The May 23, 1968 Pacer pays tribute to Mrs. Lois Perry, who retired after a teaching career that lasted 41 years.  1977 doesn't seem that long ago.  For Mrs. Perry it meant she taught at Wilson Junior High the year it opened -- in 1925!!  Click HERE to read more

May 18, 2018

Remember when all you had to do was turn a knob to change stations on your car radio?  Nancy has "Music of the '40s" on her Kia Sirius radio and I allowed as how I missed the '50s tunes she used to play.  I think I could land a 747 before I could figure out how to work Sirius.   We realized we'd have to head back to my house, get on the computer and access Google to find out how to change stations.  Oh, are you waiting to hear what happened?  We got back to my place but forgot why we were there.  I'm gonna look for a YouTube instructional video today.

Any chance you were a teammate of Richard Lidbom on the 1958 Piggly Wiggly Little League team?  I have the team photo on the web site, but no names -- not even Richard's.  Click HERE to investigate.

I'm not sure what Fillies Follies was, but the late Ann Roskos Rofflesen shared the program from the March 20, 1963 event.  Rollie Fanton, Linda Johnson, and Kathy Houser were the opening act.  I think they also performed at the 50 Year Reunion.  Click HERE to take a look.

Are you a 1962 Rolando Park graduate?  You might be in Mike Newell's class photos -- Kindergarten through Grade 6.  Click HERE to check them out.

May 11, 2018

To misquote Mark Twain, "there are lies, damn lies, and commercials."  I spotted one for lasik surgery for (I think) $399* per eye.  I was certain the asterisk would reveal the REAL cost, but when I looked at the bottom of the TV screen the fine print was blurry.  Gosh, it might lead a person to think they needed eye surgery.  (This was just an observation.  My eyes are just fine -- with glasses)

Click HERE to read all four pages of the May 9, 1968 Golden Anniversary Pacer.  Maybe YOU know who was trying to sell a '57 Chevy Bel-Air for $325.

Well, THIS one slipped through the cracks!!  If I had posted The Mighty 690 Top Forty on April 21, 2018 it would have been 60 years old.   Guess it's still worth a gander.  Click HERE to check it out.

Courtesy of Paula Kincaid

May 4, 2018

If you're of a mind to, I think you can watch Star Wars movies all day today on TBS.

This Bliss cartoon ran on Wednesday.  It sort symbolized the issues we seniors are dealing with.

I'm thinking of rewriting Citizen Kane.  This version will feature a man in his 70s trying to survive in the modern world of technology.   The last scene will feature him uttering the classic "Rosebud" which, in fact, will be the password he couldn't remember in order to access all of his important information that he'd transferred to the "cloud".

Were you in Mrs. Hallock's 3rd Grade Class at Marshall Elementary in 1959?  Click HERE to take another look at the photo submitted by Norm Black '68.

Click HERE to see both pages of The Big KCBQ Survey issued the week of May 3, 1964.

April 27, 2018

I don't know if you've been following the case of Naruto.  In 2011 the Crested Macaque swiped the camera of British nature photographer David Slater and took this selfie.  Slater included the photo in a book he published and PETA took him to court saying some of the profits were owed to Naruto  Click HERE to see how the 9th District Court ruled in this matter.

I hate geese.  They're like snakes with legs.  We had one in Spring Valley when I was a toddler and it once grabbed me by the rolled up hem on my blue jeans and dragged me kicking and screaming.  This week in Michigan a high school golfer got between a Canada Goose and its nest.  Click HERE for the whole story.

Here’a s photo of folks gathered at the Scott Shaw! table at last week’s San Diego Comic Fest. Scott has been a cartoonist and illustrator and involved in TV and related projects since graduating from Crawford in 1968.  George Sorensen '69 (lives in Lake Oswego, Oregon and works for Boeing), Jann Andrews)Morris ’69 (lives in Logan, Utah and already has great grand kids), Jan Tonneson (seated -- graduated from Helix but hung with the Crawford cartoon crowd),  David Clark ’69 (lives in San Diego and has been in the wine business for decades), Greg Bear ’68 (lives in Seattle and is a SyFi book author), Scott Shaw ’70 lives in LA, and works in Cartoon and TV)

Scott Shaw gets a two-fer.  Here's some of his artwork from the April 25, 1968 Golden Anniversary Pacer.  Click HERE to read all four pages.

Click HERE if you'd like an update on Ernie Cowan's house wrens.

If you have fond memories of the early days of the San Diego Chargers Rene Maza '74 thinks you might enjoy the Tales From The American Football League web site.

Darwin Montaldo ’60, Crawford's first foreign exchange student, died in Montevideo, Uruguay, on August 23, 2016 of lung cancer.  He is survived by his wife, Silvia Iglesias, his children, Daniel, Laura, and Verónica, and his siblings, Siboney and Dante.  ASB President Ernie Griffin and his family were Darwin’s host family. Ernie and I were told of Darwin's death by his daughter, Laura, who found emails exchanged between us and her father.  My parents, sister Margaret '59, her close friend Carol Drogin '59, and I visited the Montaldo family in the summer of 1960, having a wonderful dinner at their suburban home in Montevideo -- Bob Richardson ’61