The Last Perfect Year

08/27/2024

With Jackson-Township historical preservation – I just got recognized as one of their top fans! 🎉

07/11/2024

The World Headquarters of the Carnegie Bugle is located in the Historical Society of Carnegie, PA just five miles south of Pittsburgh.

06/10/2024

I GOT TO MEET KIM NOVAK. IF YOU KNOW, YOU KNOW.
Kim Novak is one of mid-century Hollywood's most compelling stars, and at 91, she remains one of the precious few Golden Age icons who's still with us. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kim_Novak
The star of several of cinema’s greatest hits, including “Vertigo” and “Picnic”, Kim left Hollywood at the peak of her career. Her iconic dance with William Holden in “Picnic” to the theme “Moonglow” is one of moviedoms greatest moments. https://www.bing.com/videos/riverview/relatedvideo?q=moonglow&mid=A9E8C91E9375DB1FB9E2A9E8C91E9375DB1FB9E2&ajaxhist=0
In a life after Tinseltown, Kim did some acting but devoted her life to animal rights, along with her late husband, a veterinarian, and to her art and poetry. She excelled in all of that.
A lifelong fan, I jumped at the chance last Sunday to see her latest gallery opening when a friend invited me to join them to see Kim’s work Kim Novak: Unmasked Emotions - The Butler Institute of American Art https://butlerart.com/exhibits/kim-novak-unmasked-emotions/ the American Art Exhibit | The Butler Institute of American Art (butlerart.com) in Youngstown, Ohio. https://butlerart.com/
After a wonderful lunch at Garden Cafe - Kravitz Deli Youngstown Ohio https://kravitzdeli.com/garden-cafe/ we arrived at the lobby just as Kim and her entourage of four were coming from a side gallery.
Somehow my friend maneuvered me and her buddy into the elevator - with Kim’s group! I was last in.
Everyone was facing front. I had my back to the door. Facing everyone. Facing Kim. Arms length away. Everyone silent. She was looking right at me. She really didn’t have a choice. I was right there. She was right there. I was aware that I was breathing the same air as Kim Novak.
I put my hand on my chest and said, “I think I’m going to swoon.”
Everyone laughed.
“Be still within my bosom, my wildly beating heart!”
The laughter got louder as the elevator doors open.
We all swirled into an enormous gallery leading to a smaller room, a smaller gallery, where Kim’s work was on display.
My chance for a candid close-up with this legend had just passed. However, my friend approached Kim’s assistant and asked if I could get a picture with Kim before it got too busy. The next thing I knew I’m holding Kim Novak’s hands and talking to her. There were two dozen people taking pictures and videos. Kim Novak looked me in the eyes waiting to see what I would say.
“I will measure my life by this moment. Before I met Kim Novak and now, after I have met you.”
She squeezed my hand.
“That’s so sweet!”.
Everyone went “Aww!”
Kim’s assistant moved someone else over to get a selfie with Kim and I went over into a corner with my friends to look at the pictures they had taken.
Even at seventy-two years old, it can be fun being a “Fan Boy/Fan Girl”
*****
PS. Kim’s exhibit runs until August. Check information in the links. It is in Youngstown, Ohio. I have to admit I was stunned by how clean and beautiful Youngstown has become. The impression I held was the old Youngstown in which I had business in the steel industry forty years ago. It’s how some people still remember Pittsburgh forty and fifty years ago. Dirty, dusty and dying. Kudos to Youngstown for where you are today.

05/24/2024

May 22, 1970, the final edition of the Carnegie Bugle was published at Bishop Canevin. My underground newspaper was published for three years, in my sophomore, junior and senior years. This issue was ten pages and cost .10. This was my sign-off letter on the last page. The current World Headquarters of the Carnegie Bugle is situated within the Historical Society of Carnegie, PA.

04/15/2024

Keenan Carnegie Bugle Media Group. Unique Business Solutions Pappy & Zeke's Curious Collectibles The Last Perfect Year Historical Society of Carnegie, PA

11/22/2023

I found out early that this appears to be true.

/ Robert Heinlein /
"Never appeal to a man's 'better nature.' He may not have one. Invoking his self-interest gives you more leverage."
"Robert Anson Heinlein was an American science fiction author, aeronautical engineer, and naval officer. Sometimes called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was among the first to emphasize scientific accuracy in his fiction, and was thus a pioneer of the subgenre of hard science fiction. His published works, both fiction and non-fiction, express admiration for competence and emphasize the value of critical thinking. His plots often posed provocative situations which challenged conventional social mores. His work continues to have an influence on the science-fiction genre, and on modern culture more generally. Heinlein became one of the first American science-fiction writers to break into mainstream magazines such as The Saturday Evening Post in the late 1940s. He was one of the best-selling science-fiction novelists for many decades, and he, Isaac Asimov, and Arthur C. Clarke are often considered the "Big Three" of English-language science fiction authors."
W
Born: Robert Anson Heinlein, July 7, 1907, Butler, Missouri, U.S.
Died: May 8, 1988, Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, U.S.
Pen name: Anson MacDonald, Lyle Monroe, John Riverside, Caleb Saunders, Simon York
Occupation: Novelist, short story author, essayist, screenwriter, aeronautical engineer, lieutenant USN
Alma mater: United States Naval Academy, University of California, Los Angeles (incomplete)
Period: 1939–1988
Genre: Science fiction, fantasy
Notable works: Stranger in a Strange Land, The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress, Starship Troopers, Time Enough for Love
Robert A. Heinlein (1987). “Time Enough for Love”, p.227, Penguin

08/11/2023

1963 Ford Galaxie 500 . My first car at the conclusion of "The Last Perfect Year". It had a two-door body style with a front positioned engine powering the rear wheels. The power was produced by a naturally aspirated engine of 3.6 liter capacity. The car featured an overhead valve gear, 6 cylinder layout, and 2 valves per cylinder. It developed 138 bhp (140 PS/103 kW) of power at 4200 rpm, and maximum torque of 275 N·m (203 lb·ft/28 kgm) at 2200 rpm. A 3 speed manual transmission transmitted the power to the driven wheels. Quoted weight at the curb was 3822 lbs. Photo June 1970.

08/11/2023

03/26/2023

"All Saints' Day", (1888)

-Émile Friant-