I had the first Christmas event of The Season at noon today, and the second one in about an hour. I understand they will be serving Christmas martinis, whatever that mixture might be.


Though you really know it's the Christmas season in San Francisco when it's time to gather for Santicon.....


Naked Santas to deck SF with red hats, smiles

By: Andrea Koskey | 12/01/11 4:00 AM
Pass the punch: Santacon, now in its 17th year, features a pub crawl. This year, the event will converge in San Francisco’s North Beach on Dec. 10.

From Big Wheel races down Vermont Street on Easter to costumes and floats during the famous Bay to Breakers foot race, San Franciscans can add another unique event to the list: naked Santas.

As part of this year’s Santacon, one longtime participant is attempting to set a world record by gathering the most naked Santas in one place during the annual ritual of a day of drinking.

Event organizer Tex Allen said the goal, though unorthodox, is meant to be a way of mixing up the almost two-decade-old San Francisco tradition.

“It’s a lark,” Allen said. “It’s really about creating your own fun, and that’s what Santacon is all about.”

Santacon began in 1994 in San Francisco and grew over the years to include festivals in 28 countries.

Now in its 17th year, the Santa-themed pub crawl is taking on North Beach on Dec. 10.

Around 3 p.m. at the final gathering, Allen aims to get most of the participants to strip off their festive attire — though hats, boots and gloves are allowed.

“Hopefully everyone will already be warm after a few hours of drinking,” he said. “We do a lot of ridiculous things in The City already; this is just one more thing.”

For those worried about stripping down, being naked in San Francisco is not unprecedented — or illegal. Nude men and women roam the streets during parades and protests, and one group often frequents the Harvey Milk Plaza in the Castro.

The only rules that apply are for nudists who go inside a business, such as a restaurant.

They must place a towel on a seat under the bare bum, per a recent resolution from Supervisor Scott Wiener.

The gathering also will be an attempt to create a new mark in the Guinness World Records. Allen said he has already created an account, though Guinness officials said they are not aware of an application.

A Guinness representative said one is still possible and can be expedited, although she wasn’t certain if a nude Santa photo was too specific for a new category. But the group could go after existing ones.

The record for the world’s largest nude photo was set May 6, 2007, in Mexico City with 18,000 people, according to Guinness. A gathering of 13,000 (clothed) Santas set a record Dec. 9, 2007, in Ireland.

akoskey@sfexaminer.com

Read more at the San Francisco Examiner: http://www.sfexaminer.com/local/bay-are ... z1fKaAYMYG

‘Laugh-In’ Comic Alan Sues Dies At 85

December 4, 2011 6:00 PM


LOS ANGELES (CBS SF/AP) – Alan Sues, who brought his flamboyant and over-the-top comic persona to the hit television show “Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In” in the 1960s and 1970s, has died, a close friend said Sunday night, December 4th.

Sues died of cardiac arrest on Thursday at his home in West Hollywood, Michael Gregg Michaud, a friend since 1975, told The Associated Press.

“He was sitting in a recliner watching TV with his dachshund Doris who he loved in his lap,” Michaud said.

Sues had various health problems in the last several years, but the death came as a shock to friends, Michaud said. He was 85.

Sues was a native of Marin County, born in Ross on March 7, 1926 to Alice & Peter Sues who moved around quite frequently. Alan eventually moved to New York in 1952, where he began his career as a serious actor and in 1953 appeared in director Elia Kazan’s “Tea and Sympathy” on Broadway.

But he would be remembered for his wild comic characters.

They included “Big Al,” an effeminate sportscaster, and “Uncle Al the Kiddies Pal,” a hung-over children’s show host, on “Laugh-In,” the TV phenomenon that both reflected and mocked the era’s counterculture and made stars of Goldie Hawn, Lily Tomlin and many others.

Sues also donned tights as the commercial spokesman for Peter Pan peanut butter, and appeared in the popular 1964 “Twilight Zone” episode “The Masks.”

Fellow cast members and crew from “Laugh-In” remembered him as even more entertaining behind the scenes.


“Alan Sues was one of those guys even funnier in person than on camera,” Ruth Buzzi, a co-star who appeared in many skits with Sues, said on her Twitter account. “Across a dinner table, over the phone … hysterical. We’ll miss him.”

Executive producer George Schlatter, who would eventually bring Sues to “Laugh-In” after seeing him alongside future co-star Jo Anne Worley in the Off-Broadway comedy “The Mad Show,” said Sues was “a free spirit,” an “outrageous human being” and “a love child.”

“He was a delight; he was an upper,” Schlatter told the Los Angeles Times, which first reported the death. “He walked on the stage and everybody just felt happy.”

Sues would always be best known for “Laugh-In,” which he left in 1972 before its final season.

But Michaud said the Peter Pan spots brought Sues nearly as much recognition in later years.

And he said the “Twilight Zone” episode brought him appearances at sci-fi and autograph conventions for decades.

“Fans of `The Twilight Zone’ are cuckoo,” Michaud said.

Michaud said that while Sues was always cast as the stereotypically gay character, he believed he needed to hide his own gay identity during his years on television.

“He felt like he couldn’t publicly come out,” Michaud said. “He felt like people wouldn’t accept him.”

Sues was grateful for “Laugh-In,” but wasn’t happy he was typecast in his comic persona as he sought to return to more serious acting.

He got one chance that he cherished in 1975, the serious role of Moriarty with the Royal Shakespeare Company in “Sherlock Holmes” on Broadway.

He stayed with the show until it closed the following year, then went out to perform it with the touring company.

In later years he would make many more theater appearances, do voiceover work for television, and appear in guest spots on TV series like “Punky Brewster” and “Sabrina the Teenage Witch.”

Sues is survived by a sister-in-law, two nieces and a nephew.

There were no immediate plans for a memorial.

http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2011/1 ... ies-at-85/



From his Tea and Sympathy:



"Years from now, when you talk about this...and you will...be kind."

At this time of the past few years I usually have a thought for our Jim in Nebraska.

Puppies and kittens will have more stuff this weekend at my local animal shelter, and I will wear a purple shirt as I deliver the stuff with a thought up to Jim.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJ0JgqoF ... re=related



Steve Goodman did a not to be forgotten "Dying Cubs Fan Last Request" I have shared here in the past.

The above link is Steve Goodman, "City of New Orleans." Original style.

In the high winds last week out here we lost a section of fencing between us and our neighbors to our left.


Their little puppies, who I have since learned are Miniature Pinschers, found our place with the fence down and have decided they really like it. They are over here anytime they can break out.

I've dubbed them "Ping" and "Pong" dog.

They run fast and often, and jump even more.

They jump more than Mexican jumping beans and when they know I am in my home office they come banging their little bodies against the patio door to get the attention of me...and our 14 1/2 year old dog.

Our dog seems to like to watch them, doesn't dislike them, but has no desire to be out where she has to interact with them.

Today "Ping" and "Pong" learned we have a dog door by the patio door in my office and there was quite the adventure with TFinSC/nCali in full business attire chasing after them up and down stairs and in and out of rooms in a finally successful attempt to get them back outside....into our yard.

I tried vainly, but without success, to get Ping and Pong back securely into their yard. Those dogs can jump and move.

Knowing in advance it would be a vain attempt, I walked down the street to ring the door bell of our neighbor. They are Asian...not that it matters. It was 4:30, and I knew and understand that the parents have told the oldest girl, probably 12 or 13, not to answer the door with parents not at home.

She listens well, and never does.

I went back to a Westmoreland type of "containment" to just make sure her energetic pups stayed safe in our back yard.

My biggest concern in containment was that the pups would try to get under the fence and into the neighbor's yard on the other side. I had previously noted their interest in such.

I checked on them after five minutes, and saw one digging a tunnel. I attempted to thwart the effort.

Ten minutes later I noted I had been unsuccessful.

"Pong" was still in my yard, while "Ping" had successfully "tunneled through," but could not get back.

Both were stuck, and "Ping" stuck his head through his tunnel and begged for assistance to get back to his friend. "Pong" was digging on my side.

I don't know if he was trying to get "Ping" back through, or to simply continue their journey of adventure.



Against my better judgment, but with few other alternatives available, I left our back yard and went through our house and out the front door to see if the other neighbors where "Ping" was might be home. They were seemingly not, as I had suspected.

So, in suit pants, starched shirt and Johnston and Murphy's, I scaled their gate and calmed and retrieved Ping. And during the return, simply opened the gate....since I realized after the fact it was not locked.......and then returned Ping to Pong....in my backyard.

I then went next door to the other neighbor and knocked vigorously instead of ringing the bell. This time the oldest girl answered.

I told her I loved her dogs, but they seemed to love being in our yard. I told her I didn't care at all they were there, but I was concerned about what might happen if they escaped from my yard. I asked her to go out back and call her dogs and I would coax them back through the opening in the adjoining fence they had used for their escapade and my adventure.

She was successful in her efforts.

I tossed more stuff and nails and wood quickly into the makeshift wind damaged fence opening.

I then placed four calls and messages to get someone out here to rebuild the fence well, hopefully as soon as tomorrow.


Still, I suspect I have not realized my final adventure with Ping and/or Pong.

A day that will live in infamy.....


70 years ago.

I remember when it was only 25 years ago.

Rod R. Blagojevich just got 22 years.

Make that 14 years! I guess the sentence was reduced. The reduction actually was a result of the dow dropping approximately the same just after the sentencing was handed down.

'M*A*S*H' Star Harry Morgan Dies at 96
4:44pm EST

WASHINGTON | Wed Dec 7, 2011 5:30pm EST
(Reuters) - Prolific character actor Harry Morgan, who appeared in more than 100 films but was best known for television roles including Colonel Sherman Potter in the popular series "M*A*S*H," died on Wednesday at his Los Angeles home, age 96.
His son, producer Christopher Morgan, confirmed the actor's death in an e-mail to Reuters.

Morgan in 1980 won an Emmy award, honoring the best in U.S. TV, for his work on the anti-war comedy series "M*A*S*H" playing the upstanding commanding officer of a U.S. Mobile Army Surgical Hospital during the Korean War. Morgan appeared in "M*A*S*H" from 1975 to 1983.

He also appeared as Officer Bill Gannon on television crime series "Dragnet" from 1967 to 1970, alongside Jack Webb.

Morgan's ability to play a variety of roles, dramatic and comedic, made him an actor in demand for half a century. He starred in about a dozen U.S. TV series starting in the 1950s and appeared in movies with some of Hollywood's biggest stars.

He appeared in "The Ox-Bow Incident" in 1943 with Henry Fonda, "High Noon" in 1952 with Gary Cooper, "The Glenn Miller Story" in 1954 with Jimmy Stewart and "Inherit the Wind" in 1960 with Spencer Tracy.

But it was his role on "M*A*S*H," the long-running series on the CBS network, that earned him his most fame. The series was adapted from the successful 1970 feature film of the same name, presenting an anti-war theme at the same time the United States was extricating itself from the Vietnam War.

Morgan was not one of the original cast members. The series began in 1972 but his first appearance came in a guest-starring role during its third season. He signed on as a full-time cast member in 1975 after actor McLean Stevenson, who had played the fictional unit's commanding officer, left the show.

"ONE OF THE LUCKIEST"

The actor played Colonel Potter as a disciplined, sometimes cantankerous, but ultimately upright and good-hearted officer and capable surgeon. He was surrounded by a colorful cast including Alan Alda, Loretta Swit, Larry Linville, Mike Farrell, Gary Burghoff, David Ogden Stiers and Jamie Farr.

Morgan cried during a 1983 news conference after taping the final episode of "M*A*S*H," which became the most-watched show in the history of U.S. television.

He told reporters, "I'm feeling very sad and sentimental. I don't know if 'M*A*S*H' made me a better actor but I know it made me a better human being."

Morgan went on to play Potter in a short-lived TV sequel to M*A*S*H entitled "Aftermash." "I'm playing a character I'm awfully fond of," he told the Miami Herald in 1983. "I knew nothing was going to come along that was better than this."

Before the popular comedy, Morgan was perhaps best known for his role as the sidekick policeman, Officer Bill Gannon, to the no-nonsense Los Angeles investigator Sgt. Joe Friday (Jack Webb) on popular crime drama "Dragnet."

His TV and film credits ranged widely, starting in the early 1940s and including movies such as "Wing and a Prayer" (1944) and "High Noon" (1952). His TV work began in the 1950s and included numerous guest-starring and series regular roles up to his turn on "Dragnet" (1967-1970).

In 2004, he told the Archive of American Television: "I'd like to be remembered for being a fairly pleasant person and for having gotten along for the most part with a lot of the people I've worked with. And for having a wonderful life and for having enjoyed practically every minute of it...I think I'm one of the luckiest people in the world."

Morgan was born Harry Bratsberg in Detroit in 1915, and worked on stage before making his way to Hollywood. In his early work, he is credited as Henry Morgan. He was married twice and had four children with his first wife, Eileen, who died in 1985 after the pair had been together 45 years.

One son, Daniel, died in 1989. He is survived by three other sons, eight grandchildren and his second wife, Barbara Bushman.

Harry Morgan was one of those rare actors that if he was in a show, you knew it would be worth a watch.

I was a Dragnet junkie when it was widely in rerun syndication.


My wife and I were putting up the Christmas tree the other night and she had the TV locked on a M*A*S*H marathon, or something. Back to back to back to back episodes, at any rate.

I ended up taking a break and watching the episode where Hoolihan thinks she might be pregnant and they need to get Radar's rabbit to find out.

That show has aged extremely well. Especially since it originally aired over 20 years after the "conflict" it was set in, and now is being watched widely 40 years after it ran.

Perhaps the greatest accomplishment of Harry Morgan was to be about the only actor in TV history to replace the original actor in a series (McLean Stevenson) and make the show even richer.

Cali:

There is a new show starting on HBO tonight called "Luck" that sounds like something you may wanna give a look-see.

Hillbilly wrote:Cali:

There is a new show starting on HBO tonight called "Luck" that sounds like something you may wanna give a look-see.

Whoa, heck yes!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luck_%28TV_series%29

In my series of negotiations and compromises of a successful marriage, we do not pay for any package that gives us HBO.

I was a pushover in that discussion, since it has been seemingly years that HBO aired a movie that I cared to see.

I do wish I had HBO for some of the Stand Up Comedian shows or fights.


HB, if you watch it let me know what you think. I might get creative in finding a way to watch it sometime. Thanks!

Cali:

I thought it was good, and I have a feeling you would like it even more.

Dennis Farina looks exactly like he did 30 years ago. I gotta find out what his secret is.

Maybe you can wait for it to come out on DVD and get it for a birthday present or something.

Hillbilly wrote:Cali:


Dennis Farina looks exactly like he did 30 years ago. I gotta find out what his secret is.

Heck, I'm old enough to remember Farina from The Little Rascals.

Uncle Dennis, I finally made it by Mama's on Washington Square in North Beach today. It was a beautiful day in The City, sunny and 49 degrees when I arrived for a morning meeting. Unfortunately I did not eat there today for reasons I'll mention in a moment. Seats were plentiful, which I understand is a rarity. The City was delightfully empty today since there are no conventions in town and most tourists are holding for the days after Christmas. Heck, there was no one in line at the Powell & Market cable car turntable when I came out of BART near Union Square. I've never seen that in the nearly quarter of a century since I began visiting San Francisco.

I had one of those out of the blue "Forrest Gump" type happenings today.

My meeting ended around noon, so I had some free time to roam. I remembered that last week I had caught an episode of a local nightly show called Eye on The Bay. It's a "news magazine" that explores restaurants, museums and events in what is probably the 6,000 square miles that make up "the Bay Area."

In the episode last week they featured public "rooftops" of The City with an emphasis on available rooftop dining. I had done the Top of the Mark and others featured, but I had never heard of The Empress of China on Grant Avenue in Chinatown. They filmed up there and captured the great and surprising views from "the highest restaurant in Chinatown." I'm a big fan of the two primary hosts of the show, Liam Mayclem and Thuy Vu. Thuy Vu is very easy to look at....




Anyhow, with my free time I decided to walk through the nicely Christmas decorated Union Square and over to Grant Avenue and about 8 blocks to "The Empress." I enjoyed the view as well as the mixed vegetables in oyster sauce and steamed rice. At the conclusion of my meal I decided with the beautiful weather I would walk on down to Columbus Avenue, take a left and stroll through North Beach and down to the bay.

As I approached the sunlit Saints Peter and Paul Church I decided to divert and walk around Washington Square. Along the diversion trek I saw Tony's Pizza Napoletana http://tonyspizzanapoletana.com/intro.html was offering New York pizza by the slice, so I had one. It was everything I wanted and more. I love true New York style pizza.

Well, I left Tony's and decided I'd go ID your recommended Mama's, at least to check out the menu and the scene for the future.

I was walking down the sidewalk and noted a pro camera shoot was being set up and the sidewalk was partially blocked. It's very common to see modeling and magazine shoots around San Francisco so chalked it up to that. Slightly annoyed I cut through parked cars and continued about 40 feet in the lightly trafficked street until I was around the shoot setup. When I was, I cut back to the sidewalk only to find to my chagrin a large filming camera on a tripod with a camera man aimed down the street. I saw a couple talking and then realized he was readying to shoot them. I started to divert to the the street again but the cameraman said, "thanks, but we're not rolling so feel free to walk through."

I did, and as I drew closer I realized "the couple" talking was Liam Mayclem and Thuy Vu from the aforementioned Eye on The Bay. Certainly not a huge deal in the scheme of seeing notables, but I did notice the coincidence that I was running into them in the 6,000 square miles of The Bay Area right after I had just had lunch at a restaurant they shot at for the show I saw last week.

Liam said "hello" as I passed, and I said "I really like your show." He reached out to shake my hand and say "thanks," and then I offered, "in fact I just had lunch at the rooftop of The Empress only because I saw your clip from there last week." Thuy said, "really?...that's amazing!? What did you have? Did you like it? Did you have a good time!? (Thuy is effervescent....)"

I answered her questions, told them again I like catching their show, and ended by saying "I need to let you two get back to work." Liam said, "thanks for stopping" and Thuy said, "I'm glad you like our show!"

Then I found Mama's. I realized it was remarkable there were seats readily available, but after the Chinese lunch and the North Beach pizza I could not bring myself to even sample anything. It looked great though, and I WILL get there again.

I continued my way back to Columbus Avenue and followed it to it's end at Beach Street and The Cannery complex. I realized I was right by a great little Irish bar called Fiddler's Green. I decided that a beautiful cool day in San Francisco called for quaffing at least one or two pints of Guinness. So I did.

I thought about taking in a wharf bar or restaurant, but noted an empty street car (not named "Desire") was available and readying for a $2 trip back to Market & Embarcadero and a BART station.

So I hopped on, and headed home.

It was a good day.

Great recap, North Beach is a gastronomic delight. Do find your way to Mama's sometime, you won't be disappointed.