Oh, the memories!

Here's how I fall down Internet rabbit holes and waste my precious time:  

I surfed past an article this morning saying something about how dogs will never be able to actually talk because they don't have the physical apparatus to do so.  However, I recalled that at some time in my youth, there was a contest on the Today Show; I'm not sure if they said they'd give a sum of money to anyone who could prove their dog could talk, or if it was some other incentive, but there were several dogs brought on the show that seemingly "talked".  I distinctly recall one dog repeating after its master, "I love you" back to him (or her).  It wasn't all that plain, but I think it was close enough to reap whatever rewards were offered.  Bear with me, because this is all very fuzzy in my brain.

I discussed this whole dog-talk subject with Cliff; he had never heard of this, so I explained it all to him as best I could, just like I'm doing now on my blog.  Surely, I thought, there would be a Youtube video showing those talking dogs; there was not.  However, I decided to forget about the dogs and find out who the first host was on the Today Show; that turned out to be Dave Garroway, from 1952 until 1961.  

Oh yes, I remembered Dave Garroway!  I used to watch the Today Show while waiting to go to the school-bus stop; Dave had a chimp on the show named J. Fred Muggs.  But my mind moved on from there, wondering who the next host was, because I thought I remembered a calmer, less funny man being the host while I was still in school (I graduated in 1962).  When I saw it was Hugh Downs, I remembered he was somebody's sidekick on the Tonight Show later, but I wasn't sure whose.  Another search!  Yes, he starred with Jack Parr on the tonight show.

Hugh Downs

So that got me remembering the Tonight Show host, Jack Parr.  Parr introduced me to people I would never have heard of in any other way:  Truman Capote was a regular guest, and Geneveive, with her cute, funny French accent.   There were Elsa Maxwell, Fidel Castro, Hermione Gingold, Oscar Levant... well, I could go on.  Suffice it to say I was introduced to some unique folks  the like of which I would never have run into in real life.  Jack Parr, himself, kept me on the edge of my seat, wondering what would happen next.  He was bipolar, a word not heard in those days; I think maybe they called it manic-depressive?   Anyhow, he once almost got into a fist fight with Micky Rooney.  He was liable to cry at any occasion, and one time he walked off the set because he told a joke he had gotten from his teenage daughter and they didn't show it; the big-wigs at NBC decided it was too off-color for television (it wasn't... you can read about it HERE.  (If you click on the link there's a warning about whether you should go ahead, but there's nothing wrong with the site.)

Jack Parr

This rabbit hole was an even longer one because I kept trying to find Youtube videos of various ones of those guests.  Finally I forced myself away from all the searching and decided to write about my search so you will know why I never get anything constructive done around here.

And that's the way it is on this Friday the 13th.