The Happiest Street in America!

As seen in Iowa City, Iowa

Flynnfest #52 - Deep Sea Fishing

Errol made this short, amateurish home movie in 1952 with close friend Howard Hill while fishing of the coast of Acapulco. It's silent, with a silly voice-over narration by another Flynn friend, Bob Edge. Errol had met Hill during the making of Robin Hood, when Hill was hired as his archery instructor. They remained drinking buddies for the rest of Flynn's life. The real star of this 10-minute short, however, are shots of Flynn's yatch, the Zaca, one of the greatest yatchs of the day, and still so to this day.

As for Deep Sea Fishing. OK. I saw it. Next!

Flynnfest #49 - Northern Pursuit

So, not the best of the genre. But certainly not the worst, and respectable enough. Errol is in top dashing form, and at the height of his career, though this movie was running at the time of his rape trial.

A good addition to the Flynnfest mix. Well, I liked it, at least.

Pu Yi Returns!

For the first time in a long time, I've bought some art. At least I think it is.

The Correct Answer to "Hey, What Happened To My Plant"?

Nicky meets the house plant. Rabbit 1. Houseplant 0.

A Tasty Treat Gone Terribly, Terribly Wrong

I'm clearing up my backlog of "WTF Bad Marketing Ideas" entries. The source of this one - the local Korean grocery store, of course. But I've also seen this, well, stuff, at my local Hyvee as well, in some way, shape or form.

Was this really necessary? I mean, if you're that concerned about diet and such, should you even have pudding on your menu to begin with?

Theresa's Cat Meets the Spirit of Christmas

Yum-yum meets Santa. Much confusion ensued.

"You'll Eat It and You'll Like It!"

Matt and I were on on our way back from the butt-crunching bike ride weekend in Cedar Rapids when I passed this restaurant in Walford, Iowa (population 1425).

Now how many times did I hear this as a child - "You'll eat it and you'll like it"? That would be me and split peas. Katie and broccoli. Mary Jane and tomatoes. I think I heard this at least five times a week growing up.

My conclusion - this is what would happen if your Mom decided to open a restaurant. I bet the menu has split peas, broccoli, tomatoes, liver, and navy bean soup.

Bad Marketing Ideas - Just the Thing For That Notre Dame Grad in Your Family

I ran across this will doing some research on a monastery in Iowa. I'm amazed.

Notre Dame Caskets and Urns

Trappist Caskets, in partnership with the University of Notre Dame, now offers an exclusive line of custom-designed caskets and urns for Notre Dame alumni and their families.

As a work of the monks of New Melleray Abbey, Trappist Caskets are built on a long tradition that combines a reverence for nature with a preference for old-world craftsmanship. available, much of it coming from the monastery’s own award-winning forest.

All caskets, urns, and register books come with an engraved seal authorized by the University of Notre Dame. Included in the purchase of a casket or urn is a complimentary Guest Register Book and four family keepsake crosses. These keepsake crosses are in addition to the removable cross that comes on the lid of each casket and urn.

Novel Business Idea - Kansas

This was on NPR today. I have been to Preston. It is a typically sad, dying rural Kansas town. But it was this part of the article that caught my eye:

"...he bought the run-down bar and grill on Main Street to turn it into a mortuary and crematorium ."

I'm thinking, hey - what a unique marketing idea. Not a former bar and grill turned into a mortuary and crematorium, but rather - here ya go - a COMBINATION bar and grill and mortuary and crematorium! Imagine the possibilities.

Undertaker Hopes To Revive Kansas Town
by Carla Eckels

December 8, 2009

Ken Stanton and his family are renovating a building on Main Street in Preston, Kan., that will become the Heartland Funeral Home and Crematory.

Many small towns across rural America continue to see population declines as the farming generation dwindles and the younger generation moves to bigger cities. But one small western Kansas town is getting help from an unlikely source: an Arizona undertaker who plans to revive the dying town by catering to the dead.

'Everyone Got Quite Excited'

The tiny town of Preston, Kan., once boasted a very active Main Street with two grocery stores, a post office, a cafe, a drug store and a filling station. But now they are gone — along with the town's high school and church. In fact, only 170 people live here. Boarded-up buildings line either side of Main Street. A City Hall and senior center remain within view of two towering grain elevators.

Ken Stanton plans to change much of that. The 53-year-old mortician with a warm and easy smile has been in the funeral business for 18 years. He is no stranger to Preston. For 35 years, he and his wife, Donna, have come here to visit relatives. Donna Stanton's father dreamed of a revitalized Preston, and Ken Stanton embraced that dream.

"I saw this little town, and I saw some pictures of it back in the early 1900s and saw what it was, and believed that this town could thrive again," he says.

So a year ago, he bought the run-down bar and grill on Main Street to turn it into a mortuary and crematorium. On a recent day, Stanton and brother-in-law Mike Saldan are surveying the gutted 94-year-old brick building. The goal is to complete construction and open the facility by January.

Mayor Wayne Scott, a student in the last graduating class of Preston High School — in 1966 — acknowledges that news of an undertaker investing big time in Preston was at first met with some skepticism.

But Scott says that changed after Stanton attended a City Council meeting and started requesting permits and acquiring properties around town, including on Main Street. "We realized that it could possibly be a reality for us, and then I think everyone got quite excited," Scott says.

A Family Affair

Donna Stanton plans to work alongside her husband in the mortuary and support her son's new business: a 1950s-style restaurant to be built down the street. It's not just Ken and Donna Stanton coming here — it's more than 30 family members and friends.

"My sister from South Carolina is coming in with her husband, and she'll be staying out here; and my other sister came with me; and then, of course, my brother-in-law and my other sister is in Phoenix, so they'll end up here," Donna Stanton says.

Although some Preston residents are welcoming them here, Ken Stanton says others aren't so sure.

"I think there's a group of people that are kind of wondering, 'What are these people trying to do — come in and take over the whole place?' " he says.

Mike Snell, the longtime branch manager of the Cairo Co-Op in Preston, says he hopes the Stanton clan can jump-start the town.

"The city of Preston is just about a dead town," Snell says. "We got the co-op here and a local meat plant, and there's just not a whole lot going on in the town anymore."

Although Preston is tiny, Stanton plans to draw funeral business from a 50-mile radius. He also wants to encourage others to give small towns a second look.

"Metropolitan communities are getting so packed with people," he says. "So many people are out of work. People are starting to gravitate farther out, where housing and things are a little bit less expensive. So I think there's an opportunity for growth and things to happen in small communities and small towns, if people will just be willing to be ready for some change."

And whether Preston lives or dies may rest in part on the success of the funeral business

Book List Entry - The Americans

At yet another estate sale lately, I was rummaging through a shelf loaded with cookbooks (bad ones, unfortunately) when I spied a copy of The Americans: 50 Talks on Our Life and Times by Alistair Cooke. Quite an interesting read. Published in 1979, this was one of Cooke’s many books detailing his career spent observing life in the United States. What is interesting is that his observations were intended for a British audience (the 50 essays are transcripts of his weekly BBC radio show Letter from America). Running from 1969 through 1979, Cooke gives an interesting multi-part running commentary on the Watergate scandal, which, interestingly, he initially poo-poo’d as a tempest in a teapot ginned up by the Democrats (oh, how hindsight works!). Clearly a man of an earlier era, he takes a dim view of the youth culture of the 1960s, the decline of traditional institutions such as marriage, and the U.S. opening of relations with China (which he clearly saw as a Chinese con-job).

After reading this book, I concluded that Cooke was the Craig Ferguson of an earlier generation. He became a U.S. citizen in 1941, but unlike many naturalized citizens, never felt the need to bash neither his native Britain nor his adopted country, the US. Interestingly, he uses the term “us” in referring to people in the US, denoting that he is firmly one of them, when addressing his British audience. He was a keen observer able to see past the chaff on most issues. One thing I found surprising about the book was his willingness, in picking 50 talks out of over 500 in a ten-year period, he chose some that showed that he himself did occasionally get it wrong. Initially, he clearly liked Richard Nixon, and it wasn’t until after five years and the Watergate scandal that he clearly considered him pretty much an immoral scumbag. Among his many interesting observations on life in America, I enjoyed this one in particular:

“…American football is an open-air chess match disguised as warfare.”

Reading this book, I kept drawing mental comparisons to Craig Ferguson and his observations on life in the US and on becoming a citizen. On the whole, I think Cooke would have approved of Ferguson’s comment “If you don’t vote, you’re a moron.” In reverse, I think Ferguson would thoroughly enjoy this book. Perhaps I’ll send it to him.

Oh, final note. At the estate sale. Old book, obviously in good condition and unread. Open cover. Look at flyleaf. There it is. “Alistair Cooke”. Signed by the author. Cool.

Added bonus - Craig Ferguson's rip on Americans who don't vote. Classic. View at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdRVQ4xwwmQ

Wild and Wonderful West Virginia

I snapped this picture of a wooden footbridge over a river while working in West Virginia during the summer of 2007. Nothing sinister or goofy - just a nice shot of the bridge. Who knows where it could take you if you let it.