Also, you should 'like' Wonderful Wonderblog's Facebook page. Not only do I post the link's from the blog here, I also share other photo's and links that I think are cool from various other FB pages.
Hey, fans and followers of Wonderful Wonderblog! The Step Out: Walk to Stop Diabetes is just a little over a week away on Oct. 7. If you've thought about donating, now is the time. I'm only trying to raise $200 and I'm falling a little short. No amount is too big or too small and all donations are greatly appreciated. Please click the link below to donate. Credit cards, PayPal and snail mail are accepted. Thank you!
My wife and I went to Wheeling, WV in June of 2011. While there we visited The Kruger Street Toy & Train Museum. It's a pretty cool place located inside an old school house. Lots of great toys that I used to have or wish I did. If you're ever in the area, you should check it out.
Andy Williams, whose corn-fed good looks, easygoing charm and smooth rendition of "Moon River" propelled him to the heights of music stardom in the early '60s, died Tuesday at his home in Branson, Mo., following a battle with bladder cancer, his family announced.
He was 84, and 2012 had marked his 75th year in showbiz. Williams is survived by his wife Debbie and his three children, Robert, Noelle and Christian.
With 17 gold and three platinum records to his name, Williams enjoyed his golden years playing golf and dividing his time between La Quinta, Calif., and Branson, where he appeared at his Andy Williams Moon River Theater since 1992.
It was on the stage of that theater, in November 2011, Williams announced he had bladder cancer. At the time, he assured fans the disease was no longer a death sentence and that he had every intention of being a survivor.
Born in Wall Lake, Iowa, the son of a railroad worker, Howard Andrew WIlliams sang in his family's church choir with older siblings Bob, Dick and Don. In the late '30s, the boys built up a name for themselves regionally on Midwestern radio stations as the Williams Brothers quartet.
After the war, in 1947, they joined entertainer Kay Thompson in her innovative and sophisticated nightclub act. In his 2009 memoir Moon River and Me, Williams admitted he had a long affair with Thompson, who had been a legendary vocal coach at MGM (she taught Judy Garland and Lena Horne to sing for the screen) and was 18 years the senior of her handsome young protégé.
In 1952, when the brothers' act broke up, Andy launched his solo career, only to find himself broke and without bookings. Giving himself one last shot, he wisely switched his repertoire from clever Noël Coward ditties to the latest pop hits, and his New York club appearances soon included singing spots on the Tonight show (which was in Manhattan at the time), then regular TV shots and a Columbia Records contract.
By the early '60s he had an easy-listening hit under his belt, "Can't Get Used to Losing You," though it was his romantic take on the Best Song Oscar winner from 1961's Breakfast at Tiffany's, "Moon River," that landed him on the map – and kept him there.
The smash hit recording led to NBC's 1962 launch of The Andy Williams Show, which remained on the air until 1971 and then returned as an annual Christmas special. It was on the variety weekly program in 1963 that Williams introduced to America a group of young singing siblings from Utah, The Osmond Brothers.
Despite his own clean-cut good looks – the Williams signature look was a turtleneck under a brightly colored pullover sweater – scandal did touch Williams's life. In the mid-1970s, his ex-wife, French dancer Claudine Longet, went on trial in Aspen for the fatal shooting of her lover, international skiing star Vladimir ("Spider") Sabich.
In the end, Longet, who claimed the shooting was an accident, was found guilty of misdemeanor criminal negligence and received only a 30-day sentence, which she served on and off at her convenience. In his 2009 memoir, Williams, who during the trial had accompanied his ex-wife to the courtroom on a daily basis, continued to defend her innocence.
Longet and Williams were married from 1961 to 1975 and had three children together: Noelle, Christian, and Robert. They survive him, as does his second wife (since 1991), Debbie Williams.
Yikes! I'm a little late posting this. The walk is in 25 days!
Almost every year for the past 20 or so years I've participated in this walk. It's the one cause that I'm closest to. I'm diabetic. So is my brother. And so were our parents.
I am walking and raising funds for the American Diabetes Association's signature
fundraising walk, Step Out: Walk to Fight Diabetes. Every step I take and every
dollar I raise will make a difference in the lives of 23.6 million Americans
living with diabetes. By making a donation on my behalf, you will be helping the
Association provide community-based education programs, protect the rights of
people with diabetes and fund critical research for a cure.
No matter how
small or large, your generous donation will help us Stop Diabetes.
Click this link to go to my personal page. You can use a credit card, PayPal or mail your donation. Thank you to everyone who has donated in the past and everyone who donates this year. I really appreciate it!
Well, it's almost that time again. Time for the Countdown to Halloween! I've been participating in this event for many years and really enjoy it. I haven't been blogging as much lately, so I really have to step it up to get ready for October. If anyone has any old Halloween photos or stories you'd like to share, you can email me here and I'll add them to the blog in October.
If you're holding a month-long bloging marathon in honor of the Halloween season, make sure you check out the Countdown to Halloween site and join in all the fun.
From TMZ -- Michael Clarke Duncan, star of such movies as "The Green Mile"
and "The Whole Nine Yards," passed away this morning. He was 54.
According to our sources, his passing came very suddenly. We're told his
fiancee, Omarosa Manigault, was with him in his hospital room in Los Angeles and
left for a short period of time. When she returned ... he had
died.
Duncan's rep tells TMZ, "Manigault is grateful for all of your
prayers and asks for privacy at this time. Celebrations of his life, both
private and public, will be announced at a later date."
Happy Labor Day! I went to the Hartville Flea Market in Hartville, OH this morning. I usually go every Labor Day and Memorial Day if it's not raining. They have a fair amount of dealers selling old toys, comics, cards, games, glasses, lunchboxes. etc. I was at the flea market for about two hours and only got through half of it. I would stay longer, but I don't drive and my wife doesn't care for flea markets. Two hours is about as long as she will sit in the car by herself waiting for me to come back with bags full of more "junk" lol. Here's what I added to my toy collection --
Krofft Supershow Presents Kaptain Kool and the Kongs Magic Slate for $4.00. I don't think there was a whole lot of merchandising for them.
Mego Micronauts Microtron ($12.00) and Force Commander's steed Oberon ($18.00). I love Micronauts! They're not complete, but they will look good on display (if I ever get around to displaying them).
And three Hero Clix. The Thing, The Hulk and Doc Samson. This guy had a big ol' box of these figures for 3 for $1.00.
I could have bought a bunch more toys, but I was kinda on a budget (and the wife woulda killed me). They also have a farmer's market and I bought a dozen ears of corn for $3.00 and two lbs. of fresh green beans for $2.00.
