Defying the Odds, Man Stands Up to Volcano

JACK MALONE’S TRIBUTE TO MAN BURIED BY VOLCANO

When I last saw my Roosevelt Grade School buddy Jack Malone in May 2009, he gave me the LP his company distributed honoring Harry Truman who is an iconic figure associated with the Mt. St. Helen’s volcanic eruption.  In a narrative that Jack wrote for the album cover:  “On May 18, 1980, Mt. St. Helens blew its top and according to authoritative sources, buried Harry (Truman), 84, under hundred of feet of ash and debris.”

“A Jack of all trades” is how Mr. Malone sees himself with a career that included managing an FM rock radio station in the Portland market.  Now there’s got to be a book in 1970s FM rock in a major market, but Jack didn’t write it as far as I know.

The LP is a collection of blue grass/country songs similar to the sound track of several popular movies.

Bad Movie "Bride of Monster" Featured in Classic Images

60th ANNIVERSARY OF ‘BRIDE’

The October 2015 issue of “Classic Images” magazine has a big feature on Ed Wood’s epic horror movie “Bride of the Monster” which was made 60 years ago with Bela Lugosi.  The movie is the product of the chemically addicted talents of Wood and Lugosi and I just bought the DVD this past spring.  

I first saw it at a midnight screening in 1971 on the U of M Campus with my ex-wife.  It’s a cult classic and is the focus of Tim Burton’s “Ed Wood” movie.  The actress (Landau) who plays Loretta King is a dead ringer for Ms. King.  "Bride" needs to be seen with Monogram's "The Corpse Vanishes" (1940) which has a very similar plot about an aggressive reporter and a mad scientist with Lugosi in the lead and Luana Walters as the journalist.

At least the later may be on YouTube and possibly even "Bride" as well.

SNAKE RIVER GORGE AT TWIN FALLS, IDHAO

Dave Frazier did the driving and I took photos on our way to the Minidoka Relocation Center.  We ate at an "elegant greasy spoon."  Twin Falls is a must.

More on Japanese Relocation Center, Jerome, Idaho

This was a surprise visit to Jerome on Aug. 25, 2015  and not much remains of the original site.
It was 95 degrees.  The sight is located near a river and not farm from Twin Falls.  Not many Idahoans know about Minidoka.  Tribute to Japanese Americans who served in the U.S. armed service during the war is also featured at the site.

Japanese Relocation Center Meant Disruption For Loyal Americans in WW2

JEROME, IDAHO — The Japanese American Relocation Center is remembered with a display and recreation of the guard tower near Jerome, Idaho.  This center is referenced in a novel I read for a class at the U of M OLLI this past winter.  Dave Frazier, former Statesman reporter, did the driving and we dined at an elegant greasy spoon in Twin Falls.

Six Supreme Court justices during World War II were responsible for this sorry chapter in US history because they were convinced by Justice Dept. officials that some Japanese Americans might be disloyal which was not true, according to Ian Millhiser in the book “Injustices.”

REPUBLICAN IS ARTICULATE ADVOCATE FOR PRE SCHOOL

BOISE —  “The state needs to empower parents with options for pre school education,” conservative Republican Rep. Christie Perry said Aug. 26 at a City Club Northwest Nazarene University forum on early childhood education.

Perry, chair of the Idaho House Ways and Means Committee, said the biggest obstacle to state pre-school is the paragon shift needed to overcome the present culture where policy makers fail to look outside of their own experience, ignoring the needs of others.  For those arguing that public funds need to go into infrastructure, our children are the roads and bridges of the future, the Republican legislator said.

Pre school tailored to local needs can enable children to comprehend math and reading when they enter third grade.  Presently two thirds of Idaho’s children lack reading skills when they enter third grade.

Perry called state sponsored pre-school a “conservative investment for the future” and the state will save millions by paving the way for successful educational experiences that will lead to productive career options.  Idaho is one of six state that lacks state pre schools, while Mississippi has devised a collaborative plan involving communities that provide state pre school.

Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton advocates for state pre school and Minnesota legislators would be well advised to seek the council of Rep. Perry as she charts the way to Idaho’s early education revolution for children.

Also on the program was Beth Oppenheimer, Idaho Association for Education of Young Children.  Attending the forum in the Grove Hotel were Lt. Gov. Frank Little. U.S. Rep. Mike Simpson, several Boise City Council members and Kathie Johnson, Head Start for South Idaho Migrant Workers’ Program.