Rodeo season is almost upon us in the Gallup, New Mexico area.
The first rodeo will be the Gallup Lions Club Rodeo at Red Rock Park Rodeo Arena on June 12, 13 and 14.
There will also be a downtown celebration on Saturday, June 7 featuring a parade, bar-b-que, battle of the bands and rodeo legends autograph signings.
Here's the official poster:
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| Above, Traci Lords autograph. |
Back around 1984, Traci Lords caused a bit of a stir when she appeared in Penthouse magazine (the infamous issue that ended the Miss America reign of Vanessa Williams) in a pictorial. The reason for the stir was that she was underage at the time (age 16). Oops!
According to Wikipedia:
Traci Lords (born Nora Louise Kuzma; May 7, 1968) is an American actress and singer. She entered into the adult film industry by using a fake birth certificate to conceal that she was two years under the legal age of eighteen. Lords starred in adult films and was one of the most sought-after actresses in that industry during her career. When the FBI acted on an anonymous tip that Lords was a minor during her time in the industry, and that pornographers were distributing and selling these illegal images and videotapes, the resulting fallout led to prosecution of those responsible for creating and distributing the tapes. In addition, all but the last of her adult films were banned as child pornography.
After leaving the pornography industry two days after turning the legal age of eighteen, Lords enrolled at the Lee Strasberg Theater Institute, where she studied method acting with the intention of becoming a mainstream actress.
She did succeed in becoming a mainstream actress and she appeared in a number of movies and television shows. She's now also a singer with the Radioactive record label.
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| Above, Traci Lords at the TV Land convention. Photo by Armand Vaquer. |
Yesterday, while digging through my bedroom closet looking for something, I came across some large mailing envelopes of portrait photos of my parents and daughter along with some celebrity autographed photos.
One of them was a mailing envelope from actress Fay McKenzie. I didn't immediately remember how or why she sent it to me. The date of the mailing envelope was from 2010. Then it came to me. Her son Tom Waldman was one of my co-workers in Malibu and he arranged for her to send the autograph. Tom is an actor as well.
She starred in 1940s westerns with the likes of Gene Autry. She was in The Party (1968) with Peter Sellers, one of the funniest movies ever made.
According to Wikipedia:
Eunice Fay McKenzie was an American actress and singer. She starred in silent films as a child, and then sound films as an adult, but perhaps she is best known for her leading roles opposite Gene Autry in the early 1940s in five horse opera features. She was also known for her collaborations with director Blake Edwards on five occasions.
She also appeared on Broadway, radio, and television, having appeared on screen at ten weeks old in 1918. She was still appearing on screen at the time of her death, with her latest project opposite her son Tom Waldman Jr. in the comedy Kill a Better Mousetrap, based on a play by Scott K. Ratner, filmed in the summer of 2018 and not yet released at the time of her death. She was briefly billed as Fay Shannon.
She passed away on April 16, 2019. She was 101.
Yesterday, while digging around my bedroom closet looking for something else, I found some large envelopes and folders containing portrait photos of my parents and daughter.
Also, I found several autographed photos from different celebrities. Included was one of actor Jerry Maren, who was one of the Munchkins from the Wizard of Oz (1939) and a Mole Man from Superman and The Mole Men (1951).
Looking at the date of the autographed item, it was from 2005. Maren passed away on May 24, 2018 at age 98. He is buried at Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills.
I just finished hanging the framed photo and autograph of legendary comedian Red Skelton on my den's wall.
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| Above, the Red Skelton photo and autograph. Photo by Armand Vaquer. |
Today was Larry Lucier's physical therapy day in Gallup.
After driving him into town and dropping him off at his therapist, I went and got myself a haircut and once that was done, I headed over to the picture framer to pick up my Red Skelton autographed card and photo.
I got Skelton's autograph in 1972 in the lobby of the Century Plaza Hotel where he just arrived to attend a campaign dinner for President Nixon. So, it was about time I had it framed. Hard to believe this took place 50 years ago.
I haven't yet decided where in the den I am going to hang it. I'll do so tomorrow.
I like how it came out with the white frame and the black matte. The photo is of Skelton as "Freddy the Freeloader".
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| Above, the card Red Skelton signed in 1972. Photo by Armand Vaquer. |
Last evening, I was perusing the Red Skelton Museum of American Comedy website.
While there, I remembered I have an autographed card that Red Skelton signed for me at the Century Plaza Hotel in 1972.
I ran into him in the hotel lobby and asked him to sign the card, which he graciously did. We had a short conversation about his show's cancelation by CBS. He expressed his displeasure over that action by the network, despite his show still having good ratings.
The Museum's website has a store link and I started checking it for photographs to accompany the autographed card. I didn't find any.
I then checked around via Google and found many. I settled on one that is an 8 x 10" black & white photo of Red as Freddie the Freeloader, my favorite Red Skelton character. I ordered it and it should arrive sometime next week. Once it does, I will take it to Frame 'n Art in Gallup to have it framed and matted with the autographed card.
When finished, I will hang it in the den, probably near one from Clint Eastwood.
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| Above, Akiki Wakabayashi's autographed photo. |
Thanksgiving night was an enjoyable one as the local "Jamestown Gang" got together at Greg & Marlo's for dinner.
Thankfully, the conversations didn't include politics as we all need a break from it, even if only for a few hours. Much of it centered over James Bond movies as You Only Live Twice, Live and Let Die and The World Is Not Enough were on the telly (that's British for television).
Interestingly, I noticed some details in You Only Live Twice that I hadn't before as Greg has one of the biggest big-screen television sets around. They were mainly details of background shops in Tokyo as Bond (Sean Connery) was walking to a meeting at a Sumo wresting arena with Aki (Akiko Wakabayashi).
Russell Asbill and I had a good chat about celebrity autographs we have in our respective collections.
After dinner (I was very stuffed and couldn't finish an excellent apple pie), heading out to the car to go home was quite chilly. It had to be in the 20s. But, since the sky was clear, the Milky Way was nicely displayed in the cold air.
I ended up going to bed early. (Food coma, you know.) That's why I am up so early.
It is probably going to snow today. So far, it hasn't. I hope it holds off until after I feed Buddy this morning.
All in all, it was an enjoyable evening.
