Mark Knows It All

I was channel surfing the day after Christmas looking for bargains on the shopping networks, and ShopNBC obliged me with its fur coat clearance sale. For those of you not in the know, or who are smart enough to not to care…ShopNBC is the Saks 5th Avenue of the cable shopping networks. It hocks $5,000.00 diamond rings like so many pebbles. And people actually buy this expensive jewelry on line. In fairness to ShopNBC, it has nice stuff…but nothing I can afford. God bless those who can, and have the credit line to do it!!! At any rate, they were featuring Cedrick’s Luxe Collection of various fur garments. Cedrick was there, along with the on air sales person. Cedrick is the quintessential fur coat designer with his over the top suit and silver hair and saccharine tongue. He, along with the Quacker Factory lady on QVC, makes for some of the best television around today. You don’t have to buy anything, just watch these nut cakes sell their stuff, and laugh with them, but more often at the...

Can anyone tell me what ever happened to class? While channel surfing the other day, I came across a PBS special featuring highlights from The Andy William Christmas Shows. Here was (is) a classy guy. He was clean cut. The shows reeked with family goodwill. The songs were straightforward, and so were the arrangements. He stood up there and just sang with his wonderful voice. Highlights of the shows included Andy singing with his brothers in simple but beautiful harmony. The sets and production values were as classy as the acts they were supporting. Of course, the show was part of PBS pledge week, and for $100.00 you could get a CD of the program along with another CD of the best of Andy Williams; songs like Moon River and The Days of Wine and Roses. This was class all the way. When I look back on the generation of entertainers that ended around 1980, there was one classy act after another. The Rat Pack, with Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr., Joey Bishop, and Peter Lawford ...

Joanna sat at the kitchen table with red and green paper, scissors, and crayons spread out in front of her. Christmas was just a week away, and there was so much to do. There were Christmas cards and letters to Santa to write. There were presents to make. But most of all, Joanna was thinking about the beautiful gingerbread house her mother had promised they would make together. Joanna had seen the picture of such a house on the cover of a magazine. It was wonderful. The roof was made with marshmallows and the walls were covered with sugar plums and hard candy. Vanilla icing dripped down its sides and over the pretzel fence and gum drop bushes surrounding the house. And in front of the house, greeting all who marveled at its holiday glow, were a gingerbread Santa and Mrs. Claus. This surely was as good as Christmas could be. Puddles, Joanna's white fuzzy pup, nudged against her leg. Joanna looked down under the table and there was Puddles trying to eat the scraps of green and red p...

There is no doubt in my mind that America has raised several, successive generations of spoiled citizens. While we have experienced ups and downs in our economy, the Great Depression was the last time we saw complete economic upheaval. During the 1930’s, the rest of the world experienced the same thing, and it was a contributing factor to World War II. After World War II, the United States was the only game in town as the rest of the world lay in shambles. It was during the 1950’s that American corporations became the “nanny’ providing unionized jobs, health care and pensions to their workers. Unions said we want more…corporations said Amen. America entered into an alliance with Big Business, Big Labor, and Big Government. And they fed off each other. The old rule used to be “guns or butter”. The economy couldn’t tolerate paying for both…until the 1960’s and Lyndon Johnson’s simultaneous Viet Nam War and Great Society. Midst a time of war and plenty, the “Kum Ba Ya” generation of hippi...