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A huge movie poster for “The FBI Story” hangs on a wall in a hallway at the FBI Academy in Quantico. The movie came out in 1959 and Jimmy Stewart autographed the poster in 1989. My son and I saw the poster during a field trip to Quantico with the FBI Knoxville Citizens Academy Alumni Association in 2010.
Last week, I read a press release from the Knox County Public Library about an event on Sunday. They were having a free screening of “The FBI Story” because an early scene is set at the old Knoxville Library. Local historian Jack Neely spoke before the screening. He pointed out that the Knoxville scenes were filmed on a sound-stage somewhere, not on-location.
The library had set out ginger snaps, warm cider and popcorn. There were two scenes in the movie where boxes of ginger snaps were plainly visible. I thought they must have deliberately chosen to serve ginger snaps at the screening but the woman who provided the treats said it was just a coincidence.
The movie has the feel of a “Dragnet” marathon with a few elements of “The Glenn Miller Story” thrown in for good measure. Stewart’s FBI partner is played by Murray Hamilton, who also played Mayor Larry Vaughn in “Jaws.”
Later I watched the film’s trailer online and saw an erroneous claim that “Warner Bros. filmed it exactly where it happened.” Maybe the New York and Washington scenes were filmed on location, but probably not the Oklahoma or South America scenes and definitely not the Knoxville scenes. In a scene set in 1924, an FBI agent played by Jimmy Stewart proposes to a Knoxville librarian played by Vera Miles. She says no, unless he quits the Bureau. If the library has another screening, they can point out that the FBI’s Knoxville field office opened in 1937.
Goner and Blitzen
An unusual lawn ornament got our attention as my wife and I drove to one of the three Christmas parties we attended this past weekend. I thought it was funny but my wife said it was an assault on her eyes.
There were several pre-lit rattan reindeer on the lawn. It looks like the homeowner hung one of the deer from a tree and then strung some red lights from the deer to the ground. When I looked up the name of the lawn ornaments, I found a picture that made me wonder if the homeowner got the idea from a hunting and fishing site called The Jump.
Ice Cream, Treacle Tarts
Things are not always what they seem. For example, Apple doesn’t make cheap calculators, despite what the sign says. The APA of Missouri does not shoot arrows through the heads of dogs. And Regal Cinemas does not imprison children the way the Child Catcher does in “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.”
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Up to Date in Rapid City
If tourists will drive thousands of miles to see four presidents carved into a mountain, wouldn’t they also be interested in statues of all the presidents? That logic explains the Presidential Wax Museum in Keystone as well as the “City of Presidents” sculptures in Rapid City, South Dakota. My wife and I skipped the wax museum but we did take some time to walk among the statues on the street corners of Rapid City.
It was fun to see the less-famous presidents like Millard Fillmore and William Henry Harrison immortalized in bronze. My favorite statue was of William Howard Taft. From one direction, you can tell that he’s winding up to pitch a baseball. From the opposite angle, it looks like he’s staggering out of an Irish bar.
If You Know What I Mean
The Google Doodle commemorated Richard Scarry’s birthday on Sunday. My wife loved it and said so. I said that I had also noticed it when I was writing my blog post the night before, which meant I must have been Googling after midnight. The phrase made me laugh because it would have sounded ridiculous, if not slightly naughty, 20 years ago. I was inspired to make up a few more . Feel free to add your own in the comments section but remember, they can’t actually be dirty.
- I was Googling after midnight.
- She showed me her Twitter.
- They hacked his Facebook.
- I uploaded it to YouTube.
- My Ustream keeps pausing.
- She doesn’t know I’m following her.
- Do you wanna Skype later?
- He has a lot of worthless stuff on his Wikipedia entry.
- He got fired for tweeting about his boss.
Jumboree
Something looked different about the Jumble in Monday’s paper. I can’t quite put my finger on it. Did they get a new cartoonist? Or was it the presence of zombies that seemed unusual?
Zombies were in the news on Monday. Lionsgate hired a director for “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies,” which is being produced by Natalie Portman. USA Today had an article about a new comic book series featuring zombies during the Vietnam War.
For a funny study guide, check out Cracked.com’s “Evolution of Zombies.”
Cuckoo for Coconuts
The problem with Girl Scout Cookies is that their season usually coincides with Lent. I choose to give up sweet treats because I crave them every day. It would require no effort for me to give up potato chips or any salty snack.
My sister and my niece were preparing to sell Girl Scout Cookies outside a store in their neighborhood last week while my wife and I were visiting. I resisted the urge to eat a Samoa but I did take a picture for further study. Last month, I bought some knock-off cookies at Dollar General and finished them on Mardi Gras. Now I can compare the photos side-by-side.
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