San Antonio Spurs, Baby...Dynasty

Make that "4", Timmy. The San Antonio Spurs are on their way to a fourth NBA finals appearance since 1999. It could very easily have been 6 by now, but we won't get greedy. Defense, teamwork and the absence of superstar egos, apparently add up to a championship caliber team - year after year. Are you listening, NBA? It's not about one guy that can score 70 points in a game (and then still not make the playoffs). It's not about jersey sales and cell phone commercials. It's not about billionaire owners and private jets for the team. It's not about tattoos and shoe endorsements. It's about the old-school. It's about a singular focus on winning. Keep it up fellas. E$

Just Wanted To Use This Picture

Charles Nelson Reilly Dies at 76

OH NO!!!!

MSN - News - Actor Charles Nelson Reilly Dies at 76

We will miss you, CNR...

Fonzie...I'm Sorry...

Hey Fonz. I am sorry for neglecting you, but life is hard sometimes. I guess you know that, huh? Anyway, I wish I could fix a bike like you. Or start a jukebox with a "RAP!!!" of my fist. You rule, dude. Seriously. I love you Fonzie. I really really love you. AYYYYYY....Sit on it! Turkey!

Why do I profess love to a TV character, you might ask? Don't think I haven't heard it before. You and all of your "reality" and such. Truth is, I love George Jefferson way more. And then there is Jack Tripper...

Still here, huh? Sorry. You must forgive me. I have seen a lot of TV. Ahhh, grab that "too much" from the tip of your tongue, and you answer me this: Do you know what the Grand Poobah is? I rest my case.

Ok, off to other news..."scientists" have discovered a way to "translate" the DNA patterns of protein in our blood into musical notes that are pleasant to the human ear. please let that sink in a while....now tell me the sky is falling...that's right, it will enable the sightless to study these patterns by listening...sky is falling...

in less "weighty" news...I have, of late, really been into "Alice" lately. It's not really about "Kiss My Grits!", though Flo is key to the entertainment value in general, but the magic lies in the show's opening credits. Picture a brown 1970's station wagon on some god-forsaken desert highway in Phoenix. Cue drum beat and smooth wah guitar. And then, "Early to rise, Early to bed...." Sung in the sassiest of sassy broadwayesque vamping vampitude. Linda Lavin, Alice herself, belts out a gem that Ethel Merman would get misty at. The best part of the song, BY FAR, is when she nails this couplet: "There's a new girl in towwwwwwwn and she's (uhh!) lookin' good! There's a fresh - freckle-face! in the (wait) neighborhood!" I don't know, maybe it's just the evening breeze, but I feel a little misty, myself. No one does "sass" like you, Linda Lavin. Will you return? And not just as "The Nana" on the, now defunct, O.C. No, we need you as "Alice" once again. Don't scoff! I mean this. We need "Alice" more than ever. She raised "Tommy" all by herself, after her truck-driving hubby up and died. That's right, baby, "single parenthood" on the TV. Ok, well. I fear I have run afoul of the common bounds of discourse already, if not by the use of the word "vampitude", certainly by my desperate plea to Linda Lavin to reenter our collective pop culture psyche. Have I made my point yet? Please, I must go finish an episode of Maude.

caught ya reading still. pretty strange, wouldn't ya say? Still reading THIS?

Who Loves Ya Baby?
E$ Does



The following are the words to each version of the theme song. For the first 6 seasons, there was a new variation, although several had the same lyrics. Where applicable, click on the season number to hear the theme song.

Seasons 1 & 2 (4 variations, the short version was used occasionally during
             season 3 when Philip McKeon wasn't on that episode, although
             this was after it started airing on CBS daily in the morning,
             E! shows two episodes with this version):

Early to rise, early to bed.
In and between I cooked and cleaned and went out of my head.
Going through life with blinders on, it's tough to see.
I had to get up, get out from under and look for me.
*There's a new girl in town and she's looking good.
*There's a fresh freckled face, in the neighborhoood.
There's a new girl in town, with a brand new style.
She was just passing through,
but if things work out she's gonna stay awhile....ba ba bum bum bummmm
(the two short versions omitted the lines marked with a *)


Seasons 3 & 5 (three variations, 2 of them for season 3):

Used to be sad, used to be shy
Funniest thing, the saddest part is I never knew why...
Kickin' myself for nothin' was my favorite sport
I had to get out and start enjoyin' 'cause life's too short
There's a new girl in town, 'cause I'm feelin good.
Get a smile, get a song, for the neighborhood
there's a new girl in town on her own two feet
and this girl's here to say
with some luck and love life's gonna be
so sweeeeeeeeeet!


Season 4

Used to be sad, used to be shy
Funniest thing, the saddest part is I never knew why...
Kickin' myself for nothin' was my favorite sport
I had to take off and start enjoyin' 'cause life's too short
There's a new girl in town, 'cause I'm feelin good.
Get a smile, get a song, for the neighborhood
Things are great when you stand on your own two feet
and this girl's here to say
with some luck and love life's gonna be
so sweeeeeeeeeet!

Seasons 6-9:
I used to be sad, I used to be shy
Funniest thing, the saddest part is I never knew why...
Kickin' myself for nothin' was my favorite sport
I had to take off, start enjoyin' 'cause life's too short
There's a new girl in town, 'cause I'm feelin good.
Get a smile, get a song, for the neighborhood
Things are great when you stand on your own two feet
and this girl's here to say
with some luck and love life's gonna be
so sweeeeeeeeeet!

Oh Yeah. Still Reading.

Lionel Is Dead

Before he was 30, Mike Evans acted in two classic 1970s sitcoms and helped create a third.

Evans, who played Lionel, Archie Bunker's and George Jefferson's unflappable foil in All in the Family and The Jeffersons and went on to cocreate Good Times, has died.

Evans succumbed to throat cancer last week in Twentynine Palms, California, his family told the Los Angeles Times. He was 57.

Evans was still a Los Angeles City College student when the young actor won a recurring role on All in the Family as Lionel Jefferson, the (black) next-door neighbor of the (white) bigot Bunker.

Evans appeared on more than two dozen episodes of the top-rated sitcom from 1971 to 1975, his character almost always managing to vex Bunker more with his point of view than with the color of his skin.

On The Jeffersons, an All in the Family spinoff that debuted in 1975, Evans was initially a series regular, Lionel's even-keeled nature required to contrast with the volcanic nature of his "honky"-spouting father, George Jefferson.

Evans left The Jeffersons after its first season, just as Good Times was embarking on its third.

Good Times, cocreated by Evans and Eric Montee, a writer friend from the actor's L.A. City College days, was an All in the Family spinoff, one generation removed. It focused on Florence Evans, the former maid on direct All in the Family descendant Maude, her family, their housing-project digs in Chicago and Jimmie Walker's "Dyn-o-mite" catchphrase.

Good Times was produced from 1974 to 1979. Even during its run, Evans continued to act, costarring on the short-lived 1976-77 Danny Thomas comedy The Practice.

After Good Times ended, Evans returned to The Jeffersons, replacing Damon Evans (no relation) who'd replaced him for four seasons.

Evans left the show again in 1981 after Lionel split with his wife, the daughter of the Jeffersons' neighbors, the Willises, but continued to pop up on the sitcom until its 1985 sign-off.

According to the Internet Movie Database, Evans had only one post-Lionel acting role, a 2000 guest bit on Walker, Texas Ranger. Of more recent ventures, the Times reported he "invested in real estate in Southern California."

Monte, Evans' Good Times cohort, was profiled by the Times this week for his efforts to pull out of a dive that left him living in a Salvation Army shelter. An earlier profile on Monte, published by the newspaper last April, briefly quoted Evans, who talked about how his partner got funnier "if he would start drinking cheap wine."

Born Nov. 3, 1949, in North Carolina, Evans also appeared on Love, American Style, The Streets of San Francisco and the miniseries Rich Man, Poor Man.

Cinnamon Girl

Commancheros Movie Book On Ebay

Today we present to you, The Commancheros, a vintage western movie tie-in paperback book. The movie stars John Wayne and Stuart Whitman. Penned by Paul Wellman and published by Pocket Books, this little gem is a 2nd printing from 1961. Click here to see my Ebay listing.

We have over 200 movie tie-in books in our Ebay store, Umbrella Shoppe Collectibles, along with over 150 television tie-in books, lunch boxes, vintage Halloween costumes, and more. We accept offers on nearly everything and offer FREE MEDIA MAIL SHIPPING where applicable.

Who Loves Ya Baby?
E$

Where there is time to waste, there most certainly is an internet connection...

Where there is ______, there more than likely is ______.

Study this template. It unlocks many truisms in this little culture of ours. Think about music. Par example: Where there is a Journey record, there more than likely is a Foreigner record. Let's try another one: Where there is UB40, there more than likely is Simply Red. Eagles Greatest Hits?? Good chance of seeing Steve Miller Band's Greatest Hits. Matchbox 20, you say?? Third Eye Blind should be right there. Jesus Jones?? EMF.

Let it guide you. Let it inspire you. Let it keep you away from that rabid Rick Astley fan.

Please.

Who Loves Ya Baby?

give this woman a xanax

amy roloff just needs to CHILL already. oh my gosh! this woman can not give her husband or her kids a break...ever!

i know amy's had some hardships...but she needs to settle down. matt and his cronies even remodeled a barn and called it the men's crisis center to have a break from her! and guess what? she griped about that! amy, just take a deep breath and relax, man (but discipline jacob already! he's horrible!)!

OMG...Jacob

Jacob. Jacob. Jacob. Jacob.....

Lost has blown my mind once again. Who/what is Jacob? Is Ben the intermediary between Jacob and the rest of the Others? Is Ben threatened by Locke's ability to hear Jacob? Is he keeping his people ignorant and powerless because of some maniacal - messianic - ego -trip - thing? What about the damn hatch??

Who Loves Ya Baby?
E$

Photo Of The Day!

The old Helsinki dog park routine...

Real Time

In a world where pancakes are reading material, we have a summer house in Hawaii. We grow all kinds of herbs and flowers in our tiki-laden backyard paradise. We take long trips in our 70’s style RV unit. Inside is all kinds of avocado green and television sets. A year-round Christmas tree stays on board. It really can be Christmas eve whenever you want it to be. We drink pepsi from glass bottles outside and taste the summer air in every swig. There are grass-carpeted ditches to play in. There are sidewalks that are their own worlds. There is plenty of daydreaming and night dreaming. The evenings hold the promise of a movie of the week. Make the best of your commercial breaks. There is no Tivo here. Only real time. Everything in real time. No computers or cellular telephones. No pagers. No DSL. No satellite television. Welcome to vhf and uhf. I’ll let you in on a secret: uhf is where it’s at.

Who Loves Ya Baby?
E$ Does

Welcome Back...

I know it's been a while since we had a new post. Power failures and flat tires slowed me down a bit. So, to ease us back into The Umbrella Fonzie Experience, here are some old friends.

Who Loves Ya Baby?
E$

Good Saturday!

GO SPURS GO!!

Oh Hells Yeah! Timmy is coming for you, Phoenix...

Related NBA Joy:

NBA.com Warriors Upset Mavs to Clinch First-Round Series

And, yes, Mark Cuban Sucks!



Who Loves Ya Baby?
E$

we love ben franklin

what would we do without electricity? we'll post about it tomorrow...

we're back on!

temporarily disabled

our power's out...and it could be up to a week before it's back! not cool! in the meantime, go visit this site to bone up on schoolhouse rock!

so far, the power's been out for 22 hrs. two more before we have to dispose of everything in our fridge, and 26 before the same thing happens to the freezer. blah.

Ebony, Ivory And Jade A.K.A. Foxforce!

Please explain to me why there is an apostrophe in "Mamas" on the cover? This is taken from the back of the video box:

"You're better off dead when they start blasting lead! Ebony, Ivory, and Jade! Killing is their trade! With fist, foot, and blade, they can lick any man ever made! 3 foxy mamas who've got what it takes and know how to use it! 3 masters with a thousand ways to kill! Jump back, Jack, fo' yo' skull is cracked!

Skin of bronze! Muscles of iron! Fists of steel! The ultimate gladiators in the final arena! Angels of vengeance on a massacre marathon!

Lusting bursting babes ripe with the fruits of desire! In slaughter or seduction they score!

FOXFORCE! They turned them loose! Three sisters got soul they can't control! Back to back they face death! When their blood gets hot you're on the spot! Skirting disaster! Flirting with fate! Dancing with death!

FOXFORCE! 3 spittin' kittens on a roaring rampage of revenge! Whipped into a blazing frenzy of violence! A raging ride through hell! From olympic contenders to bloody defenders! From the first burst to the last blast! .38 caliber kittens spitting death as they claw their way to freedom!

Warm hands! Cold triggers! Blazing death! They're women! They're warm! They're wildcats! FOXFORCE! Rapid fire frenzy erupting in a .45 caliber climax! Flashing fists of fury strike like vipers of vengeance! You haven't a prayer when they leap through the air! Ebony, Ivory, and Jade can lick any man ever made!"