THE COOLEST ROYAL: PRINCESS MARGARET

Beautiful Princess Margaret Lord Snowden Photo

Princess Margaret! She really gave the British Royal Family great pause... A rebel and a glorious fan of parties and celebrity. Margo was great fun! She resided next door to Princess Diana at Kensington Palace. They were great friends and I am sure they kept each other's secrets... It was said that they had a falling out during Diana's divorce from Prince Charles... Margo's loyalty remained with her sister and the royal family.

She was the ultimate party-girl of the British monarchy and the darling of the celebrity press. Decades before Princess Diana came along, it was Princess Margaret who was the starlet of Britain's royal family, often defying the traditionally strict code of conduct imposed by the monarchy, choosing instead to live her life the way she pleased... Loved that about Margo.

1960: Margaret weds Armstrong-Jones

The public loved her. Margo would frequently be spotted at nightclubs, restaurants and parties. At the age of 19 she shocked the nation when she was spotted in public smoking – something women at the time were only supposed to do in private. (Now not at all!)

Margaret further defied the royal family when she fell in love (!) with Group Captain Peter Townsend, once equerry to her father and comptroller to her mother. Townsend had two strikes against him. He was 17 years older than the princess and he was divorced. Eventually, Margaret was forced to choose between Townsend and the Royal Family. She decided she would remain a princess.

In May of 1960 she again veered away from the royal norm when she married photographer Antony Armstrong-Jones in Westminster Abbey. She reportedly accepted the proposal after hearing that Townsend had decided to marry someone else. Margaret and Armstrong-Jones had two children, Viscount Linley and Lady Sarah Armstrong-Jones. The couple then again caused great Royal upset by divorcing in 1978.

Thousands, including many international and commonwealth visitors, lined the streets of central London to witness the Queen's younger sister get married.

Princess Margaret, 29, arrived on time for the ceremony, after making the journey from Clarence House in the Glass Coach with the Duke of Edinburgh. It was a fabulous occasion. Princess Diana's wedding was reminiscent of Margo's wedding. Read more about the wedding In her heyday, Margaret Rose was just as stunning to behold as Princess Diana or the soon to be Princess Kate Middleton. Her partying, smoking did take a massive toll on her health.

The Obituary of  Princess Margaret Rose

Her life has had some amazing highs and some devastating lows. She had to live within the strict protocol demanded of a member of the royal family while possessing a very creative and gregarious spirit.

Margo managed to carve a niche for herself by supporting the arts, marrying a photographer and raising two children who are artists. Her son, David, Viscount Linley, a furniture designer and restaurateur, survives her. Happily married to the former Serena Stanhope they have one son, Charles. Her funeral was held on Friday, February 15, 2002 - fifty years to the day of her father's funeral of 1952.

The Royals Pay Last Respects to Margaret

Read More on RK

Fashion Photography in London

Boxing Day!

Britain's Great Train Robbery

Yardley Slickers

FT MCCLELLAN ALABAMA AND FT BENNING GEORGIA 1968-1970

Our home/quarters on Church St looked like this

Our house in Ft. McClellan Alabama looked like the above duplex. Our house was much nicer and was red brick with white. We lived in the unit like the one on the far right. Good sized houses. Our Army homes were larger than my house in Michigan so we liked living in them.

Our house on Gibson Drive/Custer Terrace

Our home on Gibson Drive which was located in Custer Terrace. Custer Terrace was just outside the main gate off to itself. We had our own Officer's Club, shopping center, and pool too! It was a lovely area. It was our first time having a stand alone house which we loved.

Tons of hills, copperhead snakes were often found hiding under the leaves so you had to be careful walking in the woods down there. I rode my bike with my feet up mostly on the path through the woods behind our house.
 

Directly behind our house on Gibson was Battle Park. That was a housing area for dependent families to stay when their father went to war. In this time it was Vietnam. My civilian friends thought we lived in barracks and ate in mess halls!

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQZfrfVpf0U

 

 Ft McClellan Officer's Club

old swimming pool behind the Officer's Club in Ft McClellan

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UUv_J4tcgo

 Buckner Hall Ft McClellan

No we didn't wear uniforms or salute our parents either! Army teens were just the same as civilian teens. We loved rock n roll and shooting pool. Army kids loved the swimming pool and the pool tables. These were my favorite things to do for fun.

 245 BUCKNER CIR

Life as the daughter of an officer was very much like belonging to a country club. Our parents had lovely parties and formal social affairs. It really was a nice life for a teenager.

 Buckner Circle with Gazebo...Ft McClellan AL

Chapel on Buckner Cr. I went to Catechism there 

Read More on RK
Major Frank R. Maki Silver Star
Vietnam: Firebase Fuller
Vietnam: Jim's Story
 Time Magazine Article: Race Rumblings at McClellan thanks Deb!

EDSEL & ELEANOR FORD MANSION GROSSE POINTE CHRISTMAS TOURS!!

This gorgeous home is open for tour tonight is the last night! Sadly I just heard about this! Maybe they will extend it. Back in the 60's we used to drive by on the way to Selfridge Air Force Base. All we could see from the car was the gatehouse. The gatehouse would be cool enough to live in! I am dying to go on this tour! See Metrotimes Events

Candlelit Christmas Evening Tour features warm glowing candles in the windows, twinkling lights dancing on the trees, live music filling the halls of the elegantly decorated estate…the magic of Christmas at its best.

Detroit Funk has many more photos

The Edsel & Eleanor Ford House shows off its historic halls decked out in all their Christmas glory during three nights of candlelit, evening tours. The festive trimmings and twinkling lights will be complemented by holiday music by the Suzuki Royal Oak Churchill Quartet; while visitors peruse the home's art, architecture and antiques.

Tourists will be regaled with stories of the holiday traditions and Christmases past of the Ford family. Designed by Albert Kahn, the house was commissioned by the Fords and served as their home from its completion in 1929 until the death of Eleanor in 1976, when it became a public institution. Christmas tours take place from 5 to 8 p.m. at the Ford House, 1100 Lake Shore Rd., Grosse Pointe Shores; 313-884-4222; fordhouse.org; $15, reservations required.

Explore the Mansion Outer Buildings Pool House Interactive Map Grounds and Gardens

CHRISTMAS AT GRACELAND

It just isn't Christmas without Elvis Presley's voice....

Graceland's beautiful Living Room just as it was...

I used to produce a public show at the Cook Convention Center in Memphis at Christmas Time. Always made a point to go and take (drag) my staff to see Graceland. We waited for the tram in the shopping area to take us across the street to Graceland. We sat under a heated awning with Elvis Christmas Music piped in overhead. It played the same short cd over and over and I guess it is permanently burned into my holiday psyche. Silver Bells over and over :)

Elvis and his custom made 15 ft sofa.

My favorite room is the living room with it's giant 15 ft long white couch. Notice Elvis had the drapes changed at Christmas each year to red from the normal blue.

Graceland Back View

The lights around the grounds are so lovely. Elvis loved the holidays and the Graceland caretakers continue his tradition to this day.

Jungle Room

Elvis Presley's Graceland is the second most visited house in the United States. It is preserved exactly as it was when Elvis lived here, complete with the Jungle Room and shag carpeting. Elvis' is buried here in the Graceland Meditation Garden by the pool.

After years of hearing Elvis' Christmas album it is just nor Christmas to me without hearing Elvis singing "Silver Bells" and "I'll Be Home for Christmas"

I thought I'd make a little photo tour for my readers who have never been to Memphis. Graceland really is lovely this time of year.

I want this awesome Elvis Charm Bracelet!

Graceland Tours
3734 Elvis Presley Boulevard
Memphis, TN 38116
United States
Tour Info
+1 901 322 3322

Graceland Wiki

Christmas at Graceland in Memphis, TN:

Experience the magic of the King's beloved estate during the holidays with this annual event at Graceland. This exciting lights and decorations display features the exact holiday decor Elvis himself presented each year, including a life-size Nativity scene, lighted trees, large Santa, sleigh and reindeer and more! The King loved the holidays, and to date, his original decorations are used to adorn Graceland.

Elvis paid attention to small details - including switching the blue draperies in the front of the house to red for the holidays - and the keepers of Graceland continue all of those traditions today! Experience Christmas at Graceland exactly as the King did! Elvis fans flock to Christmas at Graceland each year.

See These Fantastic Photos of Graceland!

Of course Elvis singing... my favorite song...

 

 

RUDOLPH THE RED NOSED REINDEER: THE TRUE STORY

A man named Bob May, May told this story in an article for the Gettysburg Times in 1975. It all began, he wrote, on a cold January morning in 1939 when he was called into his supervisor's office at Montgomery Ward's and asked to come up with a concept for a Christmas promotion aimed at children — "an animal story," his boss suggested, "with a main character like Ferdinand the Bull." May agreed to give it a try.

Inspired in part by his daughter's fascination with the deer at the local zoo, he invented a tale about an outcast reindeer with a shiny, red nose who dreamed of pulling Santa's sleigh. His supervisor rejected the idea at first, but May kept working on it, and in August 1939, barely a month after his wife had passed away, finished the final draft of the story that had come to be called "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer."

"I called Barbara and her grandparents into the living room and read it to them," he later wrote. "In their eyes I could see that the story accomplished what I had hoped."

The rest is history. Sort of.

It had been the story of Bob's life. Life always had to be different for Bob. Small when he was a kid, Bob was often bullied by other boys. He was too little at the time to compete in sports. He was often called names he'd rather not remember. From childhood, Bob was different and never seemed to fit in. Bob did complete college, married his loving wife and was grateful to get his job as a copywriter at Montgomery Ward during the Great Depression. Then he was blessed with his little girl.

The story Bob May created was his own autobiography in fable form. The character he created was a misfit outcast like he was. The name of the character? A little reindeer named Rudolph, with a big shiny nose. The general manager of Montgomery Ward caught wind of the little storybook and offered Bob May a nominal fee to purchase the rights to print the book. My Mink Betty Blog Wards went on to print, Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer, and distribute it to children visiting Santa Claus in their stores. 

 

By 1946 Wards had printed and distributed more than six million copies of Rudolph. That same year, a major publisher wanted to purchase the rights from Wards to print an updated version of the book. In an unprecedented gesture of kindness, the CEO of Wards returned all rights back to Bob May. The book became a best seller.

Many toy and marketing deals followed and Bob May, now remarried with a growing family, became wealthy from the story he created. But the story doesn't end there either. Bob's brother-in-law, Johnny Marks, made a song adaptation to Rudolph. Though the song was turned down by such popular vocalists as Bing Crosby and Dinah Shore , it was recorded by the singing cowboy, Gene Autry. 

"Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer" was released in 1949 and became a phenomenal success, selling more records than any other Christmas song, with the exception of "White Christmas." The gift of love that Bob May created for his daughter so long ago kept on returning back to bless him again and again. And Bob May learned the lesson, just like his dear friend Rudolph, that being different isn't so bad. In fact, being different can be a blessing.

FABULOUS CREATIONS OF SNOW!

The snowman is one of the world's most popular and recognizable icons. Since my daughter was small we have collected lots of snowman figurines and plush toys for under the tree. One of the most fun things about living in the north is seeing all the snowmen pop up everywhere after a snow storm. It is amazing how talented some of the snowman creators can be.

Wonder how long this took? How many people?

Years ago when I was a teen I was helping the neighbor kids make a giant snowman in their yard. We made a 6 ft tall mound of snow. But instead of making three round balls of snow it was just tall. The kid's dad came outside and with a butcher knife he carved a giant kangaroo out of the snow mound we made.

It was fascinating watching Mr. Kielwasser wield that knife into such a cool character. It kind of looked like the ornament below. Wish I had shot a photo of it. The kangaroo was really tall and so cool.

A snowman is an anthropomorphic snow sculpture. They are customarily built by children as part of a family project in celebration of winter. In some cases, participants in winter festivals will build large numbers of snowmen. Because a snowman is situation-specific, it is a good example of popular installation art.

Bob Eckstein, author of The History of the Snowman documented snowmen from medieval times, by researching artistic depictions in European museums, art galleries, and libraries. The earliest documentation he found was a marginal illustration from a work titled Book of Hours from 1380.

Check out this crazy bus driver running over a snowman with the bus!

HOW TO MAKE SNOW SCULPTURES

SNOWMEN COLLECTIBLES

8 TIPS FOR MAKING THE BEST SNOWMEN

THE ROCK N ROLL EVOLUTION OF RETRO: KIMMER

Happy Holidays to everyone in the blogo-sphere...

Tonight I thought I'd share some thoughts that came to me after I read Iggy: Open Up and Bleed" by author Paul Trynka. This book really takes the reader into the life of the most unique rock n roll icon, James Osterberg aka Iggy Pop.


This fitting biography from a former editor of Mojo magazine finally tells the full story of Iggy's life, rescuing coherence from a tale of thrills, contradictions, debauchery, betrayal, and (ultimately) redemption. David Siegfried

The story of the MC5 and The Stooges is a familiar one in my hometown. We rubbed elbows with them and my friends knew someone who knew the bands etc... We played keep-away at the swim club with Jim Osterberg back in the day. We hung out at the Hill Street House... So I guess we kind of took them for granted.

Ann Arbor had a couple of big success stories like Bob Seger or maybe Ted Nugent but we only liked their early music. Once they went "commercial" we bailed on them. But once the 80's decade began we pretty much forgot about the MC5 or the Stooges. It really didn't dawn on me just what a huge impact these bands would have on music history of the world and their legends still grow...

Christopher Coppola and Dennis Thompson

I met Dennis Thompson ten years ago at Silver Lake in Pinckney. I really liked him so much and Den wanted me to help produce a show he was planning at the State Theater (Fillmore). At that time my daughter was young, my car was crappy and I had a day job. As I couldn't help out I promised that one day I would find a project Dennis and I could do together.

Nine years later, February 22, 2009 we launched Machinegun Thompson's Blog. It was a huge hit right out of the gate. The fans were enthralled with Dennis' stories, his humor, his politics, and just his all around down to earth common sense. This was the beginning for Retro: Kimmer...


My re-education with the Stooges started a little earlier it began in January of 2009 with the unfortunate passing of Ron Asheton. Retro: Kimmer's blog was new and as I lived near Ron and my cousin was the police investigator of the case, I was compelled to write about Ron. (story here). My cousin was in charge of the investigation of Ron's death.

My daughter Lesley went to elementary school down the street from Ron's house. As I drove past Ron's house everyday, I used to see him occasionally on his front porch after school. He always waved as I drove by! I waved back but I at that time I had no idea that man was Ron Asheton.



Ron's story brought a lot of blog traffic and new contacts. Gradually over the past two years I began meeting more and more people that have MC5 and Stooges connections. People find me at shows, online and even find my phone number and call me. Of course I met a ton of people through Dennis Thompson. I met Chris Taylor, Al King both from Powertrane because I wanted to do a mock tv talk show featuring Dennis talking to young musicians.

Then Facebook took off like a raging wildfire! The former social site for college kids was suddenly discovered by the rest of the world. This new way to communicate opened the world to their long lost friends, celebrity heroes, and much more. It is not unusual now to find the actual celebrity communicating directly with their friends and fans on Facebook.



Al King introduced me to so many people. I met Johnny Bee Badanjek famed drummer of The Detroit Wheels and Rockets. Al also introduced me to Scott Morgan. Then I met Deniz Tek through Scott Morgan and Chris Taylor. The beat goes on as they say...

I have met tons of new friends online and some I have met by phone and in person. Little by little I have obtained bits and pieces of rock history from all the different folks I have met.

 

My life over the past two years has been almost like a rock n roll archaeological dig. Each person I have encountered has given me more pieces to the historical puzzle. The bits of history of the fabulous bands like: The Detroit Wheels, MC5, The Stooges, The Rationals, Sonic's Rendezvous Band, SRC, Destroy All Monsters, Radio Birdman, The Amboy Dukes, Frost, The New Order, The New York Dolls, Detroit,  Ascension, KJ Knight and the Knightriders, Circus Boy, The Ruiners, Jim McCarty and Mystery Train, The Secrets, The Sillies, Alice Cooper, Gang War, Muruga (Steve Booker), Flirt, and The Quatros Are all parts of the puzzle. What I find most interesting about these bands and players is how these excellent musicians all intersect.

Ramones Fred Smith and the Ashetons

For example: Iggy had Fred Sonic Smith's band back him on tour, Ron Asheton played with Dennis Thompson and Jimmy Recca, Deniz Tek played with Scott Morgan, Dennis Thompson, and Ron Asheton. Scott Asheton played with Sonic's Rendezvous and Scott Morgan, Scott Morgan has played with everyone, and Patti Quatro knows everyone! Mind boggling! This is my puzzle. The kaleidoscope of so much fantastic music all evolving from Southeast Michigan is just staggering.

As I read Paul Trynka's fantastic Iggy bio I realized just how many people I have met that are in his book! My word I knew just about everybody! Or should I say, I have communicated with just about everybody? Most live elsewhere so I have had emails, messages, and lots of phone calls. The messages are usually about web design, social networking, promotions, or just pure chat.

The folks I have met usually want my help with their internet business as I have created many blogs for musicians, artists, and photographers. Or they want to share their version of their band's history.

Anna Maryse (Annie Apple)

I received an email from one of the people in Paul's book "Annie Apple". Annie wanted to share some stories related to The Stooges and The New Order with me. As I really don't enjoy "interviewing" I suggested she guest post for my blog. Annie wrote two great stories and sadly Anna Maryse recently passed away (RIP Annie). Annie story 1 Annie Story 2

Another person in the book just recently sent me a lovely gift of cds and dvds. A lot of people have sent me tons of music and memorabilia I think to educate me or at least help me catch up to their favorite bands and music.

 Heather Harris Photography

My charming friend Heather Harris has sent me just the most fantastic packages of music, movies, books, and photos. Heather really has been my 1960's and Stooges guru. She is one of The Stooges' biggest fans. Heather introduced me to Natalie Schlossman perhaps their ultimate fan. Natalie shared tons of her stories with me from her new Stooges box set from Easy Action. Fascinating stories of a fan with such a passion for this band and their music.

Dennis Thompson introduced me to his friend Michael Tipton producer of the Stooges film Metallic KO. He told me the back story behind his film. He told me about hiding with Machinegun from mean bikers terrorizing a gig. Such fun! Mr. Tipton knows everything and everybody! He has (thank you...) coached me on business end of the music. It's a tough business that is certain.

Heather suggested I forward my photos of Coachville the small trailer park where Iggy grew up to Paul Trynka. She thought he might like them. So I did and Paul wrote me a lovely email. Paul's book filled in a lot of the missing pieces of the Stooges. I really am looking forward to his new book on David Bowie.

Stay tuned for the next installment.... :)

Read more on RK
Machinegun Thompson's Blog
KJ Knight's Book Excerpt
Where in the World is Jimmy Recca
Deniz Tek Jimmy Recca and The Godoys Meet Heather Harris
Stooges Pop Fan Club Package