QUARANTINE BLOG # 52

May 21, 2020

“Tate” was a Western television series starring David McLean.  Created by Harry Julian Fink, who also created “Dirty Harry,” it was a 1960 summer replacement for “The Perry Como Show.”  Here is the first episode https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AkJrTAfrpBk

Tate lost the use of his left arm during the Civil War Battle of Vicksburg.  His arm was covered in black leather and a glove and supported by a sling.  Tate roamed the Old West as a bounty hunter-gunfighter.  True to the nature of most hired guns, Tate was discriminating as to whom he worked for and would change sides if he found himself misled by his employers.  In the opening episode Tate was called “curly headed kid.”

The fact that Tate is physically disabled made him the first handicapped lead character in television history and paved the way for future programs like “Ironside,” starring Raymond Burr.

David McLean starred as Tate.  McLean was already well known as the Marlboro Man, one of the more famous spots in advertising history.

Robert Redford appeared in one episode as “The Bounty Hunter.”  That episode also featured actress Louise Fletcher, who would later play Kai Winn Adami in “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.”  In “Comanche Scalps,” Leonard Nimoy played the Comanche.


👉  You read above that David McLean portrayed the Marlboro Man.  He died in 1995 of lung cancer, brought on by many years of smoking.  He was one of five Marlboro Men who died from cigarette smoking.  Below are some ironic advertisements about cigarettes – sports figures and doctors talking about how good particular brands are for you.  Talk about false advertising!

👉  Restaurants are beginning to tack a coronavirus surcharge on customer’s bills.  The explanation is the surcharge is meant to offset the rising costs of food from suppliers, instead of raising menu prices across the board.  I remember being in a San Francisco restaurant (right beside of Pier 27) a couple of years ago and there was an Obamacare surcharge tacked onto my bill to pay the waiter’s insurance because the restaurant owner would not.  I didn’t pay it either.


👉  In an earlier blog I wrote about Melitta, a 112-year-old German company that pioneered the coffee filter.  In recent days it has found itself playing an unexpected yet crucial role in supplying face masks.  When the coronavirus pandemic hit, Melitta retooled one of its coffee filter production systems to make masks that filter out bacteria as efficiently as simple medical masks. So far, the company has produced 10 million masks.

👉  The Diamond Princess is finally on the move from Japan to Malaysia.  The ship had been docked in Japan since early February, where officials quarantined its 3,700 passengers and crew for two weeks after 10 initial coronavirus cases were reported February 4.  Eventually, 712 people who had been on the ship tested positive, and 13 died.  By mid-February, it was the largest coronavirus outbreak outside China.

170 crew members are currently aboard the ship bound for their home to finalize crew repatriation efforts and remain there until operations begin.  While the ship was docked at the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Yokohama Dockyard the crew replaced mattresses, bedding, linens and room ornaments as part of a sanitation and refurbishment project.

👉  The closing cartoon today is brought to you by Charles Schulz.  It is from October, 1954.  The writing is from Paul of Tarsus, date uncertain.

“For I am convinced and continue to be convinced beyond any doubt 

that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, 

nor things present and threatening, nor things to come, 

nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, 

will be able to separate us from the unlimited love of God, 

which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” 

(Romans 8:38-39 Amplified Bible).

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