QUARANTINE BLOG # 86

June 24, 2020

Get Smart was a comedy TV series parodying the secret agent genre.  Created by Mel Brooks, Get Smart reflects his very off-the-wall style.  This clip is a teaser for the show.  Pause it when the green screen comes up to read the entire description. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBPYdiVAkyA

The show stars Don Adams as agent Maxwell Smart (Agent 86) and Barbara Feldon as (Agent 99).  They work for CONTROL, a secret U.S. government counterintelligence agency based in Washington, DC, and thwart various threats to the world.  The nemesis of CONTROL is KAOS, described as “an international organization of evil.” 

The show generated a number of popular catchphrases during its run – most of them presented in the deadpan clipped style of Don Adams which many of us tried to copy – including “would you believe…,” “I asked you not to tell me that,” and “the old (such-and-such) trick.”  One of my favorites is “missed it by that much,” and it is in this clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jz77pH9XMow&feature=youtu.be

Like any good spy show, there were plenty of gadgets.  In Get Smart telephones took the lead, and were concealed in over 50 objects, including a necktie, comb, watch, and a clock.  A recurring gag is Max’s shoe phone.  To use it he has to take off his shoe.  Agent 99 had her concealed telephones, as well.  She had one in her makeup compact, and one in her fingernail.  To use this last device, she would pretend to bite her nail nervously, while actually talking on her “nail phone.”  Maxwell Smart’s prop shoe phone was included in a display entitled “Spies: Secrets from the CIA, KGB, and Hollywood,” a collection of real and fictional spy gear that exhibited at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library.

The Cone of Silence was one of many recurring Mel Brooks joke devices.  The apparatus, designed for secret conversations, makes it impossible for those inside the device – and easy for those outside the device – to hear the conversation.  The COS produces a very strong echo that gives both characters a headache.  After the COS is lowered, it randomly raises and lowers.  As Max and the Chief stand and sit to accommodate it, the Cone finally goes so low that it breaks through the Chief’s desk, forcing them both to sit on the floor.  There was also a Closet of Silence, a Portable Cone of Silence, and an Umbrella of Silence.

Tomorrow we start a look at old-timey Saturday morning cartoons, and peanut butter toast.

👉  Our “Public Service Department” notes that Southwest Airlines is offering one-way tickets starting at $39 (last year they were $49, but to entice you back during the pandemic, you get $10 off this year).  On longer flights, fares start at $79.  The three-day sale generally covers travel between Aug. 11 and Dec. 17, excluding travel around Thanksgiving.  Labor Day weekend travel is not blacked out.  The catch is, as far as QB 86 is concerned, you only have today and tomorrow to book.  The sale is for 3 days and started yesterday.  Your humble blogger did not know the sale was on yesterday when QB 85 went up.  Sorry!

👉  The North Face, makers of outdoor recreation products, is the first major brand to halt advertising on Facebook and Instagram as part of a boycott organized by civil rights groups to condemn the social media company’s failure to crack down on hate speech.  TNF said the boycott would continue until Facebook puts in place stricter policies to stem the flow of hate speech on the two platforms.  This morning I read that Ben & Jerry’s and Patagonia have joined the bandwagon, pulling advertising from Facebook and Instagram.  Once we stop hate speech on Facebook and Instagram, could we also stop lies, rumors, and general stupidity that is broadcast on those platforms?

👉  If you remember when car manufacturers changed body styles every year, and you could tell which car was which just by looking at the tail lights, you’ll enjoy this video from the 50s (sent to me by Brian and Elizabeth in Victoria BC).  If you’re too old to remember tail fins, just check out what you missed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5UlUXElNXA&feature=youtu.be Gas was a quarter a gallon and we cared more about style than aerodynamic – and boring – styling.  The Cadillac ElDorado at the 27 second mark is great.  My favorite comes at 1:04 – the 59 Chevy.  This clip is a minute and a half of cool.

👉  Apple is once again temporarily closing 11 stores in four states.  The closures include all six Arizona stores, two on Florida’s West Coast, two in North Carolina and one in South Carolina.  “Due to current COVID-19 conditions in some of the communities we serve, we are temporarily closing stores in these areas,” Apple said in a statement. “We take this step with an abundance of caution as we closely monitor the situation and we look forward to having our teams and customers back as soon as possible.”  Chances are very good that other retailers will be following suit.

👉  While we are waiting for the 11th season of the Great British Bake Off – one of my all-time favorites – to return (filming has been postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic) I found a website that offers kitchen, and other, tips.  It’s not Paul Hollywood, but here’s the first of four I have selected.  Light, fluffy, creamy scrambled eggs are the ultimate dream.  To achieve that consistency, most cooks add a bit of milk or cream to their egg mixture to keep things moist and rich.  Mayonnaise, however, might be just the thing you need to get perfect scrambled eggs every time you cook.  If you can’t wait for the next tips check out https://betterbe.co/

👉  If you’ve ever stopped by 233 Woodland Drive and have seen “The Calendar at 233” held onto the refrigerator by magnets, you know that I mark each day off with a sticker, sometimes Star Wars, sometimes Charlie Brown and the Peanuts gang, sometimes flowers or butterflies, but always each day is marked so I know what day it is.  I tell you that, to tell you this: I know that today is June 24.  You will understand why that revelation is necessary when I reveal today’s closing piece is the story behind one of Isaac Watts’ most beloved hymns: “Joy to the World!”

Isaac Watts had become dissatisfied with the quality of singing in church.  In the early 18th century most singing in British churches was from the Psalms of David.  Watts felt limited by being able to sing only those verses so he “invented” the English hymn.  He did not neglect the Psalms, but based many of his hymns around them, in fact, publishing a hymnal called The Psalms of David Initiated in the Language of the New Testament.  He studied several psalms from the perspective of Jesus and the New Testament, and then formed them into verses for singing.

“Joy to the World!” is Isaac Watts’ interpretation of Psalm 98, which says, “Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth” (verse 4).  As he read Psalm 98 he thought about the real reason for shouting joyfully to the Lord – the Messiah has come to redeem us.  The result is a song that we’ve sung for 300 Christmases.  And with its message of redemption and God’s grace maybe we should start singing it other times than in December.

Joy to the world, the Lord has come
Let earth receive her King
Let every heart prepare Him room
And heaven and nature sing, and heaven and nature sing
And heaven, and heaven and nature sing

Joy to the world, the Savior reigns
Let men their songs employ
While fields and floods, rocks, hills, and plains
Repeat the sounding joy, repeat the sounding joy
Repeat, repeat the sounding joy

No more let sins and sorrows grow
Nor thorns infest the ground
He comes to make His blessings flow
Far as the curse is found, far as the curse is found
Far as, far as the curse is found

He rules the world with truth and grace
And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness
And wonders of His love, and wonders of His love
And wonders, wonders of His love

Here are two versions, neither of them are exactly the way Isaac Watts wrote “Joy to the World!” but I think he would approve the atmosphere of worship that they raise.

Pentatonix: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Xo64Q2ucQ8

Mormon Tabernacle Choir: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLT9dSt8cwg

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