QUARANTINE BLOG # 557

October 8, 2021

One item that will never get checked off of my bucket list (insert sad, crying emoji here) is becoming a professional bowler.  Way back in the before time I carried a league average of 180, but to get into the Professional Bowlers Association required an average of 190+ for two years.  Today it’s 200+.  

This revelation serves to introduce a glimpse at the time when ABC-TV carried the PBA Tour live, every Saturday afternoon.

Jack Biondolillo, the first professional bowler to roll a perfect 300 game on TV, died on October 2.  Biondolillo, “Lollipop” or “Lolli” as he was known to friends, rolled the very first live nationally televised 300 game in the opening match of the 1967 PBA Tournament of Champions defeating Les Schissler, 300-216, earning a $10,000 bonus in front of a reported 15 million viewers on ABC-TV.  And yes, that name in the preceding sentence is a variation of the spelling of my last name.

In an April 2017 Bowlers Journal International article marking the game’s 50th  anniversary, Biondolillo fondly recalled those last three strikes.

“I remember squatting down on one knee, knowing that tenth frame shot was there.  That eleventh one was a little high, but the pins still fell straight back.  “The best strike of all was that last one.  Just watch those pins, you watch how the pins fell off the left side of the deck.”

This link takes you to the complete game between Biondolillo and Schissler.

Don Johnson ousted Biondolillo in the semifinal, 228-172, before falling to Jim Stefanich in a two frame roll-off 48-36 after tying at 227.

👉  Continuing with the state license plates:

👉  Matt sent the following picture for all of you fans of Star Wars The Mandalorian and the WWE:

👉  The Shadows, representing April in 1962’s chart toppers, are the biggest-selling instrumental act of all time in the UK, achieving 12 #1s.  Their only hit in America was “Wonderful Land,” which was a reference to America.  “Wonderful Land” was Number One for 8 weeks, a feat only The Archies, The Shadows & Elvis Presley managed in the whole of the ‘60s – including all the number one singles released by the Beatles.

An earlier hit by The Shadows was “Apache,” composed by Jerry Lordan who came up with the tune after watching the 1954 American western film Apache, starring Burt Lancaster, saying that he “wanted something noble and dramatic, reflecting the courage and savagery of the Indian.”

Telstar is the name of various communications satellites. The first two Telstar satellites were experimental and nearly identical.  Telstar 1 launched on July 10, 1962, successfully relayed through space the first television pictures, telephone calls, and telegraph images, and provided the first live transatlantic television feed.  Telstar 2 launched May 7, 1963.  Telstar 1 and 2, though no longer functional, still orbit the Earth.

“Telstar,” the song, is a 1962 instrumental written and produced for the English band the Tornados.  The track reached number 1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in December 1962 (the second British recording to reach number 1 on that chart in the year, after “Stranger on the Shore https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVWfK38JRlo” by Acker Bilk, in May).  “Telstar” was also a number one hit in the UK Singles Chart.

On Monday we’ll wrap up 1962 with Ray Charles and Pat Boone.

👉  Brian sent me this one:

👉  Some random comic strips:

👉  Fanny Crosby, who lost her eyesight because of a congenital condition wrote more than 8,000 hymns and gospel songs, with more than 100 million copies printed. 

One of Fanny’s dearest friends was Phoebe Knapp. While Fanny lived in the Manhattan slums and worked in rescue missions, Phoebe lived in the Knapp Mansion, a palatial residence in Brooklyn, where she entertained lavishly. She was an extravagant dresser with a wardrobe full of elaborate gowns and diamond tiaras. Her music room contained one of the finest collections of instruments in the country, and Fanny was a frequent houseguest.

One day in 1873, while Fanny was staying at the Knapp Mansion, Phoebe said she had a tune she wanted to play. Going to the music room, she sat at the piano and played a new composition of her own while the blind hymnist listened. Fanny immediately clapped her hands and exclaimed, “Why, that says, ‘Blessed Assurance!’” She quickly composed the words, and a great hymn was born.

Many years later D. L. Moody was preaching in New York at the 23rd Street Dutch Reformed Church. The Moody/Sankey meetings had popularized Fanny Crosby’s hymns around the world and had made the blind poetess a household name. But whenever she attended a Moody/Sankey meeting, she refused to be recognized, disavowing acclaim.

This day the church was so crowded she could find nowhere to sit. Moody’s son, Will, seeing her, offered to find her a seat. To her bewilderment, he led her onto the platform just as the crowd was singing “Blessed Assurance.” Moody Sr. jumped to his feet, raised his hand, and interrupted the singing. “Praise the Lord!” he shouted. “Here comes the authoress!”

Fanny took her seat amid thunderous ovation, humbly thanking God for making her a blessing to so many.

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