The Rolling Stones’ Tour of the Americas ’75 was originally intended to reach both North and South America. The plans for concerts in Central and South America never solidified however, and the tour covered only the United States and Canada.

After the departure of Mick Taylor, this was the Stones’ first tour with new guitarist Ronnie Wood. Announced on April 14 as merely “playing with the band on the tour,” it would not be until December 19 that Wood would be officially named a Rolling Stone. Gone was the familiar horn section and the tour now featured Billy Preston on keyboards and Ollie E. Brown on percussion. Bobby Keys made a guest appearance on “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” and “Brown Sugar” at the Los Angeles shows.

The announcement of the tour became famous in itself. On May 1st, reporters were gathered inside the Fifth Avenue Hotel on 9th Street in New York City’s Greenwich Village to attend a press conference where the Stones were scheduled to appear. But the Stones never went into the hotel. The handful of curiosity seekers standing outside the hotel were instead treated to the sight of a flatbed truck rolling down Fifth Avenue carrying the Stones, their instruments and a wall of amps. The truck stopped in front of the hotel entrance and the band played an extended version of “Brown Sugar.”

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Lara Slife made her directing debut with “Born To Lead: The Sal Aunese Story: ”The First Samoan quarterback, who enters a down and out football team and takes it to the National Championship.”

CLICK HERE for the website.

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The Rolling Stones’ 1978 Tour of America took place during June and July of 1978, following the release of the group’s successful “come-back” album “Some Girls.”  (The album‘s lead single “Miss You” reached #1 in the U.S. in August of that year.) Keith Richards’ pending trial for heroin trafficking cast somewhat of a pall over the 25-concert event, with many speculating the tour might just be the band’s last.  One of the opening acts was Peter Tosh, who was sometimes joined by Mick Jagger for a duet on “Don’t Look Back”.  The tour used a stripped-back minimalist stage show compared to the previous Tour of the Americas ’75 and Tour of Europe ’76, in part due to the emergence of the punk rock scene and its emphasis on music and attitude rather than presenting a grandiose stage extravaganza. 

Rock critic Robert Christgau wrote that the 1978 Tour was an improvement over the group’s previous go-around, “especially when Mick [Jagger] stopped prancing long enough to pick up a guitar and get into the good new songs from Some Girls.” The tour is widely believed among fans to be one of the band’s greatest, largely because it was in many ways back to basics both in musical and visual terms. It featured a mixture of classic Stones numbers (“Tumbling Dice,” “Star Star,” “Happy”, “Brown Sugar,” etc.) mixed with blues and Chuck Berry covers, as well as a healthy dose of songs from then newly released “Some Girls” LP. It was the first tour featuring songs written with Ronnie Wood as an official member of the Rolling Stones, and his contributions from this period are considered by many Stones fans as some of his greatest with the band. 

Guest artists that played with the Stones during individual shows included Linda Ronstadt, Sugar Blue, Doug Kershaw, Bobby Keys and Nicky Hopkins. Opening acts included Van Halen, Journey, Peter Tosh, Patti Smith, Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes, Foreigner, Kansas, Etta James, Furry Lewis, Atlanta Rhythm Section, April Wine, The Outlaws, and the Doobie Brothers.

Part One

Part Two

Part Three

Part Four

Part Five

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In the early 1950s, while Grant was staying at his luxurious Mayfair Hotel penthouse suite, he placed chocolates on the suite’s bedroom pillow for a certain woman who was meeting him there. He was married to actress Betsy Drake at the time – his third wife out of five – but he had another ‘female friend’ in mind. And for his plans of seduction, he designed a breadcrumb trail of chocolates, leading from the suite’s sitting room into the bedroom where he placed the final bit of sweets on his pillow. The name of his soon-to-be bedmate is still unknown, as are the contents of a love letter he left beside the chocolates. As expected, the woman arrived at the suite before Grant, where his romantic ploy was an Oscar winning success.

The manager on duty noticed Grant’s ploy and started the regular practice of leaving a nighttime chocolate on guests’ pillows. And that very tradition still continues at the Magnolia St. Louis, as part of its turndown service, but with chocolates now from Bissinger’s, regarded as one of the finest chocolatiers in St. Louis.

Today, guests can stay at the Magnolia’s Cary Grant Suite which is a fusion of old-world style with modern elements and technological enhancements The augmentation also includes an executive desk; tufted faux leather headboards with ecru woven textured bedding; gray and taupe textured fibers, woven into carpeting repeating the color palette of the floor to ceiling drapery with sewn-in blackout lining. And, of course, the suite is shrouded with Cary Grant photographs amd momentos.

Guests can continue their Cary Grant homage by dining at the Magnolia’s Robie’s Restaurant and Lounge, named for John Robie, Grant’s suave former jewel thief in the Alfred Hitchcock 1955 film, To Catch a Thief. So, the next time you stay at a hotel and enjoy the chocolate, cookie bite, or mint, remember that we have Cary Grant’ to thank for it. Readers, please note, you will not find Grant’s letter on the pillow: believed to be, Compliments of C. Grant: Have a restful sleep.

Who Was Cary Grant & Why Do We Keep Talking About Him?

Everybody wants to be Cary Grant. Even I want to be Cary Grant. I have spent the greater part of my life fluctuating between Archie Leach and Cary Grant; unsure of either, suspecting each. I pretended to be somebody I wanted to be until finally I became that person. Or he became me. – Cary Grant

Grant was born Archibald Alexander Leach (1904) in a working class home in Bristol, England, a fishing town which offered few opportunities. In his youth he possessed a sense of drive, much like the early life of Charlie Chaplin in the slums in Victorian London. He felt he had no choice but to pull himself up by his bootstraps to eventually becoming an American stage and vaudevillian star, and then, after seemingly endless years on the road to be one of Hollywood’s most iconic film actors. With his distinctive Mid-Atlantic accent and impeccable timing, he was considered the foremost exemplar of the debonair leading man, not only handsome, but also witty, charming and masculine.

Film critic Robin Wood noted that the Bond films would never have happened if not for Alfred Hitchcock’s North by Northwest (1959), with Grant in the lead role. Grant was the first actor asked to play the role of James Bond in Dr. No (1962) at the advent of the James Bond film franchise, but decided to pass due to age. He had come a long way since he worked as a stilt walker at Brooklyn’s Coney Island.

Grant, His Mother & Failed Marriages

Grant’s father, ravaged by years of alcoholism, worked as a tailor’s presser, while his mother was a seamstress. His older brother passed away at age one, and biographer Geoffrey Wansell notes that his mother blamed herself bitterly for the death, and never recovered from it. Nevertheless, his mother taught young Archie to sing and dance, insisted on piano lessons, and occasionally took him to the cinema.

Grant’s biographer Graham McCann claimed that his mother did not know how to give affection and did not how to receive it either. Grant acknowledged that his negative experiences with his mother affected his relationships with women later in life. Grant attributed her behavior to overprotectiveness, fearing that she would lose him as she did John..

When Grant was nine years old, his father placed his mother in a mental institution, and told him that she had gone away on a “long holiday”, which later ended with her death. To a degree, this resembled Chaplin’s relationship with his own fragile mother, often returning home from grade school to find that she had been placed in a mental ward. Grant did not learn that his mother was actually still alive until he was 31; and made arrangements to support her for the rest of her life, yet only visiting her once in 1938.

Cary Grant’s 1949 marriage to Betsy Drake constituted his longest martial union, but they separated in 1958 and divorced in 1962. Grant credited her with broadening his interests beyond his career and with introducing him to the then-legal LSD therapy and to hypnosis.

In the 1950s, after Grant had become the wildly successful star, he sought professional help to cope with the lingering emotions over his traumatic childhood. In particular, his failed marriages weighed on him. He tried hypnosis, yoga, and supervised LSD experimentation. During his LSD hallucinations, Grant was able to confront and overcome the unconscious motivation that had undermined his marriages: anger and sorrow over his mother. He credited Dr. Hartman’s treatment for helping him understand how his mother’s disappearance had triggered a self-sabotaging pattern of relationships.

A Brief Look at Grant’s Career from an Auteurist Perspective

Upon Cary Grant’s arrival in Hollywood he was dismissed by casting directors due to his thick neck and bowlegged walk. But, a year later, he appeared in crime films or dramas as a handsome, yet wooden, costar in films by Josef von Sternberg in Blonde Venus (1932) with Marlene Dietrich, and She Done Him Wrong (1933) with Mae West, who apparently took one look at him and said, If can talk, I’ll take him. But Cary Grant becoming Cary Grant, the Cary Grant persona in which he is famous, began with his role co-starring with Katherine Hepburn in George Cukor’s Sylvia Scarlett (1935) as the rough, but charming Cockney swindler, Jimmy Monkley. Leo McCarey’s 1937 comedy The Awful Truth (1937) with Irene Dunne proved to be a smash box office success and furthered to concrete Grant’s sophisticated comedic image; later he followed with two more Cukor comedies with Hepburn, Holiday (1938) and The Philadelphia Story (1940).

But it was his roles in Howard Hawks’ screwball comedies, Bringing Up Baby (1938) with Hepburn again, and His Girl Friday (1940) with Rosalind Russell, which are frequently cited among the greatest comedy films of all time. Hawks continued to cast him in what are regarded as the lesser comedies, I Was a Male War Bride (1949) and Monkey Business (1952), and but also in the earlier 1939 drama, Only Angels Have Wings, where Grant delivered the goods with a powerful dramatic performance.

Cary & Hitch

During the 1940s and 1950s, Grant developed a close working relationship with Alfred Hitchcock, who cast him in four films: Suspicion (1941) opposite Joan Fontaine, Notorious (1946) opposite Ingrid Bergman, North by Northwest (1959) alongside James Mason and Eva Marie Saint, and To Catch a Thief (1955) with Grace Kelly. The last two of the four capitulated audiences and film critics alike, while the first two film dramas, Suspicion and Notorious, Hitchcock revealed a darker, more ambiguous nature in Grant’s characters.

Toward the end of his career, Grant was praised by critics primarily as a romantic leading man, and received five nominations for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor, which included a pair of Stanley Donen features, Indiscreet (1958) again with Bergman, and Charade (1963) with Audrey Hepburn. Cary Grant died at age 82 of a cerebral hemorrhage. His marriage to Dyan Cannon, which ended in divorce, produced his only child, Jennifer, who was the centerpiece of his life and his greatest work of art.

Cary Grant is most remembered for his broad appeal as a handsome, suave actor who did not take himself too seriously, and able to play with his own dignity in comedies without sacrificing it entirely. The story of chocolates on the pillow continues to speak to lovers throughout the world with a special affection to the art of seduction.

For more on Celebrity Suites, visit Hemingway, John & Yoko, Oscar Wilde Celebrity Hotel Rooms & Suites: Part I – Traveling Boy; The Beatles, Coco Chanel, Jim Morrison Celebrity Suites, Part 2 – Traveling Boy; Katharine Hepburn, Salvador Dali, Gwyneth Paltrow Celebrity Suites, Part 3 – Traveling Boy; Francis Ford Coppola, Nelson Mandela, J.K. Rowling, Richard Harris Celebrity Hotel Rooms & Suites, Part 4 – Traveling Boy; and Elizabeth Taylor & Richard Burton, Ava Gardner, Audrey Hepburn Celebrity Suites Part 5 – Traveling Boy

A Bite About Chocolate – Courtesy of the World Cocoa Foundation

Cocoa and other chocolate products are enjoyed by billions of people around the globe, but surprisingly few people know the history of the confection. In fact, cocoa has appeared in different cultures worldwide for hundreds of years. Cocoa was first developed as a crop in many ancient South American cultures, with the Aztecs and Mayans being the most well-known of these indigenous populations. Researchers have found evidence of cocoa-based food dating back several thousand years. READ MORE History of Cocoa | World Cocoa Foundation

Click here for further information about the Cary Grant Suite at the Magnolia St. Louis.

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Did you know that the star-studded movie, The Conqueror, featuring John Wayne, Susan Hayward and Agnes Moorehead was filmed in a nuclear-infected desert sand that caused the early deaths of the actors and movie crew? Our City Tonight’s host Jim Gordon does a one-on-one interview with Writer/Director, William Nunez about his powerful, new documentary, “The Conqueror: Hollywood Fallout”.

Interview with travel author Steve Burgess

Exclusive Interview: Jim engages in a lively conversation with Steve Burgess, delving into the inspirations and experiences that shaped his new book, “Reservations.” Travel Tales: Hear firsthand stories of adventure, mishaps, and unforgettable moments from Steve’s extensive travels around the globe. Expert Insights: Gain valuable tips and humorous anecdotes about the joys and challenges of travel, perfect for both seasoned travelers and those dreaming of their next getaway. Whether you’re a travel enthusiast, a fan of Steve Burgess’s writing, or simply love a good story, this segment from “Our City Tonight” promises to entertain and inspire. Join us for a journey through the pages of “Reservations” and beyond.

About the Book: “Reservations: The Pleasures & Perils of Travel” is a delightful and insightful exploration of the highs and lows of travel. Steve Burgess combines wit, wisdom, and a keen eye for detail to capture the essence of what makes travel both exhilarating and unpredictable.

Dr. Audrey Birnbaum on Our City Tonight

In-Depth Interview: Join Jim and Leeta as they delve into a riveting conversation with Dr. Audrey Birnbaum, exploring the incredible true story behind her book, “American Wolf.” Historical Insights: Discover the harrowing journey of a Nazi refugee who transformed into an American spy, uncovering untold tales of bravery, resilience, and espionage. Author’s Perspective: Gain unique insights into Dr. Birnbaum’s research process, her motivations for writing the book, and the historical significance of her work. This episode is a must-watch for history buffs, espionage enthusiasts, and anyone intrigued by stories of courage and transformation. Don’t miss this enlightening discussion that brings history to life through the eyes of a master storyteller.

About the Book: “American Wolf: From Nazi Refugee to American Spy” tells the extraordinary story of a young refugee’s escape from Nazi persecution and his eventual role as a spy for the United States. Through meticulous research and compelling narrative, Dr. Birnbaum sheds light on a lesser-known yet profoundly impactful piece of history.

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If you were to run into Ben Rice on the street you’d probably think that guy’s a lawyer, maybe a realtor or possibly an accountant. But when he straps on his guitar, leans into the microphone and blisters those first few chords you realize; that guy is not an accountant! Rice and his bulked-up sextet, the PDX Hustle, recently made a few West Coast appearances on a quick, 10-day romp through the Southwest. The show on this evening answered two primary questions… this is who we are and this is the music we make. What Ben and the band generated was a collective master class in musicianship and versatility. A high-octane and wide-ranging performance over a variety of genres richly coated with blues. So we started our conversation with musical diversity.

You and your band play everything; blues, soul, R&B ballads, rockin’ boogies and I know I heard mariachi in tonight’s set list. Where does that kind of adaptability originate? “My parents record collection, really.” Ben tells me. “My mom was a big Al Green, Isley Brothers fan…George Benson. My dad was really eclectic…I think our first concert as a family was AC-DC, and we went to Metallica and he was a huge Marshall Tucker fan. He had this old, nylon-stringed, classical guitar and this was before any of us played music, dad would come home from the bar and pick up his guitar and just strum. He doesn’t play guitar but he knows if he puts his fingers here and it sounds good and if I put this finger here…I’ve got three brothers and when dad would put the guitar down, there was a pecking order. There’s the oldest brother, then the second oldest…usually I’d get it the next day.”

With that many siblings were there garage bands? “My older brother started a garage band when they were in middle school and they would rehearse at our house. I was like five or six years old and I remember watching them rehearse at band practice. I was mesmerized…the drums, the bass, the guitars and the singers. This is what a PA is and I got guitar lessons when I was seven. My dad told me, when you turn seven I’m going to buy you your own guitar and put you in guitar lessons. And as long as you go, I’ll keep on paying for them. So, I took guitar lessons from age seven all the way through high school. And eventually joined the band and then started my own band with friends. “

Tell us about Jimmy Hale and the last Wednesday of every month? “That was an all-ages blues jam that I found when I was fourteen. The last Wednesday of every month I would drive with my little brother and parents there, and they would let me play along with them. It was my first blues jam where it wasn’t just me and my friends; these were guys who studied blues…both mentors and great friends.”

It carries such a distinctive sound, can you talk a little about the steel resonator you sometimes use? “I got into blues from my guitar teachers and at first it was the sounds, you know? We’re talking about the resonator…when I was 12, I would go to Fred Meyer and it was the only record store where they used to have CDs. And they had a blues bin and a jazz bin. And the blues CDs were like $2.99 and $4.99. And Delta blues compilation albums. And I’d buy those! I’d save up my paper route money and ‘cash-in’ bottles and cans and buy these CD’s. At one point, I had ALL of them. And that’s where I first heard Bukka White, Mississippi Fred McDowell and Son House. And that’s where I first heard the resonator. And I wanted, wanted, wanted one. Finally, when I was in college I found one I could afford.” (laughing)

Geographically, the Northwest has produced a phenomenal number of blues musicians over the years. Curtis Salgado comes to mind. “I met him when I was 16 and he heard my band playing and said ‘you have a CD?’ and he gave me his number. A week later he called and had listened to my record…and we talked for hours. He’s a mentor…and I’ve been playing with his band for the last couple of years, as much as I can. It’s a push-pull between his schedule and my schedule. John, our bass player tonight plays with him and Dave; I met Dave through Curtis, too. I saw them working together on a blues festival set and Dave was arranging the horns. It was literally Curtis singing these horn lines and Dave writing them out in the moment.”

The PDX Hustle is Pete Petersen on saxophone, drummer Adam Carlson, John Wolcott on bass, Pat MacDougall on keyboards and Dave Mills on trumpet. Mills says, ‘Ben wanted to start a larger group and he called and asked me to write some horn charts for his band. I did that and now…’ Mills grins. ‘That was a couple of years ago.’

Again, the entire touring band seems to take an exploratory and creative approach to music…the soulful R&B, boogie, blues, some Motown and of course…Mariachi? “I think about the band in that manner.” Ben smiles. “It’s a bunch of people around me saying, ‘Yeah! Okay sure, keep going, let’s try that.'”

Did your songwriting start early? “Yeah…right from the get-go…yeah, I was talking about my dad’s guitar. I didn’t know songs; I just started writing songs to play. At first it wasn’t really full songs, it was riffs and ideas, but the more you write the better you get. A big influence was Robert Cray and I always think of him as a great songwriter.”

Do you write with an instrument? “Yeah, I write with the guitar. Every once in a while I’ll plunk something out on the piano.”

Your career gained some traction back in 2014-15 at the International Blues Challenge in Memphis. “There was a time I was thinking about moving to Memphis. A lot of my friends were there, John Nemeth and Tony Holiday, Max Kaplan, Jon Hay and Matt Wilson.”

Recordings…’Live at the Purple Fox Loft?’ “You know that was the first record that I ever made where we sound like the bands that I saw growing up. We had the Waterfront Blues Festival in Portland and I would go there every year with my family and that’s where I first saw Curtis Salgado, saw Sean Costello and Walter Trout… But my drummer had just gotten his law degree and he’s like, ‘I’m gonna’ go be a lawyer now.’ Well, let’s go record because this is as good as we’ve ever sounded. It was me and my two best friends who were also monster musicians and we recorded ‘Key to the Highway’ that I actually performed at the finals of the IBC. But my version of ‘Key to the Highway’ is a little bit different and I tried to capture it in the studio a handful of times, but it just never worked out. It is a ‘live’ song and you can hear the audience and the whole room just breathing along with the music.”

At the show tonight you could feel the audience responding, a couple of songs I felt a few Solomon Burke riffs and shouts in there…“Seriously? Oh my God, I love Solomon Burke! My favorite CD of all time, is the one he did called, ‘Don’t Give Up on Me’ and it’s produced by Joe Henry who is a producer and protégé of T-Bone Burnett. And Joe Henry also produced a record for Bonnie Raitt, ‘Slipstream.’ I only know this because I’m a fan of Joe Henry. All of Solomon Burke’s records are like chitlin’ circuit soul singer and this record ‘Don’t Give Up’… is like Solomon Burke is this close to you, just whispering and playing with your ears, it’s like…Ahhh! I’ve really been focused on singing these last three or four years and part of the catalyst was actually Curtis (Salgado) a few years ago saying, ‘you need to learn how to sing.’ And I’m like; I’ve sung for 12 years, what are you talking about? And here’s your vocal teacher and he gave me a number and I called the number. I talked with Curtis and told him he’s not getting back to me…Curtis said, ‘Hound him! Hound him!” (laughing) “It’s a test! You knock down his door.’ And sure enough I said, Hey Tom Blaylock…and now the whole band knows Blaylock’s vocal warm-ups and exercises…but I would sing along with the Solomon Burke record. But for Solomon Burke it was so effortless, just sitting there telling stories and singing these great lines. He sings so high and powerful, low and powerful and your voice doesn’t work that way. You can be loud and forceful or soft and wistful, but you can’t do both.”

In 2018 you release ‘Wish the World Away’ and it picks up three Blues Music Award nominations. “It was my attempt to…I was just going to do a quick, me in the studio with my resonator just singing into the microphone and just put that out and use the sales and funds from that to do a whole band record. That was my plan but of course that’s not what happened. I got in the studio…I spent about a year in the studio, it was Jimi Bott’s studio, the drummer for Rod Piazza and the Mighty Flyers, the Fabulous Thunderbirds and he plays drums on one of the songs, the last song we recorded. We had finished the record; it was supposed to be just me and my guitar, but this needed pedal steel and background singers…I’ve got a great singer friend in Nashville and we’ve got to get her over here and that’s the title track and it turned into this whole thing and by the end I didn’t really save any money…but shoot, the album came out and it got nominated for three Blues Music Awards. It’s still surreal to say that and Jimi texted me the day of the announcement and said, ‘Congratulations on your two, oh no, three Blues Music Award nominations. I was like, are you messing with me right now, what is that? I’m really proud of that.”

What’s in the water up in the Northwest, so much musical talent; Paul DeLay, Terry Robb… “Mitch Kashmar is up there, too. A guy from the Bay Area, Daniel Castro moved up to the Portland area. Mike Osborn who used to play with John Lee Hooker is up there. Tony Coleman, B.B. King’s drummer is up there. Paul DeLay is probably one of my favorite songwriters and I really didn’t get into his stuff until they did a tribute show. I met him once when I was a kid and he was really a sweetheart of a guy. His band played together all the time and would come up with all these wacky, cool arrangements of their songs. When they did the tribute everybody in the original Paul DeLay band said, ‘nope, that’s a lot of work and we can’t recreate that…so they did a tribute and they made a musical out of his music catalog and the first time they did it, they had Sugaray Rayford playing the Paul DeLay character…he’s a freight train!”

You are a student of music, jazz theory, blues…do you still teach music? “I had to stop teaching. I love teaching and there were a couple of times where I was teaching private lessons and had gone on the road and I’d be like…I need to just focus on being on the road and I let my students go. Then I’d teach one lesson and go, what am I doing, I love teaching. This is so fun, sharing music with people so I’d build up my lesson studio again and have 15 students and go on the road, and realize this is where I need to be, and I’d let all my students go, again. The second time I did that, I got a call from the local university that they needed a guitar professor…that’s what I want to do!” (laughing) “My friend was the head of the jazz department there and he said, ‘we need someone who can teach guitar students here…I’m in, and I did that for two years. And then I added horns and organ in this band and I started doing this full time. I have to be all in. I used to play as a trio; the Purple Fox was a trio band. When we played Gator by the Bay (San Diego) we were a trio band. I was worried about personalities and scheduling but it got so much more enriching to have this many people, and all the great stories.”

You work with and collaborate with so many people, R.B. Stone. “Yeah, he’s a good friend and at Jimi Bott’s studio. He was going to put together an all cigar box record. It was me, R.B. and it was supposed to be J.P. Soars and Matt Isbell. Well J.P. had just put out a record and Matt Isbell had just put out a record. You know putting out a record…when you pour your heart and soul into something, day in and day out and once it’s out and somebody hears it…you’re just exhausted. So, R.B. and I connected and wrote songs, all of them and I loved it. I think the first song, ‘Hot Rod Mama’ R.B. said, ‘Here’s an idea, I don’t know’ and he sings ‘she’s a red hot mama, she likes going fast. I go take a shower and in the shower I go it’s not red hot mama, its Hot Rod Mama and here’s the song. I sang it in the shower.” (laughing)

Creative sparks from the collaboration effect. “It’s a lot of fun and there are so many people and I’m always learning. Curtis (Salgado) has a new record out and he and I collaborated on a couple of the tunes along with my friend Josh Huff, who came up with this guitar lick. You need to come over to write this song and we got together maybe, eight times. Digging out what is the song and Curtis is just relentless, he’s so persistent in pursuing ideas. It’s so great and such an inspiration to watch. John and I were like, we have four notes we want to start with…” (laughing) “I have another group I collaborate with called ‘Cosmic Gold’ and we’re putting out a song per month. Just singles. It’s me, my friend Andy Worley and Lindsey Reynolds who’s a fantastic singer. Vyasa Dodson just joined the group and he played guitar with Curtis for a long time, two or three years. He also had a band called ‘the Insomniacs’ who were on Delta Groove.”

How did you get involved with United by Music? “Oh, yeah. It was based out of Gig Harbor, Washington but they had a group in Portland, too. They needed someone at the very last minute to go to the Netherlands. I had run into Amanda Gresham, the founder, she and her mother, Barbara Hammerman were inspired by Candye Kane’s work in the Netherlands program and they wanted to bring that to the states. United by Music North America works with people on the spectrum, neuro diverse and neuro-typical people with exceptional musical talent. You can check out United by Music at UBMNA.org if you want to know more about them.”

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There was a rumor that Ms. Trudeau was intimate with one of the Stones during the Mocambo Gigs. The rumor no longer persists, due to Ron Wood’s website, where he admitted that he was indeed intimate with Ms. Trudeau.

In 2022 much to the delight of their patient fans, the Rolling Stones officially released a 23-song cd from culled from those two gigs which is “arguably the best live release from the Ron Wood years.” (*It should be noted that four of the songs from the El Mocambo were officially released previously on their double-live LP, “Love You Live.”)

Songs performed by the Stones at the El Mocambo in 1977:

March 4 Set list

1. Route 66
2. Honky Tonk Women
3. Hand of Fate
4. Fool to Cry
5. Crazy Mama(Live premiere)
6. Crackin’ Up
7. Around and Around
8. Melody(Live premiere)
9. Star Star
10. Worried About You(Live premiere)
11. Let’s Spend the Night Together
12. Little Red Rooster
13. Luxury
14. Brown Sugar
15. Jumpin’ Jack Flash

March 5 Set list

1. Honky Tonk Women
2. All Down the Line
3. Hand of Fate
4. Route 66
5. Fool to Cry
6. Crazy Mama
7. Mannish Boy
8. Crackin’ Up
9. Dance Little Sister
10. Around and Around
11. Tumbling Dice
12. Happy
13. Hot Stuff
14. Star Star
15. Worried About You
16. Let’s Spend the Night Together
17. Worried Life Blues
18. It’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll (But I Like It)
19. Rip This Joint
20. Little Red Rooster
21. Luxury
22. Brown Sugar
23. Jumpin’ Jack Flash

*There was a rumor that Ms. Trudeau was intimate with one of the Stones during the Mocambo Gigs. The rumor no longer persists, due to Ron Wood’s website, where he admitted that he was indeed intimate with Ms. Trudeau.

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I find it hard to believe it’s been three years since we lost James Harman. That’s probably because his music is still on such a high rotation across all my playlists. So imagine my delight when friend, Nathan James walked over and handed me a brand new James Harman CD from Electro-Fi Records. The disc entitled, ‘Didn’t We Have Some Fun Sometime’ features twelve fresh tracks all written by the man himself; James Harman. The recordings were captured online during pandemic ‘live streams’ or in studio recording sessions at Nathan’s Sacred Cat Studios in Oceanside then produced and mastered in his new digs in Mountain Center.

I spoke to Nathan about the recordings featuring his late friend and mentor. “I wanted to show the world the stuff we were working on up until James died.” Nathan said. “These are basically his last recordings. Although he was very sick the last several months of his life, he was driven to put out a new album of original material which consists of a lot of this album – ‘Didn’t We Have Some Fun Sometime.’ We weren’t able to get it finished because his health was declining so quickly. Some of his last messages to me were about ideas for the next release. Our last sessions together were ‘live stream’ recordings during the pandemic. He brought over a large notebook of his lyrics printed out, and he’d pick random songs and would sing them for the first time with us for the recordings. He was extremely prolific and this was less than a year before he passed.”

Several things jump right out at you from this recording; Harman’s masterful skills at songwriting, instrumentation and then of course like he always did, surrounding himself with incredibly talented musicians. This album reflects all of that. Harman has his long-time guitarist, Nathan James and percussionist, Mike Tempo appearing on most tracks. The rhythm section of bassist, Troy Sandow and drummer, Marty Dotson are some of Southern California’s best. Legendary keyboardists’ Carl Sonny Leyland and the late Gene Taylor as well as drummer, Hal Smith also contributed to this recording.

From the opening track ‘Pick Up the Slack’ and throughout the record, you have to appreciate Harman’s harmonica work. He’ll accentuate or supplement a specific groove, and then in the very next bar use that same harp like it’s a second voice, just to emphasize his point. Listen for it on ‘Who’s Got the Geetus,’ and ‘That Old Clock’ he just kills.

Nathan James worked and toured with Harman for years, so I wanted to know how special this project became for him? “It was very special and personal for me to work on this project and I probably spent more time on it than any other album I’ve produced. I was very fortunate to have Andrew Galloway and Electro-Fi records giving me full creative control over this. Andrew understood my vision and wanted the album to do James justice.”

How much material did you comb through to come up with these 12 tracks? “I went through quite a bit, but first I went through James’ notes of his personal selections of tunes he wanted to use. He had several ideas of groups of songs to use and I could kind of tell he wasn’t as focused as he might’ve been if his health had permitted, because he had enough songs picked for two full-length albums. Most of the album is taken from the three ‘livestream’ recordings we did, but there were several tunes including the title track that were from sessions 10 years ago. I have most of his recorded work on a hard drive. There is a lot of unreleased material, and some may still be on analog tape somewhere, which I don’t have.”

Talk a little more about the ‘livestream’ process and performing ‘live on YouTube’ during the pandemic? “More than half of the album was taken from live streams.” Nathan says, “Live on Facebook and YouTube performances. The ability to livestream during the pandemic really got me through the pandemic and helped me stay creative. It was a big challenge to set up the cameras and sync it with the video and then get it to broadcast over the internet in real time. I was going live on my own almost every day at random times. One great memory was always seeing James comment on my solo livestreams. He was always saying something encouraging or funny in real time while I was playing. I knew he was itching to play and sing as well, and he would even crash our livestreams sometimes, walking in with beer for the band…such great memories.”

Harman had an incredible gift of story-telling through imagery and his turn of phrase; lines like ‘Opportunities knock, but I was out!’ It became visual poetry set to music. Did improvisation or the spontaneity of his art form ever surprise you or the rest of the band? “That was James’ biggest gift.” Nathan says. “He’d always surprise us… Every. Time. There were lots of stories he would tell repeatedly as well. Some stories from his youth I had thought were tall tales, but when I met some of his old band mates in Panama City, Florida where he first started performing music, they all confirmed those stories with all the same details as James had told!”

You have any favorite memories when you listened back to some of these compositions? Memorable elements that continue to inspire you or take you back in time? “I have many memories of the songs I was fortunate to record with him. A lot of him explaining the meanings of the lyrics and origination of the stories he was singing about. Some are X- rated and only for band members to hear. James set the bar really high in terms of quality and taste with the music he created. Everything was conversational and quirky, but always coming off as natural sounding and not forced. He is definitely my biggest influence for songwriting. He was a master with his way of words, and he knew how to make them flow within the song. He was so intelligent, and his knowledge of the English language was such a gift, he knew how to break the rules while throwing in his signature Southern slang along the way.”

I highly recommend you pick up a copy of this CD. It is truly memorable and some of the best of James Harman. A special ‘Thank You’ goes out to Nathan James for his years of dedication in making this recording available for life-long Harman fans. Just the best parting gift, ever. Like the man said, ‘when it’s all said and done, didn’t we have some fun sometime?’

The post James Harman – Last Call appeared first on Traveling Archive.

Auteur François Truffaut

Auteur François Truffaut was born 1932 in Paris and died 1984 in Neuilly-sur-Seine, near Paris. His mother and stepfather sent Truffaut when he was a young boy to live with various nannies as wll as an important loving grandmother, who nurtured his love of the arts. As a teenager, he was an enthusiastic moviegoer, often found in the front row of Henri Langlois et la Cinémathèque française, which was co-founded by Georges Franju and Jean Mitry. Langlois (1914-1977) was a French film archivist and cinephile. During the Second World War, Langlois and his colleagues helped save many films that were at risk of being destroyed during the Nazi occupation of France

As a pioneer of film preservation, Langlois was an influential figure in the history of cinema, where his film screenings in Paris in the 1950s are often credited with providing the ideals that led to the development of the politique des auteurs (auteur theory) on the generation of young cinephiles and critics who would later become the La Nouvelle Vague (French New Wave). Among the directors included were Truffaut, Jean-Luc Godard, Jacques Rivette, Claude Chabrol, Eric Rohmer and Alain Resnais. The future filmmakers were called les enfants de la cinémathèque (children of the cinémathèque), as they could often be found in the front row of packed screenings.

When Truffaut first took a chair at the cinémathèque he spoke that when the screen lit up, it was the first time he could see films that had been banned, films that he had never been allowed to see, films that he didn’t know had existed, and films that ultimately changed his life – the effect was immense, overwhelming, transformative. Even more so, for Langlois would screen the films, back-to-back, without any breaks between them: westerns by John Ford, comedies by Chaplin, and Josef von Sternberg films with Marlene Dietrich; gangster films by Howard Hawks, musicals by Vincent Minnelli and crime dramas by Robert Bresson and Fritz Lang; and, most importantly, films by Jean Renoir and Alfred Hitchcock, who would become his idols. It was akin to seeing them all at once.

For Godard and Truffaut: In Defense of Henri Langlois et la Cinémathèque française scroll below to post script.

After starting his own film club in 1948, Truffaut met film critic, André Bazin, who had a great effect on his professional and personal life, ultimately becoming his spiritual father. Bazin was the head of another film society and became a personal friend and helped him out of various financial and criminal situations during his formative years. At 18, Truffaut joined the French Army in 1950, but spent the next two years trying to escape, and was arrested for attempting to desert the army and incarcerated in military prison. Bazin used his political contacts to get Truffaut released and set him up with a job at his new film magazine, Cahiers du cinéma (Notebook of Cinema), which allowed Truffaut a platform to echo Bazin’s critical film philosophy, the politique des auteurs, a theory which changed the landscape of film criticism and cinema forever.

For more Auteur, scroll below to post script and see the politique des auteurs.

Composer and conductor Maurice Jauber.

Maurice Jaubert (born 1900 in Nice) was a prolific French composer who scored some of the most important French films of the early sound era. Jaubert grew up in a musical household, and began playing the piano aged five. Jaubert left for Paris and studied law and literature at the Sorbonne, but became seduced by classical music. His music was written in a style of clarity, frankness and freedom, in which he did not seek novelty for the sake of it, where his spontaneity is not weighed down by pedantic formulas.

Maurice Jaubert was the second son of François Jaubert, a lawyer who would become the president of the Nice Bar Association. He followed in his father’s footsteps and upon graduation from the Sorbonne, became the youngest lawyer in his hometown.

After Jaubert was awarded the baccalaureat (a college bachelor’s degree), from the Lycée Masséna in Nice in 1916, he enrolled at the Nice Conservatory of Music, where he studied harmony, counterpoint and piano. He was awarded the first piano prize in 1916.

Although Maurice Jaubert understood and appreciated film composing and scoring, he also had other creative musical outlets. As music director of Pathé-Nathan studio, he conducted musical orchestrations of several other composers, including Arthur Honegger and Darius Milhaud.

Left to right: Maurice Jaubert, French writer Jean Giono, and Brazilian-French film director, Alberto Cavalcanti, courtesy of Underscore,fr/portraits.L

Jaubert was a French army officer in engineering during World War I, and was demobilized in 1922. The next year he completed his musical education in Paris with Albert Groz, while undertaking a variety of music related jobs such as proof correction and checking Pleyela rolls.

The compositions by Jaubert’s in the early 1920s included songs, piano pieces, chamber music and divertissements. He wrote his first stage music in 1925 for a play by Calderón, Le Magicien prodigieux, using the Pleyela, a revolutionary player piano at the time. He was then hired by Pleyel to record rolls on the Pleyela.

Left to right: Maurice Ravel, French Romantic composer and best man at Jaubert’s wedding; Georges Neveux, devenu secrétaire de La Comédie; and Jaubert as the new smiling husband, courtesy of Underscore,fr/portraits.

Jaubert as a young composer, was attracted by technical innovations that could serve his artistic aspirations. While working on the play, Le Magicien prodigieux, he met a young soprano, Marthe Bréga, who would later sing most of his vocal compositions. They married in 1926, with composer, Maurice Ravel as his best man.

In 1929, while pursuing his work for the concert hall and the stage, Maurice Jaubert began writing and conducting for the cinema. He collaborated with prominent directors such as Alberto Cavalcanti (Le Petit Chaperon Rouge), Jean Vigo (Zero for Conduct and L’Atalante), René Clair (Quatorze Juillet), Julien Duvivier (Carnet de bal and La Fin du Jour), and Marcel Carné’s Drôle de drame, Hôtel du Nord and Quai des brumes (Port of Shadows).

Maurice Jaubert and François Truffaut

Thirty years after Maurice Jaubert’s death, director François Truffaut, purchased the publishing rights to four of his orchestral compositions.

It is believed that Truffaut first discovered Jaubert’s compositional music scores on the radio, but it’s never been determined which score he first heard. Perhaps it was Jean Vigo’s L’Atalante, where Jaubert in an early scene asked his musicians play the score backwards, similar to what George Martin would do in The Beatles’ recordings 35-years-later. Or, possibly from the film, Carnet de bal, where Jaubert enhanced director Julien Duvivier’s illusionary imagery with his own brillant use of lyrical imagery in his compositional music soundtrack.

Nevertheless, an emotional bond was set, when Truffaut used four of Jaubert’s orchestral compositions to four of his own films: Le Chambre Verte, L’Histoire d’Adèle, L’Homme qui aimait les femmes and L’Argent de poche.

Le Chambre Verte (The Green Room, 1978) was a deeply personal project for Truffaut, where he spent several years working on the film’s script, played the main character, Davenne, and felt a special connection to the theme of honoring and remembering the dead. In the film, he finds a forgotten, derelict altar, and rebuilds it and rechristens it as his own Altar of the Dead. The film is adapted from Henry James’ 1895 short story, Altar of the Dead and also two other works by James: The Beast in the Jungle and The Way It Came. Inside the chapel Davenne places portraits of people from his own life, which included composer Maurice Jaubert, writer Henry James and actor Oskar Werner, taken from footage of Jules and Jim, when Werner was an Austrian-German soldier during the Great War.

Cécilia, played by Nathalie Baye, then better known as the script girl in Truffaut’s1973 film, La Nuit américaine (Day for Night), plays the role of a young woman who helps him build his alter. Complications arise when Cécilia requests that one of the candles represent her former deceased lover, but is rebuffed by Davenne, due to a betrayal by the deceased man in the past.

Le Chambre Verte was one of Truffaut’s most critically praised films, and considered by some as his most personal, but also one of his least successful financially. From that point on, Truffaut’s films were never quite the same, making more popular mainstream films like the crowd pleasing Le Dernier Métro, a 1980 historical drama film, which won ten César Awards for best film, best actor (Depardieu), best actress (Deneuve), best cinematography, best director, best editing, best music, best production design, best sound and best writing. The box office and accolades were immense, but for many serious critics it spelled the kiss of death of Truffaut’s personal films. Truffaut followed with La Femme d’à côté, a film about adultry, and the detective film, Vivement dimanche!, where he did display his personal vision in his love of genre films. In a sense; one for Renoir and one for Hitchcock.

The 1975 film, L’Histoire d’Adèle (The Story of Adèle H.) is a historical drama directed by François Truffaut, and starring Isabelle Adjani, Bruce Robinson and Sylvia Marriott, based on Adèle Hugo’s diaries. The narrative is about Adèle Hugo, the daughter of writer Victor Hugo, once considered the most famous man in France. Victor Hugo was so famous that Adèle would only use the first initial of her surname to hide her identity. Adèle Hugo’s unrequited love for a military officer leads to her downfall. Throughout the film she is on a quest to find the military officer, but, as the film ends, she has become battered and weary to the point of destitution, that when she finally finds the officer, she passes by him without realizing who he is.

As in all four of Truffaut and Jaubert films, the images, sound and music are profound. But much notice was given to 20-year-old Isabelle Adjani, who justifiably received critical acclaim for her performance as Adele H., which led to her status as a legend on the French screen today.

Truffaut’s 1977 film, L’Homme qui aimait les femmes (The Man Who Loved Women) is billed as a romantic comedy about a man who loves women. The film stars Bertrand Morane, played by Charles Denner, a Truffaut regular who had appeared in his earlier films, 1968’s La Mariée était en noir (The Bride Wore Black) and 1972’s Une belle fille comme moi (Such a Gorgeous Kid Like Me). The movie begins with one the most joyful funerals in film history, where in attendance are all the women with whom Morane loved in his life. The ensemble of female actors is too irresistible not to list, which features, Brigitte Fossey, the former child star of Clément’s1952 landmark film, Jeux Interdits (Forbidden Games), Leslie Caron, with no introduction required; Nelly Borgeaud as one of Bertrand’s emotionally unstable lovers; Geneviève as Hélène, a lingerie saleswoman; and Valérie Fabienne, one of Bertrand’s former lovers, who he regrets making her think that he wanted a serious relationship with her.

As noted above, Bertrand Morane loved women, as Truffaut did as well; so, let’s close with the opening of one of the cinema’s most euphoric funeral sequences in L’Homme qui aimait les femmes.

The cast also included, Roselyne Puyo as Nicole, in a bit part as an usherette, who in real life is deaf. Truffaut also served as a passionate voice for those who suffered from disabilities; reminding audiences that they too exist, and to also show those who suffer with disabilities, a pathway to live a relativity normal life and join or re-join “normal society.” This act of courage is best illustrated by T-Boy’s Brom Wikstrom. So take a trek to Machu Picchu in a mobile wheelchair with Brom and his bride, Anne’: Looking Back: Lima, Machu Picchu, Peru – Brom Wikstrom, Traveling Boy

In 1976’s L’Argent de poche, Truffaut mixes the story of his actors with childhood experiences and the challenges of a number of children. Scenes include life at school; a toddler and a cat, playing on an open windowsill but falling down unhurt; a young girl, played by Truffaut’s daughter, causing confusion with a bullhorn; Bruno showing his friends how speak to girls; a double date at a movie theater; a child telling a dirty joke; first love and a first kiss. The main character is the motherless Patrick, who lives alone with his father who uses a wheelchair for mobility and an automatic page turner to read books. His mysterious friend, Julien, lives in poverty, has long unwashed hair and cannot stay awake at school due to long nights without sleep, wandering the empty, dark city streets. Patrick notices Julien constantly refuses to change his clothes for gym class, and his curious why does not.

In the end, Julien and his classmates realize why he doesn’t remove his clothes for gym classes; to hide his bruises that cover his body, making it obvious that he was beaten by his parents. Once the criminal news of Julien’s parent’s cruel abuse becomes public, he is rescued from his family, who are arrested as angry mobs of citizens pound their fists on the police wagon, aware that abusing a child is the greatest crime ever commited by a parent.

L’Argent de poche ends with an important message by one of the schoolteachers, Jean-François Stévenin, in a stunning performance by Jean-François Richet, about child abuse, injustice, children’s rights, hope, love and resilience: Of all mankind’s injustices, injustice to children is the most despicable! Life isn’t always fair, but we can fight for justice… If kids had the right to vote, they would have better schools. Life isn’t easy. You must learn to be tough. I don’t mean ‘gangster-tough’. What I mean is having endurance and resilience… Time flies. Before long, you will have children of your own. If you love them, they will love you. If they don’t feel you love them, they will transfer their love and tenderness to other people. Or to things. That’s life! Each of us needs to be loved.”

François Truffaut’s first feature: Les quatre cents coups

Jean-Pierre Leoud plays a loose version of Truffaut in 1959’s “Les quatre cents coups” (“The 400 Blows”), a film highly influenced by Jean Vigo’s “Zero for Conduct” which paralleled tragic instances in Truffaut’s own childhood. Before the film was made, Truffaut dedicated it to his spiritual father, Andre Bazin, who succumbed to death prior to the film’s release. Photograph courtesy of In a Lonely Place Film, Growing-up is Still Difficult.

The narrative of Les quatre cents coup is taken from the point-of-view of Truffaut’s cinematic counterpart, Antoine Doinel, a reacurring character who appeared in four features and one short film, often referred to as the Antoine Doinel Cycle. The film re-creates the trials of Truffaut’s own childhood, unsentimentally portraying aloof parents, oppressive teachers, and petty crime, with Antoine Doinel played by actor Jean-Pierre Léaud, a veteran of six and a half of Truffaut’s films. Les quatre cents coup marked Truffaut’s passage from a leading film critic to trailblazing auteur of the La Nouvelle Vague. In the 2022 Sight & Sound Critics’ Poll, Les quatre cents coups was ranked 50th as one of the greatest films ever made.

Truffaut and Fatherhood

In both of Truffaut’s public and private life, the concept of fatherhood was an endearing theme; a biological father who abandoned him in his early childhood; Andrea Bazin, his spiritual father; Jean Renoir and Alfred Hitchcock, fathers who mentored his own love and art in cinema; and Jean-Pierre Léaud, who referred to Truffaut as his cinematic father.  Later, after Léaud appeared in Antonie and Collete, he played in a number of Jean-Luc Godard films, and was quoted as saying: If Truffaut is my father, then Godard is my uncle. As Truffaut became older he became obsessed with finding the name of his own biologicall father to the point of hiring private detectives. Eventually the name of his real father was found, a successful French dentist of Jewish ancestry.

François Truffaut: film critic, now director, received the award for Best Director at the 1959 Cannes Film Festival.

In 1958, François Truffaut was regarded as the enfant terrible of film critics, due to the politique des auteurs, and was banned from the Cannes Film Festival. The next year, he submitted his directorial debut to the festival, Les quatre cents coups and received the award for Best Director and a Palme d’Or nomination. From that year onward, Truffaut’s life dramatically changed forever. 

Truffaut as Actor

English language film director Alfred Hitchcock made cameo appearances in 40 of his 53 surviving major films. Truffaut was also fond of appearing in his own films, but often as a lead character. He also appeared in films made by other directors, such as the playing the role of Claude Lacombe, a French scientist with a bad command of English, in Steven Spielberg’s 1977 film, Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Later, Truffaut spoke of his own first encounter on the film’s set: When I first arrived on the set of the Spielberg film, I quickly put my book by Stanislawski back into my suitcase.

Jaubert as Composer

As music director of Pathé-Nathan studio, Jaubert conducted the film scores of several other composers, including Arthur Honegger and Darious Milhaud. In the 1930s he gained a reputation as a conductor in France and abroad, most notably for the final season of Marguerite Bériza’s opera company and the season of opéras-bouffes for the 1937 exposition. At the Comédie des Champs-Élysées, in 1937, he conducted the premiere of Philippine, an opérette, by Marcel Delannoy with libretto by Henri Lyon and Jean Limozin.

Maurice Jaubert (1900-1940)

Jaubert enlisted in a French army engineering company during World War II which he would command as a reserve captain. When his company mobilized in September 1939, he was fatally wounded after having successfully blown up a bridge. He died at age 45 a few hours later at the Baccarat Hospital on June 1940. His letters to his wife reflected a spirit of sacrifice tinged with deep humanism. Jaubert did not live to hear his last two compositions, written at his base camp. Jaubert’s gravesite rests in Montmartre Cemetery in Paris.

Maurice Jaubert left a legacy of written articles about lectures, his musical tastes and political opinions, which included a passionate support of German-born American composer Kurt Weill, who created a revolutionary kind of opera of sharp social satire in collaboration with the writer Bertolt Brecht.

François Truffaut, (1932-1984)

Truffaut suffered from a brain tumor and underwent an operation at the American Hospital in Neuilly-sur-Seine on September 12. He died just over a year later in the hospital on October 21, 1984 at the age of 56-years-old. At his bedside were Madeleine Morgenstern, film producer and ex-wife; their two children, Laura and Eva; and actress Fanny Ardant, with wholm he lived with from 1981 to 1984 and had a daughter, Joséphine Truffaut (born September 1983). Ardant apeared in Truffaut’s final two films, La Femme d’à côté and Vivement dimanche! As he had requested, his body was cremated and his ashes were buried also in the Montmartre Cemetery in Paris. Truffaut was an atheisit, but chose to have a Mass celebrated for him at the church of Saint-Roche, believed to be in the honor of the Roman Catholic Church.

At the time of Truffaut’s death, he was considered by many critics and moviegoers as the most popular French film director of his era. Film audiences flocked to his films, whose main themes were passion, women, childhood and awareness of the disabled, which struck a chord with both critics and moviegoers alike.

To hear more about François Truffaut and Maurice Jaubert, consider purchasing the album, Bandes Sonores Originales Des Films, which includes the scores, L’Argent de poche, L’Histoire d’Adèle, L ‘Homme qui aimait les femmes and Le Chambre Verte, available on vinyl and CD.

And don’t miss film critic Walt Mundkowsky’s film review of François Truffaut’s “Stolen Kisses” – A Look Back – Traveling Boy

Also, if you wish to revisit The Film Soundtracks in Our Lives, Part I, see Ennio Morricone and Sergio Leone’s Spaghetti Western, Once Upon a Time in the West. You can buy, but not on our site, Morricone’s Complete Spaghetti Western Compilation, also available on vinyl or in three-discs or a five-box set on CD.

POST SCRIPT:

Godard and Truffaut: In Defense of Henri Langlois et la Cinémathèque française

In 1968, French culture minister Andre Malraux tried to fire Henri Langlois by stopping funding of la Cinémathèque française, allegedly due to Langlois’ arrogance and iron-fisted rule. Local and international uproar ensued, and even the prestigious Cannes Film Festival was halted in protest that year. Malraux eventually backtracked. Below is an announcement made in 1968 by Jean-Luc Godard and They were once soliders-in-arms in the art of cinema, but as their careers’ progressed, Godard’s films became increasingly political, specifically Marxist, and dismissed Truffaut as a bourgeoisie film director. Truffaut replied, I make personal films, and I can’t remember the last time I took a bus.

READ More: the politique des auteurs – The policy or politics of auteurs: In his 1954 journal, Une certaine tendance du cinéma français (A certain trend in French cinema) Truffaut wrote as a critic for the French film publication, Cahiers du Cinéma (Cinéma Notebook) and introduced the concept that directors should be considered the real creators of the films they create. When translated literally, the French word auteur means author in English. The term is applied to a film director with complete creative control over their work, often defined as a director who has a recognizable personal style, signature and vision which is evident in each film they make. When applied to the other arts, a painting by van Gogh or a symphony by Mahler is instantly recognizable to audiences. When film critic and director, Jean-Luc Godard wrote that Hitchcock was as profround an artist as Dostoevsky, traditional film critics thought he had gone mad. They failed to recognize that Hitchcock was just as profound in his own medium of film as Dostoevsky was in his medium of literature.

Truffaut referred French directors, Jean Renoir, Robert Bresson and Jacque Tatil as auteurs. He contrasted auteurs with directors of commercial studio films, whom he called, merely “metteur en scène” or stagers of a script created by someone else.

In the US, The Auteur Theory was coined and expanded by New York film critic, Andrew Sarris, the Father of American Auteurism. After Truffaut first introduced this new theory, which was based on film critic, Andre Bazin’s earlier work, it eventually spread to the US in 1963 through the writings of Sarris and film critic/director, Peter Bogdanovich.

But, many US film critics thought the concept was preposterous to the point that a film director should even be called an artist. This applied, in particular, to the highly influential San Franciso based film critic, Pauline Kael, who attacked both the theory and Sarris. The battles between them were legendary, and still discussed today, even though Kael finally embraced the theory and championed her own favorite directions, Robert Altman, Sam Peckinpah, Bernardo Bertolucci and even Truffaut. In the end, Sarris said that Kael was not anti-auteur, but anti-genre, and recognized the director as an artist, but still not necessarily the sole artists in a collaborate medium which included cinematographers, edits, art directors, etc. Sarris counter with, who is in charge of all the collaborators who helps the director create their personal vision of a film?

Truffaut on Cinephiles: But the cinephile is… a neurotic! (That’s not a pejorative term.) The Bronte sisters were neurotic, and it’s because they were neurotic that they read all those books and became writers. The famous French advertising slogan that says, “When you love life, you go to the movies,” it’s false! It’s exactly the opposite: when you don’t love life, or when life doesn’t give you satisfaction, you go to the movies.

Art is not scientific; why should criticism be? The main complaint against some critics, and a certain type of criticism, is that too seldom do they speak about cinema as such.

Every critic should take to heart Jean Renoir’s remark: All great art is abstract. He should learn to be aware of form, and to understand that certain artists, for example Dreyer or Von Sternberg, never sought to make a picture that resembled reality.

The post The Film Soundtracks in Our Lives, Part II: Composer Maurice Jaubert and Auteur François Truffaut appeared first on Traveling Archive.

– Josh Billings, US humorist writer

Many of America’s presidents have found friendship and solace in their pets. It’s a tradition that goes all the way back to our first president and founding father, President George Washington, the founding father who was also the first president to have bred foxhounds.

As of today, 46 U.S. Presidents have had pets while they resided in the White House. And, like many of us today, the pets became part of their families, offering courage, patience, forgiveness, comfort and unconditional love, particularly during stressful periods in office.

President Barack Obama and First Lady Michele, accepted a puppy as a gift from Senator Edward Kennedy. The dog was a Portuguese water dog that they named Bo. Then in 2013, the Obamas brought home a second Portuguese water dog, name Sunny.

White House Animal Paths

Historically, the pets at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue have mirrored national trends in animal ownership. Early presidents had working animals such as hounds for hunting and horses for transportation, but a wider variety of animals soon made their way to the White House.

In the 1920s, President Coolidge’s animals included a bobcat, a donkey, lion cubs, ducks, a wallaby pygmy hippo, and a raccoon named Rebecca, who walked on a leash.

From William Taft’s cow, Pauline Wayne, to Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Scottish terrier, Fala, and George H. W. Bush’s English springer spaniel, Millie, many White House animals have achieved celebrity status.

US Presidents with the Most Pets

Tabby and Dixie were cats, and Abraham Lincoln once remarked that Dixie is smarter than my whole cabinet.

James Buchanan received a herd of elephants from the King of Siam.  But as elephants are the largest land animals alive today, Buchanan found them to be too large for the White House, and sent them to the zoo.

Misty Malarky Ying Yang was Jimmy Carter’s daughter’s pet Siamese cat. An Elephant was given to her, but again too big to fit in the White House rooms, and was sent to the National zoo, too.

The True Story of Teddy Roosevelt and the Teddy Bear

In 1902, Teddy Roosevelt accepted a hunting invitation from Mississippi governor, Andrew Longino, and they traveled with their guide, who was determined to find a black bear for Roosevelt to shoot. It was easy for the guide to corner an old bear, and decided to tie the bear up, making the shot easier for Roosevelt to fire.

When Roosevelt realized what the guide had done, he was astonished and fired back in anger and said that such an act would be unsportsmanlike to shoot such an old and vulnerable creature. The news of Roosevelt’s act of compassion spread across globe, and in his honor that is why we have the Teddy Bear.

Our 26th, President Theodore Roosevelt began his presidency in 1901, along with six children and more animals than the White House had ever seen before. The Roosevelt children’s family of pets included a small bear named Jonathan Edwards; a lizard named Bill; guinea pigs named Admiral Dewey, Dr. Johnson, Bishop Doane, Fighting Bob Evans and Father O’Grady; Maude the pig; Josiah the badger; Eli Yale the blue macaw; Baron Spreckle the hen; a one-legged rooster; a hyena; a barn owl; Peter the rabbit; and Algonquin the pony. President Roosevelt loved the pets as much as his children did. Algonquin was so beloved that when the president’s son, Archie, was sick in bed, his brothers Kermit and Quentin brought the pony up to his room in the elevator. But Algonquin was so captivated by his own reflection in the elevator mirror that it was hard to get him out!

The Theodore Roosevelt family were dog lovers as well. Among their many canines were Sailor Boy, a Chesapeake retriever; Jack the terrier, Skip the mongrel, and Pete, a bull terrier who sank his teeth into so many legs that he had to be exiled to the Roosevelt home in Long Island. Alice, his daughter, had a small black Pekingese named Manchu, which she received from the last empress of China during a trip to the Far East.

Alice once claimed to have seen Manchu dancing on its hind legs in the moonlight on the White House lawn, though it has never been determined if there ever was an elephant dancing on its hind legs in the White House rooms. But, apparenty, there is one today in a very different kind of room.

Another Kind of Elephant in the Room

As of late, fake news outlets have been on fire due to a particularly large elephant in their broadcast rooms with the recent release of South Dakota Republican Governor Kristi Noem’s ghostwritten book, No Going Back.

South Dakota Republican Gov. Kristi Noem takes a cheap shot at “fake news” for the backlash against her killing an untrainable 14-month-old wirehair pointer, named “Cricket,” 20-years-ago in a gravel pit on her family property, moments before her children arrived from school!

But, later, she had the courage to hurry back to her pickup, grabbed another shell, went back to the gravel pit, and put him down; “Him” being the demon goat, which had a wretched smell, who often chased and knocked Noem’s children around.

I’m aware that a parent who knocks their kids down is the greatest sin ever committed by a parent, who deserves a one-way ticket to a lifetime in prison. But should an owner who knocks down a kid goat deserve less? And the one with a such a wretched smell, something I never seemed to notice when I petted the kid, Billie Goat, at Seattle’s Woodlawn Park Zoo, when I was a kid, too.

Noem said to her ghostwriters in her ghostwritten book. No Going Back, which includes the fictional meeting with North Korean dictator, Kim Jong Un. The North Korean dictator who she’s sure he underestimated me, having no clue about my experience staring down little tyrants (I’d been a children’s pastor, after all), which she now blames on her ghostwriters, but refuses to walk them back and retrack the words she commanded her ghostwriter’s to ghostwrite in her ghostwritten book.

Oh, how I kid South Dakota Republican Governor Noem, why I only heard about her on Fox News TV, where she informed viewers that she was on a mission to tell us the REAL meaning of Thanksgiving: Here the poor Pilgrims were close to starving and they shared their last food with Native-Americans (the 25 Tribal Nations of the Wampanoag People) it was all part of God’s Divine Providence.

“God’s Divine Promise” fulfilled, and illustrated in “The First Thanksgiving,” a reproduction of a painting by Jean Leon Gerome Ferris, courtesy of the Associated Press.

Did the Pilgrims use “God’s Divine ‘Providence” as an excuse to sit in Plymouth Harbor and wait on the Mayflower for the final act of “God’s Divine Providence” to be done? Were they just too excited and couldn’t wait to siege the Wampanoag People’s Tribal Land for just a few more days? When they arrived there were many felled fields to plant, but surround by many dead bodies of the 25 Tribal Nations of the Wampanoag People. Apparently “God’s Divine Providence” was first issued to the Spanish Conquerors, who shared no food, but only European diseases which the Wampanoag People had no immunity from. But with no gold to be found, the Spanish Conquerors left Plymouth, leaving only endless Wampanoag dead bodies scattered around, some still alive, desperately crawling on the ground. The few people that manged to stay alive, where left for the Pilgrims to fulfill “God’s Divine Providence” and get the job done.

The next Thanksgiving celebrated was 1637 when Massachusetts Colony Governor John Winthrop declared a day of thanksgiving after volunteers murdered 700 of the Tribal Nation Pequot People. As we remember the celebration of Thanksgiving, sharing indigenous food from the New World, I recall that the American-Indian Tribal Nations consider it as a Day of Remorse.

Historians are hailing Congress to elevated Ulysses S. Grant to the military’s highest rank, calling it a rehabilitation of his political and racial legacy. Photograph courtesy of Newsreader1.com.

On June 18, 1870, our eighteenth president, Ulysses S. Grant, signed into law the Holidays Act that made Thanksgiving a yearly appointed federal holiday. Grant preferred horses above all other animals as pets, but he and his family members did have other pets with them in the White House, including two dogs. One was a Newfoundland named Faithful, but the other was a dog named Rosie, who was rumored to be a black-and-tan dog of no determinate breed. According to Seymour Reit in Growing Up in the White House, Grant would often take dinner in the stables and talk to both the horses and to Rosie while he ate.

Fala: The Most Famous Dog in America

President Franklin D. Roosevelt had a lifelong affection for dogs. They were a constant presence in his life from his early childhood. FDR owned a number of dogs during his lifetime, but his best-known was Fala, the Scottish terrier he was given in August 1940.

Fala quickly became his constant companion. He slept in a special chair at the foot of FDR’s bed and every morning had a bone that was brought up on the President’s breakfast tray. Fala is buried in a marked grave about ten yards behind the Roosevelt tombstone in the Rose Garden at Springwood, beside Chief (1918–1933), the Roosevelts’ German Shepherd.

The first U.S. President with pets who maintained a farm was George Washington

Like South Dakota Republican Governor, Kristi Noem, George Washington was a farmer who had pets, though it’s never been determined if he had the courage to put any of his pets down in a gravel pit. I have many friends and families who are farmer with pets, who are aware that their pets were once wild animals, but they chose to domesticate their wild critters into something more profound. And once this transition was completed, the pets loved them and they loved them back. I read somewhere that there is no such thing as a bad pet dog, only a bad owner, who made them be like that. Was there a reason why Noem’s 14-month-old pet Cricket, didn’t love her; is it possible she never loved him, and that’s why he never loved her back?  

Washington’s pets included, Sweetlips, Scentwell and Vulcan – American Foxhounds; Drunkard Taster, Tipler and Tipsy – Black and Tan Coonhounds; an Andalusian donkey (a gift from King Charles III of Spain); Nelson and Blueskin – horses ( that were Washington’s wartime mounts); Snipe – parrot (said to have been owned by First Lady Martha Washington); and the Stallions, Samson, Steady, Leonidas, Traveller and Magnolia.

Cornwallis was a greyhound, named for British General Cornwallis, though not sure if the stallion served as a trophy due to General Washington’s victory at Yorktown, or an homage to the man he defeated, giving up any chance of winning the Revolutionary War.

Pushinka (Russian: Пушинка), known to us as ‘Fluffy’

Pushinka was a dog who was given by the Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev to the President of the United States, John F. Kennedy in 1961.

Words taken from White House dog handler Traphes Bryant

“Pushinka (which the Kennedy family now refers to as Fluffy), struck up a romance with the Kennedy’s Welsh terrier, Charlie. In June 1963, Pushinka had puppies. Caroline and John-John named them Butterfly, White Tips, Blackie and Streaker. JFK referred to the puppies as pupniks since Pushinka was the daughter of a dog who had been to space on the Russians’ Sputnik 2. When the puppies were two-months-old, the First Lady picked two children from the thousands that had written to the White House asking for one of the pups. That’s how Butterfly and Streaker got adopted. The other puppies were given to family friends.”

“The father of the puppies, Charlie, was large and in charge. He bossed the other dogs around and made sure he got first dibs at dinnertime. When given the chance, he showed humans who was boss, too. If a visitor ignored him, Charlie peed on that person. Although he was not an official watchdog, he growled if someone got too close to JFK.”

Bryant describing events in the Oval Office during the Cuban missile crisis:

“I was there in Jack Kennedy’s office that day. Everything was in an uproar. I was then feet from Kennedy’s desk as Pierre Salinger ran around the office taking messages and issuing orders while the President sat looking awfully worried. There was talk about the Russian fleet coming in and our fleet blocking them off. It looked like war. Out of the blue, Kennedy suddenly called for Charlie to be brought to his office. After petting Charlie, his Welsh terrier, the president relaxed, returned Charlie to the kennel keeper, and said, ‘”I suppose that it’s time to make some decisions.”“

In his book American Legacy: The Story of John and Caroline Kennedy, author David Heymann relates a story from White House nanny Maud Shaw: “Caroline and her nanny encountered Pushinka as she was being walked by a kennel worker on the White House grounds. As Caroline reached to pet the dog, Pushinka growled.”

“Instead of recoiling, Caroline stepped behind the dog and gave it a swift kick to the rear end,” Heymann writes. “Emitting a howl, Pushinka turned tail and raced off into the night.”

When Shaw related the story to JFK, the president smiled at his daughter and said, “That’s giving it to those damn Russians!”

Animals in Judaism & Christian Theology

The photograph above is a Peruvian school’s Nativity Scene, taken by former Peace Corp. Volunteer, Alex Brouwer. The Nativity Scene depicts the Virgin Mary and Joseph solemnly looking down at the infant, Jesus, the new king of Israel, surrounded by an array of different animals, for he is their New King, as well, and they will inherit the earth, too.

Saint Francis of Assisi & the Nativity Scene

Saint Francis of Assisi, the Patron Saint of Animals, is credited with creating the first live Nativity Scene in 1223 in order to cultivate the worship of Christ. He had recently been inspired by his visit to the Holy Land, where he’d been shown Jesus’ traditional birthplace in Bethlehem. Saint Francis’ pantomime of the Nativity Scene is the first real symbol of Christmas. The scene’s popularity spread throughout the world, inspiring other countries to stage similar Nativity Scenes.

To find out more about St. Francis and the Nativity Scene, why the Roman holiday of Saturnalia became the Happy Holy Days (Happy Holidays) and the Mass of Christ (Christmas), CLICK HERE.

Do animals praise the name of the Lord?

Psalm 148 commands all of creation to praise the Lord, including animals: “Wild animals and all cattle, small creatures and flying birds, kings of the earth and all nations, you princes and all rulers on earth, young men and maidens, old men and children. Let them praise the name of the Lord, for his name alone is exalted; his splendor is above the earth and the heavens.” (vv. 10-13).

What would Jesus do?

Don’t give holy things to dogs, don’t throw your pearls to pigs, lest they trample them under their feet and, turning, tear you to pieces. – Matthew 7:6. (English language translation by Francis Bacon).

What would Reverend Billy Graham say?

God will prepare everything for our perfect happiness in heaven, and if it takes my dog being there, I believe he’ll be there.

Heaven-bound persons who are offended at the thought of dogs and cats frisking on the golden streets will have a difficult time with the odd beasts gathered around the throne as described in the Book of Revelation.

Or Mark Twain?

The dog is a gentleman; I hope to go to his heaven not man’s.

President William Jefferson Clinton first arrived at the White House with Socks, who in 1991 was reported to have jumped into the arms of daughter, Chelsea Clinton after piano lessons while the Clintons were living in the Governor’s Mansion in Little Rock. He was later joined in 1997 by Buddy, a Labrador Retriever, who was named after a longtime Clinton family friend who died around the time they adopted the dog.

During President Clinton’s second term, the two reportedly did not get along, with Bill Clinton later saying, I did better with the Palestinians and the Israelis than I’ve done with ‘Socks and Buddy.’

Presidential Pets and the Media

The first White House dog to receive regular newspaper coverage was Warren G. Harding’s dog, Laddie Boy.

When FDR’s Fala’s fame spread, he became the subject of books, including this 1942 picture book titled The True Story of Fala. He even starred in two MGM newsreels shown in movie theaters: Fala, the President’s Dog and Fala at Hyde Park.

Fala’s growing popularity is reflected in the thousands of letters he received from the public, where they are all preserved today among the papers stored at the Roosevelt Library.

The book, Dear Socks, Dear Buddy: Kids’ Letters to the First Pets was written by First Lady Hillary Clinton, and later appeared as cartoons in the kids’ section of the first White House website.

Millie was an English springer spaniel that was the first President Bush’s family pet. She gave birth to Spotty, who moved into the White House with the second President Bush. H. W. also had two Scottish terriers named Barney and Miss Beazley, but Spotty was the only pet to live in the White House during two administrations

“Study hard, and you might grow up to be President. But let’s face it: Even then, you’ll never make as much money as your dog.” — President George H. W. Bush, to a graduating class, referring to Millie, his dog, who earned $889,176 (about $1,979,459 today) in book royalties.

George H. W. Bush and First Lady Barbara’s Millie is the only first pet to actually write a book, Millie’s Book. And their son, George W. Bush’s Scottish terrier, Barney had his own website and appeared in Barney Cam videos.

Presidents and Pets: Bits & Pieces

• President Thomas Jefferson bought his dog, Bergere, in France. She had two puppies onboard the ship heading back to the United States.
• James Buchanan is the only president who never married. His large Newfoundland, Lara, kept him company in the White House.
• Woodrow Wilson, in office 1913-1921, owned a pet ram, named Old Ike, who was known for chewing tobacco and cigars, which makes sense as North Carolina is often referred to as the Tobacco State.

• Top Five Dog Names of 2023
  
  Girl: Luna, Bella, Daisy, Maggie and Willow
  Boy: Max, Charlie, Cooper, Teddy and Milo
  
• Goat on the Loose!
  
  Benjamin Harrison, our 23rd President ran down Pennsylvania Avenue holding on to his top hat and waving his cane, but his pet goat kept running, only stopping later after numerous Washington, D.C., residents had seen the Commander-in-Chief chasing the runaway goat.

Commander & Chief, President Joseph R. Biden

The Bidens added a puppy named Commander to their family, following the death of their beloved German Shepherd, Champ, who passed away at the age of 13. But in 2018, all the abandoned pets throughout the U.S. rejoiced when the Bidens adopted the German shepherd, Major, from the Delaware Humane Association.

Major arrived at the White House to great applause, but his time at the White House was short, after a series of biting incidents. Major was sent to Delaware in April 2021 for training, and then the White House announced that Major’s permanent home would be elsewhere, a decision based on consultations with veterinarians, dog trainers and animal behaviorists.

While it may have disappointed those hoping Major would usher in a new age of presidential shelter pets, Major’s story shows that shelter dogs, like any other pet, need time and patience to adjust, and sometimes need to find a better match.

Andrew Jackson, had a pet, a grey parrot named Polly, who learned how to swear. She later attended Jackson’s funeral but had to be removed due to loud and persistent profanity. Perhaps Polly had not forgotten that Jackson had forced thousands of American-Indian Tribal Nations to leave their ancestral homeland in his illegal Indian Relocation Act, which led to countless deaths on the Trail of Tears. And remember, like the remaining tribal nations have never forgotten, never use a twenty-dollar bill as the tyrant, Old Hickory’s face is on it.

The Cherokee People and their pets and animals on the “Trail of Tears.” Painting by Robert Lindneux, courtesy of National Geographic.

It seemed curious at first that the U.S. President Trump selected Jackson as his favorite among our past presidents. But as his years in the Oval Office progressed, it became clear that they were both cut from the same white cloth.

For more on Jackson’s illegal Indian Relocation Act, the Trail of Tears and the plight of the Cherokee Tribal Nation, CLICK HERE.

The state which has the strongest animal abuse laws

For the second year in a row Maine maintains its first-place rank, followed by Illinois (2), Oregon (3), Colorado (4) and Rhode Island (5).

New Mexico remained in 50th place, with Idaho (49), Mississippi (48), Alabama (47) and Utah (46) rounding out states with the weakest animal protection laws.

“BONNER COUNTY, Idaho — The Bonner County Sheriff’s Office (BCSO) has filed charges for animal cruelty and abandonment against 45-year-old Jacob M. McCowan and 31-year-old Jessica L. Smurtwaite, after 31 Husky-type dog were found across North Idaho.”

“Sugar” is pictured resting after being adopted by Heather Toliver. The medical team from “Better Together Animal Alliance” believes she was a week to days away from dying based on her condition when she arrived at the facility in mid to late January.  Photograph courtesy of Heather Toliver, “a modern-day Patron Saint for abused animals.”   

California’s Animal Cruelty Penal Code §597(a) makes it a crime to intentionally maim, mutilate, torture, wound, or kill a living animal. Violation of CPC §597(a) can result in three years in a state prison, a fine of up to $20,000, or both a prison term and a fine.

The penalty for abuse was much worse in Ancient Egypt, where killing a cat, even accidentally, was punished by death.

The White House Wall of Shame: Presidents with no Pets

Donald J. Trump, James K. Polk and Andrew Johnson did not have any official pets while in office. But Andrew Johnson reportedly left flour out at night in his bedroom for a family of mice.

The worst presidential pets in the history of the US goes to President John Quincy Adams’ First Lady, Louisa Catherine Adams. According to one of Adams’ diary entries, she kept several hundred silkworms that she raised herself for their silk. Silk is nice, but let’s face it: Silkworms make terrible pets. They are, after all, worms. And technically, they’re caterpillars, too.

The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.
— Mahatma Gandhi

It is much easier to show compassion to animals. They are never wicked.
— Haile Selassie

Millard Fillmore named his two horses after the surveyor Jeremiah Dixon and astronomer Charles Mason, who guided them both to the new land of America, and created the Mason-Dixon Line. The border marked the line between Maryland and Pennsylvania, which was significant during the War Between the States, as it is significant today, drawing a line between the politics of the Northern and Southern states.

Let’s close on a happy, nonpartisan note, which I did cross the line a couple of times, and listen to Mark Knopfler’s tribute to Mason and Dixon with his song, Sailing to Philadelphia, which includes the voice of James Taylor in a duet of the song.

Attention: T-Boy Readers, Friends and Families

We hope you enjoyed Presidents and Pets, Part I:  A T-Boy Odyssey Into Why They Loved One Another. Please consider sending us photographs of your own sacred pets, including those who passed, but will never be forgotten. Your photographs will be included in the T-Boy article: T-Boy Readers and Their Pets. We can also include your name, address and narrative about your life with your pet. But it’s up to you if you’d like to do that, and we promise to send you a proof to revise. Please send to **@tr**********.com , and we will be excited upon seeing them.  

Stay tuned for Presidents and Pets, Part II: A T-Boy Odyssey Into Why They Loved One Another

Abraham Lincoln & Fido, who once had the most popular dog name in the U.S; Plantation Farmer, Thomas Jefferson & Peanut Farmer, Jimmy Carter; Lessons learned by Marine Corp’s Louis Boitano, a man with a disdain for cowardly flag wavers, in particular for ones who never experienced a real battle; Reagan Rex’s White House dog house; and (How Much) is that Doggie in the Window.

The post Presidents and Pets: A T-Boy Odyssey Into Why They Loved One Another – Tales of nonpartisan, unconditional love appeared first on Traveling Archive.