I'm writing this blog in haste, because only a short while ago did I realize that today (October 27) was the 150th anniversary of the birth of Teddy Roosevelt, John McCain's role model. He was the youngest man to assume the office of President at 42 (1901-1909) upon the assassination of President William McKinley in 1901. Four vice-presidents before him had assumed the presidency upon the death of a president (John Tyler, upon the death of William Henry Harrison in 1841, Millard Fillmore, upon the death of Zachary Taylor in 1850, Andrew Johnson, upon the assassination of Abraham Lincoln in 1865 and Chester A. Arthur, upon the assassination of James A. Garfield in 1881) but TR was the first to go on to be elected in his own right, in 1904. Before being selected as vice-president, he was NYC police commissioner, assistant secretary of the Navy, Spanish-American war hero, and NY Governor. He later ran again in 1812 as a strong third party candidate (Bull Moose), out-polling the incumbent, William H. Taft, and allowing Woodrow Wilson to be elected with a small plurality. He died in 1919. Happy 150th, Mr. President!

Since I'm writing in haste, I can't think of a TV quote right now, so here's a common expression: The Usual Suspects, that was made famous in a classic movie. What was the movie?

The answer to the last quote quiz is Gomer Pyle U.S.M.C..

Gomer: My mind kept wandering!

Sergeant Carter: Wandering?! How far can it wander in that vacant lot?!

No one got it, only one guess.

I just wanted to take a moment to wish my mother a posthumous Happy Birthday. She would be 76 today, October 21. She worked hard at the hardest, and often most thankless, job in the world: motherhood. I think all her hard work paid off. She didn't raise any high achievers, but we're all decent, honest, hard-working people. That's proof of her success.

I'll have the answer to the quote quiz in my next blog, in a few days or so.

Just a quick, and slightky belated, Happy Columbus Day to everyone. It's hard to believe it's been 516 years. Where does the time go? I blogged on it a year ago. Look for it in my archves if you'd like.

Anyway, the answer to the quiz quote (no one ventured a guess):

My little voice always calls me Isabel

is Alice. It was spoken by Belle (Diane Ladd). Before her, it was Flo with "Kiss my grits!". Alice was set in Phoenix, but made it look like a hick town. By contrast, The Mary Tyler Moore Show presented Minneapolis as a cosmopolitan city. Not fair, especially since Phoenix has grown much larger than Minneapolis and St. Paul combined, and now boasts John McCain (love him or hate him). Please excuse the civic boasting.

Here's an exchange from a show that aired in the '60s:

a)My mind kept wandering!

b)Wandering?! How far can it wander in that vacant lot?!

Pm your answers, or say it in the comments.

I've been away from TV.com for a while, so this new layout caught me by surprise. I'll withhold judgment for now, until after they fix the strange "forbidden" word bug . Any way, a while back I read this, after first reading this. I saw it coming. First, when they started showing shows that have been off the air only recently, then with the dumb reality shows. No safe haven for lovers of cl*ssic and vintage TV. Not too long ago, Sci-Fi used to air a lot of cl*ssic science fiction programs of old, like The Invisible Man, Science Fiction Theater, and others, besides old movies. Now, except for an occassional broadcast of The Twilight Zone, they mostly air boring original series, none of which interests me. Even Animal Planet used to air old shows like Lassie and Gentle Ben (I had a Gentle Ben lunchbox in the first grade ). Not anymore. The Disney Channel also used to air some of the old shows that were on The Wonderful World of Disney. Hopefully, someone will step up to the plate to satisfy nostalgia lovers like me. We're still out here, in spite of what the Viacom suits may think.

Here's a quiz from a show that aired in the 70s and 80s. What character on what show used to say: My little voice always calls me Isabel?

As I try to recover from the grim experience I had recently that I recounted in my last blog, I now ask for prayers for the victims of Gustav, for those who already lost lives and property, mostly outside of the US, and those along the Gulf Coast who are forced to flee Gustav's wrath. There is a lady I used to exchange messages with from a Catholic prayer site who lives near the Louisiana coast. She sent me an e-mail asking me to pray for her. It seems she has limited resources, and I don't know if she is even able to leave. I certainly hope so, because, we were told, those who remain behind will be on their own. Please pray for her, and also ask others to do so. Also pray that all the relief agencies at all levels of government will be capable of dealing with the situation, which, thankfully, seems to be the case this time around. Amen.