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Guestbook - Volume 17
October 2004 to March 2005
please add your comments by sending an email to: arnoldvb@islands.vi
To see what others have had to say, please read on . . . with one note of caution:
Date: Mon Mar 7, 2005 Hi Arnold, I just read your [Disney World] trip report retrospective and thought I'd let you know that I thoroughly enjoyed it. I'm in the throws of planning a Disney World Trip [when I say Disney World Trip, I mean a world trip encompassing Disneyland, Disney World, Tokyo, Paris, and by then Hong Kong] and your report helped immensely.
Thanks :) [EDITOR'S NOTE: Dan, thanks for the comments on my trip report. I really envy your being able to do a worldwide trip to the Disney parks. I'd love to hear about it after you're back, especially your take on the differences between the parks. You might also consider doing a trip report for www.mouseplanet.com. Have fun at Disney "World"!]
Date: Sat Mar 5, 2005 Hi Arnold, I had some fun this evening perusing the "SciFi Classics" section of your seb site, remembering all those old flicks I watched on television as a kid. Surprised you didn't include a couple of seminal works in your listings: "Woman in the Moon" (1929) by Fritz Lang That one featured the first multi-stage rocket, and fired up a generation of rocketeers (including von Braun) with the idea that it may be feasible to get to the moon. (A background URL for this is: www.sensesofcinema.com/contents/cteq/04/woman_in_the_moon.html Another one I remember is: "Robinson Crusoe on Mars" (1964) by Byron Haskin Which was an interesting exercise in survival (and currently even more plausible since they suspect actual water deposits in the Mars polar regions).
Take care and best wishes, [EDITOR'S NOTE: Rob, thanks for the information. I knew about Fritz Lang's "Woman in the Moon," but hadn't included it before because I had never seen that film and really didn't know much about it. Thanks for the link to the information page. I've added it to my SciFi Classics section. I'm going to hold off on adding "Robinson Crusue on Mars" until I can get more info on it. This is another film I've never seen.]
Date: Thu Mar 3, 2005 Do you know if any of Galactica season 2 is available on DVD or video? [EDITOR'S NOTE: As far as I know, Galactica season 2 (actually the spin-off series "Galactica 1980") has never been released on DVD or video. Although this short series wasn't very popular, I really wish it would be issued on DVD because several of the episodes -- especially the last episode, "The Return of Starbuck" -- were pretty good and in keeping with the original "Battlestar Galactica" story quality.]
Date: Tue Mar 1, 2005 Arnold, Did Dan Gurney come in second place with a Ford pushrod engine at Indy. I would be thankful if you answer this for me. Roger [EDITOR'S NOTE: Roger, Dan Gurney finished 2nd at the Indianapolis 500 in 1968 and 1969. Both times his Eagle racer was powered by a stock-block Ford V-8 engine with Gurney's own Weslake heads. I believe those were pushrod engines, but haven't been able to verify that with any official source records. By the way, Gurney finished 3rd in the 1970 Indy 500 with an Offy-powered Eagle. He finally won the race, as a team owner rather than as a driver, in 1975, when Bobby Unser won in Dan Gurney's All American Racers Olsonite-Eagle.]
Date: Fri Feb 24, 2005 Hello Arnold, Your [Disney World] retro-report brought back many, many memories for me. I live in Pennsylvania, but over the years have visited WDW approximately 25 times. My first trip was in 1975 and yes the A through E tickets were still in place. My next trip was in 1982 with my husband before EPCOT was open. My parents retired to Poinciana, Florida (20 minutes from the entrance to WDW) in 1984. Our annual and sometimes more frequent trips to central Florida began in 1985. Our children grew up visiting WDW at least once a year. Our most enjoyable trips were when at least one of my brothers and his family joined us. My now adult children reflect back on the great times visiting WDW with grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. We never felt stressed to "see it all" because we knew we would be returning. My parents moved back to Pennsylvania in 1998 so the annual trips ended. My daughter and I did take one special mother/daughter trip in May 2002. Because my parents lived so close we did not usually stay on property. However, we did stay at the Beach Club on our only Christmas/New Year trip and it was a true delight to walk back to our room when Illuminations concluded at midnight. We've stayed a few nights at the Grand Floridian, the Contemporary, Boardwalk Inn, the Yacht Club and All-star Movies. The convenience of walking into EPCOT was marvelous! I recall many of the attractions you mentioned which are no longer here. We also enjoyed Dreamflight and the Hunchback of Notre Dame show and the original Illuminations. We miss the original song "Tomorrow's Child" at Spaceship Earth, Kitchen Kabaret at the Land Pavilion, the Skyway to Tomorrowland, the original ride at Imagination, and Aunt Polly's Porch restaurant at Tom Sawyer's Island. We do welcome, however new additions and changes. The fastpass system is great and it is much easier to make dining reservations than it was 20 years ago. My husband and I are looking forward to a hopefully soon to be scheduled trip for the two of us.
I enjoyed your report. Thanks for sharing! [EDITOR'S NOTE: Barbara, thanks for your remembrances of past trips to Walt Disney World. I envy your being in a position to visit more frequently than once every 5 or 6 years. But my wife and I do have some more frequent WDW access to look forward to. Our daughter and son-in-law live in Port St. Lucie and are expecting their first child (our first grandchild) in July. We plan to move to the Port St. Lucie area after I retire in another year or so. So, we'll have a lot of reasons to visit more frequently. Thanks again for writing. I'm glad you enjoyed my retro-trip report.]
Date: Sun Feb 20, 2005 Do you of any way for me to buy The Coyote's Lament. I know that it is made up of several shorts but I am unable to locate a couple of them: Pests of the West and Primitive Pluto. Any thoughts or suggestions on how I can get a hold of these shorts? Thanks for your help and time.
Always Give From the Heart, [EDITOR'S NOTE: Michelle, I looked up "The Coyote's Lament" in my copy of the Encyclopedia of Disney's Animated Characters. It says that this was a featurette originally produced for TV in 1960 and released in theaters in 1968. But it appears that it has never been released on home video. The two segments "Pests of the West" and "Primitive Pluto" were originally released in 1950 as Pluto cartoons. As far as I know, they haven't been released on home video either, but there's some hope for them being released in the near future. I don't know if you've heard about the "Walt Disney Treasures" series of DVD releases. They are 2-disc sets of rare cartoons and other films from the Disney vaults. They're nicely packaged in the normal plastic cases, but with aluminum tin outer cases and a nice booklet insert. They're been releasing them in groups of 3-4 sets each year for the past 3 years. Last year (December 2004) they released "The Complete Pluto, Volume 1", which contains all the Pluto cartoons from 1937 to 1947. That means that "The Complete Pluto, Volume 2" might be released this coming December and would most likely include both "Pests of the West" and "Primitive Pluto." So, check in with amazon.com later in the year and do a search for "Walt Disney Treasures" to see if Pluto, Volume 2 is available. Hopefully sometime in the future they'll also release the complete "The Coyote's Lament" featurette.] [Michelle responded:] Thanks so very much for all your information. I have known about the Walt Disney Treasures and bought the volume one because it had The legend of coyote Rock on it. Thanks for getting me informed about what might come. I will keep my eyes open.
Date: Sat Feb 19, 2005 I love your Disney site!! It is very helpful :D I just noticed that you have A Goofy Movie listed under Video-Only Animated Features. I was pretty sure that it was in theatres way back then, so I checked the IMDB (movies that were video-only releases are listed with a (V) after their name, and it was just listed as a normal title without the (V) sign). I guess it should probably go under the Other Animated Features. Thank you for your time :) Keep up the GREAT work!! :D Daniel [EDITOR'S NOTE: Daniel, thanks for the comments on the Disney animation section. I'll make the correction about "The Goofy Movie" as part of my next site update.]
Date: Fri Feb 18, 2005 We have an old 8mm "Mickey Mouse" film, which also says on the box "Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse & Silly Symphony Cartoons" and "1571A Donald Duck in The Mountain Goat." Would you happen to know the year this was made and it's approximate value?
Thanks, [EDITOR'S NOTE: Carol, I researched that title - "The Mountain Goat" - and can't find it on any of my Disney cartoon lists. The only thing I can guess is that the title of the cartoon was changed for the 8mm version that you have. Sorry I can't be of more help.]
Date: Mon Jan 24, 2005 It's been a while, but I went back to your Ventures site. There IS a Japanese version of the Ventures' Super Psychedelics album (Liberty LP-8173). The tracks are:
Psychedlic Ventures [EDITOR'S NOTE: Thanks for the info. I've added it to the discography.]
Date: Fri Jan 14, 2005 Arnold, I read your [Disney World] trip report and looked at all of your pictures - a true pleasure. It was a lot of fun to see the pix from 1973. Also, even though all of your shots were well done, the recent Christmas pix were a huge jump in quality.
Thanks, [EDITOR'S NOTE: Tony, thanks for the comments. Yes, the latest pictures are a big improvement, mostly because I now have a digital camera, while the other pictures (before 2003) were scanned from faded prints. I had to do a lot of color correction to get the 1973 ones to look as good as they do. Those were really faded badly. Also, did you see the latest (December 2004) pictures I posted last weekend? If not, take a look.]
Date: Fri Jan 7, 2005 Hello Mr. Beverhoudt: I enjoyed looking thru your SciFi Movie website. Might you be able to help me with the title of a scifi movie? I remember seeing it on TV, probably in the 60s, and am pretty sure it's a 50s movie. Several people are abducted by aliens and taken to the alien ship. They are given small, palm-sized devices that are made from some colorless, transparent material and can only be opened by the thoughts of the person to whom they were given. Inside, there are three or four ampoules or capsules that are clearly visible through the colorless, transparent material. The earth people are told that they have the power of "life and death" over the inhabitants of Earth and are given instructions in the use of the ampoules. Neat film. Do you know anything about it? Title, year, etc. Many thanks.
Sincerely, [EDITOR'S NOTE: Dwight, I'm glad you liked the SciFi site. I'm sorry, but I'm not familiar with the movie you describe. There were so many SciFi movies made in the 50s that there are many I've never seen. If I do come across info on it in the future, I'll let you know.]
Date: Fri Jan 7, 2005 Hi, I'm also an admirer of Enterprise(s). By chance, I found your site, and I must say, one word is enough ;-): Impressive! A lot of work for you, don't you? Long time ago, I'm questioned myself, in which coherency was the name Enterprise for the space shuttle? In the last time, I only heard (and found) other names, but no Enterprise. Now, I found it, through your site :-) Btw. your picture with the description of your collection of the scale models of the vessels named Enterprise. Is this the same or similar to the Captains Room Jean Luc Piccard in The Next Generations Enterprise?
Best Regards, [EDITOR'S NOTE: Wolfgang, I'm glad you like my Enterprise site. The models that I have are mostly of naval vessels named Enterprise, but I do have models of the original starship Enterprise (Capt. Kirk) and the Enterprise-D (Capt. Picard).]
Date: Fri Jan 7, 2005 Hi there, As a big fan of the Ventures since WDR first came out, I was directed to your site by a friend. Checking out the UK discography I noticed an ommission. I have an LP called "Going To The Ventures Dance Party" from 1962, on Liberty SLBY-1110 (BST-8017) Tracks are:-
Side One:
Side Two: Producers: Josie Wilson (Don's Mum) and Bob Reisdorf. A Blue Horizon Production. I haven't checked the US releases, it could have been re-titled for UK release.
Best wishes and A Happy New Year [EDITOR'S NOTE: Thanks for the info, Mik. That's the same track list as the US release, but I'll add it to the UK discography page.]
Date: Sat Jan 1, 2005 Hello My name is Bob Armstrong. This Christmas I heard Sleigh Ride by The Ventures and loved it! I don't know which album it is on or where I can find the guitar tablature for it. Any information would be greatly appreciated. Thank you. [EDITOR'S NOTE: Bob, "Sleigh Ride" was originally included on The Ventures' "Christmas Album" from the 1960s, which has since been reissued on CD. Also, last year The Ventures issued a new Christmas CD called "Christmas Joy," which includes new re-recordings of some of the tracks from the 1960s album plus some new tracks. "Sleigh Ride" is included on the new CD, which has a richer sound because of modern recording technology. Both CDs are available from Amazon.com. Do a search for "The Ventures" and you should find both CDs.]
Date: Thu Dec 2, 2004 Hi, The Swedish LP "On Stage" Sunset SUN-5020 has the same tracks as "On Stage" BST-8035.
Best regard, [EDITOR'S NOTE: Thanks for the information, Hilding. I've added it to the Ventures International Discography.]
Date: Tue Nov 30, 2004 Hi, back in the 60's I acquired an EP here in Australia "Dance with the Ventures" with 'Gringo' and 'Moon Dawg' on side 1 and 'Sunny river' and 'Guitar Twist' on side 2. This released here on Liberty LEP-2058. Not sure which year but the sleeve notes mention that all four members range in age from 23 to 25. This might be the same as the U.S. EP "Twist with the Ventures" for which you did not know what numbers were on it. Actually, I though all four numbers were pretty good, making the EP an excellent buy. Hope this helps. Good luck and God bless. Tony [EDITOR'S NOTE: Tony, thanks for the info. I've added the EP to my Ventures International Discography.]
Date: Wed Nov 24, 2004 Where is the closest aircraft carrier to Tampa, Florida that can be toured? [EDITOR'S NOTE: Ruth, a search of www.google.com shows that the following retired aircraft carriers are now museums and open for tours by the public:
- USS Intrepid - New York, NY Of course, whenever an active carrier is in port at a city in the U.S., there's the possibility that it will be opened for limited tours. I believe that USS Enterprise was open for tours this past summer (2004) during Ft. Lauderdale's annual Air-Sea Festival. You might want to check if there are plans for a carrier visit during the 2005 event.]
Date: Fri Nov 5, 2004 Hello! I cam eacross a Ventures 7" EP in a junk shop today, in near perfect condition, and I can find no listing for it in either my 45 rpm price guides or online. It's not included in your discography, so I thought you may be interested in it. It's a Canadian pressing on Dolton Records, cat. EP-102. Tracks are Perfidia, Lullaby of the Leaves, Ram-Bunk-Shush, and Moon of Manakoora. Any info you might have on this record would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks a lot, [EDITOR'S NOTE: Paul, I don't have any record of that Canadian EP either. I have added it to my Ventures International Discography.]
Date: Wed Nov 3, 2004 Dear Arnold, Thanks for your fine Ventures site. I play guitar and have recently gone on a "Ventures Jag", learning some of their classic stuff from the new Best of the Ventures songbook (Hall leonard publishing). From your descroption of yourself and interests, I gather that you and I may be of the same generation (I'm 58). I just wanted to mention to you a similar experience I had with a favorite muscal artists - Dion Dimucci - as you had with the Ventures. I had no idea he was still active, but is he ever. If you're interested, you can get more info at www.diondimucci.com. I went to see him for my 58th birthday. Dion is 65 and still rocks.
Best Regards [EDITOR'S NOTE: Bob, thanks for the comments about my Ventures site and for the information on Dion. I was a big fan of his music, such as "Runaround Sue" and had many of his singles and a few albums. I'll have to look him up on amazon.com.]
Date: Tue Oct 26, 2004 Dear Arnold, Thanks so much for the big scan. It really gives me something to work with! After I retire next April, I'll do a photo autobiography, and this shot will certainly be in it. Few realize how fast those 1970 Trans-Am cars were. Interestingly, nearly everywhere we went, our best lap times in his 3200 lb. 'Cuda - were nearly two seconds quicker than Dan's and Ken Miles' existing A-Production lap records in their factory 289 Cobras that were 1,000 lb. lighter! This is even more remarkable when one considers that both the 'Cuda and Cobra used similar wheel widths, had similar F/R weight distribution, and that the Weber carbed 289 Ford engines were similar in power to the 303 Plymouth engines at about 520 hp. The major difference in handling may have been rooted in the Cobra's poor torsional rigidity. It was always lacking for traction exiting slow corners, while the 'Cuda would accept full throttle very early on corner exit. I think the 'Cuda's solid rear axle and much better torsional were responsible for most of that difference. Unfortunately, our 303 Plymouth engines were never sufficiently reliable for a variety of reasons ranging from hot spots in the water circuitry that required over 100 psi block pressure to dampen production of steam pockets - to insoluble valve spring breakage. We were plenty fast, setting fastest lap times in private testing nearly everywhere - but had a dismal finish record. Obviously, our 'Cuda engines weren't in the same league for reliability - as the little 289 Weber-carbureted Cobra mills. Thanks again for going to the trouble to make the nice big image scan!
Cheers, [EDITOR'S NOTE: Glad to be of help, Gary. And thanks for the tidbits of info on the AAR Trans-Am Barracuda. It was a fantastic machine in the capable hands of Dan Gurney and Swede Savage.]
Date: Sat Oct 23, 2004 Looking for TV show episode 1961 "Not for the Moment" #1-18. Can you help me out please. Thank you. [EDITOR'S NOTE: Unfortunately, I don't have any information on where episode of the 1960s TV show "Blue Angels" can be seen or obtained. I used to love that show and would myself like to get copies of the episodes. Information on the real Blue Angels can be found on this site.]
Date: Sun Oct 17, 2004 Hi: Have to send a separate email since I'm on an outside computer. I was looking at your info on the Ventures site and was interested in the part about Skip Moore, drummer on "Walk Don't Run." Skip was a friend of mine in the early '60s. He lived in Portland, Oregon as did I and I still do. We used to hit all the clubs on Sunday jam sessions when nearly all clubs had bands and most did sessions on sundays. Some gave free drinks if you sat in with the band. We had some fun days at places like The Town Mart (Ventures played there later) and the Tippy Canoe and I heard him drum many times. We even sat in together on occasion with me on vocals and Skip on the skins. I had a record out at that time, "You Hurt Me So" on Lavender Records out of Seaside, Oregon. It is listed in the collector books Rockin' Records and Goldmine. Oh, by the way that supposed rare copy (only two known) of the Ventures Blue Horizon release "Cookies and Coke" back with "The Real McCoy"? I have a copy, bought it around 1961 in a sale bin at some record store. Good shape too. I protect my discs. Always liked that record. that Walter Brennan imitation is a real kick on "McCoy." Me and my bands (two) traveled around the Northwest and played gigs for 15 years. So, me and Skip had music in common, that's how we met. I went to his house in southeast Portland once and saw on his living room wall a framed, plain old 45 disc of "Walk Don't Run." He once told me that the reason he left the Ventures after WDR was because it was dragging on and wasn't seeming to get going so he decided to play other places with others. He seemed to kinda wish he'd stayed with them although he never said that outright. But he always talked about the guys and his part in the recording of WDR. I gues you know he started that single-stroke-roll thing (instead of the standard "press roll") which is at the start of the record and throughout. The Ventures kept that drum sound pretty much from then on. We drifed apart after that and I later saw a letter to the editor in a copy of DISCoveries, the record collector magazine, in the early 90s from someone saying that he passed away in the late 80s sometime. Leon [EDITOR'S NOTE: Leon, thanks for the wonderful personal remembrances about Skip Moore, the drummer who helped The Ventures immortalize their first hit -- Walk Don't Run. I'm sure other fans of The Ventures would be interested in this bit of early history.]
Date: Mon Oct 11, 2004 Hello, and thank you for your fine website. I found it thorough and informative. I ssume this is probably not of any importance or interest, but I thought I would mention that I have an LP labeled Armed Forces Radio & Television Service, station library, FLIGHTS OF FANTASY, The Ventures. It appears to have the same collection of songs as does the Liberty release, yet it bears no mention of Liberty or the LST8055 catalog number. I am not an audiophile, and I assume these Armed Forces Radio copies may have been commonplace, but on the off chance you were not aware of this "release," I though I would let you know. Thanks again for the website. Joe [EDITOR'S NOTE: Joe, thanks for the information on the Armed Forces Radio version of The Ventures' "Flights of Fantasy" album. I had not heard of such special releases for the U.S. Armed Forces before, but I guess they were probably provided by the record labels for the enjoyment of the men and women in uniform.]
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