Baseball Back in the Day

As the baseball season takes a mid-season break for the All-Star game, we thought it would be fun to highlight some great baseball related video content from back in the day. You know, those glorious days before steroids, multimillion dollar contracts and those pesky agents, the era when baseball really was our National Pastime. The bygone days of Lou Gehrig, and Babe Ruth, and Joe Dimaggio and cheap seats. So break out your weber grill, soak a few brats in beer, and enjoy the big show.

If you are looking for drama, meaning cool stories that are very enjoyable but not funny, then watch a free online movie like The Jackie Robinson Story, Paul Newman in Bang the Drum Slowly, and The Lou Gehrig Story. Also an interesting movie, though not really about baseball per se is The Marilyn Monroe Story - which features some interesting footage of The Yankee Clipper, Jolting Joe Dimaggio. And here's a short news clip about the day when Joe Dimaggio married Marilyn Monroe.

If humor is more what you are looking for - check out the Clampetts vs. The Dodgers. Leo Durocher of the L.A. Dodgers plays himself, and he's very impressed with Jethro's throwing arm. Hidden in the You Asked for It video archive is an episode featuring Max Patkin, the clown prince of baseball. Though you might not have heard of him, back in the day - Max was a legend. LikeTelevision's video library also offers a few choice baseball related TV commercials - 1) Baseball & Razor Blades, features some big stars from days gone by selling razors. Baseball greats like Pee Reese, Roy Campenella and yes, even Don Zimmer as a young guy - way before the day a few years back when he got slammed to the ground as an old guy by Pedro Martinez in the American League Championship game in 2003. 2) A 1960s Coke commercial featuring the great Willie Mays taking a big chug of Coke. Yeah - back in the days when Coke was just a soft drink.

Need more baseball video content? Just search for Baseball. So - if the All-Star Game tonight gets boring, by all means come by and watch some classic content from the glory days of Baseball.

Happy Birthday Nikola Tesla

July 10, 1856 - Nikola Tesla was born in Vojna Krajina, which is now part of Croatia. Tesla was probably the greatest inventor, scientist and electrical engineer of his day, if not of all time, though because he was a decent, honest and eccentric fellow, I regret most people hardly even know of him. But you can thank Tesla every time you plug something into your wall socket, turn on a radio, and use a little electricity. You can learn more about his life at the Tesla Society, Wikipedia, or of course, Google. Yeah - you know Tesla has coils, but did you know Tesla also has a cool car named after him? Or, that LikeTelevision named their first server after Tesla?

To honor our hero today on his birthday - we thought we'd highlight some cool videos that were inspired by Nikola Tesla's genius. First - check out a few classic Superman episodes - Electronic Earthquake and Magnetic Telescope. Both these terrific cartoons feature some mondo electronic gear inspired by Tesla's ideas. For a vintage look at some Tesla Coils - you can check out Fritz Lang's Metropolis, or the hilarious old serial called the Lost City.

If you asked most people in the US - who gave us electricity?, most would answer Thomas Edison. In truth - Edison almost killed it for all of us. Of course it took a lot of people to make it happen, but if you had to credit just one guy, that man would most surely be - Nikola Tesla. Happy Birthday Mr. Tesla!!

Happy Birthday Helen Keller

On June 27, 1880 Helen Keller was born as a normal kid in Alabama - but due to an illness at 19 months, that was probably either scarlet fever or meningitis, she was left without the ability to see or to hear, and yet she lived one of the most amazing lives in the course of human history. As a young child, she was befriended by Martha Washington the 6 year old daughter of the family cook , who was crucial in the journey of Helen's life that allowed her to transcend the darkness of being blind, deaf, and unable to speak. We all know the name of Anne Sullivan, but no one seems to remember this lovely six year old child - so I will mention her name again - Martha Washington. As is often the case, people forget how important kids can be to others in life and it is never too early to start being a good person. Martha's friendship with Helen helped her to create a very simple sign language that allowed her to communicate with her family, and it seems pretty obvious that this played a vital role in Helen's life in years to come.

Helen's parents worked hard to do all they could to help Helen - searching for the right doctors, a visit to Alexander Graham Bell who was working with deaf children, and finally at age seven, Anne Sullivan came to the Keller house to help Helen learn how to communicate. Anne Sullivan, a young 20 year old who was also visually impaired, worked hard to teach Helen how to communicate by spelling words with her hand - simple formations that represented each letter of the alphabet. The big breakthrough came was Helen was able to spell the word - water, which was brilliantly portrayed in the movie - The Miracle Worker, starring Anne Bancroft as Anne Sullivan and Patty Duke as Helen.

Helen would go on to be the first blind deaf person to earn a college. She attended Radcliffe, which at the time was the "girl" sister school of Harvard. Many many more accomplishments were in store for Helen in her life, some of which are chronicled in the newsreel footage below. (from This day in History - June 1, the day Helen Keller died in 1968).

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But for me, her life's story is really the amazing part - in addition to some of the wonderful quotes she had regarding life. She was a very wise woman, having learned a great deal early in life, about how to live. I will leave you with just a few of my Helen Keller quotes. Think about these, next time you consider being such a fool, as to offer a Helen Keller joke. The joke is on you if your heart becomes so cold.

Life is an exciting business, and most exciting when it is lived for others. Helen Keller

Faith is the strength by which a shattered world shall emerge into the light. Helen Keller

Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. The fearful are caught as often as the bold. Helen Keller


It is a terrible thing to see and have no vision. Helen Keller

Many more terrific Helen Keller quotes can be found here. Better still - check out Helen Keller's book - The Story of My Life - online at Project Gutenberg.

June Weddings Video Archive

Well - it's June again, and June is the month jam packed full of weddings. I will be out for the rest of the week in New York for a super duper, mondo NY wedding. So, in honor of this celebration of love - let me put offer a few suggestions of our best wedding related video content. Royal Wedding with Fred Astaire, Jane Powell and Peter Lawford is a classic - it's the movie where Fred dances on the walls and the ceiling, created in a special room that could rotate slightly with the best dancer of all time. And who could forget - Mountain Wedding, with Ernest T. Bass, Barney Fife dressed in a bride outfit and some killer jug band bluegrass with the Dillards. Need more? Check out the Woody Allen special for a vintage wedding musical classic, and if animation is your bag, look no further than Popeye in Bride and Gloom. PLUS some archive footage of Princess Grace Kelly at her wedding, Prince Charles and Lady Di, Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor and much more. Just search for wedding and watch till your eyes get tired.

D-Day Remebered

While most of our users are pretty young, some of them are old enough to remember June 6, 1941 with the proper respect and the cost of the freedom we enjoy today. It is a price measured in blood and tears. I encourage our younger users to give up 60 seconds - and to watch this short video clip remembering the sacrifices of D-Day. LikeTelevision would like to thank you for what you went through. We give you respect and honor your place in history. With a humble heart, and great admiration - thanks.

Quai Chang & Koko

Yesterday was an especially tough day - as the world lost David Carradine and Koko Taylor, no relation to sheriff Andy Taylor. When i was a young wild man in my late teens, I had the chance to see Koko Taylor in a small bar in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, playing with a terrific back-up band called The Blues Machine. I remember the show like it was yesterday, and anyone who had the chance to see Koko Taylor perform live knows exactly why. She sang with such a passion it was unforgettable. Life changing, somebody get my jaw off the floor, WOW !!! Honestly, I never even knew people had that kind of passion within them until I saw Koko Taylor perform. She came on at 11pm and played ON FIRE - for over 4 hours. She was sweating like an Alabama work crew in 100 degree weather, and she was just one person. Honestly - sweat was literally flying off of her into the crowd, and not only did you not mind, you felt blessed by Holy Water. WOW !!! It was beyond anything Rod Serling of Twilight Zone could even imagine. She sang her brains out, and her heart out, and every cell of her body just screamed... YEAH! How do like that! If there was any doubt that Rock 'n Roll heaven has a hell of band... doubt no more.

And when I was a kid, I will always remember waiting all day Wednesday for Kung Fu to come on. There were so many amazing episodes - my favorites included the one where the the bad guy wanted a gold chalice from the poor Catholic church and attacked grasshopper with some massive chains. And the one with a 18 or 19 year old Don Johnson as an American Indian was also very memorable. I think my favorite was the episode featuring a very young Jodie Foster whose name was Alethia, which Quai Chang told her meant truth. One of those - perception is reality things going on, and she had to tell the truth. And her truth was based on her angle of vision, where it sure looked like grasshopper shot a guy. Anyway, it was very sad to hear of his death and worse, the circumstances surrounding his death. If you are a David Carradine fan - check out this bizarre 1970s classic preachy movie called Maybe I'll Come in the Spring, and learn why the hippy dippy generation was such a load of crappola. Like peace, love and wow man, I got no money - let me steal some tacos (watch it, it'll make sense). But, that said - well the George Carlin as the Hippy Dippy Weatherman was awesome! We also offer a bunch of movies with David Carradine's famous thesbian father - John Carradine.

Sara Takes a Dive

On Sunday - May 31st, my dear friend Sara and I felt compelled to jump out of a plane with no parachute. Yes - we obviously survived, this is Wednesday after all. For me, this was my third trip to Skydive Carolina(1-800-SKYDIVE) and once again, B.B. King was nowhere to be found - the thrill is NOT gone. (for a trip down memory lane, see Jump 1.0 and Jump 2.0)

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At some point - I will add this video to the video database, but right now we are slammed like a pizza delivery kid on Friday night. Soon come, as they say in Jamaica.