The Wheezer Society

Ponder This

Question: If you don't belong to a social network, do you then belong to the anti-social network by default? - Scott Leverenz

OopsBama

Ah, 'Twas NOT Katisha! (The Maid of Whom I HAD Told You)

Okay. Okay. They say the first thing to go is your memory. Well, that may be true... thank God some of my old classmates have better memories than me. It was Jan Powell (not pictured) who was duo- cast as Yum Yum with Sally Wheeler. Jennifer Nesheim played the role Katisha. Ed Fitz as Ko-Ko The Tailor. Scott Leverenz a Pooh-Bah. Mike Murnin as The Mikado (also directed his Freshman year!!) David Frye was Pish-Tush, Mark Campbell as Nanki-Poo, Harriet Burkholder was Peep-Bo and the late Ann Brownell was PItti-Sing.

Ah, 'Tis Katisha! (The Maid of Whom I Told You)

An old high school friend found The Wheezer Society whilst surfing around the tangle web we weave. Jan Powell was not only in "The Baby Blues" our sophomore year at Grant High, but she was in the cast of The Mikado our freshman year (1969-70), double cast as Katisha Yum Yum with Sally Wheeler (who I also recently heard from). Jennifer Nesheim Moellenkamp played the role Katisha.

It's worthy to note that this was one of the first times that some of The Wheezer Society members started working together, including Mike Murnin, who directed and also starred as "The Mikado", Scott Leverenz as Pooh-Bah, Tom O'Brien, Steve Lindstedt and Doug Byers among "The Townspeople of Titipu".

Several years ago, I digitized the only known recording of our fine work from an old crumbling cassette tape. I've been meaning to make it available. Here's a snippet of "The Lord High Executioner" with Ed Fitz as KoKo the Tailor.

Updated

Valentine's Greetings from The Wheezer Society

Courtesy of Wheezer Neil Sterett

World Laughter Pledge: Laughing AT Them Or WITH Them?

At British gent, Robin Graham, has launched a website announcing the "World Laughter Pledge" Their website reads:

For 2009, we invite people to laugh at 9 AM local time wherever they are, every Saturday, and we will send a laughter wave around the world! Anyone can join in, on their own or with other people. Chuckle for seconds or minutes! We are making a list of at least one person in each country who pledges to join in every Saturday

Graham's hope, is that the laughter wave will ripple around the world bringing happiness and peace.

While I love a good wheeze as many time each day as possible, on this one, I think I'm laughing AT them, not WITH them.

Here Come De Judge! Here Come Da Judge!

This morning I was able to participate in the US Court system first hand - by serving on jury duty. Got there early sat patiently to have my number called. Juror 39. Finally after a few hours, they called the first group of 17 of jurors for a trial - I was not in that selection. Darn! Anything was better that just sitting around waiting. After a few minutes, they announced that entire remaining 150 + of us could leave and thanked us for performing our civic duty. Nice. Back to work!

Pat Paulsen For President

I had this poster hanging in my room back in 1972. Loved the slogan then, still love it now.

Larry "Bozo The Clown" Harmon Dead

Larry Harmon, who appeared as Bozo the Clown for decades and licensed the name to other Bozos around the world, has died at age 83.

Harmon wasn't the first person to play Bozo, but as an entrepreneur, he licensed the character to TV stations across the country. In turn, those stations then recruited their own Bozos for local kiddie shows. Many of these Bozos eventually wound up in politics, serving the the US House and Senate, some even landing in higher offices. That's why there are so many Bozo's out there.

High Tech Magnifying Glass

Just in time for "our" generation... "The tiny, high-resolution video camera within the device captures the image, and the electronics bolster the contrast in the display, making it easier to read words on the monitor." CONTINUE READING