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While Googling something completely unrelated, I came across this…

http://www.adrants.com/2006/03/anything-but-cute-caliber-copies-ass.php

BAHAHAHAHA!

What? You never Xeroxed your posterior when nobody was looking?

“I can’t let my fans down tonight because then I’m just another bitch in a dress at an awards show.” – Lady Gaga, describing how odd it felt to not be performing at the VMAs this year.

While cleaning some stuff out of the basement recently I came across the following article in a college Introduction to Business textbook dated 1982. The article, written by Alan Eirinberg, originally appeared in the August 11, 1980 issue of Advertising Age. The original title was “It’s New: Banking at Home.”

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By now, driving up to an automatic, computerized teller machine in the middle of the night to pick up some extra cash has become fairly routine. Don’t think the innovations in banking will stop there. Imagine being able to link up to your bank’s electronic funds transfer system without ever leaving your easy chair. All kinds of pilot programs are already underway that allow people to bank at home. They simply dial up a computer using their telephone, with banking instructions and information appearing on their television screen. They can pay bills on TV by, for example, typing in a merchant’s code number on a typewriter-like keyboard. They can also transfer funds from savings to checking or just verify their balance.

Among those testing such systems are various banks around the country and a subsidiary of Knight-Ridder Newspapers, Viewdata Corp. of America. (Newspapers are also experimenting with delivery via subscribers’ TV screens, so Viewdata’s involvement is logical.) When these systems are fully developed, there’s likely to be lots of competition between banks, all trying to outdo each other with more convenience and extra services. In addition to banking and bill paying, consumers will probably be able to get financial counseling, say a short course on family budgeting or estate planning. Eventually, there will probably also be a mechanism for printing out a record of completed transactions. And, once all interest-rate restrictions have disappeared and the rates change even faster than they do now, subscribers to a bank-at-home service could use their TV screens to shop around for the highest interest rates and the best place to put their funds.

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Does any of that sound familiar? It should as it’s all what we now know as internet banking! And shopping around for the highest interest rates and best place to put your money? Sounds like bankrate.com to me. I so got a kick out of finding this article (more or less because I’m a history geek and I work in the banking industry).  I saved the whole chapter on banking from the textbook as it was an interesting snapshot of the banking industry in this country at the time, the beginnings of deregulation and the beginnings of the technological advances that we now take for granted today. I’ll be sharing more interesting tidbits in the future including an ironic commentary about a bank that was “too big to fail” back in late 70′s.

I couldn’t let this day pass without acknowledging what would’ve been the 80^th birthday of Robert Culp.

Thank you, sir, for sharing your talents and creativity with the world. You will always be remembered and greatly missed.

“Hey, MaryAnne, your buddy’s on tv here…”

My buddy.

I have several buddies, but the particular context of “buddy” in this case are those actors whom I adore absolute.  Those who I go out of my way to watch something they’re in, buy a DVD, view a video on YouTube, or collect photographs of.

It’s a small group. These guys are the All Time Favorites. One such member of this elite group is Robert Culp.

Back on March 24th, I lost one of my buddies.

No, I never knew the man personally. Never had the opportunity to meet him. Would have liked to, but figure I would’ve acted something like Culp in the GAH episode “The Price is Right” when Bill meets the famous football quarterback that was friends with Ralph in highschool.

Yeah…

Truth be told, I would’ve been happy to just sit and listen to him talk. I could’ve listened for hours.

I was shocked by the news of his sudden passing. A mere moment in time…and he was gone.

What he leaves behind, however, is a body of work that I’ve only just started to make dent in, in terms of viewing. From Trackdown to I Spy to Greatest American Hero, to feature films and television guest spots. It was only two short years ago that Robert Culp became the latest addition to my group of Buddies. I’ve blogged about him occasionally here and over in my LJ. I’ve fangirled over him and have been truly inspired by him.

Given this bias, I’ve been annoyed at the seemingly paltry acknowledgement of this man’s contributions to film and television by the print media. TV Guide managed to spare a mere paragraph on his passing. I missed if Peoplemagazine bothered to spill any ink on it, they certainly didn’t do a special issue (like they did for Farrah Fawcett). Granted, I haven’t been able to actively hunt for anything, only a quick look-see at the checkout aisle of the grocery store, but I think it’s safe to say that very little was printed beyond an obit. (The tabloid Globeand it’s bogus “shocking secret” that Culp “hid” from fans doesn’t count).

Online, however, it’s been a different story. Several fine articles and blogs have been written, tributes made and accolades expressed. There’s little more I can add to these fine expressions. Frankly, for calling myself a writer, words fail me at a time like this. In the two years since “discovering” Robert Culp, I have come to greatly admire and respect him for his dedication to his craft and the quality of his work (even when the quality of what he had to work with wasn’t so good). He has been a great inspiration with my own writing and creative pursuits.

Perhaps that, more than any glossy special issue of People, is the better acknowledgement. Instead of seeking the tributes paid by others, I will pay tribute my own way. I will continue to yammer on about him, post screen caps from various episodes and films and carry on as I have been.

More than that, though, I will continue to be inspired by Culp’s work and I will continue to “feed the muse.”

Because he was and always will be one of the buddies.