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HAHN: The myth of the silent rattlesnake

July 12, 2011

Urban legends have long been a favorite study of mine. Before the advent of the computer, there were fewer such stories circulating, but they were much more likely to be accepted for truth. Now most people know about the Snopes website and so they are less likely to believe such stories.
You would think that as a student of folklore and someone who knows a great deal about urban legends, I would recognized them for what they are, but I don’t. Why? Because they seem believable and they are always passed on in good faith. People want to warn others of some danger, be it large or small.

HAHN: No fireworks ban equals nervous cats

July 6, 2011

Since the city council recently authorized the use of fireworks within the city limits after a ban on them for several years, I am expecting to have three nervous cats in my lap for most of the Fourth of July celebration.
They are not as upset by fireworks as our dog Miss Brown used to be. One Fourth we got her some tranquilizers. These were ineffective in calming her fears, and they made her so drunk she kept falling down the stairs.

HOLLENBECK: Losing a longtime friend and staple of life

July 6, 2011

There’s never been a time when there wasn’t a container of Yarnell’s ice cream in my refrigerator. Make that a container of Yarnell’s VANILLA ice cream.
In recent times it’s been Yarnell’s “homemade vanilla,” but in earlier years it was just plain vanilla or maybe angel food vanilla. And sometimes its companion has been Yarnell’s black walnut, which my spouse says is the best black walnut cream around since it’s made with walnuts from the Arkansas Ozarks.
In some households, the “staples” are sugar and flour and such. At ours, it’s been the Yarnell’s.

HAHN: Growing up with Superman

June 29, 2011

Would it surprise you to know that I am a year older than Superman? I am. Superman was created in 1932 and I was born in 1931. In our household back then, there were not many books, but my father read me the daily comics in the newspaper.
I liked the way he read them over the way my mother read them. He always put in the “Bams!” “ Ahas!” and “Pows!” She skipped over all of those, and, I suspected, some of the other stuff too, but I couldn’t prove it because I couldn‘t read yet.

HOLLENBECK: Forget the pricey beauty products and pass the soap, please

June 29, 2011

On a recent day off, I spent a great deal of time on the couch in front of the TV. My main purpose was to watch old movies, but I found myself channel-surfing at times when I couldn’t find a film to hold my attention.
During that brief escape from reality, I couldn’t help but notice the number of commercials touting beauty products — mainly for women, but the fellows weren’t left out entirely.
I wish I had taken an actual count within a specific time frame, but didn’t. Suffice it to say there were many.

DAVIS: The return of the ‘Accidental Tourist’

June 24, 2011

History has proven that any member of the Davis clan who goes on vacation is destined to become involved in a mishap of one sort or another.
The curse is well known and can be documented well into previous decades. Regular readers of this column may remember the “Big Bird” incident.

HOLLENBECK: Traveling through life with great big sneezes

June 21, 2011

In certain parts of Eastern Asia — particularly in the Chinese, Japanese and Vietnamese cultures — a sneeze without an obvious cause at one time was perceived as a sign that someone was talking about the sneezer at that very moment.
If this is the case in international circles and it transcends to American shores, I would have to believe that a lot of people are talking about me because I’m a big sneezer — big both in volume and repetitiveness.
My sneezes can turn heads. Literally.

DAVIS: Three years and counting

June 17, 2011

I was having a conversation with a co-worker the other day and we both came to the same conclusion: The older you get, the faster time goes by. Perhaps it is because of the repetitive nature of the passing of days. We become accustomed to the speed at which time passes and become a bit inattentive to dates on a calendar until we say “Wow. Half the year has passed already!”

DAVIS: It’s time to fish or cut bait

June 14, 2011

Anyone who has dropped a line into the water in hopes of catching a fish knows when that point in time comes around when a decision has to be made to continue fishing or head for the house. Despite all the best efforts of bait, location and the skills of the fisherman, sometimes it just isn’t worth it anymore. This is the exact point in time that Benton finds itself.

HAHN: The origins of that thing called a wig

June 13, 2011

Did you ever have a wig? If you lived through the ‘70s, and are female, you probably did. My oldest daughter called me the other evening and the subject of wigs came up. “Where did we get those things?” she asked.
Wigs were a very popular fashion accessory then; you could buy them just about everywhere but the post office for a few dollars. Every beauty shop in existence had them for sale, as did Pfieffer’s and Gus Blass (remember them?), J. C. Penney’s, and Woolworth’s.

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