The Rolling Stones address the pandemic with ‘Living In A Ghost Town’.

That Wonderful Urge to Go Out

                                                            Stay indoors and forget it, pal!
                                                      The Coronavirus Lockdown is still on!

LOCKDOWN ACTION!

                                There are many ways to stay inside the house and still be active.
                              Here are some exciting things I've found to keep the blood pumping!

Saturation Covid-19 News

LOVE IN THE TIME OF THE CORONAVIRUS

"Sharing meals, hand-holding, and kissing can spread the coronavirus, but Covid-19 can't stop people from looking for love. Health experts around the world have been recommending that people reduce unnecessary physical contact with other people, such as shaking hands or kissing on the cheek. Even the French have recommended no cheek kissing."
However, couples still hug and kiss each other, and children continue to display their love by kissing their parents. Will this show of physical affection spell the end of civilization as we know it?

If you are pessimistic, then the answer is yes. But if you're like me, then you should just relax and take it easy. Stay home, keep your distance from people and you'll be okay for the duration. Remember this is not our first pandemic and it most certainly won't be the last.
Just don't panic, follow the rules and try to make the best of it while it lasts. Love will find its way, no matter what.  And this "no hugs or kissing" warning will soon pass too!

This is what health experts recommend:
"You can still greet each people warmly and politely without touching them, by bumping elbows or fists, tapping feet (the “Wuhan shake” popular on social media), simply waving hi, or one of the many other creative suggestions that are popping up online. This isn’t about making extreme changes to our social interactions; it’s about taking simple steps to help reduce your risk of disease."

Read the article here:

https://theconversation.com/love-in-the-time-of-the-coronavirus-do-you-turn-your-back-when-someone-offers-you-a-hand-a-kiss-or-a-hug-133037

HAPPY EASTER, 2020!

Staying Home...Is So Much Fun!

The Not-Anti-Virus-Mask

                              Sometimes, wearing a mask doesn't really protect you from danger.

Very Sad News: MORT DRUCKER is gone!

Mort Drucker, master of caricature passed away today at 91 years of age.
His work made my days happier and his art was my inspiration. He will certainly be missed, although he had pretty much retired in recent years but his fine legacy will stay forever with us.
I used to buy MAD magazine just to see his masterful artwork and celebrity caricatures which were imitated but never equaled by other Drucker-hopefuls.  His style has an undefined quality that makes his caricatures rise above everybody else's.
I won't go into many details about his work but you can read what I wrote here:
                         https://ferllera.blogspot.com/2019/03/mort-drucker.html

So long, Mort! Someday, we'll all be eventually meeting on that big drawing board up above!

You can read more about Mort Drucker here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mort_Drucker

Goodbye, Pussy Galore...

Today we lost one of my favorite James Bond leading ladies.
Honor Blackman passed away at age 94. I still remember the first time I saw her, back in 1965, when GOLDFINGER opened in my hometown. Her first scene with Sean Connery featured this by now classic exchange:
-Bond: Who are you?
-Pussy: My name is Pussy Galore.
-Bond: [looks away and smiles] I must be dreaming.

Honor Blackman was also the star on THE AVENGERS TV show, playing Cathy Gale with Patrick Macnee (1922-2015) as John Steed. She was replaced by Diana Rigg when she signed to play Pussy Galore in GOLDFINGER.

After GOLDFINGER, she starred in many other features, including another one with Sean Connery : SHALAKO (1968).

Other credits include:

JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS

LIFE AT THE TOP

BRIDGET JONES'S DIARY and many TV series.

Full list here:

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000303/

But in spite of her many credits, I guess she'll be forever remembered as Pussy Galore, which is pretty good, actually!

 

GREAT LOCKDOWN ACTIVITIES!

I have found there are many exciting ways to spend your time during the Coronavirus lockdown.
One example:
Using the iPhone Stopwatch to clock how long it takes for an ant to go from the kitchen to the dining room!

The Coronavirus Protection Checklist!

                                                                              DONE!

Corona-April, Day One

                         Calmly and steadily navigating through the Coronavirus lockdown.

Observing the Covid-19 Lockdown.

RAIDERS OF THE TOILET PAPER!

             The Coronavirus lockdown has introduced some new valuables...and this is one of them!

Another year...another birthday! My grandson Antonio is now eight!

Video chat party with his school pals!

STOP THE WORLD!

The Coronavirus outbreak lockdowns and quarantines are beginning to take their toll on everybody's nerves. I really would like to move out of this planet if there was something better out there! (And I mean "moving out" while still alive!) Unfortunately, there is no real way to escape from this now so we'd all better try to make the best of it! Cheer up!

CORONAVIRUS VS. TOILET PAPER

Frankly, I fail to see the power of toilet paper against the Coronavirus but people are stocking up in droves with it, so I guess somehow they've found it has some unfathomable powers to stop the virus.

THE 2020 CENSUS

                                      The Coronavirus outbreak fear is present everywhere!

About the CoronaVirus Outbreak...

The Coronavirus scare seems to be spreading all around the world. Hopefully, people won't panic and wait patiently until the risk of getting infected disappears.

GET SMART!

Barbara Feldon was born March 12, 1933 in Bethel Park, Pennsylvania and as we wish her a happy birthday, we also remember her memorable appearance as Agent 99 in the TV series GET SMART!

GET SMART! was a television series which ran on NBC from 1965 to 1969 and on ABC from 1969 to 1970. The series was intended as a parody on the very popular James Bond films of the sixties. It starred comedian Don Adams as bungling agent 86 Maxwell Smart, Barbara Feldon as beautiful and sexy agent 99 and Edward Platt as Thaddeus, the Chief of CONTROL, a fictional U.S. secret counterintelligence organization based in Washington D.C. 

The series was created and written by Mel Brooks and Buck Henry. 

More details on the series can be found here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Get_Smart

DON ADAMS

Edward Platt as the CHIEF of Control.

"Missed it by that much!"

Ron Moody and Bernie Kopell as Siegfried and Shtarker, Maxwell Smart's eternal nemesis.

 

Dick Gautier as Hymie the Robot agent.

Robert Karvelas, (Don Adams' cousin in real life) played Larrabee, another bumbling CONTROL agent .

Robert Karvelas, David Ketchum (Agent 13), Don Adams and Dick Gautier during the reunion TV movie GET SMART AGAIN! (1989)

Don Adams & Barbara Feldon with agent K-13, Fang the dog.

One of several TV GUIDE covers featuring the series.

Barbara Feldon

Agent 99

Smart and Siegfried

One of my favorite photos of Agent 99 and Max.

            

         Don Adams and Barbara Feldon reunite!           Barbara Feldon in her later years, still beautiful!

Barbara Feldon as Mandy Stevenson and Robert Vaughn as Napoleon Solo in "The Never-Never Affair" episode of THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E. which aired on March 22, 1965.

Lovely Agent 99, whose real name was never revealed.

GET SMART was one of my favorite comedy shows back in the 60s and I revisit the series often thanks to the Time/Life HBO DVD boxed set from 2006. I never get tired of the gags and the recurring catchphrases, most of which became part of popular lexicon. And on this day of feminism and the #MeToo movement, it is surprising the respectful and self reliant way Barbara Feldon's character is handled in the series. She's actually the smartest character in the show and her agent 99 became a role model for many female members of the audience who, to this day, worship and admire her resourcefulness and ingenuity. Needless to say, I've always had a crush on Barbara.

And GET SMART! will always remain one of my all-time favorite comedy series, the likes of which have never been replicated since.