Originally posted by Gerard on the Dark Shadows: General Discussion Forum on February 22, 2002 at 03:09:16:

Along with Dark Shadows, my other passionate hobby deals with the great ships and liners, building up an extensive library and accumulating a collection of historical stuff from vessesl ranging from the Lusitania to the United States. Of course, I would have to find a connection between Dark Shadows and my other hobby.

The Hamburg-America Line (aka "HAPAG") built highly luxurious ships in the early twentieth century catering to the wealthy, from both America and the Continent. The company would give the liners alternating names between American notables and European royal families. One of these ships was named after a very prominent royal European family: the S.S. Moltke. Of course, we all know who is a member of that family. Two classy ladies: one of the seas, and one of soaps. Only I could find something as odd as that.

Gerard

Posted by Gerard on February 19, 2002 at 10:54:16:
In Reply to: Favorite Collinwood Libations posted by Vlad on February 18, 2002 at 18:06:52:

Mrs. Johnson probably nipped at the cooking sherry every once in awhile. Two for the duck, one for her. And seeing as David and I are the same age-wise, I'm sure that when he was 16, he was sneaking the Mad Dog and Boone's Farm Strawberry Hill, the two drinks of choice for sophisticated, under-age appreciators of the spirits (and not the Collinwood corridor kind).

Gerard
"Thurston - have you been eating Brandy Peaches without the peaches again?" Lovey Howell, Gilligan's Island

Originally posted by Gerard on February 17, 2002 at 13:51:07:

Forget it, Birdie. They know more about those contraptions (as well as computers, DVD/CD players, even the microwave oven) than any of us. Yanno, it's really humbling when you have a seven-year-old fix a problem on your computer.

Gerard

Posted by Gerard on February 15, 2002 at 10:04:13:
In Reply to: Re: Must See TV for Liz posted by RingoCollins on February 15, 2002 at 09:47:11:

That's a hoot, Ringo! You're incredible at finding these things! I love it!

Gerard

Posted by Gerard on February 15, 2002 at 03:01:24:
In Reply to: Re: Must See TV for Liz posted by Ben on February 14, 2002 at 16:27:21:

Gerard, maybe they used their handy-dandy color "converter" -- you know, that silly translucent plastic sheet you'd position over the TV screen, so that the bottom of the screen would be shaded in green (for realistic grass, of course), the top in blue (for the sky), and the middle in flesh tones (for faces).

We had one of those, Ben! On the box, there was that drawing of a family sitting in front of their set with gleeful surprise, as their b&w magically became color. Of course, after watching through it for just ten minutes, you got a headache. Fortunately, you couldn't use it any longer than that because you had to attach it using scotch tape, and the heat of the screen (that's when sets threw off more radiation than Chernobyl) would melt the glue, causing the "converter" to peel and fall off.

Gerard

Posted by Gerard on February 14, 2002 at 16:10:53:
In Reply to: Re: Must See TV for Liz posted by Bob the Bartender on February 14, 2002 at 14:48:16:

Our next-door neighbors were the first one on the block to get a color TV, back in the mid-sixties. They wanted it specifically because the movie "The Song of Bernadette" was going to be on. Everyone was all excited. Virtually the entire neighborhood was jammed into their living room to watch the movie in color.

Everyone forgot that it had been made in black and white.

Gerard

Posted by Gerard on February 14, 2002 at 11:22:44:
In Reply to: Re: Liz posted by Josette on February 13, 2002 at 20:00:22:

You're both forgetting that we've never seen any evidence that they even had a television in that house!!

How true, Josette. But they never showed a single bathroom either (although they did make mention, such as Carolyn doing the other day, of taking a bath). I'm HOPING they had bathrooms among the 40+ rooms of that house, otherwise it's easy to see why they were always so uptight. I'm thinking the TV set was tucked away in another room, enormous amounts of aluminum foil crimpled around the rabbit ears.

Here's another storyline set in the year 2038. Les Collins, the grandson of David Collins, and his friend, Moonglow Jennings, grandaughter of Amy Jennings, are playing in the attic when they find an old TV set from 1967. It's not even cable ready, nor is it even plugged in. But when they turn it on, they see the ghostly images of Jeff Clark and Vicki Winters beckoning them to come to the south wing.....(until the spectres are interrupted by a black-and-white commercial for Noxema).

Gerard

Posted by Gerard on February 13, 2002 at 19:27:28:
In Reply to: Must See TV for Liz posted by RingoCollins on February 13, 2002 at 15:49:49:

A riot! I can just see Liz watching Jack La Lanne, doing the exercises with that spring thing with the handles at either end, wearing one of her elegant evening gowns. "We must...we must...we must increase our..."

Gerard