11,499 stories by "Trav S.D."
Character actor, comedian, and scriptwriter David Ketchum (1928-2025) passed away back in August. Not to be confused with Hank Ketcham, creator of Dennis the Menace! Ketchum was nearly ubiqu…
February 3 is National Take a Cruise Day but some of us aren't so lucky; we just watch television shows about luxury! Having already posted about The Love Boat (twice actually, here and here…
Today's new Travalanche posts for February 3, 2026 are about Blythe Danner, and two recent tv shows set on cruise ships for National Take a Cruise Day (Good Ship Murder and Doctor Odyssey). …
This year marks a decade since I have been unchained to any sort of a day job. I'm thankful for the blessing, but I also can't help being grateful for the experiences I had at most of those …
Today's new Travalanche posts for February 2, 2026 are about Sinners and movie director Frank Lloyd (Mutiny on the Bounty). Also it's National Ukulele Day. Go here for my 2023 post on everyb…
Born on February 2, Scottish-born Hollywood director Frank Lloyd (1886-1960). Though forgotten today, Lloyd had a very successful career spanning four decades. He directed some 135 movies, a…
Just wanted to add my voice to the chorus enthusiastically praising Ryan Coogler's Sinners (2025). We caught it a few months ago, but it seemed appropriate fodder for Black History Month (th…
Today's new Travalanche posts for February 1, 2026 are about Demond Wilson, Morty Gunty, Woodie King Jr, James P. Johnson (composer of the "Charleston"), and some great New York museum exhib…
I had certainly seen Morty Gunty (1929-1984) in films and television many times, but never knew him by name until someone mentioned him a few days ago. He was a Jewish nightclub comic from B…
Demond Wilson (1946-2026) would have turned 80 this year; even so, I'm uncertain whether I would have done a dedicated post on him, having already written about Sanford and Son and the ill a…
Some years we manage to lean into Black History Month (February) more than others, and this'll be one of those years. As it happens this, is the centennial of there being some kind of nation…
February 1 was the birthday of musician and songwriter James P. Johnson (1894-1955). I am surprised, though perhaps I oughtn't to be, to learn that he was no relation to J. Rosamond Johnson …
Downtown theatre giant Woodie King Jr. (1939-2026) passed away on January 29. I thought it appropriate to hold my tribute a couple of days for Black History Month. Mr. King was the founder a…
Today's new Travalanche posts for January 31, 2026 are about KC and the Sunshine Band, and Alexandre Patty, the Upside Down Man. We also continue to mourn the loss of the great comic actress…
Today we will likely blow the minds of our regular readers (and I'm blowing my own mind even as I do it) by expressing deep love and respect for KC and the Sunshine Band. KC (Henry Wayne Cas…
January 31 is celebrated in some quarters as National Backwards Day (or as some perversely put it, Backward Day). It seems to me that every day for the past ten years answers both of those d…
Today, January 30, 2026 is…A GENERAL STRIKE DAY, in solidarity with the people of Minneapolis, and the agenda of either abolishing ICE or returning it to its traditional function, bounded …
Today's new Travalanche post for January 29, 2026 is about Paul Fusco and ALF. Other earlier Travalanche posts for January 29 (in no particular order) include ones on: W.C. Fields Kansas (th…
The puppet-centered sit-com ALF premiered on NBC 40 years ago; January 29 is the birthday of its creator Paul Fusco (b. 1953). Is he any relation to the MAGNUM photojournalist of the same na…
Today's new Travalanche post for January 28, 2026 concerns a new book about tattoo pioneer Captain Constentenus. Other earlier Travalanche posts for January 28 (in no particular order) inclu…
Every book by Modern Vaudeville Press is exciting but we are particularly jazzed about their latest literary production. Little is known (or knowable) about pioneering illustrated man Captai…
Today's new Travalanche post for January 27, 2026 is about Ruby Lynn Reyner. Other earlier Travalanche posts for January 27 (in no particular order) include ones on: Holocaust Remembrance Da…
Downtown stage star Ruby Lynn Reyner (1948-2024) died nearly two years ago, but that seems recent enough that we can merge this birthday tribute with the idea of a memoriam. I had the thrill…
Today's new Travalanche post for January 26, 2026 is about songwriter Jimmy Van Heusen. Other earlier Travalanche posts for January 26 (in no particular order) include ones on: For National …
This seemed the best photo to use for songwriter Jimmy Van Heusen (Chester Babcock, 1913-1940). Most of the pix of him are like most pix of composers " he may as well be an accountant. This …
