The False Ducks Blahg

   Well it happened again. I reached a milestone in my blahgs by posting my 150th blahg.  The 150th blahg happened with the posting  of  DARKWING DUCK AND THE NFT CASH GRAB…UNBOXING!  In the past when I’ve reached the 50 mark I would post a special blahg reviewing the previous 50.  Starting with the 50th blahg, I posted, THIS IS 50, PART ONE, and because the blahg was so long, I had to break it up a bit and post a second part, THIS IS 50, PART TWO.  The next 50 were covered in THIS IS 100, PART ONE and THIS IS 100, PART TWO.  In case you’re wondering, it took me four years and two months to reach number 50.  My first blahg, THE BLAHG & THE MOST HAPPY SOUND was first published on October 2nd, 2011 and number 50 debuted on December 2nd, 2015.  I didn’t reach 100 until August 25th, 2021 which was more than five years and eight months later.  Finally, number 150, which was the previous blahg, and not this one, was posted on January 14th, 2025 and that was almost three years and five months after number 100.  I lost ground between 50 and 100 but have sped up a bit between 100 and 150.  So, let’s get into the review of 101 to 150.  I guess Unpacking the 2025 False Ducks Video Ramble is going to have to wait a little while longer.

101.  THIS IS 100, PART TWO was the second half of summing up blaghs 51 through 100.  If I had to pick one of those blahgs to focus on it would have to be STILL THINKING FOR MYSELF.  It highlights my philosophy that you should think for yourself.  That means being informed and not listening to the rot and untruths from others.  This is where I get political for a moment.  The United States reelected Donald Trump as their President and I don’t think his supporters did any thinking for themselves.  He was spouting lies and fact checking proved that.  Now the world has to pay for the nonsense and horror he’s going to put us through.  If you’re going to vote, don’t follow the others off a cliff by listening to only one voice.  Do your research.  Check the facts.  The only voice you should listen to is your own…unless you’re a Donald Trump, Doug Ford, or Pierre Poilievre supporter then you should definitely shut up and let mine be your voice of reason.

 

102.  THE SOUND OF MY OWN VOICE.  On reviewing 101 I said mine could be the voice people should listen to when it comes to politics.  I’ve had some experience with doing radio sketch comedy through our Dead From The Neck up program but I’ve come to realize I’m not the best narrator when it comes to my written work. I’m no Jean Shepherd, the narrator of the 1983 film, “A Christmas Story.”  I put together audio recordings of me reading each of the chapters from my novel “Pippa’s Passing” and added computerized voices and music and sound effects.  I think the computerized version of Pippa was better than me.  Here’s chapter 6 “Revelations At The Avocado House.”  Judge for yourself.  Then again, maybe like Mohamed Ali, I am the greatest. 

 

103.  DEAR SCOTT HENDERSON. This was a blahg about writing a letter to myself in the future, from when I was younger, asking how to get through or get around things.  The big thing was I figured it all out for myself and if I had had a response from my future self it would have probably said “Dear Dumb Ass, Figure It Out For Yourself.  I Did.”  I wouldn’t be the person I am today without the experiences, the disappointments, the grief, and the heartache I’ve experienced over the years.  Okay, not so much heartache as I have the love of a good woman, Jeanette, and that’s made me the better for meeting her.  I’ll revise that letter to my younger self to say “Dear Dumb Ass, You’re Going To Meet A Wonderful And Beautiful Person Named Jeanette.  DON’T F**K IT UP! 

 

104.  BUILDING A CHRISTMAS SPECIAL.  I was working on putting together a 2021 Dead From The Neck Up Christmas special.  This blahg highlighted some of my pre-recordings where I did all of the voices but not all of the music and sound-effects were mixed in.  I really liked the aired version of “The Red Menace” but my rehearsal recording of it showed I was having some fun with it:

 

105.  THE 2021 DEAD FROM THE NECK UP CHRISTMAS SPECIAL.  This was the debut of the Christmas Special I mentioned in the blahg “Building A Christmas Special”.  If you want to hear the whole special, it’s available on YouTube: 

 

106.  2021 – WHAT DID I ACCOMPLISH THIS YEAR?  Well, that’s a good question.  I guess the milestone was reaching 100 blahgs in 2021.  Now I’ve passed 150 with this blahg.  Not bragging…just kidding, I really am bragging! 

 

107.  THE 2022 FALSE DUCKS VIDEO RAMBLE.  For some reason, this did not post to YouTube.  If you’re seeing the video below then I’ve fixed the issue. If I can’t find it then I’ll put in a placeholder which is my 2022 Christmas Tree Launch video which was posted in January of 2023 because I was launching the Christmas 2022 Christmas tree…or at least I tried to.

 

108.  SAY IT AIN’T SO – NO MORE WEEPIES.  Well it happened.  A great band that I really enjoyed, broke up.  They were a husband and wife team and they divorced.  They were/are Deb Talan and Steve Tannen.  They’re just as good on their own but they were magical together.  Here’s a video of Deb Talan from last year, 2024, and here’s her introduction:

Got a superduper band together in my Artbarn, to play through a couple songs from my upcoming album. Bryan Vanderpool —drums, vocals, Dan Padley–electric guitar, Drew Morton–bass, Dave Helmer–acoustic guitar. Jason Smith filmed, with some support from Jeremy Mims, and another very nice fellow whose name I am forgetting right now….Peter….Pete Coolcarguy. Thanks everyone : ):

Note that Deb mentions an upcoming album.  Can’t wait! 

As for Steve Tannen, I can’t find anything new from him.  I do like his song “Sing Me To Sleep” from 2000 so I’ll post that:

 

109.  FREEDOM CONVOY…NOT SO MUCH…GO HOME! A bunch of disgruntled Canadians didn’t like masking mandates or Covid 19 vaccine mandates.  They decided to block downtown Ottawa and honk their horns around the clock.  They went home but not before the Canadian government had to use the the Emergency Measures Act to get them out.  Was the Government right about using it?  Ask the people in Ottawa who got to sleep again and had their city back.  Some of the protest organizers have been convicted in court.  I won’t comment on that either.  Maybe their future selves should have written to them and started with “Dear Dumb Asses.” 

 

110.  RUSSIA: GET OUT OF THE UKRAINE! This was a very short blahg but deserves repeating.  This is going to be another quick blahg.  Russia needs to get out of the Ukraine!  We need to support the Ukrainians any way we can and then later go after Putin for war crimes.
Little despots who try to annex other countries have always failed in the past.
The world is watching!! 

Donald Trump is talking about annexing Greenland and possibly Canada.  I’m sure Greenland would say the same as all Canadians, WE ARE NOT FOR SALE.

 

111.  PIPPA’S PASSING.  This was the first blahg where I mentioned I was writting a new novel called “Pippa’s Passing.” I had only written 57,000 words at that point and thought I would complete it with another 35,000 words for a total around 92,000.  I surpassed that with a novel clocking in at around 120,000.  The image at the right is the cover designed by my daughter.  You can order a copy of the novel on Amazon:  https://www.amazon.ca/Pippas-Passing-Scott-Henderson/dp/1738299120/ref=sr_1_1?crid=17VQS8Y4W6XVN&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.tZB__wB1CglXGVRj0WczhXkKeBXVXCHKTAWgkJXR50ZwZk3lK82YLeGm-7ee9xQdT8tVNCQzog7zOt4MsipidonKxaKnLjWMymaUyuS8GZ6qPY0NqaFijKeb8KumYT_LTzKfM0R88ZYv5GgSHJacTNELjnTJQDXU_sNhbCHYJF7yDE3q8aTa8siucAv6s3CQPKazfhYqvd4Hpyc23x2i0g.9H8XJQlIpSBeyh2JgVuAhJdIx3ysQ_dFI757fXrkwTk&dib_tag=se&keywords=pippa%27s+passing&qid=1738167750&s=books&sprefix=pippa%27s+passing%2Cstripbooks%2C239&sr=1-1. 

What I have never revealed is that the novel was inspired by reading of the passing of a girl I went to Quinte Secondary School with.  Her name was Sherry Cornwall.  I didn’t know her well but the character of Pippa was inspired by Sherry.  I wrote about Sherry’s passing in 2012 in a blahg with the title, STELLA AND SHERRY, I HARDLY KNEW YE. It took me ten years to finally write the novel “Pippa’s Passing” after being inspired by Sherry’s passing.

 

112.  SOME THINGS TO CELEBRATE–TEN YEARS ON.  “Pippa’s Passing” was mentioned again with me stating I had finished it to a total of 116,000 words.  Of course, six months later I would add another chapter and top the 120,000 word mark.  I also talked about celebrating my 35th wedding anniversary to my lovely wife Jeanette.  Another celebration was the fact that I was hired to write the liner notes for the new Linda Keene release from Fresh Sound Records,  “Linda Keene, One More For the Road. The Dixie Songbird’s Complete Recordings.”  The CD set included two songs from a 78rpm acetate I had discovered and purchased from Ebay.  Here’s one of those songs, “Muddy Waters”:

 

113.  WHAT IS 60?  There must be a theme going on here.  This was another reflective mood blahg about turning 60 and linking it to a poem I wrote once about talking to my future self.  The poem was “to old one.”  In this case, I  was writing to my future self and not my future self writing to me.  Clear?  Probably not.  Read the poem.

to old one

I imagine one day
I’ll be old —
and knowin’ me
one day will be about
all I can hack —
so I’m writin’ this to my old self
not what I was
but what I’ll be
for that one day

I’m tellin’ myself
to be happy
bein’ old
’cause maybe by then
I’ll have deserved that
but now I can’t accord any dignity
in addressin’ my old self
and this’ll only make sense
later on
to an old man

but old one,
that’s you or I mean me,
yer ruptured youth
is writin’ to you here
’cause we’re two different persons
you and me
and you know things
I’ve yet to comprehend
and you’ve forgotten things
I’ve yet to live
but that’s ’cause
yer memory and you
are old old one

and there was a time
when I needed you
to talk to me
and tell me
how I got by things or
over ’em or
through ’em
but that’d be cheatin’
and I matured into that truth

but old one
young one
still needs you
’cause I need to know
I’m still gonna be me
but old me
and someone new to talk to
if only in my mind
when we’re one

so know yer youth
old one
and keep in touch
or get in touch
with this
young one
who needs not to know
you’re old old one
but old enough to remember being
young once
and writing to
yer old self
to hear if
you stayed
old
long enough
to receive this poem
written by
yer young one once

 

114.  THE NEW YEAR’S DAY 2023 FALSE DUCKS VIDEO RAMBLE.  I still haven’t found the 2022 Video Ramble but at least I can link to 2023:

 

115.  HOW WAS YOUR CHRISTMAS?  Christmas of 2022 was postponed.  There was a huge snowstorm over Christmas and my daughter Emily and her husband Charlie, and my son Noah couldn’t get to our house until Boxing Day.  It will still a good time.  Here’s what I posted:  Well, it started snowing December 23rd and didn’t stop until late Christmas night on the 25th.   The roads were closed out our way and the major highway between Toronto and Belleville was also closed.  I had a large snowdrift in front of my garage door to the top and I had to dig it out to get at my snowblower.  On Christmas Eve, Abbie and I walked out in the falling snow to the end of our driveway and by then it was knee high.  Here’s a video of Jeanette and I heading out Christmas morning to clear the driveway again:

 

116.  MORE VINYL & THE GHOST OF THE TURNING POINT.  The Turning Point is a used record store in Ottawa…and it’s haunted!

Here’s the story:

Notice that all of the records are stacked upright and the centre aisle has trays of these stacked records.  I had gone through one section looking for some Billy Joel and Bruce Springsteen that my son didn’t already own but to no avail.  I ended up picking up the Mel Tormé record I mentioned earlier in this blahg.  When I go to record stores I’m also on the hunt for old Dixieland Jazz albums so I had just walked past one of these trays of stacked records and I said aloud to my wife “I wonder if there’s any Dixieland Jazz around here.”  Suddenly, half of one of the stacks flipped forward and because I was facing the rear of the stack that was flipped, I ended up seeing the back cover of this album:

Needless to say, I was a little taken aback but was determined to buy this record recommended by a ghost.  The official title of the album is “New Orleans Dixieland Superstar Jazz Artists” by, of course, New Orleans Dixieland Superstar Jazz Artists.  Here’s the front cover:

Here’s “When The Saints Go Marching In” from that album.

 

117.  A BAKER’S DOZEN MORE FOUND VINYL RECORDS.  I highlighted some more records I had found at thrift stores.  Here’s the list:

• –Les Brown Jr. – Wildest Drums Yet!
  
• –Omega Jazz Band
  
• –Beverly Kenney – Born To Be Blue
  
• –Pete Daily’s Dixieland Band
  
• –Frank Traynor’s Jazz Preachers
• –Climax Jazz Band Volume 1 Stereo
• –Lester Lanin and His Orchestra – The Madison Avenue Beat
• –Willis Jackson Quintet – Please Mr. Jackson
  
• –Drumsticks – Trumpets – And Dixieland
  
• –Golden Era of Dixieland Jazz
  
• –Dukes of Dixieland – Come To The Cabaret
  
• –Tony Pastor Meets Ike Carpenter
  
• –The Greatest White Trumpeter of All Time Bunny Berigan
  

I’ll highlight only one in this recap, “Frank Traynor’s Jazz Preachers”:

Here’s one of the songs from the album called Apex Blues:

This blahg is all about adding value so here’s one from the album Frank Traynor’s jazz preachers plays show tunes.” (is it me or is that title grammatically incorrect?) Here’s “76 Trombones”:

 

118.  THE NEW WASHING MACHINE AND THE NEW DISHWASHER. GUESS WHICH ONE I HATE?  I’ll answer the question.  I love the Washing Machine.  GE Adora 27-inch 4.9 (IEC) Cu. Ft. Top Load Washer with Stainless Steel Drum in White, Model # GTW495DMNWS.  The Dishwasher is a Galanz GLDW12FWEA5A.  I don’t really hate the Dishwasher but customer service with Galanz was awful.  You’d think my future self might have written me and said, Dear Dumb Ass, Don’t Buy A Galanz.  In case any of you are not getting the message, here it is:  DON’T BUY A GALANZ! 

 

119.  A SHOUT OUT TO MY DAD.  I was feeling nostalgic for my Father, George Henderson.That blahg was written on May 24th, 2023, four years after my father passed away.  I still miss him.  I sometimes say the only thing I got from my dad was the white hair.  I think I got much more…and I’m thankful for all of it. 

 

120.  ANOTHER BAKER’S DOZEN MORE FOUND VINYL RECORDS.  There’s another title that’s probably not grammatically correct.  I presented 13 more records I had found at thrift stores and linked to other albums and videos that made the total closer to twenty.  Here’s the list of the thirteen records I reviewed: 

• “That Happy Dixieland Jazz” by Jimmy McPartland And His Dixielanders
• “The Cheerleaders Sing Dixieland Jazz”
• “Dixieland Left And Right” featuring Johnny Best And His All Stars & Dick Cathcart And His All Stars.
• “Red Hot & Peppy Fields”
• “Eydie in Dixieland” featuring Eydie Gormé.
• Kings of Dixieland Volume 2
• “AMF Presents Music For Swingers”
• “Dixieland (Live Performance In New Orleans)” featuring Pete Fountain.
• Pete Fountain “Standing Room Only”
• Pete Hurtz And His Dixiaires – “Midnight In New Orleans.”
• “The Sensational Barons of Dixieland Visit the Bowery”
• Preservation Hall Jazz Band – “New Orleans, Volume 1”
• Pete Jolly – “When The Lights Are Low”

Yes, a lot of those were Dixieland albums but the Pete Jolly album was a nice instrumental.  Here’s “That Old Feeling:”

 

121.  GET LOST GALANZ!  An update about poor customer service from Galanz regarding my dishwasher.  They said they couldn’t repair my issue and said they were sending me a refund by cheque.  Never happened.  It’s been 18 months and I haven’t received anything.  Here’s what I wrote in that blahg:

As for Galanz, I researched and found the promised “cheque in the mail” was a scam they pulled with many customers. Check out this website to see complaints regarding Galanz and how they never resolve their customers’ issues:

https://www.bbb.org/us/nj/ridgefield-pk/profile/manufactured-home-supplies/galanz-americas-ltd-co-0221-90184883/complaints

DON’T EVER PURCHASE A GALANZ PRODUCT!  YOU WILL REGRET IT!!

By the way, I fixed the issue myself, probably voiding the warranty I couldn’t get honoured from Galanz. 

 

122.  WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THAT BLAHG ON DOTTIE REID?  I finally got around to writing the blahg about the singer “Dottie Reid” I had promised to write.  In that blahg, I mentioned that she once recorded with Johnny Richards.  Her one official recording with the Richards outfit was on December 4, 1944 when she recorded the song “I’m Gonna See My Baby.”  Here’s an image of the 78 rpm record.

 

I won’t re-post that track but will add a radio broadcast from March 10, 1945 which was Victory Parade of Spotlight Bands, a live remote from The Main Ballroom of The Hotel Roosevelt in New York City for the members of Torpedo Boat Squadron #39 stationed at The Brooklyn Navy Yard.  It’s a fifteen minute program where you get to hear Dottie Reid doing vocals on “A Little On The Lonely Side” and a live version of I’m Gonna See My Baby”:

 

 

123.  SINATRA: SYLVAN BEACH TO CRYSTAL BEACH. AND WHAT ABOUT SCHENECTADY?  I wrote this blahg about trying to solve the mystery of whether Sinatra and Harry James played Sylvan Beach, New York in September of 1939 and whether Sinatra and Tommy Dorsey ever played Crystal Beach here in Ontario, Canada.  The answers are yes, no, and I don’t know.  Yes, Sinatra played Sylvan Beach September 1st, 1939:

No, Dorsey and Sinatra never played Crystal Beach.  That makes the poster below, a fake: 

I don’t know, that refers to Schenectady.  I could never find any proof about that.  I did, however, uncover a new listing for December 8th, 1939 that had gone undocumented.  December 8th, 1939 Broadmoor Ballroom, Colorado Springs, Colorado, Sinatra was there with Harry James.  The following articles detail the event, how poor the turnout was, and how a College student who sponsored the event had to leave school because the audience attendance was not as expected. 

 

 

124.  HEY, REMEMBER THAT BLAHG ABOUT DOTTIE REID I FINALLY WROTE?  Hey, remember blahg number 122 WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THAT BLAHG ON DOTTIE REID?  Well, you should, it was just reviewed above.  This second blahg was an addendum where I talked about and featured tracks of Dottie singing live with the Buddy Rich Orchestra in 1946.  Those tracks were from an album called “One Night Stand with Buddy Rich” Volume 2.

I didn’t have this album when I did my first blahg on Dottie Reid but had purchased it by the time I wrote the addendum second blahg.  As, I have no other update on Dottie Reid, I’ll repost the three tracks from the above album that feature Dottie Reid.  First is “Just A Sittin’ And A Rockin’” from March 28, 1946 at the Hollywood Palladium:

   Next is “Personality” from March 21, 1946 at the Hollywood Palladium:

And finally, here’s “Do You Love Me” from March 27, 1946 at the Hollywood Palladium:

One day I’ll write an addendum to that addendum blahg if I ever track down any other Dottie Reid vocals. 

 

125.  WHATEVER HAPPENED TO MISS REGINA HASSOCK OF 1947?  In case you haven’t read this one, it’s all about the big band singer, Marie Carroll.  She was also known by Margie Carroll and Marion Carroll.  I did some tracking of her through newspaper and magazine archives but was not ever able to find an obituary.  Here was the last piece of information I posted about Marie Carroll:

The next, and final piece of information, that I could find about Marie Caroll was a report that she had become Miss Regina Hassock of 1947. This article appeared in the Radio & Appliance Journal of April 1947. You can click on it to view a larger article.

In March of 1947, the Radio Retailing magazine had also mentioned that Marie Carroll was Miss Regina Hassock for that year:

That same edition of Radio Retailing also featured a full page spread with a photo of Marie Carroll as Miss Regina Hassock:

That’s it.  After 1947, I could find nothing.  I did find a song by her from 1939 that is supposedly with Harry James.  Here’s the video on YouTube of her singing “I’ve Heard That Song Before.”

The most significant thing is not the audio recording but the comments to the video.  Here’s what’s written in a couple of comments:

Thanks very much for posting this – Margie Carroll was my husband’s grandmother and this is the first time we’re hearing a recording of her! Can you let us know where we might be able to find this broadcast?

Hi there- thank you so much for posting this. I am one of Margaret’s grandsons and am still very much hoping for any additional information you can provide about this recording or album. I would really love to track it down for my family. Please let us know. Thank you so much.

I’ve reached out to the people who made the comments but haven’t heard anything back.  If I do, I guess I’ll be writing an addendum to my Marie Carroll blahgs as well. 

  

   Speaking of addendum, there’s going to be an addendum to this blahg.  I always find that there’s so much crammed into these 50, 100, and 150 blahg milestone postings that I have to break it in half.  Stay tuned for “This is 150…ish, Part Two.