Teaser 5

Above is a map of mid 1950. The road name has been erased so as

not to give away the location.

Where is the New City Theatre located?

Clue:
1 The building is no longer a theatre now.
2 The area has been transformed beyond recognition now.
3 More than one blogger has posted about this place.

In 1963 development of the area district centre was started by the Housing & Development Board. It had a few apartment blocks, shops and a market cum hawker centre. However the building that housed New City Theatre was not affected. The movie house changed its name twice. The building is still standing today but has changed trade.

Laokokok has blocked on this particular place including the theatre. Click here if you want to know the answer.

Ukuleles Strike Chord In US

Ukuleles


Recently in Los Angeles Times I came across the article on Ukuleles and I remember Unk Dicko, the ukuleles man back home. In June 2009 he participated in the Active Ageing Exhihibition playing his favourite ukuleles with two others here. This little musical instrument has made a come back in US for the last few years and is gaining popularity now. Demand for hand made ukuleles has exceeded supply and the waiting lists stretching out more than a year. Each costs between a few hundred dollars to US$3,000. The cheap ones mass produced from China costs about US$30 each.

A former Beatle George Harrison was well known in the uke circles before his death in 2001. The article stated that his bandmate Paul McCartney reignited the public's fascination by playing the instrument in the 2002 tribute Concert for George and in other performances.
Will ukuleles strike a chord in Singapore too? This is a good opportunity for Unk Dicko to take the lead to form an Ukuleles Circle.

Teaser 4

Old Western Cowboy Town

Can you guess what movie scene is it?

Clue:

1) The movie is a 1952 western production

2) The town Marshall was forced to face a gang of killers by himself

3) The co-star in the movie was Grace Kelly

Our senior citizens should have no problem with the answer.

Nostalgic TV Programmes

Many of us grew up with movies and tv series. When we see the shows repeated on the tv or cinema screen after a long time, our minds would flashed back to the good old days. In Singapore we seldom have 40 to 50 years movie or tv repeats, especially those in black and white. Here in US you are able to watch them daily.






I saw Little House on the Prairie. The characters in the story were Pa, Ma, Mary, Laura and baby Carie. I remember John Landon who acted as the father and Melissa Gilbert as Mary. I quickly made a search on my son's tv which has more than a hundred channels. Fortunately, it did not take me long to find out the channels that showed old movies or tv series such as The Beverly's HILLIBILLIES, Gunsmoke, MASH and many others.




Those who had seen black and white tv in the old days would remember The Beverly's HILLBILLY'. The family consisted of uncle Jed and his mother, young man Jethro and the girl called Jane. It was a great comedy show then.

The above picture is from Gunsmoke. The man on the left is the Marshall from Dodge City

MASH was another popular comedy in bygone days. I am sure most of you had seen the series could remember the above characters.

Vacation In US

My son and my grandchildren




Swimming pool behind the house


I am here already a week. How time flies. My son and his family lived in Anaheim, California. His house has a swimming pool and we swim almost daily as the day temperature here is between 80 to 100 degree F. Wine and beer are very cheap and needless to say we drank like fish especially by the poolside in the evening.

Disneyland is nearby his house and nightly there is fireworks before closing time. I could watch it from the backyard or for better viewing, from a back window on the upper floor.



Sunrise at Belmont Pier, Long Beach

On Saturday morning I and my son went fishing at Belmont Pier, Long Beach. We started at 4.30 am and drove for about 30 minutes to the site. There were many types of fish in the sea. On that day, there was a lot of sardine fish. A Phillipino family had half a pail full. We were targeting for other types of fish and managed to get nine. When we arrived at the pier the sun had not risen yet and there were few people. Later more and more anglers appeaered and by 10.00 am the pier was crowded and also time for us to head for home.


My son holding his catch, a croaker



This is a buttermouth

This fish is sand bass

This fish is sand shark

Teaser 3

This is a nostalgic picture. I am sure all the old timers out there had seen the like of him before. Some might have seen him performing his skill. What was he doing?

Tubes TV Sets

I went through my old photographs and came across a number of nostalgic pictures. The year was 1957. I moved from Joo Chiat Road where I grew up to our new house at Kampong Eunos to live with my parents. Television then was a novelty. We were among the few households to own one in the kampong. The television set was made in Germany and the picture was in black and white. The picture quality depended on the antenna installed on the roof top. It flckered very often. Sometimes the fault was from the source and we had to wait patiently for it to resume broadcasting. Every night the neighbours' children came to our house to watch the tv shows. I liked comedy shows such as Ed The Talking Horse.

My present television set is still a cathode tube. It is more than ten years old and is still going strong. I shall change it to a LCD only when it stops working.

My brother standing beside the television

A Japanese television set in mid 1970
My grandmother's house at Joo Chiat had a Rediffusion box. In fact, almost every household in the suburban area had one. It was very popular with the young and old. It broadcasts news, music, story telling, entertainment and others. I liked to listen to Chinese songs and Oh Toh's story telling. The rediffusion box was hung on the wall, but I brought it down to a table so that I would not miss the story.

Listening to Ong Toh story telling