Category: General Nonsense || By

(Above: Jean Shepherd photo taken in 1966 at WOR radio, New York, courtesy flicklives.com)

I see the neon Christmas decorations are back in the press room windows of the Daily News Building on Lysle Boulevard. Huzzah! If we have nothing else for which to thank Richard Mellon Scaife after his purchase of the great, gray lady of Walnut Street, we can thank him for that.

You'll remember that last Christmas, for the first time in memory, the decorations weren't put up, possibly as an austerity move.

The same week that the Tribune-Review Publishing Co. took control of the News, I noticed that the American flag was once again flying from the roof of the building (along with a Commonwealth of Pennsylvania flag!), and that the sign was lit again at night.

Thank you, Daily News, and thank you, Tribune-Review. We noticed. The efforts to pretty up the corner of Walnut and Lysle are much appreciated, because Downtown needs all the cheer it can get.

Some other Downtown property owners could take a lesson from their stewardship (and I'm looking at you, Don Farr Moving ... the old G.C. Murphy Home Office on Lysle Boulevard across from the bus terminal is a disgraceful mess).

. . .

P.S.: The clock on the "Daily News" sign used to be tied to a set of electrically-controlled bells on the roof that struck the hours with the "Westminster chimes." I think the workings are still on the third floor, or possibly in the equipment room on the roof.

I don't suppose we could get that fixed, too? OK, I'm pushing my luck.

. . .

Shepherd's Pie: Since the "holidays" have now been firmly crammed down our throats, I decided to take a look at Jean Shepherd, the man behind the movie "A Christmas Story."

He's the topic of today's installment of the "Monday Morning Nostalgia Fix" over at Pittsburgh Radio & TV Online.

. . .

Correction, Not Perfection: Alert Reader Deane points out I goofed up the date of the McKeesport Model Railroad Club's holiday train show. It starts this Friday, not last Friday.

As a dues-paying member, what a stupid mistake for me to make! Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa.

I also thought that the Downtown "Salute to Santa" parade was this past Saturday, but I was off by a week. (It was Nov. 16.) That's why I didn't post anything in advance. Dumb, dumb, dumb.

Please don't get me anything for Christmas, but if you wanted to get me something, a calendar would be helpful. It's easier to wrap than a pimp slap, which is what I really need sometimes.