Friday, March 16, 2007
WHAT YOU THINK OF WHEN YOU HIT A CERTAIN AGE
Recently, I thought of someone who I probably have not had one single synapse close in 50 years.
A bolt out of the blue.
This is one of the effects of being a geezer.
Flashbacks.
Not dissimilar to those associated with the use of dope.
I have had a note to write about him for days.
He was a pioneer on television.
I hate to admit that when we first had our teevee set I watched everything including Howdy Doody and Pinky Lee was on just before HD.
I think that I was at least 12, maybe 13, at the time.
Hey. I was a latch key kid and I was on my own. I did what I wanted to.
It does occur to me that the early teevee watching led to my overdosing on it and quitting it some 40 years later.
Pinky Lee was like Paul Reuben's Pee Wee Herman.
Both were fey to the camp extreme. Both sort of lisped. Both wore funny clothes and pranced. Both set kids as their target audience (although Lee had been a burlesque star).
I remember the same arguments raging over his sexuality as we heard about Herman or, at the same time, Liberace.
They were ambiguous.
They both had more than their share of the outer child in their repertoire. Prepubescent actually.
Pinky wore a plaid suit and matching hat in his early years. He traded that in for a much more flamboyant suit and hat along with the fruitiest bow tie you could imagine.
Take a look at Pinky at this web site and if you want a taste of his schtick take a look at the musical instruments clip. It is pretty small which is probably a good thing.
I laughed and got all into it when I saw the clip.
I know. There is no explaining things like this.
Wait until you are 70. You will understand.
