Problems with DVDs reported in “Route 66″ set July 16, 2009
Posted by Ron Warnick in Movies, Television.2 comments
It looks like another botched rollout for the DVDs of the original “Route 66″ television series.
TVShowsOnDVD.com reports that an exclusive early release of the Season 3 of “Route 66″ by Best Buy has playback problems. The site reports:
We’ve received numerous complaints that discs 5-8 will not play in a DVD, and thanks to Chris, one of our loyal readers, we know why: the DVDs don’t contain information to work properly. It looks as though the authoring house burned source files onto the DVDs, skipping a test in the mastering process. [...] There’s no way these will play on any DVD player, and all copies are affected. It’s painfully obvious that no one bothered to check the release before it went out to Best Buy.
If you bought one of these sets, it’s advised that you hold on to the receipt for a refund or until replacement DVDs are produced.
Infinity Entertainment, which distributes the “Route 66″ DVDs, has a less-than-stellar track record with these releases. Some fans groused about the Season 1 DVDs because some episodes were mastered from second- or third-generation copies. In one case, an episode had about six minutes edited out. Other subsequent DVDs from Season 1 drew complaints because producers put a letterbox look on the screen that didn’t exist in the show’s run from 1960 to 1964.
Roxbury Entertainment President Kirk Hallam, who owns the rights to the “Route 66″ series, also was supposed to begin filming a new “Route 66″ feature film in 2008. But, for whatever reason, the project was put on hold. The film, which once was on the IMDB.com site, has been delisted.
UPDATE: Here’s a statement Friday from Infinity’s publicist:
Infinity Entertainment Group (IEG) has issued a recall advisory to any consumer experiencing playback issues with the Route 66: Complete Season Three DVD collector’s set.
The recall – which does not affect any other Route 66 DVD collection in the marketplace – is due to a manufacturer’s defect that affects playability on some of the eight discs.
Consumers may return Route 66: Complete Season Three to the original point of purchase for a full refund. Currently, the only retail outlets offering the complete season three collection are Best Buy and Critic’s Choice (www.criticschoice.com). A corrected complete season three collection will be available through these retailers within a few weeks.
The catalog and UPC numbers of the affected merchandise are:
BEST BUY: Catalog #IEG2145 and UPC #617742214598.
CRITIC’S CHOICE: Catalog #IEG2149 and UPC #617742214994.
Commented Rick Buehler, VP, Sales & Acquisitions, IEG, “We apologize for any inconvenience this has caused to our customers and to consumers. The issue does not affect the majority of Route 66 DVD inventory in the marketplace, only a season three collection currently being offered exclusively at Best Buy and online through Critic’s Choice. We are correcting the issue as quickly as possible. Full refunds are available to anyone experiencing difficulties with this product.”
Marathon will still be on Mother Road July 16, 2009
Posted by Ron Warnick in Events, Sports.add a comment
In December 2008, the Joplin (Mo.) Visitors and Convention Bureau announced with much fanfare that it would organize a Mother Road Marathon footrace on Route 66 from Miami, Okla., through Kansas and to Joplin, to be run in October 2009.
Citing a weak economy and problems with certifying the race, organizers announced in February that it would be delayed a year.
A recent Joplin Globe report that organizers would not run the race on original Route 66 alignments in Kansas caused consternation with Cherokee County officials — and at least one Route 66 News reader.
That reader wrote in an e-mail:
Incredible to me is that “… half of the marathon would be through Cherokee County, but it would bypass sections of old Route 66 between Baxter Springs and Riverton and from Galena to the Missouri state line…” according to the organizers.
So, what’s the point of calling this event the “Mother Road Marathon” considering HALF the route is OFF Route 66? What a rip-off!
It took me a while to track down the information, but the argument that race organizers are abandoning the Mother Road in Kansas doesn’t hold water when you consider there is more than one alignment of Route 66 there.
Martha Getz, an assistant with the Joplin Visitors and Convention Bureau, said Wednesday that the Mother Road Marathon would start in east Miami, Okla., and go through Commerce, Okla.; Quapaw, Okla.; Baxter Springs, Kan.; Riverton, Kan.; and Galena, Kan.; before finishing on the west edge of Joplin — most likely at Joplin Athletic Complex in Schifferdecker Park.
Although an exact route won’t be final until late August, Getz said the route through Kansas would follow Kansas Highway 66 — a major road in that region.
It’s true the marathon won’t follow the older, more rural alignments of Route 66 in Kansas because of “logistical problems” in keeping the marathon course to 26.2 miles, Getz said.
But Kansas Highway 66 was designated as U.S. 66 from 1960 to 1985. Some parts of Kansas Highway 66 near the Missouri border carried U.S. 66 since the 1940s. So the marathon still will deserve its “Mother Road” moniker.
Perhaps it’s a bit disappointing the marathon won’t go over the Rainbow Bridge near Riverton, the Front Street Bridge near Galena and past 4 Women on the Route in Galena. But the fact the Joplin Bureau is planning Route 66-type festivals in those towns during the marathon weekend mitigates that considerably.
Mother Road couple to mark 70 years of marriage July 16, 2009
Posted by Ron Warnick in People.add a comment
Gene and Clara Hodkin of Barstow, Calif., will observe their 70th wedding anniversary on Saturday, reports the Contra Costa Times.
And their history goes up and down the Mother Road.
Gene, 93, and Clara, 87, were childhood sweethearts when they were married just before midnight by a justice of the peace in Carthage, Mo., where they grew up.
They were married on Route 66 – they lived there, had their first child there, and when they moved to Barstow in 1952, continued their connection to The Mother Road in their new home.
“We practically lived our whole life on Route 66, Gene recalls. “We traveled it a lot to visit relatives back in Missouri.”
The Route 66 link goes even further. Their daughter-in-law, Deborah Hodkin, is curator for the Barstow Route 66 Mother Road Museum.
Hail Hale July 15, 2009
Posted by Ron Warnick in People, Sports.add a comment
You usually don’t hear the word “toughness” in descriptions of professional golfers. But Hale Irwin is an exception.
Phil Richards of the Indianapolis Star talks about Irwin’s background:
Hale Irwin grew up playing Baxter Springs Country Club, which was anything but the exclusive playground its name implies. Irwin’s home course in Kansas was a nine-hole municipal course with sand greens. It was an incubator of dreams.
“My fantasy was to hit the shot to play in the U.S. Open or to win the U.S. Open,” Irwin said. “I was always thinking of the U.S. Open, U.S. Open, U.S. Open because that was something I could qualify for.” [...]
Irwin’s background bred determination.
He never thought about it while growing up in Baxter Springs, an old cow town along Route 66 in southeastern Kansas, but his roots are lower-middle class. His father, Hale, sold mining equipment in Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas and Oklahoma and played golf on weekends with his son. The latter had cut-down adult clubs with electrical-tape grips.
Irwin wasn’t just a golfer. He was an All-Big Eight safety in football at the University of Colorado. He also played basketball in high school.
Irwin has qualified in 32 consecutive U.S. Open golf tournaments, a record. He’s won 20 PGA tournaments, including three majors. He won the PGA’s Heritage Classic at age 48, making him one of the oldest winners on the regular tour. He’s won 45 titles and $23 million on the seniors tour.
He is now 64 years old, and will be playing in the U.S. Senior Open later this month. Although he’s long in the tooth even for the seniors circuit, his superb athleticism and toughness (that word again) ought to keep him in contention.
They’re Cozy Dogs, not corn dogs July 15, 2009
Posted by Ron Warnick in Food, History, Magazines, Restaurants, Television, Web sites.1 comment so far
Dave Bakke of the Springfield (Ill.) Journal-Register explains that in Springfield, you order “cozy dogs,” not corn dogs at the Cozy Dog Drive-In on Route 66 in south Springfield.
“We usually give them funny looks when they say (corn dog),” says the Cozy Dog’s Sue Waldmire.
The newspaper decided to do an update about the restaurant, namely because it seems to be getting a lot of international attention this summer. National Geographic was wanting photos of the Cozy Dog’s famed product last month. Craig “Meathead” Goldwyn of the Huffington Post prominently mentioned the Cozy Dog in a rundown of great hot-dog restaurants. And now the Food Network’s “Man v. Food” is set to film a segment there this weekend.
And the history of the Cozy Dog is interesting, if a bit fuzzy. Contrary to popular belief, the Cozy Dog does not claim to have invented the corn dog.
Most people credit Ed Waldmire, originator of the cozy dog, with selling the first hot dog on a stick, which, to be technical about it, may not be a “corn dog.”
“Ed had never told me he was the first,” says Sue. “He told me he thought there was a better way to do it.”
Sue and I agree that the Texas State Fair’s “corny dog” is usually credited as being the original, going on sale at the fair sometime between 1938 and 1942. But the Minnesota State Fair’s Pronto Pup also claims to be the first – it was invented, according to various Minnesotans, in 1941.
The guys at the Burgers for Brunch Web site put it this way: “Cozy Dog Drive-in, in Springfield, IL, claims to have been the first to serve corn dogs on sticks, in 1946. Also in 1946, Dave Barham opened the first location of Hot Dog on a Stick at Muscle Beach, California.” [...]
Ed’s own memory, from a 1988 State Journal-Register story, is that he first tasted a corn dog in Muskogee, Okla., in 1941. “It was made in a contraption like a waffle iron,” he said. “They poured the batter in a trough, put in three wienies and baked it for 15 minutes.”
Fifteen minutes for one corn dog would be an intolerable for many. So it’s probably more accurate to say that Waldmire perfected the modern corn dog.
Portrait of a Route 66 advocate July 15, 2009
Posted by Ron Warnick in Attractions, Books, Events, People, Route 66 Associations, Towns, Web sites.add a comment
The Kingman (Ariz.) Daily Miner has a good story about Route 66 aficionado Jim Hinckley and his efforts to kick-start more Route 66 tourism in Kingman — efforts which seem to be finally bearing fruit.
The Kingman Route 66 Association recently reformed, and Kingman’s historic downtown is being revitalized.
He’s been doing his part by converting his Penske truck rental office at 2620 E. Andy Devine Ave. into an unofficial visitors’ center, complete with brochures, books and a display case filled with automotive memorabilia, some dating back to the turn of the century.
“Basically, I just found a refuge for my eclectic collection of odds and ends,” he said. “I change it out about every six weeks.” [...]
By trading information on upcoming local events with places like the Route 66 Mother Road Museum in Barstow, Calif., and the Afton Station in Afton, Okla., Hinckley said he can increase the chances of someone actually stopping to take a look around town, rather than just driving through it.
“There’re a lot of people traveling Route 66 who just don’t know about these events when they get here,” he said.
“(I want them to) look at it in a different light, to slow down, don’t just gas and go.”
The association’s second Chillin’ on Beale Street event is Saturday at 5:30 p.m.
Hinckley runs at least two Web sites, Route 66 Chronicles and Route 66 Info Center. Hinckley also published “Route 66 Backroads,” and is working on a book about Route 66 ghost towns.
“Oklahoma Hills” July 15, 2009
Posted by Ron Warnick in Music.4 comments
Here’s the late, great Hank Thompson performing a song that warms the hearts of Okies everywhere.
Great American Road Tripe July 14, 2009
Posted by Ron Warnick in Attractions, Businesses, Road trips, Television, Theaters.2 comments
Following a premiere episode that showed potential, the second episode of NBC’s “The Great American Road Trip” nosedived sharply in quality on Monday and probably will be this summer’s television version of “Dead Man Walking” — if it doesn’t get canceled first.
The first installment of the reality series that takes place on Route 66 managed to maintain my interest because of the physical challenges that combined family teamwork amid competitive tension. But the producers of Monday night’s episode made the ill-advised decision to subject the families to performing at a talent show in Branson, Mo. The result was awful in every way — awful singing, awful rapping and awful skits. The whole segment was embarrassing and tedious. Longtime Branson entertainer Andy Williams, who was a judge, looked horrified or pained by the performances. I can relate.
The good news is that Monday’s show prominently featured three Route 66 landmarks — Ted Drewes Frozen Custard in St. Louis, Meramec Caverns in Stanton, Mo., and 66 Drive-In Theatre in Carthage, Mo. The bad news was the rest of the show seemed dreary and bereft of ideas — not a good sign when you have six weeks left.
In most TV series, you had better catch your stride by the second episode, or your audience likely will leave in droves. “The Great American Road Trip” failed miserably in this.
The series’ first episode on Tuesday, July 7, saw such bad ratings that NBC moved it to Monday night to keep it from being an albatross around the neck of “America’s Got Talent.” “Road Trip’s” ratings dropped further Monday night, to 3.3 million viewers for a distant fourth place among the major networks. It’s apparent the show is in imminent danger of getting the axe.
The producers should have gone another direction to juice up the series. Perhaps a few segments featuring the colorful characters of the Mother Road would have helped. Maybe the producers could have appealed to the families’ altruistic side and helped a down-on-his-luck Route 66 business owner, a la “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.”
I’ll probably continue to watch “Road Trip” until it slogs to Santa Monica Pier. But unless it rejiggers itself dramatically, there won’t be any joy in this journey down the Mother Road. That’s what I call a big missed opportunity.
Motorist drives off edge of Grand Canyo July 13, 2009
Posted by Ron Warnick in Uncategorized.add a comment
Needless to say, this did not end well.
A man drove a blue car off the edge of the South Rim of the Grand Canyon about 6 a.m. Monday and died, according to the Arizona Republic. This occurred behind Thunderbird Lodge near El Tovar Hotel.
Rescuers climbed 600 feet down into the canyon, where they found the wreckage of the car. The motorist’s body was found in that area shortly after. No other details were available as of Monday night.
The Grand Canyon isn’t on Route 66. But because it is a common side trip from the Route 66 towns of Williams and Flagstaff, the canyon is inextricably linked to the Mother Road.
Route 66 News usually doesn’t give much coverage to accidents, except for unusual ones such as this. I’ll post more updates as they become available.
UPDATE: One of the wire services, AFP, is all but pointing to suicide as the cause.
The incident appeared to be the latest in a series of suicides reminiscent of the 1991 film Thelma and Louise, which ends with the central characters played by Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon driving into the Grand Canyon.
Three people committed suicide by driving off the rim in 1993, the year the movie came out on home video, according to ‘Over The Edge: Death In Grand Canyon,’ a reference book about deaths in the national park.
Prior to the movie’s release, only three parties committed suicide by driving off the rim between 1967 and 1986.
The victim still hasn’t been identified to the media until authorities notify next of kin.
UPDATE 7/17/09: The Arizona Daily Sun in Flagstaff reports that the person who drove the car off the cliff was Gheorghe Chiriac of Apple Valley, Calif., a Romania native who immigrated to the U.S. about 30 years ago. The accident was ruled a suicide.
Infinity Entertainment Group (IEG) has issued a recall advisory to any consumer experiencing playback issues with the Route 66: Complete Season Three DVD collector’s set.
The recall – which does not affect any other Route 66 DVD collection in the marketplace – is due to a manufacturer’s defect that affects playability on some of the eight discs.
Consumers may return Route 66: Complete Season Three to the original point of purchase for a full refund. Currently, the only retail outlets offering the complete season three collection are Best Buy and Critic’s Choice (www.criticschoice.com). A corrected complete season three collection will be available through these retailers within a few weeks.
The catalog and UPC numbers of the affected merchandise are:
BEST BUY: Catalog #IEG2145 and UPC #617742214598.
CRITIC’S CHOICE: Catalog #IEG2149 and UPC #617742214994.
Commented Rick Buehler, VP, Sales & Acquisitions, IEG, “We apologize for any inconvenience this has caused to our customers and to consumers. The issue does not affect the majority of Route 66 DVD inventory in the marketplace, only a season three collection currently being offered exclusively at Best Buy and online through Critic’s Choice. We are correcting the issue as quickly as possible. Full refunds are available to anyone experiencing difficulties with this product.”
‘Man v. Food’ host takes on Springfield eateries July 13, 2009
Posted by Ron Warnick in Food, Restaurants, Television.1 comment so far
Adam Richman, host of the Food Network’s “Man v. Food” series, will film an episode at three Route 66 restaurants in Springfield, Ill., starting Friday, reports the Springfield Journal-Register.
Richman’s big task is to eat a record five bowls of Firebrand chili in one sitting from Joe Rogers’ Original Recipe Chili Parlor.
Richman and his crew first will record a segment about Springfield’s classic horseshoe sandwich Friday at D’Arcy’s Pint. On Saturday, they will cruise over to Cozy Dog Drive In, where Richman will bite into the eatery’s famed deep-fried battered dog on a stick. And on Monday, July 20, the production team will go to Joe Rogers’, where the do-or-die Firebrand challenge will start about 1:30 p.m., said owner Rose Hamilton.
Richman and his crew first will record a segment about Springfield’s classic horseshoe sandwich Friday at D’Arcy’s Pint. On Saturday, they will cruise over to Cozy Dog Drive In, where Richman will bite into the eatery’s famed deep-fried battered dog on a stick. And on Monday, July 20, the production team will go to Joe Rogers’, where the do-or-die Firebrand challenge will start about 1:30 p.m., said owner Rose Hamilton. [...]
Hallie Pierceall of D’Arcy’s Pint, 661 W. Stanford Ave., said she was told the crew would be there Friday from about 1:30 to 6:45 p.m. Josh Waldmire from Cozy Dog, 2935 S. Sixth St., said the team would arrive about 10 a.m. Saturday and stay all day. Hamilton from Joe Rogers’, 820 S. Ninth St., is expecting the cameras at 7 a.m. Monday and was told they would remain there about eight hours.
All three eateries will remain open during the “Man v. Food” visits.
I hope Richman has a good supply of Tums after gulping down that chili.
The story says the episode will air about eight weeks after taping.