People can be sheep-- big time-- or lemmings as the case may be. For on this day in 1938-- not Halloween as many have always thought came the Orson Wells Mercury Players presentation of H.G. Wells "The War Of The Worlds" in which Martians supposedly were attacking New Jersey. Now that all by itself seems hysterical. What self-respecting Martian would pick on New Jersey to attack first. Now Mr. Wells announced that it was simply a presentation of the Mercury Theatre group- but evidently nobody heard that part of the broadcast. All people knew was that a dance music program had been interrupted by a "news bulletin" about explosions on Mars --which actually was the launching of space ships that would be gassing New Jersey. People were driven from their homes, absolute panic was very real and even an entire Baptist church congregation turned a regular service into a mass prayer for mercy of God to stop the dreaded Martians. Too funny! We all have heard that the pen is mightier than the sword but when a television broadcast causes widespread panic from California to New Jersey it just goes to show just how sheepish people are. There were even suicides! The broadcast was NEVER repeated and Orson Wells always said it was the one deep regret of his life! I read also that Coca Cola has developed a new soft drink that actually helps you to lose weight (after eating a Big Mac or similar product) It actually works by counteracting with the fat that you consume while eating things like high calorie hamburgers, pizza, sirloin steaks or a Starbucks Frappuccino that you consume.Sixty to one-hundred calories in one swoop! Crazy? Who knows? And the French have announced the first car to be run on air! Well, wouldn't that be incredible? Gas prices are coming down dramatically but for how long? Still it is a pleasure to fill up at $2.33 a gallon instead of $3.49 just a month ago. Halloween is tomorrow and it is also the 7th anniversary of John and mine's commitment ceremony. Well we are still together and still love each other very much. He is my strength in difficult times and these past couple of weeks have been a challenge. I'm losing more weight and I'm very happy about that. My friend Tony Westbrook is doing the same and he looks just fabulous by the pictures on his blog page! Congratulations, Tony. You look thirty-nine again! Well another day of work and the Christmas retail season will be soon upon us. My Studio City Ritz store can get so damn busy at times. Thursday of last week, out of the blue we did $7300.00! Poor old Hooper Camera never achieved that feat! And speraking of poor old Hooper Camera-- the building yesterday was demolished. The very store that I worked at for over two years fgound the way of the wrecking ball! There will be huge new condos and retail area in this psace within two years! This is just part of a huge redevelopment going on in North Hollywood and this area of Lankershim Blvd is the latest! So Hooper is gone and so is the Chinese restaraunt that I used to eat like a king in for lunch for $5.00 or less. Oh well, more memories! North Hollywood is changing forever! Well that's it for today!