Welcome to Geoff’s Blog Master Index! Any and all blogs and individual articles contained therein may be accessed here. To read any of them, just click on the title. Enjoy!

Books

Blog 28: Released June 6, 2019

HEADLINES TO HASHTAGS

“Headlines to Hashtags”…  Catching up and keeping up, especially with our ever-evolving sources of information, opinion and influence, are a challenge for this ex-media guy. Who would have thought that folks would manage their lives with the same little gadget that Donald Trump uses to tweet America’s destiny?

“Trump’s Appearances On The View”Would you believe that the hottest show in daytime TV is a liberal-leaning ladies’ panel that has guested and challenged The Donald eighteen times? Click here to sample a taste of ABC’s “The View.”

Blog 27: Released January 2, 2019

BOOZE

“Booze”  In Geoff Nate’s time beer, and certainly liquor, have been the signature vice associated with not only politicians but also with some of history’s prominent military heroes, gangsters and showbiz celebrities. This one’s on me.

 

Blog 26: Released July 23, 2018

TO-HELL-YOU-RIDE

“To-Hell-You-Ride” 

“Peter Paul and Mary in Telluride” The summer Peter, Paul and Mary concerts were always a big draw. In this snippet Brother Butsy takes a break from his tractor and joins Linda, Elayne and Geoff Nate during another beautiful August evening in the park under the stars. Don’t miss it.

Blog 25: Released September 23, 2017

THE CYBER DATING GAME

“The Cyber Dating Game”- The old-fashioned dating game is a thing of the past. Today’s cyber-chat could lead to tomorrow night’s adventure. Curious?

Blog 24: Released April 26, 2017

SENIOR MOMENTS

“Senior Moments”

“Success in the Fight Against Alzheimers”

“Where’s Poppa Trailer”

Blog 23:  Released January 26, 2017

SMARTWATCH… FAD OR FUNCTION?

“Gpa’s Next Big Decision”

Blog 22:  Released July 27, 2016

BYGONE RADIO DAYS

Chapter 1:  Radio’s Serials, Soaps, Dramas, Mysteries and Orson Welles’ “War of the Worlds”

Chapter 2:  “War of the Worlds” foreshadows a very real World at War a few years later.

“War of the Worlds” (Abridged):  Geoff Nate’s abridged version of the Orson Welles radio classic.

“Back of the Mike”:  Imagining our heroes in action was easy, but even better with sound effects.

Blog 21:  Released March 15, 2016

RENT-A-WRECK

Chapter 1:  “Wreck-O-Nomics”…  We take a crack at selling the American family on the idea of renting a used car. A challenge? Sure, but then again folks asked us the same questions when we sold Pimple Pills (Blog 7), Whistle Switches (Blog 14), and Pay TV (Blog 15). So climb aboard and enjoy the ride.

Chapter 2:  “Wall Street Calls”…  How about that? Rent-A-Wreck goes public.

Blog 20: Released October 15, 2015

HARRY

Chapter 1:  “The Early Years”…  Meet Harry Nagin and share his remarkable rags to retirement story.

Chapter 2:  “The Wives Pull the Plug”…  Harry joins the Masons, travels with Belle and tries to keep busy.

Chapter 3:  “Retirement’s for Old People”…  Life Begins at 80. Harry scores as an enforcer and garners rave notices in his stage debut. Harry and Belle swing and swim through their 50th. 

Chapter 4:  “Harry’s Waterloo”…  At age 91, this noblest of nobles flunks his most important challenge.  

“Harry’s Robert Redford Story, As Only He Can Tell It”…  “Have you heard the one about “The Ugliest Man in the World?”  

“Harry and Belle’s First Swim”

“Those Were the Days” 

Blog 19: Released July 8, 2015

GEOFF NATE’S TALES OF THE SOUTH PACIFIC

Chapter 1:  “Melanesia 1984″…  It was just the two of us, face-to-face, the beast and this blogger, with no place to hide. There’s a backstory here and fortunately this diver survived to tell the tale.

Chapter 2:  “Indonesia 1987″…  The survivors return to the South Pacific once again in search of new tropical challenges.

Chapter 3:  “Miracle in the Caribbean”…  Geoff Nate’s non-diving spouse’s bold surprise.

“Tiny Underwater Creatures”…   A short video featuring some of the coral reefs’ tiny but beautiful creatures and the role they play in maintaining the health of the reef and their fellow inhabitants.

Blog 18: Released March 13, 2015

BOB KARP

“Bob Karp”…   One can go online and Google “Dr. Robert Karp, Heart Surgeon” for an impressive professional profile. However, take a few minutes here and share some of Geoff Nate’s very unprofessional adventures with Bob Karp, “Fly Fishing Buddy.”

Kamchatka Video… Few people have visited Kamchatka, a remote Siberian peninsula across the Bering Sea from Alaska. Bob Karp, my brother Gary, my son Dan and this blogger traveled there on a fly fishing adventure. Be our guest and enjoy a taste of this magic wilderness in our ‘Begged and Borrowed’ segment.

Dr. Robert Karp’s Very Impressive Bio and Obit… University of Chicago Press Release- May 26, 2006

Blog 17: Released December 30, 2014

GRANDPA’S FIRST TRIP

“Grandpa’s First Trip”…  Call it what you may, Pot, Weed, Grass, Ganja, Bud or Herb… or in Geoff Nate’s day, Reefer, Tea, Gage or Mary Jane, marijuana has been around for a long time. Louis Armstrong called it “Muggles” in his song by the same name. Geoff Nate stayed clear of the wicked weed for sixty-eight years… that is, until he bought that damn cookie. Blog 17, “Grandpa’s First Trip,” was a “high” to remember.

“Grass: History of Marijuana”…   The best documentary on the early history of marijuana was produced by a Canadian company in 1999 and narrated by Woody Harrelson. We’ve cherry-picked some of the “highlights” (pardon the expression) for our Begged and Borrowed segment.

Cab Calloway’s “Reefer Man”… Many marijuana songs have been written and recorded and filmed over the years by such greats as Bob Marley, Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, Ray Charles and even the Beatles, but Cab Calloway’s short video is our favorite. Be our guests.

Blog 16: Released August 29, 2014

THE STATE FAIR

“The State Fair” …   Minnesota’s State Fair is the nation’s largest and occupies 350 acres in West St. Paul. In just 10 days it draws over 2,000,000 visitors, many of whom were potential customers for this fledgling ice cream salesman.  

“The Stewardess”…   Miami Beach sounded great to this Minnesota college boy back in the cold cold winter of 1950. He and his buddy just couldn’t pass up the chance when offered an opportunity to drive some Minneapolis millionaire’s Cadillac south for the season. Adventures follow, as does romance, in the high skies.

“A Cable Merger Too Far” …   The proposed merger between cable TV powers Comcast and Time Warner would be a big big mistake. The New York Times editorial page back on May 27, 2014 is a short and sweet explanation of why.

Blog 15: Released July 3, 2014

THE BLACK BOX

The Black Box (How Hollywood’s Movies Wired America)” …  Nobody wanted anything we were selling back in the early 1970s. Cable television was in its infancy, but “Pay TV” was forbidden fruit. We just couldn’t resist the challenge.

Animation Adventure…  A little side story, featuring a famous mouse’s evolution into a pot-smoking hippie.

“The Wall” … Gerald Scarfe, the cartoonist who created our pot-smoking mouse, was to later win accolades for his amazing animation in Pink Floyd’s hit movie, “The Wall”.

Blog 14: Released May 16, 2014

THE “GOODNIGHT JOHNNY”

The “Goodnight Johnny” Geoff Nate’s Blog 14 deals with Elayne’s “gadget”, Johnny Carson, late night television and the little robot that “could”. 

Best of the Johnny Carson Show There has never been a more popular late night TV host than Johnny Carson. Let us share with you a few of his most memorable sketches… Enjoy.

Blog 13: Released April 4, 2014

CAR STORIES

Chapter 1:  “The Mellow Yellow Plymouth Convertible” …  Geoff Nate’s first car, a sturdy little love boat he drove all over the U.S. and Mexico with adventures to share. If only the little rag top could talk. Come drive with us…

Chapter 2:  “The $250 Jaguar” …  “Yes, really,” said Elayne and her girlfriend Soni together, “He really did say he would sell us his big white Jaguar for $250. We promised you would call tomorrow.”

Chapter 3:  “The Mercedes Convertible Saga” …  But, Elayne and Soni never gave up. From a $250 Jaguar to a Mercedes convertible. What were those ladies smoking?

“I’ve Been Everywhere”   If you have ever motored around western America in search of a static-free radio station, you could always find Johnny Cash and a bunch of his buddies.

Route 66 Video… Now Buckeroos… Join us as we ride out of this Blog on Route 66.

Blog 12: Released February 15, 2014

TRI-POLAR EXPRESS

Tri-Polar Express” … Global warming’s vicious sub-zero bite back is no stranger to this blogger, who spent his early years actually enjoying those famous Minnesota winters. The temperatures may have been sub-zero and the snow a foot deep, but no one ever called off a football game because of the weather.

“The Chinese General” …  The year was 1944. The United States was at war. Follow our 14-year-old ninth grade cadet as he prepares to defend his country at a Catholic military school on the banks of the Mississippi.

“Colonel Bogey” …  Flash mob does the Colonel Bogey.

Blog 11: Released January 23,2014

IKE’S BOYS

Geoff Nate’s grandfather Ike Nathanson came from a family of seven sons and only one daughter. Ike and my grandmother Rose raised seven handsome boys and no daughters. This blog is all about their very colorful family of “Stout-Hearted” ladies’ men.

“801 Elwood”  

“Ike’s Boys”  

Benjamin Nathanson: Midwestern Patriarch” … Hats off to cousin Iric Nathanson for chronicling our family’s early history as they shipped out of Lithuania and somehow wound up in Minnesota.

Carol Bruce Sings to the Troops… Uncle Milt, the family’s great lover, did the Nathansons proud when, after a whirlwind courtship, he married Carol Bruce, a beautiful movie actress, nightclub singer, and Broadway star.

Blog 10: Released December 18, 2013

TOBACCO TALES

Chapter 1: “Cigar Stories”… The early life of a non-smoking boy from a family of smokers that sell what they smoke. 

Chapter 2: “Tobacco History”… Chewed, sniffed or smoked, the habit dates back to the time of Columbus.

Chapter 3: “Adventures of a Tobacco Salesman”… Young Geoff Nate tries his hand at selling the product to those who make a living selling the habit. 

Chapter 4:  “Smoking: Perils and Politics”…  Tobacco kills. All it took was 600 years to figure that out. 

Blog 9: Released November 22, 2013

RADIO DAYS

The Magazine” … Back in the 50s they called it “Elevator Music” or “No Fi.” Why not? There were no commercials and it was free, so who really listened? That is until Burt Harris and Geoff Nate gave FM radio an identity.

KLFM” … The acronym for Kept Losing Family Money. Our first adventure in broadcasting from the top of an old abandoned oil derrick on Signal Hill in Long Beach, CA.

Seldom Seen Historical Photos” ... Some wonderful old seldom seen photos, courtesy of our friend Alan Stamm. Be Alan’s guests.

Blog 8: Released September 6, 2013

IN SEARCH OF A NICE JEWISH GIRL

Elayne Spelled Elayne” …  In a city loaded with “Angels,” how could a young man surrounded by beautiful Hollywood starlits-to-be ever fall into the proverbial “Tender Trap?” 

The Bris” …  Tradition?… Not to the Catholic sisters. “What’s done is done.” But Baby Boy Nathanson’s grandfather had other ideas with the help of an uninvited Sunday morning mohel.

Democracy in Egypt Can Wait” … A sane perspective on the Egyptian “coup” from Charles A. Kupchan for the New York Times Saturday, August 17, 2013.

Memory Test...  A short drill for Geoff Nate’s aging readers who think (or know) they are losing it.

Blog 7: Released August 5, 2013

The Pimple Pills” …  Save the the youth of America from the teenagers’ curse and make millions. What could be easier? All it took was two pills a day to drive their pimples away. 

Eighty-sixed in the Restaurant Biz” …   Success stories are hard to come by, but young Geoff Nate was never one to shy away from a chance to make the “Big Score.” Why not the restaurant biz?

New Yorker Cartoon   A senior’s no-no.

Blog 6: Released July 17, 2013

MISADVENTURES IN PARADISE

The Turkey Farm” …   One man’s “Turkey” is another man’s bonanza. Welcome to the “I Shoulda’ Club”.

A Tough Year in the Hood” …   “The customer is always right”. Really? Two brothers’ 50s baptism of pain in South-Central Los Angeles.

“Warren’s Way” …  Wall Street moguls don’t always make their mark on Wall Street. My hero lives in Omaha, Nebraska, enjoys a hamburger and fries for lunch and has a passion for chocolate sundaes.  

Burning Man…   One of the “Beat Generation’s” unique contributions to American counter-culture is the annual ‘Burning Man’ festival. Join us as we visit this extraordinary event in the Nevada desert.

Blog 5 Released: June 7, 2013

WELCOME TO SHOWBIZ

Chapter 1… “Hollywood Calls” …  Geoff Nate’s big chance… Movies, TV, beautiful women… What more could a Minnesota boy ask for?  

Chapter 2… “So This is Hollywood” …  Our very own network show by the same name bombs, but we learn how to con the TV viewer.

Chapter 3… “Arthur Godfrey” …  Big Time television: Arthur Godfrey and the realities of sex and sin, and the education of a new kid in the Biz. 

Chapter 4… “The Marx Brothers” …  A wild day with a couple of Hollywood’s famous characters.  

Chapter 5… “The Secretary” …  A sad saga of innocence deflowered. 

Chapter 6… “Out in the Cold” … From big-time network television to the ranks of the unemployed.   

“Hollywood Seducer Revisited” …   Big-time showbiz ladies’ man unmasked, thanks to the LA Times.

You Never Even Called Me By My Name”   Geoff Nate loves country. Thanks to Youtube he can share this short David Allan Coe classic.  

Blog 4: Released May 10, 2013

WAR STORIES

Chapter 1:  Forget Korea. This story’s war hero plays golf with the Brass for big money, and somehow manages to bust a couple of GIs out of a Mexican jail.   

Chapter 2:  A Buck Sergeant bucks the system and unwittingly challenges Washington’s pursuit of communist infiltrators and sympathizers, threatening our American way of life.

Chapter 3:  The Korean War nears an end. Civilian life beckons, only to be thwarted by a dreaded social disease diagnosis.

Joseph McCarthy and the Hollywood Ten…  Highlights of the famous Joe McCarthy-driven anti-communist purge  broadcast live on TV and featured in the newsreels. Not to be missed.

Where Have All the Flowers Gone?” …  War stinks!… “When Will We Ever Learn?” Nobody does a more beautiful job of singing that message than Pete Seeger. This poignant YouTube selection tells it like it was and unfortunately still is.

Blog 3: Released April 12, 2013

WHIZBANG

    Chapter 1:    My ‘Breezy Point’ welcome… The story behind Captain Billy’s ‘WhizBang’… Two-hundred male-hungry sorority girls take over this Catskills-type resort.  

    Chapter 2:    I discover a trove of ‘WhizBangs’… My first run-in with the Chicago hoods… And a coming-of-age misadventure with a beautiful Mambo dancer.  

    Chapter 3:    Breezy hires a Borscht Belt comedian… Doc and I manufacture an epidemic… I become pals with a baseball  Hall of Famer and thwart a near-death experience.   

    Chapter 4:    Miss Minnesota comes into my life… We run into trouble with one of the Chicago guys… The Hells Angels take over Bar Harbor and descend on Breezy Point in the wee hours.   

Good and Bad Exercises for Lower Back Pain A few simple back care exercises from Web MD.

Faster Horses” … A little ditty about the secret of life from an old cowboy.

Blog 2: Released March 22, 2013

Chapter 1: “The Fire”…  The Bel Air Fire of 1961. Our young family’s home burns down along with hundreds of others. We lose everything.

Chapter 2: “Malibu… From Out of the Ashes”…  We rebound and discover a new life on the beach in Malibu with the rich and famous.

Marijuana: The Other Side of the Story” …   The case against legalization of marijuana by the nation’s foremost authority on teenage addiction… What if it was your kid?

Video: Gorilla Reunion   An African YouTube love affair between man and beast… Beyond belief.

Blog 1: Released March 5, 2013

Girard Avenue” ...  A six-year-old boy faces his first real test of survival.

Paper Boy” …  Two character building ‘life and growth’ experiences of a very young entrepreneur.

Coffee Story   There’s coffee and then there’s real coffee. Fascinating woman… fascinating story.

Back Care Tips” …  ‘Flare-ups’ are the product of ‘Screw-ups’. Avoid the pain by avoiding the strain.

Cartoon of the Blog   Aging… Yech!

3 Responses

  1. GEOFFREY DEAR….I’M RELIVING MY OWN HISTORY THROUGH THE 60’S……AND ON…THANK YOU FOR ALL OF THE MEMORIES. YOUR STORIES ARE WONDERFUL….MUCH LOVE TO YOUR WHOLE FAMILY…WE SHARED SO MANY TIMES TOGETHER WITH YOU AND ELAYNE…WISHING ALL OF YOU A VERY HAPPY AND HEALTHY NEW YEAR……
    A BIG BIG HUG, JACKIE AND DAVID

  2. Dear Geoff: Haven’t been able to keep up with your blog, but I am home now. Thank you so much for coming to visit me and send flowers when I was
    in the hospital. I don’t remember much of the first two weeks, but Nancy told me you came. Bless you. I was in rehab. for about 2 weeks and now home, but going to outpatient physical therapy. Other than the four prong cane I am using and the cast on my right arm, you would never know I went
    sky-diving off our roof!!!

    Much Love,

    Cousin Emily

  3. Wow, your blog “Chasing the Dragon” is quite sobering. The dopamine sounds like the best choice! Great article, and very informative.

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