Joseph Scott’s Blog

Some six or seven years ago I caught a few episodes of the old I’ve Got a Secret shows from 1950s and 60s. One episode in-particular has stuck with me, it had Samuel J. Seymour on as a guest. His was a rather unique secret, he was at Ford’s Theatre when Abraham Lincoln was assassinated.

Even though this episode was well before I was born (by some 17 years), it was amazing that someone was still around in 1956 who was there when Lincoln was shot. Then the incredible luck that he was recorded on I’ve Got a Secret. Beyond that the recording was preserved at least long enough for me to watch it more than four decades later on the Game Show Network. I haven’t been able to find this online any where unfortunately.

All of this makes me wonder if we are doing enough to preserve the experiences of our elders. For that matter I need to be better about writing in my journal, or video taping messages so that my kids/grand kids/etc. My blog doesn’t really count for this, in another few decades no one will care what day Yahoo bought Flickr, that the maximum row size of SQL Server 2000 is 8060 bytes or how to use CSS opacity in Internet Explorer.

Earlier this week I saw a commercial on Discovery Channel for the CIA. They were trying to recruit people. Over the years I’ve come to accept recruitment commercials for various branches of the military. It was a little strange to see the CIA so openly advertising for new blood.

There are certain aspects of working for an organization like that CIA that would be fun. But the potential downsides seem massive. Would you be willing to go to work for the CIA?

I’ve been watching the old original The Twilight Zone on the SciFi Channel lately. Even after all these years most of the episodes are still great to watch. Rod Serling did an awesome job as a narrator/host for the show. Attempts to do modern versions have been tried a few times, but I don’t think that any of them have been able reach the level of efficient story telling as the original.

Although having the episodes in black and white are an immediate clue to their age, I can’t image ever wanting to see them colorized. There is something pleasant about seeing these stories in their original black and white.