HossC

Today we lost half of a British musical institution - Chas Hodges of Chas & Dave. They're probably not well known in the US, but they had a very distinctive style that mixed humorous sing-a-long pub songs with great boogie-woogie piano. This first song is about a partner who talks too much (rabbit and pork is rhyming slang for talk): The title of the second track, Gertcha, is harder to explain, but the lyrics at the start give it a try: I'll finish with a song about a family outing to a southern British seaside resort. Note that Cockneys pronounce Margate to rhyme with target:

"There's a JILLION fellers making shine in these here parts..." - (Hark Luck JONES)

Glad to hear you're "fixed" and on the mend, Roger. BTW. It doesn't just come with age - I know someone who was about 1/3 of your age when she hurt her ankle in a sporting injury. Two years after the operation, it's still giving trouble.

GROVER'S GULCH (mentioned in season 3 - 'The Hack of Hazzard', I think)

Is this the one, Roger? It was only uploaded about four weeks ago.

I had to search through literally minutes of footage (pun intended) to find an answer. The image below is from just over five minutes into 'One Armed Bandits' (aka. the very first episode), and in that, Rosco wears boots.

DRAG 'n' Fly

A BABY for the Dukes

According to imfdb.com (the Internet Movie Firearms Database), Rosco uses a Smith & Wesson Model 10 in the pilot episode before switching to an ivory-gripped Smith & Wesson Model 15 the rest of the series.

Since Burt's death, I've read and heard a few discussions in the media about how he turned down several roles that other actors made iconic, and also how he failed to live up to the acting promise shown in 'Deliverance' ('Boogie Nights' notwithstanding). I've also seen here and elsewhere, people digging out DVDs like 'Smokey and the Bandit' to watch in remembrance. I can't think of many actors whose death would make me immediately re-watch one of their movies, so maybe his choices weren't that bad after all. Burt held a special, joyous place in our collective memories that will never be attained by more critically acclaimed actors.

I only watched 'Cannonball Run II' about a week before Burt died, so he was obviously on my mind when I attended our version of the Cannonball Run today. Other than a DVD of the first movie, I don't have anything linked to the Cannonball series, so I wore my 'Smokey and the Bandit' T-shirt as a little tribute. RIP Burt - "I'll catch you on the flip side".

I think them Duke Boys may have finally robbed Boss' bank. Just take a look at the Lamborghini I saw at this year's Cannonball. There were nearly 200 cars this year, including multiple Ferraris, Porsches, Lamborghinis, McLarens and Mustangs. Many of those taking part were in fancy dress, and this time they included Chewbacca, Donald Trump and the Pope (complete with Popemobile). Despite all the expensive European automotive art on display, it was the '69 Mustang, '70 Charger and '70 Challenger that caught my eye. Even though it was red, the Challenger had "Drive Like Kowalski!" on the license plate .

"You two just VAMOOSE out of here..." - (from "Dukes Strike it Rich")

A few years ago, one of the UK sports channels got the rights to show all the F1 races live, but we still had half of the races live on a free-to-air channel with highlights of the others. From next year, there will be no live races on free-to-air TV, but it looks like the current provider will still get to show the highlights of each race. The deal was done by the previous F1 boss, Bernie Ecclestone, but new owners, Liberty Media, don't seem to be able to change it. In the meantime, TV audiences continue to fall. It's almost like there's some sort of connection!

The RUNAWAY

MARY Beth MALONE I thought I'd go for the character played by Stella Parton in 'Deputy Dukes' because Stella's appearing shortly on this year's series of the BBC cookery contest 'Celebrity Masterchef'. I doubt if many of the other contestants will be familiar to people outside the UK (I don't even know all of them). US singer Jimmy Osmond made it to the final two years ago, so fingers crossed!

Looking at pictures of Rosco (I did a Google image search for rosco p coltrane hat), it appears that the hat design varied throughout the show's run. They all share certain characteristics: black, felt, upward curving sides, but some are noticeably more pointed at the front than others. Additionally, different designs for the band can be seen. Is it possible to pick your favorite design, print it out and take to a hat store? Alternatively, several online stores show different hat styles, so maybe you can find the right shape there.

The KID from Madrid (one of the animated episodes)

Great review, Roger. If only we could teach you to take and post pictures... Aside from the short videos on the Northeast Ohio Dukes' Facebook page, I've only found one pretty poor quality video of the event so far. There is, however, a promise on the Facebook page to upload a 360 degree video to YouTube when its rendered. I'll keep checking back for that. Meanwhile, here's a photo with Enos in the center (full size image here). Are you in there somewhere, Roger?

Try these, Roger. The first is actually from 2010, while the second from 2011 deals with buying pieces of the building: Save the Duke Farm Dukes Farm House being Dismantled

I think I've found your missing "Z", Roger. I saw this sign yesterday and it made me smile. It's good to see that a US TV show from nearly 40 ago is still having an adverse effect on a foreign nation's literacy . BTW. I may have mentioned this before, but Warner Bros don't even spell the show's name correctly on the side of the sound stages in Burbank. Check out the entry under "TELEVISION".

drums

We've already had 'Respect', so I'm marking the passing of "The Queen of Soul" Aretha Franklin with a clip from 'The Blues Brothers'. Aretha Franklin - Think

Lucy

It's from the scene immediately after the opening credits in 'Money to Burn' in season 1, although they only go around the tree once in the episode.