The 21st Anniversary of A Shroud of Thoughts

A Shroud of Thoughts was a human being, it would be old enough to drink. It was 21 years ago on this date, June 4 2004, that I launched this blog. A Shroud of Thoughts shares its anniversary with Mrs. Miniver, which premiered in New York City on June 4 1942, and Jackie Gleason's first TV show, Cavalcade of Stars, which debuted on the Dumont Television Network on June 4 1949. Of course, a lot has changed since A Shroud of Thoughts first began. Smart phones were still in their early days and were relatively rare. Social media was also in its infancy as well, Friendster a little over a year before A Shroud of Thoughts and MySpace only ten months before. As to streaming, it just plain didn't exist as we know it. .It wouldn't be until 2006 that Amazon would introduce Amazon Unbox (which would evolve into today's Prime Video).  

My own life has changed a good deal since I launched A Shroud of Thoughts. At the time I began this blog I had one job, which I quit after taking another job. I had that job many years before our office closed down and I was laid off. My best friend Brian died in 2011. I met my dearest Vanessa Marquez through  TCMParty, the collective live tweet of movies airing on Turner Classic Movies. Sadly, she died tragically in 2018. Of course, since I launched this blog I have published a few books and even been on Turner Classic Movies.

Compared to last year's 20th anniversary of A Shroud of Thoughts, I am way ahead this year. Last year on June 4 I had a fever and what I am convinced was a second bout of Covid-19. My old computer would start gong out later that month, forcing me to use our old laptop. The old laptop finally bit the dust in February of this year. I got a new laptop as soon as I could. In November of last year I published another book, A Merry Little Christmas: Essays on.Christmas in Film & Television. 

For the past 21 years A Shroud of Thoughts as been a large part of my life, and I have to think that its posts will be around long after I am gone (or at least until Google deletes it). In many ways it has become my life's work.  I want to thank anyone and everyone who has ever read this blog over the years. as well as my fellow bloggers who have supported me in this endeavour.

Each year on A Shroud of Thoughts' anniversary I list what I think are the best posts of the past year. Without further ado, here they are. 

"Stop Showing Police Bodycam Videos on the Evening News" July 25 2024

"American Family: A Pioneering Mexican American Drama" August 27, 2024

"Preserving the Legacy of Vanessa Marquez" August 30 2024 

"Filmation's DC Comics Superhero Cartoons of the Sixties" September 6 2024

"The 50th Anniversary of The Rockford Files" September 12 2024

The Fiftieth Anniversary of Kolchak: The Night Stalker" September 13 2024 

"The 60th Anniversary of The Munsters" September 24 2024

"The 80th Anniversary of Laura" (1944) October 11 2024 

"'Catspaw,' The Star Trek Halloween Episode" October 28 2024 

"Pushover (1954)" November 22 2024

"A Nightmare on Elm Street Turns 40" December 7 2024 

'The Thin Man Turns 90" December 18 2024 

"The 70th Anniversary of The Bob Cummings Show" January 8 2025 

"Movin' On Up: the 50th Anniversary of The Jeffersons" January 18 2025 

"Jack Lemmon's Centennial" February 8 2025

"The 40th Anniversary of Moonlighting" March 3 2025 

"The Rocketeer (1991)" May 2 2025