By Bruce Apar
Mayor, PennySaver Community

You know Mom & Pop Culture. We all do. They are us. They surround us. They appear on reality TV shows. They eat, drink and sleep gossip. They complain that people complain too much. Let’s listen in as they get ready to call it a day in the life…

MOM CULTURE: I miss Dick Clark already, Pop.
POP CULTURE: Talk about an American original.
MC: How do you mean?
PC: You know how sometimes we’ll say about a person, “He reminds me of ….”
MC: Yes.
PC: Well, what they say about genius is that the person reminds you of no one else. Pure invention of self in a way nobody else had thought of previously. That’s Dick Clark.
MC: Remember how we loved watching American Bandstand after school?
PC: Sure. He singlehandedly not only brought pop music into America’s living rooms long before anyone put the letters M, T & V together, but he also gave it an All-American face: his.
MC: So true. It’s easy to forget that newfangled music wasn’t a big hit with a lot of people in its salad days.
PC: Oh nooooooo. The usual intolerant types thought it was subversive. You know, they’re always looking for something wrong with things they can’t understand.
MC: Or don’t want to understand…
PC: But Mr. Clark did so much more than Bandstand. Within the confines of what the intolerant types used to call the “idiot box,” he was a creative genius. He could do it all behind the scenes and on the screen.
MC: And he made it all look so easy with his effortless, friendly manner.
PC: Aha. The easier it looks up front the harder the person is working out of sight.
MC: Remember we used to watch Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadiens every New Year’s Eve.
PC: Yes, and then Dick Clark came along and became the guy everyone now associates with the biggest party night of the year. Who woulda thunk he would produce New Year’s Eve in August.
MC: Huh?
PC: Part of the Dick Clark genius. That’s how he got all the big-name celebrities to show up on New Year’s Eve. He taped the indoor performances in Los Angeles in August so the performers could enjoy a private New Year’s Eve on their own.
MC: Wow. That is wild, Pop.
PC: You might say Dick’s genius for details and logistics meant he knew how to produce popular television like Clarkwork.
MC: Amen. All I know is heaven now has an ageless master of ceremonies.
PC: Yes. You know they’re hoppin’.

Read Bruce the Blog at www.PennySaver Community.com. Follow on Twitter @BrucetheBlog.“Bruce the Blog Goes Bazzo!” airs on upper Westchester County (N.Y.) Cablevision Channels 74 and 15 Thursdays at 10 p.m. and is on YouTube. Email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it "> This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it for more info.