MORE THAN JUST A PRETTY FACE

Most, O.K some, well maybe a few of us remember the 30's & 40's & early 50's movie star named Hedy Lamarr. But how many of us know that she was "more than just a pretty face."

During her marriage to Fritz Mandl, the munitions maker, Lamarr sat in on his business meetings and learned that one of the goals was to control weapons remotely by radio signals.

Lamarr's insight was to realize that continuously and randomly changing the radio frequencies would defy jamming. In early 1940, she and composer George Antheil devised a system for airplanes to direct torpedoes toward their targets.

Antheil and Lamarr patented their scheme, which they called "frequency hopping," and donated it to the government. Lamarr received no recognition, because the patent remained classified until 1985. Since then, the idea has been applied to cellphones, cordless phones and Wi-Fi Internet protocals that allow many people to share the same range of radio frequencies.

She led a reclusive life in her later years and died in 2000 with little assets. She and her partner never received a penny for their invention.

ACADEMY AWARDS THIS SUNDAY

Have we stockpiled the nacho's, dip, and drinks for this Sunday. No, this posting is not late for the Superbowl (which we don't celebrate unless Denver is playing)--
it's for this Sunday night and the Academy Awards.
I am such a movie fan especially of the 40's 50's. It starts to selectively thin out after I married and had less time but I still love movies and never miss the Awards. This is the 80th year of the Awards but the first one televised was 1953 and Bob Hope was the M.C. Drum roll please--- the winner for Best Picture that year was "The Greatest Show on Earth". Cecil B. DeMille had directed so many bibical movies, some since the early 20's but wouldn't you know it, he won his only directing Oscar for a Circus Movie.
In the mid 80's when downtown Salt Lake was well into it's dying mode, the last single large theatre, "The Centre Theatre" on 3rd South and State announced it's closing. They were having a closing ceremony and were showing "The Greatest Show on Earth". Wendell was out of town on a business trip and so I got all dressed up and went down to pay homage. The balcony was roped off and everyone was suppose to sit on the main level. I got my apple juice (in an embossed champagne glass) and took a quick look around and slipped under the rope and up the stairs. I sat center, front row in the empty balcony and reminisced about how bad I wanted to be Betty Hutton when I was 10 years old. I still have the commorative glass's from that night. Just a note to our kids-- don't throw them away, if you don't want them, put'em on eBay.