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Kentucky settlers brought with them the craft of making whiskey, substituting corn for other grain ingredients. Raw whiskey distilled from corn mash has a good deal of, shall we say, character, and some distillers decided to take the time to make a mellower product. Early Kentucky distillers used new oak casks which had been charred on the inside, aging the whiskey from two to six years before decanting into jugs for sale. This resulted in a superior product which eventually became the hard liquor of choice for Americans. We know it as "Bourbon."

Getting a visit from Jamie Farr is not such a big deal for Greg Morris. At 76, the retired car salesman has been friends with Jamie - Jameel as he calls him - for 70 years. The two went to school together at Lagrange Elementary and later at Woodward High School. They grew up in the same north-end neighborhood and shared the kind of experiences you don't forget even when one of you move to Los Angeles and find fame and fortune. "You can't explain why people are friends and why those friendships last, but there certainly is magic in...

LOS ANGELES – Larry Gelbart, the comedy writer famed for his work on "M-A-S-H" and "Tootsie," has died. Gelbart died at his Beverly Hills home Friday morning after a long battle with cancer, .. He was 81. Gelbart won a Tony award for "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" and an Emmy for "M-A-S-H," the classic TV comedy based on the Robert Altman film about Army doctors during the Korean War. He was nominated for two Oscars, for .. "Tootsie" and "Oh, God!"

"M*A*S*H"'s Major Charles Winchester has stepped out of the tent. Actor David Ogden Stiers tells Gossipboy.com, "I am [gay]. Very proud to be so." Later in the interview, he said, "I wish to spend my life's twilight being just who I am."

In the twilight of his career, "M*A*S*H" actor David Ogden Stiers has finally come out, saying he's no longer afraid to be gay.

Recently, I received an e-mail from a young associate pastor in Maryland. He introduced himself as an avid fan of "MASH." He said that one of his favorite episodes had been one I wrote, "Quo Vadis, Captain Chandler?" and that he was considering using the show as an inspiration for an upcoming sermon. He wanted to know how I had come up with the idea. He also wanted to know how my own faith and understanding of God or Christ had informed my writing.

Because California, and Hollywood in particular, have been the punch line for so many jokes over the years, I suspect that people who don’t live out here assume we can’t possibly be that wacky. They don’t know the half of it. In order for you to better understand what conservatives in this neck of the woods have to deal with, I’ll relate a few typical incidents. The first took place about 10 years ago. My wife and I were invited to a dinner party by the widow of a screenwriter who’d been my longtime tennis partner. We were one of...

What was I doing the night of Feb. 28, 1983? Maybe spinning the new Prince record 1999. Sewing in bigger shoulder pads. Or drooling over those ultramodern VCR recorders. I might even have been watching a TV promo for a new show called The A-Team during NBC’s Monday Night Movie. Whatever kept me occupied, I wasn’t doing what folks in more than three-quarters of American homes with TV were doing that night. Watching the finale of CBS’ hit sitcom M*A*S*H. Twenty-five years later, the series’ 2 ½-hour wrap up episode “Goodbye, Farewell and Amen” remains the No. 1-ranked network telecast...

MIESAU, Germany (Army News Service, Oct. 18, 2006) – Ending its almost eight-year run as the last of its kind, the 212th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital became the 212th Combat Support Hospital Oct. 16 on Miesau Army Depot in Kaiserslautern, Germany. “You can be assured that if you are wounded on the battlefield and you make it to the 212th CSH, you will live. That’s how great Army medicine is, and that’s how well equipped and confident the Soldiers of the 212th CSH are,” said Col. Angel Lugo, the last 212th MASH and first 212th CSH commander, during the conversion...

MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. (June 28, 2006) -- When many people think of a field hospital, often scenes from the popular sitcom “M.A.S.H.” come to mind. For the sailors of Bravo Surgical Co., 2nd Medical Battalion, 2nd Marine Logistics Group, a field hospital is serious business. “We are setting up an mock (Surgical/Shock Trauma Platoon) you would see set up as a quick reaction force,” said Petty Officer 1st Class Michael D. Whaley, the lead petty officer for Bravo Surgical Co. “This SSTP can provide everything from surgical to basic care and ancillary services such as X-ray and...

SATHER AIR BASE, Iraq, Feb. 9, 2006 — The thought of a field hospital conjures up images of medics rolling battle-wounded troops on gurneys into a dimly lit operating room. "We are the only surgical-based clinic at Victory Base Complex. We’ll do emergency surgery here, but then move (the patient) to a higher-level facility (in or out of theater)." U.S. Air Force Col. Christian Benjamin The 447th Expeditionary Medical Squadron at Sather Air Base, at Baghdad International Airport, also faced the desert dust and worked in cramped quarters. They moved inside recently to a new 15,000-square foot modular medical clinic,...

RAWALPINDI, Pakistan – The U.S. military is shutting down its last MASH, the mobile hospital made famous by the long-running TV show about martini-sipping, wisecracking Army doctors. This month, the Army will donate the last Mobile Army Surgical Hospital to Pakistan where it has been caring for survivors of last year's massive earthquake, Rear Admiral Michael LeFever said Saturday at an air base outside the capital Islamabad. “This is the last MASH unit in the United States Army,” said LeFever. “We are excited that this MASH will live on in Pakistan.” The 84-bed, $4.5-million MASH unit includes a surgical suite...

12/27/2005 - BALAD AIR BASE, Iraq (AFPN) -- In a sea of tents and trailers on Balad Air Base in northern Iraq, shrapnel is being surgically removed from a limb, medics are racing to stop someone from bleeding to death and another life is being saved from wounds inflicted on the battlefield. It is that sea of tents which houses the Air Force theater hospital, where servicemembers and civilians get the most advanced medical care possible in a combat zone. Run by the 332nd Expeditionary Medical Group, the hospital offers trauma and specialized medical care for people throughout Iraq and...

The ACLU of Northern California in San Francisco held a news conference at their offices in downtown San Francisco Monday, shortly after the governor's decision was announced. Also present were members of Amnesty International and actor Mike Farrell, who is on the board of Death Penalty Focus. "We are terribly disappointed with the governor," said Dorothy Ehrlich, executive director of ACLU of Northern California. Magdaleno Rose-Avila of Amnesty International said his organization was shocked by the governor's decision and further "disgusted by his tone ..." Farrell, perhaps best know for his TV roles in "MASH" and "Providence," lashed out at...

Knight Ridder Newspapers FORWARD OPERATING BASE SPEICHER, Iraq — It's the beginning of the work week in northern Iraq, and Greg Beilman is pretty sure that someone is getting hurt. "It's Sunday. They're blowing themselves up," Beilman predicts. He knows that because it's his job to patch up the people caught in this country's violent insurgency. In civilian life, the 46-year-old Army Reserve colonel is a trauma surgeon and critical-care doctor in Minneapolis. But for the past three months, Beilman has been a surgeon at the 228th Combat Support Hospital stationed near Tikrit. The CSH — called a "cash" —...

CENTURY CITY, CA, United States (UPI) -- Longtime CBS and NBC executive Perry Lafferty, credited with bringing 'MASH' and 'All in the Family' to the small screen has died at age 87. Lafferty died Aug. 25 of prostate cancer at his Century City, Calif., home, the Los Angeles Times reported Friday. Former co-worker Fred Silverman said Lafferty brought 'quite a lineup' to the air during his 11 years as head of West Coast programming for CBS. The network was constantly No. 1 in the ratings with programs such as 'The Mary Tyler Moore Show,' 'The Waltons' and 'Maude.' Lafferty...

DES MOINES, Iowa -- Jury selection in the Pierre Pierce trial ended shortly after it began Monday morning. Pierce, a former Hawkeye basketball star, is charged with several crimes in connection with an incident last winter at a former girlfriend's home in West Des Moines. If convicted, he faces up to 56 years in prison. Jury selection did get under way Monday, but after today it will be delayed until next Monday because of a hearing that will be held Thursday to hear a motion to dismiss. The motion comes because of a new report not given to the defense...

Robert Altman, who directed "MASH," never liked the critically praised hit TV series that was based on his Oscar-winning 1970 film. On the commentary track of the film's DVD, he continually refers to "that TV show" - "denigration through italics," as the TV show's creator, Larry Gelbart, put it. "He's always been very vocal in criticizing the series," Gelbart said of the esteemed film director. "So much so that a number of years ago, I was at a party, and he was at the same party. Much against my better judgment, I allowed somebody to introduce me to him. I...

While browsing fundrace.org, the site that tells you what your neighbors (friends, celebrities, enemies) contribute to political campaigns, I saw this. (I'm assuming there is only one Jamie Farr, self employed, actor.)Fundrace listing

ANNOUNCER: Welcome to HARDBALL. Tonight we have Democratic Presidential Candidate Dr. Frank Burns and the leader of M*A*S*H Doctor Veterans for Truth - Dr. Benjamin Pierce. CHRIS MATTHEWS: I'm Chris Matthews let's play Hardball. MATTHEWS: This half-hour on HARDBALL, Korean Veteran Dr. Ben Pierce, Frank Burn's longtime nemesis, on his contested new book, "Frank Burns Eats Worms." Dr. Pierce is here to debate Dr. Frank Burns, the Democratic nominee for President. Dr. Burns and Dr. Pierce served together in the same unit in Korea but while Dr. Burns returned home to a successful practice and political career - Dr. Pierce...