Harley and Annabelle Russell, aka the Mediocre Music Makers, of Erick, Okla., are featured on MSNBC’s “Keith Olbermann’s Countdown” show. The link to the video is on the upper right, along with the New York Shakespeare item.

(Note: Internet Explorer 7 is required; guess it doesn’t support Firefox.)

Karen Funk Blocher, a published author, had done years of research during the 1980s about the “Route 66″ television show. She was going to write a book about the ’60s show and its involvement with the true Mother Road, but the project was eventually abandoned.

One of the reasons the book was never finished was because Blocher said she was in a “moral quandary” about it over explaining co-star George Maharis‘ departure from the show. Blocher is coming clean about this on her Outpost Mavarin blog.

In essence, Maharis told her he had contracted hepatitis, and that the shoots were so grueling that to continue would risk his health. He wanted the producers to give him a less arduous schedule, but refused. So he left the show.

Producer Herbert B. Leonard provided a different story. According to Blocher, Leonard found out that Maharis was gay, and was having a hard time keeping his co-star’s sexual activities away from the press. Maharis also used the illness, Leonard said, as an excuse to break his contract so that he could get into movies. Co-star Martin Milner and a “Route 66″ writer-producer also agreed with Leonard’s version.

Blocher suspects the truth is somewhere in the middle, and I concur. I admit this is the first time I’ve heard the homosexual angle regarding Maharis’ departure. I’ve seen Milner at least a couple times at Route 66 events, and he’s never mentioned this. But a Google search of “George Maharis” and “gay” will leave little doubt what his sexual orientation is, including documentation of sex-related arrests in 1967 and 1974.

I find it a little ironic that a socially progressive show like “Route 66,” which dealt with  race and labor issues, didn’t take the high road with one of its co-stars. Then again, this was before the Stonewall uprising that sparked the gay-rights movement

Blocher promises to write more about this subject, as she closes her post with “To be continued.”  So stay tuned.

Gary A. Warner of the Orange County Register has traveled to all 50 states. He listed his favorite memory in each state. Two of them are on Route 66.

Here are the two:

Arizona: Meteor Crater, Winslow. When worlds collide. Luckily this one was a lot smaller than ours. The lack of water in the desert has slowed erosion, leaving the cosmic hole near Winslow one of the few clear examples of the battering Earth has taken from space over the eons. 800-289-5898 or www.meteorcrater.com

New Mexico: El Rancho Hotel, Gallup. Most people come to the Southwest for the wide-open space. I’m drawn to the towns that sprung up in the remotest corner of the country. Gallup is the quintessential Western town. This is no gentrified Sedona or Santa Fe. Gallup’s center is a strip of bars and Indian curio shops pressed against the side of a railroad track, with the old Route 66 passing through. The El Rancho, a onetime favorite of Hollywood travelers, is now on the National Register of Historic Places. 800-543-6351 or www.elranchohotel.com.

Robby Love, aka the Roller Rapper, rolled into Springfield, Ill., on Sunday during his Route 66 tour, according to the Springfield Journal-Register.

Love is skating from Chicago to L.A. to help plug his “Roller Rapper” album, shoot a documentary, and raise money for St. Jude Children’s Cancer Center and local charities as he makes his way down the road.

He’s doing the tour on Route 66 to help mark the 80th anniversary of the road; he’s been in contact with Route 66ers for information about the Mother Road for months. To his credit, Love has created a separate page for Route 66.

Someone named funkman is keeping a diary during the tour. I’m not 100 percent positive, but I’m pretty sure it’s Love himself. It sounds like the tour encountered some logistical problems and some crew members who bailed out. But give him credit; Love’s staying upbeat and keeping the tour going.

Here’s his tour schedule. There are some gaps in the itinerary, but I’ve included the dates where Love’s actually making an appearance:

• July 14 — 7 p.m., at Lowe’s Skating Center, Pittsburg, Kan., (620) 231-5688
• July 15 — 7 p.m., Sand Springs Skate Center, Sand Springs, Okla. (91 902-6386. There also will be a tour stop at Children’s Hospital of St. Francis in Tulsa.
• July 18 — 7 p.m., Southwestern Skate Center, Oklahoma City, (405) 632-5484. There also will be a tour stop at Children’s Hospital at OU Medical Center.
• July 19 — No skate event in Amarillo, but a tour stop at Children’s Hospital at Northwest Texas Healthcare System.
• July 20 — 7 p.m. at Rollerking, Albuquerque, (505) 363-3860. Also a tour stop at Children’s Center at Presbyterian Hospital.
• July 24 — Flagstaff, Ariz., tour stop to be announced.
• July 29 — 7 p.m., Moonlight Rollerway, Los Angeles (81 241-3630.