A Question of Statistics; or, What is it with Silver Convention???

Okay, I realize that many times the only reason someone comes to this blog is because you happen to be searching an image that I have used in the past. But I've noticed this odd statistical anomaly that I wish someone would explain to me.

This is the picture of the ladies of Silver Convention back in Time Machine week 30 on November 19th. This post has been looked at 169 times, third all time right now. Now, out of 118 visits from Germany, 71 of those coming as a result of Google Germany (Google.de) searches, 30 of them have been as a result of searches with the keywords "Silver Convention", looking for THIS PICTURE!

I would like to know, if anyone could scroll past the picture to tell me, what is the fascination in Germany with Silver Convention? Or, to put it another way (with the help of Babylon),Was ist die Faszination in Deutschland mit Silber Übereinkommen?

Just curious, y'know. I just wonder if I'll get an answer before this post is pushed into the top ten by google.de searches.

Is it just the drugs, or...

Look at these two statements about the Egyptian protests from a FoxNews article.

#1: "After five days of protests, Cairo was engulfed in chaos. There was rampant looting and lawlessness was spreading fast. Residents of affluent neighborhoods were boarding up their houses against gangs of thugs roaming the streets with knives and sticks and gunfire was heard in some neighborhoods."

#2:"We don't want him! We will go after him!" demonstrators shouted. They decried looting and sabotage, saying: "Those who love Egypt should not sabotage Egypt!"

Point being, and I'm sorry if I'm stepping on the sacred cow of all you liberal former hippies who thought it was so much fun to burn your draft cards and throw rocks at National Guardsmen, that if you feel you have to go out and burn stuff belonging to someone you don't even know and break windows of people who never harmed you to make a point, YOU'VE ALREADY LOST THE BATTLE.

I'll give the Egyptians this: there are plenty of stories about how the People themselves held off looters from the National museum until the army could get there. Good for them! BUUUUUUT.... If those people had never started the property damage, the arson, and the ignoring of civil law, those looters would never have been encouraged to come out. Protesters get whipped into a frenzy, go from being civil disobediants to idiots, and then all the whack jobs come out and take advantage of this. Then the government, who if they weren't disinclined to listen before, has to stretch itself even further to clean up the messes before they can BEGIN to address the grievance. This becomes redoubled when the protesters open the door for the whackjobs and crooks. Look no further than the Rodney King mess- how were mainstream Americans going to give any credence to any legitimate grievances when each honest protester was followed by 5 punks boosting TVs out of some burning Best Buy?

I would suggest that if opposition leader Mohamed El-Baradei wants to be listened to- rather than stewing under house arrest- he ought to think about this, and get his people settled down. It's easy for that poster-child for patriotism, John Kerry, to say from the safety of Switzerland, "Mubarak has to do more. Dismissing the government doesn't speak to some of those challenges. I think he's got to speak more to the real issues that people feel." John, would you give the three year old a candy bar BECAUSE he's throwing the tantrum? Oh, never mind, YOU probably would. Or to put it another way, he might just speak to them if y'all just SHUT UP FOR A MINUTE!!!

Martin Racist, Says WVA Congressman

Last night, the last news story I saw involved this lackwit congressman from WVA, Jim Moran. Let's see what he has to say about America's voting preferences:

Rep. Moran: Dems Lost Because Many 'Don't Want to Be Governed by an African-American'
Published January 28, 2011
FoxNews.com
Virginia Democratic Rep. Jim Moran is blaming his party's losses last November in large part on voters who "don't want to be governed by an African-American."
The comments were made following President Obama's State of the Union speech Tuesday during an interview with Arab network Alhurra. Asked about the results of the midterm elections, the Virginia congressman compared the political environment to that which preceded the Civil War and suggested race was a determining factor.
"It happened ... for the same reason the Civil War happened in the United States," Moran said. "Southern states, particularly the slaveholding states, didn't want to see a president who was opposed to slavery.
"In this case a lot of people in this country, it's my belief, don't want to be governed by an African-American, particularly one who is inclusive, who is liberal, who wants to spend money on everyone and who wants to reach out to include everyone in our society. And that's a basic philosophical clash," Moran said.
Moran attributed his party's opposition to an "uneasiness" with President Obama, saying the criticism comes from a "selfish and close-minded perspective."
Reached for comment, Moran's office stood by the remarks.
"With nearly 1,000 identified hate groups in the U.S. and recent studies showing a majority of Americans believe racism is still widespread against African-Americans, it is no secret that our country has and continues to struggle with racial equality," spokeswoman Anne Hughes said in an e-mail. "The congressman was expressing his frustration with this problem and the role it played in the last election. Rather than ignore this issue or pretend it isn't there, the congressman believes we are better off discussing it in order to overcome it."

There, see? If you voted against Obama, it was because you were a racist! Now, I don't know about you, but I don't particularly like it when some hick I don't even know calls me a racist. I also don't like that congressmen are only reachable by e-mail when they serve YOUR district. So, I wrote Marlin Stutzman to ask him a favor instead:

Dear rep. Stutzman:I wonder if you can do me a big favor. Because of the rules regarding e-mailing only reps in one's own area, I want you to give a message to Mr. Moran of WVA. Please let him know that racism did not affect my votes this fall or any other year. I wonder how many who voted FOR the current president can say that. If you'd like to paraphrase, please tell that ignorant hillbilly that I as an American who rarely votes democrat am insulted to the highest degree, and I assure him that I'd never vote for him either. Try to explain to him that only an asshole uses race as an excuse for his own (or his group's) inefficiencies. Thank you, sir, for your help- and editing. CW Martin

I mean, let's think about this. According to exit polling, black voters who came out in unprecedented numbers in 2008 to help put President Barack Obama in the White House, decided to stay home in 2010. An estimated five percent of blacks voted in the 2010 midterm elections, compared to 13 percent in 2008. Oprah Winfrey, for the FIRST TIME, openly supported a presidential candidate in Obama. Michelle Obama said her husband's election "was the first time" she'd ever been proud of America. The black Panthers posted outside Philly polling places to intimidate whitey. DO YOU SEE A TREND HERE??? The very same ethnic group that brought you a non-conviction of OJ Simpson despite the glaring, overwhelming evidence (read Without A Doubt by Marcia Clark). And now this gentleman comes along and says his party lost because I AM RACIST!!! How about its because I DON'T LIKE YOUR POLICIES!!! You could paint Obama white and yourself purple for all I care. And is that because I'm a racist? No, it's because...

YOU'RE AN EEDIOT!!

(He did get one thing right though. One of the reasons that I voted against Dems last fall is that they want to give money to everyone.)

Y'know, I think history is going to judge Obama unfairly. Not because of what he did, but who he was connected to. Bill Ayers. Jeremiah Wright. Rahm Emmanuel. Rod Blagojevich. Nancy Pelosi. Harry Reid. And now, Jim Moran. Some his own fault, some he got stuck with. It's just a shame that he had to come along in an era where, though you no longer have to be white to get white support, you still have to be black to get black support.

"Or at least know who's ass to smooch... hee hee..."

_____________________________________________________________

OK, now that the rant's done, I'd like to thank Bob G. for giving me the first case of the Sam Elliots to be transmitted across blogs! Nice job, buddy!

Step into my time machine week forty

Hi, everybody, this is Scrappy Beagle. Daddy's just a touch under the weather today so he asked me to do his Time Machine today. So I'm going to give you all the latest on these songs that came out 30 years before I was born, and the Doggie top ten, too!





Daddy says the debuts come first. I don't know exactly what a debut is, but Daddy's mom always said defeat goes over defense before detail. So I guess debuts are what detail is attached to. Anyway, he said count up the number of new songs on the hot 100: woof, woof, woof; 10 of them. But he says only 2 of them are important. The Sylvers come in at 97 with Boogie Fever (I think that's what Daddy's got), and BTO comes in at 81 with Take It Like A Man (which I don't think he is). Then he said do the big jumper and the big dropper. The Big dropper is Glen Campbell's Country Boy (You Got Your Feet In L.A.), from 28 to 51, 23 notches. The big jumper is in the top forty.





He says don't worry about the specials, just go on to the top 40. Okay, Daddy. 5 songs enter the top 40 this week. Going from 41 to 40 is a song that gets him all misty-eyed, Breakaway by Art Garfunkel. Climbing 15 spots to 39 is a song after my own heart- Larry Groce's Junk Food Junkie. An even bigger jump by Dream Weaver by Gary Wright; it goes up 17, all the way to 38. The Four Seasons go from 42 to 36 with December 1963 (Oh What A Night). Why does this song get 2 titles? Finally, the big jumper goes from 51 to 29, a 22-spot climb for Elton John and Grow Some Funk Of Your Own.





Daddy says I should mention that 2 songs got the almost-but-not-quite this week. Dropping from a high of 17 to 24 is Kiss with Rock'N'Roll All Night live. and dropping from 18 to 20 is another song that gets Daddy going, Hamilton with... hm? oh, Hamilton Joe Frank with.... what? Oh, and Reynolds, too, I guess, and Winners And Losers.





2 new songs in the top ten, so 2 fall out- I Love Music, from 7 to 13; and Fox On The Run (hey, I like that one, too!) from 5 to 18.





And Now, before Daddy catches me, here's my Doggie top ten:





10. The Singing Dogs- Jingle Bells: This one's a gimme.



9. A Country Boy Can Survive-Hank Williams, Jr.- What better description of paradise is there than "I live back in the woods, you see/ My wife and kids and the DOGS and me..."


8. Bird Dog-Everly Brothers: I just don't understand why they sung about a bird dog and not a beagle, y'know?


7. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road- Elton John: "Mongrels who ain't got a penny, sniffin' for tickets like you all the TIII-III-IIIIYYYOOOOOWLL!!! 'Ahem' " Excuse me there, sorry.


6.Shannon-Henry Gross: A tear jerker about a runaway dog... (sob, sniff).


5.Get Down-Gilbert O'Sullivan: I don't mind if you're a bad dog, baby.


4.Any of the Snoopy And The Red Baron songs- The Royal Guardsmen: Now there's a real American hero!

3.Puppy Love-Donnie Osmond: Another gimme.


2. Hound Dog-Elvis Presley: I'll bet you though this would be the #1, didn't you?
And now, my "Top Dog"...

1. The Bitch Is Back- Elton John: Not the way I'd choose to roll, but any leg in a storm.






Okay, I better get to Daddy's top ten now. Neil Sedaka comes into the top ten with Breaking Up Is Hard To Do, up from 11. #9 is Earth Wind And Fire with Sing A Song. #8 yet again is David Ruffin's Walk Away From Love. Number seven, up from 12, is Donna Summer with Love To Love You Baby. Fly away is still hovering at 6, third week for John Denver. The Ohio Players' Love Rollercoaster drops 2 to #5 this week. Hot Chocolate (Yum!) stays at #4 with You Sexy Thing. Paul Simon jumps all the way to 3, up six, with 50 Ways To Leave Your Lover. Barry Manilow refuses to go down, hanging on to #2 with I Write The Songs. And #1 for its third week, CW McCall with Convoy.





(The truth of the matter is that I did this, not Scrappy. He didn't even come down for his breakfast until the end of the "doggie top ten". He ain't any better off than I am this Morning.)

Kid stuff

My wonderful friend over at Waiting For God accidentally gave me the idea of telling stories about my kids. For those not up to speed, that is KC, son, 21 and on his own, and Shenan,daughter, 17, with her mom. Rather than relive all their embarrassments in one post, I thought I might tell a couple or three stories for each.


SHENAN









Name is short for Shenandoah, btw. Mom used to love that song. She is a sweetheart and once you're a friend, you've got a good, devoted friend. However, she and the educational system exist on different vibratory planes of reality. Here are some of her stories.













1. The Funeral. My dad's brother Len passed when she was still pretty little. I was a bit worried what her reaction would be at the showing, so I picked her up to go to the casket. Soon, I had a sense of how the nintendo generation sees death.











She: "Is he dead?"
Me: "Yes, Punkin."
She, pausing for a second: "Did he get shot?"
Me, hiding a smile: "No, Punkin."



2.The walk, part one: When they were little and I was usually broke, our main mode of entertainment was walking. One day on a New Haven sidewalk, it was the three of us plus Laurie and Scrappy's predecessor, Fred. I was trailing the pack, Shenan just ahead of me and looking down, headed right for a mailbox. "Look out, Punk," I

said; she lifts her head just in time to get a good look at the mailbox before she ate it. Her brother has never let her live that one down.

3. The baby store. One weekend when I had the two of them Shenan, who was maybe 5 at the time, was really pissing me off. I had told KC earlier that I was considering a trip to Target to kill some time when I decided to put the trip to good use. "If you're going to act like a baby," I announced, then we'll take you to the baby store and get you some big baby diapers to wear!" With that I loaded them into the car, KC riding shotgun. All the way she was in between crying her eyes out and pull-out-a-gun-and-shoot-you mad. KC and I kept checking the rearview to look at her, and it was hard not to laugh, though we contained it to snickers. Finally KC broke and laughed, and smoke poured out of Shenan's little ears. "You wouldn't think it was so funny if YOU had to wear diapers!" she snarled and we both lost it. At that point I had mercy and let her off with lesson learned.

KC

KC had the unfortunate position of getting named by his mom, after her late grandpa's nickname. I was not aware that she intended it to be KC, "No initials, just the letters "K" and "C" "until she told it to the nurse filling out the birth certificate. He takes a lot after my mom's side of the family, right down to the red hair. Here's some dirt on him.

1. Mashed Potatoes. When he was little, we listened to a lot of alternative- Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Alice In Chains, stuff like that. He had a good ear for music even then ( a dear ol' dad trait), and one day asked me to play "the

Mashed Potatoes" song. "The Mashed Potatoes song?" I asked. And he says "Yeah, 'Mashed potatoes, MASHED POTATOES!' " sung to the chorus of "Smells Like Teen Spirit." Reminds me of some of the messed up lyrics I had at that age.

2. Old Black Joe. We used to live in the Dupont Estates trailer park (nice place, retarded management) after the divorce. They had a groundskeeper that mowed the common ares, an older black gentleman with what looked to be a straw hat, whom like an idiot I referred to as "Old black Joe". Their mom got Shenan involved in twirling (batons) in school, which got us involved in going to parades (not something I would've done otherwise). I don't remember which occasion it was one summer day when we were stuck amusing ourselves along Parnell waiting for Shenan to go by. (We'd already walked like a mile looking for a pop machine, but that's another story.) Along comes an 1800's style horse drawn hearse, I think sponsored by D.O. McComb ("where high-touch means high-tech"), driven by a gentleman with a more than passing resemblance to the groundskeeper. Naturally KC waits until he's within earshot and announces, "Look! It's Old Black Joe!"

I'd been a dad for a while, then. I knew just how to cover my face and pretend it didn't happen. And I couldn't be too mad at him, considering my first public experience meeting a black person (which we WON'T go into right now). However, I learned my important lesson that day.

3. The April Fool's prank.

Fridays used to fall out this way: I'd pick up the kids in the morning, spend the day at Laurie's and get back to the trailer after midnight. So one April Fool's day, I decided to have a little fun. When you come in the front door, the hallway to the bedrooms was across the living room on the left. There was a low watt light halfway down. Right at the edge of the hall, I set a kitchen chair, put the standup vacuum on the seat. Wrapped an old coat around its "shoulders" and put a ball cap on its "head". Made sure all the lights were off except the hall light. Flash forward to approximately midnight. We get back to the trailer and I hand KC the keys, saying, "Go unlock the door, I have to talk to Shenan." KC was little enough that this was a big deal to him, and he was beaming with pride as I unbuckled Shenan and warned her what was coming. KC flings the door open and stops dead just as we ascend the porch.

KC: "Dad! There's someone in there!"

Me: "Well, what does he want?"

KC: "UUUUUUUUUUHIIII DON'T KNOW!!"

Me: "Well, go ask him!"

KC: " I'M NOT GOING IN THERE!!!"

I know someday he will pay me back for that.

Why aren't you at work?

One picture about says it all. Yesterday I hit a patch of ice on the way out to warm up the car. Flat on my back and head. I think my trusty Cincinnati Reds hat saved me from a knot, But I was not very mobile or able to concentrate for more than about five minutes at a stretch. This morning the mid-back is sore, along with my neck (go figure), and along with not being real good at the "touching my toes" maneuver. Our warehouse manager asked me how I was when I tried to go in this morning and he sent me on home.

I thought the President gave a pretty good speech last night- much better than either of the responses (which seemed a lot like" I'm going to contradict the President whether I agree with him or not"). Could this be a symptom?

Tribute to the fallen at Domodedovo

Да благословит Бог России

Мы скорбим о Вас

New Visa ad

SRO seats at this year's Super Bowl: $267

Club seats on the 50 yard line: $11,950

Catered corner suite: $239,950

Rex and mark watching the game from Biggie's Clam Bar: PRICELESS!!!!

This is why they don't believe in God???

My facebook page sees fit for the last two days to choose as "top news" that some comedian-cum-philosopher won a "cultural humanism" lifetime achievement award. Good for him. I have no problems with groups I'm not aligned with choosing any character they want to honor, though I am mystified that FB thinks it's so important TO ME. But in looking into the deal (which I almost always end up regretting) I found this little ditty on why Christianity should be rejected.

Arguments Against Christianity
There are at least eight insurmountable problems within the extant evidence that each independently refute the Christian doctrine of a divine Jesus:

Jesus' endorsement of the murderous immorality of Yahweh in the Torah;

Jesus' doctrine of "eternal punishment" in the "eternal fire" of Hell;

Jesus' failure to claim actual divinity;

Jesus' failed prophecy of his imminent return;

Jesus' failure to competently reveal his doctrines (concerning e.g. salvation, hell, divorce, circumcision, and diet) in his own written account or that of an eyewitness;

Jesus' failure to perform miracles the accounts of which cannot be so easily explained as faith-healing, misinterpretation, exaggeration, and embellishment;

Jesus' failure to attract significant notice (much less endorsement) in the only detailed contemporaneous history of first-century Palestine;

Jesus' failure to recruit anyone from his family,
any acquaintance from before his baptism,
a majority of Palestinian Jews, and even
some of those who heard his words and witnessed his alleged miracles.

An omnipotent omniscience benevolent deity competently attempting a revelation would have foreseen and corrected all of these problems. The existence of any one of them implies that Christian doctrine is false.

Okay, all my Christian followers should stop laughing now, and let's go through this.
1. WTF is the "murderous immorality of Yahweh"? Are we referring to the wars fought to remove the Canaanites, I assume? Yes, God could have overcome that and chose not to. Why? #1, the people Israel were at a stage that it had to be proven to them that they could not get right with God on their own. They had to be given concrete rules, and find out that they (not God) were incapable of keeping them. Since they proved that they were generally incompetent even as they waited for said laws to make it down the mountain to them, it became obvious that they would never survive even the influence of the ridiculous pagan religions around them. The Canaanites were an exceptionally, ridiculously depraved lot. God ordered a strict separation, and yes, even extermination, of them. This becomes "murderous " in the eyes of those who attack the faith. But if you believe in a sovereign, perfectly Holy God, you see that 1) Paul said that all nature shows the manifest presence of God, so the Canaanites, like all of us, were without excuse. 2) They had been judged by a Holy God whom they rejected, and found wanting. If you recognize that God exists, and that He is the creator, then He has the right to judgement, and that is neither murderous nor, if Jesus is the manifest Word of this God, does it require refutation on His part.

2. Here is the humanist problem- if they're wrong, they go to Hell. No matter their "ethics" or "moral code based on reason and the good of mankind", etc. If Jesus would condemn them to perdition, he must be evil. The basic sin of Satan in the past and the Anti-Christ in the future- making oneself god. If God is creating a people unto Himself, and this people are not to be robots, and thus have to have a choice, there has to be a consequence for the wrong choice.

3. Another WTF. What could be more clear than John 8:58: "Before Abraham was, I AM".

4.Mathew 24:36 clearly states that only the Father knows the day and time. And if the 13 billion years that scientists ascribe from the big bang to now can be 7 days in the eyes of a God who is the maker of, and thus beyond, time, how does the arguer (one Brian Holtz) propose to define "imminent"?

5. Here I can only challenge that "competently" is defined in terms of the author's own prejudices and desires. Otherwise I can only assume his trolley has chugged on around the bend, because, once again, Jesus' doctrines seem pretty clear to me.

6. How about water into wine at Cana? Or two rounds of loaves and fishes? Or, for that matter, walking around alive after His brutal death- something witness by over 500 people?

7. Christianity only became widespread after Constantine in the 300s AD. And most "contemporary" historians would have considered it an insignificant offshoot of Judaism, and likely lumped the two together. Reason would tell us this; but he who first cried for reason is often the last to apply it.

8. a) His mother was at His side at His death and at His grave at the Resurrection morning. Two brothers wrote epistles in the Christian cannon, and James His brother was the leader of the Church in Jerusalem. Mr. Holtz should go a little deeper into the Word than just the dust jacket.
b) First, His ministry BEGAN at His baptism, and second, the Gospels never mention ANY such acquaintances, so how does one know? We do have the mention of the synagogue at Nazareth, but if you read the whole passage, you'll see why that is the exception that proves the rule. If you use reason, that is.
c)The Word of God constantly talks about "the remnant" being saved. The Jews were prophesied BY GOD to reject Jesus. This dog don't hunt.
d)And now, in a crated world in which His manifestations are clearly evident so that people are without excuse, still many reject Him. What's your point?

An omnipotent omniscience benevolent deity competently attempting a revelation would have foreseen and corrected all of these problems. The existence of any one of them implies that Christian doctrine is false.

The key word in the above quote is "would". In actuality, this should be "could", because "would" implies that the knowledge forces corrective action. the truth is, while God is certainly capable of this corrective action, He chooses not to because it does not fit His plan. Plus, even if you take this whole thing as an exercise in debative literature, Holtz is guilty of so many lack-reads, mis-reads, and inserting his own prejudices into his interpretations that this whole thing has the structure of Swiss cheese and the smell of Limburger. One would think a philosopher with a background in computer science like Holtz would have a grasp on one thing leading logically to another, like a program. Unfortunately his reasoning is more on the GIGO theorem.

Mark, ch. 4, New International Version

11He told them, “The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables 12so that,

“‘they may be ever seeing but never perceiving,
and ever hearing but never understanding;
otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!’”

Saturday Junk update

Item #1: Woodbridge sent out another letter; this one gave us a description of perp and event. Male black (surprise!), 5'6" to 5'10" and thin, wearing black trench coat w/ white piping and baggy pants (surprise again!). Scum approaches woman as she unloads her van, smashes her head into driver's seat as he grabs for purse in passenger seat. she struggles and he hits her on the noggin with she believes a gun. The gun described a a black semi-automatic. May be wearing either a fur lined hood or a stocking cap. Hopefully with all the attention he's meriting, he'll either move on to other hunting grounds or slip up and get caught. I'd like to see him hiding in a trash dumpster Monday morning and get picked up by Serv-all. Beats having him get shot by FWPD and listening to his pastor and relation crying about what a good boy he was and how evil the cops are. Y'ever wonder why we have stereotypes? Because certain types of people do the same stupid $#!t over and over.

Item#2: When my LaCrosse technologies weather station died after a mere 6 months on the job (in good weather), I replaced it with a $10 temp and humidity station from Accu-rite / Chaney. This week it also went the way of all flesh. I e-mailed Chaney about the problem, not expecting much based on my experience with LaCrosse. I've already wrote how the LaCrosse answer to every problem was "change the batteries", that if you persisted, they told you to send the ENTIRE UNIT back to them, and for your bother they'd tack on a $50 fee just to look at the $100 unit. And, I wrote about how I wrote to LaCrosse, Wal-Mart (where it was purchased), and the Weather Channel (who sponsor it) and told all involved it was a POS and so was LaCrosse's customer service. TWC was obviously too uninvolved to reply, Wal-Mart as usual was too big to care, and LaCrosse replied as always, "change the batteries."

Flash forward to today. Chaney asked me one question and sent one reply. the question: when did you buy the unit. The reply: your new unit will be coming by FedEx in 7-10 days. Is there anyone out there from LaCrosse technologies? THIS IS WHAT CUSTOMER SERVICE IS ABOUT!!! Of course, after reading the reviews for my unit on Amazon.com, I'd guess if they had any real customer service, they'd be out o' bidness in a matter of weeks. They make a great unit in theory that does not function well in practice. It does not bear up well in any weather (an odd quality in a weather station) and changing the batteries is a lot like doing the hokey-pokey without the music. Congrats to Chaney Instruments for standing behind their stuff!

Item #3: Watching the East West shrine game. You Wisconsin fans, Tolzien blew chunks today. You're lucky he didn't play like this against TCU, you'd have bee humillerated.

Item #4: Indiana Workforce Development just sent Laurie and I each a form asking for info that they already have in our profiles and our weekly filings from last week. They needed to have this info that they already had within the next 7 days. And just to make their point that they REALLY need this info that they already had, they sent EACH of us TWO of the same letters with the same forms with the same date! To sum up, that's four letters sent out to collect info that they could have gotten in a few seconds of pushing keys. But, as long as they're doing it efficiently, I guess.

Another round of January Junk

Item #1: If you looked in on the last round of JJ, you saw the story of my old friend's dad and his back problem- and the unwillingness of insurance to finish covering it. Turns out to be an ill-disguised blessing. His wonderful specialists had discovered an old injury and happy that they'd done their job, left it at that. As old injuries are wont to do, it was "healing nicely" and thus insurance bailed on him prior to the start of PT. So Friday he had his appointment with his regular doctor, who actually LISTENED (Yes, specialists, listening is one of the skills you were taught in Med School and promptly forgot when $ calls) when George told them that that was NOT where the pain was. His doc found that the back was, indeed an old injury- and the current one was a BROKEN PELVIS!! Needless to say, the PT would have f'ed him up worse had the insurance left him start it. Isn't wonderful how God used greedy, short-sighted people to stop the damage about to be done by greedy, short-sighted people?





Item #2: Keith Olberman was abruptly fired by MSNBC last night, and evidence leads us to believe that Olberman may not have even known himself until the very last minute. Now, I have little love for the gent; I don't generally raise my blood pressure by listening to left-leaning demagoguery, so my only real contact with him outside of the "news" stories he often found himself in was his pompous, ill-informed commentaries a couple of years back on Sunday Night Football pregame. And I thought it seemed a little fishy when he got suspended last fall for no more than making contributions to like minded butt nugget political candidates. After all, this was a liberal theology network- I found it hard to swallow that ethics were really that big a deal at MSNBC. Word is that the network head had had a jones for Olby's removal for a while, and I guess he thought giving him the bum's rush at the tail end of a slow news week might cause a little less consternation amongst his fans. To me, in my far from complete judgement on the subject, I'd have to say it is a good example of, "as you sow, so shall you also reap." Good luck on G4, Olby!



Item #3: A news report from an Australian news source, later embellished by the Huffington Post (imagine that) has pitted astronomers against chicken littles across the globe. Here we see the star Betelgeuse, the red star in Orion's left shoulder.

Astronomers have noted that Betelgeuse (pronounced Beetlejuice, like the movie) is shrinking- collapsing inward as all red giants eventually do. Someday, scientists tell us, it will go into terminal collapse, and in less than a heartbeat will explode into a supernova. It will for a while be around as bright as the full moon on earth, visible in daylight. The Aussie reporter, however, tells us that it will be like having two suns (the so-called Tatooine effect) and it will happen IN 2012. Apparently he must have consulted his Little Golden Book On Mayan Prophecy to dig this up. The HuffPost, however, insinuates they got the scoop from astronomer Dr. Brad Carter, who in the article a) does discuss the science of the event, and b) does not give a date, as no self respecting amateur astronomer would.

Not to fear, though; another astronomer, Phil Plait, takes the bull by the horns. He debunks the Tatooine effect, throws out any attempt to date something that could happen anywhere from tomorrow to ten million years from now, and assures us that we'd have to be within 25 light years to have anything bad happen to us as a result of Orion's impending rotator-cuff injury, and Betelgeuse is a full 25 times that far away. Reporter Claire Connelly must have dreams of a 2012 sequel screen play credit on her mind.

Item#4: The Angels acquire longtime Blue Jay Vernon Wells for catcher Mike Napoli and some other bum. Those of us old enough to remember when MLB wasn't the haven of sports greatest mercenaries have to look with sadness on the departure of a lifetime player from a small market team to one of the temples of MLB mammon, but at least it was a trade. Remember trades? that's how players used to move in baseball, each team taking a chance and getting SOMETHING in return. On the bright side, it WAS a trade; Napoli is a competent hitter, though not up to Angels' manager Mike Scioscia's standards behind the plate; and Wells is coming off an off-year and has a tendency to start well, get hurt, and tail off.

Step into my time machine week thirty-nine

Geez, it's so cold I had to jump start the time machine! And it's not any better where we're going; the high on this date in 1976 was 11 degrees, though the low only dropped to 7. Plus, ye olde keyboard has decided that the "b" key is no longer functional and I am having to paste the stubborn letter in where I a-solutely have to have it, so bear with.





Winter seems to take the fun out of the music industry. I mean who wants to go out and purchase a 45 in 10-degree weather? And once again it shows on the chart. Out of 11 rookies in the Hot 100, 4 are worth the mention. Frankie Avalon (who'll pop up twice today) comes in with his disco remake of his 1959 #1 Venus. At 94, a release from the 1970 lp Cosmo's Factory from CCR, their cut down from 11-minute version of I Heard It Through The Grapevine- 4 years after the band split up. Way up at 64, the Captain and Tenille set sail again with Lonely Nights (Angel Face). And finally, the unstoppable juggernaut that Elton John had become, with Grow Some Funk Of Your Own at #51. Not a bad song, but 51???





The tops for the other years has spun on to the zeroes this week. 1990 saw Technotronic, a producer-formed project with a fake lead singer a la Milli Vanilli, on top with Pump Up The Jam. In 1980, we find the late Michael Jackson with Rock With You. 1970 saw the opening #1 of the seventies, Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head, from the master of the long titled song, BJ Thomas. True to my word, I give you Frankie Avalon at #1 in 1960 this week with Why. And in 1950 it was Patty, Maxine, and Laverne- the Andrews Sisters to you young'uns- with I Can Dream Can't I?





The big dropper this week is the Average White band (sorry the disrespect, I don't wanna copy another capital, and then recopy the lower case) with School boy Crush, falling 23 to #65; the highest jumper is Gary Wright's Dream Weaver, flying high through the starry sky to land at 55, up 19. 2 other notes in this neighborhood: 1) Feelings has at LAST left the building; and 2) remember our couple mentions of Let's Live Together from the Road Apples? They hit their peak at 48 last week, and are sliding down at last, pausing at #68 this week.





Our look at the #1 lps of the 70s has reached September of 1973, and the Allman brothers band's classic brothers And Sisters. Recorded after losing Duane Allman in one motorcycle accident and during which they lost berry Oakley in another just 3 locks away, it contained their one big hit, the #2 Ramblin' Man along with the AOR instrumental Jessica (#65). It spent 5 weeks at the top, and was replaced on October 13th by the Rolling Stones' Goat's Head Soup. Recorded in Jamaica "because it was about the only place that would let us all in", this lp contained the #1 ballad Angie and the based in part (1st verse) on a true story Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker), which featured billy Preston on the clavinet and hit #15. Here's Keith Richards:





"The problem (with the Stones' mid-70s albums), which I was ignorant of for a long time, was studio musicians and sidemen taking over the band. The real problem with those albums was the band was led astray by brilliant players like Billy Preston. We'd start off a typical Stones track and Billy would start playing something so fuckin' good musically that we'd get sidetracked and end up with a compromised track. THAT made the difference. "





Led astray by brilliant musicians, huh? I imagine that is a line some people would say had never been a problem for the Stones. In any event, Soup topped the chart for 4 weeks. The last eight weeks of 1973 were ruled by that previously mentioned juggernaut, Elton John, and Goodbye Yellow brick Road. This 2-disc lp was recorded as were the last two at Chateau d'Herouville in France- it was to be done in Jamaica as well, but the chaos around the Foreman/Frazier fight drove them to France. The first side featured the classic AOR hit Funeral For A Friend/Love Lies bleeding; the original Candle In The Wind, which hit 11 in the UK, was recorded live and released in 1986 (hitting 5 in the UK and 6 in the USA) and then re-recorded in 1997 in honor of Princess Diana, and we all know how THAT went; and the #1 Benny And The Jets. The other sides included the #6 title track and the #12 Saturday Night's All Right For Fighting.





Coming into Airplay Alley, a meager 2 songs- at 40, up 5, are the Spinners with one I did not know, called Love Or Leave; and at 39, also up five (which makes I think four of the last 6 entrants going in on a 5-notch climb), Cledus Maggert and The White Knight.





Today's almost but not quite is Country boy (You've Got Your Feet In LA) from Glen Campbell. Peaking last week at 17 (it made 11 on billboard), it drops to 28 this week. This was the lead song on one of my favorite lps, Rhinestone Cowboy. This excellent lp, which we had on 8-track up at Snow Lake when I was but young, contained other than the two hits: the prophetic Comeback; a cover of My Girl; my favorite, I'd build A bridge; and a song I
remember more for the memory of how much I liked it than the song itself, called Pencils For Sale. I may have to get this the next time I raid Amazon for cheap oldies.





Two songs actually go into the top ten, so two come out. Falling are The Theme From Mahogany (from 4 to 15) and Saturday Night (from 10 to 25).





Coming into the top ten at 10, up one, is Earth Wind And Fire with Sing A Song. Up 4 to 9 is Paul Simon with 50 Ways To Leave Your Lover. #8 and up one is David Ruffin's Walk Away From Love. Also up one are the O'Jays with I Love Music. John Denver holds yet again at 6 with Fly Away; Sweet does the same at 5 with Fox On The Run. Hot Chocolate (pictured) moves to 4 with You Sexy Thing, a 3 notch jump.














The top Three hold in place: Love Rollercoaster at 3, I Write The Songs at 2, and that means that CW McCall remains at the top with Convoy; them hogs is gettin' IN-tense up here!

Okay, we survived a cold, "b" less trip into the past. Stay warm out there!

Where's that damned bat-signal?

Since Bob G. went ahead and blew the top off the Woodbridge armed-robber case over at his place, I thought I'd update y'all on the view within.

To recap: Woodbridge had armed robberies on Dec. 18 and New Years day. Both times were early-ish in the evening, so you know this is either a miscreant smart enough to watch his victims and find out when they get home at night, or he's conscientious about early to bed etc. Then last week, WANE-TV broke the story at an apartment complex off Wallen Rd. having two roughly similar attacks. The basis of that story was that the complex had not bothered to say anything to the residents.

I told Bob about our two incidents and he suggested I contact WANE. A good idea, methought; so I e-mailed a tip in. Lo and behold, that very day, Woodbridge told us that they had hired a "courtesy officer" who would patrol the area in addition to other miscellaneous 'my neighbor sucks' duties.

This brings us to last night, when this boil on the ass of humanity struck again, apparently assaulting the woman (how very brave) in the course of his too-lazy-to-workitude. This was on local news last night (Laurie forgot where she saw it for sure), and while Bob was doing his excellent piece, Aishah Hasnie decided to call me about being on the piece she did tonight. Of course, I was at work and unavailable, and good that it was so; I had really very little to add other than really wanting to meet Aishah, and the lady she ended up interviewing was a lot easier on the eyes than I would've been. Of course, the best part of this came after I listened to the message on the way home:

Chris: You'll never guess who that was!

Laurie: Who?

C: Aishah Hasnie!

L: (somewhat disbelieving) What did she want?

C: To see me.

L: (Much more disbelieving) WHAT did she want???

C: To see me!

L:Why?

As if pretty reporter-chicks aren't constantly dropping by to see me. ;)

In any event, her piece actually netted her the breaking news that they were going to send us out a second note with not only info on the latest attack, but tips to stay safe. They also mention that FWPD suspect that as I theorized, it is one and the same miscreant (in case you are out there and have pulled yer head from yer drug-riddled butt long enough to read this, a "miscreant" is defined as " reprobate: a person without moral scruples". Dat means ya don' give a f#ck abou' no'un no how.) that has struck all three complexes. And I might add, Woodbridge is so far the only one good enough to give WANE the time of day, so 2 pts for us.

Speaking of points, I've been lazying past putting up this week's Commissioner's cup update. (I know you've all been disappointed with me.) After last week's games, The State Ducks now have 131 pts and 2 players left; the Elks, 106 and 3; the T-Cubs, 84 and 4; SVA, 81 and 4; the Angels, 72 and 3; Begles 71 and 2; Buzz, 67 and 2; Rangers, 63 and 2; the Champion KCAs, 54 and sadly done; the Clock BBQs, 47 and 2; the Rhinos, 46 and done; and the B2s, 28 and done. So Laurie's teams are at 249 and 8; I'm at 213 and 2; Shenan, 211 and 8; and KC, 177 and 6.

Disasters

Tonight on the way home, I heard about the earthquake in Pakistan. Of course, Pat Miller made it out to be worse than it was (he accidentally called it a "9.4" quake.) But then, in true end of the work-day callousness, I thought, "Serves 'em right."

Now, it was just a brief knee-jerk reaction, and I immediately felt bad about it. Serves who right? Well, maybe if you concentrated all the corrupt government officials, all the civil servants in the Taliban's back pocket, the terrorists hiding under a rock, the al-Qaida radicals brainwashing a new generation of children who'll never get the chance to be children, and the various assorted misogynists and wife-beaters who apparently get a religious "out" in Muslim nations, then just maybe you might have a group who might possibly be "served right", though that is up to God, and I'm sure if He felt so, He'd see to it.

Not my place to judge.

Did it serve the 15,000 likely dirt poor residents of Dalbandin right? They probably would have been just as happy to never have heard of the Taliban, al-Qaida, assault weapons, roadside bombs, homicide bombers, 90% of the governments they've had since Victoria was crowned Empress of India, the USA, NATO, CENTO, the UN, the IRS, or the fatwah of the week. Were they "served right?" That kind of logic tells us that the USA is the great Satan, nutcases are inspired by Rush Limbaugh, and that the definition of persecution includes having to look at "In God We Trust" on coins and licence plates and at nativity scenes on courthouse lawns. Yeah, they really deserved it.

Y'know, back about a year ago when I started this blog, I regularly featured disasters like the ones in Haiti and Chile. And not long ago, a friend asked me if I was following the great flood in Australia. Yes, I had; and I had thought about doing a post on it, but 2 thoughts stopped me. One of them involved being able to do the story justice, or cynically, fitting entertainment value. The other was, if I do one about that, what about the flood in Brazil? The volcanoes in Indonesia? The Mudslides in Guatemala? The human tragedy of Mexico's unwillingness to fight a war on drugs? The scorching heat in central and eastern Europe? When I started, I was hoping to drum up at least prayer support for those who were suffering. But then it became, is it big enough? Was it newsworthy enough? Should I just pray about this one on my own, rather than bring out the broken record again? And now, we've come to, "serves 'em right". And whether this is face, heart, or soul, it becomes #1 of the seventeen things I am currently ashamed of myself on. (And no, I haven't counted them.)

So tonight, I'll pray for the corrupt officials and dishonest civil servants, the terrorists and the children they are turning into killers, the wife-beaters, the nutcases, and especially the dirt poor residents of Dalbandin. I invite you to do the same- not because you have a list of things to be ashamed of, but because it "serves them right."

God blesses a confessor. As I got to the most intense part of this post, the guy on TV said (paraphrasing): Looking for the perfect gift for your wife/girlfriend on Valentine's day? Have yourself examined for testicular cancer." Truly broke the mood, particularly when I added, "or have her do it!" I suppose I should mark that as #18, but I'm gonna go easy on myself.

More January junk

It may be just me, but 2011 isn't holding out much promise of being a good year. Added to our problems with the old car and lack of work (which is to continue at least Monday for Laurie), My son KC got fired because A) Steak and Shake is too cheap to have a manager on third shift; B) as a result, one of the third shifters decided to cull from the till; C) without enough help on their busy nights, even the honest workers had a lot of 'deletes' on their registers; D) management, instead of EVER counselling the workers about their 'deletes', waited instead for the engineer-less train to go off the tracks- which of course it did; and E) given that all of the above made it impossible for management to tell who were white hats and who were black hats, fired the lot of them- saying that if you had 'deletes' on your register, you MUST be stealing.

(Note to my readers: I've already informed S&S what I thought of their practices. I'm not an organizer of boycotts, but I told them I'd not be back. If you think about it the next time you consider stopping at S&S, do me a favor- blow yer horn, wave a finger of your choice at them, and drive away for another day.)

So now KC is looking for work despite the fact that often he was the only one working FOR them. Oh, well, with management like that, it won't be the last time. During the week, a former neighbor of mine had a streak that included A) finding out the hat from his favorite football team that he ordered 3 weeks ago was sold out; B) his microwave blew up; C) his trip to this week's Komet game was an OT loss; and D) the aforementioned favorite team got clocked by Da Bears this afternoon. Sports was also bad news for KC; each and every playoff game he picked has went the other way, including the embarrassing losses by his pre-season Super Bowl picks, Atlanta and Baltimore.

Now an old friend gives me her latest: As last year wound down, much of her husband's family ended up in the hospital (actually in the same hospital for a period; inconvenient since they were two sets of steps, or exes, however you want to look at it). One passed away; another, who had gone home, passed out in church this morning and is right back in. In the meantime, her father got a pretty severe back injury; was put into a home for OT to get back in shape- but now his insurance says that's good enough, send him home- as of tonight- and she'll have to come up from her home north of Indy to the Summit City to stay with him a while. Nice job on the health care, Obama!!!

(Note to readers: I know you can't blame it on him yet, but I haven't picked on him in a while; yes, Charlotte, I was kidding.)

In the meantime, KC posted a quote from his significant other on facebook last night: to the effect of I could talk the Pope into doing something bad with my way with words. I'd much rather be able to talk people (are you listening, Joshua?) into doing right; I seem to have a hard enough time listening to my own good conscience. In the last few weeks, just looking at FB, I've seen someone I don't know feel like giving up because some dude left his key and split; a young girl I know constantly dealing with heartache of people she cares for crapping on her; and an old friend who is dealing with some manner of emotional abuse. I wish I had words for any of them; but what do you say? When you're in those situations, even "I care" sounds phony- especially if you're not close. I only wish I was as good with words as Ashley thinks... or better yet, with actions. I feel like all I can really do is pray, and hope that Jesus has a "hug" for them.

And on top of that, now the JETS are taking the wood to New England. Far from me to root for the Pats, but EVERYBODY hates the Jets.

I guess though, if you can still look at sports when things are going bad, it can't be THAT bad.

Nice thing about that game was a very satisfying (for me) stretch early on. Play #1, Brady gets picked off, then gets juked out of his jockstrap. And still, the Jet defender got caught before he scored. Play #2, rb Shaun Greene trips over Sanchez's foot and loses yards. Play #3, the Jet blocking Vince Wilfork loses him, and in trying to catch him, runs into the other RB, L.T., and Wilfork tags him for a loss. Play #4, an anomalous good play for the Jets, a three yard gain. Play#5, kicker Nick Folk misses an easy FG. Play#6, Brady gets sacked. Play #7, a good gain turns into a first down when the Jets get called on a face mask penalty. Good times. Go Steelers!!!

Step into my time machine week thirty-eight

Today on Time Machine, a special story (to help make up for another sluggish countdown)- the complicated story of how all roads once led to Rick James, along with (I hope) a tasty video of his collaboration with the legendary Neil Young. Hope you like soap operas (albeit with drugs replacing sex).

10 songs join the hot 100 this week; the only noteworthy entrant was Rod Stewart's cover of This Old Heart Of Mine. Originally an Isley Brothers hit sung by brother Ronnie in 1966, it would gain its greatest fame when Rod and Ronnie combined to have a major hit with it in 1989.

The Big dropper was BTO's Down To The Line, 22 from 38 to 60; the big climber was, again, Cledus Maggert's The White Knight, from 67 to 44. Annnnd, Feelings has yet again slammed on the brakes tumbling a single notch from 68 to 69. And if you think the chart movement is not dynamic yet, wait till we get a bit higher.

Since our special story is a bit on the long side, I'm going to forgo the usual specials. Four songs enter the top 40. Barry White goes from 46 to 40 with Let The Music Play; Linda Ronstadt climbs 5 to 39 with her latest, Tracks Of My Tears. The Bee Gees, who just missed the big dropper with Nights On Broadway, enter the top 40 at 37, up 8, with Fanny (Be Tender With My Love). And ubiquitous opening act Foghat moves, yes again, 5 spots to 36 with Slow Ride.

With Harold Melvin and the Bluenotes at 29 with Wake Up Everybody, I wanted to give a shoutout to them. For a long time, they seemed to my poor memory a one-hit wonder with If You Don't Know Me By Now. In looking for 70s songs to put on CD, I later rediscovered the two hits we've featured here on TM, Wake Up Everybody and Bad Luck. Last night on my pandora station (Scrappy Radio), I "re-discovered" another of their hits I knew but had forgotten. It was called The Love I Lost; and if the title doesn't ring a bell, google up a clip- if you're my age or so, I guarantee you'll remember it by the chorus.

Now onto our story. Last night I heard also some old Buffalo Springfield on Scrappy Radio, and it reminded me of the story that Neil Young had been a bandmate of funkster Super Freak Rick James in a band called the Mynah Birds (or Myna Birds) prior to that. I was curious of how this unlikely combination came together. And what I found amazed me.

I guess we start with Rick himself. Trying to start a music career and anxious about getting drafted, he dropped out of high school and joined the Naval reserve. But that one weekend a month got in the way of what passed for his career, and after a year he fled to Toronto. Toronto was a mini music mecca at the time; Stephen Stills and Richie Furay were members of The Company, an offshoot of another band called the Au Go Go Singers. It was then that Stills met Neil, who, along with a guy named Ken Kolblun, was in a group called the Squires. Stills, Kolblun, and a reluctant Furay decided to try to make it in LA. Around this time, James formed the first version of the Mynah Birds, along with Jimmy Livingstone, Goldy McJohn, and Nick St. Nicholas. Goldy soon left to join Jack London and the Sparrows, and St. Nicholas was "traded "to the Sparrows for bassist Bruce Palmer, who will now become the key block of our story.

Jack London and St. Nicholas would soon leave the nest, to be replaced by John Kay, and the Sparrows began their metamorphosis into Steppenwolf. St. Nicholas would rejoin Steppenwolf at the height of their fame, only to be fired by Kay in 1970 for going on stage "in nothing but bunny ears and a jockstrap". James and Palmer would begin putting the second generation Mynah Birds together, and Palmer, who knew Neil through their Squires connection, invited Young to join the band. Motown signed them to a deal, where they managed to record an unreleased single co-written by James and Young, which we'll get to later. Around this time, original MB Jimmy Livingstone was in a band called Just Us with a dude named Neil Merriweather. This band had just recorded some demos when the manager stole them and took off. This I add because of what is coming.

On the verge of recording an album, the Mynah Birds were shattered when they caught their manager stealing their advance. When they fired him, he went to Motown and informed them that James was AWOL. Motown told James to turn himself in to the FBI, and he spent a year in the brig in Baltimore. The single, "It's My Time", found itself forgotten in the Motown vaults.

At this point, Young decides to reconnect with Stills in LA and takes Palmer with him. Stills (who had auditioned for the Monkees by this point) and Furay were still together, and trying to put together a band at the suggestion of the manager for the Byrds. Stuck on the freeway one day, they see Young and Palmer go by in Neil's distinctive black Hearse, and did a u-turn to catch up. Thus is born Buffalo Springfield. But this supergroup, as is any group containing Neil Young, was extremely volatile; Young began to appear sporadically, and Palmer began a long career of drug induced run-ins with the law. Eventually he was deported (though he snuck back in a year or so later in disguise). To replace them, Jim Messina joined the group, and the Byrd's David Crosby often filled in for Young. But Buffalo Springfield's days were numbered.

James gets out of stir and tries to reform the Mynah Birds, this time with Neil Merriweather. This project morphed into a band called Salt and Pepper, where the duo were joined by guitarist Greg Reeves. Meanwhile, Buffalo Springfield fragmented. Messina and Furay formed Poco; this band, which would later hit the top 40 with "Crazy Love" and "Heart Of The Night", also counted as members Randy Meisner, a founding member of the Eagles, along with later Eagle Timothy B. Schmitt. Messina Would go on to join with Kenny Loggins to form (what else?) Loggins and Messina.

Stills hung out with David Crosby, who'd left the Byrds over the rejection of his song Triad ( a tune about a Menage-a-trois that was eventually recorded by Jefferson Airplane). Soon they met up with the Hollies' Graham Nash, who asked them to do a harmony riff at a party at Mama Cass' house one night. This led to the formation of Crosby Stills And Nash. After their successful first album, Stills invited in Young, and Young again brought Palmer with him. But by this time Palmer was a few bricks shy of a load and was fired two weeks in. His replacement, none other than Greg Reeves, James' band mate in Salt And Pepper. And the rest, as they say, is history.

It's My Time was finally found in 2006 and put on a Motown compilation album, almost 30 years after they recorded it, and 2 years after both James and Palmer had died. Here is a song that deserved a better fate.

No songs into the top ten, no songs out. In fact, everybody from #17 to #5 stays the same this week. That means the top ten starts out with Saturday Night by the Bay City Rollers at 10, David Ruffin's Walk Away From Love at 9, the O'Jays I Love Music at 8, Hot Chocolate's You Sexy Thing at 7, John Denver's Fly Away at 6, and Sweet's Fox On The Run at 5. Last week's top dog Diana Ross slides to 4 with the Theme From Mahogany; the Ohio Players move up one to #3 with Love Rollercoaster. Barry Manilow does a Morris Albert and slams it back into drive with I Write The Songs moving back up to #2; annnnnnd, the new #1 is......





CW McCall, with his friends Pig Pen and the Rubber Duck, and Convoy!


Okay, that's it this week. Be here next week to avoid mayhem... like me.