Like I said, no Time Machine this week-but the M10 rolls on.
And it rolls on a bit somberly due to our lone debut. You see, earlier in the week, I ran into a story about Cambodia. Among the many things you may not know about that land ( as I didn't) was that they had a vibrant rock'n'roll scene in the 60's and early 70's- until the butchers that laughingly called themselves a government, the Khmer Rouge, slaughtered it. (Any time any liberal wants to bash the US for what they tried to do in Vietnam and Cambodia, you just bring it on.)
Anyway, that scene has met a resurgence, and one night an Aussie musician named Julien Poulson heard the voice of a $2 a night karaoke singer called alternately Kak Channthy (which I believe is her proper name, last first) or Srey Thy (which I THINK is a nickname). They formed a band that quickly became popular calling themselves the Cambodian Space Project. They fell in love, married, separated over the time from 2009-2018, but made some really neat music.
Tuesday- and the reason I tumbled onto the story), Channthy was killed in a car accident. Her Tuk-tuk (a three wheeled, motorized, open taxi) was struck by a Prius some claim was speeding. Channthy was thrown out and struck her head on the roadway.
She was 38, and leaves behind a 13 year old son.
I got exploring their tunes. I enjoyed the poppy silliness of Have Visa Have No Rice; the brooding power ballad Whiskey Cambodia; and the obligatory cover of House Of The Rising Sun- which, while it MAY not beat the Animals, blows hell out of Frijid Pink's remake. And then I hit this one. A duet with Australian star Paul Kelley, from the 2017 lp Spaced Out In Wonderland, the debut at #10...
A last little bit of trivia- produced by Dennis Coffey, the Detroit Guitar Band frontman who had the big 70's instrumental Scorpio.
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And now, the rest of the M10.
A bad kind of Irony for Dinosaur Jr this week...
... the song that loses its place this week was the Moondoggies' Easy Coming, which went 10, 10, 9, 6, and 7 in five weeks. D Jr's Hold Unknown is following the path, 10, 10, and 9 this week after 3 weeks.
Shilpa Ray, the "door girl", is a little closer to the back door this week...
... as Rockaway Blues slips 2 to #8 in its 7th week.
Another song that battered its head the last two weeks against the Iron Ceiling...
...is Dan Croll's Tokyo, slipping from 5 to 7 in week #4.
Last week's newbies move up-
...Molly Rankin and Alvvays moving up a pair to #6 with Not My Baby...
...and Lucius leapfrogging them from #9 to #5 with Eventually.
Meanwhile, No. 1 is still not #1....
...as Major Murphy hit the Iron Ceiling last week, smacking into the #4 spot with a splat, and sticking there this week.
Which brings us to the Iron Ceiling- the three songs that refuse to yield to any but each other. For a fourth week now, they control the top 3 slots... and it's looking pretty good for next week too! This time, at #3... is NOT Sunflower Bean...
...but Beach House, who spent the first two of those four weeks on top, and this time- while it was a near thing again- slide one to #3 with Lemon Glow.
And fluttering down to #2...
....Mikaela Davis' Little Bird. And that means that in their third attempt, after 3 weeks in the third spot, we have the first number one....
Twenty Two moves up 2 spots to take the crown and become the M10's 74th #1!
For the video though, I'm a little disappointed to hear that they left out a very powerful verse....
If I could do it, I would fly into the sun I would become warm And I meant it when I said you're my favourite son With your finger that is reaching For the trigger of the gun And you know you've got to prove it To yourself and everyone...
But, you know the politically correct days we live in, mustn't say anything controversial... ah, but I've been political enough this post. Hope you enjoyed, and I'll see you all when I emerge from my den Friday night!
This week we go to Deuteronomy 3:16- where we will gather in an "I told you so" lesson.
Deu 3:16 And to the Reubenites and to the Gadites I gave from Gilead even to the river Arnon, half the valley, and the border even to the river Jabbok, the border of the sons of Ammon...
Background: So Moses and the Israelites have made it through the desert. And Moses is spending most of the book of Deuteronomy "rehearsing" (we always called it "rehashing") everything that had gone before, from the point of God telling them to start heading north after 38 years in the desert to where they were. In a fairly short amount of time, this has happened.
- The Israelites are refused permission by Edom to pass through their territory, and God refuses them permission to fight their way through. The same thing happens when they reach the borders of Ammon and Moab. So I thought about going at it from the "is this God not wanting them to fight relatives" angle, since Edom is Esau's kin, and Ammon and Moab are descended from Lot.
- Aaron dies. Which in the story kind of reminds me of those commercials that ask "wouldn't it be nice to get a warning", and the guy reads in the newspaper that he'll be having a heart attack at 4:28 PM- because God tells Aaron he's about to die, and why he's not allowed to the Promised Land.
- The Israelites get permission to attack the Amorite kingdoms on the east of the Jordan. Sihon king of Hesbon and Og king of Bashan are forever immortalized as the first conquests as the Hebrews come home- and this passage would seem to have a lot to do with them as the land described as going to Reuben and Gad IS the exact domain of Sihon the Amorite.
Now, you know me, I dug into this angle first. The Amorites were the very same tribes that would enter Mesopotamia and found the first Babylonian Empire. They came, apparently, from this area. According to some sources, Sihon- who the Jews say was the brother of Og, and therefore probably a giant (Og was said to have a bedstead of 13 1/2 by 6 1/2 feet) - had swept the country of his kingdom away from Moab, taking the capital city of Aroer in a savage battle that required a cursing from Baalam to conquer it. This being the reason for Rahab telling the spies that all the land was afraid of the Hebrews because of how they handled the Amorites.
And then, of course I tried to find the connection between those stories and those of Reuben and Gad. Reuben had been Jacob's firstborn, but had lost the birthright because he apparently had sex with Bilhah, one of the four contributors to Jacob's "Cheaper by the dozen" family ( or with less snark, Bilhah was Rachel's maid and the mother of Reuben's half-brothers Dan and Napthali.) Because of this, both Jacob and Moses cursed his tribe as destined "never to excel", and as the only notables in the line of Reuben were the rebels Dathan and Abihu (who got smushed last week), I'd say we can mark that down as yet another promise kept. Gad was to be a fierce warrior, and to do well- and some sources claim that Reuben actually dwindled to an enclave within Gad, just like last week we saw Simeon become folded into Judah.
These two tribes, along with half the tribe of Manasseh, would take their inheritance outside of Canaan, in the former lands of Sihon and Og, on the condition that the menfolk join their brethren across the Jordan for Joshua's war of conquest. So we had a lot of interesting threads that weren't seeming to lead together. So I prayed for guidance once again, and the thought came to me:
"Moses is rehashing. WHY is he rehashing?"
And so you leaf through several chapters of the book, until you come to a place where the story splits. And this is what it says in the split:
Deu 9:5 Not for your righteousness, or for the uprightness of your heart, do you go to possess their land. But for the wickedness of these nations Jehovah your God drives them out from before you, so that He may perform the Word which Jehovah swore to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Deu 9:6 Therefore, understand that Jehovah your God does not give you this good land, to possess it, for your righteousness. For you are a stiff-necked people. Deu 9:7 Remember, and do not forget, how you provoked Jehovah your God to wrath in the wilderness. From the day you departed out of the land of Egypt, until you came to this place, you have been rebellious against Jehovah. Deu 9:8 Also in Horeb you provoked Jehovah to wrath, so that Jehovah was angry with you to have destroyed you. Deu 9:9 When I had gone up into the mountain to receive the tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant which Jehovah made with you, then I stayed in the mountain forty days and forty nights. I neither ate bread nor drank water. Deu 9:10 And Jehovah delivered to me two tablets of stone written with the finger of God, and on them according to all the words which Jehovah spoke with you in the mountain out of the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly.
Later on you get the "if-thens": If they obey, God will bless them, if not God will destroy them. Moses finally ends the soliloquy in chapter 29: Deu 29:25 Then men shall say, Because they have forsaken the covenant of Jehovah, the God of their fathers, which He made with them when He brought them forth out of the land of Egypt. Deu 29:26 For they went and served other gods, and worshiped them, gods whom they did not know, and who had not given to them any portion. Deu 29:27 And the anger of Jehovah was kindled against this land, to bring on it all the curses that are written in this book. Deu 29:28 And Jehovah rooted them out of their land in anger and wrath, and in great indignation, and cast them into another land, as it is today.
And I thought, what does that remind me of? In Acts 7, Stephen has been hauled before the Sanhedrin for preaching Christ. And his response? He begins to rehash. And he rehashes for 50 verses, and then he hits a very similar end:
Act 7:51 O stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so you do.
Act 7:52 Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who foretold the coming of the Just One, of whom you have now been the betrayers and murderers;
Act 7:53 who received the Law through disposition of angels, and did not keep it.
Point being: This was God, through Stephen, telling the Jewish leaders that they had reached that point of no return when they crucified Christ, which Jesus Himself foretold:
Luk 19:41 And as He drew near, He beheld the city and wept over it, Luk 19:42 saying, If you had known, even you, even at least in this day of yours, the things for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. Luk 19:43 For the days will come on you that your enemies will raise up a rampart to you, and will surround you, and will keep you in on every side. Luk 19:44 And they will tear you down, and your children within you, and will not leave a stone on a stone because you did not know the time of your visitation.
And once again, God keeps His promise- within a generation of the Crucifixion, Jerusalem is destroyed by the Romans, and the Temple is obliterated. So what might seem a nondescript verse shows us a vast story- a story in which God, sadly for the Jews, kept His promise.
A few weeks back I did this post on news stories out of the 10 smallest nations in the world, and mused that I might soon do a similar post on the next ten.
I don't know what exactly happened here. Maybe it is related to the fact that first ten was evenly divided between scattered island nations and archaic continental leftovers, and the second ten is 9-1 in favor of islands. But I just didn't get as much out of this gang. But never one to give up, I'm going to give it the old college try in a much rockier tour of smallest nations #11-20.
Parachutes at the door for those who want to bail early...
20- Singapore
Size: 278 square miles ("about 1 and a tenth the size of Molokai, the fifth-largest Hawaiian Island.")
Population: 5.791 million (or about 788 times that of Molokai... and 4 times that of all of Hawaii)
News: As you recall, our guiding principle here is to feature the top featured story on the best place-based news site available. For Singapore, one of the most densely populated places on earth, that would be the well-respected Straits Times. And there, we find the top story is that Uber is selling its entire Southeast Asian operations to a local up-and-coming competitor called Grab. For Uber, it still gives them 30 % control in the deal, and they get to get out of day-to-day management in yet another area they were taking a beating in. For Grab, it gives them a leg up on their main competition out of Indonesia. For us? Well, you can muse about the wisdom in this #Metoo era of getting a ride in a "Grab" car.
19- Federated States of Micronesia
Size: 271 sq. mi. ( about 90% the size of New York City, or ten square miles for each letter in its name.)
Pop.: 106 K (about 0.5% of NYC's.)
News: The big news there was a couple of sets of elementary school kids and their teachers got to go visit the national congress. I thought this might be a big deal as the might have had to come the long way from one end of the 607 islands of the nation (22 for every letter in the name) to the other. After some digging, I found out it was actually a 5 mile trip on the one island. But despite the harrowing trip, the kids had their names memorialized on the internet for all time...
And their picture, too!
18- St Lucia
Size: 238 sq mi (Half of Los Angeles)
Pop: Almost 180K (70% of Fort Wayne)
News: The same as it was on one of our later contestants, and #2 on another- Human Rights Watch is invading the Caribbean, demanding they eliminate the old, unenforced, colonial "buggery" laws. Some of you might be asking what the heck buggery is. Your answer:
In English law "buggery" was first used in the Buggery Act 1533, while Section 61 of the Offences against the Person Act 1861, entitled "Sodomy and Bestiality", defined punishments for "the abominable Crime of Buggery, committed either with Mankind or with any Animal". The definition of "buggery" was not specified in these or any statute, but rather established by judicial precedent. Over the years the courts have defined buggery as including either -anal intercourse or oral intercourse by a man with a man or woman or -vaginal intercourse by either a man or a woman with an animal, but not any other form of "unnatural intercourse", the implication being that anal sex with an animal would not constitute buggery. Such a case has not, to date, come before the courts of a common law jurisdiction in any reported decision. In the 1817 case of Rex v. Jacobs, the Crown Court ruled that oral intercourse, even with an underage and/or non-consenting animal, did not constitute buggery or sodomy. (Per wiki)
I never thought that even this society would get to the point of legally defining "an underage or non-consenting animal." Please pass that parachute.
17- Andorra
Size: 180.55 sq mi (half of Indianapolis)
Pop: About 77 K (For you Indiana people, think Fishers)
News: Our one continental contestant this week, stuck between a mountain just across the Spanish border and a mountain just across the French border, the big news was an agreement to stop cigarette smuggling into France. Apparently cigarettes cost around 5 euros (around $6) in Spain, but 7 euros ($8.65) in France. Which beats the 10 euros ($12.30) they cost in the UK, but that's neither here nor there, so to speak.
16- Palau
Size: 180 sq mi (Takes you 4 Palaus to make one Maui)
Pop: A bit under 22 K ( a typical Chicago suburb)
News: Well, Palau is a bit out of contact. Almost every news site either couldn't be reached or was out of date by months or even years. So I had to settle for their Government site- and in THEIR opinion the biggest news was the visit of the Russian delegation trying to drum up international support for holding the World Expo in Yekaterinberg- in 2025. Did I mention Palau was a bit out of contact?
15- Seychelles
Size: This group of 110 islands (18% of the amount in FS of M) in Africa (well, 1,000 miles give or take off the east coast) clocks in at 177 sq mi (80% of Detroit).
Pop: 95 K (Somewhere between College Station and Compton)
News: British Airways is resuming service to the Seychelles after dissing them for 14 years. Why they dropped Seychelles I could not find, but why they are coming back, I think I can guess- Air Seychelles had begun to drop direct flights to places in Europe because "they weren't contributing to inbound tourism". So basically, the big boys said, "let the colonials do it", and the colonials said, "with nothing in it for us? Screw you." One thin BA is bringing to the table this time is an emphasis on the latest buzzword in the travel world- "sustainable tourism":
As she welcomed British Airways, the British High Commissioner in Seychelles Caron Rohsler laid a lot of emphasis on the environmental impact tourists can have on these fragile and beautiful islands. She said that the British High Commission is adding a new information to its web pages about sustainable tourism. “This will include tips on how visitors can help preserve the ocean and island habitats so that future generations can enjoy them,” Rohsler said.
In other words, "Could you people please stop acting like a-holes when you visit?"
14- Antigua and Barbuda
Size: Despite Hurricane Irma's best efforts, 170 sq mi ( roughly the same size as the last three countries, so you figure it out)
Pop: Amazingly, Irma only killed three people there, despite taking out near all the housing and requiring the evac of all of Barbuda to Antigua. So the population is still around 103 K.
News: I was hoping for a reconstruction update. What I got was this:
A chef was found dead in his home in Willikies this afternoon. It’s not yet clear if foul play is suspected; the police are currently on the scene investigating. A resident in the area told OBSERVER media that the hotel worker was discovered dead shortly before 4 p.m. March 24. The resident said the dead man’s co-workers went in search of him after their calls went unanswered today. His identity has not been revealed to the media as yet.
The Human Rights Watch anti-buggery-law campaign was #2, and the sole hurricane story I found was how the government in Antigua wants to help the Barbudans in recovery- by some arcane means- by making it legal to buy property in Barbuda, where all property HAS been owned in common. The Barbudan courts have twice thrown the proposed change out as unconstitutional.
13- Barbados
Size: 167 sq mi (1/200th of Indiana)
Pop: 286 K (Bigger than anyone we've hit so far save Malta and Singapore, real close to 'bigger than Fort Wayne' )
News: Their electric utility's 42-acre (since I have my measuring site up, that would be 1/4 the size of Disneyland) solar farm is saving the nation about $ 8-10 million a year. They are starting production on another one. Think on THAT, Puerto Rico.
12- St Vincent and the Grenadines
Size: 150 sq mi (About 4 Disney Worlds)
Pop: 109 K (Between South Bend and Evansville)
News: The whole "Buggery" thing. So is this all an LGBT thing, or is PETA involved too?
11- Grenada
Size: 134.6 sq mi (wouldja believe "750 billion times the size of a quarter"?)
Pop: 107 K (Just for Jo-Anne, two Wagga Waggas with a Katoomba thrown in)
News: This is one of those places I'd like to copy-paste you a bunch of info, but lucky for you, the Grenada news site is C-P resistant. Basically, Grenada is facing two ecological problems: One, and the lead story, they've fished the crap out of the area and now the have major depletion in tuna, jack, and flying fish. The government is starting a program that will funnel funds into a group to be "run" by the fishermen themselves, to change their fishing methods and "not exploit the marine resources for a few more dollars". Good luck with that. Part of that initiative has to do with the second problem- the natural coral reef on the west side of the island is 90% dead, and they are funding a vast swath to be turned into a "coral nursery" to bring it back to life.
On the bright side, HRW apparently hasn't gotten to them yet. Enjoy yer animals, folks!
Happy Palm Sunday! This morning, I have a story that my missionary friend Melinda would just love- one that starts out with something you read, and then becomes something you heard.
The start of it is the Parable of the Wedding Feast, found in Matthew 22. Jesus had just blasted the religious of Jerusalem for their past actions of killing the prophets- and showing them what they were about to do to Him. Now He was about to come at it from a different angle, showing them what the results were.
Mat 22:1 And Jesus answered and spoke to them again by parables, and said, Mat 22:2 The kingdom of Heaven is like a certain king who made a marriage for his son. Mat 22:3 And he sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding; and they would not come. Mat 22:4 Again he sent out other servants, saying, Tell those who are invited, Behold, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and fatlings are killed, and all things are ready. Come to the marriage. Mat 22:5 But not caring, they went their ways, one to his field, another to his trading. Mat 22:6 And the rest took his servants and treated them spitefully, and killed them. Mat 22:7 But when the king heard, he was angry. And he sent out his armies and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city. Mat 22:8 Then he said to his servants, The wedding is ready, but they who were invited were not worthy. Mat 22:9 Therefore go into the exits of the highways, and as many as you shall find, invite them to the marriage. Mat 22:10 So the servants went out into the highways and gathered together as many as they found, both bad and good. And the wedding was filled with reclining guests. Mat 22:11 And the king coming in to look over the guests, he saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment. Mat 22:12 And he said to him, Friend, how did you come in here without having a wedding garment? And he was speechless. Mat 22:13 Then the king said to the servants, Bind him hand and foot and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Mat 22:14 For many are called, but few chosen.
So let's drill this down a bit. God is the king, and Christ His son. The invited were the religious of Israel. In vv 5-7 we see their reaction to the Word. First they ignored it; then they abused and killed the prophets that brought it. And the end result would be their own destruction- which we will understand more of if you tune into Wednesday Bible Study this week. But way before we go there, and before we go on, Luke actually elucidates a bit more on this initial invitation in a slightly different Parable he shared in Luke 14:
Luk 14:16 And He said to him, A certain man made a great supper and invited many.
Luk 14:17 And he sent his servant at supper time to say to those who were invited, Come, for all things are now ready.
Luk 14:18 And all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said to him, I have bought a piece of ground, I must go and see it. I beg you, have me excused.
Luk 14:19 And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to test them. I beg you, have me excused.
Luk 14:20 And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.
Luk 14:21 And coming up that servant reported these things to his lord. And the master of the house, being angry, said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city and bring in here the poor and the maimed, and the lame and the blind.
Luk 14:22 And the servant said, Lord, it is done as you have commanded, and still there is room.
Luk 14:23 And the lord said to the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges and compel them to come in, so that my house may be filled.
Luk 14:24 For I say to you that none of these men who were invited shall taste of my supper.
See, you don't have to kill a prophet to miss the Kingdom of God. All you have to do is make an excuse. "I have X thing going on in my life right now, hit me up later." "I know I should, but I've been occupied with Y."
"What? I go to church, what more do you want?"
I'll tell you. In a bit.
First though, see the progression of the invitation. In the Luke passage, v 21, the "certain Man" sent servants into that same city the first invitees were from. That is the Word passing from the so-called religious to the poor of Israel- the sinners, the tax collectors, the people who gladly heard the message that the Pharisees and priests were keeping to themselves. Note v 22, "and still there was room..." So now the Message goes out into the wider world- the Samaritans, the Gentiles, all those the original invitees thought were not only beneath them, but also beneath their own people. This is the Word going out to the world.
This is the Word going out to YOU.
Now, back to that question. Scroll back to the Matthew passage, vv 10-12. The servants brought in everyone they found, BOTH BAD AND GOOD. And you can find that in the Church today. The job of the servants- evangelists, missionaries, preachers, the ones who talk to you at work or leave the tract on your door- Their job is to bring you in. But being IN the church does NOT make you holy. Do you realize that in two of the most recent celebrated attacks on innocents- the church shooting in Texas, and the more recent "serial bomber"- that the first had been a youth leader in Vacation Bible School and had looked into ministry, and the second was described as "thinking about going out to the mission field" by his MOTHER just days before he started planting the bombs? WE lack the "division of soul and spirit" discernment to divide the good and the bad with the accuracy that God has. He KNOWS who has submitted their heart to Him, He KNOWS who wears the robes washed white in the Blood of the Lamb.
In vv 11-12, the King picks out one "guest" who came without a robe. When questioned, the man didn't know what to say- his excuses failed him before God. "What, I go to church, what more do you want?" FAILED him.
Now, let me take you to the hearing part. Days after I meditated on this, I listened to Alistair Begg telling the story in that lovely Scottish brogue. Paraphrasing, his version went like this:
I was watching the golf tournament (the Masters) in Augusta. And the winner gets this green jacket. That jacket gains them entrance into an exclusive club. And I thought to myself, I would enjoy joining that club, entering that clubhouse and partaking of all it held. And I asked myself what chance I had to go in by my own efforts- and my friends who have golfed with me can tell you, there is no chance at all. And that's when it hit me- ALISTAIR, YOU CAN'T GO IN THERE LIKE THAT! I cannot go in without that green jacket! And if I cannot go in there, cannot earn a jacket on my own efforts- I will have to HAVE SOMEONE ELSE PUT THEIR JACKET ON ME. And who will be willing to lend me their own jacket, that I may go in?
And that person is Jesus, who does not give you a green jacket, but a white robe, like the one we talked about in my SM about Zerubbabel and Joshua.
See, here is the crux of it. Even if you hear the call, even if you accept the invitation, even if you recline with others at the feast- if you are not in the "wedding clothes"- if you haven't submitted your life to Christ- Matthew 22:23 and Luke 14:24 await YOU. You can't go in there dressed like THAT.
"What? I go to church, what more do you want?" I want you to put one that "green jacket", that white robe. Anyone can walk into a building. Anyone can tithe the cumin and spices. I want to see you at the Feast.
Today we go to March 23rd of 1958- and watch NASCAR driver Gwyn Staley, who was running fourth in the race at Richmond and third in convertible standings, roll his car 3 times, hit a fence, and come up top-down. Suffering catastrophic injuries, he was DOA at the hospital. He was a few months shy of 31 years old.
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Oh, but cheer up, it gets better, because this is Time Machine, and Andy Williams is here! (Sorry, no bear though...)
"And no cookie, either! Not now, not ever, NEVER!"
This week, the Panel has a runaway winner for the first time in quite a while, a 6D that involves two of the Archies suing each other, (and speaking of Archie, guess who takes the "most M10 hits" lead back?), and the difference between Jimmy Velvit and Jimmy Velvet- and who he or they might be! Plus, who was the "Girl with the Giggle"- and why was she the highest paid UK female singer of her era? No laughing matter this- or maybe it is! Let's find out!
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NOTE: Next week, due to a "project" that will be seeing me "internet incommunicado" next week for a spell, you will only get an M10 update Thursday AM- NO TIME MACHINE next week.
I know, I know, but you'll survive.
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So let me get our first of 2 M10 debuts cued up. At #9, the second hit from the lp Nudes, here's Lucius:
And as the header says, this is a cover of a song from 2015 by the Australian act Tame Impala. The lp this was from, called Currents, was a #4 hit in the US.
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I am very excited and happy to have Andy Williams on the show this week! How are you, sir?
Confused. I thought your assistant said this was a Bob Hope Special...
Did my "assistant" look a lot like Elvis?
Come to think of it, yes... and I would have sworn the woman with him was Kay Starr...
That explains it. Elvis has become quite the little prankster on this show, and I wondered if he might have stowed away from last week. Anyway, what we do here is, you get an alphabetized list of the songs that got number one votes on various local charts this week. You read them off, and the fans guess off which one got the most, and the singer is next week's guest- which is how you got here!
What song did I win with?
Butterfly.
Oh, that. I thought Charlie Grace did it much better.
At any rate, here is your list.
All right, let me... well, here's Pat Boone with A Wonderful Time Up There... what's this?
That's where the song was charting on the Cashbox chart.
Oh, I see. So Pat was at #20 this week. You wouldn't think he'd have much of a chance, being that low...
You'd be surprised.
So then comes, the Monotones with The Book Of Love. They were at #49, in their first week in the chart. Young Laurie London is at #31 with He's Got The Whole World In His Hands. I recorded that one once. What's this notation?
That means that the song was our biggest mover this week. It went up from #51- a 20-notch jump.
Ah. The Chordettes- lovely girls- are at #5 with Lollipop.
Can't argue with the man there...
Buddy Holly and the Crickets were at #17 with Maybe Baby. Don Gibson had the country crossover O Lonesome Me at #39. This next song says you have a story about it?
Yeah, I thought I'd put that on the list so you don't think I have to go to the bathroom.
Excuse me?
I'll explain later. Anyway, the next song is Sugartime by the McGuire Sisters- which was former A's owner Charlie Finley's favorite song, if anyone cares... The reason I bring it up is that while the McGuires were #21 on the UK chart, there were also two OTHER versions of the song on their list. One was by Jim Dale at #29, who would go on to, among many other things, write the lyrics to the Seekers' big hit Georgy Girl, and much later became the narrator for the Harry Potter audiobooks!
What's an audiobook?
Andy, the audience I am talking to is 60 years in your future. If you ask about everything...
"You'll explain later."
Yep. Anyway, the other version at #22 was by one Alma Cogan. She'd been recording since '52 and by this point had 4 UK top 10s to her credit.
"Cogan was one of the first UK record artists to appear frequently on television, where her powerful voice could be showcased along with her bubbly personality and dramatic costumes. Her hooped skirts with sequins and figure-hugging tops were reputedly designed by herself and never worn twice. Cliff Richard recalls: "My first impression of her was definitely frocks – I kept thinking, how many can this woman have? Almost every song had a different costume. The skirts seemed to be so wide – I don't know where they hung them up!" Cogan topped the annual NME reader's poll as "Outstanding British Female Singer" four times between 1956 and 1960." (from wiki).
Oh, and John Lennon had an affair with her, just before her untimely death at the too-young age of 34. Back to you, Andy!
She was a striking woman, that's for sure. Chuck Berry was at #2 with Sweet Little 16, as we finally see the upper part of the charts here. Tequila by the Champs was the #1 on Cashbox. And finally, one of my favorites on the list, the Four Preps with 26 Miles, Santa Catalina. It was at #4. Back to you, Chris!
Thanks, Andy, and I just wanted to let you that you were one of my Mom's favorites, and she passed it on to me.
Well, you give that wonderful woman a kiss for me!
Would that I could, my friend, would that I could. Anyway, like I mentioned at the top, We have a runaway winner, who got almost half the vote- but as you don't know which one, guess from Tequila, Sweet Little 16, Lollipop, and 26 Miles, and we'll let you know a bit later on.
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Debut #2 I have to give props to M10 artist Mikaela Davis. She had it on her personal Spotify Playlist (which, by the way, is an eclectic mix of '60s and '70s and today that would remind you of me) and I had overlooked it in my perusal of this lp. From Antisocialites, I give you the seventh M10 hit for Alvvays...
Not My Baby, the 291st song of M10 history (2.4 % of which are Alvvays songs), comes in at #8.
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So how did two of the Archies end up suing each other? Was it Archie and Reggie finally having it out? Did Jughead forget to pay someone back for a cheeseburger? No, actually it was Ron Dante and Jeff Barry. On the hit Jingle Jangle, Barry did the deep parts, while the "female lead" was actually Dante's falsetto. The lawsuit comes in much earlier, and it was caused by one of my top ten stupidest songs of all time (someday I'll have to compile that list)- the Detergents and their parody Leader Of The Laundromat. The leader of the Detergents was Dante, and one of the angry writers of the mocked song Leader Of The Pack was Barry, who sued over lack of permission.
And this connects to our 6D victim through co-writer Paul Vance, who also had to his credit Brian Hyland's Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini, as well as the actual 6D victim. Now THAT song was a bit of a milestone. Backed up by the Ray Charles Singers, it would win the 1959 Grammy for best male vocal, and become the FIRST 45 to be certified Gold- 60 years ago on the 14th of this month! At #3 on Cashbox without a Panel vote- Perry Como's Catch A Falling Star.
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Stat Pack!
Speaking of Perry Como, he had the #1 on the UK chart this week with Magic Moments.
Our #58 in '58 brings up a bit of a story as well. It was a tune called We Belong Together by doo-woppers Robert (Carr) and Johnny (Mitchell). It was covered a bunch of times, by acts including Ritchie Valens, the Bellmonts, Peaches and Herb, the Fleetwoods, and Los Lobos- and two others. In 1961- a local Dallas singer going by the name of Jimmy Velvit had a local chart hit with it; later on, his manager and he had a falling out. So the manager decided to record it himself, but use the "Jimmy Velvit" name. He printed off a limited run, but there was some mix up that I didn't quite get that led to most of those records being destroyed. He re-pressed them- with the label makers making the honest mistake of changing the name to "Jimmy Velvet"- and this time it would "take off", reaching #75 on the Billboard charts. Thus, this song was covered by both Jimmy Velvit and Jimmy Velvet- in the same year- but not the same person.
I knew a whopping 16 this week!
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The remaining M10:
Dinosaur Jr got held at #10 with Hold Unknown.
Easy come, easy go for the Moondoggies, with Easy Coming back down a spot to #7.
Shilpa Ray moves back down a pair to #6 with Rockaway Blues.
Holding at #5 is Dan Croll's Tokyo.
Major Murphy hits the Iron Ceiling, moving from #9 to #4 with the Beatles-esque No. 1.
"The Iron Ceiling"? Yes, because the reign of the top three shows no sign of abating! At #3 for a third week, Sunflower Bean and Twenty Two.
By the narrowest of margins again, Beach House slides down to #2 with Lemon Glow.
And the new #1....
...Mikaela Davis and Little Bird!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And the Panel pick? Well, the Four Preps and the Chordettes managed 4% each...
Chuck Berry got 21%...
And the winner with 45.8% of the vote....
.... the Champs and Tequilaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Remember, be back in two weeks for The Champs ( or some facsimile thereof) and 1959! Next week, an early M10 update before CWM goes black for 24 hours......
This week we are in Numbers 3:16, but before we start, I want to clear up some misunderstanding.
These Wednesday messages are building a backstage "metastory" that I myself don't completely understand. Sometimes it might seem like just a bunch of bunny trails, but God has a goal. What I have seen is that each post has one of two goals:
1- To prove beyond any doubt that Jesus is the Son of God, and the only way to heaven.
2- To show the many amazing ways that God keeps His promises, even when we don't quite see them.
This week is going to be one of those #2 posts. The verse, with a little lead in:
Num 3:15 Number the sons of Levi according to their fathers' house, by their families. You shall number them, every male from a month old and upward. Num 3:16 And Moses numbered them according to the word of Jehovah, as he was commanded.
So our setting is just after the Israelites got to the desert, and got the Law from Sinai. God has already ordered the numbering of the other 11 tribes, and now will number Levi. But there is a big difference in the two censuses. The other tribes were counted by men ready to serve in battle. Levi, called by God to the priesthood, would not be numbered that way, but by ALL males from the age of 2 up, because they were excepted from war duty by being the Priesthood. And logically, you might think that gives you a bigger number for Levi. But forgive me a moment for being statistical, but let's look at that assertion.
Now, the * indicates that these were the tribes of the Sons of Joseph, split up on their own because Levi is removed from the main sequence. It might also be of note that these three at the bottom represent the direct lineage of Rachel, but we won't be going down that road just yet. So then, if those are the totals of just men of fighting age, then Levi should be pretty big in comparison, as their census included children and old men as well, right?
Levi- 22,000.
Why the big difference? Oh, there IS a reason, but we have to skip ahead in time- to the second census, taken before at last entering Canaan. Again, forgive the statistics, but there is some very important evidence there...
Judah- 76,500, +1,900
Dan- 64,400, +1,700
Simeon- 22,200, DOWN -37,100
Zebulun- 60,500, + 3,100
Issachar- 64,300, + 9,900
Napthali- 45,400, down -8,000
Reuben- 43,730, down -2,270
Gad- 40,500, down -5,100
Asher- 53,400, + 11,900
Ephraim- 32,500, down -8,000
Benjamin- 45,600, + 10,200
Manasseh- 52,700, +20,700
Levi, done the other way- 23,000, up 1,000.
Now I realize there are other threads one can pull from this- why the big increases in Asher and Manasseh, why the drop in Ephraim, which we saw two weeks ago was to become a greater nation than his brother. And they would be a bit difficult to follow up on, as the next two times a count was taken- once by David, once by Solomon- only counted the total warriors and didn't subdivide by tribe. But I want to focus on how Simeon lost 37% of his number over the time period- because that not only ties to Levi, but has a very definite explanation.
When you go back into Genesis and look at the story of the sons of Jacob, you find the story of their sister Dinah, and how she was defiled by a lad from Shechem. This lad wanted to marry her, and was willing to make things right with her brothers. So he and his father negotiated a deal with Simeon and Levi (who were full brothers to Dinah through Leah), wherein the entirety of the city would get circumcised. When they did, though, Simeon and Levi (apparently mainly Simeon) killed the men.
This story leads through a handful of apocryphal tales of Simeon being mightier than most, even to the point where it took an Egyptian platoon to subdue Simeon when Joseph later ordered him held hostage against the bringing of Jacob to Egypt. But, these are neither here nor there. What we need to know stays biblical, and takes us to the blessings handed out by the dying Jacob in Egypt, where he pays his boys back for all the crap they thought they had done right under his nose:
Gen 49:5 Simeon and Levi are brothers; tools of violence are their weapons.
Gen 49:6 Oh my soul, do not come into their secret. Let not my honor be united with their assembly. For in their anger they killed a man, and in their self-will they hamstrung a bull.
Gen 49:7 Let their anger be cursed, for it was fierce; and their wrath, for it was cruel. I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel.
And divide and scatter is just what God did. But while the Levites got their scattering by being named the Priesthood, which cut their numbers relative to the rest and gave them no home of their own in the dividing of Canaan, Simeon had a much more traumatic way there.
I undertook to see just what happened to Israel between the two censuses- and there were two great kill-offs whose numbers were mentioned in the Bible. The one came right after the rebellion of Korah, Dathan, and Abihram. You might remember Dathan from The Ten Commandments as the little ...er, man, who was the thorn in the side of Charleton Heston until the ground swallowed them up. That is Biblical fact. What you might not know was that there was a group of Israelites- never identified- that then rebelled the next day because "Moses had killed the 'people of God'" And because they rebelled, a plague swept the rebels, killing 14,000 before Moses made it right with God.
The second came after the famous story of Balaam. You all remember he was the guy with the talking donkey- but what you might not remember was that his first mission- as a prophet for hire, paid to curse Israel- failed when God made him bless them. But his second idea was to have his boss Balaak, king of Moab, send Moabite women to seduce and corrupt them. That a bunch of Israelites fell for it was born out in another plague, which was only stopped when Eliazar ran through with a spear the guy that started the corruption. That man was a Simeonite named Zimri. But before he was killed, another 22,000 had died.
Simeon's census dropped 37,100. 14,000 in one plague plus 22,000 in the other makes 38,000. Drop explained.
In fact, it wasn't over for Simeon. As it turns, they wouldn't get their own part of Canaan, either:
Jos 19:9 The inheritance of the sons of Simeon was out of the portion of the sons of Judah. For the part of the sons of Judah was too much for them; therefore the sons of Simeon had their inheritance within their inheritance.
Simeon had went from the third-biggest tribe to being so small that they got stuck with Judah's leftovers. Some sources say the tribe was altogether extincted, but since the later censuses don't subdivide, there's no way to know- unless you fly out to Revelation chapter 7. There you see the list of the tribes of Israel to be sealed by the angel in the last days- and Simeon and Levi do make the list.
Ephraim and Dan do not, and I want to spend just a moment on why.
Ephraim (the tribe from which Joshua came) and Judah (from whom came Caleb), would come to be the dominant tribes, and when the nation was split after Solomon's death, it was split into Judah and Ephraim (thus fulfilling Jacob's prophecy from two weeks ago). But, Ephraim quickly turned to idolatry- and look who helped:
1 Kings 12:26 Jeroboam thought to himself, “The kingdom will now likely revert to the house of David. 27 If these people go up to offer sacrifices at the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem, they will again give their allegiance to their lord, Rehoboam king of Judah. They will kill me and return to King Rehoboam.”
28 After seeking advice, the king made two golden calves. He said to the people, “It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.” 29 One he set up in Bethel, and the other in Dan. 30 And this thing became a sin; the people came to worship the one at Bethel and went as far as Dan to worship the other.[b]
In Bethel- which was by then in Ephramite territory- and one in Dan. So here we learn TWO rules; One, as I said above, God will keep His promises- but there is a requirement on our part. And two- if you turn against Him, He WON'T forget.
So I stumbled upon the above-named article on a click-through to the UK's Independent. It came about as a study called Which Foods May Be Addictive? The Roles of Processing, Fat Content, and Glycemic Load by Erica M. Schulte, Nicole M. Avena, Ashley N. Gearhardt, published on PLOS One. I thought it might be fun- even if the survey only used 35 foods "varying in nutritional composition", and thus rather subjective to the point of proving "processed food bad, natural food good," which we all already knew and some even cared about. But it's a list, and we all love lists, so let's have some fun, working our way up to the best most addictive.
First of all, we have to set the parameters. Apparently a Yale study came up with 7 criteria of which 3 had to be met to be considered "addictive". Those 7 were, paraphrased:
1- You eat more of it than you should, for more often than you should
2- You've tried unsuccessfully to give it up
3- Spending a lot of time on acquisition and consumption
4- Giving up important stuff to eat it
5- "Adverse effects, shamdverse effects"
6- Developing a tolerance
7- "Withdrawal symptoms"
Then they judged two study groups on how often each food was rated in each category, and came up with these results:
35- Cucumbers. Boy, I can't see why there! On a scale where 7-was "I can't live without it" and 1 being "what the heck IS it?", Cucumbers got a 1.53.
34- Carrots. While I would say my carrot intake over the years has increased, it is more of a, "easier than picking them out" thing to me.
33- Beans. Several of these items were offered sans sauce "so they didn't effect the results." That prolly hurt beans. Didn't do the cukes any good to be without dip, either, I imagine.
32- Apples. Really? Put some caramel on them and watch 'em shoot up the chart.
31- Brown rice. Uncle Ben will not be pleased...
30- Broccoli. Now you're courting disaster with the Broccoli gods...
I wasn't really looking for this, but since I found it...
29- Bananas. I call BS on THAT one. Ask any monkey.
28- Salmon. Now THAT depends on how you cook it.
27- Corn. No butter, no salt, right out of the bird feeder I guess.
26- Strawberries. Lemme guess, no shortcake, no cool-whip.
25- Granola bar. Lower if it's a KIND bar.
24- Water. WATER? Go without for a couple days and see where it charts, fool!
23- Crackers. "Plain". Must be Wheat Thins.
22- Pretzels. I know a lot of people who might fight this one. Have at it.
21- Chicken breast. And I suppose it was served raw...
20- Eggs. Hmm. You haven't seen me and still-warm hard boiled eggs, I guess.
19- Nuts. Again, nut fans, you're on your own here.
18- Muffin. Well, what KIND of muffin? Put some blueberries in it, then we'll talk.
17- Steak. BTW, we have passed the 2.50 mark with this one. Is it at Texas Roadhouse, medium rare? I may have a "beef" with this then...
16- Gummy candy. Child, please. Move these back under the granola bar.
15- Breakfast cereal. THAT'S a rather broad category. Are we talking a 5-pound bag of "Kroger-o's" or a steaming bowl of Coco-Wheats? Makes a BIG difference.
14- Popcorn, buttered. HEY! How does the popcorn get buttered and you can't even have nacho sauce for your stupid pretzel???
13- Rolls, plain. If you've seen me at Thanksgiving, you know the Brown-n-Serv's aren't even safe before they hit the oven.
12- Fried chicken. Now we're talking. And I guess I was right about #21 being raw.
11- BACON. How is this not top five? Must be raw, too.
10- Cheese.
9- Cake. Broad category. Should have added, "Except fruitcake".
8- Soda, non-diet. Well, I'm living proof on THAT one...
7-
I have a BIG problem with this even being THIS high. Number two, at least. And certainly at least a step ahead of...
6- French Fries. Which would be NOTHING without the burger, you hear me? NOTHING!
5- Ice Cream. Again, we need to check the flavor.
YES.
NO. A THOUSAND TIMES NO!
4- Cookie. This could mean a lot of things. Let's assume it was a double-stuff Oreo.
3- Chips. Again, way too generic. Ruffles with cheddar and sour cream? Yes. Lays with salt and vinegar? Geddouttahere.
2- CHOCOLATE. I can testify beyond a shadow of a doubt that this should be #1. If you disagree, you're prolly eating a cucumber, no dip.
Into the canal, part 1: Something he's never done before- go down the canal to get a drink...
Part 2: Bound and determined there is something to sniff down there- or was
Later, across the bridge and over to the big wood pile: No luck.
With the picture above it's time for another "Purdue cannot manage a forest" rant. Here we see a log that has been laying there for at least four years that this winter "needed to be cut up." This was an ongoing thing; the University combed the woods, and nearly any fallen object within five feet of the trail was cut to bits. Too bad they didn't happen along a bear taking a nap.
"Still a little muddy here, pops..."
Back to Purdue: Bad enough they cut these logs up and leave the debris where it lay... here's the wrapper to a chain saw blade they couldn't be bothered to pick up.
Meanwhile, we move on to Sunday morning...
Breaking the ice for a drink at the duck pond...
"Made it this far without falling on-camera..."
And up ahead, the tree that fell three years ago at the mouth of the ravine trail also gets cut up...
Because, anybody would rather see a bunch of cut-up logs just laying there rather than a fallen tree in its natural state..
That's me, always willing- but never needed- to make Purdue look retarded.
I have two electronic friends I want to start with today.
The first recently posted a challenging article on her blog, asking why, if God was going to put innocents in the Garden, why He would give them the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, and then tell them NOT to eat of it? Now, this is no attack on her- she would go on to answer the question, answering with the next logical question, until she stripped the whole story down to Man and God, in fellowship in the Garden- and who made that fellowship come apart.
The second? Well, I love her dearly, but if you follow her FB posts, you get the impression that she at the very least doesn't apply Luke 9:55 to herself. Many posts attack evildoers- some spiritual, some political- with a lot of venom. And on the rare occasion that a friend cautions her about the difference between the sinner and the sin, she makes it clear she has no intention of handing over the judge's gavel.
This is a story about responsibility. The first friend started her story questioning God's responsibility; she ended it by application to a situation in her own life- where an anger at someone was stripped down to a pain SHE felt, an attitude she then cultivated, and when she took it down to her OWN responsibility in the matter, the whole thing just seemed to evaporate.
Does the other friend have something she needs to peel away- some responsibility in the matters she rails against? I don't know. One thing I do know, that as much as I would hate to quote a mind-addled atheist on a Sunday message, I'm about to. My second friend should listen to a song I NEVER let play on my radio- Billy Joel's Only The Good Die Young. In the midst of his musical poem about how terrible the Catholic Church is for not allowing indiscriminate sex, he says one line that makes an awful lot of sense:
Well your mother told you all that I could give you was a reputation
Aw she never cared for me
But did she ever say a prayer for me?
As I woke up Sunday morning I listened to part of a talk given by the President of Oklahoma Wesleyan University. In it, he first told a story about opening a legislative session with a prayer and a short devotion- for which he was given several instructions. The second of which was, "don't touch on anything political." He used that as his opener, asking, "Who among you WROTE that?" He went on to question them on when it was that "they" decided that the biological fact of a baby's life, the biological fact of gender, or the Biblical requirement of marriage being one man and one woman, became "political". In other words when reality became "debatable". He had preceded that with another story on responsibility.
Apparently a chaplain at his school had preached a sermon on 1 Corinthians 13- the "Love" chapter- and afterwards, a student had let the chaplain know he had been "offended". The President asked for a transcript, knowing that his chaplin wasn't the kind to be sarcastic or offensive, to see if there was any reason. He found none. He also writes an op-ed for a local paper, and in it he discussed the issue- mainly on the lines of, "You come to a university to be challenged" and "this is a university, not a day care". In other words, life is tough, face it. You may have seen the letter, as someone sent it to Glen Beck, and he released it over Thanksgiving that year, challenging everyone to read it in their homes before the meal. It got 3 million FB views in a couple of weeks.
This is all about responsibility. Why was the student offended? The President surmised in his letter that it was the student's own conscience bothering him. Perhaps he had not love, as Paul said. But instead of challenging himself, asking himself what bothered him about it, he tried to silence the chaplain. The lawmakers apparently didn't want to hear about their responsibility in people debating what is life, what is a man, what is a woman. My second friend doesn't want to ask the question, "Did I pray for Stephen Hawking BEFORE he died?" (for one example).
My first friend? She was honest enough to realize at the end, that every question was a finger pointing at herself.
As I prayed this morning, it struck me that God once again set an example in all this. My friend could have easily turned her original question into, "Why, God, don't You take responsibility for all this? After all, YOU put that tree in the Garden..."
And God would answer, "I DID. I died to pay for it, so you wouldn't HAVE to."
He didn't stop at taking responsibility for His Own actions (which were righteous anyway). He peeled back the layers to OUR responsibility- and STILL paid for it.
