So this was another "Rainy Days and Mondays" day, only on a Tuesday. To lighten the mood, I thought I might do a quick tour of the news sites and see what is the Dumbest thing I can find on each front page.
CNN- Write your own punch line to...
So I googled Joe Biden in hopes of seeing why his day went so well. What I found:
Alyssa Milano, someone you ALWAYS want to have your back, taking heat on Twitter for defending Joe...
Joe "slurring and stammering" his way through a campaign speech- obviously he needs to go after that Poly-grip vote...
MSNBC, that bastion of reliable news, with a story titled, "You can tell Trump is scared of Biden"...
The story, "Lucy Flores isn't the only woman Biden has touched..." which is a cornucopia of one-liners on its own...
On the other hand, his poll went up... oops, his poll NUMBERS went up, so I guess there is something in the "Scratch and sniff" campaign method...
BBC- But seriously, folks...
The Indian army has claimed to have found footprints of the yeti, sparking jokes and disbelief on social media.
The army tweeted to its nearly six million followers on Monday that it had discovered "mysterious footprints of mythical beast 'Yeti' at the Makalu Base Camp [in the Himalayas]".
As one could soon see, almost everyone found the evidence credible...
Moscow Times- Not in my back province
Here we see Russian National Guardsmen arriving in riot gear in a seemingly deserted train depot in Arkhangelsk region. Why? Because, for the last few years, Russia has been trying to build a landfill in the area to take trash from more populated areas (Read: Moscow). And for the last few months, residents and activists have been standing guard over the heavy equipment needed to DIG the landfill, preventing its use. The governor of the region is solidly on both sides of the issue...
Arkhangelsk region Governor Igor Orlov said the landfill project's fate will remain unresolved until late 2019, when he said all the needed paperwork will become available. “Only when we all see the project documents will we be able to officially and reasonably say if the planned landfill threatens the environment or not,” he wrote on social media on Tuesday.
In other words- be strong and defiant long enough to get votes for the next election, not long enough to OFFICIALLY piss Putin off.
Xinhua: Not exactly stupid, but sure explains our fabric at work...
I'll just leave this here...
(NOTE: Our fabric is supposed to be quality checked, with the Chinese vendor putting tags where flaws have occurred. They are 100% on places where they cut the fabric off completely. Flaws like stains, burrs, runs, etc.? About 50/50 today.)
Deutsche Welle: You don't have better things to do?
Pope Francis urges hairdressers to stop gossiping
The pope has told hairdressers to "avoid succumbing to the temptation of chatter." He said they should take inspiration from a 16th century saint who was known for cutting hair, bloodletting and amputations.
Which is what I'd be focusing on instead of the pedophile scandals and the loss of Europe to Muslim migrants. BTW, remind me not to go to St Martino de Porres's barber shop. Apparently he charges an arm and a leg.
So Saturday morning, I got dueling messages from the kids, asking if we could watch Isaiah. Seems that big brother had a game at the cold swamp known as Foster Park, dear ol' Dad was "barley working" (his spelling) at his job, and the Peanut was saddled with a bit of a runny nose and a cough and it was a bit cold for him to attend- particularly with rain on the way. So, of course we said fine!
Now this was going to be our first time with him w/o the folks, so we were bracing ourselves for waterworks as soon as Mommy hit the road. Guess what? Nothing of the sort.
We started out the adventure watching a pixar-type Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles show that entertained both he and I. But when it was over, Grandma decided perhaps that was too violent, put the TV on PawPatrol, and left for some McDonalds. PP got boring real fast- and when the best alternative you find is Clifford the Big Red Dog, you know these shows ain't gonna cut it for long. So after climbing up in the chair and telling me some long involved story (in Peanutese) with a lot of arm-waving, he then evolved from climbing up on the sofa and around Gampaw (on the floor) to climb up the sofa and down Gampaw, to both up and down Gampaw, with some "Watch me jump off your leg" for good measure. Then came, "Gampaw's got a kleenex for my runny nose, watch me run away", followed by me giving up on cartoons for the lingering semi-drama of the NFL draft, more climbing, and Grandma returning with burgers and fries.
After eating, I laid down on the floor- and that's when it really kicked off:
(Hopefully that video loaded right... I guess I'll see in a few minutes...)
It became a big wrestling/climbing/'chase me' match that lasted the better part of an hour! It looked so fun that Scrappy even tried to be a part of it, though his part was basically coming up to me with a, "Remember when WE used to do that?" look.
Eventually, Gampaw started to wear down, and Grandma took a bit over- though it seemed like her main idea was to see what part of his remaining lunch/home-brought snacks she could talk him into eating. Scrappy, however, was now kinda upset and needed some attention, so the two of us took out the trash as the rain began to fall...
And SOMEBODY didn't like getting left out.
He stood arms crossed and pouting when I got back in, and would only yell if you tried to do something with him. So I would "yell" back, and we went back and forth in a test of wills until he was good and steamed. Then, I decided to bring it to an end. Isaiah has always wanted- and been denied- access to the upstairs, so I took his hand and led him up the stairs (a minor break in the battle, to be sure), and deposited him on my bed. Now I have a high bed against a big sliding window. and I thought perhaps we could dial the will down by talking about the view. No such luck. He stood there, arms crossed again. Then got mad he couldn't open the windows and presumably walk out. And everytime I said anything to him, he yelled at me to "Shut up" (in Peanutese, of course). Even trying to show him my sonic screwdriver netted the same response. So I just dug into my Dad's bag of tricks, and decided to annoy him into submission.
I sang him My Country Tis Of Thee, followed by the Daniel Boone theme. By the end, he was so mad he was shaking. He took a poke at the window blinds. I gave him the gentlest of swats on the butt, laid him down next to me. He cried a bit, I whistled over it, and in roughly a minute he was out cold.
Win, Gampaw.
So we laid there for about 45 minutes till Mom showed up. She pulled him to her by the foot across the bed, and his face was that eyes-half-open, hair everywhere look that I haven't seen since a far-beyond-the-legal-limit friend at my old house took his car out onto the road, spun the tires until his radiator hose blew off, came back in and passed out, and we tried to wake him by setting his leg hair on fire.
By the time she got him downstairs, he was just conscious enough to say, "Bye" (in actual English) and wave. What a fun time!
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Now, a little announcement about this week's Time Machine. This week, we have a LARGE Panel. Large enough that I was actively praying we didn't end in a tie, because I would have been up half the night trying to do the run-off.
Chris, aren't you exaggerating? You tell me. ONE HUNDRED AND SIX stations. THIRTY-NINE candidates, around half of which I never heard of before.
So....
What I am going to do is do a Thursday 'One-Vote-Wonders' post ONLY- with maybe a few videos and some stories behind the 20 OVWs. Then, the regular TM on Friday. Otherwise, Cass and Missy were going to say, "Oh, HELL no!" at doing the picks this week! And maybe me, too! So tune in Thursday AND Friday for TM fun!
Welcome to April 26th, 1966. Just yesterday, "TASS, the official Soviet news agency, reported that Asmar Salakhova of the Armenian SSR was the oldest woman in the world at the supposed age of 153 years old. Mrs. Salkhova claimed that she had been born in 1812, that she had been forced to go into exile at the age of 65 after an invasion in 1877, and that after 62 years away, when she was 137, "her dream came true" of returning home in 1949. "
Sorry about the poor quality of the photo, but it was taken in 1860 but it was either this or I would have had to have signed up for a free trial, and if you know me, that wasn't going to happen. Ms Salakhova virtually disappears at this point- no further info was ever forthcoming. So was it for real? Could be- the Caucasus is known for extremely long-lived people. And really, on a list of "longevity myths", she only came in 36th. But, I remember in my first copy of the Guinness Book, the Russians were to have claimed to have invented both beer and baseball, so you tell me.
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Welcome to this week's Time Machine, with a visit from Peter Noone a bit later on, a semi-live 6D, the two new debuts on the M10 I promised last week, and almost nobody gets sued!
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First off, let's do the "semi-live" 6D! This means, "I actually did do the research prior to typing (but not by much) and was too lazy to take notes"! So let us start out with the question, "Who was Patricia Querubin?" Well, she was a little Philly girl better known as Pat Kirby, and she was a jazz vocalist who landed a job on Steve Allen's Tonight Show, even made an album- but at the age of 20, apparently chose marriage and retired. She might be most famous for being "the spoken word girl" in the Four Lads' big hit Moments To Remember in 1955 ( "A drive-in movie/Where we'd go/And somehow never watched the show"). The Lads come into our picture because of the various songs like this one were covered a decade or so later by the Vogues. One of the bigger Lads hits that the Vogues charted was the two-sided single with No, Not Much, the b-side and bigger hit at a peak of 34 on Billboard. The A-side was a song called Woman Helping Man, charted at #47, and was written by one Mark Charron. Unlike most of these trips, Mark isn't one who made a BIG dent in the music line, but he did write several songs on BJ Thomas's first lp, I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry. However, he did not write the title cut, originally done by Hank Williams Sr (who may or may not have written this song, either). But BJ recorded it with his band, the Triumphs, and it was at #9 this week without a panel vote.
Last week, I told you that my quest for psychedelia led me to 2 songs that very well could be on the M10 this week. And they both are! This first one at #10, while far from what I'd put under the psychedelic umbrella, is pretty good. First recorded as a Japan-only bonus track on the 2012 lp Zoom, it got a bit more prominence when it featured on the soundtrack for the 2014 movie about Abscam, American Hustle. At #10, here's ELO:
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And now, we want to welcome back for his second turn at the Panel picks, Mr Peter Noone of Herman's Hermits! Nice to see you again, Peter!
Good to be here, mate!
So we are in the 113th week of the POTM elections, and your band is one of just 13 acts to win multiple times- and one of only four to win twice with the same song!
Really? I must be in some good company, yes?
Well... the other three songs to hit twice are the Monkees' I'm A Believer, Barry Manilow's Mandy, and Mary McGregor's Torn Between Two Lovers... So depends a lot on taste.
But still, puts us in an elite grouping...
Sure does, and a bit later I'll be adding on just how elite a group. But for now, you have 22 contestants from 91 stations...
Hey... if memory serves, I had 22 contestants the LAST time...
Yes you did, and I checked on that- only 6 of them made both lists, so we're cool!
Of course, now you can't tell anyone who the repeaters are...
Not till the end, anyway. But that doesn't stop you from kicking off with the one hit wonders!
Right-o! So the one vote brigade contains: Tommy Roe's Sweet Pea at Cashbox's #144 this week- one of THREE sub-100 songs on the list. In fact, the next one is our world-famous #101 song this week- The Standells with Dirty Water. Looks like Philadelphia tops Boston this week... Oh, this was one of the repeaters- Australian act Bobby and Laurie with Hitchhiker... And from Radio Hilversham, off the coast of Holland at sea, we have the Kinks and the delightful Dedicated Follower Of Fashion, still a month out from being on your charts. From Radio London, we have the Alan Price Set with Put A Spell On You, which was actually #9 on the homeland's official charts, but never fit in over here. Hmm... this is an odd note...
Sure is, Peter! For what I believe to be the first time, a song has gotten a Panel vote two weeks running- which means 53 weeks apart! And again amazingly, not a big chart smash. Last week, Van Morrison's Them got a vote for Gloria, and they do so again THIS week- probably because the remake and much bigger hit by the Shadows Of Knight was in the top 20.
Finally, we have a fine song by the Isley Brothers, This Old Heart Of Mine, at #26, and Nancy Sinatra with These Boots Are Made For Walkin' at #57.
Okay, and here is the "also receiving votes" list:
The Shades Of Blue are at #127 with the R&B song Oh How Happy (You Have Made Me); they have two votes, as do: SSGT Barry Sadler's The Ballad Of The Green Berets. One might think this was just a Yank thing, but one vote was from South Africa, and the charts back home have it at #25! Here, he's at #13. The Outsiders' Time Won't Let Me is at #6... ..and the 2s finish with the Beach Boys and Sloop John B at #7. Then, with three votes each, we have Percy Sledge's When A Man Loves A Woman at #35...
And I might note here, Percy won it all the last time you were here, Peter- and that he won this week's big mover, with a 40-notch jump from #75!
My! Then we have the Loving Spoonful with Daydream at #11, Johnny Rivers and Secret Agent Man at #4, Bobby Dylan's Rainy Day Women #s 12 and 35 at #37, and the Righteous Brothers with Soul And Inspiration at - wait for it- NUMBER ONE...
And that means that you won't have much to go on on the Final Group! In fact, it wasn't much of a battle yet again, with the winner outpolling the four other contenders combined! Let 'em have it, good man...
Indeed! Choose my successor from the Rascals' Good Lovin' at #3, The Mamas and Papas with Monday Monday at #8, Paul Revere and the Raiders with Kicks at #5, Our own Leaning On A Lampost at #10, and Cher with Bang Bang, My Baby Shot Me Down at #2!
All top tens, but no #1! Good luck, everybody, and one we go...
Once before, I did a stat story on our POTMs, and I want to give a bit of an update, along with another way of looking at the list. The Beatles claimed their 6th trip to the podium not long ago, and that easily leads the field for appearances. Four others have made it 3 times, Elvis, the Stones, the Everly Brothers, and Barry Manilow with his amazing two-weeks-in-a-row performance last year. The Hermits become one of 8 acts with 2 trips. But what was the biggest hit on the POTM podium? Well, last time I did it by weeks at #1, which gave us a pretty 50s/early60s-centric list. So I decided to do it a different way. So after the other debut- and in place of the stat pack that got denuded of its two big guns in the Panel reveal- I'll give you the biggest POTMs by worldwide sales! But first...
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Another first for TM: When Lucius hit like a hammer with Eventually, the video clearly said, "Tame Impala cover". I had, for some reason, never listened to the original, until they came up as a modern psychedelic band. So I listened, and I fell in love again! So this will be the first time a song makes the M10 twice by two different artists! At #8...
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So here for your entertainment, direct from wikipedia, the top ten worldwide biggest selling POTM winning songs! And it was a tight one- the last song was the last one on the wiki list!
10- The Tornadoes, Telstar, 5 M sales
9- Tommy James and the Shondells, Crimson And Clover, 5 M
8- Elvis Presley, Don't Be Cruel, 6 M
7- Tony Orlando and Dawn, Knock Three Times, 6 M
6- Jackson Five, I Want You Back, 6 M
5- Beatles, Can't Buy Me Love, 7 M
4- Venus, Shocking Blue, 8 M
3- Monkees, I'm A Believer, 10 M
2- Kyu Sakamoto, Sukiyaki, 13 M
And the all time biggest seller of the Panel winners?
Bill Haley and his Comets, Rock Around The Clock, with 25 Million records sold!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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The remaining M10:
This was a rough group to pick from- a lot of songs I would have put higher if we had more numbers between 1 and 10! As we don't, Criminal Hygiene ends up one spot higher at #9 with Hardly News.
And Alkonost and the Dig swap places- the Russians dropping to 7 with Tanets Tsveten'ya, and the Dig up to 6 with Moonlight Baby.
The stunner was Lily and Madeline, being dropped from 1 to 5 with Can't Help The Way I Feel. Sorry ladies, but I can't help... you know...
Also slipping down was two-time #1 Idlewild's Dream Variations, 2 spots to #4.
J Mascis avoids the slaughter and holds at 3 with See You At The Movies.
Mara Connor climbs a pair to #2 with No Fun...
And the new top dog, after a 5-to-1 climb...
...Maybird and Don't Keep Me Around!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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And the Panel?
Well, Cher and the Hermits only net you 4.4%...
The Raiders, a mere 5.5%...
And the Rascals, only 7.7%...
But the winner, with 27.4 %....
The Mamas and the Papas with Monday Monday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And you can bet I'll be enjoying next week with Michelle Phillips... oh, and Cass Elliot, too... and 1967!!!!
PS: The repeaters? Good Lovin', Monday Monday, Sweet Pea, Hitchhiker, Rainy Day Women, and Sloop John B. See you next time!
So today we hit the second half of the 2019 A to Z mash-up, my lazy-man's way to participate in the A to Z Blogging Challenge. This year, we are going through the Democrat candidates in the 2020 Presidential race, and you can go back to the original post (April 11th) to catch the rules, or just pick up the "Martin concept of stretching" used to put each candidate into a spot. Again, with thanks for your help to Rolling Stone and Quartz for helping me with stats and trivia and Laurie for helping me find where I stupidly put my notes. And, away we go!
M is for Michael Bennet (Had to use the first name here). Michael was about to jump all in until diagnosed at the beginning of this month with prostate cancer, so he's essentially on the "campaign DL" until he recovers from upcoming surgery. His grandparents on Mom's side were caught in the Warsaw ghetto during WWII. His Dad was as non-practicing a Catholic as his Mom's family were non-practicing Jew, but he "believes in God" (For more details on that, see James 2:19). His wife is an environmental whacko lawyer for what used to be the Sierra Club's legal defense wing, now called "Earthjustice". And his policy keystone is something called "Medicare X"- which, if you think it sounds like a comic book monster, you're close. From what I can see, it's essentially a way to seep medicare-for-all in without the cost shock of dropping it in in one swell foop.
N is for Bill deBlasio (Because I was running out of spots and thought "N for nitwit." It made me laugh, so...). The New York mayor has his detractors, that's for sure. Anyone who thinks it's a good idea to take 8 and a half million people crammed into each other at close to 50 per square acre and give them legal marijuana I have to question. But even our left-leaning friends at Rolling Stone have there doubts...
The mayor of New York since 2014, de Blasio appears to have come down with an unfortunate case of 2020 fever...
And then, there's the obligatory Quinnipiac poll:
A Quinnipiac poll released in early April found that 76 percent of New York City voters don’t think he should run for the White House....
Ouch...
O is for Beto O'Rourke. Another member of the ethnically-challenged wing of the party, he believes that tacking a Mexican nickname on an Irish backside makes him more Latino than, say, a second-generation Cuban born in Canada. Still, he's closer to Hispanic than Rachel Dolezal is to being black. And he has AOC-level star power, along with the same bunch of nothing behind it that Ms Ocasio-Cortez has. On the bright side, if he fails, he's got experience to fall back on, playing drums for several obscure punk-rock bands. Then he can call himself Beat-o then.
P is for Pete Buttigieg. In addition to being the candidate who most desperately needs to change his name before running (because Booty-gig- especially given his sexual orientation), Pete is our hometown Indiana candidate, in the fine tradition of Hoosiers like Wendell Wilkie. He once made Hoosiers proud by saying, "All Lives Matter"- until the buttercup left reminded him that that statement cut the feet out from under their race-division darlings at Black Lives Matter, and apologized for thinking that EVERYONE was more important than just one race.
Q is for Seth Moultan (Because he was stationed at Quantico once. Hey, at least I didn't put the last guy here...). A marine who was one of the first to enter Baghdad in 2003, I hate to say bad things about him, other than his misguided party affiliation. In fact, he would be one of the more palatable candidates for me, except for his grooming by the Young Global Leaders forum (making him an NWO) and a member of the "Trump's a Nazi" club (which makes him TDS-positive).
R is for Tim Ryan. Like Moultan, RS bashes Ryan for being in the group that tried to eject Mother Nancy Pelosi as Speaker this last cycle. ... Ryan’s role in the failed Pelosi coup in 2018 speaks against his political instincts... which is their polite way of saying, "Nice job, dipstick." He was a young protege of Jim Trafficant, well known for being kicked out of Congress for corruption and spending 7 years in the slammer.
S is for Bernie Sanders.
AKA your "Nuff Said" moment for this post. The only question was which meme to choose...
T is for Tulsi Gabbard. The RS and Quartz articles give me a handful of reasons our first Hawaiian/Hindu candidate won't get any traction:
1- ... and sided with Russian president Vladimir Putin against Obama on US intervention in Syria...
2- ...After Attorney General William Barr released a controversial summary of Special Counsel Mueller’s Trump/Russia conclusions, Gabbard said that it was time to “put aside partisan interests” and “move forward.”...
3- ...Gabbard’s rollout also received an odd signal boost from Kremlin-backed English language media networks, RT and Sputnik..
OMG, more Russian collusion! Get me Mueller on line one!
U is for Marianne Williamson (for the 'unknown' husband she was married to "for a minute and a half"...) Meet Oprah Winfrey's spiritual self-help guru. She learned her craft from a gigantic book from a 'emotionally tortured psychologist' who claimed "it was dictated by Jesus Christ himself over a seven-year period". In addition, when she isn't helping you find spiritual peace, she isn't exactly a fun person to be with, a la Amy Klobuchar:
She has had major blow-ups with producer Howard Rosenman and photographer-producer Michael Childers, among those most responsible for pulling in big names like Bette Midler, David Hockney, Meryl Streep and Anjelica Huston to her star-studded fund-raising events. And last month, the staff of her Los Angeles AIDS charity revolted after she fired the most recent in a series of executive directors. Feared in some quarters for her explosive temper, Williamson acknowledges that she often comes across as "the bitch for God."
now THAT will look good on a campaign poster...
V is for Steve Bullock (Because when you Google him for some help, you get another Steve Bullock who runs some outfit called Virgin Active health clubs). Steve is Governor of Montana, a firm union man with the support of the AFL-CIO, and the 4th most popular Governor in the nation (not to mention the only Dem in the top 8). He also is not getting along with fellow candidate Nitwit Bill deBlasio; it seems he fired a dude named O'Brien for sexual harassment while under his employ... but didn't bother to tell Nitwit Bill's people about it when O'Brien was being vetted to work for HIM. O'Brien got busted for harassment again- and then NB found out about the earlier case after reading it somewhere. When he busted Bullock for it, he claimed he didn't spill the beans because he though firing O'Brien once would straighten him up.
W is for Elizabeth Warren. The charter member of or "ethnically confused" club, our beer drinking 1-1,024th Native American is, to her credit, focused on helping lower income groups get a better break, at least when she's not spewing TDS all over Twitter. Her main policy, other than being not Trump as well as not Indian, is a 2% 'wealth tax' on incomes over $50 million, and 3% on those over a billion. She's pledged to take no money from billionaires or their PACs; with that wealth tax, I doubt she has much to worry about there.
X is for Michael Bloomberg (Because, last man left.) The former NY mayor and probable non-contributor for Elizabeth Warren is on Quartz's "Who's not running" list, announcing yet another "NY bail-out" on March 5th. Just behind Bernie on the 'but will he live out the term' list at 76, he had "re-become" a Dem in October last year after being a RINO since 2001 so he could win NYC. Forbes says his net worth went up $3.7 billion the last 9 months; based on that, Elizabeth Warren will be expecting around a $149 million tax payment for the year, thank you.
Y is for Andrew Yang. Andy is a tech guru with tons of money whose big idea is, "A $1,000 monthly check sent to every American over 18, so they can pay their bills as robots take over jobs." He told RS, “You want to universalize it so it’s seen as a true right of citizenship.” Maybe I'll just leave that one there...
Z is for Wayne Messam (b/c of his support for gun-free ZONES). Actually I missed him on RS, shooting right past since he got a mere 8 lines between McAullife and Bennet. He had a much more expanded write up on Quartz, who claimed he was a former NFL player (not true, though he was a decent wide receiver for a National Champion Florida State team). He, like Nitwit Bill, is a mayor; of course his city, Miramar, FL, is 70.5 times smaller. As you might have guessed from the lead in, gun-control is his issue; he also wants to cancel all student debt and make what's left of Puerto Rico a state. As RS points out, at least his town is a hair bigger than Buttigieg's South Bend, IN.
And there you have it! Everything you'll need to vote wisely. Be sure to share it with the illegals on your lawn care service and any dead relatives you still speak to!
Me: "Who shall I do for H? There's Herod, Haman..."
GOD: "Hannah."
Me: Well, there's been a lot done with Hannah, so..."
GOD: "HANNAH."
And not being totally stupid, I said, "Well, I better open up 1 Samuel and get refreshed on Hannah."
Thumbnail on Hannah: Married to a guy with two wives. He loves Hannah, the other girl keeps putting out babies while Hannah is barren. Other girl lords it over Hannah, because you know what a symbol of esteem having kids- especially boys- was back then. So she prays when they go up to the yearly sacrifice at the Tabernacle in Shiloh, and High Priest and general fat blob Eli overhears. He thinks she's drunk at first, but when he hears her story, he says, "Go in peace, and the God of Israel grant your petition that you have made to him."
She conceives soon later, and gives birth to the child we will know as Samuel. And she made a promise to God in regards to this child:
1Sa 1:11 And she vowed a vow and said, "O LORD of hosts, if you will indeed look on the affliction of your servant and remember me and not forget your servant, but will give to your servant a son, then I will give him to the LORD all the days of his life, and no razor shall touch his head."
So then when the child is old enough, she hands him over to Eli, and then sings a song praising God. And with that, Hannah drops off the Biblical radar. Or does she?
Now I gave a beautiful story terribly short shrift here, but I have a reason. Or rather, God had a reason, because he led me to Hannah- and a particular part of her story- to put something in all our minds.
Now, those of you into Bible study know that in Luke's Gospel, Mary sings a prayer song like Hannah's, right after her cousin Elizabeth's baby (the future John the Baptist) leapt in her womb upon "seeing Jesus " across the bellies, so to speak. In fact, they are SO similar- well, here, let's compare:
1Sa 2:1 And Hannah prayed and said, "My heart exults in the LORD; my strength is exalted in the LORD. My mouth derides my enemies, because I rejoice in your salvation.
Luk 1:46 And Mary said, "My soul magnifies the Lord,
Luk 1:47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
Luk 1:48 for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
(Note #1- the word Hannah uses for salvation is Yeshua- which of course is Jesus's name. Mary's "savior" according to the concordance can be used interchangeably with Christ.)
1Sa 2:2 "There is none holy like the LORD; there is none besides you; there is no rock like our God.
1Sa 2:3 Talk no more so very proudly, let not arrogance come from your mouth; for the LORD is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed.
1Sa 2:4 The bows of the mighty are broken, but the feeble bind on strength.
Luk 1:49 for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name.
Luk 1:50 And his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation.
Luk 1:51 He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts;
Luk 1:52 he has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate;
Are you getting goosebumps with this?
1Sa 2:5 Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread, but those who were hungry have ceased to hunger. The barren has borne seven, but she who has many children is forlorn.
1Sa 2:6 The LORD kills and brings to life; he brings down to Sheol and raises up.
1Sa 2:7 The LORD makes poor and makes rich; he brings low and he exalts.
Luk 1:53 he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty.
Even the hungry and full analogy- in the SAME order...
Now this next, pay particular attention to the passages I bolden...
1Sa 2:8 He raises up the poor from the dust; he lifts the needy from the ash heap to make them sit with princes and inherit a seat of honor. For the pillars of the earth are the LORD's, and on them he has set the world.
1Sa 2:9 "He will guard the feet of his faithful ones, but the wicked shall be cut off in darkness, for not by might shall a man prevail.
1Sa 2:10 The adversaries of the LORD shall be broken to pieces; against them he will thunder in heaven. The LORD will judge the ends of the earth; he will give strength to his king and exalt the power of his anointed."
Luk 1:54 He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy,
Luk 1:55 as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his offspring forever."
Do you get that the last part of Hannah's song is a prophecy of Jesus, and the last part of Mary's is an acknowledgement of the FULFILLMENT of the prophecy?
I was blown away. But there's more that ties these two women together.
They each had a child who came to bring Israel back to God- and in the end, both were rejected, as the people rejected God...
1Sa 8:4 Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah
1Sa 8:5 and said to him, "Behold, you are old and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations."
1Sa 8:6 But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, "Give us a king to judge us." And Samuel prayed to the LORD.
1Sa 8:7 And the LORD said to Samuel, "Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them.
Mat 23:37 "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not!
Mat 23:38 See, your house is left to you desolate.
Mat 23:39 For I tell you, you will not see me again, until you say, 'Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.'"
And how about their husbands? We all know about Joseph....
Mat 1:18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit.
Mat 1:19 And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly.
Mat 1:20 But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.
Mat 1:21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins."
Mat 1:22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:
Mat 1:23 "Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel" (which means, God with us).
Mat 1:24 When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife,
Mat 1:25 but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.
But what about Hannah's hubby, Elkanah? You can read the story and miss the significance...
1Sa 1:20 And in due time Hannah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Samuel, for she said, "I have asked for him from the LORD."
1Sa 1:21 The man Elkanah and all his house went up to offer to the LORD the yearly sacrifice and to pay his vow.
1Sa 1:22 But Hannah did not go up, for she said to her husband, "As soon as the child is weaned, I will bring him, so that he may appear in the presence of the LORD and dwell there forever."
1Sa 1:23 Elkanah her husband said to her, "Do what seems best to you; wait until you have weaned him; only, may the LORD establish his word." So the woman remained and nursed her son until she weaned him.
And when I went to find out what he meant by that, I learned that by the Law given to Moses, a husband could invalidate any vow a wife made, if he thought it was foolish. But when he heard why she wanted to wait- just like Joseph, once he heard from Gabriel- he agreed to it.
Now all of this has an eerie feel to it- you KNOW God is telling us something. But to learn what, we have to think about the one BIG difference between Hannah and Mary.
Hannah was humbling herself before God, desperate for a child.
Mary not only had a pregnancy out of the blue, it was the out-of-the-blue-est pregnancy of all time!
But I didn't know what that meant until this morning (keeping in mind that as I write this, "F is for..." doesn't post until tomorrow).
Hannah wanted a child with all her heart.
Mary had no idea that she was about to become a mother.
And BOTH of them started out by saying what?
And Hannah prayed and said, "My heart exults in the LORD...
And Mary said, "My soul magnifies the Lord...
They BOTH came to God in exultation- He had given them the GREATEST VICTORY a woman could have.
And now? A baby is symbolic of a woman's 'greatest defeat.' She would rather murder a life than have HER life plan interrupted.
Last week, God asked, "Why did they so soon turn away?" This week, He asked, "Why do they give up the greatest victory outside of salvation I gave to them?"
I'll be honest with you, I don't know how to end this. I know that having trusted God to ask His question the last two weeks is starting to scare me. I know how Peter felt...
Luk 5:8 The fishermen were all amazed at the many fish they caught. When Simon Peter saw this, he bowed down before Jesus and said, "Go away from me, Lord. I am a sinful man!"
First, a walk last week. Bunnies, flowers, and birdies...
Then, Saturday's Easter get-together...
Fist-bumpin'
Mario Kartin'
KC and Shenan think it's funny, but it's giving Laurie and Lily headaches...
The egg hunt begins
Look who stole my chair...
Lily getting tired...
Isaiah found a chocolate bunny, not part of the hunt. Nobody claimed it, so Laurie just sent it home with the kids. Turns out, it was hers...
"I told you, it wasn't mine..."
Grandma has fun with the Peanut
So then Easter Sunday, while I watched Church, a squirrel, whom I am naming "Newbie" saunters up to the feeder...
At this point he's figured out how to climb the fence- but NOT the shed. So he's sharing what falls to the ground...
...with Mr Chip.
Not to mention the sloppy members of the Sparrow Mafia dropping it.
Until about here, when he ran Mr Chip off
"If I wasn't so old, I'd show him a thing or two..."*
* Truth is, Scrappy is pretty much oblivious to them anymore. He did notice at one point, though. He went out to pee, which made Newbie skitter under the fence. Newbie thought he would go around the shed to observe when we left the area- only to face Scrappy through the fence whilst he was peeing. Scrappy jumped, Newbie split.
"I saw it! Stupid squirrel!"
After about a half-hour of contenting himself with ground fall and trying to figure out how, he finally climbs up the shed...
...though the concept of reaching out to the feeder was still a bit baffling. He was POed at this point, switching his tail so hard I'm surprised it's not blurry in the pic.
A lone man looking for means of expression in a tsunami of information. Seeking truth justice and the American way in the perspective of a Nixon conservative. And the Commissioner of the free world's smallest and best fantasy football league.
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