What is it about nice people that attract total idiots?Nice people are martyrs. Idiots are evangelists.

SOCK IT TO ME BABY!!!

Sunday, November 29, 2020

Pictures on our Thanksgiving

 So I don't know exactly how, but the wonderful Blogger/Firefox combo decided to publish this first bank of pics in reverse order.  2020, eh?  But I'm gonna roll with it.

 



The Alumni pond was a pretty blue this morning.

Note how the proper positioning for a drink is ankle deep.  Considering getting her a small bird bath for a drinking bowl. Certainly wouldn't be any messier.



Blue Jay defying us to go down Ground Hog Road...

And here is the actual start of the walk.

So, let's see what order we get the second wave in...

Ah, the right direction!

As we can see, there'll be no walking way out on the mud flats today- we had rain this week.


Ducks sleeping at the swamp


Duck pond looking a little more pond-ish

Moments before, she was passed out...

And the chaos begins





"And I'll tell you another thing, Mommy..."



(As I am typing, KC is on the phone and just yelled, "Grayson, get out of the toilet!" )

Beating up Daddy



"God, why won't this end?"



More beating up Daddy

"I want Gampaw's fart gun..."


Wearing a Mommy-hair wig


Sunday message: What about hell

 


Mat 25:41  "Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. "


Twice this weekend, by two different pastors, I heard this verse used to point out, "Hell was NOT made for humans- but humans stubbornly CHOOSE it".  Then, I read a blog where a well-meaning friend used this picture:



...for a funny post.  So much of our world wants to make jokes about hell.  "I'd rather cry with the sinners than laugh with the saints, the sinners are much more fun," Billy Joel sang in all his lapsed-Catholic rancor.  Not because he thinks hell will be a party, but because he thinks it's non-existant.


Guess what?  Hell IS real.


And despite what Billy thinks, it won't be fun.  And despite what many think, it WILL be worse than anything here.  I want you to consider something.  The one time Jesus cried out in pain during His ordeal was not from a punch, or a whip, or a piercing.  It was right here:


Mat 27:46  And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?" that is, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" 


It was when, at the height of His pain, His Father turned His back.  The pain of separation from God, even though He knew it was only going to be for a short time.


In Hell, it's forever.  On top of all the pain, just like it was for Jesus.  And Billy may not think so, but it will be the most painful part of the Next Life.  I remember a comic book in which Mephisto (Marvel's closest pass at Satan) tells a demon to torture a captured human, "But remember this is flesh and blood, far more fragile than a naked soul."  Even comic book writers get this- Hell was not made for humans, because flesh is going to suffer a lot more than spirit- and you WILL be going to Hell WITH your body.  It strikes me as well, that in researching this week's Time Machine post, I came across a Curtis Mayfield song- Don't Worry (If There's A Hell Below, We're All Gonna Go).  Very true...


...unless you turn yourself over to the mercy of Jesus Christ.  That is the one way out, and it's waiting for you to choose.  Just remember, whichever you choose, whatever Hell is, funny it is not.

Friday, November 27, 2020

Time Machine Co-ordinates VICXLIX652112774

 


EP:  Man, am I stuffed!

Well, you ARE a turkey... where'd you eat at?

Bellbottom had us "imaginary characters" over at his place- his wife is a top notch cook!

Must be nice...

Oh, don' cry, you get the real thing!

This is true, and I'm bringing some of it in today!

Cool, leftovers!

Not exactly, bud, but I do have a turkey treat coming up! And also, let's bring in Ringo Starr!


RS:  'Ello, nice to be here on Thanksgiving Day!

EP:  That was yesterday...

RS:  You mean there'll be no parade?

Not as long as we all avoid the bologna casserole!  So between the Beatles and solo, this will be 14 times in the POTM chair...

EP:  Most of 'em as their baggage carrier...

RS:  'Ey, wot?  You're a bit surly today!

EP:  Sorry, I got this Christmas show to worry about...

RS:  Oh, yes, we got the invite!  We'll have a jolly time!

EP:  I hope so... Bellbottom thinks we should bring Johnny Nash in, to make up for stiffing him twice... an' I gotta un-piss-him-off...

If anyone can do it, you can!  Anyway, we're in November 27, 1974, today- one day before John Lennon's last public performance...

RS:  I hope you mean musical- one never knows with him...

As a matter of fact, you're old mate comes up in our Turkey feature later on...

EP:  Good place f'r him- er, I mean...

RS:  Don't worry it, old boy.  He's probably wearing big boy pants, if any...

OKAY, then, why don't we go to our first of 2 debuts on the M10 this week!  Last time this gentleman was on, he peaked at #3 on my birthday in 2017!  Here's Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit at #10...




***************************************

So, before we go to the Panel, I'd like to explain what we'll be doing in this 'turkey' feature!  I took this week's top ten from Cashbox 1974... and looked for each artist's LOWEST charting single- AKA their turkey.  I listened and ranked them, and we'll count them down, from least 'turkey-like' to most!  But right now, I'm giving the mike to these turkeys for the Panel picks!

EP: Turkeys?  I'm not the one who's been spelling Lourenco Marques wrong the last 3 weeks...

RS:  And speaking of that lovely island, they voted for Leo Sayer's Long Tall Glasses, which was a big hit on both sides of the ocean...

EP:  Yeah, well we actually had a chart from Chris's hometown station, WMEE, this week, and they took Tin Man by America at #1.

RS:  Yes, and this week, the stations from Australia all voted for the same song- just not the official #1 for this week- and it was Canada that had three different votes in the contest.

EP:  That ain't nothin'!  We had a vote from a Spanish station this week- an' they voted fer the same song that South Africa did!  Not to mention it also won New Zealand, and makes the finals!

RS:  With that, I imagine we should be about the finalists!  Would you like to go first?

EP:  Nah.  I'm told I gotta work on my ego...

RS:  All right, then, we have five finalists this week.  Please choose from:

Billy Swan's I Can Help, #3 on Cashbox this week...

EP:  I got Carl Douglas, an' Kung Fu Fighting at #8...

RS: Bobby Vinton's My Melody Of Love is at #2...

EP:  I got BTO an' You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet at #1...

RS:  And lastly, we have the Three Degrees and When Will I See You Again at #6!

All right guys, nice job!  While they- and you- debate the choices, here's our second debut at #9- from Matthew Sweet...




*************************************************

So, like I said, I looked up the lowest charting song for each act in this week's Cashbox top ten from 1974, and hopefully starting a new tradition, here, in ascending order of turkey-ness, here are the turkeys of the top ten!

10- John Denver was at #5 with our 6 Degrees victim this week, Back Home again.  His two worst charting hits were his last two charting hits!  Second to last was a song called Downhill Stuff (perhaps a tribute to Sonny Bono?) that hit #106; and right after was a really good song that really should have went higher, called What's On My Mind which peaked at 107, and was by far the class of the field.

9- BTO's You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet was #1, but their lowest charting hit came two lps after Randy Bachman left the group.  The lead singer was Jim Clench, and the tune, which peaked at 92 on Cashbox in 1978 was Down The Road.

8- Neil Diamond was at #4 with Longfellow Serenade; his lowest charter was a song that first sounded like it was going to be a copy of his hit Shilo; then came really flat lyrics that he sang like he was bored with them; and then came one of the best choruses he's ever done!  This song, hitting #91 in 1973, was called The Long Way Home.

7- Reunion was a studio band with a one hit wonder called Life Is A Rock (But The Radio Rolled Me), which was our #10 this week.  The lead singer was Joey Levine, who'd sang for several acts, most notably Ohio Express.  His lowest across these acts- as far as I could tell- was as a member of the Kasenetz-Katz Singing Orchestral Circus...


...with a song that sounded like the Beach Boys, with Steve Urkel singing lead, on a song about a place FAR from the ocean, called Down In Tennessee.  It made it to #124 in 1968.

6- When He was 15 years old, Carl Carlton (who's Everlasting Love was at #9) tried to hop on the "Little Stevie Wonder" momentum and was billed as "Little Carl Carlton".  It was under this name he had his turkey, a not-too-bad song that hit #105 in 1968, called 46 Drums And 1 Guitar.

5- Carl Douglas, at #8 with Kung Fu Fighting, didn't stray far from that hit for his follow up.  Despite being even more campy, Dance The Kung Fu was the highest charting single of the lot, peaking at #48 here in 1974.

4- The last posthumous lp with new material from John Lennon (who was at #7 with Whatever Gets You Through The Night) contained his lowest charter, a tune that hit #108 in 1984.  It wasn't half bad... until the end just got really weird, finishing with John himself saying, "What the hell was THAT?"  It was called Borrowed Time.

3- Billy Swan's I Can Help was at #3; his turkey was a song I couldn't help but feel had an ironic title, because it started one way, and stayed there.  It was called Everything's The Same (Ain't Nothing Changed), and it made 17 country but only 91 pop in 1975.

2- The last two songs I really wanted to like... but just couldn't do it.  Bobby Vinton, saying something bad about him is like blasphemy- even songs that don't quite do it for me like My Melody Of Love at #2.  But this one- a #140 in 1964- it started out promising, but then just kinda wandered off into a mess for me.  It was called, rather clunkilly, Imagination Is A Magic Dream.

And the top turkey for 1974?

I'll admit, part of my problem was that I don't think the first recording I listened to was put on YouTube very well... and I had to turn it off halfway through.  A better recording I found later improved it somewhat... but it was still a pink ribbon on a skunk for me.  Peaking at #126 in 1965...




...the Three Degrees (who had When Will I See You Again at #6 this week) with Close Your Eyes.  I could handle the eye closing, but that breath they wanted me to take...

**************************************************

Overseas If You Please gives us the following top hits:

The UK #1 was David Essex and Gonna Make You A Star.
In Canada it was, not surprisingly, BTO with You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet.
New Zealand had that international hit, Kung Fu Fighting, as did South Africa.
And Australia had Olivia Newton-John's I Honestly Love You, despite the fact that both votes from there on the Panel went to Ernie Sigley and Denise Drysdale's cover of Hey Paula.  BTW, if anyone can explain to me what a "barrel girl" in this context was, I'd be forever appreciative....


This week's big mover belonged to our guest, here...

RS:  Who, me?

Yes, you, and only you, because your cover of Only You jumped from #64 to 31- 33 spots this week!

RS:  Yes!  There's the lad!  What say you to that?

EP:  My song Promised Land went from 48 to 41 this week...

RS:  Oh, well done!

***********************************************************
The remaining M10...

8- Alice Cooper up 2 with Rock And Roll.
7- Roseanne Cash crawls back out of the Promised Land, falling one spot.
6- Down 2 for the Four Seasons and The Girl I'll Never Know.
5- Up 2, the very unusual path of Ron Keel's Ghost Riders continues- 2 weeks at 9, two weeks at 7, now 5.
4- Acres Wild drops 2  with Mirrorball Stars.
3- The former #1, Yuno and No Going Back.
2- Up 3 spots, Purr and Avenue Bliss.
  And his second trip to #1....



...M.A.G.S. and Smile!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And now, for the Panel- Mr Presley, if you would...


You bet, boss!  If'n you took BTO or Three Degrees, you got 7.4%...

If it was Vinton, you got 11%...

If ya took Swan, ya got 16.7%...

But the winner- another repeater- with 24%....






...Carl Douglas and Kung Fu Fighting!

Say, you think he could give me some tips?

I think the first tip he should give you is NOT to try any tricks on the Beatles during the Christmas party!

Fine, but if that Lennon bares his a$$ to me during the show, all bets are O-F-F!

Wednesday, November 25, 2020

Wednesday Bible Study: The end of all things- Nahum

 

 

 

1Sa 7:12  Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen and called its name Ebenezer; for he said, "Till now the LORD has helped us."


You might be asking yourself why I'm quoting Samuel at the start of a post on Nahum.  This is my version of a life verse; it reminds me that at my back are a series of monuments to all of what God has done for me, stretching back even before my birth.  And monuments come to mind when I read Nahum 3.  You see, this chapter is a prophecy of the fall of Nineveh, and the idea that tied my study together this week came when I thought about the monuments in Nineveh and other ancient cities that the idiots of ISIS destroyed in the attempt to erase anything that wasn't part of their ideology.  Sound familiar?  But that is not the path I want to go on in this book.


  Before I get to the monuments, though, let me tie into two concepts actually in the book:  The sins, and the truth.


The sins:  Most times, maybe every time, a prophet was given judgment on a nation, the sins that brought down that judgment are listed.  And Nahum gets right to it in our target chapter:


Nah 3:1  Woe to the bloody city, all full of lies and plunder-- no end to the prey!
Nah 3:2  The crack of the whip, and rumble of the wheel, galloping horse and bounding chariot!
Nah 3:3  Horsemen charging, flashing sword and glittering spear, hosts of slain, heaps of corpses, dead bodies without end-- they stumble over the bodies!
Nah 3:4  And all for the countless whorings of the prostitute, graceful and of deadly charms, who betrays nations with her whorings, and peoples with her charms.
Nah 3:5  Behold, I am against you, declares the LORD of hosts, and will lift up your skirts over your face; and I will make nations look at your nakedness and kingdoms at your shame.

Whorings here, translated Harlotries elsewhere, is pure simple idolatry.  Charms is magic or sorceries.  So when added together, you have two crimes.  A physical one- lawlessness that leads to dishonesty in every facet, and people constantly being victimized with none to protect them.  And a spiritual one- a magic based idolatry that isn't surprising for a nation whose own religion is basically a transplanted version of their conquered province, Babylon.  And how did a nation who hadn't long ago repented because of the prophet Jonah return to such a state?  That's where the truth comes in.

It was back in the 800's BC that Jonah came to Nineveh in a time of weak kings, rebellions, and even a major earthquake and eclipse.  But the old saw says that we are never more than a generation away from the extinction of faith, and that proved true.  In 722 BC, Sargon II ascended the throne, and Assyria returned to being the evil, marauding nation that Jonah so hated.  It didn't last:  the 'glory years' would end with the death of Ashurbanipal in 631 BC, and Nineveh's fall would be accomplished within 20 years.  And Nahum's prophecies were SO accurate about that fall, and the disappearance of Nineveh thereafter, that non-Biblical 'scholars' try to say that it was written AFTER the fact.

But there's one BIG problem with that.

Nah 3:8  Are you better than No-amon, seated on the Nile streams, with waters all round her; whose wall was the sea and her earthwork the waters?
Nah 3:9  Ethiopia was her strength and Egyptians without number; Put and Lubim were her helpers.
Nah 3:10  But even she has been taken away, she has gone away as a prisoner: even her young children are smashed to bits at the top of all the streets: the fate of her honoured men is put to the decision of chance, and all her great men are put in chains.


"No-Amon" is Egyptian Thebes, which Assyria herself conquered in 665 BC.  Not only did Nahum write as if this were a recent event, but Thebes was rebuilt within 11 years, a fact that would make it pretty useless to include vv3-10 if you wrote it in, say 610BC as the 'scholars' say.  More honest historians would thus put Nahum's writings somewhere between 665 and 654 BC- some 40 years BEFORE the events occurred.  Thus is God's Word shown to be reliable yet again.

Where's the other proof, you say?  Well, let's look from the angle of not what God wants to prove, but what Satan wants to disprove.  Note this passage from wiki:

Nineveh was not only a political capital, but home to one of the great libraries of Akkadian tablets and a recipient of tribute from across the near east, making it a valuable location to sack. The Assyrian chronicles end abruptly in 639 BC after the destruction of Susa, the capital of Elam, and the subjugation of a rebellious Babylon ruled by Ashurbanipal's own brother Shamash-shum-ukin. Business records are missing after 631 BC. 


The records disappear about 20 years BEFORE the fall, you say?  Pretty strange for a nation who went to the expedient of stealing the ancient records from Babylon to house at Nineveh, wouldn't you say?  Interesting how these records also disappear at other times critical to Bible history:  In Egypt at both the time of the Hebrew exile and after the fall of Jerusalem, when the remnant fled to Egypt (as we saw in Jeremiah); in Persia both at the time of Daniel's ascendancy and when Esther became queen; and in Babylon both at the cursing of Nebuchadnezzar and right before the fall.  Records usually dry with their meticulousness suddenly dry out.  With the Bible, you learn as much from what's NOT there as from what is.


And let me add one more decorative nail to this coffin.  Observe this particular verse:


Nah 3:13  See, the people who are in you are women; the doorways of your land are wide open to your attackers: the locks of your doors have been burned away in the fire.


Unsubstantiated legend says that Sin-shar-ishkun, the king in Nineveh at the time of the fall, was a debauched sort who wore women's clothes; and when the fall came, he piled all his treasure  on top of cages containing his servants, climbed on top and committed suicide by burning the whole pile with fire.  Need I say more there?


Finally, back to the monuments.  Nineveh, the mighty city that figured so prominently in the Old Testament, gets but one more mention in the Bible, by Jesus:


Luk 11:32  The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here. 


See it wasn't EVIL Nineveh that truly became a monument; only the repentant of Nineveh, who will get a prominent place in the hereafter.  This world says, "The evil that men do lives on forever; the good they do is often buried with them."  But in God's eyes, it's the exact opposite.  What and where are YOUR monuments?

Monday, November 23, 2020

Martin World news: luck edition

 

Sunday I was meandering through articles when I found the story of "How a snack protects Taiwan's high-tech. "  The snack is called Kuai Kuai; it is a coconut/corn puff snack, and comes in a green bag.  How does it protect tech?  Apparently, it's all about luck.



Wrapped about crucial machines in hospitals and even space research, it 'prevents' things from malfunctioning; here, it guards the entrance of a Taipei police station "to ward off evil."

And what was once a geek subculture has today gone mainstream — there is even a Wikipedia entry for it called “Kuaikuai culture” (乖乖文化). Researchers at Academia Sinica, Taiwan’s top research institute, for example, place bags of Kuaikuai in their labs; nurses tape them to respirators and other life-saving devices to ensure that they don’t break down; and museums place them next to sound systems so that announcements will go off without a hitch.(Taiwan Times)

I found out that this was a pretty endemic thing in Taiwan; there was a research paper done looking into all the things Taiwanese nurses believed.  Included in this list were:

- No eating pineapples- its Chinese name involves a character that's bad mojo for patients.

-No eating mangoes at work.  The Chinese word sounds like the word for 'busy', which they don't want to be.  Similar to this is a sanction against eating beef noodles (beef=cattle, which work hard), and never saying you are 'not busy' after your shift.

- No drinking anything with vitamin c added or featured, because, I understand, c is the first letter in CPR, which no one wants to have to perform.

- No refilling the red ink for stamping official papers on duty, or else you'll be stamping stuff all day due to the connection of red to blood.


All of this made me curious about other workplace 'good luck charms', although I don't know why you'd need to do anything other than tape bags of coconut corn puffs everywhere.  Here are items from one article on the 'top six symbols' to use:


1- The "Nazar Bongcugu" from our Turkish and Arab friends, which is essentially a bright blue evil eye...


2- Frogs.  One of which I stumbled onto had to be red, three-legged, and either have a quarter in its mouth to bring you money, or facing away from your home so it doesn't "suck all the money out".

3- Lady bugs.  Because back in the Middle Ages, they symbolized a prayer to the Virgin Mary to protect your crops from devastation. The practical applications today should be obvious.*

(*Snark mode engaged.)

4- Garlic.  What a lovely way to tell your co-workers they are a bunch of bloodsuckers.

5- White Heather...


..because, MacTavish, in Scotland it is believed only to grow on a battlefield in a spot no one was killed, and what could be luckier than that?  And if you don't like that explanation, how about the one that says it grows on a spot where a faerie died, although I fail to see how that would exactly be lucky.  At least to the faerie.

6- And, of course, the horseshoe- make sure you turn it up so the luck doesn't 'run out.'


Among other good luck stuff I turned up was that shaking the hand of a chimney sweep was great luck...

 

"Oi, or you c'n pat me on me head!"

 ...uh, yes, as well as that a hangman's noose....

Sick people would wrap the ropes around their heads as a cure for headaches and fevers, but the talisman was most popular among gamblers and cardsharps, many of whom believed that owning a piece of a noose would keep them in good standing with Lady Luck. The ropes were so valuable that hangmen were even known to cut them into pieces for sale as good luck charms. (History Channel)

"Sure wish I'd have known that before... I might have won that race!"

 
Don't worry it, Bubba, none of it actually works!  I'd like to close with something said on the subject on the Compelling Truth website that pretty much sums it up for me...

 

That being said, should a Christian own a lucky charm or engage in superstitious actions such as wearing the same socks to every baseball game? If the charms, such as a rabbit's foot, a horseshoe, or an elephant with an up-raised trunk, are non-religious and used in a way that represents a culture and not in a way that causes another to stumble or attempts to gather actual fortune, it's probably all right. Rituals can be used to calm nerves or mentally prepare for an event. But we should all recognize that nothing is truly random, and God cannot be manipulated by four-leafed clovers or dirty socks. Time would be better spent by following God, preparing for that game, and not risking anything too dear in poker.

Friday, November 20, 2020

Time Machine VICXLVIII651112073

 



Today we go to November 20th, 1973, and attend the Who concert in the City By The Bay!


Another infamous show in Who folklore – the night Keith collapsed on stage and a member of the audience took over on drums. The whole concert was recorded on a crude 2-camera video system in B&W which was part of Bill Graham’s personal archive, and the Moon collapsing incident can be seen in Thirty Years Of Maximum R&B Live. ...




From a very grainy video, I believe this to be audience member Scott Halpin, who finished the last 3 songs of the set and said, "I was dead," afterwards.  Anyway, welcome to Ti... Why do you guys always wait until the show starts to bring me bad news?


We just received a notice from your guest, a Mr Johnny Nash...


Dr Mr Bellbottom, et al,

This has been the second time you have invited me to this program, and the second time something has not gone off right.  First time, you decided to broadcast a 'staff meeting' and cut my time... this time, "the producer forgot to set things up".   As a result, I question your program's stability and integrity, and will not be attending your program this time around, as I simply have other things to do.


Regards,

Johnny Nash.


PS:  Perhaps you could just put up a picture of me and then ignore it as you did last time.


OUCH.  Okay, then, Bellbottom, you are up!

Up?  Whatever- and I know I shall regret asking- does that mean?

It's your turn to fill in the guest slot!


Oh, good heavens!  What is it you need me to do?

Well, why don't you start, just for fun, with this week's 6 Degrees?

Very well.  (AHEM) We begin this story with a song that was quite popular by an act called the Eagles, Hotel California.  Our focus is on the line, "They stab it with their steely knives..." Good heavens, children listened to this?  At any rate, the original wording was, according to legend, "they stab it with their Steely Dan", in reference to another musical act, obviously named Steely Dan after a... merciful heavens!?!  Is that correct?  I cannot possibly say that...

Skip past that part...

Thank you, at least, for that.  They used the band's name in tribute to a song that, er, Steely Dan sang that included the line, "Turn up the Eagles, the neighbors are listening", which referenced an argument at home between band member Walter Becker and his wife.  The song was on their album The Royal Scam, it was called Everything You Did.  Also on this album was a song very well liked by my employer, here, called Haitian Divorce.  On that song, guitar player Dean Parks played a solo with a... a talkbox? It must be one of those "after my time" inventions.  At any rate, Dean Parks is the man who takes the story to its inevitable conclusion...


You couldn't have just said, "Takes us where we wanna go", like I put in the copy?


Being 'hip' and 'modern' is no excuse for abandoning the Queen's English!  Mr Parks also played guitar- apparently without a "talk box"- on our 6 Degrees victim, Eddie Kendricks and his soon to be #1 song, er, Keep On Truckin'...

But you could read the song title without complaining about the contraction...

Because I have no idea what it means!


Well, what it means is, it's time to play our lone debut on the M10... unless you think it should be the "Bellbottom Ten"...

I should say NOT!  However, I shall introduce the song, as per my job.  This is a brand new song by a young lady I must say I am not familiar with, named Alice Cooper...

I'll say you're not familiar with "her"...




**********************************************

You could have informed me that it was a gentleman...

What's the fun in that?  So this week we have 19 songs from 54 stations, including Dave Mills with Love Is A Beautiful Song, which hit the top in Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa, all at different times, and was getting a Canadian vote here; a couple of big country hits here that got votes elsewhere, one from Canada for Tommy Overstreet and Heaven Is My Woman's Love, and Australia for Tom T Hall's Old Dogs Children And Watermelon Wine;and the Laurenco Marques song of the week, David Bowie with Sorrow- a tune that just debuted at #94 here (and didn't get much farther).  Sir, here are the finalists...

Very good, please choose from...

Gladys Knight - I assume that's a woman- and the Pips, with Midnight Train To Georgia, currently at #3 on the Cashbox chart of the week...
The Carpenters- they have Top Of The World at #4...
The DiFranco Family with Heartbeat-It's A Lovebeat at #1...
Ringo Starr- a former employer of mine- at #2 with Photograph...
And finally, the Rolling Stones with Angie, at #7.  I shall put in my vote for Mr Starr- he was quite the entertaining chap, if a bit odd...

Among the things you get when you Google "Ringo Starr being odd"- a bubble bath bottle...



***********************************************************

Once again, Ringo's old mate John Lennon gets stiffed on the Big Mover- his 30 spot jump with Mind Games gets beat by the 31- spot (74-43) jump by Tony Orlando and Dawn with Who's In The Strawberry Patch With Sally.

Overseas If You Please this week:

Here, allow me!  Canada had at the top Could You Ever Love Me Again by, er, Gary and Dave- a song that was debuting at #98 here.
Australia's #1 was Finalist Angie by the Rolling Stones...
New Zealand was topped by the Les Humphries Singers with Mexico, a song that also hit #1 in Austria, Switzerland, and Sweden.
South Africa, as mentioned before, had the Tommy Overstreet song at #1.
And in the United Kingdom, it was, er, Gary Glitter, and... good Lord, I can barely read this- I Love You Love Me Love.  Obviously, grammar was not his strong suit.

Neither was non-perversion.  Anyway, if perhaps I may do one thing today, here are the remaining M10...

9- Nada Surf holds in place with Come Get Me.
8- Blue Oyster Cult falls 3 with Tainted Blood.
7- Ron Keel and Ghost Riders holds at 7.
6- As does Roseanne Cash at 6 with Crawl Into The Promised Land.
5- Purr moves up 5 big spots with Avenue Bliss.
4- The Four Seasons fall one to 4 with The Girl I'll Never Know.
3- M.A.G.S. busts up 5 with Smile.
2- And holding, Acres Wild and Mirrorball Stars.

Which means the #1 song again this week...



...Yuno with No Going Back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Okay, before I let you do the winner of the Panel, let me...

OWW!! Whatever do you think your doing?

Making sure you aren't Rodney in a mask this time.  All right, you passed...

The utter nerve!  Although I suppose better safe than sorry.

Both Ms Knight and The Rolling Stones received 7.4%...

The Di Franco Family were at 11.1%...

The Carpenters got 14.8%...

And the winner, with 29.6%....




Seriously, sir?


Better?

Sigh... I suppose... Sir Richard Starkey and Photograph!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Nice job, HB!  You all come back next time for 1974, with Ringo!