Think about this: Ever since (at least) the pandemic, every direction has been demanding this right and that right. Our example is Christ, and He claimed to be meek. What is meekness? Meekness is Abraham, the elder, the more powerful. who had enough manpower to take out a guy who just whupped 5 kings- allowing Lot to take the best part to avoid a fight, and trusting God to provide for him. Do the math and apply.
The Better Part, Day #213:
Satan isn't hiding in every crack and crevice, but sometimes we do a good job of making him crevices he wants to be in. Today, I reflected on a dry patch of praying I've been having... and thought about how I had noticed two prayer leaders from church made statements that made me wonder if they were, too. As a church, we are a team, and if one is under attack, you can bet the rest are, too!
So I did what I'm going to recommend- I prayed for the next guy over, the one who's maybe struggling in prayer, passes it off as 'being busy', and hasn't even noticed his prayer time is suffering. If we ALL did this, we could get everyone out of their dry spots, and seal up another crevice!
The Better Part, Day #214:
Today, I caught John McArthur discussing "The sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God". He brought up 2 points that go well together; first, that a sword is both a defensive and offensive weapon, and two, to use it defensively, you can't just stop with "word" meaning "the Bible". You have to know the Bible well enough to know which verse is needed to remember to fend off which attack! That means, to make that sword sharp, you can't just read the Bible. You have to LEARN it.
Hey, man, it's me, Elvis, inviting you into the big Halloween costume bash- an' wait'll you see what Chris is wearin'! (Frankly, I'm waitin' to see it, too!) An' ta kick things off, Here's our first costumed act- Paul Revere an' the Raiders!
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Wee-hoo! Way ta start things off at our 700th and very last Time Machine! An' now, ladies an' gents, our fearless leader, Chris Martin!!!!
Hah! I hope you are thirsty, my friends!
Nice costume, boss, but you ain't THAT innersting!
Whatever, jailbird! This is it, the big Halloween bash! And I have a lot of fun planned for this one, including a shock surprise celebrity Beauty Contest!
Waitaminit! You ain't gettin' me in another bathin' suit, are ya?
Good heavens, no! I have certain ladies of Time Machine fame who will be competing... and not the way you might imagine! But first, here's a Halloween 6D from our favorite Werewolf, Horace Bellbottom!
HB: Good Heavens! Why did you make me come out here in full view like this?
EP: Haw! You're even fuzzier than usual!
HB: Sigh, I suppose the upside is this will be my last humiliation in the name of alleged humor... So we start tonight with... what, it posts in the morning? That is truly absurd. At any rate, we start with the one album Chris ever specially requested for Christmas, many years ago- Roseanne Cash's Rhythm and Romance. The big hit on that lp, I Don't Know Why You Don't Want Me, was co-written by then-husband and country star on his own, Rodney Crowell. Prior to this, he was a member of Emmilou Harris's backing band, along with bluegrass hall of Famer James Burton. Burton was a longtime member of the band for that hooligan in the jail stripes over there, and played on such hits as his Moody Blue album. On that same lp, Mr Presley et al covered the Diamonds' Little Darlin'- a song that was meant to be a pastiche on the doo-wop genre and ended up being one of it's classics.
This song, in turn, was on the playlist of a band called the Cordials. One night, the lead singer sang it in a "Boris Karloff" voice. Another member mentioned he ought to do something else in that voice... and that was what inspired that member and the singer, soon to be known as Bobby "Boris" Pickett, to do the Monster Mash! I imagine now, you'll want to play that song....
Actually, no, we couldn't get time to fit that in, but next up, we do have that hooligan in the jail stripes himself! Hit it, buddy!
How appropriate that you are in such attire, Mr Presley... because jail is precisely where I intend to take you!
EP: Who the Sam Hill are you?
IT: Inspector Tuttle, working with the Board of Health. There is an outstanding complaint about your food establishment in this... well, building... specifically about an item called, Bologna Casserole...
EP: WHAT??? C'mon son, that's my mama's recipe! Anyone got sick off it, it's just because they don't have the constitution for a Southern dish!
IT: You'll have to take that up with your legal team, sir. The plaintiffs were quite adamant in their charges.
EP: What 'plaintiffs'?
IT: Gentlemen...
George: Hah, we finally got you back, you country lout!
Paul: A right funny turn, don't you think?
EP: Dagnabit it, you really had me going there!
Ringo: And while we're here, we have the pleasure to introduce our next costumed act... and why not go with the ultimate costumed act... Ladies and gentlemen, I introduce to you, the act you've loved for all these years...
All right, guys, now for my favorite part of today's show- the Costumed Beauty Contest! I have selected five ladies who, well, might have gotten a bit of the business on our show, and to "make it up to them", I'm having them compete in their own Beauty Contest! Of course, I selected the costumes for them, so... I may be going out in a big way here! Let me bring in our five contestants! Starting with...
Diana Ross!!!!!!!!!!!!!
"I hope you still have that lawyer on retainer..."
Cher!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
"If you even suggest I say "Howdy"...
Aretha Franklin!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
"What the... half your audience don't even know who this is!!!"
"This is the smile you get from me right before you KISS MAH GRITS!"
And finally, the lady we wouldn't have made it through the summer without...
Toni Tennille!!!!!!!!!!!!
"You are so definitely dead..."
And the winner gets an all expenses paid date- as long as she remains in the costume for the date- with...
Wayne Newton!
"Yes! I.. wait a minute.. why me?"
EP: Yer the only one 'a' us whose rep won't take a hit doin' it! 'Ceptin' maybe Bellbottom...
HB: I'll have you know, I have been happily married for 35 years... at least, until tonight...
And now to pick our winner... Misty? Oh, Misty!
WOOF! WOOF!
Nardole, can we get that on the universal translator?
N: Yes.. roughly, "Are you kidding? No treat is worth that!"
Oh... yeah, I get that. Well then, by the power vested in me by virtue of being the commander of this Tardis, I declare the winner... Toni as Granny!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! In one blow, I give both Toni and Granny their long-desired Beauty Contest win!
TT: Wait till I catch you, I'll give you one long-awaited blow!
Oh, camahn! You can't seriously say you've had this much fun in a long time!
TT: Well... I suppose you have me there...
And thus, here we are... "..at the end of all things,", as Buck Meek put it this summer. I thought about what further tomfoolery I could have put here... but this gig kinda grows on ya, and I want to end it with something meaningful. You know what, though? I can't put it any better than this right here. Take us out, Dobie Gray...
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Before I turn off the lights, some thank yous for everyone who made this possible. First off, The wonderful Cashbox archives run by Randy Price, the good people at ARSA radio surveys who let me freeload off them for so long, and before them, the old Alaska Jim website, now gone dark. Next up, all of you, the readers who put up with the boring parts to get to the fun stuff since May 1st, 2010! Thanks especially for the late great Bobby G, who did so much to help out, including the fantastic logo we've used for so long. Special tip o' the hat to frequent guest known to the world as Shady, who really showed me that a post can turn into an imaginary TV show- you finally got your wish with Granny! And finally, to the lovely lady and the two doggies who read, listened, assisted, and put up with the hours it took to do these things!
Perhaps there will be a Christmas bash again this year, with a Beauty Contest in it... I don't know yet. If so, see you then!
As I did not use this on the "in the can" 700th post, this may well be the last time I post that lovely logo made by the late Bob Gaul. I think, perhaps, the M10 posts will go on, under their own umbrella, though the form of which I don't yet know. It was hard closing Time Machine; I may let things set posting-wise for a week or three, then come back with these posts. As the man says, we'll see when we see.
Elvis: What man says that?
Hey, aren't you supposed to be working on the party?
EP: Nice try. Ya already said it's in the can.
The after-party, then. Anyway, I do have this week's top ten lined up, unless, of course, I change my mind as I type...
In fact, the only thing in doubt right now is the third debut this week at #10. Before we get to the other nine, let me fill in the scene for newcomers. Back in summer 2015, I finally decided to do my own top ten- but the difference being, time doesn't matter. If I never heard it before, it has a chance, whether from the 1950's or this week's top forty. That will come in handy with our high debut at #7. Without further ado, and waiting on me to pick that last debut, here's the rest of this week's ten:
9- a debut from 3-time M10er with a #1 under their belt, this is Sunflower Bean...
Number eight belongs to a last-week debut, Dami Im and Pray, from the upcoming lp, My Reality.
And that high debut at #7. The last couple of weeks, the Time Machine Panel was the debuts I liked from the Cashbox hot 100s that week in the years of what we call the Martin Era 2.0- from the debut of Rock Around The Clock in 1955 till the debut of How Deep Is Your Love in 1977. Not needing a Panel anymore, Laurie and I listened to the debuts again this week anyway, and I hit this one from 1971. It peaked here at #41 on Billboard back then, and #2 in the UK. It joins us as his second M10 hit- here's Tom Jones...
A former #1 sits at #6 this week after a 3-place fall- the late Gerry Rafferty and Sign Of The Times, from the new posthumous lp Rest In Blue.
Two songs have been battling for the same spot for the last three weeks- and this week, the battle is for 4th and 5th. Each moving up one spot, it's Star Kendrick and Geowulf at 5 with I've Been Over It; and at #4, it's the Beths from 2020's Jump Rope Gazers and Dying To Believe.
We have had massively high debuts the last three weeks, 2 at #5, last week at #4- and now they are all in the top three...
The pop-version of this song is currently #25 on Billboard; I first heard, and thus charted, an acoustic version... Elton John and Dua Lipa with a cover of Madonna's Cold Heart, at #3.
This was the other big battle of the week- basically a #1 vs #1-A week. Holding at #2, the Old 97s with a song that tumbled my way from their 2010 lp The Grand Theatre, called Champaign, Illinois.
And for a second week at the top...
Jason Isbell and his 400 Unit, with vocals by Brittney Spencer, and Midnight Train To Georgia!!!!!!!!
And next...
The last few weeks, I have been adding on my list (and sharing with no one) five more songs I call "next 5 up". Not an actual 11-15 in my mind yet, just a way to keep track of what might pop in later. I'm busily going through the list to see who's gonna take that tenth and final spot. So go get some coffee or what-have-you. Kibitz with the kids. In mere moments I'll have you that last song. Really.
And here it is! It came out on a 2006 EP first... but last week got released as a new single! So whether you count it as a 2021 song or 2006- here's Barry Manilow at #10!
Today we reach the end of the Samson story, and instead of exactly re-telling the story of Delilah and the temple of Dagon and the pillars, which most of us know, I want to tell you what to learn from it, which is what these narrations are for. So let's set the story. After humbling himself before the Lord in his hour of thirst, he was blessed by God with an apparently peaceful 20 years of judging Israel. But then, something happened to him that happens to most of us- he revisited an old sin:
Jdg 16:1 Samson went to Gaza, and there he saw a prostitute, and he went in to her.
He let his weakness for fallen, evil women strike again. And this is NOT Delilah; this is a 3-verse section of a 31-verse story, but the point is, it was a start. He might never have found himself entrapped by Delilah had he not chose the "harmless sin" of going to this prostitute. It only takes that one small step to bring the whole structure down, ask any addict- for that's what Samson was. Samson once again abuses his gift of strength to escape this trap, but thus weakened he fell into the much greater one:
Jdg 16:4 After this he loved a woman in the Valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah.
Allow me some speculation here. I looked into the names, and "Sorek" comes from a term that describes a place where the best, richest grapes are grown; And Delilah comes from a word meaning "languishing", which Keli and Delitzsch translate to "the weak or pining one". I'm going to go out on a limb to say that this girl was no common whore, but the daughter of a rich vinter who made money from the Philistine overlords (remember, Samson gave them pause, but Israel hadn't overthrown them), used to luxury, and used to what the Philistines could give her. Against a woman like this, Samson- who had enough problems with lesser women- had no chance.
So Samson falls into sin. I want to verge away from the story and look at the consequences of the sin. By story chronology:
1- By any definition, sin leads to death.
Jdg 16:2 The Gazites were told, "Samson has come here." And they surrounded the place and set an ambush for him all night at the gate of the city. They kept quiet all night, saying, "Let us wait till the light of the morning; then we will kill him."
This is from the first story. The first consequence of turning back to his sin was a threat on his very life. God preserved him, but the consequences weren't over.
2- Sin doesn't lead you to trustworthy people.
Jdg 16:5 And the lords of the Philistines came up to her and said to her, "Seduce him, and see where his great strength lies, and by what means we may overpower him, that we may bind him to humble him. And we will each give you 1,100 pieces of silver."
And for a girl like the Delilah I speculated on, this would be a no brainer. Thing is, Samson had already been down this road...
3- Sin won't look for new avenues when you let old ones keep functioning.
Jdg 16:6 So Delilah said to Samson, "Please tell me where your great strength lies, and how you might be bound, that one could subdue you."
And once again, Samson doesn't stop to think, "Why exactly would she even want to KNOW this?" Instead, he just plays with it by telling little lies- he thinks it's amusing to play with sin at first.
4- Sin knows just how to wear you down.
Jdg 16:16 And when she pressed him hard with her words day after day, and urged him, his soul was vexed to death.
Eventually, the game wore thin, and instead of getting out of its way, he let it run him over. Once again, he allowed himself to listen to the same old, "If you really loved me..." But he was cocky from earlier escapes from sin. He told himself it didn't matter, he'd call on God in time and escape once again. God had went from a protector to a genie in a bottle, a 'clean-up man'. And sometimes, God just lets the consequence happen.
5- Sin, if you're a Christian, can't destroy you. But, it can torment you.
Jdg 16:19 She made him sleep on her knees. And she called a man and had him shave off the seven locks of his head. Then she began to torment him, and his strength left him.
Now, where's that love and pleasure sin promised? Sin is only your friend till it gets what it wants. Then it's an accuser, a mocker.
6- Sin will take away your ability to see the truth.
Jdg 16:21 And the Philistines seized him and gouged out his eyes and brought him down to Gaza and bound him with bronze shackles. And he ground at the mill in the prison.
It doesn't always do this by gouging out your eyes; sometimes it does it by making you feel too ashamed to come to God, to pray, to read the Bible. And one more thing to remember from this story about sin...
7- You don't 'play with sin', sin plays with you.
Jdg 16:25 And when their hearts were merry, they said, "Call Samson, that he may entertain us." So they called Samson out of the prison, and he entertained them. They made him stand between the pillars.
His choice of sin ended up making him into a clown in front of his enemies. But yet there was hope, because God is always working behind the scenes...
Jdg 16:22 But the hair of his head began to grow again after it had been shaved.
Note that this isn't something out of the ordinary; hair grows back. But this was God renewing his place, bit by bit, in Samson's heart. Then God takes something as gutter-level low as this and turns it into an opportunity...
Jdg 16:26 And Samson said to the young man who held him by the hand, "Let me feel the pillars on which the house rests, that I may lean against them." Jdg 16:27 Now the house was full of men and women. All the lords of the Philistines were there, and on the roof there were about 3,000 men and women, who looked on while Samson entertained.
And if we are tuned to the opportunity, and recognize that we cannot succeed without God...
Jdg 16:28 Then Samson called to the LORD and said, "O Lord GOD, please remember me and please strengthen me only this once, O God, that I may be avenged on the Philistines for my two eyes."
...then we too can do miracles! But, like Jesus said, it involves dying to self...
Jdg 16:29 And Samson grasped the two middle pillars on which the house rested, and he leaned his weight against them, his right hand on the one and his left hand on the other. Jdg 16:30 And Samson said, "Let me die with the Philistines." Then he bowed with all his strength, and the house fell upon the lords and upon all the people who were in it. So the dead whom he killed at his death were more than those whom he had killed during his life.
So now the choice is ours. Do we want to be a shaved-headed, blinded clown to sin... or be what God made us to be from birth? God, that I might have the image of Samson in chains- and his victory through You- at every occasion of sin.
Joh 19:14 Now it was the day of Preparation of the Passover. It was about the sixth hour. He said to the Jews, "Behold your King!"
Joh 19:15 They cried out, "Away with him, away with him, crucify him!" Pilate said to them, "Shall I crucify your King?" The chief priests answered, "We have no king but Caesar."
1Sa 8:18 ...And in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the LORD will not answer you in that day."
1Sa 8:19 But the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel. And they said, "No! But there shall be a king over us,
1Sa 8:20 that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles."
And this two verse post answers the question, "Why does God seem to abandon the Jews? Why are there pogroms and the holocaust?" Because instead of choosing God become man, they chose man claiming to be a god. Well, their king(s) have been judging them ever since.
The Better Part, Day #211:
From Tony Evans: “The devil is not just the devil, but he's God’s devil because he can only do what God says he can do," he said. "Believing in the devil doesn’t make him sovereign. He has to ask permission to disturb your life.”
Reminds me of another part from that Immortal Hulk final issue: When confronting the One Below All, Fixit said, "We don't want to talk to you- we all know who's Hulk YOU are. Show us the other face!" Which is when the One Above All showed up.
So herer we are, the last somewhat normal episode of Time Machine... next week we'll have a Thursday M10 post for #699, and Friday is the Big Finale Halloween Bash! Now that I type that, it feels like it's gone so fast... almost 23% of my posts fall one way or another under the Time Machine banner! So how about one more time, let's look at what happened on any of the 23 October 22nds of the Martin Era 2.0...
In 1962, one of the world's most harrowing days, as President Kennedy announces that we have discovered Russian nukes in Cuba... and 14 years later, they were the first to land on Venus...
"Wait... where are the spaghetti monsters?"
Sometimes I wonder if all the other planets are just places where God stored his extra rocks... Anyway, at this point, I'd like to make a splash with our one last guest, but Elvis won last week, so...
EP: Waitaminit! Whaddya mean, "But ELVIS won..."
Well, you are an employee... more like family... than a guest...
EP: All right, all right, I'll buy that. So what do we have special this week?
How about a list of the highest charting Bob Dylan covers?
EP: What brought him up?
Well, it has to do with the backstory of our debut at #5 last week... Which reminds me, we had a debut this week that ALMOST made it three weeks in a row with a debut at #5 on the M10!
EP: I'd of cheated and put it there...
Yeah, but I'm honest about my lists. I remember doing my top ten as a kid and being such a fanboy that everything that certain artists put out I took to #1... Barry Manilow's Looks Like We Made It and ELO's Don't Bring Me Down come to mind as ones I might not have had at the top nowadays. But anyway, we did a new week of "this week's debuts" from Cashbox for this week's Panel, and there are 26 songs on the list! Also we have 2 M10 debuts, and the Dylan list, so let's get to it! With the debut at #10, here's our girl Dami Im with the lead single from a new lp called My Reality...
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So this week, 10 of the 26 debuts I picked from the past hit #1, kinda...
Kinda?
There's a bit of an asterix on one of them, which will give us yet another game to play later on. So pull them out, and the 2 at the bottom, and how about you give us the rest of the list...
Sure, gimme the pap...
...Wayne Newton!
EP: Wha.. Wayne? How's he get to do it?
WN: Come on, man, it's been a long time since I've done anything on the show!
EP: Yeah, there's a reason fer that. It's called, "The Infamous Beauty Contest Harassment Suit!"
Steady, buddy. I just thought it would be nice to close the series with an "all is forgiven"... Wayne, go right ahead.
WN: Okay, so these are the debuts Chris pulled that weren't eventually #1s, and weren't the bottom 2 by peak position, in chronological order...
Ricky Nelson, Lonesome Town, from 1958...
Patsy Cline, Crazy, 1961...
EP: You shoulda sang that one...
WN: Do you mind? The Rolling Stones, Time Is On My Side from 1964...
The Hollies, Stop Stop Stop from 1966...
Dionne Warwick, I Say A Little Prayer, from 1967, along with Glen Campbell with By The Time I Get To Phoenix...
From 1968, the Classics IV and Stormy, and Dion's Abraham Martin And John...
From 1969, the Band and Up On Cripple Creek, along with Blood Sweat And Tears with And When I Die....
Bread and Baby I'm-a Want You from 1971...
Gilbert O'Sullivan and Clair from 1972...
And LeBlanc and Carr, Falling, from 1977!
Nicely done, Wayne!
EP: Yeah, way to read stuff off a card, Wayynnne...
WN: What, like you were going to sing a medley?
EP: I mighta....
Boy, I can't take you two anywhere! Anyway, so I have a little story about last week's debut at #5, the Old 97's and Champaign, Illinois. It seems that Dylan had teamed up with Carl "Blue Suede Shoes" Perkins back in the 60's- apparently at a dinner in which they were both guests in the home of Johnny Cash. After dinner, Dylan helped write Wanted Man with Johnny... then, he and Carl came up with a song called Champaign, Illinois. "It was an unfinished tune that he gave to Carl, and Carl finished it."
Flash ahead to the 21st century, somewhere in Illinois, where lead singer of the Old 97s, Rhett Miller, is on the tour bus bored, and is entertaining himself by re-writing the lyrics to songs. He gets a Dylan tune called Desolation Road stuck in his head, and re-writes it and up-tempos it into the song that became their Champaign, Illinois. They played it live for years, but never recorded it until their manager told a buddy the story- that buddy being Dylan's manager. He got Bob to listen to a live recording, and he gave them the rights to record and Rhett a 50% songwriting credit! And that's how it came to appear on the Old 97s' 2010 lp The Grand Theatre.
EP: That is one messed up story!
Yep, and it made me decide to do a "Top Ten Charting Dylan Covers List!" And there's no better person to to give the reading of the list to...
EP: Aw, shucks...
Than our good friend, and the host at the start of the story, Mister Johnny Cash!
JC: Thanks, Chris; and Elvis, I sure hope you aren't intending on whining about it like you did on the last list?
EP: Bu... no, no I ain't.
JC: Good man! Now this here list only includes tunes from that stretch of 1955 to 1977 Chris calls the Martin Era 2.0.
Number Ten was myself and my lovely wife June doing our take on It Ain't Me, Babe, which made #58 on the pop charts.
9 was Olivia Newton-John's first big hit, with George Harrison on guitar, If Not For You, hitting #23.
8 went to Jimi Hendrix- and you all know this means All Along The Watchtower, which got to #20.
At number seven was a novelty version by the "Wonder Who"- actually Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons- of Don't Think Twice, It's Alright at #12.
We have a tie at #5- two songs hit #9 on the charts. One of them was that same Don't Think Twice, done seriously by Peter Paul and Mary.
The other one was Stevie Wonder doing Blowing In The Wind.
The #4 on our list was the Turtles' version of It Ain't Me Babe.
Number three went to Manfred Mann and The Mighty Quinn (Quinn The Eskimo), reaching #4 on Cashbox.
The second song was again Peter Paul and Mary, this time with their version of Blowing In The Wind...
And the highest charting Bob Dylan cover went to...
...the Byrds and Mr Tambourine Man, which hit #1. Thanks for finally having me on the show!
My pleasure! Ladies and gentlemen, Johnny Cash!
And now, with a live 6D....
EP: Who's the next special guest?
Why, you, buddy!
ME? I never...
What did you tell Col. Sanders last week? "Just put the headset on, it practically does itself!"
Man, this contraption's gonna muss my hair...
Okay, so there once was a 60s band in the UK called the Mighty Avengers, believe it of not. Here in the states, the Mighty Avengers meant this:
There, it was a whole 'nother thing. Most of this band eventually became Jigsaw- the ones that hit with Sky High here in the states. Well, the writers for this group- Clive Scott and Des Dyer- they wrote the very first 45 Chris ever bought, Who Do You Think You Are by Bo Donaldson and the Heywoods. There's a big hit for ya! It was produced by Steve Barri, known for a lot of writing and production credits, including writing Secret Agent Man and A Must To Avoid, and producin' Dizzy an' the song that gets the 6D award by peaking at a Panel-low # 36- Mama Cass and Make Your Own Kind Of Music. Not bad, hey?
Nope, real good! Before we give you your guess choices, though, here's that high debut- all the way up at #4! This is an acoustic version of a song that hit #1 in the UK already in a more bouncy form, and is in the US top 40 right now. I liked the acoustic much better, as you can see... this is Elton John and Dua Lipa...
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Alright, here's than list of #1 songs I pulled out of this week's debut list. First, find the one song that topped the others by eventually spending five weeks at #1. Second, one of them was #1 on Cashbox, but held off at #2 on Billboard... find THAT one!
In chronological order...
Sam Cooke, You Send Me, 1958
Return To Sender, Elvis, 1962
Big Girls Don't Cry, Four Seasons, 1962
Good Vibrations, Beach Boys, 1966
Love Child, Supremes, 1968
Come Together, Beatles, 1969
Theme From Shaft, Isaac Hayes, 1971
The Joker, Steve Miller Band, 1973
Angie Baby, Helen Reddy, 1974
Laughter In The Rain, Neil Sedaka, 1974
and That's The Way I Like It, KC and the Sunshine Band, 1975.
While you think about that, I have one more special treat. Live from Antarctica, here's Nardole with the Overseas If You Please! Nardole, can you hear us?
S-s-s-sir, I can hear you... but why from here? It's s-s-s-sixty-seven below here!
Well, we have all this live remote equipment we never used, and it would be a shame to waste it...
I-I-I-I-I see... well, quickly th-th-then...
In the Uk-k-k-k-K, it was Eye Level, the th-theme f-f-from the TV show Van Der Valk by the s-s-Simon P-p-park Orchestra...
In New Zealand, it was P-p-paul Simon with Take Me To The Mardi Gras...
Interesting thing about that one: It never charted here- wiki claims it only was released in the UK, and yet it hit #1 in New Zealand and was #3 in South Africa this week. It was supposed to be the b-side of Kodachrome, but the BBC wouldn't play Kodachrome due to "advertising prohibitions", so...
Sir, m-m-might we move on?
Oh, sorry, go ahead...
In Australia it was Susie Quatro with Can The Can... in Canada, Angie by the Rolling Stones... in South Africa, the George B-b-baker Selection with Baby B-b-blue...
You were sounding better for a minute there, what happened?
A p-p-penguin p-p-peed on my leg... but it's frozen now...
The pee, or you leg?
The p-p-penguin, s-s-sir...
Ah, well you go ahead and seek shelter, and thanks for being such a trooper all these years!
All right, how about you hit the M10, buddy?
EP: Fine!
9- and falling 6, Moon Taxi an' Mission...
8- and falling 4, Morello an' Phantogram, Driving To Texas...
7- up one, Styx an' Age Of Entropia...
You okay, King?
EP: Man, Noodle made ME cold!
6- Up one, Geowulf an' I've Been Over It... 5- Up one, The Beths an' Dying To Believe...
3- Outta the top spot, Gerry Rafferty an' Sign Of The Times...
2- up 3 for Champaign, Illinois...
An' new at the top...
...Jason Isbell an' the 400 Unit and Brittney Spencer an' Midnight Train To Georgia!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Okay, here's your debut guess results!
Good Vibrations, Come Together, The Joker, and Angie Baby all were #1 for 1 week...
You Send Me, Love Child, Shaft, and That's The Way I Like It all made 2 weeks...
Return To Sender was the one that, while making #1 on CB, it was held out on Billboard for 5 weeks by our winner....
Our very last Panel winners, the Four Seasons and Big Girls Don't Cry!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So, that's it! Be here next Thursday for the latest M10, and Friday for the great 700th episode Halloween Bash!
With last week's prelims done, the story of Samson splits into two parts- one at the beginning of his 20-year judgeship of Israel, and one at the end. And I had a bunch of things I noticed in part one (Judges 14-15), beginning with a question I asked myself about the story, involving this verse:
Jdg 15:3 And Samson said to them, "This time I shall be innocent in regard to the Philistines, when I do them harm."
But was he? And if so, was he guilty in his previous actions? Well, so we have to begin with the previous actions. Condensed version: You might remember he was led to fall in love (or what passed for it) with a Philistine girl. During the year of betrothal, he kills this lion, later finds honey in it, and even later uses it to make a riddle:
Jdg 14:12 And Samson said to them, "Let me now put a riddle to you. If you can tell me what it is, within the seven days of the feast, and find it out, then I will give you thirty linen garments and thirty changes of clothes, Jdg 14:13 but if you cannot tell me what it is, then you shall give me thirty linen garments and thirty changes of clothes." And they said to him, "Put your riddle, that we may hear it." Jdg 14:14 And he said to them, "Out of the eater came something to eat. Out of the strong came something sweet." And in three days they could not solve the riddle.
Here's where I begin to see my troubles in understanding come from not paying close attention as I read a story, which I have known almost in a "Mr Magoo" form since childhood, but don't READ the story.
Now the feast lasts seven days; and about halfway through, they show their disdain for Samson and all things Israel. But first, one commentator made an interesting note about this group...
Jdg 14:10 His father went down to the woman, and Samson prepared a feast there, for so the young men used to do. Jdg 14:11 As soon as the people saw him, they brought thirty companions to be with him.
This was not a wedding Israel would approve of, and other than mom and dad, no one came with him. Which was a bit of a cultural insult, so they gave him 30 "companions"- read, "we aren't his buddies, but we play them on TV." So they picked out 30 guys who I'm sure were so happy to fill in for a 'subject people'. To add injury to the insult, now he's struck them with what amounted to a high-stakes bet they had no way of winning. They couldn't abide this, so they cheated, and the next thing I didn't realize was HOW they cheated:
Jdg 14:15 On the fourth day they said to Samson's wife, "Entice your husband to tell us what the riddle is, lest we burn you and your father's house with fire. Have you invited us here to impoverish us?"
It would seem, as we go on, that burning out those they disagreed with was a common practice. Remind you of a certain era's "woke" culture? At any rate, Samson's wife (because that's what she was in Jewish law) was a very, shall we say, motivated actress, and passed the secret of the riddle on to the companions. Samson immediately knew they cheated...
Jdg 14:18 And the men of the city said to him on the seventh day before the sun went down, "What is sweeter than honey? What is stronger than a lion?" And he said to them, "If you had not plowed with my heifer, you would not have found out my riddle."
And here's the part where Samson found himself a little guilty. Under the guidance of the Spirit, he traipsed clear across Philistia to Ashkelon, killed 30 Philistines, and stripped them of their clothes- the price of his wager. The companions, who I assume didn't really know where he got the goods, were satisfied; however, the groom was not:
Jdg 14:19 And the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon him, and he went down to Ashkelon and struck down thirty men of the town and took their spoil and gave the garments to those who had told the riddle. In hot anger he went back to his father's house. Jdg 14:20 And Samson's wife was given to his companion, who had been his best man.
Samson stomps off, figuring he was married anyway; the bride's father, figuring he was abandoning his daughter, passed her on to the next man up. Sometime later, Samson cools off and goes to give his unconsummated bride a goat (Much like, I chuckle, 'Cashius, god of cashback' in the ad), only to find out, "Well, I married your girl off, but here's her sister", a story that reminds us that Samson's home town of Timnah was near an event that happened in Jacob's life, and like Jacob, Samson got 'Labaned'. This prompted Samson's outburst that I questioned; and I finally understood why he said it when I read John Wesley's take on it:
Now shall I, &c. - Because they have first provoked me by an irreparable injury: but although this may look like an act of private revenge; yet it is plain Samson acted as a judge (for so he was) and as an avenger of the publick injuries of his people.
Wesley explains that Samson saw this as typical of the haughtiness of the Philistines, and the disregard they held Israel in. So he decided to punish them with the same measure they threatened his would-be bride with:
Jdg 15:4 So Samson went and caught 300 foxes and took torches. And he turned them tail to tail and put a torch between each pair of tails. Jdg 15:5 And when he had set fire to the torches, he let the foxes go into the standing grain of the Philistines and set fire to the stacked grain and the standing grain, as well as the olive orchards.
Which, of course, provoked what we see now as the 'typical Philistine response":
Jdg 15:6 Then the Philistines said, "Who has done this?" And they said, "Samson, the son-in-law of the Timnite, because he has taken his wife and given her to his companion." And the Philistines came up and burned her and her father with fire.
Samson was shocked, because he had avenged a "cultural" insult with property damage; they had made it personal with murder. Understand, this is why God had no problem with provoking Samson with these acts- the Philistines were a brutal, proud, disrespectful, murderous lot. Apparently determining the ringleaders, he 'struck them hip and thigh with a great slaughter'; but then, knowing he'd made himself friendless, he went to lie low. Friendless, you say? But, didn't the Israelites appreciate him standing up to their oppressors? Maybe not...
Jdg 15:9 Then the Philistines came up and encamped in Judah and made a raid on Lehi. Jdg 15:10 And the men of Judah said, "Why have you come up against us?" They said, "We have come up to bind Samson, to do to him as he did to us." Jdg 15:11 Then 3,000 men of Judah went down to the cleft of the rock of Etam, and said to Samson, "Do you not know that the Philistines are rulers over us? What then is this that you have done to us?" And he said to them, "As they did to me, so have I done to them." Jdg 15:12 And they said to him, "We have come down to bind you, that we may give you into the hands of the Philistines." And Samson said to them, "Swear to me that you will not attack me yourselves." Jdg 15:13 They said to him, "No; we will only bind you and give you into their hands. We will surely not kill you." So they bound him with two new ropes and brought him up from the rock.
This cowardice on the part of Israel is more heinous when you find out later that they outnumbered the Philistine raiders 3 to 1; But it dovetails with the Israelite society we've seen in Judges thus far. Remember the Ephramites, so brave AFTER the enemy is defeated that they'll attack the victor. So they take Samson- who should be their hero- and deliver him to the bloodthirsty Philistines. And guess what happens?
Jdg 15:14 When he came to Lehi, the Philistines came shouting to meet him. Then the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon him, and the ropes that were on his arms became as flax that has caught fire, and his bonds melted off his hands. Jdg 15:15 And he found a fresh jawbone of a donkey, and put out his hand and took it, and with it he struck 1,000 men. Jdg 15:16 And Samson said, "With the jawbone of a donkey, heaps upon heaps, with the jawbone of a donkey have I struck down a thousand men."
1,000 Philistines. 3,000 Israelites couldn't stand up to them, but could to Samson. Once again, they, like us, show an inability to learn the lesson even when repeated over and over. This is what happens when you reject history, to make it more palatable.
Now that we have determined the true guilty parties, is this how God saw it? Well, the next thing that happened...
Jdg 15:17 As soon as he had finished speaking, he threw away the jawbone out of his hand. And that place was called Ramath-lehi. Jdg 15:18 And he was very thirsty, and he called upon the LORD and said, "You have granted this great salvation by the hand of your servant, and shall I now die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?" Jdg 15:19 And God split open the hollow place that is at Lehi, and water came out from it. And when he drank, his spirit returned, and he revived. Therefore the name of it was called En-hakkore; it is at Lehi to this day. Jdg 15:20 And he judged Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years.
Apparently we have a satisfied God, Philistine overlords intimidated enough by Samson that they backed off a bit for the next 2 decades, and a people who got the message... oh, wait, this is Israel. Next time, we'll be looking at how Samson learns something of the lesson of Gideon.
So, it's Sunday evening, and I feel like doing a blog post. Only thing is, I don't know what exactly to entertain you with. Ironically, I went on my stats page and found out my most popular post over the last year was on from 2013 titled "Life Is Like a Blog Post..." . Unfortunately, That post had several things that I no longer have, at least not today: Scrappy, a walk that includes fox pictures, and a couple of spam e-mails to make fun of. Now I do have Misty, and we did take a walk, and we did see a deer, but I didn't bring the camera; and I don't get a lot of amusing spam anymore, just stuff like the current "your prostate is the size of a lemon", which I believe to be incorrect. I'm fairly sure there's nothing down there that size, whether that shape or not.
I did just discover that today (Sunday) is the six year anniversary of the great Martin-Gaul Autumn Walk...
A fond memory of loved ones gone... if not for Donna's feet! This was what I discovered in learning that October 17th is a day that I have only ever took pictures on twice... in 2015 and 2016. The later date was a much simpler set...
Today, though, Misty and I were content to do a) walk, b) Church, c) Sunday sweeping of doggie hair, d) nap. So is life like a blog post today?
I guess so. Some are packed full, some not so much. Things you did or liked to do 6 years ago are not available or not wanted now. And yet, an overwhelming number (by my Blogger stats) want to go living in the past. Funny that as I type that I remember a poem from our high school creative writing group titled, "Don't Look Back- Only Future Counts". But even that remembrance tells us that it is false. By life verse, 1 Samuel 7:12, tells us that-
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 don't set up a stone without a need to remember. But you can't take the step Israel took over and over- make an idol of it. If there was one thing I learned from the heartache of losing Bob and Scrappy so close together, it was this- do NOT make a 'god of grief' from them.
I bet about now you wish I had a spam comment to dissect, don't you?
I don't remember why it was, I was thinking today about Peter's third denial, and Jesus catching his eye from the court. But I remember thinking about Jesus' emotions at the time. Was He surprised? I thought, and answered myself, no, He predicted it. He knew all along Peter would betray Him with that sin. And, He knew how and how many times that I would betray Him, too- and still died for the both of us. What wondrous, beyond my ability to comprehend, love...
The Better Part, Day # 206:
It was mentioned in a message I heard the other day how these newborn faithful ones that Jesus healed always were given something to do: "Tell no one", "Tell your city", "Pick up your mat", etc- small things to start them on the journey. And it struck me that there were two groups Jesus asked to do the near impossible. One were His disciples ("Walk on the water", "Feed the 5,000") who knew nothing was impossible for faith; the other were the not- quite believers ("Sell all you have"), who needed to do something to acquire faith.
The Better Part, Day # 207:
Mat 24:23 Then if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or 'There he is!' do not believe it.
Mat 24:24 For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect.
Mat 24:25 See, I have told you beforehand.
It struck me as I listened to David Jeremiah talk about the parts of Revelation that seemed impossible just ten years ago that seem so possible now, that this passage should be a call to immediate prayer. I saw through some incidents today- The signs aren't going to be in neon. They are going to be so subtle, we could already be prepped and ready to be fooled and not even know it. Reminding me of another of Jesus's warnings...
Mat 10:16 "Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves..."
Lord, increase my discernment as the day draws near. I want to be close to You and looking at You, not in the wrong direction.
The Better Part, Day #208:
This week, the last issue of Immortal Hulk came out. Whether the author intended or not, it was an interesting look at a Christian journey. In #1, both the Hulk and Banner had come to a decision that the only way to save humanity was to destroy it all and start over. On the way, Banner had to come to face many sides of his own personality (which appeared as various Hulks, because it's a comic!), and finally came up against a version of Satan, the One Below All, who was using the Hulks for destruction. But it was the childlike Hulk (the "Guilt Hulk") that finally cried out, "Why is Hulk so broken? Why does there have to be a Hulk at all?"
That's when the Marvel version of "God", the One Above All, appears, and tries to explain it. The "Joe Fixit" Hulk (think 'unrepentant sinner') rejects the explanation and tries to move on, but the 'Guilt Hulk' won't leave before he forgives his worst enemy, because, "Little Head is Hulk too... and shouldn't Hulks forgive Hulks? Because if they don't who will?" At this point, the 'Fixit' Hulk realizes all of his sins, and asks a friend who his actions had harmed for forgiveness, and they are then rescued from the Below Place (basically Hell). At the end, Banner, now a complete being, muses on the good of the people that helped him, and the good he now wants to accomplish, ending by looking into the sun (drawn similarly to the One Above All) and says, "What do you think?"
The Better Part, Day # 209:
Psa 90:9 For all our days pass away under your wrath; we bring our years to an end like a sigh.
Psa 90:10 The years of our life are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty; yet their span is but toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly away.
Psa 90:11 Who considers the power of your anger, and your wrath according to the fear of you?
Psa 90:12 So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.
Did you ever consider, in this Psalm of Moses, that by his own words, he must have been in his seventies when he wrote it- and he was just about to lead the people for 40 years? You never know what God has in store for you.
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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