Could you possibly be a little less of a Monday?

I'll spare you the gory details.  This story from the way home will explain it all.

ME:  Puts bottle of Pepsi on counter at the BP.  Pulls out a five.
Clerk:  Would you like a dollar scratch off?
ME:  No, I need change for a pop at work tomorrow in case it is a drizzling shit like today was."


Oh, and I will add that sometime between 2:00 Saturday (when we got off) and 6 AM Monday (when we came back), the power had to have went out yet again and our computers- including the one that runs my machine- were mere decoration until around 7:30 and acted as if they were on Windows 5 without the virus protection most of the rest of the day.

I spent a little time trying to gather some Martin World News, to little effect.  It was certainly more entertaining than watching myself lose half of my sweet 16 on my bracket.  Oh, and speaking of sports, be sure to check out the latest hockey update on the NHFFL page.  It's a great cure for insomnia.  Anyway, one of the things I did find was that Google Translate isn't exactly always accurate.  For example, here is Liz Wahlova.

She is the reporter who quit her job on government run TV when Putin started the whole Crimean mess.  She said she had been nothing but Putin's PAWN.  But GT rendered it thus:

Perhaps GT should have made that "chess piece."  Then it wouldn't sound like a Bill Clinton story.


The next one I found was a head shaker in that you gotta wonder about the things that people use social media for- and what those using it get bent about.

Meet 2013 Singapore Miss Universe finalist Jesslyn Tan.

Tan, apparently a clothes horse extraordinaire who thinks everyone dresses like her, thought it funny to take a picture of a man who had fallen asleep on the subway, and- OMG- had a hole in his shirt!

She posted the picture on Facebook, with the comment,  "Holey moley. Sibei (very) trendy worzxxz."

She'd love me if holey clothes are her thing.  I have jeans, shirts, hoodies, socks, even underwear with holes if she feels like snapping.  But instead of leaving sleeping idiots lie, a member of government got involved:

Meet the holey guy, one Koh Hee Huat, with Senior Minister of State for Law and Education Indranee Rajah.  Ms. Rajah took to Facebook and in a 67-line dressing down of Miss Tan, reminded everyone to be more sensitive to others.  Unlike Ms. Tan, Mr. Koh is a hard working man who spend hours in his shop earning money that comes so easily to Ms. Tan and doesn't exactly feel like putting on the ritz for the ride home.  Ms. Rajah's post is closing in on 34 THOUSAND likes.  For her part, Tan had already took down the post after several people called her out and made a public (but not personal) apology.

Of course many of those who liked Ms. Rajah's plea for sensitivity and politeness have gone on to say things like, "This young lady MUST go get a brain scan and go back to grammar school. Get help please, Miss Tan."  Ah, social media.


Oh, before I get to the last story.... I DID warn you if any of my hockey teams made their league finals, I'd cover it here.  The first to do so is Sanok in the Polish League.

Sanok opened the Polish finals against #1 Tychy today, losing game one 2-0.

Okay, now on to the final story, a little horsing around, as it were.  Let us borrow the time machine to go back to last Christmas, travelling down National Road 114 in southern Portugal.  Somebody's horse got loose and crossed the road.  In the ensuing chaos, the horse, a middle aged couple in one car, and a 5-year old child and an elderly man in another, were killed.  The question was, whose horse was it?

And the question remains unanswered.  The horse did have a microchip, so they traced it.  The Director of Portugal's Food and Veterinary Office found that the chip was manufactured by a Swiss company, from a lot that was distributed to the Spanish province of Andalusia.  So she contacted the Spanish counterpart- and he found that NOBODY had bothered to register the ID number.

In the consequence, The Portuguese authorities then began a roundup of other troublemaking, juvenile delinquent horses who were running loose and causing similar problems.  A total of 12 equine bad boys were rounded up; seven were returned to their ever-so-concerned owners - after the paying of fines and costs- and the others were adopted out (hopefully not to those same owners).  Just in case you're curious, the distance from Evora, the site of the incident, to Andalusia, is 269 miles.  Those bad horses DO get around, huh?

Sunday Message: I don't understand the plan

Do you ever say that to God?  During another Saturday at work, making the world safe for rich people who want their boats covered, I ended up debating just that.  It was a long road getting there, starting with confession- a confession that included not giving God the proper respect.  So it may sound funny that the talk drifted that way.  But it wasn't a matter of questioning or doubting His plan for this fallen world, or accusing Him of "evil", like the atheists who don't even believe He exists do.  It was more like Brian Wilson in his song Love And Mercy:

I was lying in my room and the news came on TV
A lotta people out there hurtin' and it really scares me....

And I thought about some of those people hurting.  Those who have lost loved ones to cancer, to violence... The kids caught up in depression, in cutting, in purging... The hopelessly lost... and it made me think, surely there was a way that Your will could have been accomplished without all the sin, all the pain, all the tears...

The immediate answer I got, and little more, was, "The iron being forged pleads to be removed from the furnace."  To the point, succinct, but hardly comforting.  Although I did feel His peace on the subject, I realized my problem was not with The Plan, but my inability to perceive it correctly at times like this.  Can You not help me to make peace with the plan?


Saturday night (minutes ago as I type), I got three answers from Mark 8.  Three answers for different people, or types of people.

Answer #1: I'm not telling.

¹¹ The Pharisees came and began to question Jesus. To test him, they asked him for a sign from heaven. ¹² He sighed deeply and said, “Why does this generation ask for a sign? Truly I tell you, no sign will be given to it.”

The key to this is "this generation".  Jesus was specifically talking to those who do not believe on this one.  They want Jesus to come down from heaven, part their personal Red Sea, and then show His ID, and it ain't gonna happen.  But does this apply to me?  In the sense that, in seeking peace on the issue, I was in effect looking for a sign, even though it wasn't truly my intent.  Sometimes, you can see the big picture, accept the pains as a mortal, temporary thing- and sometimes it gets a little too close.  To get the perspective back, you have to back up a little.


Answer #2:  Whaddya mean, you don't get it?


¹⁴ The disciples had forgotten to bring bread, except for one loaf they had with them in the boat. ¹⁵ “Be careful,” Jesus warned them. “Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and that of Herod.”
¹⁶ They discussed this with one another and said, “It is because we have no bread.”
¹⁷ Aware of their discussion, Jesus asked them: “Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not see or understand? Are your hearts hardened? ¹⁸ Do you have eyes but fail to see, and ears but fail to hear? And don’t you remember? ¹⁹ When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?”
“Twelve,” they replied.
²⁰ “And when I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?”
They answered, “Seven.”
²¹ He said to them, “Do you still not understand?”

By this point, the Disciples should have been beyond the level of understanding to get this.  Jesus had explained this kind of thing many times, in many ways.  And I know I am at that point on this subject as well.  Man chose the evil world rather than paradise.  God graciously gives us a way out.  But the way out isn't during this lifetime, and sometimes we expect to go on "spiritual welfare" to make do until our time comes.  Sometimes, God wants me to figure it out myself... and sometimes, He wants me to just give it to Him and not question.  Me, I'd like an instruction manual, skip the Spanish language half, please...

Answer # 3:  There's something in your eyes...

²² They came to Bethsaida, and some people brought a blind man and begged Jesus to touch him. ²³ He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. When he had spit on the man’s eyes and put his hands on him, Jesus asked, “Do you see anything?”
²⁴ He looked up and said, “I see people; they look like trees walking around.”
²⁵ Once more Jesus put his hands on the man’s eyes. Then his eyes were opened, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly.

I came upon this story, and the two like it, early in the week.  How is it that Jesus had to spit in mud (or in the other case, on the deaf-mute's tongue) to effect the miracle?  Why did He have to do an "extra whammy" to "get His mojo working"?  One of the answers I found was the faith level.  Consider one: this was in Bethsaida, where Jesus had already criticized the people for their lack of faith.  Consider two:  this was not like the other blind men, like the one who cried out, "Son of David, have mercy on me!"  This guy was brought to Him, and we don't know whether he had any faith or not.  And we don't know if his buddies had any faith or just wanted to see Jesus do a trick.

Nevertheless, Jesus decided to heal him, and it was a bit of a struggle because of the lack of faith.  Sometimes I can through my faith see things clearly.  Other times, when I've let my "faith+move"  (See last Sunday's message) slide, I end up seeing "people like trees walking around."

So the three-fold answer to my prayer was:
- Don't expect a gift wrapped explanation in this life.  Sometimes you have to just accept;
- Buck up!  You have enough knowledge to get past this- if you want to;
- If you were working your faith, you wouldn't need mud in your eyes.

The writer of Hebrews scolded his readers for still requesting "milk" when they should be teaching others "by this point".  I think God told me today, "The Similac bar is closed. "

Time Machine week 112- now on the right blog!

Today is March 21, 1972- the first day of spring in the US of A.  Unlike this year, it was a high of 70 F, with a low of 46 and 2/10 of an inch of rain.  Elsewhere in the world...

In Cambodia, more than 100 civilians are killed and 280 wounded as communist artillery and rockets strike Phnom Penh and outlying areas in the heaviest attack since the beginning of the war in 1970. Following the shelling, a communist force of 500 troops attacked and entered Takh Mau, six miles southeast of Phnom Penh, killing at least 25 civilians.

Courtesy the History Channel (who don't know how to spell Phnom, but I fixed it).  So Communists can kill civilians and Jane Fonda just loves 'em.  But US soldiers protecting said civilians are baby killers.  And the same generation who called soldiers baby killers, they're the ones in charge at 1600 Pennsylvania right now.  I think from now on I will deflect any political challenges with those immortal words...

And on that note, I welcome you into the Time Machine for another week, where we'll find:

-what connects Harry Nilsson with Lou Christie and David Cassidy;
-who that is singing How Do You Do- in German;
-where is the song that should have been at #7 last week- and I FORGOT- and none of you caught?
-which two songs tied for biggest dropper;
-whether we'll have a new top dog this week;
-and finally, who is this asshat, and why is he a "soulless bastard":

We take off with our look at the top of the charts out there in the world, and South Africa has a one-week stay by Barbara Streisand with a two-sided hit Mother/The Summer Knows.  The a-side, a cover of John Lennon's single, peaked at 79 here.  I just tested it out, despite not being a big Babs fan... and I'm still wondering why I bothered.  In France, Middle Of The Road strikes again, this time with a song called Samson And Delilah.  Why these guys never charted here, I'll never understand, I like everything of theirs I hear! Germany had just seen Mouth and McNeil's English version of How Do You Do peak out at #5, and  a German jack of all trades named Peter Petrel and a lady named Jeanette McKinley got together under the name Die Windows to do a German-language version which this week hits #1 there. (Peter has bopped around the music industry since, and in 2004 he recruited a lady named Tina Wulf for a new Die Windows.)  Ironically, the Mouth and McNeil version just hit #1 in Switzerland.

In New Zealand, a Canadian folk group made popular by a high-power station in Great Falls Montana called the Mom and Dads hit the top.  Their song was called The Ranger's Waltz.  After testing it out, I'd have to say that the Kiwi charts must be heavily sponsored by the Shady Nook Rest Home and Deli.

They look like a lively bunch!

In the US of A, we have another mini-consensus growing, as LA, Both Chicago stations, and KDWB in Minneapolis have Heart Of Gold at the pinnacle, while the rest of Minney and Pittsburgh have The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face, and Detroit- including the last chart from WKNR (in just one month they would become an Easy Listening station)- have Betcha By Golly Wow.  On the minor charts, the only change is Joe Tex's I Gotcha moving past James Brown to the top of the R&B chart.

That brings us to the new members of the hot 100- 15 in all, but we'll look at 5.  Sammy Davis Jr.'s hit Candy Man comes in at 97;  Dr. Hook with their tear jerker Sylvia's Mother enters at 95; April Wine with their rocker You Could've Been A Lady arrives at 88; Badfinger- a band we'll be going into more depth on later- enters at 75 with Baby Blue (AKA the song that's been playing in my head all day); and Don McLean dives in at 60 with Vincent.

Our birthday songs this week are next, and not near so many as last week.  Turning thirty- an age that I'm seeing more and more "do I really want to mention THAT one here" songs coming up-  we have Billy Joel's The Longest Time, Irene Cara's Breakdance (see what I mean?) and English band Talk Talk with It's My Life.  Turning 35, Orleans' Love Takes Time, Boston with Feelin' Satisfied (off Don't look Back), and the Cars with Good Times Roll.  Turning 40, Chicago's I've Been Searching So Long;  turning 45, Booker T and the MGs with Time Is Tight, Tommy James and the Shondells with Sweet Cherry Wine, The Cowsills with Hair, and... believe it or not, Frank Sinatra and My Way.  Finally, the Beatles' take on Roll Over Beethoven hits 50 this week.  (Sorry, I'll stick to ELO.)  Blow Out The Candles...

...tell Tchaikovsky the newsssss... WHEEEEE!

So that brings us to another 45 at 45 that shows how far apart Billboard and Cashbox can diverge.  Earlier, in mentioning Streisand's song Mother, we had left out the fact that Lennon's original peaked at 19 on CB and FORTY-THREE on BB.  This time we have a song that stopped at 73 on BB, but checked in at 45 this week en route to peaking at 43 the next week.  It is the Fireballs, first known for the 1963 #1 Sugar Shack, and a tune called Long Green.  Now this New Mexico band had been around for a while, mostly doing folky instrumentals based on the guitar playing of George Tomsco, until Jimmy Gilmore joined as singer/piano player right before Sugar Shack became a big hit.  They would rattle off six top 40 hits before running out of steam for about 4 years.  Then they made a comeback with late 1967's #9 Bottle Of Wine.  But the  momentum died off, and out of three subsequent singles, this one was the highest charter on BB.  I'm testing out right now, and this is a pretty cool tune- sure beats Sugar Shack IMHO.

Our big mover of the week is at the top of our top 40 entries, so hold on; the big dropper is a tie this week at a 26 notch drop.  The Nickel Song falls to 55, and Let's Stay Together tumbles to 57.


Our top 40 debuts are next, and there are five of them.  Isaac Hayes comes in for a cup of coffee at 40, up two spots with Do Your Thing.  The Polish Prince, Bobby Vinton, comes in at #38, up six, with Everyday Of My Life.  The Temptations come in at 37, up nine with Take A Look Around.  Yes breaks in at 34, up 7, with one of my favorite summery songs, Roundabout.  And the #1 song in Detroit, the Stylistics' Betcha By Golly Wow, takes the big mover prize with a 16-spot leap to #31.

Hmmm... five mentioned out of the hot 100 debuts... 5 top 40 debuts... and now, five in the Almost But Not Quite cart.  A bad week for Melanie, as Ring The Living Bell, having peaked at 21, dives to 36.  The English Congregation peaked at 28 with Softly Whispering I Love You, and now begin their descent.  The Bee Gees made it to #15 with My World; Beverley Bremers to 16 (two weeks ago) with Don't Say You Don't Remember; and the Supremes vol. 2 to 16 last week with Floy Joy.

One- only one- song enters the top ten, and one falls out- and that's the one I LEFT OUT last time.  For shame, not nailing me on that!  Oh, um, the song was Precious And Few, and it slides from that missing 7-spot down to #13.


Climbing 4 notches to earn the tenth spot- Cher with The Way Of Love.

Slipping 3 to #9, Bread with Everything I Own.

Taking a big tumble from 2 to 8, the Carpenters with Hurting Each Other.

Yes, Virginia, there is a #7- and this week, it's Donny Osmond's Puppy Love, climbing 3.

Paul Simon moves up a pair with Mother And Child Reunion at #6.

And now the six degrees.

Nilsson slides out of the top spot to #5 with Without You.  Now, Arlee Bird clued me in that there was a version of this song by Badfinger.  I tried it out last week, and am listening now again, but I have to go with Nilsson's more emotional version.  But what I didn't know was that BF's was the original.  And not surprisingly for a band often called "Beatles Light", it came to them in two parts.

Part the first:  Pete Ham was just about to go out for a night on the town with his wife when Tom Evans stopped him with a song idea.  He said he couldn't go to the studio, but his wife talked him into it, despite the fact she couldn't hide her disappointment.  Thus the lines, "I can't forget this evening or your face as you were leaving" and "When I had you there and then I let you go" came into being.  But the song, tentatively titled "If It's Love", was without a chorus that Ham liked.

Part the second:  Evans had been dating a girl in Cologne around this time, and one day she picked up and moved to London.  He tracked her down after telling her BFF that he couldn't live without her... and the chorus was born.

The band wasn't real enthused with the result, and used it to close side A of there second lp.  Much later, it would be released in the UK on an EP.  And the ironic thing is, these were the two members of the band who would commit suicide.

Which is where the asshat comes in.  Meet manager Stan Polley, a low-life with undeniable connections to organized crime, who escaped being in jail at this point only because the judge he was supposed to have bribed for his "friends" 15 years before happened to retire before he was convicted, and the whole thing was dropped.  How it was the boys managed to let this mongrel be their manager is beyond me... though Pete Ham's suicide note mentioned his own grief over not being able to trust anyone ever again.  Polley formed an escrow account into which the profits of the band were to be poured- "for re-investment"- while he paid the band a straight salary.  Months go by, and the record company finds out there is NOTHING in the escrow account, and Polley slithers away before anyone can do anything about it.  The band is broke, and Pete Ham commits suicide- just before his baby is born.    His wife found him hanging, and called Evans.  The sight never left his mind, and would later result in his own suicide by hanging.

Polley died in 2009. and the nicest thing I saw about him was, "Now he can sit outside the gates of heaven, shining Pete and Tom's shoes."  Can't say I disagree- except that as far as I'm concerned, they can ship the shoes down to him.

Polley also was Lou Christie's manager for a time, and moved him late in his career over to Buddah Records (you remember? the one that turned everyone into bubble-gummers?).  There Lou hooked up with Tony Romeo, who wrote Lou's last big hit, I'm Gonna Make You Mine (#10 in '69).  Romeo was quite the successful songwriter as I've mentioned previously- having also written Indian Lake for the Cowsills and I Think I Love You for the Partridge Family.

America zooms up from 9 to 4 with A Horse With No Name.

The Osmonds' Lazy River is downright stagnant, holding yet again at #3.

Robert John moves up a pair to the runner-up slot with The Lion Sleeps Tonight at #2.


And the NEW #1 song this week....

...Neil Young and Heart Of Gold!!!!!


Next week, we'll be light and airy again, I promise!  What, you don't believe me?  Shut up, Hippie!

Weird coincidences and Presidential picks

Last week at this time, We were butt-deep in snow and I was telling you about the hazardous way home after the power went out and we were sent home from work after 2 hours.

This week, with no weather, no obvious reason, and no hazardous driving, the power at work went out halfway through lunch and we went home an hour and a half early.

Is this to be the new thing- the every-Wednesday power failure?  And could we schedule it on Mondays?  Actually, this week Tuesday would have been better.  To tell you everything that went off the rails would take a booklet the size of your new phone's instruction manual, with the Spanish translation.  And probably trigger an insane killing spree.  So, let's just say, as I did, "You couldn't screw things up more with an instruction guide" (said at 9 AM, no less), and move on.

Obama released his NCAA tournament bracket today.  For those who don't do sportsspeak, every year college basketball has a postseason tournament, currently inviting the "top" 68 teams.  And filling out your predictions on who'll win is next to the football Super Bowl as a nationwide tradition.  I did mine Sunday as the bracket was named.  Last year I was pretty much out of things right off the bat with all the crazy upsets, and I expect the difference this year will be minimal.  I took Syracuse to beat Baylor in the final, with Michigan State (the hated Sparty) and Louisville in the final four.

Ironically, Obama's bracket has Sparty and Louisville in the championship game, with Sparty winning.  Which is fine with me, because I hate Sparty (did I mention that?) and will enjoy rooting against him/them.  He has Florida and Arizona in his final four; I have Syracuse knocking off Florida in the "elite eight" round, and my Oklahoma Sooners taking out Arizona early.  Again ironically, Obama has the Sooners losing right off the bat to North Dakota State, who nearly was kept out of the tourney by down-the-street IPFW, winning their conference tourney by just 3 points (albeit they did beat our hometown boys by 11 twice during the season).

Now last night, the "play in games" (aka we wanted to add a few more teams, so we have eight teams play each other for the last four spots) started, and I went down in flames twice, with the opportunity to do the same tonight.  Sigh.

I think that's it for today.  Scrappy's been trying to talk me into an early dinner, and that is beginning to sound good to me.

Here there and anywhere

Lot of different things about today, including a pretty day for a walk...

Look!  Grass in the front yard!

Last attempt at this, the snow was 9 inches deep.  And Scrappy got stuck.

Robins may not exactly be a sign of spring (unless you think it's spring year-round), but they are a sign of life...

More on the walk later.  Next, I have to give the episode two review of Fox and Seth McFarlane's new "Cosmos" with Neil DeGrasse Tyson.  First time out, I thought it was well-done and fair.  Well, that lasted one episode.  Over and over, he repeated the phrases "completely random" and "this is solid science" about evolution.

 But here's the thing- every example he gave showed how something in a specific species (say, a wolf) evolved through artificial or natural selection into something similar, but different (like a dog).  He quoted Darwin's statement about the evolution of the eyeball being too complex to evolve without a guiding hand (AKA God).  And then Said, "But, is it?" and tried to show how it could have happened randomly.  Yes, a light sensitive spot COULD have mutated by accident.  And over millennia it could have had a random mutation turn it first into a depression, then a pit, then a sphere.  Then I suppose purely random chance could have mad a lens appear right where it was needed (instead of, say, the anus).  Or his polar bear example, where just by random chance a bear living in a snowy wasteland developed WHITE fur, instead of say, blue or mauve.

Of course he then claimed that science learned by keeping an open mind, and the "tree of life" was a "spiritual experience" to him (just to soften things a bit).  But it sure seemed to me that these supposedly random chances were guided by environment, need, logical progression.  Even if you refuse to believe in a creator being, you have to see that if you are intellectually honest.  There is every bit as much evidence for a hypothesis of a creator being, and more, than purely random mutation (HIS words, not mine).  The only thing that keeps both theories from being "solid science" is that modern science refuses to accept the thought of a creator being- because they cannot explain Him with a formula or an experiment.  They refuse to look at the fact that nothing that they have done or will ever do can truly disprove His existence.  And That's solid science.

Still about 4-5 inches down the Landing trail.

I know I said I was going to save hockey comments for the NHFFL page until and unless a team made their league finals, BUT....

Lokomotiv, the eighth seed in the KHL Western conference, facing the top team and defending champs Dynamo Moscow, fell behind two games to none, won a pair to tie things up, lost game 5 in OT 1-0 and trailed three games to two... Lokomotiv, a team that scored five or more goals just 3 times in 59 games, topped Dynamo 6-0 and 5-1 in games 6 and 7 to knock the favorites, the defending champs, the New York Yankees of the KHL, OUT of the playoffs!  I couldn't be happier if the reds knocked the Cardinals out of the World Series!

Finally, I have three MWN stories.  First, the minor league Baseball team in Lehigh Valley is taking advantage of America's bacon mania.  The team, named the "Iron Pigs", have a whole line of bacon flavored merchandise...

...including not only caps and such, but also food items...


...the team will continue the theme at the ballpark this year, selling bacon-flavored cotton candy and offering free bacon crumbles on all concession items the team sells, from hot dogs to ice cream. The IronPigs are also in the process of developing a race that involves eating a large number of bacon strips at the halfway point. Bloody Mary cocktails, with pieces of bacon in them, of course, will await those who cross the finish line.


The team also says they have sold 1,500 scratch and sniff bacon t-shirts guaranteed to smell like bacon through ten washings.

Second, the "drug dealer son of a well-known Cornish criminal" has gotten into a spot of trouble... but didn't do a good job of talking his way out of it.  Here's the story of Jack Harvey, Jr.-




...police were alerted to the younger Harvey's movements on November 26 last year when he left a St Austell petrol station without paying.Staff at the station described Harvey's behaviour as bizarre and reported that he had been making strange noises.

Officers caught up with him on the A390 near Probus where they witnessed him driving dangerously by overtaking several vehicles. Mr Lee said a urine sample later revealed a "cocktail" of drugs including amphetamine, methadone, cocaine and heroin.

When he was arrested at his home, drugs were found in Harvey's house, car and taped to his testicles.
 In interview, Harvey said he had no recollection of any incident on the A390 and denied being intoxicated.

Mr Lee said: "He made allegations that police had planted the drugs in his car … of the drugs stuck to his testicles (he) denied any knowledge, commenting that some filthy woman must have put it there."

Uh.... Yeah.  So then comes story #3... and no lead in will suffice for this one...

A British woman attempted to sue her former lawyers for professional negligence, claiming that, alongside a number of other allegations, they failed to advise that finalising divorce proceedings would inevitably cause her marriage to end.

The curious case - made against two solicitor firms - had already been rejected by the court, but was revealed in the transcript of a later appeal by the claimant against the dismissal of other aspects of her case.
Jane Mulcahy had argued that the lawyers should have made it clear that a divorce would cause her marriage to be terminated - something which she apparently wanted to avoid.

When you finish shaking your head, have a nice evening...

Sunday message: What Jesus can't do

One of the amazing things about the Bible that the poor atheists miss is that you can sit and read for hours as if it is a novel and get nothing, but you can come in sincere need and find help in one or two verses.  That's why I just chuckle when they tell me, "I know the Bible every bit as good as you, if not better."  It's like a Albert Pujols fan in Henderson, Kentucky trying to tell Pujol's wife he knows her husband as well as she does.  (Don't worry, this isn't a sports post, but if you click on the NHFFL link, you'll see which of my European hockey teams moved on this week, and which two got knocked out.)

ANYway, back to my point.  In the midst of yet another lax week of reading my own Bible (see the post "Pity Party" for how that worked for me), I actually came in sincerity Thursday night to a particular spot that stopped me.  That part- which I can only conclude I was divinely directed to because I was on schedule to read the NEXT chapter- was the beginning of Mark 6.  Jesus was teaching in the synagogue at hometown Nazareth that Sabbath, and the local yokels who watched Him grow up rejected Him.  Focus for a moment on verses 4-6:

⁴ But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own country, among his own relatives, and in his own house.” ⁵ Now He could do no mighty work there, except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them. ⁶ And He marveled because of their unbelief...


Now, here's the thing.  How was it that the Very Son Of God could do NOTHING because those around Him did not believe?  Was His power contingent on belief?  I puzzled on this, and then saw that my Bible had a reference link to Genesis 19:22.  Curious, I went there next.  It turns out to be in the midst of the Sodom and Gomorrah story.  Jesus (AKA the Angel of the Lord) and two other angels have come to Abraham, outlining that they had come to destroy the cities of the plain for their wickedness.  Abraham had done his bargaining (What if there are 20 good people... or ten... or five...?), survey said Lot was it, and the two angels had went down to get him.  But Lot, though a good man, was intensely naïve about those around him (including, as it turns out, his family) and was, like Abraham, fighting for every life he could get out.

¹⁸ Then Lot said to them, “Please, no, my lords! ¹⁹ Indeed now, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have increased your mercy which you have shown me by saving my life; but I cannot escape to the mountains, lest some evil overtake me and I die. ²⁰ See now, this city is near enough to flee to, and it is a little one; please let me escape there (is it not a little one?) and my soul shall live.”
²¹ And he said to him, “See, I have favored you concerning this thing also, in that I will not overthrow this city for which you have spoken. ²² Hurry, escape there. For I cannot do anything until you arrive there.”
Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.

So here we are, with Jesus Himself just miles away, and the angel is unable to act UNTIL Lot moves his carcass.  Does that mean that Jesus couldn't just have blasted Sodom lock, stock, and Lot?  And what about doing miracles in Nazareth?  Is God powerless without faith?

No, of course not.  Let's dig a little deeper into the story.  Jesus was sent to earth why?  All together, class- to SAVE men.  To save man, man must have faith.  Let me show you what Wesley had to say about the situation in Mark:

He could do no miracle there - Not consistently with his wisdom and goodness. It being inconsistent with his wisdom to work them there, where it could not promote his great end; and with his goodness, seeing he well knew his countrymen would reject whatever evidence could be given them. And therefore to have given them more evidence, would only have increased their damnation.

 

 

In other words, doing "great works" there would have been more hurt than help.  As a group, they were going to reject what He did no matter what.  The greater work He showed them, the greater the amount of rejection they would have had to apply to His works.  Knowing that, He purposely eased off.  That way, individuals who might come to Him apart from the "collective consciousness" would still be able to come to Him on their own.  He could work with them individually if they had the least faith.  Just like it's easier to be faithful in a church, it's easier to be unbelieving in a group.  Had He forced it on them with overwhelming miracles, they would have been turned irretrievably away because of the group mentality.

 

Same thing with the story of Lot.  The angels had a simple command- get Lot out, then destroy the cities.    It was the need to get Lot to MOVE that held things up, not any ability of Jesus.  Are you getting what I'm about yet?  No?

 

Okay, simplified:  God wants to move in our lives.  He really does.  But here's the thing- we're sinners.  We need to be saved, to be born again.  A Pure and Holy God requires a pure and holy people- and we can only manage that THROUGH faith in Christ.  But it's not JUST faith.  Faith gets the gate open... or to put it another way, faith delivered the angels to Lot's doorstep.  But God required Lot to get out of a bad situation and move before His great work could be accomplished.  If we want God to move in our lives, it takes more than a prayer and then wait for results.  Atheists could "do" that too, and then make fun of God for the lack of results.  And they do.

 

If you want God to move in YOUR life, it starts with faith- not just "I know you're up there", but true faith.  Then, you need to act ON that faith... Get out of "Sodom", move to the "Holy Land",

 

The comforting thing about this for Christians is, as long as we are in this world, God will not begin the final judgment.  The bad news for atheists is, the day of Rapture will come one day.  And for those of you on the in-between:  I wouldn't wait till Lot clears the city limits, if I were you.

Time Machine week 111- which accidentily got posted on the Caps Blog!

NOTICE:  Sorry!  Somehow the idiot blog got flipped and this was posted on the CAPS BLOG!  I don't understand it, can't explain it, but at least I don't have to re-type it!  Enjoy!





It's March 14, 1972.  The fourth of the Democrat primaries was held today in Florida, and Edmund Muskie's roll was decidedly crushed.  Alabama's former Governor George Wallace, who now "doesn't believe in segregation", just is against busing, cruises to a win in Florida, winning every county to post a 41+ % against a big field of candidates, outpolling the next three (Humphrey, Muskie, and Scoop Jackson) combined. He would go on to win 6 primaries (including Michigan) and runner up in 4 others (including Indiana), and finish third in total popular votes behind Humphrey and nominee  George McGovern.  And in two months and one day, he would be shot because he was easier to get at than President Nixon.

Get people to ignore past bigotry by being a president!  It worked for LBJ...

Welcome to this week's Time Machine, where we finally get to "that Eurovision bit"  I've been promising; a big birthday group;  the collapse of that consensus on Nilsson's Without You; but does that consensus collapse at the top, where it counts?  Stay tuned...

Okay, let's start with the weekly tour of the tops around the globe.  Germany has returned to Tony Marshall's polka version of "I Want To Hold Your Hand", which bore little resemblance to the version we know and love (or to anything I would have purchased in the day), and Canada has moved on to Down By The Lazy River.  There is one more international change over... but I'm going to save that for just a bit.  On the domestic side, Pittsburgh is the only city to still have Without You at the top.  LA and half of Chicago now has Heart Of Gold at the top; the other side of the Windy City also supports the Osmonds; Minneapolis has split between The Lion Sleeps Tonight and A Horse With No Name; and Detroit- with WKNR on it's second to last week with a chart- agrees on the Stylistics' Betcha By Golly Wow.

Next up, we have TWENTY-FOUR songs celebrating a birthday today- and I thought I'd handle the group a bit different in recognition.  Now, I tend to put a couple of the more obscure ones up as YouTube videos... but here's the thing.  Number one, the people I follow blogs of have already posted about six million videos that I mean to go back and watch today... and number two, I'd likely be adding three or four if I did that this week!  So if you are disappointed in my decision, just let me know and I can intersperse a few of them as the weeks roll on.  But today, I'm going to list them AS THEY CHARTED on Billboard, from the bottom up.  So without further ado...

Turning 40, a song that never hit the hot 100 here- but hit #1 in the UK in 1969, and #2 in 1973- Fleetwood Mac's lovely instrumental Albatross.
Turning 30, Genesis's #44 hit- bigger on video- Illegal Alien.
Turning 35, Randy Bachman and his post BTO band Ironhorse, with an underrated #36 hit, Sweet Lui-Louise.
Turning  35, three former Byrds- McGuinn, Clark, and Hillman- with a #33 Don't You Write Her Off Like That.
Turning 35, Barbara Mandrell's crossover hit at #31, (If Loving You Is Wrong) I Don't Want To Be Right.
Turning 30, one of my favorite 45s I ever bought- the Pretenders #28 Show Me.
Turning 30, a slightly overplayed hit at the time, Berlin's #23 No More Words.
Turning 35, the vastly overplayed in Ft Wayne Roger Voudouris at 21 with Get Used To It.
Turning 35, the #16 hit for Styx, Renegade.
Turning 30, John Cougar Mellencamp's #15 The Authority Song.
Turning 35 (you get the feeling most of these are either turning 30 or 35?) Bad Company's #13 Rock And Roll Fantasy.
Turning 30, the GoGos with their #11 Head Over Heels.
Turning 30, Night Ranger's #5 Sister Christian- a song that still gets to me for unknown reasons.
Turning 35, another #5 hit, David Naughton's Makin' It.
Three #4's in a row:  Turning 35, Randy VanWarmer's Just When I Needed You Most.
Turning 40 (yes, 40)- Three Dog Night with The Show Must Go On.
And turning 45, The Ventures with Hawaii Five-O.
A pair of #3s: Marvin Hamlisch's The Entertainer turns 40, and The Village People turn 35 with In The Navy. 

They... want... you....

A pair of deuces:  turning 40, the Stylistics with You Make Me Feel Brand New; and turning 45, the Isley Bros with It's Your Thing.
And one that hit the top: and written by the writer of Makin' It-  Peaches and Herb and Reunited turns 35.  Blow out all those candles...


Our big movers both move 38 spots in opposite directions-  going up, Roberta Flack and The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face to #62; going down, the Faces' Stay With Me, to #52.

Our 45 at 45 was a turning point in the career of Brenda Lee- a song called Johnny One Time.  On Cashbox, it would peak in five weeks at 34; but BB stopped it at 44.  Now, that would be her last time in the top fifty of the pop charts... but within four years, she'd start a whole new career on the country chart.  JOT hit 50 on the C&W chart- just her second country hit-, but in 1974 she'd start a streak that would net her 9 country top tens between then and 1980.

Johnny One Time was also her last of 14 top tens on the AC chart, peaking at #3.

I'm sorry... so sorry....

This week, the Almost But Not Quite list numbers three.  The Nickel Song by Melanie begins its descent, from a peak of 25.  Grand Funk's Footstompin' Music, having had it's cup of Joe at #40, starts its way down.  And Elvis plummets out of the top 40 after peaking at 31 with Until It's Time For You To Go.

Now last week I mentioned about doing a Eurovision bit, and probably some of you scratched your heads and said, "Is that a French TV network or something?"  No, my uncultured friend, Eurovision is an annual song contest in which several European nations elect a representative from their native sons and daughters to compete for song of the year.  It's kind of a European musical Super Bowl.  And while these songs have found no small success in Europe itself- in the Martin Era, Eurovision winners have hit #1 in Norway 7 times, Ireland six, Belgium 5, the Netherlands and France 4, the UK and Switzerland 3 times, Germany twice, and Sweden once- the luck hasn't been so good in the US of A.  Mainly because most of them are, not surprisingly, foreign language songs, such as this week's new #1 on the Irish chart (thought I'd forgot about that, eh?), a song called Ceol An Ghra (The Music Of Love) by Sandy Jones- the first time Ireland submitted a song in Irish, and placing 15th of 18.  But the question was brought up- how do they do in the US of A?  Well, I'll tell ya.

Sandy Jones at EV '72.

Twice there has been a EV connection at the very top of our charts-  Dominigo Mednugno's Volare, the #3 contestant in 1958, hit the top here.  The other was when Paul Muriat covered the song Vicki Leandros of Luxembourg took to 4th place in 1967- the song we know as Love Is Blue. However, these are not the only entries of EV songs onto the American charts.  Other examples (though possibly not all) include:

Congratulations, Cliff Richard- the runner up in '68 hit at #99.
Piove, Dominigo Modnugno- his 6th place finisher in '59 peaked here at #97, making him the only one to hit here twice before the end of the Martin Era.
Say Wonderful Things, Ronnie Carroll- he hit 4th in '63, and the song peaked here at #91.
Beg Borrow Or Steal, the New Seekers- their 1972 runner up peaked at #81 in the US.
Save Your Kisses For Me, Brotherhood Of Man- They won the 1976 contest, and shortly after peaked here at #27.
Eres Tu (Touch The Sky), Mocedades- this was a #9 hit in '74, after being 1973's runner up.
And finally, the song most Americans who know of EV associate with it, ABBA's Waterloo, which hit #6 here in '74 after winning the EV title that same year.

ABBA winning the prize in 1974.

Six songs make the top 40 this week.  War comes in, up 3 to #40 with Slippin' Into Darkness; Sonny and Cher continue to ride the success of their variety show with the tune A Cowboy's Work Is Never Done, up 7 spots to #39; Rod Stewart climbs three to #38 with Handbags And Gladrags; also up seven is the follow up to Dennis Coffey's top ten instrumental Scorpio- this one's called Taurus, and it moves into the #37 slot.  Up 27 big places to #36, Michael Jackson with Rockin' Robin; and the Dramatics' haunting In The Rain leaps from 51 to #30.

Three enter the top ten, three fall out.  Stumbling down are Sweet Seasons (8 to 12), Joy (6 to 24), and Let's Stay Together (10 to 31).

No, not Mike Joy.  This is a chart, not a race!

Leaping from 33 to 10, Donnie Osmond and Puppy Love.

America rides A Horse With No Name from 20 to #9 this week.

Paul Simon climbs a more modest 3 to enter the top ten at #8 with Mother And Child Reunion.

Bread sneaks up a slice to #6 with Everything I Own.

Neil Young moves a strong 4 to #5 with Heart Of Gold.

And from here on in, we hold our place from last week:

Robert John at 4 with The Lion Sleeps Tonight;

The Osmonds at 3 with Down By The Lazy River;

The Carpenters at 2 with Hurting Each Other;

And the winnah and still champeen...

...NO!!!! NOT Wilson...

.....Nilsson with Without You!!!!


Another one is in the can!  See you next time!