M50- the ambient bunch

NOTE:  Busy trying to work my sugar down so I can have a Pepsi later, as well as figure out this week's M10.  So no fluff at the top, proceed straight to the M10.



And our penultimate installment of the M50 is what I call the "Ambient bunch"- the "dream pop" or "space music" end of the spectrum.  With only the top ten left after today, here we go...

The song that kicked off the M50 at #50 was a combo of two Alan Parsons Project songs put together on Parsons' solo 2004 lp- whose combined title was A Recurring Dream Within A Dream.  Of course I don't know how "solo" it is when a lot of the tune is an Orson Wells monologue... (M10 peak #10)

The final of the non-charting hits on the M50 is the one that Pure Bathing Culture was about to get in the M10 with before I heard their earlier hit, Pendulum.  This one, though, still sneaks into the M50 at #41...(NC)



The only one of the three hits on the M50 by Beach House that DIDN'T make tomorrow's top ten is the actual lead single from the lp Depression Cherry.  It's called Sparks, and it finished the year at #40. (#10)

The longest song to make the M50 at 7:04, the title track from Duran Duran's Paper Gods lp made its way to the #37 slot on the 50. (#8)

The third single I took from Jeff Lynne's ELO and "their" lp Alone In The Universe is the other song you can hear Jeff's daughter in background.  The song is When The Night Comes, and it comes to #32 on the M50. (#8)

And then their was the one song I thought would make a quick in-out in the M10... but I couldn't get rid of it until it peaked at #6.  By Spotify's "in-house artist" DA Wallach, the (ironically named for our purposes) song Time Machine ends the year at #27.

The Knocks had that smooth summertime sound that carried their hit I Wish (My Taylor Swift)- a song not in my normal range, to be honest- all the way to #24 on the M50. (#6)

Spotify sent me this one from 1993, from the band World Party, who we knew from their earlier hit Ship Of Fools.  The song I got was called Is It Like Today, and its up-and-down career on the M10 netted it the #19 spot on the M50. (#5)

Perhaps the oddest song the Big Spot sent me that I actually loved was Katie Queen Of Tennessee, with its somewhat creepy video, from the Apache Relay from 2014.  It comes in here at #18. (#3)

Finally today, it was the highest charter for Family Of The Year- their 2009 breakthrough Hero- that finishes off the preliminaries at #15. (#2)


Tomorrow, it's Time Machine and the M50 top ten of the year!

More M50 and more Martin World News excerpts

Before we get to today's chunk of the Martin 50, here are some reminders to all of you dreaming of getting away that you may well be better off in the US of A...

ITEM:  The Indian Science Conference is just ended, and here are a few of the things that our respected Indian scientists talked about:

First, we had the miraculous power of... blowing a conch shell?

Rajeev Sharma, a civil servant with a master’s degree in botany, delivered a deafening 2-minute conch blast to kick off his talk for a session on indigenous approaches to psychology. Sharma claimed that the conch—an article of religious and ritual importance in Hinduism—could cure psychosomatic ills. Blowing a conch daily, he elaborated, provides “excellent exercise” for the rectum, prostate, and diaphragm. The audience gasped when he claimed that the consequent surge in blood flow would turn “white hair to black.”


Which is exactly how Just For Men and Lady Clairol do it.  I wonder if my Doc will let me out of the fickle finger of fate Tuesday if I tell him I've been tooting my shell?

Next up- you thought the god of environmentalism was Al Gore...

The next day, a paper was due to be presented on how the Hindu god Shiva was the “greatest environmentalist in the world.” The supposed evidence for such eco-friendly attributes were riding a rat, a peacock, and a mythic bull, and providing purified water of the Ganges River from his topknot.


Note that the story says, "was due to..."  Why wasn't it?  Because the eminent botanist due to present it tripped and fell down a stairwell.  Should have taken that peacock down...

And does the Indian government step in to stop such shenanigans?  Not quite...

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who inaugurated this year’s conclave, sparked a controversy in 2014 after claiming that the god Ganesh’s elephant head was proof that cosmetic surgery existed in ancient times and was founded in India. 

Just so you don't think that this is the sum total of Subcontinental learning...

Such presentations have caused senior Indian researchers to throw up their hands. Nobel laureate Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, a biologist at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom, told The Times of India that an earlier congress was “a circus,” after which he vowed to “never attend a science congress again in my life.” Biologist P. M. Bhargava, founder of the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology in Hyderabad, told the paper that the event had deteriorated over the years and was now “an absolute waste of money.”

And how much money are we wasting?  According to the registry site, $600 a head- unless it's an elephant's head.  I assume deities get a break.

ITEM:  Before you whine about those lines at the ER to fix your broken butt after a slip on the ice...

(BBC) A hospital in China has been bulldozed while still in use, reportedly causing doctors inside to flee and burying six bodies from its morgue under rubble, state media say.
The Number Four Hospital of Zhengzhou University in Henan province was partially demolished on Thursday amid a land dispute, Xinhua news agency said.
Hospital staff told reporters equipment worth over $600,000 was damaged.
The case has sparked outrage in China, where forced demolitions are common.

The local Huiji district government said in a statement that the hospital's CT room and morgue were on land designated for a road expansion project, and that it had asked the hospital to dismantle the rooms themselves several times.
The hospital was evacuated prior to demolition, and there were no casualties, the statement added.
However, hospital officials said three doctors and a patient were in the building at the time of demolition, and that some hospital workers were injured when they tried to stop the demolition, Jinghua news reported.


Eminent domain, Chinese style.  Ouch.

ITEM:  Might wanna keep yer opinions to yourself, McBuddy...

Scotsman Michael McFeat was arrested at his job.  That job was in Kyrgyzstan working for a Canadian company operating an open pit mine.  What was his crime?  Environmental sabotage? Union organizing? No... he called his hosts' national dish, "chuchuk" horsemeat sausage, reminiscent of a horse's... err... weiner.

That's the sausage.  you decide.

ITEM:  Finally, you should be glad we don't have roadside condom machines here like they do in Germany.  Why?

(BBC) A German man died on Christmas Day after blowing up a condom dispenser with a homemade bomb in a botched robbery, police say.
The 29-year-old and two accomplices attached the bomb to the vending machine in a quiet street before taking cover in their vehicle.
But the victim did not close the door in time and was struck in the head by a steel shard from the explosion.
His accomplices took him to hospital but he later died of his wounds.
The men told staff at the hospital in the western town of Schoppingen that their unconscious friend had fallen down the stairs.


Okay, so why DO they have condom machines by the side of the road in Germany? In case they're hungry for chuchuk?



_______________________________________



Today, we're going to touch upon the "oldies" among the M50.  The rules to the M10 are simple- "I never heard the song before." Which means time is not a factor to a swingin' musical Time Lord like myself.  Thus, a lot of pre-2015 tunes make the list- and indeed, many of them have been posted earlier.  But this ten will feature all oldies- with one unavoidable exception, but I have a good "stretch" to get it in!

Our first contestant was a member of the original ten- and as I said then, this one was the b-side of a low-charting single back in 1967.  The band was the Cyrkle, known for Red Rubber Ball and Turn Down Day.  The song was called The Visit (She Was There), and it pulls in at #49. (M10 peak #8)

This week we have two songs that didn't chart on the M10.  It did, however, make unknown song back in September, and hammered at the back door of the M10 through September and October.  You can read its story here, and it was by a Texas band called the Clique.  The song is Sugar On Sunday, and it was on the charts back in 1969- but charts here at 47. (NC)

Alliota Haynes Jeremiah easily wins the "act that I can never remember their name" category award.  I always wanna stick a James in there somewhere.  But their song is a Chicago classic (the city, that is) from 1971, the much more memorable Lake Shore Drive.  Cruisin' on by on LSD, Friday night trouble bound... (#9)

Right next to it at #36 is our other non-charting tune of the day.  I introed them also as an unknown song back in February, the act called 8th Day.  But we've done two Eighth Days on TM, and this is the more obscure one- one that first came out called the Sons Of Liberty.  You can read the whole convoluted story here, as well as hear the beautiful song Brandy (Doesn't Live In This Town Anymore).  They charted- or not- in 1968. (NC)

And at #35, we have a song from the Spotify "selected for you file".  The band is Racey, the song is Some Girls (No relation to the Stones' lp), and it came out as a hit in the UK back in 1979, reaching #2. (#7)

Another English band that the Big Spot thought I would like, correctly so, was the Housemartins.  Their 1986 song, Happy Hour, bounced it's way up to the #30 spot on the M50, reaching #3 across the pond. (#5)

You have Shady to blame for the next one, as it was on his post here that I first heard the uncharted 1964 song The Boy Next Door by the Spandells.  You can here it there, too, and it hung in the M10 long enough to get the M50's #26 spot.  (#6)

Another original M10er was the powerful song by a powerful man, Elvis Presley.  His tribute to Martin Luther King, Jr, If I Can Dream, may have only had the one week on the chart, but it holds a spot as one of my all time King faves, and comes in at #23 here with the 1969 hit. (#5)


The one song that's not technically an oldie is by a veteran band.  Years ago, King Harvest had us all Dancing In The Moonlight.  In 2015, they got back together- sans lead singer Doc Robinson, who sadly passed in 2012- to do a tasty lp called, appropriately enough, Old Friends.  Their tune that got me, which I haven't been able to share before due to copyright issues, is this one:









Vaea was #2 on the first M10 back in late August. It shows up here at #13. (#2)


And finally today, the only #1 M10 tune you get before the big extravaganza Friday.  It was the top dog on that first M10, I found researching another big UK band, Status Quo.  Primarily known for the sixties classic Pictures Of Matchstick Men, they had a big hit in 1986- and again here in 2015- with the very first #1 on the M10, In The Army Now.

Tomorrow- the Ambient Bunch...

Major Tom Crash lands

I am not going to tell you that I was a huge David Bowie fan.  There were songs I liked, and songs I didn't care that much for.  Sadly, his last lp- released just days before his death- didn't hit it off with me.  I heard the single Blackstar- a long, rambling tune that wiki described as "jazztronica".  It was a ten minute song; and in all fairness, the first minute's buildup was so slow, my son and I decided to jump a little further in, and weren't impressed there, either.  But the thing that made Bowie so popular, so much of an inspiration, was that he pushed HIS envelope- never afraid to be odd or different.

According to The Times: “Blackstar may be the oddest work yet from Bowie”.


And what else would you expect from a man of his caliber, recording what he knew would be his swan song?

I got looking at Bowie's chart record.  He had 23 top tens in the UK, but only twelve top 40s here.  I looked at the songs I knew- three of my favorites never sniffed our top 40 (Changes, #66; Jean Genie, #71; Rebel Rebel, #64).  And another one, Suffragette City, failed to chart.  You either got Bowie, or you didn't.  In his heyday, I was far more interested in pop, and I loved the "Serious Moonlight" era- Let's Dance, China Girl, and especially Modern Love.  It was years before I knew he did anything besides fame and Golden Years.  I never cared that much for Under Pressure, mainly because Queen lost me with the Flash Gordon soundtrack (although I am glad that I just discovered they sued that idiot Vanilla Ice and got a settlement over Ice Ice Baby).

I guess though, for me, his best was Young Americans.  Especially his vocal fun towards the end.  Ironically, his last time charting here was a 1997 single called I'm Afraid Of Americans.  Boo!  Just kidding.  That one only staggered its way to #66.

But like I said, you either got him or you didn't.  Blackstar was released about a month before the lp, and peaked over there at #129.  So it ain't only me.  Nor is it just me that can recognize him for his innovation, his creativity, and his boundless energy.

Belgian theatre director Ivo van Hove, who worked with the singer on his Off-Broadway musical Lazarus, explained that Bowie was unable to attend rehearsals due to progression of the disease. He noted that "Bowie was still writing on his deathbed, I saw a man fighting. He fought like a lion and kept working like a lion through it all."

It's not really work

It's just the power to charm

I'm still standing in the wind

But I never wave bye bye

But I try, I try...

-Modern Love, #14, 1983

_____________________________________________________

Time for round two of the Martin 50 uncountable countdown (Say, that's a good name for these non-linear events!)

Today's list I call the fun bunch- happy, up-tempo tunes to contrast with what I will be calling the "Ambient bunch" coming later.

We kick off this list with a fun song that I found in researching famous English bands that didn't really make it here.  This band had a mini-burst of popularity in the early '70s , anchored by this #2 UK hit.  I give you Yanks the Strawbs:



Part Of The Union was a hit in 1973, and makes our list at #45 despite not hitting the M10 (I heard it earlier in the year before the M10 was born). (M10- did not chart)

You might remember Islandis as the two buddies from Down Under who did a song called Home, which I described as "reminiscent of what America might be doing if they were still around/alive.  They land, not at Heathrow as in the song, but at #44.  (#10 peak)

I talked a little about this one last time- it's the first song I heard (and thus first M10 hit) for a young Australian lady named Shannon Busch, who goes by the name of WILSN.  It hung around the bottom edges of the M10 for weeks before I finally let it in- and then got blown away by her FIRST hit, Unmeet You.  That song was called Walking For Days and sits at #43 on the big chart. (#9)

Just as I was about to try to sneak the new song by Pure Bathing Culture in, I read about their earlier hit that "sounded much like Fleetwood Mac".  It did, and thus it was that the years-earlier hit (well, 2013) Pendulum made the M10.  And it sits here at #31. (#7)

Cage The Elephant came into my consciousness, as I said last time, when I first heard their big hit from 2013's Melophobia, Cigarette daydreams.  They became more firmly intrenched on the hearing of the other big hit from the same lp, Come A Little Closer, and the screwy accompanying video.  Their second trip into the M10 nets them the #29 spot for the year. (#4)

One of the bands whose cause I adopted for my own is a little known Aussie band called Castlecomer.  Their first hit, Fire Alarm, made the cut at #25, just as the second, Escapism, was trying to carve itself a spot in next year's M50. (#5)


The biggest of the three hits on the M10 for Jeff Lynne's ELO, the unreleased cut One Step At A Time (which was one of the two in which the only other living being on the record- his daughter- made a backing vocal appearance) stepped its way into the top 4 at one point, and finishes the year at #21. (#4)

Duran Duran nearly made the M50 three times- the one that missed would have been another non-charting tune that hung around the bottom rung for several weeks, called Face For Today.  However, their big hit- the single Pressure Off (hit 33 on the Adult Pop Chart)- is the one that cracks the M50 highest at #20. (#2)

One of the things I hit researching a post for New Years Eve was that Adam Lambert's 2015 lp The Ultimate High was voted best album of the year by some music blogger.  Hardly a ringing endorsement, but I liked the tune from it, Ghost Town, enough to put it at #16 for the year.  A very lyrically rich tune. (#3)

And finally this time, a song that JUST Missed being a number one tune- in fact, an early attempt at the M10 from the first week of October, but it lost its spot "somewhere in those eyes" of Victoria Legrand and Beach House.  That is the highest of three tunes on the M50 for Family Of The Year, from the 2015 lp, Make You Mine. (#2)

The dark side of MWN, and the M50 begins

Sometimes my search for Martin World News takes you to stupid yet funny places... sometimes it makes you mad.  One such story I have been sitting on for a while, about a suburb of St Louis that isn't named Ferguson.  No, this one is called Pagedale, and Pagedale has come up with a "clever" way of raising its revenues- fine the crap out of its citizens.

“The city never spoke to us directly, so we never really knew what we were being fined for,” (Resident Valerie ) Whitner told Fox News. She added, “The monthly $100 fine just became a natural bill. … This has been one thing after another, and we still don’t know exactly what we paid for.”  

These encounters became so frequent that when asked by a local reporter about her case, she was able to furnish a bag of 33 citations.


Among the things the citizenry of Pagedale are getting fined for:

According to one report by Watchdog.org, Pagedale now considers it illegal for residents to have basketball hoops in their driveways, dog houses on their front lawn, uncut grass, overgrown gardens and fallen tree limbs. That’s not all – city inspectors even judge interior design decisions. Another plaintiff said she was cited for mismatched curtains and not having blinds in every window, according to Watchdog.org. 


Another lady was upset when an inspector stood at her back door, watching her through her bedroom window.  He was there, he said, to fine her over repairs needed on her back screen door.

According to (Joshua, attorney for Institute for Justice) House, nearly 18 percent of Pagedale’s budget is income from municipal court revenue – property and miscellaneous fines – just second to the city’s sales tax.

The city of Pagedale is being represented by local attorneys, who have filed a motion to dismiss.

“I have no comment,” Pagedale Mayor Mary Louise Carter said when reached by Fox News.


No word on the rumor that Carter is the illegitimate child of former sheriff Buford T Justice...

Taught the sumbitch everything she knows...

I wouldn't have a comment either, if I was running a US city like a glorified speed trap.  I'm beginning to see why the Rams wanna move.

Reminds me of the story I read this weekend about a small city in Brazil.  The one guy running for mayor was disqualified due to a law that disallows candidates that are currently under investigation for corruption.  So his girlfriend stepped in, won the election, and basically put him in charge.  In the meantime they looted city and federal coffers to the tune of around $4 million, and she was stupid enough to continuously brag about it on Instagram.  Eventually the feds caught on when the schools in the town HAD TO STOP SERVING LUNCH TO STUDENTS, and parents complained.  The girl went on the lam, running the town by keeping in touch with city council through her phone's WhatsApp.  Accounts were seized (too late, as it turns), properties seized, and eventually she turned herself in- 39 days later.

The sad thing, this isn't too surprising for Brazil.  I have another story where thieves have stolen at least two ENTIRE newspaper stands- by hooking them up to a crane and loading on a truck.  Won't you be proud to watch such a nation host the Olympic games coming up?

__________________________________________________________

So today, among other things, is day one of the Martin 50 of 2015 reveal.  I decided to mix things up the next four days as we cover #s 11-40.  My rules were:  same group hits don't hit the same day; the six non-charting (they didn't make any M10 list) songs (with of course the one mathematical exception) also get split up; and I come up with a basic (if stretched to the breaking point) theme for each day.  And today, you get what basically became the thematic "mutt list" (AKA if you can find it, you name it).  And I'll give them from the bottom to the top on the M50 main list.

Perching at #48 was a song that really got me excited at first- because it was the first single from the new lp from ELO.  Alone In The Universe, as we found out later, was basically a Jeff Lynne solo lp (of course, Zoom was just him and Richard Tandy, but still a better overall album).  And yet, I put that song- the lowest of the three songs from that lp, When I Was A Boy, at #48. (Martin 10 peak #5)

This list has two of the songs from the very first M10 way back in late August.  The first we hit was from a supergroup from Canada (mainly) called Saint Asonia, made up of members of Finger Eleven, Three Days Grace, and Staind, three groups that had totalled on the alt chart 18 combined top tens and 7 top dogs.  And, as usual with me it wasn't the single that grabbed me, but the slower power ballad Leaving Minnesota, which I put in at #46. (#6)

That other original M10er came to me when fellow blogger Mich (I'm an old man, sue me if memory doesn't serve) pointed out that a very bizarre act called 16 Horsepower did a neat cover of CCR's Bad Moon Rising.  It was good, but the one that grabbed me with its vivid descriptions of Jesus and the unsaved was called Black Soul Choir.  It was actually fading on the musicscape of my mind by the time I started the M10, and given the total effect of it, takes it to the #42 spot. (#7)

Family Of The Year I discovered with their 2015 self-titled release, and since they are one of three acts to put three in the 50, they get spread out pretty evenly.  The lower charting of their three songs, called Carry Me, pulls up at #39. (#6)

The first of the non-charters comes up next.  Just before I started the M10, I was looking for "new old stuff" for my main playlist, and on an old Ozark Mountain Daredevils lp I found this gem:




You Know Like I Know spent like five weeks pounding at the door... and I just never found the spot to let them in.  It was from the 1977 lp Men From Earth, charted at #74 on Billboard, and lands here at #38. (NC)

You remember the story of the Preatures from their couple of weeks in the M10.  Their hit Is This How You Feel, which caught my attention despite my objections, closes 2015 at #34. (#9)

Jana Kramer at last check was at #8 on the country charts and #61 and climbing with her tear jerker I Got The Boy, which coasts into the year's #28 slot. (#7)

Avril Lavigne, which my boy KC introed me to, lands her recent #2 hit, I'm With You, at #22 on the M50.  Too bad I never put a still of her up to qualify for the beauty contest just past.  Well, better late... (#2)

Of course, Chris, you realize she STILL doesn't qualify as this is NOT a Time Machine post..."
"Aw, crap!"

Cage The Elephant was another one of those new (to me) bands I didn't go to give them such a big hit on the M10.  But once Cigarette Daydreams hit the chart, it gained a life of it's own, and the middle break swept it to #2 as a peak and #17 for the year.

Finally for today's list, Another song I stumbled on just about by accident.  When I was looking up biodata for WILSN's Walking For days (which we'll hit later), I noticed she had released an earlier single with the cool title of Unmeet You.  So I played it.  And played it.  Until it became part of 2015's legendary Titanic Three, who dominated the top three spots for 3 weeks from the end of October to the middle of November.  And it claims the #12 spot for the year. (#2)

Sunday message-Look what YOU did

This is another one of those stories that comes from a lot of angles, but will eventually come to a single focus.  Bear with me.

Friday night/Saturday morning, I had an unusual dream.  I know that I had a radio going, and part of it was narrated by a preacher.  But the dream, and its lesson, I believe, were a confirmation from God on something I was told by Him the night before.

The dream was one like many others I have- I am someplace, I want to go to another place, but every step changes the "playing field", making it harder.  Eventually, doing what seemed impossible to me, and scared the daylights out of me, I was at the point where a guide had taken my hand and was going to pull me up to safety...

...when something was said, relating to my sinful self, and I went sliding back down to pretty much where I started.  But now, though I knew the way thanks to my Guide, I was back down there again with someone just like me- drawn by the same sin I had been.  (This is going to be VERY allegorical.)  But then someone gave us these suits- I guess costumes would be a better word.  They looked to me like big fluffy dog suits, but as I watched my fellow put his on, I realized it was actually a lamb suit.  I realized that the path I had to go had been made hard because I was doing it on my own; that it only took a word, the merest hint, to send me crashing down again.  I realized that the lamb suit was a symbol of obedience- and obedience that at first made me feel like I was nothing but a dog (sorry, Scrappy), when in fact I was a sheep, to be led and protected by a Good Shepherd.

And as I realized that, I slipped the sheep-suit on- and the door to where I was going, such an arduous, fearful climb but a moment before, was now GROUND LEVEL.  We looked at each other in amazement and relief, and walked forward.  And at that very moment, I woke up, paused to ponder- because I will forget a dream if I don't replay it a couple of times- and when I finished, the next voice I heard was Tony Evans saying that God "already did the work," that through obedience " we walk IN the work", and that with God in charge, we can set aside our worries because "Even when we're snoozin', He's still working."

End of part one.  Part two is one of those, "You know God's leading up to something when" deals.  All this week, it seems every preacher I listen to has been talking about the book of Nehemiah.  Now that book is the story of a Jewish expat in Persia just after the Jews were allowed to return from their exile in Babylon.  Nehemiah, the king Xerxes' cupbearer, was contacted by some visitors from the returning Jews who told him they were in a miserable state.  They were in a ruined city, and nobody had the will or resources to make it right.  He did.... but it wasn't overnight.  He prayed over the situation and planned for FOUR MONTHS before even going to the king with his requests and plan.  But from that point, though every plot twist in the book was thrown at them, the work was done with God's blessing.  Moral of that story, a lot of time and prayer was taken before things even got started, but once they did, it was a blessing to all.

End of Part Two.  Part Three started with a news article I stumbled onto Friday night:

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. (WNCN) — Sunday was absolutely a day of celebration at Heal The Land Outreach Ministries – just days after the pastor of the church managed to defuse a situation involving a gunman at the church...

Around 11:30 p.m. Thursday, Pastor Larry Wright, who is also a Fayetteville city councilman, was in the middle of sharing his New Year’s Eve sermon with about 60 people in the church.  He soon noticed a man enter the sanctuary, holding a rifle in the air. Wright says he immediately left the podium and confronted the stranger.

“He said, ‘I came here with some terrible things on my mind, I was going to do some bad things,’” Wright told WNCN.  Wright says you could feel the panic in the air.  Church members started screaming, others were running straight for the door. “I was very scared I had my granddaughter with me and I just automatically grabbed her and braced her head so if any bullets would fly, I’d get the bullets and not my granddaughter,” said Janice Johnson, a church member.

Wright says the man calmly shared he’d been previously hurt by the church, recently released from prison and was also a veteran.

He then asked for prayers.

Wright took the gun away and called for other men to come and embrace the suspect.

“When I told the congregation, ‘It’s OK, he wants prayer,’ and I began to pray for him. And the power of God hit and he fell to his knees and began to cry and weep and he had his face on the ground,” Wright said.

After praying, the man sat down and listened to the rest of Wright’s sermon. Wright says the man then apologized to the congregation and professed his faith in Christ.

“God stepped in and he moved on that young man’s heart and instead of him shooting and killing a whole lot of people, God touched his heart,” Pastor Wright said.

After the service, the man was led away by police.

Police say the man involved in this incident has not been charged. He’s now receiving treatment at a local facility.



And as I finished, I felt God saying, "Here Is where I have applied Project IS's prayers."  And a warm- actually hot- feeling swept over me.

I was humbled.


When I started Project IS, the intention was to turn one poor lost soul each day over to the Lord, that at the brink of his fall into extremist brainwashing, he would be rescued by God.  And God, in His time, heard OUR prayers- mine and all of you that have been praying with me.  And whether or not He has willed to save others we may never know, but I know now that we helped in saving THIS ONE MAN, and that congregation.


(Let it sink in a moment.  WE helped in this.)

We have been obedient, respecting Jesus' call to gather even in two or threes.  We have prayed, and prayed with a plan.  And the result might not been EXACTLY what we intended- indeed, we don't know it hasn't- but it was a good result, a blessed result, And at the very least, that ONE soul, trembling on the brink, God saved.

Good job, everyone!  You are AWESOME!  And you serve an AWESOME GOD!

Thus, from now on, the "IS" in Project IS is gonna stand for something more.  When Nehemiah was getting that wall built, their enemies were ready to pounce on them, to stop it in mid-birth.  But they got scared off when they saw armed men, men who had worked all day, standing in the breaches that remained.  From now on, the "IS" will stand for "I STAND."  Because God has shown that there are people trembling on the brink in a LOT of places, over a LOT of abysses.  And God has a much grander plan for our prayers, beyond our limited ability to conceive.



Neh 9:5  Then the Levites, Jeshua, and Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabniah, Sherebiah, Hodijah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah, said, Stand up and bless the LORD your God for ever and ever: and blessed be thy glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise. 

Whaddya mean, they're not in the directions?

So here's the weekend catch-up.


First, (our biggest customer) comes stumbling out of the New Year like a drunk trying to tie his shoes while walking.  As a result, we were told already on Monday the week past would be a 4-day affair.  Which became even shorter for me.  The last roll of black fabric I had, which was the only color I had left to cut, was a real pinnacle of professionalism from Wujiang The Dragon fabric company.  When you are dealing with fabric being pulled down a conveyor belt while being cut, you can well imagine that a well-rolled, straight edged roll of fabric is required.  What I got:

And, believe it or not, that was after I had disposed of the worst 25 yds- most of which to the trash bin.  Frankly, I don't care if they are giving it to us free, as a business you should have more pride and professionalism in your product than to let THAT get out your dock doors, just sayin'.  But, I persevered, and when at 1:30 Thursday (an hour before I get off) I found out the only roll left (until maybe Monday) had white streaks all through it, the big boss said, "Have a nice weekend", and I was none to slow to take the better part of valor.

But the story goes on.  See, I had not told Laurie I wasn't working Friday, and had the grand plan of waiting until her alarm goes off and she asks if I'm getting up, and answering, "Piss off, I quit."  Getting home an hour early made that a little hard to swallow.  But there WAS hope- I had meds to pick up, and my new glasses were done.

New glasses, same ugly mug

And if you recall the long story getting sighted and fitted for them was, you might suppose it could slow things down a bit to pick them up.  Not to disappoint, of course there was a glitch- somehow, the big boss had NEVER gotten that safety form e-mailed to the right place in the 14 days since he was going to "right away".  However, this time the person who knows what to do WAS there; and I was only delayed long enough for the girl that called me that they were ready to tell me that I had the same name as Coldplay (which I knew), and she had his songs going through her head the rest of the day  For all this, though, I still hit Walgreens by 2:10 and figured I better call Laurie and confess to my dastardly plan.  Fortunately, Laurie, who gets her needed extra sleep in between lunch and my coming home most days, was groggy and asked me why I was getting off AT NOON.  Confused, I said, "I may be devious, but even I wouldn't waste two hours without letting you know."  A few more confused statements later, she tumbled onto the fact it was after 2 and not after 12.

I prolly still could have gotten away with it.


____________________________

Yesterday I had a sad satisfaction.  After battling liberal posters who bashed me for not wanting Syrian refugees, calling me an Islamophobe and saying that "No refugee has ever committed a terrorist act" over and over in meme and comment, I found two news stories that might have even given THEM pause.  One involved a group of several North African "Immigrants" who went on a rape and abuse mission New Years Eve in Cologne, Germany.  Several were arrested (after the fact due to a poor showing by the Cologne PD, whose chief resigned), at least one of which had in his pocket a paper translating into German phrases like "Let me see your tits" and "I will kill you".  Might not quite qualify as refugees, but they highlight that these people come from a culture where women are completely disrespected (and yet I'M part of the "war on women"), and many Arab expat women took to social media to berate these idiots with things like, "Every time our people make progress, some group of idiots tear it down."

The other was on the island nation of Nauru, where actual refugees (from Iraq) were involved.  It seems one ref sexually assaulted the SIX-YEAR-OLD daughter of another, until the father interrupted him, along with his face.  Now, I am not now nor have I ever suggested that all refugees are going to be like this. BUT, when you get the offscouring of another culture foisted on you like this, you will get some scum like this; and my whole point is, that all those who told me I was an Islamophobe for not allowing unrestricted access to ALL refugees, ALL the time, can...

There is a reason to vette these people, and it ain't a religious basis.  If you guys want all of them to come here, then send them to that great sanctuary city, San Francisco.  They can get all jiggy with them.


______________________________


Finally, Laurie and I bottled the beer from the Mr. Beer keg last night.  It was quite fun, considering I kept hiding the caps on Laurie (by accident) and showed an inability to know which way shut the tapper off a couple of times (actually about once every third bottle).  At any rate, I poured the now-beer-smelling mixture (a vast improvement from when it went in the keg two weeks ago) into the bottles, Laurie added the two teaspoons of sugar for fermentation, and away they went back to their temporary home in Scrappy's unused cage.

This morning, as I put the keg away, I had a shocking thought:  There were carbonation pills in the kit!  WE NEVER PUT THEM IN!  How did I miss that?  I grabbed the directions, re-read them three times- they never mentioned the carbonation pills!  WTH!?!?  So I picked up the pack of carb pills- which, after scanning the instructions again, weren't even supposed to be IN this pack- and it said, "use IN PLACE OF priming sugar".  So we had the sugar in there, we're okay.  Whew!  Hopefully that's the only thing not made clear because we didn't bother to watch the instructional DVD as well as read the directions.


Beer, anyone?

Time Machine week 55

ANNNNNND we're back, and we return to a neighborhood we just recently visited, due to the vaguarities of trusting in timestream randomness- 1971, the 8th of January specifically.  Not a lot happening around here- the requisite plane crash, this one the training flight of an FB111-4 fighter on a training flight from Carswell AFB near Ft Worth, Texas.  It took 3 weeks to find the capsule of the plane, and I'm not surprised- it supposedly crashed "3 miles NNE of Mandeville"- a town so obscure that in a half-hour of searching, I came only as close as "a 150 mile radius of Ft Worth" to finding it.  In other news, 29 misnamed Pilot Whales beached themselves on San Clemente Island, in an attempt to speak to President Nixon.  And Elvis was a day away from getting an "one of the country's outstanding young men" award from the US JayCees.  Young at 33.  In fact, today WAS his 33rd birthday, which he celebrated by buying a police radio for his car.

One-Adam-Twelve, I need a location on Mandeville...what do you mean, Mandeville where?

And welcome to the year's first TM, featuring the 5th annual Beauty Contest!  Also this time, our six degrees starts off with Jesse James (yes, THAT Jesse James- well, sorta), Bloodrock takes another number one vote, and a brand NEW feature (which may or may not stick, at least for the next Martin Era-cycle).  So clear the runway, the FB111A's...er, the beauties- are on the way!

________________

But first, our panel.  This week we have KIKI Honolulu, KGB San Diego, WABC New York, KINK (heh, there's a set of call letters) Portland, OR, KQV Pittsburgh, WKY Oklahoma City, WHNX Saginaw MI, KTLK Denver, KLIV San Jose, WLOF Orlando, CKLG Vancouver BC, and WMID Atlantic City.  They rolled out 24 different tunes, including the #1 in Saginaw, the Magic Lanterns- a band that Shady introed me to- and a song I have yet to listen to called One Night Stand, which was at 115 on the national chart.  Annnnd... remember last time we were in 1971, Dallas had Bloodrock's DOA at the top?  Well, now it's Oklahoma City with the creepy Halloween classic at the top of their chart.  Which means the panel's top 4 divides up the other ten #1s- and the top two claimed 9 of those ten!  The panel picks:

At #4, with zero #1s and but 10 points, Stephen Stills with Love The One You're With, the national #21 (explaining the lack of #1 votes).

At #3, with the #1 of Atlantic City and 19  points, the national #3, The Fifth Dimension- starring finalist in the Beauty Contest Marilyn McCoo- and One Less Bell To Answer.

Runner up this week, collecting the top votes of Honolulu, Pittsburgh, Vancouver, and New York along with 34 points and the national runner-up spot as well, Dawn and Knock Three Times.

And in the top spot, the national #1 as well... stay tuned.

_________________________

Okay, so let's kick the battle off with the semi-finalists.  The list please, and no tears, if you would...

Anita Darien
Melanie Safka
Sheryl Crow
France Gall
Petula Clark
Angel Deradoorian
Joan Baez
...annnd Lulu.

And if we have that sharp a list of not-qualifiers, wait until you see the finalists!

_________________________

Our first video is the first of two M10 debuts for the week.  Those of you aficionados of the American Pie movies remember the theme song, Laid, by the singer James.  Back in the day, that tune hit #3 alternative and #61 on the hot 100.  What I heard was a remake from a band with a name I just couldn't resist- The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart.  In fact, Alvvays got their start opening for TPOBPAH (Good grief, that's as long as the full name!) Their version of the song, off their 2015 lp Hell, comes in at #10 this week:




________________________

And this week, the Bottom's Up gets laid... laid off, that is, for a while.

Thank God!  My chiropractor bills are absurd!

 In it's place, we'll be highlighting the target week's top ten from...

...yep, Jolly Old England!  The top ten across the pond this week included...


10- Andy Williams with Home Lovin' Man, which made top ten AC here.

9- Glen Campbell's cover of It's Only Make Believe, which was top ten here last November.

8- Gilbert O'Sullivan's first charting single (which only got to #114 here), Nothing Rhymed.

7- An American act that did bupkiss in their homeland but great in the UK, Johnny Johnson and the Bandwagon sat here with Blame It One The Pony Express.

6 and 5- These are a pair of chart toppers from October 1970 in the US of A- 6 was Neil Diamond's Cracklin' Rosie, and 5 was the Jackson Five and I'll Be There.

4- T-Rex, who hit the big time here with Bang A Gong, but pretty much crapped out thereafter, was big in the UK, and their song Ride A White Swan (#95 here) is in this slot.

3- A former Shuffle Ten (remember that?) hit, McGuinness Flint's When I'm Dead And Gone (a #57 peak here).

2- That guy who looks like me (but not as much as Dent May), Dave Edmunds, is in the runner up slot with I Hear You Knocking, which got to #4 here.

1- The top tune was a novelty hit by actor Clive Dunn in the voice of his character (also the name of the record), Granddad.  Only charted there, and it was his sole hit.

And there you have it!  Hopefully you'll all enjoy this new feature, and shower me with compliments in the comment section!

________________________________

A little sub feature I'm thinking about is, who was the lowest charting hit on the panel charts that week.  The lowest one that charted I've already mentioned- The Magic Lanterns' One Night Stand at 115.  HOWever, there is a complication, as Saginaw had in their top five a song that was never released- but everyone knew from TV- the Partridge Family's I Can Feel Your Heartbeat, which gave them 2 songs in the panel bunch; I Think I Love You had 2 votes this week  and was 7th nationally.

______________________________________________

Jesse James kicks things off here on six degrees.  Or actually, Rob Lowe as Jesse James in the 1994 movie Frank And Jessie.  That movie had Randy Travis as Cole Younger (see, music related).  Cole was played (sung) by Charlie Daniels on the 1980 lp The Legend Of Jesse James.  It had Johnny Cash as Frank James and Levon Helm, former lead singer of The Band, as Jesse.  Former because he had a problem with main writer Robbie Robertson's acquisition of credit on a lot of the group's more collaborative efforts.  But their fight isn't our point;  we want to note that Robbie was among the many musicians that played on the hit duet Mockingbird by Carly Simon and James Taylor.  Also on that record on keyboards was the famous Dr John, and Dr John was a co-writer on most of King Floyd's first lp- and King Floyd's later single, Groove Me, was #10 nationally but got no panel votes.

____________________________________

All right, let's bring out the final six!

Jewel...

Marilyn McCoo...

Yvonne Elliman...

Victoria Legrand of Beach House...

Natalie Imbruglia...

...and Molly Rankin of Alvvays!

Place your bets, and we'll see if you can match Scrappy's pick!


_________________

So you have heard #10 on the M10 already, so let's get on with the next nine...


Number nine, a few of you have listened to from the comment link from last week, and the rest of you may have gotten a piece of this from its playing on a Ford Focus commercial... here's Sonny Cleveland:





8- The Equatics hold their #8 position from last week with Merry Go Round.

7- And this one is hard for me, Alvvays slips to #7 with Archie Marry Me.  The second time dropping a song about made me cry since I started the M10.

6- And dropping from the top spot, The Decemberists add "longest drop from the top" to their records with The Wrong Year falling all the way to #6.

5- Ducktails move up 4- one of 2 tunes to manage that feat- to #5 with Headbanging In The Mirror.

4- Little Green Cars drive their hit Harper Lee up a spot to #4.

3- Dent May roller coasters up a notch to #3 with Born Too Late.

2- Veteran Boz Scaggs cruises up 4 to #2 with Small Town Talk.

And now... the number ones!

Panel Says... George Harrison's My Sweet Lord, with 5 #1s and 46 points!!!!!!!

M10 says.... Victoria Legrand and Beach House with Beyond Love- moving up a notch to become the third number one for the duo!!!!!!!!!!

And now...

The contestants (well, their names) are lined up... Scrappy waits for my word... GO!

He moves with the speed of light (check out his tail if you don't believe me)...

And the winner is...

NATALIE IMBRUGLIA!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And with that excellent choice by Scrappy, that's a wrap!  Tune in all next week, as I go through SOME chunk of the Martin top 50 of 2015 each day- until you get the top songs of the year on next week's TM- and here's a teaser- the TOP song was NEVER on the M10!  (?)  Tune in all week to find out!