Posts
Remove your sandals, we walk on hallowed ground now- the top 100!
100- Solitary Man, Neil Diamond. Despite the fact my brain keeps wanting to switch out "solitary" for "sailor" and turn it into a Popeye rag.
99- One Fine Day, the Chiffons. Carole King never wrote a bad song, and this is another "invulnerable" song that virtually no one can screw up. Excepting William Hung, of course, and my ex-wife.
98- Help!, the Beatles. This is beyond a doubt the Beatles song that has never stopped growing on me. Sing the background part every time. And I retain vestigal memories of watching the movie a generation ago.
97- Strawberry Fields Forever, the Beatles. I mentioned before my fondness for the later Fab Four, when they really started to put distance creatively between themselves and virtually everyone else (Except perhaps Brian Wilson).
96- Lady Willpower, Gary Puckett and the Union Gap. Don't have anything more I can add about a heavilly underrated act.
95- Cathy's Clown, Everly Brothers. Her name wasn't Cathy, but I can relate. "I die each time/ I hear this sound..."
94- Gentle On My Mind, Glen Campbell. I can't help wishing I'd been a hobo when this song comes on.
"I dip my cup of soup back from a gurglin' cracklin' cauldron In some train yard/My beard a rustlin' coal pile
And a dirty hat pulled low across my face
Through cupped hands 'round a tin can/I pretend to hold you to my breast and find
That you're waitin' from the back roads
By the rivers of my memory
Ever smilin', ever gentle on my mind ."
93- Puff The Magic Dragon, Peter, Paul, and Mary. I imagine there was a long ago time this was in my top ten, before I knew what such things were. Still gets me at "A dragon lives forever/but not so, little boys..."
92- I Know A Place, Petula Clark. Her songs remind me of the Fort Wayne of my childhood, with Wolf and Dessaurs and all. It was magic at Christmas time. All the things they want to do to downtown and revitalize it now, and it's a damn shame that they didn't think about this when the suburban malls sprang up and the city leaders left W&D and Hutner's Paris to die.
91- Master Jack, Four Jacks and a Jill. A tad obscure to most, but this song (which we had on 45) I never quite figured out how to listen to without getting a queer feeling in my stomach.
Man, that Glennis Lynne was a doll, wasn't she?
90- Crystal Blue Persuasion, Tommy James and the Shondels. Boy, it sure is hard to believe the same garage band that did Hanky Panky could come up with something as intricately crafted as this. A great, positive, hopeful song.
89- Do You Know The Way To San Jose, Dionne Warwick. "L.A. is a great big freeway/ put a hundred down and buy a car..." Yeah, good luck with that now...
88- Big Bad John, Jimmy Dean. It's a wonder this 45 made it through our childhood with any grooves left. Of course, foe me it helpd that Jimmy was part of the cast of Daniel Boone. Helped out my appreciation of the Ames Brothers, too. BTW, if you saw yesterday's Time Machine, you saw that this song turned 50 this week.
87- The Unicorn, the Irish Rovers. See what I mean about all the great kids songs? Here's one of the best. Making me cry as I write.
86- Five O'clock World, the Vogues. Yes, this did have a life before Drew Carey, and a good one. Kinda in the vein of another of my seventies favorites, Summer Breeze.
85- California Dreaming, the Mamas and the Papas. Another sing-along song every time it comes on. Is there any better imagry of a winter's day?
84- The In Crowd, Dobie Gray. Definately no affinity to this song, I just like it.
83- She's Not There, the Zombies. The fun thing with the Zombies is their sense of disconnect from the rest of society, which is put in focus in, "Well no one told me about her.. though they all knew.."
82- Rain Rain Go Away, Bobby Vinton. Just a voice that stood out.
God, I hadn't heard that in years!
81- Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow, the Shirelles. Damn near where we started, with another great Carole King tune.
Man, the time has flown again. To close out this weekend's trip, let's listen to the "birthday boy":
Saturday, October 8, 2011
Friday, October 7, 2011
Muddling through the KHL season
I haven't forgotten about my plan to update the KHL each week, but I've been slow because nobody's broken from the pack to make it terribly interesting. In the West, Torpedo beat Atlant last night, 3-2 to take the lead with a 6-5-1 record and 19 points. Canadian Matt Ellison, the league's 4th-leading scorer at 5 goals-6 assist-11 points, had a goal and an assist in the win that jumped them over SKA St. Pete and Dinamos Moscow and Minsk. SKA had just lost its first game the night before, 2-1 to Moscow, and lost Fyodor Fyodorov to a suspension after he kneed an opponent in the leg and knocked him out of the game. KHL.ru had the video; the SKA coach just put his head in his hands after the stupid penalty.
Dinamo Riga, last year's playoff darlings, have fallen apart early, losing this week 2-1 in a shootout to SKA, 3-0 to Spartak, and 4-2 to Severstal to drop to a head-shaking 1-6-2, putting them a point behind traditional thugs Vityaz Chekov in last place.
In the East, far east team Amur topped Red Army (yeah, I know they call them CSKA exclusively now, but it is the old Red Army team) 3-2 SO to tie Avangard Omsk for the conference (and league) lead at 6-4-1, 20 points. Yakub Petruzhalek, the league's top scorer at 4-11-15, scored the first goal of the game, and finished the game with the lone goal of the shootout. Traktor went on a 3-game winning streak to pull into a third place tie with Ak Bars at 19 points, topping Avangard Omsk (who is tied with Amur for first) 2-0, Barys Astana 4-3, and 5-1 over Metallurg Magnitogorsk. Ol' double M's whupping was one of three losses this week for the considered favorite, also having lost to Neftekhimik 3-1 and Ak Bars 4-1. Another favorite on the schnide this week is Salavat Yulaev, who dropped 3-2 and 4-2 matches to Novokutensk and Omsk, respectively. This beside having the league's goal leader with Igor Grigorenko with 7.
My temporary team of Automobilsk Ekaterinburg are not having a real good season though they did pull out a 4-1 home win against Yugra in which Denis Abdullin, one of the few players on the team with more than one goal this year, got #s 4 and 5 in the match. Earlier in the week they lost a 3-1 game to Barys, in which goalie Sergei Mylnikov was torched for all three goals on just 11 shots in the second period. All of which leaves them last in the East at 2-7-0, six points behind Magnitogorsk, Neftekhimik, and Sibir for last in the conference and one point up on Riga overall.
Two more bits of news on the Lokomotiv front: first, the Penguins and Caps are planning to raise money for the families in their matchup later this year. All players will wear Loko patches that will be autographed and auctioned off, and players' wives and GFs will be selling remembrance bracelets. Second, the Loko team that will play in the VHL, the Russian Major League (AKA the KHL's farm league) is set to start Dec. 12th. They will play 22 games, one against each team and be seeded accordingly into the playoffs.
Dinamo Riga, last year's playoff darlings, have fallen apart early, losing this week 2-1 in a shootout to SKA, 3-0 to Spartak, and 4-2 to Severstal to drop to a head-shaking 1-6-2, putting them a point behind traditional thugs Vityaz Chekov in last place.
In the East, far east team Amur topped Red Army (yeah, I know they call them CSKA exclusively now, but it is the old Red Army team) 3-2 SO to tie Avangard Omsk for the conference (and league) lead at 6-4-1, 20 points. Yakub Petruzhalek, the league's top scorer at 4-11-15, scored the first goal of the game, and finished the game with the lone goal of the shootout. Traktor went on a 3-game winning streak to pull into a third place tie with Ak Bars at 19 points, topping Avangard Omsk (who is tied with Amur for first) 2-0, Barys Astana 4-3, and 5-1 over Metallurg Magnitogorsk. Ol' double M's whupping was one of three losses this week for the considered favorite, also having lost to Neftekhimik 3-1 and Ak Bars 4-1. Another favorite on the schnide this week is Salavat Yulaev, who dropped 3-2 and 4-2 matches to Novokutensk and Omsk, respectively. This beside having the league's goal leader with Igor Grigorenko with 7.
My temporary team of Automobilsk Ekaterinburg are not having a real good season though they did pull out a 4-1 home win against Yugra in which Denis Abdullin, one of the few players on the team with more than one goal this year, got #s 4 and 5 in the match. Earlier in the week they lost a 3-1 game to Barys, in which goalie Sergei Mylnikov was torched for all three goals on just 11 shots in the second period. All of which leaves them last in the East at 2-7-0, six points behind Magnitogorsk, Neftekhimik, and Sibir for last in the conference and one point up on Riga overall.
Two more bits of news on the Lokomotiv front: first, the Penguins and Caps are planning to raise money for the families in their matchup later this year. All players will wear Loko patches that will be autographed and auctioned off, and players' wives and GFs will be selling remembrance bracelets. Second, the Loko team that will play in the VHL, the Russian Major League (AKA the KHL's farm league) is set to start Dec. 12th. They will play 22 games, one against each team and be seeded accordingly into the playoffs.
Step into my time machine week 76
It's October 7th, 1976- one day before my oldest sister turns 28 and our dad turns 60, Yeah, and his dad, already deceased, was also born on the 8th, though I couldn't tell you what year. Had their pictures in the local paper and everything. This morning, Gerald Ford is meeting with advisers trying to figure out how to remove the foot from his mouth after he told Jimmy Carter on national TV that there was "no Soviet domination of Eastern Europe." In Birmingham, AL, Taylor Hicks is squalling his way into the world; somewhere else, Green Bay Packer Charles Woodson is doing the same. And you and I are flipping time the bird aboard the Time Machine.
This week, we get the lowdown on the Lowdown, visit with Ringo and his All-Starr band(s), get hit by the dreaded #49 blues yet again, and ask the question, what song released in the USA in 1965 that hit #1 wasn't released until 1976 in the UK, only making it to #8 despite being voted one of the greatest British songs of all time? (Hint: it's the Beatles- kinda.) Let's get to it shall we?
BTW, next week I'll be doing my semi-annual inductions to the Martin Hall Of Fame. Suggestions? Bring 'em on. My crack staff (of one) will evaluate any and all nominations with the exceptions of the Antichrist (Michael Bolton), Aretha (Franklin) and the Heavyweights, Jay and the (F'n) Americans, and the Doors.
6 songs debut in the hot 100 this week- two of them noteworthy. First is a song that placed in my top 5 of the decade- England Dan and John Ford Coley with Nights Are Forever Without You, at 83. And way up at seventy, the "other" classic by Rod Stewart- Tonight's The Night (Gonna Be Alright). Happy 35th birthday to you two, and here come our other birthday songs. Celebrating forty years from debut this week is the Grass Roots' Two Divided By Love. What an underrated band they were! At 45 years old are Lady Godiva by Peter and Gordon and Devil With A Blue Dress/Good Golly Miss Molly by Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels. Turning 50 today is MHOFer Jimmy Dean with Big Bad John. And turning 55 this week, Richie Cunningham, is Fats Domino's Blueberry Hill. Blow out the candles...
Dropping 16 this week, the big droppers are This Masquerade ( to 48) and Let 'Em In (to 45).
Our big mover gets tangled up in our where are they now segment. Rick Springfield's Take A Hand decided to hang out another week in our magic spot, so I moved down to 50- where I ran into our week's biggest mover. Not a song I knew, so I didn't mention it last week, it debuted at 68 and lept 18 to 50 this week. That song is A Dose Of Rock And Roll by Ringo Starr, which turned out to be another delightful little, typically Ringo song. So what's the former Mr. Starkey up to these days? Well, in January he released his latest studio album, Y Not. In April, he celebrated his 30th anniversary with wife Barbara Bach. And next month he kicks off a tour of Brazil, Mexico, and Chile, among other stops.
But the thing that caught my eye in the Ringo story was his All-Starr band tours. And what an assortment of stars he had! The first tour was way back in 1989, and among the names along for the ride were the Eagles' Joe Walsh, the late great Big Man- Clarence Clemmons, Dr. John, Billy Preston, and last week's six degrees hero, Jim Keltner.The second tour was in 1992, and included Burton Cummings (whom I believe I mentioned last week...), Dave Edmunds, Todd Rundgren, Walsh and bandmate Timothy B. Schmitt, and his already famous son Zak Starkey, who you could practically do a six degrees on himself. The 1995 version had John Entwhistle of the Who, Felix Cavaliere from the Rascals, Mark Farner of Grand Funk Railroad, once again Preston, and switching Guess Who members, Randy Bachman.
The 1997 version included Bad Company drummer Simon Kirke along with Peter Frampton; the 1999 set switched out Frampton for Rundgren. The 2000 version had Eric Carmen, Edmunds again, and the voice of Supertramp, Roger Hodgson. In 2001 Sheila E. became the first woman All-Starr, and was joined by ELP's Greg Lake and Howard Jones (who if you don't remember, treat yourself by youtubing No One Is To Blame or What Is Love.) And in the last one I found in 2001, Sheila E. was joined by Paul Carrack and former Babys frontman John Waite. Wow, wouldn't you like to see the reunion tour of THAT band?
We come now to the top songs of other years segment, and we're in the 5s this time. 1995's number one this week was Mariah Carey's Fantasy, and this brings up a story reminiscent of last week. If you include her Boyz II Men duet, Mariah is on a run here that sees her at the top 25 out of 30 weeks. Who needs variety, eh? One of the great songs of all time was #1 this week in 1985- Dire Straits' Money For Nothing. Man, drunken memories. Last year at this point we saw David Geddes at the top (at least on Cashbox) with Run Joey Run. The top song this week in 1965 was the most played song on American radio from this point until 1972- eight years! It is the most-covered non-Gershwin song of all time, with over 1600 recorded versions. However, it was the song that began the dividing of the Beatles. That song? Yesterday. McCartney wrote it and recorded it with just an acoustic guitar and a string section. The other Beatles fought putting it on the album, saying it was too unlike their style- but the alternative of having Paul release it under his own name was unacceptable. Therefore, EMI refused to release it as a single in the UK- and it still made the airplay top ten! When EMI's contract with the Beatles lapsed in 1976, they got their one last fling with the band, releasing as many singles as they could dig up all at once. 23 of them hit the hot 100, 6 made the top 50, and Yesterday peaked at #8. BMI estimates this song was performed 7 MILLION times in the twentieth century alone.
And now, the red-headed stepchild which is the top song this week in 1955- The Yellow Rose Of Texas by Mitch Miller.
5 songs hit the top 40 this week. The fastest climber of this bunch is Boston's More Than A Feeling, which zoomed up 16 to land at 40. Moving up 6 to #37 is the Ritchie Family with a song I had forgotten- The Best Disco In Town. This song was a medley of r&b/dance tunes including Reach Out I'll Be There from the Four Tops, the O'Jays I Love Music, Harold Melvin and the Bluenotes' Bad Luck, TSOP by MFSB, and their own recent hit Brazil. Moving up a dozen spots to 36 is Frampton (who still has the top lp for one more week) with Do You Feel Like We Do? The next two both move up 10 spots- The Commodores to 32 with Just To Be Close To You, and Barry Manilow to 31 with This One's For You. Man what a great bunch that was!
Two songs enter the top ten, two fall out. Play That Funky Music drops from 8 to 14, and A Little Bit More goes from 9 to 15. And as I'm out of specials until the six degrees story, here comes the top ten.
Getaway by Earth Wind And Fire holds at 10 a second week. Up 3 to #9 are the Bay City Rollers with I Only Wanna Be With You. Finally realizing the dream in its 23rd week between two attempts, She's Gone by Hall and Oates climbs 3 to #8. This is, as I've mentioned before, off their early lp, Abandoned Luncheonette, which I just loved. So here as a bonus, here's one of the best H&O songs you've never heard, from this album.
Dropping 5 to #7 is KC and the Sunshine band's Shake Your Booty; Orleans edges up a notch to 6 with Still The One. Cliff Richard holds at 5 with Devil Woman. Climbing to 4, up 2, is Chicago's If You Leave Me Now. And that brings us to last week's top dog- and our six degrees victim.
Which is ironically the song from Silk Degrees- Boz Scaggs' Lowdown. Now there's a million ways you can branch from Boz, including the Steve Miller Band (where he came from) and Toto (who grew from his band) routes. But among the other players on this song were a couple of background vocalists. The woman is Carolyn Willis, whom we've mentioned as the female vocal on Seals and Crofts' Get Closer (which is still sitting in our grandpa chair at 27 weeks on the chart). The other is Jim Gilstrap, who as a session musician and vocalist, has been on things as various as backgrounds on Starship's hit Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now and the male vocal on the theme to the TV show Good Times. But probably the most famous place you've heard him was a place you never knew he was at- he sung the first two lines of Stevie Wonder's You Are The Sunshine Of My Life, while a young lady named Lani Groves sang the next two. I found precious little more out about Lani besides her background credits on Stevie's lp Talking Book and some voice credits on the 1984 My Little Pony movie. But Talking Book had a number of big-or soon to be big- names as guest musicians, including Ray Parker JR, David Sanborn, Denise Williams, and the legendary Jeff Beck. This despite the fact that three of the ten tracks Stevie did everything himself.
So that leaves you a choice at top dog between :
Walter Murphy and his Big Apple Band with A Fifth Of Beethoven!!!
That's it for this week. Tune in tomorrow for the sixties countdown, and be here next time for the new MHOF class!
This week, we get the lowdown on the Lowdown, visit with Ringo and his All-Starr band(s), get hit by the dreaded #49 blues yet again, and ask the question, what song released in the USA in 1965 that hit #1 wasn't released until 1976 in the UK, only making it to #8 despite being voted one of the greatest British songs of all time? (Hint: it's the Beatles- kinda.) Let's get to it shall we?
BTW, next week I'll be doing my semi-annual inductions to the Martin Hall Of Fame. Suggestions? Bring 'em on. My crack staff (of one) will evaluate any and all nominations with the exceptions of the Antichrist (Michael Bolton), Aretha (Franklin) and the Heavyweights, Jay and the (F'n) Americans, and the Doors.
6 songs debut in the hot 100 this week- two of them noteworthy. First is a song that placed in my top 5 of the decade- England Dan and John Ford Coley with Nights Are Forever Without You, at 83. And way up at seventy, the "other" classic by Rod Stewart- Tonight's The Night (Gonna Be Alright). Happy 35th birthday to you two, and here come our other birthday songs. Celebrating forty years from debut this week is the Grass Roots' Two Divided By Love. What an underrated band they were! At 45 years old are Lady Godiva by Peter and Gordon and Devil With A Blue Dress/Good Golly Miss Molly by Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels. Turning 50 today is MHOFer Jimmy Dean with Big Bad John. And turning 55 this week, Richie Cunningham, is Fats Domino's Blueberry Hill. Blow out the candles...
Dropping 16 this week, the big droppers are This Masquerade ( to 48) and Let 'Em In (to 45).
Our big mover gets tangled up in our where are they now segment. Rick Springfield's Take A Hand decided to hang out another week in our magic spot, so I moved down to 50- where I ran into our week's biggest mover. Not a song I knew, so I didn't mention it last week, it debuted at 68 and lept 18 to 50 this week. That song is A Dose Of Rock And Roll by Ringo Starr, which turned out to be another delightful little, typically Ringo song. So what's the former Mr. Starkey up to these days? Well, in January he released his latest studio album, Y Not. In April, he celebrated his 30th anniversary with wife Barbara Bach. And next month he kicks off a tour of Brazil, Mexico, and Chile, among other stops.
But the thing that caught my eye in the Ringo story was his All-Starr band tours. And what an assortment of stars he had! The first tour was way back in 1989, and among the names along for the ride were the Eagles' Joe Walsh, the late great Big Man- Clarence Clemmons, Dr. John, Billy Preston, and last week's six degrees hero, Jim Keltner.The second tour was in 1992, and included Burton Cummings (whom I believe I mentioned last week...), Dave Edmunds, Todd Rundgren, Walsh and bandmate Timothy B. Schmitt, and his already famous son Zak Starkey, who you could practically do a six degrees on himself. The 1995 version had John Entwhistle of the Who, Felix Cavaliere from the Rascals, Mark Farner of Grand Funk Railroad, once again Preston, and switching Guess Who members, Randy Bachman.
The 1997 version included Bad Company drummer Simon Kirke along with Peter Frampton; the 1999 set switched out Frampton for Rundgren. The 2000 version had Eric Carmen, Edmunds again, and the voice of Supertramp, Roger Hodgson. In 2001 Sheila E. became the first woman All-Starr, and was joined by ELP's Greg Lake and Howard Jones (who if you don't remember, treat yourself by youtubing No One Is To Blame or What Is Love.) And in the last one I found in 2001, Sheila E. was joined by Paul Carrack and former Babys frontman John Waite. Wow, wouldn't you like to see the reunion tour of THAT band?
We come now to the top songs of other years segment, and we're in the 5s this time. 1995's number one this week was Mariah Carey's Fantasy, and this brings up a story reminiscent of last week. If you include her Boyz II Men duet, Mariah is on a run here that sees her at the top 25 out of 30 weeks. Who needs variety, eh? One of the great songs of all time was #1 this week in 1985- Dire Straits' Money For Nothing. Man, drunken memories. Last year at this point we saw David Geddes at the top (at least on Cashbox) with Run Joey Run. The top song this week in 1965 was the most played song on American radio from this point until 1972- eight years! It is the most-covered non-Gershwin song of all time, with over 1600 recorded versions. However, it was the song that began the dividing of the Beatles. That song? Yesterday. McCartney wrote it and recorded it with just an acoustic guitar and a string section. The other Beatles fought putting it on the album, saying it was too unlike their style- but the alternative of having Paul release it under his own name was unacceptable. Therefore, EMI refused to release it as a single in the UK- and it still made the airplay top ten! When EMI's contract with the Beatles lapsed in 1976, they got their one last fling with the band, releasing as many singles as they could dig up all at once. 23 of them hit the hot 100, 6 made the top 50, and Yesterday peaked at #8. BMI estimates this song was performed 7 MILLION times in the twentieth century alone.
And now, the red-headed stepchild which is the top song this week in 1955- The Yellow Rose Of Texas by Mitch Miller.
5 songs hit the top 40 this week. The fastest climber of this bunch is Boston's More Than A Feeling, which zoomed up 16 to land at 40. Moving up 6 to #37 is the Ritchie Family with a song I had forgotten- The Best Disco In Town. This song was a medley of r&b/dance tunes including Reach Out I'll Be There from the Four Tops, the O'Jays I Love Music, Harold Melvin and the Bluenotes' Bad Luck, TSOP by MFSB, and their own recent hit Brazil. Moving up a dozen spots to 36 is Frampton (who still has the top lp for one more week) with Do You Feel Like We Do? The next two both move up 10 spots- The Commodores to 32 with Just To Be Close To You, and Barry Manilow to 31 with This One's For You. Man what a great bunch that was!
Two songs enter the top ten, two fall out. Play That Funky Music drops from 8 to 14, and A Little Bit More goes from 9 to 15. And as I'm out of specials until the six degrees story, here comes the top ten.
Getaway by Earth Wind And Fire holds at 10 a second week. Up 3 to #9 are the Bay City Rollers with I Only Wanna Be With You. Finally realizing the dream in its 23rd week between two attempts, She's Gone by Hall and Oates climbs 3 to #8. This is, as I've mentioned before, off their early lp, Abandoned Luncheonette, which I just loved. So here as a bonus, here's one of the best H&O songs you've never heard, from this album.
Dropping 5 to #7 is KC and the Sunshine band's Shake Your Booty; Orleans edges up a notch to 6 with Still The One. Cliff Richard holds at 5 with Devil Woman. Climbing to 4, up 2, is Chicago's If You Leave Me Now. And that brings us to last week's top dog- and our six degrees victim.
Which is ironically the song from Silk Degrees- Boz Scaggs' Lowdown. Now there's a million ways you can branch from Boz, including the Steve Miller Band (where he came from) and Toto (who grew from his band) routes. But among the other players on this song were a couple of background vocalists. The woman is Carolyn Willis, whom we've mentioned as the female vocal on Seals and Crofts' Get Closer (which is still sitting in our grandpa chair at 27 weeks on the chart). The other is Jim Gilstrap, who as a session musician and vocalist, has been on things as various as backgrounds on Starship's hit Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now and the male vocal on the theme to the TV show Good Times. But probably the most famous place you've heard him was a place you never knew he was at- he sung the first two lines of Stevie Wonder's You Are The Sunshine Of My Life, while a young lady named Lani Groves sang the next two. I found precious little more out about Lani besides her background credits on Stevie's lp Talking Book and some voice credits on the 1984 My Little Pony movie. But Talking Book had a number of big-or soon to be big- names as guest musicians, including Ray Parker JR, David Sanborn, Denise Williams, and the legendary Jeff Beck. This despite the fact that three of the ten tracks Stevie did everything himself.
So that leaves you a choice at top dog between :
Beethoven...
...and Donald Duck!
And it's Rick Dees moving up 2 to #2 with Disco Duck, so the new top duck dog is...
That's it for this week. Tune in tomorrow for the sixties countdown, and be here next time for the new MHOF class!
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Today
Today was interesting. We start out work- actually before work- with one of our co-workers delivering homemade tamales that we ordered yesterday. Jamie, company-famous trencherman, sucked down his six before the first buzzer. I spread mine around breaks and lunch. Then work begins, and early on I confronted the oddest fabric I've had the pleasure to work with. On a bright yellow background, we have a white crosshatch-like design running horizontal across the fabric rather than longways the length of the roll. Upon further (and later) examination, the design actually had a direction, as well as a "medallion" in the center of the three spots my cut pattern would have to fall. I didn't see this at first- I was too perplexed by its other "feature". Apparently in order to design this, they had made a computer graphic of it with the fabric divided by dotted line into 18x25 squares (yeah, I know that's a rectangle, but square is a shorter word). I said "What the hell," and called out to my lead to check it out. Now my cut pattern is a 17x17 with rounded corners- the finished product being a throw pillow. And it didn't take much to figure out that either A) the pillow was going to have a stupid looking dotted line through it or B) we would have to waste a LOT of fabric.
So we summoned over our supervisor, and she took one look and also said, "What the hell?" After we shared our deductions with her, she went to retrieve our plant manager. She came out, and also began the conversation with "What the hell." After speculation that maybe they had the design turned the wrong way, and about 15 minutes of discussion (while I did another project), she finally said, "I'll have to call somebody- but I'm not sure who." At this point, I had a pretty good inkling I wouldn't be cutting this order anytime soon.
A while later, our super was stopped near my table by our inventory lady. She was trying to explain her findings on requested stuff, and was about to say something was right on the dot. But as she started to say it was "on the button", she aborted to "on the money" in midstream, making it come out "on the butt-money".
This then became the (other) joke of the day, with lines like "Obama- change you can wipe" and the like.
Next the production manager had his turn with the fabric. Rather than WTH, his top reaction was "Wow". He cut right to the problem- to do this as is, we'd be throwing away " a third of every roll". Pretty close, we figured to be wasting 7 out of every 25 inches- which would lead a fabric lay that was calculated by some company engineer to require 400 yards to actually take 566 yards- 41% more. The discussion then became are they charging us (in our system billing) for the whole thing? We'd be half-again short on fabric needed, if so. Then we looked into how it layed up. With the "medallion" in the center of each dotted square, we have to center the pattern both horizontally and vertically- a neat trick when you can't see through the cut pattern- as well as make sure that each ply lay in exactly the main spot. Believe me, the odds are probably 10% that the size of the design will change as each roll goes on, and 20% that no one roll will match another. At least with the way things are going this week.
Then co-worker Wanda sent Laurie a e-joke she got that involved a photo of a guy lying on the floor of a Wal-Mart with accompanying story. (Laurie has been off sick the last couple of days.) Which Laurie looked at without scrolling down for the story (which I will keep secret because I'm sure you'll all receive it before too long), wondered "why was somebody sending me a picture of a guy lying on the floor of a Wal-Mart?" and deleted it. At least it gave me a story to tell when I got home.
Oh, I forgot. This morning, our gal in shipping came in and announced to Jamie, "Well, this year, I got a deer before you." And no, she's not a hunter. She took out an 8-pointer on the way home the night before. She wasn't hurt, and the jury's still out on the car, but the deer is pretty much an 8-point smear down the side of her car.
On the way home tonight, Pat Miller was in a discussion which seemed to be trying to get someone, anyone to admit that Obama did the wrong thing by sending a drone plane to 8-point that "American citizen" nutbag in Yemen. Not in the mood to play "anything to start a discussion", I put on one of my 70s CDs. Along the way, the song It's Over by ELO came on. It's about the end of summer and a summer romance, and it called to mind a far-ago day. The last day of high school, in fact, as this song came on on the way home and I almost had to pull over for crying. Those old emotions, protected in an audio "egg", presented those old misty thoughts again. And as it faded out, I entered a stretch of road lined with beautiful orange-leafed trees, and the first soft chords of James Taylor's Fire And Rain filled the car. Sweet Baby James and I have a habit of matching his songs with magical places like this. When I was in College taking late classes, more than once I would round the last bend heading to my old home, with the straight road reaching out toward the Church I lived by -and went to -a mile up ahead, and a bright shiny moon right above- and the radio would play his duet with JD Souther, Her Town Too. I hear that song almost anytime I see the moon dead ahead on the road.
My reverie was somewhat interrupted by a guy in the turn lane right behind me who looked like Lee Harvey Oswald. Deciding whether to be creeped out by Lee took the rest of the way home.
Finally a walk with my baby to bring back perspective. And a stop at the scenic Scrappy's landing.
Not real good at self-portraits, eh?
So we summoned over our supervisor, and she took one look and also said, "What the hell?" After we shared our deductions with her, she went to retrieve our plant manager. She came out, and also began the conversation with "What the hell." After speculation that maybe they had the design turned the wrong way, and about 15 minutes of discussion (while I did another project), she finally said, "I'll have to call somebody- but I'm not sure who." At this point, I had a pretty good inkling I wouldn't be cutting this order anytime soon.
A while later, our super was stopped near my table by our inventory lady. She was trying to explain her findings on requested stuff, and was about to say something was right on the dot. But as she started to say it was "on the button", she aborted to "on the money" in midstream, making it come out "on the butt-money".
This then became the (other) joke of the day, with lines like "Obama- change you can wipe" and the like.
Next the production manager had his turn with the fabric. Rather than WTH, his top reaction was "Wow". He cut right to the problem- to do this as is, we'd be throwing away " a third of every roll". Pretty close, we figured to be wasting 7 out of every 25 inches- which would lead a fabric lay that was calculated by some company engineer to require 400 yards to actually take 566 yards- 41% more. The discussion then became are they charging us (in our system billing) for the whole thing? We'd be half-again short on fabric needed, if so. Then we looked into how it layed up. With the "medallion" in the center of each dotted square, we have to center the pattern both horizontally and vertically- a neat trick when you can't see through the cut pattern- as well as make sure that each ply lay in exactly the main spot. Believe me, the odds are probably 10% that the size of the design will change as each roll goes on, and 20% that no one roll will match another. At least with the way things are going this week.
Then co-worker Wanda sent Laurie a e-joke she got that involved a photo of a guy lying on the floor of a Wal-Mart with accompanying story. (Laurie has been off sick the last couple of days.) Which Laurie looked at without scrolling down for the story (which I will keep secret because I'm sure you'll all receive it before too long), wondered "why was somebody sending me a picture of a guy lying on the floor of a Wal-Mart?" and deleted it. At least it gave me a story to tell when I got home.
Oh, I forgot. This morning, our gal in shipping came in and announced to Jamie, "Well, this year, I got a deer before you." And no, she's not a hunter. She took out an 8-pointer on the way home the night before. She wasn't hurt, and the jury's still out on the car, but the deer is pretty much an 8-point smear down the side of her car.
On the way home tonight, Pat Miller was in a discussion which seemed to be trying to get someone, anyone to admit that Obama did the wrong thing by sending a drone plane to 8-point that "American citizen" nutbag in Yemen. Not in the mood to play "anything to start a discussion", I put on one of my 70s CDs. Along the way, the song It's Over by ELO came on. It's about the end of summer and a summer romance, and it called to mind a far-ago day. The last day of high school, in fact, as this song came on on the way home and I almost had to pull over for crying. Those old emotions, protected in an audio "egg", presented those old misty thoughts again. And as it faded out, I entered a stretch of road lined with beautiful orange-leafed trees, and the first soft chords of James Taylor's Fire And Rain filled the car. Sweet Baby James and I have a habit of matching his songs with magical places like this. When I was in College taking late classes, more than once I would round the last bend heading to my old home, with the straight road reaching out toward the Church I lived by -and went to -a mile up ahead, and a bright shiny moon right above- and the radio would play his duet with JD Souther, Her Town Too. I hear that song almost anytime I see the moon dead ahead on the road.
My reverie was somewhat interrupted by a guy in the turn lane right behind me who looked like Lee Harvey Oswald. Deciding whether to be creeped out by Lee took the rest of the way home.
Finally a walk with my baby to bring back perspective. And a stop at the scenic Scrappy's landing.
Ahh, peace.
Not real good at self-portraits, eh?
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Football, NHFFL style, but first...
... I have to say that what I've heard today about Hank Williams, Jr., once I looked into it, was no bigger a deal than the Herman Cain thing. I was in the shower and missed Hank's exile from the intro, and as far as I'm concerned, ESPN ha actually done a fairly good job of policing those whom might be considered its spokespeople. HOWEVER...
If you just get your news from soundbites, the dealio is that he was asked what he thought of Obama and Boehner playing golf together. He was not pleased. "It's like Hitler and Netanyahu playing," he answered. And while subsequently you got the gist of who was who in Hank's mind, he did NOT call Obama Hitler. He made an analogy. Repeat this word after me- AN- AL- O- GEEE. Very good. (This was me showing anonymous how I am trying to change the world on my blog. If confused, look up the comment section on my post, "Who's dumber? I'll tell you who's dumber".) This is the VERY SAME THING as if Hank said, "It's like a cat and dog playing". You would not sit there and say, "OMG, he just called Obama a dog/cat!" would you? WELL? WOULD YOU?? One more time- AN-AL-O-GEE. Very good.
Yes, an unfortunate analogy. He'd have been better served by trying the dog/cat thing. Then only PETA would've complained, and no one listens to them anymore anyway. Unfortunate because the most misused words in current English lexicon are Hitler and Terrorist. Hank, if Obama were Hitler, you'd be in a concentration camp right now- or worse. Joe Biden et al, if the Tea Party were terrorists, you'd have been Fancy Feast by now ( again, I don't think that remark offends anyone but PETA.) If you hadn't guessed, I'm a wee bit tired (as well as unconcerned) about "offending people" stories. Geez, did you all call your congressman when you were in kindergarten and a fellow student called you a dork? You did? Then he/she was right about you.
Okay now onto the stuff no one cares about, starting with the NHFFL. For the second time this year, the Beagles topped 50 points and got beat, falling to the Rangers 61-52. Even three TDs by Beanie Wells couldn't save the Hounds when Baltimore's D rang up 27 points on them. The win left the Rangers undefeated- and keeping pace with the Aguas, who turned in a 55-34 win over the Greenwoods that wasn't as close as even that score indicates. In fact, the Elves scored 28 of the 34 after the Aguas were done! The master stroke of playing Matt Hasselbeck instead of McNabb gave them 12, Calvin Johnson scored twice for the 4th straight game- an NFL record; and Tennessee's D chipped in 14.
But there were tight games as well. The final TD of the week, by LaGarrett Blount, gave the Elks a 34-32 win over the Ducks, and 15 by Cam Newton gave Buzz his first win, 32-28 over the Clock BBQs. The KCAs had a 33-10 lead after the early games against the Angels- but the Angels had Aaron Rodgers and his 27-spot ( I think that 2 entrants having 27 points in one week is yet another record for us). Final- Angels 49, KCAs 33. Finally, the B2s hang on for a 36-27 win over the Porkchops. Gentlemen, let's go to the standings:
I was going to update KHL hockey and FCS football too, but I'm a bit tired tonight. It seems that on top of a restless and shallow night of sleep, Scrappy detected something out the window at 3 AM that he considered woofable. Next week, #1 Aguas get the struggling KCAs, #2 Rangers draw the Greenwoods, #3 Elks face the Clock BBQs, plus Beagles?Angels, Ducks/Porkchops, and B2s/Buzz.
If you just get your news from soundbites, the dealio is that he was asked what he thought of Obama and Boehner playing golf together. He was not pleased. "It's like Hitler and Netanyahu playing," he answered. And while subsequently you got the gist of who was who in Hank's mind, he did NOT call Obama Hitler. He made an analogy. Repeat this word after me- AN- AL- O- GEEE. Very good. (This was me showing anonymous how I am trying to change the world on my blog. If confused, look up the comment section on my post, "Who's dumber? I'll tell you who's dumber".) This is the VERY SAME THING as if Hank said, "It's like a cat and dog playing". You would not sit there and say, "OMG, he just called Obama a dog/cat!" would you? WELL? WOULD YOU?? One more time- AN-AL-O-GEE. Very good.
Yes, an unfortunate analogy. He'd have been better served by trying the dog/cat thing. Then only PETA would've complained, and no one listens to them anymore anyway. Unfortunate because the most misused words in current English lexicon are Hitler and Terrorist. Hank, if Obama were Hitler, you'd be in a concentration camp right now- or worse. Joe Biden et al, if the Tea Party were terrorists, you'd have been Fancy Feast by now ( again, I don't think that remark offends anyone but PETA.) If you hadn't guessed, I'm a wee bit tired (as well as unconcerned) about "offending people" stories. Geez, did you all call your congressman when you were in kindergarten and a fellow student called you a dork? You did? Then he/she was right about you.
Okay now onto the stuff no one cares about, starting with the NHFFL. For the second time this year, the Beagles topped 50 points and got beat, falling to the Rangers 61-52. Even three TDs by Beanie Wells couldn't save the Hounds when Baltimore's D rang up 27 points on them. The win left the Rangers undefeated- and keeping pace with the Aguas, who turned in a 55-34 win over the Greenwoods that wasn't as close as even that score indicates. In fact, the Elves scored 28 of the 34 after the Aguas were done! The master stroke of playing Matt Hasselbeck instead of McNabb gave them 12, Calvin Johnson scored twice for the 4th straight game- an NFL record; and Tennessee's D chipped in 14.
But there were tight games as well. The final TD of the week, by LaGarrett Blount, gave the Elks a 34-32 win over the Ducks, and 15 by Cam Newton gave Buzz his first win, 32-28 over the Clock BBQs. The KCAs had a 33-10 lead after the early games against the Angels- but the Angels had Aaron Rodgers and his 27-spot ( I think that 2 entrants having 27 points in one week is yet another record for us). Final- Angels 49, KCAs 33. Finally, the B2s hang on for a 36-27 win over the Porkchops. Gentlemen, let's go to the standings:
I was going to update KHL hockey and FCS football too, but I'm a bit tired tonight. It seems that on top of a restless and shallow night of sleep, Scrappy detected something out the window at 3 AM that he considered woofable. Next week, #1 Aguas get the struggling KCAs, #2 Rangers draw the Greenwoods, #3 Elks face the Clock BBQs, plus Beagles?Angels, Ducks/Porkchops, and B2s/Buzz.
Monday, October 3, 2011
Herman Cain, N-----r head, and insensitivity
I like the way everyone with a dog in the political fight think that what Herman Cain said on This Week with Christina Interrupteur was so terrible. I see even that model of verbal temperence, Rush Limbaugh, is on Herm's butt like stink on poop. Well, I have several things to say about the subject, zall of which can be summed up under one phrase:
DID YOU WATCH THE FREAKIN' INTERVIEW!!??? Because I don't think you did.
First off, Christina Interrupteur conducted that "interview" with one goal in mind- to find some slip of the tongue for everyone to hang him on, since he's been so far shown too clean to be had in any of the traditional gotchas, i.e. affairs, alcohol, drugs, payola. She was UNSUCCESSFUL, except for those of you who are blowing this thing out of all proportion.
Second, if she even sniffed that an answer he was about to give was not going to be fruitful by her lights, she Interrupted with a miniscule change of phrasing. When a man as polite and well-spoken as Cain has to say, "...And I'm trying to answer your question!", that should tell you the kind of dirtbag interviewer you are dealing with.
Third, she forced the issue. He answered in the only way a reasonably intelligent public figure, white or black, could. And he added every caveat he could to honorably answer the question AND prevent the kind of ignorant public reaction he is now receiving.
The only people who should reasonably find fault with his answer are those who are trying to find a way to crucify him. That others, such as Rush, ( and to a certain extent, WOWO's Pat Miller) are also doing so shows that even conservatives are more poisoned by the media than we realize, IMHO.
Herman Cain left more class behind him in the seat of his chair that Christina Interrupteur will evidence in a year's worth of interviews. And while I'd certainly never use the n-word to describe Cain, I must admit to using the b-word to describe his interrogator during the interview.
DID YOU WATCH THE FREAKIN' INTERVIEW!!??? Because I don't think you did.
First off, Christina Interrupteur conducted that "interview" with one goal in mind- to find some slip of the tongue for everyone to hang him on, since he's been so far shown too clean to be had in any of the traditional gotchas, i.e. affairs, alcohol, drugs, payola. She was UNSUCCESSFUL, except for those of you who are blowing this thing out of all proportion.
Second, if she even sniffed that an answer he was about to give was not going to be fruitful by her lights, she Interrupted with a miniscule change of phrasing. When a man as polite and well-spoken as Cain has to say, "...And I'm trying to answer your question!", that should tell you the kind of dirtbag interviewer you are dealing with.
Third, she forced the issue. He answered in the only way a reasonably intelligent public figure, white or black, could. And he added every caveat he could to honorably answer the question AND prevent the kind of ignorant public reaction he is now receiving.
The only people who should reasonably find fault with his answer are those who are trying to find a way to crucify him. That others, such as Rush, ( and to a certain extent, WOWO's Pat Miller) are also doing so shows that even conservatives are more poisoned by the media than we realize, IMHO.
Herman Cain left more class behind him in the seat of his chair that Christina Interrupteur will evidence in a year's worth of interviews. And while I'd certainly never use the n-word to describe Cain, I must admit to using the b-word to describe his interrogator during the interview.
Saturday, October 1, 2011
The great sixties countdown week 10
We stand at the threshold of Armageddon er, I mean the top 100, this week, and the songs are getting nearer and dearer to my little heart. Let's see what we have this week!
120- Elusive Butterfly, Bob Lind. I grew up playing the grooves off this 45. To my young ears, it had the seeming of a massive #1 hit- and still does. However, I think it might be on a lot of peoples' "I forgot about this one" list.
119- Breaking Up Is Hard To Do, Neil Sedaka. Believe it or not, I didn't know that there was a fast version of this until I saw the Partridge Family do it on their show. MUCH better than the 70s Prozac redeux.
118- Don't Talk (Put Your Head On My Shoulder), the Beach Boys. From Pet Sounds, to me this is the most romantic song of all time.
117- Summer In The City, the Loving Spoonful. They did so many laid back, even-tempoed singles, this one is the one that stands out. Makes you wish you could still do all that without getting mugged.
116- Hurdy-Gurdy Man, Donovan. This song is like Ring Around The Rosie to me, in that Ring was built around the actions of children during the Black Death (when a pocket full of posies was intended to keep the death stench from one's nostrils). The hurdy gurdy man was a minstrel who travelled town to town during this very real Armageddon almost as a harbinger of doom- or rebirth. In fact, George Harrison wrote a verse for this song that got cut because of the "three minute limit" that went like this:
111- Be My Baby, the Ronnettes. When you can take one vocal line fro m a song and build a great song from it like Eddie Money did with this on Take Me Home Tonight, you know the original had to be a classic. And it was.
110- Little Deuce Coupe, The Beach Boys. Yes, we're getting a lot of Beach Boys today. And, there's still four of theirs left on the countdown!
109- Revolution, the Beatles. It always struck me a little odd that John could sing, "But if you've been carrying pictures of Chairman Mao/ You ain't gonna make it with anyone anyhow" with a straight face, but whatever. I know I could, and that's sufficient.
108- Have You Heard, the Duprees. The song that HAD to be on the doo-wop cd I bought.
107- Hot Fun In The Summertime, Sly And The Family Stone. Don't it make you want to go back to summer vacations? "I "cloud nine" when I want to/Out of school, yeah/ County fair in the country sun/And everything, it's true, ooh yeah..."
106- That's The Way Boys Are, Leslie Gore. Yep, I have it bad for Leslie.
105- I Saw Her Again Last Night, the Mamas And The Papas. The layered chorus, "it makes me want to cry..."
104- Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood, the Animals. The story of my life.
103- It's Not Unusual, Tom Jones. My award winner for "best use of horns in a pop song". Now I'm not going to throw any bras at him, (for obvious reasons) but there's no doubt Tom Jones is one of the coolest dudes on the planet.
102- Lodi, Credence Clearwater Revival. I'll never understand how this charted so low. If I get to hear one CCR song, this is my pick.
101- Laughing, the Guess Who. When I was little and this song was new, I thought the verse "after losing at the game" meant that, on top of losing the girl, he got beat in a football game. Back then you took every song from the perspective of an American high-schooler. For me, it added just the right touch of desperation.
Next week, we enter the top 100 at last. And more than likely I'll be linking more videos (as I did this week) as the songs come to mean more and more. Till then, here's our closer, one you might not otherwise know.
120- Elusive Butterfly, Bob Lind. I grew up playing the grooves off this 45. To my young ears, it had the seeming of a massive #1 hit- and still does. However, I think it might be on a lot of peoples' "I forgot about this one" list.
119- Breaking Up Is Hard To Do, Neil Sedaka. Believe it or not, I didn't know that there was a fast version of this until I saw the Partridge Family do it on their show. MUCH better than the 70s Prozac redeux.
118- Don't Talk (Put Your Head On My Shoulder), the Beach Boys. From Pet Sounds, to me this is the most romantic song of all time.
117- Summer In The City, the Loving Spoonful. They did so many laid back, even-tempoed singles, this one is the one that stands out. Makes you wish you could still do all that without getting mugged.
116- Hurdy-Gurdy Man, Donovan. This song is like Ring Around The Rosie to me, in that Ring was built around the actions of children during the Black Death (when a pocket full of posies was intended to keep the death stench from one's nostrils). The hurdy gurdy man was a minstrel who travelled town to town during this very real Armageddon almost as a harbinger of doom- or rebirth. In fact, George Harrison wrote a verse for this song that got cut because of the "three minute limit" that went like this:
When the truth gets buried deep
Beneath the thousand years of sleep
Time demands a turn-around
And once again the truth is found
Awakening the Hurdy Gurdy Man
Who comes singing songs of love
Thus, this song always gives me goosebumps.
115- Dawn (Go Away), the Four Seasons. This and Rag Doll are my favorite Four Seasons sing-alongs. My part is the "Think... think.." while Frankie sings "What a big man he'll be/ of the places you'll see..."
114- Sweet Caroline, Neil Diamond. Despite the unpleasant (to me) connections to the New York Yankees, this is one of those songs you can't help sing the chorus to. "Good times never seemed so good..." And, at least for a moment, they don't.
113- Help Me Rhonda, the Beach Boys. I also have the Johnny Rivers version burned, and the big diff for me is how much better the original "shattered our plans " works than Johnny's "ruined".
112- Chain Gang, Sam Cooke. You can really appreciate the talent of this man in that stretch in the middle when he sings, "I'm coming home one of these days..."
111- Be My Baby, the Ronnettes. When you can take one vocal line fro m a song and build a great song from it like Eddie Money did with this on Take Me Home Tonight, you know the original had to be a classic. And it was.
110- Little Deuce Coupe, The Beach Boys. Yes, we're getting a lot of Beach Boys today. And, there's still four of theirs left on the countdown!
109- Revolution, the Beatles. It always struck me a little odd that John could sing, "But if you've been carrying pictures of Chairman Mao/ You ain't gonna make it with anyone anyhow" with a straight face, but whatever. I know I could, and that's sufficient.
108- Have You Heard, the Duprees. The song that HAD to be on the doo-wop cd I bought.
107- Hot Fun In The Summertime, Sly And The Family Stone. Don't it make you want to go back to summer vacations? "I "cloud nine" when I want to/Out of school, yeah/ County fair in the country sun/And everything, it's true, ooh yeah..."
106- That's The Way Boys Are, Leslie Gore. Yep, I have it bad for Leslie.
105- I Saw Her Again Last Night, the Mamas And The Papas. The layered chorus, "it makes me want to cry..."
104- Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood, the Animals. The story of my life.
103- It's Not Unusual, Tom Jones. My award winner for "best use of horns in a pop song". Now I'm not going to throw any bras at him, (for obvious reasons) but there's no doubt Tom Jones is one of the coolest dudes on the planet.
102- Lodi, Credence Clearwater Revival. I'll never understand how this charted so low. If I get to hear one CCR song, this is my pick.
101- Laughing, the Guess Who. When I was little and this song was new, I thought the verse "after losing at the game" meant that, on top of losing the girl, he got beat in a football game. Back then you took every song from the perspective of an American high-schooler. For me, it added just the right touch of desperation.
Next week, we enter the top 100 at last. And more than likely I'll be linking more videos (as I did this week) as the songs come to mean more and more. Till then, here's our closer, one you might not otherwise know.
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