Posts
There are a lot of ways that we need Christ to come into our lives. And most of them have to do with the way we will allow Him in. I think God crated a LOT of different people, and had to allow for a lot of different ways to reach them. Thus, many denominations, among other things. Yes, that's right, something that non-believers usually term a failing is actually a strength. God works like that too. For example...
Monday's reading was Paul's discussion of his conversion in Galatians 1. Here was a man zealous but for the wrong beliefs. In his actions, he was a lot more like the Boston bombers than, say Mohammed. Because he was an "I am right and disagreement means death" type- although perhaps not with the innate homicidal bent those whackjobs had. Still, a whackjob is a whackjob, and Paul had to be, as he put it, called through grace, which in his case meant being jabbed in the proverbial butt by the goads. In this case, Jesus came to him in the only way he would receive Him- a direct visit. How direct your visit might be depends on how zealous you are in getting away.
Tuesday brought me to the other pillar of faith, Simon Peter, in John 21. He was elated to know his Savior yet lived; but he wasn't getting anywhere with the knowledge because he couldn't forgive himself for the three denials. For those not up on the story, as Jesus was tried by the Sanhedrin and Pilate, Peter denied he knew Jesus three times- "Before the cock crowed twice," just as Jesus had predicted. So Jesus asked him three times, "Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?" After the third one, the light went on in his head that Jesus was helping him to forgive himself. Because just like when Elijah was down because of his despair, He gave Peter a task- "Feed My sheep." Our tendency is to allow our sin to separate us from what God wants us doing (which is just why Satan tempts us in the first place). Jesus comes to us and says, "Never mind that, we've work to do." In other words, He reaches us in this situation by taking us past the sin, which He has already forgiven. And if He has, we should as well.
Wednesday takes us to the dedication of the Second Temple in Ezra 2 and 3. The people had sinned, and God had allowed everything to be destroyed- just as He promised. But also, just as He promised, He brought back the remnant. They sang in worship of why God allowed them to return:
"For He is good,
For His mercy endures forever towards Israel".
But you know what, there was a caveat- a subtle one- to that. Just because He had forgiven them, it didn't make it all the same as it was...
12 But many of the priests and Levites and heads of the fathers’ houses, old men who had seen the first temple, wept with a loud voice when the foundation of this temple was laid before their eyes. Yet many shouted aloud for joy, 13 so that the people could not discern the noise of the shout of joy from the noise of the weeping of the people, for the people shouted with a loud shout, and the sound was heard afar off.
The old and wise realized that their sin had caused something to be lost. Sure, they had been forgiven- but sin had cost them. Sin always costs us, despite Christ's atoning blood. That cost, though, varies significantly.
Thursday brings us to Luke 13 and the woman crippled for eighteen years. It was her infirmity that brought her to Him, and His healing that linked them together. Jesus, in fending off the Pharisees who objected to His healing on the Sabbath (because that was "work"), described what He did as loosing her from Satan's bonds. These days, we see Satan's bounds as more spiritual than physical, but still expect healing to be just physical. Jesus sees both the bonds and the healing as physical AND spiritual, and heals what brings you out of Satan's hold. Not necessarily what we think needs healed.
Friday Takes us to Luke 24 and the pilgrims walking to Emmaus. Jesus walked with them- though they didn't see it was Him- and moaned to Him about the death of their messiah and the rumours about His resurrection.
25 Then He said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?” 27 And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.
A friend of mine posted a couple days ago about how we are getting lost in simplifying the Gospel to make it easier to understand, rather than teaching it as is until it is understood. Using programs, and music, and meetings, and crosses, and a million other things to feed the world (and ourselves) on something less than the "solid food" of the Bible. Jesus, on the other hand, took these men right to the source and MADE them understand.
So we have seen that Jesus reaches us through direct means, forgiveness through a call to work, pure mercy, healing, and Scriptural knowledge. But Saturday took me to Hosea 13-14. Here, the prophet moans the coming destruction of Israel for its sins. Here, the sin was explained simply in verse 6: "they were filled and their hearts were exalted; therefore they forgot Me." Where Paul hadn't exactly forgotten Him, but was on the wrong path to Him, Israel had flat out went their own way without Him. Therefore the "direct" approach was handled a different way- Assyria became the hammer by which God destroyed them. Even then, though, as you read on, this wasn't the end; look at verse 9:
O Israel, you are destroyed;
But your help is from Me.
This total disregard of God forced Him to use all these methods to bring them around: direct intervention, forgiveness, mercy, healing ( "I shall heal their backsliding", 14:4), a job to work on (14:8, "Ephraim shall say... I am like a green Cyprus tree; Your fruit is found on me"), and knowledge ("Who is wise, let him understand these things", 14:9).
Point being, how God reaches us depends on how we let Him in (didn't I say that once?) The unfortunately, the usual way we let Him in is through our failings. The fortunate part is, that He'll come in that way, too.
Sunday, April 21, 2013
Saturday, April 20, 2013
A weekend walk
...but first, I have to say I am SICK of sneezing. I don't know what's up, but since about 11 I've sneezed about three dozen times. And I'm SICK of snow, which we woke up to see in the yard, this morning, though it was gone after about an hour of sunlight. Both were absent from the walk, but we quickly saw the results of 3 inches of rain a couple days ago...
So we moved on for a quick trip through the woods...
Truly, my dad would mix a mess of greens seared in vinegar, fried potatoes, and egg. Looked like he was eating sea monster.
This is Scrappy being disappointed when I wouldn't let him tear through butt-deep mud to chase Mr. Fox, who we saw on the back trail again. Sorry no pics- he moves so quick I couldn't have caught him if all I had to do was wiggle my nose.
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| Before you question this picture, let me just say this is about the third time in four years that I've seen water in this ditch. |
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| The Green Hole at about double usual capacity. |
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| No river bank here- just woods and water! |
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| He started in giving us grief right off. |
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| First flowers out, as usual- Dutchman's Britches. |
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| My dad's family would be out with knives and buckets hunting dandelion greens. Never got the taste for them myself. |
This is Scrappy being disappointed when I wouldn't let him tear through butt-deep mud to chase Mr. Fox, who we saw on the back trail again. Sorry no pics- he moves so quick I couldn't have caught him if all I had to do was wiggle my nose.
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| See that nice rusty log? Imagine it with pointy ears and a tail and it would look just like Mr. Fox. |
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| More cute little flowers. |
Friday, April 19, 2013
I don't understand them
The last thing I want to do, as I have said before, is to give any more fame to the two wasted young men who were taken down today after the five day manhunt. What I mean by wasted will soon become apparent. The thing is, one thing about Friday's events keeps playing in my head, the words of the one who now stands before God saying, "Does this mean I don't get my virgins?"
“I don’t have a single American friend, I don’t understand them.”
You don't understand them. I said to myself, I wonder what it is that he didn't understand.
Is it that we love and value- and for the most part, enjoy- our lives? I can see where people who place no value on life might be confused.
Is it where this country's people believe, despite what atheists might want to claim, that faith should not be forced at the edge of a sword? Or that we have little interest in slavishly worshipping a "god" that commands such butchery?
Was it the willingness of this nation and its people, over and over, to shower the men and their family kindness- refuge from ethnic persecution, the best of our education, even to the point of helping pay for schooling in one of the nation's finest schools? They probably thought us fools for helping them, but between the man that gives with an open hand and the man who spits in his face, which one is the fool?
Did they not understand about how we may look soft and easy to cow on the outside, but are strong and hard as steel when wounded? They certainly learned that- from the runners who aided in triage, to the first responders who rushed in, to the fans who sang the national anthem in the Garden Wednesday night, I think they had ample opportunity to learn THAT lesson.
I don't think they ever really tried to understand. Even when that first one fell, the other one swore vengeance for his death, never stopping to reason that perhaps if they hadn't killed so many, he would still be alive.
Before the followers of Allah come out saying, "True Islam is not like that," I say, "Fine. But the variety of Islam they practiced is not what you are defending." Atheists like to whine about Christians "infringing on their rights", but these people would put you to death for your beliefs. They would kill you, and take your children and indoctrinate them as modern day Janissaries. If you weren't so disingenuous in what you say you believe, you'd be worrying less about those praying for you and more about those plotting against you. These are people who robotically follow an ideology- I wouldn't grant them the courtesy of actually having any kind of faith- and will kill you if you refuse. The human race's version of "You will be assimilated".
And the most important thing they didn't understand is, we are Americans. We won't be beaten by them. Nothing they can ever think to do will defeat us. In the end, we may well bring ourselves down. But will defend to the death our right to destroy ourselves.
And their own cause? We never even knew for sure what it was. It may have been nothing other than mass murder for the sheer joy of it. If they had a cause, they brought nothing to it. Anyone who paid attention to 9-11 should have been able to figure out that this kind of thing only makes us stronger. I mean, think about it. Before 9-11 they had a filthy rich leader, several uncaring governments to hide under, and a complacent US of A to work around. Afterwards, the filthy rich leader is fish food, the governments that shielded them have either been tromped on or are busy ducking drones, and the words "Let's Roll" make them run and hide. Now, we have a new meaning attached to Patriots Day, a whole group of new heroes, and a reason to stop being so nice to their fellows if we so choose. Good job.
Wasted? Yes, wasted. These were potentially brilliant young men, who could have made a true difference to their people, their faith, their world. But in the end, all they had is hate, and hate just makes you stupid.
“I don’t have a single American friend, I don’t understand them.”
You don't understand them. I said to myself, I wonder what it is that he didn't understand.
Is it that we love and value- and for the most part, enjoy- our lives? I can see where people who place no value on life might be confused.
Is it where this country's people believe, despite what atheists might want to claim, that faith should not be forced at the edge of a sword? Or that we have little interest in slavishly worshipping a "god" that commands such butchery?
Was it the willingness of this nation and its people, over and over, to shower the men and their family kindness- refuge from ethnic persecution, the best of our education, even to the point of helping pay for schooling in one of the nation's finest schools? They probably thought us fools for helping them, but between the man that gives with an open hand and the man who spits in his face, which one is the fool?
Did they not understand about how we may look soft and easy to cow on the outside, but are strong and hard as steel when wounded? They certainly learned that- from the runners who aided in triage, to the first responders who rushed in, to the fans who sang the national anthem in the Garden Wednesday night, I think they had ample opportunity to learn THAT lesson.
I don't think they ever really tried to understand. Even when that first one fell, the other one swore vengeance for his death, never stopping to reason that perhaps if they hadn't killed so many, he would still be alive.
Before the followers of Allah come out saying, "True Islam is not like that," I say, "Fine. But the variety of Islam they practiced is not what you are defending." Atheists like to whine about Christians "infringing on their rights", but these people would put you to death for your beliefs. They would kill you, and take your children and indoctrinate them as modern day Janissaries. If you weren't so disingenuous in what you say you believe, you'd be worrying less about those praying for you and more about those plotting against you. These are people who robotically follow an ideology- I wouldn't grant them the courtesy of actually having any kind of faith- and will kill you if you refuse. The human race's version of "You will be assimilated".
And the most important thing they didn't understand is, we are Americans. We won't be beaten by them. Nothing they can ever think to do will defeat us. In the end, we may well bring ourselves down. But will defend to the death our right to destroy ourselves.
And their own cause? We never even knew for sure what it was. It may have been nothing other than mass murder for the sheer joy of it. If they had a cause, they brought nothing to it. Anyone who paid attention to 9-11 should have been able to figure out that this kind of thing only makes us stronger. I mean, think about it. Before 9-11 they had a filthy rich leader, several uncaring governments to hide under, and a complacent US of A to work around. Afterwards, the filthy rich leader is fish food, the governments that shielded them have either been tromped on or are busy ducking drones, and the words "Let's Roll" make them run and hide. Now, we have a new meaning attached to Patriots Day, a whole group of new heroes, and a reason to stop being so nice to their fellows if we so choose. Good job.
Wasted? Yes, wasted. These were potentially brilliant young men, who could have made a true difference to their people, their faith, their world. But in the end, all they had is hate, and hate just makes you stupid.
Time Machine # 64
NOTE TO ASPIRING TIME-MACHINERS: It is always good to have your research done BEFORE starting to type out the program. Works a little better, okay?
It is April 19th, 1971. The Soviet Union launched Salyut I, the first manned space station. Of course, the "manned" part was a bit tricky. Stung by the US of A's Moon lead, the Russians had this project on the drawing board from 1964, and what finally took to the upper atmosphere was a patchwork of half-completed projects raided in this one cause. It was 4 days later when the cosmonauts of Soyuz 10 reached the station- and went back down after not being able to open the door. On June 7th, Soyuz 11's crew entered for the first time, but many problems, including an electrical fire, forced them to leave on the 29th. The problems didn't end there; the Soviets didn't use pressurized suits in their capsules, and paid for it when the S-11 returned with an air leak and three dead cosmonauts. Re-designing that problem forced the Soviets to raise the Salyut to a higher orbit to prevent spiraling in while they worked on it; but supplies on-board the ship (I'm presuming fuel) ran out and in October they lowered the orbit to begin the Salyut's breakup and fall. Sometimes we think that space travel was safe before Challenger and Atlantis; we forget Gus Grissom, Apollo 13, and Salyut 1.
Welcome to a special Time Machine. This week we have a surprise special feature- Beatles' covers! Also, a bunch of birthdays; the Guess Who debuts-again; Jesus Christ Superstar debuts again- and again- and again; and we throw out HALF (that's right, HALF) of the top ten; and a new top dog- which is a phrase we won't be saying again for a while (not till the Memorial Day show!). Put on your pressurized suits (I can't afford the liability) and let's go!
Ten songs debut in this week's hot 100, and we've got 4 to talk about. WAAAAY up at 47 is Aretha Franklin's cover of Bridge Over Troubled Water. Murray Head and his Trinidad Singers are back with attempt #3 of trying to hit the big time with the song Superstar, from the A L Webber musical Jesus Christ Superstar. The previous two attempts racked them up 18 weeks in the lower dregs of the chart, but the third trip will be the charm.
Last week, the Guess Who debuted with their tune Broken. This was, in fact, the b-side of the single; the a-side, Albert Flasher, comes in at 95. And at 99, more JCS- Yvonne Elliman's version of I Don't Know How To Love Him from the soundtrack comes in at 99. Helen Reddy's version came in 7 weeks ago, and is piddling around at #58 this week. Sorry, Helen- I like you, but I love Yvonne.
And that brings us to a list of EIGHTEEN (count 'em) birthday songs!
Turning 30 this week, we find: Rick Springfield's Affair Of The Heart; Culture Club's Time (Clock Of The Heart)- one of my faves; Journey's Faithfully (not one of my faves, sorry Steve Perry junkies); and Sergio Mendes' comeback hit Never Gonna Let You Go.
Turning 35: ABBA with Take A Chance On Me; Linda Ronstadt's take on the Stones' Tumbling Dice; The all time classic, Jimmy Buffett's Cheeseburger In Paradise; Michael Johnson's melancholy Bluer Than Blue; and Genesis' first top 40 single in the US of A, Follow You Follow Me (third in the UK).
Turning 40 this week, Jim Croce's signature Bad Bad Leroy Brown; the Stones' You Can't Always Get What You Want; The Spinners' great One Of A Kind (Love Affair); and the Doobies' Long Train Running.
Turning 45 are Spanky and our Gang with Like To Get To Know You; Turning 50, Sam Cooke's Another Saturday Night; the original Da Doo Ron Ron by the Crystals; and another original- so well covered by my aforementioned love Yvonne Elliman- Barbara Lewis' Hello Stranger. And finally, turning 55, last week's lookback feature, the Everly Brothers with All I Have To Do Is Dream.
Our big mover this week belongs to a song which will be in our special feature in a few moments... the big dropper just peaked at 51 a couple of weeks ago and tumbles 23 to #78- Steppenwolf's Snow Blind Friend.
Now, drum roll please- I came up with the idea listening to a Beatles cover the other day, and I wondered how many of such ditties have made the hot 100? I found 30 of them, and in lieu of the usual specials, I'm going to count them down. Here are the lower ten:
30- Good Day Sunshine, Claudine Longet. The former Mrs. Andy Williams took this one to 100 for one week in 1967. Like many of these, the Fab Four never actually released it as a single.
29- All My Loving, The Hollyridge Strings. These were the easy listening guys you heard in your doctor's office or in elevators when you were a kid (if you were a kid when I was). The Beatles never released it stateside, but did in Canada, and cross-border traffic took it to #45; the Strings hit #93 in 1964.
28- Eleanor Rigby, David Cook. American Idol fans remember how he smoked this live on the show in 2008; downloads of the track, which the Beatles took to #11, pushed it onto the main chart at #92.
27- Back In The USSR, Chubby Checker. That's right, the Twistmeister took this track to #82 in 1969.
26- From Me To You, Del Shannon. While the first attempts of the boys to crack the US chart sputtered (this was the original b-side of Please Please Me, which ended up at #41 on its second attempt), Del became the first act to chart in the US with a Lennon-McCartney composition, hitting 77 in 1963.
25- With A Little Help From My Friends, Joe Cocker. The second half of the Sgt. Pepper opening medley was taken to #68 by Joe in, er, 1968.
24- Day Tripper, Anne Murray. 1974 was Anne's year for Beatle's covers. Her second of the year, which the originals took to #5, she took to #59.
23- Come Together, Ike And Tina Turner. The #1 song was covered by the dynamic duo in 1970 and made it to #57.
22(tie)- I Want To Hold Your Hand, Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops. This classic #1 was turned into an instrumental by the light-classical master and hit 55 in 1964.
22 (tie)- Something, Shirley Bassey. That's right, the Goldfinger lady took the #1 flipside of Come Together and hit 55 in 1970.
We interrupt the special countdown for a little bit of the regular business. There were but three top 40 debuts- a 7.5% turnover compared to the 10% hot 100 turnover and the 50% in the top ten. Daddy Dewdrop finally reaches Airplay Alley with Chick-a-Boom (Don' Ya Jes Luv It), climbing 7 spots to 37. Up 6 to 36 is Matthews' Southern Comfort with their rendition of Woodstock. And at 27, up 14, is John Lennon and his amazing friends with Power To The People.
With 5 songs moving into the top ten, five have to fall out. And those five are: Me And Bobby McGee (10 to 20); Proud Mary (6 to 19); Doesn't Somebody Want To Be Wanted (4 to 14); What Is Life (7 to 13); and Help Me Make It Through The Night (9 to 12).
The middle ten, maestro:
20- Ticket To Ride, Carpenters. Karen and Richard took the #1 tune up to 54 in 1969.
19- Dear Prudence, Katfish. This was a bar band from Maine who hit the big time just this once, taking this track to #53 in 1974. If you Youtube any of these tracks, make it this one, it is exceptional IMHO.
18- Let It Be, Joan Baez. Joan took the 1970 #1 to 49 that same year.
17- Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, U2 with Paul McCartney. Bono and Paul hit #48 in 2005.
16- Magical Mystery Tour, Ambrosia. One of the great unknown bands (being in large part the early Alan Parsons Project, as well), they took this into the top 40- at #39- in 1976.
15- She Came In Through The Bathroom Window, Joe Cocker. Joe's second attempt fares better, reaching #30 in 1970.
14- Birthday, Underground Sunshine. These psychedelic rockers took a track that John called "a piece of garbage" (undoubtedly it didn't lean left enough for him) to #26 in 1969.
13 (tie)- Hey Jude, Wilson Pickett. The Wicked One took his cover of my "piece of garbage" Beatles song to #23 in 1968.
13 (tie)- Come Together, Aerosmith. The tune which actually started me on this, which I prefer to the original because of its sheer savagery, peaked at #23 in 1978. It was from the Bee Gees/Peter Frampton ill-fated Sgt. Pepper movie.
11- Michelle, David And Jonathan. The Biblically-named duo were actually Roger Greenway and Roger Cook, a songwriting duo who, separately or together, were responsible for tunes like You've Got Your Troubles (the Fortunes), My Baby Loves Lovin' (White Plains), Long Cool Woman (the Hollies), I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing (New Seekers), Talking In Your Sleep (Crystal Gayle), Say You'll Stay Until Tomorrow (Engelbert Humperdink), and enough country tunes that Cook was inducted into the Nashville Songwriter's HOF. They took their cut to #18 in 1966.
And once again we interrupt- here's the start of the top ten!
Love Story finally cracks the top ten- and it's Andy Williams' rendition, moving from 12 to 10.
Brewer and Shipley drift from 13 to 9 with One Toke Over The Line.
Paul McCartney fared better than George this week, but stays at #8 with Another Day.
The Jackson Five leap ten spots from 17 to 7 with Never Can Say Goodbye.
The big move belongs to folk group Ocean, leaping 16 to #6 with Put Your Hand In The Hand.
And now... the ten biggest Beatles covers:
10- Eleanor Rigby, Aretha Franklin. Boy, she sure has a way of cashing in on other people's success! Aretha took her version to #17 in 1969.
9- Here Comes The Sun, Richie Havens. This was our biggest mover of the week, up 16 spots to #57. On Billboard, it would peak at #16.
8- Oh, Darling, Robin Gibb. Also from the Sgt. Pepper movie, it went to #15 in 1978.
7- You've Got To Hide Your Love Away, the Silkie. With John producing, Paul on guitar, and George on Tambourine, the otherwise 4-person folk group took it to #10 in 1965.
6- Got To Get You Into My Life, Earth, Wind, And Fire. Just three years after the late release and top ten appearance of the Beatles' original, EWF took it to #9 in 1978. Another Sgt. Pepper movie cut.
5- You Won't See Me, Anne Murray. Her second Fab Four cover in the countdown, Anne took it to #8 in 1974.
4- I Saw Him Standing There, Tiffany. Thank God she changed the gender or we'd have thought she was singing about Debbie Gibson. She hit #7 ( the original got to # 14) in 1988.
3- Fool On The Hill, Sergio Mendes and Brasil '66. My hands-down favorite, Sergio and crew took this to #6 in 1968.
Now, the last two hit #1, so technically, it's a tie. But because of the rarified nature of the one, I'm going to drop it to #2 and let us have a clear number one. So, without further ado...
2- Stars On 45 Medley, Stars On. A combination of 13 Beatles tunes, plus the guitar riff from Shocking Blue's Venus and a pinch of the Archies' Sugar Sugar, this hit #1 in 1979.
And the #1 Beatles cover...
1- Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds, Elton John. But you knew that, right? Elton, with a little help from John Lennon, hit the top in 1974.
And now, the top five this week...
Neil Diamond (who is not in the sky that I know of) claims the last debut spot, jumping (maybe he is flying?) from 15 to 5 with I Am... I Said.
Tom Jones slips to 4, a one notch fall, with She's A Lady.
Marvin Gaye falls from #1 to #3 and asks, What's Going On?
The Temptations hold at #2 with Just My Imagination.
Which means our new top dog, leaping from #5 to get there, is....
Three Dog Night with Joy To The World!!!!
Next week- Tiny Tim covers! You won't want to miss that!
It is April 19th, 1971. The Soviet Union launched Salyut I, the first manned space station. Of course, the "manned" part was a bit tricky. Stung by the US of A's Moon lead, the Russians had this project on the drawing board from 1964, and what finally took to the upper atmosphere was a patchwork of half-completed projects raided in this one cause. It was 4 days later when the cosmonauts of Soyuz 10 reached the station- and went back down after not being able to open the door. On June 7th, Soyuz 11's crew entered for the first time, but many problems, including an electrical fire, forced them to leave on the 29th. The problems didn't end there; the Soviets didn't use pressurized suits in their capsules, and paid for it when the S-11 returned with an air leak and three dead cosmonauts. Re-designing that problem forced the Soviets to raise the Salyut to a higher orbit to prevent spiraling in while they worked on it; but supplies on-board the ship (I'm presuming fuel) ran out and in October they lowered the orbit to begin the Salyut's breakup and fall. Sometimes we think that space travel was safe before Challenger and Atlantis; we forget Gus Grissom, Apollo 13, and Salyut 1.
Ten songs debut in this week's hot 100, and we've got 4 to talk about. WAAAAY up at 47 is Aretha Franklin's cover of Bridge Over Troubled Water. Murray Head and his Trinidad Singers are back with attempt #3 of trying to hit the big time with the song Superstar, from the A L Webber musical Jesus Christ Superstar. The previous two attempts racked them up 18 weeks in the lower dregs of the chart, but the third trip will be the charm.
Last week, the Guess Who debuted with their tune Broken. This was, in fact, the b-side of the single; the a-side, Albert Flasher, comes in at 95. And at 99, more JCS- Yvonne Elliman's version of I Don't Know How To Love Him from the soundtrack comes in at 99. Helen Reddy's version came in 7 weeks ago, and is piddling around at #58 this week. Sorry, Helen- I like you, but I love Yvonne.
And that brings us to a list of EIGHTEEN (count 'em) birthday songs!
Turning 30 this week, we find: Rick Springfield's Affair Of The Heart; Culture Club's Time (Clock Of The Heart)- one of my faves; Journey's Faithfully (not one of my faves, sorry Steve Perry junkies); and Sergio Mendes' comeback hit Never Gonna Let You Go.
Turning 35: ABBA with Take A Chance On Me; Linda Ronstadt's take on the Stones' Tumbling Dice; The all time classic, Jimmy Buffett's Cheeseburger In Paradise; Michael Johnson's melancholy Bluer Than Blue; and Genesis' first top 40 single in the US of A, Follow You Follow Me (third in the UK).
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| I like mine with lettuce and tomato, Heinz 57 and French fried potato.. |
Turning 40 this week, Jim Croce's signature Bad Bad Leroy Brown; the Stones' You Can't Always Get What You Want; The Spinners' great One Of A Kind (Love Affair); and the Doobies' Long Train Running.
Turning 45 are Spanky and our Gang with Like To Get To Know You; Turning 50, Sam Cooke's Another Saturday Night; the original Da Doo Ron Ron by the Crystals; and another original- so well covered by my aforementioned love Yvonne Elliman- Barbara Lewis' Hello Stranger. And finally, turning 55, last week's lookback feature, the Everly Brothers with All I Have To Do Is Dream.
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| You can always come blow out my candles... birthday May 16th... |
Now, drum roll please- I came up with the idea listening to a Beatles cover the other day, and I wondered how many of such ditties have made the hot 100? I found 30 of them, and in lieu of the usual specials, I'm going to count them down. Here are the lower ten:
30- Good Day Sunshine, Claudine Longet. The former Mrs. Andy Williams took this one to 100 for one week in 1967. Like many of these, the Fab Four never actually released it as a single.
29- All My Loving, The Hollyridge Strings. These were the easy listening guys you heard in your doctor's office or in elevators when you were a kid (if you were a kid when I was). The Beatles never released it stateside, but did in Canada, and cross-border traffic took it to #45; the Strings hit #93 in 1964.
28- Eleanor Rigby, David Cook. American Idol fans remember how he smoked this live on the show in 2008; downloads of the track, which the Beatles took to #11, pushed it onto the main chart at #92.
27- Back In The USSR, Chubby Checker. That's right, the Twistmeister took this track to #82 in 1969.
26- From Me To You, Del Shannon. While the first attempts of the boys to crack the US chart sputtered (this was the original b-side of Please Please Me, which ended up at #41 on its second attempt), Del became the first act to chart in the US with a Lennon-McCartney composition, hitting 77 in 1963.
25- With A Little Help From My Friends, Joe Cocker. The second half of the Sgt. Pepper opening medley was taken to #68 by Joe in, er, 1968.
24- Day Tripper, Anne Murray. 1974 was Anne's year for Beatle's covers. Her second of the year, which the originals took to #5, she took to #59.
23- Come Together, Ike And Tina Turner. The #1 song was covered by the dynamic duo in 1970 and made it to #57.
22(tie)- I Want To Hold Your Hand, Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops. This classic #1 was turned into an instrumental by the light-classical master and hit 55 in 1964.
22 (tie)- Something, Shirley Bassey. That's right, the Goldfinger lady took the #1 flipside of Come Together and hit 55 in 1970.
We interrupt the special countdown for a little bit of the regular business. There were but three top 40 debuts- a 7.5% turnover compared to the 10% hot 100 turnover and the 50% in the top ten. Daddy Dewdrop finally reaches Airplay Alley with Chick-a-Boom (Don' Ya Jes Luv It), climbing 7 spots to 37. Up 6 to 36 is Matthews' Southern Comfort with their rendition of Woodstock. And at 27, up 14, is John Lennon and his amazing friends with Power To The People.
With 5 songs moving into the top ten, five have to fall out. And those five are: Me And Bobby McGee (10 to 20); Proud Mary (6 to 19); Doesn't Somebody Want To Be Wanted (4 to 14); What Is Life (7 to 13); and Help Me Make It Through The Night (9 to 12).
The middle ten, maestro:
20- Ticket To Ride, Carpenters. Karen and Richard took the #1 tune up to 54 in 1969.
19- Dear Prudence, Katfish. This was a bar band from Maine who hit the big time just this once, taking this track to #53 in 1974. If you Youtube any of these tracks, make it this one, it is exceptional IMHO.
18- Let It Be, Joan Baez. Joan took the 1970 #1 to 49 that same year.
17- Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, U2 with Paul McCartney. Bono and Paul hit #48 in 2005.
16- Magical Mystery Tour, Ambrosia. One of the great unknown bands (being in large part the early Alan Parsons Project, as well), they took this into the top 40- at #39- in 1976.
15- She Came In Through The Bathroom Window, Joe Cocker. Joe's second attempt fares better, reaching #30 in 1970.
14- Birthday, Underground Sunshine. These psychedelic rockers took a track that John called "a piece of garbage" (undoubtedly it didn't lean left enough for him) to #26 in 1969.
13 (tie)- Hey Jude, Wilson Pickett. The Wicked One took his cover of my "piece of garbage" Beatles song to #23 in 1968.
13 (tie)- Come Together, Aerosmith. The tune which actually started me on this, which I prefer to the original because of its sheer savagery, peaked at #23 in 1978. It was from the Bee Gees/Peter Frampton ill-fated Sgt. Pepper movie.
11- Michelle, David And Jonathan. The Biblically-named duo were actually Roger Greenway and Roger Cook, a songwriting duo who, separately or together, were responsible for tunes like You've Got Your Troubles (the Fortunes), My Baby Loves Lovin' (White Plains), Long Cool Woman (the Hollies), I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing (New Seekers), Talking In Your Sleep (Crystal Gayle), Say You'll Stay Until Tomorrow (Engelbert Humperdink), and enough country tunes that Cook was inducted into the Nashville Songwriter's HOF. They took their cut to #18 in 1966.
And once again we interrupt- here's the start of the top ten!
Love Story finally cracks the top ten- and it's Andy Williams' rendition, moving from 12 to 10.
Brewer and Shipley drift from 13 to 9 with One Toke Over The Line.
Paul McCartney fared better than George this week, but stays at #8 with Another Day.
The Jackson Five leap ten spots from 17 to 7 with Never Can Say Goodbye.
The big move belongs to folk group Ocean, leaping 16 to #6 with Put Your Hand In The Hand.
And now... the ten biggest Beatles covers:
10- Eleanor Rigby, Aretha Franklin. Boy, she sure has a way of cashing in on other people's success! Aretha took her version to #17 in 1969.
9- Here Comes The Sun, Richie Havens. This was our biggest mover of the week, up 16 spots to #57. On Billboard, it would peak at #16.
8- Oh, Darling, Robin Gibb. Also from the Sgt. Pepper movie, it went to #15 in 1978.
7- You've Got To Hide Your Love Away, the Silkie. With John producing, Paul on guitar, and George on Tambourine, the otherwise 4-person folk group took it to #10 in 1965.
6- Got To Get You Into My Life, Earth, Wind, And Fire. Just three years after the late release and top ten appearance of the Beatles' original, EWF took it to #9 in 1978. Another Sgt. Pepper movie cut.
5- You Won't See Me, Anne Murray. Her second Fab Four cover in the countdown, Anne took it to #8 in 1974.
4- I Saw Him Standing There, Tiffany. Thank God she changed the gender or we'd have thought she was singing about Debbie Gibson. She hit #7 ( the original got to # 14) in 1988.
3- Fool On The Hill, Sergio Mendes and Brasil '66. My hands-down favorite, Sergio and crew took this to #6 in 1968.
Now, the last two hit #1, so technically, it's a tie. But because of the rarified nature of the one, I'm going to drop it to #2 and let us have a clear number one. So, without further ado...
2- Stars On 45 Medley, Stars On. A combination of 13 Beatles tunes, plus the guitar riff from Shocking Blue's Venus and a pinch of the Archies' Sugar Sugar, this hit #1 in 1979.
And the #1 Beatles cover...
1- Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds, Elton John. But you knew that, right? Elton, with a little help from John Lennon, hit the top in 1974.
 |
| Picture yourself on a field with a football... |
Neil Diamond (who is not in the sky that I know of) claims the last debut spot, jumping (maybe he is flying?) from 15 to 5 with I Am... I Said.
Tom Jones slips to 4, a one notch fall, with She's A Lady.
Marvin Gaye falls from #1 to #3 and asks, What's Going On?
The Temptations hold at #2 with Just My Imagination.
Which means our new top dog, leaping from #5 to get there, is....
Three Dog Night with Joy To The World!!!!
Next week- Tiny Tim covers! You won't want to miss that!
Thursday, April 18, 2013
Lotsa Little Bits vol. 15
ITEM: It's a sad day in our world when a disaster not caused by some nutjob is a breath of fresh air...
ITEM: I had to laugh (because that's what I do) as I was reading the story about Paul Kevin Curtis, the part time Elvis and full time "one brick short" who sent the ricin-laced letter to President Obutthole. Mainly because of how he signed the letter- as well as others he's sent to various politicos on his s-list.
Many of his screeds have ended with the same line his letter to President Obama reportedly did: “I am KC and I approve this message.”
Now as far as I know, the government did not investigate my son KC. However, that KC had his own problems, as we learned on facebook:
I feel like if u vomit on urself right after showering to go to work u desereve a day off.
.JPG)
ITEM: Catherine Kieu of California has come up with a great way to take care of a cheating husband.
Orange County Deputy District Attorney John Christl said in his opening statement that Kieu, angry because her husband was dating a former girlfriend, laced his food with sleeping pills on July 11, 2011, then tied him to a bed, severed his penis and put it in the garbage disposal.
Wow, harsh. But, as they say, problem solved. Laurie says she'd have been better off just getting a divorce, but her way was cheaper. And justice, I suppose, was served. Kinda reminded me of the story from 2004 in which the old man from Romania was trying to cut the head off a noisy rooster in the pre-dawn darkness while in his boxers- the old boy in the darkness grabbed his non-struggling wiener rather than the neck of the struggling bird, lobbed it off, and then watched as his dog (who in the pre-dawn darkness mistook it for sausage) grabbed it and ran off. Maybe not the same reason, but very similar results.
ITEM: And then there were three. Moscow Dynamo claimed their second straight Gagarin Cup when Traktor goalie Michael Garnett found himself out of position about 6 minutes into OT, and Alexei Tsvetskov found himself with a puck and an empty with which to create a 3-2 victory and a 4-2 series win. It was the second time I had to ask WTH when Garnett's wrong place-wrong time routine cost his team a goal- the first had given Dynamo their first lead at 2-1.
And today, Joachim Eriksson stopped 32 shots as Skelleftea topped Lulea 4-0, winning the Swedish championship by that same count. Skelleftea wins their second championship, the first came back in 1978.
ITEM: Also in sports, my two baseball teams learned the secret of snapping losing streaks. For the A's, they washed away a series loss to the Tigers by running their record against Houston to 7-0 this year in a three game sweep. Cincinnati, meanwhile, ended a five game losing streak by sweeping three from the lovely Philadelphia Phillies. Nothing like eating alive the worst team in your league!
ITEM: And that reminds me a saw an article where U-Haul announced last year's 15 top places to relocate to. The list included: New York City (13), Philadelphia (8), and Chicago (3). I ask you: WHY??? Houston was #1 for the 4th year in a row- which we know one of the reasons was NOT the baseball team.
ITEM: Time to take a break so I can work on Time Machine in a bit.
ITEM: I had to laugh (because that's what I do) as I was reading the story about Paul Kevin Curtis, the part time Elvis and full time "one brick short" who sent the ricin-laced letter to President Obutthole. Mainly because of how he signed the letter- as well as others he's sent to various politicos on his s-list.
Many of his screeds have ended with the same line his letter to President Obama reportedly did: “I am KC and I approve this message.”
Now as far as I know, the government did not investigate my son KC. However, that KC had his own problems, as we learned on facebook:
I feel like if u vomit on urself right after showering to go to work u desereve a day off.
.JPG)
 |
| Two KCs, both nutjobs. One guilty, one goofy. |
ITEM: Catherine Kieu of California has come up with a great way to take care of a cheating husband.
Orange County Deputy District Attorney John Christl said in his opening statement that Kieu, angry because her husband was dating a former girlfriend, laced his food with sleeping pills on July 11, 2011, then tied him to a bed, severed his penis and put it in the garbage disposal.
Wow, harsh. But, as they say, problem solved. Laurie says she'd have been better off just getting a divorce, but her way was cheaper. And justice, I suppose, was served. Kinda reminded me of the story from 2004 in which the old man from Romania was trying to cut the head off a noisy rooster in the pre-dawn darkness while in his boxers- the old boy in the darkness grabbed his non-struggling wiener rather than the neck of the struggling bird, lobbed it off, and then watched as his dog (who in the pre-dawn darkness mistook it for sausage) grabbed it and ran off. Maybe not the same reason, but very similar results.
ITEM: And then there were three. Moscow Dynamo claimed their second straight Gagarin Cup when Traktor goalie Michael Garnett found himself out of position about 6 minutes into OT, and Alexei Tsvetskov found himself with a puck and an empty with which to create a 3-2 victory and a 4-2 series win. It was the second time I had to ask WTH when Garnett's wrong place-wrong time routine cost his team a goal- the first had given Dynamo their first lead at 2-1.
And today, Joachim Eriksson stopped 32 shots as Skelleftea topped Lulea 4-0, winning the Swedish championship by that same count. Skelleftea wins their second championship, the first came back in 1978.
ITEM: Also in sports, my two baseball teams learned the secret of snapping losing streaks. For the A's, they washed away a series loss to the Tigers by running their record against Houston to 7-0 this year in a three game sweep. Cincinnati, meanwhile, ended a five game losing streak by sweeping three from the lovely Philadelphia Phillies. Nothing like eating alive the worst team in your league!
ITEM: And that reminds me a saw an article where U-Haul announced last year's 15 top places to relocate to. The list included: New York City (13), Philadelphia (8), and Chicago (3). I ask you: WHY??? Houston was #1 for the 4th year in a row- which we know one of the reasons was NOT the baseball team.
ITEM: Time to take a break so I can work on Time Machine in a bit.
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
Breaking news....
... If you read the last post, I mentioned a little feature about my "new" Drewrys Draft bottle to come on my caps blog "sometime this weekend". Well, new info has come my way that has me so excited that it is posted on the caps blog RIGHT NOW!!! Just click on the link just over there on your right to read what has me so excited!
Lotsa Little bits Vol. 14
ITEM: I am NOT going to give the scum that did that deed in Boston any more notoriety. I would like to repeat a comment I made on another blog: I think justice would best be served if the villain was crossing the street the next day and got hit and killed by some little old lady. No notoriety, no big fancy trial, no name on everyone's list, Just a stupid, anonymous death that no one knows about.
ITEM: I see that the reason Yovanni Gallardo on the Brewers has been pitching so bad has come out. He got pulled over last night doing 40 in a 55 and blew a .22 on the breathalyzer. Note to Gallardo: Home plate is easier to see when there aren't six of 'em. This kinda thing only happens when your brand-new season is about to go spiraling down the tubes. Sorry for your luck, Brewers fans. Maybe if the team suspends Gallardo, he could work as mascot- God knows he has the qualifications, eh?
ITEM: Here's a recent spam e-mail I found mildly amusing:
H IG H Q UÁ L IT Y P RÈ M I UM B U S I N ÈS S C Á RD S TÒ H È L P Y Ò U M ÁK È Á G ÒÒ D F I RS T I M PR È S SI ÒN
Kinda like the good impression you get with 4 unnecessary accent marks going one way and 10 more going the other, right?
ITEM: Last I looked, the alleged doubleheader between the Colorado Rockies and the "wishing we were home" NY Mets is still being delayed despite the owner of the Rockies picking up a shovel and aiding in digging the field out from under 7 inches of snow. They were supposed to play one at 3 pm our time and the other around 9, when it will be a sweltering 38 degrees. Guys, it's the Mets. And you. Just cancel out, go back to the hotel, have some hot chocolate, and hope for better weather tomorrow. Maybe play a triple header?
ITEM: In hockey, Traktor jumped on Dynamo for three in the first, Dynamo jumped right back in the second, and Alexei Kostitsyn jumped highest in the third to keep the "Meteor Guys" alive with a 4-3 win in the KHL finals game six. Dynamo will try again to clinch tomorrow.
Kamil Brabanec scored with about a minute and a half left to give Zvolen a 2-1 over Kosice and the Slovak Extraliga title. Zvolen is a town of 43,000 best known for, well, winning their second Extraliga title yesterday.
Snorre Hallum scored 4:45 into OT to give Stavenger's Oilers a 4-3 win over Valerenga and a 4 to 2 win in the Norway GET-Ligaen finals Sunday. Be sure to stop by the Museum of Petroleum while you're there. This is the third time in 4 years they've won it all, and two of those have been against Valerenga.
Bern slammed Fribourg 5-1 today to win the Swiss NLA title, their 13th. Brothers Alain and Pascal Berger each scored in the game.
For those still paying attention, that leaves us Sweden, Finland, Germany, Denmark, and the KHL to go.
ITEM: Last but not least, check out my new baby:
I've loved that Drewry's Draft design ever since my nephew dug a barely-recognizable can from a dump some 35 years or so ago. I'll get around to putting more info (if there is more to be had) on the caps blog this weekend.
ITEM: I see that the reason Yovanni Gallardo on the Brewers has been pitching so bad has come out. He got pulled over last night doing 40 in a 55 and blew a .22 on the breathalyzer. Note to Gallardo: Home plate is easier to see when there aren't six of 'em. This kinda thing only happens when your brand-new season is about to go spiraling down the tubes. Sorry for your luck, Brewers fans. Maybe if the team suspends Gallardo, he could work as mascot- God knows he has the qualifications, eh?
ITEM: Here's a recent spam e-mail I found mildly amusing:
H IG H Q UÁ L IT Y P RÈ M I UM B U S I N ÈS S C Á RD S TÒ H È L P Y Ò U M ÁK È Á G ÒÒ D F I RS T I M PR È S SI ÒN
Kinda like the good impression you get with 4 unnecessary accent marks going one way and 10 more going the other, right?
ITEM: Last I looked, the alleged doubleheader between the Colorado Rockies and the "wishing we were home" NY Mets is still being delayed despite the owner of the Rockies picking up a shovel and aiding in digging the field out from under 7 inches of snow. They were supposed to play one at 3 pm our time and the other around 9, when it will be a sweltering 38 degrees. Guys, it's the Mets. And you. Just cancel out, go back to the hotel, have some hot chocolate, and hope for better weather tomorrow. Maybe play a triple header?
 |
| Not the owner, but GM Dan O'Dowd. You know you hire guys for this stuff, right? |
Kamil Brabanec scored with about a minute and a half left to give Zvolen a 2-1 over Kosice and the Slovak Extraliga title. Zvolen is a town of 43,000 best known for, well, winning their second Extraliga title yesterday.
Snorre Hallum scored 4:45 into OT to give Stavenger's Oilers a 4-3 win over Valerenga and a 4 to 2 win in the Norway GET-Ligaen finals Sunday. Be sure to stop by the Museum of Petroleum while you're there. This is the third time in 4 years they've won it all, and two of those have been against Valerenga.
Bern slammed Fribourg 5-1 today to win the Swiss NLA title, their 13th. Brothers Alain and Pascal Berger each scored in the game.
For those still paying attention, that leaves us Sweden, Finland, Germany, Denmark, and the KHL to go.
ITEM: Last but not least, check out my new baby:
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