A bunch of stuff

Okay, fifth of July afternoon, and now my "two week layoff" has become "normal weekend".  So while I have a chance, here's another "lotsa little bits/ news for the un-newsed/picture post".

ITEM:  One site I have been frequenting lately is Forgotten Hits , not surprising considering it's a little like Time Machine on a much larger scale.  The other day, the blogger raised the topic of "goosebump songs"- ones that gave you goose bumps the first time you heard it.  Here's the letter I sent in- and his response:

This is kind of a tough one, because there are songs that give me goosebumps now, that might not have at the first playing.  I tend to call them “stop-breathers” because the reaction for me is more of my breath stopping for the first few notes.  There are four, though, that might fit the category. 
Back in the day, I kept my own top ten- and do I wish I’d not let those notebooks go!  I always did mine on a Thursday, and then wait all weekend to hear Casey Casem on Sunday morning.  On one Tuesday night, I heard ELO’s Telephone Line.  Thursday it became the first (and one of two) song to ever hit #1 on my list as a debut.  Sunday, I owned the 45, which was quite a trick considering I wasn’t driving at the time.

In the early eighties, a girl got us all listening to country.  The first time I heard Roseanne Cash’s I Don’t Know Why You Don’t Want Me, I knew it was her somehow in the first three notes.  Can’t explain it, but I remember it clearly.  Did the same with the next single, Never Be You, but it never had the same impact.

One of the first songs I ever loved was Merilee Rush’s Angel Of The Morning.  The first notes I heard of Juice Newton’s remake froze me in my tracks.  Still does.

And last, imagine a guy who grew up on the sixties, now living in a world where Pearl Jam was the coolest, and being dead drunk when you hear their remake of Last Kiss the first time.  Rotten rub of that was, I was in emergency need of the restroom and didn’t even get to hear the whole thing!

The only one of the three that really still gets me like that is Juice’s Angel.  Merilee’s does as well.  And maybe a dozen others, ranging from Bobby Helms’ My Special Angel to the Pretenders’ It’s a Thin Line Between Love And Hate.  And, of course, Percy Faith’s A Summer Place Theme.  And I’ll end here, before I end up writing you a book. 

CW Martin

Some GREAT choices on this list.  I absolutely loved Roseanne Cash's "I Don't Know Why You Don't Want Me" and believe it should have been a HUGE cross-over hit.  To his day I can't believe it wasn't ... and still smile and sing along every time I hear it. 

Personally I prefer the Merilee Rush version of "Angel of the Morning" to Juice Newton's version ... but I will grant you that she did a pretty powerful reading.  The Pretenders' recording of "It's A Thin Line Between Love And Hate" ranks as one of my favorites by them ... and I totally agree with you on "A Theme from 'A Summer Place'" ... and have almost mentioned that one at least a dozen times since this topic started.  Thanks for sharing with us, CW!  (kk)

 

 

If you enjoy Time Machine, you'll love this place.  For example, if you go there today, his post is on the top 40 songs that peaked at #4 in the sixties!  Also there's an archive website with all manner of countdown stuff.  AND, unlike me, this dude has a lot of connections with actual sixties hit makers who bounce in from time to time.  Really cool stuff.  I'm jealous!

ITEM:  An interesting article in the Moscow Times (yes, I peruse that, too) today, led off with this:

As turmoil once again grips Egypt with the overthrow of Islamist President Mohamed Morsi following days of mass protests in Cairo, one high-ranking Russian official has responded smugly: We told you this would happen.
"The Arab Spring has only led to chaos in Egypt and a bloody foreign-backed drama in Syria, war in Libya, mess in Tunisia and war in Mali," Alexei Pushkov, the chairman of the State Duma's International Affairs Committee, tweeted Thursday.


Can't really argue with this reasoning; in fact, we've heard a lot of it since the "Arab Spring" began over a year ago.  And the sage philosopher Vladimir Putin agrees:

"Look at the region as a whole. There is still unrest in Egypt. There is no stability in Iraq, and there is no certainty that it will stay united within its current borders in the future," the president said last month on RT television.
"In my opinion, this is happening because some people from the outside believe that if the region were to be brought in compliance with a certain idea — an idea that some call democracy — then peace and stability would ensue. That's not how it works," he said.

Of course, not everybody agrees with Putin's somewhat cynical view.  George Mirsky, a research fellow at a economics and international relations group, says that opinions like Putin's stem from the former Soviet government's disdain of popular opinion in most circumstances.

"That is why our government supports the nastiest rulers, such as Saddam Hussein," he said.  Ouch.

ITEM:  on the very same page, reactions continue to come in over the Duma's recent passage of the so-called Gay Propaganda and Blasphemy laws.  The first places hefty fines on the organizers of gay events and demonstrations.  The other, pushed through after the (alleged) music group Pussy Riot used a orthodox Christmas celebration to play an obnoxious, crude, and thankfully undecipherable protest song.  It will punish “public actions expressing obvious disrespect toward society and committed to abuse the religious feelings of believers...” Anyway, the article today focused on certain international reactions to the laws...particularly American groups such as the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute,  Americans For Truth About Homosexuality, and the World Congress On Families, all of whom had glowing words, such as this from the World Congress' Larry Jacobs:

“The Kremlin used to be a no-no for conservatives...We’re going to redeem that building.”
Now the article went on to give a balanced view of America, with sightings of several opposed groups.  It also pointed out that polls show that  "only 16 percent of Russians said homosexuality should be accepted by society, compared to 60 percent in the U.S., and 80 percent or higher in Canada, Spain and Germany. "But I would like to point one salient point out to Messers Jacobs, et al.  This is RUSSIA we are talking about.  Before you go celebrating them as a bastion of "a historic commitment to spirituality and morality" (as the WConF does on its website), perhaps y'all better backtrack a bit and think about the price of aligning yourselves with "the Devil you know".

As for, me, I wonder if maybe I might just move to Russia.  If it wasn't for the cold.  And the corruption.  And the planes that crash, the funny alphabet, and having to drink all that damn vodka.

ITEM: In looking for something else, I just saw a list of the ten "snobbiest" cities in the US of A, and I just have to share.

1. San Francisco
2. New York
3. Boston (I don't think this includes suburbs or outlying areas, Juli)
4. Minneapolis/St. Paul
5(tie).  Santa Fe
            Seattle
7. Chicago
8. Providence
9. Washington, DC
10. Charleston, SC

Okay, I'm not surprised with 80% of this list (and await the war of snubs between Santa Fe and Seattle), But Minneapolis?  Santa Fe?  Where do you guys get off being snobby?  Come back when you have more to offer than "it's a dry heat" and "it's a dry cold".

Okay, on to pictures!

Homer Bailey's no hitter! Only the second time in 45 years of watching baseball that I've got to actually watch a guy from a team I root for get a no-hitter- and both times it was Homer Bailey what got it!

 

From Wednesday:  When getting a picture of a frog is on your summer bucket list, every glob looks amphibious..





 When you're a dog, a wiener's as good as a radiator, I guess...

Just so peaceful..

 

So here we are, looking for frogs and turtles at the swamp, when all of a sudden, we had two big white drops of ... something... splash in the water near us.  Looking up....

...we quickly ascertained both substance and source.

Waking up the morning of the 4th, we saw this in the back yard...

Y'know, I didn't know that animals had so many cross-species characteristics.  I watched as the fawn looking our way scratched his head with a back hoof, then proceeded to sniff the hoof.  Moments later, he was chewing on the hoof, just like I've seen Scrappy do a million times.

Scrappy, meanwhile, had finally climbed out from under the covers to take a look.

Daddy, Daddy, save me!


We did get a few walks in, but not a lot to show for it...

...except this guy, who, unlike most blue jays, decided to scream (and I mean scream) at us the whole way past him.

We did go to the plex to watch the fireworks (as well as around the neighborhood to watch those who ignored the complex's orders against shooting them here).  But it was just me and Scrappy, unlike the whole pile of people we had last year, so I didn't bother to take pictures.

Today we went out into a partly sunny day that was much cooler when cloudy.  Within moments we were caught in a terrible rainstorm...

Note the drops on my shirt, if you can see 'em.  Later we went through the tall grass around the duck pond, only to stumble onto where all those big bad illegal mortars were being fired last night...

And when you see the small patch, hidden by tall grass, that SOMEONE mowed for the event... I'm guessing that this was an "unsponsored" IPFW event.

Three way conversation on the fence.

 

Found this at the new bridge.

 

At last, a FROG!  I am fulfilled!

It was hot when the "rain" went away so we rested by the river.  Then we got some more clouds, and we took off...

and moments later, it was raining again!

Here's Scrappy charging after a chipmunk who just ran in front of us...

The best part of getting this shot?  I was actually just trying to take another fungi shot when he popped up...

Time Machine week 75

...and what better way to celebrate the 5th of July than with the 75th anniversary of Time Machine, Volume 2?  This week, a lead in gets bumped down the line;  a plane crash wipes out a group from our top 40 debuts; 20 birthday songs (including two videos!); and a slightly six degrees story for our feature, as the Great Fifties Countdown rolls on!  So clean up those spent mortars, wash your hands, and let's go!

Out of 13 debuts, only two get mentions.  The one is my favorite song sung in a men's room- and favorite song by Three Dog Night- Liar, at #76.  At the one at #74 brings us to our delayed lead-in.  You see, the actual chart came out on July 3rd- the same day that Jim Morrison died.  Far from a tragic end, from what I can determine- he apparently snorted heroin, thinking it was coke, and bled to death while his partner in debauchery passed out rather than call for help.  On this same day, the last song he recorded with the Doors- Riders On The Storm- enters the chart at 74.

But life goes on, and we have birthday songs as well as death-day ones.  Turning 30 this week, we have:  Men At Work's It's A Mistake; Culture Club's I'll Tumble 4 Ya; Shalamar with Dead Giveaway; Laura Branigan with a song that Michael Bolton (the AntiChrist) would later butcher cover, How Am I Supposed To Live Without You; and Paul Anka with his last top 40 hit, a duet with Peter Cetera called Hold Me Till The Morning Comes.  Turning 35 are a pair of songs that always take me back to the hottest days of summer- Olivia Newton-John with Hopelessly Devoted To You, and Exile's Kiss You All Over.  Along with those two are country crossovers Anne Murray with You Needed Me and Crystal Gayle with Talking In Your Sleep.  And if you aren't Canadian, you might not know this one more from Burton Cummings:



Turning 40, we have Marvin Gaye with Let's Get It On and Coven's One Tin Soldier from Billy Jack.  Turning 45, the Mamas and the Papas with Dream A Little Dream Of Me and (at the opposite pole) Cream's Sunshine Of Your Love. Hitting the big 5-0, the King's You're The Devil In Disguise; Peter Paul and Mary covering Dylan's Blowin' In The Wind; the Four Seasons with the double sided hit Candy Girl/Marlena; and another one you might not know by name, from Kai Winding's Orchestra:



Finally to round this out, 55 years ago this week, Ricky Nelson's single of Poor Little Fool hits the charts; as you might remember, two weeks ago the EP featuring it hit- but upon news of the forthcoming single, it died last week at #64.  Blow Out The Candles...


And now, more of the Great Fifties Countdown!

85- Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be), Doris Day, #2, 1956.  Introduced in the Hitchcock film The Man Who Knew Too Much, it was also the theme to Doris' TV show from 1968-73.

84- Good Golly Miss Molly, Little Richard, #10, 1958.  It also hit #4 on the R&B charts- same spot a cover by Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels  (with Devil With A Blue Dress) would hit on the pop charts in 1966.

83- I'm Walkin', Fats Domino, #4, 1957.  Co -written by Dave Bartholomew, whose other comps include Ain't That A Shame, I Hear You Knocking- and My Ding-A-Ling.

82- Cry, Johnnie Ray and the Four Lads, #1, 1951.  Poor old Johnnie Ray's biggest hit was written by Churchill Kohlman- who was a night watchman at a dry cleaning plant when he wrote it.

81- Only Sixteen, Sam Cooke, #28, 1959.  How this only hit 28 I don't understand; it hit #6 for Dr. Hook 17 years later.

Why?  Don't ask me, I was too young to know.

Our big movers this week are:  going up, Chicago's Beginnings, blasting up 32 spots to #42.  Going down, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, who peaked at 38 last week, fall 19 to #57 with House At Pooh Corner.

That will bring us to what will pretend to be a six degrees this week.  You See, I've been listening to an online station called Rewound Radio lately, and yesterday they played a song that caught my ears called Tommy.  Not the rock opera Tommy, this was done by a girl outfit called Reparata and the Delrons.  Somehow it only hit #92, and that was pretty descriptive of their career, with hits Whenever A Teenager Cries (1964, #60) and Captain Of Your Ship (#127, 1968), which hit #13 in the UK.  But they did have two other claims to fame.  They were background vocals for the Stones on Honkey Tonk Women being one of them.  The other is a bit more difficult.

You see, R& the Ds were put together at St. Bernards Catholic School in Brooklyn by a girl named Mary Aiese, who took the name Reparata at confirmation from a favorite teacher.  As time wound on, she also became a teacher, and when she married in 1969, her husband wanted her in the classroom and not on the road.  So she gave permission for the girls to continue on the road without her, with Louise Mazzola taking over the lead slot.  Unfortunately, Louise decided to take over the name Reparata as well.  Eventually she left the group when they ran into, of all people, Barry Manilow, who was looking for a backup group.  The other girls declined, but Louise helped found Barry's famous Lady Flash as "Reparata Mazzola".

Which was just fine, until Mary released a single called Shoes as Reparata.  Several lawsuits later, Mary won the Reparata name, and the single charted (at #92 here, but 43 in the UK and top ten in South Africa).  She went on to reform the band sans Mazzola, who eventually became a screenwriter.  Mary retired from teaching in 2000, and retired the band at the same time.

Reparata #2 on the left, Reparata #1 on the right.

More countdown...

80- Diana, Paul Anka, #1, 1957.  Written for a girl 2 years older named Diana Ayoub, who just didn't feel the same.  "He was a bit of a monster back then," was her take..

79- Lollipop, The Chordettes, #2, 1958.  The co-writer, Julius Dixson, inspired it when his excuse for being late to a writing session with partner Beverly Ross was that his daughter got a lollipop stuck in her hair.

78- Young Blood, The Coasters, #8, 1957.  Original writer Jerome "Doc Pomus" Felder also had credits one two of our other countdown songs- A Teenager In Love and There Goes My Baby.

77- Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On, Jerry Lee Lewis, #3, 1957.  He got this one from an R&B lady named Big Maybelline, a recording she had produced by Qunicy Jones.  Lewis almost didn't get it released; Sun Records boss Sam Phillips thought it was "too risqué"...

76- Till I Kissed You, Everly Brothers, #4, 1959.  Chet Atkins played guitar on this one.

Gotta get some pretty faces in here somewhere...

Time for the top 40 debuts.  A fifteen notch climb to #40 for an act we mentioned a week or so ago- Dave and Ansill Collins with Double Barrell.  Up ten to 38 is a song that sounds like a cross between Sam and Dave and Blood Sweat And Tears called Get It On by a band called Chase.  Led by trumpeter Bill Chase, who'd worked with Woody Herman for over ten years, the band lost 3 members and Chase, along with a pilot and a female friend, when their plane crashed 300 yards short of the airstrip near where they were to play on August 9th, 1974.

Graham Nash's Chicago climbs 8 to land at #37; the James Gang move 8 to #34 with Walk Away; a song that was a contender for biggest mover, The Stones' Wild Horses, climbs 21 spots to 31.  The Five Man Electrical Band moves up 11 to #30 with Signs; John Denver climbs 16 with Take Me Home, Country Roads.  And the last of the 8 debuts, Dawn jumps 19 to #27 with Summer Sand.

Almost but not quite nods to the Guess Who; Albert Flasher drops from 35 to 39.

75- Love Is A Many Splendored Thing, Four Aces, #1, 1955.  The originals left one by one, until Lou Silvestri formed a new band.  Then the original members asked him to join them, and for years you had the "un-original" Four Aces and the "Original Aces"  who couldn't use the name anymore.  The Original Aces retired in 1987; the last of them, Silvestri and Rosario "Sod" Vaccaro, died earlier this year.

74- The Tennessee Waltz, Patti Page, #1, 1950.  Originally the b-side to Christmas tune Boogie-Woogie Santa Claus, it spent 30 weeks on the chart, 9 at #1.  Boogie Santa never charted.

73- Unforgettable, Nat King Cole, #1, 1951.  Originally titled Uncomparable by writer Irving Gordon, who once said rock'n'roll has "not melodies, but maladies".

72- That's Amore, Dean Martin, #2, 1953.  Kept out of #1 when Les Paul and Mary Ford's Via Con Dios, which had already spent 9 weeks on top, replaced Stan Freidman's St. George And The Dragonet, which had knocked it out 4 weeks before.

71- What'd I Say, Ray Charles, #6, 1959.  Ad-libbed into existence on stage one night when the band had run through the entire set list and had time left.  Everyone liked it so much, Ray recorded it.

What'd I say... No, really, I can't remember!

Three songs enter the top ten, three drop out.  Falling are It Don't Come Easy ( 3 to 11), I'll Meet You Halfway (6 to 18), and Nathan Jones (10 to 24).

Where Are They Now contestant 8th Day move up a pair to 10 with She's Not Just Another Woman.

Jerry Reed moves 2 to #9 with When You're Hot, You're Hot.

Jean Knight blasts up from 19 to #8 with Mr. Big Stuff.

Wilson Pickett sneaks up another spot to #7 with Don't Knock My Love.

Hamilton, Joe Frank, and Reynolds climb 3 to #6 with Don't Pull Your Love.

Down to five, up to four, back to five for the Honey Cone with Want Ads.

The Carpenters slip from runner-up to 4 with Rainy Days And Mondays.

The Raiders raid their way up 4 to #3 with Indian Reservation.

Pulling up three spots are the Cornelius Brothers and Sister Rose (along with sister Billie Joe) with Treat Her Like A Lady.

And holding down the fort for a second week at #1....

Yeah, I know this is breaking the rules.  But it's Carole King!

...Carole King with It's Too Late!!!!



Alright, now, you'd better get out there and pick up the empty beer cans before the neighbors wake up.  See ya next week!

July 4th, 1863

When you think about this date- if you have a passing knowledge of Civil War History- you think of the glorious change of events that spelled the eventual doom of the rebellion.  In the North, Meade was watching Lee climb down from Pennsylvania; in the South, Grant was collecting swords and guns from Pemberton's half-dead garrison.  The Union was saved, the South was divided, and the British would now send those half-finished Southern ironclads "to Russia".  But like all things in history, the fireworks didn't exactly go off immediately- or everywhere.

News wasn't as easy as clicking on the TV.  In some places (as I learned, like Canton, OH), the great news got scattered reports on the inside of the paper, not getting front-page coverage until the eighth.  In Chicago, the Gettysburg news reached them right away by telegraph- but the Vicksburg reports, travelling upriver, were 5 days to a week behind.

In Vicksburg, those reports had been, for the last few weeks, printed on wallpaper when newsprint ran out.  The last of those, set on the 2nd, had a Union-added postscript attached on the fourth.  It promised it would be the last wallpaper news, and "you will no longer have to hear about the luxuries of mule meat and fricasseed kitten". And from what I read about living in caverns under the city and eating rats, that was being kind.

I wondered at the slow reporting of the Canton Democrat when I read of how northern Democrats, commonly called Copperheads, were using the celebration to yet again attack what they called "the nigger war".  Too bad Democrat leaders aren't still as honest with the African-American community about their feelings as they were then.

On the other hand, Union prisoners at Libby Prison in Richmond spent a week making a Union flag out of scraps of underwear, to honor the country they fought for, refusing to move when the camp commander ordered it taken down.  In Knoxville, Tennessee, at the same time, the local newspaper editor was writing,  “Today is the 88th anniversary of the Declaration of American Independence. It will — doubtless — be celebrated throughout Yankee land with more than the usual amount of fireworks and orations. Since American independence has been abolished by Lincoln, and it has become reminiscent of the past, the imagination of Doodles (a reference no doubt to the 17th century song, Yankee Doodle) will paint its beauties in extravagant terms.”

And the two famous battles weren't the only game in town.  In Helena, Arkansas, elderly (in a military sense; he was 59 and soon to be accused of losing her memory) General Theophilus Hodges was commanding four different groups in an attempt to forestall Grant by taking a garrison town to the north.  The attack became a collection of missed communications, missed opportunities, and the beginning of a feud between two of his commanders that would end in a duel- with Brigadier General John Marmaduke shooting dead his commanding officer, fellow Brigadier Lucius Walker.  It seems that Walker refused to cover Marmaduke's flank for fear of exposing his own- and then repeated that action a month-and-a-half later at Reed's Bridge, Arkansas.  Marmaduke refused to serve under him anymore, Walker claimed he'd been called a coward.  Major General Sterling Price ordered them to stay in quarters, but "an unfortunate set of mishaps" kept the orders from being delivered.

 Price also had his problems at Helena.  Hodges ordered the attack to "begin at daylight"; the commander Price was to support thought that meant first light, while Price thought it meant sunrise, and thus the other guy got thumped for an hour before Price even moved.

And life had to go on, the war included.  Even as Vicksburg fell, the Southern leadership on one side of the Mississippi were making arrangements to ship stores of Louisiana cotton by rail to Houston and thence to Brownsville before they and the parishes they were stored in fell to Grant; on the other side, they were begging Texas planters to "hire" their slaves to the Army to use as teamsters. 

D.H. Hill won the only praise the Confederate army got that day, bravely marching from Petersburg to defend Richmond from an enemy that was still licking its wounds in Pennsylvania, to the relief of the capitol's panicked citizenry.  The Richmond Dispatch declared sagely:  "July promises to be a month of important battles, if not the great month of the war."  And in the heavy rain falling on Gettysburg, the body of a Chinese immigrant-turned Union soldier called John Tommy lie waiting for burial.  The Potomac was on the verge of becoming a death trap for Lee; and the Mississippi brought a coded message in a bottle that morning to the garrison at Vicksburg:

“You can expect no help from this side of the river."

Years later, a Confederate officer who had lost both hands on Graveyard Hill to a shell from the Tyler wrote, "Since that day at Helena I tell the boys I would rather buck against a voodoo than to try to down Old Glory on the Fourth of July... Yes, the union is good enough for me on the Fourth of July and every other day in the year, and I don't regret the price I paid for finding out!"

Stuff I missed yesterday

Hang on for a Scrappy video!  But first (see how I try to get you to read the other stuff?)

ITEM:  Yesterday, I found it sadly amusing when I first read that popular protests in Egypt had led to the burning of the Muslim Brotherhood HQ in Cairo.  Guess you guys weren't as popular as you thought, eh?  But hours later, I learn the Egyptian Army had given a 48-hour warning that all parties need to get their $#!t straight or they were taking over.  The deadline is, if I've figured this right, less than three hours away.  So basically, the scoreboard looks like this:  Egyptians overthrow Mubarek to clean out Army corruption (Mubarek, Sadat, and Nasser were all Army men); democracy can't keep a lid on things;  now the same people who kicked the Army man out are trying to get an Army man back in.  Grass is always greener, I guess...

ITEM:  Al Penwasser reminded me (accidentally) that I wanted to make fun of the Yankees falling into 4th place.  Indeed, the last time the Yankees were in 4th as late as July was September 14th, 2008, when they trailed Tampa by 10 games, Boston by 9, and Toronto by 1/2.  Of course, 4th in the AL East is not like 4th in some other division; back in 2008, their record of 79-70 would have led the NL West (just like their current record of 43-39 would now).  To a long-time hater like me, though, it's still amusing.

ITEM: The Vegans have actually started a website to "out" former Vegans!  You can submit a name and address of someone who formerly espoused the vegan ideal and they will post it- name, location, and snide remark about them.  I thought it amusing that the site actually has a page called "send hate mail", in which you are asked to send name, return e-mail, and "Your hateful message/how you're going to sue us/etc."  Well, I guess if you're going to be a douchebag, it's only polite to recognize you're a douchebag.  You can see the proof at exvegans (dot) com.

So, you ever get that look of impending joy over a salad?

 

ITEM:  A friend who shall remain nameless has a child (adult child, that is), who works as a paid intern in a university lab.  When that child was asked when she wanted to be picked up to join the family's fourth of July festivities, she replied, "I don't know if we get the 4th as a holiday,  BECAUSE WE HAVE PEOPLE FROM KRYGYZSTAN WHO WORK HERE."

WTH? 

Now political correctness is such that you can't have a national holiday IN YOUR OWN NATION because it might offend those here on a student visa?  Should we, then, let the Boston Marathon bomber off because he probably did it because he was offended by Patriot Day?

When I started this blog, I put "PC be hanged" on the banner rather than "PC be damned", oddly enough, because I didn't want to offend anyone right off.  If I weren't so darned lazy, it would be changed to Damned as we speak.  BTW, she did get the day off, her boss said, "if you want it."  And I know, lotsa people (Laurie included) will have to work the 4th, because we must have access to Wal-Mart, McDonalds, and the like.  Some, like the boys in blue, even have a good reason for having to work.  But having foreign-national co-workers is not a good reason NOT to have it off.

ITEM:  A handful of pics from last night's walk:

Lots of fun with fungi last night...

Peeking down the creek

Is it fungi or bagel?

Guarding the swamp

Scrappy oversees work on the new bridge

A bunch of groups like this

Last night, the whole east side of the fields were playing... Frisbee soccer!  Amazingly, this proved to be a very slow-paced game.

He'll brave any depth to sniff a hole...

Then there was this bunch...

Niagara Falls?  Nope, just the stream at the bottom of our canal crossing!

And now, for your viewing pleasure- and to disabuse you of the notion that Scrappy is a patient pooch...

Lotsa Little Bits vol. 22

ITEM:  Since I have a handful of pics with no real theme, I thought I might just scatter them throughout the post.  Enjoy!

ITEM: I want to thank all of those who read Sunday Message #1 yesterday and voiced their concern.  But you know, I was just down and needed a lift.  And then, I got this e-mail from the HR department:  My pay rate had been entered incorrectly, and my next check was going to reflect the correct rate and give me about 2/3s of a weeks worth of back pay!  Tell ME that God doesn't look out for His own.

ITEM: If you look at comments (and I don't require it), You'll see that I forewarded the "Sunday Update" post to the Freedom From Religion Foundation's FB page.  Why do I do such things?  Because of the hope that somewhere in the self-delusion of that group, there might be someone willing to hear enough to give a moment's opening for the Holy Spirit.  Of course, when it comes to replies, you get about 50% those who only want to insult you, 30% who insist that if "you would just keep your god out of the government, everyone would be happy" (Yeah, explain trying to put Chik-Fil-A out of business in that light), and 20% who will try to have a somewhat intelligent conversation, though they can't keep their condescension out of their arguments.  One guy actually posted a thought-out rebuttal on his blog.

But this morning, I got through my head why it is these people will not give you a chance by stepping back and saying, "what if there is a god"... and it is this:  There are those who simply don't believe in God.  These people, if you present the case for God sufficiently, can be reached.  They represent 0% of the people that reply, and probably real close to that percent in such a group.  But others REJECT the concept of God; They simply WILL NOT accept any recognizing of God.  Part of their belief system is to FIGHT the very concept of God.  That is not a belief, that is something that has to be worked at, every day.  And they WILL NOT be reached.

So was it worthwhile?  I don't know.  But God said bread cast upon the water won't return empty.  So I can hope.

Dew on the tall grass.

ITEM: I spent a lot of time ranting last week on the Paula Deen thing, but never did I put it in as true a light as the guys at A Beer For The Shower.  If you want the true light of the story, presented in the most amusing light, check this out!

Scrappy in the doggie park!

ITEM: I found a fascinating link on the news.  The Texas Dpt. of Corrections has a website where you can read the last statements of all the death row inmates executed since 1982.  Flipping through them, the thing that got to me is how many of them, while not denying their own guilt, had the juevos to tell the DOC that executions were evil, and they would have to face judgment for them.  Never mind that each one had been found guilty of a crime far more heinous than an execution, but none of them had apparently perused either Hammarubi's code (you know, the "eye for an eye" stuff), or Romans 13:4:

For the one in authority is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God's servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer.

You want me to do WHAT?

ITEM:  I feel like I should congratulate the Pittsburgh Pirates, who had a walk-off 14-inning win yesterday that got them to the halfway point with 51 wins, the best in baseball.  But given that last year on this date they were 42-35; went on a 21-12 tear that put them at 63-47 by August 8th; and then proceeded to go 16-36 the rest of the way, finishing 4 games under .500.  So maybe I should congratulate them- or maybe I should start a pool to pick the day the inevitable tanking starts.

Okay, I'm up here.  Now what?

ITEM: My prayers are with the 19 firefighters who died trying to save Yarnell, Arizona, from the raging wildfire aggravated by 110 + temperatures.  "We're devastated," (Prescott Fire Chief Dan) Fraijo said late Sunday. "We just lost 19 of the finest people you'll ever meet."

Nope... same stuff on this side...

ITEM: We did get a walk in today... but all we saw was a photo shoot.

A WHAT!?!

Whether it was for a car ad, or setting up a wedding or graduation portrait shoot, I don't know.

The one girl had some signage, but I forgot my glasses this morning.  I couldn't tell if I even had the shot in focus.

ITEM: It's time for what all some few of you have been waiting for- the AIHL update.  Two amazing things happened this weekend.  First, the league got all the box scores up right away!  First time for everything, I guess.  Second, Canberra didn't get whupped this weekend.  Despite getting outshot in the two games a combined 92-49, they only lost the games 3-1 and 3-2- to Perth, who is near as bad as Canberra, but it's still better than the 7-1 average they've had lately.  Ken Rolph had three goals in the 2 games for the Thunder.

Adelaide also lost a pair, but at least they went to OT (which means points in the standings.  Both were to Newcastle:  Saturday  saw Pier-Oliver Cotnoir score twice in regulation and once in the SO to give Newcastle a 3-2 win;  Sunday the North Stars overcame two regulation goals and one in the shootout by the Ads' Wehebe Darge  (on the strength of yet another Cotnoir regulation goal and SO score) to win 5-4.

And the other weekend games were a pair of losses for the Sydney Bears.  The first was a 7-3 loss to the Ice behind a 2-goal, 2-assist performance by John Gordon;  the second saw a 4-goal performance by Pat O'Kane lead the Mustangs to a 6-2 win (thus the Bears are swept by the city of Melbourne.)

Meanwhile, back at the dog park...

The two wins put the North Stars (10-4-2) two points up on the Ice, 34-32.  The idle Sydney Ice Dogs slide to 3rd at 31 points, and Perth (8-6-0), on a five game winning streak after a 3-6 start, pull into 4th, one point ahead of Melbourne's Mustangs and 4 on Adelaide.

Caps?  Yes!  I told you on Sunday Update to check out our latest taste testing!