We make holes in cushions!

Today, I'd like to tell you a little about our job today.  The sewers were all sewing a cushion set that consists of a seat that gets poly-filled and a back that gets a blown filling and a button on front and back.  Due to down season for cutting, Laurie and I got elected to this button job.  Laurie had to take scrap fabric to cut out the little button coverings, and then put them into a machine that magically mounts it on the button.  I got to attach the little buggers, and this is where everything got a tad complicated.

The shell itself is a 25X27 square, with a 4-inch wide band.  It has a 7-inch space left open at the bottom for the fill to be shot in.  When we cut these in mass quantities (as we had here, because these are for K-Mart retail orders going out in a few weeks), you have to use a drill and fabric bit to drill a hole in the exact center of each piece for the button.   With me so far?  Okay, now the fun stuff.

The fabric is a thick, dark maroon-ish with roses stitched in black.  It has been a rip-roaring delight to tell which direction is up on this stuff, but that's another story.  Now once upon a time, we had a "regular size" fabric bit, but then some big fat arse of a customer crushed a cushion beyond its weight limit and the button tore, leading them to bitch that the "hole was too big".  So now we use this tiny pin-prick of a bit that makes hard to see holes in the easiest of fabrics.  Combine tiny holes, dark fabrics, the fact that apparently cutting this fabric at depth (maybe 60 plies) makes the holes "heal themselves", and you know why my first words were "I hope there's not a RATE on this!"  To which my super said, "400 per hour" (jokingly).  The actual action is much like hooking a rug, even uses the same tool with the tip that lays back going in, folds back to grab the thread and go out.  But the very first one they grabbed to show me how to do it proved almost impossible to find the holes.  So we designed a pattern to put a mark where the hole should be.  And it worked pretty good.  But speed is not an option here.  Thousands were being made, and it took me from 7:30 to 4:30 to do 190.

So they gave me a lady to help do them, and asked me to show her what I was doing.  But, I protested, what I was doing was basically blind ass luck.  How do you explain that to a woman who speaks no English (and wasn't real sure what was going on when another lead explained it in Spanish)?  So we made another pattern, gave her a hook (which our super had to run to Wal-Mart and get, as we only had the one).  From noon to 4:30, she had somewhere between 20 and 40.

Then our super discovers we don't have enough plastic buttons- and of course waits until Laurie's used them up to find out.  So now Laurie gets to help by using the pattern to mark the spots where the holes MIGHT BE (and were about 60 % of the time, and within 3/4 inch another 30%, with 10% non-existent for all practical intents).  Which made things go much faster, except for the occasional time that Laurie managed to rub off the marker mark on the table before giving it to me.  And THIS is how we got to the point that Laurie and I got tomorrow off because of the used up buttons and the lack of any other semi-productive labor to foist on us.  In the meantime, the stuffers, finishers, and packers get 6 hours OT on Friday. Go figure.  And the sewers putting together all these loverly cushions get to come in 2 hours late tomorrow.  Scratching your head? Welcome to Arden Corporation, Quality products by any means possible.

On the way home, we were listening to my brand new (replacement copy) of ELO's Out Of The Blue.  This was the ONE album everybody in our group in high school  had, and it got played at most every occasion.  Which got me thinking, and then thinking again, and I've come up with a great (to me) idea.  This Friday's Time Machine will have a special "Top Ten songs of our high school parties" countdown, a countdown that may well apply to many people, but especially to groups like ours, which was basically what you got when you weeded out all the other cliques (including the geeks), and jocks, and we were what you were left with.  Be sure to tune in then (or maybe Thursday, if sitting around the house due to these ridiculous winter-like temperatures in wintertime bores me enough to act early).

NHFFL week 10

The playoff picture with 2 games to go in our fantasy league is now pretty clear.  The Rangers win again, routing the Clock BBQs 41-25 behind the 9 point days by Tom Brady, Eric Decker(thanks to the BAL* of Tim Tebow), and Mason Crosby.  This cliches the Purple Division for the Rangers, who hold the tie breaker over the Aguas.  The Aguas failed to keep within striking distance, falling 49-25 to the red hot B2s.  All those free gifts from Matt Stafford gave the Bears D 20 points, and Arian Foster chipped in 15 for the B2s, who've won 4 of 5.  Meantime, the Greenwoods put their destiny in their own hands with a 49-31 romp over Buzz, and a win in either of their last two games gives them the final playoff spot in the Purple.  As usual, it was the Green Bay rescue squad as Jordy Nelson and Greg Jennings put 18 points up Monday night.

The Elks kept pace in the Gold division with a 29-22 win over the Beagles.  The Elks and B2s have their rematch the last week of the season, and if they are still tied, the Elks will need a 4-point win to take the division and the first-round bye.  The Porkchops top the Angels 29-27 to go 2 up with 2 to go for the last spot in the Gold.  This time, Aaron Rodgers' 12 points come up one TD shy for the Angels.  Which was good news for the KCAs, who kept their flickering hopes alive with a 31-26 win over the Ducks.  And when I say flickering, they have to have the Angels lose at least one, and must win out, including needing a 33 point win over the Greenwoods in the season's last week, as well as needing the 'woods to lose next week.  The 'Chops win puts them in a position to clinch a spot to clinch with a win over either the B2s next week or (more likely) Buzz in week 12.



Next week, it's Rangers/Greenwoods; Aguas/KCAs; Beagles/Angels; CBBQs/ Buzz; Ducks/Elks; and B2s/Porkchops.

*BAL= blind-ass luck.

Why are things so corrupt in State College?

You'd think that this Penn State scandal had taken every stupid turn you could have.  Here's a guy that has been accused of various crimes involving young boys since 1998.  But he has a charity for underprivileged boys from which he selects victims at his leisure, and NOBODY tries to boot him out, NO ONE runs the appropriateness of his being involved with kids past social services.  He gets booted out of a high school campus for inappropriate acts, but has Emeritus status at Penn State, including run of the campus.  He CONFESSES to indiscretions to a victim's mom while police listened in, and the prosecutor says, "It was all a big misunderstanding".  He gets caught red handed not once, but twice, at the PSU campus, with one incident never reported, the other reported to his former boss, Joe Paterno.  JoPa reports it not only to the AD but to the VP who is over Campus police.  Said VP "never knew" about other such reports worked on by campus police, never reported this one to his own police force (let alone the authorities, and then lies under oath that he contacted Child Services when he should have realized the grand jury would SUBPOENA CPS's records.  Everyone involved in the whole deal from the University President to the dishwasher's assistant gets fired.  But is this the worst of the STUPID side of the story?  Oh, hell, no.

Because when it goes to court, it goes before this wise woman:

Meet Judge Leslie Dutchcot, a member of the law firm  Goodall and Yurchak.  Dutchcot, who had not only been a contributor to the charity/farm for perverts, but had been a VOLUNTEER for them.  Ant not only did she not RECUSE herself from the case, NOT ONLY did she cut Prosecution's bail request by 80%, but she also left it UNSECURED- he only has to pay anything if he doesn't show for his trial date!!!!!  Her friends at G&Y quickly responded- by pulling ALL bios off of its website, including hers(which is where everyone found out about her conflict of interest in the first place).  There are SO MANY crooked hands in this story, from a legal system bent on protecting a serial child molester, to a university operating on the same disclosure laws as the Catholic Church,  to a system of authority operating solely on the CYA principle, that I have just one more question:

HOW FAR BACK IN THE WOODS IS STATE COLLEGE, PA?????  I'm half waiting for them to call JOP Sam Drucker from frickin' Hooterville to sentence the scum!  Bobby G. you're my expert in all things Pennsylvanian.  WTF is going on back there?

Sunday message

First, though, to my amigos in the Great Postcard Campaign, they are on their way!!!

Anyway, I got up this morning thinking it would be a great idea to lead into Christmas by looking at the prophecies about the coming Messiah.  Now, I'm really good at taking my concordance and beating raw facts from it.  Putting moving meaning to it is what separates me from effective preachers.  So I looked up my facts and then got dressed, hooked up my earphones to Turning Point with David Jeremiah, and off Scrappy and I went.

Along the way, Dr. Jeremiah read from a poem that got to me.  The basics are, the speaker is a sorrowing sinner, looking for a means to lift the burden from their soul.  This person fashions "a lash of remembered sin" to whip themselves with.  But it does them no good; and in desperation they turn again to Calvary.  Looking into the eyes of the dying Jesus, He says to them, "What you see as scarlet, I see as white as snow."  With that, the lash disappears and the burden is lifted.  Just for a moment, that spoke to me and my throat choked up.  And I was reminded that dry facts are great, but it's how God sees them that is important.  Dry facts hand me the lash; His mercy evaporates it.

Gotten that far, let me try the "dry facts " portion.  The first prophecy of the Messiah is in Genesis 3- the judgement God proclaims on the serpent.

 ¹⁵ And I will put enmity
Between you and the woman,
And between your seed and her Seed;
He shall bruise your head,
And you shall bruise His heel.”   

The first thing we pull from this is that, at the moment of Eve's sin, the world became divided.  "Enmity between you and the woman" does not mean everybody hates snakes.  The serpent is Satan; the enmity is between humankind and Satan.

Second thing is "and between your seed and her Seed".  The "seed" of the serpent, Satan's "offspring", are not a race of serpents, nor are they demons.  The serpent's seed are the unrepentant of humankind.  However, the Seed of the woman (note the capitalization) is Christ.  The enmity is between sinful man and Christ.  Thus, Joshua, we explain your hatred of all things Christian.  You see my friends, I have an atheist acquaintance who feels that, as an atheist, it is not only his choice to disbelieve God, but his duty to fight against, tear down, and mock Him (or if you prefer, the "belief" of Him) at every opportunity.  I posit that someone who simply doesn't believe in a god should have no real drive (other than to be left alone by preachers) to attack the belief in others.  But that is not the case, and it is the enmity of God's curse so long ago that makes it so.

So where do believers fall into this?  At the "heel."  You see, a "serpent" cannot strike the Head; it is beyond his reach.  So he has to strike at the heel.  What is the "heel" of Christ?  The word for heel is the same one that we draw the name Jacob from.  Jacob, the birth name of Israel, the name taken on by God's People.  So in the battle of enmity between Christ and Satan, we are the "heel " which he strikes- because it is the only means to strike at Christ that he has.

And Christ Himself?  He strikes at the "head" of the serpent- Satan himself.   The verse never says that the head removes the heel from the field of danger.  His perspective is the destruction of the head- by the salvation He brings.

A quote Dr. Jeremiah uses is, "God whispers to us in good times, talks to us in trouble, shouts at us in pain.  Pain is God's megaphone for a deaf world."  So many times I hear, "A loving God wouldn't do this or that". Sometimes I say it myself.  But, the catch is, he would allow it.  Because the making us white as snow for the next life is more important to Him than anything in this one.  He won't reverse the enmity.  He won't remove the heel from the serpent's bite.  But He will take the lash from our hands.  Atheists like to think we're the end product on earth of evolution, the peak of what is and thinks.  Jesus wants us to be the heel.



The great sixties countdown- the Heart-breakin' finale

The first week of the sixties, Marty Robbins' El Paso ( a song we hear WAAAY too much at work) was #1.  The week that I (and Laurie for that matter) was conceived, the very appropriate #1 was Bobby Lewis' Tossin' And Turnin' (somebody "didn't sleep at all" THAT night...).  The week I (we) were born, it was the Shirelles doing Soldier Boy....
 And here we are, at the end of the road for my sixties countdown. Not a week has gone by that I haven't heard SOME song I thought worthy a mention that didn't get one, but none of those fit into the last four weeks.  And now, my top ten...

10- Surfer Girl, the Beach Boys, peak position # 7.  THE song that made me fall in love with the Beach Boys, thus skewing my entire outlook toward harmony.



Now why would that girl scream at the word "woody"?

9-Blue On Blue, Bobby Vinton, pp# 3.  Everything the Polish Prince did takes me back to mom- but some songs are just magic.



Those that know me well know that we haven't yet heard the last from Bobby.

8- Abraham, Martin, And John, Dion, pp # 4.  Two things I just read puzzle me.  The duo that wrote this song also gave us Snoopy And The Red Baron, if you can believe that.  And it hit #1 in Canada but not here. WTF, people!?!  I owned the 45 (years after the fact) and cry to it as much now as I did then.  "Didn't you love the things that they stood for..." these men cut down because of other men's dreams of hate.  "Didn't they try to find some good for (in) you and me... and we'll be free... someday..."



I'm not alone.  This was a comment on the youtube site...

"In 1968 I was a volunteer campaign worker for Bobbie Kennedy during the California primary. I was 20 and believed that Bobbie was our only hope for getting out of Vietnam. I stood outside the Ambassador Hotel in June, just after we had WON. Bobbie was coming outside, shortly, to thank us for our help when all hell broke out. By February '69 I was drafted and on 19 June I was in Vietnam. Bobbie was the 4th man mentioned in this song, it's been 43 years and I still cry..........."

7- Time Of The Season, the Zombies, pp# 3.  Man, I needed this after the intense emotion of the last two.  A song ahead of its time... and still ahead of the times, IMHO.



6- Blue Velvet, Bobby Vinton, pp #1.  Can you tell blue is my favorite color?  A great song by a great singer.



Wow.  I still can hear Blue Velvet through the years, as well as my tears. 

5- Angel Of The Morning, Merilee Rush and the Turnabouts, pp #7.  The song that stops me in my tracks every time.  Whether it be this version (which ALSO was #1 in Canada, a land with much better taste than our own, and no wonder my sister and I listened to CKLW all the time) or Juice Newton's #4 version in 1981 (which might well be my #1 of the 80's if I ever went there), my breath stops at note #1. As a wee one, I took the term "angel" and made the song about a nun.  Thankfully I had no real concept of what was going on at the time.



Sorry about the Portuguese lyrics, but MAN, was she beautiful!  I'm in love all over again.. (clears throat)

4- Love Is Blue, Paul Mauriat, pp # 1.  A good instrumental can make your soul soar better than any lyrics.  Only one song does it better than this- and we have three spots to go.



3- Incense And Peppermints, Strawberry Alarm Clock, pp # 1.  The ultimate hippie song; the ultimate dope smoking song (whattaya think the incense and peppermints were for?) ; the ultimate name for a sixties band.  And an ending I wish went on forever.



No matter how entertaining they are, whenever I watch the GOP debates, the line runs through my mind:  "Beatniks and Politics, nothing is new/ A yardstick for lunatics, one point of view..."

2- Theme To "A Summer Place", Percy Faith, pp#1.  This one used to stop my breathing when I was yet a wee one!  So good I read the book twice, and it wasn't all that good.



And now, what you've all been waiting for... and no surprise to those who know me (and probably not much of one to anyone who's followed this whole journey...

1- Sherry, the Four Seasons, pp# 1.  I've probably sang this song (not well, I might add) since I first spit a pacifier across a room.  Always, forever, my all time favorite.



And the sixties sadly draw to a close.  The new decade is greeted by the mournful notes of it's first #1, Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head, and the hope at the end of the rain that follows.  Thus I leave you with the equally appropriate last #1 of the sixties. Thanks for hanging around with me.

khl update

Well, actually, this isn't really an update, as they've been shutdown for some Euro-tour* since Tuesday.  But there is something off the league website I wanted to share.

On Monday, at the offices of the Kontinental Hockey League, the Disciplinary Committee held a meeting to investigate the circumstances surrounding the incident which took place during the previous day’s game between Dinamo Minsk and Vityaz. Toward the end of the game, after Dinamo scored its third goal, some Vityaz players initiated several conflicts on the ice, after which a further confrontation took place, this time between local supporters of the Minsk team and the head coach of the visiting team.

Having heard all versions of the incident and studied all the available material (including the official game report, the report from those overseeing the game officials, a letter from the Director of Vityaz, video footage from the game, representations made by both clubs, video footage posted on the Internet, and television footage), the KHL Disciplinary Committee decided on a number of measures to be taken against those who participated in the aforementioned disorder:

At this point, they list the infractions that were handed out game time and for the most part upheld to FIVE- count'em five- players on the Vityaz side.  It continues:

- with regard to Vityaz head coach Andrei Nazarov: the Committee decided to rescind one punishment of a game penalty (25 minutes), for his confrontation with the spectators, and instead a game misconduct penalty (20 minutes) for ill-disciplined behavior, but to uphold the other game penalty (25 minutes) imposed on him by the officials for offensive behavior. In addition, Andrei Nazarov must pay a fine and is disqualified for two games.

Now, those of you that have followed my KHL stories thropugh the Aeons know that Vityaz is the alleged "Russian Mafia" team, and stocks itself with the low-rent thugs of a dozen leagues, so even the aforementioned crimes are not terribly surprising.  What the KHL does next, though, is something I wish to God American sports would do:

The refereeing of the game was analyzed and judged to be unsatisfactory. The KHL Disciplinary Committee regretfully acknowledges that refereeing errors directly contributed to the unfortunate incidents at the end of the game. The referee and the linesmen face disciplinary action and will also be financially penalized.

I have long been an advocate of referees being PUBLICLY responsible.  The poor showing of NFL refs this year and the constant joke that Big Ten and Pac-12 officials are in every major sport BEG for this to be instituted.  Somehow in America, we've developed the idea that the game official should be publicly sancrosant, and it allows them to hide when their actions allow outcome of a game to be affected (such as the Big East game in which both on field and replay officials claimed that an extra point- clearly shown to be good on film- was missed, costing a team a win in regulation ion a game they lost in OT.  I'd still like to know when beer sales in the replay booth are suspended after THAT one.)  At least in MLB, umpires are honest enough to admit when they f up.  C'mon, NCAA and NFL!
Don't be afraid to discuss referee discipline- IT CAN ONLY MAKE BETTER OFFICIALS!


The Kontinental Hockey League must also mention the ill-disciplined behavior by a group of Dinamo Minsk supporters, which was particularly unexpected in view of the good reputation earned by hockey fans in Minsk, thanks to their previous friendly and exemplary behavior, their appreciation of hockey and the respect shown towards players and coaches from all teams. While in no way excusing the behavior of some the Vityaz team, the KHL must condemn as unacceptable the actions of a certain group of spectators.

The Disciplinary Committee examined a proposal from some of its members that Dinamo Minsk should play a number of games without spectators (WOW!); however, the Committee decided that it would be unjust to deprive thousands of supporters of the chance to watch their hockey team because of acts of disorder committed by a few hundred. In accordance with KHL regulations, financial sanctions will be imposed on HC Dinamo Minsk.

Can you imagine watching a Cleveland Browns or Philly Flyers game without any fans??!!  Kudos to the K for even considering such an act!

The Kontinental Hockey League also expresses its dissatisfaction with the performance of the Dinamo Minsk security staff, and with regard to this issue further measures will be taken.

Man, they just aren't pissing around here!
*In an effort to not be the stupid American, the Euro Hockey tour is a set of 4 mini-tourneys between the national teams of Russia, Sweden, Finland, and the Czech Republic, spread out in four short bursts over the course of the season.  This current set-to is a round robin that openned Thursday and plays in Sweden and Helsinki.  In the openers, Alexander Radulov got 2 goals, the second in a shootout, to give Russia a 2-1 win over Finland;  while former NHL star Peter Nedved and current star of first-place Amur Jakub Petruzalek scored 2 times each for the Czechs in a 5-2 win over Sweden.  It'll be Russia /Sweden and Czech/Finland tomorrow and Russia/Czechs and Sweden /Finland Sunday tro round it out.

Step into my time machine week 81

I remember a few weeks ago talking about a part of my life coming full circle with my watching of Valley Of The Dolls.  This week, I hit another such event.  As a child I sat with mom and watched the Andy Williams show- part for the music and comedy, but mostly to see "the bear" try to scam Andy out of a cookie and Andy always replying "Not now, not ever, NEVER!"  As a teenager just a couple years this side of our target date, I made what I always called my greatest deal of all time- my sister got two Nat King Cole lps and an Andy Williams that my mom had bought on some K-Tel deal for my sister's Steppenwolf- the eponymous first album with Born To Be Wild. 
Today, I played my new The Very Best of Andy Williams.  As the last strains of Happy Heart faded away, I knew I had come to another full circle- and wondered how many are left to me.  You see, it occurs to me that some people's lives are so short that their "full circle " might seem one of those strings we tie to a finger to remember something.  Other's lives might be like a full size Christmas wreath.  And some might be like the woven crown of thorns pressed down upon the One who came to save them. For me, it's a constant fear that instead of finishing a legacy, my last full-circle will be the end of fate, dying like my mom did at the age of 54.  (or sooner, if the Death Clock is right!)  And again I echo the thought- how many more full-circles have I left?

Out of the morbid musings of Martin and onto Time Machine, where each week we go back 35 years to scan the charts of the music where I lived- or, more precisely, when I lived.  (Kinda paraphrasing Elvis Costello from Veronica- It was all of 35 years ago, when the world was the street where I lived...) This week we look at the many Harbor lights, the "new" single by Sam and Dave's backup band, the connection between Steve Miller and the Crystals, and a new top dog.

Also, don't forget that Saturday brings us the end of the Great Sixties Countdown!!!!

13 songs join the hot 100 this week.  They include:  Mary MacGregor's Torn Between Two Lovers at 98; The Jacksons' comeback Enjoy Yourself at 91; and Kenny Nolan's I Like Dreamin' at 87.  Country fans will remember the song that comes in at 84- 9,999,999 Tears by Dickie Lee, a country legend by virtue of writing the #1 She Thinks I Still Care by George Jones in 1962, and a pop star by virtue of a song which at least one person in this room will remember- his 1965 hit Laurie (Strange Things Happen).  Finally, the high debut belongs to a song recorded in 1968- Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da (which hit #1 in Australia, Austria, Switzerland, and Japan in 1969) by the Beatles, which comes in at 82.

Other birthday songs include Jonathon Edwards' Sunshine turning 40, Donovan's Mellow Yellow and Sinatra's That's Life turning 45, and Nat King Cole's Unforgettable (part of that Steppenwolf deal) turning 60 this week.  Blow out the candles...

The big Dropper this week is one we mentioned when it hit the top 40 about a month ago- Diana Ross' One Love In My Lifetime, falling 20 to #89.  The big mover just misses its top 40 debut- Brick's Dazz, up 19 to #41.

This week, we're back in the 0's on the look at #1s of other years, and my love streak with the 1990's entrant ends at one week.  This time it's (gag) Vanilla Ice with (choke) Ice Ice Baby.  In 1980 this week it was Barbra Streisand (with a healthy dose of Barry Gibb) and Woman In Love. The 1970 top dog was The Carpenters (with a song we just heard tonight on my Andy Williams CD) and We've Only Just Begun.  The Drifters ruled 1960 this week with Save The Last Dance For Me.  And Cashbox has the #1 song this week in 1950 as Harbor Lights.  So does Billboard for that matter, but it's a little more complicated.  You see, as I've said before, Cashbox used to just lump every version of the song currently out into one entry.  On Billboard, however, there were six competing versions out from August of '50 till November, and five of them were on the charts at this point.  The Sammy Kaye Orchestra had the biggest hit, reaching #1; Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians hit #2; Bing Crosby made it to #10; Ray Anthony's Orchestra reached #15; and Ralph Flanagan's group made it to #27.

Our Where Are They Now victim at #49 is ZZ Top's It's Only Love.  ZZ Top for 99% of their career have been three men: Billy Gibbons; Dusty Hill; and Frank Beard ( the one who doesn't wear a beard, natch).  They recently set a new record with their, er, new record this summer.  Thanks to Michael Fossum, commander of expedition 29 on the International Space Station, Flyin' High became the first song first heard in space.  They are also working on a new album, unnamed at this point and looking at a release date of February or March of next year.  Billy, in addition to a recurring role on CBS TV's Bones, lends his name to the BFG line of -wait for it- BBQ sauces.  Dusty had an extra 15 minutes of fame when it was revealed in 2007 that he in fact is the cousin of Hank Hill from King Of The Hill.  Frank is based out of his Top 40 Ranch in Richmond, TX,  where he has local fame as a scratch golfer.

WATN feature, the Little River Band moves three to #38 with It's A Long Way There.  ELO jumps 17 to #37 with Livin' Thing.  And last week's high debut/WATN feature, Elton John's Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word, soars 16 spots to 33.

Two songs blast into the top ten this week; two drop out.  One is our defending Grandpa's chair winner, She's Gone, falling from 6 to 16 after 28 non-contiguous weeks. The other is Don't Fear The Reaper, down from 7 to 17.

The top 10 leads off with ABBA's Fernando holding at 10; former top dog If You Leave Me Now by Chicago drops 5 to #9.  The Bee Gees come in at #8, up 3, with Love So Right.  Kiss moves up 2 to #7 with Beth.  Boston climbs 2 to #6 with More Than A Feeling; and Rod Stewart shoots up 9 from #14 to #5 with Tonight's The Night.  Disco Duck squawks down 2 to #4; and that brings us to our six degrees victim.

Last week's #1, Rock'n Me, is the second of 3 big hit singles from the lp Fly Like An Eagle by the Steve Miller Band.  Not one of those hits was the cover of Sam Cooke's You Send Me- which obviously leads us to Cheech and Chong (???).  A section of the track Championship Wrestling from Cheech and Chong's Wedding Album found its way into the break in Miller's You Send Me.  But in looking over America's favorite dopers, I found something more interesting on the lp Los Cochinos.  That being the song Basketball Jones Featuring Tyrone Shoelaces.  Among the musicians and singers who lent their talents to this classic in the rough were George Harrison, Carole King, Billy Preston, and the Blossoms, a vocal group fronted by Darlene Love whose greatest claim to fame was being "the Crystals" when the real Crystals were feuding with producer Phil Spector ( and we ALL know what happens when you feud with Phil Spector...).  Whilst the real group sat in a snit at Mr. Spector, the Blossoms became the Crystals on the #1 hit He's A Rebel.  So, I guess in addition to being a Joker, a Smoker, a Midnight Toker, Steve Miller's also a Rebel. So to speak.

Our #2 song, moving up a strong 3 notches, is the Captain and Toenail with Muskrat Love; and that means that, crashing into the #1 slot, is...

Gordon Lightfoot, with The Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald!

That's it for another trip, guys.  Hope you enjoyed, and see ya next time!