Looking For An Old Friend

I had a friend 30 years ago. She has a fairly rare name, going by the Google incidences of it.

I found one in the same town we lived in. I called and got a voice mail. The voice didn't sound like hers. So that might be a dead end. Unless it's a secretary, someone else in charge of doing the voice mails. Or maybe her voice is different. I figured I'd recognize it even after 30 years.

I'm a little nervous contacting someone like that out of the blue. But my intentions are good, to reconnect. After all, we live in a Facebook world where I'm seeing friends from 30 years ago all the time. (And their boring lives ... like mine.)

Another guy I knew years ago died, which I just heard about today. The rest of the class (a tiny minority) want to do some kind of memorial. This guy I literally haven't seen for 35 years but I do remember him even though we weren't close.

Beer Diplomacy

This is a strange thing, President Obama and Vice President Biden sitting down for "beer diplomacy" with Professor Gates and the cop, Granger, Potter, whatever his name is, oh yeah, uhh, I forgot it again, oh, Crowley!

Imagine that. You arrest a guy in his own home and you end up going to the White House to meet the president. In that case I too need to do something totally lame. Pee on a fire hydrant or something. Then the president calls me "a stupid dog" on TV. Other people who pee on fire hydrants are outraged. So I end up having a beer with Obama on the White House lawn. It could happen. It's no stupider than this incident.

I need to take my dog out in the morning. Heh heh, so this is what I'll do. I know that our local version of Crowley comes by about 8:17 every morning. So I'll be stationed at the hydrant, my hand at the zipper. My dog will be watching me, also posed and ready, because she'd like to meet Bo the president's dog and share a bowl of water with him. As soon as we spot Officer Crowley... you get the idea. It'll be public urination! Guilty as charged! Man and dog, hydrant action!

There's only one intsy little problem. There's no news conferences with Obama scheduled insofar as I know. So for me to time it just right so that the president calls me "a stupid dog" on national TV is going to very tricky.

But sue me, I've always been an optimist. This is going to happen! I'm going to have beer with the president on the White House lawn! So I shall see you in the morning. And just to make double sure I'm ready for this, I'm going to drink an entire pot of coffee right before bed!

Postscript: After President Obama and I have our beers, guess what we're going to do? There must be plenty of hydrants near the White House.

Missing Some Sleep

I've had some extra duties in the last few days, meaning I'm not getting to bed at my normal time. And what does that make a person? Crabby.

I could be crabby and have felt a little crabby. But I'm so conscious of it that I'm able to modify it by willpower. So I'm not lashing out mercilessly. I'm keeping a level head.

There's something about the power of sleep. I guess we might say your head is like a library. But if kids come in and visit the library, and there isn't any adult supervision, they would scatter books all over the place.

Sleep is like the patient librarian, patiently putting the books among the stacks. Or let's say there's an evil librarian, surreptitiously piling the books on a cart and hauling them out to the trash, then making a note that the kids from Mark Twain Elementary stole them.

Sotomayor Made It

Sonia Sotomayor made it through the committee, but no thanks to the weasel Republicans. Only Lindsay Graham, himself a well-known weasel, voted for her. But he thoroughly and completely "understood" why the other Republicans would not support her.

Yeah, I "understand" why the other Republicans would not support her too. Partisan politics. And because they're weasels.

It's really funny how when the nominee happens to come from a President from the opposite party that they're automatically so negative. They don't even pretend to be open minded. They are transparently ... weasels.

Lost My Car Keys

How terrible to look where your car keys normally are and to see they're missing. That happened to me tonight.

I'm not going to go through the whole story. It's the classic story of losing something and then wracking your brain to think of where it could be.

It drives me crazy. It's those times you wish everything had a ring tone to it so you could call it. At least when you lose your cellphone it's not that big a problem to find it. Unless it's on a truck heading for Utah or something.

As it turned out after around 40 minutes of feverish looking, including looking in the same place a half dozen times, and even looking in places where they couldn't possibly be, I located them. It seems when I got out of the car I brought in the rake, the shovel, a few other things along those lines. And I dropped them when I was setting some of this stuff down.

I kept thinking that I'd dropped something somewhere but I couldn't remember where, and I didn't know what. But it was preying on me ... then when I got near the rake, the shovel, and the other stuff, it occurred to me that if the keys aren't down here among this stuff, they're nowhere.

And there they were.

How Quick An Accident Happens

I feel real safe driving around. I'm like a bird always looking for predators, always looking for other traffic, the other guy, etc.

(By the way, when I was coming home from the exercise place I saw a couple of people sauntering arm in arm slowly across the road. Traffic had to slow down to let them pass. I was thinking, What? A guy riding with me thought they were drunk. I thought maybe one of them was blind and the other was helping him. But when we passed it just looked like maybe they were in love and oblivious to what was going on.)

Back to the traffic. Anything can happen. But I'm hoping it doesn't.

A guy I know was crashed into this week, the side of his car. And it's a nice, fairly new car. He's just going through an intersection like normal when someone who claimed she looked for traffic just suddenly plowed into his side.

Once you have that enormous crunched in side it just stays that way, making a true mess of an otherwise beautiful car. And it has the potential to shake you up at the minimum and kill you at the max. Fortunately he wasn't injured.

But it makes you question your path. If I had waited 30 seconds longer before leaving, this would've never happened. All that.

Mike Deasy

Here's a guy I never heard of before, that I know of, but he played guitar on a lot of famous records. I came across his page at Facebook. His name is Mike Deasy.

Here's a page of some of the records he's on.

These include: Nancy Sinatra "Boots"; The Beach Boys "Pet Sounds"; The Monkees (multiple albums); Elvis "Double Trouble" and the '68 TV special; Richard Harris, the one with MacArthur Park; Tiny Tim "God Bless Tiny Tim;" Paul Revere & The Raiders "Spirit of '67", and Tommy Boyce & Bobby Hart "It's All Happening On The Inside," where, on my copy of that, it looks like he's thanked as "Mike Dacey," unless there was another guy named Mike Dacey.

And there's bunches more!

I think it's safe to say a couple things about Mr. Deasy. 1) He must have been (and probably still is) a fantastic guitar player. I assume you have to be pretty good to be a session guy. 2) He must have been well known that all these recording artists were ringing him up. Or do session guys hang out on a street corner waiting for a group to drive by to hire him for a session? I doubt it.

I wish I knew how to play guitar reasonably well. I should've practiced, but I didn't. And when I did I didn't really improve.

As for these albums, I don't have the Elvis "Double Trouble" soundtrack. It seems hard (or expensive) to get. But I have the DVD and it's OK. (Any fault with the songs as songs wouldn't be Mike's fault.) I like the Elvis movies where Elvis is part of a band or is a club singer, which of course is most of them.

I just got the "Spirit of '67" on CD the other day for the first time. I've had the LP for quite a while but it's beat. So Mike's on there. But they didn't credit who was really playing on a lot of these records. Same thing with the Monkees, although on the CDs Rhino has the musicians listed where they're known.

As for "Pet Sounds" I wonder if Mike has any stories about Brian Wilson. And the same for Tiny Tim.

At Least 3 For 3

When my dog "goes," I have to scoop it up in a bag. These days it's a brown paper lunch sack, then then becomes a wad ready for the garbage.

Right by the door we have a garbage can just for this purpose. And I give it a good toss toward the can. And I've made some great shots lately.

Sometimes I miss one, like if I'm not really trying; I might be in a hurry to get going. But starting last night, I've given it a great effort. And I'm 3 for 3 since last night, including a bank shot off the house this morning (good) and a rim shot from about 10 feet away just minutes ago.

Yes! I had to pump my fist on that one.

Reconnecting

I reconnected with an old friend on Facebook. Finally, with all the "friends" I have, I have an actual old friend who was a friend indeed way back when. That's rare.

But I don't know where it will lead. Maybe nowhere. Because it doesn't really have to. There's still distance ... and all the years. It's not that I absolutely haven't seen him in around 35 years. I saw him once in the mid '80s, it seems like, then definitely in 1986. And a couple times around 1974-75. Other than that, nada.

There's "old times," then there's now. Whether there's any now for us ... I don't know. I don't know what it'd look like if there were. We're old timers essentially.

Exercisin' - Part 2

I didn't see that sweating guy from last night at the exercise place. It could be that he lost so much body fluids, became dehydrated, and is now a pile of sand down by the beach. Of course I wouldn't wish that on anyone. But I do believe it's theoretically possible. After all, sand has to come from someplace.

I myself was working up a sweat tonight, nothing quite like his but still substantial. I wiped my sopping brow a couple times and looked at a handful of moisture that formerly was inside me. What moisture's doing inside your forehead, I'm not sure. I can move my head back and forth and I don't hear any sloshing. So I'm assuming there must be sweat veins parallel to the blood vessels.

They told us in science class that sweating is the body's way of cooling itself. Like an air conditioner. And we've all seen air conditioners dripping everywhere. In that case, having had a great workout, I can expect to be frozen solid within the hour. A big body popsicle. The harder you workout the colder you get.

It's a great feeling to have a vigorous workout.

Sweatin'!

At the exercise place tonight I saw a guy sweating like I've never seen before.

There was so much sweat coming off this guy it was literally like sparks coming off a grindstone, but going downward and out. Seriously and no joke.

He was on the treadmill and must have been extremely hot. I saw it out of the corner of my eye, then when it caught my attention I looked a little closer. I thought maybe he'd come in wet or something and was just dripping. But it wasn't that.

I felt a little nauseated. Because it was going out at an angle, and since I was only seven feet behind him and to the left a little, it would be conceivable that some might spray back on me. But it didn't.

Thankfully he wiped off the thing after he was done.

Barry Manilow Live On Broadway

I got a double LP today of Barry Manilow live on Broadway. That's the title but it was recorded in Chicago, so I guess they have a Broadway there too.

There's a Barry fan in the family. I like him OK, have seen him in concert, I wish him well ... he's just never been my favorite. He knows his stuff about music though, no one can deny that.

Anyway, I have this double LP and I'm trying to make MP3s out of it. It looks to be in perfect condition, but I'm getting this with LPs these days. That there's an occasional skip or serious pop. And I'm going way out of my way to get the things cleaned up. I'm even feeling them like a blind person reading braille trying to find this stuff before I start recording.

Already I've had to go in and do some pop fixing, automatically and manually, to clean up a couple spots. A mint record isn't necessarily so! There's too many places for vinyl gremlins to hide. It seems like it's an epidemic. I don't remember this problem 40 years ago, so I don't know what's changed. Maybe the dirt is just more deeply ingrained.

I made one big boo boo. I was recording side 2, I thought, but then when I got to the end it appeared that I didn't hit the record button. This has happened a few times, so I don't know ... I need to make sure it's going. That meant going through side 2 a whole second time, which I left to itself and took the dog to the park. There were no skips the first time through so I figured it could make it OK the second time.

The last side is a medley of Barry's hits, and it's the longest side. A huge medley, like the biggest medley you've ever heard.

Working My Boy Legs

I've been faithful to exercising now four or five -- I think five -- days in a row.

Going to the fitness place where I'm paying for it whether I go or not.

I had a doctor's appointment three days ago, so I've set it as a goal to go everyday between then and my next appointment. Then when they ask me about my exercising, as they always do, I can answer with a little more pride. And maybe a few less pounds. And even healthier than I am.

The doc said I'm essentially in perfect health. Which is hard to believe but he doesn't seem like a quack.

World's Oldest Man Dies

He was 113. Now he's off to his reward.

He was born in 1896, six months before one of my grandfathers. So Grandpa would be ancient by now.

The guy was in World War I, and so was my Grandpa. (I think my Grandpa was. I have a picture of him somewhere in a WWI uniform.)

Gang Of Six

Why does our side want to gum it up? Now we have a Gang of Six senators trying to slow down health care, probably with the idea of killing it.

And wouldn't you know, that scurve Joe Lieberman has to be right in the thick of it. Then we have Nebraska's worthless Ben Nelson, essentially a Republican. Whatever the issue, Ben's got to be right there like a thorn in everyone's side.

There's a couple Republicans in there, Snowe and Collins, which is more understandable. They're straddling the fence. I wish they'd go one way or the other. Don't dilly dally around.

The other Democrats are Wyden of Oregon, who I don't know from squat (is there a difference?), and Landrieu. It seems like we were biting our nails one time for Landrieu, that she would hang on and win. It's hard to see why ever since. She's like Nelson, a thorn in everyone's side about every time you turn around.

But Lieberman. Pfft. That guy's as worthless as spit.

Herman's Hermits - 2

No comments on particular tracks tonight.

I've been listening to some just as background noise, albeit in my headphones, which puts it right there. But I can also do other things and essentially space it out ... except of course it's sinking in and the more familiar I get with the various tracks the more I'm likely to like them.

I've been thinking about rearranging the tracks by U.S. albums and was looking at some discography information toward that end. But then in looking at the fine print of where the songs were when originally put out on record, any albums are the U.K. albums, I believe in order. But over they they did a lot more with E.P.s and singles, so there's stretches where it's an EP or the single A & B, and I guess if it was an album track, the album order prevails. I haven't got it entirely figured out. Plus the print is pretty small!

I definitely do prefer albums in their entirety to compilation albums, for some artists anyway. Some I prefer the Greatest Hits ... like Garth Brooks, let's say, but not for most.

But like I said, I was listening to the tracks without paying a lot of attention to them -- like I like this or I don't like this -- and doing that everything sounds very pleasant. I love Peter Noone's voice, but I guess it might start to wear on a guy if you listened to all 121 songs in a row.

Herman's Hermits - 1

This will give me something to do. I haven't got much time tonight. I need to mow the yard and do some other unpleasant chores.

But I have a few minutes.

I got this Herman's Hermits CD set, 4 CDs spanning their career from 1964-1972. It's subtitled "The Mickie Most Years." It comes from Europe, so the albums referenced in the (scanty) notes are their UK releases. The American versions are mentioned a few times.

In the U.S. we know their records from the MGM label. But it's been difficult, without going out of your way, let's say, to find their LPs. It really doesn't look like there were very many. I know the MGM albums, about every other one is a greatest hits package, I, II, III. Like that.

Anyway, I always thought I'd like to have everything by Herman's Hermits and not just the hits that I've heard a million times. Some of these other tracks I've heard once or twice and most not at all. I listened to the B side of most of my 45s, of which I only have about 10-12 by Herman's Hermits. Some of them are surprisingly good and some are so-so.

I've had some of the albums before. I know I have a copy of the "Blaze" LP around here somewhere, and in top condition, but searching for it has yielded nothing. I used to have the "Two Sides of Herman's Hermits" LP. And I know we used to have, ages ago, the first greatest hits album, that had such great hits on it as "Mother-in-Law" and "Sea Cruise." You don't remember those as big hits? I don't either, but I always liked the "Mother-in-Law" song, a version of Ernie K. Doe's big hit.

In this series, which may or may not ever actually be accomplished, I'm going to listen to these CDs (on my iPod) track by track and say whatever about them.

OK ... CD 1, Track 1 (one small step for a Herman's Hermits fan, one giant leap for all mankind.)

1) Heartbeat - The Buddy Holly song. Peter Noone, sometimes to be referred to as Herman or abbreviated as P.N., has a good voice for doing Buddy Holly. This seems slightly slower than Buddy's version, just going by memory. It says in the notes that H.H. were a Buddy Holly tribute band (sort of) before becoming H.H. Straightforward version of the song, same guitar bits. Nothing really varied about it. The charming voice of P.N. Kind of a boring track since it's just a one to one cover.

2) Travelin' Light - This is one of the B sides I have on my MGM 45s, which one I don't remember. Slow loping song. Like a country song. When I was listening to the 45 the other day I thought this was a boring song. I like it tonight. He's going to see his baby. He's a hoop and a holler from paradise, traveling light, I guess so he can get to his baby more efficiently. Nice country sound.

3) I'll Never Dance Again - Slow song and mournful guitar. Someone else is holding her, so he will never dance again. Very sad. The song mentions "the dance hall," as she's dancing with some other guy. The feel of this song reminds me of "The End of the World," especially the mournful guitar bits. There's a talking break. P.N. does a good job of it, although I don't like talking bits, except for one song, "That's When Your Heartaches Begin" by Elvis. This H.H. song is too sad.

4) Walkin' With My Angel - I've heard this one before. But maybe not by H.H. (I looked it up. Bobby Vee did it.) The track has a flaw or maybe it's just my iPod. The sound goes from one side to the other in the space of about 2 seconds and sounds bad. Like someone hit the balance button. I like the song except for that flawed bit. That will bug me everytime I hear it. What's the problem?

[Here is the 2 or 3 second piece from the right channel only. See if this sounds normal to you.]

Walkin With My Angel - Hermans Hermits

5) Dream On - This is another of the B sides from my 45s. Such a beautiful song. I love this one. (On the 45 it has the title "I Gotta Dream On.") Very sweet sound. I don't know if this was a hit. It should've been. It sounds like a great '60s A side to me.

6) I Wonder - I'm having a hard time with this song. It sound generic. He was left blue and his heart is filled with pain, counting the lonely hours passing slowly by. This one I don't like so far.

OK, that's it. I have to go mow the yard. Hate to leave with a song I didn't care for. But maybe it will grow on me.

The Spirit of '67

I got this CD in the mail today, Paul Revere & the Raiders, The Spirit of '67.

I've had the record for a long time, but the copy I have is in rough condition. Still I've been able once in a while to put the needle on and hear some of it.

But it's nice to have it in a cleaner form!

I haven't actually listened to the CD in the CD player, which will sound better, just the MP3s on my tiny computer speakers. So I haven't got to the good stuff yet.

It's always been a fine, fine record. I love all the group songs, the album tracks, as well as the big hits on it. "Louise" has always been my favorite track, but the others are great too.

I checked out Mark Lindsay's website today, which is marklindsay.com I believe. There's not much there but he has links to his Facebook, Twitter, My Space, and something else page. Also I saw the note there that Drake Levin, a Raider from some point, not on this particular record, died on July 4 of this year. Also that at some time, unspecified, Smitty, the guy on the right end in the picture, also died.

There were a LOT of Raiders, though, so eventually they'll have an entire cemetery just of their ex-members. I hope it takes a long time though! (My point being there were a LOT of Raiders. I wonder if it's as many as I imagine.) I wish they could've kept the lineup on this LP. They look like the actual Paul Revere & the Raiders as far as I'm concerned!

This is my only Raiders CD except for the double CD set, "Legend of Paul Revere."

"The Spirit of '67." I recommend it to everyone.

Hearings Interrupted By Protesters

Why is this? How do these people always get tickets to get in? Can anyone just show up and get in regardless of anything?

Always, always the hearings are interrupted by protesters. It's like something they should just schedule. "Now for the five minutes, we're giving the floor to the inevitable protesters." Come on.

It should always be considered a bad sign if someone has on three or four shirts. Or you can look down and see a sign hanging out one of these shirts. Or the butt on their pants seems unnaturally flat.

I'm all for robust debate and protest. But really not for this kind of sneaky business, just jumping up in the middle of a hearing and yelling. Have a little decency.

Take names. Maybe those individuals don't come in next time.

The Beatles - Take 2, OK...

I re-ripped all my Beatles CDs at 256 kbps. Now that the new boxed sets are about to come out, I'm thinking about putting any ripped CDs (not just Beatles ones) in boxes and stacking them in the closet or somewhere.

They take up a lot of shelf space if I already have them on my hard drives, but I of course want to hang on to them until they eventually cart me off to the nursing home.

I've always noticed this particular problem with CDs, but it was really pronounced on one of my Beatles CDs. They have those little slots at the top where the dust can get in. There was quite a bit of dust in one, and some in all. They get messy just setting on the shelf. So they'd be better off in boxes.

I didn't actually have every CD ripped already, like EPs and incidental stuff and a few of the other albums, but now I do. It took a while. The computer works slowly. Plus everything has to be labeled, tagged in particular ways. You get the labeling information from freedb and it's extremely helpful, but there's no standard way of doing it. So you have to edit practically everything for your own preferences. Then find album art ... and it's a hassle.

Canned Requests

Is there a place where you get canned requests like this?

If you are reading this, even if we don't speak often, post a comment with a memory of you and me. When you've finished, post this paragraph on your own status and you'll be surprised at what people remember about you...

It's no doubt true. Different people remember different things about you, maybe not what you yourself would think of immediately.

The Beatles 9-9-9

I pre-ordered the Beatles' CDs coming out on September 9 of this year.

I noticed the mono boxed set is a limited edition of 10,000, numbered. We've all heard over the years of particularly valuable copies of the White Album, like if it was No. 0000001 or probably anything under 1000. And maybe 1000000 and anything with all of any particular number. My own numbered copy of the LP is 0927160, so I don't think that has any significance. And my numbered copy of the White Album CDs from when they first came out is 323946, and that doesn't ring my numerological chimes either.

But now I have one of these limited editions of 10,000 to come, if pre-ordering is some kind of guarantee of an actual purchase. And I'm wondering what number I will get.

If it's by some miracle 00001, that'll be nice but also a problem, since I won't want to open it. And if it's at the other end, 10000, that'll be the same problem. Since it's coming out on 9-9-9, it seems like 00999 or 09999 would pose some difficulties. Anything under 00100 would be nice, or the midway 05000 would be cool. But I don't see myself truly digging in and enjoying it unless it's a very inauspicious number, like 09187.

If it's 01492, I can see that having troubles. Columbus came to America, the Beatles also came.

00909 and 00910 would be troublesome, because of the song "One After 909." If I actually get the "one after 00909" I will be very happy. 00017 would recall, "Well, she was just 17," a very romantic sounding number.

So whatever I get, if it's auspicious or not, there's going to be implications. Too auspicious, I'll never be able to enjoy it. Not auspicious enough, I'll enjoy it but forever lament missing out on one of the more significant numbers.

I have to assume there are higher powers looking out for me. And to them I give this plea, "You Know My Name (Look Up My Number)."

Shortchanged

I was just shortchanged at the grocery store, by $5. Nice feeling, that the guy's not going to believe you. But I said UHH before he was 10 steps away and he came back and, thankfully, believed me. Also he said he was so sorry about it, so I won't be boycotting that store, which I would be if he gave me the slightest grief about it.

That's what happens when they don't count back your change but just give it to you as a lump sum. Idiots.

Never Ending Pet Care

I can't imagine what happens when completely irresponsible people get pets. Their animals must really suffer. I hate everything about suffering animals and can't stand to watch it on TV, like on the Animal Planet channel.

They ought to rename Animal Planet the Sadist and Masochist Network, with all the dog surgery and abused animal shows they have. It's like animal porn and I can't stand to see it when it's on. "Is this the Food Network?" I'm seeing a lot of close-ups of red meat. Then they pull back. No, they're just bandaging up the back haunch of a dog.

Animal Planet is a very sickening channel.

Anyway, animal care is a thing full of responsibility. Meaning I need to forever be on top of the supply of food, cat litter, liner bags, etc. So I'm just about ready to head out to the store to pay the fee for animal companionship.

Henny's Line

I saw a report today that Sen. Ensign paid his girlfriend $25,000. Then a later report that even his parents paid her family almost $100,000. This no doubt on top of everything else the family and the woman were able to get by way of employment, whatever.

Wow. Reminds me of Henny Youngman's line, "Take my wife, please." These kind of benefits, wowsa!

P.S. "Hi, Mom and Dad. I have good news and bad news. The good news is I met a great girl. The bad news is you need to raise my allowance."

Walmart Greeter Hell

We had a Walmart greeter that I really liked. He was very boisterous, animated, moving toward customers as they entered or exited to wish them welcome or farewell. He was fun to watch that day we were there. But for some unknown reason he only lasted that one day, that I know of.

Now we're back to the normal ones. Some are very nice, some kind of dour. And when I come into a store, I like to be greeted as though I'm the guy's (or gal's) long lost son. Not really, but they may as well put something into it. I'm thinking people might've complained about the boisterous guy and that's why he's gone, never to be seen again.

But he meant well. And it was very refreshing to watch him that day.

So where did he go? I have a theory, that the place they stand might open up and they go down a shute, like on Austin Powers, and are either consumed by flames or go through some kind of grinding machine. Never to reappear!

I've noticed a few of the old standbys disappearing lately, not just the guy I mentioned before. The guy I saw today was as dour as a cigar store Indian. So he'll probably be safe from Walmart greeter hell.

To Sleep, Perchance To Dre

That's wrong, I certainly will dream. There's never a time I don't. I'll be asleep within 15 minutes. Time me.

Scrambled Brains

Nora - The Three Stooges

This is one of the funniest Three Stooges films I've seen, "Scrambled Brains." Shemp is in a sanitarium, hearing things and seeing things that aren't there. He actually is mentally disturbed and there's no other explanation given for it, such as someone playing tricks on him. When he's playing the piano, other hands beside his own appear. It's great.

I love it when he's leaving the sanitarium and he's saying goodbye. He says goodbye to the chair, to a marlin (a fish statue), and the fireplace, which has a hand that drops out and shakes Shemp's hand. I'm laughing just thinking about it.

At the sanitarium he meets Nora, a woman that he thinks is beautiful. She doesn't have the features traditionally thought to be beautiful, such as in beauty pageants. Moe and Larry notice this but not Shemp. To him her two teeth, separated by about an inch and a half empty space, are lovely pearls.

In the end she carries him off to get married, even though the Stooges have made a permanent enemy of Nora's father.

It's a very funny episode. I definitely love Shemp. I've watched all the Shemp episodes now up to this one, and this guy has gotten a bum rap over the years. He's an excellent, excellent Stooge in every way.

Leroy Van Dyke

I've got a Leroy Van Dyke LP playing, making MP3s out of it. A very refreshing clear record with a lively immediate feel to it. Mercury Records, The Great Hits of... He rerecorded some stuff like his big hits here. They're not exactly like the originals but it's still him...and they're extremely nice.

The stereo separation is beautiful over the speakers. Very crisp LP!

Wish I had more. Maybe the record fairy will pay a visit to Goodwill just as I'm going through the door. That's my prayer, God.

A Kid Peeing

I got out of my car and was headed for the door at Walmart and there was a kid over to my right, 30 feet away, taking a pee. Public urination right at the junction there of the drive by lane and one of the parking lanes.

So weird what you see. He was four or five and quite oblivious to anything, taking a good, steady, strong whiz with a very respectable arc. A lot like the cartoon kid decal on the back of vans.

There were a couple people with him, who didn't look like parents. They turned to see what was keeping him, then one doubled over in laughter.

Others noticed this and were just smiling and looking at each other.

Tiny Little Keyboards

I'm writing this on my iPod Touch, which is a tricky task thanks to the tiny little keyboard. There's no room for error with the size of fingers in relation to the small keys. It took me 10 times as long to type the last two sentences as it would on a normal keyboard. This is a hunt-and-pecker's dream come true.

My phone also has a tiny QWERTY keyboard, and it's also a ton of work, but not as much work as the keypad without individual letters. Those are brutal.

They ought to come out with a keyboard that has the same layout as an old lead type drawer. That'd be fun. The space for an E is two or three times the size of the others.

Fish

Only dead fish go with the flow.

And fish that jump out of the aquarium usually die.

Grilled Spareribs

I grilled spareribs today for the Fourth of July.

I went to the store for some baby back ribs and they didn't have any. This is weird. I was there a few weeks ago and got some. But I haven't seen them since.

So I got a big rack of spareribs, which I've never grilled before. But they worked out well. It didn't seem like there was much meat on them, but once they were cooked and we were working through them, they were plenty meaty enough.

Umm, that's good. That great BBQ (charcoal) taste, cooked like that from beginning to end. Then brushing on some KC Masterpiece sauce. Umm. I had more than I could handle, and I was the one saying they didn't seem very meaty.

Still, I'd rather get regular ribs (should've), or baby back ribs.

No Palin Brain Drain

With Sarah Palin's resignation, the average IQ of Republicans serving in office increased three points. Of course they're still in negative territory, but any upward movement is an improvement.

It's 10 O'Clock...

Do you know where your Republican governor is?

The Real Reason Sarah Quit

Sarah Palin's out. It seems she had an affair with Mark Sanford and he's the real father of Trig.

P.S. I was just watching some video of her announcement. Wow, this woman is a real dunce.

Socko The Smallest Snowball

If you go to bellsisters.com they have a recording they, The Bell Sisters, did with Spike Jones, "Socko the Smallest Snowball." The flip side of the single is "Barnyard Christmas."

I was going through some records today and found my copy of this (RCA Victor Y-461) and couldn't locate another picture of the sleeve online.

So I thought I'd upload it so it'll be represented! This was just taken with my camera so it doesn't look perfectly square.

It's the size of a 10" 78 rpm record.

100 MPH

I had one of those manic 100 mph days. Very industrious, very driven.

Now -- I think I'm starting to wear down. But who knows what else might be accomplished? I thought about going to the pool and sitting around. Still might. Just trying to let dinner settle now.

There's ways to get charged up!