Farting Around

I have not read a Kurt Vonnegut book. I did stumble onto one of his funny lines. That was enough. It says it all. What more can you say.What more do I need to read. "Our purpose here on Earth is to fart around."

Miss W-DOG, where are you now?

Too bad I can't locate a photo of Miss W-DOG. To answer the inevitable question, why would she want to be Miss W-DOG, I can only say it was the 50's and things were very different. We had a contest to choose the young woman who would be so honored. It was rigged. She might have been the only applicant. I composed a terrible, awful, unspeakably bad rock'n' roll Official Miss W-DOG song for her. She thought it was beautiful. I am embarrassed to remember that some local group performed it at the Michigan State Fair. She was the local grocer's daughter. Sounds like a title for a racy paperback, doesn't it. Oh Carolyn, Miss-W-DOG. Where are you now?

The Banks of the Wabash

A blog I read every day is "All I'm Saying." It's written by a fellow who is back home again in Indiana after visiting far away places with strange sounding names. Most of the time I don't know what he's talking about because I am twice his age plus ten and quite out of touch with anything that happened after 1954. I like his blog because he has fun. Doesn't take himself with great seriousness. He found the ancient April Stevens recording of "Teach Me Tiger" that caused an uproar for being too sexy. It's on his blog for all to hear and laugh at how funny it sounds half a century later. Hearing it again for the first time in decades, I laughed out loud at how hot it was in its day.

Hawkey Night in Canada

I spelled it the way our neighbours to the North say it. Unless you live in Michigan, that is. We have Canadians to the North, East and South of us. Sounds like a Cole Porter lyric, doesn't it. Anyway ... it sure made me feel good to find someone who knows even less about sports and geography than I do. Sports came into the conversation and the Toronto Maple Leafs were mentioned. This person said, with genuine innocence, "Why would they name a team after a leaf?"

The Maple Leaf Forever

Here's my nomination for one of the most infectious, makes-you-want-to-dance songs of the late 20th Century. It's Bobby Gimby's Canadian Centennial Song. It almost makes me want to go to a hockey game.

Call the Undertaker

I must retract the post of December 29. There is something that's more fun than player piano music. It's a player piano accompanied by a live theater pipe organ. Check out this You Tube. Jim Riggs. If it doesn't make you dance, call the undertaker right away because you are dead.

What Would Shep Say?

Listening to Jean Shepherd's New Years Eve show from the mid 60's, I found myself wishing he were still with us. Wouldn't you love to hear his commentary on the present state of the world!

Great Communicators

One of the Fox News Shows referred to two of the current political hopefuls as having one-on-one communication skills comparable to two long gone radio and TV personalities that today's young voters probably never heard of. Two of the greatest broadcast communicators of the past century. Arthur Godfrey and Dave Garroway.

APRIL STEVENS

If anybody remembers April at all, it's probably the recording of "Deep Purple" that she did with her brother, Nino Tempo. Unless you are awfully old, which is not likely because old people don't do blogs unless they are in their second or third childhood like me, you never heard April's "Teach Me Tiger" and "Gimme a little kiss." That's your loss. They were pretty close to auditory pornography. She looked pretty hot, too. What blood I have left gets overheated at the mention of her name. I would try to play my old 45 but it might spontaneously combust. Or maybe I would.

Two Antiques

A 1930 antique with his 1941 antique. The thing on top is the famous Zenith Wavemagnet antenna.

I've Been Adopted

You know you are over the hill, too old to get in trouble when a sixty year old woman says she wants to adopt you as her father. Oh well, while it might not be quite as appealing as having a young thing call me her sugar Daddy, it's a whole lot safer. OK kid, you've got a dad to replace the one who died many moons ago. I agree with you that he and I would have liked each other. Maybe he's looking down and giving us his blessing. I hope I stay around long enough to do some good fathering for you.