Sitting At The Kitchen Table

Subject: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 25 Feb 06 - 09:18 AM

If a house was a living organism, the kitchen table would be the heart. Over the years, I've spent countless hours at our kitchen table, talking with old and new friends. Because I ran a folk concert series for 27 years and put up most of the performers, I've had a chance to get to know many people here on the Cat and just as many who I've never seen in here. Art Thieme, Gordon Bok, Chris Shaw, jimmyt and his wife Jayne, BBC ,Dave Para and Cathy Barton, Sandy & Caroline Paton, and from across the way, Col K, Leadfingers, Sussex Carole, Noreen and Theresa have all graced our kitchen. There's something special about sitting around the kitchen table with a friend, just "shooting the breeze." It's alway relaxed, and the conversation flows wherever it wishes. I think that what Mudcat really needs is a kitchen table. Among friends, conversations don't break down into threads, and they're not about earth-shaking topics.
Mostly, it's about daily stuff that we all talk about.

I'm starting this thread with no idea whether people can relax from all the combativeness I see in here, and just join me in a cup of cofffee or tea, a beer or just a cold bottle of water. The kettle is on and I hear the whistle going off. Why not sit for a minute, tell me what's going on in your mind, or what's happening in your life... how are your wife and kids? anything happen today that you want to talk about? I'll start it off...

Maybe it's a natural process of getting older, but I'm finding that I keep running across people I haven't seen or even spoken to in years. Some, I seek out and some track me down. This has happened twice recently... both on the same day.

Back in the early 60's I was living in New York City and met Luke Faust at the Gaslight Cafe. He was one of the old crowd, along with Dave Van Ronk, Tom Paxton and the rest, even though at the time we were all still in our 20's. For five or six years, Luke and I performed together and had an unusual friendship. On many levels, we were exact opposites, but we respected each other and in our music, we were like siamese twins. When I moved away from New York City, Luke and I drifted away, and I've only seen him once in the last 40 years. But, I was listening to some tapes I made of us in the early 60's and felt like calling him. Through a little creative research, I tracked him down and gave him a call. It's probably been 20 years since we've spoken to each other, and Luke isn't a letter writer. It was like turning on a switch that had been off for all those years. I'm trying to limit myself to one screen (which isn't necessary at a real kitchen table) so I'd better stop rambling. I have a lot more to say about renewing old friendships .. which ones just "click," and which ones only make you wonder how you were ever friends in the first place. But, I'll stop here..

Pull up a seat, let me know your "druthers" and tell me how life is treating you. If you feel like talking about rediscovering old friends in your life, that would be good to talk with you about. But, if there's something else that comes to mind, I'd like to hear about that, too.

Make yourself at home.

Jerry

---

Jerry Rasmussen has started a new thread, Son of Kitchen Table, so I'm going to close this thread to attempt to avoid confusion. Also, I'm going to move both threads into the non-music section because I've seen very little music in them. I've received a few personal messages that asked why this thread wasn't in the non-music section. I guess I have to say they were right in asking.
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 25 Feb 06 - 09:28 AM

Isn't that what Kate Wolf's "Trumpet Vine" is about?

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 25 Feb 06 - 09:30 AM

Yes Ron, and she's such a fine writer.

Don't leave so quickly... :-)

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Donuel
Date: 25 Feb 06 - 09:33 AM

Good on you Jerry. Sounds like you tracked down old friends with great success and familiarity.

Sure beats "Why did you track us down". or Why did you call, what could you have been thinking?", "Yeah dude just send cash, I'm livin in my van down by the river."

Playing "where are they now" can be disheartening sometimes.
Especially when they have died.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 25 Feb 06 - 09:39 AM

I actually should be on the insomnia thread--got up far too early today. I theorize it has something to do with the weird combination of stuff I ate last night (again)--yogurt, cocoa, bread, cheese and a few macaroons. Didn't get back from work til 11--but at least that won't happen again--a project I had to do. At least this time I didn't drink orange juice with the yogurt--I've been told that curdles in your stomach--and sure doesn't help sleep.

Thanks again, Jerry for those Charlie Poole CD's. Please let me know if I can do any similar favor for you--now that I'm more accustomed to making CD's. But I still can't figure out how to make CD's from tapes--though I've read the thread on that thoroughly. It's still pretty technical for me--my computer literacy is, shall we say, not the best. And I really need to do it--over 1000 tapes, almost all recorded off the radio--hence irreplaceable.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 25 Feb 06 - 09:43 AM

And when Jan gets up, she'll have something to say about my Mudcat addiction. She doesn't realize how wonderful it is to communicate with people all over the world, with different backgrounds and skills--but all with music as the link.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 25 Feb 06 - 09:44 AM

Hey, Donuel:

The thing about tracking down old friends is that in the passing years you've both changed (or at least I sure hope so.) Sometimes, you've changed so much that you have nothing in common but memories. Sitting around saying, "remember the time when we..." wears thin after awhile. As Rick sang, "If memories were all I sang, I'd rather drive a truck." I've had those kind of experiences, as we all have. I did an outdoor concert in my home town a few years ago, and three or four old high school friends came. After the concert, they came up to talk to me. One had been my next door neighbor as a kid. But, we had nothing to talk about. I suppose we could have said "What about those Packers?" or something equally manly, but we mostly stood around shifting our weight from foot to foot until they said "Well, I gotta be goin'," and "It was good to see ya." We were like total strangers.

But then, I like to sit and listen, so I think I'll just pour me a mug of coffee and sit here to see who else is coming in.

What can I get you?

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 25 Feb 06 - 09:47 AM

Get some sleep, Ron: I'll PM you about making CDs from cassettes and if I can dig out your address, I'll send you the first CD I did with this software. It includes two tracks: Hopalong Peter and Blues In The Bottle that I recorded with my friend Luke Faust, back around 1962.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 25 Feb 06 - 09:48 AM

Or how much you can learn from Mudcat--I've learned so much--in so many areas. And it's so great to hear about issues from people who are actually experiencing them--it gives you a window on so many worlds.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Raptor
Date: 25 Feb 06 - 09:50 AM

From my kitchen table I can see the nyjer feeders with swarms of Pine Siskens and American Goldfinches but since my wife died I find the kitchen the most lonly place in the house.

This is a nice thread Jerry. I'm listening to your CD right now.

Thank you

David

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 25 Feb 06 - 09:53 AM

Thanks so much (again) Jerry. I'll be glad to PM you my address. And I'd love some instruction on CD's from tapes. (Hope I'm practical enough to do it.) But if you send me another CD, at least let me send you a check for your labor and the postage.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Amos
Date: 25 Feb 06 - 09:55 AM

Good morning, Jerry!

WHen I was young the kitchen table was where we would stay up all night after a movie, drinking cocoa--when I was old enough, red wine--and set the world to rights. We organized a civil rights march around it once, and discussed endless philosophical themes, and sometimes broke out instrrments and made music. It was also, of course, the site of a lot of childhood meals.

Everywhere I have lived since, it was, as you say, a gathering place where the real living went on--not the living room. I built my first wire-wrap board on a kitchen table, too. Wonderful place. Anyone sitting at it is welcome and safe; that's what kitchens are. It's the physical equipment of letting someone into your heart. In our house, too, it's the first place you go to host a visitor.

A

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 25 Feb 06 - 09:59 AM

Raptor--you get swarms of goldfinches and siskens? We get some goldfinches during the winter--but when they put on their fancy duds (spring), they leave us. But the people across the street have them year round. We stock feeders year-round.   What are we doing wrong?

It must be spectacular to see those snowy owls and the others you were telling us about.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 25 Feb 06 - 10:03 AM

As the "suet master", I've just been called to hack off some more and put it out for our visitors. Hope to get back. This is definitely a wonderfully cozy little thread.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 25 Feb 06 - 10:04 AM

Hey, Rap:

My heart goes out to you. That's the hard reality of losing someone.. loving memories associated with a particular place make it painful to go there.

A few days ago, I noticed the woman across the street had hired a couple of college kids to drag everything out of her two car garage (and basement too, from the looks of the pile.) She's a widow and lost her husband at least six or seven years ago, because we've lived here for five years and he had passed away quite a while before we came. I think that it's probably taken her this long to reach the point where she could face looking at some things that have built-in memories. My Father died seven years ago, sitting in his recliner. He'd had a stroke and was waiting with two nurses and my Mother for the ambulance to come. It was a tense situation, and my Father was doing everything that he could to loosen people up, kidding around and cracking jokes. Right in the middle of all this gaiety, my Father pitched forward face first onto the floor and was dead. My Father is one of the few people who literally "died laughing." After the funeral when everyone headed home and my Mother was left alone, she couldn't bear to look at that recliner, because she'd see my Father there, and relive that whole experience.
She got rid of the chair. The memory took longer to soften.

May yours soften, Rap.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Raptor
Date: 25 Feb 06 - 10:16 AM

Ron are you offering Nyger or thistle seed? They love that.

Jerry I have good days and bad days, I'm still young (37) so I'm sometimes confusing lonely with greif and not sure what to do.

Does that make sense?

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Raptor
Date: 25 Feb 06 - 10:18 AM

I didn't mean to drag the mood down.

I'll take a Redrose tea.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 25 Feb 06 - 10:25 AM

Rap--

We're offering thistle seed. And they seem to really like it--but still leave for greener pastures across the street--(which actually has less green space than we do)-- in the spring.

So sorry to hear you lost your wife. Hope things improve for you. You add a lot to Mudcat.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 25 Feb 06 - 10:28 AM

Don't worry about "the mood". Most of us on Mudcat try to be supportive. And I think virtually all of us have lost somebody at some point.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 25 Feb 06 - 10:30 AM

Hey, Rap:

Kitchen table conversations go wherever they need to go... down as well as up. I've never gone through what you've gone through, so I can't speak from experience. I wrote a song (long since forgotten) with the line "Somebody told me that time was my friend." And I think that's true. I'm a great believer in honoring feelings. When someone says, "You shouldn't feel that way," my response is "What's "Should" got to do with it?" There is no "should" to feelings. They're like a kid who wants your attention... they won't go away until they get what they need. I think that feelings are that way. When I feel depressed or disillusioned, I can't say that I "wallow" in it, but I respect my feelings enough to let them have their say. For as long as it takes to say what they have on their mind.

The great thing about music is that it can release you from your burdens. My friend Joe in the Messengers is carrying a very, very heavy load these days and often shows up to sing thinking that he won't be able to. But, when I hit that first chord on the guitar and we come in on the first line in strong harmony, the weight starts to slip away. We sit and talk about what he's going through, and I share similar experiences, and that helps. But nothing quite does it like music.

Maybe the next time you stop by, you should bring an instrument..   

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 25 Feb 06 - 10:32 AM

We have purple finches nesting in our yard this year... first time my wife has ever seen them. I used to teach bird watching classes and I think my favorite description of them is that they look like a sparrow that had its head dipped in strawberry jam.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 25 Feb 06 - 10:35 AM

"If a house was a living organism, the kitchen table would be the heart."


The heart of our home would be our stove...

:-)

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 25 Feb 06 - 10:36 AM

Hey, Ron:

I'll throw a blank CD in the machine today. No need to send money. Sharing music is what I do. There's no amount of money that could equal the pleasure I get in sharing..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 25 Feb 06 - 10:38 AM

Yes, music is an incredible tonic for all sorts of things. Dvorak's New World Symphony has just come on the internet radio station I'm listening to--based in North Carolina--and one I only found out about thanks to Mudcat. And now I'm galvanized--can't even think about trying to get more rest for a while.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 25 Feb 06 - 10:38 AM

Nice to see you, Clinton. Yeah... we have a fireplace in the room that our kitchen opens up into. When conversation flows between friends in the winter, the fireplace is another gathering point. We had a woodburning stove in there when we bought the place but need steady heat and put in a gas-burning fireplace. The floor in the room is ceramic tile over a concrete slab with no heating vents in the room, so your feet stick to the floor if you don't keep some heat in there...

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: gnu
Date: 25 Feb 06 - 10:40 AM

Yo David. We all cry, grieve and laugh. The kitchen table sees it all. No need to feel sorry for anything.

Well, except for the Redrose tea... yeech! Pity it's available in Canada, I say (ya gotta see the commercials to get that one). I'll make a pot of King Cole Orange Pekoe.

The only place that doesn't feel lonely in my house is here at the keyboard. And that's because of friends like you.

Good thread, Jerry.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 25 Feb 06 - 10:49 AM

This sort of thread is what Mudcat is really what the best of Mudcat is all about--a far-flung (world-wide) community, made a cozy conversation by music and companionship.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 25 Feb 06 - 10:51 AM

When Colin K came to visit from England, he brought a wonderful large tin of Yorkshire Tea. Maybe when I take my mid-afternoon tea I'll brew up a mug, just for old time's sake..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 25 Feb 06 - 11:11 AM

The CD is in the mail, Ron:

Maybe next time I'm down your way I'll stop by for a mug of coffee at your kitchen table.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 25 Feb 06 - 11:17 AM

Jerry--

We'd be honored.

By the way, what kind of a conversationalist was Gordon Bok? He came to a Getaway awhile ago and was pretty taciturn--of course that's the prerogative of a Down Easter--and even though I'm pretty sure he wasn't born in Maine, I think of Maine when I hear him. I'm sure it would have been great just to make music with him. But I'm just curious.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: LilyFestre
Date: 25 Feb 06 - 11:27 AM

Just the topic of sitting at the kitchen table with friends and family as life goes by brings back lots of good memories. For my entire life, the kitchen table has been the center of activity. One of my best memories is of my very first jam. My Mom's boyfriend, a couple that they hung out with, the boyfriend's son and myself were there. The guys played the guitar and spoons and we sang and sang until late in the night. I never wanted it to end. I was having so much fun and enjoying the music so much that I made a recording of it and it is still one of my most cherished tapes. I can still see the old house, the scuffed up floors, the old upright piano, a round table with extra chairs pulled up to accomodate everyone...the laughter....lots and lots of laughter. :)

Great idea. I'll be stopping by again soon.

Michelle

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 25 Feb 06 - 11:33 AM

Gordon is an old friend... I booked Bok, Trickett and Muir for their very first ever concert together, and Gordon stayed at our house. What struck me immediately about him is that he spent the whole evening asking me to play one song after another. I was a little overwhelmed, because I hadn't done much performing and was a long way removed from being asked to do my first album for Folk Legacy. For someone of his reputation, I thought it was amazingly generous to want to hear some nobody like me.

Gordon is a very private person, but not at all egotistical. I think that combination of qualities is very commonplace. People tend to think that private people are pretty stuck on themselves, but generally speaking I haven't found that to be the case at all.
Around a kitchen table, Gordon just relaxes and the conversation flows just as it is in this thread (and I sure appreciate the atmosphere in here.) He talks openly about experiences he had as a child that certainly didn't make him look "good," or particularly special. He's actually quite a modest, humble man. And generous with his praise and encouragement.

Being on the road as much as Gordon has been (and many other folk musicians) can make you wary of opening up. It can seem like everyone wants a piece of you. I can't speak from my own experience, because I've never been that well known. Some folk singers deal with it by closing down, and many deal with it with liquor. I always enjoyed Gordon as Gordon, not Gordon Bok, revered folk singer.

I've talked over our kitchen table with other musicians who dominate the conversation talking about themselves... who booked them, who won't, compliments they're received.. When that happens, I tell them to put away their press kit.. Some aren't capable of doing that.

Gordon is a good man. Kendall could tell you far more about him as they are the closest of friends. When Gordon is traveling through te area, he stops by every once in awhile and it's always a pleasure to see him. The kind of guy you go for a walk with at sunset.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: jimmyt
Date: 25 Feb 06 - 11:42 AM

Jerry, what a wonderful thread. As you know from experience, our kitchen table is the heart of our home. We play music there frequently for several reasons: Good acoustics, good light which if you are old like me makes reading lyrics for new songs a pleasure, we also like to snack on chips (crisps for our Brit friends) as well as have a place to set a cup of coffee or a glass of wine down when playing.

In the last 24 hours, our kitchen table was the source of preparation of a new recipe with brussels sprouts, the bottling of about a gallon of my red wine vinegar to give friends, and last evening some friends came over to play dominoes also on the table.

I also always plan my trips on the kitchen table where I can lay out maps, have good lighting and it is just the right place for the job! I love the kitchen table. Everyone's kitchen table. It is where I think you really get to know people. Our family all assemble in the kitchen whenever they visit. I can't think of a better place to meet catters than the kitchen table. Even this virtual one already seems just, somehow..right. Ruth, could I bother you for a cup of coffee, hon?

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 25 Feb 06 - 11:50 AM

Funny thing is, Jimmy: I included you and Jayne on the list of people who's sat at our kitchen table, even though you've never been here. We have such warm memories of sitting around your kitchen table having dinner, and then later in the evening playing music that it seems like you've already been here. And we both look forward to the two of you coming to visit, whenever that happens. I'm afraid your coffe will be cold by then, though.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: rumanci
Date: 25 Feb 06 - 11:58 AM

I'd love to share your kitchen table one day with you and Ruth
It sounds like a haven full of good spirits
*bg*
rum

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: David C. Carter
Date: 25 Feb 06 - 12:02 PM

Hello Jerry,and all on this thread.
The sun gave up and called it a day about 3.00 something, this afternoon.I Have been thread hopping since lunch,and found this little "Oasis"of Peace and harmony.I Hessitated about making a contribution here,because although I've seen most of your names around the Cat,I don't really know too many of you.But,that's OK,got to push the door sometimes.The Kitchen is a central part of life here in France,and I have been in a good few.We get to go to the country at weekends,take the guitars,sit up all night,build a fire in the garden early in the morning,go for croissants and have breakfast untill it's time for pre-lunch drinks!I'm going back to my kitchen in half an hour or so, to come up with the main meal for tonight.My two sons will be at home with girlfriends,so it's a crowded house tonight.Great thread.May drop by later.
David

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 25 Feb 06 - 12:04 PM

Oh, there you are! I was afraid you wouldn't hear my knock so I didn't bother. How cozy this looks!

It's a relaxed kind of morning. I slept late- past 7 o'clock - stood outside in the packed snow while my little Cairn Meggie did her thing... It's 19 degrees out and the air is still and lovely.

Last night I was at a concert- I did the door and took in bundles of money. They brought me a little piano lamp so I didn't have to have the double doors to the hall open in order to differentiate a 10 from a 20, a 20 from a 50. It was cold last night and the wind came blowing in every time the doors opened.

Great concert. Buddy Tabor - they did a feature on him in this month's Sing Out!- was the headliner and he had two opening acts. One was a mother and son with fiddle and guitar. Leif Saya is a young man - 24- who was a child prodigy and is still extraordinary on the violin. He's been to Ireland a few times and loves playing over there.

The main opener was a young couple who do wonderful harmonies together. I'm fortunate enough to have them in my weekly Friday night music group so I've heard them many times but I love it. Kathy has a sweet, tender voice and Cheryl's is extraordinary, vibrant and strong. Last night they did a few Dylan songs, and one by Mary Gauche (sp?) and several others that they find here and there.

A great evening and it makes me smile this morning. I recorded it and later today I'll start the process of turning it into a couple CDs.

Great coffee, Jerry!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 25 Feb 06 - 12:16 PM

Ebbie--

Thanks again for doing those CD's of the Getaway. They capture the experience like nothing else could. You can just imagine the scenes all over again.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 25 Feb 06 - 12:21 PM

Jerry--sure hope you can make it to a Getaway soon. Your "Living On The River" being sung at a Getaway is one of my best memories. It would be great if you were part of the Getaway crew.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 25 Feb 06 - 12:22 PM

Nice to see you, Ebbie: And hello David over there in France. Ruth and I were in France last September for a couple of days. it was very special for us as we spent our honeymoon in Paris and Versailles seven years ago. Our first time over there was a new experience for us, as I didn't speak any French. Still don't. It was a little intimidating because my wife was counting on me to get us around for a week. I ended up doing it fine, with a lot of merci's. This time around, I had a better feel for traveling in countries where I don't speak the language. We visited ten countries when we were there in the Fall, and I couldn't possibly become fluent (or even passable) in so many languages. But, I wasn't intimidated. I learned the universal language. The finger. (No, not Thaaat one.) When in doubt, point and smile. Works fine.
I found France much freindlier this time around. France didn't change. I did.

Glad you stopped by, David... look forward to seeing you more often.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 25 Feb 06 - 12:23 PM

Maybe this year, Ron..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 25 Feb 06 - 12:27 PM

I found when I was in France that the French are the same as anybody else--they appreciate it when you try to speak their language--even when their English was better than my French.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 25 Feb 06 - 12:28 PM

That would be really something for us to look forward to, Jerry.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 25 Feb 06 - 12:32 PM

"France didn't change. I did." Great line, Jerry.

You're welcome, Ron!

I have Juneau friends who travel a good deal (as they say, they don't have children so this is how they prefer to spend their money). Their first trip to France surprised and delighted them. The people they met were friendly and helpful and took the time to explore where they should go next. In staying open and flexible Gerry and Susan have had wonderful experiences which they then share with us.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 25 Feb 06 - 12:56 PM

Speaking of fidelity,(high, not in-) I've been thinking how accustomed we've become to 18 track, digital studio recordings. I just put together a CD of old tapes, so that's been on my mind. For awhile, I was feeling kinda sheepish about the whole project because the sound of the tapes isn't nearly up to the standards of contemporary studio recordings. Felt kinda embarassed about it. And then I began thinking, "This is pretty stupid!" I came to love folk music through old monaural records recorded on primitive equipment which were reissued on pretty low-fi record albums. I didn't crinkle my nose when I heard Charlie Poole sounding like he was singing up through a man hole cover. Or The Carter Family records sounding like they'd been kept in a kitty litter box.

So, I've decided that rather than call the songs I burned to CD "home recordings" which sounds highly amateurish, I'll refer to them as "field recordings." After all, there's a field not far from here. Field recordings sounds all scholarly and important. Home recordings sounds like you used crummy equipment because you didn't have the money to go in a studio. True enough, of course.

For us folk-type people, the song's the thing. I love the crisp sound of a contemporary studio recording, but I'm not about to diminish the old tapes and earlier recordings as being somehow less valueable. They are what they are.

Besides, most field recordings weren't even recorded in a field.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: David C. Carter
Date: 25 Feb 06 - 01:02 PM

The first time I cooked a meal for some of my French friends, it was like taking coals to Newcastle.An Englishman cooking for the French!
This was some 30 yrs ago. And they still talk to me,and come to eat!
They also like my wife's cooking,she's from Croatia by the way.We were out there during the war.Her father owns a restaurant in the town.It used to get full up with American journalists and the like.We used to sit for hours with them,talking music and stuff.Strange times,but plenty of good moments.Got to get back in the kitchen!
Cheers

David

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: ranger1
Date: 25 Feb 06 - 01:16 PM

Hey Jerry! Got a cozy spot for a little ranger? How 'bout some herbal tea? Anything as long as it's not chamomile.

The kitchen table is very dear to me. It's where we'd hang out when I was little. My maternal grandma taught me to read, print and tell time at that table. At my paternal grampa's, we'd sit around the table and he's tell me tall tales or sing to me. I remember my cousins "bringing" him new songs by singing them to him. Sometimes my great-uncle would be there and he'd play his fiddle while Grampa Moses sang. That was the same table where Margaret MacArthur did a field recording of him, that I now have copies of on CD. Good memories.

Hiya Ebbie! I second the thanks for the CDs of the Getaway. It's kind of like being back when I listen to them.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: GUEST,KT
Date: 25 Feb 06 - 02:01 PM

Hi everyone!

Is it okay to just pop in for just a minute? Okay, a quick sip of tea.   It's wonderful and SO good to visit with friends.

Our kitchen table is still the gathering place...It was when the kids were little, still is when we have company and we prefer to play our music there, too. And now, what a great thing to add thoughts of the likes of all of you to my table. Okay, Jerry's table, but it's at my house tomorrow!

KT

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 25 Feb 06 - 02:14 PM

Oh yeah, KT... sitting at someone else's table is a treat, too. I've done that many, many times.

I had to run out for some stuff for supper, and I was glad to see that folks just came in and made themselves comfortable.

As Tom Bodet says, "We'll leave the light on for you" when we go out to sing with the Messengers tonight.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: lady penelope
Date: 25 Feb 06 - 02:18 PM

Mmm, kitchen tables. ~There's something very unstressful about them. Even though great dramas can happen about them, it seems to be the place that allows them to happen and it seems to take the sharp corners off in the process.

In my mind the kitchen table epitimises my Mother. She was always there. Whether it was cooking, sewing or reading a book (her favourite occupation) it happened at the kitchen table. My mother taught me to sew and to cook and so many other things in the process, all around that table.

When, as teenagers, my brothers and I would drag our respective 'gangs' home, it would be the kitchen that got taken over for the quaffing of large quantities of tea (with the occasional heretic drinking coffee) and people still mention that when I meet them years later.

My parents moved to a bungalow a while back and the kitchen isn't big enough to get a table in (it's what's grandly called a 'galley kitchen' here in england - my Mum want's to know when does she get the slaves.....?) and for a while it just didn't seem right, there was no table in a quiet place to walk in and see my mother reading at it .

It's worked itself out now, my father (a carpenter by trade - and calling I think) has made the garage into his workshop and the dining room into his music room (still plays his trumpet - 72 this week!) so my mother has inherited the living room. So of course she has put a kitchen style gate leg table in it and all is now right with the world... :o)

Jerry's quite right, there's no 'should' when it comes to feelings Raptor. Just 'cos you're 'only' ( :o) ) 37 doesn't mean that the world looks any better at the moment than it would if you were 70. Give yourself time to let the kitchen table have other memories for you. And remember, you're no weirder than the rest of us........ :o)

Now I'm getting urges to go bake something.......... which is nice, but fattening........ :o)

TTFN Lady P.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: gnu
Date: 25 Feb 06 - 02:37 PM

Getaway CD's? Ah... please? Who is closest to me that I can send some $'s to to get them?

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 25 Feb 06 - 03:27 PM

Gnu--

You'd want to contact Ebbie--who did them--and find out if there are still possibilities of obtaining them. She took a survey soon after the Getaway to find out specific demand--I think there was a thread on it--you might have missed the thread. But she should be able to tell you what the options are at this point. I hope you can still get some.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Cluin
Date: 25 Feb 06 - 03:53 PM

The kitchen table's piled with stuff that never got put away. The kids eat in the living room in front of the TV.

It's like the garage... you build it to park the car in, but after a while there's no room in there for the car.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: jimmyt
Date: 25 Feb 06 - 05:31 PM

Jerry, wow! you have a great bunch hanging around the table. Hi KT you sweet thing and if it isn't Ebbie, the Real Northern Lights herself! Ron, how about we start getting some thoughts together for a do-wop song next getaway? Jerry might be coaxed in to singing with us, and i know AllanC wants to join in. We should come up with some possibilities and get a rehearsal tape to some folks in advance, huh?
Cluin and Raptor and Rumanci and Gnu and Ranger and Clinton hisself!LAdy P and Michelle and Donuel, and David from France and Amos, the wise old wizard of San Diego, well, what a fun bunch you have assembled.

Listen, Someone run to FKC and get a couple buckets of chicken and I will start these 37 packets of Ramen noodles in some boiling water if y'all want anything else, get up and get it yourself. Ruth ain't here to wait on us hand and foot! We can play a bit while we snack. how bout some blues for a starter, Amos, somewhere 'round the key of E

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: David C. Carter
Date: 25 Feb 06 - 05:39 PM

I'll bring the wine.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 25 Feb 06 - 05:40 PM

I'm off to sing with the Messengers tonight... singing three more times tomorrow. I'm really pleased to see so many old and brand new friends stopping by. I'm just going to keep the pot on for a few days and see if people find this a place to stop in.

Doo I doo Wop? Mop bop a lu bop, a mop bam boom!

Awright, jimmy... I'll let you sing bass... am I generous, or what?..

I wrote a new gospel song with a classic rhythm and blues chord progression and melody... I need folks with a real feel for the music to do it... sounds like something the Penguins might have sung Sunday morning at a Baptist church..

Catch yez all later...

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 25 Feb 06 - 06:39 PM

Hey, gnu, PM me! They are far from professional and, of course, not complete because I could not be in all places at once (You might take that up with KT- I had great faith that she would get the cloning done in time) but they are fun and evocative of the whole weekend.

Eb

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: SINSULL
Date: 25 Feb 06 - 08:24 PM

Kendall's TV Series was based around the kitchen table - "Stories Told In The Kitchen". Two guys sitting at the table drinking hot tea and nibbling on toast. Wonderful warm setting for some hilarious tall tales.

The kitchen was always the center of life in my house. Drove Mom nuts. She'd be trying to cook Thanksgiving dinner while steering around 20 people in a room that was crowded with six. Funny, but in my childhood, the homes we kids always looked forward to visiting were the ones where we met in the kitchen. We dreaded the places where we were expected to sit up straight in the living room.

Nice thread, Jerry. It brought back some happy memories.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Cluin
Date: 25 Feb 06 - 08:35 PM

Somebody's got a 1001 piece puzzle on the go, one of those quaint old harbour things. I'll pitch in a few minutes working on "the dock".

Anyone caught hiding a piece for the end gets to do the dishes tonight.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 25 Feb 06 - 10:10 PM

Back in 1981, in April, my mother died. We drove out from Ohio to Springfield, Illinois, about 12 hours at the time, and overnighted with my brother. He had some Jamison which he shared with my wife and me, and the next day we drove on two more hours to my home town and the funeral.

Well, it turned out that they had to keep Mom on ice for a week -- the Catholic Diocese wouldn't let her be buried during "Holy Week" and we had to have the funeral on Easter Monday.

So we all stayed at the old homestead and got reacquainted with each other around the old kitchen table -- the one where we'd eaten so many meals, had so many fights, did so much homework, built model airplanes, assembled our gear when the three boys went off to war (and two to Vietnam). The siblings got to know each other's wife (no, not that way!) and the wives formed a bond that has lasted -- when my brother Tony was slammed in the hospital for his nine (yeah, I said 9) bypasses, we were the first people his wife called and we were on the road over the next day.

Anyway, we buried Mom on the day after Easter and had a post-funeral get-together at my Uncle's. That evening, Uncle drove over to the house with a six-pack, figuring that he'd have to comfort the four kids. He found us around the kitchen table, talking, playing Yatzee, and going through papers Mom had saved (and a lot of it she had kept hidden from "us kids"). Uncle drank a beer, left the rest, and I'm sure walked out shaking his head.

All around the kitchen table. And as for the delay in burying my mother, sometimes I think she planned it that way.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: gnu
Date: 25 Feb 06 - 10:59 PM

Kendall's TV show entitled "Stories Told In The Kitchen" was one of the reasons so many New Brunswickers sent donations to MPBN (Maine Public Broadcasing Network). I never missed a show. I wish I had had a VCR back then. I suppose we are all "kitchen people" to some degree.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: *daylia*
Date: 26 Feb 06 - 06:56 AM

... I find the kitchen the most lonly place in the house.

Aww Rap, it'll only get better. Know it, ok?

I've had this little mood-lifter on my table for a few months now -- a peace lily growing in this big vase of water, so you can see the roots, complete with a lovely bright red and blue Siamese fighting fish. I sit beside it and watch it while I eat my meals alone. And believe it or not the little thing has learned to recognize me too! When I sit at that table these days it watches me, gets all excited and swims up to the surface looking for food. So, we eat together now, every day, under my cat's watchful gaze. :-)

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: *daylia*
Date: 26 Feb 06 - 07:00 AM

PS   It's not a good idea to put two Siamese fighting fish together in the same bowl. Having no space to themselves is just too stressful for them. There's wisdom in that, somewhere, I know ....

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 26 Feb 06 - 07:52 AM

I don't know if we ever had a kitchen table - I can't remember the set up of the house my great-grandfather built where I lived till I was 7. We lived in our next house till I was 14 & I can remember the bedroom I shared with my 2 sisters, & my parents bedroom & but not my brother's, or the bathroom or the kichen. I lived in the next house till I was 26 & I think it had a galley kitchen. Memory has never been my strong point, and as I get older ...

In all the years since then I've lived in flats with galley kitchens, usually on my own, so I almost feel deprived! Tho I have had some good times around other folk's tables.

I'm really enjoying other folks' memories.

sandra

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 26 Feb 06 - 08:15 AM

Funny thing is, in our home here in Derby, we spend more time sitting at the table in the "Great Room" next to the kitchen. I don't know who came up with the idea of "Great Rooms" but they were really on to something. Our Great Room is next to the kitchen, with just a three foot high half way dividing the two rooms. That means that food and conversation flow smoothly between the rooms. When someone is working in the kitchen and there are a lot of people in the house, they aren't cut off from the conversation and music, and the guests aren't clogging up the kitchen arteries. When we just have one or two people visiting, we often do end up in the kitchen.. at least while food is being prepared. We have a taller table with a stool where people like to sit, but our kitchen table is glass. I mean, it looks nie and all, but who can feel warm looking sitting at a glass table? It's like having a metal pillow.

The table in the Great Room is wood and we keep it expanded to it's full size, so 8 people can comfortably sit there. There is also a small couch and a love seat (AND a fireplace) in the Great Room, so it is a very inviting place to gather. On top of that, it has a ceramic tile floor and floor to ceilings windows on three sides, so the acoustics are terrific. Like a Men's Room without the urinals. That's where I record the Messengers.

There's more to say about the magical mix of food and music.. and birds. Definitely birds. But right now, I'm heading up for breakfast.

In the Great Room.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 26 Feb 06 - 11:23 AM

We were talking about doo-wop a little earlier. I always thought a real good one to start with is "Come Go With Me", by the DelVikings, I think. There are 3 or 4 different musical threads through the whole song--for various different voices--from bass to pretty high. And "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" is one everybody is likely to know. And I've always loved "Goodnight Sweetheart" by the Spaniels. But any suggestions anybody has would be great. Maybe we really should try to think singing some of the same doo-wop songs before we got to the Getaway. Unless people just want to show up and see what happens. That's always fun too.

Any thoughts?

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jeanie
Date: 26 Feb 06 - 12:10 PM

I can't help with the "doo wop" at the Getaway, Ron, but I just wanted to pull up a chair for a minute to agree with Daylia about having fish in the kitchen and what great table companions they are ! I don't know if they have these in America, but over here in the UK a lot of older houses have a serving hatch between the kitchen and the dining room for plates to be passed through. The house we moved into when I was 10 had a serving hatch that the previous owners had put a tropical fish tank into, and we took it on, having never kept fish before. We had angel fish, catfish, neon tetras, all kinds, each with their own personalities and they made great "dining companions". The kitchen table was right next to the tank, and they'd always come across to have a look and a "chat". The house I moved into last summer had a hatch between the kitchen and living room, which has now been made into a window (handy to see what's going on on TV etc.) and I'm thinking of getting a tank again to put there.

I'm curious about these "Great Rooms", Jerry - I've never heard the term before.

Bye for now,
- jeanie

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: GUEST,KT
Date: 26 Feb 06 - 12:39 PM

Yikes! I'm rushing in and out again today. Not even enough time to read everyone's postings......I'm glad you're kkeping that kettle on Jerry. I'll be back!

And jimmyt, I may have been fired from the blues band, but I can do-op with the best of em! May I audition...please????

Sins, I've often wondered why it is that when I'm trying to pull together a spread for 12 people on Thanksgiving, they are always huddled around in my tiny kitchen, watching, instead of relaxing in the living room. Never fails!! Endearing, though!

Jerry, how did your gigs go?

KT

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: leftydee
Date: 26 Feb 06 - 12:56 PM

Ron, Do you remember "So Fine" by the Fiestas? "There's A Moon Out Tonight" by the Capris? Good harmonizers! The ol' doo wop just makes you smile, doesn't it?

I host a weekend music blast each July (to which you're all invited) and some doo wop always gets a special spot with eleventy-seven part harmonies. Man.... it sounds gooooood! I'll post a thread about the July gig later. We have from 60 to 90 folks each year and music from Friday night 'til kisses and hugs on Sunday. We have couple 'Catters there already in Cap't Bob and Coldjam. Great fun, food and music.

Earlier someone mentioned RedRose tea. Do you recall the old ads with Chimps dressed like rockers? It may be cruel, but performing chimps crack me up. I wish either of my bands was as entertaining as chimpanzees riding bicycles.

What a great place to talk with friends this is, here in your great room, Jerry!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: open mike
Date: 26 Feb 06 - 12:58 PM

Kate Wolf's Trumpet Vine is the first song that
comes to mind for me, too, on this topic. I
wonder if we have it in the D.T. if not, we
should. I will check!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 26 Feb 06 - 01:07 PM

Hey, KT:

I still have three today... actually two, but singing with two different groups at the same program.. One program is all spirituals.

Last night was interrresting. For the first time in the nine years that we've been together Joe and Frankie didn't make it at the last minute. The other member of our quartet moved to Florida, so you know that he wasn't there. So, it was a new first for me. I was the first one white man/black gospel quartet in History. Not that it bothered me particularly. I've performed alone most of my life, and I recognized several of the others groups because we've sung with them in other churches. I also sing alone in nursing homes all the time, so it felt right for me. I've gotten known as that white guy who sings in the black community, so I was right at home.

The greatest thing about the night was that they had a group called the Gospel Express. I talked to them awhile before the program and know one of the women who sings backup. The groups is fantastic. Think James Brown crossed with Wilson Pickett as their lead singer, and the three women sounding like the backup singers for Ike and Tina Turner. Throw in a lead guitar who sounds like he's off a Temptations album, and fine bass player and an 8 or 9 year old drummer that is already going professional, and you've got the group.
The lead singer is a soul singer who got the Spirit, and the lead guitar player (who is even older than I am) sang lead on one song that sounded like Hank Williams should have done it. My son Pasha from Ruth's first marriage was there with his wife, and Pasha and I were having a great time. We both love the old soul music. Never mind that Pasha is Muslim. He can still get down.

As for rhythm and blues (dubbed doo-wop many years after the fact, I have put together what I modestly think of as the definitive collection of rhythm and blues groups starting with the first black groups like the Ink Spots, the Mills Brothers and the Ravens, right up to a track from Paul Simon's failed Capeman musical. That's where I learned to sing harmony. Living next door to New Haven, I keep meeting singers from the early groups. Fred Paris, who sang lead on In The Still Of The Night is a good friend of a mutual friend who lived just a door away from us, Jimmy, who replaced Bill Kenny as the lead singer in the Ink Spots when Kenny went solo sings in one of the male choruses that I sing in, as does Doug, who sang with the Flamingos for something like 17 years, and also sang with the Coasters. New Haven has always been a hotbed of quartets, and still is. Now, it's gospel quartets... They're coming out of the woodwork.

Gotta get packed up to go..

Polly put the kettle on..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 26 Feb 06 - 01:16 PM

Glad to see you Bob: I was hoping that you'd stop in.

Oh yeah, there's Ten Pound Radio that I wrote, that's on my second Folk Legacy album:

It wasn't all that long ago
When we listened to the radio
We all knew the songs by heart
And everybody sang their part
And every corner had a group
We sang Searchin' and Alley-oop
And even though those days are gone
I still like to sing those songs

   Now when you walk down town at night
   Underneath the street lamp light
   All the kids you're like to see
   They won't be working on their harmony
   Oh no......
   They'll all be listening to a ten pound radio
   And even though they know the song
   They never even sing along
   Oh no-o-oh, no,no,no,no-o-oh
   No-oh,no-oh,no-oh,no, no-o-oh
   No-oh, no-oh-oh o-oh- no-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh

Not sure I got all the no-oh-ohs right... you have to sing it to hear it.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: *Laura*
Date: 26 Feb 06 - 01:30 PM

I haven't got one of my own at the moment but I'm enjoying the kitchen table stories. I'm being the person at the moment who sits next to the table and listens to all the people sitting round it.
Nice thread Jerry

xLx

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 26 Feb 06 - 01:35 PM

Glad to see you, Laura:

Everyone has a tale that just waits to be told. You too..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: leftydee
Date: 26 Feb 06 - 02:31 PM

Jerry,

I'm pickin' and grinning. I just played Davenport along with the tape The Secret Life of, well..... You.

Nice little gathering you've got going here. Listen closely, you'll here me growling out Ten Pound Radio in a minute.

Bob

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: leftydee
Date: 26 Feb 06 - 02:50 PM

Well....d'ja hear me? I was beltin' out that bass line!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Little Hawk
Date: 26 Feb 06 - 03:00 PM

I can fondly remember many times around kitchen tables, but haven't had one in a few years now, as it happens. Every now and then I get to sit at Raptor's kitchen table, though. He has a traditionally set up living place in that sense, and it's nice. It has a great view in the backyard.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: lady penelope
Date: 26 Feb 06 - 06:02 PM

I've always liked Blue Moon done as a doo wop song........

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Snuffy
Date: 26 Feb 06 - 07:06 PM

Bom bom a bom a bom bom a bom a
Dang a dong dang a ding a dong ding

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: number 6
Date: 26 Feb 06 - 08:29 PM

I don't like doo wop ... but it is beter than apacella.

sIx

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 26 Feb 06 - 08:29 PM

Hey, Jerry, we call ours "The Dining Room." A counter/low wall between the table, etc. and the kitchen, just enough that you can tell they're two different areas. Our table, extended, has eight regular chairs and we have seated sixteen adults (but it's cozy). We leave our table extended, and we eat there all the time.

And then there's the back porch (deck). Summertime, we eat out there and watch the golfers and then, when the golfers go home, we watch the sun set behind the mountains seventy miles away. Best show in town; someday the city is gonna charge us entertainment tax.

Come 'round, tune up the guitar that's in the basement by the fireplace. And oh yea, that's another "great room" area....

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 26 Feb 06 - 09:06 PM

Sounds good, Rap:

We don't have a mountain view, although we are at the highest end of Hillcrest Ave, which pretty much says it all. What we do have is an area we created for attracting birds. Our yard is small, but there is an 8 foot (or 14 foot if I don't trim it) hedge between our house and the neighbors. We created a bird sanctuary with a squirrel- proof bird feeder (yes they do exist,) two (Count 'em) birdhouses our Grandson and his friend made for us, a bird bath and in the summer, two recirculating waterfalls. When we sit at our table (which sounds much like yours) we look out a floor-to-ceiling wall directly at the small bird sanctuary. The birds are endless entertainment (even moreso than the fish in the aquarium that have become so large that Ruth is afraid of them.) We also have a deck off the Great Room where we have cookouts. Last Summer, our son Pasha and his son "little" Pa-Sha and I (mostly helping) built a screened-in Gazebo that comfortably sits 16 people. Between the Great room and kitchen, the deck and the gazebo, we can easily handle 40 people... and usually do a couple of times a year. There's music and food... the two basic fuels of life.

And plenty of extra guitars, banjos, mandolas and even a fiddle..

And Bob, if I ever make it out to Michigan again or we make it to the Getaway, I know who to get to sing the bass part on Ten Pound Radio..

Doom boppa doom, Doom boppa doom, badah Doom boppa doom...

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Bobert
Date: 26 Feb 06 - 09:10 PM

Great thread, Jerry...

Oh, where to start???

I grew up sitting a a huge "dining" room table that seats 12.... It's where my mom would offer me 2 cents to finish the remianing brocolli... It was where my mom and dad would argue over civil rights as my brother and I would look on... And where when I came into my own self I would argue about politics, civil right, and the war in Vietnam...

But it was also a table where our gay nest door neighbors would talk of theater and art... And where my friends woould sit when ivited to dinner... My dad worked for Ford Motor Company and he would have his business friends over for dinners there and my mom would be on her best behavior...

Then I got marries and my folks moved away to New York City and the table went into storage... And then they moved again and again as my dad kept getting different jobs but the table was always "somewhere" with blankets thrown over it...

Then when I moved to Wes Ginny and was designing an addition on the house we had bought I asked about "the table" and my parents seemed relieved that I wanted it and so I built a big room for it and until recently moving back to Virginia had it for 18 years... And in those 18 years it took on a new life... Next to it is where my son ate his first meals in his high-chair... It was at that table that Judy and I spent our evenings and where relatives and friends sat when they came to visit... It was there that many an evening I would be asked to play a few songs and ended up playin' half the night...

And it was at that table that Judy took her last meal... It was a Tuesday and she died that Friday...

Foure years later it was the table where I served my new wife, P-Vine, her first Bobert-cooked breakfast and where we had all three of her sons and their wives for Thanksgivings...

BUT it was also the table where I would sit every December and write out Christmas cards to my family and to my friends and, if nothing else, this has been it's most important duty as I try very hard to stay in touch, even if only once a year, with my friends... Yeah, some prolly wonder why I still do it since I don't see them too much anymore but it means a lot to me and sitting at that table writing messages to my old friends keep the lines of communication open for when I get time to see them agian... You included, Jerry... sniff..

Now, since the move "the table" is yet back in storage and I am building madly trying to make a space for it and it will happen and my prayersa and my hopes are that many folks who I have come to know- and love- here at Mudcat will come to visit and sit at "the table" and add another chapter to its glorious life...

No, it's not exactly a "kitchen" table but, hey, I think if it could talk, there's probably not too many "kitchen" tables that wouldn't let it thru the door....

I'll let everyone know when it's ready for some new chapters...

And...

...thanks Jerry. One day you and Ruth will break bread with me and the P-Vine and...

..."the table"...

Yer Bro,
Bobert

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 26 Feb 06 - 09:18 PM

"It was his old kitchen table.." I can already here the song. Certainly a worthy topic for one. I actually wrote a song about our screen porch door... mentioned it in one thread or another on the Cat so I won't repeat it. Sometimes, something inanimate is woven so finely into our life that it seems to take on a character of its own. That old saying, "If walls could talk" applies to kitchen tables and screen porch doors, too.

My oldest son, his wife and kids have moved to North Carolina. I wouldn't be surprised if we ended up swinging down that way, maybe catch you and the Pea-Vine, maybe even catch a day at the Getway. Ya never know...

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Amos
Date: 26 Feb 06 - 11:19 PM

It was just an old kitchen table
It had been painted six or seven times
It was where I'd sit while my momma made us dinner
It was where I saw my first dime
If I needed a place to take apart a radio
Or glue a plastic model plane
There was that old kitchen table waitin' there
And I wish that I had it back again.

The winter I was seventeen, Joleen and I drank cocoa
And sat there while we talked about our plans.
And if Momma went upstairs when the kitchen clock said nine,
We'd get a chance to kiss and hold each others' hands
We would sit and listen to the kitchen radio
Singing "Blue Moon" and "Cryin' in the Rain"
Just an old kitchen table waiting there when it was needed
And I wish that I had it back again.

...hell, it's a rough and smarmy start, but it's a start. IMagine a tune vaguely parallel to "Momma Tried".

A

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 26 Feb 06 - 11:37 PM

Jerry--

That's amazing--that you have all those connections with those classic doo-wop groups--the lead singer in the 5 Satins, and you mentioned the Flamingos and even pre doo-wop classics--the Ink Spots. Just wonderful stuff--it is so great to be in a group and just be able to break into multi-part harmony in a field or on the street. I used to be in a madrigal group and we'd do that in restaurants, etc (after a Renaissance Fair for instance.)

And I noticed that a lot of my singing friends weren't getting much exercise so I started "Volleyball Not For Singers Only"--we'd play volleyball and sing madrigals and Sacred Harp between games. We weren't very good at volleyball--that's for sure--we also had players who did things like one put a deflated beach ball on his head. I always imagined we were getting some exercise. And we had some really good volleys from time to time. But we had to try to attract some good players to keep games lively. Fortunately we had a lot of friends (remember it was not for singers only)--and some of the non-madrigal people even enjoyed hearing madrigals and Sacred Harp between games (all memorized). We even tried once to sing while playing-- I AM the Rose of Sharon and the LILL-y of the Valley. We only tried it once.

Anyway, I just love all sorts of a cappella, unaccompanied or whatever anybody wants to call it--archipelago, Acapulco etc.

Hope we can do more at the Getaway this year.

And Leftydee--your sessions sound just wonderful.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 27 Feb 06 - 08:32 AM

Good start, Amos... keep working on it... it should be a fine song.

Yes, Ron: It is amazing to sing with some of the old rhythm and blues legends. Jimmy, who sang lead with the Ink Soots for so many years was my first choice to replace our tenor. He sang with us once, and it was very exciting! He stepped in and sang with us for the first time when we were performing. He immediately found his harmony and we blended together beautifully. He's also a verey sweet man. Unfortunately, he doesn't have the freedom to join the group because he has heavy demands on his life because of health problems in his family. Family has to come first, and I understand that. Doug also sang with us three or four times... the one who not only sang tenor for so many years with the Flamingos, but was also on the Five Satins recording of In The Still Of The Night, which was recorded in the basement of a house in New Haven. Doug didn't work out because he has a much more contemporary approach to harmony and doesn't really enjoy the straightforward four-part harmony that we love. It was a difference in style and we couldn't make it work. Maybe I should see if Fred Paris would like to join us.

One thing I've seen in my life is how certain cities become a hotbed for particular styles of music. That's always been true from Nashville to Detroit with the Motown sound, Philly, Seattle, Minneapolis in the era of the artist formerly known as Prince, New York, Boston, Chicago and San Francisco for the folk revival.. New Haven has always been a hotbed for groups, and many of the great rhythm and blues groups came from there. I spent most of my adult life in Stamford, Ct. which is only 45 miles at most from New Haven.
I started my gospel quartet there, and we were the only old-styyle gospel quartet in Stamford and the surrounding towns. In New Haven when they put a program together, they invite more than twenty different groups to come and with each group doing tow songs, the programs can last four or five hours. Now that we are no longer in Stamford, there isn't a single old-style gospel quartet singing there, while there are probably thirty or 40 in New Haven and the neighboring communities.

I also wanted to comment about sharing music. But, I think I'll start another post for that. I think I've pretty much used up a screen's worth with this one.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 27 Feb 06 - 08:48 AM

There's always been a lot of talk about being a cheerful giver. They say that God loves a cheerful giver. There's much less talk about being a cheerful receiver. If we can't be a cheerful receiver, we are denying someone the chance to be a cheerful giver. I used to tell a friend of mine who was constantly sending me music that I was his "unplowed field." Now musically, I am not completely "unplowed," but the image seemed right. We all need friends who are "unplowed fields". If we didn't have them, how could we know the joy of sharing?

Ten years ago when I first joined the black Men's Chorus that I sing in, I was so excited about singing with the guys (we don't sing from sheet music and learn all the parts by ear,) that I could hardly contain myself. And couldn't think of a good reason why I should. So, I put together a listening tape of some of my favorite black gospel recordings and gave a copy to every man in the chorus, and a few friends. The Male Chorus is about 40 men, and I ended up making pretty close to 50 copies. There are also folks we visit who are house bound because of age or health problems who appreciate getting music. When I handed out the cassettes, the guys said, "How much do I owe you?" and started reaching for their wallet. I told them "You don't owe me anything... just enjoy the music, and that's more than enough payment for me." Everyone enjoyed the tape so much that I made a Volume II and shared copies with everyone. I finally ran out of enough good material after I finished Volume VIII. All told, I made close to 400 cassettes and completely burned out my tape box in the process. But, no one was happier than I was. And that's how sharing works.

Lest it sound like I am congratulating myself for my generosity, I have to say that I can never give as much as I have received. For every tape or CD I send out, I've probably received as much from others.. often people are hardly know. If I end up sending Catters music, understand that I am only giving in response to the generosity of others towards me. My friends who have been so generous to me have so much more music than I do that I can't give them the same amount of music in return. I have to give to other "unplowed fields." In the Good Folks" thread, I mentioned Don Stevens and Jim Hickam as two people who have buried me in wonderful music. There is no way that I can reciprocate with them. But, I can shower someone they have never met with music. And that person can shower someone else.

If we all took showers, the world would be a better place to live in.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Amos
Date: 27 Feb 06 - 09:42 AM

If we all took showers, the world would be a better place to live in.


Sometimes the simplest ideas are the most powerful.

:D


A

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 27 Feb 06 - 04:56 PM

It's been a beautiful day, the sun is setting and we're about to have supper in our Great Room. I talked to the guys today and we're having practice this Saturday morning up here. Today at the dentist's, I was talking with the Dental Hygienist (before she filled my mouth with tubes) and she told me that her husband was listening to a CD I gave her a year ago of the Messengers when we did a concert in Washington, D.C. for the GWFSS. She said that he had asked if he could ever come to one of our practices because he loves our music. He plays guitar and was in charge of the music ministry at his church for 8 years and sings TENOR! and us being without a tenor and all... When I got home, I talked with my wife about it (NEVER ask friends over for food unless you ask your wife first, fellas... that's real dissrespectful.) She was fine with it, so this Saturday we'll have a tenor to be named later coming to sing with us and a genoouine Dental Hygienist thrown in on the deal. There'll be plenty of food and a lot of music.

And plenty of room...

I'll keep an eye out the window, looking for you..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 27 Feb 06 - 04:57 PM

Oh yeah, be sure to floss before you come..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Charmion
Date: 27 Feb 06 - 05:42 PM

WE have a green leather armchair and a La-Z-Boy couch in our kitchen, with an ottoman and a beat-up pine coffee table. The "real" kitchen table is a granite-topped work island -- not very homey -- but somehow the couch and the armchair and the coffee table cancel out the graniteness. The inevitable presence of Perdita (small black cat) in the armchair helps, of course.

My kitchen is primarily a workshop, a clean version of the village forge where I liked to hang out when I was four. Like the blacksmith's shop, half of the kitchen is workspace and the other half is entirely social. Sometimes the social impinges on the work, and elbows have to be nudged out of the pastry, but in the seven years Edmund and I have lived there I have only once shooed people out so I could make the gravy in peace. It doesn't matter if I put out a tray of glasses and tempting bottles in the -- what did you call it, Jerry, a Great Room? -- right, the Great Room. People always go where the action is, and plop themselves down at Ground Zero.

We have a round mahogany dining table that I bought for $200 from a guy who put an advertisement in the Penny Saver. I love that table so much I even paid a cabinet-maker another $200 to make leaves for it so it could be expanded to seat eight. The Victorian oak chairs came from my great-grandfather's house in Beauport, Quebec, and I dimly remember sitting on one of those chairs, supplemented with a cushion and three volumes of the Encyclopaedia Britannica, as a very small child. My father would shove his thumb between the rails into the small of my back to make me sit up straight; he deeply disapproved of children who slumped at the table. He later told me that his father had done exactly the same thing.

I think the single thing Edmund likes best in life is to sit down with half a dozen friends at that table, and then proceed to ply them with course after course of hearty food, accompanied by lashings of wine. I remember him looking at a photograph of a festive table-setting in the Homes section of the newspaper: you know the kind, all centrepieces and place cards. "Where the hell are they going to put the turkey?" he demanded. "That's no way to set a table!"

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Micca
Date: 27 Feb 06 - 06:05 PM

Charmion, I KNOW what he means!!! when I had the opportunity to get a Dining Table made to my specs. It is 6'6"long and 3'6"wide sothat there is room down the middle between place settings for dishes of food!!!
But to pick up Jerrys Kitchen Tables theme, yeah, it was the centre of our house when I was growing up, complete with the split in a board in the middle that my father had accidently made while he was making a fishing rod on it. When we moved to England in the late 50s-early 60S it got left behind as we could only take what we could carry. So, along with my collection of "carefully saved for" books hoarded and added to from 2nd hand sources, my first microscope and other personal effects it was left behind. It was many years before I realised that a focus was missing from things. But gradually other Kitchen tables in other peoples houses made new memories , some of the best I have,of music and talk and singing. Now my mother and sister ( who were the indisputable Queens of their Kitchen tables) have passed on and I am reminded again that Kitchen tables are so important because so often they are close to the centre of caring and love in a house.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: GUEST,Joe_F
Date: 27 Feb 06 - 08:55 PM

Likewise, Ken Hicks's "All the Good People":



We drank in the kitchen & held no competition,

Each knowing the other was a good friend to have.



Alas, my kitchen is too small for a table. It is a real kitchen, but about the size & shape of a dining-car one. Likewise in the house in Vermont when I was a kid. But in California, we were so fancy-shmancy that we had a *breakfast room*, on the opposite side of the kitchen from the dining room. The only sociable kitchen I've ever had was while I lived in a rooming house in Cambridge, MA, oh, 45 years ago or so.

--- Joe Fineman    [e-mail]

||: A politician uses statistics as a drunk uses a lamppost -- for support rather than illumination. :||

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: kendall
Date: 27 Feb 06 - 09:02 PM

We gathered in the kitchen because that's where the stove was.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: kendall
Date: 27 Feb 06 - 09:18 PM

I don't feel at liberty to analize Gordon. All I can say is, he is my oldest best friend, and you would never believe some of the things we have done. He is a man who values his privacy and doesn't do well with people who try to insinuate themselves into his circle of comfort. That's typical of Mainers; I'm the same way. In fact, there is an old Maine saying: "Be careful who you befriend, they will want something from you sooner or later." Now, we are not that bad, but you get the idea.
He's one of the finest people I know, and even after almost 50 years, I still don't know him totally.

He is at his least approachable when he is performing. His mind is on what he is doing almost to the exclusion of all else. That I understand too, having a similar mind set.

Lastly, he is not "stuck on himself", just shy.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 28 Feb 06 - 12:00 AM

Kendall--

Absolutely nothing wrong with valuing privacy--that's for sure. But you sure are teasing us--"you wouldn't believe some of the things we have done"--isn't there one story you can tell us--here around the kitchen table.?

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: GUEST,Kt
Date: 28 Feb 06 - 01:06 AM

stay tuned.....

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Amos
Date: 28 Feb 06 - 01:53 AM

Yeah, Skipper -t'aint fair ya know -- tell all!!

:D


A

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: GUEST,King Table
Date: 28 Feb 06 - 06:50 AM

Tables r grate

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: kendall
Date: 28 Feb 06 - 08:56 AM

We have never done anything illegal or immoral, yet I still don't know if he would appreciate me sharing some of the mis adventures.

Ok, maybe just a couple. Many years ago, Gordon and I visited Dave Mallett, and we decided to have home made beef stew. In the process of making it and consuming large quantities of firewater, the stew came out looking like a seagull's breakfast. It made me very ill, but I've never been sure if it was the stew or the booze.
Anyway, we were having a hell of a good time, swapping songs, and stories, (Mallett is a very funny guy when he relaxes) and, at one point, we were discussing songs that we mis heard the right lyrics to, and found out later that we were wrong all along.

Mallett told us about learning a song in which the hero comes home from the war and his wife is not home. He looks all around and finds a picture of her and another man. She is dressed in a wedding gown, so he knows she thinks him dead.
The line goes....I saw a picture of her and a man. Well he was a small boy when he heard this, and what he heard was,...I saw a picture of her and a HAM. That started a giggle fest, then when Gordon reminded us that a certain song from OZ went...and freedom's humping bluie.. and we were on the floor.

I spent a week or so on his boat sailing from Falmouth to Rockport, and every night we would drop anchor and have a few brews and sing some of the old songs we learned when we first met back in 1959.
At one point, I said to him, "Do you have some first aid cream? I have a chafe in a rather tender spot, and I think it's caused by TIDE laundry detergent." He said "What the hell are you doing with it"?

There are funnier stories but I don't know if he would appreciate my sharing them with the world!

We have spent countless hours swapping stories and songs over a bit of John Barleycorn, and I tell you, there is no one in the world whos friendship and company I value more.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 28 Feb 06 - 09:01 AM

I can understand that, Kendall. I've got similar stories. In fact, we all probably do. Good, laughing times.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 28 Feb 06 - 09:16 AM

Thanks, Kendall. You remind me of a couple of things.

This too is not telling anything about Gordon "Out of school." This was an admission that he made in a workshop that I did many years ago at the Eisteddfod. It was a "singing" workshop... the only one that I ever hosted. I have never taken singing lessons, or ever even felt tempted to. That's not to knock them... it's just an experience and knowledge that I don't have. Gordon and Sandy & Caroline were in the workshop and the first thing I asked people to do was to talk about who they first imitated as singers (or at least sang along with and were influenced by.) I started out doing Blue Suede Shoes and talked about Carl Perkins. I could as easily have done Blue Monday, and talked about Fats Domino. When it was Gordon's turn, I imagine that most people thought he'd say that he really learned to sing by singing along with some old, crusty lobster fisherman sitting on a rocky coastline in Maine. It's understandable to me that people who are well loved as musicians or singers cultivate a persona and never let a crack appear. It's a way to keep your own life private. I really got a kick out of Gordon (who has a wonderful sense of humor.) One of his first influences? Perry Como. Perry Como? Why not Dean Martin? Funny thing is, Gordon shares that in common with Elvis, who acknowledged Perry Como as one of his main images. How weird that two singers as different as Gordon and Elvis could have the same influence. I admired Gordon for that. What could be less self-aggrandizing at a folk festival than saying that Perry Como was an early influence? Maybe Margaret MacArthur saying her first influence as a singer was Annette Funicello.

Coming up with funny lines that can destroy a song has to be a natural, adult hangover of making up silly satires when we were kids. For many years, I sang with Luke Faust and one of our very favorite songs we did as a duet was Mary Of The Wild Moore, which we learned from a Blue Sky Boys recording. There is a very dramatic line in the song where Mary's Father comes down and opens the front door of his house in the morning to find Mary dead from lieing (... how in the world do you spell lieing?) on the doorstep in the cold all night. As the song says, "with the child still alive, closely clasped in its dead Mother's arm." How did the old man respond to this horrific scene. The line says, "In anguish he tore his gray hair." I was fooling around one night and sang it "In anguish he tore his gray shirt." That was it. I guess we were in a silly mood like you, David and Gordon, Kendall. Somehow, it seemed like the funniest image imagineable. Kinda like the biblical phrase, "Thou hast caused me to rend my garments." It took forever to be able to sing that song with a straight face again. What a stupid point in the song to go into hysterics! I can sing the song straight now, but I must admit that the thought does cross my mind, when I get to that line...

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 28 Feb 06 - 09:27 AM

Jerry, you ought to try singing a song after your brother has messed with the lines!

These came out once when he was fixing dinner (yes, we sit around the kitchen table in homes of both my brothers).

"He drove his car to the racing ground/He was the only driver there...."
"By the rising of the moon YEE-HAA! by the rising of the moon...."
"..and she fell down dead in the yellow snow..."

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 28 Feb 06 - 09:32 AM

Now there's a thread for you, Rap: Songs we've ruined by changing a line..

They must be legion..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Amos
Date: 28 Feb 06 - 09:33 AM

Jerry:

Wish you could have been over in Pacific Beach with us, last night. Chicken Kiev and wine a-flowing and the most amazing evolution of inspired, spontaneous dancing; one of our party was a Mexican airline pilot who demonstrated a beautiful karate form, and another was a vivid modern dancer who taught us African dances of welcome, and then the oceanographer and the choreographer started waltzing to the strains of "Night Rider's lament" and the wine kept flowing freely. You would have had a blast. After we staggered home to bed, I dreamed i was sitting at your Magic Kitchen Table, telling you the whole thing. Go figger!

And I like the notion of you being the Keeper of a new permanent Mudcat Artifact, the Magic Kitchen Table, right up there with Spaw's possum whistle, Jen's flaming kestrel, Mick's potato-thong, and tipples...I mean tupples...aw, hell, you know what I mean.

A

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 28 Feb 06 - 10:30 AM

Thanks, Amos: I would like to have this thread here as a cyber-kitchen table where we all stop in and talk about whatever we feel like talking about. We'll all run out of nostalgic kitchen table stories, and while I'm enjoying reading every one, I did hope that this thread would work just as your last post did... people just stopping by to talk about something they'd be likely to share around a kitchen table.

And even though you wouldn't appreciate the subject matter of the songs, you might have enjoyed the black gospel group I described earlier in this thread. While I have always loved rhythm and blues and soul singers, I didn't have any opportunity to hear them in an all-white small town in Wisconsin. And, by the time I came to New York, that music was pretty much gone. Not that I could have afforded to go hear anyone on my peanut butter budget. All the great soul singers came out of black churches, and every once in awhile I'll come across someone who seems like they've stepped out of a time warp. It's the closest I'll ever get to hearing Wilson Pickett or James Brown. (James Brown is still performing but he stands completely still now... too old to dance.) The lead singer of the gospel quartet got down on one knee very dramatically when a line in the song talked about dropping to our knees in prayer. All he needed was a cape, and a couple of stage hands to help him get back on his feet, like James Brown used to do.. His day job is a bus driver, in New Haven..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Amos
Date: 28 Feb 06 - 11:42 AM

MIGHT have??? I'm afraid I have given you a false impression of my views, Jerry. I would have been jumping with the gang, here ta tell ya. A good gospel group is a thing of joy.



A

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 28 Feb 06 - 12:10 PM

I thought it was interesting, by the by, that no one claimed the 100th post. Feels very kitcheny. I've never know anyone to say, "I just said the 100th sentence!" sitting around a kitchen table.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 28 Feb 06 - 02:37 PM

I knew a judge who celebrated his 100th sentence....

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Bill D
Date: 28 Feb 06 - 02:51 PM

well, I 'almost' posted here the other day, but was busy and by the time I got back, the thread had gotten a lot longer and I felt like I oughta READ it before jumping in...but now I got an engraved invitation from Jerry, and I just bit the bullet and let it flow over me. (like all the tea & coffee, I guess)

I spent most of my adult life drinking tea..(good tea! Loose tea...) but a few years ago, some regular company around my kitchen table needed coffee ☺, and I sorta got converted. I still HAVE good tea on hand, but coffee kinda gets ya'.....

I am fortunate, living where I do and getting to meet so many in the folk community. I have recently shared my kitchen table with Dick Greenhaus & Susan of DT, and not too far back with Danny Spooner, Elizabeth LaPrelle (young singer extraordinare) and her family, Noreen & Stewart (after the Getaway), and a couple years ago, greg stephens & Kate. I have had the pleasure of sitting at Bobert's table (indoors & out!)........and SO many local folks, some of whom post here, and some who don't.....and if you want to think of those amazing long tables at the Getaway as 'kitchen', there are a hundred more I could list! Jeri & Kendall and KT and Ebbie and Ron Davies and Amos and Micca and Charmion and Snuffy and jimmyt all know what I mean. It's not the 'quiet' and feeling of home, but it tells me that I know places now where I could go and find a welcome and that cup of coffee (or tea).

Maybe I will get to some of those places one of these days.....

My kitchen table is small & round, but we can get 5-6 settin' around when necessary...and that's a good limit to an easy conversation, anyway.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 28 Feb 06 - 11:04 PM

Maybe one of these days I'll drop by for a cupa, Bill. I'd enjoy sitting around your kitchen table and just shooting the breeze.

Ya never know..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Bill D
Date: 28 Feb 06 - 11:15 PM

we'll be here. (and before & after the Getaway is always a good time...)

ohhhh! Hey, Jerry...it just hit me. I have some digital pictures of you & Ruth at The Royal Mile Pub...that time when Bobert came in. I'll get those put up someplace where you can grab'em! (It wasn't a 'kitchen' table, but there was some good conversation!)(I put them in a strange file when I took 'em off the camera and lost track!)

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 01 Mar 06 - 12:07 AM

Kitchen tables can be anywhere, Bill ... in pubs, auditoriums, church basements, backyards... They can be beautiful walnut or mahogany, card tables, picnic tables, folding tables with tempera paint splattered all over them.. even glass.

It's the people who sit around them who make the difference..

I have some shots from the Royal Mile Pub of the Bobert and Pea Vine, Chance and Susette, and maybe even you, Bill. I didn't know who you were at the time and I have a couple of photos of mighty handsome couples. Maybe you're in one of them...

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 01 Mar 06 - 08:50 PM

Been a quiet day around the table.. been out much of the day, and have spent most of this evening working on burning tracks to a CD.

Every once in a while I check the BS to see if there are any threads that don't end with a question mark.. :-)

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 01 Mar 06 - 09:44 PM

I just put the last brushstrokes on the "Sun Room" (formerly "The Cave"). Now to clean it up, redo the lighting, put up curtains and things, and start using it! Hot dog! -- we'll be using the whole house!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 01 Mar 06 - 10:35 PM

Sounds good, Rap. Is a sun room anything like a Great Room? Our Great Room has glass on three sides and probably would have been called a sun room in previous times.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 01 Mar 06 - 11:24 PM

Jerry--

I thought this might be of interest to others around the table, so I'd ask it. The Levi Kelly story from your CD Back When I Was Young--what year was this alleged crime, and where?    The song came from an old-style broadside?--I understand you have a copy. And what was he supposed to have done? Is the song based on fact?--I gather there must be something behind the broadside.

Thanks,

Ron

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 01 Mar 06 - 11:56 PM

Hey Ron: I've spent most of this evening cleaning my office. Thank God I misplace things. It's about the only motivation I seem to have for straightening up. :-) I still haven't found what I'm looking for, as Bono would say, so I'll keep my eye out for the copy of the broadside when I'm looking, tomorrow. As for the CD of mine, Back When I was Young, you are the only person on Mudcat that has a copy at this point, Ron. Many years ago when I was visiting Sturbridge Village, they were printing copies of the old handbill describing the attempted hanging of Levi Kelly. I do believe it was based on an actual event that occured in Massachusetts where so many people gathered on teh scaffold to witness the hanging that the scaffold collapsed from the weight and several people were seriously injured or killed. I haven't read the handbill in 20 years, so I make no claim to the accuracy of the account.

If I run across it, I'll post it in this thread..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 02 Mar 06 - 10:20 PM

Jerry--

Thanks so much for the information on Levi Kelly. If you find more, it would be great--it's quite a story--and a song.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 02 Mar 06 - 10:34 PM

Thanks Ron... looks like we have the table to ourselves for awhile. That's fine, too.

I just burned a 5 CD set of rhythm and blues for you. Kinda got snowed in today, but if I can get to the Post Orifice tomorrow, I'll throw them in the mail.

Also finished a 14 song master CD of the Gospel Messengers.

Cooking over here, and not in the kitchen.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 03 Mar 06 - 10:30 AM

All's quiet at the table today. Mostly me and Ron recently. That will all change around here, tomorrow. Tomorrow morning is Messengers practice, so my wife and I are busy getting ready. Funny thing is, the one thing I don't spend a lot of time getting ready for is the music. It seems like the music is a good reason for eating a lot and just sitting around, enjoying each other. We sing this Sunday, but it's only two songs at a celebration with ten or twelve other groups, and we can do two songs rolling out of bed at three in the morning. This practice will be different though, because I've invited my dental hygenist and her husband. Dental hygenist, you ask? Next practice is for lawyers. Only kidding. When my mouth isn't full of gadgets at the dentist's office, I talk about what's going on in my life with the hygenist (and the dentist) and I've shared a CD of the Messengers with them both. My dental hygenist said last week that she and her husband love the CD and had been listening to it that morning. She said that if there was ever a chance when her husband could come to one of our practices, he would really be excited. So of course, I invited the two of them for practice tomorrow. There's always room for one more. I've tried to reach someone who sings in the male chorus I sing in to come over too, with more ulterior motives. He's a wonderful tenor, but declined a few months ago when I asked him if he'd like to sing with us. He's retiring this month, so I thought this was a good time to not so subtly try to reel him in. If he can't make it, we'll be singing at the same program, on Sunday.

Good tenors are hard to come by..

Thinking about tomorrow reminds me of the last practice we had with our tenor, Derrick before he moved to Florida. Derrick was with us for 7 years and is one of the most delightful people I've ever hade the honor of calling a friend. That made our last practice very poignant. It was doubly enjoyable because Col K and Leadfingers were here and came with me to the practice at Frankie's house. It's a night I'll never forget..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Leadfingers
Date: 04 Mar 06 - 06:09 AM

Finally got the time to sit and chat ! Its been a bit chaotic here the last couple of days , and MY kitchen isnt big enough for a STOOL let alone a table folks could sit round !
Jerry - talking about meeting old friends , a thread was started late last year about Uxbridge Folk Club concerts , and one of the first replies was from EffSee , a new catter , asking about me ! Turned out he's an old RAF mate who I hadnt seen for over thirty years , and we are now in regular contact - He even made it to Portaferry in February , and it was as if we had been singing together in Changi Attic club last week , rather than in 1970 !
Oh , and dont bother with the tea pot - English I might be (and proud of it) but I still prefer a cup (Or perhaps a BUCKET ) of coffee .

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 04 Mar 06 - 07:56 AM

Hi Jerry,

As Shakespeare said, a blue jay hath murdered sleep. Well, he said something like that.

Actually, I like blue jays--and I'm glad to have them back--it means West Nile, which was really cutting them down, is on the wane. These must be the survivors who have genetically modified to counter it.

They have quite a few calls, including Jan's favorite--what she calls "bloopy bloopy", during which their head bobs up and down.

And of course it's partly my own fault I woke up too early (didn't bet to bed til 1)--ate weird stuff late at night. Didn't get back from work til 8:30 and she had cooked a Portobello mushroom with onions and some other things. Probably not the best thing to eat at 8:30. And then I was still hungry, so I ate bread and other stuff.

The song I woke up with in my head was, I think, by Joe Diffie

"I only planned on one or two--I might stay for three
If that good looking thang in the corner keeps staring back at me
It's so easy not to care 'bout what's right or what's wrong
It's too hot to fish, too hot for golf
And it's too cold at home."

I really like that one--and so does Jan.

There's an Ohrwurm (earworm) thread or there was--but I don't really see what the problem is for anybody who can sing. You just sing a song you like just before walking out the door. Then it'll stay in your head all day.

Admittedly I did have to ask a co-worker to turn down his music. But we're on good terms--and all I asked him to do was turn down the bass--so it didn't come throbbing through the wall. In fact, as I told him, I actually liked a lot of the music he was playing, but I can't work with a bass coming through the wall. I couldn't hear the words--but I could tell from the bass what song it was.

How are things in your neck of the woods?

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 04 Mar 06 - 08:01 AM

Jerry-

And thanks so much for that R & B. You're really going overboard on your generosity. Mudcat must be turning out to be a big benefactor to the US Postal Service.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 04 Mar 06 - 08:04 AM

"Down on the corner where the kids hang out
And listen to the radio
At two in the morning, they act real mean
If you ask 'em just to keep it down low."

   Now isn't that a dreadful shame?
   Isn't that a dreaful shame?
   The kids can't have any fun anymore
   Isn't that a dreadful shame?

Yeah, I can't deal with that booming bass stuff. Sometimes they have the sound system up so loud in church before the service starts and they're singing Praise and Worship songs, I can't stand to be in the building... they even pipe the sound downstairs. I keep intending to print up some small stickers for the people on the keyboards and guitars that says:

God Is Not Hard Of Hearing

God wearing a hearing aid... now there's a good one.

Got Messengers coming... I'll check back in later and talk about birds..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 04 Mar 06 - 08:20 AM

Amos get this one finished - great song. when I fist saw the tread - I thought Jerry's had a great idea for a song. maybe you could manage with two verses. repeat the first. but what raptor said about the missing faces round the table needs to be in there somewhere.

you got me singing it already

all the best

al

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: kendall
Date: 04 Mar 06 - 09:57 AM

Jerry, I avoid all places where those empty headed idiots are allowed to take over.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 04 Mar 06 - 12:28 PM

Hey Al: If you're referring to Dreadful Shame, it is a complete song.

The other verses are:

Old Aunt Addie she's lived too long
The neighbors all complain
Walking all around in an old print dress
She hardly even knows her name

   Isn't that a dreadful shame?
   Isn't that a dreadful shame?
   The old folks are messing up the neighborhood
   Isn't that a dreadful shame

(one the chorus, it's just the third line that changes)

Bill he's small and built for speed
His car is just the same
They caught him doing 50 in a 25 zone
Now the judge says he has to pay

   He had to pay good money just because he broke the law

Donw on the farm, the government pays
If you don't plant nothing at all
And then they try to tell you that the crops have all failed
And the price is going up in the Fall

   When a man can make a living doing nothing at all

Some are too young and some are too old
And most are too blind to see
You'd think with all these people who are living 'round here
There'd be a few as nice as me

   Out of all these people, not a one like me

It's alright to crack an instrument case here... we're in the kitchen..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 05 Mar 06 - 01:39 AM

There's a mighty fine book called "Kitchen Table Wisdom," by Rachel Naomi Remen.

Remen is one of a growing number of physicians exploring the spiritual dimension of the healing arts. "Sitting around the table telling stories is not just a way of passing time," writes Remen in her introduction. "It is the way wisdom gets passed along. The stuff that helps us live a life worth remembering." Remen, a physician, therapist, professor of medicine, and long-term survivor of chronic illness, is also a down-home storyteller.

"Coherent, elegant, mysterious, aesthetic," she writes. "When I first earned my degree in medicine I would not have described life in this way. But I was not on intimate terms with life then."

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 05 Mar 06 - 07:32 AM

no I meant the basic concept from your first posting on this thread Jerry

seemed like a really good theme, a powerful thought

perhaps I got lost in there, but I thought Amos had run with it

all the best
al

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 05 Mar 06 - 12:05 PM

Got you, Al:

That's not my gift. Looks like it is Amos's. You know, they talk about "gifted children," but everyone is gifted. Everyone. The secret is to recognize what your gift is (and isn't,) and be grateful for it. And not envious of other's gifts. It seems like most songwriters have the gift of setting out to write a song with a particular statement. When I try to do that, I get too self-conscious, and it doesn't work well for. I mean, the words rhyme, but it sounds like a song someone really tried hard to write. It should sound effortless... or at least, that's true for me. If I tried to write a song about a kitchen table, you probably wouldn't want to hear it. You, Amos and many others have that gift. I don't.
I don't write songs, I tame them. They are like shy, timid wild creatures. If I approach them too aggressively, they run for cover. I need to coax them out, encourage them and if they draw back, let them. They will come to me in their own time.

A few weeks ago, I invited a wonderful singer to sing with the Messengers as a possible replacement for our tenor who moved away. He considers himself a lead singer, and has sung lead most of his life. I told him that Joe, Frankie and I all sing leads, but we're not "lead singers." We're just guys who sing lead. There is a very different mind-set that "lead singers" have. They're itching to sing leads and when they aren't, too often they are thinking about how they would sing a song that someone else is leading (and of course, do it better.) The same perspective is true for me as a songwriter. I write songs, but don't think of myself as a singer-songwriter. I'm just a singer who writes some songs every once in awhile. That may be a subtle difference, but I think it is an honest description of my music.. where my gifts lie, and where they don't. It's why I could never do a songwriter's workshop where I give people advice on "how" to write a song.

Other than maybe "Don't make any quick moves or it will run and hide." :-)

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Leadfingers
Date: 05 Mar 06 - 02:56 PM

I often feel I get more pleasure 'backing' a good musician or singer than actually being the front man - Though I HAVE done that in the past !

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 05 Mar 06 - 08:58 PM

The books sounds great, Elmer: I'll have to track it down.

I dunno, Lead... I can go either way, lead or accompany. Does that me bi-musical? Singing harmony and playing accompaniment is a definite gift which not all people have. I don't think anyone can equal Ed Trickett as an accompanist who enriches other musicians. He's a fine harmony singer, too. And not all lead singers can sing harmony... something I've discovered (much to my surprise.)

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 06 Mar 06 - 10:25 AM

Alright, we didn't sit at the kitchen table... we sat at the table in our Great Room Saturday morning. To eat. We must have cast iron throats because we don't seem to have any trouble eating, and then singing. One of the previous members in our group was always caliming to have problems with his voice. It was always one thing. Or another. Sometimes it was that he had eaten something, sometimes it was because he drank cold water. Maybe that was all true. I got the feeling that it was a serious insecurity that he had singing in front of others, and that was what caused his voice to tighten up when he stepped up to a mic. I know that used to happen to me, back when I was concerned about my own safety singing in front of people.

That said, we had our usual full plate of food to choose from... sausage and peppers, Kentucky Fried Chicken, sour cream onion dip and chips, tossed salad, sliced peaches and a variety of cookies.
Ruth and I invited my dental hygenist and her husband over and there was an instant connection. That doesn't happen often. It's happened to me with our bass singer Joe, and some Catters... Art Thieme, before we were Catters, or there was a Mudcat, jimmyt, Ron Davies, Peace, ColK, Leadfingers and several others (so no one feels left out..) It's a good feeling. Like making an instant friend. The process is simple, but it doesn't usually work so immediately.

Making an Instant Friend is much like making Instant Mashed Potatoes. Instead of opening a box and adding water, you open the door to your home and add love.

It's always exciting when it works (Instant Friends, that is... Instant Mashed Potatoes are never exciting.) And then the music becomes energized and very special. That's what happened here Saturday morning.

One of these days, we're going to get jimmyt and his wife, and Bobert and Pea-Vine up here. Our door is always open... just let us know that you're coming... we'll put an extra plate setting or two on the table.

Wrote a song about a dog (Rosco) with that idea in mind...

"Set another bowl on the floor, Mildred
I think Rosco's got a friend."

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: GUEST,Art Thieme
Date: 06 Mar 06 - 11:57 AM

Good thread here, once again, Jerry...

But kitchen tables are where you find them...

We had none at home when I was growing up. The dining-room table sort of was it! Even that became a place to leave quickly and move on from---a place to get away from in order to get back to your real life. My father passed away when I was five, and I never had that anchor or guidance in my life. (Could that be why I'm not a Republican? ;-)

An aside: Male role models were ones I chose for myself---often mentors from afar that I've spoken of here in many a thread.

THE NO EXIT COFFEEHOUSE AND GALLERY in Chicago became my kitchen table in the sense that this thread implies I think. As I said in greater detail in the "Great Coffeehouses" and Clubs thread, it was a multi-faceted oasis for me where songs were shared and friendships were made and dissolved--- where loves were nurtured -- and also, sometimes sadly, and other times not very sadly, dissolved. It was a place where thoughts and positions and ideologies could be crystallized---and possibly shattered---much like being here at Mudcat now that I am more isolated from our music.

I played and shared my music and ideas there at the NO EXIT for thirty-seven years---because the place was my touchstone---my KITCHEN TABLE. Carol and I hung out there---and so did our son, Chris while he was growing up because that is where his dad made music. That space in Chicago is used very sporadicallynow by
Michael James, the new owner. His main restaurant is the "Heartland Cafe" down the street. The dark brown burlap walls, and the old graffiti are painted white now.-----It is peopled my "here and now" folks---and some fascinating ghosts to boot.

Chris lives near it now. A continuum of sorts I guess!

But Jerry Rasmussen's Kitchen Table in his "guest house" where he lived while heading up the Stamford (CT) Museum And Nature Center was one of many on-the-folkie-gigging-road kitchen tables for me. Those, of necessity, became the setting for numerous road life birthday parties, New Years celebrations, Christmas times, and other holiday gatherings. Thanksgivings galore...

Thanks to all of you who made that camaraderie possible!

Art Thieme

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 06 Mar 06 - 11:20 PM

About backing vs singing lead. I agree completely that it's at least as much fun to harmonize as to sing lead. It's a skill in itself to be able to throw in a harmony that fits the song without trampling on the melody--just being part of the musical texture is immensely satisfying--and I love to do it. Jan calls me a harmony slut--I'll sing with anybody who likes it--duets, trios, quartets, bigger groups.

And it's also what I try to do with the viola--just compliment the melody--which it seems is much easier to do with a low harmony than a high one--so the viola works well. It's great fun to try to guess where the melody is going if you've never heard it before. And you have to recognize if the melody is more complicated than you first thought--and to just listen til you know you really have it. But it is great fun--and amazingly well appreciated.

If somebody is singing a cappella the chances are he or she wants to be free to lengthen or shorten the notes and phrases in telling the story--and you have to wait for a chorus or refrain before putting in a harmony. At least that's what I've found--and I have to admit that, sure enough, in the verses if I'm leading the song, I like to be able to be free in phrasing. Unless of course the song is an anthem--like John Tams' Rolling Home for instance, where the driving rhythm is important, even though the song is unaccompanied.

It seems to me that either you need to know in advance how the person is going to sing the song or there needs to be a very steady rhythm, often from a guitar--otherwise making up a harmony is really hard--and may even detract from a song.

But there are certain rough-hewn genres where there's more give and take--like sea chanteys.

It seems there's a whole science of harmonizing.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 07 Mar 06 - 08:30 AM

Singing harmony... ahh.. there's a subject that's dear to my heart.

A few weeks ago, I was very excited about the chance to have a wonderful singer join the Gospel Messengers. Doug came with impeccable credentials, having sung most of his life with reknowned rhythm and blues groups, all the way back to the Five Satins, the Flamingos and the Coasters. My feel for harmony is just that... not based on formal training. I can read sheet music just passably, but I have always sung the harmony that I hear. The Male chorus that I've sung in for the last nine years sings from memory, not sheet music. When Doug came to our first practice, we were all excited at the prospect of learning more about harmony and we were very receptive. We quickly discovered that there's harmony, and there's harmony. And harmony, too. We sing in a very straightforward four part harmony. It's what we hear and what we love. Ironically, the first time Doug heard a CD of ours he said, "I thought you said you did old black gospel quartet stuff... this sounds like folk music." Was I proud, or what? Most of the older style black gospel quartet songs we do are done in straightforward four-part harmony. If that sounds like "folk music" it's because it is folk music. Doug's concept of harmony was much more modern and he tried to change our four part harmony to three part. It sounded great to him, but we didn't like it, and weren't comfortable with it.
I told him that we had gone from a trio singing three-part harmony to a quartet singing three-part harmony. That made absolutely no sense to us, and we parted ways very respectfully. We heard harmony radically differently. I ended up putting together a three page statement about what we seek in singing harmony, just to avoid repeating the same mistake with someone else.

Ya want to be a Messenger, Ron?

The workshop that I've done for many years, that I did a thread on here: The Gospel In Black And White has been a great revelation for me. It helped me to learn a lot about harmony. I can't say that I am really that much more knowledgeable I guess, and I still cannot express my understanding of harmony in formal terms, but I've become much more aware of how differently people hear harmony (and therefor sing it.)

I particularly enjoy singing harmony on a song that I've never heard before (singing very quietly until I'm sure that I know what I'm doing. If the melody and chord progression are fairly straightforward, I can anticipate where they're going and sing a fairly "safe" harmony.

When we had Colin Kemp, Leadfingers, Noreen, Theresa and Sussex Carole visiting us here at the house, we sang with the Messengers, alternating sea chanteys and old black gospel. It was great fun, and our harmonies worked well together.

If you ever make it to our kitchen table, I'll invite the Messengers over, and we'll have a fine time singing.

And eating.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 07 Mar 06 - 08:11 PM

Hey, Art:

Yes, kitchen tables can be anywhere. Funny that John Harford didn't write a song about "the kitchen tables of my mind." He coulda made a fortune and bin on tee vee. You understand what I'm talking about. It's the comfort of a friendship, or even a warm conversation with a total stranger. That can happen anywhere. I couldn't really write a nostalgic song about any kitchen table other than the one in the Gate House that we sat around many times when you came out this way. When I was growing up, we had a small kitchen and a small table covered with oil cloth. Remember oil cloth? Checkered oil cloth? I wonder whatever became of oil cloth. I bet the guy who invented it thought he'd be living in the lap of luxury until fashions cruely passed him by. We ate at our kitchen table. Very utilitarian. I actually have fonder memories of our dining room table, because we only ate there on holidays, when the whole family gathered together.

In my first marriage, our kitchen table was the water hole. My sons and I were gazelles cautiously approaching to get a drink, and my wife was a lioness hiding in the tall grass waiting to pounce on me to rip me to shreds when I sat down. I'm sure there's a song there, but it's not one that I want to write.

And then there were the years I lived alone in an apartment. Kitchen tables were never meant to be for one. They're too lonely.

Now my life is joyful, with a beautiful, loving wife to share the table with me.

That looks life four verses right there... nothing nostalgic... just real life. If my life is a song, I'm glad that it has such a beautiful last verse..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 07 Mar 06 - 11:28 PM

Whew! Thanks for the chair. It's lovely to be back. I've been a busy woman this last week, having moved from a roomy house to a two-room plus bath apartment. I'm still working on settling in, approaching it without stress. I've put up shelves and am getting everything off the floor that I can. I tell people that whatever doesn't fit in is going out the door.

But today is the first day I've worked my way over to the computer. I still have paths threading their way around the heaps here but it is wonderful to sit at the computer and join you at the table.

I've been thinking about song making lately. On occasion I've written songs - maybe twenty of them in my life, with long dry spells - but the last few days I've been realizing how very many subjects there are to be written about. It's an endless list - and if one got to the end, it would be time to start over.

I think that my bemusement stems from my reaction to Tommy Sands' concert here the other day. The man is such a marvel and just being around him opens so many gates. He's been here twice before and the peace that surrounds him is sweeter each time.

I just finished his book 'The Songman', and I'll be passing that around to a number of friends. He arrived without enough copies of it for everyone so many people didn't get one. I was fortunate enough to wait out two different women who were reading in it at the sales table and decided against buying it. I kept my mouth shut and my mind from sending any energy into their decision.

But enough about me - time to let someone else speak!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 08 Mar 06 - 06:52 AM

Definitely.. pull up a chair, Ebbie. My wife and I were just talking about moving, this morning. Not planning to move... being thankful that we're done. We moved up here 5 years ago when we were in our mid and upper 60's and we did it by ourselves. Neither of us wanted to end up trapped in the city where we lived and I knew that there'd come a time in our lives when we just didn't have the strength to face a move. The three most stressful events in life according to Psychiatrists are the loss of a loved one, divorce and moving. We've been blessed with very good health (and still are,) and were able to do the move alone. There was a ton of work to do on the house... some needed, most desired. But we did it. As you know, getting the stuff in the house/apartment is just the beginning. Then the real work begins. We moved from a two bedroom co-op into a three bedroom house with almost twice the floor space, AND a garage. The downside of that was that there was no necessity of getting rid of anything. We still have a lot of stuff that my wife has probably kept for at least twenty years in boxes that haven't been sorted through.

This morning, our son is coming over and we're going to sand and refinish the living room, master bedroom and hallway. Life will be total chaos for three or four days, so I'm going to appreciate stopping here at the computer and plunking down in a chair here at the table. We may not even be able to find our actual kitchen table once we move all the furniture out of the two rooms..

But life is good..

Nice to see you, Ebbie..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: leftydee
Date: 08 Mar 06 - 12:03 PM

Good luck with the floors, Jerry. It's not such a bad job but can get messy. Workin' around the house can be fun and rewarding.

I've been building myself a new workshop for the last couple of weeks and just need a minute or two to sit at the table and catch my breath. Ellen has been setting up a playroom in the basement for the grandkids too. It looks great and I'm sure the kids will have a ball.

I sure appreciated the music you sent. It's awfully nice to catch a new spark now and then. The Gospel in Black and White has become a favorite. I'm going to PM you for you address, I have some stuff I'd like to share with you too.

Bob

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 08 Mar 06 - 08:31 PM

Hey, Bob:

Stage one done... clearing out the furniture, carpet and various and sundries and covering and taping over everything else. Like most things that are worth doing, the preparation time is more consuming than actually "doing" the project. We're taking it a little easy on ourselves by doing it in two stages so by the weekend we'll have the first half done and be human again.

I bought the printer I need to print labels on CDs, and once we get through this project, I'll do the labels. I am painfully slow at deciphering computer stuff, so it may take awhile. But, I'll get there. As Uncle Dave Macon sang:

"I'd rather get to heaven in a Mitchell Wagon than to Hell in an automobile."

It's not how fast you get there. It's how good a time you have on the way.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: ranger1
Date: 09 Mar 06 - 09:06 AM

Hey Jerry! Just stopped by for a cup of coffee and to shoot the breeze. I'm loving this thread. I've had a chair wedged up in the corner and just been listening to the conversation flowing through.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: GUEST,Modest but proud
Date: 09 Mar 06 - 09:41 AM

As one of the pioneers of the invention of the cochlear implant over 35 years ago I am still astounded by the advancement of the art and science of the device.

Here is the story of one man's quest to again hear Ravel's Bolero although he had become totally deaf.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4737586

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4737586


I was moved to invent the cochlear device when I heard a deaf student play the guitar impeccably but like Beethoven he could not hear what he played.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 09 Mar 06 - 05:46 PM

Musicians are coming in the windows. It seems like no matter what I do, I run into musicians. The one thing in common is that they aren't making a living doing music.

This morning, my wife, son and I went down to Home Depot to rent a floor sander and get all the supplies for refinishing the floors. My son Pasha was listening to the music being piped into the store, and started playing "drums" on some cans, and the many who was waiting on us asked if he was a muscian. Pasha said thqat he used to play drums, but I am the musician. The started a long conversation (basically a monologue) about all the years the man who was waiting on us had been a musician. He's probably in his 60's, I'd guess and first got excited about music listening to rockabilly in the 50's. Then, when he heard James Brown, he got in to soul music. He plays electric bass and for many years was in an 8 piece soul band. Now, he plays bass in a country band. He's played with the Drifters and a few other "name" groups, and I told him I had a friend who'd been in the Flamingos and the Coasters, and have met Fred Paris, the lead singer of the Five Satins.

There is a basic fabvric of music that runs through this country. There are countless people who have had their lives enriched by music. Only a small handful of them have made enough money out of it to support themselves. And yet music remains an important part of their life. Not just us folkies.

Today, when we took a break from working on the floors, I told Pasha of a tape I made, and encouraged others to think about. It was a Soundtrack Of My Life tape. If someone made a movie of our lives (which is highly unlikely) what would I want on the soundtrack? What would you... that's a separate thread, but I could see Pasha getting in to it.

I know that Poppa's Got A Brand New Bag would on his soundtrack... :-)

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 10 Mar 06 - 05:49 AM

I think if you played the bass line or that guitar bit on Papa's got a Brand New Bag - you should be awarded a pension for life for services to humanity for making us all happy at some time or other.

a bit like the poet laureate

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 10 Mar 06 - 06:35 AM

I don't know how many of you have seen Standing In The Shadows Of Motown, about the musicians who were on all those great Motown hits, but it is fascinating. How good are they? Even Elvis Costello can't completely destroy their music. As an aside, what's with Elvis Costello? I can't think of anyone (other than perhaps John Davidson) who made such a long career out of such limited talent.)

I'dd add to Wee Little's Pantheon of Unforgetttable musical lines the opening to My Girl. That stops me dead in my tracks whenever I hear it, and it sounds as fresh today as it did the first time that I heard it. And then, you'd have to add several signature lines of Keith Richard's...

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Bobert
Date: 10 Mar 06 - 08:12 AM

Well, as per usual I am loving every word of this thread...

You see, the P-Vine and I are going into our 8th month here in Pine Grove holler and we are just at that point in the redo of this farm house where we can evn discuss the luxary of having a "real table" back in our lives as the end is now in sight...

But we've been makin' do with a old table that she has owned forever that used to sit in the living room by the front door and had the important function of being the place where car keys were thrown...

...but it has been in service since the move and has been our office at times, a work table at times and the table where we had Christmas dinner with old man Clifford who lives here in the holler and ain't got nobody to look mush after him...

And it's where the lady who came to sell us carpet broke down and told us about arelationship which had soured and we found oursleves not only buying the higher priced carpet but playing mom and dad...

I wish I could say that I wrote a great epic or song at this table but I haven't but I did do the inside art work for my new CD on that table so, hey, maybe one day I'll write that epic or song about our experiences over the last 8 months...

But one this is for sure. Jerry is right. A kitchen table can be anywhere...

sniff...

Bobert

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: SINSULL
Date: 10 Mar 06 - 09:04 AM

Everytime I see the title to this thread I remember Orson Welles' brilliant use of the kitchen table in "Citizen Kane". The newlyweds move farther and farther apart as their marriage fails. Then there is James Cagney mushing a grapefruit into some blond's face - ah yes... the kitchen table.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 10 Mar 06 - 09:14 AM

And in the movie Avalon, the family slowly disintegrates through time as they move from having dinner and conversation at the kitchen table, to watching television while they are eating, to moving into the living room to watch television while they eat.

And how can I ever forget that classic howl of disbelief.. "You CUT the TOIKEY!"

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 10 Mar 06 - 11:56 AM

And Modest But Proud: Hearing is a terrible thing to lose. So, good on you! My Aunt was almost completely deaf the last few months of her life (she died when she was 97) and it was heartbreaking not only for her, but for my Mother. They were the two remaining siblings from 8, and were living in the same retirement complex. What initially was a beautiful situation, where my Mother could visit her sister every day became an enormous frustration. My Aunt could no longer hear my Mother, and I'm not sure who was most frustrated. Even though they lived in the same complex, they weren't able to communicate. For many years, they'd spoken to each other over the phone every day. What a loss it was. My Aunt would have required surgery to regain her hearing, and she was just killing time until her kidneys finally gave out on her and she was gone.

I've noticed as I get older that people speak more softly. It's an irritation and a bother. Why don't people speak up like they did when I was younger?

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: GUEST,mg
Date: 10 Mar 06 - 02:48 PM

Hey modest..I worked with Ben Clopton and Joe Miller at U.Washington in the cochlear implant lab. Late 70s. I am always amazed to hear the stories. mg

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 10 Mar 06 - 11:49 PM

Jerry-- sorry I didn't answer before--sure, I'd love to be a Messenger. I sure try to get into the swing of it when my group (about 180) does gospel. We mostly do pretty heavy stuff--Mozart Requiem, Brahms Requiem, Bach St. Matthew Passion etc. And I love that--my all-time favorite piece of any genre is the Brahms Requiem, partly because Brahms made it an inclusive as possible (not specifically Christian), and emphasizes the consoling aspects, no Hell and damnation--- and also because it's just wonderful music. And since I speak German, I can understand what we're singing.

But when we do gospel, I try to get out of the printed score as fast as I can--so you get into the spirit of the music. My group does a good job on Deep River--with a huge dynamic range, and bringing out the melody while letting the other parts just stay in the background. But in livelier pieces the group just finds it agony to swing--Jan says she's embarrassed at watching all the stiff choral singers. And some just never get into it at all--they're fish out of water and stand there frowning while they sing-- and waiting for it to be over. But I sing and sway and grin--I love it--especially songs like Witness, Elijah Rock, and Ain'a That Good News?--the really lively ones. Of course I also get into it physically when we sing the classical pieces too.   But it's a shame to be narrow in music--among other things you deny yourself so much pleasure.

When we sing for the Martin Luther King celebration every year, we always sing with black groups and under black conductors. Gospel singing is sure totally different from what we're used to-- last time the conductor had a whole repertoire of gestures which told the singers where to go back to in the music--lots of repeats of phrases from various parts of the music--just until the director felt moved to go on, regardless of what was in the printed music--building the excitement.   You had to keep your eyes glued on the conductor, not the music at all--you had to have the music virtually memorized, even though we only had 2 rehearsals on it. Fantastic experience.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 11 Mar 06 - 07:51 AM

Hi,Ron:

An anecdote:

When I first joined the Men's Chorus at the church where my wife and I are members, I was very excited about the prospect of singing with the guys. They sang with great power and freedom, not singing from sheet music. I'd never had any desire to sing in a choir, because I am not musically trained and am barely, barely adequate reading music. Our Chorus Director teaches us new songs, starting with the second tenors who sing the melody, then teaching the baritones, first tenors and bass their harmonies by ear. When it was time for the baritones to learn their harmony, we all stood up and I was quickly into the rhythm of the music. It just felt great to be able to move freely while we were singing. When the baritones had practiced their part, it was time for the first tenors to learn their harmony. I remained standing and was very much into moving with the music, even though we weren't singing yet. Bill, (the only person I knew by name) said to me, "You can stop moving now, we're not singing," and I answered "I waited all my life to be able to move to the music while I'm singing, and I'm not going to stop now!"

I told this story to a group of 1st to 3rd grade girls in a private school where we were singing, and one of the kids raised her hand and asked "Why did it take you so long?" My wife and I and all the teachers really cracked up at the question. It was a logical question, and I wasn't really sure of the answer.

Back in the early 60's when I first started performing regularly, I performed sitting down. It was the way a lof of singers did it. I took lessons from Dave Van Ronk, and he performed sitting down, so it seemed logical to me to do the same thing. But Tom Paxton, Phil Ochs, Peter LaFarge and many others performed standing up. As time went by, I started performing standing up, and discovered that I liked it a lot because I could move more freely with the music. When I've performed folk music in recent years, I've gone back to performing sitting down. Most of the performers I booked over the years performed that way. Bluegrass bands always perform standing up... as much as anything, because they move back and forth from the mic to do harmonies. And, it would be awkward playing stand-up bass, sitting down. Choirs always perform standing up, and I can't imagine singing black gospel music sitting down. I can sing the old white southern gospel sitting down just fine, but not black gospel.
I suppose I could start a thread (there probably already is one) on whether people perform sitting or standing and why, but those threads always seem to turn out to be one or two sentence responses, without a lot of coversation. This is a kitchen table thread, so we can talk about anything, and have a conversation not just do a survey.

But if it's black gospel, I gotta mooooovvvvveeeee.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 11 Mar 06 - 11:13 AM

I love this thread, I have been listening in and enjoying.Made me remember our kitchen table at Grandma's when we were little. My cousin and I would sit under the table and listen to the grown ups talk.We used to love to hear the stories of Gran and her sisters.Grandma was apprenticed to a court dressmaker in London, for the first few years she had to unstich the ruffles at the hem of the dresses and replace with new ones, imagine the filth where the dresses dragged in the mud!She had to walk miles to and fro to work, her sisters all went into "service" as maids.Aunt Lillioe never married as her young man died in France in the first world war, how I wish we had had tape recorders then as I am sure I have forgotten more than I remember. Sometimes the chat became "not suitable for the children" and we would be sent out to the garden for fresh air, but often we were lucky and they would forget we were there.
There was always wonderful smells from the stove, cakes, bread and Lamb stew.We were taught to sew and cross stitch. Lovely memories.I guess that is where I heard my first folk songs as the sisters would sing together in front of the fire in the afternoons.
Years later when I first met my sisters in law in Pennsauken N J we would sit round mother's table in her kitchen, drinking coffee and eating danish pastries.So the kitchen table is the heart of the home where ever we are.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 12 Mar 06 - 07:31 AM

Billybob-

Those are great stories about your Grandma and later your sisters in law. I grew up (first 13 years) in NJ--mostly in Moorestown, but also in Pennsauken (so I know exactly where that is.) New Jersey gets a bad rap from people who only see the NJ Turnpike, or associate it with the Mob (thanks to Atlantic City, I suppose). Most people, it seems, have never heard of the Pine Barrens--where in one of the most, if not the most, densely populated states in the Union it is possible to get lost in the wilderness.

I've also read that another reason NJ gets to be the butt of jokes all the time is that for a very long time there was no TV station based in NJ--so both the New York and Philadelphia TV comedians had a field day ridiculing NJ. (Of course, what we used to call Chemical Alley (in north NJ) didn't help--it really did reek up there.) But that was not the whole state by a long shot.


When I was growing up in Moorestown-- ( which, recently, according to, I believe it's Money magazine, was rated by their staff the best town in the whole country)--there was an author of books for early adoloscents named Stephen W Meader. I absolutely loved his books--and devoured them (and others) ferociously and voraciously. The book I most still remember was called Shadow In the Pines. It had to do with an amazing assortment of characters in the Pine Barrens, including a ring of Nazi spies and some birders. I used to take books with me to Sunday school class and read them while everybody else was talking about the assigned (religious) readings. (I had read the books we were suppposed to read for Sunday school long since--usually read the assigned book in the first week--while it was supposed to last the whole year.

Anyway, Shadow in the Pines had to do with a boy who stumbled across a cabin in the Pine Barrens where he found both the Nazis and a copy of Audubon's Elephant Folio--which I'm sure you know was a very valuable and stunningly beautiful huge book of Audubon paintings of US birds. But what really struck me was the graves and especially the diary the boy also found--which documented how the family who ran the iron foundry which used to be there died out. The diary talked about how competition from Pennsylvania foundries was ruining the business and later how each one of the family was dying of (smallpox, I think it was) there in the wilderness until even the diary writer himself--in mid passage-- succumbed. The boy also found graves with gravestones with language like "Sayfe from this sadd Worlde's alarms/ Resteth in his Mayker's Arms. As an 11-year old, I was stunned.

For me, at least, NJ will always be far more about Moorestown and the Pine Barrens than about the NJ Turnpike.


Jerry-- that's a great story about your being moved by music.   I'm with you.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 12 Mar 06 - 09:23 AM

Hey Ron: Is there really a Moorestown, and a Morristown too? I served one year's apprenticeship at the Newark Museum in the early 60's, and spent several months developing an exhibit on Thomas Edison. That gave me an opportunity to travel around the state, collecting objects and photographs for the exhibition. New Jersey is a very beautiful state (forget the Jersey Turnpike, i'ts really part of New York City.) I must admit that one time when I had my sons in the car heading down the Jersey Turnpike when a sudden gusty rainstorm blew up. It put all that fine red clay swirling into the air, where it mixed with the rain, and it was actually raining red mud. My sons thought that it was the most hilarious thing they'd ever witnessed. That aside, I really loved the countryside in New Jersey.

When I finished by year at the Newark Museum, I was offered a job at three Museums. One was the museum in Morristown, New Jersey. It was tempting, because the town is very beautiful. I was also offered a job at the Boston Children's Museum, which would have given me the opportunity to work for Mike Spock, but the position wouldn't be opening up for a couple of months and I was out of work and had gotten into the habit of eating. I ended up taking a position at the Stamford Museum and Nature Center in Connecticut, and as it turned out, I believe I made the right decision.

Occasionally, I get things right.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 12 Mar 06 - 09:50 AM

Yup, Jerry, both a Morristown and a Moorestown in NJ. People always assume I mean Morristown--where Washington slept--but we only had Hessians. One of the town's few claims to fame was the house on Main St. with the plaque "Hessians wintered here 1777-78". Moorestown was founded by Quakers, including Mr, Moore. I lived close to the water towers, which you could see from far away.

A wonderful place to grow up--I even had the chance to hear the Philadelphia Orchestra and visit the Franklin Institute, including wandering through the pumping heart-- since we were relatively close to Philadelphia. But Moorestown was still a small town where a kid coin collector could exchange 5 rolls of nickels for 2 rolls of dimes, you could go see the ducks on Strawbridge Lake, get fresh corn at Flying Feather Farm after church, go back in the tall grass and watch birds--and as I said we had that famous author of adolescents' books. I was not at all happy to move at age 13--and to Maryland, a state named after a girl! When we moved I was determined to be miserably unhappy--and was gloriously successful in that endeavor.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 12 Mar 06 - 02:06 PM

Hey, Ron:

Sounds a lot like my experience growing up in a small town in Wisconsin. Except we didn't have the Philadelphia Orchestra within driving distance. Not that it mattered, as we didn't own a car. The biggest thing we had nearby was in Milwaukee, where Whoopee John Willfahrt was king of the polka. Honest. You can look it up.

Every small town has its claims to fame... small though they may be. Mine had Carrie Jacobs Bond who wrote I Love You Truly... for many years the most commonly sung song at weddings. The Gideon Society got it's start in my hometown, too. I didn't discover that until many years after I left home when I wrote a song that mentioned the grandest hotel in town and in reading about its history found out that the first meeting of the Gideon Society was held there.

And then, Kerwin Matthews, who starred in The 7th Voyage Of Sinbad and Gulliver's Travels was a classmate of my older sister... or at least was in High School when she was.

The nice thing about small towns is that there is that tall grass and open country within walking distance. If you walk down to the railroad tracks,

"All you have to do is to walk those tracks
And they're bound to lead you to the country
Lie on your back in the tall, sweet grass
Or you can take your dog and go hunting:

Milwaukee/St. Paul

I wasn't much into hunting.. and had a bad accident when I first started hunting with my Father... accidently shot my dog. I never liked fishing either.. turned out I was a naturalist, and didn't know it yet. I preferred watching to killing.

Been talking to my wife Ruth, and she's enthusiastic about coming down to the Getaway this year on the way to visit my son, his wife and their two kids in North Carolina. If we make it, I may just decide to strap our kitchen table to the top of our car and bring it with me..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Naemanson
Date: 12 Mar 06 - 03:06 PM

I wish I had time to read down through this whole thread. I think you've struck a chord with the kitchen table. It certainly was that way in my parents' home and still is. The living room is for TV, the den is for reading, the music room... well, you get the idea. But all my memories of talk, from common gossip to world philosophy, center around the table in that kitchen. Dining rooms are a waste of space. Just set a table in the kitchen and solve all the problems in the world.

I had a friend I met at the break up of a relationship. She had just had her heart broken too. We became very close friends and spent many hours drinking tea and talking at kitchen tables, hers and mine, for many years. I married in December 04 and am very happy now. She is marrying this coming June and is also very happy. I hope to see her marry and see her as happy as we dreamed of around those tables.

Hey Jerry, aren't you in Connecticut? Can I swing by and visit in June?

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 12 Mar 06 - 06:21 PM

Yes, Naemanson: I live in Derby... just west of New Haven on Rte. 34. We'd be glad to have you stop by... we'll be in Wisconsin (hopefully) for my Mother's 99th birthday in early June... her birthday is on the 5th, and we usually go out for 7 or 8 days with her birthday somewhere in the middle.

I'll PM our telephone number to you...

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Naemanson
Date: 12 Mar 06 - 08:07 PM

Excellant, I have friend in Easton I plan to visit also. I'm looking forward to it. We'll consolidate plans as the date draws near.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 12 Mar 06 - 08:51 PM

We should be done finishing the floors by then.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 12 Mar 06 - 10:07 PM

Jerry, I was listening in - did I hear you say that you and Ruth might come to the Getaway this year?? Hip Hip!! Come primed to sing- I want to hear you.

Speaking again of kitchen tables, mine was utilized today. There was a really sad incident early this morning: a historic church and attendant community hall down the hill burnt to rubble. This is where our new (7 months old) folk club was born and nurtured and also where I went to work as secretary a few months ago- and now it's gone. Practically everybody in town has a history with the community hall- we've played for dances there, we gathered for concerts and slide shows and live theatre and dinners and breakfasts and just about everything- and now it's gone. There's a lot of sadness in town.

Anyway, later this morning one of our folk club co-founders who is a member of the church that burnt came to my door and we sat at the kitchen table and drank tea and commiserated. No one knows what will happen next. Except that I know I won't be going to work tomorrow!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 12 Mar 06 - 10:35 PM

Yes, Ebbie:

As things stand, Ruth and I are planning to catch at least one day of the Getaway in the fall. It would be a real pleasure to see so many friends I've never met before. You included. I imagine I could sing a song or two..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 12 Mar 06 - 10:37 PM

... and I am really sorry to hear about the loss of the church and community center. I know how devastating that can be to a town. It's not just the building that's lost... it's all the good memories. They will live on, but it's different when the place where people lived them is taken away.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 12 Mar 06 - 10:46 PM

Oh, and Naemanson: I had several conversations with a woman-friend I came to know many years ago on the same topics... lost love, and the wonder if love was ever to be in our individual futures. She had never been more than a friend. At the time, it seemed very distant and unattainable. But then, nine years ago I met Ruth and we've had almost 8 years of the most beautiful life imagineable together. My woman-friend? I heard from her a few months ago, out of the clear blue. She was doing an album of songs of faith and wanted to record a song I'd written many years ago. She met a wonderful man and after talking with the two of them, they sound as happy (almost) as my wife and me. She recorded the song and did a wonderful job on it... made it completely new for me.

A few years ago, she recorded another song I'd written that was kicking around on a tape I'd shared with her about the Screen Porch Door that graced our front porch when I was growing up. But that's another story. Screen Porch Doors aren't the heart of the house. Perhaps they are the eyes, because they've seen the history of our lives.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Phot
Date: 13 Mar 06 - 04:05 AM

Hi guys, just passing by, and thought I'd stick my head round the door. Judging by the description, you guys seem to live in one of the nicest bits of the US. When I get home, Pixie and I are going down to Devon to visit my Mum and Dad, they have a 300 year old thatched cottage with a lovley garden, and a stream running at the side of it, its beautiful in the summer, and a great place to relax, sing and play. Ask Cllr about the time we made the valley ring, literally! Well time to get back to work, have fun.

Wassail!! Chris

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Naemanson
Date: 13 Mar 06 - 04:25 AM

Well, THEY live in a nice part of the country. I have to live in a tropical paradise on an island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. The trade winds rattle the palm trees making it too noisy to sleep and the waves pound incessantly on the reef outside the lagoon. Nice sunsets, though.

Snow is more of a concept here, not a reality, and a cold day is when you roll down the windows and turn off the AC.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 13 Mar 06 - 05:31 AM

I wonder if you're right about every town having a claim to fame. I think, all my life, I have dwelled in places of total obscurity.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: David C. Carter
Date: 13 Mar 06 - 06:29 AM

Hi there Jerri and everybody,missed the Kitchen Table Sunday.Had a late night Saturday,or more like an early Sunday morning, before we got home.Nice to see this "Kitchen Table" still going strong.The Lady and I are off to Germany end of this month,a 7hr drive from here.Talking of moving around,if any of you guys are my way sometime,we don't have much room, but you're very welcome to come and share it.
Take care

David

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 13 Mar 06 - 06:39 AM

Hey, Phot: When you're in Devon, swing up this way to Derby and stop in for a cuppa. We're about a fifteen minute drive from Devon. Devon, Connecticut. :-)

As long as people enjoy stopping in and shooting the breeze on this thread, I'll keep it going. When times are quiet, I'll just sit here for a minute, myself.

I'll keep the kettle on.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: David C. Carter
Date: 13 Mar 06 - 06:52 AM

Jerry: Spelled your name Wrong.I Prostrate myself before you.How Can I get some of your music?

Divad

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 13 Mar 06 - 07:08 AM

Thas awright, David: There is a Jerri in here who is a female type, and I always find it humorous how much alike we think on so many things.

I'll send you a PM about my music.... I have two CDs out on Folk-Legacy and am just finalizing a re-issue of Handful of Songs on CD. I have two other CDs I'm just finalizing... one made from cassettes of my own (and traditional stuff) and one of my black gospel quartet.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: David C. Carter
Date: 13 Mar 06 - 07:26 AM

Thanks:I don't think I could find Folk-Legacy, along with a lot of other music which is hard to find here.Wish I could,because I like to trawl the out of the way record stores,you never know what you might find.OK,I'll look out for your PM.
Cheers
David

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: ranger1
Date: 13 Mar 06 - 09:43 AM

Hey Jerry! It'd be great if you came to the Getaway! It would be wonderful to meet you and Ruth.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 13 Mar 06 - 10:12 AM

Unless something comes up, we intend to be there for at least one day. Ruth and I are both enthusiastic about coming...

Jerry and Ruth

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Leadfingers
Date: 13 Mar 06 - 12:47 PM

Jerry - IF you and Ruth are Gettawaying , thats another good reason to risk personal bankruptcy to get over again !

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Charley Noble
Date: 13 Mar 06 - 04:01 PM

We had an old black walnut round table with a couple of leaves inserted that stretched it out into an oval, back when I was growing up on the farm in Maine.

The kitchen itself was farm command central, with seven doors, each providing access to a different domain. There was the door to the living room, the door up the back-stairs, the door down to the cellar depths, the backyard door, the pantry door, the backroom door and the door out into the front barnyard. There were times when things got quite busy in the kitchen with all the possible comings and goings of people, pets and vermin.

The door frames were interesting as well. Either the center of the house was moving up or the walls were sinking down, or maybe both were happening silultaneously. There used to be an old coal stove on one side of the room that the dogs slept behind, and a dry sink with a hand pump at one end against the back wall. There was also a mural of "Sweet Betsy from Pike" on the back wall, including the shanghai rooster and the spotted hog. No wall was safe from Mother! She also had painted a pair of small oval murals on the wall above the kitchen table between the windows, one of Molly Malone wheeling her famous cart and another with a shapely mermaid a-sitting on a buoy.

When my brother and I were younger there was no electricity. There were oil lamps for lighting, a real icebox that my parents cut ice for, and a battery operated radio that we loved to listen to for country music and radio drama. My parents also had some good friends who would come over for singing folk songs, and who would also consume huge quantities of food, hard liquor and beer. Some of the more interesting songs we only learned late at night by listening carefully from the head of the stairs. The acoustics were quite good up the stair well!

The farm kitchen is still a comfortable place where Mother in her late 80's is still holding court. The doorframes look even more weird but she's had the ceiling recently re-painted and is planning to resurface the floor. I stop by there once or twice a week to do some chores and swap gossip about various projects. She still enjoys the old songs.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 13 Mar 06 - 04:19 PM

WOnderful remembrances, Charley:

I have many rememberances of my Uncle Ross and Aunt Ruth's farm house. And my Uncle Jim and Aunt Glady's, also. When we went to visit my Uncle Ross and Aunt Ruth, the highpoint would be coming into that kitchen in the evening after all the chores were done. The kitchen was blindingly bright, with just a bare light bulb exposed in the center of the ceiling. I loved the light in there and tried unsuccessfuly to get my Mother to agree to have a bare light bulb in each ceiling in our house. Aunt Ruth always seemed to have a batch of freshly made mollasses cookies and home-made ice cream waiting for us.

I ended up putting many of those memories into a song titled Uncle Jim. It was a composite of memories of both of my Uncles, and even some of my Dad.

"Old Uncle Jim he sits, sits in his chair he sits
Reading Reader's Digest for the 14th time
Puffing on a bowl of old Prince Albert
And sipping on some elderberry wine"

Later when I grew up, I made my own elderberry wine, and smoked Prince Albert for a long time...

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Charley Noble
Date: 13 Mar 06 - 05:32 PM

Jerry-

Yes, even Prince Albert in his can! Father smoked a pipe for years and when he finally gave it up at the age of 60 my brother and I were pissed because we no longer knew what to get him for a birthday present.

Well, it was good that he gave up smoking the pipe – in the long-run it meant having him around for another 48 years.

We always had a patch of elderberries growing out back. Since the backyard door been converted into more kitchen shelving, it's been a little more difficult to interact with them.

We also made dandylion wine!

I don't suppose you have a story about how someone set the pressure cooker going on the stove, left the room to do an errand, only to hear a tremendous explosion from the kitchen. Not a good thing when one is processing canned tomatoes. The murals never looked quite the same. Maybe that helps explain why Mother finally painted over them.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 13 Mar 06 - 05:39 PM

Yeah, Charlie: We had elderberry bushes growing all down the length of our driveway. I enjoyed just picking them and eating them. Back in the days when I made about every imagineable kind of wine, elderberry was my favorite. I made danedlion wine too... din't like it much thought. Maybe it was looking at the occasional ant that I missed when I was sorting out the dandelions. What a way to go... drowned in alcohol.

Pressure cookers were dangerous. We had the top blow off ours once, but at least the pot wasn't filled with tomatoes..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 13 Mar 06 - 10:18 PM

Late this afternoon when we were done staining and painting for the day, I spent some time diligently cleaning paint brushes. Not the most exciting thing to start a thread about, mind you. But as I was cleaning them, I realized that is was my Father who taught me the importance of taking care of brushes and tools.

When I was a kid, my Father and I were at loggerheads most of the time. I didn't turn out at all like he wanted me to, and we seemed to disagree on everything. I seemed to spend most of my days trying to be the exact opposite of my Father. For a long time, I couldn't see that he had taught me anything. (And puhleeeesssss, can we not have anymore stupid books titled "Everything I Needed To Know I Learned from Our Garbage Disposal.") It's only been in recent years that I've come to realize how much my Father taught me, despite my deepest conviction that he didn't know anything worth learning. Kinda like the old saying, "The older I get, the smarter my parents are." It makes me wonder what my sons have learned from me. Maybe not all of the stuff that I harped on all the time. One thing that makes me laugh is that my oldest son Gideon learned the value of the phrase "We'll see." When his kids ask him if they can do something, he answers, "We'll see." They hate it as much as he did when I'd say it to him when he was a kid. Kids hold you to promises, not matter how impossible they turn out to be. Promise that you're going to take them to a movie and if you're in a car accident and have both arms and legs broken and don't take them, they'll cry, "But Dad, you PROMISED!" The trick is to say "well see." Now that my Grandkids know that their Father learned that from me, I've been diminished somewhat in their eyes... :-)

You never know what your kids are going to learn from you. Sometimes it's hard to realize how much you absorbed from your parents. Even if you tried your hardest not to listen to them.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Naemanson
Date: 14 Mar 06 - 04:48 AM

My earliest memories of the kitchen table actually take place in the other room. As a child I sat in there, bored, while the adults talked long into the night. As I sat there the talk would slowly fade and become muffled, the noises getting farther and farter away until, to my complete surprise my parents would wake me to put on my coat and go home. It usually disgusted me that getting out the door seemed to take forever and more than once I groused that they could have let me sleep for another hour.

My children have learned from me. I know I was a disappointment to my father but he seems to have gotten over it now. I learned a lot from him, some of which I had to unlearn to live happily in this modern age. My father could give lessons to Luddites.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Charley Noble
Date: 14 Mar 06 - 08:51 AM

The other kitchen table I fondly remember is an extended octagon-shaped one that I put together for Rivendell Housing Co-op back in the mid-1970's when I was living in Lansing, Michigan. There were seven of us who had formed this co-op, we actually purchased the building with a joint downpayment and some incorporation documents, all friends who played folk music or at least loved the songs. The existing utilitarian Formica table just didn't cut it.

I wasn't skilled enough at that point to make an oval-shaped table and not experienced enough to realize how difficult an octagon table would be. However, it was easy to draw up the plans. And it was totally nomadic! Although I don't think anyone has ever moved it. The legs were attached to the top rails with dove-tailed joints, and the rails attached to the table top (a box-like structure underneath) with large dowels. The top surface was oak veneer, with solid maple routed molding, and the legs were solid maple. With this type of carpentry you get one chance to do it right, and I lucked out.

The damn thing actually got put together and has worked perfectly for over 30 years. However, I doubt if the present generation of Rivendwellers has a clue about the table's origin. The housing co-op still functions, remarkably after several complete turnovers, with some of its members still working at Elderly Instruments. Every year they send me a Thanksmas card (our reunion special event between Thanksgiving and Christmas) and I occasionally send them tidbits about the early house history.

One of our "house rules" was having at least dinner together and much of the stress of sharing a house with 6 other creative people was eased by our dinner conversations, far better than our more structured monthly house meetings. We were also very good about sharing the cooking and clean-up responsibilities with regard to the kitchen. That kitchen was cleaner than any place I ever lived in prior or since! Maybe that had to do with the large chore matrix taped to the nearby refrigerator door. The kitchen table was also a safe place to hang out with a few housemates late at night, although one did have to take care not to disturb the occupants of the three adjacent bedrooms; that kitchen had only 6 doors, unlike our old farm kitchen!

Some of my fondest memories were lazy breakfasts with performers who stayed at our house after their gigs at the 10-Pound Fiddle. We would load them up with strong coffee, omelets and toast, or homemade granola, and send them back out on the road to fame and fortune. If there had been a late-night after-the-concert party, and there were many of those, the breakfast was more likely to be a brunch. But, you're right, one learns a lot more about performers (and other folks) by sharing food and conversation around such a table.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 14 Mar 06 - 03:31 PM

Hi Ron, been away from this table for a few days, Billy and I have just watched a wonderful TV programme with kathryn Tickell and Alistair Anderson, we do not often get folk music on English TV, but this was great,then I thought I would come back to the table and catch up. Billy was brought up in Pennsauken and came to the UK in the 60s with the US airforce.He remembers the Pine Barrens, broke down there in his car with sister Connie en route to the Jersey shore. He also remembers the pumping heart on a 5th grade school trip.
My favourite part of NJ has to be Cape May and an early breakfast at the Mad Batter. Later that day we watched the World Clam Throwing Championship.returning to the Essex coast in England and to the annual Folk Festival we were running we held the world Whelk Throwing Championship but it did not live up to Cape May( great fun though)
We are trying to trace our family trees, I have got back to 1723, wish I had paid more attention to Grandma at her table as it has been hard work and I have missed out on all the anecdotes that I listened too but did not retain. We do not have much information about Billy's family. their name is French in origin but we do not know when they emigrated to the USA.His aunt, now 87, tells us her grandfather was Frederick Simon the Pennsauken iceman, he delivered ice by horse and cart in the summer and in the winter by Horse and sleigh.( he also did weddings taking brides to and fro from church in the sleigh)He was approached by Fridgeadair to go into a partnership but did not think it would take off!! Oh well!
I love this thread it has brought back many memories and quite a few phonecalls to my cousins to see what they remember of our grandma.One cousin recalled that Grandma's house was hit by a V2 during World War 2 and the rescuers dug her out of the ruins, she had been hiding under the kitchen table!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 14 Mar 06 - 05:53 PM

Maybe everyone was born at the end of an era. The pre-me era.

Reading some of these threads, I hear the last rumblings of an age now gone. I was born at the end of a lot of things that were commonplace when I was a kid... ice boxes and ice wagons, milk delivery, mail delivered twice a day, the circus coming to town on the train and parading down Main Street, barefoot summers with no television... All of that is so familiar to me, and yet it sounds like something out of an old movie to my sons. I guess my life is an old movie.

A friend of mine, Eric Garrison has slowly evolved as a songwriter. Eric is probably about 15 years younger than me. At first his songs were about love (found, lost, misplaced..) But through time, he started writing songs about when he was growing up. I found it very interesting to see his perspective and hear his life through his songs because even though he talked about hearing the Beatles as a little kid, his experiences sounded much like my own, growing up. We just had a different soundtrack. He can talk about the first time he heard I Want To Hold Your Hand. I can remember the first time I heard Earth Angel. Small town life is small town life is small town life. Admittedly, most small towns are dealing with drug dealing and occasional violent crime. But I look at the kids in our neighborhood here in Derby and their life doesn't look that different than mine was. I walked the neighborhood in the winter asking people if I could shovel their sidewalk, and kids are still doing that around here. They go sledding over by the reservoir and shoot baskets in their driveways. Their language may be saltier than mine was, but not all kids talk like the most foul-mouthed rappers and hip-hoppers. Life hasn't gone to Hell in a handbasket yet. Even if nobody knows what a handbasket is, any more...

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Charley Noble
Date: 14 Mar 06 - 08:51 PM

Jerry-

We usually used a couple of big wash baskets, rather than a handbasket, when we were getting serious about working at the kitchen table. The washbaskets were full of peapods, or some such vegetable, and those assembled were responsible for shelling them pods and extracting the peas, generally for freezing but a few were popped into mouths. This was always a good time to sing sings as well, everything from the latest country western hit to old music halls songs, teerjerkers from the 1890's, calypso songs, and a few old ballads. We never came up with a shelling shanty, or created our own songs. But we sure did a lot of singing while we worked. The wash baskets were made out of woven wood, not plastic, and they're still in use for Mother's laundry.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: GUEST,Jim
Date: 15 Mar 06 - 12:28 PM

Great thread!

Al Kirby and I (Kirby & Yates) released a CD last year called SITTIN' IN THE KITCHEN. The cover photo was taken in a pioneer kitchen at Lang Pioneer Village, near Keene Ontario where we play a regular gig. The title song was written by one of my favourite Canadian singer/songwriters, Bob Snider. I don't think it's been mentioned in this thread yet, but it should be:

SITTION' IN THE KITCHEN       by Bob Snider

Sittin in the kitchen is my favorite thing to do
I said, Sittin in the kitchen is my favorite thing to do
Well you can dine at the ritz
you can lie on the beach
but I like everything right in reach
I said, Sittin in the kitchen thats what I like to do

Sittin in the kitchen is my favorite place to be
lookin out the window, admiring the scenery
you got a smoke stack here, ventlator there
television areals every where else
Sittin in the kitchen is my favorite where I like to be

my little kitchen has every thing I re-quire
its got a pot and a stove, and a light bulb hangin on a wire
I got meat balls simmerin, the lights on low
cause I got myself a dimmer and an even glow
I said, Sittin in the kitchen, you can¹t beat that for nothin

I usta have a room full of chickens come home to roost
I never have to go far to cook my goose
Well I¹d stay there till the cows come too
but if they look in the refridgerator they¹ll beat me black an blue
I said, Sittin in the kitchen thats what I like to do

I thought of going out once but I threw a party instead
we had dancing in the livin room , coats all on the bed
well the radio played the music and I played the host
long as I didn¹t have to leave the place like most
Sittin in the kitchen thats where I was all night long

there was a time when I roamed this land
it was pillar to post,Paul to Peter and hand to hand
it was rain, sleet & snow in ferenheight & celcius
I didn't have a kitchen so I used sombody else-cious
Well, Sittin in the kitchen I never get tired of that

Well I was sittin in the kitchen wailin' on the old guitar
I¹m thinkin of becoming the worlds most famous rock n roll star
well I 'd give it a shot, draw lose or win
but I dont think I can fit everybody in
cause sittin in the kitchenm is the only place I'd want to do somethin like that

Well Sittin in the kitchen all I want on my plate is chow
I 'm wishin I was Sittin in my kitchen right about now
I'll pick up a pizza from a joint up the street
cause I hate to cook but I love to eat
Sittin in the kitchen is my favorite thing
I can even hear the telephone ring ..sometimes
Sittin in the kitchen is my favorite thing to do
Sittin in the kitchen is my favorite thing to do

[e-mail]

I just googled the words to save myself the bother of typing them out again, so they're not exactly how I (or Bob Snider) sings 'em, but you get the idea.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 15 Mar 06 - 01:19 PM

Thanks for contributing that song, Jim:

It captures the special feeling of a kitchen real well. Whatever the view is out the kitchen window, it works fine. I particularly enjoy looking out onto trees, shrubs and flowes just to watch the wildlife... but city scapes work, too. Somehow, even a brick wall four feet away seems "right."

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Naemanson
Date: 15 Mar 06 - 07:01 PM

Speaking of views out of kitchen windows... Our table (here in Guam) sits next to the window looking at the back yard. There is a high bank about twenty feet out. The jungle stops at the top of the bank. My wife once dedicated herself to cutting back that jungle and was pretty successful for a time. Now the wild chickens, or should I say feral chickens, spend a lot of time up there. We have a family flock that hangs out, scratching for food and squabbling over things, in that area. There is one huge white rooster that is definitely in charge. He keeps the others in line and makes sure the other two roosters don't fertilize any of his hens.

The trees out there are mostly mango, coconut palm, and tagentangen. There are no houses out there because the ground slopes very steeply up to the top of the mountain. Wehn the mangoes ripen we sit at the table enjoying mango in our meals and blessing the day we deicded to rent this place. We often dream of buying it.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Col K
Date: 15 Mar 06 - 07:13 PM

Thanks Jerry for starting this wonderful thread ,and thanks to all those who have contributed so far.
I have very happy memories of sitting at Jerry and Ruth's kitchen table and singing with the Messengers the first time and just generally chatting one my second visit. I also remember with great pleasure going with you and Leadfingers to your last rehearsal with Derrick before he left for Florida. That evening was also very special because of the love for each other that was there that night.

What is it about kitchen tables----- all the best parties happen around them, never in the room that the hosts expect you to use.
I hope that one day I will be able to share your kitchen table again Jerry and also have the chance to share kitchen tables with many others, both here on the cat and with many other friends all over the world.
All the best,
Colin

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 15 Mar 06 - 07:44 PM

Gads. Naemanson, you make heat and humidity sound postively idyllic.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: AllisonA(Animaterra)
Date: 16 Mar 06 - 07:15 PM

I've been enjoying this thread, just sitting in my chair at a corner of the table, cradling my cup of tea, listening in on conversations as I work my way through a nasty cold.
Kitchen tables haven't featured much in my life for many years- as a child, it was where I sat among beloved grownups and just listened and learned, not comprehending everything but enjoying the company (much as I've been doing in this thread).
In later years, it's been the couch that's the center of the house- where I (still) cuddle my kids (even though they're both taller than me!), where my closest friends and I share a woolly throw over our toes as we confide and shoot the breeze. My kitchen/living room is all one big room, which might be why it's so.
When I was young, my mom's best friend had a couch in her old Vermont kitchen - it's still there, or was the last time I visited a few years ago. It was the spot for shelling peas, taking the weight off the feet after kneading the bread, sharing a cup of tea after a meal- I've always loved having the couch in the kitchen.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 16 Mar 06 - 11:31 PM

Billy Bob--

You were talking earlier about Cape May. I really like it too--associate it with great birding and with charming Victorian houses (charming--not in the realtor's translation, meaning "needs a lot of work" but actually full of charm.) Really have to get back there. But admittedly Sidmouth in festival week has more to offer than Cape May, to say the least, especially to a music addict --so Sidmouth is where we try to go every year. Hate to miss it ever. And there's only so much time.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 17 Mar 06 - 09:41 AM

Had an interesting kitchen-table conversation yesterday. Except it was over the phone. I was talking with Jonathan, the director of the Greater New Haven Male Fellowship Chorus that I sing in. I've been looking for a tenor for my gospel quartet now for well over half a year, with no success. I probably know, or have contact with at least a couple hundred singers in various groups and choruses, and I can't come up with one tenor. My friend Jonathan is very enthusiastic about my three man quartet and called to book us to do a concert at his church. I'd talked to him before about finding a tenor, and brought the subject up again. He said that I was going to have a hard time finding someone, and couldn't recommend anyone from his male chorus, or any of the other choirs and churches where he plays. He saw the difficulty in finding someone who has a natural ear for harmony, and can stick with it. Before I started singing in a male chorus ten years ago, I assumed that all singers could hear harmony. Man, was I wrong! Hearing harmony is a gift. Almost all of the singers in male choruses I've been involved in have to be taught their harmony part, and if they don't read music, they have a terrible time retaining it. Most of the baritones sing the melody, because that's what they hear. In the baritone sections in the two male choruses I sing in, half the time there are more baritones singing the melody than the baritone harmony. That's a puzzlement to me.

As long as we're just sitting around the table, I thought I'd find out what your experiences are in singing harmony (if you're a singer.) I might add that some of the greatest singers I know can't sing harmony.

Some of the greatest singers I know can't hear the key that the song is in.

Some of the greatest singers I know have no sense of timing.

That makes me greatful that I'm not one of the greatest singers, because I have always been able to hear harmony, can tell if I'm singing in a different key than the accompniment, and know when to come in on the next line. I don't take any credit for it. I did nothing to acquire the ability. I just have it, through no great effort on my part. It amazes me to hear singers confidently singing in a different key than the accompaniment, or thinking that they are singing harmony, when they're singing the melody. And can't hear the difference.

Any thoughts on this?

Have another cup of coffee.

Got cold beer in the fridge..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Naemanson
Date: 17 Mar 06 - 06:11 PM

Just coffee, thanks. Yes, cream and sugar.

I can make up a harmony if the tune is simple enough. But I cannot do it easily. Usually I need to be taught a harmony and then I find I slip into unison singing if I'm not careful. I think it drove my fellow singers in Roll & Go crazy, at least those who could easily do their harmonies.

I even had trouble singing the melody line of one song a fifth higher than the lead. I kept wanting to drop down to his range. I've always attributed it to years spent singing with the radio on recordings.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 17 Mar 06 - 10:47 PM

That's interesting, Naemanson... Being a baritone, when most lead singers of popular music were tenors, I found myself singing harmony a lot. I couldn't hit the high notes on some of the songs. I think that I really got a feel for singing harmony by learning harmonies to Christmas carols as a kid. My Mother, my two older sisters and a handful of neighbors would go out Christmas caroling when I was a kid. (Now there's a lost tradition for you.) Byt the time rhythm and blues came out, I found myself singing harmony as often as I sang lead when I was listening to the radio.

One thing I've realized is that people who sing tenor (2nd tenor in a choir) almost always are singing the melody. They can be great singers, but have experience singing harmony. The first two tenors we had in our group had no ear for harmony at all... they were fine singers, but hadn't sung harmony most of their life.

I notice, by the way, that most of the baritones in the male chorus I sing in learn the baritone harmony by heart at a practice, but when the next practice rolls around, they've slipped back down to singing the melody.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 17 Mar 06 - 11:04 PM

Jerry-

I've already said a bit about harmony but I can always find more to say--it's a passion with me. Luckily I've always found it pretty easy to make up harmonies--or, perhaps just as significant, to realize when I'd best listen a bit more before trying to do it. Suppose it's the old nature/nurture split. I was lucky enough to get it from both. A lot of musical exposure early--and I gravitated to harmony pretty quick. Having some piano, I'm sure, helps, since you frequently hear harmonies in what you play with the left hand, and eventually, with the right hand too. I've been playing the viola for quite a while (though not seriously for a long time--haven't been in any orchestra since college.) You better believe with the viola you have to get used to playing harmonies--about the only melody I can recall for viola in classical music (aside from Berlioz' Harold In Italy, where the viola is the solo instrument)--(take that, you viola denigrators!)--is in the second movement of Beethoven's 7th Symphony. But I just love being part of the musical texture.

I've also had a bit of theory--not enough to understand all the threads about theory I've seen on Mudcat--but enough to be dangerous. A bit of theory sure does help in choral groups--you can tell from the accidentals--now Bach's in D major, now in G minor, now in F major. That way it's not just note, note, note--you can see how the harmonic progressions go--and it makes the music much easier to learn.


Then on top of that, I've been singing in groups for over 25 years--all different sorts of groups, and different sorts of music--madrigals, Sacred Harp, doo-wop, classical, Gershwin, Irving Berlin etc., bluegrass, sea chanteys, lots of church music--and I love lots of other types of vocal music--including Bulgarian women's groups, 30s and 40s calypso, lots of country duets, early jazz, Western swing, lots of black gospel, Sephardic--the list goes on. I think, though I have no evidence for this, that the more types of music you like, sing, and listen to, the more you understand how harmonies work in various types of music --and it helps you put them together quickly--and change super-quick when you realize you guessed wrong.

But you also need a good ear--and I lucked out there also.

What do you think--do you think people can be trained to learn to make up harmonies? I don't see how you'd go about doing it. Somehow you have to hear them--how could you instruct somebody in that?

Hope we get more comments.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: AllisonA(Animaterra)
Date: 18 Mar 06 - 06:36 AM

I too learned harmony singing at my mother's knee, or rather, at her side, in church. I remember being very young, and noticing that she wasn't singing the melody of the hymns, but was singing something that sounded very beautiful to my 6-year-old ears. So I just joined in and sang with her- I remember her startled glance and her smile- a tremendous incentive to listen more and try to figure out how music worked.
I've been singing harmony ever since! I never really knew what I was doing until I got a university degree in music- but even that didn't take the spontaneous joy from me when singing.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 18 Mar 06 - 08:55 AM

Ron
you are so right about the charm of Cape May,the other thing I love about it (being English) is that few English tourists find it,and it is so unspoilt.We go there when we visit Billys folks in Pennsauken and one sister has a beach house at Wildwood.You are right about so little time , we have not been back to the states for thanksgiving for two years.Have   not been to Sidmouth for 15 years but have just booked to go this summer and 6 of my cousins are booked into the same pub,Hope they have a big table for our family reunion.The main reason for going is that I promised Dave Bryant I would join in with the middle bar singers singing "The leaf" (whats the life of a man) in his memory.Now there was a harmony singer!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 18 Mar 06 - 10:55 AM

Billy Bob--

Hope to see you at the Middle Bar. That must be one of the absolute best things about Sidmouth--and some of the best sings in the world. And I love all the Middle Bar traditions. As far as I'm concerned the Middle Bar is what not just pub singing but folk singing is all about.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 18 Mar 06 - 02:40 PM

see you there Ron, looking forward to meeting you and all the other mudcatters.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 18 Mar 06 - 03:44 PM

Not being able to "hear" the key of a song is a problem that is not limited to singers, by the way. In the last couple of years I've had the painful experience of hearing musicians blithely accompanying singers, playing in a different key. In black churches, it is commonplace for a singer or a group to get up and start singing, unaccompanied. It's the job of the instrumentalists to figure out what key they're singing in, and add the accompaniment. There are two men... one very short who plays electric bass, and one tall and thin who plays "lead" guitar. I keep coming across them. When the singers launch in to a new song, they quickly figure out a key that they can play in and they're off and running. Never mind that it isn't the key that the people are singing in. They are so transfixed by their guitars that they rarely even look up, other than to look at each other. Meanwhile, the singers are left twisting in the wind. I've seen this happen so many times in the last couple of years that I am convinced that they simply cannot hear that they are playing in the wrong key. They're nice enough guys when you talk to them. Just oblivious.

Can you teach someone how to find their own harmony? I know I couldn't. I've been a teacher for long stretches of my life, but I know that I don't have the education to do it. I don't even know how you'd go about it. Seems like it's more productive for all of us to discover where our gifts lie and develop them. And where they don't lie. I could never be a good dancer because I'm not graceful enough. But I can sing harmony...

Ya takes what ya gets and does the best ya can with it.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 19 Mar 06 - 12:33 PM

Jerry--

You're right about how important it is for instrumentalists to know what key the singer is in. If I'm acccompanying I always ask before the singer starts. As a singer, I always tell everybody before I start.

But it's a real problem, I'm sure, when the singer is going up against electric instruments who are determined to play in their own key.    Basically the singer has no chance.

I have a recording by Milton Brown (I think it's "Garbage Man") where the band is playing in an entirely different key from Milton--for at least a whole verse. It's hilarious--but probably wasn't intended to be so for that reason.

If the singer doesn't know what key he or she sings in, that has to be ironed out before the song starts.

I don't have a wonderful range. Without falsetto --(thanks to the Beach Boys my falsetto is strong)--I wouldn't be in any choral group. So when I lead a song I usually tell people "I sing in 2 keys, D and probably D". And in fact, it usually is D. So when it's going to be in G or A, I warn people. Then there's "Faded Love". Though a lot of recordings change keys at the chorus so the singer can sing it, I think it's much better if you can stay in the same key.   I've figured out that I can sing the whole song in one key--but only if the key is F (not instrumentalists' favorite key). But at least guitarists are usually willing to use capos. I can play it on the viola and sing it--in F. And people are willing to let me do it--fortunately for me.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Naemanson
Date: 19 Mar 06 - 03:24 PM

As an uneducated singer that is a problem I have run into time and time again. Musicians who know waht they are doing tend to ask what key I use for a song. But I don't know! My music comes from the heart and comes out of me at a key that sounds good in my head and fits into my vocal range.

Which brings up another point. Music must be one of those areas where the practitioner doesn't need to know what he's doing to succeed. There are plenty of successful (i.e., making a living on music) singers out there who don't know one key from another. They depend on their co-musicians to tell them. I can't point fingers because I am one of those people but then, I've never tried to make a living with music.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 19 Mar 06 - 03:58 PM

Don't feel bad, Naemanson: I often don't know what key I sing songs in either.

An interesting obesrvation. When a new person joins the Men's Chorus that I sing in, the Director asks them to sing a song, and then he figures out what key they're singing in. He says that that's their key... just as Ron's key seems to be D. Whe I questioned him on that, because I sing in several different keys, depending on the range of the particular song, he said that every singer has one key that's "their" key. So, I went back to my list of songs that the Gospel Messengers sing, to see if there was any validity to his generality. What I found was:

I sing songs in G, A,C,D, E and F (I don't seem to do any songs in B, but tha'ts probably because it's awkward plays a song in B on guitar. (Although Charlie Christian did The Blues In B.)

Our bass singer Joe sings in E, F, A & B

Frankie, (another baritone like me) sings songs in A, B, C and D.

Maybe it's because we all have a pretty large range. All of us can sing bass, baritone or second tenor on most songs. Joe is our best bass singer, although I sing bass when Joe is singing some of his leads. Frankie is our best tenor, although he is basically a baritone, but I sing second tenor when Frankie is singing lead. And Frankie has a fine falsetto, which he sings, except occasionally when he's singing the lead and I sing a passable, but not great falsetto to get above him.

With a trio, you do what you gotta do..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 19 Mar 06 - 07:52 PM

In an informal situation (fortunately, that's the vast majority of them), somebody who's not sure what key he or she sings a given song in can hum either a snatch or maybe a full verse of a song before actually starting--by the end of the verse, instrumentalists can virtually always figure out the key. In a large portion of country songs, for instance, the key is the note sung on the last word sung in a chorus.

Then after instrumentalists do figure out the key, they may ask the singer to just go up or down a half step (particularly going up to C (no sharps or flats) from B (5 sharps--not the choice of fiddlers, for instance)--though Bill Monroe, I understand insisted on singing a awful lot in B (just to be cantankerous?--or to test his sidemen?--who knows?)

I've always thought that adjusting a half-step should be no problem for a singer. A full step--that's a different story.

But if you want instrumental accompaniment, it's eminently reasonable that the singer should be guided onto a specific key (not in between keys)--if he or she has no idea what key they sing a song in.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 19 Mar 06 - 10:29 PM

Whew. Had an emotional day so it feels good to be back here. Yes, I'd be happy for a cuppa. Thanks.

Today we had a memorial celebration for the long years and many events that this community lost a week ago. It was called McPhetres Hall, attached to a church that was also used for music. Gold Street Music, our new folk club, was born and nurtured there, along with many other events for more than two generations. Scarcely a person in Juneau does not have a connection with that hall.

It all went up in flames last Sunday in the early morning. Nothing was saved and it moils the heart and mind to see it today. About the only thing left intact is the three story chimney rearing its bleak head. There is a tall chain link fence around the site while the investigators do their thing. The church was built in 1895; the community hall some forty years later. Everything was made of wood, of course, as befits this forested land and everything was tinder dry.

Today there were many testimonials and reminiscenses from the audience, interspersed with 10 or so live music sets. It was all well done and each song was appropriate, including a song still in process by our resident bluesman, Pat Henry. He sang that the building is gone, it's gone, but the church still stands...

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 19 Mar 06 - 11:21 PM

Thanks for sharing that, Ebbie:

You know, the nice thing about this thread is that there is no such thing as thread drift. I started this not as a nostalgia thread (although God Knows, I've done more than my share of nostalgia-mongering in my day.) It's a "sitting at the kitchen table, talking about whatever comes to mind kind of a thread, so everything is equally valid to talk about. I really appreciate the specific threads, and have learned an enormous amount from them. (Tonight I printed my first label on a CD for my Gospel Messengers CD and am ready to go into production.) I don't know that I could have done that without all of the help from my friends in here.

But, this is just a nice, late-night kinda thread. I just got off the phone after talking with one of my sons for almost an hour and a half. I hadn't heard from him since Christmas and was concerned about him. Turns out, he's going through a lot of stress at work and has been wiped out emotionally by all the turmoil. Our conversation was very much a kitchen table kind of talk... minus the kitchen table.

I'm so sorry to hear what happened up your way, Ebbie. That's a hard loss to deal with. Oddly, it brought back memories of a tragedy where I worked. A young man (early 30's) who was a beloved Boy Scout leader of a pack sponsored by the place where I worked was accused of sexually molesting young boys, years earlier. His current pack stood up for him as character witnesses, but a couple of adults came forward saying that he had molested them several years earlier. When it became clear that it was going to be made public and taken to trial, the man who worked for me committed suicide. Hung himself in his Mother's garage where he lived. His Mother came out and found him. Some tragedies defy any rational explanation. They just hurt. There's no sense in trying to figure out "why." You just have let the pain out, release it and try to comfort each other. It sounds like that's what you and your friends did, Ebbie. Good on you!

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 20 Mar 06 - 01:57 PM

Sitting at my table with a glass of wine bemoaning the fact that my iron just blew up and the pile of ironing is far too high,So I thought I would look in at the mudcat table and Ebbie and Jerry just made me put things in perspective!I have snowdrops in the garden, snow is forcast here in East Anglia, but it is the spring equinox and summer will come soon.Mothers Day here in the uk next Sunday Gerry , makes me feel so much for that young mans mother.Must count my blessings, all the family coming home on Sunday and a grand child on the way.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 20 Mar 06 - 03:04 PM

I'm sure that it will be a Grand child, billybob.

You got me nervous about Mother's Day... it's not until May 14th, here. Can't forget me Mum..

I raised my two sons alone. That still don't make me a Mum, though.
Maybe they should have Surrogate Mums Day for all those who raised kids what didn't have a Mum around.

Maybe I'll e-mail Hallmark..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 20 Mar 06 - 03:32 PM

Thanks Jerry, bet it will be a Grand grandchild,it will be our first and we are over the moon,
we always had a problem for mothers day as in the UK it is always the same sunday in Lent so the date changes year by year, but we always had to buy an extra card and save till May for Billys mother in Pennsauken.I was always worried that I would put the card away somewhere safe and miss the day!I have to admit it did happen ocasionally,
Great idea about Surrogate Mums day, maybe we should have a day for everyone who loves kids that would include mums,dads, grandparents ,uncles, aunts and numerous friends and family.I was on my own when the kids were young before I met Billy and I have to say that the best friends I had were from folk clubs and morris teams and they all became very supportive to my daughter and son,many of them came to my daughters wedding and indeed played during the wedding.
These friendships have grown over 35 years and now I find are continuing in Mudcat,best they all draw up a chair at this table?

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 20 Mar 06 - 03:38 PM

Plenny a room at the table. How many people have raised discarded kids from their children or relatives? That kind of loving commitment is staggering to me. In a way, it seems even more of a lifetime generous act than raising your own children.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: jimmyt
Date: 20 Mar 06 - 10:22 PM

Hi All,

Nice to be here at the table to talk a bit! I have had a very trying day and I would like to add to the harmony discussion but if you don't mind, I will just drink a glass of wine and reflect on you all a bit til I gather my thoughts. Jerry and Ron and Naemanson and Ebbie and BIllybob seem to make a good table full and a vast source of info on music and harmony. I will be back soon to write a bit. We may all meet at getaway and if we do, I want to sing the great chorus, Farther Along that Jerry and I discussed one night on the phone! I can hear the harmonies ringing right now, and yes, Ron, D is a fine key! grin

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 20 Mar 06 - 10:27 PM

Yeah, it would be great to sing together at the Getaway, Jimmy. Even if it does mean that you get to sing bass. I'm pretty good at filling holes in the harmony, though and content to do that.

By the by, I've got a batch of Gospel Messenger CDs about ready... as soon as I find out the composer of one of the songs, I'll be ready to print the booklet and back. I already have a batch of CDs recorded, with labels printed on the CDs. I'm hoping to see who holds the copyright on the song tomorrow. I certainly want to give songwriters due credit. If I pay royalties, they'll end up getting a check for a cool $1.63 six months from now when they add up..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: jimmyt
Date: 20 Mar 06 - 10:33 PM

Jerry I only love singing bass on Do-wop. Otherwise,I rather enjoy inner harmony parts and baritone is great for my tastes! sounds like you are doing great with your CDs COngrats   jimmyt

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: ranger1
Date: 21 Mar 06 - 10:32 AM

On the subject of fine folks raising kids not theirs by biology, I would like to thank my steps for being such wonderful people. When I speak of my parents, it usually means my mom and my step-dad. A wonderful guy who wasn't particularly into having kids but took raising us like a duck to water. When people ask him about kids, he always answers: "I have two daughters." There's never any mentions of us being his step-kids, we're his kids.

My step-mom was also a fantastic person and what she was doing with my dad, I never did figure out. But I'm sure glad she was there. It made weekend visits not only tolerable but also fun. She's been dead for 10 years now, and I still miss her very much.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 21 Mar 06 - 11:27 AM

Hey, Ranger:

Yeah, I'm not much into step-folks. One of the things that please me is that my son Pasha from Ruth's first marriage introduces me as his father. I refer to him as my son, and it has felt natural from the beginning for us, even though he was in his late 40's when Ruth and I were married. He was kinda an instant son. The folks at the bank say, "Your son was in here the other day," and that's sweet too because Pasha is black and last time I checked, I was white. Our daughter Dee from Ruth's first marriage has always introduced me as "This is my Mother's husband." That's fine, too. Whatever people honestly feel is fine with me. But, the other night when we were out somewhere, she introduced us as "This is my Mother, and this is Pops." I liked that. I'll take "Pops" any day. Beats Step-Pops.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: ranger1
Date: 21 Mar 06 - 11:41 AM

Yeah, Jerry. I have to bite my tongue around my sister a lot because of the whole step-parent thing. I love her dearly, but she falls squarely into the evil "step-mother" category. And she can't figure out why the kids act up around her. When they're out with me, I introduce them as "this is my niece/nephew." I don't have any kids of my own, but I am blessed with twelve wonderful nieces and nephews on my side of the family and three on Jason's. Some of them are related by blood, some aren't, and I don't care. I love 'em all and wish I got to see all them more.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: David C. Carter
Date: 21 Mar 06 - 01:21 PM

Hi there Jerry,a pretty crowded table you got here,hope you got enough chairs!I'm sure you do.Things are fast going down hill here at the moment,student strikes,unions calling for a general strike etc.My son Vladimir,goes off to college in the morning, and is back in 20mins.Exams are coming around soon,things are going every which way.Talking of children,one of Vladimir's friends,a real nice kid,lost his parents,the father at Christmas and his mother the following Easter.We became his Foster parents.Fabien was 10 at the time,he's now been with us 9yrs.It wasn't all roses at first,getting to know each other's habits,adjusting etc.But along with Fabien we found a whole new family,his aunts,uncles,their children who took to our own son as one of theirs.We've been all around Europe,over to my friends in London,to my wife's family in Croatia.I can't tell you what he has brought to us as a family.Just wanted to share that with you.Put the kettle on!

David

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 21 Mar 06 - 01:33 PM

Polly put the kettle on..

Hi, David:

Always plenty of room at the table. Good for you and your wife for being foster parents... a noble, extremely demanding responsibility to take. Not without its rewards, as you have discovered.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Naemanson
Date: 21 Mar 06 - 05:53 PM

This seems like a good place for a bit of humor. Several years ago, here on Guam, Several years ago we had an election and one of the candidates was named Geri. Her name was on signs all over the island. The Japanese tourists were surprised, puzzled, and somewhat disgusted to see these signs. The Japanese word for diarhea is 'geri' pronounced (geh-li - hard 'g'). That has spawned an interesting bit of urban legend here on the island. No babies have been named Jerry (or any variation of that name) since them. People on the island really believe the word means diarhea not realizing they are not pronouncing it correctly.

A rose by any other name...

As to parents, I was very lucky that I have two great parents and that they still live in relatively good health. My sister's husband was not a good parent and early on she asked me to stand in as a role model for her son. I did my best. We ended up in a role playing game that ran on for 8 years. Her son and my kids formed a solid allegiance that found its headquarters in my home. Now they are all grown and gone off to live their lives but they still remember those long evenings playing a game around a table and laughing with family into the wee hours.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 21 Mar 06 - 06:07 PM

And good on you helping your sister's son, naemanson. Diarhea, eh? I've been called a lot of things in my life, but never that.. :-)

Funny how I got my name. My Parents wanted to name me Lars, after my Grandfather. Now, that would have been a cool name. I bet it doesn't mean diarhea in any language.. But, my oldest sister had a terrible crush on a boy in our neighborhood named Jerry and she bugged my parents so mercilessly that they finally relented and named me Jerry. Of course, the romance between my older sister and the love of her life faded. She was only five years old at the time..

My son Pasha started calling me Jeremiah, the Old Prophet not long after he first met me. Now, Jeremiah sounds a lot more dignified. Than diarhea.

Lars (Don't I wish)

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 21 Mar 06 - 08:32 PM

When I married Billy he had a son and a daughter and so did I.Right at the begining we said we did not believe in "steps" children have a mother and a father and "steps" are bonus parents as they choose to have you.
I think we got it right, Billy has been a wonderful bonus dad to my two,( we would have to ask the opinion of his two as to what they think of me!!)My proudest moment was my daughter getting married and her two dads walking her into church and giving her away and then both giving speeches at the reception as father of the bride. I always feel sad when young people are getting married and one parent or the other(when divorced) dictate that if the ex comes to the wedding then they will not.A young lady who used to work for me got married far away from home in St Lucia with neither parents there as her mother refused to be in the same room as her ex husband and the bride did not want to upset either of them at great emotional expense to herself, we all have issues, but our children should come first.
Loving this late night table Jerry, glass of wine then off to bed, night all

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 21 Mar 06 - 11:01 PM

Yeah, Billybob, I love stopping in here to see who has settled in for a moment. And I know that others have stopped by but didn't feel moved to post at the time.

Tonight was a beautiful one for me. My friends Joe and Frankie of the Gospel Messengers are such wonderful men. Like many wonderful people, they've passed through life almost unnoticed. They are both fine singers, and even finer people. Frankie will hit 80 early in May, and Joe will follow right behind him later in the month, hitting 82. Like all high-mileage models, they're spending more and more time in the repair shop and it becomes increasingly difficult for them to make the kind of commitment that is needed to keep a group growing. But tonight... I gave each of them their first 6 copies of our CD... it's hard to know how much it means to them. I know that Joe is very moved by it. After a life-time of singing whit his whole heart and soul, he finally has something he can hold in his hands, and give to others. I feel very honored to have been able to give this to both of them, and they are soooo thankful. It does my heart good to see good people get their just deserts.

Of coures, they have to eat their vegetables first. Joe and Frankie have been eating their vegetables for 80 years.

Now it's desert time..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 21 Mar 06 - 11:31 PM

Gee Jerry, what did they do to be sent into the desert? (Just kidding).

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 21 Mar 06 - 11:49 PM

LOL, Ron: I guess I must be tired. Maybe that's what they mean about being retired. Ever since I retired I've been tired again, and again. Re-tired.

Joe and Frankie are getting their just desserts.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 22 Mar 06 - 06:33 AM

Jerry--I didn't mean to be presumptous. I just look for humor everywhere--and therefore find it. I love puns and other wordplay. I suppose that's why the copycat threads these days don't bother me at all--they're often based on puns, misstypings and other wordgames.

I suppose this also illustrates two possible hazards of the Internet. At a real kitchen table, typing wouldn't be important since you would have pronounced the word. Also, at a real table, you would be able to see that I was kidding from my expression. I just felt that we were informal enough so I could venture that facetious remark. Probably shouldn't have--but I'm glad you took it in the right (joshing) spirit. I was picturing a possible Far Side cartoon in which a guy was telling some others now they would get their just desert--and pointing out into a waterless waste.

Oh well, I should learn to restrain myself. It ain't easy.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 22 Mar 06 - 07:05 AM

"presumptuous". Physician, heal thyself.

"Young man home from college makes a great display
"'With a fancy adjective that he can hardly say"

(Both directed at myself)

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 22 Mar 06 - 08:42 AM

I thought it was pretty funny, Ron:

Sometimes funny uses of words flow naturally. Once I was playing a board game (In graduate school) with my roommate and I need a sxi, rolling the dice. I rolled a 4 and a 2, and without even thinking said, "how fortuitous." :-)

I can deal with the most obnoxious person on earth. But put me in the company of someone without a sense of humor and I'm in trouble.

I also so a photo mislabeled, by the way, of my wife and I stopping for desert...

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 22 Mar 06 - 11:26 AM

When my father turned 80, he and two friends went out for a celebratory breakfast. Both his friends had turned 80 earlier in the same month; my father was the youngest of the three.

At one point my father said, You know, we've about got it made. They say very few people die when they're 80.


My father died when he was 93. Strangely enough, each of the three men died in the order of their births.

Speaking of a sense of humor, that is the one place where my mother and father were well matched. My father loved to make people laugh and my mother loved funny things.

Another cup, Jerry? Can I get someone else a cup while I'm up?

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 22 Mar 06 - 11:50 AM

I'll take a cup while you're up, Ebbie:

Getting back to harmony.. of the musical kind. Last night I had practice with my friends Joe and Frankie. We've been together now for over 9 years and because we all have a good, natural sense of harmony, none of us has stepped forward to do "arrangements." At least that's the way I've perceived it. In truth, I guess I have been the one, although I have never felt capable of doing it. So, even when I've been doing a lot of the arranging, I would never call it that. Sometimes I think that things we think we can't do are often things we just haven't done yet. Or realized that we've been doing them all along. Last night, I tried something different, because we were having trouble finding good harmonies on a song we all love. Because our tenor is gone, we've had to rework a lot of the harmonies, and it's been a good experience. Joe, our wonderful bass singer has an enormous range and he decided to come up and sing Frankie's baritone harmony. That pushed Frankie up into a high tenor range, which was too high for him, so he slipped down underneath Joe's harmony. That left us with our bass singer tenor and our baritone singing bass. And we really stunk (Whoops, that's being judgmental!) By the time we realized it and went back to what we used to do, we'd lost everything. So, what I started doing was at each chord change, I stopped and showed the guys what notes they could hit that were in that chord. It was a breakthrough for us. After all these years. When we found our notes at each chord change, then it was relatively easy for the guys to hear where they were going. Along the way, I realize that I was "arranging" our harmonies. Considering that I can't do it, it worked out fine. :-)

When we are singing in the Male Chorus we all sing in, I have reached the point where I can hear the baritone harmony on the piano. I think that's because when a chord is hit, you hear all four harmony notes simultaneously. It's different on guitar, and harder for the guys to hear. That's why stopping and playing the individual notes of the chord was so helpful.

I'm curious to hear from you Catters who really know what you're doing, "arranging" harmonies..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 22 Mar 06 - 12:03 PM

Boy! This I want to hear.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 23 Mar 06 - 11:16 AM

Yeah, I'm waiting too, Ebbie: (I just sent off a long e-mail on the subject and would be glad to forward one to you if you PM your e-mail address.)

One thing about kitchen tables. Sometimes, you just sit down by yourself and have a cup of coffee and reflect on friends and old conversations. I lived alone for a long slug of time in my life, when the only company I had at my kitchen table was my two cats. They were good company, and listened attentively when I spoke to them (as long as there was some food in the deal.)

There's a line in a song that Carmen McRae sings that seemed very wise to me, and it applies to all conversation. The song is about looking back at the mistakes we've made in our lives:

"I Never stopped to listen, never missed a chance to speak."

Sometimes, it's good to just sit and listen to the silence. Old conversations come floating back to you and it's as if you are once again sitting at the table with an old friend.

So, if you don't mind, I'll just sit here and have a cup of coffee and talk with my wife. Perhaps someone will stop by, later..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 24 Mar 06 - 11:36 AM

Jerry-

I wish I could help with explaining about arranging harmonies. My hat's off to those can arrange music, as it is to composers and writers like you.

But as for arranging--no,no, no it ain't me babe, it ain't me you're lookin' for, babe. In the groups I've led, either the entire arrangement was already written out or we just filled in the chords as they changed, trying not to duplicate. It wasn't easy.

In the bluegrass group I was in, it was even harder--bluegrass seems to prescribe only specific harmonies for specific voices--I was used to making up harmonies according to what I could do and what I thought the song called for--but wound up poaching on others' vocal territory, it seems. They seem pretty strict about that in bluegrass.

By the way, I will be very busy for the next 3 days---hope to get back to the Kitchen Table perhaps Monday.

I do know some people who have arranged music. Maybe next week I can pick the brains of one arranger--who, interestingly enough, arranges black gospel--to get some pointers from him. It sure sounds like an arcane science to me.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 24 Mar 06 - 11:46 AM

Well, have a good weekend then, Ron:

Not to excessively oversimplify bluegrass harmony, but it seems like it could all be entered in to a computer. It's one of the reasons that I don't personally enjoy most bluegrass. (There are some exceptions, like our own Barbara and Frank Shaw's group, Shoregrass... they are probably more to my taste because they don't seem programmed.) Coming to harmony through folok music probably makes me more amenable to looser harmonies. Some of the stuff I really love in traditional folk allows for a lot of freedom, including individual harmonies to change at times, even within the same song. Some folks find security and pleasure in tightly worked out, close harmonies. Just call me too-loose Latrec.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: lady penelope
Date: 24 Mar 06 - 04:30 PM

Heh.

Hi guys, haven't been round for a bit. Life's been a bit ....... strained. Any way, Richard Digence's definition of harmony is to "pick a note an move it around till the person next to you stops whincing....." It's advice that worked for me for years. :0)

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 24 Mar 06 - 04:45 PM

Hey Lady:

That sounds like my approach to playing chords on guitar. When I first started out as a teenager, I wanted to be a jazz guitarist. I barely knew the basic chords, but I could hear the music in my head. I worked out an admittedly somewhat primitive arrangement of one of my favorite pieces, Little Girl Blue with fairly sophisticated chords way up on the neck, played in a less than graceful approach due to my limited experience. I wonder what it would sound like now, if I heard it. I'd probably do some wincing (not because the harmonies were wrong, but because I didn't have the facility to make the music flow smoothly) but I'd probably laugh at my audacity and naevity. For me, it has always been a matter of moving my fingers around until what I hear in my head comes out of my guitar. Even today, I play many chords that I have no idea what they are. They just sound right.

Singing harmony can be the same way. I have the musical literacy of a cave man, but I know what sounds good (and what sounds sour.)

Sorry your life has been a bit strained lately... and glad that you stopped by for a minute..

Be sure to come back..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Naemanson
Date: 24 Mar 06 - 07:05 PM

My seat at our kitchen table is next to the back door. Now that we are into the dry season we often open up the house in the cool of the morning. We have a flock of wild chickens that wander through our yeard every morning, the roosters crowing and the hens cackling and clucking to each other. The other day I picked the last piece of crust out of the bread bag and threw it out there for them. They scrambled and squabbled over it and generally appreciated it as only a flock of chickens can. Today I tossed them another piece of bread and then some cooked rice. I enjoy feeding them. They are very skittish, being wild, but also greedy enough to overcome that skittishness if I don't move too much. The roosters are big beautiful birds, very colorful and proud. The hens are pretty in a variety of colors and markings. One is almost all black and very dark green. Another is white with brown speckles. I'm hoping to see chicks soon. I love to watch them chasing around under the mother hen's feet.

It makes for good entertainment from my kitchen table. Much better than TV.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 24 Mar 06 - 08:21 PM

Chickens are indeed good entertainment. As I mentioned earlier, in the years that I lived in the Gate House at the Stamford Museum where I worked, chickens would wander down from our small farm to search for food on the lawn outside my kitchen window. I always got a kick out of watching them. They were quite aggressive if I put food out, not being intimidated by the crows who always appeared within 30 seconds out of nowhere, or the squirrels.

I also has a banty rooster as a pet when I was living at home for my first year of college. His name was Herbert, and I wrote a song about him. Chickens aren't just good for eating.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 25 Mar 06 - 05:58 AM

Morning all, thought it was time to stop work for a coffee ,at last Spring has come to England , after weeks of very cold weather yesterday was dreary,wet and grey but this morning the sun is shining , the sky blue and the temperature is warm.Looking out of my window people walking by are smiling and chatting in the street, happy to spend a few minutes to gossip and put the world to rights.
I may go for a walk by the sea at lunchtime.We are only a few hundred yards from the beach but never go there in the winter, one sunny day and the place comes alive.
Loving all your talk about harmony, I can do it but have no idea how!
Used to sing in the church choir when I was young so maybe old memories from a time long gone?
Coffee smells good.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Leadfingers
Date: 25 Mar 06 - 06:43 AM

I HATE Computers !!! Just wrote a real screed about Harmony singing ,
only to have my electronic monster eat it and NOT send it of to Mudcat Central ! I'll try again later - Going to get my crossword now (Good for the Torygraph) - Be trying again later ! In fact , start the kettle for a strong coffe and I will be right back !

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 25 Mar 06 - 11:08 AM

Hey, Terry:

Occasionally, I wished that I had a formal musical education so that I could express myself more intelligently. There's a particularly British/English harmony that I can recognize and yet can't identify what it is about it that makes it sound like the Copper Family, not the Carter Family. Friends of mine took one of my very American songs, Milwaukee/St. Paul and gave it an, English sounding harmony. I thought that they did a nice job on the song (they recorded it) and appreciated their support. But why did they make it sound English? It's about a railroad line in the upper Midwest.

Two things I notice when there are sing-alongs at Folk Festivals in this country. That English harmony thing is very prevalent. I actually like the sound of it a LOT, but it gives a different feel to the songs. They all start to sound like sea chanteys.

The other thing I find, interestingly, is that when The Gospel Messengers are leading singing in a folk festival workshop or concert in a folk club, the audience likes to hold out the notes at the end of the line ... kinda savor them. Black gospel is often very rhythmic and the way I describe it is that you "snap" the last word of a line, rather than hold it out. There's often a subtle tug of war going on when we sing for a folk audience, trying to get them to get into the rhythm of the music rather than slowing down the rhythm to fit their usual style of singing. It's a challenge at times, but great fun, too. Once you accept that it's a different style of singing and get into it, it's very liberating and invigorating. Wouldn't work very well on a sea chantey or murder ballad, but it really drives the music home in black gospel.

Always nice to hear from you, Terry

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Leadfingers
Date: 25 Mar 06 - 02:15 PM

I'll try again ! Jerry - you're mention of the bantam reminded me of Jake Thackeray 's Bantam Cock - Very Funny and definately NOT politically correct !
When I was involved with Fools Gold , we did straight three part harmony , with all sorts of instrumental backing ! I had always 'had a go' at harmonies in choruses sometimes even getting away with it . With the Gold , it was a different ball game as the other two members had been singing harmony for EVER ! In rehearsal there would be a cry of " WHOA !! You're on MY note there" - OK , whats the melody note ? YOUR Harmany is what ? OK , the chord means I want something like X to fit . - Sounds long winded , but as we all three had portable tape recorders , we had an aural reminder of each rehearsal , so it was easy for me to memorise the harmony I needed . A steep learning curve , but it DID work , and there were a lot worse semi pro groups on the local scene .

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 25 Mar 06 - 02:29 PM

Tape recorders are a help indeed, Terry. And when you sing harmony, people can get very possesive of "their" note. I did a gospel album many years ago and used The Beans (Jim Bean is a sometimes visitor in here.) When I'd hear them working out harmonies, I thought that it was very humorous. Talk about pride of possession.

You're right too, Terry about instruments carrying harmony too, as other "voices." I use my guitar to fill in "holes" or strengthen the lead. And when we have it right, I love to stop playing guitar and just listen to the voices. Nothing tops four (or three) voices in strong harmony when you hit that perfect blend and it becomes one sound. At least, not for me.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: lady penelope
Date: 25 Mar 06 - 05:14 PM

I know what you mean about 'english' harmonies. From the viewpoint of being english, I listen to american stuff and notice that the harmonies that tend to be prevelant (well at least in the stuff I've heard) are noticeably different to those used over here.

I think it has to do with accents. How you speak a sentence and how you sing it are not so different unless you have a different accent and working vocabulary. I reckon that people pick up on the sounds they're used to. Also the 'english' harmonies are more straightforward. Or, if you like, less subtle..... :0)

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Naemanson
Date: 25 Mar 06 - 08:07 PM

Ah, The Beans. After Dave Parry died (a terrible shame, that) I shared a stage with them at a memorial concert. That was a great experience. Next time you see any of them tell them Brett Burnham remembers them and wishes them well. I doubt they'll remember me. At the concert I did a recitation of C. Fox Smythe's Ships That Pass. They might remember that.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 25 Mar 06 - 10:00 PM

I'll pass along my regards, Brett. I've done several of the Gospel In Black And White Workshops I host with the Beans as the "white" gospel. They were a delight to work with on the gospel album that I never released... no fault of theirs, as their singing was right on the money. They really opened my eyes to the whole process of working out harmonies when they worked on my gospel album, too.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: GUEST,Art Thieme
Date: 25 Mar 06 - 10:25 PM

People, it has been grand being here UNDER THE TABLE all this time just listening like crazy to all the music and the talk. (Bet you never noticed I was down there!? Right?)

It reminds me of the time when I was about 20 years old and me and a couple of friends would go into the bar at Second City in Chicago---circa 1961. The talk and the camaraderie down there was simply grand. Several times that year, when I had nothing much better to do, I'd wander in there and order some food and a Coke--since I was too young to drink. They didn't seem to mind as long as I stuck to soft drinks. Del Close was down there holding court then--and Nelson Algren, writer of 'Man With The Golden Arm' too. The conversations were mesmerizing and they'd let a kid say something once in a while too. One night Algren kept after me to have a beer but I didn't want to get anyone in trouble--especially myself. He'd had several already I yhink, and he just slid his own beer down the bar to me and winked at the bartender--who turned away exasperated. No way was he gonna argue with the pretty well known writer. (I actually didn't know much about the guy then.)--- Sure, I'd had beer before, but that was actually the first beer I ever had sitting at the bar in a real saloon. ------ After that I read his books and found out who that cantankerous surly guy was.----
Them are real fond memories from another kitchen table that really wasn't one at all. Seems like a dream all this time later.

If youll let me get up from bein' under here, it's about time I headed to the john...

Art Thieme

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 26 Mar 06 - 07:06 AM

Interesting comments, Lady Penelope. When Colin Kemp has visited here and stayed with us there would be times when he'd start speaking rapidly and I couldn't catch everything he was saying. When he did that, I'd jokingly tell him, "Speak English, Colin!" There are words where the accent falls on a different symbol in the two countries, and that will have an affect of phrasing (although not necessarily on harmony.)

From my perspective, American harmonies are not more subtle than English.. just more varied. That makes sense, because as the movie says, "This is a big country." It's harder to say what American harmony is. If I had to make a copmarison (And it should take 30 seconds for someone to shoot this down,) I'd compare English harmony with bluegrass harmony.. not because they sound at all alike, but because they seem to be pretty much "all worked out." I wish there was a better way to describe that. In bluegrass, you don't have to figure out where your harmony line is (or the bass runs on guitar.)
Somebody already figured it out for you fifty years ago. It seems much the same in English harmony (again an overgeneralization.) There seem to be some distinctive chords that are protable from song to song. (I really enjoy English harmony a lot, and don't think of it as less subtle, by the way.)

When Colin, Theresa, Noreen and Sussex Carole (and Terry) have been here, they've sung with the Messengers, and it's been a great deal of fun. Sea chantey singing and black gospel seem to mesh very naturally, as far as harmonies are concerned... pretty straightforward four part harmonies. The rhythms may be different, but Colin would make a fine bass for the Gospel Messengers. And Joe could handle sea chanteys just fine.

Interesting to get your perspective, Penelope...

Jerry

What could be clunkier and less subtle than the Carter Family? And I love them..

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: lady penelope
Date: 26 Mar 06 - 09:55 AM

It's more in the tone of various accents. You pick up on the tone of a voice and that can vary what sounds good as the next note along..... I dunno if I'm saying this in a coherant fashion.

I guess it's also a case of what you're used to. I find english harmonies straightforward, but then that's what I grew up with.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: jimmyt
Date: 26 Mar 06 - 10:26 AM

Good stuff here! On arrangements, I try to write out the melody first. Then go back and lay down the chords at the right places, usually written if root position (CEG), knowing that if necessary I can change the chord to 1st inversion(EGC) or 2nd inversion (GEC) if it fits the 'voicings. THen I write the bass line which has the usual jumps in it. From there it is pretty much a connect-the-dots as the one or 2 inner harmonies are comprised of the missing note from the triad. Obviously if the song requires a really close harmony with lots of trash chords MAjor 7ths, sixths or ninths like you hear in the blueeyed do-wop I do, it requires a bit more tweaking to keep from having the 3 big problems I hear in poor arrangements, 1 odd lines in the inner parts, 2 parallel 5ths, 3 missing part, ie no third of the chord so it sounds like Gregorian chant on that note. Mind you, all of these issues I also see used for EFFECT by good arrangers, but it is a bit like painting, you need to be able to draw a picture of a horse first, then you can make the horse look odd with cubism. Well I have rambled on enough about that, but would like your thoughts ! jimmyt

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 26 Mar 06 - 11:17 AM

Thanks for your imput, Jimmy. It's always a pleasure listening to someone who knows what he's doing. While you are far more musically sophisticated than I am, it's at least encouraging to see that you build harmony lines from chord to chord. I will most likely never be able to approach arranging the way that you do, because I don't have the background to do it. I don't even understand what you're talking about.. :-) I just admire folks what knows what they're doing. I have to do things by ear. Fortunately, I've had singers to work with who had a good ear for harmony and the "arranging" has been a group process. Kind of a "That doesn't sound right.. let's try this... oh, that sounds good!" Or, "That's even worse!, let's try something else." If anything, I function as a harmony policeman, stopping the guys when I hear something that doesn't sound right. Again, coming back to the chord helps to find where the harmony has gone astray.

Hopefully, someone who knows more than I do will come in and respond to your post, Jimmy..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: jimmyt
Date: 26 Mar 06 - 01:10 PM

Jerry, you forget more about music every day than I will ever know. It is in your heart and soul. I always approached music aurally even when I was a little kid.   In the 4th grade I got a trumpet and joined the school band program. Even before we got off the first page of the Belwin Band Builder book, I had learned to play three notes,E,( first two fingers), G (open) and C (open) I figured out that this was the theme of "In the Mood" the great old Glenn Miller song. Within a couple days I found out an amazing discovery for a 4th grader. If I started on low C, and played the same pattern, but made it CEG instead of EGC, I played a part that I KNEW was a companion to the "melody" I really didn't know what harmony was per se but I could "hear" the melody as I played this rudimentary harmony.

Well, that pretty much was all I needed to run with the ball. I always resisted learning to read and am still a poor reader, but Harmony just made sense to me in a very elemental way. I still get more out af a beautiful chord progression than I ever do from the melody line or the words to a song. I just enjoy the "Fabric" of music, the harmonic relationships.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: jimmyt
Date: 26 Mar 06 - 01:14 PM

By the way, I have, in my mind at present, writing an entire piece for musical theater named HARMONY, which will feature all of the different voicings from chant forward, through our modern harmonies, barbershop, etc. sort of a Music APpreciation course on stage! It is still in the very early thought stage, but I just know it is a do-able idea. WIsh me luck!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: David C. Carter
Date: 26 Mar 06 - 01:58 PM

Jerry,my family were never "clunky!" well maybe just a wee bit!And they certainly were never accused of being "subtle".
You didn't hear my mother play the banjo,a sight for sore ears,I can tell you!

I'll get me banjo
David

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 26 Mar 06 - 02:07 PM

LOL, David!

I knew Janette Carter and loved her music, and her family's. The Carter family is the bedrock of much of my music. Maybe you were that "other" Carter Family I heard about? I love Maybelle's chunka chunka rhythm. If only they'd done some Mozart... I would have loved to have heard them. Maybe that's why one of their cousins was named Amadeus.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: David C. Carter
Date: 26 Mar 06 - 02:19 PM

We were not known for "Twining with our Mingles",that's for sure!Probably why we rocketed to oblivion!

A P

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Naemanson
Date: 26 Mar 06 - 06:32 PM

Would you say that gospel music is easier to make harmonies on? I find, when listening to gospel, that I can actually come up with harmony lines. This is something I can not do with most other styles. Why is that I wonder?

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 26 Mar 06 - 08:12 PM

I think that the old gospel music really came out of group singing, either in church or in the living room. Wherever the individual song originated, I think that they were tempered in the experience of singing them together. Contemporary black gospel (at least) comes out of mass choirs to a great extent, but the musical influences are less the old style of singing than hip hop and contemporary R&B. funny the way things evolve... rhythm and blues and soul music came out of black gospel, and now contemporary gospel is coming out of R&B and hip hop. Not Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Fats Domino or the Moonglows. Definitely not James Brown or Tina Turner. Somewhere along the way, R&B got smoothed out and lost its individuality... probably about the time that corporate motivations over-rode creative ones.

I was kidding my son Pasha the other day when we were working on refinishing floors and he had a contemporary R&B station on. I said that if you eliminated all songs that had "ooh," or "baby" in them, you'd have trouble coming up with enough songs to make a top 40.

But, the old southern gospel, black or white had straightforward melodies and chord progressions and simple harmonies. There were also a lot of call and response songs, and songs where just one word would be changed in a verse, and it would be sung again. Plenty of time to pick up the harmonies.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: jimmyt
Date: 26 Mar 06 - 08:51 PM

Yeah, Neamanson. It is pretty straight forward for 2 reasons. Melodies that you are familiar with, and predictable chord progressions. A bit like the easiest way to learn to ad lib instrumentally is on a straight blues progression. You know where it is going all the time. Try to follow celtic music if you want to go batty trying to predict harmonic progression. It is totally unpredictable to our American ears and does not dwell on the 1,4, 1, 5, 5(7th) stuff that we sort of know at a primitave level. Celtic harmony is frequently 1, 7 ,1 sort od pregression that is a bit like having a staircase with the steps spaced randomly. But Gospel is definately a nice place to get harmonies locked in your head.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: jimmyt
Date: 27 Mar 06 - 07:31 AM

Well, I think I have done it again! Killed another thread! Sorry folks, but when I join in, it seems to be the death knell for a great discussion! Jerry, you should't have invited me! grin

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 27 Mar 06 - 08:34 AM

The thread ain't dead, jimmy. This thread is about anything anyone wants it to be. The harmony I'm most interested in is between people, and you bring everything to that.

One of the things that has struck me these last few months is how different retirement is to what it's usually thought to be. Maybe for some people, retirement is spent watching tv and planting flower beds with supper at McDonald's. But that's certainly not an accurate generalization. What has surprised me about retirement is that for every door that closes with diminishing health or resources, two open. It's a matter of recognizing the doors and walking through them. I've felt that particularly, these last few months in my own life. I'm sure there are other Catters who are retired who have discovered the same thing. Those, like you and Jayne, Jimmy who are still highly engaged in a career have more to look forward to in retirement than you realize.

For me, finally taming the wild computer and recording software has opened many new doors for me. The new insights into harmony (new only for me, and obvious for others) makes singing as a group completely new and exciting. Revisiting books long since read and half forgotten, and discovering new writers is a return to the excitement and refreshment of literature.

For some people, getting older is a time of gradual shutdown. It doesn't have to be that way. If you have good health, it's easy to step through those new doors. If your health is bad, there are some who have the bravery and hope to find ways to go through the door, even if they're wheel chair bound.

It's all in the attitude..

And as I said... this is a kitchen table... conversation is open to all, and listening is the other half of a conversation not to be minimalized..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 27 Mar 06 - 06:33 PM

Just sat down at the table, today is my daughters birthday,sitting here remembering the day she was born and looking forward to the grandchild due in September. Yesterday was Mothers Day here in the UK, I spent the day with my daughter and her husband, my son and his beautiful girl friend,my mother ,father, brother and of course Billy. How blessed am I!
And now I can sit and listen to the talk round the table,carry on folks, I will just sit back listen and enjoy.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 28 Mar 06 - 08:55 AM

Just got a friendly PM from Weelittledrummer asking what's been going on in my life. I realized that the answer lies mostly in this thread. It's turned out to be a welcoming place to come for us to talk about just that... what's going on in our lives. Or, what's going on in our heads.

This afternoon, Joe, Frankie and I are going to sing in a nursing home for a church Mother (an honorary title in the black Baptist church) who celebrated her 104th birthday in February. There was a snowstorm that day and I wasn't able to get there when the Men's Chorus we all sing in sang at her party. So, Joe, Frankie and I are pulling off a surprise party for her. They're really excited about it at the nursing home because she has no idea that we're coming. No more excited than we are.

I'm looking forward to Ron Davies pulling up a chair for a coffee break today. So, how was your weekend, Ron?

And everyone else.

Ruth and I went to a Muslim Mosque's celebration honoring 8 women who have made a difference in the community... a great antidote for all the ugly news surrounding conflicts between the extremists of religious sects. The food was good, I ate too much, and the company was good, too. It's time that people of good will step forward and express love for each other. That's always true.. but especially true in these times. My wife Ruth's two sons (and now mine) are Muslim, her daughter (and now mine) is a Baptist minister and Pastor of a church, my oldest son is Catholic and my youngest is Agnostic and a member of a Unitarian Church. We got a spiritual United Nations all in the same family. And we all love and respect each other's faith.

That's how it's supposed to be.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 28 Mar 06 - 09:16 AM

Gosh Jerry, what a shame this lady of 104 cannot join the table,what wonderful stories she could tell, what do you know about her life, she will have seen so many changes.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 28 Mar 06 - 10:34 AM

Hey there Jerry,

Didn't sleep too well last night, so I'd like to sit down at your kitchen table with a strong cup of coffee this morning. You are blessed to have a 104 year-old in your life. The elderly are great treasures who have been needlessly cast aside in our hyperactive "modern" world. I had a dear friend who lived until a couple of weeks past her 105th birthday. Her mind was as sharp as a tack until the end. When she felt her body slipping, she insisted that it was her time, and did not want to be kept alive with medical procedures. Although I miss her terribly, it is difficult to mourn when someone draws from a deep inner well of creativity and spirituality, is curious and excited about the world around her, yet has the wisdom to know when the gig is up.

When I grow up I want to be like her.

Elmer

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 28 Mar 06 - 11:12 AM

Hey, Elmer: Thanks for stopping by.

The elderly. Now there's something I can talk about forever. Or at least until next Thursday. But before I do that, I'm going to post this message. The Cat is acting up for me and I want to see if it will post this message..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 28 Mar 06 - 11:21 AM

That worked...

The first "date" that I took my wife on was to visit a woman in her mid-90's who was bed-bound on an upper floor apartment. She lived with her younger sister, who was in her upper 80's. Mother Turnage has since passed, and now we visit her sister, who is in her early 90's. Even though Mother Turnage was in her 90's and bed-ridden. she was very flirtatious when we came in. She wanted me to sit on her bed. She didn't even offer a place for Ruth to sit down. Ruth and I both got a good laugh out of that. There have been several times over the years when we've visited an elderly woman who was downright offensive to Ruth, and flirtatious to me. Once she said to me, "You can come in, but tell your wife to wait out in the hall."
I just ignore those kinds of comments, and so does Ruth. We think it's beautiful that people still want to be attractive, no matter how old and bed-ridden they might be.

My faorite story in that regard was when I visited at a nursing home many years ago where my Uncle was the Director and his wife the Office Manager. I was talking with them when this woman can rolling in at 90 miles an hour in her wheel chair... right over my Uncle Walt's foot. As soon as she was in the room, she dozed off for a minute. That was the way out conversation went. She'd say a few sentences, and then doze off for a couple of minutes. My Aunt Ruby asked her to tell me how old she was, as sh'ed just celebrated her birthday. She said "I'm 105 years old.. a man came in the other day and I asked him if could guess how old I was. When I told him that I was 105 years old, he said "You don't look a day over 100," and she beamed very becomingly.

Welcome to the table, Elmer.. I just fixed a big mug of coffee and a couple of pieces of English Muffin bread, toasted with Splenda and Cinammon on it. Ambrosia... I can throw another couple of slices of bread in the toaster and heat up a pot when you've got the time.

And, nice to see you this morning, billybob.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: GUEST,maire-aine
Date: 28 Mar 06 - 12:15 PM

What a delightful conversation. I'll try to drop by after our session tonight.

Maryanne

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 28 Mar 06 - 04:31 PM

Thanks for the strong java, Jerry. I needed that. The English muffin was some good, too. I agree that elders have earned the right to be a titch ornery. We whippersnappers can let those little zingers roll off our backs. Cute comment about the 105-years-young woman. I think it was William O. Douglas who remarked upon looking at a lovely lady, "Oh, to be eighty again!"

I read somewhere that a group of researchers studied a number of the cultures around the world known for longevity, looking for commonalities that might cause their people to live extraordinarily long, active lives. Was it something in their diets? Exercise? Environmental conditions? Often the societies were quite impoverished, with poor diets. The women had given birth to 10-15 children. The people worked very hard. So what was up?

To the surprise of the scientists, the one commonality among the various societies was that elders were revered. Old age was considered a desirable thing, and seniors had the highest status. There's a lesson in this for our youth-obsessed culture, in which people are afraid of growing old.

Elmer

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: jimmyt
Date: 28 Mar 06 - 09:11 PM

Well, I am drinking up and pushing back my chair for a few days. I will be on holiday with JAyne and my daughter and son-in-law, but hope to check in from time to time if I can find a computer handy. I will enjoy the conversation when I get a chance to read it. See you all soon.   jimmyt

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 28 Mar 06 - 11:44 PM

Just got back from rehearsal. We're going to do the Mozart Requiem soon--one of my all-time favorite pieces. Since the film Amadeus I always envision parts of the movie when we do the piece. It's not often a film has such an impact that doing the music will recall the film. But there's a movement (Lachrymosa) which I believe is used while Mozart's body is carried to the paupers' grave, thrown in , and more lime is tossed in afterwards. Incredibly vivid--and the music now conjures up that scene every time we do it. Maybe it's the contrast between the beauty and glory of the music (the text also fits perfecly)--and the horror of the mass paupers' grave.

I meant to get back to this thread earlier but I didn't have the time to read it last night--and I like to read what's been said since I last said anything--I suppose it's trying to be well-informed--and not make stupid questions or repeat what somebody else has already said. Other threads, not as lively as this one, are much easier to keep up with.

Now, of course, it's late, and I'll be going upstairs to Jan. So, absurdly enough, I may have to wait til tomorrow night to get back to the discussion--or even say anything about the weekend--other than that it was wonderful--great singing, great stories, and great companionship.

Hope to be back at the table tomorrow.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 28 Mar 06 - 11:45 PM

"perfectly"

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 29 Mar 06 - 03:40 AM

I love that film Ron. When I first got the video . I just rewound and watched it again. and then again.

It got so many things right about a musicians life. The self absorption, the dodginess of most commercial proposals in a very speculative business, the fun of creativity........you don't have to be a genius like Mozart to live in that world.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 29 Mar 06 - 09:54 AM

Guess we'll just have to do without you for awhile, Jimmy. Have a great trip with Jayne and your daughter. One of these times, you've got to swing by here and stop for a while at our kitchen table...

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 29 Mar 06 - 05:11 PM

Ron, we were so looking forward to meeting you in the middle bar in Sidmouth, however just got news that the pub that all my cousins and I were going to stay in in Sidford has burned to the ground.It was 14 th centuary, thatched roofed and a beautiful building...so sad.
So has anyone any ideas where eight family can book in together to enjoy the festival?We are all past camping, been there and worn the tee shirt as they say!
Past coffee, need a brandy!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 29 Mar 06 - 05:26 PM

The excitement of electricity. Now, there's a thread title for you. While I've played acoustic instruments all of my life, I play electric guitar with the Messengers (in respect for tradition, and so that I can hear what I'm playing.) Yesterday morning, I plugged in my electric guitar to run through some of the songs, and much to my horror the sound kept cutting off. It must be all those times we've stepped on the guitar cable. So, I had to rush out to a neighboring town and buy another guitar cable. Then when we got to the nursing home, I set up my PA system to discover that two of the four inputs weren't working right. I have a separate amplifier for my guitar but I need three vocal mics. It took a lot of finagling to get three mics working, and they weren't well balanced. So, today I was back out, looking for a portable PA system I can run four mics off of. We have a couple of concerts coming up where I'll need decent sound equipment. Now I know where some of out income tax refund is going...

Not that I have any complaint about the PA system that just went on the fritz. I've had it close to 9 years and it's been lugged half way around the world. And I bought it used...

Think I'll get out my banjo and pick out a tune..

I bet Mozart never had to deal with this..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 29 Mar 06 - 11:59 PM

Billy Bob--

That's just horrendous news about the pub in Sidford. I certainly have no idea about accomodations in Festival week in the area--but I bet that if you resurrect the thread about Sidmouth 2006--or possibly start a new one explaining the situation, there will be knowledgeable and helpful people responding.

WLD--

I agree, Amadeus is such a wonderful film on so many levels. One of my strongest memories of the film is how easy it was to sympathize with Salieri--who after all tried to do everything right--only to be hoplessly upstaged by this filthy-minded (based on fact, I undertand--his letters sure were often scatalogical)--arrogant youngster--just because that youngster was taking dictation from God--creating masterpieces was that easy for him. It must have been--to churn out so many in such a short time. Of course Schubert did pretty well too--in even less time.

Now I have Amadeus on DVD--really looking forward not just to the movie again--but to all the extras the DVD is bound to have.


Jerry--

Mozart may not have had to deal with the vagaries of electric instruments--but it sure must have been hideous being just about at the mercy of your patron. The first composer to beat this problem--thanks to the cult of the composer that started with him--was Beethoven. Since then, as you know, it's been "the public" you have to please if you want to make a living at music--which ain't easy either.   BIrth of the Modern (1815-1830), by Paul Johnson is a book I never get tired of re-reading--lots of information---and great stories about this development--and so many others. Paul Johnson has written a lot of great, factual but very vivid histories. And I find history so fascinating I'm not even tempted to read fiction.

It's so great to be in a thread where there's not even theoretically a topic.

But here it is--late again--had another rehearsal tonight--for a totally different concert. Hope to get back here tomorrow night--at least there's no rehearsal.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 30 Mar 06 - 12:02 AM

It might be interesting to visualize what being "hoplessly" upstaged would be like--but it would be different from being hopelessly upstaged.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 30 Mar 06 - 07:02 AM

Sometimes it's just the shear pleasure of singing.

Last night my wife and I went to a wake for the Mother of our Pastor. She was in her mid-90's, and a feisty old woman right up until the end. We visited her a month or so ago and she was determined that we help her get up and walk, despite long ago having lost the strength in her legs to do it. B[[[[[[[[[[[[=[=--[[[[=-----------[p[=============================================================================================== (just spilled some oatmeal on my key board and was getting out from between the keys.)

Black Baptist wakes are often as lively as Irish wakes (without the beer.) Last night, the Men's Chorus that Joe, Frankie and I are in sang for two hours, without taking a break. That's a lot of songs. And, because we didn't have a practice, it meant that we did a lot of songs that we hadn't done in as long ago as a year. Our Director Dan would play the opening piano introduction and we'd all look around to see where they guy was who did the lead. There was a lot of folks what turned white momentarily last night, when they realized they were going to have to go up and sing lead on a song they hadn't sung in a year. Frankie sang lead on Nobody Knows The Troubles I've seen (and didn't sing it Nobody knows de troubles Obscene) and Two Wings, Joe sang Lord, Teach Me How To Rest, and I lead Trouble In My Way and There's A Leak In This Old Building (which I'd never sung before....) We were pulling old songs out of the hat, with Dan singing lead on several songs because the lead singer wasn't there (and Dan never sings lead.) It was quite a night. Whatever attitudes or beliefs Catters have, I'm sure that most people in here would have had a great time singing. It felt much like the shear pleasure of singing a whole program of sea chanteys, but with a different meaning for us.

When we finished, we all realized how tired we were. We sang standing, for two solid hours. And probably could have gone another hour..

Yes, Ron, there is absolutely no topic on this thread. Kinda like a conversation around a kitchen table. That was the whole point of starting this thread. Funny thing is, I went looking for a DVD of Amadeus yesterday because I too love the movie, and I think that my wife Ruth would enjoy it, as we visited so many places where he lived and wrote music on out trip to Europe last fall. I couldn't find it, but I picked up a widescreen copy of the new King Kong.

My tastes are nothing, if they aren't catholic. With a small "c."

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: lady penelope
Date: 30 Mar 06 - 04:37 PM

Brilliant film. I saw the original stage play. That was downright scarey, but the film wins for getting all the music in.

Sometimes there's nothing that can 'upstage' (heh) a good sing. I find it cathartic, uplifting, inspiring, intense and exhausting all at once. Wouldn't be without it.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 30 Mar 06 - 11:12 PM

Phot--

If you are looking at this thread, maybe you can tell us about the time you and Cllr made the valley ring literally--sounds like a good story (from your 13 Mar 2006 4:05 AM posting).

Jerry--

Jan and I are finding out that Amazon actually works pretty well to get DVD's. If you get 2, shipping is free (over $25) and of course the price is already low. We've decided that if we will ever in our lives want to watch a DVD 4 times, we figure it's worth buying (at about $15). So now we have Saturday Night at the Movies in our basement. And DVD's are so great--the extras are fascinating.

We just watched a Zorro--I think the most recent one-and among other things the DVD told how the sword-fights were done--for instance since the swords were actually aluminum, every clash of swords was dubbed in.   Fairly obvious, I suppose, but I'd never thought of that. The Robin Hood ( the classic with Errol Flynn) DVD had outtakes of stunts that didn't work right--as well as a Warner NIght at the Movies--with trailer, newsreel, musical short, and cartoon--and a studio blooper reel from the time of the movie (1938?)--and on and on. It's like being back at an old moviehouse, but with even more features.


About the weekend (finally)

I had a dynamite time. Wound up playing viola on Saturday with a stunningly talented duo who did a lot of Kate Wolf songs--including the Trumpet Vine-which of course made me think of this thread. They even invited me to throw in a second harmony on some songs--fortunately the bass harmony was still available--it's a lot easier than any other.

But you always wind up missing something. By doing Kate Wolf, I missed a lot of C & W, which I also wanted to do--love doing country duets especially. Too bad cloning is not an option. But I figure you take your opportunities when you have 'em--and I'd never met that couple before.

Then in the evenings we did all sorts of stuff--Irish, Hank Williams, gospel (black and white), Bob Wills, 19th century parlor songs (with a zither-which just perfectly captures the atmosphere for something like the Vacant Chair), drinking songs, Carter Family, John Prine, and others. We had a guitar, viola, autoharp, and clarinet also for various songs. Saturday night we wound up at the end doing unaccompanied stuff-- Silhouettes, Under the Boardwalk, Goodnight Sweetheart, and other doo-wop type stuff, and Mamas and Papas and Everly Brothers.

Unfortunately Jan wasn't in great shape, went to bed early (about 11) and missed the doo-wop etc. She told me the next day we should have started with doo-wop and Everly Brothers so she could have been there. But you really can't force a sing to go a certain way. Hope she'll be feeling better next time.

The weekend was somewhat what the impromptu sessions at the Getaway sometimes turn into (though the weekend lacked sea songs, by and large----the Getaway large collection of rousing singers wasn't there).

Roll on, Getaway.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 31 Mar 06 - 09:13 AM

DVDs.... another point of connection. My wife and I love the old movies and frequent Turner Classics often. But, many nights there isn't anything that we want to watch on dish tv, so I've built up a big library of DVS over the years. It's a lot less expensive than going to a theatre (and there aren't that many contemporary movies we want to see) you can watch in a bathrobe (which is frowned on in local theaters, for some reason) and the popcorn doesn't cost $4 a tub. If any of you are into watching (and buying) DVDs, click on efilmic.com. Your head will spin. Most of their DVDs are $8.99, with many on sale for $6.99. They have a hundred or so DVDs of classic movies... nothing released recently, and a limited list to choose from. But, they are all great titles. I went there initially because they have Song Of The South on DVD... the only legal source to buy it (the company is in Canada, where it is legal to sell.) I recently picked up a copy of The Informer, which I'm really looking forward to seeing again. Now you, Ron.. you sound like a man after my own heart. I know you'll be excited when you see what they offer.

Yesterday, I solved another Mystery Of The Reluctant Computer Software and printed up my first copy of the Handful Of Songs CD.
I have to do some final editing on the booklet and back cover, and I'll be in production. It will be a real accomplishment to finally release that album on CD after all these years. I think it's the best album I've done. My next project will be to release a CD I've already recorded and mixed, taken from older cassettes of my own songs, and some traditional material. I figure another month or so, and I'll have those three done. And then, I want to start work on a new folk album. I had to smile this morning when a working title came to mind..

Knights Of The Kitchen Table.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 31 Mar 06 - 11:26 PM

Jerry--

efilmic.com sounds great. I'll have to check that out.

Some great news--Jan just saw her MD who had performed an amazing operation on her neck in December--replaced 3 crushed discs and fused 4 vertebrae--using a technique and some material only known in the last 2 years. (It was a near thing--we almost had another MD who would have been nowhere near as good.--but, after bragging about his skill, he bugged out.) And this is all on Blue Cross--no special plan.

Anyway, Dr. Cooney says Jan is his star patient--recovery far ahead of schedule. She's already back to work--often 10 hours a day (though I keep telling her she shouldn't be pushing it so much). She loves her job more than anybody I've heard of--the job is taking
care of kids. And--as you might imagine, she's in huge demand.

Without the operation, she was facing paralysis from the neck down (though we didn't know it at the time). She had started to experience numbness creeping down her face--and we did recognize that might well be serious. Now there is no danger of that--and she's enjoying life--and is full of life herself. Actually she always has been very lively and positive--and this is one of the reasons Dr. Cooney thought it would be successful. So I've learned there is something to the cliche of "positive thinking" after all.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 01 Apr 06 - 08:05 AM

Well done Jan, positive thoughts.
We are having a great day, I am work in the beauty salon we have, we are raising money for Dr Barnardo's. We have just waxed the legs of a young man who is running the London Marathon in three weeks time, raising loads of money today. I am amazed by the ladys who came to watch, they really enjoyed the poor lads pain.
If you would like to sponsor Andrew pm me and I will give you details.Billy and I and the staff are planning to go up to London and cheer him on, we will be by Tower Bridge if anyone else wants to join us!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 01 Apr 06 - 10:15 AM

You and Jan just made my month, Ron! You had mentioned that she was having health problems but I had no idea it was that serious. What joyful news!!!! Tell Jan that we are dancing in the streets up here in Derby!!!!!!

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 01 Apr 06 - 10:50 AM

Scrumptious, Ron! Makes my day too. Bless you both.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 01 Apr 06 - 12:37 PM

Hey, Ron:

I stand corrected. Or more accurately, I sit corrected. I just bought a DVD of The Body Snatcher with Boris Karloff for $7.99 from efilmic.con. I get E-mails from them often (by my choice) telling me which DVDs are on sale... they are always having sales, and the cost is usually anywhere from $6.99 to $8.99. I don't remember ever buying a DVD from them that wasn't on sale. Just a matter of waiting until movies I want are put on sale. Their DVDs that are not on sale are generally less expensive than amazon.com, but can go as high as over $20.00 (rare exceptions.)

Even seated, I can still say that it is a great website, and I've probably picked up over a dozen movies through time.

I saw The Body Snatcher when I was probably 11 or 12 years old with a buddy of mine. There was one scene in the movie that really cared the crap out of me... one of the most frightening movie moments of my life. I will know it's coming now, so I know that it won't have the same impact, but I'm looking forward to watching it. My wife Ruth doesn't like horro movies, so I'll watch it alone.

Ooooowheeeee-oooooh!

Better make some extra popcorn.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 02 Apr 06 - 03:13 AM

Fourteen years ago on March 15 we lost a very special young man. He was from Victoria, Australia in Shepperton. He came to Juneau the first time in 1990 and was here for about a year then went home for his only sister's wedding. He was back here a oouple of months later and the Juneau community took up with him again as though he'd never been gone.

He was vibrant, in love with life and it appeared, everything in it. The most remarkable thing about him, probably, was that whoever he was with, that is the person he was with. His energies were not scattered. He loved to dance - in bare feet- he leaped high and energized the dance practically by himself. He loved Australian wine and beer and complained that our bartenders were not aware that they were supposed to pour a full pint when they drew the tap. We loved him.

On March 15 1992, a Sunday, he went hiking up Mount Jumbo alone. He was tired of our long wet winter, and March 15 dawned crisp and cold. He wanted some fresh air. He went over to the house of his most special friend in Juneau and asked if she and her friend wanted to go climbing with him. Both of them had other plans and he left alone. It was already fairly late in a winter day- almost 3:00 - and they didn't set up a buddy system, as is common in these parts. So when he didn't come home that evening, no one knew for several days.

When his housemete returned from Europe on Thursday he could tell that no one had been in the apartment for a number of days. Alarmed, he took a photo of our friend around downtown asking whoever he met whether they'd seen him- that he was missing. At that point most of Tony's friends didn't know his housemate and we didn't know. We didn't know.

That evening I was playing for a dance as we usually did when a friend - a Mudcatter - came in. In a low voice she said in my ear, Tony is missing. He went up the mountain and didn't come back.

I've never forgotten my viseral reaction. I said, No. No. It's not true.

It was a really heavy time for us all.

Tonight we had a "Toiny Dance" with the money remaining from those days. We had raised more than $7,000 in just a very few days to bring his parents and two cousins over from Austraiia and for the cremation of the body.

When he died, he was 29 years old.

Tonight I miss him very much.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 02 Apr 06 - 08:41 AM

That's a hard story, Ebbie: I would expect that last night was overflowing with emotion. Tony must have been quite a spirit to have lasted so strongly in your hearts and minds. People like that are rare. In here, Rick Fielding was certainly one of those people.. someone who is remembered and loved by everyone whose life he touched. I such a brief life, Tony made a great difference in the lives of many. And continues to make a difference.

Thanks for sharing that with us, Ebbie..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 02 Apr 06 - 01:11 PM

Thank you, Jerry.

After he died there were a couple of memorial services. At the first one there was a large paper banner where people could write whatever they wished. A friend remarked that whoever didn't realize that one person could change the world was not there that night.

It was amaxing how many people had had personal connections with that boy, and on so many different levels.

One reason last night was an emotional event is that it was like a step back in time; so many of the people who were there were the same ones who were there 14 years ago.

When Tony died some people started writing songs who had never written a song before. (Some have never stopped.) Last night a person told me that we should compile and releaxe those songs.

Thanks for listening! Yes, I will have a second cup, thank you.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 02 Apr 06 - 02:28 PM

An interesting story for you, Ebbie (and all):

Three or four years ago now, Lee Hagerty, one of the founders of Folk-Legacy Records with Sandy & Caroline Paton passed away. They had a memorial service for Lee, and Ruth and I went. As most of the people there were musicians, we went around the room, with each person either doing a song, or talking about a particular favorite memory of Lee. I did a song I'd written, titled May My Heart Find Rest In Thee. The chorus is:

   And in the darkness, give me the eyes of faith
   In my sorrow, send down your saving grace
   And on my journey, may my path be straight
   May my heart find rest in Thee.

A few weeks later, I received a phone call from a man whose wife had just died. As it turned out, she was at Lee's memorial service and was very moved by my song. She didn't come over to speak to me, so I had no idea who she was. She knew that she was dying of cancer, and asked her husband to call me after she passed to ask me if I'd sing that song at her memorial, and bring the Gospel Messengers along to sing. And we did. They had a beautiful service out in the woods... very informal, and we sang a half a dozen songs, including May My Heart Find Rest In Thee, which I did unaccompanied, as I had at Lee's memorial. It was a beautiful, touching experience, perhaps even made morseo by the fact that the woman and her husband (and almost everyone else there) was Jewish.

I ended up singing that song at two memorial services in a span of about six weeks... once for someone who as far as I know was an Atheist, at a gathering of people who were mostly non-believers, and once at a Jewish memorial service. No matter. Most people were moved by the song. We all have times when rest is our greatest need.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: KT
Date: 02 Apr 06 - 04:06 PM

Is the coffee still on? Or actually, how 'bout tea? Hot water will do...It's the company that counts. I've popped in from time to time but haven't been around for the whole conversation. I guess that's what kitchen tables are about.

I was brought in this time by Ebbie's talk of Tony. Ah yes, a remarkable young man, who is with us still, I believe. I too, remember the intensity of those days, while we held out hope against hope that he'd be found alive, and just waiting for us to find him, and the disbelief when we learned that that was not to be. And the dreams....and the songs that were born as a result.....But one of the gifts of his life is that we are left with such joyful memories of who he was to us. I don't know a soul who can recall him without smiling. So it was while he was here in the flesh, eh, Ebbie?

Ron, I'm so glad to hear about Jan's successful treatment. Rejoicing with you both!

Jerry, thanks for keeping the pot on. It's lovely to drop in from time to time.
Have a wonderful day, all.
KT

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 02 Apr 06 - 05:33 PM

Nice to see you, KT:

Some are Ring Bearers who are called to heroic acts. Some are just pot boilers, like me. I intend to keep the kettle on, even if no one stops in on any particular day. It makes no difference where the conversation goes.. I just enjoy the company..

Jerry

Bought a new sound system yesterday,,, after I try it out, I'll make some comment on it. My sixteen ton PA system finally gave up the ghost last week, after 9 years of faithful service...

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 02 Apr 06 - 05:40 PM

Old, reliable things are nice, Jerry, but there's something to be said for state-of-the-art, brand-spankin' new too, isn't there! Is that why we love babis so much? :)

So true, KT. Tony always made us smile and still does. And it is something I should remind myself of more often than I do. The problem is that one grief leads inexorably to other griefs- and it's hard to remind oneself that we haven't really lost them.

Absolutely glowing and almost transparent. The image keeps coming to my mind.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 02 Apr 06 - 11:55 PM

Thanks to everybody who commented on Jan's close to miraculous operation. She's really lively--and feisty.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 03 Apr 06 - 01:29 AM

That is fantastic, Ron. I hope someday to meet her. Does she ever come to Getaway?

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 03 Apr 06 - 06:27 AM

Yes, Ebbie, she does. But up to now at least she's tended to go to bed early (11 or so)--so has missed some of the best singing. She also has had throat problems--possibly related to the neck, I suspect) which made singing difficult. And she unfortunately has other issues---totally against singing in a circle, for one thing.

And she's a very strong vegetarian--thinks Getaway fare should be more overhauled in that direction. She is one opionated gal.

We are trying to work up some duets--if her throat permits.

Hope I can persuade her to come this time.

By the way, I'm so sorry to hear about your loss of McPhetres Hall---and of Tony, in March, 14 years ago.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 03 Apr 06 - 08:37 PM

Back at the table,thanks for the coffee,enjoyed my day sitting in the garden reading a good book, with a CD playing quietly, music of the Italian Renaissance by Shirley Ramsey, pure bliss then my favourite Eric Bogle CD.I love my day off , back to work tomorrow.
Listening to your talk round the table re Jan, makes me say again " count our blessings" When someone close to you is very ill it is very hard,sometimes I think it is harder for those closest than the person who is ill.That sounds very trite but I am sure you know what I mean, you wish it was you instead of the one you love.
Away with sad thoughts, tomorrow is another day, spring is here, the birds are singing,and the dibblers are playing in the grass!( dibblers = rabbits, John Peel BBC Radio 1970)

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 03 Apr 06 - 08:48 PM

I thought rabbits was nibbler, billybob :-)

And you're right about the toll that illness takes on the care givers. I've seen it time and again. My wife and I being praying folks, we always make sure we include the family and loved ones (and friends.) If you love someone, when they hurt, you hurt. Sometimes sympathetic pains hurt mor than the real ones. (I realize that "sympathetic pains" normally has a different meaning.)

Speaking of pain... OOOOOH, my back. I bought a portable PA system last Friday, and was all excited about it. They swore that it was portable because they put a handle on it. Putting a handle on an elephant don't make it portable. But the swearing part came in handy. My excitement quickly faded when I managed to get the thing home with my wife and I killing ourselves getting it up the steps (think Laurel and Hardy in the Piano without a laugh track,) I set it up and started to use it. I don't know what was worse... the lack of power or the sound quality. I mean, it looked COOL, sitting there. Maybe turning it on was the mistake. Anyway, I took it back today and upgraded to a Yamaha Stagepro 300, which not only has fantastic sound, it's light enough that my wife can carry it. Not that I'd ever let her, of course. But tonight, my back remembers that first PA system that I took back today. I'm feeling a little bit like Gabby Hayes tonight. But, the sound system is great! I can hardly wait to use it with the guys.

Jerry

Or is it quasimodo.

Are songs that feel like they are modal Quasimodal?

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 03 Apr 06 - 08:56 PM

An elephant with a handle! LOL

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 03 Apr 06 - 09:07 PM

get some lavender oil Jerry and ask the wife to massage your back.
Nibblers?/ dibblers?,John Peel was from Liverpool....all these years I had it wrong, but he was a wonderful broadcaster, he died last year, every Saturday morning I listened to him on BBC radio and many of us miss him.He started off in radio in the USA.
Hope your back gets better find a good aromatherapist if not, we can cure anything.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 03 Apr 06 - 10:46 PM

Dibblers-- sounds like there's a story behind that word--is there?

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Raptor
Date: 03 Apr 06 - 11:15 PM

I'll take a cuppa tea.

And I'll raise it to Ron's Jan and also Ebbie's Tony.

And to My Heide!

To those with us and whom have left us.

Here's to you all Me Hardys!


Raptor

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 04 Apr 06 - 03:38 AM

Hear, hear! Thank you, Raptor.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 04 Apr 06 - 05:27 AM

Dibblers Ron,
In the 60's John Peel was broadcasting on the pirate radio ship "Caroline". He used to be on air very late at night. He had a wonderful Liverpool accent( although he was not from there) and a beautiful voice.He used to sign off with a poem that finished with something about the perfumed garden,and the dibblers playing in the grass, all around us is beautiful and love is in the air. I always thought he meant rabbits? Anyone round the table know?
Lovely cup of coffee, thanks Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 04 Apr 06 - 08:24 AM

Thanks, folks:

My wife rubbed my back with alcohol last night... the closest thing there is to a wonder drug in my wife's mind. It's much better this morning.. glad I got rid of that stoopid 80 pound sound system.

A couple of things..

I can identify with your wife, Ron. There are group folks and one on one folks. I think of people like Catters Guy Wolf and many others who could sit up singing and playing music until dawn. Delightful people and in some ways, the heart of a folk festival. For them, the festival begins after the formal program ends. I enjoy their company and have occasionally stayed for the late night sings. My wife and I are more one on one folks. In a small group, I am pretty outgoing. But in a larger group, I seem to be more content just to sit and listen. The larger the group, the more content I am to sit quietly. I don't know why. Maybe my Mother was frightened by a turtle while she was carrying me. Ruth becomes even quieter than me, as she isn't a "folkie." She has found the folk community to be very welcoming, and really enjoys the people but the music was never a part of her life so she doesn't have the same appreciation that dyed-in-the-wool folkies have. For me, talking over a cup of coffee, or finding a quiet corner to just sit and play music with one or two others is more my speed. Or lack of speed. If Ruth and I make it to the Getaway this year as we're planning, don't be surprised, or offended if we leave early (11 p.m is early? Sheesh!!) We love you all, but that's not our style. And don't be surprised if we want to linger over a cup of coffee at the kitchen table long after you're ready to get up.

Something else.. how beautifully music can bring comfort.

Last week, I sent off a copy of the Gospel Messengers CD to my brother-in-law Everette in Brooklyn. Everette is one of my all-time favorite people... endlessly appreciative, warm and loving. And generous to everyone he comes in touch with. Everette's wife had several strokes over a period of years and he took care of her all those years when she was wheel chair bound. Despite the seemingly heavy burden, he was always cheerful and thankful for any small kindness. When I first met Everette, I really liked him and when I found out that he loved the 50's and 60's rhythm and blues groups, I made many, many cassettes of that music for him and his wife to listen to. Everette would tell me that when his wife was really feeling low, she'd ask him to play one of those tapes. She couldn't stand alone or walk, but she always loved to dance. Everette would lift her out of her wheelchair and support her while they danced, with her standing on the tops of his shoes, like a little girl. I tell you, when Everette would talk about how much those tapes meant to him and "Bootsy," and I pictured them slowly dancing around the room to Earth Angel or My Prayer with Bootsy standing on his shoe tops, I was so moved that it would be hard to talk. Bootsy died a couple of years ago, and Sunday was her birthday. Everette received the Gospel Messengers CD on Saturday and Sunday evening he went to a church gathering and they played the CD through six or seven times. One woman particularly loved a song When I Get To Glory and every time it came around, she'd just get up and quietly walk back and forth in the room, totally absorbed in the song.

Everette called yesterday to tell us how much the music helped him to get through Bootsie's birthday. That's enough reason just in itself to make me thankful that I struggled for a year trying to learn how to make it.

Music soothes the savage beast, they say. It also soothes the aching heart.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 04 Apr 06 - 11:08 AM

Aw Jerry, I don't usually start my day with tears in my eyes. Beautiful story.

I suspect that we still don't really understand music. Perhaps it iis connected with the pulsing earth itself and puts us in that cradle of sound.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: GUEST,Ron Davies
Date: 04 Apr 06 - 10:38 PM

Just got back from rehearsal. It seems some of us ( a fair number--most of us are baby boomers) are starting to notice hearing loss. And I've heard that just a group of our size (about 180) generates a fair amount of decibels--and just singing (and contributing to the volume) in the middle of such a group--over say about 20 years--which several of us have done-- can have such an impact. But, it's also a real high--so I'm not about to give it up.

I already have to turn up Jon Stewart louder than Jan would like. But at least I'm trying (sometimes) to not turn up the radio or tape player real loud in the car--although that's a high too. I suppose we have to make adjustments.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 04 Apr 06 - 10:43 PM

Funny thing is, Ron. I don't know if you've noticed but as I get older, people don't talk as loud, anymore. Why are they always whispering?

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 05 Apr 06 - 06:37 PM

Jerry
Glad the back is better, ask your wife to try a base oil like grapeseed oil with a few drops of lavender,camomile and geranium, perfect bliss!
Have to go to bed 11.23 here , love this table but have been sitting up till the early hours of the morning listening to the conversation....or ...ok put the coffee on...keep me awake.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 05 Apr 06 - 09:19 PM

Thanks for the concern, billybob. My back is coming along. Got a rough throat from a cold too, but I went to Men's Chorus practice tonight and my voice and back both loosened up to the point where I pretty much forgot about them. We're getting ready for a concert at the end of the month and we sang tonight with a jazz trio led by a brilliant young pianist. We're doing Oh Happy Day with him, and His Eye Is On The Sparrow, with a saxophone duet added. Really exciting stuff. The Messengers are guests, too so it will be a great night.

Been a slow day at the table, as happens. I've been excited checking my e-mails as our CD is now on the internet and I'm getting inquiries from places I never suspected... sent a prom copy off to someone in Poland who has a radio show, and one to a blues critic in England who will review the CD for severtal magazines... and one to Florida to a promoter down there who likes our sound. Small potatoes, admittedly, but fun.

I see my buddy Jimmy is in Venice. I'll have to invite him to stop by for a cup a when he gets back..

Bedtime's a comin'..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 05 Apr 06 - 09:37 PM

Keep in mind, Jerry, that in 'virtual reality', Jimmy can pop in here as he pleases and go right back to Venice.

Think I'll write a story about lives being lived at arm's length! Actually I think it's already been done- life size images thrown on the wall for chatting and courting, brief interludes for procreation and back to 'making our own reality'. Hmmmmm Where did I hear that phrase before?

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: GUEST,Ron Davies
Date: 05 Apr 06 - 11:30 PM

Jerry--

Oh, Happy Day--is that the one by the Edwin Hawkins Singers? That was the best thing about the entire year of 1969--admittedly not a good year for the US. But I remember being totally hypnotized, caught up in that song even on a tinny radio--and totally flabbergasted that it was such a huge POP! hit--got up to #2 nationally, I think. It is such a wonderfully joyous rocking song--I know avowed atheists who really love it--(what do they do about the words?)

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 06 Apr 06 - 01:43 AM

Ah yes, I remember it well. In February, 1969 on radio station KSAN-FM in San Francisco, the late, great DJ Voco (Abe Keshishian) introduced a track by The Northern California State Youth Choir. Their director, Edwin Hawkins, had entered them in a singing competition at a youth convention in Cleveland. To raise funds for the trip they recorded eight songs on a two-track machine in the Ephesian Church of God in Christ. These were made into an album, Let Us Go into the House of the Lord, of which a thousand copies were produced to be sold at the convention. One track, "Oh Happy Day," was a call-and-return led by a young singer named Dorothy Morrison. A friend gave Voco a copy and he started playing and promoting "Oh Happy Day." It caused thousands of hippies to start praising the Lord for such authentically far out music. Things went a little crazy for the choir, bringing on some of the various complications of instant fame. However, even as they continued to sort themselves out, San Francisco continued to have a happy day for many months.

Elmer

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 06 Apr 06 - 08:20 AM

Yes, yes... and yes.

"Oh happy day, Oh happy day
   When Jesus washed (3 times)
   Oh happy day (2 times)

He taught me how to watch
Watch and pray
And live rejoicing ev- every day, every day

Pretty simple words. I still have my 45 rpm of the song by the Edwin Hawkins singers. The Men's Chorus where I sing does the song, pretty much with the same arrangement as Edwin Hawkins, but the lead singer does an even more exciting job on it.. at least my wife and I think so, and we both love the Edwin Hawkins version. The Men's chorus isn't as good, musically but they more than make up for it with their exuberance.

The version we did last night has the feel more of Ahmad Jamal, the jass pianist, if you remember him doing The In Crowd and Wade In the Water. The lead "vocal" is done by the piano, and we make the response. Very, very exciting. The pianist's name is Christian Sands, and he has a couple of cds out... going to see if I can find them at amazon.com and pick one up. He's a young kid who is gaining a national reputation in the jazz world. May still be a teenager.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 06 Apr 06 - 08:25 AM

Christian Sands has two CDs on CD Baby. He is FIFTEEN YEARS OLD!

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: GUEST,Ron Davies
Date: 06 Apr 06 - 11:28 PM

I know we're not discussing politics around the table--and if you think this is not a good topic, I'll drop it-- but I'm getting more and more interested in the controversy about illegal immigrants--I'd be very curious what people think. To me it's clear they should be put on a path to citzenship--but I'd like to hear your views.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 07 Apr 06 - 09:10 AM

Hey, Ron:

A discussion about politics is fine around a kitchen table. There aren't many "discussions" about politics in here. It's a rapid-fire interchange of people who already know all the answers.

My own theory about politics is that it's ultimately the wallet that drives people... wealthy or poor. Morality rarely gets in the way of political decisions. And to me, even that is understandable. When it comes to immigration, one's attitude will be determined by many things that have nothing to do with philosphy or morality. For starters, it depends on where you live. If you live in a small town in Minnesota, the effect of illegal immigrants is most likely different than if you live in one of the border states, or a large city. It also depends on your level of education. If you are a manual laborer in an area where jobs are scarce and you have an influx of illegal immigrants willing to work for less money than you can live on, you're bound to have a different attitude than a computer programmer in Boston. If you are a business man and you can make a far greater profit hiring illegal immigrants, you're at least going to be tempted to look the other way when workers are hired. It may just mean that dream home in Aruba and sending your kids to Harvard. If you're poor but there is very little influx of illegal immigrants that threaten your job secvurity, and you can buy a product or service at a lowere price because someone is hiring illegal immigrants, you aren't likely to complain. There are probably another half a dozen scenarios where your attitude is driven by the impact illegal immigrants have on your life... among those, the effect on social services.

There was a time when illegal immigrants congregated mostly in ghettos in large cities. That's not so true anymore. Wherever there's a need for cheap manual labor, you'll find illegal immigrants no matter what the size of the town.

My opinion on the topic? (and it's just an opinion, formed in part because illegal immigrants aren't a major presence here in Derby, Ct.) I can't see the practicality, let alone the moral foundation for sending everyone back to where they came from. And here's where it gets fuzzy. If they've been here five years and have a steady job and are being responsible citizens, then I'd think it was fair to let them apply for citizenship. If they came yesterday, I'd send them back and make them apply for citizenship. Giving them green cards for a limited aount of time to work in this country isn't a bad idea. If they do it for Europeans, why not Mexicans?   This seems like a problem that calls for measured compromise.

I don't know what the answer is... these are just some of my thoughts. As for our Canadian and European friends, they'll have a different perspective. Europeans aren't concerned about Mexicans sneaking across their borders on a moon-less night. They get a flood of refugees from the middle East that create similar problems, financial and social. I'd be interested in getting their perspective.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: GUEST,Ron Davies
Date: 07 Apr 06 - 11:53 PM

You're right, Jerry--it seems to hinge on whether somebody perceives that his or her job is threatened by illegal immigrants--or can imagine a scenario where they would be competing with illegal immigrants for the same jobs. But legal immigrants would offer the same threat--and supply and demand means that the immigrants will come here, legal or illegal, regardless of the outcome of this particular bill. In fact, if someone were concerned about pay at the lower levels, I would think they would want the immigrants to be legalized--that would lessen chances of exploitation--and raise pay for everybody on the low end of the economic scale.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 08 Apr 06 - 06:52 AM

That's a real good observation, Ron: reducing exploitation and raising pay for everyone on the low end. Exploitation always pits one group of the poor against another... usually along racial lines.
Reducing illegal immigration could possibly raise all boats. At least that's more likely to benefit the poor than the "trickle" down" theory. Make me richer and the crumbs from the table will be better.

Ultimately, this is more of a humanity and justice issue than a political issue. Politics tends to offer two inadequate choices with the selection based on emotion or prejudice. The one who can make people hate each other holds the power. I know Little Hawk sees it this way, too.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Donuel
Date: 08 Apr 06 - 07:59 AM

But we just raised the minimum wage back in 1997

Ah 1997... the days when the beeper reigned supreme

Asking corporate Amerika to provide a liveable wage is like asking Tony Soprano to give up his skim.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: jimmyt
Date: 08 Apr 06 - 08:05 AM

Can I have a cup of coffee? We just got back from Italy last night and since I was jet-laggewd I logged on to the webcam and saw ANdrew and Carole get married today in Wales!   What a wonderful thing technology is...or can be!   Anyway, glad to be back and will catch up on my reading of table topics soon! jimmyt

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 08 Apr 06 - 09:06 AM

Hi folks, coffee ready? Thanks,
you are right the feeling in Europe is rather different,unfortunatly the press here only focus on illigal people arriving here and then living of our benefits system, free housing, free medical care, not getting a job etc,they very rarely talk about genuine refugees who come here to avoid persecution.So the innocent get a bad name due to the bad behaviour of the others.
After July 7th bombs we have had much bad feeling.I was brought up in London and have to admit that when I was a child it was unusual to see a foreigner but now London is very multicultural.
The crazy thing is Billy still has an American passport, having lived here for 35 years, we thought it might be a good idea for him to apply for British citizenship as well, when we saw the form to fill in, nearly as big as the bible, I took umbridge and said do not bother!
I really think as he has a business here and pays his taxes, has never claimed a penny from the state he should be fast tracked!
It is funny when we go back to the USA the immigration guys at the airport are very suspicious, like... how long are you staying?Why are you here? Billy no mates???
Back to work, thanks for the chat ,Wendy

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 08 Apr 06 - 09:08 AM

Welcome back, Jimmy!

Table topics is whatever anyone wants to talk about. Can you imagine... well over 300 posts and not a single ugly, insulting one?


SHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: GUEST,Ron Davies
Date: 08 Apr 06 - 01:10 PM

Jerry--

Hey, it seems everybody else has a copy of the Messengers' CD. Is it available through Camsco?--I like to try to buy folk CD's there to support Mudcat. Or if not, can I buy one through you--I insist on paying.

Elmer--

If you're still checking this thread, that was fascinating information about the background to "Oh Happy Day"


Billy Bob--

I can certainly understand your feelings about US Customs at the airport---since I go to Sidmouth almost every summer, I've had occasion to notice the British Customs authorities are nowhere near as paranoid as the US ones.

Favorite story here is Jan's entry to the US, coming back from Sidmouth a few years ago. She loves Heinz baked beans. But though Heinz is a US firm, we can't get them here. So she gets them in the UK and brings them back in her suitcase. Well, the shape of a baked bean can is of great interest to the machine that checks luggage. So the Customs people wanted to know what was in the corner of the suitcase. She told them. As you might imagine, they wanted proof. So she showed them a can. So then what's in this corner here? They couldn't believe she'd imported 4 cans of Heinz baked beans. But she had.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 08 Apr 06 - 03:28 PM

Hey, Ron:

No, it's an illusion. Not everybody on Mudcat has the Gospel Messengers CD. It's available through cd baby on the internet, but I'm selling it for less to Mudcat members... $10 + $3 for shipping & handling. It's $13 + S @ H on cd baby.

What's been fascinating to me is that a reviewer for several british blues magazines liked it alot, listening to samples on cd baby and wanted a copy to review. And, someone with a blues program on radio in Poland liked it and asked for a copy as well. I hadn't thought of a blues venue as a place to send copies, but I guess I'd better re-think things.

For our canadian friends, when we were in Vermont, we drove north to the Canadian border, and turned around before crossing the border. The entrance check is a mile or so inside the U.S. border, and we had to go through customs, even though we hadn't gone to Canada. We explained what we had done and they asked a few questions and let us through without a problem.

And as for beans.. I struck up a conversation at the airport with someone scanning our luggage and he said the most suspicious object to avoid bringing into this country is peanut butter. It has the same consistency as plastic explosives. So, if you're planning on bringing in gourmet peanut butter from England, think twice, it ain't alright..

Who would thunk?

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 08 Apr 06 - 10:23 PM

I'll stick a CD in the mail for you tomorrow, Ron:
Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Naemanson
Date: 08 Apr 06 - 10:47 PM

Hi, been gone for a while. Mind if I sit down? My dogs are killing me.

Living in a territory on the other side of the world brings a slightly different perspective to the whole immigration thing. The population of Guam is a true melting pot. The Chamorros were first on the island arriving about 6500 years ago. The Spanish arrived in 1521 with Magellan and subsequent 'visits'. They colonized the islands here in the 1600s. Over that period they brought in Philipinos, Chinese, Koreans, and Japanese. Then in 1898 the USA took the island from the Spanish. That brought in the overwhelming influence of the land of the 'free'. The Japanese took the island and held it for almost 4 years. Since 1944 it's been an American base and has been influenced by the USA to a great extent. However, it is also a vacation mecca for the Japanese and, to a smaller extent, the other Asian nations. Because Guam is so urbanized and so busy we get islanders from all over the Pacific living here. It is not unusual to hear 6 or 7 different languages as you walk around the mall.

So on this island people tend to be puzzled about the big deal back on the mainland. Of course, mainland politics don't get much attention here anyway. We cannot vote in national elections, our congressional representative has no power and can only make requests of congress, and our income taxes go out to the feds and then are returned to fund the island government. None of my taxes are being spent in Iraq.

Added to all that is the general tropical attitude of 'Chill out and enjoy life.' People are very good at planning parties. There are businesses set up here that kust support parties. The hotels down on Hotel Road are doing OK, could be better but then the Asian economies are a little wishy-washy right now. Life goes on in this tropical paradise...

I wonder what my point was when I started this thread? Oh well, guess I'm late for my hammock.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: GUEST,Ron Davies
Date: 09 Apr 06 - 05:57 AM

Naemanson--

And here I thought this was going to be a hard-hitting expose on the plague of dogs in Guam--"My dogs are killing me".

LOL

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: GUEST,Ron Davies
Date: 09 Apr 06 - 08:24 PM

Naemanson--

I suppose you're really tired of answering this but I probably missed it if you talked about it. One of the things Guam is famous for right now is the brown snake. Are they really everywhere? Do they have them under control yet? Were they really responsible for the disappearance of several bird species on Guam?

Hope you don't mind talking about them.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 09 Apr 06 - 08:28 PM

It's Sunday night, I have a whopper of a cold (which I've had now for four days) and I'm sitting here thinking how blessed I am that that's all I have to be concerned about. I had a brief window, Friday night, where I was able to sing with the Messengers, and then I got socked in right after the program.

Saturday morning, the Messengers came up for practice and I had my new sounds system set up to try out. I can't remember when I had more fun singing (even though I sounded like a goat with it's tail in a vice.) The system has a powerful, rich bass range to the speakers and Joe sounded so wonderful. I could see how much fun he was having. Singers know how exhilarating it can be when you have a sound system and mic when you can really hear you voice. I didn't think Joe was going to leave. It does my heart good to see good folks feeling good.

So, if you drop by, sit on the far side of the table, and I'll be sure to cover my mouth if I cough.

All will pass. I'm singing three times this week, so it better..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: GUEST,Ron Davies
Date: 11 Apr 06 - 12:15 AM

Jerry--

Hope your cold goes soon. Guess most people are busy now--not many left (temporarily ) at the table.

I have rehearsals tomorrow night and Wednesday night and a concert Friday--I'll try to get back when I can--I hope tomorrow night--but it'll be late.

After work, saw lots of people dressed in white, who evidently had come from one of the pro-immigrant demonstrations. Haven't heard of any violence. Sounds good.   Parallels are being drawn with the civil rights movement of the '60s.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 11 Apr 06 - 08:53 AM

Hey:

If you're interested in movies, search IMDb. I just stumbled across this site, looking for an old movie, Boomerang (not the Eddie Murphy lame comedy that has nothing to do with this movie.) As it turns out, the movie is not available on DVD. (I have it on video.) This website not only has extensive reviews and information on over 3,500 movies, it links to web sites where you can buy the movie, by country. I can see I'll be going back to this for a long time.

Yesterday, I got my DVD of The Body Snatcher (considered by some to be Boris Karloff's best film.) It came from China (not the alternate title of the movie.) I picked it up through eFilmic for $6.99. It's a quality print and is in English, but has chinese subtitles. When I tried to get rid of the subtitles, all the instructions in the menu are in Chinese... :-) It took some experimenting to figure out how to get rid of the subtitles, because there are 7 choices. Six of them are for other oriental languages, from the looks of it. I finally tried the 6th choice on the list, and it removed the subtitles. I had to laugh at the subtitles because they are very complete. Unlike movies where the character is speakeing for a minute and the English subtile is "Hello," the subtitles are so complete that in some scenes they almost cover the complete screen... you have to try to figure out what's going on behind all the chinese characters.

Now that I've figured out how to get rid of the subtitles, I'll watch the movie tonight when Ruth is safely ensconced upstairs watching the decorating channel. She don't like scary movies, and while this movie is not at all explicit, visually, it is definitely very creepy.

Your schedule sounds like mine, Ron. I cancelled my service at the nursing home this morning because my cold is lingering... much better, but still here. I had practice last night, and last Saturday, and have practice on Wednesday night, too. And preformances with my group and both of the Male Choruses I sing in coming up, and have just agreed to be chairman of one of the Male Chorus annual concerts. As I said to my brother-in-law, my plate is full, but it's all deserts..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: GUEST,Ron Davies
Date: 11 Apr 06 - 11:30 PM

Hi Jerry--

Looks like it's still just thee and me.

Just got back from rehearsal.

Had an interesting experience on the way out on the subway. Sat next to a guy, about 18-20, who had a notebook with English on one side and a language I didn't recognize on the right. Turned out he was a Turkish student studying English. So, as I like to do with a new language, I asked him how to say hello and goodbye-- in Turkish. When he told me I wrote it down in Cyrillic--since it was actually easier to write what he said that way than in English--English doesn't have exact equivalents to his words. It's interesting that knowing something about another language--in this case Russian--helped write a third--Turkish. There are certain guttural sounds we don't have. So that was fun.

And I sat next to a friend at rehearsal who couldn't figure out what I had written--even though he's a Russian expert. So I told him he need not be concerned not recognizing the words--since it was Turkish.

How's that for small talk--(pretty small)-- around the table?

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 11 Apr 06 - 11:36 PM

Hey, Ron and Jerry. You are not alone. I'm napping in the corner.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: jimmyt
Date: 11 Apr 06 - 11:48 PM

ROn I just was at the tomb of St. Cryil in ROme and this seemed to hit home to me! I get very confusied with Glagolythic writing!   Had a great expericence in ROme though!    jimmyt

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 12 Apr 06 - 09:37 PM

Sit down, take a deep breathe and a vacation from Mudcat Wars.

A small incident.

This afternoon, Ruth and I did some shopping and ended up in that limbo when it was really too early to eat supper (it was about 4 p.m.) but by the time we got home, too late to make it because I had to go out to practice this evening. Suddenly, the excruciatingly slow service at Friendly's seemed just what we needed. If we were waited on and served quickly, we wouldn't be hungry enough to eat. But thanks to the complete inneficiency of Friendly's it took almost a half an hour to get our food and by then we were hungry.

While we were sitting there waiting to get hungry, I noticed a man in the booth behind Ruth. He must have come in just before we did, because the waiter came over and took his order before us. He ordered a 5 scoop ice cream sundae, and the anticipation showed in his face. He looked like he was in his 80's and looked very pale and fragile. When he got his sundae, I watched him eat it, as he was directly in the line of sight behind Ruth. Talk about savoring!
He lifted each spoonful out and looked at it with great satisfaction before taking it into his mouth. I had the feeling that this was a ritual for him... something he really looked forward to. And because he was alone, I suspected that he was widowed and perhaps was carrying on a ritual that he had enjoyed sharing with his wife.
When he finally had scooped every last drop of ice cream out of the large dish, he quietly folded his napkin and asked for his check. When the waiter came over all he said to him was "That should do me for awhile." When he got up, I realized how fragile he was. He couldn't stand up straight and almost lost his balance and fell. He had to hold on to the booths to walk and was listing dangerously to one side. He finally got enough balance that he was able to hobble across the room for a trip to the Men's Room.
When he came out, it was a real struggle to make his way across the restaurant and out the door. We watched him walking to his car, concerned that he would fall over, but he made it. And I thought, "How sweet the simplest treats can be when you are old and living alone." And I knew that could be me some day. I could understand that... the pleasure of breaking up a lonely day at home by going to Friendly's and getting the largest ice cream Sundae they make. Damn the calories and the cholesterol. For a few minutes, the man could savor the time when it was just him and that big bowl of ice cream. And perhaps a one or two sentence conversation with the waiter. I didn't feel sorry for the man. Or fear that I might end up that way. There can be great pleasure in the simplest of things that we think nothing of.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: GUEST,Ron Davies
Date: 13 Apr 06 - 12:11 AM

Hi Jimmy (if you get a chance to check this)--

My understanding is that the Glagolitic alphabet came first. The Cyrillic alphabet was derived from a combination of Greek and Glagolitic. We sang a piece--can't remember the composer--and as usual it's late--called the Glagolitic Mass. And it wasn't the same as Russian.

I like the way the Cyrillic alphabet looks--so much that I've been writing my name in Cyrillic in all my books for years. Cyrillic even has some exact cognates with English-- so ATOM is exactly the same in Russsian and English.


Jerry--

You're absolutely right about the importance of simple things--and the importance of companionship. Mudcat has the potential to be a source of long-lasting companionship for quite a few of us, I think. The love of music--and learning, I'd say--could make a real community--as long as there's a bit of tolerance, which there seems to be in most Mudcatters.

Your oasis here is wonderful.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 13 Apr 06 - 10:57 AM

Seems to be just you and me these days, Ron. But that's awright.

Last week at the Men's Chorus practice we did the ultimate overdone song: Jesus Loves Me This I Know. Just about everyone who was taken to church as a kid learned that song. It's kinda like a Christian Skip To My Low or She'll Be Coming 'Round The Mountain. By the time we're six or seveen years old and we are mature, we associate that song with little kids. Who wants to sing a BABY song? Certainly not a seven year old. And then the song sinks back into oblivian, along with all those other old staples, like Shortnin' Bread, Someone's In The Kitchen With Dinah, and the rest.

When I heard the piano introduction of Jesus Loves The Little Children, it caught me off guard. It was done very slowly and soulfully. And then when I heard the lead singer come in, I was darned near overwhelmed with the beauty of the song. I mean, here is a guy in his 70's singing Jesus Loves Me with all the power and spirituality of another song we're doing... His Eye Is On The Sparrow. The song sent chills down my spine. Afterwards, I spoke to the guy ... don't even know his name, and siad "I've sung that song all of my life, but when you sang it, I heard it for the first time."

Two other old chestnuts come to mind that have been miraculously transformed by a completely fresh interpretation... one moving, emotionally and one moving the hips. I think that Ray Charles has claimed America the Beautiful as his own and I am deeply moved whenever I hear him sing it. The most emotional experience I've had listening to his recording was on a boat cruise one night around the New York Harbor. Ruth and I were standing on the deck in a fine mist, with limited visibility and when we came close enough to see the Statue Of Liberty lit with flood lights, they played Ray's version of the song over the loud speakers. Whewww! What a rush of emotion!

The other song is Shortnin' Bread recorded by one of my favorite groups, The Tractors. They do it as a boogie shuffle... maybe the way that Canned Heat might have done it. They've taken another, old familiar overcooked song and made it fresh and new.

Anyone else think of a song that's been reborn?

I'd start a thread on this, but I'm not sure that I want to walk into the BS jungle that it's become.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 13 Apr 06 - 01:13 PM

I know what you mean when you say that some of the simplest songs can stun one when they're done reflectively and with intensity. I too have had that experience at times, times when I could have wept- and did.   

I don't suppose this song of Buddy's is appropriate in this context but it came powerfully to my mind.

Jesus Loves Me More
                Buddy Tabor, Juneau, Alaska
Oh I know it's cold sleeping in your car
But you really are to blame for where you are
I can see that you're down to skin and bones
But it's not my fault you're starving all alone

You surely cannot punish my success
Just because my way of life has been so blessed
The reason why you ain't got no food or any shoes
Is 'cause Jesus loves me more than he loves you

While millions starve I'm putting on more weight
But that's not my destiny, not my fate
Oh, I'd love to help you out but you have sinned
And I know you'd only go and sin again

But at night when I lie down there's's something wrong
Thee's no joy when I try to sing your song
There's a little voice that will not go away
Telling me that I've judged and I have strayed

But you surely cannot punish my success
Just because my way of life has been so blessed
The reason why you ain't got no food or any shoes
Is 'cause Jesus loves me more than he loves you

Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me.
Yes, Jesus loves me more than he loves you

Thank you, Lord.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 13 Apr 06 - 01:41 PM

Thanks for the song, Ebbie: It's quite a song and a serious warning to all of us... not just those other people who are judgmental and hypocritical. One thing I firmly believe is that if someone is:

   1. Blessed
   2. Lucky
   3. Fortunate
(Take your pick of words depending on your belief) along with that
(1, 2 or 3) comes a responsibility to be more loving, more generous and more sensitive to those who are not so (1, 2 or 3.) My word of choice is "1." And my response to that belief is that I am "Blessed to be a blessing." Whatever goodness is in my life is there, not because I am so terrific or deserve it, but so that I can share it with others. The more my life is blessed, the more humbled I am. There is no way to take pride in something I am not responsible for.

This morning, over our barberry hedge, I was talking to my neighbor, "Poppa" George. We were talking about long life and he was commenting on someone on television who has lived to be 100 who takes full credit for it, because he has lived healthily. I believe that we should all take care of our health because I look upon it as something not to be taken for granted. That said, I've known people who have lived the most responsible life, eating healthily, excercising and avoiding all those things that can shorten our health, only to die very young. To me, nothing is guaranteed... certainly not health, and definitely not financial security. The only thing that is guaranteed in life is insecurity. Whether someone believes that they are "blessed" or "lucky" or more commonly, "Deserving," disaster can be lurking right around the corner.

I wrote a rather heavy-handed song back in the early 60's called Words Of A Bum. I have thankfully forgotten most of it, but one line applies here:

"The difference between a bum and a good man is like the line on the beach between water and sand."

I am also (pick 1, 2 or 3) that I know very few Christians who are as smug and judgmental as the one in the song. I know that they exist. Being judgmental is a human weakness that knows no religion or belief, or financial level. It's something I have to be on guard against, every day.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 13 Apr 06 - 02:04 PM

One of the most tellingly obvious things about you, Jerry Rasmussen, is that you are living an "examined life". I don't know where you learned it or when, but it is a valuable approach in this world. I have no doubt that because of it your blessings are great. Not that ours are not - mine certainly are- but unless a person is 'aware' he or she may not even recognize it.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Leadfingers
Date: 13 Apr 06 - 08:17 PM

Jerry - Its SO SO nice to sit at your kitchen table and get pleasant conversation , instead of the nastiness which is so prevalent now in some parts of The Cat ! - And NO sugar in the coffee , thanks Ruth .
Now I will just sit and relax !

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: freda underhill
Date: 13 Apr 06 - 08:51 PM

I too have been sitting quietly in the corner of the kitchen for some time, and loving the conversation.

on hearing someone sing a song in a new way, I heard Neil Adam perform "Ye Banks and Braes" at a folk festival in Canberra some years ago. He sang it very slowly, mournfully, and I realised I'd never understood the song before. It is a bluesy, moody song, and I was very moved by his singing of it.

Another song that was transformed for me was "Moreton Bay", sung to the Queensland version of the tune, by Kate Delaney, a wonderful singer from Sydney. That song was so powerful and moving, I felt in awe of her singing and of the song.


freda

(stepping back to the corner chair)

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 13 Apr 06 - 10:02 PM

Terry and Freda: How nice to see you both! I thought that was the two of you over there in the corner.

A humorous remembrance. Many, many years ago in a country called Pittsburgh, they held a regular Ceilidh. One night, a young man got up to sing that wonderful Arms-akimbo, Aran Sweater, lusty-voiced song with the chorus, Tima rideo, Tima rideay.. I don't remember the name of it any more... You know, the "I crack my whip and I bring the blood." The Makem Brothers, hands on hips song. This was a young kid who didn't know from nothing... a farm kid. When he got up, he sang the song draggingly slow and irritated the Hell out of everyone... oh yeah, It's Kilgarry Mountain. When he finished he was immediately attacked for doing the song so slowly. I mean, it's supposed to be done fast, with arms akimbo! But this was a farm kid who didn't know nothin' about arms akimbo. But he knew oxen. He asked, "You ever seen oxen move?" They don't gallop like horses. They move real slow." And the song made sense the way that he did it.

Reminds me of the lines from Mountaineer's Courtship:

"Oh what will you bring to the wedding, the wedding, the wedding
Oh what will you bring to the wedding, my dear old batchelor boy?

I think I'll bring my ox sled, my ox sled, my ox sled
I think I'll bring my ox sled, that is if the weather is good

Why don't you bring your buggy, your buggy, your buggy?
Oh why don't you bring your buggy, my dear old batchelor boy

My ox won't work with the buggy, the buggy, the buggy
My ox won't work with the buggy, 'cause I never seen 'em trot."

Sometimes, a song reveals itself just by placing it in the right rhythm and time.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: freda underhill
Date: 13 Apr 06 - 10:14 PM

and that reminds me of.. the Wagoner's Lad

Oh hard is the fortune of all womankind
They're always controlled, they're always confined
Controlled by their parents until they're a bride
Then slaves to their husbands the rest of their lives

Oh I am a poor girl, my fortune is sad
I have always been courted by the wagoner's lad
He courted me daily by night and by day
And now he is loaded and going away

Your parents don't like me because I am poor
They say I'm not worthy of entering your door
I work for my living, my money's my own
And if they don't like me they can leave me alone

Your horses are hungry, go feed them some hay
Come sit down beside me as long as you may
My horses ain't hungry, they won't eat your hay
So fare thee well, darling, I'll be on my way

Your wagon needs greasing, your whip's for to mend
Come sit down here by me as long as you can
My wagon is greasy, my whip's in my hand
So fare thee well, darling, no longer to stand..

another song with a wagon in it.. and a little confronting..

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 13 Apr 06 - 10:27 PM

We're on the same page, Freda: That's a favorite song of mine that I've sung for most of my life... a good burr under the saddle song with a lot of truth to it. There's nothing like those old songs... One Morning in May, Mary Of The Wild Moore, Omie Wise, John Johanna..
It's funny. People started calling me a singer-songwriter a long time ago because I wrote a few songs. But I've never lost my love of traditional music. You make me feel like getting out my banjo, Freda.

Just got off the phone with a wonderful sounding man from a radio station in Florida. He heard our CD on the internet and asked for a copy. He's been playing it on his radio program and getting a wonderful response, and he just wanted to talk with me. Wants tyo get us down to Florida. He sounds like somebody I'd like to know.
I'll tell Joe and Frankie tomorrow and they'll be all excited. If this keeps up we'll end up selling 25 cds before it's all over... :-)

Great to have you stopping by, freda. I've missed talking with you..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: GUEST,Ron Davies
Date: 13 Apr 06 - 11:09 PM

That's just great, Jerry, that your CD is opening doors in Florida. I would bet that the more people hear it all over the country, the more of those calls you'll be getting.





Tonight I unfortunately have a serious question: what can you do for somebody who will not stand up for herself?

As I said earlier, Jan loves taking care of kids. And the parents keep asking her to do more. She can't say no. This week it was 4--just about all week--including 17 month old Henry, who is her usual charge. (She herself thinks society is screwed up that a woman can't stay home with her 17-month old) (But the family is heavily dependent on the mother's earnings--it's certainly not her fault.)

At any rate, she's had a terribly sore throat all week--partly from talking all day. Also the neck is trying to heal. And 2 days ago, Henry rose up unexpectedly and hit her in the face (unintentionally)--which forced her neck back. Added to that, last Thursday at the dentist, the dentist forced her neck into a painful position--for an hour and a half--since the dentist appears to have botched the job the first time--so it took much longer than it should have. Jan kept telling her over and over about the long plate in her neck (4 vertebrae). The woman kept apologizing--but then immediately forgot--it never registered. Jan's neck has not been the same since.

And I've just asked her what her plans are for next week. She has no plans to cut back.

Why?

What if anything can be done?

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 14 Apr 06 - 12:23 AM

That's a tough one, Ron. The problem with developing a solution is that the habit of thinking she can do it is a long-ingrained one. Even though she recognizes it as a problem she may not respond in time. Maybe the best thing would be for her to have a frank talk with her doctor and have him or her arm her with concrete facts.

It's a lot easier to say NO when you can quote an expert on what the long-term consequences could be.

In the meantime, I do hope her neck heals quickly with no further damage done.

Ebbie

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: freda underhill
Date: 14 Apr 06 - 12:32 AM

I would do anything for a family member or close friend, Ron. I minded a friends little girl while she finished her uni degree, and I babysit my own grandaughter weekly, or more if I can.

But.. I would not do it for someone out of my inner circle, especially if my own health was at risk.   I don't know what the answer is for Jan, but she is a very caring person.

freda

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 14 Apr 06 - 10:21 AM

First, Ron, allow me to laugh at us. You often mention how you are out several nights a week practicing music, often not getting back until very late. Your posts on here are often after midnight. I often mention how many times I am out singing in one week. Let's see... I sang last Friday, had practice up here on Saturday, had practice on Monday night, cancelled doing a program/service at a nursing home on Tuesday because of my cold and went to another practice Wednesday night. Why is it that other people can't see that they're trying to do too much. Please permit a large GUFFAW! here. I think the truth is, Ron, anyone worth their salt does too much. It's not just the inability to say no. It's seeing something that needs to be done and stepping up and doing it. When I think of the people I most value in my lifem they're ALL like that... And so are we, Ron. And I suspect so are Ebbie and Freda and many others who we respect and enjoy. The catch is when you start destroying your own health by taking on more than your body or spirit can handle. It sounds like what Jan is doing. It's what my dear friend Joe has done most of his life, what my dear friend Willie C does, and my brother-in-law Irving and his wife Sarah do. It goes beyond not knowng how to say "no." It's a lack of concern for their own health. With some, like Joe, he took himself down by pushing his body endlessly after he had fallen and severely injured his back. He reached a point where he was in such pain where he couldn't stand up or even walk across a room. He ended up having serious back surgery and many months of recuperation. He's finally learned his lesson. Kinda. He does take better care of himself, and while it kills him to say "no" sometimes he does, now. But it took him completely breaking down to at least partially learn his lesson. I could give many other examples and unfortunately, it seems like it has taken a serious breakdown of health before there was a change in life style. Hopefully, Jan won't go that far.

I see my good health as a gift. I feel that I am responsible for taking care of it. I wouldn't buy a new sports car and never service the engine. And yet people do that all the time, with their bodies. Unfortunately, if we run our bodies into the ground, we can't go get another one. Not yet, at least. There are times (like this week) where I cancel a commitment to take care of myself. I figure that if I don't respect my body, it's not going to be available when I want to help someone.

All of this is the flip side of a wonderful quality in people... the desire to help others in an unselfish way. All of the people I respecdt and love most have that quality... humility and a desire to serve others out of love. It's a matter of helping people to understand that if they don't care for themselves first, they will not be able to care for others. People forget the second half of the golden rule"Do unto others AS YOU DO UNTO YOURSELF." Don't mean to yell, but I don't know how to underline or italicize. If you want to give love, or help others, you have to first love and take care of yourself. You can't do much for others if you[re flat on your back in a hospital bed.

If Jan really wants to help others, encourage her to be loving and caring of herself and her own body, first. Then she can have a long, loving, giving life of service. And only then.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 14 Apr 06 - 09:51 PM

It's Friday night and I'm beat, as in dog-tired. I'm a-gonna set down at the table with a cup of joe and listen to the rain on the roof and some restorative music. A friend just sent me a CD of Tracy Nelson singing soul music. She's still got industrial-strength pipes after forty-something years of delivering spectacular country, blues, gospel, and outside-of-any category songs to melt your heart. Wish I could turn up the volume loud enough for y'all to hear it.

I hope Jan takes care of herself. Blessed are those who also stand and wait. We're human BEings, not human DOings.

I hope you have a wonderful Easter, wherever you are.

Elmer

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 14 Apr 06 - 10:16 PM

Hey, Elmer:

Tracy Nelson! Man, I haven't heard her since the 60's. "We are Human BEings, not Human DOINGS." Great line.

One of the most powerful songs we sing in the Male Chorus I sing in offers the simplest of advice. The title is "Stand still." I noticve the advice is to either stand and wait, or stand still. I wonder whether it would be alright to sit for awhile..

Have a wonderful Easter too, Elmer..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 14 Apr 06 - 11:11 PM

Hey Jerry,

Tracy Nelson is touring these days with Nick Gravenites, Harvey Mandel, Sam Lay and Corky Siegel as the "Chicago Blues Reunion." How's that for some heavy wattage? They've got a website (www.chicagobluesreunion.com) with streaming audio, if you want to check them out.

Good point you make. I do believe the advise is to "Be still and know God," not to "run around like chickens with your heads cut off and know God." That's something of which I need to be reminded upon occasion in these hyperactive times. Your kitchen table is a good place to take a deep breath and remember, and I thank you for that.

Elmer

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 15 Apr 06 - 02:04 AM

Hi Jerry and everybody else at the table--

Just got back from my concert (actually about 2 hours ago), and tried to go to bed. But as frequently happens after a concert, I was really revved up. I'll tell you more about the concert later.

But I just got your CD (Gospel Messengers), Jerry-- and I decided to listen to it. Well, it's revved me up even more.   It's just DYNAMITE.!!!

I just absolutely love that kind of gospel-----almost entirely close-harmony voices with just bare-bones guitar.

How Much Do I Owe Him?--just hypnotic

Oh Why?--it's really fascinating how you can see the link between gospel and doo-wop. They're all so close, it seems--gospel, blues, and doo-wop.

Your own songs are so strong--the chorus to " Healing Water" seems so traditional---it'll go right into the tradition and everybody will be singing it.

And "When I Get To Glory"--   WOW!!!!!!!!!!!----it makes you feel so good to hear it--I'm gonna have to learn that one this weekend. I just love the way it changes from the slow verse to the rocking chorus.

I'm Just Waiting On Jesus--what a rouser!

Your voice-good rich baritone--a real joy to hear-sounds like you're about 35. And the other members of the group--what a good strong sound!

HEY EVERYBODY--YOU GOTTA GET A COPY OF THIS CD!!!!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: freda underhill
Date: 15 Apr 06 - 08:48 AM

Ron, I agree - I listen to the Gospel Messengers and love them, as I do all gospel music. Jerry's music will drench you with good vibes - just like the man himself.

it's saturday night here - i've had a very busy day doing bits & pieces. went out with friends tonight and talked over dinner. now its time for soft music and sleep.

keep that music happening in the kitchen!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 15 Apr 06 - 09:21 AM

Hey, Freda: I posted words to a song that I wrote about the morning sunlight in response to a post of yours on the Today Is Beautiful thread..

You mention the song, When I Get To Glory, Ron. Early on, not long after I started the Messengers, Frankie's sister-in-law died and his brother asked us to sing at her funeral. It was held in a very small church, and we sang with our backs against the casket at the front of the church. We sang When I Get To Glory, and some of the women got up and started dancing in the pews and into the aisles. I'd never experienced anything like that, but it seemed right.. it's a joyful song. As you've heard, the rhythm shifts abruptly between verses and the chorus. I've never written a song like that, but it's the way it happened. When we sing it. people start clapping enthusiastically during the chorus, and then the verse is very slow.. I didn't mean it to be frustrating to clap to. You can imagine dancing to it... kinda like shifting back and forth between the Charleston and a waltz. That didn't create any problem at the funeral, though. During the verses, the women would just move very slowly and expressively, and then joyfully during the chorus.

Whatever moves you..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 15 Apr 06 - 01:56 PM

And Ron: I understand the phenomenon of being too wound up to go right to sleep after a concert. There's something abnormal about having people focus all of their attention on you for a couple of hours, and you're trying to get through it without making a mistake. For me, two hours of not making a mistake is daunting, and ultimately very tiring. That's even more exagerated when I am doing a concert alone, or with the Messengers. In a 40 man Male Chorus, there's room to hide. That's not true with the Messengers. If you mess up a harmony, people are going to hear it. I don't get tired preparing for a concert, no matter how demanding the practices may be. Hey! You're expected to make some mistakes in practice. But after a concert, I am worth nothing for awhile...

Tell us how it went... sounds like it was a good night for you.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 15 Apr 06 - 06:34 PM

Hi Jerry and anybody else interested--

Yes, it was a good concert for me. Much less pressure than a lot of others--Mozart Requiem, one of my all-time favorite pieces. I could talk about it for quite a while--hope people don't get bored.

One of the things that jumps out at me is that the whole thing is really well-written and frequently moving. Yet all evidence indicates that Mozart did not in fact write the whole thing--a much lesser composer wrote most of the last 2 movements, at least. But I really can't tell--and I don't think many others can either. As I understand it, Mozart sketched out the whole thing, and may have written the bass line for the whole thing.   But it seems that's all he had to do--it sure came out right.

I only sang the Mozart--there was another piece you could volunteer to sing--but it was a modern (classical) piece about the Crucifixion. Fairly obviously going to be quite jarring--and take a lot of rehearsal. So I declined. Fortunately, there are a lot of people in the group with more tolerance for modern dissonance than I have. We (the Mozart only folks) didn't have to be at the concert as early as the others. As I was coming in, a couple in a car stopped me to ask about parking--I always park on the street--do not like parking garages---and don't ever mind walking (For one thing I can sing on the walk--something like Amelia Earhart's Last Flight, Lorena, Arthur McBride, Sammy's Bar--usually fairly long songs.) I've fallen off-topic already. Anyway, the couple wanted to know about parking for the Mozart--they had no intention of even trying to be on time for the modern piece.

And I sympathize with them, actually. I don't really want to go to a concert to hear a musical depiction of modern chaos--which is what happens when people break (musical) rules just for the sake of breaking them, and consciously assault the ear.

In some ways, I'm quite conservative--certainly musically--except that I like a huge array of different types of music.

I'm just not a big fan of classical music after Resphigi, Gershwin, (obviously edging into popular music), some Copland, and some Bernstein. Aside from these, the pieces that interest me after the early 20th century are few.

Sorry to keep rambling on--as I said I could talk about music forever--basically all the time I'm not making it.

Last night I also got a real compliment after the concert from a guy in the row ahead of me. The conductor is always saying "more consonants", especially beginning ones, and ending ones to some extent. A tenor ahead of me told me said "If my consonants were as strong as yours, I'd give myself a hernia." He was obviously impressed.

And a young woman (late 20's?) told me afterwards she'd heard many performances of the Mozart--ours was the best. It was really fun talking to her--and she was wearing a stunning evening dress. As a married man, I suppose I shouldn't get TOO interested in talking to her--but it sure was easy to do.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 15 Apr 06 - 07:55 PM

Nice to see you posting to this thread before 2 in the morning, Ron.
I'm very impressed with your ability to sing complex music. I only read music at gun point. Actually, I'm getting a little bit better, over the years. I just was never motivated, because the music I want to sing doesn't exist in sheet music.

Many years ago, I did a version of Cryderville Jail. I say "a version" because I learned it directly out of the Folk Music Of North America Lomax book. The first time Dave Van Ronk heard me do it, he really liked it. He asked where I'd learned it because he'd never heard anyone sing it the way that I did. I told him that I learned it out of the Lomax book. He said, it doesn't anything like that the way it's written down by Lomax. That's one of the little known benefits of not being able to read sheet music very well. You can discover totally original variations in the commonest of song books :-)

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 15 Apr 06 - 09:41 PM

... just sitting here enjoying listening to the quiet....

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 16 Apr 06 - 10:59 AM

Just sauntered home this morning to sit peacefully at my window with my coffee, listening to the early morning birds and breezes. It is Sunday morning and the world is slow to wake up.

Last night I walked my Cairn Terrier, Meggie, to a friend's house for dinner and a pleasant evening. They have two Cairns of their own and the three dogs look like short-legged sheep as they cast about together.

This morning Meggie is still asleep- she got to bed late.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 16 Apr 06 - 06:40 PM

Easter Sunday, woke up to the dawn chorus, we have a wren nesting in Billy's shed so we cannot close the door.
We have four days holiday so we should have rested, but on Good Friday I had this urge to spring clean! Washed down the paintwork in the dining room then saw the curtains(drapes) so washed them,washing machine gave up and sprayed black oil into wash drum....new curtains? Washed all the china on dresser,dresser needed tender loving care, very old.Polished! Sitting room, washed all the crystal in cabinet, noticed paintwork looked sad....sent Billy out for paint,took down paintings, mirrors and photos, took 5 hours to transform room from green to coffee and cream,had to send out for take away supper no time to cook!
Back to this morning , woke up to dawn chorus, lept out of bed, photos, paintings back on wall,crystal back in cabinet, no time to worry about no drapes!!Ma and Pa coming for Easter lunch at 2.0 ,madness in kitchen, lamb undercooked, potatoes burnt!
Sitting after lunch over coffee in sitting room with CD of Pavarotti playing.Ma and Pa loved food,have not noticed change in colour scheme, just happy to share Easter Sunday with us!
count my blessings again! Happy Easter, with love to you all around this table, Wendy.( black coffee please, strong, thanks!)

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 17 Apr 06 - 10:02 AM

My life makes sense. For much of my life, it didn't.

I guess I've been thinking about that because I wonder how you folks ended up where you are, doing what you are with whoever you're doing it with (if you're doing it with someone.) I've talked to so many people whose life turned out to be a real surprise to them. Most of my life I've lived with the reality of the statement, "If anybody told me ten years ago I'd be doing what I am now, I would have told them they were crazy." And yet, my life makes sense. Even the stupid, self- destructive things that I've done, and the times when my life seemed to be spinning out of control.. times when I could make no sense ouf of my life. All of my life seemed to be preparation for my life today. I wonder if any of you feel that way.
How did you end up in Alaska, Ebbie? When you were a little girl, did you think... "When I grow up I want to live in Alaska?" Or are you a "native?" When I was a little boy, I surely didn't think, "When I grow up I want to be married to a black woman, living in a little back-water town in Connectiut." It not only makes me reflect on how I got here, but WHY I ended up where I am. And who I am. For me, it all makes perfect sense. I could be more specific, and may end up being, but mostly I'm wondering if your life makes sense to you. In a way, it doesn't really make any difference what you're doing in your life, where you're doing it or who you're doing it with (if you're doing it with someone.) The only thing that really matters is if you have the comfort of knowing that your life has some purpose, not matter how modest that might be in someone else's eyes.

Anybody want to share anything around the table? I promise it won't go out of this room.. :-)

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 17 Apr 06 - 10:57 AM

Interesting you should bring that up, Jerry. I've been examining my life in that context for some time. Sometimes I look around outdoors and ask myself what I'm doing in Alaska, of all places. The answer invariably is that I am more at home here than I've been anywhere in my life. I don't have family here and every one of the people I know and love here I met after I was 52 years old but my roots have sunk deep.

Actually, my first dream was Australia but eventually I decided Alaska was easier to get to!

I wrote a song some time ago that kind of addresses life's trip. I call it Sun and Rain although its working title was 'Opposites'. I tried to find and pair gradations of emotion.

"As I dwell on the mem'ries of so many years
And on the lives of most people I know
It surely does seem that we learn from extremes
Let me show you that it's really so.
There is sun, there is rain, there is pleasure and pain
There is friend, there is foe, there's the stranger that I know
Laughter and tears, hopes mingled with fears
The joy and the grief, the rapture and woe.

"There are giggles and sighs, hellos and goodbyes
So many of each in our lives
Promises broken and words left unspoken
Things idolized or despised
Anger and gladness and happy and sadness
The loves and the hates, the births and the fates
The pathway supernal, the broad road infernal
The blink of a day such long years away...

"Through the years I could see my life blown by the wind
Soaring high and then dashed to the ground
Finally I wondered just how much I'd squandered
Having every wind that blows toss me around
A good man's not always right, nor the bad one always wrong
Things are not always black or white as I'd thought my whole life long
Instead of haste, I've learned patience, deep gratitude for questions
The answers can wait. That, at last, I have found.

"I don't know all the reasons for life's changing seasons
But whate'er they may bring is what must be
So in all of my dreams through all of life's extremes
I'll take each moment and let it shape me
I'll take the sun, face the rain, take the pleasure, bear the pain
Love the friend, love the foe, love the stranger in my home
Life's extremes are the means, fertile seeds that we need
To live and to love, to give and to grow

Yes, there's anger and sadness and happy and sadness
The loves and the hates, the births and the fates
The pathway supernal, the broad road infernal
The blink of a day such long years away
The blink of my day a thousand years away."

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 17 Apr 06 - 12:47 PM

Thanks for sharing that, Ebbie: It's a very wise song.

When I look at the things that have shaped me in my life, I think that it's the failures and the mistakes that have changed me the most. Sometimes I feel like a mule that has to be hit between the eyes with a two by four in order to get its attention. Of course, it's the love of others when I couldn't love myself that had the most lasting change. There have been times in my life where I prayed for (and received) pre-hindsight. I think that we all can look back at dark times in our lives and see the good that came from them in hindsight. There've been times when I didn't feel that I had the luxury of waiting years for hindsight. I needed it up front... needed to understand what was good about something that seemed so bad at the time. Through time, I evolved into realizing that understanding will come in its own time. I don't feel that I have to understand everything as it's happening. I believe that all will be revealed when I have been prepared enough to understand. As your song states beautifully, if we can embrace life in all its "goodness" and "badness," and understand that all things can work for our good, with time is takes a lot of anxiety out of life.
I wrote a song many years ago that I'll share...

Pebble, Wheel & Seed

Take a pebble in your hand
Crush it in to a grain of sand
And maybe then you'll understand
Life is never ending

The truth is there for all who yearn
Spin the wheel and watch it turn
All things that pass someday return
Life is in the spinning

Share the water, plant the seed
All who hunger to be freed
And all who ask will be released
Love is the beginning

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 17 Apr 06 - 01:56 PM

I love the image of crushing the pebble, Jerry. So many things affirm that nothing ever dies- or is wasted. Thank you.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: jimmyt
Date: 17 Apr 06 - 08:52 PM

I am back for a while I had just been home for a couple days when Jayne got called to Ohio with serious family health issues. Her mom was having chest pains etc (84) and her sister was taken in for emergency surgery with both arm SUbclavian arteries totally blocked with plaque and still in danger of losing one or both arms. All kinds of issues goin' on up there. Carrie, my youngest, and I went to Ohio on Thursday evening and just got back last night and JAyne is on her way right now having come a day later.    Some times family issues are really difficult to deal with. I feel very blessed with good health and same with Jayne.   Her sister has had some real issues, having a son killed by a car when he was 5 and losing her husband last year. She is seriously depressed and has some compromised health issues. Y'all keep us in your thoughts! It is a little difficult right now!   Miss you all! jimmyt

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 17 Apr 06 - 09:00 PM

Ahhhhh, Jimmy:

That's part of kitchen table conversation, too.. concern for those we love.    There's something completely draining about dealing with serious health concerns. Somehow everything else shifts back into its proper perspective.

I know hearts will go out to you, Jane and your family Jimmy. Some, like Ruth and I will lift up prayers. Others will light a candle or just send positive vibrations and concern. It's all love. Just comes in different sizes and shapes...

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 17 Apr 06 - 09:06 PM

Somebody once said, You mean, as a last resort you're going to pray? And someone answered, No, it's the first resort.

{{{{{Hug for Jimmy}}}}

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 17 Apr 06 - 10:15 PM

Wow, Jimmy--her son was killed by a car at age 5?--that is really rough to take. All our best to her and the rest of your family.



Welcome back.

You're an impressive guy--both a dentist and a skilled musician--even writing your own musical revues. How's the latest one coming--the one you were talking about?

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: jimmyt
Date: 17 Apr 06 - 10:18 PM

Thanks from you 2 wonderful catters! I love you !

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: jimmyt
Date: 17 Apr 06 - 11:08 PM

U2 Ron! THanks for the kind words! Always wanted to perform the Requium. Instead i do mindless Do-wop! Oh well,

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: freda underhill
Date: 18 Apr 06 - 05:48 AM

and a hug from me, jimmyT.

Ebbie and jerry, I would like to hear those songs some day.

freda

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 18 Apr 06 - 10:57 AM

Maybe someday, freda: That would be quite an accompishment to get you, Ebbie and me in the same room. Take about 10,000 miles of traveling, I think. But you never know.

Now that I've put my Gospel Messengers CD to bed, I'll finish a CD of my folk songs... I've already mastered the CD and just have to complete the art work. It will have Pebble, Wheel & Seed on it..

Do you have a tape or CD with your song on it, Ebbie?

I must say, I'm really appreciating the respite from all the controversial threads. When I read of Jimmy and Jayne's problems and think about all the people we're keeping in prayer with life-threatening health problems it makes all the in-fighting in here seem very inconsequential.

"You better come on, in my kitchen
You know it's going to be raining outdoors."

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 18 Apr 06 - 01:46 PM

Thanks. I want to hear your Pebble, Wheel and Seed, Jerry. I'll be watching.

I'm not a performer. I decided some time ago that when your heart thuds high up in your throat, your system is trying to tell you: This ain't fun!

However, my singing partner and I use my mini disc recorder from time to time. In the past we have created a CD and sent it to a friend we used to sing with and who moved to Spokane when he retired. I could teach her 'Sun and Rain' and we could record it and put it on a CD. (I'm speaking very tentatively here!)

I'm very glad that other people do enjoy performing and that I can hear them.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 18 Apr 06 - 10:20 PM

Tired. Drove down to Frankie's for practice tonight. It's a one hour drive. When I got there, Frankie was nowhere to be found, but his daughter's friend was just leaving and let me in. I'd spoken to Frankie earlier today so I was pretty sure that he hadn't forgotten. I'd also left a message on Joe's machine reminding him of practice at 7. By ten after I was the only one there when the phone rang. It was Frankie, and he was on his way. I called Joe and he had forgotten all about practice and was out buying groceries. So, I sat around practicing guitar and working on a new song. Frankie arrived first, a half hour late (to his own house.) He was really feeling terrible... he has severe alergies and this time of year he is usually wiped out by the end of the day. He runs a paving business, despite soon turning 80. Joe came in another ten or fifteen minutes later, totally stressed out and so exhausted that he refused food. Joe refusing food is like... hmm, can't think of anything as radical as that. And, he was too beaten down to even want to sing... which is even rarer than not wanting to eat. So, we just sat around and talked. And Joe and Frankie unloaded. Joe felt badly that I had driven all the way down when we couldn't practice, but I told him I was glad that I came. When life is dragging a friend under, that's when you want to be there. And I know so many friends who are struggling just to stay above water. But it was good. We talked about Joe's problem and I encouraged him to do some things (and get some help) to try to deal with his situation, and Frankie was encouraging, too. And being who we are, we also spent some time in prayer.

Life is fragile. Beautiful, but precarious at times. Joe, Frankie and I are closer than most brothers and we give thanks that we can just sit around (not at the kitchen table) and just minister to each other in conversation and music.

So, now I'm home and worn out, and deeply appreciative for this evening. It's a blessing to have a chance to lift someone up who is sinking down.. especially, beloved friends. And this thread is a blessing too.. a place to come and plunk down knowing that you are among friends. Let the controversies rage, and I wish all well who are caught up in them. As for me, I'll just kick off my shoes, relax here at the table and give thanks for friends to share my days with.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Donuel
Date: 18 Apr 06 - 10:57 PM

I told my friend CT about a blind guitarist I met at a grade school family night. I had introduced myself of course but knew in the back of my mind that he was certainly a musician and probably a sting player, which turned out to be correct. It turned out CT is a chair person of a guitar concert series so I gave him Kevin's number and he went over to hear Kevin play. He was very moved by Kevin's orginal composition called River. Kevin's wife Boo from Tunesia is also blind and is amazingly asute politically and historicly. The only sighted person in the family is their daughter.
Unfortunetly when CT was going to bring them all out to dinner he discovered his car was towed. Those damn garden apartments have these kidk back deals with A&G towing and soak the residents and vistors for thousands of dollars. CT called me up for a ride home. I dried off from the hot tub and drove over to get CT, said hi to Kevin and went on to Potomac. Back at CT's house he didn't want his wife to know he had lost his car... then he played the new CD of his violin concerto that Public TV had recorded and that I had written the program notes for. The second movement was like following arroyos of the great southwest with gushing water that opened up into a grand oasis meadow and blue green water falls.

I came back home and opened the mudcat to jot down my latest experiment and decided to put it on the kitchen table.


WHICH IS>>>
I have been drawing with a power washer.

I leave the old patina of dark concrete for the dark contrast and paint with the clean light color the power washer leaves. So on one back yard patio I have done a sun compass with a smiling visage and the solar system as well as an abstract cubist theme. Next I'll do a series of Hirshfeld portraits on the sidewalk out front. The power washer lends itself nicely to line drawing but it does an amazingly good job of gradient shading too!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 19 Apr 06 - 10:29 AM

Hey, Donuel:

The power washer thing is fascinating. Last summer, I tackled a concrete walkway around the above ground pool we have (it came with the house..) Much of the walkway is in the shade and in places it was almost black. A cherry tree also added a nice dark maroon patina to the concrete. I used bleach and a stiff brush first, and then power washed it, an my wife was really excited about how great it looked. She wants me to do the front sidewalk soon. Of course, not everyone is a fine artist. Maybe I could do a ducky and a doggie on ours..

Many years ago I met a wonderful woman at a folk-gospel festival, Kathy Lee Johnson who happens to be blind. Not that it has ever slowed her down. Her life story is so horrible that it would have destroyed a lesser person. After the festival, we kept in touch through a marvelous machine he had that could "read" a typed letter out loud. She ended up meeting a wonderful man who is a minister, a musician, and also happens to be blind. I was very joyful for her, and him... two beautiful people who seem gifted to see better than the "sighted."

Thanks for stopping by..


Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 19 Apr 06 - 11:16 PM

Hi Jerry and anybody else here--

Just wanted to tell you, Jerry, that the Gospel Messengers CD is a huge hit here--not just with me. Jan loves it--wishes you could bring the whole group to the Getaway. And Henry, her 17-month-old charge, also really likes it.

My group has started work on our next concert--a combination celebration of our conductor's 70th birthday and the group's 40th anniversary. So we'll be doing a lot of our "greatest hits", referring to events in the group's history. Like Va Pensiero (Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves) from Verdi's Nabucco--you may not know the name, but I bet you know the song. Wonderfully stirring.   Suggested as the Italian national anthem--it's a lot better music than the one they now have. And Ave Maria from the Rachmaninoff Vespers (in Russian). Again a really emotional piece--so evocative of Russian churches--and our trip there in 1993.

Anybody who can sing is truly lucky and blessed--and those who don't are missing so much. And the more types of music you appreciate, the better.

During the break at rehearsal last night, I heard about a 93-year old who goes to nursing homes just to lead the singing.

We all decided that's what we'll aim for.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 20 Apr 06 - 12:50 AM

Good evening Jerry, Ron and others around the table,

I wanted to call your attention to a thread I posted today above the line which I think is up your alley, but might not be obvious from the title: "Threshold Choirs, Inspiring Volunteers." It is about choirs that sing at the bedsides of the sick, the dying, women in childbirth, people in comas, in neonatal units, wherever their presence at a bedsides of people in need of comfort are requested. Their website URL is given.

One such choir sang to a musician friend of mine as she died after a long, hard struggle with lupus. They sang to her throughout the night until the end of her life on earth. They had come to her several times in the hospital in the previous weeks, and their singing brought her great joy.

Elmer

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 20 Apr 06 - 09:29 AM

Thanks for drawing the thread to my attention, Elmer. I've been singing in hospitals and nursing homes all myu life (almost) but it never occurred to me to sing at a bedside. (Frankie and I did go to visit Joe after he had very extensive back surgery, and walked into his room singing Roll Jordan, Roll.) Then, we got Joe to sing with us and we sang another two or three songs for the nurses and his roommate. It was a lot of fun and really lifted Joe's spirits.

One of the most memorable "concerts" we ever did was for a woman who inexplicably had gone blind, just a year or so after her husband died. She was in her early 90's (She's now in her later 90's) and living alone, so the concert was just for her and her health care provider. We have to do that more often. We've started occaswionally inviting others to our practices (Col K and Leadfingers came to our last practice before our tenor moved away.) That's something we should do more often... practice in the home of people who are housebound.

Thanks for inspiring me, Elmer.

And Ron... I couldn't agree more about loving a variety of music. You may be the first person I've ever met (who I haven't yet met in person) who has a wider musical taste than mine. I made a crazy cassette a few years ago that I had a lot of fun with titled "Huh?"
It was a free association flow of music, letting each song suggest the next, with no boundaries. It had everything from rhythm and blues and soul music to folk, jazz, rockabilly, classical, blues...
I pulled it out recently to play it in the car after not having listened to it for years, and it jammed in the player and broke. I still have the box, though and may end up making a "Huh? II" one of these days. Except I'll put it on CD and send you a copy. I don't remember if I sent you a CD I put together titled The Gospel In Black And White. It's ten gospel songs done by a white group and a black group, in wildly different styles. Like Wade Mainer and His Mountaineers and The Swan Silvertones both doing Working On A Building. Or how about The Carter Family and the Staples Singers both doing Will The Circle Be Unbroken?

Anyone else want a copy, if you PM your mailing address, I'll glad send you one.

What is music, if not to share?

What a great way to start the morning..

Gerald Elmer Rasmssen

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 20 Apr 06 - 10:13 AM

My brother Elmer was a musician and my greatest inspiration. He didn't write songs but loved hearing them and suggesting new avenues. We 'collaborated' by long distance telephone on several songs. And he had the most retentive memory for lyrics I've ever known. I could call him out of the blue and say, In the second verse of so and so how does the third line begin? He might not have heard the song in 50 years but he never failed me.

He and I were the two youngest of a large family, and except for one time when I knocked him down, we never quarreled. We debated lots of things though because we rarely agreed. If most of the time I have learned to stick to the subject rather than attacking the person he is responsible. He died at age 62 in 1999 of lymphoma after 12 years of battle.

So you can see why I'm fond of the name, Elmer.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 20 Apr 06 - 10:53 AM

Good morning, y'all! You have just made my day and I'm only revving up to face the world, or at least my tiny corner of it (which is daunting enough).

Ebbie, your brother sounds wonderful. You must miss him terribly. I am sorry he left too early, but what a gift that you were so very close. Music is a transcendent bond. Thanks for describing him.

Jerry Elmer (Get OUT!! Really??!!), I posted something in response to your post on the "Threshold Choir" thread. Your "Huh?" compilations sound like a hoot. There is a local former DJ who makes CD compilations for his friends of eclectic music loosely linked bythemes. I've been the fortunate recipient of music inspired by a rainy day, "Life is Messy," a compilation he made for a friend who was going through relationship troubles, and "Bittersweet," a philosophical grouping of songs about life in general.

Have a great day.

Elmer (a name I will wear a little more proudly)

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 20 Apr 06 - 11:24 AM

Hey, Elmer: My father's name was Elmer Henry. When I got in trouble, he'd call me Gerald Elmer Henry Hornsbuckle Rasmussen. Never figured out where he got the "Hornsbuckle," although he always called Sears and Roebuck (before it became just Sears) Roe and Searbuckles. Of course, I rarely got in trouble, being such an ideal child. :-)

I just ordered The Five Bridges Suite by The Nice for their medly of Dylan's Country Pie and the Brandenburg Concerto. It was on my "Huh?" cassette and if I am going to recreat it, it's one of the essential tracks, leading from rock and roll to classical. One of the bridges. If I recreate the cassette on CD, I'll let you know, Elmer and share a copy with you..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Donuel
Date: 20 Apr 06 - 05:03 PM

At sixteen the accident left Kevin blind.
He might have settled down in his home town
but now without sight his horizons were infinite.
Soon he went to music school for the guitar among the rolling hills of Roanoke Virginia.
Now as he performs his own song 'River' I see aqua marine and waterfalls as he plays.
Beside him is his sightless wife Boo from Tunesia
and their 10 year old daughter whose eyes guide
both mother and father.
Boo is a most wise cosmoplitan yet very plain to see,
which makes me think that it took Kevin to go blind, to find a beautiful mind.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 20 Apr 06 - 09:51 PM

Starting working on a new version of "Huh?" Ordered a couple of CDs from amazon.com to fill crucial holes. It's interesting working on it because I've heard a lot of music in the ten years since I did the first one, and I find myself being carried in directions that didn't occur to me the first time around. Probably will have more jazz and blues on this one. Each track suggests the next one, and sometimes I get painted in a corner and have figure out how to get out..

Great fun..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 21 Apr 06 - 11:50 AM

Out of appreciation for the night shift, I thought I'd just pop in for a moment. Being retired, I'm as likely to post here in the morning as at night. But, you working folks, or ones who are a different time zone, like ebbie may end up normally posting late at night. So, here's to the night shift... Ron is one who often ends up posting in the Midnight Hour, that Wilson Pickett used to sing about.

So, see you later, folks... I'm not sure where Elmer Fudd lives, or what time zone he is in. Maybe Leadfingers and I have to start encouraging people to post a member's profile. Doesn't seem like people are doing that any more...

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 21 Apr 06 - 01:24 PM

And speaking of mysteries, I have no idea where you are from, either nonuel. Jimmyt is in Georgia, and Ruth and I visited with him and his lovely wife Jayne last summer. They are the dictionary definition of Southern Hospitality. I've also had the pleasure of Terry's (Leadfinger's) company when he was over here at the Getaway last year. Looks like I won't be at the Getaway this year as Ruth and I had planned, as we're committed to the NOMAD festival here in Connecticut the same weekend, but I'll be surprised if we don't meet Ron and Jan Davies before the next Getaway... either up here in Derby, Connecticut, or down at their place. Sitting at a real kitchen table is definitely in our plans. So, Elmer and Donuel.. when you stopping by, here in Derby?

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 22 Apr 06 - 12:28 AM

The Gospel In Black and White sounds fascinating. I don't yet have a copy. But allow me to pay for it--how much?

I used to sing Sacred Harp all the time--at least once a month, anyway. But lately I find I can't do it more than about 20 minutes--it blows my voice out.   In style what it mostly reminds me of is sea chanteys--certainly the same full speed ahead, no holds barred approach. It sure is good gutsy stuff--hypnotic--it's easy to get caught up in it And it sure does capture the flavor of the early to mid 19th century--very Hobbesian view of life. Lots of people evidently had such trouble in this life that they really looked forward to the next. By far the most joyous, rollicking songs in Sacred Harp are about death.

But after having sung Sacred Harp for a long time, I had a chance to hear a black Sacred Harp group--some of the same songs--but a totally different approach musically--and not written down, as I recall. Of course, as you know, shape-note singing in general was to be in place of standard European notation. These days the Sacred Harp books are on the normal staff--so I find it's easier just to read the music. But you wouldn't need to read music--just recognize the shapes. Do you know of anybody who's learned music that way?

Anyway, the Gospel in Black and White sounds like a great idea.



One of the reasons I post so late frequently is that Jan also works all day and wants access to the computer at night. And of course she wants us to spend more time together--so doesn't want me to spend a lot of time on Mudcat. She's even written song parodies about spending too long on Mudcat. Ah well, there's just not enough time (as you also know).

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 22 Apr 06 - 12:52 AM

HAH!!!!!!! Ron:

Posting later than you, tonight. I'll include the Gospel In Black and White in my next installment when I finish the Huh? CD... got it all laid out and am just waiting for a couple of CDs to arrive in the mail that I picked up on the cheap on amazon.com.

Pay?

Hey, do you pay people for the Christmas presents they give you?

I didn't think so.

If I gave 100 CDs to friends, I'd still have given less than I've received. Just trying to catch up with the generosity of others.

I'm also burning a CD of some of my favorite, more obscure 45 rpms from the 50's... not the usual stuff, but mostly records that haven't been re-issued.

Just having a lot of fun up here.

Today has been a stressful day... good stress, I believe. But I'm having a hard time settling down, so I thought that I'd drop by the kitchen table. Gotta get up at 5 and have a full day. Should be interesting.

Life is never boring around here...

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 22 Apr 06 - 06:18 AM

Good morning. Or is it still yesterday? Not exactly sure.

I have a CD of black shape-note singers, Ron.

If you're interested...

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 22 Apr 06 - 10:30 AM

Jerry--

Yes, a CD of black shape-note singers sounds great. I suppose I can't ask my usual question about paying.

We're listening to the first R & B CD every day (roots of R& B). I've memorized "When the Swallows Come Back to Capistrano" (of course it helps that it only has one verse). There are so many songs, especially on that one, that I'd heard of but never heard all the way through. I only remember "When the Swallows.." from a Popeye cartoon, I think, when Popeye and co are on a beach and it's playing on their radio. Then a big wind comes up and sweeps them all away--so you only ever hear the first line.

Similarly with "You Only Hurt the One You Love"--I'd only ever heard the first line. So now I've memorized the song (again it only has one verse).

I'm also learning "Old Rocking Chair's Got Me" including the call and reponse part.


The Gospel Messengers CD, as I said, is a huge hit here. Jan plays it every day for 17-month old Henry, and claps along with it. So now Henry also claps along. Jan says it's the kind of gospel she's been looking for in the US--and used to hear in the UK when she went to a black church.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 22 Apr 06 - 10:45 AM

There's a great version of Old Rocking Chair's Got Me by Louis Armstrong and Jack Teagarden. When Jack sings, "Come here 'fore I tan your hide," Louis answers. "My hide is already tanned, Father."

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 22 Apr 06 - 11:49 AM

LOL, Jerry.

I think Fats Waller and Jack Teagarden had some great duets too. I think one was "I'll Be Glad When You're Dead, You Rascal You".

I like it when somebody has a call and response in a song or comments on what the main singer is saying. I really like Bob Wills' comments--even though I understand it made it hard sometimes for Tommy Duncan to sing the song straight.

But Jan doesn't like Bob's comments at all--thinks he should let Tommy get on with the song. It's hard for me to explain the appeal of Bob's contributions to a serious song. But my understanding is that particularly if the song was depressing, Bob intended to undercut that--the Depression was depressing enough. And virtually all the Playboys' material was for dancing.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Leadfingers
Date: 22 Apr 06 - 12:36 PM

I always liked Louis dueting with Bing ! They had a great rapport .
Oh and by the way , 400 Posts to this table !!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 22 Apr 06 - 12:45 PM

I thought that I'd be gracious and let someone else take the 400th thread. Couldn't happen to a better mate, Terry.

Armstrong made everybody sound better when he did a duet with him. If he was still around, he could even make rappers sound like music. It's hard to say which of his duet partners I enjoyed the most, because he was indeed great with Der Bingle and Jack Teagarden. But there was something really special about his duets with Ella Fitzgerald. It sounds as if he was just improvising his harmonies and asides like a trumpet solo. And he probably was. Man, I love those duets with Ella! My favorite is Let's Call The Whole Thing Off.

Onward to 500..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 22 Apr 06 - 01:19 PM

Hey Gerry Elmer Henry,

Heartily agreed about the Ella-Louis duets. Those two voices, smooth caramel next to rough sandpaper, work perfectly. And to think that they were recorded over 50 years ago; they are so fresh and contemporary. Ella and Louis sound like great friends having a terrific time, and their exuberance is highly contagious.

I especially enjoy the spoken asides they make to each other during the songs, little in-jokes that the listener hasn't a clue about, but you laugh anyway because they are having so much fun.

During "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off," after Louis sings "You like pajamas and I like puh-jaahmas," you can almost see Ella rolling her eyes to heaven as she says sarcastically, "You've GOT puh-jaahmas!"

I also love their duet on "Stompin' at the Savoy." As Ella scatter-sings, Louis talks to her, including something about, "Remember something-or-other about Lionel Hampton? We won't talk about THAT!" and cackles at the memory.

And at the end of "Gee Baby, Ain'I I Good to You?" after listing all the fancy things she buys for her sweetie, Ella gets in the last word on the final refrain, "Keeps me paying taxes for what I give to you / Gee baby, ain't I good to you."

I could go on....

Elmer

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 22 Apr 06 - 01:28 PM

Hey, yerself, Elmer:

Glad to hear you have the same love for those Ella/Louie duets as I do. Funny that I was just listening to them a week ago. The one thing that strikes me is how comfortable and relaxed they sounded, singing together. It all sounds like its off the cuff, and from what I remember reading, the sessions were pretty casual.

Now tell me you can't hear Hard Hearted Hannah enough by Ella and I'll think you're my long lost brother, Elmer..

You know I wrote a song about how my Father met my Mother, reffering to him by name...

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 22 Apr 06 - 02:46 PM

Hey, these Louis- Ella duets sound great--where can we get them? Any particular album you recommend?

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 22 Apr 06 - 09:34 PM

Hey, Ron: Maybe the CD Fairy will throw a copy or two in the mail to you..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 23 Apr 06 - 11:18 AM

Hey Jerry-- this generosity on your part is just getting out of hand. C'mon now, let me pay for this stuff. You are an amazing treasure trove of wonderful music. Every time I turn around you have another great idea.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 23 Apr 06 - 11:32 AM

Tell you what, Ron. Do something generous for someone else...

Did I tell you about the stranger who sent me 19 cassettes of gospel, plus several videos, when I'd only met him once.

I got a lot of catching up to do. Some folks are really generous. I'm not in their league...

Have to talk in here later about Doo Wop... having a very exciting conversation with someone I just met yesterday who lives right here in Derby and has a classic a capella doo wop group.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 23 Apr 06 - 08:59 PM

Hi Jerry--

How about that conversation with your local do-wopper? Are you ready to tell us?

Ron

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: jimmyt
Date: 23 Apr 06 - 09:40 PM

I have a pretty decent collection of Do-wop groups and a couple wonderful Acapella Do-wop groups as well, ROn   Let me know if you would like them I will burn you a few CDs in the spirit of Jerryizing! YOu 2 of course Jerry!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 23 Apr 06 - 10:01 PM

Ron & Jimmy... yeah, I'll keep you informed about the local group. They sing a capella and are respected as one of the best groups in Connecticut. All I've heard is one song by them so far but Jimmy, they definitely do not need a bass singer (unfortunately.) The guy I'm just getting to know sings bass with them and he is really great! I've already talked to him about doing a workshop at the NOMAD festival this fall, "Church and Street Corner Harmonies. He sounds real enthusiastic about it. I thought it would be fascinating to share the workshop with the Messengers and his group. They are a white doo wop group, and I'd be interested in hearing how they'd differentiate between the black groups that often came out of churches and the white groups. You know I'll have a million questions, Jimmy. The thing that impresses me about the group is that while they have a lot of fun singing, they are very committed to doing the finest versions that they can of the old songs and arrangements.

Hopefully, Ruth and I will get to hear them, the Five Satins, The Jive Five, The Emotions and the Chiffons saturday night. If we do, you know there'll be some talk about it around this table...

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 23 Apr 06 - 10:38 PM

Hi Jimmy--

ALL RIGHT!!--sounds great! I love doo-wop--have wanted to be in a doo-wop group for years--came close to starting my own--in desperation. I'd love copies of those CD's you're talking about.

How often does your group rehearse?

And,by the way, how''s the doo-wop show you were writing coming?

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: jimmyt
Date: 24 Apr 06 - 01:50 PM

I will burn you a few odds N ends then ROn. My Do-wop group is real infrequent in the last year or so as one of our members is recovering from colon cancer . We normally get together a few times if a gig presents itself and run over some stuff. Have not added any new material in a long time which is sad. The show is still in my head mostly. The previous shows I have written always have a big opening and a great bit of PT Barnum Trickery just before intermission. Last one We actually started the band vamping "at the Hop" as we drove in in a 1960 Impala convertable, jumped out ran on stage to start the song. I also had a biker ride on stage for leader of the pack I had arranged for Girls trio. I am a big one for bells and whistles or smoke and mirrors! I thought I might begin this one by answering a ringing phone onstage and going into CHantilly Lace to open the show.

RIght now I am trying to get a new upright bass as mine is pretty much shot so I might be flying up to Mystic Connecticut within the next few weeks Jerry. There is a bass shop called Upton Bass in Mystic where they have a terrific selection and you can get the luthier to set it up for you. If I make arrangements to come up I would love to see you and Ruth. jimmyt

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 24 Apr 06 - 03:15 PM

Hey, Jimmy:

That would be GREAT!!!!!!!!!!!!! We even have room for your bass. Just so you know our schedule, The Gospel Messengers are doing a concert, following a spaghetti dinner on May 20th. The bass singer of the doo wop group hopes to come. We are going out to Janesville on June 3rd and will be gone for about 9 days. It would be a crimnal act if you came when we were gone..

Gotta run..

More later..

Jerry

You could come up too, Ron.. and bring Jan

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: jimmyt
Date: 24 Apr 06 - 05:20 PM

With ROn and Jerry and me and our propensity for Do Wop, I feel a Da Do Ron Ron coming on!!!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: jimmyt
Date: 24 Apr 06 - 05:21 PM

I shall work my appointment in Mystic around your schedule if possible Jerry! I won't have a bass with me. i am going there to see what I want and after it is set up I will have it shipped to me!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 25 Apr 06 - 08:45 AM

Hi Jerry, I have missed the table for a few days,hearing you talk about sacred harp brings back lovely memories of Dave Brient, he organised a sacred harp workshop at the Walton on Naze festival one year, no one really had a clue what it was about, by the second day he had about thirty singers , people passing the hall popped their heads round the door and joined in, they were so good that by the Sunday evening I added them to the concert programme. They brought the house down,wonderful happy memories.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 25 Apr 06 - 09:03 AM

Hey, Mrs. Billybob:

Conversations do wander all over the place in here, which is what I hoped for. I can't say they digress, because they don't "gress" to
begin with. I wonder what happens when conversations always gress. Sounds boring. I've encouraged Ernest to drop by after exchanging several PMs with him. He lives in Berlin and would certainly bring some fresh thoughts to the table. He loves jazz and old-time music among other things, but didn't feel he had anything to add on doo wop. But, we keep movin' on in here, so any topic is up for grabs.
Jazz happens to be one of my major, major loves... both traditional, New Orleans style jazz and that quaint, old-fashioned jazz of the 50's like Gerry Mulligan, Dave Brubeck, Shorty Rogers that used to be called "Modern" jazz... or West Coast Jazz.

I've always found Sacred Harp music interesting to listen to for short periods of time, but have never tried to sing it. Maybe I'll have to try it on for size one of these festivals...

And, there'll be some more conversation on Doo Wop, and harmony in general as the days go by...

Or we could talk about how much fun it is to play Go.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 25 Apr 06 - 10:18 PM

Came home dragging. Tonight, I had practice. My back has been hurting the last few days from getting overtired and then lugging a full cooler with ice and sodas in it up a long stairway. It's an hour's drive down to Frankies, and it was raining. I had to stop to get a cup of coffee just to keep going. Frankie has serious alergies, and when he sings Crying In The Chapel, he could just as easily sing, Crying in the Kitchen, or Crying while getting something out of the refrigerator. I know it doesn't have the same ring to it, but Frankie's eyes are tearing up constantly, and he works outside all day on top of it. Joe had carpal tunnel syndrome on his left hand (and he's left handed) and has been dealing with an enormous amount of personal matters as well. I was kidding that we are downright laughable, the three of us.. half the time when we have practice, someone is dragging, or being dragged down by stress in their lives. But we all show up.. maybe short on energy and focus, but we we manage to make it. And once we start singing, all the weariness, aches and pains and worries are washed away.

On May 20th, we're doing a concert and I'm going to surprise them by having a birthday cake for them. They both have their birthdays in May. Frankie will be 80 and Joe 82, so it will just say, Happy Birthday Joe and Frankie: 162 years of serving the Lord.

Sometimes our best practices happen when we don't think we have anything else to give.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: GUEST,Joe_F
Date: 25 Apr 06 - 10:56 PM

Jerry R.: Just happened on this in a magazine article today:

...Michael Oakeshott, the late British philosopher, thought conversation should have a distinctive lack of purpose. Conversation "has no determined course, we do not ask what it is `for,'" he said. It is "an unrehearsed intellectual adventure." As with gambling, "its significance lies neither in winning nor on losing, but in wagering."

A distinctive lack of purpose. %^)

--- Joe Fineman    [e-mail]

||: If you did not wish to be ridden, why did you become an ass? :||

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 25 Apr 06 - 11:08 PM

I'm all with you, Joe F. I think the best conversations are open and free-form. Not that they can't focus for an extended period of time on a particular subject, but there should always be the openness to move on. If conversations were partitioned into "threads" like they are of some necessity in here, I'd find them very limiting. At the same time, I appreciate the threads because it's a chance to draw more people into a slightly more focused discussion... as focused as threads ever get. :-) I've moved a couple of discussions from the kitchen table into their own threads... like the ones about 50's music, and Italian roots of Doo Wop. I'm enjoying them because they are drawing in many Catters who haven't stopped by the kitchen table.

Yet.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 26 Apr 06 - 10:58 PM

Recently I ran across a review of a book about the decline of conversation. Allegations have been made that the early 18th century, especially in coffeehouses, was the peak of conversation. But the book pointed out quotes from that time complaining about the quality of conversation in supposedly cultured (whatever that means) households. So as usual, another generalization has problems.



Just got back from another rehearsal (had one last night too--on a different concert.   This one was nowhere near as much fun as they normally are.   The reason is that it wasn't led by our conductor. It 's really remarkable to what extent a conductor sets the tone of the whole group. We're lucky enough to have a conductor who combines extreme competence with a relaxed style--even a self-deprecating sense of humor---really, really rare in a conductor.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 26 Apr 06 - 11:32 PM

Hi y'all,

I've a bit of catching up to do.

Ron, the Ella/Louis CD I have is called "Best of Ella Fitzgerland and Louis Armstrong on Verve." It has fifteen tracks selected from three albums recorded for Verve Records "in the interwar period,' and it's pretty darn fantastic.

Gerry Elmer, I am embarrassed to say I have never heard Ella sing "Hard Hearted Hannah," but I'll root around for a download or a recording tout de suite. In the meantime, can I be your dorky little brother anyway? My Ella faves are mostly from the George and Ira Gershwin Songbook, with the Cole Porter and Harold Arlen Songbooks as a close second and third.

Conversation and coffee houses: In the 1700s in England, coffee houses were known as "penny universities," because for the one penny price of admission, you could sit all day and listen to enlightening conversations. Also, the coffee houses provided newspapers, and philosophers, politicos and others would communicate their ideas by publishing broadsides and distributing them in the coffee houses. (John Locke was one who did this.) Literate people would read the newspapers and broadsides aloud to the illiterates.

Today coffee houses often seem like places of isolation, with people sitting alone with headsets on, hunched over laptops.

Later gaters,

Elmer

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 27 Apr 06 - 12:53 AM

PS: Oh, and another compelling topic that zoomed right by: doo-wop. The Persuasions are a fantastic a capella harmony group that performs righteous doo-wop. I especially love their album, "Chirpin'," with everything from the goofy, "Papa oo-mau-mau" to "Sixty Minute Man" (which was used on the soundtrack for the movie, "Bull Durham").

Link to the Persuasions history and recordings:

persuasions

Okay. Nighty-night,

Elmer

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Alba
Date: 27 Apr 06 - 06:48 AM

Also refresh...ing

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 27 Apr 06 - 07:08 AM

Just when you thought it was time to turn the pot off, in comes a group of friends..

Ron: I've had practice the last two night myself. Last night at a practice for the Fellowship Male Chorus I sing in, we were doing a last run-through of the songs we're singing this weekend (The night before last, the Messengers practiced their songs for the same program.) We have a wonderful, fun-loving but demanding director and on one song, the 1st tenors sing a line twice, then the second tenors sing their harmony, and then the baritones come in next (and then we all sing together. The 1st tenors were fine, but each time the second tenors would come in, they'd sing the samd melody as the 1st tenors. Our Director, Jonatahn was getting more and more frustrated and after the third time he saidas to the second tenors.. I'm trying to make a BLT, the B's are Fine and the T's are fine, but we need that L to make it a BLT.. so I called out, "Give e'm L, Jonathan." You don't get set-ups like that very often.

Elmer: Yes, I love Ella and her songbooks. I have Hard Hearted Hannah on a 45 r.p.m. and for years it wasn't out on CD. I finally found it on a two or three CD boxed set, and much later I discovered an import CD of songs from Pete Kelly's Blues (One of my very favorite movies.) Ella has a small role as a singer in a small black speakeasy and sings the song in the movie.

"Imagine a woman as hard as Hannah
She's got the right name, the Vamp of Savannah
Anytime a woman takes a great big pan
And starts pouring water on a drowning man
She's Hard-hearted Hannah, the vamp of Savannah, GA

An evening spent with Hannah sitting on your knee
Is like traveling through Alaska in your BVD's..

Great lines, great delivery.

Peggy Lee sings three or four great songs on the CD, too..

I have two different Ella and Louie CDs with a major overlap on songs. One is on Verve (the one you have, Elmer) and the other is on Decca. I ran across a third one recently but didn't buy it because it only had one or two songs that aren't on the other CDs..
A copy of one of the CDs is on its way to you, Ron.

And you're right about coffee houses these days, Elmer. It seems like technology is being used to qrap each of us into our privatge little wombs, even when we're in public. Between cell phones, MP3 players and Laptops, the individual reigns.

Glad you stopped in, Alba...

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 27 Apr 06 - 10:59 PM

I thought I'd try the Cat one more time before I went to bed, after not being able to get on all day, and by golly, here it is.

Just an odd footnote. Yesterday, I ran into a friend of mine who sings in a black gospel group, and she asked if she could help sell my CDs. Another woman who sings in the same group as my friend has a beauty parlor, and they're going to have a case in the front to sell gospel CDs by local folks like the Messengers. So, I gave her five on consignment. My friend Willie C, who has a barber shop told me that if you want to find good singers, put up an announcement that you're looking for one in the black barbershops. I think that it really is true that much of the communications that flow through black communities passes through the beauty parlors and barber shops.
I sure never tried to sell my folk CDs through them... :-)

I'm off to bed, but I've been thinking about the comment about coffee houses no longer being places for conversation. There are several other gathering places, though... barber shops and beauty parlors being two good examples. There are opthers that I see around me... wonder if anyone else does... where do the retired folks congregate in your community? Is it all old men, or old women (using the term "old" in a complimentary, flattering way, being old, myself.) I'll talk about where they do here in Derby, CT and in small towns all across the United States.

Tomorrow..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 28 Apr 06 - 12:14 PM

Jerry--now you're becoming a barbershop quartet (quintet? sextet?)

Book clubs are one of the new ways people are getting together to have meaningful discussions. Coffee houses aren't a total wash; there was one in my town where a group of men, whose lives were otherwise quite disparate, met every morning before work for sixteen years for their wake-up javas. They became great supporters for each other through life's ups and downs. It was only the closure of the coffee house that caused the daily meetings to disband. I am sure the friendships remain.

Elmer

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 28 Apr 06 - 01:57 PM

LOL, Elmer: Or maybe we're becoming a Beauty Parlor Quartet.

Yes, they have book discussion groups at some of the Borders bookstores on the East Coast. Admittedly, the conversations are mostly focused on a particular book (I imagine, not actually having been in one, or overheard one for any period of time.)

McDonald's is one of the gathering places for Seniors around here. My wife and I often go for a morning walk on a Riverwalk they constructed recently here in Derby. There's a McDonald's about 100 yards from the start (and end) of the Riverwalk, and even though neither of us can stomach the lunch and dinner menus at McDonalds, we like the sausage bisquit Egg McMuffin's and we often stop in for one after our walk. There is a cast of about eight or ten "regulars" who are always there, up until 10 a.m., when they stop serving breakfast. The men usually sit in one area, and the women in the other with the men outnumbering the women three to one. I suspect that some of the men go there to get away from their wives.. :-)

In my home town in Wisconsin, it was a Hardee's where everyone gathered... again the men and women in different sections. I gathered that most of them were widowed (and apparently in no rush to get re-hitched.)

Both places were a good spot to gather, as you could sit there for a couple of hours just nursing a cup of coffee. McDonald's coffee is more in need of a Doctor, than a nurse. I don't think I've ever seen anyone actually eating anything.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 28 Apr 06 - 04:54 PM

McDonalds is inexpensive and probably has a senior discount, so it makes sense that people on fixed incomes would go there. The food is ruinous, though. Have you ever read "Fast Food Nation?" It's a real wake-up call about McDonalds and what goes into the so-called food they serve, its health consequences, as well the larger economic influences of the behemoth corporation that dishes it up to the world.

Low income seniors frequent free adult education classes, free talks by authors at bookstores, and free concerts and events sponsored by the city in parks and the library. Twelve step groups also seem to serve as social circles (wow--there's some alliteration!) for people to whom they are applicable.

Elmer

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 28 Apr 06 - 07:13 PM

Some Senior Centers provide a place for people to gather, just to break the boredom of sitting home alone. Not that that's all that goes on there. I don't use the one where we live now, but went to Excercise classes where we lived before we came here. They also have computer classes, but for the most part I don't find much of interest. Our local Senior Center foes a lot of bus trips, and we've taken one... very inexpensive and we had a good time. I think just about everybody else on the bus had gone on many trips before as they all seemed to know each other.

Of course, bars offer companionship and conversation (even if the speech may be slightly slurred..)

Come to think if it... what's the difference between a bar and a pub?
I'd like to hear some comments from my Brit and Oz friends. I have some op[inions, but it's much more fun reading what others have to say..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 28 Apr 06 - 10:50 PM

Hi Jerry and anybody else at the table,

Jerry, I've received the CD's you sent--looks just great. I've only had a chance to listen to the Gospel in Black and White--and it sure is fascinating. I was sure I had figured out the difference in approach--the black groups were much freer in their vocals--while still keeping a steady beat in the background. But then I heard one of the white groups which had a very liberal way with the melody--and then I heard one of the black groups which stuck pretty closely to the rhythm in the vocal. You just can't generalize-without being willing to make a lot of exceptions--or throw out the generalization.

And I really love the Gospel Boogie--never heard anything like it. And the lead singer sounded a lot like you! Is Lee Roy Abernathy one of your stage names? Really, he does sound like you.

And, by the way, congratulations on that great set-up for "Give 'em L". We love to look for that sort of thing in my choral group. There's always a lot of humor at any of our rehearsals. Right now, with our next concert being a celebration of our 40th year and our conductor's 70th birthday, we have an assignment to look for quotes by our conductor that we've written in our music. I've been doing that for a LONG time--I'll have to see what I can contribute. I bet I have some good ones.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 29 Apr 06 - 12:28 PM

Good to see you, Ron: Yeah, that Gospel Boogie is a reeal kick. I've talked to the guys about doing it, with me doing the spoken parts and Joe keeping a running bass. When we get back to a trio again, we may just try it.

Tonight, Ruth and I are going to hear the 5 Satins, The Jive Five, the Emotions, The Chiffons and The Sentinels (The a capella group that my new friend Ken sings bass with.) When Ruth and I were married almost 8 years ago we thought long and hard about the song we wantyed played first at the reception... the first song that we'd dance to as Mr. & Mrs. My Prayer received serious consideration, but ultimately we choose To The Aisle by the 5 Satins. Hopefully, they'll sing it tonight.

Tomorrow night is the concert where I will be singing with the Greater New Haven Fellowship Male Chorus, and then with the Gospel Messengers as our Guests. I'm really looking forward to that one, too.

In the meantime, I've been pulling weeds all morning.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 29 Apr 06 - 02:47 PM

I had another rehearsal this morning (Mahler Symphony of 1,000). Jan points out this is against the Trades Description Act in the UK (in the US, Truth in Advertising)--we'll only have about 500, including orchestra.

More to the point, I was severely tempted to cut class and go out to the Southern Maryland Celtic Festival--it's a GORGEOUS day. The Celtic Festival is where the sea chantey group I used to have performed. We called ourselves all sorts of names--including St Elmo's Quire--found out later a group on the west coast had the same name. We'd rehearse with whoever (out of 7) were able to make it--usually about 2 rehearsals per year--then go out and sing lots of sea songs with good choruses--so the audience could join in. Having been in audiences at festivals, I know that's always a big plus. And some offbeat songs--a version of Lorelei that Ella Fitzgerald, I think used to do--really sexy solo by one of our gals--who really put the song across. (We all looked forward to that). And we did songs like "Tanqueray Martini-O".

Then one year, we couldn't even get one rehearsal with all 7 of us (floating membership ,anyway). So we went out there anyway. And they liked us just as well. After all, sea songs is a genre you can have rough edges on.

Then afterwards there were great parties. At one of them I heard Cicada Serenade, sung by a Mudcatter (pre-Mudcat of course)--I think it's Skivvie.

And I decided I wanted to learn that. So about 16 years later, I got access to a tape with it. Jan and I learned it--and sang it at the Getaway--the year before the next cicada visitation in our area. And Jan even had a whole repertoire of stage business and gestures for it.

But this year we're not making it out there at all--also, Jan is not really in great shape--especially for clambering around hills like they have out there. My mother and her husband wanted to go out there too so I was going to take them out there. But now an old high school chum of my mother's will be in town. That obviously takes precedence--after all, the Celtic Festival happens every year.

My father died the same year as Cay's wife.   Both couples had been in the same church for 30 years. Cay and my mother got married the next year. It's a great match. Cay loves music and has a great sense of humor--as far as I'm concerned that's bingo. He's also a 92-year old kayaker--he's in amazing shape.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 29 Apr 06 - 04:50 PM

Oh, by the way, Ron:

Nice to see you posting during daylight hours. I was beginning to wonder if you were a vampire.. :-)

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 29 Apr 06 - 08:52 PM

Right you are, Jerry. However, the problem with posting during daylight hours is that Jan can think of, say,.... about a million things I should be doing instead. (Of course, her feeling about evening hours is not dramatically different.)

However, we just got back from a garden store-- bought a boatload--to attract butterflies, fight erosion etc.--so she's in a good mood.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 30 Apr 06 - 11:54 AM

By the Bye, Ron:

I did a lonnnnng thread about the difference between black and white gospel. Don't know how to do blue clickies, but the title of the thread is "Jerry R's "Black/white Gospel Workshop." You might find it interesting reading. I'd love to do one on the difference between black and white Doo Wop but don't feel as qualified commenting on the topic. Maybe I can get my new-found friend Ken to give me his thoughts...

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 30 Apr 06 - 11:06 PM

Hi all,

Just a quick one--to keep the coffeepot on. Jan and I spent the afternoon--til dusk--planting--to attract butterflies and fight erosion.

Now I have to go upstairs to her--she's probably overdone it--though she loves it-- and her body is telling her so.

Ron

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: jimmyt
Date: 30 Apr 06 - 11:30 PM

Hi All,

Ron, you go ahead and run upstairs, I will finish the coffee down here in the kitchen.

Jerry, Thanks for the heart-warming message on the answering machine. As you may have guessed, I left Thursday pm and drove to Ohio to spend the weekend with Jayne and Family and just got home about an hour ago. I called Jayne and related the message from you and she said to tell you how much she appreciated it. As she was relating the message to her sister, she and Sandra were both moved to tears. You Da man, Jerry!

SHe will probably be returning to Georgia later this week if all goes well. Meanwhile, I took my grandson, Ben, to Ohio with me and I gotta tell you, I can think of no better travelling companion. period! He was absolutely terrific. He was happy to talk, to philosphise, to just ride quietly, to sing along with the CDS ( including Jerry's) or to give me some peace and quiet while he played video games or watched a DVD pn the portable player. He is six years old! The last half hour of the 9 hour return trip today, we just told each other" "you da man" for thirty minutes!

On my birthday, last Wed evening, he phoned me to wish me a happy birthday, interjecting quietly two questions, " when can I spend the night?" and "When are ya gonna take me fishin'?" (He is not allowed to solicit these type things so he had to do them soto voce (How about that, ROn?) I got up Thursday the 27th and decided I would drive to Ohio, take him with me, and go fishin' all in one weekend which went absolutely smashingly! We caught 7 fish which we took home in a bucket for all to see then returened them to the lake to watch them all swim away with that "Second chance" look on their faces. He was just the right touch to take to where there is so much suffering, both physical and emotional. He seemed to just lift the spirits of both Sandra, (JAyne's sister), and Iclye (her 84 year old momma.) My daughter, Missy, flew up also and we were able to get lots of needed work done and interject some joy and laughter into a rather downcast houseful.   I think Jayne was delighted to come of 24 hour nursing duties also. Anyway, I am back and glad to be here at the table!   jimmyt

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: jimmyt
Date: 30 Apr 06 - 11:41 PM

Speaking of Lee Roy Abernathy, (which I read above a while back) A few years ago, back in 1993, I was in a musical called Smoke on the Mountain, which incidently is the reason I started playing the bass as it was my Character's instrument in this bluegrass gospel musical. I remember opening night and in my mind most of the music was pretty obscure and certainly most folks would not have heard it before.   The second number in the show just after the applause died down down from the opening was me singing "A WOnderful TIme up There." It was a bit disconcerting to have an old guy sitting in the front row that apparently knew the song better than I did! At intermission I mentioned it to the cast and they said, " yeah, he sang in a gospel group back in the 40s and 50s with Lee Roy Abernathy, who wrote that song." "Y'all are lying to me! I said. "No, and if ya wanna really be freaked out, Lee Roy was my uncle." said Denise, one of the characters. Her name in real life is Lori Abernathy Etheridge.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 01 May 06 - 07:48 AM

Glad you are back, Jimmy: I'm going to start a thread (may be very short-lived) about singing bass. I don't want this thread to become a Doo Wop thread... don't want to lose the folks who stop in with other things on their mind. I know that you and Ron can add something to it...

Catch you later... still keeping you and your family in daily prayer..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 01 May 06 - 11:32 AM

We had a wonderful concert Saturday night... we really enjoyed a young jazz pianist, Christian Sands who performed with his trio, and then with the male chorus I sing in, doing Oh Happy Day. There was also a fine sax player who did a long instrumental, just with piano accompaniment of Amazing Grace, starting out very slow and soulful, slowly moving up to a higher key and increasing the tempo until he was rocking like the wildest rhythm and blues sax player, and the pianist was doing a pretty good approximation of Ray Charles. Brought down the house.

And Saturday night, we went to the Doo Wop concert, which was so memorable.

Today, I'm planting grass and my wife is painting a shed.

Back to reality.

Are any of your gardeners? I haven't had a vegetable garden in years, but always loved it. It just seemed like my summer vacation occured right when the vegetables were coming ripe, and by the time I got back they'd passed their peak. Fortunately, we have local farmers who provide freshly picked produce to the nursery right down the road, so I don't want for fresh vegetables during the summer. Nothing like a freshly picked tomato..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Col K
Date: 01 May 06 - 05:44 PM

Welcome back to the table Jimmy. I hope all is as well as can be and that Jayne is also taking care of herself properly. Sometimes it is very easy to concentrate on others and to ignore ones own needs. You are all in my thoughts.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: jimmyt
Date: 01 May 06 - 07:39 PM

Jerry, Just got in from planting some tomato plants, some basil and lavender plus a couple different parsley varieties. Beautiful day here in the southland

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 01 May 06 - 09:40 PM

Just stopped by for a cuppa. That concert sounds like it done shook the rafters, Jerry Elmer.

I can't stop listening to this Tracy Nelson double CD a friend gave me: "Homemade Songs" has an eclectic mix on it, and "Come See About Me" is a collection of Motown and Stax soul songs, such as "Hold On, I'm Coming," "Your Love is Like a See Saw," and of course the title track. Tracy's voice makes me want to melt into a puddle, and the arrangements are terrific. Nelson never played the big corporate promo game, but she has a devoted cult following since her days with Mother Earth. I used to sneak into night clubs to hear her way back when. Never got carded neither, hee hee.

Elmer

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 01 May 06 - 11:15 PM

Hi everybody,

Jan was just here, She'd like to share with everyone her African orange mango tea, and imagine sitting on the front porch in Africa while the elephants wander through the front garden (we'd say front yard) on their way down into the woods to find some tasty leaves of their own. She was sitting on the front porch with her eyes closed imagining this--hearing beasts thunder by--our cats were chasing each other from one forsythia bush to another.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 01 May 06 - 11:46 PM

And, Jerry, both those concerts you went to recently sound fantastic--both concerts to remember for a long time. All those classic groups represented at the doo-wop concert--and that lively gospel concert. You're right in the heart of some of the best music going.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 02 May 06 - 09:17 AM

Hey, Ron:

Oddly enough, you are dead right (not that you always aren't) about this area. New Haven (which is a ten minute drive from where we live) has always been a center of vocal music. The Collectible Label (the pre-eminent company that does re-issues of "Oldies") even has a CD of New Haven Doo Wop groups. You might expect that there'd be a CD of New York, Chicago or Philadelpia groups, but not necessarily of New Haven. The best known groups were The Five Satins and The Nutmegs but there were many, many more. When I lived in Stamford, CT, just 30 miles from here, the Gospel Messengers were the only black gospel quartet in the immediate area. Here in the New Haven area, when groups have their Anniversary, they commonly invite 20-25 area groups. For some reason, New Haven has always been a place where vocal groups have flourished. And then, there's classical music presented at Yale, and there's a strong jazz and rock community as well. Just about anything you want to hear. For all the great music at the Doo Wop concert (3 hours of wonderful singing) the ticket price was just $15. To hear these groups in New York City, it would cost more like $50, plus the expense and hassle of driving into New York and paying a minimum of $20 to park your car.

As a died-in-the-wool folkie, we received a valued compliment for the Director of the Male Chorus on Sunday. He said that of all the groups in the area, we are unique because we present authentic old black gospel... something people no longer hear. Doing black gosp-el quartet music, for me, is no different than doing country blues or southern Appalachian music... I try to do all of it in an authentic style, out of respect for the tradition. It makes me feel good that someone I respect as a gifted musician appreciates that we are presenting the music with authenticity.

And Hello, Colin! Colin had the pleasure of hearing the Gospel Messengers twice, and singing bass with Joe. Hopefully, that will happen again some day, and will with you too Ron... and Elmer and many more of my Catter friends. Maybe we can get the Doo Wop group over here, too and really have a memorable occasion.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 03 May 06 - 08:06 AM

Been working my way through nine Val Lewton movies. A month ago, I had no idea who Val Lewton was. As I mentioned in another thread, I think it was Martin Scorcese who said that there have been three geniuses in the history of the movies... Charlie Chaplin, Walt Disnet and Val Lewton. I just bought a boxed set of Lewton's 9 movies he produced, and a documentary about him. The best known of his movies is The Cat People. I've always been fascinated with movies, and Lewton's are always interesting to watch. What he does on a low budget is masterful. These were all "B" pictures with no money for special effects, even though they are all "horror" movies.
RKO would give him a title for a movie, with no story line, and he'd write the story and actively engage in the direction of the movie, although he was not the Director. He was given the title The Cat People to cash in on the popularity of the Wolf Man. Wolf Man/Cat Woman. Hollywood level of creative thinking.

As an example of how he made movies, in The Body Snatcher, Boris Karloff is a grave robber who digs up bodies to sell to medical school doctors. When security is too tight and not enough people recently buried, he kills a young woman. The first scene in the movie, there is a young, blind girl singing a beautiful ballad on the street. She appears again, fleetingly in the movie. When Karloff is in need of a body, he follows her in his carriage as she is walking home. She walks under a darkened archway and you hear her singing. The carriage follows and suddenly, there is just a small catch in her voice and the singing stops. Now, they'd show her guts splattering all over Karloff's face. To add to the complexity of the movie, the Doctor is able to restore the ability toi walk to a crippled girl, by practicing the operation on the body of the blind girl.

Anybody else in here a lover of old movies?

Check out the Unforgettable Scenes From Movies thread if you haven't.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: freda underhill
Date: 03 May 06 - 08:07 AM

still sitting here in the corner, Jerry & co. Tomorrow I'm flying to Vienna - it's a long way from Sydney - to spend time with my daughter and her husband. I'll be checking in here & there - and will spend a quite a bit of time by the kitchen table in the little cafe where she works!

I may have some Austrian anecdotes to pass the time!

freda

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 04 May 06 - 12:07 PM

Always good to see you at the table, Freda~ Have a wonderful time..

These last few days have done a reasonable approximation of real life... with some joyful times at two concerts, and some very stressful times that have drained me completely. It was the concerts that carried me through the stressful times: especially the chorus of a song we sang at the Sunday concert. That chorus was constantly running through my mind during the times of great stress, and it did a lot to carry me through. The chorus is from a song titled On The Other Side Of Through. The cause of the stress has been joyfully resolved, so I type this today "on the other side of through." For those of you who haven't reached the other side of through, this is the chorus:

"On the other side of through
There's a blessing, waiting for you
Hold fast, hold fast, your troubles will not last
There's a blessing, yes a blessing
On the other side of through."

Things are beautiful here on the other side... hope you all can join me..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 04 May 06 - 02:51 PM

I have a story to tell. And as the song says, there was a blessing "on the other side of through."

When we bought this house five years ago, that first Fall I wanted to turn off the outside faucets so the pipes wouldn't freeze in the winter. When this house was built, 50 odd (very odd) years ago, they finished the basement by building a second interior wall with about a 12-14 inch space between it and the foundation. It gave a nice finished look to the basement, but all the pipes are between the two walls. When I finally realized that the shut-off valves for the water were between the two walls, and I had to squeeze through a rough-cut panel that had been cut out for access, I started getting real nervous. When I removed the panel, the shut-off vale for the main water was about five feet in from the opening. It looked like the shut-offs for the outside lines were back there, too. My wife was upstairs, so I squeezed myself in between the wall studs and managed to get back to the shut-off valves. After I was back in there and could see better with a flashlight, I realized that the valves were all for lines in the bathroom, so I started to come back out. About half way out, I got thoroughly stuck between the outer wall and one of the studs. And visions of the Canterbury Ghost, walled in to die a miserable death came flooding through my mind. So, I sucked in my stomach (the best I could) and kept trying to squeeze a watermelon through a key hole.
The more I got wedged in, the more I panicked. Finally, with a great effort, I dislodged myself and crawled out into the light. I was really shaking with fear. And then I realized that I hadn't turned the lines to the bathroom sink back on. The thought of going back in there really freaked me out, and then I got an idea. I went in the garage and got my saber saw, drew a profile of my belly (just like Alfred Hitchcock used to fit into the line drawing on the tee vee program) and cut out a profile of my stomach. After I'd done that, I was able to squeeze back in relatively easily and shut off the valves. It was still a tight fit, but I was never in doubt that I could get back out.

That's the first blessing on the other side of through... and the other side of the washing machine. I'll tell you the second blessing on a separate screen.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 04 May 06 - 02:59 PM

Blessing number 2:

This afternoon, there was a knock on the door and it was a young man from the water company. They are replacing all of the meters in town, and we were next on his list. I brought him downstairs and after moving a few things, showed him where the cut-out in the wall was. He shined (shone) his flashlight back between the walls and let out an audible "gulp." The meter was back where I got stuck. And I would have needed a chain saw to cut out a profile of HIS stomach. But, thank God I had cut the notch out. Even then, he knew he couldn't work back in there, even if he could squeeze his way back between the walls. And then he noticed the the medicine cabinet in the bathroom was cut out very close to the meter. So, we went into the bathroom and with a lot of tugging and cutting out caulking, I was able to remove the medicine cabinet. The meter was close enough so that he could get at one side of it, but the other side, he'd have to crawl back between the walls. I offerred to do it for him (I've lost 30 pounds and I could get between the walls now without the cutout profile. But, he was able to squeeze between the cut out stud and the wall and reach the pipe he had to disconnect. Blessing number 2. When he was putting the new meter in, he needed me to go between the walls and hold one side of the meter. With my new semi-svelte shape, it was a piece of cake. I felt thoroughly vindicated. I must admit, I went in and out from behind the wall mores times that I probably needed to, but I just wanted to show the wall who is boss in this house!

When the guy went out to his truck after the job, I went out to check the mail and I could hear him telling his boss what a nightmare the job was. I told him he'd be telling his grandchildren about this job.

Maybe that's blessing number 3 on the other side of through..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 04 May 06 - 06:58 PM

Huh! That's quite a tale. a bit like something out of "A Prairie Home Companion."

I awoke the other day to a racket that sounded like John Henry was going at the side of my house with a sledgehammer. It was a guy putting in a new gas meter. It must be a national contagion. Spring, and a young man's fancy turns to meter replacement.

Hey, JerryElmer, a while back on this thread you wrote, and I quote, "You know I wrote a song about how my Father met my Mother, reffering to him by name..."

Any chance you going share those lyrics with us?

Elmer

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 04 May 06 - 08:50 PM

Hey, Elmer:

The song is Alfred. One summer night when I was home visiting my family and we were all sitting in lawn chairs, my Mother started kidding around about her old beau, Alfred. I had never heard his name mentioned before so I asked more about him. My Dad (Elmer) seemed a little uncomfortable about the whole thing, but Mom plunged ahead. When my Mother was a young woman, she was in nurses training at the local hospital. At that time, she was going out with Alfred. It was only after I had written and recorded the song that my Mom 'fessed up and admitted that she was engaged to him. Alfred was a classmate in high school with my Mother, in a very small town with less than 20 students in the senior class. He was the Captain of the basketball team. (I wonder if they even had enough boys to have a football team.) Anyway, my Father ('course he wasn't my Dad back then) came to the hospital to visit a friend of his and we he saw my Mother, he was very attracted to her and asked her out for a date. He wanted to take her to the vaudeville show, and a couple of the other girls in nurses training were going to be in the show, so my Mom agreed to go. When Alfred showed up at the hospital that evening, the nurses let the cat out of the bag.

To make the story more complicated, my Mother and Alfred's classmate Velma had a crush on Alfred, but Alfred wasn't interested in her. Alfred also had a sister, who ended up marying my Mother's brother, Walt (I had never even heard of his first mariage as Uncle Walt's first wife died before I was born and he remarried.) There were many revelations that evening, sitting in those lawn chairs.

And here is the song:

Alfred told my Mom that he would be her one and only
But she'd have to be his one and only, too
And if he ever caught her going out again with Elmer
That their courting days would sure be through

CHORUS:

'Cause Alfred loved my Mom, but she was crazy 'bout my Dad
'Course he wasn't my Dad back then
And Alfred hardly noticed that Velma existed
Though she thought he was the living end

Elmer bought some tickets for a night at the Apollo
So that they could see the vaudeville show
And even thought she knew that she was bound to catch the Devil
Still my Mom decided she would go

After work that night when Alfred came around to callo
They told him that my Mom was at the show
And when he found she'd gone with Elmer Alfred blew his top
Just to think that she would dissapoint him so

Alfred told my Uncle Walt who married Alfred's sister Edna
That the day my Mom and Dad were wed
He took a train to Appleton, or maybe it was Fondulac
Because it made him feel so bad

After Mom and Dad were married, Alfred finally noticed Velma
And he came around to call
And when he finally got areound to asking Velma for her hand
She thought the wait was worth it all

A double happy ending..

The song is on my album Handful Of songs, which I've finally had remastered, and will have ready to release in the next couple of weeks.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 04 May 06 - 09:14 PM

Haw! I'm chortling into my coffee. (Uh-oh! It's starting to dribble out my nose.) That's just great. Thanks for taking the time to post the lyrics. I like the line about "He took a train to Appleton, or maybe it was Fondulac," just in case the listener isn't getting boggled enough following the story.

Kindly make a big, virtual noise when you release Handful of Songs.

Elmer (sputtering java down his shirt)

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 05 May 06 - 05:37 PM

Da kitchen iz now open for bizzness! Mudcat seems to be either Catatonic or Catalyptic these days. Maybe just as well... I haven't had much time to spend in here the last couple of days, it being Spring and all. I just thought I'd put something in here to keep the thread from disappearing off the bottom of the screen..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 05 May 06 - 11:51 PM

Hi Jerry,

I meant to say--a while ago--that's it's no mystery why you're in the middle of some of the best music going--you and your groups are making some of the best music going.

Between Mudcat hairballs and my own schedule--rehearsals Tuesday and Wednesday--and again tomorrow--I haven't been able to even bring this thread up for a while.

Your plumbing adventures are very impressive--I'm not sure I could have emulated you.



One of the things on my list now is to collect "Normanisms"--things our conductor has said over the years--to be printed in a book we're going to give him at our next concert--which is a combination 40th anniversary of the group/ Norman's 70th birthday.   I've written a lot of them down in my music. For instance a bass line that wasn't very clear he called "a real wine-cellar special"--as if we'd visited a wine-cellar before we sang it. He had a lot of good comments like that--as you know, they really liven up a rehearsal.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 06 May 06 - 07:09 AM

Hi, Ron:

I know busy. But at least I'm retired, so I can take breaks pretty much when I want to, most days.

When I scan the BS section of Mudcat these days, I think the prefix should be changed to "Oh, Yeah!" And the them song should be The Storms Are On The Ocean. The BS section seems to go through the vortex pretty regularly. There used to be more periods of calm between storms than there seem to be, now. It's more like reading the news headlines: 8 killed in terrorist bombing, Iran lvows to destroy Israel, riots sweep Paris, etc. That is part of reality, but not all of it. Even on my worst days, I see many examples of generosity and quiet commitment to trying to help other people. For some reason, there are people who believe that "reality" is all the ugly stuff, and the beautiful things we see around us and in each other are just "wishful thinking." Or that we're out chasing butterflies in a field. Reality is the whole deal. It's not just the meanness, the destructiveness and the selfishness. It's the kindness and generosity, too.

Today we're practicing up here at the house. That's a hardship for Joe and Frankie, but they're happy to do it. Frankie will be 80 in a few days, and he still works seven days a week, running his pavement company. He'll be up early this morning and working hard, right up to the time that Joe picks him up. Joe has a stressful day, as most of his days are, but he's sacrificing to make the time to come up here. It's an hour's drive to get here... one I'll make, going down to Frankie's this Tuesday night. Joe and Frankie are very "real." They aren't out chasing butterflies in a field. They have committed themsleves to something that they believe in, and they'll honor that commitment if they can crawl. Frankie came directly from the Emergency room to a concert once (for which we weren't getting paid.)

If we sound good, it's not from wishful thinking...

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 06 May 06 - 08:02 AM

Hey Jerry, what's this harsh anti-lepidopterist line you're taking? We lepidopterists are just about ready to come up and picket your house. We (our cats, anyway) have no choice--we have to chase butterflies. And that's where we find them--in a field. And just think of all the aerobic exercise we get chasing them. It's no wonder that in a scientific survey, 58% of doctors found butterfly chasers to be much less likely than folk musicians to be overweight, and in better condition in general. Of course Jan and I are now trying to plant milkweed, also known as "butterfly bush"--to attract butterflies (specifically monarchs). But if we do, we won't be chasing them anymore--they'll come to us. So maybe, in the interest of our own health, we should rethink this.

(Sorry--I'm in a whimsical mood--I actually know what you're talking about--and I applaud you--and anybody else who makes music.)

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 06 May 06 - 08:06 AM

And when we get together, we'll have to see if we can get Bill D too--he does a great job on "The Storms Are On The Ocean".

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 06 May 06 - 10:12 AM

Hey, Ron: The chasing butterflies in the field (while singing, la,la,la,la,la) is how a certain member of the Cat characterizes my positive attitude toward life.

I know about you butterfly chasers... catch the little buggers and then drive a pin through their abdomen and while they're making their silent screams, you mount them on a board. :-)

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: freda underhill
Date: 06 May 06 - 10:44 AM

I haven't found any butterflies here in Carinthia (down south in Austria) Jerry and Ron, but this morning I went for a long walk with my daughter. we wandered along by a river, past rows of trees blossoming with pink blossoms, with ducks resting under the trees and looking across to the Alps,

I think I like the idea of chasing butterflies!

freda

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 06 May 06 - 11:44 AM

What you have to look out for are butterflies that chase you. They might be rabid.

And I have other plans for Bill D, Ron. I wabt to do Working On A BillDing with him,

Sounds beautiful, freda..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 06 May 06 - 01:57 PM

Not guilty, Jerry--I swear I haven't done that to a butterfly since about age 8. And yes, I caught the reference. But consider the source. Or perhaps ignore the source--when the source only draws from the sewer, it's not likely anything of value will result.



Anyway, how's the weather up there. For some reason, we're getting a real spring this year--not segueing from very early spring directly into summer the 3rd week of April, as sometimes happens.

And it's wonderful. We had our rehearsal today on the National Cathedral grounds. They were having their big flower mart. And I stayed outside til the last possible moment--too bad the rehearsal wasn't outside.

Jan is at the 4th birthday party of a neighbor she has taken care of--and still does from time to time. Then we go to an azalea party cum sing. One of our hard-working cats is lying on the chair next to me; another is asleep in a cardboard box she's decided she likes. They seem to have no interest in this gorgeous day--go figger.

Here's hoping the Mudcat doesn't have more hairballs for a while.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 06 May 06 - 01:58 PM

Jerry, your speaking of the kindness and generosity reminds me of the bemusement and mindboggled reaction I so frequently feel these days.

Since the church and community hall (where I work part time) last month, I am simultaneously utterly amazed and admiring of humankind - and proud to be one.

There are contributions coming from all over the country, along with heartfelt and heartwarming reminiscences of past history.

I don't remember- did I tell you about the tiny local church that donated its entire own building fund ($7000) to the Restoration Fund?

There are also many, many donations from individuals of $200, $400, even $1000. And some of $25, which may be even more money, coming from them, than the larger amounts.

I'm not a member of this church - or a member of any church, truth be told - but I'm looking forward to payback time. I think all of us that are involved have become more generous these last 6 weeks.

Sure! I'll have another cup. Thanks.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 06 May 06 - 08:22 PM

Hi, Ebbie:

Before I joined the Bpatist church where I'm a member now, I was a member of a Lutheran church with a Scandinavian history. When they celebrated their 100th Anniversary, they decided to donate $100,000 to other needy organizations. One of the things that we bought was a bus so that family members of people in prison who were too poor to afford the transportation to visit could go to see their family members. I know that meant a lot for Mothers or Fathers in prison
to be able to see their children. Another bus was bought for transporting the handicapped who were served by a very financially limited service organization. I thought it was beautiful that the chose to celebrate by helping those so sorely in need. I was proud to be a member of the church. It's a good reminder that the villification of churches in here, and other places speaks to only a small part of the true story.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 07 May 06 - 01:06 PM

It's true--churches have done a lot of good over the course of history--and continue to do so. It's too easy to dwell on the Inquisition and religious wars in general--and Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson's idiocies these days---and ignore the other side. I suspect that a lot of people who talk only about the abuses of Christianity would not assume that all Moslems are in the mold of Osama. The double standard is pretty blatant.

And I don't consider myself religious in the least--and hardly ever attend church.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 08 May 06 - 09:40 AM

My, my, my! Heaven's to Betsy! (I wonder what means?) All's not well in Mudville. That makes it especially pleasureable to pop in here once a day to see what's going on.

This morning, I got an e-mail with my performer's application for NOMAD. It was very refreshing to receive it. NOMAD is one of my favorite festivals. It's also a good nudge to find out whether they would approve of a Church and Street Harmonies workshop with the Gospel Messengers and The Sentinels (the a capella Doo Wop group I've recently come to know.) It sure would be fun. Too bad NOMAD is the same weekend as the Getaway, or we coujld maybe have Ron and Jimmyt up here to join in.

Gotta go water the lawn..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 08 May 06 - 10:07 AM

Hi Jerry...watering the lawn? Here in eastern England, the driest part of the UK, it has rained non stop for three days! Oh to be in England now that spring is here? The blessing side is the trees are all in blossem, the clematis is in bloom , a beautiful pale lavender, the wisteria that Billy brought back from New Jersey has buds of flowers for the second time in 7 years.We have a wren and Robin nesting in the shed and I have heard the cookoo.
Next weeek we are cottage sitting while our daughter and son in law holiday in Malta, they live on the bank of the Orwell river in the middle of a vineyard, very peaceful and lovely walks by the river.so I am looking forward to a quiet few days and catching up on reading some good books.
Loved your story about the plumbing and your escape.
Helping myself to more coffee thank you.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 08 May 06 - 10:52 AM

Hey Mrs. billybob:

How come no one ever wrote a song, When It's Springtime In New Jersy? For those who only know New Jersey through the Jersey Turnpike, that might sound ridiculous. But, New Jersey IS the Garden State, and it's aptly named. We have mockingbirds nesting in our shrubs again, along with Cardinal, Blue Jays and Robins. This is a beautiful time of year... probably my favorite.

I was thinking of Freda when she dropped by the other day, and while we're welcoming the Spring, it's Fall Down Under. That's always hard to remember. But then, one of my sons and his wife paid for Ruth and I to visit them in Florida in February, and we drove two hours through the worst ice storm I've seen in years to get to the airport in Hartford, here in Connecticut, and arrive in Fort Lauderdal with the temperature in the 70's. My greatest culture shock was in the 60's when I spent a summer on a floating iceberg in the Arctic Ocean, 800 miles NORTH of Alaska. At the end of the summer, when the runway was frozen enough for planes to land, I was picked up, brought back to Point Barrow, Alaska, and then flew back to New York City. I went from below freezing weather with 24 hours of sunlight on an iceberg to the subways of New York City in early September. But, it was a memorable summer... not many people have stared a Polar Bear in the eye, in the wild with nothing around you but ice.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 08 May 06 - 11:47 AM

I have a friend who spent a work season at the opposite end of the globe, Jerry, as a construction worker. The two of you should meet.

One of the sadder facets of encroaching old age, in my experience, is that some things you never got around to doing are just not available any more. For instance I can't tell you how many places I've driven through or spent a brief time in that I told myself that I was coming back someday to spend a year there - and never did.

Many other things.

It is also true that I got to do some pleasurable, serendipitous things that veered me into another direction, so it does even out.

Watering the lawn here would be just bizarre. We've had a VERY wet April and so far this month. That wouldn't be bad, except that the rain has been very cold.

This morning, however, at just before 8:00 the temperature is 40 degrees so maybe we'll get to 45 today.

The trees and bushes are just beginning to leaf out. No color yet but the leaves are beginning to unfurl. My office window overlooks a hillside that is bare but I'm looking forward to when it greens up.

And yesterday a friend told me that there were six bears feeding on roots and greens on a slide slope which is where the first bears of the spring can be found. Someone else told me once that he had seen six but the most I've seen at one time is three.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 08 May 06 - 12:58 PM

Yes, Ebbie: Some experiences seem limited to the young. The three months I spent on the Ice Island depended on youth, and that dumb youthful conviction of invulnerability. All the time that I was there, we were completely inaccesible to air support, as our runway was the surface of the iceberg, which was rife with potholes from melting, during the summer. If we had a medical problem, our "Doctor" was a botanist who fainted at the sight of blood. We had all the surgical equipment and were told that we could do emergency surgery, being walked through it by a Doctor on the mailand, 800 miles away. And yet during the time when we were first there, we'd lose radio contact with the plane as it left, before we lost sight of it..

The summer after I was there, someone had appendicitis and died on the Island. There were also two plane crashes on the pack ice, over the years. But, when you're young, you don't give much thought to those things, and the staff who recruited us made very little mention of the danger involved. Even being out on the pack ice, where there were polar bears, without any weapon to defend yourself was stupid.

Ah, to be young and stupid again.

No thanks...

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 08 May 06 - 02:13 PM

Wow, Jerry. There are some places that OSHA doesn't reach, huh. On top of the isolation, you were also in surroundings and conditions that made frequent accidents almost inevitable.

My friend at the Antarctic says that it was an interesting experience and he was invited to come back but he says he doesn't think he ever would. He did save a nice chunk of change, though.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 09 May 06 - 03:59 AM

Hey there Jerry Elmer,

I can't sleep, so I thought I'd mosey over to your table instead of pacing. Got a big shock on Friday about a dear friend--an inoperable cancer diagnosis--and the news is keeping me awake. The lady is 85 years young and has had a grand life. She says she's ready to go and is downright cheerful about it. But me and the others who love her are going to be stuck living without her, and that's a very gloomy prospect.

--------------------

There IS a song about spring in New Jersey. Michael Feinstein sings it. It starts out:

"When it's apple blossom time in Orange, New Jersey,
We'll be a peach of a pair!"

Now there are some inspired lyrics...

---------------------

Ice Island, huh? It sounds like a description of when hell freezes over. However, in spite of the dangers, it probably was quite an adventure at the time.

--------------------

Okay, back to grovel before the sandman. Maybe he likes granola? I could make him a peanut butter sandwich. Guess it's time to go shopping...

Elmer

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 09 May 06 - 07:17 AM

Hey Elmer Jerry:

I like:

Everything is peaches down in Georgia
It's a peach of a clime, for a peach of a time
There's a preacher waiting down there for ya
He's just waiting to say, "Will you love and obey?"

Probably my favorite singer of all time (as if there is only one) is/was Clancy Hayes. I wonder if anyone else in here has even heard of him... think I'll start a two or three post thread.

Man, it's getting reallllll nasty in here! I left once when it got this bad a couple of years ago. It didn't occur to me at the time that all I really needed was this little corner and a kitchen table.

I've got all the stuff I need now to put together a "Huh?" CD. Except time. But that's coming, soon.

Yesterday, I made our airline reservations to fly out to Wisconsin for my Mother's 99th birthday. My youngest son lives 45 miles away, in northern Illinois and my other son, his wife and two kids are coming, so we can have a real family reunion.. I have two older sisters who live in the same town where my Mother lives Iand I was born,) and a gazillion other relatives, so we'll have a good time. May have to entrust the table to someone else while I'm gone.

A designated table Meister, or Meisteress.

Jerry Elmer Henry Hornsbuckle

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 09 May 06 - 10:40 AM

Just leave your door unlocked, Jerry, and we'll keep the seats warm. This is a wonderful home by the wayside.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 09 May 06 - 11:40 PM

Hey Jerry what's the rest of "Everything is peaches down in Georgia". Who did it? Never heard of it. Sound like from the '20's? Is that a good guess?

There are always new songs (to me)--that's one of the best things about Mudcat.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 10 May 06 - 08:19 AM

Now you know, Ron, music doesn't sound right reduced to squiggly black lines. So, I pulled out a CD of Bob Scobey that I put together of my favorites, and if this mouse will just move over here, Voila! there's a copy for you. It has Everything Is Peaches Down in Georgia on it. And many other favorites... Sailing Down To Chesapeake Bay.. Right now, I'm playing Peoria. "Why you can pick a morning Gloria, right off the sidewalks of Peoria." Ive spent some time in Peoria.. "Why did I ever roam with those sailor boys? I should have stayed at home in Illinois." It's great stuff to my ears. Maybe to yours, too.

It's a rainy day today, with many more forecast. That means rather than being able to work outside all day cleaning up, cutting, trimming and taking trips to the dump, I'm stuck down here in my office listening to great music and burning CDs for friends. Some guys have all the luck.

You know, Ron... I'm not picking on you by sending you stuff. I just haven't gotten Ebbie, Elmer and some others to PM their mailing adresses to me so I can pick on them, too.... hint, hint..

Had a great time yesterday morning. Ruth and I went to do a program/service at a nursing home where we did a program every month for about four years. It's been a coincidence that we haven't been there for four months... one month I was sick, one they had to cancel because there was too much sickness at the nursing home, and once because they were doing construction. It was very touching that the room was jammed with people. And so many of them went on and on about how much they missed us, and how happy there were that we came back. The Pastor of one of the churches we support gave a short message, and I did three songs. One of the nurses aides knew the old black gospel... young black woman and sang along on a couple, and then got very excited about the Messengers's concert coming up. She's bringing her husband and some other friends. I finished with a "new" song I wrote a year and half ago, but have never sung in front of anyone... even including Ruth. It just seemed to flow naturally from the message that Ken gave. It's a straight R & B vocal group sound... the first two lines and much of the melody come from one of my favorite recordings by the Penguins: Troubles Are Not At End. I really need the Penguins to back me... or maybe just you, Ron, Jimmy (we gotta find out what Elmer sings... and you know, Ebbie, the Platters had a woman singing with them..)

One a these days..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: freda underhill
Date: 10 May 06 - 10:44 AM

humming along here in the background Jerry - what a great post. I spent the day with my daughter, picnicing and lying in the sun, by a beautful Austrian lake, surrounded by mountains..

freda
(still enjoying the warmth of the kitchen..)

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 10 May 06 - 11:31 AM

Hey, freda: It must be getting a little nippy down there in Austrailyer. When does Fall start, for you?

When I'm away visiting me Mum in Wisconsin, I'll definitely leave a key under the front door mat in case anyone wants to drop by for a cuppa while we're gone.

One a these days, or years, we'll forgo the cyber-coffee and brew up a fresh pot in out kitchen, when folks make it up, down or over to Connecticut...

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: freda underhill
Date: 10 May 06 - 12:37 PM

that was an AUSTRIAN lake Jerry (spring here in the Northern hemisphere!) - yes, I hear it's getting nippy back home in Oz! :-)

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 10 May 06 - 10:51 PM

Had a wonderful night tonight, doing what I wanted to do.. no work, just pleasure. And what is more pleasurable than putting together CDs for my own listening enjoyment and to share with friends?

That's what I did most of the night. I just sat and listened to "Huh?" and thoroughly enjoyed it... it's a free-form flow of songs with each song suggesting the next. It starts out with the Promenade to Pictures At An Exhibition, segues naturally into Ape Man by the Kinks, and along the way includes Randy Newman, Carmen McRae, J.J. Cale, R.E.M. The Tractors, LeRoy Carr, the Chico Hamilton Quintet and the Lighthouse All-Stars. It may not be for the faint of heart and it's sure to include some tracks you won't like, but if you're feeling adventurous, PM me and I'll send you a copy.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 10 May 06 - 11:27 PM

Hi Jerry--

I love those songs--Peoria, Sailing Down to Chesapeake Bay, etc.   I've been meaning to learn Peoria for a long time--it has an amazing number of verses. And I have a part of Sailing Down To Chesapeake Bay on tape done by the Red Clay Ramblers--but not the whole thing. And I figure that being close to the Chesapeake Bay, I really should know that song.   It's so amazing to me how much we share in musical taste.

Of course in the case of Peoria I bet it has something to do with sharing an addiction to shameless puns.


Totally new topic: Jan is sitting here and says she's totally disgusted with all the US dentists she has seen. Does anybody in the US have a good dentist? We've tried 5 in the past 3 years-- and "they're all rubbish". She says she thought British dentists were bad--but they are actually better than "the tits over here". (Can she say "tits" at the kitchen table?) (Actually chickadees are very much like great tits in the UK). Jan hopes you all know about blue tits, great tits, cold tits and long-tail tits, (the last ones she used to get in her garden once a year--in January. About 1 to 3 January.) She is bringing to the table this evening her very sore mouth and a cup of hot peach tea.

Jimmy--we have a seriously dissatisfied customer of US dentistry here--can you offer any counsel?

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: KT
Date: 11 May 06 - 12:09 AM

Hi Gang! Is the kettle on? I've just returned from my gig at the outdoor restaurant and could use a cuppa hot! It's COLD out there! The calendar says mid-May, but that don't mean nuthin' 'round here! 'Specially this year! There was fresh snow on the mountains this morning!

Jerry, those songs you're talking about sound like they'd be great ones to add to my repertoire. I meet folks from all over the country (and world) all summer long. Some are even from Peoria!

I may just need to call you one o' these days and chat about your nursing home gig. I'm thinking of commiting to do the same on a more frequent basis.

I love this thread. I don't have time to read it (!) but I love knowing you're all there, enjoying each other's company over a hot cup.

KT

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 11 May 06 - 12:16 AM

KT--

It's so great to hear from you again. Please drop in and give us a couple of lines any time you have a spare minute. It doesn't have to take long--and it's wonderful to ( well, almost) hear your voice. Hope the music (and life in general) is going well.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 11 May 06 - 09:33 AM

He3y, KT! How nice that you dropped by. Ebbie was just talking about you, yesterday. Today is another rainy day and I've pulled out my 6 Bob Scobey, Clancy Hayes CDs and am looking forward to putting together a "favorite tracks" CD. When you mention songs about places, it occurs to me that Bob Scobey and Clancy did a lot of those kinds of songs... could do a whole CD just of those:

Here are some:

   St. Louis Blues
   Coney Island Washboard
   Beale Street Blues
   Sailing Down To Chesapeake Bay
   Wolverine Blues (about the Wolverine state, Michigan)
   Chicago
   Peoria
   Hindustan (Where we stopped to rest our mighty caravan)
   Memphis Blues
   When The Midnight Choo Choo Leaves For Alabam
   Mississippi Mud
   Parson, Kansas Blues
   Mobile

If you're interested, KT, I'd be glad to send you a copy of the CD I'm putting together... it won't have all of these songs on it, because there are so many other great songs that I want to include.

Long Gone, which I will put on as one of my favorites has the line "He's long gone from Bowling Green" and "The Guard forgot to close the Golden Gate."

I listened to the "Huh" CD I put together three times last night (and it's close to an hour long. Music soothes the Gentle Dane.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 11 May 06 - 11:33 AM

Hey Ron,

I happen to like my dentist very much. He loves his work, keeps up with the latest advances in the field, cares about his patients, and inevitably carries on a highly entertaining monologue while my mouth is full of instruments (dental--not musical). The last time I was in for a cleaning he talked nonstop about all the Grateful Dead concerts he attended while he was in dental school, and he described the antics of the Deadheads. I received a full education about the rituals of that particular subculture. What a hoot. All that and clean teeth too. Such a deal!

Elmer

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 11 May 06 - 11:47 AM

I have a great dentist, too, Elmer. And he's closer to Jan than yours. I kid my dentist that I am disappointed when I don't have any reason to come back and visit for a couple of months. There's even some truth to it. He has a great sense of humor, and I hit it off with him immediately. On top of that, his Dental Hygenist is one of the most delightful people I've met in a long time. Like my dentist, she has a good sense of humor, and all the people who work there are very positive and upbeat. We invited my Hygenist and her husband to come over for a Gospel Messengers practice, as they'd expressed a strong desire to hear us, and we had a terrific morning. My Hygenist (name being Gail) and my wife hit if off in a way that I've never seen in all the years I've known Ruth. Yesterday, Ruth and I had to run out on some errands and we swung by my dentist's office to drop off a couple of fliers for the Gospel Messengers concert coming up, and Ruth cane in, just to see Gail. What fun!

Dentists!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You Gotta Love 'em!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 11 May 06 - 09:37 PM

Been listening to the Bob Scobey and Clancy Hayes CD I just put together... real nice stuff... a copy will be coming to you, Ron, and any others if they want one..

If you can share a love, why not share and share a "like?"

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: jimmyt
Date: 11 May 06 - 11:08 PM

Ron. I assume you are in Silver Spring/Takoma Park and I cannot help you in that exact location but I have a couple good friends who are excellent dentists in Frederick who I would recommend. Paul Gauthier and Dan Mc Keown. In the same office   BOth excellent dentists who are generally good guys to boot and if you call them mention my name and tell them that if they piss Jan off I will come up and kick their asses. About all I can do from this far away! I am sorry she has had a bad experience@! jimmyt

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 11 May 06 - 11:28 PM

Thanks, Jimmy. We're getting desperate "A lesser woman would have jumped off a bridge by now" she says.

She's always taken very good care of her teeth. But she's at the mercy of these people--and they can affect you so drastically. She says that in the UK people have even committed suicide over botched dental operations.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 12 May 06 - 09:40 AM

Surely there must be a blues song concerning dentists?

There are plenty with lines about, "I went to see my doctor..." and the doctor tells the guy he's got the blues, or is in love, or needs jug band music to cure what ails him, or needs a mojo, or has a boy-child coming who's gonna be a sonavagun....

How about, "I went to see my dentist..."

"and he told me, son, you need a woman named Flossy," or "you got a brush with greatness comin'," or " you need to wash your mouth out with soap..."

Time for the first cup of coffee of the day ; > )

Elmer

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 12 May 06 - 10:02 AM

Good ones, Elmer:

How about,

"I went to see my dentist
'Cause I was feeling down in the mouth
He asked me why my baby left me
And all I could say was mumble, mumble, mumble"

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 12 May 06 - 12:37 PM

Just got a very moving e-mail from an old friend. Back in the 50's, he had a couple of regional rock-a-billy hits and answered the siren of musical fame. His "fame" burned out very quickly, but he kept playing, singing country music in bars... living the Merle Haggard life without the recognition or financial rewards. All those years of playing in bars left him with asthma, and now he has to be on a breathealotor (or whatever they're called) at times. He's moved back to him home town where his Mother and Father are in a nursing home, and he can't find work.. having a tag sale just to try to meet bills.

So, along with the other CDs I'm burning to send out to some of you folks, I'm putting together a package for him. He can't afford to pay for anything, but I love doing this kind of stuff, so we're a good combination. I have the blessings, he has the needs. Sometimes, just knowing that someone cares about you is the greatest gift of all.

And, I've got a batch of CDs ready to pass around the kitchen table, too..

Whoops... I think the mailman is coming..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 12 May 06 - 01:28 PM

"And all I could say was 'mumble, mumble, mumble.'

Good one!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 13 May 06 - 12:14 AM

Got my baby a gold crown.
A root canal, and a brand new partial too;
I told her, "Ain't nothin' too good
For that sweet little smile you do."

Now she done run off with the dentist,
And I'm stuck here with the bills;
I'm gonna cry into the toothbrush glass
And then head out for the hills.

--Blind Lowdown Elmer Bicusp

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 13 May 06 - 02:50 AM

Got a bill from my dentist down by the San Francisco Bay,
And my HMO sez they ain't gonna pay.
I didn't mean to need a new bridge.
Heck, it costs more than my fridge!
I'll kiss my credit good-bye,
I'm gonna swear off pie,
This bill's enough to make a grown man cry.

Now my Visa's overdrawn and my accountant won't give me the time.
And my mouth hurts so bad I think I'm gonna lose my mind.
When the lidocaine wears off for good,
You'll hear my sobs all over the 'hood
'Cause I got the acci-dental blues down by the San Francisco Bay.

Uh, it's after my bedtime. Nighty-night.

Lockjaw Elmore

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 13 May 06 - 07:51 AM

You're on a roll, Elmer: I just hope that it's sugar-free.

Jerry Elmer

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: jimmyt
Date: 13 May 06 - 09:10 AM

YOu folks are all on a roll, albiet at my expense! grin

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: jimmyt
Date: 13 May 06 - 09:11 AM

FIVE HUNDRED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: jimmyt
Date: 13 May 06 - 09:15 AM

Just imagine, if you will, a grown 58 year old man sitting at the computer at 9 AM in his underwear, then suddenly jumping up yelling "WOO HOO!!!!" just wanting to high five someone purly based on getting rhe five hundredth post. I know it may be a touch childish but it was a very good feeling to know that as far as the number thing, in this thread, at least for the present, I AM DA MAN!!! now I need to go shower and get busy. Thank you all for allowing that outburst.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 13 May 06 - 09:38 AM

Now, jimmy, if you were really WITH IT, you'd realize that Levi has a brand called the 501 blues. I'm glad you didn't get the blues, posting the 501st post.

Maybe we can reserve the 600th post for you..

Always good to see you in here, jimmy. I hope that you, Jayne and family are getting some relief. And that we'll see you (and Jayne, too) after we get back from Wisconsin. We're coming back the night of the 11th of June.

And, it looks like a "Go" for the Church And Street Corner Harmonies workshop at NOMAD in November. My new-found friend KIen is confirming it with the other four members of his a capella doo wop group, and so far, the powers that be at NOMAD are enthusiastic. What a time that will be! This summer, I'll invite the group, The Sentinels over for a sing around with the Messengers.

Great Day in the Morning!

All day, that day.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 13 May 06 - 07:53 PM

Jerry's State Of The Onion Address:

Onions are pleasing to hold in your hands. They have a delicate, paper thin outer skin, and a silky smooth inner skin with a diaphanous film separating the two. Onions bring zest to the blandest of foods, are easy to raise and extremely inexpensive. They are the food of Kings, yet available to the poorest of paupers.
But like most thin-skinned organisms, they cry easily when cut or bruised. Or more accurately, they make the beholder cry. Now it may be true that people who allow an onion to make them cry are not tough-skinned enough. Probably the kind of people who are hurt by vile insults on the internet.

Here around the kitchen table, let us hope that the only tears that are shed are because of onions. Let the wolves howl outside the door, or rant incessantly.

This is a good place to be.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: GUEST,KT
Date: 13 May 06 - 11:40 PM

If there are tears shed around this table, (aside from onion induced ones) , they'll be tears of compassion for fellow travelers on the journey. A good place, this kitchen table.

And yes, Jerry. I'd love a copy of that CD, thank you!

KT

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 14 May 06 - 03:37 AM

I LOVE ONIONS
by Donald Cochrane and John Hill

I don't like snails or toads or frogs
Or strange things living under logs
But mmm, I love onions

I don't like to dance with Crazy Ted
He's always jumping on my head
But mmm, I love onions

{Refrain}
Onions, onions, la-la-la
Onions, onions, ha-ha-ha
Root doot doot-doot, doot doot doot
Onions, onions, la-la-la
Onions, onions, ha-ha-ha
Root doot doot-doot, doot doot doot

I don't like rain or snow or hail
Or Moby Dick the great white whale
But mmm, I love onions

I don't like shoes that pinch your toes
Or people who squirt you with a garden hose
But mmm, I love onions

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 14 May 06 - 08:43 AM

It's a new--and much brighter day--on Mudcat-and, finally, not just on this thread.

May the spirit of the kitchen table spread--and onions are great.


I have to get up now and go sing in church.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 14 May 06 - 10:45 AM

Hey, KT:

I'll stick a copy of the Bob Scobey, Clancy Hayes CD in the mail to you. I sent some stuff to you, Ron, on Friday, and have four more packages ready to go to the post office tomorrow. I wanted to mail them on Saturday, but we went to a baby shower. Man, those babies hurt like Hell when they land on your umbrella!

We didn't pick any up..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 14 May 06 - 12:46 PM

Hi all,popped in for a coffe and just thought I would say Happy Mothers Day to all the ladies, we had our mothering Sunday some weeks back in the UK. I hope you all got breakfast in bed and get taken out to dinner. Have a lovely restful day girls.
I remember when my children were little being woken up at the crack of sparrow with a tray of tea made with cold water, had to drink it of course!
Tears at this table? How about tears of joy and tears of laughter?

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 14 May 06 - 01:39 PM

"crack of sparrow"--is that rhyming slang--or what's the story behind it?   Bet it's a good one.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 14 May 06 - 01:51 PM

Hi Ron, not sure where crack of sparrow came from, but I think crack of dawn is part of it, dawn chorus... sparrows? Maybe some one will know who is a cockney? I am from the wrong part of London to hear Bow Bells.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 14 May 06 - 05:47 PM

It's been a beautiful Mother's Day here. Talked to me Mum and she is doing fine, and getting all wound up about our coming out to visit. Ruth has loved her day - took her out to eat, went to her daughter's church where she gave a powerful sermon on the strength of women (and their need for a mutually supportive relationship with their husbands) Ruth liked her gifts, and we had a beautiful afternoon... just the two of us. We'll have a simple supper, and watch a movie together.

I can't believe that life gets better than this.

Meanwhile, the storms are raging... what a sad state of affairs when so much of Mudcat has became an 8 car collision, with everyone pulling over to watch (and comment...)

It's just real nice to know you folks..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 15 May 06 - 01:01 PM

Got to the post office today, so there are a bunch of CDs taking flight.

With Mudcat down for half a day, I thought I'd just throw something in here so the thread doesn't slide off the table. It's been raining now for a week and a half. If this keeps up, I'm going to start building an ark. Until then, I mowed the front lawn in the rain... something I've never done in my life. When the grass is higher than the windows, you have to do something..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 15 May 06 - 01:44 PM

As much rain as we've had the last six weeks I really wasn't surprised to see an ark in the ocean in front of downtown Juneau. Actually, there were four of them, huge behemoths indeed.

We're deep into the tourist crusie season already.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 15 May 06 - 02:37 PM

Probably better spell that 'cruise'.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 15 May 06 - 05:18 PM

With all the mudslinging going on around in the catbox, mebbe some of us are better off hiding under the kitchen table!

Or mebbe we better start building that ark just in case. Right. What's a cubit?

E.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 15 May 06 - 06:00 PM

Interesting that you would ask "what is a cubit?" Elmer. We do two or three songs about Noah and I offer some helpful little tidbits, introducing them. A cubit is the distance from your elbow to the tip of your fingers. My cubit may be longer than yours, but not nearly as long as Chombo Chimp's. Depending on which translation you read, the ark was either made out of gopher wood, or shitim. I kinda prefer saying it was made out of gopher wood.. :-)

Yeah, if all this furor keeps happening, maybe we'll all have to break into a rousing chours of Katie get up and bar the door...

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 15 May 06 - 07:17 PM

Aha! Bill Cosby's question answered at last. I'll bet those songs about Noah are really great--lots of room for creativity with that theme.

My arms aren't very long, so somebody else better volunteer theirs for the requisite cubit.

Well, if people keep on hootin' and hollerin' around here, and if the rain keeps falling and the creek keeps rising, please pass me a cup of coffee UNDER the kitchen table. I feel a lot safer down here, giving a new meaning to the phrase, "duck and cover." (There are a few of our web-footed friends paddling in from the rain and quacking in dismay at all the racket their opposable-thumbed friends are making.)

Elmer

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 15 May 06 - 08:34 PM

My main question with the Noah's Ark thing is, if he took two rabbits on board, how many hopped down the gang plank when Noah found dry land?

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 15 May 06 - 08:56 PM

Well, let's see. Let's assume the rabbits were young but of breeding age. So they were at least 4 months old. The ark traveled for how long? The rain continued for 40 days and 40 nights but how long did it take the waters to recede? Anybody know?

The gestation period of rabbits is approximately 30 days and the average litter is about 5 kits. So we can safely assume that the number of rabbits coming off the ark was only about 7.

But in the next 6 months? Wow!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 15 May 06 - 09:28 PM

I know one thing, Ebbie: There'd be a lot more rabbits in six months than folks. Maybe rabbits would have evolved into a Master Race and they'd be trapping us for stealing carrots from their gardens.

Maybe it's best not to have these kind of thoughts... :-)

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 16 May 06 - 07:38 PM

Refresh so the door doesn't accidentally close, and lock perchance.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 16 May 06 - 08:26 PM

Hey, you're talking about wascally wabbits in fwont of the wrooooonnnnnggggg guy!!!!!!!!!!

Elmer

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 16 May 06 - 10:10 PM

The world is safe, as long as we have you, Elmer..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 16 May 06 - 10:26 PM

Had a great practice tonight with the Messengers. And was reminded of something far more important than a good practice.

For the last several months, we've had a hard time accepting that we're a trio. We kept thinking of ourselves as a quartet. missing a member. That was undertandable because Derrick, who was with us for seven years was such a fine singer, and an even finer person and friend and we still miss him terribly. But recently, we've come to accept that we are the Gospel Messengers. Not the Gospel Messengers minus one. I was talking with Frankie and Joe about that tonight, because our singing was really inspired. It made me think about one of the greatest qualities about my Father. My Father was far from a perfect man. But we all have strengths and wisdom to pass on to others. One great wisdom that my Father passed along to me was not to complain about what you've lost, but be thankful for what you still have. At 70, he was in a 10 mile walk to raise funds for some charity. By the time he was 80, he could walk about a mile. But that was good enough for him. He knew a lot of people who couldn't walk a mile. When he had to use a walker, I bought hima bike horn to blow when he passing slower people with their walkers. And that was good enough for him. When I'd ask him how he was doing, he'd always say, "Pretty good .. there are a lot of people who can't do what I can." I'd kid him and say, "Dad, if I ask you how you're doing and you can't walk any more, you'll say, pretty good .. I can still crawl across the floor. There are a lot of people who can't do that." My Grandfather was like that. He lay flat on his back in a bed for six or seven years before he finally wasted away and died. When you asked him how he was, he always said, "pretty good."

So, if you wonder how the Gospel Messengers are doing, we're doing "Pretty good." We're no longer a quartet, missing a tenor.
We ARE the Gospel Messengers and we're not missing anything. We're just greatful for what we have.

A good attitude to have, whatever you've lost. Be thankful for what you've got left.

We're going to have a fine time, Saturday night. They've already sold at least 80 tickets for the dinner, and I wouldn't be surprised if they hit 100.

Still room at the table...

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Alice
Date: 17 May 06 - 12:51 PM

My kitchen table used to be a gathering place, especially when I had friends in town who were new mothers like I was, when our kids would be playing together and we would be having coffee and talking. Over time, those friends moved far away. Then, as I became more involved with music, the kitchen table was the place our band gathered and practiced. My son grew up and my time was consumed with working. I didn't go to the session or get the band together like before. Now, I am focussed on getting out of debt from the child raising years, and my kitchen table has become the largest desk in the house, piles of paperwork and forms, a flow of accounts to call on, accounts sold. Hopefully, when my finances are healthy, I will be able to take back the kitchen table and it will once again have a vase of fresh flowers, clean wooden surface without work papers, and cups of coffee or tea with new friends.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 17 May 06 - 01:21 PM

How nice of you to drop by, Alice!

Don't be a stranger..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Alice
Date: 17 May 06 - 07:35 PM

Hey, Jerry, missed you at the old Mudcat Campfire!
The beginning of that thread was lost in Mudcat crashland, but still has some life to it.

Seems like my kitchen table, session, campfire, performing, singing time has been on hold for a couple of years. I may go
back to our session here again, but the venue has changed, and once again it is in a corner of a bar with bad acoustics.
I haven't even been singing in the shower!! ;-)

alice

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 17 May 06 - 10:26 PM

Hi Jerry and everybody else,

I wanted to tell you Jerry, that I've received the 2 CD package (HUH? and the one with Peoria, Everything is Peaches Down In Georgia, and Down On the Chesapeake Bay--and lots of others.   They're great--and there are all sorts of songs I've never heard before--what an added bonus! But my rehearsal schedule--rehearsal last night and again tomorrow, for instance-- has been such that I've not had a chance to hear HUH? When I do, it may test Jan's tolerance- she used to complain when I had part of My Music or Prairie Home Companion at the end of a classical tape. I gather HUH? keeps switching music types constantly. I'm looking forward to hearing it, myself--each one has a link to the next?

Flash!!!!!--Jan says the Dixieland CD (Peoria etc) is a smash hit with 19-month Henry. Jerry--you're going to monopolize the entire 5-CD player----2 of the other big hits with Henry (and us) are the Gospel Messengers CD and The Gospel in Black and White. Jan says Henry bops to them all.

And we still haven't had a chance to hear the Louis-Ella duets. I keep thinking I can set aside about an hour to do that and nothing else--I don't want to be eating or anything else when I hear that one--but I can't seem to find an hour.


Thanks again,

Ron

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 17 May 06 - 10:33 PM

Jan also says I should tell you I just brought a glass of orange juice to the table. Would you all mind if I sat here and ate my Dutch Apple yogurt? I try to buy as many as I can (I'll buy 25 if I can do it)--and eat one a day. I'm afraid I'm pretty boring in food tastes. (Jan says Amen).

I used to be accused of eating only orange food at home--orange juice, carrots, apricot yogurt, cheese.

I've branched out--a bit.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 17 May 06 - 10:49 PM

Yeah, Ron: The CD "Huh" is not for the faint of heart. I only know two people on the planet who might conceivably enjoy that CD... you, and I'm not so sure about the second... he's my son Pasha from Ruth's marriage. He listened to the first few tracks when I gave it to him, and he took all the style swings in stride. He loves all kinds of music.

Glad you like the Bob Scobey and Clancy Hayes CD. Other table-sitters have packages on the way, too... different CDs, trying to fill other's interests..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 18 May 06 - 07:49 PM

Kinda quiet around the kitchen table today. Some days are like that.
Glad that they are, too.

I've been having some fun these last couple of days trying to pull old songs deep out the the crevasses of my mind. Yesterday, I got out my guitar to play a song that I've played a million times, give or take a few... Old Man At The Mill. I kinda remembered that I did it in a sepcial tuning, but I wasn't sure. It took about five minutes of awful noise before I dredged it back up to the surface, but it felt good playing it again. I'm dusting off some favorite songs I haven't sung in so long I almost don't remember them in preparation for a Songs From The Atticv workshop I want to do at NOMAD this fall. If nothing else, I sure am having a good time doing it.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 18 May 06 - 11:18 PM

I'm gonna be away from the table for a spell, so y'all have a good time now. I'll bring back some coffee beans for the pot, a bag of bagels and maybe a few new stories and songs to share.

Elmer

PS to Jimmy T.: Those dentist blues songs were all in good fun. Just thought that doctors shouldn't corner the market on blues songs and dentists should get their fair shake. Just wait until someone gets going on art historians--or exterminators--or ESL teachers--or day traders...the mind fairly boggles.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 18 May 06 - 11:23 PM

We'll save a chair for you, Elmer..

I'll be gone from June 2nd until the night of the 11th. I am counting on someone keeping the kettle on, while I'm gone, too.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 19 May 06 - 08:08 PM

Winding down for the night.... and checking in at the cat. With Elmer gone, I may end up talking to myself in here. Not that there's anything new about that. It's when you start disagreeing with yourself that you got to start worrying.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 20 May 06 - 12:17 AM

Well Jerry, believe it or not, this is the first time since Wednesday that I've even had access to the computer. Didn't get back from rehearsal last night til after 11--and Jan was still on--and stayed on til midnight. No rehearsal tonight--but again Jan was on til midnight. So I stayed upstairs and played the piano. Among other things she's concerned about some junk e-mail we've been getting. Fake names, addresses untraceable. She's now set up the computer to send all that stuff (it's all the same type)--immediately into the junkpile--and then to trash. But we'll have to try harder to find the source.

But I'm not about to lose any sleep over it. We'll try again tomorrow.

It seems to me the 'Cat has calmed down recently--would you agree? All we need now is for Shambles to go back to fighting PEL's (which is definitely a good cause)--and things will be the best they've been in years.

I certainly should be able to help keep the coffeepot on while you're gone in June--I'll have Mahler rehearsals and concerts and bluegrass and folk festivals--but I can certainly come into the kitchen (though obviously it can't be a soliloquy.) It's the least I can do for the cause.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 20 May 06 - 08:46 AM

Sheesh, Ron! And here I think that I am busy. But then, you're a young tad.

This morning, the Men's Chorus (one of them) had a practice at 8 a.m. I live an hour's drive away and with great reluctance, I decided not to go, even though I have the greatest admiration for our Director and in some ways, I know he counts on me to lead the baritones. It took a lot of consideration to decide not to go (and some strong "suggestions" from Ruth.) This evening, the Messengers are doing a concert and it looks like it is going to be a sellout (can you have a "Sellout" if the admission is free? Maybe it will be a Free-out. The evening will start with a dinner at 6, so I have to get there at least by 5 to set up my new sound system and see if I can also set up to record the concert. I have a lot of work to do during the day, so getting up at 6 this morning to make it to practice by 8 just seemed like too much for one day. Now, if I was as young as Ron, maybe I could just whiz through it. But I'll be 71 in a couple of weeks and I guess it's time to make a few minor concessions to my age. When you're in your 40's, or even 50's, you look to retirement as a time when you can do all the things you don't have the time or freedom to do when you're still working. If you are blessed with good health, you can do a lot of the things you've always wanted to do. But not all, because your energy level gradually subsides as you get older. I see it in many of my friends who are mule-headed about cutting back on how much they are doing. I notice that I have long ears when I look in the mirror sometimes, myself.

So, today, I'm going to ease back a little nad prepare myself physically and spiritually for this evening. I encourage Joe and Frankie to do that, so I guess I'd better take my own advice.

Soliloquy? Isn't that just a polite word for talking to yourself? I tell you, Ron. When you get as old as I am, you'll be soliloquying like crazy....

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 21 May 06 - 03:43 PM

Somebody locked the door, and nobody could get to the table!

Real mixed emotions this weekend. My old friend Howard Glasser, who ran the Eisteddfod for so many years was in intensive care for several days. Thank God he seems to have turned the corner and is out of intensive care. And then I see where another old friend, Margaret MacArthur is dying. I connect them in my mind and heart because I drove up to Massachusetts to hear Margaret at a concert that Howard was doing. We did it to suprise Howard, and to meet Margaret. My 37 year old son was still in diapers then so it's been a long time.

At the same time, we had a beautiful concert Saturday night. a big turnout for the dinner, with family friends, neighbors and strangers all enjoying each other's company. I used my new sound system for the first time and it was magnificent, and we all sang better than we have in a long time... amazing what a good sound system can do for you.

I've been trying to get an answer about the Church And Street Corner Harmony workshop and was getting frustrated because the guy from the Doo Wop group hasn't responded to my e-mails. Got an e-mail today and he's been dealing with family crises and apologized for not responding.

That's the way life shakes out... Thank God for the beautiful times.. they help to get through the hard ones..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Metchosin
Date: 21 May 06 - 04:49 PM

Thanks Jerry for the offer, I think I will try to take a break from being a human doing to be a human being for awhile. When it rains it pours, eh?

My table looks like Alice's right now and I just can't muster the enthusiasm to physically sort through all the debris that's accumulated there in the past few months, so if I can sit at yours for awhile, it would be a pleasure. Although considering some of the stuff coming down, I did think twice about submitting this message, but guessed that some stuff never gets said if you hold off waiting for exactly the right time.


One thing I did do at my table the other night though, that I also haven't done for awhile, is dance around it, so that's a good start. I danced for almost an hour, full tilt, while my favourite Mr. Dave and Wally Ingram provided the accompaniment . With the dancing, the full realization of what I had just been told by a doctor started to sink in.

The doctor I saw this week was Rheumatologist. After reviewing the file my GP sent to her, my blood work, a further grilling for information and a physical exam, she's fairly certain I have a rare auto immune disorder called palindromic rheumatism. It is thought to be an abortive form of rheumatoid arthritis and in about half of the cases it does eventually become rheumatoid arthritis. Goody! something that finally fits all my symptoms right down to a reoccurring eye infection over the years.

You might think it odd that I'd dance in such a celebratory manner with that knowledge, but given what I'd been told beforehand and getting my life, my heart and my brain around what I had been told, prior to seeing her, as a diagnosis, this doesn't suck.

I was diagnosed with leukemia awhile back. Not your run of the mill leukemia, if there could ever be such a thing, but some really rare kind affecting my T cells, with a very bad prognosis; a type that is usually found in elderly men and doesn't respond well to even the most current treatments with three to seven months max, as the bottom line.

Not being an elderly man or feeling like an elderly woman come to think of it, it did seem an odd diagnosis. Other than a slightly elevated lymphocyte count, which has dropped on occasion....hmm....... I thought the problem with these cells is that they won't go away and die like good TCells should....hmmm.... I also don't have any of the symptoms usually associated with it.....nope.... I'll check again.... no lesions showing up today....hmm.....no extra lumps, aside from my breasts .....hmmmm. A CTscan also determined my spleen and liver, despite their prognostications to the contrary, were in very good nick,...nope, no swollen spleen....dang!...... now that seems a little odd too.

But hey, I was assured that the cancer guys in Vancouver I was sent to are amongst the best in the business, linked to the best in the business in North America. You're in the right pipeline, I was assured. The pipeline guys also assured me, in a rather patronizing manner when I queried them, that, no, my slightly elevated lymphocytes could not possibly be the result of a virus or an autoimmune disorder, good cancer guys can tell a malignant T Cell from one that isn't, how dare you ask! Are you in some sort of denial? And while, they reminded me, we're surprised that you're in such good working order, this aggressive sucker is a matter when, not if.   

Also, they told me, my intermittent joint pain, which was the reason I went to my doctor in the first place, was nothing to do with the leukemia.

I danced after that too, all night, to a friend's reggae band. I needed the sort of zen state that it puts me in and was so thankful they were here from Toronto, at the right time, to remind me, I like my body, especially when its in sync and immersed with the music.

Soooo, here's where I stand for now, trying to ignore the sword of Damocles over my head........ In my mind the probability of having a very rare disease is, well..... very rare, but certainly not impossible. But now, the probability of having two very rare diseases, simultaneously, would seem to be really getting out there.

When the rheumatologist asked if I wanted a second opinion, regarding the leukemia diagnosis, even though that is not the reason I finally managed an appointment with her, it got me thinking. Why not? A cranky old lady with gnarled hands like my old aunty? Seems better than getting ready to kiss my ass goodbye in the short term. Awaiting the return of even more blood tests and yet another visit to my GP to decide, where do we go from here?

Oh yeah, there is more going on in my life right now too, but I think I'll save that for another time. And I think I'd better keep my dancing shoes handy.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 21 May 06 - 06:08 PM

Ah, Metch, I'm sorry. I hope you get better news soon - even if it means that they have to admit they were wrong! TWO rare diseases sounds a bit overly coincidental to me. Let us know how that shakes out.

In the meantime I love your dancing! Surely- since we are so blessedly susceptible to the suggestions that our systems give us - surely when the body gets the information that you will be dancing, it will help speed all the bad stuff right out.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 21 May 06 - 07:38 PM

Hey, Metch:

I'm so glad you stopped by. Yes, I do manage to keep the table cleared off. I have an enormous, invisible cyber-waste basket sitting next to it. But you know, sometimes, it's good to put the frightening things on the table, look them in the eye and tell them that they will not prevail. One thing that I know for sure. Not everything can be explained, or understood. I used to tell a friend of mine, who was constantly denying all good things as being "not real," that she was just dragging herself down with her deep-seated belief that everything happens for the worst. She'd stop in to my office every morning, trudging up the steps, to plunk herself down at my table. Yes, I had an old wooden table in my office that was much more of a kitchen table than a piece of office furniture. Every day, she girded her loins (figuratively) in preparation for Hell to visit our neighborhood. 99% of the time, it didn't happen. When she'd get very depressed, I'd point out to her the countless times she'd come into my office, pronouncing one doom or another that never happened. Her attitude was that she was just "preparing for the worst." Just in case it happened. Truth is, there is no way of "preparing for the worst."
You're a lot better off preparing for the best. How can you prepare for the sudden loss of a child, or finding out that you have cancer?
I don't mean to minimize depression, because I had a depression and committed myself to a psychiatric ward. I know what it feels like to wake up every day, dreading that moment when you swing your legs over the side of your bed and put them on the floor. But you know, people sell you a faulty bill of goods. Too many people say that it's unrealistic to be hopeful. As if reality only came in one flavor. I notice that when "Shit Happens" became such a catchy bumper stick wisdom, no one said "Good stuff, far beyond anything you could even imagine, happens too." (You see I'd make lousy bumper stickers.) They'd only fit on Hummvies.

The truth is, Doctors don't know it all. The good ones are quick to acknowlege that. I could give endless examples of what were either miraculous cures (or phenomenal miss-diagnoses.) A recent one will do. I came to know a woman in a black gospel Chat room who was becoming increasingly distressed at her physical state: for good reason. She's a single Mom with a child to support, working in an office, entering date into a computer all day. She was getting stabbing pains in her wrist and arm to the point where she could only type short sentences in the chat room before the pain became too excruciating. I talked with her about my friend Joe, who had just undergone carpal tunnel syndrome surgery at the age of 81, and waws coming along well. But, she was trapped. If she had the surgery, she couldn't do her work and she'd lose her job. As the sole/soul provider she was afraid that she and her child would end up on the street. Despite being in increasingly severe pain, she managed to keep working, but she had no idea how much longer she could bear the pain. She wasn't able to sleep at night, and saw no way out. And then one morning, she woke up pain free. No explanation. Her Doctor could offer no explanation. The pain had been very real, but so was the healing.

If I started a thread talking about all the miraculous healings I've seen in the last few years, it would become one of the longest threads on the Cat. Being a realist, myself I know that not every
story has a happy ending. But many, many do. Believing in healing is the best medicine you can take.

Thanks for laying your "haunt" on the table, Metch. We'll all put our hands on it and tell it if it doesn't behave, it's going into that gigantic, invisible garbage can.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: jimmyt
Date: 21 May 06 - 09:41 PM

Just wanted to check in to say hi to you all. Jayne is at the airport in Atlanta getting on a flight to Cleveland Ohio where her sister is presently undergoing extensive tests. She has Giant Cell Arteritis, an extremely rare condition that sometimes (usually actually) causes blindness and kidney failure leading to death. In her case, no kidney involvement, no ocular involvement, but the irony is she has lost complete blood supply to the main artery to her arms, the subclavian. BOth sides, both arms sort of dying on the vine with no real reason or great cure. She lost her husband a year ago, but shortly before he died of a sudden heart attack, he bought her a grand piano because the only real joy she gets is playing the piano. Now the piano sits quietly in the livingroom and she can't hold a spoon or button a button. SHe is scheduled for a surgery this Thursday where the doctors will put a length of artificial teflon artery in her arm to see if it is successful. Keep us in your prayers or thoughts if you will. Crazy world we live in, but glad I have the kitchen table to drop this stuff on.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 21 May 06 - 10:27 PM

Thanks for dropping by, Jimmy. Ruth and I have been keeping you, Jayne and her sister and all the family in prayer. Sometimes it seems like we catch it from all directions. When I see the suffering around me (and we see plenty, as Ruth and I visit the sick all the time) it brings life into an even clearer focus for us. All is illuminated... the fragility of life and that tomorrow is not promised, but also the courage and beauty that surrounds us in our lives... so often going unnoticed.

Let me tell you about beauty and joy.

Last night, we had our concert at First Baptist Church. This last year has been very difficult trying to keep the Gospel Messengers in a positive frame of mind. We really miss Derrick, and for a long time, our singing sounded empty without his voice. And his positive spirit. In a way, this last year has been mostly downhill. Frankie has been losing ground physically and he is so preoccupied with his business (paving) that he loses concentration when we're singing. He has terrible alergies and in the Spring has a constant flow of tears from his eyes. Joe is dealing with extremely difficult issues in his life which are most likely to get worse as the months go by. It has taken all my enthusiasm to keep them believing that we still sound good as a trio. Last night was the reward. It started off with me setting up my new sound system, trying it out for the first time. It's a small system, and I had no way of knowing whether it could handle a mid-sized church. When I set it up, it was exciting, because I had the volume on 2 out of 10, and we had all the power we needed. And our voices sounded better than I've ever heard. After we had a wonderful dinner together, with many family, friends and neighbors there to celebrate, Joe and I went upstairs to try the sound system. Frankie got waylaid, talking to people, so Joe and I did a couple of songs as a duo. There were a couple of people sitting in the back, and they were really excited about how good we sounded. It was a gift to us, because Joe realized that even the two of us can still make good music together. When Frankie came up and we started singing, we sounded so good, we hated to stop for the people to come in. There was a lot to celebrate last night. We celebrated our 9th Anniversary as the Messengers, with Joe and Frankie by my side from the beginning. We celebrated the first Anniversary of the new Pastor of the church and what he's done to resuscitate the church in a very modest, humble way. We celebrated Frankie's 80th birthday, belatedly by two days, and Joe's 82nd, coming up on the 27th of May. And then we just celebrated being together as one with many family members, friends and neighbors. I don't think that we ever sounded so good, and if there was any doubt in Joe and Frankie's mind that we can carry an evening without Derrick, it was washed away last night. I say that out of thankfulness, not boastfulness. This last year has been very hard, and last night was the reward. Sometimes just keeping on is the best we can do. It too has its rewards..

Love,

Jerry and Ruth

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 22 May 06 - 10:33 AM

{{{{Jimmy}}}}}

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: jimmyt
Date: 22 May 06 - 08:26 PM

Thanks guys! (ebbie included)

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 22 May 06 - 10:29 PM

Hey, Hey!!!!!! I just got the enthsiastic thumbs up from the Doo Wop group that they want to do the Church And Street Corner Hamony workshop at NOMAD. Now, I have to get the applications in and hope that the Nomad Committee approves. If so, the only question that remains is, What are you doing Saturday, November, jimmyt, Ron and The Villan?

Oops... didn't forget you, Elmer! We can do What A Fwiend We Have In Jesus.. Or Wed Sails In The Sunset..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 23 May 06 - 11:05 AM

Hi all--

Had to take Jan to the emergency room last night. A very severe asthma attack. Albuterol did not do the trick.

We got home about 3. I'll take her to see her doctor this afternoon (who, fortunately is also a pulmonary specialist).

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 23 May 06 - 12:59 PM

Ron:

That had to be very frightening! I'm glad that you're back home, but you both must be completely drained. We'll keep you both in prayer..

Keep us informed, please..

My friend Howard Glasser, who was in intensive care is much better, and in a regular hospital room, able to receive visitors. I appreciate good news wherever I can find it..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Metchosin
Date: 23 May 06 - 02:38 PM

Thank you Ebbie and thank you too Jerry. I will keep you updated when I periodically pop in, even if I don't manage to sit for long. All my best to the others as well.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 23 May 06 - 04:42 PM

Hmmmm. My post disappeared- just as the Cat fled.

I want to reiterate: Ron, Jan and you have gone through so much. I hope that her system will soon overcome all the stuff that's been thrown at her. (Not to imply that you are throwing dishes, Ron. *G*) Give her our love and share with her our concern.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Donuel
Date: 23 May 06 - 06:04 PM

Hi all, its been 3 weeks since my last confession...

Since then I had a horrendous fall while trying to get a seed pod of a Paulina tree. A six inch bolt protruding from the rear of a guard rail slammed into my ribs right at the heart region.
Because I had taken a small amount of a cox 3 inhibator about a year ago, my blood pressure can sometimes go way up and stay there for several hours. Merck Inc is not going to do any studies concerning how long any damage from Vioxx may persist but it was recently leaked that even a year after taking the drug the risk factor is the same as ir one never stopped taking it.

I have been meeting some remarkable people by accident lately. Some are obscure and some are famous. This Sunday Congressman Waxman came over and sat down for lunch next to my family at a little Italian Restaurant. I thanked him for being one of the good guys... No I did not smoke :)
This month I will be meeting with various people including Maria Alsop and Joan Collins regarding a composer friend of mine. I'm going to see Joshua Bell this June. If anyone here knows him (via 6 degrees of seperation) let me know so I may pass along a message or just a hello.

I have been spending time listening to some of the greatest thinkers alive today like Thomas Friedman and Charles Osman. Now I'll have to catch up with the greatest thinkers on mudcat and see whats going down lately...

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: jimmyt
Date: 23 May 06 - 10:26 PM

Ron, I know that was a difficult evening for jan and you! I hope all is well. Jerry, I may be tempted to attend the Nomad! Tell me more about it!   jimmyt

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 24 May 06 - 12:19 AM

Well, it seems we live in "interesting" times (in the Chinese sense) and have "interesting" ailments--Metchosin, you sure do. Hope things improve for you (and everybody else).

Jan keeps talking about how she needs a "body transplant". There's a gospel bluegrass song called "I'll Have A New Body--I'll Have A New Life"--but that's not really what she means.

She had to go back to the ER today--her doctor insisted on it--though we protested strongly. They man-handled her arm--giving her IV's--she has huge bruises now--, didn't feed her at all til about 8 this evening--when they gave her two pieces of Wonder Bread and 2 slices of cheese. I think it's partly since she's a vegetarian--and they have no idea what that sort of animal might eat. They also virtually ignored all the other problems she has--if it didn't have to do with the pain in her chest, they had no interest.

It seems they always have tunnel vision--can never treat the entire patient--or even let us do it. Finally I left the ER--where nothing was happening-- came home and got a boatload of food, drugs and other items she wanted.

And of course now they plan to wake her up again at 4 AM. So she'll get hardly any sleep and nothing to eat (except what I brought)--but at least she's finally been moved to a real room--albeit one with beeping for long periods with nobody doing anything to address any problem that might indicate--until, again, I called it to their attention.

But with hardly any sleep and virtually nothing to eat, how can they expect anybody to improve their health?

And pneumonia rampant in hospitals it seems--I'll tell you, we're going to spring her as soon as humanly possible.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 24 May 06 - 07:47 PM

Hey, Jimmy:

If you want to get an idea what NOMAD is like, go to nomadfest.org and click on the workshop grid for 2005. That will give a good overview of how diverse the music and dance is. We are a twenty minute drive from the shuttle bus parking lot, so it's really easy for us. The festival may be a little thinner this year because of the conflict with the Getaway, but there'll still be more music you want to hear than you could possible get to.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: GUEST,Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 26 May 06 - 10:23 AM

Hmm... don't remember needing to type in a "From," before. Maybe this is all part of an upgrade.

And Elmer, I sent you a PM, which went to PM heaven, I guess. At least for the time being. I just wantyed to thank you for the beautiful surprise that I found in our mailbox a couple of days ago.

You wascal, you!

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: GUEST,Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 26 May 06 - 10:25 AM

I are a guest in my own kitchen! Hmm... has my cookie crumbled?

Strange things are happening

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 26 May 06 - 10:28 AM

Naw.. Just had to reset my cookie...

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 27 May 06 - 09:04 AM

Hi Jerry and everybody else--

I tried to pull up a chair last night, but the kitchen was closed--sure hard to get a meal when the hours are so erratic. But I understand that may be improving drastically--and soon.

At any rate, I finally rescued Jan from the clutches of the evil Hospital Monster. That happened at 5 PM on Thursday.   (Actually her jailer (doctor) let her go.

Now she has another boatload of drugs to take (including steroids--her RBI is already so high--can't imagine why she has to take them) Actually those are to taper off--had a lot in the hospital--and can't go off them cold turkey.

She's SO glad to be home--and so am I.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Donuel
Date: 27 May 06 - 09:14 AM

Ron, congratulations on your successful rescue.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 27 May 06 - 11:25 AM

That's great news, Ron: Give Jan our love... we'll keep you both in prayer.

And Jan must be so proud! It sounds like she has more RBIs than Barry Bonds.

Way to go, Jan!

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 27 May 06 - 07:17 PM

Sounds like the kitchen Klatch could use a vacation... Don't hear much from ebbie these days, and Elmer is off somewhere stalking the WereHare. Anybody seen Wallace and Gromit and The Curse Of The WereHare? That soudns like just what I need tonight. I could use a few laughs, myself.

You know, it's funny to think of it but we all need vacations, even after we're retired and it would seem like life is just one endless vacation. But sometimes, it's just important to step away from all the daily grind when it becomes larger than life. That's what we'll be doing this Friday. I've tucked the Gospel Messengers away for the summer, and after the first weekend in July, I'll be free of any commitments to both of the male choruses that I sing in. I sense the strong need for stepping back in many of the folks here on the Cat, and in my non-cyber life as well.

When you can't step back, sit down and have a cup of coffee...

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 27 May 06 - 10:14 PM

Aw, Jerry don't leave us (until June anyway, when you had said you would). Obviously it can't be a one-man show. But I'm sure there are folks around who'd drop in once in a while. Now that Jan's out of the hospital, I should have more time, certainly.

Now here's a little story about the Net and music. I was thinking of checking Mudcat since it's probably too late for Saturday Night at the Movies--(Jan and I like to watch a DVD around now--especially for the extras.). Anyway, I was looking for music to check Mudcat by--I check classical stations since it's not easy to write sensibly when I listen to vocal music--I get easily distracted. Making sense is a goal of mine on Mudcat--not that I always make it.

So I was checking classical stations on the Net and the first one was doing an opera. Definitely not what I was looking for. So I tried the next one--(Charlie Baum had told me about)--VPR.

But what came out?---doo wop!!!--and what's more, nonsense doo-wop. An hour of nonsense on a show called "My Place". Great stuff!!! I heard about the Rivingtons, who evidently backed Thurston Harris on Little Bitty Pretty One. But more than that, they were called something else on other recordings. And both the Rivingtons and the other name (can't remember) were streets--one in LA and one in NYC.

But not only that, they also did Papa Um Mau Mau (which I think is a version of another R & B song. And, since that was a hit, they did (I've just learned)....................Mama Um Mau Mau. And, this DJ said, they also did The Bird (which as I recall, starts out as Papa Um Mau Mau.) (And I thought the Trashmen did The Bird--now's there's an earthshaking issue--who really did it?

Anyway, another song was Oo-Shoo (sounded like it anyway) by Shirley Gunter and the Queens (1954). Shirley Gunter was the sister of Cornell Gunter--who was one of the Coasters.

I only wish I'd heard the whole hour.

There's always more to learn about music. I can't get enough.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 28 May 06 - 11:25 AM

Hey, Ron: Glad that Jan in home, and hopefully will continue to improve.

The times they are a'changing indeed. It seems like many of us in here are dealing with change (the most dfreaded four letter word for most people.) Last night I got a call from a dear friend of mine telling me that the Director of one of the Male Choruses I sing is i leaving... actually he is leaving today. The retired Director was still active at the church until about a month ago, when he died, so there is no musician or Director for the Male Chorus, or the other choirs. Talk about change. There are a couple of other changes taking place in my life that are disturbing, that I'm trying to deal with. And then of course, there are the health problems that strike close to our hearts.

But yesterday, I was driving in the car, trying to figure out what's going on in my own life right now, and The message I put in a Christmas card a few years ago came to mind.. "Step out on faith." And that's what we all have to do, many times in our lives. When you can't see where you're going, or understand why things are happening to you, you just have to suck in your gut, and "Step out on Faith." Gotta be a song in there...

For you doo woppers, I just bought a rare CD of 30 tracks of doo wop done a capella by well known groups who never released songs that way. It's a fantastic CD, with such familiar songs as The CLoser You Are by the Channels, Sunday Kind Of Love by the Harptones, Sh-Boom by the Chords, and My True Story by the Jive Five. There are even three cuts by the Moonglows, a capella. I think most of the tracks were recorded informally, as there is a party atmosphere in the background of several of them. Some may have been audition tapes. With one or two exceptions, the sound is very good. And, without instrumental accompaniment, the bass singer has to lay the foundation and is far more creative than they would be iaf the song wasn't done a capella. I'm behind on getting out CDs at the moment, and am busy getting ready for our trip, but you never know what might appear in your mailbox, someday.

Nah... I ain't leaving the table yet, except for our trip. As long as people stop by once in awhile, I'll keep the pot on. But, all good things run their course, in time.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 28 May 06 - 11:26 AM

Here I am, empty cup in hand. I'm in a lightened mood this morning.

My little Cairn Terrier had her ACL repaired on Wednesday and as of last night she's feeling better. Little children and dogs going through trauma that one cannot explain to them break one's heart.

She's pretty perky this morning.

And we have our misty rain back this morning. The last four or five days it's been hot - I think it hit only 70 degrees but 70 is hotter up here than it is down south (That may even be true!)- and bright and sunny. It isn't bad for a change but most of us welcome our normal weather's return.

So how is everybody?

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 28 May 06 - 12:37 PM

Hey, ebbie: Good to see you. This is sounding more and more like a baseball discussion... first RBIs and now ACl's (a common injury that occurs in baseball players.) As long as no one strikes out in here..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Donuel
Date: 29 May 06 - 08:48 AM

Jerry. the meaning of your card reminds me of the song 'Where would you be without love'.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 29 May 06 - 08:56 AM

Hey, Donuel:

You sure you haven't been listening to my quartet? We do a song titled "Where Would We Be?"

Reminds me of a story a minister/friend of mine told me once. He was a young Pastor, just starting out in a small church in Minnesota. At his first bible study he asked each person to say which passage in the bible gave them the greatest comfort when they were suffering, and as they went around the room, many people recited the 23rd Psalm... "Ye though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death.." When the turn finally passed to an old farmer, he said that the passage that he always thinks of when he is suffering is, "And it came to pass.." He figured that if it came to pass in bible times, it surely would for him. :-) Never mind that "And it came to pass" was a literary equivalent to "Later, Dude." Or, "back at the bunkhouse," He took it as a promise..
No sense correcting him. Whatever helps you keep on keepin' on.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 29 May 06 - 10:30 PM

Hey Jerry--

What's an ACL in baseball terms? (I thought I was doing well to drop in RBI--I was even able to explain to Jan what that is, even though I know very little about baseball.) The thing I know most about baseball is Damn Yankees. I sure remember hapless Senators (I mean the baseball kind)--and it made perfect sense the Senators would have to have somebody sell his soul to the Devil for Washington to win a pennant. First in war, first in peace, and last in the American League--as I recall.

And the Devil had the best lines (as the old complaint goes) or at least the best song in that show: "Those Were the Good Old Days"

"Like the hopes that were dashed when the stock market crashed"
"Those were the good old days"

I used to have that one memorized--another good one to cut lawns by--like songs from Camelot, Music Man and lots of Gilbert and Sullivan.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 30 May 06 - 12:53 AM

Hey, Ron:

Funny you mentioned Damn Yankees. It's one of my favorite musicals and I picked up a DVD of it recently. We watched it two nights ago. It's still a lot of fun. "Heart" is my favorite song, although there are several great songs... including the Devil's that you mentioned. Another favorite, with a great dance production is Shoeless Joe From Hannibal, Mo.

An ACL isn't an abreviation for ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union.) It stands for Anterior Cruciate Ligament. A torn ACL is common in any sport where there is a lot of stress on the legs. It's common in football, too... especially among semi-pro teams of out of shape guys who work in an office and participate in local amateur sports leagues. My next door neighbor had one from playing football last year... only reason that I know about it.

The knowledge exchanged around a kitchen table may be of limited value, but it sure is esoteric..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 30 May 06 - 09:25 AM

Hi Jerry
please keep the coffee pot on, it is the best part of my day, popping by to see who is at the table!Sometimes I just sit back and enjoy the conversation,and it is great to find out so much about all your lives the other side of the Atlantic.It is so good to take out a few minutes in a busy day, I can always put the pot on if you are out !!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 30 May 06 - 10:46 AM

Hey, billybob:

It's always nice to see you in here... and to find out what's going on over your way.

We had a great weekend here in Derby (Darby, to you.) We heard some great singing (and did some) Sunday afternoon and yesterday we had an impronptu family gathering at the house. I went out in the morning and bought some fixin's and baked up a double batch of baked ziti, which along with barbequed chicken, salad, garlic bread and watermelon made a nice, light meal. It's always good to have family here. Ruth grew up in Brooklyn, so her side or our family is all around us. Long ago, they become my family, too. Ruth is a wonderful cook but as you women know, after you've prepared yout ten thousandth meal, the pleasure starts to wear thin. I raised two sons alone so I like to cook, and so far no one has complained about the food. Ruth does at least as much as I do in welcoming guests, so we make a great team. There's no "his" or "hers" when it comes to our relationship. Just ours. Same with our family and friends. They are all "ours."

We also honored those who have given their lives in the endless wars we've lived through. We didn't want the day just to be a cook-out.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 30 May 06 - 06:27 PM

My in-laws have been visiting, and tomorrow I drive them to Salt Lake City to get the train.

But over the long weekend, friends from Cincinnati came 'round as well as relatives from Carson City, Nevada. It was cold and rainy out, so we sat around the dining room table (seats eight with comfort) and got acquainted and re-acquainted. For two and half days.

I cooked chicken and hamburgers, we drank good beer (Moose Drool, Fat Tire, Polygamy Porter, and others), and in general had one heckuva time.

As for Memorial Day -- a retired Colonel, a former Sergeant, and a current Colonel were there.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 30 May 06 - 06:54 PM

Good to see you, Rapaire:

Thanks for dropping by..

Back to one of our favorite topics, dentists!

Hooray for dentists!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I've been having a recent problem with a molar, and went back in today to have it checked out. My Dentists squeezed me in during his lunch hour, because he really wanted to figure out what to do before I went on vacation. He spend about a half hour examining the tooth, trying probes, temperatures tests and looking at x-rays, and finally took one more x-ray to make sure he knew what he needed to do. After I was finished with the appointment, I went out to the desk to find out how much I owed for the appointment and the x-ray and he said that there was no charge. This is the second time that he's done this, and he always takes a substantial amount off his usual charge, for me. And he's not the only dentist I know who does good stuff like that, without seeking any recognition. One of them is a Mudcatter, in fact.

As best I can, I've partially re-paid my dentist by giving him music... gave him the Gospel Messengers CD, which he was very enthusiastic about and is going to play in his office.. It wasn't much to give, but I just wanted to show my appreciation for how kind he is to me. I have three more CDs of mine, so each time I go, I'll bring another one..

I know another Catter who has received a lot of free medical care with no public recognition of the Doctor's generosity. There are a lot more beautiful acts committed every day than we know about. In part, that's what makes them especially beautiful.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 30 May 06 - 10:03 PM

I went to the oral surgeon today. I'll have my implant stems screwed in on June 29th. I asked for general anesthesia, so I can get some sleep.
Then, 10 days or two weeks later, they can start constructing the new bridgework....

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 30 May 06 - 10:15 PM

Rapaire:

OUCH!!!! my dental work sounds downright pastoral... I know it will be good for you to get all of this behind you.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 30 May 06 - 10:23 PM

I hope so! I haven't touched my trumpet in months because of this stuff, and I miss it. The keyboard just isn't the same.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 31 May 06 - 07:42 AM

Hi there folks!
Seems like this place is the last refuge in the BS section away from Northern Ireland.

any coffee going....?

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 31 May 06 - 09:08 AM

There's MOAB, but the drinks are strange there.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 31 May 06 - 09:33 AM

Hey, Weelittledrummer: How nice to see you. Yeah, the coffe pots on, and I have a nice tin box of tea that Colin Kemp brought over last year (and a second box from another Catter, so I am well set for my Brit friends if they find American coffee not to their taste.)

Mudcat goes in fits and spurts... there always seems to be some threads to get people riled up and feeling ornery. We're the tortoise, not the hare. Just ambling along and enjoying the scenery.
Reminds me of a song a friend of mine, Jerry Rau wrote... Driving In The Right Hand Lane. It was all about the rewards that come when you take your time and enjoy the world around you.

No need for speed bumps in here..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 31 May 06 - 08:35 PM

Hip Hop sneakers?

I tell ya.

This afternoon, I went shopping for sneakers. At the mall. I just wanted some comfortable, mostly white walking sneakers for a reasonable price. While Ruth was checking something else out, I walked into a store that just sells sneakers. I was the only one in the store over 22, I think. They had TV monitors blasting away, showing the latest hip hop videos and the two "sales persons" were engrossed in watching the videos and looked at me as if I had toilet paper stuck on the back of my worn out sneakers. But made no offer to help. The few other customers in the store were all under 21, from the looks of them, and they were busily engaged in looking cool.
The sneakers were all wildly colored, with transparent panels in the heels and lights. They were sneakers a kid would kill for. And sometimes they do. The cheapest pair that I looked at were $100. I figured that the only people who could afford to spend that much money for sneakers were the parents of a 15 year old kid who had to have them to look totally dissinterested in everything. Like the $400 game systems that only parents of fifteen year olds can buy. Meanwhile, people studiously avoided eye contact with me, so I quickly left.

On the way home we stopped at a discount place and I found a pair of mostly white K-Swiss sneakers for $34.99. The sneakers I was wearing were the same brand and they were very comfortable and lasted a long time. I was really delighted to find them, tried tham on and they fit just like that old magic slipper. I knew I could walk down a deserted street at two in the monring wearing them, and no kids would jump me for my sneakers.

Remember when we were teenagers and the world didn't revolve around us (no matter how much we tried to make it?) Hey... in the 60's the slogan was "Don't trust anyone over 30." Now, I think it's "Don't trust anyone old enough to drink legally."

Imagine what it must be like to feel old when you're 25!

Yikes!!

Dad Gum!!

By Cracky!

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: jimmyt
Date: 31 May 06 - 09:59 PM

Thanks for the nice dentist references, Jerry. We get some every now and again but not too often! Last Saturday I had a friend call me in a panic. His 10 year old daughter had been to a birthday party and while jumping on the trampoline she decided it would be a good idea to grab the safety net with her teeth! Bad Idea. One of her front teeth got ripped completely out. Mom panicked and asked for milk to put the tooth in. None was available so she put it in Vanilla Ice Cream. I wonder what in the heck the poor tooth was thinking when this happened! After sitting in the emergency room for nearly 2 hours, they called me in a panic to see what if anything I could do. I had them come right in to the office, I got her numb, put the tooth back in place and splinted it there with some tooth colored adhesive. Next day she auditioned for the lead in Alladin, and later on had a piano recital, both of which she was able to perform perfectly. A good feeling to get that kind of results on a youngster.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 31 May 06 - 10:20 PM

My dentist is so nice, Jimmy, that I pray for cavities. I bet your pateients do, too..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 31 May 06 - 10:29 PM

MY dentist (or at least my oral surgeon) is nuts. But nicely nuts.

He's going to give me some general anaesthesia on June 29. This time he's going to use a RUBBER mallet, because the wooden one left noticable dents.

Actually, he's going to open up my gum and screw posts into the sockets he's already put there. Then I'm going to get a permanent bridge put in.

It's really amazing what dentists can do these days. My first dentist was incompetent, a public health dentist who rarely used anaethesia even for extractions -- he was later convicted by the state of Illinois of fraud, among other things.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 01 Jun 06 - 08:19 PM

Sitting here with a final mug of coffee. Ruth and I are flying to Madison, Wisconsin tomorrow morning and will be gone for more than a week. If I can get my hands on the internet, I'll try to stop by, but that's unlikely. You folks will just have to keep the home fires burning until I get back. Even though I've gone back "home" countless times over the years, this trip will be different. My Mother isn't really up to galivanting around like she has for so many years, so our visits will be shorter and less strenuous. I have a son who lives just 45 minuts away, so we may end up seeing him a little more, and do more with my two older sisters. We're also looking at some day trips on our own, just to make it a vacation, as well as a family gathering.

I don't know about your family, but mine has always been held together by my Mother. Even when my father was alive, it was my Mother who organized the picnics and gatherings. After my father died seven years ago, I became the Patriarch of the family. There wasn't even an election. But, I can't be much of a Patriarch from 1,000 miles away. Even in my Mother's advanced years, she's still the one who has organized a family gathering when we're out there... perhaps more than one. When she is gone, I think that my sisters and their families will function independtly from each other and family gatherings will only happen when Ruth and I come out. There's a natural passing of the guard. I expect that's happened in your families, too.

But, it will be good to gather one more time around Mom. I inow how much she will appreciate seeing her family together. There just won't be a kitchen table, anymore. Not one you can sit at, at least.

It will be good getting back and seeing how you all have been doing..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 01 Jun 06 - 08:28 PM

My father died when I, the oldest, was five. My mother held things together for another 31 years, and then she must have decided that enough was enough and she went to join father.

We hold ourselves together now. A couple weeks ago I went to visit first my youngest brother and my sister and then the middle brother. We sat around kitchen tables and talked, we walked around backyards and talked, we sat around living rooms and talked.

Saturday my wife will arrive in Chicago, rent a car, and drive down to see our nephew graduate from high school. She'll sit around and talk with my family, and then drive to our friend's house in Indiana.

Talking keeps people together.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 03 Jun 06 - 02:57 PM

Hey Rapaire--

What kind of stuff do you play on trumpet--hot jazz, dixieland, orchestral? Have you been in groups?

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 03 Jun 06 - 06:43 PM

I play (when I play -- dental work has really done for me in the past few years) whatever comes into my mind and is to hand. Alone, usually, in my office in the basement. When I get my embouchre back and solidly in place I'll blow some stuff I make up as I go. I've never been good enough for even Second Chair, so I have fun instead.

I laid off from about 1965 to 1993. Completely. Had the horn and never picked it up. Then I took a notion to recover what I could, and ended up playing in my High School Band's 50th Anniversary Concert in 1995 along with others I played with Way Back When. We had a great time, renewed old friendships, caught up on each other's doings.

Here's an odd thing. When I picked up the horn and was playing, I knew the fingerings! I knew the fingerings for notes I rarely, if ever, played -- notes like G flat -- and I could play them, although I might be using an alternate fingering instead of the prefered one. Of course, I didn't and don't care.

All I can think is that the mind processes information even when, or perhaps especially, when you're not using it or likely to do so in the immediate future.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: freda underhill
Date: 03 Jun 06 - 08:28 PM

..Talking keeps people together.. My parents are both gone now, Rapaire, and my sister and my two brothers have kept the family intact. we all live in different places, but talk regularly by phone and meet up a couple of times a year.

I'm just back from Austria, where I've been listening ,talking, listening, talking, with my youngest daughter, her husband, friends & family for a month. Have been back in Oz for three days doing the same again here with my other daughter, her husband and my granddaughter.

but while I was away, I read this thread several times a week & enjoyed it so much. The only live music I heard was the local Carinthian all male choir. I saw them in the local church, where they sang hymns, gospel & some African songs (none of which i recognised), in three part harmony.

best wishes

freda

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 04 Jun 06 - 10:27 AM

Hi Rap and anybody else--


That's interesting about your fingers knowing the right positions. I had something similar. I play viola--therefore had to read the viola (alto) clef. Last time I played viola in a classical setting, I found the alto clef came back to me. But when I tried to read it without having the instrument in my hands, I found I couldn't read it. (Of course now it's been so long I'm afraid I couldn't read it at all. But I suppose you never know.) These days I play bluegrass and country viola--which consists of making up the harmony as you go along. It's great fun--and amazingly well appreciated.

I really like the trumpet--everything from Dixieland to the Haydn Trumpet Concerto. And sopranino--ever play that? Evidently lots of Baroque music for sopranino.   And valveless trumpet. Can they really do all the notes just by changing the configuration of the lips?

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 04 Jun 06 - 10:55 AM

Yup. Lipping is perhaps 75% of brass work. Tonguing -- double or even triple tonguing -- is perhaps 15%. I could triple tongue in High School, but these days I'd settle for playing well enough to please myself.

My brother plays trombone, bass and treble clef baritone (euphonium), and can fake it on bugle and trumpet. As I said, I just play to please myself.

It's hard to describe the lip work. You "buzz" to set up the vibrations that create the note, and the amount of pressure, smallness of the lip hole, and other things create higher or lower notes.

Consider the bugle or the hunting horn or any horn without valves and with fixed tubing -- you only have your lips and tongue to create the notes, and yet you can achieve a very wide range of sound.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 04 Jun 06 - 10:48 PM

I've heard of double and triple-tongueing. I always thought it was impressive to just have enough air to be able to play a line on a brass instrument. I think Haydn has some triple-tonguing in his trumpet concerto--or at least that's the best way to play one particular line. As I recall, Maurice Andre is (or was) a great trumpet soloist-I think I've heard the Haydn done by him--and I think heard about triple-tonguing in reference to him.   Is it true that the French horn is even harder than the trumpet?

I always thought Garrison Keillor was being unfair in his "Young Lutherans' Guide to the Orchestra" when he said something to the effect of "Most people who perished at concerts were victims of long trumpet solos--and they were glad to go." Of course he wasn't very kind to violists (nor is anybody else, of course). He said something like "Violists have a dark moody streak--maybe it's from the realization,, after decades of playing in the orchestra, that nobody can actually hear them in the audience. You think you're hearing the violas, but it's really the second violins. Violists go out to abandoned parking lots and cook chicken on wire hangers and think of absconding to Mexico with a girl named Rosa."

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 04 Jun 06 - 11:01 PM

French horns can play in treble, alto, and tenor clefs. In that respect I'd say they're a real pain to play! Trumpets usually play in treble clef. To paraphrase what used to be said about polygamy, "Isn't one clef enough?"

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: GUEST
Date: 05 Jun 06 - 04:55 PM

Summer here and breakfast in the garden, ah this is living !

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 05 Jun 06 - 06:41 PM

Clarinets have their gnarly mouth positions too.

Honeys, I'm home! Heard some terrific live music at Wavy Gravy's 70th birthday bash. The best was Mickey Hart's smokin' drum group playing "Iko-Iko" with Joan Baez singing and dancing along. (She also sang "Happy Birthday" to Wavy Gravy while wearing a clown nose.) Also heard Ali Akbar Khan, now 84, play a luminous sarod concert accompanied by his two sons, and musicians from the great San Francisco rock bands playing John Cipollina's music on the anniversary of his passing at a party at the very man's childhood home.

Sigh. Now, back to the daily grind, with some occasional levity at the kitchen table.

Elmer

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Alice
Date: 05 Jun 06 - 07:53 PM

Just got back from the dentist, a new crown in place, and feeling like not doing much more than typing on the keyboard.
I recently started wishing for a danceband in my town that I could sing with. Would love to be singing for ballroom dancers, those slow tangos and American standards and....
Well, even the dance teachers have to use recorded music now for their ballroom dances. Not a big enough town to have a live band at the Spring ball. I recall about 10 years ago that I went to the Valentine Ball and there was a nice dance band with a girl singer. I wonder where they disappeared to?

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 05 Jun 06 - 10:47 PM

Hey GUEST 4:55 PM--is that you, Jerry?

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 05 Jun 06 - 10:52 PM

Alice, are you saying that there are no more gigs for dance band singers anymore? What do you think would cause that? Are you saying that since sythesizers are so sophisticated these days, there are few gigs for actual bands, and therefore few for real singers?

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Alice
Date: 06 Jun 06 - 08:39 AM

I recall in the '90s there was a real stir among union musicians in Las Vegas. A town where a musician or singer could usually find gigs, the establishments were changing over to recorded music. It isn't just my little town that has a shortage of gigs for live music.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 06 Jun 06 - 09:45 PM

Bands can't get a gig anymore. Even weddings have "disk jockeys" and recorded music.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: jimmyt
Date: 06 Jun 06 - 10:26 PM

I feel so Guilty for doing this...

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: jimmyt
Date: 06 Jun 06 - 10:26 PM

SIx Hundred!!!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: jimmyt
Date: 06 Jun 06 - 10:35 PM

now that that is out of the way, Rapaire, we have the trumpet in common! I find myself sitting sometimes listening to a trumpet and looking down to find my right hand playing all the correct fingerings!   I love the trumpet and actually worked my way through college gigging in dance bands on trumpet. I played blackfaced minstral shows in the mid sixties and lots of dixieland also. I played French horn in college and studied with Samuel Ramsey in Silver Spring, Ron, who played in the Baltimore Symphony as well as a lot of Orchestral stuff around DC area.

I never felt I was very good on French Horn, however. It is an extremely difficult instrument to master as the harmonics are in a wierd place on the register of the horn so all the fingerings for treble clef area are a couple harmonics higher on trumpet and thus the amount of alternate fingerings and close harmonies makes it a difficult instrument to master.

We just rehearsed for an upcoming gig that wants a couple hours of music and my group is getting lazier all the time whern it comes to getting together to rehearse! It is frustrating to me, but we got through 24 songs tonight so a couple more run-thrus should get us reasonably ready.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 07 Jun 06 - 08:01 AM

Jimmy--

I know what you're talking about re: convincing people it's important to rehearse. As I said earlier, I had a sea chantey group, of 7 people. One year I couldn't convince them to rehearse even once, for our only gig. But it turned out it didn't make any difference--the gig went fine anyway--somewhat undercut my argument.   But sea chanteys are definitely a genre where you can leave some rough edges on.

Then over the weekend I saw a skiffle band of 12 people who also had never once rehearsed some of the songs they did (as a group). But again we (the crowd) just thought it added to their ramshackle charm. And I know they had done some of the songs before--just not that exact group.

On the other hand, man o man have we had a lot of Mahler rehearsals--last one tonight--then 3 performances (Mahler's 8th).

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 07 Jun 06 - 08:45 AM

I think you have to find the point where practice and performance balance. You can over-rehearse, just as you can under-practice. (Rehearse: to ride in a hearse again?) I've been to performances which were over-practiced and they were wooden and "dead." That balance point can be elusive!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 08 Jun 06 - 12:36 AM

I have to say I've rarely seen a performance so over-rehearsed as to be wooden (nor have I ever been in one--(as far as I know--admittedly I'm not an unbiased observer.) I've always felt we could have used more rehearsal--in virtually every concert. The Christmas concerts by Choral Arts in particular are amazing--we sometimes get new music 2 rehearsals before the concert. Now however I've been in the group long enough that even new music at Christmas is often music we did a few eons ago.

The Mahler is definitely one which needed all the rehearsals we had. Just figuring out which line to sing was sometimes a challenge to start with--there are 2 separate choruses plus a childrens' choir and soloists--and Mahler sometimes, for instance had the basses-- or basses from one chorus but not the other--drop out and come back in pages later. Then there are also divisions between 2 balcony choruses and a stage chorus. And we had to cut through a massive orchestra--loaded with brass. Fortunately the conductor immediately realized that--and told the orchestra to not assume that his expansive gestures --so all the singers could follow him from anywhere in the hall they were stationed--meant the orchestra should pump up volume. Mahler is very clear about which voices should predominate at a given time--and when the orchestra can come crashing through.

Evidently at the first performance there were 600 kids in the childrens' choir--that gave them a good start towards 1,000--and they did have over 1,000. So it's called the Symphony of 1,000. But we'll only have about 500--Jan says that's against the Trades Description Act (in the US, Truth in Advertising).

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: jimmyt
Date: 08 Jun 06 - 05:29 PM

Symphony of 1000/2 !!!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 10 Jun 06 - 12:21 PM

Good live music is everywhere these days. I was coming out of the Foggy Bottom metro stop yesterday on my way to the Kennedy Center to sing the second of the 3 Mahler concerts when I heard a a lusty 4-part harmony version of "Battle Cry of Freedom". It was a group of about 20 young people--probably college age, belting it out. I stood there in my tuxedo beaming at them--and mouthing the words. They had all 4 or 5 verses memorized. Very impressive. Ethnically mixed--black, white, oriental,, Hispanic. Virtually a model for the UN. They beckoned me up to join them.

Nobody else was even stopping to hear them.

Then one of their number (not singing) came up and handed me a brochure about Lyndon La Rouche's crackpot latest wild-eyed conspiracy theory---this time, " Rohatyn: The French-Nazi Connection." And I knew there was no way I'd sing with them.   He wanted to talk to me--so I shushed him--told him I wanted to hear the singing.

So I told them the truth--that I had a concert to sing in about an hour and had to get to the Kennedy Center. Could they sing another one?

They did--they said it was a German piece--didn't sound German to me--couldn't pick out any German words--and I speak German somewhat--2 years in Germany---and I'd never heard it.

But it sounded good.

So as I left, I told them I may not agree with them politically---but they sounded great.

Nothing like good live music.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 10 Jun 06 - 12:42 PM

The International Choral Festival is coming to Pocatello this summer. Choirs from around the world will perform. Last time a choir from Estonia performed at the Library, and I'm trying to be a venue again this year.

See here for more info. (And come if you can -- it's worth it.)

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 10 Jun 06 - 11:03 PM

Rapaire--


Sounds great! When is it? Jan and I would love to come out West and see a choral festival. I couldn't tell from the link what the schedule actually was.

It turns out Chorus America is having some sort of convention in DC this week--and there were about 600 choral directors at our Friday Mahler concert. We got standing ovations every night--so they must have liked it on Friday.

Tomorrow I'll be singing bluegrass and country at the Deer Creek Fiddlers' Convention--and playing bluegrass viola--which consists of making up the harmony as you go along (which I can do on slow songs)--or throwing in a break.

Really looking forward to that.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 10 Jun 06 - 11:07 PM

I'll hear on Monday if we're a venue and when it is. Usually in August, I think.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 11 Jun 06 - 09:18 PM

Hey!

Thanks for keeping the kettle on. It's great to be back, and I just finished reading all the posts since I left. I must say, I didn't expect you guys to get so horny...

I haven't even unpacked yet, so I probably won't talk too much tonight. But, we had a great, great time... did a concert for Mom for her birthday for her and the Assisted Living Gang, enjoyed all of her other birthday celebrations, spent some joyful time with my youngest son who we hadn't seen in a year.. went to Old Wisconsin.. a large scale historic reconstruction of several early Wisconsin ethnic communities, and, and, and, and..

Got some interesting things I want to talk about but I must admit, it was a real pleasure to read all of the posts with me not here...

Glad to be be back...

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 11 Jun 06 - 10:35 PM

Glad you're back, Jerry. The talk was interesting while you were gone ("horny", indeed!) but we missed the voice from your corner.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 12 Jun 06 - 10:57 PM

Today's weather reminded me of just how different our climate - and our perceptions and expectations - are from that of most of the country.

It was very warm today. I walked home seven blocks (uphill all the way) and as long as I stayed on the shady side of the street I was OK but did not loiter in the sunny spots. In Juneau one does not often sweat but today was one of those days.

We had a high of 73 degrees.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 12 Jun 06 - 11:09 PM

Hi Ebbie--

Your high was about the same as ours today (DC area)--and we were really happy to have it. We have been incredibly lucky so far this spring--got a real spring--not just early spring segueing into midsummer about mid-May----as has happened before. I don't think it ever hit 90 in May this year--and it usually does.

Jerry--

Hope you can tell us about your trip soon--I'm especially interested in the old Wisconsin ethnic communities--I bet one of them was German--right?

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 12 Jun 06 - 11:28 PM

Hi, Ron:

Old Wisconsin is the largest historic restoration museum in the country, I believe. Unlike most Historical Museums, it primarily represents small farms. Each small farm is separated by enough distance to that they feel isolated. You can either walk from farm to farm if you're adventurous, or catch a free tram that runs about every fifteen minutes. All in all there are 8 or nine ethnic communities represented. Because it is so spread out, and we could only spend a couple of hours there, we ended up seeing only a small portion of the farms. The German farm was one of the more complete, with several buildings. There is also a Danish farm (which we wanted to visit because of my heritage... my Grandparents were both born and raised in Denmark.) The most recent addition is an African American community. Not many people realize that there were freed slaves living in Wisconsin. There were two active communities, and blacks and whites got along reasonably well together.

All the buildings on the property (with one exception which was built from old photographs as an exact copy) are from Wisconsin and were transported to the site.

Like most historic restorations, there are workers in costume, doing chores, gardening and caring for livestock, as well as preparing food and makign crafts. Having been to umpty-billion historic restorations, and being Director of a Museum with an early New England farm for many years, it long ago ceased to be a novelty seeing eartly American resorations. The thing I found most different about Old Wisconsin is how distinctive the architecture was. I'm used to Sturbridge Village, Mystic, Hancock Shaker Village, Colonial Williamsburg, Plymoth plantation and the like where the architect is somewhat the same. I found the styles dramatically different at Old Wisconsin, and that made our time there more interesting for me.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 13 Jun 06 - 08:19 AM

All is well... glad to be back, sitting at the table. I see that Elmer is back too, from his latest hunting exposition. I'm still enjoying the time I had with my Mother and family. Made me think about how young some old folks are, and the reverse. My Mother is feeling mildly irritated because she hasn't learned to use a computer. She probably felt that way the first time she turned on an electric light. When I did a concert for the folks in Assisted Living, she asked me to do a song that I wrote about her and her family when she was a little girl. I hadn't sung the song in at least ten years... probably closer to twenty. I never thought it was a particularly good song, but when your Mom asks you to do something, you'd better do it.

Starts out:

Throw all the kids in the old hay wagon, and point the horse to town
The stones are loaded on the wagon floor and the blankets all turned down
The night is cold and the moon is full, and the horse he knows the way
And it won't be long 'till we get to town, and we all can hardly wait.

CHORUS:

And over in the corner, there's a fiddler, and the kids will all want to dance
And though Mom says "no," you know she'll go, if you give her just half a chance.

My Mother's Mother was actually a very strict "hard-shell" Baptist who thought that dancing and card playing was a sin. As I introduced the song, I said that my Grandmother never danced in her life, but she danced up a storm in the song.

"And when he swung her 'round the room, you could hear those floor boards creak.
And you'd swear she's having so much fun, it will last her for a week."

I never knew my Mother's Mother, as she died when my Mother was 13.   But, she's remembered in songs. "And the bible my Grandmother bought her last Christmas, that she gave to my Mother, now she's passed it on."

Good to think of the old times...

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 13 Jun 06 - 10:22 PM

Hi Jerry--

Thanks for the information about the old ethnic communities. Do you think the architecture was in imitation of the Old Country? (be it Germany or Denmark).

A great book I have read (Albion's Seed, by David Hackett Fischer) had the thesis that early British settlements in North America were made in large part by specific areas of Britain--New England being colonized primarily by settlers from East Anglia--as indicated by similar attitudes toward authority, toward education, toward religion,--as well as similar food, games, many of the same names of towns--including Dedham, Cambridge, and Boston--------and architecture.

He also draws similar parallels in the mid-Atlantic colonies, the South, and Appalachia.

A fascinating thesis--and very persuasive.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 13 Jun 06 - 10:38 PM

And probably true. Only it falls apart (except for certain instances) as you move West. Sure, there were pockets of ethnic and nationalistic influence -- Bishop Hill, Illinois for instance -- but they quickly became "assimulated" into the dominant, eclectic, culture. This can be shown by the words those in US used in the past and still use today: Okay, calaboose, lariat, dally, sauerkraut, rendevous, cache, to name but a very, very few. Simply looking at the local phone book demonstrates the ethnic and national diversity of this small city, with names like Schmidt (German), Martinez (Mexican), Smith (English), Jones (Welsh), Flowers (originally French), Homan (I don't know), Kasilimetes (Greek), Suenaga (Japanese), Gabiola (Basque) and many, many more. And that doesn't even begin to touch on the Indians who were already here!

The United States is not so much a melting pot as it is a stew, with each ingredient enhancing the other ingredients.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 13 Jun 06 - 11:30 PM

There certainly have been conclaves of ethnic groups in this country. There were many in Wisconsin. My brother-in-law is Polish and comes from Milwaukee, which had (and has) a very high concentration of Poles and Germans. When early rock and roll was sweeping the country, the top ten selling records in Milwaukee usually included at least two or three by Louis Bishell and His Silk Umbrellas. A friend of mine taught school in Neenah-Menasha in Northern Wisconsin and most of the kids in his class had Polish names that were almost impossible to pronounce.

One of the best folk festivals I've been a part of was the North Country Folk Festival in the upper penninsula of Michigan. They involved all the local old European immigrant communities in presenting traditional music dance, dress and food from their native countries. I spent a weekend eating food I'd never heard of before (or since.)

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 13 Jun 06 - 11:40 PM

Much of it I suspect had to do with work. You wouldn't think to find a fairly large (percentage-wise) population of both Japanese and Greek ancestries in Idaho, but they were and are here. The Japanese came in the 19th Century to work on the railroad, and the Greeks were brought over in the 19th Century to work in mines in Utah; when the mines played out they too came to work on the railroad. Unlike the Irish and the Chinese, neither of these groups are usually thought of as railroad builders. Thus for many years Pocatello has had a Greek Orthodox church (it's on the National Register).

Likewise, Butte, Montana has the highest per-capita population of Irish ancestry in the US. They came to work the mines there. Many people of Finnish and Welsh ancestry went the to UP of Michigan and Northern Wisconsin to work the mines and in lumbering.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 14 Jun 06 - 06:50 AM

Fischer's only allegation is that the original English settlements on the East of North America (in what became the 13 original colonies) were settled in this way. He does not claim the same thing obtains as you move West.

In fact, tracing the ancestry of presidents, he finds that the majority come from only one background--the Borderers (border of Scotland and England) --who have an exaggerated sense of honor, place much emphasis on the extended family, place not much value on education, and believe in solving problems with violence. George Macdonald Fraser makes a similar point on the first page of Steel Bonnets--at the inauguration of NIxon--with Johnson and Graham in attendance--representatives of 3 of the roughest Border families.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 14 Jun 06 - 07:42 AM

The premise isn't all that unbelievable. In some ways, it seems like Catters have settled into their own communities in here.

Birds of a feather flock.

Jerry

Wow! Two posts before midnight!!!!!!!!!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 14 Jun 06 - 08:46 AM

Yes, it probably does work for the East and the South. And it would work for the American Southwest and California, up to the point when settlers from the US moved in.

You can still see it in the architecture of "Mormon" settlements and today in places like Phoenix, Arizona where retirees and emigrants from the East replace the native vegetation with things they are familiar with -- and allegeries to the pollen of which many of them left the East to alleviate!

We like that with which we are familiar, whether it's appropriate to where we are or not.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: freda underhill
Date: 14 Jun 06 - 08:23 PM

and btw - happy birthday jerry!

8-D !!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 14 Jun 06 - 10:13 PM

Gee, Jerry--we get a chance to wish you happy birthday on 2 threads. You deserve it on all the threads. Welcome back--hope you can tell we missed you.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 14 Jun 06 - 10:23 PM

It's great to be back, Ron: I'm feeling very enthusiastic this evening because I'm going to attend practice of another male chorus, looking for new Messengers. The Director is a friend of mine who just took over the Chorus and he thinks there are a few guys there who would be fine. Being a trio these days, with one member trying to deal with a lot of other pressures makes me feel vulnerable. As my friend Joe says, when we talk about the possibility of losing our third member at some point, "One monkey don't stop the show." But, I'm running out of monkeys. If that happens, we'll be down to two monkeys.

So, in a couple of weeks, I'll be out scouting for new monkeys...

Sounds exciting..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: jimmyt
Date: 14 Jun 06 - 10:30 PM

Happy Birthday to one of a kind!   jimmyt

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 15 Jun 06 - 11:12 AM

Thanks all for the birthday greetings. So far, as anticipated, today is even better. I must be older, but wiser.

This is a burning CD day. I have a big backlog of CDs I've promised to people, and I seem to be in low gear, so I'm just enjoying burning, and then listening to the music after I've copied it. Listening to a Carmen McRae CD at the moment which will be going out to the Mother of one of my favorite Catters.

I like these slow days.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 15 Jun 06 - 08:24 PM

I cranked up the CD player and have been listening to the smokin' CDs Jerry sent (I guess that's what happens when you burn 'em huh?) and gonna bop till I drop to doo-wop--and jazz, righteous solo Jerry and also the Gospel Messengers.

I also recently found a great new (to me) CD called "Fathers and Sons" with Chicago blues "fathers" Muddy Waters and Otis Spann playing with "sons" Mike Bloomfield, Paul Butterfield, Sam Lay and Buddy Miles. It's sum good.

I've been wondering: How come some cultures have lots of singing, but no tradition of harmony singing? Anyone have any ideas?

Elmer

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 15 Jun 06 - 09:03 PM

Funny thing, Elmer, but there are a lot of folkies (or at least there were in the 60's) who discourage harmony singing. For a variety of reasons, none of which I really know. The folk scene (at least in Greenwich Village) was pretty much a solo thing, with some notable exceptions. I tended to be in that mode, myself as I did mostly traditional music with very few choruses. When I moved away from the Village scene, I started writing a lot of songs with choruses... most of my songs have choruses, and realized what a kick it is to hear people singing along. I was never into the Follow The Bouncing Ball approach to singing (although I remember cartoons that encouraged just that, when I was a kid.)

I've seen just the opposite environemtn in folk festivals and folk song societies, where singing along on choruses is encouraged. Some time, I'll pass along my observations on folkies singing along on black gospel... a humourous difference in approach.

Interesting subject, anyway.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 15 Jun 06 - 11:42 PM

I understand that singing in choruses in folk music is quite a recent development in the UK, for instance. There certainly is a long tradition of harmony singing in classical choral music. Then I suppose there are cross-over genres, as it were--like Sacred Harp in the US and West Gallery singing in the UK. West Gallery singing, I understand did sometimes combine tunes from the pub (actually I think the tune from Rosin the Beau--I think that's how they spell it)--is used in Sacred Harp)--but West Gallery singing uses more pub tunes. The west gallery in the church was where the hired choir members sat--who sometimes slipped out to the pub during the sermon. At least that's what I've heard.

Anybody from the UK who can confirm, deny or otherwise elucidate this topic?

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ernest
Date: 16 Jun 06 - 04:38 AM

Singing choruses may have been associated with heavy work (like shanties) or military (marching songs) or sometimes propaganda (esp. in non-democratic countries) - and maybe people didn`t want to be reminded of it....
Best
Ernest

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 16 Jun 06 - 07:51 AM

Interresting point, Ernest. Glad you stopped by. Harmony singing has been used to bring people together, whether it's in church, in war, at work or for political reasons. Over here, folk music in the 60's became predominantly protest music. Many years ago, during the days when I was bookly a folk concert series, I booked a bluegrass band. The audience was almost completely different from my usual one, and when I asked the audience to stop by as they were leaving and comment on why they never came to the folk concert, the two most memorable statements were that they didn't want to sit around all night listening to someone sing protest songs, and that folk music was for intellectuals and bluegrass was for working people. The first statement was much truer in the 60's, and ironically there is a lot of truth to the second statement. Maybe I'll start a thread about that... should stir up some interesting responses...

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: freda underhill
Date: 16 Jun 06 - 07:59 AM

"folk music was for intellectuals and bluegrass was for working people. " I've never heard anyone say that before jerry, very interesting. whatever, I love both.

freda

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 16 Jun 06 - 09:19 AM

Probably because it was collected and preserved by "intellectuals": the Library of Congress, the Child books, and so on. Then in the '50s and '60s it was popular with young people, many of whom were in college -- and the US has long had a love/hate relation with higher education. The whole thing is ironic because folk music came originally from the people themselves.

Bluegrass is just one of the variants of the music played by the folks, but it doesn't have "intellectual" and "education" splashed all over it.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ernest
Date: 16 Jun 06 - 09:42 AM

Freda: maybe people like you and me are working intellectuals... :0)

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 16 Jun 06 - 10:32 AM

Happy Birthday Jerry,
Reading the last few days conversations, we live in East Anglia a few miles from Dedham and also near Harwich where the captain of the Mayflower lived, his house is still standing.
In a little village called Grotton near Lavenham there is a lovely little church out on its own in the fields, the church has always been very popular with visitors from Massachusetts as the Winthrop family went from Grotton to the USA and I believe Winthrop was the first Gov. of Mass.
I believe many of the people on the Mayflower were from East Angia as it sailed from Ipswich in Suffolk before going on to Plymouth.
Certainly looking at the east coast of the US there are very many familiar town names from this part of the UK.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 16 Jun 06 - 01:34 PM

I love harmonies, and I suspect that even when a song is sung in unison our ears and brains pick up the harmonies surrounding each single note.

I grew up Amish. Congregatinal singing in the Amish church is in unison and yet one of my fondest memories is of listening to the rise and fall of their songs; the tones ranged from bass voices up to the silver sounds of female voices, making a dense river that flowed over rocks and around bends and down the occasional waterfalls, rough here and smooth there...

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 16 Jun 06 - 02:50 PM

Incidentally, these songs were German lieder. To this day I love opera, especially if I don't know the language.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 16 Jun 06 - 05:35 PM

I was musing about various Asian singing traditions, which, to my knowledge, don't include harmony singing. That's what got me started on this question. In some cultures people sang together, or in call and return, or in note combinations that sound atonal to western ears, but not in harmony. Harmony seems like such a simple concept and it is so pleasing to the ear that I'm wondering why it didn't take hold universally. I'm not anywhere near being an expert on musicology or music history, so I thought some of y'all who know lots more than me might have some thoughts or knowledge.

elmer

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 16 Jun 06 - 09:35 PM

Different cultures, different ways of seeing, hearing, and believing. Are the sounds of nature harmonious?

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 16 Jun 06 - 10:01 PM

Well, following that reasoning, there are a lot of sounds that humans make unlike any found elsewhere in nature. (I could make a crack about certain politicians, but I won't.) But maybe it's just as uncomplicated as you say, Rapaire: different strokes for different folks.

E.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 17 Jun 06 - 12:17 AM

Ebbie--

When you say the Amish songs were German lieder, do you mean they used the melodies from the lieder but changed the words--since lieder are often about--what else--romantic problems?

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 17 Jun 06 - 03:00 AM

Not in the way we used the word, Ron. We used it in the sense of a hymn as in das geistliche Lied. Lieder,. to us, were basically church songs.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 17 Jun 06 - 05:52 PM

So, Ebbie, did you grow up speaking German--or a form of it? Did they speak it at church services? It's amazing the number of people who don't know that Pennsylvania Dutch is actually Pennsylvania Deutsch.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 17 Jun 06 - 06:41 PM

Probably platt deutsch and not hoch deutsch.

I was in a store in Amish country once (this is the first time since 1971 that I have NOT worked in Amish country) with my wife and a friend. The friend was quite fluent in German, and she later regaled us with what the Amish "girls" (not yet churched) were saying. She was especially tickled when one of them made a comment about her and she answered in German -- the young lady was embarassed! (Never use a language that is not your own for making comments about others!)

(The same sort of thing happened to the father of friend in Sneem, Ireland -- the man's home town. He was sitting in the pub, quietly having a pint or six, and he overheard a couple of locals talking about "the yank over there" in Gaelic. Well...I leave the rest of story to your imagination. Suffice to say that the man is very fluent in Irish....)

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 17 Jun 06 - 07:01 PM

It is definitely fun to do what your friend did, Rapaire. I even had the opportunity to do it--I had bought 20 Dutch Apple yogurts at the Super Giant (of course this is in the US). I love it--with cinnamon in the recipe. A little German girl behind me in line said to her mother (as I can recall) "Du, Mami, er hat 20 davon! (Mommy, he has 20 of those!)   So I turned to her and said "Stimmt". (That's right). She turned beet red.

There are lots of good reasons to speak more than one language--that's really a very minor reason--but fun.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 17 Jun 06 - 08:38 PM

It's funny how different cultures and congregations differ from each other. Where I grew up - in Oregon, in a small church - as soon as an English-speaking person came along we switched to English. Had we known the word 'gauche' that is what we would have thought it to not include them in the conversation.

Then when I was almost 14 my family moved to Virginia to a large Amish church. And there the 'jungen' spoke 'deutsch' as soon as English speakers appeared. (Strangely enough, a great many of the younger generation spoke English even at home to their parents; the parents spoke deutsch, they were answered in English. When my best friend eventually married and had 5 children they never taught deutsch to their kids. This friend and her husband left the Amish and went to a Conservative Mennonite church.)

Ron, your quote, as written, would literally be: "You, Mommmy. He has 20 of them." More likely she would have said the equivalent of 'See' or 'Look', Mommy. I can't find the German form of Look; we used so many idioms and colloquialisms that the 'hoch deutsch' sometimes gets lost. But the words we used was 'guk' (sp?), pronounced like 'look'.

At home we spoke the dialect- not Platt Deutsch. Platt is a separate dialect as is 'Schweitzer Deutsch'. My mother's family emigrated from the Alsace in the 1700s; my father's family from south Germany somewhat later.

One thing the Amish do is keep good records. My father's family is traced back to the 14th century when it was spelled differently but still recognizably. Many books have been written with the material taken from the records of the 'old countries'. Most Amish - ex or not - have these books and I'm no exception.

My family spoke our German dialect at home until we started caring for foster children (of whom my parents adopted two); after that we all spoke English at all times. (And no, I didn't teach German to my daughter.)

We spoke the dialect but read the High German. Nowadays, because the dialect is an unwritten language, speaking High German is easier.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 17 Jun 06 - 10:50 PM

Ebbie, Uri Byler was someone I will always consider a good friend. Uri was also very probably the most intelligent person I've ever met -- and I've dined with Bucky Fuller, among others. Uri was the author of several books, and he testified in the Amish Schools case. He literally wrote the book(s) on Amish teaching, school rules, curriculum, and such stuff in Ohio. Another of his books was "Our Better Country," an American history for the Amish schools.

Anyway, this is a story I heard from another, and very reputable, friend named Frank, who was a long-time friend of Uri's.

Frank was sitting in a bar in Middlefield, Ohio, having a quiet beer at the bar when Uri walked in. Uri sat down, ordered a beer, and lit a cigarette. Then he turned to Frank and said, "Well, I suppose that this will be the last beer and cigarette I'll have for some time."

"Why, Uri? You have health problems?"

"No, no. They've just elected me bishop."

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 17 Jun 06 - 10:54 PM

Yippee! Jerry, my CDs from you came today! They're all in fine shape even though the the envelope looks like it was caught under a rubber tire, or maybe a conveyor belt. It shows that it was mailed on May 15 and it took until June 17 to get here. Now, that, I believe, is a record for me. The longest in the past, I think, was 11 days from Tulsa Oklahoma to here. I tell people that obviously the airplane wasn't full yet.

Anyway, I played the first one- The Gospel Messengers in Washington DC - three times before I got myself stopped. I love it. I love it. I've always loved black gospel music since I was a teenager in Virginia where black groups would sing in local white churches and everyone would flock to hear them.

One of my mortifying memories I have is of sneaking to the woods next to a black church and hunkering down so I could listen to the music inside. I can't imagine why I thought anyone would object.

I haven't listened to the 'Jerry Rasmussen Sampler' yet and am looking forward to it. I've got 'The Gospel in Black and White' on right now, and Roy Acuff is singing.

Jerry, thank you.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 17 Jun 06 - 11:01 PM

Hallelujah, Ebbie!!!!! One of the sled dogs must have stopped to have puppies. I'm glad they finally got to you, though.

Enjoy!

Maybe if I send you some for Christmas and mail them by Monday, you'll get them just in time...

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 18 Jun 06 - 02:35 AM

Oh, dear. I just know that was one of Rapaire's sled dogs. Ask him.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 18 Jun 06 - 09:32 AM

Ebbie--

I was 2 years in Germany. I've heard a lot of German--in the Umgangssprache--and I had an intensive German course before I even went over there--8 months, 5 days a week, 6 hours a day .   I've aways been very interested in languages--that's why I was curious to know about the German spoken in Amish church services.

Germans, informally, do in fact express themselves as I have indicated (starting with "Du", for instance. It would be the equivalent of "Hey" in English. (As in "Hey Mom").

Another question for you--can you tell us anything about "rumspringen"-supposedly a custom whereby Amish teenagers can get a dose of the outside world--possibly innoculating them against it?    Is this so?

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 18 Jun 06 - 09:48 AM

Ebbie--

The little girl could have said, "Guck mal, Mami" (look, Mommy) (as you suggest)--but she could also have said--"Du, Mami"--which I believe she did. I suspect if we wanted to, we could confirm any questions about colloquial German with Wolfgang or another German Mudcatter.

It's dangerous to insist on translating literally from one language into another, especially in colloquial speech. In fact, the only direct German-to-English slang expression I know is "klar wie Schlamm" (clear as mud)--which I find very useful--and I've taught it to Jan.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 18 Jun 06 - 10:03 AM

I dunno if it's a custom or not, but back in Ohio, the pre-churched Amish boys were hellions. Saturday nights they would come to town, get drunk, get in fights, and in general cry havoc. One bar had a specially reinforced section of ceiling into which the bartender could fire a .44 to quiet things down. When the bars closed the boys would either stagger outside or be dragged and men would come with a farm wagon and load 'em up. When the wagon passed the home farm gate they would either fall off or be carried off the wagon and laid in the grass (or snow). Sunday evening they'd go into town and collecter their wagons and horses from the stable where they'd left them.

Church services, especially if they were at the home farm of one of the carousers, could be interesting (or so I was told).

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 18 Jun 06 - 10:09 AM

Good stories Rap. Do you know the "firing a 44" etc. to be true?

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 18 Jun 06 - 10:16 AM

I was told that by the Director of the local historical society and museum village, who'd lived in the area all of his life (except for going away to college and the Army). He wasn't one to stretch the truth even a little bit (although he was known to deflate the pompous).

Because the Amish tend to deal with problems themselves and don't like officialdom, they rarely call the police. This leads to some awful stuff -- in Indiana, Amish men were beaten and robbed; in Ohio, Amish girls would be raped; and VERY recently a 67-year-old Amish widower in Ohio was blackmailed for his life's savings by two people who said they had evidence that he'd tried to solicit a prostitute.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 18 Jun 06 - 02:53 PM

My wife and I had a humorous experience at a historical society museum a couple of years ago. It is in Milton, Wisconsin where my Mother grew up. I knew the history of the town quite well and wrote a song about it. Milton is a fascinating little place... was a well documented stop on the underground railroad, has the first concrete building constructed in the United States, which is hexagonal, was founded by a teetotaler and member of the Cold Water Society and was originally named Paradise Found, in honer of Milton's Paradise Lost.
At the beginning of a tour of the Museum, they had an opening film giving a history of the town and while the screen was still black, someone was playing guitar and singing. Ruth said, "That sounds just like you!" And it was. I had sent them a tape of the song probably 20 years earlier and had never received any acknowledgment that they had received it. When I mentioned to the Curator that I was the one singing on the film she was very excited. They'd found the tape in a drawer with no indication of who the singer was, and just used it on the sondtrack.

For a town of just a few 100 people, Milton had a fascinating history. You'd never realize it, driving through the town. I wonder how many other towns have amazing stories to tell that are now forgotten..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 18 Jun 06 - 03:00 PM

Hey Jerry-

How about telling us about the Cold Water Society? Garrison Keillor talked about the "Cold Water Brethren" who believed in baptism only in cold water. Any similarity?

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 18 Jun 06 - 03:04 PM

And Jerry, congratulations on your role in Milton. What was the name of the song?

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 18 Jun 06 - 03:10 PM

The Cold Water Society was a teetotaler organization which required taking the "Cold Water Pledge" never to let anything stronger than water cross your lips. The Founder of Milton was a member of the Cold Water Society and started the town as a Utopian community where all alchoholic beverages were banned. He deed a large park in the center of the town with the stipulation that there would never be a tavern in Milton. Some enterprising (and thirsty) residents eventually started Milton Junction... a suburb of a town with no more than three or four hundred people, so that they could have a bar. In the 70's, a young lawyer researched town records and could find no legal restriction on bars, a vote was taken legalizing alchohol in Milton, Milton Junction was assimilated into Milton and no longer exists, and someone built a bar called the Park View, overlooking the Park donated by the town's founder with the promise that no liquor would ever be consumed in the town.

It made an interesting song.

Last line of the song, in honor of the town's founder..

"If your worth your salt you'll hold on to your dreams
They're still the best measure of man."

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 18 Jun 06 - 04:17 PM

"can you tell us anything about "rumspringen"-supposedly a custom whereby Amish teenagers can get a dose of the outside world--possibly innoculating them against it? Ron"

The only way I ever heard 'rumspringen' (literally, 'running around') used was in reference to young people who had recently started attending the evening events, signifying, basically, that they were ready to start dating. They might or might not be members at that point.

You'll have to keep in mind that my experience was not typical. In my Amish life I first lived in a small community, something like 20 families. In fact, my own father's friends were not the Amish people but 'English' or 'hoche' people. I do know that the boys of the community did some drinking and they went to the movies and I know that my oldest brother and his Amish friends did some fraternizing with non-Amish girls. Except for parental guidance - and worrying - no punishment was brought to bear onto the boys as long as they had not yet joined the church. After joining, they were subject to some serious strong arming, I understand.

I don't know if the same kind of thing went on in Virginia. The 'young folks' there were much more overtly pious than those in Oregon. They even ahd Bible study groups.

The very large Amish communities in Ohio and Indiana and to a lesser extent in Kansas, had/have a bad reputation among many Amish. My parents made a point of telling us that they would never relocate the family there.

I consider the Amish religion and its structure and its strictures to be a crime against its children. Any community that holds knowledge and 'book learning' in contempt is a community that has a tremendous potential for abuse and ignorant beliefs. The way of life is fine- my father was a horse trainer and we kids always had lots of riding horses and outdoor activities and many of my fondest memories revolve around them. But the religion teaches/taught strict obedience to the church rulings without recourse. If one rebelled against such a ruling one was considered to be rebelling against God. As one example, I wanted to be a school teacher - and I was told that Amish people don't become teachers, nor do they go to college.

Things have changed a great deal in many areas so I really don't know much about conditions any more. In Virginia, after I left, the Amish opened their own school and they earn high school diplomas. Many Amish now go on to college for a teacher's degree. Many of those who do, however, eventually leave their Amish church and join a more liberal church such as Mennonite or the Conservative Mennonites. It's hard to convince someone who has been exposed to other views that Jesus abhorred car ownership.

Believe me, there are many, many different degrees of Amish life. To this day I can tell you if an Amish woman is from Pennsylvania (Lancaster or Somerset County) or Ohio (Geauga or Holmes County) or Indiana, just by seeing the style of headcovering. and the 'halsduch', (literally, 'neckcloth') a kind of self-material chest covering.

I have many cousins scattered across the country, primarily in Michigan, Indiana, Kansas and Iowa but I rarely see any, more than every ten years or so.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 18 Jun 06 - 05:28 PM

Rapaire, I missed your post above about Uri Byler. So far as I know, he's not a relative of mine- although I have cousins, living in Kentucky, named Byler.

Depending on the church, smoking is sllowed or prohibited. The Oregon church allowed it, the Virginia church did not.

Some Amish churches grow tobacco commercially, even though their church does not condone smoking. (Hypocracy is unknown among the Amish. *G*)

In Kansas I have relatives who make their own wine. And I had one uncle who kept some whiskey in the cupboard for 'medicinal purposes". My father scoffed at that, though.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rockhen
Date: 18 Jun 06 - 05:35 PM

Thanks for pointing me to this thread, Jerry...interesting reading the last few posts but I'm just at the listening stage, at the moment.... until I get braver!
Hope to maybe pop on and contribute before too long. I like the idea behind the thread...although I feel slightly wistful that we don't all have the time to actually call round on friends and park our feet under the table for a drink and chat, quite as often, as in years gone by. Typed conversations can lose a little bit of warmth or be misunderstood, more easily than face-to-face chats with the extra clues of body language and tone of voice.
Congratulations, though, at starting and maintaining a very good attempt at the kitchen table chat session! Please excuse me interrupting it!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 18 Jun 06 - 07:01 PM

Ebbie, I worked for 12 years in Geauga County, Ohio and 16 years in Elkhart County, Indiana.

Uri Byler autographed his book "The Long Summer" to me with the words "the best librarian on the planet." I thought that was stretching it a little, but not by much! It's a fictionalized account of his decision to stay Amish -- the town where I worked had promised him, as a community, a scholarship for as far as he wanted to go in his education.

That book is sitting next to his real autobiography, "As I remember it" on my bookshelves, about eight feet from me.

When it's available, I buy "The Budget."

I told a library patron and a friend of mine named Yoder that I was moving to Elkhart, Indiana. He said, "That Amish country, you know." I said, "Yes, and you know, I can't hardly stand them folks." He took off his hat, stroked his beard, and said, "You know, I can't hardly stand 'em sometimes myself."

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 18 Jun 06 - 07:09 PM

hahhah One of the best Amish traits imo is their love of laughter.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 18 Jun 06 - 07:17 PM

Glad you stopped by, rockhen... stop in regularly. You never know what the conversation is going to be about.

Yes, actually sitting at a kitchen table would be far better than a cyber table, but this is still pretty good. The atmosphere in here is warm and friendly, and after more than 650 posts, we've yet to have anyone get offended (or try to be offensive.) Says a lot about the quality of the regulars in here..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 18 Jun 06 - 07:18 PM

Whoa!!!!!!!!!!! I just made the 666th post... the Devil's post... let me outta here. I'll let our librarian explain why 666 is considered a symbol for the Devil..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 18 Jun 06 - 07:21 PM

Quick! Quick! Under the table wit' ya.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 18 Jun 06 - 07:25 PM

I give up. Why is it?

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 18 Jun 06 - 07:26 PM

Just checked it out. Scarrrrrrry! At Armagedon, the followers of the Anti-christ will have the numbers 666 written on their forehead or hand. If you check my photo on here, you'll see my forehead is clear, but my hands are hidden.


Hmmmmmm.....

Honest... no numbers on them..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Peace
Date: 18 Jun 06 - 08:04 PM

That's what they all say, pal.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 18 Jun 06 - 08:38 PM

Get your kicks, on Route 666.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 18 Jun 06 - 08:46 PM

Yeah, Elmer... but eventually you come to the toll gate..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 18 Jun 06 - 09:58 PM

True story: A woman named her son Damien (spelled that way, which I think is not the spelling of the character in the movie.) Around the time the first "Omen" movie came out, she got a call from his school. On the back of his head was painted 666. He denied knowing anything about it. His mother was asked some pointed questions.
(Eventually he confessed to her that he had in fact done it himself).

He had been a hellion before that too--but now he's a very successful businessman--and a generous person.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 18 Jun 06 - 10:02 PM

All I gotta say is if this thread every reaches 999 I'm not touching it with a ten foot pole. I hear the Devil likes to hang upside down by his heels like a bat. Maybe if none of us takes 999, jimmyt won't be able to sneak in here and get 1,000.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 18 Jun 06 - 10:06 PM

1-866-666-6666 is the toll-free number for The Beast. Just in case you want to call or something.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 19 Jun 06 - 12:17 AM

Tollbooth, Jerry? Ya gotta pay admission???!!! Here's a little ditty that sprung forth while washing the dishes (gotta clean up the kitchen table every 666 posts or so):

ROUTE 666

If eternal damnation is your quest,
Travel my way on the highway that's the best.
Get your kicks on route 666!

It starts with Armageddon,
And brother I ain't kiddin;
Then you'll point your lorry
Towards purgatory.
Don't be a no-show.
At Dante's Inferno.
Basking on the pyre
In everlasting fire,
Perdition,
Hades,
The pit
Is it!

If you take heed of this timely tip,
When you take that rapture-unready trip.
Get your kicks across the river Styx!
Get your kicks on Route 666!
Get your kicks on Route 666ssssssssssssssssss…..

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 19 Jun 06 - 06:23 AM

Good one, Elmer. Washing dishes is prime time for writing songs. I wrote Ten Pound Radio in completion (not that there's a lot to it) taped it, was playing it back and starting to sing harmonies to it, all while washing a single load of dishes. Admittedly, as a single man working a demanding job and raising two sons alone, my single load of dishes didn't resemble anyone elses...



When The Messengers sang at Dave Para and Cathy Barton's Big Muddy Festival in Boonville, Missouri, Ruth and I went out early, rented a car in St. Louis and took stretches of Route 66 over into Arkansas. There's a new umpteen lane superhighway parallel to the old route 66, and not all of it is still there, but we got off the superhighway every once in awhile and wandered along (relatively speaking) on Route 66, stopping to eat at a diner, and just enjoying an older way of travel.)

I grew up on Highway 51 in Wisconsin, and was talking to Ruth about it when we were visiting my Mother a couple of weeks ago. I used to fool around on a railroad overpass, over Highway 51, and I have a lot of memories about it. My Mother worked at Parker Pen, which was on Highway 51, as well. It's not quite as famous as Route 66, because Nat King Cole never sang a song about it, but Dylan's second or third album was Highway 51 revisted.

Then, I was plunked down last night after a very busy day of singing and family gathering and when I turned on VH1 they were talking about Rockford, Illinois where my youngest son lives, and where I was planning to retire until I met Ruth. The rock group Cheap Trick is from Rockford, and they just released a new album simply titled "Rockford." Not the smartest move commercially, but I thought that it was cool to do it.

Lucky they all weren't from Weehawken.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 19 Jun 06 - 09:00 AM

Hey, Burr shot Hamilton in Weehawken. I mean in the geographic area known as Weehawken. There's no body part called Weehawken as far as I know. Weehawken is famous, at least among folks with a mind for trivia.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 19 Jun 06 - 09:24 AM

Thank you, Rapaire: I'll remember that the next time that I drive through Weehawken. There was an ambidextrous baseball pitcher from Waxahatchie who once pitched a double header in the minors, pitching one game right hand and the other left handed. He ended up being a very successful General Manager in the big leagues... gotta scratch my head for a minute to recall his name... seems like he was GM for the White Sox and his last name was Richards.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: GUEST
Date: 19 Jun 06 - 10:52 AM

Çool that you have travelled that famous road. I think Route 66 has been designated a historic monument.

Lots of towns where you wouldn't plan your next vacation have been lauded in song (Mostly starting with "I'm going to ______"): Brownsville, Newport News...

Heck, if Gary, Indiana can have a love song written to it, what can't?

Not to rain on the parade, but Dylan's album was Highway 61 Revisited...but who's counting?

Elmer

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 19 Jun 06 - 11:59 AM

Yu're right, Guest... I must be getting old. And I have the album, somewhere... been a long time since I've played albums. At this point, I only use them to copy songs onto CD, and I'd need the trans-Atlantic cable to reach from my turntable to my computer...

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 19 Jun 06 - 01:13 PM

Highway 51, by the bye, runs from Northern Wisconsin all the way to New Orleans. It, Route 66 and Route 1 on the East Coast are (I think) the three longest highways in the United States.

It just ain't Highway 61. I still thought there was a blues called Highway 51 Blues, but maybe that was Highway 61, too. Don't ask me.

Now I have to check to see if Highway 51 runs through Dixon, Illinois. It's been a long times since I've been to Dixon, but I wrote a song about the town. Had the lines:

"Used to be was all I knew was Dixon
But Dixon never meant that much to me
When you're working five to nine
And you hear that highway whine
It makes you think the road can set you free"

Gee, and here I said I never wrote any songs that had whining in them.... :-)

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 19 Jun 06 - 02:26 PM

Why shouldn't you, Jerry? Tom Paxton did:

Bottle of wine, fruit of the vine....

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 19 Jun 06 - 02:39 PM

Working 'Five to Nine'? L O N G hours. orreallyshort.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 19 Jun 06 - 02:51 PM

Glad you caught that one, Ebbie: It was intentional. Growing up in farm country, those are a farmer's work hours... up at 5 a.m. to milk the cows and fee the livestock, and often working until 8 or 9 at night.

Wrote another song about my Uncle Jim and my cousin Howard:

"Old Uncle Jim he said, said to his son, he said
Wake up Howard 'cause it's almost dawn
The snowdrifts have covered up the old hay wagon
And we got to dig our way out to the barn
The cows will all be waiting for the old milk pail
And it won't be long before the rooster crows
So we better hop to it, 'casue there's no one else to do it
'Cause the sky is getting cloudy and it looks like snow"

When my youngest son Aaron was little he picked up on the line "So we better hop to it, 'cause there's no one else to do it," and when I'd tell him that we had to do something, he'd sing those lines in this little kid sing-song voice. It always cracked me up.

When I was a kid, we'd go out to my Uncle Jim's farm... or my Uncle Ross's or my Grandfather's farm and it was a real treat for me. I'd play around most of the day with my cousins, but it didn't slip my attention that My Uncle (and Aunt) would be working all day, well after the outside lights were turned on by the barn.

Farmers would consider a nine to five job a vacation.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Peace
Date: 19 Jun 06 - 02:56 PM

I can't believe I read this whole thread and really enjoyed it. Thank you, Jerry.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 19 Jun 06 - 03:01 PM

Thanks, Peace, and it's great to see you stopping by for a cuppa these days. It feels like a real kitchen in here.... people just talking about whatever comes to mind. Nothing earth-shaking. But then, most of our lives aren't earth-shaking, either.

Be sure to come back...

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 19 Jun 06 - 03:32 PM

I know that you are right about the long hours on a farm. That's where my life began.

There are good things about it too - excellent things, in fact. Not excluding the hour-long nap after mid-day dinner!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 19 Jun 06 - 03:56 PM

Hey, Ebbie:

When I go to visit my family in Wisconsin, I have to shift gears (and terminology.) Out there, they have breakfast, dinner and supper. No "Power lunch." Not even a "Power Dinner." Out here in the East, it's breakfast, lunch and dinner. No sense singing for your supper around here. They don't even have it.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 19 Jun 06 - 04:10 PM

Calvin Trillin was on the radio this weekend, speaking from his Missouri roots that the motto of the entire Midwest is "No Big Deal." I can second that.

Elmer

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 19 Jun 06 - 04:18 PM

Since I got back from Wisconsin, I've spent a full week trying to figure out why I can't get power mower to run. Last night, just taking it easy, it occurred to me what the problem might be. Of course, it's been occuring to me what the problem might be all week, and every time I tried something to get it running, it didn't solve the problem. Today it did, and I mowed our lawn. It was almost 90 here today and my neighbor told me that it was too hot for me to be mowing the lawn. I told her that I didn't care if it was 500 degrees... it took me a week to get my lawn mower running again and I was mowing the lawn! Nice that people are concerned about you, though and I thanked her.

My motto which has carried me through life quite nicely (without too many disastrous experiences) is "I wonder what happens if you do this." That's been my approach to playing music, learning instruments, learning the computer and getting lawn mowers to run.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 19 Jun 06 - 04:21 PM

As we approach the 700th post, I feel the presence of jimmy. I thought I just caught a glimpse of him peaking out from behind the credenza.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 19 Jun 06 - 09:06 PM

That Jimmy! Opportunistic is what he is.

By the way, I have gotten into trouble in various ways in the utilization of that philosophy, Jerry. When I didn't know what I'm doing, I learned the hard way on the computer not to 'delete'.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 19 Jun 06 - 10:22 PM

If we learn by our mistakes, I should be a genius by now...

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 19 Jun 06 - 11:17 PM

Hey Jerry--

Your motto is "I wonder what happens if you do this?" LOL. Just magnificent! But I think I've seen cartoon characters with the same attitude--getting electrocuted, etc. We're all SO glad you're still with us!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 19 Jun 06 - 11:44 PM

At the risk of aiding and abetting those nefarious individuals who might possible be waiting to pouce on 700, I'd also like to say:

Elmer--that's just great! "If eternal damnation is your quest"..."Get your kicks across the River Styx". I wish I had inspiration like that when I did the dishes. My only muse is one of our cats--so I've written 2 parodies about her. But that would be thread creep--I think.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 20 Jun 06 - 01:20 AM

I've got you now,

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 20 Jun 06 - 01:20 AM

you wascally wabbit!!!!!!!!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 20 Jun 06 - 01:21 AM

700!!!!!!!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 20 Jun 06 - 06:03 AM

Eat your heart out, jimmy!!

Jerry

There's always 800..

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 20 Jun 06 - 06:04 AM

This thread has no topic, Ron. It's 99.4 100ths percent drift,as is.
Share a song about your cat, and I'll throw one on here too.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 20 Jun 06 - 12:47 PM

Thanks for the compliment, Ron. The lyrics I've posted on this thread are the only songs I've written in my life (with the exception of the opening number to a musical version of "The Scarlet Letter" involving a chorus line of tap-dancing Puritans). So puhleez do let us in on your cat parodies. This thread doesn't drift, it meanders in the manner of a long conversation.

Elmer

PS: to the tune of "That's Entertainment," sung in crescendo:

When a town
Finds a sinner among
And instead
Of having her hung,
Gives her an A
To wear over her lung,

(big flourish)

That's a scarlet letter!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Carly
Date: 20 Jun 06 - 05:48 PM

Hi, everyone. I've been sitting here quietly for a while, enjoying the company and the conversation. Thanks for inviting us in, Jerry. Ron's mention of his cat parodies brought back to my mind a cat song Dean and I came up with about the time we married,(over 20 years ago, now,)to the tune of "I Wish I had Someone to Love Me":

         Tonight is our last night together
         This cat and I surely must part
         This morning I found my best pillow
         All shredded and torn apart

      Chorus - I wanted a kitten to love me
            To cuddle and call him my own
            But now that he sleeps with me nightly
            I wish I was sleeping alone

There was more, but you get the idea. We had three cats living with us at the time; our bed was cozy, but sometimes crowded. It occurs to me that I don't believe I ever wrote a parody until I fell in with Dean, but together we produced quite a few. I wonder what this says about us, and our relationship? So, Ron, what were your cat parodies?

Carly Gewirz

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 20 Jun 06 - 06:19 PM

Hi, Carly:

Glad you came in to sit down for awhile and join in the conversation... yes indeed, cats can take control of your life. In the long run you live with your cats. They don't live with you.

I wrote a children's song, each verse for a cat I knew (or owned.)

This verse was for my cat, Jennie:

"Old lady Jennie,
She'll kiss you for a penny
If you're feeling sad and blue
She'll even take an I.O.U."

My other cat at that time was named Barney, who I sometimes called Beeswax:

"Old Uncle Beeswax
Never paid his income tax
Got a letter in the mail
Threw him in the county jail"

The song was a lot of fun, as all my friends with cats wanted a verse written for them...

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 20 Jun 06 - 07:30 PM

Wow, well if people are actually interested in mine (some may have heard them)

Background--Lucy is not exactly svelte. She also has some other habits which may be familiar to cat households.



I'll be seeing you
In every closet full of bags
In every pile of dirty rags
I love the way your stomach sags
I'll see you on Jan's head again
And when the night is through
I'll be trying to read my book
But I'll be seeing you


The other one is to the tune of "The Old Dope Peddler" (Tom Lehrer)

As the dawn outside is breaking
Comes a feline everyone knows
It's our old friend Lucy
Making noise whereever she goes
Every morning you will hear her
As you lay snug in your bed
It's our old friend Lucy
Scratching rugs and clawing your head
She rips the carpet daily
She scratches on the stair
She makes the choice real easy
"Feed me now--or lose all your hair"
Here's a cure for too much sleep time
Here's our daily pal----and pest
It's our old friend Lucy
Our beloved pet------more or less

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 20 Jun 06 - 11:40 PM

Ron, those are hilarious!

"I'll be trying to read my book
But I'll be seeing you."

That particular cat has been making the rounds. Thanks for the laughs. Well done!

Elmer

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 21 Jun 06 - 02:44 PM

I'm continually surprised by how perceptive animals are. When you are reading, how does a cat know to get between you and the book? If I were to stare into space, I don't think he would come get into my face.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 21 Jun 06 - 03:51 PM

My current favorite comic strip is Get Fuzzy, which centers around a self-centered cat named Bucky. (are there any other kinds of cat?) Check Yahoo Comics for Get Fuzzy and check it out... the strip really cracks me up.

Jerry

I used to have these dreams about being chased by one thing or another and not being able to run. I'd finally wake up and discover my cats sleeping on my feet. I finally had to lock them out of the bedroom at night, just to get some sleep.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: jimmyt
Date: 21 Jun 06 - 09:40 PM

well, I missed it!   GOod for you, ELmer! you da man!    I am playing jazz tomorrow night! woo hoo! something out of the keys of G, D and A!!!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 21 Jun 06 - 09:44 PM

I think I'll play something in the keys of H, M, and O#. It's tough I know, but someone has to do it. It would be nice if the dogs didn't howl when I played, though.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 21 Jun 06 - 09:49 PM

I locked my keys in the car once.. Does that count?

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 21 Jun 06 - 10:12 PM

Gee it's amazing how fast conversation can move on (well, not really surprising if you can only join in once a day, I suppose)

But I wanted to thank Carly and everybody else for their cat songs and parodies (also thank Elmer for his kind words on mine)--and agree with Ebbie that cats do seem to know exactly where your focus of attention is. And if it's on a newspaper or book--well, there's no excuse for that. The cat knows your attention should be always on him or her--and will plant itself on your newspaper or book--thus attaining the goal. It works every time--you'll have to do something about the cat--and the chances are you'll pet it or feed it.

Totally brilliant.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 21 Jun 06 - 10:16 PM

Well, Jimmy, to stay true to character I shoulda taken post #699 and let it go at that, but aw shucks, that keyboard and "submit message" button were just glowing and beckoning in the dark of night...so Fudd bagged his wabbit just this once, metaphorically speaking.

Had a cat once who was scared of the sound of the dryer, the sound of the ironing board being opened, the vacuum cleaner (aren't they all), and the sound of running water. Judging by the cat, any attempt at housework was attempted cat abuse.

Elmer

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 21 Jun 06 - 10:22 PM

The keys of HMO, Rap? Sorry, but your request has been denied because of a key-existing condition.

E.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 21 Jun 06 - 10:41 PM

Cat stories, ah yes..

My cat Barney was endlessly inventive. He and Jennie liked raw liver, and on occasion I'd buy a small amount and treat them. When Barney had his fill, I saw him walking into the living room on three legs, a piece of raw liver hooked on the claw of a front leg he was holding up in front of him. He walked over to one of my boats that was on the floor by the couch, looked me dea in the eye, and dropped the raw liver in my boot. And then took off like Hell.

From that point on, I always checked my boots before slipping my foot into them... like cowboys checking for scorpions. I was checking for raw liver.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 21 Jun 06 - 11:22 PM

hahahha That is so funny. You gotta wonder...

My cat was 11 years old when I got him (one year ago exactly - I got him on June 21)- he was a one-owner cat whose family had discovered that one of their adopted boys was allergic to him. My point is that archy (There had been a Mehitabel but she came to a fittingly bad end, they told me) was a well loved cat with habits and quirks and foibles of his oen.

One of his habits is to lie on one's lap and extend his paws up to one's face to sleep. It's a very confiding gesture that charms the socks off one.

However from time to time he has hooked his claws into my face. One night he did that- just enough to hurt - and I moved his feet away. He did it again and I told him NO, moved them again and held them together away from me. He growled and wrenched them away and up to my face and held on.

This time I said, NO, and with one finger rapped his nose. With a yowp he jumped off my lap and off the chair. I hadn't had him long and I thought, Oh, dear, he's not going to forgive that.

But he didn't take even one step away. He stood beside my chair thinking deeply. Suddenly he turned and leaped up to my lap and murmuring under his breath he rubbed his head under my chin. When I petted him, he lay down and reached up his paws. Like velvet, they were.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 22 Jun 06 - 04:03 PM

My late friend Steve had a cat named Sam. Sam was a tough old alleycat who got along with Steve quite well. He even got along with other people if they fed him.

Every morning Sam would jump on Steve's chest around 7 a.m. and lick Steve's face to get him up. One day, just to see what would happen, Steve didn't awaken but laid in bed watching Sam through half-closed eyes.

Sam rubbed his head against Steve's face. Same gently touched Steve's nose. Nothing.

Sam sat back on his haunches, apparently in thought, and then gave Steve's face a full-force, claws out, swipe.

Yes, Steve awakened.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 22 Jun 06 - 04:29 PM

Dog to cat: "My owner is sooo wonderful. He feeds me. He lets me sleep at the foot of his bed. He pets me. He brushes me. He calls me a good dog. He must be a god."

Cat to dog: "My owner is sooo wonderful. He feeds me. He lets me sleep at the foot of his bed. He pets me. He brushes me. He calls me a good kitty. I must be a god."

Elmer

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 22 Jun 06 - 10:56 PM

Well, Jan is THOROUGHLY hooked on Shakira--she's bought 3 CD's by her--and I'll have to admit, she's damn addicting--with hypnotic rhythms--and even a good sense of humor

I never really knew she could dance like this
She makes a man want to speak Spanish
Como se llama, bonita, mi casa, su casa

Yesterday Mendelssohn--Fingal's Cave, today Shakira--and I'll have to say it's not as easy to type with Shakira.

And Jan is practicing the Shakira moves right next to me--this is some wild girl. The same one who had 3 discs replaced and 4 vertebrae fused-nothing slows her down

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 22 Jun 06 - 11:04 PM

Sorry for the dramatic change of topic

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 23 Jun 06 - 10:24 AM

Hey, Ron:

Not sure this is the smoothest segue from your last couple of posts, but I'm sitting here paying bills and listening to Thelonius Monk. My most recent musical project is a three CD sedt of my favorite tracks by my favorite jazz pianists. It's not a comprehensive overview of jazz piano (as my five CD set of rhythm and blues groups was.) There are some noticeable absences, like Art Tatum, Bud Powell, Errol Garner, and George Shearing, and minimal representatition by Oscar Peterson. Just my personal tastes. It's heavy on some of my favorites... well-known people like Dave Brubeck and Thelonius Monk and a wonderful cut with Count Basie and John Coltrane. But heavier still on Gene Harris, Claude Williamson, Marian McPartland, Barbara Caroll and Cyrus Chestnut. Like everyone else, my favorite music is scattered around on endless CDs. I love to bring them all together so that I can enjoy them...

and then share them...

I've discovered that when Elmer Fudd isn't hunting Bugs Bunny, he likes to listen to jazz. Soothes his nerves.

Jerr

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 23 Jun 06 - 11:17 AM

Glad to hear that Jan is doing so well again, Ron. I tell people that the really hard times are prepayment on into the future. She - and you - are bound to have some really great years coming up.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 23 Jun 06 - 09:47 PM

This is turning into what table conversation is really like--several different topics at once.

Hey Ebbie-what's the weather like these days up there? (And thanks for your words about Jan's health).

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 24 Jun 06 - 01:20 AM

Ron, glad Jan is up and shimmying.

Ebbie, I hope the weather is fine and your cat is still carressing your face. There's nothing like kitty love.

Jerry, jazz or no, my nerves have been shot since about 1956. But "Kind of Blue" helps matters. Or Ella or Sassy crooning sweet and lowdown in my li'l ear.

Good night one and all,

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz Elmer

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 24 Jun 06 - 03:51 AM

Well, Juneau is in a temperate rain forest so rain and mist is not only expected but essential. However, we are doing some really odd things- In March our 'Taku Winds' (really strong, clear cold winds) lasted 6 days, when about 3 days is the norm, then in April we had some really hot weather (Not hot for 'down south', like Minnesota but hot for us) that took the temperatures into the mid70s and then we veered into lots and lots of rain, heavy rain instead of the mist that is most common.

And now not only is it wet but it's chilly. The highs have been right at 60, the lows at 45 to 50. This is not only the middle of summer but we are still in what normally is our driest weather. We always say that the July 4th is hot and July 5th brings rain. We'll see.

Yes, ol' archy is fine. I enjoy the feller.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 24 Jun 06 - 03:15 PM

Working day shift, here at the kitchen table. Elmer, Ebbie and Ron work the graveyard shift.

Over here, it's pouring like crazy and has been all day. We had a wonderful weekend planned (all out doors) and everything is cancelled. Tonight, Ruth, Joe (our Best Man when we got married and the Gospel Messengers bass singer) and I were going to hear the 15 year old jazz pianist who performed with the male chorus I sing in. He was going to do a concert with his quartet, but it's been cancelled because of the rain. It's kinda sweet that he's doing full concerts with his quartet but isn't old enough to drive.

Tomorrow is Derby Day, here in Derby. It's and all afternoon an evening event in and around the town square, with music, food, music, food, crafts, and food. We lived here 4 years and this was the first time that we were free to go to it. Now, everything has been cancelled but the boat races..

So what's a fella to do? put on some music, burn some CDs for friends, have a leisurely dinner with my beautiful wife, put on a movie and have a romantic evening.

So, who's complaining? Sounds great to me... all the pleasures of life without having to leave your home...

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Alice
Date: 24 Jun 06 - 03:37 PM

Ok, here is another topic for the mix.

I've been having a recurring bad dream that jolts me out of
sleep in the morning. It is similar to those nightmares about missing a final
exam in school, and the stress is wearing on me.
It relates to my job - lots of contract paperwork, forms, etc., that have to be
filled out correctly for each customer I work with and then sent in to the
publisher I work for by Fed Ex every Friday afternoon. Each week's orders
that I've sold get sent at the end of the week, and all forms must be done
to the letter or they get rejected. So far, I've not had a single rejection
after 6 months of work and about 100 contracts, even though my co-workers have....
BUT in spite of telling myself positive thoughts about how everything is
fine and nothing is left undone, I have this anxiety nightmare every morning
before I wake that SOMETHING didn't get filled out... there's a form
UNDONE - yikes, I've not sent in paperwork that was supposed to be
finished! In the dream, it is a mystery form that doesn't really exist and
I actually feel disoriented when I wake up figuring out if there is really
a form I forgot or one in my imagination.
We are one week away from a deadline for an annual issue publication
and I know this is part of my anxiety.

Anyone have a way to stop a dream like this? I've been doing self hypnosis
before I go to sleep hoping that the positive will be implanted in my head
and the stress will stop, but to no avail.

Anyone ever go to a hypnotist for therapy?

Good news, I moved the pond fish and plants from inside the house
out to the little pond and turned on the pump/waterfall. That was nice
to get done today. Gorgeous weather. I love June, my favorite month
here. The cold is gone, it isn't too hot, and everything is lush and green.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 24 Jun 06 - 04:20 PM

Hey, Alice:

Recurring dreams.... eccchhh!! Like you, I've had ones that kept coming back for years. Why are recurring dreams always nightmares? I'd say that if you at some point can remove yourself from the situtation that is causing all the stress that the dreams will stop. If doesn't seem to work that way... or at least the don't stop anywhere near fast enough.

When I was at Columbia University a couple of centuries ago, I dropped out of a German class after the first few weeks. I had decided not to complete my Doctorate, and was just filling out a teaching assistant commitment that I'd made until the end of the year. It made all the sense in the world to drop the class. It was Scientific German (I'd already had two years of German) and I had no intention of continuing in the profession I was majoring in. But, for several years after I had this disturbing dream that I was in the class and going to a final exam, with no possibility of passing it. In my dream, I was concerned about how an "F" would look on my transcript (which made zero sense as I had moved on, had a wonderful, fulfilling job and no need for a college transcript.) Some of these fears seem to be so deeply ingrained in us that it takes a long time for them to finally subside.

Actually, I probably wasn't afraid of failing the German test. It was probably a deep-seated fear of brocolli.

Sorry I can't give any sensible advice. I don't know if hypnosis can affect recurring dreams or not..

Have you considered cutting down on your brocolli?

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Alice
Date: 24 Jun 06 - 04:32 PM

Jerry, I've had EXACTLY that type of college nightmare, and even in my 50's it still comes back!
The dream is that I was enrolled in a class that I either forgot to go to or didn't know about the exam and will be getting an F on my transcript!
Weird how our high achieving personalities can cause us so much stress.

I find this job dream to be very much like the final exam/forgotten class nightmare. I want to do this job perfectly, but of course perfection is impossible. When the publication/contract deadline for the Bozeman directory is over, I'll be moving on to work on the Butte and Billings directories, which have months ahead before their deadline. Then, I'll start up again working on the following year's issue of Bozeman the end of this year when Butte and Billings finish. A cycle of annual books that will each build up to a stressful deadline. Did I mention I like my job? ;-) www.phonedir.com

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 24 Jun 06 - 06:52 PM

Hi, Alice:

Bozeman, Butte and Billings? Maybe when you finish the B's you can move on to the "C's."

Yeah, there is something about the built-in pressure to succeed, based on the expectations of others. When I was at Columbia University, I was completely lost. I was the only one who didn't have a clear idea of what I should do with my life. Of course, no one agreed with anyone else. I had just started writing songs, and the very first reasonably serious song I wrote was called Rambling On My Mind. I didn't say that it was original... (alright, so it was trite..) I don't remember the whole song but a couple of lines really apply to what we're talking about:

"They said I had a great career
They planned my life for me."

The nice thing about having some years on you is that you reach the point where you can say to others (and yourself,) "This is about as good as I'm going to get. Sorry if I've disappointed you, but it was your dream, not mine."

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Alice
Date: 24 Jun 06 - 07:32 PM

Yes, but with the years on me..... why am I having that kind of nightmare again?

I just met last week with the top executive who is our district manager (my boss's boss). She is a grandmotherly type, as it turned out, and no pressure at all. Being the end of the canvass for this directory, she was here to meet with staff and help plan for the next one. I'm obviously the one who is being the hard taskmaster on myself about getting everything to be perfect. I think because I can design ads myself, which is not what most reps can do, I have that added burden of wanting it to look great, not just getting the contract done. Yeah, overachieving yet again.
When I was in college, I knew what I wanted to do. I started in fine art and finished in fine art, no deviation. THEN I found the art world was nothing like art school "painted" it to be.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Alice
Date: 24 Jun 06 - 07:50 PM

Amazing how many sites come up when you google "nightmares and final exam".

Found this idea to stop repetitive bad dreams.
-----
The raw emotions of repetitive, intrusive nightmares can be "tamed" by a simple, easily learned technique called Imagery Rehearsal Therapy (IRT). If you have multiple recurring nightmares, select just one for the IRT process and use the process every night until the nightmare has been resolved; when that nightmare has been resolved, repeat the process for other nightmares.

1.Write out the text of the nightmare. Tell the story, no matter how frightening, in as much detail as you can remember.
 
2. Create a new ending for the nightmare story and write it out. Be careful, however, to make the new ending peaceful. Remember that the nightmare is grounded in emotions such as raw anger that have been provoked by a trauma. The point of a new ending is to "tame" the emotions, not merely vent them in violence and revenge.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Alice
Date: 24 Jun 06 - 07:52 PM

Wow. Found more on that same page.

---------
Sometimes people complain of having disturbing dreams with unpleasant images, despite leading a seemingly peaceful waking life. And so they wonder, "What is my unconscious mind trying to tell me?"

There can be several reasons for such dreams.

First, the dreams could be unconscious advice. Maybe in some way you are betraying yourself, forgetting something, or not fulfilling a potential. For example, persons on the edge of a midlife career change may have dreams about being in school and searching for a missing classroom, or they may find themselves in a class about to take a final exam while realizing that they completely forgot to attend the class all year. Thus the feeling of panic in the dream points to the real feeling of panic in their current life about the failure of their present career.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Alice
Date: 24 Jun 06 - 07:58 PM

I think this dream of the final exam for a class you haven't attended must be extremely common.
We worry about failing.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 24 Jun 06 - 08:33 PM

Heck, I have that dream all the time. Even now, years and years out of school. Usually I want to go to see the teacher of the class I haven't attended only his or her office door is bricked up, or I wander through the building (it's the same as it was when I was in college, not as it is now) and can't find it.

I figure that it's just my unconsious mind working something out. I have other recurring dreams, too.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: freda underhill
Date: 24 Jun 06 - 08:42 PM

Alice

For over 15 years I had occasionaly recurring dreams about an enormous black hairy legged spider leaping down on me from the ceiling while i slept. I would wake up terrified, unable to breathe, and made my ex check the sheets, bed, blankets and room for a spider before going back to sleep. The dreams were very vivid, one time i was so frightened i jumped out of the way, right on top of him, and refused to move. He had to turn around to get me off and sprained his back!!

Strangely, after a while the dream changed and I had three when the spider was in a cupboard drawer looking at me. In the last one, I looked back at it and closed the drawer. I haven't had one now for nearly a decade, and hope that was the last!!

freda

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Alice
Date: 24 Jun 06 - 08:57 PM

My recurring nightmares through like have had several themes.
The first one I can remember from the time before I was 5 years old. I would wake in the morning with the image of an oval, young, pale asian woman's face (I'd never met anyone asian until years later) and as I saw it in my mind's eye, it would age like a time lapse film, turning old and wrinkled. At the same time, I would get this unique taste/smell that went with the image. I was too young to talk about the dream at that time.

Since then it's been the school/exam nightmare.
Nazis executing me after I've tried to hide, but they track me down.
Mafia hit men executing me after I've tried to escape from them.
During my brother's time in VietNam, being in the midst of battles there in my dreams.

The arms of Morpheus can be a scary place indeed.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 24 Jun 06 - 09:08 PM

My mother had a recurring dream for years- of a wizened little man who peered at her from around corners wherever she went. Finally one night she "shot" him, went over and picked him up and he had shrunk to a white handkerchief with a bullet hole in it.

She said she never dreamt about him again.

Alice, your five-years-old dream sounds like a bleedthrough blast-from-the-past.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 24 Jun 06 - 09:34 PM

When I was very young, around six or seven, I'd have a dream in which perspective was out of whack. Close things were small, distant things were large, and even one finger would be larger than its neighbor. Very strange, but eventually it went away.

Fast forward to about 1985 and my eyesight was corrected to a close to 20/20 as possible. And again comes The Dream....

When I was six or seven I started to wear glasses, which corrected my vision as much as was considered possible (I had uncorrected amblyopia and one eye is far stronger than the other -- in fact, I'm both nearsighted and farsighted). When the ophthmalogist asked my in the mid-80s if I'd like to try for near 20/20 correction (and he explained the hazards to me), well, it was back to corrected vision and back to The Dream!

As far as I can tell, in both cases my brain was opening up new pathways for seeing AND for coping with what I was seeing. The brain is a wonderful thing indeed.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Alice
Date: 24 Jun 06 - 09:43 PM

I just made a list of all the forms that need to be filled out in my job, six for each order. I checked off each one DONE, DONE, DONE, and hopefully this will set my brain at ease. I think I'll go over this checklist right before I go to sleep at night and see if it makes the nightmare go away.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 25 Jun 06 - 12:31 AM

The flip side of all of this is that I've had some disturbing, recurring dreams that finally stopped, and I've also had some (now that I think of it) that were fascinating and enjoyable. I've also had major sections of new songs come in dreams. Without That Night, which is the tile of our Gospel Messengers came to me in a dream (which in that case was a nightmare that has never recurred.) I also dream in technicolor (which is apparently uncommon among men.)

My guess is that, as we slowly work out deep-seated problems in our lives, the dreams dry up for lack of anxiety. That's kinda the reverse of psychotherapy where you try to understand your dreams so that you can work things out in your waking life. I notice that I rarely have dreams about getting beaten up any more. One thing that I've done is to go back into dreams immediately after waking and rewrite the ending. I've also gone back into a dream-state seeking additional lines or verses to songs that began in a dream. That's my kinda song writing... Man, I could do that in my sleep..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Alice
Date: 25 Jun 06 - 10:22 AM

The re -written script technique worked!
I wrote down a different, positive ending to my dream, and read it over a few times before I went to sleep. No nightmare!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 25 Jun 06 - 12:50 PM

A waking hours concept... I heard an intersting comparison in the sermon at church this morning (which relates to believers, and non-believers equally.) The comparison was between a thermometer and a thermostat. I must say, I've never reflected at length on the difference between the two, or how it might relate to the way that I want to live my life. The basic difference is between being passive and being active. A thermometer tells you what the temperature is. It's of no use in changing the temperature. It just tells you whether you're comfortable or uncomfortable. A thermostat tells you what the temperature is and allows you to change it. A thermometer is passive and a thermostat is active. I want to be a thermostat.

Turn on the news and it's a thermomometer. It tells you what's going on in the world but rarely gives you any direction as to how you can change it. I know a lot of people who are thermometers, too. They're quick to point out what's wrong with the world (and everyone else in it) but they don't do anything to change it. Or themselves.

Mudcat at it's best has a little bit of thermostat to it. That's what keeps me coming back.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: GUEST,Cookieless Rapaire
Date: 25 Jun 06 - 02:00 PM

No, Jerry. Your own body tells you if you're comfortable or uncomfortable. A thermometer simply tells you that you might find it comfortable or uncomfortable.

For example, I'm comfortable with a long-sleeved shirt in temperatures that cause my wife to wear a coat. A thermometer simply provides data.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 25 Jun 06 - 02:37 PM

You're right, cookieless Rap:

The principle still applies, however...

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 25 Jun 06 - 02:49 PM

Oh, sure. I'm just a pedant, that's all.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 26 Jun 06 - 09:05 AM

When I was walking in the mall the other day, I saw a surly looking young man walking toward me, clutching his crotch. Black t-shirt... pants down to his butt crack. For some reason, I thought that it was funny. When I was a little boy, I'd always hold off until the last minute before going to the bathroom. There was always something far more interesting to do. And I, like so many other little boys, would clutch my (dare I say it?) penis to keep from losing control. When a little boy does that, the Mother always asks dutifully, "Do you have to go to the bathroom?" and little boys invariable release their grip momentarily and say, "No... not me."

Now, it's considered cool for young men to walk around clutching their crotch.

As the young man passed me, I was tempted to ask him "Do you have to go tinkle?," but he was bigger than me and looked like he was already in a nasty mood.

Or maybe I could have said, "They sell Depends (adult diapers) at the pharmacy"...

Some thoughts are better left unspoken. But around a kitchen table, it's alright..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 26 Jun 06 - 11:12 AM

I haven't seen anything to that extent, Jerry, but I suspect that I would be tempted to giggle.

Speaking of low, low trousers, I recently watched a teen run up the street ahead of me, his left hand clutching his pants and lifting them so that he could run. How cool is that!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 26 Jun 06 - 11:46 AM

Then there are the shaved heads. I call it "The Eunuch Look."

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 26 Jun 06 - 11:59 AM

Hey, Ebbie: I came very close to laughing recently too when a young man had to pull his pants up in order to sit down in a chair at a restaurant, and then when he got up, he pulled his pants down. I wonder how they stay up, in honesty. I guess that it's because the young still have waists... :-)

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 26 Jun 06 - 12:24 PM

Yeah, a waist is a terrible thing to mind.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 26 Jun 06 - 12:37 PM

Can you imagine 25 years from now when those guys run slide shows from the past for their families!

Someone said recently that he believes that the eventual - and inevitable - development evolving from today's droopy pants will be thongs, that tomorrow's cool kids wouldn't be seen dead wearing pants!

I just remembered- it was Dana Carvey, the comedian, who said that.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 26 Jun 06 - 05:47 PM

When I was a teenager people groused about the Beatles' long hair, boys not tucking in their shirt tails, and girls piercing their ears and wearing dresses so short their knees showed. I enjoy looking at teenagers and their outfits: kids trying out different identities, trying to be one of the crowd or to distinguish themselves from the mainstream, flaunting newfound sexualities, and all the sundry things adolescents do.

Elmer

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 26 Jun 06 - 05:48 PM

Reminds me of a song I wrote a long time ago, Elmer:

First line:

"You know you're getting old when you start to say
I don't know what's the matter with the kids today."

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 26 Jun 06 - 06:48 PM

Please excuse me, but I have to brag a bit.

About a year or so ago we began discussing how to bring service to areas of the city outside of the library. Bookmobiles were expen$ive,
branches and stations have to be staffed and operated -- not to mention building them! The idea of small trailer, towable by the Library's Subaru station wagon, was conceived.

We discussed how to fund such a project, what it would look like, what
it would do -- and then the community got involved and things moved
quickly.

Rollout was on June 14. The three Rotary Clubs in town, the Portneuf
District Library, and other organizations are partners in the project.
You can see a picture of the Book Trailer at our web site
-- if you click on the picture it takes you to the Book Wagon page.

The Wagon is 8 feet long, 5 feet wide, and is towed by the Library's
Subaru station wagon. It will accomodate about 500 books on the shelves and of course more can be carried inside. Total cost of the project has so far been under US $5,000.00 -- the trailer sales company provided it at their cost and picked up the cost of larger side doors than we originally thought we would have. There is no connection (yet -- we're working on it) to the [library's automation system]; circulation is done by the paper & pencil method. On one side are books from this library and on the other are books from the Portneuf District Library. Both libraries staff the Wagon.

We are taking the Wagon to parks, the farmers' market, and similar
places this Summer; last Saturday it was at Riverfest. When Summer is
over we plan to take it to schools, nursing homes, the Senior Center,
the community recreation center, even up into the neighborhoods. Being small it can visit where a bookmobile can't go -- and it costs far, far less to operate.

Does it work? Well, since June 14, 495 people have visited the Book
Wagon in the parks, at Riverfest, and elsewhere. Seven new patrons have been registered at the Marshall Library. 15 volunteers have told or read stories. 65 children have signed up for the summer reading program.

End of brag time.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Metchosin
Date: 26 Jun 06 - 07:39 PM

Oh Wow! Congratulations Rapaire, what a splendid thing. Some of my best memories of summer as a child are centered around the visit from the Bookmobile.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Alice
Date: 26 Jun 06 - 07:46 PM

Very cool, Rapaire, job well done.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: jimmyt
Date: 26 Jun 06 - 08:02 PM

Good job Rapman! You are thinking outside the box but inside the trailer!   jimmyt ( by the way I am one of the mudcat trumpeters also!)

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 26 Jun 06 - 08:21 PM

Way to go, Rapaire! Congrats and felicitations for spreading around one of the last bastions of the civilized world, not to mention the first amendment. (Now, you ain't packin' heat on the job, are ya?)

Elmer

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 26 Jun 06 - 08:27 PM

When the day comes that I have to go armed to work, I'll quit and take a job shoveling out stables. But I must admit that there have been times....

As far as I know, that Book Wagon is the only one of its kind in the US. Small trailers of books ARE used in Africa, but they are pulled by animals. This has really cool possibilities for small and rural libraries -- and it was used by the Chicago Public Library in 1940. (Horse drawn book wagons were used in Maryland at the turn of the 20th Century, and the public library in Baltimore used one as recently as 1945.)

This might be back to the future -- I've always felt that we can learn a lot from the past that can be adapted to the present.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 26 Jun 06 - 10:24 PM

Coming late to the table (again) I just wanted to add something to the recent discussion of young male fashions.

As you know, the Wall St Journal can always be counted on to grapple with the weighty issues of our times

In that spirit, on 20 June the WSJ had an article on an offshoot of the baggy jeans phenomenon: "Perpetrator Problem: It's Hard To Run Away In Falling Trousers" "Cops Say Baggy Jeans Trip Up Many A Thief"; Hey Dude, Buy A Belt"

My favorite incident:

"Ill-fitting pants aren't suited for jumping either, as Noah Donell Brown of Hendersonville, NC learned. The 24-year-old tried to leap over the counter of a Subway sandwich shop during a robbery attempt, but he stumbled and came crashing down in front of several startled store employees. Mr. Brown, armed with a gun, got up and fled into a nearby residential neighborhood as the police were notified."

"Police didn't have work hard to arrest him. As Mr. Brown tried to scale a picket fence in someone's backyard, he caught his pants, according to the police department. He was found dangling upside down, his pants at his ankles and tangled in the fence."

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 26 Jun 06 - 11:31 PM

Yep, the future definitely will be of thongs. They won't hang up on fences. lol

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 26 Jun 06 - 11:34 PM

Then someone will be able to say, "But officer, you have the thong, man!"

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 27 Jun 06 - 09:24 AM

Hi folks, just catching up on the conversation. I've been away from the table for a few hectic days, celebrated a big birthday last week,Saturday we had a bar b q in the garden for 100 people, the weather was wonderful and Billy and my son and daughter did all the food. I was on strict instructions to stay out of the kitchen! We had 35 family for lunch on Sunday so you can imagine all the catching up talk we had.
I had some wonderful gifts, the best from one of my cousins is 10 days in a fantastic hotel in Galway.. never been to Ireland, always wanted too, how lucky am I?We are planning to go next spring.My cousins wife is from Galway and has 7 brothers all who sing and play instruments, it should be a great holiday.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 27 Jun 06 - 10:16 AM

Sounds like you had a wonderful time, Billybob! And you must have been wiped out, afterwards. When my wife and I had our 5th wedding Anniversary (we're up to 8, now) we had about 80 people at our house. It was great, great day... very joyful. We renewed our wedding vows with our Pastor, and had the house and our marriage blessed by a wonderful Pastor up here where we live. There was a ton of food, and a lot of music. Even though several family members and friends worked very hard, it's impossible to stay out of the kitchen. No one knows where stuff is, and you end up working anyway. At least we did. Byt the time everyone rolled out, we were bleary eyed, but very happy. If we ever celebrate our 5th Anniversary again, we'll do the same thing! On our 10th Anniversary, we'll most likely go on a trip... either a cruise, or another trip overseas.

One thing I was wondering about sitting here at the table is what type of music do you find yourself listening to most often. I realize that this is a folk (and very secondarily blues) site, but that doesn't necessarily mean that folk music is primarily what everyone on here listens to. Funny thing is, I much mostly enjoy playing folk, by myself and with other musicians, or listening to it "live." I find that in recent years I rarely listen to folk music on records, cassettes or tapes, even though I have a large collection. As far as listening goes, jazz is on my "turntable" most frequently, followed by rhythm and blues and soul music, and then rock, blues, reggae and gospel (mostly the old stuff.) There are some country singers or groups I listen to on occasion, as well as some classical music, and folk, but they don't receive as much air time.

What about the rest of yuz?

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Alice
Date: 27 Jun 06 - 10:46 AM

Lately I've only been listening to music on the car radio. It's contemporary pop. A loop of the top stuff currently on the charts - my window into the current world of 21st century US culture. I think I burned out on listening to my own music collection.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 27 Jun 06 - 12:32 PM

At this moment I'm listening to a CD of my 'own'. My singing partner and I have been recording some songs that I will then put on a CD and send to our old singing partner who retired to Spokane, Washington, so he can play along with us. It's great fun and sometimes we are even pleased with what we hear through our headphones!

In about an hour today a musician friend will pick me up to go spend the day high above the town. He and his family in the summertime play for the tourists in the restaurant or gift shop at the timberline, reached by tram.

I'll be doing the recording of them today, and later make a promotional CD for them.

This is a talented family (fiddle, mandolin, upright bass, guitar that are passed around among them, and vocals) that consists of the parents and three kids, the oldest almost 15, the youngest 8.

This fall Paul is taking a three-month leave of absence from his work (he is a park ranger) and they plan to take their family across the country in an RV and playing gigs wherever they find them. They put on a good show. I'll let everyone know if they come into your area!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 28 Jun 06 - 07:41 AM

I suppose everyone also listens to different kinds of music, depending on their mood. That's why it's a blessing to enjoy a variety of music. Sometimes I'm not in a banjo and fiddle mood. I need a wailing, or soulful sax. I also listen to different kinds of music at different times of day (with some glaring exceptions.)

When I was younger, I spent a lot of time late at night, listening to music with the lights off. If I try that now, I fall asleep. :-)

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 28 Jun 06 - 11:23 AM

Although I love a variety of music, there are a few albums I listen to over and over again, like bedtime stories that children never tire of hearing: "Kind of Blue" by Miles Davis, "Ella Fitzgerald Sings George and Ira Gershwin" with the Nelson Riddle orchestra, "Otis Redding Blue," "Susannah McCorkle Sings Johnny Mercer," and various Chicago blues artists from the blues revival of the 1960s.
Soothes my nerves. : > )

Elmer

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 28 Jun 06 - 12:24 PM

The two albums that do that for me, Elmer, are Brazilliance by Laurindo Almeida and Bud Shank, and Something Cool by June Christy.

I here from a reliable source that when Bugs Bunny wants to chill out late at night down in his hole, his favorite album is Spike Jones: For Music Lovers.

No wonder your nerves get Fwazzled!

Jerry Elmer

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 28 Jun 06 - 11:45 PM

Well, Jerry, as you might imagine, I'm all over the map on this one.

When I get up these days, I'm throwing on an old Prairie Home Companion tape (not that old--recorded off the radio this year).

Not only does it have "Early"--a song I've loved for years, and meant to learn--and now, thanks to this morning routine, have done so--but it also has a skit spoofing both Democrats and Republicans--and a bunch of other things.

"Lives of the Cowboys"--Dusty and Lefty come into Vermillion, South Dakota, and go into the Democratic saloon. Among other things, Lefty sings to the waitress (while she is filling out a form so he can flirt with her--(no flirting unless the person you want to flirt with has given her permission in advance and in writing). So Lefty is singing "Treasures Untold",-- (another song I've meant to learn for years--and so have just learned.) Anyway, a man-- "I'm a Democrat, I'm here to help"--comes up, takes the lyrics sheet, and pushes for changes in the lyrics to the song.

Instead of "And since I've met you just now/ I'll tell you of my love somehow"--("now that's a weak line", he says---he plumps for "And now that you're here by my side/ I can tell you I'm sure gratified" or "Since you are in my vicinity/ I appreciate your femininity." "Now, that's much better", he says.

And Lefty pulls out a pistol--"Don't ever change a writer's work without his permission"--and has to leave the saloon, of course. So he goes to the Republican saloon right across the street. In that saloon, in addition to Rush Limbaugh railing against the "Hillary crowd", and a life-size statue of Ann Coulter--"Hi sailor, I'm Ann,--wanna dance?" there is a jukebox--but the only song on it is Mr. Bush singing "My Way"

"And now the end is near--some folks are seeking my removal"
"We're midway through an election year--with 33% approval"
"I've done the best I could to stay on the Right side of the highway"
"But I'm poplar in South Dakota--that's up near I-o-way."

And Lefty's drink in that saloon sends him into a dream where, among other things, there's a pair of ducks singing Jimi Hendrix--(Purple Haze) (with appropriate duck imitation by the sound-effects man).

Humor and music--perfect to get me going off to work in the morning.

I don't want to ramble on forever--so I'll wait to talk about other music I'm listening to other times of the day.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 29 Jun 06 - 01:05 AM

Jerry, speaking of Spike Jones, there is a recording he made during WW II called "Der Fuhrer's Face" in which the sputtering voice of Donald Duck is the voice of Hitler. I used to play it as a teaching aid in a history class.

I wrote to Disney Studios' public relations department on my school's letterhead stationary because I heard there was a Donald Duck cartoon that accompanied it. I was hoping they'd donate a copy to the school. Instead, a received a letter from their legal department written in legalese about how the recording was not representative of Disney's image because it could be construed to mock Germans, and forbidding me to play it in any public setting or else get sued!

Sheesh! Talk about the mouse that roared...

Elmer

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 29 Jun 06 - 07:37 AM

Hey, Elmer:

Your story reminds me of a close encounter that I had with D.C. comics. When I did my second album for Folk Legacy, we did a split photo cover of me in a suit, carrying an attache case stepping in to a phone booth, and standing on the other side of the booth with jeans, a flannel shirt and holding a guitar. The Title of the Album is "The Secret Life Of Jerry Rasmussen" (recently released on CD.) When my sons were young, they were very much into collecting comic books, and I collected some older ones myself, just to share the time with them. I have an old Superman comic and the cover is a photo of Superman sweating bullets, while changing in a phone booth (he'd get arrest for indecent exposure these days) with a shadowy figure in the corner of the drawing. The caption was "Who is the one man Superman is afraid of?" I thought it would be a great image on the booklet that Folk Legacy used to do with their albums and requested using it. I got a chilly, almost threatening letter back from DC denying approval, saying that "Here at DC, we are very protective of Superman." Wadda wimp! It wasn't like I was going to include a free piece of Kryptonite in each album.

I remember In The Fuhrer's Face well. Sheesh!!!!!!! Donald is hardly P.C. He's got the most explosive temper of any cartoon character, which was the funniest thing about him.

I bet Donald could beat the crap outta that wimp Superman!

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 29 Jun 06 - 07:47 AM

Donald loses whenever he really loses his temper.

But yeah, political correctness has been carried to extremes and I include taking offense over historical issues. I'm of German ancestry and I've never been offended by "Der Fuehrer's Face" and neither were my parents or grandparents OR my uncles who fought against Japan and Germany in WW2. But then, being really super careful about possibly perhaps offending anyone anywhere maybe keeps corporate lawyers employed, off the streets, and out of both politics and trouble.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: GUEST
Date: 29 Jun 06 - 12:30 PM

Jerry Rasmussen wrote:

"I suppose everyone also listens to different kinds of music, depending on their mood. That's why it's a blessing to enjoy a variety of music. Sometimes I'm not in a banjo and fiddle mood. I need a wailing, or soulful sax. I also listen to different kinds of music at different times of day (with some glaring exceptions.)"

I feel the same way, Jerry, and so does Chris Wall in my favourite country song:

I FEEL LIKE HANK WILLIAMS TONIGHT
(Chris Wall)



Well, I could live my whole life, without a phone call
The likes of which I got today.
It was only my wife, said "hello" then "goodbye".
And told me she's going away.

Well I didn't cry, It was all cut and dried.
I hung up before I realized.
Turned up my stereo, I walked to the window,
Stared at the storm clouds outside.

Chorus:
I play classical music when it rains,
I play country when I am in pain.
But I won't play Beethoven, the mood's just not right –
Oh, I feel like Hank Williams tonight.

There was no explanation, not even a reason,
No talk of the good times we'd had.
Was it me, was it her, I don't know for sure,
And that's why I'm feeling so bad.

Chorus:
I play jazz when I am confused,
I play country whenever I lose.
Bird's saxaphone, it just don't seem right
No, I feel like Hank Williams toight.

Lately I've been thinkin', I just might quit drinkin'.
Now I don't know after all.
I just might stay home, get drunk all alone,
And punch a few holes in the wall.

Chorus:
But when I'm rel high I play rock'n'roll,
I play country when I'm losing control.
I don't play Chuck Berry quite as much as I'd like,
But I feel like Hank Williams tonight,
I just feel like Hank Williams tonight.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 29 Jun 06 - 12:47 PM

A great song, Guest! All those moods and associated music keep me going. (Although I must admit that I never seem to be in a mood to listen to Beethoven anymore.)

And then there's music when I'm driving my car. Acid Rock and Heavy Metal? Naaaaah. There's enough frustration on the road without adding to it..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 29 Jun 06 - 12:48 PM

Post 777... hey what about that?

Beats Hell out of 666... which I also did.

Save 888 for me..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 29 Jun 06 - 09:22 PM

Hear hear, Jerry. Much more auspicious than the 666th post. While we are on the subject of sequential numbering (gee, are we on that subject?) my stream-of-consciousness hath taken me to my very favorite winner of the Bullwer-Lytton bad fiction contest for the worst opening sentence of a hypothetical novel:

She wasn't really my type, a hard-looking but untalented reporter from the local cat box liner, but the first second that the third-rate representative of the fourth estate cracked open a new fifth of old Scotch, my sixth sense said seventh heaven was as close as an eighth note from Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, so, nervous as a tenth grader drowning in eleventh-hour cramming for a physics exam, I swept her into my longing arms, and, humming "The Twelfth of Never," I got lucky on Friday the thirteenth.

--Wm. W. "Buddy" Ocheltree, Port Townsend, Washington (1993 grand prize winner)

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 29 Jun 06 - 11:26 PM

Here I am, late as usual--but I just wanted to add something to a recent important topic I feel has not been explored sufficiently--Donald Duck.   I always identified with Donald--in the Mickey Mouse Club show when he would cover his ears with cymbals to avoid hearing everybody else yell out "Mickey Mouse". (I suppose it's partly since we had cats--and I always thought they got a bad rap in most cartoons--and were always the butt of the joke--while the insufferably goody-two -shoes mice always won) (especially Mighty Mouse and Mickey Mouse).

Also there were some great Donald Duck cartoons during World War II--I just got a bunch of cartoons on DVD. One of my favorites has to do with Donald at the draft board physical. They hold up a red card labelled "Red" and ask Donald what color it is. He says "Red". So they hold up a blue card, labelled "Blue" and ask him the color. "Green" says Donald. "Close enough" says the draft board examiner.

After tomorrow I'll be gone for a week. We'll have a house-sitter--and maybe I can persuade her to sit down at the table. She's a talented musician.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 30 Jun 06 - 08:49 AM

When I got home from Ne's Chorus practice last night, my nerves were as fwazzled as poot Elmer's after a long day of hunting Bugs. And then it hit me. No, I didn't say "I could have had a V-8." I thought, why be fwazzled when I can have Something Cool. And no, I didn't go to the refrigerator. I pulled out my CD of Something Cool by June Christy. And it did the trick. My nerves were completely unfwazzled in no time.

An interesting side note. When the re-issued the album they added a lot of songs. Some were singles that had never been on an album and some were tracks from other albums. I know that it's a good sales gimmick and I liked most of the songs that they added. But, the intermixed them with the songs on the original album which was more or less of a "concept" album. It's like taking Frank Sinatra's In The Wee Small Hours Of The Morning album, which was a classic of programming and sticking in a samba or two. Something Cool is just that... late night, reflective and lightly swinging songs that create a special atmosphere. So, sometime this weekend, I'm going to burn a CD with the tracks from the original album first, just to recover the mood, and then add the additional tracks they've included that fit the mood.

When I look through my albums I find that most of them have a few tracks I really love, and usually at least as many that I don't like.
It's a rare album where I love it as a whole piece. I'd probably have to scratch my head to come up with a half a dozen that have the consistency to make them a uniformly enjoyable listen. The other album I mentioned, Brazilliance is one. There are probably a few others for me. Not that they'd be necessarily that way for you.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 30 Jun 06 - 09:04 AM

Oh, and another thing...

I suppose that we all have strong associations with certain albums and that emotion comes rushing back with the first notes of a song.
I'm talking about something different than straight nostalgia... listening to Chuck Berry while washing your car and remembering the first time that you heared Maybelline. It's more the remembernace of a mood, or a time in your life where everything was opening up, or you were feeling lost... whatever the emotion, it has become a part of the music.

For example, I remember the album Something Cool from my early 20's when I felt totally lost. It seemed like everyone else had their act together and I was just faking it. I didn't know who I was or where I was going in those days and it was hard trying to pass for a confident young man. At night, when I put a few special albums on like Something Cool, or a Gerry Mulligan record and turned off the lights I could somehow just be myself and feel good about it. Life is never "figured out," and that's alright. The album transports me back to that state, and I am thankful for how my life has unfolded.
Life has turned out to be alright.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 01 Jul 06 - 11:23 AM

NO, THIS THREAD WILL NOT GO GENTLE INTO THAT GOOD NIGHT!!!

Friendly conversation will make things all right.



(See you when I get back). There'll be a house-sitter at my place.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 01 Jul 06 - 11:25 AM

And other people dropping in, no doubt.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 01 Jul 06 - 12:19 PM

Catch you when you get back, Ron:

I ain't going nowhere. And I know That the e-team (Ebbie and Elmer) will stop in from time to time, too. And, there's nothing wrong with putting on some music, getting a mug of coffee and sitting at the table alone.

I also expect that jimmyt is lurking, waiting until we get to post 800..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 01 Jul 06 - 01:33 PM

I'm not lurkin', just workin'. So many subjects, so little time.

Ron, about that ol' Donald Duck: His voice and bad temper used to scare me when I was little. Mighty Mouse is a character out of the Twilight Zone--I wonder what archeologists studying our era a thousand years from now will make of him. But I did love the times when he would try to whip the mouse masses into action by yelling, "Are we men or are we mice?" and they'd all yell back, "MICE!"

Jerry: I don't remember the first time I heard "Maybelline," but I definitely remember the first time I heard Chuck Berry's "Nadine." I was about 14, and crammed into the back of a station wagon with a group of people joining Cesar Chavez's picket lines for a week in the California grape fields. A woman sang "Nadine" in a beautiful, slow, plaintive manner, evoking a man wistfully longing for a woman ever beyond his reach. I was surprised at the faster tempo in which Berry sang it when I eventually heard the original version on the radio.

Elmer

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Alice
Date: 01 Jul 06 - 02:15 PM

Carole King's Tapestry (which of course everyone in the world owns) reminds me of the summer of 1971. I was living alone and spent lonely days while my boyfriend at the time had gone back home to Chicago. I played it over and over, and now when I hear it, it still brings a hurtful memory. "Doesn't anybody stay in one place anymore, it would be so fine to see your face at my door..." I would wait every day for the mail hoping I would get a letter from him.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 01 Jul 06 - 04:33 PM

Hey, Alice:

Carol King's Tapestry is one of those unusual albums that has an emotional wholeness to it. Like a couple of albums that I've mentioned. Compiling Greatest Hits albums often destroys that wholeness. Somehow, it breaks the spell.

I just put together a June Christy CD for myself and to share with friends, and even though I included wonderful cuts from other albums in addition to Something Cool, I included every track from Something Cool and put them together as a body. The additional tracks that I selected kept the mood of the original album..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Carly
Date: 01 Jul 06 - 05:13 PM

I'm splashing around and jumping up and down in a water aerobics class last week when the music changes to Simon and Garfunckel's "Mrs. Robinson," and suddenly in my head I'm back in my dorm room, singing along with the album. That would have been fine, but suddenly the woman next to me in the pool says, "How do you manage to sing and exercize at the same time?!" Now half the class waits for me to burst into song every session. They say they like it; it amuses them that I know all the words! If I drown you'll know the real story...

Carly

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 01 Jul 06 - 06:42 PM

Thanks for dropping by, Carly:

It's funny to see how the music that sounded so new and fresh when we were younger now pervades our commercials and excercise programs.

Too bad I won't be around to watch folks get all teary eyed about the stuff that's popular today..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 02 Jul 06 - 06:35 PM

ANybody seen Jimmy on other threads recently? We're getting dangerously close to 800 posts. I know how heartbroken he will be if he doesn't make it.. :-)



It's been a nice, uncommonly quiet weekend here. I did have practice with one of the Men's Choruses that I sing in, Saturday morning. We're in final preparation for our Anniversary concert this coming Friday. But today was a breather. Time to catch one last large breath before plunging into the rest of this week. I have practice on Monday and Thursday nights, the concert on Friday night, the Men's Day picnic on Saturday (for which I have no greater responsiblity than eating) and then singing at the Sunday service. I think it's only fair that, with Ron gone I post a dizzying schedule of singing. Unlike Ron though, I don't have anything scheduled until our Church and Street Harmonies workshop in the fall, with the a capella doo wop group and the Messengers. And I hate to think of that as work..

Hope you all had a good weekend...

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 02 Jul 06 - 09:25 PM

The music that we enjoyed in younger days is now commercials?!?!! "Cops of the World"? "Lyndon Johnson Told The Nation"? "We Didn't Know"? "Don't Bogart That Joint"? "Bottle of Wine"? "Love Me I'm A Liberal"? "There But For Fortune"? "How Can I Keep From Singing"? "The Great Mandela"? "Bastard King of England"? "Roll Me Over In The Clover"? et al.?

Nah, I can't see most of the songs I enjoyed in my younger days EVER being made into a commercial.

On a more serious topic, my Father-in-Law died today at 90 years of age. A veteran of Normandy (D+21, I think it was) and the Bulge, he'd been hospitalized for 28 days at Holy Cross Hospital in Silver Spring, MD. My wife's on the way out now, I'll be going out later when more is known. The funeral will be the end of the week, probably; the burial in Arlington will be in a month or more -- I understand that's the backup now.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 02 Jul 06 - 09:44 PM

Real sorry to hear that news, Rap: When Ruth and I were in Europe we visited some of the famous battle fields in Normandy. It was a sobering experience.

And then to think a Rockefeller had the gall to name one of their sons Normal D.

Well, yeah, Rap: I can think of some of the songs I liked when I was younger that will never be made into commercials, but there are plenty that have been.

You say you want a Revolution? Who ever woulda thunk..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 02 Jul 06 - 09:49 PM

Whoops: Norman D. Or was It Norman D. Rockwell..

It's late at night and my brain is fried.

Another song that will never become a commercial..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 03 Jul 06 - 01:24 PM

Tomorrow is the 4th of July. From what I understand, it's not celebrated in England. Funny thing. Come to think of it, if we hadn't won the war here in America, we'd be English, and Bush would be rustling cattle and selling them to illegal immigrants down in Texas. And tomorrow would just be another day. We'd wander down to the local pub, quaff a few with the lads and sing some rousing songs. Maybe even with arms akimbo.

And there wouldn't be Walmart or McDonald's.

This is more complicated than I thought... :-(

Would my name have to be Jerome?

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 03 Jul 06 - 01:55 PM

Hieronymo. Or maybe Geronimo. As TS Eliot wrote, "Hieronymo's mad againe."

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 03 Jul 06 - 03:14 PM

I've got you now, you wascally wabbit!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 03 Jul 06 - 03:14 PM

You can't get away this time!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 03 Jul 06 - 03:15 PM

Don't try to get away from me now, you wascal you, you, you...........

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 03 Jul 06 - 03:34 PM

It would appear that 'Norman' Rockefeller was a cousin of John D's. Jerry. He was the son of Godfrey who was the son of William who, I think was John D. Rockefeller, Senior's, brother. (I got tired after awhile and stopped.)

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 04 Jul 06 - 11:44 AM

Ehh, what's up, Doc?

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 04 Jul 06 - 08:43 PM

It's 8:30 at night (not that I have to tell you that,) and it's been a long, leisurely, thoroughly (mostly) enjoyable day. I just made myself a hot mug of coffee and thought that I'd sit down here at the table a few minutes. I guess the thing that I'm most thankful for tonight is that I didn't let a lot of dumb stuff weigh me down so much that I couldn't enjoy the good stuff. Wisdom according to the Three Stooges. I've been working on a project which I could normally do in a couple of hours, that's spun almost completely out of control because so many competence-challenged people have interferred. One of the great abilities of life is to be able to "set things aside." I'm not all that great at it, but once in awhile I do manage to keep my focus on all the wonderful things that are happening in my life, while "S**t Happens." If you don't do that, all these great times go slipping away, almost without notice:

"How many good times are taken for granted, and only remembered when they've passed away?"

Today I've been able to set the stoopid stuff aside and enjoy my son and daughter-in law and my wife. I could look around me at our home, and our small deck and back yard and believe that no one is as blessed as I am.

Chalk up one day when the good times were not taken for granted.

And now, back to more serious things... my mug of coffee that is sitting patiently, waiting for me.

Hope you all had a good weekend. Even if for some of us it came on a Tuesday.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 05 Jul 06 - 09:13 AM

Hi everyone
popped by to say hope you all had a good July 4th. No we do not celebrate it here in the Uk but Billy and I always meet up with an old family friend who lived in NJ for some years and is now back in the UK with his wife from San Fransisco. We had a bar b q and talked till very late last night.The weather is very hot and humid but we sat by the pool and finished a bottle of champagne and toasted you all over there.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Alice
Date: 05 Jul 06 - 09:27 AM

It was a weird 4th for me, mainly because I had to deal with a barking/shaking dog reacting to constant booming fireworks. The neighbors for blocks around me really went at the noisemakers this year, starting on Sunday. Didn't sleep much Monday night or last night because my dog was barking every time a boom went off. I put a soft muzzle on him last night, but that didn't completely stop it. The fairgrounds is only about a mile from my house, and that is where the main city fireworks were held. Windows rattling, dog barking, went on til about midnight or later.
Sometimes I have a pot luck party at my house for the 4th, but this year I spent it alone. Worked some on paperwork for my job and generally felt exhausted from sleep deprivation.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: *daylia*
Date: 05 Jul 06 - 09:41 AM

Yesterday we celebrated both Canada Day and Independence Day by seeing 'Superman Returns' at the IMAX theatre in Toronto. Really enjoyed it! The Man of Steel has turned to be quite the indestructable 'Canamerican' creation, ever since 1933 when DC Comics lucked out on the talents of Canadian artist Joe Shuster and American writer Jerry Siegal.

I was impressed with the latest re-make of that story, not only because of the technological wonders of the (3-D) IMAX theater (amazing - you DO really feel like you are part of the action!) but by the enduring nature of human "male hero" myths.

I found the not-too-subtle images of Jesus used in the portrayal of Superman a bit lame (ie sacrificing his life to save us all, falling back to earth in 'crucifixion' pose after the heroic deed was done etc). And I noticed shades of Hercules too (the 'man-god' demoted to earthly existence and raised by an older, human 'foster couple') -- and even of Atlantis (the legend of a doomed continent/civilization whose technology was based on exploiting the power of crystals - like the story of the planet Krypton).

Anyway, just a couple heroic breakfast-table observations. Thanks for listening!

daylia

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 05 Jul 06 - 11:28 AM

How nice of you all to stop by. Today is a beautiful, rainy day. Nothing on the schedule except to enjoy being married to a beautiful woman, and enjoying the day together.

I'll take it...

Maybe the jazz CD I ordered from Japan will arrive today. It will replace a long worn out album from the 50's which I haven't listened to in ages. It would be a great day to listen to those songs again.
And then complete two more jazz piano CDs that I have laid out.

As the song says, "I love A Rainy Day."

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 05 Jul 06 - 12:17 PM

Alice, I once had a dog who was terrified by the sound of fireworks. Nothing could soothe his fears. He would hide under the covers in our bed and tremble and whimper for the entire night on July 4th and New Year's Eve. If I could do it over again, I would have had him sedated on those two evenings because it was miserable for him and us too.

This was my first July 4th alone. I have always loved having time to myself and found solitude to offer breathing room for creativity and contemplation. But somehow, when it becomes a constant and involuntary condition, its wide-open spaces can morph into small, dark corners once in a while. "Family" holidays can trigger that. So, sad to say, on a personal level I am glad this one is over.

Elmer

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 05 Jul 06 - 12:40 PM

Yeah, Elmer: Sometimes good memories hurt.

I know all about that...

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 05 Jul 06 - 01:12 PM

{{{{{hugs}}}}}

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Alice
Date: 06 Jul 06 - 12:23 AM

Sedation for pets scared by fireworks was really covered by our local news a lot this year. It was on every tv news cast for several days leading up to the 4th. It definitely is a problem with all the legal fireworks in town and the "big one" the city does late at night. They also suggested putting pets in the basement where the sound would be more muffled. It certainly is painful for them to suffer through.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 07 Jul 06 - 09:54 AM

Allright out there, you dogs can relax now. All is quiet heading into a busy weekend around here. Tonight is the 29th Anniversary concert of one of the Men's Choruses that I sing in, tomorrow REuth and I go to the Men's Day picnic and I sing with the Men's Chorus on Sunday. Then it's vacation time!!!!!!!! Whoopee!!!!!!!!!!! You'd think that being retired is a permanent vacation and I suppose that it is if you chose to make it that way. I know many people though who retire for a few months and start to go crazy because they are bored. Boredom is something I've heard about buy never personally experiences. No need for me to take a part-time job at Walmart just to get out of the house. Too many interesting things to do. More than a lifetimes' worth.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 08 Jul 06 - 08:39 AM

Slow days at the table. Ron is gone, Elmer's off hunting, jimmyt's off the map.. but I'll keep the kettle on and see if anyone comes back.

Last night the primary Male Chorus I sing in did our 29th Anniversary concert. It was a great night... a reward for several weeks of practicing three times a week. It's a push for me, as it's almost an hour's drive each way. But it all seemed worth it, last night.

Now, I gotta get some rest.

As I say, I'll keep the kettle on and the thread open until someone stops by. Slow days are part of the natural flow of things. They have their value, too.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Alice
Date: 08 Jul 06 - 10:06 AM

Jerry, we just had an international choir festival in Montana, held in Missoula. I saw/heard some of the singing on our local PBS station. The South Korean choir in particular was stunning.   Here is a link to the list of choirs participating from around the world, Australia, Wales, Estonia, India and more.
http://www.choralfestival.org/2006/schedule.html
Read the About Us history of the festival.... choruses from all over the US and world. Maybe you should contact them about your chorus!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 08 Jul 06 - 11:38 AM

Sounds fantastic, Alice: Only in Missoula. I've been in Missoula, ny the way. Many years ago, when I was in college studying geology. We went on a field trip out west. Two years ago, my wife and I were in Montana long enough to take a picture to prove that my wife was there. We were on our way out to Yellowstone and took a side trip just to go into Montana briefly. It's a beautiful state.
And all them choirs? That must be exciting!

The thing that I like about the Men's Chorus (Choruses) I'm in is that we don't sing from sheet music. Push comes to shove, we can do it... and did sing two "arranged" gospel hymns last night. But, 95% of the songs that we sing we learn by ear. I like the freedom of being able to sing without looking at a sheet of paper. Everyone to their own tastes, and singing without music limits the complexity of the arrangements. But then, we are not a Chorale. If we were, I guess we'd just be the O.K. Chorale.

Couldn't resist...

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 08 Jul 06 - 11:48 AM

ooooh, Jerry. But good. :)

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Alice
Date: 08 Jul 06 - 01:15 PM

The PBS program about the festival showed a group informally singing outside. I think it was footage from a previous festival. They were from a country in Africa, I think, and sang their national anthem. It was cool.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Alice
Date: 08 Jul 06 - 07:33 PM

It was a men's choral group from Angola singing the Angola national anthem. Got to see a rerun of the progam this afternoon, documenting the 2003 festival. Click here

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 09 Jul 06 - 01:41 PM

Hi all,

Back from the beach--early. More on that later.

Great to see the old diner is still open.


Alice--

International choir festival--sounds great. As an enthusiastic choir singer as long as I can remember I'd love to see and hear it. And in Montana! A big plus. That may mean I can entice Jan to come too. She's not really happy, to be honest, about the pattern she sees--the accusation-- ( based purely on circumstantial evidence with no basis in fact--just a long track record)-- is that we never go anywhere unless music can be involved.

What she really wants to do is visit Glacier National Park--and I'm up for that too. What about distances? Is it practical to try to do both? Unfortunately I don't have unlimited leave--and she's even more conscientious about taking time off from her job.




Re: pets and the 4th. In a nutshell, that's why I'm home early. One of our 3 cats is really really skittish about loud noises. This 4th I understand there were both fireworks and an impressive thunderstorm. I had a housesitter for our trip--the niece of a co-worker.   She has a wonderful voice, and is an excellent pianist--(and hasn't yet started in the work world--needed some cash)--so of course she'd be a perfect housesitter. That's my logic--I suppose. And it's just possible that I should have considered other factors. Don't worry--Jan has already read me the riot act on this.

Well, anyway, our housesitter had no idea if Avery and Fern had been seen since the 4th or not. That's a problem.

So I had to come home early and find out the story. I really lucked out--when I got there Lucy was in a chair on the front porch, Avery was already inside, and Fern--the real concern--just came up around the bushes to the front door as I walked up to it. Maybe she recognized the car's motor--Lucy sure does.

So--auf Deutsch--Ende gut, alles gut--all's well that ends well.

And truth be told, I'm REAL glad to be home.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 09 Jul 06 - 04:45 PM

Welcome back, Ron: Nice to have you stop by. I'm shredded today after four straight days of celebrating our Men's Chorus 29th Anniversary. But it was worth it..

Yeah, Glacier National Park would be very exciting to visit. I've seen most of the Plains states and the Rockies but never quite got up that far North.

Glad your kitties are fine. They do like to instill insecurity in their owners. And then when you come back they usually feign indifference.. :-)

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 09 Jul 06 - 05:24 PM

Hey Jerry, hope you get the time to tell us about the 29th anniversary celebrations--lots of concerts? Reunions? Stories?

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 09 Jul 06 - 10:27 PM

Hey, Ron:

Let me tell you a little about the Men's Chorus I sing in, and our 29th Anniversary.

The first time I heard the Union Baptist Chorus sing I was blown away by their power and their sincerity. Like many of the Men's Choruses in black churches, very few of the singers read music, and far fewer are musicians. Even fewer still have ever sung in a choir.
Our Choir Director plays what I kiddingly (and appreciatively call) Store front church piano... the kind of piano you'd expect to hear walking by a small store front black church. It's very rhythmic and simple. Dan is not a highly trained musician... he was a High School Assistant Principal until he retired.

We learn the songs a part at a time, slowly building them together. Before we even sing the song, Dan has us read the lyrics together out loud. He wants us to absorb the meaning of the song, because in gospel, if you're not singing the meaning (in a church setting) then you're just doing it for show, and you'd best not do it at all. (I'm not talking about non-believers singing along on gospel because they like the music... that's fine and Dan and I would not have a problem with it.) Through time, Dan has helped to train the ear of the men, most of who have never sung in a group. He will play a chord on the piano and then ask each section of the Chorus to sing their note. It's a wonderful way to train the ear of someone who is not a natural singer. Some of the guys never learn to hear harmony, but many do come to hear it after awhile. On the rare occasion when we sing from sheet music, he will walk us through each part, repeatedly teaching us the value of the different shapes of notes, rests, etc. We're still not good sight readers (I am a little ahead of some but I am not a trained musician, either.) But, we eventually have learned some more sophisticated choral arrangements through a combination of our somewhat limited sight reading, and learning our harmonies by ear.

We learned 8 new songs (which is a lot) and sang five others that we'd sung before, for the concert. We had a guest performer.. a friend of Dan's from his High School Days, who is white, plays an acoustic Martin and sounds earily like Elvis doing gospel. At the concert Friday night, he did Peace In The Valley, and we were the Jordanaires..

After the program was over, I was asked to make a few closing remarks, as I chaired the program. I had thought a lot about what I wanted to say and I ended up putting it very simply. I said that the commitment of the men in the chorus is to "live what we sing."
And I'd have to say that's a true evaluation of the men, and of our Director. Because we learn most of our songs by ear and don't sing with sheet music or lyric sheets, the lyrics become a part of who we are. I often find myself singing a line of one of the songs we do, when I'm feeling overwhelmed or confused..

"The battle is not yours but mine, said the Lord."
"I don't believe he brought me this far to leave me."
"Have I given anything today? Have I helped some needy soul on my way?"

And countless others.

I have no desire to make this thread about religion, and I respect my friends who stop by and don't share my beliefs. But, I can't separate what I believe from how I live. If I could, I wouldn't be living what I sing.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: jimmyt
Date: 10 Jul 06 - 08:34 PM

Every day you get up and decide whether you are gonna have a good day or a bad day. The rest is just random. Your day is totally within your power. jimmyt

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Alice
Date: 10 Jul 06 - 08:57 PM

Ron, the festival is held in Missoula, which is near Glacier National Park.
The web site says it is held this year July 12-16. I think it is held every three years.
HURRY You might miss it!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 10 Jul 06 - 10:39 PM

Welcome back, Jimmy. There is a lot of truth in what you say. Looking at it another way, to a great extent we get the life we perceive. The same experience can happen to two different people and one will only be able to see the negative side, while the other will be able to see the good, even in a "bad" day.

A long time ago, I started collecting little "Credos" that people I've known live by. They say a lot about the kind of life they end up having. I came across one yesterday from a woman I worked with and with whom I had countless lengthy conversations: "People who can forgive themselves aren't very deep."

Guess what kind of a life she had?

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 10 Jul 06 - 10:47 PM

I've been looking through old correspondence and came across this. I just wanted to share it with everyone. I ended up using sections of this as a Christmas card one year:

LOVE THEM ANYWAY
Author Bishop Muzorewa :Former President of Zimbabwe

People are unreasonable, illogical and self-centered.
   Love them anyway.
If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives.
   Do good anyway.
If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies.
   Succeed anyway.
The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow
   Do good anyway.
Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable.
   Be honest and frank anyway.
The biggest men with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest folks with the smallest minds.
   Think big anyway.
People favor underdogs but follow only top dogs.
   Fight for some underdog anyway.
What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight.
   Build anyway.
People really need help but may attack you if you help them.
   Help people anyway.
Give th world the best you have and you'll get kicked in the teeth.
   Give the world the best you've got anyway.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 10 Jul 06 - 10:56 PM

On the other hand, Jerry, I read that the secret to a happy old age is a bad mamory. :)

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 11 Jul 06 - 11:55 AM

Hey, Jimmy:

This morning, I was looking at this day and found myself getting more and more irritable. Which made me think of your comment about being in control of whether we have a good or bad day. So, I made an attitude adjustment. Everything else about today is exactly the same... same problems and irritations. But my day is very different. I started to focus on all that I have to be thankful for and the beauty of the day, and this is turning out to be a good day. At least not bad for bad. All it took was an attitude adjustment.

And the best attitude is gratitude. Or is that a platitude, Dude?

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 11 Jul 06 - 11:26 PM

OK, Jerry and everybody, I have a question I hope you can help with.

As you know, my housesitter didn't really do a sterling job--couldn't even tell us which of our cats had been seen in days. So I had to come home early. But it didn't really bother me. And I still love to hear her play the piano and sing.

But now--Jan is so annoyed at her she says she never wants to see her again--i.e. she will never be welcome in the house if Jan is there.

So what--if anything--can I do about it.? As far as I'm concerned the more friends the better. And it's self-defeating to cut yourself off from somebody--without really good cause---especially a talented musician. (OK so I'm not an unbiased observer here.)

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 11 Jul 06 - 11:36 PM

Hey, Ron:

Sometimes you just have to let things sit. It brings to mind a line from a song that I wrote (don't even remember the song anymore..)

Somebody told me that Time was my friend.

It may not help that you really enjoy listening to your house-sitter sing and play piano. I'd probably stay away from that statement for awhile, too.

Give Jan some time to loosen up a little and put things in perspective. I hope that she does. It sounds like your house-sitter is a friend you don't want to lose. And it definitely doesn't sound good when Jan says she doesn't want the sitter in the house while she's there. Might even be worse if your house sitter came and the two of you enjoyed music together when Jan was gone.

My major caveat is that I have messed my life up grandly, many times. I am no one to give advice. But seein's as how you asked, I didn't want the request to be ignored..

I hope that things will level out and you and Jan can enjoy the company of your house sitter together.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 11 Jul 06 - 11:54 PM

Jerry-


"worse if you two enjoyed music while Jan was gone". BINGO. Jan always tends to read into my enthusiasm for musicians more than is there. But my music addiction was there long before I ever met Jan--and she knows it. Every symptom of addiction is there: Do you make excuses for not doing other things? Can you not live a day without it? Do you ignore what else is going on? Do you constantly seek out people who share your addiction?

Guilty on all charges--and a bunch more.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 12 Jul 06 - 10:33 PM

Maybe you need to join MA, Ron:

Musicians Anonymous.

I think that it is very difficult for someone who doesn't have a hunka hunka hunka burnin' love for music to really understand what it is like. For many people, music is and always will be "background music." Kinda like the soundtrack of their lives, paid real low. Many people are permanently linked to the music they heard at the onset and fever pitch of puberty. That's why "Oldies" stations thrive. Once in awhile I'll meet someone who just loves music. In 57 flavors. My son Aaron is much that way, although he isn't quite as catholic in taste as I am. But, he's open to listening to a lot of music and not locked into a time frame when music usta be good. Like. My son Pasha, who is technically my son-in-law as he is from Ruth's first marriage is as close to me as anyone I've ever met in just plain loving music.

Years ago, I met someone who would become a very important friend, Pat Conte. Pat has one of the largest collections of ethnic folk music of the world IN the world. Pat loved to "turn me on" to exotic stuff I'd never heard... like Chants from the Easter Islands, or Fuji island accordian music (made the last one up, but much of his collection is as weird as that.) I told him that I was his "Unplowed Field." Anyone who loves music needs friends who are at least in some areas "Unplowed Fields." That what drives me to share so much music with people I really don't know well... like you, Ron, and many other Catters. I've been someone else's Unplowed Field and I'm just thankful that I can introduce others to music that they may not be totally familiar with.

It's hard for people who have a casual interest (or next to none at all) in music to understand that..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: jimmyt
Date: 12 Jul 06 - 10:42 PM

I have an old college buddy coming by tomorrow to spend the night with his wife. Jayne and I have not met her and only seen him once3 in 38 years. I am excited and can't wait for the opportunity to renew an old acquaintance.

Brookwoods rehearsed this evening for a couple hours and annoying as it is to not rehearse enough, we sounded like we been playing every night! I love to play music. I am vowing to perform more this next year!   

Last week my 7 staff members took me to Six Flags, a roller Coaster amusement park, and made me ride everything there! It was great fun and although I didn't look forward to it, it turned out to be a hoot!

Carrie, my youngest, is in England this week and is going to visit a friend who is also a chef who has parents with a home on the golf course that the British Open is being played on this weekend. She is really looking forward to this, but most importantly, Carrie is one of those people who firmly believes in " do something. Take a chance, go out on a limb. She has lots of great life experiences but mostly because she puts herself in a position to " get lucky" by simply doing stuff. The other night she held the phone out thew window in TOrino Italy so I could hear the folks cheering for an Italy goal in the WOrld cup match. SHe has been working as a pastry chef in a castle hotel just for room and board this summer and is now doing a bit of last minute travel before returning to the mundane work world.

Life is a journey, not a destination. I hope you all have a nice night and hope to hear from you all tomorrow. By the way, tomorrow is Bastille Eve, so sharpen up your guillotines!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 12 Jul 06 - 10:51 PM

Well, Jerry, Jan does like music--though I'd say that, like you, my tastes are far more wide-ranging than hers. She can't stand Sephardic music--I find it haunting. She has a low tolerance for madrigals. Doesn't like reggae as much as I do. Finds Bob Wills' interjections in his songs really annoying--I love'em. Not enthusiastic about Bulgarian womens' groups. I'm fascinated. Has a lower doo-wop threshhold than I do. Etc.

She does like "art-rock"--Emerson Lake and Palmer, etc. a lot more than I do.

And she's absolutely and totally hooked on CMT--loves country music videos, of all things-- and country music as on the radio now--which is really 70's rock under another name. And I like a good bit of it--at least the part that shows a sense of humor. Which even Toby Keith does, amazingly enough.

Fortunately, she loves to do duets with me. Unfortunately her throat is a problem for that
these days.

The problem with MA is that I suppose you have to actually want to change--and I'll have to say the will is not there.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 12 Jul 06 - 11:08 PM

I can appreciate Bob Wills, etc. and even the yodelling, even if it's not my cup of tea. I can appreciate Baroque art, Gaudi's architecture, Sartre's plays, and good rap the same way.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 13 Jul 06 - 09:46 AM

Hey, Ron:

Man!!! Your tastes are so catholic that you make me feel downright Protestant!!!!!!! I suppose a major part of the difference is that I am not a trained musician and didn't grow up hearing classical music or chorales. There are individual pieces and composers I explored and discovered that I appreciated, but my tastes in classical music are eclectic.

Bob Wills? Echhhhh!!!!!!!!

Let me tell you why. Music carries baggage. Some of it is good, and the music becomes an oldie for you. Bob Will's and Western Swing (and you can toss Lon McAlister in there too) will always be associated (for me) with the morning hog reports. The house I grew up in (and was born in) was very small. I didn't have a bedroom until my older sisters both moved out, as we only had two bedrooms. My bedroom as a teenager was directly off the kitchen and because the kitchen was very small, we had the refrigerator in my bedroom. And because my bedroom was very small, there was no way to have a door to close, because the refrigerator was in the way. Every morning around five o'clock my parents would get up to get my Dad off to work and they'd turn on the radio in the kitchen. It might as well have been in my bedroom. They played a lot of western swing and 1940's to early 50's country music on the radio, and when the morning hog report came on, they'd start with someone going Soooooooooooweeeeee!!! If you were awakened in the morning segueing from Bob Wills to the morning hog report, you'd understand why I can't really deal with Western Swing.

Or Lon McAlister.

Or shirts with simulated pearl buttons and little arrows sewed along the top of the pockets.

Eccchhh!

Brings me back to Back When I Was Young

"We were all much smaller then, and everything was bigger
There was a kid lived down the block, had a dog the size of Trigger
Our prairies all were empty lots, our mountain just a hill
And for a dime at the corner store, a kid could eat his fill

CHOREUS:

   And the three mile Crick was four miles long, back when I was young
   And I knew the words to every song, known to the human tongue

We'd listen to the radio, and drink our Ovaltine
Decoding secret messages with our Captain Midnight rings
And for a box top and a dime, we'd wait a month or more
For a hand-tooled belt that glowed in the dark, just like Lone Ranger wore

Cowboys all were honest then, their horses all were trusty
And when they slept out in the rain, their guns never got rusty
And when they fought they never lost, but they never won the girl
And the buttons on the shirts they wore were simulated pearl

Jerry Rasmussen

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 13 Jul 06 - 10:02 AM

Jerry, do you know the reason for those snaps on cowboy shirts?

It's because if a horn got caught in the placket (opening) of the cuff or shirt front the snap would unsnap free but a button might not and you'd be hurtin' bad as that cow stomped you or flung you around like a rag doll.

Of course, gaudy is gaudy....

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 13 Jul 06 - 09:32 PM

Jerry-- who's Lon McAllister? Is that Leon McAllister (of Steel Guitar Rag fame)? I'll have to admit that only having heard the Texas Playboys long after leaving home--and at a time of day I was a lot happier with than I would have been first thing in the morning, mixed with hog-calls----my experience with them is a lot easier to take.

The only songs I find sometimes hard to take are associated with former girlfriends--and my own foolishness.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 13 Jul 06 - 09:47 PM

Hey, Ron:

Talk about free association... Lon McAllister was a cute, dark-haired little guy who seemed to be in a lot of forgettable movies in the 40's. The best know of them was Stage Door Canteen. What does he have to do with Bob Wills and Western Swing. Taling about three degrees of separation. I always linked Lon McAlister with Audie Murphy... both cute little guys, and Audie was in a lot of B picture westerns, and wore them dumb little shirts with the arrows sewed on the top of the pockets. As far as I know, Lon may have hated Western Swing.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 13 Jul 06 - 10:14 PM

Audi Murphy? I thought he was a World War I hero. How confused am I?

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 13 Jul 06 - 10:19 PM

Audie Murphy was supposed to be the most-decorated soldier in WW2...at least in the European Theater, in the US Army.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 13 Jul 06 - 10:52 PM

"The only songs I find sometimes hard to take are associated with former girlfriends--and my own foolishness."

Ron, are you referring to that George Strait song, "All my Ex's Live in Texas?"

All my ex's live in Texas,
And Texas is a place I'd dearly love to be.
But all my ex's live in Texas
And that's why I hang my hat in Tennessee.

Rosanna's down in Texarcana; wanted me to push her broom,
And sweet Ilene's in Abilene; she forgot I hung the moon,
And Allison in Galveston somehow lost her sanity,
And Dimples who now lives in Temple's got the law lookin' for me.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 13 Jul 06 - 11:35 PM

Yeah Elmer, that's a great song--and I play it a lot--love the western swing approach--and of course the lyrics. That guy is a real role model. Never could live up to that. My great-grandfather did a passable imitatation. He was an artist--specialized in nudes and melancholy landscapes. And--you guessed it--had 2 separate families--one with his favorite model. Soon after his death-- in Italy, in murky circumstances-- the model and her daughter turned up on the wife's doorstep.

That's a hard act to follow.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 13 Jul 06 - 11:57 PM

What I meant was I "play" the song--on the CD player. Wish I had the talent to play in a Western swing band--but I sure don't.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 14 Jul 06 - 05:57 AM

Yes, it was the Second World War that Audie fought in. When the war was over, thre was a best-selling book about his exploits titled To Hell And Back and they made a movie of it, starring Audie. I don't believe he had any previous acting experience, but he was handsome and did a passable job. He made several westerns after that, but his best and best-known movie was probably The Red Badge of Courage/

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 14 Jul 06 - 10:05 AM

Monday night, I went looking for a tenor or two. The Director of one of the Male Choruses that I sing in has taken the position of Music Director at a new church and invited me to come to a practice of their Men's Chorus. He knows that I'm looking for a tenor or two as replacements in the Gospel Messengers. I went, expecting to sit in the back of the church, just listening to the guys but when practice started there were only about 6 men there, and I was handed the lyric sheets along with everyone else. This is a new Men's Chorus and that was immediately obvious. And the group is almost all tenors. As guys trickled in, there were finally nine or ten guys, with just two baritones and one bass. I ended up moving up to sit with the two baritones who seemed totally lost. I talked with the guy I sat next to and asked him if he is a baritone. He said that he didn't know. He'd never sung in a choir before. The other baritone seemed equally adrift so I found myself quickly picking up the baritone harmony and helping the two guys to learn it. With the exception of one song, I hadn't heard any of the ones we sang Monday night, but after almost ten years in a Men's Chorus, I can pick up most of the baritone harmony off the piano as the Chorus Director is playing it.

The practice turned out to be a lot of fun, and the guys asked me ifg I'd come back to help the baritones and the bass singer. I explained to them that I was really there hoping to find a tenor for my group and was already singing in two Men's Choruses, but they were still encouraging. I'll go to practice one more time, this coming Monday as two of the best tenors weren't at the practice I went to. And then Ruth and I will go to a service to hear them sing.
I figure that I'll never find another tenor (or two) sitting at home waiting for a phone call from a complete stranger.

The practice brought back memories of the first time I went to the Men's Chorus practice I've been in for almost ten years now. I went and sat in the baritone section because I recognized the only person I knew. Turns out, he is a baritone, and so are I. Glad I didn't sit with the First tenors...

I also find it very appealing to see so many men joining Choruses who are coming just for the love of the singing, and to support the church. Some aren't very good as singers, but they often are the most loyal. Some have never sung except when they are alone, and turn out to be fine singers. But, they all are dedicated, and because being in a Male Chorus in a black church (at least) doesn't require any experience or the ability to read music, as most songs are learned by memory.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 14 Jul 06 - 11:22 AM

Jerry, I'll be happy to lend you a tenor. Even a twentyor.

Seriously, I know what you're doing and you can get pretty frustrated along the way. As they say, "God will provide," but....

A town was flooded, and a rescue boat went out to collect people.   At one house there was a man sitting on the front porch, and when the people in the boat said, "Get in and we'll take you to safety" he replied, "God will provde." Sometime later another boat came by and made the same offer, and the man said, "Thank you, but God will provide." A couple hours later a helicopter flew over and saw the guy sitting on his roof, flood waters swirling around the eaves of the house. Again he refused aid by saying, "God will provide."

Shortly thereafter he was swept away and drowned. Sopping wet he arrived before the throne of God and stammered out, "Why, Lord, didn't you provide for me?" And God replied, "Don't start, dude -- I sent two boats and a helicopter."

Good luck in the search!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 14 Jul 06 - 10:08 PM

Jerry--

I can imagine the difficulty of the search. After all, there's even a play called "Lend Me A Tenor". I bet you and I would both like it--or have you already seen it?

What's involved in being a tenor in your group--does that just mean the highest voice?

I can't remember what it means in bluegrass--maybe there's tenor and high tenor.


I've had occasion to sing tenor fairly often--mostly second tenor. I even wound up singing alto once in church--it was falsetto all the way--and way up in the treble clef. (God bless the Beach Boys).

I used to volunteer to sing tenor in madrigals all the time--there were usually enough guys to sing bass--and the tenor part was often more interesting than the bass. Though sometimes all the parts had a lot of meat to them. Those are the best.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 14 Jul 06 - 10:51 PM

Hey, Ron:

Here's a job description for our tenor:

Must believe and try to live what they sing
Must always put the message before the performance
Must have a good sense of harmony singing, and enjoy it
Must be able to work out harmonies and arrangements jointly with other members, without the use of sheet music
Must have a good sense of rhythm
Must have a good time singing
Must enjoy and encourage the singing of all other members of the group
Must be willing to practice regularly, perform mostly without pay
and take enjoyment in lifting the spirits of others
Must enjoy the old, simple style of gospel singing with four part harmony, no keyboards, drums or other acoutremonts

Is it any wonder that I can't find anyone. Who would take a job like this? I've seen plenty of people who are good lead singers but have no sense of harmony, or rhythm (or even hearing the right key.) I've met some puffed up types who want the attention of singing leads but quickly get bored when others are getting the attention. I've had those who want to perform, but not practice. I've had those who consider themselves too good to need to practice.
I'd take most of the requirements above, as long as the person is deeply committed to bringing the message to those who are often overlooked or forgotten... the homeless, those in nursing homes and senior centers and hospitals. Some things I can work around. Being "puffed-up" isn't one of them....

Joe, our bass singer, Derrick (our tenor for 7 years until he left) and Frankie have all shared the most important of these requirements.
We've worked around the rest.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 15 Jul 06 - 09:10 AM

Sounds great, Jerry. I'd sign up in a minute--except I'm not really a tenor--actually a bass. I don't know if I could sing high all the time.

It must be a real challenge to make up harmonies without the aid of sheet music. Somebody must be the main person who does it--and the others must agree that it sounds good. Sounds like an awful lot of diplomacy is involved. Suppose you have 2 people each thinking that his harmony sounds the best? Do you take a vote? And once you have the harmony do you rehearse it so it's ingrained in everybody's mind--and voice?

I remember having some of these problems when I had a sea chantey group--we also used no sheet music. But of course we had an even worse problem--we couldn't even find a time when all 7 of us could rehearse. Fortunately sea chanteys are a very forgiving genre--rough edges are just fine.

I wouldn't think gospel is quite so easy-going.


And you have everything memorized--just amazing.

I'll tell you, my hat is really off to you guys--what you've done on the Gospel Messengers CD is just great.

And I think the idea of doing it with no instruments is just right--it's so easy for electric guitars and drums to overwhelm the sound--and kill your voice.

I've done a lot of singing in nursing homes, hospitals etc.--but we always had sheet music. (Which is of course another problem--people seem to lean on it pretty heavily as a crutch--even when they are so close to having the part memorized.   And it's so much better--and really important especially there--to make eye contact with your audience---and to smile at them.)

Sure hope the tenor you need is out there--in your area--and you make contact soon.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 15 Jul 06 - 09:33 AM

Thanks for the encouragement, Ron:

The only thing worse than not having a tenor is having the wrong tenor. We tried someone who is a terrific singer, has a fine sense of rhythm, sings harmony just fine and believes what he sings. It didn't work because he was more interested in singing lead than singing harmony, and he didn't like the straightforward four-part harmony the rest of us do. He wanted something more like Take 6 or the Hi-Lo's (from years ago.) And he really got no enjoyment out of anyone else doing a fine job on a lead.

In music, being a fine singer isn't always enough.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 15 Jul 06 - 09:41 AM

That's a real shame about that guy not enjoying somebody else's performance. I just like to be part of the musical texture. Just being part of a group making good music a cappella is incredibly satisfying. (And you don't have to take any instruments).   And it's particularly wonderful when you use no sheet music. When we used to sing madrigals a lot, and had quite a few memorized, I found that as long as I could sometimes get cues from other voices coming in where they're supposed to, we could sing a lot of songs that way.

And it was a real kick.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: GUEST
Date: 16 Jul 06 - 05:23 AM

I have been away from this table for a few days, popped by this morning and found no one here!Shame as I have a lot to get off my mind so I will make the coffee and ramble on by myself.
Last weekend my daughter and son in law had just about settled into their new home, unpacking all done.We had planned a day in London looking at things for the nursery. Then they got a phone call that the business centre where they had a unit( he has a picture framing business and gallery) had had a serious fire in the early hours. 68 businesses just about lost everything.Davids unit was smoke and water damaged, to make things worse he has not been allowed back into the building to collect anything salvagable.The company who are the landlords have been very unhelpfull, no information or contact, to add insult to injury they cashed the rent cheque after the fire!
The good news is that we have found a new unit close by so Billy and friends are there this weekend building a new shop.My job to provide dinner when they get back.Hopefully they will be able to start up again soon and the customers will stay loyal.More good news the baby is due in 10 weeks and my daughter is feeling well despite all the worry of moving house and now the fire.Count our blessings!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 16 Jul 06 - 05:34 AM

ooops, that was me! lost my cookie.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: David C. Carter
Date: 16 Jul 06 - 05:49 AM

Hi there Jerry and everybody
In a bit of a daze this morning,had some friends round last night/this morning.After a fine dinner, somebody put on my CD.Everyone started dancing!Well,there's no accounting for taste!as me mammy used to say before she abandonned me in a passing bullrush!
It's a fine morning here in Paris,it's going to reach about 31 today,I'll have to water the cat again!
I gotta go now,scrape the wife out of bed.We're invited to lunch.
What a busy life I lead!

Clunky

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 16 Jul 06 - 07:55 AM

Hey, David: Paris? Paris!! Paris!!!!!!!! I assume you're not talking about Paris, Illinois. Man oh man. When I proposed to my wife, I asked her where she wanted to go on our honeymoon. She immediately said, "Paris!." I told her that's what I'd try to arrange, but if I couldn't get reservations, what would be her second choice. And there was dead silence. I still kid her about that. Second choice to Paris? And that's where we had our honeymoon, with a day trip to London.

Last Fall, we went on 1n 18 day tour of Europe and we started out with two days in .... Paris. It was wonderful coming back. I don't speak a word of French, and yet we went on our own for most of those two days as the tout group went to places we'd seen on our first trip. We wanted to revisit some of the places we especially loved on our first trip. I found Paris very easy to get around in, even with the language barrier. I felt very much at home there, even though the city has a bad reputation about not being welcoming to tourists .. especially ones who don't speak French. We loved it.

We also loved Switzerland and Italy and Spain and the other countries we've visited, but Paris is very special.. The guest room in our home is decorated with a Paris motif.

M
Good on you.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 16 Jul 06 - 08:12 AM

And good to see you, billybob. Itr's no wonder you haven't stopped by for a cuppa with all that's been going on in your life. Sounds like good may be coming out of bad, though. That's happened to me so many times that it helps to be calm when things seem to be coming apart at the seams.

And I'm not talking about clothes from Walmart.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Kitsching At The Sitting Table
From: Severn
Date: 16 Jul 06 - 09:36 AM

Good luck to you and family on everything, billybob and I hope the business thrives and the red tape from the fire and previous landlord is held to a minimum. Thanks for making the coffee, but I have to meet my mother and sister for brunch, so I can't stay for breakfast. I told Jerry I'd drop by, and now that I have, I will continue to do so in the future.I may drop back later today.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 16 Jul 06 - 09:45 AM

Hey, nice to see you Severn. I was trying to figure out where you live, but the Member's Profile doesn't give a clue. It's just kinda nice to be able to place people where they live. I live in Derby, CT.. the smallest city in the state. If someone says, "I want you out of town by sunset," I just say, "No problem... give me five minutes. Derby suits my style, though... no traffic jams, friendly people, mostly quiet, safe neighborhoods and a beautiful valley where the Housatonic and the Naugatuck rivers join. I was bo0rn and raised in a small town but in comparison to Derby, it was a metropolis. And, we're still close enough to New York City (and hour and a half) in case I ever get nostalgic for anxiety...

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Severn
Date: 16 Jul 06 - 10:19 AM

I live in Laurel, Maryland near Washington DC. Lived in this area all my life. I even went to high school with tablesitter Ron Davies.
I work for the Postal Service in Rockville, MD. I guess my profile must be an amateur file. I'll have to beef it up a bit, like you folks in Darby do with your stories about that ram.

But I've gotta ramble.....

Later!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 16 Jul 06 - 08:46 PM

When you're little like Derby, Severn, you gotta talk big to get any respect.. :-)

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 17 Jul 06 - 10:31 AM

Hey, Ron:

In response to a comment you made in here about working out harmony arrangements by ear, I started a thread upstairs... Music By Ear. I'm sure that you have a lot to offer to the discussion. And, you can read my comment about how the Gospel Messengers come up with their harmonies.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 18 Jul 06 - 10:15 AM

Hi Jerry,
well the good news is that Billy and co. have fitted out the new workshop, it is in a better location than the old one.David got the all clear to go in to try and save anything not smoke or water damaged today, they are having to wear protective clothes as there may be asbestos contamination!
The weather here in England is fabulous, the hottest day since records began, so yesterday we chilled out all day by the pool.
Looking forward to Sidmouth Festival and listening to some great singing, may even join in!
Too hot for coffee ,any iced tea?

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 18 Jul 06 - 11:39 AM

Thanks for the update, Billybob: Some of the greatest blessings in my life came from short-term disasters. There was a time in my life when I seemed to be getting it from all directions and just for survivals sake I developed what I jokingly called pre-hindsight. It's easy to look back on terrible things in our lives that turned out to be blessings, but I had so many difficult things happening that I couldn't wait for enough time to pass for hindsight. I guess what I was really asking for was instant-hindsight. No waiting necessary. While I joke about it, it was a very helpful attitude to have. Sometimes I'd have to laugh at everything that was coming at me and I say to myself, "O.K. God, tell me why I should really be thankful that this is happening." Sometimes he did.

Without a sense of humor, I never would have made it.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 18 Jul 06 - 09:05 PM

A couple of days ago, I went to the Post Office to mail a package to Al Whittle (in case you stop by, Al, it's on its way.) As I was coming down the steps, a man was bounding up them and said, "Man, it's hot, today!" He was mvoing past me when I touched him on the shoulder and said, "Hey, wait a minute, don't you know me?" I could tell from the blank expression on his face that he didn't. I'm usually the guy in that situation. In that moment of awkwardness he said, "it was good to see you," and started into the Post Office. So, I touched him on his shoulder again and said, "Marty, don't you
remember the Stamford Museum?" And his face lit up. He suddenly realized who I was. And then, I couldn't get him to stop talking, he was so excited.

Back in the 60's during the Vietnam War, I was Director of Education at the Stamford Museum and Nature Center, where I ended up becoming Executive Director and worked until my retirement. Marty was fresh out of college, looking for work. He wanted to go into Optometry but had to work for a year to save up enough money. So, he was hired as a Maintenance Man. He was just happy to get a job. But, there was something about him that I really liked. He had a childish Gee-Whiz! enthusiasm for everyone, and I thought he'd make a great teacher. We had an opening for a nature instructor and even though he had no teaching experience and precious little knowledge of nature, I hired him. He approached his new position with tremendous energy, and I spent a lot of time teaching him about the local birds, plants and animals, as well as Colonial life and Native Americans (all of which we taught.) The first time I saw him take a class of five year olds, I knew I'd made the right decision. He had a real connection with kids that can't be taught, and the kids loved him. He stayed at the Museum for a year, earned enough money and went to Optometry school and became an optometrist. I ran into him once after that, and we talked a few minutes. That was probably twenty years ago. So, it's no surprise that he didn't recognize me (despite the fact that I look EXACTLY THE SAME as I did thirty years ago.) Marty hadn't changed much.. has grey hair now, but is just as excitable and enthusiastic. His memories of the Museum just came tumbling out, along with his appreciation for what I'd done for him. Because he was teaching that year, he had a deferrment and din't have to go to Vietnam (no small gift.) Giving him the chance had a major impact on his life, and it made me feel really good to know that.

Marty is one of several people I believed in and hired, who had little or no experience. I hired a young black man who was working in a necktie factory who was fascinated with reptiles. He had no teaching experience, and just a high school education. Again, he was a wonderful teacher, ended up using his time at the Museum to get a wonderful job at an exclusive private school, and went on to appear on television programs, write books and become a resource for animal use in movies... going on location around the world on film crews.

I hired a woman who had just gone through an ugly divorce and needed a job badly. She had no teaching background or nature background, but there was again something about her that made me believe that she could be a great teacher. And she was. She used her experience to go on to writing a weekly nature column and when she moved to Florida, had a successful career as a lecturer.

It's not that I taught these people everything that they knew. I just gave them a chance and a leg up and they ended up passing me along the way. There were others, too.. all they needed was a chance. And someone who believed in them.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 18 Jul 06 - 09:53 PM

That's great, Jerry. You must be a great judge of people--to recognize quality so quickly.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 19 Jul 06 - 08:14 AM

What a wonderful story Jerry, it must have been great to watch those people do so well with your encouragement.Sometimes I worry if my judgement is flawed, we recently hired a new therapist who enthused about working for us and was so in awe of my manager and me because of all our knowledge, I really enjoyed training her and gave as much time as possible to nuture her.You guessed it, she has left and set up in competition, hey hoo!!
Good news on David, they managed to rescue most of the things from the shop, including a pair if Shirley Bassey's shoes that he was box framing for a Charity auction.The BBC have heard what happened and are filmimg him for the TV news programme tonight.So some good publicity for him and the charity.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 19 Jul 06 - 09:27 AM

......of course, I haven't mentioned the stupid mistakes I made, hiring people.

I ain't Claire Voyant.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 19 Jul 06 - 10:49 PM

Just turning of the coffee pot for the night. It's been a good day today ... cooler by about 15 degrees than yesterday, and we appreciated it. Got a call from my oldest sister tonight, though, and she says Mom is losing ground. That's upsetting, although she's been given very little chance of living so many times over the years and surprised everyone that she may be doing better than people think. Whenever it comes it will be a hard loss to deal with. I know some of you have gone through that already. I've just been blessed that Mom has lived so long.

Makes me think maybe I'll stick around a while, myself.

Catch you tomorrow...

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 19 Jul 06 - 11:21 PM

Well, Jerry, regarding hiring: I haven't had occasion to have hired many people, but my track record is, shall we say, absymal. Most recently of course, my house-sitter.

I figured--how hard can that job be? I can help Betty out and possibly get a chance to hear her play piano and sing. No downside.

Wrong. It turns out Betty, among other things (problems with cats) also put a lot of kitchen utensils, etc. where Jan would not think of looking for them. Looks like I'll never hear the end of it. So any time Jan accuses Betty of some heinous crime along these lines, I've started telling her I did it myself.

I've never dealt with a female as possessive of things domestic.

But, obviously in the grand scheme of things, these concerns are. let's say, not exactly earthshaking.

Fortunately that's not required at the kitchen table.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 20 Jul 06 - 08:54 AM

I don't think it's the can opener or the spatula, Ron. I think it's the piano.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 20 Jul 06 - 10:49 AM

Ron, when ever my mother comes for dinner, she always insists on doing the dishes, I spend the next week searching cupboards for everything from plates to the cork screw, its a woman thing! Never put anything back in the right place in another girls kitchen 'cos it will be bound to be the wrong place!
Mind you I think Jerry is right about the piano!
Talking of women, I never understand that when Billy has lost something and can never find it, I can find it in seconds and it is always where he swears he just looked? Most of my friends say the same thing!Man thing??

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 20 Jul 06 - 10:31 PM

I've got to share my good news and here's a good place to do it!

Where to start...

The state-owned museum where I'd lived and worked as the caretaker and docent (And I was a decidedly decent docent!) recently received money to do some upgrading and renovating, takiing down the lath and plaster and putting up insulation and drywall so I had to move.

I moved to a small apartment in a building I've taken care of for years and started looking for a permanent (ha! Is there such a thing?) place to land with my dog and my cat. I didn't/don't want just a normal rental- the idea of paying thousands of dollars a year just for a roof over my head bores me; I like interesting things and novel concepts. What I mostly dwelt on while I was looking was the idea of renting a large house in my name and then finding my own renters. But I also considered some other things, things like another caretaker position or doing in-home care and a bunch of other stuff. So I never did focus on any one thing which made it difficult to bring it to pass.

In the meantime, the apartment house sold (the owner died in 04 and her heirs put the place up for sale). I told the new owner that I don't want to pay rent on this apartment because it is so substandard on so many fronts (I nearly froze in last March's cold snap- there is no piped in heat) and we agreed that I'd be out by August 1. Along about the middle of July I saw that wasn't going to happen and talked with them again. We agreed I could stay until September 1.

Anda that's where I was until a couple of hours ago.

Just got back from the grocery store where I ran into the wife who bought this place. She aaid she wanted to talk with me and joined me at a table.

The upshot: They are asking me to stay because in due time they want to turn this apartment house into a kind of bed and breakfast with emphasis on tourists in the summertime and legislators in the winter, and they think I'd be perfect for the project. I'll check them in and out and ride herd. Mostly just rent free, unless we work out something else in addition.

This is right up my alley- I operated a motel for years and later trained managers for other motels. I like working with people, I like doing research, I like helping people have a good time.

Oh, and they're putting in a Monitor stove.

So hoist those cups and celebrate with me!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 20 Jul 06 - 10:43 PM

I really am cracking up-- the excuse will be it's the hideous pressure of explaining what Betty has done. But I really can spell "abysmal" ( I'm actually not an abysmal speller). Usually I can tell by looking at a word if it's spelled right. My instinct let me down.

And how many more generations--with the Net etc., where anything goes--will it take til there is no such thing as correct spelling?

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 21 Jul 06 - 08:43 AM

Don't feel bad, Ron: nun of us is perfict when it comes two speling.
That's the good thing about sitting around a kitchen table. When you talk, you don't have to spell the words.

As evidenced by other threads, some folks can real supercilious about their command of the English language. It's a way of expressing your superiority, which seems a little sad, to me. I value people more on whether they have something valuable to say than if they use perfect English saying it. And, so much is dependent upon the family and social status you were born into. (OOOOOH, I don't think I used "born" correctly.) next thing you know, I'lll split an infinitive! Some of the wisest, most generous-hearted, delightful people I've had the honor of knowing in my life have had a very limited education. It's not their grammar that I hear. I hear what they have to say, and the wisdom of it. My brother-in-law only went through 10th grade, and his speach showed it. His Father was an itinerant carpenter and he grew up moving from town to town. His speech was never a barrier between us. I've always just felt blessed that I had such good English teachers. I still remember much of what they taught me, but I must admit, I don't sweat an occasional split infinitive or a misspelled word.

It's the seasoning in conversational stew.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: GUEST,KT
Date: 21 Jul 06 - 09:15 AM

YAHOO! Ebbie, that's GREAT!!! (Amazing what developments can take place over a mere 12 hours) Everone else....hello, hello....just getting my feet on the ground after returning from the lower 48, so haven't had a chance to read your messages yet.....Jerry, I've come home to a package from you, which I've not had a chance to even open yet. Thanks SO much! More later, and best to y'all!
KT

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 21 Jul 06 - 11:22 AM

After being accused of ending a sentence with a preposistion, Winston Churchill said, "That's the kind of nonsense up with which I will not put."

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 21 Jul 06 - 12:07 PM

That's wonderful news, ebbie: As I was telling Elmer, sometimes blessings blindside you. What a way to be blindsided. I have a strong sense that something very good is coming in my life, and I have no clue as to what it will be. I'll let you know when it gets here. And it will. I feel it coming.

Glad you got home, KT. Nothing like coming back home. Enjoy the CD..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 21 Jul 06 - 01:19 PM

Thanks, KT. I told BevelAnn the III last night when she came down the hill for music. I'm thrilled about it- and understand why nothing meshed before.

I love having a niche. It's hard to beat riends and music and the north.

As in the third verse of a song I wrote some years back:

"Music and Laughter are friends of Delight
I'm loving and loved and I'm free
In this land of mountains and the great Northern Lights
The first time my world smiled on me"

Thanks for this table, Jerry. It is Life.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 21 Jul 06 - 11:01 PM

Ebbie--

Let me join in congratulating you. You certainly deserve all good fortune.

Sounds just great.

Ron

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 22 Jul 06 - 08:25 AM

Every morning (except Sundays and rainy days) Ruth and I go for an early morning walk. She is bothered by the sun, so we get up before sunrise, and are on our way. About a year ago, they completed a river walk here in Derby and it is a delight. Derby is seated at the confluence (don't get to use that word often) of the Naugatuck and Housatonic Rivers. The walk runs along the Naugatuck until it joins the Housatonic, and then follows the Housatonic up-river through the back yards of downtown Derby. Even before the walk was officially opened, people were using it, and there is a steady flow of "regulars" (us included) every morning. The total length of the walk, round trip is 3 and a half miles, and Ruth is working her way up to it. We did two and a half miles today for the first time and I know that well before the summer is over, she'll be up to three and a half. I've always been a walker, and have walked as far as ten miles when I'm by myself. But, I'd rather walk two and a half with my wife. I'm very proud of her, because she is building her strength every day and is intent upon doing the whole walk. I know that she'll do it.

One thing about getting older (which starts the day you were born) is that you become more conscious of what you need to do to maintain your good health, strength and mobility. I'm actually much healthier now than I was five years ago, as is Ruth. It's a good feeling, taking care of yourself better. Shoulda done it years ago.
If our body is a Temple, mine was closer to the City Dump (exagerating slightly, here.) I'm learning more all the time about how the body works and what is good for it... I suspect that there are others sitting around his table who are doing the same thing.

Don't look for any donuts or pizza at the table (both of which I love.) But, if you stop by in real life, I'll serve you more than carrots and seaweed. I'm discovering healthy, good-for-you recipes all the time.

Drop by for supper some time. I'll put another plate on the table.

Wrote a song about a dog once, along those lines:

"Put another bowl on the floor, Mildred, I think Rosco's got a friend
Coming back home at all hours of the night, and he don't say where he's been
Walking kinda funny with his legs stuck out, and his tail's hanging at half-mast
I don't think he's going to live to see another winter, if he don't stop living so fast"

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 23 Jul 06 - 07:23 PM

The kitchen table, where the conversation is always good and the pot is always on...

Just keeping the home fires burning..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 23 Jul 06 - 11:03 PM

Congratulations to you, Ebbie. They are lucky to have you under their roof. I'm sure you'll raise the rafters in song!

Elmer

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 24 Jul 06 - 09:50 PM

All good things come to those who are beFuddled.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 25 Jul 06 - 12:00 AM

It really was fascinating to hear the various perspectives and backgrounds on the Music by Ear thread, wasn't it? It's particularly interesting to hear the different methods employed to try to teach ear-training. It seems it is possible to do--which I hadn't realized. It must be a slow process--my hat is off to the teachers who do it.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 25 Jul 06 - 09:19 AM

Today is Ruth and my 8th Anniversary... what great memories. And the greatest thing of all is that our love and joy is so much deeper than it was the day we got married. And that's saying a LOT. Today is a day of remembrance shared with Joe, my bass singer in the Gospel Messengers and our Best Man. At our wedding, Joe sang the lead when the Gospel Messengers sang "Only Believe." "All things are possible, if you only believe." I can surely attest to that.

This morning, Ruth and I went for our daily walk on the River Walk here in Derby. We like to get out early to beat the sun and just enjoy the sunrise along the river. And in celebration, we walked the full 3 and 1/2 mile walk for the first time. I've done it before, but this was a first for Ruth. I'm very proud of her because she was at a point a couple of years ago when one mile was almost beyond her capacity. Now, she motors along quite nicely for 3 and 1/2 miles. We walk between four and six mornings a week, and it's a great excercise, a beautiful walk and a time we look forward to, just being alone together. O.K., there are a lot of other people who go on the walk, but it is still a private, relaxed time for us.

Later this summer in late August, I'm taking Ruth to Las Vegas, with a side trip to the Grand Canyon. Ruth really wants to see The Venetian hotel in Las Vegas. They've constructed a large area of Venice, and we'll go on a gondola ride there, as we did in Venice last Fall. Romance never wears thin.

But, that's four weeks away. In the meantime, I'll keep the kettle on here in the kitchen. Seems like we have a lot of people gone at this time of year, so the conversation may get a little thin at times, but it's still a good place to sit down for a minute.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 25 Jul 06 - 09:41 AM

Happy anniversary Jerry and Ruth, enjoy a beautiful day.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 25 Jul 06 - 11:01 AM

Here, Jerry. I picked a celebratory bouquet of colorful wild flowers on my way over here. Got a vase handy? We'll put it in the center of the table, if that's ok. Congratulations to you and Ruth. Happy for ya.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 25 Jul 06 - 11:37 PM

Happy Anniversary, Jerry and Ruth. May you neither be beFuddled nor Hornswoggled, and always have a bright and shining path beneath your feet for your walk together through life!

Elmer

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 25 Jul 06 - 11:38 PM

Congralations, Jerry and Ruth! What a great way to celebrate!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 25 Jul 06 - 11:40 PM

And congratulations, too!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: David C. Carter
Date: 26 Jul 06 - 03:51 AM

Congrats Jerry/Ruth from me here in French France,not Illinois!
A nice life you got yourselves there.Enjoy your trip to Vegas/Venice.
My better half and I spent our honeymoon in Venice,you know,that one in Italy!Happy daze!
We is off to Croatia in a week or so.Through Germany,Austria,Slovenia then into Croatia;About a 2000 klms drive.Possibly go into Bosnia to Mostar,look at the famous bridge.We crossed it before that terrible war took place.Actually,we were there during the war.May drive out to Sarajevo,see some friends who where stuck there during the siege.We're coming back through Italy,so it's going to be Venice again!Oh well,you do what you can!
It's on the "warm" side here too.The air,what there is of it,is so thick with pollution,it's like hacking through porridge!I like porridge,but even so...
Take care Jerry,Ruth and everybody at the TABLE
David

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 26 Jul 06 - 04:00 AM

Hope it's a happy trip, David. And you take care.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: David C. Carter
Date: 26 Jul 06 - 05:10 AM

Hi Ebbie,thanks.Don't know if your'e able to get away yourself,hope so.Whatever,take care of yourself.
David

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: bbc
Date: 26 Jul 06 - 07:56 AM

Happy Anniversary, Jerry & Ruth. I'm so happy for you both! The trip sounds great. I love the Southwest. I visited there last summer. This summer was the Northwest--Portland & Crater Lake--pretty special, too!

Barbara

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 26 Jul 06 - 09:48 AM

Thanks for all the well wishes, friends.

David: you trip sounds like it will be fantastic! I really envy you (Whoops, envy is a baaad thing to do... how about if I say I'm really happy for you?) Our trip to Europe last Fall is something that we regularly talk about... We'd love to have a couple of months to explore more of Europe. I recently picked up a DVD of Amadeus, which brought back wonderful memories of our trip to Salzburg. Ruth spends an hour just about every day watching a program, Passport to Europe, so the places that we loved so much stay fresh in our minds. For us, Paris is the number one city on earth with nothing faintly comparable. After that, I think we'd have to take Venice. Somewhat to my surprise, Ruth loved Switzerland and Austria. I was really looking forward to visiting both of those countries and it was a special pleasure that She enjoyed them as much as I did.

Growing up in the Midwest, I was half-way to everywhere in the United States. As a teenager, I prefered thinking of it as being in the middle of nowhere. Ruth grew up in Brooklyn, so the far West started in Philadelphia. (I actually saw a photo in the New York Times of Robert Kennedy visiting Philadelphia, with the caption, Kennedy vists the West.) Wisconsin has proven to be a good staging ground for showing her the rest of this country, piggy-backing trips onto our annual trip out to Wisconsin to visit my family. We've explored all of the upper Midwest and most of the Plains states out to the Rocky Mountains. We still have some of the south central United States left to explore and the Pacific Northwest (although I've been in Washington.) Between us, we've been in close to 50 states. Next on our agenda, God willing, is Scandinavia, Buenos Aires and Mexico. Most immediately, our very next trip we're looking forward to is a cruise in the Carribean. Never been on a cruise, myself. But it should be fun.

The greatest thing of all is that we had a terrific day celebrating our Anniversary, and the furthest we traveled was about 15 miles to go out to dinner. When you can stay at home and have a beuatiful time, then you know that you are blessed. All the travel is just delightful frosting on the cake.

bbc: It's great that you were able to get out to The Pacific Northwest. We'll get there eventually, but will probably catch Newfoundland and Greenland first, just because they['re closer (and less expensive.)

Elmer: I'm walking around singing to myself, Bewitched, Bothered and BeFuddled. Softly, though. Don't want to be committed. At least not in that way..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 26 Jul 06 - 10:54 AM

As we approach that mystical 900th post, I wonder who will be the lucky one to take it. Is jimmyt lurking in the wings, waiting to pounce?

Or might it be Joe Offer?

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 26 Jul 06 - 01:44 PM

You can't get away from me this time..

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 26 Jul 06 - 01:45 PM

You wascally wabbit!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 26 Jul 06 - 01:46 PM

I've got you now! I weally. weally do, you wascal....

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Cllr
Date: 26 Jul 06 - 01:52 PM

I have no idea t ythis thread is about but im sitting in the kitchen at the table and i thought why not Cllr

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 26 Jul 06 - 04:25 PM

From the looks of it, Elmer, you were extwemely gwacious and awwowed Cwwlr to take the one hundrewdth post.

What a generous way to welcome a new person to the table!

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 26 Jul 06 - 05:37 PM

Wlecome to the table, cllr. Pull up a chair and tell us what's going on in your life, these days. You aren't listed in the Mudcat profile or locator, so maybe a little introduction would be in order, if you don't mind.

Glad you stopped by..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 26 Jul 06 - 06:45 PM

Well cllr, for heaven's sakes pour yourself a cup of coffee, pull up a chair and start a topic, any topic that's on your mind. That's what we all do. The 900th post gets you a bagel with lox and cream cheese to go with the coffee (I recommend the poppy seed bagels.)

Elmer

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 26 Jul 06 - 10:24 PM

What do we talk about in here? Only the most intellectual and philosophical of topics. For example:

Tonight I got this idea that if I mixed peanut butter in my No Sugar Added vanilla ice cream I could make peanut butter swirl ice cream.
I was thinking, maybe Elmer and me could go into the ice cream business. We could call our ice cream Elmer & Jerry's.

Our first flavor would be Peanut Butter Squirrel. (You have to be terminally clever to catch the eye of the L.L. Bean crowd...)

Jerry

By the way, the ice cream was pretty good, despite the laughter my wife blurted out with when I told her what I was doing...

Jerry (of Elmer & Jerry's)

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 27 Jul 06 - 09:20 PM

Hey, where is everybuddy?

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 27 Jul 06 - 10:06 PM

Nobody stays at home anymore, ebbie... Elmer is off on an expotition, don't see much of jimmy these days.. and so it goes. Good to see you, though

Finished watching Amadeus with Ruth tonight. Hve been revisiting Mozart... my favorite composer. Been too long since I listened to his music, and I have a fair amount.

Ruth and I are rocking down the full 3 and a half mile river walk every morning now... Just very thankful that we can do it and are still in such good health.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 27 Jul 06 - 11:07 PM

Halloo. I'm out where the corn is as high as an elephant's eye, and you can sit on a rocking chair at night and watch the fireflies and listen to cicadas make a racket--that is, if a thunder-and-lightning storm isn't playing drama queen up in the sky. I heard a new acoustic group perform the other night, by the name of Railroad Earth. They are part of the new, underground scene of young people who are avoiding the corporate hit-making cookie-cutter megalith. They were quite good.

info here

Elmer

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 28 Jul 06 - 08:02 AM

Speaking of rabbits... Ruth and I were on our morning walk and came across a Mother rabbit and her little baby. There's a stretch of the walk that goes through a lightly wooded area, and she was out with her baby feeding on tender new sprouts. They were no more than six feet from the walkway, and we stopped to look at them (and talk to them, of course.)

When we stopped, the Mother hopped about three feet away (not to safety) as unobtrusively as she could, from a grassy area where she was very visible, to a dirt area much the color of her fur. She lay as flat as she could get her body with her hind legs stretched out behind her so that she blended in with the color of the dirt, and kept a close eye on us. The baby was still too, but wasn't going to get into any of this stretched out stuff... "C'mon Mom! We could outrun them easy... aren't you over-reacting a little?" But the baby at least stood still. After I carried on a brief if albiet one-sided conversation with them, we went on our way. When we came back, Mom was nowhere to be seen, but the baby was still there, eating. He didn't move, but he had a big stalk of clover in his front paws and kept right on eating. "She told me not to move, but she didn't say that I had to stop eating..."

Kids... they always find a way to ignore their parents...

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 29 Jul 06 - 12:26 AM

Sure is amazing. We've just gotten past 900, while the "Gaza Strip" thread has breezed by us and is closing in on 1,000. All it takes is controversy--preferably heated. The more people stake out positions at either end of a spectrum, the faster the count goes up.

So it's obviously better to just keep chugging along. After all, conversation is not a race-- nor a competition of any kind.

That's what makes the Table a refuge--and it's great.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 29 Jul 06 - 08:01 AM

Mornin', Ron:

Actually, I see it very differently. This thread is approaching 1,000 posts in about 6 months. I have no idea how many threads ever hit 1,000 (unless they're about Bush, or the Mother Of All BS.) 500 posts is a lot. And some of the threads that are longer have been running for years. I don't see it as a competition, either. If it is, then we're the tortoise, not the hare. But a souped up, four on the floor tortoise. When I started this thread, I figured it would amble along for awhile, stopping to enjoy the scenery and dissappear when it lost it's appeal. I had no thought as to how long that would be. But I wouldn't have expected it to last this long. If it reaches the point where I have to artificially keep it alive by doing 90% of the posts, then I'll just let it fade away.

One thing that I like about this thread is that people participate regularly for awhile when there's something they want to talk about, and then wander away. Often, they'll drop by later when there's something they want to talk about, or respond to. Good friendships are like that. They carry through the quiet times.

This is a verse from a song that I wrote way back in the 60's about my friend Luke Faust, who lived in Hoboken:

"If we had money, we'd stop for a beer
Or walk by the water and sit on the pier
Sit and we'd talk 'till there's no more to say
But we never needed words, anyway"

Listeners are half of a conversation. I know there are people who drop by regularly, have a cuppa and just listen to the conversation. They don't show up in the number of posts, but if someone just wants to drop by to get a load off their feet for a few minutes and not say a word, that's fine too.

That's what kitchen table conversation is all about..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 29 Jul 06 - 01:12 PM

"...held no competition--just knowing that the other was a good friend to have"

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 29 Jul 06 - 02:05 PM

Thanks for taking 9/11, Ron:

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 29 Jul 06 - 03:57 PM

Holy mackerel, Jerry--numerology is becoming a minefield! Round numbers are good, 666 not so good.   13 ? Now 9-11? Sorry I missed 7-11--that should have been better. Well, when we get above 1000, we'll have a lot more historical dates--1066, 1215, 1349, 1415, and so on. Can't remember what was going on between 900 and 1,000--I believe the founding of Russia (at least Kiev). I know there was a lot of apprehension at the approach of the millennium. And probably a lot of relief afterwards.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 29 Jul 06 - 04:30 PM

A few thoughts for my companions 'round the kitchen table:

Spread the table and contention shall cease.
    —English proverb

This night I hold an old accustom'd feast,
Whereto I have invited many a guest,
Such as I love; and you, among the store,
One more, most welcome, makes my number more.
    —William Shakespeare

All's well that ends with a good meal.
    —Arnold Lobel ( American writer and illustrator)

After a good dinner one can forgive anybody, even one's own relations.
    —Oscar Wilde

There is nothing better for a man, than that he should eat and drink.
    —Bible, Old Testament

They eat, they drink, and in communion sweet
Quaff immortality and joy.
    — John Milton, Paradise Lost

Take thine ease, eat, drink and be merry.
    —Bible, New Testament, Book of Luke

Fools make feasts and wise men enjoy them.
    —John Clark

Their tables were stor'd full, to glad the sight
and not so much to feed on as delight.
    —William Shakespeare

He that is of a merry heart hath a continual feast.
    —Bible, Proverbs 15:15

Dear Moore,
I have a breakfast of philosophers tomorrow at ten punctually. Muffins and metaphysics; crumpets and contradiction. Will you come?
    —an invitation to a friend from Sydney Smith (1771–1845); English clergyman and essayist

Great is the meal which brings together people who are distant to each other.
   —Babylonian Talmud

Pull up a chair, y'all!
    —Elmer

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 29 Jul 06 - 04:42 PM

"Fools make feasts..."---wow, that doesn't sound very complimentary to women who often prepare them.

Or to others--"Here's a health unto the master--he's the founder of the feast".


What do you suppose he meant?

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 29 Jul 06 - 06:55 PM

What a great batch of quotations, Elmer!

I'll add one more kitchen table image from the bible:

Revelations 3:20

"Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me."

I wonder how he takes his coffee?

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 30 Jul 06 - 05:42 PM

Well, possibly a cappuccino would do, since it is named for the Capuchin monks: the coffee represents his brown robes, and the white crema on top is his tonsured head.

Elmer

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 30 Jul 06 - 07:18 PM

Hey, Elmero # 1:

I thought cappucino was named after the monkeys. Besides, if he didn't like it the way I fixed it, he could always change it to a glass of wine. Miracles must come in handy.. :-)

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 30 Jul 06 - 07:51 PM

Very funny, Jerry!

Coffee made its entrance into Europe from Constantinople to Venice. Legend has it that priests appealed to Pope Clement VIII (1536-1605) to have the use of coffee forbidden among Christians. They said that Satan had forbidden his followers, the heathen Muslims, to drink wine because it was used in Holy Communion, and instead had given them "hellish black coffee." It is said that the pope relied,

"Why, this Satan's drink is so delicious that it would be a pity to let the infidels have exclusive use of it. We shall cheat Satan by baptizing it."

Elmer the caffeinated

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 30 Jul 06 - 08:17 PM

Remember the instant coffee, Brim? "Fill it to the rim with Brim." I have it directly from an unreliable source that Brim was really short for Brimstone...

Ooooooooweeeeeeee..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 31 Jul 06 - 07:54 PM

Had a good walk this morning... beautioful, cool morning even though it got up to 90 this afternoon (with even hotter weather coming.) We saw the baby bunny this morning, with no Mom in sight. I guess she figured that she'd done her job and it was time for the kid to fend for himself. He was far more interested in eating than he was in us.

The exciting this is that we saw several river otters this morning. Not that you can really get a good look at them, but you can see them swimming around like speed freaks, catching fish.

One of our sons and his wife want to walk with us, but we told them we leave at a quarter to six at the latest, and they have about a 25 minute drive to get to our place. They'll have to get up yesterday. We started today two minutes after sunrise, and there were already people finishing their walk. I didn't see any flashlights on them, but it must have been dark enough to use them when they started. This year, I am very aware of the sun rising a minute later each day... means we can get up a whole minute later, ourselves.

Now, if any a you folks ever make it over this way, you can take the walk with us and when we get back, I'll make a nice, big breakfast to enjoy around the kitchen table...

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 01 Aug 06 - 05:34 PM

A nice big breakfast sounds good! Especially since it's 4:30 PM. And now, after all that coffee glugging, to give tea some equal time:

Tea was first described to Europeans by sixteenth-century Venetian traders. Portuguese merchants and Jesuit priests shipped tea from China along their newly charted sea routes.

Dutch seafarers were the first to take on the Portuguese for the tea trade, but eventually the British East India Company dominated tea importation to Europe. Catherine of Braganza, the Portuguese Infanta and wife of Charles II of England, is credited with hooking the British on tea with the leaves she brought in her dowry. She is also credited with initiating the ritual of the tea party.

Hooked doesn't begin to describe the habits of Samuel Johnson, who daily downed thirty to forty cups, calling himself "a hardened and shameless tea-drinker, who has for many years diluted his meals with only the infusion of this fascinating plant; whose kettle has scarcely time to cool; who with tea amuses the evening, with tea solaces the midnight, and with tea welcomes the morning."

Elmer

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 03 Aug 06 - 02:12 AM

Well! I'm glad to see the tzble even if no one is evident around it at the moment. I'll just pour myself a mug - thanks for the steaming pot, Jerry - and sit here and wait for someone to pop back in. I have something on my mind.

This Saturday night I have committed to doing a 20 minute set at our first-of-the-season folk club, Gold Street Music.

Since I am an uncomfortable performer I wouldn't have chosen to do it but I'm the booker for the performers and being in the middle of summer there are so many people out of town that I panicked about getting five sets.

In the 'uncomfortable performer' phrase is my problem. I'm not sure where it started but I really do not like to perform. I love to jam and when I'm with friends I love to sing but I don't like to get up on stage. I've done quite a lot of it but almost entirely in support of a lead player or singer. I have never sung on stage. - I take that back- at our local folk festival each year there is a Songwriter's Showcawe and one year my brother was visiting and he really wanted to sing a couple of songs I wrote so I did it. But that was at least 15 years ago and I was most uncomfortable.

Oh. And last year at the first Gold Street Music I joined a Buddy Tabor set and sang Hank William's song 'Dear Brother'...

I know some of the tricks, of course. If I find myself roped into doing something the one thing I make sure of is that the audience does NOT how nervous I am. Worse than performing itself would be the knowledge that people are feeling sorry for me. So on stage my persona is pretty breezy.

This year I will be surrounded by good musicians and that will help. There will be my singing partner playing guitar and singing harmony as well as leading one song, the John and June Carter version of Terry Smith's 'Far Side Banks of Jordan'; there will be her husband on the autoharp; the aforementioned Buddy Tabor doing guitar breaks; and the local city attorney on the mandolin. He is very good.

We'll do 'Will You Meet Me Over Yonder', Far Side Banks, Dear Brother then two mando instrumentals, 'New Camptown Races' and 'Done Gone' back to back and then end with Mudcatter Dan Schatz's lovely 'Daylight's Song.'

It's a good line up and in a jam situation I enjoy it a lot. We are practicing each evening and I like the dense, tight sound we're getting. It's just that I would like to do it for its own sake, not for an audience.

Does anyone have words of encouragement and/or advice? Short of telling me not to do it- I don't really have a choice in that.

Ebbie

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 03 Aug 06 - 10:56 AM

That sounds like a great set, Ebbie:

Performer heebie-jeebies... like everyone else, I've had them. The only cure for them is to "put your hand on the ha'nt." (haunt) Your approach sounds good to me, though... practice, practice, practice is the best short-term approach because the more you practice the more it can build your confidence. The first many times I performed, I was terrified. I had been playing guitar, singing and writing songs for ten years before I ever found the courage to get up on stage... and that in a small coffee house at a hootenanny where expectations run low.

I suppose that there's some underlying generality in all of this... the more you can focus on something other than yourself, the easier it is. Doing it is the trick. As you're doing some gospel, I'll offer up the experiences I've had in the last year in that regard.
They fall into the general category of not thinking about yourself when you sing.

I've been singing now for going on ten years with a male chorus, as I've commented on many times. Initially (and for a long time) I was very self-conscious as I'm normally the only white male in the church. When I sang a lead, I was thinking about myself too much, wondering what people were thinking about this old white guy getting up there to sing a lead. The experience was really no different than singing a song at a hootenanny. A couple of years ago, I started praying before I went up to sing a lead. (It works for me, but not necessarily for anyone else.) I prayed that the Lord would take charge of me, and sing through me. The experience has been overwhelming on several occasions and people have commented that they've never heard me sing in that way. There've been occasions when I've brought the whole church to it's feet and we couldn't stop the song. They wouldn't let us. When that has happened, I almost felt like I had an "out of body" experience... as if I was standing next to myself, watching the Lord sing through me. It's a difficult feeling to verbalize. You have to "be there" to really understand it.

A more secular observation I'd add is a question... one that I've asked the guys in my group when they've expressed anxiety about what people will think. "What will Johnny C think?'" was a concern I heard expressed too many times to appreciate. I finally started asking the question:

"Who are you singing for?"

It's a loaded question, and has a different answer for different occasions. For us, singing gospel, we're singing for the Lord. Not for Johnny C.. But, the same question can cause reflection on why we are singing. If I'm singing to impress people so that they'll think that I'm good and I forget a line, I'll consider it a disaster. Of course, when you step up on stage, the most obvious answer is, "for the audience." If that's the case, then try to focus all of your attention on the song and the audience. The less you think about yourself, the less nervous you will be. It may help to focus on wanting to share the song, too. That may help to take some of the pressure of the "performance" off of you. In folk music, sharing a good song is a primary motivating factor. You could argue that it is THE motivating factor. In gospel (for us) bringing the message is the primary motivating factor. That is a release too, because it becomes less about the performance, and even less about the performer.

It also helps some people if they zero in on a few friendly faces in the audience, and sing to them. Again, it has the effect of focusing on something other than yourself.

All I gotta say is, Good on you, Ebbie! It sounds like it's going to be a wonderful set. I wish I could be there to hear you. If you get a good tape of it, I wouldn't be averse to receiving a copy...

Hint, hint..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 03 Aug 06 - 12:08 PM

Thanks for your response, Jerry. Lot of food there.

One of the problems (?) is that I would much prefer a focus for a set. I've told the group several times in the past that if we come up with a Carter Family set they can count me in. But as soon as I waver like that, they start planning an eclectic set, so we've never done it. They are natural performers and they'd like to rope me in; I think they plan to get me to the place where I start to enjoy it. I appreciate their good will but it's just not likely to happen.

I always record Gold Street Music which I then present to each set in the form of a CD so if it's a good (enough) recording I'll be happy to send you a copy, Jerry. I love the CDs I got from you.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Carly
Date: 03 Aug 06 - 05:02 PM

What a remarkable world! We just returned from a trip to Alaska, one day of which we spent in Juneau with Ebbie and KT ( and it was a truly wonderful day!) and I wander back to the table to find Ebbie here! I'll probably dither at length some time about my first visit to Alaska, but I wanted to address Ebbie's concern, since I have always suffered from stage fright, and I have done quite a bit of performing over the years.

Certainly being well-prepared helps, and having a setlist that makes sense to you. (Having said that, I have been known to change my setlist mid-concert; fortunately, I've had great singing partners who trusted me to go where we needed to go.) But, my biggest issue by far concerns why I'm there. If I get into the mindset of "these people have come thinking I'm a great singer with a great voice, and they are going to be disappointd the moment I open my mouth and prove I am not-so-great," then I am a mess. I have to put into and keep in my head the mantra "I have done my work, I can present this music so that others will understand it, and the song is so powerful, or so beautiful, or so affirming, that they will love the song, and forgive me any lapses." Of course, this means I have difficulties singing songs I don't feel passionate about, but that is usually my choice, and if I'm singing with someone who just loves something I'm not so excited about, I can usually borrow some of that enthusiasm by talking to them about why they love it so.

I also look into the audience for sympathetic faces, and I solicit audience participation whenever I can (we're all in this together,) as well as ignoring some mistakes in the knowledge that it all goes by so fast, you can often fudge. If all else fails, and I do something no one can overlook, I laugh at myself, rather than being tragic. (My very first full concert, many years ago will be forever highlighted by my singing a line in "Misty Moisty Morning' 'I'll plow and sow and reap and mow, and you shall spit and sin' which was NOT how we had practiced it.)

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 03 Aug 06 - 07:36 PM

Hi Carly! I didn't know you were in the neighborhood! You'll find this is a wonderful place and Jerry is a great host.

As for performing- well, I expect to survive Saturday night and I'll probably even feel that parts of it were fun- Actually most of it will be fun: There are four other sets besides the one I'm in and they'll be fun.

The lineup for the evening (7:30-10:00) is

1) A singer/songwriter- young, talented, host of an Open Mic at a local pub and with a great fanbase.
2) Us. brrrrr
3) A Klezmer group
A 20 minute break then:
4) Buddy Tabor- a prolific songwriter, probably the best known musician in town
5) A bluesman to close. He has some great songs, songs like (We're Biting Off More than We Can Chew so What are We Going to Do- We'll Just 'Leave it to Our Children' and 'Intrepid Airline', a rip of our local airline monopoly.

It will be fun.

I'm grateful that there are people who enjoy performing- where would we be without them!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 03 Aug 06 - 11:58 PM

Ebbie, what helps me out is to repeat a little saying:

"Anything worth doing is worth doing badly."

Whenever I get nervous about getting up in front of a group I start thinking of all the ways I could really screw things up: mangle the lyrics, spit on someone in the front row, have my pants fall down, fall off the stage, etc. etc. Pretty soon I'm laughing at the thought of TRYING to do all the things I'm afraid of doing by accident, and the jitters go away.
Works for me.

Elmer

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 04 Aug 06 - 09:49 AM

You know, we could all learn a lot from that great American Icon, Elmer Fudd. Does he worry about failing? Does he worry about what people will think of him? Not Elmer!!!!! He knows in his heart that he was born to hunt wabbits, and that's what he does.

Nothing breeds confidence like failure.

I don't think you'll ever find that statement in a fortune cookie. But there is a lot of truth to it, if you have the indomitable spirit of E. Fudd, esquire.

When my youngest son first moved out on his own, it wasn't really by choice. He had just graduated from college and I married Ruth and moved out of my house. There really wasn't a place for him to live with his Dad any more, and my son knew it was time that he stretched his wings. It took an enormous amount of courage on his part to move to a different part of the country with no job in hand and no money other than what I could afford to help him with. And his worst fears weren't as bad as reality. The first six months, he couldn't get ANY job, despite being willing to do just about anything and he stayed in a run down, depressing old motel in the worst part of town. I know he nearly starved, because I couldn't send him as much money as he really needed. On every level, his life looked like a failure. But, he persevered, despite the ugly circumstances of his life and finally got a decent job and was able to move into an apartment. That was 8 years ago. Since then, when he's had to face other hard challenges, I remind him that he came through those first six months, and if he handled that, he could handle anything. And each time he has survived a hard time, or made stupid mistakes that he paid for dearly, his confidence has strengthened. He knows he can get through hard times now, and that if he makes a stupid mistake he can "Get right up, dust himself off and start right over again." That's a wonderful lesson to learn.

All of this applies to performing. When your worst fears are realized, and you forget lyrics to songs or do something really embarassing on stage, you discover that people don't ridicule you. If you laugh at yourself and keep on going, the audience's heart goes out to you and in an odd way, you've won them over. Everybody knows failure. It's something that we all an relate to.

I've seen Gordon Bok forget lyrics to a song when doing a concert in a large auditorium to the point where the finally had to just acknowledge that he couldn't remember the words. Gordon is confident enough in himself that he'd just laugh and acknowledge that it happened. Or more likely, he would acknowledge that it happened because I remember it. But he's probably long since forgotten it. Mistakes go with the territory. In a way, it's just as well that you make them early on so that you understand that mistakes don't do any lasting harm. Who ever walked out of a concert and said... "Man, I had a great time... he didn't make a single mistake!" And he probably did, anyway.

When life gets you down, just think about Elmer. He was born to lose, and yet he triumphs anyway.

Now, Daffy, Duck... that's a horse of a different color.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Carly
Date: 04 Aug 06 - 01:51 PM

You are so right, Jerry. We can all relate to failure, and most of the time an audience is sympathetic if you are honest, and don't dwell on the moment too long.

This conversation got me to thinking about ways we make ourselves comfortable (or not) when performing. A case in point; my husband, Dean, and I do much of our singing, (as well as having important conversations!) during car trips. Dean enjoys driving, which means I am usually sitting to his right. On occasions that we have sung in public, Dean is clearly more comfortable if he can stand or sit to my left. And I know a performer who will move heaven and earth to have a high stool to perch on, which doesn't strike me as particularly comfortable. Do you have any on-stage rituals to keep yourself happy?

Carly

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 04 Aug 06 - 02:41 PM

Hey, Carly:

Somewhere along the line over many years of performing, I seemed to have overcome my nervousness performing. The only exceptions now are when it's been too long between my folk programs, and I am rusty on some of the material. In the years when I was performing folk very regularly I became comfortable enough to reach the point where I didn't even do a set list. I'd have a list of songs and keys on stage in case I couldn't come up with a song, but for the most part, I let the audience create the flow. It's very helpful if you can "read" the audience. After two or three songs you should have a good idea what they're responding to. A set list composed in your living room three days before may not be the best choice of material for that specific audience. If you're just doing two or three songs at an open mike, or as part of a program with several other performers, this doesn't apply. It's also difficult to do that when you are in a band. Maybe impossible. But as a solo performer, I find it a much better way to make a connection with the audience.

When I play with my Gospel group, I may decide spur of the moment to do a song that we haven't practiced because it seems like the right song to do next. We sing together enough, and my guitar is the only instrument, so we can usually step right into the song with confidence. In the male chorus that I sing in, it's not at all uncommon for the Director to decided to do a song we haven't done in months. If you sing the lead on the song, you'd better recognize the piano lead-in and get up there to the mike. It helps to pray as you approach the mike that the words will come back to you. It's almost as hard for the rest of the chorus, because they have to quickly remember their lines and their harmony part. A couple of months ago, we were asked to sing at a funeral. The funeral was two hours long and we sang without taking a break. We ended up doing songs we hadn't done in a couple of years. It was a real stretch, but exhilarating too. We did a pretty good job on the songs (all done from memory, as we don't sing from sheet music or lyric sheets.)

Only goes to show

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 04 Aug 06 - 07:12 PM

"I'm just turning the pages now, and every one is a good one."

I spoke with my Mother today. Since we came back from our visit to Wisconsin for her 99th brithday, she's been steadily losing ground. Thinking back to our visit, I am even more grateful that she was able to muster what little remaining strength she has so that she could really enjoy our visit. My Mother and Father loved to go for rides in the country. When we got out there in early June, it had been more than half a year since she'd been able to go for a ride.
My sisters don't have the strength to load her wheelchair and the oxygen tank into and out of the trunk of the car, and neither do any of her friends. But I do, and that was one of the first things that she wanted to do. We took her for a ride out into the country on the old country roads that my Mother and Father raveled on for countless times in their life together. It was a beautiful day and we all enjoyed it immensely. My Mother hadn't been out of the retirement complex in almost a year, but we took her out to dinner with my sisters, her closest friend and a minister and his wife who've been dear friends for many years. She also managed to summon the strength to have two birthday parties, and I did a concert for the residents of Assisted Living which mean a lot to her and my sisters. At the time I think that we were all aware that each instance might be the "last time."

Since we've been back, Mom has slowly been failing and she has a Hospice nurse checking in on her regularly. Her oxygen level is very low, so she is on oxygen most of the time. (That doesn't stop her from going to Vespers in the chapel there, playing Bingo, or getting her hair done. But now, that's about all that she can do. She has Adult Macular Degeneration severely enough that she can no longer read, and television is a blurry image. So she sleeps a lot. She needs help to get dressed and get into her chair, and the only real break from the monotony is mealtime, vespers on Sunday and her hair dresser appointment on Friday. She knows that she is winding down now, and isn't likely to see Christmas again.

When I talked with her this morning, she was very animated because her wonderful friend (who is in her 80's) was due any moment to take her to the hair dressers. When I asked Mom how she was doing, she said that nothing has changed. She is very weak and sleeps most of the time. And then she said something very beautiful:

I'm just turning the pages now, and every one is a good one."

That's my Mom.

I told her that the coming days and weeks would be good ones because no matter what comes, it will be good. She is looking forward to being reunited with her Mother who died when my Mother was 12 or 13 years old. I recited the lines to a song the Gospel Messengers sing, and it says it all:

"Have I given anything, today?
Have I helped some needy soul on my way?
Just to know I've done my best
When I come to take my rest
And my name be written there, today"

That's all there is..

And as we turn the pages together, each one will be a good one.

Jerry, blessed

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 04 Aug 06 - 10:47 PM

Lovely. I begin to see where you're from, Jerry. Congratulations on choosing wisely!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 05 Aug 06 - 07:48 PM

You got that right, ebbie: I am my Mother's son. Her only son, AND her favorite son, all rolled into one.

Looks like errbody is gone away these days... Ron is away, and Elmer has been on a rabbit hunting safari to Iowa, although I think he's due home soon. Don't know where Bro Jimmy is these days. Guess it's up to us what is around to keep the home fires burning. And the pot on the stove..

It's an honor to share my life with all of you..

Jerry

Esther's son.

You think Gerald Elmer Henry Hornsbuckle Rasmussen is old=fashioned sounding? My Mother is Esther Adelaide Holliday Rasmussen... a shirt-tail cousing of Doc Holliday. Esther was a grand woman in the bible. And in Wisconsin, too..

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: freda underhill
Date: 05 Aug 06 - 10:15 PM

This is good to read, Jerry. My son-in-law's grandmother ("Yaya") was a beautiful, elegant, kind lady. She was very old and has been in care for a few months. She died yesterday.

I spent last night reading about death and the afterlife. I think Yaya will be enjoying her time in the light, now.

freda

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 06 Aug 06 - 09:43 AM

I'm sorry to hear that Freda. Sorry for those who mourn, but not sorry for your son-in-law's Grandmother. I'll try to remember the joy that is part of the sorrow when my Mother has her home-going. Whenever that may be. Life is worth celebrating. Perhaps even more so at it's end.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Severn
Date: 06 Aug 06 - 10:12 AM

My best wishes for the health and happiness of your mother, Jerry.

Mine is still going pretty strong at 91 and is within visiting distance, so she gets visits from myself (and two of my sisters as well) at least once a week. She gets to go out with her old neighborhood friends, and everyone at Asbury Home in Gaithersburg MD seems to love her and they take good care of the elderly there.

It's good to keep in touch and spend valuable time while you can. In the case of my mother, while she misses my dad, by whom she was always somewhat overshadowed personality wise, since he passed away and she doesn't have to constantly tend to him as she did for 13 years after his initial stroke, she has really blossomed on her own. We see parts of her personality and sense of humor that were never really let out fully and some things we didn't really know were there at all! she is a pleasure to be with and even a source of constant surprise to add to the regular amount of joy one gets from being with a parent. As circumstances change, one finds out how to still apperciate gaining new knowledge to match the old, and find new ways to give back in return.

Subject: RE: BS: Kitsching Again At The Sitting Table
From: Severn
Date: 06 Aug 06 - 10:55 AM

By the way, thanks for the coffee, and I'll have to get the recipe for your delicious Jerry-Razz-Muffins!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 06 Aug 06 - 01:28 PM

Hey, Severn:

Thanks for stopping by. You touched on an interesting point.. the flowering of some women after their husbands are gone. My Mother existed to keep my Father from being unhappy. That wasn't all that uncommon a role for women of my Mother's generation. "Don't get your Father mad!"

When my Father died 8 years ago (and there was much that I loved about him, and I miss him,) suddenly Mom could be Esther Holliday again. Not just Elmer's wife. The first thing we did after the memorial service was to go out and buy a stereo for Mom. Dad didn't like music in the apartment and when he didn't like something, he made sure that you couldn't enjoy it either. After I set up the system and bought Mom some CDs, she wanted to go out to eat at one of her favorite restaurants she hadn't been to in years because my Father got mad once when he thought he was overcharged and refused to go there. When I ordered a burrito, she ordered one too, even though she wasn't sure what it was and wasn't too good on spicy food. She ordered it because she could. She's been blessed with eight years of being herself after almost 70 years of interruption...

Go WOMEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Free at last!

I say that, despite loving my Father. He was to some extent a victim of his own generation, too.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Severn
Date: 06 Aug 06 - 02:07 PM

As was mine. And being one of those people who had never been sick a day in his life, when the stroke came, he found himself completely helpless for the first time and had to call her if she was gone over 10 minutes. While maintaining as much of the tone of being completely in charge as he could, of course. Part of our visits were to come see him and talk to him, but some were to occupy him for long enough to let mom finish a task or two, as well. He'd fret whenever she was off tho the grocery or hairdresser while striving to still sound and feel dominant. He could never just let that part of him go. We loved him dearly, but he could be quite difficult and unbending. Definately a product of both generation and some failures he percieved in his father he never wanted to duplicate.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 06 Aug 06 - 02:15 PM

My Father is the only case I know of of someone who literally died laughing. He'd had occasional strokes and finally had a serious enough one that he was sitting in his Lazy Boy chair, attended by two nurses awaiting the arrival of an ambulance. My Father could be very entertaining, and he had the nurses laughing at all of his jokes when the Big One hit him dead on and he keeled over onto the floor, dead.

Other than the occasional widely-spaced strokes which passed with no lasting damage, my Father was quite healthy. But like many elderly men(and women), he insisted that my Mother be with him at all times. For the most part, she was held captive even if only just to be there because he didn't want her to do anything without him.

Unfortunately, negative qualities that are just infuriating when we're younger can become completely overbearing when we get too old to take care of ourselves, physically or emotionally. You can be too old to take care of yourself, but you're never too old to make others miserable.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 06 Aug 06 - 03:18 PM

Your saying that about repeating a parent's weaknesses rings for me, Severn. My brother, who had a difficult time with our by-the-book father, caught himself up short one day when he suddenly realized that he was doing the same thing to his children. (And that is very definitely TO children, rather than WITH) From then on he worked at parenting, and it paid off for them all.

Incidentally, my debut on stage last night went off better than I had feared. Playing back the recording I note how uneven my speeds were but at least I didn't make anyone feel sorry for me. That was my main worry.

Jerry, if you PM me your mailing address I'll send you a copy. Thanks for asking/"hinting".

Ebbie

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 06 Aug 06 - 03:27 PM

Congratulations on your performance, ebbie! I'd love to hear what you did. I'll PM my mailing address to you...

Always nice to see you at the table.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 06 Aug 06 - 03:31 PM

Ah yes, Ebbie: The ultimate gag reflex: when you realize that you've just done the same thing that you hated in one of your parents.

Done that.... ecchhhh!!!!!!!!

What's that about the sins of the Fathers being visited on the sons (and daughters too.)

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 06 Aug 06 - 04:48 PM

Aw, Ebbie, you mean you didn't mess up the performance? What a shame...

Congrats and felicitations. It sounds like a real milestone that you got through it and saw for yourself that you deported yourself well. It'll get progressively easier each time. And I'll bet you enriched the lives of folks in your audience, more than you'll ever hear about.

Elmer

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 06 Aug 06 - 05:07 PM

Yeah, in one sense, Elmer, I agree. People are often surprised, I think, that at my age I still play. Singing in public at some length for the first time at age 70 is a bit over the top!

On the plus side I frequently am told by people my age - and younger - that my activity inspires them.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 06 Aug 06 - 07:44 PM

I dunno, Ebbie: I think of you as a young woman. At least, you're younger than me. I've known people in their 20's who were older than you.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: GUEST,stranger
Date: 06 Aug 06 - 08:27 PM

You have a beautiful way of speaking ive scanned down the whole thread and your turn of phrase reminds me of my father.
Parents are irish and as i was growing up the kitchen table was the centre of everything music,card games,tears,laughter.I remember seeing my father sat at the table being told his father had died,also when his mother had died,I remember him smashing his fist down on it when i was a boy and he caught me stealing his fags,didnt hit me but by hitting the table for some reason it was more effective his frustration i guess i dunno .Anyway im rambling just a passing stranger and felt like saying Hi and for some reason Thanks.
      peace fella i like your style and Thanks again

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 06 Aug 06 - 09:13 PM

Don't be a stranger, stranger.

I remember our kitchen table. Very 1950's. It had a quasi-formica top with an aluminum edging about 2" wide, with several horizontal ridges in it. It had a leaf that could be pulled up. Our kitchen was very small... as I've said, not even enough room for the refrigerator, but the five of us... my Mother and Father, my two older sisters and I managed to squeeze in around that small table with our backs up against the stove on one side, and Dad just about through the door into the dining room. Houses were sure set up oddly then. Our kitchen was very cramped, and yet we had a large dining room with a beautiful walnut table and six matching chairs. We probably at at that table five or six times a year... mostly on Holidays, and maybe a birthday. The rest of the time we crammed ourselves into the kitchen. But, respectable families had a dining room.

For many years, we ate on an oil cloth cover on the kitchen table. Anybody remember oil cloth? I wonder if they even make it any more...

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 07 Aug 06 - 11:58 AM

You know, Ebbie, back in the 60's most of us tried to sound old and toothless, gumming the words with imagined tobacco spittle running out of the side of our mouths. We wanted to be authentic, which to us meant old. We copied Clarence Ashley, Uncle Dave Macon and the rest, trying to get their phrasing down. God help you if you had any vibrato in your voice. Actually, I think God would disown you if you did. Dylan sounded like he'd just crawled out of his coffin when he was 19.

Time takes care of everything, though. No need for us to try to sound "old."

We Iz.

That said, I heard Almeda Riddle when she was older than you and I are now, and she sounded wonderful to my ears. Not that she ever would have been confused with Joan Baez.. not even when Almeda was in her twenties, I bet. The great thing about folk music is that age is venerated by many. Not the angst-ridden crowd, but at least among those who love traditional music.

I think I'll pass on gumming songs with tobacco spittle running out of the corner of my mouth though.

By Cracky..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 07 Aug 06 - 06:57 PM

THOUGHTS ON BEING 70 FROM SPIFFY SEPTUAGENARIANS:

Life has got to be lived—that's all there is to it. At seventy, I would say the advantage is that you take life more calmly. You know that 'this too, shall pass.'
        —Eleanor Roosevelt

To be seventy years young is sometimes far more cheerful and hopeful than to be forty years old.
        —Oliver Wendell Holmes

AND ON BEING 80 FROM PERSPICACIOUS OCTOGENARIANS:

At eighty, I believe, I am a far more cheerful person than I was a twenty or thirty. I most definitely would not want to be a teenager again. Youth may be glorious, but it is also painful to endure. Moreover, what is called youth is not youth, in my opinion, it is rather something like premature old age.
—Henry Miller

When I was young I was amazed at Plutarch's statement that the elder Cato began at the age of eighty to learn Greek. I am amazed no longer. Old age is ready to undertake tasks that youth shirked because they would take too long.
        —W. Somerset Maugham

SOME WAY COOL COMTEMPLATIONS ON OLD AGE FROM A COUPLE OF TOTALLY AWESOME TRANSCENDENTALISTS:

We do not count a man's years, until he has nothing else to count.
        —Ralph Waldo Emerson

Youth, large, lusty, loving—
   youth full of grace, force,
      fascination.
Do you know that Old Age
   may come after you with
      equal grace, force,
         fascination?
        —Walt Whitman

THE LAST WORD, FROM THAT GREAT WRITER, ANON.:

He who laughs lasts.
        —Unknown

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 08 Aug 06 - 02:16 PM

Went to the Doctor today for a check-up and got a glowing report. My Doctor says that I am his most boring patient because I take such good care of myself that he can't find anything wrong. Since I was diagnosed as diabetic two and a half years ago, I've been a real bull-dog about taking good care of my health. I know I wouldn't be in the shape I'm in if the diabetic diagnosis didn't wake me up.

I'm surprised in a way, that there isn't a lot of conversation on the cat about diet, natural remedies and excercise. I occasionally see a passing comment on one thread or another, but very little more than that. All that I've learned has been through the internet and reading.

And Elmer turned me on to cinammon.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 08 Aug 06 - 09:44 PM

Great news about your check-up, Jerry. May you ever bore your doctor with normal blood sugar levels. However, you won't be able to cop Eubie Blake's line, "If I knew I was going to live this long, I would have taken better care of myself!"

Elmer

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 09 Aug 06 - 07:53 PM

Whar's errbody gone to? Sure would be nice to have some company. Me and Elmer's holding the fort these days. I know August is vacation time and some of our reg'lars are away. Ruth and I will be gone for five days late this month into early September so someone will have to hold the fort.

The old saying is "If you can't stand the heat, stay out of the kitchen." The way some of the threads are heating up in here, I think if has become "If you can't stand the heat, come in the kitchen."

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 09 Aug 06 - 11:27 PM

On my way to music- Jerry, I sent off a CD to you yesterday. Judging by Juneau's usual habit you should receive it by early September. :)

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 10 Aug 06 - 05:01 PM

We have a 6 foot by 20 foot strip of lawn on the other side of our driveway that joins our neighbor Mike's lawn. When we moved in here five years ago, I conscientiously took my lawnmower over there and mowed the little strip. Half the time, Mike would just mow my strip of lawn when he was mowing his, and finally he told me he'd just do it with his lawn because it only takes him a couple of minutes more and it doesn't make any sense for me to do it. So, Mike does part of my lawn.

We have a barberry hedge in the backyard, jointly shared with George and Marie, who live behind us. George takes great pride in keeping the hedge beautifully trimmed, and when I bought a hedge clipper, he made it clear that he'd really appreciate continuing to do our side. He likes to help others, and he is an artiste with a hedge clipper. So, George does our side of the barberry hedge in our backyard. And when his hedge-clipper broke, I gave him mine with the proviso that I could borrow it when I needed it.

We have a high hedge of a variety of shrubs that separates our yard from Bill and Joanne. Bill is almost blind from too many years of doing arc welding without protecting his eyes, and he can hardly walk out to the car. So, I do their side of the hedge between us, as well as our side. It's a Hell of a job, which I just finished this morning. There are a lot of grape vines (which never produce grapes) on their side of the hedge and they climb all the way up into our dogwood trees, They are a real pain (mentally and physically) to cut back and strip out of the trees, and they grow faster than Jack's beanstalk. It took me two hours to cut their side of the hedge this morning and it will take another couple of hours to haul several loads of cutting down to the dump, one at a time in the trunk of my car. But, I was especially pleased to do it this time. Early in June while we were out celebrating my Mom's birthday, they had a torrential downpour around here and flooded Bill and Joanne's basement so badly that they had to rip out the flooring and the walls, air hammer a channel and install a sump pump. That was no sooner finished than Joanne's younger sister, who'd been a heroine addict for many years committed suicide. They are really hurting, over there. So I cut their side of the high hedge. George does their side of the barberry hedge that separates his property from theirs.

This morning, I was up on a step ladder struggling to reach across the top of the hedge (which gets as high as ten feet tall) to cut the new growth. George saw me struggling and came over to help hold the ladder. He was cleaning up the branches he'd just trimmed off the barberry hedge on Bill and Joanne's side of the hedge and was just leaning over to pick up a big handful of branches when he noticed me and stopped.

After George helped me, he went over to resume his work and noticed something shining in the pile of trimmed branches he was about to pick up before he stopped to come over to help me. He hadn't noticed them before. When he looked more carefully, he saw several large pieces of broken glass from a bottle he'd seen on Bill and Joanne's lawn before the guy came over to mow their lawn. They all ended up mixed in with the branches that George had been about to pick up. He didn't see them when he was first going to pick them up, and probably would have cut his hands, because he wasn't wearing gloves.

George told me this whole story when he came back over to talk to me. He said, "You know, when you help someone else, God sends someone to help you. If I hand't come over to help you, I would have cut my hands all up, trying to help Bill and Joanne." Now, you can interpret what happened in any way, and that's valid. I do believe that when you are focused on helping others, you often discover that something happens to prevent you from getting hurt, or helps you in a way you probably wouldn't have been helped if you hadn't helped someone else. I told George, "When I burn CDs and send them off to people on the internet (Mudcat) who I barely know, they want to know what they can do for me. I tell them, do something unexpected for someone you barely know, and you'll be doing it for me."

What goes around comes around..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 13 Aug 06 - 05:06 PM

Hi all, here I am, back from the sidmouth folk festival, wanting to tell you how wonderful it was and no one is here, I will put on the coffee pot and sit and reminise.We had not been back to Sidmouth for 15 years, but promised an old friend, Dave Bryant, before he died that we would go back this year. So glad he made me promise, we were only there 3 days but have booked for the whole week next year, it was like going home, so much music and so many old friends to catch up with,It felt a bit like sitting in the corner here, sitting in the middle bar in the corner listening to the sing around lots of mudcatters, maybe next year I will sing again myself but really enjoyed joining in the choruses.The morris dancing made me think about getting out my clogs!( or maybe common sense will prevail?)
Anyhow Bily and I had a wonderful 10 days away in Devon and Somerset,back to earth tomorrow.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 13 Aug 06 - 08:13 PM

Good for you!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 13 Aug 06 - 09:06 PM

Hey, Billy Bob:

I'm glad that you and Billy had such a great time at Sidmouth. I know some other Catters who went there, including someone who has been sorely missed, here around the kitchen table. It seems like everyone was gone at the same time, and I was getting kinda lonely sitting here all by myself. Elmer kept me company, but you know that he's a man of few words... The Gary Cooper, strong and silent type.

We had a great time last night. Ruth and I went to a surprise 16th birthday party for her/our Grandson, Little T (who now prefers to be called Terry.) He and his Mother are up here visiting from Virginia Beach, and he was completely surprised at the party because his birthday isn't for a couple of weeks. Our son Pasha, his wife Nina and their son (who still likes to be called Little Pasha) our daughter Dee, and her two daughters and one son were there with four grandchildren and a lot of friends. We was the designated old folks. They had a dj and played dance music most of the night, with everyone ('cept me and Ruth) getting up to dance. The music is all young black dance club music, and a lot of the teenagers had all the moves down cold. It was a lot of fun, watching them have such a good time, and to watch Mothers dancing with sons and grandkids. My Father's nickname for me when I was a kid was Slewfoot. I think that says it all about my dancing finesse.

But man, am I a great watcher!

Good to see some friends dropping by again. Who knows, Ole buddy Ron may pop in soon...

Jerry

Keeper of the Pot..... hmm... that doesn't sound as impressive as I thought....

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 14 Aug 06 - 01:23 PM

I've been collecting memories these days, with my Mom slowly slip-sliding away. I've kept copies of letters I've written and special ones that I've received, going back to 1974, so I have a ready-made family history filed away.

Today, I was looking through my old files and came across a letter that my Mother wrote to me on Christmas Eve, many years ago. She described her Christmases as a child, in wonderful detail. I am so thankful that she wrote it, and that I have those cherished meories to pass on to my sons and the other members of our family. And to share with Ruth, who immediately adopted Mom as her Mother the minute that she met her.

If you have old correspondence, hang on to it. It is a treasure in the making.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 14 Aug 06 - 06:35 PM

Hi Jerry
your party sounded great, lovely to have family gatherings, we did that in June for my big O birthday 80 family and friends.It was so special for my parents 86 and 83 to see all the family together.
Sidmouth was really special as 8 of my cousins with wives and husbands joined us, all back next year!
Who are the mudcatters that came over from the USA? I ask because there were 3 Americans staying in our B and b (Lavender Hill) they were at the festival then going on to Broadstairs.I feel very guilty that we did not have a long conversation, call it English reserve?
However I had a great time, although in the middle bar I sat and listened in the corner just like at this table, next year who knows?
Four weeks to go to meet our new first grandchild I went to the hospital today with our daughter to see the latest scan, all goes well, counting my blessings
Wendy

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 14 Aug 06 - 08:32 PM

Hey, Wendy:

Nice to see your name. Beats calling you Billy Bob. When we were at the party, our grandson,(on Ruth's side)his wife and their new baby was there. She's only a few weeks old, having been born on June 14th... on my birthday. It's really special to have a family member born on your birthday. I had a cousin who shared my birthday, who was ten years older. I'll never forget a birthday... I was probably six or 7 years old when he walked over to our house on that hot summer's day to bring me a pair of socks as a birthday present. He had a glass of cold lemonade and then walked home. we didn't own a car, so we couldn't give him a ride back. He lived in a neighboring town about ten miles away. How could anyone forget such a loving act... a twenty mile round trip walk to bring a kid a pair of socks on his birthday? Nothing have ever touched that birthday present. My cousin is long since dead, but he was a sweet man and I loved him dearly. When I was living in New York City, he came to visit once and I took him to the Gaslight Cafe. Tom Pazton was playing that night, and Tom was a friend, so he was especially warm and friendly to my cousin Kenny. Kenny didn't really know folk music, but he asked Tom if he could do the Wabash Canonball, which was one of his favorites. Tom obliged.. made Kenny very happy. It was a sweet gift to a sweet man.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 14 Aug 06 - 08:38 PM

Jerry, you meet the coolest people and have the sweetest times! Wonder why? :)

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 14 Aug 06 - 10:09 PM

Now it can finally be told, friends:

Ebbie sounds jes fine, and the set she did a couple of weeks ago with her friends is great fun. I know because Ebbie was gracious enough to let me hear a recording of them... wonderful southern mountain music from the northern plaines. Felt like Old-Timey music at Clarence Ashleys, or a Sunday afternoon picnic at the Carter's.

You got a lot of catching up to do, Ebbie, making good music.

Thanks so much for sharing it with me.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 15 Aug 06 - 11:05 AM

Thanks, Jerry. Can you believe that with my low Appalachian voice I love opera? True. Sad, but true.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 16 Aug 06 - 07:11 AM

So do you sing opera too, Ebbie? Nice to have an eclectic mix in one's repertoire. Why get stuck in a rut? Around the house, I sing from a whole spectrum of music as the mood strikes. Sometimes I'll find myself unconsciously singing some song, the lyrics of which reflect whatever is on my mind at the moment. If I catch it, I have to stop and laugh at the subject matter, and what it is telling me about my state of mind.

Elmer

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 16 Aug 06 - 10:12 AM

I'm with you, Elmer: If you love the music, go ahead and sing it. Maybe not all of it on stage, but in the house or driving in the car (with the windows all rolled up) sing whatever you feel like singing.
There's no "shouldn't" when you are singing for your own enjoyment.

The funny thing is, when I was a kid and even into young adulthood(until I reached 60) I sang along on the lead, whether the lead was a baritone, tenor or bass. A lot of the time, I had to stretch it, or go into falsetto, but whithout realizing it, I think that I developed a wide range for singing. Thank God nobody told me I shouldn't do that... or even worse, that I couldn't.

When my son Pasha and I are working together and we listen to the old rhythm and blues, it was a revelation to him when I sang falsetto. He didn't realize that's what some singers are doing, and he was trying to reach those impossibly high notes in his own voice. It opened up a whole new world for him. We make a pretty good ltwo man quartet.

I just received notice that my Church And Street Corner Harmony workshop at the NOMAD festival is ON, so it's time to get back to work with the Messengers. That should be a ton of fun..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 16 Aug 06 - 11:03 AM

oooooh. I phrased that badly. I meant that it is ironic that given that I have such a low voice that I love opera. No. I don't sing it.

Has anyone here heard of Byron McGillvary (sp)? He is a voice coach who travels around, at least on the West Coast. Anyway, he claims that I was meant to be a soprano!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 17 Aug 06 - 07:40 AM

Hi Jerry
I love singing in the car, Billy and I sang along to CDs all the way back from Sidmouth last weekend,helped us along as the journey was dreadful,eight hours of heavy traffic and then a terrific thunder storm as we passed Heathrow airport with torrents of rain, glad we were not catching a plane, security scares and lightning...no thanks!
Billy only ever sings in the car, he has a good voice but would never stand up in front of people,in the car he thinks I cannot hear him as I drown him out.
Yesterday we went to see my son who is starting a new job in September as manager of a restored theatre, built in 1820!A great opertunity , I will let you know how he gets on.Is the coffee ready?
Wendy

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 17 Aug 06 - 08:27 AM

Hey, Wendy:

Any chance you could drive your car up on stage and let Bily Bob sing with the windows rolled down? It's much easier than having a shower on stage. Or a Men's Room. Those are the other places where shy folks burst into song. It's all about a contained space, I think.

I've written a majority of my songs over the years, while driving.
It just seems to be a fertile environment for creation (I'm talking front seat creation, here.) Over the years, I've had a habit of just singing a line that comes out of nowhere. Most of the time, I'd look like an idiot, if somebody heard me. Which is why I sing with the windows rolled up. But once in awhile, a line comes out that really interests me, and it evolves into a song.

Some first lines, out of nowhere that became songs:

"Put another bowl on the floor, Mildred, I think Rosco's got a friend"

"Old Dog Trey, he's out on the backporch sleeping"

"It was a nice night, at least I thought it was nice"

"ooh-wee, wouldn't you liked to've been there? Wouldn't you liked to've been there in the morning?" (This one never became a song, and I still don't know why I would've liked to have been there in the morning.

There are many others... not all of which came while driving. But, even those that initially came out of some other situation (dreams, as often as not) became songs as I kept singing the lines that I had, while driving.

The disadvantage of writing songs while you're driving is that it's dangerous to actually "write" them. My attitude on that is that if I can't remember the melody the next day it is by definition, not memorable. And who wants a melody that isn't memorable, anyway?
Besides, I can't write music, so I couldn't "write" a song if I was sitting in a Barcalounge wearing a velvet smoking jacket with leather elbow pads.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 17 Aug 06 - 08:51 AM

Jerry
sitting in the traffic jam last week, singing along to John Denver, we had the windows down, got some strange looks from other drivers, but who cares, they got stress from the going nowhere and we were on " country roads"

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 17 Aug 06 - 12:05 PM

A severe curve here:

Last night I was at the outdoor salmon bake where KT sings and got to talking with this tourist from Portland Oregon.

He said, I get so tired of talking with people on the far left and with people on the far right. On any question you already know what they're going to say. It is the people in the middle that I want to know; they are the problem solvers.

Struck me.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 17 Aug 06 - 01:03 PM

Hey, Ebbie:

I could say that I really like your curves, but that might sound sexist, so I'll say that I'm with you on this one. I prefer conversations; not impatient interchanges of inflexible opinions. When I was in college, I studied fossils. But I never enjoyed talking with them.

And here's a curve, right back atcha.

I talked to my Mother this morning. Since Ruth and I celebrated her birthday with her in June, she's been rapidly going down hill. She's reached a point now where she is so weak that it's difficult for her to talk. Most of the time when we call, she doesn't even answer the phone, although she keeps it within reach next to her bed. She's just too worn out to talk. So, we leave messages on her answering machine, and she appreciates that. It's what she needs these days... just hearing our voices, knowing that we love her and are praying for her. Yesterday, she had severe stomach pins, dry heaves and nauseau and it just about took her under. They wanted to put her in the health care center, but she knows that when she goes in there, there's only one way out. She'd rather stay in her room in assisted living, surrounded by the few things she's been able to keep that remind her of happier times.

Even though I could barely hear her when she talked, and she was having trouble hearing me, I wanted to tell her that I am doing a book about her life, with her memories, mine and the rest of the families, some family history and photographs and songs that I've written. She was very enthusiastic about that. I told her that I was sending her copies of two treasured letters she sent to me, long ago about her childhood memories. She was so happy to hear that, and even though she'll have to have someone else read them to her, I know that they will take her back to the days when she was a young girl, and her Mother was alive.

One paragraph relates to our kitchen table, so I thought that Id quote it:

"In the fall there was extra work to harvest the food and can and store it for the winter. I can remember sorting Navy Beans; we had a big table and we'd all sit around it and sort the good beans from the bad. Then, Mother stored them to make good baked beans and side pork in the winter. We had lots of good family banter while we were working. Brother Howard tuaght me the alphabet in German, which he was studying in High School. I have never forgotten it. We have some good singers in the family and Mother would get us going on hymns. Now and then we would digress and sing some rounds of Row, Row, Row Your Boat, and a song that went "Put on your old grey bonnet with the blue ribbons on it, and we'll hitch old Dobbin to the shay. Adn ride out to Dover through the fields of clover on our Golden wedding day." Dad and I took a trip to New Glarus on our 50th, and would you believe we sang that song? We did!"

She introduced her writing by saying "There was lots of work to do, eight children and a farm to run. I will try to tell you some of the things we did that kids now would really complain about, but they were a part of my life and I think it was beautiful."

The letter is mighty long to post here, but if anyone would like to read it, e-mail me at [e-mail] and I'll e-mail a copy to you.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 17 Aug 06 - 01:15 PM

Jerry, go ahead and post that letter! According to Joe there is no limit here to the length of that kind of thing. I think we'd all like to read it.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 17 Aug 06 - 02:09 PM

o.k. Ebbie:

A letter from my Mother:

Dear Jerry: I don't know what in my childhood would be suitable for a song, but I'll recall what I can.

My happiestr memories were from the "Waterman Farm" we rented from Mr. Waterman. I think you can remember the place. It was two miles this side of Milton. Soon after we moved to Milton, Mom died. I was 13, and after that my life was miserable. Dad was bitter that Mother was taken away from him and it was as if we weren't there, and the brothers were mean to us. Gladys and Helen were married, and Helen moved to Minneapolis; there was no one to talk to, so I don't care to recall that part of my life. But, on the Waterman Farm, I can recall many happy memories. There was lots of work to do, eight children and a farm to run. I will try to tell some of the things we did that kids now would really complain about, but they were a part of my life and I think it was beautiful.

We made our own butter; I can remember turning the crank of the butter churn until my arms ached, but when that sweet butter and good, fresh buttermilk were ready, the taste was heavenly and the work seemed worth the effort. We turned the crank on the ice cream freezer too, but somehow that didn't seem like work.

In the fall (see paragraph in my previous post..)



We also had to go out in the fields and help load the pumpkins and squash, and pick up potatoes and sack them. The air was nippy, our cheeks would be rosy and our noses and feet cold. If we could keep remembering all the good food Mother would fix gor us come Winter, it would relieve some of the discomfort.

Summer was more fun. We had a beautiful woods and we loved packing a lunch and walking down the lane to the woods. On the way, we'd pick black raspberries and there was a choke-cherry bush and they were good, too. I remember one hill in the wooded area that in the Spring would be yellow with butter cups. There also were violets, Jack-in-the-pulpits, shooting stars, yellow lady slippers and daisys. Sometimes at night if Mother and Dad weren't too tired, they would go with us and we'd build a bonfire and roast wieners and marsh mallows.

Fourth of July was always a big event, too. There was always an all-day celebration in Milton Park, starting with a parade and ending in fireworks. We saved all year to have 50 cents to spend for ice cream cones, Cracker Jacks and other good things. It is amazing how much we could get for 50 cents.

Then there was the Sunday School picnic. We'd meet at the church and get on hay wagons, horse drawn, and go to Lake Koshkonong. There would be ball games, swimming, horse-shoes and of course, lots of good eating.

Wash or laundry days weren't so much fun. There wasn't any washing maching. Everything had to be scrubbed on the scrub board. The sheets and men's overalls were the worst: all the wringing and rinsing out! The water had to be pumped from the well, carried in and heated on the stove. There were eight children and Mother and Dad, so that was no small task. Then the ironing was done with the iron that had to be heated on the old wood stove.

We didn't have electricity, so another disagreeable task was keeping the chimneys on the kerosene lamps clean. It seems like the bot black awfully fast.

We had carpets made of rags, they were tacked to the floor and every Spring they had to be taken up, put on the line and beaten clean with the carpet beater and tacked back to the floor again. The mattresses had to be opened up, the old straw removed and new straw put in. The pillows were filled with chicken feathers and they had to be replaced, too. So, Spring housecleaning was some different than today.

There was one thing I recall with nostalgia. The cows were always in the pasture in the woods. Every night, someone had to go drive them to the barn for milking. Buster, our dog, was good at rounding them up. To hop-skip and run down the lane, probably a mile, with Buster at our heels was something I loved to do.

Then there was threshing day. The farmers would exchange days until everyone had their grain threshed and stored. We'd be up early in the morning to see the big threshing machines come in; then all the farmers.

They would have dinner at the place they were working and each wife would try to outdo the other for the meal. The dinners were fantastic: tables full of pies and cakes, tons of potatoes, hams, chickens roasting, the smells coming out of the kitchen were so good you'd think you couldn't stand it. We had one farmer that was especially fond of cake and he's always get more than his share, if he could get there first, which he always seemed to do. Mother thought she'd slow him down by not cutting the cake right away, but that didn't stop him. He took the whole top layer.

We had a cook stove in the kitchen, but other than that, a big pot-bellied stove in the living room had to heat that old-fashioned farm house. Needless to say, there were many cold spots! Mother kept big stones in the oven of the kitchen stove and awhile before we'd go to bed, she'd take them upstairs and put them in our beds. We'd undress by the pot-bellied stove, then dash to our beds before we got too cold.

Another thing we used to do was take the Potato bugs off the potato plants. We'd get a penny for each ten bugs. We had a can with kerosense in it and a stick, and we'd knock the bugs off with the stick, into the can.

Then Dad and Mom bought the farm in Milton. We had electricity and a more modern home. Dad bought catlle and started a milk route. We loved to ride along in the milk wagon. Many of the townspeople would send their kids out to the farm for mil.. they could get it cheaper. They came early, sometimes 10-15 of them, and we'd play run-my-good-shee-run, red light, follow the leader and Aunty-over-the woodshed. Such fun!

To many, this would seem like an unhappy childhood, but to me it's the best time of my life. We never got into mischeit when our work was done because there were so many enjoyable things to do with our precious free time that it nhever occurred to us to get into trouble.

Mother's deep religious faith in God was an integral part of our lives, too. No matter how tired she was, all eight os us were bathed, dressed and taken to Sunday School. We walked to Milton (2 miles.) Dad didn't want the horses worked on Sunday. We didn't miss unless we were sick.

I wish my Mother could have lived. Remembering all these things has brought her back so vividly in my mind, and all the years I ached with longing for her.

Well, back to reality. I hop[e seomthing in this will be helpful. I doubt if I can get Dad to do this, but I'll try."

This letters spawned several songs. The verse and chorus I'll include here is a fitting response to the longing she's had for her Mother, all these years:

"I'm going to see my Mother
You know she left so long ago
What a blessed, sweet reunion
When I meet her on that shore"

From When I Get To Glory...

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 17 Aug 06 - 04:01 PM

Thank you for that, Jerry.

Funny thing- your mother's childhood wasn't so different from mine as an Amish kid.

Do you have anything else she wrote?

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 17 Aug 06 - 10:00 PM

I have a few letters from my Mother, Ebbie. Not a lot. I have a wealth of material, though. I've kept many letters I've received over the years, and a ton of copies I made of letters that I sent, not counting old newspaper articles and notes that I've taken over the years, talking with my parents. Just for the fun of it, a couple of years ago, I went through copies of letters I've written (which go back all the way to 1974) and pulled out all the comments I made about my two sons as they were growing up. I ended up with over 30 typewritten pages, and was able to add a few letters and articles they'd written as school projects. What fun. Some of the things I described in such detail in letters (most of them to my friend Art Thieme) I'd forgotten all about. I still keep copies of some e-mails and PMs, sent and received. They are a wonderful diary, and full of wisdom I've been blessed to receive from others.

I also have a couple of tapes, interviewing my Father and other family members. The memories will not die.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Carly
Date: 17 Aug 06 - 10:08 PM

Thank you for sharing your mother's letter, Jerry. Her story brought back some of my own childhood memories, although in some ways I grew up in a more modern world. We had electricity and indoor plumbing, cars and washing machines. But I remember vividly hanging laundry to dry, and learning to sew on my Mom's old Singer, which was a treadle machine that had been converted with a small motor. It sewed one size stitch, forward. If you wanted to sew back, you turned the garment around. Buttons, hems and detail work were all done by hand.

We always had a garden, and fruit trees: apple,pear and cherry. I loved picking the ripe tomatoes and string beans, but I hated weeding, and we would spend hours in the nearby blackberry patch, picking buckets of berries that ended up as jam, shortcake or pies. We lived at the edge of town, so we had space for a big garden, and my Mom had a lovely bed of roses beside the house. Dad would buy her bushes for their anniversary and her bithday. I can smell them now, along with the lilac and honeysuckle; the scents of our childhood summer evenings, playing tag and red rover in the dusk.

Carly

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 18 Aug 06 - 10:17 AM

A song for Jerry, our host at the kitchen table, on this Friday morning:

IT'S A PLEASURE TO KNOW YOU
(Carl Williams)
0.7742 in the DigiTrad

Chorus:
It's a pleasure to know you, a pleasure to see you smile
A comfort to know we'll share the road awhile
Pleasure is fleeting, and comforts are far between
It's a pleasure to know you and the comfort you bring.

1. I came to your city after I'd left my home
And I was a stranger, dressed up in stranger's clothes
Favors I needed, but charity's out of style--
Rare as the beauty in the face of a trusting child.

2. Now they say life's a journey, a highway from birth to death
Mapped in despair, and traveled in hopelessness.
Well they may believe it, but just between you and me
The trick to the travelin' is all in the company.

3. Now lovers may leave you, lovers may turn away.
Children may scorn you--you know that they will someday,
Seasons are fickle, and fate isn't known as kind
But friends's the diamond, and trouble's the diamond mine.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 18 Aug 06 - 10:43 AM

Well thanks a lot, Elmer:

Aw shucks...

Back in the 50's, they had all these "answer" songs... in that tradition, if I had the time, I'd post the lyrics to

You Got A Friend

Still Jerry After All These Years

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 18 Aug 06 - 12:58 PM

I was talking with my good friend Calire Voyant today, and she predicts that by this time tomorrow, Ron Davies will magically reappear.

We missed you, Ron.

Claire didn't say nothin' about Jimmyt, though.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 18 Aug 06 - 01:14 PM

Thanks for the song you posted, Elmer Fudd. While I was out with my little dog this morning I was reflecting on the years that I have been in Juneau.

I came up here from Oregon 18+ years ago and I have never regretted it. I like Oregon and I would like to be with my birth family more often but I love Alaska and I love my friends up here.

I think I am a most fortunate person.

And I too miss Ron Davies. Whar he bin?

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 18 Aug 06 - 02:03 PM

Aren't Ron and Jan on vacation?

We're getting within spitting distance of the 1,000th post, so maybe that'll lure jimmyt back into the fold. On the other hand, mebbe, jest mebbe, I'll bag that wabbit thiiiissss time....

Elmer

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 18 Aug 06 - 10:20 PM

Just back from the UK yesterday. Great to see that the knights and ladies of the round, square, or whatever shape Kitchen Table are still going strong.

Had the best Sidmouth I've ever had--in great part since I rented a viola in Sidmouth and found lots of little groups who appreciated a low harmony.

And it was sunny and 60's-70's virtually the whole week.

I've put a lot more detail on the Sparkling Sidmouth thread.

Had a bit of a problem when friends didn't get along with each other--don't know if I dare to explain in detail since Jan is involved and this is her computer too.

And still tired--better go to bed soon and post more tomorrow.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 19 Aug 06 - 10:11 AM

Welcome back, Ron: I'm glad that you had a great time at Sidmouth. It sounds like a great festival. Sorry to hear that there were problems involving friends. I can relate to what you aren't saying.

We missed you, these last couple of weeks. Pull up a chair and unload. Ironically, I was shopping for a new coffe pot yesterday. A real one, not a cyber pot.

cyber coffee is a little on the weak side..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 19 Aug 06 - 12:55 PM

Well I'm sure torn. On one hand I'm listening to Scheherezade now--and they're playing the whole thing, not just one movement. So there's no way I'll be doing anything else for another half an hour or so. And I definitely have a lot to say--and would like to ask for counsel on what to do. On the other hand this is the opposite of secure as far as Jan is concerned--she could easily check and see exactly what I've written--and explode at me again--she's already told me she doesn't want anything she tells me passed on to anybody. But I'm totally the opposite of her on that--she doesn't want to tell anybody anything--and I feel that if you can ask for counsel, it's always worthwhile--a new perspective, and somehow, sharing the burden. And Jerry, you invite me to "unload".

But I suppose I'd best wait awhile--at least.

Anyway, the movement of Scheherezade they're now playing is called "The Young Prince and the Princess", I think. I definitely remember playing it in a high school production of "You Can't Take It With You"--I was Ed--and my wife was a ballet dancer--so I had to play some music for her to dance to. I learned how to play the xylophone for the occasion-- and I picked this movement since it was a waltz.   It was great fun to do it on stage.

We're having a drought now--evidently have had one for weeks while we were away. So I was out trying to perk up a wilting forsythia by setting up a hose between 2 rocks to spray in that direction. (After that I set it up in other areas of the garden.) Anyway, the water was coming through the leaves of a dogwood we have in the front yard--by the way, the English call it a front garden. But if that's so, what do you English posters on this thread call the garden which is in the front yard (or front garden)? Sure seems confusing to me.

Well OK, back to the story. Anyway, we have had a hummingbird feeder on the deck (in back) for months now--no visitors at all.

Today, while Jan and I were talking, she was facing the front windows and I was facing away. She noticed there was a hummingbird sitting in the dogwood--enjoying the impromptu shower provided by the spray from the hose. Flexing her wings and revelling in the spray.--it was a female ruby-throated. Just wonderful. Don't recall ever seeing a hummingbird do that before--certainly not in our yard.

Then we also saw the first monarch of the year in our budlia (AKA butterfly bush). And if we'd been out shopping or doing anything else "productive", we would have missed them both. Thinking now we should put the hummingbird feeder in the dogwood. Does that sound reasonable?

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 19 Aug 06 - 01:31 PM

You're wise, Ron:

This really isn't a good forum for "unloading." Unless you have a
good shipment to unload. That's always welcome. I talk very differently to friends in e-mails, less so in PMS, because it's not clear to me who can read my PMs in here. Besides, with e-mails, I can always delete anything after I've written, or read it. That's a lot better than in the old days when I'd have to quickly eat a letter, if someone was coming in the room.. :-)

You know, I was just thinking this morning, how good my life is. Not that I can take any credit for it. "Exuberant" isn't an every-day word in my vocabulary, but it's the best word I can think of about these days. And that's said, realizing that the next phone call I receive could be my sister telling me that my Mother has died.

I'm preparing for a workshop that I'm doing with Barbara Shaw (of Mudcat) and her husband Frank. It's titled Songs In The Attic. There's something odd about being a performing folk singer for so many years. A notch up from being a performing bear. Most of us have a great love for traditional music. I surely do. And yet, because we're performing there is always the subtle pressure to do new material. If all folk singers in the past were performing constantly, they would never have preserved all the wonderful songs that were sung a thousand times. That's why I'm doing the Songs In The Attic workshop... asking Barbara and Frank to dust off some of those old, wonderful songs that we still love but never sing. One that I'm dusting off is one of my own that I wrote in my callow youth. What is "callow?" Isn't that they make candles out of? The chorus applies to my life, these days.

"For the good old days are still to come
Though the hard times are not over
For we must wear that thorny crown
To walk the fields of clover"

Funny thing is, sometimes the good old days come disguised as hard times. It's only later that we realize that the times were so hard because we were being ripped out of patterns in our lives that were denying who we are, and were meant to be. Change hurts.

These days, I'm finally completing a new CD of Songs From The Attic, and will be putting Handful Of Songs out on CD for the first time.
And through the encouragement of a friend, I am finally doing some focused writing. The writing is coming together because my mind is very much on my Mother and her life. That's leading me to write about her life, interweaving letters, songs, photos and reflections I've collected over the years. It's the pain of anticipating the loss of my Mother that is producing something very positive.

Why, I am so exuberant that I even crawled under my computer knee space and cleaned the floor! I was so happy! I didn't find anything dead, back there.

Life is good, but rarely easy.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 20 Aug 06 - 09:20 AM

Came across this sentence, reading this morning:

"It is worth while experiencing suffering and sorrow if that experience will enable us to help others who are struggling.."
Without that little word "if," suffering and sorrow have no meaning.
The "if" is why we turn to others who have come through trials similar to ours, and why others turn to us if we have experienced trials similar to theirs.

And where in the world is jimmyt? I hate to think that my friend Jimmy is just lurking, waiting for the 1,00th post... :-)

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: GUEST,Phot in the Gulf
Date: 20 Aug 06 - 10:15 AM

Hello all, just passing so I thought I'd pop my head round the door. I'm out in the Gulf again, at least people arn't throwing rockets over the fence this time! I'm on HMS Kent, on patrol in the Gulf, and of all places to find an internet terminal, I'm on a totally wrecked oil platform. Still I should be back home before Christmas, its just a shame I'm missing all the festivals Pixie and I usually get to! Have a good time guys.

Wassail!!! Chris.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 20 Aug 06 - 12:12 PM

Glad you could drop by, phot: You have to win the prize as our most esoteric neighbor. Back in the early 60's, I spent one summer working a iceberg reasearch station 800 miles north of Alaska.. (Remember the song North TO Alaska. by Johnny Horton?) We were 800 miles north of Point Barrow. I shared a quonset hut with the guy who was the ham radio operator, and when we made contact with people in the states, they freaked out. Happened to catch a guy once in Massachusetts who was driving in his car and had his CB radio on. Just about drove off the road, once he realized who he was talking to.

Exotic is good. Mundane is o.k. but kinda boring.

Think I'll p.m. jimmy..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 20 Aug 06 - 12:19 PM

Just saw an interesting article about how people on "Inactive Ready Reserve" in the National Guard in the US are being "activated"--and sent back to Iraq. Some who've been out of the Army for 2 years.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 20 Aug 06 - 12:49 PM

I read that one too, Ron: The National Guard: The units that never stop serving.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: jimmyt
Date: 20 Aug 06 - 07:25 PM

hello all!   Jerry I am so happy to have received your note! I am fine but have just been going in lots of different directions and I can assure it is nothing about the cat. Jayne is going bacvk to Ohio on TUesday to see about her mom and sister. She is SO tired of making that trip but sometines we just have to do what is needed. All is well with me. I have been playing a bit but not enough. I am frustrated with music right now. Not being stimulated musically but don't have the energy to go out and creat some new opportunities. On a bit of a creative ebb right now. Anyway, thanks for the kind words and a will be nosing in from time to time    jimmyt

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 20 Aug 06 - 07:31 PM

Thanks so much for dropping by, Jimmy.. You know, post number 1,000 is right around the corner...

Keeping you, Jayne and family in prayer...

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 20 Aug 06 - 07:57 PM

Gee Jimmy--you shouldn't feel the need to constantly create something new in music--you've more than earned the right to rest on your laurels for a bit--and possibly review some doo-wop for the Getaway?

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 20 Aug 06 - 08:29 PM

Never having rested on laurels, I would think they'd be kinda uncomfortable. If it's anything like lying on mountain laurel branches, I think I'll pass.

How about resting on your cotton wood tree? Sounds more comfortable.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 20 Aug 06 - 08:44 PM

Resting on your cottons?--well, it does sound softer. Resting on your woods--as opposed to your irons? Both pretty lumpy--won't get much rest.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 20 Aug 06 - 09:08 PM

You wascally wabbit, I've got you in my sights...

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 20 Aug 06 - 09:09 PM

You're not going to get away from me this time!
I'VE GOT YOU NOW! I'VE WEALLY, WEALLY GOT YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: jimmyt
Date: 20 Aug 06 - 09:41 PM

one thousand!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 20 Aug 06 - 10:03 PM

A truly "grand" thread!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 20 Aug 06 - 10:21 PM

Jerry is bringing the ball down the court: he passes to Ron, who passes down court to Elmer, who has a clear layup shot for the goal. But Elmer, being the generous kinda guy that he is, notices Jimmy under the basket; quickly rifles the ball to him and jimmy sinks a slam dunk for post 1,000!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The crowd is on it's feet, chanting Jimmy, Jimmy, Jimmy!!!!!!! until the team carries him off the court on their shoulders. Standing quietly over in the corner with a subtle smile on his face is Elmer.

To Elmer be the glory!!!!!!!

And Go, Jimmy GO!!!!!!!!!

You can have post 2,000 Elmer..

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 20 Aug 06 - 10:44 PM

I had that wascally wabbit cornered and he got away---again.

Elmer

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Pastor Greg
Date: 21 Aug 06 - 04:41 AM

Hi All,
Well I am new to the post. I am not even sure now how I first found it. I must apologize I suppose since this is a conversation at the kitchen table and I was just listening at the window for so long. I just had to get up the nerve to say hello.
I read the thread about your neighbor, Jerry. I believe he is so right that when we take our eyes off ourselves God does intervene.
I lost my Grandma a few years ago and I was reminiscing as you spoke of your mom and posted her letter. My condolensces to you in watching her deal with declining health. My mom is headed there soon. She is going for knee surgery next month. Anyway it reminded of the video I shot of an interview I did with my Grandma about a year before she died. I am so glad we did it.
Oh yea, the email moniker is because I do a radio show called A Dose of the Ghost. It is Holy Hip Hop with a message. I am on in California, Arizona and Michigan. Wel I guess that is enough for now. God bless you all!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 21 Aug 06 - 07:06 AM

"I'm going to sit down at the welcome table."

Welcome to the table, Greg.

You know, folks think that hip hop is a whole new thang. But, hip hop goes way back. Just ask that hip-hopping, get down and dirty wascal, Bugs Bunny who invented hip hop. It 'twasn't Little Richard.
That indominatable (every way I spell it looks wrong this morning) spirit, Elmer Fudd can tell you more about hip-hopping than any man who ever stalked the woods.

And what about the first line of Down And Out Blues by Uncle Dave Macon and Hig Fruit Jar Lickers?

"It's hippity hop to the liquor shop..

Yesterday was my son by second marriage Pasha's birthday. We had a great time at the house, listening to soul, jazz, rhythm and blues and yes, even a touch of hip hop. I bought Pasha a Billboasrd Top 40 book of R & B to Hip Hop book that lists every R & B (Used to be called "Race Records" hit from 1942, back to the days of Lionel Hampton to Eminem. He had a great time calling out names of old recordings (meaning older than the 90's) and challenging us to identify the singer. I did pretty good.. Won thirty thousand dollars, to go with the 100's of thousands of dollars I've already won in previous contests. When my ship comes in, I'm going to be a rich man!

I talked to my Mother and both of my sisters (who live in the same town) yesterday and Mom is still hanging in there.) This must be about the 11th time they've given her a week to live. The last time was last September. They'll eventually get it right, but Mom's o.k. with that, too.

Reminds me of another line from a folk song.

"I know where I'm going."

Now you be sure to drop back in, y'all. You here me?

A man who grew up in the shallow south of Southern Wisconsin.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 21 Aug 06 - 09:00 AM

Jerry, I grew up in West Central Illinois, on the Mississippi River. Downstream from Wisconsin. And I'd like to have a little talk with you sometime about what came downstream (besides fish and logs). 8-)

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 21 Aug 06 - 09:26 AM

Hey, Rap: (Yes, we have rap in here, too):

All that stuff coming down river on the Missisippi must have been coming from the Minnesota side.

And the correct line is:

"It's hippity Hop, to the bucket shop." I knew that wasn't right when I typed it, but I was in a rush to get out for our morning walk.

Never heard a liquor store called a bucket shop, but it makes sense. At the time the song was written, you could still probably bring a bucket to the store and get it filled with beer.

In southern Wisconsin growing up, liquor stores were called
"Beer Depots." I didn't think there was anything unusal about that until I mentioned the term out here in the sophisticated East and was greated with loud guffaws. Actually, it's not sophisticated to guffaw, either. That's as gauche as slapping your knee or chewing on a stalk of hay. Out here in the east, we subtly roll our eyes and make a slight, knowing smirk.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 21 Aug 06 - 04:48 PM

Riverboats go down the Mississippi. A raft with a little boy and an escaped slave go down the Mississippi. What's not to love?

For those of us who grew up elsewhere, the river it has mythical significance that transcends whatever goop people throw in it these days. The first time I ever saw it I drove on a bridge across it, and was so thrilled I had to turn around and drive back and cross it again twice!

In a young country we have to take our pilgrimage sites where we can get 'em. The Mississippi never ceases to thrill me wherever and whenever I have seen it, even from a plane.

Elmer

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 21 Aug 06 - 05:08 PM

I'm with you, Elmer:

I love the Mississippi... have traveled alongside it from northern Minnesota and Wisconsin down to St. Lopuis. Rode a paddle wheeler out of Davenport with Ruth once, and then The Tom Sawyer steamboat out of St. Louis, when Ruth's brother and sister-in-law came out to Wisconsin and wanted a tour of the Midwest. We went up in the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, too, which is quite an experience. Went to Hannibal, Mo. (home of Shoeless Joe and Tom Sawyer.) I've explored the caves along the Missisippi in Hannibal which were the inspiration for the scenes with Injun Joe, too.

Great country filled with folk lore and tall tales. Anybody ever get out that way, be sure to visit Galena... an old Lead (galena) mining town along the Mississippi, in northern Illinois. Spring Green, Wisconsin was Frank Lloyd Wright's home and studio/school.. took Ruth there when we did the Mississippi thing. Went through Fon DuLac, just to say Fond DuLac.

My home country..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 21 Aug 06 - 09:40 PM

That reminds me- I heard this particular song only once but I liked it. At the end it becomes obvious who 'Mr. Sawyer' is and mentions 'his old friend, Huck Finn'. Tom Sawyer has become a suit-wearing individual in a high powered job while Huck is still himself.

I remember who the singer was who sang this song and the next time I see him I hope to hear him do it again. I don't remember the author.

Does anyone here know the song?

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 21 Aug 06 - 09:56 PM

Soory, can't help you Ebbie: SOunds like Tom traded in his Mississippi raft for a corporate ladder.

I have a very fascinating book called Mississippi Solo, written by a young black man who decided that he wanted to travel the Mississippi from it's headwaters in northern Minnesota, down to the Gulf, traveling in a canoe. He was completely inexperienced, having only been in a canoe once or twice, and he had to borrow a canoe. There was also the added complication of being a black man traveling in small towns where, as he says, "white folks don't like us much." The author's name is Eddy L. Harris, and I'd be happy to give my copy to anyone who would like to read it..

First come, first served.

I also wrote a song called The Last Mississippi River Steamboat about an actual event that took place on the 4th of July in 1844. Steamboats used to come up the Rock River from Rock Island on the Mississippi. On the 4th of July of that year, a stemaboat came through my home town of Janesville, and everyone was very excited. The steamboat was heading up to Jefferson, Wisconsin for a grand picnic and fireworks. When they got up to Fort Atkinson, they discovered that someone had built a bridge across the river since their last trip. In those days, boats had the right of way over bridges (hard to imagine) so they raised such Hell on the boat that someone went and found the owner of the bridge (yes, someone owned it) and they made him take the lowest span off so that they could get underneath the bridge. Hell hath no fury likes folks going up to Jeffesron for a picnic on the 4th of July. Besides, there were more people on the stamboat than the total population of Fort Atkinson, so they had the town outnumbered. And they were steaming mad!

I thought it was such a delightful story that I wrote the song. The next year, they built a damn across the river in Janseville, and dams had the right of way over steamboats....

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 21 Aug 06 - 10:46 PM

Great stories!

I spent 3 1/2 years in Sainte Genevieve, Missouri. It was the first town west of the Mississippi settled by non-Natives: Acadian French trappers to be exact. It stands on the banks of the Mississippi, south of St. Louis and north of Poplar Bluff, hometown of one of the characters in "Designing Women," and Cape Girardeau, hometown of Rush Limbaugh, unfortunately not a fictional person like Jean Smart's character. There are still a lot of folks with French last names in Ste. Genevieve, and they have an annual "Fete du Jour" celebrating their Acadian French heritage. The local culture is nothing like the Cajuns of Louisiana. It was a lovely, unspoiled, small town when I was there in the mid-1980s. Then a WalMart superstore opened. I have no idea what-all it's like now.

Elmer

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 22 Aug 06 - 10:52 AM

Off topic (I grew up on the "Upper River" and highly recommend John Madsen's book "Up On the River"), but would you like to see a really neat picture?

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 22 Aug 06 - 12:47 PM

Wow. That's a really neat picture, Rap. It must have been hairy, tail-gating that plane close enough to get that shot, unless it was done with a super-duper telescopic lens (probably). Thanks for the heads-up on the book, too.

Elmer

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: freda underhill
Date: 22 Aug 06 - 05:15 PM

We don't have the Mississippi, but we have the Murrumbidgee River.

Here are the words to a wonderful song written by John Warner (Catter Jack Halyard) about the murrumbidgee river, as part of his song and verse cycle, Yarri of Wiradjuri. The song celebrates the river and its importance to the indigenous people and establishes the Murrumbidgee River and Morley's Creek as the Mother and the Daughter. the tune is very powerful, rolling and moving like water itself, and just takes you away.

Murrumbidgee Waters

Born in the highland snows,
Wild in her youth's descending,
Swiftly she fills and grows
Out on her floodplains, winding and bending,
Feeding the towering gums,
Bush in creek and gully,
Sharing her bounties wide,
Spreading soil in plain and valley.

Murrumbidgee fair, Murrumbidgee fertile,
Nurturing at your breasts we who walk here for a little while.
High on a ridge we stand, gazing in love and awe
Over the lands you made with your gentle hands: how rich the gifts you pour.

Over her years of floods,
Current twisting wild and strong,
Children she made in the land,
Creek and anabranch, pond and billabong.
Bright on the wide floodplain
Glints the rippling water,
Proudly side by side,
Flow the mother and the daughter.

Murrumbidgee fair, Murrumbidgee fertile,
Nurturing at your breasts we who walk here for a little while.
High on a ridge we stand, gazing in love and awe
Over the lands you made with your gentle hands: how rich the gifts you pour.

We have known the drought, we have seen her anger,
Hurling trees in her rage, we've borne thirst and we've borne hunger.
Yet for us who seek, beauty waits in hiding,
In some shaded pools wait the fruits of her providing.

Silver mist like hair,
As the day is dawning,
Marks the river's way
As we hunt on a winter's morning,
Duck and cod from the stream,
Fruit and fungus, plant and seed,
Kangaroo on the plain,
See, she gives us all we need.

Murrumbidgee fair, Murrumbidgee fertile,
Nurturing at your breasts we who walk here for a little while.
High on a ridge we stand, gazing in love and awe
Over the lands you made with your gentle hands: how rich the gifts you pour.

best wishes

freda

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 22 Aug 06 - 06:54 PM

That IS a beautiful song, freda! It made me think of Bob Dwyer's song River Of The Big Canoe, about the Missouri River. Dave Para and Cathy Barton and Ed trickett did a wonderful version of the song, and Bob is a delight as a person, songwrite and singer himself.

Thanks for sharing that one.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 23 Aug 06 - 06:43 AM

Freda--I agree with Jerry--that's a wonderful, evocative song.

And Jerry, your song about Fort Atkinson is just great. I love poking into dusty corners of history. And you even write songs about them!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 23 Aug 06 - 09:35 AM

Thanks, Ron:

One of these days when I have the time, I'll post the story and the song I wrote about Milton, Wisconsin. A more unassuming, sleepy little town you couldn't imagine, but what a fascinating history, full of idealism, odd twists, the Cold Water Society, the undergroun railroad... it has it all. My Mother grew up in Milton, and it always seemed like the sleepiest little "nothing" town, of less than 1,000 population.

A couple of weeks ago, I commented on seeing a bunny out with his Mom that we saw on the river walk. Two weeks ago, when his Mother saw us coming, she stealthily moved over to an area of bare ground the same color as her fur, and stretched out on it... front and rear legs stretched out in front and behind her to keep her flat against the ground. The little bunny paid no attention to her, and just sat bolt upright, eating clover.

Yesterday, we passed the same area, and saw the little bunny. Now a little bigger. With no Mom around. Apparently, she had a good talk with him after our last experience because when he saw us, he slid over to a bare patch of ground to camouflage himself. Just like Mom. But, we had to laugh. When he tried to lie stretch hsi front and back legs out, just like Mom, he lost his balance and feel over. Very uncermoniously. He recovered enough to get stretched out and stayed that way until we left. I could hear him muttering to himself under his breath.. "Mom made it look so easy!"

He'll get it, though. It takes practice to become invisible.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 23 Aug 06 - 11:04 PM

You're right, Jerry, adolescent animals of all kinds can be fun to watch. My favorites are teenage bluejays, for instance--just as big as the parents, obviously able to fly--in fact they fly around pursuing the parents--but then they flap their wings, hop up and down and otherwise do a wonderful display of begging behavior. You can just imagine how exasperated the parents could be.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: JennyO
Date: 24 Aug 06 - 01:08 AM

Hello, I think this is the first time I've dropped in here - well actually I've been lurking in the corner listening to the conversation all along. What brought me here now is that I just heard strains of John Warner's song "Murrumbidgee Water" It is indeed a beautiful song!

John and I live in a little house in Earlwood, in Sydney Australia, with two black cats, lots of musical instruments, a vegetable garden, a large BBQ area with coloured lights that has often been the scene of get togethers and sessions with all kinds of folks, including a growing number of visiting mudcatters (frinstance there are a few pictures on Charley Noble's website), and of course a kitchen table - a round one, my favourite kind.

Lately my kitchen table has seen a lot of action, cos my brother and his family have been visiting from France. I love to see them, but it only happens about once every 5 years. The table has gone a bit quiet again - they are touring other parts of Australia for the next few weeks - and I will only see Graham once more before they leave - at the airport in a couple of weeks. I'm missing them already :-( and I thought it might be nice to sit at your table for a while. It seems nice and friendly. Mmm. Is that coffee I smell? Don't mind if I do!

Getting back to John's song - as freda said, it is part of a song and verse cycle that he wrote a few years ago called Yarri of Wiradjuri, the story of the disastrous Gundagai floods of 1852 which claimed the lives of many people who had built the original town on the river flat despite warnings from the local indigenous people, and of a local hero, Yarri, who with two others, made a lot of trips back and forth in a bark canoe to rescue dozens of people who would otherwise have drowned. There's more about it here. Now, I've seen John and his group, The Roaring Forties, perform this a a number of times, but it had never been recorded. It doesn't need to be seen, as it is not a play as such, although when they perform it at festivals they often dress up in suitable period clothing. It's all done with word pictures and song.

The reason I am really excited about it now, is that they have just recorded it, with some additional instrumentals and sound effects, and it has never sounded so good! The flood sequences are downright chilling! Nobody else has heard it yet - not even freda, because the final mix was only done a couple of days ago. Starting next month, they will be doing a series of CD launches, one of them at a festival in Gundagai - The Turning Wave Festival.

I'm currently working out a date they can have a CD launch at my folk club. I'm booked up for the rest of the year for our normal Thursday nights, but I want to do it on a Sunday afternoon. We've had a few successful special concerts on Sunday afternoons with people like Les Barker, and our own El Greko and Cloudstreet. This will be another great one, I'm sure.

So now that I've broken the ice, I might keep popping in here sometimes, if you don't mind. You can be sure that even if you can't see me, I'll be lurking somewhere not far away in the corner, listening to the conversation. It sounds like you lead an interesting life, Jerry!

Jenny

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 24 Aug 06 - 09:53 AM

Hey, Jenny-o:

Welcome to the table. I must admit, I have a great attraction to all things Australian. It started out long ago when I bought Australian Bush Ballads by A. L. Lloyd & Ewan McCall. It picked up steam when I read Asutralia Felix, gained momentum when I saw The Sundowners and peaked when a friend of mine was working in Australia for two years and sent me a lot of music. I've always loved the music, and identified with the gold rush and wild west stories and music, as well as stories and movies about the aboriginese. Why heck, I even have bunnies in this thread... nothing like the great Bunny fence in Australia, mind you.

In my mind, I've fossicked Clemens Flat.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 24 Aug 06 - 09:02 PM

Is Murrumbidgee an aboriginal name? It's just as marvelous as Mississippi. Or Okifinokee. Atchafalaya. Tchoupitoulas (for the Chapitoulas Indians, whose name means "river people"). Love those names. There's lots more, but the old gray matter is foggy (or soggy) right now.

Elmer

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 24 Aug 06 - 09:21 PM

I always kinda liked Waxahatchie. Paul Richards, the long-time general manager for the Baltimore Orioles in the 50's was from Waxahatchie. He pitched a double header in the minor leagues one time and won both games. One pitching right handed, and the other left-handed. He was ambidextrose .. could eat sugar with either hand.

The things you learn in here.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 24 Aug 06 - 09:33 PM

Excuse me. I got that wrong. That would be ambisucrose.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: JennyO
Date: 25 Aug 06 - 01:08 AM

Hi Elmer Fudd! Yes, the word Murrumbidgee is an aboriginal word meaning 'big water' - very suitable because the Murrumbidgee is a large important river. In "Yarri of Wiradjuri", John makes reference to this meaning in one of the songs:

White man fool to camp on the low ground,
Big Water come down,
White man learn the ways of the land or drown.

While writing Yarri, he had a vision of the Murrumbidgee River and its anabranch, Morley's Creek, as a personalised entity - The Mother and the Daughter, and this idea runs right through the story in a very powerful way, including in the song "Murrumbidgee Water" that freda posted above.

Sorry if I'm raving a bit, but I'm so excited about this new recording that I can't help it. It's been a long time coming!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 25 Aug 06 - 10:10 AM

Every morning, my wife and I go for a morning walk along the river. It's a special time for us, and a joyful way to start a new day. Through time, we've gotten to know a few other "reg'lars" by name. Vi is one of those who we've come to know a little bit. She's a short woman; maybe five feet tall on her tiptoes. But she moves like she is steam-driven, with her arms stretched out in front of her, and every part of her body going in one direction or another.
The river walk is three and a half miles long, round trip but she's still motoring along at full speed the last fifty feet. The other day when we stopped momentarily to talk with her, we were marveling at her energy, and she told us that she's a cancer survivor: twice. She told us that after she finishes her walk, she was going to go for her volunteer work at the hospital. She also volunteers at the zoo, and God knows how many other places. My wife asked her "Where do you get all your energy? Do you have any to spare for me?" And Vi answered, "Life is short and I want to use my time the best that I can." That's a wonderful message. We're all guilty of thinking that we have a vast expanse of time stretching out before us, so there's no hurry doing the things we want to do. More accurately, we're all guilty of not thinking at all.

These last few months, I've tried to take a serious look at the gifts I've received in my life... good health, the gift of singing and playing instruments, and the gift of writing. I've used my gift for writing songs reasonably responsibly but in recent years, I've started to let things slide. No hurry. Now, I'm feeling more like Vi. Even though I am blessed with great health and energy, I don't take the future for granted. So, I've been busy, these last few months. I started out by learning how to produce a CD of my quartet, The Gospel Messengers. The easiest thing was to write down a long list of why I couldn't do it, or why I should wait awhile before doing it. Buying new software and learning to use it was hard. The first software I bought I was never able to get to work. After two months of exchanging e-mail with the support service with no success, I had a perfect excuse for setting it aside. That's a special gift I have. Putting things aside. But I persevered, bought different software, figured it out and after many long hours of struggling, produced a CD. And like all blessings, I was then able to pass my knowledge and encouragement along to Art Thieme who recently (and triumphantly) sent me a CD that he produced from his cassette collection.

In the last three weeks, I've produced a new CD of songs of mine, covering a time span of over 40 years. It was long overdue. Some of the songs are ones that I've shared on cassette with friends who've recorded them. Yesterday, I sent off all the material necessary to produce a CD of my last folk album, Handful Of Songs.
Like so many things in my life, it was long overdue, postponed and ignored.

More recently a Catter friend has encouraged me to write. I've been encouraged to do that, most of my life. Now, I am finally stepping out to see what I can do with a gift that's long been neglected.

I write this, not so much about myself, but about you. Our friend Vi can tell you from hard experience that life is short and precious.
Is there a gift you have that you've let lie fallow? I have to believe there is. We all have many gifts. The crime is in not using them. We deny ourselves many blessings, and the opportunity to bring blessings to others.

Like my Catter friend who has been so encouraging to me, I encourage you to rummage through those gifts of talents that you opened and set aside so many years ago. Maybe it's time to dust them off and see if they still work.

I'm signing up for a writing course.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: JennyO
Date: 25 Aug 06 - 10:25 AM

Congratulations, Jerry, on getting your CD together. I can imagine how you feel! Good luck with the writing too!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 25 Aug 06 - 06:08 PM

Hallooooooo Jenny-O, from Down Under! Glad you joined the table. Thanks to Freda for posting that song, and you for explaining more about it and the history it records. Congrats to the Roaring Forties on recording it. As I recall, your significant other is a member of the Roaring Forties, yes?

There is so much creativity busting out all over; this is a great thread for storytelling and stream-of-consciousness musing. Jerry's taking wing with his prose as well as his song lyrics, and both are some kinda wonderful. The "Handful of Songs" is bound to be a truckload-and-a-half of fantastic listening.

Me, I'm still chasing that wabbit....

Elmer

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 25 Aug 06 - 08:47 PM

A story:

A man died and went to heaven. He was greeted by St. Peter, who offered to show him around. As they were walking along looking at all of the beautiful buildings, there was one enormous building that was locked. When the man asked St. Peter, "What's in there?," St. Peter answered, "You don't want to go in there!" And of course, as soon as he said that, the man's curiosity was aroused. "Why not,?" he asked. "You would be very upset if you saw what was in there," Old Pete responded. Now, the man's curiosity was raging and he insisted that they go in.

St. Peter unlocked the door, and when they walked in they saw a vast warehouse with endless rows of shelves holding identical boxes. "What's in those boxes, and why didn't you want me to see them? the man asked. "Each of those boxes holds a blessing that was meant for you which you never received because you didn't ask for it," St. Peter replied.

And it is that way. It is our timidity and laziness that keeps us from fully realizing all of the blessings that are there for the asking.

"Ask, and ye shall receive." Don't ask, and we put your blessings in little boxes in your warehouse.

You don't have to believe in God, St. Peter or the warehouse to realize the truth in the story.

Victory never went to the faint of heart.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: JennyO
Date: 26 Aug 06 - 01:10 AM

I like your story Jerry! Makes you think, doesn't it!

As I recall, your significant other is a member of the Roaring Forties, yes?

Yes he is, 'Elmer'. It's John Warner, who wrote that song which is part of "Yarri of Wiradjuri" that they have recorded. He's written a lot of stuff over the years. Probably his best known song is "Anderson's Coast" which has travelled all over the world and been sung and/or recorded by people like James Fagan and Nancy Kerr, James Keelaghan and Gordon Bok. There's another one - "Bring Out the Banners" which seems to be getting quite a hearing lately. A couple of days ago we received a CD in the mail from Dave Webber and Anni Fentiman. It's a fantastic CD, and the last track is a very rousing version of that song (they asked his permission first, of course). John is really chuffed!

Life can be *interesting* living with a songwriter! Creative people can sometimes be very up and down - fortunately the ups outweigh the downs - so living with John is one of my blessings that isn't in a box in a warehouse :-)

These days, my creativity mainly occurs in the garden. I've been told by some people that I have a gift for writing and I should do more of it, but maybe further down the track I will. At the moment I feel that I am already spending too much time indoors, particularly at the computer, and I like to get outside in nature. That's what does it for me when I want relaxation these days. I'm off there now. There are a lot of weeds screaming to be pulled!

Jenny

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 26 Aug 06 - 10:01 AM

Hi, Jennyo:

You may find that at some point in your life, your gift of writing will bear fruit. Gifts come with a variety of directions on the bottle. Some say "Use before this date," or "Expires on this date." Others say "Use as needed." Some people are precocious and their gifts are most productive when they are very young. Some are just plain old Cocious, Like Grandma Moses. Some people flame out early and others burst into flame from long-banked coals that appear to have gone out. I've written all my life but have never been a "Writer." I don't even own a beret. I see my writing being channeled in new directions these days, and I think the label on my writing must surely say "Use As Needed."

These days, my writing is directed toward my Mother's life, which is slowly drifting away. She recently asked for a hospital bed in her room in Assisted Living because she has become too frail to spend much time in her chair, or her electric scooter. She's had a good life, filled with richness and heartbreaking disappointment, too.
In our family terminology, she's "Sitting on the Curb" now, waiting for the Lord to drop by and take her home. Or as she puts it, she's "Turning the pages now, and each one is good." In the last couple of weeks she has become too weak to answer the phone, and when one of my sisters is there and calls so that she can talk to me and my wife, it is hard for her to even get a sentence out. Clearly, this is a time when I need to open my writing gift and use it, as it is needed. Each day, I will write a letter to my Mother in large enough type so that she can read it, and we'll enclose photographs of what we're doing. I know that the letters mean a lot to her, and even more to me. It's going to take awhile for me to say goodbye.

And by the way, Bok, Trickett and Muir recorded one of my songs "Living On The River," and Annie Muir recorded another of mine, "Old Blue Suit" on her solo album backed by ... Gordon Bok and Ed Trickett.

Gordon, Ed and Annie are wonderful people who also sing very well, thank you.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 26 Aug 06 - 10:39 AM

Hi Jerry and everybody else,

I recall hearing "Living on the River"--musta been about 20 years ago now--hoo boy--is it really?--at a Getaway--and thinking that really is a great song--really captures the atmosphere. Never thought I'd get to meet (or even "cyber-meet") its author. I used to ask the guy who sang it that year to sing it again--every time I saw him. Sure would love to hear you sing that song in person--too bad you can't make it to the Getaway this year. I will definitely have to learn the song and sing it--in your honor--this year. But still hope to hear you do it.

And it gives you a kind of immortality--as long as that song--or any others of yours are sung--which probably will be forever.

Congratulations !

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 26 Aug 06 - 12:20 PM

It's a deal, Ron:

Sing Living On The River for me this year, and I'll do my best to get down and sing it at next year's Getaway. Hopefully, it won't be the same weekend as NOMAD, again.

Then you could come up here and come to the Church And Street Corner Harmonies workshop..

We'll meet again, even if only for the first time..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: JennyO
Date: 26 Aug 06 - 01:20 PM

So Jerry, you're a songwriter too! I should have guessed. Congratulations on your success!

That is beautiful, what you are doing writing letters to your mother - a perfect way to use your writing gift. Not only is it something you can do for her, but it is a good thing for you too. It will help as you let go slowly, not that it will be easy, but you do have the opportunity to say goodbye.

It wasn't that way when my mother died 14 years ago. Our relationship had always been problematic, and I did try to improve that, many times. I had often tried to talk to her and write her letters that she misunderstood or ignored, but she was a very difficult person to get along with. I wasn't the only one to have problems with her. In the end she died suddenly of a heart attack and I didn't reach the hospital in time. Two days later I found she had cut me out of her will - no opportunity to ask why, no opportunity to say goodbye - just anger and resentment.

That was when I decided that until I dealt with all the feelings and the issues around my mother, I wouldn't be able to move on with my life. The right people and groups seemed to appear just at the right time to take me through that and out the other side, and I am okay now. But it did time and a lot of hard work.

Actually, when I think about it, there have been times when I have found writing very therapeutic. When I was 15 I started writing a diary, where I poured out my feelings. I felt very isolated at that stage, and the diary was my friend, helping me to get through lonely times and make sense of a lot of things. I haven't done it for a long time - haven't felt the need - but I guess if the need arises some time, I might do it again - as you said, "use as needed". The nearest I come to that these days is writing posts on Mudcat. That can be therapeutic too!

A few weeds got pulled this afternoon, but there are a lot more waiting for me tomorrow, so right now I'd better go and have some therapeutic sleep!

Jenny

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: JennyO
Date: 26 Aug 06 - 01:24 PM

....it did take time....

Missed that even with the preview - I really wish we could edit posts here!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 26 Aug 06 - 02:33 PM

Hey, Wolfie:

Nice to see you. Folk Legacy Records will be carrying Back When I Was Young, and you can buy one through them through a credit card. The CD has one of the songs that I actually recorded for my second Folk Legacy album, Levi Kelly, that there wasn't enough room for. Folk Legacy will be selling them for what I am selling them for: $10 plus S & H.

And Art: I can't make it to the Getaway this year because I am already committed to NOMAD the same weekend. Sandy & Caroline will be at NOMAD, so unless Dick Greenhaus is interested in carrying them, they won't be available there. Catters can always order them directly from me.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 26 Aug 06 - 03:01 PM

Hey, JennyO:

I understand your comments about writing as a way to see more clearly. I find that putting something in writing helps me to step back from a situation in a way that only going for a walk or weeding can do. Not totally kidding about the weeding... I am constantly engaged in armed combat with the crabgrass in my lawn and for much of my life, loved having a garden. I've found walking a wonderful way to move into a contemplative place, too. Especially when I was raising my two sons alone. The only privacy I had, where they and the people at work couldn't ask me a question was when I was out walking, or in the bathroom. :-)

I'm sorry that you had a difficult relationship with your Mother that couldn't be totally resolved. I had a similar one with my Father. Thank God I was able to finally see him as another flawed human being, not much different than me. I wrote a song to deal with my feelings, back then:

PARADISE BAR

On Friday night, when my daddy got paid
He'd stop at the Paradise bar on the way
And sometimes he'd let me come tagging along
Me just a kid, didn't know right from wrong

He'd stop and he'd talk with a friend at the bar
Or sit at the table and deal out the cards
He'd sit and he'd talk of the good times they'd known
And swear on the bottle he'd never go home

Now Mom always told me that drinking was bad
And prayed that I wouldn't turn out like my Dad
And Dad always said how he wanted a son
But I couldn't please him, whatever I done

Now Dad's got religion, he's really quite tame
And down at the bar, all the faces have changed
And Mom's finally got her a husband at last
Put out to pasture, to graze in the grass

But childhood's for dreamers, as everyone knows
And dreams fade away like the last winter snow
And now that I see through the eyes of a man
I know I can never go back there again

And for many years I didn't. I tell you, there's nothing like failing, yourself, to teach you humility and compassion. My Father had something broken, way down inside. Something he couldn't understand or fix. When I accepted that we are all broken, in our own way, then I could love him without condition.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 26 Aug 06 - 03:10 PM

Sorry about the post to Wolfie and Art Brooks. I meant to put it on the thread about my new CD.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 26 Aug 06 - 10:10 PM

Trying to hold on:

This afternoon, Ruth and I drove down to Norwalk to spend some time with a woman whose husband died a couple of days ago. The woman's Mother is a cousin of Ruth's by Ruth's first marriage. I've met the Mother and wife several times and they are very unassuming, warm, generous women. The funeral is this Tuesday, and Ruth and I will be in Vegas.. be back late Saturday night, so someone else will have to take care of the coffee. We really wanted to spend some time with the family, and this afternoon was the only time that worked for everyone.

When we got to the apartment, there were several family members there, and several more who arrived later. As the wife talked about her husband, everyone settled in. She said that just last week, her husband was asking why she didn't have her toe nails done, when she had her fingernails done. She told her husband that she didn't have the money to do her toenails. She had barely enough to do her fingernails. Her husband had been sick for a long time, so the money was very tight. But, he really wanted his wife to get her toe nails done. He kept asking her "Why do you always get them done in red,?" and she told him, "That's the way I like them." "Why don't you have them do them in black, next time?" She'd never heard of anyone having their toe nails done in black, but it was a moot point, as she didn't have the money to have them done.

Yesterday, she went to have her nails done and remembering how much her husband wanted her to have her toe nails done, she decided to spend the money and do them. She said, "I was going to have them done in black, because that's what Tom wanted, but he can't see them, so I went ahead and had them done in red." It was good to hear her laugh.

As she talked about her husband, she said that he was concerned about what would happen to her when he died. He was on a pension, and she wouldn't get a "Widow's pension," unless she was over 60 when he died. She thinks that he was really trying to hold on until she reached 60. He was in an enormous amount of pain, and the medication was very expensive, so he tried to get by on Tylenol as best he could. When the care giver came in to see him two mornings ago, she discovered that he had died in his sleep. Three weeks short of his wife's 60th birthday.

He tried holding on as long as he could so that she'd get that pension. But, he couldn't quite make it.

There are every day stories of courage all around us.

But, she knows that she will be allright.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 27 Aug 06 - 06:27 PM

Hi Jerry-

All I have is a very mundane question--have you had much rain up there? We've had a drought down here--a week since I've been back, and, it appears, about 2 weeks before that.

And I've just been reading about a drought in the UK--in fact while I was there there was very little rain. But I understand it's got to the stage where they're ripping up some of the traditional beds of begonias, geraniums and impatiens in St. James' Park--and they're trying to introduce cactus. A gardener commissioned by the mayor of London to design a "dry garden" says: "The classic English garden like to soak up a lot of water, and it is a situation we can no longer sustain".

Any comment, esp from UK 'Catters?

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 27 Aug 06 - 08:31 PM

Hey, Ron:

Funny choice of words, "mundane." Many years ago, I was booked to do a concert at a folk club at Rennselaer Polytech in New York State. The poster that they did took a quote from Sally Rogers about my music.. as accurately as I can remember it: "Jerry captures the mundane and creates a beautiful gem of a song from it." It was a nice compliment, but in it's context, I thought it was very funny.
My direct competition that night (a free program) was Dr. Ruth, talking about sex. I pictured this beer bellyied guy in a torn undershirt with flies buzzing around his head, and his wife calling to him from the other room "Honey, let's go out tonight: We can go hear Dr. Ruth talking about sex or some guy I never heard of who captures the mundane."

Dr. Livingston, I presume. In search of the mundane.

We've had an extremely dry summer up here. For the first time that I can ever remember, some of the tips on our evergreen shrubs have turned brown and died. My lawn looks like a battlefield... dark brown, with endless potholes where I've pulled up the crab grass that took over a couple of moths ago. Every time I sneeze, another cup full of dirt is blown away. We've had rain the last two days. Enough to wet your whiskers if you's got a light enough beard.

After tonight, there's only a modest chance of showers for the next ten days. We'll be lucky if we get enough to settle the dust.

"This dusty old dust is a getting me down."

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 28 Aug 06 - 11:51 AM

My Mom called us yesterday. These days, whenever the phone rings, I tense up a little, expecting that it will be one of my sisters, telling me that Mom has gone on to Glory. What a treat to hear Mom. She has no immediate plans to check out.

Two weeks ago, she was taken down with severe stomach cramps and other problems that left her weak as a kitten. Not that she was especially strong when we went out to celebrate her 99th birthday with her in early June. She's been on oxygen since then, and too weak to get out of bed. Even too week to dial the phone to call us. When we call, she's just too tired to reach over and pick up the phone. And when we have talked to her, it was all we could do to hear her because her voice was so faint.

Last week, she got a hospital bed in her room in Assisted Living. That sounded like another punch in her ticket, to me. But when she called yesterday (had someone dial the phone for her) her voice sounded a little stronger. As it turns out, she was the one who wanted the hospital bed, so that she could sit up in bed. She's tired of being tired, and she had to have her hair done IN HER BED this week... the ultimate ignominy for her. So, she asked for the hospital bed because she is determined to get her strength back so she can at least get out to have her hair done, go to vespers service and play bingo. She was able to get the hospital bed, because Hospice is now taking care of her. When Hospice steps in, that usually means you are nearing check out time. But, Mom isn't going to go quietly. She still wants to get enough strength back to live the way she was before this most recent setback. And, I wouldn't put it past her. Whatever comes, it won't be because she has given up. That makes it easier for the family to feel positive, these days.

If she goes down now, she'll go down swinging.

Hit it outta the park, Mom!

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 28 Aug 06 - 11:24 PM

Well, kids:

Ruth and I are off for Las Vegas, catching a 7 a.m. flight out of Bradley Field, north of Hartford, CT. Tuesday morning. I'll have to turn the Keeper Of The Pot duties over to you folks until we get back, late Saturday night.

These are confusing times, flying off to a place where pleasure is their only product and artificial is real, when we are facing serious issues at home. But, that's alright. Sometimes artificial is just what we need.

Catch you later..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: JennyO
Date: 28 Aug 06 - 11:33 PM

Have fun Gerry and Ruth! We'll keep things simmering along here till you get back.

Jenny

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 29 Aug 06 - 11:28 PM

Hey--not so fast.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 30 Aug 06 - 06:56 AM

Hi Ron
Like you we enjoyed the fabulous weather in Sidmouth,then on our way back to Essex on the Sunday drove through horrendous rain , lightning and thunder, since then we have had rain, rain, rain here in the UK, the sun is out today but the grass is green and everything in the garden is growing like crazy.However in the press today they say the hosepipe ban may continue till winter, no wonder all we talk about is the weather over here!
Would have loved to have met you at Sidmouth, did you go to the sessions in the sailing club run by Terry Pearson?
Maybe see you there next year?

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 31 Aug 06 - 12:04 AM

Hi Billybob,

I only poked my head in at the Sailing Club a couple of times--seemed to be pretty heavily instrumental--Irish once and old-time once.

What I really like is the combination of vocal and instrumental--taking breaks, or somebody accompanying songs on concertina, for instance--or totally a cappella with great choruses (as in the Middle Bar).   I was able to rent a viola in Sidmouth and I did wind up playing-- and singing a bit-- with a wonderful concertina player--for 4 hours at the Swan one night. Irish, English, Scottish, Russian, German, World War I songs, Stranger on the Shore etc.---he knew them all-- and liked a low viola harmony. It really was a problem that cloning had not been perfected this year. I wanted to be in the Swan -- (in fact there was a chantey session in the Swan going on at the same time--in the next room-- when I had that 4 hour session--which went by like 7 minutes)-- in the Middle Bar, the Volunteer, the York and Faulkner and on the prom all at the same time--and I never even made it to places like the Theatre Bar this year.

Admittedly, with the weather the way it was, the prom was an overpowering draw.

But at least I didn't miss Silli(er) Songs at the Middle Bar, the March to the Sea, and Gloom and Doom. I try really hard not to miss them--and one of my songs was even rated Very Silly. Jan and I both sang at Gloom and Doom--and even made a few people laugh.

I tried to get into 2 concerts--both sold out--so back to the prom. Can't say it was a hardship.

Sidmouth is just unique-- in the world I think. I try to never miss it--and mostly succeed--since 1996 (with 2 involuntary execeptions)

Where else in Sidmouth did you go besides the Sailing Club?

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 31 Aug 06 - 05:25 AM

Hi Ron
like you I would have liked to have cloned myself, spent a lot of time on the prom, did you see the chap who played fiddle, sang and danced appalachian all at the same time? The sailing club was all fiddles and melodians however Terry Pearson asked me to sing a song which was an honour, We were in the middle bar quite a lot, hidden in a corner ,may sing next year! I saw a lot of familiar faces that were at Dave Bryant's wake in January.Wonderful singing and lovely atmosphere. We also went outside at the Anchor and had a dance or two which was great fun.Spent some time in the Bedford with John Barden, we also had a few hours in the Swan, lovely little pub.Looking forward to next year as we have booked for the whole week.Sorry we did not meet, maybe next year?

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 01 Sep 06 - 05:00 AM

Just put the coffee on, its quiet here at the table this morning,Mind you I guess your still all asleep in the USA, so I may ramble on my own.For those who do not know Billy and I own a Beauty Salon and Day Spa in a seaside resort in the East of England.I always say I love what I do, that is , I love doing treatments, aromatherapy, holistic treatments etc. what I hate is the administration and running the business. We have a manager to do all that, but guess what, this morning at 7 she phones me with a bad cold, she could "struggle" in but !!!!!
So in I came at 7.30, spent the last 90 minutes phoning clients and re scheduling and trying to cover with other therapists who were already heavily booked today.
The day we were due to leave for Sidmouth last month, she phoned to say the electrics had fused, she had plugged in the kettle empty of water, fused everything in the staff room, so plugged it in in reception.....you guessed. Biily spent all morning sorting things out , we left a day late.I had a big birthday in June my 60th and was asked at the party when I would retire? I laughed and said no way, reading about Jerry's walks and all the great things you all get up to now I am not so sure!
coffee is good, may have a danish.
Wendy

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 01 Sep 06 - 11:03 AM

Billybob--eastern part of England--is that East Anglia?   I understand there are a lot of names in that part of the country which New Englanders also adopted in the 17th century--since East Anglia is where many of them came from. Cambridge, Boston, Dedham, Braintree. Can you think of any?

And are you catching up from the drought yet? We've finally (today) got a reasonable amount of rain (of course now they're talking about a flash flood watch)--possibly courtesy of a hurricane considerably south of us. Maybe we'll eventually get it right.



I'll be busy for a few days now--see you all (or y'all--after all I'm south of the Mason-Dixon line)-- a bit later.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: David C. Carter
Date: 01 Sep 06 - 12:48 PM

Hi all of you who haven't shuffled off to Vegas.                   We just got back from Dubrovnik,a short 27-hour drive from here in Paris.                                                            Why do they put towns so far appart!By the time you arrive,you can't remember who you are,what your own name is,or what you're doing there.
But then again,I'm sort of like that most of the time anyway!         
Nice to see JennyO at the Table,Helloooo!             My"performing" secrete is to mentaly divide the audience,if there is one,into individuals,stay near the exit door,and keep the car engine running!
I'm playing with a pick up band this evening,so I gotta go.
See you all around
David

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: JennyO
Date: 01 Sep 06 - 02:17 PM

Helloo David Carter. I know you from the Three Word Xmas Story thread, don't I! I believe you live in Paris. My brother does too. He's visiting us in Oz at the moment. How do you come to be living there, and what part of Paris do you live in?

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 01 Sep 06 - 03:09 PM

Well, at least you don't have to SWIM part of the way to Dubrovinik, David.

Jerry and Rapaire are probably waving to each other from opposite sides of the Grand Canyon about now.

Ron, welcome back from your continental musical meanderings.

JennyO, I'll meet you and John for a cuppa at the confluence of the mighty Murrumbidgee and the Mississippi. There's a cozy little coffee house right next to the bridge. : > )

Elmer

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: JennyO
Date: 02 Sep 06 - 05:39 AM

A nice cuppa with a wonderful river view sounds pretty good to us, Elmer. I hope they have some home made tiramisu too! Seeya there!
Mmm, I can smell the coffee already...

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: David C. Carter
Date: 02 Sep 06 - 06:20 AM

Elmer,I can only swim in one direction,and that's down.
If I were headed for Oz I can see where that might be an option.

JennyO,Hi there,yes I know you from the Xmas thread,like your posts,keep 'em coming.
When your brother gets back here,PM me, and if he wants I'll meet him for a couple of sherberts.
All the best,to all
David

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 02 Sep 06 - 03:15 PM

Hi Ron
yes we live in East Anglia, 15 minutes from Dedham, and 20 from Harwich where the Captain of the Mayflower lived, his house is still standing as is Samuel Pepy's and a house where Lord Nelson lived.
Groton is a village not far from here where the Winthrop family who were the first govenors of Massachussits came from.
I always find it interesting when we are in the USA to see the names of English towns, mainly in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.In fact on our way back from Sidmouth we drove through Pennsylvania in Somerset! Small world?
Next time you come to Sidmouth you are both welcome to come visit and see this part of the UK.
Wendy

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 03 Sep 06 - 11:03 AM

I'm baaaaaaack!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I've really enjoyed reading the posts since I've been gone. Maybe I should stay away longer...

We had a fantastic, exciting, romantic (and at least as far as food goes) decadent 8th Anniversary/fourth honeymoon trip. On the way back, I had to smile to myself thinking, when people asked us what we did, and I say "We didn't drink, gamble or see any shows." they'd think we were certifiably insane. And yet we filled every moment with exciting experiences (for us.) After just an hour and a half of sleep before we got up at 2 in the morning to get ready to go to the airport, and a fifteen hour trip (counting travelling to the airport, two short layovers and getting to our hotel) we threw our bags in our room and hit the street. We were running on fumes and peanuts by then, but it's our style. We ended up walking down the strip about three miles before we finally headed back, and were able to catch a bus. We wanted to see everything and a little more, and we did. Ruth was in Vegas ten years ago, but hardly recognized it. We went up in the half-scale Eiffel Tower, went on a gondola ride in "Venice" went up in the stratosphere, watch the "volcano" erupt at the Mirage, and
ATE.

I approached our bathroom scale with trepidation this morning. The buffet in the Luxor, where we were staying was bountiful, bordering on the obscene, and we ate like lubmerjacks after a 40 day fast. When I stepped on the scale and cautiously opened my eyes, I was amazed to see that I didn't gain a pound! That says how much we walked.

We had one day at the Grand Canyon, going to the West Rim. It's not the most spectacular viewpoint, but plenty spectacular for me. A couple of beautiful things about it is that, because the Hualapai Indians consider the land sacred, there are no railings along the edge of the canyon. You can walk right up to the edge and look over. In one area, there's a path that winds it's way up a precipice at the end of a prominatory. A prominatory precipice. I like that. In some places, the "trail is only about three feet wide, very uneven and smooth stone. It's a drop over over 3,000 feet straight down, so I paid attention. Ruth passed.

When I planned this trip, my main interest was the Grand Canyon, and Ruth was excited to see it for the first time, too. I thought Las Vegas would be interesting. Gross excess has it's charm. I ended up enjoying it even much more than I expected, and I was looking forward to it, to begin with.

When we wandered through the casinos (which you can't avoid,) I saw endless people slumped over in front of slot machines, their eyes glazed over, looking depressed and trying time after time with no discernible sign of enjoying themselves. We didn't hear a slot machine light up indicating that someone had won in the three and a half days we were there. I have to accept that thos people were having "fun."

To each his zone. And we were definitely in a zone.

Jerry

Good to be back in the kitchen.. Thanks for keeping the pot on. Think I'll help myself, if you don't mind.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 03 Sep 06 - 11:45 AM

Welcome back, Jerry Elmer Hornsbuckle! Wow! The Grand Canyon, Paris, Venice, ancient Egypt and an exploding volcano. (Isn't New York City in the neighborhood of Las Vegas as well?) That's one heckuva trip. For that you get two cups of coffee and a bagel with lox and cream cheese thrown in, seeing as you don't have to worry about your weight 'n all : > )

The slot machine scene is surreal. You have to wonder about the back stories of some of the people standing hypnotized in front of those computerized, soul-less gizmos designed to tweak irrational hopes and desperation. Did you see the ones in the airport? Actually, Las Vegas itself is the height of surreality--yes? What prompted such an improbable destination to spring forth in the middle of a desert, with garish monuments, kitschy spectacles, and the ability to vacuum up more money than you can shake a stick at?

Glad you and Ruth had such a great time there. It's definitely worth the detour at least once in a lifetime. And the Grand Canyon is in a class by itself. Someone ought to write a suite about it. Again, welcome back.

Elmer

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 03 Sep 06 - 12:39 PM

Hey, Elmer:

Nice to see you. Missed all you folks.

When we picked our clear up at the airport last night, it was raining lightly and we had an hour's drive on mostly dark roads ahead of us. The care seemed fine, but after I'd driven it a couple of blocks, we heard a strange noise coming from the back of the car of the driver's side. I couldn't really figure out what ti could be... it wasn't a grinding, metalic noise or a bump... more of a low, vibrating noise. Now, I'm not much of a car mechanic, but I've driven enough garbage cars in my life to be intimately familiar with everything that can go wrong on a car. But this one puzzled me. When I accelerated, the sound didn't change. When I drove faster, or slowed down, or turned, the sound didn't change. It clearly wasn't in the motor, as it was coming from the back of the car. And then it stopped. For about a minute. By then, we were on the highway driving 65 miles an hour, so the road noise muffled the sound. Every once in awhile, it would stop for no apparent reason.
It did this off and on, all the way home and I was just praying that we wouldn't break down on a dark rainy night. Sounds like the opening of a Snoopy novel.

When we got home, the noise was still there, so we got out of the car with the motor running, and walked around it. We couldn't figure out what was going on. Weirder yet, when I turned off the motor, the noise didn't stop. We lugged the two large suitcases and two of our carry-ons into the house, and I could hear our car muttering away in the driveway. By the time that I came back to get the last carry-on, the noise had stopped, but as soon as I reached in to pick up the carry-on, it started again. I closed the door and walked around the car a couple of times, but couldn't figure out what was going on. So, I grabbed the carry-on and headed toward the house. This was after fourteen hours of traveling, so my brain was on stand-by. As I walked up to the front door, I could still hear the noise and couldn't figure out how it could be so loud. When I walked in the house, it sounded like the noise was in the house. And then I realized it was coming from my carry-on. Slow, but I got there.

I took the bag into the bedroom and Ruth and I opened it. The bag was making the same vibrating noise we'd heard off and on, and then we found out what the problem was.

My electric tooth brush was on.

Duhhhhhhh!

We both had a big laugh, and then sobered up when we thought what would have happened if it went off on the plane. From now on I will be E. Manual Brusher when I fly.

Jerry

I'll answer me e-mails after my acuity returns. I think I left it in Vegas. Or was it San Francisco?

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: JennyO
Date: 03 Sep 06 - 02:13 PM

Hello Jerry, good to see you back. Sounds like you had a great time.

It's nice to be over here at the table now - it's a jungle out there on some of those threads! I need a coffee!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Tootler
Date: 03 Sep 06 - 06:58 PM

You're lucky your toothbrush was still going, Jerry. I once packed mine for a trip to London and when I got to my Hotel, I found it had been on and the battery was completely flat. I had to use it as a hand brush for the next two days <grrr>

After that I started packing a charger as well and more recently have bought one which takes standard AA batteries. It takes the same brushes as the rechargeable ones and I take the batteries out when I am travelling.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 03 Sep 06 - 08:30 PM

Hey, Tootler:

Welcome to the table. I have a battery operated toothbrush kicking around here somewhere, and that's a good idea. I can just pack it without any batteries in it, and put them in when I get where I'm going. I know from experience that brushing your teeth with an electric toothbrush without any "electric" is like brushing your teeth with a stick.

Who says Mudcat isn't intellectual?

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: JennyO
Date: 03 Sep 06 - 10:56 PM

I don't have an electric toothbrush - should I feel deprived? Anyway, if I did, I'd go for rechargeable NiMH AA batteries, same as I use in my digital camera. I have a small lightweight charger that will charge 4 at a time, or it will do 4 alkaline batteries (not both types at the same time), so when I am away, everything I have that takes AA batteries, including torches, can be kept going, and I always have spare fresh batteries. I got sick of throwing away dead batteries out of my torches. Rechargeable is much better!

I had a similar experience to yours Jerry. When I go away I take a small travelling alarm clock which takes one AA battery. It has a button on top which you pull up to activate the alarm, which is quite a loud piercing little beep beep beep. Unfortunately the button moves up and down a little too easily, and one time on my way back from a camping trip, I heard this beep beep beep noise at the back of the car buried deep in the luggage somewhere. It took me a while to realise what it was, and a lot longer before I could get home and dig it out from the suitcase at the bottom of the pile of luggage. With the clock I'd rather not take the battery out because I'll lose the time, but I make sure now that it is somewhere handy, and that it is not in a position where the button could work its way up.

In general though, I agree about taking batteries out. I've experienced some dead torches through not doing that, and camera batteries seem to discharge if left in the camera too long as well.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 04 Sep 06 - 11:42 AM

Memories: Not what happened, but how we remember it.

On our trip out to Vegas, I brought a notebook along and was writing down family remembrances. Funny thing; because we remember something, we think it happened that way. Ask three people who were there when it happened and you get three different memories. These days, I'm writing a family history of sorts, centered on my Mother. One of my Mother's favorite credos is "Life is making memories, so make the best ones you can." I find now, in writing about our family that my Mother's memories, my Father's, my sisters, my Aunt's and Uncle's memories tend to flow, one into another. I've heard my Mother tell stories so many times about growing up on a small southern Wisconsin farm that when I recall them, it's almost as if I lived them. I especially realize that in writing songs. I wrote a song titled Uncle Jim, and you'd think it was about my Uncle Jim. And parts of it are. My Uncle Jim's son Howard is in the song, and it is about living on a farm My Uncle Jim was a farmer for part of his life, and I remember visiting the farm vividly. And most likely, very innacurately. In the song,there's a verse:

   After all the work is done, down by the cow pond
   The kids would all go sliding through the old corn fields
   Waiting for the bell to call them home to supper
   And racing old Buster down the hill

I can remember that clearly, never having done it. Buster was my Mother's dog when she was a little girl. I have pictures of him and I've raced him down the hill many times. In my mind. And the memories are almost as strong as if I actually did.

Another verse has my Uncle Jim:

   "Reading Reader's Digest for the 14th time
    Puffing on a bowl of old Prince Albert
    And sipping on some elderberry wine."

I don't know if my Uncle Jim ever drank elderberry wine or smoked a pipe, or read Reader's Digest. But, my Father did. I can remember the small smoking table my Father had next to his chair, with slanted wooden trays on the sides to hold magazines, and a copper lined compartment for keeping tobacco. (I can't remember the name for those tobacco storage boxes... something like a commodore, but that was Lionel Richie's group, wasn't it?) (or was it a commode? ... nah.. I think that's French for toilet.)

A Humidore... that's it. Sometimes memories need coaxing.

All this is alright. If I can give Uncle Jim and my cousin Howard Mom's dog, I guess it's alright to give him my Father's elderberry wine, Reader's Digest and Prince Albert.

When it comes to writing memories, I guess it's more accurate to say "This is how I remember it," than "This is how it happened."

We've all heard musicians who played all the notes and sang all the words, but never got the song. The same principals apply in remembering our lives, and those of others. In a way, remembering how it felt, and how you preceived it through your own beliefs and prejudices is probably more important than getting it right. Our resident philosopher, Elmer Fudd taught me that. For a guy who keeps hunting the same wabbit, he sure is wise.

Behind the ears.

Hmmm... that doesn't sound right..

Good to be back.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 04 Sep 06 - 05:07 PM

"For a guy who keeps hunting the same wabbit, he sure is wise." Jerry

Shouldn't that be 'he sure is rise'?

I'm enjoying the conversation from my corner. Don't stop now!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Tootler
Date: 04 Sep 06 - 05:38 PM

Jerry,

Thanks for the Welcome.

JennyO,

I was recommended an electric toothbrush by a dental hygienist as my teeth kept getting a coating of hard yuk on them. They definitely do a better job than a hand toothbrush as next time I went for a checkup, my dentist did not have to spend so much time with his hammer and chisel on my teeth, and commented on how much better condition they were in.

However, be careful of toothbrushes which take separate batteries as the cheaper ones do not agitate vigorously enough. I eventually bought one of the same brand as my rechargeable one as I reasoned that it would use the same motor and would be as vigorous. That proved to be the case.


Geoff

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 04 Sep 06 - 08:17 PM

Where is jimmy when we need him? Yeah, I'm with you Tootler. Them cheap battery operated tooth brushes brush your teeth as thoroughly as a cheap motel bed gives you a penetrating message for a quarter.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: JennyO
Date: 04 Sep 06 - 10:22 PM

a penetrating message for a quarter

You trying to tell us something Jerry? :-)

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 04 Sep 06 - 10:43 PM

JennyO: :-)

Never tried them myself. Looks like you just get all shook up for nothin.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: JennyO
Date: 04 Sep 06 - 10:57 PM

*goes off singing*

I'm all shook up
Mm mm mm, mm, yay, yay, yay
Mm mm mm, mm, yay, yay
I'm all shook up

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 05 Sep 06 - 07:16 AM

Good one, JennyO:

I actually wrote a rockabilly song, Tennessee Earthquake that has the line, "And I was just like Elvis, I was all shook up, uh hmn, uh
hmn, oh yeah, I was all shook up."

When we were in Vegas, the connection hit home between Elvis and Liberace. How weird that in some ways (their flamboyancy and costumes) they ended up looking like brothers.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: JennyO
Date: 05 Sep 06 - 07:28 AM

Elvis and Liberace! You know you're right, Jerry. I never really thought about that before. Maybe it's a Vegas thing.

Your song sounds like fun. You got all the words there?

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 05 Sep 06 - 10:02 AM

Tennessee Earthquake

Woke up this morning 'bout five o'clock
My bed was shaking with a reelin' rock
Turned on the radio to catch the news
My cat was dancing in the corner with my blue suede shoes
(spoken) Get off those shoes, cat!

Looked at the table and what did I see?
The saucer was dancing with a cup of tea
The knife and fork they ran away with the spoon
So I looked out the window just to check the moon

I called my baby on the telephone
I said come on over baby, 'cause I'm all alone
You know I need you right by my side
We can jump on the bed, and we can go for a ride

(spoken) Oh, baby, you know what I like

It may not be Frisco in '93
But it sure scared the daylights out of me
When I saw that saucer dancing with a cup
I was just like Elvis, I was all shook up
Uh hmn, uh hmn, oh yeah, I was all shook up

Words and music by Jerry Rasmussen

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 05 Sep 06 - 03:58 PM

Hey, great song there, Jerry. Have you recorded that? I'll bet we'd like to hear it.

With all due respect to Elvis, I like Ry Cooder's version of "All Shook Up." Kind of a heavy-handed sound compared to Elvis's, but joyful and righteous.

Elmer

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 05 Sep 06 - 04:06 PM

As the Monty Python segue goes, "And now for something completely different."

I came across this quote by William Blake this morning. I don't know if it is true, but it surely is encouraging to those of us whose path in life is not always one that puts on a good front to the world, with neatly trimmed edges and smoothed-over surfaces:

Improvement makes strait roads;
but the crooked roads without improvement are roads of genius. —William Blake

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 05 Sep 06 - 04:26 PM

Hey, Elmer: I like the quote.

It reminds me of a description my major professor at the University Of Wisconsin made of me in a recommendation. He said that I had a few sharp edges that needed to be sanded off, but I was a very promising student. I told him that I had no intention of allowing someone to sand off my sharp edges. I was rather fond of them. I still have them.

Tennessee Earthquake is on my Handful Of Songs album which is in the process of being produced as a CD. It's at the production company awaiting final approval.

The quote also reminds me of a favorite song of an old friend of mine, Jerry Rau. It's called Driving In The Right Hand Lane. The song is extolling all the beautiful scenery you can see, driving in the right hand lane.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Tootler
Date: 05 Sep 06 - 07:03 PM

Left hand lane where I live. People get upset if you drive on the right here.

OTOH, you should try some of our country lanes. Never straight for more than a couple of yards, but the scenery ...

Geoff

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 05 Sep 06 - 08:25 PM

Tootler, I believe the lane to which Jerry is referring is what we call the slow lane. On any highway with more than two lanes, the far right lane is supposed to be for the slower drivers. (The far left among all the right-hand lanes, or fast lane, is also referred to as the suicide lane.) Assuming that you reside in the British Commonwealth, does that mean that the far left lane is your slow lane?

Elmer

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 06 Sep 06 - 10:06 AM

Mom's playing bingo tonight!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hallelujah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's funny how such a small thing can be so big. It's been almost a month since my Mother was taken down with severe stomach pains and nauseau. It almost took her under there, for awhile. If left her too weak to even dial a telephone (not that phones have dials, anymore.) Many days, she was too weak to even talk on the phone if someone else answered it. To make things worse, my oldest sister was rushed to the emergency room about three weeks ago with a recurrence of diverticulitis. (When you become a high mileage model, you become a medical expert, because it seems like everyone is in the body shop all the time.) It was torture for my Mother to be too weak to even answer the phone, when her daughter was going through a colostomy. My sister has gone through her own private hell, complicated by getting gout while she was already on morphine after the surgery. My brother-in-law called this morning, and my sister is being released from the hospital either tomorrow or Friday.
I offered to call Mom and give her the news, because my brother-in-law has a long list of calls to make. My mother was overjoyed, when I gave her the news.

So, friends: My sister is coming home tomorrow or Friday, and my Mom is going to BINGO tonight for the first time in a month. She's a high roller, so I expect she'll come home with a lot of loot tonight. The last time, she won so many times that she gave some of her gifts to others who didn't win anything. The "loot" is very modest.. what you might expect in an assisted living complex. It's not about winning. It's about being able to go.

Go, Mom!!!!!!!!!!!! Looks like she has a few miles left in her.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 06 Sep 06 - 11:38 AM

Well, bless her heart. I hope she has a grand time.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: JennyO
Date: 06 Sep 06 - 11:49 AM

Yay for Mom! Hope she wins! Glad your sister is coming home too!

By the way, I enjoyed your song - even though I don't know what the tune is, somehow a tune seemed to sorta suggest itself to me. Don't know if it's right or not, but I bet it's close.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 06 Sep 06 - 01:09 PM

Great news, Jerry! Things are looking up. What a relief. You walked through the Grand Canyon of the shadow of death there for a while. Your mother is one strong lady, and your sister has inherited her ability to bounce back. I wish you and your family a good, long respite from further crises, many a happy Bingo game for your Mom, and life in the slow lane for a while for you.

Elmer

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 06 Sep 06 - 01:52 PM

Thanks, friends:

On a less important note, I feel like I hit the Trifecta today. While I was out this morning, the person who is doing the final production on my Handful Of Songs CD called. He's supposed to call back between one and two this afternoon (within the next hour.) I'm hoping that we can resolve any questions and get a final layout decided upon. I've been waiting over 15 years to put that album out on CD, so at least for me, it's a momentus occasion.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Tootler
Date: 06 Sep 06 - 05:37 PM

Tootler, I believe the lane to which Jerry is referring is what we call the slow lane.

I realised that, which was the point of my post - an attempt at humour which clearly fell flat. I live in the UK and we drive on the left, so the slow lane is the leftmost lane.

The second statement in my post was a poor attempt at a pun as our smallest roads are generally called lanes.

The point is, if you want to see the best of the countryside here, it is usually a good idea to get off the main roads and into the lanes.

Geoff in Middlesbrough, UK

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 06 Sep 06 - 05:53 PM

I'll remember that, Geoff, if we ever get over to England.

In the Midwest, the small highways are called County Trunk roads.

When we went to the west rim of the Grand Canyon, we had a 14 mile stretch of dirt road leading to the Indian reservation. Dirt roads may sound very romantic but as our bus driver put it so succinctly, they are good for a butt massage.

I got your humor, Geoff. It didn't fall on deaf ears..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 06 Sep 06 - 11:40 PM

O Tootler:

That I didn't get your joke is no fault of yours. If you have watched any Bugs Bunny cartoons, then you know that Elmer Fudd is not the brightest bulb on the Christmas tree.
Rest assured that everyone else was probably chuckling.

Tootle-loo,

Elmer

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Tootler
Date: 07 Sep 06 - 07:41 PM

In the Midwest, the small highways are called County Trunk roads.

Interesting. Over here a Trunk road is a major road. Just one class down from a Motorway, which is our nearest equivalent to your Interstate.

We don't get that many dirt roads, but they usually lead to farms and are normally referred to as tracks.

A whole different language.

A few years ago, I was taking a Canadian visitor out and we had just negotiated a fairly complex set of junctions when he asked "How did you know which lanes to take". I pointed out to him arrows and other markings on the road. A lot of directions at junctions are painted on the road as well as having signs beside the road and you get used to it. I noticed when I was in the States a couple of years back, that you do not do that as much as we do. I think the same must be true in Canada as I don't remember markings on the road when we went from Niagara Falls to Detroit.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 07 Sep 06 - 10:52 PM

I'm curious--how did the word "trunk" come into the picture regarding roads--on either side of the Pond?

1087--that would be around the time of the Domesday Book, I think. 1066 must have slipped by.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 08 Sep 06 - 09:40 AM

Yesterday, we went shopping for a new microwave and it got me thinking about God and Noah. The story is told that God spoke to Noah and told him to build an ark 300 cubits long. What does that have to do with a new microwave? The counter space where we keep our microwave is between the refrigerator and stove, so there's not an unlimited space for it. How wide is that space? Funny you should ask. I didn't think to measure it before we went out shopping, and the microwaves vary substantially in width. And then God spoke to me and said. "Jerry, I want you to buy a new microwave, but don't buy one longer than one cubit." (He didn't actually.) But, as we were looking at microwaves, I needed some way to measure how wide they were, and I used my portable cubit stick. You see, a cubit is the length from your elbow to the tips of your outstretched fingers. Not the most accurate measurement, admittedly because my cubit may be longer than yours. But then, I didn't have your cubit to measure with. The microwave I thought that we should get happened to be exactly one cubit long. One "My" cubit.

When we got back to the house, I took my cubit and measured the distance on the counter and we had about four finger widths to spare.
This morning we brought the new microwave home and I set it up on the counter. It fit perfectly. No surprise.

Now, I could have measured how many feet it was, but I was a little self-conscious about taking my shoes off in the store. I could have used my hand, too... horses were measured in hands.

Who needs a yard stick?

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 08 Sep 06 - 12:17 PM

Women have always (?) measured yardage in bolts of cloth by holding the panel out as far their arm could reach and touching the nose at the other end.

(Man! There must be a better way to express that.)

Let's see. Instruction: Take the corner tip of the cloth between your fingers and hold it away from you as far as you can reach. With your other hand bring the length of cloth to the tip of your nose. That is a yard.

(Aw. It's too early.)

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 08 Sep 06 - 01:03 PM

I have to laugh at your description, ebbie. I had forgotten that, but had seen in many times. Trying to describe the simplest of acts in writing is very challenging. When my sons were in school they had assignments to write directions on how to ride a bicycle, or tie your shoe laces. When my youngest son, Aaron moved out to Illinois, he'd never tied a tie. On the rare occasion that he had to tie one when he was home, I'd tie it for him. My Father was the same way. He wore bib overalls most of his life, and a tie would have looked out of place. When he got new ties, I'd tie them for him. Never mind that I lived a thousand miles away and only got home a couple of times a year. He didn't wear ties that often. Once they were tied, he'd loosen them up just enough to slip them over his head, and then hang them up that way, ready to slip back over his head and tighten, the next time he needed to wear a tie.

Anyway, I wrote directions on how to tie a tie for my son, and asked some of friends to follow them, word for word to see if it worked. It did, by golly! I mailed them off to Aaron, and that's how he learned to tie a tie by himself.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 08 Sep 06 - 03:14 PM

hahhaha Glad it worked. We've all seen - and tried to follow - instructions in how to put something together, an endeavor that is especially challenging when the directions are written by someone whose first language is NOT English. I am now prepared to forgive them.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 08 Sep 06 - 10:09 PM

Talking about memories and music, someone suggested I share this at the table:

I'm not sure where it was: somehwere in Connecticut, I think. I had just finished doing a concert when a young man came up to talk to me. I'd sung a song that I'd written about the two railroad lines that ran through my home town of Janesville, Wisconsin when I was a kid: The Chicago/Northwestern and the Milwaukee/St. Paul. There's a verse in the song that goes:

   "Fishing off the edge of the railroad bridge
    You can feel those steel rails humming
    Better put your bait and your bucket down
    'Cause the train will still be coming."

When the young man said, "I've fished off that bridge many times," I was all excited. I asked him, "Did you grow up in Janesville?" "No, I grew up in Colorado, but I fished off that same bridge." And he did. That same railroad bridge is in every small town in the United Sates. There's one right here in Derby, Connecticut where I live now. And there are Three Mile Cricks and open fields and front porches and folding chairs in every town. It's a matter of remembering that, and looking for them. They still hold the same, simple pleasures.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Donuel
Date: 09 Sep 06 - 04:49 PM

I was sitting at the kitchen table and thought about how Norman Corwin might write about some thoughts I was having...

this was the result:


I love my country to the stars and back.
I was only six but what I knew made me love America to the bursting point.
What did I know? I knew fishing in the Ozarks, I knew my parents driving across our great country, I knew we won a war against monsters, I knew great movies like the 50 ft. woman, I knew singing this land is my land and we loved our land. I looked at the moon and Saturn through my uncle's telescope. The most exciting thing we watched was Sputnik. We felt proud that man made his first star in the heavens but some people seemed worried

When I was seven I heard fearful whispers about the unamericans and the Russians who might blow us up in a surprise atomic attack.
When I was seven I remember my parents argue if I should see the Nazi films of the Holocaust on TV.   I learned 40 years later the film had been edited by Alfred Hitchcock. I saw the skinny bodies bulldozed, I saw the naked ladies hiding themselves as they were rushed to a crater's edge.

I was nearly eight while learning old union songs, Al Jolson tunes and the mountainous deep canyon voice of Paul Robeson singing "You know who I am… America", and I loved my country. The whispers faded and in their place clear voices told me what our country did to some great men and women. My country was hurting people in this country I love so much. Eight year olds know all about things not being fair.
Things weren't fair for my river. It changed colors daily depending on what color they were dyeing shoes at Endicott Johnson shoe factory.

At eight I listened to the Civil War on 33 rpm records. The Sergeant yelled FIRE and the boom shook my bones over and over again. Lincoln said to me "A house divided against itself can not stand." Then on the other side he read the Gettysburg address to me. In class the practice for atomic attack was as much fun as it was scary. Then the last Civil war veteran died right before I turned 9. I love my country and those who sacrificed for America.

At nine I had my first big bike and I was feeling America inside and out. I wasn't just listening anymore I was talking about world peace while other kids said their dad trusts the brass. My dad told me about the working man and imperialism. I pretended to know what imperialism was but I love my country.

At ten eleven and twelve the forest, creeks and rivers were my paradise. Warren Fries showed me what was inside his grocery bag. It was a giant snowy white owl that he shot dead. I was so angry that the owl and its family were gone from our woods that I grabbed the owl from Warren then changed my mind and swore never to play together again. He was the first friend I saw cry when he understood exactly how mortal he was.

The Cuban Missile crises meant there could be a big bomb war any minute. I took a walk and heard TV's blaring the Beverly Hillbilly's. Somehow the war went away.
In math class we suddenly learned JFK was dead. We were all scared and sad but only a few wept out loud. Only the teacher Mr. Craft was grinning and pointed out how there is no hope when shot in the head. We were sad but we loved our country.

The world really started pushing back against words about peace and the waste of war. I was beaten half a dozen times in school. Twice I was sent to the hospital. Dad taught at the college so I could hear a seminar about China and how great they were growing. If I shared that at school there were self appointed football players who enforced their world view by breaking my nose in the locker room.

News that the USA topples governments and installs puppets was either denied or accepted as might makes right. Then the children of US slaves followed a non violent King in a movement for freedom that could have made some of our founding fathers proud. I was proud for these Americans. When I said so I was called a nigger lover and sometimes a Jewish cocksucker despite the fact I was neither.

Viet Nam was front and center with mounting body counts at dinner time. And I loved my country so much I tried to tell people that there must be a better way. A house divided against itself will not stand. Love it or leave it people shouted back at give peace a chance people. We both loved America. I can't tell you how many friends died or disappeared. Even the shoe factory was gone. They said it went to Taiwan.

The love it or leave it people were broken. Their house could not stand the loss of their sons. They were betrayed and some blamed the protestors and some knew they were deceived but could never say it out loud lest their children would somehow die in vain the moment the truth passed their lips. They were silent and they were the majority.

Free white and 21, I joined the 60's party and party I did. Finally a man, I found an occupation to heal people. I was close enough to 3 mile island that I felt the sickening nausea in my head the night before it was announced. America was feeling proud again when Reagan finally won a war. It wasn't the big bomb war but a little one that rhymed with grenade. The CIA had no clue when the USSR downsized but Reagan got the credit by running up ours.

The unmentionable pain faded as the parents died in pain. The Gulf war was being sold to a new crew but with talk radio cheer leaders. I know that in a perpetual war no one will die in vain. Now I knew about imperialism. My country never had colonies like some empires but we hired yes men called the Shaw or el Presidente'. We rarely if ever obeyed our treaties. We were ready to try new weapons, uranium weapons from our used up rods that powered our nuclear tea kettles. I cried over the poisons that I know our country is eating and breathing because I love my country.

Commie, pinko, love it or leave it, unpatriotic, traitor, Hitler lover and appeaser, I am still called names like I was in the high school locker room. But I still love my country enough to speak out when we make the mistake of giving our lives to a military machine run by corporations that own the Congress and media.

When 2 million of us fill the streets of our Capitol and we are still invisible to the media we must try harder. When we win elections but lose the count we must try to love our country harder.
When the words freedom zone stands for barbed wire pens we must break out. When we truly love our country we may just learn to love the world and the world us.

I dream that a new Lincoln will speak to this country with an intelligent clarity. I dream that we will all have something to unite us. That we can all stand for a republic to do business as well as a democracy to help our people live and love our land.

I have but one cup of cool water to spill on the beach but if enough of us fill our glasses and march to the shore we may even be able to cool an ocean. Cool the ideologues, cool the defense contractors in their own neighborhoods and cool a religious fever that needs to break before we return to health.

Yes I love my country to the stars and stripes and back. Even when we attack, like a mother who loves a son who has done wrong, I know how much good there is inside.


As always donuel
Don Hakman Rockville
MD

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 09 Sep 06 - 05:43 PM

Just beautiful, Donuel. And what a writer you are! Thank you so much for posting that. It is a feast for all of us.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 09 Sep 06 - 08:53 PM

My fingers are starting to get itchy for that wabbit....

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 09 Sep 06 - 09:47 PM

Here, bunny, bunny. See the wovely cawwot I have for you..

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 09 Sep 06 - 10:34 PM

Just hold still there a minute, Bugs Bunny, while I load up the old blunderbuss--I mean--get a nice vegetable patch ready for you and sweeeeeet little hutch to sleep in.

C'mon you wascally wabbit! Front and Center!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 09 Sep 06 - 10:36 PM

AHA! There's NO WAY you can escape this time! I missed ya at one thousand, but now, at eleven hundred, you're mine, alllll mine! Now just hold still a minute!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Little Hawk
Date: 09 Sep 06 - 10:37 PM

Ehhhh....What's up, Doc?

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 09 Sep 06 - 10:47 PM

!@#$$%%^*&(&^$%!%&*(^%%$#@@#%^&!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Elmer

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 09 Sep 06 - 10:53 PM

Curses! Foiled again, Elmer!

You must be an old Brooklyn Dodger fan.

I'm still reflecting on what donuel wrote. The thread woven through all of his writing is that he maintained his love of this country, despite all the dissapointments and even betrayals he's gone through. I've been sharing some thoughts about my Father recently, and they've helped me to crystalize how love embraces it all, or it isn't truly love. I't sentimentality. Reminds me of some old sayings (if I can remember them accurately.) It also relates to another thread about telling the truth.

"Love without honesty is sentimentality
Honesty without love is cruelty"

When someone says, "I'm telling you for your own good," make a bee-line for the nearest door. Even a window will do. You know a compliment isn't coming. Probably not truth, either.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 09 Sep 06 - 10:54 PM

And, how nice to see you drop by, Little Hawk. Don't be a stranger, or be like jimmy who only stops in at intervals of 100 :-)

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 10 Sep 06 - 12:36 AM

That was very funny, Little Hawk. lol

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: GUEST
Date: 10 Sep 06 - 03:00 PM

Great thread

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 10 Sep 06 - 03:08 PM

Thanks for posting your thoughts, Donuel. They are beautifully stated.

Elmer

PS to Jerry: Wait 'till 1,200! Have you read "Wait Till Next Year" by Doris Kearns Goodwin? Need I ask?

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 10 Sep 06 - 03:23 PM

Haven't read it Elmer... does it bleed Dodger blue?

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 10 Sep 06 - 08:07 PM

It sure does. In "Wait Til Next Year" the historian Doris Kearns Goodwin wrote a charming memoir about her childhood as a fan of "da bums," the Brooklyn Dodgers. In one part she describes asking Jackie Robinson to sign her autograph book. She hands it to him and first he leafs through it, reading all the inscriptions written by other children. You know the ones:

2 Good
+2 B
_______
4 gotten,

and the like He starts chuckling, signs it and gives it back to her. He wrote,

"May your smile
last a long while.
Jackie Robinson"

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 10 Sep 06 - 09:43 PM

Oh, once I had a little doggerel.

I've been putting some stuff down on paper and was reminded by my Mother that when I was a little boy, maybe three or four years old, I'd head off down the sidewalk pulling my little red wagon singing at the top of my lungs:

"Hi ho, Hi ho, it's off to work I go
I paid my dues with a bottle of booze
Hi, Ho, Hi ho, Hi Ho Hi Ho"

Maybe Big Mick could use that one..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 12 Sep 06 - 01:04 PM

Just stopping by to put on a new pot of coffee. This must be September. Everything is up and running all at once, and I'm not even going to school. Last nioght I had Men's Chorus practice... a 45 minute drive each way. Tonight, We're having our first Gospel Messengers practice since last spring... another 45 minute drive each way. I was asked to make the same 45 minute drive tomorrow night, but declined because Thursday and Friday, Ruth's brother and sister-in-law are going to be here and there's too much preparation to do. lRuth has already been cooking up a storm, and I';ll start this afternoon, making a batch of healthy lasagna (for me and whoever wants to try it) and arterty clogging, fattening, high carbohydrate lasagna for the carefree. Saturday, I'm singing with the Men's Chorus at a special program where all the sick and shut-in members of our church are transported to the church for a service and a concert. Another 45 minute drive each way. Sunday, the Men's Chorus sings at 8 a.m. for another 45 mnute drive each way.

If I keep this up, I'll be as busy as Ron Davies. By the way, where you been hiding yuourself, Ron? We miss you at the table.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 12 Sep 06 - 03:36 PM

Hey, Jerry! It was great seeing you and Ruth at the Grand Canyon!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 12 Sep 06 - 09:03 PM

Soooo, did y'all actually SEE each other?

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 12 Sep 06 - 11:02 PM

Gee, Jerry, I've been around--even asked about the origin of the term "trunk road" awhile back. But it seemed the conversation had gone on. Still interested in that question--I'm very interested in language.

But I also second Elmer's question-- did you and Rap actually see each other at the Grand Canyon?


Choral Arts has cranked up for the season--first concert will be the Beethoven Missa Solemnis. I think that's the one that turned up on both the favorite and least favorite lists of choristers--when asked by our director about pieces we liked or didn't like. As I recall, basses liked it but sopranos didn't--it pushed them way up in their voice range--and made them stay there--so a real killer to sing for them.

Meanwhile our arch-rival is having serious problems-- the director thought he was taking a sabatical--but it turns out his own board doesn't want him back as director. I was also in that group for 3 years--and he infuriated me beyond belief--which is why I left (about 20 years ago!). After that I was a choral gypsy--in lots of groups--until 1990. Now I've found my choral home. A conductor sets the tone of his group--and our conductor makes it an extended family (that gets along, too)--while the other conductor had a reign of terror (well that's a bit strong). I'll tell you the story if there's any interest. But I can easily believe he has alienated his own board.

Organized music, even choral singing--can have all sorts of undercurrents.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 13 Sep 06 - 07:47 AM

Hey, Ron: I figured you were off to the races again. To a great extent, I am, too. But not as busy as you.

Ron and Ebbie:

I was going to ask Rap if that was him wearing the blue gardenia, but they don't the Grand Canyon "Grand" for nothing. It's 230 something miles long, and many miles wide. Where we were standing on the West Rim, we could look across and see part of the North Rim. If King Kong was on top of the Empire State Building at the edge on the North Rim, we couldn't have seen him. Not only is the North Rim many, many miles away, it's 1,000 feet higher than the West Rim.

There's a wonderful book, out in reprint by Dover, titled The Eyes Of Discovery. It;s a collection of the earliest known written descriptions of America from logs of Christopher Columbus through Journals of the explorers, as they pushed westward. There is a terrific description of an early explorer (I'd have to check the book to get the details) coming upon the Grand Canyon with no concept of how large it is. He describes looking down at the Colorado River, and because he was disoriented by the scale of the canyon, though he could climb down to fill his canteen. That's the way I felt at times, standing on the edge of the canyon. We judge distances in comparison to objects we are familiar with... the road is a lot wider than that sotop sign, or a tree is taller than a house. Those visual comparison pale, standing on the edge of the canyon. At times, the canyon looked vast, but at the same time, it looked smaller than I expected. When I looked at the photographs we took, with someone standing in the foreground, the canyon looked far more vast than it did when I was looking across it, with nothing to give a sense of scale.

I'm surprised that they didn't name it the Purty Danged Big Canyon.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 13 Sep 06 - 10:53 AM

Met an English bulldog today. Not that he said "By, jove!" or anything. I was glad to meet him. With breeds of dogs, they can easily go extinct if they fall out of fashion. Dogs are bred to sell. If everyone agreed that they didn't ever want to buy a particular breed of dog, it would go extinct. Take poodles, for example. I'd vote yes on that one.

When I was a kid, bulldogs were a lot more common. There were three living in our block. I still have two scars in my lower lip that one of them gave me when he bit me. I tried to yell for help, but it's hard yelling with a bulldog attached to your lower lip. I liked bulldogs, though, and I enjoyed this one... just a pup dog, out for a walk with his owner on the river walk we take every morning. I think he was feeling kinda special, being nearly extinct, and all.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 13 Sep 06 - 11:15 AM

Was that Columbus's logs?   


Funny you should mention bulldogs, Jerry. Just the other day I met a pitbull that was rescued (a colleague was leaving town and couldn't take the dog) by a young man who didn't want to keep her because he has two small children. At the same time, the dog is under a year old and seems very sweet, so he would like to find a home for her.

Forty years ago my generation worried about Doberman Pinschers. When I was a kid, it was bulldogs that alarmed my parents, because, they said, when a bulldog latches on you can't get it loose. Bulldogs were also reputed to be ferosious killers of other dogs, often suffocating them by grabbing them at the throat.

And now it's pitbulls.

I'm not immune to the fears- I love dogs but I look at certain breeds out of the corner of my eye. Even though I know that the breeds statisticly most likely to bite me are led by the American Cocker Spaniel!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: JennyO
Date: 13 Sep 06 - 02:06 PM

You mentioned poodles, Jerry. I had a strange experience with one once. I was standing on a little beach minding my own business, and I saw a small black poodle walking towards me. I assumed its intentions were friendly and waited for it to come up to me. So it just strolled up to me and bit my leg. Just like that. Weird!

Some years later I worked in the home of someone who had a miniature poodle, and it was the most neurotic little dog I had ever seen. Occasionally I had to take it to be groomed, and as soon as I put it in the car, it shivered and whined all the way there and back.

I've never had a dog - I'm more of a cat person - but if I did I think I would go for one of the larger breeds.

I haven't been in here much lately - I was at a folk festival last weekend, and I'm off to another one this Friday. In between I've been trying to get my new no-dig garden set up so I can plant my tomatoes (it's spring here in Oz). There never seem to be enough hours in the day! You're sounding pretty busy yourself! I might pop in for a coffee tomorrow, but it's off to bed now.

Jenny

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 13 Sep 06 - 06:15 PM

You don't see Bassett hounds much any more. Around where I live, the neighborhood is lousy with golden retrievers. They are a dime a dozen.

There used to be a guy who worked in a nearby hospital who walked his dog near my house every day after work. I don't know what breed she was, but she was medium-sized, black, and very furry. Her name was Flo-Jo. He told me that he had brought her to work the day he adopted her. She had somehow gotten loose on the ward. He and a couple of other nurses were trying to catch the puppy, but she was very fast, running in and out of patients' rooms, toenails pattering on the floor, and staying out of reach.

One patient, an elderly woman, called to him, "Honey, what's that dog's name?" He replied that he hadn't thought of a name yet. She said, "Well then, honey, you better name her Flo-Jo, because she sure runs fast!" He promised her he would, and he did.

Elmer

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Tootler
Date: 13 Sep 06 - 06:22 PM

Someone was still interested in trunk road.

I looked it up and here's what the shorter Oxford Dictionary has to say;

1. "Main body of tree opp. to roots and branches; human or animal's body without head & limbs & tail; main part of any structure"

2. (Also ~line) main line of railway, canal, telephone main line [...]

9. [...] ~road; main road."

The origins are Middle English from Old French "tronc" and Latin "truncus"

I reckon the use for main roads etc. has come out of the first meaning, especially the main body of a tree. A road system has parallels with a tree with main roads having minor roads branching off them.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 13 Sep 06 - 08:35 PM

Thanks for the ellucidation, Tootler. I enjoyed it, and you KNOW that Ray will.

And speaking of dog breeds, when was the last time you saw a Water Spaniel? I was probably eleven or twelve.

And in the 60's, the pooch du jour was the Miniature Schnowzer (or however it's spelled. And then Frazier was popular on TV, and Wishbone was a child's program doggie detective, everyone wanted a Jack Russell Terrier.

I always had mutts and loved them.

Here's a semi-autobiigraphical song I wrote about a dog who "followed me home" when I was a kid

WILLIE'S DOG

Willie found a dog, about half-grown
Poppa raised the devil when Willie brought him home
But Willie never paid his Poppa no mind
Told him that the dog just tagged along behind

Poopa told Willie, the dog's no good
Take him to the Pound, but Willie never would
'Cause Willie'd never had a dog of his own
And even though he tried, he couldn't leave the dog alone

So Willie kept the dog and he named him Fred
And he slept at night at the foot of Willie's bed
And early in the morning when Poppa was asleep
Willie and the dog would go swimming in the creek

Then Willie grew up and the dog grew lame
And the old man hobbled with a walking cane
And Willie found a wife and she calls him Bill
And the dog and the old man live together still

I didn't name my dog Fred, though. Although it's a perfectly good name for a dog.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 13 Sep 06 - 09:40 PM

Jerry, there is a Portuguese Water Spaniel in Juneau, the first I have known. True to form he loves our frigid waters.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 13 Sep 06 - 10:01 PM

Doggone it, Jerry, you keep up bein' honest and you won't be able to be introduced as

Jerry Rasmussen -- Man of Miiiissssssssstryyyyyyy!

anymore!

Sure, I saw Jerry and Ruth. Also a whole lot of other people. They were all standing on the South Rim, looking up to me.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 13 Sep 06 - 10:07 PM

Of course, I DID hear Rapaire whispering to the person next to him. Sound REALLY carries at the Grand Canyon. Why, there are echoes still resounding that are over 100 years old.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 13 Sep 06 - 10:58 PM

Hey Ebbie,

I've seen a Portuguese water spaniel too--she's a service dog for a disabled woman hereabouts. She opens doors, helps her cross the street, fetches things and such. A very cool breed they are. Their skin is on the blue-ish side. Portuguese fishermen used to keep them on their boats, and they would be sent to swim between boats, bearing messages. Hence their name. Maybe their skins turned permanently blue from the cold water. ; > )

Elmer

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 14 Sep 06 - 05:38 AM

I hade a dog and his name was Blue.

FUnny, I had forgotten about the Portugese Water Spaniels. I was thinking of the Wisconsin Water Spaniels that would fetch a bottle of Blatz from the ice box. I don't think they're the same breed. The ones I was aquainted with as a kid were just good hunting dogs, with no mention of Portugese. Maybe that breed really has gone extinct.

And I'm with you, Janie. I prefer larger dogs. The little ones give a whole different meaning to Yippee.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 14 Sep 06 - 09:12 AM

Out here, people do keep little yappers. Gotta feed the coyotes and mountain lions something.

I knew a newfie who would bark and growl whenever he'd see you. You knew it was only an act, and when you'd cross the street to say hi he'd cower behind his human and whimper.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 14 Sep 06 - 11:26 AM

I have a Cairn terrier. She is small - 20 pounds - but she is not a yapper- or yipper, for that matter. These days though, she worries me. There currently is a big black bear hanging around and Meggie goes into a teethsnapping, growling, barking, galloping frenzy when she sees or smells one. If she got too close, one swipe of the bear's paw could take her out.

Since the other morning though I'm starting to relax a little about it- the bear bluster-charged her and Meggie ran backward several yards and didn't go quite as close again. So maybe she has enough sense to avoid catastrophe.

This particular bear is in good shape but they say that as a whole the bears are hungry this year. With all the rain it's been a bad year for berries; a lot of bears won't make it through the winter.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 14 Sep 06 - 07:30 PM

So maybe we should take all these dogs for a walk along a trunk road?

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Tootler
Date: 14 Sep 06 - 08:28 PM

I would advise against it. A very large truck might come along and run them all over.

And especially for Elmer Fudd.

I was driving home from my regular singaround session tonight when my headlights picked out a rabbit in the middle of the road. It ran a short panicy way parallel to the car before I passed it. I was relieved that I did not manage to "kill the wabbit".

G

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: JennyO
Date: 14 Sep 06 - 09:04 PM

Just dropping in for a quick coffee before I go off to another festival. This one is called the Turning Wave Festival. It's at Gundagai, scene of John's story of Yarri of Wiradjuri. His group, the Roaring Forties are doing a CD launch at the festival. We'll be staying in a caravan park just across the road from the golf course, which was where the great flood of 1852 took place. However, John assures me that a)we are on high ground and b) floods don't happen there now and haven't for a long time since various re-routing measures were taken a long time ago - forgotten what those measures are called though.

On the subject of running over animals with the car, I had an unfortunate experience a few years ago of hitting a wombat on my way to a folk festival. It was dark, and the wombat appeared too late for me to do anything about it. I couldn't see where it had gone, but I called WIRES (the organisation that looks after wildlife) and left a message (there was no-one there at 8pm at night).

I had only just bought a few weeks before, my new second-hand Holden station wagon, so it was my pride and joy. When I got to the festival, I could only see a little damage to the panel under the front bumper and, considering that wombats are quite large, heavy critters, I thought I had got off pretty lightly. Not so the wombat. A couple of people who came later had apparently seen the wombat looking dead somewhere and said "Ah, you're the person who killed the wombat!"

Anyway, driving home a few days later, the wombat got its revenge. After a while, my car started to run really roughly, getting worse and worse. I checked the oil and water. Everything seemed okay. Oil showed up as full. By the time I got to Sydney, I knew something was terribly wrong with the motor, and I was stopping every 10 minutes to pour oil directly into the top of the motor. The next day I found out that the wombat had pushed up the oil pan underneath the car stopping the oil from circulating around the motor, and the motor had literally cooked. So only a few weeks after buying this car, I had to spend heaps more money getting a reconditioned motor, and somehow it never seemed as good again.

Not much chance of hitting a wombat today - they only come out at night. The only critters I need to watch out for today are other drivers!!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 14 Sep 06 - 10:59 PM

I hate it when rabbits go tharn.

Jerry

(Or is that too obscure a term?)

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 14 Sep 06 - 11:34 PM

Too obscure for me. I think you made it up to win at Scrabble. (Of course then I suppose you'd spell it tharnqx).

(LOL)

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 15 Sep 06 - 07:53 AM

Watership Down.

That's my final answer.

The rabbits spoke of going "tharn" when they freeze in the headlights of an on-coming car.

Ya learn something every day. Whether it's of any use, other than to prove how esoteric and impractical that knowledge is, is another question.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 15 Sep 06 - 11:30 AM

Knowledge is never impractical. Long ago I learned how to make tombstones...ya never know. And the Army taught me about explosives. Again, ya never know.

History has shown that money spent on pure research pays off very handsomely in the long run.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: leftydee
Date: 15 Sep 06 - 04:27 PM

Hello Jerry and all. I've been feeling a bit stressed and thought I'd sit for a minute with some nice folks. I'm scracthing my Setter behind her ears and I feel better already.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Carly
Date: 15 Sep 06 - 04:53 PM

I am compelled to put in a good word for poodles. They come in all sizes, you know, and the big ones, like many bigger breeds, are nothing like their tiny, yipping cousins. I have a soft spot in my heart for standard poodles, because I was raised by one, from my birth until her death just after my 15th birthday. Coco(I know, but we didn't name her,) was smart, sweet and loyal, following me everywhere, including to school. I never knew if she was there all day, but she was always at the school door, waiting, when it was time to go home.

When I started junior high school, and had to take the bus, she at first tried to run after us. She quickly learned to wait for me at the bus stop, which she did every day. More than once she pulled me out of the creek near our house, when she felt I was in trouble. She was equally good around other kids and other animals (our house seemed to always be full of pets, from rabbits to a green-dyed Easter chick, who lived to become a green-headed hen.) The only person she did not like was the neighborhood bully. If he came into our yard, she would grab his arm (poodles were bred as hunting dogs, and have soft mouths, so she could get a good grip without hurting him,) and pull him off our property. I think she would have died, if necessary, to save a child, and I still, all these many years, and many pets, later, miss her.

Right now we have cats among us (nobody owns cats,) and I love them, too, but I would be delighted if another standard or giant poodle came into my life.

Carly

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 15 Sep 06 - 05:24 PM

Hey, Carly:

If someone gave me a haircut like a poodle, I guess I'd look dumb, too. Actually, I've seen large poodles not trimmed to look like a hedge, and thought they were reasonably, if not Way cool looking.
Like barking sheep.

I know that if I had a poodle and didn't trim it, I'd come to love it as much as you did yours.

(Please don't tell anyone, though... I want this kept secret.)

Hey, lefty. Glad you stopped by. We iz all friends in here. Why, I've heard from a reliable source that if you scratch Rapaire behind his left ear, his right leg twitches.

(Please don't tell anyone, though... he wants it kept a secret.)

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 15 Sep 06 - 07:35 PM

Hey Rap, maybe you can combine those two skills. Then you'd really have something!

Elmer

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Carly
Date: 16 Sep 06 - 04:00 PM

We never gave our poodle a silly show cut. I totally agree, those pompoms look ridiculus. We trimmed her down in the spring, and let her grow back all through the year. My mom always said we had a summer dog, and a winter dog. I always thought about sheep,(sorry, Coco!)and then, interestingly enough, I grew up to become a spinner and weaver, and have shorn a few sheep myself. Hmmm... And yes, poodle fur spins into lovely yarn.Mom also loved Coco, not only for taking such good care of us, but because poodles do not shed, and they seem to not set off dog allergies as much as many other breeds.

Carly

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 16 Sep 06 - 04:09 PM

AND a standard poodle is an excellent hunting dog. That's what they were orginally bred to be; the silly haircuts were originally a functional cut for the field. The little ball on the end of the tail, for instance, was supposed to make the dog easier to spot in high grass.

But I don't think that I'd trim a poodle like that, whether I used the dog for hunting or not.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 16 Sep 06 - 05:42 PM

Very large coffee please!
Billy and I had the most amazing experience last night, or early this morning, as our first grandchild was born.
Scarlett Mae was born at 1.15 this morning and we were there, Billy was sleeping on a settee and I was with our son in law helping our daughter, what a wonderful experience, I am speechless( to the amazement of those who know me!)
The birth of any child is special, but we are so blessed as our daughter has Crohns desease and this baby is so wanted and a very special gift. I found a quotation this morning "Of all the joys that lighten suffering earth, what joy is welcolmed like a new born child?"
So perfect a gift, to see her mothers face when she saw her for the first time!Tears are flowing, thanks for the coffee, I will sit in the corner and enjoy the table talk.
Wendy

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 16 Sep 06 - 07:59 PM

Carly, I too had my 'special' poodle. She was not a pup when I acquired her and I had her 13 years. The most human-oriented dog I ever have known; after 30 some years I still miss her. If it is true that anything that is capable of loving survives I will see her again...

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 16 Sep 06 - 08:05 PM

That's wonderful Wendy!!!!!!!!!!!

Our first birth at the kitchen table. Or close enough to celebrate!! I mean, I love dogs AND cats, but babies!!!!!WHOOOOOEEEEEE!

And Scarlet!!!!! Nice to see one of the old names taking on new life.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Carly
Date: 16 Sep 06 - 08:14 PM

Congratulations, Wendy! How wonderful that you were there for Scarlett Mae's arrival. I hope everyone concerned is doing well. My son Sam's birth also felt like a gift, and I was fortunate to have Sam's dad, Dean, and my parents all with me (although my dad suddenly discovered a need for more film and missed the messiest part!)There is nothing more astonishing and hopeful than the birth of a child. Enjoy!

Carly

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 16 Sep 06 - 09:13 PM

Congratulations to you and the entire family, Wendy. Can you hear the cheering throughout the virtual universe comin' atcha?

Welcome to the world, baby girl. May your life be full of beautiful music and welcoming kitchen tables.

Elmer

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 17 Sep 06 - 04:30 PM

Thank you for your kind thoughts, mother and baby doing so well, I took my mother to meet her great grand daughter today, how wonderful to see my mum( 83) holding little Scarlett,36 hours!.An old name? Please let me know from where and when? I love the name, and the baby is just so beautiful. I would send a photo but this luddite has no way of doing it!
Billy and I are drinking a lovely red wine.....no coffee thank you.
Wendy

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 17 Sep 06 - 05:35 PM

Congratulations to you all, Wendy. And H u z z a h s to a child so dearly loved.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 17 Sep 06 - 06:14 PM

I guess I associate the name with Scarlett O'Hara, Wendy. It feels like it should all into a whole category of women's names... Pearl, Rose, Amber...

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 17 Sep 06 - 10:03 PM

...Scarlet, Yellow, Green, Blue....

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 17 Sep 06 - 10:41 PM

Yes. What is it that makes one name appealing and another one totally unacceptable? For instance, there are April and May and June but one wouldn't call one's daughter February. And boys may be called July (Julio) and August(us) but not likely December.

I realize that some of our months were named for numbers: September and October and November and December, but that doesn't necessarily stop us.

Hmmmmmm. Next generation will probably show me up as completely wrong.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 18 Sep 06 - 05:03 AM

Yes Jerry, I think of Scarlatt O'Hara,the funny thing is up till the day before she was born the baby was going to be Bette Mae, or Evie,on Thursday to pass the time away I was going through a book of names and as I opened the S page Sam said " I love the name Scarlett but David does not like it" I was reading that name as she spoke! Spooky?
Then when she was born the midwife said" what shall we call her?" They said they thought they would wait to see who she was and spoke the three names to the baby and after a few minutes David said "she is definatly Scarlett Mae" So she chose the name herself!
I was named for Peter Pan, I have cousins Michael and Peter, thankfully no Tinkerbell in the family(yet!)
Wendy

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 18 Sep 06 - 06:54 AM

True confession time.

Before I was born, my Mother and Father wanted to name me Peter, after my Grandfather Rasmussen. (Never mind that I found out long after I was an adult that Peter was his middle name... his first name was Lars.) If my parents had asked me at two minutes old, which of the three names I liked, I would have been screaming bloody murder if they suggested "Jerry." Peter would have been cool, and Lars even cooler, yet.

At that time, my oldest sister Marilyn was five years old and had a terrible crush on a boy in the neighborhood. They tried to tell her she was too young. Too young to really be in love. But, you know that when love gets it's hands around your throat, you can't eat or sleep. The only relief Marilyn could find was to pester my parents mercilessly to name me Jerry. They finally relented and caved in to her. I mean, it's painful to see your five year old daughter pining away to nothing out of unrequited love.

And so I am Jerry, through no consent of mine. And what happened to my sister's love of her life? He ran off with Edna. The last he was seen, they were walking away from the sandbox, hand in hand.

Yours truly,

Lars Peter

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 18 Sep 06 - 08:24 AM

I thought that "Dummy" would be a good name for my brother, but my parents named him Anthony instead.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 19 Sep 06 - 12:06 PM

Hey.

Sorry I haven't been keeping the pot cooking, but I am living in Immobile, Ct. for the time being. Three weeks ago, I pulled a muscle in my hip trying to do something I'm a little too old (apparently) to handle. These last three weeks have been crammed fullo, so I haven't had a chance to really rest my hip and yesterday, after a very, very full week, it took me down. I couldn't even walk across the room without dange of collapsing, so we went to the Emergency Room, and Ruth took me around in a wheel chair. They x-rayed my hip and the good news is that it's just a severe inflammation of the muscles, with no damage. They put me of steroids (hey, it worked for Barry Bonds) and inflammatory mnedication and it's a matter of my body healing. I should be at least as good as new in a few days. In the meantime, I am immobile most of the time, and my computer is downstairs. I managed to hobble my way down stairs today, and wanted to see what was going on with you folks.

So, if I am not on quite as often in the next couple of days, it's because I'm not manipulating the stairs to the basement momentarily.
I still can write in a notebook, listen to music and watch old movies. I expect to be bacvk in full force by the weekend if all goes well..

Lars Peter Gerald Elmer Henry Hornsbuckle Rasmussen

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 19 Sep 06 - 12:17 PM

Glad you put the pot on Jerry, wondered where you were, the table was empty when I looked in earlier.
Do take care and get well soon
Wendy

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 19 Sep 06 - 12:49 PM

Lars Peter Gerald Elmer Henry Hornsbuckle Rasmussen - that's a fine line of names you have there.

Sorry about your miseries, Jerry. From time to time we get reminded of the many physical parts we carry around, huh. May you heal fast.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 19 Sep 06 - 01:53 PM

Thanks, folks:

I'm heading upstairs to lie down for awhile. Taking a stack of papers and a notebook for writing in with me.

I had a good conversation with the young pastor of one of the churches we support. I was telling him about the book I'm working on: a combination of memories of my own and my family's, family photos and lyrics to songs that I've written that relate to my family or home town. He expressed regret that he didn't write down more of his family's stories, especially now that his Mother died and he can't corrobrate his fuzzy recollections of her stories of her youth. Because I've been a songwriter most of my life, I questioned my parents about their childhood on many occasions: and took notes. Now, I have a wealth of written memories from my parents and one of my Uncles, as well as many of my own that I've written down over the years in letters, reminiscences and songs.

What I'm wondering: Have any of you reduced your families memories to writing? I think that it's a wonderful inheritance to pass along to the next generation.

Catch you later, if I can maneuver the stairs.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 19 Sep 06 - 02:03 PM

Interesting you should ask, Jerry. A few years ago I started a newsletter that I call 'Homespun'; it started out just going to family members then gradually started including cousins and friends. The mailing list currently includes 63 addresses.

It consists of articles and essays and songs and recipes and memories and whatever else that comes along. Some of it I cull from the news and some of it is sent me by a reader.

At the foot of most pages I have a 'I Remember...' item where I put the memories that people write me about.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 19 Sep 06 - 04:33 PM

Sounds like good stuff, Ebbie:

Lying in bed this afternoon, I was reading some of the stuff I've written as an introduction to songs I've composed. Some of these things I wrote in the 60's and 70's and the paper is yellowed like old parchment. I'm so glad that I kept them because even though my Mother still has an amazing memory, I doubt that she would remember the level of details she gave me at the time I was writing these things.

Here are the first couple of paragraphs as background to a song I wrote, Tommy.

"In may of 1929 just before the depression, my parents bought our hose on Caroline Street for $4,000. The house is small, but when the depression came they were forced to rent out half the house in order to keep it. A monthly rental of $8 made the difference between losing the house or keeping it. Three children later, things were pretty cramped, but we managed to get by. Even though we switched back and forth, renting out the front of the house for awhile and then the back with the next tenants, I remember living in the front half most clearly. We had a living room, my parent's bedroom with an ice box and a gas stove in one corner, and a summer-only bedroom on our front porch. We shared our tiny bathroom with the tenants. We lived that way from the time that my parents bought the house until I was about six years old., when we were finally able to take out two large sliding doors that separated the front of the house from the back. My Mother says that when we took out the doors, I kept running around the house excited at how large it was with the dining room kitchen and a small back bedroom up on stilts completing the space. Mom could use the stairway to go downstairs again, rather than climb up and down a ladder through a trap-door in our one closet; something she had done for a dozen years or so while raising three small children."

It is amazing to me the sacrifices that my parents made for us, and how little we noticed it, let alone expressed our appreciation to them.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 20 Sep 06 - 01:16 AM

Wow, Jerry. When the Depression hit, my parents already had a large family- six children born by 1932 - and by the time I was born in 1935 things were not appreciably better. My mother said that the only time they didn't lose a lot of money is one year when she persuaded my father not to plant. (This was in North Dakota) Dad and his siblings and his father lost each of the sections of land they owned one by one and it finally got to the point where Dad took a distant farming job where he got home only every other weekend. My mother said that sometimes by the time he got home loaded with groceries they were very low on food. She said they never went hungry but that there were times that she would have had seconds if given the choice.

They tok the family to the very fertile - and rainy - Willamette Valley in Oregon in 1936 where my mother had spent her youth and from then on, life was better.

Your mother showed her mettle very early in her life, didn't she. (My mother said that the whole thing wouldn't have been so bad if they could have been sure that it would eventually pass.) Where is that house? I imagine it's in the city?

Looking at it now, do you see things that could have been done diffeently? That ladder is just incredible - by that, I don't mean, unbelievable - but what a way to have to live.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 20 Sep 06 - 12:10 PM

Yeah, Ebbie: Us depression babies knew a different life than kids do today. This is the rest of what I've written about those first years:

"The only renters that I can remember were Tommy and Florence Pope: the last ones we had before we took down the doors and expanded into the full house. Tommy was an alcoholic, although I probably didn't know the term at the time. He had ongoing bouts of heavy drinking for years, holding down a job when he had a sober spell and being dependent upon Florence's income during the times when he was drinking. Florence tried to keep his alcohol comsumption down to a minimum by cutting the flow of money into his hands when he wasn't working, but they had credit down at Simonsen's grocery on the corner. There were plenty of things with acohol to drink, if you weren't too fussy. Of course, it might look strange for a man to stop in and buy a dozen bottles of Extract Of Vanilla every week. That's where I came in. I was young, very innocent, loved Tommy and was allowed to take my wagon and go to the store by myself. I was always happy to run to the store for Tommy, and I suppose they never made an issue of my unusual orders, because I was only a kid. Monday mornings when we carried the trash out to the curb, there would be a bushel basket or two of clinkers from our coal furance, and one or two bushel baskets full of empty Listerine and Extract Of Vanilla bottles.

But, even though Tommy must have been half intoxicated a lot, I don't ever remember him being drunk. I guess he held his Extract Of Vanilla well. He always had the time for me and my sisters: somthing that must have seemed strange. I never thought of it that way, though: a man being home all day during the week. At a more sober time in his life, Tommy had been a fine musician. He had played French Horn in Sousa's band and had the photographs to prove it. And, no matter what he had been drinking, he was always happy to take out his French Horn and play it for me. There was one tune in particular that he loved, as I did. He would play it for me as long as I would sit on the edge of his bed and listen to him. Tommy was a gentle man who was broken somewhere along the line, and he didn't feel that he had much left to give. But in my eyes, he was wonderful. I wasn't old enough to understand the consequences of his drinking. He was a rare adult: someone who would give all he had, even if it was only a song on a French Horn. That was enough for me.

Tommy and Florence moved out when we opened up our house and we didn't see them often after that, although my parents liked both of them. A few years later, he was in a serious car accident in one of his drinking bouts and as far as I know, he never licked the problem. As I grew up, I gained a more balanced picture of Tommy, but I never forgot all those days sitting on the edge of his bed, lost in the pleasure of listening o him play his French Horn for me.

I'll post the lyrics to the song I wrote about Tommy separately, as this post is already longer than it should be.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 20 Sep 06 - 12:13 PM

Tune For Tommy

Tommy was no good they said, but who were they to know?
For they were only grown-ups, and I was six years old
Old enough to see the good, too young to see the bad
And Tommy and his old French Horn were the best friends that I had

He'd pick me up and sit me on his big old double bed
I'd sit there and I'd listen to everything he said
And when he played his old French Horn, he'd play the same old tune
And I can hear it just as if I was in Tommy's room

He'd send me to the corner store with a dollar in my hand
For Extract Of Vanilla, and never mind the brand
As long as it was alcohol, it was all the same to him
It helped to pass the time away, back in Tommy's room

Repeat first verse

Words and music by Jerry Rasmussen

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 20 Sep 06 - 12:55 PM

That brings tears to my eyes. Bless his heart- and bless the little boy who loved him.

The song - or the theme- reminds me of 'Catfish John', another song that impresses me.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 20 Sep 06 - 02:55 PM

I just checked my Listerine bottle, by the way. It warns not to drink it, and if you do accidently, you need medical attention. Either they've changed the formula after all these years or the information about Tommy drinking Listerine was wrong. I know the Extract Of Vanilla part was right, though. Tommy had the sweetest smelling breath of any alcoholic I've ever met.

As long as you asked, Ebbie, our house was three blocks from open country built on the long-ago site of the City Dump. We had fifty foot Elm trees lining the street when I was a kid, so that was a long time ago. My parents moved into a retirement complex in the 90's and sold the house to one of my nephews. He no longer owns it, but it's been kept up nicely, and I often spin by it when we're out visiting my family.

The ladder in the trap door was way cool when I was a little older. We'd play hide and go seek in the house, and most of the kids didn't know about the trap door. I'd slip through the trap door, down the ladder and into the coal bin. I could have read War and Peace before anyone discovered me.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 20 Sep 06 - 08:58 PM

Great stories, Jerry. Good to see you must have found a way back to the table.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 21 Sep 06 - 11:36 PM

Hi all--

I have a story to tell about Home Depot--and a question (asking advice)--but unfortunately no time to go into them. See you tomorrow.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 22 Sep 06 - 04:55 PM

Trouble at Home Depot, Ron?: The only problem I have there is that half of the people who work there have no idea where anything is...

Kinda slow at the table these days, so I'll post more of what I've been writing about growing up:

"Sometime around the mid or late 40's, The Apollo Theater changed its name to The Hitching Post and featured an exclusive diet of westerns. The theater itself was low and squatty. That wasn't as obvious from the outside because there were apartments above it, but when you walked in to take a seat, you realized how low the ceiling was. Even then, they had managed to squeeze in a balcony at the back. When the theater was used for vaudeville, I'm sure that the low celing didn't create a serious problem, but as a movie theater, it had its drawbacks. Because the projection booth was in the back wall behind the balcony and the cut-out opening was no more than 5 feet above the floor of the balcony, you had to duck (if you were more than 5 feet tall) when you walked in front of the projector or have a silhouette of your head projected onto the screen. That meant that while you were watching the movie, it was regularly interrupted by shadows: either unintentionally projected or from kids holding their hands over their heads and making shadow puppets on the screen. Of course, as soon as a kid started doing it there was such an uproar from all the other kids in the theater that if he didn't stop, he'd be taking his life into his own hands.

The other change that accurred was, because they knew the movie was always going to be a western, kids brought their cap guns with them. During the shoot-outs on screen, half the kids in the theater were
firing their cap guns at the bad guys and with such a low ceiling and poor ventilation, after a couple of shoot-outs a low cloud would settle over the audience. The sound of all the cap guns shooting, with the low ceiling was a little deafening, too. The shoot-outs ended up taking on a reality that was never equalled on the screen."

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 23 Sep 06 - 08:11 PM

Home Depot story:   I bought a stove for the house (Jan really wanted it--was not happy with the old one--for all sorts of reasons.)    She also insists on calling it a "cooker"---I gather that's the UK term--but sometimes seems confusing. They also don't use the word "broil" either--I've forgotten what she said instead.

At any rate, I didn't intend to buy one when I walked in--we were looking for something else--but it seemed a good deal.)

I have to admit I didn't use the old one except the top--mainly grilled chicken outside or poached fish in the microwave. She also only used the top.

Anyway, the contract specified Home Depot would deliver the new stove, hook it up and take the old stove away. If they had not included removal of the old stove, I likely would not have made the purchase--I was not bound and determined to have a new stove. We were concerned about the hookup, as was the salesman--so I called and told him it was possibly as old as 1987 (when the house was built). I've been here since 1992. He assured us there should be no problem.

When the installers got there, there was in fact a big problem--the gas connection had to be changed--necessitating a plumber.   They could not install the stove--so left it in its box--with us.

I called them, told them that after the plumber did the gas connection change, I expected them to come, install the new stove, and take the old stove away--as per contract.

They said "that's not the way it works"--the removal would only be done as part of the installation of the new stove.

But the contract makes no mention of this condition.

Jan insisted on getting a plumber immediately--he came out today, did the gas connection change and hooked up the new stove. (Hooking it up was simple, after the gas change.)

I feel they should still take the old stove away--as the contract specified. I also felt we should have had the plumber just do the gas hookup, but not install the new stove--but Jan put her back up on that.

What do you think about our pushing to have Home Depot at least remove the old stove (now in the yard)--as per contract?

It is a written contract--and it seems we should be able to at least insist on that. Thoughts?

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 23 Sep 06 - 08:22 PM

I'd push like Hell, Ron: The worst you can do is be where you are right now. When we bought our stove at Home Depot, they were supposed to install it, but gave us some song and dance that it would need additional work. I ended up forking out a small amount of change on the sly to the kid who delivered it, who did the installation. He did it as a "favor," for a discounted price. The whole thing smelled a little fishy to me, and I'm not talking poached. That was five years ago, so the details are in soft focus now. We had just moved in and really needed a stove (and we use the stove a lot.)

Sometimes if you raise Hell, people cave in just because they don't want anyone to think that they're ripping people off. We ended up buying our next two appliances at an independent Appliance store, got great service and didn't pay that much more. It was worth it, just be treated with some level of professional respect.

I've just gone through a doube exchange of DVD players, by the way. I bought a new one at BJs and after it worked fine for a few days, suddenly it didn't work. I took it back and got a credit, with no complaint. I bought a different brand of DVD player and brought it home. After two hours of trying to get the stupid thing to work, including side trips down to Radio Shack to see if it was the connections, I took it back. I paid $79.99 for it, and it's reduced now to $49.99. They gave me the full refund with no problem, so I don't have any complaint about their service or policies. I do believe that the "Big Box" stores often carry models that are being discontinued by their manufacturer, for a variety of reasons. I never know whether it's because they've had too many problems with them. No sense recalling them like cars... just unload the inventory on the Big Box stores and people will be pleased to think that they got such a great bargain.

Problem is, if you want to buy certain things, you may not have a choice of a smaller, independent store. Eventually, there's just going to be one Store, called Store. Pray for mercy.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 24 Sep 06 - 11:41 AM

Hi Jerry,

Have you heard the song by Alan Jackson "The Little Man"   "The little man who used to help this town--before the big money shut him down".   That's obviously the main argument against the big box stores like Walmart. I have to say I'm conflicted. Some big box stores are run well--and seem to have good merchandise- and treat both their employees and customers right -like Costco. Then there are blights on the corporate landscape--like Walmart.

In the case of the stove it's even more complicated.   Our salesman at Home Depot did all he could to help us---and he himself used to have a hardware store!   But the fact remains that the Home Depot treatment was a disaster-- and not the first we've had from them. You'd think we'd learn.

We don't want to make life difficult for our salesman. But I sure want to put pressure on the higher-ups----who don't care at all about "customer service". I do intend to point out---to the CEO, if I have to---that Home Depot did not honor its own WRITTEN contract. And to turn Home Depot in to the BBB----if they don't take the old stove away.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 24 Sep 06 - 11:49 AM

Sock it to 'em, Ron: At least they'll know that people can't be walked on with complete impunity.

The problem with Walmart is that so many people in this country are working hard, but not being paid enough to be able to shop anywhere else. Principles sometimes have to be set aside in order to live. If people could afford to pay more for necessities, Walmart would either have to offer a beatter quality of merchandise and pay their staff better, or they'd go under. I know people who work at Walmart because it's the only job they can get, and they are treated with little or no respect. Most of them don't stay any period of time. But, there are always more people desperately in need of any kind of a job.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 24 Sep 06 - 12:35 PM

To give you an idea of Home Depot's duplicity--I talked to "Terry", who said he was the manager of the store. When I asked for his last name, he refused to give it--saying Home Depot employees were not allowed to do so. Yet the salesman had given us his own, official, Home Depot, card--with, of course, his last name.

I intend to have "Terry's" hide.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 24 Sep 06 - 03:00 PM

Hi Jerry and Ron
here in the UK the broiler is the grill.
We had a new " cooker" delivered 2 years ago, a "range" type, 3 ovens , grill, 7 hobs, Thelocal shop owner lives next door, we had great service, he re wired and had to take out 2 doors and probably had to buy his staff a beer.
next year we bought a USA style fridge freezer,we were in N J for thanksgiving,while we were away, they had to take down Ivy on the outside of the house in case it scratched the freezer as they carried it down the side of the house to get to the patio doors , the front door was too small, doors came off the frames,they damaged the radiators so we had no central heating but all was well in the end.
This year my daughter moved house, they had a range type cooker delivered, doors came off, hernias in the making, the delivery men sat drinking tea and told Sam about the nightmare client they had had with a cooker and big fridge freezeer, yes ok I was that woman!!
Today I used the cooker and cooked for 2 great grandmothers,one great grandfather, an uncle, mummy and daddy, ( baby Scarlett watched!) and grandad Billybob and I had fun.
I am loving it!!
Wendy

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 24 Sep 06 - 07:32 PM

Sounds like you are having a great time being a new Grandma, Wendy. Great on you!

My two grandchildren on my side of the family have been a thousand miles away most of my life, so I really cherish the time I have to spend with them. I think that kids are great... have always enjoyed them.

A story Ruth never tires telling..

My Brother-in-law (Ruth's brother and his wife) have a wonderful son and daughter. They have two girls, Asha and Imani. When I first started going out with Ruth, the girls were probably around 5 and 7. They were used to adult-type conversations like, "How do you like school?" (Number one on all the all-time dumb question Hit Parade.) They tried to catch me on riddles, and beat me on games. A nice adult would have let them win, to build their confidence. I gave them a real hard time... solved most of their riddles and beat them at their games. The more I beat them, the more they couldn't get enough of me. They were really a kick! They'd huddle in the corner and say, "This time we're REALLY going to GET him!!!!!! When they did, they were ecstatic, and when they didn't, they were just that much more determined. When they came to visit, they spent all their time with me. I bought them riddle books for Christmas, and they kept hatching all these nefarious plots to beat me. This went on for years, and we all had a great time. Now, they are young women, far too sophisticated for such childish things. You'd think. But every once in awhile they'll pick up one of the hadn held electronic games or puzzles I keep lying around and we'll go at it again. None of us will ever forget how much fun we had.

It sounds like you have the same kind of fun-loving relationship with kids, Wendy.

Enjoy!!!!!!!!!!

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 24 Sep 06 - 07:42 PM

Broiler and grill-- In the US I think the broiler would heat from above (in the oven); the grill would heat from below. How do you draw the distinction in the UK? I've asked Jan--but was confused by the answer.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 24 Sep 06 - 08:42 PM

Another ex-urp from the stuff I'm writing these days. May bring back some memories:

The Forties Smelled Funny

"One of the limitations of writing about the Forties, or pulling out old photographs is that you can't smell those times. Maybe someone could invent a Scratch And Sniff Guide To The Forties. If they did, the first thing that I'd recommend including would be Fels Naptha. If you grew up having your clothes washed in Fels Naptha, you'll never forget the smell. Not if you live to be 100. When you walked down stairs into our basement, the first thing that would hit you would be that musty, heavy, scummy smell of Fels Naptha. Now, don't get me wrong. Fels Naptha got things clean. But it always felt like it left a carmel-colored film on everything. The closest I've ever come to seeing Fels Naptha as an adult was when my wife Ruth and I were in Ghana in 2001. Our tour bus stopped along a river where countless people were washing their clothes. We were very impressed by how brilliantly white their clothes were in Africa, so it was a surprise to see people standing waist-deep in water brown enough to plow, beating their clothes on old tires. We have a photograph that I took that day hanging above our sparkling white washing machine. One of the children showed us the soap she was using and darned if it didn't look like a malformed bar of Fels Naptha. We were warned not to take any home to use because is is so powerful that it eats clothes, just for the fun of it. When I wrote a song honoring my parent's 60th Wedding Anniversary, one of the lines that I used was "And the sweet smell of Fels Naptha filled every home." Clothes were washed in Maytags with Fels Naptha. That's just the way it was."

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 24 Sep 06 - 09:09 PM

I don't remember the specific smell of Fels Naptha. My mother made and used her own lye soap. I do remember how those bars smelled, and how the gel of it felt between the fingers. She would pour them into large pans- looked kind of like jelly roll pans but much larger-and after the stuff had 'set' she would take to them with a large butcher knife. One of my memories is of her shaving that soap into the wringer washer. (Remember how it felt to get your thumb caught in the wringer?)

Two things that have never changed their odor or taste:

* A drug store (Smells just like it always did)
* Toasted marshmallows (Try it!)
* Pepsodent tooth paste. Although we used tooth powder rather than paste (do they still make that?), the smell and taste is exactly the same as it ever was.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 24 Sep 06 - 10:21 PM

Hey, Ebbie: You're right on all counts. Drug Stores do smell pretty much the same, although I suspect if my memory was a little sharper I could tell the difference that air conditioning makes. I think they stopped making tooth powder many years ago. Ask Dr. Lyons. Wow! What corner of my brain did that come out of.

"The Forties smelled like Cod Liver oil, too. That's another smell you'll never forget. Cod Liver oil was the first wonder drug. It cured everything from stomach aches to "Irregularities" and everything in between. If you showed any indication of not feeling well, out came the Cod Liver oil. "No, Ma, I'm starting to feel better now, Honest!!!!!!!" As newer medicines came out, Cod Live oil became "Old Fashioned" and every Cod breathed a deep sigh of relief. Now, all these years later there is increasing evidence that fish oil helps promote heart circulation. It's loaded with Omega-3, which is good for the heart. If I get nostalgic about Cod Live oil and want to smell it (which isn't likely) I can just take a couple of soft gels of "Marine Lipid Concentrate" out of the bottle sitting in the kitchen and go back to those golden days of yesteryear. Funny thing is, there's a subtle Cod-Liver-oilish aftertaste from the capsules. Like radishes, you keep tasting them long after you swallow them."

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 25 Sep 06 - 08:42 AM

This morning, as soon as I opened the door to the basement, I thought of all the years I was greeted with the smell of musty Fels Naptha. Actually, I got it partly wrong. The Oughts (Is that what these years are) smell, too. They smell phony, as Holden Caufield would say. So, I wrote this as an addendum to the Forties Smelled Funny:

"When I got up this morning, the first thing I did was head downstairs to my office. When I opened the door to the basement, I thought wistfully about that musty, scummy smell of Fels Naptha. Instead of that old familiar odor, my nostrils were hit with a powerful blast of Mountain Glade. Or maybe it's Orchard Sunrise. I'd rather have smelled Fels Naptha.

Yesterday, I was cleaning out a drawer in the downstairs bathroom and came across an unopened Glade air freshener. I opened it and slid it into the little slot of nthe side of the combination night light-air freshener and immediately realized I'd made a mistake. I threw the package away so I don't remember which scent it was supposed to be, but they all sound as artificial as they smell. I'd prefer the smell of those artifical roses that Babby Darin used to sing about. If nature smelled like Glade air fresheners, I'd seal the windows and never leave the house. Maybe people today just want to experience nature through a TV set or an air freshener. Heck, you can even buy a Glad Light Show air freshener. I haven't bought one, but if they're doing it right, it should smell like incense and come with a tye-died t-shirt..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 25 Sep 06 - 10:51 AM

"If I was making Glade air fresheners, they'd come in Dairy Barn or Corn Fields. The best though would be Burning Leaves. Man!, I'd buy a whole case of Burning Leaves air fresheners. That would really take me back to the Forties. I loved the smell of burning leaves in the Fall. It made the work of raking the lawn worth it. Nobody in their right mind would burn leaves during the day. At least, no kid in his right mind. Burning leaves smell better at night. There was an early Fall ritual in our neighborhood, all centered around the curb. After you'd jumped in the leaf pile until you were silly, or made leaf houses out of them by laying out imginary rooms on the lawn, you'd rake the leaves out into the street by the curb and wait for dark. Curbs in small towns served the same purpose as front stoops in big cities. That's where we'd gather in the evening to sit and swap tale tales or play "Truth or Consequnces" or "I Packed My Mother's Suitcase." But in the Fall, those games were temporarily set aside for the ritual offering of burning leaves. When you came in the house to go to bed, you knew that life didn't get any better than this. Every pore of your body smelled of burning leaves. Nobody would be dumb enough to take a bath right after burning leaves. There's nothing as good as drifting off to sleep smelling like leaf smoke."

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 25 Sep 06 - 11:40 AM

Awesome, Jerry!

Speaking of memorable, pleasurable smells- mine is Horse Barn. My father trained horses and he was meticulous in their care. Every day after the barn was cleaned out, he'd 'broadcast' lime. That combination of odors has stayed with me.

I was forcefully reminded of it a few years back. In Juneau (a long, narrow, coastal town) we have only one 'farm', a 9-acre place where they raise turkeys and geese and parakeets and they board horses.

One day they had a garage sale which was held in the exercise arena. I wanted to check out an electrical gadget and the woman told me to step into one of the box stalls where there was an outlet.

I stepped in. Pure ambrosia.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 25 Sep 06 - 12:31 PM

I hjad to laugh, reading your last post, Ebbie:

In the early 60's I was teaching Geology at Hunter College in New York City and we took a joint field trip with the Geography department. (Yes, it was the sixties, but not that kind of a joint.)
On the trip, we stopped at an apple orchard and farm, and I wandered over to go into the barn. The smells were Chanel Number Eleven to me, but my students thought I was nuts. They wouldn't go near the place.

I guess that you had to grow up around farms to appreciate those aromas...

If I ever start an air freshener company, you'll be the first to get our Horse Barn model.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: JennyO
Date: 25 Sep 06 - 12:40 PM

Been sitting here in the corner reminiscing about some of those smells. I'd go for Burning Leaves too. Those were in the days when we were allowed to burn off. I always loved helping with the burning off. I think I must be some sort of firebug. I still enjoy tending a fire when I get the chance. These days, practically the only time you smell leaves burning is when there is a bushfire in the area, which is not such good news.

We don't have a working fireplace in the house unfortunately (some idiot before us bricked up the chimney), and a lot of the time here in Oz we have a total fire ban, but when I get a chance, I like to have a campfire. We did have one in April at a folk festival, which was lovely to sit and sing around, and occasionally poke or build up. We've already had our first bushfire of the summer here, even tho it's only spring (we had hot winds over the last few days), so I guess we're stuck with the total fire ban for a while.

Another smell I would buy if they could capture it would be new-mown grass. That brings back memories of when my brother and I were kids in Goulburn and dad cut the lawn with the push mower. He used to give us rides in the old metal wheelbarrow. I even have a photo somewhere of us in the wheelbarrow. And we had a small pine tree that we planted in the back garden. We called it the Christmas tree. Which reminds me of another smell - pine needles. I'm afraid the commercial smells called Pine are nothing like it. And as for plastic Christmas trees - UGH!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 25 Sep 06 - 03:28 PM

Let me know if you find Eau de Horse Barn, Jerry.

As for cut grass, two of my brothers were out driving past a farm and came across the aroma of freshly mown hay. They debated stopping and asking the farmer if he had a job for them. Just for the smell of it.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 25 Sep 06 - 04:31 PM

Anyone want to smell newly cut grass, they're welcome to mow my lawn. I do love the smell, though. Fresh hay is even better. No wonder there was so much romping going on in hay lofts. The smell is downright erotic.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 25 Sep 06 - 07:05 PM

Last Monday, I was in the emergency room because of a severely pulled muscle in my hip. Ruth was wheeling me around in a wheel chair because I couldn't walk ten feet, the pain was so severe. This morning, we went for our walk along the river and I had no pain.

Just a good reminder of how blessed we are that we can walk.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: JennyO
Date: 25 Sep 06 - 10:52 PM

I think your lawn might be just a LITTLE too far away, Jerry. Anyway, I have a perfectly good lawn out here in Sydney that is due for a cutting. We had a lot of rain a couple of weeks ago, followed by some very hot weather. Everything is growing like crazy, including the grass and the weeds.

I'm glad to hear your hip has improved so quickly. One tends to take walking for granted. I did, until I broke my ankle a few years ago and had to spend weeks in a cast and on crutches, not being allowed to put ANY weight on the foot. The day the cast came off and I was allowed to stand on two legs again, I went to a favourite lookout near the hospital and watched a glorious sunset. I felt overwhelmed with gratitude that I could walk normally again - in fact it was really just an amazing feeling of being glad to be alive!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 26 Sep 06 - 09:45 AM

I was thinking. This is a mighty big kitchen table. The people who drop by most regularly are from Alaska, California, Australia, England and Georgia. Not exactly neighbors of mine, here in Connecticut. But, that's the nice thing about cyberspace. Everyone is as close as a mouse.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 26 Sep 06 - 05:47 PM

Hi Jerry
so glad your hip is better and you are able to go for your walk by the river.
Here in the UK we had a beautiful late summer day, daughter Sam and I took Scarlett out for her first "walk" swaddled her up in the pram and walked along by the river Stour, watched the swans and Canadian geese and sat on a bench and enjoyed the sunshine.There were a few sailing boats and lots of walkers.For late September it was really warm.Tonight it feels quite chilly, as soon as the sun goes down the temperature drops and the nights are drawing in, dark at 7.30!Time to gather round the table , drink the coffee and enjoy the conversation.
Wendy

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: GUEST,IBO
Date: 27 Sep 06 - 05:17 PM

WE HAVE NO KITCHEN TABLE

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Tootler
Date: 27 Sep 06 - 07:01 PM

I had abdominal surgery in May so my stomach muscles were in no fit state to go pushing lawn mowers round. One of the nurses knew someone who was looking for gardening work so we contacted him and he has kept our garden in good order this summer at a very reasonable price. Reliable and a nice guy to boot.

It's only a pity it's a bit far across the big pond, Jerry, or I would recommend him to you.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 27 Sep 06 - 08:09 PM

Thanks, Tootler.

On Friday, my wife Ruth said that she'd mow the lawn if I could show her how to start the lawnmower. When we got out to the shed, I realized that there was no way she was going to start it, so I started it for her. She was very uneasy about using it, so I took it around the side of the house to the front yard and took three or four swipes around the perimeter of the lawn before I handed it over to her. It's a variable speed mower, and the harder you squeeze on the bar that operates the accelerator, the faster you go. Despite explaining all of this to her, when she took the reigns, she went off like a shot! after a couple of times around, I felt like I was in an old Western, watching a woman in a horse and buggy, when the horse is spooked. I expected to see her running down the street behind the lawnmower yellig "Help!!!!!!! I can't make it stop!!!!!!!!!!' So, I graciously rescued her and did the lawn myself. Apparently it didn't hurt me too much because I'm moving around fine, now.

Hey, Guest:

Don't have a kitchen table? You're welcome at mine.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 27 Sep 06 - 08:21 PM

I had a bowl of Neopolitan ice cream tonight. Talk about de ja vu.
I haven't had Neopolitan ice cream in fifty years, I bet. For our friends over the seas, Neopolitan ice cream is one third vanilla, one third chocolate and one third strawberry, in distinct thirds. I associate it with the forties and fifties over here, along with Honeymoon Logs. (Anybody remember Honeymoon Logs?)

A couple of days ago, they had a "Buy one, get one free" on ice cream, and the Neopolitan half gallon was in the row with vanilla. I didn't notice it until I went to get some ice cream tonight. At first I was very disappointed. I was all set to have vanilla ice cream/ peanut butter swirl. Somehow, making it with Neopolitan ice cream didn't sound very appetizing. Just as well. I actually enjoyed the stuff..

I also noticed that you can still by Fels Naptha. Wrapper suitable for framing.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: JennyO
Date: 27 Sep 06 - 10:16 PM

Hello, thought I'd just drop in here and say hello, and maybe have a little birthday drink to start the day (although it's lunchtime here already).

Before I went to bed last night I was watching TCM, the old movie channel, and caught most of an old Marx Brothers movie, The Big Store. You know, they just don't make movies like that any more - it was a lot of fun.

On Sunday night, Fox Classics has two Pink Panther movies in a row - the original Pink Panther and The Pink Panther Strikes Again, which I think is the best Pink Panther movie of them all. I'm looking forward to it! I'm a grest fan of Peter Sellers. Now all I need to make it even better is The Party (probably my favourite movie of all time) and I Love You Alice B Toklas.

There are certain actors who I will watch in just about any movie they make - as well as Peter Sellers - Jack Nicholson and Robin Williams come to mind.

GUEST, IBO, how sad that you don't have a kitchen table. As Jerry said, come and share this one. It's very friendly!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 27 Sep 06 - 10:53 PM

Happy B-day, Jennie-O.

Nice thoughts are welcomed....

For quite some time I suffered from cramps in the legs when I was asleep, sometimes so bad I had to walk and walk to work them out. Several medicines were tried to no avail (including some of the very new ones). Finally, the doc tried quinine sulfate and it worked!

For nearly a year now I've been cramp-free.

Last October I had a hearing screening done, and it was recommended that I have a full hearing evaluation. A couple of weeks ago I had that done.

Apparently quinine is ototoxic -- it can kill the cililia in your middle ear and caused hearing loss in high registers (over 2,000 db). This has apparently happened to me. I have nearly constant tinnitus ("ringing" in the ears) and have been asking my wife to repeat things.

Years ago a grenade simulator went off about a meter to my left and left me with a 10% hearing loss in my left ear. It was no matter then. Now I may need hearing aids.

I'm trying a new medicine, starting tonight. Sometimes, a few times, ototoxic hearing loss can be reversed (although it is uncommon where quinine is involved).

Well, I'd rather hear than not. But the news has been hard to take.

Don't take chances with your hearing. Wear hearing protectors when you use lawn mowers or anything with a small engine, if you shoot or are around shooting, at rock concerts. Keep your MP3 player turned DOWN, and likewise when you play recordings. And watch the medicines....

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 27 Sep 06 - 11:12 PM

Hey, Rap:

Night-time leg cramps are pretty common. What I've discovered for myself is that when I walk regularly, and stretch my calf muscles, the cramps disappear. When I hurt my hip a couple of weeks ago, I went a week when we couldn't take our morning walk, and the leg cramps that disappeared ever since we started walking regularly several months ago came back with a vengeance. All it took (for me) was getting back to walking the last two mornings, and they're all gone.

I have the feeling that in twenty years 90% of the population of the U.S. will be legally deaf, having destroyed their hearing by listening to EVERYTHING to loud... not just Rap, Rock and Hip Hop music, but movie soundtracks in theaters, and even the music in some churches. I keep meaning to do a run of stickers that would say "God is not hard of hearing" and unobtrusively put them on all the keyboards that are played in black churches (and the amplifiers for guitars) and the drums.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: JennyO
Date: 28 Sep 06 - 12:38 AM

Thanks for the birthday wishes Rapaire, and good luck with the new medication. I get night-time leg cramps from time to time, and what makes mine go away is Magnesium tablets. It's only when I've been forgetting them that the cramps start to reappear, and once I start taking them again, the cramps go away. Horrible things to wake up with!

I suspect Jerry might be right about pop-deafness being widespread. I know I had my fair share of loud concerts in the 60's and later. I've noticed that even at folk festivals, the volume is unnecessarily high in the big marquees, so that even when they are placed well apart, the sound bleeds from one to another. Not good. Requests to the organisers of these festivals to address the problem seems to fall on deaf ears (so to speak). Everyone these days seems to equate loud with good. Is this a sign that I'm an old fart?

None of that stuff at my folk club (North By Northwest) and my friend Sandra's folk club (The Loaded Dog). We have two of the best venues in Sydney with marvellous acoustics, and not an amp or microphone in sight.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 28 Sep 06 - 02:09 AM

Prepare to meet your doom, you wascally wabbit!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 28 Sep 06 - 02:10 AM

There's no getting away from me this time, ya dumb bunny.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Leadfingers
Date: 28 Sep 06 - 04:48 AM

Just thought I would pop in to say "Hi!" and try for 1200

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: GUEST,IBO
Date: 28 Sep 06 - 06:53 AM

I JUST BOUGHT A TABLE,ALL I NEED NOW IS A KITCHEN

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 28 Sep 06 - 07:50 AM

Hey, Terry:

You are about the only one who drops by this kitchen table that I've had the pleasure to welcome to our actual kitchen table (or at least kitchen) and Frankie of the Gospel Messenger's home, too. I know others do drop by a take a chair in the corner, but don't join in the conversation. I talked with Jimmyt last night and he and his wife Jayne are hoping to get over your way and maybe sit around someone's kitchen table up in your neck of the woods a couple of months from now. I'ts a rare treat to meet a Catter. Especially those we all enjoy so much.

Don't be s stranger, you hear?

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 28 Sep 06 - 09:03 AM

I think what hurts is that I wear hearing protection when I cut the grass, blow snow, shoot targets. I keep the sound down on the music playing machines and the radio.

And then I get blindsided by medicine....

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 28 Sep 06 - 09:42 AM

Yeah... that has to hurt, Rap:

I was talking with a friend last night who's wife's siter has a dangerous, rare health problem. As often happens in medical problems, there is a trade-off in using medicine. A drug that helps reduce the sypmtoms or even reverse the disease often has seriously detrimental side-effects. I'm not talking about hang-nail medication that causes hemmahroids... medication to attack a serious, life-threatening disease that cause serious, sometimes life-threatening side effects. Steroids are a wonder drug that have serious side-effects if used over an extended period of time. And yet, taking them for a week completely healed my hip, so I'm grateful for them. I still couldn't hit home runs to save my soul, though.

Loudness is something that is hard to escape in our society. I'm afraid that as more and more people destroy their hearing everyone will be screaming at each other in a "quiet" conversation if this keeps up.

I'd look up hemmahrhoids to get the correct spelling, but I don't find myself using the term regularly in letters. :-)

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 28 Sep 06 - 11:46 PM

Hi Jerry and everybody else--I have a resolution of the great Home Depot Stove Removal Crisis. But I don't have time to tell the story now--getting a lot of pressure to go upstairs.

The coffee seems to be perking right along here--already into the 1200's--Magna Carta soon--1215. All these numbers remind me of events now. And will for quite a while.

Anybody else feel that way?

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 29 Sep 06 - 12:04 AM

Yeah, Ron:

People can have all the major even numbers. I've got dibs on 1935 though... the year that I was born. If I can just keep that Wascally Elmer Fudd from taking it.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 29 Sep 06 - 12:53 AM

Hey, Jerry- that's MY year too! Incidentally, have you noticed how far up 1935 is when you're scrolling computer dates? Humph.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 29 Sep 06 - 01:15 AM

Heya folks,

Been away from my own kitchen table, chasing wabbits, wainbows and work.

Elmer Fudd hasn't gotten his number yet, Jerry, so I doubt he's gonna get yours. 1935 is safe and sound.

So sorry about your hearing, Rap. That's tragic news. Hate it when drugs turn out to have nasty side effects along the lines of, "The operation was a success but the patient...."

Elmer

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 29 Sep 06 - 09:20 AM

Well, the tinnitus is stopped or considerably lessened in the right ear. I hope it leaves the left soon, for I'm off to the Grand Teton National Park this weekend and I'd like to hear the Fall birds.

One result of all this is that we're bringing in the University audiology students to the library to do free hearing screening on people 12 and under and 60 and over. The folks at the U were thrilled with the idea of getting practice (under observation) and helping the community at the same time. We're looking at Fall and Winter screenings.

The other thing is that we're going to be working with the U's pharmacology program to inform Senior Citizens about drugs, drug interactions, adverse effects, etc. This is part of a new effort on our part to act as an information center for Seniors -- we don't have to know anything except where to point people to get help.

Might as well turn a personal problem into good for the community. Won't help to carry on and scream and yell about it anyway.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 29 Sep 06 - 11:01 AM

In the 70s, when I was diagnosed and being treated for lupus, in addition to other MAJOR drugs I was put on a regimen of aspirin popping. I was to increase the dosage by one a day - when my ears would ring I was to not increase it for that day but not reduce the number I was taking already.

This happened a lot. The high whine in my ears felt like a jet winding up to take off- only this was my *head* ready to go. It was scary- and would've been even scarier if my thinking processes hadn't been scrambled by the other medications.

It all eventually went away, Rapaire, and I hope the same for you.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 29 Sep 06 - 01:56 PM

I started posting something I wrote this morning on this thread, and then decided it should be in a thread of its own. It's up in the music section: My First Portable Radio. Maybe you can stop by up there (or down here,) and share your experiences..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Carly
Date: 29 Sep 06 - 04:21 PM

The year I was was almost done in by a type A strep infection, I spent months on heavy-duty antibiotics and other drugs, some of which had bizarre and frightening side effects. Fortunately, when I stopped taking the drugs, the side effects mostly went away. As those drugs undoubtedly saved my life, I can't complain. I hope your hearing improves, Rapaire, now that you are off the medicine.

I don't know why, but in my family we called a calf muscle cramp a Charlie Horse, a silly name for such a terrible thing to awaken you in the night. Years ago I was taught an accupuncture technique to deal with them; when the muscle spasms, grab your upper lip with your thumb and forefinger just below your nose and pinch as hard as you can without damaging yourself. For about eight seconds nothing will happen, except that you feel like an idiot, and then the cramp will relax. Sometimes you have to hold on for a minute more, or the cramp starts to return. When you feel the cramp is gone, do a little stretching or walking on that leg, to minimize stiffness later.I hope this helps; it works for us.

Carly

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 29 Sep 06 - 11:09 PM

Charley Horse is the term I learned also. But Carly, this is the first time I connected in my mind *calf* spasm with charley *horse*. Where did that come from? lol

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 30 Sep 06 - 07:00 AM

Hey, Carly:

Good to see you. I think the Charlie Horse term was pretty universal. It certainly was in the Midwest. Leg cramps in the calves are even more common as you get older, as we all seem to do. They call it the "restless Leg" syndrome. "Oh the restless leg, is a wearisome leg." If I don't get my walking in and stretch my calf muscles consistently, I get them during the night. I'll have to try the upper lip pinch sometime, out of curiosity. For me, all it takes is walking on a regular basis. The body is an amazing creation, though. I've outlasted several Pintos, a couple of Nissans and a Toyota, and spent a lot less time in the shop.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 30 Sep 06 - 11:12 AM

Never expected to do this--but   MAGNA CARTA!!!!!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 30 Sep 06 - 03:31 PM

I dunno, Ron:

Looks to me like we'll have no trouble coming up with posts that match years until we hit 2008..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 01 Oct 06 - 05:18 PM

I spoke to both of my sisters today. They live in the same town as my Mother, and my Mother has had another relapse. Hospice is there with her, and one of my sisters has spent time with her every day this week. She just talks about wanting to go home to see her Mother and her brothers and sisters: all of whom have gone on before her. My oldest sister, who was rleased from the hospital Thursday after being in there for a month and a half, undergoing a colostomy and weeks of painful physical therapy was able to spend some time with my Mother this afternoon. Her daughter got her in the car and took her up to the hospital. It was the first time she'd seen my mother in almost two months, and they were overjoyed to be together, even if ony briefly.

The hospice nurse told my youngest sister that Mom will go tonight, or tomorrow at the latest. That might be the case, and we are all preparing for the time as best we can. These last few weeks, I've been writing our family history, some of which I've included here at the kitchen table. It's been a wonderful balm for all of us, and I have another batch to mail off, tomorrow. So, Mom might slip away tonight or tomorrow. Or maybe not. She is very week and hasn't been eating, and she is looking forward to going home.

In the meantime, she asked for a ham and cheese omelet this afternoon and ate almost the whole thing. We all hot a great laugh out of that because none of us can ever remember eating a ham and cheese omelet. If it was her last supper, she's going out as feisty
as she's lived these 99 years.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 01 Oct 06 - 06:46 PM

Thoughts and prayers for you, your mother and your family, Jerry. May you receive as much comfort and light as you give.

Elmer

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 01 Oct 06 - 08:19 PM

I was sitting here tonight lost in thought and prayer, when the phone rang. It was my Mother. She can't see well enough, and doesn't have the strength to dial the phone now, but a real angel friend of hers who has always been there to help her came in to visit and my Mother asked her to dial my number. Mom's voice was a little garbled at times, because she is on morphine: not th kill the pain, as she has none, but to help her breath. We talked at some lenght, and she told me how much she loves receiving the reminiscences that I am mailing her. She can't read them, but her friend Bess stops in every evening and reads my letters to her, and they have a prayer time. I wanted to make sure that she chad a chance to talk with Ruth, because they were Mother and daughter the moment they met nine years ago. Ruth's Mother had been dead for several years before I met her, but the moment she met Mom, she knew she had a Mother again. And my Mother knew that she had another daughter. Forget the "in-law." Every time we talk to Mom, we realize that it may be the last time, so every minute is precious. Mom may hang in there and stick around a while longer, or she may be gone by morning, as the Hospice nurse thinks. Whatever happens, it was such a blessing, talking with her tonight.

And speaking of blessings, Mudcat has been a wonderful one for me these days. I am especially thankful for my Catter friend who has so kindly encouraged and guided me in writing down my families memories. They have been such a joy to my whole family and I will never forget the gift of encouragement I have received.

We never know with Mom. She may fool everyone and stay a while longer, but she is too weak to feed herself, can't see well enough to read or watch television any more and I believe she has far more joy before her than she has these days.

Mudcat is often maligned for the mean-spiritedness and petty squabbles that sometimes poison the air. But Mudcat has it's beauty, too. I appreciate all of you who are a part of that beauty.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 01 Oct 06 - 11:01 PM

Jerry, as Pogo said, "Life ain't noways permanent." So all we can do is do what we can in the impermanence we have left. If that's making music and a joyous sound unto, great! If it's building houses or cleaning drains or just being who you are, great!

The ancient Egyptians believed that you would be judged by three gods, and your fate depended upon...well, they weighed the good in your heart against a feather. If the good was heavier, you were In Like Flynn. If, on the other hand, the feather tipped the scales it was the darkness. Consider how many people, then and today, would be outweighed by a feather...and then consider the parable of the pharisee and the publican in the Temple, or the story of the widow's mite.

Somehow I can't believe that your mother, or any decent mother, would go spinning down into perdition. Nope, she'll be there waiting, a big plate of your favorite cookies in hand.

Enjoy her while you got her. Mine's been gone a quarter century now...and we miss her terribly.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: JennyO
Date: 02 Oct 06 - 01:42 AM

Thinking of you and your Mom, Jerry. Whatever happens, she will go at the right time for her, and of course you know that she will not really be gone as long as she is in your heart. It's great that you had her for so long and I know it will feel right. You are truly blessed! Not everybody is so fortunate.

I may have mentioned this before - I can't remember - my mother died 14 years ago leaving behind a lot of bad feelings and a will that divided the family. I've only in the last few weeks spoken to a step-brother I had had no contact with in that time because of her actions, and there are others I will probably never see or speak to. It took many years and a lot of hard work on my part to let go of the bitterness and make my peace with her in my mind, so that I could move on with my own life. I've managed to do that now, but sometimes when I hear about other people's good relationships with their mothers, I get a twinge of longing, wishing it could have been more like that with my mother. I'm sure the experience has made me stronger though, so I can see a positive side to it.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: GUEST,partridge
Date: 02 Oct 06 - 02:09 AM

Hi Jerry.
I'm thinking about you and your mum. Its hard living without a mum, mine died nine years ago and my dad died last november. I have loads of happy memories, but miss them sooooooooo.... much. But we must all go back home and if she is ready to go then more power to her elbow!
Happy thoughts Jerry,
love
Pat xx

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 02 Oct 06 - 10:30 AM

Thanks, Partridge:

I've been having a good time these days renewing old aquaintances with school buddies. The thing I find humorous is how radically different some of our memories are. I remember a hot dog joint in my home town as being dark and greasy inside. My friend remembers it as very well lit and not greasy. The same thing happens when we talk about experiences we had together. We each remember it with a slightly different twist. Sometimes, the twist is major. People put a lot of stock in memories. Probably too much. As the years go by, memories evolve and can become much more ornate. I know there are times when that happens with me. In the long run, memories are just our perception of how we remember things happened. Not necessarily how they actually happened. Sometimes our memories are a vast improvement over what actually happened.

An example:

A highschool buddy of mine had a banty rooster. My memory of how he got it is now 50 years old, and through the years has become quite elaborate. The way I remember him telling it, he was out in his front yard one summer afternoon, and when a car drove by, a banty rooster came flying out of the rear window, and came running toward his house. The man driving the car hopped out, and was chasing the rooster, and the rooster was running Hell Bent for Leather. At the same time, an unsuspecting squirrel was running across the yard, and even though the rooster was the pursued, he couldn't ignore the challenge of the squirrel and took off after the squirrel. As he came skidding around the corner, he almost ran into my friend Earl, who quickly grabbed him. When the man came around the corner, puffing like a steam engine and saw Earl, he asked for his rooster. Earl being a real slick talker managed to convince the man that what he really wanted to do was give the rooster to Earl. So, Earl kept the rooster, named it Herbert and when he went to college in Oregon the next fall, he threw it in on the deal when I bought Earl's Harley Davidson 125 for $90.00. That's the way I remember Earl telling me how it happened, over fifty years ago.

Here is what actually happened according to Earl, 2006: The rooster did indeed escape from a passing car, but it was a friend of Earl's who caught it. When he couldn't keep it, he gave it to Earl. Earl has no idea how the rooster got the name Herbert. There was hot pursuit of a squirrel, or any slick-talking done by Earl.

As I tell Earl, he remembers what happened (maybe.) I remember how it should have happened. I like my story a lot better. I even threw Herbert in a Cadillac when I wrote a song about him:

"He came a' riding in to town in a great big Cadillac
With the windows all rolled down, tied in a gunny sack
But the sack was for potatoes, and not for Herbert's kind
And with his spurs as sharp as razors, he cut the ties that bind.

So, where did the squirrel come in? When I owned Herbert he was one of the first "Free-range" chickens. Earl kept him tied up to a pole with a rope around one leg. I let Herbert have the run of the yard, and because it wasn't fenced in, he actually had the run of the neighborhood.

"When Herbert strolled the neighborhood, the squirrels stayed in their nest
The dogs all looked the other way, and the cats would genuflect
And the pigeons in my Dad's garage got up an barred the door
For those who messed with Herbert, were never seen no more."

Herbert did find squirrels to be a personal affront, and he made life Hell for the neighbor's cat. The cat made the mistake of stalking Herbert once, and when he punced for the attack, he found that he had a banty roosted on his back with spurs dug in as firmly as any rodeo cowboy. Herbert took the cat for a little ride, and it was the last time the cat came within a hundred yards of Herbert.

"And Herbert was the terror of the local countryside
Sometimes he'd flag the neighbor's cat. and he'd take him for a ride."

So you see, my memory of how Earl got Herbert was about 90% wrong, and yet in a way, it was Herbert. If Herbert HAD seen a squirrel in the yard, he would have abandoned any attempt to get away, and taken off after the squirrel. And if Earl had been the one to catch Herbert, he WOULD have smooth-talked the guy out of his rooster. For something that never happened, I got the story just right.

Jerry

Subject: Lyr Add: I REMEMBER IT WELL (Lerner & Loewe)
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 02 Oct 06 - 08:50 PM

The of the best songs about the vagueries of memory was sung by Maurice Chevalier as Honore and Hermione Gingold as Mamita in "Gigi:"

I REMEMBER IT WELL
(Lyrics : Alan Jay Lerner / Frederick Loewe)

Honore: We met at nine
Mamita: We met at eight
Honore: I was on time
Mamita: No, you were late
Honore: Ah, yes, I remember it well

H: We dined with friends
M: We dined alone
H: A tenor sang
M: A baritone
H: Ah, yes, I remember it well

H: That dazzling April moon!
M: There was none that night
And the month was June
H: That's right. That's right.
M: It warms my heart to know that you
remember still the way you do
H: Ah, yes, I remember it well

H: How often I've thought of that Friday
M: Monday
H: night when we had our last rendezvous
And somehow I foolishly wondered if you might
By some chance be thinking of it too?
That carriage ride
M: You walked me home
H: You lost a glove
M: I lost a comb
H: Ah, yes, I remember it well

H: That brilliant sky
M: We had some rain
H: Those Russian songs
M: From sunny Spain
H: You wore a gown of gold
M: I was all in blue
H: Am I getting old?
M: Oh, no, not you
How strong you were
How young and gay
A prince of love
In every way
H: Ah, yes, I remember it well

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 02 Oct 06 - 09:05 PM

Yes, that's an absolutely wonderful song--and particularly captivating with Maurice Chevalier's accent.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 02 Oct 06 - 09:17 PM

Ah yes, I remember it well... Louis Jordan sang it to Shirley McClaine, from what I remember.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 04 Oct 06 - 03:37 PM

My Mother was supposed to die, last Saturday: Sunday at the latest. When we talked to her last Thursday, her voice was garbled because she was on morphine to help her breathe. She'd been in bed for several days, too weak to get up and all she was talking about was going home to see her Mother. This weekend, we watied for a phone call: The phone call. Yesterday, my Sister Helen went over to see Mom. Mom was sitting up in her chair, dressed to the nines. Or at least 8's. She'd just had her hair done and was about to head off to play bingo. She told Helen to tell Ruth that she was heading out to see her boyfriend, Phil. She gets a big kick out of Ruth kidding her about Phil, and asking her is she is behaving. At one point in the conversation, Mom said to the woman who was in cleaning her carpet, "You might as well push me over the cliff," and Helen said, "It wouldn't do any good, you'd just climb back up again."

I heard that Vegas is refusing to give odds on when Mom is checking out for good. The first prediction was that she'd go a year ago at this time. She may well make it to 100, after all. Or, as Frankie said last night at Messenger's practice, "Your Mother's been alive for 100 years already." When I reminded him that her 100th birthday won't be until next June, he said "She was alive for nine months, before she was born, so She's been alive for 100 years." We both got a food laugh out of that one.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 04 Oct 06 - 07:34 PM

Don't count 'em out until they're out, Jerry. They'll surprise you every time.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 04 Oct 06 - 07:43 PM

Hi Jerry
your Mom sounds terrific,hair done, going to bingo?!
If you lived in the UK at 100, and add that 9 months it is 100, she would get a birthday card from the Queen.
I cannot speak for Queen Elizabeth 2nd but good wishes from all of us in England to your Mom and you and your family, you give us so much joy with your postings about your family.Please write a book, I will buy the first copy.
Love to you all, Wendy.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 04 Oct 06 - 09:47 PM

Hey, Wendy:

If you PM me with your e-mail address, I'll put you on my list of people I'm sharing what I'm writing, as I go along. It's too much to flood Mudcat with..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Donuel
Date: 04 Oct 06 - 10:22 PM

Hey Jerry, have you ever taken a nap at an unusual time while what is actually is going on around you is leaking into your dream?
Maybe it was a storm or a TV, music, conversation or conundrum you had been pondering but it is all combined and revealed to you in dream form. Free, boundless by time or needless encumbrence.

The memory of those dreams is so clear and perfect you could write them down effortlessly in near fractal infinity of detail.

Well I was having one of those when the college footbal game that was on TV at the time presented an unfortunate repetition of the name of the team Yellow Jackets. Yeah I got stung all over my legs and had to wake up.

But not before having all the details clear enough to paint, like the 125 ft stained glass sculpture of a man with a stained glass radio telescope on his back. Almost like Atlas but not bent over.
I wish I could show you the 3D art version, but alas my dear old website was murdered by parties unknown.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 04 Oct 06 - 10:37 PM

Bless you and your mother, Jerry. I've been without internet for a few days until this evening and I was afraid I'd miss her passing. (In my part time job I have internet so when I had time I checked a couple of threads of the 'Cat)

Anyway I'm happy that she's still being herself. She's giving you lots of future stories about her eventual passing! Bless her heart.

By the way, I'm with you- I think she will be steeped in love and beauty the moment she steps foot, so to speak, on the other shore. I don't think of Death as the Enemy- it is a Gate.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 04 Oct 06 - 10:55 PM

Hey, Donuel:

The closest that I can come to your experience is that many years ago when I had cats, I'd have these terible dreams where I was being chased and couldn't run. My feet were glued to the floor. Then I'd wake up and discover that my feet were glued to the bed because my cats would be sleeping on them..

"I'm going to see my Mother
You know she died so long ago
What a blessed, sweet reunion
When I meet her on that shore"

From When I Get To Glory

I wrote that verse with my Mother very much in mind. Her Mother died when she was 13 and Mom says that her life was miserable after that. Her Father was bitter that his wife had been taken from him and it was as if he wasn't there. My Mother was the second youngest, and one of her older brothers was very mean to his sisters. He had a cruel streak in him which I didn't see until I was a teenager and saw how he treated strangers.

But, I suppose that it's true what they say: "Time wounds all Heals." And, "What goes around, comes around."

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 04 Oct 06 - 11:20 PM

Jerry, I wish I'd known my father. He was killed in a construction accident when I was five. Other than the fact that he won WW2 singlehandedly, discovered antibiotics, built the pyramids by himself, invented the calculus and the guitar, and was the most fabulous actor and singer the world has ever known, I know little about him. My mother I knew far better, but she's been gone for a quarter century now.

And ya know, I'd love to sit down and have coffee or beer with them and just chat....

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 05 Oct 06 - 08:10 AM

Hey, Rap:

I know so many people who lost their Father or Mother early in their life and would give anything just to be able and sit at the kitchen table with them. I've been sharing my writings with two old friends, as well as with my family. One was a very close friend who went out to Oregon to college and settled there. I saw him once in his first year of college when he came back for his Father's funeral, but only for a handshake and a word of comfort at the funeral parlor. Ten years or so ago, he and his wife came out East for their daughter's graduation and stopped by to visit for a day. That's the only time I've been able to sit around the kitchen table and talk with him. He is not a correspondent, and never has been, so we've been relegated to exchanging Christmas cards with a two sentence letter. I've been e-mailing all that I've been writing, and after all these years, our friendship has rekindled in a marvelous way. The reason that I thought about him, reading your last post is that we both came to know the other's mother when we were well into adulthood. When I was living in Connecticut, he went back to our home town for another funeral and stopped up and visited with my parents. I have a photograph of him sitting on our front porch with a half-gray beard. My Mother talks warmly about him coming to visit, and under other circumstances I had a chance to get to know his Mother a little when she was in the Health Care Center where my Mother lives. She could barely get in and out of bed and was near the end of her days, but her mind was sharp. She had a wonderful sense of humor and a curiosity that I never noticed when I was a kid. We had a couple of long conversations and they weren't "remember when" talks. I didn't really remember much about her except that she was of Germanic stock, always had her hair in a tight bun and appeared mysteriously with something for us to eat or drink. As I wrote recently, when you're a kid, adults sometimes are not much more than vending machines. You don't have to insert a coin: just a polite word usually works. More often than not, unlike a vending machine, you find that you get want you want without even asking. Both my friend Earl Who Got Herbert and I are thankful that we got to know each other's mothers as adults. To us, they are people first, and mothers of a friend second.

My Father lived to be a month or so short of 94 yet in some ways, I didn't know him well. He was very bitter about his childhood and took offense at so many innocent actions in his life that he shut people out. But, in later years we became friends as well as father and son and I am thankful for that. We managed to set aside old battles and accept that there were things in each other that we couldn't understand, and just loved what we could in each other. There was more than enough of that.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 05 Oct 06 - 09:52 PM

Kinda excited today. I received a final test pressing of the CD of Handful Of Songs. I recorded the album 17 years ago, and even Cecille B. DeMille could have gotten it out on CD faster than I did. The problem was that the company that recorded my record album went bankrupt and I was never able to get the master tapes back. Thanks to Dennis Cook, I had an unplayed lp remastered, and after all these years, I hold a CD in my hand. At this point, the only one. I'll start a thread on it when I have more copies in hand, but it sure feels good..

Hope all is well you you silent folks out there...

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 06 Oct 06 - 09:53 AM

Hi Jerry
I have pm'd my e mail address.
Well done with the CD, it must feel good to have it at last.
Hope the coffee is hot , it is raining cats and dogs here( do you use that phrase in America? I wonder where it came from...anyone know?)
Autumn is here at last, grey skies , wind blowing. The day trippers have stopped coming from London and we residents have the town to ourselves till next Easter.This is when I love living by the sea, you can walk the beach at low tide and be the only person for miles.
Also lovley sunsets this time of the year.
Wendy

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 07 Oct 06 - 01:47 AM

Congratulations on the Handful of Songs! There's a stadium-ful of people waiting to hear it.

Elmer

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 07 Oct 06 - 12:08 PM

Yes, Wendy: we use the phrase "raining like cats and dogs." I'm suprised that the animal activists haven't protested using it as suggesting cruelty to animals. Now, in the good old days in Egypt, it rained frogs. I wonder if they used that phrase: "Gadzooks, Lord, it raineth like unto frogs today!"

Speaking of old phrases, I found myself using "usen't" in something I was writing, yesterday. That must be my Dad channeling through me. "Usen't" was a contraction of used not, as in used not to be.
"Dasn't" was another word he used, which I suspect came from my Grandma Rasmussen. It sounds like a word she'd use all the time, because she was always telling people what they should do. "You dasn't do that. That must be a contraction of dast not. Who says dast, anymore? Sounds absolutely Shakespearean.

I bet Rapaire can clarify all this stuff for us.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Carly
Date: 07 Oct 06 - 03:50 PM

It's raining and chilly here in Virginia, too; time to get out the sweaters and start making soup. I just spoke to my mom; it made me think of your mom, Jerry, and to hope that she is happy and at peace with herself, on whichever side of the river she is presently located. It certainly sounds like it; I am glad of that for her. I have relatives (not my parents) who spent or are spending their lives carrying around a great deal of anger and bitterness; it is so sad to watch, and know that nothing will change unless they decide it should happen.

I am also glad to hear about A Handful of Songs. Thank you, Dennis!

My family tends to make up words, which pass into the family vocabulary. "Unlelse" comes to mind; a combination of "unless" and "or else." "Becase" comes from "because" and "in case". I leave it to you to figure out usage; in our family, we are too busy laughing over the memories such words evoke to pay too much attention to logic. Connotation wins out over denotation, every time, which is funny in itself because we are a family of readers, writers, and conversationalists, who normally do care, a great deal, about correct use of language. While I'm on the subject,please, please, please, whatever you do, never tell me anything is very unique (it hurts to even type it!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 07 Oct 06 - 03:58 PM

What about exactly the same, Carly? I used to argue with my youngest son about that. If it's the "same," it IS exactly the same. How could it be somewhat the same? His English teacher in high school said I was wrong. (Perhaps because she uses that phrase a lot?) I don't generally get my knickers in a twist about the misuse of language. Overuse of certain phrases until they become cliches, and totally meaningless(rather than mostly meaningless :-)) does bug my a little.

I just checked my Websters dictionary, and the same means INDENTICAL!
Isn't "exactly" redundant?

Where is Rapaire? He's the educated one in here...

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 08 Oct 06 - 12:38 AM

I've always liked the sounds of "not hardly" and "that's some good."

As for redundancy, it's like nails on a blackboard (now there's an obsolete expression--Where have all the blackboards gone, long time passing?) to my ears when someone says "very unique." Either something's unique or it isn't. But VERY unique? My dog's more uniquer than yours?

Elmer

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 08 Oct 06 - 08:50 AM

The phrase is "Like a felt tip pen on an eraseable presentation panel" now.

I'm partial to "seein's as how," myself.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 08 Oct 06 - 10:17 AM

Oh yeah, I feel exactly the same about very unique, Elmer.

Jerry Elmer

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 08 Oct 06 - 06:28 PM

Another absolute word : Omniscient, meaning all-knowing.

I had a humorous conversation a few years ago with a friend of mine who was a Lutheran Minister. Dennis made the comment, "God doesn't know what you're going to do," and I said, "Whoa! I thought thatGod is Omniscient!" Dennis, said, "He is," and I countered, "But you say I could pull the wool over God's eyes. I though he was all-knowing. You're saying he sure knows a lot, but he doesn't know that I'm going to do next?" Dennis stuck to his guns, even though he knew he wasn't making any sense. In his eyes, God is semi-Omniscient, I guess.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 08 Oct 06 - 11:52 PM

If we didn't think God was only semi-omniscient we wouldn't do most of the things we do.

I am taking up arms against the death of the comparative. "Let me make that more clear" instead of "Let me make that clearer." It's like "at this point in time" -- fer gawd's sake, if you're gonna use THAT phrase at least also use "at this point in space".

Talk about the sound of fingernails on a blackboard!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 09 Oct 06 - 02:30 PM

From Georgia welfare office; "I have given birth to 3 children in this envelope. As you can see, 2 are illiterate."

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 09 Oct 06 - 02:45 PM

Or from someone who worked at the Museum where I was Director, reacting to a letter of complaint about him :"He didn't even have the guts to sign it: it was unanimous."

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 09 Oct 06 - 02:48 PM

This reminds me of coversations with my cousins this summer when we all met up at Sidmouth, we were talking about phrases my grandfather and uncle used to say, the funniest were" see that man? He walks with a squint" and "well look at him, he walks a bit upright"

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 09 Oct 06 - 04:56 PM

If people don't want to come out to the ball park, nobody's going to stop them. -- Yogi Berra (of course)

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 10 Oct 06 - 11:40 AM

lol I love the walking with a squint.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 10 Oct 06 - 12:13 PM

's long as were on this, two of my favorite sayings are in regard to punishing someone. A friend for mine from Oklahoma used to say "What they need is a sound thrashing about the head and ears." That is such a weird statement that I won't even try to break it down, but I knew exactly what he meant. When I got in trouble as a kid, my Father would say to me "If your Mother catches you, she's going to put the wood on you." I can't imagine my Mother ever "putting the wood" on me, but I got the message, anyway. That's what communication is all about, idn't it?

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Tootler
Date: 10 Oct 06 - 07:15 PM

A classic one in some of our inner cities used to be along the lines of;

If I catch you stepping into the road in front of a bus, I'll kill you!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Tootler
Date: 10 Oct 06 - 07:27 PM

Had a disappointment today. We had planned to visit the US and had put down our names for a quilters trip to Amish Country in Pennsylvania (my wife is a quilter). We enquired about travel insurance before finally booking and were quoted £1600GB (about $2700US) because of our health problems. I had surgery for bowel cancer earlier this year and my wife has chronic kidney failure. The odd thing was I was considered the greater risk even though I have been pronounced clear and my wife's kidneys could finally give up at any time meaning she would have to go on dialysis.

We decided reluctantly, at that price, (more than the cost of the trip for one of us) we would not go, though we are not ruling it out eventually. We will just have to see how things work out over the next few years.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 10 Oct 06 - 07:41 PM

I'm so sorry to hear that, Tootler: Sorry more than anything that you and your wife have suffered through such serious health problems. My oldest sister is just back from five weeks in the hospital, having a colostomy. For her, it was a major achievement when she could get up the stairs in her house. Those of us who are blessed with good health should give thanks several times a day. I do.

The first time that I took Ruth out, we didn't get a chocolate milk shake. We went to vist the sick. It's something that has been a central part of our lives these last ten years, and will remain that until we need someone to come and visit us. I'm doing a program at a Health Care Center tomorrow morning, and Ruth is a wonderful part of that, just because she is so sincerely caring.

May you both have a complete healing. If you ever make it over here, Connecticut isn't all that far from Amish country (in U.S. distances, anyway.)

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 10 Oct 06 - 08:44 PM

Hello Tootler,

I'm sorry you can't make the trip. What a woild.

Does your wife know about the Gee's Bend quilters? I recently saw a show of their work in a museum, plus a film about them made by Jane Fonda's daughter, Vanessa Vadim. The quilts are quite unusual, with strong abstract patterns. There are now U.S. postage stamps depicting some of the quilts. The quiltmakers are getting a lot of attention. However, now that they are actually making some money, the women are giving a lot of it to charities.

Gee's Bend Quilts

Elmer

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 11 Oct 06 - 11:45 AM

Please put the coffee on, having a really bad day,started badly with our credit card terminal freezing up. everyone pays on plastic so we had to trust all the morning clients to promise to come back and pay tomorrow, that had me running late.... hard to do Aromatherapy in a calm manner when you know the next client is waiting outside the door and getting wound up!
Then we had a huge thunderstorm,all the lights in the salon flickering on and off! Pouring rain, new roof leaks( thats another saga for another day I hate flat roofs)
The manager is on holiday and now I find out she is not treating the junior staff very well, so that will be a bad day when she comes back, I hate confrontation!
Good news my last client of the day is sleeping peacefully after her treatment, you are making me coffee, I have kicked my shoes off, Billy is on his way to pick me up and we are having supper at our best friends house, and tomorrow is another day!
And Scarlett Mae is beautiful, how I love being a new grandmother! Count my blessings
Wendy

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Tootler
Date: 11 Oct 06 - 07:20 PM

Jerry & Elmer,

Thanks for your kind remarks. I consider myself lucky. My cancer was diagnosed early and the surgeon was able to completely remove it. It had not spread through the bowel wall and I have been pronounced clear. Apart from having to be careful to avoid putting to much strain on my abdominal muscles, I am recovered and feeling better than I have for some years.

We did have some good news today. My wife has had her application to retire early on health grounds approved, so she formally retires at the end of the month. Although she only has seven months before she can retire normally, it is a relief as she will not be under any pressure to return to work and she should also get a small enhancement of her pension.

I looked at the Gee's bend quilt website, they are certainly distinctive in style. I have a feeling I have seen them before so maybe my wife is aware of them. Anyway, I have let her know the link so she can look for herself. Two years ago we went to my Nephew's wedding in Detroit and while we were there visited the Amish Region in Ohio. We enjoyed ourselves there and came home with three Amish made quilts. One bed size for us and two wall hangings for our daughters. They are beautifully made, the workmanship is superb.

Enough rabbitting on for now as it is after midnight and time for bed.

Talking of rabbits, someone has a message for Elmer Fudd - "Er... What's up doc?"

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: GUEST, Ebbie
Date: 11 Oct 06 - 07:55 PM

This month's Smithsonaian Magazine has a pictorial article on Gee's Bend quilts and their creators. Striking.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 11 Oct 06 - 09:02 PM

I think that I need to put on a fresh pot of coffee. Nice to see so many folks stopping by. I've been busy in the music section with two threads going up there... one of 60's music in the Village and Berkely and the other on the dissapearing American. This thread has nothing to do with "country of origin".

And like the Energizer Bunny, it keeps going, and going.

Alright, The Energizer Bunny is a battery-operated bunny who beats a drum and has become somewhat of an advertising icon over here.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 12 Oct 06 - 01:20 AM

Where is that wascally wabbit?????? I'm gonna nab him at 1300, just you wait!

Good to hear there's some good news on the horizon, Tootler. Gotta take it where you find it.

I had the opportunity to visit Amish country in Ohio several times, mostly around Winesberg, Berlin and Charm. The Quilter's Collective in Berlin (pronounced BERlin) had some bee-you-tee-full quilts. The area has gotten quite commercial and rather kitschy of late, though.

The Gee's Bend quilts are special because they were made out of necessity. The women couldn't afford blankets, and they made quilts out of scraps because they couldn't afford new cloth to make traditionally patterned quilts with matching fabric. The abstract designs are intuitive. They are quite amazing works of art. In the film you can hear the women singing gospels as they work, so there is music woven into them as well.

Elmer

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 12 Oct 06 - 09:09 AM

They just restarted the ferry over to Gee's Bend, and there are Gee's Bend quilt stamps on sale at the post office.

My wife has seen the Gee's Bend quilt exhibit a couple of times and has met some of the quilters. If you haven't seen the exhibit, DO SO!!!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 12 Oct 06 - 11:15 AM

I dunno, Elmer:

Maybe you could take care of the Energizer bunny. Steal the little buggers batteries.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 12 Oct 06 - 04:24 PM

Oh, dem wabbits.

And if you go chasing rabbits
And you know you're going to fall
Tell 'em a hookah-smoking caterpillar
Has given you the call
Call Alice
When she was just small.

Gillian Welch does a GREAT cover of "White Rabbit," by the way. She brought down a house full of old hippies last winter with it. After a standing ovation, she remarked in a dry voice, "That ain't no hillbilly song."

The thread is drifting, drifting...more caffeine, tout de suite! Waiter, waiter, percolater!

Elmer

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 12 Oct 06 - 06:21 PM

"Packing up, getting ready to go"

That's what Ruth and I will be doing tomorrow morning. We're both too drained to start tonight. We're packing up to go out to Wisconsin, because my Mother is sitting on the curb, waiting for Jesus. Everyone there says that she is slipping fast. We just pray that she can hang on until we get out there, because she asked my sisters to tell me that she wanted to see me one last time. We're leaving Saturday morning, the first flight we could get, practically speaking. I'll have to count on you folks to keep the pot on while we're gone, and remember us during these difficult times.

And Wendy: I mailed the CD to you today..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Tootler
Date: 12 Oct 06 - 07:20 PM

I wish you a good trip Jerry. I reckon it's one of those journeys you have to make but wish you didn't. I hope you are able to get there in time to see your mother one last time.

On other matters. I gave my wife the Gee's bend link; she recognised some of the quilts as there had been an article on the Gee's Bend quilters in one of the quilt magazines over here.

Here in North East England, there is also a distinctive local tradition. Quilts were often made out of a single piece of material - "whole cloth quilts", or of strips of material sewn together "strippy quilts". In either case they were quilted with a series of traditional designs and patterns which are very much regional in style - often known as Durham quilts. There was a similar tradition in South Wales but the patterns were different. In Durham quilts the patterns are very flowing where the Welsh quilt patterns were more geometric. We have a strippy quilt made by my wife on our bed at the moment, it consists of alternate strips of purple and white materials and the strips are quilted with a series of feathers and whorls. I had a picture of a small wholecloth quilt my wife made but I think it is on a CD somewhere.

By the way, I thought a saw a rabbit eating a carrot disappearing round the corner.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Carly
Date: 12 Oct 06 - 07:47 PM

I'll be thinking of you and your family this weekend, Jerry. I do so hope that you have a chance to be with your mom before she leaves.

Carly

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 12 Oct 06 - 08:32 PM

Thoughts and prayers with you and your family, Jerry. Traveling mercies.

Elmer

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 12 Oct 06 - 09:05 PM

If you don't get there "in time", Jerry, you'll probably meet her on the way. The best of happy thoughts to both of you.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 12 Oct 06 - 09:23 PM

Thanks all: My Mother and I may be a thousand miles away, but we are together at the same time, and always will be. I am so pleased that I've been writing family memoirs these last few weeks and sharing them with my Mother. She can't see well enough to read, but she has an angel as her best friend, who has read to her every night. Yesterday, she was listening to the recent CD I did and sent to her. I'm glad that it got there in time for her to hear it. There are a few songs in there that I was sure that she'd enjoy.

As always, songs speak for me. And words to songs I wrote long ago come back as fresh as if they just came to me:

"And when my race here on earth is done
And all of my trials are through
May you praise me for a job well done
May I abide in you

   When I'm weary, Lord, give me rest
   When I'm lost, show me the way
   Cleanse my body, and my soul
   Grant me another day

A couple of days would be greatly appreciated. But not essential.

or..

"Some spend their lives in a search for power
Ignoring treasures time can't devour
All that I ask in my final hour
May my heart find rest in Thee

   And in the darkness, give me the eyes of faith
   In my sorrow, send down your healing grace
   And on my journey, may my path be straight
   May my heart find rest in thee"

Life is preparation, and out of kindness and love, we have been prepared.

and

"He will show comfort to those who mourn"

Thanks for your comforting concern.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 12 Oct 06 - 09:59 PM

Vaya con Dios, Jerry.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 13 Oct 06 - 12:14 AM

{{{{{{HUG}}}}}}}}

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 13 Oct 06 - 08:42 PM

Jerry--

Your music and your concern are the best gifts she could hope for from a son--and I'm sure she felt that way.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Joe Offer
Date: 13 Oct 06 - 09:16 PM

Well, I guess I'll just sit here at the table for a spell and think about Jerry and wish him well.
-Joe-

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 13 Oct 06 - 09:36 PM

Hey, Joe: Nice to see you drop by. I'm just sitting here doing bills before we leave in the morning so we have heat and electricity when we get back. I still have to finish packing and do a few other things, and we'll be getting up around 2:30 to head off to the airport.

Feeling very peaceful over here.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 13 Oct 06 - 10:28 PM

Did anyone take note of what Raptor said, over on Mum Esther's thread? He said that his mother is dying of cance of the throat. Raptor lost his wife - last year, was it? - and he must be having a hard time of it.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 15 Oct 06 - 02:23 PM

I picture us sitting here, lost in our own thoughts but here nonetheless. rising to put on a fresh pot...

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 15 Oct 06 - 03:09 PM

Can I sit in the corner, sip, and whimper? Too many good folks passing away these days, too many awful ones still around.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 15 Oct 06 - 04:35 PM

I agree with you, Rap. On the other hand, every time I hear of a 'good one', it reassures me that there are a lot more of them around than I feared.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 17 Oct 06 - 11:22 AM

Keeping the coffee on while you are away, Jerry, you and Ruth are in our thoughts.
Thank you for the CD it arrived yesterday and I really enjoyed listening to it.
Wendy

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Col K
Date: 17 Oct 06 - 06:33 PM

Just sitting here and thinking of friends who are no longer here, knowing that they will be all together now, possibly even thinking of us.
We all have family and friends who are no longer with us in body but I am sure that they are all somewhere in our minds.They can inspire us all if we care to let them.
I give thanks for all my friends both alive and dead, they all help me in many ways and all have had some part in making me what I am today.
All the Best
Colin

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 17 Oct 06 - 08:50 PM

The coffee doesn't taste quite as good without Jerry around. However, here's a post in the interest of keeping the table set and the pot going for when he gets back. He's going to need some java, or maybe some chicken soup. Lacking anything much in the way of original thinking--or any kind of thinking--at the end of a long day, here are a few quotes about jazz that struck a chord:

Jazz music is an intensified feeling of nonchalance. -- Fancoise Sagan

Don't play what's there, play what's not there. -- Miles Davis

We kept reading about rockets and jets and radar, and you can't play 4/4 music in times like that. -- Max Roach, about bebop

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 18 Oct 06 - 05:43 PM

Hi Elmer, your coffee is just as good, however you are right we are all thinking about, and missing, Jerry and Ruth.
Just sitting in the corner and thinking of friends and family no longer here, a good place to sit quietly and reflect, thanks Jerry, this kitchen table is such a good peaceful place,just made chocolate chip cookies...help yourselves!
Wendy

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: GUEST, Ebbie
Date: 18 Oct 06 - 05:50 PM

Yum, Wendy. My turn next time.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Tootler
Date: 19 Oct 06 - 10:46 AM

Thanks for the coffee, but I shall have to go. We're off to Belfast in the morning for a wedding on Saturday and will be away until next Thursday.

I'm looking forward to a few days break.

I'm sure you will all be here when I get back, so I will see you then.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 19 Oct 06 - 11:11 PM

Wow--I lovvvvvve freshly baked soft warm chocolate chip cookies!!!!! Haven't had any for quite a while--til now.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 20 Oct 06 - 12:24 AM

Chocolate chip--yum, My favorite too.
I'm hitting the road for a week or so as well, but can I pack up a few more of those cookies and a thermos of Joe for the car?

Elmer, with cookie crumbs on my chin

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 21 Oct 06 - 09:55 PM

Got back tonight and am tired.

Mom was cremated, so they didn't have the burial until yesterday afternoon. This morning I woke up and was lying in bed when this came to me:

Love Is not Like A Bicycle

Love is not like a bicycle
You can't sit on it and ride it
It is not of the physical world

Love may be expressed through words
But words are not love

Actions speak louder than words
But actions are not love

Love is not limited by time or space
Love is omnipresent

Love is God, as God is love
In loving, we touch divinity

On friday, October 13th, Mom died
But her love didn't die
Neither did our love for her

True love never dies

Catch you all tomorrow... I'm doing pretty good... had a very hard, but beautiful week.

Thanks for keeping the pot on..

Still Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 22 Oct 06 - 10:33 PM

Feels good being home. I've enjoyed reading the messages posted during my absence. Now I have a lot of catching up to do... NOMAD is coming up, right around the corner.

Anyone from the table going there? I don't think so, but it sure would be nice to see some of you.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 23 Oct 06 - 08:17 PM

Man! This thread is becoming my personal blog... maybe it's time to let it slip away into the ether.

I went to my first writing class today. I missed last week's class (the first) because I was in Wisconsin for my Mother's funeral. What an interesting collection of people in the class. There's a woman who is doing the geneology of her family: I asked her if she was just doing a family tree, or whether she was doing memoirs. Nope: she's doing a family tree... maybe toss in an anecdote though. There's another woman who is doing a memoir but is not using the real names of anyone in her family, and wants to write like Danielle Steele. Then there's a young man who wants to write an action novel. The other young man isn't sure yet, what he wants to write. The stuff he wrote in the first class and passed around to us was all about how he survived a serious accident, because he is such a party animal, and a sex machine. And he dares anyone to say he's not a man. And then there's me. As strange as the others, I guess.

This should be interesting. Maybe we could collaborate on a joint project.

Anyone else around?

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: wysiwyg
Date: 23 Oct 06 - 08:22 PM

Welcome home, Jerry. I know that the unfolding of your recent experience will continue for many weeks. Enjoy those flashes of memory and feeling as they arrive, and as they go along with you into your life as you live it.

~Susan

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 23 Oct 06 - 08:49 PM

Hi Jerry, so glad you are back,you are very much in our thoughts. tried to keep the coffee hot but we had a difficalt weekend, my ex husband and father of my two children died this morning, I spent the weekend with my daughter and new grand daughter as she was advised not to travel to be with her father by her doctor, while my son was with his father and today had to make all the arangements.I am so proud of my two children, in very emotional times they have been amazing, keeping step mother's feelings at the forefront, looking after my ex mother in law who is 97 and is deverstated by the loss of her son, but I am so aware that they have lost their father.
We are blessed that Billy has been in their lives for 25 years as the most wonderful stepdad and friend,he has understood their loss of a father and my loss of memories of happy times when I met their father and we had those two beautiful children.
Thank you for this table, please keep the coffee hot!
Wendy

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: jimmyt
Date: 23 Oct 06 - 08:55 PM

Jerry, Jayne and I just got back from England and Scotland and heard the news about your mom. SO very very sorry this has happened. You and Ms Ruth are in our thoughts and prayers. Jayne and I love you both and hope this tough time will pass and you will be OK. I know you will. Jerry, you are the guy who can always make lemonade regardless of the lemons life hands you. You are such an inspiration to not only us, but probably thousands of others that you have touched and continue to day by day. (HOw about this post and it is not even an even hundred?) Seriously, you da man. C ya soon. Jim and Jayne

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Carly
Date: 23 Oct 06 - 09:00 PM

Welcome back, Jerry. Thank you for your articulation of love. I am glad, and impressed, that you can live it as well as write about it.

We are busy here getting ready for the Getaway. Hopefully we won't have this schedule conflict with NOMAD for too long...When are we going to learn to clone ourselves for such occasions?

Anyone have any hot cocoa? It's geting chilly here in the south, and I feel a strong urge for chocolate coming on....

Carly

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 23 Oct 06 - 09:23 PM

Wow!

A flurry of friends! Good to see you all!

I've spent the evening cleaning my office and I have finally proven that yes, there is a floor! I know my desk is in here, somewhere.
My cousin is coming to visit tomorrow, and I'd like to at least give the illusion that I am well organized. Worse comes to worse, I'll just keep the door to my office closed. It's becoming a mystery room. I like to think that a messy office is the sign of a creative mind. Or at least, that's what I tell myself.

My cousin lives in California, and I've only seen him once (and briefly) since I was a teenager. I've written a song and rememberances about his Father, so it will be fun to share them with him.

Life is good.

How can I keep from typing?

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 23 Oct 06 - 09:36 PM

Hiya, Jerry. How's it going? Take it easy, day by day, from one who knows.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 23 Oct 06 - 10:47 PM

Thanks for the kind words, Susan. You too, Rap.

I have plenty to be excited about. NOMAD is right around the corner, and I'm especially looking forward to the Church And Street Corner Harmony workshop. Back in the days when I ran a concert series, at one time there were four other series going on within easy driving distance. Now, four of them are gone, and one has cut way back. And funny thing is, as you get older, distances get farther. Same thing happens with hearing: Have you noticed that people don't talk as loud as they used to?

Next year, we're really hoping to make the Getaway. We could do both, as NOMAD is almost withing walking distance of where I live... about ten miles away. If they're on different weekends, we may just do both. What a kick that would be?

Any festivals in Idaho?

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 23 Oct 06 - 11:12 PM

I'm so sorry to hear your news, Wendy! I would think that losing a son or daughter could be even harder than losing a parent. My Mother never lost her caring for her children, right up until the last moment. My oldest sister had a colostomy and was in the hospital for close to two months before Mom died. Hospice had predicted that my Mother wouldn't make it through the weekend, about the time that my sister went into the hospital. Mom stuck around. Kept her bags packed, but slid them underneath the bed.

A week ago last Thursday, my sister finally was able to go visit my Mother. She had planned to wait until Saturday, when her visiting health care service was finished, but her daughter stopped by and said, "We're going up to see Grandma!" I don't know who was happier to see the other, my Mother or my sister. That was on a Thursday afternoon. Mom had tried to hang on until she was sure that my sister was in the clear. Friday morning, she died. But not before she managed to utter one word: "Bess." Bess was her closest friend and she lived in the complex where my Mother lived. Mom wanted Bess to be with her when she died so once again, she waited until Bess could get there. When she saw Bess come in the door, she flashed a warm smile, reached up and held Bess's arm, and died.

The night my Mother died, a ceramic angel with inset white bulbs suddenly turned on by itself. No one was near the switch or the chord. They left the angel on and the next day when we got there and went to the room where Mom lived, the angel was still lit. No one wanted to turn it off.

We'll keep you and all of your family in prayer, Wendy.

Jerry & Ruth

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 24 Oct 06 - 12:45 AM

Lovely, Jerry.

Did I tell you- we too had an unusual experience two years ago when one of my sisters unexpectedly died.

(Right here I put in a long winded essay- which I just now took back out. That's a different story.)

What I wanted to tell you was that at the moment she died I was standing at one side of her bed, holding one of her hands, and my niece held her other hand at the other side of the bed.

The rest of the family were sitting against the wall at the foot of the bed. None of them was closer than 5 feet to the bed.

Suddenly - and I don't know whether it was after her last breath or before - but suddenly it was crowded at the bedside. I was not literally pushed but it felt like I was shouldered away very unceremoniously. All the attention was directed to my sister. I heard nothing, I saw nothing. In fact, for an instant I thought that my family had risen and was crowding us around the bed.

Then 'they' were gone and so was my sister.

Driving home with another sister she said hesitantly, I think I saw Mom just kind of swoop in and gather her up.

That's when I told her what I had perceived.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: jimmyt
Date: 24 Oct 06 - 04:52 AM

I hate to do this, but 1300!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 24 Oct 06 - 09:10 AM

Jerry, your office sounds like my living room - I know I have a carpet cos last week (or was it the week before?) I vacuumed. I don't have enough storage so stuff has to live in (neat) piles on the floor, but some stuff moves in mysterious fashions to new spots on the floor!

Library books are the main culprits - decades ago I tried to persuade colleague to return long-term loans to the library & drew little books with legs on the notice. Seems like those leggy books live here now.

It's been wonderful reading about your family. Thankyou for sharing your mother & memories.

sandra

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 24 Oct 06 - 09:40 AM

Ebbie, thank you for the story about your sister.My daughter had given her father a tiny crystal angel when he first became ill, during his last hours he asked his wife twice who the lady standing behind her was, but there was no one there,
Some years ago my daughter had major surgery and told us afterwards that the operating theatre was crowded with all her angels watching over her.
Since then she has given little crystal angels to all her loved ones, I keep my with me where ever I go.
Thanks for your kind thoughts Jerry, I am going to play your CD and have a mug of coffee.
Wendy

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 24 Oct 06 - 01:03 PM

Further to the story, this was the sister who was brain damaged at birth. She learned to read and write but in later years she became very hard of hearing and her eyesight failed so her world got smaller and smaller as time went on. I'm glad that Mom was there!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 25 Oct 06 - 12:49 PM

Aw shucks, how did I miss even getting close to 1300? I've been off chasing wabbits again, far from hearth and home.

Lots of thoughts, I see, about messages from loved ones at the moment they die or soon after. When my father died after a miserable year of illness, the next day I felt his presence near me, radiating light. I'm not one who looks for ooga-booga phenomena, and was much too exhausted at that moment to have an active imagination. So I do believe it was a real feeling of his presence. He was like a happy, hyperactive kid, bouncing off the walls and ceiling and doing cartwheeels and somersaults. I felt that he was letting me know how happy he was to be free from his tired, sick, painful, old body.

Elmer

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 25 Oct 06 - 02:18 PM

hahhahah I love it, Elmer.

I had a similar but rather bizarre experience once. A long story - but the upshot of having 'put down' a dog that was in miseries was that on my way home alone, this same dog was bouncing around in the back seat, barking happily at all that we passed. Kept me grinning all the way home.

??

There's an awful lot that we don't know - I love the mysteries.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 25 Oct 06 - 02:44 PM

And then there was the brilliantly sunny day when I was walking across the campus of Hunter College in the Bronx, where I was teaching. As I approached the heavy glass door to the building, it opened, and I walked through. It wasn't until I stepped through the doorway that I realized that there was no one in sight. It wasn't an automatic door, and I'd pulled that door open countless times in the previous months. The door was inset, so there was no way a gust of wind could have blown it open, even if it was a windy day. Which it wasn't. And then, this shiver crossed over my body.
Someone was still sucking up to the teachers, trying to get a passing grade.

Yikes!!!!!!!


Ooooooweeeeeeee!

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 25 Oct 06 - 03:10 PM

When my mother died I was living in Ohio, near Akron. I'd spoken to her on the phone and with my siblings, of course. And then, at 2 a.m. EST, I woke up. My wife asked, "Mike, what's wrong?" and I replied, "Mom's dead."

Then the phone rang.

Later, I learned that my brother Ted was with her when she she died, and he left to get my brother and sister. One was already halfway to the room and the other was just leaving the "family room" down the hall. My other brother detoured to call me.

I just accept what happened, I don't try to explain it.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 25 Oct 06 - 03:14 PM

{{{{{hugs}}}}}

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 25 Oct 06 - 04:34 PM

At a time of deep depession many years ago, I was walking in downtown Stamford, where I was living. Suddenly I heard the voice of a little girl singing. I looked up and there she was, skipping down the sidewalk singing "A mighty fortress is our God." I caught my breath, and turned around to see where she was, as she had just skipped past me. There was no one on the street.

A few weeks later, I was walking down that same street and when I came to the spot where I'd seen the young girl, I thought about her. At that moment, the carillon tower in the church up the street suddenly started playing A Mighty Fortress Is Our God.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 25 Oct 06 - 10:25 PM

This kind of thing is what makes me KNOW that the cynics and nay-sayers really don't have a clue. Their stance doesn't make me angry though- I think that when they need the experience they too will see.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 27 Oct 06 - 10:38 AM

OOh the coffee has gone cold, putting a new pot on, Danish pastry anyone?

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Carly
Date: 27 Oct 06 - 11:41 AM

At least twice during my life I should have died. Once I was saved by my intellegent, observant husband Dean,and the miracle that, although we were hundreds of miles away from home, and anything familiar to us, we were very close to an excellent hospital that happened to have experts on call who understood my unusual problem. Even they, however, felt I was lucky to survive.
The other time, I was saved by a dream (a long, complicated tale.) Am I just lucky? Is someone watching over me? Do I have powers I don't understand? I cannot answer these questions, but I choose to believe that these experiences were gifts, and that I still had things to do in my life, so I'd best get on with it.

Please pass the pastry. Thanks.

Carly

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 27 Oct 06 - 11:57 AM

Hey, Wendy:

Don't mind if I do (although I'll pass on the Danish pastry.) I ate so many that I was in danger of becoming one, being Danish and all.

I'm taking this writing class and the teacher encouraged me to come up with a title for my book of memoirs, photographs and songs. Something catchy. I was having a conversation with Elmer Fudd and he mentioned how much he enjoyed my comment about my father never learning to tie a necktie. And a title presented itself. And a Forward to the book. This is it: first draft.

No Ties In Heaven

I grew up in the land of Oshkosh B'Gosh. The only bibs that you'd see at the kitchen table were on overalls. And people stil said "gosh," and "gollee." When my Father was really impressed about something, he'd say "Goll!" and drop the "ee."

When it came time for me to have my high school graduation picture taken there was only one problem. I didn't own a white shirt or tie. Worse yet, I had to stop and think for a minute who knew how to tie a necktie. My brother-in-law Ed came to the rescue. He grew up in Milwaukee where they wore ties, and he taught me the intricacies of getting a nice, tightly-tied knot on a tie. I tried to pass that new-found knowledge on to my Father, but he never got the knack of it. Once a tie was tied, he couldn't see any sense in untying it. He'd just loosen the tie and slip it over his head and hang it up, ready to wear the next time an occasion arose to wear it.

Friday nights, walking the streets of Janesville, Wisconsin where I grew up, you'd see a sea of blue jeans. The young men argued endlessly about which jeans were better: Levi's or Wranglers, while the farmers and the men who worked at "The Plant," (General Motors) preferred Oshkosh B'Gosh bib overalls. There were no "Dress Down" Fridays. Life was "Dress Down."

Walking down those same streets these days, you won't meet many people. They'll all be out at the Mall, or at the local Walmart or Target out on the "strip" on Milton Avenue. And any kids you see will be slouching along in clothes six sizes too big, inadvertently "Mooning" the people on the street every time they lean over. Occasionally, you'll see someone in bib overalls with a snow white crew cut. They'll most likely be having breakfast at McDonald's with the "boys", where they linger over a McMuffin and a paper cup of coffee, wisecracking and harmlessly flirting with the "girls" who are having their own little Koffee Klatch within earshot.

Over the years, I've talked with family members, long-since gone now, about what it was like when they were growing up. I've tried
to capture the sights and sounds of those days on paper and in songs. I wasn't interested in casting a nostalgic sheen over those times, or glamorizing the "Good Old Days." As I wrote in a song "For the good old days are still to come, though the hard times are not over." I just wanted to remember how life was like in the slow lane when milk was delivered by horse and wagon and ice boxes graced every kitchen.

And I think about my Mom and Dad and the times that they grew up in. I know that Mom was overjoyed to finally make it to Heaven to be reunited with her Mother and my Father. And Dad must have been relieved to find out that they don't wear ties in Heaven.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Carly
Date: 27 Oct 06 - 10:59 PM

They better not wear ties in heaven, or I don't know where my husband will land. He managed a long career as a scientist without owning a tie or a dress jacket, never mind a suit. He says that they are just plain silly and uncomfortable, and that anyplace that requires a tie is somewhere he would probably not want to be, anyway! Of course, I'm a fine one to talk. I will no longer wear high-heeled shoes for love or money. I don't care how nice they are supposed to make your legs look, walking in them is painful.

Carly

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 28 Oct 06 - 04:13 AM

I have a colleague who never wears a tie or suit. He's gone up the management tree by ability, & passes interviews without dressing up. He just wears his normal casual coloured shirts, & trousers & does not try to impress by dressing differently. He does not own a business shirt, or sports jacket, and certainly not a tie.

When his mother re-married & he said he was giving he bride away, I was very pleased to find out that he just wore his normal gear! Mother might have worn a pretty dress, but son was just himself.

I've never worn high heels as my feet could never cope with them. When I was at school I used to get pissed off I couldn't wear what everyone else was wearing. Today I just buy the comfortable lines that take orthotics & look in horror at the flimsy expensive stuff fashionable women wear.

Today I was listening to a young woman telling her friend that she had worn her lovely white court shoes as she did not expect to be walking too much. She was hobbling along with a bright pink band-aid sticking out over her heel.

sandra

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 28 Oct 06 - 08:26 AM

I can see that there's a woman's side to this issue. Maybe I could use the title "No High Heels In Heaven." I must admit that my Mother wore low high heels when she dressed up. She was just five feet tall, and at least she could see over stuff a little better.
Maybe "In The Land Of Oshkosh B'Gosh" is a better title. I have no idea what the female counterpart of that would be.

I find it humorous that the brand name Oshkosh B'Gosh is upscale and trendy now. Oshkosh B'Gosh just made bib work overalls when I was a kid. Now, the fancy stores will sell you designer Oshkosh B'Gosh bib overalls for your baby. And, down at Walmart's you can buy cheap Chinese copies of work overalls with a strap on the side to carry your hammer. Sixteen year old boys buy them so big they can hardly keep them from falling off when they walk, and they probably don't even know what a hammer is.

Life gets weirder by the moment.

(Now there's a good title for you..)

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 28 Oct 06 - 11:01 AM

In the land of (insert name of favourite catalogue) ??

I've got a little striped OshKosh B'Gosh teddy in my collection. I'd admired him & his fellows in their verey trendy (ie. expensive) window but couldn't even think of spending a fortune on a piece of babies' clothing just to get the FREE teddy. Besides I don't know any baby who needs designer gear, however cute it might be.

One day I saw the bear in my favourite charity shop for 50 cents, so did not hesitate to buy this free bear.

sandra

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 29 Oct 06 - 10:56 AM

It's a beautiful morning. We're having crisp, clear weather right now. My little Cairn terrier loves the frost-prickly grass and rubs her nose in the stubbly blades. When the snow comes, she'll be ready to tunnel.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 29 Oct 06 - 08:21 PM

Hey, Ebbie:

While we venture into other threads, it's always nice to drop by in here.

This Tuesday is Halloween... something that my only be celebrated in the U.S.A. (do they celebrate Halloween in Hawaii and Alaska?) All it would take is to move the date a few days and we could celebrate Halloween and vote on the same day. Think of the possibilities!!
I really love seeing all the kids come to the door... we get close to 100 every year. And, there are always a few dogs in costume, which really cracks me up. I've got to remember to pick up some doggie treats before Tuesday.

Three years ago, we had a group of folks from the Shellback Chorus from England spend Halloween with us, and it was my favorite Halloween of all. They had just finished up singing on tour and had a couple of extra days.

This coming weekend is NOMAD around here... we're only fifteen minutes from New Haven, where we're holding NOMAD now, and I can hardly wait. I hope that the attendance isn't down because of the conflict with the Getaway. It'll be good to see old friends, and make some new ones. I've been dusting off old songs for the workshop Songs From The Attic, that I'm doing with Barbara and Frank Shaw, and having a lot of fun. I must admit that I have to stumble my way through the songs a few times before all of the lyrics come back. I'm glad that we're doing the workshop, because some of the old songs should never be forgotten. Among others, I'm dusting off Three Nights Drunk, Old Man At The Mill, Lord Thomas and Fair Ellender, Penny's Farm and a couple of songs I wrote so many years ago that they almost seem tradtional to my ears.

It should be a great weekend. I know it will be a great one at the Getaway, too. Plenny a tales to tell next week.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: GUEST
Date: 30 Oct 06 - 06:08 PM

Hi Jerry
yes we celebrate "All Hallows Eve" in the UK followed by " All Saints Day" on Novenber 1st. Halloween and trick or treat is catching on here in a small way, however the fireworks fortnight is well under way...when I was young bonfire night on November 5th celebrated the Guy Fawkes conspiricy when they tried to blow up the English parliament, for one night we burnt the "Guy" on a bonfire had fireworks, potatoes in the fire, and a great party night, now it goes on for 2 weeks, fireworks started last night,glad I no longer have pets, at least when it was one night we could keep the dogs and cats in on the night , now they suffer for days
ran out of Danish, back to chocolate chip cookies
Wendy

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: GUEST,billybob
Date: 30 Oct 06 - 06:37 PM

OOOH Hello, that guest was me!what is going on... mind you I am a luddite at heart.I will try and find out where I have gone? Was it the chocolate chip "cookie" that did it?
Wendy

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 30 Oct 06 - 07:22 PM

ok, just found myself again,these computers really do stretch the mind of an aromatherapist But had a hot coffee and a cookie.Thank you.
Its late here, Billy is asleep,in front of the TV.

We have a long two days ahead of us, we are going to my first husbands funeral,a five hour drive then overnight in an hotel and the service the next day. I often wonder why in the UK we take so long? He died a week ago and it is a tiny country compared to The USA , yet it is often more than a week before the funeral
.
Sunday, my son and daughter with girlfriend and husband came for lunch with my parents and brother, and the beautiful granddaughter who slept and smiled through the day. That made the time go, and for my children , gave them a respite from the day to come.

I guess a mothers love is unconditional, how I wish I could protect them from sorrow and grief,and if I am honest, all the memories I have of 35 years ago?
However I will be in the hotel with Scarlett and look forward to her future and not think of the past.
Sorry folks,bit sad tonight, more coffee please,
Wendy

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 30 Oct 06 - 07:26 PM

That's interesting. How about Halloween in the UK? Is it considered an American import--and therefore suspect? Is there a sense that Guy Fawkes Day traditions are under pressure?

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 30 Oct 06 - 08:08 PM

As Oz is a clone of the US we get (some) Halloween cards & thingies, & bits of Halloween celebrations around the place. Some kids dress up & trick or treat, tho not around my area!

I live in Sydney's "entertainment" area (ie - bars & strip clubs & drugs) with the greatest concentration of population in Oz - we have very few houses here, most residences are in 3 to 38 story blocks in our small area.

sandra

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 30 Oct 06 - 09:41 PM

Wendy, we be mysterious critters, aren't we. Baby yourself for awhile.


Jerry, I got your CD yesterday and I'm playing it for the third time today. It's going to be a favorite of mine.

Have to ask: Is it OK with you if I learn a few of the songs and teach them to my singing partner? I will always credit you.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 30 Oct 06 - 10:00 PM

Hey, Ebbie:

Thanks. I wrote the songs to be sung. Be my guest. It would please me greatly if you learned any of them.

Today in writing class our teacher read a short section from the book "Writing Down The Bones" by Natalie Goldberg. In it, the author was encouraging writers to write about every day objects and experiences. It is a good way to see. (I'm very big on learning to see.) Immediately after the commentary, she asked me what I had brought to class that I had just written. (She had asked me to write something relating to one of my songs, as she wanted to play a song from one of my CDs.) As it turned out, I had written about Old Blue Suit. How mundane can you get? I remember the first time that I sang that song, it was for Ed Trickett at a FOlk Legacy festival. We were just sitting around, playing stuff, and I did Old Blue Suit. Ed was really excited about it, which I found very mystifying. Sheesh! It's just about an old suit!! He dragged Gordon Bok and Annie Muir in to hear the song, and they ended up recording it on Annie's solo album for Folk Legacy. That song, and Handful Of Songs are the two most requested songs of all the ones that I've written. Handful Of Songs talks about my Grandfather's hammer and his old railroad watch with the casing all worn, and my Grandmother's bible. Truth is, we are awash in the ordinary. It's people we love who make them treasures to us.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 31 Oct 06 - 06:35 PM

Talkin' 'bout that dog! Where did that one come from?

By the way, 'Writing Down the Bones' is one of my favorites of Natalie Goldberg's.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 31 Oct 06 - 08:27 PM

I learned Tennessee Dog from an old recording that my friend Pat Conte taped for me. The record was done by a black prisoner. Not much market for selling dogs in prison.. Pat is playing the guitar track, with me on banjo. I miss the space to write notes that I had when I released lps. Guess I'd better do a couple of pages of comments to send along with the CDs.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: jimmyt
Date: 31 Oct 06 - 10:48 PM

Jerry, you are the master of taking the ordinary and making poetry from it!   You are da man!   jimmyt   ( and this is not even a hundred post)

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 31 Oct 06 - 10:51 PM

Hey, Jimmy:

Good to see you. Spent this evening thoroughly enjoying the trick or treaters for Halloween (a record 132 kids this year) and playing guitar. This Saturday afternoon, the Gospel Messengers and the a capella doo wop group: The Sentinels will be doing the Church and Street Corner Harmony workshop at NOMAD. Sure wish you could be there!

Maybe next year..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 01 Nov 06 - 10:35 PM

Someday I'll get out East and get to meet folks. Nowadays when I go East it's a family thing.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 01 Nov 06 - 10:53 PM

That would be great, Rap:

Last week, a cousin of mine who lives in Monterray (sp?) Came to visit us. I'd only seen him once (very briefly) since I was a teenager. And that was probably twenty years ago. When I saw him. Not when I was a teenager. His Partner (Do they call the Podnuh's) out your way, Rap?) has a daughter who lives a half an hour away from here, and they come out to visit her and their grandchildren a couple of times a tear, so it looks like we'll get to know them after all these years.

Talked to my sisters today and asked them about their remebrances of Christmas. I've been writing about mine... will excerpt some of them in here when I clean them up a little. Grammar, that is. My sister who is 4 years older than me pretty much remembers things the way that I do, but sister who is 5 years older has no remembraances of Christmas as a kid. That astonished me. How could you NOT remember what Christmas was like when you were a lid? She doesn't remember her childhood at all until High School. So, I'm telling her about her childhood.

Odd.

Tonight, I had practice with the Messengers and we dusted off No Room At The Inn: an old Mahalia Jackson song that I lead as if I was channeling Gene Vincent. We'll do it this weekend at NOMAD and as many times as we sing during the Christmas season. It's a great song. The last verse is:

   "The bellboy and the porter, the waitress and the cook
    Will be witnesses up in Heaven to all the things it took
    When she was turned away, and had no place to stay
    For there was no room, no room at the inn"

I think that it's great how a black gospel song can place an old story in contemporary surroundings, as if Joseph and Mary were trying to check in at a seedy hotel in Baltimore. Maybe driving an old Ford Pinto.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 02 Nov 06 - 01:19 AM

Howdy y'all. I just got back home after a wild adventure in the wild west. I was driving down that long, lonesome freeway, singing the blues along with the radio in the proverbial middle of nowhere--fields of fodder as far as the Fudd could follow--when the "check engine" light started blazing brightly in the darkness. Holy smokes! Should I pull over instantly--and me without a cell phone?--or should I take a chance and look for a call box or a town or something? An exit loomed. I rolled off the freeway just as the engine stalled and plumes of smoke rose dramatically from under the hood.

I found a phone booth and called a soothing voice at Roadside Assistance who in turn called a tow truck. What just happened to be driving off the same exit in search of a gas station but the very tow truck. The guy loaded up the smoking car and took us both to a garage.

The folks at the garage worked valiantly to save its life, but ultimately pronounced the car dead.

The owner offered me a lift home. That sounds like a nice gesture, right? "A lift home" entailed a three-hour drive! He absolutely insisted upon doing it, and waxed eloquent on the laws of karma, how all men are brothers, and the necessity of unconditional love for all human beings for the entire three hours. He treated the whole drive as a big, exciting adventure. He brushed away my many expressions of gratitude.

I feel stupified and stupid, and as if I have been in someone else's movie.

Please pass the coffee and a cinnamon roll.

Elmer

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 02 Nov 06 - 07:53 AM

I've have friends who drive me home, always out of their way, some only go a bit out of their way, others go a lot further out of their way.

None will accept petrol money, because as they all say, they are going that way (really, thru the CBD traffic????? surely not) and it's not out of the way, and they would be driving my way, anyway .....

There are a lot of lovely folks in this world.

sandra

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 02 Nov 06 - 09:38 AM

Glad to have you back, Elmer:

And not a minute to soon. The Wabbits are getting mighty bold around here. One came to the door on Halloween, dressed like a duck and asked for a carrot. The carrot really gave him away, although I must admit that I never hear a quack that sounded like that.

We set a record for kids on Halloween this year. We had 132 kids. Actually, we had 131 kids and one wabbit.

Welcome back.

You wascal, you!

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 03 Nov 06 - 09:33 PM

Slow times at the table:

These last few days have been reallll busy around here, so it's nice to just stop by for a while to see how everyone is doing. Tomnorrow is NOMAD, and I'm really looking forward to it. I imagine that between the Getaway and Nomad, the Cat is going to eb even slower than usual this weekend. Then, there'll be all sorts of threads talking about what a great time we had this weekend. The Getaway dwarfs NOMAD because it is so much larger, but both festivals are great fun. Maybe I'll have to check into NEFFA next year. Never been there.

I received an e-mail today that starting as of tomorrow, my Handful Of Songs CD will be on cdBaby. They're very generous about giving samples of the songs that are 2 minutes long. Most of my songs are less than three minhutes long, and they have posted samples of every song on the album, so it's possible to almost hear the whole album there. If you haven't heard my music, that's an easy way to hear what I sound like.

Hope everyone is doing fine. I realize that every-day demands make dropping by a little difficult at times (as it does for me.) But, it sure is nice to touch base every few days.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 05 Nov 06 - 12:41 PM

Hi folks,
back at the table. It s November 5th , Guy Fawlkes Day here at last, 2 weeks of fireworks should finish tonight,they seem bigger and louder every year.
Ebbie I am enjoying the baby, I looked after her in the hotel while Billy and my son and daughter went to my ex husbands funeral, Scarlett and I did well,I think she was humouring me a little, laughed when I threw the new diaper in the bin instead of the used one, and didnot complain when I struggled to get her dressed to go and see the family after the service.She slept for the five hours on the journey home , bless her heart.
On the Wednesday morning my son drove me into the Peak District National Park , we walked in the Goyt Valley by the resevoir and waterfalls, the trees were all red and orange in autumn glory. This is a part of England I am unfamiliar with, very beautiful.
Back home now we have suddenly gone into winter, we have been blessed with hot weather till last Tuesday, now we have cold days and frost in the mornings, winter coat and boots! Hot coffee, thanks.
Wendy

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 05 Nov 06 - 08:54 PM

Thanks for dropping by, Wendy. It's getting a little nippy here in Connecticut, too. Ruth and I are figuring out how to keep warm on on early morning walks. After the first five minutes of walking, your body heat takes over. It's finding that balance that keeps you warm enough those first five minutes but not sweating to death after.

We had a wonderful time at NOMAD, but I think I'll start a little thread on that in the music section. As so often happens, something went wrong, and made everything turn out even better.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 06 Nov 06 - 01:44 AM

Heya--welcome baaaccck. Just found a quote that I can't plug into any other thread (well, probably could, but not a thread that's in a safe neighborhood) so I'm-a gonna drop it here because it's just so cool:

You can safely assume that you've created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do. --Anne Lamott

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 06 Nov 06 - 01:53 AM

That's a great one, Elmer Fudd.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 06 Nov 06 - 05:33 AM

Too many noisy folks assume they have a direct line to God & forget if they are pointing at others they have 3 fingers pointing back at themselves.

I was playing Rick Fielding's 'Lifeline' yesterday & love the line from 'If Jesus was a Picker' - "Don't mess with that guy Swaggart; my instruction book is free"

sandra

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 06 Nov 06 - 06:56 AM

Great quote, Elmer: If you think God thinks the way you think, there's something wrong with you're thinking. I can't believe in a God that isn't smarter than me.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Carly
Date: 07 Nov 06 - 03:14 PM

Aaah, I'm finally home. The Getaway was lovely, I had a terrific time, but I'll be glad to sleep in my own bed tonight. Much as I enjoy the adventures in my life, it seems as though at heart I am a real homebody; it feels good to be home. Tea, anyone?

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 08 Nov 06 - 10:43 AM

So, what did the Junco say to the Robin? (this is for North America Catters.) "What you doin', still here!"

In the northern part of the U.S., the first Robin is considered a sign of Spring. (The American Robin isn't anything like the English robin, by the way.) The Robin has even been immortalized in song "When the red, red Robin comes bob bob bobbin' along." The Junco is a northern North America bird and migrates south as winter approaches. That's given the Junco the nickname,
"Snow Bird." Anne Murray had a hit song about a Snowbird (She's Canadian..)

Check out time for the Robins is about now, and they're gathering in flocks, here in Connecticut, preparing for their flight south. Yesterday, I saw some newly arrived Juncos feeding on the same lawn as a flock of Robins, and I wondered what their conversation would be like.

Next Spring, the Robins will be back... usually before the last snow fall. You'll see them shivering in the hedge rows, looking for an overlooked barberry. Robins eat worms, and there aren't many worms avaiable, with snow on the ground. The Juncos haven't left yet, so there is another conversation that goes on in the Spring.

When both birds are around, you can expect just about any kind of weather. We haven't had any snow yet, and probably won't for awhile. But, when I see snowbirds at the feeder, I know it's not far away.

How you people doing up there in Maine? You must have seen the snow birds weeks ago, as they work their way down from Canada.

Just remember, everywhere is south of something.

Except for the South pole.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: GUEST
Date: 08 Nov 06 - 11:56 AM

Hi Jerry
we had the most beautiful woodpecker in the garden on Sunday morning , very pale green with a bright red head,he came up very close to the house till he was chased off by a squirrel, we have also had Jays in the oak tree.
Weather yesterday was foggy and today very grey and chilly, my pet hate is the dark evenings, it gets dark around 4 now we have put the clocks back, I hate going home from the salon in the dark and walking into a dark house, roll on summer and long evenings in the garden with a glass of chilled wine.Hot chocolate tonight with marshmallows!
Wendy

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 08 Nov 06 - 06:31 PM

It was 94 degrees here today! Three woodpeckers were outside the kitchen window--I love the chirrruping sound they make. However, the most unusual visitor from the animal kingdom was a cat with lovely big, black-and-white splotches. She appeared in the front yard and made a beeline for my feet. She proceeded to roll all over them, scent-marking my toes and ankles by head-butting them. It took a long time to walk back to the house. The cat made a dive for the door and inspected the entire house (not that there's much to inspect), meowing and escaping my grasp at every turn. She looked to be well cared-for and not a stray. I finally grabbed her and carried her, purring ferociously, to the door. As soon as I plunked her down she tore between my legs and back into the house. I finally left the front door open and let her have the run of the place until she satisfied her curiosity and left in her own good time and on her own four feet.

Elmer

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Tootler
Date: 08 Nov 06 - 07:30 PM

Elmer, you need to realise that cats do just exactly as they please. We have two and believe me, they just do exactly as they please.

Change of subject

I was driving up to Newcastle last Saturday when I saw a kestrel stoop for prey on the median strip of the road. You quite often see kestrels hovering above roads here, but it was the first time I had seen one actually dive. I don't think it was successful, but it was certainly quite exciting to see. Unfortunately at 70mph, you can't take your eyes off the road for too long so I couldn't follow it after it flew up again.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 08 Nov 06 - 07:46 PM

All I could hear was it muttering "Damn" under it's breath, as it flew away.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 08 Nov 06 - 10:09 PM

My most vivid memory of robins is of a flock who would annually appear to get plastered on the rotting pyracanthra (sp?) berries in front of my parents' house. They would fly around in wild swoops and dives, chirping madly, and occasionally they would take unsteady aim at the living room, only to loudly bonk their heads on the picture window that lay between them and their goal. The birds seemed to survive their head-on collisions with the window, and it was a hoot to watch them.

Happened every single year.

Elmer.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 09 Nov 06 - 08:44 AM

Still writing, and as we are approaching the season, I thought that I'd post this. I wouldn't be comfortable posting this in the wilds of Mudcat, because it might be offensvie to those who think that any expression of faith is a judgment of others. But, this is the kitchen table and hopefully we can all relax and just be who we are. That's the way it is at our house where we have Atheists, Agnostics, Catholics, Baptists and Muslims gathered around the table together for Christmas.

T'was The Night Before Christmas

"T'was the night before Christmas" and we'd already opened our presents. Forget the dancing sugar plums. If you ever wondered how Santa Clause could deliver presents to all the kids on earth in one night, he got a running start by bringing all the kids in the Midwest their presents early on Christmas Eve. In our house, Christmas Eve started the minute we finished wolfing down our supper. It was the one time of year when I was thankful that we had supper at 4 o'clock.

Before I was school age, Santa came to our house every Christmas Eve. He didn't come down the chimney. If he had, he'd end up in our coal furnace and it wouldn't just be his suit that was red. He boldly walked through our front door. Not that I'd ever really seen him come into the house. But my Dad did.

After supper, Dad would hide behind the living room davenport, and Mom would herd my sisters and I down onto the basement stairs and then close the door behind us. For some unknown reason, Dad always got to hide behind the davenport, so that he could see Santa Clause when he came in. As soon as the basement door was closed, Dad would quietly sidle out from behind the davenport and tiptoe across the room and into the bedroom where our presents were carefully hidden in our one closet. He'd quickly carry them into the living room and place them haphazardly under the Christmas tree. When the presents were all under the tree he would tiptoe across the living room floor and into the dining room and careflly open the front door. With a sigh of relief, he would softly stroll out to the front of the porch and pause for a moment. Coming back into the hourse, Dad was Santa Clause. No need for a suit or a cotton-ball beard. The only one who could see him was him. As he came striding across the front porch, he'd stompthe non-existent snow off of his non-=existent boots and when he opened the front door he'd call out a "Ho!,Ho!,Ho!" in his best Santa-voice. Once inside the house he'd make a lot of fuss in the living room, as if he was unloading presents from his sack. All the time, I was hunched breathlessly behind the basement door, visualizing every move. When the presents were in place, Santa didn't have to stop and eat a plate full of cookies and drink a glass of milk on the way out. We never left anything for him. We didn't want Santa to stick around, once he'd delivered our presents. Besides, he would preferred a cold Pabst Blue Ribbon, but that would have blown his cover. As Dad headed noisily out the front door he'd call over his shoulder, "Ho!, Ho!, Ho!, and a Merry Christmas t all! and stomp his way across the front porch only to once again pause there. Then, it was a matter of sneaking back into the house without our hearing him so that he could hide behind the davenport. Mom always gave him enough time by telling us that we couldn't come out until we were sure he was gone, or we'd scotch the whole deal."

Continued

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 09 Nov 06 - 09:00 AM

continued:

When all was quiet, Mom would cuatiously open the door, and we'd all burst into the living room. Or, at least I would burst. I'd be full of excitement, and start grilling dad about what he'd seen.

"Did you see him, Dad?"
"Oh yeah, I peeked around the corner of the davenport when he was putting the presents under the tree, " he'd answer.
Did you see his renideer?"
"Naw, I couldn't see them from behind the davenport, but I heard their bells when they took off."

That was enough for me. It never occurred to me to ask the really hard questions like: "If he had all that snow on his boots, how come he didn't track any into the house? Mom would have had a fit!" Or, "How come there aren't any tracks in the snow in our front yard?" By then, the only question I had was "Can we open the presents, now?"

When I got older and realized that Santa Clause was my Mom and Dad, and I had been lovingly duped: not just by Mom and Dad, but by my sisters, Christmas took on more meaning. One thing about Mom, though. She always made it clear that Christmas wasn't just about getting presents. The most important thing was that it was a time to celebrate the birth of the baby Jesus. Those first few years, Santa Clause and the baby Jesus got along real well together, and I loved them both. It wasn't until I was four or five that I realized that only Jesus was real."

(Just my belief, folks...)

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Tootler
Date: 09 Nov 06 - 07:06 PM

All I could hear was it muttering "Damn" under it's breath, as it flew away.

LOL. It must have had a penetrating voice then to carry 3000+ miles :-)

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 09 Nov 06 - 09:17 PM

And talk about way cool! I've been asked if I'd like to play guitar for the a capella group, the Sentinels, who shared to NOMAD workshop with the Messengers. They're a very well known group on the East Coast and travel all over the place, opening for major acts.

We could practice here at the house. We live on a corner, and there's a street light right outside of our house.

Dip, Dip, Dip, Dip, nume, nume, nume, nume..

Where is JimmyT when I need him?

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 12 Nov 06 - 04:06 PM

Baby, baby, baby, where did our thread go?

Well, all that brilliance and erudition by Rev. Rasmussen is a hard act to follow. So I will do the only thing possible, taking a hint from the inimitible Professor Noveschevsky: PLAGIARIZE!

Nawwww, credit where credit is due: the underappreciated author of "Archie and Mehitabel," Don Marquis, wrote:

"AN IDEA IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR THE PEOPLE WHO BELIEVE IN IT."

Now, is that a cool quote or what???!!!!

Elmer

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: GUEST,pattyClink
Date: 12 Nov 06 - 09:58 PM

Love this thread, I just stand at the door occasionally and hear what goes on.   The traffic has slowed so much....I just have to pipe up and say, this thread has got way too big to load and scroll, and I'm on fast broadband, saints help the slow connectors. Why not start Kitchen Table II, or Backyard Fence, or Shady Porch?

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 12 Nov 06 - 10:33 PM

Thanks for the perspective, Patty. I'd start a new thread but I've enjoyed this one so much that I feel paternalistic about it. Hmmm.. is there such a word as paternalistic? If there isn't there is now.
While I'm at it, how about honoring Animal Wifery? Why should it always be Animal Husbandry?

Yeah, that's a great quote, Elmer. Funny, I was thinking I should stop in an put on a new pot of coffee, and I find you and Patty sitting at the table. What is that about great minds running in the same circles? I think I must have gotten that one wrong.

Peas Porridge cold may taste great when it's in the pot for nine days, but coffee doesn't.

Truth is, I've been having such a great time these days that I don't get in here as much as I want to. I just had a wonderful, wonderful phone call from my youngest son and am bubbling over.

Feeling Paternalistic!

Kids are worth it.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 13 Nov 06 - 01:10 AM

Patty Clink, do you click on the small 'd' in the numbers column? That way it will only load 50 posts at a time, no matter how long the thread gets.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 13 Nov 06 - 02:04 AM

Also, if you click on the small "d" after the number of posts, it starts with the most recent post and goes backwards through the posts. Very handy-dandy.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: GUEST,pattyclink
Date: 13 Nov 06 - 03:36 PM

Thanks elmer and ebbie, I have done that but reading posts from bottom to top makes me crazy.    Well, it was just a thought. Carry on!
Jerry, glad you are busy and happy.
I have had the great luxury today of having a half-clean house and a day off work and have been digging through old song books for new songs to learn. I gotta do this more often.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 13 Nov 06 - 06:16 PM

I believe the word you want is "paternal," Jerry, not "paternalistic." The former means "fatherly," and the latter has some negative connotations that definitely don't apply.

I've been sitting for hours, doing some very detailed work that requires a steady hand (no, not quite brain surgery) and listening to loud, raucous music in the form of Stevie Ray Vaughan. Don't know why, but lately I'm attracted to music that rocks the rafters when I do sit-down, detailed projects.

Am I reverting to a second teenager-hood (doing homework with music at full blast--the radio in my day--probably iPods today)? Does anyone else have such propensities?

Elmer

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: frogprince
Date: 13 Nov 06 - 06:40 PM

I've also spent some pleasant moments lately leaning by the door with Pattyclink, just listening to folks here. I tend to be that way in the "3-D" world too. And, just like in that other world, when I finally speak up, it's apt to be to say something stupid. So I just have to ask Jerry if I heard him right when he said,
"I've been asked if I'd like to play guitar for the a capella group, the Sentinels".
How many other players in their backup band?
                            Dean.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 13 Nov 06 - 07:48 PM

LOL Frogprince. If they take me on, they can kiss a capella goodbye. In honesty, I don't know why the would like to do that, because they are spendid, as is. Maybe they haven't thought it out clearly. Or more likely, they're not a capella by choice. My wife and I went to a doo wop concert last year, where they performed. It was a great evening with close to 4,000 people in attendence. The headliners were the Satins (for legal reasons, they can't be the 5 Satins anymore, although the original lead singer, Fred Paris still leads the group) Gene Pitt and the Jive Five (only four people in the Jive Five and six in the 5 Satins... math was never a strong suit in rhtyhm and blues) and the Chiffons. At least the Chiffons were smart enough not to be the 3 Chiffons. Although there were three of them. It would be a strange experience playing in front of 4,000 people. As a folk singer, I'm more accustomed to singing to a sell out crowd of 60.

And Gol, Elmer! Now you got me going to my dictionary. I know it's around here somewhere. Maybe under this pile of old magazines and empty bottles. Maybe it's just safer if I say Fatherly.

Always glad to have folks standing in the doorway, by the way. We'll pass a mug of coffee to you when you drop by.

My wife, being an elegant woman, likes to drink coffee out of a paper thin, white china cup. It tastes better to her that way. I prefer a large, heavy ceramic mug. If it's cold outside, I can wrap my hands around it and warm them, and the coffee tastes bolder. It's not a male/female thing, either. Maybe it's all dependent on poor hand circulation?

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 14 Nov 06 - 11:54 AM

Bone china cup for me too Jerry, a must with tea too, tea does not taste the same in a mug, and I prefer Lady Grey myself!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 14 Nov 06 - 01:03 PM

I'm with you on tea, Wendy. Especially Earl Grey. I don't think that tea tastes as good in a mug.

Back in my Greenwich Village days when a peanut butter and jelly sandwich was a lavish meal, we used to go down to Chinatown when we were feeling flush and get a full meal for a dollar at the Ban Hung Inn... a little walk down basement restaurant ignored by all the tourists. I always had the feeling that I could end up tied in a gunny sack and thrown on a slow freighter to Singapore. You could have all the tea you wanted. If you knew where to get it, and got it yourself. The tea was in the kitchen, and not served with your meal. You had to go out into the kitchen and get a heavy, chipped, half inch thick glass, worn milky on the edges and get your tea out of a big urn with a spigot. Not classy, exactly but for a dollar a meal, it tasted mighty good. I would have drunk it out of my shoe.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 16 Nov 06 - 07:20 PM

Had an interesting encounter today.

When I was out in Wisconsin for my mother's memorial, I was taken aback when a man came out to me and said that it was good to see me. I had the feeling that it was probably good to see him too, but I wasn't sure who he was. When he introduced himself, my suspicions turned out to be correct. He was Kenny Sperry, who lived in the house kitty-corner from ours when I was a kid. I had only seen him twice since high school, and each time it was very fleeting. The last time had been close to twenty years ago, so I guess it was forgiveable that I didn't immediately recognize him. We talked very briefly, because he had just dropped by to pay his respects and couldn't stay for the memorial. I asked him if he had an e-mail address and when he answered "yes," I asked him to write it down for me.

Today, I finished writing a section of the memoirs I'm working on that I thought he'd relate to, and dug up his e-mail address. When I couldn't read it, I went on the internet, found his phone number and gave him a call. A woman answered the phone, and I introduced myself. The woman was very friendly, and told me that Kenny had just gone up north for the weekend. I hesitated to say, "Is this you, Janice?", because I haven't spoken to her since we were in the same home room together in high school. I knew that Kenny married Janice and always thought he was a lucky dog. But, marriages being as fragile as they tend to be, I thought it wise not to ask that question. She might answer, "NO, this is Brenda, not that BITCH!, He dumped her a long time ago!" You never know. But, she said, very warmly, "This is Janice." And I breathed a sigh of relief. It's good to know that marriages occasionally can last. They've been married over 50 years, from my best calculations.

The problem is, talking with Janice, I could only invision here as the 17 year girl in my home room. We could pass on the street and not recognize each other. There is something strange about attaching a 54 year old memory onto someone's voice. I wonder if I still am the skinny, gawky, uncertain kid she kenw when I was 17?

Anyone have that kind of experience?

And, only 35 more posts, and jimmyt will stop in again.

Get your blundebuss ready, Elmer!

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 16 Nov 06 - 07:56 PM

You betcha Jerry. I've got that wascally wabbit in my sights, and this time it's curtains for sure. I can just feeeeel it in these creaky old bones.

Mugs. I like a big mug. Sturdy and substantial so that I don't feel like I'm going to break it, and big so that I don't have to get up for a second cup too soon. I have some soup mugs that do the job nicely. Right now there's one filled with decaf coffee (getting on in the day, y'know), 1% milk (getting on in my life, y'know), and a smidgeon of chocolate thrown in (gotta have a little fun in spite of everything, yknow).

Elmer

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 16 Nov 06 - 09:43 PM

I'm a big mug

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 17 Nov 06 - 09:37 PM

A couple of years back a woman at a festival asked if I was Pam's sister, Sandra.

Naturally I stared at her blankly but I remembered her name when she introduced herself. She was my younger sister's best friend for all of primary school & high school, and her sister was in my class which is why I remembered their Dutch surname. She lost contact with my sister sometime after Pam moved to Perth in 1976 & I would not have seen her since I left school in 1969.

Later I found an old primary school pic of my class & located her sister. I looked equally blankly at all my old classmates & wondered how many have passed me in a crowded street in the intervening years!

I got a call in 1988 about a planned 20 year reunion. I wasn't really interested as I didn't keep up folks from school after I left, but chatted a bit. He was having trouble locating females cos most unlike me, had changed their names. Fortunately I hadn'y. I asked the bloke (who I didn't remember!) how he found my number.

He laughed & said Tax file numbers! I didn't say anything tho I knew it was a crime for Tax Office employees to look at records.

I never heard anything more about that reunion, I assumed at the time someone did report him, & he lost his job & probably went to jail.

Earlier this year I came home to a very strange message on my machine. A very loud female voice slowly gives her phone no, including area code, not normally given for calls in the same state. Then she launched into a convoluted story about everyone wanting to know how I was. At one stage she mentioned the name of the High School & said some of them they had had lunch today & kept trying to remember the names of "everyone" who was asking after me. She also confessed that she must be drunk, 'twas a bit obvious. I just deleted the message.

She called again a few hours later, again did not identify herelf & this time remembered the name of "everyone", who were several unknown women & my best friend from primary school. I said I'd love to hear from her, but disappointed her by repeating several time that I did not want to join their email list to come to reunions. I also asked how she got my number & found out someone's dad knows mine.

I wasn't really surprised that I never heard from Crystal.

sandra

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 20 Nov 06 - 08:35 PM

Been doing some detective work these days. Me and Jessica Fletcher. Occasionally, I do something right. Over the years, I've asked my parents to talk about their lives; either on tape or in letters. I also hada wonderful correspondence for a while with my Father's younger brother, who had a rich memory and was more than happy to share it. Now, they're all gone. But my letters and notes aren't, and I've been gathering them together. Some of the remembrances that I've kept filed away are revelations to me now.
My Father was of the old school of "don't talk and they won't catch you." Actually, that school is still in session, with new people matriculating every day. It took writing to my Uncle, and talking to the next door neighbor of my Father when he was growing up to piece together at least some of who my Father was.

What I'm wondering is, have any of you collected family memories? Is everyone gone? If not, it's never too late. My Mother told me something very close to her last day which wasn't kept as an intentional secret, but explained a lot to me about my father. Sometimes, the most important things are those that are left unsaid.

I continue to write... reaching 100 pages now. It's a fascinating process, and one I'd encourage others to try at some point. Much to my surprise, I am coming to know my Father and Mother better, even though they've passed away. The memories have a life of their own.
And, I'm learning more about myself, which is probably the most valuable benefit of writing.

So,any of you people keeping memories? Or collecting them?

Back in 1975, I wrote a song for my father. I'd almost forgotten it, because it's a song I never sing. I wrote it at a time when my father and I didn't quite know what to do with each other. We'd been at loggerheads for most of our lives up until that point, and we had reached a state of peace, if not understanding.

One of the verses is a bit of good advice that I gave to myself, and took:

"So many times, I know you tried to tell him
And even though you never found the way
Someday you'll find that there are no more tomorrows
So don't let your chances slip away"

                                           from Long, Lonely Nights

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 21 Nov 06 - 06:18 AM

Hi Jerry et al.

No, I haven't been writing songs or collecting stories recently.   I was trying to adhere to the Mr. Ed school--"Mr Ed will never speak unless he has something to say."

And I've been too caught up in stuff at home--primarily dealing with a very sick cat. I have no idea if anybody would be interested in the rather graphic problems Fern has. She's been diagnosed as having severe anemia--even needed a blood transfusion. Her blood count is still way below normal. We're afraid she may have leukemia--and are both depressed and absolutely livid at the idea--since all our cats have been kept up to date on their shots--obviously including feline leukemia. We have left our old vet--who did the shots--and charged us $200 for taking one blood test and just telling us we needed to go to a pet emergency hospital--which then came up with a totally different blood count 2 hours later.

The old vet evidently has no emergency care available. Jan is really annoyed about that--she says that in her little town in England, the vet had emergency care available on-site--and seems to think this is standard in England. I have no idea. Any UK posters have info on that question?



We had to have the old vet do blood tests regularly--and they attempted to charge different amounts for the same test several times until I put my foot down--and told them that behavior would lose them customers---which I said very loudly in the waiting room so other customers could hear.

They also gave us appointments which they evidently never had any intention of honoring--we had to wait 2 hours recently for just doing one blood test.

If Fern does have leukemia, we may well sue the old vet.

Which is a real problem, since it's our local vet--and the daughter of one of our neighbors is one of the vets.

And Jan says the old vet's facilities seem to not have been cleaned for years---she doesn't want to go back just on that basis.

What a mess.

But we have a new vet--competent, friendly, informative, with clean facilities and reasonable charges.

So we'll see what happens.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: GUEST,pattyClink
Date: 21 Nov 06 - 02:37 PM

Jerry, my Dad in his retirement years (and even a little before) got in the habit of dragging a cheap little tape recorder along on visits to his fellow old-timers. Apparently it started when he was being debriefed on the history of the spot where he grew up, and it dawned on him that a lot of stuff was getting lost.

So he would visit people in his travels and say he was working on the family geneaology (which he didn't really do in a formal way) and got them talking. He also grabbed some tape from visits on a trip to the old country, and some relatives singing some old songs, and just some family gatherings.

They were an undocumented mess, but as a result of this fairly odd habit, we now have a record of HIS voice as well as all these other people (he would often have to tell 2 stories to get his subject to give up 1), and of course that and the snippet's of Mom's voice are now priceless. Ironically, for his last several years his voice was gone due to laryngectomy, so it was doubly blessed that he did this gift before he lost the chance.

Years ago, I took the 30+ cassettes, plus some stuff of Granddad & other relatives singing old songs, and spliced together coherent samples so the family could have 90 minutes of assorted voices, songs and stories. I listened to it the other day for the first time in a long time. Time to migrate that stuff to digital before the tapes get creaky, and to take his little suitcase of raw material and see how much of it will transfer (I shudder to think of the stick-shed syndrome that has probably taken over some of them).

Anyway, I'm so glad you are doing this for your family Jerry, and make sure a junior family member knows how to get into your stash and make sense of it (or just save priceless letters from the garage sale) whenever you pass on. Actually, for anybody else who is thinking about this: one good methodology to make sure it's not this big growing heap of stuff that never sees the light of day: pick an annual project (scrapbook, collected letters, family tree, autobio, photo CD, audio CD, whatever) and try to finish it in time to give copies to relatives in lieu of clutter-gifts. It gives you a deadline and impetus to finish one chunk at a time. Then start on the next chunk.

Which reminds me, this years project was supposed to be a disc with an audio and a transcript of a distant relative telling us bloodcurdling tales of early family history.   Don't think I can make the deadline, but I better see if I can try. Time to shut my mouth and do it!!!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 21 Nov 06 - 03:21 PM

Some years back I started a family newsletter replete with anecdotes, recipes, letters, a 'Closeup' of a family member, memories, and whatever else I can think of from one issue to the next.

The two most popular features of the 'newsletter' are the memories (usually a footer titled I REMEMBER... and signed by that person, and the Closeups. The closeups are either in a Q & A format Usually by phone) or sometimes utilize a form that the featured person fills out line by line. The questins range widely, from 'What is your earliest memory?' to 'They say that each child lives in a different family- what kind of family did you live in?' and back again.

My whole rationale for 'Homespun' was helping us get to know others in the extended family and to let ourselves be known .

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: frogprince
Date: 21 Nov 06 - 07:44 PM

What Jerry said about getting to know one's father, posthumously, took me back 27 years. It was the first time I made it back to my mothers' place in Minnesota, after the emergency trip there to his deathbed. She had turned in before me, and I happened to open the old bookcase-desk. I found a small bundle of letters I had never seen. My father had written them to her, in the late 1920's, when he was working out of state for a few months. I don't know if they were officially engaged yet, but it was apparent from the letters that they might as well have been. My father was not a humorless man, but he very, very seldom expressed his feelings. I sat down with the letters, and met a young man freely expressing romantic longing, and throwing in a kind of silly humor I had never heard from him. It took a bit for the tears to subside.
                         Dean

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 21 Nov 06 - 08:38 PM

Thank you, Patty & Dean:

What wonderful stories. I too have some tapes of my Father (and Mother) as well as some music sung at a Christmas gathering one year, including one of my sisters playing autoharp. I never even knew she had one, and never heard her play it again, so the tape is wonderful. I have tapes of my kids singing when they were very little, too. I am transferring every slowly to CD, and making many copies.

Patty: As I write these family memoirs, I am sending copies to both of my sisters and a couple of other friends who don't have computers.
I'm also e-mailing them to a long list of interested friends, including some Catters here at the kitchen table, who might be interested. Many of the memoirs relate directly to songs that I've written and are just an expansion on introductions I've honed over the years when I was performing them regularly.

Dean: One of the hardest things to imagine is our parents being young and romantic. Especially our fathers. My father was of the school when challenged by my Mother, "You never say you love me!" by answering. "I don't have to day I love you, I take out the garbage, don't I?" Piecing together the old stories a picture of my Father emerges that bears faint resemblance to the unexpressive, private man I knew as my Father. Every fragment of the past is a precious jewel, in my mind.

And sorry you're going through all that STUFF, Ron. I know how upsetting it is to see a pet suffer. I hope the new vet can correct the problems with your cat.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 21 Nov 06 - 10:18 PM

I have copies of letters written by my father to my mother which cover a period from about 1935 to 1945. Romantic? You betcha. Steamy, in fact, when you really read 'em. I'll just say that I got a sneaking suspicion that sex was discovered long before I was born. Just a hunch, mind you.

Also, it looks like I'm going to need hearing aids. I've been done in by an ototoxic drug called "quinine." Seems to have killed off the hair cells in my inner ears. Well, it DID stop the nighttime leg cramps I was having.... I'll know in early December when I go to be re-evaluated at the University's audiology department. If I do need 'em, I'm going to get the best I can. No need to cut corners with music, is there?

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: pattyClink
Date: 22 Nov 06 - 09:26 PM

Well, everyone is drifting off, traveling to other tables for the big deal tomorrow. Let's all be kind to our relatives however annoying, they are the only ones we get. Let's remember those gone with sweet sentiment, but remember they could be just as annoying as the ones still living. Let's give thanks for the kitchen table among many other things.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 22 Nov 06 - 10:33 PM

I'm with you, Patty, although our friends across the pond won't be celebrating. Not that you need a government holiday to give thanks.
Ruth and I are going down to Da Bronx for Thanksgiving dinner at one of our son's and his wife's place. All of my side of our family are a thousand miles away-hay, so we'll touch base by phone. This year will be a season of firsts: this will be our first Thanksgiving without Mom. My family will feel it more immediately because she was always there for Thanksgiving. I haven't had a Thanksgiving with my family in Wisconsin since the early 60's, so the difference won't be that noticeable.

And yes, let's even be thankful for the left-overs. Considering the family members I've lost, I guess I qualify as a left-over, myself. And mighty thankful to be left-over. I just don't want to be left behind. Or left out. Or out in left field. Or, almost anything that has the word "left" in it.

Have a great day tomorrow, all: whether it's an official day of Thanksgiving, or not.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 23 Nov 06 - 07:24 AM

Happy Thanksgiving from England.
Its a working day for us but I think I will take Billy out for dinner this evening if I can find Turkey on the menu?
We will phone his 4 sisters in New Jersey later, they will all be gathering round a big table with the children and grand children, wish we could be there.Hey ho, coffee please and anyone like to share a chocolate? One of my clients brought in a huge box this morning, must not eat them all!( but I do love coffee creams)
Wendy

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 23 Nov 06 - 08:56 AM

Last night I had the strangest dream. I mean, I've had some unlikely dreams in my life, but this one was unique.

I was walking down the street in Boston, when an old beat-up car with three guys in it came driving slowly by. They had the windows rolled down, and Spanish Merchant's Daughter was playing. That's a song that I learned, along with most of the toher songs, on the Anthology of American Folk Music. I used to sing it with an old friend of mine, Luke Faust. It's a pretty obscure song, so I was floored when I heard it coming out of a car stereo. I ran alongside the car and called to the guys in it, and as it turned out, they were pulling over anyway, to park the car. When I talked to them, they invited me to come inside, which I did. I was lying on the couch, and someone handed me a large acoustic "guitar" unlike any I'd ever seen before. It only had four strings, and the two middle strings were tuned to the same note. The Bass and top string were an octave apart, and the whole instrument was tuned low: like a bass guitar. I started picking around on it and ended up laying Trouble Don't Last Always.. another obscure recording that I have on tape, identified only as "Jamaican Trio." I did the song, all the way through, slipping in verses of other songs, like Oh, Death, that fit, and the tuning worked just fine.

By the time that I finished, three or four more guys had arrived, and they all gathered around in a circle, and started playing. They played a song Jesse Didn't show up for work this morning (which doesn't exist,) and the sang in great, four-part harmony, with different guys taking leads on different lines, sometime singing in two-part harmony. It was an old-time string band sound, and I heard all the parts... mandolin, and fiddle included. It was a terrific song. Apparently, they couldn't do the installation (as the song says) because Jesse didn't show up for work that morning.

And then I woke up.

I've had dreams with songs that don't exist, on many occasions. I've sometimes remembered enough to complete the songs, but I could only remember two lines of this one. It was just plain weird that I heard all the harmony lines, and the instruments. Usually, it's just the melody and words of a song. I've never heard a six man old-time string band do a song, with all the harmonies and instrumental lines worked out.

Like many other songwriters, I keep a pad and pen by my bed (or now, I come downstairs and type the words into my computer more commonly.)
I've had songs come in dreams with as many as three verses intact, when I wake up. Some, I just remember one line. I built a whole song around one verse from a dream, because I found it so fascinating:

"And somewhere inside her, there's still that young girl
   With a tortoise-shell comb in her hair"

I doubt that I ever could have written such a wonderful, evocative line while I was awake..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 23 Nov 06 - 09:28 AM

I think there's a song in there trying to get out, Jerry. You can write it from those two lines...heck, I could write something from those two lines, and it's YOUR dream. I'd write a pretty sad song, though.

I kinda suspect that this comes from your mom's passing away. See what you can write.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 23 Nov 06 - 09:56 AM

Hey, Rap:

In keeping with the feel of the dream, this would be one of those odd old-time songs with a call and response like the one that goes:

"What's the matter with the mill?
The mill broke down"

The other songs in the dream were old songs that I used to sing back in the early 60's.

Working on laundry, and fooling around while I'm doing it (being careful to separate the whites from the colored (sounds like a segregationist song, right there) I got:

   Jesse didn't show up for work today
   And the boss is fit to be tied
   He'll probably say that he was sick in bed
   But you know that that's a lie

And somewhere in there, there has to be the lines:

"We couldn't do the installation
'Cause Jesse didn't show up for work"

"We got to move these 'frigerators
We got to install these color tvs"

All music comes from one well

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 23 Nov 06 - 10:13 AM

And by thwe way, Rap:

Go ahead and write a song with those first two lines. It would be fun to see where they carry you. Gordon Bok has been a friend of mine for over 30 years, and we greatly enjoy each other's music. Bok, Tirckett and Muir recorcded two of my songs :Living On The REiver and Old Blue Suit, which is humorous, as my subject matter is hardly maritime. I always thought it would be fun to give Gordon two lines and let each of us write a song, based on those two lines.

Stephen King works on stories the way I write songs, starting out with a couple of characters and a setting, and then letting them carry the story.

I started a song once with just two lines, with no idea where it was going to go:

"It was a nice night; at least I thought it was nice
It was the right time; at least I thought it was right"

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 23 Nov 06 - 12:51 PM

Good morning! Just poking my head in to say how much I appreciate this home.

It occurred to me yesterday that everything that I enjoy I can be thankful for. And I suppose that many times the things I have NOT enjoyed are valuable- and I must be thankful for that. Durn.

Have a happy day.

Eb

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 24 Nov 06 - 09:28 AM

Jerry, you'll have to do the music. I can't write music to save my soul, so that'll probably the test St. Pete gives me to get into heaven.

"Okay, dude, you're in if you can write some music to go with these lyrics The Boss (and I don't mean Springsteen) wrote. And be sure to include bass clef chords!"

Lemme see what I can do.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Tootler
Date: 24 Nov 06 - 06:39 PM

Jerry,

Your dream reminded me of one I had some months ago. In my dream I saw a fragment of a tune written out on a stave and woke up with the tune in my head. It was a most eerie sensation.

Fortunately I was able to capture the tune fragment, though I have it stored away with other fragments of music waiting for me to work on them and make something of them.

I have never written a song though. Somehow I have never had the urge, but I do enjoy writing tunes.

Geoff

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 24 Nov 06 - 09:47 PM

Hey, Ebbie:

I wrote a line in a song that was about my friendship with Art Thieme:

"For all the burdens that we've shared, let us lift our voice in praise."

I thought of that, reading your comments. Looking back over my life, I see how everything that has happened to me has shaped me into who I am, and prepared me for what needs to be done. I can see where some of the most painful, destructive things that have happened to me have given me the right to say, "I've been there, and you will get through this." I sure wish that I didn't have to learn some things in such a hard way, and that I hadn't hurt so many others in the process. The only positive way forward that I see is to use those painful experiences to bring comfort and assurance to others who are going through them.

In a friendship, it's natural to remember the good times you've shared and be thankful for them. But here's to the hard times, too!

"I know there were times when nothing went right
Sometimes we stayed up most all of the night
You had your troubles, God knows I had mine
But still we had us one Hell of a time"

                                     from Winter To Spring

Going through Hell together sure beats going it alone.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 25 Nov 06 - 02:58 AM

So many people I've hurt in my life
So many tears I've caused to fall
Promises broken and so many lies
I scarcely can bear it at all.

    Lord I don't want justice, I can't afford justice
    As payback for my whole life long
    Lord I want mercy, oh, Lord, I need mercy
    And forgiveness for all I've done wrong...

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: GUEST,Patrish
Date: 25 Nov 06 - 07:01 AM

I'd like a nice cup of tea with two sugars please. I've brought some lemon drizzle cake and a few words about my Dad to share.
My Dad was never comfortable telling us about the family history, his childhood or anything. But he would open up to friends I brought home over the years and thats how I found out about his memories of being brought up in Glasgow and holidays with family in Ireland.
I have no idea why he didn't share these things with me without a go-between. I'm not mad about it, just curious.

This time last year my Dad said his last words to me and my sisters.(This took place in intensive care)
He said " I've had enough of all this pain and I want to die. No more nurses I just want you. I love you all and I'm sorry to let you down, remember to keep smiling"

We assured him that it was ok and we were not let down. We told him how much we loved him.
The nurses came in and took Dad off the medication that was keeping his blood pressure up and put him on more pain relief. Dad slept.
About 48 hours later we were all round his bed, when the machines that measured the life in him began to fall. The oxygen in his blood his heart rate and pressure. It was as if he was slowly switching off.
We spoke quietly to him telling him again we loved him and that everthing would be fine. I held his hand which was feeling very cold. I tried to warm him and hugged and kissed him. The machines stopped doing anything and Dad crossed over.
I was left feeling glad that all his pain had gone, glad that he would be reunited with Mum, but I also felt that my heart was broken. I loved my Dad so much and I still do.

A couple of months later my daughter had an unusual dream. She was talking to my Dad, who was telling her that he was with my Mum and they were sorting out the old house so that we could all be together again and to tell me not to worry as there would be a room there for me. My daughter said he looked much younger and very well and happy.

Yes, it might be just a dream, but it has given me so much comfort.
Forgive me for this indulgance at my first sitting at this welcoming table, I'm sure you'll understand.

More lemon drizzle anyone?

Pat xxxx

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 25 Nov 06 - 01:35 PM

Patrish, thanks for your story. The one thing that stays remarkably consistent in ALL 'dreams' of that sort that I have EVER heard is the report of the comparative youth and blooming health of the visitor.

I have experienced it several times myself. There is a lot I don't understand but I can and do accept that there is life and love beyond.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 25 Nov 06 - 09:55 PM

I admit that I don't know a lot. I don't even know where to find out, and for a librarian to admit THAT is probably unique. But I do learn something every day, even if it's not to test an electrical outlet with a screwdriver or not to smoke around gunpowder (I've never done the first and I gave up my pipes better'n twenty years ago).

Jerry, I got the basic idea for a song but I'm havin' some trouble puttin' the concept into words. Hang on for a bit, 'cause it's coming.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 26 Nov 06 - 07:22 AM

Hey, Tootler:

Just goes to show the power of suggestion. While I've written a couple of tunes in my life that I never added words to, it is not my gift. First of all, I am a very primitive reader of music, and can't "write it." I can tell when notes are supposed to go up and down and can usually figure out the sharps and flats, but I don't even consciously think of the names of notes when I work out an arrangement. For years, when I played banjo, I had to stop and think for a minute to remember what key I was playing in, because I never played with other musicians.

But last night, I had an even more unsual dream. I was at a college somewhere and there was an informal band playing in a cafeteria (much like at folk festivals.) The leader of the band came over and asked me to play with them, but I didn't have my guitar with me. Just as well. But, when I looked down on the table in front of me, there was a carved, wooden plaque with a map on it that looked like a simplified version of a Tolkein map. As the band was playing, I noticed that if I followed the flow of the river on the map, I could see the melody and harmonies they were playing. It was "Sheet" music in the form of a river. The melody was unfamiliar to me, but I started to hear the harmony, and was singing along in harmony to the melody. Very, very strange that I would be sitting at this table, looking at a carved map, singing harmony to a melody that doesn't exist.

And Ebbie: I really liked the lyrics you posted, expressing sorrow over the pain you/I have caused others. Growing often hurts... not just ourselves, but those around us. That's why forgiveness was invented.

And Patrish: I thought that your description of your Father was wonderful. Like you, I had to piece together my Father out of memories of others, as much as my own. I think that it's a great gift that in writing my and my family's memoirs, I am coming to know my Father better, even though he passed away 9 years ago. I'm just thankful that I saved letters and short notes about conversations we'd had over the years. They are pieces of the puzzle who was my Father. In the process, I've grown in love for him.

And keep at it, Rap: Those first two lines left any number of potential story lines for a song. I haven't gone any further, as much as anything because we've had a wonderful Thanksgiving week, which still isn't over. My wife and I are driving down to Brooklyn (an hour and forty five minute drive) this morning to the ordination of our sister-in-law on Ruth's side's ordination as a Deaconess. She and my brother-in-law are always supportive of my music, and the Gospel Messengers and come up here for anniversaries and concerts, so we want to show our loving support, in kind. Like most of us, my time here on the computer has been limited, and I've continued to keep writing on the memoirs. I don't want to lose momentum on that, so other things get set aside. I've passed 100 pages now, and still have a good head of steam. The revelations are totally unexpected. Many years ago, I wrote a song about a ne'r-do-well dog named Roscoe, who was the "black sheep" of the family. If a dog can be a sheep. You'd always "find him hanging 'round the railroad yard, or keeping bad company." Rosco would go on midnight prowls, and if your bitch heard him howl, they'd be off and running for a rendezvous. Typing the lyrics to the song, I realized that the song was as much about my Father as a dog I made up. I could just substitute my Father's name, Elmer, and the song would fit him just fine. But then, I wouldn't want to offend our friend Mr. Fudd.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 26 Nov 06 - 10:54 AM

I've been dreaming about houses and complicated conversations that, even in the dream, I have trouble keeping apart.

You know how one wakes up with a song running through one's head? This morning it was the Everly Brothers 'Dream'. Haven't thought of that song in years but today it keeps unwinding in my mind. May have to resort to 'Yankee Doodle'- they say that is the one tune that does not become an ear worm.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 26 Nov 06 - 11:33 AM

Ebbie--

Maybe "Yankee Doodle" was an earworm for General Grant. After all, he supposedly said it was only one of 2 tunes he knew--and evidently didn't know the name of the other.

But "Dream" is a fine song to sing all day since you have it in your head. And you could make up harmonies to it--it sure lends itself to that.

You could have a LOT worse songs stuck in your head.

The one I have now is "White and Nerdy" by Weird Al Yankovic--even though it strongly implies that if you read Stephen Hawkings or go to Renaissance Fairs, you're white and nerdy. Well at least I don't eat mayonnaise, which he says is another good sign of the problem.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 28 Nov 06 - 09:40 AM

Well, I've survived a series of turkey days, and am the better for it. Or is it the fatter for it? These last five or six days have been a whirlwind, so I'm pleased to sit here at the kitchen table, not having to go anywhere or do anything today.

Thanksgiving Day, Ruth and I went down to her/now my son's and duaghter-in-law's apartment for a family gathering in the Bronx. Or is it Da Bronx. We have as bountiful a feast as I've ever had on Thanksgiving, and we were sent on our way in the evening with enough food to last three or four days. Friday morning, we got up at 4 to go wait for Radio Shack to open at 6 a.m. They had a special sale on a Scott flat-screen, HD tv, and when I asked them how many tvs "A limited quantity" meant and they said "one," we figured we'd better get there early. We were the first ones there, and were glad to get the tv.. a terrific price and far better quality than the cheapo (and much more expensive) alternative no-name brands at Walmart. We spent the day changing tv's and getting set up, only to find that we couldn't use the tv until we had a service man come and hook of a new receiver. Saturday, we drove to an ex-niece-in'law's apartment for a post Thanksgiving Thanksgiving with Ruth's husband's family (she is till close with all of them.) And stuffed ourselves again.
Sunday, we drove down to Brooklyn (a two hour drive) for the ordination of our sister-in-law in the Baptist Church they attend, and afterward, were taken out to dinner with another collection of family members, and I had fried catfish, grits and tomato slices with melted cheese on them while Ruth had fried chicken and a waffle (a southern tradition neither of us were aware of.) And then, yesterday, a service man came to install our new receiver for the HDtv and change our other receiver for regular dish television. He messed something up in the process, and was here from 8:30 in the morning until 5 in the evening.

And on the sixth day, we're resting.

And a powerful insight came to me. The turkey is the symbol of Thanksgiving because it says "gobble, gobble" and gets stuffed.

Just a cup of coffee, please. No turkey doughnuts..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 28 Nov 06 - 02:12 PM

hahhaha Jerry, you really need to write a song about Gobble, Gobble! I wonder if on at least a subliminal level we take that as an injunction?

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 28 Nov 06 - 03:11 PM

I've got you now, you misewable wabbit!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 28 Nov 06 - 03:14 PM

Anywhere you live, I'll find you!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 28 Nov 06 - 03:17 PM

I've got you now--you're mine--all mine!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 28 Nov 06 - 03:19 PM

NOW-JUST-HOLD-STILL!!!!!!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Leadfingers
Date: 28 Nov 06 - 03:28 PM

1400 !!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Leadfingers
Date: 28 Nov 06 - 03:33 PM

Glad thanksgiving was a 'good one' Jerry - I think we ought to celebrate Thanksgiving over here ! Give thanks that we are not tied any closer to GW than Princess Tony has us at present !

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 28 Nov 06 - 03:34 PM

hahahah

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Severn
Date: 28 Nov 06 - 03:39 PM

Seeing that you had 1399 posts and seeing that there are a couple of threads out there asking if they will ever reach some astronomical goal, I got to thinking that THIS thread will reach any goal they set, and what's more, will do it for an actual good reason. I don't always stop to chat, but I'll always stop by to check up on the place and the good people within. When good feelings don't abound, honest ones do and good feelings respond to them eventually. Thanks for a good place to stop in and listen.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: GUEST
Date: 28 Nov 06 - 10:05 PM

Thanks for stopping by, severn:

I suspect that this thread will last exactly as long as it should. That'll be as long as people want to drop by and share whatever is on their mind, and as long as the coffee holds out. This is the ultimate low-expectation thread because it has nothing to do with how long it lasts, or how long other threads last. As long as people enjoy it, and it remains as positive and relaxed as it has been, it could go on forever.

Or at least until the next post.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 28 Nov 06 - 11:47 PM

Well, we found a spiked club (39" long, with iron spikes around the business end) in a floor bed outside the library about three weeks ago. Yesterday we found a 12 gauge shotgun shell with a rock tightly taped over the primer in the south parking lot -- throw it just right or drive over it just right and it would have went off.

Given that a girl from the high school two blocks away was stabbed to death by two of her 16 year old classmates back in September, the Mayor is concerned (I spoke with him today). He's going to talk to the Chief of Police and we're going to see what might be done -- both the Mayor and I think that this is related to the high school. This sort of thing bothers me more than just a little -- the shotgun shell was a sort of mini-handgrenade.

Yes, we called the cops in both cases.

The public library is supposed to be a safe place for everyone. I intend to see that it is.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 29 Nov 06 - 11:50 AM

That Guest posting last night was me. I had to deep-six my cookies to clean up my computer.

Kinda nice being a guest at the table. We all are.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 29 Nov 06 - 12:04 PM

Had some worrisome news about two close loved ones today,I must say I often moan about our national health system over here, but both of them saw consultants tday and had very sympathetic and professional consultations. No waiting and very professional.We have to wait 3 weeks for results, need some positive thoughts and prayers please!
Waitd all day for a coffee, thank you its lovely and hot.
Wendy

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 29 Nov 06 - 01:53 PM

Prayers on their way, Wendy.

Nice to see you back at the table.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 30 Nov 06 - 02:46 PM

Man, Shoot me a shot of that java!

I just finished designing, printing, trimming to size and folding of 120 Christmas cards. It's a great pleasure to see all those cards all lined up, ready for addressing, but I feel a little like Charlie Chaplin in Modern Times. I'd better stay away from folks for a few minutes. I may end going up to strangers and trimming and folding their shirts into neat little Christmas cards.

I really love this time of year. I know that it's hard for a lot of people, and that my Mother's physical absence will hit me just when I least expect it. I know that every sin imagineable is committed in the name of God. I know all of that. But this is a very simple season for my wife and me. It is focused on a little baby, and the love we have for those around us, whatever their beliefs. We don't get sucked into the commercialism (we've already finished our Christmas shopping) or the hypocrisy of some. Ruth has been busily decorating the house and it will gleam like a jewel before she is done. I'll put on our R&B Christmas CD, the acoustic mandolin Christmas CD, some baroque Christmas music,

And a large pot of coffee!

Sure wish you could all be here!

Now, I've got 120 envelopes to address while Ruth continues to decorate the house...

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: GUEST,pattyClink
Date: 30 Nov 06 - 03:20 PM

I am horrified to hear the words "Christmas cards" this early on! Equally horrified that our first Christmas performance is this afternoon. Way too early!!!! Let's see how the season-rushers react to 4-part stuff.

The leaves are still orange, the skies still blue, let's keep the fall a while longer and let Christmas come on the 25th!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 30 Nov 06 - 04:21 PM

Sorry, Patty:

Didn't mean to frighten you! I realize that we are way ahead of the curve, but this year I'm looking forward to having a more relaxed season with plenty of time to visit friends who are sick and shut-in, to go singing with Mudcat's Barbara Shaw, her husband Frank and friends at a VA center, to go out to do a program with Ruth at a Health Care Center where I sing every month, to have the Gospel Messengers up here at the house with my friends in the a capella Doo Wop group, the Sentinels for an evening of singing and to welcome friends into our home. We're just clearing the decks so that we can relax and enjoy friends and give something even better than presents.. our presence with people who need Holiday cheer 365 days a year.

I really am glad that we don't have any Christmas programs coming up until the 12th, though.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 30 Nov 06 - 10:08 PM

Jerry--

I'm with you--I love this time of year also. First of all, it's cooling off--and I like cool--or cold--weather. (Admittedly I generate heat like crazy--but in the winter that's an asset.) Sure not in the summer. (Jan says my thermostat is broken.)

Secondly, it's got to be the time of year with the all-time best music ever made.   Charpentier Messe de Minuit--lots of dance rhythms--just delightful to sing. Bach, Handel, Brahms--(Brahms Marienlieder is haunting.) Blues--Back Door Santa, etc.. Classics--Eartha Kitt--Santa Baby, etc.. Calypso Christmas songs. Wassail songs. Carols from all over the world--I was in a group that did a CD of Rumanian Christmas and Easter carols--you could hear Slavic influences---and Mozartian touches. Etc, etc. etc.

Then there are Hanukkuh songs. And for some reason I like to listen to Sephardic music this time of year also.



And even the old "done-to-death" carols can be good--if you sing them yourself--and aren't just hearing the n'th version piped in at a mall.

But why people think Christmas music is ONLY what they hear at a mall is beyond me.

I hear great new Christmas--and winter music in general--every year. And a lot of it is not new in the least--just new to me.


Presents--that's way down the list. Adults shouldn't expect them, in my view. Kids--sure, why not? (But I'll have to admit, I virtually always give music-related gifts. And they seem to accept them--I do try to tailor them to recipient's taste.

But anybody who revels in a wide variety of music--especially somebody who sings--must love this time of year. I sure do.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 03 Dec 06 - 06:42 PM

Just got back last night from a concert at the theatre that my son is the manager of, We saw the monks from the Tashi Lhunpo Monastrey,forced into exile in Southern India from Tibet,the monks endeavour to maintain peace and hormony both within individuals and with the world at large,to protect the environment, taking into consideration the feelings of others, following the example of his Holiness the Dalai Lama and his Holiness the Panchen Lama.
The monks tour to raise funds for the monastery and the education of the young monks.
We had a wonderful evening, the costumes and dance were amazing, and the monks were beautiful, quiet, kindly folk.
They have a website www.tashilhunpo.org
This was a really new experience for me, but I found the chanting really peaceful and calmimg.
It is worth looking at the website, to see what hapened to the 11th Panchen Lama Gedhun Choekyi Nyima who was born in Tibet,officially proclaimed by the Dalai Lama in 1995.Within days of the announcement the six year old boy and his parents disappeared from their home, reportedly taken into Chinese Police custody. Later the Chinese authorities selectd their own Panchen Lama.
The whereabouts of Gedun Choekyi Nyima and his family remain unknown!
I know the monks tour in the USA if you get the chance go and see them, it is an unforgetable experience.
Wendy

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Tootler
Date: 03 Dec 06 - 07:07 PM

Wendy,

To encourage you, I have recently had an excellent experience of the NHS. I went to see my GP in March about a persistent bowel problem. After tests, he got me referred to our local hospital to have an endoscopy to look inside my bowel which took place mid April. They found a cancer, fortunately in its early stages and after further tests to verify the extent of the tumour, I had an operation at the end of May and they successfully removed all the tumour - no follow up treatment needed apart from monitoring. I am now virtually recovered and certainly feel much better than I did back in April/May this year.

Throughout that time, my treatment was excellent carried out in a professional and sympathetic manner. As soon as they had made a provisional diagnosis I was allocated a specialist nurse as a point of contact and she and her colleagues kept in touch throughout my treatment. Overall I am very pleased with the way things went and am looking forward to the future.

I hope your relatives have a similar experience and wish them well.

Geoff

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 03 Dec 06 - 07:09 PM

I've got to get some more Christmas music. Our collection of Christmas CDs kinda stinks, mostly because we always used (gasp!) vinyl albums and (double gasp!!) audiocassettes.

Well, we still have both and I'm NOT going to get rid of either one! So there!

Heck, I even have a turntable.

So, my wife's Christmas present will be a bentwood box (bentwood box -- and hers will be by the same artist!) with Christmas CDs in it.

No, no -- it's just money. What the heck! Ain't no pockets in a shroud.

Besides, I kinda like her. Let's see -- it was 33 years ago this past October...we used Handel's "Water Music" as the processional, and his "Royal Fireworks Suite" as the recessional. (I wanted to use "And unto us a child is born" as an instrumental recessional, but Pat wouldn't have it. I still think that it would make a great recessional, but not, perhaps, for a wedding.)

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 03 Dec 06 - 07:27 PM

HiTootler
so glad all is well.
Yes the NHS is great when needed, we have had experience with our daughter for 15 years( but sometimes have had to dib in privately when needed!) we have a problem with our grand daughter's hearing at the moment and so far ok, my husband is my other worry , and if we have to go private we are in a scheme and sorry will go there is we have too!However it really makes me cross as we pay both ways, but if it cuts corners what would you do?

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 04 Dec 06 - 06:42 PM

Git back up there! G'on, git!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 04 Dec 06 - 08:25 PM

Hey, Rap:

My three heaviest-rotation Christmas CDs are A Mandolin Christmas, an acoustic Christmas CD done by Nashville session musicians, which is absolutely superb, and a CD I put together : An R & B Christmas. They are about as differerent as possible, and yet they all fit my mood jes' fine.

As long as I don't have to listen to Rock Around The Christmas Tree or Jingle Bell Rock, I'm o.k.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 04 Dec 06 - 08:49 PM

How about "Grandma got run over by a reindeer" or "The Christmas Song" by the Chipmunks? Or that thing with dogs barking "Jingle Bells"?

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 04 Dec 06 - 09:12 PM

Yeah, I can definitely do without those, Rap. My wife Ruth worked for many years at J.C. Penny and then Filene's and was ready for a padded cell by the time Christmas was over, with all the music piped in through their sound system. There are plenty of popular Christmas songs that I can still enjoy, but they never make it onto Muzac (for our English friends, Muzac is the canned music they play in elevators, stores and everywhere else.) I'd gladly listen to I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day, or the Christmas Song. Some of the old carols never pale, for me.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 04 Dec 06 - 09:18 PM

I think that if you're going to celebrate the birth of the person labeled by Christians as "The Savior" you should sing about that, not about stoplights blinking red and green or a red-nosed reindeer. If you are going to celebrate the rebirth of the Sun, your music and songs should celebrate that. If you wish to celebrate the Feast of Lights, great!, and sing about that.

Or do what I do, and enjoy all of these celebratory songs.

But I'm sick unto death of people singing "Jingle Bells" as a Christmas carol and similar songs.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 04 Dec 06 - 09:30 PM

You got that right.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Tootler
Date: 05 Dec 06 - 07:57 PM

Two excellent CD's from traditional musicians that I like are;

Waterson:Carthy "Holy Heathens and the Old Green Man" I got it at the weekend and was playing it in the car today - an excellent album; newly issued, I believe.

Magpie Lane "WASSAIL! A Country Christmas" One I have had for some time and must put in the car.

These are both very much traditional music albums but not what most people would think of as "Traditional Christmas Music"

Both have interesting versions of well known carols with a particularly attractive tune for The Holly and the Ivy from Herefordshire which I have been meaning to learn for some time but have never got a round tuit!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 05 Dec 06 - 08:49 PM

A Short, Sweet Christmas Story

This afternoon, just when I was ready to fall flat on my face from exhaustion, the phone rang. These last three days have been real grinders, starting with Sunday morning when our water heater started leaking while we were getting ready to go to church. We had "church" mopping up water in the basement for half of the morning, trying to keep ahead of the water until the service man got here. Monday, we spent half the day waiting for a new water heater to be delivered and when the man came to install it, he said that it was too difficult and refused to do it. Today, we had another plumber come, and while he was able to install the new water heater, it took all morning, and cost twice as much as we had first expected. After getting a great, running jump on getting ready for Christmas, our house was a mess, and we were really dragging. And then, the phone rang.

When I picked up the phone my caller i.d. said Claire Spellman: a name that I'd never seen before. I figured it was someone trying to sell me something. When I said hello, a woman said, "I know that you don't know me, but I owe you an apology." As the woman explained, she had opened a Christmas card from us, not realizing that it was for the previous tenant in her apartment. She was quite upset about it, and told me she had never met the woman who lived there before her, and had no forwarding address for her. I had sent the card to a woman who has booked the Gospel Messengers a couple of times, who had surgery earlier this fall. I had received an e-mail from her after the surgery, and the last I knew she was doing alright and was still living at the same address. I assured the woman on the phone that I wasn't upset that she'd inadvertently opened the card, and that I'd most likely be able to get the original recipient, Barbara Hurley's mailing address. And then, she wanted to talk about our Christmas Card.

The front cover of our card this year looks like a present, wrapped with a bow and says: "Each new day is a gift from God." The woman read the text on the cover to me, saying, "I know all about that!"
And then, she opened the card and started reading the message on the inside of the card. She kept telling me how beautiful the card is, and how much it meant to her. Then, she told me how much she appreciated the note that I had written for my friend Barbara Hurley. I had written that she was in our hearts and minds and that we would keep her in prayer. And the woman said, "Oh, I appreciate that so much! I need all the prayers that I can get!" She had accepted the card as being to her.

I told her that I'd seen her name on the caller i.d. on my phone, and thought that she might be a relative of Deacon Spellman, from my old church. She said, "No, we just moved up here from Brooklyn last year. That's probbly hard to believe that someone would move up here from Brooklyn." I told her that my wife was from Brooklyn, and one of her brothers still lives there, so it didn't sound unbelievable to me.

Finally, when she kept apologizing for mistakenly opening the card, offering to forward it if I could get the address, or mail it back to me, I told her to keep the card as hers. She sounded happy to have it. Sometimes, we can raise the spirits of complete strangers without ever knowing that we're doing it. I thanked her for letting me know, and wished her a very Merry Christmas.

And in lifting her spirits, she lifted mine and Ruth's.

Jeremiah

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 07 Dec 06 - 12:13 PM

Lovely story Jerry.
We had a lovely evening on Monday at the folk club in Colchester, during the interval they played a wonderful CD by "St Agnes Fountain," very Christmassy and great harmonies, they are appearing next Monday so I hope I can get there to see them.
The coffee was cold so I am making a new pot and stoking up the fire.
Wendy

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Carly
Date: 07 Dec 06 - 04:14 PM

What a beautiful story, Jerry, and a great example of how doing a mitzvah (a righteous act, an humane deed) can help in all sorts of unexpected ways.

Any water on the stove for tea?

I have to admit, The Little Drummer Boy, sung from the heart, can leave me misty-eyed, and I love The Cherry Tree Carol. I think that they appeal to me partly because they remind us that this extraordinary story happened to those who would otherwise be considered very ordinary people.

Carly

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 07 Dec 06 - 04:28 PM

Hey, Carly: I love the Cherry Tree Carol, too and I've heard some extremely imaginiative and refreshing versions of the Little Drummer Boy.

We've been listening to a CD of rhythm and blues artists doing Christmas songs, and it's a reminder that both the old familiar songs like Oh Holy Night, and obscure ones like What Made The Baby Cry can still be moving. What Made The Baby Cry is an unusual song done by a modern version of the Platters, suggesting that when the baby Jesus was born, he cried because he was suddenly faced with all the suffering and misery in the world.

I also love No Room At The Inn, which I sing with the Messengers. It too places the nativity scene in the most ordinary environment.
I particularly like the line :

   "The bell boy and the Porter, the waitress and the cook
    Will be witnesses up in Heaven to all the things it took."

I smile every time I sing that, wondering how they ever envisioned a bellboy and a porter in Bethlehem. The song is an old black gospel song and it's not surprising that all the "witnesses" were in jobs normally hgeld by black folks.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 07 Dec 06 - 07:37 PM

By the bye, Rapaire PM'd four verses of a song he wrote building on the one line of the song I heard in a dream "Jesse didn't come in to work today." He did a wonderful job on it, and it is a powerful song. The little that I worked on mine before I set it aside, I was going more along the lines of "What's the matter with the Mill? It done broke down." Very old-timey and good-natured.

It only goes to show how much potential for a story there can be in a single line.

Good work, Rap!

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 07 Dec 06 - 09:32 PM

Aw, shucks, Jerry (looking down and drawing in the dust with toes of shoes). I mean, well, shucks, ya know? I'm just a shy kid from the Midwest and, well, shucks.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: GUEST, Ebbie
Date: 08 Dec 06 - 06:32 PM

Rapaire, "just a shy kid from the Midwest"? You've come a long way, baby.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 08 Dec 06 - 10:04 PM

Just a shy kid from the Midwest? Like Bob Dylan? (I think Abraham Lincoln said that--another shy midwestern kid.) LOL Elmer

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 08 Dec 06 - 10:49 PM

Yeah, Abe and Sam Clemens and me used to play marbles together when we was growing up. Sam had an aggie shooter he used to clean Abe and me out, too.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 09 Dec 06 - 02:49 AM

I'll bet you 'n Abe 'n Sam used to pull Willa Cather's pigtails too.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 11 Dec 06 - 10:18 AM

How about a nice, cold glass of apple cider?

When Col K, Theresa Tooley, Sussex Carole, Noreen and company were over here with the Shellbacks a couple of years ago, we offered them a glass of apple cider. Over here, apple cider is as ordinary as it gets, but apparently it isn't, in England. I'm talking apple cider, with a lot of pulp in it... a little on the thick side and brown, rather than the crystal clear golden color of apple juice. Everyone loved it so much that I bought another gallon. Apple cider isn't pasteurized, so it has to be refrigerated or it will go bad... either becoming apple vinegar, or with some encouragement, Apple Jack: a strong alcoholic beverage that retains the apple flavor.

Now I know. When my English friends come over this way and can wind their way up to Derby, Connecticut, we need to have at least one gallon of apple cider in the refrigerator.

Anyone want a glass to celebrate the season?

Do you folks drink apple cider up there in Alaska?

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 11 Dec 06 - 12:35 PM

I don't know how many people in Alaska drink apple cider. Not many apples. When I was a kid in Oregon we made our own as we did everything from apple butter to lye soap (not at the same time or with the same ingredients).

Another memory just hit- does anyone else here remember what it is like to drink freshly 'separated' milk?

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 11 Dec 06 - 12:59 PM

Yes. Fresh squeezed cider, making lye soap, milk both seperated and (literally) fresh from the cow, home-churned butter, good spring water, freshly-gathered watercress, blackberries and dewberries, wild strawberries...all and more part of my wonderful and misspent youth.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: jimmyt
Date: 11 Dec 06 - 08:12 PM

I been missin' you all! I am hoping to be back more regular here in the cat and at the table. I DO really care about you all!   Hope the holidays are going to be grand for each and every one of you.

I took my staff to NYC last week. I have herded 8 women arounf that grand city to the point I think I know what those border collies must feel like at the end of the day! Whew! Some more stories from that trip !   jimmyt

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 11 Dec 06 - 10:24 PM

And all of the poor toothache sufferers suffering away while Jimmyt romps around New Yawk City with eight women!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Partridge
Date: 12 Dec 06 - 03:37 AM

I'll have a glass of what your having!
You would think that being made redundant just before Christmas might be an unhappy event. This is whats just happened to me, and its given me a chance for a new start. Far from a bad thing, its given me back some self worth and a smile on my face. My ex boss, Ian, is a poor old soul who thinks everyone is trying to do him a bad turn. This christmas time I will think positive thought around him and wish that 2007 he will rethink his position and be less paranoid. I don't think he knows that he gave me the best present possible, my freedom from his delusions. Happy Christmas Ian

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 12 Dec 06 - 08:01 AM

Hey, Partridge:

Welcome to the table. You're not redundant around here. Besides, we welcome folks who are redundant, me being one. Redundance is a natural side effect of friendship. You know you are good friend when people have heard all of your stories a dozen times.

Thinking good thoughts on people sometimes works wonders. Sometimes it only make you feel better, but has no effect on them. But, hey! that's good, too.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 12 Dec 06 - 08:53 AM

Send him a bottle of wine and a thank-you note. That should set him wondering -- of course, he might thing the wine is poisoned!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 12 Dec 06 - 12:40 PM

Well, lessee. Our beverage horizons are expanding. We've got coffee, apple cider-- we don't have much apple cider around these parts. I'm not sure I've ever tasted the real thing, from the way you describe it.

Is it time to break out the eggnog? I really like the taste of that stuff. However, I don't get homemade eggnog very often. I guess folks got put off their eggnog joneses by all the raw egg scares, not to mention cholesterol. More likely these daze it's bound to be that gunk that comes in a carton and is artificially flavored. But the real thing with cream, freshly grated nutmeg, rum, and about a million calories, oh my stars.

Elmer, off to make an abstemious, low-cal, low-carb breakfast

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 12 Dec 06 - 01:45 PM

If you pour enough rum or whiskey into the store-bought stuff you can't hardly taste it at all.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: jimmyt
Date: 12 Dec 06 - 09:42 PM

Whatever you are drinking is OK by me!   Happy holidays.   Jerry, Jayne are still planning a trip up your way in Feb or March!   love you and Ruth!   jimmyt

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 12 Dec 06 - 09:51 PM

We'll put the pot on, Jimmy: Nothing like actually sitting down at our kitchen table for a cup of coffee. It will be a great pleasure to try to repay you in some small way for your generosity when we visited you.

Have a Merry Christmas... to all, and y'all too..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 13 Dec 06 - 03:50 PM

Yesterday was our monthly trip over to a nursing home in the twon next to us. This one was special because Christmas is upon us, and it brings a mixed bag of emotions with it: especially for people who are in poor health and nearing the end of their life. Ruth and I have been going there for close to four years now. We started out supporting the pastor of a local church we attend irregularly. I would do two or three songs, the Pastor would do a short sermon, and Ruth would socialize with the residents. When the Pastor retired and moved away, Ruth and I kept it going for almost two years. For the last few months, the new Pastor of the church has joined us, and he's become well-loved by the staff and residents. Over the last four years, Ruth and I have gotten to know many of the residents, and we look forward to seeing them as much as they do to seeing us.

After the service yesterday, Ruth, Pastor Ken and I went around the room, shaking hands with the residents, telling them that we'll keep them in prayer and wishing them a Merry Christmas. I always am moved when I go to shake a hand, and the person doesn't want to let go. They may not be able to talk, but they just look into my eyes, theirs often brimming with tears, and smile at me. That was especially true, yesterday. And then, there are all the people who start crying and ask for prayers. A simple act of going and playing a few songs and walking around to talk with people means everything.
One of the women repeatedly says that the only thing she looks forward to is when I come to sing, once a month.

Tomorrow, Ruth and I will join Barbara Shaw (of Mudcat) and her husband Frank and a handful of friends to sing Christmas songs at a Veteran's Administration center. We try to clear the decks early enough in the season so that we can give something that can't be wrapped and put under a tree. The gift of caring about a stranger.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Donuel
Date: 14 Dec 06 - 12:40 PM

Rapaire, your bottle of wine suggestion has inspired me.

should I sign the Thank you note?

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 14 Dec 06 - 01:16 PM

If the guy did you a favor and you're sincerely thanking him for it, why not sign it?

(If it's something like Thunderbird or Boone's Farm, however, you might want to remain unknown.)

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 14 Dec 06 - 09:05 PM

I put this on MOAB, but I thought folks here might like it as well.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 14 Dec 06 - 09:06 PM

Started a thread on it, too. Shows how tired I am!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 14 Dec 06 - 09:12 PM

I really AM tired -- I didn't post that link to MOAB at all!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 14 Dec 06 - 10:17 PM

Had a great time today, singing carols at a Veteran's Center, as I said. As a surprise, one of the older Vets (World War II, I'd guess) brought his trumpet and came and played with us. That's always a special pleasure. Many years ago, I was singing at a nursing home, and very early in the program, someone requested a turn of the century song I'd never heard of... something with Mother, God and telephone in the title. I told the person that I didn't know it, but if someone did, they should sing it. And by Golly, darned if a couple of people didn't... and sang it in weak, ready voices, with great conviction. They felt so good about it, that someone else asked if anyone knew another song from the same era (another I didn't know, although I have an extensive collection of popular music from the turn of the century, and know at least a half dozen I could do.) Again, somebody knew it, and started singing. Several others joined in. And they were off to the races.
Everyone was very excited, and as soon as one song was finished, somebody would suggest another. I was delighted, and unobtrusively packed up my guitar and wished everyone a good day. They hardly noticed that I was leaving. The person in charge of the program was very upset with the residents, and extremely apologetic. I told her that something wonderful had happened: that they realized that they could entertain themselves! She didn't seem convinced, but I thought that it was beautiful. As I was leaving, I could hear tentative strains of God Bless America coming from the room. They were just enjoying singing together, and it didn't really make that much of a difference what it was that they were singing.

That was one of the best programs I never did.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 15 Dec 06 - 09:35 PM

Got a nice surprise in the mail today. I received a wonderful Christmas card from my friends Dave Para and Cathy Barton, out in Boonville, Missouri. They are wonderful musicians, and even better people. They just released a new CD titled Sabbath Home, which they included with their card. They've recorded another of my songs, Poppa Was A Preacher. They've also recorded Handful of Songs, and Living on the River, and sang harmony on Handful Of Songs on my CD.
They are great keepers of the tradition, and run the Big Muddy Festival in Boonville, which is one of my favorite small folk festivals. Jest plain folks are the primary audience, and when you walk down the streets of Boonville, or walk into a store, it seems like everyone you meet was at the festival the night before.

I haven't had a chance to listen to the CD yet, as I've been excavating the layers of stuff that had been "temporarily" stuck in our garage for the last five years.

I shoulda ben a archeologist.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 16 Dec 06 - 11:12 AM

Jerry, your story about singing for the veterans reminded me of the summer of 1980, I was staying with friends in Toronto and met this wonderful lady called Ellen, once a week she would play piano in the lobby of a big hospital and the veterans would come down from their ward, some in beds, to listen. She had found out I sang so took me along, it was one of the most moving afternoons,luckily the requests were for quite popular songs, I do not read the "dots". She had the music for LLoyd Webbers " memories", it had just come out and Cats was on in London so I knew it. They were the best audience I have ever sung too.
I would love to know what happened to Ellen she was a real inspiration.
wendy

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 19 Dec 06 - 09:13 AM

Cooffee was cold, made some more!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 19 Dec 06 - 08:01 PM

Hey!!!!!!The coffee pot's stone cold!!!!!!!!!!!

Nothing in particular to talk about, but I felt like stopping by. Listening to North Mississippi Allstars as I type this, and enjoying a quiet evening. This year, we got our Christmas stuff well in hand, so we can take it easy in the evening. This afternoon, I took Ruth out to make a couple of quick stops: one to order a photo cake for our Grandson, whose birthday is the day before or after Christmas (I don't remember which.) Then, I took her out to dinner. We had a nice, relaxed meal, ambled on home, watched an episode of Murder, She Wrote, which is a favorite of Ruth's. And then she retired upstairs and I dropped into the cyber kitchen to see how folks are doing.

And to listen to the CD that I bought this afternoon. Life should always be this good...

While I'm here, I'll put a fresh pot of coffee on the stove..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 21 Dec 06 - 10:38 AM

No one here, still I have had a hard day, putting my feet up and opening a bottle of chilled white wine, anyone got the cheese and biscuits?
Wendy

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 21 Dec 06 - 11:20 AM

Hey, Wendy:

Guess everyone is busy getting ready for Christmas. We're in high, high Spirits, here. We're ahead of the curve this year, so we're not as stressed as we've been at previous Christmases. How relaxed are we? I can take the time to clean my office. I've confirmed that there is a floor, and that my desks have tops. It' a good feeling, getting everything sorted out and put away. Part of my problem is that when company is coming, we "temporarily" store stuff in my office. "Temporary" is a few weeks less than forever. I've got a big stack of bags behing my office door that I'm going to put in the garage "temporarily." They went behind my door, temporarily, a year ago.

One strange thing that happened yesterday is that I left two Christmas cards and a card and check in our mailbox for the mailman to pick up on his rounds. In broad daylight, in the middle of a sunny day, someone noticed the flag up on our mailbox and took the cards. Stealing Christmas cards? Eccchhh! Of course, whoever stole them was looking for money. I immediately put a stop payment on the check, so they probably won't be able to cash it. What a way to celebrate Christmas!!!!!!!!

You know that Santa Clause was watching.

But, that didn't dampen our Spirits. It was no news flash that there are some desperate people out there. They may need Merry Christmas wishes and prayers more than any of us.

Now, we're heading off to pick up some groceries. Ruth has already made a gigantic batch of tuna cakes, and an enormous pot of potato salad, and another of barbequed meatballs. Now, it's my turn.

Gott run.

Ruth is calling

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 21 Dec 06 - 12:33 PM

Bummer, Jerry!

A gang tagged the hood of my car with graffiti a couple of days ago: a drawing of a bomb and the word "bang" in gang-style writing.

Heigh-ho, the kids are out of school.

Elmer

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 21 Dec 06 - 01:38 PM

Hi! I just dropped in for a moment - "and find no one waiting" (from one of the saddest songs I know) but I gather that everyone is busy. 'Tis a busy time of year, it is.

I won't have as much music this holiday as usual. My singing partner and her husband trundled their motor home onto the ferry and took off for parts south; they won't ba back until January 8. (I do believe there is a tune by that name)

Anyway, since the Friday night group has been gathering at their house, that wipes that out. It used to always be at my house but since I am now in a teeny apartment I could host no more than maybe 7 chairs that accommodate instruments. But maybe I'll make a few calls and get a few people over here...

We'll see;

I made ANOTHER fresh pot of coffee. (Jerry, I brought some replacement coffee beans with me- you'll find them on the counter there next to the microwave.)

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 21 Dec 06 - 03:48 PM

Hey, Ebbie:

I found the coffee beans., Just in time, as I was running out. I just put two large trays of lasagna that I made in the oven. They'll be ready to serve in a half an hour...

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 21 Dec 06 - 04:36 PM

Ebbie, I'm sure nothing stops you from singing, even if it's around the house or in the car, accompanied by the radio or whatever. Washing the dishes seems to be the time when I really let it fly.

Well, this year is my first Christmas flying solo. Not flying, but feet on terra firma. Strange, Thanksgiving was tough, but so far so good during this holiday season. I feel a lot of support around me from friends, family--even though they are far away--and I sure get a kick out of this idiosyncratic internet community. I am very grateful for the friends I have made here.

At the beginning of the year, when my whole world was falling apart and I had no idea how I would support myself and keep everything afloat and in one piece, I said that I would be happy if I just got by this year. Well, so it has come to pass. On the material level I just barely squeaked by, but the squeaking little phoenix dusted off a few of the ashes and that's a good thing. On other levels, it's been an amazing time of growth, of finding inner resources that I didn't know were there, from profound to pragmatic (such as getting in touch with my inner plumber). Also, outer support has appeared, the kindness of strangers, little blessings and synchronicities that whisper, 'all you have to do is put one foot in front of the other. Only think about one foot right now--you don't even have to think about the other just yet.'

Lest this sink too far into the maudlin, I will end these ruminations here. Thanks for all the coffee, the hiding place under the table to escape catbox brawls elsewhere, the food for thought, the laughs, the community, the fun of learning to recognize your distinct voices, the sharing of your lives.

And one of these days, when wabbits fly, Fudd will get his hundredth post!

Happy Holidays, y'all,

Elmer

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 21 Dec 06 - 06:05 PM

That evokes another thought: There are times, blessedly, when all that is needed IS to put one foot in front of the other.

When my daughter and her husband had twins their first go 'round (neither had ever been around tiny babies and secondly, my son in law was going through kidney dialysis three times a week)they quickly became exhausted. One day my daughter called me in tears. She wasn't getting anything done, she said, and even then she wasn't getting enough sleep; she was so tired she was afaid the babies would get hurt because she fell asleep.

I told her that with the babies that young, the ONLY thing she had to do at that point was to keep them comfortable. She did NOT have to try to entertain them or make them pretty; she did NOT have to clean the house or fold the laundry or even DO the laundry until she was good and ready.

Well, the twins are now 16 years old and they have a sister two years younger and all of them are happy and healthy kids

In later years my daughter said that if she knew it would be twins again they would try again. This time, she said, it would be fun.

But one foot in front of the other got them through it, and sometimes that's good enough.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 21 Dec 06 - 07:19 PM

Hey, Elmer:

Every rabbit don't got a hole.

I suppose it's time to start refelecting about 2006, as the New Year approaches. Like everyone else, this year has been a year of wins and losses. I lost my Mother this year and found a good friend, and my life has moved off in a different direction. A few years ago, I realized that I was pretty much of a failure, trying to predict where my life was going, so I got out of the prediction business. I thought of the line about putting one foot down in front of the other and it brought to mind a wonderful country music
song: Walk On Faith"

   "Walk on faith, trust in love
   Just keep putting one foot down in front of the other
   Though the valley is wide, and you stumble in stride
   Walk on faith, trust in love"

Works for me.

We had a large plate of lasagna for supper tonight and watched The Last Time I Saw Paris on the tv. I took Ruth to Paris on our honeymoon almost 8 years ago. It was funny: I asked her where she wanted to go for our honeymoon, and she said, "Paris." I said, if
for some reason, I can't swing Paris, what would be your second choice. And there was dead silence. We still laugh about that.

Paris is for lovers.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 22 Dec 06 - 10:13 AM

Man!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm feeling like Shambles!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I just did my first copy and paste (below)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"I'm starting this thread with no idea whether people can relax from all the combativeness I see in here, and just join me in a cup of cofffee or tea, a beer or just a cold bottle of water. The kettle is on and I hear the whistle going off. Why not sit for a minute, tell me what's going on in your mind, or what's happening in your life... how are your wife and kids? anything happen today that you want to talk about? I'll start it off..."

I was thinking that this thread must be getting close to its first anniversary, so I went back to check my opening post. When I started this thread, I had no idea whether anyone would want to stop by for a minute. I figured maybe we'd hit a 100 posts. When the New Year rolls around, this thread will be one of the many pleasures in my life that I will give thanks for. And when February 25th and
the Anniversary arrives, if we're still all here, I'l crack a bottle of champagne and toast you all!.

When I was Director of the Museum where I worked for over 30 years, our fiscal year ran from July 1st to June 30th. I used to hold a Fiscal New Year's Eve party on June 30th and we had a great time celebrating another year.

Why not February 25th?

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 22 Dec 06 - 10:57 AM

Looking forward to the champagne Jerry, and your story about Paris got me thinking, Billy is not too well at the moment and having lots of tests, we should get all the results back at the start of February, he has never been to Paris and Spring in Paris would be wonderful.So maybe he and I should drink our champagne there on Feb 25th?
Wishing you all a wonderful and peaceful Christmas and thank you for this table and the good friends I have made here.
wendy

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: jimmyt
Date: 22 Dec 06 - 11:18 AM

HI All, I am recouperating from some surgery yesterday and feeling a bit beat up but on the mend. Hope you are all enjoying the season. Now where did I put those pain pills?   jimmyt

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 22 Dec 06 - 12:09 PM

Dang, Jimmy!!!!! I've been wondering where you've been!!!!!!!! Now you got me even more concerned!!!!!!!!!

You doin' awright?

I certainly hope so.

Ruth and I wil lift you in prayer.

Get well, buddy.

And don't make any quick moves.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 22 Dec 06 - 12:12 PM

Be a good patient, jimmyt. (You know what they say about doctors.)

Recuperate beautifully, OK?

Ebbie

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: jimmyt
Date: 22 Dec 06 - 01:46 PM

I am a very good patient Ebbie! Jerry the only quick moves I ever make are on the Astring of the bass (note how I intentionally avoided mentioning the G string)   thanks all!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 22 Dec 06 - 01:48 PM

Awwww, jimmyt. Hope you feel mo' bettuh mo' soonuh. And whatever was ailiing you, I hope the surgery fixed it.

Elmer

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 22 Dec 06 - 01:58 PM

Jerry,

On Feb 25th, why don't you just take us all to Paris instead? We can sing a rousing chorus of "The Night They Invented Champagne" in its country of origin. Very trad, you know...

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 22 Dec 06 - 02:29 PM

jimmyt, a brother of mine - who has never played any instrument - has taken up the bass guitar. Although it is electric, which is a pity, it is probably easier to learn than the upright.

My question: What is standard tuning on a bass? I don't play bass, but because I play other instruments my brother thinks I should be able to give him some pointers. Although I do flat pick, I'm used to thinking in terms of chords, which is no help here. Besides, we live a thousand miles apart, so it's not going to be easy.

He does have a video that he watches, but the language itself is a problem to him.

I told him, OK, I can help you understand about notes and keys and components thereof, I can tell you what to listen to and for (The Chuck Wagon Gang, by the way, is just about the best I have ever heard to listen to a bass)and give you an idea of the role of a bass in support of music.

Back to the very basic question: What is standard tuning for a bass?

Thankee.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: jimmyt
Date: 22 Dec 06 - 04:16 PM

Ebbie,   EADG low to high. Tuned in 4ths, LIke the bottom 4 strings on a guitar. Good luck to him!~ I think it will be pretty straight forward to get a handle on the bass guitat pretty quickly if he has an ear

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Tootler
Date: 22 Dec 06 - 05:49 PM

Hello All,

My daughter's been busy making mince pies today, so I brought some along. Please help yourselves.

Jimmyt, I hope you are on the mend. Look after yourself and you will do OK.

One nice thing about playing a bass instrument, in a session at least, is you don't need to know the tune to join in. I sometimes take my contrabass recorder along to a session. I looks a bit odd (like this), but makes a great sound, if a little quiet and I have great fun chugging along at the bottom.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 22 Dec 06 - 11:28 PM

Thank you, jimmyt. He has a good ear but little or no training or understanding of the mechanics of music making.

It's funny- we come from a large family. Of them, only one girl out of five DOES make music, and only one boy out of four does NOT make music.

That's not quite true, of course- all of us love to sing.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Stephen L. Rich
Date: 22 Dec 06 - 11:50 PM

I know what you mean about people that you haven't seen for a while.
My cousin Tim and I were born about a week apart and were pretty much raised together until Uncle Lee (Tim's father) moved his brood out to Boulder, CO. Tim and I were nine years old. We were always close and were/are a lot alike.The family joke is that one of us is the other's evil twin, but nobody is quite sure which is which. We saw everyone fairly regularly on annual trips west (from Chicago). In 1967 Tim and two of his sisters came to Chicago to visit us. Through one thing and another ( our changing lives, growing up, finding careers, etc) Tim and I did not see each other again until my mother's funeral in 1994. We picked up the conversation pretty much where we had left in 1967.

Stephen Lee

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jeanie
Date: 23 Dec 06 - 06:53 AM

Hello from me, a late arrival at the kitchen table (I don't think I've ever dropped by here before). Here are some 'Lebkuchen Herzen' (heart-shaped German Christmas biscuits) to add to the table <3 <3 <3 <3. I've only put 4 on the plate, but there are plenty more in that tin over there. Help yourselves.

Hope everyone is starting a nice, gentle run-up to Christmas Day. How are you feeling today, Jimmy ?

Ebbie, isn't it great when a love of music-making gets passed on from one generation of a family to the next ? This has certainly happened from my father's side of the family - from his mother and her mother before that, and it looks like continuing, too. I was clearing out my parents' flat this year after my mother died, and made a wonderful find: a tape of our family Christmas "concert" of 1975, with all of us playing, singing, chatting and laughing (more laughing than anything else). It was quite extraordinary to hear all those familiar voices, several of whom are now long since gone from this world and I hadn't heard for decades, but there they all are. So many happy memories, and future memories in the making today.

What kind of family music-making are people planning for the next few days ? I've just this week acquired an autoharp, something I've had my eye on for a while now. Still need to look to see where the chord buttons are, so there are a few longer-than-necessary pauses, but my daughter and I are going to have some fun, with her playing flute or whistle and me limping along behind with my autoharp chord changes!

I'll bring some Gluehwein with me, next time I call by the table.

- jeanie

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 23 Dec 06 - 09:02 AM

Welcome to the table, Jeanie! It's a real delight seeing you.

As for family music, I have an interesting story. It relates to your story to, Stephen, in that it involves meeting a cousin after an absence of many years.

In October, my cousin Roger Holliday came to visit us here in Connecticut. Roger's father, my Uncle Walt appears in two songs that I've written: Roger hadn't heard either of them.
   
"Alfred told my Uncle Walt, who married Alfred's sister, Edna"

I'd only seen Roger once since I was a young teenager, and that very briefly about 30 years ago. It was less a matter of catching up, than starting to get to know a near-complete stranger.

Roger's father was my Mother's brother, and at one point in the conversation Roger said, "The Hollidays were never singers." I thought that it was an odd comment, because Roger's father, my Uncle Walt was the inspiration for another song that I wrote: Poppa Was A Preacher with the line "and my Poppa sang the bass." Mu Uncle Walt had a powerful, deep bass voice and sang the blessing before we ate at family picnics. And so I told Roger about the Hollidays: how my Mother and her sister, my Aunt Ruth, sang as a duet as little girls and were quite the sensation, and how her Mother and all 8 kids loved to sing around the kitchen table, or riding in to town on the wagon on a cold winter's night (another song.) There weren't a lot of instrument-players in my family, although my oldest sister played violin, and my youngest sister played autoharp (Hi, Jeanie.) It's funny how reality hardly puts a dent in old misconceptions.

This time of year reminds me that I first learned to sing harmony by going out caroling with my sisters when I was a little kid. Singing harmony was a natural part of growing up, for me.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 23 Dec 06 - 12:10 PM

One of my favorite memories when I was young was that on Sunday nights after supper my father would gather the stack of hymn books (black, cloth-bound- does anyone else remember them?) and five or six of the youngest kids would group with him around the big library table in the middle of the living room and we would lustily sing 'Love Lifted Me', 'Softly and Tenderly', 'Gathering in the Sheaves', 'Heavenly Sunlight' 'Shiloh' and dozens of others.

My mother didn't normally join us- my guess is that she was getting ready for the next day's return to 'real life'. Or maybe she was just catching her breath.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 24 Dec 06 - 06:57 AM

Silent Night

It was my first Christmas alone. I'd just come through a brutal, two year divorce, and my ex-wife had my two young sons for Christmas Eve. Christmas Eve was always very special for me. Growing up, we celebrated Christmas Eve more than Christmas. At least, that's when we opened our presents. Being alone on Christmas Eve, still bruised from a traumatic divorce, was a new experience for me.

After taking my sons over to my ex-wife's house, I headed off to New Canaan. New Canaan is a small, picturesque New England town and was lit up like a set out of It's A Wonderful Life. A woman who worked for me, who I was in love with at the time (or at least in love with the idea of being in love with) said that she was going to sing Christmas carols at the ceremonial lighting of the Christmas tree in the town park. Not having any place to go and facing an evening alone, I decided to go over for the tree lighting. And to see her. As it turned out, I had gotten the time mixed up and by the time I arrived at the park, the tree was already lit and the carolers had all gone home. The streets were empty, and there were very few cars on the road. Everyone was home celebrating with their family and friends. It was a silent night.

Driving back to my empty house I took my time, following the narrow, winding roads through the countryside, and I was transfixed by the beauty of the night. With a full moon, and freshly fallen snow covering the fields and woods, all was calm, and all was bright. It was a holy night. Somehow I felt like I had risen above all of the turmoil of my life and was surrounded by the beauty of the heavens that clear night. I don't ever remember seeing the stars that bright. It was an experience unlike anything that I'd ever known, and my eyes welled up with tears at the beauty of it. It was one of those times when I felt loved beyond all measure. And I was filled with love for everyone who was gathering in their homes that night to celebrate the birth of Christ, or just to enjoy the gift of family and friends. I was alone, but not lonely.

Sometimes, we need to be pulled out of our daily routine so that we can truly see the beauty around us.

Have a beautiful Christmas Eve. And if you can, step aside and enjoy the silence.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: David C. Carter
Date: 24 Dec 06 - 09:27 AM

Hi Jerry and everybody,been away from the Table too long!Had a bit of a Brain Ache!
Thanks for your PM Jerry,very kind of you.
It's good to see everyone still dropping by the Table.Feels like a family.It is a family!Silly me!
This is a short posting co's the Heavy Artillery will be coming by soon for tonights bash,so I should be going and setting the table and putting the food on.Took a stroll up the Champs yesterday,a beautifull sight!
Whatever your'e all up to,have a good time up there!
Merry Christmas to you all.

David

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 26 Dec 06 - 11:07 AM

Nice to see you, David:

Welcome back to the table.

I'm feeling like Mostly Martha this morning. Back in the 50's, the Crew Cuts had a hit record of that title, but I'm feeling more like Martha, of Mary and Martha. When Jesus came to visit their house, Mary spent her time ministering to Jesus while Martha worked in the kitchen. We had 25 people for Christmas yesterday: all members of our family on Ruth's side. My family is all out in the Midwest, except for my oldest son and his wife and kids who are in South Carolina. We made breakfast for about eight people, and I manned the kitchen, making scrambled egg-beater omelets, vegetarina breakfast sausages, toast, farina ,coffee and heating up the tuna cakes that Ruth made a couple of days ago. Ruth set the table and served, and I wanted her to have time to socialize. After breakfast, I was back in the kitchen doing dishes, cleaning up and getting stuff out for dinner. We had a great feast... fried chicken, roast turkey, lasagnan that I'd made a couple of days ago, barbequed meatballs, chili and potato salad Ruth had made, two cooked vegetables, a tossed salad, rolls and surely some other things that don't immediately come to my weary mind. We finished dinner around five, opened presents, and then celebrated our Grandosn Pa-Sah's 17th birthday with a large picture cake, home-made ice cream his mother made, three different pies, fruit salad, cookies, brownies and surely some other things that don't immediately come to my weary mind. Then, I was back in the kitchen until nine, cleaning up, helped by our daughter Dee and daughter-in-law Nina. Ruth received two long phone calls from family who couldn't be with us, and I was happy to give her the time to enjoy them. Finally around 9, we'd wrestled the kitchen mess to the floor (not literally) and I'd done four or five loads of dishes, so Ruth had the time to sit and talk with her/our daughter Dee, while I called my oldest son and his wife, and we had a chance to speak to both of them, and our grandkids. About the time Ruth and Dee were wrapping up their visiting upstairs, I got a call from my youngest son, out in Rockford, Illinois. We talked for an hour, and it capped a wonderful Christmas.

What we worked so hard for was to set a bountiful table, in a beautifully decorated home where everyone could come, relax and enjoy each other. I think we did it. And as often happens, someone came unexpectedly (not an immediate family member) so I ducked downstairs to my office, pulled out a large box where I keep un-assigned presents, and selected a nice gift for him. It's a real pleasure, being able to include strangers in the gift receiving, with no advanced notice. That's not a problem for me. I'd already bought three "Christmas 2007 presents" before Christmas 2006 got here. Some of the presents I have stashed away will be pulled out spontaneously for a birthday of someone who drops by. I've never emptied the box, and don't expect that I ever will.

Ruth and I had a wonderful, quiet Christmas Eve together. I was especially appreciative of that because on Christmas day, we spend the day trying to make sure that everyone has a good time. If they do, we do.

Meanwhile, we've got enough food left over to fill this here kitchen table three-fold.

Please pass the lasagna, and I'd like a piece of that sweet potato pie..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: GUEST,pattyClink
Date: 26 Dec 06 - 08:51 PM

Our Christmas was a bit like yours Jerry, we spent an overnight with relatives and several of us worked together to have food and drink for many, a virtual family reunion as well as Christmas celebration. Delightfully, some old friends dropped in from out of state with nowhere else to go, and they brought nothing to the dining table but plenty in terms of enthusiasm, good will, and inspiration. So much fun when extra people are added to the mix. And this year there were new little kids, and a new daughter-in-law, and all that sort of thing. It had been awhile since this clan had grown boys tossing a football and teeny ones staring in wonder at a ceiling fan.

But how, next year, do we get more music and less food preparation?? Despite farming some of the cooking out to different branches of the clan, we were so exhausted both days by the traveling and food and wine and kitchen work that we never got to the music-making we half-planned.   Maybe we will have to go the Martha Stewart route-- do some heavy planning, and pre-make and freeze a lot of stuff next time.

We did get to attend a good candlelight service with carols, that was one of the best parts. Glad that was on the schedule before everything got truly crazy.

Well, I am babbling, I am going to put down my mug of hot cider and call it a night.   Wishing everyone at the kitchen table a nice midwinter rest and a roaring start to the new year.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: OtherDave
Date: 27 Dec 06 - 07:13 AM

Well, well, a kitchen table.

I was born (quite some time ago) in Cape Breton, where they know a thing or two about sitting around the table.

I'm not too big on virtual snacks, but in the spirit of things, let me offer the endearingly (enduringly?) hearty Dougal Archies, known to some as "funeral biscuits." Not that they cause funerals; you bring Dougall Archies as part of paying your respects.

...Also, my mother's shortbread. I like the classic proportions: twice as much butter as sugar, twice as much flour as butter.

You've got four weeks to practice making these if you want to be well stocked by Burns Night.

OtherDave

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 27 Dec 06 - 11:04 AM

Hey, Other Dave: Welcome to the table. Thanks for posting the recipes. I may have to try them out with some modifications. Three years ago I was diagnosed as diabetic. One of the best things that ever happened to me. I took off 30 pounds, and never looked back. My blood sugar has been normal, I am not on medication and I have my blood sugar checked every four or five months. The good thing is that I started taking care of my body, and am now running on high-test, premium instead of the cheapest economy fuel. Through time, I've modified most of my favorite recipes with generally good results, substituting Splenda (a sugar substitute in this country made from sugar) who wheat flour for the white enriched stuff, margerine with no trans fats, and a few other alternatives. That might seem to take all the fun out of life, because the food I make is generally good for you. But, I like being at my fighting weight, with all the associated energy level. And, I don't feel like I've had to give up much.

I have a recipe for something called Cowboy Cake, which I was given at a folk concert I did, many years ago. I swapped a copy of one of my albums for the recipe. I've been meaning to try it with whole wheat flour and Splenda, so maybe your recipes will motivate me. I'll track down my Cowboy Cake recipe and post it here. Maybe even figure out how to do a blue clicky (just been too lazy to do it.)

The great thing about cyber food is that it isn't fattening. Pass me another slice of that pepperoni pizza, will you?

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: GUEST,pattyClink
Date: 27 Dec 06 - 06:56 PM

Other, those Archies sound like the cookies they bake at Colonial Williamsburg at the Raleigh tavern cookhouse, they shove them in an old woodburning oven. Yummy. Same recipe they used way back. I wonder how close the two recipes are and if they started out the same place....

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 29 Dec 06 - 02:30 PM

Back to normal. And it feels good. For the first time in a couple of weeks, Ruth and I went for a walk on the River Walk, here in Derby (CT., that is.) It was good to get the legs moving again, and I know that I'll feel better tomorrow. We've just about cleaned up for our Christmas and will start taking the decorations down after Jan. 1. We've made at least a dent in all the food that we had left over, and I may even take Ruth out to dinner, just for a change of pace.

Yesterday, I pulled out my banjo, which I haven't played in a long time. Don't ask how long. Much to my astonishment and pleasure, the old songs are still in there. All that they need is the playing. When I started my gospel quartet, most folks thought that I'd stopped playing folk music. Kinda like Little Richard leaving Rock and Roll to become a preacher. I never left folk, or became a preacher. I'd always done some gospel as part of folk music, so nothing seems to have changed, except the emphasis. Hey, I pulled a fourteen verse child ballad out of storage, dusted it off and it sounded as good as new on my banjo.

I'm really looking forward to the New Year. I'm brushing up on my folk music for a concert, and gearing the Gospel Messengers up for our 10th Anniversary concert in the spring. I'm looking forward to getting back to writing, and Ruth and I are counting our pennies to see if we can spring another trip this year.

So, what's coming up for you folks? Remember, the days are already getting longer (at least here in the Northern Hemisphere.)

If you feel so inclined, check out the Gifts og Ageing thread and add your comments..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 30 Dec 06 - 09:44 AM

Well, I'm gearing up for New Year's. Yup, I've gotten my pucker back and plan to whistle up a storm, or at least a small drizzle.

Funny thing. Back in 1993 or 4 I picked up my trumpet again after being off it for probably 25 years, at least. My embouchre was shot, of course. I worked at it and finally got to where I felt comfortable taking my old place as 3rd Trumpet 2nd Chair in my High School Band's 50th anniversary concert in 1995.

The really odd thing was that I didn't need to remember the fingerings. In fact, I could play notes like Db or A#, stuff I KNOW I never played before.

I suspect that when you start using those old dusty paths in the brain again, sweeping out the cobwebs and dust, you find that they're still just as workable as they ever were and maybe moreso -- you knew more than you think you did.

Same thing recently: I heard for the first time in a very, very long time the Kingston Trio's singing of "They Told Me Doncha Go Down To That City", which used to be one of my favorite songs. With the first line I could sing it like I'd been singing it all along.

The brain is a wonderful gadget. I'd see about getting a good one, but I'm kinda used to the old clunker I've got.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 30 Dec 06 - 10:10 AM

That's the intriguing thing about playing an instrument, Rap: sometimes I seem to make greater strides by NOT practicing. Of course, that offers up wonderful excuses for procrastination. Maybe my mind is so slow that it takes awhile to process what I'm learning.

Along the same lines, ferreting out long forgotten lines from songs convinces me that we have alot more stored in our brains than we realize. It just takes some poking around in corners to find the stuff and bring it into consciousness. Got a story about that, but my wife and I are heading out for our morning walk.

Later, Dude..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 30 Dec 06 - 04:08 PM

Sorry I haven't been back for a while. It was a real busy Christmas concert schedule--and then I got caught up in some of the political threads. I know--like a moth to a flame. But somehow it really irks me when somebody makes stupid attacks on Carter--probably the only genuinely good man--and good even on a global scale--seemingly without the need to backstab anybody-- to be US president in the 20th century.   OK--- political discussion, get thee behind me.

Anyway, my group group's Christmas concerts are always sponsored by a specific embassy--no money given, just the theme, and the ambassador makes it official--hosts a gathering, etc.

Well, this time it was the Austrian embassy. Can't go wrong with that---Mozart, Schubert, Alpine-flavored Christmas music. It was just wonderful. I even had the chance to sing at the ambassador's residence--just 12 of us--out of about 200. She and some of her staff sang one of their favorite carols--which I'd never heard before. She told us how hard it was in the US to try to follow the Austrian custom of only going to get a Christmas tree on the 24th of December. She was lucky to get one at all even close to what she was looking for.

And at the reception, a staff member wanted to know why there are SO many Protestant denominations over here--and how they differ. Not easy to explain--especially auf Deutsch. And I wound up singing "Es gibt kein Bier auf Hawaii" with another staff member--while everybody was milling around us. She knew verses I'd never heard. I think anything goes at Christmastime as far as music.

Then a few days later another subset of my group did 2 family Christmas concerts. A story--from about 1890--of "Why the Chimes Rang" ( cathedral chimes which hadn't rung for centuries). Then we tacked Rudolf, Frosty, and Santa on after the play.--it seems the kids have to have them--and it was after all a family concert.

Lots of wonderful songs about bells--including "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day"--which, I've learned, is not only a warm emotional song, but was written (the poem) by Longfellow during the Civil War-- and at a low point for him--his son had been recently seriously wounded.   It even has verses-- hardly ever sung--which fix its time--something to the effect of "Then from every accursed mouth/ The cannons thundered in the South."

It seems to me that the more you know about the background of a song, the more you appreciate it. Familiarity does not breed contempt--at least not for me.

More later.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 31 Dec 06 - 03:59 PM

HI, Ron:

How nice to see you. We've missed you at the table. Are you sure you're not more than one person? I can't believe one person could do everything that you do.

Tonight, Ruth and I are going to Watch Night at our church. Watch Night is a tradition honoring the night when slaves gathered together awaiting the stroke of midnight, when slavery would be abolished. Most black churches honor that experience, remembering it in special services on New Year's Eve. This will be a rare experience for me, as I am not singing with the Men's Chorus tonight. This is my tenth year in the Chorus, and the first time I've ever sat in the congregation, rather than sing with them. But, this is New Year's Eve, too, and I want to sit with my wife. I mean, I love the guys in the Men's Chorus, but they can't hold a candle to Ruth.

Here's wishing all a great New Year!

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 31 Dec 06 - 06:09 PM

I'm smelling wabbit. I'm gonna bag that sucka befaw this yeaw is thwew!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Alice
Date: 31 Dec 06 - 06:16 PM

Ron and Jerry, great to hear your stories of what you are doing.

I love the song/poem I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day. I learned it from an old Bing Crosby recording and always think of his voice.
I have never had a chance to perform it, just sing it for myself around the house.

My music experiences have been nil this year. My job currently has overtaken everything in my life. I hope this coming year will be one in which I can have more personal time.

Happy New Year to you!

Alice

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 01 Jan 07 - 03:31 AM

It's 2007 now, the Chinese year of the pig.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 01 Jan 07 - 03:33 AM

But it's a wascally wabbit I'm after. Hewe, bunny, bunny, bunny.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 01 Jan 07 - 03:34 AM

I have some nice cawwot-flavored champagne for you!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 01 Jan 07 - 03:36 AM

C'mon Bugsy, ol pal. Lets buwy the hatchet and be fwends. Let old acquaintance be forgot, auld lang syne--y'know?

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 01 Jan 07 - 03:40 AM

FWONT AND CENTER, YOU SCWEWY WABBIT! WIGHT NOW! THE TIME HAS COME! IT'S PAST MIDNIGHT AND FUDD NEEDS HIS BEAUTY SLEEP. I'VE GOT YOU NOW. YOU'WE ALL MINE, ALL MINE AT LAST!!!!!!!!!!!!!

YOU'RE TOAST, YOU HAWEBWAINED BUNNY, DO YOU HEAW ME?

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 01 Jan 07 - 04:00 AM

1500? Did I catch him for you, Elmer?

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 01 Jan 07 - 04:12 AM

AWwww EBBIE. You can make a grown man cry. Happy New Year!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 01 Jan 07 - 04:20 AM

My first wabbit, Elmer. Be happy for me.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: freda underhill
Date: 01 Jan 07 - 04:27 AM

Watch Night sounds like a great tradition, Jerry.

It's evening of New Year's Day here in Sydney. I have spent quite a bit of time in the last few days going for long walks around the harbour.

Last night I went with friends down to the harbour, to watch the 9.00 pm fireworks. Later we sat on a balcony at a house in the inner city (Glebe) watching the midnight fireworks across the city skyline. This morning the city was given a good soaking - rain - which we need so much, bucketing down.

It has been a very peaceful day, a good way to start the year. Happy New Year everyone!

freda

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Severn
Date: 01 Jan 07 - 08:36 AM

The Best of New Years to Rassmussendom Assembled, and to all who pass thru the kitchen in this new Good Year with lots of tread still on it and a good warranty, to boot!

Cream, no sugar, thanks!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 01 Jan 07 - 09:48 AM

Happy New Year, all!!

I dunno, Elmer. What if in 2007, you finally killed Bugs Bunny and made a nice rabbit stew; Willy Coyote caught the Road Runner, and Tom caught Jerry?: that last possibility sends chills down my spine. Or Lucy finally held the football and let Charlie Brown kick it? The world loves a loser, because we are all familiar with losing.
It all goes back to Don Quixote, I think.

Watch Night was wonderful. With a strong message. It was December 31st, 1862 at midnight, when slavery was abolished in this country.
Our Pastor read a text from the old Testament remembering when the Hebrews were in slavery, waiting to be released, and then brought it up to the present, talking about how all of us are at risk of being enslaved to something. Some are in slavery to drugs or alchohol, some to sexual immorality, some to gambling, or even materialism. The other part of the scriptural reading which I didn't remember is that when Pharaoh told Moses that he could deliver the Hebrews out of slavery, he said that before he would allow it, Moses had to bless him. Blessing our enemies frees us from another kind of slavery... being linked by hatred to them. Our Pastor encouraged everyone to search their hearts for anyone we hold a grudge against, or consider our enemies and to bless them. Hatred, unforgiveness and bitterness are all enslaving. In honesty, I don't think that I have any enemies. I've had one or two in my life... people who were actively trying to destroy me. For a lifetime, that's not bad. But, the message was a good one. Love breaks shackles.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 01 Jan 07 - 03:01 PM

Hey, severn: Nice to see you at the table. I expect that this will be a slow day. They're showing an all-day, all-night marathon of Murder She Wrote on the Biography channel, SI I've temporarily lost my wife. :-)

And Alice: I have I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day on a wonderful Christmas album by Harry Belefonte. I've never heard it by Der Bingle, but I am very partial to Harry's version. (It's a wonderful album, by the way that finally came out on CD a couple of years ago.)

Lazy day around here... hopefully everyone who wants to can just kick back, kick off your shoes and take it easy, too.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Tootler
Date: 01 Jan 07 - 07:28 PM

We had a very quiet New Year. The weather was dreadful and there was not the usual going out into the street to wish each other happy new year.

Today was quiet, weatherwise. We went to see "Miss Potter" this evening, a film about the relationship between Beatrix Potter and her Publisher, Norman Warne. It was a lovely film, beautifully acted and with stunning locations. Sad in places because Beatrix Potter was engaged to Norman Warne, but he died before they could marry. Also sad because her mother never really appreciated her daughter's talent. However the film was not all sad as they also showed her successes and took the ending through her mourning to her purchase of Hill Top Farm in the Lake District and the beginnings of the relationship with the man she eventually married.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Carly
Date: 02 Jan 07 - 07:26 PM

It feels good to stop by in the kitchen, particularly as I don't have to cook right now... We've had a busy holiday season; I did my family's annual Chanukah gathering at our house this year; blintzes, smoked salmon and latkes for twenty, and enough Chanukah gelt (chocolate foil-wrapped coins) for all the kids to play dreidel and stuff themselves with candy! The next weekend I did Christmas dinner for the other side of the family, serving, by request, ham, candied sweet potatoes, cheese grits casserole, garlic green beans,stollen and Christmas cookies. Between getting (and keeping!) the house in order, cooking vast quanities of everything, and visiting with family and friends, by New Year's Eve Dean and I were happy to drop Sam off at a slumber partly ( where very little slumbering took place!) and return home to bring the New Year in quietly and gratefully.

Jerry, your pastor's comments about blessing our enemies is very much like the Jewish New Year traditions. During the High Holy Days, the time from Rosh Hashanah to, ten days later, Yom Kippor, people should pay their debts, settle their quarrels, and make amends if they have harmed anyone over the year. Only after one has addressed these issues here on earth, is it possible to turn full attention to the Lord on Yom Kippor, the day of Atonement.

A happy and healthy New Year to all of you around the table; may you and yours have a year of love, laughter and music ( not to mention plenty of hugs and lots of chocolate!)

Speaking of which, is there any hot chocolate around....?

Carly

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 02 Jan 07 - 08:12 PM

Ah, by happy coincidence, Carly, that is exactly what I brought! Real chocolate, secret recipe, steaming hot. salut!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 03 Jan 07 - 12:20 PM

Happy New year to you all.
We had a wonderful Chrismas with all the family, lots of cooking and much too much food as usual, had a party for friends on the Wednesday too eat up the left overs and yet the fridge is still full!
We went to a dinner dance New Years Eve at the theatre where our son is manager, lots of champagne and good music to dance too.So we missed the fireworks in London which were marvolous so they say.
Now all the celebrations are over I am enjoying a peaceful afternoon listening to my favoutite CD's.Hot chocolate would be lovely thank you
Wendy

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 03 Jan 07 - 12:29 PM

Pleanty of mugs for all. Jerry keeps a well-stocked kitchen.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 04 Jan 07 - 11:09 AM

Before the holiday season slips completely away, I 'd like to say a word on behalf of poor maligned "Jingle Bells". It has the reputation of being maybe one of the most overplayed tunes piped in at the mall. But there's a lot more to it.

One of the verses says "Now the ground is white/ Go it while you're young/ Take the girls tonight/ And sing a sleighing song.

I've read that that can be seen as an early version of a Beach Boys song---"pretty girls and fast sleighs--nothing ever changes"--said the article I saw. Maybe "Little Honda" -- "Put on a ragged sweatshirt--I'll take you anywhere you want me to".   

Also, "Jingle Bells" was probably meant neither as a Christmas nor Thanksgiving song--it was just jumping on the 1850's sleighing song craze.

Now the song is the object of competition between Massachusetts and South Carolina--both claim it. Published in Massachusetts--but very likely written in Savannah--by James Pierpont, who was remembering Northern winters. As I recall, his brother or father was the strongly abolitionist pastor of a Unitarian Savannah church--until forced out. (And one of his nephews was J P. Morgan--though he himself was not particularly successful financially. Sure didn't get much out of "Jingle Bells" during his lifetime.

But as I said earlier, I find that the more you know about a song, the more you appreciate it. At least I find that to be so.

I like the song--and it sure is always a hit with kids--especially if you bring some actual "jingle bells" they can shake. It's requested a lot when we do door-to-door SATB caroling.   (This year the weather was the worst it's been in 15 years of the caroling--so we invited some neighbors who wanted to hear us to Jan's and my house instead for the caroling party.)

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Emma B
Date: 04 Jan 07 - 11:15 AM

Bugs has a "little" problem Elmer - see the 85 billion thread :-(
You wouldn't kick a wabbit when he's down would ya?

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 04 Jan 07 - 11:16 AM

Sorry--Georgia, not South Carolina.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 04 Jan 07 - 11:44 AM

Hey, Ron:

For a sleighing song, I vastly prefer Sleigh Ride by Leroy Anderson, or even Over the river and through the woods to Grandmother's house we go.

If there hadn't been Jingle Bells, would we have been spared Jingle Bell Rock? I find that far more irritating.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 04 Jan 07 - 08:38 PM

Had an interesting phone call this evening. Ken Mewes, who sings bass and is the leader of The Sentinels (the a capella doo wop group I've gotten to know) called to ask if I'd be interested in filling in for their baritone for the next three months. I told him that I'd be interested in coming to a practice to see how we would work together, and if we were all satisfied, and the time commitment wasn't too excessive, I certainly would be interested. Things are slow right now, and I could probably make the time for it in the next three months.

And what a kick it would be!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, noom, noom, noom, noom, noom, noom, noom, noom, get a job..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 04 Jan 07 - 11:19 PM

DO IT, JERRY!!!!!!!    WHAT A KICK!!!!!   And what stories you'll have for us! WOW! I'm jealous as hell!



(And I agree Sleigh Ride by Leroy Anderson is a great song (and especially instrumental piece.) In fact at our Christmas concerts this year at the Kennedy Center and Strathmore (another venue), we had a youth orchestra doing that one. It was spectacular--especially the way the (17 year old?) percussionist played the xylophone, the marimba (I think) and the blocks (to simulate the whip), coolly walking from one to the other during the piece. I would have been petrified I'd be late.

I'd much rather have the youth orchestra ( called American Youth Orchestra, I think) than the National Symphony accompany us at Christmas. They were so enthusiastic--and damn good.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: KT
Date: 05 Jan 07 - 01:58 AM

Hi everybody!!   A cup of hot Chamomile sounds just right........and I've brought along a fresh out of the oven pumpkin cake. Still warm, in fact......

It's been way too long since I've stopped in and I'm so happy to see y'all! Of course, since it has been so long, I only checked in a few posts back (starting with CARLY'S) and was especially warmed by your description of the Jewish New Year traditions and the High Holy Days. (Can I come sometime, Carly, can I please?)

Jerry, great news! I hope you find it satisfying and worth your time! Sounds like great fun!!

My new job has been keeping me very busy. It's a LOT of work AND such a gift. Only one New Year's resolution here....to be more consistent with entries in my gratitude journal.

Ah....I love this table. Thanks for keeping the kettle on, folks.

KT

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 05 Jan 07 - 09:12 AM

Jerry, I GOT a job. Do I gotta get another job?

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 05 Jan 07 - 09:46 AM

The economy being what it is, Rap, I'm surprised that someone hasn't re-done the song, saying "Get a second job."

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Carly
Date: 05 Jan 07 - 12:00 PM

Of course you can come, KT! Just let us know which plane to meet!

Jerry, how can you hesitate? Doo Wop is such fun stuff to sing.. and then you can tell us all of your adventures with the Sentinels...

Ebbie, the hot chocolate is just the thing for this wet, cold day in Virginia. Thanks for thinking of it.

Carly

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 06 Jan 07 - 09:24 AM

Yesterday we had the kick-off planning meeting for our Centennial Capital Campaign at work. More study needed, etc. was the general consensus, and how do we fit our existing, though small (USD 53,000) endowment into the Campaign?

We broke up around 1:15 p.m. Around 3:50 the President of the Library Friends group called me. She'd picked up the mail for the Friends and in it was a check, the residue of a trust, for the Library. USD 46,093.62. Seems like the parents grew up in Pocatello and they and their children used and enjoyed the Library and....

The money will go into the Endowment, effectively doubling it, and a nice start to the Capital Campaign.

Odd how that happened on that particular day!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 06 Jan 07 - 10:34 AM

Congratulations, Rapaire:

Doubling your endowment the first day ain't half bad..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 06 Jan 07 - 11:56 AM

Yeah. Only USD 19,900,000.00 to go! (And I ain't kiddin'. PM me if you want to make a tax-deductible donation.)

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 06 Jan 07 - 01:05 PM

20 million dollars, Rap? Have you thought about building in installments, as in wings? Or double decking it, making the footprint smaller? Or- 20 million dollars?

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: KT
Date: 06 Jan 07 - 03:42 PM

By the way, Jerry, I meant to say that I've got your CD in the car. It's great and wonderful to share the ride to & form work with you!!

Carly, thanks so much!! I'll let you know when I have a reservation!!

love to all~
KT

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 06 Jan 07 - 03:55 PM

That's endowment. Money we could use the interest from to do things we have to do. And the things that we are going to have to do are big ticket things -- like expanding the building's second floor out over the parking lots (roughly US $125.00 per square foot, assuming you don't have problems like you always do and don't need furniture and shelves and things). It's money to pay for things we'll need in twenty years, in forty years. And it won't be enough then unless we get the money NOW and invest it so that we have the money when we need it.

And I want this set up so that NOBODY, not even the Library Board, can touch that money without the approval of an Endowment Board. Daily operations of the Library should be financed by the city, as should ordinary repairs and equipment replacement. But if the Director in 2050 (unlikely to be me, 'cause I'd be about 105 years old then) wants to install quark-stabilized information transport s/he could make a case for it and apply to the Endowment Board for the cash (if the city couldn't or wouldn't provide it).

I only hope that $20 million would be enough seed money!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 06 Jan 07 - 04:54 PM

Oh, OK then. The check's on the way.

:)

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 06 Jan 07 - 06:27 PM

Was surfing tv and came across an intriguing title on the Moster Channel: The Monster that challenged the World. I clicked on the description out of curiosity, to find that it was about killer snails. And I thought to myself, "They couldn't have thought this out very clearly." Killer snails? "Look out, a killer snail is coming! "Alright, alright, just let me finish this program!"

I had to watch it long enough to see a killer snail attack someone.
For starters, these snails could outrun a cheetah. They looked suspiciously like a guy with a baggy rubber sleeve slipped over their head with a small shell attached on the back.

Boy, I hope I don't have nightmares tonight!

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 06 Jan 07 - 07:11 PM

Good gracious, Jerry. Tell us more. Are you saying that motivated snails are quick on their feet?

(Appropo of nossing, I just recalled seeing a demonstration of the beneficial skin effects of snail slime on the human face.)

(Second thought: On television I saw a turtle trudging off the roadway, at the speed that we are all accustomed to assoicating with the creatures. Then a huma being tried to pick it up- the turtle turned back and sped the other direction. Is it possible that we human beings are being toyed with?)

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 06 Jan 07 - 09:50 PM

Yes, Ebbie. It is quite possible that we are being toyed with. Unlike Einstein, I think that God really DOES play dice with the Universe.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 07 Jan 07 - 03:44 AM

Do you suppose the Earth is a marble? I've seen misshapen marbles.

Not an original thought but I have often 'seen' the earth as being some kid's ant farm.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 07 Jan 07 - 08:12 PM

Listening to the new Sentinels a capella doo wop album. Ken Mewes, the group leader dropped it off at the house tonight. I'm going to my first practice tomorrow night. The CD is wonderful, and I was impressed that they only include four or five familiar oldies. Most of the stuff I've never heard, and I have a near-ton of records.   There are 19 tracks on the CD. The baritone I'd temporarily replace is only go be here a couple of weeks. They expect me to learn 19 songs in two weeks? Puhleeeeez! There's no place to hide when you sing doo wop, and these guys are tight!

Feeling overwhelmed here. Not like singing along on Blue Moon at a folk festival sing around.

My doo wop career may be short-lived. :-)

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: GUEST,pattyClink
Date: 07 Jan 07 - 08:24 PM

Now, don't go getting nervous. They asked you to help because they thought you could do a great job.   

Of course there are lots of new songs on a new album. But I'll bet their performance repertoire has lots of more familiar stuff. Hang in there with a positive attitude.

Hey hey hey Jerry, it's not too scary for you
Hey hey hey Jer, they want to doo-wop with you

well, you get the idea...

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 07 Jan 07 - 08:41 PM

Jerry, it ain't called "doo wop" for nothin'. All you gotta do is remember the lyrics:

Doo wop shee bop wop doo wop shee bop wop....

and you'll be fine.

Of course, there might be slight variations on the above!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 07 Jan 07 - 11:02 PM

I agree - Jerry, you'll be fine. Probably have the time of your life, a time you will never forget. Have lots of fun.

Segue here: Last night I had to grin at myself. I was out at music (our usual monthly folk club concert. Wonderful night) until about 11:00. I didn't go to bed right away, of course, but I was relaxed and pleased at how well the night had gone. This folk club is my and three friends of mine's baby and since I do the booking the right mix and flow of performers depends a good deal on my efforts.

Anyway, I went to bed at 12:30, still in the same mood.

As I pulled the cover over me and laid my head on the pillow I discovered I was whistling!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 08 Jan 07 - 03:00 PM

Well, I've listened to the cd twice now, and I think I can do this...
Not 19 tracks at the same time though, thank you.

And NOW they tell me that we're going to start rehearsing with a 50's and 60's rock and roll band, doing Chuck Berry, Beach Boys and who knows what else.

Hey, I had a pair of blue suede shoes in the 50's, and wrote and recorded a rockabilly song.

Goin' be good rockin' tonight!

Life begins at 71.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 08 Jan 07 - 05:22 PM

Sounds like a whole lotta wannabe-in-the-band fantasies come true. Roll over Bay-toe-van-and John Henry, and Mary Hamilton, and Matty Groves, and Joe Hill, and Greensleeves, and...

Elmer

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Tootler
Date: 08 Jan 07 - 06:34 PM

Elmer,

I got news for you. Someone's beaten you to it.

I was watching a cookery programme on TV over the weekend and guess what they were cooking up?

Yes - you got it - wabbit!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 08 Jan 07 - 06:46 PM

GOSH, THAT BUGS ME!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 08 Jan 07 - 06:51 PM

Admit it, Jerry -- you're only in it for the groupies, ain'tcha?

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 08 Jan 07 - 09:01 PM

Hey Jerry, I've just been listening to your song--"All American Boy"--".....and all around town it was well understood/ That I was knockin' em out like Johnny B Goode".   (And Uncle
Sam won't even come after you and say "Take this rifle, kid. Gimme that guitar"). You've got the best of all worlds. Congratulations!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 08 Jan 07 - 10:04 PM

Hey, "Johnny B. Goode" was included on the Golden Record of "Sounds of the Earth" sent into space with the Voyager I and II spacecrafts. If some space aliens get hold of it and figure out how to play it, they'll be rockin' to Chuck Berry.

This is Profound Music you'll be singing, Jerry. It represents the earth to those Out There. Like, cosmic.

Elmer

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 08 Jan 07 - 11:10 PM

Hey, tootler, I too saw that cooking show. They were making a stew of equal parts rabbit and horse. One horse, one rabbit.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 08 Jan 07 - 11:24 PM

Had my first practice. Great fun, and I see that I could handle it. A few songs, I could step right in and take the harmony, because I've sung them so long. Others would take some work. Most of all, I saw the inner workings of the group and if confusion doesn't reign supreme it's apparently at least up for r-election. As it turns out, they don't have any bookings in the next three months, so the guy I would be replacing would be back by then. Which means that if I worked real hard, I'd never perform with the group. A couple of the guys pointed out that that made no sense at all for me. On top of that, there is no clear understanding of how it might work out, working with the rock and roll band. On the plus side, I'd be able to go to two practices a week (in addition to Gospel Messengers practices and performances, and the times I sing on my own) to learn harmonies on a lot of cool songs that I would never sing in public.

All that said, I had a great time, and I really like a couple of the guys. One (a tenor, yet) expressed an interesting in filling in with the Gospel Messengers, so I'm going to ask him to a practice.
You never know where all of this is going to lead. Wouldn't life be boring if we really knew what we were doing? :-)

As my friend and fellow Catter Jeanie asked me:

"You want to know how to make God laugh?
Tell him your plans for the future."

Sure is fun getting there, even if I don't know where I'm going, half the time...

Jerry (Formerly sang in an a capella doo wop group)

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 09 Jan 07 - 08:50 PM

Been thinking about last night. The doo wop group sings wonderful harmonies. What they're lacking is harmony between each other. And without that harmony between people, even the greatest of talent collapses and dies. The lack of harmony here on the Cat is very pronounced these days. Without respect for each other, and all that is inherent in that, people cancel each other out, instead of lifting each other. The thing that I appreciate about this thread and all of you who stop by and visit (whether you ever post a message or not) is that there is harmony here. That can be difficult to find.

And whoever would thunk. We have it, right here in the center of the maelstorm, these days...

Hallelujah!

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 12 Jan 07 - 08:47 PM

Looks like I need to put on a fresh pot of coffee.

You know, sometimes when you just go ahead and do something unselfish for someone else, you find yourself swimming in blessings.
Even though I may never perform with the doo wop group, The Sentinels, I've given it more thought and decided that I am going to learn the harmonies and words to as many songs as I can, and go to their practices. I'll be ready, even if I'm never used. And, ya never know. The unexpected blessing is that two of the Sentinels want to learn the Messengers repertoire so that they can fill in when we need them. They were so appreciative that I wanted to help them out, with no expectation that I'd ever get to sing with them that they wanted to do something in return. So look out for the first Doo Wospel ninetet.

We're having Messengers practice here at the house tomorrow morning, and the next time we have a Tuesday night practice, Joe and Ken from the Sentinels want to come. I've got a couple of gospel songs that need a doo wop background (one of which I wrote with that specifically in mind.) That was before I knew the Sentinels existed.
They call it being ahead of the curve.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 12 Jan 07 - 09:14 PM

Very cool, Jerry.

Ah, heck. Gimme another cup, will ya? This is lovely here.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 12 Jan 07 - 09:21 PM

Well, I thought I'd posted about the county veteran's affair person saying that it looks like the VA will supply me with (very good!) hearing aids AND a 10% disability for constant tinnitus AND maybe an additional 20% diability for Agent-Orange-related Type II diabetes.

But my post must have bumped in Ebbie's post, so here it is again.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 12 Jan 07 - 10:22 PM

That's wonderful news, Rapaire!!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks for being persistent and posting it again.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Maryrrf
Date: 12 Jan 07 - 11:14 PM

Hi Jerry. I got home tonight and was feeling lonely, so I got some tea and went to your kitchen table and read through the threads - felt like I'd had a nice visit. Thanks for having me!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 12 Jan 07 - 11:29 PM

Hi Mary. Thanks for dropping in. What's going on on the Richmond folk scene?

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Maryrrf
Date: 13 Jan 07 - 09:51 AM

Well, we do have Alistair Fraiser here in Richmond on the 18th - looking forward to that. Otherwise, the main "folk" scene (at least traditional folk) seems to be what I help organize with Richmond Folk Music - there was practically no "scene" at all so we decided to create our own! We hope to lure "closet folkies" into the open!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 13 Jan 07 - 09:55 AM

Well, Mary, actually in the DC area we also find that some of the best stuff happens when we just get together--any occasion can justify a session--or even no occasion.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 13 Jan 07 - 08:13 PM

How nice of you to drop by, Mary! I'll be sure to leave a light on in the window and a well-stockexd refrigerator.

I had a wonderful day today. Joe and Frankie come up here to our home (an hour's drive) for food and music, in that order. This last year has been very hard for both of them, with serious health problems in their families. It's hard to believe, but this is the first time that they've been able to come up here for practice in nine months!!!! They love coming up here, and Ruth sets a veritable smorgasbord of food for the. We have a large, sunny "great" room where we practice, and it's like a vacation for Joe and Frankie. I almost thought we would have to cancel again today because Frankie fell on a rake that pierce his leg, just below the knee cap. He's still in a lot of pain and was hobbling around, but he gritted his teeth and came. We've scheduled close to a half a dozen practices here in the last three or four months, and had to cancel every one for some, good reason. I could especially see how much it meant to Joe to get away from the stress he is under, and just relax, eat and sing. Despite fumbling around a little to remember our harmonies at the start of a couple of songs, we sounded strong and confident. That comes from ten years of singing together.

After we finished eating, we listened to several cuts on the Sentinels CD, and Joe and Frankie are both excited about having a couple of the guys sing with us. When we finished practice, Frankie asked if he could hear some more of the Sentinels CD, and I thought they'd never leave. And I was in no hurry for them to go, because we were having such a wonderful time. Afterwards, I called the tenor in the Sentinels who has asked if he can sing with us, and he had just been waiting until our practice was over to call me. We're running in to a potential conflict with practices this week, so we may have to wait until next week to get together. But, everyone is excited. Feels good.

Tomorrow the three of us sing with the Men's Chorus we're all members of. We'll be singing to celebrate the 104th birthday of one of our church "Mothers," and we'll have a great time. And of course, Ruth always comes.

Life is good.

Forget the Life Of Riley
I'll take the Life Of Rasmussen, any day

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 14 Jan 07 - 06:31 PM

Refresh- a hot pan of cookies are coming out of the oven. Chocolate chip OK?

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Maryrrf
Date: 14 Jan 07 - 06:43 PM

Yes Ebbie. And at the virtual kitchen table, I can virtually have some of your cookies, and they aren't fattening!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 14 Jan 07 - 07:06 PM

I'm just finishing up a mug of coffee and looking around for something to go with it. Those cookies sound like they're just the ticket!

And I tell ya, Mary.. there are a lot of tips I could give you for cutting calories. If you eat cookies off someone else's plate (for example)they have no calories.

Jerry ... slim inside

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 14 Jan 07 - 07:44 PM

hahhaah That reminds me of what a friend sent me by email the other day.

This woman goes to the doctor and the nurse does a pre-examination.

She says, How much do you weigh?
115, says the woman.

The nurse puts her on the scales; 140 pounds, it says.

The nurse asks, How tall are you?

5' 8", says the woman.

The nurse measures her and the tapes says she is 5'5".

Then the nurse took her blood pressure. The nurse frowns. Your blood pressure is high, she says.

Of course it is, says the woman indignantly. I came in here tall and slender. Now I am short and fat.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 18 Jan 07 - 03:08 PM

Taking a break and thought I'd stop by for a mug of coffee. Ruth and I are re-doing two rooms and a hallway in the basement, painting the walls and putting down a new tile floor. I'm doing the floor and Ruth is doing most of the painting. Like most renovation jobs, the preparation time is much longer than doing the actual work. We'll finish the downstairs kitchen in another couple of days, rest on the 7th day (If it was good for God, why not us?) and start the second room next week. The hallway is done.

Tonight, I'll get a breather as we're having Messengers practice and the bass singer and the two tenors from the Sentinels are coming. It should be a great night if it doesn't snow too hard. Wounchaknow that after no snow all winter, it's forcast for tonight.

Hope you all are doin' fine.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 23 Jan 07 - 09:21 AM

Just made a new pot of coffee,sounds like you are very busy decorating Jerry, I always think that after the Christmas decorations come down the house looks so bare and a good coat of paint wakes everything up for the spring! The only thing is once I start on one room it shows the others up and I never know when to stop.
Did you get snow? It is really cold over here in the UK, snow up north but not down here...yet!Nice blue sky and sun shining at the moment, just the sort of winter day I love.

wendy

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 23 Jan 07 - 12:38 PM

It grew colder in the night
and Nature, sighing, arose.
Over the sleeping forms
she laid a new thick
soft blanket of white
and whispered, Sleep tight

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 23 Jan 07 - 12:58 PM

"It grew colder in the night
and Nature, sighing, arose.
Over the sleeping forms
she laid a soft thick blanket
and whispered, Sleep tight"

Better? I don't do poetry.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Essex Girl
Date: 24 Jan 07 - 09:21 AM

Had to come through the door at last, just to say that my garden looked beautiful when I got up this morning. 2 inches of pristine white snow, so I had to take a couple of photos. Then a 2 hour journey to work as a train had broken down on my line. Why can't our transport system cope with such a small amount of snow?

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 24 Jan 07 - 11:40 AM

"Down in the hen house on my knees
I thought I heard a chicken sneeze"

They don't write lines like those anymore.

I've been down in the basement on my knees, laying tile in two rooms and a hallway. If anyone sneezes, it's likely to be me, for all the accumulated dust in the old carpet we pulled out.

Nice to see the postings in here. Like you, Ebbie, I'm no poet. At least no one has officially given me a certificate to prove it. I think that we're all like the Cowardly Lion, the Tin Woodsman and the scarecrow, though. We are already what we claim not to be. We're just looking for someone behing the curtains to tell us that we are. One interesting thing that I've seen in the black community is that people write poetry as naturally and unaffectedly as breathing. People are constantly reading poems they've written at memorial services, or weddings or anniversaries. I really like that.
There is no concept of there being poets, and the rest of us lugs. Anybody can write poetry, and being thought of as a "poet" is completely immaterial.

Meanwhile, it's back down on my knees. Anyone got any prayers they want lifted up? I'll already be down on my knees...

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 24 Jan 07 - 12:20 PM

That's rough work on the knees, Jerry. Remember to take care of them *before* they start to hurt...

I wasn't really trying for poetry, unless by that I mean that I was wondering if anyone knew what I was referring to in the imagery. I am so literal minded that not only do I often not catch hidden messages but I'm quite capable of explaining step by step what I meant.

In other words, I was trying to say that it snowed in the night. lol

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 24 Jan 07 - 12:53 PM

And you said it very poetically, ebbie. And I hereby, with all the powers vested in me, declare you to be a POET!

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 25 Jan 07 - 01:24 AM

And you oughta know it!

Hi y'all. Looks like there's been a snowstorm in Kitchen Tableville while I was away. None here to report, but a freeze got the avocados and oranges. My orange and lemon trees made it alright. They are close to the cottage, each nestled in a protective corner. They probably got pretty cold and confused, however.

Elmer

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 25 Jan 07 - 02:27 AM

Thanks, Jerry. I'll take that one to the bank! *G*

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 25 Jan 07 - 08:53 AM

Hi Essex Girl! Welcome to the table!
You should know by now, its the "wrong sort of snow" or so they always tell us! Billy always laughs when it snows here, this morning most of the clients have phoned in to say they wont come out because of the weather, and it has not settled! Now according to Billy in the USA he would be out having fun driving in the snow.( his track record in his youth for driving off road , like into fire hydrants in his sisters car ,is famous!)
Never mind over here the whole country grinds to a halt with a few centemetres of the white stuff, its what puts the "Great" in Great Britain!
Wendy

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 25 Jan 07 - 07:41 PM

Good to see so many friends stopping by. I am about to rejoin the living, having a half a dozen tiles left to lay on the floor. And then I'll lie on the floor. (Did I get those two words right?) We've had nothing more than ocassional snow flurries around here.. hardly enough to sweep away with a broom. Last year (2005), just before Christmas, Ruth bought me an electric snow blower for my birthday (which is in June.) I really enjoyed it, because we had two or three major snowfalls of close to a foot. This year, I haven't even dug it out of the back of the tool shed. I won't feel cheated if I don't get to use it at all, this year.

After all sorts of set-backs, it looks like we'll have two tenors and a bass from the Sentinels coming to our next Gospel Messengers practice next Tuesday night. Man, it is hard getting a group together! Even when it looks like everything will work it seems like something totally unexpected happens and someone can't make it.
We'll probably have a blizzard Tuesday night, if my luck keeps running the way it has, for rehearsals.

But, I have no complaint. One more day and I can resume walking upright.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Essex Girl
Date: 26 Jan 07 - 08:37 AM

Son was moaning yesterday that there was not enough snow to warrant a day off school, but there was anough for a good snowball fight on the Wednesday, and the head actually approved!! My daughter moved house yesterday and had packed away all of the clothes, leaving my son-in-law with just a pair of trousers and a t-shirt, which he had to go out in even though there was a blizzard for a while.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 30 Jan 07 - 08:18 AM

Coffee pot was empty and the fire had gone out, made a new pot and started a new fire, nice and cosy in here, think I shall settle down and see who pops by!
wendy

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 30 Jan 07 - 08:36 AM

We had four inches of unexpected snow while I was in Seattle, but nothing much since. It's all evaporating (which it tends to do here instead of melting into the ground).

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 30 Jan 07 - 12:29 PM

We have not had a measureable snow as yet, this winter. The irritating thing is, the only time there was a forcast for snow, it was the first time I scheduled the Messengers to practice with a couple of guys from the Sentinels. The tenor I am eyeing covetously works at a school, and he had to cancel to prepare for the snow. Which never came. Now, we have practice re-scheduled for tonight, and guess what? Yep. It's supposed to snow. It's 12:30 here, and the sky is still mostly sunny, and the steady (but light) snow isn't supposed to start until midnight. But, there are snow showers predicted for later this afternoon. I hope they don't cause our covetously-eyed tenor to have to cancel.

Maybe that's why the commandment (not sure which one) says we are not to covet our neighbor's wife. (Or cattle, if you read the whole commandment.) Somehow, coveting your neighbor's cattle sounds kinda kinky. There's no mention of your neighbor's tenor, so I guess I'm safe.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 30 Jan 07 - 12:41 PM

We have rarely been without snow on the ground this winter. Since November 2, in fact. Part of the time it is mostly gone, leaving behind bleak and shrinking heaps in corners and parking lots, but then it comes back, rebounding flluffily with luminous and happy vistas. This is southeastern Alaska in the midst of a temperate rain forest and our normal default is rain, not snow. This year it is just the opposite.

Jerry, you will catch your elusive wabbit. :)

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 30 Jan 07 - 07:51 PM

When everything goes wrong, I figure that I must be doing something right. Someone down there hates me.

Had to cancel practice again tonight. My coveted tenor is in charge of maintenance and security at the school where he works, and at the last minute, one of his men called in and couldn't work tonight. His wife has cancer, and she was having a hard time and he had to stay with her. In the game of rock/paper/scissors/cancer, cancer wins. Or loses.. So, we'll try for Thursday.

And the good news is that I laid the last piece of tile today, put up the last shelf, installed the last light fixtures and finished the last carpentry. I'd sit back with my feet on the chair and take it easy, but I can't find the chair. I'm sure that it's here somewhere..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 30 Jan 07 - 10:18 PM

Finished? Lovely.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 02 Feb 07 - 03:10 PM

Two times three is six. Who said we'd never use math?

After several false starts, the Sentinels met the Messengers last night, at practice. I had hoped for Ken, who sings bass and Joe who is a second tenor to come, and the Sentinels first (high) tenor Larry came too. After five minutes of conversation, we lit into some songs. They said that they'd just listen, but there was no way I was going to let them sit on their hands. I had them up, right away. Two and a half hours ad six hoarse throats later, we'd worked out passable six part arrangments for eight or nine songs and the Messengers had gone from a trio to a Sextette. Muscially, the evening was fascinating, because Frankie and I coudln't sing our usually harmonies. Suddenly, we had two tenors and we both had to drop down. Ken, who is a bass, moved up and took a upper baritone harmony, Frankie tried to find room between him and the tenors, and I tried not stepping on Joe's musical toes, down in the bass range. Miraculously to me (who's never been involve in six part harmony, it worked out fine. Some of the songs I wouldn't have been uncomfortable stepping up on stage and doing tonight. It was also interesting to see doo wop harmony and black gospel harmony come together. Many of the early doo wop groups started out in black churches, so there is a lot in common between the two styles. But, Joe and Larry are more familiar with New York City doo wop, which is mostly white and has a different sound. But, everything worked out fine. As far as we're all concerned, the Gospel Messengers just doubled in size, and at our next practice, we'll start sedrious work on preparing for the Messengers 10th Anniversay concert in the spring.

You'll excuse me if I shout

HALLELUJAH!!!!

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 03 Feb 07 - 12:20 AM

I'll see your hallelujah and raise you a mazel tov, Jerry! Sounds like great fun, and not a moment too soon.

wa-wa-wa-wa-waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa--oooop!

Elmer

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: GUEST,pattyClink
Date: 03 Feb 07 - 09:38 PM

Oh, for heaven's sake, I need something to soothe my soul. I'm gonna make a big pot of decaf and drink half of it myself. Heavy on the cream.   Got any Irish around to put in it? I'm gonna slouch on this chair for a while.


We had our long planned, much-heralded song session for our nascent trad singers club this afternoon. After much planning, phoning, mailing, yada yada, the total turnout was 4. While it was good and worthwhile for us 4, essentially NOBODY who said they were interested showed up, and we look like idiots with the bar who let us use the room. Our diehard spiritual leader is resolute on continuing to keep trying this monthly til we get somewhere, but sheesh I am discouraged.


I'll second your hallelujah, Jerry, that sounds like a wonderful vocal jam session, glad it all came together! Sometimes we get wonderful stuff when we have to stretch into a new spot. Can you get an AMEN!!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 03 Feb 07 - 10:02 PM

One disappointing turnout does not a failure make.

Nor does two, or three, or four, or five, or six. Eventually, someone will wonder how come there seems to be so much joy and fun coming from where you folks are....

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 04 Feb 07 - 08:20 AM

Turnout ain't everything, it's true. Went to a music party last night. Only 8 of us, but what a party--what music. Theoretically C & W, but we sure didn't stay there.   A really talented guy playing all sorts of Hawaiian music--and a song he wrote while in Istanbul for a family wedding--a song which sounded to me like it had strong Hawaiian influence. Just delightful. And a duo who did all sorts of stuff I'd never heard--something by a rival of Bob Wills--not Milton Brown-- guy I'd never heard of. And something by a guy with some sort of tie to Fats Waller's manager. Just magnificent--I wished I had the whole party on CD.

I hardly sang or played much at all---threw in a few viola harmonies and sang on a few choruses of country songs--"I'll Be Your San Anton Rose". And Jan and I did "A Dear John Letter"--which we barely got through.

So the music was carried by mainly 4 people--the rest of us mostly listened--and I had a just wonderful time---like having a fantastic seat at one of the best concerts I've been to in ages.

And some of our other friends were also supposed to show up--but didn't. The hostess was not happy about that--but I thought the party was just great.

And our hostess also plays Scott Joplin--and even has a pump organ---neither of which were even touched last night.

Such richness.


Then when I woke up this morning I had two songs in my head--"I'll Be Your San Anton Rose" and "Wonderful World"--the Garfunkel version---I really love the verse not (in the Sam Cooke original)---"Don't know nothin' 'bout the Middle Ages/ Looked at the pictures and I turned the pages/ Don't know nothin' 'bout no rise and fall/ Don't know nothin' 'bout nothin' at all." Course I love Sam Cooke too--who doesn't?

Then this afternoon I have a practice of Missa Criolla (Ramirez)--really lively piece--great fun.

Yesterday was the Folklore Society's Minifest--one day festival. There are ALWAYS wonderfully talented people who I've never heard of.

Met a really good fiddler who liked doing double-fiddle stuff--we did Faded Love and a few others--I intend to invite him to my next party

And even some good lines by performers. Minifest took place in a a school. Performer said "This reminds of me of a house concert--with really bad lighting".


We are so lucky--anybody who can make music--or even has good friends who do.

(All I have to do is just forget about getting embroiled in absurd never-ending political debates--you never get anywhere anyway. Maybe I'll learn eventually.)

As Jan keeps saying--we only go around once.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 04 Feb 07 - 08:22 AM

("not in the Sam Cooke original"

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 04 Feb 07 - 09:30 AM

Sounds like a great night, Ron!

I just put together a compilation CD for the three guys from the doo wop group, The Sentinels, who practiced with us on Tuesday. Tom my ears, it's as good as black gospel gets. And of course, it has a track with The Soul Stirrers: If I could Touch The Hem Of His Garment, with Sam Cooke on lead. We will learn a lot from my friends in the Sentinels, but they'll learn just as much because they are unfamiliar with the whole world of black gospel, which contributed so mightily to rhythm and blues and soul music. I'm starting to grasp the differences between white and black doo wop groups, in the process. Somewhere along the line, I'll start a thread on that, for those who are interested.

I got a call yesterday, booking the Messengers for a concert with the Swanee Quintet. The average person has never heard of them, but they've been around for at least 40 years, and perhaps longer than that. We do two songs I learned from their albums. A couple of years ago, we did a concert with the Dixie Hummingbirds. They had recently celebrated their 70th Anniversary! And the lead singer had been in the group almost from the beginning. He was in his 80's, but when he got up on stage, he was 20 again. And here we are, excited about celebrating our 10th Anniversary...

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: GUEST,pattyClink
Date: 06 Feb 07 - 03:13 PM

Hi Jerry, new gig sounds great, what a good bill that will be.

Ron & Rapaire, thanks for the encouraging words, you are right, we'll just have to go slow and build one voice at a time however long that takes. And there's a reason I didn't reply.   

See, I finished the coffee and stepped out for some fresh air Sat. night, and the kitchen door blew shut. I figured it was time to go home to tend to my knitting etc over Sunday. Tried the door again Monday and found myself locked out.   Today Cluin helped my pry open that little window over the sink and I slithered back in. I gotta remember my key.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rasener
Date: 06 Feb 07 - 03:15 PM

Refresh

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 09 Feb 07 - 01:03 PM

There were these weird green lilly pad looking things growing on the top of the coffee, so I thought it was time to start a fresh batch.

Just odds and ends going on over here in Connecticut. Some good, some bad. And maybe some of the bad stuff will prove to be good in the long run.

My bass singer Joe's wife was hospitalized earlier this week, and Everything came down, right during a Gospel Messengers practice. She came home from the hospital yesterday, but the problems are not resolved. Every day seems a little on the edgy side these days. A familiar experience to all of us.

Tomorrow, we're going to a funeral of a family member, and that carries its own suffering, along with release, as the woman had cancer, and is now released from her suffering.

At the same time, I've mostly written a new song. I read all the songwriter threads, and read articles on songwriting, and I find it very hard to relate to. I can appreciate on a limited way, some of the mechanics discussed, but mechanics don't usually produce a good song. For me, songs happen (Hmmmm... I wonder if I could make a million dollars selling bumper stickers with that phrase?" They find me, usually when I am bubbling over with enthusiasm. Mixed in with the hard-times, there's plenty of enthusiasm, too and it's stirring up songs not yet written in my mind. What I'm finding is that my love of rhythm and blues groups, which has been set on fire singing with the doo wop group, and having them sing with us, has stirred the pot, and I find that I have Penguins floating to the surface. Earth Angel Penguins. The last two songs I've written have flowed out of songs of theirs no one has ever heard. It looks like the circle will not be broken.. rhythm and blues groups coming out of black gospel quartet music, and now I find myself bringing rhythm and blues full-circle, back to gospel.

I had a wonderful experience along those lines, many years ago. I wrote a song titled Ten Pound Radio that remembers the old rhythm and blues groups and songs warmly. I recorded it on one of my Folk-Legacy albums, singing all the parts myself. A young woman who liked my music went to Africa with her husband, where he was doing research on mountain gorillas, and they were camped in a Pygmy village. She had a battery powered tape player and played my albums for the pygmy children. The one song they really loved, and sang along on phonetically was Ten Pound Radio. Talk about an unbroken circle. Africans brought over here as slaves, singing black gospel music, which evolved into rhythm and blues, and then a white kid from southern Wisconsin writing and recording a song paying propers to rhythm and blues groups, which ends up back in Africa, with pygmy children singing along.

Music makes its own way.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 09 Feb 07 - 02:30 PM

Grest story, Jerry, great visuals.

Somebody reach me a cup over here?

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 13 Feb 07 - 08:33 PM

Hey, Hey!

Hope every is busy having a wonderful life, 'cause no one is dropping by here anymore. We have a big storm rolling in tonight, so it looks like we'll be house bound for a couple of days. This will be our first real snowfall of the winter... just a couple of dustings so far this year. I'm ready!

I had to cancel a program with the Messengers at a Jewish Health Care Center (yes, a lot of the residents and people who use the services are Christian, and I know plkenty of people of the Jewish faith who love black gospel.) I'll be lucky if I can walk across the street tomorrow morning.

A couple of days ago, I bought two tickets to here Ladysmith Black Mombazo in New Haven. I'm very excited about it!!!! I had the great pleasure of hearing Paul Simon in concert shortly after he released his Rhythm of The Saints album, and he had the musicians from the Graceland AND the Rhythm of The Saints albums AND Ladysmith Black Mombazo AND Artie Garfunkel. What a night! Ladysmith Black Mombazo made their appearance, dancing in close unison, wearing white bucks that accentuated every step. I almost fell over with excitement. Luckily, I was seated at the time. I've wanted to see them in concert ever since then, and the only time the opportunity arose I had a job commitment the night they were appearing.

Living so close to New Haven is great because they get wonderful groups during the week, while they're on tour. The tickets cost half as much as hearing the same group in New York City, and there's nowhere near the hassle (or expense.) Last year, we heard the Five Blind Boys Of Alabama, and that was a real treat, too.

Just hope they don't get snowed out...

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: jimmyt
Date: 13 Feb 07 - 09:10 PM

Hey Y'all! GLad to review the latest stuff and think about ya! I been missing this table a lot!   I am playing a bit of folk but started writing a musical to be done this fall! It will be a lot more entertainment than substance, but hey, that's Do-wop! Jerry, my best to Ruth and hope the snow doesn't slow ya down too much! Love you all jimmyt

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: GUEST,pattyClink
Date: 13 Feb 07 - 10:04 PM

Oh, sit down jimmyt, don't run off. Tell us a story. What's going on?

I was marveling today at the miracle that is the car CD player. You can be driving in miserable weather down a depressing February road covered with trash, and in one instant be transported to somewhere else by a singer whose voice you haven't heard in months.   It's just amazing.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 13 Feb 07 - 10:19 PM

Wow, Jerry. You are in for a real treat. Back about 1990, before its lead person was shot and killed (at home in Africa), I saw the group in Anchorage. It was an absolutely thrilling performance and from what I hear they haven't let up.

In fact, I keep a fairly large painting of a turbaned African woman on my wall only because it reminds me of the group. The painting is of just her head and neck but there is such a grace about it that when I came across it in a garage sale years ago I had to have it.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 14 Feb 07 - 08:11 PM

How good to see you at the table, Jimmy!!!!!! You are often on my mind, and especially these days, now that we have three members of the doo wop group, The Sentinels, singing with the Messengers. We're really getting down to the root differences between black and white doo wop and gospel harmonies. Wherever all of this leads, I know that I'll learn a lot.

Be sure to stop by again, buddy.

Hope the equator is healed.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 14 Feb 07 - 09:30 PM

Hey y'all,

There are white flakes falling from the sky around here. They are flower petals falling from the trees that are in bloom all over town. Spring has sprung right on time in February.

The gospel music is fantastic. "How Much Do I Owe Him?" is getting to be an apt sentiment.

I've been copying blues CDs into iTunes today in between doing real work, from Bo Diddley and Magic Sam to Mississippi John Hurt. Great gratitude to the public library for their collection. There's also a terrific DVD called "Hello Blues" with clips of blues musicians from the famous, such as B.B.King, to unknown fife and drum players. I highly recommend it. It's produced by a company called "Shout!"

I notice we're getting close to a marker. I may bag that wabbit yet!

Elmer

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 14 Feb 07 - 11:34 PM

I'll resist the impulse this time, JimmyT! I'm *so* ashamed; it was an impulse I just couldn't resist. :)

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 15 Feb 07 - 01:00 AM

This is it

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 15 Feb 07 - 01:00 AM

YOU

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 15 Feb 07 - 01:01 AM

PESKY WABBIT!!!!!!! I GOTCHA! I GOTCHA!!!! HOLD STILL BUGS BUNNY!!!!!!!!!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: jimmyt
Date: 15 Feb 07 - 08:49 PM

YES!!!!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: jimmyt
Date: 15 Feb 07 - 08:52 PM

Eh, WHat's up Doc???????????

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 15 Feb 07 - 09:03 PM

Hmmmmmm. Curiouser and curiouser. Which one of you gotit? (I just HOPE that there is no error and I am the luckless one.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 15 Feb 07 - 09:35 PM

It would be jimmyt. Just before I posted this the count was 1,602 and if you count two down (Ebbie and jimmyt) the next post would jimmyt.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 16 Feb 07 - 12:41 AM

It's the twadition, Ebbie ; > )

Elmer

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 16 Feb 07 - 03:00 AM

Poor Elmer. Poor Elmer. Shattered dreams and ambitions.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 17 Feb 07 - 01:12 AM

Ah, but hope spwings etewnal!!!!!!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 17 Feb 07 - 09:03 AM

Maybe you'll have to become a vegetawian, Elmer.

Lars Peter Gerald Elmer Henry Hornsbuckle Rasmussen (From the thread, Were You Named After Someone?)

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 19 Feb 07 - 08:40 PM

It's been two years in the making, but I finally have a tenor for the Gospel Messengers, and another baritone and a part-time second tenor. There've been a lot of false starts, but we're finally on track, and working on songs for our 10th Anniversary. It's a very interesting time for me, because I'm learning a lot about the differences in harmony between black gospel and doo wop. I don't think that there's enough interest on the cat to start a thread about it, but I'm finding it fascinating. We'll do our 10th Anniversary concert in late April or early May, so we have our work cut out for us.

So what's goin' on with all you folks? I miss hearing about your lives. It's always refreshing to share someone else's thoughts. Nothing is less stimulating than talking to yourself.

I'll put a fresh pot on, and hope that someone drops by..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: jimmyt
Date: 19 Feb 07 - 08:52 PM

Jerry! Sounds like great news. Musical notes: Brookwoods still playing a bit and doing a bit of rehearsal for upcoming gig for St PAddys. got another gig of "Standards" in a jazz style with Jayne and Bill. GOt some neat new sounds coming. I have sent for a perusal script of a do-wop musical that I may perform in August rather than writing one myself. I am STILL planning a trip up to COnnecticut to audition some basses and order something that will suit me. Enjoying life at tits fulllest. THe practice is going great, i took my entiere staff to NYC a couple months ago and they are still reveling in the memories of the big apple. Have completely recovered from surgery. Have a 22 inch incision from repairing 2 hernias and a midline diastasis tear, and have dropped form the 196 I weighed when you were here to a 163 that is a lot easier to carry around. All my clothes are at the tailors getting recut to fit the new size. Jayne is pretty stable with her mom and sister for the last frw monthes and we are hoping for the best with that situation. Well, I will go sit in the corner and have a cup of coffee and wait on others to repoprt in!   jim

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 19 Feb 07 - 10:00 PM

Great to hear from you, jimmy!!!!! And to hear good news, to boot.
On the harmony front, Ken, the bass and leader of the doo wop group was quick to comment when he heard the Messengers CD that there are places when two of us are singing the same note. Well, excuuuuuuse me! In doo wop, that is punished by having to listen to Pat Boone sing Tutti Fruity fifty times, strapped into a chrome and vinyl kitchen chair. It's not considered abberant in black gospel. 'Smatter of fact, many of the songs in the hymnal are written with harmonies merging for a note half way through a line, and ending on the same note. In the Men's Chorus that Joe, Frankie and I sing in, the bass and the baritones often share a note, here and there. For the most part, the harmonies are separate, but that's hardly a cardinal rule. Or a Cardinal sin if they aren't for an occasional note.

This is going to be an interesting merger of the two styles, as the message is of primary importance in gospel, and the arrangement supports the message. When the message is tutti fruity aw rootie, it's more important to make sure that the harmonies never share a note, I guess..

I'll have to think for a minute about folk harmonies. I know there are folks on here that sing sea chanties. If two harmony lines merge on a note, are the singers keel-hauled?

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: jimmyt
Date: 20 Feb 07 - 09:52 PM

Jerry, of course when you sing occasionally you will souble onh a part. It is the nature of the game. Don't get too caught up in the small stuff! just have fun and make good music!   love jimmyt

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 20 Feb 07 - 11:20 PM

Hey, Jimmy: As you can see from the thread that I started "Hey, You!, Get Off Of My Note!" I'm very relaxed about doubling notes, here and there. I mean, if I was to get all upset about that, then I suppose that I'd have to REALLY get upset when I forget a word, or EVEN WORSE YET, hit the wrong note on my guitar, or get a buzzing string. Why, I could get so upset that I'd have to stop singing and playing altogether. I think having a good time suits my style a lot better.

I used to kid a good friend of mine who was a coffee conniseur by saying to him "Norman, you love coffee so much that you hate every cup you taste, because it isn't up to your standards." "Lower your standards, and enjoy yourself a little, will you?" Sometimes I think it's best not to be too smart. :-) Sometimes I think that it's the less sophisticated people who enjoy life the most.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 21 Feb 07 - 02:39 AM

Besides, at times a doubled note emphasizes the impact. I'm wit youse guyses.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Partridge
Date: 21 Feb 07 - 04:34 PM

I've started a thread about my sister who very unwell. She needs lots of positive things, prayers, candles, thoughts and anything else you can think of. I come to this kitchen table to lean on and ask for help. Please help my sister Kate.

thanks

Pat xxxx

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 21 Feb 07 - 04:42 PM

Welcome, Pat:

I'll start lifting prayers up from over here, and check out the thread. I've seen the power of prayer enough times to know that it works...

Jerry

And please stop by again..

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 23 Feb 07 - 11:53 PM

Hi Jerry and everybody,

Well, I don't have much new to report. My choral group is doing a bunch of things--including the Poulenc Stabat Mater and a piece of Amy Beach (Anybody know anything by her?)

I'm not smitten with either piece really--the Beach is rather bombastic for my taste. My bombast threshold is low, I suppose.

The Poulenc has a lot of jarring chords--it's, after all, about portraying pain--why do we seem to do that sort of piece in late winter, when I would guess many people want friendlier music? It does have "In Paradisum" and some parts are gorgeous.

Then smaller group is doing Missa Criolla--a wonderful piece--folk-flavored
Argentine mass. With all sorts of instruments--(charango--small Andean-type guitar--), pan-pipes--type instrument, percussion, 3 vocal soloists. Our recording of the Missa Criolla (and Missa Luba and Navidad Nuestra) has just won a WAMMY--Washington Area Music award. There are lots of categories in WAMMIES. Our recording wasn't even recorded as well as it should have been---sounds like we're in a cave--unless you crank the volume up.

We just sang the Missa Criolla in a Borders today--and Sunday we'll do it at the Baird Auditorium (Smithsonian).

The piece is absolutely delightful--haunting, and very evocative of- (my picture at least) --of a mass in an Argentine village.

I've just learned today that the Missa Criolla was the first mass written after Vatican II made vernacular masses OK.


And a small group is doing a Bach cantata. I signed up for the auditions, but when the list of chosen singers came out, I wasn't on it. Then I finally realized I hadn't shown up for the audition--got caught up at work and totally forgot. (Usually the conductor just picks people from the list of interested singers). So I won't be doing the Bach. First time I've totally forgotten an audition. I just have to write them from now on on as many calendars as I have--and Jan and I have quite a few, due mainly to supporting environmental groups.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 24 Feb 07 - 12:01 AM

Should be "a piece by Amy Beach". Don't think there are many pieces of her left. She's been mouldering for quite a while.

Trying to refrain--(with little success)-- from remarks like "Composers don't die, they de-compose".   That was a really bad one, I'm afraid.

" Come on, take a little piece of my heart, now baby...."

"I hold your hand in mine, dear, I press it to my lips. I take a healthy bite....."

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: freda underhill
Date: 24 Feb 07 - 07:31 AM

what's happening in sydney..I am working in Canberra, getting back to sydney on weekends,and getting access to Mudcat on the weekends.

Last week I heard a Polish choir perform Fauré's Requiem at a church in Sydney. I went because two friends were singing in a sydney choir that performed some pieces with them. It was a beautiful afternoon, the music was ethereal.

I always have a peek at this thread when I'm in town, it's good to stop by the table and have a cuppa. Many sydney folkies incl Jennyo and jack Halyard are off at the Cobargo folk festival this weekend. Tonight I was at the Loaded Dog folk club and heard a number of performers including an acapella group called Dog Walking Backwards - talented singers, brilliant harmonies, quirky, original songs. Then the one and only Martin Pearson, an aussie comedic songwriter and font of outrageous laughter.

During the week after work I've got back into my artwork - I'm feeling very happy about that. I've started fantasising about quitting work and living on peanuts in sydney...

freda

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 24 Feb 07 - 12:00 PM

Thanks for dropping by, Ron and freda..

Thursday night, we had our first Gospel Messengers practice with our new tenor. After two years of searching, with unrelieved failure, it was great to finally be able to sing as a quartet again. It was also badly needed. Joe's (or bass singer) wife Corrie has Alzheimers and it nearly killed him. Her behavior had gotten so extreme that he'd gone a couple of nights without sleep, and finally collapsed from the stress. He couldn't be revived, and the EMS arrived, cut his clothes off and got his heart started. The family and doctors finally accepted that Joe's wife needed to be placed in a health care center where she's been for the last few days. Ruth and I visited Joe and his wife the day before she finaly broke down completely, and it was a hard scene to observe. Joe was still wobbly from his hospitalization and looked like he was 100 years old.
Corrie was almost completely oblivious of us, and just stared off into space. The next time I saw Joe was at practice on Thursday, and he look twenty years younger. He was so overjoyed that we have a tenor again, and he was just beaming, the whole practice. Even better, our new tenor (another Joe) fit in musically, and as a person, from the moment we started the practice. He learned two songs that we're scheduled to sing this Sunday as part of a program titled A Celebration Of Spirituals, and we were excited when he said he wanted to perform with us. I passed out our new ties, and we're ready and rarin' to go. The leader of the doo wop that Joe T(our new tenor) is in is also joining the Messengers, but was out of state when we practiced. We should be full-strength for practice this coming Thursday, because he's back in Connecticut.

Most of all, the timing couldn't have been more perfect for Joe. He was in desperate need of a lift, and he got it, right on time. Not by accident, I think..

Now, we're starting to practice for our 10th Anniversary concert. I wrote a new song last week, building on my revived interest in doo wop, and we have two new songs of mine that could just as comfortably be done by the Penguins.

The Gospel Penguins?

I don't think so...

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 24 Feb 07 - 12:57 PM

Jerry, your posts always make me happy and calm. And I'm happy that your music group(s)is working out so beautifully.

The Gospel Persuasion?

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 24 Feb 07 - 02:29 PM

Freda--You're right, the Faure Requiem is a wonderful--what can you say,-- heavenly-- piece. Have you had a chance to sing it? If you get one, you won't regret it.   There's something about singing unearthly music-- in a group-- which is just indescribable.

Jerry-- 10th anniversary concert coming up? Sounds just great. You are truly bringing the black and white traditions together. You'll have to keep us posted. Any chance the concert will be recorded--and for sale?

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 24 Feb 07 - 03:17 PM

Hey, Ron: I went with a woman several years ago who sang in a choir who performed the Faure Requeim in New York City at a beautiful concert hall. It was quite an experience.

I'll certainly record our 10th Anniversary concert. Whether the quality will be worth releasing as a CD remains to be seen. If nothing else, if it sounds reasonably good, I'll burn a master CD of it, and be happy just to make copies for friends...

I'm hoping that we'll have the Sentinels (the a capella five man doo wop group we now share members with) as our guests for the concert.
It should make a memorable night.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 24 Feb 07 - 09:01 PM

Thanks, Ebbie: It's always nice to see you in here.

You know Ron, we may be making a breakthrough with the Messengers. We're the first Danish/Italian/African-American, half white black gospel quartet.

A few years ago, when we were just starting out and I was very self-conscious about being a white guy leading an otherwise black gospel quartet, we sang at a United Nations Day celebration. When I got up to introduce us, I said that it might seem odd for me to be leading the group, but if you trace our family tree back far enough, we all go back to Africa. I said that my ancestors were African, but it was too hot there, and they couldn't deal with the Lions, so they moved to Denmark. When I told the Italian contingent that they were really Italian/African Americans I got a very icy stare in response.
I thought it was kind of humorous.

Nobody else did...

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 25 Feb 07 - 10:26 PM

You're right, Jerry. It's amazing what thin skins people can have regarding their ancestors--especially when they insist on the "purity" of the line. And the world has had a lot of problems because of that obsession.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 05 Mar 07 - 08:22 PM

Figured it was time to check in and see what folks are up to these days. I got involved with the thread on harmonies that I started and really enjoyed it.

You know it's funny. Knowledge has a way of sneaking up on you. You get so used to thinking that you don't know much about a particular subject that it surprises you when you realize that you've actually learned something, over the years. My general motto is "If I can do it, it's no big deal." The things that really impress me are things that I can't do. Once I learn to do them, the mystery is gone, and it's hard to see that I really know anything.

I notice that Foolestroupe kept posting the same comment endlessly on the thread about harmonies: that folkies should receive formal musical training, rather than discovering things by trial and error.
Apparently, musical training worked for him (or her.) That's great.
Whatever works. For me, I don't think that they could evercapture the music I love on paper, or analyze it in a way that would be helpful to me. I guess that's why I'm a folk musician.

These days, I'm working out arrangements within my own limitations, for my gospel quintet, and having a great time of it. Actually, the hardest arrangements to work out are not musical. They're trying to get five people together at the same time for practice.

So, what's going on with you folks?

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: GUEST,pattyClink
Date: 06 Mar 07 - 07:14 PM

Parallel with your comment, Jerry, the toughest thing IS getting everybody in a room at one time!

Been spending hours on the paperwork and logistics and audio for a chorus preparing for competition. Been emailing and phoning to get the next trad song session off the ground with hopefully more than 4 of us this time....so much time lost to that kind of stuff, rather be singing or finding new songs. But the little details are what makes things happen, they gotta be done.

Trying to be grateful for what is going right, and not getting so cranky about the rest. 'snot easy with the way people DRIVE around here!!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 07 Mar 07 - 11:22 AM

Ah, then you know, Patty:

This is typical:

Joe Evans, our bass singer almost died three weeks ago. His heart had actually stopped. His wife, Corrie was transferred to an Alzheimer's Unit yesterday afternoon, and his sister was taken to the Emergency room yesterday. He had a serious virus infection not long after almost dying and wasm so sick at our last practice that he couldn't sing standing up for fear of passing out. He doesn't think that he'll be able to find the strength to come to practice tonight, even though we'll be practicing right across the street from him.

Ken Mewes, one of our new members, has been suffering from bronchitis and has missed the last two practices. He's also setting his a capella doo wop group aside, as they are putting together a full band and expanding to include soul music, the Temptations, and who knows what else. How much attention he will give to the Messengers remains to be seen. He couldn't sing at the Sentinels practice last week, but this week he managed to squeeze some notes out. But, their tenor, Larry, has a virus now, and their baritone is in Florida for the winter. On top of that, Ken is working his way through some major adjustments as a result of his divorce and the custody of his son.

Larry, of the Sentinels (who has the virus) has stepped out of the Messengers, because he has been asked to join yet another "oldies" band.

It's a nightmare trying to schedule practices, because half the time, someone can't make it and it's hard to work out harmonies when everyone isn't there.

The Men's Chorus that Joe, Frankie and I sing in often has less than half the men there for practice.. especially the Saturday morning practice. That means that we accomplish very little, and half the guys who sing the following Sunday who weren't there for practice show up to sing, and sing loudly. Just not the right harmony.

And that's "normal." Sometimes, it's much worse... like having quartet practice with only two people. Or me singing solo as a quartet (the harmonies are REALLY difficult to get right when that happens.)

I'm sure Ron, or anyone who sings with other people know what we're talking about.

And yet we "proceed with the proceedings," as my father used to say.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: GUEST,pattyClink
Date: 08 Mar 07 - 01:07 PM

Wow, you have SERIOUS stuff to work around. I have a lot of "I forgot" and "i really wanted to, but".    And lately I'M the pooper at the chorus, one leg has a bad foot and the other has a bad ankle. Now they're feeling better, but there is carbon monoxide leaking in at work.

The song session is tonight and several have assured me they're coming, I can't wait to see how it turns out. Singing is just so much fun with other people. Except when they are hell bent on singin' flat!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: GUEST,pattyClink
Date: 08 Mar 07 - 11:48 PM

Well, our attendance was up from 4 to 8 plus a loud squirmy child. But the venue and vibe was chaos. Sigh. Still better than not singing but a long way from what we'd like. Well, perhaps we can find a quiet spot for the next one, and perhaps those people who keep saying they're coming but don't will stop feeling the urge to lie.

Let us proceed with the proceedings, being glad we have songs to sing and the will to sing them.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 10 Mar 07 - 11:04 AM

I started a thread. No, it's not an old BeeGees song...

I started a thread on South African Music and got a grand total of one person responding. Doesn't sound like there's much interest in the music, but I thought I'd mention here around the kitchen table in case any one here is.

A couple of nights ago, Ruth and I went to hear Ladysmith Black Mombazo and the next morning I pulled out all of my CDs of music from South Africa. I've been listening to them ever since, writing down tracks that I particularly enjoy, to burn one or two CDs. There is a great body of music coming out of South Africa, from Soweta Juke bands to Miriam Makeba, Hugh Masekela and countless lesser known musicians. I first became interested in music from South Africa through Skokian by the Bulawayo Sweet Rhtyhms Band and Wemoweh by the Weavers (not particularly authentic admittedly, but I loved it.) Graceland rekindled my interest, although I'd already collected a goodly amount of music before then.

Anyway, it'll take me another week before I've listened to everything, collected a list of favorite tracks and burned a CD or two. If anyone is interested in getting a copy, or copies, PM me, or e-mail me at [e-mail] and I'd be happy to share the music with you.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 10 Mar 07 - 03:16 PM

Hi Jerry and everybody--

So sorry to hear about Joe Evans--and his wife Corrie.

We have something similar in Choral Arts. I remember being just crushed to learn of the death of one of my closest bass friends--he and I were the "consonant mafia"--the director kept asking for--early-- rolled r's, big t's and others--which of course had to be precisely at the right time. He kept saying "I want the words on a neon sign"--out front--so the audience could easily understand them.   And in a group of 180, it's easy for diction to get mushy. He and I were famous for diction.


And he seemed to be immortal. He was 75--and then 80--, and still playing tennis often--and his voice range and power were amazing. I told him often he was my role model.


We're like a tiny little town--marriages, births, deaths over the years. And of course we're tightly bonded to each other by our passion for music--and our love of making it together. And if anybody does not pass the yearly audition--which sometimes does happen-- it's just horribly traumatic for that person--and others. We are very lucky that as long as the conductor likes the sound of the group, nobody is likely to be cut for the next year. So often the only spaces that open up are through attrition, people moving etc.

And our main rivals in the area have just imploded. Their board fired their conductor--he went on sabbatical and they told him not to come back! Now there's likely to be civil war in the group--half the group have gone with the fired conductor.

Even the choral world can be rough.



You're right, Jerry and Patty--just getting people together to rehearse is more than half the battle. It's hard to get people to make room on their schedules--unless it's a regular commitment they're willing to plan around. So actually a weekly session is far better than what I tried to do--once a year--with my sea chantey group.

Good luck to you both on putting together your groups--and keeping them together. Obviously it's a lot harder with a smaller group--since every voice is crucial.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: GUEST,pattyClink
Date: 10 Mar 07 - 08:24 PM

What is it with basses? We had two die last year. It's not fair. Maybe it seemed unfairer because they were both very zestful and very much THERE, and then they weren't.   Seemed unreal at first and then just unfair. Yet we are all headed in that direction eventually.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 11 Mar 07 - 06:05 PM

I think in our case (Choral Arts Society of Washington) it's just that the basses, in general, are in fact older than the tenors. Similarly, the altos are definitely older than the sopranos. So there's far greater turnover in the sopranos, as they get transferred, drop out to have children, etc.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 11 Mar 07 - 07:59 PM

I dunno: My problem is always tenors. Not that any of the ones I've had in my group died. I'll swap you a couple a basses for a tenor, and throw in as many baritones as you want. They're a dime a dozen..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: GUEST,pattyClink
Date: 11 Mar 07 - 08:17 PM

Them's fightin' words for baritones! It's LEADS that are a dime a dozen! I'll take all the baritones you got! And keep your tenors to yourself, one goes a long way.

Well, I'm glad the bass life expectancies are good elsewhere, I guess we just had a fluke.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 11 Mar 07 - 09:04 PM

I'm a baritone Patty, and I work cheap... :-)

Our big turnover HAS been tenors...

Jerritone

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 11 Mar 07 - 09:08 PM

Well, it's true that tenors can write their own tickets--and sometimes take advantage of that fact. I sing tenor myself if necessary--but I ain't no tenor really. For me it's just falsetto--for ever. I'd much rather be, as Jan says, "a big bad bass". And officially I'm a baritone. If there are 2 bass parts (often in classical)--the baritone often gets whatever melodic line there is for basses.

As for "lead"--that sounds like bluegrass or barbershop. Those types of music are so structured--somehow it sounds more restrictive than classical.

Actually, I'd like to do some barbershop--I love the tags--and the sound. The choreography--well that's not my cup of tea.

Jan says barbershop should be be high on my list--my hair is not up to her standards--after all it's not quite spring yet--so it's not time yet for me to get a haircut. But she disagrees--vehemently.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 13 Mar 07 - 08:51 PM

Finished the first of what will be two CDs of African music... mostly South African. For no particular reason, I don't sit around late at night listening to music with no distractions. But tonight, I did. This is the second time that I've just sat in a recliner and listened to the African tape. Let it wash over me. There is something very spiritual, primal and hopeful about much of African music. I find it very healing when I've been nibbled to death by stupid trivia all day. Kinda like jazz, for me..

I was a little surprised that, when I started a thread on South African music I only got a response from one Catter. I guess this site is more Euro-centric than I realized...

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 14 Mar 07 - 10:31 AM

Hi Jerry and everyone, I've not been able to get to the table for days, have been looking after baby grand daughter as her mummy caught a horrid flu bug that seems to be attacking the UK with a vengence.All are well now thank goodness.The sun is shining and spring is here, whoopee! ( not that we have had a winter really)

Billy and I were involved in running a folk festival here for 17 years. Unfortunatly it folded 2 years ago, leaving a big empty space in our lives.We have decided to hold a house concert in June,I have booked an old friend"The Amazing Mr Smith" he is a great musician and also very, very funny. We thought we would put up the marquee in the garden and have a bar b q supper, then go into the house for the concert and back outside after for drinks and talking! I will ask for donations to cover the cost of the performer. So far old festival friends have shown a good reaction, we should be able to get about 30 people. I know you have house concerts over in the USA, any ideas or advice would be very welcome!If it goes well we may do 3 or 4 a year.
thanks Wendy

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Stephen L. Rich
Date: 15 Mar 07 - 12:38 AM

I know what you mean about getting people together to rehearse. Everyone's life is so busy theses days that nobody has time to get much of anything done anymore.

All I can tell you is that when you DO get everyone together and DO get things rehearsed right, it usually makes all of the aggrivation worth while. We live for those moments when it WORKS.

Stephen Lee

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 15 Mar 07 - 08:18 AM

Jerry, I heard some great guitar music on NPR the other day. A group of guitarists from all over Africa, especially Kenya, all influenced by Cuban and Latin American rhythms. Just as interesting as all heck, and FINE playing.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jeanie
Date: 15 Mar 07 - 02:44 PM

Hello Wendy (billybob) and everyone. I would very much like to come to your house concert, Wendy, if you are opening it up to newcomers. It sounds like a great idea. I know you must live somewhere not far from me, as you were going to come to see the "Candleford" play I was involved in in Sudbury a couple of weeks ago. Did you manage to get to see it ? Hope you enjoyed it.

I missed your African music thread, Jerry. Will go and have a look.

As far as Springtime weather is concerned, Wendy - in our neck of the woods, at least, after all the gorgeous weather we've been having in East Anglia, they are now issuing a serious snow warning for Sunday !

- jeanie

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 16 Mar 07 - 10:29 AM

Hi Jeannie, you would be made very welcome plus anyone else who is interested. We live just outside Frinton on Sea. The house concert is on June 9th, if you pm me I can give you more details.
Unfortunatly we did not get to Sudbury but I hope it went really well.You might also be interested in The Fisher Theatre in Bungay Suffolk.They have a web page. My son is running the theatre,a new venture which is going really well they have Swarbrick and Carthy later in the year, Jackie Macshay's Pentangle and quite a few other well known folkies lined up.I do not think it would take long to get there from Sudbury.
Lets hope the snow leaves East Anglia alone, I am really enjoying this sunshine, I even took my lunch down to the seafront yesterday.. bliss.
Hope to see you in June.
Wendy

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 16 Mar 07 - 11:41 AM

Snowed in today, over here in Connecticut. We're likely going to get more snow today than the total amount of snow we've had all winter. I like being snowed in. Of course, it depends on who you're snowed in with. Sometimes, I tell my wife that it looks like we're going to be snowed in, even in July. It's all a state of mind.   The timing is just right, too. We got our first practice in last night with all five of us and we're learning to work with each other. I don't care what musical group you are talking about, whether it's the Beatles, or Oasis, or a church choir, mandolin quartet or Jazz trio. Groups usually fall apart because there is no spiritual harmony: even when the musical harmony is wonderful. You can take music classes and learn music, but it's much harder to learn spiritual harmony. (I'm not talking exclusively about religious harmony, because Atheists can have spiritual harmony.) The nest thing about practice last night was that everyone was respecting everyone else and we were all working together for a common goal. Our first couple of practices together were stressful, because a couple of the guys were pushing their own agenda too much.
I think we've gotten past that, now.

Today, I'll work on burning CDs for friends... will do the second African music CD, and get some CDs off to Catters, too.

If it isn't snowing where you are, take a snow day, anyway..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 17 Mar 07 - 10:11 AM

Hi Jerry,

I'm also very interested in African music--I've bought some Miriam
Makeba songs, as well as a Ladysmith Black Mambazo CD. Ladysmith is obviously magnificent. And what struck me about one of Miriam Makeba's songs was the clear similarity between it and a particular sea chantey--wouldn't be surprised if there was a link. If I have time I'll track down which song--and which chantey-- it is.

Your newest CD compilation sounds like a great idea. I'd love one. And maybe I could do something for you.

And I'm also totally hooked on early calypso--especially the 30's. At that point, calypso was evidently used for social and political commentary--even things like the Edward-Wallace Simpson situation--"It's love, love alone/ That cause King Edward to leave his throne"   and "Arise, ye lethargic West Indians, make no delay/ We wants full representation right away/ And confederation of the West Indies today."   And even musical commentary--"Well, Bing Crosby was interesting/ Starring in this picture:"We Are Not Dressing"/ For instance, on the ship, the princess near die/ When he croon, to her, the song called "May I"."

Catchy tunes, information, and a great sense of humor--what more could anybody want?

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 17 Mar 07 - 02:21 PM

Two African CDs coming up, Ron. I'm waiting for two CDs before I finish the second CD, so I'll wait until that's done (next three or four days) and send you copies of each. Most of the music is South African, because that's what I like best. I make no claim to these CDs being a definitive overview of African Music. There are 52 independent nations in Africa and at least that many different styles of music You're the second Catter on my list, Ron. Room for more. Elmer Fudd will get copies. I find the music very relaxing and even spiritual after a stressful day. And who is more stressed out than E. Fudd?

Speaking of Elmer, I suspect he'll drop by again one of these days, as we approach post 1,700.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 18 Mar 07 - 01:39 PM

The Seeger concert--Pete, Peggy and Mike-- last night was just amazing. They are all so super-talented. I understand that Pete is 87! And, contrary to what I'd heard earlier, he does still sing. He doesn't belt--but you don't need to. And among other things, he's ramrod straight--and real tall--must be about 6' 5''.

Peggy writes great songs--and her voice sounds to me exactly like it did 30 years ago.

Mike is such a multi-instrumentalist.

They all tell such great stories.

And they even appreciated the harmonies the FSGW crowd threw in.

I can tell you more about it if there's interest.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 18 Mar 07 - 02:20 PM

Yes, Ron, please do. That would have been a great concert to attend. I didn't know they ever perform together.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 18 Mar 07 - 02:23 PM

Sorry, but I had a horrible couple weeks. Could I get a cup of good coffee and maybe one of those raspberry and cheese danishes?

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 18 Mar 07 - 03:03 PM

How nice to see the table filling up!

Sorry you had a bad couple ofweeks, Rapaire. Me too, although mine were part of a course adjustment that reaped wonderful blessings. Don't keep any danishes in the house, but maybe someone else brought something. I'm cooking up a big batch of spaghetti & meatballs for supper that'll be ready in a half an hour... plenty for everyone, if you want to drop by.

Gotta keep an eye on the stove.

I'd love to hear more about the Seeger family concert. I performed at a benefit concert for Art Thieme many years where Pet was the headliner. A real delight to meet him. I'd heard him before, and heard Mike with the New Law City Ramblers, but hadn't had a chance to talk with Pete.

Back to the stove.

A man's work is never done..

(Ruth is a wonderful cook and usually does the spaghetti. I'm just spoiling her tonight..

Chef Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 18 Mar 07 - 03:08 PM

Nothing burning.

You know, I kid around, but it would be a delight to have any of you actually stop by in 3D and share a meal at out kitchen table. I'd invite the Gospel Messengers over for practice. Food gets 'em every time.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Stephen L. Rich
Date: 18 Mar 07 - 09:52 PM

It's like Pete Seeger once said, "If you want a musician to play for you, help him eat".

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Stephen L. Rich
Date: 18 Mar 07 - 10:08 PM

BTW, Wisconsin Public Radio broadcasts (and webcasts) a show Called Higher Ground. It features Jazz, Blues, Gospel, and Afro=Pop from 7:00pm to 9:00pm (CDT) on Saturday nights. It's a really good show. The host, Jonathan Overby has wonderful taste in music.

On the web WPR is at http://www.wpr.org

Enjoy.

Stephen Lee

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 19 Mar 07 - 09:38 PM

Reminds me of one of the things Peggy Seeger said at the concert.   She had a book of some sort. Read something like:

How to impress a woman: send her little gifts, compliment her, caress her, help out around the house, send her little poems, kiss her, make her laugh, sing to her, get along with with her mother, open doors for her, play with her pets---(a long list, along these lines)

How to impress a man: show up at his door naked---with food.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 22 Mar 07 - 12:18 PM

Coffee pot was empty so I am making a new pot.
How lucky you all were to go to the Seeger concert. Many years ago I saw Pete at the Cambridge festival in the UK, Mike played at our club at Farningham and Peggy and Ewan used to live near me in Beckenham Kent and appeared at the Croydon folk club a couple of times, but to see all three together what a joy!
Thanks for shareing the experience with us.
Wendy

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 22 Mar 07 - 01:43 PM

Always nice to drop by and see that friends have been here. Now that I've finished the two African CDs (I'll put copies in the mail for you, Ron) I'm taking a lazy day today and doing a CD of my favorite jazz guitar tracks. I've loved jazz guitar since I was a teenager, and worked out very primitive arrangements of a few jazz standards by ear, back then. I've always been able to hear the music. It was simply (or difficultly) a matter of figuring where I had to place my fingers to get the chords to come out of the guitar that were in my head. But, I loved singing even more, so I never
committed the time and discipline to become a jazz guitarist. But, today I've been pulling out jazz CDs, and it's amazing how the magic is still there for me, after all these years. Like everything else I do, I'm always happy to share with anyone who has a similar love of the music.

We had a terrific practice last night. The greatest thing about it is that we brought out the best in each other. That's rare, and something that you can't "make" happen. Each of us has different gifts, and the challenge is to meld them together in a way that each of us makes the others better. Kinda like life at it's best, when we help each other to be the best realization of who we are meant to be.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Stephen L. Rich
Date: 22 Mar 07 - 02:51 PM

Like I said, when it works and the magic is there, it makes all of the aagrivation worth while.

Stephen Lee

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 25 Mar 07 - 09:22 PM

This thread seems to have developed its own rhythm. There will be a brief flurry of postings, and then it slips off the bottom of the page for three or four days.

Tonight's forecast: Scattered flurries..

Rev. Al Sharpton preached at our church today. In honesty, I was finding it hard to imagine what a sermon of his would be like. At least in this country, we get the news a bite at a time, and not necessarily a typical "bite." Out of a half hour interview, they'll pick the fifteen seconds that are most controversial that will fit between eight commercials. All the times I've seen Al Sharpton he's been railing about something. In almost instances, something railable. But, like most other people, I had a very one-dimensional
impression of him. By the time he got to church I was about seeing pink elephants swinging from the chandeliers. I sing in the Men's Chorus at the 8 o'clock service with my friends Joe and Frankie, which meant that we had to get up at 5. After the 8 o'clock service, we had and hour and forty five minutes to kill before the 11 o'clock service, when Rev. Sharpton was preaching. We knew there'd be a large crowd and we didn't wat to go for breakfast, because by the time we got back, the parking lot would be full. We didn't want to give up our precious parking space. So, we killed an hour and 45 minutes. Or at least seriously wounded it.

The service rolled along at a leisurely pace, with no sign of Rev. Sharpton. Then they delivered a message from the pulpit that he was stuck in traffic. By then, it was after twelve and Ruth and I were about halucinating from tiredness and the heat in the church. But finally, at a quartet to one, Rev. Sharpton arrived... just in time for the sermon. And what a sermon!

The Rev. is a brilliant man. Unlike his sound bites, he is very measured in his speaking. His drama comes from a well placed pause. He uses silence like a gun shot. The text that he drew from, which we all stood up and read together, is the same text that I wrote a song about, three years ago, titled Healing Waters. The story is about a man who has been crippled for 38 years, waiting by the pools of Bethesda outside the walls of Jerusalem, waiting for someone to lift him into the pool when an angel troubled the waters, so that he could be healed. Rev. Sharpton's sermon was titled "Get Up." He opened with a few comments about the continuing inequities for blacks in America and expressed his frustration that people talk as if the Civil Rights movement was something that happened in the sixties. By then, I figured that the sermon was going to focus on injustice, which Rev. Sharpton is still speaking out against. But, he spoke powerfully on the title he'd chosen: Get Up. His sermon was a call to reclaim the moral high ground and confront the young generation of blacks who think that it is cool to carry a gun and take on the rol of Gangsta's and pimps. He wasn't strident in his delivery. His tone would not be out of place here at this kitchen table. I was enormously impressed with all he had to say, and how cogently he set forth his call for people to take charge of their lives, and speak out against the malaise in the black community. His focus was not on American blacks as helkpless victims of injustice. His concern was that they've accepted it. He is a good man.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Stephen L. Rich
Date: 26 Mar 07 - 07:40 PM

I'm glad that you got a chance to hear him, Jerry. The sad truth is that we know very little about the peolple who shape our lives, in one way or another, from a distance. Despite the plethora of 24 hour "news" channels on cable and satalite, we still only get the ten to thirty second sound-bytes of the people who matter.

Stephen Lee Rich

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: GUEST, Ebbie
Date: 26 Mar 07 - 07:47 PM

Thanks for telling us that, Jerry. A year or two ago I heard an entire speech by him (on TV) and I was mightily impressed. Maybe he can never be president but he surely belongs in the government as an advisor.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 03 Apr 07 - 05:16 PM

I finished doing my Income Tax this afternoon, just finished putting up a heavier than thou shadow box on the wall for my wife Ruth, and the big pot of split pea and ham soup that I made in between my other projects is ready for the eatin'. I must say, it tastes mighty fine. Enough for all the reg'lars around this table... who are becoming pretty ireg'lar.

Suffering from irregularity?

Maybe the pea soup will help...

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 04 Apr 07 - 11:01 PM

Hey Jerry,

What's a "heavier than thou shadow box"? Sounds really intriguing.

I hope to have more time this weekend to sit down at the kitchen table (over Jan's rather pointed objections). (She even threatens to get on this thread and say more--she came around in the middle of this posting. Ah well.)

Problem during the week is I've found it's all too easy to put off thorny issues at work if I don't get enough sleep. (But for some reason, the pesky things don't disappear). So I have to at least make the effort to start getting ready for bed about 11--aiming at midnight. When I do get the sleep, I do tackle the problems--but it's now fairly obvious I have to do that on a regular basis.

I suppose I should see it therefore as a blessing that I didn't get picked to do the Mozart mass the group is doing (40 of 180 are doing). You can never tell--I thought the audition for that--centering mainly on sightreading--went real well. But I have my theories as to the possible problems. More on that soon. Not that it's earthshaking. But I'd be curious to know if you think my theories make sense.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 04 Apr 07 - 11:31 PM

Good to see you, Ron! I've missed hearing from you. The "heavier than thou" shadowbox is a 42' x 48" plywood shadow box I built to mount on the wall so that Ruth could frame a collection of photographs of trips we've made together (and some earlier ones, before I knew her.) Ruth and I both love to travel, and she particularly enjoys decorating the house with photographs. The shadowbox shows them off nicely. If the shadowbox had been holier than thou, it wouldn't have weighed so much, and it would have been easier to mount on the wall. It was a real bear, trying to find the studs, hold it up in place, with Ruth's help, and then sink screws through the shadowbox to hit the studs. It took a lot of head scratching to figure out how I was going to do it, but miraculously, it went up perfectly. After a few muttered curses under my breath.
Ruth's spent the whole evening putting the photographs up, and I've been contributing by reducing several of them so that they'd all fit within the box. We make a good team. She gets the ideas, and I scratch my head a lot, trying to figure out how to do them. It is my pleasure to do things for her, because she enjoys them so much, and she has always been extremely supportive of my music.

Sometimes one and one makes eleven.

So, what are those theories, Ron?

(You'd find it fascinating, I think, seeing my trio become a quintet. I'm finding myself scratching my head a lot, working out harmonies, there..)

No wonder my hair is thinning on top.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 06 Apr 07 - 11:13 PM

Hi Jerry and anybody else,

That's great about the heavier than thou shadowbox. It points up another gap in my knowledge--I don't even know what a shadowbox is--and how it got that name.

And I bet a lot of us would like to hear your stories about how your trio is becoming a quintet.


About my Choral Arts situation, since you said you were interested: ( but at the risk of boring everybody):   

One of my theories is that the conductor highly prizes loyalty. And though I've been in the group since 1990--and sung in concerts large and small, in large and small subsets of the main group, as well as participating in CD's, virtually all tours etc--this year I made a mistake. Though in the past, he just picked the singers he wanted for a small group, this year he had auditions for a Bach cantata. I signed up for the audition--but, for the first time in my life, I totally forgot about an audition. They e-mailed the list of people picked, and I was wondering why I wasn't on the list. Then I realized I had not shown up for the audition.   Whoops. So I didn't sing the cantata.

But my theory is that when he had auditions for the Mozart, he decided to take anybody who had already done the Bach and wanted also to do the Mozart. Since there were only 40 slots for 180 singers, if quite a few basses from the Bach wanted to do the Mozart, there weren't many slots left for others. And there was one bass at the audition who was better than I was at the sightreading--though he told me afterwards it was not sightreading for him--he had done the piece the conductor picked for the audition.

Actually I'm starting to burn out on Choral Arts--one reason being it is really putting a bad crimp in folk activities. For the Getaway last year, I had to miss both days--and only show up at night--then drive back--and back again--several times. (Not very ecologically good either).

And so far this year, I've had to miss a great weekend singing in West Virginia--and the next concert will kill another folk weekend. Timing seems to be getting progressively worse.

Added to this, we are doing a lot of repeats--partly since only certain pieces are virtually guaranteed to sell out--Carmina Burana, Mozart Requiem, Beethoven Missa Solemnis, Brahms Requiem, and a few others. My theory on this is that we do this to counter the financial disasters that concerts of modern music are likely to be--and we do a lot of that too. Like all conductors, it seems, he's very enamored of composers he knows--and they tend to like to write music reflecting the chaos and problems of modern life. Can't understand why audiences don't like to pay for expensive concert tickets in order to hear a reflection of modern chaos and anguish.

Or we do what I call California-style composers--mellower than thou. And I can get enough of them too.

Some of my best friends are no longer in the group--some have gone to other groups--and some have died. And then you tend to compare the past to the present--and it's no contest.

So I'm considering what I thought totally out of the question just last year--leaving the group myself.

But I'm rambling.

Anyway, does my theory make sense to you?


And please don't forget to tell us about a trio becoming a quintet.

Thanks.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 06 Apr 07 - 11:54 PM

Thanks for sharing that, Ron. Never having auditioned for anything, and not being a trained musician, it's hard to know if your theory is right. Like everything else, there is a lot of personal chosing that goes on that doesn't necessarily reflect the ability of the persons chosen (or not chosen.) I ended up singing at seven or eight Eisteddfods (for example.) I'd hate to say that it was solely because I took care of Howard Glassers's (The man who ran it) cat when he was on his honeymoon. Howard liked my music, and I was somewhat of an anomoly in a festival that was focused on music of the British Isles. After Howard retired, I was never invited to the Eisteddfod again. That's not a complaint. I've run folk festivals and concerts series, and they're a lot of work, so one of the perks should be that you at least can book friends and performers who you like. That means that some really good people don't get booked in a particular festival. But hopefully, they get booked in another festival, and it all evens out. In your case, the parallels break down, because chorale music is less driven by individual personalities.

Adding two new members to my group has been a revelation. The best thing about it is that it challenges me to be open and non
-judgmental. One thing that I'm trying to learn (after all these years) is not to jump to conclusions. A leisurely stroll works a lot better. I've also been forced to face a reality... sometimes we never reap the benefit of a blessing because we don't give it time to
blossom. We give up, or reject it too soon. The best antidote that I know of to avoid that is to shut up and pray a lot. And let life unfold. After six weeks of working with the two new members, we are coming together as friends, and then it follows that the music can come together. I've also discovered an enormous amount about arranging songs for five voices, instead of four. It's been particularly challenging, because we have two basses, two baritones and a second tenor, so we don't have the ideal range to find places for everyone.

I'm glad you stopped in, Ron. It seems like the regular crew has all drifted away, and I find my conversation with myself to be very boring... :-)

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 07 Apr 07 - 09:43 AM

It was great to hear about your trio-to-quintet process--and your comments on my situation. Mine is perfect trivia compared with the problems of---virtually everybody else. But thanks for your input anyway.

It seems like it's full circle. I think we were the first 2 posters on this thread.

But I'm sure some of the others will be dropping in again soon.

Your coffee and companionship have lost none of their charm.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 07 Apr 07 - 10:34 AM

Yes, Ron. I expect ebbie and Elmer and Billy Bob and the rest to wander by. As I always say "reality impinges."

Not that this isn't real... But life has a way of washing over us every once in awhile and the quieter things are reluctantly set aside.

Besides, while the kitchen table has been quiet, I now have a street corner where I can hang out: the thread "Music Formerly Known As Rhythm And Blues." We could use a bass singer under the street light, Ron.

Two CDs going out in the mail to you today, Ron..

Our problems may be trivial in the scheme of things, Ron, but they are OURS, and have their own value. :-)

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 07 Apr 07 - 01:10 PM

Hey Jerry--about arranging the music--is it something you write out, or is it just worked out during rehearsal? And if the latter, how can you be sure each person will do what he did last time?--(unless you rehearse each song so often it becomes ingrained.) That's what I did when I had my Watersons style group--which became a sea chantey group. I just encouraged people to experiment--and when something clicked we all could tell. (And we had the Watersons as a sort of model).

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 07 Apr 07 - 02:55 PM

Hey, Ron:

We work out the arrangements as we go. Nothing is ever written out. Sometimes, I'll tape the practice so that if we hit on something that we like, we can listen to it at the next practice. The Director of the Men's Chorus that Joe, Frankie and I sing in teaches everyone their part by ear. At least the Director has sheet music as a guidline (even though he often changes the hramony lines from practice to practice.) Our problem in figuring out harmonies is that we're trying to find separate harmony lines for four people, without singing the melody line, and our vocal ranges are too close together. Basically, I use my guitar to help people find their melody lines. The interesting thing is that the two new Messengers are used to hearing their harmony lines on piano, and they don't "hear" the chord changes on guitar. I have to slow the song down and play the chord changes in an exagerated way in order for them to hear them. I end up showing people their harmony lines, even though our new bass singer does all the arranging for the Sentinels. I realize that it's a great adjustment for him, because he is used to teaching his group existing harmony lines because they try to do their songs exactly as they were recorded. He's having trouble freeing himself from the discipline of just reproducing music that someone else made up.

The good news is that with each practice, we're learning to work better together. And we're all learning a lot in the process. I think I'll be far more capable of arranging harmony lines than in the past. I really haven't needed to do it that much, as the original members of the Messengers all had a good sense of harmony.

And then, we have to remember our harmonies. It will take singing the songs for several weeks before we naturally slip right into them.
Right now, we fumble our way along for the first couple of minutes until we find our lines.

Much more interesting to do that read or write about...

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 07 Apr 07 - 03:29 PM

Jerry-

You're right, remembering the harmonies once you've found them ain't easy. I used to praise a good harmony somebody came up with to the skies--hoping that that would give him or her incentive to remember it.

But Watersons-style singing or sea chanteys are very forgiving--rough edges are fine. Would you say the same is true for gospel?

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 07 Apr 07 - 04:54 PM

Hey, you guys! I'm here- and out of the corner of my eye I seem to see others. I'm enjoying the conversation, just sitting here toasting my toes on the register and sipping my coffee.

Speaking of remembering harmonies, a woman I know sings her part at home, all by herself, as though it were the melody line. I don't know that I could do that, but it is one way.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jeanie
Date: 07 Apr 07 - 06:06 PM

Hello Jerry, Ron, Ebbie...here's one of your more irregular regulars dropping by...

I'm so pleased to see that you have extra members in the Messengers now, Jerry. That's great news.

About learning harmonies: singing them on my own at home (as if they are the melody line) is the way I've always learned/practised them, too, like the person you mentioned, Ebbie. Our school choir used to sing a lot of unaccompanied Elizabethan madrigals, and 40 years on I can still sing the alto lines of things like "My bonny lass she smileth" and "Now is the month of maying." I haven't a CLUE what the melody lines are, though !

I hope the weather is being kind to you over this Easter weekend. It's lovely here in the UK. I'll be getting the garden table and chairs out of the shed tomorrow and starting to tackle my new garden. Only moved in at the end of last year, so it's going to be great discovering all the plants as they start emerging over the next few months. The whole of the back wall of the house is covered with

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jeanie
Date: 07 Apr 07 - 06:14 PM

....oh dear.. somehow my post got cut off....

The whole of the back wall is covered with this lovely plant. At the moment it is all green leaves and curling tendrils (and a very rampant climber !), and I can't wait for the flowers and then the fruits to appear. What kinds of plants have you got growing where you are ?

Have a glorious Easter Sunday !

- jeanie

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jeanie
Date: 07 Apr 07 - 06:19 PM

For some reason, the "blue clicky" isn't working. The word "this" of "this lovely plant" was a blue clicky link to www.passiflora-uk.co.uk - a picture and website all about passiflora (or passion flower) - a really beautiful plant - and the reason for it's name particularly relevant to Easter time, even though not in bloom here in the UK yet.

I wonder why the blue clickies aren't working ?
Anyway, have a wonderful Easter Day.
- jeanie

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: frogprince
Date: 08 Apr 07 - 11:03 AM

Hi, y'all; forgive me if I'm a little grumbly. Just got back from our Sunrise service, shaking my head a bit. It's not characteristic of our church to have a numbingly dull Easter Sunrise service, but we had one this morning. Droning readings of what seemed like half the Old Testament, and little recaps of every ritual the Methodist Church uses except marriage and the funeral ceremony. Excrutiating, and utterly out of character.
One Easter morning service, years ago in a Chicago church, stands out for me in terms of getting it right. The youth of the church came dancing, jumping, spinning, down the aisle, with whatever instruments they played, or tamborines or whatever for the non-proficient, doing "The Lord of the Dance". An explosion of joy; sublime.
Well, maybe next year; if anyone happens to ask my reaction to this morning, I don't think I'll try to "sugar coat" my reply.
                     Dean

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 08 Apr 07 - 11:45 AM

FP, the lack of joyousness struck me last night. I live just uphill from a Russian Orthodox church, a matter of yards. They have their Easter service the night before Easter, ending with a dinner about 3:00 AM. They won't have another service until 2:00 this afternoon. (This, by way of the Rector's wife.)

But. I knew they ring the church bell as part of their tradition but at 12:00 last night they strated ringing it- after I started counting the whangs I counted 179 of the blessed things.

I had just gone to bed and there was no way I could think my own thoughts. It's a tiny church and most of the people around here are not Orthodox, most of us are tolerant people but I felt intruded upon.

However, if I had felt there was joy being expressed (He lives! He lives! I would have made allowances for it. But there was no joy, no rollicking, no message.

Why? I'm going to ask them next time I meet them out dog-walking.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 08 Apr 07 - 12:35 PM

This holy time for us has been very quiet. Not a lot of Yippeees!!! and Hot Dogs!!!!!!!!!, but plenty of rejoicing.

Thursday night was Maundy Thursday (the night of the last Supper and Christ's agony in the garden of Gethsemane. I'ts a special night for my wife and I, and we would have gone to a special service in the small church we go to, but it was Gospel Messengers practice night at our house. It had been a hard day. Joe's (our bass singer) Corrie has Alzhemier's and it's been a nightmare for Joe. He was such under such a great stress that a few of weeks ago after his wife had kept up up for two or three consecutive nights, his heart stopped. His daughter found him sitting upright in a chair, and called EMS. They cut his clothes off then they arrived, and got his hearts started, and got him breathing again. Our singing has taken on a deeper meaning for us, since that happened. On Wednesday, the day before Maundy Thursday, Corrie was having chest pains, and they were monitoring her carefuly. Joe was running around all day, Thursday. He had a last minute meeting with their doctor, and for awhile it looked like he wouldn't be able to come up to our house for practice. He finally got out of the meeting, picked up our new tenor, Joe T. and Frankie and drove through horrendous traffic to get up here. Ruth always sets a bountiful table for practice nights, and before we ate, I read some of the scripture relating to Maundy Thursday. It was a serious, quiet time of reflection for all of us. As we sat there, the power of Christ's words that night hit home:

"A new commandment I give unto you; that ye love one another as I have loved you. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if you have love one to another."

These are hard times for Joe and the Messengers, but joyful times, too. I've told our two new members that the hardest harmony to find is spiritual harmony. And it is growing in all of us.

I have great spiritual harmony with my son from Ruth's first marriage. Pasha is muslim, but we have a close spiritual harmony that is not limited because of religious beliefs. As I do with my son who is Agnostic, and friends who are Atheists.

Saturday, Our daughter from Ruth's first marriage, Dee and her granddaughter who she is raising dropped by. We had a big pot of chili left from the Messengers practice, and another big pot of Split Pea Soup that I'd made, so we sat around the kitchen table and had lunch together. Shortly after that, Pasha and his wife Nina came by, and we had a wonderful Easter Saturday together. Ruth had a lousy cold, but she managed to get through the day pretty good.

During the night, last night, I woke up and went and sat in my recliner that Ruth bought for me and spent a couple of hours in quiet reflection about ressurection. Whatever anyone's beliefs, I think that we all have a deep-seated desire for a personal ressurection.. To be lifted out of the life we've messed up, so that we can start a new one. Ruth woke up at 2:30, coughing and feeling miserable and never went back to bed.

This morning, "going to" church was out of the question. So we had a little church of our own. No Pomp, but abundant circumstances. I read scripture from the bible recounting the resurrection. This Easter was simple, and rich. Sometimes, having "church" with the ones you love, in simplicity, is the best of all.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 08 Apr 07 - 12:38 PM

...and by the way...

I've been writing family memoires for the last few months, and have been sharing them with our very own Elmer Fudd. If any of you would like to receive things that I've been writing, send me an e-mail at
[e-mail]. The memoires are often linked with the songs I've written, over they years. Sometimes, they're just about something that strikes me as worth sharing.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Severn
Date: 08 Apr 07 - 01:06 PM

Haven't stopped by in a while, but my mother got the flu and the brunch my sister and I were to share was cancelled until some convenient non-Easter Sunday, and I thought I'd stop by and wish the best of the Holiday of Renewal to all who dwell within and all who visit.

It got cold on the East Coast and yesterday we had snow, but not the blizzard gnu told me it became in Canuckistan. Our snow is all gone already.

Been working less than 10 hours a day for a change, so I'm getting a little more breathing room in a too busy life, but the joy of walks in the springtime at last seem to have momentarily receeded. It might force me to deal with taxes and the like. But this seemed like a good place to stop on a cold Easter Day, (as it is on any other sort of day) all dressed up with no place else to go and looking for a good shot of Springtime.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 08 Apr 07 - 07:24 PM

Good to see you, severn. It has been awhile.

Speaking of awhile. Every once in awhile I am reminded that people still remember my music. I received an e-mail today from someone who wants to record one of my songs, Screen Porch Door. He heard it on a CD of Susan Trump, who has recorded three of my songs. And then, two nights ago, I received a phone call from someone who is writing a favorable review of my most "recent" album which I just put out on CD: Handful Of songs. I recorded it in 1989.

If this keeps up, I may just feel motivated to do another album of folk music.

Jerry

And as we approach the next multiple of 100, can Elmer Fudd be far away?

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Donuel
Date: 09 Apr 07 - 05:27 PM

do it

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 15 Apr 07 - 03:20 PM

Jerry-

Thanks so much for those 2 CD's of African music. It's really interesting how everybody has different tastes. I seem to gravitate to the African unaccompanied vocal music--it's fascinating how the the voices intertwine and the changing harmonies--as well as the rhythms-- seem to be uniquely African.   Your selections are just great.

In general I seem to like unacompanied--or sparsely accompanied-- multipart vocal music--including Tudor anthems by Byrd and Tallis, doo-wop, Sephardic, Sacred Harp, Watersons, the Bulgarian womens' groups, and gospel, black and white.

Whereas instrumental non-classical music does very little for me--maybe since I'm definitely not an instrumentalist, in general. I wonder if really good instrumentalists who usually don't sing would have the opposite perspective.

Of course you do both--so your appreciation of music is correspondingly broad. And the broader taste is, the more pleasure music brings. It's a real gift.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 15 Apr 07 - 07:25 PM

Ron: Interesting point about how we respond to music depending on the music we make. I do indeed enjoy both instrumental and vocal music, although there are times when I hear fiddlers jamming on familiar tunes at a Festival, I wish that they came with on off-on switch. One of the things that I've always responded to in both vocal and instrumental music is rhythm. It's probably why I need to hear either a great story or a naturally rhythmic presentation of a long ballad in otder to enjoy it. There are ballads that I still sing, and love, like The Jam On Gerry's Rock, and I have always enjoyed singing unaccompanied (and listening to unaccompanied singing.) I just don't do drones well.

I suppose that I gravitate toward South African music so much because of the rhythms. I love the harmonies of Ladysmith Black Mombazo, but even there, they have a wonderful, swining way of singing together.

An image: A good friend of mine who sings unaccompanied ballads and songs of the sea graciously filled in for our tenor a few times at a festival. We shoulda had a video. There were Frankie, Joe and I rocking back and forth in rhythm to the music, and my dear friend standing stiff as a rod with his eyes closed, his hands jammed down into his pants pockets and his head tilted back, singing his heart out. He sounded fine, but it was a snapshot of completely different approaches to singing.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 15 Apr 07 - 07:58 PM

You're right, Jerry--Ladysmith both does great unaccompanied music, and swings. An a cappella group that swings is a big winner in my book.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: frogprince
Date: 15 Apr 07 - 09:37 PM

I consider Ladysmith marvelous. But the last time I heard a completely a capella group live, I was a little disappointed. It was a younger male group who are regulars on Martha's Vineyard. They could definitely harmonize, but their doo-wop arrangments were such a complex jumble that you were lucky to decipher a word that they said.
Just had to enjoy it some as pleasant sounding instrumentals, I guess. : )
                        Dean

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 07 May 07 - 10:25 AM

There are some mysterious green lilly pads that have formed on top of the coffee, so I went out and bought a new pot.

I wonder where my kitchen table friends are, and what they're doing these days. I find that I am coming into Mudcat less and less frequently, not out of dissatisfaction, but because other interests have filled my time, and in honesty, I haven't seen my threads that prompted me to post a message. If you aren't from England, don't want to talk about politics or religion, the thread pickin's are pretty limited, these days.

So, where is Elmer Fudd, Ron Davies, jimmyt, Billy Bob, ebbie and all the rest of you, and what are you up to these days. I've been working hard, trying to turn the Gospel Messengers into a quintet, from a trio. I could write reams about that, but it's not particularly interesting, as a general topic. But, our Anniversary is just two weeks away, so the end is in sight.

Spring also arrived (finally,) and we've been busy cleaning up the mess of winter, and reviving our lawn. We've also gotten back to taking out almost-daily walk, and it feels good to drop a couple of pounds and get that spring back into my step. 'Smatter of fact, that's where we're heading right now, so I'll make this grief.

Hope someone will stop in and have a cuppa. Green coffee ain't my cup of tea.

Talk about mixed metaphors...

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 07 May 07 - 11:51 AM

phew Thanks for dumping the pot! I'll have a fresh cup. Thanks.

Jerry, how does one adapt from a trio to a quintet? How do you work out the harmonies? The arrangements? Does it take a different type of song?

Gospel, whether black or white, is pretty forgiving, innit, but it too has its format. Are you singing different songs these days?

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 07 May 07 - 12:45 PM

And to my many English friends (and Reglars around this table,) I don't make much of a connection to the threads about who is performing where in England. Not being there, and all. It's much different over here. I can go months at a time without spotting a folkie. It's not that there aren't any around. We're just more widely scattered. And good for Mudcat for being a place where our English friends can keep in touch with each other, and what's going on.

Jerry

(I'll comment more about going from a trio to a quintet after lunch, Ebbie. For now I';ll say that it's been very difficult, because our trio was a bass and two baritones. We ended up adding anouther bass and a tenor. I haven't sung baritone since we added the two new guys, and neither has Frankie, our other baritone.)

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 07 May 07 - 09:22 PM

Hi Jerry and everybody else,

Well there have been a few changes since I last posted. Not earthshaking but still.....

I got into the Mozart group after all. Another bass evidently had to drop out and the director called and asked if I was interested. That was fun--I was therefore in all 3 parts of the concert--Mozart, Porgy and Bess and Lauridsen---- (California composer--I wasn't at all smitten with the piece when we started, but by the concert, parts of it were absolutely heavenly--basically like harmonized Gregorian chant.)

Anyway, the other piece of news is I am to be a guest soloist with the National Symphony this Friday.

A kazoo soloist. (one of two)

In PDQ Bach's "The Seasonings"--with the master in attendance--who knows, he might conduct.

Now that is a kick--I've loved PDQ Bach for a long time. My favorite of his is New Horizons In Music Appreciation-----first movement of Beethoven's 5th, broadcast as if it were a baseball game "It's a beautiful day for a concert--there's not a cloud in the ceiling. How many people do you think are here, Bob? Well, Pete, I'd say....I don't know Pete."
And later--"That sounds like the theme. You know, I think we're going to be hearing a lot of that theme." And on through the whole movement, complete with noting "unsportsmanlike behavior"--when a soloist takes a line--and noting that the conductor will be doing a baton commercial after the concert. And so on.



In fact, I've got to go study the kazoo part now.

Glad to see the coffee is still brewing.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Alice
Date: 07 May 07 - 09:27 PM

Wow! Congratulations, Ron.
alice

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 08 May 07 - 12:08 PM

Hi Jerry, the coffee pot smells wonderful.
Billy and I have just got home from three weeks in Ireland. It was our first visit and what a hoilday we had. The weather was fantastic, sunny, blue skies! The scenery took our breath away.We travelled 2000 miles along the south from Rosslaire to Cork, Ring of Kerry, Galway and up to County Mayo then over to Dublin.We heard some great music in the pubs and had a sing or two in the sessions. A beautiful country and lovely people.
Wendy

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Bill D
Date: 08 May 07 - 01:11 PM

It seems it's easy to find the concert! http://www.choralarts.org/concert_pdqbach.html

Kazoo, huh? I hope you have a good kazoo, Ron...(wanna borrow mine with the monitor bell? *grin*)

Eclectic, thy name is Ron.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 08 May 07 - 01:46 PM

Well, look who dropped by! Hello Bill. Yes, Ron's musical adventures know no boundaries. The next thing you know, he'll be leading a pack of singing dogs, doing Beethoven's 5th. :-) I like that openness.

When my sons were young boys, and I was raising them alone, they became quite addicted to collecting comic books.   I'd take them to the specialty stores, and while they were oggling #72 of X-Man, I whiled away my time looking at copies of old comics from when I was a kid. I collected the complete Shadow comics series, waiting for them. Every once in awhile, they'd try to blackmail me by saying, "Dad, I'm going to tell the Mayor you collect comic books." And I'd respond, "Hey, why don't you? Maybe I can trade on of my old Batman's for a Submariner." Or something of that sort.. Life is much freer when you don't have a reputation to lose.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 08 May 07 - 04:50 PM

Eh, What's Up Doc? Anybody seen Elmer Fudd around recently? Guess he's lost his taste for Wabbit Fwiccasee..

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 08 May 07 - 06:10 PM

Hi y'all. I'm still around, and am gonna get that wabbit yet. I've been immersed in the blues, listening to everything from the Mother Lode of country blues such as Charley Patton, Robert Johnson and Son House to Chicago bluesmen Otis Spann, Little Walter, Muddy Waters, Johnny Young and others. Then there's the gals, such as Big Maybelle and Big Mama Thornton. It's a deep blue sea into which to dive, and I am a diving duck!

This weekend, Little Charlie and the Nightcats are playing and I'll be volunteering at the event.

Hurry up and post so I can bag that wabbit this time. Ohhhhhhh yes.

Elmer

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 08 May 07 - 07:46 PM

Hey, Elmer:

That's all good stuff. I've been listening to a 2 CD set of R & B from 1952-53, back when blues was definitely a part of rhythm and blues. There are tracks by B.B.King, Lightnin' Hopkins, Little Walter, Howlin' Wolf, Big Maybelle, Tiny Bradshaw, Ruth Brown, Big Mama Thornton and Big Joe Turner, among others. And, I just ordered a CD by Ivory Joe Hunter, recorded mostly before he Almost Lost His Mind and was smooth as Velveeta. He recorded a song, Coming Down With The Blues that is one of my favorites, and I just have it on a cassette. I can hardly waith to get the CD...

But my favorite, of course, is "Blues jumped a rabbit and he ran a solid mile."

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 08 May 07 - 09:40 PM

Ha ha ha. They all laughed. But I'ma gonna get him this time.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 08 May 07 - 09:41 PM

I weally, weally am gonna get you, Bugs Bunny. No more blues for Elmer!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 08 May 07 - 09:42 PM

I believe I'll dust my bwoom!

I've gotcha Bugs Bunny!

I'm so glad, I'm so glad, I'm glad, I'm glad, I'm glad!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 08 May 07 - 10:56 PM

hahhahaha

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 08 May 07 - 10:57 PM

sorry, elmer...

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 08 May 07 - 11:16 PM

Well, we had our first rehearsal with PDQ (Peter Schickele) tonight. He's a great guy--and very approachable. I got his autograph and a whole bunch of us took turns getting photos with him. I told him that our chorus is a real good one for this concert--we firmly believe in PDQ Bach's motto--"Loud is good, fast is better, loud and fast is best". In fact our director is always telling us that increasing the volume is not the solution to any music problem--but it doesn't seem to register for more than a few minutes in any given rehearsal.

I think he said he's 71--so no more entering the concert hall by swinging in on a rope. Ah well--it'll still be a great concert. How could it not be with "By the leeks of Babylon/ ee-i-ee-i-o There we sat down, yea we wept/ ee-i-ee-i o? " (to the appropriate tune, of course)

More details later.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 08 May 07 - 11:20 PM

Somebody had to do it, ebbie. Me offering hospitality and all, I hated to do it. I mean, If Elmer ever catches Bugs, you can call me Wiley Coyote.

Now, we can get back to other discussions. Maybe even music. Being of the appropriate vintage, I've been putting together A couple of CD compilations of music from the 50's that no one ever listens to any more. Most of it is near-impossible to even find, because the reissues are all rock and roll, rockabilly and doo wop (all of which I love.) I've overdosed on the American Grafitti soundtrack (and I don't even own it.) There's a lot of bland stuff from the 50's that I liked at the time (Perry Comom, anyone) but can no longer listen to. But then, there's this crazy mix of boogie woogie, folk, jazz and popular vocal quartets that still holds interest to me. Odd stuff like House Of Blue Lights by Chuck Miller, The Theme from Picnic/Moonglow by Morris Stoloff, Rock Island Line by Lonnie, Summertime, Summertime by the Jamies... most of that stuff still sounds good to my ears. I'm not including any Perry Como or Eddie Fisher or Patti Page, although I liked a lot of that music when I was an awkward, skinny teenager.

Anybody remember the under side of 50's music?

And then, there was National City by the Joiner Arkansas Junior High School Band (with banjos, yet) and Skokiann by the Bullawayo Sweet Rhythms Band..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 08 May 07 - 11:42 PM

Hey Jerry--

Yup, Summertime, Summertime is great--love that harpsichord--and the madrigal-like approach--with great lyrics. --- "I'm sorry Teacher, but, zip your lip" --.And House of Blue Lights. And lots of other songs in the 50's. Underside of the 50's?--that's slander--those are classics!.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 09 May 07 - 12:30 AM

The Du Droppers, The Five Royales, Midnighters, The Jacks, The Five Keys, The Sheppards, The Harptones, The Lamplighters, The Crowns, The Medallions. I could go on.

Golden Classics -
http://www.amazon.com/Golden-Classics-Shep...77679706&sr=1-1

Sunday Kind Of Love -
http://www.amazon.com/Sunday-Kind-Love-Har...77680214&sr=1-8

Nearly forgot the wonderful Falcons:

I Found A Love -
http://www.amazon.com/I-Found-Love-Falcons...77680090&sr=1-2

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 09 May 07 - 12:34 AM

I am weak. Weak, I tell you.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 09 May 07 - 02:34 PM

Pizza For Jesus? WWJL (What would Jesus like? pepperoni, or maybe anchovies?)

For the last two months, we've had the Gospel Messengers up to our house for practice on Thursday nights. Ruth takes great pleasure in setting a bountiful table, and the house is always impeccable, so the toll is starting to wear on us. We have two more practices left before our concert, so I suggested that one of them, we just have pizza. Our favorite pizza restaurant is closed, so I bought a pepperoni pizza at a different restaurant today. Anything for Jesus. :-) I used to love pizza, but only have it once or twice a year because it is loaded with cholesterol, saturated fats and white wheat flower (which is magically transformed into sugar as soon as you swallow it.) But, we are singing for Jesus, so I figured that for this one time, I'd have to sacrifice and have a pizza. I tell you, you could oil the wheels of progress with that pizza. If you wrung it out, you could probably get a couple of cups of yellow oil. Yecchhh! By the time that I got it home, half of the pepperoni had slid off the pizza and was floating in a yellow pool of oil in the corner of the box.

Tonight, I think I'll just have broccoli for supper. It's funny how, when you set out to change the way that you eat, your taste buds start to get real picky (in a good way.) I didn't enjoy the pizza at all, and am throwing the rest of it away. Next practice, I'll bake some French Bread pizza in the oven, using low fat mozzarella cheese and turkey sausage, and it will not only taste a lot better, but it will be at least a little healthier.

I'm sure that Jesus will understand.

"Thou can'st not liveth on white breadeth and saturated fats alone."

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: GUEST, Ebbie
Date: 09 May 07 - 04:33 PM

"white wheat flower"

I like it, sounds springlike.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 09 May 07 - 06:11 PM

LOL, ebbie:

Now, edible flowers, that's a different story. Back when I was working at a Museum and Nature Center, I read a lot (and experimented a lot) eating wild flowers and plants. And cultivated ones. My wife was asking me about eating dandelions when we were on our walk today. The leaves, when the weed first comes up, before the flowers are in bloom are fine in a salad. I made dandelion wine once, in the days when I was making a lot of wine. I hated it (and made five gallons.) Fortunately, my boss loved dandelion wine, so I kept him plied with it for a whole year. Skunk cabbage leaves are good in the spring, too, if you eat them when they first come up. And Day Lillies.... yummmmmm.. very nice, sauteed in butter if you pick the flowers before they open. One year for our Annual Meeting, everything we served for refreshments came from our woods.

Naw... it's white wheat flour that's bad for you. Maybe the flowers, themselves are o.k....

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: GUEST, Ebbie
Date: 09 May 07 - 06:27 PM

I'll have to try sauteing the day lilies. I love their scent- reminds me of a cross between vanilla and lemon.

How does one eat them? As a side dish, like a vegetable? Same with skunk cabbage- do you serve them with anything specific?

I have a recipe for dandelion pancakes. Haven't tried them though.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 09 May 07 - 10:27 PM

Hey, ebbie: I just sauteed the day lilly buds in butter, much as I sautee asparagus tips. I served them that way. I'm not much into adding a lot of herbs and spices, but I am sure more adventuresome cooks could do that. I cooked the first leaves of skunk cabbage like I cook leaf spinach and salted and buttered the cabbage before serving. I originally got interested in gathering native plants and flowers through study of early Colonial American life. I never saw any recipes for most of the things... just cooked them simply. Where I worked, we had enormous banks of Day Lillies, soI could harvest a good side dish's worth without it even being noticeable.

I also tried making tea from spice bush leaves, but didn't have a lot of success, there. Probably have to let them dry, like regular tea leaves..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 09 May 07 - 10:36 PM

In southeast Alaska we have LOTS of skunk cabbage; they get huge and really tall. Out at the University grounds they reach chest high and would keep everything but a hard rainstorm off you.

Question: How soon do they start 'smelling'? A few years ago I took a friend who was visiting Juneau 'out the road' (a 40 mile drive alongside the coastline. Juneau is very narrow but stretches out linearally). When I stopped the car and we started strolling around she stopped and sniffed and said, Oh, there's a skunk around here someplace.

I said, No, Juneau doesn't have skunks. What do you think it is?

We went over to some healthy thriving skunk cabbage and she said, Oh, here it is!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: GUEST
Date: 10 May 07 - 12:37 PM

Just stuck my head in to see what you are all up to. Flower cooking I see!~ We sometimes put nasturtiums and even pansies in salad anthey are pretty tasty. I always think that as good as roses smell they surely should taste good too! not tried them though   jimmyt

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 10 May 07 - 03:54 PM

You can be a Guest at our kitchen table anytime, jimm.. :-)

A footnote:

The name Chicago comes from an indian word for place of Skunk Cabbage. There were vast, swampy areas of skunk cabbage before the city was built. Just think of it. If they really wanted to be historically accurate, they should have named the Chicago Cubs the Chicago Skunk Cabbage. There was a lot more skunk cabbage than there ever were cubs..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 10 May 07 - 04:22 PM

And they thrive(d) better, too. :)

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 10 May 07 - 11:05 PM

Don't forget the zucchini blossoms. Stuff with ricotta, dip in egg, roll in bread crumbs and fry 'em. Yummizzi!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 10 May 07 - 11:46 PM

I object to paying $1.49 per pound for zucchini so in Juneau I do without! Not only that, they are tiny, maybe 7 inches long and a little bigger around than a quarter. In Oregon you couldn't get rid of it and you couldn't keep up with it so you threw the huge ones over the fence, so to speak.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 11 May 07 - 08:14 PM

I always pick out the little ones as beng younger and tastier, Ebbie. And zucchini costs at least that much down here where it grows like wildfire. I guess we're used to high prices for everything.

Another flower of which I'm fond is cauliflower. I've been roasting it in a covered casserole with olive oil and rosemary--actually, throwing in some large florets for the last half-hour when roasting a chicken.

I'll bet you're thrilled to know that. At least it keeps the thread going. And it's in the kitchen.

Elmer

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 11 May 07 - 08:47 PM

A highly unlikely food that both my wife and I like and order when we go to eat at a local restaurant is mashed cauliflower. Neither of us particularly like cauliflower, but I guess it's all in the    mashing..

I wonder how mashed routabaggies would taste?

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 11 May 07 - 10:03 PM

Wow. Who would've guessed that Connecticut restaurants serve cauliflower, mashed or otherwise. I've never seen any in public.

Elmer, where are you? I'm surprised that your veggies are that high in price. Bananas here are $1.99- which farther down the Pacific coast is very high. I remember one time when I was grocery shopping with my brother, Elmer, and saw they were offering bananas for $1.49. I couldn't believe it and repeatedly told him- he finally gave up and said, That's the usual price. When they go on special they'll go as low as $1.19!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 11 May 07 - 10:41 PM

Bananas here in Connecticut are usually $.99 a pound. Sometimes, they're as low as $.69. It's a little far to drive though, ebbie.
But, if you decide to drop down here to get some bananas, be sure to drop by and have a cuppa at our kitchen table with me and Ruth.

Jerry

Zucchini is so commonplace down here that they use them for landfill..

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 13 May 07 - 11:17 PM

Hi Jerry and everybody else--

That PDQ Bach concert that I was guest soloist in (second kazoo) was on Friday. And it was incredible--the best concert I've been to in years.

It started out with announcements along the lines of "Welcome to the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. We hope you enjoy the concert. In the event of fire, the exits are as follows" (with somebody on stage pointing out the exits--a la a stewardess.) " In the event of a water landing, your seat will become a flotation device."

Then some more people came into the hall, and the announcer said something like--"More people have just arrived. Our safety mandate requires that all must hear the announcements. Perhaps you are wondering about them. Unfortunately, due to budget cuts the NEA" ---- (note for non- US Mucatters-- National Endowment for the Arts) "has merged with the FAA" (Federal Aviation Administration).

That's just the start--even before the music.

If anybody has interest I can tell more about the concert.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 14 May 07 - 10:56 AM

Sounds like you had a great time, Ron! Good on you. I was thinking that P.D.Q. Bach is to classical music what Spike Jones was to popular music. Behind the humor was always impressive musical performance.

This is THE week for us... our 10th Anniversary concert for the Gospel Messengers is this Saturday. We have one more practice, and I'm going to the church to set up the sound system on Thursday. Then it'll just be time to relax and enjoy singing.

I've leanred as much as I already knew about the difference between black gospel and doo wop. When I have time, I'll share a little bit of that in here for whoever is interested. The two major problems my two new doo wop singers have difficulty with is understanding that the message, and the lead singer are the focus of most of the songs. There's no "message" in doo wop, and the arrangement is King. It's been hard for them to accept that the harmonies and back-up are just that... The other is the whole spiritual dimension to the music. The doo wop singers are looking for perfection. We're praying for humility... :-)

But, more later..

And by all means, tell us more about your concert.

I'm also putting together some great early R&B form the 50's which I'm sure that you'll be interested in. Ivory Joe Hunter when he rocked and did boogie woogie...

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 18 May 07 - 10:36 AM

Time for a fresh pot of coffee.

Hey, ebbie: I was reading about the cruise ship that ran into trouble up your way. I didn't realize that Jeanue was so close to glaciers. I guess you can keep a six pack on ice, right in your backyard...

I'm continuing to build my collection of classic and boscure R & B from the 50's and 60's. I know that Ron and Elmer will want copies whenb they are finished. Anyone else who might want them, just let me know.

Wednesday was our last Gospel Messengers practice. And tomorrow evening is our 10th Anniversary concert. We'll have a housedfull for supper, with the Messengers and family and friends arriving at four. We'll run through the songs briefly, but mostly just have a chance to relax, ahve something to eat and enjoy some good fellowship. And Ladyship, too. And offer up some prayers for a joyful evening.

For all the comments I've made about the different between black Gospel and doo wop, I overlooked the most obvious one of all. Gospel is worship music. You can sing it and have a good time without believing what you're singing, but there is a completely different dimension to it if you believe. That's turned out to be a major problem with one of our new members. He wants us to look cool, and we are messengers. Messengers deliver messages. How they look is immaterial. Saturday night, we'll be delivery boys AND have a lot of fun. The best of both worlds.

So, what's going on around your kitchen tables these days?

Do they frown on electric kazoos in classical music like they frown on electric guitars in folk music, Ron?

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 20 May 07 - 09:46 PM

Hi Jerry and everybody else,

I'm sure you're right, Jerry, they would frown on electric kazoos in classical music. We certainly did not have electric kazoos.

But anybody who had written "Concerto for Bagpipe and Balloons", "The 1712 Overture" (with Pop Goes the Weasel as the main theme--interpersed with lots of classical melodies), and Concerto for 2 Unfriendly Groups of Instruments" wouldn't really be that concerned with what "they" frown on. And those are all pieces by PDQ Bach. He don't care what critics don't allow....

And that's one of the many aspects which makes him so great.

I plan to go to another of his concerts--this one called the "Jekyll and Hyde Tour"--where I understand he does things like rock versions of Shakespeare. And may make use of instruments like the tromboon--which has been described as combining the worst aspects of both the bassoon and the trombone.

Can't wait.

Anyway, our concert was just the most musical fun I've had in years.   Our piece was called "The Seasonings" and our part was to come in after lines like "Open, Sesame Seed, and see what you see"--with Blatt, Blatt, Blatt (preferably on the right notes). In most other parts of the piece we were drowned out by such instruments as the above tromboon, or a shower hose with a mouthpiece (played dazzlingly well by the woman who played it--she played it just like a 17th or 18th century valveless horn. Just incredible--all up and down the scale just by changing the configuration of her mouth. PDQ's own chosen instrument was the "Windbreaker". It was loud.

The rest of the "oratorio" was just great too--lines like "Bide thy thyme--If you've got the money, honey, I've got the thyme--If you've got the thyme, I've got the inclination". And "To curry favor, favor curry".

And then there was "By the leeks of Babylon   Ee-i--ee-e--o.

And when PDQ came hear my group (Choral Arts Society) rehearse, he asked us what we usually wore for concerts.    We said, tuxedos for guys, blue dresses for gals. He asked if we never wore robes. No , we said. He suggested we should for this one----bathrobes.

So...60 Choral Arts members trooped on stage at the Kennedy Center Concert Hall wearing bathrobes. One guy was brushing his teeth.

As a soloist I had to wear a tuxedo. Ah well.

And then there was the concerto PDQ played. Last movement very fast. Then afterwards, he turned to the audience, and said "Now we're going to play the last movement again--even faster. He started to do so.

Soon we heard a siren going off--off stage. Then a flashing red light. Then a "policeman" strode purposefully across the stage-- around the piano. Asked "Is this yours? Answer: "No, it's a rental" Asked for registration and license--which PDQ produced from inside the piano. Then to the National Symphony conductor (Leonard Slatkin) "Do you know him?" (meaning PDQ). Answer: "I'm just a passenger". And so on.

Priceless.

It is so great to be involved in many different types of music--you never know what you might get into--as I'm sure you know.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 03 Jun 07 - 09:40 AM

For my American friends, this thread has become a Weekly Reader. (If you remember that little newspaper from grade school.) It's kinda nice to pop in every now and then and see how folks are doing.

Yesterday, Ruth and I had a wonderful time. And a very sad one, too.
Not at the same time. Wonderful first.

There's a chain of restaurants opening up called Route 21 (or is it 22?) They book live music and had a Doo Wop Barbeque yesterday afternoon with our friends, The Sentinels. We drove down to hear the guys, and Joe ans Frankie from the Gospel Messengers met us there. Actually, Joe and Frankie got there before noon, before the music even started. We pulled in about 1, and caught the last part of the last song of one of their sets, and settled in at a tble near the front and ordered our food (not barbeque.) After that, The Sentinels did two sets, with breaks, and then asked Joe, Frankie and I to come up. We sang with Ken and Joe from the Sentinels, who helped us at our 10th Anniversary. None of us knew how the audience would respond, because we were doing gospel to an audience who came to hear doo wop. We did three songs .. Joe Evans leading two, and Frankie and Joe Tedesco from the Sentinels doing a duet on Just A Closer Walk With Thee. The really went wild for Joe Evan's leads... even more enthusiastic than they were for any of the Sentinels songs.
It was a lot of fun... just relaxed and singing for the joy of singing. We actually sounded better than we did at our Anniversary, in part because Joe Tedesco and Ken from the Sentinels were in familiar territory, surrounded by friends. Neither of them are church-goers, so they looked a little uneasy for our Anniversary.

After we sang, Ruth and I went to visti Joe Evan's wife, Corrie. Corrie was one of the original "Messengerettes," and traveled everywhere with us, for many years. She has Alzheimer's now and is in a health care center. When we came in to see her, she had no idea who we were, and she was in some other world. It was really heartbreaking to see her that way. She was always quick-witted and energetic. Now, she seems dazed, and just sat there, picking at her clothes, not responding to our conversation in any coherent way. Joe has carried a heavy burden, always being there for her. The Messengerettes had dwindled down to Ruth, most of the time. Our tenor Derrick's wife Viviene came to almost every concert as was very enthusiastic and supportive, but the moved to FLorida two years lago. Frankie's Mary comes very infrequently, and Corrie is in the health care center. Of our two new members, Joe Tedesco's wife doesn't normally come, and Ken is recently divorced.

But, Ruth is enough. I have never sung with the Gospel Messengers when she wasn't there, including the very first time we sang, more than ten years ago.

That's the kind of love you can't but.

Jerry

So, what's going on in your neck of the woods?

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 03 Jun 07 - 12:02 PM

Hi Jerry and everybody,

That's just great, Jerry, that your gospel was so well received by the doo-wop audience. But not that unexpected--after all even Elvis had a real strong gospel streak--wasn't Crying in the Chapel a big hit for him? (not that he's doo-wop). I assume the gospel you did was a cappella. I would hope any doo-wop crowd would appreciate that--and gospel style must have been a main source for doo-wop.

I'd sure love to hear you guys sing either style live.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 03 Jun 07 - 12:21 PM

How lovely to see you all again. I'm glad you're keeping the door wide open, Jerry. The morning air is wonderful.

Yesterday I sauntered down the hill to have a latte with a couple of friends. The air was soft and summery. (Which for us means something quite different from most of you. In Juneau, when the temperatures hit 65 degrees, it's summer!)

Later I came home and changed clothes then took my Cairn terrier up the hill and worked again on a flower circle on the lawn of the house museum where I used to live. I've been cleaning it out and digging it up to transplant some blooming plants into it. It's been a hard job because many of the mossy rocks have sunk into the ground and covered over with grass and weeds. Earlier I dug everything up and then went home to recuperate. The lawn is on a slope so it's hard on ankles.

Yesterday I re-piled the rocks; looks pretty good. Later, after the target plants are finished blooming I'll move them over to the circle. Don't want to disturb them before then. In the meantime I'll add more soil to the mix. I want the circle brimming.

Ah, summer is nice.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 03 Jun 07 - 03:46 PM

Hey, Ron and Ebbie:

How nice to see you both!

Ruth, our son Pasha and I have been installing 90 feet of white vinyal fencing panels on one side of our property, and I've spen so much time in the sun that I'm starting to look more Native American than Danish American. Actually, un-installing the old wooden stockade fencing and posts turned out to be at least as much work. Now, I'm replanting and seeding all the scarred ground. Should keep me out of trboule for a couple more weeks.

We did the Gospel Messengers songs with guitar, Ron. A notch past a capella, because I use the guitar to lay down rhtyhms and chord changes without a lof of fancy runs. One of the three songs, I just use the guitar to get us started, and then we do it a capella. The doo wop group is totally a caeplla, although they are trying to encorporate a full band to accompany them After their initial enthusiasm, they've discovered how hard it is to rearrange all their material for a band (who like to take solos...)

I like singing a capella. A lot less equipment to carry.

Do a capella singers need a head case? Or are they one?

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 03 Jun 07 - 04:57 PM

I got a novel idea today - how about inventing/building something that one might call 'Dance Piano'? Big squares or distinct shapes inserted into a 'blanket' that is laid on the floor; each square has a chromatic tone so that dancing will play a tune. Might even have some squares that sound a chord. Whadda ya think?

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 03 Jun 07 - 05:02 PM

If I was the dancer, ebbie, no one would want to hear the tune.

My Father's nickname for me was Slewfoot.

Need I say more?

Of course, you could dance on one of those large piano keyboards like Tom Hanks in BIG.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 03 Jun 07 - 05:31 PM

Hmmmm. I never saw that film. Don't actually see many films.

Was that keyboard on the floor or installed on a piano?

Durn. All my best ideas are already taken...

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 03 Jun 07 - 08:05 PM

Yes, ebbie: It was a keyboard about six or eight feet long... vinyl, that you put on the floor. You can play it by stepping on the keys. From what I remember of the scene, it was in a very upscale toy store.

Look at it this way. You were the second person to get that idea... not bad, at all..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 13 Jun 07 - 08:44 AM

Hi Jerry and folks,
I may have told you that we used to run a folk festival for 16 years, after we bowed out the new committee ran it for 3 years and then it faded away.
We have really missed the weekend of music so I thought we would try a "house concert" style at home with a guest. We had the first one this past weekend, a great sucess, the guest was an old friend The Amazing Mr Smith, he is incredibly funny and a very talented guitarist. He has done house concerts and concerts in the USA.
We invited 30 people who used to come to our festival, Billy did a lovely Bar b q supper and those who wanted alcohol brought their own.We had a marquee in the garden and erected a small stage with PA . After the performance we had a sing a round and we got to bed about 2 in the morning, it was so lovely to get old friends together and have decided to hold another evening in October. Hopefully we will do about 6 a year. We asked for donations to pay the guest and made a small profit to carry forward to the next one, so I am hoping that maybe by next summer we can hire a venue and maybe put on a one day festival.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 13 Jun 07 - 11:45 AM

Sounds like you had a great time, B.B. Thanks for stopping by. I ran a concert series for 27 years over here, including a folk festival for six of those years, and was a Board member of a Folk/Gospel festival for three years. It was a great way to share some time with other folkies. I haven't seen or heard from 99% of the performers since I stopped the series, and I do miss them. I understand that the world of acoustic musicians is precarious at its best, so I am not bothered that once I stopped booking, people stopped communicating with me. Everyone likes to eat.

I've performed in about every kind of venue over the years, as any folk performer has. I must say, house concerts are my favorites. They aren't the same ego-feed as playing at a larger venue or festival, but if your ego needs regularly nourishment, folk music is like Chinese food. The ego strokes wear off quickly, and they're few and far between.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Carly
Date: 13 Jun 07 - 02:22 PM

Hi everybody!

We've had a busy spring, but now our spring festival committments are done, and we are trying to get the house and yard in some sort of order.I just, belatedly, got my herbs planted for the summer. Organizational work sure eats up your time. I am looking forward to a day at Old Songs, a festival at which I have no responsibilities, and can simply enjoy the music and people there.

I agree with you, Jerry, about house concerts. I don't perform much, anymore, but I love the intimacy of house concerts, somehow more than a large hall, and I prefer sitting around singing in someone's kitchen to large crowds. I think that I am a singer, rather than a performer, at heart. Having said that, I really enjoyed being part of the ballad workshop at the Washington Folk Festival recently, along with Lisa Null, Julia Friend, and Ed O'Reilly. David Scheim showed up with his harp, and, with three minutes of rehearsal five minutes before we walked on stage, David played to my rendition of a version of The Golden Vanity. What fun! He is amazing at improvisation.

Carly

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: frogprince
Date: 13 Jun 07 - 04:01 PM

We get to most of the house concerts of the Paint Creek Folklore Society here in Michigan. I first discovered that there was such a thing when we saw Anne Hills billed to appear there. I scratched my head at an announcement giving no venue, just a phone number for information. We love the concerts there, and my only regret is that we discovered them after some guy named Jerry-something was booked.
Jerry, we see Matt Watroba perform around the area every now and again. We plan to catch him at the summer folk fest in Evart in July.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 13 Jun 07 - 04:33 PM

Hey, Frog:

When I commented on house concerts, the one that came most to mind was the one I did for the Paint Creek Folklore Society. The house and set up was beautiful, and everyone was very warm and welcoming.
Matt was the one who got the booking for me, and then ended up having a conflict and couldn't come. I've yet to meet him. I do have his CD with Handful Of Songs on it, though, and still enjoy it. If you run into him, give him my best.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 14 Jun 07 - 02:17 AM

Happy Birthday to our host with the most! Today we all make the coffee for you, fetch the newspaper, toast the bagels and bring out the cream cheese and the best lox in town. And we haul out our various instruments, clear our throats and sing your praises. Thanks for creating and hosting this thread with almost two thousand posts from around the world, all of them friendly and civilized. That alone is a major accomplishment, and only a small one among the many you have brought into this world. All our best to you and your family today.

We toast you with toast and plenty of caffeinated good cheer!

Elmer

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 14 Jun 07 - 02:25 AM

I would love to have a home large enough to host house concerts. For years I did host large music jams and that was fun and satisfying but I would love to book people in my hone.

In August our 'Gold Street Music' folk club begins again and I'm looking forward to that.

(Carly, thanks for reminding me of your lovely home and backyard. Although I must say that I 'see' it in Autumn not in Spring.)

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: GUEST,JTT
Date: 14 Jun 07 - 09:45 AM

All you need is a kitchen large enough to fit 30 people, squashed up into the walls to leave room for the band, a couple of people dancing a half-set and hands coming in from the scullery handing plates of sandwiches and cups of tea!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 14 Jun 07 - 02:49 PM

Oh, then. I can easily do that!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Carly
Date: 14 Jun 07 - 07:54 PM

Of course you can, Ebbie. I look forward to being among the squashed, the next time we make it to Juneau (and we will, it is a startlingly lovely place, and now we have friends to visit as well.)

What kind of cake would you like for your birthday, Jerry? I don't bake very often these days ( there needs to be less of me, not more!) but I'd love to bake for you, especially with such good company in the kitchen! Have a wonderful day!

Carly

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 15 Jun 07 - 08:21 AM

HI Jerry, happy birthday from England!
I would love to get some ideas about house concerts from you. We had a collection to pay the guest and , as I said, made a small profit towards the next concert.that was amazing as for years when we ran a folk club in a local pub we usually made a loss and had to put in the difference ourselves! The marquee in the garden worked very well and gave a festival feel but in the winter I should think we could squash 30 or so into our living room.The best thing is not having to find and pay for a venue.We invited people we knew and also put a thread on mudcat that attracted some mudcatters from Kent, about two hours drive away.I am really looking forward to the next one.
Wendy

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 17 Jun 07 - 12:27 PM

Hi Jerry and everybody else,

The story of your birthday, Jerry, which you told on that "What Makes A Birthday Happy?" thread sure does tell us why we make music. Not only is it endlessly satisfying for us, but it does so much for others, too. Who would not want to do it?

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 04 Jul 07 - 07:36 PM

Well, a mouse made a nest in the coffee pot, and I'm using the last loaf of bread as a doorstop. Guess it's time to dust off the kitchen table. (I did buy a new coffee pot.)

My lack of posting here hasn't because of a lack of interest. I've just come through a long stretch of long days and hard work and by the time we finish supper, I'm not wroth a whole lot of anything. But, there's stuff to talk about, and I always look forward to hearing from friends.

Today, we had family on Ruth's side over for the 4th... a long, but good day with intermittent rain (every time I went out to cook on the grill.) Now, I've finished cleaning up in the ki9tcehn (my gift to Ruth, who is totally shot,) and slipped downstairs to post this while everyone is watching a DVD of Dream Girls. I'ts a good enough movie, but I've seen it, and sitting down to watch a three hour movie after such a long day isn't going to work. I'll be watching the inside of my eyelids after five minutes.

Anyway, I have at least two or three posts in me, but I'm looking forward to hear from all of you. I see that my friend jimmy is back on Mudcat again, and maybe he'll drop by. If we all post a few times, we'll see that ornery old wabbit hunter, Elmer creeping up behind the bushes.

Back later..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Severn
Date: 04 Jul 07 - 08:21 PM

Calming down a bit here, Jerry. Violent thunderstorms and a tornado watch (self-winding) here with a lull long enough for some fireworks predicted, if you have a tarp to sit on. Had my indoor rain on Sunday, and the dehumidifier is drying out theliving room ceiling hole, so it can be patched back up from the pinhole leak.

But when the Lord deals you leaks, you make soup!

All who venture within, have a happy fourth!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 04 Jul 07 - 08:33 PM

Leek soup is actually quite wonderful, Severn.

When we moved into our home five years ago, we discovered that we had a leak between the kitchen and the Great Room (kinda like a combination dining room, sun room, family room.) It was very unpredictable. We had a new roof put on the house, which we knew it needed when we bought it, but the leak got worse. After endless attempts at trying to see where the roof was leaking, we finally discovered that it was the chimney. Once we fixed that, everything was fine. But until then, it was a real stressful occasion everytime it rained.. especially when we were away.

The rain here today was o.k. by me, for the most part. It came with a nice cool breeze. Last summer, we built a large, screened-in gazebo, and we sure enjoyed it today. Now, most of the family has left, and Ruth and I are looking forward to wrapping it up. ( I think I hear signs of people packing up...)

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 05 Jul 07 - 12:15 AM

Well! I must say that I'm glad to see signs of life. I kept wandering by and your windows were dark, the kitchen clearly uninhabited. Nice to see your smiling face again.

Speaking of rain, today I took my little dog out 'Last Chance Basin Road', the most popular walk in downtown Juneau, a low speed, non-paved road that leads a mile into the mountains where the old mines dug into the hillsides and where today the trails begin. People take their strollers and dogs and significant others and enjoy the many-shaded greens of the canyon. It's noisy from the tumbling waters of Gold Creek, the little river where gold was discovered a hundred and twenty years ago.

Today it was weely, weely wet. (Where's Elmer?) It wasn't cold but my light jacket soaked through and Meggie was even wetter. After we got home I had to towel her off; luckily she likes it, just braces herself against the vigorous towelling.

Pour me another cup, if you will, Jerry. And who is that across the table?

Subject: Lyr Add: ALMOST LIKE BEING BACK HOME (Rasmussen)
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 05 Jul 07 - 10:16 AM

"Wake up, time is a' wasting
The sun has been up for an hour or more
And old Buster is waitying, down on the doorstep
With so much to show you and places to go
And it's almost like being back home"

Chorus:

   Up on the hill there's an old dirt road
   That leads to somewhere, or so I've been told
   But Buster and me, we're taking it slow
   So we'll sit and we'll rest for awhile
   And it's almost like being back home

Downstairs, no one is waking
Though the clock on the wall says a quartet to eight
And the fiddle and banjo still lean by thewall
With tunes of their own that just wait to be played

Still find it hard to believe
It's been such a long time since last we were here
There're stories to tell you and tunes to be played
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

from Almost Like Being Back Home, words and music by Jerry Rasmussen

Hi, ebbie:

Your post reminded me of the song that I wrote, many, many years ago. (And am having trouble remembering all the words.) I wrote this after a recording session for my first album on Folk-Legacy. At the time, a friend of theirs, Ray Frank had left his dog with them. The original song has the dog's name, but darned if I can recall it right now, so I stuck "Buster" in there... the name of my Mom's dog when she was a little girl. I think I'll leave him in there, anyway. Nice taking a walk with my Mom's dog. I have a picture of her sitting on the front steps of their old farmhouse, with Buster as a pup.

Your description of going for a walk with your dog reminded me of that morning. I woke up earlier than everyone else, and when I went downstairs, there was Ray Frank's dog sitting by the door, wanting to take me for a walk. I left him lead me, and we headed up an old dirt road, that leads to somewhere, or so I've been told. But, we weren't going anywhere... just enjoying the early morning sun rising over the hill.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 05 Jul 07 - 11:50 AM

... the last two lines of the third verse are:

"So we'll sit and we'll talk with no thought for tomorrow
   Wtih stories to tell and songs to share"

Or at least I'm pretty sure. Have to dig out a tape of the song, just to check it.

It's getting pretty bad when you have to learn songs you wrote from yourself.

Jerry Atric

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 05 Jul 07 - 05:12 PM

aaaaawright... as long as I posted the lyrics to the song, I might as well correct the last line, which is "With so much to tell you and songs to share."

Singing the song to myself, I realize what kitchen table kind of song it is, and how well it fits the drop-in casualness of this thread.

Now all we need in here is a dog...

Maybe ebbie can make her dog our official tabledog.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 05 Jul 07 - 06:36 PM

I have no doubt that Meggie would be honored. She thinks everything's about her anyway. *G*

I love those lyrics, Jerry. I'm going to bring out your CDs again and see, but I'm pretty sure that song isn't in them. I have your 'Sampler' and the two Gospel Messenger ones. Mind you, I'm not complaining- only lamenting. :)

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 05 Jul 07 - 09:58 PM

Hey, ebbie: I have at least three CDs worth of my songs that I've never recorded. I got a small CD recorder for my birthday that I'm anxious to try out... with some helpful advice from Mudcatters. It is works simply enough, I want to slowly record all of my songs that I've never released, just for the record, and to share with friends.
I am finding that more people are recording songs of mine that I recorded on cassette to share similarly with friends. Hopefully, it will be a manageable task. It will take months, but somewhere along the line, I may have an informally produced CD of songs to share.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 06 Jul 07 - 07:14 PM

C'mon, folks.. This thread is about to slip away, and here I bought a new coffee pot, and released the mouse in Brooklyn.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 07 Jul 07 - 08:52 AM

Hi Jerry and everybody else,

Sorry I've been busy recently.

Among other things we had a young bird (probably about a week old--some feathers)--- to try to rescue--brought us by a neighbor. Probably pushed out of the nest--by a cowbird? Siblings were also pushed out--- killed instantly--fell onto a patio. Our bird fell onto a sandbox. We got baby food--watered it down a bit--and fed the young bird. He or she started eating enthusiastically. Seemed fine overnight. The next morning still eating well and peeping. But after I went to work, Jan called and said she'd gone up after half an hour and he was dead. Probably internal injuries, we suppose.

Depressing--and it makes you question nature's balance. Why should cowbirds have the advantage? Laying their eggs in another bird's nest (like cuckoos, evidently)--then when their chick is hatched, that chick pushes the others out of the nest--to their deaths.

It doesn't seem right.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 07 Jul 07 - 12:52 PM

Hey, Ron, we've got people like that. Which came first?

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 07 Jul 07 - 05:00 PM

Glad that you stopped by, Ron. The day you aren't busy, Elmer Fudd will finally bag Bugs....

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 28 Jul 07 - 02:46 PM

Time to reconvene the Knights of the Kitchen Table. And welcome back all the fair maidens (they can be knights, too, as we're not sexist in here.)

These last few weeks have been unusually hectic: (Ron Davies hectic.)
Now it's time to slow down. I have plenty of stuff to write about, but am more interested in hearing about how y'all are doing. I must admit, I don't spot many threads that catch my attention these days.
The English folk community is much more close knit, so the bulk of the music threads relate to musicians, venues and festivals I have no connection to. There's nothing wrong with that. But, I haven't been running across many of you in the threads I do check out. Maybe you've been as busy as I have.

Got a lot of projects going on. I'll just mention one, for starters.
In recent years, more and more people are recording my songs.. including ones that I haven't recorded. I made a couple of tapes of my songs that hadn't been recorded and shared them with friends of mine, who've ended up recording them. I'm reaching the point where I could introduce a song by saying "Here's a song I wrote that I learned off a recording by Susan Trump." Or others. Worse yet, the words to a lot of songs are floating around in letters, old e-mails, napkins and the backs of old envelopes. So, I'm finally collecting all the songs I've written, typing them into the computer and printing them up to put in a large loose-leaf binder. Then, I want to record all the ones that I haven't recorded. I'll end up with a couple of CDs of original songs, home-recorded and not necessarily of the quality to release commercially. But, it will be a starter. Maybe I'll feel driven eough to do another CD or two for commercial release. (That's a dumb term, by the way... nothing I produce is particularly commercial.) But, I figure that I wasn't given the gift to write these songs so that they could go moulderin' away in the basement.

So, what are you folks up to these days?

Sir Jeremiah

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 29 Jul 07 - 06:21 PM

Whar iz errone?

I guess times change. Don't seem to be able to get any bites, anymore.

Ruth and I are going to South American for 17 days in September. Don't look like there'll be anyone to keep the pot on.

Jeremiah

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 29 Jul 07 - 06:26 PM

Hi Jerry and everybody else--

Jerry, sure is good to see your progress in putting your music together for us all--and yourself, of course. I'd definitely be interested in a CD of the music you're now cataloguing--particularly if it winds up to be just you and your guitar. (But you really should let us pay you for those CD's.)   In folk music I'm a big fan of stripped-down sound. I was just recently listening to one of Gordon Lightfoot's first commercial recordings. Just him, another guitarist, and a string bass player. It lets the songs stand front and center. Early Morning Rain, For Lovin' Me, Steel Rail Blues, etc. Supposedly Gordon himself doesn't like the record. Can't explain it.

Anyway, please keep us posted as to how the project is going.

I'm sitting at our computer--a Mac-- and it's just amazing how the 20-somethings who run I-tunes seem to have very little idea of any music but what they themselves listen to. I've put a CD I own, of Handel violin sonatas in the "library" on the computer. Category, as far as they're concerned, is Gospel and Religious. Handel may have been feeling quite pious when he wrote them--(more likely he did it on commission)--but they're all just violin and harpsichord.   Bill Cosby (Is A Very Funny Fellow) comes under Classical. Admittedly it does have the Noah routine, which is certainly classic. Norumbega Harmony is sometimes Folk and sometimes Unclassifiable. Norman Blake, in addition to being sometimes Folk and sometimes Country, is also sometimes Books and Spoken. (How's that?) And so on.


As usual, I've been involved in a bunch of weird musical stuff. A little while back we (Choral Arts) were involved in Christmas at Ford's Theater. Ford's is going to close soon til November 2008, so they were taping the Christmas 2007 show.   But it sure was surrealistic. "Sleighbells ring, are you listening?"--in June-- with soap flakes falling from
above. And it sure did reinforce again how fake TV is. The alleged leader of the free world was there and they asked him whether he had finished his Christmas shopping. Before the show started, they told everybody not to be alarmed if they introduced somebody who had already been on stage. Or somebody who never showed up. Or if they stopped and redid a number. Some of what we did was taped Friday for the program Sunday. Etc.

Olivia Newton-John was there and she sang--directly at Mr. Bush, it seemed to me, a song called "Let Me Be An Instrument of Peace". A little late, I thought.

And one of the things on this Christmas program was that well known seasonal song, Xanadu. Never heard of it? Neither had I. But it seems it was a big hit for Olivia around 1980. I told everybody it was picked since Mr. Bush wanted to prove how up-to-date he was.

I think I read that it was a show about how a god or other powerful being convinced an artist to start a disco roller rink. Does that sound close?

Anyway, they said they wanted 10 people-- (of the 30 of us from Choral Arts who were in the show)--for that song. But it turned out they'd given us the wrong words. And the wrong notes. And none of us really knew how it went. So one of us got it off the Net, so we could hear how the hit went. But then when Olivia and her arranger got there, they didn't want the hit version, they wanted the live version she had done a few years ago. Fortunately they also only needed 3, instead of 10 people. So rather than start to guess at how the song they wanted was to go--since it had only a tenuous connection with the sheet music they'd given us-- (at 10:30 at night, having been there since 5), I was able to leave. 2 gals and a guy wound up backing her up (from the balcony)--(no TV time, I believe), and the tenor wasn't heard at all. So it's obvious there was no place for a baritone.

But at least I did get Olivia's autograph for Jan. Olivia's a good person--has done a lot for breast cancer victims, being one herself. But her manager had a cow when one of our group took a picture of Olivia. Manager threatened that our group would never work on the Ford's Theater gig again. (Actually, I can live with that--not that I think the manager has the clout to push it through.)

It's a crazy business--sure glad I'm not trying to make a living at it.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 29 Jul 07 - 08:20 PM

How good to see you, Ron:

I gotta tell ya, your life is never boring. Xanadu (the movie) was a major flop. Vidohounds Goldern Retreiver Movie Guide gives it a Woof!
That's one notch lower than 1. It was one of (if not the last) Gene Kelly's movies. It ranks right up there with the movie of Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band with the Bee Gees and Peter Frampton.

I've recorded most of my music stripped down. With the exception of a short time span in the early 60's when I performed on occasion with Luke Faust in Greenwich Village, I've performed alone. I actually like to have people singing on choruses, though. I always thought that was a little strange when I'd book a solo musician in the concert series I ran, and they didn't like people singing along on the chorus. I thought that's what choruses were for.

Working on this project will be interesting because I am skimming over old grooves in my brain, like Luke Skywalker in his F-Wing fighter, trying to use the Force to swoop down at theright moment and recapture lyrics that have long since slipped into limbo.

Another little project of mine, which I just completed is to create a sound track for Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer stories. It turned out to be a lot of fun. I tried to create the atmosphere of a film noir movie with music. It took me three tries before I got something that put me in that time and place. Fortunately, I have a lot of bluesy, small combo jazz.. instrumentals and vocals. Back when I was a teenager, and in my college days, I'd sit in the dark and listen to music, late at night. I haven't done that in close to fifty years, and it feels good to just let the music seep into my pores and wash away all other external stimuli.

I can always count on you to drop by, Ron. Maybe Ebbie and some of the other used-to-be regulars will drop by and push us close enough to 1,700 so that we can roust Elmer out of his rabbit hole.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 30 Jul 07 - 04:04 PM

SLow times around the table, but I'll keep posting for awhile to see if anyone besides Ron wakes up.

Every morning, I go out to the corner of our house in the backyard and pick black raspberries for my cereal. There is something very mystical about that. My father knew where every berry and edible nut grew within a 40 mile radius of our house, and he was harvesting in almost every season. We'd have wild aspargus in the summer, along with black raspberries, blueberries, apples, cherries and wild plums, with mushrooms for our cooking, and wood sorrel for seasoning. In the fall, he'd collect hickory nuts and patiently crack them on a square block of iron that he found somewhere in his travels. He'd end up cracking two or three quarts (which took a lonnnng time) and share them with my sisters and their families.
I feel like I'm carrying on a little bit of my father, collecting the blackberries.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: pattyClink
Date: 30 Jul 07 - 09:42 PM

The best part about the Mike Hammer tv series was the theme music, "Harlem Nocturne". If your score is half as evocative as that, it will be wonderful.

I'd stop in for a cup, but these days I don't feel sociable. Things are kind of off the tracks and I don't want to hear how swell everybody's doing. So, carry on and I'll stop in when I'm human again.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 30 Jul 07 - 10:00 PM

Jerry--

It really does sound wonderful--and very grounded--a man who has real connection to the earth and lives in harmony with nature--to go out and pick blackberries for your cereal.

When Jan came over, she felt strongly that we should also try to live in harmony with nature. Part of it was not hard to convince me at all--instead of a lawn--small anyway--we have plants and a rock garden. Our back yard was already woods. We're thinking of putting up a bat box--if we can figure out where. Jan is even more than willing to sacrifice our hostas etc. to deer who might be seeking refuge in the woods.


But mostly we're not very peaceful these days--seems like a constant struggle against "service industries".

Last week both my car insurance firm and the company we called out to deal with carpenter bees and termites tried to charge me more--after I'd paid in full. They both admitted they were wrong.

Right now we're trying to bring a shady medical equipment operator to justice.

Jan had to have a corset for her lower back. Our MD suggested a place called Hanger Prosthetics. Jan paid $262 for a corset--thought she could have had just as good a product at Sears. She then got a bill from Hanger, saying the $262 was "insurance disallowance" but she was to pay $ 114 (the balance). I called Hanger and told them she'd paid $262 already and that in fact $262 was what Hanger was not allowed to charge by the insurance company (Blue Cross), not what Jan should have paid. The person-I got her name, as I always do-- agreed.

Then when Jan called, the person she spoke to kept insisting that Jan owed $114, since Blue Cross had refused to pay anything. Hanger said they had no record Jan had paid anything.   Hanger has now sent us 2 bills for $114.   We keep records--and she had the $262 on her Visa statement.

It's blazingly clear to me--and Jan--that in fact since she's already paid $262, far from Jan owing anything, Hanger owes us the difference between $262 and $114--$114 being the actual price to Jan.

When she again called Hanger, the person who answered said the $262 was in fact insurance disallowance, but the previous bill had been sent by a member of the old staff--who were now all gone. Also, it turns out Hanger has changed location several times. But the new Hanger employee still insisted Jan owed $114. When Jan threatened them with the BBB, the manager told her all she'd have to do is send proof having paid $262 and the matter would be closed. We've since found out there have already been quite a few complaints filed with the BBB against Hanger.

Jan says that when she was in the shop, all the other customers were also being charged the insurance disallowance rather than the real price. And does Hanger also have no record of their paying anything?

Many of the other customers, Jan says, were in great need of prosthetics. Some were elderly--and many probably paid without question--and when they got the new bill, also paid the balance. It seems it's possible, if the others were treated as Jan was, that a very vulnerable population is being massively exploited. That will stop, if we have anything to say about it. We'll make sure our MD does not refer anybody else to Hanger. We'll contact the BBB--and possibly the press.

Hanger will straighten out--or close--and not by just moving to another location and getting new staff--which seems to be their MO.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 30 Jul 07 - 10:25 PM

Hey, Patty: Sorry to hear that life is in a funk for you right now. I know the need to step away. I've had to do that more than once in my life. When that happens, words of good cheer can be downright irritating, so I'll try not to offer any. (Don't mean I don't feel them, though.)

Yeah, Harlem Nocturne set the tone for the whole Mike Hammer Series, and despite it being a familiar tune to me, I can't find a single recording of it. So, I started out with a great recording of In A Sentimental Mood by John Coltrane and Duke Ellington. It's much in feel like Harlem Nocturne: a small combo, with bass, drums, Coltrane and Ellington.

Great stuff.

Drop around when you feel like it. Complaining is allowed at the table, too, you know..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 31 Jul 07 - 05:17 PM

Today, Ruth and I stopped by the Chey dealer to look at new cars. We're not going to buy one until next Spring, but it's been awhile since we've looked. I had stopped in a couple of days ago and talked to a salesman, and he was the first man I met, walking through the door. We looked at a couple of cars in the showroom, but we wanted to look at a four door sedan, and we had to walk out to the back lot. As we were walking along, just shooting the breeze, (how do you shoot the breeze, and what if you miss?) we ended up talking about music. No duh. With me, it doesn't take long to get around to that. As it turns out, the salesman lived in Greenwich Village on Charles Street in 1962 and '63. I lived on the lower West side and spent half my waking hours in the Village from 1960-64. (Oh yeah, the conversation started because I was wearing a Le Figaro t-shirt from the Greenwich Village coffee house. He used to hang out there. So did I. Then, he started talking about Dave Van Ronk and the Gaslight Cafe. I told him that I took lessons from Dave, and used to sing at the Hootenanny's during the time he was living in the Village. (I even opened for the Highwaymen one week.)
He said his real love was jazz and blues, and I said, "so is mine." Which led me to talking about the CD I just put together as my soundtrack to the Mike Hammer TV series, and he remembered it wel, and loved the music. I told him that if his name was spelled just a little differently, he could have been at Woodstock. His last name is Jasgur, not Yasgur. He said that he was at Woodstock. I told him, "so was I." I thought, this is getting too weird, so I asked him, "Your wife's name isn't Ruth, by chance?" And it wasn't. I was starting to get worried.

You never know who you're going to run into at a Chevy dealer's.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Partridge
Date: 01 Aug 07 - 05:20 AM

Just finished picking the last of my raspberries, earlier in the season I made some delish jam, but there are only enough for breakfast now. In a few weeks time the brambles will be ripe, and I will carry on the tradition of bramble jelly. I inherited the jelly sieve from my Dad.

Time hangs heavy at the moment, I lost my job six weeks ago and the death of my best friend unexpectedly bowled me over.

But life is for living and I try very hard to get on with it. Over the last ten years I have worked in offices, doing project work or admin. I'm taking the time to rethink. i don't think I'll work in an office again - not sure what i will do.

It's good to sit back and appreciate all the positive things in my life, the kitchen table of my life is populated with many good friends, who at this time af need have made there presence felt. I send my love to them all.

Pat xx

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 01 Aug 07 - 01:53 PM

Hi, Pat: Glad your kitchen table is well-populated with friends. I'm glad you dropped by and joined ours. Don't be a stranger, now.

This morning, my wfie and I went to pick up a gate for the fence we've been installing. The person in front of us paid by check, and there was a young girl at the register. For whatever reason, she couldn't process the check, so we stood there, waiting. She called someone and was on the phone for a couple of minutes, and tried something else and that didn't work. By now, the line was getting longer and the girl more flustered. She tried again, with no success, and she kept apologizing to us. I told her not to worry, "They also serve who stand and wait." Finally, just before checkout line rage erupted in the line, she got the register to accept the check.

They also serve who sit at the kitchen table and wait. I don't think that's in the bible. But it's true. In my life, downtimes have been preparation times. Cosmic shift times. Same thing seems to happen when I'me beating my head against a wall trying to make something work that is broken, and isn't supposed to work.

Yesterday when I took my walk, I passed the long stretch of black raspberry bushes that I've been checking up on. A couple of days earlier, the berries were nowhere near ripe enough to pick. Yesterday, they were all gone. They were ripe enough for birds. Just not humans. In the meantime, my bushes are producing enough berries for breakfast, and a pudding with fresh berries for desert after supper. The birds don't seem to have discovered them.


sssshhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 01 Aug 07 - 08:41 PM

Hey, Joe:

Please flush Guest lycreno. This is the kitchen, not the bathroom. How can people post that kind of stuff in here?

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 01 Aug 07 - 08:43 PM

Man!, fastest delete button in the West. My last post won't make any sense unless you saw the advertisements that the Guest posted.
I'm extremely impressed. Thanks Joe. Or one of your clones.

Who says cloning is bad?

Jerry

---

I was out singing, so it must have been one of our trusty volunteers who cleaned up. I did get one that was just posted, though. This thread has been hit fairly heavy with Spam. There may come a time when we'll have to close it.
-Joe-

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Partridge
Date: 03 Aug 07 - 05:45 AM

He's back!

What in Gods name does he think he will achieve by posting here. Anyway your previous posts make sense again jerry! Until the good clones do ther job.

The sun is shining here at the moment, which makes a pleasant change from the continual rain we have had here in the UK. The sky looks like the opening credits of the Simpsons - blue sky with some fluffy white clouds.

I should be job hunting but I think I will make the most of this weather and do something outside - life's too short

Hope the sun is shining on you

love

pat xx

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 03 Aug 07 - 08:02 AM

Hi Jerry,
a cold drink would be nice, at last we have hot weather in England after weeks of rain, summer is here.Looking out of the window it is lovely to see so many smiling faces, funny how we all cheer up if the sun shines.Living on the east coast we were lucky and did not get the dreadful floods that they had in the west of England but the rain kept the day trippers away, however the past 3 days have been very busy, the beach is packed with sun bathers and parking places are impossible to find.I am working on reception at the salon and we are very busy so a cool corner in the kitchen and an iced tea will be lovely!
Wendy

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 03 Aug 07 - 11:47 AM

Hey, Wendy:

Will a cold glass of tonic work for you? Heavy on the ice cubes. I'd forgotten about tonic, and hadn't had a gin and tonic in many years. It used to be a favorite drink of mine during hot weather. I'm not much of a drinker (I kid that my beer cans get rusty in the refigerator) but I enjoyed gin and tonics (and used to make home-made wine, too.)

Being older, and all of that, I've been bothered by muscle cramps in my calves at night. The Stampeding Calves Syndrome. I've been taking a natural muscle relaxant that works wonderfully, and the other day my doctor suggested that I have a glass of tonic water before bedtime, and that will have the same effect. It's the quinine that relaxes leg muscles. I bought a couple of bottles of tonic water yestrerday and because it's really hot here, I ended up finishing the first one off, long before bedtime. A gin and tonic, hold the gin. I had forgotten how refereshing ice-cold tonic water can be. Do they drink tonic water, over your way?

I worked outside for about 20 minutes this morning, and feel like I just climbed Mount Everest with a piano strapped to my back.

I know the perfect tonic for that.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: maeve
Date: 04 Aug 07 - 08:09 AM

Such a pleasure to read this thread.

maeve

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 04 Aug 07 - 09:24 AM

Welcome, maeve:

Be sure to come back. This thread has become what I hoped it would... a great place to stop by, where everyone is welcome, the conversation is good, and the coffee extraordinare. Beats Starbucks, any day. I only drink coffee from Starbucks at gunpoint.
But, perfectly nice people seem to like it.

I went for my early morning walk today and spotted a raspberry that the birds overlooked. I have black raspberries and they've large and sweet. The raspberry bushes along the road where I walk are red raspberries and even though the one I picked was very ripe, it had very little flavor. The birds can have them. Now, I'm keeping my eye on wild grapes that are not quite ripe. The house I owned many years ago was next to a woods, which was all tangled up with grap vines. And nary a grape. These grapes look good. I hope that they have more flavor than the red raspberries.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 05 Aug 07 - 08:05 AM

I've passed the halfway point on the final Harry Potter book. Anyone else reading the series? The book started out with a bang and then coasted along for 100 pages, but it's picking up steam, now.
Today is a day of rest, so I know that I'll sprint through at least another hundred pages. I've been trying to get to the latest movie, but haven't, yet. Hopefully, we'll do it this week.

My wife and I have a strong desire to keep each other happy, and whether or not we are interested in something ourselves, we're always happy to do something with the other person just to see how much they enjoy it. Ruth isn't at all interested in Harry Potter, The Lord Of The Rings, King Kong and the rest, but she's happy to go with me to see the movies. I'm equally happy to take her shopping (the bane of husbands,) and not only don't complain, but help her find what she's looking for: often when she can't find it.

It's a wonderful way to live.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Col K
Date: 05 Aug 07 - 07:52 PM

Hey Jerry,
Is there room for me to join you in a coffee at the round table in the kitchen? Not visited for a while but hope I am still welcome.
So much has been happening everywhere since I last visited, I hope you have all enjoyed good health, or if not that you have now recovered. Music is still in my life and I am glad of it, it can be of great comfort when times are bad or when times are stressful. Festivals come and go, some more stressful than others, but all of them create a wonderful feeling amongst those who go and make music and also provide great friendships(and sometimes good coffee) and also great fellowship, something that all of us need from time to time.
Thanks for listening, see you again soon
Colin

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 05 Aug 07 - 08:03 PM

How great to see you, Col! Blessings and misfortunes have befallen us and our friends, the Messengers since the last time that we saw   you. Joe's wife, Corrie has Alzheimers and is instituionalized now. It almost killed Joe. Literally. But, the hardest part is over now that she is being taken care of. Life is much the same for us as everyone else. Heartaches and headaches are part of the package deal. So are the blessings.

These days, I am performing alone... doing folk and gospel, and blending them all together. They are all a part of who I am, so it feels perfectly natural to do a southern mountain banjo tune, followed by a black gospel or blues song on electric guitar. I've never been an appreciator of boundaries... musical or in friendships.

Ruth and I are fine. We'll be heading off for a 17 day tour of South America in early September. As soon as we get back, we're going to a jazz luncheon, and I'll be doing a concert of gospel by myself. Then it's preparing for NOMAD.

I'm doing a lot of writing these days... songs and other stuff... some of which I've put on the Writer's Corner thread.

We look forward to your next trip over.

You know where out kitchen table is.

Ruth sends her love.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Col K
Date: 06 Aug 07 - 05:16 PM

So sorry to hear of Corries illness, please pass on my love and good wishes to Joe and to the other Messengers as well.
I hope that you and Ruth have a wonderful time on holiday, I will be thinking of you.
Peace be with you
Col

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 09 Aug 07 - 11:01 AM

Hi Jerry,
that Gin and Tonic was just what I needed,or what the Doctor ordered funnily enough, our Doctor told my father to have a G & T every night for cramp in the legs, he does not drink gin but has a glass of tonic every night.Yes we have tonic water in the UK and G &T is a favourite summer drink when we have hot weather, the other is Pimms which is a gin based drink which we dilute with lemonade and add a slice of apple, cucumber, a few leaves of mint and lots of ice.
Wendy

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: GUEST,rehab11
Date: 09 Aug 07 - 11:22 AM

Is anyone at the table from or near OOB maine USA need info on cheap camping or motel/hotel Have not been in 11 yrs need info on folk and blues bars also can not sit in Sohos all the time if Armand is still open... Boston info good too.... RI and New Mexico Do not know how far I am going.
Hi to Emma, Montreal is diff you know we are the city of Fests and poutine, not true Canada.... Francofolie Fest. Hope you had fun at you fest with Sev...
deedee

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 09 Aug 07 - 11:38 AM

Hey, rehab:

If you click on the Quick Links box at the top of the screen, and then click Member Photos & Info, and then click Locator when the screen opens, you can see which Mudcat members are from Maine. A PM with your request for information should help you out.

I'm from down here in Connectciut (and haven't camped out in 40 years) so I'm of no help.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Donuel
Date: 10 Aug 07 - 10:20 AM

Jerry, often the best deals on cars is at the end of the year. Is spring even better?

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 10 Aug 07 - 11:41 AM

You're right about car deals, Donuel. But, Ruth and I are heading off to South America early in September and that'll more than take care of our discretionary spending. Besides, the car we have is running fine, so we don't feel any pressure to replace it immediately. Thanks for the suggestion, though.

While I'm at it, I got an e-mail this morning which I forwarded to Mudcatters whose e-mail address I have, and Ron Davies suggested that it was worth mentioning around the table. There is a news mega-virus circulating now that will permananetly wipe out a section of your hard drive if you open it. If you get an e-mail saying that you have a greeting card waiting for you to open, DON'T!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! delete it immediately!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Turns out, Ron had just received such a notice in his e-mail but didn't open it, thank God.

Don't want to lose no table friends..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 11 Aug 07 - 12:09 AM

Looks like purging impurities, to say the least, is necessary again. I'll contact Joe.

I just wanted to thank you, Jerry, for the heads up about the "greeting card". Jan does in fact get e-greetings from her friend of 30 years in the UK, and from other friends and relatives--but we never open a "greeting card" from somebody we don't know.   Looks like that's a prudent approach.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 11 Aug 07 - 12:30 PM

Shhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!! Don't tell the Spammers that we're hiding up here in the music section. We could make this a music thread by writing a song:

"He was a Spammer from Alabammer"

What's a good rhyme for Alabammer?

How about Slammer?

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: pattyClink
Date: 11 Aug 07 - 10:00 PM

windjammer!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 12 Aug 07 - 06:19 AM

Yeah, Patty.. windjammer would work too, as long as the jerk ended up in the slammer. Come to think of it, the model of my electric Hamer Guitar that I play with my gospel quartet is a Slammer, so I'd have to use something else. The sentiment is right, though.

We've got our tools securely attached to our tool belts now, so spammers are going to have a short life on this thread.

What is happeir than a man and his tools?

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: GUEST,Carly
Date: 12 Aug 07 - 06:21 PM

Jerry, don't forget a woman and her tools! I just became the new owner of an old flax spinning wheel; because I am a spinner (though not a spinster!) I am happy to say that it is in good working order, and even has its distaff, which is usually the first part to break or go missing. I will be putting it to good use.

Our summer has been busy. Serious illnesses and surgeries have been the lot of too many of our family membere and friends, but almost everyone is doing well, or at least better, now. We did leave town long enough for a lovely week at Pinewoods Folk Music Week, immersing ourselves in music, friendship, and two ponds!

It is nice to stop by at the kitchen table; I hope everyone is well.

Speaking of tables, if any of you make it to our house, I invite you to sit at our dining room table, recently given to me by an old and dear friend, who raised her family around its broad walnut surface. My dining table up to now could only fit eight (very friendly) people, while my "new" table will accomodate twelve! That fact, and the love with which it was offered to me, has made it a very special piece of furniture.

Carly

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Charley Noble
Date: 12 Aug 07 - 07:53 PM

Jerry-

Looks like the spammers have tracked this thread down again, but congratulations on having your BS thread elevated above the line.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 12 Aug 07 - 08:01 PM

I just eliminated the spammer, Charley. Ruth and I were watching State Fair, so it slipped by me for a few minutes. Not to worry.
One of us will catch them when they rear their cholesterol-loaded head.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 12 Aug 07 - 08:02 PM

Only seven more posts left now until we hit another 100 spot, Elmer!

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 13 Aug 07 - 02:11 AM

I haven't read this thread in ages, but hasn't it usually been below the line? I see a spammer right before me (probably the same cretin that killed off my "I Read it in the Newspaper" thread).

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 13 Aug 07 - 07:16 AM

Hey, Stilly. Yes, Joe moved it up into the music section, for protection as much as anything, I think. We have mustered more forces to deal with the Spammers. I check it first thing in the mornng, and eliminate any spams I see, and with several people monitoring the thread, we should be fine.

I ain't afraid a no Spammers.

It seems a shame to let a thread die when we can fight back.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 17 Aug 07 - 12:00 PM

Hi Jerry
just found the table again, I wondered where you all were, and now understand what you have been talking about"spammers" who is he and how dare he sit at this lovely table with such nice folks! Thank you for the e mail, I too get cards from Billy's sisters in the USA but do not open any if I am not sure who sent them. The other really annoying thing we get are unwanted phone calls, even though our phone is ex directory, we seem to get 3 or 4 a day from India asking if we want a loan or double glazing! Do you get this problem over there?
Wendy

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 17 Aug 07 - 12:26 PM

Hi Wendy,

I don't know if people in the US whose number is unlisted get telemarketers. In general I believe the rule is that if you've put yourself on the national do-not-call list, the only firms that can call you are those you're considered to have a business relationship with--you've bought something from them in the past.

In fact, just a few minutes ago, we got a telemarketing call--from our local phone service provider, Verizon. They wanted us to switch long-distance and internet sevice to them. But I've read the fine print in their mail solicitations--and know that the deal they offer is only temporary, and the usual prices will apply soon. So I declined.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 17 Aug 07 - 12:52 PM

Good to see you back, Wendy and Ron. Most recently, we haven't seen the Spammers in here. Or, maybe Joe or another clone got them before I did. Hopefully, they've gotten discouraged and gone elsewhere. If not, it's not a great problem.

We are on the no solicitation national list, but it doesn't catch every little lawn service or local window replacement. But, it sure has helped.

Part of what has happened with this thread, Wendy, is that when it looked like Joe might have to close it, I started a Front Porch News thread. I'ts nice weather these days, so I thought that moving out onto the front porch and swinging on the porch swing might be a nice change. We've attracted some of the kitchen table crowd, and some folks who've never posted in here. It's been interesting in that conversations have often been about the sounds and sights in the evening, sitting on the porch.

I'm taking Ruth to South America on September 8th and we'll be gone for 17 days. We're flying to Lima. Hopefully, it will still be there. Every time we've traveled over seas, there's been a natural or political disaster just before we arrive, or after we leave. Every time. So far, we've been blessed that it hasn't happened while we were there.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 17 Aug 07 - 04:56 PM

Hey, ebbie:

I lose track of what I post where, but your last message reminded me of the verse of a song I wrote long ago about an early morning walk with a dog that went by the name of Willie:

Up on the hill there's an old dirt road
That leads to nowhere, or so I've been told
But Willie and me, we're taking it slow
So we'll stop and we'll sit for awhile
And it's almost like being back home.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 17 Aug 07 - 07:52 PM

I know this seems tweasonous and tewwibly pwetentious, but with all honor and glory given to Elmer the Magnificent, while he is away from his compewter, I hearby claim this post.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 12 Sep 07 - 11:56 AM

Hi Jerry
hope you and Ruth have a good trip, we have been away to the Cotswolds for a few lazy days, also our son Christopher and Jane had a new baby boy on September 6th so we have been celebrating.I did wonder where you all were, think I will stroll out to the porch and take a look.
Wendy

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 08 Aug 08 - 09:10 PM

Coffee's on...

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: maeve
Date: 08 Aug 08 - 09:15 PM

Hello there, Jerry. I'm happy to see you here.

maeve

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 08 Aug 08 - 09:19 PM

Hey, maeve:

I'm in the chat room right now, so I don't want to step away to make a longer post. Good to be back.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Amos
Date: 08 Aug 08 - 09:29 PM

Jerry, man!! How nice to see you around!!

Come back often!! Catch us up--you have been missed.


A

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 08 Aug 08 - 09:37 PM

Good to see you too, Bill. Sorry we can't make the getaway again. Our daughter's daughter is getting married in Virginia Beach in September, and then we're heading down to South Carolina to visit my oldest son and his family. That will shoot our gas budget for a couple of months.

I was talking with maeve in the Chat Room about gardening. I always loved gardening, but don't have the space for it where we live now.
I was thinking that what we need, Bill, is a little mind-altering. You being so wise, and all, could figure out how to do it. If only we could convince ourselves and everyone else that grass is weeds, and a lawn composed only of weeds is a thing of beauty to behold. I spend more time on my knees pulling up crab grass than I do praying.
I bet that it could grow on the moon.

But, then it's outdoor activity, which I hear is good for you.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: KT
Date: 08 Aug 08 - 10:58 PM

Hi Jerry! Great to see you here again! Thanks for puttin' the coffee on. We've all got some catching up to do.....

For now, I think i'll put my feet up and sink into Friday....ahhhh.....

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Alice
Date: 08 Aug 08 - 11:17 PM

Hi, Jerry! Good to see you again. Congrats on the wedding coming up for the grand daughter!

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: open mike
Date: 09 Aug 08 - 11:05 AM

welcome back--perhaps iced coffee would be best on this august day.
haven't heard from you, jerry for a while. also wonder what ever happened to jimmy t?

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 09 Aug 08 - 12:44 PM

Hey, Open Mike!

I'm glad to see that most of the old gang is still around. I have no idea what happened with jimmy t. I never hear from him, anymore.
Maybe his life just shifted into high gear. It can happen to any of us.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 09 Aug 08 - 01:22 PM

Coffee....Mmmmm smells good....white no sugar please!

Kitchen tables are great places. When I was a kid our table had an enamel top and you could write notes on it in pencil! Saved a heck of a lot of paper!

Good to have you back, Jerry!

Best wishes,

Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 09 Aug 08 - 02:07 PM

When I was a kid, Pete, we had oilcloth on our kitchen table. Whatever became of oilcloth? Truth is, I hardly miss it at all.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 09 Aug 08 - 03:59 PM

Oh, you can still get oilcloth...should you need any! I hear it especially good for covering up the table when there is going to be messy sticking or painting going on!

The other thing about the kitchen table was the little ledge where you could hide your toast crusts. We kids thought we'd got away with this, until the day some-one moved the table and out they all fell! We scattered quicker than chickens at plucking time!

Best wishes,

Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Tootler
Date: 10 Aug 08 - 11:51 AM

Coffee? White, no sugar for me please.

"perhaps iced coffee would be best on this august day" Not here in the UK. August has been wet and not too warm so far. Ahhh! The delights of the British weather. Always gives you something to talk about.

Spent the day at Saltburn Folk Festival yesterday. Two good tune sessions in the day and an excellent singaround in the evening. Great day!

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Leadfingers
Date: 11 Aug 08 - 09:14 AM

No sugar in my coffee thanks Jerry ! And Jimmyt turned up in chat the other evening - He is threatening to be at The Getaway in October ! Seems he is almost farming as well as being the local Tooth Fairy !

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 11 Aug 08 - 11:28 AM

Peter - we used our ledge to dispose of Mum's badly cooked vegetables! Crusts are yummy.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 11 Aug 08 - 01:04 PM

And speaking of coffee, I finally got my hands on my coffee grinder. It once was lost, but now is found. It's been a long time since I fresh-ground coffee beans. Since I lost my coffee grinder.
I must say, it does make a difference. Now I'm experimenting with different whole beans.

Anyone else grind their own?

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Amos
Date: 11 Aug 08 - 01:16 PM

We do-- we get a pound or two a month from Barefoot Coffee Roasters in San Jose and grind it in an electric Italian-looking grinder.

We're not too fussy, but we really enjoy the spectrum of flavors and "overtones" that come with different beans.

The real experts in this business make wine-tasters look crude!


A

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Leadfingers
Date: 11 Aug 08 - 01:28 PM

I have several sorts of coffee here - It depends on my mood wether I go for instant Ground or beans - though its Very Often fresh ground if I have company .

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 11 Aug 08 - 01:28 PM

Hey, Amos:

I had a friend of mine who was a great connoisseur of coffee. I used to tell him that I knew he was a coffee connoisseur because he hated 95% of the coffee he tasted. Sometimes it's better to be a member of the unwashed masses.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: MartinRyan
Date: 11 Aug 08 - 03:43 PM

Just coming in at the (very long) tail of this thread... Any advice on grinders for (domestic) expresso machines? I've kinda been putting off facing up to my responsibilities in these matters. I can get resepctable quality expresso from good quality ground beans with my machine but have a feeling I should go the whole hog...

Regards

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 11 Aug 08 - 03:51 PM

Don't know anything about the whole hog, Martin, but there are more sophisticated folks than me who stop by the kitchen table. We talk about whatever we talk about in here, so I imagine the conversation will move on.

Make sure you come back now, you hear?

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Amos
Date: 11 Aug 08 - 08:33 PM

Martin:

My daughter is an expert in things cafŽ, and she sent me a lovely grinder called a Bodum, which has a wide-topped plastic bowl at the top which holds a whole pound of beans, and can be set to anything from cowboy percolator down to espresso sized grains.

Here's a writeup on the one we have.


A

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: jimmyt
Date: 11 Aug 08 - 09:10 PM

Jerry and all my old friends in the Kitchen and the cat for that matter. I am back and tickled that anyone even noticed I have been in absentia. Hope you all are hanging in there!   jimmyt

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Amos
Date: 11 Aug 08 - 10:56 PM

Ahhh JimmyT!!! Good to see ya!!

What have you been doing while you were away--do you dare tell?


A

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: KT
Date: 12 Aug 08 - 02:49 AM

Hey, jimmy! Just missed you the other day! Good to see you, and YES, you have been missed!
KT

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jeanie
Date: 12 Aug 08 - 04:03 AM

Yay ! What a lovely surprise to find that the Kitchen Table is back again - such a long time, I'd nearly forgotten.

Good to find you here - long time, no see, Jerry and Jimmy. How is everyone ?

Jimmy, you will be pleased to know that after many years in hiding, I plucked up the courage to find a dentist when I moved to a new town - and one who takes on patients on the National Health Service (private dentistry in the UK is ridiculously expensive - you still have to pay something on the NHS, but a lot less). A lot of dentists only take on private patients, so I was glad to find him. Anyway...not surprisingly after all that time, I did have a tooth so bad that it had to be taken out, but I'm now among the good and virtuous who take care of their teeth. I wish I'd done it sooner !

I don't post so much on here these days, but still look in nearly every day. Hoping all is going well with you all - looking forward to further kitchen table chats.

- jeanie x

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: MartinRyan
Date: 12 Aug 08 - 04:15 AM

Amos,

Thanks for that - I'll look into it. I'm off to Northern Spain on holidays next week and reckon I'll arrive back with my lust for serious coffee fully revived!

Regards

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 12 Aug 08 - 11:11 AM

Jeannie and jimmyt! It doesn't get much better than that. How wonderful to see old friends stopping by for a cuppa.

Ruth and I just got back from a trip out to my home town in Wisconsin. I thought I'd relate a story.

Many years ago, I wrote a song, The Silver Queen, remembering those summer nights when I was a kid, when my mother, my two older sisters and my cousin Jeannine would walk down to the river and out to Riverside Park to catch the Silver Queen. The Silver Queen was an ungainly looking boat, used for moving houses on the River. It had a large, flat deck that rested on oil drums for a float that was large enough to transport a house, or during the War years, a good-sized crowd of dancers. I was a little kid during the second World War, and I'd tag along for the ride (which cost all of ten cents,) a bottle of Squirt and a bag of Okee Dokee cheese covered popcorn. I'd sit on the benches around the perimeter of the floor, which had been converted into a dance floor with genuine japanese lanterns artistically strung from light posts, and watch the young men and women dancing to the latest hits on the jukebox over in the corner.

After the War, the Silver Queen was intentionally deep sixed, or maybe deep-twelved, to the bottom of the River just south of the Four Mile Bridge. The little that was of any value was taken off, and the boat was unceremoniously sunk to the bottom of the river.

In the 70's a young couple who lived on the river, Ralph and Nanci Zigler, took advantage of a lowering of the river to see what could be salvaged. They asked the owner of the boat if they could keep whatever they took off the boat, and he gave his permission. They had no diving equipment, and the boat was still under several feet of water, but Ralph, his son and a friend attached a chain to the brass propeller and tried to pull it off, by attaching the other end of the chain to a hoist on a truck, with no luck. They finally had to take turns hack-sawing the propeller off of the shaft, with the person sawing as much as he could, before he ran out of breath, and the others helping to hold him under. They also were able to salvage the steering wheel.

When we were in Janesville, I did a concert, and at the request of Ralph and Nanci, who I met for the first time, I sang The Silver Queen. Afterwards, they invited Ruth and me to their home, so that they could show us the propeller (now made into a glass-topped coffee table, and the steering wheel. We sat on their sun porch, looking down on the River and drank peach iced tea, and looked through their scrap books on early boats that plied the River lazily flowing below us.

"Living on the river was nice and easy
People on the river just take their time"

                      Living on the River

They still do.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 13 Aug 08 - 02:56 PM

Hey, jimmy:

My cow has an infected molar. Could I bring her in for an office visit?

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: jimmyt
Date: 13 Aug 08 - 03:36 PM

I would be udderly honored to treat her bovine dentition! This is such a nice place, the kitchen table 9so nice that KT actually calls herself KT in honor of the kitchen table.) Jerry, I loved the story about the silver queen! you are a wordsmith of the first waters, my friend. Amos et al, I have been behaving but since we bought a farm I am either working on teeth, playing music or something to do with the farm   I am having a blast but farm work is pretty time consuming. I am making a vow to be here more though, especially if all you nice folks hang around.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 14 Aug 08 - 08:46 AM

Oh it is so lovely to find you all here in the kitchen, I missed you all.I did keep looking but no one was here.Do tell us what you have been doing Gerry, I am sure there are lots of stories waiting to be told, I am in the chair in the corner and the coffee tastes good!
Wendy

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 14 Aug 08 - 11:06 AM

Hey, billybob:

How nice to see you. I hope that folks will stop by a make even a short post from time to time, just to keep this thread alive. I finally stopped posting last year bescuse no one else was, and it had become a vanity thread. I come in hear to listen, more than talk.

A lot of good things have been going on in my life, in the long stretch of time when I wasn't posting. It wasn't because I don't enjoy mudcat, because I still have many friends in here.

Probably the biggest thing that has happened in the last year is that I finally wrote a book. I have Mudcat, at least in part, to thank for that. The book is a collection of short chapters, and gospel songs I've written, titled: The Gate of Beautiful: Stories, Songs, and Reflections on Christian Life. Two of the chapters are stories I posted on here: A Bus Story and A Train Story. I used them as they were posted, with some additional reflections. There are other chapters that relate to folk music, but are not about folk music. One comes from a long letter that I originally wrote to Art Thieme many years ago describing an amazing experience that I had at a concert that I did.   There are 22 chapters in the book, and the last section of the book is composed of lyrics and commentary on 11 gospel songs I've written. The book itself is liberally sprinkled with lines from songs I've written, gospel and otherwise, as well as scriptural quotations. I am hoping to do a CD of the songs, as only two of them have been released on CD.

I keep writing songs, too. They keep coming, and I welcome them when they do. I make no effort to force them to come. These days, they're almost exclusively gospel songs, although one that I wrote sounds more like a country blues.

Writing the book has been a wonderful experience, and now I am exploring possibilities for having it published. Push comes to shove, I'll publish it on my own, but I am nowhere near that point yet.

The other connection is that the primary encouragement to do the book has come from none other than Elmer Fudd.

And the-the-the-the-thaaats all folks!

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Amos
Date: 14 Aug 08 - 11:37 AM

The other connection is that the primary encouragement to do the book has come from none other than Elmer Fudd.


Awwight, you wascally witer, you gotta 'splain this!!

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 14 Aug 08 - 12:26 PM

Hello Jerry,

Good to hear that you are still writing and look forward to the book...put me down for a copy!

I loved the story about the Silver Queen. I also love the song. It is short, simple and gets a powerful message across in a very effective manner. Would that other songwriters had that gift!

Hey...who pinched the last cookie?

Best wishes,

Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 14 Aug 08 - 12:51 PM

There's a very simple principle here, Amos. Elmer was very positive about my writing ability, as were several others on here, including jimmyt. Ya never know how much good you do, just letting someone else know that you appreciate what they're doing. My brother-in-law
Everett is probably my greatest appreciator, but he's not a Mudcatter. He called me yesterday and said, "I need some more reading material!" Bro Everett lives in a retirement complex, and he has a whole group of people who are reading what I send to him. When he gets mail from me, he usually knows it because someone else saw that he had an envelope. Some come knocking on his door at eleven o'clock at night, when they hear he's received a new envelope. None of them are members of Mudcat, either.

Interestingly, several people who have been very supportive and encouraging about my writing are not Christians. Some are Atheists.
It takes a big man to understand how small we all are.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Amos
Date: 14 Aug 08 - 01:29 PM

JErry:

Oh, for goodness' sake!! When you wrote "Elmer Fudd" I was thinking of the little cartoon character who perpetually hunts Bugs Bunny, not the mudcatter, so of course it didn't make sense!

No question about your writing ability, none at all.


A

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 14 Aug 08 - 02:17 PM

Hey, Amos:

That's not to minimize how much I learned from the Warner Brothers Elmer Fudd. He taught me patience and determination.:-)

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: GUEST,Paul Williams
Date: 14 Aug 08 - 11:09 PM

My uncle, Elmer Ullius, owned the Silver Queen. My dad did most of the work to the boat. I never knew there was a song about the boat. Where can I get a copy of the song? I, too, would love tp hear more of the "story" of the Silver Queen.

Thanks.


Paul Williams
Janesville, WI

[e-mail]

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 15 Aug 08 - 08:20 AM

Hey, Paul:

What a wonderful surprise to see your posting! I'll e-mail some more information to you.

Man, you never know! A few years ago, I did as song that I wrote about the Chicago/Northwestern, Milwaukee/St. Paul line that ran through my home town with the verse:

   Fishing off the edge of the railroad bridge
   You can feel those steel rails humming
   Better put your bait and your bucket down
   For the train will soon be coming

I sang it at a folk festival a thousand miles from my home town, but someone came up to me afterward and said, "I've fished off that bridge." I was all excited, and asked, "Did you grow up in Janesville?" and he answered, "No, I grew up in Colorado, but it was the same bridge."

And he was right.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: GUEST,Singer's Knight
Date: 16 Aug 08 - 03:09 PM

I don't think I've dropped by here before. Nice place you have. Love the decor. Coffee, black would be lovely thanks. Where did you get that great picture on the wall?

Can I also say how much I enjoyed the song Silver Queen?

Very emotive.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Art Thieme
Date: 16 Aug 08 - 08:16 PM

Jerry, If the info on the Silver Queen from Mr. Williams is as cool as it might be, be sure to let us who lurk in this good thread know a bit of it. Remember that I spent a lot of time picking and singing on Blackhawk Island just a bit north of Janesville---about a dozen years. That was as close to a paid vacation that Chris and Carol and I ever got. Wisconsin will always be hugely important to me---and the songs I unearthed there are a part of me forever. "The Shanty Boy On The Big Eau Claire" for one -- "The Pinery Boy." --"The Pokegama Bear" -- "Lost Jimmy Whalen" -- many more...

Love to you and Ruth,

Art

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 16 Aug 08 - 10:25 PM

Hey, Art:

One of the things I regret about this site is that we can't post photographs in our comments. Maybe I'll e-mail a couple to you... one of the brass propellor and the other of the wheel of the Silver Queen. You can still pick up a bag of Okee Doke cheese covered popcorn in the Midwest. Every time I come home, it's one of the first things I look for.

As for the Silver Queen, Roy Harris did a marvelous recording of the song on one of his early albums. Unfortunately, the track skips on my record, and I've never been able to get a replacement. He does it with a concertina and a very English, almost music hall arrangement with some twittery chickies singing along on the chorus.
It is very evocative of the second World War as felt by those who experienced it in Britain. I marvel at music. Someone can take a song that is specific to a small town in southern Wisconsin, and transform it into a song that evokes a completely different landscape and culture.

One of the verses in the song refers to a flag hanging in a front room window. Some folks that drop by here can remember when the living room was called the front room, because it was almost always at the front of the house. During the Second World War, there were three differently colored stars. They were small, mounted on a wooden stick with tassles on the bottom. Or, at least that's how I remember them. A blue star meant that your son or daughter was in the service, a silver star that they'd been wounded in action, and a Gold Star that they had been killed in the line of duty.

I was born in 1935, not knowing at the time that my home town of Janesville celebrated it's 100th anniversary in that year. I came home to visit in 1985, and they had a big parade down Milwaukee Street, celebrating Janesville's 150th anniversary. It was all small town stuff, but when I saw a flat bed truck coming down the street, I was overwhelmed with emotion. Sitting proudly erect in folding chairs on the truck bed, waving small American flags were several elderly women. The banners on the truck said it all: Gold Star Mothers. Forty years had passed since the end of the second World War, but the pain and loss was still fresh in the faces of the women. Unlike the other floats that were greeted with huzzaws and jokes, there was only scattered applause, with many people like myself too overcome by the poignancy of the moment to do anything but stand there in silence.

Thanks for dropping by, Singer's Knight... don't make a stranger of yourself.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 17 Aug 08 - 03:11 PM

It's Sunday afternoon, and Ruth and I are taking it easy after a very busy, but enjoyable weekend. (Technically, I guess this is still part of it..) The Gospel concert Friday night went very well, although they didn't get the sell-out that they needed. The main group was Lee Williams and the Spiritual QC's. I'd never heard them, and I have a pretty extensive collection of black gospel. The concert was a microcosm of black gospel. The Men's Chorus that I sing in opened the evening, doing three songs, with just a piano accompaniment. As we often do, we did part of one song a capella. That was the end of a reasonable level of sound. Every other group played from too loud to too Damned Loud! I had to leave the sanctuary while one group was playing because it hurt my ears too much, and my hearing isn't as good as it used to be. There was the usual, "Everybody clap your hands now!" exhortation, trying to whip the congregation into a frenzy, and several of the lead singers walked out into the congregation and into the aisles. A group of women singers even imitated flying by flapping their arms with their elbows stuck out. It looked more like they were imitating chickens.

When Lee Williams and the Spiritual QC's came out, it was a different story. They came up from Tupelo, Mississippi, and they let their music get people moving. None of this "Everybody clap your hands, now" stuff. Lee Williams stands bolt upright when he sings. When he gets into the Spirit, he taps his foot. They shook the place, completely on the strength of their singing. They weren't the loudest group, but they had everyone up dancing.
When the Spirit is moving you don't have to do nuthin'. Just step back and let him work.

Last night, we had a birthday celebration for my son Pasha. He's my wife Ruth's oldest son. And mine, too. Who ever dreamt up the term Son-in-law? Love has nothing to do with the law, and I love him as if he was my biological son. "Son" is a loving relationship, not a legal matter. I gave him a large book on jazz and blues. He hasn't heard much country blues, but I'll take care of that. He loves all kinds of music from James Brown to classical, so I know he'll be excited hearing Skip James, Leadbelly, Mississippi John and the rest.

This morning we went to a large Baptist Church in New Haven, right next door to us. I love that chruch. They must have had 500 people there this morning, and the sermon was titled "Never Again." Every year, they set aside a Sunday to reflect upon the heritage of slavery that still effects their lives. It was a powerful, positive message, with music to match.

We couldn't have asked for a better weekend.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 18 Aug 08 - 12:15 PM

These alst few weeks, most mornings I go out and pick fresh black raspberries from the bushes in my backyard. The season is almost over now, and I'll miss the berries. There's something great about stepping out the back door and picking something that you can have on cereal. Anyone else have that luxury?

One thing I think I need to do. This year, I didn't cut back on the bushes, and they've grown like crazy, taking over the whole corner of the house. I seem to remember that it's important to prune the branches back so that all the energy of the bush doesn't go into new growth. Prune blackraspberries? That's the bananas, but I'm pretty sure that I should do it. Here's a question for you gardners (Farmer Jimmy.) When should I cut back the new growth? I'm planning on doing it soon, so if this is the wrong time of year, tell me to stop the snippers!

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: jimmyt
Date: 18 Aug 08 - 02:24 PM

Jerry, I am going to put in Blueberries, black raspberries and red raspberries in a few weeks when the heat dies down a bit. I love berries and we have a pretty large patch of wild black raspberries in one corner of my farm. They are not Blackberries, much sweeter and different shaped berries and the canes are definately raspberries. I had hoped to put in an acre of wine grapes but I am not sure if my soil will sustain them. Having almost no experience whth this farming, everything I do is a grand adventure! Just built a 16 foot floating boat dock for my lake and so far it holds people walking on it. I appreciate everyone who can do things with their hands much more now that I am trying to do things for myself. I pretty much bow down and worship anyone who can run a back hoe as now that I have one, I can tell you it is a real skill!!!

ps, I also lived in Janesville in 1970. 204 South CHerry St.
jimmyt

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 19 Aug 08 - 09:59 AM

Hello Jerry,

How lucky you are to have fresh raspberries right outside the door! We seem to be overrun by courgettes at the moment...and you can't put them on your museli....well I suppose you could....best in soup!

Here in the UK raspberries etc should be pruned in late summer, once they have finished fruiting. I guess it won't be much different in your part of the world. So you should be fine to go out with the snippers!

Best wishes,

Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 19 Aug 08 - 06:03 PM

Rumanci gave me the same advice, Pete. She said that I could the new growth back about one half, and cut the old, fruit-bearing branches away. Then, the raspberries will come on the cut-back new growths, next year.

I sure hope so. The raspberry bushes are taking over the corner of our house. We moved here six years ago, and I didn't even see the bush the first year or so, it was so small.

I remember one early Cape Cod morning, going out with a friend of my friend's, whom I had just met, to pick wild blueberris which he used to make blueberry pancakes for breakfast. You don't forget stuff like that...

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 20 Aug 08 - 07:59 AM

Hi Jerry,
how lovely to hear about your weekend, sounds like wonderful music.
We had a very busy weekend, Billy was 60 so I planned a suprise party. Had to keep him out of the house all day on Saturday while we put up a marquee in the garden, he came home to 26 family and a three course dinner. Wow was he speechless! Then on Sunday we had a bar b q for 75, luckily the weather held, we have had a dreadful summer in the UK this year! The whole weekend went off really well considering he told me he did not want a party or any fuss!It is a shame that his sisters are all in New Jersey and do not come to England but I think my large family made up for them not being here.
How I kept the secret I do not know, I had food and wine hidden all over the house and had to cook in the evenings while he was asleep in front of the television.
Pete are you the same Pete that was at the Waddon Folk Club in the 70's? If you are, I am the Wendy that lived in Maidstone and the little boy Christopher that you did a party with Shadow puppets for is now a daddy himself aged 35 and sings" I had a little brother, his name was Tiny Tim" to his little boy Reuben! Happy days!
Wendy

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 20 Aug 08 - 10:20 AM

Hello Jerry,

Glad the advice about the raspberries is coming thick and fast! Do you get enough to make jam? The blackberries are ripening in the hedges and it will soon be time to go blackberrying. Guaranteed to get a good haul and purple staining to the hands! Blackberry & apple pie...Mmmmm!

Wendy's post reminded me of the Shadow Puppets!...yes Wendy...it is indeed I. Good to hear from you. The Shadow Puppets were a great venture and we had some good times with them!

Best wishes,

Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: SharonA
Date: 20 Aug 08 - 10:48 AM

When/how did this thread move above the line? It used to have a BS heading. Whahappind?

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 20 Aug 08 - 11:08 AM

Hey, Sharon:

I guess the moderators thought that there was enough music in here to move it up. I had nothing to do with it. It really is BS (but not b.s.) but has the distinction of not being about politics, or religion (except very peripherally.)

Its good to see you. Make sure you drop in for a cuppa. I just ground a fresh pot of Kona coffee, grown in Hawaii. I like tea, too, and on these hot summer days, peach iced tea is the liquid of choice.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 20 Aug 08 - 04:01 PM

Hey, Wendy:

Sounds like you and Billy Bob had a great 60th birthday celebration. That is a special one. It made me think of my Mother, who died a couple years ago (but not before she enjoyed her 99th birthday celebration.) She celebrated at least a whole week. She knew how to do things right.

Sorry, Pete: not enough yet to make jam. I'd probably be more tempted to make a gallon of black raspberry wine if I had enough. At the rate the bushes are growing, that may still be possible in the future if I want to sacrifice a whole corner of my house...

And what a hoot that you and Wendy could reminisce about crossing paths many years ago...

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: SharonA
Date: 20 Aug 08 - 04:02 PM

Thanks for the welcome, Jerry. No time to sit at the table just now; I've got a gig to run off to! Maybe when I get back, I'll burn a bit of the midnight oil and raid the fridge with you. Save that last piece of chocolate cake for me! :-)

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Amos
Date: 20 Aug 08 - 04:18 PM

Hiya, Jerry. Got a bottle of GUnness around?

We're throwing an interstate party for BBW's sister's 60th. People coming into SoCal from all over--their Mom from Arizona, a surprise friend from Colorado, a childhood buddy from Ohio, and a neice from San Jose all gravitating to a big country house where some friends are throwing the do. It's making for a very hectic week with all these comings and goings. On top of it all, we rented out a bedroom lately to a nice gal from my company, and her husband just flew into ttown from Fort Bragg and they're throwing another little party Friday.

But I did get to write a song for my sis in law which should make her happy.

THere. It's a moosic thread. :D

A

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: SharonA
Date: 21 Aug 08 - 12:44 AM

Ahhhh, now I have a chance to pull up a chair and have a chat before trundling off to bed. Got any decaf? No? Okay, just a glass of milk then, thanks, and whatever leftovers are in the fridge. Oh man, I'm too late for that chocolate cake... but ooh, hey, I could finish off those last coupla chicken drumsticks. They didn't have any decent food at the coffeehouse where I just played, and I skipped dinner. Mmmm, that baked potato ought to reheat in the microwave just fine.

Yup, played at yet another nearly-empty coffeehouse for nothing but compliments. Sure it's gratifying to watch people smile at my performance, and their words are all very nice, but I can't eat words unless they're my own. The one -- one! -- friend who actually came out specifically to hear me wanted to hear my political songs, but I didn't think that was the place for 'em. I promised I'd sing 'em for him when I go to his gig next week in the city, where there's a circle afterward.

He told me he started drinking again, after years on the wagon, because he went on a cruise with his folks. Too much temptation there to resist. He said the drinking feels like coming home. *shiver* I'm worried about him; with his health problems and the meds he takes, he shouldn't be touching the stuff.

Oh well, at least he won't be tempted to drink at the big songwriters' club fest this Saturday; we organizers had a bit of a problem with a different club member at a recent song-critique meeting who had one or two too many, so we're getting serious about enforcing our no-alcohol policy for all our events. No smoking either, but no one seems to have a problem with that rule, thank goodness!

After that I'll be going to the seashore (or, as we say around here, "going down the shore") for a couple of days to visit my brother and his girlfriend again. They rent a house on Long Beach Island every summer, and they invite as many people down as they can. Problem is it's a tiny cabin that barely sleeps the hosts, much less the guests, so it becomes more of a depot as friends and family come and go on a tight arrival-and-departure schedule. I've already come and gone a couple of times this year. It's not a very relaxing arrangement but, hey, the price is right! Gotta tell ya, the first time I visited and had to stay in a room next to where my straight-as-an-arrow bro shared a bed with a woman he wasn't married to, I couldn't sleep a wink! :-D

Speaking of sleep, it's time to throw out my chicken bones, turn off the kitchen light, and go get ready for bed. Thanks for hanging out with me and listening to me babble on. Nice PJ's, by the way. Good night!

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jayto
Date: 21 Aug 08 - 12:55 AM

Just stopping by to say hey. I'm not sure what to say here besides BAD day ready to sleep but can't insomnia is battling the Woodford Reserve and I can't believe it is winning. Some of Ky's finest Woodford Reserve but it is no match for insomnia lol. Cya

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 21 Aug 08 - 09:59 AM

"Wake up, wake up you sleepy head
Get up, get up, get out of bed
Cheer up, cheer up, the sun is red
Live, love, laugh and be happy"

'Mornin, Jay. Nothing is more irritating than a cheerful voice when you have to drag yourself out of bed.

The sunshine does help, though.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Amos
Date: 21 Aug 08 - 11:06 AM

Zippidy-doo-dah, Jerry!!

Waking up may be an irritating process, but I believe it beats NOT waking up!!



A

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 21 Aug 08 - 11:17 AM

You're right there, Amos.

"And the darkest hour is just before dawn."

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 21 Aug 08 - 11:42 AM

Hi Jerry,
yes how funny that Pete and I should meet up in your kitchen. It was in the 1970's and he ran a folk club in Croydon, I was taken there by someone I used to sing with, Dave Bryant( who introduced me to mudcat and, sadly ,is no longer with us.)It was a really great club, I do not know if it is till running? Pete used to entertain at childrens parties and he did my son's birthday one year with these fantastic shadow puppets.Christopher and Samantha loved the Tiny Tim Song;

I had a little brother
his name was Tiny Tim
We put him in the bath tub
to see if he could swim.
He drank up all the water
and ate up all the soap
he died last night
with a bubble in his throat.

In came the Doctor
in came the nurse
In came the lady with the alligater purse ......

I hope it had a happy ending!!Anyway Christopher sings it to his son Reuben, and Samantha sings it to her daughter Scarlett.
Pete, Christopher is the manager of the Fisher Theatre in Bungay, Suffolk. Did I hear that you are living in East Anglia now? Billy and I are in Frinton on Sea, on the Essex coast.You must still be involved with folk music, what are you doing?
Just made some more coffee, nice and hot, and a key lime pie is in the fridge!
Wendy

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Amos
Date: 21 Aug 08 - 11:46 AM

SOmetimes it appears that the darkest hour is when a long and beautiful summer afternoon falls into the wrong hands; but I'm just being grumpy. :D


A

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 21 Aug 08 - 11:54 AM

Hello Jerry,

Perhaps there is some-one who can exlain how a drink at night time keeps you awake, whereas if one has a glass or two at lunch time its nap city for the rest of the afternoon?

It occurs to me that we are eating you out of house and home, Jerry. Perhaps we should invite Big Mick over... he might bring a casserole or two :0)(and I guess he needs the company of good folks just now.)

Yes, Wendy, the club is still going....give it a google! The song does have a happy ending by the way...

In came the Doctor, in came the nurse, in came the lady with the alligator purse.
"It's mumps!" said the Doctor, "Measles!" said the nurse, "Chicken Pox!" said the lady with the alligator purse.
Then out went the Doctor, out went the nurse and out went the lady with the alligator purse.
Then my little brother, he got up off the floor and said, "There's nothing wrong with me any more!"

Thanks for remembering!

Best wishes,

Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 21 Aug 08 - 12:26 PM

Thanks so much Pete, I just spoke to Samantha and she could not believe that the riddle of the last verse had been solved! two little babies will have a much happier bathtime this evening!
wendy

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 22 Aug 08 - 05:15 PM

Ahh, it feels gooood to sit down with a mug of coffee and a piece of cinnamon toast... Been a home-going day today.

This morning, my wife Ruth, her daughter (and mine now, too, and I got all fancied up and drove down to Norwalk, to go to a wake and a funeral. More accurate, a wake and a home-going. I have never met the man who was being celebrated, but he had been my wife's friend of many years, before I met her, and our daughter new him and his family. It was a rousing celebration, with a lot of music. I mean, a lot. Forget hymnals. Folks know the songs, and everyone just sings. But, the most moving part of the celebration was when one of the deceased's sons got up to offer his reflections about his father.
He talked with great love, and humor, and then he read something. The funeral home has a website, where people can leave messages and memories. The son read one that had been posted by someone he didn't know. It was a long letter of loving praise for the father by someone who had known him since he (the someone) was three years old. As he recounted in the message he'd posted, his own father was rarely around and didn't like the little boy, but the man whos home-going it was has befriended the little three year old boy and had been a better father to him than most boys have. He'd come to all of his birthday parties, taught him sports, and was always there for him. The message was in praise of fatherhood, and the little boy, now grown up and a father, wanted to praise the man for teaching him how to be a good father. What was touching was that the deceased's son had no idea who the man was who'd posted the message. At first that seemed odd that he wouldn't have heard of that little boy, many years ago. When he reads the name at the end of the message, he asked if the man was there, to stand up. A young man, probably in his early twenties stood up, fileld with modesty. There was probably a thirty year difference between him and the man's son, which is why they had been unaware of each other. The whole congregation rose to their feet, and there was hardly a dry eye in the church. That moment defined a man's life.

After the home-going, we went to see a relative of my wife's, who is a baptist minister. He's been in a nursing home with his wife for the last year or so, but more recently he's been hospitalized. When we came in, he didn't recognize us at first. My daughter is a minister, so I thought that she'd be the first one he'd recognize. He's a relative of my wife's and even though she's seen him countless times, nothing registered until my wife and our daughter
told him who they were. I'd met him two or three times, and I think he's heard me sing with my group, but he drew a blank when I told him who I was. As we talked, his mind slipped in and out, but one thing he kept repeating. When my wife or daughter asked him when he was going home, he said, "I'm going home tomorrow." He is in no shape to be released, because he's on oxygen and intervenous feeding.
But he's in fine shape for going home.

I expect we'll be going to another home-going, one of these days.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Tootler
Date: 22 Aug 08 - 06:41 PM

That's sad Jerry.

My mother in her last days did not really recognise much of the family. She knew how to tweak my father's conscience which worried us greatly, but when we went to visit just before she died she sort of knew who I was, but did not really recognise my wife who she referred to as "that woman" (they never really got on) and she didn't know who my daughter was. From what my father says, she didn't really recognise the younger of my two sisters and her daughter when they went to visit.

On an earlier visit, we had gone out for a meal and while we were waiting to order, my mother had a moment of lucidity and said something like "I am being a dreadful trouble to you all". It was very upsetting and the rest of the evening was somewhat sombre.

When my mother died my wife really came up trumps. She drove practically the length of England home, organised some food for the funeral tea and came back with it two days later. She was a real star.

The actual funeral was a fairly low key affair and we just had a brief graveside ceremony. We had one hymn, "The Lord's my Shepherd" sung to Brother James's air accompanied by the vicar on flute and myself playing harmony on a tenor recorder. My Father organised a church service later, but I was not there as I had to go home as I was due back at work.

My Mother had Alzheimer's disease, which is the cruelest of diseases. I would not wish it on anyone. It takes away your personality and your dignity.

Geoff

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 22 Aug 08 - 08:06 PM

That's a sad story, Geoff:

The reverend we visited in the hospital has a wonderful sense of humor, and even though he was hard to understand at times, he had stretches where he was very funny, and had all of us laughing. One of the beautiful things that he said was "I'm not afriad of where I'm going." That was very comforting. In her final weeks, My Mother
was excited about going home. She knew where she was going too, and although she loved all of us dearly, she was ready to go.

For many years, my wife and I have visited terminally ill people, and we've had enough beautiful experiences that it has taken some of the mystery out of death. "Oh death, where is thy sting?"

We spent today with old man death, but it wasn't depressing. He must hate all the joyful singing...

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 22 Aug 08 - 10:41 PM

You're right though about Alzheimer's, Geoff: It's hardest on the rest of the family. The wife of my closest friend Joe who sings bass for the Gospel Messengers has Alzheimers. It almost literally killed Joe. She's been in a home for the last couple of years, and Joe hasn't missed a day, going to see her. She rarely speaks now, and her eyes are closed 95% of the time. Her body is still here, but the essence of who she was is gone, or so deeply buried that she can't be reached anymore.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: GUEST,frogprince
Date: 23 Aug 08 - 08:07 AM

Hi, y'all; can you reach a cup of coffee over to this corner that's on Martha's Vineyard this week? We had some local blackberries with ice cream last evening

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: GUEST,frogprince
Date: 23 Aug 08 - 08:53 AM

Got detoured there a bit when a batch of the sister-in-laws good french toast called urgently. Folks here are inclined to take us to the flea market this morn, and the local fair is on. Just so we get out to the nearby beach before too long. We're talking about the beach that the Travel Channel has anointed as the best strolling beach in the U.S. It really is a long, lovely expanse.      
                               Dean

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 23 Aug 08 - 11:25 AM

Sounds like a great beach, Dan!

Most mornings, Ruth and I go for a 3 & 1/2 mile river walk here in Derby, Connecticut. It's a wonderful way to start the day. Even though the riverwalk is "downtown", that doesn't convey the reality of the walk. Derby is only 11,000 people, and the "downtown" is only four blocks long. We've seen everything from deer and fox to otter on our walk, and there are beaver too (we haven't seen them yet, but a friend of ours took some photos of them with a telephoto lense. Turkey Buzzards are an every day occurrence, along with hawks and a whole variety of birds. I guess the riverwalk is Derby's "beach."

Yesterday I picked up a used copy of Bird (speaking of birds,) the CLint Eastwood directed movie about Charlie Parker. It's been a long time since I watched it, and I'm looking forward to seeing it again.

Which brings up another subject. Other than Art Thieme (who loves what used to be called "Modern" jazz, Leadfingers (who loves New orleans traditional jazz,) and Elmer Fudd, I don't know any other mudcatters who like jazz. Most don't even tolerate it. I'd guess that the majority of Catters don't like rock and roll they claim that it killed folk music.) Not many are likely to enjoy reggae, either.
Here's my observation: Folk music is structured, not generally complex harmonically, and values tradition. In folk music, other than dance music, the story is more important than the rhythm or the beat. Jazz is improvisational, generally far more complex harmonically and other than New Orleans revivalist stuff, rejects tradition. Rhythm is very important in jazz, and can be very complex. In rock and roll, the backbeating rhythm drives the music
and "tradition" is left to Oldies acts. Not many people can enjoy such basically different forms of music. I happen to love it all, as well as reggae for its beat and message. Nobody ever told me that I shouldn't of.

Howz everybody else feel about this. (pass them bagels, will you?)

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: GUEST,frogprince
Date: 23 Aug 08 - 03:24 PM

To me, modern jazz tends to sound like people tuning up; sometimes like people tuning up while professing to be playing some established popular song. I like New Orleans jazz enough that we sat in for an enjoyable couple of sets at Preservation Hall, the February before Katrina. Some of the band were older than mud, but they hadn't lost their chops.
                              Dean

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 23 Aug 08 - 06:40 PM

I always wanted to make it down to New Orleans, Dean. Now I'm not sure that it would be a good experience. I wonder if they provide a set of blinders for the tourists?

I've heard the Preservation Hall Jazz Band up here. I like the old traditional New Orleans jazz, but couldn't get too wound up about PHJB. They played all the safe, familiar stuff and din't take any chances. The audience ate them up, but they were pretty safe, too.

A night to take a walk on the mild side...

To each his zone.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 24 Aug 08 - 07:32 AM

Hello,

We have some good walks by the rivers here too. Always very restful and plenty to see and enjoy.

Musical taste is a funny thing. To what extent does it depend on what has been handed down to us through our genes and how much does it depend on what we hear when we are growing up?

In the 50's and early 60's children in UK schools were steeped in folk music through the BBC Singing Programmes. Jazz was easily accessible on the TV. Nowadays there is encouragement to play "pop" and study Rap. IMHO it takes quite a strong musical personality to play "outside the box" and explore folk, blues, jazz and classical music.   

What do you reckon?

Any of that Key Lime pie left?

Best wishes,

Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 24 Aug 08 - 08:59 AM

Hey, Pete:

Exposure to a particular form of music is certainly part of the equation. Most people form their musical tastes, based on what was popular during their teenager to mid-twenties years. Music then becomes a permanent "oldies" program. Much of the music that I like wasn't popular at that stage in my life. I heard a little bit of jazz on the top 40 (Brubeck's Take Five, and Swinging Shepherd Blues by Johnny Tate being examples.) But that was two or three songs. I never heard reggae, and at the time mostly hated country music (which I like much more now... or at least did in the 70's and 80's, long after I was a teenager.)

Mostly, I've always had a curiosity for music, and my two closest friends shared my adventuresome nature. If there was music I didn't like, I didn't come to the conclusion that it was crap. I figured that there must be something there that I couldn't hear. And so I learned more about the music. In college, me and my buddies went to opera (which I never acq

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Amos
Date: 24 Aug 08 - 12:26 PM

Music, in one respect, is much like math. It comes in a wide variety of forms and languages, and its inherent fascination is never-ending. It unfolds perpetualy, like the ocean.


A

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 24 Aug 08 - 03:15 PM

When I was typing my last post, I inadvertently posted it, mid-sentence. I was rushing to head out the door, and didn't even realize it was posted until just now, when we got back home.

I guess my attitude in life has been that if I don't like something, I wonder what's wrong with me, not it. That attitude has stood me in a good stead, because I came to like a lot of foods, music, and literature that I might never have come to appreciate, if I'd rejected stuff out of hand.

I mean, I even came to like liverwurst. That was as hard too do as learning to like opera.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 26 Aug 08 - 12:34 PM

These days, I'm sitting here at this computer putting together proposal packages for my book to submit to literary agencies. Man, this is time consuming. And not a lot of fun. This is new to me, but it's getting old mighty fast. :-) So far, I haven't had a single rejection. I've just gotten a few letters graciously declining my enquiry and wishing me well.

Thank God that no one is rejecting me!

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: jimmyt
Date: 26 Aug 08 - 03:59 PM

Jazz is a rare bird! I cut my teeth playing in a dixieland group when I was but 13 years old. I have to say that the west coast jazz leaves me wondering what the idea is, though. Jerry, Jayne and I and Bil Sims a great jazz guitar player have just about got "Goodmorning Heartache," the great old Billie Holliday song worked up! It is a bear to get the chord progression but we pretty much got it last evening. I will try to burn it off for you! She sounds fantastic, although I may be a bit prejudiced!

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 26 Aug 08 - 04:08 PM

Hey, jimmy:

Always good to hear from you. I know that you like traditional jazz, as does leadfingers (and me, too.) If folkies like jazz at all it is traditional jazz, it being so ... traditional. It's not much of a stretch, musically from blues. West Coast jazz is so ... NOT traditional. :-)

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 26 Aug 08 - 04:09 PM

Hey, Jerry! Just thought I drop around and say "Hi!"

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 26 Aug 08 - 04:34 PM

I started out playing in dixieland band also, when I was 15. Eddie Condon was my hero and I read and re-read his autobiography til it fell to pieces. I loved all those bits where he was touring all round America, and playing jazz for famous gangsters in Chicago - when he wasn't any older than I was at the time.

My favourite period nowadays though is Miles Davis - before he went into jazz funk and when all the instruments were acoustic. In truth I like most jazz. my favourite track of all time is Larry Adler and Django playing Lover Come Back to Me in Paris 1939. You can hear Django singing as he strums, waiting for his solo.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 26 Aug 08 - 05:02 PM

Hey, Wee:

Good to see you (and Rapaire, too.) I'll put you on the short list of people who like more contemporary jazz. I too ceased to enjoy Miles when he moved into jazz funk and became an icon.

Whatever.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Amos
Date: 26 Aug 08 - 07:25 PM

HEre ya go, Jerry: Tap your foot to this.... :)

Amos

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 26 Aug 08 - 07:59 PM

That is an absolutely fantastic clip, Amos! Thanks for posting it. Soul/gospel. What do you know about the group? I don't know anymore than the Obama connection.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jayto
Date: 26 Aug 08 - 09:58 PM

Hey Jerry just stopping in to say hey to everyone. I am holding my son (who is sound asleep) while I am typing this so excuse any mistakes. See ya'll the young un stirs hava to run lol oh well Hi lol

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 26 Aug 08 - 10:04 PM

Great to see you back, Jerry!

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 26 Aug 08 - 10:19 PM

Good to see you too, Ron! Howz by you?

Hey, Jay: I remember the days... :-)

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jayto
Date: 27 Aug 08 - 10:39 AM

Hello Jerry just sitting here drinking my morning coffee. Actually about my 3rd cup of morning coffee lol. Busy day ahead but it is starting a little later. After I got my oldest son off to school me and my youngest son decided to sit in the swing and enjoy the morning. It is a beautiful morning here today cool and sunny. It is supposed to be up around 90 before the day is out but right now it is wonderful. Anyway, I just thought I would drop in and say hi. Hope you have a great day
cya
JT

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 27 Aug 08 - 11:17 AM

Hey, Jay and all:

My wife Ruth and I took our morning walk along the Housatonic River... a beautiful morning with a temperature in the 50's, and low humidity. The leaves are starting to turn color here, and there's a feeling of fall in the air.

Driving down to the river, we got caught in the first-day-of-school traffic. Just walking to our car in the driveway, we met a young couple with a baby in a stroller and two little girls with new, pink flowery backpacks, heading off to school. I remember those days well, when my sons first started out.

My first day of school was more dramatic than anyone should have to deal with. Besides having all that first-day-in-kindgeraten jitters, I had to deal with a tragic accident. We were having breakfast in the kitchen (aitting at our oil-cloth covered kitchen table) when we heard the screech of brakes and tires. We ran out in front of the house to see a car a couple of blocks away, driving as fast as it could, and lying dead in the street was my young dog puppy, Tipper. I'd always wanted a dog (all the five years of my life,) and Tipper was better than any friend I had. And there he was, dead in the street. We carried him up onto the front porch and then it was time to head off for my first day of kindergarten.

You never forget days like that.

Hopefull all the kids starting school have a lot happier time than I had, that morning.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Nick
Date: 27 Aug 08 - 12:40 PM

Very late coming to this thread - nice idea.

We have three tables in the house that are focal points - the kitchen table, the dining table (which we have spent HOURS at with friends) and the coffee table in the living room.

A bit like you, Jerry, I like jazz, rock, reggae, folk, classical and all sorts of stuff which I count myself as lucky - I'll expand sometime but thought I'd just say hello first.

Second thoughts - my wife and I had a friend visit at the weekend and one of the things we do round the table when some friends come is sing and play so here's a little offering to share with you (we were practicing so thought I'd record it on my little Zoom recorder) - Song - I hope you enjoy it :)

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 27 Aug 08 - 02:27 PM

Thanks for stopping by, nick. Don't be a stranger. Thanks too for posting the song. I really enjoyed listening to it, and it opens up new possibilities for the kitchen table. I have a Zoom H4 recorder but haven't gotten around to getting it to download into the computer. It would be fun to post links to songs on here. That's still too mysterious for my addled brain to figure out, but maybe some day. I sent off the last of my book proposals today and am cleaning my office. I've almost found my desk. Maybe I can get back to the Zoom H4 and see if I can get it fired up.

We actually spend our music making time in what we call our Great Room. There's more space, as our kithcen isn't enormous. I recorded my gospel quartet in that room, and it's a great place to sing. The acoustic are similar to a tile-walled Men's room. (Some of you ladies can comment on whether or not the acoustics are good in Ladies Rooms, too. I've never heard a comment about that.)

Nice to see so many folks dropping by.

Yeah, our musical tastes seem to overlap a lot, Nick.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Nick
Date: 27 Aug 08 - 03:07 PM

Sweet - I'll be back and share a story about the men's room in the pub we used to sing in

Off for an evenings music - keep the seats warm

:)

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 28 Aug 08 - 11:34 AM

I need a coffee so badly.I hate my computer, I have a trojen( whatever that is) so my son tells me.Yesterday he tried to talk me through removing it, he was in Lowestoft 70 miles away so for 7( honest..7!) hours we were on the telephone with me on the computer being instructed. We thought we had solved it but this morning I arrived in the salon and hay ho, disaster once more.Unfortunatly the clients records, appointments, staff details, wages, on line banking ,in fact the life of the salon is all inside this box of tricks.By 7.30 last night I was on the gin and tonic!Driven to drink!
One of my clients has offered to come in tomorrow and sort it out, I am going to barter her time in exchange for an aromatherapy.... mind you I could do with the aromatherapy myself!
So if you do not mind I will slip into this armchair and enjoy some conversation, wake me up if I nod off.
Wendy
Help yourselves to Key lime Pie, made it myself.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 28 Aug 08 - 02:19 PM

Put your feet up on the table, Wendy. You're among friends.

Computers are great when they work. When they get ornery, they are the spawn of the Devil. I have no idea how they really work. Have you tried burning candles in front of your screen? It didn't work for me, either.

Rats, somebody took the last piece of key lime pie!

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jeanie
Date: 28 Aug 08 - 05:20 PM

Halloo ! Sorry to hear about your computer, Wendy - hope you will soon be able to get it sorted out. My webmail system was down all day yesterday. They did, at least, put a little notice up on the screen saying that the system was being upgraded....but now that the so-called upgrade has happened, complete with "smileys" and all sorts of other stuff, it is working so slowly that I've started using an alternative address.

That was a lovely song from you Nick and your wife and friend. I'd never come across "esnips" before - that looks like a nice little site - Is it easy to load things onto it ? I'm going to look into these Zoom recorders, too....Ohh, the things you can learn from sitting at the kitchen table !

Talking of places to record that have good acoustics, Jerry & Co., when my father died some years ago, my daughter and I tried various places to record her playing the flute and my reading something to be played at his funeral. (We didn't know whether we could trust our emotions to be OK doing it on the day). The very best place of all (which we used) was sitting on the toilet seat in the bathroom, which, my father having the humour that he did, we felt totally happy doing without any fear of it being "irreverent" !

- jeanie

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 28 Aug 08 - 09:27 PM

Hey, Jeanie:

How great to see you. I think it's the tile what does it. Glad to hear that women make music in the Ladies Room, too. If you ever make it over here, our "Great Room" has a tile floor and windows on three sides. Not toilet seat, unfortunately, but it's more comfortable sitting on the cough. It's a great place to sing, and it's where I recorded the Gospel Messengers CD. There's something a little off-putting about doing a CD titled The Gospel Messengers Sing in the Toilet.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 28 Aug 08 - 11:22 PM

All right Jimmy... only two more posts until the odometer rolls over at 1,900. I'll be sitting the back seat, watching...

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: GUEST,Singer's Knight
Date: 29 Aug 08 - 03:46 PM

A nice cup of coffee after a busy day helping our daughter....Mmmm lovely!

I don't often get to post. I'm more of a lurker! But I thought, "Isn't it always the way that the dreaded upgrade makes thinks worse rather than better?"

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 29 Aug 08 - 06:22 PM

OH, what the heck... it will be post 2,000 that will be the big one. Yeah, Knight, I find upgrades frightening. It seems like every time I start to feel comfortable with software, they want to upgrade it. More often than not, it doesn't work as well as the version I've become accustomed to. It's all part of the planned obscelesence of things. I mean, what if you bought a computer and the software you needed, and it last twenty years? Think of the economy. You want to take food out of hungry children's mouths?

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 29 Aug 08 - 11:45 PM

You wascally wabbit! I missed it again! Wait until 2000! I'll get you! I'll get you!

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 30 Aug 08 - 08:24 AM

Hey, Elmer!

How great to see you. And here I thought jimmyt was going to sneak in here and beat you to it. Come to think of it, maybe Farmer Jimmy is dealing with his own wascally wabbits these days. Or maybe he's singing the Cow Cow Boogie.

It's a rainy morning here, and man do I love it. The last five days, we've been up with the sun going on our 3 and 1/2 mile walk, but there's morning thunder rumbling in the distance, and there's nothing to do but work on the final editing on my book, and roll around the shack, 'till the mail train comes back. The "declines" are pouring in, but I am not discouraged. I'm actually feeling good, because I think that my way forward is being illuminated, just like those little strips of light along the aisle of the airplane show you the way to exit if things go wrong. The way I look at it, every exit is also an entrance.

Jeremiah

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 31 Aug 08 - 11:41 AM

Now that Saturday night is over, and everyone has either performed to large, adoring audiences, or spent a wild night of partying, it's time for a Sunday stonrg cup of coffee.

I love Sunday afternoons. This is a time to float alittle. To do what we want to do, including "nothing" as one of our favorite options. Around here, I'll spend some time doing a final edit on my book (I see that I've used semi-colons like Kleenex.) I'll listen to music, and maybe pull out my acoustic guitar. I'm going to be sharing an evening of music with my friend Susan Trump, in Springfield, Mass, and it's time I dusted off the old songs. Susan has recorded more of my songs than anyone I know, and it will be great to see her and her new-since-the-last-time-I-saw-her husband. I've been requested to do my old-fangled songs, thank you. I find it amusing that I am now being asked to do Oldies concerts. My oldies.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: freda underhill
Date: 01 Sep 08 - 04:18 AM

It's Monday evening here, Jerry, but youry Sunday sounds great. Yesterday morning I spent time in the garden (weeeeding) then later catching up with friends in a local cafe, talking all through the afternoon.

the evening was slow and mellow, listening to

Jim Conway's Big Wheel

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 01 Sep 08 - 07:41 AM

Hey, Freda:

Glad you stopped by.

Mudcat is like a folk festival. Folks break up into enclaves. It's ironic how folkies wonder why folk music isn't more widely appreciated, and yet they split up into small splinter groups with very little interest in each other. Not that there is anything wrong with that. Is more an idealizationf of the folk community that doesn't match up with reality.

The first eleven posts, as I type this this morning are about music in England or Ireland. That's very commonplace in here. For a web site dedicated to folk music and blues, there is very little blues ever discussed, because most folkies don't have a particular interest or appreciation for blues. Traditional Folk Music is much more appreciated in England, so our English friends dominate the music threads. Not because they are overbearing, but because there is a much smaller, more widely dispersed traditional music community in the U.S.A. For most of us, the "community" is a six hour drive from where we live.

Down below the line there is the disgruntled with politics community, and a smaller subse5t of disgruntled with organized religion community. Then, there's the Mother of all Threads community which thrives very well, thank you. Step into Mudchat, and you'll have a chance to talk with people who you may not run into on whatever threads you read.   That's why I enjoy Mudchat. It's the one place where you're likely to have a chance to talk with people from all of the enclaves, except maybe the politics and Mother of enclaves. I rarely see Leadfingers or Foolestroups on the threads that I read, so it's nice to have a chance to get to know them on Mudchat. There are many others who drop by regularly.

And then there's this thread: The Koffee Klatch. We've come to know each other around the kitchen table, and that's a whole 'nuther enclave. I really enjoy this place, and appreciate it when you stop by. Drop in Mudchat once in awhile, will ya?

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: freda underhill
Date: 03 Sep 08 - 03:22 AM

thanks Jerry, this kitchen is a good place to be.

The Big Wheel are a particularly good blues band in Sydney. They are full of energy, have a New Orleans style piano player (Don Hopkines), and include gospel, country and more Louisiana blues .

Jim Conway has played harmonica with Brownie McGhee, The Captain Matchbox Whoopee Band, Circus Oz, Shane Howard (Goanna Band), Colin Hay (Men at Work), Jon Lord (Deep Purple), Bob Brozman, Slim Dusty, Jan Preston, Dutch Tilders, and many others. He has put together a great band and the quality of their music is just fantastic. I saw them at the Harp Hotel, a good place to go for folk & blues in sydney.

I'll drop into mudchat when I get my computer back (at present it's making a high pitched squeal - this is a quickie on a borrowed space) and look forward to a good natter.

best wishes, freda

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 03 Sep 08 - 11:50 AM

I wrote this piece this morning as part of a longer chapter which will be titled Safe Keeping. It scared the Hell out of me, writing it. Maybe that's what it was supposed to do.

It made more sense to me once I fugured out what "it" was.

        I stood there, staring out the window into the darkness, when a face suddenly materialized before me. The house was silent, and yet I heard no sound of the man who had mysteriously appeared. He turned away from the window and I could see him walking around the house toward the front door. Anxiety rose up in my throat. Where was I? The room was unfamiliar, and I had no idea why I was there. I heard the front door open, and waited with dread until the man came walking through the doorway into the room. He wasn't physically imposing, and he had a slight smile on his face, but there was something threatening about him. "Where is it?" he asked. "Where is what?" I answered. Once again he asked, "Where is it?" "I have no idea what you're talking about, I said. "There's no sense in pretending like you don't know, I want it." I still had no idea what "it" was, but even if I did, I decided that I wouldn't want to give it him. As he started moving toward me, the smile turned more menacing. I noticed a baseball bat propped up in the corner, and reached over to grab it. "There's no sense resisting," he said. "Give it to me." "I'll give it to you, all right, but it may not be what you want," I said, raising the baseball bat over my shoulder. As he stepped forward, I took a swing for the seats, and hit him squarely on the side of his head. The force of the impact sent shockwaves up my arms and across my back, yet he stood there completely unaffected, with that same sweet, sick smile on his face. He took a few more shorts steps toward me with his hand outstretched, and I let him have it again, this time with all the strength that I could muster. Despite the force of the blow, he showed no signs of discomfort. I was the one who was hurting now. One more step and another swing, and I realized that I had no way of stopping him. And then he stopped, and as suddenly as he had appeared, he turned and left the room. I could hear him as he closed the front door and for a moment, the house was plunged back into silent darkness. Only the faint light through the picture window illuminated the room.

        As I stood there, trying to understand what had happened, I heard the front door opening once again, and my heart was filled with dread. As she came around the corner and entered the room, I leaned the baseball bat back against the corner cabinet. I couldn't imagine hitting a woman with a bat, no matter how evil she might be. I could see that I was on my own. She was a tall women, dressed in what used to be called Toreador pants and a short jacket. She was thin and angular, and her body moved in sections, as if she wasn't used to inhabiting it. Rather than threatening me, she spoke in a sweet, reasonable, comforting tone. "I'm sorry about how that man acted," she said with a slight smile. "There was no need to threaten you." I'm sure that I can offer you a generous compensation if you will sell it to me." I still had no idea what "it" was, but I was no more inclined to sell "it" than I was to let someone take it away from me. She said, "I'll give you much more than it is actually worth." When I told her that I had no intention of parting with it, her voice took on a hard, cruel tone. "You'd be wise to take my offer, because if you don't accept it, I will just have to take it away from you." By then, I was getting angry. I realized from my experience with the first man that there was no way that I fight the woman. I had no idea who she and man were, but there were certainly not of this earth. "Before I'd give it to you, I'd destroy it," I answered, and I could see that she was getting very angry. "Or maybe I'll just give it to someone else," who you don't know, and it will be someone that I know would never give it to you, even if you found them." "Oh, I'd have no trouble finding," answered. "No one is strong enough to resist me." "Well, I am!" I spoke, my voice rising to it's highest as I stared directly into her eyes. She shrugged her shoulder and said, "I'll give you time to think it over, but I'll be back to collect it." As she angled her way across the room, my strength drained from me. I had spoken out of anger and fear, but I knew that deep in my heart, no one could resist her for long. Certainly not me.

        I stood there alone in the darkened room, my mind racing. Who could I give it to who would protect it, who was invulnerable to temptation or threats of violence. Not a soul came to mind. And then the warning bell of my cell phone went off, notifying me that the battery was low, and I woke up.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Amos
Date: 03 Sep 08 - 12:23 PM

I guess you' have to know what it was, before you could figure out how to prevent them from getting it. I'd be sweating cold bullets after a dream like that. I guess you learned an important lesson: plug in your cellphone at night!


A

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 03 Sep 08 - 01:38 PM

That's some dream, Jerry. Could it be too much coffee? Or not enough? Let's put the kettle on!

Now we have to figure out what was going on. Who were those people? IRS?

By the way, I followed up your lead on Susan Trump. What a discovery! Hear her if you get the chance everyone!

Best wishes,

Peter.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 03 Sep 08 - 02:04 PM

Hey, Pete:

I'm glad that you're enjoying Susan's music. She really is a delight. I've finished writing the chapter, but won't post it on here because it involves my faith, and I don't want to impose that on people who don't share it, or might find it offensive. If anyone wants to read the rest of it, send me a PM with your e-mail address and I'd be happy to share it with you.

The sunshine was especially appreciated this morning.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: maeve
Date: 04 Sep 08 - 08:14 AM

Hey there, Jerry. I'm too sleepy to talk much. Think I'll just curl up in the chair in the corner and take a nap.

Oh- I brought some apple pie to share. I wonder if there's any good cheddar cheese here? The Apple Guys made their first stop of the autumn this morning, so we bought apples and corn (with both outside in the gardens and orchards) because we always buy whatever they offer us. Excuse me for a little while. I'll look for a conversation with y'all after a nap.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 04 Sep 08 - 10:35 AM

Hey, maeve:

You can't afford apples down here. They've gone from $1.49 a pound to as high as $2.99 a pound in just a few weeks. I've eaten an apple a day for most of my life. You know the saying: An apple a day hurts the AMA. I've tried switching to pears, but it's too nerve wracking trying to catch them at the moment when they are ripe. It lasts less than a minute. They go from cannonball hard to shriveled in a couple of minutes. "I'm sorry officer, I know that I was sppeding, but I have to get home before my peaches start to shrivel." Hmmm... sounds faintly dirty.

This thread is moving into birth year territory soon. I'm claiming post number 1935. 1915 isn't spoken for yet.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: GUEST
Date: 04 Sep 08 - 12:46 PM

At last, the computer is working, I had to find a whizz kid in the end who took it off to the computer hospital and cured it. So for seven days we have had to resort to a diary and pen in the salon, the good side... had nothing to do so I even read the local paper and had lunch hours. Could become a habit! More key lime pie in the fridge Jerry I found time to do some cooking too!
Wendy

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Amos
Date: 04 Sep 08 - 01:07 PM

There are certain moments in day-to-day life which dispel all the FUD (fog, uncertainty, doubt) born of the multi-valent relationship between the soul and the world. They ar emoments of clarity, or peace, or calm, or just simple quiet certainty.

For me, some of these moments occur when I am adrift on the deep water off the California coast, discussing important issues with harbor seals or cormorants. I have described several of these expeditions in the MOAB thread. Others occur, for examploe, when I listen to Bruce Murdoch's heartfelt CD, when I help another personm ore than they expected, or when I am reading an especially lucid passage in Einstein's humble explanation of his Special Theory, which I am wrestling for about the twelfth time in my life to understand. He revered lucidity, and I have to say he walks the walk thereof. When I listen to my daughter play an impossible series of 16th notes on a trumpet solo, or catch an especially good couplet from the Muse and get it down in a song, or write something I believe, as I am doing now.

When these moments occur, I feel I am doing what I "ought to be" doing. This is not a feeling I get when I am performing normal duties such as holding down a job, picking up prescriptions at the corner drugstore, or arguing poltiics. These are moments of integration, when the shards re-unite into a peaceful and centered whole.

A

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: maeve
Date: 04 Sep 08 - 09:20 PM

Yes, Amos!

When I paint with my watercolors I find myself in another place, far from everyday life. I am complete.

When I am persuading a new poem to emerge from the clutter and noise of the day I am enthralled by the voice that can only be heard when I listen, and so often speaks late at night.

When I plant the seeds that hold our winter's food, or when I pick the tomatoes and peas that grow, I am content to savor that time of peace..

When I dig for potatoes in the soft ground and my hands are sure and quick, closing around big and small tubers, I am rich.

When I'm singing and voice, tune, and words are braided together so well a new song emerges, I am filled with joy.

maeve

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 04 Sep 08 - 09:54 PM

I think that the times when I am most being who I think I am to be are times when I'm not thinking about who I am to be. Self-consciousness and "Self-realization" are not goals for me. Too often they get in the way. There are simple acts like you, Amos, and maeve refer to that flow so naturally out of who I am that without consciously thinking about it, I am most "being me." It's a good feeling. It's not something I can strive for. Or even try to create. It's a side effect of living right.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Amos
Date: 04 Sep 08 - 10:40 PM

Bingo, Jerry!


A

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: maeve
Date: 04 Sep 08 - 10:55 PM

A poem in L'Engle's "Ring of Endless Light" refers to that need to turn your concentration from bellybutton to absorbing task in order to be your true best self.
When you are "replete with very me" you are not focused on the task that will allow the centering to take place.

I'm tired, so I don't know how clearly I've worded this.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 05 Sep 08 - 07:10 AM

Rick Warren's book, The Purpose Driven Life has a single sentence on the first page. It's worth the whole book:

         "It's not about you."

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 05 Sep 08 - 11:50 PM

I'm with you, Amos. Get thee behind me, politics.

Stop me before I sink below the line again.

It's got to improve after November.






It's not as if there's not enough good music around. Jan and I got a "Nigel" in Sidmouth--which I gather is better than Very Very Silly--for Cicada Serenade--which we can't claim as ours--it was written about 1986 by The Pheremones.   But Jan did make up the cicada hats (backwards baseball caps with "big orange eyes",) and the gestures.

Gloom and Doom was pretty good too--the winner of that was somebody who sang excerpts from "The Leonard Cohen Book of Christmas Carols". Only thing I can remember is "Hit the bottle if you want comfort and joy".



And it was great singing sea songs in a PA pond while swimming last weekend. Great acoustics-- and great exercise too--leading the workshop from the middle of the pond. The trick seems to be to pick songs everybody else knows the chorus to, so you can breathe while they're singing it. I tried singing Sammy's Bar while floating on my back--and it did work--we stayed together since I could hear them singing through the water.


We also had a Beatles workshop-- please don't tell Bill D-- means sitting around with a few good guitarists and trying to remember how the harmonies went. (Admittedly a few of the guitarists had books).

Then we stayed up til about 4 (after the rooster sounded off at 3:30) singing a whole bunch of other things--mostly from the 60's. No books at that session--again just remembering stuff. Crosby Stills and Nash--it sounded to me like our harmonies must have been somewhat similar. I had fun rasping out Eve of Destruction--Barry McGuire sure sounded mad doing that.

Singing and playing together is always more than the sum of its parts, no matter what kind of music you do. It must be one of the ultimate highs.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 06 Sep 08 - 04:13 PM

Who says that Saturday night is the loneliest night of the week? I'm doing laundry and we just bought a new toaster. Some people don't realize it when they've got it good.   :-)

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 07 Sep 08 - 05:27 PM

Help! I've fallen off the edge of the world!!!!!!!!

So, how was your weekend? It being mostly over, and all...

Mine was real guuuud.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: maeve
Date: 07 Sep 08 - 06:10 PM

My weekend was the same as my week, so I'm tired, Jerry. I enjoyed the rains innundating our parched gardens, and the clean green of the refreshed corn, and the brilliant blue of the sky after the system moved on to gnu in New Brunswick. We send most of our weather to gnu, 'cause he appreciates it.

Mostly though, I'm tired of having no income and years of making do.
We're in survival mode here, and working hard. Laundry is my enemy, and we produce lots of laundry!

I'm grateful for the garden bounty, and friends, and that moment when I can crawl into bed. I'm glad I can sit here and write to folks at the 'Cat when I take a sit-down break, and that the computer is still managing to stumble along a while longer. Friends make me laugh, and the bantams in the garden are wonderful entertainment.

I've got the too much work to do
Never buying something new
Scrub another load or two
Both feet hurt; can't wear my shoes
Send the storm along to gnu
Weekend Blues!

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 07 Sep 08 - 09:56 PM

Hey, maeve:

I had a dear friend named Herbert who was a banty rooster. In recent years, I've written a book of family memories, and Herbert being family, he's in there. This is what I wrote about how I got him. I'll do a separate post with the rest of the lyrics to the song I wrote about him.

Jerry
How Earl Got Herbert

I got Herbert as a throw-in when I bought my friend Earl's Harley Davidson 125 for $90. Herbert was a Banty rooster. How Earl came about getting Herbert is an interesting story. Actually, it's two interesting stories, each of them kinda true.

Back in 1953, when Earl and I graduated from High School, Earl headed out to go to college at the University of Oregon, and because they frowned on Banty roosters in their dormitories, Earl reluctantly gave Herbert to me as a going away present. This is the way I remember Earl telling me how he came to have Herbert in the first place. Over the last fifty-some years, the story has become much more ornate.

According to what I remember, Earl was out in his front yard one Summer's day, when a car drove by and a Banty rooster came flying out of the rear window. The rooster immediately made a bee-line toward Earl's house and the man jumped out of the car and hit the road, running. The rooster, later to be named Herbert, was running, Hell Bent for Leather when he spotted an unsuspecting squirrel running across the yard. Even though Herbert was running for dear life, he couldn't ignore the challenge of the squirrel, and took off after it. As Herbert came skidding around the corner in hot pursuit of the squirrel, he almost ran into Earl and Earl, being quick of mind and sure-handed reached down and caught the rooster. When the man came around the corner puffing like a steam engine and saw Earl, he hit the brakes and asked Earl for his rooster. Now Earl, being a real slick talker, managed to convince the man that what he really wanted to do was give the rooster to Earl. So, Earl kept the rooster and named him Herbert and when he went away to college in the Fall, he gave Herbert to me. As I said. And that's the way I remember Earl telling it.

Here is what actually happened, according to Earl in 2006. The rooster did indeed escape from a passing car, but it was someone else who lived across the street who caught it. When he couldn't keep it, he gave it to Earl. Earl has no idea how the rooster came to be called Herbert. There was no hot pursuit of a squirrel, or any slick-talking done by Earl.

As I tell Earl, he remembers what happened. I remember how it should have happened. I like my story a lot better. I even had Herbert riding in a Cadillac when I wrote a song about him. Nothing was too good for Herbert.


   "He came a' riding in to town in a great big Cadillac
    With the windows all rolled down, tied in a gunny sack
    But the sack was for potatoes, and not for Herbert's kind
    And with his spurs as sharp as razors, he cut the ties that bind"

So, how did the squirrel get in the story? When I owned Herbert, he was one of the first "Free-range" chickens in the country. Earl kept him tied to a pole with a stout string around one leg. I let Herbert have the run of the yard, and because it wasn't fenced in, he had the run of the whole neighborhood.

   "When Herbert strolled the neighborhood, the squirrels stayed in their nests
    The dogs all looked the other way, and the cats would genuflect"

Herbert found squirrels to be a personal affront, and he made life Hell for the neighbor's cat and the pigeons I raised in our garage. Early on, the cat made the mistake of stalking Herbert, and when he pounced for the attack, Herbert had mysteriously disappeared. He reappeared just as mysteriously on the cat's back with his spurs dug in as firmly as a rodeo cowboy. Herbert took the cat for a little ride, and it was the last time the cat came within one hundred yards of him.

   "And Herbert was the terror of the local countryside
    Sometimes he'd flag the neighbor's cat and he'd take him for a ride
    And the pigeons in my Dad's garage got up to bar the door
   For those who messed with Herbert, were never seen no more"

So you see, my memory of how Earl got Herbert was about 90% wrong, but it was 100% Herbert. If Earl HAD been the one to catch Herbert, he WOULD have smooth-talked the guy out of his rooster. For something that never happened, I got the story just about right.

The next year, when I went away to college, I took Herbert out to my Uncle Jim's farm. But the song tells the rest of the story.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jayto
Date: 07 Sep 08 - 10:49 PM

Hey Jerry how are you man? I have been very busy and haven't heard from you in a few days so I thought I'd drop in at the table and say hi. I had a few gigs this week. Thursday night was the best gig I have had in a long time. I backed up a guy named Craig Russell from Gilbertsville Kentucky. Craig is making a MAJOR splash in the music scene around here and has been for about a year now. He is spreading like wildfire people are using his songs as ringtones for their phones and kids are making videos to his songs for school projects etc... He is a SUPER nice guy and he and I hit it off very good right from the start. He is a big fan of one of the bands I had several years ago. So when we met it was kinda funny. I contacted him after hearing a song of his that I just loved. When I did he was like wait a minute aren't you one of the guys that was in that band man I have 4 CDs and wear them out.So it was really funny I didn't realize he knew who I was but right off the bat we had a mutual respect. The crowd was insane they were yelling and dancing like you wouldn't believe. They kept running up onstage asking all kinds of questions like "What kind of guitar are you playing?" "Where are ya'll playing next?" "Are you cutting out after the gig or can you stay and hang out with us?" It was cool of them to be that interested but it made it hard to play the songs. I played acoustic lead, Craig played acoustic and was singing, my brother Joey played mandolin, washboard, I think harmonica on a song or two, spoons, and bozouki. Craigs Dad Steve played harmonica most of the night. The place was packed out and they were WILD. They were eating it up security had to get involved at one point because some guy tried to climb on a table. He knocked it over and then he and some girl started dancing where the table was. Security came and escorted the guy and a friend of his out. It was great we got 2 standing ovations and 3 encores but we only played 2 encores. They were so loud that by the time we ended the 2nd encore Craig's voice was shot. We told them to come to the next gig to hear more lol. That was our 2nd time playing together and we had a blast. I took the weekend off and just hung out with my kids and with Jamie. Besides that everything has been going good around here. The weather has been beautiful so I have been eating it up. Fall is my favorite time of year. Summer is always so hot and humid it is such a gift to have Fall come colling everything off and making all the trees so beautiful. Well I am going to jump off of here but I just wanted to touch base with you man. I have been jamming to Clarence Ashley. I had never heard him before you turned me on to him. I love his music BIG TIME. I appreciate it man. Well I will talk to you later,
cya
JT

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: maeve
Date: 07 Sep 08 - 11:04 PM

Hi, Jerry. Loved your stories about Herbert the bantam rooster. I wish we could hear you sing the song right here at the kitchen table.

Some of my four hens have been hiding eggs these last three days. The numbers just weren't right. This morning when I let the chickens out for their free range out back, one made a beeline for one of the shade gardens. I tried to keep my eyes on her, but it took me several minutes to find her, snugged in under a jetbead bush and covering a clutch of 8 eggs. Some were hers, others from a couple of the other hens. None of the girls are broody, they just wanted to do what hens do. After a few minutes she headed out to the sun again to hunt for insect protein for breakfast.

I collected the eggs and headed back inside. We have enough trouble from raccoons as it is. We don't need them expecting to get chicken eggs here and these are fresh enough to use.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 08 Sep 08 - 07:44 AM

That's a great story about the rooster, Jerry. I look forward to the whole song when it's done. Don't forget to let us know the tune as well (:0)

It's not so much the chickens here as the rabbit. Our neighbours let their pet rabbit have free run of the neighbourhood and its favourite spot is our garden! So...if you have any non-lethal wheezes for discouraging a rabbit....

That coffee's good. Is it a new brand?

Best wishes,

Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 08 Sep 08 - 10:44 AM

Thanks, Pete:

Actually, I wrote the song moe than 20 years ago. An overly enthusiastic friend who ran a coffee house promoted a concert at the place with a rave compliment about the song I did about a "killer rooster." Herbert was tough, but he wasn't a killer. After that build up, I had to do the song at the concert, and it became a favorite to the point where I got sick of singing it and didn't do it for years. The other song I got sick of doing that was one of my most requested was a children's song, Robert's Rooster. I stopped singing that one for years too. And I stopped writing songs about roosters. :-)

Here's Herberttttttt...

Herbert

He came a' riding in to town in a great big Cadillac
With the windows all rolled down, tied in a gunny sack
But the sack was for potatoes, and not for Herbert's kind
And with his spurs as sharp as razors, he cut the ties that bind

CHORUS:
   
   And Herbert was the terror of the local countryside
   Sometimes he'd flag the neighbor's cat and he'd take him for a ride
   And there never was a man or beast who could make him miss a step
   And you can bet your bottom dollar, he hasn't met one yet

When Herbert strolled the neighborhood, the squirrels stayed in their nests
The dogs all looked the other way, and the cats would genuflect
And the pigeons in my Dad's garage got up and barred the door
For those who messed with Herbert were never seen no more

We took him to my Uncle's farm when I had to move away
The roosters met him at the gate, just to have a little play
But when he rode them 'round the yard, their enthusiasm waned
And I swear he'd jump them through a hoop, he had them so well trained

… My Aunt Gladys told me that when she went out into the yard the first night that Herbert was there, all the roosters were settled down in the yard. Except for Herbert. He claimed the hen house all to himself, and was feeling mighty pleased about it.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 09 Sep 08 - 09:49 AM

I finished writing another chapter yesterday, and I thought that I'd post the introduction to it on here. The chapter is titled Try Easier:

        The message on the billboard caught my eye: Nothing Is as Uncommon as Common Sense. Driving at 65 miles per hour, I didn't notice if the statement was attributed to anyone, but I recognized the truth in the saying. So, just what is common sense? Merriam Webster defines it as: "Sound and prudent judgment based on a simple perception of the situation or facts." Albert Einstein had a more jaded view: "Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen."

        Back when I was taking a Psychology course in college, I read of an experiment conducted with a group of student volunteers. There've been countless experiments with mice in mazes, trying to better understand problem solving. This time, they used students. Instead of using a maze, they constructed a large round room with many doors. A student was lead into the center of the room, and then the door through which they came in was locked. Only one door in
the room was unlocked. Then, an electrical current was passed through the floor, creating a mild, but uncomfortable shock. The student had to discover which door was unlocked in order to escape the room. The first reaction to the shock was for the subject was to run to the nearest door and try to open it. When they found that it was locked, they'd race to another door. Sometimes, after trying a door only to find it locked, the student would race to the center of the room, then turn around and try the same door again. I think that the mice probably did better.

        Sometimes we try too hard.

I guess that the reason why that experiment resonates so powerfully in my mind is because it's so "me." I can't count the times that I've frantically tried, and tried again to make something work that had no chance of working. There are a lot of reasons for that, but I bet someone else sitting here around the kitchen table can relate to it.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: rumanci
Date: 09 Sep 08 - 09:57 AM

Neat introduction J.
I don't often have the time to sit around this table but I sure can relate to your thoughts today.
Right this minute I'd be pleased if just ONE damned thing would go right - you know ?

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 09 Sep 08 - 05:26 PM

Hey, y'all: I just made a big, big pot of 15 bean soup with turkey sausage. I have some nice toasted garlic bread to go with it.

Grab a seat. What would you like to drink?

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: frogprince
Date: 09 Sep 08 - 09:33 PM

Fifteen bean? Did that all come in a mixed bag, or did you pick out 15 kinds of beans? Anyhow, it sounds great; but can you save me a little for later? I just ate 8 little cups of chili at a United Way chili cook off down at the old courthouse.
                                 Dean

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 09 Sep 08 - 10:03 PM

Naw, Dean:

I didn't hand pick the 15 different tyupes of beans. I bought them in a bag. The turkey sausage was my idea, as we're watching our cholesterol. Actually, it's gotten so low that it's hard to watch... :-)

The soup was pretty good tonight. Tomorrow night, after it's had a chance to blend all the flavors together, it will be much better. I only have two gallons left...

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 10 Sep 08 - 04:44 AM

Ok Jerry....I just have to ask.....sorry......what are the names of all 15 beans?

Best wishes,

Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 10 Sep 08 - 07:01 AM

Hey, Pete: I only know three of the Beans by name: Jim, Cindy and their son Nathan. Jim and Cindy are members of the group The Beans, and the group sang harmonies on several tracks of my unreleased gospel album that I did many years ago. As for the soup beans, I'll have to check the bag...

Northern,Pinto, Large Lima, Blackeye, Garbanzo, Baby Lima, Green Split Pea, Kidney, Cranberry Bean, Small White Pink Bean, Small Red, Yellow Split Pea, Lentil, Navy, White Kidney, Black Bean.

And post 1935. My birth year. I'll have to post a little about 1835, as I missed that post. My home town was settled in 1835, and I wrote a song about it...

Jerry

Anyone born in 1936 or 37? The years will go fast, now.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 10 Sep 08 - 07:45 AM

Thanks Jerry!

Spookily, I went down to our local shop today and...for the first time...they had mixed beans in a packet to put into soups etc!

We like Beanpot Chowder in our household. Very good for a chilly day. I'm sure there's a story as to why that album never saw the light of day. Where can get a tune for your Rooster Song? It would be great to complete the set...I have a song about a dog, one about a cat and one for a horse....

There are a couple of good singers who bring their dog into our session. Very well behaved and enjoys the music...but I get canine glares when I sing about the dog!

Best wishes,

Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 11 Sep 08 - 11:22 AM

The Lord will provide.

Four years ago, I bought some very expensive recording equipment with top-quality studio microphones. I invested close to $2,000 in anticipation of recording the Gospel Messengers for a CD. I was just starting how to use the recorded when our tenor, Derrick, moved to Florida. I ended up putting together a CD of the four of us drawn from home recordings on tape and some live recordings. (One of my better sources were two CDs tha the folks at the Greater Washington Folk Song Society gave me of a concert that the Messengers did there. After four years of seeking a tenor with only disastrous results, I've finally moved the equipment here into my office with the intention of trying to learn how to use the stuff so that I can start recording a long backlog of traditional and original folk music (Using the definition losely) and gospel. I've managed so far to come up with excuses for not starting to TRY to use the equipment because I had no luck the first time. I hate failing. You'd think that I'd have enough experience by now that it wouldn't get to me as much as it does.

So, suddenly...

I've met a couple who run a Christian Book Store in the area, and the husband is looking for a group to sing with. Turned out that he doesn't like the Messengers music because it's too black gospel sounding. At least we got that right. The blessing is that he is an electrical engineer with a fair amount of experience recording groups, and has offered to help me learn to use my equipment.

Now all I have to do is bring in my leaf blower, blow the pile of dust off the equipment and get to work. As I say, I have at least one CD of folk music in me, and one of gospel as a companion to the book that I wrote.

All will be well again. Eventually.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 13 Sep 08 - 02:25 PM

Jerry,

Isn't it strange how things work out!

If you have the free program Audacity , then plug one of those great sounding mics into the computer and record away! You can then burn onto CDs if you wish. There are a couple of threads telling you how its done here on the Mudcat.

At last we saw the sun today! It seems to have been raining non-stop lately.

Best wishes,

Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 13 Sep 08 - 04:25 PM

Thanks for the tip, Pete:

My new-found friend is anxious to start helping me record, which is delightful, and humorous. My wife Ruth and I areheading down to Virginia to our granddaughter's wedding this coming Friday, and will be gone for a week, so it won't be until the beginning of October before we can get started.

This morning, I had practice with my friends Joe and Frankie of the Gospel Messengers. We're working on songs for our 12th Anniversary. Having a group has taught me how difficult it is having a group. Joe and Frankie are fine men, reliable and always willing to do whatever I ask of them. But, none of us live in a vacuum. Life is terribly messy. Both Joe and Frankie had forgotten that we were going to hve practice, and had to rearrange their schedules. Joe was in the hospital last week, and half way trhough practice he became so woozy that he had to sit down, and I cut the practice short. Frankie has a lot of trouble remembering things, including lyrics... more so than the normal forgetfullness, and we had to go through his lead several times to get the words to come out. Joe's wife has Alzheimer's Disease and he goes to be with her at dinnr time every day. She's been in a nursing home for three years now, and he hasn't missed a day. I was talking with someone the other day who was talking about music not meeting his ideals. I threw my ideals in the trash can, years ago. I try to work with what I have, and be thankful that I have it. I can't afford musical ideals. (I have managed to hold onto my moral ideals, though.) Just trying to live them.

I'm going to pack Herbert up in an envelope, Pete and send him off to you soon.

Jerry

Thanks for stopping by. The table was getting a little dusty.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 14 Sep 08 - 03:29 PM

Ruth and I went to visit our friend Joe's wife Corrie after church today. Corrie has Alzheimer's Disease. It had been quite awhile since our last visit, and she'd lost a lot of ground. Most days when Joe goes to visit her (and he's never missed a day,) she doesn't open her eyes and rarely utters a comprehensible sentence. More often than not she doesn't recognize visitors.

When we arrived at the nursing home, they were just bringing Corrie down the corridor. She was slouched back in her wheelchair, seemingly oblivious to everything. We had brought a plant and a card for her, and Joe tried to make her aware that we were there. She had her eyes open and was wearing her glasses, but it was difficult to know what images were registering in her mind. Despite all of Joe's efforts, she didn't respond, other than to occasional utter a low cry, as if she was in pain. Joe kept asking her if she had any pain, but the questions hung there in the warm corridor air, fading away with no answer. Joe asked me to read the card to Corrie so I squatted down in front of her wheelchair and read it to her, telling her how much we love her and that we are keeping her in prayer. With that, she attempted to string together a few words into a sentence, and for the first time, I felt that I was breaking through to her. Whatever remains of Corrie was trying to reach out to me. After talking to her for a couple of minutes, squatting there beside her, I looked her right in the eye and started singing. "How much do I owe him?" I sang. I could see that I had her full attention, so I said to her, "Remember that song, Corrie? That was your favorite song that the Messengers sang. You used to play it on the piano." Corrie can no longer feed herself, so her piano playing days are long over. Joe, or their ten year old grandson Keith, who was there with us today, patiently feed her a spoonful at a time. But Corrie heard the song, and I sang the chorus for her.

How much do I owe him?
How much do I owe him?
How much do I owe him"
He died just for me, just for me

"The next time that we come, Corrie, I'll bring my guitar and we'll do the song together," I told her. "I will if the good Lord is willing," she answered. It was the first time in a long time that she has spoken clearly in response to a question. Neither Joe, Keith or the nurses could get her to answer a single question today. But she understood what I was saying. She used to play that song over and over again on her piano when she was still home with Joe. It's still in there.

As we were leaving, Joe was beaming at us. "I think she knew who you were," he said. "She really lit up when you started singing to her." And suddenly, it was a beautiful day.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 14 Sep 08 - 03:38 PM

Thanks Jerry, I'll fortify the hen house!

I agree. Getting people together for any group activity seems to be fraught with difficulty these days! I suppose we should be glad that we all have such busy lives!

I think there is merit in always having the event (whatever it is) as a set occasion...e.g. the first Sunday of the month. Then everyone knows that's the occasion. They still forget of course!

Had a lovely walk by the sea and through the woods today. The leaves haven't started to change yet and the sun was shining. That's set us up for the week.

Ready for a coffee though!

...and pass the duster!

Best wishes,

Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 17 Sep 08 - 05:58 PM

As the sun slowly sinks in the West...

As much as I enjoy this thread, the reality is that there doesn't seem to be a large neough number of people who are interested in posting, and the thread keeps slipping off the bottom of the screen.
I'm willing to try keeping it above water, but not to the point that
it risks being a vanity thread. We all have better things to do than have this be a Jerry Rasmussen thread.

Through time, several friends who post here have shared their e-mail address with me: Joe Offer, Elmer Fudd, Jayto, jimmyt, and others. What I'm suggesting is that if you'd like to receive e-mails from me (and HOPEFULLY, LET ME KNOW HOW YOU ARE DOING) please e-mail me at [e-mail]. Then I can add you to my list of friends. Many of my e-mails are about the things I am writing about, with common references to my faith. If you'd rather not receive those, say "No faith writing, please." (I have several good friends who are atheists who want to read the stuff that I am writing anyway.)

Most of all, I enjoy the friendships that I've made in here, and would like to keep in touch. Mudcat has evolved, as all good things do. I'm all for evolution. It's natural that people have coalesced into groups of shared interests. Unfortunately, many friends of mine have drifted away from Mudcat, not out of dissatisfaction but because when they scan down the list of topics, there's not enough to interest them. Count me among them. I still love Mudcat and will drop in periodically and post when I see a thread that interests me.
I'm ready to send my manuscript off to a publisher, and two of the chapters originally were posted here on Mudcat, so I give credit to this place and many of the friends that I've made here for spurring me on to write.

Before this thread sinks below the horizon for good, I'll keep it alive in hopes that some of you will read the thread and decide that you'd like to keep in touch through e-mails.

Life is good. Mudcat is good. Sunsets are beautiful.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 18 Sep 08 - 04:23 AM

Hello Jerry,

It would be a shame if the thread sank below the trees before the post number reached the year of my birth! Not long to go now!

It's been a great thread and the coffee, Key Lime Pie, Soup and the chance to chat have been very satisfying!

Best wishes,

Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 18 Sep 08 - 08:34 AM

Please keep the coffee on Jerry, I missed the thread very much when it was not around for a while. I do not often post but always sit in the corner and read your news and everyone else thoughts.As you know Waddon Pete and I caught up after many years and it would not have happened without this kitchen table.
I can update you on how this year has gone for me in the UK. Billy and I are holding the occasional concert in a marquee in the garden, the next one is September 28th, we have a bar b q and then a guest artist and then a sing around together.
Billy was 60 in August and we had a suprise party for family on the Saturday and 75 people for a barby on the sunday.
This past weekend we took my parents( mother 85 and father 88) to the Cotswolds, a beautiful part of the country. Dad was stationed at RAF Little Rissington during WW 2 and as it is Battle of Bitain day on Sept 15th they have a church service followed by an old fashioned tea party in the village hall. It is lovely to see the old comrades meeting up again and sharing memories.
We returned on Tuesday to celebrate our grandaughters second birthday, our grandson Reuben was one the week before, our daughter is expecting her second baby in January. So the family grows and we are truly blessed to have grandchildren and my parents able to share the joy.
Wendy

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 18 Sep 08 - 09:45 AM

Hey, Wendy:

It is always wonderful to hear from you and get the latest news on your family. If folks want to keep this thread alive, they'll have to post more often. I don't want it to become Jerry's Diary, which it is quickly becoming again. I already know what I'm doing, so if I do all the posting, I eventually get boared with listening to myself drone on and on. It gives my life a pseudo-importance that I am very uncomfortable with. Goid deliver us if we become self-centered. What could be more boring than that? Eccchhh!

If I see someone other than myself and Pete posting, I'll certainly respond, and be delighted to hear from old/new friends I've never met.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 18 Sep 08 - 11:19 AM

Well Jerry, the other thing that is so good about this kitchen table is that the people who gather round all seem to be really generous hearted folks, no arguments or mean spirits sat in this kitchen!
I sometimes look in at other threads and get quite dispondent to read the insults that fly around.
I have decided that I no longer want to read the newspapers( the British press is all doom and gloom)Sky news lowers the spirits too, so to come into the kitchen every day is a wonderful escape from the world we live in,you all seem to live a much happier life over there and when I read about your walks and the beautiful place you live in it reminds me how lucky I am. The Salon that I own is in a Seaside Town and I am 200 yards from a beautiful sandy beach,and fabulous walks.From our house we can walk across the fields and reach the sea in about thirty minutes.Sometimes we get so involved in the daily stress of running a business we forget to enjoy what is on our doorstep! But listening in to your coversations makes my day much more enjoyable. So maybe I will close the door and take a walk on the beach and enjoy the late summer sunshine.Keep the coffee hot I will be back.
Wendy

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 19 Sep 08 - 04:11 AM

Ruth and I are heading off to Virginia this morning for our grand daughter's wedding tomorrow. We'll be gone for 8 days. Keep the table going if you feel so inclined. Or if not, e-mail or PM me if you'd like to keep in touch in the future.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 19 Sep 08 - 06:48 AM

Thanks Jerry,

Just got to claim this post! My year of birth!

It would be good to see some more people around the kitchen table. The coffee is good and the treacle biscuits Jerry left are delicious! Save me from myslef and come and eat some!

Best wishes,

Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: GUEST,Partridge
Date: 19 Sep 08 - 12:46 PM

I love this thread, not a frequent poster, but such a joy to read

much love Pat xxxx

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: maeve
Date: 19 Sep 08 - 09:24 PM

I'll stop by briefly. Tomorrow I will face hundreds of tomatoes, in varying stages of ripeness. All will be waiting for me to cook them, freeze them, or pack them for later ripening.

Then it will be time to straighten up the farm stand and decide which plants to return to the nursery bed to overwinter and which must become part of the soil in the compost pile.

Have a safe trip Jerry and Ruth.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: maeve
Date: 21 Sep 08 - 08:52 PM

Still surrounded by tomatoes of every color and hue. Still picking beans today, and cleaning them. Freezing frenzy in the morning. I miss having neighbors to help put up the year's food.

Somebody pull up a chair, set a spell, tell a story! Apple pie is there on the counter along with rat cheese from Calef's store.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: maeve
Date: 24 Sep 08 - 09:35 AM

Running errands today, before canning homemade spaghetti sauce. I think I'll add meat to some of it, and leave the rest without. It will gice me a chance to try out the pressure canner. Next I'll can some chicken and delicious yet low-fat gravy.

Anybody in the neighborhood? Leave a note for our host.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jeanie
Date: 24 Sep 08 - 05:06 PM

Waddon Pete: It's my turn now to claim this post for *my* year of birth !

I enjoy this thread, too - I was so glad to see it's return last month. I'm just back tonight from a trip to Northants doing some Shakespeare workshops. Today we were in a residential Rudolf Steiner School for children with special educational needs and had a great time. I so admire the staff working there who are clearly doing a wonderful job. Yesterday had an afternoon off and visited Stoke Bruerne canal (and end of the long canal tunnel) - such an interesting place with so much history. Saw some fascinating old photos of the barge people and the beautiful lace bonnets the women wore. Lovely, lovely. It's so true what someone said here at the table recently: there is so much to explore here in the UK on our doorstep.

- jeanie

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 25 Sep 08 - 08:24 AM

Just stopped by for a cup of coffee.Looking out the window the sun is shining and people walking by have smiling faces.Funny how when the sun comes out everyone looks more cheerful.
Billy and I went to a family wedding at the weekend,near Hampton Court, the weather was really hot and on Sunday we walked along the river bank by the Thames past Hampton Court Palce towards Kingston. It was a beautiful day, lots of parents out with little children on bikes enjoying the late summer sun.We had a lovely lunch in a pub sitting outside on the terrace by the river.
In the afternoon we drove across south London to my birth place in Beckenham.We went through West Croydon, Waddon Pete, have you been back to Croydon lately? They do say " never go back" and I think they may be right... it was quite a shock!
Wendy

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 26 Sep 08 - 05:08 AM

Hello all,

Coffee...hot! Thanks.

A chilly autumn day here, but the sun is shining and it is warming up nicely. Maeve, you seem to be up to your eyes in fruit and veg! Hope all the freezing and canning is going well. I guess you must have some stories to tell!

Wendy, yes...I do get back to Croydon every now and then as I have some good friends still living there. I agree with your comments though. It has suffered over the years. I did write a song about that at one time. There are still good places to go in the town, but not on a Friday night! I am proud to say that the folk club is still going after 40+ years, although not in the Waddon any more.

I think we ought to tidy up before Jerry gets back.....


Best wishes,

Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 27 Sep 08 - 06:03 PM

Just got back. How wonderful to read all your posts! Our trip was great, but a little exhausting. A week ago today, our grandaughter Felicia was married to Jeremiah. A family can never have too many Jeremiahs. The wedding reception wasd a real joy, having a chance to spend some time with family members on Ruth's side of our family. Sunday afternoon we headed west and stayed overnight in Raleigh, North Carolina. The next day, we went into downtown Raleigh and discovered that there was an exhibit on the Dead Sea Scrolls, so we re-arranged our schedule and spne the morning exploring Raleigh so that we could go to the noon tour of the exhibit. It was really exciting to see pieces of the scrolls, and the whole exhibit was fascinating. After the tour, we headed off to my oldest son and daughter-in-laws home in a small town just south of Charlotte, North Carolina. We spent three days there. I'll pick it up from this point, later.

Jeremiah the Elder (my name on another community site.)

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rasener
Date: 28 Sep 08 - 04:13 PM

Hi One and all
Just recovering after running Faldingworth Live here in Lincolnshire UK, last night. We were sold out and it was a great night.
We had a support duo on called A Trim Rig & A Doxy. They did some really nice shanties. They are big fans of John Conolly (Fiddlers Green fame)
Our main guest was a band called the Churchfitters. They reside in Brittany France and were on tour in the UK and I managed to book them on their last day before they went back home.
90 people who hadn't seen them before. They were amazing. They did mainly English/Irish songs adapted to their style, which was Folk Rock. They are absolutely brilliant musicians and the lead singers voice Rosie Short was lovely. It was briilant night. They were so good, quite a few wanted me to book them in a months time (LOL They think its that easy to book these performers)
Here are some pictures from last night.
http://www.faldingworthlive.co.uk/faldingworth_live_photo's.htm

Good to see things are OK with you Jerry.

Cheers
Les Worrall

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 28 Sep 08 - 04:31 PM

Thanks for posting the photos, Les. It looks like everyone was having a wonderful time.

Nice to have you drop by.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 30 Sep 08 - 04:11 PM

Hello Jerry,

Glad you got back safely. Hope we didn't leave too much washing up. We all did our best! :0)

There's a rooster here....says his name's Herbert...says he's come to stay!

Thanks for sending him over.

Best wishes,

Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jayto
Date: 30 Sep 08 - 04:24 PM

Hey Jerry and everyone. I am sitting here drinking a cup of coffee and enjoying a beautiful fall day. It is great outside today wish it would stay like this. Had a VERY busy weekend this past weekend. It was good though alot of friends, music, and more music lol. I entered the international thumbstyle guitar contest. I took a gamble that came back to bite me but I still took 5th place. I have to learn not to improv in contests lol. Sometimes it works out and other times it kicks you lol. I got kicked this time but if you are willing to win big you have to be ready to lose big. I still got some money and most important made some really good friends. After I finished I was approached by Larry Cohn who is the retired Vice President for CBS records. He and I hit it off instantly and wound up hanging out for a long time. He had some really cool things to say about my playing. I really appreciated the time he spent and what he said. I am really hard on myself when I feel I don't play like I should. I was being VERY hard on myself then and he really helped me snap out of it lol. He signed Johnny Winter (among tons of others Billy Joel, ABBA, Cheap Trick, as well as putting together the Robert Johnson box set and all kinds of really cool projects). Johnny Winter was a big influence on me when I started playing so I really took his compliments to heart. I wish some of you could have been there. The level of talent was off the charts. Craig Pratt is a 17 yr old that was just unreal. I really enjoyed meeting him. He made the most lasting impression on me from the weekend. He and I hung out most of the day Saturday. He is a good guy and has a talent that will boggle your mind. Well I have to run but just wanted to stop in and say hi.
cya
JT

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 30 Sep 08 - 05:00 PM

Hey. John:

Good to see you. I figure when I don't you're probably doing something exciting. When you don't see me you can figure that I'm either taking out the garbage or mowing the lawn...

I had a wonderful experience this morning that I've just started writing up. When I'm finished I'll share it at the table.

I sent my finished manuscript of my book off to a publisher, and have been gathering some testimonials to use in the front of the book. I'm in an odd position, writing a book of gospel songs, stories and reflections on scripture, 'cause I am nobody in particular. Like, who should care what I have to say? I don't have any degrees or titles after my name, at least in regard to faith. I've felt very humbled by some of the things that friends of mine who also happen to be ministers have to say about my writing. I always find it awkward asking someone to write something that I can use as a quote. What if they really think I stink? So far, no one has said so.

Ruth still has a lousy cold... one that I'm afraid I gave to her on the ride back from Asheville, where I caught it. I'm back to walking, and enjoying it. That's where the story comes from. I'll post it when the first draft is done.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 30 Sep 08 - 05:41 PM

My wife and I see him every day on the river walk. When we say, "Good morning," he makes the slightest gesture with his hand, smiles and says something so softly that you wouldn't even know that he had spoken unless you saw his lips moving. He's a short man with black hair peppered with gray and a craggy face, and walks with a slow, measured pace. One morning a few weeks ago, when I was out walking by myself, I caught up with him and slowed down to talk for a moment. And then, I realized why he never talks to anyone. He speaks with a very pronounced Italian accent and struggles to piece sentences together. He has just as much trouble
understanding English but as we walked along side by side, we managed to hold a conversation of sorts. He was very humble about his ability to walk, because he can only walk a portion of the three and a half mile river walk. But as he tried to explain, he is doing what he can to keep his strength. I told him that I respected anyone who was out walking, no matter how far they walked.
They were doing what they could to take care of the gift of health that the Lord had given them.

        The conversation was brief, as I wanted to walk at a much faster pace than he could, so I wished him a good day, and moved ahead. In the weeks that followed, when my wife and I would pass him on the walk, he'd smile openly and occasionally say "good morning" loud enough so we could hear him. But up until this morning, I hadn't spoken to him since that first
time.

        As it turned out, I went for a walk alone today. When I pulled my car in and parked in the lot next to the walkway, I noticed the man getting into his car, which was parked facing mine. He tried to start the car but I didn't hear any sound, and when he looked up and saw me through his windshield, his face lit up. When he got out of the car he tried to tell me that his car wouldn't start, showing with his hands how he had turned the key. I told him that I had some jumper cables in the trunk of my car, and pulled around, right next to his car. I hooked up the cables, and got into my car, gunning the motor. He just stood outside, smiling until I told him to try to start his car. He smiled, and turned his key in the air, turning an imaginary starter and looked at me quizzically. When I said, "yes," he got in and gave it a try. Nothing happened. I got out and asked him if he heard any sound when he turned the key and he just said, "A click." I'm no car mechanic, but I've driven junkers for much of my life, so I know every ailment ever visited on an old car. I asked him to get in and try it once more and even though I revved my motor while he turned the key, nothing happened. I knew then that it was the starter. I'd had my starter go in that same parking lot a couple of years ago.

        When we got out of our cars, he handed me his AAA Motor Club card. I asked him if he had a phone, and he nodded his head, "no." I told him that he could use my cell phone and when he tried to explain something to me, I realized that he had no idea what to do. I dialed the number on the card and after being put on hold for about ten minutes, someone finally came on the line.
The woman asked me what the membership number was, which I gave to her, and then she asked my name and address. I said,
        "I'm just a friend who was passing by and saw that my friend was having trouble getting
        his car started. I'll let you talk to him and he can give you his name and address."

        When I first looked as this AAA Motor Club card, I asked him how he pronounced his last name. His first name is Colagero, which immediately brought to mind the name of the young man in A Bronx Tale. I knew how to pronounce the name because of the movie. When I asked him how to pronounce his last name (my Italian is fifty years rusty) he spelled it, pointing carefully to each letter on the card. Despite asking him two or three times, he would only spell it. Maybe he thought that if he said it with his thick accent, I wouldn't know what he was saying.
When the woman on the phone asked his name, he just spelled his last name and gave his address. I had no way of knowing what her next question was, but I could see his confusion. He was having trouble even holding the cell phone so that he could hear her voice, and I had to keep re-positioning it for him. He just smiled at her question, turned around and looked hopefully at me and handed me the phone.

        The woman had a whole string of questions to ask me, including the make and year of the car (he spoke out "two thousand,") and what was the problem.
        "I'm pretty sure that it's the starter," I said. "I had the starter go on the car I'm driving, in
        this same parking lot a couple of years ago."
She asked me:
        "Where does he want the car towed to?" and I asked her,
"Can they tow it to the gas station closest to his house, and have someone give him a ride back while it's being prepared? and she said,
"He's a platinum card member and he can have the car towed up to 100 miles."
"He lives in Ansonia, and I'm looking across the parking lot at the town, so it shouldn't
be a long tow," I answered. I didn't want to leave him stranded at the gas station.

        When I asked her how long it would take for the tow truck to get there, she said,
"No longer than an hour and a half."
         "An hour and a half? I could push the car home in that amount of time!"
She assured me that that was the maximum amount of time. Because he didn't have a phone for
them to call him back, she said that it was important that he stay by his car and keep an eye out for
the tow truck. That's a long time to keep your eye out.

        When we'd finished our conversation, she said,
        "It was nice of you to help the man out," and I answered,
        "I'm just glad that I happened by."

After I got off the phone, I offered to walk over to a McDonald's across the street and
bring him back a cup of coffee and a Sausage biscuit, or whatever he wanted, but he told me that he'd already eaten before he came. I hated to see him just standing there by the car for all that time.

        As I prepared to head off for my walk, he kept thanking me profusely. He didn't need a grasp of the English language. He just kept saying, "Thank you very much." I threw my arms around him and gave him a hug and said,
"God Bless you. The Lord brought me here so that you'd have someone to help you."

        In all the times we've seen the man walking, we've never once seen him talking to someone. His English is so rudimentary that he just looked embarrassed, trying to talk with me. I thought back to that time a few weeks ago when I had walked alongside him, and realized that I was probably the only person he knew on the walkway. So there I was, pulling up in front of his car, right on time. I had gotten out much later than usual, because I'd stayed home and had breakfast with Ruth before I came. I didn't plan on leaving late so that I could help the man. I think that someone else did.

        By the time that I got back from my walk an hour later, his car was gone. And I had a spring in my step.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 01 Oct 08 - 09:11 AM

What a lovely story Jerry,lovely to have you back in the kitchen.Your wedding trip sounded great.I hope Ruth gets over her cold quickly.
Good to hear about the Churchfitters Les, they used to be based near here ( Frinton on Sea in Essex) I would like to know when they are coming back to the UK, we have house( in the garden actually) concerts and I would love to book them, they have a big following in this area so it would be very popular.
We had a concert on Sunday with "Dangerous Curves" three incredible ladies who are very funny but also amazing singers.The weather was kind , Billy did a fabulous Bar B Q and then we had the concert in a marquee in the garden.There were 20 or so people and we all had a very entertaining afternoon.
Jerry, back to your good turn, it is very rewarding when you do something that helps someone and even better when they say thank you! I had a new client last week who had many problems, I hope I did the best aromatherapy treatment I could. The next day she phoned me and thanked me from the bottem of her heart( her words) she said she had the first nights good sleep for months and woke up feeling calm and happy.She made my day, it is so rare for clients to bother to say thank you.
Wendy

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 01 Oct 08 - 11:57 AM

Good to hear from you, Wendy. It sounds like your concer was wonderful, and a beautiful setting.

Yeah, compliments are hard to come by. That's why I go out of my way to compliment folks... waitresses, check out clerks... people who work hard all day and rarely hear anything but criticism. It's like the reaction that you get when your weight changes. Put on five pounds and people say, "WOw, you've really gotten fat!!!!" Take off 25 pounds and one out of every ten people who commented on how fat you looked carrying an extra five pounds will say you look good with the weight off. (Some will say, you don't look as fat as you used to, but you take compliments when you can get them...)

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 02 Oct 08 - 10:56 AM

This morning, I went for a walk alone again. Ruth is still not quite over her cold. I went armed with a few phrases in Italian, sent to me by a friend, hoping to see Colagero. He was no where to be seen, but as I was walking along, I saw another riverwalk regular. He's about Colagero's size, but looks considerably older. Like Colagero, he never speaks, but he always has a warm smile for me, even though he never answers my greeting of "Good morning." Sometimes he just reaches out his hand toward me as I am passing, and I reach over and touch his sleeve. He's there every day and does the full 3 and 1/2 miles, six inches at a time. It must take him tren thousands steps to cover the full length of the walk. When I passed him this morning I said, "Good Morning!," Buon Giorno!" and Buenos Dias!" He smiled broadly, tipped his cap and said "Buenos Dias!" That was our whole conversation. It was enough.

Later on the walk, I was walking by an old factory building and though I saw a man walking his dog. I couldn't see what he was doing clearly because there were bushes in my line of sight. When I got closer, I saw that he was trying to unroll a large wooden spool of thick, black electrical cable. He had about fifteen feet of cable lying on the long diriveway, but the cable was tangled on the spool and while he was trying to unravel the line, he was only succeeding in pulling the length he'd stretched out on the driveway. I walked over and put my foot on the end of the cable, so that he could get some tension on the line and continue to unravel the cable. He looked up briefly, but didn't acknowledge my help. He just leaned over and got back to work. In the meantime, another workman pulled up in a car and parked near where I was standing on the cable. He looked at me quizzically and I said, "I've got a very important job, here." He smiled and went down to help the man who was unraveling the spool. When the man finally stopped unraveling the cable, I took my foot off the end where I was standing and truned and continued my walk. There was no need for him to call out a "thank you!" to me. He had already helped make my day.

We can't win the lottery every day. But that doesn't mean we can't find blessings in the smallest things.
Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jayto
Date: 02 Oct 08 - 01:28 PM

Hi Jerry

I am hanging out enjoying a lovely day. Autumn is in full force here today and it is beautiful. My son is taking a nap and I am just kinda hanging out. It is about 70 degrees and sunny outside so it is perfect to just hang out. Not much else going today just realxing. Just thought I'd stop by and say hi. Marc (my 2 yr old) has been in a big "I love you." day today. It is so cute he will yell to me " Dada yuh you." Yuh You is how he says I love you lol. It is precious and makes me melt everytime I hear it. I'll tell him " Daddy loves you too buddy." and he will go back to playing for a few minutes and then stop and say it again lol. He has done that every few minutes since he woke up today. He is such a sweet and loving kid. I am truly blessed in that area. Well I am going to run man. I have a few things I have to do today. I would much rather just hang out though. I have to try to motivate myself I guess lol.
cya
JT

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rasener
Date: 02 Oct 08 - 01:42 PM

Billybob
I have info on next year concerning Churchfitters. I am sending you a PM
Cheers
Les Worrall

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 02 Oct 08 - 03:38 PM

Hey, John:

Man, does that bring back memories! My oldest son Gideon who is now 39, couldn't say l's when he was Marc's age. I think that's a fairly common problem. He said, I yove you, like Marc. As luck would have it, our next dorr neighbor's names were Lou and Linda. Or, You and Yinda, as Gideon called them.

As Gideon got a little older, he developed this hilariously advanced vocabulary (as did my younger son, Aaron.) He really cracked me up when he came to me one day when he was probably four or five and said, "Dad, could you fix my toy? It's malfunctioning."

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 03 Oct 08 - 10:20 AM

Thank you Les, it will be great to see the Churchfitters again, Rosie and I had the same clog step dancing teacher twenty years ago! Alas my clogs got hung up a while back!
My grandaughter Scarlett cannot say "n" so instead of calling me nonny, she calls me mummy , causes confusion when we are in company, although she calls her mother mama.She had problems with G too so Billy is "darad Billy bob." She is staying overnight with us tomorrow which is a joy.I love the mornings when she comes into our bed and has her milk while we have our morning tea, she asks for "Dip darad" which means biscuit which she dunks into grandads tea, usually leaving half a soggy biscuit in the cup, or in the bed sheets! The fun of being grandparents is wonderful.
Wendy

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 03 Oct 08 - 11:35 AM

Hello again,

Its cold, wet and windy here at the moment, so a cuppa coffee would be very welcome.

Jerry, tell us about the children's songs you've written! Maybe sing us a couple?

Best wishes,

Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: maeve
Date: 03 Oct 08 - 11:47 AM

Good morning, Jerry. Thanks for the Colagero story. One of the reasons I learned to love my husband during our courtship is he continually looks for such opportunities for helping and really seeing folks we encounter. He finds them, too. We've met some lovely folks that way.

I miss having a kitchen table where friends and neighbors can gather. There's no room in our kitchen, and we have a rosewood melodeon where the dining table would be. I need a removable table top made so we can use the melodeon as a table and still be able to play when it's finally restored.

Jayto, your stories about your children (and Jerry's tales of his sons) mind me of the golden moments little'uns when I was still running my community storytime and when I taught. The kidlets were always so generous with their expressions of love, and their parents were equally generous in sharing their children with me. I miss that.

After I finish turning this week's ripe tomatoes into sauce I'll make some apple delicacies for this afternoon's break from farm work. Have to clear the 'maters off the counter and the baskets of them from the floor first. Talk with you later.

maeve

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 03 Oct 08 - 12:19 PM

Another Rooster song:

Robert's Rooster

Chrous: Robert's rooster is red and his dog, Jack is black
       And they never talk back to their mother
       And when it would rain, they would never complain
       They would sit and they'd play by the hour

Sometimes they would play at the big parade
And they'd march all around the room
Robert carried the fowl, and the dog he would howl
And the rooster would carry the tune

Soemtimes they would ail on the stormy sea
And the wind it would roar and howl
Jack would cover his eyes, and the rooster would hide
While Robert stood watch on the bow

Sometimes they would play at the circus
And the rooster would ride on Jack's back
And he'd jump at command when he raised his right hand
Like a lady that sat on a tack

And when they got tired of playing
The dog would curl up on the floor
And Robert would lie with his rooster beside
And Jack would look happy and snore
       Copyright, Jerry Rasmussen at least 30 years ago

You ast for it, Pete...

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 03 Oct 08 - 03:07 PM

This morning, I headed off for my walk, hoping to see Colagero. Sure enough, I wasn't more than a few hundred yards down the walkway when I caught up to him. As I approached him, I called out cheerfully, "Buon Girono, Calagero, Come Sta?" And he answered "Good morning."

I asked him how he came out with his car and he said that when they came, it was just a loose wire on the starter. As soon as they reconnected it, the car started. And he thanked me once more for taking the time to help him.

Next time I see him, I'm going to say "Guten morgen!"

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 04 Oct 08 - 12:50 PM

Thanks Jerry! That's a great song!

Glad to hear that your friend's car troubles were not too bad (or expensive). Its good to hear that you've struck up his friendship. I always think that chances like this, when taken, are like throwing a stone into the water. The good effects spread out like the ripples. Sorry if that sounds a bit fanciful! But I guess if you do something considerate for some-one else, then they are in the right mood to do something considerate for the next person and so on ad infinitum!

Best wishes,

Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 04 Oct 08 - 02:19 PM

Hey, Pete:

I'm with you on doing something generous for someone else. There have been so many people in my life who have been life-changing friends because they helped me through a hard time. I can never repay them, but I can do something for someone else. Even the hard times when we're hanging on for dear life have their value. When we meet someone who's going through a similar dark time, we can offer them encouragement. If you've struggled in the same way that they are struggling, you know what you're talking about.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 04 Oct 08 - 11:29 PM

Without much thought, I sent a photograph off to an old friend of mine today, Luke Faust. Back in the early 60's, Luke and I performed together fairly regularly. It's the only time when I have consistently played folk with another musician, having been qa solo performer most of my life. I got a short message back from Luke and an attached photo of him and his mate, Dean. I was as glad to see how happy he looks as he was to see the loved and joy in the photograph that I e-mailed him of my wife Ruth and me. It got me to thinking.

I am rarely asked to do folk music any more. It's been several years since I've been asked to do a concert. I don't feel badly about that, because I know first-hand that the interest in folk music has shrunken a lot in recent years. There've been a couple of long threads on the topic in here, so there's no need to revisit that in any great detail.

Two or three years ago now, Ruth and I drove up to Branford, CT to hear Rick Fielding. It was one of his last concerts, and I'd always enjoyed Rick. We'd shared a couple of songwriters workshops together and we apprecaitated each other's music. It was good to hear him again, and not surprising that he "drew" maybe thirty people. It's hard to understand how folk concert series survive, drawing twenty to forty people for a concert. Funny thing is, I have been booked to do a concert a year from now, and I've been asked to just do my old stuff... Living on The River, Old Blue Suit, Handfull of Songs, etc.
I don't have a problem with that, but it's ironic in a way that for all my love of traditional music, the "oldies" that I'm expected to do are songs that I've written. Folk music has become so ingrown that I think the next generation of folk singers will be great pickers because they'll be born with six fingers. :-)

I think of all of this because it would be great to sit down for an evening with Luke, or do a concert with him where we did Penny's Farm, Blues in The Bottle, Stackerlee and countless other great old songs that only a handful of people are interested in hearing.

As I was saying to Pete, I have enough traditional folk songs, and my own songs in the folk vein to do two solid CDs. How many people would buy them? Nowhere near enough to anywhere near cover the cost of making them, let alone all the time I'd spend, and the friends I'd ask to help me without pay. At this point, I'm happy playing music. Music. Whether it's folk, my own original folkish or gospel songs, doo wop, R & B or gospel quartet music doesn't make much difference to me. I love it all. People are far more interested in my gospel stuff now. I am plerforming gospel far more than I ever performed folk music at my peak (which was barely discernible.) And, I get bigger audiences.

All of this is good. I've always played music because I love to play music. As the years go by, my audience has shifted away from folk music. If only I was a sensitive singer-songwriter!

Somewhere along the line, I'm going to self-produce a couple more folk CDs, and a couple of gospel CDs. They'll sell like cold cakes, but that's fine. I love what I'm doing, and as long as there are a few people who enjoy listening to my music, I'm happy.

Maybe I'll get Luke up to the house sometime and see if we can still play the old stuff.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 05 Oct 08 - 03:08 PM

Hello Jerry,

Look forward to hearing those CDs one day....perhaps a house concert round your kitchen table to launch them!

Best wishes,

Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 05 Oct 08 - 03:16 PM

We had one of those a few years ago, Pete, when the Shellbacks were over here. Colin, Theresa, Sussex Carole, Noreen and Alan were here, along with Karen Kobela and the rest of the Gospel Messengers. What a joyful time it was!

Just give us the time to get the pot of coffee going...

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 11 Oct 08 - 01:39 PM

Hello Jerry,

Lovely Autumn Day today and the leaves are changing colour. Our Japenese Maple looks a picture!

We had two good sessions this week. I was a little surprised when one gentleman walked in with a tea chest bass...but he was a very sensitive player and it complimented the music well. We had a lovely mix of tunes and songs and all went home smiling. That's what it's all about!

Jerry....you said you'd get the coffee on...


Best wishes,

Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 11 Oct 08 - 06:39 PM

Hey, Pete: This is becoming the Pete and Jerry show. That's awright...

Here are two footnotes to my story about my Italian friend Colagero of the wounded starter.

A Footnote

This morning, I went for a walk alone again. My wife Ruth was still not quite over the cold she caught last week. I went armed with a few phrases in Italian, sent to me by a friend, hoping to see Colagero. He was no where to be seen, but as I was walking along, I saw another river walk regular. He's about Colagero's size, but looks considerably older. Like Colagero, he never speaks, but he always has a warm smile for me, even though he never answers my greeting of "Good morning." Sometimes he just reaches out his hand toward me as I am passing, and I reach over and touch his sleeve. He's there every day and does the full 3 and 1/2 miles, six inches
at a time. It must take him ten thousands steps to cover the full length of the walk. When I passed him this morning I said, "Good Morning!," Buon Giorno!" and Buenos Dias!" I figured that would cover it all. He smiled broadly, tipped his cap and said "Buenos Dias!" That was our whole conversation. It was enough.

A Final Footnote   

This morning, once again, I headed off alone for my walk, hoping to see Colagero. Sure enough, I wasn't more than a few hundred yards down the walkway when I caught up to him. As I approached him, I called out cheerfully, "Buon Giorno, Calagero, Come sta?" And he answered "Good morning." The next time I see him, I'm going to say "Guten morgen!"

Oh, and by the way, it was the starter…

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 18 Oct 08 - 05:30 PM

Hello Jerry,

The Pete and Jerry Show? A crowd puller if ever there was one!

So it was the starter. Not a diesel was it?

Good to hear you've been picking out the old tunes. I find that there are some songs that stay with you...no matter what! I wonder what it is about such songs that they adhere to your memory cells while others sink without trace?

...and where are the rest of the kitchen table crew?

Best wishes,

Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 18 Oct 08 - 06:57 PM

I dunno, Pete:

I was sitting around tonight playing One Dog Per Verse... a song I wrote a long time ago. I can't remember all of the words, but I have it on tape somewhere. As the title says, each verse is about a different dog that I knew, rolling them all into the same dog. No, not the dog rolling in anything, although I imagine they all did from time to time.

Here's the first verse, honoring an old dog that used to sleep with his front legs on the doormat by the exit door of a supermarket, long since gone (the supermarket and the dog.) He slept right underneath the sign forbiding dogs in the store.

Right underneath the "By Order of the Health Department
No Dogs Allowed," you'd find him every day
Getting kind of stiff around the haunches
With one eye all gone blurry, and his muzzle turning gray
Sleeping with his front legs on the doormat
............... (Got to look this up).. ends with "floor"
And when you called his name, he'd turn and look your way
And when he wagged his tail, he'd open up the door

I'll just keep singing the song until all the words come floating up to the surface of my mind.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: olddude
Date: 18 Oct 08 - 08:52 PM

I tell you what Jerry
I would love to sit at that table with you and your friends
anytime

Dan

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: frogprince
Date: 18 Oct 08 - 08:56 PM

I suspect that I'm not the only one who sits down for a cuppa here once in a while, doesn't get around to saying anything, but finds the company pleasant.
This coming week will be fairly busy, with odds and ends to tie up before heading to a great-nieces wedding in Charlotte NC (We're in Michigan). Once, in another lifetime, I went through Seminary. The brides mom had the impression that I was ordained, which never actually happened. Bride-to-be asked if I would marry them; I felt the first bit of sadness in many years regarding not being ordained.
Final outcome; the couple are going to stop in at the courthouse in the morning and get the legality taken care of, and I still get to officiate for the celebratory ceremony that evening.
Guess what? I'm delighted!
                               Dean

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 18 Oct 08 - 09:16 PM

Anytime you're down this way, Dan...

Second verse:

In his youth he used to chase the autos
There wasn't any car he didn't know
And though he'd lost the vision in his right eye
He would always keep his left eye on the road
As the years rolled by and he grew older
He lost a little mustard in his stride
And so he was content to lie there on that mat
And he'd cock his ear each time a car drove by

This is where the second verse came from: from a chapter in my book titled Pre-Hindsight:

"After I rounded the corner, I was walking on the side of the road on a street without a sidewalk. There was a car approaching me, and I noticed a dog that was running Hell Bent For Leather alongside of it. As the car came closer, I realized that the dog didn't see me
and was about to run me over. At the last moment, he skidded to a halt, somewhat chagrined, and looked up at me apologetically, waiting for a good ear scratch. It was then that I realized why he hadn't seen me. He was blind in his right eye. He ended up as one
verse in a song that I wrote:

    Though he'd lost the vision in his right eye
    He would always keep his left eye on the road"

His eye was on the prize.

There's a lesson in there, somewhere.

Good to see you, frogprince. Nice story, too. Thanks for sharing it with us.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 19 Oct 08 - 03:06 PM

That's a great couple of verses regarding that old, lethargic dog. I take it that when he wagged his tail it triggered the automatic opening!

However...have you noticed that since you introduced us to Herbert the Rooster we have had threads entitled "All the little chickens in the garden" and "Cluck old hen"..?

Then there's the thread on good manners! The manners at this kitchen table are always impeccable...of course...pass the jam spoon, Jerry!

Best wishes,

Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 20 Oct 08 - 04:09 PM

Was that Elmer Fudd I saw lurking in the bushes? We're starting to get close to post 2,000. Can Elmer and Jimmyt be far away?

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 21 Oct 08 - 03:34 PM

Yes....or was it a chicken?

I see another thread has popped up on the list..."lyrics required: Cock a doodle doo."

Now tell me there isn't something going on!

Best wishes,

Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 21 Oct 08 - 04:52 PM

Speaking of chickens, for want of anything more pressing to do, I've been walking around singing Cluck Old Hen recently. I have no idea why. I used to play it on banjo, but haven't done it in years. The line that tickled me referred to a chain of fried chicken stores in the fifties, long since gone extinct: Chicken Delight. If you don't remember it (or it didn't make the trip overseas) the line doesn't make a lot of sense:

Cluck old hen, you cluck all night
Next time you cluck you'll be Chicken Delight

Now where did I put that banjo?

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 21 Oct 08 - 05:29 PM

THis is from an e-mail I sent to my friend John. We were talking about Tom Waits and how we both have always been attracted to the seedy side of town. This is remembering the days when I lived on the seedy side of town.

When I first moved to Stamford, where I lived for over 30 years, I brought everything I owned in the back seat and trunk of my friend's Peugot. It only took one trip. I moved up from New York City where I was living in a one room "apartment." I found an apartment in Stamford and carried my stuff up the stairs. When it got dark that first night, I went to turn on the lights, and discovered that there weren't any light fixtures. The only light I had was in the bathroom. I had no money so I had to wait for my first paycheck in order to buy an old floor lamp at a junk shop in the seedy section of town. It was awhile before I even had a piece of foam rubber to sleep on. Once it got dark and I tired of sitting on the toilet, reading, I'd sit by the window looking down onto the street in the dark and play my guitar.

When I was living in New York, I used to take the subway over to Hoboken to my friend Luke's apartment, which was larger than my one-roomer, but not in the classiest section of town. If there was a classier section of Hoboken. In those days, we didn't have much, but we had all that we needed. Thinkg of those nights, looking out the window at the kids playing on the street, I wrote this song:

A five flight walkup to a cold water flat
A couple of chairs and an old alley cat
A five string banjo and a bottle of wine
We played home-made music that sounded so fine

CHORUS:

    Now the days get shorter and the nights are so long
    And I sit by my window and I write you this song
    Down on the street you can hear the kids sing
    It's such a long time from winter to spring

Up on the roof in the dead of night
Look over the river at the big city lights
Maxwell House Coffee's in yellows and blues
We had all to be gained, and not much to lose

If we had money we'd stop for a beer
Or walk by the water and sit on the pier
Sit and we'd talk 'till there's no more to say
We never needed words anyway

I know there were times when nothing went right
Sometimes we sat up most all of the night
You had your troubles, God knows I had mine
But still we had us one Hell of a time

    Winter to Spring, words and music by Jerry Rasmussen

(Maxwell House Coffee had a large factory on the banks of the river, and you could see it steaming away like a twenty story coffee pot, when we were up on the roof at night. I remember the tantalzing smell of freshly roasted coffee. I have no idea whether or not we did smell it. I'll have to ask Luke. Not that it makes any difference. The truth isn't always accurate.

I put this song on my Back When I Was Young CD.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jeanie
Date: 22 Oct 08 - 04:43 AM

Jerry - that's a very evocative song and reminded me so much of the year I spent as a student in Freiburg, Germany. Like you, my main entertainment had to be people-watching and view-watching. At that time, the difference in the cost of living between England and most of Europe was enormous. Everything in Germany cost twice as much as back home. The German students were comparatively wealthy and had far more money to live on. I lived on bread, plain pasta and something called "Fleischkaese" (literally "meat-cheese", but which bore little resemblance to either !) which I could buy by the slice for a few Pfennigs. I had to ration myself to living off 5 Deutschmarks a week and I will never forget the snooty and incredulous looks I was given by bank customers and bank clerks when I queued up and drew out my cash each week.

To make ends meet, I got a job as a "Putzfrau" (a cleaner), working every Friday for a wealthy couple - a doctor and a physiotherapist. I think I was paid 3 Deutschmarks for that - riches ! The very worst day of my time in Germany was when the lady said "I haven't any change - I will have to pay you next week" - To her, it was nothing. To me, it was my food for the coming week.

BUT, as you say in your song: "You had your troubles, God knows I had mine / But we still had us one Hell of a time".
I wouldn't swap having had those experiences for anything.

- jeanie

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 22 Oct 08 - 09:35 AM

Hey, Jeanie:

How wonderful that you dropped by and shared that story. Here's another one.

Several years ago, when I was first starting to perform in black churches, I sang at a small church one evening. There were a couple other performers, and the man who sang just before me talked about how poor he was when he went to college. He said that he lived on beans (he didn't mention anything about keeping the windows open.) When I got up to sing, I said that I could understand what he went through because when I was in college, I lived on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. I ate so many of them that my friends called me "Skippy." For my friends overseas, Skippy is the most popular brand of peanut butter over here. Everyone got a laugh out of that, because most of them had lived on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches at some time in their lives.

After the service was over, as I was packing up, a little boy came over to me with his father. He looked up at me with a warm smile on his face and said, "I'll never forget you, Skippy."

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: GUEST,Singer's Knight
Date: 23 Oct 08 - 01:27 PM

Good to hear there's still a welcome around the kitchen table!

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Alice
Date: 23 Oct 08 - 01:32 PM

Jerry, I can relate to your story. When I was pregnant with my son, I had complications and had to stay home from work the last 2 months. I lived alone. I didn't have anyone to check on me or help me out. There was a grocery store that would deliver phoned in orders. I lived on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches because I was not supposed to be on my feet, they didn't need to be cooked, only the knife to clean up, and I was short of money while off work.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 24 Oct 08 - 10:46 PM

I'm a-gonna git you this tie, you pesky wabbit! I can feel it in my bones!

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 24 Oct 08 - 10:47 PM

Oh yes I yam! Pwepawe to meet youw Makew!

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 24 Oct 08 - 10:48 PM

Whewe is that pesky wabbit? Whewe did he go?

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 24 Oct 08 - 10:48 PM

I'll find you! You can wun but you can't hide! I'm gonna get you!

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 24 Oct 08 - 10:50 PM

I've got you in my sights! I've got you! I've got you now! Yes I do! Yes I do!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AT LAST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 24 Oct 08 - 11:45 PM

Who were you looking for, Elmer? Haven't seen any rabbits around here recently. Just donkeys and elephants.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 24 Oct 08 - 11:47 PM

Well, somebody had to do it. Tell you what, Elmer, I won't take 3,000--even if it's begging me to do it.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 24 Oct 08 - 11:53 PM

By the way: re: the Beans: they were at the Getaway. We really still miss you there, Jerry--hope you can make it down one of these times. I'd still--and I'm sure I'm not alone--love to hear "Living on the River" sung live by the man who wrote it---and hear a lot more songs.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 24 Oct 08 - 11:54 PM

And the political fever is going to break soon--even we addicts can hardly wait.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 25 Oct 08 - 08:58 AM

Politcal fever?

Hey, it a candidate couldn't make it for a rally, I could fill in for them, word for word. That's mostly true for McCain and You Betcha Sarah. You'd have to have been away on Mars not to have heard everything that has been said a thousand times. I rarely talk politics. I listen until I get the message, and then go about my business. Arguing politics is as useless as arguing religion. I try to avoid both.

But what about those formerly Devil worshipping Tampa Bay Rays?

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 25 Oct 08 - 09:00 AM

Sorry you missed Bugs again, Elmer. If this thread ever gets to 3,000 posts and any of us are still alive, I'll hold Ron to his promise. One of these years, I'll make it to the Getaway, Ron. Nothing else is conflicting for next year, unless someone's planning to get married that weekend.

Maybe I could get down for a house concert again sometime.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 25 Oct 08 - 09:04 AM

Sorry, Jerry, political debating is in fact a terrible addiction for some of us. ( Especially this time when the choice is so clear. It's an abnormal feeling to actually look forward to voting--without reservations.)

But as I said, the motherlode is going to dry up in less than 2 weeks.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 25 Oct 08 - 02:11 PM

Wascally Wabbits, Politics and chickens?

Before this thread goes to the dogs a little story....by the way...make sure Jerry gets to the House Concert or the getaway!

At the singer's session we go to we were trading songs around the room. I sung a particular favourite of mine that I hadn't done there before and I noticed that one of the other singer's was looking stunned! When I finished he said, " I have just realised who you are!" Bearing in mind we had been going to the same session as each other once a month for a good year at least, I said, "Ummm?" It turned out that he had just made the connection with my singing at his local club Hrrrrhm years ago and, not knowing my full name, hadn't made the connection until hearing the song. Cue a wander down memory lane and a visit to the "what ever happened to so and so" club!

Pass the bagels, please!


Peter

P.S. Tell Elmer that there is a strange rabbit in our garden..it's escaped from next door but one!

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 25 Oct 08 - 05:00 PM

And here's a story for you, Pete. The story is true. Only the name of the banjo player has been changed to protect the guilty.

Many, many years ago I went to a concert at a coffee house. Several people had been invited to perform, including me. When I came in through the door, a banjo-playing musician, from here on identified as "The Guy," came over and shook my hand and said, "Ed Trickett!! it's great to see you again." Swiftly getting into the spirit of the moment, I said, "Eric Darling!!! how great to see you." The Guy is not Eric Darling and looks about as much like Eric Darling as I look like Ed Trickett. Even less so. I didn't think much more about it. I figured The Gut was just kidding around.

When it came time for me to do my set, The Guy was up on stage, because he was the Master of Ceremonies for the evening. He looked across the room at me, standing way in the back and introduced me by saying "I'd like to bring up a good friend of mine, now. We've spent many hours playing music together. Let's give a big hand to ED TRICKETT!!!!!!!!" There was nary a "Yeah!!!" in the place. I called up from the back of the room and said, "I'm not Ed Trickett." With no sign of discomfort, The Guy called back, "Who are you?" And I answered, "I'll introduce myself when I get up on stage." This was a local coffee house where I'd played a few times before, and almost everyone in the place knew me. (I'd also been running a monthly folk concert series for close to twenty years, by then, and most of the audience had attending the concerts I presented.) The Guy had met me many times before, but apparently thought I was no one worth noticing.

The Guy is not a member of Mudcat.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 28 Oct 08 - 07:37 PM

Felling a little jangled tonight. Call me Mister Bo-jangled.Some major good stuff has happened to me today, and I'm not used to getting so much accomplished in a day, let alone a week. Of course, my definition of "accomplished" may not be everyone's. This morning, I spent almost two hours over a cup of coffee completely immersed in conversation with my friend Ken, who just happend to be a Baptist minister. He's writing a review of my book, and asked me to print out a few of the chapters for him. He's read the whole book through e-mails, as have a few Mudcatters. Ken is an interesting man, belying all the stereotypes about "men of the cloth." We met at a Christian book store/coffee shop, which might conjure up more images. I didn't hear nary a "hallelujah" while we were there, and the workers and regulars work Ken over pretty well when he's there. The place is like a coffee-ized version of Cheers, where everybody knows His name... We probably spent five minutes talking about my book. The rest of the time, we just had a free-flowing conversation.
I'm not a member of Ken's church, although Ruth and I attend a service once a month, and the Gospel Messengers have sung there many times. Because I'm not a member of the church, Ken can speak completely openly to me, knowing that I can hold a confidence. That means a lot to him. He has a heavy burden on his shoulders, with sickness and exhausting demands on him and his wife, helping for of his in-laws. I don't think I know anyone who has gone through more than Ken and his wife have, this last year. And it brings up the question. Who ministers to Ministers? Who comforts comforters? who do Advisors turn to for advice? There are so many people who dedicate themselves to being there for others. Who is there for them? So I spent most of the time talking with Ken about the things he is doing in his life that he loves (he is very dedicated to getting out into the community to help others, with very little religious proselytizing.) It was a wonderful morning. Two people attuned to each other, offering encouragement and understanding. I call that an accomplishment of the highest degree.

This afternoon, I spent a lot of time on the phone with the woman who is doing the final edit on my book. We're a half hour away from being finished, and it's been a long haul, full of self-doubts. It's sinking in that the book is essentially done and ready to go off to the publisher.

Talking with Ken,I was commenting on how our perception of ourselves limits what we have the ability to do. I've written all my life, and yet have never thought of myself as a writer. I think we're all vulnerable to that. I've communicated with other Catters who don't realize how gifted they are. Sometimes, it takes someone else to reveal our own gifts to us. That's another accomplishment of the highest degree. Ken gives humorous, nourishing sermons that send you out the door, lost in reflection. Not everyone appreciates him. They're the ones who are most vocal. Like all of us, Ken has gifts he hasn't even begun to manifest.

Now I'm tired, and the day is swirling around in my head. Should that all days be like this. What is more blessed that to share time with another person, lifting each other up.

That's what can happen around a kitchen table.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: olddude
Date: 28 Oct 08 - 07:50 PM

God Bless you Jerry
there is not enough good things that can happen to you my friend. I will buy your book in a heartbeat and can't wait when it comes out. And
today, I started your website

Dan

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 29 Oct 08 - 09:07 AM

Yo, Old Dude! Or should I say Young Whippersnapper? Thanks. All good things do happen to me. As soon as I get the manuscript off to the publisher, I'll get back to figuring out my Dreamweaver software so that I can fire up my website.

Yesterday was a beautiful fall day here. We live a ten minute drive from New Haven, Connecticut. I want a photograph of the doorway of an old church to use for the cover of my book, as the chapter that gives the book its title, The Gate of Beautiful is a story about a healing that occurred at the entrance to an old temple named the Gate of Beautiful. Ruth and I drove over to New Haven, parked our car and took a leisurely stroll around the green. You want old churches, New Haven has them. There are five or six churches around the edges of the park, and one smack dab in the middle. I ended up photographing two, and will probably use the old ok, wrought iron and stone doorway of a church in Yale University. I have a connection to the church because I sang there with the Greater New Haven Male Chorus a few years ago in the dead of winter. The furnace had gone out, and I don't think it was not much above freezing in the church. They had a full church, but no one removed their heavy winter coats. It was an experience I'll never forget. I've never sung inside a building where people were wearing mittens, and some of the women were shivering, wearing mink coats.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 29 Oct 08 - 09:40 PM

So, like what's going on over your way? I already know what I'm doing.

Tomorrow night is Halloween. The most memorable of all my Halloweens was four or five years ago, when several of my English friends in the Shellbacks were over her after the Getaway. They came over for Halloween we had a great time. None of them had experienced the whole trick or treat thing, and they had a lot of fun going to the door to give candy to the kids. It's something that I love. I've had many years when I was living where kids didn't come around. In New York City, the kids would just about call the police if you offered them candy. Now money, they'd hit you up for that...

This evening, I printed up a copy of the final, edited manudscript for my book. It felt reallll good, holding it in my hands. Tomrrow, after a final proof-read, I'll e-mail it to the publisher. This feels a lot like getting the test pressing of my first album for Folk-Legacy. Not quite real.

But it sure is fun!

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 30 Oct 08 - 05:38 AM

Good to hear it is all coming together for you, Jerry. You'll be watching that mailbox like a hungry tiger!

What's happening? Well...a few of us are waiting for you to get the kettle on :0)...apart from that everything rolls on in bucolic rural state, with little to disturb the even tenor of our days...

Christmas has come early with half-hearted assistants under orders to bedeck the shops...which they are doing reluctantly as it is far too early.

In the old days.......nah, let's not go there!

Enjoy your day,

Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 30 Oct 08 - 01:20 PM

Hi Jerry,
how exiting to have your book published.Reading your stories at the table over the past couple of years has been a joy for me, I am sure the book will be brilliant,let us know where we can buy a copy.

The weather is what has been happening over here, snow at the start of the week, first time in October since 1930 something! I am hoping tomorrow will not be too cold as it is our wedding anniversary and we are going up the coast to Aldborough for a long walk and then dinner.
Then Guy Fawlkes night next week with bonfires and fireworks. Seems like winter is here too soon, and we really did not have much of a summer.That is why us British always talk about the weather!

We put the clocks back last weekend so it is dark before five in the afternoon.I saw my first Christmas tree in a shop window on my way to work this morning, Pete is right it is far too soon.Halloween tomorrow and November to go through before we should start to think about Christmas!
Hot coffee and a log fire please to warm me up!
Wendy

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 30 Oct 08 - 07:03 PM

Hey, WendyPete:

Good to see that you dropped by. We did see a couple fine snow flakes yesterday, but it isn't that cold here yet. The fall colors are at their peak around here, so driving in the country is breath-taking, especially late in the afternoon when the sun is low on the horizon. That seems to bring the colors to their full brilliance.

Speaking of getting an early start on the holidays. They had Christmas decorations on display before they had the back-to-school displays up. August? It's time for the pre-season sales. Christmas, that is. When I was growing up, there was an unwritten agreement that no Christmas decorations in stores would go up until after Thanksgiving. Now, the Christmas season is as interminably long as the election season over here. Funny thing is, I've completed my Christmas shopping already, so that I can try to get beyond all the jingles and stale Christmas songs (Jingle Bell Rock, anyone) and focus on the Reason for the Season.

Today we were out shopping(Ruth hasn't finished her shopping, yet.) While she was at the checkout counter, I saw what looked like Easter Bunnies, wrapped in gold foil. I said to the woman at the register, "Please tell me that these aren't Easter Bunnies..." She said, "Oh no, they're reindeer." They'd drawn what were supposed to be horns on the Easter Bunny's ears and magically transformed them into Rein Bunnies. Rudolph the Rednosed Rein Bunny. Maybe we could come up with one irritating song that could cover all of the seasons.
Rudolph the red white and blue nosed rein bunny. That would take care of Christmas, Easter and the 4th of July. Then, they could put a feather in his antlers to symbolize Thanksgiving.

I think I've stumbled onto the greatest potential growth industry in the world!

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 01 Nov 08 - 12:09 PM

Ah Jerry,

Here's a song to start your road to riches!

Dear reader, if you are easily offended, or of a nervous disposition, please look away now!

To the tune of 'Boys and Girls come out to play'. All rights reserved!

Come and sing Hip Hip Hooray,
The Easter Bunny comes out today
To wish you all a Happy Yule;
The day that you don't go to school!
The Bunny brings presents
For me and you
To celebrate the old Red, White and Blue.

Fire your fireworks to the sky
For Easter Eggs are found nearby
Dropped by witches as they soar
Above the Christmas Tree once more!
Celebrate in Shamrock Green
The best Thanksgiving there's ever been!

I'll get me coat!

Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 01 Nov 08 - 04:07 PM

LOL! That's great, Pete! I can't think of any way to improve it except to maximize its commercial potential, maybe you could change it to Hip Hop Hooray.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: maeve
Date: 01 Nov 08 - 06:10 PM

Hi, Jerry. We aren't offended by the absurdly early displays because we're usually too busy on the farm to get into town to see them.

This time of year has a certain urgency about it; as strong as the urge for birds to head south, but less picturesque. We just keep on clearing crops, cleaning up weeds, fastening plastic over windows, clearing out anything in the way of keeping warm with the wood and coal stoves.

It's time to set the potted apple trees and the sacks of potatoes in the cellar, the perennials from the stand into a bed of compost or onto the ground in the greenhouse. It's time to freeze, dry, and preserve produce or tuck it into the cellar until I have time to deal with it. Time to haul wood and bag up white pine cones for kindling, and to get those boxes of paperwork sorted and filed or recycled or composted.

It's time to clear out clothing that we don't need, and check the recycling shed in the village for a flannel shirt or pair of mittens to replace worn things that have become rags or fire starters. Coats we haven't worn for a couple of years will become a warm hug for someone else, and Mr. Reny will sell us some warm socks and long johns.

But soon, very soon, it will be time to learn and sing old songs and new, time to play the guitars, the dulcimers, the fiddle and whistle. It will be time to open the watercolors and paint scenes of the summer's garden wealth. Time to write and rewrite the songs and poems that linger in rough form in my notes. The mittens will be knitted and the quilts will be pieced. The house will be filled with the scents of fresh bread and jams and stew.

And this year, if we succeed in the clearing and cleaning and the seeking of order, we will have guests come to visit us on sparkling bright days and in the deep dark of evening. An empty nursery will be transformed into a welcoming guest room. Voices will ring in the front hall, and our house will have its blessing. Our lovelight will shine.

Winter is coming. Rejoice!

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 01 Nov 08 - 06:59 PM

Hey, maeve:

What a wonderful post! It brings back all sorts of memories of visiting my Uncles on their farms when I was a kid. Along the line, my mother's memories have been mixed in. They're just memories, now.

"Old Uncle Jim he said, said to his son he said
Wake up Howard 'cause it's almost dawn
The snow drifts have covered up the old hay wagon
Gonna have to dig our way out to the barn
The cows will all be waiting for the old milk pail
And it won't be long before the rooster crows
So we better hop to it, 'cause there's no one else to do it
And the sky is turning cloudy and it looks like snow"

                   Uncle Jim, by Jerry Rasmussen

My songs are full of references to the hardness, and joys of farming.

"When you're working five to nine, and you hear that highway whine
Makes you think the road can set you free"

I have a wonderful letter my mother wrote about her childhood on my Grandpa Holliday's dairy farm.

Thanks for bringing back a lot of good memories.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 03 Nov 08 - 03:55 PM

There's a chill in the air these days, and it makes me think that it's time to do some baking. I'm diabetic, so I haven't baked in a long time, but with the advent of Splenda (don't know what they have overseas,) I can bake again. I've been looking through my mother's recipe book that she gave to me when she was too old to cook, and I think I'll try something out. If it turns out well, I'll post the recipe on here.

Hey, we're sitting in the kitchen...

Any other recipes for baked goods anyone wants to share?

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 15 Nov 08 - 04:12 PM

Hello Jerry,

Seems an ages since we chewed the fat. I see you are looking for some recipes. My Mum used to make the best cakes....they came from a packet mix.....good though!

Dad was the real cook in our family. His cherry pie was to die for. It has gone down in family legend as the lode stone by which all ventures are judged.

We have been through the rememberance time of year here in rural Suffolk. The village bell ringers rang a muffled peal for the fallen. For those of you who do not know what a mufled peal might be, let me explain. The bells have a leather muffle tied to them so that, as they swing, one side rings clear and the other side rings with a muffled sound.

There is only one thing more poignant than hearing a muffled peal ringing out over a village where a generation died for their country, and that is to ring a muffled peal for some-one you loved. I had that priviledge in the days when I was a member of the bell ringing team. Our next door neighbour died and, as two of us lived near her, we asked permission to ring her a muffled peal. The most uplifting and heart-rending thing I have ever done.

Best wishes,

Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 15 Nov 08 - 07:14 PM

That's beautiful, Pete: Thanks for sharing.

A while back, I posted a story on here about the 105 year old woman. It's since grown into a final chapter for my book. This is the chapter. Be forewarned. It talks about my faith. If that's bothersome to it, you can skip to whoever posts next. Not trying to proselytize here. Mudcat has been an inspiration for several chapters in my book.

The Cosmos and the Check-out Clerk

        I was talking with my old friend Reverend Dennis Albrecht the other day. It's been many years since we last talked, but it felt like only a few days had passed. Dennis moved away and we'd lost contact with each other. I tracked him down through my old church where he was my pastor. It was Dennis who first encouraged me to write, and I felt the need to rekindle our friendship and express my appreciation for all that he'd done for me.
        The old enthusiasm was still there. Dennis talked about his reading and writing about God's revelation in the universe. He mentioned a book he'd been reading, Your God Is Too Small by J.B. Phillips, and as soon as we were off the phone, I ordered a copy. So many of the books in my library were recommended by Dennis that it felt like old times ordering the book. I told Dennis about my book, and thanked him for his inspiration and belief in me. Several of the chapters I've written grew out of letters to him.
The next day, I received an e-mail from Dennis, responding to the chapters that I'd sent to him. He wrote" I went through them quickly, but they have the Rasmussen flavor --- down to earth and clear." Reading that, I had to laugh. Dennis had the universe covered, and I was keeping my eyes out down here on earth.
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. (Genesis 1:1-2)
        And so it began. God is revealed in all that he has created. Being earth-bound, it is hard to comprehend the magnificence of the heavens. We stand here in awe, observing God's handiwork.
        It was on a night many years ago when I was out visiting my family in Wisconsin. My parents had gone to bed and I was feeling restless. There not being a whole lot to do in town, I drove out into the country. In the years that had passed since I'd left the Midwest I'd come to appreciate the sky. In New England, our view is often obscured by mountains and forests and I found that I missed the open vistas of the prairies. As I was driving along, I began to see faint ribbons of colored lights gently flowing across the evening sky. I pulled my car over to the shoulder of the road and stepped out. There was nothing around me but open fields illuminated by the brightest display of the Northern Lights that I'd ever seen. Many years before, I'd sat in the observation dome of an old world war II bomber flying over the Arctic ocean, watching the Northern Lights up close, but nothing compared to that night. As I stood there silently watching the ever-shifting ribbons of color, I felt like I was standing on holy ground. I marveled at the glory of God that was revealed in the prairie sky.
        When I drove back to my parent's house, I saw my nephew Mike standing in the street. At the time, he was staying next door to my parent's house. Even though the tree-lined street partially obscured the view, he was standing there marveling at the sky. He had been driving through the country at the same time I was and like me, he had pulled over to watch the display of light. We stood there together for a few minutes lost in thought before wishing each other a good night and heading inside.
        If you're looking for God, you don't have far to go. He reveals himself in everything that we do throughout the most ordinary day. Mountain top or prairie fields experiences are rare gifts to be savored and remembered. But it is in the valleys of our days where God's presence gives us strength and comfort.
        It seems like every time I shop in the store she's working at the check-out counter. Even though she often looks weary, she always has a smile on her face as she greets the customers approaching her register. The backbone of a store isn't the manager, as some might lead you to believe. It is the person who waits on you. Christ recognized the importance of service, and any job that is done out of a love for the Lord can be a ministry.
And whosever will be chief among you, let him be your servant: Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many. (Matthew 20:27-28)
        Standing there in line the other day I watched as a frail, elderly woman slowly placed her few items on the conveyor belt. She appeared to be lost in thought, her mind far away. When the woman at the register saw the woman, she broke into a warm smile and asked the woman how she was doing. As the woman reached across the counter to take her small packages, they spoke briefly to each other, the check-out clerk expressing her sympathy to the woman at the loss of her husband. It was only a brief moment in time, but I believe it meant a lot to the elderly woman just to know someone cared about her.
        When Christ chose his apostles, he didn't select the people held in the highest esteem. Peter, Andrew, James, and John were simple fishermen. If Jesus came back today and chose apostles, he would look into people's hearts to see the love of his father dwelling there. He would not be impressed with titles. He might well call a check-out clerk. You know he'd call some women. He is still calling us to follow him.
        If you are looking for God, he's not hard to find. He is in the weed that pushes its way up through a crack in the sidewalk, reminding us of the sanctity of life. He is there in the check-out clerk who stops for a moment to comfort an elderly woman who has just lost her husband. You can see him in the vastness of the universe he created and hear him in the silence of a cold mountain lake at sunrise. God is everywhere.

Hmmm... wrong story... I thought this was the chapter with the 105 year old woman. That did become a chapter in my book, too. Oh well...

Jerry

Subject: Lyr Add: WRITING ON THE WALL
From: oldhippie
Date: 15 Nov 08 - 08:49 PM

WRITING ON THE WALL
[ country-folk; co-written by Daniel Muhammad ]

from freedomtracks.com


       Back in '68, in a land divided by hate

       Some picked up a sign, some a gun in answer to the call

       Headed off to war, what for, no one was really sure

       No one could see the writing on the wall


       Me and brother Abel, sittin' at the table

       Eatin' peas an' cornbread and Mom's warm apple pie

       The day she got the word, word she'd long since feared

       A note that said we're sorry, you're true love had to die

       And all that's left of Daddy is a name on some memorial

       Can't we see the writing on the wall?


       Seems again of late in a land divided by hate

       Some pick up a sign, some a gun in answer to the call

       Headed off to war, what for, no one is really sure

       Seems like no one sees the writing on the wall


       Yeah, we're sittin' at the table minus brother Abel

       Eatin' peas an' cornbread and Mom's warm apple pie

       Last week she got the word, word she'd long since feared

       A note that said we're sorry, your firstborn had to die

       All that's left of Abel will be a name on some memorial

       Can't we see the writing on the wall?


       Will we be sittin' at the table without the son of Abel

       Eatin' peas an' cornbread and Mom's warm apple pie?

       When she gets the word, word she's long since feared. . .

       Will we ever see the writing on the wall? *

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 15 Nov 08 - 09:09 PM

Good song, oldhippie: Thanks for stopping by. As someone who was at the first Woodstock, I guess I qualify as an old hippie, too. An old, pr3etty straight hippie...

The first verse of a song I wrote, May My Heart Find Rest in Thee:


I take cold comfort in the ways of man
I see no justice in this land
I feel the anger of the unstayed hand
May my heart find rest in thee

These are scary times, sure enough.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: olddude
Date: 15 Nov 08 - 09:38 PM

Hi Jerry,
just sitting here sharing a cup of tea with you. A neighbor gave me som herbal tea's. I am more of a coffee drinker but this berry flavored whatever it is ... well it is very nice with real honey in it. My old weiner dog doolie is on my lap and my new weiner dog puppy is playing with my sock. All is right with the world tonight. Can't tell you how much I enjoyed the chapter you sent me. It will be quite a wonderful book my friend. I was picking my 5 string banjo earlier. Wow am I bad .. but I have so much fun with it. Just like the sound of the banjo with folk music. Well I thought I would drop by for a visit

Blessings
Dan

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 15 Nov 08 - 11:01 PM

Hey, old dude:

A story:

Many years ago, when I was Director of the Stamford Museum in Connecticut, I started what I called a Potlatch with my dear friend Dallas Kline. I was running a folk concert series at the Museum, and Dallas was running one at a place called The Barn in Ridgefield. All of that was great, and each series had a loyal following. Still, it bothered me that folk music was being treated like something you pay money to come and listen to. I wanted to have a place where people could come and play, no matter what level of ability they were. I chose the name Potlatch because it's a Pacific Northwest Indian ceremony where the purpose is to see who gives the most. It never seemed to catch on in white society...

When we started out, there were people from rank beginners to professionals with albums to their credit. My desire was that everyone be encouraged and appreciated, whatever their ability. There was a tall, lanky man, Ben, who was one of the most loyal regulars. Ben looked about as close as you could get to being Abe Lincoln, and he had a Jimmy Stewart, "Aw, shucks, 'tweren't nothin'" personality. Ben played banjo. He only knew three chords in one key, as far as I could figure out. He didn't pick the banjo, he just strummed the chords with his thumb. Every song had the same rhythm. It was the only one he could play. He always played the same songs. His repertoire didn't appear to be any more than five or six.

As we went around the room, there'd be fancy finger-pickers on guitar, a kid who played hammered dulcimer who was still in high school and women with beautiful voices. And there was Ben. He'd lean back in his chair, close his eyes and when he sang, his whole body sang the song. Never mind that we'd heard it many times before, and it was always in the same languorous rhythm. It was new every time he played it.

More professional musicians would come to the Potlatch, trying to blow everyone away, looking as pleased as the cat who ate the canary after they'd finish their song. Afterward, they'd ask me for a booking. They didn't get it. Ben blew me away. The Potlatch wasn't about getting a booking, or looking better than everyone else. It was about giving the most.

Ben won.

Jerry

hmmm... I think there might be a chapter in here somewhere.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 16 Nov 08 - 01:36 PM

Hello Jerry,

That's a thought-provoking story about Ben. What does worry me about some of the comments on other threads is that cleatrly other clubs and sessions have their Ben's and they are being sidelined! IMHO those posters are missing the point...just as those folks in your story did.

Best wishes,

Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: olddude
Date: 16 Nov 08 - 01:52 PM

What a beautiful story Jerry
Thank you, that is one for your book my friend

God's Blessings
Dan

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Alice
Date: 16 Nov 08 - 02:01 PM

Your story of Ben reminds me of our small community of folk musicians here in Montana.
We get together sometimes in public spots like a bar, or in private homes or cabins in the woods. People bring to the table who they are and what they have and we appreciate what is offered. There are no official clubs involved, or dues, or organizers, rules or expectations. Music is music, and we share it with each other however we can.

Alice

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 16 Nov 08 - 05:04 PM

Another story:

When I was in my senior year in college, I roomed with someone I'd only known a couple of months in the last semester of my junior year. At the time I met Randy, he didn't have a C average, but he wanted to go to graduate school. Sounded pretty stupid to most people. But not to me. When I was in my junior year, after having flunked out of college, I didn't have a C average and I made up my mind that I was going to go to graduate school. When I told one of my professors in my department of my intentions, he laughed and said, "Rasmussen, you don't have the chance of a snowball in Hell to get into graduate school with your grades." He never shoulda said that. But I'm glad that he did. I got straight A's in my Junior and Senior year and not only got into graduate school, I got a Teaching Assistantship. So, when Randy asked me if I thought he was stupid to want to go to graduate school, I told him that he should go for it.
Our senior year he asked to room with me and we took the same classes. Randy had no idea how to study, so he sutdied with me, and we helped each other review all of the material for our tests. While he couldn't get his grades up as high as I had, because he had a later start, he had terrific grades that year and was accepted into graduate school at the University of Kansas. He ended up getting a Doctorate and had a fine career as a college professor.

That year when Randy was rooming with me, I was just learning to play guitar. I was passable, but have never sung in front of a group, or anyone except my roommates, and some of the guys in my rooming house. Randy loved guitar, and after I'd moved to New York City and was taking lessons from Dave Van Ronk, Randy wrote and asked me if I thought that it was stupid for him to learn to play guitar. He couldn't sing to save his soul, and he never expected to play for anything but his own enjoyment. You can probably guess what my answer was. I sent him tapes and lesson plans in the mail, and had a chance to visit with him once, to show him what I'd sent him in person. I have no idea if he was ever good enough to perform, but that has absolutely nothing to do with whether or not he should learn to play guitar and sing. If he was never good enough, he got an enormous amount of pleasure from playing for himself. And who knows, maybe he was underestimating himself. A lot of other people had. I lost track of him, so I don't know how good he got. All I know is sometimes all it takes is someone encouraging you to try to do something to unlock a potential you never knew that you had.

My best advice to folks and myself too is when someone tells you you can't do something, the best response is, 'Oh yeah!" That may not be the most intellectual comeback, but it's worked for me, and many others.

Since when did folk music get taken away from folks?

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Alice
Date: 16 Nov 08 - 06:48 PM

My parents did not have radio or records (or electricity) when they were growing up. Families and friends made their own music then. When I get together with the relatives, it is still normal for us to bring out the songs, the guitar, the fiddle. It's just a normal part of our family history. For my son - I've raised him making his own music, so he has carried that tradition on, and now in college, he writes his own songs and has friends who make music together with him. I know of many families who still make music at home together. There may be more of that going on than we suspect.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 16 Nov 08 - 08:36 PM

I'm glad to hear that, Alice. When I was growing up it was commonplace to get together to sing. Any house in the neighborhood with a piano was a likely gathering place. We didn't sing "folk music." I don't think anyone had ever even heard the term. Certainly, we weren't consciously categorizing music. We might sing The Blue Tail Fly or On Top Of Old Smokey, but no one said, "This is an old folk song that I learned from a recording released on the Vocallion label first recorded by Wade Mainer and His Mountaineers." Folk singers are so foolishly self-conscious about all of that. I can see old Dock Boggs sitting out on his front porch in a rocking chair on a Saturday night, introducing each song with a history of where he'd learn it, and other variations that he'd heard. We sang. Or played an instrument, if someone knew how. I suppose that because we played paino instead of a guitar or banjo, it was somehow less folkish. There'd always be a few hymns and popular songs of the time, translated into our own abilities and style with no attempt to recreat a recording. Sounds like a night on the porch with Charlie Poole and Uncle Dave Macon.

Every once in awhile when I feel everything is getting too precious at a folk festival, I'll burst into something like Blue Monday, or Searchin.' The thing that always gives me a kick is that even though it isn't pure, folks jump right in and have a good time singing along.

Sometimes we think too much.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Peace
Date: 16 Nov 08 - 08:42 PM

"Sometimes we think too much."

Truer words was never . . . .

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 17 Nov 08 - 05:18 PM

Hello Peace,

Good to have you here...pass me another cookie, if you would be so kind!

Yes, Jerry.....why do we sing the songs we do? Surely we sing songs or play tunes that have some resonance with us....so much so that we want to share them...they are all our favourites*, but they won't all be from the same genre. Some of our aquaintances find that very hard to cope with!

(*some, of course, are more favourite than others!)

Best wishes,

Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Alice
Date: 17 Nov 08 - 06:39 PM

Jerry, the other day, for some reason, when I posted my recent message on this thread, I had the scene from Blazing Saddles flash in my memory
quote:

    Bart: [Crooning, with fellow railworkers providing backing vocals] I get no kick, from champagne... Mere alcohol doesn't thrill me at all...[the bullying supervisors look immensely confused] so why then should it be true?... that I get a belt - outta you... Some get a kick from coca-yeai-yeaiiiinnnneee...
    Lyle: Hold it! Hold it! What the hell is that shit?! I meant a song! A real song! Like [singing] "Swing low, sweet chariot"...
    [The railworkers mumble to each other in mock confusion]

I thought of all the times songs of all kinds are mixed together in the groups of people I know, the freedom to sing just in the pure love of a song. It seems weird to me that there is so much categorizing and rules of what is allowable... or not.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 17 Nov 08 - 09:30 PM

Ruth and I spent today in New York City. It's a two hour train ride from up here in Derby. Among other things that we did, we went on a quest for a McDonald's. That sounds sicker than it was. They had a program on the Travel Channel that Ruth watches, listing the top 10 McDonald's restaurants. From what I remember, number 3 was in Hell.
Their flame-broiled big Macs are supposed to be fantastic, served on a pitchfork. One of the top ten is in New York City, where they have live music and waitresses. A big Mac still tastes like road kill, even if someone serves it to you. But, being the dutiful husband, we trekked from McDonald's to McDonald's because Ruth didn't know what street it was on. Finally after our search for the holy Broil fell through, I was getting hungry so at the fourth or fifth McDonald's, I suggested we eat there. That shows how desperate I was.

No sooner had we sat down than a young black man approached us, asking for change. You could tell that he wasn't "seeding" the pot like they do in tip mugs, putting singles and five dollar bills in to keep you throwing a nickle in there. This young man had a dime a nickle and two pennies in his hand. I didn't see him approaching, so when he asked me for change I shook my head, "No." After he moved on, I felt the desire to give him something, but I didn't want to pull a few pennies out of my pocket. When I pulled out my billfold and opened it, the first thing I saw was a five dollar bill. And I thought, "Why not, he needs it a lot more than I do." I pulled it out, walked over to the young man who by then had asked another dozen people with no contributions, and placed the five dollar bill in his hand. He stuck it in his pocket without looking, and then embraced me, repeating God Bless you! over and over again. I thanked him and told thim that God does, and wished him a good day.

When he left, I went to sit down and resume my McChicken Sandwich, my Mcfries and my McCoffee. No sooner had I sat down, then the young many appeared again, beaming from ear to ear. Apparently, he'd gone outside and fished the bill out of his pocket, expecting it to be a dollar bill only to discover that it was a fiver. He was so excited!
He thanked Ruth and me repeatedly and once again asked God to Bless us. It was a sweet experience.

When I lived in New York City, I slowly became encrusted with indifference. I'ts hard to avoid that when you live there. It was the primary reason why I felt that I had to get out of the City. Old voices would have said, "He's just going to use that money to buy drugs." And who knows, maybe he was. But somehow, I didn't think so.
Besides, thinking had nothing to do with it. It was an act of love.
Love is never completely in vain.

Later, I remembered that we watched Sullivan's Travels last night and there is a scene where Sullivan walks through the slums, giving five dollar bills to people who are down and out. We may not be that far away from a depression here, and maybe the image stayed in my mind. Whatever prompted me to pull out the five dollar bill, I felt good about it. Which reminded me of the chorus of a song I wrote a long time ago:

Love may be fickle, Love may be vain
Ignored or rejected, but all the same
Whatever the cost, love is never in vain
For love lifts the lover

And I felt lifted.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: maeve
Date: 18 Nov 08 - 01:48 PM

Hi, Jerry and friends. Have some pear-apple cobbler, still bubbling.

Twice this week I've found myself stranded on a back road with no telephone and a useless car. Both times I fully expected I'd have to walk twenty miles to get home. And both times an unexpected ride materialized in the person of a kind stranger who was just passing through.

The first was a young man from the fire station near where I stopped who had just achieved his dream of completing his EMT training. He and his boy drove miles out of their way to deliver me safely home, and refused to accept any money for gas. The second was just this morning, when a rough pothole on the side of the road ruined not only the tire but the rim as well. I walked to the nearest house and found a woman just about to leave for her Bible study class. Not only did she let me try to telephone my husband, she drove me 15 miles in the opposite direction from where she needed to go, just to get me safely home.

Both angels-in-waiting refused any sort of compensation; only asking me to do a kindness for someone else in return. I am grateful, and will comply with pleasure.

Try some black cherry icecream with that cobbler. Thanks for the visit.

maeve

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 18 Nov 08 - 02:26 PM

Hey, Maeve:

Don't mind if I do. Pass the plate over this way, if you don't mind.
I've got a big tray of lasagna baking in the oven.

This is the chapter for my book that evolved out of yesterday's post.

Love Lifts the Lover
And Jesus said,
Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; For I was ahungered, and ye gave me meat…
        Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee ahungered and fed thee…?
And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
Then shall he say unto them on the left hand, Depart from me ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
For I was ahungered and ye gave me no meat…
(Matthew 25:34-35,37,40-41)

My wife Ruth and I spent today in New York City. Among other things we did, we went on a quest for a McDonald's. Normally, we avoid McDonald's like the plague, but, we'd seen a program on the Travel Channel listing the top 10 McDonald's restaurants and one of the restaurants is in New York City. From what I remember, number 3 was in Hell. Their flame-broiled big Macs are supposed to be fantastic, served on a pitchfork. When we were in Asheville, North Carolina we went to the Mcdonald's across the street from the Biltmore Estate, where they have a fireplace and a player piano. The one in New York City, is supposed to have live entertainment and waitresses.
Not knowing the address of the Mcdonald's we were looking for we trekked from one McDonald's to the next, asking the people in each one if they knew where the fabled McDonald's was located. We never did find it. By the time our search for the holy broil fell through, I was hungry. We were at the fourth or fifth McDonald's, and we were tired of walking, so I suggested we eat there.
        No sooner had we sat down than a young black man approached us, asking for change. You could tell that he wasn't "seeding" the pot like they do in tip mugs, putting singles and five dollar bills in to keep you from throwing a nickle in there. This young man had a dime a nickle and two pennies in his hand. I didn't see him approaching, so when he asked me for change I shook my head, "No." After he moved on, I felt the desire to give him something, but I didn't want to pull a few pennies out of my pocket. When I pulled out my billfold and opened it, the first thing I saw was a five dollar bill. And I thought, "Why not? he needs it a lot more than I do." I pulled it out, walked over to the young man who by then had asked another dozen people with no success, and placed the five dollar bill in his hand. He stuck it in his pocket without looking, and then embraced me, repeating God Bless you brother! over and over again. I thanked him and told him that God does, and wished him a good day.
        When he left, I sat down to finish my McChicken Sandwich, my Mcfries and my McCoffee. Not long afterwards, the young many appeared again beaming from ear to ear. Apparently, he'd gone outside and fished the bill out of his pocket, expecting it to be a dollar bill only to discover that it was a five. He was so excited! He thanked Ruth and me repeatedly and once again asked God to Bless us. It was a sweet experience.
        When I lived in New York City, I found myself increasingly deadened to the people around me. It's hard to avoid becoming that way when you live there. It was the primary reason why I felt I had to get out of the City. Old voices would have said, "He's just going to use that money to buy drugs." And who knows, maybe he was. But somehow, I didn't think so.
Besides, thinking had nothing to do with it. It was an act of love. Love is never in vain.

Later, I remembered that Ruth and I had watched Sullivan's Travels the night before and there is a scene where Sullivan walks through the slums, giving five dollar bills to people who were down and out. We may not be that far away from a depression here, and maybe the image stayed in my mind. Whatever prompted me to pull out the five dollar bill, I felt good about it. Which reminded me of the chorus of a song I wrote a long time ago.
        Love may be fickle, Love may be vain
       Ignored or rejected, but all the same
       Whatever the cost, love is never in vain
       For love lifts the lover
And I felt lifted.

        It doesn't say in the bible how the people on the left hand responded to Christ's teachings about the needy, but I imagine they said something like this:
        "What are you talking about? The guy said that he was hungry, but he looked like a drunk to me. He wouldn't have used the money to get something to eat, anyway. He would have bought a bottle of wine. I work hard for my money. Why should I give it to someone
who's too lazy to work?"

        When you feel that God is putting it on your heart to help someone, don't analyze it. Just do it.

I'm glad that someone helped you, meave. They didn't stop to question whether or not it was convenient.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 19 Nov 08 - 04:53 AM

Hello all,

That lasagne smells awesome!

The posts from Maeve and from Jerry remind me that every interaction is akin to dropping a stone into the middle of a pond. Remember the fun we used to have as kids (or even today, if there's no-one watching)? We used to go to the local pond and see if we could get a stone to splash as near to the centre as we possibly could. The ripples spread out in circles from the splash and so it is with the ripples from our actions. We never know where the ripples are going to come ashore!

Best wishes,

Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 22 Nov 08 - 03:38 PM

Hello again,

I went to a great little club the other night. Everyone was joining in, singing along and really enjoying themselves. It was like stepping back 30 years! Such enthusiasm should be bottled!

Best wishes,

Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 22 Nov 08 - 09:33 PM

Ah sullivan's travels!

love Veronica Lake! The girl with peekaboo hair!

Reminds me of the first girl I fell in love with.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 23 Nov 08 - 02:34 PM

Last night, Ruth and I went to the 50th Anniversary of the Men's Chorus at Immanuel Baptist church in neighboring New Haven. I guess that's about as close to a "jam" that I get. I sang for two years in the Greater New Haven Male Chorus with most of the guys from Immanuel, along with men from several other male choruses, so it was like a reunion. There's one group of guys I could listen to all night who were there. They're a male chorus from their church, and almost every guy in the chorus (which varies from 6-8 men) could sing lead on r&b. Best yet, they sing a capella. Best yet, for me, anyway. They have such rich harmonies and such an incredible blend that the music gets down into soul. One of the guys in the group sang in Greater Haven chorus I was in. He sang the lead on The Hem of His Garment that Sam Cooke sang the lead on with the Soul Stirrers. He did a fine job on it. It's been three years since I last saw him. He's all of 15 years old, now. The group was a guest at one of the Gospel Messengers anniversaries, and we were glad to see each other again.

A second group, the Crescendos sang at a Swanee Quintet concert where the Messengers also sang, two years ago. Great folks, and a pleasure to hear them again.

Tonight, I sing with the Union Baptist Men's Chorus at an anniversary of another Men's Chorus of a church in Stamford. There'll be several other groups there, so I know I'll see a lot of old acquaintances. Should be fun.

Oh yeah, yesterday, I printed a copy of the final, edited and formatted manuscript for my book. It goes off the the publisher on Tuesday or Wednesday, along with the text and photos for the cover of the book.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 24 Nov 08 - 08:01 PM

We just got a beautiful e-card from Theresa Tooley. We'd sent her an e-card for Thanksgiving, chosen from Daysprings.com. Theresa was at our home on Halloween four years ago, and she is warmly remembered. It's wonderful keeping in touch with old friends. Now that I think of it, I said I'd attach a chapter from my book to her e-mail and didn't. I do that all the time... blush...

I'll do it right now before I forget...

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 24 Nov 08 - 08:07 PM

This afternoon I stopped in at Walmart to get something and my friend the Checkout Clerk was there. I've shared chapters with everyone I've written about in the book, whether ther were mentioned by name or not. It just seemed right to do it. The other day I gave Sandra a copy of The Cosmos and the Checkout Clerk, which I see I posted in here a while back. She was very moved by it, and wants to buy a copy of the book when it comes out. She mentioned the book again today and I told her that I'd autograph it saying, "To Sandra, the Checkout Clerk" so everyone would know that she was the one I'd written about.

Every day I see people giving of themselves in what are considered menial jobs. No job is menial unless you make it that. You can be a corporate executive with a menial job or find vbalue in bringing in shopping carts from the parking lot. It all depends on the spirit in which you do the work.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 30 Nov 08 - 10:18 AM

Hello Jerry,

Well...the recipe said that the mushroom soup was "robust"....see what you think of it!

I guess there are quite a few folks out there who are waiting for a copy of your book, Jerry.

Thanks for keeping us updated.

Perhaps we could have a discussion on which supermarket has the most dedicated cashiers! ...and why is it that people who work in cut-price stores are so miserable?

Best wishes,

Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 30 Nov 08 - 08:00 PM

Hey, Pete:

I've been under the weather, with a stoooopid cold, but tonight I finally felt almost human. I wrote the text for the back of the book cover, and now everything is done and ready to e-mail off to the publisher tomorrow. I don't believe that the turnover time will be all that long, as I am publishing with a print on demand publisher. All it will need is demand... :-) The cover still needs to be designed and the text laid out to their specifications.

I've been thinking alot about quietness these days, something that is hard to find. Lucy Simpson, who was a wonderful singer and a regular in the New England area loved to sing the song Blessed Quietness. She sang it like she meant it, very soft and flowing. A few months ago, I was at a small black church where we were playing and the orgnaist lit into a Fats Waller sounding, breakneck version of the song. Apparently, the message must have slipped by him.

These days, everything is at eardrum piercing volume, whether it's the soundtrack in a movie theatre, or music in churches (at least in many of the black churches.) When I pull up to a stop sign and there is someone in a car in the lane next to me, the sound is deafening, even though both cars have their windows rolled up. I can't imagine how loud it is in the car that's playing the music. I don't know how it's like in England, but I suspect that it's the same. You folks are picking up all of our worst habits!

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 06 Dec 08 - 03:30 PM

Hello Jerry,

I hope the cold has been sent on its way now. Onion soup is good for colds. Mind you, onion soup is good for anything!

The status symbol of a good sound system in your car cannot be ignored. If you draw up at the lights and you are bopping along to Jerry Rasmussen's greatest hits this is not seen to be as trendy and today as having the whole car vibrating to the steady boomp boomp boomp from the enormous bass speaker in the boot. (Trunk to you on the left of the pond!)In the good ol' days the boot (trunk) would be home to a few leaves left over from the last trip to the dump, a foot pump and a pile of re-usable supermarket bags. Nowadays it is likely to be taken up by a massive loudspeaker! All that is then needed is an endless tape which plays "boomp boomp boomp" over and over again!

In such an environment, I'm afraid folk music doesn't cut it!

(Mind you, the job to train up for now would be something to do with the manufacture and sale of hearing aids!)

Best wishes,

Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 06 Dec 08 - 05:15 PM

Hey, Pete:

A few years ago, I was asked to perform for a street fair sponsored by a black church in the poorest section of town. Now, I'd rip right in to a set of black gospel with my electric guitar and amp (not blasting, though) and get people dancing. Black gospel with an electric guitar is something the people are familiar with, and dance to. I just had my acoustic guitar and a feeble sound system, and it was the end of the day. They were already packing up the chairs and tables. Not your long-dreamt for chance to perform.

As I was tuning up over by the side of the church, three or four young teenage girls came over and asked me if I was going to play any top 40 hits. I told them, no, but I would do some "lower 40" hits. (over here when you talk about the lower 40, it was the poorer section of land... 40 acres of lowland, probably not suitable for planting.) When I finally got up to "perform" the crowd had thinned out and the older folks were packing up the folding chairs and tables. A good sized group of kids came over, though, and started dancing to my music doing an impromtu Buck and Wing. Now, folk music is good to dance to if your name is Morris or Square or Contra, but it doesn't easily lend itself to the Buck and Wing. Black kids have never heard folk, unless it's an insipid version of On Top of Old Smokey in third grade. But, I do a few country gospel songs that have a strong back beat and that was enough to get the kids out in the parking lot dancing up a storm. We surprised each other.

And yes, my cold is gone and I'm deep in writing Christmas cards. They've also told me that I will get two original cover designs for my book to chose from before the end of next week.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 10 Dec 08 - 06:54 PM

Before this thread settles in for a long winter's night, I'd just like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas. Whatever the season means, or doesn't mean to you, I hope that you find joy in these days amidst all of the endless distractions. Think little.

A couple of days ago, I was driving over to my Doctor's office for an appointment. As I was passing a cemetery, I noticed a bearded man all bundled up to ward off the bitter cold. He was pushing a shopping cart, and had several plastic bags tied along the sides. It looked like he was walking along the road hoping to find a discarded soda can or two that he could turn in for the nickel deposit. He was having difficulty walking, with one hip hiked up, dragging one leg
after his good leg. He was making slow progress, and he had to stop every few steps to catch his breath. When I'd passed him, I pulled over to the side of the road and turned around, heading back to where he was struggling along. He'd barely made it ten feet, and the wind was whipping across the cemetery.

I parked my car, and hopped out (How blessed it is to be able to hop out of a car, let alone own one on such a cold day.) I walked up to him from behind and called out to him, "Excuse me!" When he turned around to face me, I was shocked. He was dressed so raggedy and he had a full gray beard, but his face was youthful. I reached out my hand to him, holding a folded ten dollar bill, and handed it to him.
"Merry Christmas," I said. At first he looked confused, not comprehending what I was doing. He took the bill without looking at it, and held his arm out to me. I took it, and looked him in the eye and said, "God bless you!" He never said a mumbling word.

Sometimes you just have to follow your heart. In here, people can get all wound up if you say "God bless you!" They want to start a fight. I'm not telling people what to believe, or judging them. I am just speaking from my heart, out of love. There's precious little love in this world that it should be rejected so readily.

As I was walking back to my car I thought, "That could be Jesus." He said that what we do for the least of people we do for him. Maybe that's why I was so moved.

I post this understanding that this site has some deep-seated antagonism toward Christianity. I'm, not bothered by that. We all should feel free to express what we think and feel without being judged. Even Christians.

All we need is love.

Have a wonderful holiday season...

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: olddude
Date: 10 Dec 08 - 07:07 PM

Jerry
You are a treasure to anyone who has ever met you or talked to you or even simply passed by. You are one of the kindest most sincere people I have ever met. Your heart is surpassed by none. I have met only a few people in my life that has the same heart. Harry Chapin was another and you so remind me of Harry.

God Bless you Jerry, because everyone who knows you is Blessed

Dan

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 10 Dec 08 - 10:38 PM

Thanks, olddude. Undeserved, but thanks.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Georgiansilver
Date: 11 Dec 08 - 03:01 AM

Jerry, I know what it means to have a heart seated in Christ and to know that unsurpassed love that abounds when you come to believe. I thought I had it all in the sixties/seventies and eighties..... drink, women, cigarettes etc etc and lived life.. as I thought.. to the full. I too had no time for thinking about Christianity or faith, or God although I might have sneakily thought He existed because I always prayed when in difficulty and thought it must be some sort of instinct. Now I know it was! God did not fit in with my lifestyle so I guess I ignoredis existence. When people say "A leopard cannot change his spots".... I think of how I was pre-Christian days and reply that "With the Holy Spirit, anything is possible"..... Jerry you are a true Blessing to all around you as evidenced by many of your posts and opinions given by others. That you have the Lord in your life truly presents itself. I hope you and yours have the most Blessed season.
Best wishes, Mike.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 11 Dec 08 - 10:17 AM

Hi Jerry,
I have been away from the kitchen for four weeks struck down with a nasty chest infection, dreadful cough and no voice, however reading your thoughts and stories, catching up today has really cheered me up. Thank you everyone.

Well we are nearly ready for Christmas, but tommorrow is a very big day for our family, my mother and father ( 85 and 88 years old) are celebrating their 65th wedding anniversary.
I am hosting a supper party for close family at our home. We are very blessed to have both of them and I can put my hand on my heart and say I have never heard them have an argument.They met when mother was 14 in a museum in London , looking though a butterfly display and father said mother was the most beautiful butterfly!
They married in 1943 when father was in the Royal Airforce and mother was in the Women's Royal Airforce.They are a wonderful example of marriage to us

We are looking forward to Christmas with all the family and it will be very special as our grand daughter Scarlett is now two years old and Reuben is one so they are old enough to enjoy the presents and the carol singing. However Scarlett"met" Santa at her kindergarten party this week and said she didn't like him as he had a big beard!
She will be a sister soon as Samantha our daughter is expecting a new baby on January 5th.

How lucky we are to have a growing family to share the joy of Christmas.

Last week we went to a concert in Ipswich, it was a very wet and cold night and the last thing I wanted to do was leave the warmth of home and nearly did not go, however it was the most magical evening. Maddy Prior and the Carnival Band singing the old traditional carols and playing very old folk christmas tunes. After all the gloom of the credit crunch and people losing jobs at this time of the year, it was a most uplifting experiece and at last I felt the christmas spirit.

Joy and peace to everyone round this table.
Wendy

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Tootler
Date: 11 Dec 08 - 12:08 PM

Greetings to all round the table. I'll put some more coffee on.

Glad you enjoyed the concert Wendy. We are off to see them at the Sage a week on Saturday. We have been to their Christmas concert a couple of times recently and it really is an excellent evening and we are looking forward to it. The only downside is that it coincides with the Christmas session at one of my local folk clubs and that is usually a good evening as well - still, you can't win them all.

If you enjoy the old carols and folk Christmas tunes and songs, I can recommend the Magpie Lane album "Knock at the Knocker, Ring at the Bell" I got it for Christmas last year and it really is very good. I run a folk music [interest] group for our local U3A and we were playing it at our meeting yesterday and everyone there said how much they enjoyed it.

All the best to all
Geoff

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 11 Dec 08 - 12:14 PM

Thank you Geoff, I will look out for Maggie's album. Yes the concert was wonderful and Maddy sings better than ever,I have been playing the CD all the time at work and my clients have been loving it.I am really interested in the workshops that she runs at her home up near the Scottish border,I would love to spend a few days there, it looks fantastic.Enjoy the evening at the Sage.
Wendy

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 11 Dec 08 - 03:14 PM

This is a short chapter from my book.

A Short, Sweet Christmas Story

    God answers prayers: even when the "wrong" person receives them. Not that there is such a thing as the "wrong" person when it comes to prayer. We need all the prayers we can get.

   Christmas is a joyful time for me and my wife. And what is joy, if not to be shared? Every year, I design and print a Christmas card, and because our list is so long, sometimes we end up sending out a card to someone who has moved during the year. That doesn't
make our message any less heart-felt. That's exactly what happened at Christmas-time, 2,006.


   This afternoon, just when I was ready to fall flat on my face from exhaustion, the phone rang. The last three days had been real grinders, starting with Sunday morning when our water heater sprung a leak while my wife and I were getting ready to go to church. We had "church" mopping up water in the basement for half of the morning, trying to keep ahead of the water until the service man arrived. Monday, we spent half the day waiting for a new water heater to be delivered and when the man came to install it, he said that it was too difficult too work in such a cramped space and refused to do it. Today, we had another plumber come, and while he was able to install the new water heater, it took all morning and cost twice as much as we had first expected. After getting a great, running jump on preparing for Christmas, our house was a mess, and we were really dragging. And then, the phone rang.

   When I picked up the phone my caller ID said Claire Spellman; a name that 'd never seen before. I figured that it was someone trying to sell me something. When I said "Hello," a woman said, "I know that you don't know me, but I owe you an apology." As the woman explained, she had opened a Christmas card from us, not noticing that it was addressed to the previous tenant in her apartment. She was quite upset about it, and told me that she had never met the woman who lived there before her, and had no forwarding address for her. I had sent the card to our friend Barbara Hurley who had booked my gospel quartet, The Gospel Messengers, a couple of times. Barbara had surgery earlier in
the fall. I had received an e-mail from her after the surgery, and the last that I knew she was doing all right and was still living at the same address. I assured the woman on the phone that I wasn't upset that she'd inadvertently opened the card, and that I'd most likely be able to get Barbara's mailing address from her church. And then, she wanted to talk about the Christmas card.

   The front cover of our card looked like a present, wrapped with a bow, with the greeting, "Each new day is a gift from God." The woman read the text on the cover to me, saying, "I know all about that!" And then she opened the card and started reading the message on the inside.

    And the greatest gift is Jesus Christ
    One light to guide us all
    One voice to calm all fears
    One touch to heal all wounds
    One heart to bind all hearts"

She kept telling me how beautiful the card was, and how much it meant to her. Then she told me how much she appreciated the note that I had written to my friend Barbara. I had written that she was in our hearts and minds and that my wife and I would keep her in
prayer. And the woman said, "Oh, I appreciate that so much! I need all the prayers that I can get!" She had accepted the prayers as for her. I told her that I'd seen her name on the caller ID on my phone and thought that she might be related to Deacon Spellman, from
our church. She said, "No, we just moved up here from Brooklyn last year. That's probably hard to believe that someone would move up here from Brooklyn." I told her that my wife was from Brooklyn, and one of her brothers still lives there, so it didn't sound unbelievable to me.

   Finally, when she kept apologizing for mistakenly opening the card, I told her to keep the card as hers. She sounded happy to have it. Sometimes, we can raise the spirits of a complete stranger without even knowing that we're doing it. I thanked her for calling me, and wished her a very Merry Christmas.

   And in lifting her spirits, she lifted mine and my wife's.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 12 Dec 08 - 08:00 PM

I thought you might enjoy this. It's a chapter from a book I wrote about growing up in Wisconsin, quoting a letter my Mother wrote for me about Christmas on the Waterman's farm where she grew up. My grandfather Holliday rented the farm from Mister Waterman. I suppose that I should have started the chapter with:

"Come you ladies and you gentlemen and listen to my song
I'll sing it to you right, though you may think it wrong
May make you mad but I mean no harm
It's all about the renters on Waterman's fFarm
It's hard times in the country, down on Waterman's farm"

Christmas on The Waterman Farm

From a letter from my Mother

I would like to give you a glimpse into the past, Christmas as I knew it when I was a child. By society's standards we were poor: eight children living on a farm, but Mother and Dad always made a wonderful Christmas for us. Many of our gifts: tables and chairs, cradles for our dolls, high chairs and beds for them too, my brothers and my Dad made for us. Every Christmas we got a new doll and Mother made clothes for them, and there were books, games, crayons and coloring books. My Aunts, A.E. and A.A and A.G. saw that we had warm coats and mittens, stocking caps and warm underwear, and living in an old farm house with only one wood stove to keep us warm, believe me we needed warm clothes.

The day of Christmas Eve, the house was full of the aroma of cookies baking, fresh bread, cinnamon rolls and pumpkin pies. We all helped to get things ready for Christmas. I especially remember one Christmas, we lived about 3 miles from our church and most of the time we had to walk. If it was below zero, Dad would let us use the horses and wagon. It seems there was always a full moon and as we walked, the bright moon sparkled in the snow and it crunched under our feet as we walked. We sang Christmas hymns and with eight "Holliday" voices and Mother's, we made quite a chorus. Mother always made our clothes. A store dress was unheard of. This particular Christmas, Mother made me a red velvet dress with a lace collar. I'll never forget how beautiful it was. We always had new shoes for Christmas. Mine, the toes and around the heel, they were black patent leather (so shiny.) They were shoes that came above the ankles" shoes, not oxfords. The tops were white leather. On the outside of the shoe were 8-10 shiny black buttons. We had to use a button hook to fasten them. With long white stockings and my red dress, I thought that I must surely be one of God's angels (I'm sure my Mother didn't think so!) and that was what I was in the Christmas program at church, in the manger scene. Ruth and I sang together (She had a red dress too!) Mother dressed us alike for a long time, we used to sing together a lot!

We always got a bag of Christmas candy and a gift from our teachers. After the program, we started home, not quite so full of enthusiasm as when we came. The older brothers took turns carrying Evelyn, as she must have been about three, but the rest of us trudged along, happy and tired. When we got home, we had cocoa and cookies and then headed for bed. Mother put large stones in the oven in the cook stove in the kitchen and wrapped them up and put them in our beds so we wouldn't freeze. We had a hard time staying awake to hear Santa Clause. My brothers would go up the road a ways with jingle bells and we knew Santa was coming, and soon we'd hear a commotion down stairs and we'd know that everything was under control and we no longer could stay awake. But, we'd be up early to go down to open our gifts. We had hung stockings up the night before. We always got an orange: the only one all year. There wasn't money for fruit. We had lots of apples from our trees. Dad would put them in big barrels. We always had to eat the ones with spots on that might spoil first. It seemed like we never ate a good apple!

When I was a little older, I learned there wasn't a Santa Clause. That just about shattered my world! But soon I realized it was Mother and Dad that made all the great Christmases we had, and I had a chance to say "Thank you."

From my Mom.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 13 Dec 08 - 08:03 AM

Jerry
that is the most beautiful letter,what a delight your mother must have been.I am looking forward to reading the book.
thank you for sharing these lovely memories.
By the way, we celebrated mother and fathers 65th wedding anniversary last evening with a family supper, dad told us about the wedding, he was on leave from the RAF, but got recalled the day before the wedding to be posted overseas, mothers family had to cancel the arrangements. When he reported for duty the WAAF officer said that the boat had actually sailed!! So he was given three weeks extra leave. He phoned the ARP( air raid patrol) station where my grandfather was a warden and said the wedding was back on and travelled back to London in time for the service the next morning. He spent Christmas leave with grandma and grandpa while the bride had to return to the RAF station in the north of England where she was stationed, then in the new year dad was sent off abroad.
Wendy

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 13 Dec 08 - 09:39 AM

Hey, Wendy:

Thanks for sharing your story. The last year of my mother's life, I wrote a book, collecting family memories, photographs and songs I've written. It was a beautiful time for all of the family, and a chance for me to fill in the details on many family stories, while mom was still alive. We celebrated her 99th birthday with her, and those are memories that we'll always cherish.

When my parents had their 60th Anniversary, the asked me to write a song for them. It was a real challenge, as I have rarely set out to write a song. Songs write me. My parent's marriage left a lot to be desired, so I couldn't honestly write a romantic song. Everyone would know that it wasn't real. I went back and read what was happening the year my parents were married, and wrote this song for them.

BOND OF THE HEART

Back when Lindy first sailed the Atlantic alone
And Jolson first sang on the great silver screen
And the sweet smell of Fels Naptha filled every home
And young Steamboat Willie first sailed the high seas

CHORUS:
That was back when my mom and my dad fell in love
And they swore to each other they never would part
Through the good time and bad times, fair weather and foul
There is nothing as strong as the bond of a heart

They raised up three kids who all turned out terrific
Well, maybe we caused them a gray hair or two
Now it's sixty years later and we're all together

.... man, it's been so long since I've sung this song I can't remember any more. It's all in my head. I just have to keep singing this much of it and the rest will come back.

Steamboat Willi was the first Mickey Mouse cartoon, and of course Lindy was Lindbergh.

I'll post the rest of the song when it comes back to me. I may even have it written down somewhere. I've got to start recorder all of my songs. I have at least three CDs of original songs that are just going to fade into the ether soon if I don't.

I enjoy your posts enormously, Wendy.

My book may be out before the end of this year. I am supposed to get a final proof of the book by next Wednesday, and I've already approved the cover, which is beautiful. I'll make a posting on the Cat on where people can get it, with a warning that it is a book of writings about my faith. Maybe it should have a sticker on the cover that says "Warning, this book contains explicit expressions of faith." :-)

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 13 Dec 08 - 10:12 AM

Here's another Christmas story.

"T'was the Night Before Christmas"

T'was the night before Christmas and we'd already opened our presents. Forget the dancing sugar plums. If you ever wondered how Santa Clause could deliver presents to all the kids on earth in one night, he got a running start by bringing all the kids in the Midwest their presents early on Christmas Eve. In our house, Christmas Eve started the minute we finished wolfing down our supper. It was the one time of year when I was thankful that we had supper at 4 o'clock.

Before I was school age, Santa came to our house every Christmas Eve.
He didn't come down the chimney. If he had, he'd end up in our coal furnace and it wouldn't just be his suit that was red. He boldly walked through our front door. Not that I'd ever really seen him come into the house. But my Dad had.

After supper, Dad would hide behind the living room davenport, and Mom would herd my sisters and I down onto the basement stairs and then close the door behind us. For some unknown reason, Dad always got to hide behind the davenport, so that he could see Santa Clause when he came in.
As soon as the door was closed, Dad would quietly sidle out from behind the davenport and tiptoe across the room and into the bedroom where our presents were carefully hidden in our one closet. He'd quickly carry them into the living room and place them haphazardly under the Christmas tree. When the presents were all under the tree he would tiptoe across the living room floor and into the dining room and carefully open the front door. With a sigh of relief, he would softly stroll out to the front of the porch and pause for a moment. Coming back into the house Dad was Santa Clause. No need for a suit or cotton-ball beard. The only one who could see him was him. As he came striding across the front porch, he'd stomp the non-existent snow off of his non-existent boots and when he opened the front door he'd call out a "Ho, Ho, Ho!" in his best Santa-voice. Once inside the house, he'd make a lot off fuss in the living room, as if he was unloading presents from his sack. All the time, I was hunched breathlessly behind the basement door, visualizing his every move. When the presents were in place, Santa didn't have to stop and eat a plate full of cookies and drink a glass of milk on the way out. We never left anything for him. We didn't want Santa to stick around, once he'd delivered our presents. Besides, he would have preferred a cold Pabst Blue Ribbon, but that would have blown his cover. As Dad headed noisily out the front door he'd call over his shoulder, "Ho, Ho, Ho, and a Merry Christmas to all!" and stomp his way across the front porch only to pause there once again. Then, it was a matter of sneaking back into the house without our hearing him so that he could hide behind the davenport. Mom always gave him enough time by telling us that we couldn't come out until we were sure he was gone, or we'd scotch the whole thing.

Mom would cautiously open the door, and we'd all burst into the living room. Or, at least I would burst. I'd be full of excitement, and start grilling Dad about what he'd seen.

"Did you see him, dad?"
"Oh yeah: I peeked around the corner of the davenport when he was putting the presents under the tree," he answered.
"Did you see his reindeer?"
"Naw: I couldn't see them from behind the davenport, but I heard their bells when they took off."

That was enough for me. It never occurred to me to ask the really hard questions like :"If he had all that snow on his boots, how come he didn't track any into the house? Mom would have had a fit!" Or, "How come there aren't any tracks in the snow in our front yard?" By then, the only question I had was "Can we open the presents, now?"

When I got older and realized that Santa Clause was my Mom and Dad, and I had been lovingly duped: not just by Mom and Dad, but by my sisters, Christmas took on more meaning. One thing about Mom, though. She always made it clear that Christmas wasn't just about getting presents. The most important thing was that it was a time to celebrate the birth of the baby Jesus. Those first few years, Santa Clause and the baby Jesus got along real well together, and I loved them both. It wasn't until I was four or five that I realized that only Jesus was real.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 13 Dec 08 - 03:18 PM

Hello Jerry,

Those Christmas Stories are wonderful!

When I was young, Christmas didn't start in the middle of November, as it does now. In our house we knew it was coming, as cards arrived and parcels from the far flung uncles and aunts were opened before the great day. But, once we were in bed, strange things happened downstairs! When we woke up in the morning, there was a real Christmas Tree,with lights and presents and decorations! Magical!

When Mum and Dad grew too old to do it that way any more, my sister took over the task so that, when they came downstairs in the morning....there was the real Christmas tree. Mum always maintained she didn't know where the tree was hidden....but then my sister had had a good teacher!

Best wishes,

Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 20 Dec 08 - 03:13 PM

It's kinda lonely in here...I guess everyone is out Christmas Shopping!

Just thought I'd drop by and wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a successful New Year.

Perhaps it will be a year when people celebrate all the things that are right with the folk world rather than all the things that are perceived to be wrong with it!

Who knows!


Have a good one....where ever you are!

Best wishes,

Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 20 Dec 08 - 06:36 PM

Hey, Peter:

And a Merry Christmas to you, too. And all the regulars and irregulars who drop by for a cupa.

I've spent much of the last two days digging out from under about 10" of snow. I mean, it's very picturesque and all. I suppose that I should have been cheerily singing "I'm dreaming of a white Christmas" while I was breaking my back and freezing my buns. Actually, there's something very beautiful and refreshing about the first major snowfall of the year. We forget what the landscape looks like all draped in cystaline, sparkling white.

This year we vowed to get an early jump on Christmas, and it paid off. Despite the usual quota of unexpected disruptions and problems, our presents are purchased and wrapper, our cards are in the mail, all of our decorations are up and because we haven't been forced to spend the last two weeks shopping in malls, we aren't overdosed on Christmas music. (Anyone want to break into a verse or two of Jingle Bell Rock?)

I have a wonderful CD I picked up somewhere a few years ago titled A Mandolin Christmas that is in heavy rotation around the house. It's an acoustic album of top Nashville session musicians and is delightfully inventive and surprising. Not at all like those generic CDs of folk music favorites played on authentic Appalachian instruments by musicians who wish to remain unknown. I also put together a CD of R & B Christmas songs with the likes of the Temptations, Gladys Knight and the over-present Pips, Lou Rawls, Jackie Wilson, Nat King Cole (alright, they're stretching the definition of R & B a little) and the Drifters among others. It's refreshing because it doesn't include a single song you'd ever hear in a mall (with the possible exception of the Nat King Cole track.)

Despite all the turmoil around the world this year, I still see many reasons for feeling blessed, kitchen tables and friends gathered around being one of them.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Tootler
Date: 21 Dec 08 - 06:16 PM

Well, I went to the Sage yesterday. Maddy and the Carnival Band were on excellent form.

Today I went to the Georgian Theatre in Richmond to see the York Waits with Deborah Catterall performing their Christmas Concert. In many ways a similar mix to Maddy Prior and the Carnival band - old Carols, some traditional (in the folky sense) and some from the church ranging in era from the Middle ages to the mid 17th. Century plus some secular songs and tunes from the same period. The main difference is no PA and the music is performed entirely on period instruments. Well not literally, but modern copies.

The Georgian Theatre in Richmond is wonderful. It dates from 1788 and has been fully restored to its 18th. century form - even to sitting on (somewhat uncomfortable) benches. The theatre is very small but very intimate and suited the performance wonderfully.

All in all an excellent two concerts. Both very different in both style and venue.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 22 Dec 08 - 07:33 AM

Hey, Toot!

It sounds like you're having a wonderful Christmas-time. All our music plans have been disrupted. We were going to go sing for a Veteran's Center with Barbara and Frank Shaw last week, but our daughter's car broke down and she had three doctor's appointment that week with no way to get there, so we were chaufeurs. I was supposed to do the music at a local church yesterday, but we got over a foot of snow in the last two days, and church was cancelled.
Some of the folks in the neighborhood go out Christmas caroling on Chirstmas Eve, and the weather looks like will be allright. I hope so. The last time I heard someone caroling was me and my sisters when I was eight or nine years old.

Meanwhile, there's that foot of snow on the ground with a crust of ice on top. Can you dig it?

I've got an extra shovel.

Merry Christmas

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: olddude
Date: 22 Dec 08 - 11:37 AM

Jerry
may the blessing of our lord Jesus Christ be with you and your family and friends on this wonderful holiday

may God watch over you and bring you lots of success with your new book my friend

Always
Dan

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Fortunato
Date: 22 Dec 08 - 11:51 AM

Merry Christmas Jerry and Ruth.

Here's a Christmas Story, I've told it before on the Mudcat, but in case you didn't see it:
This is a true story...

It was Christmas Eve, 1977. I had made up my mind to buy my wife a fiddle, but my funds, as always, were limited. I knew nothing about violins; I still don't. But I knew the difference a decent guitar can make to a new player and so I was a bit discouraged by the the fiddles I had found for the price I could afford...

On that Christmas Eve I was chatting with a man on the subway about Christmas and presents, and he asked me if I had been to Weaver's Violins downtown. I said, no, I'd never heard of it. I've been looking in the folkie places, the places I knew best. After work I took the subway up and found Weaver's, I think it was on 13th Street then.

Well, it was a violin shop all right. It was the sort of violin shop, however, where the violins cost more than houses in the suburbs. I was ignorant of course, so I strolled up asked the price of the violin in the case in front the older gentlemen standing there. He looked me over, and answered rather flatly, "$35,000". He was, I found later, Mr. Weaver himself, and he turned away to help another customer whom he seemed to greet as an old friend. Clearly I was in the wrong place. I began to circle the shop as if actually looking at the violins, keeping up appearances, but I was headed for the door.

On my way out I passed the repair shop and peeked in. A young man looked up from the violin he was working on and smiled and asked if he could help me. I said thanks but I'm afraid I'm a bit out of place here. He asked me why and I told him that I was looking for a violin for my wife but not one as expensive as they sold. He asked if I played, and I told him about my folk music and that my wife had expressed an interest to learn the fiddle. I hoped, I told him, that we would be able to make music together.

While we talked I was watching him change the bridge on a violin and I asked about the different shape of the bridge, and I sat down on the chair opposite him while he explained. We chatted for a few minutes about the difference between the setup for fiddling as opposed to violin playing, but finally I rose to leave and was about to say goodbye, when he said,

"Wait, how much money do you have?"

"Well, I only have $200 dollars."

He looked at me for a moment, and then he went to a nearby shelf and brought back a violin and handed it to me. It was gorgeous. It felt well-balanced, the wood was lovely and the finish beautiful.

"Could you play it for me?" I asked, handing it back. He did so. It had a beautiful tone.

"You'll need a bow as well."

I'm sitting there speechless as he puts the violin in a case along with the bow he had used, and then he motioned for me to follow and led me back out into the shop. He crossed to where Mr. Weaver stood, handed him the case, and said,

"$200.00."

Mr. Weaver looked at him and then at me, and then opened the case.

"You're giving him this violin. Why?"

"It's Christmas."

And he did. So you see there is Christmas magic. It happened to me.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: David C. Carter
Date: 22 Dec 08 - 12:16 PM

Hi there Jerry and everyone.
It's been a long time time since I posted to you,mea culpa!
Good to see that this great thread is still up and runing.
The stories and anecdotes on here are full of warmth and uplifting,for a misserable git like me!
Had a nasty accident in July:Broken arm,four broken ribs and a fracture to the scull.I still can't move my arm,can't play the guitar,but my wife thinks that the bang on the head did me a lot of good!There you go!
The possitive side is that I can't help with the housework,washing up,cleaning etc.But I have to say that she has been great,nursing me,ordering me to 'Sit down,leave it to me'.Who am I to argue!
We're looking forward to friends from London,coming for Christmas and the new year.
So I wish you all the Seasons Greatings,a Happy New year,and the best of everything.
If I don't break anything else I'll get back soon.

Best wishes to you all.

David

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 22 Dec 08 - 03:59 PM

That's a wonderful story, Chase! Thanks for sharing it. And good to see you, David. I'm sorry you've had so much to deal with this year. Just be patient, we'll get rid of this one in another week and a half.

These days, there's a volunteer from the Salvation Army in front of just about every store. I always give generously to them because I know first hand how much they help people. There's a man who has watched the kettle in front of the local Walmart most days. He and some of the others work an 8 hour day, standing out in this cold. This particular man is always effusive in thanking me when I throw a few dollars in the kettle. He looks pretty down and out, himself. He told me that he gave five dollars the other day to a woman to buy groceries for her kids because she had no money. Sometimes the poor are more generous in helping each other out than those who are far better off.

Jerry

My favorite Christmas story, by the way is told by Harvey Keitel at the end of the movie, Smoke. It still grabs me. I just ordered the movie on DVD because I don't watch my videos any more. The minute it arrives, it's going in the player.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Fortunato
Date: 23 Dec 08 - 11:19 AM

Jerry,

I'll order that one from Netflix, Jerry thanks for the tip.

best regards,

Chance

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rasener
Date: 24 Dec 08 - 01:13 AM

Hi Jerry
Just popping in to wish you and everybody else who frequents this thread a very nice Christmas and a healthy and good New Year.

When I was about 27, I was Cost & Management Accountant for a moulding company in Birmingham UK, owned by Guinness the brewery.
I had this person who worked for me, who was a really good worker and great guy to work with and him and his wife had become freinds over the years. He was 62 at the time. In June of that year, he suffered a heart attack and was still at home in December, unfit to come to work. It was impossible to know when he would be back. We were all under a lot of pressure trying to do his job as well as we could.

Anyway in early December, I was called to the Directors office who informed me that he would have to be replaced. I argued that we couldn't do that to him, especially as it was coming up to Christmas and that it might just finish him off.
He said that Guinness, would put him on full private pension for the rest of his life. That is when private pensions were worth their weight in Gold.
In the end I had to give in and it got round to who should tell him and his wife and when. The director wanted to do it after Christmas, but I felt that I should do it now, as he worked directly for me and I had known and worked with him for many years.
Anyway, I went to visit him and his wife at their home. I felt terrible and was wondering how I could deliver the news.
His wife answered the door with a smile and that made me feel worse. We drank tea and discussed how he was and what they were going to do for Christmas etc etc (anything but discuss the real issue).
Finally, I had no choice but to announce it to them.
I said that I had some news for them and that I hoped it would be good news. I told them what had been decided and he started crying, and I thought "oh my god, I wish i wasn't here dong this".
I apologised to them and said how bad I felt about it.
He said "you have just answered my prayers"
I looked at him in shock and asked him what he meant.
He explained that he had been worried sick about his future and going on Pension was the best thing that could have happened to them and didn't know how to thank me and the company enough. They said that they could now enjoy Christmas.
We remained freinds and I visited them every so often, until I moved to Scotland. He actually lived to a ripe old age.

I have never forgotten that experience, and I realised that this was one occasion when having to tell somebody what I thought was bad news before Christmas was in actual fact the best thing I did.

Thought I would share that with you. It suddenly came to mind reading the latest block of posts.

Les

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 24 Dec 08 - 06:57 AM

Another beautiful story! Thanks for sharing that, Vilan.

And have a wonderful Christmas!

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 24 Dec 08 - 07:56 AM

Hi Jerry,
it is 12.50 here in the UK, I am at work in the salon till 4.0, ladies still coming in to be made beautiful, but at four I am out of here, we are taking Scarlett to church for her first Christingle service, then everyone is coming to stay with us, The turkey is ready, the house looks very festive with white lights all over the outside. We are looking forward to Reuben and Scarlett opening the presents and hoping Samantha's new baby waits till after Christmas to be born. Although Christmas day he/she would share a birthday with the most wonderful baby of all.

Happy Christmas, peace and joy , good health to everyone who has shared this table this year.
best wishes and love,
Wendy

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 24 Dec 08 - 10:08 AM

Hey, Wendy:

My grandson on Ruth's side of our family was born on December 26th, so we always have a birthday cake for him. Having a birtdhay cake for Jesus sounds like a great idea, too.

Here's one of my most unlikely memorable Christmases.

It was my first Christmas after my divorce. My ex-wife and I were alternating having the boys on Holidays, and she had them Christmas Eve. My divorce had been a real shredder: two years of investigation before awarding me sole chustody of the boys. That is still rare, to give sole custody to the father, but it was a reflection on my ex-wife's lack of emotional state. My sons were just 8 and 14 at the time, and life was still very hard for us.

Christmas Eve looked like it was going to be very lonely. I decided to go over to a neighboring town where they were having public caroling around the Christmas tree in the center of the green. It was a beautiful moonlit night with heavy fallen snow blanketing the fields and woods. When I arrived at the green, no one was there. I'd heard about the caroling from a woman I had hoped to accidently run into on the green as I knew that she and her friends were planning to be there. When I arrived to an empty downtown and green, I decided to stop at my woman friend's apartment to tell her the caroling had apparently been cancelled. It was a lame excuse for stopping by, but it was the best that I could come up with on such short notice.

When I arrived at her apartment and rang her door bell, she answered the door amidst a lot of noise in the background. She and her women friends had already been to the caroling (I got the time wrong,) and were drinking some Holiday cheer. I felt like I was intruding on someone else's party. I was. My friend offered me a drink, and I stood there uncomfortably, chuggalugging it down and excused myself as quickly as possible so that they could resume their merriment.

Sound like a wonderful Christmas Eve yet?

Driving home alone at Christmas Eve for the first time in my life,
I didn't feel alone, or lonely. The sky was brilliantly lit by a full moon, and the air was so clear that I felt like I was in space, not in Connecticut. There was a silence that deeply moved me. "Silent night, holy night, all is calm, all is bright." I felt the holiness of the night in a way I never have. And I sang, "Oh come all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant."

And I felt very joyful, and triumphant.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rasener
Date: 24 Dec 08 - 02:27 PM

Blimey Gerry, that almost had me in tears.

Wendy
That is a wierd thing.
I had to go into Lincoln Uk today to pick up our meat for Christmas day from M&S.
My 17 year old daughter was with me.
We passed a Hair Salon in Lincoln and some old dear came out having probably had her perm and blue rinse (LOL).
My daugher was so unaware of the importance of having your hair done for Christmas. My wife being Dutch is not used to the tradition and that is why my daughter is so oblivious about it.
So I explained how in my day, all the ladies spent the days before Christmas spending a fortune on hair do's and then slaving in the kitchen on Christmas Day.

Is it still the same?
Do young women still follow the tradition of having their hair done, or is it a dying custom amongst the young ones?

Les

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Tootler
Date: 24 Dec 08 - 07:39 PM

Neither my wife nor daughter had their hair done today.

In fact they have spent most of the day preparing food so as to reduce the amount of cooking tomorrow. (Well today, it being about 12.30 here)

It has somewhat taken it out of my wife. She had a kidney transplant in June and while that was a total success, she had a reaction to the surgery itself and it has left her with back trouble so she gets tired easily.

Nevertheless, she is steadily getting better, but it is going to be a long haul. As to the kidney, that is doing fine. My daughter was the donor and it was a very good match so the long term prognosis is good.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rasener
Date: 25 Dec 08 - 02:40 AM

Tootler
My best wishes to you, your wife and your daughter.
May you all have a very nice day and may 2009 see your wife improve in health. As for your daughter, that is a very brave thing to do.
Les

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 25 Dec 08 - 06:42 AM

I washed my hair yesterday, and I combed it nicely this morning. Does that count?

Merry Christmas!

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rasener
Date: 25 Dec 08 - 07:24 AM

Did you have a perm & blue rinse though?

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Tootler
Date: 25 Dec 08 - 05:13 PM

Oddly enough so did I - no blue rinse though.

And thanks for your good wishes Les, and the same to you and I hope Faldingworth Live goes from strength to strength in the coming year.

Geoff

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 25 Dec 08 - 06:52 PM

I wrote a song many years titled Lavender Ladies. There was a group of women from my church who went to an exclusive clothing store, Lord & Taylor after church every Sunday. They'd spend a long time shopping, by a few clothes and take them home. Monday, they'd decide that they didn't like them and meet together on Tuesday or Wednesday tp return the clothes and shop for some more. Clothing Bulemia. They were all widowers with more time on their hands than imagination.

The chorus to the song is:

And the Lavender Ladies are leisurely grazing
In ladieswear, luggage and fine lingerie
With hours to kill and no one to kill them with
The loves of their lives had all passed away

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 26 Dec 08 - 04:25 PM

I'm still chuckling at the idea of Jerry with a blue rinse!

It seems to be time for the traditional board games so I'm taking refuge at the kitchen table. I hope your Christmas was peaceful and...did you ever get yourself dug out of the snow Jerry?

Who does the washing up in your house? What Christmas games do you play?

I only went to the Christmas sales once...never again!   (like some of the threads on Mudcat...you only visit them once!)


Best wishes,

Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 26 Dec 08 - 05:02 PM

Hey, Pete:

When my sons were little, we spent many hours playing board games. They're a thing of the past over here, since video games came out. Last night, though, it was deja vu all over again. My 10 year old grandaughter and 8 year old something or other once removed had finally become bored with tv and video games and started snooping around in the cupboards. They found a Sorry game that I bought for just such a purpose a couple of years ago, and they were lying on the floor, deep in argument over a move one of them made. Made it feel like the '60's again. Or the '40's. Sorry was my oldest son's favorite board game and I gave one to his son last Christmas. They live a thousand miles away (doesn't everyone?) so I don't know if they ever played it. My grandson amkes the Tazmanian Devil look calm, so I don't know if he could have come to a complete halt long enough to play it. Of course we played monopoly, and when the boys were little an Uncle Wiggily game. I was an Uncle Wiggily fan as a kid (not the game, which didn't exist back then as far as I know. When I got sick, my mother would buy me an Uncle Wiggily game. A bonus for getting sick. Who could resist Petty Bow-Wow and the Puppy Chaps? Those Rascalls! We also played Parcheesi a lot, and Chinese Checkers. In college, I became addicted to Go for a few years.

When I was in college, my roommate gor on a game inventing kick. I developed an evolution game, being a geology major. You had your choice of being a Sabre Toothed Tiger,a Mammoth and two other extinct animals I've since forgotten. To move, you drew a card from the gene pool. There were climate change cards (an evolutionary Go To Jail Card,) too. If you were a Wooly Mammoth and someone drew a tropical climate card, you genes for thick fur suddently would earn you a negative move. The game was over when someone reached their apex of evolution, but you could also go extinct if the climate was
wrong for too long a time. You could keep backing up until you went off the board.

And then there was the mountain climbing game, with the simplest of strategy. The game board was very elongated with several possible paths to take to the top. Some were riskier than others with icy ridges subject to avalanches. A more sophisticated Chutes and Ladders. Strategy depended on whether you took a safer, longer path, or a shorter more dangerous one. You could also sabotoge each other my loosening each others pitons or intentionally starting an avalanche. "Ma, Jimmy loosend my pitons again!"

On a safer lever, I did a scavneger hunt game, with the board laid out as the streets of a neighborhood. Everyone would draw a list of items to find, and they were on small squares placed upside down on the outlines of houses. You ahd to drive around to the houses and see if they contained one of your items. If not, you left the card turned over so no one else would know what was there. To make life more interesting, there were traffic jam cards that slowed you down if you happened to be driving on that street, road under construction cards, and even a reversal of direction on one way streets. Just like real life.

Sorry, Pete. You asked about games.

Now someone could create a Mudcat Cafe game...

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 26 Dec 08 - 05:35 PM

Now, now Jerry.....

You know a Mudcat game would cause too many arguments!

Your games sound fun!

Board games are still favourites here. We have just finished Pictionary and are now on Cluedo!

I think it was Professor Plum...but I've been wrong before!

Best wishes,

Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 26 Dec 08 - 07:47 PM

Who does the washing up in our house? Whoever. We don't have many traditional roles.

My Dad used to brag that he helped mom make breakfast. Before mom went to bed at night she'd measure out the coffee and the water and plug the coffee maker in. All that had to be done in the morning was to push the button to turn the coffee maker on. That's what my dad did... That's all my dad did. When it came to housework, he believed in a division of labor. Mom did 99% of the work, and he did 1%.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 27 Dec 08 - 07:27 AM

Back in the salon today, only for a couple of hours then back home to a quiet evening with Billy and maybe a movie and a bottle of wine!
We had a lovely Christmas, the two little ones kept us all amused, Scarlett was very impressed that Father Christmas ate the mince pie and his reindeer the carrot that she left out on the porch.
We had a power cut just as the turkey came out of the range, so we had dinner by candle light and listened to the Queen's speech on a transister radio, conversation flowed as did the wine and I felt like I was back in the Christmases of my childhood.
As to the ladies having the xmas hairdo Les, we have a beauty salon and day spa, so it was manicures and facials for us, also a lot of back massages on Christmas eve for the stressed out!
Needless to say my nails looked dreadful and my roots need doing as I could not find time for the hairdresser!Worked all week then, home to a full house and cooked Christmas dinner for ten plus the littles! But I would not change it for anything.How lucky I am to have a lovely family.
Wendy

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 27 Dec 08 - 08:03 AM

Hello Jerry,

How did your Dad get away with that?

It's all share and share alike in our house. We all muck in and do what has to be done. My Grandfather and Father were very 'liberated' for their day and always did their fair share so it's now 'traditional'.

Have you still got the snow? Or has it melted now?

Hello Wendy,

Sorry to hear about the power cut...but in a strange way it was a bonus, from what you were saying. I always find that candle light has a completely different way of lighting a room and highlighting people's faces. Although we are glad when the power comes back, there is also always a little bit of regret for what has been lost.

By the way, it wasn't Professor Plum.........shucks........

Best wishes,


Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: maeve
Date: 27 Dec 08 - 10:17 AM

Hey there, Jerry and all. I hope the joy of Christmas carries you through the upcoming New Year.

I have some thoughts to offer, but they're still swirling around in my head right now. I'll be back.

maeve

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 27 Dec 08 - 11:09 AM

We've still got snow on the ground, Pete, although it's not going to be around much longer. Tomorrow it's going to hit 60 degrees and rain.

Funny thing happened three or four days ago. I don't know if it's a universal pastime wherever there's snow, but when we were kids, we'd lie in the snow on our backs, raise our arms above our haed and back and spread our legs wide. When we got up, we'd made a snow angel. We live on the highest point of our street, Hillcrest, and that says it all. We get some might strong winds here. Anchoring our lighted angel on the front lawn is always a challenge, because it gets blown over all the time. I bought a new angel this year because our old one looks like it's been run over by a truck. Shortly after we had our ten inches of snowfall, I guess our angel couldn't resist the temptation. She toplled over on her back and when I went out and helped her up, I had to laugh. She'd made a snow angel with her wings. Sparky the snow angel. Of course, there is always the possibility that the wind blew her over...

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 31 Dec 08 - 10:39 AM

Happy New Year to everyone in the kitchen.
Wendy

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 31 Dec 08 - 10:54 AM

......and a Happy New Year from me too.

I trust that 2009 will prove to be all that you hoped it would be.

Thanks for the companionship around the table in 2008!

All the best,

Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: MickyMan
Date: 31 Dec 08 - 11:09 AM

Jerry,
   I think it's time for you to go outside and see if Sparky is making another snow angel, before the new snow gets too deep. The storm has been going strong here in Colchester CT since 9:00 and I'll bet that you people in Derry CT have a good hour on us because it always gets to you first.
   It looks like we're going to start 2009 with a good coating of white!

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Georgiansilver
Date: 31 Dec 08 - 11:18 AM

A Happy, Blessed and prosperous New Year to all who grace the table. Best wishes, Mike.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 31 Dec 08 - 01:57 PM

Sparky the Wonder Angel is comfortable toasting her wings in front of our fireplace. She's been blown down so many times that it just seemed Christian to bring her in by the fire.

Yes, it's been snowing here most of the day. My wife Ruth has been in severe pain for the last three days with a bad muscle sprain in her neck and shoulders. We finally got her doctor to call in a prescription for a strong pain killer, and I set off down the hill to Walmart to pick it up. It was an interesting drive down the hill. The hill is about six blocks long and quite steep and winding. Even though they'd taken a lick at it with the snow plow and thrown down some ice melt and sand, the street was very slippery. On a dry day if you don't hit your brakes you'll be going fifty miles an hour by the time you get to the stop sign at the bottom of the hill. I probably could have hit 75 today before I plowed into the living room of the house facing the end of the street. I kept tapping my bakes all the way down, swerving every time. My years of growing up and living in Wisconsin came in handy. I know how to handle snow.
The drive back was interesting in a different way. You have to start up the hill from a dead stop, and it took about a block of swerving before the hill leveled off enough to get up to speed.

All's well that doesn't end. My wife is now taking a desperatly needed nap, and I'm settled in for the duration.

The great thing about bidding a not so fond adieu to 2008 is that it will defy nostalgia. Not even folk singers will be able to look back at this year with longing.

Have a wonderful New Year.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: CapriUni
Date: 31 Dec 08 - 02:39 PM

From Jerry:

The great thing about bidding a not so fond adieu to 2008 is that it will defy nostalgia. Not even folk singers will be able to look back at this year with longing.

Oh, good. It's not just me, then.

Lines from this poem popped into my head, yesterday morning, after hearing more bad news from Gaza/Isreal; there's a reading of it on one of my family's favorite Christmas albums (I think it was the same album with The Gloustershire Wassail). I was propted to Google for it yesterday, to remind myself of the whole thing, and post it to my LiveJournal. It's my way of fighting back:

From In Memoriam A.H.H. By Alfred, Lord Tennyson

                               106

    Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky,
       The flying cloud, the frosty light :
       The year is dying in the night ;
    Ring out, wild bells, and let him die.

    Ring out the old, ring in the new,
       Ring, happy bells, across the snow ;
       The year is going, let him go ;
    Ring out the false, ring in the true.

    Ring out the grief that saps the mind
       For those that here we see no more ;
       Ring out the feud of rich and poor,
    Ring in redress to all mankind.

    Ring out a slowly dying cause,
       And ancient forms of party strife ;
       Ring in the nobler modes of life,
    With sweeter manners, purer laws.

    Ring out the want, the care, the sin,
       The faithless coldness of the times ;
       Ring out, ring out my mournful rhymes,
    But ring the fuller minstrel in.

    Ring out false pride in place and blood,
       The civic slander and the spite ;
       Ring in the love of truth and right,
    Ring in the common love of good.

    Ring out old shapes of foul disease ;
       Ring out the narrowing lust of gold ;
       Ring out the thousand wars of old,
    Ring in the thousand years of peace.

    Ring in the valiant man and free,
       The larger heart, the kindlier hand ;
       Ring out the darkness of the land,
    Ring in the Christ that is to be.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 31 Dec 08 - 03:55 PM

That's beautiful CapriUni! Thank you so much for sharing it. Id add a line from one of my songs, looking forward to 2009:

"For the good old days are still to come."

Have a wonderful, blessed New Year!

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 31 Dec 08 - 05:52 PM

Thanks for posting that poem Capri....it's good to be reminded of it.

One New Year's Eve we went up to London to see what was happening and found that it was mostly people over indulging and falling over. We came back to our home town and found a lovely Italian Pizza restaurant where we had delicious "home made" pizza and ice cream "with boom." We stayed through the New Year and it was like being with family. One New Year that stays in the memory....and only half a mile from the front door! (and not a thunderflash to be heard!)

Jerry, give our best wishes to Ruth and........not too much driving in the snow without the snow tires or chains! Perhaps you could get Herbert to pull a sledge for you!

All the very best,

Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: CapriUni
Date: 31 Dec 08 - 06:18 PM

Peter --

Pizza and Ice Cream sounds like as grand a "Good Luck & Prosperity" feast as one could wish for (The round pizza, cut into wedges could represent the turning wheel of the year, for one thing).

But I am curious: What, exactly, does "boom" taste like?

Sounds like it might be a flavor Ben & Jerry's would dream up...

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: maeve
Date: 31 Dec 08 - 06:42 PM

Here's a steaming hot dish of hope and joy to dish out. Thank you Jerry and Ruth, and thank you to the rest of the table gang, for a friendly circle of conversation around the kitchen table.

May blessings and joy nestle in your shirt pocket, ready to slip you into something more encouraging in the New Year.

Rejoice!

maeve

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 31 Dec 08 - 09:17 PM

Thanks, Maeve:

And here I am taking another post at 100. Sorry about that, Elmer Fudd... and a Happy New Year to you, too!!!!!!!!!!

The temperature is supposed to drop down to 11 degree4s tonight, and the wind is really howling, gusting to 40 mph at times. Batten down the hatches, me laddies!

Cheers!

Think I'll have me a beer and some mini hot dogs...

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: CapriUni
Date: 02 Jan 09 - 05:07 PM

Well, it's the New Year, well and truly, now. And my mind is turning toward the question of "Resolutions." In my case, I've given up the conventional idea of resolutions, since focusing attention on my faults just makes me depressed, and self-critical, and ends up being self-defeating. Instead, in recent years, I've given myself a creative project to complete in the course of a single year, so that I can look back and say: "This is what I did in 2009, that I am proud of." And, in the course of working on the discipline to complete that project, hopefully break myself of bad habits along the way as a side-effect.

For this year, I've decided to slow-write a proper novel (as opposed to the mad speed-dash of National Novel Writing Month). And for a plot, my mind is starting to gravitate toward the idea that first popped up in these verses about the Winter Gift-Giver, that I wrote a few years ago.

Anyway, that got me thinking of all the predecessors my little story has (will have?), and how many of them rely on the trope of saving the existance of Christmas itself, and that put my mind back to this passage from the very first modern Christmas story: Dickens' A Christmas Carol. Reconstructions in film and on stage can't hold a candle to the power of Dickens' original words, so I thought I'd share them here.

Charles Dickens' point is as valid and worthy of minding as it was when he first penned it:

They were a boy and girl. Yellow, meagre, ragged, scowling, wolfish; but prostrate, too, in their humility. Where graceful youth should have filled their features out, and touched them with its freshest tints, a stale and shrivelled hand, like that of age, had pinched, and twisted them, and pulled them into shreds. Where angels might have sat enthroned, devils lurked, and glared out menacing. No change, no degradation, no perversion of humanity, in any grade, through all the mysteries of wonderful creation, has monsters half so horrible and dread.

Scrooge started back, appalled. Having them shown to him in this way, he tried to say they were fine children, but the words choked themselves, rather than be parties to a lie of such enormous magnitude.

``Spirit! are they yours?'' Scrooge could say no more.

``They are Man's,'' said the Spirit, looking down upon them. ``And they cling to me, appealing from their fathers. This boy is Ignorance. This girl is Want. Beware them both, and all of their degree, but most of all beware this boy, for on his brow I see that written which is Doom, unless the writing be erased. Deny it!'' cried the Spirit, stretching out its hand towards the city. ``Slander those who tell it ye! Admit it for your factious purposes, and make it worse! And bide the end!''

``Have they no refuge or resource?'' cried Scrooge.

``Are there no prisons?'' said the Spirit, turning on him for the last time with his own words. ``Are there no workhouses?''

The bell struck twelve.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 04 Jan 09 - 07:44 AM

Hello Capri Uni,

That is powerful writing indeed. Thanks for sharing it with us. Often we forget the depth of feeling that is expressed in the actual words Dickens wrote. The film and radio versions often don't portray the outrage but focus on the folksie!

You kindly asked about ice cream with 'boom'......This was a wonderful confection that they made themselves. Basically it was ice cream in a light pastry shell. The ice cream had liberal quantities of brandy mixed in! I guess that provided the boom!

Finally got out to the first song session of the year last night after a few false starts! Excellent! Everyone was in good voice and the welkin rang! Made a mess of the second verse....but I think I got away with it! Luckily I knew the story of the song and made it rhyme somehow!

Best wishes,

Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 04 Jan 09 - 04:21 PM

This being the kitchen table and all, conversation can flow in any crazy direction it likes. From Charles Dickens to Charles Chan.

Now that the Holiday season is over and we're starting to get our strength back, it's time to crank up the old Charlie Chan movies. We'll watch one tonight. Both Ruth and I grew up watching the Sydney Toler Charlie Chan movies, with Charlie's various numbered sons. It wasn't until years later that I discovered that Warner Oland was the first Charlie Chan. There was serious doubt that the series would survive when Oland died and they went on a Star Search to find a replacement. All of this was before my time, if you can imagine that...

In the last couple of months I've picked up a boxed set of four movies starring Toler and another one starring Oland. Sunday night's are Ruth's mystery night, alternating between Murder She Wrote, Diagnosis Murder, Matlock, and the other series with the detective whose last name starts with "M" that doesn't come to mind. They're showing the holiday made to tee vee uplifting, heartwarming, tear-jerking, happy ending movies for the umpteenth time, but there's nothing like a murder to make people happy. Tonight I think we'll watch a Warner Oland Charlie Chan. The mysteries are more front and center, and the comedy is less pervasive. The movie will have a happy ending too. The bad guy always gets caught.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 06 Jan 09 - 10:24 PM

Computers make me feel inadequate.

It seems like a cruel twist of fate that we become increasingly dependent on a piece of machinery that 99% of the world don't really understand. My scanner decided that it wasn't going to work any longer for such low wages and suddenly dissappeared. I have no idea where it went... just took its software and went home, I guess. I spent a couple of hours today trying to coax it back, only to become increasingly frustrated. Finally, I figured that my scanner was prime landfill, and went out and bought a new Cannon. Is that name an irony, or what? I installed it this evening and it does work, but completely differently than my HP scanner. Back to school. I specialize in doing thing I have no confidence in my ability to do. :-)

When I get the scanner all figured out, I have to get back to trying to get my website up, and it I can finally figure that out successfully, I'll take a few deep breaths and try to figure out how to use my recording equipment. By the time I figure that out (if I ever do,) I suspect that my computer will turn belly up.

What ever happened to the days of tin can phones, made with kite string?

Oh yeah, I finished my final editing on my book and if something else doesn't blow up while I'm in restless sleep, I'll send it off to the publisher. Then all that's left is a final proof read to make sure they made all the corrections I requested, and it will be ready to print.

Acutally, if you can keep from being overwhelmed by all this technology, it has some unexpected benefits. Your brain never gets a chance to take a break.

Anyone else ever feel this way?

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: BusyBee Paul
Date: 07 Jan 09 - 07:57 AM

Hi Jerry,

Just wanted to say that I stopped by this thread for the first time yesterday (UK time)and am gradually working my way through - currently at 3rd March 2006 so I've a bit of catching up to do.

What I've read so far has been great - it's just like a "real-time" novel and in true tradition, I've just skipped to the lst page to see what happened!. I'll keep reading and get caught up, hopefully before your computer has "control, alt, deleted" itself!.

Oh, and you are so right about kitchen tables and kitchens too. When I go to parties, I always stand in the kitchen - sooner or later everyone passes me by, so that way I don't have to circulate and risk missing someone who is circulating in a different direction. (It beats hanging around outside the bathroom, which is the only other way of getting to meet everyone!.)

Deirdre

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 07 Jan 09 - 08:49 AM

Welcome to the kitchen, Deirdre:

If a home is a living organism, the kitchen is the heart.

We had about 20 family members and friends here for Christmas day. My side of our family lives too far away, but my wife Ruth's family is mostly within driving distance, and in the ten years we've been amrried, they've beomce my family, too. Forget the in-law part. We have a "Great Room" connected to the kitchen with a half wall/counter dividing the two rooms. Our house is not really large, and with close to twenty people, it gets crowded. I spend the whole day heating and serving food so that my wife can sit down and spend time with the family. She's usually been up most of the night doing last minute prparations, no matter how many weeks in advance we start getting ready. The most popular place in the house is the space that connects the kitchen and the Great Room. When I'm constantly moving back and forth between the two rooms, I have to weave my way through a group of people who choose to stand right in that spot. As you do. While it makes it a lot more awkward, having to constantly excuse myself, I am very happy to see it. The purpose of a gathering is for everyone to enjoy each other and have a good time. When I see that happening, I'll just stop for a minute and look around the house and see how much people are enjoying themselves and I think to myself, "This is really a great Christmas!"
It's what my wife and I work so hard for.

If you're ever over in the Colonies for Christmas, you're invited to stand in the doorway and just enjoy yourself. I'll just say, "Excuse me," as I'm passing you.

This thread is about nothing in particular, and everything.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: BusyBee Paul
Date: 07 Jan 09 - 09:46 AM

Great stuff Jerry!

My new house (moved in June 2008) has a kitchen / dining area and is great for me as a "solo" host - I can entertain / join in the fun while doing whatever is necessary in the kitchen part.

I'm looking forward to reading another instalment this evening.

Deirdre

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 07 Jan 09 - 11:55 AM

The Iceman Cometh:

For the last twelve hours we've had a mixture of snow, sleet and freezing rain. Mostly freezing rain. You could go ice skating on our lawn, or the top of our car, if you didn't skate too close to the edges. It's a great day to stay home. We just watched a Joan Crawford movie on Turner Classics. What a fitting choice of a movie. The Icewoman Cometh.

I've love days like these. Enforced respite. I'll submit my manuscript for some final corrections, and probably watch another movie with Ruth this afternoon. We have plenty of food in the house, and plenty of good music to listen to.

As for kitchens, my friend Art Thieme recently e-mailed me a photo he took at my kitchen table in the gate house of the Museum where I worked for so many years. I ran a concert series there for 28 years, and during that time ran summer string band concerts, and for a stretch of six years, a folk festival. With rare exception, I put the performers up in my home and that kitchen table heard countless hours of wonderful music and conversation from some mighty fine musicians and friends. I only regret that there's no way to post photographs here on Mudcat. It would be nice to share those memories with you.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Tootler
Date: 07 Jan 09 - 06:48 PM

Hi Jerry,

You may not be able to post photos on Mudcat, but if you get that website up and running you can post photos there and put a blue clicky on Mudcat.

Here's mine for what it's worth. Unfortunately I haven't updated it for a few years and have plenty of other photos I could add sometime......Ah well, maybe sometime...

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 07 Jan 09 - 07:16 PM

I've tried to post to this thread twice with no luck. If I suddenly have three posts, don't look at me. He did it!

I was complimenting Tootler on his website and suggesting that if there already isn't a thread where Catters can post a link to their website, there should be. I know that I'd really enjoy it.

Jerry

Now, let's see if this one posts...

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 08 Jan 09 - 09:50 AM

No, Jerry...it wouldn't have been you.....it would have been Katie!


Best wishes,

Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 08 Jan 09 - 02:07 PM

An in joke, folks. I sent Peter a song I wrote with the chorus:

   Katie did, Katie didn't
   It wasn't me that did it, it was Katie

American folks that grew up the country know what Katydids are.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 10 Jan 09 - 05:38 AM

Morning All!
I have just put a big pot of coffee on and made up the fire....it is very cold and icey here in the East of England this morning, very pretty but jolly cold. Yesterday we had freezing fog all day very grey and gloomy. It would be lovely to see the sun and a blue sky.
We are waiting for our third granchild to be born,all my predictions of an early arrival in time for Christmas were unfounded and now our daughter is a few days overdue,so we must have some news soon.With all the doom and gloom on the TV news a happy day would lift all our spirits.I have stopped buying newspapers and in the morning ,instead of Sky news I have found a channel that shows American funnies, so I am watching Everyone loves Raymond and Frazier!!How sad is that!
Never mind, lovely music , a pot of coffee and good company round the table I feel better already.
Wendy

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 10 Jan 09 - 10:38 AM

That's exciting news, Wendy! Let us know when your grandchild is born. Yeah, the news is pretty universally upsetting. But then, it always is.

A few years ago, I got tired of listening to a group of women who were saying how much better everything was in the 40's. They were bemoaning everything that was going on, and in looking back had selectively altered the past. We're all guilt of doing that. Finally, I got fed up and said, "Yeah, I sure wish it could be like it used to be in the 40's. Those were the days. I sure miss Hitler and the Holocaust, when we lynched blacks for looking at a white woman. Those were the days!" Needless to say, my comments weren't appreciated.

I know that's not what you're saying Wendy. I too find the news particularly distressing. I wrote a song (as I am wont to do) expressing my feelings on the state of life these days:

I take cold comfort in the ways of man
I find no justice in this land
I feel the anger of the un-stayed hand
May my heart find rest in Thee

Chorus:
   And in the darkness, give me the eyes of faith
   In my sorrow, send down your saving grace
   And on my journey, may my path he straight
   May my heart find rest in Thee

Give me the wisdom that I might understand
Give me the courage that I might take my stand
And when I'm weary, lend me a helping hand
May my heart find rest in Thee

Some spend their lives in a search for power
Ignoring treasures time can't devour
All that I ask in my final hour
May my heart find rest in Thee

There's a powerful, very dark story behind that song that may be too strong around the kitchen table, involving a fatal accident. I had just written this song, and the chorus carried me through the darkest night of my life.

Thank God for music!

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 10 Jan 09 - 11:11 AM

Thank you for the song Jerry,music is very uplifting,I loved your story about the 40's,You can imagine in my work( beauty therapist) I listen to all the ladies tales of woe, most of our clients are lovely but there are a few who can be a challenge, it is very difficalt not to tell them to count their blessings sometimes.However today has been a good one as my first client was our new vicars wife. They have been in the parish for about a year and are having a particularly tough time with a few of the older ladies who dont like change. They do not like any new hymns, insist that he should wear the traditional robes and stick to the English prayer book. The last parish they had was in London where the congregation was very diverse and had people of all colours and creeds.Here they have even had threatening letters! they are a lovely couple and I do hope they weather the storm. They have attracted a lot of young people with children to attend the church so I do hope they stay.
Wendy

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 10 Jan 09 - 03:26 PM

Deirdre's post a couple of days ago got me thinking about how and when this thread got started. I had to go back a check the date. Atr the time I started the thread I was getting pretty fed up with Mudcat. There had been a few poisonous threads that were just too ugly for my taste (and many other's as well.) One of the greatest things that I've valued about the folk community all of my life is the warm welcome and respect that people show for each other. I always thought of the folk community as one of the most inclusive I'd ever had the pleasure to be a part of. Mudcat was mired in aggressive attacks and unpleasantries best forgotten. When I started this thread I didn't know if it would ever hit ten, let alone go over 2,000 posts. This thread and all who gather around exemplify all that is commendable about the folk community.

Here's a line from the first post when I started the thread:

I'm starting this thread with no idea whether people can relax from all the combativeness I see in here, and just join me in a cup of cofffee or tea, a beer or just a cold bottle of water. The kettle is on and I hear the whistle going off. Why not sit for a minute, tell me what's going on in your mind, or what's happening in your life... how are your wife and kids? anything happen today that you want to talk about?

The invitation still holds.

Sometimes we get it right.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 10 Jan 09 - 03:52 PM

Jerry,

The idea for the thread was inspired! A refuge indeed, with some excellent coffee!

Wherever people gather together to discuss any topic you are guaranteed that there will sometimes be those who find it hard to join in wit others in a meaningful way!

What I enjoy is when one of those drops by, drawn by curiosity, and just doesn't "get it".

You are right in your analysis of those people who make up the world of folk.

Here I feel that we sing and enjoy *folk* music, we don't care if someone sings us a song from a book or from a crib sheet, we call members of our audience *people* not *punters* and the only flaming is done by the fire in the old fashioned fireplace!

Now.....cookie anyone?



Best wishes,

Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: BusyBee Paul
Date: 10 Jan 09 - 04:34 PM

Hi everyone,

I'm still spending time reading this thread through from the beginning - up to 30th October 2006 now, so plenty more still to go. It's a great read and I feel I'm really getting to know some of you well.

I'll just make a fresh pot of tea to help me along. Anyone like some?.

Deirdre

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 10 Jan 09 - 07:54 PM

This thread is like a good marriage. I noticed that I said something in the first thread about the kitchen being the heart of the house, that I just posted again five or six posts ago. Who can remember what you said almost three years ago? Recycling is green.

February 25th will be the third anniversary of this thread. Maybe we can get some of the early posters to drop by like jimmyt, Ron Davies and Elmer Fudd. We miss you, fellas.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 13 Jan 09 - 08:45 AM

coffee is on.......still waiting for the new baby,everyone says it will be a boy, or is that an old wives tale?
Wendy

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: BusyBee Paul
Date: 13 Jan 09 - 09:02 AM

Jerry,

I hope you can get the early posters back here for the party - I'm still working my way through the thread and so they are still sat at the table in my timescale!

Have to say how frustrating it was on Sunday evening - I'd put aside time to continue reading this great thread - only to find that the Cat was not available.

Wendy - fingers crossed for the new arrival!.

Deirdre

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 13 Jan 09 - 04:03 PM

I'm trying, Deirdre: Some of the early posters don't seem to be active on Mudcat anymore. I've PM'd and e-mailed some of them but so far have no response. I don't have an e-mail address for most of the people who post on here, so if they don't drop by the Cat they won't see their PMs.

I'll keep trying. It's a pleasure to look at some of the early posts and be reminded of who was active.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: BusyBee Paul
Date: 13 Jan 09 - 06:19 PM

Yippee! I've actually now read right the way through this thread. :-)
And I've got backache from hunching over the laptop on the coffee table. Reading a post from Col K, knowing that he is now at the great folk festival, took my breath away.

Meeting people I know here (The Villan, GeorgianSilver, Wee Little Drummer)has been great, but most of all, so many of you are now "fleshed out" - Jerry, Ebbie, Ron, Jimmyt, Elmer, BillyBob.

What a fantastic way to make new friends.

Deirdre

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 13 Jan 09 - 07:28 PM

Even better yet, Dierdre, we get a chance to know you!

Jerry

I'm still PMing folks...

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: jimmyt
Date: 13 Jan 09 - 09:24 PM

Well, I just thought I would stop by to see what is going on, and to make sureJerry hasen't been spinning too many yarns! It is always a breath of fresh air to stop by here. Sometimes I think if I started a thread saying,"Generally,the snow I have seen is white," a hundred catters would immediately berate me for being stupid, and several would downright flat say snow is NOT white and I must be a lame brain for suggesting such a ridiculous thing! Oh well, life goes on!

Jerry I have my do-wop vocal band back up and playing a couple gigs next weekend! I am so thrilled. I found a new accompanist who played 13 years on a cruise ship and 5 years playing piano bars in Europe so he is more than adequate to play these 4 chord songs. Anyway, one of my quartet, the baritone is presently undergoing chemo for a recurrence of cancer after 3 years in remission. He is a gamer,though,and we are so inspired to sing with him. I must stop by here more frequently. It is so darn"homey." jimmyt

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 13 Jan 09 - 09:47 PM

Jimmy, Jimmy, Jimmy... It really feels homey in here now that you've dropped by. And golleee, you even started a thread that I've contributed to.

Deirdre, meet jimmyt... my main man.

I'm having practice with Joe and Frankie this weekend, Jimmy. Sure wish you and any other Catters could drop by our real kitchen table for some music. (Ruth and I had the pleasure of sharing music with Jimmy and Jayne around their kitchen table a couple of years ago.)

This week, I'm hoping to fire up my recording equipment and see if I can figure it out this time. I've met someone over here who has offered to help me to plumb the mysteries of recording equipment.

And in honor of your new bovine beatification, here's a verse from one of my songs:

Old Uncle Jim he said, said to his son he said
Wake up Howard 'cause it's almost dawn
The snow drifts have covered up the old hay wagon
We're going to have to dig our way out to the barn
The cows will al be waiting for the old milk pale
And it won't be long before the rooster crows
So we better hop to it, 'cause there's no one else to do it
And the sky is getting cloudy and it looks like snow

If we ever make it down to your farm, Jimmy, we can sing this verse, changing Howard to Jerry. I've tried my hand at cows you know.

Farmer Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: BusyBee Paul
Date: 14 Jan 09 - 10:39 AM

Well, tomorrow evening (Thursday) I've a committee meeting for my Choral Society - I'm Secretary. We have a new musical director this season who is fine musically but....... I'm so not looking forward to the meeting. Plus, our chairman has had a stroke which means I'll be chairing the meeting......

I'll no doubt stop by here after the event for a reviving cuppa or maybe even a tonic water! My gin and tonic making is legendary :-)

Nice that you stopped by, JimmyT, I'm pleased to make your acquaintance.

Deirdre

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 14 Jan 09 - 09:18 PM

Been thinking about this getting old stuff. For starters, my definition of "old" is ten years older than me. Right now, that means you're old when you hit 83. But of course, you really aren't old then because "old" is 93.

There's a lot of great things about getting old. I've just been trying to put some thoughts down on paper. I've heard getting old described as living a life of diminished expectations. Every time I'd go home to visit my parents when they were alive, they'd recount the things they could no longer do. But they were all physical. They may have lived lives of diminished physical expectations, but they found many new things that gave them pleasure. And despite what they had lost, they were thankful for what they still had. Or more accurately, BECAUSE of what they had lost, they were thankful for what they still had. Some people mourn for all they've lost. I give thanks for what remains. I hope I can always have that attitude, as my parents did.

These days I look at all the things I have accumulated in my life. They have given me pleasure in their day and I am thankful for that. But now they just weigh me down. It's hard to live free-wheeling with eight truckloads of possessions holding you down. I used to kid my oldest son saying that he should have a bumper sticker on his car that said "Happiness Is My Next Purchase." I think we've all been guilty of that. I'm rapidly morphing from an Accumulator to a Dispenser. Life is like panning for gold. You can't see the nuggets at first for all the dirt and sand. You've got to swish it around and wash off all the dirt that is of no value to find the littlest grains of gold.

The less you have, the faster you can move. Most of us have far more stuff than we need, or will ever use. At least I do.

It gives me the shedders.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 14 Jan 09 - 11:23 PM

Well, it sure is great to be able to drop in on such a great bunch around the table--even though, as usual I don't have time to say much. I still have to play the piano--quick--before Jan goes to bed.   And try to get enough sleep to be able to function at work better tomorrow.   The choral season is winding down a bit now, though I sure have a lot to say about it--with Jan's observations too. And I'd love to hear about your group, Deirdre--I think we all would.

I hope I'll have more time later. Jan is here.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: BusyBee Paul
Date: 15 Jan 09 - 03:08 AM

Hi Ron!

I had you in mind when I posted about the group. I wasn't able to access Mudcat last evening - Max is obviously doing his relocation stuff - and I'm just off to work now but I'll drop by again in the next few days to tell you about it.

For general info, see www.gainsboroughcs.co.uk.

And Jerry, I agree with you about the getting old and possessions stuff, although I am a mere youngster of 50!. I'll give you my take on that soon too.

Sorry guys, can't stay to do the washing up, work beckons!.

Deirdre

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 15 Jan 09 - 08:38 AM

Great that you stopped by, Ron: The times they are a'changing, but it sounds like your life is like it was the last time you posted. That's reassuring... :-) I'd like to hear more about Deirdre's choral gropu too. I'm still singing in the Men's Chorus at the church where Ruth and I are members, but I'm far less active now. The church is an hour's drive away, and it's starting to seem foolish spending 2 and a half hours on the road roundtipr to go to an hour and a half practice when we're reduced to singing two songs because the services have been cut back. That reminds me of the days of driving up to the Eisteddfod in Massachusetts for a whole weekend as a workshop performer and ending up doing six songs for the weekend. When you start calculating MPS (Miles Per Song) it sounds silly. But, the Eisteddfod was a wonderful time to hear a lot of great music and renew aquaintances with old friends. I'd still do it in a heartbeat.

If we start shedding possessions as we get older, we also start looking at where our time, energy and money go and focus our lives better.

Say Hello to Jan for me, Ron.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 15 Jan 09 - 09:23 AM

Howdy, all. Thought I pop around and give you an update on what's been going on with me (besides the usual).

A couple or three weeks back I got a phone call from the VA Hospital in Salt Lake City -- please come in and be checked out for PTSD.

Huh?? Well, on Tuesday last I went.

Well, it was determined that I'm a sociopathic pyschotic. I have to take fourteen different kinds of meds, wear a strait jacket, and I can't have anything more dangerous than a soft rubber spoon. I'm to be locked up on a desert island for the rest of my life, without food or care -- this is because of W's budget decisions.

Seriously, they said I was NOT suffering from PTSD (as far as they could tell) but that I did have quite a bit of depression and they told me where I can get help WITHOUT going three hours each way to SLC. I have several options right here in town, which is good because otherwise I probably wouldn't bother. They also suggested that I increase the drug I've been taking since 2001 for it -- I'm at the dosage where it's barely apparent and they suggested that it be doubled to the "you can almost know it's there" dosage. Gotta see a couple of docs for that, though.

So it was mixed news and that's fine with me. They were REALLY big on suicide (preventing it, I mean) and it was decided that at this point I'm not suicidal either (except around banjo-accordion duets, but then everyone is).

So, there it is. More or different meds, counseling, get more exercise, and do more music.

And now I'm out of the depression closet....

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 15 Jan 09 - 10:18 AM

Hey, Ron:

Not too sure how many tongues you have inserted in cheeks, or where the tonguing stops, but very straightforwardly, I went through what was diagnosed as a "depressive reaction" many years ago and voluntarily hospitalized myself for 14 days in a psychiatric ward. It was one of the best things that ever happened to me. I knew I had to get off the marry go 'round because it was going close to 90 miles an hour. Getting off helped me to see myself clearly. That's where the root of the problem usually lies. It's soooo easy to see where others are causing your life (mine) to be miserable, but much harder to see yourself.

As the Beatles sang, "I'm looking through you." I spent much of my life to that point looking through myself. You can't change what you can't see.

Keep on keeping on, Ron.

And watch those tongues... :-)

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: BusyBee Paul
Date: 15 Jan 09 - 06:17 PM

Jerry: "I had to get off the MARRY go round..."

Was that a Freudian slip or do you use a different expression over the pond?. It made me chuckle!

Deirdre
(Back from Choral meeting and rehearsal and in need of my bed - exhausted).

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 15 Jan 09 - 06:46 PM

Hey, Deirdre: No, it was as intentional as it gets... :-)

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 15 Jan 09 - 10:46 PM

I don't know how long I'll have. Jan is likely to want the computer soon. So this may be multi-part.

First I wanted to ask Rapaire about an article in today's Wall St Journal about libraries being much more heavily used these days--mainly due to the sagging economy. " Libraries acrosss the country are reporting jumps of as much as 65% over the past year as newly unemployed people flock to branches to fill out resumes and and scan ads for job listings...."

Do you find this in your area--or is it just places like California, Florida, Ohio and other hard-hit parts of the country?

Also, article says "most" libraries have put in free Wi-Fi and computer service.   Do you think that's accurate?




Then I had a lot to say about the choral season here.   We've just gotten through the December high season--which ended with a Martin Luther King concert last Sunday. Now we've started rehearsals for a two concerts in early spring--each done by half the group. And some of us--including me--will be doing selections from Porgy and Bess with a Chinese orchestra.   Unfortunately they've knocked out a lot of my favorite parts--like "Overflow" and "Robbins is Gone" (after the hurricane).   Those two are really stirring pieces--but won't be done this time.

The December schedule was packed, to say the least.   The whole group did 3 concerts, with a Czech flavor this year--every year an embassy sponsors that series--this year the Czechs.   They sent a cultural attache to teach the audience to sing a verse of Silent Night in Czech. He was a gem--told the audience they were great but had a really strong Prague accent, while he was looking for high academic Czech. (This after about 5 minutes of coaching).

Then I was part of a group which did the music for a play--aimed at kids--which was evidently based on some Czech legends--including the historic St Nicholas--who's accompanied both by an angel and a devil--both teenagers.   They'd written a particularly great part for the devil--and he carried it off with real flair. He was such a debonair devil I suggested to him that he check out the role of Mr. Applegate in Damn Yankees--especially "Those Were the Good Old Days".

Then after the play we arranged for visits from Frosty, Santa and Rudolph--with, of course, appropriate music. "Santa Claus is Coming to Town", it turns out, was written about 1934.   It's so obvious that all those descriptions of toys must have been just a dream for all but a tiny number of kids at that point.


I also had my SATB caroling also--every year since 1992.   It's becoming more and more a neighborhood event--which is great.   We had at least 11 neighborhood people participating, out of about 23 singers. High point was a 4-year old, Boone, who wanted to sing "Away in a Manger".   We didn't have it in the 25-page packet I've put together--which keeps growing--but I and few others know 2 verses so we did it anyway. Then we went to sing at Boone's house for his mother and sister. He again wanted to do the same song--so we did. When we finished he was still singing. What he had done was go to the shelf and take off a tome--War and Peace, Count of Monte Cristo--that size---and he was singing from his upside down open book.

We also sang A La Nanita Nana for some Hispanic neighbors--since we get the idea they may be tired of Feliz Navidad.   I understand even some Anglos are tired of it.

Then went back to our house and sang parodies, seasonal songs etc--and ate and drank.



Anyway, as I said we just had a Martin Luther King concert.   That's always a real kick--especially when all the groups are onstage--about 250-300 of us--rocking with "I Can Tell the World" or a black gospel version of Amazing Grace, etc.   Jan said she wasn't impressed this year--says we need a children's chorus every year. Of course she says my group can't swing to save its life.   I thought it went pretty well--admittedly I'm not exactly an impartial observer.

We even had a processional and a recessional this year for the first time. Processional was "Marching To Zion"--which I really like, so now I've memorized it, to add to the songs I sing while walking to the Metro and back--( it's 4 long songs or 5 short songs to the Metro).


Recessional was "If I Can Help Somebody"--which it turns out was Martin Luther King's favorite gospel song--not "Precious Lord", as many of us thought.

Also in the concert the massed group did a rocking version of "Leaning on the Everlasting Arms". Wow. I think you know the technique, Jerry, from earlier postings. First we clapped on all the offbeats. Then the conductor more or less demonstrated what he wanted each part to do--not remotely close to what was on the page.   It was some really fast rote learning--but it worked like a charm--probably since all the black choruses knew what to do. My group just hung on--though I know some of us felt at sea without a paddle.

So now we are doing those 2 concerts I told you about earlier. But no matter what you do you can't avoid modern music. Jan says it's crazy we always do depressing concerts at the end of winter when people are depressed enough already. This time we'll be doing a Vaughn Williams piece which set some of Walt Whitman's Civil War poetry.   So we're depicting war in music.   This time I have to agree with Jan. We really ought to do some upbeat stuff this time of year.

Well that's enough rambling from me for now. Don't mean to monopolize the conversation.

It's great this thread is back in action.

What's going on musically and otherwise with you all? (I'd be especially interested to hear about Deirdre's group).   But whatever anybody wants to bring up.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 17 Jan 09 - 07:36 AM

I have a bottle of champagne, please all join me!!
Our new grandaughter Prudence Primrose was born on January 15th weighing 7lbs 9 oz.Bless her, she was 9 days late but, just as my father predicted, was born on his 89th birthday" what a party we will have this time next year" was his reaction to the news.
Scarlett Mae is thrilled with her little sister and I have been away from this table filling my daughters freezer with lots of home cooking!
mother and daughter doing well, and Billy is popping the champagne cork, fill your glasses.
Wendy

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 17 Jan 09 - 09:31 AM

My last post is toast. Don't know what happened to it. Congratulations, Wendy and family! What a jot! Looks like I'll have to pick up a booster chair for the table.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 17 Jan 09 - 10:19 AM

Do you find this in your area--or is it just places like California, Florida, Ohio and other hard-hit parts of the country?

Oh yeah! Usage is up about 20%, use of our free-to-all (but filtered) Internet computers is up about 30% and we expect greater increase to come. Note that this use is NOT necessarily reflected in greater numbers of items checked out -- many are used in the building because people don't want to take the chance of having a fine because their stuff becomes overdue. Right now our parking lot (75 slots and 20 in a second lot, plus on-street) is filled almost every day, so much so that I might not have a place when I get back from lunch.

The same is true of all of the libraries around here with whom I've spoken. I'll know more in a few days when we have the local Consortium (8 driving hours @ 75 mph long x 5 hours wide) executive board meeting.

Also, article says "most" libraries have put in free Wi-Fi and computer service.   Do you think that's accurate?

Wi-fi? No. Many have (we have) but many have not because their size (e.g., Stanley, Grace, Rigby, Terreton [all Idaho]) makes it unnecessary. There are more small libraries than medium and large ones, and budget size really makes the difference. If you REALLY REALLY want to irritate a small or even medium sized public library tell them that AT HOME your library has __________________ and you CAN'T UNDERSTAND why this isn't provided: be prepared for a frosty or even frozen response, though.

Computer service? Yes. The Gates Foundation Grants have been very good to libraries of all sizes. Problem is, some of the small ones can't get broadband of any sort and have to rely on dial-up.

Libraries are pretty much ignored in good times and depended upon during bad. My budget has been effectively cut during the past 5 years, with no increase that came close to matching my increasing costs. So now, when the bad times hit -- well, the story of Joseph and the Pharaoh's dream about the cows is pretty explanatory.

I'm planning on NO increase in budget this year next fiscal year.

To give you an idea:

My budget is US $1.56 million this year (I'm the biggest library within 50 miles in all directions, and for 100+ miles east, south, and west). Of that, $1.1 million goes to salaries and benefits. Out of the remaining $460,000 you knock off $150,000 for materials, leaving $310,000. Out of that I have to pay for repairs, heat, light, water, trash, computer services, telecommunications, marketing, insurance, and all of the ills any business is heir to.

See the problem? If there is no overall increase next year, personnel costs will still go up. You can take it from there.

And oh yes -- the cost of library materials has risen about 24% over the past three years.... The discount we usually-but-not-always get has therefore been shrinking and free shipping is a distant memory....

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 17 Jan 09 - 10:48 AM

Hey, Ron:

In researching various publishers in the last year, I questioned whether this was a good time to publish a book. I intended to do it anyway, but I was wondering if publishing companies are seeing a drop in sales. I was told (but don't necessarily believe it) that book sales go up during recessions because it is an inexpensive form of entertainment. A book costs far less than it does for Ruth and me to go to the movies. The popcorn is a lot cheaper at home, too. And your feet don't stick to the floor. My book should be published in the next couple of weeks, most likely at a price of $12.95. I think that's inexpensive enough that whatever sales it generates won't be hurt by the recession. Maybe I'll throw in a free box of popcorn.

Before I retired I was Executive Director of a good-sized museum with a budget in a similar range to your libraries. I'm sure it's really hurting now. I retired just in time.

Jerry
Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 17 Jan 09 - 12:52 PM

Rap--Thanks for that report from the front.   I did suspect that Wi-Fi was not that widespread.   Heck, I barely know what that is.

And Jerry--any chance your book will be available through Camsco? (I almost wrote Costco).


I certainly am reading more books these days--mainly I suspect since the presidential campaign is over and the fools trying to smear Obama have given up--at least temporarily.   So the time I was--foolishly--devoting to trying to counter the smear merchants-- can be used more productively. (Though Jan would say there are better uses than reading.)

It's amazing how some people were first pushing Hillary, then McCain and Palin--even on Mudcat.   It didn't seem to faze them that anybody who supported Hillary could not possibly support McCain/Palin, as far as issues---and Hillary herself said this.

It does seem as if Obama will doing the proverbial cat-herding to get any kind of unity----and that's just within the Democratic party.

But perhaps people will realize the serious nature of the situation--and compromise will be possible. And drastic change may also be possible--again because of the urgency of the crisis.



Particularly the health system needs to be addressed.

We are right in the thick of the problem these days. For all her ailments--endometriosis, continuing back and neck problems, asthma, and a boatload more, it seems--Jan takes quite a few drugs. Among other things, only pain pills make it possible for her to continue working 10-11 hours/ day. Which she insists on doing--she loves her work. Even though none of her doctors can believe she does all she does.

But as of 2009, all the brand-name mail-order drugs she takes have about doubled in price from 2008.   We all agree that everybody should be steered away from brand-name to generic drugs. We're all in favor of that. But for drugs for which there is no generic equivalent, it is not reasonable to double the price.   And that's about 6 of hers.

And it must be far worse for elderly people on a fixed income.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 17 Jan 09 - 12:56 PM

Heartfelt congratulations to you and yours Billybob!

Pop those corks Jerry and fill 'em up!

Let's give a warm welcome to the newest member of the Kitchen Table!

It always makes me cross that budgets for public services such as schools, museums and libraries are always the first to be cut and pared to the bone whenever there are "difficulties". Was it Joni Mitchell who sang "...you don't know what you've lost 'til it's gone....."

Wit regard to clearing things out......I keep trying, but things keep creeping back! Have you read Pam Ayres? Her poem, "Heap of stuff" describes the process exactly!

A Google search for Pam Ayres and "heap of stuff attack" will find it!

I shall raise a glass to Prudence tonight!

Best wishes,

Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 17 Jan 09 - 01:17 PM

Hey, Rap: My publishing company, Outskirts Press, will create a website for my book, and I can sell it from there. When the book is published, I'll post a thread about it with a serious warning:
"This book contains sincere expressions of faith." The book does include the lyrics for eleven gospel songs I've written, and countless gospel lyrics from other writers and the tradition. There's also a quote by Casey Stengel and lyrics to a Roger Miller song, so it's not frighteningly pious. I just wouldn't want anyone buying the book without realizing that the basic core of the book is in the title: The Gate of Beautiful: Stories, Songs, And Reflections on Christian Life. Some of the stories have been posted on Mudcat, minus the reflections, and there's even a chapter based on a letter I wrote to Art Thieme describing an amazing experience I had doing a concert at a coffee house.

When I post the announcement, I'll offer to e-mail a couple of chapters to people so that they can judge for themselves whether they'd like to read the book. I'm not a tub thumper, but I am very serious about my faith and I speak very openly about my beliefs.

Enough... I'm starting to write a treatise here.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: BusyBee Paul
Date: 17 Jan 09 - 04:30 PM

Hello again everyone,

Wendy ¡V many congrats on the safe arrival of the latest addition to your family ¡V may Prudence give you all much joy!. I¡¦ll raise a G&T in celebration later this evening. ƒº

Rap ¡V I read your post about medical tests in SLC ¡V my older sister has just returned to SLC (well, Provo anyway) and is lecturing at the university there for a couple of months. When she was living there a few years ago, I visited twice, once for a holiday, the second for her husband¡¦s funeral. That must have been 5 years ago as of about now. I remember we had high daily temperatures of minus 10!. It¡¦s the only time I¡¦ve been to a funeral wearing walking boots in a vain attempt to keep my feet warm.

Ron and Jerry asked for more information about my choral singing group. I live in a small market town in Lincolnshire called Gainsborough. It has a population of about 18,000 and is situated in a very rural part of the East Midlands of England. The nearest large towns or cities are Lincoln (24 miles), Doncaster (20 miles), with Sheffield and Nottingham about an hour¡¦s drive away. The Choral Society is a very traditional English style society. It was formed in 1860 and has given performances since then with, I believe, only two short breaks during the world wars. It is therefore one of the oldest surviving societies in the UK. We are a mixed voice (SATB) group, with about one hundred members of ages ranging from mid twenties to eighty plus. We don¡¦t have voice trials, all we ask for is commitment and enthusiasm. Sight-reading isn¡¦t essential but does help as we rehearse weekly and perform a major work in about 11 weeks. The season runs from September to March and we do 3 concerts per season, one in November, a carol concert in December and another concert in March. The November and March concerts are of major choral works such as Handel¡¦s Messiah, The Creation, Mozart¡¦s Requiem (and Faure¡¦s and Rutter¡¦s), Carmina Burrana, Bernstein¡¦s Chichester Psalms etc.

We sometimes get asked to attend and perform at local community events but we don¡¦t do them as the organisers fail to realise that we don¡¦t have a repertoire of short pieces that we can trot out on demand. Plus we generally perform with a full orchestral accompaniment so our turnout would be in the region of 140 people which would totally overwhelm the event!. Ron, I¡¦m interested that your group splits for performances rather than everyone being involved in all events as we do. Our take is that the Society performs in full or not at all. Up until about 15 years ago, we did a fourth concert in May but this was scrapped when attendance fell below 60%. It generally resulted in an imbalance between the 4 voices ¡V or maybe I should say ¡§even more of an imbalance¡¨ !.

I don¡¦t know what your split is, Ron, but out of 100 members we generally field 35 Sopranos, 35 Altos, 21 Basses and 9 Tenors. Most English Societies struggle to find Tenors and I have been known to go on the local radio asking for men!. In fact the situation got so bad 3 seasons ago that a couple of us women joined the Tenors and I¡¦ve stayed!. I much prefer singing Tenor, at the correct pitch, to singing Alto although my sight-reading in Bass clef is a bit slow / suspect!. Even worse is the tendency of publishers to print the Tenor part jumping from Bass to Treble clef and back again in a work, AND putting the jump on a page turn!. In my case, I don¡¦t do voice warm ups, rather warm downs!.

The Society is a registered educational charity and we committee members are its Trustees. I¡¦ve been Secretary for nearly 20 years now which is a position I generally enjoy. Our last Musical Director (Conductor) was with us for 34 years before he retired in March. He had also been our rehearsal accompanist for about the last 10 years and had the ability to play all 4 parts simultaneously on the piano, conduct and bring in each part AND THEN tell you where you¡¦d gone wrong! He also took little in the way of remuneration and was canny when it came to picking works that we could undertake that would be enjoyable, sufficiently difficult and wouldn¡¦t break the bank!. He was always going to be a hard act to follow.

Our new MD is gradually settling in and, after Thursday evening¡¦s committee meeting, I¡¦m hopeful that he will find a way to make his mark without losing singing members, audience members or bankrupting us in the process. Back in November, I wouldn¡¦t have been so hopeful. Even so, we are going to have our work cut out to keep things going next season as we will likely have to raise our membership subscriptions by about 33% just to cover the increased costs of the MD and his accompanist¡¦s fees. My fear is that that in itself will lose us members, which means that those of us left will have to pay even more to keep it going.

In one of Ron¡¦s posts, he said that he was contemplating the unthinkable ¡V that he would leave his choral group. I can fully understand that, having felt the same way myself last November and I never, ever thought I¡¦d feel that way. Commonsense prevailed though when I remembered that we (the committee) effectively employ this chap do to the job and so, if we¡¦re not happy with his work, then we can employ someone else. Hopefully this won¡¦t now be necessary.

Ron, Jerry, if there is anything else you want to know about my group, just let me know ¡V I think I¡¦ve waffled on far too much here!.

Deirdre

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Tootler
Date: 17 Jan 09 - 08:57 PM

Congratulations on the birth of your grandaughter, Wendy/billybob.

We're expecting our first grandchild. It is due late March/Early April. Strangely enough, my father's 89th birthday is at the end of March, so we shall have to see how things work out.

My daughter has given us copies of scans that have been taken to check the baby is progressing OK - it is. They say it is probably a girl, but it is not 100% certain. It is quite fascinating to see a picture of the tiny person inside her.

Thanks for your nice words about my website, Jerry. I keep meaning to update it, but somehow other things get in the way. There are parts that I have updated - mainly the Open University stuff which I need to keep up to date as I am tutoring for them. It keeps the brain active and brings a little extra money in to help make my pension go further. I also host our local recorder society on the same site, though it has its own URL and I have to keep that up to date, but the other, more personal stuff has drifted somewhat.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 17 Jan 09 - 11:25 PM

A story.

Many years ago, I met a young couple who came to the folk concert series I was running. The wife was extremely, embarassingly enthusiastic about my music. The husband liked it pretty much, I think. He was a biologist and went to Africa with his wife to study mountain gorillas. While he was off in the mountains all day, his young wife was left in the pygmy village to entertain herself as best she could. She brought along a cassette player and played my Secret Life of Jerry Rasmussen album on Folk Legacy. (This is not a plug, it's a story.) The pygmy children loved listening to the music and the one song of mine that they loved best was a doo wop song I wrote titled Ten Pound Radio. Even though they spoke very few words of English, they learned the song and sang along phonetically.
When she told me the story, I got a big kick out if. It shows how universal music is, and how it can make a complete circle. I was a white kid growing up in a lily-white southern town who fell in love with black rhythm and blues whose roots stretch back to Africa. A lonely young wife sat outside her tent in a pygmy village in Africa playing the song I'd written (and I sing all the harmonies, multi-tracked.) African pygmy kids learning a song written by an ageing white kid from Wisconsin. And the circle is unbroken.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: BusyBee Paul
Date: 18 Jan 09 - 04:40 AM

Sorry about the weird punctuation in my post above - I wrote it in Word over a couple of hours, in between doing other things and then pasted it in here. It looked OK in the box before I submitted it.

:-(

Tootler - when I was born in '58, I was due on 25th March but finally made my grand entrance on 2nd April, at 7.30am so my Mum missed breakfast. She's never forgiven me...........! So, if your grandchild misses your father's 89th, I'm more than happy to share my birthday.

Nice story Jerry, you must put me on the list for your book please.

Off to visit my god-daughter now, I feel the need for a cuddle!.

Deirdre

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Tootler
Date: 18 Jan 09 - 09:27 AM

Thanks for your kind offer, Jerry. My Dad's birthday is the 29th.

My mum apparently had a long labour when she had me and always used to tell me that I started as I meant to go on - dawdling.

Cheers

Geoff

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 18 Jan 09 - 10:14 AM

Hey, Geoff: (and anyone else) Please PM your e-mail address and I'll send you a couple of chapters of the book...

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 18 Jan 09 - 10:24 AM

As I said earlier, don't mean to monopolize the conversation--but I'm sincerely interested in musical groups other people belong to.   I'm always interested in what Jerry has to say about his groups--how rehearsals go, their accomplishments, problems--and anything else he wants to talk about.   And it's also fascinating to hear about your group, Deirdre, and recognize similarities and differences.

So I expect--and hope--that people won't be bored by our talk about that sort of stuff.


As for mine, since you ask:   specifically regarding the question of why everybody doesn't do every gig:   I would say it's basically since our conductor is just a boy who can't say no. And there's no way everybody would have time to do every gig, unless everybody were retired, which the overwhelming majority are not.

This season (2008-2009), for instance, there is a series of 4 concerts, mostly at the Kennedy Center, which all members--there are about 180 of us-- are expected to sing. These are the Verdi Requiem (2 Nov), Christmas music (--3 concerts -- 15, 20, and 24 Dec), a concert of opera choruses and the Haydn Spring from The Seasons (26 April)--and one of either a Bach/ John Tavener concert (27 Feb) or Purcell/ Britten/ Vaughn Williams (29 Mar).

Not all will be singing the Purcell piece ( Come Ye Sons of Art)--just about 30 he picks--and I think the same is true of the Bach (Preise, Jerusalem, den Herrn)--though all in those concerts are expected to sing the other piece or pieces.

But all were allowed to pick either the 27 Feb or the 29 Mar concert--with the expectation that it would be a good split between the 2--and every part would be strongly covered.

In addition we are all pretty much expected to sing a concert honoring Martin Luther King--which we've just done--with 2 large black groups.   That's always a real charge from my perspective, though there are some who don't seem to like to do it--maybe since it's a lot of music, on 3 rehearsals, and we have to get used to various gospel styles of conducting--meaning not singing just what's on the page--and constantly watching the various conductors like a hawk for signals.



But on top of this, there are lots of other gigs. We often sing at the Kennedy Center Honors--which kills a weekend in December, of all times. Fortunately this year we didn't sing for that--December is bonkers enough without that.

Then there are the 2 family concerts--also in December. About 30 of us do them--on a volunteer basis. I find them just delightful, and always volunteer.

And possibly singing at the embassy of whatever country is sponsoring the series of Christmas concerts.   That's a little group chosen by our conductor.   I was part of the group that sang for the Austrian ambassador the year Austria was the sponsor.

Then there are other gigs, like singing at Ford's Theatre for some occasion--most recently in June 2007 we taped a Christmas concert in 2007--I talked about that on this thread--that was the one for which Olivia Newton John's Xanadu was evidently declared a Christmas piece.

And singing selections from Porgy and Bess with a Chinese orchestra--which I volunteered for.    I'll sing Porgy and Bess with any group.

And there are yet more gigs during the summer.

Tours, if there is one--which are actually great fun--and I always try to do those--if we leave the US.


Singing at Wolf Trap. Singing for the 4th of July on the Mall.
I'd rather not sing in a tuxedo during the summer outside in the DC area--so I don't usually volunteer for those gigs. But fortunately there are people who seem to enjoy singing with a bunch of celebrities for the 4th-- though it's background music, by and large. I did that once. I didn't think it was worth the time, considering that we just provide accompaniment. But I have to admit I'd love to sing the Russian chorus portion of the 1812 Overture--which the 4th of July group sometimes does.

And I think there are some other gigs I can't recall.

So basically there are some concerts everybody is obligated to sing, some for which a small group is picked, and others for which he asks for volunteers.

With all the groups and subgroups it's pretty easy to stay pretty busy--(and most of us have full-time jobs also).   I've heard talk of "Choral Arts widows" or "widowers".

But it seems to work out pretty well.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 18 Jan 09 - 11:39 AM

Go right ahead, Ron: I'm interested in hearing more about what you're doing. My perspective from the Men's Chorus of the black Baptist church we belong to is understandably different. For starters, we rarely sing from sheet music. That would drive a lot of people nuts who are sued to singing tightly arranged scores. When we occasionally do sing from sheet music, our Director will arbitrarily change harmony lines that he feels would sound better if done differently. On top of that, he may change a section of harmony line from practice to practice, and even sometimes within the practice. The next time you come to practice, he may change a not or two again.
That approach is perhaps why trained singers find it too frustrating, trying to sing black gospel. On top of that, some of the guys in the baritone section I sing in wander back and forth from singing the melody line to the baritone harmony, sometimes within the same song. While our director works long and hard to get each section to learn their harmony, he realizes that most of the men in the chorus are not formally trained and don't have a good ear for harmony. When one of the guys in the baritone section sings the melody for a line of a song, it just means that they're a second tenor for that line... :-)

Another great difference is that we have to be prepared to sing a song we may not have sung for many months, spur of the moment. Our Director will often decide to do a song based on a line of scripture used in the sermon. When he plays the opening introduction on piano (we never know what we're going to sing) if you're singing the lead, you'd better recognize the song after a few notes and head up to the microphone, running through the song in your head as you go. There've been times when our Director just played chords as an introduction without an obvious melody while I've sat there wondering why he was smiling at me until someone nudges me and says, "That's your lead."

All of this must sound completely foreign to being in a choral society and doing formal arrangements. It takes different skills. The emphasis in the Men's Chorus that I sing in is the message. When we learn a new song, we read the lyrics together a few times without a melody, just so that we absorb the message we are going to sing.
Spiritual harmony is probably even more important that musical harmony. That fits me fine, as a folk singer. I've heard folk singers get every word right and do elaborate, impressive accompaniments of instrumentals and never get the song.

Another thing.... plenty of another things.... Many of the songs we do require the lead singer to improvise lines of the top of their head. The Chorus will keep repeat a simple three or four word part of the chorus while the lead singer improvises lines over the backing. Only a few members of the Chorus can do that. I've had to make up words when I've forgotten them singing folk music enough times that I can do it pretty comfortably. The Director may keep the Chorus going a long time, especially if the congregation gets in the Spirit. You have to be able to keep singing another line as long as the Director keeps the Chrous going. Then when we finish the song, if the congregation is still wound up, the lead singer may be called back up to continue improvising. It's a heady experience. not for the faint of heart.

I've never sung in a choir where you have to read from sheet music, out of choice. I've leaned to read music fairly well over the years, but feel limited looking down at sheet music all the time. It's just a personal preference. I've met many wonderful singers far better than I am, who can't sing harmony unless they have sheet music to follow. That seems weird to me. What I do seems even weirder to them.

Different strokes for different folks.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: BusyBee Paul
Date: 18 Jan 09 - 01:15 PM

Jerry,

I'm quite envious - all too often we get our heads stuck in the score trying desperately to keep the piece going!. But the end joys are the same as yours, singing in praise and in harmony (of all sorts) with your fellow singers. I was left breathless with awe after one performance of Verdi's Requiem and thought to myself "I can die happy now, it doesn't get any better than this".

Deirdre

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 18 Jan 09 - 02:57 PM

Hey, Deirdre:

I turned on the tv last night and caught Handel's Messiah, with a choir conducted by Jose Iturbi in one of the countless movies he appeared in during the '40s. I was swept away as I always am. It would be breathtaking to sing that as written. The Men's Chorus I sing in does the black version of Handel's Messiah every Christmas.
It is very powerful in its own way. Instead of a symphony orchestra lifting us, we have a single piano which is drowned out for major portions of the piece. It is one of the few that we sing from sheet music, but when we are swept away you might as well throw the music out the window. It's in our hearts.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 18 Jan 09 - 04:33 PM

I agree with you, Jerry, about the wonderful experience it is to make music with no orchestra backing you. One of the most stunning experiences I've had in our group was when we had a black group singing with us, and at the end of the rehearsal they just stood up--all over the place, not together in a group--their basses mixed in with ours, their sopranos with ours, etc--and belted out a spiritual from memory.

In one of the songs we did for the Martin Luther King concert this year, they told us to put the music down completely and just get cues from the pianist, who was also the soloist. So we did--and it came out just fine--even with the clapping, swaying, and raising hands--which we also never do. Admittedly some of our group were fish out of water, but I love to sing getting physically into the music--heck I do it with some classical music.

Of course I love to sing doo-wop, Balkan, country, madrigals, black and white gospel, western swing, Gershwin and jazz in general, Sacred Harp, bluegrass, sea chanteys--and the list goes on.   In fact I feel pretty strongly that for non-classical music, people should not read off printed music--or out of a "folk hymnbook", i.e. Rise Up Singing. (a sore point lately, I'm sure you've noted.) Sacred Harp is the only exception--and even that is better without books, if the group can do it. As I mentioned earlier, a bunch of us used to play volleyball--and sing Sacred Harp and madrigals from memory between games.

Actually, in our Christmas concerts and some others, I prefer by far the a cappella pieces. It seems to me that an orchestra messes up the wonderfully clear sound of massed voices. By the same token I often prefer the sound we make while practicing with our pianist--when it's just him and 180 voices. Even better when it's just us with no piano.

I keep trying to get our conductor to do more a cappella pieces. With marginal success. I'm also trying to get him to knock out the orchestra at Christmas for at least one verse of a familiar carol.   I know the audience (with our assistance--and maybe just by themselves) could carry a verse without the organ--and it would sound stunning--the packed Kennedy Center Concert Hall filled with nothing but people singing. And those audiences do sing.

The problem is he's come up with a competing job for the audience--every year to learn a verse of Silent Night in the language of whichever embassy is sponsoring our Christmas concerts that year. ( It really helps for that if the "teacher" has a dry wit--as the Czech cultural attache had this year--telling the audience he was looking for high academic Czech, not the strong Prague accent they were showing.)

And I've also been trying to get our conductor to tell us--way in advance of the occasion--to get us to memorize some pieces--as most of the groups we sing with, it seems, have done..   Some of us already have--like the Randall Thompson Alleluia (for which after all the text is not too challenging--just the one word Alleluia, repeated for 10 pages.)

Among other things, we need something to sing at the drop of a hat at a big meal while one tour--especially if the host group has just sung something from memory--which has happened.


And I certainly do sympathize with you, Deirdre, about the tenor problem. For my SATB yearly carol sing, I'm a prisoner of tenors--have to schedule it on a night tenors can make it.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 18 Jan 09 - 05:02 PM

When the hairs go up on the back of your neck....you know you're doing it right!

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 18 Jan 09 - 05:06 PM

On a smaller scale, In the first six years of the Gospel Messengers, I went through three tenors. For the last five years, I have not been able to find an acceptable replacement. The two singers I tried immediately insisted on changing all the arrangements to sound more contemporary, assuming that we were too muddle-brained to figure out anything more complicated than plain old four part harmony. That didn't work out at all. One of the oddities with both of the flushed tenors was that they tried to get my friend Joe who is one of the finest bass singers I've ever heard, to sing high tenor, while I sang the bass. I had a third tenor who expressed some interest but made it clear that he didn't like our harmonies and that we'd need a lot of work (by someone as gifted as him, of course,) to ever amount to anything.

Trio singing works fine.

After all, it wasn't the Kingston Quartet, or Peter Paul, Fred, and Mary.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: BusyBee Paul
Date: 18 Jan 09 - 05:29 PM

Hey Jerry, if only I was closer! LOL!

Deirdre

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 18 Jan 09 - 07:05 PM

Yup, it is somewhat of a problem. Tenors really can write their own tickets.   Sometimes, unfortunately, they know this--and figure the rest of the world should organize around them--including changing everything it has done up to now.


I thought the joke went:   

Q: How many sopranos does it take to screw in a light bulb?

A :   One. She stands there holding the bulb and the world revolves around her.

But maybe sopranos get a bad rap.   Maybe it should be tenors.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: BusyBee Paul
Date: 19 Jan 09 - 03:15 AM

Watch it, Ron. Any more jokes like that and we'll take our ball and go play on our own!

LOL!!!!!!

It's so nice to feel wanted......... :-)

Deirdre

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 19 Jan 09 - 05:25 PM

My only experience with tenors is in male choruses and quartets. I've always assumed that female tenors were vivacious, witty, modest, exciting, extremely gifted and stunningly beautiful.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: BusyBee Paul
Date: 19 Jan 09 - 05:38 PM

LOL, Jerry! Spot on, mate!   (I wish.....)

;-)

Just back from a choral rehearsal in Lincoln - I'm helping Lincoln Choral Society at their next concert at the end of March - it's Verdi Requiem, to be performed in Lincoln Cathedral. Great piece and a superb venue (if more than a little chilly at any time of year!).

Deirdre

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 19 Jan 09 - 10:29 PM

Well Deirdre, if it's the Verdi, that should warm anybody up.   Doesn't he talk about "in flammis"? It's a hot piece--lots of writhing, threatening people with "Dies Irae", pits to fall into, etc, as I recall.

Re: tenors: My only problem is that there seem to be very few of them--and they're really busy. Actually, as the saying goes, some of my best friends are tenors--and altos, sopranos, and basses. I did ask a tenor to come to my SATB caroling and he told me he'd been reserved a year in advance for that date.. So I reserved him for this coming December. I did find two who were willing to come. (But one says he is now a baritone).

In fact I got drafted to sing tenor myself in a Telemann piece--one in a never-ending series of "Telemannsters"-- by the leader of my old madrigal group.   He had been asked to re-write the music to raise the tenor part so a former alto could do it. She said it was too high, so he re-wrote it again lower. Then she had to have an operation so she couldn't make it to the service where it was to be performed. So he called me.   I sure don't have a tenor voice--but I have a strong falsetto and can carry the part.   He said it came out fine. But that was a small group.

And my "tenor" who had come for the caroling was a baritone for this year's "Telemannster".   So it was virtual role reversal.

I actually find my voice has sunk. Low E's and D's are much easier than ever.   So it's only the falsetto that gives me any kind of decent range. God bless the Beach Boys.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 19 Jan 09 - 10:32 PM

And you're right, Jerry, about female tenors. One in Choral Arts is a principal in a school and just got an award for her leadership.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: BusyBee Paul
Date: 20 Jan 09 - 07:21 AM

Low E's and D's I can manage. I can bounce off a low C but don't sing it as a sustained note (last page or so of Verdi Requiem). I've even bounced off a low B before now.......

Hope it's just my voice that's dropping........!

Deirdre

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 20 Jan 09 - 08:47 AM

Deidre, you say your voice is changing?

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: BusyBee Paul
Date: 20 Jan 09 - 09:05 AM

Yes Rapaire, it's getting lower, probably through more use at the low range. I'm certainly now not able to sing higher notes, I struggle above the C above middle C. In fact after "top" D, there is no more!. Still, I suppose 2 full octaves isn't bad.

At least I haven't had to start shaving, so it can't be hormonal! Although, joking apart, at my age that MAY have something to do with it :-)

Deirdre

(You're up early, aren't you?)

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 20 Jan 09 - 09:15 AM

My voice changes from morning to evening. If I practice songs in the morning for an evening concert, I often find I'm stronger on the lowest notes in the morning, and have trouble at the top fo my range.

Just for a quantum shift here, I had surgery on my leg yesterday, and it's worth commenting. Six years ago I went to have a small mole removed on the corner of my mouth. I kept nicking it when I shaved and it would start bleeding without advanced, written notice. I was having a lot of trouble with it and was scheduled to do a concert, so I didn't want it to start bleeding while I was performing. It was a quick, office snip-off. After the snipping, my Doctor showed me a pamphlett about moles and what to look for. If a mole changes appeareance, enlarges, or gets a poorly definied margin, you should have it checked. I remembered that these last six years, and a couple of months ago a mole on the back of my leg started itching like crazy. When I'd scratch it, it would bleed. I left it alone and thought it would heal but the itching never went away. I couldn't really see clearly if it had cchanged in appearance, because it's on the bnck of my leg and hard to see. I went to my Doctor, and he sent me to a specialist, who removed the mole and sent it for a biopsy. It came back positive. I had melanoma, a variety of skin cancer. If you catch melanoma early, there is close to a 100% rate of cure. If it gets too far along, it can mestasize and spread cancer throughout your body and be fatal.
Yesterday, they cut out the skin around the area where my mole was removed, taking out about an inch and a half of skin. They will do a biopsy on it, and if they got all the melanoma cells out, the chance of any future problems will be verging on nill, although they'll monitor me for two years. If there are still cancer cells along the margin, they'll cut another quarter of an inch of skin off and sew it up again. They would keep doing this until they are positive they've removed all cancer cells.
I mention this because it's something everyone should know. This is an extreme case of the importance of early detection that can make the difference between a minor operation or death at the other extreme. Tuck it in the back of your mind and remember it, will you? I wish I had known more about this so that I could have caught mine earlier, although all three doctors think I have an excellent chance of having removed all traces with the operation I had yesterday. I won't be sure until they do the biopsy, but I am very hopeful. If there are still cells to be removed, they'll be removed.
I'm feeling very thankful today.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: BusyBee Paul
Date: 20 Jan 09 - 05:39 PM

Fingers crossed for you Jerry.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Tootler
Date: 20 Jan 09 - 08:05 PM

Best of luck, Jerry.

I was diagnosed with bowel cancer almost 3 years ago. I went to the doc when it became obvious the symptoms I had were not going to clear up and luckily for me it was detected early enough to be dealt with. I had surgery to remove the section of bowel and fortunately the tumor had not penetrated right through the bowel wall so it looks like I have been lucky. I am still under observation, but no signs of a recurrence so far, so fingers crossed...

It certainly made me think and I don't take my health for granted any longer.

One downside - getting travel insurance now is a real problem. The moment they see either cancer or heart troubles, they immediately double or even treble the premium, even though you are clear and unlikely to take that into account. It's just knee jerk. We had to cancel a planned holiday in the USA as they were asking more for health insurance than the whole trip was going to cost.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 20 Jan 09 - 08:10 PM

Hey, Geoff:

Glad to hear that you've had recurrence.

I got a call this afternoon from my old friend Art Thieme. He just wanted to share this special inauguration day with me. It's been awhile since we've talked, and I was out when he called. I called him back and we had a wonderful, leisurely talk. He had melanoma many years ago, and it was caught early with no recurrence. I expect that mine will be the same, so I am not worried about it. I'll have an ugly scar for awhile on the back of my calf, but I'm far beyond worrying about something like that. No more runway modelling of swimming trunks for me. At least not for a few months.

I can live with that...

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: maeve
Date: 21 Jan 09 - 06:04 AM

Tootler- Glad you have had no signs of a return of the cancer.

Jerry- Thank you for taking care of yourself.

maeve

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 21 Jan 09 - 07:44 AM

Positive thoughts Jerry x
Thanks for sharing, that information is very important. In my job I often ask clients have they asked their doctor about moles? I tend to be the first person they consult. It is always worth following up and usually everything is ok, but it is so important not to ignore these things.
The new baby is doing well and her "big" sister Scarlett is mummy's little helper!
Ran out of champagne, but a coffee will be great.
Wendy

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 21 Jan 09 - 11:58 AM

Hey, Geoff:

Stupid typo: I meant to type that I was glad that you've had no recurrence of the cancer. Reminds me of a story I read about the trouble that was caused when a daughter addressed a letter to her mother titled "Dead Mom." Typos can be injurious to your health.

Today, we're luxuriating in the warmth of Obama's inauguration. What a great day for the world. I realize that he is not God, but we rejoice in the hope that he brings not only to the United States, but to the world.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: jimmyt
Date: 21 Jan 09 - 08:19 PM

Hello all! I haqve several items to throw around here at the kitchen table! Jayne and I went to New Orleans this past weekend for a weding. It was absolutely lovely, the reception was superb, the food good, the drink excellent, and just about 10 pm when we thought things were winding down, there appeared a "2nd Line "band, a New Orleans dixieland band that normally plays funerals. Now adays they have discovered there is a steady income playing at weddings. We were paraded throught New Orleans, police excort, crossed canal street, 6 lanes plus street car tracks all stopped by police as our parade went to the French Quarter. About 150 started and well over 300 in the parade as it processed up0 Bourbon Street. One of those neat musical experiences to have thew authentic old 2nd line dixieland players. I got right up with the band and if I could have gotten a trumpet, katie bar the door!

We got home Sunday at 5 pm and had a full rehearsal with complete sound equipment in our living room at 7 pm My do-wop group has a Friday and Saturday night gig, and it is so, so fun to be singing that stuff again! We now have a great accompanist, and let the record show Ihave had trouble gettin the right accompanist as Jerry has a tenor! THis one is terrific. I will try to post some photos somewhere if possible.

My lead singer is recovering from COlon Cancer and has recently had recurrences in both lungs and is in the middle of chemo right now. He has a bad week and a good week. Our performance is in the good weekend and we hope all will be well. To add to this, his brother , a local police officer , committed suicide 10 daysago and there is a cloud of suspicion with some allegations of some sexual improprities he might have had prior to the suicide. It has really been tough on Billy.

On a brighter note, there is a Utube site you should check out, Look under " stand By Me," and change for good. As I have had this explained to me, the concept was a producer organized this so that a single guitar street performer in New Orleans started " Stand By me." This went into a computer and was instantly uplinked to other street performers all over the world and in real time they were singing along or playing. It is absolutely phenominal! Go see it!   The grampa character ( secondperformer) is a wonderful street performer in New Orleans and I talked with him about it last weekend. He is a blins man who can sing and really play the harp! GIve it a look!

My office is absolutely having a great month. My staff is so motivated it is hard to see any slowdown at all. I have agreed to "coach' anyone in my staff that wonts it, to get them out of credit card debt and on the right road to financial freedom. I have 6 of the 7 taking mwe up on it, and it is terrific to see the enthusiasm they have toward eliminating their debt. I will keep you abreast of this issue. Anyway, I have rambled enough this post. Hope you all have a nice evening! jimmyt

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 21 Jan 09 - 09:05 PM

How great to hear from you, Jimmy! Yes, someone sent me the link to Stand By Me. It is a truly remarkable video. Try this link. http://playingforchange.com
I still havn't figured out how to do blue clickys.
Sorry to hear about the serious problems you have in your group, jimmy. Verrry sorry.

Very Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: BusyBee Paul
Date: 22 Jan 09 - 05:16 AM

That all sounds wonderful about the wedding, Jimmyt. Positive thoughts with Billy.

And great that your staff are being so pro-active about clearing their debts too. It's about time the media started to talk up the mood, not depress it further.

I'm hoping this current phase will put the humanity back into "human" and make people readdress their lifestyles and attitudes into something less materialistic.

That said, will someone pass the cookies, please?!

Deirdre.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 22 Jan 09 - 12:44 PM

Earlier this week, I joined Facebook at the request of a friend. There are quite a few Catters on there, and it first it was great fun. Now, the fun is fading fast. I know there are some in here who are Facebookers who frequent this thread. What I find so limiting about it is that what passes for conversations are one sentence (or if someone is feeling verbose, two sentence posts every day or so.
The kitchen table it ain't. I'm quickly finding a distinct resemblance between collecting friends of Facebook with keeping a list of all the birds I've seen, back when I was a semi-serious bird watcher. The only other comparison that comes to mind is collecting baseball cards, except that there's more information on the back of a baseball card than many folks on Facebook post. Besides, if you had a few clothes pins you could clip your baseball cards to the spokes on the wheel of your bike and make it sound like a motorcyle.

Anyone else have any thoughts about Facebook. It's pleasant enough, but I really enjoy getting to know people. That's hard to do reading one sentence every two or three days.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: BusyBee Paul
Date: 23 Jan 09 - 04:50 AM

I signed on Facebook ages ago as a friend used it and wanted to send me stuff. But I didn't like all the requests to do "games" and found it easier to keep in contact with my friend by phone and email!. I couldn't remember my login and password now if I tried - and I've no inclination to try either.

So, I'll stick to the 'Cat, email and Myspace thank you very much, especially as the snacks here are so good (and non-fattening).

From a very soggy Gainsborough,
Deirdre

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Georgiansilver
Date: 23 Jan 09 - 05:00 AM

Jerry, when you are on facebook, at the bottom right of your page there is a box which tells you how many friends are online.... click on the box and a list of their names appears..... if you then click on a name a 'chat' box will appear and you can type a message to them direct... if they are ready to have a conversation they will happily reply. Would be happy to have a chat with you whenever. Best wishes, Mike.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: BusyBee Paul
Date: 23 Jan 09 - 07:49 AM

Hi Mike,

You're still in the land of the liveing - long time, no see!

Deirdre

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 23 Jan 09 - 08:22 AM

Thanks for the tip, Mike. That sounds more my speed. I'd enjoy chatting with you and will keep my eye open for you.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jeanie
Date: 23 Jan 09 - 08:35 AM

Hi all ! I'm an occasional visitor to the table these days...but how great to discover some old and new faces in here today.

Long time, no see, Jimmy ! I'm pleased to hear your group is still in business. Very sorry to hear about the health difficulties with one of your band members - hope all will soon be well. That sounds like a wonderful experience in New Orleans ! I wonder, are you still finding time for acting ? I was the formidible Mrs. Violet Venable ( in a Tennessee Williams play) not long ago and had great fun learning the upper class New Orleans accent. Next play was a Neil Simon, so had to switch to Noo Yoorwak. Thank goodness for all the accent CDs and online resources that are around these days.

I'm so glad that your mole has been treated so promptly, Jerry. Wishing you the very best for a speedy recovery. I've just joined Facebook too - last Saturday, in fact, after a friend invite. Look at your facebook messages - I would love to chat to you on there. I'm only very new to it, but I can see that it can be fun - and as well as those one-sentence messages that you mention, you can also send longer messages (like the PMs on here) as well as the chat facility that Georgiansilver mentioned. I think it's a great way to share photos and news.

Must leave the table and get back to work now. I made too much Marmite drink, so help yourselves (those Marmite addicts amongst you - it's an acquired taste, as they say....)

- jeanie

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Tootler
Date: 23 Jan 09 - 11:55 AM

Hello Jerry,

Don't worry about the typo. We all do it.

I didn't watch Obama's inauguration - I was out at the time and anyway, he is your president, not ours. However, his election has generally been received very positively over here. He looks to be getting off to a good start. Long may it continue. I feel his heart is in the right place. He will make mistakes; we all do, but as long as he doesn't lose sight of his principles I feel he will be fine.

Not much doing here just now. Our recorder group have just started rehearsing for a concert we are giving in April. We are also hosting the Society of Recorder Players Annual festival in April this year. That is a national event, so we are going to be busy over the next few months.

I filled in my tax return yesterday - it had to be done by the end of the month. I was somewhat underpaid. Not by too much but money I would rather not have had to lay out.

Well having had an excellent cup of cybercoffee, I think I will sign out and go and have a cup of the real stuff.

Geoff

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: BusyBee Paul
Date: 23 Jan 09 - 12:12 PM

Hi Jeanie, I'll help out with the Marmite drink, if I may.

:-)

Deirdre

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jeanie
Date: 23 Jan 09 - 12:52 PM

Busybee - glad the Marmite found a good home.

Aaah, Tootler, the dreaded Tax Return...It's a lovely feeling when it's all been done, isn't it ? My self-employed Tax Year runs from October to October, so technically I have plenty of time to prepare and submit my accounts to the Revenue, but I put it off every year, and it's become an annual ritual now to do them between Christmas and New Year. It's funny, because once I get going on the paperwork, I actually quite enjoy it. Feeling very relieved now because I went to the bank this afternoon to pay my dues -it reminds me of the kind of feeling after sitting the last set of exams at school....temporary freedom, until the inevitable next time that comes round all too soon. In fact, the whole tax form thing reminds me very much of school - that must be why everyone I know dreads doing them so much !

- jeanie

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 23 Jan 09 - 02:07 PM

I've heard that Marmite is made by placing a marmot in a blender. Is that really true? It sounds cruel.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 23 Jan 09 - 08:12 PM

Hallelujah!!!!!!!!
I just got a call from the surgeon informing me that the half a dollar sized piece of skin they removed around my mole was 100% clean. Now its only a matter of being careful so that the incision heals completely (which requires my resting with my leg elevated much more than I've been doing.) It's too awkward to do that while on the computer, but I'll be in and out. Just wanted to share the great news.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: BusyBee Paul
Date: 24 Jan 09 - 05:10 AM

Jerry! Hallelujah indeed! That is brilliant news. Just keep resting and gently exercising until all is healed. I do love hearing good news. :-)

Marmite and marmots - LOL! Actually, it's a byproduct of beer brewing and I like to do all I can to suport said industry, especially in the current economic downturn. So, drinking beer and eating marmite is A GOOD THING. (That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!).

Oh well, it's Saturday morning, 10am and I've done absolutely nothing yet - best get on with my chores. I'll stop by later for a restorative cup of coffee ebfore heading northwards for Kirkby Fleetham Folk Club this evening.

Ain't life grand?.

Deirdre

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: maeve
Date: 24 Jan 09 - 05:22 AM

That is wonderful news, Jerry.

maeve

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 24 Jan 09 - 07:46 AM

Jerry--that's just fantastic news that you caught the melanoma so early and dealt with it.


And thanks for the tip. As usual, I'm not the one who has to really pay attention to a health warning--but Jan was just mentioning that she's concerned about what looks to me like a large pimple. (And at this point, all she's getting from the humira injections, which are to stop the degenerative spine disease caused by her own immune system attacking her, are bad side effects--like constant fatigue and and a constant sore throat, aggravated by her asthma. The result of which is she can't sing--which is really frustrating to both of us.)

Her doctors say it could be either up to 3 months or up to 6 months before she sees any improvement--if she does at all.

And the kids she takes care of---which is the main thing keeping her going, I'm convinced--ask her to sing or tell stories using her various accents--including characters like a Scottish buffalo or an Irish manatee.   Which she loves to do but is finding it progressively more difficult.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 24 Jan 09 - 08:08 AM

Jimmy--

Congratulations on being part of that wedding.   

And especially, thanks, thanks, ever so much for that tip about "Stand By Me" That is just so indescribably wonderful--to hear and see people from all over the world--New Orleans, Russia, South Africa, Italy and more---playing and singing the same great song.

I think that may well deserve its own thread--every Mudcatter should be told of the opportunity to see and hear it.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 24 Jan 09 - 11:15 AM

So glad all is well Jerry.
Wendy

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Tootler
Date: 24 Jan 09 - 12:10 PM

I'm glad to hear you are clear, Jerry. Look after yourself. I saw my troubles as a wake up call and tend to be more willing to go to the Doc these days.

Spent the morning playing my Contrabass Recorder at the North East Recorder Orchestra's monthly meeting in Newcastle. Played some interesting music. A mixture of material composed specifically for a large recorder group and arrangements of pieces from various eras. We are due to give a concert in Morpeth in May, so we are starting to practice the pieces for that.

I shall be going to the White Hart at Mickleby this evening. I've been to Kirby Fleetham but before they had to move when the pub shut. It's a good club, but I prefer a singaround. You can't be all that far from me Deirdre. I live at Marton, just on the southern Edge of Middlesbrough.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 24 Jan 09 - 03:30 PM

Hello Jerry,

That is very good news indeed! I hope the leg heals up well so that you can take up Morris Dancing again! One of the great things about Mudcat is that by sharing experiences we can all be the wiser. I had a scare a few years ago...thankfully sorted, but it is always good to be reminded.

Has all the Marmite gone? You can use Bovril in the same way. Super when you are fed up with tea and coffee and want to be warm on a cold day.

We had a great night at the folk club last night and the main artist was Flossie Malavialle. She was superb and, as often happens, she said something that made me think. She said that Folk Clubs were a peculiarly English phenomenon. You just don't find them elsewhere in the same way as you find them in our part of the world. Now, from some of the discussions that have gone on round this table, I have learned fascinating facts about weddings in New Orleans, choirs and musical gatherings in all sorts of places as well as the gentle mayhem that Jerry has created over the years. So......if any of you are in any doubt as to what a folk club is really like........pass the cookies and I'll spill the beans!

You don't want to believe all you read on some of the more extravagant threads!

Our village cricket team put on a cooked breakfast in the village hall for a fund-raising effort. It went very well, tasted delicious and raised some valuable funds. Full English.......Mmmmmm!

Interesting thoughts about using facebook to chat. Much the better option is to use Skype. It's free and you can also see each other in real time if you have a web cam! Scary!

Best wishes,


Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 24 Jan 09 - 04:09 PM

For a look into a perhaps unfamiliar musical environment, my gospel group has been invited to participate in the Men's Chorus of Shiloh Baptist Churches Anniversary. We've done these countless times, and they are always a great experience. Each group that comes does two songs. At Shiloh, the program starts at 6 p.m. and can go close to midnight, two songs at a time. There are often fifteen or twenty groups participating. Those who are not singing make an enthusiastic audience, often singing along unprompted. Musicians from one group often support another, and the quality of the music ranges from superb to sincerely trying to do the best they can. Groups range from a dozen singers down to one, depending on who makes it. And then everyone is invited to join the next church's anniversary.

I'm looking forward to it.

And as always, I'll be the only white guy there...

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: BusyBee Paul
Date: 25 Jan 09 - 09:54 AM

Hi Tootler,

Good evening at Kirkby Fleetham but very low attendance. I'm further from you than you might have thought - I'm in Lincolnshire so KFFC is a 2 hour drive for me!. Kat and Dan (from Newcastle University) were great - I hadn't come across them before. Brother Crow were flying high and put quite a few new songs into the sets. I'm looking forward to the Winter Warmer Weekend. The village hall works well as a venue, perhaps you'll come and see for yourself soon?.

Hope everyone else around the table is having a good Sunday.

Deirdre

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Tootler
Date: 25 Jan 09 - 05:19 PM

Hello Deirdre,

I wish I had realised Kat and Dan were at KFFC. I might have gone over. I know Kat as she runs the Silver Folk at the Sage on Tuesday afternoons which I go to.

Nevertheless it was a good night at Mickleby. The regular singarounds are usually good with a good selection of regulars and a good mix of songs, mostly trad or trad related.

Your evening at Shiloh sounds interesting, Jerry.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: BusyBee Paul
Date: 26 Jan 09 - 05:37 PM

Hi Tootler,

See the KFFC Winter Warmer Weekend thread - perhaps you can make it or part of it at least?.

Jerry, when is your Shiloh evening? Anytime soon?.

Deirdre

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 26 Jan 09 - 09:34 PM

It's February 28th, Deirdre. I'm getting together with the other Gospel Messengers, my friends Joe and Frankie (who Noreen, Carole formerly of Sussex, Theresa, the late Colin and still missed greatly and Terry Silver (Leadfingers on Mudcat Cafe) all had the chance to meet and sing with. The years are taking their toll on Joe and Frankie, who are 84 and 82, so we don't get together to sing much anymore. This will be a good reason to make the effort. If it doesn't snow. We've had to cancel two practices because of bad weather.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: BusyBee Paul
Date: 27 Jan 09 - 04:15 AM

Morning Jerry,

Ah yes, snow. I've been in Utah (and Yellowstone) in the snow and it does get rather chilly and difficult to travel, doesn't it!. Of course, when we have snow here in the UK, everything grinds to a halt - even if it's only an inch or two. LOL!.

I've met Carole and Terry and I'm sure that I crossed festivals with Colin on many an occasion. Hope all goes well for the 28th Feb.

It's a bright morning here in the East Midlands, with just a touch of frost forming as the sun came up. Maybe spring is on its way.

I'm at work but I think it's time to put the kettle on again............

Deirdre

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: BusyBee Paul
Date: 27 Jan 09 - 05:17 PM

Hey! I got 2200!

Sorry Elmer.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 27 Jan 09 - 06:56 PM

Elmer must be away hunting.
Speaking of guns, when I was a kid, we all had cap pistols, and when we got old enough, bb guns. We played cowboys and indians, and there was an eternal argument about who was better, Roy Rogers or Gene Autry (and Trigger or Champion.) The downside of being Roy Rogers was that some stupid girl in the neighborhood would want to be Dale Evans. If we allowed her at all, she had to stay in the bunk house kitchen and not get in the men's way. We were terribly politically incorrect. No wonder kids don't play cowboys and indians anymore. It would be cowboys and native Americans, and no one would want to shoot a noble savage, the original environmentalists. You couldn't relegate girls to the kitchen anymore, either.

Now, kids play Gangstas, drug dealers, pimps and whores. There isn't even the benefit of fresh air. They're all playing, sitting on the floor with their legs crossed Native American style.

In the 60's, cap guns, kids and the Vietnam War all got mixed together, and suddenly the root cause for the war was all those kids who played cowboys and indians. I always thought the connection between cap guns and serial killers was always a bit tenuous. The only ceral we killed was Wheaties and that was to get the box top to send in for cool (called "neat" back then" gifts.

Just thinking...

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: BusyBee Paul
Date: 28 Jan 09 - 03:15 AM

You're right Jerry, kids aren't allowed to be kids anymore, or not for long anyway. Some friends of mine have let theirs remain children for as long as possible, but the sad truth is that the kids have to get street-wise fairly early on for their own safety, or else end up so coddled that it doesn't bear thinking about.

Long gone are the days when parents would kick the children outdoors after breakfast with the instruction not to come back until it was time for the evening meal.

Progress?

Deirdre

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 28 Jan 09 - 08:44 AM

Hello,

Is there any coffee left in the pot?

Now if we start talking about "the good ol' days" we'll get all misty eyed and inaccurate! Although it is true that nostalgia isn't what it used to be, I think there are a great number of children who have it just as good as we did, only in a different time frame and with different activities. The local kids have picnics on the green, ride their bikes all day and play football etc. just like we used to do. Differences are that there are many more cars about and so you can't play games in the middle of the road anymore and that children are exposed to too much adverse stimulation from TV etc. But by and large, kids round here are still kids at heart!

Didn't you write a song about gifts from cereal boxes, Jerry?

We used to play cowboys and indians too....now it's something called Power Rangers. Same difference..!

Best wishes,

Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 28 Jan 09 - 09:02 AM

It's true that sometimes parents are overprotective--keeping the kids on training wheels long past the time the kids want them, driving them to school rather than having them walk to the bus stop, etc.

But sometimes everybody--including the kids--can be kids.   We had some snow yesterday. And lots of people were out sledding. Some on the hill right next to me--long before it was a good idea. Tearing up the hill--you could easily see the dirt--rather than waiting a few hours til there was a good surface.

But the best place was the steep road a few blocks away.   It was too slick for any reasonable motorist to try to climb--of course there were some unreasonable ones--so we had to keep an eye out.   But it was a great run--before the snowplow got there.   Lots of kids--and parents--doing it. Somebody stationed at the bottom to watch for cars--we slid right past the stop sign.   I did it--it was great--then I went to work. Jan said that she did it about 12 times--I told her she should think about the plate in her neck--but fortunately she didn't run into anything.   She said even after the snowplow came by the road was still good for sledding.   Albeit you couldn't use a real sled--only the plastic sleds would work--the runners on real sleds would cut too deep.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 28 Jan 09 - 11:27 AM

You're right, Pete: I did write a song about playing cowboys (and bad guys (no native Americans were harmed in our play.) How do you know all these things, Pete? You must be a side-kick. I'll have to see if I can round up the words, lasso them, hog-tie them and post them on this thread. It's been many years since I've sung the song.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: BusyBee Paul
Date: 29 Jan 09 - 11:09 AM

You know, I'm almost wishing I was a kid again. These last few weeks, all I seem to hear about are friends either:

- being made redundant
- suffering some dreadful illness (generally cancer)
- dying (mainly acquaintances rather than friends, if I'm being totally honest).

Will someone please give me some happy news for once?.

Deirdre

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 29 Jan 09 - 11:31 AM

Hello Deidre,

Some happy news?

Well.....the sun is shining after an absolutely dreadful day yesterday;
The first snowdrops are showing in the garden;
The boy John's pet rabbit is bounding around in his bijou residence waving a cabbage leaf about like a banner;
I've spent the week in the company of people I like and respect;
There's a good night on at the folk club tomorrow.

Simple pleasures, but they suit me!

Oh....and I forgot.....sitting round this kitchen table makes for happy news!


Best wishes,

Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 29 Jan 09 - 12:33 PM

Happy days are here again too, Peter:

The sun is glistening on the black ice (a deadly invitation to go walking,) and there's even a little melting. My leg is healing fine and I will have the stiches removed on Moday. I had a long conversation today with my brother-in-law who could cheer up someone teetering on the railing of the Brooklyn Bridge. I just finished polishing up and editing two articles to submit to magazines (and they haven't rejected them yet.) My book is printing. I just had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch.

What else is there>

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 29 Jan 09 - 12:36 PM

Happy news Deidre,
our little grandaughter is two weeks old today and there is nothing more beautiful than giving her a cuddle and feeling her little head cosy on my shoulder.
Wendy

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 30 Jan 09 - 07:27 AM

I've had conversations with two people in the last few hours that both led to the discussions of the gift of listening. I thought I'd share a chapter of my book on here on the topic. Because my book is about my faith, Jesus is mentioned a couple of times. If you find that off-putting, you can pass on this posting and the next one. It will take two posts for the whole chapter. I couldn't see any intelligent way to take the references to Jesus out of the chapter.

STORY LISTENERS (part one)

Listening is a gift that not everyone has. It requires stepping out of ourselves and into the life of someone else. Any urge to judge has to be set aside. When people need to talk, more often than not, it's not because they are seeking advice. Don't offer any, unless it is asked for. They just need to feel that someone understands them. In a way, it's not that important that you do. It just means a lot to them that you care enough to stop and listen. And who knows—maybe you'll learn something.
Everyone has a story to tell: a lifetime of stories. Stories are different than anecdotes. Anecdotes usually start out with, "That reminds me of the time . . ." Anecdotes tell about something that happened. Stories come from the heart. And every story requires a listener.
In The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter, Mr. Singer, who is a deaf-mute, lives a life of isolation, his stories buried inside of him. The only person he could "talk" to was his deaf-mute friend who was a child living in a man's body. But Mr. Singer was a story listener. He could read lips and he listened with rapt attention. Those who poured out their dreams and frustrations to him felt he cared about them in a way that no one else did. His compassion shone through, and they somehow knew that no matter how intimate a secret they shared with him, he would not judge them. But the best story listener was Jesus. No person was so lowly or unacceptable to others that Christ wouldn't open his heart to them.

Publicans, harlots, beggars and thieves
Jesus was a friend to them all
He ate at their tables and walked on their streets
And he comforted their weary souls

You never know when Christ will send someone to you, who needs to talk with you:

If you meet a stranger, welcome him in
Don't leave him standing at your door
You can never tell who Jesus will send
Whether they are rich or poor

Several years ago, I was walking across the parking lot of a Grand Union supermarket. It was a beautiful, sunny day and I had a bounce in my step when I heard a car horn blowing. I looked around to see where it was coming from, and saw a woman parked at the edge of the lot with her window rolled down, waving to me. I turned and walked over to the car, figuring that it was someone I knew. When I got close enough, I realized I had never seen her before. When I got up to the car, she said "Hello, I wanted to ask you to pray for my mother."
She had a story to tell. I stood there, leaning against the side of her car and she poured her heart out. Her mother was in the hospital and she was very concerned for her. I asked her mother's name and told her that not only would I pray for her, but that my wife and I would visit her in the hospital. I asked her why she thought that I would pray for her mother, and she said, "When I saw you walking across the parking lot, you looked like a minister." I told her that I wasn't, but she understood her needs better than I did. She needed someone to minister to her and somehow she sensed I would. We are all ministers, and you never can tell who Jesus will send to you for ministering.         
People seek out story listeners wherever they can find them. Supermarkets seem to be as good a place as any. More recently, I stopped at a Big Y on the way home to pick up a couple of items. I was standing in the Express Checkout line when I glanced back, and out of the corner of my eye saw a woman standing behind me. I made room on the conveyor belt and invited her to put her groceries down before noticing that all she was buying was a small greeting card. I smiled when I saw that and said, "I'd hate to have you standing in line holding that heavy card," and she laughed. And the floodgates opened. She told me that it was a thank-you card for her brother. She said, "He just bought me a new Chevrolet Suburban SUV and paid for my insurance, and I wanted to let him know how much I appreciate it." I said that she must have a wonderful brother, and she started talking about how she washes his clothes and cleans his house, and all the things that she does for him. I responded by saying "When you do something good for someone else, you'll get your reward when you least expect it." She needed to talk to someone. It just happened to be me. As I left, I told her to have a good day and to enjoy her car.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 30 Jan 09 - 07:37 AM

This is the rest of Story Listeners as written, Skip the parts that aren't of interest to you...

Sometimes a casual conversation can unexpectedly open up into an honest discussion of faith. A few weeks ago, I was at my podiatrist's for a checkup. Caring for someone's feet is a holy profession. After all, Jesus washed the apostles' feet and told them that they should do the same for others.

Ye call me Master and Lord; and ye say well; for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another's feet. (John 13:13–14)

I'm not sure how the conversation wandered on to miracles, but it was something that my podiatrist wanted to talk about. He asked me if I believed in miracles. I told him that I did, and that I didn't see any reason why miracles should have stopped after Christ's lifetime. He goes into private homes to care for elderly, home-bound patients and talked with emotion of a particular woman whose bedroom is like a shrine, filled with religious figures, pictures, and several burning votive candles. My podiatrist could understand how miracles happen to someone of such great faith, but he asked, "Why do miracles happen to people who aren't even very religious?" I thought of Paul on the road to Damascus being blinded by the light of Jesus Christ who appeared before him. Paul certainly was a "very religious" Jew, but he was persecuting the Christians. My answer to my podiatrist's question was, "Maybe it's the people who don't believe who are the most in need of a miracle. God has certainly used great sinners to do his will. If you had to be 'religious' to be used by the Lord, his work would never get done."
We had a wonderful conversation, as unexpected as it was enjoyable. It would never have happened if I hadn't taken the time to listen.
There's a wonderful line in a song by Carmen McRae:

Never stopped to listen,
Never missed a chance to speak

There are people all around us whose hearts are lonely hunters. They have a hunger to share their stories with someone who is compassionate and understanding. Don't turn them from your door. Take the time to listen to them, to encourage them, and to pray for them. Christ would do no less. Better yet, tell them about Jesus. No one listens as lovingly and with as much compassion as Christ.

The end of the chapter.

My wife Ruth and I go to visit the sick regularly. We're going to visit Lorettat, a woman who has had cancer and other serious health problems now for several years. She lives in the south but has stayed up here in Connecticut for the last couple of years taking care of her Aunt, who is crippled with rheumatoid arthritis. Loretta has a male friend where she lives back home but rarely has a chance to get down to be with him. She's devoted every ounce of strength to taking care of her Aunt. Now, she's in the hospital again. She doesn't have anyone to take care of her, and her friends and the rest of her family live down south. We're going to visit her, and we may be the only ones who do. Most people are uncomfortable visiting people who are not family or immediate friends who are seriously ill.
Most of the people we visit are strangers. People say to us, "I couldn't do that, I wouldn't no what to say." My answer always is, "It's not important waht you say. No one expects you be be brilliant and wise. They just appreciate that someone cares about them emough to listen." They need a story listener.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 30 Jan 09 - 09:07 AM

One more:

There's a woman who is a check out clerk at the Walmart down at the bottom of the hil where we live. I really enjoy watching her. As each person comes up to the counter, she greats them with a warm smile, and engages them in conversation. For some, it's not much more than a comment or two about the weather, but because she is so friendly, she has gotten to know many of the regular customers. They linger at the counter, talking about health problems, deaths in the family and whatever other burdens they are bearing, and always listens attentively and offers positive encouragement. She is a story listener, and she's in another chapter in my book titled The Cosmos and the Check Out Clerk. She's been widowed for ten years and while standing on your feet for 8 hours is an exhausting job, she's thankful for it. Her husband wouldn't let her work so when he died, she had no experience. I've gotten to know her on a three minute per conversation at the check out counter basis, and she was very excited when I shared the chapter where I'd talked about her.

Three weeks ago, she suddenly dissappeared. After a couple of weeks of never seeing her, I was concerned, as she lives alone. Finally, I asked the mananager if she was alright, as I hadn't seen her in two weeks. He told me that she'd asked to change her hours from mid-afternoon to closing time, and I was relieved. I don't stop in often in the evening, but the first two times I had to go to Walmart later in the day, she wasn't there.

Late yesterday I had to stop by Walmart and the first thing I did was see if she was at her normal check out counter, and she was. I stopped by for a moment and said, "Hello, stranger!" and she lit up.
After I'd shopped, I got in her line and talked with her while she was checking me out. She said a couple of times. "Everyone told me that you were concerned about me." The news had spread throughout the store. There is no romantic undercurrent. My wife thinks she is the sweetest woman in the store and I often stop by with Ruth. I guess it's unusual enough for a customer to express concern for someone who just works there that it was big news.

After I checked out and paid for my purchases, she handed me my receipt and said, "It's nice to know that someone is concerned for me," and smiled broadly.

As the old song says, "little things mean a lot."

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: BusyBee Paul
Date: 30 Jan 09 - 09:35 AM

Plenty there for me to read and catch up on when I get home from work later!.

Thanks Jerry, Pete & Wendy!

Deirdre :-)

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 30 Jan 09 - 03:02 PM

A final comment on my check out counter friend. As I was walking away last night, she called to me, "I don't work Mondays and Fridays." I had to smile, hearing that.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: BusyBee Paul
Date: 30 Jan 09 - 06:34 PM

{Smile}

Great story, Jerry!.

Deirdre

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 02 Feb 09 - 11:16 AM

Joe: My doctor is one of the funniest men I've ever known.
Moe: How funny is he?
Joe: He keeps me in stitches.

Well actually, he doesn't, because I had the stitches in my leg removed this morning. And all is well. He had to do a little excavating to get them out because my leg has healed so beautifully in the two weeks I've had the stitches that the skin had closed over the top of the stitches in a few spots. But no problem. All it did was hurt.

After he'd removed the stitches we talked for a moment. I told him how much I appreciated his calling me a week ago Friday at 6 in the evening to tell me that there was no sign of cancer. He said to the nurse who was assisting, "See how much it means to patients if you call them?" Apparently she doesn't want to do it. I said, "If the news is good, why wouldn't you want to call and relieve people from the anxiety of waiting?" "It's hard calling someone to tell them that there is a problem," my doctor said. You can't very well say, "There's a problem, you'd better come in and talk to me about it, and bring your family." His way of doing it is to call and say, "There's a problem that I need you to come in and talk about, but we'll take care of it." That's far more compassionate and reassuring.

"Now calling you was like music," he said to me. I almost fell over. I'd never mentioned music to him, and it was such an unusual way to say it.

"It was like music."

Amen.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 02 Feb 09 - 03:36 PM

Hello Jerry,

Good to hear that the leg is doing well.

You have to be careful of the Doctor Doctor jokes....once you get us kitchen tablers started..

"Doctor, Doctor, I feel like a pair of curtains!" (or drapes),

"Oh, come on.....pull yourself together!"


See what you've started?

Seriously, though, it's good to hear that all is well. I enjoyed the extracts from your forthcoming book. Don't forget to let us all know when it hits the news stands!

We have had a heavy fall of snow hear over the last couple of days and so the warmth of the kitchen is even more appreciated!

Best wishes,

Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 02 Feb 09 - 04:04 PM

I see that London is covered with a heavy blanket of snow, and the double decker buses are all tucked away for the night. We have some snow coming again tonight (as I head down for Men's Chorus practice a 45 minute drive from here.) Two and a half weeks and baseball's spring training begins. (But not around here, you can bet.)

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Georgiansilver
Date: 02 Feb 09 - 04:26 PM

Sitting at this kitchen table is a place I like to be.. and your stories can mention Jesus as many times as you want them to Jerry... I succumb to the comfort of your stories and live in constant expectations for the future. If ever I come your way, I want to sit with you at your kitchen table and just chat about this and that and the importance of life (and death). You are an inspiration Jerry and it is a pleasure knowing you.
Best wishes, Mike.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 02 Feb 09 - 04:36 PM

You're always welcome, Mike. I can't separate my faith from who I am, any more than I can my music. Or have any desire to.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Tootler
Date: 02 Feb 09 - 04:58 PM

Yes plenty snow here (NE England) as well and as usual Britain is thrown into chaos. Much more forecast for our part of England tonight.

The buses in London were off the road and my daughter was unable to get to work today, not that she seemed very upset.

We are not very good at dealing with snow, even worse these days as winters have little snow. When I was young you could expect a fair amount of snow every winter. That's not so these days.

I'm supposed to be going to Newcastle tomorrow afternoon. I'll have to see what the situation is at lunchtime.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: BusyBee Paul
Date: 02 Feb 09 - 05:00 PM

Hi Mike, Jerry.

Mike - I managed to miss folk club on Friday so didn't get to see you. Comes to something when we live about half a mile apart and have to keep in contact in cyberspace!.

Jerry - pleased to hear the leg is mended and clear.

We're waiting for the next dollop of snow to hit so I'm snuggled up on the sofa in the warm, listening to folk music from a radio station up in Durham!. Don't think I'll put my nose outside until I have to in the morning. :-)

Deirdre

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Georgiansilver
Date: 02 Feb 09 - 06:04 PM

Hi Dierdre... just about over my cough now... thank the Lord... and getting back to something like normal (whatever normal is!!!) Look forward to seeing you soon. Best wishes, Mike.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 03 Feb 09 - 08:51 AM

Morning all,
somehow, although it was forcast,in this neck of the woods we only had a light scattering of snow,maybe because we are at the coast? But it was a good excuse to put more logs on the fire and read a good book all day yesterday.Today the sun is shining, blue skies and the east wind that was really dreadful for the past four days, blowing the snow here from Russia, has gone away.So while the rest of Britain freezes at the moment it is quite pleasant here in Essex.

Billy always laughs when we get snow, the whole place grinds to a stop.No buses in London yesterday, hardly any underground trains?
( underground??) No trains in or out of Victoria station.Airports closed.He of course loves it, and finds as many reasons to go out in the car as possible, guess it reminds him of winter in New Jersey?

Good news about your leg Jerry,keep well.
Wendy

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: BusyBee Paul
Date: 04 Feb 09 - 04:59 PM

Hi everyone,

Don't get too close, I've got a real hacking cough again. So, it's hot lemon and honey for please, no tea or coffee.

Wendy, we didn't get more than a sprinkling of snow either , we got off very lightly. There was a fair bit 15 miles north of us in Scunthorpe. The river seems to change our immediate environment so much. We might have more snow tonight - I'll just have to wait and see!.

Deirdre

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 04 Feb 09 - 08:07 PM

They published my book today. They're sending my Author's copies to review before they print any larger numbers, and while they have a website up for me now, it may be as long as six weeks before you can order from there. If you're interested in buying a copy and are state-side, the price is $14.95 +$2.95 shipping and handling. I'll have copies before you can order them from my publisher. If you're overseas and interested, it would be easier to wait until they have my books up and running before ordering a copy.

I'll put up a thread when I've reviewed the author's copy and have ordered my first batch of books.

Mostly, it's just good to get there.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Georgiansilver
Date: 05 Feb 09 - 02:27 AM

It must be a wonderful feeling Jerry, having a whole book in print and ready to be published. I have had poetry and short stories published in anthologies but that is not like having your own book I'm sure. Guess I had better think about writing one myself..... mmmmm now there's a thought!
Best wishes, Mike.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 05 Feb 09 - 05:15 AM

Hello Jerry,

That's good news! You must be as pleased as punch!

Sorry to hear you've gone down with the winter coughs Deidre. It's frustrating for any singer to suffer like that. I hope you are on song again before too long.

The weather here is very variable and you can choose your weather depending on which direction you drive, north, south, east or west!

I trust that you will be having a virtual book-signing at the kitchen table Jerry? With coffee, cookies, some of your delicious soup and one of Billybob's wonderful creations!

Best wishes,

Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: BusyBee Paul
Date: 05 Feb 09 - 08:05 AM

Hi Jerry,

Great news about the book, I'll have to get one ordered via my sister who is stateside for the next few months.

Wendy & Peter - we've more snow today and I've spent an hour this morning contacting 100 people to tell them that choir rehearsal this evening is off (school will be closed). I suppose that gives me another week to try to shake off the chesty cough and snuffles. :-)

It was nice to wake up to the sight of a snow storm on the river - quite eerie too. The ducks seemed reluctant to get their botties wet and were all huddled up on the bank. The water was steel grey - I'm always amazed at its' capacity to change - I've seen it brown, bright blue, sparkling and now dull, steely grey.

I think it's time for another cuppa (and more paracetamol).

Deirdre

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: GUEST
Date: 05 Feb 09 - 09:23 AM

Deirdre, keep up the hot lemon, Iwill make some and join you, woke up yesterday with no voice at all and a horrid cough, so I have stayed in bed and dosed myself up with hot lemon and paracetamol,looking at the news we are still very lucky here, no snow to speak of, but it does look bad everywhere else.
I made a big chocolate cake at the weekend and a huge casserole with beef and winter vegetables in red wine, take your pick Peter, or maybe try both!
We had a health scare with the new baby on monday,she had picked up something nasty in the hospital, however all was well this morning when she saw her doctor, so I could open a bottle of wine to celebrate the good news, care to join me!
Wendy

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: GUEST,Billybob,lost my cookie
Date: 05 Feb 09 - 09:28 AM

oh that was me

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: BusyBee Paul
Date: 05 Feb 09 - 11:39 AM

Pour me a glass, Wendy, especially if it's a mulled type of wine!. It'll make a change from the lemon barley and hot water. :O)

Good that she's doing ok. It's not the sort of weather to be carting a newborn out to the surgery.

I think I'll have a slice of that chocolate cake too please, if I may?. The casserole sounds lovely but too healthy - I need a bit of pampering!.

Deirdre

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 05 Feb 09 - 04:52 PM

Hello Wendy,

I would love a glass of virtual wine and some of that virtual casserole!

It would go down a treat after being out in the cold weather!

Best wishes,

Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 05 Feb 09 - 07:02 PM

The cold weather is definitely not virtual around here. I'm settling in with Old Bones by Aaron Elkin. Anyone read any of his books?

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: BusyBee Paul
Date: 06 Feb 09 - 01:52 PM

Hi Jerry,

Afraid I've not heard of Aaron Elkin. I'm settling down with "Northwest Passage" by Kenneth Roberts, published in 1938. It's one of a number of old books I've inherited from my Dad. Now, over a year after his death, I've found I can read them. And I'm enjoying them too.

We've escaped snow today but it's still freezing and not very pleasant out. The footpaths are icy although the roads seem clear enough.

I think it'll be a quiet weekend, temperatures are set to plunge to minus 10 or so overnight Saturday / Sunday. Brrrrrrrrrrrrr!.

Deirdre

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 07 Feb 09 - 08:20 AM

Back at work, beautiful sunny day and blue skies.
We have two lovely ladies in the salon having a spa day. This includes a luxury chocolate and mandarin oil body treatment, wrapped in chocolate and orange for 30 minutes and then a warm aromatherapy oil massage!
We are usually very professional and quiet,tranquility being the most important part of the treatments.Not this morning imagine a therapist walking though the door with a big bowl of hot choco;ate mix and then,,,ooops, bowl doing cartwheels in the air and chocolate carnage..up the wall ,all over the carpet.I laughed so much I cried.
Hot chocolate anyone?
Wendy

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: BusyBee Paul
Date: 07 Feb 09 - 03:00 PM

Oh Wendy, what a waste!

Sounds a lovely treatment, I may have to book myself in for it as a treat one day. :-)

Deirdre

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 07 Feb 09 - 03:23 PM

I've been listening to two new CDS: Mule Variations by Tom Waits and Shelly Manne and His Men play music from Peter Gunn. I'm loving them both. Waits is an acquired taste I acquired a long time ago and then forgot.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: VirginiaTam
Date: 08 Feb 09 - 02:49 PM

I was going to start sharing some of the stories I took down from my Mom and Aunt Dot (octogenarians) we (thier kids) call The Twins. They were hilarious. But somehow when I was copying them off of floppy disk onto external harddrive.. they disappeared. Floppies are gone and so are the stories. And so are my university papers, and children stories and plays I have written and poems. I have printed copies of some early drafts. Some stuff is gone gone gone.

I am more than a bit nonplussed.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 08 Feb 09 - 04:43 PM

Pour yourself a cup of coffee while we sort this out!

They must be there somewhere!

If they haven't just copied to the wrong place, try one of the recovery programs. Google will find some good ones. Welcome to the kitchen table!

Best wishes,

Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: VirginiaTam
Date: 08 Feb 09 - 05:24 PM

Thanks Pete

Sitting down, opening pack of cinnamon graham crackers. Sigh! We tried the recovery thing yesterday. My honey is a techie. All I can think is maybe I put them on CD, but I cannot find it anywhere.

Well it will be a project to rewrite them all from scratch. Something for my retirement.

Would you like a cinnamon graham?

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 08 Feb 09 - 10:31 PM

Welcome to the table, Tam. As Linus would say, AAAARRRRGGGHHHH!!!!!!!
I surely hope you can retrieve them. A couple of years ago I started to draw together family stories and songs I've written over the years to share with my mother and two older sisters. That in turn inspired many new family stories, as well as the chance to flesh out what I'd already written while my Mother was alive. She died a couple of months after her 99th birthday, and I was so thankful for the wonderful times we shared, her last year. My wife and I were a thousand miles away and she reached the point during that last year where she couldn't see well enough to read what I'd sent her but her dear friend (a young woman in her 80's) would read them to her every night. Two or three of the remembrances I wrote that last year ended up in the book I just published, along with the lyrics to some of the songs that were about her life as a child. Memories fade all too soon. I hope that you can recover what you've written, and now is the time to pull together everything that you have on paper.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: BusyBee Paul
Date: 09 Feb 09 - 05:07 PM

Hi Everyone (she croaked).

I've been to the doctors today and have a bronchitis - it's offical!. I've antibotics and an inhaler so I can stop taking the paracetamol now, thank goodness.

The good thing for you is that, this being a cyber table, I'll not be infecting any of you as we sit here!.

You also don't have to put up with the horrible noise when I get a coughing fit, as I do quite regularly at the moment. :-)

I'll just sit here and participate as quietly as I can.

Deirdre

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 09 Feb 09 - 07:34 PM

If I had to take a parakeet moll, I'd choke, too.

Hope you shake it soon. My wife is on the fourth or fifth day of a lousy cold. I've been spared, so far.

I'm back to taking my morning river walk now that my leg is healed, and it's wonderful to get outside and enjoy what the Lord has created. I could do without some of the stuff along the walk that we created. Or even worse yet, what the dogs have created when they've been out for a walk...

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: GUEST,billybob
Date: 11 Feb 09 - 10:29 AM

Deidre,
what is going on.. woke up Monday feeling grotty again, nagged to see the doctor by Billy and I too have the bronchitus,they gave me doxycycline, so I read the instructions!!! Take sitting up or standing, do not lie down for half an hour!!( whaat is that all about) No sunbathing( chance would be a fine thing)
so I have found the old lap top and am sitting up in bed evesdropping on the conversation at the table.
It is very sunny and nice to look out of the window but I really dislike being laid low.Maybe now is the time to start writing "the book" they ay we all have one?I wish I had kept a diary , some of the funny stories about Farningham Folk Club and the one at Headcorn would make quite good reading,plus the backstage goings on at the festival we used to organise.
I kept a diary when we were in Ireland two years ago, it is lovely to read as memories fade too quickly. Jerry do you keep a diary or do you have a remarkable memory?
cup of earl grey and a biscuit I think
Wendy

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: BusyBee Paul
Date: 11 Feb 09 - 02:08 PM

Hi Wendy!.

I didn't even get any instructions except "take one tablet, three times a day". I'm still going into work although I haven't really felt like it. That's the trouble of having to do the year end accounts on a ridiculously short turnaround. Auditor in this week so I've got to be there. It therefore looks like a weekend of resting up in the hope that the antibiotics finally kick in.

I'm still on the hot honey and lemon myself!.
Perhaps we'll just sit together in the background and no-one will know we're here (until we cough!).

Deirdre

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 11 Feb 09 - 02:23 PM

Who coughed?


Seriously though....I'm sorry to hear that you are both laid low. I don't think the weather helps at the moment, either! I think staying in the warm with hot lemon is just the ticket.

Take care of yourselves.......there's cinnamon toast on the table at the moment!

Tuck in....


Best wishes,


Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 11 Feb 09 - 02:44 PM

Hey, maybe it's catching. My wife has had a lousy cold for the last week, although not as debilitating as bronchitis. May you both be up and running again soon...

I've never kept a diary, but I have been a foracious letter (and now e-mail writer) over the years. When I felt I'd written something worth remembering, I made a copy of the letter. I have copies of letters going back to the 60's. A while back, I went through all the letters and pulled out ever description of something my sons did when they were growing up. I combined them all into a small stapled book for my sons, and I have over 30 pages single spaced. My letters and e-mails are sprinkled with song lyrics and many of the chapters in my book grew out of old letters.

The last year or so of my mother's life, I pulled together everything I'd written (and some things she;d written) along with lyrics of songs I written that relate to the memories, and old photos. I ended up with a book substantial enough to publish if I feel the need in the future. The greatest thing was that I shared copies with my sisters, and mom's last year was one long kitchen table of memories that we all loved. It was a beautiful way to lovingly say goodbye.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 11 Feb 09 - 04:06 PM

Foracious? Gracious!

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Georgiansilver
Date: 11 Feb 09 - 04:18 PM

Jery you said:-

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Hey, maybe it's catching. My wife has had a lousy cold for the last week, although not as debilitating as bronchitis. May you both be up and running again soon...<<<<<<<<<<

Getting viruses on the internet?? Noooooooo surely.....(laughs to himself)

Best wishes to and prayers for those who are ill.... hope you are OK for your leadership role on Friday Dierdre...
Best wishes, Mike.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 11 Feb 09 - 05:06 PM

When I'm sitting here at the kitchen table, I always cover my mouth when I sneeze.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Georgiansilver
Date: 11 Feb 09 - 06:45 PM

That's great but it's probably what comes out of your nose that causes the problems!!!!! LOL

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 12 Feb 09 - 08:01 AM

Jerry
wishing Ruth better soon.
Deidre, the doxywhatsites seem to be working so I am back at work again this morning. I only cough when I laugh at the moment,so I am trying to keep serious.The worst part is no alcohol, no wine!!So Valentines evening may have to be postponed,( Billy, dont cancel the roses though :-) )
How wonderful that you kept all your letters Jerry. My father had a pen pal from the ninteen forties till she died a few years ago,she lived in Vermont and wrote to my father in London .They only met when she and her husband came to England about ten years ago. Dad has all her letters and she was a prolific writer,a very interesting lady. Her descriptioons of the nmountains and views from her house were amazing.She also told us all about her chi;ldhood and family.I must ask him if I can borrow them to read again.She used to write at least once a week, sometimes more often.
Wendy

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 12 Feb 09 - 08:42 AM

For many, many years, Art Thieme and I exchanged letters three or four times a week. My collection of letters is heavily titlted toward Art. I also wrote regular letters to a close friend of mine, Dennis Albrecht who was pastor of the Lutheran church I was a member of at the time. At one point, I had sixteen or so "Subscribers" who asked to receive copies of the letters. Several of those "Dear Dennis" letters also became the basis for chapters in my book, as have several stories I've posted here on the kitchen table thread.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 12 Feb 09 - 06:05 PM

I got the first copies of my book today. I started a separate thread on it.

Hallelujah!

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: BusyBee Paul
Date: 13 Feb 09 - 09:32 AM

Hello everyone,

Wendy - glad your tablets are working, mine finally seem to be (I'm on the last day of them now, so they'd better be!). With a very hectic worklife, I've not been on here much the last few days, so can I thank everyone for their good wishes. And Mike, oh yes, I'll be in charge at Folk Club this evening - no problem!. Anyone who steps out of line will be bronched!.

Jerry, I'll pm you about getting me a copy of your book over into (almost sunny) England.

Waddon Pete - thanks for the cinnamon toast!.

Wendy - no alcohol for Valentine's Day?. It will keep on ice, you know!.

Deirdre

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 13 Feb 09 - 10:04 AM

If you're oveseas and want to get a copy of my book, it would probably be easier to do it through the webpage www.outskirtspress.com/gateofbeautiful because it's more convenient to make the payment. But, whatever...

I'm doing it both ways.

If you want an inscription in the book, you'll have to order it from me.

Glad to hear that you folks are feeling a mite better. Ruth still feels just as lousy after a week. She takes a couple of weeks to get over a cold. I'm usually up and back to normal after three or four days. You can't keep bad man down.

Yesterday, I dropped by Walmart to see my friend Sandra, the checkout clerk I wrote about in my book in the chapter The Cosmos And The Checkout Clerk. She's a very sweet person in a greatly underappreciated job. She was really excited about getting it.

Sweet to see good people getting praise.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 13 Feb 09 - 10:14 AM

Hi Jerry
great news about the book, maybe some of us over in the UK should get together and order from you so we get the autograph, you could post them to one address and then we could distribute them here.Would that save on postage?Or is it better to do this individually?

Feeling better today thanks,good old National Health Service, they said my antibiotics were very expensive.....so ,if they work, surely everyone should get them? usually they try the cheap ones first!
Wendy

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 13 Feb 09 - 10:26 AM

Whatever works best for you, Wendy. I could do it either way. It might save some money on postage but without weight a package, I have no way of knowing. I wrote the book so people coulrd read it. How that happens isn't all that important to me. Waddon Pete has ordered a book from over your way...

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 14 Feb 09 - 04:26 PM

I certainly have!

As it is a little while since we talked about a song or two, could I ask you, gathered around this table, about the singing of certain songs?

I sing a wide variety of songs....mainly traditional, but with a few more modern, and I was doing a support spot at our local folk venue when a favourite song of mine was next up on my list. (actually all the songs that I sing are my favourites, but some are more favourite than others!!)

Happily I launched into it and halfway through realised that it was going to be a bit of a minefield. Why? Well, my daughter's partner's brother had recently died after a battle against cancer bravely fought, and this song just was so appropriate that I could feel the tears welling and the voice breaking! I haven't been able to sing it in public since. I know it will come back into the repertoire again in its own good time. The same thing happened when my father died. I could no longer play his "signature tune" on the piano. I can now. But with deeper meaning. I just wondered whether any of you had found the same thing happening?

I need a coffee after that, Jerry....caffeine!

However, our local folk cafe does the most evil Hot Chocolate! Beats Livigno!

Best wishes,


Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 14 Feb 09 - 05:03 PM

I'll get back with a long answer to this one, Pete. After supper. The real kitchen table is calling...

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 14 Feb 09 - 06:30 PM

On second thought, maybe it's not that good an idea to tell my story. I wrote a song just a few days before I was in a fatal accident. I had such a strong association between the accident and the song that it was several years before I could sing it. A year ago, my friend Susan Trump recorded it: May My Heart Find Rest In Thee. Maybe someday I'll be able to.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: BusyBee Paul
Date: 15 Feb 09 - 12:55 PM

Pete,

I've had a similar thing happen - my choral society was rehearsing Faure Requiem in autumn 2007 when my Dad died. I was with him in the hospital and he died about 3 weeks before the concert. So, I'd sung through the piece a couple of times before the last rehearsal, this time in the church. All was going well until we got near the end and started on the passage about Lazarus rising from the dead. I folded totally and was unable to continue in the rehearsal. Somehow though, I got through the concert 2 days later. Give it time and your song will become singable again.

Changing the subject, I've been to 2 Sacred Harp / Shape Note singing workshops this weekend and throughly enjoyed them. The voice held up pretty well too. :-)

Deirdre

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: BusyBee Paul
Date: 16 Feb 09 - 06:17 PM

Looks like the coffee has gone cold. Perhaps I'll make some fresh?.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 16 Feb 09 - 08:30 PM

Thanks, Deirdre:

I just had a cup of tea, but maybe coffee will keep me awake. I've been very busy these last few days, starting to promote my book. It's very time consuming, but worthwhile.

Now that my leg is healed, I'm back to my 3 and a half mile walks along the river in the morning. I really love them. It's a time for quiet reflection right now, because Ruth has a cold and can't come. There are other pleasures when she can walk with me.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: BusyBee Paul
Date: 20 Feb 09 - 08:30 AM

Hi everyone,

Just passing through to wish you all well - I'm getting ready for a 150 mile drive northwards to Kirkby Fleetham "Winter Warmer Weekend" - a weekend of good music and craic. I'll have to leave you to your own devices for a couple of days, don't eat all the doughnuts (donuts) please - save at least one for me! ;-)

Deirdre

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 20 Feb 09 - 06:36 PM

So darling, save the last doughnut for me.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 23 Feb 09 - 04:14 AM

Hello again,

Thanks for the positive thoughts about the song. I'm sure it will come back to the repertoire, it just may take some time! I hope the Winter Warmer week-end was a great success, Deidre. It looks as though Jerry snaffled the last doughnut (donut)! There are just a few crumbs on the plate!

I find it fascinating (and reassuring) that the participants in this thread have such wide musical (and culinary) tastes. But if you could save only one of your CDs or LPs.......which one would it be.....and why?

Best wishes,

Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 23 Feb 09 - 07:32 AM

ok., Pete:

This is like picking your first best friend and your second best friend when you were a kid, but that's alright. I'll have to do it by category:

Folk: Old-TImey Music At Clarence Ashley's.
Jazz: Brazilliance, Vol., 2 Bud Shank and Laurindo Almeida
Classical: Concerto In E Major by Antonio Maria Giuliani

It took me thirty years of searching to finally get the Giuliani CD. I had it on casette but it didn't exist on CD for many, many years. I even had a self-proclaimed guru of classical music who worked in a music store who claimed he could find any callsical piece every recorded who looked for it without success.

I'm not sure I could pick and rock and roll, R&B, Soul music, doo wop, or gospel cd. so many of the groups and individuals I love didn't produce consistent CDs.

It weren't me what took the last doughnut, Pete. I was diagnosed with a very low level of diabetes five years ago and I haven't had a doughnut since. I wasn't me that did it, it was Katy.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 23 Feb 09 - 07:50 AM

Hello Jerry,

That Katy.....what a cookie!


I know what you mean about choosing, they are all our favourites...it's just that some are more favourite than others!

There is a radio show over here that poses the same question to guests. They choose 8 tracks and it is always fascinating to hear the one that they would choose if they could only have one of them.

I like your choices......we had this discussion last night and, of course, tastes change over the years, but my own CD choices would be:

Folk: Really tough...but would have to be "Hove to and Drifting" Bob Zentz;

Jazz: The Original Dixeland Jazz Band (Loved this since forever);

Classical: Again, really tough, but I'd choose Adagio in G Minor by Albioni/Giazotto.

Best wishes,


Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 28 Feb 09 - 03:52 PM

Coo-eeee


Anybody home?


Was that a tumbleweed I saw just now?


Surely not!


Best wishes,


Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 28 Feb 09 - 08:37 PM

Just me here, Pete: Sorry I haven't stopped by but I've been very focused on getting my book out, and now I have a stoopid cold. Never has something so inconsequential wreacked so much chavoc. But other than that, I'm doing exceptionally well over this way...

Got your mail, Peter... thanks...

Jerry (Kachoooo!)

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 01 Mar 09 - 07:46 PM

Just sitting here with a hot mug of coffee, sniffling and snurfling. My wife had a whopper of a cold that hung on for a couple of weeks, and three days after it was over some other generous soul gave me their cold. I'm trying not to pass it on. I'll have plenty of shoveling to do tomorrow. The forcast is for 10-14" of snow. I'm dreaming ofa White Easter? Somehow that doesn't have the same ring to it.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Georgiansilver
Date: 02 Mar 09 - 02:48 AM

Turn the heating up and have a large whisky in hot milk... sweat the cold out!!!! God Bless you Jerry, Best wishes, Mike.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 03 Mar 09 - 05:20 AM

Hello Jerry,

Sorry to hear about the cold....well, the snow came...even made it to the news over here!

I think a snow-shovelling shanty is called for! We'll all turn up to dig you out and then we can all have a cup of coffee afterwards!

Have you noticed the little ads that crop up when you click on the thread? Clearly they are having a hard time to match the title. Ads range from the bizarre to the surreal some days!

Get well soon Jerry.

Best wishes,


Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 03 Mar 09 - 07:41 AM

get well soon, Jerry,dont shoval the snow...too cold out there for someone who is unwell, play all your favourite C.ds and have a drop of something naughty in the coffee.
Wendy

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 03 Mar 09 - 11:31 AM

Thanks for the well wishes, all. I'm starting to feel almost human again. I just let the snow be yesterday. Ruth shovereled the front sidewalk, and that was it. I'm feeling a little better this morning, so I plugged in my electric snow blower and did just enough of the driveway so I can get my car out. And that's it. Forget the saying as easy as taking candy from a baby. A babu could take candy from me.

The nest thing about colds is that they come to pass.

Otherwise, life is wonderful... my book is moving well and most importantly, many of the people are so enthusiastic after they read it that they are buying more copies to give to friends and family. Can't do better than that.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: BusyBee Paul
Date: 03 Mar 09 - 05:48 PM

Hi Jerry, Billy Bob, Waddon Pete.

Had a hectic couple of weeks so didn't get to stop by.

I had a great time at the KFFC Winter Warmer Weekend and then spent the last weekend with folkie friends who live about 60 miles away.

And there is more music looming this weekend too! :-)

Jerry, I hope you are continuing to recover - my cold has stuck at the "not so bad" stage but I think it's going to take a few weeks warm weather to finally shift it.

Deirdre

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 03 Mar 09 - 07:08 PM

Thanks Deirdre: I'm made great strides toward normalcy today. I had my six month checkup at the doctors ( the news is great, thank God,) and when I mentioned my cold, he suggested I take chicken soup. He explained the medical reasons why it works, which went right over my head. But I stopped on the way back to the house and had a bowl of chicken soup.

Cluck old hen, you cluck a lot
The next time you cluck, you're going to cluck in the pot.

My question is, what do chickens take when they have a cold?

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: BusyBee Paul
Date: 04 Mar 09 - 10:57 AM

Or Bird Flu?!

Good news on the check up, Jerry. Keep on breathing and you'll not go far wrong :-).

Deirdre

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 04 Mar 09 - 07:27 PM

Thanks for all the good wishes, folks. I'm feeling much better, but now Ruth has a new cold after just being over the last one for a few days.

Speaking of good folks, I just want to share with you what is happening with my book. This being Mudcat, where religion has too often caused ugly rifts between people, it's very heartwarming to see the basic goodness and lack of judgment among my friends. That starts with all of you around the kitchen table, and I appreciate it.
In just the three weeks since my book was published, I have Muslims, Jews, atheists, agnostics and a friend who practices transcendental meditation reading it. I made no effort to sidestep my faith in the book, as I have on here. The response has been very positive, and that speaks volumes about the goodness of my friends.

Several of the people who bought the book have admitted that they don't read books. They've enjoyed mine because the chapters are only three or four pages long, and the tone conversational, not that much different than here around the kitchen table.

Many of the people who have read the book have ordered additional copies. Some have been to give to family members or friends, and some have been to give to people who are sick and shut-in. One person bought the book even though he cannot see well enough to read, and donated it to the library of the Veteran's Hospital where he lives. Another person bought an additional copy to put in the library of a retirement/nursing home complex.

All these things mean a great deal to me. They offer encouragement that despite all the stress of these days and the fear and hate-mongering that poisons this world (including that from some members of the Christian right) there is still a lot of love and goodness in this world.

It feels good when I see hard times bringing out the good in people.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 06 Mar 09 - 01:21 PM

I made a fresh pot of coffee today. It;s the first coffee I've had in three or four days. This cold stuff have really done done me in, but I'm coming back up now. I have Men's Chorus practice tomorrow morning and will be singing on Sunday, so it's not a moment too soon.
It's supposed to get well up into the 50's this weekend so we'll get rid of the last of the snow. And that's not a moment too soon, either.

How y'all doin'?

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: BusyBee Paul
Date: 06 Mar 09 - 06:28 PM

Hi Jerry,

More music (listening) this weekend for me, just for a change!

I must get my act together and order a copy of your book too.

We are getting slightly warmer weather now but we still have the odd day when the temperature plummets. I'm really looking forward to getting some warm sunshine soon.

Hope Ruth gets better soon.

Deirdre

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: maeve
Date: 06 Mar 09 - 06:40 PM

I'm glad you are feeling better, Jerry. That's encouraging news regarding your book, too. At some point I'll beable to join the circle of folks who have bought copies to read and to give.

It's been a frustrating few days here, all involving the cast on my left arm.

Keep the conversation going, and I'll stop in again.

maeve

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 06 Mar 09 - 08:56 PM

Hey, Maeve:

I'm very sorry to hear about the cast on your left arm. Hopefully you're at least sight handed. Wha hoppen? I'm sure it must be a difficult adjustment to life with the cast making it difficult to do some things that we take for granted. Hopefully, everything will be back in perfect working order when they take the cast off.

I took Ruth out to dinner tonight at an upscale restaurant, with live music and excellent food. This has been a hard, but very blessed winter. It seems like we haven't had a stretch of more than four or five days when one or the other of us didn't have a delibitating health problem. That's something we're not used to. Part of the blessing has been that both of us haven't been down at the same time. I just wanted to celebrate us both feeling good today, with colds finally diminishing. It felt good to get out and have a really good meal.

I'm too full for the lemon pound cake, but thanks so much, anyway.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: frogprince
Date: 06 Mar 09 - 09:13 PM

We got this recipe from a good friend a couple of years ago. It's real easy to make, and a little lighter than pound cake, but good

Bernie's Almond Coffee Cake

Cream together:
Sugar 3/4 cup
Almond Paste, 8 Oz
Butter, 1 stick

Add:
3 Eggs, one at at time
1 Tbsp. Triple Sec (liquor)
1/4 Tsp. Almond extract

Add, and beat until just blended:
1/4 cup flour
1/3 tsp. baking powder

Preheat oven to 350
8" round pan
25 to 35 minutes, test for done with toothpick.

Bernie suggests serving w/ raspberry sauce, but it's great just by itself too.

(I drop in here fairly often, though I usually just find myself listening in)
                        Dean

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 07 Mar 09 - 04:05 PM

Glad to hear you are feeling better Jerry and that you were able to take Ruth out for a slap up meal.

Frogprince...that recipe sounds awesome....I'll give it a try sometime soon.

Maeve....sorry to hear about the cast on your arm. I hope everything works itself out successfully.

Shameless plug...if you haven't bought Jerry's book yet....put it on your to do list for the coming week!

A question for you, Jerry. What was the first song you wrote that you still sing today?

Best wishes,


Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 07 Mar 09 - 10:56 PM

As requested, written around 1962:

Drunkard's Last Advice

I came back home on a Saturday night
I opened the door and I turned on the light
There stood the old lady with a rolling pin
She says You're drunk and you can't come in
Oh come on honey, it's late, I said
It's three o'clock, I want to go to bed
And if you be nice and you let me in
I swear to God I'll never drink again

About that time I was a 'gettin' sore
I grabbed the handle, gave a tug on the door
I sent the old lady flying with a spin
And I walked through the door with a great big grin
Now get in the kitchen and get there fast
The next word you say is going to be your last
And the next time you try to kick me around
I'm going to put you underground

She was standing in the kitchen, didn't say a word
About that time I start to lose my nerve
Her eyes lit up and her face turned red
And I began to regret what I said
She blacked my eye and she broke my jaw
She dragged me across the bedroom floor
She kicked me underneath the bed
And she left me there for dead

Now if you got a woman and she does you wrong
You're short and skinny and she's big and strong
Makes no difference what they say
You better let her have her way
When you're down at the bar you can flap your chin
But when you get back home you better tiptoe in
And if she meets you at the door you better treat her nice
That's a drunkard's last advice.... be nice
That's a drunkard's last advice

I still enjoy doing this song, flatpicking guitar.

It was one of Tom Paxton's favorite songs of mine back then, and he'd ask me to play it at Gaslight Cafe hoots.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 14 Mar 09 - 11:33 AM

The coffee in the pot has turned green. I know St. Patrick's day is around the corner, but I dumped it out, thoroughly scoured the pot and made a fgresh batch. I'm slowly getting back to old routines and discovering all sorts of interesting stuff in the piles of paper on my desk and counter that have accumulated in the last three or four weeks.

It feels good to put on a fresh pot of coffee.

What you folks up to these days?

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: maeve
Date: 14 Mar 09 - 12:03 PM

I am so glad to see you back at the kitchen table, Jerry. There seem to be few friendly conversations lately; this is an oasis.

My fracture is still hurting. I'm listening to a lot of music as a result.

maeve

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: maeve
Date: 14 Mar 09 - 08:19 PM

Thistle and Shamrock is playing a Matt Malloy whistle piece, and there's blueberry bread pudding cooling on the stove. Anyone like some?

maeve

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 14 Mar 09 - 10:15 PM

I'll be right (cyber) over, Maeve!

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: BusyBee Paul
Date: 15 Mar 09 - 05:12 AM

Hi All,

From a few months back, you might remember that I was getting stressesd out about my choral society / new musical director?. Well, next concert is Saturday 21st (next weekend folks!) and I'm just off now to a four hour emergency "polish" rehearsal. True, we missed one rehearsal totally through bad weather and a couple of others were poorly attended for the same reason.

And it looks like it'll be another glorious day here, too nice to be stuck indoors all morning!.

I'll be back later for a coffee and a shoulder rub please.

:-)

Deirdre

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: BusyBee Paul
Date: 15 Mar 09 - 10:50 AM

Hi again,

Well, the rehearsal was pretty well attended and very worthwhile. BUT, I was just a wee bit narked when the MD told me that he wanted to reverse the order of the music in the programme that I sent to the printers yesterday!. Cut and paste is a wonderful thing!. Now, if only he had sent me the name corrections for the orchestra, then I could finish the job (for the second time!).

Now, who's around to give me that shoulder rub?!

I brought lemon drizzle cake.................

Deirdre :-)

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 15 Mar 09 - 02:45 PM

Lemon drizzle cake?


MMmmmmmm


Count me in!

My sister is in a couple of choirs. I have formed the, probably erroneous, impression over the years that they live in a world of their own!

Good that the table has re assembled with fresh coffee. We didn't like to say anything, Jerry, but I think we are all glad you cleaned the pot up a little! There's nothing quite like a

.....proper cup of coffee, made in a proper copper coffee pot.
I may be off my dot, but I like a cup of coffee and I like it hot!
Iron coffee pots and tin coffee pots....
They're no use to me!

If I can't have a proper cup of coffee from a proper copper coffee pot,
Then I'm going to have a cup of tea!

Best wishes,


Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: folkwaller
Date: 15 Mar 09 - 03:27 PM

Is this where I talk about Peter Waddon. Or where I order special offers. I'm new to this sort of thing. If its the former 'Hello Pete' or if it's the latter '1kg cheese, pkt rice. pkt incense sticks and the unabridged version of the Tom Jones song book'. Many thanks.

B

Do I qualify for a bit of lemon drizzle.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 15 Mar 09 - 04:15 PM

I just sent this e-mail to Peter, and thought maybe it is indeed time to share this experience. The song has been recorded by Susan Trump. Maybe it's time for me to record it.

This is the e-mail to Peter:

Good to hear from you, Peter. Yeah, I don't post everything on the kitchen table. My most extreme association is with a song I "wrote" just a couple of weeks before I was involved in a fatal accident. I was driving home (at the speed limit) one night when I came around a curve and silhouetted in the headlights of the on-coming traffic on the other side of the divided highway was a man standing in the middle of the road facing me. He made no attempt to move, and though I swerved wildly to avoid hitting him, I clipped him as I drove by. By the time I got the car under control and pulled to a stop and ran back to him, he was already dead. Long story short, I called the State Police and they kept me locked in the back of a patrol car while they directed the traffic. The only thing that kept me going was to keep saying the chorus to the song I'd just written:

In the darkness, give me the eyes of faith
In my sorrow send down your healing grace
And on my journey, may my path be straight
May my heart find rest in Thee

A week later, I'd completely forgotten I'd written the song. When I remembered that I'd spoken the wrods to the chorus in the back seat of that patrol car, I patiently reconstructed the whole song, line by line. It took me a couple of weeks. I hadn't written the words down. It took me a couple of years before I could sing it. I wrote about the experience as a chapter in my book, but decided not to include it. Maybe it is time to share the experience and the song.

The title of the song is May My Heart Find Rest in Thee

Jerry

Welcome to the table. Folkwaller. Sure, you can talk about Peter. Only nice stuff, though. And help yourself to the cake.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 15 Mar 09 - 04:25 PM

Where are you, Elmer Fudd?

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 15 Mar 09 - 05:39 PM

Jerry,

That must have been tough to deal with. I think that the healing aspects of music are often forgotten. We are empowered to bring animals and plants into the healing process, but often it is music that strikes the deepest chord.

I was listening to a CD of sea songs in the car yesterday. It was a reminder of people who used to sing the same songs....but are now gone. Made their passing easier somehow!

Best as ever


Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: BusyBee Paul
Date: 15 Mar 09 - 06:17 PM

I'd best claim 2301 then!

Jerry, I very nearly had a very similar experience, driving home late one night from a folk club. A guy ran out in front of my car on a darkened stretch of road in town. Luckily I was able to swerve and missed him. Also luckily, there wasn't anything coming on the other side of the road.

It really shook me up and I phoned it in to the police when I got home a few minutes later. I found out later from some of my police contacts that the guy had been reported as suicidal and awol by his distraught wife and was picked up a few minutes after I phoned in - they found him by the river, wanting to jump.

I'm all cold just thinking about it again now.

Jerry, I wish your story had a better ending.

Deirdre

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 15 Mar 09 - 08:15 PM

The man I killed was emotionally retarded. He'd been on a trip with a group from an institution in Atlantic City and had wandered away from the group. They never figured out how he ended up standing in the middle of the road on the Hutchison River Turnpike north of New York City. I guess that explained why he made no attempt to move.

The beautiful, powerful thing about music is that it can calm you in the darkest of nights. The song slowly came up from the recesses of my mind where I'd driven it. It didn't come in any order. I'd remember what turned out to be the third line of the second verse, and then the second line of the first verse. But, it all eventually came back. I led a group at a Potluck dinner/gospel sing between my Lutheran church where I was a member at the time and the black Baptist Church across the street. It took more courage than I thought I had to sing the song, and I had to give the background before I sang it in order to do it. When I was done, this guy from the black church came up to me, threw his arms around me and said, "Man, I love you!" I'd never seen him before. He turned out to be Frankie, who I asked three months later to join my gospel quartet.

These are the words to the song"

I take cold comfort in the ways of man
I see no justice in this land
I feel the anger of the unstayed hand
May my heart find rest in Thee

CHORUS:
And in the darkness, give me the eyes of faith
In my sorrow, send down your healing grace
And on my journey, may my path be straight
May my heart find rest in Thee

Give me the wisdom that I might understand
Give me the courage that I might take my stand
And when I'm weary, lend me a helping hand
May my heart find rest in Thee

Some spend their lives in a search for power
Ignoring treasures time can't devour
All that I ask in my final hour
May myu heart find rest

I was given that song to carry me safely through the darkness of that night.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: maeve
Date: 15 Mar 09 - 08:36 PM

Thank you, Jerry.

maeve

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: BusyBee Paul
Date: 16 Mar 09 - 12:41 PM

Yes, thanks Jerry.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 16 Mar 09 - 04:40 PM

Hello Jerry,

A lovely set of words. I can see how they sustained you. You know what I'm going to ask next (apart from is the coffee hot) don't you?

What is the tune?

(By the way, that drizzle cake was amazing....did we finish it?)

Best wishes,

Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 16 Mar 09 - 05:25 PM

It goes like this, Pete:


hmmm,hmmm,hmmm, hmm, hmm...


It's suppertime around our kitchen table right now, but I'll respond more sensibly after we eat. Susan Trump has recorded the song.. you might check her website and see if there is a sample of the track.

More after supper...

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: BusyBee Paul
Date: 16 Mar 09 - 06:18 PM

Sounds like I'd better make another lemon drizzle cake. I have to admit that I enjoy cyber cooking - I'm just useless at it in reality!.

(And, as a bonus, NO WASHING UP!)

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 16 Mar 09 - 06:48 PM

No calories, either.

I checked Susan Trump's website. There's no way to listen to the song.

Ah, well...

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 17 Mar 09 - 10:35 AM

Coffee pot is on and a few bottles of Guiness on the table,Happy St Patricks day to you all.Some diddle diddle music on the CD player in the corner,just been reading through the past few days, Deidre did you get a shoulder rub? Normally I would give you a lovely aromatherapy, but I am in need of a good massage myself! We were driving Scarlett back home on Sunday when an idiot in a BMW reversed out onto the road directly in front of us, thank goodness Billy has quick reactions as he did an emergency stop, the baby was in her safety seat and was fine, but my seat belt has left me with bruises, I feel like someone has squeezed my ribs with a metal belt.Here am I owning a beauty salon, therapists not busy and worried that if I have a massage it will make it worse!
Never mind, reading about your accident Jerry, puts everything in perspective!
I have a big apple and blackberry pie here, cream anyone?
Wendy

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: BusyBee Paul
Date: 17 Mar 09 - 02:53 PM

Hi Wendy, no, I'm still in need of my shoulder rub. Sory to hear about your argument with the BMW. Glad that you are mostly unscathed, hope the bruises heal quickly.

The apple and blackberry pie sounds good - no cream for me please!.

Deirdre

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 18 Mar 09 - 09:34 AM

Ruth and I are going to a funeral this morning. Not that is always a downer. Mary Evans was one of the first friends I made at the black Baptist Church when I first started going there 12 years ago. She was allready retired from teaching school. We struck up a conversation sitting at a table with a couple other people at coffee hour after church and immediately liked each other. I'd taught nature classed to kids for many years, and she'd grown up out in the country down South as I had in Wisconsin, so we had a lot of common experiences to talk about. What impressed me most about her was her humility. I'm a sucker for humility, it being so rare. She'd had a stroke a while back and when she came through it, she couldn't talk. She prayed to God to help her say the Lord's prayer, and that's how she slowly got her speach back. She said it took her several weeks, slowly struggling to mouth the prayer one word at a time. When she was telling me this, she was as fluid a speaker as she must have been all the years she taught. In the first few years I knew her, she was always frail, but she managed to make it to church most sundays. Then I'd see her less and less frequently, and she started slipping fast. The Deacons at the church are very good about going to pick up the sick and shut-in to bring them to church so I'd see her once in awhile. She always had a beautiful smile and would hold my hand in hers, beaming up at me. Ruth had known her casually too, many years before I joined the church.

Today is Mary's Home-going service and I'll sing with choir. She always loved to hear the Men's Chorus, and I know she'll have a good time. The most joyful thing about today is that I know Mary's forwarding address.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Stephen L. Rich
Date: 18 Mar 09 - 09:42 AM

That is a truely lovely thought about knowing Mary's "forwarding address'. There's a song in that, Jerry.

Stephen Lee

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 18 Mar 09 - 10:12 AM

Hey, Stephen: How nice to see you. It's been a long time.

I like the Spirit of funerals, or Home-goings in the black churches.
The whole range of emotions is openly expressed, from moaning and crying out to laughter, upbeat music and even dancing in the aisles. All reactions are equally respected. I've sung at a Home-going for the sister-in-law of Frankie in the Gospel Messengers and we got people up and dancing. I have no idea what it will be like today, and that's the beauty of it. It will be whatever people feel.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 20 Mar 09 - 07:30 AM

Hello again,

How did the funeral go, Jerry? I like the idea of celebrating some-one's life and their departure from it in more than the traditional way! It is always a difficult time, but sometimes I think we make matters worse rather than better in the ways we 'bring closure'. ('orrible phrase, but I can't think of how else to express it at the moment. Need some of that coffee, Jerry!)

I hope the concert goes well, Deidre!

With regards to the song we were discussing, I guess we will have to invite Susan Trump over and she can sing it to us round the table!

Best as ever,


Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 20 Mar 09 - 04:04 PM

The funeral was very moving, Peter. Even though our friend Mary was 92 and it might seem would have "Outlived her friends and her enemies" (From Old Summer Wine,) there was a good turnout. Good people touch all generations and races. When Ruth and I went up to offer our condolences to the family I was quite surprised when Mary's son who is very simple, recognized me immediately. He looked up with a big grin and said, "You're Jerry Rasmussen from the Stamford Museum. You can really play that guitar!" I only met Mary's song three or four times in my life, and not in the most desireable circumstances as he was putting in his time in Community Service at the Museum, propping up a rake hours at a time. I wasn't even aware that he'd ever heard me play, but Mary loved to hear my quartet, the Gospel Messengers.

The music that was chosen for the Home-going service was rather formal choral music because Mary sang in the Sanctuary Choir (which rarely does gospel music.) As people were filing out, the director of the Men's Chorus led us in doing I'll Fly Away, and that was great fun. My friend Joe who sang bass in the Gospel Messengers and was Best Man at our wedding was on one side of me, and my friend Arthur from Jamaica who also sings bass was on the other. Joe sang bass, Arthur sang the melody and I sang the baritone harmony. I threw an arm over each of their shoulders and that's the way we sang. Not very formal looking, because I love Joe and Arthur and the feeling is mutual. But I knew Mary was enjoying it.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: maeve
Date: 20 Mar 09 - 06:09 PM

"I only met Mary's song three or four times ..."

That's a poetic typo, Jerry. I thought for a long time that my children would be my songs; rather than the reverse as it is now.

I would have liked your friend Mary. Thanks for introducing her to us.

maeve

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 20 Mar 09 - 07:34 PM

Hey, maeve: Yeah, nice typo. By the time I met Mary, she'd already been through that first, hard stroke. When she was younger, she directed the youth choir and was a wonderful soloist with a beautiful voice. I've been think about Mary a lot today. She was a wonderful, beloved teacher, a gifted musician and singer and a very elegant lady. When she had the stroke it might have seemed that all of what made her such a fine woman was taken away from her. She not only coudln't ing, she couldn't speak, or teach. She couldn't even play piano anymore. But the most precious thing about her remained: her generous, loving Spirit. It almost seemed like all of the most obvious wonderful qualities of hers were stripped away until all that remained was the beauty of her soul. That shone brighter than ever.

I know I am going to write a chapter in my next book about Mary, drawing on what I have posted here.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 21 Mar 09 - 05:59 PM

Hello Jerry,

I'm glad it all went well.

I notice that you and Susan Trump have a gig coming up in U'nI Coffeehouse on 14th November (which just happens to be the boy John's birthday). How I wish I could be there!

Best wishes,

Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Stephen L. Rich
Date: 21 Mar 09 - 06:55 PM

I was at a funeral a few years back at which the deceased got in the last word. He had actually written out what music he wanted played at his funeral while he was on his death bed. Most of it was very beautiful "goodbye" songs. At his request, however the funeral closed with what he called his final thought for us all. It was Roger Miller's "You Can't Rollerskate In A Buffallo Herd". It was completely nuts and completely appropriate. His life philosophy had always been "You can be happy if you've a mind to". It's the only funeral I have ever attended at which everyone left laughing.

Stephen Lee

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: BusyBee Paul
Date: 22 Mar 09 - 04:22 PM

Hi Everyone,

Jerry, reading your postings about Mary's funeral has given my spirit a refreshing, grinning lift. Thank you for that!.

Peter, you'll be pleased to hear that my concert yesterday went well, much better than I'd dared hoped or expected. Not note perfect all the way through but we gave our best performance of those works on the night. All I can say is that it was a huge relief!.

I'm really looking forward to my next concert next Saturday 28th at Lincoln Cathedral - Verdi Requiem.

In the UK, today is Mother's Day and I've had a visit from my mum-in-law which was very enjoyable and relaxing. She didn't stay for tea, so I've some Thornton's chocolate cake going spare. Anyone care to join me and to save my waistline from expanding even further?.

Kettle is on the boil..............

Deirdre

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 24 Mar 09 - 12:11 PM

I just got booked for my first book signing at a bookstore in the area. Never done one before. I guess I'll have to pull out our Murder She Wrote DVDs to see how Jessica did it. I'll bring along my guitar and sing some of the songs from the book, too. It should interesting...

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 24 Mar 09 - 05:33 PM

Well done, Jerry!

Don't forget to take lots of pens!

Best wishes,


Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: BusyBee Paul
Date: 24 Mar 09 - 05:57 PM

Sounds like great fun, pity we'll miss it!

Have fun with it Jerry!.

Deirdre

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 24 Mar 09 - 07:24 PM

Thanks, folks... it will be a new experience for me. I'm looking forward to it.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: maeve
Date: 24 Mar 09 - 10:55 PM

Jerry, enjoy your book signing adventure and relish the instigation of music in a public place. I suspect you will find yourself meeting yet another person who will strike that lovely chord of "Wayfaring Stranger Turned Friend" that seems to follow you.

maeve

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 25 Mar 09 - 08:13 AM

You got that right, maeve. I love people, and the book signing will be just another opportunity for sitting around and talking with new folks. I'll learn a lot about them, as they learn a little about me.
Not that I need a book signing for that. But I'll break down the author/audience thing.

Several years ago, I sang at the Big Muddy Festival in Boonville, Missouri run by my friends Dave Para and Cathy Barton. The evening concert was held in a historic theater and they had the microphones set up twenty feet back from the front of the stage. I felt like I was singing in an adjacent room, I was so far away from the audience. I warned the sound man not to be surprised if I got up and walked to the front of the stage and did a song without the sound system. After three or four songs, I put down my guitar, walked to the front of the stage and told people I was tired of sitting so far away and that I wanted to see them. I taugtht them The Old Account Was Settled Long Ago, with different parts for the men and women and we ripped through the song at full throttle. It felt good. It was a house concert with 500 people in the house.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 28 Mar 09 - 04:47 PM

Hello again,

Jerry, have you done your book signing yet? We went to a book signing the other month with a local newsreader who had a great time chatting with everyone. There was a lovely atmosphere and I imagine that your signing may well be like that!

I'm sure I'm not alone in hourly expecting you to come up with a book-signing shanty?

What is everyone else up to? I'm amazed that "my thread" that old dude started is still running. I never expected it to get beyond three posts!

We had an exciting time at one of our sessions when the local radio came and put us all on the spot! We got a very good plug from them, however. They did the music and the venue a great favour. This is encouraging when, so often, folk music is the butt of jokes.

The coffee at the cafe is good, but not as good as yours Jerry! Is the kettle on?

Best wishes,


Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 29 Mar 09 - 09:57 AM

I'm just heading off to church, finishing up a large mug of coffe, Peter. I have a story to write about last night and will get to it on here this afternoon. As a one sentence summary, Ruth and I went to a dinner honoring 9 women who have made a difference in their community, given by the Muslim mosque where my two son-in-laws are deeply involved, honoring women of all faiths, and expressing love for not only Christian and Jews but for Buddhists, Hindus, and even Agnostics. Would that Mudcat could have such graciousness and love.
An aquaintance of mine, who happens to be a highly visible member of another church we attend when told that we were going to a Muslim dinner said sarcasstically, "I hope that they're not like those Muslims in Iran!"

Some folks don't get it. I rendeth my shirt for them.

Love is all you need.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: BusyBee Paul
Date: 29 Mar 09 - 03:02 PM

Jerry,

Looking forward to hearing the full story about last night.

My "last night" was singing Verdi Requiem at Lincoln Cathedral - wonderful evening. Today I've been to a Sacred Harp day with friends and it was fantastic. I've now got no voice left but a big smile in its place.

Please pass the lemon tea!.

Deirdre

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 29 Mar 09 - 05:53 PM

There was a certain irony to it. When I mentioned to someone the other day that Ruth and I were going to a dinner hosted by a Muslim mosque, they said, "I hope they're not like those Muslims in Iran."
Ruth's two sons, and mine now too, are both Muslim. They've been Muslims since the 60's and are very dedicated to their faith and service to others. Each year their mosque hosts a dinner honoring women who have given generously of themselves to the community. Ruth and I have been at previous dinners, but this one turned out to be espcially memorable. There were nine honorees from all faiths, including Muslim, Jewish and Christian. The people who attended the dinner were equally varied in background. There were four hispanic women sitting at our table, along with a Muslim woman and two Muslim Immams.

As speaker after speaker came to the platform, there was one common message. "Despite our differences, we all serve the same God." An Minister who was honored spoke powerfully about the fear and ignorance of Muslims that she found in her congregation. She called the Immam at our son's mosque and asked if her church members could come to a service. In preparation, they spend many weeks in bible study, studying the Kuran. That was the beginning of a warm friendship between the Covergational church where the minister is pastor, and the Muslim mosque where our son's go. We've come to know the Immam there and socialized with him, and he is a delightful, holy man.

Throughout the evening, there was such respect, love and reverence expressed by each speaker. There was a powerful feeling of oneness
that was openly acknowledged, despite the wide diversity of the people at the dinner.

After the program ended, I went out to talk with my son Ali. He was busily selling bean pies he'd made, but stopped when he saw me. He's been reading my book and thoroughly enjoying it, even though we don't share the same faith. He wanted to buy a book to give to someone. The "someone" turned out to be the keynote speaker, a woman who is Editor of the Muslim Journal which is distributed internationally. When she arrived, he offered her the book and she seemed quite moved. She asked me if I'd autograph it for her which I did with a warm message of appreciation for all she is doing. Ali suggested that I place an ad in the Muslim Journal and despite it sounding like an unusual idea, it made some sense. There was a Muslim author doing a book signing at the dinner and it wouldn't have suprised me if they'd ask me to do one too. After all, Muslims, Jews, Agnostics and Atheists are all reading the book.

At the end of the program they announced that there was going to be a breakfast at the hotel the following morning, with the keynote speaker delivering the message. The person making the announcement extended a warm invitation to everyone whether they are Muslim, Christian, Jewish, Buddhist,or Atheist. I felt the sincerity of the invitation.

This morning, Ruth and I talked at length about what a beautiful, spiritual evening we had and when we went to our daughter's church today, her sermon was on the dinner.

There may be hope for this old world, after all.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 31 Mar 09 - 01:20 PM

So. where'd everyone go? Sheesh!!!!!!! the first sign of spring and everyone's outside.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: BusyBee Paul
Date: 31 Mar 09 - 04:47 PM

Sorry Jerry!

Wish I had been out in the Spring weather. Instead, I've been holed up at work trying to get the new accounting system set to go. 10 hours stuck in front of a computer screen getting a headache from trying to make sense of it all means that I'm just vegging out when I get home :-).

Lovely story about the meal and I hope that seeds sown bear good fruit in the future.

Deirdre

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 01 Apr 09 - 04:05 AM

Hello Jerry,

Yes...spring is sprung around here too. The thing about being out in the open air is that we work up a great appetite! Get that virtual stove a-cooking!

The meal you shared sounds very positive. It's meetings like this that bridge so many artificial gaps and divides.

Still, great day yesterday, out in the countryside with owls, rabbits, pheasant and...oh yes, steam trains!

Best wishes,

Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Stephen L. Rich
Date: 01 Apr 09 - 04:39 AM

It's spring here in Wisconsin, but that means that it's cold and raining. We'll probably get more snow before it's all over.

Stephen Lee

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 01 Apr 09 - 08:51 AM

HI Jerry,
yes, thank you for telling us about the dinner.How wonderful to be able to share the evening with so many people in peace and harmony.Shame you cannot put that in a bottle and sell it, or maybe give it away.

Spring is here on the Essex coast, smiling folks and even the odd bare leg ( man in shorts) I have a question.... do all man forget to look in the mirror when starting the shorts season? It certainly does not suit all you chaps, but I think the English win the prize of worst look! Black socks with trainers? Socks of any colour with sandals? Shorts MUCH too short, please just above the knee no further! Summer below the waist and office shirt above!What sort of look do you do in the summer guys?

Coffee and cake here for you for the best answer
Wendy

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 01 Apr 09 - 03:25 PM

We just got back from having our income tax done and we're getting a lovely refund. The doughnuts are on the house!

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 02 Apr 09 - 08:00 AM

Thanks Jerry!

Would they be from 'Heavenly Donuts' by any chance?

Best wishes,

Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 02 Apr 09 - 10:52 AM

Funny you should ask, Peter. There is a little doughnut shop down the hill from us called Heavenly Doughnuts. It's not a chain... just run by a local guy. To my taste, he makes the best doughnuts I've ever tasted. Truth in advertising.

I was diagnosed as being diabetic five years ago and haven't eaten a doughnut sinece. I'm surprised the guy had been able to stay in business without my orders...

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: BusyBee Paul
Date: 02 Apr 09 - 05:37 PM

I love doughnuts and, as today is my birthday, I'd like two please!

(That's mine and Jerry's!).

Hope everyone is well.

Deirdre

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: maeve
Date: 02 Apr 09 - 06:36 PM

Happy Birthday, Deidre!

maeve

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 02 Apr 09 - 07:23 PM

Happy birthday, Deirdre!

I'll put a candle on you doughnut. May you have many more. Birthdays, that is. But hey, your the birthday girl so you can have many more doughnuts, too.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 02 Apr 09 - 09:42 PM

I picked up a used copy of The Honeydripper, the John Sayle's movie. I've appreciated some of Sayle's movies, especially Matewan, so I was excited about having a chance to see this one. I just finished watching it. I hesitate to call it a movie. I've seen parking meters that moved faster. This has to be the most stretched out, undramatic poser of a movie I've ever seen. The whole movie builds to a climax that seems as hokey as a Frankie Avalon movie.

I think I'll rent Beach Blanket Bingo.

Oh did, I mention that I was dissapointed?

Anyone else see this one?

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 03 Apr 09 - 10:32 AM

Happy birthday Deirdre, the sun is shining here in Frinton, hope your day is sunny too!I've made a chocolate cake with a candle on top...enjoy
Wendy

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 03 Apr 09 - 11:45 AM

Belated Birthday wishes, Deidre!

Hope the day was splendiferous.

The sun is shining here too. One birthday a couple of years ago, I was given a flowering cherry tree. It is out in full glory at the moment and looks stunning.

Thus...a slice of cherry cake for your celebrations!

Best wishes,

Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: BusyBee Paul
Date: 03 Apr 09 - 05:56 PM

Damnation! I just typed and it disappeared into the cyberether stuff.

Wanted to say thanks for all the calories (oops, I mean cakes)!.

Looking forward to my sister and brother in law visiting this weekend. We'll probably be scoffing hot cross buns instead of doughnuts!.

Toasted and smothered in jam - delicious!

I'm sure there will be plenty for you all to join us.
Deirdre

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 04 Apr 09 - 09:26 AM

Glad to see the coffee is still on at the Table--though I don't drink coffee--rather gravitating to kids' drinks these days--Nesquik-which Jan tells me constantly can't rate as cocoa-- apple juice, grape juice, orange juice. And a lot of water.

Anyway, like some of the rest of you, I've had some great musical experiences lately. Things really worked out--and it was a near thing--could have been real frustrating.

As I said earlier, we in my group (of about 180) had to choose 1 of 2 concerts for the late winter-early spring. We split in half. I'm not a big fan of modern music (to put it mildly). So I picked the one with the pieces we had already done years ago-albeit 2 of the 3 were 20th century--Britten and Vaughn Willliams. At least I knew them.


After about 3 weeks of rehearsal, I found to my horror I had screwed myself up royally. The concert for my group was on the same weekend as an annual music weekend in West Virginia with a bunch of fellow folkies, singing country, bluegrass, parodies, Irish, doo-wop, gospel, and anything else. And really fun people. Among others Bill D and Rita go there--Rita organizes it.

But as Deirdre and some others have intimated, being in a chorus can be like being in another world. And you don't want to get tossed out of Paradise. Which may happen if you skip a concert without a real good reason. A folk weekend in WV just might not qualify.

So, three rehearsals in, I had to call our director and ask if I could could switch into the other concert (Tavener) (which only had 6 rehearsals to go)--doing the piece I had tried to avoid since it was a "North American premiere"--and when I hear "premiere" referring to classical music, I have an overwhelming urge to run the other way.

But our director OK'd it after all. And the other conductor--also our pianist--let me in also. Possibly since I was a known quantity to him, having just sung Porgy and Bess and before that a Family Christmas concert with him. And some other concerts--including an all a cappella concert last year.    And a recording of Latin American and African folk masses earlier, among other things.

Anyway, I now I was so glad to be allowed to sing the modern piece, since it meant I wouldn't miss the WV weekend.

Some of the singers wound up singing a drone (same note for pages and pages)--since Tavener has made the piece somewhat of a chant. When I got in, I felt--hey, no problem--give me the drone, I'll sing anything, just let me stay in so I can go to WV. But the guy next to me said he was having problems with his part. The general tonality was F but some singers would start on G and end on G. Not easy against the rest of the group and the orchestra all firmly in F. But I had noticed that even if you start on G and end on G you have to still realize the tonality is F. So when you hit an F, even in passing, you have to realize that's the tonic (home base) and orient yourself to that. When you do that , it's not so hard to sing the G to G part.

I hope I'm not boring you.

Anyway, it was great fun holding your own against the rest of the group. And I even got picked, as one of three out of 22, to sing the punctuation, at the end of each chapter, so to speak--"He wept over her" (in Greek--in fact most of our part was in Greek, and we had the president of our group, who happens to be Greek-American, coach us.

And the piece turned out to be a wonderful experience. It's Tavener's meditation on Jerusalem. It's amazing how an English composer managed to capture the atmosphere of the Middle East. He uses quotes from Matthew (Christian), from a Psalm (Jewish), and from Rumi, a very famous Arab poet (I found out). Jerusalem is not just the physical city, but a symbol of the perfection we all strive for and can never reach. It was a glorious experience--with gongs and other percussion, in addition to brass, strings and woodwinds. And a wonderfully smooth, yet emotional   countertenor--and I don't usually like countertenors. Tavener really evoked a Middle East atmosphere.

On top of that, of course, I was able to get to WV and had a spectacular time making music there. Up til 3 AM Saturday, 6 Sunday, and 2 on Monday. Saw some old friends I see rarely, and made some new friends. The viola harmonies were amazingly well appreciated. One duo even told me they wanted me on their next CD.

And Jan and I sang more duets than ever--we were lucky enough that her voice was in good shape despite the rough trip down there. We sang close harmony country songs and several people said we sounded really sweet.

So I've been remarkably lucky in all sorts of ways. And the Tavener wasn't just making lemonade out of lemons--it was a great opportunity.

Great to hear your Verdi went well, Deirdre, and that others' musical and other types of activities are proving so satisfying.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 04 Apr 09 - 11:35 AM

I'm really happy to see you back at the table, Ron. It sounds like you ahd two wonderful experiences, very different on one level, but it was all music.

Don't wait until you do another concert before you stop by again.

My wife Ruth has never like muffins. I've been a sucker for them but don't eat them anymore because I am a low level diabetic and I control my blood sugar without medication. We visited a friend in the hospital last week and the conversation turned to food, as it always does. People can hardly wait to get out of the hospital so they can have their favorite food, whether it's pizza, ice cream or a thick steak. Our friend was hankering for a muffin from the super market right down the hill from us. Ruth decided she wanted to try one, and I got a cranberry orange muffine for her yesterday evening. It was an enormous muffin and her intention was only to eat half, but she ate the whole thing and wanted more. So, this morning I went down the hill and got another cranberry orange muffin and a triple berry muffin for her. When I walked in the door with the muffins, it was suddenly Ruth's break time. Funny how that happens. I hardly had my coat off.

Care to try one?

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: BusyBee Paul
Date: 04 Apr 09 - 12:49 PM

Jerry, the cranberry orange muffin sounds good, please pass a few crumbs this way!.

Ron, so glad to hear you back on this thread. Reading about the Tavener was really interesting - sounds like he's going the route that Karl Jenkins travels. He too does un-English stuff, using language and tonality to express other cultures and beliefs. Have you sang any of that?.

I'm just waiting for some friends to arrive for a birthday tea.

See you all soon.
Deirdre

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 04 Apr 09 - 01:03 PM

I like muffins, and donuts and such also. Jan is dead set against donuts. And really exasperated that 4 year old Henry, her main charge, now eats donuts for breakfast--and not much else.   She says when he used to have breakfast at our place--and still does from time to time--she served him fruit, toast and yogurt. Now his own parents only give him donuts for breakfast.


And his 8 year old sister never has to eat any vegetables she doesn't want.   Nor go to school if she doesn't feel like it. And she stays up as late as she wants. And she hates homework. Whereas Henry, whom Jan has taken care of since he was 6 weeks old, eats all vegetables, fruit etc. served by Jan, and loves to do "homework"--word games on the computer. Which annoys his sister no end: "You don't do homework, Henry". Henry who actually has both mental and physical problems--had to start with sign language and did not talk til about age 3-- now is reading books--at age 4. And not just Dr. Seuss. It's truly amazing what Jan (and Henry's school) have accomplished with him.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 04 Apr 09 - 01:08 PM

Doughnuts for breakast. Sounds like a song title to me, Ron. Actually, one of the chapters of my book is titled Belssings For Breakfast and for a long time, that was the working title for my book. Blessings for breakfast are even better than doughnuts, although doughnuts have their place in life. Otherwise, why would God invent them. Or was it Al Gore?

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 06 Apr 09 - 07:56 PM

Allright, I have to admit it. I am feeling pretty darned good tonight. And very thankful. This afternoon I got a call from a writer for my hometown newspaper telling me that she wanted to do a feature article on me and my book for Easter Sunday. I sent her a book three weeks or so ago, as I did to two other newspapers, and had kinda given up on getting a review. Oh me of little faith. We talked about a half an hour, the first few minutes about the folk songs I've written about my home town. I mentioned three songs in some depth, and sent her the lyrics after the phone conversation. They were The Silver Queen (I told her that Roy Harris did the definitive version of it,) Living on the River and County Fair. When she asked how I came to finally write the book, I talked about this thread and Mudcat. Several of the chapters grew out of stories first told right here at the kitchen table, and my greatest encouragement to write the book was from none other than our intrepid big game hunter, Elmer Fudd.

And then we talked about why Easter Sunday was the perfect day for the article. If you're a Christian, Easter Sunday is THE day... not Christmas.

As you can imagine, I'm very excited about this...

Jerry

and kudos to Mudcat and Max, and the kitchen table crowd!!!!!!!!

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: BusyBee Paul
Date: 07 Apr 09 - 01:44 PM

Jerry, that's very good news indeed and, as you say, good news is just the thing on Easter Sunday.

And you are lower in calories too!.

Good on yer, mate!

Deirdre

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Stephen L. Rich
Date: 09 Apr 09 - 02:13 AM

That's great news! Way cool.

Stephen Lee

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 13 Apr 09 - 07:42 PM

This is the text of the article they published in my hometown newspaper Easter Sunday, minus the photographs. It gives credit to my friends on Mudcat, especially those of you around this table although no one is mentioned by name. One of the mudcatters who was most encouraging was my friend Miriam Hospodar, aka Elemr Fudd. Aka... sounds like a cat coughing up a hairball...

Some people know Jerry Rasmussen as a songwriter, who first starting penning verses about Janesville during the folk explosion of the early 1960s.
Now the 73-year-old hopes people will enjoy his new book as much as his homegrown lyrics.
Just in time for Easter, Jerry has written, "The Gate of Beautiful: Stories, Songs and Reflections on Christian Life." His book is a strong affirmation of his Christian faith, but it is not just for Christians.
"I have friends, who are atheists, agnostics, Jews and Muslims, who are reading it," Jerry says. "They are not offended by my faith because I am not judgmental."
A Janesville native, Jerry lives in Derby, Conn., and is retired from museum work. For decades, he has written and sang original and traditional songs of rural America and has recorded five CDs.
His new book is an outgrowth of a lifetime of letter writing and, more recently, the posting of stories online for the folk music community.
"People enjoyed them so much that I started to believe I had the ability to write a book," Jerry says. "Then the stories really started to flow."
One of the chapters relates to Easter.
In it, Jerry talks about how "a cross once topped every steeple in the country as a reminder of the price Christ paid for our sins."
"We were taught that our salvation came through the cross," Jerry says. "Yet, these are hard times for the cross…In some of the largest contemporary churches, a cross is nowhere to be found."
He calls the cross central to his faith and the faith of all Christians.
"It is a reminder of the victory Christ won for us by his death," Jerry says.
Earlier this year, Jerry published his book through Outskirts Press of Denver. He shares insights about the handiwork of God through the stories of a weary traveler on a Greyhound bus, rambling hoboes and one-eyed dogs.
Jerry was born and raised on Caroline Street in Janesville. He graduated from Janesville High School in 1953 and worked summers at the Fisher Body plant to pay his way through the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Later, he moved to Greenwich Village, where he began writing folk songs.
"I was separated from Janesville and my family," Jerry recalls. "I missed them, and my way of going home was writing songs about Janesville."
One popular tune featured the Silver Queen, a boat that plied the Rock River at Janesville during the 1940s. Jerry has boyhood memories of watching World War II soldiers home on leave fox-trotting with their sweethearts on a floating dance floor.
He also wrote songs about the Rock County 4-H Fair and a former tavern on Main Street, called the Bear Trap Bar. His rich baritone and knack at writing catchy choruses have made him a popular fixture in the folk music world for decades. To date, some 20 recording artists have performed his songs, including the enduring Art Thieme.
When Jerry was not singing and accompanying himself on guitar or banjo, he worked at the Stamford Museum & Nature Center in Stamford, Conn., for 30 years. He retired in 2000.
His ties to the Midwest remain strong, and most of his family still lives in Janesville, including his two sisters. When he visits the city, Jerry performs at Cedar Crest, where both of his parents lived for many years.
He is proud of the fact that the editor of his book did not find a single mistake in language usage.
"I think back to my English teacher at Janesville High School, and how she pounded grammar into us," he says.
"It is still in there all these years later."
--
--
Anna Marie Lux is a columnist for The Janesville Gazette. Her columns run Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. Call her with ideas or comments at [phone], or e-mail [e-mail].
--
--
WHERE TO GET BOOK
Jerry Rasmussen's book, "The Gate of Beautiful: Stories, Songs and Reflections on Christian Life" is available from www.amazon.com and www.barnesandnoble.com. It is also available for $17.90 by writing to the author at 95 Hillcrest Ave., Derby, Conn. 06418. Contact him at: [e-mail]/lists

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 14 Apr 09 - 04:26 AM

That's a good write-up, Jerry! I hope it increases the sales for you. Have you done the book signing yet? We with the half empty coffee cups are intrigued to know!

Best wishes,

Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: maeve
Date: 14 Apr 09 - 05:34 AM

That is an interesting article, Jerry. Congratulations. I've brewed some fresh coffee and washed the mugs.

maeve

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 17 Apr 09 - 07:59 PM

There's an unexpected phenomenon I've witnessed many times. Just when you think that someone has been put in your path to help you, you realize that you've been put in their path to help them.

I've been systematically seeking out bookstores where I might be able to do a music program and book signing. The options are very limited because Barnes & Noble and Borders book stores have swallowed up almost all of the independent book stores. And Barnes & Noble and Borders would love to have you do a book singing if your name is Stephen King or Tom Clancy. Otherwise, there's nothing in it for them. That's even moreso if you've self-published your book. That's worse than having halitosis AND pimples.

Today, I drove to a small neighboring town just 8 miles from here to check out a small Christian book store. The minute I stepped into the store, I realized it wasn't a possibility. There was barely enough open floor space for a person to stand. As I looked around the store, I could see how disorderly their book section was, and how the gift section had taken over most of the space. The book section was definitely not inviting. I could easily have just turned around and walked out. Nothing there for me, and the owner was talking to a customer. But I thought, "I might as well be friendly to the woman and tell her why I'd come in the store, even though I dodn't see any likelihood of being able to do a book signing.

When the woman was finished talking to the customer she asked if she could help me, and I showed her my book. I told her that I was just becoming aquainted with the bookstores in the area, but it didn't like there would be any space to do a book signing or music in her store. Much to my surprise, she was very enthusiastic. And then she poured out her story. She was behind on her rent for the store, had three children she was raising as a single mother, and her husband wasn't paying the alimony the court ordered. She didn't have the money to hire a lawyer, so she was struggling to keep going on her own. She works six days a week in the bookstore, and when it closes she works as a waitress at her landlord's restaurant trying to keep him from closing her store because she's behind on her rent. She is looking for any way that she can attract people to the store, and was excited about having me do a book signing and live music. Stephen King and Tom Clancy hadn't walked through her do, so I was the best of what was left. I left a book with her, some promotinal material and a flier I did for the book signing I'm doing next weekend, and she made it clear she wanted me to do a book signing as soon as she could set it up to try to bring some money in. Anyone who is counting on the money I can generate is in desperate straits. Forget Dire. I told her I'd be very happy to do it and would do a flier for her, and send fliers out to all the area churches because as she said, she doesn't have any money to publicize the book signing. I felt really good about the whole thing. Sometimes just wanting to help, no matter how small that help may be can mean everything to someone who is just trying to hold on.

That's good to remember

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 18 Apr 09 - 04:06 PM

Hello Jerry,

A great happenstance! You could have so easily shrugged, turned away and left. I'll bet that the signing there will be a great success and, who knows where it may lead?

Just remember to take your pen!

It has been a lovely spring day here and we have stewed some of the first rhubarb of the year. If you supply the custard, I'll supply the rhubarb!

Best wishes,

Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 18 Apr 09 - 04:55 PM

Rhubarb! Oh, Man!!!!!! We had a big rhubarb patch in our back yard and I loved it. Nothing like picking a stalk, rubbing the dirt off on you pant leg and taking a great big bite. Your face would scrunch up something fierce, but once you got past that first bite, you found your stride. We had cooked rhubarb as a desert dish, or over vanilla ice cream, so I can taste it over custard even though I never had it that way. I love strawberry rhubarb pie too, but they haven't developed a sugar free version of it yet. And it takes a lot of sugar. I'm a "perfectly controlled" diabetic... my doctor's phrase. I control my blood sugar level by diet and excercise, and only have it checked once every six months.

Last week we went to visit a friend who sings in the Men's Chorus. He's at least 20 years younger than I am, and is diabetic. The had just surgically removed his big toe on one foot, and he is terrified that it won't heal. We used to visit another man who had his to removed, then his foot, then his leg to above his knee, and then he was gone. I like my feet even better than strawberry rhubarb pie.

There are other sweets that don't come from sugar.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: frogprince
Date: 18 Apr 09 - 10:43 PM

Jerry, My Mrs. is a life-long type one diabetic, totally insulin dependent. she has to calculate the carbohydrates in every bite she eats. She doesn't eat junk, with no nutrition but sugar, at all. But she makes an occasional fruit pie or such with Splenda, which has been on the market for a few years now. Just use it instead of sugar; that simple. It costs enough more than sugar that us mere mortals aren't about to consume it by the bucketful, and I wouldn't advise any diabetic to use it as an excuse to shovel in sweets. But if you have your lady make a strawberry rhubarb pie sometime when friends will be sharing it, and have yourself a modest sized piece. Then continue taking good care of yourself on a regular basis, 'cause it does seem like some folks like having you around for some reason. : )
                      Dean

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 19 Apr 09 - 03:25 PM

Ribbit, Frogprince:

I have a bag of splenda with the intention of making some baked goods. Funny thing is, good intentions never accomplish anything. You actually have to do it. It's like the guys in my rooming house back when I was in college who said, "I'd give my right arm to learn how to play guitar," and I'd answer, "Give me fifteen minutes a day and I can teach you." "Fifteen minutes a day!I said I'd give my right arm, not fifteen minutes a day."

My first baked goods I want to do is to make me some cowboy cake, if I can find the recipe. Simply to make and impossible to stop eating.

I have type two diabetes, so it's far easier to keep under control.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: frogprince
Date: 19 Apr 09 - 03:46 PM

Would you believe, you popped back in while my wife and I were looking online for possibilities for you? This is one other thing we stumbled on.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: BusyBee Paul
Date: 19 Apr 09 - 06:34 PM

Hi All,

I've just got back home from a trip down to Surrey (south of London) to visit my Mum who has been in hospital since last Monday. The good news is that she will hopefully be discharged tomorrow (Monday). Phew!.

Jerry, your bookstore story looks like Chapter One of the sequel to me!

Rhubarb crumble - delicious!.

Deirdre

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 19 Apr 09 - 08:55 PM

Thanks, frogprince. I notice though that sugar is listed as one of the ingredients yet interestingly enough, it's not included in the nutritional breakdown in the box. Hello Splenda. Makes me think I have to find that cowboy cake recipe first.

You are a wise woman, Deirdre. I would not be suprised in the story about the small bookstore ended up as a chapter in my next book. Funny you should mention that. As I was talking with the woman and she was pouring her heart out to me, a complete (but not perfect) strangers, she paused and asked me what my book was about. I said, "It's about every day events and people I meet where I feel the presence of the Lord. Like this moment." I told her that my podiatrist is in my first book, as is a woman who is a checkout clerk at Walmart, and people I've met on the riverwalk in Derby.
No fancy-schmancy theology. Just everyday folks trying to reach out to each other. I've never found strangers strange. Some folks I've known all my life seem pretty strange to me.

Thanks for the heads up, Frogprince. Maybe I'll have to send you and your wife a piece of cowboy cake. I'm going to look for the recipe right now.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 20 Apr 09 - 07:22 PM

Oh yeah... forgot this.

Last Sunday, Ruth and I went to visit a man who was Ruth's hairdresser for several years and who sings in the Men's Chorus that I sing in. We're not close personal friends but when we heard he was in the hospital, we wanted to visit him. James is diabetic and was very depressed and frightened. We'd talked to him over the phone a couple of times and he was extremely upset because they had to surgically remove his big toe. I gave him a copy of my book in hopes it would help lift his spirits and as we talked we asked him about his wife. We've met her a couple of times but didn't know her name so we asked him. He said, her name is Deirdre, and it would mean so much to her if you pronounced her name right. I said, oh, she's named Deirdre, just like my friend, and I spelled out the letters of her name. He was grinning from ear to ear and he said again, "you don't know how much it means to her to have someone pronounce her name correctly!" and I answered, with a name like Rasmussen, you don't have to tell me about it...

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 21 Apr 09 - 10:01 AM

been popping in to the kitchen on and off , just listening in the corner.
We had some sad news last week one of my oldest friends( in years not age) died on Easter Monday. Viva was the most generous and kind person you could wish to meet. She had been ill for some years and the last two underwent some serious chemo and radio treatments.She sang in a trio with two other great girls. Last summer they did a house concert in our garden,she wrote all their material, incredibly funny songs with amazing props, and people literally fell off the seats laughing.She had the most wonderful smile and personality, an amazing voice and songwiting talent.
We saw her again in November in concert down in Somerset, she was very unwell but somehow when she went on stage the place lit up. She was still performing in February and on Valentines day they did a brilliant concert ,the hall was decorated in purple and pink, her favourite colours, even matching raffle tickets!
We are going to her funeral on Monday in Dorset, to celebrate a wonderful woman and a life that brought joy to so many people.Another in the heavenly choir too soon.
Wendy

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: BusyBee Paul
Date: 21 Apr 09 - 01:38 PM

Jerry,

It does me a power of good to see someone spell my name correctly (correctly for me, I should add). I get various spellings and the English spelling is, in fact, Deidre. But my version is the Irish one. I had my first argument at school about my name at the tender age of 5!. The teacher told me I was stupid and couldn't spell my name, to which I replied that I wasn't stupid but she'd got the spelling wrong. So, I was hauled before the headteacher who also admitted she hadn't got a clue how to spell my name and looked it up in my file - to find a third variation!. My mother went to the school with me the next day and told them they were all stupid!.

Billybob - I thought about you when I read the thread about Viva. I hope the trip to Dorset goes well.

Deirdre

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 21 Apr 09 - 08:54 PM

I'm so sorry to hear about the loss of your friend, Wendy. She sounds like she was a wonderful person. People die like they live.
A simple truth. Maybe sometime I'll post the chapter I wrote about my mother's death. She knew she was dying but she was concerned that her best friend Bess wouldn't be by her side. She asked the nurse to call Bess, but Bess was in the shower. Somehow, my mother held on until Bess was out of the shower and heard the phone ring. Bess knew it was coming so she raced to my mother's room and as soon as she reached the bed, my mother weakly reached over to hold Bess's arm, smiled at her and was gone. She died like she lived, thinking of others. It sounds like you friend was much the same.

Troubles with folks spelling your name wrong, Deirdre? You can imagine mine. My favorite was Rasmuffin. Or maybe it was Rafmuffin.
Apparently I told them my last name with a mouth full of crackers.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: BusyBee Paul
Date: 22 Apr 09 - 05:48 PM

Jerry, I think the worse case was someone spelling it Deodry - makes me sound like your favourite underarm spray!.

LOL!

Deirdre

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 22 Apr 09 - 06:59 PM

That's hilarious, Deirdre. That's even worse than being mistaken for a muffin!

My friend's wife, by the by, spells her name the same way you do. That's why he was pleased when I spelled it correctly.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 23 Apr 09 - 09:08 PM

In no particular order.

I've been sitting here looking at recipes in the Baking With Splenda book I bought a while back. I'm trying to find a recipe I don't want to try, but so far I haven't. I thinks it's time to fire up the oven.

Ruth and I went to a volunteer Apprication lunch today... very nice. It was given at the Health Care Center where we've gone for the last six years, once a month. For four of those years, I've provided the music for a church service and the other two, I did a concert of gospel music once a month, with some occasional scriptural readings and commentary because the pastor of the church had moved away and the church was pastorized. (I know, that's not a real word.)

At the lunch, someone came up and said, "I saw the wonderful review of your book in the paper!" That was news to me. I asked which paper it was in and she said, "Oh, I don't know, the Connecticut Post or the New Haven Register." When did you see it? I asked. "Oh, I don't know, a couple of days ago, I guess."

After the lunch, Ruth and I drove down to the main office of the Connecticut Post. (Here's the folk music connection.) Steve Winters, Editor of the Post offered to have the paper review my book when I ran into him at a Paton Family concert. When we went up to the main desk and told them we were looking for a book review that Steve Winters had set up we were informed that he retired today. "Oh,I don't know,maybe it was yesterday or a couple of weeks ago." She really didn't say that, although I was prepared for it. After carefully looking through paper after paper, we found it in the Sunday paper on the front page of the Arts & Travel section. This is Thursday, so it wasn't a couple of days ago. At least the woman was right. She really didn't know. But it was good to see it before it disappeared into the ether.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 25 Apr 09 - 04:10 PM

Hello,

It's been another lovely spring day here and the kitchen table is covered in seed packets! However, I must say that the smell of cooking coming from Jerry's direction must mean Cowboy Cake or some similar treat! One of the joys of Spring is that all the window ledges get covered with seed trays and flower pots full of potential. The tree blossom has also been spectacular this year.

Glad to hear that your book is still the subject of newspaper debate, Jerry. When will the New York Times pick up on it I wonder?

BTW Katy did it again yesterday and sparked a wonderful story from one of our elder statesmen. Apparently he had laid down to take a little repose in the sun, stretched out on the lawn, only to be 'serenaded' by a grasshopper, first in one ear and then in the other! In the end he gave up on his appointed rest and spend a fruitless half hour trying to catch the offender!

Best wishes,


Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 25 Apr 09 - 04:55 PM

Hey, Pete: I just finished mowing the lawn and I had to mix upo a gallon of iced tea. Summer is here. Spring was yesterday. I am picking up more book signings, which is fun and today I got an order from my hometown from a lady with very squiggly, uncertain handwriting. She put her phone number on the note, so I called her to thank her for her order. I suspected she was elderly and from the sound of her voice I think I was right. We didn't talk long, but I asked her a little bit about herself. She was hard to understand because her voice was as quiggly as her handwriting. Hopefully her eyesight is still fine. How sweet it was to be able to call and thank her.

I was in Walmart today and gave my favorite check out lady a copy of the newspaper article because it quotes a line from my book saying that God is visible all around us and that you can see him in the check out clerk who stops to comfort a customer who's just lost her husband. She seemee VERY happy to have a copy. I mean, how often does it appear in the NEWSPAPER that someone sees God in you?

Jerry

Oh, and Deirdre... I got a letter and check from you sister for your book. I'll mail it to her on Monday. Thanks so much!

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 25 Apr 09 - 09:22 PM

After my book signing tomorrow, I think I'll relax and try a recipe from my Baking With Splenda book. I'll try the oatmeal cranberry muffins. My wife's favorite muffin is a cranberry orange muffin they bake at the local supermarket. My favorite cookie is oatmeal.

Is there any way to lose on this one?

I'll set some on the table if they turn out well.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: BusyBee Paul
Date: 26 Apr 09 - 02:02 PM

Jerry,

Forget the book signing - how did the baking session go?!

(I truly hope the book signing went well too).

And now I have to wait patiently until my sister visits the UK.......

:-)

Deirdre

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 26 Apr 09 - 10:07 PM

Hey, Deirdre:

Maybe I'll bake tomorrow. Today was delightfully consuming. If my muffins turn out as well as my book signing, I'll be a happy man. I sold ten books (which was a big number for the book store, where other book signings have sold far fewer copies) and a CD that I didn't even have out on the table. Someday noticed in a box and wanted to buy it. I also got two very serious inquiries about doing concerts at other churches, both of which I think will come through.
Maybe even more importantly, we all had a delightful time. The atmosphere was such that at my next book signing I'm going to see if I can do it around a kitchen table.

I'll get your book off in the mail to your sister, Deirdre.

Today the book signing. Tomorrow the muffins.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Tootler
Date: 27 Apr 09 - 05:15 PM

I'm a grandaddy!!

My daughter gave birth to a lovely girl on Friday, Amelie Rose. Mother and Daughter are fine.

I spent the weekend helping with running the National Recorder Festival which our branch of the Recorder Society hosted this year. A very busy weekend, but all went off very well and we had lots of complementary comments about the festival. I made some recordings of the mass playing sessions - 120+ recorder players playing all sizes from sopranino to Sub Contrabass. I'll be posting them on a website somewhere when I have tidied them up.

Now we are off to London in the morning to visit my daughter and her daughter. Looking forward to the visit, though not the trip. My wife wants to take a few things so we are driving. I'd have rather gone by train as driving in London is no fun and my daughter lives quite close to central London.

I'll just grab a quick coffee before I go and pack.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: BusyBee Paul
Date: 27 Apr 09 - 05:33 PM

Congratulations Tootler!

Please let me know when and where your recorder session recordings are on the web - I have been known to play one myself, many years ago.

Enjoy the visit to London and especially seeing your little girl.

Deirdre

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 28 Apr 09 - 03:49 AM

Great news Tootler!

Enjoy!

Best wishes,


Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: maeve
Date: 28 Apr 09 - 10:02 AM

I'm happy for you, Jerry. You're on the right path!

Congratulations on the arrival of Amelie Rose, Tootler.

maeve

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 28 Apr 09 - 10:30 AM

Granddaddies rule! Congratulations, Tootler. Toot your horn.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 29 Apr 09 - 06:58 PM

I made cranberry orange muffins today with Splenda. They're o.k., but I don't want to set something out that's just "o.k." But, I've got a strawberry rhubarb cobbler recipe from my Splenda cookbook and if I can find any rhubarb, frozen or otherwise, that'll be by next adventure. I had a terrible time finding cranberries until I found some dried ones that worked alright. Rhubarb is going to be harder. Or, I could try the cranberry oatmeal cookies.

Cranberies are cutting edge. They're the kiwi fruit of the twenty first century.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: maeve
Date: 30 Apr 09 - 07:01 AM

Hey Jerry, we get fresh cranberries all bagged up here, in the produce section. I buy several bags and freeze them just as they are. Rhubarb I pull from our several patches, and freeze it raw in chunks. You want a plant? It can grow in planters.

maeve

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: BusyBee Paul
Date: 30 Apr 09 - 01:42 PM

Cranberries are great! I can't eat rhubarb or gooseberries now as they are too acidic for me but cranberries have filled the gap.

Send some muffins over this way please Jerry!

Deirdre

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 30 Apr 09 - 03:54 PM

I grew up eating rhubarb pulled from the ground. I wonder what it tastes like without dirt on it? Of course I wiped most of it off on my pants before eating. I was always more sophisticated than the average kid. I'm going to make some oatmeal/raisin cookies next, and wait until the first fresh rhubarb hits the fruit and vegetable section of the local supermarket.

For many years I had a good-sized garden and grew the usual stuff, plus asparagus and celery, and had some blueberry bushes. I enjoyed it enormously but I find pleasures elsewhere now and don't have the time to care for a garden. I do manage to have a large harvest of crab grass to pull out every year, though.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: cobra
Date: 30 Apr 09 - 04:32 PM

Dulse dried on the tin roof of my aunt's house in the Glens Of Antrim was good. One of the best things about it was that, being it was on the roof, the next door neighbour's terrier couldn't pee on it. That said it wasn't always easy to tell the difference in taste.

Kitchen table memories also make me think about the supper after bringing in the hay. Midnight if the weather was good. Loads of cousins, all asleep on our feet but not going to miss the session/ storytelling/ singing general airneal which the adults enjoyed after the hay was all in. Great days.

Took my kids back to the Glens last week. No hay, right enough, but they enjoyed seeing where it all (!) happened..... and where I and Mrs Cobra will be buried *gulp*

We spent a couple of special nights at the kitchen table after that. Happy days.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 01 May 09 - 08:59 AM

We got back from Viva's funeral on Tuesday and found a bag full of rhubarb on our front step, a gift from a friend with an allotment! How strange.

The funeral was beautiful, set in a tiny village in Dorset. It had rained on and off all day, we got to the church for the four oclock service and the sun came out and shone through the stain glass windows throughout the service. Derek had asked for single purple flowers , Viva's favourite colour, and everyone arrived with just one stem which were placed on the altar steps.A lament by David Spillane( Riverdance) was played as the casket was carried into the chuch.Nearly everyone was dressed in purple, the ladies in long skirts or with purple hats and the men with purple ties, none of this pre arranged but quite spontainious,Joe Stead, just back from a tour in the USA, sang on the theme of 1 Corinthians 13. And Anne and Jen , who for many years sang with Viva as Dangerous Curves, sang " The dimming of the day"
The vicar was a lady who knew Viva so well and told us how she had been born in Goa India, her father was Italian , her mother part Irish, part Egyptian and part Indian. She came to England at the age of 4.She was the most generous of people and was loved by so many, they had speakers outside the church for anyone who could not be inside, it was so full.
After the service we walked to the church hall.Derek said a few words and then played a recording of Viva singing, what a beautiful voice!
Paul Downes and Phil Beer and Mick Silver sang and we all sat round sharing wonderful memories of a very special freind.A beautiful bitter sweet day.
Peter I put your message in the memory book as you asked. I sat next to Derek Sargent and Dave Smith from Croyden Folk Club.
Wendy

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 01 May 09 - 10:01 AM

Thank you so much for sharing that beautiful experience, Wendy. Sometimes spontaneous is the best. Probably most of the time. If you want to measure a person's life, got to their funeral and you'll see how many lives they've touched.

Welcome to the table, Cobra. I enjoyed your description of your return to old haunts. The haunts are still there.

It's the first of what is going to be a long string of rainy days around here. I got my grub killer, fertilizer and new grass seed in yesterday, so I'm enjoying letting the Lord do the watering for me.
Today is a great day for baking oatmeal raisin cookies... again with Splenda so I can eat them. If they turn out well I'll set a few on the table later today.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 02 May 09 - 04:29 PM

I just set a plate of still warm oatmeal raisin cookies (with walnuts) on the table. I must say, they turned out pretty good. I sued Splenda, so there's nothing to keep me from making a pig out of myself. WHOOPS! with swine flu spreading around the world, maybe I should say maing a bird out of myself. Birds eat far more in relation to their body weight than pigs. I mean, how much do birds (other than turkeys bread into mutants) weigh, anyway. They're as light as a feather. And they eat more than their body weight in a day. Let's see, for me that would be....

Whoa, Nelly!

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 02 May 09 - 05:41 PM

I said they turned out pretty good. Why would I sue Splenda? I meant to type Use...

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 03 May 09 - 02:31 PM

Hello Jerry,

I have a profusion of virtual rhubarb in my garden! The experiments with Splenda seem to be successful. Can I lick the spoon?

Thanks for posting that piece on Viva's funeral, Wendy. Thanks for adding to her memorial book, too. Although I couldn't get to the service, I 'sang her home' in my own way.

Went to a cracking session last night....(but don't tell those guys on the 'can't sing - won't sing thread!') It is a pity that your sensible comments were overwhelmed by the static, Jerry!

Best wishes,

Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: BusyBee Paul
Date: 04 May 09 - 05:08 PM

Yes Wendy, thanks for the lovely description of Viva's funeral.

Jerry, those cookies are wonderful - just what I needed after a long weekend looking after my Mum now that she's back home after her stay in hospital after Easter. My sister Sheila is visiting the UK in a couple of weeks so she'll be bringing me my copy of your book - I can't wait!.

Hi Pete, how are you doing?.

Deirdre

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 04 May 09 - 06:25 PM

Glad to hear that Sheila's coming to visit so soon, Deirdre. She should have the book. I mailed it several days ago.

I tell you, those cookies are disappearning right before my eyes. Or is it my mouth. Ruth loves them too. Between us we're really putting a hurting on them. Hardly enough left to set out on the table tonight. Looks like I'll have to make another batch tomorrow...

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 06 May 09 - 12:21 PM

A couple of thoughts.

After a week of rain, it finally stopped long enough this morning so I could mow my lawn. The rain's been good for the grass seed I planted five days ago, but now I have mushrooms popping up from all the dampness. My big problem with the lawn is not rain or mushrooms, but crabgrass. Every spring I dutifully dig up the areas of the previous summer's crab grass invasion and plant new grass seed. It might seem like a hopeless task, because the neighbors across the street and on both sides of us have a lot of crab grass in their lawns and they have managed to make peace with it. Each year when their crab grass goes to seed, the seeds are blown into my yard by the prevailing neighborhoods winds. They manage to find any little bare spot and make themselves right at home. By the end of the summer they are hearty and stout, spreading their runners underneath my good lawn to sprout up in an ever increasing circle. In the spring, I teach them a thing or two and rip them out by their roots for the next year's planting of new grass seed. And so it goes, year after year. But God sometimes sends a friend to break the cycle. Clover is known for all sorts of things. "Roll me over in the clover" pretty much says it all, leaving little to the imagination of a teenage farm boy. Four leaf clovers are supposed to bring good luck. Summer evenings back when I was a kid, we'd lie on the sweet grass of our front lawn, looking for four leaf clovers. When we'd find one, we were sure that luck was coming our way. Like rolling seven come eleven.
Back in thos idyllic days, crabgrass was a rumor I'd yet to hear. The only lawn invaders my father had to deal were dandelions. They're not nearly as nasty as crabgrass because they don't send runners out to spawn new, ornery offspring. Besides, you can make wine from dandelions as I did when I grew up. Ever tasted crabgrass wine?
I didn't think so.

This morning mowing the lawn, I saw some old friends. There are patches of lawn that never seem to support grass. Either the spot is too much in shade all day, or the grass is killed every winter from run-off of the ice melt along the edges of the sidewalk. Those are prime areas for crabgrass to make a new summer home. This spring, many of those areas are now blanketed with a thick covering of clover. Not only is the clover beautiful, but it too can spread with much more delicate, considerate underground roots, filling in the bare spots that would otherwise be prime property for crab grass.
Clover is a modest plant. It's not tough, but it won't be shoved around by the noisier, more obnoxious plants. Clover is polite. It doesn't make a big deal out of itself. It just quietly moves in.
I know people like that. They may not say alot, and when they do they are soft spoken. They are often overlooked, with all the attention going to the blowhards of life. But they can quietly change a neighborhood as surely as clover changes a weed-ridden lawn.

And you know this is going to expand into a chapter of my next book.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: BusyBee Paul
Date: 06 May 09 - 05:35 PM

Hi Jerry,

Yes, the book has arrived so Sheila will bring it next week.

I enjoyed reading your crabgrass / clover musings. I think that crabgrass must be what we call couchgrass in the UK. Anyway, whatever - more power to your clover!.

Deirdre

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 07 May 09 - 09:42 PM

Elizabeth Cotton's Banjo

My memory is fading on this one. Maybe some details will come back as I'm typing it. The heart of the story is still fresh in my mind, though.

Elizabeth Cotton was performing at the Pickin' Parlor in New Haven. And now I remember that the guy who ran the club's first name was Harry. His wife had a Doctorate in Russian Literature from what I remember, and they were both musicians. Harry Looked a little bit like Tom Selleck and wore a cowboy hat, as did his wife, often.

It was a slow night at the Pickin' Parlor. The few times I went there, it was slow except for an open mike night where I sang once. Barry Sandler of Green Beret fame was there with his manager and his manager approached me after I'd done my couple of songs, handed me his business card and said he'd like to get some of my songs. I never followed through on it. Maybe Barry could have recorded one.

But back to Elizabeth. The Pickin' Parlor was a dark, funky looking place with a small stage on one side of the room. Elizbeth was sitting up there on the stage, hunched over her guitar. She was in her early nineties then, I seem to remember, and was at the end of the line as a performer. She had a very modest, off-handed way of speaking and there was an intimacy that night because the crowd was small. Not much more than a handful of us gathered around the stage sitting in old folding chairs. Certainly, the crowd was no measure of what a national treasure she was.

As Elizabeth was softly introducing her songs, she told a story about when she was a little girl. Her older brother had a banjo, and she couldn't resist trying to play it. She had no idea what to do with the banjo but she loved to hold it and she'd keep tuning the strings up until one of them would break from the tension. She knew she was in trouble when that happened, so she'd put the banjo back where her brother kept it hidden from her but when he came, he'd check the banjo and when he found a string was broken again, he knew who'd done it. And she caught Hell. She wasn't explicit about the terms of that Hell, but whatever it was, it didn't stop her from finding where her brother'd hid the banjo. When he'd go out, she'd go find the banjo, try to tune it up and break a string once again. She told the story with a wistfulness in her voice and said softly that she'd always wanted to have a banjo, but never had one. She was near the end of her life, and the crowd was small. I don't know how far she traveled to be there, but it must have been sad to see that so few people seemed to remember her. She probably felt a little forgotten already.

As we were sitting there, transfixed by the story, Harry got up and walked over to the wall next to the stage. There were instruments hung up on the walls, all around the room that he had for sale. Without hesitation, he reached up and carefully lifted down a banjo that was hanging there. He quietly walked over to Elizabeth and handed her the banjo, saying, "Now you've got a banjo of your own."

I don't remember what the banjo looked like, or Harry's last name or his wife's name. I don't remember exactly what Elizabeth said, or Harry either, for that matter. But I remember the love in that room at that moment. The words aren't important. It was the reverence and love that Harry, his wife and every one of us had for Elizabeth that remains.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 09 May 09 - 04:15 PM

Jerry, that's a lovely story. Thank you for posting it.

Best wishes,

Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: BusyBee Paul
Date: 10 May 09 - 01:35 PM

At last, a banjo story I fully approve of! (Sorry Jerry, we tend to joke about banjos over here!).

I've just got back from my first folk festival of the year and had a great time meeting old friends and making new ones. I expect it's that time of the year when the kitchen table attendance is sparse at the weekends but that we make up for it at during the week.

Deirdre

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: maeve
Date: 10 May 09 - 01:41 PM

Jerry- I love the Elizabeth Cotton story. Thank you for that.

maeve

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 14 May 09 - 03:57 PM

I think this may be post 2400! Wow!

Seems like a good time to thank everyone for a very interesting and though-provoking thread. Especial thanks to Jerry whose coffee, wisdom and hospitality makes this thread possible.

BTW in the UK this week is National Doughnut Week!

How good is that?

Best wishes,

Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: BusyBee Paul
Date: 14 May 09 - 06:29 PM

I forgot about that Pete, thanks for reminding me!.

Jerry, Sheila has arrived safely in the UK so I should be getting my hands on your book in a few days time!.

So, Jerry's book, a pack of raspberry jam doughnuts and a pot of tea - sounds good to me. :-)

Deirdre

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 17 May 09 - 09:18 AM

Well, I see I've missed some good topics here.   Don't tell Jan I'm here now--I should be actually clearing out what she calls the "shed room"--since it's where all the stuff which might go in a shed --if we had one--would go. Of course there are lots of papers in there, and I've tried to clear up--but I just get involved in reading the old papers, going through old articles I've saved, trying to decide if I ever can get any of the old electronic gear in there repaired, etc.   And not much cleaning out gets done. I've got to bite the bullet and actually do it soon.   Particularly since Jan says that if I don't, she will--and she'll toss out everything.

But anyway, I was real interested to see the talk about rhubarb.   There's the great parody about rhubarb by the Kipper Family--I can't even remember what it was a parody of but I do intend to learn it--rhubarb is a double entendre in it, and I love that sort of song.   It's totally clean, of course--which makes it even better.

But about rhubarb.   I used to put rhubarb on my cereal when it was available.   Problem was I just loved the rhubarb, didn't want to eat the cereal.   So I'd just put more rhubarb on and not eat much of the cereal. So the cereal would just stay there.   And eventually I'd have to eat the cereal anyway.   But by then the dominant flavor would be rhubarb--at least I hoped so.

Last night I sang and played at the retirement community where my mother and stepfather now live.   I tried to get Jan to come--the leader of the band says she could sing the phone book out of tune and they'd still love her.   But she says she can't learn any new duets--her back is really going downhill--and she's ignoring the problem by gardening all the time she's not working.   Which puts her in even more pain--so she can't concentrate on things like learning new songs--even though we have a long list of songs we could do.

And the group has lost 2 of its members--we have no idea how it happened--we only sing with them at the retirement community, and that's every 2 months or so.   And we're mystified, and wish the other members would come back. Now the group has changed its name. And the old name was really good--much better than the new name.   Old name was "The No-Hope Riverboat Ramblers".   New name is "Lonesome Pine"---which is just a standard generic bluegrass band name--I'm pretty sure I've heard of another one called that. So Jan is not at all happy about that either. (Well at least it gives us incentive to learn "On the Trail of the Lonesome Pine"--which is one I've been meaning to learn.

Well, Jan said she didn't want to do some of our old stuff, since they had heard it before. I told her they just wanted to hear us do our close-harmony duets--it wouldn't matter if they were new or not. and they wanted to see her. And I told her before I went last night that they'd all be asking about her.   And it happened exactly that way. When I came back I told her we almost cancelled the gig, since all anybody wanted to know is where she was.   I got asked that everywhere I went up there.

Ah well, at least she knows for sure they really want to see her again. And at least there's no more pressure on her to have anything new to sing til September. So she can take her time--though time sure slips away fast.

Anyway, I sang 2 songs last night, in addition to playing guitar-- (badly--but there were plenty of good guitarists)-- and playing viola--making up harmonies and playing double-fiddle breaks with the dynamite fiddler the group has.

I sang "I'm Sending You a Big Bouquet of Roses" and "There's A Star-Spangled Banner Waving Somewhere".   It went amazing well--especially considering that it was a near disaster on "Banner".   The group never rehearses--at least Jan and I, and other "guests" don't rehearse with them.   I just e-mail them what we're going to do, and the keys. And get there early, to try to work out arrangements on breaks etc.   But the band itself doesn't always get there early. And they're always sure they know what to do anyway.

Last night the bass player was real late. She said she had left at 6:30, but realized she actually wanted to get there at 6:30. Watching too much Star Trek lately--must be. Then she couldn't find a place to park. But we really need a bass--so we were 15 minutes late starting. And it turned out I was SO glad she made it.   When I started "Banner" one of the really strong guitarists backing me started a really powerful 3-beat. But the song is in 2 (or 4). Sure not in 3.   But after about 2 lines the bass started up, since she knew the song and realized it was in 4--and finally got the song on track.   I told her afterwards she had rescued me. I just kept singing the whole time--I bet most of the audience didn't even notice the problem.

"Banner" is just a really great song--especially with Memorial Day coming up.   But it's fascinating how reputations change. In early 1942, when the song was written, and was a hit, Custer was considered a big hero--"I see Lincoln, Custer, Washington and Perry".   But now it seems clear his massacre was totally a needless sacrifice of troops--he only had to wait for the other regiments to arrive, as was planned. And Grant said so soon after. And of course the slaughter and general mistreatment of the American Indians--which Custer had been deeply involved in up to that time--is not anything Americans in general are proud of now.

And the song goes on "Nathan Hale and Colin Kelly too".   I'd never heard of Colin Kelly before I heard the song. It turns out he was one of the first heroes of World War II from the US perspective (not joining the war til 7 December 1941).   He was one of the men who bombed Tokyo on 10 December--just 3 days after Pearl Harbor. His plane was shot down, but he stayed on board til all his crew members had left. Then he bailed out--but his parachute never opened.

When I started telling this story, several members of the audience started nodding in recognition.   I was really impressed--they definitely remembered reading about this at the time. And several told me afterwards they really appreciated hearing the song.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: BusyBee Paul
Date: 17 May 09 - 06:17 PM

Ron, it's great to see you back here at the table. We could try rhubarb doughnuts! Sorry to hear that Jan's back is still bad. Let's hope she can get back to singing soon.

I now have Jerry's book here in my hands and I'm looking forward to sitting one evening with a suitable beverage and plenty of time to savour it.

I think I'll go put the kettle on again..........help yourself to biscuits.

Deirdre

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 18 May 09 - 04:20 PM

"Back again, back again, Franklin D. Roosevelt's back again". And so am I. You know what it's like when you get back from vacation... a mountain of mail and a lawn a Giraffe could hide in. It'll take some time to get on top of things but I had to stop by the kitchen table for a minute. How nice to see you here, Ron. I have some comments to make on your post when I get the time. Forget people needing to hear new material in a nursing home. If anything, they probably want to hear old material. Besides, their memories are such that they may not even remember what you sang a month or two ago. Mostly, music wonderfully breaks the ordinariness of their days. Singing in a nursing home isn't a performance thing. It's a caring thing.

Rhubarb donuts... sonds good to me. I have a request in for another batch of the oatmeal raisin donuts made with Splenda. I felt a little guilty on our cruise of the islands. The demand for sugar has dropped and it's hurt the economy. They should be planting Splendacane.

It's good to be home.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: frogprince
Date: 18 May 09 - 09:21 PM

Jerry, I owe you one. I hadn't had strawberry rhubarb pie myself in gosh-knows-how-long. You got my wife in the notion of making one, with Splenda. Gooood! She has the 75th anniversay edition Joy of Cooking, and she just substituted for the sugar in their receipe.
                           
                           Dean

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 18 May 09 - 10:19 PM

I would certainly agree people in the retirement community we sing at would not mind if we repeat some songs.   But I'll tell you, it sure doesn't seem like a nursing home.   These people are sharp.   Every time the band plays there's a fiddler who lives there who comes up on stage and does Ragtime Annie, Cripple Creek ,or something like that. And he's amazing. I can't do what he does. Only possible indication of a complication is that he sometimes loses the beat--drops a beat--which makes it hard for the group to stay with him.

Admittedly nobody I know--there or anywhere--can top my stepfather who lives there now with my mother. He does a crossword puzzle every day, has a great sense of humor, loves music--even sings a World War I parody. Makes birdhouses and 18th and 19th century toys. And recites bilingual limericks--clean even.

And he turns 95 this month.

If at 95 I can do half what he does, I will be, as Jan says, "over the moon".

Jan and I didn't see any reason why they moved into the retirement community--but they do have some medical issues--so I suppose that's a good reason.   And they do seem to have settled in pretty well. It's a done deal now.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 19 May 09 - 04:28 PM

Hey, Dean: The only thing that stands between me and a slice of strawberry rhubarb pie is being able to get some rhubarb. I'm keeping my eye out for it at the suppermarket.

You realize fo course that rhubarb never tastes the same if you haven't pulled it out of the ground and rubbed the dirt off on your pants before eating it. I must have had a high fiber diet when I was a kid, pulling carrots, rhubarb, radishes and the rest out of the dirt and wipeing most of the dirt off. There's a growth industry for you. Sprinklers of dirt as a garnish on your vegetables. It improves the flavor and adds fiber.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 19 May 09 - 05:17 PM

We've all got to eat a peck of dirt or more
Before we die, it's a wise old saw,
I guess I've had my share, what's more!
I was teethed on the boots my father wore.

Jerry, I put some virtual rhubarb on your doorstep!

I loved your posts Ron. What's singing for if not bringing pleasure to others?

Best wishes,

Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 22 May 09 - 11:27 AM

Buon Giorno, Colagero! Come sta?"

I'd been waiting a year to say that. Colagero is the short, rugged-faced man I helped last year when his car wouldn't start as I wrote about in The Best Laid Plans of Mice and Christians. I only saw him one more time last summer after that happened, and I was concerned for him. In our halting coversations he'd said that his doctor had told him to walk because he has heart problems. Even though I've been walking regularly again this spring and at all hours of the morning, Colagero has been nowhere to be seen. And then I saw him coming toward us when Ruth and I were out for our morning walk. As he approached us I called out my long-rehearsed, "Buon Giorno, Colagero! Come sta!" He had a big grin on his face and we ended up saying "Come sta" in unison.

In all the time that Ruth and I have walked together, Colagero had never responded to our greetings with anything more than a wave of his hand and an inaudible welcome recognized only by the movement of his lips. Not so this morning. He was very excited to see me and was chattering away, thoughts forming faster than words. I told him that he was walking so fast this morning that we couldn't catch up with him, and he grinned broadly. Last year, he was just slouching along at a slow pace. He seemed bursting with energy this morning. He thumped his chest and said, "I'm feeling a lot stronger now," and I answered, "I can see that! We couldn't keep up with you." The conversation was brief, talking most about what a beautiful morning it was. But it was a conversation. Ruth had never heard him talk before, and he was very animated. As we parted he called back to us, "Have a beautiful-a day!"

And we have.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 22 May 09 - 11:16 PM

Another great story, Jerry. And you're a multilinguist on top of it.

Ain't there some way we can get you down here to a Getaway?    I still want to hear the master sing "Living on the River" and so many more.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 23 May 09 - 04:59 AM

Good morning from England,
it is a beautiful morning, blue sky, hot sun, lots of smiley people walking past on their way to the beach, I am working today but never mind we are off to Kent tomorrow to a bar b q to remember 2 departed friends Pete Hicks, one of the best guitarists ( 12 string Martin)I have seen,he could sing for hours and never repeat a song.The other we are remembering is Dave Bryant, a well known mudcatter. I used to sing with David in the 70's, he had a powerful voice and could always be heard singing a chorus over the top of an audience of hundreds.My favourite memory is going to the last night of the proms at The Royal Albert Hall with Dave dressed in a jesters outfit!
It should be a lovely day, meeting lots of old friends, good food and, more important, wonderful music.
coffe is on
Wendy

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 23 May 09 - 04:47 PM

Thanks for the story, Jerry. Another good one with a good ending.

Ah yes, Wendy......Dave Bryant! A character to the nth degree and sadly missed.

Thanks for the coffee!

We planted our beans today and the courgettes are nearly ready to plant.

Did you get the virtual rhubarb, Jerry? or did somebody hornswoggle it?

Best wishes,

Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 23 May 09 - 05:10 PM

Hey, Peter:

Two days ago I made a batch of strawberry/rhubarb cobbler. My wife doesn't like rhubarb, so I thought it would last a while. It was all gone within 14 hours. My wife has discovered that strawberry rhubarb cobbler with a coop of vanilla icecream is the cat's whiskers. Even better than cat's whiskers.

This afternoon I was out weeding in the jungle I affectionately call our yard and struck up a conversation with "Poppa" George over our barberry hedge. I mentioned that I'd had a hankerin' for strawberry rhubarb and wouldn't you know, he'd just picked a big batch so that his asparagus could get a little sunlight, and brought several thick stems of rhubarb for me. Tonight I'm going to make some rhubarb cobbler, and take a couple of pieces over to George and Maria. Despite Ruth's protestations, I don't think the rhubarb cobbler will make it long enough to get i over onto the kitchen table. I may have to make a double batch next time.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 23 May 09 - 05:17 PM

Hello Jerry,

That sounds delicious. Can you post the recipe?

Best wishes,


Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 23 May 09 - 07:32 PM

Here you go Peter and all:

Strawberry Rhubarb Cobbler

Serves 6

3 cups chopped fresh or frozen rhubarb, thawed
3 cups frozen unsweetened strawberries, thawed
1 ¼ cups Splenda Grandular
2 tablespoons cornstarch
¼ cup reduced-calorie margarine
½ cup fat-free half & half
1 cup + 2 tablespoons reduced-fat biscuit baking mix
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray an 8 by 8 inch baking dish with butter-flavored cooking spray. In a large bowl, combine rhubarb, strawberries, 1 cup Splenda, and cornstarch. Spoon mixture evenly into prepared baking dish. In a large bowl, combine margarine, 2 tablespoons Splenda and half & half using a wire whisk. In a small bowl, combine baking mix and baking powder. Add baking mix mixture to margarine mixture. Mix well using a sturdy spoon. Drop dough by tablespoon to form 6 mounds. In a small bowl, combine cinnamon and remaining 2 tablespoons Splenda. Evenly sprinkle cinnamon mixture over top. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes, or until filling is hot and bubbly and topping is baked through. Place baking dish on a wire rack and let set for at least 5 minutes. Divide into 6 servings.

You'll have to convert this into the metric system, and probably substitute sugar for Splenda. I don't know if you have something similar to half and half over your way, either.

Half the fun of baking is tinkering with the recipe.

If anyone stateside tries this with Splenda, I've found that immediately after baking the pastries and cookies taste much sweeter than they do after they've cooled.

Enjoy.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 23 May 09 - 09:42 PM

I'm just taking a pan of rhubarb cobbler out of the oven. It feeds 12. As soon as it cools, dig in!

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 24 May 09 - 10:46 PM

I just finished baking five dozen oatmeal raisin walnut cookies for our family gathering tomorrow. There'll be plenty left over tomorrow for the kitchen table.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 25 May 09 - 05:46 AM

Thanks Jerry,

I'll give that a try!

Best wishes,

Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 25 May 09 - 11:33 AM

I look for Woody every day I go on the Riverwalk. He's a short, thin man who walks with a slight list to the left and he's there every day. It doesn't make any difference whether it's raining or snowing, bitter cold or blistering hot. You can count on Woody.

Today is Memorial Day and while I was on my walk, I called my friend Joe Evans to thank him for serving our country. Joe was in the Navy during the second World War. Not surprisingly, Joe wasn't home. Even though he'll turn 85 the day after tomorrow, you can't keep him down. He's probably driving someone to the airport.

When I saw Woody coming toward me motoring along the Riverwalk, I called out a greeting to him. "Hey, Woody! How you doin' today?" "I'm doing fine," he said. Woody is always doing fine. "Hey Woody, were you in the service?" "Yes I was. I was in Korea," he responded. "I'm thanking everyone who has served our country, I said. "I just want people to know that I appreciate what they did." And the floodgates opened.

Woody is usually a man of few words. While we've come to know each other a little when we meet on our morning walk, the conversations are always brief and sunny. This morning it wasn't just the dark clouds overhead that dampened the spirits of the day. It was old memories, restoked.

"I was in Korea for 12 months." Woody said. "Most of the other guys were sent home after ten months, but I never complained so they kept me there a couple extra months. I was pissed off, but I never said anything." Woody is still pissed off. As he talked he became very agitated. "It was hard staying alive, just because of the weather," He said. "It was winter and it was freezing cold. We like to froze to death." I told him about my friend, Jerry Rau, who served in Korea and brought it home with him. I met Jerry many years after the war, and he was still fighting it. He wrote a powerful song, and a book of the same title: "Knocking on the Devil's Door." When I told Woody, he understood what Jerry was talking about. Jerry was a young, idealistic kid, probably much like Woody was back in those days. The war knocked the stuffings out of Jerry, along with most of his idealism.

"I watch on the news how stressed out the soldiers are in Iraq and Afghanistan," I said. And Woody got angrier. "They never should send those guys back for a second tour of duty, he said," his voice rising. "Do they have any idea what they've gone through?" I had clearly touched an old wound, and Woody was back remembering how he felt after he came home from Korea.

As I told Woody, My father was too young for the First World War and too old for the Second. I was too young for the Korean War and too old for the Vietnam War. My sons were too old for the Middle East War, and even though my oldest son Gideon was in the Air Force for two years, he never left the country. We've been pacifists by coincidence. We don't know the pain that people carry deep in their hearts from their action in past wars, but for me, I am thankful for the sacrifice they've made. You don't have to understand something to appreciate it.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: BusyBee Paul
Date: 25 May 09 - 01:59 PM

Hi Jerry,

I'll have to ask Sheila what "half & half" is - I don't have a clue!. I love rhubarb but find it too acidic these days. Maybe pairing it up with strawberries or another fruit will make it palatable for me again.

And I've read your book - in one sitting!. It is a terrific book and it looks like you are getting plenty of material lined up for the sequel!.

Any of that strawberry and rhubarb cobbler left, please?.

Deirdre

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 25 May 09 - 02:56 PM

Thanks, Deirdre:

Half and half is half cream and half milk.

This morning I had a couple of pieces of toast with the pineapple rhubarb jam my neighbor gave me. It was delicious, but the sweetness so overwhelmed the tartness of the rhubarb that I couldn't even taste a hint of it.

I'm glad you enjoyed my book. People read it in ever imaginable way, which is kinda nice. I talked to a woman at church yesterday who said she loves the book, but hasn't finished it yet, even though she's had it for a couple of months. She enjoyes reading a chapter every few days. Whatever works. And yes, many of the stories we share
as we sit here around the kitchen table are likely to become chapters. I know the one about Elizabeth Cotton will.

Thanks again,

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 27 May 09 - 09:59 AM

So much wonderful food at this table
Peter, the bar b q in Kent was great fun, lots of mudcatters there. When it got dark we sent 6 beautiful chinese lanterns up to remember the six friends who have passed on including Dave Bryant, Pete Hicks
( The crayfolk and Skinners Rats) and Viva.A beautiful end to a lovely day spent with good friends and lots of wonderful singing .
Oh and The Red Arrows flew over in the afternoon!!
wendy

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 27 May 09 - 10:36 AM

Hello Wendy,

It sounds like a very worthwhile occasion. But, were there no cold non-return inlet valves or exploding biscuit tin ovens to be enjoyed?

Dave is always just around the next corner! I'll tell you what he told me..... when we get that house concert organised!

Best wishes,

Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 27 May 09 - 11:39 AM

there were some biscuit tins on the barby but I stood well clear!
I will get a date for the house concert.....want to know what he told you! Linda played a recording of Dave singing Grey Funnel line, made the hairs go up on all our necks, what a voice.
Wendy

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 28 May 09 - 09:36 AM

House concert, Peter, John Barden has said he is free Sat. July 18th, how is that date for you? I will start a thread when we can confirm a date!
Wendy

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 28 May 09 - 03:24 PM

Hello Wendy,

Thanks for the thought.......sadly, the 18th is otherwise committed ...what about the 25th?

I've left some virtual rhubarb on your doorstep!

Best wishes,

Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: VirginiaTam
Date: 30 May 09 - 05:21 PM

Hi Wendy

Lovely to meet you at the Wake in Upper Stoke last weekend. Hope your house party in July is perfect.

Now I have some really good news re my first post to this thread (see below).

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: VirginiaTam - PM
Date: 08 Feb 09 - 02:49 PM

I was going to start sharing some of the stories I took down from my Mom and Aunt Dot (octogenarians) we (thier kids) call The Twins. They were hilarious. But somehow when I was copying them off of floppy disk onto external harddrive.. they disappeared. Floppies are gone and so are the stories. And so are my university papers, and children stories and plays I have written and poems. I have printed copies of some early drafts. Some stuff is gone gone gone.

My honey found the CD I copied all my stuff to. And another one of stuff I had in the US. So it was a windfall day for me. I am so happy and relieved.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 30 May 09 - 07:47 PM

That's TERRIFIC news, VT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hallelujah!

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: BusyBee Paul
Date: 31 May 09 - 07:05 AM

Great news, VT!.

I'm just cruising past the the table to swipe a "Jerry-bake" on my way through :-).

My family have just departed after their weekend visit and the house is beginning to get back some semblance of normality...just. I'm off out to enjoy the sunshine and then off to a 50th birthday bash about 70 miles away.

I'll stop by later and do some washing up!.

Deirdre

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 31 May 09 - 08:24 PM

Hey, all:

It's been a tiring last few days, so I made myself a cup of tea (brought over from Engaland by Colin Kemp when he visited here) and made a couple of pieces of orange/cranberry toast. It just feels good to sit here at the table for a couple of minutes. This last week has been busy, but I mostly do "busy" pretty well. It's trying to be there for others when they are struggling that is hard. Last Thursday, Ruth and I went down to Brooklyn to the funeral of my brother-in-law's step-daughter. It was all hard. I didn't know the woman, but she was in her early 50's and left a slew of children and grandchildren. The whole day was exhausting. It's just a little over 80 miles from our house to the funeral home, but it was raining off and on the whole way and it took 3 hours to get there. We probably covered the first 60 miles in not much more than an hour before we got into Brooklyn traffic. Do the math. 60 miles an hour for the first hour and less than 20 miles an hour for the last two. I was driving into an area of Brooklyn I've never been in before and it is very depressed, and depressing. We stayed for the wake and funeral and then faced the long ride home. It was almost midnight by the time we got back. It took a whole day to recover emotionally and physically from the trip, and now we have another funeral tomorrow, an hour's drive away.

I may have to bake some more rhubarb cobbler if this keeps up. And then today I was talking with my check out clerk friend I wrote about in my book. She was widowed ten years ago and without any education or training ended up as a checkout clerk at Walmart. Walmart has a terrible reputation about how they treat their employees. When I talked with her today, she'd worked 20 hours in the last two days from noon to ten one day, and then from 7 the next morning to 5 in the afternoon. She was very stressed out, because all she sees is Walmart on her bed.

But ya know, there is goodness too. Her birthday is next Saturday and she was able to get the day off to go on a bus trip up to Quincy Market in Boston, and she's really looking forward to getting away.
At least it's not Walmart. I've been wishing her a Happy birthday every time I've seen her this last week, and did again today. I told her that my mother celebrated her birthday for at least two weeks and when my sons were little, we did something special every day for their birthday week. As I told her, I don't celebrate "little." That's not how my family does it.

So, there will be celebrating this week, and the following Saturday I'm performing gospel at Lordship Trolley Days... an all-day festival with trolleys providing the transportantion from one place to the next. It should be fun and uplifting. I've got two more bookings to play music and do book signings in the next month, and I always enjoy meeting new people.

I left the last of the oatmeal/raisin cookies for the next person who drops by.

This week I think I'm going to make peach cobbler, which my wife near-adores.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 01 Jun 09 - 04:52 PM

Mmmmm....good oatmeal/raisin cookies.....thanks Jerry!

Now, you are going to have to explain a little about the trolleys! This side of the herring pond we think of a trolley in three distinct ways. Firstly, the trolley that brings light snacks and refreshments to you when seated in a train or an aircraft. These are usually pushed by a trolley dolly. Then there is the shopping trolley, constructed of wire. I have visions of you being pushed around in one of these trying to sing at the same time. The last is a flat bedded low truck. This looks much like a table top on very small wheels and trundles. If the latter is the trolley you mean, then you could quite happily sit on a chair and strum whist being towed along by a market porter! :o)

Sorry to hear that you have had a demanding time, but I'm guessing that everyone was gad you came.

VTam......good to hear you have found those missing stories!

Best wishes,

Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 01 Jun 09 - 08:59 PM

Ya want to know what a trolley is, Pete, watch Mee Me In St. Louis and watch Judy Garland singing the Trolley Song. Trolleys were like a railroad car on a track and ran on electricity from an overhead power line. Most major (and even smaller) cities had trolley lines through town. The tracks were like a narrow gauge train track. More recently, they've built buses that have the general appearance of the old turn of the century trolley cars, but run on wheels, like any other bus. That's what they have in the town where I'll be singing. They'll be used to transport people from one site to another, with entertainment, crafts and food booths scattered throughout the town. Lordship, where they're having the Trolley Festival is on the north shore of Long Island Sound and it's quite beautiful there. It should be great fun.

Now maybe we can talk about knickers. Over here, kids wore knickers when I was a kid... short (usually corduroy) pants that came down just below the kneed, which were worn with high boots that came most of the way up the calf. The prestigious boots were the ones that had a leather pouch on the side that came with a jack knife in the pouch.
My friend Janie over your way had to do some explaining for the lines
"It's a long way from knickers and high-cut boots
To a part down the middle and a brand new suit"
from Old Blue Suit.

Over your way it sounds downright kinky.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 01 Jun 09 - 09:25 PM

Just wanted to pop in and see how things were going. I'm going to have rotator cuff surgery on July 22 and I'm trying to get a load of stuff done before than.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 01 Jun 09 - 10:48 PM

Ruth and I will keep you in prayer, Rap. Wow! a sports injury!!!!!!!
I get a back injury from getting up from the couch too quickly. Nice to see you, Rap. Stop in more often. We miss you.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 02 Jun 09 - 05:01 AM

Yes....be thinking of you, Rapaire.....

Jerry,

Oh.....you mean a tram! Or a trolley bus as it might be if'n it has no rails!

I had a wonderful opportunity to drive a tram for a round trip a few years ago. One of the highlights of a very memorable experience was the opportunity to set the traffic lights to read and stop all the traffic while we had priority and trundled on our merry way! Took me back to the time when I was just about knee high and we spent our summers near a railway level crossing with gates. These were operated by a very large wheel in the nearby signal box. If you arrived at the right time, the signalman would let you turn the wheel to close the crossing gates. Wonderful! Thant was in the days before Health and Safety, of course!

Best wishes,

Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: GUEST
Date: 02 Jun 09 - 11:08 AM

need coffee, really strong please, I have just wasted another 2 hours on the phone, listening to music, wanting to speak to anyone at the tax office as they want money that I do not owe!! How come when they make a mistake they are impossible to get but if I do it wrong they are on my case asap!!
Never mind it is a beautiful sunny day here,so I took my lunch down to the beach to clear my head.
VT it was lovely to see you at the bar b q. John Barden is doing a Saturday evening concert on July 18th, can you come as you know we are not too far away?I will put a thread on soon to invite mudcatters and the crowd from Val's rewake. Then I have to get together with Peter and find a date for him too.Maybe after all the summer festivals eh Pete?
Wendy

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 02 Jun 09 - 12:26 PM

sorry that was me, lost my cookie....blame the tax office!

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 02 Jun 09 - 12:36 PM

You can have one of my cookies, Wendy.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: VirginiaTam
Date: 02 Jun 09 - 01:03 PM

Hi Wendy. We are in glorious Scotland from 16 - 24 July. So sorry have to decline. But we will get together some other time.

Will you be at Knockholt or the Leigh Festival?

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: VirginiaTam
Date: 02 Jun 09 - 01:05 PM

Oops! Where are my manners? Evening folks. I'll just drop off this Almond Toffee Bark. Be careful. It can do some dental damage. Gotta bolt now.

Ta

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 03 Jun 09 - 08:58 AM

Coffee on, will drink it slowly and then attempt to get onto the tax office website to ammend my annual return, this saga just goes on and on!
Sorry Tam cannot do knockholt but maybe we might get to Leigh?
Thanks for the cookie Jerry, just what I needed!
Wendy

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 03 Jun 09 - 03:13 PM

Miscellaneous good stuff.

One of the last mornings when we were on our cruise of the southern Caribbean, Ruth and I were having breakfast in the port of St. Kitts.
Looking out the large windows on the side of the ship I could see where a rainbow was ending in the water about fifteen or twenty feet from the ship. I've always heard about the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow but the only pots I saw were on the men who'd been enjoying a week of all the food they could eat. I didn't even think it was possible to see the end of the rainbow. Scientifically, you see a rainbow at an 180 degree angle from an area where rain is falling, if the sun is shing where you are. I didn't see any rain around us... certainly I would have noticed if it was fifteen feet off the starboard side. When I think of rainbows, I think of them not just as a weather phenomenon, but as a covenant. God put a rainbow in the sky as a sign of his promise to man. I'm not so sure this was one, though.

Back in the early 60's I spent a summer as the navigator on a floating ice station in the Arctic Ocean. We were closer to Russia than the United States. I couldn't steer the iceberg. I just plotted its location. It was a very strange summer. Among other other things, there were occasional fog bows. It didn't rain in the Arctic but if the weather conditions were right, we'd see fog bows. Fog bows are just gray. No need for a full box of freshly sharpened crayons to draw a fog bow. We also saw false suns directly above and below the sun and on each side, horizontal to the sun. I'd never seen that before.

Yesterday on our river walk, Ruth and I saw several otters apparently cavorting in the river. Actually, they were catching fish. Cavorting came later on a full stomach. The Cottonwood trees are in bloom now and the soft fluffy seed cases were floating across the walkway, gathering in snowy, lightly shifting piles along the edge of the sidewalk. In some places, they collected in tree branches and we saw a pair of Cedar Waxwings gather the seeds for a soft, fluffy nest. I've only seen Cedar Waxwings aa couple of times so it was a real treat. And then, munching away on the lawn a few feet away from the walkway was a young, rather slim groundhog. He'd look around every few chews just to make sure the coast was clear. There are Red Tail Hawks that cruise the skies in the area, and he would have made a nice feast for one of them.

And rather unexpectedly, I'm getting more requests for book signings, concerts and odds and ends of stuff, like performing at the Trolley Day. Some are folk concerts, some are gospel concerts, some are as part of a church service and some are just for plain old entertainment. It's nice to be asked.

The cupboard is bare. I'd better do some baking, soon.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: BusyBee Paul
Date: 04 Jun 09 - 02:11 PM

Jerry,

Having read your book, I'm not at all surprised about the book signings and so on.

Just get out there and enjoy it - and collect more material for that sequel!

*BG* Deirdre

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 06 Jun 09 - 02:28 PM

Jerry, the things you get up to never cease to amaze me! Did you apply for that volunteer post? I can see the advert now! Wanted, Navigator for Ice Berg.....

Truth is, indeed, stranger than fiction!

Have left you the last of the virtual rhubarb.....enjoy.


Best wishes,



Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 12 Jun 09 - 12:35 PM

NOw I see why they call them Mo' Dumbs. My modem went belly up last week (not that it really had a belly. I went a week without access to the internet, and ended up spending my computer time cleaning the garage. And other stuff. I've had three funerals to attend in the last couple of weeks, and have been singing almost every day this week. After a stretch of intense weeks, I notice that I'm getting very irritable. Will sometime tell that Dmaned cat to stop walking around stomping it's feet! So today, I'm taking it easy. Sometimes this getting old gets old. I have to remember, I'm not seventy any more...

But, life is good and I miss hearing what's going on in all of your lives. No baking this last week, so it'll have to be store-boughts, I'm afraid.

Tomorrow I have another book signing/singing. This time it's outdoors, so I'll see how that goes. I'm just making it up as I go along.

So, what's up, Doc? I miss Elmer Fudd.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: BusyBee Paul
Date: 12 Jun 09 - 05:06 PM

Welcome back Jerry! I'd poked my head round the door a couple of times but no-one was home.

Strange how we get so used to using the internet, cursing it on occasion but we feel so lost without it and our real "virtual" friends.

And it looks like I'll be "exiled" for a few days as I'm off to look after Mum and then have a few days on the south coast. I don't know if I'll have any internet access, so this might prove to be quite liberating. :-)

Enjoy the book signing - will you need to take an umbrella, just in case?.

Deirdre

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 13 Jun 09 - 04:00 PM

Yes Jerry,

It's good to hear you back on the world wide web again. Hope the book signing was good and that everyone bought a copy!

It's good to hear you are singing, even though some of the occasions might be sad. I had a good experience last week-end, which you can read all about on "my" thread. There are cucumber sandwiches as well as strawberries and cream to tempt you!

It always fascinates me the add-on adverts that the Mudcat seems to try and put with this thread. At the moment there is an advert for a Rhubarb Forcer and rhubarb pie! I'm a little puzzled that the advert engine hasn't flagged up Cafe Lena or the Penguin Cafe Orchestra yet!

BTW I've left you some virtual freshly grown peas from the garden.

Best wishes,

Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 20 Jun 09 - 08:33 PM

Just stopping by while I can. My computer is on its last legs and I have no idea whether I'll be able to get back on again once I turn it off. I've had a weird string of crashing electronics that started with Ruth's camera when we were in the Caribbean, followed by my scanner, my printer and my modem all crashing over a period of a few days. Now, my computer is barely working. I can't believe I've been able to get on to post this. I've paid for a new computer which I'll get on Tuesday or at the latest, Wednesday.

Through all of this, the only thing that hasn't crashed is the kitchen table.

Fooey on electronics!

I'll be baaaaaaack....

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: BusyBee Paul
Date: 21 Jun 09 - 04:27 PM

Jerry,

We'll all be glad to see you back soon!.

Coffee is keeping warm on the stove, scones in the oven.

Deirdre

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 26 Jun 09 - 12:21 PM

Hey, Hey!!!!!!!! I'm baaaaack! New Computer, new scanner, new modem, new printer (all successfully installed) and 74 year old head. That said, my head works a lot better than all this electronics. I don't have to replace it every two years. Got a nice story about the guy who helped me with the installation titled The Graciousness of Strangers. It's mostly written in long hand. I'll type it up on Word, do a little edditing and post it on here.

Nice to be back...

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 26 Jun 09 - 02:41 PM

Welcome back Jerry,

The floor's swept. There is a fresh pile of logs by the fire. The old range is creaking with the heat and the coffee pot is bubbling. We saved you a couple of Deidre's scones.

Enjoy!

Best wishes,

Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 26 Jun 09 - 10:47 PM

Yes, welcome back, Jerry! It's just great that your book is fitting so well with your blossoming music pursuits.


As for what I've been doing, it's not changed much.   Which is fine with me--it means a lot of music. Choral Arts is off til July (has been off since May) but it's amazing what else is going on.

Jan and I went to see John Prine at Wolf Trap--he was just absolutely wonderful-and the other fans knew a lot more about him than we did. People kept calling for "Happy Enchilada" which turns out to be a "A half an inch of water" ("and you think you're gonna drown") .   Just a great, great show--and we had wonderful seats, since I'd told the ticketsellers that Jan had vision in only one eye and a titanium plate in her neck, so she could not turn just her head.

Anyway, on the way back we stopped to sing some country duets in the Wolf Trap tunnel--fantastic acoustics.   And a woman there stopped to listen-- and said we could get a job at a Stanton VA club--$125/night.   We really couldn't--we sure don't have enough repertoire--and I don't think the woman was really in charge down there. But it sure is nice to hear something like that---admittedly the acoustics are really, REALLY friendly.

Then the next night (Saturday) the Mens' Camerata I was in several years had its 30th anniversary concert.   Invited the alumni back to sing 3 pieces in the concert--a little rehearsal first. A real kick.   There's nothing like a cappella music--especially when you're part of it.

Then on top of that, the next day the madrigal group I was in for 15 years had its 40th--man, these groups sure do pile up the years quick.

Anyway, first we sang in church (a Handel antiphonal anthem), with the church choir being the other chorus. Then after a great picnic, we stood there and sang a good hour of the great old songs we used to do --lots of madrigals from the "Gray Book" and some others.

We used to sing "In These Delightful Pleasant Groves". But every time we did, it would rain. So our leader said we wouldn't do it this time. But after doing all the other madrigals, in truly delightful pleasant groves, with the sun continuing, I suggested to him that we should do it anyway. And we did--to a perfectly beautiful sky.   So finally, after years, we beat the hex.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 01 Jul 09 - 09:06 PM

Feeling burned out tonight. I guess it's the cumulative effect of mourning for Sandy & Caroline Paton, David and their family and then getting hit with the death of my wife Ruth's nephew last week. Double barrel. On Friday night, July 10th, I've been asked to MC the Men's Chorus I usually sing with when they do their 32nd anniversary concert. I decided not to sing with them this year because it is extremely demanding and we live an hour's drive away. I just couldn't handle all the practices on top of the commitment I have toward promoting my book and performing songs from it. It will be strange not singing with the guys because I've done it the last eleven years. But, I'm glad I will be a part of it. Saturtday, July 11th is the memorial service for Ruth's nephew and that will be very hard. No need to go into detail, but there was a very different kind of tragedy in his life. Then on Sunday, July 12th, Ruth and I will drive up to go to Kaelan Paton's memorial service. Caroline has asked me to sing Handful of Songs in the sing-around. By then I may be completely empty, emotionally.

In comparison, the following day can't possibly be a Blue Monday. It will be a day of grace-full rest.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 01 Jul 09 - 10:22 PM

Sorry to hear recent problems are draining you, Jerry. Hope you get a chance to recharge your batteries soon.   We always love hearing from you, no matter what you want to talk about. After all, we are telling you about our problems all the time--it's only fair you get a chance to take a break from being the constant pillar of strength.   That in itself can be draining.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 01 Jul 09 - 11:16 PM

Thanks, Ron: What better place to sit and talk about things that are pulling you down than the kitchen table? I've been drowning my sorrow in blueberry scones. Last Fall I cut back my black raspberry bushes dramatically, as someone suggested. Now I've got a gazillion berries starting to ripen. Might even have enough for a raspberry pie... certainly enough for raspberry cobbler.

A couple of lines from one of my songs keep going through my head. And I believe them:

"One thing I know, and this for certain
All will be well no matter what the future holds."

Time for a peaceful night's sleep.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Georgiansilver
Date: 02 Jul 09 - 02:03 AM

It's 7.01 am here in the UK and I am sitting, drinking a coffee with a spoonful of honey in... reading back over this thread and wondering why I have not visited it for so long. Nice to see you all and to eat a lot of the virtual food you have prepared. Glad the book is doing so well Jerry.....
Best wishes, Mike.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 02 Jul 09 - 07:38 AM

Thanks for stopping by, Mike. It's always good to see you.

Now don't make yourself a stranger, you hear?

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 02 Jul 09 - 03:06 PM

One day at a time, Jerry........we can't do it all and so we do what we can, where we can, for who we can. When you are fed up with being a tower of strength, come here and recoup!

I've left some fresh baked rolls and some raspberry jam....help yourself!

Give Ruth, Sandy and Caroline our love,

Best wishes,


Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 04 Jul 09 - 12:33 PM

Today is as good a day as any to declare my independence from stuff.

I started writing this this morning and I've got a lot of notes as to where it's going to go. I imagine you could provide your own ending to this one.

When it's finished, I'll post the rest of it...

Letting Go
        I am surrounded by stuff. For the last week, I've spent an hour or two every day trying to clean out our garage. I've barely made a dent in the mess. Everywhere I look I see memories. Most of them are good memories. For a long time, the stuff reminded me of good times in my life. I've kept all of these things because without ever intending it to happen, they became a part of who I am. There's the old accordion I bought in a thrift shop for ten dollars. It's not a squeeze box. It's a wheeze box. The paper bellows and the glue that holds the whole thing together have dried out over the years. When I bought it, I never intended to learn how to play it. I just liked to look at it. Even back then, I don't think anyone could make any music come out of its tired old body. But I liked it. I've never much liked accordion music. Admittedly, there was a time in the 50's when I first discovered jazz where I had a couple of Art Van Damme Quintet albums that I enjoyed, but I mostly associated accordions with polkas… one of the few forms of music I could never warm up to. But when it comes to musical instruments, I've always been fascinated by them. As far back as I can remember, I've adorned my walls with instruments, or posters and photos of them. Somewhere along the line, the accordion was banished to the garage, along with a second, smaller one.
        Sitting on the shelf in the garage next to my accordions is a box labeled, Old Toys. While my walls have been filled with instruments there are shelves throughout our home lined with old toys. Some go back to my childhood, and some are right up to date. Sonic The Hedge Hog sits on the same shelf as tin wind-up toys of Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck. I always identified with Donald Duck growing up. Mickey was alright, but Donald was my kind of man. Or duck. He was always losing his temper, usually making a fool of himself in the process. I could identify with that. Each old toy sitting on a shelf has a story. That's why I've kept them, and still enjoy looking at them. There's an old pressed sawdust Wimpy, with a stack of hamburgers firmly clutched in his fist. I found that one in a junk shop on Pacific Street in Stamford, Connecticut. The shop made no pretense of being an antique store. The front window was a jumble of discarded stuff, all at a bargain price.
        When I worked at the Stamford Museum, it would break my heart when someone would call, wanting to donate a treasure to the Museum. One man had an enormous model sailing ship he'd built that was three or four feet long. He'd painstakingly hand cut every plank in the deck of the ship and it had taken him many years to build it. When he had to face the reality of moving in to an apartment, he realized that there was no room for the ship. He offered it to his children and grandchildren, but nobody wanted an old ship model. The historical societies he'd approached had no interest because it wasn't a model of a particular ship. The ship came from the man's mind, not from a blueprint. We not only didn't have the space for it, but it didn't fit in with the Museum's purpose, so I had to turn down his request. The best I could offer was to listen at long length to the man telling me how he'd come to build the ship, and how much it meant to him. The ship carried wonderful memories. He was having trouble letting go.

    "And a certain ruler asked him, saying Good Master, what shall
      I do to inherit eternal life? And Jesus said unto him, why
      Why callest though me good? None is good, save one, that is,
      God.                           

    Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not
    kill, Do not bear false witness, Honor thy father and thy
    mother.
   
    And he said all these have I kept from my youth.

    Now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him, Yet
    lackest though one thing; sell all that thou hast, and
    distribute it unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in
    heaven, and come, follow me.
   
    And when he heard this, he was very sorrowful; for he was very
    rich."

                                                    Luke:18-23 KJV

When that scripture is read in church, I never think of it as applying to me. As John Fogerty sang:
    It ain't me, it ain't me
    I'm no millionaire's son
    It ain't me, it ain't me
    I ain't no fortunate one
                                        Fortunate Son – John Fogerty

Jerry

Not all of us are Collectors, but we are all Accumulators.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Georgiansilver
Date: 04 Jul 09 - 04:06 PM

My thoughts have been refreshed! I too have too much 'junk' lying around my home and should part with it.... perhaps a car boot sale or table top sale.. and donate the money to some worthy cause ( which sends a large percentage of the money to the cause instead of spending it on wages for their staff). I thank you sincerely for the reminder Jerry... I am truly blessed by your wisdom, as are we all!

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Susan A-R
Date: 04 Jul 09 - 04:25 PM

Just coming into the kitchen for the first time.   Brought some lovely strawberries and maple goat cheese from the farmer's market and my brother's goat dairy.

I have done a lot of my sorting Jerry, and it's a wonderful thing. I still have a little issue with piles of paper, and occaisonally clothing, but not much else. I do have some of a friend's tired furniture. Time to take it down to the curb and see if someone wants to turn these nice, but somewhat disfunctional pieces of wood into useful items.

I have a couple of musical instruments out there which are technically mine, but on long term loan to other people. The electric base (what was I thinking?) and it's amp are with a friend who is with a number of working bands in the area and plays everything with strings except fiddle. The viola is with a young man who started in youth orchestras and is playing a neat combination of classical, and some latin jazz with his dad. There's a guitar that went to my friend Mike who was beginning to do instrument repair at the time. He fixed it up and sold it to someone who will actually play it. I still have a second fiddle, I think I'd need to play it some before passing it along, as it's old and stiff (as we get when we get older) and needs to be limbered up abit. then it would make a nice folk fiddle for someone wanting to start out, say one of my friend Katie's old timey students. The bridge is better for double stops, kinda shallow.

I love this Kitchen table. I too have had many musicians around mine, maiinly contra dance band players and callers. It's important for travelling musicians to get a good meal, relax somewhere where there's a cat to pat, conversation, maybe wine, and good coffee in the morning. There have been some interesting conversations about life on the road, choices that involve the joys of making music, and not much security for coming old age, politics and how to structure a good contra dance evening. All good stuff.

Enjoy those berries.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 04 Jul 09 - 05:00 PM

Thanks for the strawberries and the maple goat's cheese, Susan. Very welcome!

I have just returned from a folk session to celebrate a brewery's birthday....good singing, good weather and good beer. (Sadly I was driving!). It was a cracking session as you can imagine!

Jerry....it is all very well relieving yourself of the accumulated junk of years, the accretion of a lifetime...but don't throw away the memories with the "stuff". Some of it isn't junk, but a link with the past. I think the saddest place I went into was a totters emporium full of other people's cast offs. There were some lovely things composting down in there.

Best wishes,

Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 04 Jul 09 - 05:00 PM

Welcome, Susan. Nice to have you join us. We have a family gathering here today so I don't have time to elaborate, but the whole question of how much value we/I place on things is very much on my mind these days. I can tell you one thing. Most of what I've kept all these years that has been tucked away, gathering dust would be much better off in the hands of someone who could enjoy it. Whether I make any money on finding a good home for stuff really isn't the issue. I'm just open to putting stuff up for adoption. All I need is that someone else can enjoy it, and wahtever money might come in could go to help someone else who is far more in need than I am.

Pretty simple.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Georgiansilver
Date: 04 Jul 09 - 06:55 PM

Just of to bed here but I have plenty of supper left over..... Fresh/warm homemade bread with pear/banana puree and fresh mild red cheddar cheese.... delicious...... hope your tastebuds adapt to it well. Best wishes to all, Mike.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 04 Jul 09 - 09:16 PM

And I hope everyone had a great 4th of July. It started raining and hailing here about a half-hour ago.

So much for the fireworks!

I have surgery for a torn rotator cuff (left) on July 22.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Susan A-R
Date: 04 Jul 09 - 10:12 PM

Ooh Rapaire,

Good luck with that rotator cuff. Having a wing out of comission is no fun. Wish I could send you the one handed can opener, and my Occupational therapist who is a true jewel.

I broke my right wrist this winter, and became a pretty good one handed typist. I also discovered some things about my circle of friends that I had never had reason to know before. It still makes me misty eyed to think of it. I hope that they also make you food, bring you cds, take you grocery shopping, etc. My big difficulty was in saying "Yes, thank you."

I missed the fiddle badly (couldn't really play for 5 weeks) but what i discovered about my community was truly astounding and humbling.

I also learned that occupational therapy is a good and joyful (if painful) thing. Still doing stretches and such, but I can play and garden.

Well, If Jerry doesn't mind, I think i'll put on a kettle and settle in for a cup of mint tea to relax before bed. Just had dinner with friends, and agreed to go take 20 chickens to their demise on Tuesday along with my friend Katherine. Given what the trip with the ducks was like last fall, I think I'll wear old cloths and prepare for a gross and grubby day. But we'll laugh a lot and that's what friends are for.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Susan A-R
Date: 06 Jul 09 - 12:02 AM

Just spent the early evening sitting out having supper. It's the first time it hasn't been off and on rain in weeks. I think the weather has made us a little more crazy than usual, and not in a good way. Felt like something unclenched this evening. Now for a nice glass of milk, into pjs and dream of tunes to work on or to write in the morning. Sweet dreams.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 07 Jul 09 - 08:02 PM

Here's the rest of the chapter titled Letting Go, in first draft.

It ain't me, it ain't me
I'm no millionaire's son
It ain't me, it ain't me
I ain't no fortunate one
                                                                                                Fortunate Son – John Fogerty


So who is rich? When I looked up the definition in my Merriam Webster Collegiate Dictionary, I had to laugh. The first definition given is "Having abundant possessions." Translated into everyday language that means, "Having a lot of stuff." Consider me rich. I know I am a fortunate one.
People hang on to things for many different reasons. Sorting through my things, I come across objects that make me smile when I pick them up. They are awash in wonderful memories. That's especially true if it is something that belonged to a person I loved. In themselves, the objects may have no monetary value, but they are a connection to a loved one, long gone. It's the love that remains that gives them value. When my grandfather Rasmussen had to go into a nursing home with his wife and their house had to be sold, the family sorted through all the furniture and other possessions that they couldn't take along with them. There were marble-topped wash stands, old cherry furniture, an old wind-up Victrola and many other treasured items that were quickly claimed. Sorting through what was left over, I chose my grandfather's old railroad pocket watch and his hammer. The watch didn't work, and the hammer was so badly worn that it was nearly useless. But they were my grandfather's. They meant enough to him to keep them all those years, so they mean a lot to me. My mother kept the bible her mother bought for her as a Christmas present when my mother was eleven years old. They never shared that last Christmas. Shortly before Christmas my grandmother died on the operating table. It was a tearful Christmas and the bible was the last thing my mother received from her mother to remember her by. She treasured that bible even though it was falling apart. I felt blessed when my mother finally gave it to me.
        "All that I have is my grandfather's hammer                                                                                          
        And his old railroad watch with the casing all worn
       And the bible my grandmother bought her last Christmas
         That she gave to my mother, now she's passed it on."                                                                     
                                                                                             Handful of Songs by Jerry Rasmussen
        Some things we keep are a reminder of hard-learned lessons. Not all memories are good, but even those that aren't have their value. They remind us of where we've come from and what we've gone through.

        Perhaps the commonest reason why we keep so much is because it is such an unpleasant job sorting through the mountains of accumulated possessions. When people see my old toys, or old tins they say, "I didn't know you were a collector." I usually answer, "I'm not a collector. Collectors build collections and try to make them complete. I'm an accumulator." The older you get the more you've accumulated, and it's just too much work trying to sort it out. That's the kind of job that we're always going to get to tomorrow. Tomorrow never comes.
                                
        There's another insidious reason why we resist throwing things away. We don't like to deal with change. Especially when we get older, getting rid of things feels like we are getting rid of a part of our lives. Someone who hasn't read a book in years is likely to say, "I've always been a reader. I might want to read those books again." Old records and cassettes languish on the shelves that haven't been played in years. I know these things because I have books lining shelves that I know I'll never read again. Life slips by without our noticing it and suddenly we realize that we haven't looked at books that lie there gathering dust or listened to cassettes whose cases are glazed over with years of accumulated dust. There's a comfort in being surrounded by old stuff.

        In the last years when my parents were alive when I was able to get home to visit they'd have their lists firmly rooted in their minds. "I'm not driving anymore," Dad would say. Each passing year was marked by the things they had to let go. It about killed my dad when he and mom moved into a retirement complex. Dad kept everything. My nephews were helping him move, and while dad was coming around one corner of the house with a wheelbarrow full of old tools and odds and ends, one on my nephews would be disappearing around the other side of the house, taking the stuff my dad brought in the previous load and putting it back in the basement. Finally, dad was so distraught that he just sat on the curb with his chin resting in his hands.

        The best lesson my parents taught me in their last years was that letting go of old things is making room for new blessings. As Christ pointed out,
"And no man putteth new wine into old bottles; else the new wine will burst the bottles, and be spilled and the bottles shall perish.
But new wine must be put into new bottles; and both are preserved." Luke 5:37-38
We limit our blessings by living in the past clinging to old glories, too fearful to confidently step into the future. The more we are liberated from our past, the more we can welcome Jesus into our heart. We certainly don't want him to have to climb over a stack of old boxes in order to get in.
              
Jerry

Want any old 8 tracks?

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 11 Jul 09 - 05:03 PM

Jerry, I tried stepping confidently into the future and fund a wasp's nest! Ouch!

Seriously tho' that's good advice. Just don't throw the baby out with the bath water!

I guess all of us around the kitchen table are thinking of the Paton Family at the moment. For those of us too far away, I know that you, Jerry, will convey our deep condolences, sympathy and most of all, strength to them all.

Best as ever,

Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 13 Jul 09 - 10:54 AM

I posted this message on the memorial thread, but thought I'd include it here in case people miss it.

Today my wife Ruth and I are swinging into what passes for a normal day around here. But, it's not just another day. Yesterday we drov e up to Sharon for Kealan's memorial service. Over the years, I've become somewhat of an unintended funeral attender. I sing with the Men's Chorus in my church and as often as possible, I go to funerals at our church and sing with the choir. When my gospel quartet was still active, we often sang a home-going ceremonies, Christian and even Jewish. My two son-in-laws are Muslim and we've attended their funeral services as well. All that said, I thought the memorial service for Kaelan was the most beautiful I've ever attended. Even though the service was held in a school auditorium and many of the people in attendance aren't church-goers, we had church yesterday. At least my definition of church. There was great crying at times and great joy, as well. When a wonderful black woman sang I'll Fly Away and people locked arms and swayed to the music as they sang along, it felt like they could leviate the building. The testimonies were extremely moving, and filled with warm humor. Caroline sang a musical setting for the familiar reading that St. Paul wrote in 1st Corinthinas, her voice quavering with emotion, but strong, and the whole service was moving blend of testimony, poetry and song. Letters were read from Sandy to his grandson, and David to his son, as well as from several other family members.

After the service, we gathered in the cafeteria for a vegetarian buffet with a dangerous, long, long table of deserts. It was a time for me to see many friends I've not seen for years including Ed Trickett, Sally Rogers, Dalas Cline, Bill and Andy Spence, George Ward, Patricia Campbell, Karen Kobela, Priscilla Herdman and countless others.

We must be getting old. We get together at funerals.

Sunday was a beautiful bookend to a very spiritual weekend.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Susan A-R
Date: 13 Jul 09 - 11:16 PM

Just spent about six hours at my friend Pam's kitchen table, playing, singing, drinking her husband David's good home brewed beer, eating a nice summer supper and loving the music making friendship that has been going on for 20 years. Pam and I have sung and played, camped at Old Songs, traveled a lot to rehearse with a mutual friend, having rich conversations along the way. I guess that's one of the glorious sides of growing older, those relationships that are deeper and longer. I couldn't have that when I was a lot younger. Just hadn't put in the time and patience and work.

May there be more christenings and weddings and reunions this year than funerals, and may we all celebrate each other heartily while we are alive.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 13 Jul 09 - 11:54 PM

Amen to that, Susan!

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 18 Jul 09 - 04:43 PM

After a few days of heavy rain and thunder storms we've been spending more time under the kitchen table rather than sitting at it!

However, it has been a good week and Susan's sentiments are heartily re-echoed!

We had a session where, although there were less people than normal, everyone seemed to be 'on song' . I had the chance to try out a couple of new (to me) songs and they were graciously received (and I didn't forget the words!

I once notoriously forgot the words to a favourite song and now one our local singers has rewritten the whole song. He is feeding it to me in snatches and threatens to sing it next time I strike up the opening chords! With friends like these who could be glum? (Isn't that a lovely word!)

Have a great week folks.


Best wishes,

Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 19 Jul 09 - 09:02 PM

It looks like all of us are busy these days. It's been hard to find the time to sit at the table and shoot the breeze. (what did the breeze ever do to me?)
Last weekend I was the Master of Ceremonies for the Men's Chorus concert on Friday and went to painful memorial services on Saturday and Sunday. Yesterday, Ruth went to a Sisters are doin' it brunch organized by our daughter and no sooner did we get home than we headed off to a picnic and a gospel concert by a wonderful black couple from Boston. This morning, I did almost the whole church service at the church pictured on the cover of my book. During last week my son Pasha and I redid the split rail fence on our proerty (where is Abe Lincoln when you need him) and I drained our above-ground swimming pool which we're planning to take down in the next couple of weeks along with three trees. No kitchen table time in sight.

When I type it out, I realize that I've been through an emotional wringer these last two weeks... some very painful, draining experiences, and some very spirituall uplifting ones, too. In the meantime I've started a couple of chapters which I'm anxious to get back to.

The church service went very well... an unfamiliar experience for me. I did all the music, and the sermon. I found it touching that even though the church is magnificent, there was just a scattering of people. Most of them were older than me, which is going some. Clinging to the life raft, it appears. There were less than 30 people there and no more than three people in any pew, with most pews empty. I ended up doing 8 songs and read from four chapters in my book as part of my "sermon." I've been asked to come back and provide music for their service again, and look forward to it.

I also had a very humorous experience a couple of days ago that I may have to explain for my UK friends. The most intense rivalry in baseballs is begtween the New York Yankess and the Boston Red Sox. I've never liked the Yankees, so I've always rooted for the Red Sox.
These last couple of weeks, they've been tearing up the street next to ours, laying new water lines and I walked over to see how they were coming along. I was wearing a Boston Red Sox t-shirt and when one of the workmen saw me he asked if I was a Red Sox fan. I told him I was and he said, "There's a guy sitting in a gray truck on the other side of this truck who loves the Red Sox. Why don't you go over and talk to him?" When I walked around the large truck, there was a large man sitting in the cab of a small pick up truck. He had his window rolled down and was talking to another workman. When he saw my t-shirt he said, "Are you a Red Sox fan?" And I said, "yeah, the Yankees SUCK!" Turns out, both of the guys are rabid Yankee fans! I had been set up. When the man who'd set me up came around the corner laughing his head off, I said, "Hey, thanks for setting me up! I'm lucky the guy didn't flatten me!" "Naw, he wouldn't do that. He hasn't gotten out of that truck in a week and I was just trying to get a rise out of him." We all had a good laugh...

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Will Fly
Date: 20 Jul 09 - 05:08 AM

I wonder if I might sit down for a moment and say "Hi". I won't take up too much room.

Reading about family loss reminded me about something that sits very quietly in the back of my consciousness, and which happened a couple of years ago.

I have a younger sister who has lived in the US since her marriage in 1971, and who currently lives in Arizona. She's been back to the UK three or four times since then to meet up with family, but I've never been over to the States (might get there one day). Her son (my nephew) was about a year younger than my own son, who's now in his mid-30s and, though he came over to the UK on a visit, I never met him.

My nephew was, from an early age, what we now call bi-polar. He never worked after school, just stayed at home and got through his life with the aid of whatever drugs he could get via the internet which, he knew, would help his condition. He was his own physician. It was a difficult life for my sister. The boy would keep odd hours, tinker with technology, at which he was very skilled, be unable to meet people. He attempted suicide once or twice, and they would joke about it afterwards - while clearing out as many means of committing suicide (really sharp knives, pills, etc.) from the house together. The unpredictability of his condition made life for my syster a very wearing experience - not helped by an alcoholic (and now ex-) husband. My wife was in Arizona on a holiday with friends around three years ago and, though she met up with my sister and had a good time, it had to be in a coffee shop in town - and not at my sister's house. The occasion would have freaked the boy out.

Anyway, I had a telephone call about two years ago. The (I suppose) inevitable had happened. My sister came back from work one evening and went into his room to find that he had shot himself with a rifle which had been kept in the closet for many years, untouched. The room was wrecked - water, beer, mess everywhere - with him in the middle of it.

It was sad and strange to hear of the death of a nephew whom I'd heard so much about and yet never seen. Family, and yet almost not family. I left the house and walked around for an hour or so down the country lanes, just getting a handle on the event, so to speak. The worst bit was telephoning my father - who had met my nephew several times - and coping with sorrow and tears from a man who'd rarely cried in his life to my knowledge.

Anyway, as I said above, all this has sat quietly somewhere in the mind since then, and comes out occasionally - like now. And it's still an odd feeling - not grieving, if you like, but a sort of sad curiosity that such things should happen.

I look at my own son with renewed love and simple thanks that he's just there.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Phot
Date: 20 Jul 09 - 05:53 AM

Could I come over to your place Jerry? Seems you have all coffee, pie, fruit, and pretty good neighbours! I'm stuck in the office again!

Wassail!! Chris

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 20 Jul 09 - 06:23 AM

Thanks for stopping by and sharing with us, Will. The kitchen table is for all occasions. Your piece reminds me of that poem by John Donne. You know the one, "No man is an island....." I think John's ideas are spot on. That is why we Mudcatters are always there for each other, even though, maybe, we have never met each other face to face.

Take time to relax while you are here. Have a cup of Jerry's excellent coffee and one of those muffins with the chocolate sprinkles!

Best wishes,

Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Will Fly
Date: 20 Jul 09 - 06:33 AM

Delicious! Many thanks.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 20 Jul 09 - 06:39 AM

Hey, Phot:

Sure, we're always open for business. Last year, I asked several people for advice on trimming my small corner of black raspberry bushes. My natural approach to bushes is to trim the Hell out of them (graciously, of course.) Nothing is more assured than that bushes will grow back. Last fall, I cut my little stand of raspberry bushes back (partly out of self-protection as they were invading our little deck.) This spring, the bushes sprung to life and were in such heavy bloom that it looked like it had snowed. Now I am withing a week of harvesting a major crop of raspberries. I may need some assistance in eating them. I'll have them on cereal for breakfast, and make ice cream sundaes with the rest.

Hey, Will Fly: Thanks for stopping by the table. Grief is funny (I know, that sounds stupid.) Maybe I should say it can be puzzling and seemingly unrelated to how closely we knew someone. A year ago, I was walking up the steps into the Post Office and did a double take. Walking towaward me was someone I hadn't seen in close to thirty years, Marty Passaro. The last time I'd seen him was when he worked for me teaching little kids at the Museum where I was Director. Marty was taking a year off of college before going into Optometry because he didn't have the money. Ht was working in the museum's maintenance department, but there was something special about him that caught my eye. He was a real aw shucks,bashful, enthusiastic kid and we had an opening in our nature department teaching little kids. Marty had never taught before but he had enough of a biology background that I thought he could do a good job. He was a real natural. The kid's loved his enthusiasm and childish innocence. He just taught classes that summer and then went back to college. I didn't see him again until I saw him bouncing down the steps that day. His crew cut had gone gray but he hadn't lost any of his exuberance, and even though it took him a moment to know who I was, he was very excited to see me. We promised to have lunch together, but it never worked out. Marty had kids the age he was when I'd last seen him, but there as an immediate connection as if he'd just stepped out of the room for a minute, twenty five years ago.

Two or three months later, I tried again to set up a lunch together and his daughter answered the phone. Marty had died in his sleep a couple of nights earlier. He was in his early 50's and seemingly in fine health. He went to the gymn to work out regularly and appeared to be the same kid he was that summer when he taught at the museum.
I was in a state of shock, talking with his daughter. I'd never met her or any of Marty's kids, but I talked for awhile about what a gifted teacher he was. It still hurts that he's gone and on one level you could say, Marty, I hardly knew ye. I just knew him that one summer, and not as a close friend. Some people touch you so deeply that you miss them far beyond the small amount of time you knew them. I still feel a pang in my heart walking up the steps to the Post Office.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Phot
Date: 20 Jul 09 - 09:04 AM

Jerry, I could really go for some rasberry ice cream! Fiona and I had a good crop of cherries this year, I'll have to bring some over!

Wassail!! Chris

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 20 Jul 09 - 10:47 AM

Phot: And we can make some Cherry Garcia ice cream.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 25 Jul 09 - 03:48 PM

Cherry Garcia Ice Cream? Yum! Please save some for me!

We have now harvested all our peas and nearly all our potatoes. The onions are coming along and there are a few beans beginning to swell on the vine. The courgettes will go into soup sometime soon!

Off to visit some good friends at their sing-around session tomorrow, so life is good!

Thanks for the coffee. I've left you some home-made cherry pie, just like my Dad used to make. Complete with the cut out pastry dog on the crust!

Enjoy,


Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 25 Jul 09 - 04:17 PM

Hey, Pete:L You must have the magic touch. I've tried to get on here all day. I'm about to take Ruth out to dinner to celebrate our 11th Anniversary. Today is pretty typical for us, for a day of celebration. This morning we went to a wak and then I sang in the choir for a funeral service at our church a 45 minute drive away. After the funeral, we went to visit a housebound woman we've been visiting now since I first met Ruth 12 years ago. By the time we got home, we had a half an hour to change clothes before driving up to the U.S.S Chowderpot for dinner. Besides, we don't just celebrate for a day. We officially finished celebrating out 10th Anniversary yesterday.

We're just getting started.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 25 Jul 09 - 04:39 PM

You just got to have the magic touch, Jerry!

11th anniversary! Have a great time!

Congratulations etc. (cue Cliff Richard) (on second thoughts.......   :0)   )

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: maeve
Date: 25 Jul 09 - 05:16 PM

Happy Anniversary, Jerry and Ruth.

m

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 25 Jul 09 - 05:25 PM

And fifty or more more, at least.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 29 Jul 09 - 08:58 AM

Happy anniversary Jerry, made you and Ruth a celebration cake.
I have been away from the table for a while, but made myself a big mug of coffee and spent some catch up time to see what everyone has been doing.
Seems sad times and happy ones,but shared round the table.
Coffee on , help yourself to cake
wendy

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: BusyBee Paul
Date: 29 Jul 09 - 04:30 PM

Hello everyone,

My, life has been hectic these last few weeks so it's great to stop by and partake of the cake, icecream and berries!.

Think I'll put my feet up for a while.

Deirdre

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 01 Aug 09 - 03:28 PM

It's wet......raining.....has anyone got any gossip?

.....or pearls of wisdom?

......or ice cream?


As you can guess, there is not much happening here. I've nearly nailed a couple of new songs, turned out some clutter that should have been cleared out a long time ago and found some long lost treasures into the bargain!

Hope your Saturday is more dynamic!

Best wishes,

Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: BusyBee Paul
Date: 01 Aug 09 - 03:44 PM

Talking of dynamic, I've put up a new shelf in the cupboard under the stairs and a glass shelf in the en-suite bathroom. And cleared up the mess. Also taken some items to the local charity shop and spent a few hours with friends doing sacred harp / shape note singing and made a new friend.

Lots of nice food after the singing but no icecream, Pete!.

If I was REALLY dynamic, I'd be doing the heap of ironing, not sat in front of a DVD and browsing the 'Cat!.

And it's finally stopped raining here now too.

:-)

Deirdre

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 02 Aug 09 - 09:01 AM

I'm getting ready to head off to church, wearing a brand new pair of pants/trousers. (Does anyone call pants "trousers" anymore?) I don't know abut the UK, but cuffs disappeared from pants over here some time in the 60's. Now, they're the latest thing, apparently. My new pants have cuffs on them... the first I've worn in close to fifty years (with cuffs, I mean... not pants.) I smile, remembering when they were the only way pants came (other than jeans> Back then, if you were a man, you smoked two packs of cigarettes a day. The cuffs were portable ash trays. I never smoked cigarettes, but I'd see the men my father's age tipping their cigarette ashes into the cuffs of their trousers. Occasionally there'd be plumes of smoke coming out of their cuffs if they got a spark down in there with the ashes.

Those were the days?

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 02 Aug 09 - 04:48 PM

Now, Jerry,

I have two pairs of trousers. Exactly the same except that one has turn-ups and one has not. (Cuffs are for shirts, not trousers!). Turn-ups are useful. At the end of a hard day you can look in your turn-ups and find enough evidence to keep a forensic scientist busy for a week, apart from small the small coins and fluff! No cigarette ash. I think that's amazing! Gives a new meaning to Smokey Robinson - or "the boy stood on the burning deck"........

Now jeans are a different matter. When jeans first came in my Mum insisted I wear real trousers underneath as she didn't think they were warm enough! Once was enough!

Best wishes,

Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 02 Aug 09 - 06:05 PM

Turn ups? I love them fried in butter. Funny to see how the terms differ from shore to shore.

The term trouser disappeared over hear with the trolley cars. Funny thing though, reflecting on the changes. When I was a little boy, it was a rite of passage when you got your first long pants (trousers to you.) Little boys wore short pants, knobby, skinned knees proudly displayed. Long pants meant you were a big boy.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 11 Aug 09 - 03:37 PM

This table is in serious need of dusting. These last few weeks, Ruth and I have been working like fiends trying to do some major work on our house and property in preparation for Ruth's side of our family's 20th family reunion. You wouldn't think it would take a month to get ready for a lunchtime visit... or that we'd only get one-third of what we wset out to do accomplished. This year we had the reunion in Mystic, Connecticut, which is just an hour's drive from our house. It's been all over the country (and once, in Hawaii,) so you might think this would be easier for us. nuh-uh. We were more the hosts than the guests this time around. All the hard work was worth it. Last Thursday, eight family members stopped by for lunch and a leisurely afternoon of enjoying each other's company.
My grandnephew Bakari, who is eight, came reacing across the floor and leapt into the air, clamping his arms and legs around me about half way up my body. I could see we were going to have a lot of fun. I gave him a disc shooter that projects a spinning propeller into the air and we spent a half an hour devising different games with ever-changing rules (usually to Bakari's advantage.) Our nexr dooor neighbor George saw us playing on the side of our house and contributed a couple of balls to toss around. It took about a minute for Bakari to toss it so far over my head that it sailed into Georg'es back yard. We have a prickly hedge between our yards, so it meant walking around the block to get the ball. On the way back, Bakari challenged me to a race. A 74 year old and a geared-up 8 year old? Care to place your bets who won? I don't think I've ran in twenty years and it was a weird experience... like driving a car with no steering wheel. I mean, I didn't actually crash into a tree, but I was using muscles long since gone to sleep. We ended up playing for an hour and I felt pretty good... I was worn out before we started, but I loosened up pretty good for an old man.
    Friday, we drove up to Mystic and met more of the family and had a family dinner that evening. Saturday, the family split up, with the young 'uns heading off to an amusement park and Ruth and I an some of the old codgers spending the day visiting two casinos operated by native Americans (fromerly known as Indians.) We didn't gamble, but enjoyed the stores and a great restaurant, and went to a great museum on Native Americans as Foxwood.
    Sunday morning we had a church service. Our daughter Dee, who is a Baptist minister, did the sermon, other family members did the readings and prayers and I provided the music. After that, we had a final meal together and headed home Sunday afternoon. Yesterday afternoon (Monday,) some of our family from Virginia came to the house and we had another great time. Five days in all.
    Oh yeah, my black raspberries went nuts while we were gone, so I'm having them on cereal in the morning and making black raspberry ice cream sundaes in the evening. Life is good. Hope it is for you, too.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 11 Aug 09 - 04:50 PM

MMmmmm I love the smell of freshly polished furniture!

Jerry, sounds like you all had a ball and did some serious catching up!

Life in our neck of the woods is good too. The combines are working their way up and down the fields nearby, the swallows and swifts are hawking after minuscule flies and we saw a green woodpecker today when we were out for a walk.

Tomorrow is our local session. I only have to hop over the fence to be there! (Metaphorically of course! Otherwise there would be a tangle of arms, legs, fence and bush to contend with). Last week was our chance to sing Sandy home with a rousing chorus. We did him proud.

Now, are there any of those black raspberries left?

Best wishes,

Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: BusyBee Paul
Date: 11 Aug 09 - 06:45 PM

Hi Guys,

Jerry - my Dad loved to wear trousers with turn ups - only problem was that his legs were quite short so everytime he bought new ones, guess who had to do the alterations?!

I'm on holiday from work this week and have my Mum staying with me. We're off to my niece's wedding on Friday which will be the first time that that part of the family will have all been together for years. Jerry - my sister Sheila is en route to the UK as I type - it's her daughter who is getting married.

After the wedding on Friday, I'm spending the weekend with a cousin I haven't seen for a couple of years. Not quite on a par with your family get together, Jerry, but it'll do for me :-)

Pete, I hope you don't suffer from hayfever from the combining or plagues of flies!.

Deirdre

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: BusyBee Paul
Date: 11 Aug 09 - 06:50 PM

Oh, and Pete, the wedding is in your neck of the woods - at Thurston near Bury St Edmunds.

Deirdre

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 11 Aug 09 - 07:20 PM

I'm heading out the door right now to pick another batch of berries for an ice cream sundae. Plenty left for all around the table. Get over here before the ice cream melts.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: GUEST,astro
Date: 13 Aug 09 - 10:44 PM

Jerry,
I haven't heard all of the conversation yet, only the first screen here, but it reminded me that I was thinking about an old roommate, Rod
Rudolph, probably the nicest, kindest person that I can think of. I hadn't talked to him for years and thought that I would search him out. So, after tinkering around I found him in Idaho and got the number, so called him up from here in Los Angeles wondering if he would remember me after so many years. The phone rang, a woman answered (how was Rod's wife) and I said, "I don't know if Rod is there or if he would remember a Michael from long ago"...I couldn't get another word in as she burst in and said Michael Frey!!! We have so many stories of that time long ago...needless to say, we had a great reunion and some tears of the times gone and the times missed, but above all it was a time of coming back together...there is nothing like old friends! Parden me, while I reach over for some of Desert Dancers blueberry pancakes, Dear, pass me the syrup!...astro

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: GUEST,astro
Date: 13 Aug 09 - 10:46 PM

Oops. Dear, sorry about missin the cup with the coffee...it just about got to my lips! Hope it didn't burn much! astro

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 14 Aug 09 - 04:40 PM

Thanks for dropping by Astro. Sorry about the coffee. Vanish should get the stain out!!!

It's always good to get in touch with old friends, and, sometimes, old enemies too!

Best wishes,

Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 14 Aug 09 - 07:46 PM

Hey, Astro: Thanks for stopping by. We don't put too much stock in table manners.

Couple things. This morning, Ruth and I went for our walk along the river and I cracked up (mje, not the car.) I saw a couple getting out of their car and taking out a stroller and a papoose style baby carier that she slung across her chest. I figured they were taking care of their grandkids as they looked more our age. Then I noticed that the man was holding something in his hand. All I could see was a dog's head with a leash on it. Sounds like something out of a Stephen King movie. It was hard to imagine a dog body hidden behind the man's hand and forearm. But there was. The big dog was a long-haried chihuahwa. As they approached us, I could see that the woman wasn't wearing a baby carrier. It had a mesh window in the front and the little dog, which was a silky toy terrier, was staring out through the window, menacingly. Turns out he has a nasty temperament. She had to keep an eye on him. If he got away, he might attack you, leaping up and biting your ankle. wooooooo. The long-haired chihuawha was very friendly. When you're that little, it's wise not to have an attitude. The stroller was for the Chiwahwah for when his wittle wegs got too wored out. The couple told us that they didn't have any children or grandchildren, so they had the dogs. I asked them if they'd named the George and Mary Lou, but they had grandeloquent names longer than their legs.

We stopped for a minute to talk with my long lost friend Colagero, who I wrote about in a chapter in my book. I hadn't seen him in several months. He talked excitedly in broken, unfixable English and I got the gist of his conversation. We caught up with the proud grandparents and the Toy Terrier with jaws of steel was back glowering out of the mesh windwow and the Chiwhawha had stopped to smell a fence post, catching up on the latest news.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: ranger1
Date: 16 Aug 09 - 11:53 PM

Hey all. Just got back from a get-together with the cousins I hadn't seen much of until my dad passed away last year. I found out that one of my cousins plays a gig about 30 minutes from my house every year and I never knew about it! Went to her concert last night and was told that they do a day-long "bash" at another cousin's house the day after the concert and could I please come? I had to beg, but my boss let me out early and I had a lovely afternoon. Sitting around in Nan's backyard with good people, good food and good music. The songs ranged from hymns and gospel to Johnny Faw ballads to Patsy Cline. And I had to promise before I left that I'd make sure to have the whole day off next year.

I'm still walking on air!

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 19 Aug 09 - 09:08 PM

Back to you, Astro:

Getting in touch with old friends is a fascinating, unpredictable activity. I've got some years on you, so getting in touch with my old college roomies or high school friends is more like a Twilight Zone episode. My experiences fall into three groups of old friends:
   1. After the "Remember whens," you have nothing to talk about.
      That may be fine. It's good to remember where we came from,
      and reviving old memories sometimes gives us new insights.
   2. Friends who really have no interest in who you are, or were.
   3. Friends who turn out to be much deeper friends then they were
      when you first new them.
      
I've had all three experiences. When I've gone home to southern Wisconsin and have performed in my home town, I occasionally have someone show up he stops by to talk after the concert. There's a fair amount of shuffling of feet, and once we get past the, "So what are you up to these days?" updates, we realize that we have nothing
to talk about. As I say, that's o.k. Most friends are of a time and place, and that doesn't diminish the value of the friendship.

I've also had a friend who was one of my closest in high school and college who was insulting and downright contemptuous of me when I re-established contact with him. So be it. It was worth the try. I've had other friends who have been reasonably talkative over the phone when I've tracked them down, and never communicated again, answered my letters or e-mails, or acknowledged receiving gifts I've sent them.

One of my closest friends these days was a good friend in high school, who I've only seen twice since 1953. He was never a correspondent and moved across the country, so the friendship survived (barely) on Christmas cards. Thanks to the internet, we've come to know each other all over, on a very different level. There is precious little "Remember whens" going on because we are both very different people than we were as teenagers and we're far more insterested in sharing what's going on in our lives (and more importantly) sharing our faith and our perceptions on the world around us. Sharing anecdotes or old memories wears thin for me very quickly. I enjoy it, short term, but it won't sustain an old friendship for long.

All good stuff though. Even the bad stuff has its merit.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: gnu
Date: 19 Aug 09 - 09:28 PM

r1... awwww.... that is so heartwarming!

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 19 Aug 09 - 09:34 PM

What a wonderful time you had, Ranger1. Sometimes the best times are the least anticipated. By all means, see if you can get the whole day off next year.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: GUEST,astro
Date: 20 Aug 09 - 02:47 AM

Jerry,

I know what you mean about friends...I have had some similar experiences that put me to wondering...I have figured that it is sometimes a dang hard world out there and it amazes me when old friends just let the friendship pass away. It's hard to find those good friends and I never forget the value of them, yet some do. I wonder if it has been so easy for them that they don't see the diamonds around them and won't bother picking them up.

I decided long ago, that if a friend calls for me then I'm there...no cost to them. If some chose not the same for them towards me, then they have lost and that's a shame.

I had a great time just the other day at McCabes just talking to their luthier, Doug. He had placed a new tail piece on my Givens Mandolin and I was there to pick it up. He was busy and there were many folks there wanting things done, but he just politely asked if they'd mind to wait a moment and he came over and spent time just shooting the breeze about family, music, instruments and life...a moment of just being friendly...a nice time for me here in old LA.

Times like that just makes you quiet down a little bit in this busy life and just breathe...I tell my students about going out at night and observing the sky...it is wonderful and it makes you just stop and live. The breeze across your cheek, the quiet birdsong in the air, wonderful sights in the sky, and sweet company to share it with, this is what life should be like...

It is nice to sit here awhile and just chat, now I better put my shoes back on and go home...let your missus get some time without company...

astro strolling back out into the night...ahh, there is the last stars of summer....there's Jupiter...

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 20 Aug 09 - 05:42 AM

Friendship is a great topic of conversation. I reckon the great test of friendship is when you meet up again after too long and pick up just where you left off, as if you'd last seen each other yesterday.

Happened to me a year or two back. Walked into a pub, quite by chance and noticed a handbill on the bar advertising a monthly folk night. Never did much about it until I found out it was being run by some-one I'd known at a folk club when I was knee high to a gnat. Phoned him up and spent at least an hour on the phone. Showed up at the folk night and it was like we'd only seen each other last Tuesday. Magic.

Songs can be great friends too. There's one particular song I sing that has a great rhythm for walking home to. Whenever I sing it, there in the background are all the times I trudged, bounced or just plain walked homeward. There is another song that can only, really, be sung when you are walking along the coast. Difficult to arrange in an open mic!

Pass the cookies please Jerry.....oh no! They've almost gone!

Best wishes,

Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 20 Aug 09 - 07:20 AM

I taught astronomy for several years at the museum where I worked. It never stopped me from marveling at the sky. Our house is the last house on the highest end of Hillcrest Street in a small town. There' next to no ambient light bleeding into the sky from "downtown" so the sky is always brilliant. We can sit at the table in our "Great Room (which functions as our kitchen table) with the drapes open and see the sky. We've had some memorable occasions sitting there, including watching a total eclipse of the moon... one of the many pleasures of our "kitchen" table.

I'm heading out for awhile, but I'll take a break later and write about Crossroad Friends.

Oh yeah, the last chapter in my book has a section about watching the Northern Lights. I'l cut and past it in here, too.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 20 Aug 09 - 07:30 AM

This is the section in the chapter in my book titled The Cosmos and The Check-out Clerk:

        It was on a night many years ago when I was out visiting my family in Wisconsin. My parents had gone to bed and I was feeling restless. There not being a whole lot to do in town, I drove out into the country. In the years that had passed since I'd left the Midwest I'd come to appreciate the sky. In New England, our view is often obscured by mountains and forests and I found that I missed the open vistas of the prairies. As I was driving along, I began to see faint ribbons of colored lights gently flowing across the evening sky. I pulled my car over to the shoulder of the road and stepped out. There was nothing around me but open fields illuminated by the brightest display of the Northern Lights that I'd ever seen. Many years before, I'd sat in the observation dome of an old world war II bomber flying over the Arctic ocean, watching the Northern Lights up close, but nothing compared to that night. As I stood there silently watching the ever-shifting ribbons of color, I felt like I was standing on holy ground. I marveled at the glory of God that was revealed in the prairie sky.
        When I drove back to my parent's house, I saw my nephew Mike standing in the street. At the time, he was staying next door to my parent's house. Even though the tree-lined street partially obscured the view, he was standing there marveling at the sky. He had been driving through the country at the same time I was and like me, he had pulled over to watch the display of light. We stood there together for a few minutes lost in thought before wishing each other a good night and heading inside.

And while I'm at it, this is the section about the Check-out Clerk. It relates to a different kind of friend.

It seems like every time I shop in the store she's working at the check-out counter. No matter how tired she may be, she always has a smile on her face as she greets the customers approaching her register. The backbone of a store isn't the manager, as some might lead you to believe. It is the person who waits on you. Christ recognized the importance of service, and any job that is done out of a love for the Lord can be a ministry.
And whosever will be chief among you, let him be your servant: Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many. (Matthew 20:27-28)
        Standing there in line the other day I watched as a frail, elderly woman slowly placed her few items on the conveyor belt. She appeared to be lost in thought, her mind far away. When the woman at the register saw the woman, she broke into a warm smile and asked her how she was doing. As the woman reached across the counter to take her small packages, they spoke briefly to each other, the check-out clerk expressing her sympathy to the woman at the loss of her husband. It was only a brief moment in time, but I believe it meant a lot to the elderly woman just to know someone cared about her.
        When Christ chose his apostles, he didn't select people who were held in the highest esteem. Peter, Andrew, James, and John were simple fishermen. If Jesus came back today and chose apostles, he would look into people's hearts to see the love of his father dwelling there. He would not be impressed with titles. He might well call a check-out clerk. You know he'd choose some women. He is still calling us to follow him.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: GUEST,astro
Date: 20 Aug 09 - 11:17 AM

Jerry,

Mind if I stop in...take my shoes off for a moment...nothing like comfort...the pot hot?

I had a friend who was a professional astronomer who eventually gave it up so that he could enjoy the sky again. He became a power amateur astronomer and a professional computer person. When you are a researcher in astronomy there is no time to enjoy the sky. My ex-wife who has her Ph.D in music composition, a composer of beautiful music, couldn't just relax and listen to music, she was always analyzing it. Knowing something too well is great but sometimes can be a detriment.

Well, must get home and pack my clothes...off to Tucson today to see my sweet wife...play some music with her! Let me get the cup in the sink and shoes back on...see you later!

astro...now where are my keys...?

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 20 Aug 09 - 11:30 AM

I understand what you're saying, astro. I majored in geology in college, with paleontology as my specialty. I found the introductory courses fascinating enough that I went on to get a Master's Degree. At my major professor's strong encouragement, I went to Columbia University to work on my Doctorate. My major professor there wanted me to do my doctoral thesis on a genus of fossil snail. The snail is smooth and spherical, with very little defining characteristics, so the taxonomy for it had become very confused over the years. How can you tell one smooth sphere from another. If I had consented to the research I could have spent the rest of my life making careful measurements of those little spheres and entering the data into a computer. Eventually, I'd be able to go back to older studies and collections and if lucky, would have the taxonomy straightened out before I died of old age or boredom, whichever came first. The sales pitch was that I'd be the world expert on this particular genus of fossil snail. As my sons would have said, if they existed in those days, "Big Whoop!" I don't know if it occurred to my major professor that there was a reason why no one had take on such an exhaustive research project as a lifetime careet. They hadn't found anyone stupid enough yet.

I politely, "Thanks, but no thanks. I'd hate to deprive someone else of this wonderful opportunity."

Snails are beautiful, like all life forms. I didn't want to become blind to the beauty.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: GUEST,astro
Date: 24 Aug 09 - 01:03 AM

Well, Jerry I recently realized that I would no longer do physics research but instead just get to the point of doing my teaching and spend the time instead learning and practicing my mandolin. I am very fortunate to have nice mandolins and am new at it.

I have a marvelous mate, Desert Dancer, who supports my musical goals and so am very lucky. I, frankly, am at great peace with it (especially at the ripe old age of 57).

I look at the time to pass onto my students ideas about life (along with physics and astronomy) and to be there to aid them. It is to me a wonderful thing to be able to maybe be that one prof that they remember. Life is sometimes not happy, but it is joyful.

Astro getting ready to bed down for the night...so off to home and to bed...

btw, I enjoyed you chapter above...sounds like a good book to curl up in bed with...I do like to do that!

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 24 Aug 09 - 06:46 AM

Late last week, I dropped by Walmart to pick something up and got in the line where my friend was working. Conversations are always short, because the management frowns on extended chatting with customers, so I'd only been talking with her for a minute, catching up on what we'd been up to. Nothing exciting. She'd gone to see her grandchildren for a special day at their summer camp and was exhausted, and I'd spent the last week and a half cutting a 60 foot long hedge that was as high as 12 feet in some areas down to a more manageable 5 feet. The temperature was in the low 90's, with high humidity and we, like everyone else, were feeling wilted.

While she was cashing out my purchase, someone reached over from behind me and touched my shoulder. I turned around, and there was Gail, my dental hygenist, and her husband John. Gail is another one, like my check-out clerk friend. The main difference is that it's even more limiting carrying on a conversation with someone, with a hose in your mouth and them working on your teeth. But she's a real gem of a person, and we invited her and her husband over for a Gospel Messengers practice two or three years ago and they're still talking about it. That's the only time I met John, so I didn't recognize him, but they both were very appreciative that I'd given them a copy of a DVD of a concert I did for public television many years ago. They really love my book, too and Gail always asks about my music and writing when I go for an appointment.

I introduced my check-out clerk friend to them, and told her how I knew them, and I introduced her as the check-out clerk in my book. It was funny and sweet... like they were meeting a celebrity, and my friend smiled broadly. After I'd paid for my purchase and was walking away, I could see that the three of them were engaged in a lively conversation with a lot of laughter.

Life is very good. Give me the simple life.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 27 Aug 09 - 12:01 PM

I wrote this a few years ago, remembering the corner store in my neighborhood when I was growing up. The brand names would be very different in the UK, but the store may seem familiar, anyway.

The Neighborhood: Simonsen's Grocery

Heading toward town from our house, the first landmark you'd come to was Simonsen's grocery, which was on the corner, a block away. It was a rare day when I didn't go down to Simonsen's for one reason or another. For starters, we didn't have a car and in the 40's there was no such thing as a supermarket, anyway. That meant that if we couldn't grow it, and my Dad didn't shoot it or catch it, most likely it came from Simonsen's.

For a small store, it seemed like Simonsen's had every thing you could imagine. At the front of the store, presiding over the cash register and the candy counter, was Ethel of the flaming red hair and stout figure. If you needed some gas, Ethel would go out the front door to the pumps and fill your tank with Ethyl gasoline. When my Mother would send me down to the store with a list of groceries and other household items, I'd dutifully hand it to Ethel and she'd wander through the store, picking up each item off the shelves, carrying them to the front counter. It was only in later years that I discovered modern grocery stores where you could actually take the items of the shelf, yourself.

Standing behind the meat counter in the back of the store was the butcher, Hal Simonsen. Hal's brother Willard owned the store, but it's Hal I remember best. He'd grind beef for you, or cut as many pork chops or steaks as you wanted, rolling off a huge piece of white waxed paper to wrap the meat in. When he wrapped the meat it had "hospital corners" a nurse would have been proud of. Hal wrote a weekly column in the Janesville Gazette titled "Hal Predicts." Hal wasn't much of a prognosticator, but he was always positive: "The Blue Jays (our high school team) will beat Beloit (our greatest rival) this weekend."

Attached to the rear of the store was a storage shed with a sliding garage door that was never locked. We'd slide the door open a crack and peak into the dark looking for treasures that slowly took form in the shadows. Hal would put the used peach and orange crates in the shed, knowing he'd never have to take them to the dump. The crates were our building blocks for all sorts of wonderful inventions. If you were lucky enough to spot a newly discarded crate, Hal would gladly give you permission to take it. It never occurred to us to take it without asking. Peach crates made wonderful scooters when mounted upright on a two by four wit old roller skates nailed on the bottom. Orange crates were slatted and didn't hold much of anything but oranges, but the soft pine slats would be used to build just about anything you could imagine. Ben Schultz, who lived across the street and ran a local delivery service made me a ladder nailed together from the ends of orange crates.

But for all the attractions of Simonsen's, nothing could equal the candy counter in the front of the store. It seemed like there was an endless variety of treats to suit everyone's taste. Just remembering the candy, there was root beer barrels, chocolate babies, snaps (a penny box of licorice tubes covered with white or pink coating,) Chum Gum (a penny pack of four-not-five sticks of gum that lost its flavor immediately and was so tough it made your jaws ache,) BB bats for a penny, Mason Dots, Black Crows, Ju-Jubes (purchased only in desperation or at a weak moment of indecision,) Heath Bars (Candy bars for grown-ups not considered sweet or chewy enough,) Cracker Jacks (with metal prizes,) marshmallow ice cream cones, Black Jack gum (licorice flavored and usually considered for adults,) Sugar Daddys (caramel suckers with snappy sayings printed on the wooden stick,) candy buttons on a paper strip, Switzer licorice, Mars bars, 3 Musketeers, Milky Way, Zagnut bars, Lifesavers, pastel soft candy (like thick frosting) in thin metal, shallow miniature pie tins that you ate with a small, flat wooden spoon, Jaw Breakers, Jujy Fruits, Forever Yours, Bazooka bubble gum (which included the lamest jokes ever invented, in Bazooka Joe comic strips,) A long stick of bubble gum with inches measured on the side, and the crowning glory of the whole counter, candy Boston Baked Beans in a jar where you took penny servings measured with a small bean pot: whoever bought the last of the candy (according to legend) got to keep the pot. I never even met a kid who knew someone who'd gotten the little pot. And that's just what I remember.

"And for a dime at the corner store, a kid could eat his fill."

On a hot Summer's afternoon, the kids would come slamming through the front door, all hot and sweat from a game of baseball at the Old Adam's School playground across the street. They'd make a bee line past the candy counter, looking for something cold. And there were a lot of choices. "Pop" came in a myriad of flavors and bottle shapes and sizes. Pepsi and Coca Cola vied for loyalties even back then, but the winner was more often that not Royal Crown Cola because the bottle was about twice the size. Loyalties also were tested with a choice of Hire's Root Beer or Dad's Old Fashioned Root Beer. Squirt gave 7-Up a good run, and both Nehi and Birely's had orange and grape soda. The Birely's came in low, squat, fat bottles with a wide mouth and their caps were a requirement in any bottle cap collection worth mentioning. Dr. Pepper was there for connoisseurs: a more recent addition.

Ice cream came in an equally bewildering array of shapes. The ice cream cones were 5 cents a scoop. Shurtleff's, the local dairy, manufactured dixe cups, which were another favorite because underneath a layed of wax paper of the inside of the lid would be a photograph of a current movie star or starlet or, much neater, a photograph of army tanks, planes or ships in battle. Cho-Chos were a local product made of malted milk flavored chocolate ice cream on a stick. You rolled the cardboard cup between your hands to melt the ice cream just enough to slide it out of the cup.

Popsicles were five cents and came in the usual flavors, except for a brief, disastrous attempt to introduce licorice when I was in High School. We salted the root beer popsicles when we ate them. The wrappers were saved for gifts. Every once in awhile we'd go on a binge, picking up every dirty, sticky, ant infested discarded wrapper within a block of Simonsen's until we had enough to send away from something. At the time, it never occurred to me what a nasty job somebody had opening up those envelopes stuffed full of old wrappers. Dreamsicles were considered something special, They were orange filled with vanilla ice cream in the center. They never lasted long when a new batch came in. Popsicle sticks were wooden and could be woven into small rafts to float down the gutters in the street when it rained, or held between your thumb and second finger and shot through the air with a menacing whirrrr. We had many a battle shooting each other with those sticks, and if you got hit by one, you knew it. No one would have been caught dead making all the cute craft items they get kids to make these days from a bag of sticks you buy!

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 12 Sep 09 - 03:31 PM

Park the car by the kerb. Walk up the driveway. Question. Do we knock on the door and wait, go round the back to see if Jerry's in the garden, or use the key that's cunningly hidden underneath that flowerpot? We'll go round the back first. Shhh...there he is, look! Fast asleep in his hammock! I'll bet he's dreaming of all those sweets he told us about!

Shall we help ourselves to coffee or gently wake him up and let him brew a pot of "Jerry's Java"?

....to be continued!

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 12 Sep 09 - 06:39 PM

Sleeping in a hammock? Don't I wish. I just finished emptying the 30 foot above ground swimming pool that came with our house, mucking out, tearing down and hauling it to the dump in countless carloads. I've missed the conversation around the kitchen table, so I'm glad you stopped by, Peter. One man conversations can get you committed.

The coffee is always on and now that it's starting to cool off a little, I'll be back to baking.

My friend Roy Harris is coming over and I'll see him at the memorial for Sandy Paton. He's been invited to sit at our kithen table up here on Hillcrest Avenue. Don't know if he'll have the time to make it.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 13 Sep 09 - 03:07 PM

....and continued it was!

If I'd known you were cleaning out the pool I'd have been there to help!

:0)

...well...virtually, of course!

Best wises,

Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: frogprince
Date: 13 Sep 09 - 03:26 PM

Who the heck would build a swimming pool thirty feet above ground?

I don't think anyone near here (Michigan) has built an in-ground pool for years; a number of neighbors did years ago, and wound up filling them in. Not usable enough of the year to be worth the upkeep. We have a decent little lake beach in a park just a few minutes away, and it's just six bucks for an old-coot sticker for the season.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 13 Sep 09 - 04:49 PM

LOL Formerly known as Prince. The swimmjing pool was here when we bought the house. We never would have put on up. Especially on top of the trees. I was nervous that the pool was old and didn't like the idea of 4 feet of water suddenly bursting through an old seam and flooding our basement. The swimming pool was about six feet from the window outside my office where I'm typing this post.

MAN DROWNS ON MUDCAT!

Turns out me fears were justified. When I took the sides down, the metal rim thyat held the bottom together was so rotted in some places that I could crumple the metal with my hands.

I grew up in Wisconsin and I see a fair number of above ground pools when I go home to visit my family. Of course, that's southern Wisconsin. In northern wisconsin, you'd just have a 30 foot diametet ice cube all winter.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: frogprince
Date: 13 Sep 09 - 07:13 PM

Hey, Fellers (and any gals who happen by); finally, finally, I just got to hear Jerry sing. I've heard Art Theime sing Handfull of Songs, and somebody else singing Living on the River, but not Jerry. About 3/4 hour ago, Matt Watroba played "Get Back Home"; Matt always identifies what he plays, but usually after the fact; kinda wish he had called this one before playing, so I could have been a little better set to absorb it. Good stuff, though.
                            Dean

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 13 Sep 09 - 07:41 PM

Wow, Dean... Get Down Home. I'm not sure I know that song anymore. Funny how the years slip by. It gets bad when you say, "This is a song I learned from me."

Guess I'd better get down home...

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 14 Sep 09 - 06:16 AM

Hello Jerry,

I'm sure the song is still there, somewhere in the sub-conscious! It's a funny thing, song, poetry or word recall. The other day some friends and I were singing and, it's funny how these things come up, some-one said, "Isn't there a song about woad?" Straightway I launched into the song and it all came out pat. Now I hadn't sung the song for at least 30 years....but there it was! The ol' brain had found it in the filing system and presented it for all to hear.

I guess the same will happen for you. Just don't try and remember it! A chance remark will trigger it for sure.

There was an above ground trainer pool one place I worked. It was made of very strong rubberized material. The only way to empty it was to let the water go by lowering one side. Most amusing to watch, but very difficult to achieve with dry feet!

Best wishes,

Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: SINSULL
Date: 14 Sep 09 - 08:06 AM

"If a house was a living organism, the kitchen table would be the heart."

Just had a wonderful evening of talking, joking, poetry recitals, just plain sharing and then came across this thread. There is no "If". A house lives. I know a few that are alive with happiness, music, children growing, people coming and going and living and dying. I know some that are dark with anger and frustration, no room for joy or friendship. It would take so little to brighten them - just an inviting cup of hot coffee or tea and a friendly chat.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 16 Sep 09 - 11:39 AM

Yesterday my son-in-law Pasha and I busted up the concrete walkway around my former-above-ground swimming pool. We rented a jackhammer and started busting up the concrete shortly after nine in the morning. It was hard work, and we alternated on the jackhammer, the person who was taking a "rest" loading the broken sections of concrete into a wheel barrow and dumping it on the side of our property, creating a new mountain. It took about an hour and a half to bust up the sidewalk. Along the way we discovered that there was a solid wall of concrete underneath the sidewalk that went down more than a foot, and then was resting on a concrete footing, the edges of which we couldn't even find. Connecticut Stonehenge. I knew that if I wanted to have a lawn, the top of the conrete wall would have to come off. The wall was in a circle, larger than the swimming pool, so we knew we had out work cut out for us. Chipping the top off a solid wall was much harder than busting up the sidewalk (which was an unneccessary 5" thick to begin with. Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do, so we attacked the wall. The whole job took five hours, without taking a break. Now I've got to get all the concrete and a ton of sand to the dump. Not today, though.

To make it harder, Pasha is Muslim and he is observing Ramadan for 30 days. He is not allowed to eat or drink, even water, while the sun is up, so he has to finish breakfast before sunrise and can't eat until the sun sets. And no water, even though we were working in the sun for five hours. Pasha is 60, abd he's reaching an age where he feels the effects of working on an jackhammer and loading concrete into a wheel barrow. While we were working, I was thinking of the affluent white kids, down from Connecticut, back in the 60's. They'd arrive in Greenwich Village and sing convict work songs they'd learned from chain gang recordings. They'd sing the appropriate "Whupp" where you let out a grunt, swinging the nine pound hammer, appropriately plucking the bass string on their guitar with a little more force. Pasha and I weren't singing "It takes a rocks and a gravel to make solid road," and nary a single "Lordy" was uttered. But we got the job done.

When I woke up this morning I expected to be full of newly discovered aches and pains. To my surprise, I felt better than I have in months. I guess all that work loosened up the old muscles and stretchewd me out. If you want to try it, I still have a ton of sand and a mountain of busted-up concrete to take to the dump. No charge for the excercise.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 19 Sep 09 - 04:26 PM

Mmmm...Jerry's Java....just what I needed after a hard day visiting garden centres. A little like you Jerry, we are revamping the garden. Thankfully we have no concrete pool to dismantle, but there are some hard choices to make. Do we put it all down to long grass and rusted car relics or try and create a garden we can manage!

All suggestions grateful received. I'll just nurse my coffee and whistle "The garden where the praties grow".

Best wishes,

Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: frogprince
Date: 19 Sep 09 - 10:12 PM

Pete, maybe you should consider something like this

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 20 Sep 09 - 01:51 PM

What do they call that, Dean? Stonehinge?

I posted this on the "requests" thread but thought I'd stick it on here too. It's a sweet little story, and it's about music!

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 20 Sep 09 - 01:53 PM

Thanks Frog Prince.....what a great idea!

Low maintenance for sure!

LOL


Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 20 Sep 09 - 01:54 PM

Duh! And then I forget to paste the post. I'm taking it easy today. Apparently, a lot easier than I realized. Now THIS is the post haste.

I never mind a request. If I can do the song, I'm happy to do it, and if not, I tell people they'd be much happier if I didn't sing it. One noticeable exception occurred every time I played at a particular place. A woman would ask me to sing Ave Maria, and even though I'd tell her that I didn't know it well enough to sing it, she'd ask me a couple more times before I finished singing. The story?

Once a month, my wife and I visit a local nursing home where I provide the music for a short church service, led by my close friend Ken. Ken is the pastor of a church in the area and over the years we've had a great time sharing music together. When my Gospel Messngers quartet was still singing, we did Anniversary concerts at his church four different years, and I've done fund-raising concerts for the church on my own. Ken is a folkie (some friends of his are coming down from Maine next month, and he's invited Ruth and me over, along with some other friends, for a song swap. The audience at the church service at the nursing home has a wide range of physical and emotional problems. It became clear to me early on that the woman who continually requested Ave Maria was having severe emotional problems. She is Catholic and was very critical of me because I didn't sing hymns that she knew from her church. She had a nasty attitude about everything, and with everyone. Every time she'd request Ave Maria, no matter how many times, I was always polite to her, telling her what a beautiful song it is, but that I don't have the voice to do the song justice. Through time, she softened toward me and became quite sweet tempered. When she'd ask for the song, as she continued to do, one of the workers there would say in a kindly voice, "I'll play a recording of it for you after the service is over," and she'd relax. It was beautiful to see her calm down, over the months that she came. She went from visibly agitated and argumentative to peaceful, just enjoying the service for what it was.

Like the others we sing for, we know there will be a day when they no longer show up. That day arrived for her a year ago, but I still remember her. And I still don't do Ave Maria on request.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: frogprince
Date: 20 Sep 09 - 10:49 PM

The picture was from the "Cadillac Ranch" in Texas. Somebody started it quite a few years ago, and it actually draws quite a few tourists. Those are all Cadillacs.
                     Dean

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 22 Sep 09 - 08:10 AM

Continuing my swimming pool saga:

After I got the swimming pool down, cut up and hauled to the dump in my car (in too many trips to count) I was faced with getting rid of a ton of sand that formed the base of the pool, as well as the mountain of busted up concrete from the walkway and the underlying concrete rim. I talked to the guys at the dump, who've become as close as drinking buddies and asked for their advice. They said I could either bring it down a small car load at a time (not just filling the car with sand...) or I could rent a dumpster. They would set the dumpster down in my driveway and all I'd have to do is to transfer a ton of sand, a wheel barrow full at a time, piling it up in the dumpster. When I finished, I'd just have to call them up and they'd come and pick it up. A piece of cake. Never mind that the dumpster costs $250 to rent. The rental rate was reasonable, but difficult to swallow, but the hardest part was facing having to transfer a ton of sand a wheelbarrow at a time.

(I'm heading out for my morning walk... I'll finish this when I get back.)

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: maeve
Date: 22 Sep 09 - 08:29 AM

Enjoy your walk, Jerry. I'm just peeking in to see if there's an extra chair open for me. I'm coming out of the peace of the garden for a rare spot of public scrutiny of a song I made. It's a good-peculiar feeling so far.

Ah...maybe over there by the window is a place for me. There is fresh cornbread in the basket there. Help yourselves.

maeve

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: GUEST,BBP dropping by
Date: 22 Sep 09 - 08:41 AM

Hi All,

Sorry I was gone so long - life seems to be chugging along at a cracking pace lately. Jerry - BE CAREFUL! A suggestion that may not be over helpful - do you have a Yahoo Freecycle group in your area?. I use one all the time in the UK. The idea is that it is a "giveaway" noticeboard: Jerry, you would say that you have a tonne of sand to give away, "buyer" collects. Someone near you is probably in need of sand and / or hardcore for their own building project. You could end up with someone coming and loading up their own lorry with it for you.

If you google "Yahoo Freecycle (your home town name)", you might just get some information!. Hope it helps.

Waddon Pete - I don't know when I'll next be in your neck of the woods but I won't forget to call in for some of Jerry's Java!.

I'd best get back to work - loads to do. :-)

Now, just time to make another cup of tea first..............

Deirdre

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: maeve
Date: 22 Sep 09 - 10:01 AM

Deidre has a good suggestion there. I wish you were in Maine, Jerry. I could use that sand, and I use concrete chunks in paving/building projects here on our little farm.

maeve

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 22 Sep 09 - 04:47 PM

Hey Maeve and Deirdre: How great to see you both. Actaully I've given some thought to getting someone to take the sand. Of course it has some value... just like the wonderful cast iron stove we've been trying to get rid of. My friend Frankie, from the Gospel Messengers wants the stove, but we've been waiting for him to get a truck and four men up here to move it. Maybe before Christmas. The problem with the sand is that the swimming pool was in the back of the house on a side that is not accessible to much more than a wheelbarrow. The previous owners built a deck on the back of the house, just three feet from a barberry hedge. There's just enough space to get through with a wheelbarrow, but nothing bigger. There are two sets of steps on the other wside of the house, so it's even less accessible. About the only way to get the sand out is a wheelbarrow at a time, or perhaps by helicopter. I have a wheelbarrow. Renting a helicopter is too expensive. But anyway, to finish my story...

I decided that it was too much pressure to try to lug a ton of sand by wheelbarrow in a day or two, by myself, so I opted to lug the sand to the dump. I bought the heaviest weight Hefty trash bags they make and started loading themj up with as much sand as they could carry (and I could lift.) I took the first load of seven bags to the dump a couple of days ago. Of course, there is a charge for dumping the sand and I had to have my car weighed, Before and After I dumped the sand to see how much the seven bags weighed. When I asked him how much I owed, he said 48 cents. That's based on a charge of $6 per ton. I had to alugh when he told me. As you might guess, this whole adventure has the makings of a chapter for my next book... an environmentally correct Alice's Restaurant story. There are two scriptural passages that come to mind:

"Verily I say unto you, if ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible to you." It apparently works for mountains, but not swimming pools.

"Even so faith, it it hath not works, is dead."

The message? Get to work. And the title of the chapter is The Impossible just takes longer.

But it only costs 7 cents a bag.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Susan A-R
Date: 22 Sep 09 - 06:50 PM

Just had three visiting Americorps young folk around my kitchen table last night and this morning (they brought them up for an 8 a.m. training, and didn't provide lodging or breakfast and these folks were going to camp in Vermont in September. What a nifty bunch of people, hungry to help (and for ham and eggs and bread pudding and whatever else was available) and one played mandolin like you wouldn't believe.

Iife is so full of surprises, people you never knew,who pop up at the right time to give you hope.

I'd just spent a few days in DC working on health care, and was in need of a dose of hope. Small trade for apple bread pudding and mattresses in the attic, I would say

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 22 Sep 09 - 06:56 PM

That sounds wonderful, Susan. Looks like Someone sent you a ram in a bush. Or several rams. And thanks for working on health care. I know it is frustrating, but it's greatly needed.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: GUEST,BBP at work
Date: 23 Sep 09 - 09:54 AM

Jerry, that has just cheered me up no end!. Especially the bit about 7 cents - you've got as much redtape over that side of the pond as we have. Don't you just love 'em?.

How about throwing a Sand Party?. Invite all your (fit) musical friends, get each to fill and carry out front a couple of your hefty bags and then reward them with a song circle and a little light refreshment?.

In fact, if you were to sing around the sand you could call it a beach party!.

I'll go find my bucket and spade................

Deirdre

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 23 Sep 09 - 10:05 AM

Deidre,

What an excellent idea!

How about doing the sand dance.....OK.....I'll get me fez....


Best wishes,

Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: GUEST,BBP
Date: 23 Sep 09 - 11:35 AM

Peter, you got the jest in one!.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 23 Sep 09 - 01:10 PM

Maybe I could invite Annette Funicello and Frankie Avalon. And the Beach boys couldn't help but come.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: BusyBee Paul
Date: 23 Sep 09 - 03:52 PM

Don't forget Truck Berry!

Deirdre ;-)

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 25 Sep 09 - 09:16 AM

I'm writing a chapter on my exploits of moving our swimming pool, and thought I'd share this as it relates to music. I repeated a scriptural quotation I may have posted earlier, because it is quoted in the paragraph about learning to play guitar.

I think I've outsmarted myself again, tearing down our swimming pool. I've inadvertently created the world's largest kitty litter box. That's in the chapter, too...

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 25 Sep 09 - 09:26 AM

I've got to stop posting on the run! I'm on my way out the door to go to sing at a funeral and forgot to post the section I referred to in the last post. Here it is...

Gotta remove hence...

"And Jesus said unto them, verily I say unto you, if ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible to you."
                                                   Matthew 17:20 KJV
Back when I was at the University of Wisconsin I was living in a rooming house with 13 other guys. By then, I'd been playing guitar for three or four years and with the exception of three or four lessons I was self-taught. In the evening, I'd sit in my room, softly playing my Fender electric guitar, and friends would occasionally wander in to listen. One friend in particular kept telling me how much he wanted to play guitar. "I'd give my right arm to be able to play guitar," he'd say. I'd look at him and answer, "If you want to learn to play guitar, give me fifteen minutes of your time every day and I can teach you what I know." "Fifteen minutes?, he'd say, I don't have the time for that!" I used to kid him saying, "You'd give your right arm to learn to play guitar, but not fifteen minutes a day?" If I'd been up on my bible, I would have told him to "Remove hence to yonder place!"

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 27 Sep 09 - 08:25 PM

My/our old Kitchen Table Friend Jimmy Todd has become my Facebook Friend now. He's doing great and still singing with his doo wop group. I encouraged him to drop by the table here and say hello to the gang of irregulars...

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 29 Sep 09 - 05:30 PM

Everyone's welcome! Especially if they bring chocolate chip cookies!

Best as ever,

Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 29 Sep 09 - 08:05 PM

Hey, Pete: Thanks for dropping by. I was going a little stir crazy sitting here by myself.

A question. Do you folks over your way get the tv series Lost? My youngest son Aaron told me about it, and speaking of getting lost, I was sucked into the series and disappeared for days at a time. Now I'm waiting for the DVD for season five to come out in December.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: BusyBee Paul
Date: 30 Sep 09 - 04:15 PM

Hi Jerry, Pete and anyone else currently sitting round the table.

Lost?. Yes, we get it in the UK Jerry, but I don't watch it myself. And I have to tell you that I'm not lost at the moment either, just working in Germany this week at my company's head office. Some of my co-workers from other divisions arrived today for a series of meetings - so I've new friends from USA, Canada and South Africa here now - people I speak to on the phone or by email but have never met.

I'll just drop off a few wurst and bottles of German beer for you all to tuck into..........and some delicious German chocolate too, naturally!.

Deirdre

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 30 Sep 09 - 05:25 PM

Hey, Deridre:

Thanks for the contributions to the table. We love you for better or wurst.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 01 Oct 09 - 09:11 AM

Ouch.....Jerry, back on the naughty chair!

German beer sounds wonderful....as long as we don't get the wurst for wear!

OK I'll get me coat......

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 01 Oct 09 - 09:16 PM

I went to a public hearing at the Board of Alderman's meeting tonight. The City of Derby is considering making the jobs at the dump Union jobs again. One of the guys I talk with daily when I am bringing loads of sand to the dump told me that they made it a private operation a year or so ago when he and a couple other guys were hired. He is very concerned that they are going to replace him and the other men with Union employees. For the last few days, he's been asking people when they come to the dump to show up for the public hearing to express their support for him and his co-workers.
As he pointed out, in the last year since they started working at the dump, they've made a lot of major improvements, none of which were required. Some of them are whimsical, like the artificial tree someone left in the dump which is now "planted" next to the entrance. Some have been substantial, like clearing out large areas that had be abandoned and overgrown, cleaning up the dump to the point where it almost looks like a park. They take great pride in their work and are angry that they may be replaced. Ironically, they have been strongly criticized for helping people. When an elderly person brings something unmanageable for them and they're having a problem lifting it or putting it in the dumpster, they come over and help them. That's against Union regulations. I told the guys that I would come to the public hearing tonight. I was the only one there to speak for them.

When the topic came up on the agenda, they asked if there was anyone who wanted to speak on the topic. I stood up, introduced myself by name and gave my street address. I told the Board that my wife and I had moved to Derby seven years ago and if they gave out frequent flier miles for each trip to the dump we would have earned a trip around the world long ago. I spoke of the improvements that I've seen since the men were hired, and how helpful they are to everyone who comes there. "Some people come to work and do the minimum they have to in order to get their paycheck, and no more, I said. Not these guys. They take pride in their work, they're conscientious and polite and do everything they can to help others." "I don't know any of their names, I said, looking over at the man who'd asked everyone to come." They're not personal friends or family members." I just wanted to publicly thank them for all they do." I thanked the members of the Board of Aldermen for the hard work that they do to serve the community, and sat down.

Tomorrow morning I'll be hauling my first load of sand over to the dump. Maybe I'll ask the guy his name. It seems like I should know it by now. He knows my name and address, and even has the identification number on my driver's license.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: BusyBee Paul
Date: 02 Oct 09 - 09:42 AM

Hi Jerry,

Good for you - I hope you have a good result on that one.

Waddon Pete - Wurst for wear?. Well, yes I am today - got totally wrecked on beer and Killepitsch (a real killer) last night and am not even sure of what time this mornin we got back to the hotel. All I know is that we had a great time and the accounting procedures discussion today was a breeze because I was parked in a parallel universe, or so it seemed. That carpark was pretty full with my co-workers too, even those who chickened out and didn't get as far as the jazz bar last night.

(I would shake my head in disbelief at myself, but it would probably fall off).

We're off out for round 2 in about 30 minutes.................

BBP (Better Bring Paracetomol).

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: BusyBee Paul
Date: 02 Oct 09 - 06:41 PM

Hi,

In case you are wondering, this evening went really well - a variety show (very funny) with a meal, then shopping for a couple of hours. I decided against going to the disco in favour of having a chat to one of my colleagues from Colorado, so we got back safely, sober and quiet.

She has now called it a day but I'm on my second wind, so thought I'd stop by for a coffee and a slice of whatever Jerry is making at the moment. Looks like you are all still occupied elsewhere, so I think I'll just sit here a while and wind down, ready to hit the bed myself.

Pete, what's the weather been like in the UK this week?. It's been grey, overcast and occasionally drizzly here - the Germans reckon I brought the weather with me!.

Deirdre

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 02 Oct 09 - 07:36 PM

Hey, Deirdre: Our minds must be on the same wavelength. I was telling Ruth today that now that the waether has cooled off, it's time to get back to baking. I'll do a double batch of oatmeal/raisin/walnut sugar-free cookies in the next couple of days. My son-in-law Ali keeps telling me I should sell them commercially. I tell him that my secret recipe is under the lid of the Quaker Oats Oatmeal box I use, so it would be hard to claim it as uniquely my own. Besides, I'm not looking for a new career. I have enough trouble keeping the stuff I am doing going. I'll see if I can't set out a batch over the weekend.

Next weekend is going to be fullllllll. Friday night my pastor-friend Ken and his wife Elizabeth are having a couple staying with them who are folk musicians, and they want to have a sing-around. Not sure that will happen, and don't know the folks names yet. Saturday afternoon is the memorial service for Sandy Paton... a two hour drive from here. I've been asked to speak and do a song. Sunday I would normally be singing with the Men's Chorus at our church, but this coming Sunday is my daughter-in-law's 10th Anniversary of the church where she is the pastor, and I am part of the program.

I think I'm going to need those cookies.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 03 Oct 09 - 05:47 AM

Hello Deidre,

The weather report depends on which part of the UK you are in. In East Anglia we haven't seen any rain for a very long time. Everything is parched and dry. Today dawned grey and very blustery. It is good weather for blowing the conkers down from the horse chestnut tree on the green outside our house. Trouble is, with so little rain this year, the conkers are quite small, so I'm not sure there'll be much conkering going on!

Jerry, good to hear you are keeping busy! Please pass on the thoughts of the kitchen table-ites to the family when you go to Sandy Paton's memorial.

I've left some virtual chocolate biscuits for you to enjoy.

Best wishes,

Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 03 Oct 09 - 08:54 AM

HI folks,
Jerry we have a similar pool at the top of our garden, because of the English weather some years it is hardly used, although this summer was beautiful here so we had quite a few days with the grandchildren swimming.I had been asking Billy to get rid of it as he spends hours cleaning it and putting very expensive chemicals in it and if no one swims it is such a waste of his hard work. However having just come back to the table after a while away and reading about your pool I think ours will be staying put!
My niece in New Jersey just sent me some chocolate chips so cookies are being made this afternoon and there is a large coffee cake on the table.
Wendy

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 03 Oct 09 - 10:57 AM

Yeah, billybob... it does sound the same. Between the cost of chemicals (I figure for the season it's at least a couple hundred dollars,) and the cost of keeping the pump running twenty four hours a day for three or four months, we were spending at least three or four hundred dollars a year. That's not counting the countless hours of work. If I was being paid minimum wage to do it, we couldn't afford me. Most summers we've used the pool no more than three or four times. I figure we could give out a half a dozen memberships to the local YMCA and save money.

Having someone take down the pool and lug away all the sand, bring in top soil and plant a new lawn would cost twso or three thousand dollars. To do that, we can afford me.

Besides, I'm in the best physical shape I've been in in many years.
Forget the expensive excercise equipment. Just find someone who needs an above ground pool they need taken down.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: maeve
Date: 04 Oct 09 - 10:44 AM

Hello, all. I'm too sleepy to write an entertaining post, but I can

refresh!

maeve

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 04 Oct 09 - 03:51 PM

It's always good to see you Maeve.

Have a virtual choccy bikky to help you sleep!

Best wishes,

Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 04 Oct 09 - 08:58 PM

Hey, Maeve: Good to see you stopping by, as always. Just for a change of pace, I've made some grilled peanut butter and bananna sandwiches for the table. I must admit, I'm refining the recipe, trying to get the perfect blend of peanut butter, bananna, cinammon and a touch of Splenda. One of our friends at church makes them and she adds a touch of honey to the peanut butter. Until they make sugar-free honey, I'll try a light sprinkling of Splenda. You'll have to excuse this batch. I think I used a little too much of everything.

Back when I was a teenager, growing four inches a year, I'd eat anything that wasn't tied down. My two older sisters were just learning to bake and for a year or so, I ate all of their mistakes. It was a hard blow when they learned to bake well enough that they wanted to share their creations with someone besides me.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: maeve
Date: 04 Oct 09 - 09:26 PM

Here I am back again. I can't sleep, so may as well sit down at the table.

Jerry- your boyhood appetite reminds me of my older brother. He used to drive me right up the wall and over the fence simply by taking food off my plate whenever he was within arm's length of my plate. Never knew he was doing it (so he said), but managed to down several sandwiches, cookies, and such as easily as a herring gull steals fries from the summer people.

My dad used to eat all of my burned cookies. He claimed he liked them that way. I noticed he managed to enjoy my unburned cookies just fine once I learned to keep an eye on the cookies in the oven instead of reading my book.

After years of being unable to write and remember songs because of the ravages of migraines, I'm turning out songs and poems right and left. What a blessing, and how grateful I am to find myself polishing off a new one tonight.

Thanks for the snacks, Jerry and Peter!

maeve

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 05 Oct 09 - 08:17 AM

It's great to hear good news about your headaches, maeve! What a blessing.

When I was a teenager I'd come home hungry after being out with my buddies. I'd make some toast with jelly, and drink a little milk. Did you know that there used to be 22 slices of bread in a loaf? That's how many pieces of toast I'd make, topped off with a quart of milk. I went from the shortest kid in my class in 6th grade to just under six feet two inches by the time I graduated from high school.
That took a lot of toast and cookies.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: BusyBee Paul
Date: 05 Oct 09 - 08:41 AM

All this talk of food is making me hungry - and I've just eaten my lunch!. Jerry, pass some of those banana thingies please :-).

Safely back home (and at work) after my trip to Germany but my stomach is still on German time.

Time to attack the paperwork piles for a second time.........

Deirdre

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 07 Oct 09 - 03:58 PM

I just finished writing a chapter about my dump runs. It's too long to post on here, and besides, I try not to post too much of my reflections on faith here on Mudcat. It's a real help to me when I am too busy to sit down and do any lengthy writing to be able to post observations and stories here at the table as I go along. I just cut and past them all into one document and it's a framework for more dedicated writing and revision later. Some of you have given me your e-mail addresses, so you'll get an attachment soon. I want to pass it by the people I quote before I distribute it any wider. Just a common courtesy.

It's like a wind tunnel around here today. We had rain this morning so I couldn't take my daily two loads of sand to the dump, sniff, sniff. I took advantage of the rare opportunity to sit down and write. Now, I'm going to get a mug of coffee and a "no sugar added" blueberry muffin. I have a few more left.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: frogprince
Date: 07 Oct 09 - 04:39 PM

Anyone else want a root beer float while I'm making one? It's diet A&W and sugar-free ice cream.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 07 Oct 09 - 05:07 PM

Root Beer, please Frog Prince! Thanks.

I thought I'd share some news with you all while we're gathered round the table. I'm going to be on the radio (again). It's a community radio station over here in East Anglia and they have a Folk Programme every Sunday evening twixt 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. I am going to be on the programme this Sunday 11th October 2009.

Although the transmitters do their best, the coverage is not very great, however, they do stream to the web! If you go to the blue clicky at the end, it should take you there! (Fingers crossed)

Now, I know some of you in far off places may have trouble with time differences. That's 7 p.m. Greenwich Mean Time. If you use "World Clock" it should help you find out what time to listen in. (Should you wish to!)

Also, a big thank-you to BillyBob for inviting me to her next House Concert! That'll be good fun as well.

Wayland Radio

World Clock

Best wishes,

Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 07 Oct 09 - 06:56 PM

Hey, FP, I'll take a root beer float. I do much the same thing, trying to keep my sugar intake down. When I was a teenager, I was a car hop at an A&W drive in in my home town. The car hops were all guys because they'd had so much trouble with customers coming on hard to girl car hops. Car Hopesses? I've always loved A&W but I must say that I now prefer IBC in bottles. Cans never get the soda as cold as a bottle, and they have a subtle effect on the flavor... besides not keeping the soda cold as long.
I also make ice cream sundaes with sugar free ice cream and sugar free Smuckers caramel syrup. The problem is, because it's sugar free I end up eating weigh (way) more than I should. I figure if I'm praying not to be led into temptation, I shouldn't be the one doing the leading, so I don't keep the stuff in the house regularly. I don't want to look like the Michelin Man, sugar or nor sugar.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 08 Oct 09 - 05:57 AM

Great you are on the radio Peter, I will tune in on sunday, can I get you on my steam radio down here in Essex, if not I will use my computer at home, which is so old it too is probably driven by steam!
We are all looking forward to the house concert and hope for a sunny weather so we can be in the marquee.It is a beautiful sunny morning here today so fingers crossed for next week! i am hoping for a few people up from Kent and we usually have the local folkies from Walton on the Naze.
Billy is off to the doctors again this morning, he has had a rotten year so far with one thing after another, he has an immune problem so has to take antibiotics for any cold or cough, last week an ear infection which has made him deaf in one ear which is very frustrating, and a constant back pain which our GP tried acupuncture on ten days ago, my those needles are very long!
I still have some coffee cake left over and lots of chocolate chip cookies so I am going to have a break and large black coffee, care to join me?
Wendy

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 08 Oct 09 - 04:49 PM

Hey, Wendy: I'm sorry to hear of the problems Billy Bob is having. If he's having them, you're having you, so I send my best wishes (and a few prayers) to both of you.

I finished the chapter about my swimming pool demolition to a long list of friends (whose e-mail address I have) including Max. I received a warm response from him almost immediately, and I wanted to tell him how much Mudcat and this thread are a part of my life, and therefor of my writing. I told him I'd post it here while I was at it.

Thanks, Max: I don't know if you realize how much Mudcat is a part of my writing. There must have been eight or ten chapters in my first book that started out as stories posted on the kitchen table thread. This one is just another in a long line of stories that grew out of that thread. I've worked harder physically this summer than in many years, and I've been too exhausted at the end of the day to focus on writing. The posts that I make on the Kitchen Table Thread are often the seed for a more developed story. Three or four days ago, I could begin to see the end of hauling sand (I've probably got a week and a half left.) I went through the Kitchen Table posts and copied and pasted them in order into one document. When I was finished, it was like the Frankenstein monster with a few missing organs. It took a massive re-write to make the story flow, and the introduction to the chapter in italics is my scriptural and faith understanding of the meaning behind the story. I also inserted an occasional scripture in the text, along with reflections that I wouldn't post on Mudcat. I try to keep my Mudcat posts as free as I can of expressions of my faith. There are times when I cannot separate my faith from my life when I write. I certainly can't when I am living my days. I try to respect Mudcat as a folk and blues venue, not proselytizing in my posts. But make no mistake. Mudcat, my faith and my writing are all part of a whole to me. I just separate them, depending on my audience.

Hey, maybe I'll post this on the kitchen table thread. That's what it's there for.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 08 Oct 09 - 10:27 PM

Been sitting around tonight playing my acoustic guitar. That probably doesn't sound like any big deal, but it's something I rarely do anymore. Thirteen years ago there was some kind of musical convergence (or maybe it was a divergence.) The coffee houses where I often performed were folding, left and right. I folded one that I'd run for 27 years because I couldn't get an audience. The remaining coffee houses ran open mike nights mostly, and I felt like Methusela when I'd drop by. What you doin' Gramps? About that time, I joined the Men's Chorus of a black Baptist Church and was welcomed with a warmth I hadn't experienced in years. Shortly after that I started my gospel quartet and switched to playing electric guitar with the group, which was the traditional instrument used in black gospel quartets. We'd been together about three months when we started to get invitations to perform, and a few bookings. I never looked back.
The quartet started coming apart three or four years ago when our tenor moved to Florida. We kept going as a trio and sounded fine, as the other two members are both terrific singers and we obviously loved and believed in what we were singing. Joe and Frankie are now 84 and 86 and while we still sing with the Men's Chorus, we haven't sung together in a year as the Messengers. As that door closed, another one opened. I wrote and published my book and am almost as busy singing on my own as I was with the group. And I've written more songs in the last ten years than any ten year period in my life.

In the meantime, people keep recording my folk songs. I lost track of how many, long ago. The songs have lasted, even though it's been close to ten years since I've done a concert. Now I have a split concert coming up with my friend Susan Trump (who has recorded four of my songs.) Playing acoustic guitar seems strange and I see I'm going to have to relearn my songs and the picking... like Mississippi John when they rediscovered him. Except that I haven't been rediscovered. It's a weird situation to be in.

Folk singers are prone to hanging on to the past. I'm generally not that way. I give thanks for the good things in my past, but as I wrote in a song, "The good old days are still to come." But, for the good old days of the past, I'll offer up a handful of songs next month. If I can figure them out... :-)

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: GUEST
Date: 09 Oct 09 - 10:52 AM

Yesterday I shared the chapter I wrote about the City Dump with Ralph and John, the two guys who work there. And as I always do, I sent the complete chapter to a whoe slew of friends, include Rene, in Paris. Rene responded with a wonderful e-mail, which I shared with Ralph and John, and everyone is grinning from ear to ear. Me too. Here's what I added to the chapter:

The Other Shoe
        This morning I took my first load of sand to the dump. I was trying to get it in before it started rain. Sand weighs enough without being wet. Yesterday I gave copies of this chapter to Ralph and John and when I pulled up in front of the check in booth, Ralph called out with a big grin, "You're some kind of writer!" I got out of the car and walked over and we were both excited. Ralph wanted to tell me that he's going to take the chapter over for the Mayor to read after the dump closes. I wanted to tell him about the e-mail I received from my friend Rene in Paris. I e-mailed this chapter to Rene yesterday and there was a response waiting for me when I came down to my office this morning. Rene was as enthusiastic as Ralph. He particularly responded to the comments about people who only do the bare minimum at work to get their paycheck. Like many people, Rene doesn't enjoy his work. When he talks to his brother about
work, neither of them enjoy their work because they see all the political aspects of it. It's the same all over. Then Rene wrote:
"Still, yesterday I realized this sort of thinking makes me sad while my intellect tells me it's a good thing to be "aware".
Every once in a while, still, I'll go and do a little more than what I'm being paid for, just because it will help a co-worker or two. And that makes me feel good.
    "Last month I received my retirement results and it showed I
    still have 10 more years of work ahead of me before I can
    retire. On one hand I can't wait, on the other hand, I believe
    I'd better make the best out of these 10 years. Because my life
    is taking place now, not 10 years ahead."
When I told Ralph about this, his face really lit up. He wanted to talk about how good it feels to be helpful and treat people with respect. I told him:
        "So, here you are Ralph, trying to do the best job you can
    at the Derby Dump, and you've caused my friend Rene over in
    Paris to re-think how he approaches his work. That's the
    way it works." In God there is no East or West.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: maeve
Date: 09 Oct 09 - 11:12 AM

That's a fine thing Jerry. When one person working hard can prompt change for another a tiny piece of the human community is rebuilt in the image of the Maker. Little grains of sand have been part of the rebuilding in more ways than one.

I'm certain you and your friend Susan Trump will thoroughly enjoy your upcoming concert at least as much as your audience will. I wish I could be there to add to the joyful noise. Do you find your fingers remembering old picking patterns and chord progressions?

I'm sad to miss Sandy Paton's memorial this weekend. I only feel poor when I can't take part in something so special. Sing well and carry my respect and gratitude with your words and tunes, please.

Have an oatmeal cookie. I see you've misplaced yours.

maeve

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 09 Oct 09 - 12:53 PM

The "Guest" was me. Sheesh! I'm not even home at my own kitchen table!

Jerry

Let's see how this one is identified.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: maeve
Date: 09 Oct 09 - 01:09 PM

Jerry, the cookie crumbs at the end of your post identified you.

maeve

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 11 Oct 09 - 11:13 AM

I posted this on the Sandy Paton memorial thread. I'll add any further comments there...

My wife Ruth and I had a beautiful time at the memorial. For me, it was wonderful seeing old friends like (but not an all inclusive list) Roy Harris, Harry Tuft, Bill Shute, Skip Gorman, Ed Trickett, Jennifer Woods and Bob Clayton, Bill Spence, Patricia Herdman, and several Catters. It was a special pleasure meeting Bill Schatz, Joe Offer and Nancy King. I could easily double that list, but others may add to it. Not all would be familiar names to Catters.

Caroline was as gracious and radiant as ever, and David Paton was warm and welcoming despite his "Summer of tears," as he so beautifully put it. The music was uniformally excellent and the testimonies were heartfelt and moving.

It was an experience I'll never forget. The recorded and video taped the whole thing. How wonderful if they made it available for purchase down the line.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 11 Oct 09 - 11:21 AM

This is the end of my story about my dump runsP:

POSTCRIPT
Several weeks later when I was dropping off my umpteenth load of sand, I noticed that Ralph was calling people over to the window to talk with them at length. When I got up to the window, Ralph came out and told me his story. He and John were in danger of losing their jobs. A year or so ago, the City of Derby changed from having Union men operate the dump to using an outside contractor. Now, the Union was trying to get the jobs back under the Union's control. If that happened, Ralph and John would be out of a job, as they weren't Union workers. "It burns me up!" Ralph sputtered. "We've really cleaned this place up in the last year, and now they want to get rid of us!" We've made a lot of major improvements around here, none of which were required, and we didn't get paid extra to do it."
"I can vouch for that, Ralph." I've seen all the work you've done since you've been here." I replied. Some of the changes are whimsical, like the artificial tree someone left in the dump which is now "planted" next to the entrance with a discarded park bench next to it. Some have been substantial, like clearing out large areas that had been abandoned and overgrown. Most of all, I appreciated how helpful all the guys were who worked there. They were friendly and polite and went out of their way to make things easy for you. It hadn't always been that way. Ironically, one of the criticisms that made of them is that they sometimes would lend a hand if someone was trying to unload something from their car that was too heavy for them to handle. "They tell us that we can't help people unload stuff, because we might get hurt," Ralph said. "If I'm driving along the road and I see someone who needs help, I'm going to stop and help them. And they tell me I can't do it here? They say it's against Union Regulations." "I suppose they're concerned that you might hurt yourself and they'll be legally liable," I said. "Still, that doesn't seem right." I see some of the old-timers who are really struggling to unload their car, and I'm with you. I'd be right there, lending a hand." I asked when the hearing was going to be, and told him I'd be there. It was then that I realized why he was stopping people to talk to them as they were coming in. He was trying to get people to come and speak on their behalf.

The night of the public hearing, I arrived early. I'd never been to a public hearing in Derby, although I'd survived countless others when I was Executive Director of the Stamford Museum & Nature Center. The hearing was held in a small room, and there wasn't a whole lot of "Public" there. As it turns out, I was the only one to show up to speak on behalf of the guys at the dump. Ralph was there, and I knew he appreciated my coming.

After a few preliminary items on the agenda the time came for the public to speak. I stood up and introduced myself and gave my address and said I was there to speak on behalf of the crew at the Dump. I told the Board that my wife and I had moved to Derby seven years ago and if they gave out frequent flier miles for each trip to the dump we would have earned a trip around the world long ago. I spoke of the improvements that I've seen since the men were hired, and how helpful they are to everyone who comes there. "Some people come to work and do the minimum they have to in order to get their paycheck, and no more," I said. 'Not these guys. They take pride in their work. "They're conscientious and polite and do everything they can to help others." "I glanced over for a moment to look at Ralph, sitting in the back of the room. "I don't really know the men who work there. They're not personal friends or family members. I just wanted to publicly thank them for the wonderful job they were doing.." I thanked the members of the Board of Aldermen for the hard work that they do to serve the community, and sat down.

There was a time when people took pride in their work. They lived the old adage, "An honest day's work for an honest day's pay." When I see people who take pride in their work, I thank them. It doesn't make any difference what the work is. There is honor in doing any job right. No work is unimportant.
Sly and the Family Stone love everyday people. So does God. So do I.

The Other Shoe

        This morning I took my first load of sand to the dump. I was trying to get it in before it started rain. Sand weighs enough without being wet. Yesterday I gave copies of this chapter to Ralph and John and when I pulled up in front of the check in booth, Ralph called out with a big grin, "You're some kind of writer!" I got out of the car and walked over and we were both excited. Ralph wanted to tell me that he's going to take the chapter over for the Mayor to read after the dump closes. I wanted to tell him about the e-mail I received from my friend Rene in Paris. I e-mailed this chapter to Rene yesterday and there was a response waiting for me when I came down to my office this morning. Rene was as enthusiastic as Ralph. He particularly responded to the comments about people who only do the bare minimum at work to get their paycheck. Like many people, Rene doesn't enjoy his work. When he talks to his brother about
work, neither of them enjoy their work because they see all the political aspects of it. It's the same all over. Then Rene wrote:
"Still, yesterday I realized this sort of thinking makes me sad while my intellect tells me it's a good thing to be "aware".
Every once in a while, still, I'll go and do a little more than what I'm being paid for, just because it will help a co-worker or two. And that makes me feel good.
Last month I received my retirement results and it showed I still have 10 more years of work ahead of me before I can retire.
On one hand I can't wait, on the other hand, I believe I'd better make the best out of these 10 years, because my life is taking place now, not 10 years ahead."
When I told Ralph about this, his face really lit up. He wanted to talk about how good it feels to be helpful and treat people with respect. I told him:
        "So, here you are Ralph, trying to do the best job you can at the Derby Dump, and you've caused my friend Rene over in Paris to re-think how he approaches his work. That's the way it works."
   In Christ there is no East or West
   In Christ no South or North
   But one great commonwealth of love
   throughout the whole wide earth.
          In Christ There Is No East Or West Words by John Oxenham
(I asked Rene for permission to include the lines quoted above, and he enthusiastically agreed. Then he said, "The next time you see Ralph, tell him Rene says Hello.")

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: BusyBee Paul
Date: 11 Oct 09 - 02:46 PM

Jerry, you are still one very busy man, rain or no!. I think you are going to end up with a long list of people to say "Hello" to Ralph for - please add me to that list!.

Today is Sunday and I went into the works office tor a few hours to try to get caught up a little on the work backlog from my trip to Germany. Like your guys at the dump, I believe that if a job is worth doing, the it's worth doing well. And if that means a few extra hours here and there, then so be it. The company have been good to me the last few years when my parents have been ill and needed my presence. I hope the City of Derby guys realise that Ralph and John are to be treasured.

Deirdre

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 18 Oct 09 - 03:40 PM

Picture the scene.....a chilly October evening in a lovely garden somewhere deep in East Anglia. A gentle breeze stirs the branches, but inside the small, cozy marquee there are comfy lawn chairs, a couple of gas heaters and a gathering of Mudcatters including Billybob, well known on this thread!

We now have a new standard to reach at our kitchen table. Billybob and her husband supplied some excellect food from the bbq and then there was the pavlova (oooooo) and the other sweets supplied by the assembled guests.

The reason for this gathering was a Billybob house concert. It was great to meet up with her after too many years and to share songs and stories far into the night. We talked of Mudcat and this thread in particular and Jerry, I sang one of your songs in honour of the kitchen table. I'm not sure, but I think it was Jean who made the pavlova.....perhaps she'll make one for the kitchen table here!

It was a great night out....thanks Billybob.

Best wishes,

Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 18 Oct 09 - 04:07 PM

How nice to see you both. The last time I went to the dump, Ralph came out with a beat-up cardboard box and gave it to me, without muttering a word. It had about 2,000 blank sheets of typewriter paper. It was his way of saying that he appreciated what I'd written about him and John. I have a load of stuff from our garage to take down tomorrow, so I'll check to see if John's wife has had her baby. She was due today. Tough to deal with a new baby when you're in danger of losing your job. But then, John is a musician. He's intimately familiar with tough.

Pavlova? Don't much about him, but I remember his studies on his dogs.

It sounds like you all had a wonderful time, Peter.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: BusyBee Paul
Date: 18 Oct 09 - 04:10 PM

Peter, I'm licking my lips at the thought of the pavlova!.

It's been a lovely day in Gainsbrough too but I've spent most of today resting up after a hectic three weeks, culminating in the Gainsborough Folk Festival this weekend. I could have done with some of that pavlova to get my energy levels back up again!.

I can, however, add a bar of German hazlenut chocolate to the table :-).

Deirdre

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 18 Oct 09 - 08:44 PM

Well, it's been a while since I sat down, and I thought I'd let you all know that my shoulder is recovering nicely from the rotator cuff surgery back in July. Mind you, it's weaker'n Jerry's coffee, but I'm getting a good range of motion back. The surgeon says I have about three or four months(!) yet before I recover full functioning.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 18 Oct 09 - 08:58 PM

How great to see you in here, Rap! And I didn't even know you had rotator cuff surgery. Either that, or you mentioned it so long ago I've forgotten. It's good timing, though. The baseball season is almost over, so you won't be tempted to warm up in the bullpen and if you get the urge to play football, you can always play linebacker.

I just had a mug of my cofee and some cinammon toast, and it tasted pretty good. Maybe that's because it's been in the pot all day.

Don't stay away so long, buddy. It's always good to hear what you're up to. And besides, you missed the grilled peanut butter and banana sandwiches.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 19 Oct 09 - 04:28 PM

Glad to hear the surgery went well, Rapaire. That's good news. But weaker than Jerry's coffee? Grown men have been known to blinch when the kettle comes offn the old pot bellied stove! Nothing to be ashamed of there!

Now...how about some more of that pavlova?

Best wishes,

Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 19 Oct 09 - 09:10 PM

I posted a notice under National Book Award that my book, The Gate of Beautiful (several chapters of which grew out of this thread) was one of six Finalists in the religion category of the National Best Books Award for 2009. I didn't win, but it was an enormous honor to be one of the six finalists. Books were submitted all year from major publishers to small independent publishers who self-publish books, like mine. The odds of being one of the six finalists, being basically self-published, are too small to calculate. But I done it.

Kudos to the kitchen table. You can all stand up and take a bow.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 20 Oct 09 - 09:04 AM

One Pavlova on the table!
When we were running the Walton Festival, we had a lovely lady called Bobby who although white haired and a wren officer in WW2 ( so you can guess her age at the time) did not do folk music as she put it, but was brilliant at being a committee person, she did all sorts of helpful things from dashing round in her snazzy car and collecting the forgotten or lost items to sticking up posters. On the last night of the festival she would somehow produce a three course dinner on the stage for the committee. One year she managed to give us Christmas dinner, turkey with all the trimmings! But best of all was her Pavlova, gorgeous meringue with Lemon curd topped with double cream and cherries!!!Jane and I were honoured to be told the secret and we always do a Bobby meringue in her honour at a bit of a do, as we say over here! She also had a fabulous Tippsy pudding, soak sponge fingers in brandy and some more in Sherry , then line a tin with the sponge fingers with melted dark chocolate between the layers, set in fridge till hard, top with double cream and eat!!
Ok both are on the table... dig in.
Billy and I really enjoyed the evening, the singing stopped at Midnight and then we sat and talked till 3.15, old friends we havent seen, old friends that have passed away( too many) and happy memories of days gone by.We will have another house concert in the spring.
Mudcatters very welcome.
Wendy

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 20 Oct 09 - 11:03 AM

Sounds like a great, fattening evening, Wendy! Too bad we're so far away. House concerts are great fun. I've always enjoyed doing them, and attending them, too.

Do you sugar-free versions of those deserts? :-)

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 21 Oct 09 - 06:25 AM

I'm not usually up this early in the morning. I had to get up to write this down. The opening words may become a song. I suspect that what I'm posting here will become a chapter at some point. I'll know when it happens. If it happens. In the meantime, this is what woke me up:

    "There will never be another woods like this
    You will never be nine again
    There will come a time when all of your friends are gone
    And all of this will end"

God woke me up at four o'clock this morning. Or at least I believe it was God. The words came flowing into my mind unbidden, and I've learned from years of experience not to get in their way. When a song or a story is coming, it's best to let it come at its own pace. After lying in bed for a few minutes, snatching at phrases, ideas and memories, I realized it was time to get it up and stumble downstairs to my computer.

I could feel the gentle touch of God's hand on the elderly woman as she fumbled with the coins in her worn coin purse, looking for change at the check-out counter. And the images continued to flow. I could see an old man walking down a new street cutting through the woods where he played as a child. The woods were gone, and there was a nine year old boy lazily tossing a ball on the lawn of the newly mowed yard. Was that really the hill where he used to go sledding?

In my life the phrase "You can't go home again" has become more than the title of the Thomas Hardy book. There was a long, dark stretch of my life when I was estranged from my family where I took that phrase to mean that I could never go back to my home town and be reunited with my family. Over the years, the words have taken on a different meaning. You can't go home again, because "home" isn't there anymore. The house where I was born, just a block away from the woods we called Bunker Hill is still there. It's painted a different color now, and the row of lilac trees along the side of the house is just a faint memory. I can still smell the sweet fragrance wafting through the air as I stand there on the sidewalk. And "it's good to touch the green, green grass of home."

What was God trying to tell me? Why did he wake me up in the middle of the night? The only thing I could figure was that He wanted to remind me to rejoice in the moment, because in the blink of an eye it is gone.

I have a good friend who hates change. We had a long discussion late one night. In his eyes, there is no such thing as a change for the better: all change is for the worse. The problem is you can't hold back time. As they used to announce so dead-pan seriously in the movie theaters back when I was a kid when the newsreel came on, "Time Marches On." You might as well accept change as a friend. Once you accept change as a reality, then you can see the moment. You can look with fresh eyes at the world around you.

In the movies they sometimes show a lengthy scene where someone goes back to an earlier time in their lives. Whatever the story line, the person travels back to the past, vividly experiencing an old memory as if it was happening in the moment. Everything is seen with a brilliant clarity. The person sees as they have never seen before, and they recognize the beauty that had passed unnoticed. It's a moving experience that we can all identify with. But that's in the movies. In real life we wander through our days, not seeing the beauty around us. Back in the fifties, there was a song titled The Touch of God's Hand. Those were innocent days when religion was not used as a litmus test for political identification. God was still in the top forty. It was a good song, with a good message.

And that's it. I know I'll edit it, and more words will flow. There might even be a song in there. I know there's a message.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 21 Oct 09 - 06:36 AM

When the muse strikes......even if it is 4 o'clock in the morning...it'll brook no denial!

It would make a good song Jerry, and you are the one to write it. When you do, let me know, coz it sounds like one I would like to add to my repertoire!

Of course, you have already touched on this thought in your classic "Handful of Songs"

How many days pass away without notice?
How many friends do we lose on the way?
How many good times are taken for granted
And only remembered once they've passed away?

On another tack...could a tabler PM me? I don't think my PM system is working at the moment and it would be good to check!

Best wishes,

Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: maeve
Date: 21 Oct 09 - 06:45 AM

Test PM sent, Peter.

maeve

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 21 Oct 09 - 06:48 AM

So did I ;-)
Wendy

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: maeve
Date: 21 Oct 09 - 06:57 AM

I treasure those middle-of-the-night and early morning wake-up calls, Jerry. You are wise to trust the urge, and write it all down.

Banana bread, anyone?

maeve

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 21 Oct 09 - 10:25 AM

You're a perceptive man, Peter. Wherever this writing goes, I immediately saw it as an introduction to Handful of Songs... at least some parts of it. Two other thoughts that will be woven into this will be a conversation with a friend of mine whose father was long since dead. My friend and his father were at loggerheads most of their lives and had't made peace at the time the father died. My friend said he'd give a year of his life for just ten minutes to talk with his father and ask for forgiveness.

The other idea which seems particularly approriate for folkies is how wonderful our lives would be if we could be nostalgic for the present.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 21 Oct 09 - 10:52 PM

Who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks? I finally figured out my business card template and did a handsome new card tonight. It shouldn't have been so hard, but this is new "improved" software and I notice that the customer reviews are very critical about how hard it is to use. But, I figured it out, and I'm feeling darned right competent tonight. Maybe the adage should be old dogs forget orl tricks and have to figure the stupid things out all over again.

But then, have you ever tried to teach a new dog old tricks? They're not that great, either...

onward

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 22 Oct 09 - 07:30 AM

Hi Jerry
your comment about being nostalgic for the present got me to thinking!
We just had a lovely weekend as you know, with Waddon Pete and other friends, this next weekend we are celebrating my little grand daughters Christening with over 50 friends and family so I have been busy all week cooking for the lunch party we will have after the church service. Among the family will be my father, age 89, my mother 86, and my daughter and sons paturnal grandmother age 99.
A wonderful family gathering where I am sure a great deal of " do you remember" will take place. But of course this sunday will be a "do you remember" in years to come for all the young people celebrating with us.A time to enjoy the moment and rejoice we are all together! Thank you Jerry!!
Last slice of Pavlova on the table.
Wendy

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 24 Oct 09 - 05:12 PM

Hello all,

We made scones, so help yourselves.......

(They're scones with an 'o' as in stone, not an 'o' as in gone!)

There's jam to help them along!

Enough! Jerry...you need to check your PMs!

Best wishes,

Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 24 Oct 09 - 08:05 PM

I just checked and answered my PMs, Peter...

I also just threw away a package of scones (which I enjoy) because I noticed that the ones I bought were high in trans fats... I'm going to stick to skinny scones from now on.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 24 Oct 09 - 08:20 PM

Pulling out me recording equipment. I'm long overdue to make a couple of CDs. If I only had a brain.

How does that song go? hmmm....

"I can picture me, sitting on your knee, in my DVDs, aw Geez!"

Or something like that.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 24 Oct 09 - 08:36 PM

I am a ghostly stripper for the Library today.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: oldhippie
Date: 24 Oct 09 - 09:03 PM

Re: A&W

You could just buy Breyers A&W Root Beer Float ice cream. Scoop and eat.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 24 Oct 09 - 10:13 PM

Sounds good, oldhippie. But I have to control my sugar imput. I can mix sugar free Breyers vanilla ice cream with sugar free A & W or better yet, sugar free IBC rootbeer and get pretty much the same taste.

When I was a teenager I was a car hop at an A % W root beer stand. Interestingly, they had so much trouble with wild boys coming on to the girl car hops that they decided to only hire young men. Nobody ever came on to me. At least not that I noticed.

Rats!

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: VirginiaTam
Date: 25 Oct 09 - 01:27 PM

I pulled out a children's story I wrote a decade ago. The Trouble with Jeekalurp.

Been revising. Down to 16 pages now. Will try and find the illustrations and get them scanned. Maybe make a few more.

Then look into publication. Maybe.

I didn't know where else to share this info but I was busting to tell someone. Thank you for letting me do it in here.

The peanut butter oatmeal cookies I put on the table are still warm.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 25 Oct 09 - 02:42 PM

I'd love to read it, Tam. The publishing market is different for each genre, so I hae no ideas of how to get your story published, unless you do it through a print-on-demand publisher. Most book publishing companies have an unwritten policy that they only publish books by published authors (and no self-published authors.) That said, if you'd like to share the story I'd encourage you to publish it in whatever way is reasonable for you. Just the sharing is a great reward.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 25 Oct 09 - 03:26 PM

Yes, do share the story Tam...I'd like to read it too. It is often difficult to find the way in to the publishing world. A private arrangement advertised in the right publications could be the answer....but I'm no expert.

(The peanut butter oatmeal cookies were awesome!)

Best wishes,

Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: VirginiaTam
Date: 25 Oct 09 - 06:51 PM

It's a story of how a war almost erupted between two villages due to a number of factors, but starting (so the villagers thought) with the introduction of jeekalurp a sweet frothy dessert, which caused the men of only one village to grow beards. Then the weather changed and livelihoods were threatened and the men of the beardless village believed the four winds were offeneded by the way the jeekalurp was made.   The children of each village save the day, by putting the warring adult men to shame with their ingenuity and care for each other.

I need the fill in more detail about family gladsong and sadsong as performed at Ravdanoom the harvest holy days when the two villages meet on the plains to collect herbs and celebrate.

Well if I can find a place to upload it in total, maybe I will put a link here?

Thank you for the encouragement.   There's Reeses peanut butter chips in them cookies.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 26 Oct 09 - 03:04 PM

This is the start of a new chapter... a first, rough draft which will go through considerable editing, but the story is sweet.

Blessings Happen

        Many years ago, my wife Ruth and I were visiting a man from our church who was on the Sick and Shut-in list. He had a variety of serious health problems, including diabetes that had already cost him one leg. The diabetes had taken its toll on his heart, too and he had a pacemaker to keep it beating. Life was hard for him. He had a visiting nurse stop by once a day, but the rest of the time he was limited to his wheelchair. On one of our visits, the conversation wandered onto football. I expected that the man would be a New York Giants fan because where we were living at the time was so close to New York City. That wasn't the case. He loved the Green Bay Packers. I told him that my wife and I were going out to visit our family in Wisconsin and he became very excited and his eyes lit up.
"Will you bring back a Green Bay Packers cap for me? He asked.
"You can count on it! Jim" I answered.
"When will you be back?" he asked.
"In a couple of weeks" I replied. I knew he'd be counting the days.
When we returned from Wisconsin going to see Jim was one of our highest priorities. We didn't want to keep him waiting.
When we arrived at Jim's apartment we rang the doorbell and, a woman answered the door.
"We've come to visit Jim" I said, and I heard a faint voice from the other room.
"He's had a bad fall," she said. He just got home from the hospital."
"What happened," I asked.
"He fell out of his bed and couldn't get back up. He was lying on the floor until I came to visit the next day."   
When Ruth and I walked into the bedroom, Jim was lying on his side with his back facing us.
"Did you remember to bring me my Green Bay Packers cap?" he asked weakly.
"You know I wouldn't forget you, Jim," I answered. I walked around the side of his bed and leaned over. Gently lifting his head off the pillow, I slid the Green Bay Packers cap onto his head and softly laid his head back on the pillow.
"You're looking good, Jim!" I said, and a broad grin spread across his drawn face.
"You didn't forget!" he said. I think not forgetting was even more important than the cap. A couple of weeks later he was gone. I suspect he was wearing his Green Bay Packer cap when he walked up to St. Peter on two strong legs.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: BusyBee Paul
Date: 26 Oct 09 - 04:24 PM

More great stuff Jerry! Tam, please do post a link here when you get your story settled.

Deirdre

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: jimmyt
Date: 26 Oct 09 - 05:43 PM

Hope there is a fresh pot brewing Jerry. Got folk group rehearsal in 20 minutes. THey have stagnated to almost boredom. My do-wop   er rhythm and blues group is doing great, Jerry. Go about 50 songs ready for a gig thursday night.Another gig Saturday night. Have re grouped, changed piano men and added a terrific horn man just moved back to the area. Plays sax, flute and trumpet. Had our first rehearsal last night and he plays well both reading or faking in every key. We are so excited to have him.   Hope all is well with you and the lovely Ruth. Congrats on the book, Jerry! you are da man. Jayne and I are hanging in there. She is singing lots more with both groups and the crowds LOVE her voice. SHe is finally relaxed enough to just have fun with the music rather than being so self-critical. COme see us!   jimmyt

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 26 Oct 09 - 07:32 PM

Ladies and gentlemen, the Fabulous JimmyT has entered the kitchen! How great to see, Jimmy, even if I can't actually "see" you. I'm glad your doo wop group is doing so well.

This morning I dropped by the dump to talk with John. I asked him about his recording studio and he's enthusiastic about having me do some recording for a Songs From The Gate of Beautiful CD. It's even possible that I can get Joe and Frankie from the now sleeping Gospel Messengers to come up and record backup vocals on a few tracks.

Life is good. And in another week or so, I hope to have a first shot done of a website that a friend is doing for me. The Green Bay Packer cap story is the introduction to a chapter I'm writing on the goodness and generosity of people. Everything seems to be coming together these days. Maybe I'll finish another chapter I started titled The Graciousness of Strangers.

And het, the legendary JimmyT and the Thunderbirds are back at the table! It doesn't get any better than that.

Oh yeah,if that wasn't enough, I had a wonderful conversation with Waddon Pete. Oh waddon night!

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: VirginiaTam
Date: 27 Oct 09 - 03:34 PM

Well, I do have a 6 page sort of short story that is fiction based on fact. Quite humorous, though it doesn't resolve well. I could start posting here now in installments. Maybe you guys could help me with the ending?

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: VirginiaTam
Date: 27 Oct 09 - 03:38 PM

oops.. Forgot to mention that I enjoyed Jerry's sharing of Jim and the Green Bay Packers cap, experience. Lovely sad and sweet.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: VirginiaTam
Date: 27 Oct 09 - 05:20 PM

The Confessional
Part I
                                                                
In the dressing room at Sears, I heard them. In an acoustically ideal setting with high ceilings, thin walls and louvered doors, I heard the voices in the next stall. All I really wanted to do was find a couple of outfits suitable for teaching job interviews, and get the hell out of there. I hate shopping for clothes. I hate being forced to look into mirrors. Hate having to admit that the future comes too quickly, and that the present hardly exists. My memory of the past makes me unrecognizable every time I look into the wicked device. There is always a stranger looking back at me. But this time was different.   Instead of looking, the time I listened. I listened to everything that was said in the next stall in Central-Virginia, little, old, lady voices.

        "I'm going to have to stop for lunch soon, Melva. Breakfast is on its way out."

        "Didn't you go this morning before we left?" asks a voice almost identical in accent and antiquity.

That must be Melva, I thought as I sat on the bench and untied my Reeboks, little knowing that her question would prompt a more in depth response on the gastrointestinal regularity of her dressing stall mate, and not only that but that their conversation would have such a profound effect on me.

        "No! Breakfast would be gone and I'd be eatin' lunch now if I had.
Hmmmph! My stomach pokes out so, I look like I'm pregnant."

        "Well, maybe you are, Alice." Melva responded rather blandly.

        I didn't mean to listen, tried to ignore them as long as I could. I mean who would willingly listen to a Milk of Magnesia commercial in the making. But that pregnant bit, I mean these women had to be in their late 60's at least. I started really attending then. There was something about the dead-pan of their voices that held me in thrall.

        "Well, I don't know whose it could be."

        I was stunned. There was no joke in their voices. I simply couldn't comprehend southern women of this age behaving this way.   I mean they could have been my mother and my Aunt Dot. I began to suspect that these women were performing this little scenario in order to shock whoever might be listening in.   I flushed red and contemplated moving to a stall farther away, but I was already half undressed and to tell the truth I was fascinated. Unfortunately, their banter was punctuated by construction noises, as Sears ladies department was getting a face lift, so I really had to struggle to hear them.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: VirginiaTam
Date: 27 Oct 09 - 05:29 PM

The Confessional
Part II

"What if one of them workmen walks in while I'm dressing?" remarks Alice, "Likely scare him half to death." "Turn around and run I suppose."

By now I don't know why I'm surprised when Melva comes back with,
        "Less he likes what he sees, then he'll stay."

Why aren't they laughing, I wondered. I wished I could see their faces. I stopped undressing, and would-be writer that I am, I sat down on the bench and began rooting around in my handbag for pen and paper, hoping they would go on.   Melva did not disappoint.

        "Well would you just look... I put on two bras this morning. Wonder why I did that?"

        "Maybe you needed the extra support. I know I sure do."

        "There isn't a foundation garment made that could drag my bosom up off my belly, Alice. They should make breast suspenders for women like us."

        "Bet the Uniroyal Factory over in Scottsville has the materials for just such a bra. Let's design one and send it over to 'em."

        By now I was scribbling notes on the backs of sales receipts, in the margin of last week's church bulletin, even writing on tissues.   I dropped my pen when I heard them describing a black rubber bra that sounded like something from the back pages of Penthouse. The image of a senior citizen's sex catalogue crossed my mind. I did not have time to ponder the image. I was frantic trying to find another pen in my bag, as the one I had dropped rolled under the door. Eyebrow pencil in hand, I returned to scribing.

        "We'll be rich, quipped Melva, This provokes me though. I don't know why I put on two. I guess I was just senseless this morning."
                                        
        "Don't worry 'bout it. I've done dumber things. Last week I tried to start the car with the seat belt buckle. Tried to push it right on in to the ignition. Couldn't see why it wouldn't fit. Took me a bit to figure out I wasn't holdin' the car keys."

Oh my God, I thought. I've done that before. Maybe they aren't that old.    Or maybe I'm older than I think. Please say something to indicate your age. I was panic stricken at the idea that they might only be, as I was, in their mid thirties. Do I sound like that, I wondered?

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 27 Oct 09 - 07:42 PM

Your story is off to a delightful start, Tam. Keep posting it. You can post longer sections, too.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 28 Oct 09 - 12:20 PM

Anyone like a slice of Christening cake?
I have some left over from Sunday, what a beautiful day we had, the sun shone and it was almost as warm as summer. We shared the day with over fifty friends and family plus fifteen little ones.The village Church is very old and our mumber swelled the congregation ( very small village) who were very welcoming.Baby Prudence was asleep most of the service and did not cry when she awoke to Father Robert pouring Holy water over her head but actually smiled and clapped her hands!I was holding her older sister aged three, who said rather loudly" what is the green man doing to my little sister?" (Father Roberts robes were green and gold!)
It was a lovely service followed by a lunch in the Church Hall.
My daughter and son in law are so pleased to have moved into this village, everyone is so friendly without being nosey, and quite a few neighbours joined us for lunch.
Billy and I had entertained fourteen family on Saturday evening so we had a great family get together weekend, sorry Peter, no Pavlova left!
Wendy

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: VirginiaTam
Date: 28 Oct 09 - 03:11 PM

The Confessional
Part III

"Oh, you were just distracted. What were you thinkin' about, Alice?"

        "Don't remember, but these silly things we do at our age puts me to mind of something. You remember Miss Winnie Jewell?"

        "How could I forget. She was the sourest old Sunday School teacher we ever had."

        "Yes, baptized in vinegar as they say. You like this paisley Melva, or is it too busy?"

        "Depends on what you where it with. What about Miss Winnie?"

        "Oh yes. Well you remember them pill box hats we used to wear to church, with the veils in front?"

        "UhHuh."
        
        "Well, Miss Winnie had that god-awful, cobalt blue thing. 'Member, with the peacock feathers in it?"

        "No, I don't recall that hat."

        "It may have been before you joined the church. Anyway it had a dark, grey veil. One Sunday we were taking Communion. Well, I wasn't 'cause I hadn't accepted yet, only 17 at the time. Miss Winnie, she was old then."

        "I know! She must've invented dirt. Here zip this up in back there."

        " 'Xactly! Well, when they were partakin' of the Body, Miss Winnie just popped that little cracker into her mouth, without liftin' the veil. She was just munchin' along when all of a sudden she fell out of the pew and onto her knees, fairly screaming, 'Praise be unto Gawd. He's holden' mah face, and the room is growin' dahkuh.' Well anyone with the sense of a post could see what happened. But she just kept on with 'the crackuh has a diffe'rnt textuh. Surely Gawd is callin' me foh some good purpose.'   And she rolled her eyes and said to the ceiling, 'but Ah'm unwuthy Lord.' And she swooned away.

        "Alice! She ate her veil?"

        "Yes, and thought she was having a religious experience. Melva, I like that dress. Coral suits you, it's a very good color."

        Tears of mirth were streaming down my face at this point. My sides were aching from holding the laughter in. I knelt on the floor and used the little bench as a writing desk. I must record it, all of it.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: VirginiaTam
Date: 28 Oct 09 - 03:17 PM

The Confessional
Part IV

        "Well Melva, you remember what the church was like back then. None of that Holy-rolling, talkin' in tongues business."

        "Yes and Miss Winnie must've worn the tightest girdle of all them WMU ladies."

        "That's why it was so peculiar. When she realized what she'd done she went the most perfect scarlet. With that blue hat on she looked like the Fourth of July."

        "Oh for a picture. Why didn't you tell me this before."

        "Didn't I? Anyway she was a sight. Miz Straightlaces all undone and on the floor, with her hat all cockeyed and crushed under her head. The veil wet with gnaw holes and bits of the body of Christ stuck all over it. Reverend Maynard Bartow on one side of her pattin' her hand and Deacon Rickman on the other, moppin his forehead with that specially monogrammed hankie he always carried in his breast pocket. I thought he was likely to faint too, from the way he was carryin' on."

        "I do remember hearing something 'bout him bein' sweet on her. I don't like the way this dress bunches around the middle."

        "Pretty fabric though Melva, you could wear a sweater or blazer over it."

        "What happened with Winnie and the Deacon? Were they ever 'seein' each other?"

        "Nothin' as far as I know. I never heard nor saw anything suspicious about them. Wonder why they never got together. Him bein' widowed and her never married. I think he could have mellowed her some."

        "Yes he was a nice man. I remember he always had penny candy in his pockets to give to any children who'd memorized a new Bible verse."

        "Maybe that's why. Maybe she didn't want to be mellowed. Or maybe she didn't want to appear foolish, after all they were quite old."

        "That's sounds more like Winnie."

        "Which one?"

        "Oh, the lilac one. I like it much better than that traffic light yellow."

        "Not the blouse, Melva. Which one sounds more like Winnie?"

        "Oh! Well you were holding up the two shirts so I thought you meant....... never mind. I think Winnie was more worried about her standing in the community than about happiness."

        "Why do you think so?"

        "Just think about it Alice. Those Sunday School lessons. Every other one she'd say, 'Children! Keep your hearts and your minds open and clean as an empty book. Let Gawd have the only pen that can write in you, foh he wull put only good things theyuh.'   And all with that milk-curdling scowl."

        "And a voice to crack concrete." You're right. She just enjoyed bein' mean too much.   I remember that Joe Dyerle, runnin' around after church apin' her. "

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: VirginiaTam
Date: 28 Oct 09 - 04:03 PM

The Confessional
Part V (final)

Arrrghh! What happened to Winnie Jewell? Alice, you can't leave me hanging like this. I need to know why she became the woman Alice and Melva described. I wasn't permitted to remain in this reverie though, because both women suddenly chimed Joe Dyerle's chant in unison and started chuckling.
        
        "Children should have empty heads so ……..
life can stomp 'um like cana'lopes."

        "He always was a rascally boy."

        "Yes Alice, but the best lookin' one in the entire Intermediate Department. Too bad about him gettin the polio."

Oh please stop, I prayed.    I can't take yet another character. Winnie Jewell is quite enough for the moment.   Besides, I am getting a terrible cramp in my thighs, and my feet are going to sleep.

        "Wonder why she was such a crabapple and why she never married.? Well, I gotta go to the ladies. Think I'll just get this lilac blouse."

        "I'm about ready for lunch. How does Morrison's Cafeteria sound?"
        
God must have been listening to my prayer.   A shudder went through me as I visualized the picture He might be looking down on. Me, half clothed, kneeling, though not penitently, in this little stall, greedily taking down a private conversation.   

        "Good. Today's liver an' onions. You gonna get that coral dress?"

        "What? I've no need for new clothes at my time of life."

        "Then why'd you ask me out shopping, Melva Morene?"

        "Why for the sparkling conversation. You know Hank never was very chatty and since the stroke he doesn't say much of anything these days."

I heard their door click and the padding of their soft-soled shoes. I prayed they wouldn't see my pen on the floor outside the door. Horrified, I watched as the toe of a tan orthopedic shoe nudged my errant Bic back under the door of my stall. I shrank back to the far wall, praying there would not be knock or comment. The tan shoes moved on.

Gasping for breath and stomping the tingles out of my feet and lower legs, I sorted through my notes, added bits of what I remembered but didn't have time to write. Hoping I got enough down to tickle my memory so I could fill in details later.

        I'm not usually nosy.   I just couldn't help myself. I had the most peculiar feeling I was listening to my own future. I shouldn't have sneered at their quaint voices and regionalized personalities because they are what I will be in a little over a score of years. I guess what amazed me is that I truly had to fight the urge to follow them to Morrison's. I wanted to learn more about them and about the 'me' that I was to become.    Winnie Jewell and a parade of her acquaintances teased my imagination. Only Melva and Alice could satisfy my curiosity.

I needed closure.   There was nothing left for me to do but to concoct an explanation for Winnie's personality. It seems I'm not finished writing yet. Maybe, I'll never be. I dressed myself, half heartedly selected one of the outfits for purchase and left that "confessional" wondering what my penance should be.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: VirginiaTam
Date: 28 Oct 09 - 04:05 PM

Whew! Thanks for letting me play and for the encouragement.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: GUEST
Date: 28 Oct 09 - 04:21 PM

Jaynesendsher best to you and RUth, JErry. Tam, the story is great! Jerry I enjoyed the sweet story about the Packers cap as well. I feel like I am in the presence of master storytellers here! Think I will take my shoes off and kick back for a while!

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 28 Oct 09 - 04:52 PM

The story is BRILLIANT, Tam! You must be channeling Flannery O'connor. The story makes me laugh, remembering an incident in a store when I was buying a piece of lingerie for my wife. The woman who waited on me was probably in her 60's (which seemed quite old at the time.) When I expressed interest in a particular item, she held it up in front of her so I could see what it looked like "on." The other saleswomen in the store were of similar vintage or older (maybe even as old as I am now) and they all burst into face-flushing giggles. I imagine they retold the whole experience many times over, with northern accents...

Hey, Jim:

I'm glad you enjoyed the Green Bay Packers story. I'm getting more background on the man, whose name I've long since forgotten. I just called him Jim because the name carries such prestige. As it turns out, his name was Curtis Cowan. My friend Frankie from the Messengers remembered it. I'm going to find out who he was, as I didn't know him at all. His nickname was "Peewee," and he was active in my church, long before my coming. I may want to include a little about his life and how he came to be living alone in a modest apartment.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: VirginiaTam
Date: 29 Oct 09 - 11:43 AM

Hi Jerry

Actually that little fiction is based on a lot of random facts squished together.

I really did purposely eavesdrop on a conversation between to elderly ladies in Sear dressing room. They did talk about the workman surprising them in mid dress. My Mom has warn two bra's all day and didn't realise it. She also tried to start the car with seat belt. So have I. My Mom's twin ate her veil during communion and nearly passed out thinking she was having a religious experience. Melva, Alice, Winnie Jewell, Joe Dyerle, Rickman, Bartow and Maynard mixed names of real people, I just put the bits together and embellished.

Joe Dyerle (pronounced die early) would have been my ex spouse's great uncle but he actually did die at 14 or 15 from polio. Odd huh?

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 29 Oct 09 - 01:14 PM

Hey, Virginia:

Your post reminded of something I wrote awhile back about memories. Here it is:

About Memories

Memories have a life of their own. Through the years, each of the family's memories become interwoven into a single history. Never mind that they may not be accurate. They are right, which is even more important than being accurate. Memories become family myths and legends, accepted as being true. They make sense out of lives that sometimes don't make any sense. In incorporating family memories into the songs that I've written, I've taken memories without regard to whose memories they are, or when and where the events occurred. They are all a part of a whole.

In writing Uncle Jim for example, the song really isn't about Uncle Jim, as such, even though he and his son Howard are in the first verse. Farm life was farm life, and my memories of spending time on my Uncle Jim's farm merge with memories of times spent at my Uncle Ross's and my Grandfather Holliday's farms (both my memories and those of my Mothers.) The verse:

   "Old Uncle Jim he sits, sits in his chair he sits
    Reading Reader's Digest for the fourteenth time
    Puffing on a bowl of old Prince Albert
    And sipping on some elderberry wine
    And the kids will all be sitting 'round the Motorola
    Listening to their favorite show
    Sitting, swapping dares to be the first upstairs
    And trying not to shiver, 'cause the floors are cold"

has enough memories for the whole family, stretched out over a couple of generations. It was my Father who read Reader's Digest for the fourteenth time. I remember the small smoking cabinet that sat next to his chair. It was my Father's chair and none of us were comfortable sitting there. If we dared to sit in the chair, we'd immediately get up and offer it to my Father if he entered the room. The smoking cabinet doubled as a magazine rack, with slots on the sides. It stood on spindly legs, and was made out of cherry wood, darkened to a deep reddish-brown over the years. If you opened the small door on the front of the cabinet, there was a single compartment, lined with copper where my Father kept his Prince Albert and his pipes. And what about my Uncle Jim? I don't know whether he smoked Prince Albert, or not. I don't even know if he smoked a pipe. But Prince Albert and Reader's Digest were part of a time and place I remember well. The elderberry wine is a memory of my Father, too. My Father made wine in the basement. Our basement had just a dirt floor when I was a kid. It was a mysterious, musty, dark place. In order to get into the furnace room, you had to walk through the darkest of no-man's lands and feel your way over to the cord hanging from the bare light bulb in the center of the furnace room. We had a long row of elderberry bushes along one side of the house, and my Father would harvest them in the fall, crushing their small dark, pungent berries into a paste to ferment for wine. Many years later, long after I'd left home I made elderberry wine. I was smoking a pipe in those days, although Prince Albert was too harsh for my taste. And I must admit, I wasn't reading Readers Digest, even one time. But all of those memories have become a part of who I am.

The Motorola? We had a Motorola when I was a kid. Or at least I remember that our large, floor radio was a Motorola. That's enough for me. Whatever brand it was, it had a large, raised green dome with a map of the earth on it. Gazing at that eerie green light, North and South American would merge into a strange-looking genie. I suppose that makes sense, as the radio took us to amazing places. My sisters and I would lie on the rug in our living room, listening to our favorites mysteries like The Shadow, and The Whistler, or be scared out of our wits by Inner Sanctum.   Or perhaps it would be The Hit Parade, which we listened to faithfully every week to see what the number one song in the nation was. Maybe Mom would make a batch of Divinity, chocolate or wintergreen fudge and a large bowl of popcorn for us to nurse through the night. The kids in Uncle Jim were me, my sisters, Mom and a couple of my Aunts when they were little kids, and my cousins Howard and Robert. In my memory, we all grew up together. The part about swapping dares to be the first upstairs is Mom's memory of her life on the Waterman Farm. Never mind that they didn't have electricity, so she and her sisters couldn't have been sitting listening to that Motorola. It wasn't me, either, because we didn't have an upstairs, unless you counted the attic, which you could only reach by climbing a ladder, propped precariously over the stairway leading down into the basement. I knew about "shivering, 'cause the floors were cold," though. We only had two bedrooms in our house, and me being the youngest, I migrated from an enclosed section of our front porch during the summer, to the living room or dining room in the winter. The porch was on posts, with nothing between the floor and the ground except cold Wisconsin air. But, it was the only room I ever had of my own, growing up and I'd stick it out as far into the winter as I could. I'd stand in the living room next to the door leading out onto the porch and brace myself for the cold blast of air when I'd open the door. I'd hop across that floor like I was running across an iceberg and dive into bed, crunching myself into the smallest possible ball. Then slowly, I'd venture a toe out under the covers, and wait until it was warm there, taking a few minutes to finally get the bed warm enough to stretch out. My Grandmother Holliday heated rocks in the stove to warm my Mother's bed out there on the Waterman Farm. It never occurred to me to ask Mom to heat rocks in our kitchen stove to heat my bed.

The third verse of Uncle Jim is another collection of family memories:

   "After all the work was done, down by the cow pond
    The kids would all go sliding through the old corn fields
    Waiting for the bell to call them home to supper
    And racing old Buster down the hill
    And Jim would just be finishing the evening chores
    He'd be working by the back yard light
    And even though it's late, you know the stock can't wait
    You've got to get 'em bedded down for a Winter's night

Now, Buster was Mom's dog, long since dead. He wasn't a Stephen King monster chasing the kids down the hill, with red eyes glowing like coals. It wasn't Jim finishing the evening chores, either. It was my Uncle Ross. I can still picture the barn on my Uncle Ross's farm. When I was a kid, it was my cousin Robert I who'd come racing back to the house at dark. If we were lucky, my Aunt Ruth would have freshly-made molasses cookies and ice cream waiting for us.

And that's how memories work. It's easy to understand how through time, family memories become as much myths and legends as actual memories.It's the shared memories that make us families.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: VirginiaTam
Date: 29 Oct 09 - 04:06 PM

Wow Jerry

How do you do that? Draw up memories, condense them without making them seem trite or forced.

You tweaked some of mine. We would have candy making weekends when the whole house smelled of divinity, seafoam, fudge, peanut brittle, Martha Washington candy. I miss that.

And my dad's usual pipe tobacco (when he wasn't smoking unfiltered Camels) was Walter Raliegh and he had a lovely cherry wood revolving pipe caddy. We kids used to love sniffing each bowl. He used a different pipe for different tobaccos.

Our basement was refurbished into family room, Bar, TV and furniture one end, play room the other. It had linoleum floor and we kids were always being hollered at for skating on it. Sidewalk skates with key and little metal wheels. The basement was huge (nearly the whole of a ranch style house) so lots of rambunctious activity took place there. Lots of places to hide in the whole house, but the basement was best. My favourite was the shelves inside my dad's bar. I could squish in between the box of photographs and the box of plastic cups, napkins, swizzle sticks and stuff. My brother would set up tickle machines, He would lie on his stomach across one or 2 chairs and we little ones would have crawl through the contraption as fast as we could without getting tickled. Or he would hide under an army blanket and play glob. We would all scurry about, trying to get past him without getting caught. Or he would pretend to be a TV set. He would launch into a reenactment of some show or commercial and whenever anyone said click, he changed channels. It was hilarious, because it would make unlikely sentence combinations, like

Today's guest on the Merv Griffin show is, click, Snap, Crackle and Pop, click and brought to by, click Oh a Kid'll eat the middle of an Oreo first and save the chocolate cookie outside for, click, Let's Make a Deal. We would be rolling.

But my favorite game was when I got to be giant. Whenever I had ear infections and colds etc. I would be put downstairs on the sofa, in a bundle of warm clothes out of the dryer, where all the laundering and ironing etc was going on. Big bro, used to pretend to be tiny little person on the floor and every time I coughed or sneezed, he would go rolling away like a tumbleweed, grab onto the pole in the center of the room and hang on for dear life, while I hooted and guffawed.


The name Buster put me to mind of about a quarter of my wardrobe. I had Buster Brown skirts, shorts and tops. I always called my Buster Brown skirts Olive Oyl skirts, because they had that double stripe trim at the hem.


Smell smell butter sugar caramel
Roasting peanuts for a Saturday candy carousel

Turn turn Daddy's tobacco toy
Fiddle with pipes, make a pipe cleaner boy

Play play the seeking game, hide
Crawl under the chairs for the tickle man ride



WOW!! I did it! Sort of.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 29 Oct 09 - 06:46 PM

How do I do that, Virginia? Easy: I try not to think too much. :-)

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 31 Oct 09 - 02:37 PM

Tonight is Halloween, and we're ready. I've always enjoyed the holiday, as a kid and as an adult. We get over 200 kids on a typical Halloween but we might run less than that this year because it's going to be raining. Probably the best Halloween I've ever had was
four or five years ago when the Shellback Chorus was over here. Colin Kemp, Noreen, Theresa Tooley and Carole Etherington were at our house and they had a great time going to the door with their masks on and giving candy to the kids.

Maybe I'll watch The Body Snatcher with Boris Karloff after the kids stop coming. It's one of my favorite stories. This morning they were showing Dead of Night... the English anthology of supernatural stories. It's another of my favorites.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 31 Oct 09 - 05:17 PM

I enjoyed your story, Tam. Ingenious! Thanks for sharing it with us.

Jerry, I guess we'll have a quiet time over here as well. There is mist and rain here too. Now, Quatermass and the Pit...there's a good film for Halloween!

They had some cakes in our local bakery with "Happy Halloween" on them. Struck me as a bit odd! See what you think. I've left a plateful on the table.

Best wishes,

Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: MickyMan
Date: 31 Oct 09 - 08:07 PM

Yes Jerry,
It's Halloween night here in Eastern CT (Colchester), and although rain was also predicted here we have only gotten a few minutes of mist. The full moon has been peeking through the clouds every once in a while and the trick or treaters are out in pretty good numbers. We get 60-75 here and so it's worth my while to bring down the box of decorations and do the porch up for them. We have some fake gravestones I made many years ago, a plastic motion activated skull that starts clacking its teeth, a couple of hanging tapestries, a wrought iron owl with a candle inside, a chandelier with a skull for a base, and assorted other Halloween stuff. The great thing about Halloween is that all decorations are measured by their effectiveness on the young ones, so all kinds of homemade and storebought stuff fits the bill ... the gaudier the better. I stay away from the blood and gore though, and try to pitch it to the little ones. Hey ...its good to set the mood, and the kids seem to appreciate it. It's actually turned out to be a perfect, balmy Halloween. All the best to everyone!

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Alice
Date: 31 Oct 09 - 08:49 PM

The kids in our neighborhood have all grown up, so I will have to wait for the next crop of babies to be old enough to trick or treat in a few years. I am ready with some treats, but so far no one has come to the door.

I recall a Halloween when I was about ten years old. We were in eastern Montana, about 300 miles from our home in Helena, western Montana, visiting an aunt and uncle in the little town of Roundup.

I was the only child young enough to trick or treat, and was sad that I might miss it, so we came up with a costume of some kind and my dad drove me down the hill to a few houses near my aunt's. I went up to the door and said "trick or treat". The man asked, "Where did you come from?" I said, "Helena". He jumped back in shock and called everyone to the door to see the trick or treater who came all the way from Helena.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 31 Oct 09 - 11:22 PM

We ended up getting 104 kids... a major drop off from recent years when we've had more than 200. The best thing was that early in the evening the rain held off, so most of the really little kids had a chance to go trick or treating. The first kids were a little later this year, around 6:15 or so, and around 8:15 it started raining hard and the streets cleared off.

Anyone want 140 pieces of candy?

And, welcome to the table, Mickey Man.

My first year living in New York City I bought a lot of candy and popcorn balls figuring at least the kids in my apartment complex would come to the door. Not a single kid came, so I went out on the street, armed with popcorn balls and candy. There were kids sitting on the stoop, but they' wouldn't take any of the candy. Probably figured I was some sort of pervert. When I offered the candy to kids on the street they said, "Naw, man... give us money!"

Where have all the flowers gone?

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 02 Nov 09 - 07:23 AM

Morning all, really lovely and warm here in sunny Frinton!
We had a Halloween party with the grand children, my daughter dressed the two little girls as pumpkins, and they had six little people to tea, green egg sandwiches and jelly with plastic creatures floating around.We were saying that until recently that the shops never had anything for Halloween but now they are full of decorations and dressing up clothes, getting more like America day by day.

Billy and I celebrated our 22nd wedding anniversary on Saturday evening with an Indian take away and bottle of wine, and watched fireworks from the houses at the back of us. Guy Fawkes day is on the 5th but we seem to have firework week rather than one day!
Billy has his 6 months check up at the hospital on Wednesday so positive thoughts would be gratfully recieved!
Coffee is very hot ... be careful.
Wendy

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 04 Nov 09 - 09:36 AM

Just back from the hospital and the good news is they do not want to see Billy for a year!!
Celebration cakes all round
Wendy

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: VirginiaTam
Date: 04 Nov 09 - 02:48 PM

Woohoot! Excellent news Wendy. Long may it reign.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: BusyBee Paul
Date: 04 Nov 09 - 03:13 PM

Great news Wendy.

It's interesting reading all your views on Hallowe'en. We've noticed it getting more popular in the last few years in the UK, where previously we had our bigger celebration 5 days later on Guy Fawkes (Bonfire) Night. I have to say that I personally find Hallowe'en a disturbing event - I was brought up to "celebrate" All Soul's Day on 1st November. I wonder how many people know that Hallowe'en is All Hallow's Eve and what that stands for?.

Just wondering.

Deirdre

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 04 Nov 09 - 03:23 PM

Yes Wendy...good news indeed!

I remember when I was young that we didn't use pumpkins to make our lanterns. We used a swede. I can still smell the burnt swede from the candle. One of those evocative smells.

I was interested to see that there were a lot of unused pumpkins left to rot this year....

Best wishes,

Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 04 Nov 09 - 06:30 PM

What great news, Wendy!!!!!!!!!! Pass a few Huzzzahs on to Billy Bob for us.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 06 Nov 09 - 08:12 PM

Just when you think... When my book was published last February I put a great deal of energy into promoting it. I created a promotional package that I sent out to several newspapers and area churches, and hand delivered to several book stores in the area. I did get two newpaper reviews, and one bookstore singing. That was it.
Fast forward six month or so. Last week I mailed out 30 promotional packages to area churches. It's too early to know if I'll get any responses, but the day I mailed them out I got a call from one of the churches I sent the package to last February.

You'd hardly call all of this a landswell.

Today, I took the package to three libraries in the area, and stopped by the one bookstore that gave me a book signing last March. All in all, it took about a half an hour. I already have two commitments for a concert/book signing at libraries and the third person seemed very enthusiastic. I feel pretty confident that the Director will call me back very soon with a date. The bookstore? I'm going to do a folk-gospel concert there after the first of the year.
A half an hour and four bookings.

Ya never know.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 10 Nov 09 - 07:29 AM

Thanks for your good thoughts all,I have passed them on to Billy :-)

I too was brought up to celebrate All Souls Day Deirdre, or All Saints Day. But October 31st is our wedding anniversary so we have had quite a few parties on that day over the years , also means that Billy does not forget the date!

We went for a really long walk on the beach yesterday, beautiful sunshine and not too cold, came home to hot chocolate and cake.( I will leave some on the table.
Wendy

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 14 Nov 09 - 04:30 PM

I bet it's not beautiful sunshine now, Wendy! There's a gale a-blowing with the rain slamming down. Just the weather to roar out a defiant sea song to the elements or sing Bob Coltman's "Patrick Spenser"!

Have you noticed how some songs sound really special when sung in certain locations (and weathers?) So... I'm tucked up indoors with a glass of wine and a new (to me) Gordon Bok CD and all is right with the world. Let the weather do its worst. Throw another log on the fire Jerry and let's mis-remember the good ol' days!

Best wishes,

Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 15 Nov 09 - 07:29 PM

Hey, Peter: Gordon is a good friend, and he just had his 70th birthday party. He's a good man, always having enough time to encourage newcomers.

Last night, my friend Susan Trump and I split an evening at the U'n
I coffee house in Springfield, Mass. Driving up from Derby, we fought our way through stretches of driving rain and fog which last well into the night. It definitely was not a night to go out, but we had a real good turnout and a wonderful evening. I've know Susan for many years since I booked her a couple of times in my concert series. She added harmonies on a couple of songs I did for a gospel album I never released and she's recorded at least four songs I've written. She'd never met Ruth and I'd never met her husband Jack. They just celebrated their 7yh wedding anniversary, so you can tell it's been a long time since we've seen each other. The crowd was warm and receptive and I sold some books and CDs, as did Susan. A great night.

I might have to do this more often.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: maeve
Date: 16 Nov 09 - 04:38 PM

Jerry said, "Hey, Peter: Gordon is a good friend, and he just had his 70th birthday party. He's a good man, always having enough time to encourage newcomers."

I can vouch for that. Gordon has a way listening underneath the surface, and finding the kernal of gold that can become a thing of beauty. Wicked sense of humor there, too.

Homemade apple pie and vanilla ice cream are there on the table. Pass your plates across and I'll serve up a few slices.

maeve

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 19 Nov 09 - 07:14 AM

That apple pie was lovely thank you.
Popped into the kitchen but no one home, so I have put another log on the fire and made some new coffee, the pot was cold!

Another beautiful sunny day here on the Essex coast,but lots of men in yellow jackets with theodolites marking out the pavements and road ready to install a new gas main! The rumour is they are starting the digging before Christmas and it will take six weeks, it is bad enough keeping a business going here in the winter but with the road dug up it is going to be a worry!Also they will have to turn off the gas so I cannot seee clients having aromatherapy in a cold treatment room.

Never mind count my blessings and enjoy the sunshine!
Wendy

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 19 Nov 09 - 12:22 PM

Theodolites! Man, there's a word from the past. I was thinking about the mapping course I took for Geology in college. We used theodolites, but I couldn't remember the word. And there it is on your post, Wendy.

Thanks for refreshing the coffee. I'm going to mix up a batch of oatmeal/raising cookies today or tomorrow. I'll put a few out on the table.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 24 Nov 09 - 11:45 AM

You'd better come on in the kitchen, because it's going to be nasty outside. I've been spending some time on a thread I started about the tradition in all music, and what it means, and got caught in the cross-fire of pedants. Time to come back in the kitchen, brew a hot mug of tea and have one of the whole wheat blueberry muffins I baked yesterday. Help yourself. I'm on a whole wheat quest, vowing that anything baked with white flour will never sully my tongue. (Where in the world does the word "sully" come from?) I've been lured onto the rocks by "No Sugar Added" baked goods, conveniently forgetting for awhile that when you put white flour in your body it is almost instantly converted into sugar. No Sugar Added baked goods are much healthier for you if you don't eat them. This is my second shot at whole wheat, stone ground blueberry muffins. The first batch turned out to be perfect for knocking someone unconcious at fifty paces if you have a good pitching arm. These are much better. I'll leave some on the table and after Thanksgiving make a double batch of oatmeal raisin-walnut cookies.

I'm starting to work on our Christmas card and it is an invitation to "sit at the Welcome Table." I always liked that concept of Heaven. It has the biggest kitchen table you've ever seen and you can "eat and never get hungry." Or get diabetes or be overweight. "Sign me up for the Christian Jubilee."

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 25 Nov 09 - 05:56 AM

Hello Jerry,

"Caught in the cross-fire of pedants".... what a lovely word picture! Yes, it was a shame that happened...still...let's spread the table with goodies, including your blueberry muffins (not the ones you baked especially for the baseball season (!)brew some good coffee and put the world to rights. We might also meditate on the fact that the wind is wuthering round the gables and the leaves are swirling across the street and piling up in drifts by the gate. There was* nothing better than kicking through the dry leaves when we were kids. If they are wet, you looked out for some of the really big ones...the ones that had landed and trapped some water underneath. If you stamped on them you could make quite a splash (which annoyed those wearing white socks as I recall!)

One day...one day....we must get the kitchen tablers together in reality! Now what a day that would be!

Best wishes.

Peter

*still is, if I'm honest!

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 25 Nov 09 - 10:49 AM

Hey, Peter. I could have said "The pedants are revolting," but I didn't want to stoop to their level.

Yeah, it would be a great thing if we could all gather around our kitchen table here in Derby, or any other assigned table. Unfortunately, that's about as possible as a Beatles reunion. Now, a serial gathering is always a possibility. We are a convenient, relatively inexpensive trainride from Grand Central Station in New York City, so if anyone is coming over to New York, we are a definite possibility for an in-person session at our kitchen table. On rare occasion we get up into northern New England, so there's always a possibility of getting together around the kitchen table of one of our friends up in that area.

The reality of life is that I only see my family once every couple of years because they are a thousand miles away and they don't travel, so it's up to us to get out to see them. Ruth's side of our family is almost almost all "local" so we get a chance to visit with them all the time. Tomorrow we're driving down to Queens, one of the boroughs of New York City) for Thanksgiving and will be with thirty or forty family members. On Christmas, they'll all be at our house, so there'lll be plenty of opportunity for table talk.

If you or any of the other table folks get over this way, remember that you are always welcome.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 25 Nov 09 - 02:33 PM

Jerry, have a wonderful Thanksgiving tomorrow. I always feel sad that we are not with Billy's family for thanksgiving in New Jersey at this time of the year. When his mother was alive all the family would gather at her house, last time we were able to visit her for Thanksgiving there were over 40 , sisters , brothers in law and nieces and nephews, lovely treasured memories.
Enjoy the turkey and pumpkin pies and think of us over in England , no holiday here just a normal working Thursday.
Wendy

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 28 Nov 09 - 04:32 PM

So....how was Thanksgiving? As Wendy remarked, it was just an ordinary working day over here.

It was good to see Dan back on Mudcat on your "other thread", Jerry. Let's try and steer him towards our kitchen table. I hear he brews a mean cup of coffee!

Thought I'd share this with you all. In my line of work, when you are throwing words at the page at a fearful rate, you can't always get things right. One correspondent noted that I had used the wrong spelling of stationery. (Stationary and stationery). That led to this revelation:

"No matter how hard you push the envelope, it is still stationery!"

Anyone know any others like this?

I've left some apple crumble on the table. Dig in!

Best wishes,

Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 28 Nov 09 - 06:45 PM

Hey, Pete: We had a wonderful thanksgiving. To be specific, the traffic driving down to Queens was light, so we made it in just less than an hour and forty five minutes. Same on the way back. My son and daughter-in-law came down later and it took them a few minutes short of forever to get there from closer than we are. I'm not much of a big crowd type, and there close to forty people in my brother-in-law and sister-in-law's small house. I really enjoy all the family, and I appreciate having them nearby as my side of our family are more than a thousand miles away and I only get to see them every two years, if that. But, I'm more of a kitchen table type. I enjoy conversations among a small number of people, and that's usually not possible in a large gathering. This Thanksgiving was different. One of my favorite human beings on earth is my brother-in-law Everett and he came early. Everett, Ari (short for Ariezelma) and I had a long discussion about the good things about getting old. Ari almost died a year ago from heart problems and is half the size she used to be, but she is full of life to the point of overflowing all over everyone. Everett has more health problems than he can count on both hands and feet, but both of them are enjoying life thoroughly. We ended up talking about all the things you CAN do when you get old. That's not the usual conversation for old folks. They want to sit around exchanging war stories about all their operations. Later in the day, those conversations raged for about an hour, and I managed to slip away. Everett is my most enthusiastic reader, and he is one of the funiest, most joyful people I've ever met. He calls me every couple of weeks, wanting more to read. He's sold fifteen copies of my book to other residents of the senior center in Brooklyn where he lives, and can hardly wait until I finish my next book. I don't write like that. I have to live it, and then I write it. Living takes time. So, I brought him every scrap of writing I've done in the last couple of months... one page stories, unfinished chapters, outlines and quotes. He said he'd call me on Monday and ask when I was going to send him more stuff.

And that's the way the day went for me. I got into a long, respectful discussion about the Muslim faith with Ari and Everett, and when my son-in-law Pasha arrived, I got him aside and told him that I'd clarified the difference between Sunnis and Shiites and how different the two branches of Islam are and he said, "You've only been in our family a few years and you know more about Islam than any of the rest of the family." Not quite true, because my daughter-in-law who is a Baptist Minister was a Muslim for about ten years. But, I probably know more than anyone else in the family.

I spent some time with my brother-in-law's son-in-law talking about my book, and some of the stories I've been writing for the new one, and it opened up another long, interesting conversation. It was as if I was creating a kitchen table all day, moving from one part of the house to another.

And then there was the food. Ruth made a list of the dishes and there were over 30. There was just about every kind of soul food imaginable and a wide variety of deserts. I was irritatingly good, eating only a small meal and not having any desert. But, I was happy and I didn't have to hide the scale under the bed the following morning.

Most of all, everyone was in joyful spirits and expressed how thankful they were for all the blessings in out lives. They're good people, and I am thankful for each and every one of them.

Kitchen tables are where you find them. Once in awhile they're in kitchens.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 29 Nov 09 - 11:13 PM

My friend Nathan Moore just joined Mudcat at my invitation. He's a fine youg musician and songwriter from Oregon who has a band, The Lowtide Drifters. I encouraged him to drop by the kitchen table, so I'm refreshing this thread.

More good stuff, later.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 30 Nov 09 - 10:49 PM

Just got home from Men's Chorus practice. I've been asked to do the lead on Just A Closer Walk With Thee for a concert we're preparing for Black History Month. I thought I'd add this short post just to move the thread up to the top. My friend Nathan said he'd drop by.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 01 Dec 09 - 07:02 PM

I'm printing my first batch of Christmas cards for this year. It's an invitation from Ruth and me to join us at the Welcome Table. That kitchen table in the sky. Hopefully not soon, though. We send out close to 150 cards a year and receive almost that many.

Joyful, joyful

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 02 Dec 09 - 07:00 PM

Just sitting here alone. Deirdre says that she hasn't been able to access this thread for two or three days. If you've been having trouble, PM me. I'm getting mighty bored of myself.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: maeve
Date: 02 Dec 09 - 07:40 PM

Evening, Jerry. You're not alone. In my case, I've simply have been absorbed in making my first mp3 recordings. I did make some fresh biscuits however. I'll return in a day or so to have a better visit.

maeve

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Janie
Date: 02 Dec 09 - 08:10 PM

Supper's done but the dishes are still piled in the sink. (Hurray, no turkey for supper tonight!) Feeling quite outdated as my teenage son keeps asking me questions regarding his geometry and chemistry homework that I knew the answers to 35 years ago. Now, there is simply a vague thought, "that sounds familiar."

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 03 Dec 09 - 04:25 AM

Hello Jerry,

No...you are not alone...just been flat out like a lizard drinking lately!

Thought I'd stop by for a cup of coffee, a blueberry muffin and a chin-wag.

Did you give Nathan a map? He seems to be a-while a-coming':0)
(Guess it's that double roundabout on the edge of town....always confuses me...)

Good news about the concert, Jerry. Let us know how it goes.

Best wishes,

Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 03 Dec 09 - 08:11 AM

Hey all. This is a busy time of year for all of us, so time is limited. Yesterday I designed and printed 150 Christmas cards and addressed the first 25. I'll write another batch this morning and get them in the mail.

I'll give Nathan a nudge. He did post to the Folk Tradition and songwriting thread. I don't know if he's mastered refreshing the threads yet. This thread disappears off the bottom of the page mighty quickly, so I'll post once a day just to keep it above water.

Good to see you all.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 03 Dec 09 - 09:21 AM

Good idea, Jerry....and give Dan a nudge as well..his coffee is awesome!

He'd also feel at home here, I'm sure.....

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 03 Dec 09 - 09:59 AM

Dan is away right now, but I'll invite him to the table when he gets back. He's almost done setting up a website for me.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: GUEST,Nathan Moore
Date: 03 Dec 09 - 09:51 PM

Hey All: Sorry for taking so long to respond. Having an eight month old keeps ya busy, I'll tell ya. Anyway, a big hello to everyone. I'm excited to start meeting folks on Mudcat. As Jerry said I'm from Eugene, Oregon and I play guitar and sing in a group called the Low Tide Drifters (www.myspace.com/lowtidedrifters). In fact, we practice around the kitchen table with a revolving cast of characters, a few beers, and strong coffee.

I'm heading out to see the Porch Band, a local folk trio, but I'll return to the thread later. I love checking out folk music that I haven't heard, so let me know where I can hear your music.

Anyway, I raise my glass to all of the down-to-earth folks out there. Have a round on me!

Nathan.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: olddude
Date: 03 Dec 09 - 09:56 PM

My dear friend,
I had some time to kill so I took your book along to the airport with me. I can only say that it is not only inspiring, it is a work reflecting the great love that I have come to know in your heart. It is a beautiful write Jerry and you made the Angels in Heaven smile with it.   I wish everyone would read it ... it is so beautiful my dear friend

God Blessing Always
your friend
Dan

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 03 Dec 09 - 10:04 PM

Hey, Hey! I just hit the duofecta! Nathan AND Dan both dropping in. I'm glad you're enjoying the book, Dan. It was a great blessing living the stories. I'm reading an insightful, reflective book these days titled It's Really All About God. The author is a Christian minister who grew up Muslim and has a great respect for Judaism. A step beyond that, he sees all of us in our own wat seeking after God, or at least some explanation about what our lives are all about. My best friend over the years is an Atheist, my youngest son is an Agnostic, my two son-in-laws are Muslims, and I've been a Catholic, Methodist and Baptist and for a good long time, just a slug-a-bed. I love the book because the author sees holiness all around us, and in all those who seek to live a positive life. It's refreshing to read something written by someone who sees life as I see it. It's nice to feel that you're not completely weird. :-)

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: olddude
Date: 03 Dec 09 - 10:31 PM

Well my dear brother, very few people in this life have figured it out as well as you and it shows in your writing my friend. If there is a road map to understanding the fathers message, you hit the nail on the head. It is a work of great love and your great love for others shows through on each page.

thank you Jerry, I will cherish the copy

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Nathan Moore
Date: 03 Dec 09 - 11:49 PM

Jerry:

I've been meaning to read "The Duty of Delight: The Diaries of Dorothy Day." Have you read it? The folk connection is that I had never heard of Dorothy Day or the Catholic Worker Movement until I started listening to the songs and stories of Utah Phillips.

I just heard that "Singing Through the Hard Times: A Tribute To Utah Phillips" has been nominated for a Grammy! It's a great collection of songs by a variety of artists including Tom Paxton, Gordon Bok, Si Kahn, and Mark Ross. An extraordinary collection!

I just heard a song tonight by Richard Spence of the Porch Band entitled "Hank Williams is moving to Oregon." If only he'd traded in the Cadillac for a VW micro-bus!

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 04 Dec 09 - 12:11 AM

Hey, Nathan: I haven't seen the track list for the double CD, but I know that my old friend Art Thieme has a track on there, and I know Dan Schatz and Kendall and Jacqui. I finally had a chance to meet Dan Schatz at the memorial for Sandy Paton of Folk-Legacy records a month ago. It's always a pleasure meeting someone you've only known through cyberspace. It was Tom Paxton who recommended me to Folk-Legacy, and Gordon Bok is a long-time friend. Both wonderful folks.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 04 Dec 09 - 06:17 AM

Welcome aboard Nathan, did you bring donuts?

Yes, it is good news about the 2 CD set of Utah Phillips. I bought a copy when it was first released and it is a keeper! Although some of the songs are familiar from other CDs in my collection, it was good to hear them in the company of songs and artists that were new to me. Like you, Nathan, I love to investigate new music and new people and so, when time allows, I shall be drifting over to you my space site and having a listen.

Good to see you here too Dan. Is the kettle on?

Best wishes,

Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 04 Dec 09 - 06:39 PM

I dunno, Pete... you posted three 666, the sign of old Beelzebub. I thought I'd reclaim the thread to something less threatening.

So, Dan and Nathan. You are both good songwriters who haven't posted a lot about your songwriting. Howzabout telling the good folks around the table about your songwriting... the kind of stuff you do, and how you approach it. Inquiring minds want to know...

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: maeve
Date: 04 Dec 09 - 07:25 PM

Welcome, Nathan. Nice to see you here, friend Dan. Good evening to y'all around the table.

maeve

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Nathan Moore
Date: 04 Dec 09 - 10:39 PM

Peter:

I did bring donuts...Apple Fritters the size of bowling balls. Nice to meet you, Mauve and Dan.

Jerry, as to your question about how I approach songwriting, it tends to be a group effort. I like to write songs with my incredibly talented banjo-playing wife, and when we're working on one, there's generally other folks involved, too. For some reason, those songs are the best ones. I may have an idea, a chorus, or a melody, but the fun for me is getting together with other people and coming up with a finished song (if a song is ever finished).   

I tend to gravitate toward songs that tell stories--My mom's folks came from the Ozarks and I grew up with stories about their journey to Oregon, and some of those I've tried to form into songs. I wrote one called "Bound For Lakeview" about my grandfather.

Other songs come from interesting experiences. For example, when Kate and I got married, we went to Astoria, Oregon on our honeymoon. One day, we stopped into a place called "Mary Todd's Worker's Tavern" down in Uniontown, the old Finnish part of Astoria. I asked the waitress if she knew of any old union halls that I could check out, and she directed me to a man named Pops who was quietly nursing a beer at the bar. Now Pops must have been in his late eighties, and he proceeded to tell us all sorts of strange historical facts about Astoria. When he was finished, he said to us: "You know, Astoria started to go downhill when they took the red lights off of the porches and put them in the intersections." Kate and I just looked at each other, and we knew we had a song. We wrote "Progress and Porchlights" about that experience.

One thing I've learned over the last couple of years when it comes to songwriting is that you have to put aside the ego. The suggestions that I've received from band members, not too mention the friendly criticism has only helped me to grow. We tend to spend a lot of time on our songs. Quality vs. quantity. And then there's all the people who lived the stuff that we sing about. Every family has these amazing stories that come from parents, grandparents, children, etc. and many times they make for great songs. I take some dramatic license of course, but the stories come from real people about real events.

Anyway, I'm rambling. I'd love to hear about how other folks come up with ideas.

Nathan.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 04 Dec 09 - 11:04 PM

I can identify with your approach to writing songs from stories I've heard, or incidents I've experienced. Everyone has hundreds of great stories in their lives, yet few think of them as worth telling.

That's a great description of how you write, Nathan. I knew that your wife was very much a part of the the writing. I've never written with anyone else. It's a very different process. Most of my songs tend to be from an individual point of view (mine or someone else's) so it would be difficult to have a group approach to that. But then, we all tend to write songs from our own perspective.

A few years ago I did a book of photographs, stories and reminiscences of my family's history. It was a real pleasure and more a compilation of songs I'd already written. I have the family collection of photographs so it was great fun to match the lines in songs to old photographs. As an example, I wrote a song drawn primarily for a long letter I asked my mother to write about her childhood on my grandfather's dairy farm. One of the lines is
"Throw all the kids in the old hay wagon, and point the horse to town" and I have a wonderful photograph of all 8 kids on the hay wagon with my grandma and grandpa Holliday standing in front, and the horse hitched up and ready to go to town. I put the book together to give to my mother, and she really treasured it. I gave it to her qa couple of years before she died, and it brought back so many memories, some of which ended up in The Gate of Beautiful.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Janie
Date: 04 Dec 09 - 11:09 PM

I've not come in to sit around the table before, but have been lurking on the other side of the screendoor, eavesdropping every now again, and taking in the some of the stories and good conversation. Here is one of my fresh apple cakes to share.

If you don't mind, I'll just sit here a little back from the table and listen for awhile. Not big on social skills and am prone to be really quiet except when I suddenly blurt something out that will usually be at least tangentially related to the conversation.

Thanks for talking some about your songwriting process, Nathan. I'm eager to hear more from you and from others about personal creative processes.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Nathan Moore
Date: 05 Dec 09 - 12:50 AM

By the way, when did you start writing songs? This question goes out to everyone as well. I'm curious as to when folks caught the songwriting bug.

Nice to meet you, Janie, and thanks for the cake.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 05 Dec 09 - 08:16 AM

Good question, Nathan. I first started writing songs when I was in highschool in the early '50's (you've probably read about those days.) The first couple of songs I wrote, long since forgotten except for the titles, were The Curfew and Foam Rubber Dice. Foam Rubber Dice was in the style of Yakety Yak, and The Curfew was along the lines of other songs about getting your date home late. I loved the early R&B vocal groups from the well-known like the Platters and the Orioles, to the obscure who had only one minor hit on a local label. I still love that music and wrote a gospel song a few years ago patterned after a lesser-known record by the Penguins (one of my very favorite groups who recorded a ton of great stuff, including Earth Angel.) In college, I became more aware of folk music and wrote a corny western ballad, influenced by Do Not Forsake Me from High Noon, and a song about an escaped Slave. Neither made any sense, but when you start out, that's usually the case.

My songwriting really kicked into gear in 1960 when I came to New York City to go to Columbia University grad school and discovered Greenwich Village and traditional folk music. I wrote a couple of songs early on, including one titled The Words Of A Bum, in my socially sensitive phase and Drunkard's Last Advice, a finger-picked country blues influenced by Cocaine Blues. I wish that everyone had forgotten Words Of A Bum and I don't remember it at all. Unfortunately, I pereformed it in Pittsburgh in the early 60's and a couple of people learned it and sang it for many years. Hopefully it's finally been forgotten completely. I still do Drunkard's Last Advice. It's held up well and is fun to play. I was taking guitar lessons from Dave Van Ronk for awhile and had met Luke Faust. We were performing together, drawing on the Anthology Of American Folk Music collection heavily.

In 1964 I moved to Stamford, Connecticut and my songwriting picked up steam. I started writing songs about growing up in southern Wisconsin including several songs drawn from my parent's memories. I produced the bulk of my folk material during the next twenty years.

In 1996 I became friends with the director of a male chorus at a black Baptist Church, and joined the Chorus and church. I'd been writing gospel music for about ten years, mostly southern mountain and Carter Family influenced and had recorded a gospel album by then, which I never released. Shortly after joining the Men's Chorus I started a gospel quartet with three friends in the chorus, and that led to writing a batch of gospel songs building on the tradition of old black gospel quartet music, which was just another branch of the R&B vocal group tree. (Or the reverse, actually.)

Yesterday I finished my most recent gospel song, which has much the feel of slow, bottle-neck blues. The previous gospel song I finished has a feel and structure very similar to The Drunkard's Last Advice that I wrote almost fifty years ago.

And the wheel turns.

That's a long answer, Nathan, with a lot more information than you asked for. But then, I've been around a long time.

Jerry

And great to see you stop by, Janie. It feels like old times!

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 05 Dec 09 - 01:44 PM

Hello everyone,

Thanks for the donuts and the coffee. Janie, you are very welcome. Pull your chair closer to the lemon drizzle cake!

I had some good news today....'they' want me to be on the radio again! So I can't have frightened too many horses last time!

This time it is rather short notice, folks. It is tomorrow night (Sunday 6th December 2009) betwixt 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. UK time. Now, I know some of you good people are on other times. If you Google world clock I'm sure you will be able to work out how the times coincide! For those near Connecticut, I know it's the afternoon!

It won't be all me. There will be Trixie and John Symonds from the Wisbech Acoustic Music Club and a young fiddler named Tom Moore.

It would be wonderful to know that you were out there rooting for me!

Best wishes,

Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 05 Dec 09 - 02:23 PM

Great going, Peter. Hope it goes well--sounds like it definitely will.




I can't write much--have to go up any minute and take Jan to the post office so she can send some packages to the UK.

And I've been banished down here to the computer--she found Schubert guitar and violin too hard to take--wanted to continue listening to Sara Evans.   I suppose it's all what you're comfortable with.

But I just came back from a dress rehearsal for a concert I was drafted to help the bass section with, after one of the stalwart basses said he really couldn't count on his voice.   He says he has diabetes and it affects his voice. I've never heard of that connection before--has anybody else?

Anyway the leader of the group called me a week ago Friday and asked if I could step in. I thought sure Jan would veto it--I'm already in 5 concerts this month--(3 on the same day) and there's the SATB door-to-door caroling I lead every year--this year on 18 Dec. That's the day some real tenors could make it. I'm still a prisoner of tenors--without tenors, no quartet. But it looks like there will be 3 this year--which is great.

Not so great is the food situation.   Jan will be in the UK herself--first time for Christmas since 1998--and she's desperate to see an 8 year old and 6 year old on Christmas Day. She's convinced it's the last time they will believe in Father Christmas--and I'm sure she's right.

But she usually cooks up a storm here for the caroling. This year, I hope to make do with contributions from carolers--and a big lasagna and salad I've just heard I can buy.   Good thing. I ain't no cook, and I don't think I should experiment on my singers.

Well anyway the concert is tomorrow and it's entirely Renaissance, Baroque and a bit of classical. Which is why I'm doing it--I just love Renaissance, in particular.   I sure had a chance to stretch sight-reading muscles last Friday when I saw the music for the first time.   And I only had a chance to plunk out a few notes last night at the piano--and finished doing that this morning since I got there a bit early and they had a piano.

You really have to know the tonality all the time--here he's in D minor, here in G major, etc.   And to watch the meter carefully--it changes. And to know if the half note has the beat or the quarter note does etc. And is the conductor directing in 2 or 4 or 1 etc? And who should you be able to get your note from, the tenors, the first basses (I'm a second bass for this concert)?

It's going to be a bit of a white knuckle affair.

Thank goodness I managed to get to the rehearsal at all--I have a wretched sense of direction.   And he said it was in a historic church--
Washington was a parishioner--or was it George Mason?--in right in back of the modern church. The director said there was an easily visible steeple.   Not really--I didn't even see one.   But it's called The Falls Church--and there was a sign saying that.



And on the way home I was listening to some old tapes--heard Ian Wallace on "My Music" sing "Westering Home".   He's one who needs to be on the "Singers Who Really Can Sing" thread.   And turned off the Beltway to go through some wooded areas with a fresh coat of very wet snow.

More later, I hope.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 05 Dec 09 - 02:49 PM

Let us know how it all goes, Ron! I'm sure it will be a sure-fire seven sector call-out!

Best wishes,

Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 05 Dec 09 - 03:14 PM

Great to see you here, Ron: You iz a singin' man!

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 06 Dec 09 - 10:39 PM

Cough, cough! I think my computer has the ragein' flu. I'm having all sorts of problems, so I'm taking it in to the doctor tomorrow. I may be off line for a day or two.

Peter: I tried a dozen times to listen to you today, but my computer just blocked everything. A couple of days ago, I got this sudden window blocking the screen saying that I was in extreme danger of my computer crashing because I had a virus. I clicked "next" to see what it was all about, and was told I could download a "trial" upgrade to my Windows antivirus. I started the download and then started getting all sorts of dire warnings from Norton 360, my anti-virus software so I cancelled the installation. I checked Norton 360 and I didn't have any viruses, but now I get this big warning window blocking the screen all the time telling me that I interrupted the download and I have to complete downloading it. My buddy at the computer store told me not to complete the download because it might be a virus, so I'm unplugging all the life support on my computer and taking it in tomorrow. Hopefully my friend Dan get straighten it out.

Computers! Ya gotta love/hate 'em. Thank God I've printed all my Christmas cards already. And thanks for your beautiful card, Peter! It was the first card we received and the first we posted on our wall.

Catch you later.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 07 Dec 09 - 05:13 AM

What ever you do, Jerry...don't download that file......!

I think you are doing the right thing taking it to the doctor! Ask him to sort out the system restore point otherwise you'll just be re infested again!

Sorry you missed the show, but glad my card arrived safely.

Best as ever,

Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: GUEST
Date: 09 Dec 09 - 09:49 PM

My computer is back from R & R and is running like new. It's funny how much I could miss something that I didn't have for most of my life.

We had our first heavy snowfall of the winter last night. We got off relatively easy with 4 inches of snow, but then it turned to rain and shoveling 4 inches of snow felt like shoveling a foot and a half. I'm just thankful that I can still such heavy manual work.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Nathan Moore
Date: 10 Dec 09 - 01:21 PM

Hey Everyone:

Sorry I've been out of commission for a few days...I'm taking care of my daughter Eden in the mornings, and it's definitely a learning experience. Right now, we just finished our bottle and we're listening to Jean Ritchie's album "The Most Dulcimer." Speaking of which, I just got an Appalachian dulcimer and I've having fun messing around with it. What a fun instrument! Anybody have any good suggestions of dulcimer music?

Anyway, here's some coffee, zucchini cake (the wife's recipe), and my very best wishes to everyone during this holiday season.

Nathan.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 10 Dec 09 - 02:19 PM

You and Eden each finished your own bottle? I hope yours wasn't formula, Nathan. :-)

For mountain dulcimer you can't go wrong with any of Jean Ritchie's albums. There are others who are more experimental who have expanded to range of music that can be done of mountain dulcimer, but Jean is the foundation.

Good to see you on here, Nathan.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: olddude
Date: 10 Dec 09 - 02:27 PM

My dear friend, please make the coffee extra strong and I will bring the muffins.   Here in Western NY we have it all today weather wise. All we need now is frogs an boils and we would have all the plagues for sure. Wow what wild weather and pretty darn cold also.

Gods Blessings
Dan

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 10 Dec 09 - 02:37 PM

...I brought my boots and a shovel, but hey...you've finished it all!

Dan, your comment about frogs reminds me of Fred Small's song, "Hot Frogs on the Loose!".

Good to see you back on line Jerry.

Mmmm zucchini cake...thanks Nathan.

Best wishes,

Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 10 Dec 09 - 07:03 PM

Western New York State. Ah yes. Spring comes someone in early June doesn't it, Dan? It's like the upper peninnsula of Michigan where they get over 200 inches of snow in winter, I played at the North Country Folk Festival many years ago in Ironwood, Michigan and the stories could chill your heart, even in July.

There was a certain strange symmetry to my computer problem. I got a warning that my computer was in danger of being infected by a virus and that I needed to run a virus scan to protect myself. The message even had the official security shield symbol on Microsoft. When I was about to run the scan, my Norton 360 warned me not to do it and I tried to cancel the scan (which I had not yet started.) The virus the warning was about was a virus that infected my computer through the warning. That's getting pretty lowdown.. infecting your computer with a virus because you're being warned about a virus. I guess I could commend the jerk who got the idea for being honest.

If I felt like commending him.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: olddude
Date: 10 Dec 09 - 07:30 PM

Hey Jerry and Pete
I got your cards today in the mail. What a nice surprise, thank you my friends.   Well it is an official blizzard ... with -2 wind chill right now so it is a good night to watch football or play my guitar. My little dog doesn't even want to go outside ... can't say I blame him. Now yesterday it was almost 50 degrees. Amazing how fast this cold front came in ...

I will take mine black thanks... I brought the blueberry muffins. My wife says blueberries are good for ya

Dan

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: frogprince
Date: 10 Dec 09 - 07:45 PM

Dagnabbit, I'm getting kinda tired of this frogophobic stuff around here! : }

I've got some pizza-pasta pie left from the Christmas potluck at the art association. It's one of Judy's good recipes, but I actually baked this up myself this time. Who's up for a piece? I can use some of that coffee to wash my own down.
                      Dean

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 10 Dec 09 - 08:48 PM

Hey, don't give me any ideas, Dean. I found an all natural pizza pack at BJs, with whole wheat crust. The package comes with enough pizza sauce for one pizza and there are three crusts and sauce packets in the package. Simply add mozzarella cheese and any other topping of your choice, add a sprinkling of oregeno and bake for 15 minutes and you got yourself one fine, relatively healthy pizza.

I'm going to disregard your post Dean. Pizza? La, La, La, I can't hear you....

:-)

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: olddude
Date: 11 Dec 09 - 08:47 AM

Jerry
Well -I will put on the coffee, woke up and couldn't find my car. Buried under the snow drift.   They closed down everything including the through way.   Big winter blast. Today they say about 18 more inches. My friend Sam came by with his snow plow and old truck ... Praise the Lord, didn't want to do any shoveling with this old back. Got me all plowed out. The wind stopped blowing so it is really pretty all covered in white. Bit too cold with the -14 wind chill to go for a walk but maybe later if it warms up a bit I will put on the old parka and mittens and give it a try.   Got my office all relocated now to my house. Working today on your website. Hope to get something you can look at by the weekend
God's Love
Dan

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: maeve
Date: 11 Dec 09 - 09:42 AM

You have more snow than we do, Dan. We only got 8-10 inches followed by sleet and freezing rain. I do have to shovel as the snowblower needs new belts and the tractor is more than my wrists can handle for now.

I've been overwhelmed with the many tasks I can't do alone, with my husband working away from the farm during the day now. I try to take care of both chore lists, but much of it must wait for the few hours he has off on the weekends- or will be done sporadically (or not at all.)

Yesterday and early this morning however, I sat here long enough to enjoy the little birds visiting a new feeder stuck onto the window, and I suddenly knew the right tune and harmonies for a springtime poem I wrote twenty years ago. Just now I revised the poem in a few places, and today I will take time from work to record the song with the revisions in place.

I am grateful for the equipment to do that and for the inspiration for a new song of joy from an old sad poem.

I'll enjoy some of that pizza pie, Dean.

maeve

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 11 Dec 09 - 10:02 AM

Reading your post, and Dan's, Maeve made me think of a song I wrote a long time ago about my Uncle Jim: Here's the verse that came to mind:

    Old Uncle Jim he said, said to his son he said
    Wake up Howard 'cause it's almost dawn
    The snow drifts have covered up the old hay wagon
    And we'll have to dig our way out to the barn
    The cows will all be waiting for the old milk pail
    And it won't be long before the rooster crows
    So we'd better hop to it, 'cause there's no one else to do it
    And the sky is getting cloudy and it looks like snow
                   from Uncle Jim

I did a concert out in my home town in Wisconsin, and just as I started singing this verse, who should walk through the door buy my cousing Howard with a big grin on his face, hearins his name in the song.

My youngest son Aaron picked up a line from this song which became part of his speaking for a few years. When I'd tell him we had to go do something he'd sing out, "We'd better hop to it, 'cause there's no one else to do it."

It sounds like that's what you're singing to yourself these days, maeve.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 11 Dec 09 - 10:27 AM

...all that snow! All we have is mist. Today is just like the Thomas Hood poem! Glad you've brewed coffee, Dan...I've been telling them about your coffee!

Jerry....singing the song along with you!

Maeve...glad the song came together for you. Come and sing it with us sometime soon.

Best wishes,

Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: olddude
Date: 11 Dec 09 - 11:42 AM

That is a lovely song Jerry. My friend Cathy lives in Wisconsin and she has 4 little boys. Yesterday she said that during their prayers at night they did the usual, please Lord end the wars, and thank you for mom and dad and our brothers, and thank you for Dan cause he sends us stuff, and if you don't mind a snow day would be great because well we need a day off . well guess what, they got their snow day ... !!! Oh the power of childrens prayers ..

Maeve, you are writing such beautiful things, I am so happy that the mic is working good for you ...

Love you all Dan

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: olddude
Date: 11 Dec 09 - 11:44 AM

Pete,
when I finish Jerry's site my friend we need to fix yours up and get you some internet position.

Love Dan

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: maeve
Date: 11 Dec 09 - 07:23 PM

"So we'd better hop to it, 'cause there's no one else to do it
    And the sky is getting cloudy and it looks like snow"

That's about it, Jerry! I'd love to hear it sung.

Peter- thanks for the invitation to sing with you. Wouldn't that be fun!
Dan- When I learn how to get the most out of the software and how to set up for the best acoustics I'll maybe start getting results worth sharing.

I'm tired. Have a peaceful evening, folks.

maeve

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 11 Dec 09 - 08:19 PM

Here's a little Christmas story I just wrote as a final postscript for my City Dump Chapter. This happened today.

Christmas at the Derby Dump

'Twas the night before Christmas and all through the dump
Santa was being played for a chump
So here's my advice, for what it is worth
Don't expect your reward down here on earth.

    Today was the last day for the Derby Dump. I dropped by to wish Ralph and John a Merry Christmas. I came bearing gifts. They were out of incense and myrrh at Heavenly Donuts so I bought a dozen doughnuts for the guys and swung by the dump to pay my proppers.

    When I pulled in through the chain link gates, I could see nothing was the same. The long line of discarded refrigerators and air conditioners that lined the fence across from the check-in shack were gone, as were the leaning wicker benches that were placed invitingly to welcome visitors. The plastic tree that had been planted by the gate had been torn out and had met its doom in one of the large trash bins, all but one of which were no longer to be seen. The only bin remaining was the rusty blood-red container sitting right in the middle of what had been the driveway. One thing hadn't changed. John still called out a welcome from the window as I got out of my car.

    "Hey John, How's it goin'?" I called out. A broad grin spread across his face and he reached out his hand in greeting.
    "You come to pay your last respects?" he asked.
    "I just dropped by to wish you and Ralph a Merry Christmas. Is Ralph around?"
    "Nah, Ralph's got pneumonia. He hasn't been in for a couple of weeks. Today is the last day."
    "Yeah, I know it's your last day, that's why I brought these" I said, handing him the box of doughnuts.
    "Thanks," he said. "I got some buddies around here who can help me eat these."
    I handed him a Christmas card and said, "I brought one for Ralph, too. I guess there's no way of giving it to
    him now."
    "Yeah, I don't know his address, or you could mail it to him" John answered. "He lives in Shelton, but I don't
   know his address." "You know the dump is closing for good today at three o'clock?"
   "No, I didn't," I answered. "So where do I take the rest of my sand?" I asked.
   "You'll have to haul it down to the Shelton dump."
   "Where's that? I asked
   "It's way down by Sikorsky," he answered.
   "Sikorsky? that's a good six or seven miles from here. Do they pay for your mileage?" And I mourned the   
   closing of our dump. Another good dump, dead and gone.

    Santa may know who's been good or bad, but I guess his powers are limited. I shook John's hand again and he said, "See you soon." I drove over to the rusty blood-red dumpster and threw a couple of things into it as a final offering. I half expected to see one of Santa's boots sticking up out of the trash.

    When I was a child I thought as a child, as if I was looking through an old, dark mirror tossed away at the City Dump. But now I see as a man/child of God and I know.

    "One thing I know, and this for certain
      All will be well no matter what the future holds
      He will be there to share our every burden
      And there's a sweet, quiet peace in my soul
                                          Sweet, Quiet Peace by Jerry Rasmussen

    John and Ralph will be allright. Their New Year will be filled with Good News.

Merry Christmas

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 12 Dec 09 - 07:02 PM

"Another good dump, dead and gone." With us we've still got our dump, but it's not the same. It used to be much more relaxed - you could spot stuff people had taken in that still had some life in it, and take it home, and there was an old man who used to go there regularly with tins of food for the colony of feral cats who lived there.

Then they smartened it up, and called it a "civic amenity point", and had a bunch of men in overalls with a mission to stop anyone ever taking anything away. Even books.

But it's still a friendly enough place, where you keep on running into people you know. And if not, some stranger always seems to pick up the other end if the bag of stuff you are trying to heave up the steps to lift into a giant skip is too heavy. Without being asked, and likely enough without asking if you need help either.

Great story, Jerry, and a great thread. How come I've never opened it before? I'll have to catch up with it on the run-up to Christmas. Should put me in the right frame of mind.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 12 Dec 09 - 07:52 PM

How great to see you in here, Kevin. That's right. Dumps ain't what they used to be. I have a long history of sump diving. Why, the house I was born in was built on the site of a city dump long since abandoned and citified, and I had a good friend whose father was a junk collector, and they lived at a dump. I whiled away many an hours with my buddies, scavenging at the city dump and we found a lot of good stuff. Now, they don't want you to take anything away from the dump. There's no logical reason for that that I can figure out.

My buddies who worked at the dump not only salvaged thigns for themselves, but also to give to people. They gave me an almost full box that held 2,500 sheets of typewriter paper I still haven't worked my way through. They had a sense of humor, too.

A sense of humor is as endangered as city dumps.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 13 Dec 09 - 03:14 PM

...I always think going to the dump is a little bit like going to confessional....

...Dan, thanks...

Our local dump is still in the good dump guide, you will be pleased to hear.

What we might need now is either another coffee or a list of songs suitable to sing about dumps! :0)

Best wishes,

Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 13 Dec 09 - 09:13 PM

I tracked down my Dump buddy Ralph, tonight. I missed him the last day the dump was open and wanted to wish him a Merry Christmas and see if he'd recovered from Pneumonia. He's feeling a lot better and appreciated that I called to check on him. Everybody likes to be checked on. Now I'll get a Christmas card off in the mail to him.
He's a good man.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: olddude
Date: 13 Dec 09 - 09:17 PM

Jerry
after moving my office, I have boxes everywhere, can't find the gospel CD, can you email me some of the gospel songs you want on your site. Have a version up and running for you alone to look at tomorrow afternoon

Love
Dan

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 13 Dec 09 - 10:22 PM

Hey, Dan: I'll stick a copy of the Gospel Messengers CD in the mail to you tomorrow. I don't know how to send music by e-mails.

I am an old fogey.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: frogprince
Date: 16 Dec 09 - 04:04 PM

Hmm...don't see anyone around...guess I'll just drop a copy of this on the table for any of the gang who comes by.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: maeve
Date: 16 Dec 09 - 04:29 PM

Thanks, Dean...Christmas by ambush, hmmm?

I've spent most of the day fighting the bitter wind that tore off the heavy plastic over the screened-in shed attached to our old cape. It had to be replaced before night, but the wind pulled and snarled, tugging the roll out of my hands.

It's done, now, though. I stapled one end of it around a piece of lathing, took it outside, and nailed that thing up before pulling and stapling the roll along the side of the shed. A couple dozen pre-nailed laths slapped up and nailed, and Voila! All that was left was to haul some of our remaining firewood inside to heat the parlor/bedroom side of the house before night. It's not even January and we're running low.

Tomorrow I must do some baking for a new experience coming up- a cookie swap with my small Frugality group.I don't have any fancy ingredients, but they'll be seasoned with love.

maeve

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 17 Dec 09 - 12:52 PM

Hey, all, maeve sent me over to deliver this story from our de-clutter December thread:

I made a wonderful discovery today when I was shopping. I go to a small store called Save A Lot; they don't have every brand, or even every size and flavor of the brands they carry; it is a place to buy the staples, and it gets me through most weeks. There is a clerk there who I first met at another of their stores that closed. She's a beautiful young woman who had one glaring problem--really bad teeth. One in front on top that was clearly rotted more than half through and kind of a snaggletooth. I always wished there was a way the store would get dental insurance because clearly she needed a lot of work.

I was over there today in her checkout line, and I remarked that I hadn't seen her for a while, I've been through on a different shift. And then it hit me, she had a perfect smile. I pointed and asked her when this happened, and she is so pleased to have this work done (and noticed!) that it wasn't an imposition for me to remark. I did also tell her that I thought she was a beautiful woman and had always hoped she'd be able to do this. She needed to hear that.

The story is the remarkable part. She had a customer come through her line in September--she named the day--and he told her he was a dentist and that she needed to make an appointment with him. She held onto his card for a week before calling, and her co-workers urged her to call. When she made the appointment he did the xrays and told her what he proposed--her teeth were in bad enough shape that she needed a full plate on top and would also lose a couple of lower molars. It took a couple of months for the entire process, she said.

I moved from the register with my groceries and began to pack them nearby, and we were talking across the space between us. I asked if SaveALot had put in insurance to help her cover this? She said no, and that was the amazing thing, this dentist offered to do it for free--no cost beyond what her medicaid covers. We both burst into tears right there in the store and I had to give her big hug. That was such a generous thing for him to do--she knew this was a lot more work than normally would be covered.

I took my groceries out to the truck then returned with my camera phone and sent one of my twitpic posts to Twitter. She pulled out his card for the spelling--this man is a member of a family well known for good dental work here in town. His brother is an orthodontist we consulted (it was a long drive to get over there, which is why we ended up going somewhere closer). To go from broken, blackened teeth to a beautiful smile--it isn't just a vanity issue, it is a major health issue and such a huge psychological boost. And I am so happy to be able to share this story with each of you.

Go through the day with a smile!

SRS

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: maeve
Date: 17 Dec 09 - 12:56 PM

SRS- Thank you for stopping by and telling that beautiful story again for the friends around the kitchen table. I hope you'll visit again.

maeve

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 17 Dec 09 - 02:43 PM

Hey,SRS: Thanks for the story. It'll be one of the best presents I get this Christmas. You know our friend jimmyT has done free dental work to people who can't pay for many years.

Once we get through the joyfulness of Christmas, I want to get back to writing. I've started a chapter titled The Graciousness of Strangers and whenever I can snatch five minutes, I jot down some notes and put them in the folder to expand as part of the chapter. I am regularly overwhelmed by the generosity of strangers. For starters,

   There's Justin, who works at Kentucky Fried Chicken. Back when he didn't know me from Adam, and we'd hardly spoken two sentences in a row, Justin started giving me his 30% employee discount whenever I stopped in to order take-out. With a large order, it often amounts to a discount of five or six dollars. Don't ask me why he singled me out to do this. I have no idea. I was just friendly to him. I'm that way with everyone. It wasn't long before another guy who works there started to give me his employee discount, too. He always greets me with "Hey, cowboy!" when I come in. Don't ask me why. I don't wear a hat or clothes that make me appear like a cowboy. The other day a young girl who I don't ever remember seeing before waited on me. And she gave me her 30% discount. Don't ask me why. I don't know.

   I had my computer overhauled last week at Staples. When I signed the authorization for the repair, it had a bill of $29.95 for the work. When I picked it up, I asked how much I owed them, and the guy said, "Nothing." I don't even know this guy's name. When I asked him why there was no charge, he said, "Because we like you."

   My dentist gives me a discount every time I have dental work done. I never asked for it. He just does it. Why? I guess, because he likes me.

   It goes on and on.

   The last time I stopped by Kentucky Fried, I was telling Justin about all of this and I said, "There are a lot of good people in this world." And he answered, "Yeah, there are, and there are lot of good people you don't think are good, because they're in a bad situation." That's important to remember. There's even MORE goodness around us than we see. Some of it is in people most of us would think of as being bad.

   Merry Christmas.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 17 Dec 09 - 02:47 PM

A lovely, heartwarming story. Good to know there are still some wonderful people in this world.

I feel I can show my face here now that we have snow here as well!

Lintel high in the morning! (some hopes)

Reminds me of the time we moved into this house. Went to bed, tired out after the move and then woke up in the morning and walked out the front door into a snowdrift!

I loved your card Frogprince. Very thoughtful!

Best wishes,

Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 18 Dec 09 - 11:14 AM

Snow here in Frinton too Peter.
I have been away from the kitchen with the pleurisy again, getting to be a bad habit each winter, never mind. Had an x ray on Wednesday and strong antibiotics so hope I feel better for the family all arriving on Christmas Eve.
Late night shopping tonight so I will make some mulled wine and enjoy the Christmas cheer.I will leave some on the table ..help yourselves
Wendy

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: maeve
Date: 18 Dec 09 - 12:58 PM

Friends at the kitchen table may want to take note of two beloved musicians making a return to North America. Look for threads on Anne Mayo Muir (New cd of her own composing)and Archie Fisher (touring in 2010.)

maeve

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 19 Dec 09 - 06:05 PM

Hey: Despite Burl Ives chirrupy good wishes, Christmas isn't always Holly Jolly. We received two phone calls today within a half hour of each other telling us that someone had just died. The first call was a cousin of Ruth's who I didn't know well, but the little time I spent with him, he was a very warm, intelligent, caring man. He lived in Washington, D.C. and did historic restorations of old buildings there. He took us on a wonderful tour of Washington and then treated us to a memorable dinner and a very up-scale restaurant. He'd been going down slow, so it wasn't a surprise, but it is still upsetting.

Five minutes after we finished talking with Ruth's brother and sister-in-law about their cousin's death we got a call from Ruth's best friend of over forty years telling us that her son had died. I didn't really know Billy. I met him a couple of times, but Ruth knew him well. I knew Billy's father who sang tenor in a wonderful black gospel quartet in Stamford, where I lived for many years. It was another hard blow to take, even though we knew the end was coming.

If it's in you, lift some prayers for all the family members who will have a mournful Christmas.

I'm o.k.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 20 Dec 09 - 02:56 PM

Thanks for your thoughtful post, Jerry.

Christmas is many things to many people and, to some, it is a sad time with little joy in it.

I think all of us, as we grow older, experience some melancholy at Christmas Time. There is a lovely book by Joan Walsh Anglund called, "Christmas is a time of giving". Perhaps you know it?

You can't help but think back to Christmas Past and the people who used to share it with you. There were the little touches they brought to the occasion that are not there now. The silver threepenny bits in the Christmas Pudding that you had to give back if you were lucky enough to have one. Then they could be used next year! The smell of cigars. So many different memories.....

A toast!    Absent Friends!

But.....Christmas is a special time.....so lets make some memories for those younger than us to remember!

......let me see now....... :o)

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 20 Dec 09 - 06:38 PM

Hey, Pete:

Good to see you dropped by. Here's some Christmas memories I wrote a while back. I might even have posted this a couple of years ago on this thread. Not that anyone would remember, including me.

"T'was the Night Before Christmas"

T'was the night before Christmas and we'd already opened our presents. Forget the dancing sugar plums. If you ever wondered how Santa Clause could deliver presents to all the kids on earth in one night, he got a running start by bringing all the kids in the Midwest their presents early on Christmas Eve. In our house, Christmas Eve started the minute we finished wolfing down our supper. It was the one time of year when I was thankful that we had supper at 4 o'clock.

Before I was school age, Santa came to our house every Christmas Eve.
He didn't come down the chimney. If he had, he'd end up in our coal furnace and it wouldn't just be his suit that was red. He boldly walked through our front door. Not that I'd ever really seen him come into the house. But my Dad had.

After supper, Dad would hide behind the living room davenport, and Mom would herd my sisters and I down onto the basement stairs and then close the door behind us. For some unknown reason, Dad always got to hide behind the davenport, so that he could see Santa Clause when he came in.
As soon as the door was closed, Dad would quietly sidle out from behind the davenport and tiptoe across the room and into the bedroom where our presents were carefully hidden in our one closet. He'd quickly carry them into the living room and place them haphazardly under the Christmas tree. When the presents were all under the tree he would tiptoe across the living room floor and into the dining room and carefully open the front door. With a sigh of relief, he would softly stroll out to the front of the porch and pause for a moment. Coming back into the house Dad was Santa Clause. No need for a suit or cotton-ball beard. The only one who could see him was him. As he came striding across the front porch, he'd stomp the non-existent snow off of his non-existent boots and when he opened the front door he'd call out a "Ho, Ho, Ho!" in his best Santa-voice. Once inside the house, he'd make a lot of fuss in the living room, as if he was unloading presents from his sack. All the time, I was hunched breathlessly behind the basement door, visualizing his every move. When the presents were in place, Santa didn't have to stop and eat a plate full of cookies and drink a glass of milk on the way out. We never left anything for him. We didn't want Santa to stick around, once he'd delivered our presents. Besides, he would have preferred a cold Pabst Blue Ribbon, but that would have blown his cover. As Dad headed noisily out the front door he'd call over his shoulder, "Ho, Ho, Ho, and a Merry Christmas to all!" and stomp his way across the front porch only to pause there once again. Then, it was a matter of sneaking back into the house without our hearing him so that he could hide behind the davenport. Mom always gave him enough time by telling us that we couldn't come out until we were sure he was gone, or we'd scotch the whole thing.

Mom would cautiously open the door, and we'd all burst into the living room. Or, at least I would burst. I'd be full of excitement, and start grilling Dad about what he'd seen.

"Did you see him, dad?"
"Oh yeah: I peeked around the corner of the davenport when he was putting the presents under the tree," he answered.
"Did you see his reindeer?"
"Naw: I couldn't see them from behind the davenport, but I heard their bells when they took off."

That was enough for me. It never occurred to me to ask the really hard questions like :"If he had all that snow on his boots, how come he didn't track any into the house? Mom would have had a fit!" Or, "How come there aren't any tracks in the snow in our front yard?" By then, the only question I had was "Can we open the presents, now?"

When I got older and realized that Santa Clause was my Mom and Dad, and I had been lovingly duped: not just by Mom and Dad, but by my sisters, Christmas took on more meaning. One thing about Mom, though. She always made it clear that Christmas wasn't just about getting presents. The most important thing was that it was a time to celebrate the birth of the baby Jesus. Those first few years, Santa Clause and the baby Jesus got along real well together, and I loved them both. It wasn't until I was four or five that I realized that only Jesus was real.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 24 Dec 09 - 06:47 AM

Thanks for your Christmas memories Jerry, My father would arrive after Christmas lunch at my granmothers , where we would all gather,dressed in a red suit and beard, his cover was almost undone one year when my cousin Michael asked why Father Christmas was wearing Uncle Reg's shoes!The same year dad went off down the steps saying Ho Ho Ho ! and was gone for about an hour. One of the neighbours had seen him in the street and asked him in for a Christmas drink, my mother had a sense of humour failure when he returned.
I have all the family arriving this evening so I hope Father Christmas knows that three little people will be hanging up their stocking on my fireplace. Bill has covered the house with white lights and stocked up on logs, I finish here at the salon about 3 this afternoon, so I will sit by the fire with a mulled wine and think about Christmas pasts, and look forward to making memories for my little grand children.
Happy Christmas to everyone at the table, it has been a lovely place to come and visit, to make new friends, meet old friends, share the happy times and receive comfort in the sad times.
Mulled wine and mince pies on the table.Have a wonderful holiday

Wendy

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 24 Dec 09 - 11:42 AM

Thanks Wendy,

Just what I needed, a glass of mulled wine and one of your mince pies.

As my Dad was wont to say, "I don't care what your name is! Get those reindeer off my roof!"

I've left some virtual Christmas Cake and a virtual bottle of Scotch for anyone who may drop by...(oh, and a carrot, of course!)

Have a very Happy Christmas and all the best for 2010.

Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 24 Dec 09 - 12:59 PM

Hey, all:

The countdown has begun. You know it's almost Christmas when I pick up in my office and file all the loose CDs kicking around on desks back in the shelves where they should be. I'm listening to Oscar Peterson with Buddy DeFranco guesting on clarinet. Nothing like music to give you energy when you're running on empty.

We're in good shape over here. Here are some of the foods we have prepared and waiting to be eaten:
   Turkey (of course)
   Barbequed meatballs
   Turkey ham for omelets tomorrow morning
   lasagna
   Fried tuna cakes
   Macaroni salad with tuna
   Chili
   Split Pea soup
   Fried chicken
   Tossed salad (waiting until tomorrow to be tossed)
   Potato salad
   collard greens, green beans, corn
   Texas garlic toast ready to heat in the oven for breakfast
   Sour cream dip, nuts and a variety of chips
   Apple cider, cranberry and apple juice and a variety of sodas,
   bottled water, beer, tea and probably some stuff I'm forgetting
   Pies, cakes, cookies, ice cream, fruit

Not a traditional Christmas dinner... a combination of Italian, soul and midwest favorites.

No one will go hungry.

Have a wonderful Christmas. I treasure your friendship 365 days of the year.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 30 Dec 09 - 11:22 AM

I've recovered from a wonderful, completely exahusting Christmas and the kitchen table is almost cleared off. There are still a few containers of cookies, and three pies, so help yourself.

I've really been on a roll these last couple of days. I'm gathering my papers together to start working on my Income Tax, have put all my writings toward my next book together including parts of several chapters I started but had no time to finish, and I'm getting ready to start recording a CD of the gospel songs from my book. And paying bills. It feels good to be get back to projects I've willingly set aside for Christmas. We had just over 30 people here for Christmas, starting with breakfast and ending at 11 at night. It took a couple of days to recuperate and clean up, but it was worth it. In addition to all the normal chaos of getting family together (all on Ruth's side, as my family is all in the Midwest and South) I had a chance for a couple of private conversations with family members who are struggling to deal with burdens in their lives. Sometimes listening is the greatest gift you can give someone, so I was thankful I could spend the time with them.

By the way, Deirdre hasn't been able to get in to this thread for almost a month. I have no idea why, but she sends her love and wishes for a great New Year.

I hope Santa was good to all of you, and that the New Year blesses you mightily.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 31 Dec 09 - 09:13 AM

Happy New Year from Billy and I.
We were going to have a party this evening but on Tuesday we lost a tile from the roof and had water coming into the drawing room.....so Billy was on the roof in the dark and cold rain putting in a new tile. Woke up yesterday with a cough and temperature, he has anti biotics and we are going to be cosy on our own , bottle of bubbly in
the fridge and log fire going!
Happy 2010 to you all.
Wendy

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 31 Dec 09 - 01:52 PM

...and a Happy New Year from a raw, cold part of East Anglia.

Sorry to hear that Billy's been out on the tiles again! (I know...I know...I'll get me coat...)

A sign made me smile today. Driving along the road I saw a large field with a couple of people walking in it. By the side of the road was a car park and a sign that said, "Free Range Eggs"....pass the net, Agnes!

I've left some decorated Gingerbread People and a jug of mulled wine on the table.

See you all in 2010.

Best wishes,

Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 31 Dec 09 - 07:40 PM

And a Happy New Year to all!

An interesting little story of no great consequence.

Last Sunday my wife and I went to my daughter-in-law's church where she is pastor. The church is held in a rented room and the congregation on a typical Sunday numbers about ten or twelve. For a long time, they haven't had a musician, so music is the weakest part of the service. Last Sunday there was a new keyboard player who had answered an advertisement in the papper. Other than myself, the church is all African-American, and the keyboard player is white. It must have been an unfamiliar experience for him. He was asked to provide accompaniment for several hymns during the service, most of which were unfamiliar to him. He'd start out very tentatively, sight-reading the basic melody hesitating here and there, but once he got into it, he smoothed it out reasonably well. After the service I went over to talk to him... mostly to offer encouragement and express my respect for what he was trying to do on such short notice.
We exchanged business cards, and went our way. Since then, we've exchanged several e-mails, and I must admit that I have been pleasantly surprised at the connections we've made. If he liked folk music more, he'd make a good Mudcatter. His interests, like mine, are all over the map. How many people do you know who on the board of directors of an opera and compose soundtracks for silent pictures. He does performances at silent movie showings, playing the piano accompaniment. Talk about esoteric! That makes traditional folk music almost seem mainstream.

The odd thing we've discovered is that he was a Junior Curator on the early New England Farm at the Museum where I worked. I actually taught some of the Junior Curator courses, but not the year he took it. The courses were for 9-12 year olds and taught kids how to care for the animals on the farm and do simple chores. I was Director of Education at the time, so I had a big imput into what was taught. But perhaps my greatest fame was that at the end of the summer for the last class I hypnotized a chicken. The kids were fascinated by it, and even after I became Executive Director the farm staff would often request that I hypnotize a chicken for the Grand Finale.

Opera, silent movie scores, black gospel, folk music and chicken hypnotizing? What's not to like about that?

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: VirginiaTam
Date: 01 Jan 10 - 06:12 AM

I was 7 or 8 when I recognised the Moose Lodge Santa was my father. I was shattered.

My mom consoled me with the Santa helper ploy. That my Dad was one of hundreds of helpers all over the world who collect money on street corners, sit with children for portraits and visit hospitals and give gifts at clubs like the Moose Lodge, because Santa was way too busy supervising the making of toys right up to Christmas Eve.

I fell for it sort of for a couple more years and was quite proud that my Dad was one of the enlisted Santa helpers.

Happy New Year everyone. I put some Almond Toffee bark on the table.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 01 Jan 10 - 09:36 AM

Hey, Virginia: How nice that you dropped by. You haven't been in here since last year. I'm being uncharacteristically focused today. I'm starting to put my paperwork together to do my income tax. Being this organized is downright un-folkie. :-)

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 03 Jan 10 - 03:46 PM

Welcome to the twentieth century! You say it's the twentyfirst century? Sorry. I'm a little slow on keeping up with advancements. I did start a blog, though at http://jerryrasmussen.blogspot.com. When it feels right, I'll link my posts back to here. I wanted to have a place where I can write more openly about my faith. Not that I haven't from time to time in here. I've never felt restricted here. After all, this is a kitchen table. But, I have people who've read my book I want to share new writings with. If you have any interest, click on (or I'll do a blue clicky here) and leave a comment. I hope the blog will be as welcoming as this kitchen table.

Jerry

http://jerryrasmussen.blogspot.com/

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 04 Jan 10 - 07:50 PM

Help! I keep falling off the bottom of the screen!!!!!

I started a blog yesterday at http://jerryrasmussen.blogspot.com/ I'll probably post some things on there (I've posted two) that I don't post in here, but if I think it's something that would be of interest around the kitchen table, I'll post it on here as well. It's a good motivation to keep me writing, and it is bring people who aren't Mudcatters and aren't ever likely to be.

But I'll always be sitting here at the kitchen table ready to welcome friends and strangers.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 06 Jan 10 - 05:26 AM

Snowing here today,log fire, hot coffee and bacon sandwiches? Help yourselves.
Wendy

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: maeve
Date: 06 Jan 10 - 04:35 PM

Greetings from Midcoast Maine, everyone. May your new year be bright with promise, full of hope, and rich with friendship.

maeve

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 08 Jan 10 - 12:36 PM

Things have been slow around the kitchen table, but they're hopping on my blog: http://jerryrasmussen.blogspot.com/ I've been posting daily, and when I think the post would be comfortably accepted around the kitchen table I'll copy and past them on here. Generally, I try not to insert my faith too heavily on here, although it is such a strong part of myself I can never exclude it (or wish to.) Maybe you can relate to my observations on serving others, and add you own. Drop by the blog sometime, too. There is a space for comments there as well. This is what I posted today:

        When I was growing up, I was taught that service was an honorable act. During the Second World War, young men went into the Service. They were called Servicemen. Uncle Sam glared at you from all the posters with finger pointed and the call was clear. Uncle Sam Wants You!   When you needed gas you went to the Service Station, and they cleaned your windshield and checked your oil. Signs proclaimed that businesses offered "Service with a smile." No one wanted to be called self-serving.
        Now, Service Stations are gas stations and they don't clean your windshield or check your oil. Now the motto is Self-serve. The only place you'll see a Service with a smile sign is in an antique store or junk shop. Today we talk about our Armed Forces. We've substituted the word Force for Service. The Army's motto is "Be all you can be," not Serve all you can serve. We seem to have forgotten President Kennedy's memorable call to "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country." People are encouraged to join the Army because they can get something out of it, although many still join to serve their country. Christ came not to be served, but to serve.
"But I am among you as he who serveth." Luke 22:27"
Christ measured greatness by a different standard than we do today.
"But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant. Matthew 23:11
The reward for service to the Lord is far greater than any man can confer. When we finally stand before the Lord in judgment, it is our ardent wish that he will say to us:
        Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things; enter thou into the joy of the Lord." Matthew 25:23

I welcome any obsevations or thoughts you have on Whatever Became of Serving?" (I know there is plenty of serving going on today, but the emphasis doesn't seem as prominent.)

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 09 Jan 10 - 02:12 PM

Interesting post, Jerry. Pour me a cup of coffee please. It's been hard work walking through the snow to your door.

Over here on the other side of the pond we still call our soldiers sailors and airmen the services, and people involved are service families. We also have a large number of people in what we call the service industries. They are the ones like transportation, catering, entertainment etc. I think the idea of 'good service' is still alive and well over here, but I dare say it depends on one's personal experience. Personal service in shops and companies is also alive and well. In times of recession, if your business doesn't make itself attractive to the customer, then the customer will go elsewhere, where they are appreciated! Your Wal-Mart contact comes to mind here. She gives good service and so people seek her out.

Now, what's all this about things being slow round the kitchen table?

Perhaps this bag of unused party poppers, tooters and funny hats will help matters!

Best wishes,

Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: maeve
Date: 09 Jan 10 - 02:30 PM

I'll try to respond to your topic when I have regular internet access again, Jery. It may be a while before that happens.We're focused to dealing with our losses from the fire in a way that pleases God.

Best regards to you all.

maeve

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 09 Jan 10 - 04:10 PM

Hey, Maeve: I was so upset to hear about your misfortune! We're sending up prayers down this way.

Hey, Peter: It's more a matter of emphasis over here, not a complete lack of friendly service. Part of it is the effort to cut expenses, leading to most gas stations being "Self-serve" now. When my mother was in her 90's she was still driving but found it challenging to pump her own gas. She managed to find a couple of gas stations that had a full-serve pump.

I've almost completed a chapter titled The Graciousness of Strangers that talks about three people who work in stores who have been generous to me (and others, I'm sure) beyond measure. I could add another half a dozen. I've posted part of the chapter on here, I think, but if you want to keep up with my writings, think about following my blog: Thoughts on Faith at http://jerryrasmussen.blogspot.com/ I have a link on my blog bringing people over to mudcat.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 09 Jan 10 - 04:34 PM

I guess you've been spoilt! We haven't had service pumps here for ages! In fact there is a garage near us that hasn't even got any staff!

Reminds me of the old joke about the chap who arrives at a garage and sees two notices: "Self Service" and "Help wanted". So he hires himself, pumps gas into his own car, pays himself the requisite cost, gives himself the sack and then drives off!

Yes Maeve, thinking of you over here as well.

Best wishes,

Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 11 Jan 10 - 08:01 AM

Well, I can finally breathe.   The high season chorally is now over.

My concert with the Renaissance and Baroque went well (from the audience perspective, at least--they seemed to like it)   But it sure waren't perfect.   It seems they liked especially the first half-- entirely a cappella.   And that was indeed a true white-knuckle affair.   We also went dramatically flat.   But we did it all together.   So probably quite a few in the audience didn't notice--we hope.

The SATB caroling party went real well too.   But good thing a real tenor lives in my town. All my others tenors begged off for various reasons.   It became much more of a local affair this year.   So one thing we did, since we were picking up kids left and right, and I had brought 6 bracelets of jingle bells, was to try to sing all the songs we could think of that mention bells--Jingle Bells, Ding Dong Merrily on High, Carol of the Bells, etc---so the kids could shake their jingle bells as much as they wanted.   We even picked up 3 kids and the mother from the family that just moved into the house where the people who wanted to take the bump out of the road--since it rattled their windows--used to live.

And by the way, I suppose if anybody needs a scapegoat for the big snow of 18-19 December, it might be us---we sang, among other things:   "Let It Snow".   The power of suggestion, I suppose.   Somebody at work suggested that we maybe should just sing:"   Let It Drizzle"   next year. Actually the snow, which was just starting as we were singing, was perfect.   And anyway, it ain't easy to fine-tune these things.

Then I had 3 concerts on 20 December.   Good thing they weren't cancelled. Audiences were down.   But they were up for 24 December--when I had two singing events.   Almost didn't make the last one--found I had actually forgotten everything I used to know about Alexandria VA streets, and missed most of the--only--rehearsal.   So I had to learn the pieces mostly during the sermon. That was interesting. But at least they had decided to do hymns I'd been practicing on the piano. So I mostly knew the bass parts.   Also good--because one of their other basses had no clue.   They had one guy who sang bass, tenor, and sometimes alto, did the solos-and read Scripture--and a bunch of other things, it seems. If they had cloned him, the rest of us could have stayed home.



Anyway, more about the snow--sorry if this is old news.

Old Dude's postings made me think of a song which is one of Jan's and my all-time favorite winter songs:

To be done in a very heavy Norwegian accent. It's a parody of Jim Reeves' Drifting Whistling Sands.   This one is The Drifting Whistling Snow.

"I found the valley of the drifting, whistling snow, between 2 great big snowbanks when I opened my door yesterday morning.

And for endless hours I wandered aimlessly through the snow, seeking answers to the many questions that was racing through my fevered brain:

Where was every-ting?   Where was the sidewalk? Where was my driveway?

My old yalopy.

All of a sudden I realized I was a prisoner, here in the valley of the Drifting Whistling Snow.

Then my wife she whispered to me
I got to go to Ladies' Aid
Shovel out that old yalopy
And she handed me the spade
Now the settlers and the miners
Fought those crazy Navahoessss
But I tell you that was nothing
Like the drifting whistling snows

Then there's something about

Then I took my scoop and started
Where that old yalopy stood
And after endless hours of shoveling snow
All I saw was yust the hood.




Got to go to work now.   Hope to get back to this soon.   Hope everybody is well.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 11 Jan 10 - 08:05 AM

By the way, loved that joke about the 2 signs at the garage.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 12 Jan 10 - 05:05 PM

Hey, Ron: Always good to see you at the kitchen table. I posted this on my blog http://jerryrasmussen.blogspot.com/ and thought it was worth posting here.

Choosing To Be Happy

I was standing in the Express checkout line for 10 Items or less when he got in line behind me. There was a man directly in front of me with three or four items and Kathy who works behind the counter was just finishing with a customer who was checking out. I didn't even notice the elderly woman when I got in line because she was so short, she could hardly see over the handle of the shopping cart. It looked as if shopping was a major chore for her, and she had a cart full of plastic bags nearly spilling over onto the floor. The thought briefly crossed my mind that she had gotten in the wrong line. Clearly, she had more than ten items. She probably had more than ten bags. When I looked over and saw her she smiled at me and I returned the smile.
The man who'd just gotten in line behind me said to me "She never should have been in this line," his voice overflowing with belligerence. At first I didn't respond. "They do it all the time," he said. He must have been talking about the mysterious, omnipresent "they" my first wife loved to refer to. H continued complaining to me and finally I turned to him and said, "We may not know the whole story. The other day there was an elderly woman in this line with a whole cart of groceries and by the time she realized she was in the wrong line, Kathy had already started checking her out. She offered to put the rest of her items in her cart and get out of line, but everyone said, "No, that's alright, just go on with your checkout." She was very apologetic to me and the people behind me in line, but everyone was very gracious to her." I could see that wasn't going to be the case today.
"Yeah, they all say that," the man grumbled. "It's all a scam. They know what they're doing. And then they say, Oh, I'm so sorry, I didn't notice that I was in the wrong line," imitating an elderly woman, his voice dripping with sarcasm. I was getting fed up, and could hardly wait until I checked out." "Hey, what's to complain about? She's already checked out. It's not slowing us down," I said.
By then, the woman had finished checking out and was busily arranging the bags in her cart and putting her receipt in her purse. She must have heard our conversation because she looked over at me and smiled weakly. She didn't look like a professional con-artist to me. I think she was just confused and got in the wrong line. The store wasn't busy, and the checkout clerk is very warm and understanding so I think she didn't see any reason to turn her away. At the time, there was no one else in line.
But, the man behind me wouldn't let it go. He kept on grousing, and doing little old lady voices until I finally turned to him and said, "It's your choice if you want to be cynical. Whatever makes you unhappy." As far as I was concerned, that was the end of the conversation, although he continued to complain to my back.
After I left the supermarket, I stopped by Heavenly Doughnuts and bought a dozen doughnuts. On the way home, I swung by Staples and there was Dan standing outside talking with someone. He smiled warmly and said hello, and I went into the store. Dan followed close on my heels and caught up to me. "I want to know how you spell your last name, Dan." "It's Borrelli with two r's and two l's." he answered. I'm writing about two Dans in the chapter I'm writing and I need to keep the two of you straight," I said. And then I handed him the box of a dozen doughnuts. The Staples store is closing at the end of this week, and I thought there should be a Staff Appreciation celebration. "These doughnuts are for you and the rest of the people who work here. I just want everyone to know how much they are appreciated," I said. "Really?" Dan said, with a smile. "Yeah, I bought a dozen doughnuts for the guys at the dump when it closed, and I just wanted to let everyone know how much their help meant to me."
Every day we can choose what our life will be. The man in the Express Checkout line made his choice. I made mine.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 16 Jan 10 - 04:15 PM

Ron, I loved the words of that song! We have just come out the other side of a period of snow that they are headlining as the severest for many years.

The song reminded me of the time I left work early as the weather was closing in. I was commuting by train at that time and as the train rumbled north, the snow was getting thicker and thicker. I wondered if we would make it all the way, but we did. I was one of the only people to get off at my station and when I saw the car park I had a real puzzle on my hands. Instead of rows of shining metal, there were only white humps! Which car was mine? Could I remember where I parked it in my rush to catch the train that morning? Luckily I knew which row I had used. The only way I could recognise my car was by the towing hitch sticking out of the snow at the back. Single track back along the four lane home afterwards and three days off!

Glad all the concerts went well.

Jerry's got a new web-site and he's a cyber-personality now!

There's a bottle of Beaujolais left on the table and some rather nice hand-fried smokey bacon crisps. Enjoy!

Best wishes,

Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 19 Jan 10 - 09:15 AM

I have just kicked off my shoes and put my feet up in the armchair by the fire, what a weekend we have had! My father celebrated his 90th birthday on the 15th (also my grandaughters 1st birthday) so I arranged a family party for them on Saturday.Twenty seven adults and seven little ones. It was a wonderful day, and Dad really enjoyed seeing everyone, One of his old RAF friends , also nearly 90 came with his wife and it was lovely to see them talking about old times. I was worried that there was not enough food( always do!) but there was too much and the wine flowed freely but we did not run out!
It was great to sit back and listen to the chatter , you know that lovely hum of so many people all talking at once.Sunday we loaded up the car with all the presents and took them round to my parents house Dad said he was really shattered but had enjoyed himself so much.Billy took me down to the local Marina and we had a restful Sunday lunch and watched the boats then back home to clean up the house.
Some birthday cake on the table.Enjoy!
Wendy

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 23 Jan 10 - 05:09 PM

Wendy, that birthday cake was delicious! Do you think Jerry would notice if I cut another small piece?

I've just spent some time recording some tracks for a new CD. I'm nowhere near finished yet, but it's good to get started! I'll let you folks know when it's done.

Jerry, I hope you don't mind, but I did some of the washing up for you! I left you the saucepans!

Best as ever,

Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 27 Jan 10 - 09:51 AM

Looking forward to the new CD Peter,
rather cold here today, hot soup on the stove.
Wendy

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 01 Feb 10 - 05:00 PM

That was lovely soup,Wendy. Thanks.

I was intrigued with the thread on what to sing and what not to sing in a folk club.

It reminded me of this little ditty that I wrote more years ago than I care to remember!

"Who's the lad who gets there first and starts the singer's list?
Who is it who, when called to sing, is always Brahms and Liszt?*
Who is it sings 70 verses...and never a one is missed?
The Phantom Floorsinger!

Who is it who plays a guitar that never is in tune?
Who is it, when some-one's singing, crashes in and out the room?
Who is it says, 'This song's been sung, but this is how it should be done?'
The Phantom Floorsinger."

There's some fresh-baked shortbread on the table. Enjoy.

*rhyming Slang   :0)

Best wishes,

Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 01 Feb 10 - 10:20 PM

Hey, all: I'm kinda outta touch with the folk club scene so I don't know what goes anymore. Not that I ever did. I think that's due in great part to the difference between folk clubs in the U.K. and the diminished coffee house circuit over here. The coffee houses (they should be renamed church basement houses) that have an open sing are swamped with young kids, mostly. They want to try out their two new songs they wrote on the way over to the coffee house. I never understood that. When I started performing I did stuff I'd done a million times. I was scared enough to begin with, without doing brand new songs. I still see that happening on occasion and I'm still puzzled. Why do a song where you're messing up the chords and forgetting the words?

We had lasagna that I made for supper. There's still some left...

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: maeve
Date: 01 Feb 10 - 10:40 PM

Jerry- I only have one place to try out new songs most of the time; the South Portland/Scarborough Maine house concert series. Sometimes it's a new one of my own making. Other times it's a traditional song, or one by another songmaker.

I'm nearly always scared though, because I have just that one chance to sing; maybe six times a year, and only one song on most of those nights. For me, the chance to see how one of my own songs works when sung to a live audience as opposed to a flock of bantams outweighs my desire to not make a fool of myself.

I'm not doing any baking for the forseeable future, so I'll wash these dessert plates instead of offering baked goods.

maeve

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 02 Feb 10 - 09:26 AM

Jerry, the only time I sing is when we have a house concert( in the garden) trouble is when you do not sing that often you start to forget the words,and after all these years the nerves start to kick in. Thirty years ago I sang on auto pilot and actually enjoyed being in front of an audience but the less I do the less confident I have become.
Tiny slice of cake left
Wendy

---

Jerry Rasmussen has started a new thread, Son of Kitchen Table, so I'm going to close this thread to attempt to avoid confusion. Also, I'm going to move both threads into the non-music section because I've seen very little music in them. I've received a few personal messages that asked why this thread wasn't in the non-music section. I guess I have to say they were right in asking.
-Joe Offer-