Sitting At The Kitchen Table

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.)