Friday Fun

Thank Boreas It's Friday!

"Quit complaining, mortals! Shivering is good exercise!"

Three Kings Day

Adoration of the Magi, by Bartolomé Esteban Murillo

Historically January 6 has been the date of the Feast of the Epiphany, which celebrates the presentation of the Christ child to the Magi.






Since my junior year of high school in 1970, the official calendar of the Catholic Church in America has placed the feast on the first Sunday after January 1. This year that Sunday falls on January 8, the next day then being the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord. Ordinary Time begins on Tuesday.

"Until the next time a pope decides to fiddle with the calendar, eh?"

Until then, yes...but it has been nearly 48 years since the last revision, so...

No One Cares, Hollywood

I'm trying to stick to my plan to write very little about political topics in 2017, but every once in awhile I'll have to make an exception. In part this is because my political views are a significant part of who I am (the whole point of the blog being to leave a record of who I was for folks who mattered in my life to read when I'm no longer around), and in part because some opportunities are simply too good to pass up.

This morning one of my favorite political commentators, Guy Benson, published
an amusing write-up about the recent spate of smug, preachy, self-important videos Hollywood celebrities have been making in an attempt to school the rest of us poor, benighted souls on how to think, act, and vote. He also included a video he and some like-minded conservative commentators made in response, which is a thing of beauty...

"Do you think those 'celebrities' actually believe their views are especially persuasive?"

They must, since they keep making those kinds of videos...

Kaiju To the Rescue

It is too early for me to care about college basketball, and hockey games I care about are tough to find on TV, so the end of the college football bowl season has been rough on my television viewing. There won't be any football to watch until the NFL playoffs begin tomorrow, and my beloved Kansas City Chiefs have a bye in the first round and don't play until next week.

"Rawr, and stuff!"

Fortunately, my Friday night will be rescued by TNT Network, who will be showing the excellent 2014 Godzilla movie.

Given my current state of mind, I'm more than happy to watch some kaiju tear up Las Vegas and San Francisco!

"You really worry me sometimes..."

Shut up and pass the popcorn...

Some of Us Just Don't Like Change, Okay?

From the delightfully off-kilter webcomic xkcd, by Randall Munroe, which you should read every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

Until Next Time...

On January 6,1951 Kim Wilson was born in Detroit, although he then grew up in Goleta, California. By the late 1960s he was pursuing a career as a performing musician, singing and playing blues harmonica under the tutelage of some of the biggest names in American blues music. Muddy Waters, for instance, referred to Wilson as his favorite harmonica player.

After a brief stint with a band in Minneapolis, Wilson moved to Austin, Texas in 1974 and formed a band with blues-rock guitar slinger Jimmie Vaughan. Although they had
a very successful run as the "house" band at the famous Antone's nightclub in Austin, The Fabulous Thunderbirds were never a major commercial success, but they did build
a devoted cult following that most definitely includes me.

Their first three albums did not sell well initially, and when their fourth, 1982's T-Bird Rhythm, did only somewhat better, the band's label dropped them, and it was several years before they secured another record deal.

When the band resumed its recording career in 1986 the label pushed for a more commercial sound, and before long the group had moved far enough away from its roots that Vaughan left the band. For fans of the band's early music, T-Bird Rhythm was the zenith of their flavor of blues-rock.

Kim continued to lead various Thunderbirds line-ups over the years, and continues
to perform hundreds of shows per year. He is also a popular guest performer, and has appeared with the likes of Bonnie Raitt, Buddy Guy, Eric Clapton, and Mark Knopfler.

My favorite track on T-Bird Rhythm is the band's cover of the 1960 Ron Holden song "My Babe," which had been a hit as the B-side of Holden's No. 1 single "Love You So." Wilson's soulful vocals and Vaughan's distinctive Texas blues guitar, always the heart
of the T-Birds' sound, were in fine form.

Today's send-off is the remastered 2000 version of the original album track. Enjoy...