Snow Jobs

Thank Trelane It's Friday!

"No need to genuflect. A bow or curtsy is acceptable."

Wintry Mix

One of the more disagreeable features of the winter season is those mornings when
you wake up to discover that the predicted relatively trivial chance for precipitation has, in fact, materialized...

View from my patio, 7:45 AM CST

For someone who lives in Iowa, of course, this sort of thing barely registers. It is more of an annoyance than anything else.

"But you are annoyed, right?"

Yes, yes I am...

Enough, Already

President Obama with CNN's Anderson Cooper

Last night, President Obama held what was inaccurately described as
a "town hall meeting" on guns and gun control at George Mason University. It was part of his ongoing public relations campaign to defend his pointless executive orders on the subject.

It wasn't really a town hall, of course, since the event was invitation-only, and the questions were carefully screened in advance.


And the exercise accomplished precisely nothing. No minds were changed by anything that was said. That wasn't the point, of course. The point was for the president to do some high-profile virtue signaling, which CNN was happy to help him accomplish.

Perhaps the most galling aspect of the president's performance (which is what it was) was his continued attacks upon the National Rifle Association, as if it were some sinister group operating in the shadows rather than a completely public organization which represents several million law-abiding Americans.

It isn't members of the NRA perpetrating mass shootings, Mr. President. I doubt that the thugs shooting up your adopted hometown of Chicago, for instance, are members of the organization. Perhaps next time you open your yap on this issue (and I know it won't be long before you do), you might have a few harsh words for those criminals instead of NRA members?

"Don't hold your breath waiting for that to happen."

Trust me, I won't...

Trainspotting

Once the foliage is finally gone from the trees in the park across Valley View Drive from my apartment building, it is a lot easier to watch the trains that pass by on the tracks just north of the park (mostly eastbound during the day, westbound at night). For instance,
I see (and hear) these two locomotives roll by almost daily...

Engine No. 534,
in BNSF's modern "pumpkin" livery

Engine No. 517, in the famous red and silver "war bonnet" livery, in honor of the glory days of Santa Fe



Both of these locomotives are General Electric Dash 8-40BWs, built in the early '90s
for the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway. When Santa Fe merged with the Burlington Northern Railroad on September 22, 1995 I had just returned to teaching after a five-year hiatus. It took awhile for the locomotives of the new BNSF Railway
to be repainted, and even now there are still a few locomotives sporting Burlington Northern's old green and white livery as well...

Locomotive No. 2967, an EMD GP39

The Real Purpose of Those Executive Orders

From the pen of Mike Ramirez, whose editorial cartoons you should read often, as I do.

Until Next Time...

On January 8, 1935 Elvis Aaron Presley was born in Tupelo, Mississippi. In his tragically-short life he would become a cultural icon and one of the most beloved entertainers in the world.

Hard as it is to believe for people too young to remember, Elvis's career was deader than Kelsey's nuts in 1968. In musical terms, his schmaltzy, heavily-orchestrated sound at that time simply wasn't appealing to teenagers like me who were listening to The Who, Jimi Hendrix, The Beatles, etc. He released 8 singles from January 1967 to May 1968, but only two of them charted, and neither cracked the Top 25 of the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart.

Interest in his movies had also waned considerably, and Elvis himself was bored with
the whole "movie star" lifestyle. Never much of an actor to begin with, once he began sleep-walking through those films it didn't take long for audiences to bail.

In an attempt to revive Elvis's flagging fortunes, his manager, Colonel Tom Parker, arranged for NBC to broadcast what was supposed to be a "Christmas Special," with Elvis performing a variety of holiday songs. Fortunately for posterity, the program that came to be known as the "Comeback Special" evolved into something entirely different.

Original 1968 soundtrack album cover

Instead of singing Christmas songs, Elvis performed in a variety of lavish production numbers featuring his old hits. That part of the program was a sort of precursor to the big-budget reviews he would wind up performing in Las Vegas.

The highlight of the program, and the part that is fondly remembered, is the "live" segment, where Elvis and his long-standing sidemen Scotty Moore and D.C. Fontana, plus some additional old friends, sat in an informal setting and simply jammed out whatever songs Elvis felt like singing.

For kids like me, it was a revelation. Elvis was back, even if it was only for a short while before Las Vegas ate him alive.

Today's send-off celebrates The King's birthday with a live performance from that legendary show of one his favorites, the great 1952 Lloyd Price hit "Lawdy Miss Clawdy." This is the Elvis I choose to remember: relaxed, having fun, and singing songs that he clearly loved. Enjoy...

Glad...and Sad

 Yes Virginia...

...there is a Santa Claus, and he gave me and all fans of my beloved Kansas City Royals
a wonderful belated Christmas present: All-Star and Gold Glove LF Alex Gordon has re-signed with the Royals after testing the free agent waters.

Still a Royal!

I actually started hearing rumblings that Alex had agreed "in principle" to a deal with
the Royals late Tuesday, but nothing official had been announced anywhere right up until the time I published yesterday's entry. I didn't want to jinx anything by celebrating prematurely, but the official announcement finally came yesterday afternoon.

Frankly, I couldn't care less about the specifics of the new contract, and I'm really not interested in reading any "analysis" of the deal. It simply doesn't matter whether Alex is "worth the money" according to some metric or other. I don't care.

What I care about is that the Royals retained the player who is the face of the franchise's resurrection. Alex joined the team when it was awful, and early in his career he contributed some awful of his own. But he and the team worked hard, and became successful, to the point of winning back-to-back American League championships and the 2015 World Series.

There have been a few iconic moments in the history of this franchise, and Alex is responsible for one of the most recent ones: He came to the plate with one out in the
9th inning of 2015 World Series Game 1, the Royals on the verge of losing the opening game at home, to face the Mets' All-Star closer. And Alex did what heroes do...

Alex deserves to be the face of the franchise, and I am hopeful that this deal means he will play his entire career with the Royals.

I had actually lost hope that I'd ever see such a thing happen again for the Royals. Thanks, Alex!

"I'm happy for you both, but what does 'Yes, Virginia...' mean?"

It's a reference to this famous editorial...

Requiescat in Pace

January 5, 1936 - January 6, 2016

One of the more disagreeable aspects of getting older is seeing people whom I have long admired pass away. It is difficult enough to say farewell to actors and musicians who have enriched my life,
but it is especially wrenching to hear that
a favorite writer has passed away.

Yesterday brought news of the death of Florence King, just a day after her 80th birthday. She was a unique talent, and much of what I know about good writing
I learned from her hilarious but persuasive essays on the subject.


If you'd like to know more about Florence's remarkable life, or why she was so beloved by writers (especially those of us of a conservative bent), start with Jack Fowler's touching obituary for National Review, where Florence found a home for her acerbic style for more than eleven years.

Then read her books.

 He Hit What He Was Aiming For

 From the pen of Lisa Benson, whose editorial cartoons you should read often, as I do.

Until Next Time...

On January 7, 1899 pianist and composer Francis Jean Marcel Poulenc was born in Paris, France. After spurning the business career his parents wanted for him, he taught himself music and became a prolific composer in a wide variety of musical formats.

While Poulenc's mostly lighthearted secular music is pleasant enough,
it is his sacred music that appeals
to me, especially his choral works.

Begun in 1951 and completed in 1952, Poulenc's Quatre Motets pour 

le temps de Noël (Four Motets for Christmas Time) is his version of four traditional chants used at Christmas Mass, and is easily my favorite of his sacred music compositions.

Today's send-off is a 1998 recording of the work made by the Nederlands Kamerkoor (Netherlands Chamber Choir), under the direction of Eric Ericson, paired with some gorgeous winter photography. Enjoy...

Cruz-in' for a Bruisin'

Idioticus Trumpus

The only days when something galactically stupid doesn't come out of the mouth of asshat Donald Trump are those days when he avoids the press and says nothing at all. Fortunately for the republic, his narcissism is so advanced that he simply can't help himself, which in the end means that when actual voters begin indicating their preferences in actual primaries, the fact that 75-80 percent of actual GOP voters have consistently rejected him will finally mean something. Until then, though, the media will feed us an endless supply of Trump's patented fact-free bluster and pomposity.

"Go back home where you belong, Canuck!"

His most recent idiocy is bringing up the non-issue of Senator Ted Cruz's eligibility to run for president. I suspect this is because Trump has fallen behind Cruz in Iowa, and his massive ego can't accept that. I'm sure he assumes his witless, know- nothing supporters will swallow this nonsense hook, line, and sinker. And why not? They've already shown a complete lack of interest in facts or logic the entire campaign so far.

"You don't have even one lawyer on your staff, really?"

For his part, Senator Cruz responded the way one would hope: By comparing Trump's comments to the shark-jumping episode of Happy Days.

Well-played, Senator...

[Disclaimer: I have contributed to Senator Cruz's campaign, as I have to the Fiorina and Rubio campaigns.]

"Are you saying that the charge is trumped up?"

Nobody thinks you're funny...

V for Victory...Eventually

Original 1958 Flying V w/case

On January 6, 1958 the Gibson Flying V model guitar went on sale.

Intended to be a "futuristic" design, the V was not warmly embraced by guitarists, and production ceased in 1959. It would be eight years before any more Vs came off the Gibson assembly line.

The original 1958 model, made of korina wood, is highly prized by guitar collectors. There were only a few dozen of them made, and they fetch prices in the neighborhood of a quarter of a million dollars.

The design (and the corresponding sound)
of the guitar eventually found its audience, and both Gibson and its subsidiary Epiphone continue to produce V guitars today, including replicas of the prized '58 korina version.

Joe and "Amos," his original '58 Korina Flying V

My guitar hero Joe Bonamassa has owned and toured with a number of Flying V guitars in his career.

He's the main reason I acquired Veronica, my Epiphone replica of the '58 Gibson. I wrote about her (and him)  here...

But I'm Sure Those STDs Will Be Fabulous!

From the pen of Henry Payne, whose editorial cartoons you should read often, as I do.

Until Next Time...

One of early adopters of Gibson's Flying V design was blues legend Albert King, who employed a V as his main stage guitar from the model's introduction until his death in 1992.

Albert with "Lucy" in 1977

By far the most famous of Albert's
V guitars was not a Gibson-produced model, however. The guitar he called "Lucy" was custom-made for him by a fan. Other than the body shape, it has little in common with its Gibson cousins.

The current owner of the custom-built "Lucy" is actor and guitar collector Steven Seagal, who loaned it to my hero Joe Bonamassa to play on his 2015 "Three Kings" tour (which was a tribute to the music of Albert King, B.B. King, and Freddie King).





Today's send-off is a video of Joe playing "Lucy" for his performance of "Born Under
a Bad Sign," perhaps Albert's best-known song. The video was shot by my Bona-buddies Phil and Natasha Kornbluth at Joe's show in Camden, New Jersey last August 7.
(Phil and Natasha have special permission from Joe to film and photograph his shows whenever they can, which is often, and share the results online). Enjoy...

Gunning It

A Tsunami of Ado About Absolutely Nothing

"Constitution? What Constitution?"

The fawning progressive mainstream media (but I repeat myself) is positively orgasmic this morning in the wake of President Obama's announcement of executive orders relating to gun sales. As usual, the president's cheerleaders are lying their asses off about the issue, in spite of the fact that their incessant posturing on the issue has not, in fact, persuaded the American people.



Completely aside from the issue of whether the president even has the constitutional authority to do this (he really doesn't), the actual impact of the president's orders will be practically nil, so this is primarily an exercise in virtue signaling.

Some conservative analysts I respect are saying that the president has made a mistake issuing these orders. I don't agree. I think he is doing this in part to burnish his reputation with progressives (that "legacy" crap), but also as a way of damaging Hillary Clinton, who has been promising potential voters everywhere she goes that if elected she would do...basically what the president just did. I think he's getting a kick out of taking the issue away from her.

"I will shred the Constitution even better than he has, I swear!"

I don't know if it will play out that way, but if it does, it couldn't happen to a nicer black-eyed skank.

Birth of an Icon

On January 5, 1933 construction began on what would become famous as one of America's true engineering marvels, San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge.

Golden Gate Bridge at sunset

It would be more than four years before the structure was finally completed, but it was actually finished ahead of schedule, and its $35 million price tag came in under budget.




Hard to imagine a project like this being able to accomplish those two feats nowadays. We're not as "can do" a nation as we used to be, sadly.

In 1994 the American Society of Civil Engineers named the span one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World. Seeing it is most definitely on my "To Do" list.

Not just yet, old friend...and when we go, you know perfectly well that we won't be flying there...

Ockham's Razor in the Workplace

From the delightful comic strip Dilbert, by Scott Adams, which you should read every day, as I do.

Until Next Time...

One of the things I enjoy most about popular music is that no one has ever completely figured out what makes for a "hit" song. Often as not, the efforts that take the longest
to produce wind up as complete flops, while songs that were basically throw-aways that took no time at all become classic hits.

Original 1967 45 rpm single sleeve

A case in point is "San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Some Flowers in Your Hair)," a simple folk song written in 1967 by John Phillips of The Mamas and The Papas to help promote the upcoming Monterey Pop Festival.

Phillips claimed to have written the song in just 20 minutes, and thought so little of its potential that he chose old friend Scott McKenzie to record it, rather than his own group.



Of course the song became an immediate hit, reaching No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart and selling more than 7 million records worldwide. It became the anthem of the "flower power" kids of the '60s.

Today's send-off celebrates the "birthday" of San Francisco's iconic landmark with McKenzie's original recording, paired with some evocative images of the sort of "flower children" Phillips was thinking of when he wrote it. Enjoy...

Back to Work

Profound Stupidity

"Don't give me any of that 'freedom of speech' guff."

Now that the world has gone back to work following New Year's weekend, I suppose I need to get back to work offering opinions on relatively weighty topics myself. That's one of the main reasons I do this, after all.

For the life of me, I don't understand why any parent in their right mind would allow their child to attend the University of Missouri. The place has been taken over by radical progressives who have raised racial grievance-mongering to a whole new jaw-dropping level.




Consider, for instance, the pronouncement from Chuck Henson, a law professor (!) at the university and its new Vice-Chancellor for Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity (see what I mean about racial grievance-mongering?), that "the First Amendment does not give people a free pass to go around saying hateful things."

Actually, professor, the First Amendment does precisely that. That someone who could say such a profoundly stupid thing is actually teaching law at Mizzou tells you all you need to know to decide your kids are better off somewhere else.

Come and get me, Professor Henson. I'm not hard to find...

Things That Make Me Happy: Raiders Sweep Edition

To a fan of my beloved Kansas City Chiefs, nothing is better than beating the Oakland Raiders. Nothing. Well, maybe winning a Super Bowl. Maybe.

In a game that was sloppier than you'd like to see with the playoffs just a week away, the Chiefs beat the Raiders 23-17 at Arrowhead Stadium to complete a season sweep of the hated Silver-and-Black.

Chiefs QB Alex Smith didn't have his best game, throwing for just 156 yards, and being intercepted twice (one of which was returned for a touchdown).

He did throw touchdown passes to Jeremy Maclin and Demetrius Harris, and he ran for 61 yards as part of a ground game that produced 189 yards and a touchdown. Good enough, especially combined with a stifling defense that held the Raiders to just 205 yards of net offense and sacked Raiders QB Derek Carr six times.





The Chiefs have now won 10 straight games for the first time in franchise history, and will face the AFC South champion Houston Texans at NRG Stadium on Saturday. The Chiefs defeated the Texans 27-20 there in Week 1 of the season.

"Admit it: You're expecting another heart-breaking playoff loss, aren't you?"

The last time the Chiefs won a playoff game, the legendary Joe Montana was our quarterback, and Bill Clinton hadn't been sworn in as president for his first term yet
(that would happen four days later). Let's just say I'm cautiously pessimistic...

A Fair Point

From the pen of the indispensable Chip Bok, whose editorial cartoons you should read regularly, as I do.

Until Next Time...

On January 4, 1967 a record appeared in the stores containing music which sounded so completely different from everything else available that you couldn't quite get a handle on it at first. One true test of quality is uniqueness, and The Doors were definitely that.

The band certainly didn't follow the musical conventions of the time on their eponymous debut album. Its sound was dominated not by Robby Krieger's guitar but by Ray Manzarek's electric organ, drummer John Densmore was not flashy and hated touring, and singer Jim Morrison's voice was had an oddly unpleasant, almost atonal quality.





Nevertheless, the album's first single "Light My Fire" became one of the iconic hits of the 1960s even though its length made it a tough fit for AM radio airplay. It reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart on July 29 and spent three weeks in the top spot.

The album and single launched the group on what turned out to be a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame career. Both The Doors and "Light My Fire" have been selected for the Grammy Hall of Fame, and the album was also selected for the Library of Congress's National Recording Registry.

Today's send-off is the remastered (and speed-corrected) version of the original album track of "Light My Fire." Enjoy...

20 + C + M + B + 16

Feast Day

Adoration of the Magi (1620), Peter Paul Rubens

Today is the Feast of the Epiphany, which celebrates the revelation to the world of the Son of God in human form. The celebration centers around the visit of the Magi, who came bearing their famous gifts for the Christ Child.

For many years the Epiphany was celebrated on January 6, but beginning in 1970 it became a moveable feast, and it is now celebrated on the first Sunday after January 1 (the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God).

Even if you're not Catholic, you probably could have predicted the entrance hymn at Mass this morning...

My congregation didn't sound as awesome as the Choir of King's College, Cambridge,
of course, but we were pretty good.

And if you're wondering about the meaning of the title of today's post, it helps if you know a bit of Latin (specifically, the meaning of Christus mansionem benedicat). Or, you could just go here...

124 Candles

January 3, 1892 - September 2, 1973

On January 3, 1892 John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was born in Bloemfontein, the capital city of what was then called the Orange Free State, in what is now modern South Africa.

He wrote some stuff. A lot of stuff, actually. I think some of his stuff might have been made into movies.

"We toast your memory, good sir!"

Famine and Feast

After two straight days of the most boring, lopsided college football bowl games in the history of ever, the January 2 games finally gave us at least a taste of what bowl season should have been (although we did get one more blowout, Arkansas crushing Kansas State in the Liberty Bowl).

My best friend Skip's Penn State Nittany Lions fell to Georgia 24-17 in the Gator Bowl
(I refuse to use the new, stupid name for it). PSU fell far behind early, and lost their starting QB early as well, but they fought hard, and had a chance to tie the score on the last play of the game. They can hold their heads high, as can Georgia.

West Virginia won an offensive shootout in the Cactus Bowl against Arizona State, prevailing 43-42. Not a football purist's delight, but a fun game to watch.

The game of the day was the Alamo Bowl, but it sure didn't start out that way. Oregon led TCU 31-0 at halftime before the Horned Frogs mounted a record-tying comeback and won the game 47-41 in THREE overtimes.

What made the comeback even more remarkable is that TCU did it with their backup quarterback running the offense.

The best part for me was listening to the famous TCU Frog Horn every time they scored (including every PAT). That thing sounds just like the locomotives that go rolling past my apartment several times a day (which isn't surprising, considering a couple of BNSF engineers built the thing as a gift to the university).

"Dang! That thing is loud AF!"

I know, isn't it great?

Always Check the Fine Print

From the wonderful comic strip FoxTrot, by Bill Amend, which you should read every Sunday, as I do.

Until Next Time...

Original 2001 "one sheet" poster

When New Zealand filmmaker Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring was released in the United States the week before Christmas in 2001, fans of J.R.R. Tolkien's epic fantasy finally saw their hopes for a movie version fully realized.

Among the film's many pleasures was its stirring score by Canadian composer Howard Shore. Musicians performing on the film's soundtrack included the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, and the London Voices.

Shore's score was the first big success of his career, winning the Academy Award for Best Original Score and the Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack Album.

For me, though, the musical highlight of the film was a song composed and performed by the Irish singer-songwriter Enya. Her composition "May It Be" was sung over the film's closing credits. It received an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song, but didn't win (an injustice, in my opinion). Enya did get to perform the song live on the Oscar telecast, a performance viewed by tens of millions around the world.

Today's send-off is her haunting performance of the song from the soundtrack, paired with clips from Jackson's film. Enjoy...

On Such a Winter's Day

Train Show

If I can drag myself over there somehow, the Great Train Show will be at the Mid-America Center not far from where I live for the next couple of days.

I'm looking forward to attending for several reasons, not the least of them being able to gloat about it to my best friend Skip, who is also into model railroading.



If I'm lucky, perhaps I can find a reasonably-priced locomotive to add to my collection. It's pumpkin season, so maybe something like this...

MTH HO Scale GE C44-9W, aka "Dash 9"

...which passes by my apartment with great regularity these days, mostly hauling coal.

"Guys like you call them 'pumpkins' because of the color scheme?"

That would be correct, yes...

Encore Bore

After the spectacularly boring blowouts in the football games played on New Year's Eve, I was really hoping for some exciting games yesterday. Didn't happen.

It was wall-to-wall blowouts again, across the board: Tennessee beat Northwestern 45-6 in the Outback Bowl, Michigan beat Florida 41-7 in the Citrus Bowl, Ohio State beat Notre Dame 44-28 in the Fiesta Bowl (in a game that wasn't as close as the score indicated), and Mississippi beat Oklahoma State 48-20 in the Sugar Bowl (in another game that was more lopsided than even the 28-point margin would suggest).

This. All day.

And in the game of local interest here, Stanford led Iowa 21-0 within the first 10 minutes of the Rose Bowl, led 35-0 at halftime, and won the game 45-16 behind a record-setting performance from Heisman Trophy runner-up Christian McCaffrey, who is only a sophomore. It was McCaffrey's 75-yard catch-and-run for a TD on the game's first play from scrimmage that set the tone.


Within my state, I'm an Iowa State Cyclones fan, so this result didn't exactly break my heart, since it quieted the haughty Hawkeye fans in my vicinity. And it's worth noting that the two teams who met in the Big Ten Championship Game (Iowa and Michigan State) lost their bowls by a combined score of 83-15. That ought to quiet down the Big Ten boosters for at least a little while...

"How did my favorite college team do in its bowl game?"

Well, since they don't play football there...

Acutely Aware

From the delightful webcomic xkcd, by Randall Munroe, which you should read every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, as I do.

Until Next Time...

The weather here in the Bluffs has been in a deep freeze for more than a week, with
high temperatures well below freezing. A little bit of that sort of weather goes a long way with me. The coming of the New Year is also a reminder that Winter has only just gotten started (the first official day of the season was just two weeks ago).

Winter isn't all bad, of course. Among other things, it provided the inspiration for a wonderful selection in Antonio Vivaldi's famous collection of violin concertos known as The Four Seasons. "L'inverno (Winter)" is the concluding concerto of the work, suggestive perhaps of the human life cycle.

I first became acquainted with the German violin virtuoso Anne-Sophie Mutter when I was looking for violin music to use in a play I was directing in the spring of 2003. I found an enchanting recording of her playing a piece by Gabriel Fauré, and have been a fan ever since.

In 1984, Mutter released a recording of The Four Seasons made with the legendary Herbert von Karajan and the Vienna Philharmonic.



Conductor von Karajan had given Mutter her big break in 1976, inviting her to play publicly with the Berlin Philharmonic when she was just 13 years old.

Today's send-off is her exciting performance of the "Winter" concerto paired with a slideshow showcasing the harsh beauty of the season. Enjoy...

New Year's Day 2016

Feast Day

Madonna and Child, by Sassoferrato

Today is not just New Year's Day for Catholics. It is also the Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God.
It is the feast day celebrating Mary's unique role as mother of Jesus, and it is always celebrated on the Octave of Christmastide (8th day after Christmas Eve).

If you're not very good at calendar math, that's January 1. It is one of just six holy days of obligation (on which Catholics are required to attend Mass) in the United States under canon law 1246.

Resolved

One of the fairly tedious aspects of the start of the New Year is all the conversation about "New Year's Resolutions." I manage to achieve enough failure in my everyday life that I have never felt it necessary to make lists of things I could fail at to start a new year.

"That's my boy!"

I do resolve this year to try to be the best version of myself I can manage, to try to justify my existence in whatever small ways I can, to serve the dialectic (the search for truth) as best I can, and to celebrate excellence in its many forms.

One thing that will not change: I will not suffer fools gladly (or at all, actually).

"Why am I not surprised?"

Because you've known me for a long, long time...

Football Bore Subdivision

Somehow, I don't think this is what the partisans of a playoff to determine the National Championship in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) had in mind.

In last year's semifinals, the Rose Bowl match-up between Heisman Trophy winners Marcus Mariota of Oregon and Jameis Winston of Florida State was a blowout, with Oregon prevailing 59-20. And in the Sugar Bowl, Ohio State upset top-ranked Alabama 42-35 in a game noteworthy for its lack of anything resembling defense. Ohio State went on to crush Oregon 42-20 in the CFP National Championship Game.

This year we have gotten more of the same. In the Orange Bowl yesterday afternoon, Oklahoma kept it close for a half against top-ranked and undefeated Clemson, but the Tigers blew out the Sooners in the second half, winning 37-17. And in the Cotton Bowl last night, Alabama destroyed Michigan State 38-0 in a game that wasn't as close as the score indicated, as ridiculous as that sounds.

As a college football fan, I'm not impressed with the quality of the games we've seen in the long-awaited playoff format. I guess it really was about the money after all, since it certainly hasn't been about the football...

Yet Another Scandal the Mainstream Media Will Ignore

From the pen of Lisa Benson, whose editorial cartoons you should read often, as I do.

Housekeeping

As the New Year begins, I wanted to take the opportunity to urge you to click on at least some of the live links in these posts. There is a lot of information to be found that way, along with a fair amount of the humor I'm trying to include.

I also wanted to pass along a reminder that comments are always welcome. Agree or disagree, I'd love to hear from you!

Until Next Time...

In late 1963, folk singers Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel auditioned for Columbia Records producer Tom Wilson. They performed one of Simon's original compositions, "The Sounds of Silence." Wilson was impressed enough to talk Columbia into signing the duo.

 In March of 1964, the pair recorded their first album, Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M.

To say that the album was a failure commercially would be a huge understatement. It sold so poorly that Simon moved to London to try to make it as a solo artist, while Garfunkel went back to school at (ironically) Columbia College.




Wilson refused to give up on them, however, and he decided to release a new version of "The Sounds of Silence," this time with electric guitar and drums. He released the remix in September 1965 without bothering to consult the artists. When they finally heard it, Garfunkel was bemused by the changes, while Simon was allegedly "horrified." Nonetheless, the new recording's commercial success got the pair back together in the studio to record a second album, Sounds of Silence, which included the remix.

On January 1, 1966 the tarted-up version of the song hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart, the first of many Number One singles for the duo. It is not an exaggeration to say that they owe their careers to Wilson's persistence. The song's title was eventually changed by Simon to "The Sound of Silence," and it has been added to the Library of Congress's National Recording Registry.

Today's send-off is the Wilson remix, as included on the Sounds of Silence album. Enjoy...