MoveOn Targeting Blue Dogs

MoveOn is targeting Blue Dog Democrats who vote about the health care bill.

MoveOn has produced a hard-hitting ad that will be unleashed in the districts of any Blue Dog Dems who vote against the House Dems’ health care bill in committee today — a warning shot that’s intended to preview the broader ad campaign that will target Blue Dogs who continue to block reform throughout August, I’m told.

Thank goodness for MoveOn. This is exactly what should happen. If we can't depend on Democrats to uphold Democratic values, then what good are they?

This article is on the House side. But the same thing goes for the senators. These creeps like Max Baucus and Ben Nelson, what are they good for? What's it even matter if they're Democrats if we can't tell the difference between them and the Republicans? Flush 'em.

Republicans Hate Medicare

It's beyond me why anyone would vote for the Republicans period. What are they for that is of any benefit to anyone? (Time's up.)

But aren't older folks a reliable bloc of voters? I thought they were, and I'm getting up to about that age myself. I know I vote on health care issues, retirement issues, social justice, education, and all that stuff the Republicans don't think we need.

To vote Republican is to hurt yourself and the country. Witness the shenanigans they're going through during the current health care reform debate. They're obstructionists first, last, and always.

Here's an interesting article. The Republicans, in addition to hating and wanting to take away Social Security, now are after Medicare.

Weird, isn't it? The question remains, Why would anyone vote for these guys?

Birtherism

I guess the whole birther thing has had its ascendancy and is now burning out. It's kind of too bad since it's good to have the GOP deeply sidelined with conspiracy theories and wacko stuff.

I'm thinking it's about done because of Bill O'Reilly's report on the subject, reading his viewers' mail and rebutting them. I'd never seen a Bill O'Reilly video in which he seemed to be coming down on the sane side of an issue. The guy's such a loon. But in this case, he seemed positively level headed.

I don't watch his show, so this may periodically happen.

Now the nation's biggest loon seems to be Lou Dobbs. Didn't he start out as a normal guy a few years ago? Then he went on to deride Mexicans and he hasn't been the same since. I believe his first hobby horse, that I can remember, was outsourcing of jobs. Whether that's still a concern of his, frankly I won't watch his crappy show anymore so I don't know. The whole immigration hobby horse became old fast. We'd see it while flipping channels.

It's kind of like Maury's show, except Maury has nothing but DNA tests for paternity. We ought to do a mash-up, the Maury Dobbs show, DNA tests for illegal aliens. Or a mash-up of Lou Dobbs and Jerry Springer, fights with burly guys in black shirts breaking them up.

You know, if you record a Jerry Springer show and listen carefully to the bleeping, it's Morse Code for "Why are you wasting your time watching this crap? On the other hand you could be watching Lou Dobbs, so you may as well stay right here."

Now I hear that O'Reilly is going to have Dobbs on his show, maybe he already did. Now there's a match up. Get the Springer guys over there, see which one would win in a fight.

I'll tell you someone else I can't stand. Whoever Dobbs' minions are on his show, his correspondents. At least when I used to see it, it was hilarious. They were so afraid of disagreeing with Lou that they became nothing but parrots for whatever he says. "Rawwk, Mexicans are bad!"

Egypt and Fox

Here's why we're having so much trouble with the Iraq war. We're not even in the right place! Clearly we've invaded Egypt, land of the Pharaohs. Home of the great breakfast cereal, Phar-O's.

I'm not really that great at geography either. I can pick out the North Pole and the South Pole in a reasonably consistent manner. If you turn the globe upside down, though, I get confused. And I can also find my own hometown, which, unfortunately they never have on the globe.

By the way, that's what I hate about globes. They don't strive for accuracy, which is obvious because they leave off so many towns. According to the globe people there are about 10 cities in the entire United States. And I know that's wrong because I personally can name at least 20.

A great catchphrase -- like "They're Grrrreat" -- for the breakfast cereal of Egypt would be: Phar-O's! They're Phar-Out!"

Democrats and Democrats

Good grief, we have a Democratic president and a Democratic Congress. Can we please get some Democratic legislation passed?

Are our guys so seriously on the take that they're willing to screw over We The People? This is going to be a problem with long term consequences if that is so.

We wanted the power so much, for everything to be in Democratic hands. But if we botch this ... the Republicans will be the prime beneficiary.

Try your level best, you idiots, to get it right.

In Palin News

Today was Sarah Palin's last day as governor of Alaska. She sought the trust and responsibility of office from Alaskans, then with no definite plans in mind quit with a year and a half to go in her term. Some think someone with this kind of behavior is fit for higher office.

That's a laugh. Which reminds us, she's a national joke and can't resign that position.

A 1949 Nickel

I noticed a 1949 nickel in my change today. I don't usually look through my change, but I noticed it when I took it out of my pocket at the exercise place. I don't want all that change rattling around (and weighing me down) while I'm doing my best to exert myself on the machines.

So there it was, right on top. With the outlines of everything on it being clear from all the dirt at the edges from over the years. It's hard for me to believe this coin's been out there kicking around for 60 years, but who knows the story!

1949 is before my parents were married. I don't know if they even knew each other yet. Curly from The Three Stooges was still alive. (These are the big historic markers for me, what was going on with my parents and what Curly Howard was up to.)

So a 1949 nickel is an oldie but a goodie. I don't know whether to put it on my shelf (why would I do that?) or just let it go back into the wild. I probably will do that, in order to give the next guy something to think about too.

Obama's Regrets

President Obama says he regrets the language he used when he said the Cambridge police handled the arrest of Prof. Gates "stupidly."

Of course who am I to criticize? I winced a little when he said it, not that it seemed untrue, but presidents aren't supposed to tell the truth so directly. He needed to be more moderate, like "It's an ongoing case and we'll be closely watching both sides, blah blah blah."

He has a nice remedy for the parties involved, to invite them to the White House and perhaps to share a few beers. That's good.

As for the president making a mistake of sorts, imagine if it were Bush. He never made a mistake, at least none he himself ever recognized. So we're miles ahead with Obama no matter what he says.

Still, in my perhaps less newsworthy opinion, it's extremely stupid that a guy can be arrested while going into his own home, simply for that, no matter how must bluster he might've aimed at the officer in his home. That's freedom of speech. And as far as I'm concerned, when the officer saw it was a guy who lived there he should have apologized and left the premises immediately. To protect and serve? Isn't that what the police are to do? Not nitpick and harass.

But hey, I don't know all the facts. But it looks pretty stupid on the surface.

Our Idiot Congress

It's so hard to believe that these worthless halfwits are the guys and gals we choose by a democratic process to represent us.

They can't get anything done in an efficient and thoughtful way. You've got special interests, they're in their back pockets, they're scratching each other's back, they're currying favors, and, oh, the silver tongued devils can explain themselves. If you've ever gone to your senator's public meetings, they have enough explanations (and usually the crowd's on their side), given that they can allude to a lot of hearings and crap that you of course didn't attend.

This thing with health care reform, I want it done. I'm sick of having thieves and bandits in charge of our health care. But Congress isn't much better.

President Obama's on the right track. He seems clean. But these other guys, and this includes our Democratic side, blue dogs or whatever the morons call themselves, I don't know who they think they're representing.

Harry Reid, is it just me or is this guy worthless?

President Obama Tonight

The guy continues to amaze me. I think he's a great president.

I don't understand at all the opinion polls that show that he's losing some favor with the American people. It makes me wonder what they're expecting. He was given the worst problems since the Great Depression from the Bush administration. It's going to take some effort to clean it up.

And they complain that his stimulus isn't working fast enough. Which is an interesting complaint, since the Republicans' prescription for what ailed us was to do nothing. How doing nothing would be proactively any better than doing something, that's a head scratcher.

I wonder if the Republicans use that logic if one of their houses is on fire. Should I call the fire department? Why bother? The fire will go out eventually. But wouldn't it be worth the effort to save your house, if possible, or at least some of your stuff, or keep other houses in the neighborhood from burning down? It seems like that's what we have a fire department for.

Anyway, the President was on tonight and I watched big chunks of it. Good stuff. The man's still got it. He is as smart as they come. And he seemed to have some confidence that this health care reform would get done and that it would be a positive thing. When it came to George Bush, if he said the same thing I wouldn't have believed him. If George Bush offered a child a shiny quarter he'd be lying. But not Obama. He's believable and decent.

Spank The Wacko

Chris Matthews spanks this idiot wingnut congressman, John Campbell (R-CA). Good grief, it's no wonder there's problems in this country and problems with the Republican party when we have scurves like this in positions of power.

Wow, just do us a favor and resign. Maybe we need a bill that congressmen need to pass a basic threshold of sanity and decency to serve. What woodwork do these wackos crawl out from?

President Obama was born in Hawaii, which became a state in what? 1959, something like that.

From Cronkite To Beck

Walter Cronkitemania is sweeping America now that he's passed on. Fans are lined up outside the Staples Center. His old CBS newscasts are number one on iTunes.

It's weird that once upon a time we had a few TV channels and respectable guys on the news. We really looked up to these guys, Huntley and Brinkley and Cronkite, etc.

If they would've told us one day we'd have 24 hour a day news we would've been as happy as clams. That would have been awesome.

But how has it turned out? We have 24 hour a day news channels and they're wall to wall crap. You can't stand to turn it on because it is wall to wall crap. With just a few exceptions.

We have this scurrilous knave, Beck, who symbolizes all that's wrong with the whole scene. I don't personally watch him (ever) but I've read about him on blogs (and seen a few minutes of clips), so I know he's trash.

Quite a descent. Like that famous evolution progression in reverse. We are Devo.

Seriously, get rid of the news channels and have an hour or half hour every night like we used to. It would truly be progress.

Democrats

It's so frustrating to think we have Democrats in Congress who are dragging their feet on health care reform.

To think, we finally get a Democratic president and a Democratic Congress, and they suddenly decide to dilly dally around. It's disgusting.

We need to get this thing done.

The insurance companies need to be severely spanked. They're bandits.

Album Cover Designer Dies

Tom Wilkes, 69, an artist who designed some famous album covers, died.

I don't remember the name but I recognize some of his work, including the cover for George Harrison's "All Things Must Pass" album.

Other famous ones include "Beggars Banquet" and "Harvest."

Amazon Selleth, Amazon Taketh

This is ridiculous, that users of the Kindle reading thing can wake up to find their books gone.

According to this article, that's what happened. The books were Orwell's 1984 and Animal Farm, which the publisher decided, apparently, they didn't want to be available for the Kindle. Which of course would be fine for future sales, but past sales??

The books were deleted and the users given a credit. Unbelievable! As crazy as anything I've heard. That would give me a reason right there to ignore the Kindle. As if I didn't have enough reasons. I like books I can get my hands on. Books that will be with me when I'm in the nursing home someday. Not here today and gone tomorrow. I thought that already in the electronic sense, with the thing breaking. But I never imagined that you could buy something and have it gone tomorrow. I'm floored really.

I've been buying MP3 files at Amazon. I hope I don't wake up to see them all deleted somehow. Not that I see how they could do that. But they could have something embedded in them to make them quit working. What do I know about an MP3 file? Let's say I sign into the Amazon and they download a code to my computer that says none of my MP3s should work anymore. Because the record company didn't want them sold anymore.

I've bought books from Amazon too. I definitely don't want to wake up at night and have Amazon going through my shelves looking for them because the publisher changed their mind. This thing with the Kindle is just as ridiculous.

Talk about Orwellian.

A Big Camper

Tonight I saw the biggest camper I believe I've ever seen in my life. With a heavy duty truck pulling it, as would be necessary.

The brand name of the camper is Montana. That's Big Camper Country. This thing was enormous. Hard to estimate how long. Not as long as a mobile home, of course, but stacked up, nice and wide. It looked like it'd have enough room in it to get lost. Or to be at one end and not hear someone screaming at the other end. (Maybe not that big.)

I thought that's really the life. Go out to a campground and it's like you have an entire home with you. That would be a lot of fun I think.

Big expense, though, I'm sure. But worth it definitely if you can afford it.

Sotomayor

I'm not watching any of the Sotomayor hearings. I'm doing stuff when all that's on. And anyway, I wouldn't want to sit home all day and watch TV.

So all I'm seeing is an occasional video (I guess I haven't seen any of those) and reading snippets here and there about it.

The number one thing I'm hearing about is what crumbs the Republicans are. It's unbelievable that they try to score points just tearing down people. Like this lady, who sounds like about as good as they come. But the Republicans aren't interested in governing. They're interested in tearing down the government because they don't believe it's any good. How that makes any sense at all, since we obviously need a government, we haven't determined yet.

They're crazy.

A Michael Jackson National Holiday

One of the questions that keeps popping up on Facebook involves whether there should be a Michael Jackson national holiday.

On the face of it, when you first hear the idea, you think, How absurd. Then the more you think of it the absurdity continues on.

It seems to me, though, that a lot of these Facebook questions are just a means someone has for generating traffic to their app (or whatever you call all these Facebook appendages.) I can't seriously believe we're going to have a national holiday for him.

He was a fine singer, etc., blah blah blah. But there are lots of those, including Elvis, who, unless you count the marathon movies on his birthday, doesn't have a holiday. And great actors. John Wayne didn't get a national holiday. Neither did Red Buttons, no national holiday for him.

I'm not strictly opposed to more national holidays but I have reluctant to support them, for one simple reason: I hate it when the post office is closed and we don't get mail.

The Inner Sleeve

When I get an album, I like looking at the inner sleeve, if it has one and if it's printed on.

This album I got today is on the ABC-Paramount Records label, and it came with a nice inner sleeve, even though it's split at the bottom (big deal) and it's black and white. I love seeing the color ones, which are rare.

I've looked at thousands of records over the years and I like to see on these inner sleeves that there are lots I still haven't seen. It just makes me want to pray the Record Fairy even harder, and leave more broken records under my pillow, to see what I might find. Really, I'm not looking to own a lot more records because I have nowhere to put them.

This inner sleeve has some nice looking records. (There's others on the other side, which I don't have a picture of.)

The Paul Anka record in the corner, "Diana," I don't believe I've ever seen that album. And the Brian Hyland one in the opposite corner, I don't see that around. I have a Brian Hyland album on ABC/Paramount, "Sealed With A Kiss."

Those Lloyd Price albums in the middle look great. But they appear to be rarities as far as Goodwill, Salvation Army, and garage sales are concerned. One is called "Cookin'" (ABC-382), another "Mr. Personality" (ABC-297), and the other "The Fantastic Lloyd Price" (ABC-346). I have a few of Lloyd's 45s but none of these albums.

Ray Charles is represented in the next to the bottom row. The album "Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music" by Ray I've seen numerous times over the years, never in good condition. It has a bright red cover, so bright that Ray himself could probably have seen it!

The others I'm not familiar with. Then there's some generic looking stuff, not too whoopie, but who knows, I might buy it if I saw it in pretty good condition. Don't ask me why. "Drinking Songs Around the World," "Adventures In Paradise," Italian songs, and an album that might be a documentary LP, "Sabicas: The Day of the Bullfight."

The other side has a rocker with Teddy Randazzo. I don't know much about him. I have a 45 with a nice picture sleeve I got at a garage sale a year or two ago. It's not too thrilling. It seems like I saw him in a rock 'n' roll movie from the '50s or early '60s once.

There's a few albums of bawdy ballads, songs from soldier life, some polka LPs, and one interesting looking one from Don Costa's Free-Loaders, called, "Music to Break a Sub-Lease." One by Oscar Brand, "Oscar Brand Sings for Adults." Ooo-la-la.

The bottom half is given over to jazz albums. They all have funky, evocative covers. Of these, I never see these around. There's thousands of records out there that never show up where I go.

UPDATE: I looked up "Sabicas: The Day of the Bullfight" and it's not a documentary record but has music tracks.

THE DAY OF THE BULLFIGHT
Sabicas
New York City: September 19 and October 27, 1958
Sabicas, Diego Castellon, Juan Jimenez Garcia de la Mata; Felix Garcia Vizcaino (g); Keene Crockett (sound effects); Kenyon Hopkins (orchestral introductions) with orchestra.

You can see what the tracks are called and the timings at that link. It has guitar, sound effects, and orchestra. That might be a very cool record.

Health Care

I'm grimacing. I'm not reading all these articles about Congress because it's all so depressing.

When Bush had a Republican Congress, they did what he wanted. I hated it at the time but that's what they did. Now Obama has a Democratic Congress, and they don't want to do what he wants. I hate that, because I want some stuff done while the doing is good. Like health care.

Now I saw a headline (I didn't read the article) that they're saying they can't come up with a package that would pass before whatever Obama's deadline is, in August sometime. That sucks. Let's get the thing done.

I don't know why it is precisely, except special interests and corruption, why these Congress critters from our party can't rally around the fact that we have an opportunity now to get this accomplished after all these years. But no, they're going to drag their feet, compromise, get some watered down version of the thing that won't come near to solving the problem, and that's what we'll be stuck with.

The voters will stick with you if you do the right thing. But if you dilly dally and screw it up, as sure as anything, they'll vote the Republicans in again. Get the stupid thing done!

More Cheney News, Ho Hum

I see they're reporting (NY Times) that Dick Cheney ordered the CIA not to disclose to Congress their various activities. Leon Panetta's telling it that way.

For anyone else, this could potentially be a problem. For Cheney, who seems to be quite above the law, it's just another day.

Is there anything this guy could do that would get him in trouble?

If he robbed a bank and they were chasing him down the road, I can hear it now. They're radioing ahead, "It's Cheney." "OK, let him go. Back to the station, men."

Economic Stuff

The Republicans continue to sicken me.

I hear they're out there complaining about how slow the stimulus is as far as reviving the economy that their guy ruined. They're complaining about President Obama not being able to have everyone fully employed yet. They're nothing but complaints.

The weird thing about this is so far they're getting exactly what they wanted. We all know 100% the Republicans didn't want the economy to revive, and they still don't. So it's a bit of a theatrical act to have them on TV complaining when they're getting what they actually wanted.

They're essentially traitors to the rest of us. For their short term political gain they want the United States to go down the tubes. But then when problems continue on, they're right there with their continual crocodile tears. I for one am not fooled.

I believe we could back up the tape and see that the Republicans didn't think anything needed to be done to fix the economy. Maybe cut taxes, the same old Bush prescriptions that got us in this mess.

The guy from wherever, Boehner, what? Ohio? went back home and said the stimulus wasn't doing anything in his state. Like zero. Then they found out with was $50 million or something already, and he needed to admit he had it wrong. Stinking jokers.

As for the Democrats in Congress, I wish they would be on the same page. Why is it that we can take control of Congress and have our side fighting like cats and dogs? It's ridiculous. Get this stuff done. Fix the economy, get health care right, etc., and people will reward you. Some of these creatures need to be replaced, of course, but to do it is harder than saying it.

Leon Panetta

Now he tells us:

CIA Director Leon Panetta told lawmakers in a recent briefing that the intelligence agency he heads misled Congress on "significant actions" for a "number of years," a group of Democrats revealed on Wednesday.

We will be expecting the apologies to Nancy Pelosi to commence right about now... [crickets].

Why anyone would expect a covert agency to always tell the truth, I don't know. Lies, tricks, and deception are their business. But it would be nice, let's say preferable, if they at least told the truth to the people in charge of their business.

I couldn't understand how Panetta could come in there and be so certain that they hadn't misled Congress over the years. How would he know? Do they have a big basket that says "Things We Misled Congress On" and it was empty?

He just came into office this year. Is that the way it works at most businesses, that a guy comes into the office and immediately knows everything that happened for the last 10 years?

Waiting For The Record Fairy

I'm waiting for the record fairy to show up, to lead me to lots of great records in great shape at a cheap price.

I don't know why I want them precisely, just more baggage to carry around, but I'm enthused by the idea of great records in great shape at a cheap price. I know you can find lots of great records in great shape at collectors' prices easily enough. But I'm also a cheapskate. I like boxes of them at a dime apiece or, you know, 50 cents. Like that.

It's happened before ... and I have faith ... I feel like I've been given the assurances from on high that someday ... eventually ... it's going to happen again!

She'll be winging her way over my neighborhood thrift stores. Some old guy from town or out in the country will drop dead (it sometimes happens this way) and his kids, grief stricken and just wanting to get rid of stuff, will listen to the subtle whispers of the record fairy, then take the records to a place, one of the thrift stores, where I will be the first customer through the door.

Destiny is a fun thing. I don't always have faith. But I see it work out in many ways. Whether it's the record fairy, or just all the other fairies in charge of things that I want, eventually they all come through for me. It's just a matter of faith, persistence, and making sure I'm the first customer through the door when the new stock comes out.

Also if I could get the power to put a hex on everyone else who might be interested, to keep them far away.

Al Franken Sworn In

This is a happy day. We congratulate Senator Al Franken!

First Watermelon

I just had my first piece of watermelon for the season. I wanted a piece yesterday, then I suggested it, and we ended up with cantaloupe.

Today I was at the store and decided, I'll splurge and get a watermelon. Not that it's very big. A little bigger and just slightly more elongated than a bowling ball. The first piece was pretty good even though it was not cold. I've got the rest in the fridge and maybe tomorrow it'll be better.

I didn't notice any seeds, so I must have gotten one of the modern melons somehow. That's OK!

It's one of the foods of summer. Along with a banana, that's a good thing.

Lunch With Micky Dolenz

Win a lunch with Micky Dolenz. I happened to stumble upon a page at eBay, where Micky sells lunch dates with himself for $1,750.

Good grief. That sounds weird. Pay someone to go out to lunch with them. What a meaningful experience!

But look at all you get:

Offered here is an opportunity for you + 1 friend to have lunch with me at a prestigious Los Angeles area restaurant. Over lunch, I'll be happy to discuss a variety of topics regarding my career with the Monkees and beyond. During your visit you will receive a special autographed 8x10 photo, autographed drum sticks and my "LIVE" CD, also signed, to commemorate the occasion.

To me this is pure yuck. And I'm actually a fan.

In related news, a guy won a lunch with Warren Buffett, for $21 million. Maybe this is why Micky's selling all the lunches, trying to save up to go out with Warren. But maybe Warren's a big Monkees fan and would just give him $1,750.

That is one sick sounding blurb: "I'll be happy to discuss a variety of topics..." Then there's the autographed drum sticks, which of course melt if you keep them out of the freezer too long.

July 4 Parade

I went to the July 4 parade, like usual, on the sidelines. It turned out I wasn't Grand Marshall again this year, keeping my streak alive and healthy of never being the Grand Marshall.

But being Grand Marshall comes with its down side. So I was happy to sit on the curb and watch. Once again, I've failed to invest in a nice fold up chair that goes in a cloth bag. So I end up with no chair. Next year ... maybe things will be different. (Probably not.)

I had my usual bemusement at all the standing for the American flag, which is cool enough. Except there are lots of American flags going by, smaller ones, ones people are holding, some strapped to the side of a vehicle, etc., that we're not standing for. It's only the ones that jut out or obviously provoke standing. Such as if a veteran is within 40 yards of it. It's funny, the double standard when it comes to the flags we stand for and vice versa!

They had some flags at the beginning, then a bunch of police and sheriff cars. I was questioning why it was people were still standing after the flags had well passed. Now we're standing up for law enforcement cars? I didn't because I've never heard of that. And I'm old enough to know.

We saw all the usual things, plus kids grabbing for candy at the curb. Some of them were getting their fill and filling a sack or basket.

Jewel Food Stores Record - 1952

Here's an interesting record and I don't see any other mention of it on the internet.

I had no idea what "Jewel" was until I listened to the record a couple times. At first I thought it was a restaurant. But then that didn't make any sense, with 80,000 housewives, etc. So it turned out to be a grocery store. And it was called "Jewel Food Stores."

From Wikipedia:

In 1932, Jewel acquired the Chicago unit of Loblaw Groceterias, Inc., then a chain of 72 self-service stores, as well as four Chicago grocery stores operated by the Middle West Stores Company, and began operating them under the name Jewel Food Stores, Inc.

There's someone with a blog on old retail stores. And so check out this link for some photos of Jewel Food Stores in the '50s.

The record is by the Modernaires, called on the record the Modernaires 4 Rhythm. It was put out on a Chicago label, from the Master Record Company, and given the number Jewel No. 1. "If It Sparkles, It's A Jewel."

The year is 1952. It seems to be honoring Jewel's 20th year and they were thankful for their customers supporting them.

This is a one-sided disc.

1954 Capitol Records Contest Winners

Here's one of my favorite oddball records, meaning a record that was custom made, homemade, or a very limited production. (I'm speaking like one of the guys on this record, Raymond, most indubitably!)

Capitol Contest Winners - Roma, Raymond, Jim, Bozo

It's 1954, and at Younker's department store in Des Moines there's been some kind of contest in conjunction with Capitol Records, win a trip to New York.

Roma and Raymond (Roma Kelley and Raymond's last name sounds like Dickers or Deckers) are interviewed by Jim at Capitol Records.

They tell about their experiences, the churches they've visited, the cinema, going to the opera, wanting to go to the World Series, etc.

Raymond has a most impressive vocabulary, and sounds like a very learned gentleman.

Toward the end there's a surprise visit from Capitol recording artist Bozo the Clown! That's cool, huh?

I'm thinking if they had this contest in Des Moines, they probably also had it in other cities across the country. Meaning there would likely be variations of this record with other winners. But looking around the internet, I don't see any reference to such.

The record is one-sided, 33 rpm, and I took out or reduced the pops and clicks. There's some scratches you can feel.

A Bug In My Coffee

Today when I got up, I needed to empty my coffee carafe from yesterday. And I got a weird surprise when I unscrewed it and emptied it and a bug fell in the sink. Oh no! A little bug maybe a half inch long with pincers on one end. I've seen a few of these around recently.

He must have crawled in the hole, which is sealed, so he must not actually have been inside where the coffee was. But it was gross. When it came time to wash the carafe I washed it extra well!

As for the bug, I looked down in the sink, and somehow he survived. So I picked him up with a paper towel, then he was walking around the paper towel, and I got him outside and let him go.

I do not like to see insects in my coffee, my food, anything really.