I always enjoy watching the Little League World Series this time of the year. Sixteen teams of 10-12 year-olds from around the world gather in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, for a double elimination tournament to decide who can call themselves champions for this year. And of course I can't help but compare it to my own checkered … Continue reading Misadventures Of A Little League Bench-Warmer
Smokey the Bear, the US Forest Service's lovable mascot, just turned 75. That might not surprise you because it's received a lot of publicity, but did you know Sam Elliott, the gravel-voiced actor who has been Smokey's voice for many years, also turned 75. . . .on the same day? Of course Elliott wasn't the … Continue reading Smokey Is A Geezer
My dad was orphaned as a pre-teen, and I'm not sure what he took away from his early years except one thing. . .his given names. His natural parents gave him the moniker Abraham Lincoln. I don't know if they were history buffs or just admirers of the 16th president, who was and is considered … Continue reading Abraham Lincoln Reversed
I quit smoking over forty years ago, but it's something that comes to mind once in a while. I don't mean that I get the urge (although it took me a long time to lose that) but just things connected to smoking. For example I once wrote about cigarette lighters, and I also wrote about … Continue reading A Treasure In The Junk?
I've always enjoyed traveling the highways, but it was more interesting when I was a kid. Today's interstate highways are great in terms of efficiency and safety, but the high speeds and limited distractions are kind of. . .boring. I sometimes long for the days when cross-country highways like US 40 and US 66 were … Continue reading A Kid’s Favorite Roadside Attraction
Most folks from middle America - especially southerners - know what a goober pea is, but for the benefit of the city-slickers I probably should elucidate. The humble goober pea is also variously known as a groundnut, pindar, monkey nut, and. . .peanut. This isn't the first time peanuts have appeared on the GMC in … Continue reading The Wonderful Goober Pea
I've never made a secret of the fact that some of my family originally came from the Kentucky hills. I can't say that I know a lot of specifics about them, but in that area in those days it's a good bet that there was a bootlegger or two among them. After all, it's been … Continue reading The Ballad Of Thunder Road
This might sound like another example of our Saluting Silly Songs feature, but it's not. All we're interested in today are strange song titles that tickle our fancy. If you haven't had yours tickled lately, these might do the trick. This post started when I was chuckling to myself about a memory of my son … Continue reading Titles That Tickle
It's been a while since we had a Country Catalyst, the special feature that spotlights a country song that might open the eyes (and ears) of mainstream music fans. Today's example is a piece that could be classified as soft pop or folk music, but it certainly began life as a country song -- even … Continue reading Country Catalyst: A Sailor’s Dream
I've written before about the way my musical tastes have changed and broadened through the years (Music Appreciation 2.0). And I've sometimes talked about how my personal music collection has evolved from platters to tapes to CDs, and then to digital MP3 files on my computer. But now I've pretty much moved on to the … Continue reading Music Appreciation 3.0
Geezer Music Club 