Sunday, April 26, 2009

Wrigley Field Chicago

April 26, 1941 the Cubs organization brought in an organ to be played between innings etc. I don't think the organization was serious about the whole thing but it caught on. The fans loved it. Next thing you know there was an organ at Ebbets Field. Now at least half of the the Major League stadiums have organs. Many fans dislike the canned music.

Gary Pressy plays organ for the Cubs now. I don't believe he is allowed to pinch hit.
I'm a Cards fan but it wouldn't be the same without the Cubs, and yes sooner or later they're gonna win the big one.

Don't give me any lip about this lineup. I'm the G.M. today
Lineup:
Three Fingers Mordeci Brown P ERA 1.06 1906
Fergie Jenkins P SIX 20 game seasons
Bruce Sutter Relief can you say heat
Gabby Hartnett C Top 10 in slugging 7 times
Mark Grace 1st Nine 300 game seasons
Ryne Sanberg 2nd Five 300 game seasons, bunch of gold gloves
Ernie Banks SS 500 HR's
Rogers Hornsby 2nd some say as good
Ron Santo 3rd Two seasons over .335 then traded ???
Billy Williams OF Five 30 HR seasons
Hack Wilson OF 5'6" pow hitter 190 RBI 1 season, Hall of F.
KiKi Cuyler OF .321 lifetime
Frank Chance Manager

Saturday, April 25, 2009

Son Thomas

YouTube - James Sonny Ford Thomas

Sometime back in the eighties I went to the Depot Restaurant and Lounge in Columbus Mississippi to see the blues man Son Thomas. This old man played two hours and never played the same song twice. During one of his breaks I went up on the little stage and talked with him. I don't remember what all we talked about, but I asked him about his sculptings. He said yes he gathered clay and made sculptings of George Washington and other presidents, I don't remember which ones. Son told me that he went to the barber shops and collected hair for the heads and got the teeth from a local dentist. A few months later I asked someone how he was doing. I was told that he had fallen and was burned on his wood stove at home. I don't think he ever fully recovered. One day I read in the paper where the blues man James Sonny Ford Thomas had died.

You can Google his work. I don't know what a piece would bring and probably don't want to know.

Friday, April 24, 2009

Gentle On My Mind

YouTube - Gentle On My Mind

As you may have figured out I like songwriters, sometimes these guys are in the shadows unless they also have great voices like Carrol King and numerous others (Dillon, Prine, Jerry Jeff Walker, and Tom Waits,-----well,------ they are poets so it doesn't count) Songwriters, I guess like most writers are sometimes different, but I think you sometimes have to be in order to write.

This song is on my top ten favorite lyrics page. John Hartford a great banjo player was inspired to write this song after watching the blockbuster movie "Doctor Zhivago." Glenn Campbell recorded the song in 1968. It won four Grammies.

Sonya

YouTube - "I Have A Father Who Can" By The Isaacs (ACAPELLA LIVE)

There are people out there singing that some of us will never hear. This group has been around for a while. They have filled some large halls and and some of the smallest churches across America. I stumbled upon them a few years ago. Man, this girl Sonya has a set of pipes!!!

She may be doing some solo stuff now

Saturday, April 18, 2009

Just Songwriters

YouTube - Jimmy Driftwood_The Legend

Being a teacher and lover of music I wanted to share this.

Jimmy Driftwood taught history in Snowball Arkansas. His kids had little interest in a subject so far behind them when their entire lives were ahead. Like any teacher worth his salt, Driftwood became more creative. Jimmy put his teaching to music in the classroom. He wrote "The Battle of New Orleans" as one example. He was invited to visit other schools striking a note for learning. Johnny Horton heard his song (maybe on the local radio station, not sure)
Horton covered the song that hit the top 10 in both Country and Pop.
Driftwood's everlasting song is "Tennessee Stud". It was recorded by Doc and Merle Watson on the Dirt Band's "Will the Circle Be Unbroken" double album somewhere in the 70's, but my guess is that it was recorded many times before I found this version. Even in his 90's, the old man shows amazing talent. We remember singers but songwriters float into obscurity like old tree branches.
(Driftwood 1907-1998)

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Mary Who?

Mary Young Pickersgill, Maryland Women's Hall of Fame

This lady sewed the flag that flew over Fort McHenry, Sept 1814
It is preserved in the Smithsonian
Frances Scott Key watched as a captive on an American ship
held behind the British fleet until the battle was over.
The shelling stopped a couple of hours before dawn
He waited for predawn to see which banner flew over the fort
He titled his poem "Defence of Fort McHenry


Then conquer we must, when our cause. It is just
And this be our motto: In God we trust."
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Founders

I finally got my hands on the best selling book in the Nation.

It is "Liberty and Tyranny" by Mark Levin

This guy gets down on my level. Every citizen should be required to read this book before voting. The Creator has endowed us with the good stuff, life, liberty. Unfortunately some people believe they are small deities want to decide what we are endowed with. More often than not they are the "enlightened,"Harvard, Princeton
The founders didn't fall off a turnip wagon. They believed that we are created equal. We are all unique individuals. We are given life and liberty to pursue what we want and as much as we want. Some will achieve more than others from their labors mainly ownership of land and wealth. Man is also free to fail and try again. Freedom must eventually result in inequality or it's not freedom at all.

The Govt that was once ours, loves to hear the cries of class envy and will take advantage of it, keeping the envious in bondage while robbing achievers of wealth and property. Govt comes away more powerful and dangerous. (my interpretation)

if truth to you is relevant or nonexistent, please disregard.

Sunday, April 5, 2009

From Movie "Gods and Generals"

YouTube - The Battle of Fredericksburg (Part 3: The Irish Brigade)

This is a very moving clip from the movie. The Northern Irish Brigade (this may be the 69th N.Y.) I didn't take the time to look it up, but they were units from N.Y., Penn, and Mass., some more famous. These boys were mostly new immigrants. They couldn't find shamrocks so they found sprigs of boxwood to put in their caps. Their green flag bears an Irish harp and the motto in Gaelic "Clear The Way" Gen. Meagher was their commander.

They weren't the only ones sacrificed by Burnside that December day. Four brigades were smashed against the stone wall.
Behind the wall was Gen. RR Cobb's Confederate Irish Brigade with the 24th Ga. in the center, Phillips Ga. Legion on his left and the 18th Ga on his right. The Regt also the 16th Ga. , Cobbs Legion supported by Cabell's Artillery. Repeated assaults came against the Georgans until they were low on amo.
Kershaw's S.Caroline Brig was moved in behind them. By this time the ranks stood five and six deep. I can't imagine what it would be like to shoot down your brothers knowing or believing they had been misled especially after what England had done to them.
The Georgia banners bore the same Irish Harp and a shamrock. Their northern opponents displayed the courage the Georgians would have expected. After the retreat the Southern boys took their hats off and cheered the valor of their brothers.
Many of the wounded froze to death that night.
Mark Levin in his new best seller "Liberty and Tyranny" tells why interference by the Fed. Govt brought about the war as Govt interference brings about so much other pain.

YouTube - The Lord's Prayer in Gaelic

YouTube - The Lord's Prayer in Gaelic

Say this three times in a row

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Meriwether Lewis

TN Encyclopedia: MERIWETHER LEWIS NATIONAL MONUMENT

Montana has named many landmarks for the famous Captain. Much of his adventure took place in that pristine wilderness, but Tennessee is where he rests. Lewis is buried in the side yard of the Grinder home/Inn. It was nothing more than a log house and a barn where travelers could rest for the night on the Natchez Trace.
A twelve foot monument marks the site of his burial. Its epitaph pays tribute to his undaunted courage.

Lewis County Tennessee
Lewisburg Tennessee