Lene Lovich
Lene Lovich was born Lili-Marlene Premilovich in Detroit, Michigan, March 30, 1949. She moved to England as a teenager, and met Les Chappell. He who played guitar in her band, and was her man.
As an art school student, she started to tie her long hair in plaits to keep it out of the clay while studying sculpture. Her recording debut was as part of an audience, when Chuck Berry recorded “My ding a ling”. This may have been the inspiration for “Lucky Number.”
Miss Lovich played in several bands, before winding up on the Stiff label. She put out two albums that became popular in the USA, and did a tour. After a while, she retired from music to raise a family. Miss Lovich has made a slight comeback in recent years.
PG had the privilege of seeing Lene Lovich at the Agora Ballroom, Atlanta GA, in the winter of 1980. The opening act was The Romantics. The show was taped for broadcast on the NBC radio network, and Don Pardo was on hand to introduce the bands.
The Romantics were unknown to the crowd at the Agora that night. They came on stage wearing costumes that looked like the Beatles of 1963. Every song they did was a bit better than the one before, and they got a big round of applause when the set ended.
Don Pardo had quite a career. He was the house announcer on November 22, 1963, and was the voice of NBC when he interrupted a soap opera to announce that John Kennedy had been “cut down with assassin’s bullets”. During his career as a TV announcer, Mr. Pardo could not use profanity. That night at the Agora, he made up for lost time…every other word he said was a cuss word.
Soon, Lene Lovich (spell check suggestion:lovechild) and her band came on stage. She was not the typical sexpot rock chanteuse… A bit chubby, with her long hair tied in plaits. Wearing a long sleeve black dress, probably stolen from a convent, she provided fantasy for only the kinkiest. Les Chappell was there, with his shaved head, to stop any trouble before it started, and play guitar.
The material came mostly from the first two albums on Stiff records. (At some point in the evening, someone…maybe Lovich, maybe Pardo…said “Be stiff”.) She introduced “Lucky Number” by saying “We have a song that goes ah oh aih oh”. During an instrumental jam in that song, she cried out “We have an American on keyboards”. The American was Thomas Dolby, who would soon go solo. He did not appear to be blinded by science.
The first encore was ” I think we’re alone now”, which had been a hit for Tommy James and the Shondells (spell check suggestions: shoulders, shovelfuls). Soon the night was over. Pictures are from the ” Special Collections and Archives,Georgia State University Library” This is a repost.
UPDATE: This comment was left on facebook “Those first two albums are GREAT. I probably saw her on this same tour; Dolby was with her. I was a club on South Street in Philly. She looked like a freaked-out Teutonic barmaid, the St. Pauli girl gone goth (before there was goth). Somehow, the sight of her playing sax was hilarious, and the concert was a blast. I bought a recent Thomas Dolby CD a couple months ago. Sucked, as, alas, did Lene’s last one.
Ben Franklin Said What?
There is a meme floating around. “THE U.S. CONSTITUTION DOESN’T GUARANTEE HAPPINESS, ONLY THE PURSUIT OF IT. YOU HAVE TO CATCH UP WITH IT YOURSELF. – BENJAMIN FRANKLIN – PLEASE SHARE Freedom Works”
Luther Mckinnon Do you have a source for that quote? It is not shown in wikiquotes.
*Meme Poster* Luther. If you Google: Benjamin Franklin quote “the Constitution doesn’t guarantee hapiness”. You’ll find a bunch of websites devoted to famous quotes. Personally I don’t like Wikipedia. They leave out a lot of information
Luther Mckinnon The problem is that many quote websites do not provide a source. Many of the quotes are erroneous. Yes, wikiquotes is not an authoritative source. However, if they do not list the quote, that is an indication that perhaps the quote is not genuine.
Luther Mckinnon After I made the post above, I highlighted the phrase “Benjamin Franklin quote “the Constitution doesn’t guarantee hapiness” (BTW, happiness is spelled with two p’s. You need a pp to have happiness.) Anyway, I right clicked, and went to google search. I found this link. The money quote: “The quote is a fake. Benjamin Franklin never said this.”
It turns out that “pursuit of happiness” is in the Declaration of Independence, not the Constitution. Of course, Mr. Franklin was getting old by the time of the Constitutional Convention. He may have gotten things mixed up. It is not known whether the phrase “catch up” was used in the eighteenth century. Maybe Mr. Franklin meant mustard.
Ben Franklin was present at both the Continental Congress, and the Constitutional Convention. He signed both documents. The Declaration of Independence was written by Thomas Jefferson. He was the United States Ambssador to France when the Constitutional Convention was held. During this time, Mr. Jefferson was engaged in the pursuit of Sally Hemmings.
Another indication that the meme is phony is the connection to Freedom Works. In the meme comments, even Freedom Watchers seemed to know the difference between the Declaration of Independence, and the Constitution. Pictures today are from “The Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library”.
UPDATE:*Meme Poster* Luther Mckinnon, thank you for taking something that was meant to be inspirational and stomping on it. *Meme Poster* unfriended Luther Mckinnon.
HBDBD
This is a repost. Pictures are from “The Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library”. Technically, the birthday of Bob Dylan was yesterday. After seventy three years, another twenty four hours is not going to make much difference.
It was a late may morning in Atlanta GA, and a slack blogger was searching his archives. Yes, Issac Asinov never got writers block, and when he wasn’t going to the bathroom he was typing, but that is a lifestyle choice. Easy writing makes tough reading. So, anyway, in the may archive for 2011 there was a post about Bob Dylan’s seventieth birthday. People were taking bets on whether he would make it to thirty, and here he is at seventy three.
Hibbing MN is a cold place. At least it can claim to be the birthplace of Robert Allen Zimmerman. That’s Allen ,with an e, and double L just like hell. The original initials were RAZ, which might be a good trivia question, or, with a silent W in front, radio station call letters. The problem is, he legally changed his name to Bob Dylan, with no known middle name. Those initial are BD.
On May 24, 1941, the curly haired wonder boi arrived. The world was a different place. Europe was in flames, and eyeing the young men of America as fresh cannon fodder. This was twelve years, eleven months, and eighteen days before PG graced the planet. A twelve year old in Hibbing MN would have no reason to think of a newborn baby in Atlanta GA.
These days, not everyone knows who Bob Dylan is. Auto tuned automated canned music is the next big thing. If auto tune had been around in 1963, we would never had known how badly Mr. Dylan sings. In an age where rappers pay ghost writers to compose their tweets, being able to write songs is not valued. There is just no telling. And so it goes.
A.J. Weberman has made a life out of going through Bob Dylan’s garbage. He wrote a book, “The Devil and Bob Dylan”. “THIS BOOK CHALLENGES ALL PREVIOUS CONVENTIONAL THINKING ABOUT BOB DYLAN. DYLAN IS JUST THE OPPOSITE OF WHAT YOU BELIEVE HIM TO BE. BUT WHAT PURPOSE DOES IT SERVE EXPOSING HIM AS A RACIST, HIV POSITIVE EX-JUNKIE AND HOLOCAUST DENIER? NONE EXCEPT THAT OF TRUTH, AND THE TRUTH WILL SET YOU FREE. $17 INCLUDING POSTAGE! THE BOOK IS 500 PAGES AND FULLY ILLUSTRATED. Selling this book is like selling a book to Catholics entitled Why The Pope Sucks. The pope might such but no one wants to hear it.
This chamblee 54 birthday tribute is composed primarily of three previously published pieces of work. The pictures are from ” Special Collections and Archives,Georgia State University Library”
There was a comment on the Bob Dylan webpage… Everybody knows by now that there’s a gazillion books on me either out or coming out in the near future. So I’m encouraging anybody who’s ever met me, heard me or even seen me, to get in on the action and scribble their own book. You never know, somebody might have a great book in them. PG doesn’t write books. He did grow up in America, and has a few opinions about Bob Dylan. It ought to be good for a few hundred words here. (HT to dangerous minds ) (Chamblee54 has posted about Mr. Dylan before.)
The first time PG heard of Bob Dylan was probably at the record rack of Zippy’s dime store in Cherokee Plaza. There was an album of his greatest hits, and it came with a poster. The poster had a drawing of the man, with psychedelic waves of hair cascading in multi colored glory to the edges. PG never did buy the LP.
The former Mr. Zimmerman was never big on top 40 am radio. Somebody somewhere was getting a headache over those lyrics, but Atlanta GA was not somewhere in those days. By this time, Mr. Dylan had crashed his motorcycle, and gone into hiding. As the counter culture exploded (if only someone had disinfected that counter) the curly haired poet was in hiding, the subject of much speculation. At one point, people were stealing his garbage, and claiming to find evidence of investment in munitions firms. The neoscience of Dylanology continues to this day.
As PG got older and stupider, he heard more and more Bob Dylan music. In the summer of 1972, there was a performance at the Concert for Bangladesh. A couple of albums released during this era sucked, and some people stopped caring about Bob Dylan.
At the start of 1974, a tour was announced. The Band was to be the backing group. The circus came to the Omni, and PG got some of the mail order tickets. He couldn’t find anyone to use the second ticket, and sold it to a stranger outside the arena.
The show was nothing special. Bob Dylan excels at writing, is ok in the studio, and blah on stage. Georgia Governor Jimmy Carter was at the show, and was said to look bored. Mr. Dylan was invited to the Governor’s mansion after the show, and talked to the Governor. A lot of people in Georgia were surprised that he would want to run for President.
As the Seventies went me me meing into sex and drugs oblivion, Bob Dylan regained both his writing touch, and love of the spotlight. The Rolling Thunder tour happened, he got back together with Joan Baez, divorced his wife, became born again, became more Jewish, counted money, and generally lived the life. PG did his own version of all that, without Joan Baez or being circumcised again.
In the winter of 1991, America was consumed by war fever. Saddam Hussein had been elevated to next Hitler status, and had to be taught a lesson. One night, Bob Dylan played on a music awards show, and performed “Masters of War”. He played a discordant version of that ditty, with the result that few understood what he had said. By this time, Mr. Dylan had assembled a band, and gone out on the “Never Ending Tour”. A Bob Dylan concert had gone from being a special event, to being another name on the festival roster. Overexposure will do that.
On the last night of the Olympics in 1996, Bob Dylan played the House of Blues downtown. PG won a pair of the $80 tickets in a radio station contest. It was his only trip downtown during the games, and had to wait in a security line to get into Centennial Olympic Park.
The only celebrity, other than Mr. Dylan, seen at the House of Blues that night was Bill Walton. The band was competent…they impressed PG as being like a bar band that did a lot of Dylan songs, with a strangely authentic lead vocalist. The sound in the room was not good, at least in the spot where PG stood. The only song he recognized was “All along the Watchtower”, the Jimi Hendrix classic. Mr. Dylan got a cheer when he put his harmonica appliance on.
The aptly named dangerousminds has a link to a story about the recording of Blonde on Blonde, by Bob Dylan. It only happened once.
Bob Dylan was 24 years old, newly married, and had “sold out” i.e. started to play electric guitar. A bunch of Canadians known as The Hawks (later The Band) was touring with him. Barely a month after the release of “Highway 61 Revisited”, sessions started at a New York studio.
The New York sessions did not work, so a decision was made to go to Nashville. Al Kooper played organ, and served as a music director. A crew of Nashville players was recruited. A bass player named Joseph Souter, Jr. would become famous a few years later using the name Joe South. Kris Kristofferson was the janitor at the studio.
Most studios have bafflers, or sound proof room dividers, splitting the studio into cubicles. For these sessions, the bafflers were taken down, and the band played together as a unit.
The second session in Nashville started at 6pm and lasted until 530 the next morning. Mr. Dylan was working on the lyrics to “Sad eyed lady of the lowlands”, and the recording could not start until he was ready. The musicians played ping pong and waited. At 4am, the song was ready, and the record was finished in two takes.
PG had marginal encounters with two of the players on this album. He met a lady once, who worked in an insurance office. One of the customers was Joe South. His driving record file was an inch thick.
Al Kooper had a prosperous career after his association with Bob Dylan. The former Alan Peter Kuperschmidt produced the first three Lynyrd Skynyrd albums, sold that contract for a nice piece of change, and lived happily ever after.
One night, Mr. Kooper was playing a show at the Great Southeast Music Hall, and PG sat in front of the stage. During a break between songs, PG asked his friend “what time is it?”. Mr. Kooper heard him on stage, and said it was 11:30.
If it ever quits raining, PG is going to walk to the Chamblee library and return a book, and a cd. The cd is by Bob Dylan, and is a work of genius. The book is about the former Mr. Zimmerman, and is a piece of garbage. (BTW, Dylan is not the only Zimmerman to hit the big time. Ethel Merman was born Ethel Agnes Zimmerman.The Zimmerman telegram got us into World War I.)
When returning cd’s to a library, you need to get a check in receipt. Once, PG returned a stack of cd’s to the Brookhaven library. When checking them in, one was missed by the scanner. A few days later, there was a note in the mail about an overdue cd.
The good news was, the cd was on the shelf when PG went back to investigate, and the matter was quickly settled. It did not help that the cd was a collection of disco music called “Shake your booty”.
“The freewheelin’ Bob Dylan” was released in the early sixties, when the man was barely old enough to buy a drink. There is not a bad song on it, and several are classic rock staples. At a time when mindless pop dominated pop music, here were thoughtful, moving lyrics.
In 1991, with America in a war frenzy, Mr. Dylan appeared on a music awards show. He performed “Masters of War”, at a time when the majority would be appalled if they could understand what he was singing. Mr. Dylan has been reinvented many times, and often the lyrics get gargled.
Five years later, PG won tickets to a Bob Dylan concert. It was the last night of the Olympics, and the man was appearing at the House of Blues. (Tickets were $80, so the radio contest is the only reason PG went). It was like hearing a good bar band, that did nothing but Dylan songs, with the man as the vocalist. Due to the mix of the sound, PG could not recognize many of the songs.
The book is Bob Dylan: Prophet, Mystic, Poet by Seth Rogovoy. It tells the Dylan tale as a story of Jewish prophecy. PG got to page 16, where the author claims that “Like a Rolling Stone” “almost single handedly revolutionized rock’n roll music”. Huh?
PG was eating dinner, and did not have anything else to read. He got to page 38. Nothing in the next 22 pages changed his mind away from ditching the book. How does nonsense like this get published?
WTF RuPaul
RuPaul is no stranger to attention being thought strange. The latest bit of publicity… there is no bad publicity, and they spell the name right … is an article in the eyeball grabbing HuffPo, RuPaul Responds To Controversy Over The Word ‘Tranny’. (Spell check suggestion: Granny) PG gave into temptation, and clicked on the link. It seems as though there was an appearance on the WTF podcast. Why settle for a sensational sample, when you can hear the entire show?
If you have an hour and twenty four minutes to spare, listen to this show. If you like, you can skip the first thirteen minutes, which is host Mark Maron talking about himself. The show is highly entertaining. A theme is that the world is the matrix, a fake construction. Some people look behind the curtain and see the wizard. Some people believe the matrix is reality. You should already know which side RuPaul takes. He was not born blonde.
The quote about the T-word comes toward the end of the show. PG has mixed feelings about the whole affair, and does not completely agree with RuPaul. However, this human being is entitled to an opinion. Even if he isn’t, he is going to share it anyway. RuPaul does not suffer from false modesty.
For a show that gets attention about language, it is a bit strange at times. While describing his career trajectory, RuPaul says he went through a phase of “gender f-word.” The show is called WTF. Twice a week, the host says fuck a dozen times in the first sixty seconds. And RuPaul said “gender f-word.”
Even more amazingly, RuPaul said that things were “n-word rigged”. RuPaul did break down and say the ultimate dirty word. When his mother saw his act on television, she said “N****** you crazy.”
RuPaul has had quite a career. He mentions that he has been sober for fifteen years, and had some therapy to get there. This was not the case when he lived in Atlanta. Many stories from those days are in the show. The bs detector went off a couple of times. PG saw the Now Explosion, and did not remember seeing a tall black guy.
This is a rich seventy five minutes. Like saying that Madonna is a curator, that most fashion designers don’t know how to sew. The part that is getting the attention is towards the end of the show, and is just a small part. It is all part of the matrix.
Pictures are from “The Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library”.
Untalented Unprincipled Bewildered
There is a quote by Al Capp, the creator of the comic strip “Li’l Abner.” “Abstract art? A product of the untalented, sold by the unprincipled to the utterly bewildered.” This tidbit originally appeared in The National Observer, July 1, 1963.
Al Capp, born Alfred Gerald Caplin, was a piece of work. Mr. Capp did not keep his opinions to himself. When PG was a kid, he heard Mr. Capp appearing on an NBC radio show, Monitor. This was about the time he called Joan Baez “Joanie Phonie,” and got some bad press.
At the age of nine, a trolly accident cost Mr. troll Capp his left leg. Years later, an urban legend arose. “in a televised face-off, either Capp (on the Dick Cavett Show) or (more commonly) conservative talk show host Joe Pyne (on his own show) is supposed to have taunted iconoclastic musician Frank Zappa about his long hair, asking Zappa if he thought he was a girl. Zappa is said to have replied, “You have a wooden leg; does that make you a table?” (Both Capp and Pyne had wooden legs.)
Maybe Mr. Zappa was inspired by Mr. Capp in other ways. In an 1977 interview with a staff writer for the Toronto Star newspaper named Bruce Kirkland,. Mr. Zappa got quotable. “Most rock journalism is people who can’t write interviewing people who can’t talk for people who can’t read,”
There are other quotes in this style. These are taken from this article. PG is tired of looking for attribution. If you are interested in the veracity of these quotes, Mr. Google is ready when you are. “The successful author is the one who can write for the ones who can’t read.” Will Rogers “Time and Newsweek are made for people who can’t think, Life is made for people who can’t read, and the Saturday Evening Post is made for people who can’t read or think.” George Wallace
There was a saying during the Vietnam War. “The unwilling, led by the incompetent, to do the unnecessary, for the ungrateful.” The credit/blame for this is assigned to Mother Theresa, Konstantin Josef Jireček, and an anonymous American soldier.
Pictures today are from “The Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library”. The last picture features Georgia Governor Herman Talmadge. He is the possible inspiration for some of these quotes. The Al Capp quote that started it all was posted by WIST. The acronym represents Wish I’d Said That. They post quotes. Unlike most quotemongers, they provide a source.
The Great Southeast Music Hall
The Great Southeast Music Hall was an important part of life in Atlanta during the seventies. It was located in the elbow of a shopping center, Broadview Plaza. A bowling alley was downstairs, a two level K mart next door, and Atlanta’s first hispanic neighborhood across the street. Like almost everything else here, Broadview Plaza was torn down, and replaced by a more uppity set of stores.
When you went into the lobby of the Music Hall, you noticed the walls. Performers were given a magic marker, and encouraged to leave a message. John Mayall found the ladies room, and said he likes to be near the ladies. The late Phil Ochs said “Impeach Nixon and Agnew”. What happened to those boards is a good question.
The auditorium held about 500 people. The stage was only three feet or so above the floor. There was an empty space in front of the stage, and a few rows of bench backs behind that. When the place opened, there were lots of pillows on this floor, with the Music Hall logo. The carpet in this front area was fresh when the place opened, and got progressively grosser as the years went by. Beer was served in aluminum buckets, and inevitably some wound up on the carpet.
The show the Music Hall is most famous for is the US debut of the Sex Pistols. PG didn’t make it that night, but has heard from a few who did. The performance was said to be horrible. There are stories of Sid Vicious wandering through the apartments around Broadview trying to find heroin. Years later, PG was reading about that night in Please Kill Me, when the train he was riding pulled into the Lindberg Marta station. This is across the street from the Broadview Plaza, still standing at the time.
These days, the intersection of Lindbergh Drive and Piedmont Road (about a mile north of the park) is next to Hiway 400. When the Music Hall was in it’s prime, the land for the Highway was owned by the State of Georgia, which was fighting legal battles over the highway. The land had a network of dirt roads, one of which connected Buford Hiway to Lindbergh Drive. When you went from Chamblee to the Music Hall, the most direct route was over this dirt road. This dirt road is where Sidney Marcus Boulevard is today.
Eventually, the business model for the Music Hall did not work, and the facility moved to Cherokee Plaza. This Music Hall was in a movie theater. The Cherokee Plaza Theater was the scene for the world premiere of Son of Dracula . This move did not work, for a number of reasons. The parking lot was too small, and people who wanted a loaf of bread from the A&P were blocked out during shows. Cherokee Plaza is just outside the city limits, on Peachtree Road. In the late seventies, DeKalb county was aggressively fighting drunk driving, and had roadblocks. Many of these roadblocks were outside the Music Hall, which kept many people from attending. Before long, this Music Hall closed.
Many years later, PG bought a second hand typewriter, and needed a ribbon. (Younger readers should ask an older person about this.) He went into an office supply store in Broadview Plaza, and soon realized that he was standing on the site of the Music Hall. He asked the clerk if he could have a bucket of beer, and got a very strange look in return.
One industrious afternoon during this era, PG made a list of shows he saw at the Music Hall. The memory cells are already protesting, but we are going to try and remember as much as possible about these shows. A big thank you to Wikipedia for help with spelling and names.
New York Rock Ensemble – PG walked into the auditorium during the last part of the first show, as the band played “A whiter shade of pale”. The bass player wore lace up boots, with the pants legs tucked into them. Before long, the second show came on stage. Keyboard player Michael Kamen was the central focus, acting out the lyrics to “Anaconda”.
Silverman Deborah McColl fronted this drummerless band
Al Kooper PG has written about an unfortunate incident involving Al Kooper during this show. This would have never happened in “The Catcher in the Rye”…the kids always knew what time it was in that story. Mr. Kooper did a solo show, including “Sam Stone” by John Prine.
Ellen McIlwaine/ James Cotton Blues Band Ms. McIlwaine was pregnant, and played slide guitar. Mr. Cotton played harmonica. One of his players started to fan him with a towel, because he was hot.
Breakfast Special/ Doc and Merle Watson Breakfast Special was a local bluegrass crew, who did “The coming down song”. The Watsons did ” Deep River Blues” and “Thats All”, among other things. PG had a copy of their latest LP, and asked Merle to autograph it. He wrote his name on one side, turned it over, and signed Doc’s name on the other side.
Mason/Atlanta Rythym Section This show was the night Led Zeppelin played Atlanta Stadium.
New Riders of the Purple Sage When the Music Hall opened, a performer would typically play from Tuesday to Sunday. NRPS was a one night show. They worked well in the packed hall, and shined on “Glenville Train”. The next year, they did a tour with Commander Cody and The Lost Planet Airmen. Commander Cody opened, and raised hell. NRPS followed with a mellow rock show, and before long people were getting bored and leaving.
David Buskin / Loudon Wainwright III Chamblee 54 has written about this show before. Mr. Buskin talked about doing a show at Max’s Kansas City, the person sitting next to PG said “Gross”.
Steve Martin / Nitty Gritty Dirt Band Chamblee54 has written about the show by Mr. Martin . This was his last tour as an opening act. Nitty Gritty was a sight to behold. John McEuen played fiddle, and recited a poem about life.
Martin Mull / Melissa Manchester PG went to see Mr. Mull, who opened the show with a three piece band. (After the show, Mr. Mull said the name of the band was the (your name) (draws a blank with his fingers) orchestra.) The headliner was Ms. Manchester, little known at the time. She was a knockout. While standup comedy has it’s place, for emotional impact there is nothing like a singer.
Texas Gary Bennett / Weather Report Mr. Bennett played acoustic guitar, and sang, as an opener for a packed house of jazz rockers. It did not go well. At one point, trying to get some rapport with the crowd, he said ” has anyone here been busted at the Omni?” ( The authorities had begun arresting people for smoking pot at the major concerts.)
Weather Report was amazing. Josef Zawinul had the loud keyboard sound, Wayne Shorter played his leads on soprano sax, and there was a drummer and percussion player. There was tons of rythym, to go with the electronic jazz sounds. When it was over, PG went up to Mr. Zawinul, shook his hand and, and said thank you. He was pouring a glass of beer from a pitcher, and looked a bit startled.
David Pomerance / Rahsaan Roland Kirk Chamblee54 has written about this show before. Mr. Kirk was a force of nature, the modern miracle of the tenor saxophone. He did not suffer from false modesty. This was the night Richard Nixon resigned, which pleased Mr. Kirk no end. The blind Rahsaan said that he did not want to see his audience, because we were too ugly. At one point, his band had been jamming for about ten minutes, when PG realized that Mr. Kirk had been holding a single note the entire time. The three saxophones at one time thing was a visual shocker, but he got sounds that way that you cannot get from a single instrument. At one point, Mr. Kirk pulled his sunglasses off, and made a face at the crowd. It was an amazing evening.
Chic Corea / Return to Forever This was a disappointment. Tickets were $4.50, which may be the most PG ever paid at the Music Hall. The band only played about an hour. It was all electric, ignoring the acoustic instruments set up on stage. RTF was a four piece, all star band. They had Chic Corea on keyboards, Stanley Clarke on bass, Al Demeola on guitar, and Lenny White on drums. That sounds like a great show, but it turned out to be four solo artists jamming. There was no cohesion, and the overall sound was less than the sum of the individual parts. Corea leaned over his keyboard, twisted knobs, and made faces, as if to say “look at how intense this is”. It wasn’t.
Mccoy Tyner The former Coltrane sideman played a very nice show. He had a percussion man, with several tables covered in exotic instruments. PG took a break after to first show to hang out at a neighborhood disco. When he got back, there was no doorman checking tickets, and anyone could walk in for free. PG took advantage of this discovery many times over the next few years.
Bill Crystal / Jean Luc Ponty Former Frank Zappa player Jean Luc Ponty played at the Music Hall, with a bass player who was a fellow Zappa alumni. The surprise of the evening was then-unknown Bill Crystal. A few weeks after this show, “Soap” would premiere, and make him a star. Mr. Crystal did a killer impersonation of a gila monster.
Between shows, Mr. Crystal had been entertained by a local musician. During the second show, he held his finger to his nose, made a snorting sound, and said thank you. PG heard this, and yelled “Locker Room”, the name of a “deooderizer” that some liked to get a buzz sniffing. Mr. Crystal said “Locker room. Jeez, I need to get the hecklers rosetta stone to know what he means”. Good times.
Keith Jarrett This is another show that might have been better than PG’s enjoyment. At one point early in the show, PG moved over to the front of the stage, to look at Mr. Jarrett’s hands. After the show, people told PG that the player had been giving him dirty looks when he did that. PG asked Mr. Jarrett about it, and he said that PG had interfered with his concentration.
This show featured a quartet, instead of a solo piano. The bass player was Charley Haden, who seemed a bit puffy faced. PG later learned that he had been addicted to heroin at the time.
Melissa Manchester Ms. Manchester came back for another week at the Music Hall, about a year after her first appearance. At one point, she asked the band if they were ready to do a new song, and then performed “I got eyes” for the first time in public. This was later the b side to “Midnight Blue”. One of the players in her band was a man named James Newton Howard. Part of the deal for touring with her was that he could play a solo number on piano, called “Newton’s Ego”. He later played with Elton John, and became wealthy writing film scores.
Flora Purim /Airto Moreira On PG’s 23rd birthday, Flora Purim played at the Music Hall. At the time, PG had a profound appreciation of her albums. The band had a nice sound, and was the equal of her records. The Chic Corea tune “Light as a Feather” was a standout. Her husband, Airto Moreira ( eye, ear, toe) fronted the band on some of the numbers, and had some funny routines. Ms. Purim held two microphones throughout the show, with one connected to some audio filters. PG found holding two microphones to be visually distracting. PG had known of the Jewish ancestry of Ms. Purim, but had not thought much about it. Then he saw her live, and realized that she does, indeed, look Jewish.
Hot Tuna Hot Tuna is a dependable, though not spectacular, band. On a previous show in Atlanta, they went on stage at 10:55, and played without a break until 2:50. This night, a fried of a friend was working at the Music Hall, and PG got in before the crowds, to get a prime spot, in the first row of benchbacks. At one point, PG was rocking back and forth against the benchback, and a neighbor asked him to quit. Those buckets of beer were influential.
Shakti This was an acoustic, Hindu oriented band fronted by guitar superman John McLaughlin. The numbers seemed to go on forever.
David Manion / Mark Almond This was a long awaited Atlanta performance by Mark Almond. (This is a jazz/blues band, totally different from the Soft Cell vocalist with a similar name.) They played two sets, which were only an hour or so long. This was disappointing to the people who could not wait for the second show. In the second show, they “took the shackles off” saxophone player Johnny Almond, and he played a wild solo during “The city”.
The incident we are about to describe may or may not have involved David Manion. What happened was, a small portable radio was playing on the edge of the stage. The spotlight was on the radio, which sounded like gibberish to most of the audience. Gradually, the chattering audience got quiet, and tried to listen to the radio. After a few minutes, a man came out, and stood in darkness behind the radio. The PA speaker announced “The new force of rock in Atlanta”. The man then dropped a large piece of granite on the radio, smashing it into bits.
Laurie Chapman / Stomu Yamashta Laurie Chapman was a singer/piano player, with some good stories. She told of a trucker, driving beside her and talking to her on a cb radio. ” You better get that drink out from between your legs before it gets too hot to handle”.
Stomu Yamashta is somewhat of a star in Japan. The show here was filmed for showing on TV there. His band, Go, was an all star collection, including Ava Cherry. She was a backup vocalist, and girlfriend, with David Bowie. After the show, PG was introduced to Spencer Davis in the lobby.
The next few shows were at Cherokee Plaza.
Martin Mull Mr. Mull was a solo star this time. He did a song about doing nothing, adding that dead people can do it too. The parking lot was packed, which was a major problem at the new location.
The week before the Super Bowl in 1994, Mr. Mull filmed a Comedy Central show in Woodruff Park. The Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders were kicking field goals. After the filming PG stood a few feet away from Mr. Mull, but could not think of anything to say.
Sun Ra PG went to a wedding, and a bunch of people from there to see Sun Ra. This was an entertaining spectacle, with a big band and dancers. After the show, PG asked Sun Ra how he could afford to take a band like that on the road. He said he was doing it for beauty.
David Bromberg This was another big band production. PG showed within a few minutes of the gateman leaving his post, and saw about 45 minutes without buying a ticket.
Lester Flatt/John Hartford One boring Saturday night, PG walked up to the Music Hall, and saw the two fiddle players jamming. A few weeks later, Lester Flatt passed away. This is a repost. Pictures today are from “The Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library”.
Overcoming Our Hair Issues
Another name for this is negative attitude. It is a form of prejudice that is encouraged. ~ @fieldnegro Owning the last place clippers was his punishment when something really wrong went on now he has a first place team ~ This one set the BS detector buzzing. I find it tough to believe that “Peter” is in the first grade. Also, he is a kid. Being worried about getting into college, instead of playing with legos, sounds like a kid trying to learn how to think. However, there is one thing about this post that I find encouraging. No where in the thirteen items do you say to wonder what will happen to your soul when you die, That is definitely something that small children should not be taught to worry about. For that matter, adults need to get over the obsession with life after death. Maybe there are two things good about this post. You made it all the way through without a cheap shot at abortion. That is another subject children, of all ages, don’t need to have pounded into their head. ~ I think the letter from “Mom” is made up. “Peter” is in the first grade. First grade. I might have believed this if he was in junior high, but first grade? How many first graders read blog posts, let alone call the author by a cutesy poo name? There is a fourteenth item for the list. Students should learn critical thinking. Don’t believe everything Mr. Matt says. ~ Add thirty years and you have my opinion of the sixties ~ For once I agree with you. I could probably find some nits to pick here. However, there are plenty of other targets for snark on the innertubes. Has anyone commented on your new format? It has a lot more ads than before. There is also a connection to something called the Liberty Alliance. Have you sold out? I seem to have gotten a popup ad after coming here recently, but cannot be too sure where it came from. I find the authority angle to be interesting. People don’t seem to be confident of themselves, and so need to cite an authority. The authority argument is up there with screaming hypocrisy when it comes to cheap shot tactics. ~ Thank you for thinking of me, but 13 miles in North GA would probably be too much for me. Move the decimal over to the left one notch, and I could do it. ~ With a bit of editing this can be a poem. There are lots of words that rhyme with shithead. ~ It is tough to know what the truth is here. Huge amounts of money are involved. It is possible to create research, and tweak the results, to show whatever you want to show. ~ His name is pronounced TY bee, just like the island ~ There is already too much talk. What people need to do is Listen. ~ I would like that quote a lot more without the name at the bottom ~ The Third Commandment is about the proper use of a sacred name. Using the name of a deity to open a government meeting might not be proper. ~ oh my. that cat has been out of the bag for a long time. we can avoid making it worse, but it is too widely known by now. as a former parking attendant, i can vouch for the unsustainability of the whole shebang the community that cannot be named might need to get out of the gathering business ~ “plenty of those who DO get angry are still acting from a place of naive personal entitlement” People who call out others on their “privilege” and “racism” are often sensitive when you call them out for their attitudes. ~ Maybe the adjective should be turned down two notches. Instead of “the best sign,” say “a sign.” This is not always possible when using other people’s graphics. ~ This article will fire up those who are opposed to abortion. Few minds will be changed. The debate over abortion is mostly preaching to the choir. This toxic rhetoric (i.e.” the self-worshiping death cult known as modern liberalism”) about abortion saves few, if any, babies. ~ Theoiyr’re makes it about G-d. ~ Podcasts have an advantage over text based posts. You can listen in the background while you do other things. ~ This is equal opportunity fun. There is one with FLOTUS Michelle holding a sign… nothing will bring back the children murdered by my husband’s drone strikes ~ Is racism about goofy things said by famous people? That is more fun to discuss than institutional systems of oppression. ~ The ice cubes have a subliminal message. The one on the right clearly spells out X, and the one on the left seems to say S. It is close enough to make you want to buy the whiskey. ~ What about the uncles? ~ The study in this report INDICATE that things are not ideal. The study PROVES nothing. The headline writer at HuffPo should tone down the rhetoric. ~ When urine falls on the ground, it is absorbed into the earth. When urine lands on concrete or asphalt, it sits there until evaporation. ~ anticipation – pigeons await arrival – the george bush statue ~ If people were as proud of their ability to listen as they are of the clever things they say ~ Sheryl Underwood stopped being funny when she called black hair “nappy” and “nasty” on “The Talk” while the audience laughed along. We have enough trouble overcoming our hair issues without Sheryl backpedaling on progress. ~ pictures today are from “The Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library”. ~ selah
Chamblee 54 Election Guide
Next Tuesday is the Georgia Primary. This is the day when the number of candidates is reduced from too many to two. The inevitable runoff will be held July 22. It is an “open” primary, which means you choose between the Demos and the Repubs.
When you vote in the runoff, you must choose the same party as the primary. This rule was enacted after the 1966 election. Many Repubs voted in the Demo runoff for Lester Maddox. He was generally conceded to be the Lester of the two evils, and was elected Governor through a quirk in the State Constitution. The election of Mr. Maddox should provide a warning to those who vote for a goofy candidate, in hopes of providing weak opposition for another candidate. This strategy can backfire.
PG lives in Dekalb County, Georgia. In District 81, House of Representatives, action, incumbent Scott Holcombe is unopposed in the Demo Primary. Someone is unopposed in the Repub primary. In the race for District 40 State Senate, incumbent Fran Millar faces opposition from Richard D. “Dick” Anderson. Mr. Millar mailed PG a flyer produced by Rosetta Stone. This is never a good sign. The US congressman for PG is Tom Price, who will win re-election.
Dekalb County is going to elect a new sheriff. This is a special election, and will be on the ballot for both duopoly parties. The candidates are Tony Hughes, Melvin Mitchell, Melody Maddox (Rumored to be the love baby of Lester Maddox), Jeff Mann, LaSalle Smith, Vernon Jones. Mr. Jones is the former county CEO, and the BFF of TV reporter Doug Richards. Mr. Mann, and Mr. Mitchell, have the money to send out slick mailers. Derwin Brown and Pat Jarvis have not commented.
Georgia has two high profile state elections. Nathan Deal has opposition in the primary, but will probably win. His probable opponent in November is Jason Carter, whose main qualification is being Jimmy’s grandson. The other Demo candidate for statewide office is Michelle Nunn. She is running for the US Senate. The primary qualification of Ms. Nunn is being the daughter of Sam “don’t ask don’t tell” Nunn. Maybe it is none of our business.
The election with the most money involved is the Repub contest for the US Senate. The incumbent is mercifully retiring. The most prominent candidates are Paul Broun, Art Gardner, Phil Gingrey, Derrick E. Grayson, Karen Handel, Jack Kingston, David Perdue. According to the polls, Ms Handel, Mr. Kingston, and Mr. Perdue are the leading contenders.
A popular truism is that when you don’t have anything good to say about someone, you should not say anything at all. Despite this, chamblee54 has written about Karen Handel one, two, three, four, five times. If you can’t be a hypocrite during an election…
A site called Politico had this item today. Perdue … had this to say: “She ran five times for five different races, got elected twice, didn’t finish either term.” Perdue was referring to Handel leaving the Fulton County Board of Commissioners to run for secretary of state, then cutting that term short to seek the governorship in 2010. … Handel seethed at those comments. “Would we be having this conversation if I were a man?” she said. “I would argue not.”
Pictures are from “The Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library”.
60 Words
Radiolab recently presented a show, 60 Words. It is based on a Buzzfeed article, 60 Words And A War Without End: The Untold Story Of The Most Dangerous Sentence In U.S. History. It is about the Authorization for the Use of Military Force. This resolution was passed by Congress after Nine Eleven. It has been twisted into a never ending war, against enemies on a secret list.
A part of the audio report stands out. In the aftermath of nine eleven, there was a sense among Democrats that the President needed to be supported. This was a few months after the controversial 2000 election. Even then, the opposition party saw the country as being under attack. They saw a need for a unified response.
Compare this to the ongoing health care quagmire. There was not a spectacular one day event to call attention to the problem. Instead, the health care disaster has been ongoing for years. Like military action, it is bleeding the nation’s resources dry.
The Republicans have made trouble for the Democrats at every step of the way on health care reform. There has been almost no cooperation. Instead of trying to work together to solve the problem, the opposition has engaged in name calling. The candidates for this year’s elections are denouncing health care reform in the strongest terms, without any alternative plan.
Pictures are from “The Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library”.
The Poetry He Invented
In the past year, PG has learned that two poems he enjoyed were “borrowed.” One was in Mad Magazine. It was a poem about baseball. “Tigers Tigers, burning bright, in the ballparks, of the night, your pitching’s fair, your fields adroit, so why no pennant for Detroit.” Not only was this a memorable rhyme, but it has the word adroit. While this is a wonderful addition to a vocabulary, in forty eight years PG has never used it. Maybe the only thing it is good for is rhyming with Detroit.
PG is not terribly well educated when it comes to poetry. A lot of things slip by him. He did develop an admiration for Allen Ginsberg, which led to William Blake. One night, with the World Series in the background, PG found a poem by Mr. Blake, The Tyger.
“Tyger Tyger, burning bright, In the forests of the night; What immortal hand or eye, Could frame thy fearful symmetry?” Could it be that Mad was more fun to read? A more adroit turn of phrase? Or less prophetic… The Tigers won the World Series before the sixties were over.
In a few years, PG moved byond Mad Magazine. He read about these albums being sold by Warner Brothers. They were collections of songs from different artists, designed to make you want to buy more. “The Big Ball” cost two dollars by mail order. Side four was devoted to weird stuff. Captain Beefheart, The Mothers of Invention, The GTO’s, and Pearls Before Swine. The last band had a song, “Footnote,” which is embedded with this post.
“Footnote” is a quiet song, with easy to remember words. PG listened many, many times, and thought he had it figured out. It was about an arms dealer. Of course, most think the Pearls Before Swine is something in the Bible. Another version is when Clare Boothe Luce went into a room ahead of Dorothy Parker. “Age before beauty” “Pearls before swine”.
So anyway, there was an article about something, somewhere. It was quoting Wyston Hugh Auden, known mercifully by his initials W.H. This is another famous person that PG knew little about, other than his friendship with Christopher Isherwood. The quote was familiar. Then it hit… this was that song by Pearls Before Swine. It seems like the performer borrowed the lyrics from a copyrighted poem, Epitaph on a Tyrant.
Pictures for this entertainment are from “The Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library”. The second embedded video is from side four of “The Big Ball.” PG does not know if a famous poet was copied, or if this piece is original.
Adding Text With GIMP
This tutorial is about using gimp to put borders around text. If you are making graphic images, this step allows you to use almost any image as a background. This tutorial is based on the embedded video. There are a few things different in the version in this post. The video has some jivvy music, which some of you will enjoy. Pictures today are from “The Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library”.
This process does not always make sense. It is not always logical. Just follow the instructions. If you make a mistake, and something does not work, just close out the window and start over. Keep these instructions handy the first few times you do this. After a while it will be easy.
This tutorial uses GIMP. If you use photoshop, you probably already know how to do this, or how to find someone to show you. If you need to download GIMP, use the link. PG learned how to do this on GIMP 2.6. The latest version is GIMP 2.8. There are a few differences between the two versions. This tutorial will provide instructions for both versions.
01 Open the picture you intend to use as a background. Make sure it is the correct size. On some versions of GIMP, you need to open the Toolbox, and the Tool Options. This is in the Windows menu. You also need to open the Layers dialog window (ctrl+L).
02 Compose the text in a word document. Copy the text.
03 Select Text (t). Draw a rectangle on the picture. Try to start the rectangle as close to the left edge as possible, and go all the way to the right edge. Make sure it is tall enough for the letters. Paste the text into the rectangle. Before pasting in the text, hit the space bar one time. When you make this image larger, it will need room to grow.
04 Choose a font. Choose foreground and background colors. See how big you can make the text before it starts another line. If you have a specific font size, enter that size in the tool options.
05 Before performing the next few steps, click on the status bar of the background picture. You want this to be the selected window. Click on this window before every step. This is important. If you choose a command, and apply it to the wrong window, it will mess things up.
06 Select text from path. In GIMP 2.6, there is a tab on the tool options window, “Path from Text.”. In GIMP 2.8, you choose “Text to Path” from the Layer menu. (alt+L, p).
07 Select “From Path” from Select menu. For GIMP 2.6 use (shift + v). For GIMP 2.8 use (alt + s, o). The two versions use most of the same shortcuts from now on. The text is now coated in flashing dash marks. This has something to do with being selected.
08 Select “Duplicate Layer” from Layer menu. (ctrl + shift + d)
09 Select “Grow” from Select menu. (alt + s, g) The “Grow Selection” window will appear. Type 3 in the highlighted field. If you want to have a bigger border, put a larger number in. Click OK.
10 Select “Fill with BG Color” from Edit menu. (ctrl + .) The Text Editor window should go away now. If the Text Editor window does not go away, something is wrong.
11 Select “None” from Select menu. (ctrl + shift + A) As we mentioned earlier, some of these steps don’t make sense. This is one of those steps.
12 Click anywhere on text. The “Confirm Text Editing” window will appear. Select “Create New Layer”. (alt + n) A layer will be created. It will be a duplicate of the original text. In GIMP 2.6, you will need to manually center the new layer of text. To do this, you will want to enlarge the text 400%. (alt + v, z, click on 400%) (On PG’s machine, the keyboard shortcut 3 will give you a 400% enlargement.) To center this layer of text, select “Move.” (m). Under Tool Toggle, you need to select “Move the active layer.” Choose the drawing option on the left, next to the word “Move.” This is the “Layer” option, as opposed to “Selection” or “Path.” If the Move tool does not work, make sure the right option is selected. This can be confusing.
12a In GIMP 2.8, the new layer of text is automatically centered on the enlarged layer of text.
13 Once the new layer of text is centered, you need to “Merge Down” the layer. Select “Merge Down” from the Layer menu. (d) You will need to do this twice. Where you once had four layers, you will now have two. With GIMP 2.8, you need to select the toolbox. before you hit d twice. (cntrl + b)
14 Move the finished text into place. If it goes at the bottom of the picture, move it to the bottom right hand corner. Place it a few pixels off the bottom. (Most of PG’s images are 720×447 pixels. The bottom of the text is resting on 431 pixels.) Enlarge the view to 400%. Position the right edge of the text flush against the right edge of the picture. Scroll to the left side of the text. Place the cursor over the left edge of the text, and see what the pixel counter says. The first number will be width, the second number is height. Note the position of the left edge of the text. See the location in pixels. Divide the first number in half. Move the edge of the text to this number. Scroll to the right side of the text, and confirm that the distance to the edge of the picture is the same on both sides.
15 Go back to 100% (1). Are you happy with the way this text works with this picture? If you are happy with this look, anchor the text by clicking d. For GIMP 2.6, “Save” the picture. (ctrl + shift + s, type new name) For GIMP 2.8, you will want to “Export” the picture. (cntrl + shift + e, type new name) Note the folder you are saving/exporting the picture to.
15a If you are not happy with the results, you can try another picture. Go to the Layers dialog box. Select Background. Click on the garbage can in the bottom right of the window. Find another picture. Drag the file into the picture. Go to the Layers dialog window. Highlight the layer with the text. Click on the arrow pointing up. If you are happy with this look, “Merge Down” the text (d) and “Save”/”Export” the picture. (ctrl + shift + s, type new name) (ctrl + shift + e, type new name.)
Responsible For Jesus
It was a sunday evening, and there was nothing good to say. Rather than not saying anything at all, PG decided to go into his archives. This post is from May of 2007. It is about responsible behavior, and a religion that does not encourage it. This repost might be hypocritical, but no one forced you to read it. Part two is another rerun. It is written in first person. The pictures, from “The Special Collections and Archives,Georgia State University Library”, need text between them.
It all started when a girl went to a back room with a former boyfriend. Her current bf stormed out of the party, and flipped his car when it went off the road. Being a star quarterback did not prevent the fatal consequences. The local radio whiner had a few things to say. Since alcohol was a suspected factor, the question became, “how do we teach teenagers to drink responsibly?”
PG is a retired drunk, and has a few dozen opinions on this issue. His wandering mind settled on a related subject…Jesus. G-d’s love baby is similar to alcohol. Both are legal, both have potential for good and ill, and neither works for PG. The thought occurred “How do we teach Teenagers to Worship Jesus Responsibly?” Now, this may be the first time those two concepts have been paired like that…Jesus and Responsibility…but it should not be the last.
A central concept in the world of Jesus Worship is the avoidance of responsibility…”Jesus paid the price for my sins on the cross”. While you may feel better to think you are forgiven, that does not help the person who was hurt by your actions. If star the quarterback had run into someone, G-d might forgive him, but this does not help with the medical bills.
Today’s seminar is about the Worshiping Responsibly. It is about having respect for your neighbors who do not agree with you, and do not want to hear about your “salvation”. It is about not creating ill will for Jesus with obnoxious behavior in his name. It is about not dragging Jesus into your personal quarrels, using his name in anger to hurt your neighbor. It is about Responsibility. Your actions have consequences, and just because you are doing it for Jesus does not eliminate that reality.
There are two big reasons why PG is not a Jesus Worshiper. The first one is, he simply doesn’t agree with the teachings. The Bible is not the word of G-d, Jesus was killed because he was a troublemaker. The death, and reputed resurrection, of Jesus has nothing to do with what happens to people when they die. If you don’t agree with the dogma regarding life after death, the Jesus worship church has little to offer you. Christianity is more a scheme for life after death than a religion.
The Second reason is the sorry behavior of Jesus Worshipers. This prevents PG from having a cosmetic, social oriented membership in a church. He does not want to pretend to worship a spirit which causes him misery.
Responsibility is not valued in the Jesus Worship community. Respect for non believers is seen as a sign of weakness. And, while not all Jesus Worshipers are fanatics, many admire and support the loudmouths who give their faith a bad name.
When it comes to belief, moderation is not valued. Fanaticism is admired. There is little responsibility taken. It is just the Jesus talking.
Christopher Isherwood once said, in a magazine interview, that the doctrine of a religion is not as important as the person who tells you that doctrine. (If anyone can find this quote on the internet, please leave a comment with a link.) It is a common belief that religions are about beliefs, but many find that it is the person who draws you into the community. A corollary of this is when you have a bad experience with a person who represents a religion. This person can drive you far away from wanting to have any participation in a religion. The idea that G-d would send a person to hell because he knew an offensive Jesus worshiper is tough to believe.
So much for world affairs. It is time to tell a story, with no moral and no redeeming social value.
In 1980, I was staying at a place called the Sea Haven Hostel, affectionately known as Sleaze Haven. This was in Seattle WA, as far as you can get from Atlanta, and still be in the lower 48. I was working through Manpower, and staying in a semi private room for $68 a month.
There was a Christian group that met in the basement on Sunday Night. Now, as some of you may know, I am a recovering baptist, who hasn’t been to church since 1971. However, the lure of a free meal was hard to resist, so I went to a few meetings.
One night, after doing quality control work on the local beer supply, I cheerfully joined in the discussion. This was the night when I realized that the Bible is not the Word of G-d, a concept that has been very handy in dealing with the clumsy efforts of our Jesus-mad culture to convert me.
They seemed to like me, though, and welcomed me back. Maybe it was the southern accent.
One Sunday, after the dinner was finished , it was time to have a prayer to begin the meeting. I raised my hand. Now, Jesus Worshipers enjoy prayer as entertainment. When they bow their heads, you see them stretching and deep breathing, in anticipation of a good, lengthy, message to G-d.
My message was a bit of a disappointment. Instead of a long winded lecture about Jesus and the magic book, I said what was on my mind. Lord, thank you for letting us be here today.
Chamblee54 
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