FLY THE FRIENDLY SKIES

 

TOKYO (Reuters) - One of the travelers who arrived at Tokyo's Narita airport over the weekend may have picked up an unusual souvenir from customs -- a package of cannabis.A customs official hid the package in a suitcase belonging to a passenger arriving from Hong Kong as a training exercise for sniffer dogs Sunday, but lost track of both drugs and suitcase during the practice session, a spokeswoman for Tokyo customs said.Customs regulations specify that a training suitcase be used for such exercises, but the official said he had used passengers' suitcases for similar purposes in the past, domestic media reported."The dogs have always been able to find it before," NHK quoted him as saying. "I became overconfident that it would work."Anyone who finds the package should contact Tokyo customs as soon as possible, the spokeswoman said.

 

" Hello, United, I'd like 2 tickets to Japan please, and make it snappy! And make sure the return flight serves munchies..."

 

 

 

 

DID YOU KNOW...

 There are over 43,000 Chinese restaurants in the U.S.

That's more than McDonald's, Burger King, & KFC combined!!

 

...and a hell of a lot of those funny little crunchy noodles...

3 MUSIC FIRSTS

I'm pretty sure this was the first album I bought, back in 1965-66 thereabouts. Don't think I actually bought it though, if I remember, I traded for it whe I was art military school in 7th grade. Had seen a movie that used 'California Dreaming' ("All the leaves are brown, and the sky is grey...etc") as the theme song, weird movie about reincarnation, I think, and ended up getting this album from someone in the dorm. Not sure what finally happened to it, probably traded it later for a book. Military school being an entity of it's own, a lot of trading went on, there wasn't much else to do in one's spare time, so I owned the album, at least temporarily.

Ah, Jimi Hendrix, arguably the best non-conventional guitarist in the universe; and this record was the first album IN STEREO that I bought. Yes, when this came out, albums were still available in either mono or stereo, and even thought my cheesy little drop down record player could only play mono, I had to have this in stereo. So when Mom & Dad were out of the house, I'd go down to their big console stereo and crank it up. Man, it was a whole 'nother universe, you really had to be there! Groovy, man...

And finally, this one. This was the first CD I bought (still own it). Bought it from the old 'Everythings A $1' store at the Lakeland mall - before I even owned a CD player, but hey, it was only $1, and actually a pretty good CD too (when I finally played it years later).

RIP: JOHN PHILLIP LAW

At only age 70, too damn young. While not known widely any more, he was in the classic film comedy The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming. He also played an angel in the Jane Fonda movie Barbarella. But the real reason he rates a mention in W O H was his turn as Sinbad in The Golden Voyage Of Sinbad in 1973. He starred with Caroline Munro (hot Hammer Films chick!) & some Ray Harryhausen creatures; among them a cyclops centaur, a griffin, and a 6 armed statue that comes to life! Ah, what a great movie. So now he's gone, but will always live on in my DVD copy of Sinbad - the movie, not the comedian...

ANOTHER STUPID COMMERCIAL

Saw this on TV last night; another stupid commercial, this on for something called Abilify. Some kind of drug, not sure what it's for, probably something nobody really had until the drug company created a pill for it. You know the old saying, "Invention is the mother of necessity".
So any way, after they tell you what the drugs for, they then spend the rest of the commercial telling you of possible side effects. One of the listed side effects had to do with increasing the risk of suicide, but that's not the stupid part of the commercial. What was really stupid was this: During the commercial you get glimpses of a couple walking through what looks like a field; as you near the end of the commercial, the camera pulls back, and you see the couple walking toward a tall cliff overlooking the ocean - just about the time they tell you of the risk of suicide!!

So how dumb is that...or is it a subliminal message: "You'd be better off dead than taking this pill!'

BUD LIGHT LIME

 So once again, being the copier instead of an innovator, Anheuser-Busch ihas come out with Bud Light Lime -  a copy of Miller Chill.

The funny part is...

 

The base beer is NOT Bud Light!! 

 

 So what makes it Bud Light? Nothing but the desire to carry on the coat-tails of Bud Light, one of the worlds' most popular light beers, and one of the blandest tasting. Though I still drink the occasional Budweiser even though I've expanded my taste in beer; I'd probably have to be dying of thirst in the desert before I'd drink a Bud Light.

 

...and even then I'd have to think twice...

YET ANOTHER BOOK

Whatever Happened To...? by Bill Harry: The man who became semi-famous for publishing 'Mersey Beat' magazine in the days of the Beatles put out a book about famous and semi-famous singers/musicians and what happened to them in later years. It's an interesting look at people living & dead from the heyday of Rock & Roll. Unfortunately, I found over a dozen factual errors and mis-spellings of famous names, whether from poor editing or just sloppy research, I don't know, but it shouldn't happen to the extent it does, especially in this kind of book. For example: Though many of the artist bios gave their real and stage names, the entry on Scott McKenzie never mentioned that that was his stage name, he is neither Scott nor McKenzie. Scott Gorham from Thin Lizzy is called Scott Gorman; Sting (Gordon Sumner) is called Graham; Jorge Santana's (Carlos's brother) mid-70s band Malo (Spanish for 'bad') is called Malmo (a place in Sweden); The Troggs album made with members of R.E.M. is called Athens To Andover instead of Athens Andover; Graham Parson's body was taken to the desert and burned, not buried as stated in the book.

Now, some of these errors many people wouldn't notice, and there may be more that I didn't catch, but really, if you're going to publish a book, take the time to get your facts straight. Especially if you're someone like Bill Harry, who was actually involved in the music business.

But an interesting read nonetheless, with much (correct) info on musicans you and I grew up with (OK, maybe not you).

RIP: EDDY ARNOLD

The famous Country/Pop singer 10 days before his 90^th birthday. Now, he rates mention not bcause I'm a fan of his, but because my Dad was. In the mid-60s he had a hit song called "Make the World Go Away" which my Dad used to sing (not very well) at random moments in time. And he never seemed to know anything past the first line or two… "Make the world go away, take it off from my shoulders" as close as I can remember it. But he seemed to enjoy it. Now, the funny story connected to Eddy Arnold is this:

My Dad came back from one of his many business trips, and when my Mom was going through his suit prior to getting it cleaned, she found a napkin from some hotel bar. On the napkin was written "What are you doing in my life?" in Dad's handwriting. So my Mom asked him about the napkin, wondering who why it had that phrase written on it. Well, it turns out he'd been out with a few of the business associates wherever it was he happened to be (he traveled all over the world) and he heard a song playing, which he liked, and wrote down what he could remember of the title. The actual title was "What's He Doing In My World" by Eddy Arnold, and of course he added it to his repertoire of half sung songs, of course with the words the way he originally wrote them down!

 So, Eddy, now that you're gone, and in heaven with Dad, please teach him the right words to your songs…

--
tim 8>)...
http://heathcliff13.blogspot.com

A PHRASE YOU NEVER HEAR ANYMORE

I ran across this at lunch today while listening to a song on the Hot Summer Night bootleg by Steppenwolf. They had a song called '5 Finger Discount', which is a phrase you used to hear quite a bit in the days of my youth, but not so much anymore. I don't know why, it's much cooler sounding than shoplifting, though just as illegal. When I was in college in the early 70s, I used to like calling it "Liberating in the name of the people", which of course is still illegal, but sounds as if you're doing it to make a political statement.

And of course, it's much better than the wholesale raping of the middle & lower classes by Big Oil , Big Insurance, & Big Anyone Else With Lots Of Money.

ANOTHER BOOK

There Was a little Girl by Ed McBain: Another Matthew Hope novel with a nursery rhyme title. The titles do actually fit the actual story, in this one, the little girl is the logo for a brand of beer. In this book, however, Matthew doesn't actually do much since he gets shot in the opening line. It's his friends and co-workers who try to solve the mystery of why he was shot and by whom; which involves a traveling circus, vlauable land, and a midget circus star. Oh yes, and let's not forget aforementioned little girl, who's now grown up. Another good read from the author who was more famous for his 87th Precinct series.

IT'S A SMALL WORLD (AFTER ALL)

And not in a Disney way. Last night we went to the Classic Albums Live concert; they did Zep's Houses Of the Holy this time. It was a good show, not as good as the Who show last month (see archives) but a good show. Anyway, Phyl was talking to the couple who sit next to us, he's been to the 3 show series also, about our age, maybe a bit older. So he comes from New Jersey originally, and worked in 'The City'. He mentions the Fillmore East, and Phyl says she went there once on New Year's Eve and saw Mountain there. Well, so did he! Now is that a small world or what?

What makes it even smaller is the above CD, which I own, a German bootleg of the New Year's Eve concert at the Fillmore!

All together now..."It's a small world after all, it's a small world after all..."

A GOOD DAY FOR MUSIC

Of course, everyday is a good day for music, but yesterday was particularly good. Got the OK from 'the boss' (not Bruce Springsteen) to go to the F.R.C.A. record and CD show in Orlando. They hold it every four months, and I've been trying to go for quite a while, but somehting always came up. They used to have another show in Largo at the old outlet mall, which was nice because Phyl could shop while I browsed the show. But anyway, I finally got there yesterday, and I managed to come home with a shitload of music. Besides CDs from Keef Hartley Band, Suzi Quatro, Nektar, & Fairport Convention, the big find was bootlegs. One booth was selling nothing but, and I picked up some live boots from Grand Funk, Black Sabbath, The Outlaws, Steppenwolf, The Kinks, Savoy Brown, Heart, Aerosmith, 1974 era Fleetwood Mac, UFO, Jethro Tull, Cream, The Band, & The Who's entire Woodstock set! Man, is life good, or what!
You know, my wife is less than thrilled with my obsession with music (1500+ CDs), but she tolerates it. I find that in this current world of bad news and more bad news that it helps keep me sane & happy.

Besides, as a hobby, it's cheaper than hookers & drugs...

BOOKS READ..WELL ONE ANYWAY

Dream Brother by David Browne: An interesting concept - a dual biography of father and son Tim & Jeff Buckley. Both musicians, both died young, Tim at 28 of drugs, Jeff at 30 by drowning. Both apparently very talented, but neither rose beyond cult status. It's strange how their lives paralleled one another, yet while Tim was alive, he barely knew Jeff. A fascinating read, with the characters brought to life so as if you knew them.