HAPPY NEW YEAR

SEE Y'ALL NEXT YEAR

RIP: DELANEY BRAMLETT

Singer-songwriter-producer Delaney Bramlett, who penned such classic rock songs as "Let it Rain" and worked with musicians George Harrison and Eric Clapton, dead at 69. Delaney died Saturday shortly before 5 a.m. in Los Angeles as a result of complications from gallbladder surgery.
Born in Mississippi, Bramlett enjoyed a career in the music business that spanned 50 years. With his then-wife Bonnie Lynn, he created the Southern blues-rock band Delaney & Bonnie & Friends. The group opened for Blind Faith, which featured British guitarist Clapton, in 1969.
Never one of my favorites, though I do own the..."On Tour With Eric Clapton" CD, some fine music there.

And the ever growing rock band in heaven adds another member...

...rock on Delaney, rock on...

TROYER'S DUTCH HERITAGE

Man, oh man; gotta be the absolutely best chicken in the world, and from a buffet table at that. Went here Friday after Xmas, hadn't been to Sarasota in years, and decided to look for this place, had seen it on BN9 restaurant report. Actually have Amish/Mennonite people working here, our waitress was Sadie(!) and wore no jewelry, and had a little cap-like item on her head. The food was excellent, not only the broasted (yes, Broasted) chicken, but pickled beets, incredible potato salad, hard-boiled eggs in beet juice, and even the salad was made with chopped lettuce, no odd pieces to deal with. The food at this place was so authentic there was actually a family group of 20 Amish eating here while we were here. (You never see that in a Chinese restaurant, do you?)
Yes, a real neat place to eat, and strangely enough, there's a community of Amish/Mennonite people who live in the area, hence the plethora of Amish-style restaurants. It's really quite amusing seeing all these Amish people riding 3 wheel bikes up and down the roads; too dangerous for horse & buggy I suppose. And I'm supposing quite a few must be snowbirds, since you can't farm up North in the winter. Odd to see them living in mobile homes (old-60s-70s style); people who reject the modern, living in the most quintessential representative of pre-fab modern America. Go figure!
But anyway, if you're ever in the Sarasota area, make sure you check this place out; turn off Hwy 41 ont Bahia Vista Road and look for all the Amish folk, you can't miss it...

CHICAGO TRANSIT AUTHORITY

Sitting here at lunch reading and listening to the CD of this fine, fine album. I remember buying this in 1969 when I worked in Caldor Dept. Store (Store#4 - Norwalk,CT) back before Walmart ruled the world. Not sure if I'd heard any of the songs on the radio, but remembering buying the album basically because it was a double album for the price of a regular album!

Yeah, how cool was that? And Chicago continued that for one or two more albums, if I recall correctly. Really a mind blowing album at the time, rock AND horns! Pretty sure Blood, Sweat & Tears may have done it first, but they never seemed like rock, more like pop; somehow I never put them in the same league with these guys, at least for the first 5 or 6 albums. Unfortunately, after Chicago V, they seemed to get more ballad-ey, and lest rock-ey. And after Terry Kath's accidental death, just never listened anymore.

But I still have the 1st five, and listen to them every so often as a reminder of what once was...

CHRISTMAS IS COMING...

"When you stop believing in Santa Claus, the whole world starts a downhill slide..."

A quote from someone, but don't remember who, but oh so true...

Well, Merry Xmas to you all and

hope next year is good for you also.

RIP :DENNIS YOST

At the young age of 65 in Ontario Canada. For those of us 'oldtimers', he was the lead singer of the Classics IV. Some of the band later morphed into the Atlanta Rhythm Section who had a hit song with the Classics IV song 'Spooky'. I remember them from when I was a young teenager, actually owned the single of 'Spooky'. They also had hits with 'Stormy' & 'Traces Of Love'.
So another classic artist goes to join the big band in the sky...
Sing loud & proud Dennis, you made your place in music history...

RIP: FORREST J ACKERMAN

11/24/1916 - 12/04/2008 of heart failure after a lingering illness. You may not know of him, unless you're a monster movie & sci-fi (an abbreviation coined by him) fan; but he was very well known in the genre. He published Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine which was one of my favorites back in the late 60s - still have my old issues.
So now you get a well earned rest and get to chat with your old pals, Dracula, Frankenstein's Monster, the Wolfman, et.al.
R.I.P. Forry, R.I.P.

NOT JUST STUPID, REALLY STUPID

So this was in the paper the other day. A 27 year old guy who was drunk had to go out for more beer. but did the smart thing and got a designated driver.

Unfortunately, the driver was his 9 year old son...

BEER NMBER 615

Which I had over Thanksgiving. Leinenkugel's Fireside Nut Brown, which was quite tasty, somewhat like Newcastle Brown, but a little smoother. The neat part was that about halfway through a glass, there was an unexpected coffee/mocha aftertaste. But if I tried to taste it, it wasn't there, only when I wasn't expecting it. A very nice holiday beer, a nice switch from pilsners with the turkey (or while cooking it on the grill). So this is fairly new, at least around here; so if you see it, make sure to try it...

...or just stick to your water...I mean Bud Light...wuss...

THANKSGIVING

Wow, did I really eat all that!!!