Sunday Funnies

Today I thought I would highlight a whimsical strip called King Aroo by Jack Kent. This apparently only ran for a couple years in the 1950s, and I only discovered it later when someone wrote an article in Nemo magazine about lost and forgotten strips.

Visually, this reminds me a bit of Pogo by Walt Kelly, and in the strip below you'll see a direct homage to George Herriman's Krazy Kat.

It's great that one can prowl the web these days and find great examples of classic strips like this, especially ones that didn't have along history like Peanuts or Pogo. I wonder why it didn't last-- certainly it wasn't a reflection of Kent's artistry or the quality of the strip itself. Maybe it was just a little ahead of its time.

Quote of the Day

Niccola Machiavelli (1469-1527) was an Italian statesman, often credited with being the father of political science. Here's a particularly insightful comment from one of his books:

"Men ever praise the olden time, and find fault
with the present, though often without reason....
Having grown old, they also laud all they
remember to have seen in their youth. Their
opinion is generally erroneous.... We never
know the whole truth about the past."

A Near Perfect Comic Strip

Maybe you saw this in the paper this morning. It is a thing of beauty: Lynn Johnston nails the kids expressions (and Farley's too), there's a clear narrative trajectory that is not obvious or predictable from panel to panel, and it's really funny. Plus, in these reprints of older strips, Michael resembles my nephew Nick and Lizzy looks like my niece Emma (if they only had a dog!). So I take back the heading-- it is perfect.

Soup Diary 091121

When I started compiling this diary, it was to chronicle all the wonderful varieties of soup I was trying as it became a habit to include a cup with most of the meals I ate away from home. My intention was to stay away from the standard fare and always select something I hadn't had before, or something that was most subject to individual distinction from one restaurant to another. Consequently, I think the only chicken noodle soup I've eaten in the last year is the stuff I make myself, as it tends not to be anything special in most eateries. Today, I was in Idaho Falls and came across a diner I'd not previously patronized, and went in for lunch. They actually had three choices for soup, and the menu entry prominently stated: "Made fresh daily." I took that to mean they made it from scratch, and figured there was a good chance the chicken noodle might just be something special (the place had that kind of air about it). No such luck. Apparently, "made fresh daily" just means they mix up a new batch every day, but this was definitely from a mix. It was identical to the soup they serve in the cafeteria at school, and at the Safeway deli. It wasn't terrible, just the same old same old, and (as with the others mentioned) too salty. I guess I'll have to be more discriminating in how I read a menu from now on-- of course, even if I'd gone with one of the other options I probably would've been disappointed.

In other soup news: while visiting the Buffalo Library webpage for another reason a week or so ago, I noticed they had a link to Fables Cafe (the coffee shop in the library where I had many a great cup of soup when I was home over the summer). Clicking on it, I discovered I could have them send me an e-mail everyday with their specials, including the soup menu. So now each morning when I get to work and open my account, I'm tantalized by the offerings-- two thousand miles away!-- of spicy black bean, sweet red pepper with chorizo, African peanut, and on and on. I'm not sure it's such a good idea that I start the day with uncontrolled drooling, so I may have to stop the updates. I mean, why should I torture myself?

Saturday Morning Cartoon

Apparently, this week is the fiftieth anniversary of the debut of The Rocky & Bullwinkle Show, which means I'm kind of obligated to post an episode here. Not that I'm complaining... this was one of the all-time great cartoon series:

Saturday's Quotation

Edmund Burke (1729-1797) was a British statesman and writer. Here's something from his work Letters on a Regicide Peace from 1797:

"Manners are of more importance than laws.
Upon them, in a great measure, the laws
depend. The law touches us but here and there,
and now and then. Manners are what vex or
smooth, corrupt or purify, exalt or debase,
barbarize or refine us, by a constant, steady,
uniform, insensible operation, like that of the
air we breathe in. They give their whole form
and color to our lives. According to their quality,
they aid morals, they support them, or
they totally destroy them."

Congratulations Rob!

Regular readers of this blog will recall occasional references to the Rock Doctor, Rob Thomas, a fellow DJ on KDWG and faculty member at the University of Montana Western. He actually inspired the Battle of the Bands we've been staging on my radio show, and recounting every Monday here on Dr. John's Journal. Needless to say, Rob's accomplishments are many and more diverse than that description implies, and that fact was recognized yesterday when he was named Outstanding Baccalaureate Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education in Washington DC. In all my years as a student and a teacher, I can't think of anyone I've ever encountered more deserving of such recognition. So congratulations to Rob and his family on this wonderful honor!

Pretty Song

If you ever wondered what it would sound like if a classic punk rocker (like Sally Timms) tried her hand at a big band ballad ("Perfidia") accompanied by a master of the pedal steel guitar (Jon Rauhouse), well, wonder no more:

Friday Family Blogging Quiz

Here's a new wrinkle on the weekly quizzes: I've photoshopped the above photo to make it somewhat less distinct. Who do you think it is, what is that person doing, and where was he/she doing it? Partial credit is available if you only get one or two parts correct. Place your guesses in the comments section.

Last week I asked who a set of eyes belonged to. For some reason, mothers seem to do really well on these quizzes and so no surprise that Catie was the first to correctly identify her youngest, Joseph (the Rosieks were unanymous in corroboration). Thanks to all who played and good luck with this week's puzzler!

More Friday Family Blogging

This was taken on New Years Day about five years ago (anyone remember for sure? the date stamp is definitely wrong), when Gramma, Sara, Ben Natalie, Tom and I went for a walk in Stieglemeier Park (am I even close on that spelling?). Good times, good times.

Friday Family Bloging

I thought you all might enjoy this photo of my niece Raechelle. The kid's got a great smile, doesn't she?

Friday Philosophy

Here's a comment from Abraham Lincoln, some years before he became president:

"And, inasmuch as most good things are produced
by labor, it follows that all such things of right
belong to those whose labor has produced them.
But it has so happened in all the ages of the
world, that some have labored, and others have,
without labor, enjoyed a large proportion of the
fruits. This is wrong, and should not continue.
To secure to each laborer the whole product of his
labor, or as nearly as possible, is a most worthy
object of any government."

Doo Wop Heaven

Here's one of the all-time great street corner harmony songs, performed by the Flamingos (though I can't tell if these are the original members of the group). The song has been done many times since, but never better:

Interesting Article

Some of the criticism I'm hearing lately about the prospective health care reform bills working their way through Congress is that most of the higher profile components (including, for example the creation of the public option) would not go into effect until 2014. Ezra Klein of the Washington Post has an article outlining what parts of the reform would actually go into effect right away, should a bill pass this year. It's not an inconsiderable list, even for someone like me who has half-way decent coverage already-- that is, I would see some real benefits from these changes, and odds are you would too.

Today's Quotation

It's not entirely clear to me who deserves credit for the following line. It was spoken (and possibly written) by Orson Welles, who you see pictured; the film in which he said it is The Third Man, whose screenplay was written by Graham Greene. In either case it's a great line if not exactly factual:

"In Italy for thirty years under the Borgias,
they had warfare, terror, murder and bloodshed.
But they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo
DaVinci, and the Renaissance. In Switzerland,
they had brotherly love. They had 500 years
of democracy and peace. And what did they
produce? The cuckoo clock."

Cool Song

Whatever happened to Graham Parker (with or without the Rumour)? Actually I know he's been active recently with recordings, but how come he doesn't get the same kind of critical respect and attention of someone like Elvis Costello, who emerged from that same post Sex Pistols British scene in the late seventies? Here's one of his better songs from that early period:

Photoshop Fun

Here are a few pictures that I've monkeyed around with on Photoshop Elements. Above is a shot of the Albright-Knox Art Gallery put through a few arty effects.

This was a series of archways alongside the St. Clare Church in Assisi, run through a couple of filters.

The Hotel Lafayette in downtown Buffalo shows the signs of being a former showplace, though frankly, it's become a bit rundown over the years. This view, looking up at the southwest corner of the building and with a couple painterly effects give some impression of its former glamour.

Last, a picture of Tacoma Rainiers pitcher Brandon Morrow made to look like a painting. I recently bought a new camera, a Pentax K-x DSLR, so I should have more photos soon to play around with. This photography stuff is becoming a great hobby.

The Last Movie I Saw

One of my favorite lines from Shakespeare is: "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy." I guess you can say that summarizes the main theme of Grant Heslov's The Men Who Stare at Goats, which opens on a title card promising "More of this is true than you would believe," and proceeds from there to relate the development of a secret military operation based on New Age mumbo-jumbo, martial arts mysticism, and hippie hokum all combined in the pursuit of victory without violence (though violence is a rather relative term in this context). The set-up is great, and the extended introduction of the key characters, especially those played by George Clooney and Jeff Bridges is hugely entertaining, but about halfway through, the movie starts to lose steam. The starting premise is so good, and the buildup leading to the present and a foray into wartime Iraq promises a payoff that it never really delivers. Maybe that's because they hewed too closely to real events, which more likely than not ended in an even bigger anticlimax than is on display here. The actors (add Kevin Spacey and Ewan MacGregor to those mentioned above) are all good and keep things watchable, but ultimately the movie was a bit of a disappointment, especially given the gonzo potential of its premise and the efforts of especially Bridges and Clooney to sell it.

Wednesday's Quote

Robert Henri (1865-1929) was an American painter who also wrote about art and its social role, evident in work of he and his colleagues in the so-called Ashcan School. Here's something he wrote reflecting on the connection between art and life:

"Art cannot be separated from life. It is the

expression of the greatest need of which life
is capable, and we value art not because of
the skilled product, but because of its
revelation of a life's experience."

Video of the Day

This is kind of short and sweet: a scene from the old TV show Mr. Ed. They don't make them like this anymore, and I don't know if that's a good thing or not:

This Week's Top Five List

Once again Squeegy Beckenheim was filling in for Art Vandalay on this past Sunday's radio show, as you can hear in this week's Top Five List (the concept of which, I should note for any newcomers, was ripped off from Nick Hornby, not David Letterman):

Quote of the Day

Fred Allen (1894-1956) was one of the great comedians of the twentieth century, whose sharp wit went along with a keen insight into the American scene. Here's what he recognized about television way back near the birth of the medium:

"Television is a triumph of equipment over
people, and the minds that control it are so
small that you could put them in a gnat's
navel with room left over for two caraway
seeds and an agent's heart."

Battle of the Bands Winner

In what has to be considered something of an upset, Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show used this ballad to knock off the much more rockin' Raspberries in the Battle of the Bands competition on my radio show.

Battle of the Bands Update

Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show

Last night on Dr. John's Record Shelf, we finished up the first round matchups in the Northeast Bracket of our Battle of the Bands. Moving on are Three Dog Night (seeded no. 3) who dispatched The Nazz (14), and Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show (10) who knocked off the Raspberries (7). With Art Vandalay on the road, judges included Squeegy Beckenheim , Tom Rosiek and Nick Hajduk.

Three Dog Night

"Mama Told Me Not to Come" was the song that propelled Three Dog Night into Round Two in a unanimous decision where they will meet no. 11 seed the Flying Burrito Brothers (The Nazz went with "Open My Eyes"); Dr. Hook scored with "Sylvia's Mother" against "I Wanna Be With You" by the Raspberries, though it was a split decision, 2-1. They will meet no. 2 the Lovin' Spoonful in the next round.

The rest of the Northest Bracket in Round Two looks like this: Velvet Underground (1) vs. the Cowsills (8); and the Remains (12) vs. the New York Dolls (13). Next week, we'll have the Midwest Bracket's second round matchups set, with the Southwest and Northwest following to wind up the Fall season. The rest of the competition will play out over the Spring. If anyone would like to volunteer to be a judge in Round Two, leave me a comment and we'll see if we can set it up.

Today's Quotation

George Bancroft (1800-1891) was an eminent scholar and political figure in nineteenth century America. The following is taken from his essay "The Office of the People in Art, Government and Religion" from 1835:

"There never was a school of philosophy, nor a clan
in the realm of opinion, but carried along with it
some important truth. And therefore every sect
that has ever flourished has benefited Humanity;
for the errors of a sect pass away and are forgotten;
its truths are received into he common inheritance.
to know the seminal thought of every prophet and
leader of a sect, is to gather all the wisdom of mankind."

Weird Videos

They used to say that TV allowed for the continuation of vaudeville-- keeping acts alive that were truly bizarre but certainly held one's attention for five or ten minutes between the more mainstream singers and comedians who populated the variety shows of the day. Here's an example, perpetrated on little kids by Captain Kangaroo. I defy anyone to try and make any sense out of this aside from it's incredible strangeness. You'll never see anything this cool on a "reality" show:



Here's an earlier version from the 1930s, introduced by Red Skelton, who makes the connection to vaudeville explicit (I don't think the two performers are the same guy, but I could be wrong):

Sunday Funnies

Sometime back I wrote up a little appreciation of Cliff Sterrett and his work on Polly and Her Pals. I don't really have anything to add to that, but I have found some other great examples of his work on-line, so it seemed worthwhile to post them here. Click on the strips to blow them up, and enjoy ne of the true masters of the comics medium.

These strips all go back to the 1920s and 1930s-- but I think you'll agree they have a timeless quality that make them easy to appreciate even today.

Sunday's Quote

The following is part of the narration from Woody Allen's classic film Annie Hall from 1977:

"There's this old joke. Two elderly women are in a
Catskills Mountain resort and one of 'em says: 'Boy,
the food at this place is really terrible.' The other
one says, 'Yeah, I know, and such small portions.'
Well, that's essentially how I feel about life. Full
of loneliness and misery and suffering and
unhappiness, and it's all over much too quickly."

Classic Dwight Yoakam

Here's a video of the song that introduced me (and I suppose a lot of other folks) to Dwight Yoakam back in the eighties. It's a remake of an old Johnny Horton tune, and Yoakam's introduction talks about how he was inspired by the music he grew up listening to on the radio. Good stuff:

A Favorite Photographer

The Flatiron 1905

When I look at old photographs, I'm never entirely sure that my gut response on whether or not I like it is based on aesthetic qualities, or the mere historicalness of the image. Probably a bit of both. But for whatever reason, I really like Edward Steichen's photographs from the early part of the twentieth century, including those posted here.

The Maypole (Empire State Building) 1932

Unlike the urban photos of Bereniece Abbott, Steichen's pictures seem more distant from the human element of the city, hinting at more of an artistic than humanistic depiction (not that the two are mutually exclusive). But there's something about the angularity of his compositions that links Steichen's work to the more abstract painters of his generation, a fact that places him squarely in the realm of modernism.

Milk Bottles 1915

Steichen also took dazzling photos of celebrities and fashion models for magazines like Vanity Fair, but I prefer his landscapes, both urban and, as below, non-urban. This is largely because these are subjects that I have access to as well, and so I can take some inspiration from how he turned them into art. Anyway, work like this gives me something to shoot for.

The Pond, Moonlight 1904

Saturday Morning Cartoon

I have to admit that when the Beatles first hit around '63, I was a bit too young to really get what the big deal was. But, when they popped up as cartoon characters a couple years later, their appeal was finally sealed with me (though I can't say the same for James Bond-- who is parodied here-- and whose popularity mostly continues to mystify me):

Saturday Morning Thought

Thomas Paine (1737-1809) is best known for his political writing ("Common Sense," The Rights of Man), but this statement makes it clear that he was capable of seeing the bigger picture:

"I have yet, I believe, some years in store,
for I have a good state of health and a happy
mind, and I take care of both by nourishing
the first with temperance and the latter with
abundance. This, I believe, you will allow
to be the true philosophy of life."

Happy Birthday Richard!

I'm a day late on this one, but happy birthday to my brother-in-law Richard, seen here with his daughter Marenka, on what looks like just a day or two after her birth. I'm looking forward to seeing both of them over Thanksgiving, and hoping the weather is good enough for Richard and I to hit the links for some frisbee golf! Richard, I hope you had a great day yesterday, and from now on as well.

The [Not So] Old Philosopher

This is pretty funny. The voice is the great Eddie Lawrence performing his most famous bit; the face is some kid named Aaron, who nails the lip sync. Check it out:

Friday Family Blogging Quiz

Here's another one to test your eye recognition abilities. In this instance, the subject was making a funny face for the camera-- can you tell who it is? Put your guesses in the comments section.

Last week, I asked you to identify the second photographer in a cropped version of the above photo. As you can see, it was my sister Sally, who in fact apparently remembered that day as she was the first to answer correctly (Mom also guessed Sally). There were a bunch of good guesses as there was quite a crew of us up on the mountain that day, but congratulations to Sally for identifying herself.

Two weeks ago, I asked you to identify who Andromeda was looking at in a cropped version of the above picture. As you can see, it was Emma who attracted her attention. It took some extra time, but eventually you knew that Emma's mom Theresa would be able to identify her daughter from the tiny sliver of a finger that appeared in the altered photo. Thanks to all the contestants, and don't forget to post your guesses in this week's challenge.

More Friday Family Blogging

On the other hand (with reference to the previous post), Emma seems to convey total innocence, though I think you can still see a clear resemblance between her and her sister.

Friday Family Blogging

Here's a shot of Helen kind of emphasizing the natural gleam in her eye, creating the impression, even at that young age, that perhaps a bit of mischief was afoot.

Friday Philosophy

James Branch Cabell (1879-1958) was an American writer, primarily known for his satiric fantasies. This line comes from The Silver Stallion , published in 1926:

"An optimist proclaims that we live in
the best of all possible worlds. the
pessimist fears that this is true."

My New Favorite Band

Darker My Love's 2 may have been the best album I heard in the past year, at least among groups previously unknown to me. Here's a song off that release for your listening pleasure:

New Hal Crowther Column

Here's a link to the latest column from Hal Crowther, one of the sharpest cultural critics around today. About twenty years ago I remember he wrote about Limbaugh with similar insight (and that does not mean he just disagreed with Limbaugh's politics, but rather saw through his act), and here he addresses the more recent Glenn Beck phenomenon. Of course you can go back much further than that to find evidence of the kind of anti-intellectualism such figures represent. Richard Hofstadter documented the length of that tradition in The Paranoid Style in American Politics way back in the early sixties; Susan Jacoby's The Age of American Unreason was something of a sequel from just a couple years ago. Let's face it, there's something inherent in democracy that creates a place for the likes of Beck in public debate (not in itself a bad thing), but once that debate is joined, it's essential that he be called on his nonsense (like anyone else), and you'd like to think that would ultimately have some impact on his credibility. Crowther seems pessimistic about whether or not that is happening, but I hold out hope that most people can still tell the difference between the proverbial spit and shinola.

Quote of the Day

Walter (Horatio) Pater was a nineteenth century English man of letters. Here's something he wrote in 1873:

"Not the fruit of experience, but experience
itself, is the end. A counted number of
pulses only is given to us of a variegated,
dramatic life. How shall we pass most swiftly
from point to point, and be present always
at the focus where the greatest number of
vital forces unite in their purest energy?
To burn always with this hard, gemlike
flame, to maintain this ecstasy,
is success in life."

Video of the Day

This must be one of the earliest recordings by Rilo Kiley, who've since become pretty well regarded in indy rock circles. I discovered the song (and the band, for that matter) in the movie Desert Blue, snippets of which are seen in this video. It's a great little low-key film about life in a remote, desolate small town and how the young folks entertain themselves. Anyway, check out "The Frug":

Soup Diary 091110

Following my gratifying success with Cream of Carrot soup last week, today I took a shot at some homemade Cauliflower Walnut. Sadly, it wasn't up to the standard established by my earlier effort. Oh it was ok, but I had high hopes, mainly because I was actually taking a shot at a more "gourmet" concoction, what with the walnuts and such. Unfortunately, it came out kind of bland, with only a hint of walnut flavor and even the cauliflower being a bit overwhelmed by the onion in the mix. With the carrot soup, I resisted the temptation to tart it up with any more spice than the recipe called for; in this case, I think something was missing (maybe parsley? a touch of roasted red pepper? a couple chunks of broccoli?). I don't know what will make it better, but I have enough left over that I can do a little experimenting over the next few days. I'll keep you posted on the results.

A Favorite Painting

Jean-Leon Gerome, The Grief of the the Pasha 1882

I pass through Omaha every couple of years or so and always try to stop at the Joslyn Art Museum. I've been there often enough to have adopted some favorites that I like to revisit and even look forward to seeing again like old friends. One of them is the Gerome pictured above, which I find by turns comic and touching. It's a kind of ambiguity that arises, I think, from the artist's perspective as an outsider (a Frenchman among Turks) who can't entirely see past the exotic trappings to really emphasize the universal human emotion on display. It isn't that Gerome misses that emotion, but dwarfs it underneath the ornate arches, giant candles and behind the tiger who appears at first glance to be merely asleep. But just as I'm sure his contemporary audience of the late 19th century was fascinated by this glimpse of a strange oriental world, I find it compelling for its attempt to make that world accessible, whether through humor of pathos-- it suggests an engagement with "the other" that even today seems difficult for a lot of people. When I showed the animated feature Persepolis recently to a class of mine, it was disappointing to hear some react as if just the effort to see Iranians as fellow human beings was some kind of affront to their sense of patriotism. One hopes that art can contribute to eroding such close-minded bigotry, and I think Gerome's painting works toward that goal, even if it does fall prey somewhat to stereotyping.

Ancient Wisdom

Quintus Horatius Flaccus (65-8 BC) was a Roman poet better known as just Horace. Here's something from Book II of his Epistles:

"Who then is free? The wise man, who is
lord over himself, whom neither poverty,
or death, nor bonds affright, who bravely
defies his passions, and scorns ambition,
who in himself is a whole, smoothed and
rounded, so that nothing outside can rest
on the polished surface, and against whom
Fortune in her onset is ever defeated."

Video of the Day

I haven't posted anything from the Marx Brothers in awhile, so let's rectify that. Here's a scene from Animal Crackers, featuring Chico and Harpo and the magnificent Margaret Dumont:

This Week's Top Five List

Here's the Top Five List we broadcast this past Sunday on Dr. John's Record Shelf. I apologize in advance for the perhaps slightly elevated air of pomposity that creeps into my introductory remarks:

The Last Book I Read

I like lists, and for some reason I always have. But I'm not an indiscriminate consumer of lists-- they need to display at least a modicum of intelligence and wit, and, if they are going to provide the meat of a book, they must offer something more than basic ordered items. Inventory, compiled by folks associated with The Onion satiric website is a good book of lists, with an focus on pop culture from mostly the past thirty years or so. The topics are generally obscure enough to make it difficult to argue with their rankings-- that is, as far as I can tell they usually exhaust the possibilities (and since there is no standard length for each list, no arbitrary cut-off that leaves something relevant off). I also get the sense that the orders really don't reflect rank, so there's little incentive to take issue with what deserves to be no. 1 on any given page. The entertainment value instead is linked to how cleverly the choices are described or explained, and the batting average is pretty high for the book as a whole (I skipped over maybe five lists from disinterest). This is the kind of book you can read while watching a baseball game or during commercials, and it promises to delight again in five or ten years when I notice it on the shelf and can not recall its details. At that point it will probably also have some nostalgia value as it reminds me of songs or movies that I haven't thought about in the interim (as happens with other books of lists I've invested in over the years). So overall, a decent entertaining time-killer, if not quite as funny as The Onion and its other off-shoots.

Today's Quotation

I probably should've timed this to coincide with the World Series, but oh well. It's still worth sharing. Bill Veeck was a maverick baseball team owner (of the Indians, White Sox and Browns) who never tired of coming up with some attention-grabbing scheme (like sending a midget to the plate to pinch hit). Here's a sample of his wisdom:

"Baseball is almost the only orderly thing in a
very unorderly world. If you get three strikes,
even the best lawyer in the world can't get you off."

The Burritos Winning Song

Here's a video of the Flying Burrito Brothers performing the song that carried them into Round 2 of the Battle of the Bands playing out on my radio show, Dr. John's Record Shelf. It occurs to me that this represents a first for the contest: since the Byrds advanced some weeks back, that means that Chris Hillman (the frizzy-haired gent in this video) and Michael Clarke (the drummer) are making a double appearance in Round 2, as they were members of both groups. Alex Chilton had a shot at accomplishing that too, but Big Star failed to win their first round contest (though the Box Tops have yet to compete). Anyway, enjoy the Cosmic American Music of the Flying Burrito Brothers:

Battle of the Bands Update

The Flying Burrito Brothers

On paper, both of the contests in yesterday's Battle of the Bands competition on Dr. John's Record Shelf look like upsets, as number eleven seeds The Flying Burrito Brothers and the Rock'n'Roll Trio knocked off the Rascals and Stooges (each seeded no. 6 in their bracket) respectively. But it wasn't close in the first case, as the Burrito Brothers swept the judges away (guest judge this week: the Rock Doctor Rob Thomas). There was a little more controversy in the second match-up, as Art Vandalay seemed almost personally insulted that the Rock Doc and I preferred the Trio to Iggy and the other Stooges.

Rock'n'Roll Trio

But honestly, as much as I like and respect the Stooges (who performed "Search and Destroy"), how can you vote against one of the quintessential rock tunes of all time: "The Train Kept a'Rollin," especially in its original state? This exemplifies one of the features we built into the contest: any group might score an upset behind an unquestionably great song in round one, but in subsequent rounds they have to go with another tune. The Stooges, with a somewhat deeper catalog, would've had more great material to draw from, had they advanced; while the Rock'n'Roll Trio now must be represented by less familiar stuff. We'll see what happens. By the way, the Burritos won behind "Christine's Tune" which was up against "Groovin'" by the Rascals.

There are four more weeks left in Round 1. In Round 2, we know that The Byrds will be taking on the Doobie Brothers, the Sir Douglas Quintet goes against the Beach Boys, Creedence Clearwater Revival faces Big Brother & the Holding Company, and the Kingsmen will battle the Standells. Also, Chicago faces the Outsiders, the Crickets take on the Shadows of Knight, the Velvet Underground meets the Cowsills (talk about a mismatch!), and the Remains tangle with the New York Dolls. Other groups that have advanced (though their second round opponents remain to be determined) include the Lovin' Spoonful, the Gants, Steppenwolf, Spirit, the Electric Prunes, and the Bobby Fuller Four. The whole competition will continue to unfold over the next few months on my radio show, which can be heard Sunday nights at 5:00 at 90.9 fm if you happen to be in SW Montana (at 90.9 fm).

Quote of the Day

A few days back I posted a quote from one of James Madison's Federalist Papers. Here's a line written by Alexander Hamilton (1757-1804) from #15 in that same series:

"Why are governments instituted at all?
Because the passions of men will not
conform to the dictates of reason
and justice without restraint."

Video of the Day

I read recently where Mott the Hoople recently played a reunion concert over in England. That, along with the fact that I've been listening to the new solo album by Ian Hunter (Man Overboard), made me think it's about time I posted a clip of the band here. This song, a cover of the Doug Sahm classic, was included on their debut album way back in 1969 (they also covered Sonny Bono on that record-- talk about eclectic!). I hope you like it: