This Week's Top Five List

Here is the video of an audio piece that we did this past Sunday on Dr. John's Record Shelf. In addition to the list, you get a little plug for an old movie that I believe I've mentioned here on the blog before (in a way, the blog and the radio show are really the two sides of a metaphorical Dr. John coin). I hope you like this:

Tuesday Morning Philosophy

Voltaire was the pseudonym of Francois-Marie Arouet (1694-1778), one of the most widely read and remembered of the French Enlightenment thinkers. His most famous work was probably the picaresque novel Candide but here's a snippet of what he wrote on "equality" in the Philosophical Dictionary:

"All men have the right in the bottom of their hearts
to think themselves entirely equal to other men. It
does not follow from this that the cardinal's cook should
order his master to prepare him his dinner, but the
cook can say: 'I am a man like my master; like him I
was born crying; like me he will die with the same pangs
and the same ceremonies. Both of us perform the same
animal functions. If the Turks take possession of Rome,
and if then I am cardinal and my master cook, I shall
take him into my service.' This discourse is reasonable
and just, but while waiting for the Great Turk to take
possession of Rome, the cook must do his duty, or
else all human society is disordered."

Among the Vanquished, Alas

Normally I follow the Battle of the Bands Update with a video of one of the victorious groups from that week. But today I thought I'd give you a little taste of the Monks-- possibly the most obscure act to make the competition at all, and though they will not be moving on to Round 2, probably deserve at least another moment in the spotlight. You gotta love a rock band that includes a banjo-- not to mention those crazy haircuts! This is from a German TV appearance circa 1965:

Battle of the Bands Update

Chicago

Last night we had a couple of easy advances in the Battle of the Bands competition unfolding on my radio program, Dr. John's Record Shelf. No. 1 seeds Chicago (Midwest Bracket) and Velvet Underground (Northeast) easily dispatched the 16 seeds, the Cryan Shames and Monks, in their respective divisions.

Velvet Underground & Nico

It was a unanimous decision on behalf of the Velvets, whose "Sweet Jane" trounced the Monks' "Boys Are Boys and Girls Are Choice." Our guest judge this week was the Rock Doctor, Rob Thomas, who somewhat grudgingly went along with Art Vandalay and I on the Velvets. He was much firmer in his support of Chicago, behind "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is," over "Sugar and Spice" by the Cryan Shames (Art, expressing a strong dislike for brass in rock and roll did vote for the underdog in this contest).

There are six more weeks in Round 1 of our competition. You can see the full slate of matchups, by region, here, here, here, and here. Those groups that have already advanced to Round 2 include The Byrds, Creedence Clearwater Revival, the Lovin' Spoonful, the Gants, the Cowsills, the Outsiders, Steppenwolf, Spirit, the Beach Boys, the Sir Douglas Quintet, the Kingsmen, the Standells, the Crickets, the Shadows of Knight, the Remains, the Electric Prunes, the Bobby Fuller Four, and the New York Dolls. 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).

Today's Quote

Marc Chagall (1887-1985) was one of the pre-eminent modernist painters of the 20th century. So, in the following quotation, he knows whereof he speaks:

"Art is the unceasing effort to compete with
the beauty of flowers-- and never succeeding"

Video of the Day

I think Joan Jett may be the greatest female rock and roller of all time. I'd have to think a bit about who her competition may be (Grace Slick? Wanda Jackson?), but in the meantime, here's a bit of evidence in support of her case:

Soup Diary 091025

I've mentioned before that one of my favorite soups is the Chicken Tortilla variety served at the Baja Fresh chain of restaurants on the west coast. I'd go a few miles out of my way to have a bowl of that stuff. I think I've also mentioned that when I've had Chicken Tortilla soup in other places, it's been kind of hit or miss. Yesterday I had a bowl at one of my favorite Mexican Restaurants, Christina's La Cucina in Butte, and it was pretty good, but not outstanding. I actually didn't detect any tortillas in the mix (nor did it have a slice of avacado, part of what makes Baja Fresh's version so great), but is was suitably tangy and somewhat cheesy, with a bit of sour cream as well, so it definitely made a nice prelude to my meal. I imagine there are proprietary interests in the various recipes used by these places, so I'll never have exactly the same experience in different places, which is okay; but I do wish that I could get ahold of something as good as Baja Fresh's more than a couple times a year.

Sunday Funnies

Much like the H.T. Webster panels I featured here a couple of weeks ago, J.R. Williams offered up little slices of life in his classic Out Our Way. He too captures a certain essence of small town middle class life, with a special emphasis on kids and dogs, and those memorable moments which last a lifetime.

There's something inherently nostalgic about Williams' depiction of life in America between the World Wars, and I wonder if that wasn't true even at the time they were first published; one can certainly see that element in the panel above.

Even though they portray a time long past, they still retain their humor. I mean, there's something timeless about the joke of the fire chief caught in his chair, even as it defies the impression we have of the modern firefighter.

Here's an example of a Sunday page of Out Our Way, featuring the Willets. The color version strikes me as more typical of other strips, while the daily panel displayed a more personal style and perspective (but maybe that's because I've only seen what's been reprinted, and didn't experience it daily as they appeared).

The above makes me think of Tom Sawyer and Aunt Polly. Ever notice that mothers in the older strips (and movies too) actually looked matronly?

See what I mean by timeless? I think that the turnout in my town for non-state or national campaigns might be around 20%. I guess it was always like that.

Something else that Williams had in common with Webster: he liked to do cartoons about dogs. His tend to be rather scruffy mutts.

I like the way his kids are always a little disheveled themselves-- evidence of the hard work of chores and play.

This one's a real classic! Just count the number of ways that the hostess has to feel embarrassed by this episode.

I think if I sent my laundry out, I'd be tempted to adopt this strategy myself. This was the age of the classic gag panel (in addition to Williams and Webster, there was also Gene Ahearn's Our Boarding House and Clare Briggs' work), which comics historian Jerry Robinson summarized as "extracting humor from the mundane." I'm not sure what the modern counterpart would be (I don't think we'd find it on the comics page), but I'm glad these cartoons exist as one means of reconnecting with the day-to-day aspects of life in this country's past.

Quote of the Day

Today's quotation comes from the famous novelist W. Somerset Maugham. I'll let you decide if you want to buy into this idea or not:

"From the earliest times the old have rubbed
it into the young that they are wiser that
they, and before the young had discovered
what nonsense this was they were old too, and
it profited them to carry on the imposture."

More Pictures from Red Rock Canyon

Here are a few more shots taken at Red Rock Canyon in Nevada last week. Above you get a good sense of the desert plain that sits between the outcroppings of rocks and the mountains.

Here's a view looking up a canyon towards, if I recall correctly, Turtlehead Mountain. By this point in our visit, we were pretty parched and not quite willing to hike up any closer.

These next two are from the one shady spot we found, so we lingered a bit to beat the heat. The colors of the trees against the backdrop of the mountains made for some stunning views.

There were a bunch of chipmunks running around this spot, and I suspect that I aimed my camera here to catch one perched on the rock. Also, he scurried off before I snapped the picture, though I still think it turned out pretty good.

One last shot of a lonely tree up at the lookout point overlooking the desert floor of the park (this was from the highest elevation accessible without actually climbing up on the rocks). Going up to the conservancy was a nice break from the city, but the latter was what we came down to Vegas to experience, so after a couple hours in the mountains, we were heading back....

Saturday Morning Cartoon

Baby Huey was the quintessential ugly duckling-- right up to the end of the cartoon, when he inevitably saves the day! I remember watching these old theatrical shorts repackaged for TV, along with Heckle & Jekyll, Little Audry, and I think Caspar the Friendly Ghost, though I don't remember the programs they all appeared on in the mid sixties. Oh well, glad to see they're still available on YouTube:

Saturday's Quote

I've read that Will Rogers may have been the biggest celebrity in the country circa 1930. This was largely due to his talents as an entertainer, but he was also a thoughtful individual with a plainspoken way of hitting on some important truths, as in this comment from a newspaper column he wrote in 1929:

"People talk peace, but men give their life's
work to war. It won't stop till there is
as much brains and scientific study put to
aid peace as there is to promote war."

Video of the Day

This is very short, but quite sweet. You'll see John Cleese as Basil Fawlty reaching his limit, which actually happened pretty regularly on the classic Fawlty Towers. In fact, Basil could compete with "the terrible tempered Mr. Bang" for the title of all-time shortest fuse in all of popular culture.

Friday Family Blogging Quiz

Here's a nice picture of good old Pilgrim, being urged to smile by some unknown conductor. The question is, who? Place your guesses in the comments section.

Last week, I asked two questions about a picture of Gramma and Helen, where it was taken and on what occasion. Evidently this was too easy, as everybody (Sally, Natalie, Ben, Dan, and Mom) all got it right: it was taken at Nestor's Restaurant after Helen had won her heat in the annual Canal Fest Diaper Derby (sadly, she didn't fare so well in the finals). Hopefully, this week's quiz will pose more of a challenge.

Soup Diary 091023

Finally, a soup I can really rave about! The potato leek soup (complete with fried onion garnish) at the Alehouse brew pub in Bozeman is really, really good. In fact, it was easily the best part of the meal I had there a couple nights ago prior to the Hold Steady show. When I was a kid, my Mom made potato soup pretty often, and so it has real comfort food connotations for me; the oniony twist on this version made it near perfect, and the crunchy onions on top were an extra treat. This is one I'm going to try and make myself sometime, though I doubt I'll nail it so well as the chef (or my Mom!). When I find a soup this good, it makes me want to go out looking for something else to tickle my palette, but it looks like my travels are winding down for awhile (and there is no place here in Dillon to get good soup). I guess that should just be more incentive to try and make my own.

More Friday Family Blogging

Here's one especially for Helen and Nicky (and Emma too, if she's interested): do you recognize the little girl in the bonnet above? Anybody else remember that little portable TV in the background? How about the baby picture up on the shelf; I know it's indistinct, but does anyone have any idea who it is?

Friday Family Blogging

Here's a slightly older picture than I usually post, of Dad with his pipe, Catie and Nick. This was taken during a visit to Gramma's house sometime back in the seventies. I like the poster in the background, which I'm guessing Uncle Dick got from the Sisters (any other guesses on that?).

Friday Philosophy

William James was the novelist Henry James' smarter brother, one of the founders of the modern discipline of Psychology. This statement by him is short, but pointed:

"A great many people think they are thinking
when they are rearranging their prejudices."

Hold Steady Live

There are some clips out there that sound a little better than this one, but visually this is closest to what I saw the other night (though we saw them in a much smaller venue). Singer Craig Finn was a bit more animated on Tuesday night, but he's hardly a statue in this video. Let me know what you think:

Photos From Red Rock Canyon

Last Friday Bill and I spent most of the morning driving and hiking around the Red Rock Canyon nature conservancy about fifteen miles west of Las Vegas (hard to believe it was actually that close). Above you can see some of the rocks that give the place its name.

This shot gives you a better idea of the desert like landscape that comes right up to the edge of the mountains. The terrain was very sandy, and the creek bed that lay just below this spot was bone-dry.

The blocks in the foreground here were cut out of a nearby sandstone quarry that was opened in 1906 and closed just a couple of years later. It proved to be too remote to make it worthwhile lugging the stones to where someone might actually want to use them (back then, I don't think Vegas was any more than a tiny crossroads village, if that).

This shot of Bill was also taken near the old quarry. I liked the two-tone features of the rocks rising up behind him.

And here's one of me-- wearing my souvenir cap purchased at the visitors center. I wish I'd spent the money on a couple bottles of water, as we got pretty parched hiking around the trails in close to 90 degree heat. Next time, we'll be better prepared in that regard (I suspect Bill will opt to wear something than sandals next time too). I've got a few more pics to post from Red Rock, which I should have up tomorrow.