Michael Bates: April 2009 Archives
Danz Family: Landon Walter Danz
The Danz Family has added a new member -- click through and offer your congratulations to Don, now the proud papa to three boys.
Roy Thackerson, the Fingerless Fiddler
We saw Roy play at the Texas Cowboy Reunion a couple of years ago. Amazing. (Via Deke Dickerson's Wonderful World of Weirdness.)
Deke Dickerson @ Mercury Lounge, Saturday
Jennifer Chancellor describes Deke Dickerson as "Retro-fantastic guitarslinging and woe-eyed tales mix rockabilly, surf rock and jazz." What's not to like? His "Misshapen Hillbilly Gal" is a Hank Thompson-style western swing number with some nice twin-guitar work.
Satire of the lapdog media:
"'What exactly is the news hook here?' asked Rick Kaplan, executive producer of the CBS Evening News. 'Is this an upbeat human-interest story about a "day in the life" of a bloodthirsty president who likes to kill people? Or is it more of an examination of how Obama's unusual upbringing in Hawaii helped to shape the way he would one day viciously butcher two helpless citizens in their own home?'
"'Or maybe the story is just that murder is cool now,' Kaplan continued. 'I don't know. There are a million different angles on this one.'"
Reflecting her changed priorities, Dawn Eden is looking for a buyer for her "entire pop, rock, and comedy record and CD collection," with proceeds to help finance her doctorate in theology and her aim of teaching the subject at a Catholic university. The prolific liner-notes writer estimates "500 45s, 250 LPs, and 400 CDs" in the collection, predominantly from 1965 to 1968.
Although I suspect I'd be tempted by a separate sale of the comedy collection, I don't have the cash or the requisite love of "obscure sunshine pop" to bid on the whole kaboodle. (Now, if Rich Kienzle -- the Dawn Eden of western swing and classic country music -- suddenly had the urge to swap his record collection for an extensive library of evangelical Protestant theology and church history, we might be able to work a deal.)
(Common thread -- both Eden and Kienzle have written liner notes for recordings involving guitarist and producer Tommy Allsup. And it's kind of amazing how many Tulsa musicians were a part of Gary Lewis and the Playboys at one time or another.)
Ace takes a Times headline about Obama's visit to troops in Iraq and uses it to lead into a fascinating and valuable analysis of perspective bias in the media. (Note how I made Ace the active subject of that sentence, rather than a passive responder to the headline.)
American Rails: Surviving Oklahoma Railroad Stations
A list of surviving stations, depots, and terminals around the state. I'm proud to say that my grandfather, Johnny Bates, as a member of the Lions Club, helped to save the Nowata Missouri Pacific station when the railroad wanted to tear it down.
APRIL HONKY TONK/SWING SALE! | Bloodshot Records
In honor of an upcoming release by Wayne Hancock, Bloodshot Records is offering special deals on western swing and honky tonk CDs, including the Pine Valley Cosmonauts Salute the Majesty of Bob Wills ($6.75) and Crazy Rhythm, a collection of Hank Penny transcriptions from the 1950s ($5.75). (Via @michelet on Twitter.)
Michael Spencer writes: "I can't imagine that any religion in the history of humanity has made as many clearly false claims and promises as evangelical Christians in their quest to say that Jesus makes us better people right now. With their constant promises of joy, power, contentment, healing, prosperity, purpose, better relationships, successful parenting and freedom from every kind of oppression and affliction, I wonder why more Christians aren't either being sued by the rest of humanity for lying or hauled off to a psych ward to be examined for serious delusions."
Wedding Planning Is Killing Me: Probably the best marriage advice I've ever heard
Karol is getting married today. She got some advice from the cabbie who picked her up after she picked up her wedding dress.
GetRightOK.com - School Board - We are autonomous of taxpayers
Outgoing Broken Arrow Public School board member Maryanne Flippo, regarding the district's legal expenses: "I don't believe the public is entitled to know these details. That is my job as an elected official."
Airline Seating Charts - Best Airplane Seats - SeatGuru
Travelers' advice on pros and cons of each seat on just about every kind of commercial passenger airplane -- where you'll find extra legroom, under-seat obstructions, power ports, too-narrow armrests, etc.
Julie Limbaugh offers personal glimpses of her cousin Rush. "He's the guy who puts 'March of the Penguins' on his home movie theater screen for the little cousins to watch and makes sure his candy bowls are filled with jelly beans and doesn't swear when my nephew tries to throw his antiques down the stairs. He's the guy who came from nothing to something and knows what it feels like to miss Missouri. One Thanksgiving he stands in front of all us relatives in his Versailles-looking living room, and before my grandpa prays over our meal, Cousin Rusty apologizes. He says he's afraid he has made it tough to be a Limbaugh this past year, and his voice breaks like I have never heard it do before. Cousin Rusty is OK."
