Monday Music "Nancy Sinatra "These boots are made for walking"

I figured after doing a song last week from the turn of the century, (yeah...2000 Y2K) I would do an older song.  I remembered this song for my Dad would play it a lot and it was very popular with the GI's from Vietnam.  It became part of the lexicon of the time and indelibly linked to the War in Vietnam by popular culture.  Nancy Sinatra would do many USO shows for the troops , and even now she is still involved with rolling thunder and many veteran causes.  She did some anti-war stuff also, but that was part of the culture of the times.  Nancy still supported the troops unlike a lot of her contemporaries and the troops have never forgotten that.  Even now she is a very popular figure and many veterans remember her with great fondness and respect.

"These Boots Are Made for Walkin'" is a pop song written by Lee Hazlewood and recorded by Nancy Sinatra. It was released on February 22, 1966, and hit No. 1 in the United States Billboard Hot 100 and in the UK Singles Chart.

Subsequently, many cover versions of the song have been released in a range of styles: metal, pop, rock, punk rock, country, dance, and industrial. Jessica Simpson, Geri Halliwell, Jewel, Operation Ivy and KMFDM also released covers of the song.

The second single taken from her debut album Boots, and follow-up to the minor hit "So Long, Babe," the song became an instant success. In late February 1966, the song topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart, a move it replicated in similar charts across the world.

When the single was first released, some thought it had to do with the subway strike in New York.That same year, Sinatra recorded an early music video for the song. It was produced by Color-Sonics, and played on Scopitone video jukeboxes. In 1986, for the song's twentieth anniversary, cable station VH1 played this music video.

     Nancy Sinatra was encouraged by Lee Hazlewood to sing the song as if she were "a sixteen-year-old girl who fucks truck drivers." Sinatra's recording of the song was made with the help of Los Angeles session musicians known as the Wrecking Crew. This session included Hal Blaine on drums, Al Casey, Tommy Tedesco, and Billy Strange on guitars, Ollie Mitchell, Roy Caton and Lew McCreary on horns, Carol Kaye on electric bass, and Chuck Berghofer on double bass, providing the notable bass line.

According to Carol Kaye, "Arranger Billy Strange believed in using the two basses together. Producer Lee Hazlewood asked Chuck to put a sliding run on the front of the tune. Chuck complied by playing notes about three tones apart (4-6 frets apart), but Lee stopped the take. 'No Chuck, make your sliding notes closer together', and that is what you hear."

According to Al Casey, "Well, Lee and I had been friends forever, and he said, 'I've got this song I'm working on, and I want the guitar to play this.' And he showed me, because there's a little bit more than banging on an 'E-chord', which is what most people do. There's more to it than that. He said, 'I want you to do this on the song,' and he sang the song and played the rhythm guitar lick, and I went 'Oh, that's cute!', little suspecting it was gonna be huge."

Nancy Sinatra would later record one of Don Lanier's songs on her 1969 album Nancy. Nick Bonney was the guitarist for the Nelson Riddle Orchestra.

In 2006, Pitchfork Media selected it as the 114th best song of the 1960s. Critic Tom Breihan described the song as "maybe the finest bitchy kiss-off in pop history".

The song was used in a number of ways related to the Vietnam War:

• During television news coverage in 1966/67, the song was aired as a soundtrack as the cameras focused on US Infantrymen on patrol during the Vietnam War.
• In 1966 and 1967 Sinatra traveled to Vietnam to perform for the troops. Many US soldiers adopted the song as their anthem, as shown in Pierre Schoendoerffer's academy award winning documentary The Anderson Platoon (1967).
• The song's popularity with US Infantrymen in Vietnam was reprised in a scene in Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket (1987).
• Sinatra played herself, re-enacting her 1960s performance of the song in Vietnam, in episode 6 (June 1988) of the television show China Beach.
• In 2005, Paul Revere & the Raiders recorded a revamped version of the song using Sinatra's original vocal track. It appeared on the CD Ride to the Wall, Vol. 2, with proceeds going to help Vietnam veterans.

• Variation of title used in dialog for Four for Texas, Frank Sinatra's character says "They tell me those boots ain't built for walking" when Dean Martin's character is walking back towards him after trying to get away. At the end of the scene when Dean's character gets the drop on Frank's, he says "And you're right about those boots. They sure ain't made for walking."

Goodyear Tire and Rubber used portions of the song for its 1960s' ad campaign promoting its "wide boots" tires. Nancy Sinatra unsuccessfully sued Goodyear for using the song, claiming that it had violated her publicity rights. In the 1997 film Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, the Fembots were introduced to the strains of the opening and closing notes of the song.

     

New Execution Method......and cop humor

I got this you tube video from my Dad and after nearly busting a gut watching, I figured I would post it on my blog.

Yes this is satire but it is very funny.  I personally am a fan of electric Bleachers

Also some cop humor....My Dad is a retired cop and he though these were great!

Here is some Police Humor......if you have a good one, send it to me. 

GREAT THINGS OVERHEARD WHILE ON THE BEAT--  
"The handcuffs are tight because they're new. They'll stretch out after you wear them 
awhile." 

"Take your hands off the car, and I'll make your birth certificate a worthless document." 

"Remember, when you gotta cuff 'em.... nobody is your friend." 
"If you run, you'll only go to jail tired." 

"That says POLICE, not taxi." 

"Can you run faster than 1,200 feet per second?" (if you aren't a shooter, that is the 
average speed of a 9mm projectile (slug)). 

"So, you don't know how fast you were going. I guess that means I can write anything I 
want on the ticket, huh?" 

"You can't outrun a radio." 

"Yes sir, you can talk to the shift supervisor, but I don't think it will help. Oh, did I 
mention that I am the shift supervisor?" 

"Warning! You want a warning? O.K., I'm warning you not to do that again or I'll give 
you another ticket." 

"I'd rather have the gear and not need it than need the gear I don't have." 

"If it's worth stopping, it's worth writing." 

"The answer to this last question will determine whether you are drunk or not. Was 
Mickey Mouse a cat or dog?" 

"Some people are meant to be cops, and some people are meant to call the cops." 

"God made tomorrow for the crooks we don't catch today." 

"Yeah, we have a quota. Two more tickets and my wife gets a toaster oven." 

"Life's tough, it's tougher if you're stupid." 
  
"Bulletproof vests aren't." 

"Law abiding citizens sleep peacefully in their beds, solely because dedicated men and 
women stand ready to do violence in their behalf." 

"In God we trust, all others we run through NCIC." 

"In God we trust, all others are suspects." 

"Just how big were those two beers?" 
"Uh....yes, Chief, it only appeared as if I wasn't paying attention to your speech. Actually, 
you inspired me to meditate on the mission statement and envision a new 
paradigm." 

"No sir, we don't have quotas anymore. We used to have quotas, but now we're allowed 
to write as many tickets as we want." 

"Law enforcement is not a spectator sport." 

"I know, I know, your kid is an honor student at the juvenile detention center." 

"I'm glad to hear the chief of police is a good, personal friend of yours. At least you know 
someone who can post your bail." 

"You might beat the rap, but you can't beat the ride." 

"We don't hire cops in this department, we hire common sense and make cops from it." 

"I don't believe they should use the electric chair, they need to use electric bleachers." 

"Handcuffs aren't designed for comfort." 

"Your arrest. You catch 'em, you clean 'em." 

  He also sent me this tee-shirt

Off the wall question to my fellow bloggers

I had thought about advertising for my favorite gunparts vendor, Their parts are very reasonable, and their customer service is excellent.  I am thinking about having an ad button set up on my site...When I inquired, they needed my SSN so they can 1099 me at the end of the year..To those bloggers that have ad buttons is this normal?   Also I in the past have kept my "blog life and "real life" separate.  This is mixing the two and I wouldn't mind the extra coins as little as they would be.  But I have a certain anonymity and I do like it.  partly because as I have stated in the past, my employer is risk adverse and would probably fire me if some liberal that I offended called them up and complained because I hurt their feelings.   I have almost talked myself out of it but I wanted to ask the rest of y'all that question.

    I thank you for your time

    Respectfully

    "MrG"

     What prompted the question was that I had gotten a few AR parts for Fathers Day and I drug out of my parts bin the original barrel, upper receiver and hand-guards of my AR.  I had ordered a new gas tube, hand-guard release and barrel spring for my barrel.  So I took a few minutes to configure the old parts.  Then I drug out the AR and put the old receiver and barrel on.  The rifle looked very different.   I hope the wife don't mind my using her kitchen countertop for this;)

      This is what the rifle looked like with the "old stuff "on it:  The rifle hasn't seen this configuration since 1992

The Old triangular Flash Suppressor:

The side sling adapter I picked up for it:

  After taking some pics, I then returned the rifle to its now normal configuration:

Integrity...? Democrats.....Not a Chance.

This post has been rattling in my head for several days but kinda like a zit, it hasn't been able to erupt until now.......Nice analogy right...?
   

We have been treated to the spectacle of the I.R.S. telling congress that " The Dog ate the Emails"....Any IT guy unless they are a shameless political hack would have thrown the *Bullshit* flag on that one.  Emails are forever, things are always backed up.  You are talking about an organization that has the ability to go back 40 years on a taxpayer then assess penalties for "past debt" owed to the government.  Far fetched...?  Not really this happened to a older women in Texas who's mom drew benefits back when she was a child.  Now the IRS wants to get reimbursed.  There was a code for "past due" amounts written into the 2012 tax code I believe for past due amounts...and the government just happened to "find" this paperwork  that was generated over 40 years ago by her mom.  People were pissed because there is a principle of American jurisprudence that the child is not to be liable for the debts of the parents, something about serfs and indentured servants.   One of the many gripes we had with the crown of England back in the 18 century.   Now the government can go after you for debt that your parents accrued...not you...but you are on the hook for it.  Last I heard, she was still fighting with the IRS to get her tax refund and prevent future garnishment.

     Back to my original point.....( Ohhh a shiny!!!)...The idea of using the organs of government against ones political enemy also goes against the American system.  The government employees since the late 19th century have been protected and difficult to fire due to political influences.  Basically the government employees don't have to toady up to a political candidate or party to ensure their job.  This is what makes this more egregious because of this little fact.   They CHOOSE to help one party over another...This is ideological only...Their oath of office to treat everybody "fairly" was thrown into the gutter based on an ideological belief.  

     This brings me to a second point, I have commented on a few other blogs that the democrats are pure ideological animals...It is party above all.  The average democrat has a hierarchy of needs or beliefs,  Above all is the Democratic Party, this supersedes their oath to the country.  If it is harmful for the country...but advantageous to their party based on ideology..well guess what...it sucks for the U.S.A.  Second is themselves, if it is good for their party and good for themselves.....Great!  They will be all over it like ants on a picnic.   Next is Country, if it benefits the higher 2 "needs" and well it also benefits the country....Great, they can brag about it when they run for reelection.  And finally it is God.  To a democrat, "God" is last....Remember the 2012 democratic convention..they removed "God" from their platform and only due to political trickery it was reinstated.(Bad P.R you know...)

        To the average Democrat, Party trumps all.   President Obama has committed many "impeachable" crimes in his time in office but since he is the standard bearer of their party, they will cover for him no matter what he does....Remember to a democrat, Party is above all else.   Integrity is just one of those old values that no longer have any meaning, the party must prosper.  I remember in my research in the early 70's when Nixon got caught with his hand in the cookie jar, the republicans values their oath of office over their loyalty to Nixon and the impeachment proceedings started up in the congress, and the GOP basically told Nixon, "You are screwed" and after losing the support of his party, he resigned rather than take his chances with an impeachment hearing.   Can you imagine the screaming if the situation is reversed?   

        We have the Democrats stonewalling the hearings because it might make their messiah look bad since the I.R.S is part of the executive branch and President Obama and the Democrats might get some blowback for using the organs of the state against his and their opponents.  This is what is done in 3rd world banana republics....The opposition party is harassed, their members are routinely jailed and beaten and in more extreme cases, killed.  I still remember the picture of the Opposition Party Guillermo Endara being beaten by members of the "dignity battalion" a supporter of General Noriega.

  And I mention the 2012 elections where members of the SIEU a government union and a huge supporter of President Obama would attack and beat members of the "TEA party" and harass others at townhall events.  The Democrats would try to stack the townhall with their  SIEU supporters to prevent any body else who would show up to criticize their support of Obamacare.  

        This thuggish behavior is excused by the democrats, they are happy with this because it benefits"Their Guy".  What they don't realize is that this also can be used AGAINST them.   This is my issue with this,   It is an integrity issue, back in the 1970 members of the president's party was willing to hold their oath of office as sacrosanct, but today it is totally venal, whatever feels good for "the Now".  Who cares for the future.....

      

Another take on the Iraqi mess.....

I have been real busy and until I get a tablet to put my various brain squeezing into a tangible form and post it like a squared away blogger does rather than wait until I get home then try to remember a salient point I had though of 4 hours prior.   Perhaps one day....  But anyway I ripped this off from GOC "Grouchy Old Cripple."  

The France Of The Middle East

June 17, 2014

Iraq has officially become the France of the Middle East. Why do I say that? Two reasons.
Reason Number one. We spent blood and money to liberate Iraq from a bloody dictator. You would think they would show some gratitude by signing oil contracts with American companies. Instead, they turned to China, thus displaying the gratitude the French had for us after we kicked Hitler out of their country.
Reason number two. The Iraqi Army. Didja see them displaying French military strategy? They dropped their weapons, tore off their uniforms, and fled like French pussies. It’s telling that they wore civilian clothes under their uniforms so they would be able to run away and blend in with the crowds. Their cowardice was premeditated, just like French cowardice.
Al-Maliki, who wanted us to leave Iraq, is now begging us to return. Sorry dude. That ship has sailed. You wouldn’t clamp down on Monkey Boy and you wouldn’t sign a status of forces agreement with us. You’re getting just what you deserve. This is what your ingratitude has earned you. Go to China for help since you got so friendly with them and you’re selling them your oil.
So oil prices are going up. Wouldn’t it be nice to have that Keystone Pipeline that Obungler has refused to build? Wouldn’t it be nice if the Dimocrats had allowed us to drill in ANWR? Wouldn’t it be nice if the oil companies could drill on federal land, sumpin’ Obumbler has been against for the last six years? Howza ’bout drilling in the Gulf, another thing Oblunder has been against? Isn’t it great that we have had the fracking boom, sumpin’ the enviro-tards and Dimocrats have been against?
So, as you gas up your cars the next few months and see gas prices rise look in the mirror. If you voted for Oblamebush, you are part of the problem.
Isn’t it amazing how just about every foreign policy decision Oboner has made has been wrong, Libya was doing just fine until the French (the French?) wanted to overthrow Qadaffy. Qadaffy was nowhere near the brutal dictator Saddam was and the French were against that war. Qadaffy had given up his WMD programs after he saw Saddam pulled out of that little hole in the ground. He was neutered. But Obeavis “led from behind” and allowed the French to turn Libya into the anarchy it is today. An American ambassador even lost his life due to the incompetence of Obutthead and Thunder Rodent Thighs. I don’t really care about the ambassador since he was an Obeauzeau supporter and got what he deserved for trusting him and TRT. It’s the three other Americans I’m pissed about.
Remember Obambi and Plugs telling us over and over that al Qaeda was “on the run”? It sure is. It’s running at full speed toward Baghdad. Yet another foreign policy “success” for this incompetent dickhead. Thanks Obongo voters for inflicting this incompetent asshole on us.
We’re doomed!

Monday Music "Its my Life...." Bon Jovi

This song hit around 2000, I was working at Ford at the Assembly Plant, I was doing a job that I didn't like, Most of the jobs I could run "pretty good" I was a utility which means to maintain my classification, I had to run 7 different jobs.  I one time counted them, I could run 84 different jobs on the assembly line.  Most of the jobs in the body shop, I can run along with some of the jobs in "Trim" which was where the interior of the car came from.  But this job which was the "Steering column build up job really whipped my butt."  This job should have been run by 2 different people but Atlanta being Atlanta, ran with less.  It was the Assembly Plant trademark.   But this song would play a lot on the boombox that somebody had brought to the line and I associate music where I was where I first heard of the song.......Yeah it is strange....but that is me.  So when ever I hear of this song, and it is a good song,  It almost had a "Boy band" quality but it was a better quality music.  I still associate it with me damm near killing myself running the steering column buildup job. 

"It's My Life" is Bon Jovi's first single from the album Crush. It was released on May 23, 2000. It was written by Jon Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora, and Max Martin. The song was hit #1 across several countries (although it only reached #33 in the US). However, it has the distinction of making Bon Jovi the only band once classified as 1980s hair metal to reach the top 40 in the 2000s, a testament to how the song managed to introduce the band to a new, younger fanbase. The song is arguably their most well known post-1980s hit single and it has been performed live at almost all shows since its release.

  
The song has many classic Bon Jovi features, such as Sambora's use of the talk box, and a line in the second verse "For Tommy and Gina, who never backed down" refers to Tommy and Gina, a fictional working class couple that Bon Jovi and Sambora first wrote about in their 1986 hit "Livin' on a Prayer".
"It's My Life" is also notable for its line referencing fellow New Jerseyan Frank Sinatra: "My heart is like an open highway / Like Frankie said / I did it 'My Way'." Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora apparently had a disagreement over those lines, with Bon Jovi recalling:

I had just come home from making U-571 and I said "Sinatra made 16 movies and toured 'til he was 80. This is my role model". He [Sambora] said, "You can't write that damn lyric. Nobody cares about Frank Sinatra but you." And I wrote it anyway.

The song became an anthem that appealed to many fans. As Jon Bon Jovi later stated:

When I was writing "It's My Life", I thought I was writing very self-indulgently about my own life and where I was in it. I didn't realize that the phrase "It's My Life" would be taken as being about everyone--by teenagers, by older guys, mechanics, whatever. "It's my life, and I'm taking control". Everyone kind of feels that way from time to time.

The music video was directed by Wayne Isham. Will Estes (as Tommy) and Shiri Appleby (as Gina) are the two main characters (as it says in the lyrics "for Tommy and Gina, who never back down"). At the beginning, Tommy is watching a video of a Bon Jovi concert on his computer when Tommy's mother ordered him to take out the trash and suddenly Gina calls, and during the whole video, Tommy starts running down to his apartment and obediently takes out the trash and starts runs through the streets of Los Angeles up to the concert, getting chased by dogs, running a marathon, posing for pictures, and jackknifing a truck. The video was inspired by the movie Run Lola Run. Jon Bon Jovi met Will Estes on the set of U-571 and chose him to be in the video. The music video features the 2nd Street Tunnel as one of the main settings.

Happy Fathers day to all the Dads

Well Happy Fathers day to all the Dads that make a difference with their kids...I saw this and "borrowed" it.  My spousal unit says that it is soo true.....

"Why did the Chicken Cross the Road.....?" Political humor

I have been very busy, but Day camp is almost over.  We have 1 more day than my schedule starts to revert back to its nocturnal existence.   So We have some more Humor, I saw this surfing the web and shamelessly ripped it off.....Hey I do do that stuff you know....

Why Did The Chicken Cross The Road?

SARAH PALIN: The chicken crossed the road because, gosh-darn it, he's a maverick!

BARACK OBAMA: Let me be perfectly clear, if the chickens like their eggs they can keep their eggs. No chicken will be required to cross the road to surrender her eggs. Period.

JOHN McCAIN: My friends, the chicken crossed the road because he recognized the need to engage in cooperation and dialogue with all the chickens on the other side of the road.

HILLARY CLINTON: What difference at this point does it make why the chicken crossed the road.

GEORGE W. BUSH: We don't really care why the chicken crossed the road. We just want to know if the chicken is on our side of the road or not. The chicken is either with us or against us. There is no middle ground here.

DICK CHENEY: Where's my gun?

BILL CLINTON: I did not cross the road with that chicken.

AL GORE: I invented the chicken.

JOHN KERRY: Although I voted to let the chicken cross the road, I am now against it! It was the wrong road to cross, and I was misled about the chicken's intentions. I am not for it now, and will remain against it.

AL SHARPTON: Why are all the chickens white?

DR. PHIL: The problem we have here is that this chicken won't realize that he must first deal with the problem on this side of the road before it goes after the problem on the other side of the road. What we need to do is help him realize how stupid he is acting by not taking on his current problems before adding any new problems.

OPRAH: Well, I understand that the chicken is having problems, which is why he wants to cross the road so badly. So instead of having the chicken learn from his mistakes and take falls, which is a part of life, I'm going to give this chicken a NEW CAR so that he can just drive across the road and not live his life like the rest of the chickens.

ANDERSON COOPER: We have reason to believe there is a chicken, but we have not yet been allowed to have access to the other side of the road.

NANCY GRACE: That chicken crossed the road because he's guilty! You can see it in his eyes and the way he walks.

PAT BUCHANAN: To steal the job of a decent, hardworking American.

MARTHA STEWART: No one called me to warn me which way the chicken was going. I had a standing order at the Farmer's Market to sell my eggs when the price dropped to a certain level. No little bird gave me any insider information.

DR SEUSS: Did the chicken cross the road? Did he cross it with a toad? Yes, the chicken crossed the road, but why it crossed I've not been told.

ERNEST HEMINGWAY: To die in the rain, alone.

GRANDPA: In my day we didn't ask why the chicken crossed the road. Somebody told us the chicken crossed the road, and that was good enough for us.

BARBARA WALTERS: Isn't that interesting? In a few moments, we will be listening to the chicken tell, for the first time, the heart warming story of how it experienced a serious case of molting, and went on to accomplish it's lifelong dream of crossing the road.

ARISTOTLE: It is the nature of chickens to cross the road.

BILL GATES: I have just released eChicken2014, which will not only cross roads, but will lay eggs, file your important documents and balance your checkbook. Internet Explorer is an integral part of eChicken2014. This new platform is much more stable and will never reboot.

ALBERT EINSTEIN: Did the chicken really cross the road, or did the road move beneath the chicken?

COLONEL SANDERS: Did I miss one?

"How a bill becomes law..."

   Remember the "schoolhouse Rock that was around when I was a kid.  they were corny but they helped us kids remember some stuff like multiplication rules and of course "vowels".  I wonder what kids today use...?

"I'm Just a Bill" is a Schoolhouse Rock! segment, featuring a song of the same title written by Dave Frishberg. The segment debuted as part of "America Rock", the third season of the Schoolhouse Rock series, in 1975. The song featured in the segment is sung by Jack Sheldon (the voice of the Bill) and his son (the boy learning the process). It is about how a bill becomes a law, how it must go through Congress, and how it can be vetoed, etc.
The Bill is for the law that school buses must stop at railroad crossings. In the song, the Bill becomes a law. In reality, such a bill has never been approved by the United States Congress (traffic laws are typically handled at the state legislature level, and several states have such a law).
The song was covered by The Folk Implosion as "Deluxx Folk Implosion" for Schoolhouse Rock! Rocks in 1996.

New Book by Peter "War to the Knife"

Hey Y'all

    My blog buddy Peter just published his new book.  It is slated to be different than the "Maxwell Books" which I enjoyed immensely.   This is a new trilogy.  I just downloaded it.  Y'all need to check it out and support one of our own.   This ain't charity, Peter writes very well and it get better with each book and if you like a good Military Sci-Fi Yarn, go check it out.!!

    Here is the particulars shamelessly cut and pasted off his Blog

It's live!

'War To The Knife' has just gone live on Amazon.com in its Kindle version.  A CreateSpace print version has been uploaded and will go live as soon as it's passed that company's approval process, which is a bit more convoluted than Amazon's (not surprising, given the added difficulties in working with paper editions).

I'd be grateful if those of you with blogs and social media pages would please help me spread the word of its release.  If you read it and like it (or even if you don't like it), please leave a review on Amazon.com too - reviews really, really help other readers decide whether or not to try it for themselves.

Thanks for your patience with somewhat irregular blogging while I finished this project.  It's been a whole lot of fun, and I really think my writing's risen to a new level with this book.  Now for Maxwell Volume 4 (hopefully to be published in September), then the Laredo War Volume 2, hopefully in December.  Keep your fingers crossed!

Peter

Monday Music "Walking on a thin line" from Huey Lewis and the News.

I heard this song while I was in North Georgia College in the college ROTC program.  I thought it was a good song, although the critics didn't care for it.  I thought it told a good story about a GI and the Vietnam experience and the coming back home. and still "walking a thin line".  This came out the same time other songs were coming out about Vietnam.  

"Walking On A Thin Line" is a song performed by Huey Lewis and the News, released in 1984 as the fifth and final single from their 1983 album, Sports.

Considered one of the band's more "serious" songs, "Walking On A Thin Line" was written by Andre Pessis and Kevin Wells.The Sacramento Bee thought the song was about a veteran's post-war stress. However, the song is really about the thoughts of serving Vietnam War soldiers and veterans in the midst of the war.

In live performances, Lewis would often dedicate the song to the casualties of the war in Vietnam, as well as the veterans. During some live performances, ESPN personality Chris Berman, who is a fan of the band, has shown up as a surprise guest, singing the song with the band. Berman, who met the band at an ESPN tenth anniversary party,when describing football highlights on NFL Live, will sometimes reference the chorus to the song.

Reception for the song was very mixed. Christopher Connelly of Rolling Stone said that the song was "annoying", and added that, "wherein Lewis even sings "desperation" just like Men at Work's Colin Hay. The tune's a semistomper but is saddled with some repellent lines about a Vietnam serviceman–"I'm the boy next door/The one you find so easy to ignore/Is that what I was fighting for?"–that equate military service with Getting the Girl." Steve Morse of The Boston Globe thought that it was one of the band's more "serious" songs. Morse also thought that it was an "unusual piece" and that it was a "funky ode to Vietnam veterans"^]Robert Draper of the Austin Chronicle said that it showed that Lewis could show "signs of awareness." The Arizona Daily Star said that the song showed the band's "modest abilities for rockin' out." Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic calls the song one of the songs on the album that has "memorable hooks, driven home with economical precision by a tight bar band, who are given just enough polish to make them sound like superstars."

In the United States, the song was the last single released from the album, Sports. It peaked at #18 on the Billboard Hot 100, the only single from the album not to reach the Top 10 on the Billboard charts. The song was a Top 20 hit on the Top Rock Tracks chart, peaking at #16. The single was released in Australia where it reached #70.

Conundrum.....

I have been busier than a long legged cat in a room full of rocking chairs, I have Cub Scout  day camp, coming up, My son is now in Boy Scouts and he will be on staff.  I am running a "BB" range.  I almost decided to quit last year because I was getting burned out by this and the few volunteers that step up.  We have many people that carp and criticize but when the chips are down, are "unavailable".  I know that is how it is but it does get old.
    I keep telling myself that I am helping out the next generation of shooters in the sport to keep it alive for the new generation to come and eventually be the next shooters for the Olympics, the service, or just people that have a love of the sport and it is something that is uniquely American.

This is circling the internet and I figured I would post it.


The definition of the word Conundrum is: something that is puzzling or confusing.

• Definition of conundrum (n)

  Bing Dictionary

  co·nun·drum

   [ kə núndrəm ]   

  1. something confusing: something that is puzzling or confusing
  2. word puzzle: a riddle, especially one with an answer in the form of a play on words

  synonyms: puzzle, mystery, challenge, problem, riddle, enigma

Here are six Conundrums of socialism in the United States of America:

1. America is capitalist and greedy - yet half of the population is subsidized.
2.   Half of the population is subsidized - yet they think they are victims.
   
3. They think they are victims - yet their representatives run the government.
   
4. Their representatives run the government - yet the poor keep getting poorer.
   
5. The poor keep getting poorer - yet they have things that people in other countries only dream about.
   
6. They have things that people in other countries only dream about - yet they want America to be more like those other countries.
   

Here are some more:

• We are advised to not judge all Muslims by the actions of a few lunatics,
  
•  but we are encouraged to judge all gun owners by the actions of a few lunatics.
  
•  
• We constantly hear about how Social Security is going to run out of money, but we never hear about welfare or food stamps running out of money. America will die when the people who work for a living are outnumbered by the ones who vote for a living. 
  
• We are cutting benefits for our veterans, no pay raises for our military and cutting our army to a level lower than before WWII, but we are not stopping the payments or benefits to illegal aliens (invaders). 

Busy..Busy..Busy

Sorry about not posting since Monday, I have been very busy and running on several days with little sleep has killed the creativity fairy.  I wanted to blog about us trading 5 Taliban senior commanders for one American hating American deserter, but many of my fellow bloggers has already said what needed to be said and very eloquently, so I would make a poor shadow of an attempt.
     I wanted to blog about the EPA going after more coals plant and here in Georgia they are talking major rate increase.  Nothing like killing the economy on some nebulous bullshit called "climate change."
     I wanted to blog about the idiots who uses the "open Carry" to force themselves upon others, this is turning into a P.R. nightmare for the American 2nd amendment movement.  In the past the 2nd amendment was known for reasoned discourse, we leave the shrieking emotionalism to the liberals who can't dispute facts with emotions.  Now we have our own group that is picking a fight with the NRA who basically told them "grow up and behave."  Several bloggers have made the suggestion that the group is probably bankrolled by Bloomburg.  I tend to agree because the backlash from the non-gun public is growing especially when in my mind we have taken back some of our rights that we lost in the past and perhaps the pendulum is swinging back the other way and we have these ass clown pissing on the applecart.
    But instead, after the week I had, will take a couple of Advil PM and call it a "night" or a day in my case since I swing from the belfry normally.

Monday Music Wall OF VOODOO "Mexican Radio"

Well I am successful in getting my Monday music in on....Ta-Da!!!! "Monday!!! Yay.,Go Me:)

     

    I remember this song on MTV in 1983 and it was one of the quirky songs that MTV used to play.  back then, I remembered the "Barbecued Iguana"  line with the Iguana on a spit.  It was a bit corny " but a good listen.  I was at work and somebody mentioned "Mexican Radio" and I remembered this song.   

"Mexican Radio" is a song written and performed by the band Wall of Voodoo, and produced by Richard Mazda. The track was initially made commercially available on their 1982 album Call of the West, and was released as a single in early 1983. In their native US, the song was a modest hit, peaking at no. 58 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It was a bigger hit in other parts of the world, peaking at no. 18 in Canada, no. 21 in New Zealand and no. 33 in Australia. It also reached no. 64 in the UK.

Wall of Voodoo lead singer and player of organ, synthesizer and harmonica, Stan Ridgway and guitarist Marc Moreland traced the inspiration for the song to listening to high-wattage unregulated AM Mexican radio stations (among them XERF, XEG, and XERB).

Marc Moreland was the first to begin writing the song, which in a recorded interview in the '90s he stated, "It was basically just me singing 'I'm on a Mexican radio' over and over again". Moreland stated when he played it for his mother she hated it because of his repetitious lyrics. Stan Ridgway co-wrote with Moreland to finish the song, and added all the verse's lyrics to Moreland's chorus and guitar lick as well as the "mariachi" harmonica melody in the song's middle breakdown. When performing live with Wall Of Voodoo, Stan usually played the mariachi melody via an organ/synthesizer and Bill Noland used a synthesizer to play the melody when performing with Wall Of Voodoo in the 1982–1983 years.

The 7" single mix differs in a few areas from the album cut:

• Ridgway's vocals are mixed differently, with a more pronounced echo effect on certain lines.
• A loud Spanish-speaking DJ voice is present on both versions, but each version's voice is different and is saying different words.
• A significantly louder snare drum part is noticeable in the song's chorus.
• Ridgway chants "radio, radio, oleo, radio" at the song's end, rather than "radio, radio, radio, radio" as he does on the album version. Because of this, the single mix is sometimes called the "oleo" mix.
• A pulsing, mangled synth noise is heard at the end of the song on the album version, but not in the 7" mix. Instead, this sound is heard at the beginning of the track, as well as during the song's instrumental break.

Popular References: -On Seinfeld, season 9 episode 12 "the reverse peephole", Kramer can be heard singing it when the super of the building arrives as he's reversing his peephole.

It was rumored that Wall Of Voodoo drummer Joe Nanini was very difficult to work with at times in the studio when the group were recording their 1982 LP, Call Of The West, on which "Mexican Radio" appeared. On "Mexican Radio" in particular, it has been said that Joe was a little upset when Richard Mazda suggested a snare drum hit on the chorus of the song. Joe ultimately refused to cooperate, leading Mazda to recording the snare part himself, and with the band's acceptance the snare appeared in the final mix of the song.

The music video for the song consist of the band performing in a studio decorated like the album cover. Interspersed are images of typical Mexican life and, near the end, the band are shown operating their own radio station (a reference to the lyric, "I'd take requests on the telephone").