SZ630
BY
JIM DAWSON
JUNE
13, 2016
UNITED
WE STAND, DIVIDED WE FALL
Our
country is at a crossroads. There has not been a more divisive time
during my life, and that includes the Vietnam War. We have a Congress
that is paralyzed by people who care only about themselves and their
agendas. They don't care about the common folk, the commonweal. They
won't compromise for the sake of the common good.
We
have a presidential candidate who doesn't offer solutions to our
problems but instead insults opponents. The mark of a bully is
someone who doesn't argue a point with logic and reason, but who
resorts to name calling and tries to belittle the opposition.
The
time has come. In Bob Marley's words, 'Get up! Stand up! Stand up for
your rights!'
Many
innocent people died over the weekend because one person opened fire
with an assault rifle. There needs to be a background check on anyone
who buys a gun, regardless of the seller. US citizens should be
allowed to own guns. However there is no sane reason why that gun
should be an assault rifle. They should be banned. If Congress won't
do it, then individual states must. Get up! Stand up! Stand up for
your rights!
We,
the people, must defend ourselves against prejudice. Prejudice
towards race, religion, and sexual orientation. We
need tolerance not hate. We
can't stand by and allow prejudice to permeate our society. We
need to be united or we shall surely fall.
When
the elections occur in November, vote. Don't
stand by
and
do nothing.
Get
up! Stand up! Stand up for your rights!
PAWSOX
Wilkerson
attended Cumberland University and helped them win the NAIA
championship. He set an NAIA record by pitching 54 consecutive
scoreless innings. His career was short circuited by Tommy John
surgery. After working stocking frozen foods in a freezer for a Texas
grocery store, he joined an independent league and bounced around 4
of them before being signed by the Red Sox in July of 2014
(Sources:the
Boston Herald's
Evan Drellich - 4/24/16 and roanoke.com's Aaron McFarling –
7/13/15).
OF
Bryce Brentz doubled in the 2nd
and was plated by C Ali Solis' single. Solis, just up from Portland,
had 2 of the PawSox's 3 hits. And it was a beautiful if windy day.
BULLETS
•
R.I.P.
Gordie Howe, one of hockey's greatest. Howe led the Detroit Red Wings
to 4 Stanley Cup championships,
led the NHL in scoring 6 times and was MVP 6 times. 'Mr. Hockey'
played more games than any other player who ever laced them up. I'm
told he was as gentle a man off the ice as he was ferocious on it.
And
in
the
NHL, they call a Gordie Howe hat trick a goal, an assist and a fight.
•
The
Red Sox drafted high school LHP Jason Groome with their 1st
pick in the MLB draft. He reportedly has one of the best curve balls
of this year's high schoolers. The draft is unpredictable (in terms
of who makes the Bigs). Case in point – Casey Kelly – drafted by
Boston in the 1st
round in 2008. He was a prime piece in the trade to SD for Adrian
Gonzalez. Kelly ended up having Tommy John surgery. He is now a
reliever for Atlanta (4.86 ERA). 1B Anthony Rizzo, also in that
trade, became a star with the Cubs.
•
According
to
the Boston Herald's Michael Silverman, Jackie Bradley Jr. had T
shirts made up for the outfielders that read 'Soul Patrol'. And that
dance that the 3 outfielders do at the end of the game is called 'Hit
Dem Folks'.
E-MAIL
Regarding
Emmylou Harris' biggest commercial success:
Wrecking
Ball, but I liked both Pieces of the Sky and Luxury
Liner better.
Roger
Boudreau
Good
guess, but no.
Luxury
Liner is my favorite LP.
Emmylou was the first to cover Townes Van Zandt's Pancho and Lefty
which is on it.
And
another Townes' song If I Needed You, which is on her Duets album
(sung with Don Williams), is a favorite
- Z
Emmylou. Saw
her four times over 30 years and wish I could attend the Fiddler's
Green (a nice, small venue in Denver) concert next month that she is
sharing with Lyle Lovett and the Large Band. 300 miles is just
a bit far these days; last saw her at a honky tonk in Grand Junction,
Colorado with about 300 other shitkickers.
"Ballad
of Sally Rose" is Big White's response; though I don't think
it's her best.
Bill
LaPlante
Also
a good guess, but not correct. - Z
Excellent
edition, Jim! Very informative analysis of pitching situation. BTW,
I finally made it to the Hot Spot on Memorial Day weekend w/ GF. Very
cool. It were jumpin’! Dave
Burlingame
Thanks
for the kind words Dave. If you visit the Hot Club on a Wednesday or
Friday night, ask the bartender to point me out. - Z
A
CONCERT AT GREAT WOODS – BAD COMPANY & JOE WALSH
Had
not been to a concert at Great Woods in many moons. But the chance to
finally see and hear Paul Rodgers (Free, Bad Company, The Firm), one
of the great rock 'n' roll voices of all times, made my attendance
mandatory. Fortunately my brother Brad was able to fly in from
Asheville, NC to join me. It was all that I hoped for and more as
both Walsh and Rodgers were in great voice.
An
aside here. I will not mention the corporate name that is affixed to
Great Woods now. As Joe Walsh was doing his encore and final song –
Rocky Mountain Way,
I
got up to prepare to head for the men's room. I was on
the concourse between the lower seats and the uncovered seats (where
there used to be grass).
Making sure I wasn't blocking anyone's vision in the uncovered seats,
I danced to Rocky
Mountain Way. An
usher came up to me and said, “You can't dance.” I looked at him
in disbelief as he shooed me away. So I went down a ways farther and
continued dancing. Another usher made me leave.
When I returned to our seats, I told Brad what had happened. He
couldn't believe it. Then a guy behind me, who had overheard me, said
“Maybe he meant you
couldn't dance.”
I replied, “No, I can dance. I know
how to keep
a
beat.”
So if you go to Great Woods, you can't dance. This from an outfit
that charged $15+ for a 24 oz. Sierra Nevada and $15+ for a Wormtown
IPA (out of Worcester). Tanz?
Nein! Schweinhund!
Joe
Walsh was backed by a great band headed up by the legendary Waddy
Wachtel. Walsh was
aided by 4
female singers. He did a great tribute to the recently departed Glenn
Frey and then launched into Take
It to the Limit.
Other highlights: Life's
Been Good, Funk #49,
Walk This Way, In the City
and
Life in the Fast
Lane.
When
Paul Rodgers came out with Bad Company, it didn't take
him long to get the crowd
singing along. He was backed
by original drummer Simon Kirke (also with him in Free). Original
guitarist Mick Ralphs (also in Mott the Hoople) stayed home and was
replaced by The Black Crowes' Rich Robinson. Feel
Like Makin'
Love was one of the
first numbers. The band did
almost all
their hits including
Ready for Love,
Can't Get Enough and
Rock 'n' Roll Fantasy. A
highlight for
me was
Shooting Star
and Bad Company, which
they did during their 2nd
encore. A great concert.
But you can't dance.
The
Herbster visited the HC last week with his pal Sal. There are 10,000
stories in the Naked City and Herb knows them all and will tell you a
few. He was wearing a tie and I asked him if it were a Narragansett
beer tie. Yes it was. He wasn't sure of the vintage (it looked brand
new), and it had narragansettbeer.com on the back. Herb reminded me
that Captain Quint (Robert Shaw) in Jaws is shown drinking
from a can of Narragansett and then crushing it in his hand just
before the shark shows up.
I
was talking about how I love spicy foods and make a jabanero
meatloaf. I mentioned that spicy foods contain capsaicin which is an
anti-carcinogenic (Ed.: capsaicin is in red chili peppers. It has not
proven to be an anti-carcinogen) . One of Captain Jack's friends,
Tom, then told me that Dodger great Sandy Koufax used capsaicin on
his left arm. A check shows that Koufax did indeed use a capsaicin
based ointment (capsolin) on his arm before a game. Players called it
'atomic balm'.
So
I told a few people about the Bad Company concert at Great Woods and
the usher saying that I couldn't dance. I then quoted H.L. Mencken's
definition of a Puritan: Someone
who can't stand to see someone else have a good time. I looked up the
quote
and
it's: “Puritanism:
The haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy.”
We
were talking about the late, great Rodney Dangerfield. Dr. John
recalled Rodney saying that he played a room that was so tough that
they served broken leg of lamb.
LAST
ISSUE'S QUIZ ANSWER
So
what was the biggest commercially successful album on which Emmylou
Harris appeared? A bit of a trick question – the answer is Trio
which she did with Linda Ronstadt and Dolly Parton.
THIS
WEEK'S QUIZ
This
musician was part of a very successful American band that was often
on TV. However he got his start in a Saturday morning TV show under a
name different from his name in the band. Who was the musician and
what was the show? Extra credit if you know the name he went by for
the Saturday show. Thanks to my brother Brad for suggesting I use
this bit of trivia.
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