How Rock Music Ruined this Country

Rock and Roll Music helped to turn me into a Lunatic,
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My dad always loved music, although he could not hold a note to save his skin. He had these old 78's, mostly Gospel music, which he loved dearly. This type of music had a great deal of emotional expression, or "soul".
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My dad would be working on some project in the garage, and he would have the radio on, tuned to some country and hillbillie station, playing music that I thought was dumb and abominable. Sometimes, they would play Johnny Cash, who was someone we both could agree on. I always liked Johnny Cash, and I loved my Dad. I still do, and he passed away some twenty years ago.
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One of my first albums was "Meet the Beatles". I think this came out in 1964. Even my parents knew who the Beatles were, as they had seen them on the Ed Sullivan show. The Beatles proved themselves to be very successful entertainers; later, we discovered that they were probably musical geniuses as well.
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I think that the sixties might have been the Golden Age of Television, which also went a long way to changing everything in this country. They had variety shows, like Ed Sullivan and Red Skelton, but also thee Smothers Brothers, and Laugh In, which were quite different in their natures.
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Growing up, I watched all these shows on television. We did not have much, but we always seemed to have a small black and white set that worked pretty good. Of course we did not have cable, or VCR's, or even color, so these shows had to be watched as they came on, or you would be penalized for missing a show and would then have  to wait six months for the summer re-runs. You sat there and watched these shows in the Moment.
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Television gave us the instant news on the Viiet Nam War. Every night there would be stories, and graphic accounts of the casualties, who were boys who came from small towns, like my town. People got sick of the news and .of all the pointless bloodshed. No one could come out and tell us we were winning this war. Television changed people's opinions in this country.
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Rock and Roll music was always in the background, changing the lives of young people everywhere. Young men and women were growing their hair long, smoked marijuana, and walked around nearly naked all summer, playing their stupid bongos and going to peace rallies.This all amounted to a lot of fun, and naturally the Government could not allow this. Names were written down, secret files were opened. We spied on our own people.
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My own story turned out pretty good. When I turned 18 they got rid of the draft, and in Michigan 18 was the legal drinking age.My friends were all growing their hair long, and so was I . Our adult lives stretched before us, full of wonder and promise. We were lucky enough to be born into this age of change, a maelstrom of it right in front of us. Life was going to be interesting.

Mr. Charming

Music

I was up late playing the music I love.
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I started by playing some classic Beatles. I played the album "Revolver".  I thin this one album signified a big change for the Beatles. The opening song "The Taxman" is a snappy little pop song, later covered by Stevie Ray Vaughn. The song "Within you, without you" was a real stretch fe Beatles. Listen to "Revolver". this album still holds up.
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One song I played was "Crosssroads" by Cream. I still am unable to replicate Eric Clapton's lead on this song, and I have practiced now for years. I will never be that good. Clapton deserves all the success and fortune he has attained over the years.
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If you have Rhapsody, like I do, you can check out new music fairly cheapy, and then you can buy the albums directly from Amazon, should you choose,

Mr. Charming

Pretty Girls

In my time I have had three very pretty girl friends. This requires a lot of work, as other guys are always attracted to them, and you have to fend these wolves off from getting too close to the prize. You also must pay a lot of attention to a pretty girl friend, as she expects it from you. All in all, they are a lot of work.
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Most of my other girl friends were just average. Usually with nice figures, but not so pretty that you had to keep track of them all the time. I am always attracted to smart women. I like them a lot. These women usually have something in common with me, be it sports, or life style, or political outlook. I love women.\
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Someday I might visit the Ukraine. They have a lot of beautiful women there, and they are all Christians. Uranian women do not mind going with an older guy like me. I should go there, snag one, and marry her. Maybe have a couple of kids with her. This is something I would like to do before I get so old I look like Pablo Picasso.

Mr. Charming

More Music

I love all kinds of music, and some jazz too. Recently I met a man named Floyd, who is now about seventy years old. For years Floyd toured with Artie Shaw, playing the upright bass. they toured the United States and parts of Europe. this story impressed me to no end.
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During the course of his travels, Floyd got to meet other jazz greats, such as Dave Brubeck ("Take Five") and also the incomparable talent, Bill Evans ("Blue in Green").
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Other great names to listen to are Vince Guaraldi ("Theme from Peanuts"), Errol Garner ("Misty"), and Sonny Rollins ("Blue Seven").
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I like music by Metallica ("Enter the Sandman") and Megadeath. One song by Megadeath that I have dubbed "Dave's Theme" goes like this:
  "What do you mean I don't believe in God?
    I talk with him every day!
   And what do you mean I don't support the system?
   I go to court when I have to.
   And what do you mean I can't make it to work on time?
   I've got nothing better to do.
   And what do you mean I dont't pay my bills?
  Why do you think I'm broke?


  If there's a new way.
  I'll be the first in line.
  But it better work this time.

  What do you mean I'm not kind?
  Just not your kind!
  And what do you mean I can't be the President of the United States?
  It's still we the people, right?

  If there's a new way
  I'll be the first in line.
  But it better work this time."

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I support Portlannd bands, such as Big Monti Amundson, Quarterflash, and Sharon Jones. I like the Seattle bands too, like Pearl Jam, Nirvana, and Soundgarden (now Audioslave). I like Michigan bands, such as the White Stripes ("Seven Nation Army"), the Bob Seger System ("Two plus Two"), Ted Nugent and the Amboy Dukes ("Jouney to the Center of your Mind"), and Grand Funk ("We're an American Band"). I like bands from Texas, such as ZZ Top ("Jesus just Left Chicago"), Johnny Winter (Highway 61"), Stevie Ray Vaughn ("Texas Flood"), and Junior Brown ("My Wife thinks you're Dead"). I like Mississsippi Delta style blues, in the manner of R.L.Burnside and Ry Cooder.
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Music is an important part of my life. I began my study as a musician at the age of fourteen, with a mail order guitar from Sears which cost me all of $20 back then. I still play, and probably always will.

Mr. Charming

Indians!

I grew up with Indians.
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A lot of the kids I went to school with at Pellston, Michigan were Indian kids. These were often from large Catholic familes. They were usually poor kids. I would go to their homes for meals sometimes, after school. You would see cans of Governmet Pork, or blocks of Government Cheese, or Government Peanut Butter. These kids were always very generous to a little white boy like me. I will always remember them.
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When I got older, I went to a couple of Pow-Wows with some of my Indian friends. I saw this as an opportunity to get really drunk, and to dance around some. Later in life I was to discover that all this singing, chanting, and  dancing around was actually Shamanism 101. The Indian elders were using this rhythmic chanting to enter the Spirit World, the home of their Ancestors. It was magical, it was mystical. Give me that old time religion!
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Over the course of my travels I had the opportunity to visit the Hopi tribe in Arizona. They use underground "kivas:, or "sweat lodges" where they go to induce a state of Mysticism. White people are not allowed to attend these ceremonies. So I hired a local Hopi guide, named Jake, to walk me around this place, and to learn something about the culture from him. Jake told me a lot about the Hopi people. They have lived in this one place, called Walpi, for over a thousand years. Walpi is high atop a mesa. At night, you can see the lights of Walpi from miles away.
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The Hopi are a maternal, not paternal tribe. Property tends to get passed down through the woman's bloodline. Having a maternal view of life may have done much to soften the Hopi outlook, which is sprinkled with kindness and spirituality.
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The Hopi are also credited for their Snake Dance Ritual. This amounts to chanting, rythmic drumming, and dancing around with a live rattle snake dangling from your mouth. The snakes are in a trance, and the Hopi rarely, if ever, get bitten. It is Magical.
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The Hopi elders are all predicting the end of the world, as we know it, in the year 2012. We had better get ready. There is not much time left.
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If you want to find out more about the Hopi people, and their neighbors the Navajo, I would recommend reading the popular detective novels written by Tony Hillerman. These books will captivate you with their memorable characters, like Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee. You will learn about some of the places I have seen in Arizona and New Mexico. You will also discover that an important component in the lives of these Native American peoples is Magic, pure and simple. It will give you something to chew on. It will give you something to consider.

Mr. Charming

My Delightful Oncologist Tells a Funny Story

A couple of weeks ago I went in for another of those four hour sessions. I brought a book with me to read. My Delightful Oncologist asked me: "What are you reading, there?" I told her it was a pretty good book, called "Mediatations aand Relaxations." It is good because it puts me right to sleep. I told her it was a lot better than a book I had picked up a couple of years ago."What was that one?", she asks. I told her it was called "Stop Procrastinating Now!". I told her I did not think it was that good, because I never got around to finishing it. She laughed at this.
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My Delightful Oncologist has a blog of her own, which is a food blog. It is patewoem.wordpress.com she told me the funny story.
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For prom night, her Dad hired a limo for her and her friends to ride around in. Her Dad was something of a practical Joker, like I am. He provided the girls with home made pate treats he called patewoem. These were just some crackers with meat on them that you could nibble on while drinving around in the nice limo. Now the girls did not have any of this. They were too careful about staining their gowns. But a boy who was with them gobbled down every single one, they were that good! "Woem " spelled backwords is "Meow".
The pate was actually cat food. Yum!

Mr. Charming

For a Portland Newbie

Wendy's probably have the fastest drive through window in America, according to Columbus Business First.
If you are a Cancer patient, looking for a 1000 fast calories, try going to Wendy's and go through the drive through. For only $5, you can get a large Frosty-cino and a spicy chicken wrap. Plus they give you back change, that you can later give to a homeless person who will shake your hand and say: "God Bless you."
This is a hot July here in Portland. I try to get my frosty-chino fix in at least once a day.
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I saw my first Carl Jr.'s while visiting in California. For about $10 you can go to a Carl's Jr.here in Portland and buy close to 3000 calories! They have a variety of delicious offerings, including the Jalapeno Burger and the Guaconole Burger, among others. Yesterday I went to the Carl Jr.'s on S.E. 82d near Best Buy with Dan just to get a treat, and to enjoy their very fine banana chocolate chip malts. I got one in a large Combo meal of a very good Jalapeno Burger, along with a huge order of fries and a chicken sandwich wich cost me an extra Dollar.
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Fast food may not be the healthiest thing for you to eat, but sometimes you just have to when you are in pinch. Wendy's and Carl's offer up big heapings of cheap calories, and as Cancer patients, we should be aware of our caloric needs, which far exceed the 2000 or so caloric diet of a normal person.
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For all of $4 you can get one of the Best Hotdogs in Porland at Zach's Shack near the Mr. Tabor Theater on Hawthorne Boulevard. They offer the tradtional New York style hot dogs, as well as Chicago style hot dogs.They feature high quality wieners for all of their dogs, and they have a wide variety of "unusual" hot dogs as well. Try the Sgt. Pepper's. It comes with pepperoncinis and jalapenos.. One that I tried was the Dylan. This amount to a cross between a hot dog and what you might find on a bagel. It came with cream cheese, onion and sliced tomato. It was very good. Zach's opens around 3pm, and they stay open late. They have a mean Jukebox with intersting tunes on it, sometimes featuring local  talent liike Sharon Jones. They have a table tennis set up out back, and you can go to the bar for paddles and balls. Now how much fun is that!
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For some of the best French pastries you can get in Portland these days, try La Petite Provence. They have locations in Lake Oswego, N.E. and S..E. Portland. I live near the one at 48th and S.E. Division Street. For about $10 you can go there, order the French Onion Soup, a croissant, and get a cup of coffee. I take friends there for lunch somethimes, and they are very busy with the lunch crowd. Sometimes you have to wait for a table to open up .But it's worth it. The mouthwatering pastries always snag my attention on the way out. I will get a couple of brioches, or maybe some filled croissants, along with some good French bread to take home with me. I highly recommend going to a Le Petite Provence near you.

Mr.Charming