….Independence Day!…… Everybody out there have a fun and safe 4th…… While you’re celebrating our Freedom to celebrate (party ’til you fall down), think about all those Veteran’s and present military personnel who defended this country for that exact reason…… Yeah, yeah, I know we, as a country, seem to be losing some of those original rights, but, I don’t think there is a better, free-er (?) place on the face of the Earth to be……

So-o-o, while you are out and about, if you just happen to run into a Vet and/or an active duty military person, tell them thanks for a job well done…… If it’s a Vietnam Vet, tell ‘em the same and add “Welcome Home”……

12 Musicians That are (Surprisingly) Still Alive.

12. Fats Domino
It’s been a long, long time since Fats was capable of walking up Blueberry Hill on his own. Fats is 81 years young, now.

You know what his thrill was? Young blonde nurses. Meet Fats’ personal nurse Gina.

11. Della Reese
Della must have been touched by an angel, because she just keeps on going, at the age of 77. Maybe she’s still living strong because when the Angel touched her, Della ate it.

10. Country Joe McDonald
Joe’s one of the youngest people on this list, at 67 years old, but Woodstock was 40 freakin’ years ago, and Joe was one of the most memorable hippies that stunk up that place. Now, he’s got the smell of old man balls to go with all that patchouli.

9. Charlie Daniels
At 72 years old, Charlie’s only going to out-fiddle the Devil so many more times. It’s hard for that chicken to keep picking dough out of the bread pan, when it’s got arthritis.

8. Lena Horne
We could make a list of the people who are surprisingly black, and Lena would top that list. Lena turned 92 years old yesterday, and we’d bet she’s as hot as ever.

7. Merle Haggard
This Okie from Muskokie has always looked pretty haggard, so he’s aged pretty gracefully, by that measurement. Last year, he had part of his lung removed, and was performing concerts two months later. You think you’re more outlaw than Merle? Let’s see you try that one.

6. Keith Richards
Yeah, everyone knows that Keith is still alive, but that doesn’t make it any less shocking that Keith Richards is still alive. He’s 65 years old now, and he doesn’t look a day over 130.

5. Frankie Valli
Frankie, at 75, is one of the last survivors of the bubble gum pop of the early 1950s. And here, we thought all the singers from the 50s died from a bad case of La Bamba.

4. Chuck Berry
The world would be a lot less uptight if old black men ruled the world. Look at Chuck. 82 years old, and wearing a purple sequinned shirt with brown pants, and ain’t nobody gonna say a damned thing about it!

3. Jerry Lee Lewis
The bad news? Jerry’s getting up there in age (he’s 72). The good news? His third wife is finally legal! She’s still his cousin, though.

2. Herb Alpert
Herb Alpert’s 74 now, and looks better than most of the younguns on this list.

But who cares about that guy? We can’t name one song he ever made. It was all about the Herb Alpert album covers, and they haven’t aged a day.

1. Les Paul
The next time you make fun of old people, think about Les Paul. He’s 94 years old, and he still rocks harder than any metal band out there. That’s because he invented just about every device they use to cover up their crappy guitar playing. He’s the Rock version of Moses. He parted the water, so that they could rock, and he’s almost as old as the other Moses.

……is GREAT!!!!!! Robo, MR Community member, picked up a copy of the newly released game for the Wii……. All the original Ghostbusters are present, as well as some of the other cast members of the movie - The caricatures look just like them, and, from what I can tell, they did all the sound bytes for their individual characters….. It’s a far cry from the old Commodore 64 game, but, if you know the movies (I and II), you won’t find it that hard to play or understand….. The graphics are dead-on, and all the controls seem to work as advertised, and, you won’t finish it in one setting…..

I’m sure someone can find a more detailed review on the net for those of us who might enjoy this game and will put up a link in the comment section for the rest of us…… Jek, I know you will like it……

“Who you gonna call”???……….

NO COMMENT…………….

Before you read this Post, be sure you read Part I of this PDB Adventure, if you haven’t, scroll down about three posts and read “People Just….” and all the comments (yeah, I know I could’ve put a link to it, but, I don’t remember exactly how, and, after all, it’s only three Posts back - Give me a break - I promise to do the link thing on the next Part)…..

As we left off in Part I, we had entered the VA and taken notice of the first of the “Common Courtesy” signs….. As you enter the VA from the North end at the ground floor level, you are faced with a very lo-o-n-g hallway which you have to negotiate in order to get to any of the clinics (called modules) or services available….. Now, I know from experience, that it doesn’t matter how wide a hallway, an aisle, or even a football field is, it only takes one human (or human-like entity) to impede and/or completely block your forward progression in such a way it makes you think that they are placed there on purpose and are well trained in the art of keeping you from your destination…..

The VA hallway is about 12 ft. wide and usually fairly crowded depending on the time of day….. Since I had an early appointment (0730 hrs), the 1/4 mile long hallway on this particular morning had only one (1) lone human-like entity slowly moving in the direction we needed to go in a serpentine fashion (that’s right to left -left to right - and very slowly forward all at the same time)….. The entity turned out to be a VA employee who had his nose (and his mind?) stuck in some poor Veteran’s file and was totally unaware of the existence of anyone else…. I tell you, it didn’t take PDB but a couple of seconds to become fed-up with the situation and take action!…..

We were about 20 feet behind the human obstruction and gaining on him fast…. PD Bob went into a ninja stance, and, with a grunt and growl, took off like a rocket…. As he reached maximum prairie dog velocity, he went into a ninja slide resembling a baseball player sliding into home base (I heard the Yankees tried to recruit him once, but, that’s a different story)….. He hooked his little combat boots around the man’s shoes and ever so smoothly slid him over to the right side of the hallway…. It looked like a pro bowler picking up a 7-10 split….. It was so smooth, the HLE (human-like entity) was totally unaware that he had been moved at all!…. It was great - I immediately sped-up and passed him as quickly as possible…. PDB caught up with me, chuckling and slapping the dirt off of his fatigues, while making some off-color remarks about the cleanliness of the building and it’s maintenance staff…..

I said to PDB, “I guess that proves no one reads or heeds signs”…. PDB quickly replied, “Just don’t be to quick to judge there, MR, that was just one Bozo”…. He was right, we had only made it to the first right-hand turn taking us into another long hallway which led to Module D (clinic) and my appointment…. I made a mental note of, “yes, it was going to be a long day”……

End of Part II - Stay tuned for Part III coming soon (maybe later - we’ll just have to see)…. Same rules apply - Make your questions, comments, and slurs known and I will do my best to debunk them…..

Now that MR has an iPod, he needs a few podcasts to subscribe to. I imagine he’d want a blues one: a quick search turned up Murphy’s Saloon Blues Podcast. I have no idea if it is any good though.

Here are some of the podcasts I listen to:

• Slice of SciFi
• Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me!
• Car Talk
• Cranky Geeks - video
• Agatha Christie Radio Mysteries Podcast (find it in the iTunes podcast directory)

What are your favorite podcasts?

I don’t know if it’s considered a real holiday, and it doesn’t carry as much weight as Mother’s Day, but, if you are a father hopefully you’ll see something from your offspring…… I made out like a bandit, myself….. I now have an iPod in my possession!…… It great to have that much music, pics, and other stuff in such a small package at your fingertips anywhere…… I can just put on the ear buds and ignore anything and anybody, even PD Bob (most of the time - He is rather Pesky at times)…… I do have to take it away from him on a regular basis, as he has a bad case of “Sticky Fingers”…… The only problem I see is that it would be very easy to lose or misplace - Ask Jek about that….. That’s how I came by it - He lost it in the track rail of a car seat….. Replaced it with a new one, then found this one…… His bad luck was my good luck…… Thanks, Jek - Happy Father’s Day to me - Ha!……..

So-o-o, Happy Father’s Day to all you fathers in the MR community, and may you get what you deserve - a little R-E-S-P-E-C-T and an enjoyable day doing what you want…….

……Don’t read signs - Or, if they do, they don’t HEED them….. I’m here to offer proof with the help of Prairie Dog Bob (PDB)…..

As we last heard, PDB was off to Washington via his underground network….. Well, he made a quick stop back here to refill his Stainless Steel Flask with HE-HWB (High-Explosive Harvey WallBanger)….. Just to be sure, he grabbed an extra flask - He knew he was headed into the “Zone of the Unknown” - Washington Termites being his target….. I told him I had a couple of VA appointments, and, he immediately jumped at the chance to go along…. “Just to check out the VA’s operation”, PDB said…. PDB didn’t want to miss the opportunity to investigate a Government facility….. Now back to the proof…..

We arrived at the gate, and the guard checked my ID…. He didn’t ask for PD Bob’s ID, but, PDB forced him to look at his UIA (Underground Investigation Authority) badge and card…. PDB told the guard, in no uncertain terms, that, “Some rules are there for good reason, and, security tops the list”….. I knew it was going to be a lo-o-n-ng day…. NOW, back to the proof…..

As we entered the building, I noticed some new signs in strategically located places….. They were about 18″x24″ - white lettering on a dark brown background….. The signs read as follows: NOTE: Common Courtesy is REQUIRED “Damn!”, exclaimed PDB, “A sign in a Government facility that actually makes sense - I’m friggin’ amazed!”….. Remember the title of this post, “People Don’t” - Well, they didn’t…..

END OF PART I - Stay tuned for Part II of this exciting continuing PD Bob Adventure - “PDB meets the VA”…. (Note: As I am still documenting and writing this tale, I can’t say how many parts there will be, and, I am not sure whether I will make it a separate Post or just continue it as Comments to this Post….. As I said - STAY TUNED - The best is yet to come)….. (Note 2: In the meantime, feel free to make any assumptions, comments, or questions….. I will answer them - Good, Bad, or Ugly….)

If you don’t have all your thought’s together, you can always talk about the weather…… It appears to be getting weirder and weirder by the minute….. All of Oklahoma’s tornadoes and storms we usually get this time of year seem to be hammering Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, and points to the Northeast….. It seems the jet stream is staying lower than usual this year….. I even heard that Seattle has went 27 days straight WITHOUT RAIN!….. That’s unusual to say the least…..

I wonder if this downward (maybe changing is a better word for it) weather spiral is going to continue or level out at some point?….. Have we damaged the planet enough to cause an irreparable cycle of major unpredictable weather changes that will continue to just get worse and worse?…..

I’m moving MR Headquarters into Prairie Dog Bob’s underground bunker and wait for it all to blow over if possible…… It’s all just “Blowin’ in the Wind” (Robert Zimmerman aka Bob Dylan)…..

……are back!…… Now, let’s see if we can boost this blog back up again…… I guess everyone’s been very, very busy over the last month and a half or so?…… I’ve got many PD Bob tales to tell, along with my own stuff ( I touched on this somewhat in comment 7 on the previous post on the blog’s livelihood)…..

So-o-o, I’m going to start posting and/or commenting on a daily basis (99.4% true)….. So-o-o, start checking the blog regularly to keep in the loop, and, feel free to Post, Post, Post, and/or Comment, Comment, Comment, and we’ll keep the cobwebs away……

Only 4 posts in May, none in June?
Lost in the o-zone again (or I guess cyberspace these days)?
Comfortably numb? Given up all hope? Stress? Mental fatigue? Irrelevant? Apathetic?

What’s your take on the new Trek? I liked it for the most part. Once you get over the few contrived bits necessary for the plot, it is a fun adventure.

The soundtrack bugged me though. It tried so hard to not sound like a Star Trek movie and yet had the similar instrumentation to typical Star Trek (and other space Sci-Fi) productions. The end result was a let down. If you look at the new Battlestar Galactica, they completely went a different route and it works.

HS mentioned elsewhere that there was too much “Lost” influence. Maybe he’ll elaborate. I’m not sure I saw it other than the destiny hints.

A tremendous person, basketball player & Jazz bassist. Sad.

Former Sooner star, NBA player Tisdale dead at 44
Associated Press
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Updated: May 15, 2009, 12:15 PM EST
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - Wayman Tisdale, a three-time All-American at Oklahoma who played 12 seasons in the NBA, died after a two-year battle with cancer. He was 44.

Class act
Wayman Tisdale Tribute: Basketball lost an icon Friday when Wayman Tisdale succumbed to cancer. Jeff Goodman recalls a man who touched so many.

Tisdale died Friday morning at St. John Medical Center in Tulsa, hospital spokeswoman Joy McGill said.

After three years at Oklahoma, Tisdale played in the NBA with the Indiana Pacers, Sacramento Kings and Phoenix Suns. The 6-foot-9 forward, with a soft left-handed touch on the court and a wide smile off it, averaged 15.3 points for his career. He was on the U.S. team that won the gold medal in the 1984 Olympics.

After basketball, he became an award-winning jazz musician, with several albums making the top 10 on the Billboard charts.

“Wayman Tisdale is one of the best people I have ever had the privilege of knowing,” Oklahoma coach Jeff Capel said in a statement. “He had an incredible gift of making the people who came in contact with him feel incredibly special.”

Tisdale’s death was announced on the Oklahoma Senate floor Friday by Senate Majority Leader Todd Lamb, who led the chamber in prayer.

“Whether you’re a Cowboy or a Sooner, Oklahoma has lost a great ambassador,” Lamb said. “He was a gifted musician, a gifted athlete and he just wore that well wherever he went.”

The famously upbeat Tisdale learned he had cancerous cyst below his right knee after breaking his leg in a fall at his home in Los Angeles on Feb. 8, 2007. He said then he was fortunate to have discovered the cancer early.

“Nothing can change me,” Tisdale told The Associated Press last June. “You go through things. You don’t change because things come in your life. You get better because things come in your life.”

A noted musician, Tisdale played at a charity event during the All-Star weekend in February. (David Sherman / Getty Images)

His leg was amputated last August and a prosthetic leg that he wore was crimson, one of the colors of his beloved Oklahoma Sooners. He made a handful of public appearances in recent weeks, including one April 7 at an Oklahoma City Thunder game where he received the team’s Community Hero Award.

Also within the past month, Tisdale was honored at the Greenwood Cultural Center in his hometown of Tulsa and presented with the Legacy Award. During the ceremony, he spoke about his cancer, saying “In my mind, I’ve beaten it.”

Last month, Tisdale was chosen for induction into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame.

He was the first freshman to be a first-team All-American since freshmen were allowed to play again in 1971-72. He was also one of 10 three-time All-Americans: The others were Oscar Robertson, Bill Walton, Lew Alcindor, Pete Maravich, Patrick Ewing, Tom Gola, Jerry Lucas, David Thompson and Ralph Sampson. Ewing and Tisdale were the last to accomplish the feat, from 1983-85.

Tisdale played on an Olympic team that sailed to the gold medal in Los Angeles, winning its game by 32 points. The squad was coached by Bob Knight and featured the likes of Ewing, Michael Jordan, Sam Perkins and Chris Mullin.

Tisdale averaged 25.6 points and 10.1 rebounds during his three seasons with the Sooners, earning Big Eight Conference player of the year each season.

He still holds Oklahoma’s career scoring record with 2,661 points and career rebounding record with 1,048. Tisdale also owns the school’s single-game scoring mark, a 61-point outing against Texas-San Antonio as a sophomore, along with career records in points per game, field goals and free throws made and attempts.

In 1997, Tisdale became the first Oklahoma player in any sport to have his jersey number retired. Two years ago, then-freshman Blake Griffin asked Tisdale for permission to wear No. 23, which Tisdale granted. Griffin went on to become the consensus national player of the year this past season as a sophomore.

“His basketball talent and accomplishments pale in comparison to the impact he had on the lives that he influenced by the way he lived his life, and the tremendous character he displayed in his fight with cancer,” Capel said.

“Throughout it all, he always had that infectious smile. This is an incredibly sad day as we have lost not only one of the greatest Sooners ever, but one of the all-time best people to walk the face of this earth.”

Tisdale is survived by his wife, Regina, and four children.

During this slow down in blogging…….playing for fun cause we don’t have any money……What word is derived from a Sardinian plant said to bring on convulsions resembling laughter. Word of honor, no Googling.

Must be something about those good old southern boys. The Allmans & Skynyrd.

Lynyrd Skynyrd bassist ‘Ean’ Evans dies at 48
May 7, 2009, 5:46 PM EST

COLUMBUS, Miss. — Bassist Donald “Ean” Evans of the Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd has died of cancer at his home in Mississippi.

Lowndes County Coroner Greg Merchant said Evans died Wednesday. He was 48.

A statement posted on lynyrdskynyrd.com said, “It is with profound sadness that we announce the passing of longtime Lynyrd Skynyrd bassist Ean Evans. Ean put up a valiant battle with an aggressive form of cancer and he will be sorely missed by family, friends and fans.”

Evans was born in Atlanta, but moved to Columbus in eastern Mississippi after marrying his wife, Eva. He joined Lynyrd Skynyrd in 2001 and had been touring regularly with the band until being diagnosed with cancer in 2008, when he cut back on performances with the band.

Survivors include his wife and two daughters.

Funeral arrangements are incomplete.

Mike Chain, a local guitarist who was close friends with Evans, told The Commercial Dispatch in Columbus, Miss., that Evans was always a dreamer with a “big heart.”

“He was just one of those guys who was always a dreamer and always seeing ahead,” Chain said. “And he was the most positive person I’ve ever met.”

The Jacksonville-based band was formed in 1966 by a group of high school students; famously, it took its name from a physical education teacher they disliked, Leonard Skinner.

They released their first album, “Pronounced leh-nerd skin-nerd.” It became one of the South’s most popular rock groups and gained national fame with such hits as “Free Bird,” “What’s Your Name” and especially “Sweet Home Alabama,” which reached the top 10 on the charts in 1974. The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2006.

The band was shattered on Oct. 20, 1977, when their chartered plane crashed in a swamp near McComb, Miss. The crash claimed the lives of six people, including the band’s lead singer Ronnie Van Zant.

And in 2001, bassist Leon Wilkeson died in his sleep in a hotel room near Jacksonville, Fla.

Chain said he was with Evans the night he got hired by the band.

“We were spending New Year’s Eve together when this Skynyrd thing was happening,” Chain said. “It didn’t look like it was going to happen. But he just set his feet in the ground … and was ready to stand up and fly to the moon. And he did.”