Wednesday, February 24, 2010

No World War II Planes for Me

Earlier this month, I wrote about several World War II planes being at the airport in Panama City and open for the public to visit. However, I forgot about them being here.

Yesterday would have been a great day to visit, but today, when I read about them in the local paper, it was just plain miserable as far as the weather was concerned.

They go all over the US though, so perhaps I'll get to see them at a later date.

No Planes for Me. --Cooter

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Frank Lloyd Wright's College-- Part 1

I am a huge fan of the architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright and one day would like to make a trip to sites of his work.

One of his least known works is located in the buildings of Florida Southern College in Lakeland. Until it was listed in the 2007 100 most endangered sites by the World Monument Fund, I was unfamiliar with it. Lakeland is about 50 miles southwest of Orlando.

His idea for the college was "The Child of the Sun" and his "organic" buildings were constructed between 1939 and 1958. Back in 2007, they were endangered, but according to the article in the February 21st Panama City News Herald, things are vastly improving on campus and it would appear that the structures are out of danger.

This is the only college he designed and the largest collections of his buildings in one place.

In 1950, Wright said, "The architecture represents the laws of harmony and rhythm. It's organic architecture and we have seen little of it so far. It's like a little green shoot growing through the concrete."

"Campus restoration revives Wright's vision."

More to Come. --Cooter

Monday, February 22, 2010

World War II History

There was an article in the February 21st Panama City (Fl) News Herald about World War II veteran Richard Wassall, 89 who was an Army Air Force photographer who served three years and 25 missions in China, India and Japan. He kept copies of the photos and also many periodicals published while he was serving like the jingBa Journal and the Confusion Beyond Imagination.

He has sold his collection to a Panama City historian and a copy of the items was placed in the Veterans History Archival Institute which is compiling as many accounts of the fast-dying off World War II generation for future generations.

According to Wassall, "When I was in the service I was just a kid up for adventure--I don't think I was aware of the the dangers I put myself in."

From 1942 to 1945, he served with the 1st Air Command in a "Grasshopper" L-5 plane, a multi-purpose aircraft used for reconnaissance, shipping and battle.

Operations in this theater of the war are not as well known as others.

Another Thing to Look Up. --Cooter

Friday, February 19, 2010

Canada's Last World War I Veteran Dies

Feb. 18th Los Angeles Times.

I'm sorry to report that Canada's last surviving World War I veteran has died at age 109. John Babcock died in Spokane, Washington, where he has lived since 1932. He is the last of 650,000 Canadian men and women who served in that long-ago war.

He was born July 23, 1900, and enlisted at the age of 15 after lying about his age. Arriving in England, his true age was discovered and he was assigned to the so-called "Young Soldiers Battalion." The war ended before he was able to go to the front.

After the war, he went to the US looking for work and eventually became a naturalized citizen.

This leaves just three verified veterans of World War I, two men and one woman.

One of my grandfathers was in the Army in this war and the other was in the Merchant Marine. Earlier today, I wrote about my great uncle who was also in the Army.

The Greatest Generation Before the Greatest Generation. A Salute.

Carnegie Award for Heroism

I came across an article in the Feb. 12th Chicago Tribune about a teacher in Elfin, Illinois, Walter M. Gannon, who had received a Carnegie Medal in 2009 for saving the life of fellow teacher Carolyn Gilbert who was being attacked by a knife-wielding student in her class.

That reminded me that my great uncle, David M. Prince of Goldsboro, NC, had received one in 1919 for attempting to save the life of a child and lost his own life in the process.

He was 24 years old and had just recently returned from service with the Goldsboro Rifles in World War I. On July 26, 1919, torrential rains had turned the rivers and creeks around Goldsboro into flooding torrents.

A 12-year-old boy, T. Jefferson Merritt, was playing alongside Little River when he got swept into a flooded field. He cried for help and my uncle attempted to save him. He reached the boy, but became separated and ended up drowning. The boy was saved by others.

For his attempt, my great uncle received the Carnegie Medal for heroism.

My mother still has the medal and a picture of him in uniform. He is buried at Willowdale Cemetery in Goldsboro.

A Real Hero.

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Ten Things You Might Not Know About Michigan-- Part 3

7. JUMPING THE SHARK-- The phrase "jump the shark" was coined at the University of Michigan to refer to a point in a TV series when the plot becomes so ridiculous that everyone knows it is on its way out. Such as when the Fonz on "Happy Days" went water skiing and leapt over a shark.

8. DA YOOPERS IN DA CANADA-- Had the British chosen a border proposed by the US at the end of the Revolutionary War, Canada would have gotten the whole Upper Peninsula.


9. BERRY GORDY'S TIN EAR-- Motown's founder made Detroit an epicenter for soul, but when Marvin Gaye recorded "I Heard It Through the Grapevine," he was unimpressed and refused to release it. he gave it to Gladys Knight and the Pips who had a hit with it. In August 1968, Gaye's version appeared on his album. Disc jockey E. Rodney Jones of Chicago's WVON started pushing it and it finally became a single version. It is now considered to be one of the greatest soul recordings ever.


10. Michigan is called the Wolverine State, but this animal generally lives farther north. In 2004, a wolverine was spotted 90 miles north of Detroit, the first confirmed sighting of one in almost two centuries.

One theory of how the inhabitants of Michigan came to be called wolverines is that the Indians called white settlers that as an insult because of their gluttony.

Some Mighty Interesting Stuff here, Mark Jacob. keep Up the Good Work. --Cooter

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Ten Things You Might Not Know About Michigan-- Part 2

Continuing with Mark Jacobs' take on Michigan.

4. HOW ABOUT THEIR GOV?-- Well. we know all about our Illinois govs, but what about Michigan's Governor Jennifer Granholm? Did you know she could never be president? What did she do? She was born in Canada, which precludes the top office. However, she could join the Supreme Court. Six other foreign-born people have served in that august group.


5. WHO WAS LESLIE LYNCH KING, JR.?-- Well, it seems that he became the President of the United States. He was born in Omaha, Nebraska, and moved with his mother to Grand Rapids, Michigan, after her divorce. She married a paint salesman and the boy took his stepfather's name, Gerald Ford.


6. WORSE THAN COLUMBINE, VIRGINIA TECH AND NORTHERN ILLINOIS-- A massacre worse than occurred at these three schools took place in the central Michigan town of Bath on May 18, 1927. Andrew Kehoe blamed property taxes on his farm's financial problems (as we know, schools account for the biggest slice of your property taxes). he began planting explosives around the town's school over several weeks.

He bludgeoned his wife to death and blew up his farm. He then drove to the school to view the carnage once the timers went off. Part of the schoolhouse exploded with children inside. As people rushed to the scene, he blew up his truck loaded with explosives and pieces of metal that killed himself and others.

Final death toll was 45, including 38 children. Another 58 were injured. Afterwards, it was discovered that some of the dynamite at the school hadn't exploded, so it could have been worse.

And you thought these horrible things only happened in today's world. There is a big article onthis in Wikipedia. Afterwards, they found a handwritten sign at his farm saying, "Criminals are made, not born."

More to Come.

Always an Idiot Running Around. --DaCoot

Ten Things You Might Not Know About Michigan-- Part 1

I do not know where Mark Jacob comes up with all these interesting little tidbits, but I sure enjoy his column. From the January 24th Chicago Tribune.

This one comes out of the state of Michigan vs. the state of Illinois over the Asian carp thing.


1. WHAT'S IN A NAME?-- What exactly do you call a person from Michigan? Is it Michiganian or perhaps Michigander? There is no official name. Perhaps Michigandite?


2. WHAT'S IN A NAME?, PART 2-- They like their stage names, too. Such notables as Robert James Ritchie, James Newell Osterbery, Jr., Deloreese Patricia Early, Vincent Damon Furier, Charles Weedon Westover, Marshall Bruce Mathers III and SteVland Hardaway Judkins hail from the state.

Don't recognize any of the names? You might know them better as Kid Rock, Iggy Pop, Della Reese, Alice Cooper, Del Shannon, Eminem and Stevie Wonder, respectively.

3. WHICH CAME FIRST, THE STATE OR THE LAKE?-- There was a Lake Michigan before there was a Michigan. It was once called "Lake of the Illinois" by Native Americans. But, the French preferred the Indian word for "great water"--Michigan.

More to Come.

Keep Up the Great Work, Mark. --Cooter

Monday, February 15, 2010

Dead Page: Thinking Outside the Bun-- Part 2

Glen Bell was a big fan of Mexican food and figured ground beef, chopped lettuce, shredded cheese and chili sauce would be a big hit with Americans.

The big problem was what to wrap it in. Mexican restaurants sold them in soft tortilla shells which took too long to cook. The answer lay in preformed fried shells.

The tacos sold for 19 cents each. In 1954, he and a partner opened Taco Tia, his first restaurant selling only tacos and Mexican-style food. Two years and three Taco Tias later, Mr. Bell sold his interest after his partner resisted efforts to expand.

He opened another restaurant in Pasadena and took on three partners in a chain called El Taco. After four of these places he decided he didn't he didn't want partners so sold out.

In 1962, with a $4,000 investment, he opened the first Taco Bell in Downey, California. Eight more joined his empire in the next two years. The first franchise opened in Torrance, Ca. in 1965.

he fought in World War II in the USMC in the Pacific.

Job well done, Mr. Bell. And, I always thought Taco Bell got its name from the bell that is featured. Now, I know.

Dead Page: Thinking Outside of the Bun-- Part 1

GLEN W. BELL, 86

Founder of Taco Bell

In 1951, Mr. Bell got the idea to sell crispy-shell tacos from his hamburger stand. His effort became the foundation for the Taco Bell empire. There were three Bell's Hamburgers and Hot Dogs was located in San Bernardino, California.

His first customer was "dressed in a suit and as he bit into the taco the juice ran down his sleeve and dripped on his tie. I thought, 'Uh-oh, we've lost that one,' but, he came back, amazingly enough, and said, 'That was good. Gimme another.'"

The chain grew to 868 restaurants by the time he sold it to PepsiCo in 1978. Today, Taco Bell sells over 2 billion tacos a year in more than 3,600 stores in the US and the world.

There were many fast food stands in San Bernardino when Mr. Bell started out, all capitalizing on the car culture of postwar America. One competitor, just a few miles away, was the burger stand of tow brothers by the name of McDonald. All of these places featured prompt service from streamlines menus.

Think Outside That Bun, Right, Mr. Bell.

Jan. 18, 2009 New York Times

Saturday, February 13, 2010

Canadian-Japanese Internment Camps

Most Americans do not even know about the thousands of Japanese-American who were forced into interment camps during World War II which were actually more prison than anything else. I knew about them, but I had never heard of Japanese-Canadian camps in that country, but I suppose it would have made sense that they had them as well.

Yesterday, I was reading an article about Brian McKeever, a partially-sighted Canadian who will be competing in the Vancouver Winter Olympics. he has been training for the 50 K Cross Country Ski Race (held the last day, Feb. 28th).

He has been training in Sandon, British Columbia in the Canadian Rockies, near where his grandparents were interned in 1942. They had emigrated from Japan to Vancouver and were running a berry farm. After Pearl harbor and Japan's entry in the war, Canada did like the US and forced nearly one thousand Japanese-Canadians living near the Pacific Coast to Sandon, which essentially by then was an abandoned silver mining town.

Said McKeever, "I guess it was a prison camp because it was in a remote valley in the middle of nowhere."

I'll have to do some more research on Japanese internment camps and this one in particular.

A Sad Occurrence, But, Under the Auspices of War.... --Cooter

Friday, February 12, 2010

A Guide to Canada for Chicagoans-- Part 3

EATIN' LIKE A CANUCK-- The greatest culinary treat is the poutine; french fries smothered in cheese and gravy and served in various styles. And, you could just add vinegar to your fries. Sounds a lot like a horseshoe to me.

Then,there are the PEIs (Prince Edward Island oysters or salmon, Canadian cheddar, peameal or back bacon, better known is these parts as Canadian bacon.


CANADIAN BACON-- and speaking of Canadian bacon, there is one of the funniest-ever movies called "Canadian bacon" about John Candy and his cohorts declaring war on Canada. This was one FUNNY movie.

And, we definitely can't forget the hosers in the movie "Strange Brew," eh? Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas as the affable, though somewhat clueless beer guzzling brothers Bob and Doug McKenzie.


TOQUE-- Then there's that really funny gear they wear sometimes called a toque. You've got to see one to believe it.


STUFFED, SORE AND SOUSED-- At the end of a day in Canada, you'll "be tired, stuffed, sore from getting checked into the boards and perhaps a little drunk (especially if you've been drinking the CR).

Thing I'll Pour Myself another Crown, Eh? --DaCanCooter

World War II Plane Joins Museum Display in Hawaii

A Douglas SBD-5 Dauntless Dive Bomber will be unveiled at the Pacific Aviation Museum--Pearl Harbor Museum today.

It is on loan from the National Museum of naval Aviation in Pensacola, Florida (a great place to visit if you ever get by there) while another SBD gets restored.

The museum took part in the June 15, 2009 recovery of an SBD-2 Dauntless from the waters of Lake Michigan which I reported on.

Fred L. Turner, former CEO of McDonald's funded the recovery and restoration with a $1 million gift to the project.

The SBD Dauntlesses were a key to the American victory at the June 4, 1942 Battle of Midway, considered to be the turning point of the War in the Pacific.

A dauntless carried a crew of two and was powered by a 1,000 horsepower Cyclone 9 cylinder engine with a top speed of 250 mph.

Always great to Have Relics from the Past. --Cooter

A Guide to Canada for Chicagoans-- Part 2

Continuing with the Chicago Tribune article.


SYRUP-- Canadians love their maple syrup, or is sirup Funks grove Route 66 style?


GET ON THE ICE-- Fraser says, "Everybody plays beer league hockey up there." (LaCrosse is the official summer sport, but what about the Toronto Bluejays?) The National Hockey League is on hiatus during the Winter Olympics because so many, including six Blackhawks are playing.


CHEERS, CANADA-- Great beers like Molson, LaBatt and Moosehead. And don't forget that whiskey called Canadian Club.


CROWN ROYAL-- Of course, any country that would bring forth something as good as this stuff can't be all bad.


KNOW THE WEATHER-- Canadians like to talk about the weather. It is sort of like a team sport that leads to bonding. Its reputation as a frozen wasteland is undeserved. Vancouver is actually warmer in the winter than Chicago.

However, i would like to point out that our friends to the North too often let those Alberta Clippers and Siberian Expresses down to the Lower 48. Sure don't appreciate that when it happens.

Come On Guys, keep Your Cold Stuff to Yourself!! --CanCooter

Thursday, February 11, 2010

A Guide to Canada for Chicagoans-- Part 1

February 11th Chicago Tribune "A tip of the toque--that's 'took'--to all things Canadian' by Chris McNamara.

Because of the Winter Olympics opening in Vancouver, Canada. That would be British Columbia. They close February 28th.


BE POLITE, EH?-- They are famous for their courteous nature. "They're like us, only politer." Patricia A. O'Brien, founder of Manners, Please.


IT'S ALL ABOOT THE LANGUAGE-- The differences between Canadian and American dialects are minuscule. that is why minor variances, such as the word "about" are blown out of proportion. "Aboot" is actually pronounced more like a-boat." "Leisure is pronumnced more like "pleasure." Of course, you may have to ad the word "eh" at the end of a sentence.


MOOSE CALL-- Be careful with these as you might lure more Canadian hunters than moose. These produce the guttural moans of a cow in estrus and excites both male moose and male hunters. What is the plural of moose anyway?


NTN Buzztime-- I always feel sorry for our Canadian NTN players who get stuck with so many American questions. I know we really hate it when we get one of those no-one-but-a-Canadian-would-know questions. Plus, they have (or had) the infamous DaveTV, or FOCUSA as he sometimes signed on.

More Canadian Stuff on the Way. --DaCanadianCoot

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Top Ten Legacies of the Middle Ages

Once again, the good folks at List Universe, Dec. 18, 2009.

most people thing of the Middle Ages as the Dark Ages when nothing much good happened in Europe. Well, not so.


10. Universities
9. Banking
8. Caroliugian Miniscule-- before, everything was capital letters. Sometime in the 9th Century, small letters came into use.
7. Illustrated book
6. Romantic Love
5. Chivalry
4. Corrective eye wear
3. Mechanical clocks
2. Compass
1. Magna Carta

Maybe I'll have to change my thoughts.

IMAGINE A WORLD WITH ALL CAPS!!! --DACOOT

Dead Page: The Great Escape

HENRY WILLIAM LAMOND

Died Jan. 15, 2010.

Wing Commander Henry William Lamond of New Zealand was one of three men who escaped from the supposedly escape-proof Stalag Luft III in 1942 by digging a tunnel, depositing the sand behind them and breathing through air holes punched in the soil above them. They made it to the woods, but unfortunately, were captured a week later.

Hermann Goering boasted that this prison of war camp near Sagan, Poland, for Allied airmen was escape-proof. This did not please him.

It was even worse two years later when Commander Lamond served as the dispatcher to regulate prisoners escaping during the Great Escape on March 24, 1944. Three tunnels were dug. After the 86th prisoner went into the tunnel, they were discovered. seventy-six actually got out, but later, an angry Hitler had fifty executed after capture.

In January 1945, the camp was evacuated as the Soviets closed in and the men forced to endure harsh conditions until they were freed near Lubcik.

Quite a Hero.

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Australian PM: Centaur Sinking Violated Law

The January 21st West Australian.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said the Japanese submarine's sinking of the Hospital Ship Centaur was a violation of the most basic humanitarian conventions."The action to sink the Centaur by the Japanese Navy at the time was, in our view, a complete breach of international law."

A Centaur hot line has been established for relatives of the Centaur's crew. 1800-019-955 is the number to call to find out about the memorial service planned for March.

A Sad Time in History. --Cooter

Monday, February 8, 2010

Boy Scouts of America Turn 100 Today

As more and more families were moving from the farms to the cities in the late 1800s/early 1900s. a fear grew that young boys might lose the morals and abilities they had out on the farms. This Progressive Movement led to the establishment of the YMCA.

In the US, Boy Scouts eventually grew out of such organizations as the Woodcraft Indians in 1902 and the Sons of Daniel Boone in 1905.

In 1907, British general Robert Baden-Powell started the British Boy Scouts. Chicago publisher W. D. Boyce, while visiting England encountered the scouts there and was so impressed, that when he came back he incorporated the Boy Scouts of America on February 8, 1910.

Old fashioned fun is part of being a Scout, along with doing one's duty to God and country. No other youth organization has served so many boys, an estimated 112 million over the last one hundred years.

the numbers of Scouts has dropped over the last several decades, but they are still a pervasive presence.

During World War I, the Scouts contributed to the US home front by selling war bonds and planting war gardens. During World War II, they collected aluminum, rubber and distributed civil defense posters.

From Wikipedia and December 24, 2009 Chicago Tribune.

Congratulations Boy Scouts. --DaCoot

World War II Submarine Found

February 3rd Manila Standard Today.

Wreckage of the submarine USS Flier was found and identified in the Philippines' Balabac Strait where the ship sank along with 78 crew members after striking a mine in 1944.

The Flier was a 1,525-ton, 330 foot long Galo-class submarine.

It was found last spring by a team from YAP using information from the family of the last-surviving member of the crew, Al Jacobson, who died in 2008.

It left Freemantle, Australia in August 1944 for its second war patrol. On August 13th, surfaced while in shallow water preparing to enter the South China Sea, it struck a mine and quickly sank. Fourteen of the 86 men aboard escaped, but only eight survived the long swim to shore.

There is a website devoted to the vessel at http://ussflier.com.

It is Always Great When a vessel Such as This Is Found and Identified. --Cooter

North Carolina Proposes a Change in High School Social Studies

Primarily, this deals with 11th grade, juniors. It is proposed to change US History curriculum from the founding to the present to 1877 to the present.

I'd have to agree, there is way too much US History to go over if you go all the way back.

Under the proposal, 9th graders, freshmen, will do global studies with a focus on the environment. Tenth graders, sophomores, will study civics and economics.

I would put the tenth grade curriculum in with the ninth. I would then have sophomores study US history from the founding to 1977.

We Just Don't Give Enough Time to History. --Cooter

A Mobile Mardi Gras To Ya

Everyone is always talking about that Mardi Gras celebration in New Orleans, but, Mobile, Alabama, also has one which may very well be older.

While reading about the cannon from the CSS Alabama going to Mobile ( see my Civil War blog), I came across some history of Mobile's Mardi Gras.

SOME INTERESTING STUFF:

1703-- First Mardi Gras

1861-- The Beouf Gras Society, founded in 1711, disbanded as many members were serving in the Confederate military.

1864-- The city cancelled the celebration in the face of Union forces after the Battle of Mobile Bay.

1866-- Joseph Stillwell Cain revives Mardi Gras in open defiance of Union occupation troops. Cain and 16 others dressed as Chickasaw Indians and drove a charcoal wagon down the street. The Chickasaws had never lost in battle.

Cain named himself "Chief Slackabamorinico" and his band called themselves "The Lost Cause Minstrels."

I Wonder If They Were Throwing Beads? --DaCoot

Bits O' History: Sgt. Rock-- Frank Buckles-- WW II Recon Photos-- Wings of Freedom

Bit's O' History-- New News About Old Stuff.


1. SGT. ROCK-- There is talk of releasing a movie based on my favorite old comic guy, Sgt. Frank Rock, of Easy Company. I'd be in the theater in a moment to see that. This was a World War II-based comic story. Plus there were stories about the Mustang plane and haunted tank.


2. FRANK BUCKLES-- The only surviving World War I veterans, Frank Buckles, who just turned 109 years old and is pushing the effort to have a World War I Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, DC, (which i entirely support) has a new website called www.frankbuckles.org.


3. WW II RECON PHOTOS-- Gizmay.com now has pictures taken by RAF and US pilots on reconnaissance missions during World War II.


4. WINGS OF FREEDOM-- This tour featuring vintage World War II planes will be in Panama City, Florida, from February 22-24th. I expect to be in town then and will try to get out to see the planes. Every year, this tour visits 110-120 cities across the US, This year's version features a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, a B-24 Liberator "Witchcraft" bomber, and a P-51 Mustang.

There are only nine remaining B-17s and the two bombers on the tour are the only ones anywhere still in flying condition. They are fully restored to their World War II appearance.

Ticket donations are $12 for adults.

Some Real History there. --Cooter

Sunday, February 7, 2010

What's in a Morbid Name?

The Jan. 18th List Universe had a list of the top ten "Morbid-Named Places" in the world. Remember, they have more information and even pictures, so check out their site.

10. THE SKELETON COAST-- Namibia, Africa-- lots of shipwrecks.

9. TOMBSTONE-- Arizona, especially OK you-know-what.

8. DEAD SEA-- Israel/Jordan

7. MURDER ISLAND-- Nova Scotia, Canada0-- Tusket Island. A brig found by it with blood in the interior. Either that or small pox in the French fleet.

6. GALGBACKEN-- (Gallow's Slope) Stockholm, Sweden-- place of execution.

5. HELL'S KITCHEN-- New York City around Midtown Manhattan crime, sex, street violence, gangs back in the 1800s.

4. THE DEATH ZONE-- 25,000 feet and up on mountains. Scarce oxygen. Life of any sort difficult to sustain.

3. GOLGOTHA-- (Place of the Skill) Jerusalem. Is this where Jesus executed or is it because the hill resembles a skull?

2. DEVIL'S ISLAND-- French Guiana-- notorious penal colony where thousands died. Wasn't there a movie made about this place?

1. DEATH VALLEY-- Nevada/California

Probably would have been better to have this one around Halloween. For the Huskies as in Northern Illinois, that morbid name would be Toledo, even if max Klinger does live there.

Go Ahead, Scare Me to Death. --Cooter

Thursday, February 4, 2010

Postal Service Honors Sailors

The US Post Office will unveil four new stamps today honoring sailors.

One will honor Doris Miller of the USS West Virginia at Pearl Harbor. Back in that time, a black sailor had little opportunity, but at the battle he proved himself. He carried wounded sailors to medical attention as well as his mortally wounded captain and later grabbed a Browning anti-aircraft machine gun and opened fire on the Japanese planes.

Called Dorie by his shipmates, he was later on the USS Liscome Bay in 1943 when it was torpedoed and sank. He was among the 646 who died.

Others being honored are Vice Admiral William William Sims, commander of US Naval forces in Europe during WW I, Admiral Arleigh Burke, a destroyer squadron commander in WW II, and Lt. Cmdr. John McCloy who earned a Medal of Honor.

Looks like I will have to buy a set for keeping.

Heroes, All. --Cooter

Monday, February 1, 2010

In Today's Music History

According to Bob Stroud's Rock and Roll Roots show on WDRV yesterday, today back in 1964, the Beatles reached their first of many number ones with "I Want to Hold Your Hand." This shook up the music world and had a huge impact on my life.

Also, this week will mark the 51st anniversary of the Day the Music Died, the plane crash that took the lives of Ritchie Valens,Buddy Holly and the Big Bopper.

Music of Note. --Cooter

Happy Birthday Mr. Buckles!!

Frank Buckles turned 109 today. That is quite a milestone.

In addition, he is the only surviving US veteran from World War I.

Congratulations Mr. Buckles!! --Cooter

Ups and Downs 2000 tom 2009

Start of Decade, Decade High, Decade Low, Today

DOW JONES: 11,357.51;l 14,164.53; 6547.05; 10,466.44

NASDAQ: 4131.,15; 5048.62; 1114.11; 2269.64

GOLD (PER OUNCE): $283.7; $1,217.4; $255.1; $1,093.3

OIL (PRICE PER BARREL): #25.55; $145.29; $17.45; $76.67

NEW HOME SALES: 5.2 million; 7.3 million; 4.5 million; 6.5 million

UNEMPLOYMENT: 4.0%; 10.2%; 3.8%; 10.0%

Sure Has been a Lot of Greed This Last Decade Regarding the First Four Items., --Cooter

2000-2009: That Texting Thing

Chicago Tribune December 27, 2009.

This was the decade that the hand-held devices became ubiquitous. Seems like everyone has a cell phone and iPod. Sites like Facebook and MySpace grew tremendously. Knowledge was shared by Wikipedia and then came Twitter. Then there are those blog things.

US TEXT MESSAGES SENT EACH MONTH

2000 12.2 million
2005 2 billion
2006 13 billion
2007 30 billion
2008 75 billion
2009 135 billion

Well, I was finally forced to get a cell phone, but can hardly operate it. I don't have an iPod and am not on Facebook or MySpace and have never Twitted or Texted.

When's the last time you saw a kid or teenager not glued to something they were holding in their hands? Just wondering if there is anyone else like me out there?

Falling Farther and Farther Behind. --DaCoot

Top Ten Albums and Top Ten Listened-to- Songs on the Radio

Top Ten Albums for 2009

Well, I had three of them ***.

1. Fearless-- Taylor Swift***
2. I Am...Sasha Fierce
3. Dark Horse-- Nickelback
4. Twilight-- Soundtrack
5. Hannah Montana: The Movie-- Soundtrack

6. Circus-- Britney Spears
7. 808s & Heartbreak-- Kanye West
8. The Fame-- Lady Gaga ***
9. Relapse-- Eminem
10. The E.N.D.-- The Black Eyed Peas

Top Ten Listened-to songs on the Radio

1. Love Story-- Taylor Swift ***
2. You Belong With me-- Taylor Swift ***
3. I'm Yours-- Jason Mraz
4. Knock You Down-- Keri Hilson
5. Boom Boom Pow-- The Black Eyed Peas ***

6. Just Dance-- Lady Gaga ***
7. Blame It-- Jamie Fox
8. I Gotta Feeling-- The Black Eyed Peas ***
9. Poker Face-- Lady Gaga ***
10. Live Your Life-- T.I.

These I only have because I nhave the albums.

Getting Behind on My Music Listening. --Cooter