PELOSI, PALIN, AND HILLARY

At least one of the three offends. Probably two. Perhaps all three. While maybe, just maybe all three at times certainly seem as if they make no sense.

Two of the three have Pres. ambitions. One was only two heart beats away from being the first US female President.

Why are they so abrasive?

Are powerful women that way? I don't think so. But these three seem to be alienaters and dividers, not just alienaters or dividers. Ask anyone and you'll discover a strong dislike or distaste for at least one. Or maybe it's a trend or sign of the times. If one examines Bush, Obama, Biden, O'Reilly, et. al. in the political theater, the same result will occur. But don't stop there. You might have to go all the way back to Harry S. Truman to find a President or candidate that didn't bring about antipathy to a huge chunk of the electorate. And Sir Harry wasn't enamored by members of his own political party until the tail end of his presidency.

It used to be said that there was no bad publicity as long as a person's name was "out there". I don't think that's the case anymore. Certainly not with Nancy, Clinton, or Sarah. We just might be able to add Bachman to the list as well.

KAA-X-OKAAY ST. LOUIS

630 AM on your dial. In fact, on everyone's radio dial in the late 50's to early 70's in the St. Louis and metro area reaching to SoIL. Until about, ironically, 6:30 PM when reception was not good in MTV though at times, our northern neighbors in Centralia could still pick up a strong signal.

One reason that I remember that is because that's the time when George Harrison's sister from Benton came on to talk about her Beatle brother. By that time, we followers had turned to WLS 890 AM from Chicago. Until that hour, we couldn't get good reception. So it worked out well if not perfect.

From waking up to sleepy time, radio was my constant companion in those days. When I wasn't listening it was because I couldn't. Or maybe I was playing my stereo, a junky little no-name with miniature speakers that played LPs and 45s. Younger readers have no idea what I'm talking about. Even before the 8-tracks. Now that was good stuff.

Why others and I were so dependent upon music entertainment was because we were seers. We just knew that we were listening to the best pop music ever. The years have backed us up. In addition, the DJs back then knew when to talk and when not to. Johnny Rabbitt and Dick Biondi were great. I think they learned from the master, Dick Clark. They certainly weren't annoying like most today who think inside jokes with co-or even tri-DJs are humorous to their audience. Innuendo? Not in those days. I'm talking about the times not too long removed when NBC censored tv late night host Jack Paar for saying WC (water closet) on the air.

WLS had the top 3 songs of the night according to the listeners' choices who had called in. It was long, long distance for us ruralites and I never knew anyone who had called the station, but we loved listening to the results and, of course, the songs. Good times. Great times.

But I don't recall which station played the little ditty, "What's the weather for the week-end gonna be/ will it be hot?cold?rain?snow?" And it shouldn't have mattered to us if it were WLS, because they were over 300 miles away.

1913

That was the year of the famous Harry Houdini's water torture cell. And still there was one older building on the MTV High campus. A second was added 7 years later--the one I taught in for 30 years.

But yesterday the denizens of MTV and its 13 feeder school parents voted to raise their taxes and build a new township high school. A feat not unsimilar to Harry's. At least 3 other times, the referendum had been voted down. Pretty convincingly. But not so yesterday.

When our son called with the news, he didn't know I was watching with garlic rather than bated breath, I mean I had cooked out some steaks on our wonderful new grill and added the required garlic sea salt, he was extremely excited. He and his oldest daughter had attended a St. Lou Cardinal game and had been texted by his wife the good news. In just a little over one year, his daughter will be attending the school. But also he's an active member of the community and he knows how, if for no other reason, it's a mighty good move for the business community as well.

I told him I didn't know when I had been prouder of my hometown. They recognized a sore need and despite an increase in local taxes in an economy that may take some time to rebound, it was a sacrificial move for some.

Kudos all around to MTV. There's still a ton of work to be done, but I'm sure that Brandon, Doug, Matthew and a slew of others are up to the task. A job very well done.

IN THE SUMMER MOON ABOVE

I guess I could have entitled this entry Oldies and Ear Worms. But as a student of mine once wrote, "before I get started, I better back up." Huh?

A friend of mine since childhood loves the oldies of our '60's generation. Me, too.

He often posts on FaceBook from YouTube. Today's song was "Oh, How Happy You Have Made Me." Not one of the more popular oldies, yet a good one. He gave fair warning that his readers just might be humming the tune for the rest of the day. And I am.

An ear worm is the repetition of a tune you can't get out of your head. For me I think it should be an ear snake. That's how big, that's how long I get a song in my head and it sets up residence. Often times a hymn or praise song we've sung in Sunday worship lingers till the next Sunday. Sometimes an American Idol song. Sometimes whenever I read something such as the danger sign. It made me think of the old Happenings' song with the lyric "there is danger in the Summer moon above/will I see you in September..."

So, as I told my friend who shares the love of less popular songs from our era, I think a radio station that played some of the one-hit wonders or some of the lesser well-known songs might just be successful. Of course, after a year or so, then I suppose they would become tiresome, too. So a steady mix- in of "Satisfaction" and other ones such as "You've Lost That Loving Feeling", "When a Man Loves a Woman," and "Eight Days a Week" would be acceptable.

But if they ever play "The Letter" or "Sugar, Sugar", I'm outta there.

BABS AND I KINDA WANTA KNOW WHY

movies are what they are anymore. More precisely, why they aren't. Better that is.

Our (that is my wife and not Streisand) latest three movie experiences On Demand have netted little enjoyment. Inception--well, we lasted 36 minutes into it before turning off the tv and heading to FarmVille. Yep, FV was better. Then we went with Getting Low because of friends' recommendation and a good review. What I saw (because of falling asleep, I missed quite a bit) had a pretty good story line and some good acting by Duvall, but it was so slow, so dry that I was wishing I had the novel instead. Then last evening (how could they pass up The Amazing Race and show country music?) we forked out $4.99 for Social Network, again because of friends' and movie reviewers' suggestions. What they didn't tell us was that the sound was terrible. A pulsating soundtrack drowning out dialogue. I had the same feeling as when a dude pulls up next to me and because of his speaker system in his car, he decides to share his bass loving music with me. His car vibrating. What was the purpose of that in Network? In addition, Zuckerman and Elaine talked so fast and soft that it was hard to discern what they were saying.

So, Mr. Answerman, what's the solution? OK, thanks for asking. Make a movie that tells a story. Try to keep it chronological with a few flashbacks if needed. Have the character enunciate unless they're Brando or Dean, then they don't have to. Keep the bad language out of it. We've all heard it: there's nothing new there. Don't show the sex scenes. Keep them under covers. We can imagine. If you want to use special effects, go for it, but have a purpose and make them somewhat believable. No longer than 2 hours; that's enough. Don't be political: if I want left or right I'll go to MSNBC or FOX.

And, please do something about the sound. I'm not hard hearing, but I'm tired of not hearing.