Saturday, July 30, 2011

Party Albums

Back in the early 60's when I was in grade school, the culture was gentler and more innocent.  There were two kinds of party albums in our home:  Bill Cosby, and The Smothers Brothers.   I had every word on the albums memorized because I listened to them over and over again on my sister's mono-speakered record player.  (This was before stereo)   I would mouth the words and pretend people thought I was funny.

I still pretend people think I am funny.

This is a classic early Smothers Brothers bit.  It's still funny.



And here is Jack Paar introducing a very young black comedian.




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Friday, July 29, 2011

Old Dan Tucker

When I was little, my grandmother, Thelma McRoberts, would rock me and sing this song with a heavy backwoods Kentucky accent...

Old Dan Tucker was a fine old man
He washed his face in the frying pan
He combed his hair with a wagon wheel
And died of the toothache in his heel


Get out the way for old Dan Tucker
He's too late to git his supper
Supper's over and dishes washed
Nothing left but a piece of squash


I would give 500 dollars to have a recording of that. 

Sitting next to her during the song service at church was priceless.

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Thursday, July 28, 2011

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

When You Water Stuff

Since I moved into my house 9 years ago, my Black-Eyed Susans have been going downhill... The leaves never looked healthy and the flowers became fewer and less attractive.

But this year they took off early in the spring and grew like crazy!  This was also one of the rainiest springs that I can remember.

So, never the fool, I put two and two together.  Rain... Plants...  Water... Plant growth...

At the end of June, when the rain stopped coming, I started pouring a full watering can on my Susans and other flowers, and I can't (duh) believe the difference.  (Click on picture twice)


Next year:  Miracle Grow Fertilizer!

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Saturday, July 16, 2011

I Need This Truck Accessory

Thursday, July 14, 2011

A Man with Onions

...and a baseball.


Got many the size of softballs this year.  They are Burpee's version of Texas Granos, and they are very sweet.

I also have corn that is tasseling...

I hope you all are impressed!

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Wednesday, July 13, 2011


Gov. Perry's Invitation to The Response from The Response USA on Vimeo.

Not sure I want him to be president, but this is refreshing.

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Sunday, July 10, 2011

Legalism and License

Just finished listening to a sermon by Chuck Swindoll from his 4th of July service.  His subject was freedom in Christ, and he used the circumcision issue in the early Church to suggest that we don't need to let legalists tell us how to live our lives... That there is nothing we need to do to compliment the free gift of salvation... Not baptism, not nothin'... except possibly attending Church... and maybe financially supporting radio ministries.  (Ok, he didn't say that)

So we believe and are saved, and that's that.  What a legalist Paul was to suggest that we should work out our salvation with fear and trembling!  Legalist!   Jerk!  Why fear?  Why tremble?  Don't need to!  We're saved by grace! 

If the Apostle Paul went to Sodom and Gomorrah his message would not be about grace.  He would tell them to believe on Christ, come out, and be separate... Which is the same message he would have for the Church in the United States.  Paul would not be shocked by our culture.  He would be shocked by the extent to which believers embrace it... And willingly pollute themselves with it.

There are too many believers that call themselves the Bride of Christ, that have never actually made the commitment.  They date Jesus on Sundays, but crawl into the world's bed the rest of the week.

Swindoll would be calling me a legalist about now.
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Saturday, July 09, 2011

The Obama Administration and Vanilla Prayers

The Houston National Cemetery, which, at 419 acres, is the second-largest cemetery administered by the Department of Veterans Affairs, exceeded in size only by Arlington.  Recently, however, (Arleen) Ocasio, the cemetery’s Obama-appointed director, has been credibly accused of engaging in a pattern of censorship directed against private religious expression.

In May, with the approach of Memorial Day, Ocasio required that the ministers who planned to speak at the cemetery submit their proposed prayers to her in advance. Pastor Scott Rainey of Living Word Church did so, and was told to revise his prayers to be more “inclusive” — by excluding specific reference to his own religion.

Rainey took his case to federal district court in Houston, where Judge Lynn Hughes sharply rebuked the VA and Ocasio, issuing a restraining order against them on May 26. As Hughes said in his opinion, “the government cannot gag citizens” in the name of “some bureaucrat’s notion of cultural homogeneity.”

Scott Rainey prayed on Memorial Day as he had originally proposed, including the Lord’s Prayer and this closing: “While respecting people of every faith today, it is in the name of Jesus Christ, the risen Lord, that I pray. Amen.”

I'm glad Mr Rainey happened to get the right judge, but since Memorial Day, Obama's prayer monitor is at it again:

 The chapel has allegedly been closed, its cross and Bible removed, and it is now said to be used as a “meeting space” when it is unlocked at all. The carillon in the 75-foot bell tower no longer tolls on a regular basis. And members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the American Legion, and the National Memorial Ladies, attending upon the bereaved families and friends at veterans’ funerals, say they have been required to have their prayers pre-approved by Ocasio’s office, and have been told that the words “God” and “Jesus” are not to be used by them if they wish to continue their volunteer service at the cemetery.

I think we need some peaceful civil resistance aimed directly at our over-reaching federal government.

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Thursday, July 07, 2011

The Fox is on the Town-o, Town-o, Town-o!

I have no rabbits wreaking havoc upon my garden this year.  I suspect this is because I have a wabbit-killing-buddy living under my neighbor's shed.


I tried to thank him this afternoon, but alas, he is shy... Too humble to accept thanks for his good deeds, and he took off into the soybean field behind my house.


I wonder if he has babies living under the shed with him... And I wonder if when a couple of the rabbits greased his chin... I wonder if the little ones chewed on the bones-o, bones-o, bones-o...

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Hiker Killed

A husband and wife's backcountry hike along a popular trail turned tragic when they stumbled upon a grizzly bear and her cubs and the 57-year-old man was mauled to death, Yellowstone National Park officials said.  The initial indication was that the sow grizzly was protecting her cubs.

Officials explained that the bear would not be destroyed for displaying more maternal instinct than Casey Anthony, who was recently found not guilty in the death of her cub.

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Tuesday, July 05, 2011

Not Guilty

Casey Anthony was found not guilty of killing her baby 24 months too late.  It's an important lesson for all American women to learn... That while babies' lives are cheap in this country, if you put off your abortion into the toddler years, you may run the risk of spending the balance of your life in prison.

Then again... maybe not.

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