Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Heading to Nationals Park? Give Levi's Port Cafe a Try

Soon, Opening Day will be upon us and I'll be making regular trips to Nationals Park. At least a couple of those trips will be preceded by a meal at Levi's Port Cafe.

I read about Levi's prior to the 2008 baseball season. The Washington Post ran a piece on places to eat and drink that were generally near Nationals Park. I use generally near because the neighborhood around the stadium is just now being developed. Most eating establishments are several blocks away. While the Nationals were out of town early last season, a friend and I went exploring all around Nationals Park one Saturday afternoon. I took the piece from the Post with me so I could find the places it listed.

We walked from the stadium east on M St. and made the left onto 8th St SE. A few more blocks later, we were standing in front of Levi's. My friend had her dog with her, so I went in on my own to check the place out. I was greeted by the owner, Johnny Kersey. Mr. Kersey is just the kind of person you think of when you think of an owner of a soul food restaurant, friendly and quite the promotion man. Mr. Kersey asked me if I had ever been in a soul food place before. I answered that I had been in a few, including Flavors located in Bailey's Crossroads. Once I mentioned Flavors, Mr. Kersey was quick to tell me "they call themselves Flavors, but I got the flavor". Well, that sold me on eating there.

I got a carry out order of catfish and I wasn't disappointed. The portions that trip were good sized and everything I had was good. But, it was a trip to Levi's later in the season that really made me appreciate it. Another friend and I went to Levi's one Saturday afternoon prior to a game. For about $10 each, we both got plates stacked full of food. That day I ordered smothered pork chops. They melted in my mouth. It was a very satisfying and filling meal.

The only issue that day was that is was a one of those D.C. summer days where the temps are in the 90s and the humidity wasn't too far behind. All that pork made for a looooong walk back to Nationals Park. But, at least I had a smile on my face.

Levi's Port Cafe is located at 1102 8th St. SE. As far as I know, they don't have a website, but the phone number is 202-547-6500. You can read more about Levi's and see a few other customer reviews in this piece on The Washington Post website.

Oh, there's one last thing. Levi's doesn't serve adult beverages. But, please don't let that stop you from stopping in.

Monday, March 30, 2009

Quickies

I really should write an entire entry on the Paul Thorn concert I attended last Thursday, and maybe I'll get around to it. But, in the meantime you can enjoy a great piece of Paul Thorn merchandise, the "It's Great Day to Whup Somebody's Ass" bumper sticker. You can go to Paul Thorn's website here.

When I heard that Jamie Dailey and Darrin Vincent were leaving their respective gigs with Doyle Lawson and Ricky Skaggs a couple of years back to start their own band, I had my doubts. I really thought there might be quite a "cheese" factor to them. But, after hearing their debut CD and seeing them at the Music in the Mountains Bluegrass Festival in Summersville, WV last year, I'll readily admit I shouldn't have doubted them. They are one of the best things to hit the bluegrass world in the past several years. Country Standard Time profiles Daliey & Vincent and their new CD here.

Finally, Washington Nationals pitcher Julian Tavarez recently apologized for saying this:

Why did I sign with the Nationals? When you go to a club until 4 a.m. and [are] just waiting, waiting, a 600-pounder looks like J-Lo. And to me, this is Jennifer Lopez right here. It's four in the morning. Too much to drink. All the girls look hot. So the Nationals are Jennifer Lopez to me.

Sounds like Tavarez has listened to Mickey Gilley's "The Girls All Get Prettier at Closing Time" one too many times. Read more about his apology here.

Saturday, March 28, 2009

Two Very Different Takes on West Virginia Music

When in West Virginia, write blog entries about West Virginia....

This entry is on two very different types of West Virginia music and the very different people who play them. The first type is along the lines of what you would expect, accoustic music played by an older couple who have played old time music all their lives. The second type is not what you would expect, music that could loosely be called rockabilly played by someone Appalshop described as "Elvis in Sid Vicious’s body with a little Frank Sinatra thrown in".

This morning, my dad showed me an article from a 2004 edition of Goldenseal magazine about Lester and Linda McCumbers, a couple from Calhoun County, West Virginia. The McCumbers, now in their 80s, both grew up during the depression when families used music played in the home as both entertainment and as an escape from the daily grind a hard life. As the McCumbers grew older, they continued to play and sing. Now the McCumbers are considered one of the few remaining living links to the days of real old time music. The Goldenseal article is not available online, but a 2003 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article about the couple is available here, complete with soundclips of them performing.

Hasil (pronounced "Hassle") Adkins was born sometime in the 1930s in Boone County, West Virginia. Sometime in the 1950s, he started recording, mostly as a one man band. Adkins claimed he wrote over 7,000 songs during his life. Among those songs were "Blue Star", "The Hunch" (which supposedly has an accompanying dance which mimmicks sex), "Chicken Walk", "No More Hot Dogs" and "She Said", which was covered by the Cramps. Most of the songs were either ruthless rockers or slow, rough edged country ballads. For 50 years or so, Adkins made it through life banging out gigs and being a cult hero. Then, Adkins died in April 2005 ten days after being intentionally run down a teenager on an ATV.

I could write more on Adkins, but I think it's best you witness him for yourself. Start by listening to the cuts included on the Myspace page dedicated to him here. Then, go on to read this interview first published in Planet magazine in 1995. At the bottom of that page is a link to information about how Adkins got caught in a war of words between Village Voice writer Howard Hampton and Sting. The official Hasil Adkins website is here and, finally, here is information from the Appalshop website on the documentary Appalshop produced on Adkins entitled The Wild World of Hasil Adkins.


After reading all that information, it probably won't surprise you to learn Adkins once released an album dedicated to the chicken...

Follow Up on Yesterday's WV Police Blotter

I read in The Charleston Gazette where fugitive Joshua James Harrison was rounded up while hiding out at his grandmother's house. He had cut off the monitoring bracelet that was on his ankle and decided to run....straight to a relative's house. That was not so smart move number 0ne. Not so smart move number two was deciding to hide in his grandmother's freezer when the police showed up. This quote from a local policeman on how the police knew Harrison was hiding in the freezer is great.

"The officers went in and were looking around and they looked over toward the kitchen area, toward the freezer," Stover said. "They noticed all the frozen foods from the freezer were on the counter. ... It's amazing where people will find to hide, but that was one of the oddest."

Friday, March 27, 2009

A Post That Is All Things West Virginia

Shedd's Spot will be reporting from the Mountain State for the next couple of days beginning this evening. Meanwhile, here are some entertaining tidbits from the state that gave us the Exalted Cyclops, Senator Robert C. Byrd.

First off, WV beer blogger Rich Ireland doesn't want Yuengling "imported" into his state. Read about it here.

I know this sort of weird stuff happens everywhere, but when a stepmom gets busy with her stepson it's headline news, like this story, in West Virginia because there aren't always other things to report on. Be sure to check out the mugshot. And, let us not forget about the middle school teacher who had a thing for one of her students. Here is a blurb about it. Although Shedd's Spot is following a story on an escaped fugitive for a later post, I'll end the police blotter part of this entry with this short piece on a cock fighting ring being busted. One reader suggests cock fighting should be a felony, then another reader follows with "felonious cockfighting...has quite a ring to it.".....classic.

But, let's not have this post cast an entirely negative light on West Virginia. Two friends and I will be entering, as a team, the Great Greenbrier River Race at the end of April. The race is a fundraiser that helps keep up the Greenbrier River Trail.

If you ever happen to be passing thru Craigsville, WW, stop and have a meal at the Ranch House Restaurant. You can't go wrong there.

Friday Frolics, Volume 6: The Beer to Have When You're Having More Than One

Remember the days before all alcohol commercials reminded you to "drink responsibly"? Personally, I like alcohol commericals like this one that deal with reality and tell you the beer to drink when you're having more than one.

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Major Eats in the Minor Leagues and Other Tidbits From the Lower Levels of Baseball

The Western Michigan Whitecaps minor league baseball team has jumped into the world challenge eating. You know what challenge eating is, right? It's where the customer buys an enormous sized meal and if the customer finishes it in one sitting, he/she gets a prize and/or the meal is free. The Whitecaps entry into the market comes via the Fifth Third Burger, a burger which consists of five one-third lb. burger patties and several toppings that include a cup of chili and Fritos. The entire burger weighs upwards of four lbs. and contain 4800 calories. If the purchaser finishes the $20 burger in one sitting, he/she gets a t-shirt. This recent story in The Grand Rapid Press details the story behind the burger and contains a video on the making of the burger. Of course, the reader comments attached to the story are exactly what you would expect....they are along the lines of "it's no wonder Americans are fat" or "I can't wait to have one". The best comment I saw on the burger was on a different website. It was simply "what, no bacon?". By the way, the Fifth Third Burger shares its name with the sponsor of the Whitecaps' ballpark, Fifth Third Bank.

To give equal time to healthier eating at the ballpark, here is a story MinorLeagueBaseball.com ran back in November on the vegetarian menu at Merchantsauto.com Stadium, home of the New Hampshire Fisher Cats. PETA has named the stadium the Most Vegetarian-Friendly Ballpark in Minor League Baseball. Oh yeah, that wasn't People Eating Tasting Animals who gave the award.

I recently found this interview with former James Madison University stand out baseball player Kellen Kulbacki on the Project Prospect website. Kulbacki talks about how his game improved last season after he was promoted from low A to high A ball within the Padres farm system. Kulbacki hit 20 HRs in 304 at bats after being promoted. Presently, Baseball America has Kulbacki ranked as the fourth best prospect in the Padres system.

In 2001, MinorLeagueBaseball.com published this list of the 100 best minor league teams of all time. It's interesting to see how many Baltimore Orioles teams from the 1910s and 1920s are on the list. Seeing most of us weren't around during those glory days of the minor league Orioles, check out a couple of the more recent teams on the list. I liked the piece on the 1992 Columbus Clippers because I had seen several players from that team, including J.T. Snow and Brad Ausmus, play for the Prince William Canons in the years just prior to 1992.

And finally, I found it funny the West Virginia Power is taking an online poll asking fans which West Virginia celebrity fans would most like to see on a bobblehead doll. The choices are Senator Robert Byrd, Jennifer Garner, Jerry West, Randy Moss and the Dancing Outlaw himself, Jesco White. Anyone who knows me, knows my vote is for good ol' Jesco.

Remembering Buck and Cal Sr.

Today, March 25th, marks the third anniversay of Buck Owens' death and the tenth anniversary of Cal Ripken, Sr.'s death. I don't mean this entry to be morbid, I just wanted to remember two legends.

Although many people remember Buck Owens for his days in overalls while he was co-hosting Hee Haw, that was not what Buck Owens was all about. Throughout the 1960s, Owens was the dominate male singer in country music. No one could touch him. And, he did it all while being based in California, not Nashville. He eschewed the softer Nashville Sound for a straight ahead driving country sound that featured tight harmony vocals from guitar player Don Rich. Here is Owens and Rich singing "Act Naturally" and Chuck Berry's "Memphis".


Although Cal Ripken, Sr.'s days as manager of the Baltimore Orioles were shortlived, he was a long time pillar of the Oriole way as the Orioles third base coach and as manager of the Orioles long time triple AAA affiliate, the Rochester Red Wings. This link is to a clip which is both a tribute to Cal Sr. and a promotional piece for the Cal Ripken, Sr. Foundation.

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Music News from Elvis Costello and Bill Kirchen

A while back I got the Wolf Trap summer concert schedule in the mail. I was giving it a quick once over when one show on the schedule caught my attention, Elvis Costello and the Sugarcanes. I had of heard of the past Elvis bands the Attractions and the Imposters, but not the Sugarcanes. I read on to see the Sugarcanes featured some of the top musicians in accoustic music, including Jerry Douglas, Stuart Duncan and Mike Compton. The internet didn't provide much information on the band or a potential CD until this week. Country Standard Time ran this piece yesterday detailing the band line up and song listing. The CD Secret, Profane & Sugarcane will be released June 2nd with a summer tour to follow.

Back in February, Elvis Costello was in a London studio with Bill Kirchen. Elvis will be featured on the next Kirchen CD singing the Kirchen-Johnny Castle-Austin DeLone composition "Man at the Bottom of the Well". The song originally appeared on Kirchen's 1999 CD Raise a Ruckus with Kirchen on lead vocals. Castle played a rough mix of the new version of the song, which he played bass on, for me and some other folks after a recent Thrillbillys gig at the Sunset Grille. The cut sounded good and featured Kirchen playing a much harder sounding guitar style than what he is usually known to play. As of yet, a release date has not been set for the new Kirchen CD.

Going back to Elvis Costello's first country disc, Almost Blue, here he is singing "A Good Year for the Roses".

Monday, March 23, 2009

Quickies

First off, the March 23rd edition of Sports Illustrated reports Kellogs recently donated 3800 pounds of Frosted Flakes and Corn Flakes to the San Francisco Food Bank. Does it surprise any of us all the boxes containing the cereal had Michael Phelps' face plastered on them? I wonder if Phelps is going donate anything to help the folks who receive the cereal work up an appetite?

Shedd Spot's west coast bureau sent in this piece explaining the scam known as the secondary ticket market. The person explaining the scam is Nine Inch Nails' Trent Reznor.

Being a native to the D.C. area, I found these pieces from Saturday's Washington Post very interesting and a reminder of the days when folks close in remembered there was a different world just a short drive away. The first piece was on the statues of Conferderate soldiers located in various towns and cities in Virginia. Surprisingly, the article says there isn't an effort underway to remove them. The second piece was on the latest plan to save the oyster population in the Chesapeake Bay and how the states of Maryland and Virginia can't agree if this latest plan is the correct course of action. An interesting and sad fact from the piece is that the oyster population is estimated to now be at 1% of its all time high.

Finally, I really debated including this link to a blog ragging my friend Steve Tuttle's Newsweek piece about how Steve's parents live in a frugal manner. The blog writer seems to think Steve is a "typical member of the liberal news media". Steve must be if works for Newsweek, right? Boy, if that blogger only knew. And nevermind the fact Steve's dad, "Big" Bill, is truly an old school conservative. I guess some folks always have to find something to be unhappy about and that blogger is no exception.

Friday, March 20, 2009

A Couple of Birthdays

I noticed earlier that today is Marcia Ball and Jerry Reed's birthday. Ball turns 60 and Reed, who died last year, would have been 72. You can watch Ball perform "Let Me Play With Your Poodle" below and watch a great montage of clips from Smokey and the Bandit set to Reed's "East Bound and Down" here.

Friday Frolics, Volume 5: Brother Beware

Louis Jordan, an all time great in American music, gives some advice on dealing with women.

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

It's B&B Time...Basketball and Baseball, That Is

At the time of this posting, it's only hours until March Madness officially begins. Oh wait, didn't the NCAA copyright "March Madness"? Did I just open myself to a lawsuit? Oh well, on to multiple sports items.

For those of you who don't regularly read The Washington Post sports page, today's edition had two interesting stories on basketball in the D.C. area. The first story was on the players from the D.C. area who Jay Wright has recruited to play at Villanova. The second story was on the sports program at Alexandria's T.C. Williams High School and how it ties the community together within the Alexandria city limits. (You may remember T.C. Williams from Remember the Titans fame.) T.C. (as it's called around here) has had the dominant boy's basketball team in Virginia's northern region over the past few years and they always seem to put a hurting on my alma mater, Wakefield. (And, Wakefield has consistently fielded winning teams during that same time.)

Love him or hate him, sports talker Steve Czaban has developed this mega-mother NCAA tournament bracket which has just about every piece of information you could possibly need, including the announcing teams and the all important point spreads!

Meanwhile in Florida, Nationals coach Marquis Grissom and instructors Jose Cardenal and Cesar Cedeno were interviewed by MLB.com's Bill Ladsonto. Grissom, Cardenal and Cedeno frankly discuss the defensive play of the Nationals outfield. They voice both their frustrations with the Nationals outfielders and their belief those same players will vastly improve. The three also discuss their own playing careers. Read the piece here.

Nationals shortstop Christian Guzman is day to day with a cut on one of his pinky toes. The Washington Post's Chico Harlan reported the cut was caused by a case of athlete's foot. If that's the case, I guess that means Guzman never got the speech Crash Davis gave Nuke in Bull Durham about making sure you have clean shower shoes.

Finally, there were all sorts of happenings today at the Nationals' camp. Often injured pitcher Shawn Hill was released, pitcher Joe Beimel was signed, and both Lastings Milledge and Ronnie Belliard were injured. Acting GM Mike Rizzo talks about the roster moves here.

Good luck to those of you who are in a tournament pool. The fun starts soon.

Tweet, Tweet, Tweeting Along

In da locker room, snuck to post my twitt. We're playing the Celtics, tie ball game at da half. Coach wants more toughness. I gotta step up.

Who would have thought NBA player Charlie Villanueva making the admission he needed to step up his game in the second half of a game against the Celtics would have caused such a stir. Well, Milwaukee Bucks coach Scott Skiles was upset when he heard the admission because it came during half time of the game when Villanueva used his cell phone to make the admission in a Twitter post. The AP details the entire ordeal here, but the story started me thinking about what some celebrities of the past might post via Twitter....

I could see Elvis Presley "tweeting" something like...
Dr. Nick just dropped off some of them little blue pills. Now, I'm a Big Hunka Burning Love. Viva Viagra.

Conway Twitty might have given us...
Just sang "I'd Love to Lay You Down" and a whole bunch of 70 year old women in polyester pants got moist.

Babe Ruth could have predicted home runs...
I've had eight beers and six hot dogs this morning. Three dingers against the Red Sox won't be a problem.

Adolf Hitler could have lamented his final days in the bunker to his loyal followers...
I knew I should have had a kegerator installed in here.

Men like John Holmes and Wilt Chamberlain could have kept the public instantly up to date on their conquests. Frank Sinatra could have let us know just how wasted Dean Martin was getting....or which one of the Kennedys was getting busy with Marilyn Monroe on any given night. And, on and on......we can only dream.

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Southern Soul Saturday Follow Up

As a quick follow up to this past weekend's Richmond Blues Festival, here are videos by two of the performers on the show. The first video is of one of Latimore's latest releases, "My Give a Damn Gave Out". The second is the video for Clarence Carter's classic "Strokin'" (which definitely has some lyrics not suitable for the office).



Hollywood Goes Trashville

Supposedly, this week's American Idol broadcasts will feature the contestants singing songs made famous by Grand Ole Opry members. Singers Brad Paisley, Carrie Underwood and Randy Travis will also be making appearances on the show.

I'd love to think the American Idol producers would require the contestants go way back and sing songs made famous by the likes of Grandpa Jones, Ernest Tubb, Little Jimmy Dickens or Bill Monroe. But, I'm going to guess there are going to be a lot of covers of songs made famous by Garth Brooks and the likes. Maybe a couple of contestants will venture into a Norah Jones or Tony Bennett-like version of a classic Hank Williams song like "Cold, Cold Heart" or "I Can't Help It (If I'm Still in Love With You)". I'd actually watch the show if a contestant would sing Bill Carlisle's "Too Old to Cut the Mustard" and dedicate it to Paula Abdul.

When I read the news piece about this American Idol foray into "country" music, it started me thinking (again) about the real music artists who are still out plugging away trying to make a living by playing another form of country, whether it be traditional country, alt. country or bluegrass, and not the watered down 70's rock and trailer park easy listening that passes for "country" music nowdays. Many of the these real music artists have written and/or recorded songs voicing their disdain for state of things in modern day Music City. Heather Myles gave us "Nashville's Gone Hollywood", Robbie Fulks got in there "F*ck This Town" and Hank Williams III has sounded off several times with cuts like "Trashville", "D*ck In Dixie", "Not Everybody Likes Us" and "The Grand Ole Opry Ain't So Grand Anymore". The only example of this type of song making any noise in mainstream "country" was the George Strait & Alan Jackson version of Larry Cordle's "Murder on Music Row". Of course Strait made the comment he recorded the song as a joke on an awards show when the recording won an award for country single of the year.

To further show you what modern day Nashville is all about, I'll relate a story I heard at a bluegrass festival where Larry Cordle was playing a few years back. The story going around was that after the release of "Murder On Music Row", record company execs and producers in Nashville were "encouraging" their artists not to record Cordle's songs. To make matters worse, those same execs and producers were trying to avoid using Glen Duncan, one of the top fiddle players in the business, on recording sessions because he had once fronted a band with Cordle.

So, if you tune into American Idol this week, please keep the info in this entry in mind and consider checking out some of the artists mentioned here. Hell, even if you hate American Idol, check out some of these artists. You'll be glad you did.

(BTW, the above photos are of Hank Williams III & Heather Myles)

Monday, March 16, 2009

Quickies

This week's Quickies entry starts off with a couple of items related to commerce and music in my home state of Virginia.

First up, the Phish concerts in Hampton the weekend of March 6th-8th were quite the boon to city's economies. I used the plural there because the city estimates the 75,000 Phish fans who showed up pumped $5 million into the city's legal economy thru the city's hotels, restaurants and retail outlets. Those fans also fueled the city's illegal economy by leaving behind $68,000 in cash and $1.2 million in illegal drugs that were confiscated during the nearly 200 arrests of Phish fans during the weekend. The neighboring city of Newport News reported an additional 70 arrests of concert goers. Maybe it's time Phish goes in the same direction as some of the older country and pop acts and set up shop in Branson, MO. Just a thought.

Second, the Harrisonburg, Virginia Daily News Record reports the Plan 9 Music store located in Harrisonburg will be closing in the near future. I know it's a sign of the times, but I hate to see these small chain/independent stores close, particularly the ones I frequent. The aforementioned DNR article summarizes the challenges faced by stores like Plan 9.

Finally, my friend Steve Tuttle has this piece in the latest edition of Newsweek detailing how his parents survive in tough economic times, both past and current. After you read the piece, I think you'll agree with me in hoping Steve was embellishing things a little when he quoted his mom as saying "We've had that trap since we got married!".

Saturday, March 14, 2009

A Preview of the Richmond Blues Festival

Tonight, several friends and I are going way old school and going to the Richmond Blues Festival. The name of the show is actually a misnomer, because it's just one big package show at the Richmond Coliseum and all the acts on the bill are more southern soul than blues. Among the performers tonight are Clarence Carter (of "Strokin" fame), Latimore ("Let's Straighten It Out"), Mel Waiters ("The Smaller The Club (The Bigger the Party)"), and Roy C.

The first and only time I've seen Roy C perform was at the 2007 Richmond Blues Festival. I had heard some of the guys I grew up with talk about him, but I had never heard him. I really liked his performance that first time in Richmond, so I ordered the CDs Sex & Soul and More Sex & Soul and the CDs did not disappoint. Since then, I've had two opportunities to see Roy C again and I've missed both of them. The first was when Roy played at Lamont's Entertainment Complex in Pomunkey, MD late in the summer of 2007 and the second was when I was wandering around the midwest in the fall of 2008 and Roy played the Roots 'N Blues Festival in Columbia, MO. (That day I ended up partying at the American Royal BBQ Contest in Kansas City until three a.m. A blog entry of some type about that night will be written sometime in the future.)

I bring up the two Roy C shows I missed because a film crew was at both shows shooting footage for the upcoming documentary Roy C Forever. The movie follows a character based on filmmaker/college professor Chase Thompson as he discovers the Roy C CD Sex & Soul in a record store and then goes off in search of Roy C. The film culiminates with scenes from the Roots 'N Blues Festival show. A short piece from The Columbia Tribune about Thompson, Roy C and the making of the film can be read here.

You can read more about the movie, the associated live CD, and watch the movie trailers at the link in the previous paragraph or you can watch the trailers and make your own judgements here.




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For a definition of southern soul and for details of my experience of seeing blues/southern soul artist Dr. Feelgood Potts, see this link.

Friday, March 13, 2009

Friday Frolics, Volume 4: Lois Goes Brazilian

Here are two classics from America's favorite perv, Glen Quagmire...



Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Big Love Times Three...Maybe Four

Considering this entry involves Mormons and porn, maybe I should title it Orgazmo, Part II.

I'm surprised it has taken three seasons for the HBO series Big Love to get under the skin of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. For those of you who have not seen Big Love, the show's story line revolves around a Mormon polygamist, Bill Hendrickson (played by Bill Paxton), his three wives and their children. Hendrickson lives in suburbia but has ties to a polygamist compound which is led by a Warren Jeffs type character named Roman Grant. Throughout the first three seasons of Big Love, the Hendrickson family has struggled to live the "principal" of plural marriage while appearing to be a normal suburban family.

According to this AP article, HBO agreed to air a one time disclaimer in the credits of an episode stating the characters in the show did not represent the church's position on polygamy. That agreement kept the church satisified until now. The episode of Big Love scheduled to air this Sunday (March 15th) includes scenes of a Mormon endowment ceremony. Church ceremonies such as this are believed sacred by the Mormons and are not to be performed or talked about outside a Mormon temple. The fact such a sacred ceremony is being acted out on a television show is too much for many church members and many are calling for boycotts of HBO and all other Time-Warner companies.

I'm not going to pretend to be an expert on polygamy, Mormons or the LDS chuch, but a scene in a Big Love episode a couple of weeks back did remind of something that happened occasionally when I was growing up. For some reason, Mormon missionaries worked the neighborhood I grew up in quite a bit back when I was a kid. My aunt who lived accross the street from us was a member of a Free Will Baptist church and had read several books on cults written by fundamentalist writers. When the Mormon missionaries knocked on her door, instead of ignoring them like most folks in our neighborhood did, my aunt would open the door and tell the missionaries about her beliefs. Among those beliefs was the Bible was not to be added to or subrtracted from. So with that, my aunt believed Mormons were a cult following a false prophet because The Book of Mormon was an untrue addition to the Bible. A scene similar to this played out in this recent Big Love episode. One of the Hendrickson children begins to witness to a elderly man who is a born again Christian. The elderly man quickly turns the table on the child and Bill Hendrickson and begins to witness to them. Soon he is telling them they are following false beliefs and they need to change their ways.

Turning to a different type of endowment and big love, Friday (March 13th) marks the 21st anniversary of porn star John Holmes' death. Holmes was the first well known male porn star. Prior to his death, Holmes claimed to have had sex with 14,000 women. (But he was no Wilt Chamberlain. The Stilt claimed to have done the nasty with 20,000 women.) And, of course Holmes was known for the size of his manhood which was estimated to be anywhere from 12 to 16 inches. (Or, as Spin magazine once described Holmes, "the man with the state of Florida between his legs.) But, there was an even darker side to Holmes which is a little less publicized. It was widely suspected Holmes was heavily involved in drug trafficing and that he may have been involved in the Wonderland Murders.

There's nothing having to do with endowment with this third big love. This one is all about music and the man who sang "Big, Big Love", Wynn Stewart. Stewart is yet another influential county singer from the 1950s and 1960s who is somewhat forgotten today. Stewart was infleuntial in starting the Bakersfield sound and laying the groundwork for those from the area who followed him, including Buck Owens and Merle Haggard. In fact Haggard was playing bass in Stewart's band when Stewart provided Haggard with Haggard's first hit, "Sing a Sad Song". Stewart played the song for Haggard after writing it. Haggard soon asked Stewart if he could record it and Stewart readily agreed.

Stewart had his first hit, "Waltz of the Angels", in 1956 for Capitol Records. A couple of dry years followed before Stewart moved to Challenge Records, owned by Gene Autry, where a string of hits including "Big, Big Love" and "Wishful Thinking" followed. In the mid-60's, Stewart returned to Capitol Records where he had his biggest hit, "It's Such a Pretty Word Today" in 1967.

In 1959, Stewart recorded the Harlan Howard composition "Above and Beyond". Stewart's version and its soft pop beat didn't do much. But, the following year Buck Owens' straight country shuffle version of the song became a hit and helped propel Owens to country stardom. Owens discusses his relationship with Stewart and gives Stewart his due in this conversation with Ralph Emery.

Unfortunately, Stewart died of a heart attack in 1986 at the age 51 after battling alcoholism for years once his career began to wane. You can hear him sing "Big, Big Love" here and watch him sing "It's Such a Pretty World Today" here.

Finally, and in a weak attempt to tie Mormons, porn and country music together in one story, I leave you with this. A couple of summers ago, I decided to do something healthy and walk the mile or so to my local Target to pick up a couple of things. I was strolling up a hill on the sidewalk and listening to the Gourds version of "Gin and Juice" on my iPod, if I remember correctly. I was definitely in my own world when I was startled back to reality by the sight of bike with a cute girl at the helm barrelling right at me. I jumped off the sidewalk as the bike and its rider came to a stop right by me. The young lady began talking as I pulled the earphones from my ears. For a split second, I felt flattered that a little cutie was stopping to talk to me. Then, I noticed the black name plate on her shirt and I heard her ask me if anyone had ever spoken to me about The Book of Mormon. Ooof, back to reality.

As she continued to talk, I started to wonder if she'd be interested in discussing the Doctrine of Shedd back at my place and again my mind began to wander, only this time to impure thoughts. A few seconds later, I was back in reality because the little cutie's sidekick came down the hill on her bike at a high speed and literally skidded to a stop within inches of the cutie, the cutie's bike and me. But, all thoughts of converting the both of them to the aforementioned Doctrine of Shedd was short lived. The sidekick was about five times the size of the cutie. At that point, I knew it was time for me to move on because in the matter of a minute or so I had been scared senseless, flattered, began a fantasy and then scared senseless again. I excused myself, started walking and went back to listening to the Gourds. I think it was "Ants on the Melon"....

I'm gonna fry me some chicken, baby
Fry me up some chickens tonight
Mash taters and butter and all the other
We gonna do it up right
I wanna see you naked, baby
See yer titties sittin' up high
Mash taters and butter and all the other
We gonna do it up right

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Follow Ups: Facebook, Gary Williams & Scott Miller

I guess Dan Leone never read those warnings about being careful as to what you post on Facebook. Then again, I wouldn't think making "Dan is (expletive) devastated about Dawkins signing with Denver. . .Dam Eagles R Retarted!!" your Facebook status would get you fired from a job. It might prove you can't spell. But, should it get you fired? It ends up that if you're a part time gameday employee at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, that status will get you fired. It seems someone with the Eagles got wind of it and wasn't very happy about it. Thus, Leone lost his job. All the details are here.

Most every sports fan in the D.C. area has already read the three part series about Maryland basketball coach Gary Williams that ran in The Washington Post a few weeks back. The series was not the most complimentary of Williams. After the series ran, Maryland went on a bit of a run and looked to be headed toward the big dance. Then the Terps lost to UVA this past Saturday and now the Terps' post season status is in question again. So, if for some reason you haven't read the series of articles, you can start with part one here.

Scott Miller is releasing his new CD, For Crying Out Loud, on April 14th. I have a pre-sale edition and I'll have an entry on it sometime in the near future. Meanwhile, this piece by Jack Neely chronicles Miller's 2004 Amtrak Crescent tour. It's a good look into the inner workings of a touring band pounding out a living night to night while travelling by train, of all things.

Monday, March 9, 2009

Quickies

It's less than two weeks until the official start of spring and less than a month to the unofficial start of spring...baseball opening day. So appropriately, today's Quickies post has nothing to do with either spring or baseball....

50 years ago today (March 9th), Barbara Millicent Roberts came onto the American pop culture scene and depsite a few controversies, both here and abroad, she is still going strong. The latest fight Miss Roberts faces is in West Virginia, where State Delegate Jeff Eldridge has introduced legislation to ban her because she supposedly sets a bad example for little girls. Eldridge seems to be following the lead of Saudi Arabia, where Miss Roberts was outlawed in 2003. It's hard to understand why folks would have it in for Miss Roberts just because she once said "math class is tough". Everyone makes mistakes, so let's hope Delegate Eldridge sees his and drops his fight to ban the sale of Barbie dolls in West Virginia.

Remember the trade rumors involving Denver Broncos QB Jay Cutler a couple of weeks back? Remember Cutler's reaction to them? Well, it seems a lot of folks, including Cutler and "credible" sports media types like Peter King and Colin Cowherd, fell for a giant hoax. A message board poster calling himself "The Truth" fabricated the rumor in a post on the message board BroncosFreaks.com. So far, I've had very little success in finding my own "credible" news source verifying what I heard about this hoax on the radio this morning. But, another blogger seems to be upset about it. You know what they say..."if it's on the internet, it's gotta be true".

Finally, and on a serious note, on this day in 1977, a group of Hanafi Muslims entered three buildings in Washington, D.C. and began a 39 hour siege. During the siege, 150 people were held hostage, one person was killed, and several were injured, including then D.C. Council member Marion Barry. Barry was hit in the chest by a pellet from a shotgun shell. Of course, Barry recovered and went on the serve as mayor of D.C. on two different occasions and came close to driving the city into financial ruin. The Washington Post ran this story two years ago marking the 3oth anniversary of the siege.

Friday, March 6, 2009

Happenings From the World of Music

Unfortunately, much of this entry deals with several deaths that have occurred over the past year. But, it's best good musicians not be forgotten.

Blues singer and guitarist John Cephas passed away this past Wednesday (March 4th). Cephas was one of the last purveyors of the accoustic piedmont blues. There is not a lot I can write about John Cephas that was not covered in these tributes written to Cephas in The Washington Post by Terrence McArdle, J.Freedom DuLac and Richard Harrington. I always did wish Cephas and his musical partner, harmoinca player Phil Wiggins, would have teamed up to record with Doc Watson, but I guess it won't happen now. Rest in peace John Cephas.

New Orleans music legend Snooks Eaglin died on Feb, 18th. I was lucky enough to see Snooks a few times while in New Orleans for JazzFest in the 1990s. The man always seemed to put on a good show. A lot of people would characterize Eaglin's music as the blues. But, that's not accurate. His style was just good music. He played all genres with equal skill and enthusiam and truly was one of a kind. This link is for Snooks' AP obituary, while this one details Snooks' funeral which was held at the Howlin' Wolf music club in New Orleans. Here's Snooks cooking up some red beans....




Grand Ole Opry member Ernie Ashworth died March 2nd. I realize Ashworth was far from a household name, but he was symbolic of another, very different time in country music. Ashworth's one monster hit in the early 60s, "Talk Back Trembling Lips", came at a time when a country artist could sustain a career and would not be forgotten after he/she was dropped by a record label or had a poor selling record or two. More on Ashworth's career can found in this Country Standard Time piece.

Country Standard Time also reports the master tapes of a 1990 Johnny Cash concert are up for sale on Ebay. The starting bid is $4,999.

Dave Alvin is releasing a new CD in May. The twist on this story is that he is not being supported by his normal band, the Guilty Men. Instead, Alvin brought together an all female band and named them the Guilty Women. Alvin told Country Standard Time he thought it was too soon after the death of Chris Gaffney to record again with the Guilty Men. Gaffney, who was Alvin's best friend and a member of the Guilty Men, died in the spring of last year.

Also being released in May, is Man of Someboday's Dreams - A Tribute to Chris Gaffney. Alvin and many other artists, including Joe Ely, Robbie Fulks and Alejandro Escovdo, participated in the project which will benefit the Washington, D.C. based charity Hungry For Music.

Friday Frolics, Volume 3: The Earl of Baltimore

Now that spring training is upon us, it's time to revisit Earl Weaver's infamous not for broadcast version of his Manager's Corner radio show. (Be forewarned this is not suitable for at work listening.)

Thursday, March 5, 2009

So Many Sports Items, So Little Time

Over the past week or so, I heard or read about several sports items I thought would be interesting to the sports minded readers of this blog. So here goes...

Today, USA Today ran this piece on the effect the World Baseball Classic has on the pitchers who participate in it. Being a Nationals fan, I saw the effect first hand when Luis Ayala, one of the Nationals' best relief pitchers, blew out his elbow during the 2006 WBC and was lost for the entire season. Prior to the injury, Ayala never had a season with an ERA over 2.92. In fact, his his 2004 and 2005 ERAs were 2.69 and 2.62, respectively. He managed a respectable 3.19 ERA upon his return in 2007, but he did not seem to have the same stuff he had in 2005. The 2008 season was a disaster for Ayala as he posted ERAs in the high fives both here and with the Mets. I saw several of his appearances in person last year and, at times, it looked like he was pitching batting practice.

Today's Washington Times featured this article on the struggles many sports museums are having in these harsh economic times. After reading this, I really wondered what effect the economy would have on Dan Snyder's plans for a Redskins hall of fame and museum and the NASCAR Hall of Fame which is presently being constructed in Charlotte and a sports museum I almost visited, The National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame. (Almost you ask? Well, I was in Chicago and stumbled upon the NIASHF while in Litte Italy for a street festival that featured a Smithereens concert. I was going to take a short tour, but the Hall closed early that day to prepare for a lecture by Tommy Lasorda. By the way, the lecture wasn't on baseball. It was on wine. The lecture was followed by a wine tasting and sale that featured wine from a vineyard Lasorda was involved in. And, before moving on from Tommy Lasorda, here's a medley of some of his best tirades, complete with plenty of F bombs.)

Back to today's USA Today, this piece details the Mountain West Conference's recent proposal for an eight team national championship playoff in major college football. Talk about being idealistic! I can't see how the BCS conferences would ever allow a playoff to happen. And, if the NCAA has anything to do with a playoff, I'm sure they would screw it up as they often do the Division I-AA playoffs (the subject of a future post as football season draws nearer). Seeing everyone has an opinion on a playoff and this is my blog, here is my propsoal...

Have a 16 team playoff which gives an automatic bid to all eleven conferences in Division I-A (I refuse to call it FBS). The other five spots would be at large berths. The 16 participating teams would be seeded 1 thru 16 and a traditional tournament would be held. The higher seeds would host first and second round games with the semi-finals and finals to be played at bowl sites. Yes, this format would include some teams that would have no chance in hell of winning (i.e. the Conference U.S.A, MAC and Sun Belt champions). But, those teams would at least be able to say they have a chance at the national championship while being cannon fodder for the top seeded teams.

Daily we hear about the effects the poor economy are having on everything from the stock market down to man on the street. It seems a constant barrage of bad news is all you hear, so normally this story about the how economy is effecting the Quail Hollow Golf Championship wouldn't have caught my attention. Honestly, and for good reason, I had never heard of the Quail Hollow Golf Championship until I heard a discussion about it on the radio. Up until this year, the tournament was named the Wachovia Championship, after the bank which paid $3 million per year to sponsor the tournament. This year's name change has nothing to do with Wachovia (now a part of Wells Fargo) pulling its sponsorship. But, it has everything to do with PR. Wachovia/Wells Fargo is countractually obligated to sponsor the tournament thru 2014, but the bank does not want the negative publicity associated with what the public may consider a frivolous expense after the bank took government bailout money.

And finally, Nationals pitcher Shawn Hill missed his scheduled spring training start today because of soreness in his pitching arm. I guess some things never change....poor guy.

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

A Bad Day For Country Music

Nowadays, if anyone can even place the name Hawkshaw Hawkins, it's only for one reason. Hawkins and Cowboy Copas were the other two country singers killed in the same plane crash that killed Patsy Cline on the evening of March 5, 1963. The three singers were returning to Nashville after performing at a benefit concert in Kansas City.

Hawkshaw Hawkins, who was from Huntington, West Virginia, was born Harold Frankin Hawkins in 1921. Hawkins served in the military during World War II before his singing career took off when he joined the cast of the Wheeling Jamboree in 1946. A recording contract with King Records in Cincinnati followed and produced his first top 10 country hits, "Pan American" and "Dog House Boogie". Hawkins recorded for RCA, Columbia and then King again up until the time of his death. In late 1962, Hawkins recorded "Lonesome 7-7203" for King. After his death, it would become his only number one hit.

Although Hawkins wasn't a star on the level of Cline, he doesn't deserve the "also died in the crash" status that is often pinned upon him. At the time of his death, Hawkins was married to Grand Ole Opry member Jean Shephard who had a succesful career run from the early 1950's until the mid 1970's and who still performs on the Opry today.

Here is Hawkins performing "Car Hoppin' Mama". And, to add just a tad bit of levity to this entry, there is no truth to the rumor Vince Vaughn is going to play Hawkins if and when a biopic is made about him.

Monday, March 2, 2009

Quickies

I have to admit I didn't do much research for this week's Quickies post. Both items were sent to me in emails last weeks by friends. With that said, here are this week's Quickie items...

First, this pix of Maryland basketball coach Gary Williams and the related quote was sent to me by my friend "Vern".



Three years ago, after Maryland had lost an embarrassing first round NIT game to Manhattan, a friend called Williams to see how he was holding up. "I drove to the beach right after the game," he said. "I'm trying to take it easy for a little while."

When the friend suggested that a few walks on the beach would do him some good, Williams answer was instantaneous: "There are only so many times," he said, "that you can walk on the damn beach."

Obviously, Coach Williams was thirsty after that walk on the beach because it seems he ended up in a bar in Dewey looking to quench his thirst.

Second, my friend "J.D." in Richmond sent me this article about the Grand View Topless Coffee Shop in Maine. For some reason, I suspect J.D. may already be looking into opening a franchise somewhere south of the Mason-Dixon Line.

Sunday, March 1, 2009

Time Changes Everything, Especially In The Print Media

Back in 1940 Tommy Duncan wrote a song enititled "Time Changes Everything" that he recorded as the lead singer with Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys. Although the song is about getting over a lost love, the theme of the song can definitely be applied to the ongoing changes in the world of print media.

Those folks who still enjoy reading a paper version, or shall I say hard copy, of the morning paper are watching those papers shrink in size and news coverage lessen as the combination of the digital age and the bad economy wreak havoc on the newspaper industry. And, the change isn't limited to the newspaper industry. National magazine stalwarts such as Newsweek have been forced to make cuts in staff and coverage, as have many broadcast outlets, including WJLA (channel 7) here in Washington.

It seems the only group gaining an edge in this new age of media are us bloggers and the folks who enjoy reading our blog entries that are often based more on opinion than fact. Of course, most bloggers aren't being paid to post their ramblings on the internet. We're just in the mix to either make our opinions known, pad our egos, or maybe inform a few people on topics we feel are important...or some combination of the three. (Personally, I have to say my ego got a big boost recently when a reader annonymously call me a "big p*ssy fair weather(sic) fan" in a comment posted on my entry regarding the Redskins signing Albert Haynesworth. It's good to know I can occasionally touch a nerve.)

You hear more and more nowadays about how news areas once covered by the print media giants are falling by the wayside and into the world of bloggers. Washington Post columnist Marc Fisher examines the effect of this in this recent column on the shrinking news coverage of the Virginia and Maryland state governments.

Changes in the coverage of sports have also been afoot. Between ESPN's self promoting coverage of any sports item its producers find newsworthy and the up to the second sports information available on the internet, true sports journalism is no longer viewed as important by the sports fan. Sometimes I wonder what old time sports columnists like the late Shirley Povich would think about today's world of sports media. In this world of here and now, you wonder where an old time sports writer or columnist would find the time to hone his craft.

Although I have been somewhat critical of Chico Harlan's day to day coverage of the Washington Nationals in The Washington Post, I did find this Nationals Journal post by Harlan detailing the cuts in baseball coverage by The Washington Post to be very interesting and yet another example of the changes in the world of sports media.

Maybe I'm the last of a breed, but the very real possibility of such print media icons as The Washington Post, Newseek and Sports Illustrated disappearing in the coming years scares me. I'd really hate for future generations of Americans to know only of newspapers and magazines because they read them about on the internet.