Today, because I have no time, two videos of politicians. First, Rep. Bob Morris doubles down on the lesbo-aborto witch cabal selling you Thin Mints.
Second, the president trades a few lines with B.B. King last night at the White House.
OK, so those aren’t exactly equivalent. So one more oldie but goodie: John Ashcroft belting his hit, “Let the Eagle Soar.”
And Mitt Romney, doing “America the Beautiful” a capella.
I’m really sorry for those of you who don’t have video-watching capabilities at work today. But I cannot be everywhere today.
P.S. Politicians should sing more often.
Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on February 22, 2012 at 7:22 am
Thin mints are addictive and soul-clutchingly compelling; I’ve often felt myself seized, against my will, and forced to consume yea verily an entire remainder of a non-nearly empty box. Their occult power should not be denied.
He’s talking about the cookies, not the program, right?
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David C. said on February 22, 2012 at 7:32 am
When my sister was a fundie (she got better), she signed my niece up for something called American Heritage Girls. It’s a wingnutty version of the Girl Scouts. According to my niece they are heavy into telling girls how to their only lot in life is to be a help meet to their husbands. I guess the Girl Scouts you go girl attitude puts them off. Anyway, my niece now calls them the barefoot and pregnant girls.
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Dorothy said on February 22, 2012 at 7:41 am
Sounds like something Roman Grant would have approved of, David.
The full length version of the In Performance at the White House show is on next Monday night at 9 PM on your local PBS station. At least it is in Columbus, OH.
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coozledad said on February 22, 2012 at 8:09 am
Bob Morris has Ray-Ban pattern baldness and unusually piscine eyes. In the early part of the last century they’d have jailed him preemptively for a tendency to exhibitionism, and possibly pederasty.
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beb said on February 22, 2012 at 8:24 am
The only singing I want from politicians is from the witness stand of their corruption trial.
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Peter said on February 22, 2012 at 9:17 am
As they would say around here, Barack, don’t give up your day job. And seeing how things are going on the other side of the fence, if I were him I wouldn’t worry too much about keeping the day job.
Rep Morris: They say the first thing you do when you’ve dug yourself into a hole is to stop digging. Brother, you should have stopped a LONG time ago.
And sending your kids to be American Heritage Kids “Little Flowers”? Cooz, it’s a fat one right over the plate..
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Suzanne said on February 22, 2012 at 9:19 am
Our man Bob. I will now seek out a Girl Scout to buy some cookies and I will not be visiting his Healthkick Nutrition Center, except maybe to picket. So, so glad I live outside Fort Wayne. Tim Goeglein, Mark Souder, and now this nincompoop. Illinois has plenty of corruption, but these guys aren’t smart enough for that.
I am more and more convinced that there is no war on Christianity–suicide maybe.
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Julie Robinson said on February 22, 2012 at 9:24 am
The former paper of the Proprietress had nary a word about Thin Mint Gate yesterday, but it did feature a lead editorial from our disgraced, adulterous, former congressman Souder. I couldn’t bring myself to read it, but God help us, I think he’s trying to rehabilitate his reputation.
I won’t watch the debate tonight because I’ll be at church. But I’d be interested to see if any of the candidates show up with a cross on their forehead, indicating that they had already been to Ash Wednesday worship. Otherwise, I might wonder about their sincerity as Christians.
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adrianne said on February 22, 2012 at 9:46 am
I’m sure Ricky will outline his ashes in eyeliner, if possible, to show his devotion.
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Deborah said on February 22, 2012 at 10:04 am
“…but these guys aren’t smart enough for that”, made me chuckle Suzanne.
edit: Every year on Ash Wednesday I’m always startled by the first person on the street I see with ashes on their forehead. My first thought is a horrible bruise and then I remember it’s Ash Wed, even when I knew full well it was Fat Tues yesterday.
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alex said on February 22, 2012 at 10:08 am
Thin mints are addictive and soul-clutchingly compelling
Ah, Jeff, don’t be a fool. Those are morning-after pills in disguise. They make ’em that way for use at those wild sex orgies known as Girl Scout Camp. And the proceeds all go toward paying for partial-birth abortions.
So the latest tactic of the extreme right, apparently, is to slander the reputation of any benign organization that wants to stay out of the political fray. If you’re not with us, you’re against us. If you’re not against what we’re against, you’re for it. That’s the logic of Mr. Morris.
Alas, it takes imbeciles to elect the same, and our little corner of the world has no shortage of them.
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Connie said on February 22, 2012 at 10:28 am
I grew up in a place with no Catholics. really. My freshman year in college all those dirty foreheads in the cafeteria were a mystery to me.
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Peter said on February 22, 2012 at 10:37 am
Things You Can’t Do Anymore: My sister’s former employer had a boss who, on Ash Wednesday, would come out of his office after he smoked his first pack and offer to do ashes for the Catholics.
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Heather said on February 22, 2012 at 10:56 am
“Lesbo-Aborto Witch Cabal” is my new band name! Thanks, Nancy.
I got the “dirty forehead” comment a few times growing up in my majority-Jewish hometown. On the other hand, my own Catholic education was so limited that when my high school English teacher asked me to explain to the class what transubstantiation was, I had no idea.
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LAMary said on February 22, 2012 at 11:12 am
Connie, on Ash Wednesday in my home town you could tell who was Dutch. The ashy ones were Italian, Irish and Polish.
edit:
I could not watch Bob Morris all the way through. He’s an ass. People voted for that guy?
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Bob (not Greene) said on February 22, 2012 at 11:34 am
I also couldn’t watch it all the way through. I had to rush off and “do the research”
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Julie Robinson said on February 22, 2012 at 12:02 pm
Morris was appointed after another rep resigned, then used the power of incumbency to get re-elected. With his own party leaders openly ridiculing him in the Statehouse, I’m hopeful he will be voted out next election.
Edit: Apparently Morris also made Jimmy Kimmel last night. I can’t get the clip to load, must be popular.
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Linda said on February 22, 2012 at 12:33 pm
Deborah @10: On Ash Wednesday, when I lived in Memphis, kindly people kept trying to point out the smudge on my forehead, so that I could wipe it off. So I had to explain…
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Bitter Scribe said on February 22, 2012 at 12:48 pm
Julie @17: I sure hope the Democrats stock up on Thin Mints between now and the election. They freeze really well, I’ve been told. (I’ve never been able to keep my hands off them long enough to find out.) All they have to do is hand them out at rallies, and the election will be over.
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Dexter said on February 22, 2012 at 12:49 pm
Wow, a Warren Haynes sighting at 1600 Penna Ave!
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caliban said on February 22, 2012 at 12:55 pm
Why in the world did anybody ever think BB could play guitar, He couldn’t, He was never John Lee that played to his own different drummer. How, how’how gonna knock you right down. Right, Got some idea?
Considering reality.
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Minnie said on February 22, 2012 at 1:19 pm
Dunno, Caliban. Our musical tastes usually coincide, but I might have to disagree with you on BB. Recall a summer afternoon in a Macon park c. 1971. We were sprawled on the grass right in front of BB and his band and loving every note.
I last saw him play live a couple of years ago. In his mid 80s he’s lost some agility, but respect must be payed. His band was outstanding.
Definitely, though, John Lee is sui generis.
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Dexter said on February 22, 2012 at 1:33 pm
It is impossible to compare guitarists as “best” or “better than” another guitarist. Les Paul’s fave guitarist was Tommy Emmanuel. I too think Emmanuel is the best, but I can guarantee no one else here will think the same…a friend told me last Thursday that Dickey Betts is the best, but Rolling Stone ranked him #61 on their latest Top 100 list.
I remember years ago when someone said Eric Clapton was #1, only to be shouted down by a John Mayall fan, and Mayall indeed was a sort-of mentor to the young Clapton. It’s just impossible. I used to be a huge BB King fan and I saw him perform in New York City back in 1972. I sort of drifted from the Blues . And, if you like shredders, hell, you can’t beat Buckethead. There are at least 500 guitarists who could lay claim to #1. It’s all in your head, and ears.
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Jason T. said on February 22, 2012 at 1:51 pm
Catholics aren’t the only ones who do the dirty-forehead bit. Lutherans and Episcopalians, do, too, as do some Methodists and Presbyterians, I think.
(Of course, Episcopalians being Episcopalians, the rector today said we could get ashes “if we wanted them.”)
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Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on February 22, 2012 at 2:47 pm
And many Disciples! (www.disciples.org)
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Jolene said on February 22, 2012 at 2:53 pm
Really? Methodists w/ ashes? I must have been away longer than I thought. I don’t think it’s even typical to have services on Ash Wednesday.
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Dorothy said on February 22, 2012 at 3:07 pm
I can’t see/hear the word “Methodists” without thinking of Jem in “To Kill a Mockingbird” saying that Atticus refuses to play football for the Methodists.
Call me crazy.
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LAMary said on February 22, 2012 at 3:15 pm
I don’t know about politicians singing more, but I can’t get enough of politicians dancing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvxKZRf8k2k
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Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on February 22, 2012 at 3:20 pm
Well, then – http://backup.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=15568
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brian stouder said on February 22, 2012 at 3:24 pm
Dorothy, you’re crazy!
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Dorothy said on February 22, 2012 at 3:39 pm
I see your Bush and Coolidge and raise you an Obama:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RsWpvkLCvu4
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Jason T. said on February 22, 2012 at 3:46 pm
Jolene @ 26:
http://archives.umc.org/interior.asp?ptid=16&mid=6710
ETA: Practically speaking, I’m pretty sure the biggest doctrinal difference remaining between Catholics and Protestants is bingo … and even my grandfather’s church (Calvinist and reformed) now has a weekly bingo.
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LAMary said on February 22, 2012 at 3:51 pm
Okay, anyone have a video of LBJ doing the Cotton Eye Joe?
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basset said on February 22, 2012 at 4:10 pm
Only time I ever saw BB live was in Jackson, Mississippi in about 1981… festival in the back yard of Charles Evers’ bar, Little Milton first then BB. That’s the real stuff right there.
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LAMary said on February 22, 2012 at 4:53 pm
I’m trying to imagine Calvinist bingo. I’m basing this on memories of my Calvinist Dutch Reformed grandmother. I think her idea of the grand prize would a scrub brush and a bar of Fels Naptha soap.
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Deborah said on February 22, 2012 at 5:06 pm
I saw BB live in St. Louis in the late 80s in a club on the North side of town, Bobby Blue Bland played that same night. My husband (only he wasn’t yet my husband then) and I were the only white folks in the crowd and it was an amazing performance. We’ve been told that there is a distinct difference when black musicians play for a black audience as opposed to when they play for a mostly white audience. The vibe from the crowd was much more intense. Unforgettable. Recently we when went to Legends and saw Buddy Guy perform for an all white crowd, which was surprising to us we expected to be in a black crowd, it was a dud. We’ve also learned that is the way it is in Chicago now.
edit: Just read that Franklin Graham has capitulated on his comments about Obama’s faith. http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2012/02/22/graham-clarifies-remarks-on-obamas-faith/?hpt=hp_t2
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Jason T. said on February 22, 2012 at 5:39 pm
LAMary @ 35: Nah, these are Hungarian Reformed. They’re very happy Calvinists. And they make great stuffed cabbage rolls, too.
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Bob (not Greene) said on February 22, 2012 at 5:41 pm
Never saw BB live, but I have to say, I have always thought he was an excellent singer and seller of a song but, since the 1990s, not much of a musician. He hasn’t really been able to play much for years.
John Lee Hooker I saw live once, in West Lafayette, at a small bar off campus and he was OK. The backing band was playing really loud 12-bar stuff while John Lee was playing his own thing, not particularly 12 bar, REALLY loud, and sounding kind of crappy. Mailed it in.
Buddy Guy I gave up on long ago. Went to see him at a bar in Chicago in Rogers Park back in the mid 1980s. I was really pumped, because I had some early recordings of him with Muddy Waters and with Memphis Slim, which I really liked. I was amazed at how shitty he played and how he just didn’t care. Gave him one more shot, still bad, and never bothered again.
On the other hand, I saw Muddy Waters twice and both times he was simply The King. All out, all the time, that great voice in fine form and that singular style of slide guitar just screaming. The first time was at Chicagofest at Navy Pier in what must have been 1980. Johnny Winter played that night with Muddy. It was just electric. And then later that year I saw him at the Agora Ballroom in Cleveland, with Robert Jr. Lockwood opening. Awesome.
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LAMary said on February 22, 2012 at 5:48 pm
Jason, I really liked the Hungarian Reformed website. Noodle making! Excellent.
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MarkH said on February 22, 2012 at 6:11 pm
Deborah, I didn’t read that as any more than tap-dancing as opposed to capitulation. Different sites are handling Graham’s CNN appearance differently:
http://www.mediaite.com/tv/franklin-graham-defends-his-morning-joe-appearance-to-cnn-i-didnt-bring-up-the-presidents-faith/
Suffice to say as jeff(mmo) said yesterday, that Billy would never have put himself in that position. And regardless of what he judges as Obama’s or Santorum’s faith, he was not out of line with a lot of other Christian faiths that refuse to recognize Mormons as Christian.
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Deborah said on February 22, 2012 at 6:29 pm
Bob(NG) my husband went to the Eric Clapton guitar fest thingy, can’t remember the name of it and raved about Buddy Guy’s performance there (but Jeff Beck was his all time favorite). I refused to go because it was like 13 hours long in the stifling heat in July at some stadium. My husband couldn’t stop talking about how fabulous it was, he went with a rock and roll friend of his and he plans to go to the next one too. Count me out.
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maryinIN said on February 22, 2012 at 6:31 pm
Julie,
I got a glimpse of Santorum on CNN this morning while I was at the gym. It was video of him at a rally in Arizona, and yes, he was sporting the ashes. Due to the time zone difference, he must have gotten them very early, the better to be seen wearing them all day, I guess. I wonder if he’ll get them re-applied for the debate. As I recall they get kind of smudgy after a few hours.
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JayZ(the original) said on February 22, 2012 at 6:48 pm
Deborah, from ’57 until ’61 (yes I am that old) I saw many jazz greats like Dizzy Gillespie, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, at a lounge in the Sutherland Hotel on Chicago’s south side. It was on Cottage Grove and either 43rd or 47th. In the beginning I was often the only white person there, but gradually more and more Anglos from the west and north sides of town started attending. Many of the same musicians, and singers like Sarah Vaughan, also performed at clubs on Rush Street to a mostly white clientele. You are right about there being a totally different vibe in the room depending on the color of the audience.
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Connie said on February 22, 2012 at 7:12 pm
At the Dutch Reformed Bingo of my childhood the prizes were groceries. She wins a box of jello! No gambling, just fun.
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Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on February 22, 2012 at 7:31 pm
I’m back from a UMC evening service with my ashen forehead, waiting for someone to have discovered the Cotton Eyed Joe film of LBJ. That’d be sweet. We also talked the pastor (the youth director and I) into agreeing to let us have an “optional” footwashing following the Maundy Thursday service in the hall adjoining the sanctuary. That took seven years of friendly lobbying, but since the new youth minister has a mixed Vineyard/Episcopal background, he brought it up to me, and said as I smiled “so you’d considered it before?” We double-teamed the pastor, and he never had a chance. As long as we do it!
JayZ, I bow not to your years but your wise and efficacious use of the ones you’ve been given — I would have loved to have sat in on some of those shows, but I was too busy being born & learning to walk then to make it over from Valparaiso.
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caliban said on February 22, 2012 at 7:56 pm
JayZ, reminds me of my days getting frisked at the door goinging in to see John Lee at the Chess, on 6th and Livernois, just down the street from Louis the Hatter, no matter what Nancy says. Back in about 1970, my ex and I stumbled into a Nina Simone show at the Village Gate, after a spectacular meal at One First, the NYC restaurant entirely recreated from the dining room of a Gilded Age yacht. Greatest seviche ever served. And damn, I love that lime-infused raw shellfish. My best jazz memories are George Shearing at the piano bar and Yuseff Lateef outdoors at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KQCtE2t1kM
Not Keith Jarret, but close.
I’ve got ashes, but I’m an actual Catholic that believes in maintaining the earth, not cherishing the unborn more than their moms. I wouldn’t serve communion to Rick Santorum, because he is decidedly anti-life. Fuck this scumbag.
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caliban said on February 22, 2012 at 8:04 pm
It’s my firm belieef that Nancy coesn’t know any Catholics, We do not beliieves in the Bishops. Are you joking? Do you think anybody is hanging in to that Opus Dei shit> Tru finding a new century. Catholics don’t beloeve that shit. Catholics actually don’t believe Kerry was a traitor in VieyMam and W was a a hero.
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Jolene said on February 22, 2012 at 8:22 pm
Thanks for the update re Methodists and ashes, Jason. Glad to hear that they are catching up w/ the Catholics in symbolic rituals. As a child in our plain, rural Methodist church, I longed to be Catholic, as my Catholic friends had so many more interesting rituals and artifacts. I especially wanted some of the medals they wore around their necks, as we had no such things. Genuflecting, the sign of the cross, holy water, kneelers, and their statuary and stained glass windows all fascinated me–not to mention all the rules and practices that we didn’t have.
As a graduate student, before I joined the unchurched, I belonged to a liberal congregation that practiced foot washing and held a Seder, both of which were great. Glad to hear that practice is catching on too.
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Dubyabee said on February 22, 2012 at 8:24 pm
“Why in the world did anybody ever think BB could play guitar”? Why, listening to him, of course!
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Julie Robinson said on February 22, 2012 at 8:34 pm
Jeff, we’ve been washing feet on Maundy Thursday for several years. It’s not something I grew up with and I was a little weirded out by the idea, but it’s moving and humbling, especially if you are the one getting washed. It helps to line people up ahead of time if you think there may be reluctance. Hope it’s well accepted.
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maryinIN said on February 22, 2012 at 10:12 pm
Just because someone had speculated: No ashes were in evidence at the AZ debate, although some had been spotted earlier in the day.
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Cindy said on February 22, 2012 at 10:19 pm
Longtime lurker, first time commenter here … Virginia backed down on the abortion bill today: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/23/us/governor-of-virginia-calls-for-changes-in-abortion-bill.html
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Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on February 22, 2012 at 10:43 pm
Julie, we’ve got four of us lined up already — I think it will go well. Helps that the architecture is our friend, so it’s nearby but separate, so those who just are utterly unnerved by the idea (like our parish administrator, who has been the actual source of the torpedoes in past years) can easily avoid the option but still have the Maundy Thursday service experience, but for those who want to conclude with this, it’s a no-stairs easy walk shift.
What’s troubling is that, especially in my home tradition of the Disciples, so much of the anti-liturgical energy is wrapped up in a reflexive and thoughtless anti-Catholicism (aka “we ain’t Papists!”). Candles or ceremony or any set prayers are treated as the Whore of Babylon in the flesh, except when the elders pray each week at communion they all sound: exactly the same. But hey, they’re spontaneous and heartfelt, since we don’t read them out of a book. Um, yeah. Sure.
There’s a sifting going on where you’ll see an amorphous but vaguely connected evangelical non-denominational strand of Christianity, ditto charismatic/Pentecostal folks denominationally vague but related, a small multi-lobed but diversely progressive mainline/oldline cluster, the Methodists, the newly named “Great Commission Baptists” who are still Southern Baptists, and Catholics (yes, yes, and Orthodox onion-domed enclaves and LDS/Mormon spackles across the landscape, but in general); these six groupings will define American religion as long as you close your eyes and ignore African-American denominations and Hispanic Christians. It seems muddled, but it’s six where there’ve been twenty-seven.
The military has tended to sort clergy for Christian chaplaincy as liturgical (Catholic, Episcopal, Lutheran, and sort of some of the oldline/mainline), and non-liturgical (Baptists, Church of Christ, independent/non-denom), with a provision in recent years for Pentecostal chaplains cross-cutting those lines. But even that simple division has gotten confusing in recent years.
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Connie said on February 23, 2012 at 12:21 am
My cousin just posted on Facebook her ash forehead pics from a Dutch Reformed service at Holland’s most progressive RCA church.
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Deborah said on February 23, 2012 at 12:29 am
One more comment about BB before I call it quits for the day: it is sad to see performers and athletes who go on beyond their time. On the other hand this past weekend I saw Vanessa Redgrave in the movie Coriolanus and she was spectacular, stole the show. She can convey more in just her eyes than many, many actors, much less her face and body. Refreshing to see someone of a certain age who still has it.
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caliban said on February 23, 2012 at 5:51 am
Actually, I’d say Lightnin Hopkins is the greatest blues guitar player, or Hubert Sumlin, or Peter Green, and Duane Allman was the second best guitar player in his own band. In the long run, I’d take Jimi and Robin, with Mark Knopfler thrown in for flavor, and Rory Gallagher for grime. Greatest rhythym guitar ever? No doubt, that is Stills wah on Go Back Home, backing Clapton (who is not God, by any stretch, hell I can play that second Crossroads lead). Of course, Richard Thompson is the true virtuoso, or maybe Joe Walsh or Dave Davies. Wolf and Muddy and John Lee, clearly the best blues singers. I do love playing that Hooker foot-stomping guitar style. And then, there is Frippertronics. And David Gilmour playing Comfortably Numb.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUJ2piq1N0A
Greatest John Lee song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lp2Wl0yMufc
Cindy: Maybe some rational person pointed out to those sexist aholes it constituted an illegal search. Cuccinelli must be pissed off. He thought it was his best shot at getting within hailing distance of a vagina.
Deborah, if you like V. Redgrave, watch Julia. Two great actresses in an astounding story. And Jason Robards as Dash Hammet is outstanding. One of the best movies ever made. Most as good as Reds (Diane Keaton’s best movie, Warren Beatty’s second best, after Parallax View). And I think Pentimento is the best thing Lillian Hellman ever wrote, something my mom and I agreed upon. Although, The Little Foxes is a rip-roaring play. Aside from politics, Jane Fonda proved herself at least as good an actor as her dad. And Vanessa’s little sis (Lynn, A Taste of Honey, Georgy Girl, way better than Bridget Jones) is another great actress. I guess everyone in that family was very talented.
And Jeff (mmo) How ’bout them Catholic Pentacostals. When the folks at the end of the pew hold hands with the Holy Spirit on the Our Father, I’m not getting that.
It’s also seemed always obvious to me Tony Bennet was a better singer than Frank Sinatra, more swing, better phrasing, just a better voice, and a way cooler guy, and no mafioso pallys. Never tried to burn down a casino either. No Jilly Rizzo. And I once had a colleague that was a Mary Baker Eddy follower tell me on Ash Wednesday that praying could cure me of the afflictioon on my forehead, in the Twentieth Century. Of course, he and his wife had failed at praying away meningitis and their child died, so I passed on that one. This guy was an electrical engineer that graduated from Penn State. Holy shit.
BB King lived off that stinging tone from the Gibson SG by playing single notes that resonated. It was the guitar that made hi sound good, not the other way around. Go back and listen. Less skill than Johnny Ramone. And I’m fairly certain that Les Paul was Les Paul’s favorite guitar player. As I’m my own when I play well.
And Deborah, Larry Bird could still play, just shoot the damn ball, but not like he once did. It was sad when Magic came back. Like Michael Jordan trying to play baseball. What an idiot.
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Brandon said on February 23, 2012 at 12:57 pm
Coozledad, what is “Ray-Ban pattern baldness”?
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