Separated at Birth, or Before and After?

Then:

 

Now:

 

I think he looked better without the stubble...

Don't get desperate

While looking for something else - as always - I came across this:



The guys J.D. credits with 'helping' him write that song are named Don, Glenn & Jackson - but you probably knew that already. On the record for which this song was the centerpiece, the Doolin-Dalton reprise segues into Don & Glenn's Desperado reprise.

As a kid, I had been to Coffeyville a few times with my grandparents, either shopping for fishing gear at Gibson's with my Granddad, to the Read's Department Store with my Grandmother, or hanging out with my uncle and digging CCR. On one trip with my Grandmother, we went to the Condon National Bank (one of the banks the D-D gang tried to heist) maybe around 1969-1971, but I don't know if it was still in the same location as the 1892 robbery.

About 20 years ago or so, we were in southeast Kansas for a cousin's wedding, just a few miles west of Coffeyville. Having a bit of spare time before the festivities, we took a side trip over to see the Dalton Defenders Museum. So apparently pop culture can spark an interest in historical research.

About 41 years ago...

Dang, that sounds like a long, long time.

Anyway, about this time in 1976, I had just gotten my driver's license (licence for MZ), and with my girlfriend (Oh, Sandy!) and another couple, we made our way east to the Dallas Convention Center to see Ms. Ronstadt.

Leo Sayer opened:

Before the plague known as disco hit the United States...

I think that after Sayer's set, Andrew Gold may have done a mini-warm up before Linda came on. I'm not totally sure - not because it was the '70s, but mainly because it was 41 years ago.

Love the Midnight Special neon signs...and Waddy Wachtel on guitar!

I believe Linda opened with this Karla Bonoff-penned song:



This one was actually written by Linda and was probably in that night's set:



And another, from her earlier Don't Cry Now album:



The Offenbach videos are probably pretty close to the show I saw, being likely from the same tour. I think it's interesting when I listen to young folks say they wish they'd been around to hear the music I grew up with.  Good times.

BTW, by the time we'd dropped off the other couple in North Arlington, it was about 1:00 a.m. when I got Sandy back to her parents' house on the shores of Lake Arlington. Suffice to say her dad was kinda miffed that we lingered in the car for several (15-20?) minutes before I walked her up to the door. He probably needn't have worried, as I didn't have much game at that age.  The more things change, the more they stay the same...[sigh].

And another y otro

It seems that more Hollywood icons have been fired by their studio for inappropriate behavior.

Warner Brothers/Merry Melodies/Loony Tunes has let go two of its biggest stars, after it has come to light that both had cavorted around on set pantsless.

Chauvinist pig?

Well, isn't that just ducky? 

Someone at work commented last week that with all the escapades and scandals, we could see half of the Congress driven out of office.  I replied that that was all well and such, but how the heck can we get rid of  the other half?

 

I failed

• Last evening's sermon - mostly from the Book of James - dealt with the manifestations of faith, i.e. works, through which we evidence that we are Christians. The associate pastor recounted stories from his college years of picking up hitch-hikers and such. Prior to the service, they ran a three or four minute video narrated by member and local sports guy Norm H., asking the congregation for gently used blankets, gloves, scarves and the like for the Austin Street Shelter. (BTW, if some weekend our pastor is out of town, I would be tickled to hear Mr. H. deliver the message.)
• I stopped by the grocery on my way home. On the way in, there was a woman standing off to the side of the entry, with some children. She held a sign. I glanced briefly enough to see that the sign said something about "I have three children...", and nodded as I walked into the store. The family looked vaguely Middle-Eastern.
• Once in the store, I set about quickly getting the items I needed, thinking that I would check my vehicle console to see if I had some folding money when I got done. After grabbing the first couple items, I reached in my pocket, and realized I had just enough money to make a small donation, and hurried to get the other three things I needed.
• After clearing the self-check line, I looked toward the door, but didn't see the family. Carrying my bag out, I looked up and down the sidewalk, and across the parking lot, but didn't see any sign of them, even though it had been just a few minutes. I got in my car and scanned the parking lot...still nothing. I drove across the boulevard to the other supermarket - not there, nor at the fast food place out front, nor the coffee retailer in front of the first one.
• My heart was heavy, as I had failed to act when I had the chance. Whether they left dejected, or were asked to leave by the store manager, I can't know.
• While my intended donation might not have made much of a difference financially, I would have hoped that it could've sent the message that God cares about them. 
• I pray I don't whiff the next opportunity.

Matthew 25:40

Last Man Standing

So, what happens to the last dude left after all the others have been accused or proved to have behaved badly.

Just today, the guy from NBC - who I had generally regarded as a dullard - got canned, as well as the folksy Minnesota storyteller. WTH - did he expose himself to a moose?

Now I am to understand that there is an allegation that the creator of the Muppets reportedly groped Miss Piggy and Kermit Frog underneath their garments.

Where does it all end?

Ardere et Lucere

I think I have in the past posted excerpts of these lyrics, some of my favorites, and apropos to the season:

Now the trouble with you and me, my friend
Is the trouble with this nation
Too many blessings, too little appreciation
And I know that kind of notion—well, it just ain't cool
So send me back to Sunday school
Because I'm tired of waiting for reason to arrive
It's too long we've been living
These unexamined lives

I've got great expectations
I've got family and friends
I've got satisfying work
I've got a back that bends
For every breath, for every day of living
This is my Thanksgiving

And have you noticed that an angry man
Can only get so far
Until he reconciles the way he thinks things ought to be
With the way things are?

Here in this fragmented world, I still believe
In learning how to give love, and how to receive it
And I would not be among those who abuse this privilege

Sometimes you get the best light from a burning bridge¹

Know when to walk away, and know when to run.

OK, I maybe kinda included one of the composer's early benefactor's lines there...

This Thanksgiving, I am truly thankful for the blessings in my life, and enlightenment that comes from burning the right bridges.

¹ Henley/Winding/Lynch