When I squeeze you, you make noise!

On this date (8/29) back in 1970, that one hit wonder, "Ernie" crashed onto the Top 40 with the bathtime fun-song "Rubber Duckie". Officially classified as a novelty song, this one made it up to #16. I was going to put this in the "Just Shoot Me" list, but I decided to give it a pass, since it was all in fun.

Wedding Decorations...

I shot over 500 pictures this weekend; A friends' wedding, and 2 events at our church (a bicentennial celebration and a “fun day family carnival”)…. Now I just have to wade through them all and “buff and polish”. This is shot #1, from the wedding….

Makes Me Feel Bad For The Rest.......

On this date (8/27) in 1977, Carley Simon hit the Top 40 with "Nobody Does It Better", the theme song from the James Bond movie "The Spy Who Loved Me". This was the first Bond movie theme song with a title different than the associated film........

Screened In...

Detail from a carved wooden screen, from the middle east... in out house.

The Ink Is Black, The Page Is White, Together We Learn, To Read And Write

On this date (8/26) back in 1972, Three Dog Night’s “Black and White” made it’s chart debut. This song touting racial equality ended up atop the charts. A kind of “Why Can’t We All Just Get Along” song, the lighthearted touch certainly garnered major league exposure. According to Song-Facts, this was written by American Folk singer Earl Robinson in 1954 with lyricist David Arkin. The song was inspired by the US Supreme Court barring segregation in public schools. I had this 45rpm as a 12 year old, I think it was the cowbells that hooked me.

Michael, Illinois

This one’s from a few years back, early 1996, to be exact. Three years after the Midwest’s “Great Flood” of 1993, there were still many, many, signs of the damage. Michael is just a couple miles north of Hardin, IL, where the Illinois River reached 42.36 feet, over 17 feet above flood stage, and more than 4 feet above the previous record...

Pop, Pop, Pop Muzik!

Making it's Top 40 debut today (8/25) back in 1979, "Pop Muzik" by "M". This one went all the way to #1, and even graced my 45 collection. "M" was the pseudonym of British pop musician Robin Scott. I love his description of the song: "...I really wanted to make a simple, bland statement..."

Handprint

A child’s handprint, in a small concrete area along a walkway at my son’s old pre-school. He started kindergarden this week!

Big wheels keep on turning, carry me home to see my kin...

Lynyrd Skynyrd had their biggest hit in 1975, with Sweet Home Alabama. This song of the south peaked at #8, and made it's Top 40 debut on this date (8/24/1975). Doesn't seem like 30 years ago.... Skynyrd wasn't much of a Top 40 band, but this song reigned in the honky-tonk bar-band rowdyness just enough to wrap it around a first class pop "hook".... This was actually my introduction to Skynyrd, but it wasn't too long after this that I discovered the first album (Pronounced leh-nerd skin-nerd) and was completely hooked. The 5 studio albums released before the plane crash are all classics, definitive mid-70's Southern Rock. They remain a personal favorite, even through the various post-crash incarnations.

Fishing In The Abstract

My “other” finalist from the July, 2005 contest at BetterPhotograph.com. This one’s actually been a finalist twice, it’s a repost from last August (2004). And a shot from a while before that. This was taken while headed to the Jacksonville, FL airport, on the way home from a business trip. We saw a sign that said “Jax Beaches”, and stopped for 5 minutes or so…. .

Just Shoot Me #930

Making its Top 40 debut today (8/30) in 1975: Morris Albert with "Feelings"... This one made it all the way to #6, but mercifully, was Albert's only visit to the Top 40.

Feeeeelings, Whoa, Whoa, Whoa, Feeelings.......

At The Ready

One of my finalists from BetterPhoto.com’s July contest… I had 2 finalists, but stalled (as usual) there. This was a repost in the contest, originally entered in 2/2005. Lots of GREAT winners, though, check them out here!

Moog

Just saw that Robert A. Moog, the engineer who invented the synthesizers died yesterday (8/21/05). Read more here. Guess I'll have to play "Switched On Bach" tonight to commemorate his passing.

Spread your tiny wings and fly away

"And take the snow back with you"
On this day (8/22) back in 1970, Anne Murray's first Top 40 hit of the 70's made it's debut. "Snowbird" seems a bit out of season for August, when a cold snap might actually be welcome. Regardless, this one made it to #8...

Forget about your cares, it is time to relax, at the junction...

We took the “back way” to Des Moines IA last week, across the north edge of St. Louis then up Rt-61 through Missouri. Much less boring than the Interstate through Springfield, IL and Peoria. We stopped for gas in tiny Wayland MO, just shy of the MO/IA line,. This place was next to the gas station…