JSngry

Yes, Prestonwood Baptist, a church that feels like a stadium (or so I've been told): I've driven by it many times, and it kinda looks like one from the outside too:

That's the math, yeah, but...I had no real insight into the "why" of all this until I met my wife (a proud product of Boomer, WV) and started spending real time with people with deep roots in West Virginia, Virginia, Southern Ohio, Kentucky, that whole area. It's not just the meter of the music that sounds like that, it's the speech, the walk, the posture, the whole life. Kittie Wells used to sound like a voice to me, some iconic assemblage of sound in the form of a voice. Now she sounds like my mother-in-law. (Too bad it doesn't work the other way around ) And it's different there than it is in Texas, which is also different than it is in the so-called "Deep South". Yet it's all called "Country", just as it's all called "Jazz", etc., which yeah, I suppose it is. But before of any of that, it's about people. And people are...interesting, to put it mildly. Individually and collectively. Differences and similarities. I'm increasingly becoming a fan of the 3-D Venn diagram, you might say. As for Willie, he started running out of steam for me in the late 70s, tbh. But I give him ongoing props for staying stoned that long, living even longer, and just for always being there in general with something besides mummydom. Maybe it's just genetics, or maybe it IS the herb! Or maybe both! But then there's this... country boys who stuck their finger in the light socket and never got around to pulling it out. All bets are off once the finger gets stuck in the socket!

The Central Park Five The Chicago Seven Whoever It Was Who Said "Number 9"

Same here, more or less (I think the "point of the article" was to be dutifully hip PR, but other than that, thanks for pretty much nothing on this one, The Atlantic!). I'll post this one one more time, just becuase: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZhQhMpb2pY I do think the "country jazz" thing presented in the article is a little off, though, since there's a fundamental difference in rhythmic impetus between most "country jazz" players (there's a "bluegrass" thing going on in the rhythm that seems to not be noticed by those eager to proclaim an exactness of kinship) as opposed to "jazz jazz" players (where there's...not a bluegrass thing going on ). This became apparent to me on an eight hour (each way) road trip a few years ago with a guy who was deep into "Western Swing" and had an impressive archive on his iPod. It's really not "the same thing", and all the better so for all concerned. Opposites attract, and Yin becomes Yang eventually (and vice-versa). 6 does indeed turn out to be 9, and I don't mind. But make the check out right anyway. All of which just to the point that, same thing, only different, and that's "and", not "but".

Texas City Disaster: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_City_Disaster You might have to be "local" to still know about it, but the New London School explosion of 1937 was still carrying much trauma with it when I was growing up in East Texas back in the 50s & 60s, and you can still find a few people directly touched by it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_London_School_explosion

Yes! One would be excused for thinking that that whole Central Texas area is a hotbed of Southern Baptists due to Baylor, but the fact is that the area was settled by Czechs, Germans, & Poles, and that once you get out of Waco, the little towns around it still show those roots. Although our image screams otherwise, we are a state of widely divergent topographies and populations.

The 20 miles between Waco & West are "country miles", meaning that there's a significant gap in population between the two towns. You don't got out of West into Waco, you leave West, drive a while, and then come into Waco In between...not much, just land and the space it occupies, with a few wispy places with names attached to them in between. Here's a map: http://maps.google.com/maps?bav=on.2,or.r_qf.&bvm=bv.45368065,d.b2I&biw=1540&bih=765&q=west,+tx&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=0x864f7566cf0ca5c7:0xfb25f7a61ca24545,West,+TX&gl=us&sa=X&ei=fnZvUfe1Joag2QXHiIDoAw&ved=0CIoBELYD "Wide open spaces" still exist.

Not exactly Waco (West is a little town distinctly removed from Waco), and not at this point any indication to think of it as anything other than an industrial accident. We have godawfully lax, horribly lax, criminally lax if you ask me, industrial safety laws and even worse enforcement of them. Burdensome regulation, and all that. Not the first fire at a chemical plant in recent years...you may or may not have heard about this one: http://www.cbsnews.com/2100-201_162-20114848.html Next time you hear the phrase "burdensome regulation", remember that they so often come from the lips of people who don't mind the possibility of something like this occurring as long as it actually doesn't, but funny how it actually does happen, eh?

Tots Tater Smith Larry Tate

Ralph Bass Frank Viola Marcello Mastroianni

Thanks. Had only sporadic tv access during that time...no wonder I don't remember them!

I don't remember Gowdy/Meredith...when/where was that?

The beatheads dig Chico. For real. Are there beatheads where you live? Is a beathead someone who samples bits of songs for hip hop, etc? Yeah, DJ Shadow used to live in this area and frequented the stores here of course. One of the great old stores is on the cover of his Entroducing album. All of that, yeah. In line with that, if one is so inclined to consider such things, this should not be ruled out as a possible listening choice:

Got most of it, but not all - it's Snowden - No One In Control Happy stuff!

Didn't like him at first, much preferred the minimalism of Ray Scott. Summerall just seemed too damn corporate-happychatty (Westinghouse! Gee YEAH! Nice catch too!). But hell, you hear anybody that often for that many years, and their annoyances can become appealing. Such was the case with Summerall, eventually evolving into legendom as he himself developed a little more depth as time worked its magic (or whatever it is that time works...).. RIP, and thanks.

gentry ftw jfc

Roger Moore Timothy Dalton Dolton Records

True story - Last summer, I was negligent about a letter out to the mailbox in time for the day's pickup, so when I saw the postman drive by, I put on some pants and a t-shirt and ran out the door hollering "WAIT A MINUTE MISTER POSTMAN. PLEASE, MISTER POSTMAN" The guy not only stopped the truck, but he was laughing when I got there. At me or with me, I couldn't tell. But he stopped and took my letter, and I had the good sense not to tell to to deliver the letter, the sooner the better. All that for less than half the cost of a convenience store hot dog. If there's a better reason for loving America instead of leaving it, I don't know what it would be.

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