Thursday, April 22, 2010

S IS FOR "SEVEN DAYS OF THE LORD" & "SLOPPY SOUNES"

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“ . . . It's new, it's improved, it's old-fashioned
Well it takes care of business, never needs winding
Never needs winding, never needs winding
Gets rid of blackheads, the heartbreak of Psoriasis
...You don't know the meaning of heartbreak, buddy! . . .”

GOOD STUFFS
S IS FOR “SEVEN DAYS OF THE LORD” :

Yup, just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water… He’s baaaaack! Heeere's Johnny!

Well, don’t blame me - I’m just the messenger. Knowing that I had all but written a couple of “A To Z” Blog Bits, my friend Arlee Bird encouraged me to post them even though I have officially dropped out of the April Challenge. So, here’s a couple of sweet nuttins for yaz:

On page number one of ‘The Dictionary Of Cultural Literacy’ it says, “No one in the English-speaking world can be considered literate without a basic knowledge of the Bible.”

Well, we all know The Bible tells us that God created all that was created in six days and on the seventh day He rested. (I guess even a great god like God gets a little tired.) But one month after I turned 20, I put pen to paper and straightened that story out. I’ll probably rot in hell for having written this, but all is not lost as the music’s better there.
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SEVEN DAYS OF THE LORD

On one dreary Monday
God sat on his golden throne
In His palace on a cloud
Racking His brain for something to do
He began to think aloud

Bored and tired
Yawning all the while
And cheating at some solitaire
Until He found an idea
In the flash of a light bulb’s glare

And in one brilliant move
He created a ball of earth
He decided to call it “Earth”
And tried to sell it at a pawn shop
But could not get what it was worth

So He decided to keep it
But it troubled Him:
It needed something there
He could not think of what to add
So that night He said a prayer

And six days later
His mother made a suggestion
She said, “It is time that life began”
So on the seventh day, as a practical joke
God created man.

BAD STUFFS
S IS FOR “SLOPPY SOUNES” :

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Due to its subject matter, the following really belongs on my political Blog ‘Ferret-Faced Fascist Friends’, but Arlee Bird urged me to post it here. Perhaps I’ll post it in both places.

Some weeks back in yonder distant place I borrowed a book from my buddy The Great L.C. He had recently read it and asked if I’d like to do the same. It was written by Howard Sounes and titled ‘DOWN THE HIGHWAY: The Life Of Bob Dylan’. Well, I have been listening to some of Dylan’s music since I was 17 or 18, but I had never before read a biography about him.

It turns out that Dylan is a womanizing weirdo - a musical genius to be sure, but also a womanizing weirdo. And the book was nuttin’ flashy but plenty informative. However, there were a few instances of really sloppy researching that irritated me. For instance, on page 324 it is written:

Bob met his old college friend Dave Whitaker after a concert in Oakland, California, in mid-November, and spoke to Dave’s eleven-year-old son, Ubi. “Would you send me a guitar?” asked the kid. The next day a truck pulled up with a gift from Dylan – a brand new Fender Stratocaster decorated with quotations from the Book of Paul.

Do you remember how I said that ‘The Dictionary Of Cultural Literacy’ says, “No one in the English-speaking world can be considered literate without a basic knowledge of the Bible”? Well, evidently the author Howard Sounes is illiterate. I have read The Bible many times but I have yet to find “the Book of Paul” in any version of The Bible that has passed before my eyes.

Paul did indeed write the majority of the “books” of The New Testament, such as the Book of Romans, the Book of Philippians, Colossians, Corinthians I & II, etc. But nowhere in any Bible is there anything known as “the book of Paul”. I guess author Sounes has spent more time reading the important stuffs in Rolling Stone ragazine than he has reading The Word Of God.

What really ticked me off was the usual Liberal falsehoods about the late great Senator McCarthy. But I don’t suppose we could expect any Rock music writer to be any more careful with his information about McCarthy than he is with his information about The Bible.

On page 55 he writes:

To show Bob what they were struggling against, Whitaker took him to see ‘Operation Abolition’, a propaganda film in support of Senator Joseph McCarthy’s House Un-American Activities Committee.

OK, what’s wrong with that? Anyone? There is a glaring flaw in that sentence, and it has nothing to do with calling a film in support of McCarthy “propaganda”.

Here’s a very, very basic civics lesson for y’all: In the United States of America, we have a bicameral legislative system. The legislature consists of two branches: the Senate and the House Of Representatives. Senators are NOT Congressmen from the House Of Representatives and Congressmen from the House Of Representatives are NOT Senators.

Now it’s true that there was an Un-American Activities Committee in the House Of Representatives, hence the name “HOUSE Un-American Activities Committee”, or “HUAC” for short. But will someone please explain to me how it could have been led by a Senator? How could it have been “Senator Joseph McCarthy’s House Un-American Activities Committee” if McCarthy was a Senator and this was a committee in the House Of Representatives? It couldn’t have been, and it wasn’t! It’s a good thing Sounes is writing about a Rock musician, because if he were writing about anything more important than that he’d have been blistered on his buns by someone in the media for such sloppy reporting.

And then later, on page 71, Sounes again shows his total ignorance about Senator McCarthy when he writes:

By 1951, due to the McCarthy blacklist, The Weavers were effectively put out of business because of their radical left-wing politics.

The McCarthy blacklist? Another blatant falsehood perpetuated by the Left for half a century. I have probably read every important book ever written about McCarthy, and McCarthy had no “blacklist”! McCarthy had no association with Hollyweird and the entertainment fields; he was solely involved in investigating subversives who had infiltrated the U.S. government and were therefore “security risks”. Anyone who faults McCarthy for any performers being “blacklisted”, whether in the movie or music industries or any other entertainment field, that person doesn’t have a clue what they are talking about.

Indeed the HUAC interviewed suspected Communists in entertainment and, as a result, Hollyweird got nervous and decided to clean its own house by “blacklisting” certain individuals. But again, none of that was related to McCarthy’s investigations in the Senate. McCarthy was looking into government agencies and the U.S. Military and he never strayed into public arenas such as the music recording industry and flaky-wacky Hollywood.

Sheesh! Never send a Rock music writer to do a religious or political writer’s job!

BONUS MATERIAL
S IS FOR “SHROUD OF TURIN” :
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In an attempt to atone for my irreverence displayed in “Seven Days Of The Lord”, I’m going to link you to a very short but worthwhile article about The Shroud Of Turin. I have had a strong interest in the Shroud for many years; I’ve read a couple of books on the subject, as well as some articles and a collection of scientific papers.

I am nearly as convinced as I can be that The Shroud Of Turin is indeed the burial cloth that wrapped the body of Jesus Christ, and I believe the image the Shroud contains is due to a burst of energy at the moment of the Resurrection. Until someone can duplicate all of the anomalies found in the Shroud Of Turin using ancient methods and materials, I will remain convinced that this is the real deal. If you aren’t informed of what I’m referring to, check out “Is The Shroud Of Turin Authentic?” written by John White for The New American.

I hope to see y'all again on "Day-W".
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Le McQuote Du Jour:
I do not think we need fear too much about the Communists dropping atomic bombs on Washington. They would kill too many of their friends that way.
~ Super-Senator McCarthy

~ Stephen T. McCarthy
Doggtor of Semiliterate, Half-Naked Blogological Studies
Stream O’Consciousness University at Salamander Station, Saharagobi

Letter Links:
ABC - DE - FG - HIJKLMNO -

YE OLDE COMMENT POLICY: All comments, pro and con, are welcome. However, ad hominem attacks and disrespectful epithets will not be tolerated (read: "posted"). After all, this isn’t Amazon.com, so I don’t have to put up with that kind of bovine excrement.
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18 comments:

  1. Hehehe. Thanks for the laughs!

    Laugh one:
    His mother made a suggestion
    She said, “It is time that life began”
    So, on the seventh day, as a practical joke
    God created man.

    Laugh two: Well, evidently the author Howard Sounes is illiterate. I have read The Bible many times but I have yet to find “the Book of Paul” in any version of The Bible that has passed before my eyes.

    Laugh three: Hollyweird

    Laugh four: I do not think we need fear too much about the Communists dropping atomic bombs on Washington. They would kill too many of their friends that way.

    ok: ye need to send me your address so that I can respond to your comment on my blog yesterday! for some reason I'm having difficulty embedding links in my comments ...

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  2. Hi it's lovely to see you again.
    I loved the poem, Very well thought out and to me it was great.
    Some great facts about the wonderful Bob Dylan, I just thought he sang good songs,
    Hope to see you again before this challenge ends.

    Yvonne.

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  3. Great to see you back again!

    Good -- Now is this poem Biblically sound? It's all a goof from your mind of a younger day and I always like to think that God has a sense of humor--after where did we get ours (that is those of us who have one)?

    Bad -- Just the sorts of things I would have probably just passed by and not caught if I had read this book. But those are indeed are blatant errors and like you say, it's a good think it's a book about rock and roll-- the audience of this book probably believes these things anyway. What about the facts about Dylan-- accurate? With those errors one might want to question many of the purported facts.

    Shroud -- from what I've heard and read I too think the shroud is probably authentic. It's amazing that it has survived to this day like it has.

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  4. Um, I did like this part ~~~> “No one in the English-speaking world can be considered literate without a basic knowledge of the Bible.” :O)

    I'm that Apolitical person you used to be. Whether that's wrong or right, it's just who I am. At least at this point in my life.

    I checked out the link you left in the comments of my blog. Cute! :) I like that website.

    Adios for now!

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  5. The sloppy journalism you cite is really almost all we get in that department. It makes you question every aspect of what he is reporting. Did Dylan REALLY have a guitar delivered with Biblical quotes? Did he deliver a guitar at all? Ubi the judge. But those errors you point out seem like basic aspects of knowledge that at least his editor should have caught.

    Perhaps Sounes should be directed to your blog. He would learn something. I will leave that to you, however. His email is: contact@howardsounes.com

    As for the poem, I think God will forgive you. You just ain't THAT bad!

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  6. AlliAllo ~
    Thanks!
    But... "Hollyweird" - I can't take any credit for that one. It's been said a-lotsa times by a-lotsa folks for a-lotsa years. Of course, that doesn't make it any less true.

    Hmmm... OK, well I guess the search is on then to try to discover where you might have posted yer Email address. I'll pack some bacon and some beans, dig my tent out of the garage and hit the trails...

    YVONNE ~
    Thanks for stopping by. I should be back with sumpin' else on Day-W.

    rLEE-b ~
    >>Now is this poem Biblically sound?
    Not at all, Brother. It's a totally unsubstantiated "alternative view". Meaning that it will probably be the basis for Dan Brown's next bestseller.

    LISA ~
    Thanks! I can always count on you to enjoy at least one aspect of EVERYTHING I post (usually an aspect that I myself did not think, write or create).
    ;o)

    MR. PAULBOY ~
    Ibi the judge? Ha!
    I dersn't know. But you raise the same question that Arlee Bird did, and it's a fair question.

    And yes, I thought the same thing (although I didn't take the trouble to write it - everyone always complaining that my posts are too long as it is): it's bad enough that Sounes screwed up, but where the hell was his professional editor? Or maybe the thought is: 'Well, it's just about The Bible and it's just a couple of cheap, inaccurate shots at McCarthy, and those are the sorts of things readers EXPECT to find in a book about a womanizing weirdo Rock star'.

    I'll pass on pointing out to Sounes the errors of his ways, but if someone else wanted to seize that opportunity it wouldn't bother me any.

    >>As for the poem, I think God will forgive you. You just ain't THAT bad!

    Hmmm... Well, I can try harder.

    ~ McMeboy
    "As a dog returns to his own vomit,
    so a fool repeats his folly."
    ~ Proverbs 26:11

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  7. Ah well, you see I'm a bloody Aussie, us folk don't know these thing ye see, love?

    :) ok email: jessica.carmen.bell@gmail.com

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  8. Alright, AlliAllo, you are forgiven. Not for being a bloody Aussie, of course, but for not knowin'. Just don't let it happen again.

    ~ Bloody T. McAmericandoggboy

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  9. I enjoyed this post from the top of the good the bottom of the bad and beyond. I just really like reading your stuffs. I'll be back on day W.

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  10. Hey there STM - picked up my Granular Lecithin today. Took my first dose in a glass of orange juice. How do you take it?

    Have you ever seen Food, Inc.? I'll send you the link if you haven't and you're interested.

    Have a great weekend!

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  11. Well articulated blog bit my friend. I read the article and I'm impressed with the research he did. It convinced me.

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  12. MARJORIE ~
    Many thanks!
    Unless you have any interest in the Western movie 'The Wild Bunch' or the early lyrics of singer/songwriter Tom Waits, you probably won't find Day-W to be to your liking. But after that, I will return to doing my own kind of "free Stuffs", and that you may find more worthwhile.

    Thanks for checking in and commenting!

    LISA ~
    I'll respond on your own Blog.

    BR'ER ~
    Thanks, Marc! Yeah, as far as I'm concerned, The Shroud Of Turin must be the most fascinating object on this planet. As one digs into the facts it just becomes more and more astounding.

    ~ "Lonesome Dogg" McMe

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  13. Here's the link for Food, Inc. Itshttp://video.pbs.org/video/1472879887
    Here's a brief synopsis: "In Food, Inc., filmmaker Robert Kenner lifts the veil on our nation's food industry, exposing the highly mechanized underbelly that has been hidden from the American consumer with the consent of our government's regulatory agencies, USDA and FDA. Our nation's food supply is now controlled by a handful of corporations that often put profit ahead of consumer health, the livelihood of the American farmer, the safety of workers and our own environment."

    It's about 92 minutes long, but it's free and in my opinion, well worth every minute of time spent watching it.

    The reason I don't comment in the comment section of my blog is because frankly, I found it tiresome and discovered that if I email from the comments (they come to my email), it's much easier. Just the way my brain works I guess.

    I read your comment while out and about (but can't email you back since you don't have your blog set up that way -- in case you didn't know.:)) and decided to pick up more Granular Lecithin. My bf is going to take it too, so we needed more.

    Thanks again Stephen. I'm looking forward to softer skin and clean arteries! :O)

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  14. http://video.pbs.org/video/1472879887

    LISA ~
    Hey, THANKS! It sounds like it's right up my alley and I will check it out when time permits.

    Don't even get me started on the USDA and FDA. Having read G. Edward Griffin's "WORLD WITHOUT CANCER", I am going into this as already no fan of those government agencies. (But then again, I'm no fan of most government agencies. If only the people knew - if only the people would read more nonfiction and watch less boob tube. But... alas!)

    Thanks again, Lisa. I appreciate the info.

    ~ "Lonesome Dogg" McMe

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  15. Wow-I have really missed ready your blog! This post is a good reason why! I wish I could remember all you said about McCarthy! Unfortunately, I'm one of those people who doesn't do well in spontaneous debates. I leave without saying what I really should, then wake up at midnight remembering what I should have said. It makes me want to pick up the phone and call them with "and another thing"! I'm glad Arlee talked you into posting this. I'm also glad to see you're posting once a week and that you are getting a pretty good following! Very good read!

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  16. JUDY ~
    Welcome back! Glad to see you're still with us. We were about to send out a search party armed with flashlights and beer. (Well, it ain't a party without beer, is it?)

    ~ "Lonesome Dogg" McMe

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  17. I posted on granular Lecithin for my "V" word today. Check it out -- I quoted you. Hope you don't mind. :O)

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  18. LISA ~
    "V Is For Granular Lecithin"?
    Ha! Makes perfect sense to me!

    No, I don't mind. I'll check it out right now. (I actually had considered writing about Lecithin on "Day-L". How conventional of me, eh? ;o)

    ~ "Lonesome Dogg" McConventional

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