And now, for something completely different...Again

In honor of Thanksgiving, I'm still giving politics a rest.

Since I live in the Ocala/Marion County area of Florida, I occasionally write about local celebrities. For example, John Travolta's contributions as a good citizen, as well as Mel Tillis and Bobby Goldboro.

Well, most of you remember The Royal Guardsmen, of "Snoopy vs the Red Baron" fame. (Check this one out too.) What you probably don't know is that they were an Ocala group and one member still lives here.

I found an interesting YouTube video that showcases their musical talents on other than the Snoopy novelty songs. My friend had this album. Good to listen to again.

(Also here's another non-Snoopy song.)

It's time for thanks.

So screw politics. Time enough for that later.

I have a lot to be thankful for, and I am, but I won't bore you with it right now.

But I did have a great Thanksgiving Day. It was just Mrs. Right and me, as usual and just as the way we like it. Then we got up at 4 am for Black Friday because, well hell, I forget why? Do remember buying lots of stuff.

After a few hours we returned. I gave serious thought about taking a long nap, but remembered I had some work to do. And now I'm sitting at my computer working on a couple of projects. You see, I didn't have to go to work today....but I did have to get some work done. See the difference? Me neither.

How about some music? Anyway, started playing some old songs that have been helping me keep it together today and I thought..what the hell...I'll share with you.

Got some songs from the 1960s when there was lots of different music on AM radio. Why? Only a few rock stations around. Well, I remember WQAM in Miami that programmed some terrific music. Here's some of the songs I heard back in the day, courtesy of YouTube:

Needles and Pins by The Searchers

Neon Rainbow by The Boxtops

Sunshine of Your Love by The Cream (and they were too)

Soul Deep also by The Boxtops (an underrated group that I listened to a lot)

Paint It Black by The Rolling Stones

We Ain't Got Nothin' Yet by the Blues Magoos

Time Has Come Today by the Chambers Brothers

Who'll Stop the Rain? by Creedence Clearwater Revival

Paranoid by Black Sabbath

Yep, we old boomers could rock back then. You know, when the dinosaurs roamed.

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For the hell of it, how about some music from the 1980s...there actually was some good stuff then.

Remember when MTV used to have, you know, actual music? Think very hard. Well, here's a couple of very different songs with the same title that showcased some of the best of 80s rock:

Midnight Blue by Melissa Manchester (actually from the 70s but also had success in 80s)

followed by

Midnight Blue by Lou Gramm

I'm 57% Male...or at least my blog is

Thanks to a post by Tim Blair, I just had to find out if my blog was written by a man or woman.

Well, it turns out that: We guess http://rightinflorida.blogspot.com/ is written by a man (57%), however it's quite gender neutral.

That might explain some of my "ladies days" complaints.

Guess it's time to "butch up."

UPDATE (11/27/08)

Wow! This is so cool. Apparently I butched up without making an effort. I just checked back on the above link and found I've become more studly. The reading is now: We think http://rightinflorida.blogspot.com/ is written by a man (66%).

I just knew I was manly. Well, 2/3rds of one anyway. Hey, I'll take what I can get.

By the way...Happy Thanksgiving!

How about a song?

I'm in the mood for something by David Bowie.

This cut - Sorrow - was from the Pin Ups album which was Bowie covering songs by others. I became a fan of his as soon as I heard this song, way, way back in the day.

And I am straight, damn it!

I loved the opening line: "With your long blond hair and your eyes of blue." And a couple of years later I met Mrs. Right who had-you guessed it-long blond hair and blue eyes.

I played the song for her shortly after we married...and she had a problem with the second line: "The only thing I ever got from you---was sorrow."

That's where the similarities ended.

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Oh, what the hell...here's a cut from the same album called See Emily Play. You don't hear that anymore. (Here's the original by Pink Floyd.)

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One more...Where Have All The Good Times Gone. (Here's the original by The Kinks)

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Damn...there was such good music back in the long ago.

Sigh...and so it also goes in Marion County

Well, apparently some jobs become more valuable:

Ocala - Fifteen years ago, when Milagros "Millie" Rosa first started working as a Spanish-English interpreter in the 5th Judicial Circuit, the calls were few and far between.

Now, her phone doesn't stop ringing.

The contract interpreter works seven days a week, shuttling back and forth between court and the jail, translating for nearly 90 to 100 Hispanic individuals per month in misdemeanor, family law and juvenile cases. Most of her misdemeanor cases involve petty traffic offenses, such as driving without a valid driver's license. Over 90 percent of her clients, she says, are in the country illegally.

What would be really cool is if there was a serious influx of legal aliens with money. (Heavy sigh)

Then again...

Then again, we have our other celebrities. Or, as the Ocala Star-Banner headline has it:

Agents say Ocala's 'King of Crack' dethroned

Sigh. Oh, well, they can't all be Hollywood actors.

John Travolta, Good Citizen

Our most famous resident just did another good deed for his fellow citizens in Marion County.

John Travolta and his wife Kelly Preston did an opening of his new movie here in Ocala/Marion County. And raised money for a charitable cause. Not the first time he's done that. He may be Hollywood, but he's also just a guy in the neighborhood.

It seems actors John Travolta and Kelly Preston really do love Ocala.

As evidence, there's the benefits they've been doing - Friday for the Boys & Girls Club - and previously for tornado victims. Then, of course, they're glad to tell you they love their current hometown.

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The star couple were relaxed and friendly with the journalists.

They talked about the movie - which stars an animated dog voiced by Travolta - and about their own pet dogs.

And they waxed poetic about this community.

"I so love living here," Travolta said. "I've been all over the world, and I just can't wait to get back to Ocala."

They praised the weather and the "country" yet "metropolitan" atmosphere of the place.

Travolta cited a survey by a friend of his concerning the best place to live in America. Ocala was a top choice, he said, because of a spirit of generosity as opposed to selfishness.

"You should know that, by official survey, Ocala takes the cake," he said.

Yeah, well, what he said.

What I just listened to...

just before I wrote the last post.

Wigwam

Shape of Things To Come

Shapes of Things

Changes

Fire

Cry

End of the World as We Know It

And NO, I don't know what this means.

Off to find my Happy Place

Well, the Re-education of Mr. Right obviously isn't going well.

Barry Obama will be my president.

Barry will not be my messiah...or god...or reason for feeling good about myself.

I just may join the NUMB party (National Unity My Butt-sorry, but I don't remember who to credit for that term) but will not become a numskull. Well, probably not.

I will support the military wherever they are and however they are deployed.

I will continue to believe that those who voted for Barry are jackasses at best.

I will continue to believe that George Bush deserves our thanks and our prayers.

I will continue to try to find my Happy Place.

And now for something peaceful

Pat Methaney Group with "Last Train Home."

Always helps me seek peace.

Maybe you need it too?

Heresy!

O Lord Obama. I've found Heresies from the unrepentant rightwing fanatics and pagans.

From Victor Davis Hanson:

Just one punch of the ballot is all it took. Now suddenly almost every one, here and abroad, is supposed to appreciate the newfound morality of the American people, change their own prior wicked ways, and do what they must for newly elected Barack Obama.
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The world may be temporarily awestruck with the wise and all-powerful Obama, but it’s not quite ready to coalesce into a kinder, gentler global family — one people, under one Messiah, indivisible, with peace and justice for all.

In fact, Vladimir Putin doesn’t care a whit that Barack Obama is a path-breaking African-American, much less the first person of color to be an American president. The Chinese can’t quite appreciate in translation Obama’s mellifluous cadences. France’s cool Sarkozy isn’t swayed much by the Obama sunglasses, snazzy polo shirt, or nifty outside jump shot.

All these states have interests — not deities.

From Jay Nordlinger:

Well, enough prefatory typing — I will offer 20 quick points. I am bad to indulge in a bitterfest. But here I go:

1) Have the oceans shrunk to puddles? Have people stopped being sick? Or does that come after Inauguration Day?

Two obvious examples of Heresy!

Lord Obama, destroy them for their wickedness and unbelief in You.

Although...there does seem to be some sense in what they're saying...NO!

Forgive me, Lord! A momentary relapse from my ongoing re-education, I swear.

My life for You!

Veterans Day 2008

What can any of us say?

Thank you. For your service to America. For your gift of your time, your bodies, your lives.

And the America-haters emerge

The Lord Obama's America hating neighbors and friends emerge from the recent shadows.

Per Ron Radosh:

Shame on The New Yorker and its editor David Remnick for playing a role in the attempt of Bill Ayers and his publisher to resurrect both Ayers’ book and his reputation. Beacon Press has announced that they are releasing an updated version of Ayers’ 2001 book Fugitive Days on November 12^th, a publication date purposely held until after the election.
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I ask readers one thing only. Please circulate and pass on my review. The new Ayers release will get much media attention. And I believe my critique will be effective in countering it. Let’s do what we can to foil Beacon Press’ campaign to sell his autobiography anew, and let them and Bill Ayers know that the American public may have elected Barack Obama President, but they have not changed their mind about the sordid role of Ayers and the Weather Underground in our country’s past.

Read his review. I know you already know Ayers is still a terrorist; he just hasn't planted bombs for a couple of decades. But it's helpful to know the depths of depravity of the Lord Obama's friend.

And now, for something completely different

How's about another song from my teen years. I think it was 1966 or 67, from a Florida band.

The Nightcrawlers and "Little Black Egg" which is about as different as you can get.

Volunteers of America

Yes, I understand the "Youth vote" for Lord Obama.

Back in the day when I was 18 (still couldn't vote) and Viet Nam consumed the news, I was still a degenerate non-liberal. Oh, I was against the War, but only because it seemed we weren't fighting it to win. Had we turned the jungle to glass with nuclear warheads, I would have danced in the street...probably.

But even so, I was in college and there were lots of hippie chicks protesting the war, along with guys I would have rather fought with, yet I looked exactly like them-long hair, beard, jeans. Hey I was a baby boomer and this was our time.

I never protested the military and did fight with those who said shit in my presence. BUT...there I was at the war protests on campus, usually with my hippie chick at the time.

You see, being young is being arrogant about most things, and we boomers were about as arrogant as youth can get. So I understand the young true believers who flocked to Lord Obama. (Okay, I understand them better now that I've been re-educated, thanks to Lord Obama, peace be unto Him!

So, anyway, there's a song from my past that I heard a lot then that would stand up well today for the new crop of young true believers: "Volunteers" by Jefferson Airplane.

Look whats happening out in the streets
Got a revolution got to revolution
Hey Im dancing down the streets
Got a revolution got to revolution
Aint it amazing all the people I meet
Got a revolution got to revolution
One generation got old
One generation got soul
This generation got no destination to hold
Pick up the cry
Hey now its time for you and me
Got a revolution got to revolution
Come on now were marching to the sea
Got a revolution got to revolution
Who will take it from you
We will and who are we
We are volunteers of america

Ah, good times!

I envy them their excitement for working for the coming of the Messiah.

My life for Him!

Yes, We Can!

Have a Holiday/Holy Day for the Good Lord Obama!!

Plans are being made to promote a national holiday for Barack Obama, who will become the nation's 44th president when he takes the oath of office Jan. 20.

"Yes We Can" planning rallies will be at 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. every Tuesday at the downtown McDonald's restaurant, 1100 Kansas Ave., until Jan. 13. The goals are to secure a national holiday in Obama's honor, to organize celebrations around his inauguration and to celebrate the 200th birthday of President Abraham Lincoln, who was born on Feb. 12 1809.

At last! America will finally do the right thing for a living President!

I'm so proud of my country.

Praise be to Lord Obama!

My life for You!

Blasphemy!

Two sources of blasphemy against Lord Obama!

From Iowahawk:

So for now, let's put politics aside and celebrate this historic milestone. In his famous speech at the Lincoln Memorial 45 years ago, Dr. King said "I have a dream that one day my children will live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character." Let us now take pride that Tuesday we Americans proved that neither thing matters anymore.

From Steven Den Beste:

But there's another reason why: Obama has been hiding his light under a basket. A lot of people bought a pig in a poke today, and now they're going to find out what they bought. Obama isn't what most of them think he is. The intoxication of the cult will wear off, leaving a monumental hangover.

And four years from now they'll be older and much wiser.

Blasphemers, I say!

Smite them, Lord Obama!

My life for You!

Hitler Youth Redux

Ah, Yes....America Serves!

The Obama Administration will call on Americans to serve in order to meet the nation’s challenges. President-Elect Obama will expand national service programs like AmeriCorps and Peace Corps and will create a new Classroom Corps to help teachers in underserved schools, as well as a new Health Corps, Clean Energy Corps, and Veterans Corps. Obama will call on citizens of all ages to serve America, by setting a goal that all middle school and high school students do 50 hours of community service a year and by developing a plan so that all college students who conduct 100 hours of community service receive a universal and fully refundable tax credit ensuring that the first $4,000 of their college education is completely free.

Oh, is it reprehensible to compare service to the Homeland the same as to Hitler is the barely distant path. The Lord Obama isn't the same as that horrible charasmatic leader that promised Utopia if only the people followed him. No, that is WRONG...and I am a RACIST! Forgive me Lord Obama! I'm still in the process of getting my mind right.

And the Gracious Lord is allowing old farts like me to serve and prove my loyalty to the Reich, I mean to the Fatherland...I mean to America.

Obama will encourage retiring Americans to serve by improving programs available for individuals over age 55, while at the same time promoting youth programs such as Youth Build and Head Start.

Thank You, thank You, Most Gracious Lord Obama!

My life for You!

Dear Lord Obama

Dear Lord Obama
Please forgive me my lack of faith
I did not believe in you before yesterday
But now I do.

I now know there will be no more wars, no more terrorism committed against us

America will be beloved by the world.

I believe that now the economy will rebound, then grow forever
…that the sick shall be healed
...that the earth shall be healed
...that the oceans will stop their rising
...that socialism is the natural order of man
...that dependency is the natural state of man

And Great and Gracious Lord, I now realize that I was a racist for not understanding this before.

Please forgive me!

O Lord Obama, please hear my plea.

Well, that was interesting

Apparently Lord Obama didn’t need all the fraud that did occur on his behalf to win. Enough actual citizens and qualified voters chose Hope over Experience.

Let’s "Hope" they are right.

Regardless, the People have spoken.

The misguided twits (well, 52% of them).

Welcome to Blue Florida

Yep, Florida went for the Democrat this time. Came so very close in 2000, but was much redder in 2004.

Maybe this is the future.

Guess I need to move.

Maybe Texas…or Louisiana.

Nah...I'll just wait here until they come to get me for the re-education camp.

Dude, where's my riot?

Hey, where was the riot?

My guy lost. I went looking for the riot that my people were throwing. Couldn’t find one.

Damn, our side can’t even do the post-election riot event right.

'Tis done

Went to vote at 1:30-in/out in less than 5 minutes. Mrs. Right and I have now done all we can.

If there was an 'R' next to a name, so was my filled in bubble.

Feeling pretty good. Mrs. Right and I cast our votes, did a late lunch and a little light shopping. I took the afternoon off to have a relatively relaxing few hours before the crap hits the fan.

Now-we'll wait for the BS exit polls to dominate the news for a couple of hours, then the results.

And I really HOPE Florida isn't at the center of the election as in 2000.

Hmm...maybe I should just turn off all news and internet and have a couple glasses of wine with Mrs. Right. Then call it an early night. Always a good idea. Hell, bad news can wait a few hours, and so can good news. Life still goes on.

PBS can be instructive

Who knew PBS could be helpful to a conservative?

It was raining yesterday, so I turned on the tv and was browsing when I hit on PBS. Usually if it's not Britcoms, I don't watch. There is enough liberal bias in the media, but it especially annoys me that some of my tax money goes to support this branch of the liberal media. However, this program was instructive; It was about the British royalty and apparently ran for several hours.

I hit on the Charles and Diane period. Frankly, I didn't much care for the presentation, but it did bring back memories that seemed to have a certain bearing on our current election.

You remember, if you're of a certain age, just how overboard so many went about the "fairy tale" wedding of Charles and Di. So many people wanted to believe that Prince Charming could meet the right young lady after so many years and have a "happily ever after" marriage.

Well, it was a fairy tale: No, it was a lie. Even while the wedding plans were being made, the principals and the coterie/hangers-on knew it was false. Charles was a cad who loved someone else; Di was apparently willing to sell herself for a chance to become queen. But the power of believe and hope was so evident in the British population (and to a ridiculous number of Americans) that the truth had no chance of being told. It took a few years, but even the most dense or hopeful finally understood the truth.

Well, we Americans now have our another of our Prince Charmings (a previous example was John-John Kennedy), who goes by the name of Obama. Too many of our people are so besotted with hope and change, they cannot/will not see the cold facts that are so evident. They believe, don't you know, and that makes them foolish, and just a bit stupid. His hope/change persona is a lie. Those of us who see it so clearly can't understand why the Obama true believers can't. Some will come around pretty soon, but by then it may be too late. But it will become apparent to all but the most dense that hope is something you wish to believe, but experience is something you can evaluate and maybe trust.

'Twas the night before...

the election, and I will vote tomorrow. I don't do the the early-voting thing. One reason was listening to a couple of friends bitch during the Republican primary. They voted early, and then their candidate pulled out. They really wanted their votes back in order to place on their second choices, but too late. Not the same in this general election, of course. But why establish a history?

Anyway, all the crap is about over. The Dems have set in play all the necessary units to win or steal the election. I don't intend to let that happen without a fight.

In case you're wondering, I'm voting for every Republican on my ballot.

Will McCain/Palin win?

Frankly, I give it a 51/49 chance that I'm going to be very happy tomorrow.

Okay: Maybe 55/45. But I've always been an optimist.

Thanks, Ace...that's the perfect song

Ace of Spades HQ has a post that identifies the perfect song for the recent spate of "cut and run" conservatives. I know you will agree: "Like a Rolling Stone"

While I was driving from jobsite to jobsite yesterday, I had the Rolling Stones' "Stripped" disc in the player. It's acoustic versions of old Stones songs & covers from small club gigs and rehearsal sessions, and they do a version of "Like a Rolling Stone" on it. If I remember correctly, this song was on the soundtrack for the Sly Stallone/Antonio Banderas movie about assassins from the late 90's. A couple of verses jumped out at me:

You said you'd never compromise
With the mystery tramp, but now you realize
He's not selling any alibis
As you stare into the vacuum of his eyes
And ask him do you want to make a deal?

They might not have any idea who the "mystery tramp" is, and what he'll do when and if he comes to power, but they're more than willing to talk to him, since his voice causes orgasmic leg cramps among the Beltway insiders (all except Krauthammer - I guess not being able to feel your legs just might have ONE advantage).

You used to ride on the chrome horse with your diplomat
Who carried on his shoulder a Siamese cat
Ain't it hard when you discover that
He really wasn't where it's at
After he took from you everything he could steal.

But what the Hell, right? After all, he's a Hah-vahd man. That qualifies him to run the country, right?

Ace also mentions Dylan's "Positively 4th Street. Also appropriate.

Just got through watching Sarah Palin in Ocala

Not in person, but Ocala.com live streamed the event.

She's in Ocala for a campaign stop. She brought her husband, Todd.

Sarah was scheduled to speak at 3pm, and by god that's what she did. Spoke for just over 30 minutes and is now working the crowd.

The venue was such that attendance was limited to ticket holders, which was free and easy to obtain. Otherwise the crowd would have been incredible, such as the 12,000 that was at The Villages event last month. Kinda hard to tell how many made it from the webcast, but there were thousands.

Good speech and a great connection to the people.

The conservative elites and wannabe turncoats who have trashed her are wrong.

She will be a good Vice-President. I don't think she's ready to be president right now, but then she's more prepared than Obama. She will quickly overcome any current deficiency. She is a patriot and obviously loves her country and wants to protect it. She seems a citizen-statesman type; not an egocentric lightweight like Obama.

I'm not a religious man, but if I was I would think that god may be giving us another chance to turn away from the precipice.

Obama Campaign Signs

There are lots of Democrats in Marion County. So of course I see a few Obama signs in my neighborhood and more as I drive around Marion County.

And I'm glad.

See, I want to know who supports Obama. I think it's important...for future reference.

First, it tells me so much about the person. Call it...first impressions. They stay with you.

Second, it lets me know who to "thank" if Obama wins. You know, when the balloon goes up and the shit comes down.

Very important to know.

I want to be sure to thank at that time as many as possible for their thoughtful voting record.

I'm also paying attention to those who are supporting third parties. But the only ones I will want to later acknowledge are those who vote for Barr.