Lunchtime Music: From Wes Nickson Band “Louise”

So on a sad note, Max Stalling posted this to his Facebook Page this AM:

Folks, on a somber note, I’d like to take a moment to note the passing of Bruce Kidder, former DJ at KHYI 95.3 The Range (OFFICIAL) in Dallas (and KFAN/Fredericksburg prior to that). He was crusty and cranky on air and only partly like that in real life. He was a supporter of music and songwriters and became my friend. He was an old school DJ/radio personality with real opinions and attitudes about music and topics. He picked up on my music and put it into regular rotation. I will miss him and my condolences go out to his wife Julie, all his family and anyone else who had the good fortune of knowing him. Read More

A Hero Passes – R.I.P. – Stan Musial

Last Saturday at the age of 92, one of the greatest baseball players in Major League history passed away. It has almost been 50 years, (Good Lord), since 1965 when my mother stood in line at one of Department Stores in Philadelphia to have a copy of Stan “The Man” Musial’s autobiography autographed. As a fourteen year old in love with baseball I devoured the book because even though he retired in 1963, he was still my favorite player, and reading his story made him even more of a favorite! What a great player and person he was…. Read More

Book 3 of 2013 – Destiny of the Republic – Candice Millard

Borrowing the closing line from King Kong and morphing it a little “Oh no, it wasn’t Giteau that killed Garfield, it was the doctors!”, makes it fit Book Number 3 of 2013 Destiny of the Repbulic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President by Candice Millard. The subject of the book is the assassination of the 20th President of the United States, James A. Garfield. Considering the mass of information that most history classes cover about all you ever hear is that Garfield was shot by a disgruntled person who wanted a civil service appointment. What we weren’t told was the appointment Charles Giteau wanted was Ambassador to France, or what an amazing man and beloved President, Garfield was,if only for a short period. The tale of the assassination involves obviously Garfield, and Charles Giteau his assailant, but also includes the theories of Joseph Lister and the inventions of Alexander Graham Bell! Millard has taken these pieces and woven a fine and easy reading and enjoyable book! Read More

Book 2 0f 2013 – The Boy in the Suitcase – Lene Kaaberol and Agnete Friis

Book No. 2 of 2013 is the first book that I received as a Christmas present this year The Boy in the Suitcase by Lene Kaaberol and Agnete Friis! The book came from my daughter Elizabeth after I commented on the cover of the book (when I picked it up at the library for her) that it says “Fans of Nordic crime fiction rejoice” that I was a fan of Nordic crime fiction!  Anyway after reading the book i am a fan of the authors and so are a lot of others. Here are the awards that it have been bestowed upon it: Read More

A Jazzy Thursday Afternoon – so let’s go Into the Night with Oscar and Milt!

So today I doing some work that required a bit of concentration, so the soundtrack was jazz oriented. Last night I had turned on Pandora and was listening to some jazz albums and one of the tracks was from the album Very Tall by Milt Jackson and Oscar Peterson, since the track that played last night was very good and I had never heard this album I thought that the album would be a good place to start my afternoon music. I was right! What a great album, but then I” wouldn’t expect anything  from these two great jazz masters! here’s some information in the album from CD Universe: Read More

More Books – Just What I Needed – Right!

Hello, my name is Edward and I’m a book-a-holic! Yes and I need to be kept away from bokstores and libraries! The other night even after getting so many books for Christmas I was checking out the list of books I made before Christmas and my Wish List on Amazon and I saw Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness , Medicine and the Murder of a President by Candice Millard, which looks to me to be a great read! So I checked the library catalog and it was checked in at one of the branches, so I requested it, and tonight it came in! Read More

Book 1 of 2013 – Reset: Iran, Turkey and America’s Future

 Book 1 of 2013 is a book that I picked up at Dollar Tree, Reset: Iran, Turkey and America’s Future by Stephen Kinzer. I knew little about Mr Kinzer when I purchased the book, but I found the premise that the best path for the US to follow to lead to a stable Middle East runs not through Israel and traditional Arab allies but through Turkey and Iran. The foundation of the premise is that these are the only two countries in the Arab world that have a strong democratic tradition. I realy enjoyed the history Kinzer presents in the book. I knew little about Kemal Ataturk. I knew the name but not the impact that he had on the formation of a democratic Turkey. Kinzer also discusses the democratic foundations of Iran that were derailed by the US as we supported the 1953 coup that replaced democracy in Iran with the despotic Shah, a move that ultimately lead to the theocratic government that now is in power in Iran. Other highlights included an analysis of the US’ support of and partnerships with both Saudi Arabia and Israel, which really my not be the best in the ;llong run for the US! Read More