It seems that when it comes to pets, just picking one type isn't the issue that music is with a lot of folks. There were some definite preferences stated, with only four classes of critters even making the board. Cats and dogs were split evenly at 44%, with fish and horses each getting 6%. The poll was, of course, which you'd choose if you could only have ONE. I dig my Ball Python, but if I could only have one, it wouldn't be a snake, it would be a cat.

I always had both when I was a kid, but I became a cat person as an adult. Being young and a deadhead, I found cats an easier fit in a "pick up and go on a three-day road trip" lifestyle. Leave plenty of food, a clean box, and a thin drizzle in a sink or tub and they will be fine for a few days. Mind you, I don't regret one second of my 15 years with Angus, but adopting him did create more work in preparing for a trip. And his chewing on the furniture to express his displeasure at the situation didn't oil our relationship any in those early days, either.

As O'Tim said, "cuz there's just no bestester pals" about dogs, and he is right to an extent. One can be just as close to a cat as to a dog, it's just that the relationship with a cat takes time and effort. For cat people, it's the forming of that bond with what is essentially a wild animal that is fulfilling. Dogs give that instant buddyhood that many people prefer. The people who say that their cat "is just like a dog" are simply trying to say "This cat is one of the many that is affectionate like dogs usually are, so you can approach it like you would the dogs you're more used to." A cat can be a great cat without that quality, though. These people aren't saying this to make excuses for their cats. Cats need no one to make excuses for them.

For people who like to share outdoor activities with their pet, dogs are the better choice. You can't go mountain biking with your kitty.

Still, cats are a lot of fun. No, you can't play with one like you can with a dog. However, if you play with one like you can with a CAT, then the cat is a very fun toy, and will think the same of you. "You can't teach a cat to play fetch", the dog people say. So what? The dog has no idea how much fun a three foot length of string can be.

People will use the same arguments to say that dogs are smarter than cats, which is of course palpable nonsense. "You can't teach a cat anything". Bullshit. My cats, for example, were taught all the areas they were NOT welcome in. Fifteen years hasn't gotten Angus out from underfoot. We played games, as well. No, I never taught Sybyl to fetch, but we made up some games together that were a lot of fun. True, you don't see police cats, but I've never seen a dog housebreak itself in one hour, either. They're both smart in different ways, let us say. If they had an industrial society, dogs would be the workers, and cats would be the planners.

I think the most germane difference in the cat/dog argument, however, is in the owners. I know many dog lovers that hate cats. I know few if any cat lovers that hate dogs. Cat lovers seem to be more likely to be all around animal lovers, whereas there are a lot of people who seem to like ONLY dogs. Once again, I think that is because dogs make the relationship stage fast and easy, and some folks just have to have it like that.

Anyway, new poll to the right. Be HONEST, now.

The biweekly Trollling the Underground contest for this week is still unwon, folks. As you may know, the first person to guess the artist I'll feature next gets a full copy of the bootleg recording I'll be featuring a cut from. Last week's clue was:

When one mother made fun of another, a future band got its' name.


Now I'll give you another:

Their music has been covered by the likes of Garth Brooks, Taj Mahal, Van Halen, and Kubota Makoto.

You have until Friday morning. Who says I don't love ya?

I have, for over a year now, been getting mail for one James H. Troll. Despite having the same surname, I have no idea who this person is. I can only tell you two things about him.

First, he evidently has better credit than I, since more credit card companies seem to want him as a valued cardholder. Second, he's advanced in years. This I know because the bulk of his mail concerns medical plans and, failing that, funeral arrangements. I tend to give it just the amount of attention required to throw it out.

He got some mail yesterday, in fact. If he attends a preview of Humana's 2007 Medicare Advantage health plans to learn about the exciting benefits and services, he will be treated to a big-screen viewing of Casablanca.

This one caught my eye. Not that I care about the programs - even if my new job DIDN'T provide bennies, which it does, I would be about 25 years shy of Medicare requirements. I sure would like to see that movie, though.

I mean, Casablanca is the classic of all classics. It was a chick flick that men could enjoy by virtue of the fact that it had Nazis, shooting, and heavy drinking as well as all that kissy stuff. It was well written, well cast, beautifully shot, and provided the largest number of readily recognized catch phrases in movie history. I can think of five right off the top of my head.

I've never had the chance to see this on a big screen. In fact, I've never had the chance to see MOST of my favorites on the big screen. I would love to own a revival theater for just that purpose.

In the mean time, however, if I want to see it, I guess I'll have to walk all hunched over, wear old smelly clothes, and try to cough a lot.

A small sacrifice to make for Ingrid Bergman. Rick gave up a whole lot more.

One thing I can say for last week's poll...... it sure outdid all the others, discussion-wise. You want to get people to say something, just mess with their music, I guess.

Given a choice of just ONE musical genre, most folks picked rock, with jazzz, blues, classical, country, and "other" getting a little love as well. Even Buffy got some.

Most folks also  became annoyed, regardless of what they actually picked. Just about all of us like to have some variety in their musical sphere, and felt the idea too constraining, although a few folks liked the idea of further narrowing their listening future (What do you mean Gaelic Gregorian Punk Folk Reggae isn't its' own category? It's all I listen to! Brother Angus "Pappy" MacMarley would be spinning in his grave!).

Anyway, be it Elvis or the Sex Pistols, it seems that most of us are rockers at heart.

MAybe this week's poll will be easier. I doubt it.

When I was a teenager I made greater use of my oldest brother's record collection than he did. He was in his twenties, and of the great multitude that stop paying attention to any new music after age 19. I only listened to the rock, as I considered his liking for jazz to be pretty square. Now, as a jazz fan, I see that it was only his particular taste in jazz that was square.

This was why I was listening to Jefferson Airplane, the Doors, and CCR when my peers were listening to Journey and REO Speedwagon. I still listened to a lot of the "popular stuff", being the FM junkie and bucket of hormones that I was, but my lifelong love for 60's rock started there. This is where I first heard the band that would be my first live experience........The Moody Blues. 

The original Moody Blues were just that..... a moody blues band. In addition to the three longtime members Graham Edge (drums), Ray Thomas (flute, vox), and Mike Pinder (keys, vox) were short term members Clint Warwick (bass) and Denny Laine (guitar, vox, later member of Wings). They recorded about two l.p.s worth of singles, including the hit "Go Now", before a shift in both personnel and style.

When Justin Hayward (guitar, vox) and John Lodge (bass, vox) joined the band, they assumed most of the writing chores, and the band's sound sort of "melted". While keeping to their blues enough to justify the name, they became more "moody". The albums they almost immediately began recording are classics of psychedelia and straight pop. This was the Moody Blues that my brother's record collection introduced me to.

 

It was in 1981 that The Moodies, with Mike Pinder replaced by Patrick Moraz, had a big hit with their album Long Distance Voyager, and embarked on a world tour in support. Having blocked my hopes to see live rock shows on many occasions, dad allowed this because it was an outdoor show (and he couldn't use my asthma as an excuse to keep me home, away from the pot smoke) and because I'd be going with my older brother and his wife, who, being pregnant, could be trusted to keep a lid on things. Thus, I saw my first show on Saturday, July 18, 1981 at Poplar Creek Music Theater in Hoffman Estates, Il. It was the last date of the Moodies' American tour, and it is the same show that today's selection comes from. Here is the the Moody Blues that I saw:

Now, besides the thirteen items listed last week, I have also kept the World Tour program I bought that evening (Lord only knows what happened to that t-shirt!) That program's band history was the source for my original clue. To quote:

"Six years after its original release, 'Nights in White Satin' was re-released in America with the 'Days of Future Past' album and they both promptly soared to number one in both the singles and album charts repectively in the U.S. The release of their new album [ Seventh Sojourn ] at that time gave them the unprecedented achievement of having a number 1 and 2 slot in the American album chart - even the Beatles were unable to beat that."

Send any complaints, therefore, to the Moody Blues themselves. As it is, no one figured out that longtime McCartney collaborator Denny Laine was an original Moody. Wings Over America, in fact, features the song "Go Now". There were lots of good guesses, though. Maybe next time!

The song this week is one of my favorite Moody Blues songs, and was the wrapup song for the last show at Poplar Creek in 1981. Click here to listen to the Moody Blues asking a "Question."

 

In two weeks: When one mother made fun of another, a future band got its name.

As most of you are no doubt aware, my Trolling the Unerground feature comes with a contest. With every entry, I provide a clue to the next entry's topic. The first to figure out who it is wins a copy of the underground reccording that the post is derived from. Usually, it comes off without a hitch. This time, not so much.

The clue to my next entry was :

"This group was the first, and to my knowledge the only, to have albums in the #1 and #2 American chart slots at the same time."

The info I have says very clearly that this band was the first to do so, and even points out specifically that the Beatles had not done such a thing. However, jollykay has provided my with two sources that say the Beatles DID do it, and substantially earlier (insert Popeye- like under-the-breath muttering about wiseacre dames here). As a result, well, I just don't know. I'll tell you this much - the next topic is not The Beatles. (See how I narrowed that down for you?) So, to be fair, I will provide another clue. Here 'tis:

One of this group's original members later worked with a former Beatle.

See, I'm practically HANDING it to you. The Troll is nothing if not magnanimous. Deadline is this Friday.

Thanks and kudos to all who responded to last week's poll; "What two people from history would you like to spend and evening in a pub with?" While no one inspired me to change my original answer, I thought that many of you had some great ideas. In addition to Franklin and Twain, I could also see having a little revelry with Erroll Flynn, Hunter S. Thompson, Dizzy Gillespie, and Grouch Marx. I could also imagine tipping a few with the Marquis de Sade, but I think I might toss a few drinks into the planter while he looks elsewhere, just to maintain an edge. I've heard he was the sort that couldn't be trusted.

This week's poll is back to the usual format, and I think it's a pretty tough one. You'll find it in the sidebar to your right. Have fun!

1. A brick from the old Acacia house - When I went to college the first time, I joined a fraternity called Acacia. It was a little diffferent from most houses; We were, in fact once described as the "smoker toker jokers of campus." The old house was condemned the year before I arrived, and the frat was then living in campus housing, but we'd go to the old house every once in a while to party. On one such drunken escapade, we were hooting it up in the crow's nest atop the three story house, and my pledge father noticed that the bricks in the chimney were coming loose. He decided he was going to walk across the roof to "get his son a brick". As drunk as he was, we were begging him not to do it, but he was the obstinate sort. He drunkenly reeled across the roof, got the brick, and reeled back. Thet next summer, being stuck in the country with nothing to do, I stylishly painted the word "Acacia" on it in black and gold (our colors) and still display it atop my entertainment center.
2. A small glass pyramid - A Christmas gift from a gorgeous girl I used to see. I was more into her than she was into me, but we had some good times, so I keep it as a remembrance. I don't know where she is now, but I hope she's happy and healthy, and still rockin' out.
3. The "footbowl" - My second pot pipe, which I got way back in high school. My first was a homemade deal fashioned from pipe fittings, which I loaned to a friend who loaned it to a friend who got busted with it. After that, my brother gave me a little ceramic pipe shaped like a foot. You draw off the big toe! He'd had it for years before that, so it has to be close to 30 years old. I rarely use it, but it does remind me of some good times back in the day.
4. Grandpa's leather coin purse - I never knew either of my gradfathers, as my mother's dad died shortly before I was born (I got his name) and the other died soon after I was born. Since I never knew him, my grandmother gave me his small leather coin purse that says "Dinosaur Caverns, Az." and has a picture of a dinosaur on it. It contains one of his rosaries. It's a small connection to a grandpa that I never knew, and a big reminder of a grandma that we lost to cancer back in the early 80's.
5. An old Scrabble set - When that same Grandma would come from Chicago to the country to visit, Scrabble was definately on the itinerary. She loved that game no end and would play it for hours. It's missing some pieces, but it's one of the classic old sets that has the WOODEN pieces! It reminds me of the many hours that I spent playing with Mom and Grandma. I still miss her.
6. A small woven angel - My mom was the arts and crafts sort. Every spare second, she was knitting or crocheting or embroidering something of some sort. When she had the first stroke, I think the frustration of losing her hand's ability to do these things came closer to killing her than the clot did. I also have an afghan that she made, but I always keep this little woven angel for the Christmas tree top in public display, and always top the tree with it. I always will.
7. A pair of rosewood nunchucks - I never learned how to use them well, but I certainly creased my skull a few times trying. It was a high school graduation gift from my best friend, whom you may have seen commenting here under the name Hillbilly Tim. Thus, they are indispensible.
8. A burlap hanging - It's about 6' x 4', and has a lithograph of some 19th century bicyclists posing with their old bikes, the kind with the huge front wheels. It was given to me by my old college buddy Marz, when he got married. He and his wife Sue have remained the best of friends to this day, and that hanging that used to be in his dorm room reminds me of the good times we had bonging our brains out in his room between classes.
9. A picture of Kansas - not the state. Kansas was a chihuahua I had as a kid, and was one of the best dogs ever. He weighed five pounds at his heaviest, and was always very quiet and very friendly with people, but fearless with the neighbor's doberman and geese. When they came over, he chased them right out without an argument! It was a riot to watch a five pound dog fiercely protecting a five acre plot! He was a great friend. He died the day before I turned 20, proving that Neil Young was right..... you can't be 20 on Sugar Mountain.
10. A cigarette holder from Hawaii - It is a metal case with some Hawaiian art on it, and a lighter build into the top. I don't know where my dad got it, as he stopped smoking ten years before I was born. He gave it to me when I was 19 or so, and I never used it all that much either, since it was a bit bulky. It would have been useful had I been in the habit of wearing jackets over my shirts, but I live in less formal times. Dad never approved of my smoking cigarettes, so it really meant something to me when he gave it to me. It was the first time he showed the willingness to accept one of my decisions even though he didn't approve of it. I haven't had a cig in seven years now, but I keep that holder just because.
11. Scripts - I was never into sports, but I did a lot of acting in high school, and had a good time of it. I still have the script from every play I was in. It's what I was good at.
12. Paperweight/paper clip holder - These are matching pieces made from marble, given to me as a Christmas present by an old girlfriend. We were together for three years. I couldn't stay with her for several reasons that aren't important here, but she was an important part of my life for quite awhile, and it doesn't seem right to get rid of them. I've heard some bad things about her lifestyle in the last couple of years. I do hope she gets things together.
13. My old record colllection - I've seen bigger, but this is respectable, and has a few rarities in it, like Badfinger's "Straight Up", the "Lake Shore Drive" lp by Alliotta, Haynes, and Jeremiah, and the flame cover version of Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Street Survivors". Yeah, one of these days I'm going to buy a new cartridge for my ol' turntable. The hours I spent with this collection could never be counted, and were a great joy in my youth.

 

I guess I'm just an ol' softie.........................

 

Okay, EVERYBODY SING ALONG........

Hempy birfday to youse!

Hempy birfday to youse!

Hempy birfday, dear O'Tim

Hempy birfday to youse!

 

And many s'mooooooooooooores!

 

Jen, you may now commence the spankings..................