Spitball Army

Received an e-mail from Ann Romney this morning, addressed to “John.” My reply: “John has decided to vote for Mr. Obama. Again.”

“That was crazy,” I say to the attendant as I leave the movie theater. “Oh, you watched the whole thing?” he says. <crickets>

Personally, I still just can’t used to the notion of $8.00 as a Bargain Matinee ticket price.

Promising but unexplained premises; zero subplot development; dangling ending begging for obvious sequel.

Card is titled: “A Leprechaun of Ireland, with his pot of gold.”

Card is addressed to Fred Osuna, 1616 Laurel Rd, Oceanside, Calif 92054, U.S.A. Postmarked in Gleann Beith.

Written on back of post card:

Hello Zorro,

No, I didn’t forget ya. I’m here in Killarney Ireland – It’s so beautiful – there’s so much green country side. From here we go to England -> Paris -> Sweden & maybe Switzerland. I’ll call you when I get back!

Love
Zorra

Spent some time today with the new Bob Dylan recording. There are some terrific songs on it. Here’s one (minus the music):

It’s been such a long long time
Since we loved each other and our hearts were true
One time, for one brief day, I was the man for you
Last night I heard you talkin’ in your sleep
Saying things you shouldn’t say, oh baby
You just may have to go to jail someday
Is there a place we can go, is there anybody we can see?

Maybe it’s the same for you as it is for me
I ain’t seen my family in twenty years
That ain’t easy to understand, they may be dead by now
I lost track of em after they lost their land
Shake it up baby, twist and shout
You know what it’s all about
What are you doing out there in the sun anyway?
Don’t you know, the sun can burn your brains right out
My enemy crashed into the dust

Stopped dead in his tracks and he lost his lust
He was run down hard and he broke apart
He died in shame, he had an iron heart
I wear dark glasses to cover my eyes
There are secrets in ’em that I can’t disguise
Come back baby
If I hurt your feelings, I apologize
Two trains running side by side, forty miles wide
Down the eastern line
You don’t have to go, I just came to you because you’re a friend of mine
I think that when my back was turned
The whole world behind me burned

It’s been a while
Since we walked down that long, long aisle
We cried on a cold and frosty morn
We cried because our souls were torn
So much for tears
So much for these long and wasted years

• Walter Bjorkman, Jane Hammons, Matthew Shipe and 2 others like this.
• 

  Matthew Shipe Cant wait to hear the record.

  September 14, 2012 at 8:57pm · Like
• 

  Fred Osuna Matthew – There are two very long songs (subjects: the sinking of the Titanic; John Lennon) that reminded me of our micro-chat about “Brownsville Girl.”

  September 14, 2012 at 9:10pm · Like
• 

  Marlene Sokol Stewart Uh …..pretty powerful!

  September 14, 2012 at 10:48pm · Like

Overheard: “Have you heard that he never says ‘My prayers are with you.’ It’s always ‘My thoughts are with you.”

Card is titled: “HOWARD JOHNSON’S MOTOR LODGE & RESTAURANT, Intersection U.S. Highway 67-82 East, Texarkana, Arkansas – Texas.”

Printed on back of post card:

Howard Johnson’s Motor Lodge & Restaurant
Intersection U.S. Highway 67-82 East
Texarkana, Arkansas – Texas, U.S.A.
(Area Code 501) – Tel. 773-3161

Luxurious accommodations under the pines, with TV, radio, music, poolside & room service. Wonderful golf, fishing and water sports available.

“Host of the Highways”

Publishing information:

Plastichrome® by Colourpicture Publishers, Inc. Boston, Mass. USA.

Card is addressed to “Dad, 1116 Laguna St., Oceanside, CA. 92054.” Postmarked in Texarkana, AR-TX on September x, 196x.

Written on back of post card:

Dear Dad,

Hi! The Plane trip was fun. (except for the landing). We stopped at Jo-ann’s house. Jace let us ride his mini bike.

Luv,
Fred

My knowledge of Tony Bennett was limited to the garish brassiness of his 1952 recording of “Because of You” – which my family had on a compilation LP of current pop songs in the early ‘60s – and the TV image of a large-headed man with a militarily-conservative haircut and a prominent proboscis. All of that changed, of course, once the Tony Bennett revival occurred in the early 1990s. The release of a string of outstanding albums, beginning with Bennett/Berlin in 1987 and continuing through to 1997 with his Tony Bennett on Holiday, cemented his reputation culturally – and with me – as one of the finest interpreters of pop and jazz standards that this country has ever produced.

This mixtape was made in the midst of that revival decade. I can’t really explain the “Collegiate Chic” graphic on the cassette insert, except to posit that the “charm & street-smart” tag line seemed to exemplify some of the personal qualities that make the man so endearing; you can hear both swagger and smiling occurring simultaneously on many of the songs here.

Approximate playing time: 79 minutes.

1. “You Showed Me the Way”  (1995)
2. “Nobody Else But Me”  (1964)
3. “Steppin’ Out With My Baby”  (1993)
4. “I Wanna Be Around”  (1962)
5. “I’ve Got Just About Everything”  (1964)
6. “I Left My Heart in San Francisco”  (1962)
7. “When Joanna Loved Me”  (1963)
8. “A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square”  (1992)
9. “When I Lost You”  (1987)
10. “Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams (and Dream Your Troubles Away)”  (1964)
11. “When Lights Are Low”  (1964)
12. “Just in Time”  (1956)
13. “Who Cares?”  (1993)
14. “A Sleepin’ Bee”  (1959)
15. “They Can’t Take That Away from Me”  (1993)
16. “When Do the Bells Ring for Me?”  (1989)
17. “Cloudy Morning”  (1995)
18. “There’s a Lull in My Life”  (1964)
19. “On Green Dolphin Street”  (1964)
20. “Who Can I Turn To (When Nobody Needs Me)”  (1964)
21. “It Had to Be You”  (1964)
22. “He Loves and She Loves”  (1993)
23. “You’re All the World to Me”  (1993)

This playlist is available to listen to in its entirety (that is, all of the songs listed on the tape insert above, and in the order listed) over on Spotify (Some songs had to be left off of this blog version due to the overall length of the playlist. I also rearranged the songs on this blog version to excite its flow a bit.). Here’s the link.