Author: This Just In... From Franklin, WI

Culinary no-no #623

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THERE ARE THOUSANDS AND THOUSANDS OF FOOD BLOGS, BUT ONLY ONE CULINARY NO-NO!

It’s so easy to pick on McDonald’s. Sometimes they invite the criticisms.

A friend of mine was recently at a Milwaukee McDonald’s with his wife and was informed the day is coming when, with rare exceptions, customers will have to use kiosks to order their meals.

It’s true. When 2020 rolls around self-service ordering kiosks will be installed and implemented at all U.S. McDonald’s locations.

How will they work? Let’s take a look.

Well that looked easy and simple. How about a different order?

So bye-bye human interaction and smiling face. Hello big lit-up touch screens.

When my friend was at McDonald’s the worker he encountered said the news is spreading and patrons are less than pleased. They’re angry and upset. Some yell. Some even shout out obscenities (including the older folks).

I tried this experiment just one time. I got nowhere. The kiosk wasn’t functioning at all.

Can you imagine during busy times the long lines? And what if the machines inevitably break down?

Driving this concept is the demand by fast food workers for a $15 minimum wage that McDonald’s execs have said they probably won’t fight. That will add costs so the company will have to cut workers. Thus kiosks will take your order and someone will bring it to you when your number is called. The minimum wage issue will backfire on employees who protest for increases.

Here’s another perspective and it’s compelling.

Image may contain: 2 people, people smiling, indoor

See the gentleman on the right? That’s Ed Rensi.

“I am the retired president and CEO of McDonald’s USA, where I spent nearly my entire professional career. I started as a grill cook in Columbus, Ohio in 1966 and went on to hold nearly every position in the restaurant and field offices before being named president in 1984 and CEO in 1991. In my tenure at McDonald’s I spearheaded the enhancement of the breakfast menu and drive thru concept as well as the development of Chicken McNuggets, McRib sandwich, Extra Value Meal, and Ronald McDonald House. As president, McDonald’s sales and number of U.S. restaurants roughly doubled.”

Rensi is a bit worried.

“My concern about this is personal. Without my opportunity to start as a grill man, I would have never ended up running one of largest fast food chains in the world. I started working at McDonald’s making the minimum wage of 85 cents an hour. I worked hard and earned a promotion to restaurant manager within just one year, then went on to hold almost every position available throughout the company, eventually rising to CEO of McDonalds USA.

“The kind of job that allowed me and many others to rise through the ranks is now being threatened by a rising minimum wage that’s pricing jobs out of the market. Without sacrificing food quality or taste, or abandoning the much-loved value menu, franchise owners must keep labor costs under control. One way to combat rising labor costs is by reducing the amount of employees needed.”

Rensi wrote a column about this on Forbes.

Don’t care to work with the McDonald’s? You can just go somewhere else, right? Wrong. There’s a likelihood that other chains will follow suit.

I get that this is 2019 and improved technology can be beneficial. I also get the kiosks will cause heartburn for many consumers.

My suggestion? Hit the drive-thru and pray they get your order right.

CULINARY NO-NO BONUSES

Enough is enough! For the respect of food, we need to draw the line with pumpkin spice

Flamin’ Hot Cheetos are heating up the runway

ICYMI, Culinary no-no #622

The Best Photos of the Week (09/15/19)

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A pictorial week-in-review posted every Sunday.

1) The U.S. flag is unfurled at sunrise as part of the 18th annual September 11 observance ceremony at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia. Photo: REUTERS/Al Drago

2) The annual Tribute in Light illuminates the skyline of lower Manhattan behind the Statue of Liberty on the eve of the 18th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, as seen from Bayonne, New Jersey. Photograph: Gary Hershorn/Getty Images

3) Alexandra Hamatie, whose cousin Robert Horohoe was killed during the attacks, pauses at the National September 11 Memorial during a morning commemoration ceremony in New York on Sept. 11. Photo: Spencer Platt / Getty Images

4) An American flag is seen left in the engraved names of 9/11 victims at the edge of the north reflecting pool at the 9/11 Memorial in Manhattan, New York, during ceremonies marking the 18th anniversary of terrorist attacks. Photo: Reuters

5) People visit the Pepperdine Wave of Flags display at Pepperdine University in Malibu, California, Sept. 10, 2019, remembering those who died in the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks with 2,977 flags. Photo: AFP

6) A child’s bicycle is seen in a destroyed neighborhood in the wake of Hurricane Dorian in Marsh Harbour, Great Abaco, Bahamas. Photo: REUTERS/Loren Elliott

7) Synobia Reckley holds up the dress her niece wore as a flower girl at her wedding, as she goes through the rubble of her home destroyed a week ago by Hurricane Dorian in Rocky Creek East End, Bahamas, on Sept. 8. Photo: AP

8) Immigration protesters run onto the stage in front of the Democratic presidential candidates, interrupting the 2020 Democratic U.S. presidential debate in Houston, Texas. Photo: REUTERS/Mike Blake

9) Supporters of Donald Trump attend a campaign rally in North Carolina. Photograph: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters

10) Protesters react as the motorcade carrying U.S. President Donald Trump arrives in Baltimore, Maryland. Classy. Photo: REUTERS/Leah Millis

11) White House adviser Ivanka Trump dances with a woman in a courtyard after holding a woman’s economic empowerment event in Asuncion, Paraguay. Photo: REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

12) A scientist holds two golden frogs at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Gamboa. Experts are freezing sperm from the creatures in an effort to prevent their extinction by the deadly Chytrid fungus. Photograph: Bienvenido Velasco/EPA

13) A turtle died after becoming attached to a washed-up beach chair in Alabama’s Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge by a length of rope. The Kemp’s Ridley is not only one of the smallest sea turtles at just 65cm long it is also the most endangered. Despite protection of its limited nesting sites along the western coast of the Gulf of Mexico and a requirement for trawlers to use turtle-excluders, it is still under threat. The Natural History Museum in the UK has released a selection of highly commended photographs from a range of categories. This photo is entered in the Wildlife Photojournalism category. Photograph: Matthew Ware

14) A Mercedes 300 SL Gullwing Roadster made of teak wood is seen at the IAA Auto Show in Frankfurt, Germany. Photo: AP

15) Newlywed couples kiss during a mass wedding in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, September 9, 2019. A mass wedding ceremony was held for 99 couples on the ninth day of the ninth month, considered an auspicious date, at a Chinese temple in the city. Photo: REUTERS/Lim Huey Teng

16) Children play under a lantern installation before the mid-autumn festival at a shopping mall in Kuala Lumpur. Photograph: Mohd Rasfan/AFP/Getty Images

17) A ground squirrel appears to take a deep whiff of a flower in Vienna. Dick van Duijn, an amateur photographer took the trek especially for pictures of the ground squirrels and after almost 500 shots, captured this moment. “Afterwards, he ate the flower,” he said. Photo:  Dick van Duijn

18) A finalist in the Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards. That’s an otter BTW. Photo: Harry M. Walker. And another. Photo: Vicki Jauron

19) A model presents a creation during the Pam Hogg catwalk show during London Fashion Week in London, Britain, September 13, 2019. Photo: REUTERS/ Henry Nicholls

ALSO: 100 Greatest photos in the NFL

Week-ends (09/14/19)

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A look back at the people and events that made news the past week. Week-ends is a regular weekly feature of  This Just In…

HEROES OF THE WEEK

Nicholas Haros Jr.

Ohio police officers

Maj. Gen. Maria Lodi Barrett and Brig. Gen. Paula Lodi

VILLAINS OF THE WEEK

Aaron Shamo

This rapper

The BBC

QUOTES OF THE WEEK

“But you have so many children. Don’t you worry about the environment? He’s (Trump) TERRIBLE on the environment. I would think that alone could turn you against him! That’s your children’s future!”
Joy Behar of The View interviewing retiring Republican congressman Rep. Sean Duffy and his wife Rachel Campos-Duffy

“I really think it’s hard — I do believe it’s really hard to see when you are in these coastal bubbles. If you live in middle America — we live in rural Wisconsin. The towns have turned around. The factories are back. People have jobs. There’s more jobs than there are people to fill them, and that was not the case [before].”
Campos-Duffy responding to Behar

“I don’t want to see other families suffer the way I did. That’s the bottom line. Not soldiers or innocent victims of terrorism.”
Jim Riches, a retired New York deputy fire chief who responded to the terror 2001 attacks and lost his son, Jimmy, a fellow firefighter. Riches responded to President Donald Trump’s now-canceled plan for secret talks with Afghanistan’s Taliban insurgents on U.S. soil. Several victims’ relatives and first responders called the timing unfortunate (so close to 9/11) but the idea of talks worthwhile, a potential path toward peace for Afghans and Americans weary of Washington’s longest war.

“From June 1 through August 31, MRC (Media Reserach Center) analysts found the networks devoted 838 minutes of airtime — nearly 14 hours — to coverage of President Trump personally, the vast majority of which was negative. (Note: This report only examines coverage of Trump himself, not generic stories about his administration’s activities or those of other top-ranking officials, which accounted for an additional 213 minutes of evening news airtime.)

“The airtime devoted to Trump was eleven times greater than that spent on the leading Democratic candidate, former Vice President Joe Biden (just under 74 minutes), and vastly more than the networks gave California Senator Kamala Harris (30 minutes), South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg (15 minutes) or Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren (just under 14 minutes).”
Rich Noyes, Newsbusters.org

“Since April 20, 2016, the GDELT Project has tracked all of the tweets linked to by online news media worldwide in 65 languages. Over that time, GDELT has tracked 868,539 articles that linked to a Donald Trump tweet. Of the president’s roughly 44,200 tweets to date, 13,539 (31%) have appeared in the news, reinforcing just how much his Twitter account helps to drive global journalism.”
Real Clear Politics

“I think the bigger issue is why are we still talking about this? The President is trying to end the war in Afghanistan, border crossings are down by 30 percent. We have a health care system that’s a mess and yet here we go day whatever on sharpie-gate? I mean, this is why 69 percent of Americans say their faith in the media is declining because of their obsessive reporting on things like this.”
Appearing on MSNBC, the Conservative Policy Institute’s Rachel Bovard reacted to the liberal media’s delusional, week-long obsession over Sharpiegate

“I can’t think of a single voter out there who was going to vote one way, but then because of this whole Sharpie story is going to vote another way. What it does do, however, is it reminds the President’s supporters that he is facing a media that is willing to go after every little thing he does in a way that, for past presidents, they may not have been as willing to do but for the President’s opponents, it sort of reminds them of the personality quirks and the approach that the President takes that they don’t like. So, I think it’s the kind of story where it confirms what you already believed about the President and, if you’re somebody who’s in the middle, you probably tuned it out.”
Republican pollster Kristen Soltis-Anderson on Sharpiegate

“If Republicans abandon the Second Amendment and demoralize millions of Americans who care deeply about Second Amendment rights, that could go a long way to electing a President Elizabeth Warren.”
Sen. Ted Cruz

“On every issue in which the left differs from conservatives (and often from liberals), they are fools. They push for a Palestinian state although even Israelis on the left know this would mean a Hamas-Hezbollah state on the Israeli border. But they know they mean well.

“They routinely label the beacon of freedom on Earth racist, misogynistic, homophobic, imperialistic, genocidal; cheapen the label “Nazi”; promote all-black dorms and graduations; promote preteen boys’ performing drag shows; tell young women career is more important to happiness than marriage; believe a country can remain a distinct nation with open borders; condemn parents who try to reassure their 3-year-old son that he is a boy; and ruin the university, the arts, late-night comedy, pro football and religion. But they mean well.”
Nationally syndicated radio talk-show host and columnist Dennis Prager

“The table is full. Stormy Daniels is there, ready to be dragged back to Congress for her next attempted resurrection. So is Christine Blasey Ford, still talking like a 12-year-old with low self-esteem and unable to recall details of her own life. Michael Avenatti is there, at least until his criminal trials, showing anyone who passes by all the pictures he has of him at parties with CNN anchors. Anthony Scaramucci, the former White House communications director who spent less time in the White House than the average school group on an official tour, is in the corner mumbling to himself about how fat and unstable the president is.

“It’s a sad lot of people the media have used to try to destroy Republicans, none of which panned out, stood up to even basic scrutiny, or left the impression they were anything more than unstable props. Journalists wanted to believe them so badly that any standards or common sense were swept away for a bite at that elusive apple. They’ve become the depressed housewife spending a fortune calling psychics in a search for meaning.”
Derek Hunter is a Washington, DC based writer, radio host and political strategist

“Racism in America is endemic. It is foundational. We can mark the creation of this country not at the Fourth of July, 1776, but August 20, 1619, when the first kidnapped African was brought to this country against his will and in bondage, and as a slave built the greatness and the success and the wealth that neither he nor his descendants would ever be able to fully participate in and enjoy.“
Democratic presidential hopeful, former Texas Representative Beto O’Rourke

“Play the radio, make sure the television — excuse me, make sure you have the record player on at night, the — make sure that kids hear words. A kid coming from a very poor school — a very poor background – will hear four million words fewer spoken by the time they get there.”
Joe Biden

“AR15 are the symptom of small penises.”
Fox News correspondent Geraldo Rivera accused AR-15 rifle owners of using the gun to compensate for small penis size

“It’s no secret what is going on here. Yes, the players are trying to launch and drive the ball instead of choking up just to put it in play with two strikes and yes, pitchers throw harder than ever, but it’s the baseball. The balls are slippery and don’t have raised seams, creating less drag on fly balls, meaning more carry.“
CBS sportswriter Matt Snyder. On Wednesday, with two and a half weeks left in the season, mind you, the whole of major-league baseball broke the single-season home run record. More home runs have been hit in 2019 than any other year in history. The previous record? 6,105 dingers in 2017.

OUTRAGE OF THE WEEK

2,246 fetal remains found on property of abortion doctor who recently died

MOST UNDER-REPORTED STORY OF THE WEEK

‘Hell, Yes, We’re Going to Take Your AR-15, Your AK-47,’ O’Rourke Says

MOST OVER-HYPED STORY OF THE WEEK

Twitter critics of Melania Trump’s coat

National security adviser John Bolton resigned

MOST UNUSUAL STORY OF THE WEEK

What is This?! Hillary Clinton Poses at Fake Presidential Desk Looking Through Her Emails

Indian Man Beaten by Two Wives After Seeking Third

 

Health care; teenage dating; Blacks under Trump; campus fake names; and demented Dems

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Here are this week’s highly interesting reads:

Today’s highly interesting read (09/13/19): When Government Runs Health Care

Today’s highly interesting read (09/12/19): Is Teenage Dating Overrated?

Today’s highly interesting read (09/11/19): Black Americans Are Doing Great Under Trump

Today’s highly interesting read (09/10/19): Scholars to hide behind ‘fake names’ on intolerant campuses

Today’s highly interesting read (09/09/19): America Tunes Out the Demented Dems

2019 POO Awards – Week 4

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Each week during this year’s high school football season as I have in previous years, I’m giving out a weekly POO Award to the Wisconsin high school football team that committed the most egregious act of poor sportsmanship by trying to humiliate its opponent.

My goal is to try to build awareness of the importance of sportsmanship.

POO stands for Piling On Offensively (Or if you prefer, Pouring it On Offensively)

Week 4

Luck 74, Bruce 0

West De Pere 77, Green Bay East 6

Week 3

Milwaukee Vincent 88, Milwaukee Madison 0

Stratford 81, Tomahawk 0

Week 2

No clear cut offender this week. This marks the first time this has ever happened in the history of this blog.

Week 1

Racine St. Catherine 74, West Allis Central 0

 

The Barking Lot – America’s Finest Dog Blog (09/14/19)

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The Barking Lot is a regular weekly feature of This Just In…Written by my lovely wife, Jennifer and me.  It opens with the weekend dog walking forecast followed by the main blog from dog lover, Jennifer. Then it’s DOGS IN THE NEWS and our close. Enjoy!

THE WEEKEND DOG-WALKING FORECAST: We grade the weather outlook for taking your pet outdoors.

TODAY:  Mostly sunny.  A high of 77. “A”

SUNDAY:  A chance of showers early in the day. Very humid. Some sunshine later in the day. A high of 78.  “B”

Now, here’s my lovely wife, Jennifer with this week’s main blog.

dogs-eat-homework cartoon

Well, here we are.  For all intents and purposes, Summer 2018 is over.  Technically, we still have until September 23rd to start thinking pumpkin flavors, stadium blankets, and Halloween costumes.  But by now your kids may have already completed one to two weeks of instruction.  You’ve gone from the lazy days of summer to the full swing of a structured routine with bed times, after-school schedules and realizing just how precious the weekends are.  You’re wondering two things:  1. How did you survive three months of “Mom, she’s looking at me funny,” “I’m BORED” and “What’s for lunch?” for over 80 days? And 2. How are you ever going to get your kids to get their homework done PLUS have time for practices, lessons, and other extracurriculars?

Have you considered how the changing summer-into-fall routine affects not only your kids & spouse, but your DOG as well?  If you have a new schedule to adjust to, don’t forget your pup will be affected with the rest of the family.  Roscoe can’t complain about having to get up early, and won’t grumble about picking out an outfit for picture day.  But he sure will notice when your kids aren’t around 24/7 for extra walks, belly rubs, and treats.

“Oh, he’ll be fine,” you’ve assured everyone, mostly yourself.  Until you came home from that first day of school & soccer practice only to find your fave flats chewed beyond recognition, or a very uncharacteristic pile of ickiness by the back door.  Wanna rethink that opinion?

Eventually everything will return to normal.  You’ll get into a pattern that will make you wonder why everyone was so stressed out at the beginning of September.  By Christmas you’ll be on complete autopilot, and even catch a break for about a week.  In the meantime, please understand that the stress you feel packing lunches, finding permission slips, and making sure gym clothes aren’t forgotten isn’t the only thing that can interfere with family peace.

It’s not too late to follow the advice I linked to in order for your family to get through the next couple 10 days or so. With a bit of extra patience for ALL the family members, you’ll be doggone ready to tackle anything! Good luck to everyone this fall!
—-Jennifer Fischer

Thanks Jennifer!

Time now for DOGS IN THE NEWS, canines that made headlines the past week.

Woman sentenced in Lambeau Field dog death.

Vets fear anti-vax pet owners are putting their animals’ health at risk.

Why euthanasia rates at animal shelters have plummeted.

Meet Andy the dachshund and see how he walked again thanks to 3D printing.

A rodent-like pest destroying the Louisiana coast finds new enemy in dog treat business.

Powerful Women Told Me Getting a Dog Is the Key to Success. They Were Right.

American dog owners checking their dogs into luxury ‘canine capsule hotels’ while shopping and drinking.

DOG-loving couples must bone up on what to do if they want their pooches to have a lead role at their weddings.

After Porcupine is Rejected By His Mother, Wiener Dog Steps in to Be His Best Friend.

Dog shows off swimming skills despite physical deformities.

Does your dog need a trainer?

THAT’S IT FOR DOGS IN THE NEWS.

HERE’S OUR DOG PHOTO(s) OF THE WEEK.

A small dog competes in the 14th annual Helen Woodward Animal Center 'Surf-A-Thon' where more than 70 dogs competed in five different weight classes for 'Top Surf Dog 2019' in Del Mar, California, September 8, 2019. REUTERS/Mike Blake


A small dog jumps off his surfboard while competing at the 14th annual Helen Woodward Animal Center “Surf-A-Thon” where more than 70 dogs competed in five different weight classes for “Top Surf Dog 2019” in Del Mar, California, U.S., September 8, 2019. Photos: REUTERS/Mike Blake

We close as we always do with our closing video.

That’s it for this week. Thanks for stopping by.

We’d really appreciate it if you forward this on to other dog lovers you know. Let them have some fun!

See ya, BARK, next Saturday!

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The Best Cartoons of the Week (09/14/19)

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9/11

Michael Ramirez

Pat Cross

Tom Stiglitz

A.F. Branco

Tom Stiglitz

THE LEFT

Jose Neves

A.F. Branco

Pat Cross

Robert Ariail

Henry Payne

Tom Stiglitz

Michael Ramirez

Steve Kelley

Gary Varvel

A.F. Branco

Steve Kelley

R.J. Matson

WALMART

Tom Stiglich

VAPING

Al Goodwyn

Gary Varvel

Steve Kelley

ABORTION

Pat Cross

A.F. Branco

EDUCATION

Michael Ramirez

SCOOTERS

Jeff Koterba

 

 

 

 

Goodnight everyone, and have a weekend with feeling

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Every Friday night we smooth our way into the weekend with music, the universal language. These selections demonstrate that despite what is being passed off as art today, there is plenty of really good music available. Come along and enjoy.

“Country music isn’t a guitar. It isn’t a banjo, it isn’t a melody, it isn’t a lyric. It’s a feeling.”
Waylon Jennings

This Sunday documentary producer extraordinaire Ken Burns opens his latest major project on PBS that can be seen on Channel 10 in Milwaukee. From the PBS website:

Explore the history of a uniquely American art form: country music. From its deep and tangled roots in ballads, blues and hymns performed in small settings, to its worldwide popularity, learn how country music evolved over the course of the 20th century, as it eventually emerged to become America’s music. Country Music features never-before-seen footage and photographs, plus interviews with more than 80 country music artists. The eight-part 16-hour series is directed and produced by Ken Burns.

Some great country music in this week’s installment, but first, a video. Of course, Nashville will dominate this series, but Oklahoma played a part as well.

The documentary was written and produced by Dayton Duncan and produced by Julie Dunfey and they were interviewed on KFOR-TV in Oklahoma City.

We have some memorable country selections from the good ‘ole days, so let’s get started.

Elvis leads off. Are you surprised? The King of Rock and Roll never forgot his roots, even when Elvis was rocketing up the charts in 1958, the year he recorded his version of this Hank Williams classic.

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Very early in his career Elvis toured and shared the stage with stars like Johnny Cash, Marty Robbins, Hank Snow, Slim Whitman and Faron Young.

Elvis and his producer Felton Jarvis cranked out many songs during several recording sessions in 1970 that resulted in the album  “Elvis Country” that was released on January 2, 1971. The King of Rock and Roll was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1998.

How do you follow Elvis? With what sounds like an odd combination. Country and…

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“I heard country-and-western music in Liverpool before I heard rock’ n’ roll,” recalled John Lennon. “There were established folk, blues and country-and-western clubs in Liverpool before rock’ n’ roll. I started imitating Hank Williams when I was fifteen, before I could play the guitar.”

The Beatles recorded several songs that had a country flavor, during that 1965 period, including “Act Naturally” with Ringo Starr doing the lead vocal.

“I used to love country music and country rock; I’d had my own show with Rory Storm, when I would do five or six numbers. So singing and performing wasn’t new to me,” said Starr.

“Act Naturally” was written by Johnny Russell and Voni Morrison, and first recorded by Buck Owens and the Buckaroos. It reached #1 on the Billboard Country Singles Chart in 1963. Two years later the Beatles recorded their own version.

Capitol Records heavily promoted the song, running a full page advertisement in the September 11th, 1965 issue of Billboard magazine proclaiming “Ringo Starr Sings Solo!”  The B-side was “Yesterday.” That’s right, the B-side.

“Some of (Ringo’s songs) we just couldn’t get behind,” said Paul McCartney. “I must admit, we didn’t really, until later, think of Ringo’s songs as seriously as our own. That’s not very kind but it’s the way it was…I think John and I were really concentrating on ‘We’ll do the real records!’ but because the other guys had a lot of fans we wrote for them too.”

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https://www.rarerecords.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/butcher_promotional_poster_large.jpg

This would mark the last time the Beatles recorded a song not written by a member of the group.

“Yesterday” as a B-side? That was a mistake. Capitol did make the decision to release “Yesterday” from the British soundtrack album of “Help!” as a single and it turned out to be far more popular than Ringo’s solo vocal. “Yesterday” shot up the chart to #1 for four straight weeks. “Act Naturally” only reached #47 on the Billboard singles chart.

Oh, the above album cover. The original release of the album Yesterday and Today by the Beatles featured the so-called “Butcher cover” depicting the Beatles dressed in butcher smocks, surrounded by pieces of raw meat and plastic doll parts. A public outrage ensued and a more subdued design was produced replacing the original copies that quickly became collectors’ items.

THE BEATLES YESTERDAY AND TODAY US ORIG’66 CAPITOL STEREO 1 PRESS BUTCHER COVER

In several polls this next song is ranked as the best country hit … ever. Kris Kristofferson wrote and recorded it in 1970, and it became a huge success for Sammi Smith.

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Kristofferson and country singer Rita Coolidge were married from 1973 to 1979.

You know what yodeling is? Of course you do. Yodeling is when a singer repeats fast changes of pitch between a low-pitch register and a high-pitch register or falsetto. The style has been a part of country music history since the 1920’s so maybe it’ll get a mention in Ken Burns’ documentary.

The year is 1990.

The TV show is “Star Search.”

The host is Ed McMahon.

His guest sings a Marty Robbins smash from 1961.

Just a few years later when Rimes grew to the tender age of 13 (1996 to be exact),  she hit pay dirt.  Her recording went to #10 on the country chart. Again, she was 13. Let that sink in.

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https://vivamagonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/LEANN-RIMES-VIVA-15-%C2%A9ELISABETH-CAREN.jpg

Bill Mack wrote “Blue” in 1958. Rumor has it that he did so for Patsy Cline, but when she died it wound up many years later with Rimes.

Not true. Mack said he never wrote the song for anyone in particular, including Cline.

That’s it for this week.

Goodnight.

Sleep well.

Have a great weekend.

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For as long as I can remember I’ve heard that jazz is America’s only true art form. Milwaukee’s own Woody Herman said that on stage all the time. This documentary intends to add country to the list.

“There’s something that we do in our culture in which we’re OK with sentimentality and nostalgia. I don’t know why, but that’s the enemy of good anything. We’re frightened of real, deep emotions. So we mask [discussions of country music] with jokes about pickup trucks, dogs, girlfriends and the beer. When in fact it’s about elemental things: birth, death, falling in love, out of love, seeking redemption and erring and all the things human flesh is heir to. That’s the stuff country music is about.”
Ken Burns

“It is part of who we are as Americans — as much as the New Deal and the Civil War and the slave trade. All the violence and all the beauty — it’s part of who we are, and we should know it.”
Rosanne Cash, daughter of johnny Cash

We close with an all-star cast and country classic that was written in 1907.