JSIS: Middle Class, E-Books, Barnes & Noble

JSIS: Just Some Interesting Stuff. I'm not sure when or where I got these bits.

1. MIDDLE CLASS-- America's Middle Class in Crisis. Two recessions and a couple stock market crashes have led to high unemployment among this group. Plus, Republican and Tea Party attacks on unions continues.

2. E-BOOKS--Amazon says E-Books are outselling paper books. Also, CD Online site is closing.

3. BARNES & NOBLE-- For sale after years of declining sales. And, we have already lost Borders.

Just Some Interesting Stuff.

Wondering If Any of These Have Any Connection. --RoadDog

After Much Effort, I Got That New HDTV Hooked Up

With the state of television moving along as it is today (and the fact that I can't get most cable stations on the old analog TVs anymore), I am forced to join the rest of world and go HD digital TV.

Not that I didn't want to, as I love big screen TVs, but the old ones were still working and I hate getting rid of something that still works.

Last month, I bought a 29-inch HDTV for the corner of the Margaritaville bar (it was the largest I could find to fit the spot) and had put off installing it until yesterday as I knew it would be a pain. New technology and I don't get along. Nothing new is easy for me.

Plus, getting the old 19-inch picture tube set down wasn't easy either. It was mighty heavy. After several hours, I was able to get the stations on the new one, but had to detach my VHS recorder/DVD player.

Today, I go out and buy a 55-60-inch HDTV for the basement as we are having a Bears Football party this Sunday afternoon.

So Proud of Myself and Watching TV in Style. --RoadDog

Attention Music Fans! Countdown for 1951

'Fessa John Hook has the Beach Music Countdown for the Year 1951 on his www.beachshag.com site right now and for a couple more days.

I was born midway through that year, so probably wasn't listening to much of it, but I'm getting it now.

He is playing the Top 40 songs along with a whole lot of honorable mentions so it is a real trip back with such artists as Ivory Joe Hunter, Robins, Roy Brown, Stick McGee, Jesse Belvin, Clovers, Howlin' Wolf, Wynonie Harris, Buddy and Ella Johnson and Joe Liggins.

The TOP FIVE by themselves are a roadmap to the soon-to-be outgrowth of Jump Blues called rock and roll with:

#5 JUST ONE MORE DRINK-- Amos Milburn

#4. LITTLE RED ROOSTER-- Griffin Brothers and Margie Day

#3. BAD BAD WHISKEY-- Amos Milburn

#2  ROCKET 88-- Jackie Brenston & His Delta Cats

#1. SIXTY MINUTE MAN-- Billy Ward & His Dominoes.

If You Want to See Where Rock and Roll Came From, This "Be" the Place. --RoadDog

Top Ten Misused English Words

From the June 6, 2011, Listverse.

Find out why.

10. Refute

9. Instant

8. Enormity

7. Less

6. Chronic

5. Literally

4. Panacea

3. Disinterested

2. Decimate

1. Ultimate.

The Enormity of This Ultimate List Is Literally Hard to Refute. --RoadDog

Bowling Green Gets Those MAC Championship Blues: The Curse of the Championship

OK, the Bowling Green Falcons beat us badly in the MAC Championship game in Detroit this past Friday, but they fell victim to the MAC Curse. Win, or even lose that game and start looking for a new coach.

It has been announced that Bowling Green's coach, Dave Clawson, has been hired by Wake Forest of the ACC, just like our head coach in 2012, Dave Doeren, jumped ship to North Carolina State, also of the ACC, after our victory in the MAC Chamionship last year.

Evidently, not only are bowl games there at the game scouting, but also the Big Guys looking for new coaches.

Of interest last year, our opponent, Kent State, also lost their head coach to Purdue of the Big Ten (11, 12, 13 or 14). Back in 2010, we lost our coach, Jerry Kill, to Minnesota of the Big Ten (11, 12, 13 or 14) after the MAC Championship game as well. Jerry Kill, however, unlike Doereen, had a proven track record for success, having built Southern Illinois into a power and taking a good program at NIU and making it better.

Dave Clawson turned programs around at Fordham and Richmond and was named national coach of the year at both of them before going to Bowling Green. He also was seriously considered for the head coach at East Carolina back in 2010. Hopefully, Clawson's duties at Bowling Green are over and he won't be coaching at the Little Caesar Bowl. The MAC needs to put a $2 million clause into contracts where the Big Guys have to pay us that much for every year our head coaches break their contract to go to a Big Guy school. All they have to do is ask one of their rich guy backers for the dough.

So far, our coach, Rod Carey, is still with NIU.

That's Life in the Mid-Majors. --RoadDog

Navigating a Buffet

From June 28, 2013, Yahoo! by Shawn Smilie, executive chef of buffet at Aria in Las Vegas. What you should do at one of those buffets:

** Scope it out, especially new ones to you.

** Don't pile plate too high, take smaller amounts.

** As you go back for seconds, your body is digesting round one.

** Buffets put the cheaper, more filling foods at the beginning of the line.

** The healthier, more expensive foods are at the end.

** He hates people who take a whole portion and just take one bite out of it. (Me too.)

** Eat the foods that you eat at home.

**  Don't eat everything at the dessert buffet.

Essentially My Ideas As Well. --RoadDog

NIU Poinsettia Bowl Bound and STILL HAS Coach

Last night, we found out that Northern Illinois was going to the Poinsettia Bowl the day after Christmas in San Diego to play Utah State. I know the University of Central Florida has to be thanking Bowling Green for beating us at the MAC Championship game Friday, thus keeping us from and letting them go to the Fiesta Bowl in Arizona, a BCS Bowl.

But, still, it's a bowl game, something we didn't get in 2003 after a 10-2 season and beating a ranked Alabama team. The last time we played in the Poinsettia Bowl, we were blown out by Texas Christian University so hope we do better this year. No doubt, it will be a tough game.

We'll be watching for NIU travel packages, but most likely will not go.

We could have gone to the Beef O-Brady game in St. Petersburg, Florida, one which we would have gone to and if I heard correctly, East Carolina, my second favorite college team, is playing in so that would have been a great game for me.

It has now been two days since the loss to Bowling Green and, WE STILL HAVE OUR COACH, Rod Carey. We lost our last two coaches within hours after the MAC Championship game.

Go Huskies!! --RoadDog

We Got Our White Christmas a Bit Early Yesterday

What was to be a smattering of snow in the morning and maybe an inch or two in late afternoon turned out to be an all-day snow with maybe 4-6-inches and lots of slippery driving. We drove up to Donovan's Reef in Twin Lakes to watch the Packers who pulled off a nice win over the Falcons.

Roads in Illinois were ok, but we did have to drive behind a tiny Ford Ranger truck on Wilmot Road from Main Street to 173 who was from Texas and obviously very scared. He drove between 25 and 35 mph the whole 50 mph way and it wasn't bad.

However, that was me once we crossed the border into Wisconsin as their roads had not been plowed or salted. Intersections were a complete joy. No doubt Gov. Walker's idea to save money and punish unions. Almost decided to go back home, but by then we were so close we decided to continue on to Donovan's. Of course, since Green Bay wasn't playing Da Bears, we were in our Packer stuff.

Don't Let It Snow, Don't Let It Snow!!! --RoadDog

I'm Not Forgetting What Day It Is: Pearl Harbor Day, 72 Years Later

All seven of my blogs will have mention of this today as well as one American who died December 7, 1941. I will also have several postings about it in my World War II blog, "Tattooed On Your Soul."

Not forgetting MANFRED C. ANDERSON of Hancock, Michigan (Upper Peninsula), 18th Bombardment Group, Hickam Field.

Thirty Years Ago: B-Ball Scoring, Secret Santa and Columbia House

Just looking back at my journal for Dec. 5-7, 1983.

I was keeping score at 7th and 8th grade boys and girls basketball games just about every day after school as I was the official scorer and ran the clock.

Our superintendent came up with the idea for "White Alerts" when we had the possibility of a snowstorm which we had today. This allowed teachers to leave at the same time students did.

I got my Secret Santa, Marcy.

Dec. 7, 1983, we had a fire drill at 2:40 PM and we all had to go out in the cold. Both Magee Middle School girls teams lost to Woodland.

"When I returned home, I found that my records (albums) had arrived from Columbia House, all 13 of them. I now need to buy 7 more records at around $11 apiece. That will come to $85 for 20 albums, not a bad deal considering most sale records now cost $6.99."

Anybody remember Columbia House and BMG (and I think they had another name before becoming BMG) Records? I sure always enjoyed looking at the ads for these companies and the pamphlets you'd get every month/4 weeks. The only problem was getting the featured album if you forgot to return the letter saying you didn't want it.

I still have a few/many of  those featured albums.

--Collecting Those Albums. --RoadDog

We Didn't Want to Go To Arizona Anyway: NIU Loses MAC Championship and Trip to BCS Fiesta Bowl

Still recovering from the beatdown that Northern Illinois got last night from Bowling Green in the Mid American Conference Championship game. A victory meant that NIU was going to the Fiesta Bowl in Tempe, Arizona, in our second straight BCS Bowl game (earlier this year we were at the Orange Bowl).

If someone finds our defense somewhere between DeKalb and Detroit, please show them the way home as they certainly did not find the field last night. Jordan Lynch played ok, but it was not one of his best efforts, especially with the interceptions.

We were having discussions about going to the Fiesta Bowl game if the Huskies got there, but neither one of us really wanted to go, both preferring a return to the Go-Daddy Bowl in Mobile on Jan. 5th and that looks like where we'll be headed, perhaps to play against Arkansas State again.

But what a great year for NIU football. Ended with a 12-0 regular season record, played in our 4th straight MAC Championship game, beat two Big Ten teams, all that Jordan Lynch for Heisman Award, retirement of Diesel and new mascot Mission and the Chessick Indoor Center dedication and opening.

One other REAL GOOD THING, we probably won't have to find a new coach like we did within hours after winning last year's MAC Championship. Not only did we lose our coach to NC State in 2012, but also the team we played, Kent Stae, lost their coach to Purdue.

Ah, the Trials and Tribulations of Mid-Level College Football. --RoadDog

Just Got In From Christmas Lights and Is It Ever Cold Out There

Inside and trying to get the feeling back in my fingers. It is COLD out there, about 20 degrees and a strong breeze making it worse. It was just like that yesterday so froze as well. That is a major problem around these parts along the Illinois/Wisconsin border.

But, I have them all up except for the icycles from the garage eaves and along the front porch.

Fortunately, I got all of the ones on the gazebo (inside and outside), the deck and sunroom up before I left for Thanksgiving in North Carolina.

Thawing out for that big game tonight at 7 PM CST on ESPN2 for the MAC Championship.

Deck the Lights With Frozen Fingers. --RoadDog

Sure Miss My Old Tree

I looked out the kitchen window yesterday after I got back from my Thanksgiving trip to North Carolina and it sure looked strange not to see the big old Bradford pear tree out there on the west end of Frances' Back 40, the flower bed area on the southeast corner of the yard. It was easily 30-foot high and just as wide and had those remarkable white colors in the spring and the golden red as late fall into November, the last trees with color.

That stormy Sunday we had on November 17th (with all the tornadoes in Illinois) brought it down as well as several big limbs from the Bradford pear tree by the deck.

While I was gone, I paid  a friend come by and cut it up and cart part away and the rest he piled out by the wood pile. I'll miss that tree, which I planted as just a little sapling. Now, I have to decide if I want to plant another Bradford pear by the old one or perhaps a sugar maple or perhaps nothing.

Well, at least I have a new supply of firewood.

Decisions, Decisions. --RoadDog

Six "Dirty" Jobs... But, Somebody's Got to Do 'Em

From the June 27, 2013, U.S. News & World Report "These Are Six Dirty Jobs, But Somebody Has to Do Them" by Jada A. Graves.

And, I still miss the printed magazine.

As they say, there is no such thing as a perfect job, unless you're a sports announcer, I guess.

1. Oil Rig worker

2. Slaughterhouse worker

3. Crime Scene Cleanup Technician

4. Dairy farmer-- In case you're wondering: squeezing the teets, animal waste, inseminating heifers.

5. Plumbers-- Well, human waste and crack exposure.

Gastroenterologist-- Like a plumber, but for the human body dealing with disorders of the digestive system.

Well, I Choose Retired. --RoadDog

Thirty years Ago Today We Be Stylin' With New Zenith 25-inch Color Console TV

Looking back at my journal for 1983 (I've been keeping it since summer 1978 and really wish I had been keeping it back to high school and college days) and saw that today, December 5, 1983, a Monday, Polk Brothers delivered the new 25-inch color TV console.

Liz had bought it back on November 29th from Polk Brothers (there's a name for you Chicago folk) for $498, a goodly amount of money back then. I paid for it with deejay earnings and also had bought our first VCR (it's remote was attached by a cord).

We had been watching a 19-inch color TV before that so had really "arrived" in the world of technology. We gave the old one to Liz's parents.

Back in 1983, we were in the midst of quite a cold spell (just like we have coming in this year) and I had to keep the set turned off for two hours to warm up as it wasn't delivered until 6:30 PM to let it warm up as it had been in the truck all day. Not easy as I really wanted to watch it.

AND, we still have that TV. Right now it isn't hooked up to anything as I had to replace it with my mother-in-law's 25-inch color TV as the '83 didn't have the hookup for all the new digital stuff our cable company Mediacom now has. That was just a few months ago.

The set still works very well except for an occasional very temperamental volume control which goes off and on full sound at any given time. Either you can't hear it or get blasted out.

Right now, I plan to move it elsewhere in the basement's North Woods area and use it to watch my old VHS tapes, both bought and recorded.

I will be replacing Frances' 25-inch TV with a 55 or 60-inch HD one in time for our Bear party on Dec. 15th.

Hey, The '83 Still Works. Why Get Rid Of It? --RoadDog

Thanksgiving Trip 2013-- Part 2: Nov. 22nd The National Road

NOVEMBER 22ND: After leaving the museum, Denny and I backtracked a way into Dayton and had lunch and played NTN at one of the Cadillax Jack's you see so often in the national top twenty.

Then drove the National Road (US-40) into Springfield, Ohio, and saw the new Madonna of the Trail statue location and then National Roaded it to Columbus where we took the interstate (I-271) north and got rooms at the EconoLodge Motel ($50 a night) then went to Dave Wickline's Route 66 Roadhouse nearby before driving to the Ohio National Road annual dinner and awards meeting at the Florentine Italian restaurant (dating to 1946) on US-40 in downtown Columbus.

Quite the dedicated group there and they were nice enough to let me get a dinner as well. Lots of Ohio State fans there. Someone said tickets to the OSU game were $100 each and still a sell-out.

Afterwards, drove down Ohio State's party strip which was just beginning to hop what with the home game tomorrow against Indiana. This strip had to be three miles long, a real lot longer than NIU's Lincoln Highway party strip. Then, back to the Route 66 Roadhouse for drinks and back to the motel.

--RoadDog

Just Got Back

Arrived here in Spring Grove, Illinois, about five hours ago after a two week trip to NC for Thanksgiving. 

Over 2,000 miles and lots of history, family and Christmas decorations. Always great to get back home.

Typing on this and listening to some Christmas music on a recorded cassette tape. This one is a Little Steven's Underground Garage recording.

--RoadDog

Sorry 'Bout That

Very few postings the last two weeks as I was a a trip to North Carolina and the laptop did not work. Of course, this computer, an XP, will go down in April as whoever owns it is going to pull out of support to make some more money.

I really hate those guys.

Planned Obsolecense, Indeed. And Here I Am Stuck With This Piece.... --RoadDog