2024 Movie Scratches: Aquaman-- Mean-- I.S.S.-- Wonka

Movies I saw at the theater in 2024.

5.  AQUAMAN AND THE LOST KINGDOM--  1-18--  Fox Lake-- $7--  Brotherly love knows no bounds and all the colors you could ever want.

6.  MEAN GIRLS--  1-23--  Fox Lake--  $5--  Grease updated to today.  The Queen Bee gets hers.

7.  I.S.S.--  1-23--  Fox Lake--  $5--  International Space Station in case you're wondering.  With a Russian/American crew.  What would happen if the two countries went to war.

8.  WONKA--  1-25--  Fox Lake-- $7--  For some reason I was hungry when  left the theater.  One cool Oompah Lumpa but sure would have loved to have seen more of them.

--RoadDog

Earth Day 2024: 'Nature's Way'

From Bob Stroud's April 22, 2024, Ten at Ten on Chicago's WDRV, 97.1 FM.  If you missed it at 10 a.m., it will be rebroadcast at 10 p.m..  It streams

GET TOGETHER--  Youngbloods

MY CITY WAS GONE--  Pretenders

THE TREES--  Rush

AFTER THE GOLD RUSH--  Neil Young

MERCY MERCY ME--  Marvin Gaye

INVISIBLE SUN--  Police

I'D LOVE TO CHANGE THE WORLD--  Ten 

ROCK ME ON THE WATER--  Jackson Browne

NATURE'S WAY--  Spirit

BIG YELLOW TAXI--  Joni Mitchell

Name That Tune (from the above songs:  "Love Is But A Song We Sing Fears The Way We Die."  Answer below.  --RoadDog

"Get Together"

WLS Top Ten for Week of April 20, 1974: 'Spiders and Snakes'

Just a mere fifty years ago.  WLS was that big AM wattage station out of Chicago.

1.  BENNIE AND THE JETS--  Elton John

2.  HOOKED ON A FEELING--  Blue Swede

3.  THE  LORD'S PRAYER--  Sister Margaret Mead (Imagine this song on a young people's playlist today.)

4.  SPIDERS AND SNAKES--  Jim Stafford

5.  TUBULAR BELLS (THEME FROM THE 'EXORCIST')--    Mike Oldfield

6.  ERES TU--  Mocedades

7.  THE LOCO-MOTION--  Grand Funk

8.  SEASONS IN THE SUN--  Terry Jacks

9.  MOCKINGBIRD--  Carly Simon & James Taylor

10.  JET--  Paul McCartney & Wings

***********************

DEBUTS

14.  BEST THING THAT EVER HAPPENED TO ME--  Gladys Knight & the Pips

15.  JUST DON'T WANT TO BE LONELY--  Main Ingredient

Name That Tune (from the above list):  "Everybody's Doing a Brand New Dance."  Answer below.  --RoadDog

"Loco-Motion"

Record Store Day Today

Today marks the 17th anniversary of Record Store Day in the United States and in several other world countries.

This is a day to show our appreciation for independently-owned record stores, those great Mom and Pop stores.  

And, I am fortunate to have a lot of record stores in the area, starting with my favorite one and another one in McHenry, Illinois.  My favorite one also has one great name for this kind of place, The Vinyl Frontier at 4720 W. Elm Street (Illinois Highway 120).  Kind of tells it all.  Especially with the near extinction of vinyl records, you know, vinyl.

The other record store is Siren Records at 3902 Main Street in McHenry.  Then we have two more places called Reef Records in Antioch and Lakemoor.

I'm sure going to The Vinyl Frontier and plan on buying at least one LP and several CDs.  I actually like CDs better than LPs now.

I Good Day for the Cause.  --RoadRecord

The 20 Funniest Country Songs: 'Boy Named Sue'

 From Yardbarker by Amy McCarthy.

Who says country music has no sense of humor?

1.  DID I SHAVE MY LEGS FOR THIS--  Deana Carter

2.  YOU'RE THE REASON OUR KIDS ARE UGLY--  Loretta Lynn & Conway Twitty

3.  I'M GONNA MISS HER--  Brad Paisley

4.  SHUT UP AND FISH--  Maddie & Tae

5.  TEQUILA MAKES HER CLOTHES FALL OFF--  Joe Nichols

6.  I'M GONNA HIRE A WINO TO DECORATE OUR HOME--  David Frizzel and Shelly West

7.  BOY NAMED SUE--  Johnny Cash

8.  SOME BEACH--  Blake Shelton

9.  WHEN IT RAINS IT POURS--  Luke COMBS

10.  GOODBYE EARL--  Dixie Chicks

And, There Are Ten More to Go.  --RoadHaHA

Name That Tune (from the above tunes):  "Well, My Daddy Left Home When I Was Only Three."  Answer below.  --RoadDog

"Boy Named Sue"

Every Blooming THing-- Mid April

April showers (well, and snow on the 3rd) and flowers are blooming.  Especially the dear old dandelions.  What would spring be without the dandies.  Since I haven't used fertilizer or weedkiller in twenty years, I have a bumper crop.

In addition, I must have several hundred daffodills blooming and a hundred hyacinths.  The Bradford pear trees are in their brilliant white bloom as well.  The creeping phlox are in several hues around the yard.  I always try to have something blooming year round.  Here we go again.

Right now I am busy raking leaves out of flower beds and cutting down dead plants.

But, by far, my biggest challenge is the huge burn pile on the southwest corner of the lot.  I hired people to come over and cut down weed trees and clear overgrowth out last summer and that pile is huge.  Way too big to attempt a straight pile burn for fear it will get away from me.

So, I pull things off the pile and burn smaller fires.  This is a very tiring work.  And believe me at age 72 these first days of working out in the yard are getting rougher and rougher.  I am one sore lad indeed.

I Didn't Know You Could Hurt So Many Ways.  --RoadPain

NCAA Tournaments Are Over

By far, my favorite part of the sporting year.  And this year's edition did not disappoint. We had some upsets and a lot of close games.  As usual, I pulled mostly for the Little Guys even if they were playing favorite Big Guys teams of mine.

And, this year, I was even paying attention to the women's games more because, of course, of the Kaitlyn Clark hoopla.  Sure enjoyed the University of Iowa women's games.  Hopefully all this will carry over to the future college womens games and the WNBA.

I do think CBS made a major mistake in only offering the Final Four mens games on cable stations TBS and TNT.  They should have been on CBS.  And, even worse, the championship game last Monday came on at 9:15 pm in the Eastern Time Zone.  Another mistake.

I was pulling for Iowa to win in the womens tournament and Purdue in the mens.  However, it was not to be.  Both Iowa and Purdue gave good games in the first half, but were destroyed in the second half.  UConn and South Carolina were just too good.

Congratulations to UConn and South Carolina.

--RoadDog

WLS Top 10 for Week of April 13, 1974: 'Hooked On a Feeling'

Hard to believe, half a century ago.

1.  HOOKED ON A FEELING--  Blue Swede

2.  BENNIE AND THE JETS--  Elton John

3.  THE LORD'S PRAYER--  Sister Janet Mead

4.  SPIDERS AND SNAKES--  Jim Stafford

5.  ERES TU--  Mocedades

6.  SEASONS IN THE SUN--  Terry Jacks

7.  LAST KISS--  Wednesday

8.  TUBULAR BELLS (THEME FROM THE EXORCIST)--  Mike Oldfield

9.  MOCKINGBIRD--  Carly Simon & James Taylor

10.  SUNSHINE ON MY SHOULDERS--  John Denver

****************************

DEBUTS

15.  COME AND GET YOUR LOVE--  Redbone

16.  OH MY MY--  Ringo Starr

17.  TSOP (THE SOUND OF PHILADELPHIA)--  MFSB & the 3 Degrees

Name That Tune (from the above songs):  "And I Shook It At Her."  Answer below.  --RoadDog

"Spiders and Snakes"

Tournament Time: CB&C and B-Ball

MARCH 21--  THURSDAY

I should mention that I got my third corned beef and cabbage dinner at the Fox Lake (Illinois) seniors luncheon earlier and were entertained by an Irish performer.  Good Irish food and entertainment.  

I am also glad now that we have complete choice as to what games we see since they are all shown from beginning to end on four different channels:  CBS, TBS, TNT and True TV.  That used to drive me crazy when we had to watch Duke blowing out some #15 or #16 team when we could see that there was a close one or upset in the offing on another channel.

With me, it is all about close games and upsets.

And, I still remember when they experimented with the triple screen (they showed three games at once).  That made it impossible to figure out what was going on.

Highlight of the day was Kentucky getting upset by  Oakland. Oakland?  Had to look it up.  It  is in Michigan.  I am not a fan of Kentucky in any way.  It was one of the original one-and-doner schools.  Then, I ended up staying awake until nearly midnight when Samford took Kansas down to the wire in what would also have been a major upset.  They lost by four.  I am a Kansas fan, but Samford is a major Little Guy school.

By the way, Samford is in Alabama.

--RoadB-Ball

WLS Top Ten for Week of March 30, 1974: 'Mockingbird'

 1.  HOOKED ON A FEELING-  Blue Swede

2.  LAST KISS--  Wednesday

3.  BENNIE AND THE JETS--  Elton John

4.  SEASONS IN THE SUN--  Terry Jacks

5.  THE LORD'S PRAYER--  Sister Janet Mead

6.  ROCK ON--  David Essex

7.  MOCKINGBIRD--  Carly Simon & James Taylor

8.  SUNSHINE ON MY SHOULDERS--  John Denver

9.  LOVE SONG--  Anne Murray

10.  SPIDERS AND SNAKES--  Jim Stafford

**************************

DEBUTS

11.  JET--  Paul McCartney & Wings

15.  TUBULAR BELLS--  Mike Oldfield

YOU'RE SIXTEEN--  Ringo Starr

OH MY MY--  Ringo Starr

Name That Tune (from the above songs):   "If I Had A Day That I Could Give You."  Answer below.  --RoadDog

"Sunshine on My Shoulders"

Tournament Time Is Here!! Whoopee!!

MARCH 21--  THURSDAY

Well, we are upon my favorite sporting event of the year, the NCAA Road to the Final Four and National Basketball Championship.  And it arrived today (well, other than the four play-in games).  

This is a time I pull for the Little Guys vs. the Big Guys, even if the Big Guy is one of my favorites like Duke, UNC or Kansas.  For me, it's all about the upsets and especially Cinderella stories.  I remember when Gonzaga made that deep run which sent everyone to maps looking to find the location of Gonzaga.

I also like to see a high seed upset a low seed.

And, every year we get a lot of upsets and close games.  I am no fan of blowouts, even when it is one of my teams doing it to someone.  I especially liked it the last years when a #16 beat a #1.  Now that is just plain fun.

And, it is here.

I went to Donovan's Reef in Twin Lakes, Wisconsin, and watched the game with my buddy Rich who knows aa while lot about college basketball.  I then came home and continued watching games in Margaritaville while enjoying my Ultimate 300-disc Juke Box.

--RoadB-Ball

Leading Up to St. Patrick's Day: Two CB&C Dinners, St. Baldrick's and Two Performers

MARCH 16, SATURDAY

Okay, so no cb&c at the VFW, but I remembered seeing a flyer at Sunnyside in Johnsburg offering a cb&c dinner (corned beef & cabbage) so went there.  But, upon closer inspection of the sheet, I saw that this dinner was offered at Cullom Knoll, about seven miles away so decided to be disappointed.

So, came home and went online for awhile before driving over to Saylor Mick's in Spring Grove which had cb&c dinners so FINALLY got one after two false starts.  They also had a solo artist performing playing so got to enjoy that.

*************************************

MARCH 17TH--  SUNDAY
Bob Stroud featured the music of Van Morrison on his Rock and Roll Roots show on Chicago's WDRV, 97.1 FM.  After all, the Van is Irish.

I drove over to the Fox Lake American Legion where they were having a St. Baldrick's head shaving event to raise money for diseases.  I didn't have my head shaved but did donate.  And, they had cb&c.  Two in a row!!  Plus, Matthew Holmes performed from 3 to 6 pm.  

Sadly, I left my to-go box when I left.

Oh well, I had my fill of corned beef & cabbage finally.

--RoadCabbage

WLS Top LPs and Tapes for Week of March 23, 1974: 'Court and Spark'

Maybe you still have one of these albums in either record or tape form?  Was it an 8-track or cassette tape?  Probably 8-track.

1.  GREATEST HITS (5th week at #1)--  John Denver

2.  THE WAY WE WERE--  Barbra Streisand

3.  HOTCAKES--  Carly Simon

4.  TUBULAR BELLS--  Mike Oldfield

5.  COURT AND SPARK--  Joni Mitchell

6.  SABBATH BLOODY SABBATH--  Black Sabbath

7.  UNBORN CHILD--  Seals & Crofts

8.  YOU DON'T MESS AROUND WITH JIM--  Jim Croce

9.  BRAIN SALAD SURGERY--  Emerson, Lake & Palmer

10.  BURN--  Deep Purple

--RoadDog

WLS Top Ten and Debuts for Week of March 23, 1974: 'Last Kiss'

That's right, a cool half century ago.

1.  LAST KISS--  Wednesday

2.  HOOKED ON A FEELING--   Blue Swede

3.  SEASONS IN THE SUN--  Terry Jacks

4.  ROCK ON--  David Essex

5.  BENNIE AND THE JETS--  Elton John

6.  SUNSHINE ON MY SHOULDER--  John Denver

7.  LOVE SONG--  Anne Murray

8.  MOCKINGBIRD--  James Taylor & Carly Simon

9.  THE LORD'S PRAYER--  Sister Janet Maad

10.  BOOGIE DOWN--  Eddie Kendricks

********************************

DEBUTS

13.  SPIDERS AND SNAKES--  Jim Stafford

ERES TU--  Mocedades

Name That Tune (from the above songs):  "Hey Kids, Shake It Loose Together."  Answer below.  --RoadDog

"Bennie and the Jets"

Leading Up to St. Patrick's Day: No Dyed River, Parades or CB&C, But Old-Time Radio, A Beer and a Band

MARCH 16, SATURDAY

This was to be the big day of partying everywhere.  I had lots of options, but many I canceled if they involved spending time outside.  It was kind of cold and very windy.  Plus there would be crowds.  The older I get, the less I like any one of those things.

That meant a no go to McHenry to see the Fox River dyed green or the parade.  That also ruled out the parade in Lake Villa.  Sad, because I surely love parades.  I decided instead to go to the Fox Lake/Grant Township Historical Society's meeting and see the Lake County Old Time Radio Players put on an old time radio show.  They did "The Shadow."  Quite a neat and enjoyable job.

I then  went to Lake Villa and found myself in a long detour, but eventually got to the Lake Villa VFW which was having a corned beef and cabbage dinner.  I was sad to find they had already given out of it by the time I arrived.  Bummer.

However, I did luck into a seat at the very crowded bar and had a beer while enjoying the 50s-60s band, Accents.  However, the power went out and I left.

Not Finished With the Day Yet.  --RoadDog

Leading Up to St. Patrick's Day: Teachers, Pi, a Cemetery and Some Bars

MARCH 14, THURSDAY

I met seven other teachers I used to work with at Magee Middle School in Round Lake at the Bristol 45 Diner in Bristol, Wisconsin, for breakfast.  It is always good to get together with old friends.  Stopped at my State Farm agent to see if I could get an adjustment on my vehicle insurance on the '05 Dodge Dakota and '85 Firebird since I don't drive either very much, but already was getting the lowest amount I could.

Bought an apple pie at Jewel for $3.14.  I wonder why that price?

MARCH 15, FRIDAY

Drove to Arlington Heights, Illinois, to replace the flowers on my mother and father-in-laws' graves, stopping along the way in Lake Zurich to get the tax information on my Charles Schwab account.  On the way back stopped at Sunnyside in Johnsburg and the Fox Lake American Legion.

Pi Is 3.14.  --RoadO'Green

Leading Up to St. Patrick's Day: Pizza, Beer, a Movie, a Presentation and Trivia

And, it was unseasonably warm around here until Saturday.

MARCH 11--  MONDAY

Went to Saylor Mick's in Spring Grove for half price pizza and Bricks 'N Ivy for the $8 pitcher of Blue Moon.

MARCH 12-- TUESDAY

Drove to Woodstock, Illinois, for the movie "King Fu Panda: 4" at the theater, then spent some time in the library before meeting members of the Round Table at 3 Brothers restaurant for dinner.  Then we adjourned back to the library where the McHenry County Civil War Round Table has a presentation on Confederate Railroads during the war.

MARCH 13--  WEDNESDAY

Put up the spring flowers at Liz's grave and talked with the funeral director at the Spring Grover Funeral Home about a grave stone.  Then drove to Twin Lakes, Wisconsin, for snack day/trivia at Donovan's Reef.  We sure ate well.

Good Times in the Area.  --RoadDog

WLS Top Ten (and Debuts) for Week of March 16, 1974: 'Boogie Down'

That's right, fifty years ago, half a century.  Really.

1.  ROCK ON-- David Essex

2.  SEASONS IN THE SUN--  Terry Jacks

3.  LAST KISS--  Wednesday

4.  SUNSHINE ON MY SHOULDERS--  John Denver

5.  LOVE SONG--  Anne Murray

6.  HOOKED ON A FEELING--  Blue Swede

7.  BOOGIE DOWN--  Eddie Kendricks

8.  THE WAY WE WERE--  Barbra Streisand

9.  DARK LADY--  Cher

10.  MOCKINGBIRD--  James Taylor & Carly Simon

*******************************

DEBUTS

12.  BENNY AND THE JETS--  Elton John

14.  JUNGLE BOOGIE--  Kool & the Gang

Name That Tune (from the above songs):  "Girl You Just Don't Realize What You Do To Me."  Answer below.  --RoadDog

"Hooked On a Feeling"