No 'Dumb Ass Trivia', A Taste of Carolina, Elvis, a Band and $1.1 Billion?

WEDNESDAY  JULY 27

Went to Donovan's Reef in Twin Lakes, Wisconsin, and met Kevin and Kelly and played trivia with Uncle Jeffie and his "Smarty Pants Trivia."  Should be called "Dumb Ass Trivia."

Came home and heated up a Brookwood Farms pit cooked Carolina-style pork bbq which is as close to Wilber's as you can get.  A little taste of Carolina.

THURSDAY, JULY 28

Went to the Fox Lake Theatre and saw the movie "Elvis."  Great music.  

Went to Antioch and ate at the Burger King before going to the village's It's Thursday music festival and saw an excellent band called Pet Rocks.  On the way home, stopped at Liz's Spring Grove Liquor Store and bought a couple raffle tickets for Mega Lotto which was "only" $1.1 billion.  We don't usually play, but when it gets that high, oh well.  Who knows?

--RoadDog

POINTS TO PONDER:  Tell a man there are 400 billion stars and he will believe you.  Tell him a bench has wet paint, and he just has to touch it.

Whoppers, Old Cars and Old Friends

MONDAY, JULY 18

We drove to McHenry, Illinois, and had Whopper dinners at Burger King.  Still one of my favorite burgers after all these years.  We then walked around the Green Street car show admiring the rides, especially ared '67 Firebird convertible, my favorite oldies car.

We saw the same band as yesterday, Aging Teen Idols, who were providing entertainment.

Afterwards went to Sunnyside and had a great time with the Stucky folks:  Angie, Wayne and Carrie.

TUESDAY, JULY 19

Met the Sunnyside folks at Granny's Diner on the Fox River River in Johnsburg and had that excellent chopped steak, two eggs over easy, gash browns and bread.

WEDNESDAY, JULY 20

National Hot Dog Day,  One of my favorite foods.  Didn't have one though.  Went to Donovan's Reef in Twin Lakes, Wisconsin, for trivia and happy hour.

--RoadDog

'Waiting for the Sun' & Aging Teen Idols

SUNDAY, JULY 17

Bob Stroud had a special treat on his Rock and Roots show today on Chicago's WDRV, 97.1 FM.  Today was the 52nd anniversary of the release of the Doors album "Waiting for the Sun" and he played it in its entirety throughout his show and gave lots of interesting information about it in the process.

It has my all-time favorite Doors song "Hello, I Love You" which always reminds me of going out to Honey Hill Beach in Wauconda with my co-workers at the Palatine Burger King on Northwest Highway.  (Burger King was where Photo's is located now.)

In the afternoon, Liz and I drove over to Chopper's on Illinois Highway 173 in Antioch and sat out on their deck overlooking a channel to the Chain of Lakes and enjoyed our friend's band, Aging Teen Angels, playing all sorts of oldies and Beatles songs.  Also enjoyed the $2 draft and 65 cent wings.

Aging Teen Idols.  Isn't that a great name for an oldies band that also plays their own originals?

We were surprised when buddy Coz and girlfriend Eileen came by so enjoyed talking with them on an absolute prefect day to be outside.

--RoadDog

POINTS TO PONDER:  Every time you clean, you make something else dirty.

Back to the Summer of 1970 (July 5, 1970)-- Part 5: A Busy Summer for Me

From Bob Stroud's Root Salute to the Summer of 1970, part 2 that aired Sunday, July 5 on Chicago's WDRV, 97.1 FM, the Drive.  He will have two other Summer of 1970 shows the first Sunday of August and September.

And, just remember, there was no such a thing as the coronavirus back then so no social distancing or masks except at the masquerade parties.

These were the songs we were listening to on the radio (mostly AM) and were in our record collections (mostly albums and 45s) back fifty years ago.

At this time, fifty years ago, I was working my summer job at Burger King in Palatine (it was also my first job starting the summer between sophomore and junior year in high school) after having finished freshman year at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb.  I was also taking a class at Harper College in Palatine that summer as I wasn't sure I had passed a geography class at NIU and needed those credits to avoid getting drafted to go you-know-where in 1970.  I sure had a good time the second half of freshman year pledging Delta Sigma Phi fraternity.

Sadly, my dad had gotten transferred from the home office of Quaker Oats in Chicago to the Southern region office in Atlanta, so my family bought a house in Dunwoody, Ga. and sold the one I had lived in longer than any other home in my life, all the way from 7th grade to freshman year in college.

I would be going back to NIU, however, for my sophomore year while my family lived in Georgia.

The songs Bob was playing sure brought the memories flooding back to me.

Let the Music Play, Next.  --RoadDog

Back to Summer 1970, Fifty Years Ago-- Part 1: Setting the Stage

Bob Stroud has been doing four three-hour shows Root Saluting Summers from 40 Years Ago, starting with 1967 on his Rock and Roll Roots show on Chicago's WDRV, 97.1 FM, the Drive.  .  Last year it was the Summer of 1979.  At that point there was a problem, as his show covers music from the 60s and 70s.  And, this summer from forty years ago would be 1980.  I was wondering what Bob would do.

I was definitely hoping he wouldn't drop the summer shows.  I kind of build my summer's around being home so I can listen to the shows (and record them on my cassette tapes).

I was happy to find out that he was going back to fifty years ago, 1970.

He will be doing a new show about the Summer of 1970 the first Sunday of each month June, July, August and September.  The show first airs from 9 to noon CDST and then a repeat from 9 to midnight.  www.wdrv.com

Anyway, here are the songs he played on June 7.  These are songs on the radio and in your record collection (no downloads) for June 7, 1970.

I was home from college, Northern Illinois University, after completing my freshman year.  However, I had to take a summer school course at Harper College because I wasn't sure if I had passed a geography final and that might have made me short hours needed to stay in college.  And, with a draft lottery number 22, that meant I might end up overseas, if you know what I mean.

I went back to my high school job working at the Burger King in Palatine.

Going Back 50 Years.  --RoadOldie

THOSE CRAZY COUNTRY SONGS:  Flushed From the Bathroom of Your Heart"

JSS-- Valentine's Day-- Better Uniform Choice-- NIU Basketball Homecoming Saturday

JSS--  Just Some Stuff

1.  VALENTINE'S DAY--  Liz and I really don't "celebrate" this contrived holiday.  But, we did go to CorkScrew Pointe in McHenry, Illinois, with intentions of having a muffuletta sandwich, but, unfortunately, the kitchen didn't open until 3 and we had to be at a Kenny Reid's funeral by 3:30.

We ended up eating at Burger King, which is alright as I worked at the Burger King in Palatine, Illinois, when I met Liz and we ate there often.  Liz was an especially "cheap" date yesterday as she got the chicken nuggets, 10 for $1, and value soda for $1.19.  Thanks Liz.

2.  BETTER UNIFORM CHOICES--  I sure hope NIU's new football coach will be able to better pick uniforms for our team than the last guy.  His solid white uniforms with white helmets with just player number on them was extremely blah.  And, for crying out loud, we have a good-looking logo finally and let's return it to the helmets.

3.  NIU BASKETBALL HOMECOMING SATURDAY--  Planning on going out to DeKalb tomorrow for the basketball homecoming.  For $5, you get to see both the men's and women's basketball teams at home.

Go Huskies!!   --RoadHuskie

A Long 4th of July-- Part 5: Donovan's and Chain Crawl

JULY 5, THURSDAY

Enjoyed the Drive's Ten at Ten back to 1969, such a great high school-college year for me.  I always make a pick of my favorite song when they do Ten at Ten, but obviously those years had lots of them and it is not an easy pick.  Fortunately they played "Proud Mary."  Whenever they play a Creedence song, that is my pick.

We went to Donovan's Reef in Twin Lakes for happy hour and got happy and not so hot as it was air conditioned.

JULY 6, FRIDAY

Liz had a hair appointment in Round Lake, Illinois, and I went along.  While she was inside, I drove over to Ace Hardware in Round Lake, once called the largest Ace Hardware in the U.S.A.,  When we lived in Round Lake Beach, I went here often.  Spent a lot of money there also.  Sadly, the opening of Home Depot and Menard's a few miles away on Rand Road (US-12) has really hurt their business.

When Liz was finished we went over to Burger King and had Whoppers, still one of my favorite fast foods.

On the way home we went to two Chain Crawl spots for passport stamps.  Hilltop Lounge is an older bar on Old Rollins Road.  They have $1.50 Busch Light cans.  Then to one of our favorite dive bars, the Squaw Bar (on Squaw Creek) part of the Chain of Lakes.  Enjoyed their Friday special of $1.50 domestic bottles.

Later, we went to the American Legion on US-12 by the bridge on Nippersink Lake and met up with the Usual Suspects.

--RoadDog

JSS: Cold-- Gas Gouge-- Cemetery-- Cut Grass-- Old Stomping Grounds

JSS--  Just Some Stuff.

1.  COLD--  Well, we are being hit with a chilly day with temps this morning in the 40s and highs of 50s here in northern Illinois.  Those poor people out at Wrigley Field will be suffering for this afternoon's Cross Town Series game between the White Sox and Cubs.

2.  GAS GOUGE--  Yesterday we saw gas in Fox Lake at $3.10 ($3.09.9)  Gas at another station in Chicago's Northwest Suburbs was even at $3.20.  I guess the good old low prices are gone.  How high will gas get?

3.  CEMETERY--  This coming up on Mother's Day, we went to the cemetery in Arlington Heights where Liz's parents are buried and put up new flowers and cleared off grass from around the marker.

4.  CUT GRASS--  I cut the grass Sunday and had to cut it (and all those dandelions) again Thursday.  Can't have it getting too far ahead of me.

5.  OLD STOMPING GROUNDS--  After going to the cemetery, Liz and I drove by our old homes in Palatine and ate at Photo's in Palatine (Northwest Highway, US-14).  Photo's is located where the Burger King used to be where I got my first job and worked at junior and senior years in high school and freshman year in college.

We then drove on Quentin Road to Fairfield Road which is how we used to drive between Round Lake Beach to Palatine and later Arlington Heights to visit with Liz's parents.

--RoadDog

A Trip Back Kind of Weekend-- Part 2: A Trip Back to the Old Stomping Grounds in Palatine and a High School Football Game

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 29

We drove US-12, Rand Road, to Arlington Hts, Illinois, and tended to Amby and Frances' grave (Liz's parents).  Put up fall flowers and a U.S. flag as he was a major in World War II.  We then drove by our old houses in Palatine (where we lived while growing up) and stopped for a bite to eat at Photo's on US-14, Northwest Highway.  This is the site of where I used to work at Burger King.

Later, I went to the Richmond-Burton-Harvard high school football game in Richmond.  It looked like Richmond was going to blow Harvard out, but it got tied shortly into the third quarter.  Then Burton scored one more time to win 21-14.

--RoadDog

JSS: The Pre-Pre-Pre-Pre Summer Driving Gouge Strikes-- BK's New Rib Sandwich-- Rough Driving Ahead

JSS-- Just Some Stuff. //// 1. THE PRE-PRE-PRE-PRE SUMMER DRIVING GOUGE STRIKES-- I see it hit us here in northeast Illinois big-time yesterday when gas jumped from $3.24 to $3.47. That's 23 cents in a minute. I suspect Big Oil needs a profits infusion as usual. //// 2. BK'S BEW RIB SANDWICH-- Now that McRibs are gone, we still have that just-as-good Burger King Rib sandwich for a buck. I like these every bit as much as McRibs. A real hit for BK. Makes up for the new fries and that uber-dry Johnsonville brat sandwich. I didn't think you possible could make a bad Johnsonville, but, not so. //// 3. ROUGH DRIVING AHEAD-- Ever since that "V" thing hit us a couple weeks ago, I notice a huge increase in potholes and pavement buckling which happens every time we get that cold. //// --RoadDog

JSIS: 30%-- 49 Cents-- Cell Phones-- No Smoking-- Chocolate

JSIS-- Just Some Interesting Stuff From the Oct. 7, 2013, Time Magazine.

1. 30%-- Calorie loss on Burger King's new fries. I'll probably blow it on their new Johnsonville brats.

2. 49 CENTS-- After 3 cent increase on stamps in January. Start stocking up on those Forever Stamps.

3. CELL PHONES-- Apple sold 9 million of their new iPhones in first three days. The iOS7 phone promised waterproofing with a special update. Some users ruined their phones.

Zero- how many of those new iPhoines I bought.

4.  NO SMOKING-- The president gave his reason for not smoking in probably six years, "I'm scared of my wife." Me too.

5.  CHOCOLATE-- Cost of a kg of chocolate (How much, in pounds or ounces, does a kilogram weigh?) up 45% since 2007, at $12.25, highest price ever.

--RoadDog

All Those Calories Pay Off

Big Congrats to Michael Phelps on the record-setting 8th swimming gold medal.

Back on August 14th, I wrote about his 12,000 calories a day intake.

Michael Esposito, in the August 24th Chicago Tribune, went to fast food company webs sites and did some math to figure out what 10,000 calories is equal to.

Here are his findings:

10,000 calories is equal to:

74 White Castle burgers
41 Vienna beef corn dogs
23 Wendy's quarter pound singles
47 Taco Bell tacos supreme
77 KFC Original Recipe drumsticks
45 Eli's plain cheesecake slices
15 Burger King Whoppers
1,667 8-inch sticks of celery

Wonder why you get so much celery.

Thanks, Michael. --RoadDog

Where Were You November 25, 1968?

Bob Stroud did his Rock and Roll Roots Time Warp back on Nov. 25, 2007, the Sunday after Thanksgiving. Since Liz and I are doing "A Trip Down Memory Lane" these days to mark our 40th anniversary of "going together", I will list all the songs Stroud played.

These were all being played on Chicago's two major young people's station at the time. Both were AM radio as FM was just starting to get going. Those stations were WLS and WCFL. These are the charts Stroud used to compile his playlist.

I was a senior at Palatine High School, in Palatine, Illinois, slinging Whoppers at the Burger King on Northwest Highway for a buck an hour and having a great time with the other employees and boss, Bob Galloy, who was just about a kid himself. Didn't much like the other boss, Jerry, but did like their father, Mr. G.

I was sports editor of the Cutlass, the school paper (we were called the Pirates, get it, Cutlass) and sports editor of the yearbook as well.

Liz and I had been going together almost a year by then. She worked part time at General Finance Corporation in Evanston, Illinois, during breaks and holidays. Her dad, Amby, also worked there and they carpooled it from Palatine.

Both of us were living in different sections of the huge Winston Park subdivision. I was at 1102 Anderson Dr., across from St. Thomas School and church. Liz was living at 44 Patricia Lane.

Stroud's comments accompany as well. If in parentheses ( ), it is my comment. I didn't get any of Bob's comment the first thirty minutes as I was asleep. The songs:

Elenore-- Turtles-- (how do you beat that great harmony?)
Nobody-- Three Dog Night (a favorite blue-eyed soul group of mine.)
I Heard it Through the Grapevine-- Marvin Gaye-- (the definitive version of the Gladys Knight & the Pips version. I still can't hear this without envisioning those raisins doing their best soul moves.)

Shake-- Shadows of Knight-- (a local northwest suburb group more famous for "Gloria." This one, for some reason, is regarded as a Bubblegum song, even though it is a great rocker.)

Son of a Preacher Man-- Dusty Springfield--(Nashville song from British songstress)
White Room-- Cream--(second hit after "Sunshine of Your Love." One of my favorite groups and one where I immediately bought every album they released after Ronnie Creel let me listen to his "Fresh Cream" album on a trip to Goldsboro, NC.)

Quick Joey Small (Run Joey Run)-- Kastenetz-Katz Singing Orchestral Circus--Bubblegum music becoming the rage. (I always liked Bubblegum even though most of my friends didn't. How's that for a group name? I still have these original albums as brother Bob evidently did not like them and didn't wreck the albums.)

For Once in My Life-- Stevie Wonder-- has achieved standard status
Shame, Shame-- Magic Lanterns-- British group
Abraham, Martin and John-- Dion--hadn't been on the charts in a long time, then comes out with something completely different from his "Wanderer" type music.
Cinnamon-- Derek-- Top Ten song a long time before Neil Young had his "Cinnamon Girl."
I Can't Turn You Loose-- Chambers Brothers-- follow up to "Time Has Come Today." (Two of my all-time favorite songs.)
Things I'd Like to Say-- New Colony 6-- "B" side of "Come and Give Your Love to Me." Legend has it that Larry Lujac, dj at WLS, turned the 45 over and played this song. He immediately decided this would be the hit. (The Great Chicago Sound of the 60s. Former member Ronnie Rice still performs solo around the Chicagoland area as the "Human Jukebox." He sure knows a lot of songs.)

Kentucky Woman-- Deep Purple--Neil Diamond song and follow up to "Hush." (How to make a pop song into a heavy metal one.)

Both Sides Now-- Judy Collins-- written by Joni Mitchell
Magic Carpet Ride-- Steppenwolf-- (Nothing takes me back to Senior Lounge at Palatine High, right off the cafeteria, more than this song. Hey, is that a junior trying to sneak in?)

Run to Me-- Montanas-- Second hit after "You've Got to Be Lonely."
Love Child-- Supremes-- The Number 1 Song in Chicago by Cindy, Mary, and Diana. (A socially conscious song.)

Man, Did These Songs Take Me Back a Long, Long, Long Time Ago. --RoadDog

Labor Day 1967

Last Monday was Labor Day. I can remember a time when it was very important to me, like all through school and teaching, but now, it is just another day. The only difference is that everyone else is now off as well.

I got to thinking about what I was doing way back then while I was listening to Bob Stroud do his final installment of his Summer of Love Rock and Roll Roots Salute.

I was living with my family at 1048 Anderson Drive in Palatine, Illinois.  Liz was living in Chicago, but coming out to Palatine on the Chicago & Northwestern train to attend Palatine High School.  We didn't meet u til near the end of October.

As near as Liz and I can recall, we hadn't gone back to school yet. School, even college, just didn't begin before Labor Day as it does today. Actually, my sister began school in Georgia around August 5th and teachers in Round Lake went back August 13th this year.

I was getting ready to start my junior year at Palatine High School at Palatine High School. I was working at the Burger King on Northwest Highway earning a whopping $1 an hour (but you could buy 3 gallons of gas for that back then). A Whopper cost 49 cents. You got a Whopper, fries, and small drink for 92 cents.

I still didn't have my drivers license, though. At Palatine High, you took drivers ed junior year.

Later, junior year, I joined the school newspaper, the Cutlass.

Forty Years Ago...Already!!...Ya Gotta Be Kiddin'!! ---RoadDog