A Good Fourth Around Here

A lot of yardwork, eating and fireworks.

JULY 3, FRIDAY--  I set out all my flags and banners.  Did yardwork every day, one of my pleasures.  This afternoon and early evening we were over at friends John and Sherry's for a 4th of July get-together.

JULY 4, SATURDAY--  Drove to twin lakes, Wisconsin for the parade and then met with friend Gayle who has moved to Arizona and had her boyfriend Charlie along with her.  It was great catching up with her and meeting Charlie at both Main Street Tap and Donovan's.

Stopped at the Spring Grove 4th of July grounds at Horse Fair Park for awhile, then went home.  Watched the fireworks show for the village from the front of our house as usual.

JULY 5, SUNDAY--  Listened to Bob Stroud's Summer of 1975 show in the morning.  remembered we had our first 4th of July in our new house in Round Lake Beach 40 years ago in 1975.

Went to Nauti-Knots on Bluff Lake and sat out by the tiki bar on a perfect day.  Then went to Captain's Quarters on Fox Lake and watched the Eddie Butts Band and stopped at Lakeview Place on Grasslake.

Sure Enjoyed It.  --RoadDog

Summer of 1975-- Part 6: July 5, 1975 "Old Days"

These are songs playing  on radio and in your record collection 40 years ago.

SHOW ME THE WAY--  Peter Frampton--  Before he hit it real big in 1976.
REAL MAN--  Todd Rundgren
BAD TIME--  Grand Funk--  their last big hit.

KASHMIR--  Led Zeppelin
ACROSS THE UNIVERSE--  David Bowie--  Singing a Beatles song.
I'M NOT IN LOVE--  10CC

TAKE ME IN YOUR ARMS--  Doobie Brothers
SATURDAY NIGHT SPECIAL--  Lynyrd Skynyrd
OLD DAYS--  Chicago

SHINING STAR--  Earth, Wind & Fire
MAGIC--  Pilot
SOMEONE SAVED MY LIFE--  Elton John

SWEET EMOTION--  Aerosmith
FREEWAY JAM--  Jeff Beck
ONLY WOMEN BLEED--  Alice Cooper

WILDFIRE--  Michael Murphy  #1 song in Chicago July 5, 1975.

"Good Times I Remember.  Fun Days Filled With Simple Pleasures.  --RoadDog


THE WISDOM OF WILL ROGERS:  The quickest way to double your money is to fold it over and put it back in your pocket.

Movie Scratches: Avengers-- Tomorrowland-- Andreas-- Poltergeist

Movie Scratches:  A dog's-eye view of today's movies.

33.  AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON--  5-26--  Round Lake Beach, $5--  Poor, misguided robot a.i..  That skyscraper collapse was a bit too much like 9/11 though.  Still have a problem with that.

34.  TOMORROWLAND--  5-27--  Fox Lake, $5--  Enter "It's a Small World" and exit "Tomorrowland."  The only hope for the earth's future, but George messes up.  Robot love?

35.  SAN ANDREAS--  6-1--  Round Lake Beach, $5--  Watch out for falling buildings or, Boating amongst the skyscrapers.  As much action as you can handle.

36.  POLTERGEIST--  6-9--  Round Lake Beach, $5--  With an Illinois connection this time.  Stay out of the closet the best you can.  Just when you thought it was safe.m, they pull you back.

Great Prices and Eating at RLB.  --RoadDog

Summer of 1975-- Part 5: July 5, 1975: "Jackie Blue"

From Bob Stroud's Rock and Roll Roots on Chicago's Drive, WDRV, 97.1 FM.  This is his second installment from that summer with parts 3 and 4 coming up the first Sundays of August and September.  These are the songs that were playing on the radio (here in Chicago mostly WLS and WCFL, though there were a lot of FM stations at the time as well.  These are also songs we played on our albums on the stereo.  Using surveys, these are ones that were playing July 5, 1975.

I forgot about the show and slept through the first hour, but have gone on site to get the list.

JACKIE BLUE--  Ozark Mountain Daredevils
CALL ON ME--  Bad Company  (The band I always get these guys mixed up with Foreigner for some reason.)
WHEN WILL I BE LOVED--  Linda Ronstadt  (What a voice.)

SISTER GOLDEN HAIR--  America
PHILADELPHIA FREEDOM--  Elton John
TRAVELIN' MAN--  Bob Seger

ONE OF THESE NIGHTS--  Eagles  (And fast becoming a favorite country rock band of mine.)
KILLER QUEEN--  Queen
TONIGHT'S THE NIGHT--  Neil Young  (We had friends who went up for his show at Milwaukee's Summerfest last night.)

HEY YOU--  Bachman-Turner Overdrive
WHY CAN'T WE BE FRIENDS--  War
LISTEN TO WHAT THE MAN SAID--  Wings  (With that Paul guy.)

MEDICINE JAR--  Wings  (Well, it was 8 a.m. and Terri Hemmert was coming on with her Breakfast With the Beatles show on WXRT,)
HOW LONG--  Ace
I'M ON FIRE--  Dwight Twilley Band

"I've Been Made Blue, I've Been Lied To."  --RoadDog


THE WIT OF WILL ROGERS:  When you're throwin' your weight around, be ready to have it thrown around by somebody else.

America Ranked on July 4th-- Part 2

15th--  Happiness:  7.1%

16th--  Most democratic:  76.9

17th--  Corruption:  74 (with 100 the highest)

18th--  Adult obesity rate:  33%

21st--  Internet users (per 100 people):  84.2

24th--  Reading education: 498

27th--  Adult literacy rate, 2012:  99%

28th--  Internet download speeds:  36.8 megabits per second

28th--  Science education:  497

31st--  Motherhood index, 2015

41st--  Average life expectancy:  79.6 years

48th--  Average annual pure alcohol consumption, 2010:  2.4 gallons per person

55th--  Annual infant mortality: 6.2 deaths per 1,000 births

106th--  Homicide rate (2007): 5 per 100,000 persons

124th--  Cellphone subscription (per 100 people):  95.5

Happy Birthday Rank, #1.  --RoadDog

America Ranked on the 4th of July-- Part 1

From the July 3, 2015, Chicago Tribune by Tribune Graphics.

"As the United States of America celebrates its 239th birthday from sea to shining sea, take a glimpse at where the country ranks globally in various socioeconomic categories:

1st--  Annual health expenditure as a percentage of GDP: 17.9%

1st--  U.S.-registered patents:  3,236,285

1st--  Prison population:  2.2 million

3rd--  Total estimated population:  318,892,103

3rd--  Land area:  3,794,000 square miles.

3rd--  Annual household spending:  $31,227

3rd--  Available military manpower in 2013:  145,212,012

5th--  Red meat consumed per day, 2011:  332 grams

10th--  Carbon emissions, 2010:  17.6 metric tons per person

13th--  Refugee population:  263,662

And, I Have More.  --RoadDog


THE WISDOM OF WILL ROGERS:  When you've given a lesson in meanness to acritter or person, don't be surprised if they learn their lesson.

Getting Ready for the Fourth of July

Put my flags up this morning.  Yesterday, we went to Donovan's in Twin Lakes and stopped at Never Sink Inn in Spring Grove for their weekly blues jam.

Today we are going one subdivision over in Johnsburg to a cookout.

Tomorrow we are planning on watching the parade in Twin Lakes, having a few cocktails at Main Street and Donovan's and then coming back to Spring Grove for the celebration.  Mitch Edwards is playing at Horse Fair Park in the afternoon, followed by Mr. Myers, a band that we have been following since it began in DeKalb back at Andy's in 1983.

As usual, we will watch the Spring Grove Fireworks from the front of our house.

Happy 239th, America!!  --RoadDog

WLS Top Ten for July 2, 1965

Always a big thanks for Oldies Loon providing this.

1.  MR. TAMBOURINE MAN--  Byrds
2.  WOOLY BULLY--  Sam the Sham
3.  I CAN'T HELP MYSELF--  Four Tops

4.  I WANT CANDY--  Strangeloves
5.  SATISFACTION--  Rolling Stones
6.  WONDERFUL WORLD--  Herman Hermits
7.  FOR YOUR LOVE--  Yardbirds

8.  CRYING IN THE CHAPEL--  Elvis Presley
9.  I'M HENRY THE VIII, I AM--  Herman's Hermits
10.  A WALK IN THE BLACK FOREST--  Horst Jankowski

So, Herman's Hermits have two songs in the top ten.  How many Beatles songs are there?

Wendy Rice goes back to 1970 on her Saturday Morning Flashback show tomorrow 8-noon on WXRT in Chicago.

"I'm an Eightball Man, That's What I Am."  --RoadDog


THE WISDOM OF WILL ROGERS:   Always drink upstream from the herd.

Festivals, Bands Last Weekend

JUNE 26TH, FRIDAY--  We met friends Kip and Susie at K.C.'s Cabin for breakfast and spent the rest of the day doing yardwork before meeting Kevin and Kelly at the Legion for 50-50.  Kelly's mother was there with her boyfriend Paul who was in World War II and an FBI agent afterwards.

JUNE 27TH, SATURDAY--  Enjoyed listening to Wendy Rice go back to 1989 on her WXRT show.  Drove to Round Lake Beach's Beach fest and saw the band Bad Medicine do Bon Jovi and Def Leppard songs.

Then drove over to Wauconda for Wauconda Fest, stopping along the way at Bonner Road Inn which has been there since the 1960s.  At the Fesr, we saw Piano Man do covers of Billy Joel and Elton John and then the Mason Rivers Band, which played country music.

Stopped at Sunnyside Tap on the way home.

JUNE 28THM SUNDAY--  Listened to Rock and Roll Roots and recorded Breakfast With the Bearles as usual.  Did some yardwork and then drove over to 'Cuda's on Grasslake Road and then to Captain's Quarters where we saw the band Hooked on Sonics.

Love Those Bands.  --RoadDog

New "Vacation" Movie Coming

From the April 13, 2015, Yahoo! Movies "Three Generations of Griswolds Pose for First 'Vacation' Photo" by Kevin Polowy.

I have just seen a coming preview of this new movie and, I have to admit, that I laughed through it.  This is going to be one funny movie.  And the original is one of my all-time favorites as were the follow-ups "Vegas Vacation" and "Christmas Vacation."   "European Vacation" was alright, but not as good as the others.

Anyway, those posing were Clark Griswold (Chevy Chase) and Ellen Griswold (Beverly D'Angelo, son Rusty (Ed Helms), daughter-in-law Debbie (Christine Applegate) and their kids (Skyler Gisdondo and Steele Stebbini).

The photo is taken in front of the famous puke green "Wagon Queen Family Truckster," a modified Ford LTD Country Squire station wagon.

The first "Vacation" movie had Michael Hall and Dana Baron i 1982  Chevy Chase and Beverly D'Angelo will have cameo roles.

Anticipating This One.  --RoadDog

JSIS: Urban Gets Paid-- Building a Cheaper Big Mac-- Cancelled in 2014JSIS-- Just Some Interesting Stuff.

1.  URBAN GETS PAID--  A LOT!!  His OSU contract extended to 2020 after the 2014 National Championship.  He now will average $6.5 million a year.  This during a time that a college education keeps costing so much more.  You've got to wonder.

2.  BUILDING A CHEAPER BIG MAC--  With the price of a Big Mac around $4 these days, just order a McDouble without ketchup.  Then add lettuce and Big mac sauce.  It is the "Poor man's Big Mac" at around $1.49.

3.  CANCELLED IN 2014--  TV shows that got the axe.
CBS:  The Millers, The Crazy Ones, Friends With better
NBC:  Revolution
ABC:  Suburgatory, Super Fun Night and Trophy Wife.  This last one I really miss.  At first I thought it was going to be  a stupid show, but what a cast.  And, I liked the other two shows as well.

Watching Too Much TV.  --RoadDog


THE WISDOM OF WILL ROGERS:  It don't take a genius to spot a goat in flock of sheep.

JSS: Deer-- Birdies-- 'Skeeters-- Rainy Season

JSS--  Just Some Stuff.

1.  DEER--  About twilight yesterday, I saw a deer in a neighbor's yard.  I thought it was a wayward large dog at first, but when it took off, i saw that white tail.  I've never seen a deer that close to the house before,  but have seen deer in different parts of the subdivision.

2.  BIRDIES--  After a really noisy nest of little ones in the schoolhouse bird feeder (house wrens), I'd say the babies are gone now. We'll clear the nest out and start putting sunflower seed in it again.

3.  'SKEETERS--  With all the rain we've been having this past month (and all spring for that matter), I have noticed that while working on the yard, we have a bumper crop of mosquitoes.

4.  RAINY SEASON--  It's official, this June was the Chicago area's rainiest June ever.  Almost seven inches.  Same with Illinois' rainiest for June.  A new record.  I have not even hooked up the hoses yet as I haven't had to water the plants.  Sadly, not only do we have the rain sessions, but also there is a threat of rain forecast almost every day and plenty of menacing clouds, most of which don't amount to anything.

Just Some Stuff.  --RoadDog


THE WISDOM OF WILL ROGERS:  Never slap a man who's chewin' tobacco.

About Last Weekend-- Part 3: Blackhawks, Pizza and a New Place

SUNDAY, JUNE 21ST:  Bob Stroud had his annual Summer Show on Rock and Roll Roots on WDRV.  All that music from the 1960s and 1970s really got me in the mood.  See last week for the complete list of them.

I did some yard work and then we were out looking for Blackhawks gear at Wal-Mart, Dick's and Meijer's and actually found a pennant and a wall hanger at 5 Below.

We went to Hickory lodge in McCullom Lake (by McHenry) and had their excellent pizza and pitcher deal.  We were headed over to Captain's Quarters for the band, but stopped at Lakeview Place on Grasslake, ran into some friends and ended up staying there.  The place has been closed ever since Dirty Rooster moved  out to a place in Antioch on 173.  That is one beautiful view of Grasslake from their deck.

Stopped at Tommy's on the way home.

--RoadDog


THE WISDOM OF WILL ROGERS:  If you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is to stop digging.

About Last Weekend-- Part 2: Looking for the Plug, Bobby's Barrel and Dog 'N Suds

SATURDAY, JUNE 20TH:  Did yardwork in the afternoon after calling West Marine and Skipper Bud's looking for a drain plug for the boat.  We found that it is missing and any boater knows that if you put your boat in without one, your boat will sink.  Kind of an essential piece of equipment.  Decided to get one at Skipper Bud's in Volo.

Drove there, but their parts department closed for the day, so were unable to get the plug.  Stopped at Bobby's Barrel Inn in Volo since we were there as we haven't been there for a long time.  Had excel;lent meals.  Then went to Dog 'N Suds in Ingleside where they were having a 50s-60s band, the Affects, playing outside along with a parking lot full of classic cars.  Kind of a neat, retro thing to do.  Met some old friends there, but left as the drizzle started getting a bit heavier.

Went to the Lagoon Lounge, dating to the 1950s as well and while there, it really started pouring.  We've had a very rainy season so far.  The Hat Guys were supposed to be playing at Fox Lake's Lakefront Park on Nippersink Lake, but had been rained out, so went to Sunnyside Tap in Johnsburg, where the rains continued.  Kind of strange being there with no Blackhawk game.

Rains Interfering With Fun.  --RoadDog

About Last Weekend-- Part 1: A Blackhawk Celebration, It's Thursday and a Fish Fry

THURSDAY, JUNE 18TH:  Went to McHenry looking at the store nurseries and for Blackhawk Stanley Cup stuff.  I only bought Hawk merchandise at Wal-Mart: pint and shot glass and tee shirt for Liz.  Had breakfast at Steak 'N Shale.  Came home and watched the Blackhawks parade and rally at Soldier Field.  The three jets that passed over while Jim Corneliuson was sing the Star-Spangled Banner passed over our house on their way to Chicago.

Worked in the yard some and then went to Antioch and had pizza at The Lodge and watched Alex and the All-Stars at the bandshell for the weekly It's Thursday party.  Stopped at the Lake Marie Lodge on the way home.

FRIDAY, JUNE 20TH:  Bob Stroud played his annual Ten at Ten Summer Songs show what with summer officially starting Sunday.  I did yardwork, then we met Frank, Liane and Taylor at Popeye's in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin for their fantastic fish fry.  Great view of Geneva Lake from the windows.

Stopped at Wal-Mart in Lake Geneva, but no Hawks stuff.  Those Cheeseheads.  Then went to Donovan's Reef and the Legion.

Looking for the Blackhawk Stuff.  --RoadDog

Enjoying the Front Porch

Most mornings I have been having breakfast or just coffee out on the front porch.  I have a rocking chair and a chair out there as well as two caladiums and a seven year-old poinsettia.

I enjoy listening to the birds and looking at the flowers in the yard.    Plus, several walkers, runners and folks walking dogs.  And, with all the rain we've been getting, here is nothing like that fresh smell that comes with it along with the rhythm of the drops.  Plus, every so often a flock of Canadian geese will noisily fly over.

Might as well enjoy it while I can as iy won't be too long before old man winter is here.

Sittin', Lookin' and Eatin'.  --RoadDog


THE WISDOM OF WILL ROGERS:  There's two theories to arguin' with a woman.  Neither one works.

WLS Top Ten for June 25, 1965

1.  I CAN'T HELP MYSELF--  Four Tops
2.  MR. TAMBOURINE MAN--  Byrds
3.  WONDERFUL WORLD--  Herman's Hermits

4.  WOOLY BULLY--  Sam the Sham & the Pharaohs
5.  HELP ME RHONDA--  Beach Boys
6.  A WALK IN THE BLACK FOREST--  Horst Jankowski
7.  CRYING IN THE CHAPEL--  Elvis Presley

8.  IT'S NOT UNUSUAL--  Tom Jones
9.  I WANT CANDY--  Strangeloves  (Great Frat Rock If There Ever Was Any.)
10.  GIVE US YOUR BLESSINGS--  Shangri-Las

11.  (I CAN'T GET NO) SATISFACTION--  Rolling Stones  (OK, get that opening riff out of your head!)
18.  YOU TURN ME ON--  Ian Whitcomb

"I Was Driving In My Car..."  --RoadDog

David Letterman's Top Ten Reasons the Cubs Haven't Won a World Series Since 1908-- Part 2

Given in 1989.

5.  The image of Lovable Losers gets us more tail than Sinatra.

4.  Since we got a police scanner in the dugout, real life crises make it hard to concentrate on a meaningless sport.

3.  Conferences on the mound degenerate into reminiscing about that great team of 1908.

2.  Hey, have you ever tried to hit a major league curveball?

1.  It's victory enough living in Chicago, home of the best damn audiences in the world.  (I think he must have been doing his show from Chitown.)

I Don't Know About #5?  --RoadDog


THE WISDOM OF WILL ROGERS:  Never kick a cow chip on a hot day.