The College Crowd Digs Me

"We tried so hard to make the grade... By making music day to day. Although our task is never done... You ought to know it's just begun." Chicago College football season has finally arrived. I love this time of year...so I have listed a few predictions for the season. My predictions carry as much weight as the plethora of so-called experts around the tube and the blog...I suppose. So here goes... Totally Bold College Football Predictions 1) USC loses to Cal AND Oregon ...shocking the college BCS pundits.. 2) Penn State shocks BCS by going undefeated in the Big 10. Jo Pa gets the big one. 3) Kansas coach... "The Round Man" Mangino leads his Jayhawks to an 8-3 record beating Nebraska for the Big 12 North title. And finally quiets the nay-sayers. 4) Notre Dame starts out a disappointing 1-5 this season. Ya just never know. On the subject of football...Here is my Fantasy League Team this year. Round Pick Player Position ...

"I ain't gonna work. I ain't gonna work no more. Stay in bed...Til' I'm satisfied. And let my head...Take a softer ride." Status Quo NO SPOILERS: If you have yet to read a... "Repairman Jack" novel...skip a movie some time and curl up with... "Legacies" ...a story whose main character is a cross between... Jason Bourne & Jack Bauer . The only difference is... "Repairman Jack" ...offers his services to the everyday person least likely to find help anywhere else. "RJ's brand of justice never fails to ...satisfy. F. Paul Wilson has created a fascinating character in "Repairman Jack "...and writes him into fresh plotlines that are always thriller...sometimes horror in nature...with a touch of X-Files thrown in for good measure. "Legacies" is Wilson's second "Repairman Jack" novel...filled with 440 pages of straight-up mystery. The story revolves around a mysterious house once...

"Nice hat...you look like a referee. Nice watch...but why are you timing me? Its spring has come unwound. I was not out of bounds." Michael Penn Since being privy to the DVR my cable offers here in Kansas...It would be very, very hard to give it up. The ease of spontaneous recording is amazingly simple...and I find myself doing this almost daily. However I do have a few shows setup for my DVR to record whenever a new episode runs. That's a simple feature, too. On that subject...here are my favorite PBS shows I regularly DVR . McLaughlin Group --- This is a blast to watch. I love the questions that John McLaughlin fires out to the 4 person group. The bantering is smart and fast. The topics always revolve around political news happenings of the week...and it is one of the fastest 30 minutes on television. Smart, fast and funny. With plenty of food-for-thought. Byah-Byah! Antique Roadshow --- I love antique stores. And the historical significance of the ...

" So I think it's time... because it's too easy t o rely on worshiping devils and strangers in bed, Though they do get good drugs, and they do give good head." Jim Carroll An album that continually brings me pleasure when I spin it...and yet has been unjustly forgotten...is the "in your face" confessional... "Catholic Boy" by former junkie/author/street poet... Jim Carroll. "Catholic Boy" is filled with ten scorching poem/songs...that are as powerful now...as when released in 1980 . The seedy honesty presented by Jim Carroll in each song swirls out of the speakers with an urgency and intensity seldom heard. JC delivers his personal eruption in a speak/singing manner ala Lou Reed with perhaps a more in-tune pitch and a slightly higher vocal range. But never has Reed had a backing band like this one. Playing like every note is life or death...guitars glimmer with city flash and ride the gorgeous bass work to an uncommon level. And ...

"Just the wanting alone is worth it, Just the thrill and desire... Just the wanting alone is worth the fire." Walter Egan One of my inspirations...is a person I never met...He was a good athlete that I never had the privilege to see play. In fact...I never even heard of him...until I stumbled upon a 1952 Topps baseball card with his likeness...in a stack of commons from the fifties. In a room with over a hundred tables of sports memorabilia barkers hawking their wares...in a corner lost between other baseball commons...was the card of a player that has become my "motivational...kick in the hindend". From the moment I saw that baseball card...I knew I had to have it. My favorite card...a 1952 nearmint Topps baseball card...#132...of... Clyde Kluttz. Clyde Kluttz. An ordinary looking guy wearing a Washington Senators cap. Clyde was an average catcher...with average stats. He had a respectable lifetime .268 batting average. And his card says that he made the All ...

" What about the one who said he loved you? What about the one who said he cared? He's up in the High Sierra... But don't bother looking there." Boz Scaggs NO SPOILERS: "Montana 1948" is a tale of an unforeseen and terribly complex family problem...as seen through the eyes of a twelve-year old boy. Written in 1995...author Larry Watson shows...how the sweet innocence of youth is sadly chipped away...as issues of family loyalty...and unexpected prejudices are confronted. The disappointment felt when someone admired lets you down...And the difficulty...coming to grips...understanding the moral thing to do...is achingly on display in this thoughtful novel. And the sub-plots that Watson adds to this 182 page story ...only helps in seeing the big picture...and provides us different insights to the problems. And...sadly...reminds us...that not every problem...can be wrapped up with pretty bows and ribbons. It is easy to understand the comparisons to the classi...

"She told me she loved me. She told me a lie. She said I'd be happy. She made me cry. I'm hurting, hurting, Hurting inside." Brook Benton It is quite possible...and more than likely...that I owe my life...my very existence to the late, great... Brook Benton . Delving into the mind of my granddad recently...about music...records and such...I wanted to know what singers really helped make the bells ring. What helped him trip with the ladies. Grab the gals. Do the dames. I mean...I wanted to know who he really..."dug"...back in the heydays...while cuddling with the cuties. There wasn't much hesitation before he responded with...two fingers. Only two. Elvis ...who I was already familiar with. And Mr. Smooth... Brook Benton . As my grandfather would say..." Elvis gott'em in your arms. Brook gott'em in your bed." And he told me it was an absolute fact...that my father...along with my two aunts...(Sherri and Vicki)...were conceived durin...

"And in my best behavior I am really just like him Look beneath the floor boards For the secrets I have hid". Sufjan Stevens Catching a rebroadcast of Sufjan Steven s on the enjoyable Austin City Limits this past weekend...reminded me of how much I enjoy his 2005 gem... "Illinoise" . Sufjan (pronounced soo-fi-yahn) Stevens , a twenty-something Detroit native started in 2000 releasing music to the Web to little fanfare. A few years later...one couldn't escape surfing the net without reading praise after praise...ad nauseum. It was almost annoying. Nonetheless...the high props and attention were warranted...and though I'm sure I'm preaching to the musical blog choir...this is my first time throwing daisies his direction. And besides...I really enjoy this CD. In 2006, Sufjan was awarded the “PLUG Independent Music Award” for best album with “Illinoise” . This album also attracted the attention of Rolling Stone magazine who threw props his directio...

"Early today as I watched while the skyline was shaking I heard a rumbling. Early today the mechanical city was waking. And I ran out stumbling, mumbling... Out through the laughter of children and dogs." Jackson Browne There have only been a few artists I gravitate to...when in need of re-discovering my .."hurts". But only one artist, for me, has explored...and expressed...the infinite daggers of love...that lead to so many varieties of joy...and pain...with such dead-on accuracy...as Jackson Browne . Many different pages of emotions...that occur within the duration of any important relationship have been captured...for a short moment...by the razor sharp honesty of Browne's pen...and fragile vocals. And though Jackson Browne , like every artist, has a few "best of" collections available for the consumer...The record company seldom gets it right...when it comes to..what songs to include...and what to leave out. And it bothers me t...

"Solid gold brass got a mean streak And it's running through my veins. Solid gold brass gotta green streak And it's going to my brain." The Sweet NO SPOILERS: Chuck Palahniuk became an author to reckon with...when his novel "Fight Club" was adapted to the big screen. Readers soon discovered that Palahniuk creates his characters with a "kiss-it-if-you- don't-like-it" attitude. In "Choke" (as with most of his novels)...characters are presented with brutally honest ideas...politically incorrect opinions and unattractive human truths...warts and all. Readers will find "Choke" ...refreshingly interesting...if not disgusting...and the author will leave them...the reader...to decide where the true...line...is really drawn. Writing in a style often compared to the great Kurt Vonnegut ... Palahniuk novels are difficult to explain..without giving too much away. And, of course, the unexpected is what has given this author such ...

"Find it, I got to hear it all again... My heart has heard the sound of harmony. Blind to it, as my tears fall again It's only by the music I'll be free." Pete Townshend Rarely does a 30 plus year old album...thumb its nose at time...and sound as brand new...as when it was released. An album that still feels relevant and fresh today. If you can imagine glistening morning dew catching sunlight as the world greets a new day...then you will have a pretty good inkling of the ...joyful and uplifting gift... Pete Townshend has given us...with his unjustly forgotten... "Who Came First" . Recorded in ' 72, Townshend creates an acoustical tour-de force ..that 'rocks out and mellows in' with equal pleasure. In fact, first time listeners will discover...what many already know... Townshend is a most under-rated guitarist. With one listen of “Who Came First“ ...a Townshend fan...you soon will be. The songs throughout reveal a devotion he has for his spi...