BITS & PIECES

Openers:  Almost ninety years ago during the Sutton-Taylor feud, John Wesley Hardin drilled a half dozen .44 pistol balls into one of the wood columns on my front porch.  My grandfather, Old Hack, lived in the house then, and he used to describe how Wes Hardin had ridden all night from San Antonio when he heard that Hack had promised to lock him in jail if he ever came back to DeWitt County again.  The sun had just risen and it was raining slightly when Hardin rode into the yard, his black suit streaked with mud, horse sweat, and whiskey, he had a shotgun tied across his saddle horn with a strip of leather and his navy Colt was already cocked in his hand.

"You, Hack!  Get out here.  And don't bring none of your Lincoln niggers with you or I'll kill them, too."

(My grandfather was sheriff and justice of the peace, and the Reconstruction government had forced him to take on two Negro federal soldiers as deputies.  Of the forty-two men that Hardin eventually killed, many were Negroes, whom he hated as much as he did carpetbaggers and law officers.)

Hardin began shooting at the front porch, cocking and firing while the horse reared and pitched sideways with each explosion in its ears.  Wes's face was red with whiskey, his eyes were dilated, and when the horse whirled in a circle he whipped the pistol down between its ears.  He emptied the rest of the chambers, the fire and black powder smoke roaring from the barrel, and all six shots hit the wood column in a neat vertical line.

-- Lay Down My Sword and Shield by James Lee Burke (1971)

Old Hack faced down the outlaw, knocking Hardin out of his saddle with his Winchester, and placed him in jail.  "[A]nd no other law officer got the better of him, except john Selma, who drove a pistol ball through his eye in an El Paso saloon in 1895."

James Lee Burke has used this story a number of times in his novels about the Holland family, allowing a continuity over the more than a century in which the novels took place, and helped define the toughness against heavy odds that members of the Holland family have faced.  In Lay Down My Sword and Shield, Old Hack's grandson and namesake, Hackberry Holland, is a disillusioned lawyer, a hard drinker, and a wealthy progressive who is running  a half-hearted campaign. for a Texas congressional seat.  Hack lands in the middle of a civil rights conflict when he tries to help an old war buddy, and ends up rebuilding his life.  Many of Burke's protagonists are trying to atone for past mistakes and offenses; nearly all find themselves facing near impossible political, social, or criminals odds.

The Holland Family books:

Hackberry Holland:

• Lay Down My Sword and Shield (1971)
• Rain Gods (2009)
• Feast Day of Fools (2011)
• House of the Rising Sun (2015)
• Another Kind of Eden (2021)
• Every Cloak Rolled in Blood (2022)

Billy Bob Holland

• Cimarron Rose (1997)
• Heartwood (1999)
• Bitterroot (2001)
• In the Moon of Red Ponies  (2004)

Weldon Holland:

• Wayfaring Stranger (2014)
• The Jealous Kind (2016)

Son Holland:

• Two for Texas (1982)

All are highly recommended.

Incoming:

• John Appleyard, and the staff of John Appleyard Agency, Inc., Fifteen Mysteries of Pensacola 100 Years Ago (Volume III).  "Pensacola  at the turn of the 20th century was a most unique city.  While much of the postwar South still struggled economically, Pensacola was a boomtown, with lumbering, naval store, fishing and military activities generating thousands of jobs and great wealth.  It was a time to be remembered for those who later would live along the Gulf Coast.  Mysteries of Pensacola, first published in 1999, have been designed to tell the story of those days, with fun and intrigue in the bargain.  For this series of stories I created Pensacola's own Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson who were real members of the local police force at that time.  They are Patrolman Corporal Yelverton and scientific detective Henry Coburger of the series.  the places they go, the things they see, hear and do are real.  So are most of the people who cross the pages.  However, the plots and villains are fictional.  Hopefully, men and women, students and more will find these journeys back in time fun, entertaining and informative, too.  The plots disclose Pensacola as it once was.  and if plans mature, there will be other mysteries featuring scientific detective Henry Coburger and his friend, Patrolman Corporal John Yelverton -- 2002"  As you tell, the author was a local historian.  This edition was published with the support of the American Fidelity Life Insurance Company, with proceeds to benefit television station WEAR-TV's traditional Christmas program of giving gifts to underprivileged children.
• Lawrence Block, writing as "Jill Emerson,"  Seven novels, all with sexual themes.  Enough of Sorrow:  "Karen Winslow is starting over.  But she's not sure how to move forward when her deepest secret haunts her and keeps her from enjoying her carefree youth.   She's a sweet but troubled young thing, and not until she meets Rae, a confident young lesbian, does she realize what she's been missing.  Meanwhile, she's also intrigued by a man and can't help but wonder if a normal life will put an end to her sorrows for good."  A Madwoman's Diary:  "The diarist is a young woman, seeking a richer and more fulfilling life in and out of bed."  The conceit here is that "Jill Emerson" drew upon a case history described by "John Warren Wells" in one of his books.  Of course, Emerson and Wells are both pen names for block.  To complicate things, Emerson and Wells are close friends and sometime lovers in block's fantasy world.  Threesome:  Takes "the form of a collaborative novel in which the participants in a menage a trois wrote a book together to chronicle their own experience -- an experience that continued to evolve as each read what the others had written."  Meta, much?  Thirty:  Written "in the form of a diary, piling incident upon incident as the diarist, a woman in her thirtieth year, fled her safe suburban marriage and went off in search of her real self."    The Trouble with Eden:  The Bucks County novel:  In 1969, Block and his family moved to an 18th century farmhouse a mile east of the Delaware River.  A year later he moved, and "when it came time to write a big trashy commercial novel, I knew right then just where to set it.  By this time I'd written three erotic novels for Berkley Books as Jill Emerson.  Now I don't know who thought that Jill ought to write a big, juicy, trashy, Peyton-Place type of book, but my agent brought the idea to me, and I thought Bucks County would provide a good setting.   The deal was an attractive one, with a hefty advance...I went to the city and wrote the book in a week."  Warm and Willing:  "An emotionally and sexually frustrated divorcee explores her mounting attraction to women.  Rhoda's divorce has her thinking that romance is not for her.  But maybe she just needs to look into a new direction.  Megan is an attractive blonde who instantly sees what Rhoda's love life has been missing:  a woman's touch."  A Week as Andrea Benstock.  Dell editor Peggy Roth once asked Lawrence block about his background and Block replied that he had grown up in a middle-class Jewish family in Buffalo.  "Then that's what you write about," she said.  Block set his book over a period of seven random non-consecutive days, strewn over a decade, in the protagonist's life, beginning with day she married and became Andrea Benstock.  All seven of these books show block's growth as a writer and his willingness to experiment.
• Peter Brandvold, Two more westerns from Mean Pete.  The Devil & Lou Prophet.  "Call him manhunter, tracker, or bounty hunter.  As long as the cash was cold and the trail was hot, Lou Prophet would run his quarry into the ground before giving up the chase.  He loved his work -- it kept him in wine and women, and was never, ever dull.  And his newest job sounds particularly attractive...Her name is Lola Diamond,  She's a showgirl, a chanteuse, and a prime witness in a murder trails that's going on without her.  Prophet is supposed to find her and 'return' her to the courthouse, whether she likes it or not.  But even as Prophet and his lovely charge battle each other, some very dangerous men are moving to make sure the pair never reach the courthouse alive,  And Lou Prophet is about to find out that even the best hunter can become someone else's prey."  Also The Romantics.  "The daughter of a Hispanic landowner, Marina Clark, has been given a map that purports to lead the way to a hidden cache of Spanish gold.  to her husband, Adrian, his beautiful wife and her map are the keys to restoring his family's fortunes and honor, both lost during the Civil War.  The Clarks' guide through the sun and sand-blasted lands of what will someday become the American Southwest is Jack Cameron, a deadly shot who has won fame as an Indian scout.  It should be an easy trip, assuming they can avoid marauding Apaches and greedy Mexican rurales.  But the Clarks are not the only ones seeking the gold.  Gaston Bachelard, a former Confederate Army officer turned bandit, is hot on the Clarks' trail, eager to use the Spanish gold to fuel a revolution in Texas.  Bachelard will kill anyone who stands in his way."
• James Lee Burke, Lay Down My Sword and Shield.  A Hackberry Holland novel.  "Hack Holland's a hard drinker, a lawyer, and a wealthy progressive Democrat.  He's also a disillusioned man, running a half-hearted campaign for a Texas congressional seat.  But when his efforts to help an old war buddy culminate in his unwitting involvement in a civil rights conflict, Hack finds himself rebuilding his life,"  Few people write better than burke.
• Erskine Caldwell, God's Little Acre.  The 1933 literary phenom about a dysfunctional farming family in Georgia obsessed with sex and wealth.  "The novel's sexual themes were so controversial that the New York Society for the Suppression of Vice asked a New York state court to censor it.  Although controversial, the novel became an international best seller with over 10 million copies sold, and was published as an Armed Services Edition during World War II.  God's Little Acre is Caldwell's most popular novel, although his reputation is often tied to his 1932 novel Tobacco Road, which was listed in the Modern Library 100 Best Novels."
• Loren D. Estleman, Cape Hell & The Book of Murdock.  Two Page Murdock westerns.  Cape Hell:  "US Deputy Marshal Page Murdock is ordered to Cape Hell, Mexico, to verify a report that former Confederate Captain Oscar Childress is raising an army.  Childress reportedly plans to take over Mexico City, then turn north to rekindle the Civil War.  Murdock heads south on a steam train named El Expanto -- The Ghost -- accompanied only by an engineer who can't be trusted  and a fireman with a few secrets of his own.  The Ghost hurtles through the murderous desert of a foreign land toward a man bent on wholesale massacre...unless Murdock can stop him."  The Book of Murdock:  "Murdock dons a clerical collar to worm his way into the confidences of the wary residents of Owen, Texas.  a gang of ruthless bandits is terrorizing the Texas panhandle and all evidence points to the dusty cattle town as their base of operations.  Murdock aims to unmask the gang, provided he can pass himself off as a preacher long enough to stay alive."  I read a number of earlier Page Murdock novels and enjoyed them all; it's time to reacquaint myself with the character.
• "George G. Gilman" (Terry Harkness), Edge #49:  Revenge Ride.  Edge was a popular, violent British adult western series ghosted by 'Piccadilly Cowboy" Harkness. "Wildwood is a nowhere town in the dirt of the New Mexico territory.  Edge is going to put it on the map as the last place some poor fool tried to play him for a sucker.  The ice-eyed half-breed's appetite for vengeance has him teamed up with Harriet Newton and Dinah McCall, a hot-blooded pair of hard women on the corpse-littered trail of a homicidal loser, whose bound for Mexico and a fortune in gold.  But greed is as much a stranger to Edge as mercy.   For Edge there's only justice -- and its face is as ugly as Hell, as ugly as the bark of a Winchester, as ugly as death itself..."  The Edge novels -- there are 61 of them -- are over-the-top cult favorites; each book ends with a very bad pun in the final paragraph.
• Lee Goldberg, Hidden Smoke.  Preordered.  The third book in the Sharpe and Walker series, a crossover with the author's Eve Ronin series.  "After dozens of Hollywood apartment buildings erupt into flames during a single night of terror, arson investigators Walter Sharpe and Andrew Walker are assigned to catch the serial torcher and end his spree.  But then a catastrophic fire destroys a major freeway, crippling the city and forcing Sharpe and Walker to take on another massive case.  Desperate for help, they known exactly who to call:  Hollywood detectives Eve Ronin and Duncan Pavone.  Together the four detectives must quickly figure out whether the freeway disaster was a tragic accident...or the work of a mastermind with a horrific plan.  As the investigations collide, an old foe with a revenge scheme enters the fray, igniting a race against time to stop a conspiracy of deception, corruption, and murder."  Goldberg always delivers the goods.
• Lee Goldberg & William Rabkin, Successful Television Writing.  How-to, from two who that of which they speak. 
• Roland Green & John F. Carr, Great Kings' War.  Science fiction novel, a continuation of H. Beam Piper's Lord Kalvan of Otherwhen.  "Calvin Morrison was a pretty good cop in Pennsylvania -- until he was scooped up by a cross-time flying saucer and transported to a dangerous parallel Earth.  Here he faces warriors armed with pikes and broadswords, not petty criminals.  bur courage crosses all lines of time and space, and Morrison was able to transform the unorganized kingdom of Hos-Hostigos into a fearsome warrior nation -- becoming known as Lord Kalvan in the process.  And his work is not yet finished..."  Piper was a popular SF author and, following his death, others began playing in his literary playground.  Green (singly or in collaboration) wrote seven Kalvan novels, as well as a number of works in Piper's Paratime Police series, of which the Kalvan story were a subset.  A number of other authors have added to Piper's creations over the years.
• Stephen Graham Jones, Mongrels.  Werewolf novel. "He was born an outsider, like the rest of his family.  Poor yet resilient, he lives in the shadows with his aunt Libby and uncle Darren, folk who stubbornly make their way in a society that does not understand or want them.  They are mongrels, mixed blood, neither this or that.  The boy at the centers of Mongrels must decide if he belongs on the road with his aunt and uncle, or if he fits with people on the other side of the tracks.  For ten years, he and his family have lived a life of late-night exits and narrow escapes -- always on the move across the South to stay one step ahead of the law.  But the tine is drawing near when Darren and Libby will finally know if their nephew is like them or not.  And the close calls they've been running from for so long are catching up fast now.  Everything is about to change."   Jones is always worth reading.
• "T. Kingfisher"  (Ursula Vernon"), A House with Good Bones.  Horror novel.  " 'Mom seems off.'  Her brother's words echo in Sam Montgomery's ear as she turns onto the quiet North Carolina street where her mother lives alone.  She brushes the thought away as she climbs the front steps.  Sam's excited for this rare extended visit, and looking forward to nights with just the two of them, drinking boxed wine, watching murder mystery shows, and guessing who the killer is long before the characters figure it out.  But stopping inside, she quickly realizes home isn't what it used to be.  Gone is the warm, cluttered charm her mom is known for; now the walls are painted a sterile white.  Her mom jumps at the smallest noises and looks over her shoulder even when she's the only person in the room.  And when Sam steps out back to clear her head, she finds a jar of teeth hidden beneath the magazine-worthy rosebushes, and vultures are circling the garden from above.  To find out what's got her mom so frightened in her own home, Sam will go digging for the truth.  But some secrets are better left buried."  This is one of the most critically acclaimed horror novels in recent years.
• Zelda Knight & Ekpeki Oghenechovwe Donald, editors, Dominion:  an Anthology of Speculative Fiction from Africa and the American Diaspora, Volume One .  Thirteen stories, the winner of the 2021 British Fantasy Award for Best Anthology.  (Note that Ekpeki is the author's actual surname and Oghenechovwe Donald are his first and middle names.)  I'm looking forward to reading this one.
• Joe R. Lansdale, In the Mad Mountains:  Stories Inspired by H. P. Lovecraft.  Pre-ordered.  Collection of eight stories in which Old Providence runs smack into East Texas.  I'm sure HPL would be spinning in his grave had he ever read these irreverent tales.  Gotta love Lansdale.
• Richard Laymon, Two horror novels.  Into the Fire:  "Pretty young Pamela was a very happy newlywed, with a loving husband and a beautiful home.  But all that changed the night Rodney broke in.  He's been obsessed with Pamela since high school, and now he intends to make her his slave for life.  He thinks they'll be alone when he drives her out to the blazing desert.  But someone else is out there too...someone with a gun.  Pamela hoped he nightmare was over when Rodney was shot, but something about her rescuer wasn't quite right.  Maybe it's the way he dropped Rodney's body in a pit -- like he'd done it before.  Maybe it's the bus he's driving, with only mannequins for passengers.  One thing is certain, she won't be prepared for what she'll find when he drives her to a tiny, isolated town baking in the desert sun.  A town with very odd customs and a unique way of welcoming strangers."  Also, No Sanctuary:  "Rick would do anything for his girlfriend, Bert.  He'd even spend his vacation in the wilderness with her, hiking the trails around Fern Lake, even though it's the last place on Earth he wants to be,  But Rick would follow Bert to hell and back -- which is just what he's about to do.  Gillian is on vacation too, but her pastimes are decidedly weirder than Rick and Bert's.  She likes to break into people's homes and live there while they're away.  Too bad for her she picked the home of a serial killer -- a particularly nasty one who likes to take his victims out to the wilds of Fern Lake so he can have his fun without being interrupted.  Rick and Bert have no idea how wild the wilderness can be.  But they're about to find out."  Laymon, gone way too soon, was a talented and prolific writer.  For reasons that escape me, he proved to be far more popular in England than in his native America.
• John D. MacDonald, Clemmie.  "She was very young.  She was dangerous.  She was a girl who lived too close the edge of violence.  She hunted trouble.  she was an exhibitionist, a body worshipper, a sensualist.  she was without morals, scruples, ethics.  She was beautiful.  She was CLEMMIE..."  Also, Please Write for Details.  "When a jaded exponent of the Fast Buck hitches his starload of schemes to the salacious bent of a well-heeled, well-oiled divorcees, the result is a daffy mail-ordered Mexican art colony known as the Cuernavaca /summer Workshop.  The unique goings-on and comings-off of the members of this oddball establishment are the stuff a he-man's dream are made of.  It is a positively no-money-back, uninhibited, unabridged romp through passion and Picasso under the naked Mexican sun, where East meets West, North meets South, Madison Avenue goes native and long-stemmed Texas lovelies unveil their astonishing natural equipment in the hallowed name of culture.  Please Write for Details is strictly adult fare -- a trifle salty and somewhat hotly spiced with Latin savvy."  These happen to be the only two novels of JDM that I have not read; my previous copies went walkabout long ago, and it's good to finally get a chance to read them.
• Adrian McKinty, The Chain.  Thriller.  "You just dropped off your child at the bus stop.  A panicked stranger calls your phone.  Your child has been kidnapped.  The stranger then explains that their child has also been kidnapped, by a completely different stranger.  The only way to get your child back is to kidnap another child.  And. most importantly, the stranger explains:  It you don't kidnap a child, or if the next parents don't kidnap[ a child, your child will be murdered.  You are now part of THE CHAIN."
• Kim Newman, Anno Dracula 1899 and Other Stories.  A compendium of 19 tales, featuring appearances from Jekyll & Hyde, Jack the Ripper, The Invisible Man, Edgar Allan Poe, a Zombie Apocalypse and a Martian and Frankenstein's Monster -- all from "the feverish mind of Mr. Kim Newman."  the title story "sets the scene for the forthcoming novel Anno Dracula 1999:  Daikaija," which is the sixth novel in the popular alternate world series.
• William F. Nolan, Soul Trips:  Collected Poems 1940-2015.  Nolan, who wrote just about everything else, never wrote much poetry but most of what he did write is collected here.
• Andre Norton, Snow Shadow.  Romantic suspense.  "Being able to step back into the past seemed a wonderful stroke of luck for Erica Jansen.  Northanger Abbey was like another world.  And her introduction to the family there had come from a charming man, Preston Donner.  She felt very fortunate indeed.  But from the moment she became a guest of the Abbey, she felt like a prisoner.  First there were the arguments she couldn't avoid...then the murders she could not ignore...and then the man who stepped out of her own buried past to entwine her in terror from which she saw no escape..."  Also, Moon Mirror, a collection of nine science fiction and fantasy stories, first published between 1966 and 1988.  
• "Ellis Peters" (Edith Pargeter), Death Mask.  Mystery.   "When archaeologist Bruce Almond is tragically killed on a dig in Greece, his son Crispin returns to Somerset and to a mother he barely knows.  Crispin has good reason to believe his father's death had been no accident, and in his grief and confusion, even his mother is not free from suspicion -- particularly when she seems over-friendly with two of Almond's ex-colleagues:  men who had opportunity, if not motive, for foul play.  The truth lies buried along with some priceless Greek treasures, so Crispin baits a clever trap that is designed to lure the murderer out of hiding, fully realizing how dangerous a game he is embarked upon..."
• Rachel Pollack & Caitlin Matthews, editors, Tarot Tales/  Fantasy anthology of 16 stories about -- you guessed it! -- the tarot.  Authors include Michael Moorcock, Gwyneth Jones, M. John Harrison, Josephine Saxon, Gary Kilworth, and Storm Constantine.
• Joyce Porter, Dover & the Claret Tappers.  A Chief Wilfred Dover mystery.   "Here -is a surprising departure from the series -- and the first to depart is none other than Dover himself.  When the doubtful detective suddenly vanishes from Scotland Yard, along comes an ultimatum from a gang of kidnappers, the Claret Tappers.  They demand not only a stout ransom, but also the release of two prisoners -- a multiple bigamist and a nymphomaniacal shoplifter.  How Dover gets out of this one is only the beginning.  For just as the case is getting cold, the Claret Tappers strike again.  And once more Dover is aroused from his stupor in a most unexpected way."  Dover is one of the laziest, most disagreeable and inept detective out there  -- that's why we love him so much.
• Bill Pronzini & Martin H. Greenberg, editors, Uncollected Crimes.  Anthology of 14 stories that had never before been anthologized.  A pretty nifty line-up:  James M. Cain, Stuart Palmer, Jack Ritchie, John Jakes, John D. MacDonald, William Campbell Gault, Dorothy B. Hughes, Michael Collins, Helen Nielson, Edward D. Hoch, John Lutz, Loren D. Estleman, Bill Pronzini, and Ed McBain.
• Stanley Schmidt, editor, Analog's Expandmg Universe.  Scoince ffiction anthology with 14 stories from Astounding/Analog, 1935-1984.  Authors include Stanley G. Weinbaum, Hal Clement,  Clifford D. Simak, George R. R. martin, Isaac Asimov, and Poul Anderson.
• Jay Williams, The Rogue from Padua.  Historical novel. "Liar...Adventurer...Nobleman... Beggar...Scholar...Swindler...His name was Arminius, and he was as bold and clever a soldier of fortune as any in his day.  the time was the 16th century, a time of turbulence, excitement, change.  The peasants and guildsmen was rising in revolt.  there was violence, danger, confusion -- with corruption, witchcraft, and villainy rampant everywhere.  And in the midst of it all, turning all things to his own advantage, was Arminius, who pretended many things to many men, but vowed loyalty to no one...until Kate, a dark-haired, dark-eyed beauty with a spirit as bold and free as his own, claimed his love..."  A "lusty romance," they say.

Signs:  Not that I'm partisan or anything, but here's a couple of signs that got my attention recently.

Vote

Like It's

1933

Germany

and,

Harris

Walz

Obviously

Metric:  The metric system has been around for a long time; it was proposed by Charles-Maurice de Tallyrand-Perigord -- a French clergyman (the Bishop of Autun) statesman (French foreign minister, among other positions), and diplomat (he was Napoleon's ;leading diplomat) -- in 1790.  He proposed a new system of measurement based on natural units to the French National Assembly.  the French Academy of Sciences established a commission to implement the new standard, which was launched in France in 1799.  (The United Kingdom did not deign to collaborate on designing the new system.)

The metric system is a decimal-based system of measurement.  There have been many versions of the metric system (or International System of Units) over the years.  The system uses seven base units:  metre (or meter) for length, kilogram for mass, second for time, ampere for electrical current, kelvin for temperature, candela for luminous intensity, and mole for amount of substance.

Naturally, the definitions of various units have changed over time as our knowledge of the world around us has increased.  A kilogram, for instance, was first defined as the mass of one cubic decimeter of water at 4 degrees C, and was later standardized as the mass of a ma-made artifact of platinum-iridium (the PUK) held in a laboratory in France.  This definition was altered as late as 2019 as it became more and more obvious that the original PIK was deteriorating.  It is now measured by taking the fixed numerical value of the Plank constant h to be 6.626 070 15 x (10 to the -34th power) when expressed in the unit J-s, which is equal to kg[.]m squared[.]s to the -1 power, where the meter and the second are defined in terms of c and [delta]v[subset Cs.  (Got that?  There will be a quiz at the end of class.)

Our old friend metre/meter was first defined in 1791 as one ten-millionth of the distance from the equator to the North Pole.  (The French seemed cocksure at the time that this distance would never change from their knowledge of it at the time.)  In 1798 the meter was redefined in terms of a prototype meter bar.  The bar used was changed in 1889.  In 1960 the meter was again redefined, this time in terms of a certain number of wavelengths of a certain emission-line of krypton-86  From 1983 to 2019 a meter became the length of of the path travelled by light in 1/299,792,458 of a second, where the second is defined by the hyperfine transition frequency of caesium.  In 2019, this definition was refined by defining a second in term of the caesium frequency deltaV(subset Sc).  (Yes, there will also be a quiz on this before the end of class.)

It happened that the 1983 definition of a meter was established on this day in 1983, which was my excuse for going down this rabbit hole.  and, yes, I am excusing myself from taking the quiz before the end of class.

Happy Birthday, Elvin Bishop!  Elvin Bishop (b. 1942) was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fames as a member of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band and into the Blues Hall of Fame as a solo artist.  He has performed with Mike Bloomfield, Al Kooper, The Grateful Dead, The Allman Brothers Band, John Lee Hooker, Clifton Chenier, B. B. King, Little Smokey Smothers. James Cotton, Derek Trucks, George Thorogood, and Charlie Musslewhite, among others.  

It's time for a great mix of Chicago Blues, Rock and Roll, and Bishop's own special blend of musical magic.  Toes, start tapping!

"Fooled Around and Fell in love"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0MtX1-i6Zu8

"Travelin' Shoes"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nc7XXk_SJSE

"What the Hell" (with the Big Fun Trio)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jB5swHbiA8g

"Beer Drinking Woman"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YzG8qXt_Vm4

"Rock My Soul"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LP02eCbf5ww

"Can't Even Do Wrong Right"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=him-ntMBSWg

"Crazy 'Bout You Baby"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPPKTvMC00w

"She Puts Me in the Mood"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kziBOLp4iQE

"Party Till the Cows Come Home"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4uTfol9eTQ

"Fishin'"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jhCTz8Tq9c

"Stealin' Watermelons"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjyOu7VNTIk

Remember These?  Television commercials from the 1950s:

• Betty Crocker Cake Mix (with a special appearance from the mythological Betty C.)      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMIMxj0PGGY&list=PLiyIsd32rycMRyAMv_QSbTDWn_H5jZsOX&index=2
• Post Heart of Oats Cereal       https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKoSMDGFASQ&list=PLiyIsd32rycMRyAMv_QSbTDWn_H5jZsOX&index=8
• "Big New" Studebaker Car       https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHvfjqx4c5U&list=PLiyIsd32rycMRyAMv_QSbTDWn_H5jZsOX&index=12
• Vanquish Pain and Headache Relief        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NyAZeOjGl0&list=PLiyIsd32rycMRyAMv_QSbTDWn_H5jZsOX&index=19
• Yuban Coffee       https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XiOHBPUh44A&list=PLiyIsd32rycMRyAMv_QSbTDWn_H5jZsOX&index=22
• Carling's Red Cap Ale       https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_GNWSN2ebo&list=PLiyIsd32rycMRyAMv_QSbTDWn_H5jZsOX&index=24
• Camay Beauty Soap        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLo5voNHwHk&list=PLiyIsd32rycMRyAMv_QSbTDWn_H5jZsOX&index=25
• Western Union Telegram        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jS76s2I40yU&list=PLiyIsd32rycMRyAMv_QSbTDWn_H5jZsOX&index=30
• Nucoa Margerine         https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bbNESzL-Gs&list=PLiyIsd32rycMRyAMv_QSbTDWn_H5jZsOX&index=42
• Flavettes Anti-smoking Tablets        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3T9cWX7dk4&list=PLiyIsd32rycMRyAMv_QSbTDWn_H5jZsOX&index=49
• Coca Cola        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWrVxQVcdaU&list=PLiyIsd32rycMRyAMv_QSbTDWn_H5jZsOX&index=51
• 1954 Buick Special with Panoramic Windshield          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhlRccfUzZA&list=PLiyIsd32rycMRyAMv_QSbTDWn_H5jZsOX&index=52
• Fresh Frozen Orange Juice from Florida        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3klp3M_270&list=PLiyIsd32rycMRyAMv_QSbTDWn_H5jZsOX&index=53
• Aunt Jemima Pancake Mix Presents Breakfast with Peggy and Chuck       https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYkXO5-qqPM&list=PLiyIsd32rycMRyAMv_QSbTDWn_H5jZsOX&index=58
• Beech Nut Peppermint gum       https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAUuKJZBuUU&list=PLiyIsd32rycMRyAMv_QSbTDWn_H5jZsOX&index=74

Ha-ha:  It's been said that dogs back up to 350 times a day.  Of course that's just a ruff estimate.

It's International Day of the Nacho:  Today we honor Ignatio Anaya, the maitre d' (or chef, accounts differ) at the Old Victory Club in Piedras Negras, a small Mexican city located near Fort Duncan in Texas.  According to the lore, a group of military wives had been out shopping and decided to stop for dinner, only to discover that all the nearby restaurants were closed.  Anaya took pity on the women and sliced and fried some tortilla chips, covered them with cheese and jalapenos, and cooked them in his oven for a couple of minutes.  The recipe was later recorded in an Eagle Pass church cookbook.  And with such small steps is the fate of the world changed.

Anaya's nickname was Nacho, derived from the Spanish Ignatio, a version of Ignatius.  the dish became so popular, the owner of the Victory club put it on the menu as "Nacho's Especiales,"  When the Victory club closed in 1961, Anaya opened his own restaurant in Piedras Negras, Nacho's Restaurant.  Today, every year at this time the city of Piedras Negra holds a three-day Nacho Fest in honor of Anaya.

Anaya died unsung in 1975.  His son later tried to have him credited for the invention and was told by lawyers that too much time had passed and the secret of the nacho was now in the public domain.  

Nonetheless, let us today honor this man who did so much to advance civilization, with a few nifty recipes.

There's this:

https://www.newsbytesapp.com/news/lifestyle/international-day-of-the-nacho-2022/story

and this:

https://nationaldayfood.com/day/national-nachos-day/

and this, which even includes a recipe for root beer pulled pork nachos:

https://www.tasteofhome.com/collection/nacho-recipes/

Lest We Forget:  Today is also American Frog Day.  Originated by Charles Powell in San Jose, the day became a popular and important celebration for hobbyists, conservationists, and scientists interested interested in Dendrobadid frogs (also known as poison dart frogs).   The focus soon widened to other amphibians and residents of vivariums.  People interested in the captive breeding and raising of poison dart frogs are able to exchange information, purchase supplies, and even purchase the frogs themselves.

To each his own, I guess.  Zookeeper Mark, my grandson, wants to narrow his career focus to venomous reptiles. and he seems otherwise sane.  Mark will be happy to know that today is also National Reptile Day.

Birthday Greetings:  Today is the birthday of the Hongwu Emperor (temple name, Emperor Taizu of Ming; personal name, Zhu Yuanzhang; courtesy name, Guorui; 1328-1398), the first emperor of the Ming dynasty, whose mixed legacy on balance was positive; Italian military leader Alessandro Sforza (1409-1473), who conformed the Ducal palace of Pesaro to Renaissance standards; George Plantagenet, 1st Duke of Clarence (1449-1478), the brother of Kings Edward IV and Richard IIII, and who played an important role in the War of the Roses; Italian Baroque painter Domenico Zampieri (known by the diminutive Domenichino because of his short height, 1581-1641), some example of his art are at this link:  https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/domn/hd_domn.htm; Asahito (posthumously known as Emperor Higashiyama, 1675-1710), 113th Japanese emperor from 1687 to his abdication in 1709, a lot happened during his reign but i am most impressed with the establishment of the first stray dog kennel in Edo in 1695; Nicholaus I Bernoulli (1687-1759), Swiss mathematician (one of many in the Bernoulli family), who introduced the St. Petersburg Paradox (look it up); 

Sir James Steuart, 3rd Baronet of Goodtrees and 7th Baronet of Coltness 1712-1780), Scottish economist, author of "probably the systematic treatise written in English about economics"; Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834) Lake Poet and author of The Rime of the Ancient Mariner and Kubla Khan; Guiseppe Baini (1775-1844), Italian priest and composer of church music -- here's a sample:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hroug3z1k7w; Alphonse de Lamartine (1790-1869), French writer, poet, and statesman who was instrumental in the foundation of the second Republic and the continuation of the tricolore as the flag of France; James Clark (1809-1885), Jesuit priest who was president of the College of the Holy Cross during the Civil War, and later the vice president and treasurer of Georgetown University and, still later, the president of Gonzaga College; Sims Reeves (1821-1900), English operatic, oratorio, and ballad singer whose popular works include "Sally in Our Alley" (here sung by the Whitney Brothers Quartet:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DesPtmZEKNk) and "Come into the Garden, Maude" (here sung by Heddle Nash:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdlDcYtrn4g); Alfred Noble (1833-1896), dynamite inventor and Prize founder; Will Carleton (1845-1912), American poet (here's his "Goin' Home Today:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKw2zWzLeEM); Ernest Swinton (1868-1951), British army officer, who played an important part in the development and adoption of the tank in World War I and is credited (with fellow officer Walter Dally Jones) with coining the term; Oswald Avery (1877-1955), Canadian-American molecular biologist and a pioneer in immunochemistry, with Colin MacLeod and Maclyn McCarthy, he was able to isolate DNA -- although nominated many times, Avery became known as "the most deserving scientist not to receive the Nobel Prize for his work"; Eugene Burton Ely (1886-1911), aviation pioneer, the first to perform the first shipboard aircraft takeoff and landing; Taro Hairi (better known by his pseudonym Edogara Ranpo, 1984-1965), Japanese mystery author; Eduard Putsep (1898-1960), Estonian wrestler (and 1924 Gold Medalist) and silent film actor, nicknamed the "Estonian Chaplin"; 

Eddy Hamel (1902-1943), American soccer player, the first Jewish player for the Dutch club AFC Ajax. murdered by Nazis in Auschwitz concentration camp; Mary Blair (born Mary Browne Robinson, (1911-1978), American artist and animator, a "Disney Legend," she drew concept art for Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, Song of the South, and Cinderella, and did character designs for such attractions as It's a Small World; Martin Gardner (1914-2010), popular science writer whose interests were all over the map, from mathematics to Lewis Carroll to illusions to puzzles, publishing more than 100 books (all recommended!); John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie ( 1917-1933), jazz giant, (here's "A Night in Tunisia":  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkemox0461U); Albertina Sisulu (1918-2011), South African anti-apartheid activist, often called a mother of the nation, the founding co-president of the United Democratic Front; Jim Shumate (1921-2013), American fiddler, one-time member of bbll Monroe's Blue Grass Boys, Shumate was a winner of the National Fiddler's Convention, and had received the North Carolina Folk Heritage Award; Joyce Randolph (1924-2014), Trixie Norton in The Honeymooners, the last surviving member of a truly great cast; Celia Cruz (1925-2003), Cuban singer and one of the most popular Latin artists of the 20th century, selling over 10 million records (here she is performing "La Vida Es Un Carnaval":  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFYJ5axf02o); Bob Rosberg (1926-2009), professional golfer and ABC sports color analyst, he won the 1959 PGA championship; Fritz Wintersteller (1927-2018) Swiss climber who was part of the first ascent of Broad Peak in 1957; Leonard Rossiter (1926-1984), English actor who played Rupert Rigsby in Rising Damp (1974-78) and Reginald Perrin in The Rise and Fall of Reginald Perrin (1976-79), winner of the Peter Sellars Award for Comedy for his outstanding career in British film comedy in the 1981 Evening Standard British Film Awards; Howard Zieff (1927-2009), American television commercial director ("You don't have to be Jewish" for Levy's rye bread; "Mamma Mia, that's a spicy meatball" for Alka-Seltzer), he also directed such films as The Main Event, Private Benjamin, and My Girl; baseball legend Whitey Ford (1928-2020), who played his entire 16-year MLB career with the New York Yankees; literary goddess Ursula K. Le Guin (1929-2018), who taught us how to think and how to feel; George Stinney, Jr. (1929-1944), African-American boy convicted of the murders of two young white girls in 1944, and subsequently executed becoming the youngest american with a confirmed birth date to be both convicted and executed in the twentieth century, it did not help Stinney that his conviction was overturned in 2014 -- seventy years after his execution! -- because he had not received a fair trail and was wrongfully executed...a shameful blot on our country and its justice system; Maureen Duffy (b. 1933), British writer, the first gay woman in British public life today to be open about her sexuality, an advocate of "an ethic of compassion" towards human and animal rights; Derek Bell (1935-2002), Irish musician best known for his work with The Chieftains; Said Afandi al-Chirkawi (1937-2012), Russian scholar in Shafii mazhab (a Sunni school of thought in Islamic jurisprudence) and a spiritual master, or murshid, he was killed by a suicide bomber; Hank Nelson (1937-2012), Australian historian and academic specializing in Papua New Guinea; Rhoda Gemignani ((b. 1939), American actress who played Mrs. Carmela Rossini in Who's the Boss?; Manfred Mann (b. 1940), South-African born musician, known for "Do Wah Diddy Diddy", "Pretty Flamingo, and "The Might Quinn", and later for a cover of Springsteen's "Blinded by the Light"; Elvin Bishop (b. 1942), as noted above; Judy Sheindlin (b. 1942), American attorney and television personality, many of whose on-air judgements I question; Ron Elliott (b. 1943), lead singer of the Beau Brummels; Mandy Rice-Davies (1944-20`14), scandal-laden model and cohort of Christine Keeler in the Profumo affair which shook the English government in 1963; Lux Interior (born Erick Lee Purkhiser, 1946-2009), American singer and founding member of the punk band the Cramps; Lee Loughnane (b. 1946), American trumpeter and founding member of the band Chicago; Michel Briere (1949-1971), Canadain professional ice hockey player whose career was cut short after one year with the Pittsburg Penguins when he died from injuries suffered in a car crash after spending eleven months in a coma; Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu (b. 1949), Israeli politican, Prime Minister, and war criminal whose hard right policies against Palestine has led to the death of thousands of innocents, including women and children, Netanyahu has vowed to wipe Hamas off the map and seems at ease with the massive amount of collateral damage this would take, some speculate that Netanyahu is prolonging the fighting to ensure that he remains in office because once out of office he would be liable for a criminal trial for fraud and bribery, some also trace Netanyahu's antipathy to Palestini9ans to the death of his older brother, who was killed leading the raid on Entebbe in 1966, your views on Netanyahu may differ sharply from mine; Ronald McNair (1950-1986), American astronaut who died in the Challenger explosion, he had been the second Africa-American in space; Patti Davis (b. 1952), American actress and author, the daughter of Ronald Reagan and Nancy Reagan; Brant Mydland (1952-1990), American keyboardist, member of the Grateful Dead from 1979 to 1990; Charlotte Caffey (b. 1953), member of the rock band the Go-Go's and the writer of the song "We Got the Beat"; Dick DeVos (b. 1955), American businessman, CEO of Amway from 1993 to 2002, the husband of Betsy DeVos, Trump's former Secretary of Education; Catherine Hardwicke (b. 1955), American movie director of sparkly vampire movie Twilight; Carrie Fisher (1956-2016), forever in our heart as Princess Leia, and an accomplished script doctor for screenplays (Sister Act, Last Action Hero, Anastasia, The Wedding Singer, and others); Mike Tully (b. 1956), American pole vaulter, winning silver in the 1984 Olympics and holder of the American pole vaulting record for 1984 to 1985; Andre Geim (b. 1958), Russian-born Dutch-British physicist who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2010 for his work on graphene, and who copped an Ig Nobel Prize in 2000 for levitating a frog using its intrinsic magnetism {yes, his birthday ties into American Frog Day -- see above); Ken Watanabe (b. 1959), Japanese actor, known for Letters from Iwo Jima, The Last Samurai, Batman Begins, and Inception; Horace Hogan (real name Michael Allen Bollea, b. 1965(, professional wrestler, the nephew of Hulk Hogan (real name Terry Gene Bollea); Hal Duncan (b. 1971), Scottish science fiction and fantasy author; Thomas Ulsrud (1971-2022), Norwegian curler who won a silver medal at the 2010 Winter Olympics, one World Curling Championship, two European Curling Championships, and fourteen Norwegian titles (Norwegian Men's Curling Championship and Oslo Cup); Jeremy Miller (b. 1976), as a child actor he played Ben Seaver on Growing Pains, he started drinking alcohol at age four and suffered from alcohol abuse for years, until he had an implant that released the drug Naltrexone into his system, he is now a spokesman for the rehabilitation company that administered his treatment. Josh Ritter *b. 1976) American singer-songwriter, no relation to John or Tex; Will Estes (b. 1978), American actor who plays Jamie Reagan on Blue Bloods; Kim Kardashian (b. 1980), American media personality, businesswoman, and socialite, famous for being famous, one of the reasons I keep muttering, "I'm getting too old for this"; Amber Rose (Amber Rose Levonchuck, b. 1983), American model, television personality, and "video vixen", romantically linked to Kanye West for a while, and...Jesus, I really am getting too old for this!

Happy birthday to most!

Florida Man:  Hurricane Milton did a number on the Florida justice system,.  To wit:

• Florida Man Charles Edward Kunath, 68, of Palm Harbor, let road rage get the better of him when he hit two city workers cleaning up after Hurricane Milton with his car.  Apparently the construction barriers on the closed-off roadway meant nothing to him.  Kunath drove over a curb, onto a grassy berm, and hit the two workers who were trying to flag him down.  Both men are suffering "serious life-threatening injuries."  Florida -- if the hurricanes don't get you, the drivers will!
• And, keeping with the theme -- 57-year-old Florida Man Kenneth Ray Velasco was arrsted for threatening utility workers trying to restore power in Hillsborough County following Hurricane Milton.  Velasco allegedly verbally threatened them, then drove his car toward them in a threatening manner; he then backed into a utility pole and fence, causing $1000 in damage, before attempting to flee.  When  workers tried to stop him, Velasco allegedly threatened to shoot them.  Some jobs just don't pay enough.  (The road had been closed for repairs, causing traffic delays, and Velasco reportedly grew impatient.)
• Sarasota County Emergency Management Chief Sandra Tapfumaneyi has issued a warning about reported scammers in the area posing to be Federal emergency Management Agency officials trying to get personal and financial information from Hurricane Milton victims.  They just crawled out of the woodwork, or sewers, or whatever...
• Viral sailing sensation and Florida Man "Lieutenant Dan" (real name Joseph Malinowski) was arrested Friday on two counts of failing to appear, along with a misdemeanor charge of trespassing in a city park.  "Dan" had gained fame for refusing to leave his boat during hurricane Milton, saying "God told me to come out here and get a boat.  I came out here and got a boat.  And everything that He's been telling me over the past few days is that I'm doing the right thing.  He's got my back.  I'm in good shape."  Unfortunately, the good shape included not having an accessible marine sanitation device on his boat, nor a record of a proper waste disposal.  Because of this, officers deemed the boat a public health hazard and ordered him to move the boat out of the area.  As of Friday, he did not, and he was arrested.  Supporters are working to get him bail.
• Florida Man Soyal Zapata-Dye, 40, of Sun City Center, was arrested for trying to steal a generator that was used to power a traffic light that had been damaged in Hurricane Milton.  "There was a generator on 674 that I saw that...had no lock on it, and it was...it had no name on it, so I thought somebody had just set it out," he said.  Officers believed enough to charge him with third-degree grand theft during an emergency.
• Florida Man Giovanni Aldama Garcia, 23, of , is accused of tying his dog to a pole and abandoning it as Hurricane Milton approached.  Police were able to rescue the dog, named Topper, was the flood waters rose.  The dog was taken to safety and placed with a foster family by the Hillsborough County Animal Shelter.  Garcia was charged with animal cruelty, a third-degree felony.  Garcia, who was released on bond, indicated a willingness to surrender ownership of the animal.  State officials, from Governor Ron DeSantis to prosecuting Thirteen Circuit State Attorney Susy Lopez, have used the case as an example for the need of stricter laws on animal cruelty.

Good News:

• Boy with rare skin condition can now sleep with eyes closed for the first time in seven years     https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/boy-with-rare-skin-condition-can-sleep-with-eyes-closed-for-the-first-time-in-7-years/
• Opposing fans who came down to help fix power lines two weeks earlier get loudest cheer at Tampa NHL game      https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/at-tampa-bays-4-1-home-win-loudest-cheer-went-to-traveling-fans-who-came-down-to-help-fix-the-power-lines/
• Robot effectively dismembers e-waste so components can be reused      https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/this-robot-expertly-takes-apart-e-waste-so-their-components-can-be-reused/
• New cervical cancer treatment shows huge gains      https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/new-cervical-cancer-treatment-regime-shows-biggest-gain-in-survival-since-1999/
• Shades of Indiana Jones!  There's a grail in a tomb underneath Petra!      https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/like-indiana-jones-archaeologists-find-a-tomb-with-a-grail-underneath-the-treasury-at-petra/
• Wearable cuff rewires brains of stroke victims      https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/new-wearable-cuff-rewires-brains-of-stroke-patients-by-stimulating-nerves/
• Kirk, Picard, Sisko, Janeway, Archer, Burnham, and Pike are now all frogs       https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/seven-new-frog-species-were-named-after-star-trek-captains-to-boldly-croak/

Today's Poem:

The Apparition

When by thy scorn, O murd'ress, I am dead

And that thou think'st thee free

From all solicitation from me,

Then shall my ghost come to thy bed,

And thee, feign'd vestal, in worse arms shall see;

Then thy sick taper will begin to wink,

And he, whose thou art then, being tir'd before,

Will, if thou stir, or pinch to wake him, think

Thou call'st for more,

And in false sleep will  from thee shrink;

And then, poor aspen wench, neglected thou

Bath'd in a cold quicksilver sweat wilt lie

A verier ghost than I.

What will I say, I will not tell thee now,

Lest that preserve thee; and since my love is spent,

I'had rather thou shouldst painfully repent'

Than by my threat'nings rest still innocent.

-- John Donne