Control Your Controller

Having just purchased a new TV, along with getting a new cable box from Time Warner, I was soon trying to figure out how to program my controller--and came across this handy site! LINK

Homes They Couldn't Afford? Yeah, BUT...

The next time the conversation turns to "whose fault is all of this?" you might want to direct them to this 60 Minutes segment--that tells you exactly what wen down--and the slime balls who did it. I could tell you right now, but I would ruin the ending. If you watch the video clip it will stick with you better--and you'll be better armed the next time someone starts with the crazy talk.

According To Andy Griffith, What It Was, Was Football !

Since the big game (aka the superbowl) is drawing near, I thought this would be the perfect time to break out one of the early pieces of comedic genius from the Andy Griffith catalog. circa '53, or somewhere around there. With the exception of a player getting turned bass ackwards and running the wrong way with the football, the game doesn't get much funnier than this bit from early on in Andy's career. LINK TO WHAT IT WAS, WAS FOOTBALL.

Retro Cassette Deck Will Hook Up To Almost Anything

Dig that grocery bag full of cassette tapes out of the closet, they live again ! LINK

America's Oldest Woman Credits Longevity To Bacon

Gertrude Baines, a spry 114 yr old, credits her longevity to crispy bacon ! Here's the link.

Flip This House, Flip That House, Sell This House

You have to appreciate several points Frank Rich has made in his latest NY Times Op-Ed, but that "Flip This House," "Flip That House," "Sell This House," and "My House Is Worth What?" still populate the airwaves do serve to remind us who the real culprits are in this home mortgage mess, even while the right wing press goes out of its way to blame the poor and/or minority home buyers. I don't recall seeing a spate of "Get Your 1st House," "Finally, A Home You Can Own," or "Flip Your Crib" programs.

Fred The Cat

There's other lucky people who are like me and my wife, who feel love for their pets as strong as any love they've ever felt for any living thing. The joy that they bring is unconditional, so maybe that is why it so hard when one of them passes. Make no mistake, and other animal lovers will tell you the same, it is as hard as losing a loved one--because they are (to us) a loved one.

Our baby (if you can call a 14 yr old a baby), Fred the cat (or Freddy, as we called him, after another cool cat, the late bluesman Freddy King), came down with cancer and we had to have him put to sleep a few days ago...and to say that there has been some serious grieving going on around here is an understatement.

He passed on, quite literally, in my wife's arms, with her head laid upon his.

After spending the rest of the day and evening crying our eyes out, my wife finally went to sleep--only to wake up a few hours later, sobbing, telling me there was a buzzing in her ear. We chalked it up to stress, and finally went back to sleep. Btw, she also said she'd never woke up crying before, or had any sort of buzzing in her ear.

Tonight at work, without warning and between serving plates of ravioli and chicken parm, it came to her--that buzzing was Fred's spirit slipping out! We surmise that Fred slipped into her ear at the moment he passed, and then slipped out once he was back home. Call us nuts, it won't bother us at all...not as long as we know Fred's back here in our midst. His plate will always remain there on the floor, right next to Peeper's plate (Peeps is our other cat, who also misses his little brother very much).

Anyway, my wife came home sobbing tonight, saying she had to tell me what had come to her at work. We held each other, and agreed that yes, that must be what happened. To try and make her feel better, because she said people are going to think we're crazy, I wrote her a poem, that she gave me permission to share--on the chance that someone else may have the same thing happen to them one day--and they'll know they aren't by themselves, or all that crazy.

Fred the cat.

Fred the cat,
had his own pillow,
above his mama's head.

All that lives,
will leave this plane,
and sadly so has Fred.

Off he went,
nestled in mama's arms,
her head gently on his.

Cried to sleep,
she was awakened,
by a buzzing in her ear.

It was Fred,
slipping gently out,
telling her that he's here.

Now she sleeps,
and Fred's right there,
curled up above her head.

C. Nevitt ~ 2009

The Home Folks Just Call It Church BBQ

Here's a pic of the Mt Zion Church/BBQ in Huntsville. The ribs seemed parboiled and just ok, but the sliced beef sandwiches were way above average, and on white bread--as they should be. Stay the hell away (pardon the pun) from the potato salad. The Contessa tasted it, and the first words out of her mouth were, "Someone should be slapped for that." Well, I might not go that far...how about strongly rebuked! I was good and left the pies alone this trip, but I recall them being of the "roll your socks up and down" variety. It's only open Thurs, Fri, & Sat. and only from 11am till 3pm--it's in the 2600 block of Montgomery St in Huntsville Texas, exit 114 off of 1-35.

RIP David Fathead Newman

That's Fathead in the middle, with Zuzu Bollin to his right, from Zuzu's Dallas Blues Society Records "Texas Bluesman" recording session in 1989.

Damn. I'm glad to know that his suffering is over, but still shocked that both he and his pal (and fellow Ray Charles horn section man) Leroy Cooper would end up passing within one week of each other.

As I have mentioned before, both Fathead and Leroy's first session was the Zuzu Bollin Dallas date at Sellers Studio that produced Zuzu's definitive "Why Don't You Eat Where You Slept Last Night," which was a head arrangement that they came up with on the spot. When I rediscovered Zuzu and took him back into the studio in '89, (despite very limited resources), I flew Fathead back in to Dallas from NY to work on the date--with his mentor the late Buster Smith supervising the horn section. To say that they, along with the late Marcel Ivory, all being in the room instilled a sense of confidence of what was going down on tape is a grand understatement. From me and Hash, to Kaz Kazanoff and Duke Robillard and Doyle Bramhall--we all realized we were in the presence of, and in on, something special. As I took Duke back to the airport a couple of days later, he told me that was one of the best times he'd had in the studio, and would be glad to come back down and mix it for nothing--just to make sure that what we had captured did not compromised during that critical step. I took him up on it, and any of you who claim to be music lovers who don't go out of your way to have that in your collection, well, that's on you. (and not because I had a damn thing to do with, but rather what all the others who did).

For one of the better David Fathead Newman interviews, head this way.

Where The Boogy-Man Lives

See that hole, over there to the right? Yep, that's it. Location: Turtle Creek in Dallas

Bnois King Is Getting Older...

Bnois is getting older....but aren't we all ! He'll be celebrating this one down at PEARL in Downtown Dallas tonight Jan 17th, at the corner of Pearl & Commerce (just west of deep elm). Jim Suhler & Monkey Beat will be opening the show, with the Sofa Kings follwing them with an acoustic set, and then Smokin' Joe & Bnois will end up the evening (with their band).

Los Lupes (numero uno)

This is where IT all started, right there at 1400 N. Industrial in Dallas...it being the ever growing chain of Los Lupes restaurants. Btw, this location is just a couple of blocks south of Oak Lawn on Industrial. They've recently expanded into some very fancy digs in 8 different locations, including Addison, Cedar Hill, Duncanville and other metroplex locations.

I've only been to this one, and have been going for years, almost always for breakfast tacos to go...you can't hardly beat a hearty flour tortilla full of chorizo, American sausage, bacon, or potatoes with eggs for only .99 cents!

The help is friendly, the patrons a mixed bag of professionals and blue collar workers, and they are open 7 days a week, very very early. Give 'em a shot, and you'll soon be a regular too (oh yeah, they also do custom catering).

A Blast From The Past

This is a poster from a show I put on about 18 or 19 years ago...probably my most successful as far as attendance.

Down On Dallas' Park Avenue

Down On Dallas' Park Avenue

the blues they will never die
down on dallas' park avenue
robert johnson recorded there
the homeless line up for stew


some folks they got money
others don't have squat
when they're on park avenue
the blues is all they got

chuck nevitt ~ 2009

Strawberry Cinnamon Sugar Muffins

We ran across this muffin recipe at the eggsonsunday blog. Yikes.
I think the photos clearly tell ya that these things look as good as they sound, and with a little bit of luck, and a few months (of badgering the contessa), I may find out for myself.

Learn How To Play Guitar In Your Browser (in 3D)

What will they think of next. If you've got a young (or old) budding guitar player, here's the latest hi-tech teaching tool.

If You've Recently Got A New Computer....

...you might want to read this story on what they claim is the only safe way to destroy the personal info that may be on your old one.

Btw, donating it to your local Salvation Army may be especially risky, and I say that because I go to their auctions M-F when I am in town, and every morning there is a pile of PCs (oh, 50-100 avg) that are sold to the highest bidder. Unfortunately, I know the guy who usually buys them, and I wouldn't trust him any further than I could throw him (and that's an understatement).

I'd sure hate for any of you to get wiped out / blindsided.

Big Maybelle, Blues Vocalist, And Then Some

Big Maybelle, another of my all-time fave vocalists, could sing it all. The growling blues, as showcased here in her performance of I Ain't Mad At You

Sweet soul ballads as evidenced on this track from '69

Even pop music, as she shows tackling one of the hits of the 60's, 96 Tears.

That New Crockpot You Got For Christmas

Ok, the word is out. You either got a new crock pot for Christmas, or you've still got one in the closet that you've never unboxed from holidays past...because you've been waiting for a good excuse. Well, if fixin' a pot of chili doesn't get it turned on, perhaps an easy method for cooking foolproof carmalized onions. They're great on everything except cakes and pies, you can freeze them, make soup with them, impress neighbors, family, and friends. Here's the recipe!

Peel a few onions; they end up greatly reduced in volume. Slice thickly (or not at all). Toss with some oil or melted butter. Cook on low until they're brown. It takes 8+ hours in my cooker but I've left them as long as 16. It's essentially foolproof; leaving them longer makes them more caramelized.

Make big batches and freeze. Put on pizza. Add to sandwiches. Add sundry other ingredients (wine, mushrooms, chicken, etc) and water or stock to make "instant" onion soup.

Get All Texany With It

When it comes to Texas and nuts, we've got 'em. Just drive down any freeway. That's one kind. The other that we're better known for are the one's the YA-HOO! Cake Co. put on top of their Texas Cake. Been at it since 1934 up in Sherman Texas. GO HERE to order, and while you're there, poke around...they've got plenty of other cakes. The coffee cake section looked especially dangerous.