THURSDAY---Another Edition of....

The weekly flip of the fedora to Jimmy Cannon

Nobody Asked Me But:

1) I am certainly hoping that people still love radio as much as I do and support the program(s) on WFDU for the eclecticism and the listener friendliness in our annual fund raising drive.

2) Some people, when you say “...I read this in the NY Times...” respond in an ever so prideful manner “..I NEVER read THAT paper”. Seems that openmindedness is not a very wide spread trait.

3) The Times reports that there is a uptick in heart attacks during Super Bowl (or other big event) days. Glad I never felt the need to care about athletic outcomes since the main outcome is obscene rewards for athletes that create tension and---as follows---heart attacks for those who care so much.

4) Why is it that Saturday Night Live lives on as it becomes less and less clever and MadTV is gone when it was getting better and better?

5) Have you ever noticed how your perception of yourself in other people’s eyes is not the perception they have---and, probably, the same is true in reverse---your perception of them is not what they perceive themselves to be?

6) I am hoping that someone someday will produce something that will put Phil Ochs into the category and importance that Bob Dylan has acquired. Might that be because he outlived him?

7) It was nice to see my feelings about “The Blind Side” agreed with by a critic on NPR----all that cloying “schmaltz” must have been bad for the cholesterol levels.

8) Whatever happened to less being better and making things more appreciated---think Kids, TV, and all the instant gratification we get from the Internet and its sites? That is the more part and is it better?

9) When your neighbor sells his house should one be happy because he was a bad neighbor or worry the next one might be worse? I’ll stick with “happy” and tell them “come on the lawn”.

10) With NYC (and other areas) gentrifying what happens to the poor people being priced out of even the most humble abodes---that now rent/sell in prices that are in the stratosphere?

11) Should I dress up to watch The Oscar ceremonies in front of my TV set since they are selling tickets (for hefty prices) to see them in a movie theater along with overpriced cocktails.

12) Does having the ceremony in a theater make it interactive---sort of like Purple Rose of Cairo where the actors step out of the screen to chat with you?

13) It is a delight to be able to say---Happy 90th Birthday to a musical icon---OSCAR BRAND

An Interesting Rarity

Many of you who are listeners to TRADITIONS know of my thoughts and feelings about Phil Ochs. You may also have picked up on my feelings about him vis a vis Bob Dylan. What follows is a clip from You Tube (we live in an amazing techno world now) that I hope you will enjoy and then go to You Tube to read the story behind the clip. More after you view this----


Yes, that was John Lennon and after discovering this clip I really wanted you all to see this as well. After you go to You Tube you can read the history of it---but do not read the comments since most are inaccurate regarding Dylan / Ochs. The story is quite different and I have the tape where Phil states his version of events.

Suffice it to say Phil left us too soon and may well, in my opinion, be on an equal--if not higher--footing than The Bob---Kennedy Center honors included.

Take a peek now at THE ALMOST DAILY ROOSTER and see some other great entertainers of importance in our musical history and also ones that I have had the pleasure---no ==honor --of presenting on SUNDAY SIMCHA and TRADITIONS.

Once again I urge you to send me any names of people you want a focus on for either of those programs and I shall surely get on it even when our many guests are scheduled to appear. There is room for everybody---well, let's avoid the Grammy Winners in the main categories and stick to those that the Grammys do not feel worthy of TV coverage---after all when you go to WFDU you are on the " Right place on the LEFT Side of the dial". Love that slogan---and love the thought it conveys and one of our very early guests did as well by her intonation of it in our ID---Ronnie Gilbert.

Since we have spoken of YouTube and this Blogspot (which is owned by Google) I would like to recommend a book to you that truly puts this brave new techno world into perspective---GOOGLED by Ken Auletta. Trust me---long but you will not put it down. And, if you are of a certain age, you will see how far we have come from the days of 7 TV channels that needed a roof antenna to hundreds of channels on cable and satellite that have little on them and how interactivity via the internet is replacing all this. You reading this now---you prove it.