Highlights of the Brew Crew...John Cafferty and The Beaver Brown Band. During the Labor Day weekend I was able to fulfill a 'Jeremy's Bucket List' item and see this band live. Ever since I had the chance to snag my mom's cassette tape of the 'Eddie and the Cruisers' soundtrack (see my piece on them from a previous post-I Want...A Keg...Of Beer) I was hooked on John Cafferty and The Beaver Brown Band (JCBBB). For the longest time I have been checking the internet for concert dates anywhere west of the Mississippi River as JCBBB is an East Coast and New England regional band. So, over the past few years I found their Facebook page with listed concert dates and have been monitoring every so often. Last year there was a chance to go up to a North Dakota casino and catch the band but that opportunity fell through. But this past spring I checked the Facebook page and BOOM! there was the concert date during the last weekend in August IN Missouri. Well, it didn't take me long to contact my fellow JCBBB fan and brother-in-law about getting tickets (that reminds me...early in my marriage when I was getting to know the husband of my wife's sister we were strolling through a video rental store and came across Eddie and The Cruisers and we both stopped and at the same time asked, "Have you seen this movie?"...we then looked in each other's eyes and hugged.).
Next song up was 'Garden of Eden' then followed by 'Boardwalk Angel', 'Victory Dance', 'Open Road', 'Voice of America's Sons', and 'Small Town Girl'. He then played a cover of 'Summertime Blues' but returned to hits from the Eddie and The Cruisers soundtracks such as 'Wild Summer Nights' and 'Some Like It Hot'. Then came that special song that many of us wanted to hear, 'Tender Years', which has a great sax solo and ends with a piano solo. As Tunes unleashed his sax playing he paused for a moment to speak into the mike about how the song was special to him and to many others then he unloaded what I thought was one of the greatest live musical solos I had ever heard with my two ears. While he was playing, Cafferty stood behind him 6 feet or so and you could see in his eyes the admiration and awe even after all the years they have played together which is over 40 years. They wrapped up the concert with 'C-I-T-Y', 'Rocket 88', and 'Long Tall Sally' while also dragging up all the ladies in the audience to dance for us on stage. The night definitely ended on a high note and I will consider it one of the best concerts I have ever attended. Now that I can scratch them off my bucket list I guess it is time to move on to the next bucket list concert...
2nd Inning.
American History Lesson...1st American President John Hanson. We are taught from an early age that George Washington, the father of our nation, was the first President. But, hold on a sec...there was another man who was actually the FIRST American president and his name was John Hanson. It was in November 1781, that John Hanson became the first president of the Continental Congress under the Articles of Confederation. Per History.com, "Hanson was the self-educated son of Charles County, Maryland, farmers. His family had lived in Maryland for three generations beginning with the emigration from England of his grandfather, for whom he was named. At age 25, John married 16-year-old Jane Contee in Maryland. Their lasting union produced nine children, five of whom survived to adulthood, although their son Peter was later killed in action as a Continental soldier at Fort Washington, New York, in November 1776. Hanson's political career began in 1757 with his election to the Maryland Colonial Assembly. He returned to represent Charles County again from 1758-1763, 1765, 1766 and 1768-1769. As colonial-British relations frayed, Hanson took a seat in the revolutionary Annapolis Convention, which took control of the colony from the British in 1774 and renamed itself the Assembly of Freemen in 1776. An outspoken supporter of the Patriot cause, Hanson was instrumental in Maryland's decision to back the rebels laying siege to British-controlled Boston in the aftermath of the battles of Lexington and Concord."
John Hanson was not a fan of his position in the new American government under the Articles of Confederation, finding it tedious and wishing to resign. He would remain in that position due to his love of the young country and a sense of duty. His term as President lasted from November 5, 1781 to November 3, 1782. During his term, he was able to remove all foreign troops from the American lands while also introducing the Treasury Department. He was also responsible for establishing the first Secretary of War and first Foreign Affairs Department. His most notable/interesting achievement was establishing Thanksgiving as the 4th Thursday in November. It has been said that the American Revolution had two primary leaders: George Washington in the military/war realm and John Hanson in the politics realm with both men having statues in the U.S. Capitol. Hanson would pass away at his home in Maryland on November 22, 1783. So, if you feel willing, you might be able to use this information to win the next bar bet.
3rd Inning.
Articles of the Week...
- Sign of the Apocalypse..."In Lincoln, Massachusetts, Paul Revere was captured by British soldiers. It was in Lincoln where Minutemen were the first to arrive to reinforce the colonists protecting American stores of weapons in Concord. There’s even a mural at the museum there that shows scenes of the violence that happened on April 19, 1775." The Founders and the Patriots that fought in Lincoln are all rolling over in their graves...
- Death at McD's..."To the four clean-cut college freshman out on a double date, it had seemed like a typical McDonald's: spanking clean, well-lighted, and safe. It was in a good neighborhood too, right next to Texas A&M University in College Station -- a campus known for its friendly atmosphere and official down-home greeting: 'howdy.'" Racism goes both ways and is despicable. Until we recognize that we will never move on and appreciate the diversity of our nation.
- Fact or Fiction..."So many horror movies claim to be "inspired by actual events" or "based on real events." But how many of them actually are factual? It turns out, not many. Here's our breakdown of horror movies that claim to be inspired by reality, and whether or not they're telling the truth." Creepy or not, but Halloween is just around the corner. Interesting stuff!
- Sasquatch Alert..."Thus far, most scientific analysis on so-called evidence of Sasquatches has not turned up a positive result for a new, large, primate-like species, but that’s not stopping scientists from continuing to test theories. In fact, genetic analysis of such samples was recently published in a peer-reviewed journal for the first time." Your regular Sasquatch report, brought to you by me. You are welcome!
- 2nd Amendment For All..."In Texas, blacks are protesting police violence in a particularly Southwestern way: By invoking their right to open carry." A good article that showcases why everyone needs the 2nd Amendment.
- In English Please..."The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), a federal agency tasked with enforcing workplace discrimination laws, is suing a private American business for firing a group of Hispanic and Asian employees over their inability to speak English at work, claiming that the English-language requirement in a U.S. business constitutes 'discrimination.'" Something to infuriate you...I know it did me!
- A Texas Martyr..."When I heard that Texas Governor Rick Perry had been indicted, I thought, “This had better be good, or it will backfire on the Democrats.” It turns out it isn’t good and it may well backfire on the Democrats." Love him or hate him, this is an interesting take on the situation from someone on the left.
- Joe P. is No Longer a D....“I’m a Democrat. I’ve been a Democrat my entire life,” Piscopo said in his article. “I used to utter those two sentences with pride and would shout them from the highest rooftops. Now, I’m almost embarrassed to say those words.” Another interesting take from someone on the left discussing the left.
- A Hero..."In 1988, Sir Nicholas Winton appeared on the BBC television program “That’s Life” to highlight his amazing work to save Jewish Czechoslovakian children during Hitler’s reign in 1938. Winton headed an operation to save children during the Holocaust, but he never spoke about his efforts after the war was over." A heartwarming story about an unsung hero. The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.
4th Inning.
The American Rifleman recently posted an article, "8 Things You Might Not Know About The Ruger Mini-14". Below are listed a few of those things.
- It’s said Bill Ruger felt that, with better timing, the Mini-14 would have been the military’s choice as a successor to the M14. As we all know, history favored the AR-15 design that Colt had purchased from ArmaLite, instead, and the M16 was born.
- At one point, Ruger began developing versions of the Mini-14 that were to be chambered in .308 Win. and .243 Win. Unfortunately, mechanical and production issues kept the rifles from ever being produced.
- Like most of history’s more famous firearms, the Mini-14 has made its rounds in Hollywood. Versions of the rifle have popped up on screens large and small throughout the years, though the Mini-14’s most notable appearances probably came on “The A-Team.” During the show’s run, "Hannibal" Smith, Templeton "Faceman" Peck, "Howling Mad" Murdock and "B.A." Baracus were all seen with at least one prop variant of the rifle. What beats Mr. T and a Mini-14? That's a rhetorical question, mind you.
5th Inning.
Have you seen it?...The Wraith. There are many movies from our youth that slip through the cracks and don't always become the 'Big Hit' but stick with you as a personal favorite. An example of one of those and a favorite of mine is 'The Wraith'. I recall seeing this for the first time while hanging out over at a buddy's house back in my youth. A young Charlie Sheen, before he was crazy Charlie Sheen, and a very cool looking car combine to create a sci-fi/race car movie with revenge and love mixed in. I would describe it as a cross between 'Fast & the Furious' and 'The Last Starfighter'. A plot summary from Rotten Tomatoes, "After a boy is killed at the hands of the drag-racing gang led by Packard Walsh (Nick Cassavetes), the mysterious Jake Kesey (Charlie Sheen) shows up in town. When a strange black car makes an appearance around the same time, the members of Packard's gang begin to suffer from a number of unfortunate 'accidents.'"
'The Wraith' stars Charlie Sheen (filmed between his roles in 'Ferris Bueller's Day Off' and 'Platoon'), Nick Cassavetes (starred in tv and movie roles and was also the director of 'The Notebook'), Sherilyn Fenn (Twin Peaks fame), and ole Randy Quaid as the Sheriff. Another prominent role is the car--inspired by the Dodge concept pace car the M4S Turbo. If you are looking for a throwback to the '80s and want to enjoy a car movie where the good guy takes out the bad guys then this movie is for you! The trailer is below. Enjoy!
6th Inning.
Park Maintenance Memories...With summer upon us I felt it relevant to share memories from my summers after graduating from high school spent as a temporary employee with the Grandview, Missouri Park Maintenance department doing the grunt work but having some fun with a buddy that worked there too!
As I mentioned in earlier posts, I was the newbie with the Park Maintenance staff but I had the joy of being partnered up with my good buddy, Billy. During those hot summer days, the low men on the totem pole usually go the crap duties...which was us. The pinnacle of crap duty was working along 71 Highway in Grandview. Most of the time spent along the grassy medians and shoulders on the west side of 71 Hwy, specifically the area in front of the Truman Corners shopping center and Blue Ridge Boulevard, was for weed eating and picking up trash before we push mowed the area. With cars zipping by at high speeds, safety was always lectured to us by the full-timers so we made sure to wear the orange vests and due to the heat we made sure to drink plenty of water. Well, during one morning we had a newer newbie (I wasn't the rookie all the time) who seemed to always bring a couple of 2 liters of Dr. Pepper to work everyday and this was one of those days. After several hours in the heat along the highway and drinking 2-2liters of DP instead of water he hit rock bottom and was ready to pass out. We helped him into the truck and gave him water while we finished. Poor guy.
There was another occasion where safety came into play while we were mowing the off ramp to Blue Ridge Blvd and right in front of the 'Welcome To Grandview' sign. It was right after a good rain and the ground was still a bit wet but we still needed to mow the area. I was on weed eater duty while my buddy, Billy, was on Toro motor duty. We maneuvered our truck and trailer along the exit ramp shoulder and proceeded to knock out the day's task. I wrapped up the weed eating and was waiting on Billy to finish when all of a sudden there was a stop in mowing. You see the bit of grass we needed to mow was on a hill and that Toro mower couldn't make it up the hill and after trying to get it up it got stuck in the mud to a point it couldn't even go down the hill. What were we to do? Well, with cars zipping passed us, we took the city truck and unhitched the trailer, turned it around facing exiting and oncoming traffic, threw out some orange cones to close off a lane, hooked up a chain to the mower and began pulling it out of the mud. After a while and tearing up a portion of the grassy knoll, we got it out. Once we got back to the Park Maintenance Headquarters (PMHQ) we were met by our boss. He gave us a good lecture on how other city employees had seen what we had done and that closing down lanes of traffic was a no-no. Snitches get stitches!
7th Inning.
Article V states: "The Congress, whenever two thirds of both houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose amendments to this Constitution, or, on the application of the legislatures of two thirds of the several states, shall call a convention for proposing amendments, which, in either case, shall be valid to all intents and purposes, as part of this Constitution, when ratified by the legislatures of three fourths of the several states, or by conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one or the other mode of ratification may be proposed by the Congress; provided that no amendment which may be made prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any manner affect the first and fourth clauses in the ninth section of the first article; and that no state, without its consent, shall be deprived of its equal suffrage in the Senate."
The section on 'the application of the legislatures...' is the part where Levin believes the process needs to take place and begin the amendment convention process. This is not a Constitutional Convention being called to replace the U.S. Constitution (too many opponents are describing it as such) but rather an Amendment Convention to propose amendments to send back to the states to pass and thus amend the U.S. Constitution. This is a method by which the Founders gave us, WE THE PEOPLE, to balance the power in the Capitol when those in power became to disillusioned with that power and no longer truly represented our best interests. The old saying 'Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely' applies here. The Liberty Amendments as proposed by Levin are summarized below by Daniel Horowitz from RedState.
"1) Term Limits: He (Levin) proposes limiting service in both the House and Senate to 12 years. Yes, we’ve heard all the arguments about elections being the best limit. But the past 100 year has proven that to be false. As someone who works day and night to throw the bums out, I can tell you that is nearly impossible to throw them out with the amount of money they raise – precisely for their abuses of power. Levin also proves that limiting time in office was a highly regarded proposal during the Constitutional Congress.
2) Repealing the 17th Amendment: Levin proposes repealing the 17th amendment and vesting state legislators with the power to elect senators so that the power of states is not diluted, as originally feared by the framers of the Constitution.
3) Restoring the Judiciary to its proper role: The Judiciary was never meant to be an all-powerful institution in which five men in robes have the final say over every major policy battle in the country. In order to end judicial tyranny, Levin proposes limiting service to one 12-year term, and granting both Congress and the state legislatures the authority to overturn court decisions with the vote of three-fifths of both houses of Congress or state legislative bodies.
4) Limiting Taxation and Spending: Levin proposes a balanced budget amendment, limiting spending to 17.5% of GDP and requiring a three-fifths vote to raise the debt ceiling. He also proposes limiting the power to tax to 15% of an individual’s income, prohibiting other forms of taxation, and placing the deadline to file one’s taxes one day before the next federal election.
5) Limiting bureaucracy: He proposes an amendment to limit and sunset federal regulations and subject the existence of all federal departments to stand-alone reauthorization bills every three years.
6) Defining the Commerce Clause: Levin writes an amendment that, while technically unnecessary, is practically an imperative to restoring the original intent of the Commerce Clause. The amendment would make it clear that the commerce clause grants not power to actively regulate and control activity; rather to prevent states from impeding commerce among other states, as Madison originally intended.
7) Limiting Federal power to take private property
8) Allowing State Legislature to Amend the Constitution: Although the Framers intentionally made it difficult to amend the Constitution, they did so to preserve the Republic they created. However, the progressives have illegally altered our Republic through a silent and gradual coup without using the amendment process. If we are going to successfully push the aforementioned amendments, we will need an easier mechanism to force them through. The proposed amendment allows states to bypass Congress and propose an amendment with support of just two-thirds of the states (instead of three-fourths) and without convening a convention.
9) State Authority to Override Congress: A proposed amendment to allow states to override federal statutes by majority vote in two-thirds of state legislatures. The last two proposals are rooted in the idea that the states only agreed to the Constitution on condition that their power would not be diluted and that all federal power is derived from the states.
10) Protecting the Vote: A proposal to require photo ID for all federal elections and limit early voting."
I highly recommend this book to those who believe this nation's leaders and the system in which they govern have run off the tracks and is headed over the cliff. You can pick it up and any bookstore and at Amazon.
As Madison said, "I believe there are more instances of the abridgement of freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments by those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations."
8th Inning.
FFL Factoid...From the National Shooting Sports Foundation's ATF Q&A page:
Q:I understand that FFL holders are required to maintain Form 4473 records for 20 years and that the records are to be sent to ATF if the FFL goes out of business. If an FFL remains in business beyond the 20-year holding period, does it still have to maintain the records?
A:No. The only requirement is to keep the Forms 4473 for 20 years. The federal firearms regulations allow for licensees to dispose of forms that are older than 20 years. Disposition includes submission of those records to the ATF National Tracing Center (NTC). Submission of these records will allow ATF to more effectively trace crime guns. The NTC requests that licensees enclose a copy of the “Active” FFL and appropriately indicate that the records are over 20 years old. Records are to be sent to ATF, Out of Business Records Center, (OOBRC), 244 Needy Road, Martinsburg, WV 25405. It is recommended to send your records in a manner that can be tracked, i.e., via Federal Express, U.S. Postal Service, United Parcel Service or any service that provides delivery confirmation. Contact the NTC, Industry Records Branch, at 800-788-7133, with additional questions on this topic.
9th Inning.
Baseball video...Remember--Baseball is a kid's game!
