Hi Mom. Well, another quiz is underway.
How many years has it been now? 17? OMG!
I think I’ll do my usual announcements that no one cares about first.
Shana! Don’t say that! Everyone cares! (And by everyone, I mean Linda Santini.)
We had quite a death report last month.
Don’t remind me! Hank Aaron? Mary Wilson? Forget about it!
Think of this as a breather. Things are looking good in the world of streaming.
The world of what??????
Mom, I know you don’t know what I’m talking about, but explaining anything to you is a complete waste of time! “The Muppet Show”…
I knew it!!!!
…landed on Disney Plus last month. You seriously need to watch it with me.
Good grief! When does it end???? (What’s Disney Plus?)
The streaming service! Ugh. Never mind! Some of the guest stars are people we know, like Victor Borge…
Oh! Well why didn’t you say so????!!!!!! He is soooo funny, so clever and talented; making comedy out of classical music; no one else ever thought of that!
It’s no fun watching by myself.
OK, but then you have to watch the things I want to watch with me!!! What about all the classic movies you haven’t seen?
Mom, we’re getting to that, OK? I can’t wait to watch Elton John’s guest spot…
I should have known!
…which I’ve been waiting to see for a very long time. I’m currently on Season-1 and it’s a little weird to watch because apparently another Muppet performer was sharing Miss Piggy with Frank Oz…
I have no idea what that means!
She didn’t become his main character until later.
Who?
Miss Piggy!!!! Mom, please pay attention. And Fozzie also sounded different, like Bert from the first season of Sesame Street.
Shana, only you would know what Bert sounded like from the 1st season of Sesame Street!
I mean, Bert was also Frank Oz’s character but it was super weird to hear an early Fozzie Bear.
Yes, I’m sure! Weird; much like this conversation!!!!
I know the first season of any show is all about finding your footing and I guess that’s what was happening on the Muppet Show.
One can only assume. Can we possibly move this segment of The Quiz along? I’ve got a very intriguing case to do where Baby Roz tries to eat a pineapple with devastating results!
I know you always say I never grow up….
Really? Me? I say that? Why would I ever say that?
…but there’s going to be a reboot of “The Rugrats”.
Aaaaaah!!!!!!
The original cast (other than the ones who have passed away) will reprise their roles.
Well! If this isn’t front-page news….
There’s also been news of a “Frasier” revival floating around but no mention of Jane Leeves, David Hyde Pierce or Peri Gilpin.
Oh well, then, forget about it!
This month is also the 40th anniversary of James Taylor’s “Dad Loves His Work” album.
James Taylor again???? I should have known!!!!
This is an image of him from that era.
I’m sure the authenticity is appreciated by all. (And by “all”, I mean Linda Santini.)
A fact about this album I didn’t notice until now is that it was produced by his manager Peter Asher.
OK, Shana, again, no one knows who Peter Asher is, and, don’t look now… but no one cares!!!
He’s the “Peter” from “Peter and Gordon”!
Oh!!! Well now Everyone knows who he is!!!
He also produced “Sweet Baby James”
OK, so he did one good thing.
…followed by “Mud Slide Slim”
2 good things.
…which happens to turn 50 this year.
Shana, I’m giving you exactly 10 seconds to wrap this up!
Turns out, Peter Asher produced James Taylor a lot in the beginning of his career. Believe it or not, I don’t know the story behind this album but I imagine he was having trouble in his marriage to Carly Simon.
…5, 4, 3….
They got divorced two years later.
Time’s up!
It’s an OK album.
She’s still talking.
I know you keep saying he should stick to folk music…
Dear God, yes!!! That is an understatement!
…but I always seem to find something to like in his later works.
Grr……
This year is also the 30th anniversary of “New Moon Shine” which we had on cassette tape when I was younger.
I know, Shana! We had to listen to it every day on our way to school! Every freakin’ day!!!!
More about that during the appropriate month though.
No, there will be no appropriate month!
Oh, and true story…
Oh geez…
…when I saw James Taylor in 2015, he performed a song from this album. It was “I Will Follow” and Arnold McCuller performed the solo part on stage.
Dear God. Shana, try to hear me when I tell you this. No one knows who Arnold is, OK? And no one cares!!!!!
Unfortunately tours have been put on hold because of covid. He was scheduled to play with Jackson Browne which would’ve been awesome. The shows were rescheduled for this year but it doesn’t matter because covid is a mess and they aren’t near us anyway.
Is that your last gasp on James Taylor?
Yes. And now for this month’s Death Report!
And not a moment too soon!
Sadly we lost James Burke, one of The Five Stairsteps, at 70 of pneumonia.
They are best known for their top-10 hit, “O-o-h Child” in 1970.
His brother, Clarence Burke Jr., predeceased him in 2013. In fact, here is an amazing video of Clarence from 2010, doing the song he sang lead on, “Danger! She’s A Stranger”:
Rest in Peace, Clarence and James! Oh, and P.S., few people know that The Invisible Man’s Band, a disco group from the ’70’s who scored a #10 hit with “All Night Thing”, was actually The 5 Stairsteps.
And now… the moment you’ve all been waiting for, I give you …
When Pineapples Attack!
***
Hi Elaine,
“Roz” had pineapples last night and while she ate she started itching bad and her mouth area broke out in a small, bumpy type rash.
There was a good amount of rash and bumps on her neck as well. She was crying badly!
Dear God!!!!
I gave her __________30C. The reaction and itching died down. She resumed playing.
How long did it take? To resume playing?
About half an hour. I have never given her oranges and pineapple fearing it would make her stomach acidic.
Last week she was upset with me for not giving them to her so I gave her pineapple and she was fine with it.
But last week the fruit was very ripe, nice yellow and very sweet. Yesterday it wasn’t a great fruit.
Not a great fruit??? OMG!!!!
Not ripe or sweet, and pale.
(Gasp!!!!!)
She was in her high chair and it was our fruit time and we just had the one pineapple on the table.
I certainly hope you learned your lesson about not having great fruit in the house! Apparently she’s not allergic to pineapple, per se, but, yes to that particular (not great!) pineapple! Anyway, the important thing is, you knew to give ________30C. Good for you! I can see an incident like this getting quickly out of hand and ending up in a trip to the Emergency Room! Is the rash all gone now?
WIth one dose of _________30C she stopped crying and started playing in like half an hour 🙂
She was occasionally scratching for an hour or 2, but it didn’t seem to bother her. She was playing, laughing and fine before bed time.
The rash is drying out and not red or itchy.
Such great news! And also, a perfect description of Hering’s Law of Cure, namely, that healing takes place from the inside out. The first thing to improve were her mentals, with the itching and rash still there but Roz “not caring”, whereas before she was crying. Then itching stopped and lastly, the rash itself. A perfect demonstration of what healing looks like with homeopathy, showing that if you see the improvement on the mental plane after a remedy, DO NOT concern yourself with what’s happening on the physical plane, and don’t look for a second remedy for “rash” or “itching”; just wait!
Thanks, Elaine!
______________________
OK, everybody! What do you think the remedy was? Write to me at [email protected]
and let me know. The answer will be in next month’s ezine.
To play us out, I have a song from James Taylor’s “Dad Loves His Work”.
Oh crap!
While “Hard Times” was the “single”, that just seems like a depressing way to end the quiz. The single was apparently influenced by his imploding marriage to Carly Simon.
Wah!!!! You said this wouldn’t be depressing!
Mom, I think he’s over her now, it was 40 years ago! It’s a good one though.
What is?
The single! And very R&B influenced, which I suppose is thanks to Arnold McCuller and David Lasley.
But you’re not going to play it? So for a song that’s not being played, we’re sure learning a lot about it!
Instead here’s my other favorite from this album, “Only For Me” but I don’t know what it’s about.
Well that’s just great!
Also, it might interest you to know, that the inventor of the cassette tape died.
Say goodnight, Shana!
—————————–
Elaine Lewis, DHom, CHom
Elaine takes online cases. Write to her at [email protected]
Visit her website: https://ElaineLewis.hpathy.com
