HAD ANOTHER X-RAY OF MY RIGHT HIP DONE TODAY

Not a lot going on today.  Kelly took Pheebs for a morning walk and then Pheebs and I headed out in Subie to dust up a few country roads.  Snapped a few pics and came home.  With my hand clippers, I trimmed back a number of overgrown small branches encroaching on some of my little trails around the house.  By 1 p.m. I could feel the humidity creeping back into the air so I hustled myself back into the house.  At 3 p.m. I was in the Goderich hospital having a couple X-rays done on my new (Feb. 13th) right hip.  By getting the X-rays done here it will save me having to drive all the way to Sarnia on September 9th for the same thing.  I am really hoping that this X-ray session is the last one.  As for 'how is my hip doing over 6 months later, the answer is great, no complaints.  And, that's about it for another gol darn ding dang day.....................  

 ROADSIDE WILDFLOWERS

 CANADA GEESE GLEANING A HARVESTED AND SCUFFLED WHEAT FIELD

A FOREST'S QUIET STREAM

Al's Music Box:)) The Letter is a song written by Wayne Carson that was first recorded by the American rock band the Box Tops in 1967. It was the group's first and most successful single, reaching number one on the record charts in the United States and Canada. It was also an international success and placed in the top ten in several other countries.  The Box Tops lead vocalist Alex Chilton sang "The Letter" in a gruff blue-eyed soul style. The song launched Chilton's career and inspired numerous cover versions. Rolling Stone magazine included the Box Tops original at number 372 on its list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time", and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame added it to the list of the "500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll".  In 2011, the single was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.  Wayne Carson wrote "The Letter", built on an opening line suggested by his father: "Give me a ticket for an aeroplane".  Carson included the song on a demo tape he gave to Chips Moman, owner of Amerian Sound Studio in Memphis, Tennessee. When studio associate Dan Penn was looking for an opportunity to produce more, Moman suggested a local group, the DeVilles, who had a new lead singer, sixteen-year-old Alex Chilton. The other four members of the group that played on the session were Danny Smythe on drums, Richard Malone on electric guitar, John Evans on electric piano, and Russ Caccamisi on bass. Penn gave the group Carson's demo tape for some songs to work up.  With little or no rehearsal, the group arrived at American Sound to record "The Letter".  Chilton recalled:  We set up and started running the tune down.  Dan adjusted a few things on the organ sound and told the drummer not to do anything at all except the basic rhythm that was called for. No rolls, no nothin'. The bass player was playing pretty hot stuff, so he didn't mess with what the bass player was doing.  Penn added: "The guitar player had the lick right—we copied Wayne's demo. Then I asked the keyboard player to play an 'I'm a Believer type of thing".  Chilton sang the vocal live while the group was performing; Penn noted: "I coached him [Chilton] a little ... told him to say 'aer-o-plane,' told him to get a little gruff, and I didn't have to say anything else to him, he was hookin 'em, a natural singer."  He later explained, "[Chilton] picked it up exactly as I had in mind, maybe even better. I hadn't even paid any attention to how good he sang because I was busy trying to put the band together ... I had a bunch of greenhorns who'd never cut a record, including me".  About thirty takes were required for the basic track. Then Penn had Mike Leech prepare a string and horn arrangement to give it a fuller sound.  Leech recalled: "My very first string arrangement was 'The Letter', and the only reason I did that was because I knew how to write music notation ... Nobody else in the group did or I'm sure someone else would have gotten the call."  Penn also overdubbed the sound of an airplane taking off to the track from a special effects record that had been checked out from the local library.  He explained: That was a big part of the record ... When I finished it up, I played it for Chips [Moman], and he said, "That's a pretty good little rock & roll record, but you've got to take that airplane off it." I said, "If the record's going out, it's going out with the airplane on it". He said, "Okay, it's your record.  "Edwin Pouncey of the Wire described the "sampling" of the overhead jet plane as one of the more notable "pop and rock musique concrete flirtations" of the period.  The DeVilles were renamed the Box Tops and "The Letter", at only 1 minute, 58 seconds, was released by Mala Records, a subsidiary of Bell Records.

GROANER'S CORNER:(( To all the people who said I wouldn't amount to anything because of my procrastination.....just you wait!!

Knock, knock. Who’s there? Nobel. Nobel who? You got no bell, so I figured I’d knock.

- Apparently, you can’t use beef stew as a password. It’s just not stroganoff. 

- Why is a swordfish’s nose 11 inches long? Because if it was 12 inches it would be a foot. 

- What do you call a dog that can do magic? A labracadabrador.

- I want to tell you a joke about a girl who only eats plants. You’ve probably never heard of herbivore. 

- What do you call a fake noodle? An impasta.

- How do you get a country girl’s attention? A tractor. 

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Why do melons have weddings? Because they cantaloupe. 

- What do you call a cow with a twitch? Beef jerky.

- What is the most detail-oriented ocean? The Pacific.

- I used to hate facial hair. But now it’s grown on me. 

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