neatimes.com

Thursday 6 March 2025 12:35:54 PM CST

Sunday 2 March 2025 10:39:02 PM CST

The most impressive feat of live recording will probably always be the Deep Purple's Made in Japan and not just because of the date and the minimal equipment but that is a truly spectacular recording. I got Dream Theater's recreation and it's impressive but I still prefer the original. REO's You Get What You Play For from 1976 or so is also quite good and considering it was just a few years later than MIJ it's pretty good. Like many live albums it was assembled from several performances but it doesn't have any unevenness as some do. While Martin Birch did considerable work on Rainbow's On Stage - also from 1977 - it's my favorite live Rainbow set but shares that honor with Black Masquerade from 1995 or so.

Ridin' the Storm Out was my favorite for a long time and was often a show closer until Back on the Road Again. The slicker REO was still good but I like the old stuff. I haven't looked at any of their recent live shows but may get around to it one day.

Couple of non-fatal shootings and a fatal traffic mishap resulting in a homicide charge. Then some dude from Minnesota may not be going back soon. Dunno how much trouble that gets you in in Minnesota but here in Arkansas it can be serious. That was over at Bald Knob.... lemme see if he still in jail... that over in White County. Cool, they got phone apps for IOS and Google Play for the jailbird list. Yep, white male age 21, possession of child porn on top of the sexual assault. 150K bond.

Over in Memphis a dozen or so people protested legislation about illegal aliens. I suspect it will pass as Tennessee is about as red as Arkansas or Oklahoma or whatever. One of them is going agin a SCOTUS ruling from a long time ago so it if it passes it'll probably be in the courts for a while.

"It doesn't matter how you came to call Memphis your home; you're here contributing taxes," said organizer State Rep. Gabby Salinas.

"Education is a right, not a privilege, and no one should be deprived because of our immigration status," said a student present.

WREG.com

Well cupcake, that's what the courts will decide. And it does matter how you come to call Memphis your home if you are an illegal. Us that are paying for it kinda resent having our money confiscated by the state and spent on parasites.

KJNB had this on the subject. It was mainly about Illinois and how they are resisting and some of the problems that might cause for them. As long as it's their problems I'm good - as the ICE boss said you don't wanna help just stay out of the way or you may end up in the clink. I suspect it may take one of three of them in jail to get their attention.

Last week, state Sen. Omar Aquino, D-Chicago, told a group of immigration advocates that Illinois will stand strong.

"You are not going to come into our house and just try to take people and separate families in this state," Aquino said. "People have rights. They are human rights."

KJNB.com

Hey Omar, how about if we the people say - as we did 5 November last - that people from all over the world and don't just come into our country and rob, rape, and murder us. We have human rights too. I learned a long time ago that other people's problems are more important to them that mine are and that's kinda the way it is with us and illegals.

Jonestown paper had the usual TDS and whatever afflicts these folks. Since it can't be eliminated without congressional action I suspect that the administration will cripple the Department of Education by cutting funding and reversing policy. That's quicker and more efficient anyway. As for the Arab situation I agree with Alex:

President Trump suggesting turning Gaza into a a resort and/or business center like Singapore was brilliant. The Middle East doesn't want it in a serious way and Trump does not want an American presence there. He planted the seed and it is likely that the nominally civilized states like Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt et al. will form some sort of consortium to manage Gaza and develop it as he suggested. Some of them (SA, UAE, Quatar) easily have the money and while one or two could do it alone a group would work better. The troublemakers in the region wouldn't mess with them and in any case as long as it is under middle eastern control it wouldn't bother them much.

Alex@MyndCryme

Monday 3 March 2025 10:52:12 PM CST

The great Gene Hackman passed away some days ago. Exactly how many is uncertain due to the circumstances. Sadly his much younger wife perished as well. His career pretty much speaks for itself. Favorite movie? Hard to say - interestingly The French Connection isn't it but that says more about the movie than the actors. Liked him in the Superman movies, in fact he may have been the best part. Didn't like The Firm but again that was the material. Unforgiven like because of Gene and Clint Eastwood and of course Morgan Freeman and Richard Harris. He was a seriously despicable character in Unforgiven but none of the characters were especially likeable.

May as well start doing book reviews. Picked up John Sanford's Hidden Prey the other day and was up most of the night. Thought I had them all but I see he's still writing them and ain't got the last three or four but haven't read all the ones I have. They're decent if a bit like TV crime shows, what I call false stereotype. They way the writer believes things are or should be but really aren't. Lucas Davenport is nowhere as real as Travis McGee and seems a bit contrived but it's usually an engaging story and some interesting characters.

Hokay, what we got today? Lance Russell used to say 'hokay' a lot on the Memphis rassling back in the day before it got all big-time showbiz. Never understood how that happened. For me it was like a Saturday morning soap opera to kill an hour before doing anything useful. Lance was all serious like it was real and that was pretty funny. Believe I'll stick with okey-dokey though.

Little early for weekend mayhem news except for a sex offender and a girlfriend-beater and a drug bust all in Jonestown. The feller that cause the wreck somebody got kilt in is still in jail and at that bail he may be there a while.

In Paragould the mayor did the state of the city address. Dunno if it was televised or streamed or you had to go see it in person or what but I didn't witness it in any form. Need to check with my friend in Paragould and see if them two Tesla police cars they bought a couple or three years ago are stil sittin' up in that cop's yard after they quit. Haven't heard of them buyin' any more so maybe they learned.

Nothin' in the Wynne news and town was pretty dead when I went through this morning. Gotta go back after Clay and Buck show is over and hit the post office and Tractor Supply and might as well stop at Walmart since it's on the way back. Fuel the truck and be ready to go to Jonestown Wednesday or so.

The feller what's jail for killing somebody in a wreck is... wait for it.... an illegal. Give this one to Jonesbororightnow - most had it about the same time except KAIT which don't have it. I have mixed feelings on these illegals killing people in drunk driving wrecks. Deport them and they won't do any time when back home but it costs money to keep them in prison here. Wish we could make them work and pay some for their keep.

What, Chris?

Not gonna say it. Probably would be profitable but...

Tuesday 4 March 2025 11:32:34 PM CST

ERB was making fun of Big Religion here - even in his time it was a thing. Today we make fun of megachurch operators and all that. And...

What, Chris?

Wasn't gonna say it. Not gonna say it, wouldn't be prudent at this juncture or pretty much any other. Anyhow the Mars books were some of his best. Great Frazetta covers on my old hardcovers from the Science Fiction Book Club back in the day. I liked Tarzan well enough but you can only do so much but even so he had some pretty good ones for an earthbound setting. Mars - seeing as how a hundred years ago nobody on Earth knew much about it - was a blank canvas and he created some memorable pictures. Frazetta, Boris and Whelan did some good stuff on the covers as they did on Howard's Conan and related stuff. Got a few big books of their work from back in the day. They totally trashed the Mars stuff in the movie but that's modern culture for you. In The Master Mind of Mars mad but brilliant scientist Ras Thavas does brain transplants and this time it isn't John Carter but another Earthman that got sent to Mars for some adventures. Hard to pick a best from the Barsoom books but this one is pretty good.

Over in Memphis they say the committee... scuse me task force... that's gonna fix the police problems in Memphis may have some ideas in a couple of years. If they can do that then in a couple of years they can begin seeing if they work and then in a couple more years.... you get the idea. Since it's Memphis figuring out how to fix Memphis don't expect much. This is because of the DOJ getting after them a while back but if you wait for Memphis to fix Memphis it gona be a long wait. Better would be for the state government to come in and do something but they don't want to because people accuse them of being racists.

Governor Sanders talked about education and I happened across her Facebook page this morning. I go there and like stuff to help get the numbers up and there usually a few comments, mostly from people that approve but always some of the usual suspects trolling. This post was about the education situation and the trolls hafta say something about property taxes (we're working on it) or accuse her of giving money to rich folks and such. Look at the Arkansas legislature and get a pretty good idea of how many people aren't happy. Got a feeling a lot of then don't live in Arkansas - nothing on them but a name.

Most home-schoolers I know - and I know a few - aren't taking the money because they don't want any government involvment and most are above average economically. They spend maybe a thousand dollars apiece - figure two or three up to a half dozen - while the state spends somewhere around 12-13K (in Arkansas) to not educate them anywhere near the level of home school and private schools. The good part is that there are more micro-schools every year and every one takes a few kids out of the government schools.

I see Newport is putting in some more cameras. Don't get over there much these days - back in the day used to drive through the edge going to Batesville.

Harmon said the cameras have already made a difference for the department.

"We have solved several crimes using the cameras. They help the public with hit-and-runs, with thieves, and everything like that. We're able to go back and review those cameras because police aren't able to be everywhere, every second of the day," he said. "There's some crimes that never would have been solved without them, but there are ones that you can almost solve them instantly by just having that."

KAIT.com

I assume that wherever I am there's at least a camera or two lookin' at me but a lot of people don't and they end up incarcerated. I find that a modest amount of what some call paranoia is usually beneficial. It also helps to just not do illegal stuff.

Wednesday 5 March 2025 09:12:03 PM CST

I believe the Memphis TV folks been reporting on DOGE impact on the area and seem to have seen some in Jonestown media as well. They didn't say people were losing their jobs - there are plenty of government employees that are...

What, Chris?

Figure of speech. Literally plenty would be at least half. Anyhow not sayin' if there was people workin' there and they was bein' fired or was moving somewhere else dunno if anybody was there or if the offices were empty and we just payin' rent as happens a lot. Dunno if the reporter asked or what.

Jonestown paper opinion page had this. If they didn't harbor terrorists that live only to kill Israelis it would be a good start. Maybe President Trump can get the rich and nominally civilized states (Saudi Arabia and such) to build the Gaza resort, kind of a Singapore-on-the-Mediterranean. They got the money and it would make them a lot more and if they have a financial interest in it they would want to keep the terrorists out and wouldn't get bombed any more. I suspect that may be what he had in mind.

Thursday 6 March 2025 09:12:03 PM CST

I liked the early fourth-generation Camaros. Technically that generation go through 1981 but 1974 had some pretty big changes appearance-wise. Buddy of mine had '76 and they were nice cars. He was my age and had a kid sister... Chris givin' me that look. Anyhow I like those first four years like the 70-75 Trans-Ams. Always changing the way things look because somebody thinks it'll sell better. VW Beetle didn't change for forty-something years and did pretty well most of that time.

See if I can scare up some local news.... guess this is kinda local. How President Trump's tariffs are gonna be so bad. Linked to a KARK story about a guy runs an electronics store in Little Rock. KNJB had one about how some folks working at Hot Springs National Park may suffer because DOGE. Government ain't got the money - they want me to pay more taxes so they can have a job? It ain't like they're essential. Nice to have if you can afford it but we can't afford it any more. Personally I wouldn't mind mothballing parks and some other non-essential stuff until the budget is balanced and the debt paid. They we can talk about doing stuff just for fun. It may well be that when the money outflow to the rest of the world and the dead people social security is cut off and the non-existent govermnent employees (notice I didn't refer to them as workers) aren't being paid we'll be closer to being able to do that.

What else? Cherry Valley (speed trap on the way to Jonestown) population 700 or so getting new soft/baseball fields. Don't say who paid for it so I'll assume local sales tax.

What, Chris?

It could happen. I think....

Believe I'll check the papers before I close this... no new toon on Paragould paper... check Jonestown.... new piece from the New York Daily News. I might ought to start putting links to the original source since probably not a lot of people have subsctiptions to the local papers but you can google the title and find it easy enough. Probably more people than read this. It don't have an author - just the editorial board. Okey-dokey.

Besides just hating Trump I suspect these people aren't capable of understanding what he's doing even if you explain it to them. Trump said on camera that he let Zelenskyy run on so the public could see it. Before he could come over here and ask for money and get it just like that, behind closed doors. I believe that exposing this and the other fraud and graft will be a big part of cleaning it up - once the cat or genie or whatever is out it can't be put back in.

Alex@MyndCryme

Probably. As someone or other said 'I can explain it to you but I can't understand it for you'. By the time of the presidential speech last night Zelenskyy had come groveling back and whatever Trump wants to do is fine with him. The toon trend is toward Musk Derangement Syndrome.

Alright muchachos, believe I'll put the lid on this one. Seeya.

Prime Chuck Norris 1 hour ago It was all right with these guys when Obama and Biden issued one unconstitutional executive order after another but Trump takes a completely legal action and they go nuts. When I want your opinion, I'll beat it out of you. Reply Mandroid 52 minutes ago NYC is committing suicide - the administration has slashed their wrists and doesn't think the bleeding will ever be fatal. Electric eye, in the sky, Feel my stare, always there, There's nothing you can do about it, Develop and expose, I feed upon your every thought, And so my power grows. Reply BG KaliforniaDreamin 44 minutes ago They say it will generate 500 million and Hochul demanded 15 billion to lift it - to fix the transportation infrastructure. What are the chances any of it would be used? Fighting Trump is not smart and NY and CA are competing to be examples of FAFO. Life is a lemon and I want my money back. ~ Meat Loaf Reply 2G[-) Dotar Sojat 25 minutes ago We'll see if New Yorkers are hopeless when Cuomo runs again. I'm guessing they are. Jam a citizen of two worlds; Captain John Carter of Virginia, Prince of the House of Tardos Mors, Jeddak of Helium Reply HG Civil Whites 11 minutes ago I don't know as I care. If people can afford to live there and pay the price they're welcome. The smart ones are leaving. I Would Rather Be Governed By the First 2,000 People in the Telephone Directory than by the Harvard University Faculty. — William F. Buckley Jr. Reply oG

Little Sue: He said how you was really William Munny out of Missouri... and Bill said "Same William Munny that dynamited the Rock Island and Pacific in '69 killin' women and children an' all?" And Ned says you done a lot worse than that, said you was more cold blooded than William Bonney or Clay Alisson or the James Brothers and how if he hurt Ned again you was gonna come an' kill him like you killed a U.S. Marshall in '73. Will Munny: And that didn't scare Little Bill though, did it? Little Sue: No, sir.

We may go now, said Dar Tarus. I have done well in the sight of Tur. I notice, I remarked, that the people repeated the same phrase before this figure that they did at the last Tur is Tur. Oh, no, exclaimed Dar Tarus. On the contrary they said just exactly the opposite from what they said at the other. At that they said, Tur is Tur; while at this they absolutely reversed it and said, Tur is Tur. Do you not see? They turned it right around backwards, which makes a very great difference. It sounded the same to me, I insisted. That is because you lack faith, he said sadly,

We didn't know much back then, just what the newspapers and TV told us. I would have gone when I was eighteen, if they'd called me. Mom and Dad had no use for draft-dodgers and protesters and would have disowned me if I didn't go. Dad was in WWII and an uncle went to Korea and we didn't question authority. I do have a soft spot for Nixon, since he shut it down before they got around to me. My older cousin Jerry - more like a big brother - was killed in Vietnam in '68. Left his wife expecting a baby as we said back then and was KIA a couple of months before the end of his tour. His son never knew his father. Trish - the nice girl he married - later remarried and moved away and even the connection of a second cousin or whatever the boy would have been was lost to me. In the eighth grade we got a bit of a shock. Kid my age in the M section (most of he guys I hung with were in M) shot hisself. Seemed the most normal kid in the world, never seemed to have any problems, seemed pretty happy. One Monday morning first thing everybody talking about Kenny shootin' hisself. Put a .410 under his chin and... if done properly you know how that goes. Nobody had any idea why, no note, didn't say anything before. He had an older brother, two or three years, he had no idea. Thirty or forty years later they'd have grief counselors and such come in and make sure everybody gets through it. Back then life went on and nobody else did theirself in. I liked Kenny, was seriously bummed. I get bummed if I hear about anyone doing that, even someone I didn't know. But we didn't need professionals, we talked to our families and friends and people at church as much as it needed to be talked about. A few years later a girl got decapitated by an errant backhoe - one of those backward-tractor types driving along the road as she passed it swerved the wrong way and took the top off her car, and her - and we all survived that. Including her cousin who was in the car. She was from an upper class family, the kind that most of the H section kids were but she wasn't in the H class. Someone or other built a nice memorial with a fountain and pool with water coming out of bronze lily pads. Twenty or so years later I walked around the campus one moonlit night and checked out the memorial. The pool was there but the plaque that told what it was about and the lily pads that the water came out of weren't there, maybe fell off, who knows? Who knew why it was there? The fountain wasn't running anyway.

Phantasm Lord of the Dead 1 hour ago Russia Russia Russia. You play a good game, boy, but the game is finished. Now you die. Reply +*9(4+ 7 -) Prime Chuck Norris 51 minutes ago That got old a long time ago but what else do they have? If Zelenskyy didn't know the jig was up when he went in there he sure does now. When I want your opinion, I'll beat it out of you. Reply 43(4]-) Civil Whites 40 minutes ago I would have thought he couldn't have been expecting business as usual but it seems he did. Some people haven't gotten Trump 2.0 yet but it's coming. Ukraine is over one way or another and Trump was offering a pretty good deal. I Would Rather Be Governed By the First 2,000 People in the Telephone Directory than by the Harvard University Faculty. — William F. Buckley Jr. Reply +2G[-) Rosetta Stoned 33 minutes ago They're still running it because it's all they have. I suspect as the ugly stuff spills out - the kickbacks to (mostly) Democrats - the roaches will be going back into the darkness. If the Epstein stuff ever comes out it'll be even worse. Fanaticism consists in redoubling your efforts when you have forgotten your aim. ~ George Santayana Reply 42(+]-) Nikki B. 21 minutes ago Watching Schumer and the others reading the same script is hilarious but scary that these people have the ability to do a lot of damage. I remember now I remember how it started I can't remember yesterday I just remember doing what they told me Reply +4104] -) MAGA Hurtz 11 minutes ago A cornered dangerous beast is doubly so when wounded. And these guys are wounded and terrified. "I should know better, but where's the fun in that?!" Reply oGl-)

And Dicky was from a pretty well off family. Sure his old man ran a hardware store but it was a Western Auto and those were pretty profitable and being in the local chapter of the big club there were other opportunities to make money. He was one of several I knew - from working at the bank - that went out to Vegas once of twice a year and blew off fifty thousand or so gambling and the other stuff. So Dicky was set up pretty good and the hot majorette was on her way to a good life.

Dicky took his new '72 Camaro to the local Chevy dealer and had the usual high-performance mods - manifold, carb, headers, stuff like that and of course Cragar SS wheels with big tires. I had geometry class with Mr. Parsons in a classroom where we could look out the window and see Jackson street. It was just a regular two-lane street that ran by the school, maybe a quarter mile long as one end was on State Street - the main drag - and the other end was - just the end. Another street crossed it there, and beyond it was a practice football field. You could count on Dicky coming by in that Camaro at least once or maybe twice a week, as fast as he could go in that short stretch. It probably wasn't that fast - in driver's ed we practiced some on that street and did panic stops from about forty or so in a '70 Chevy Impala. So he might of been going sixty or seventy but it was a school zone so he shouldn't of been going over twenty. Of course he had glass packs on there so it was pretty loud. We'd all look out as he went by and Mr. Parsons would look and shake his head and tell us to stop gawking. Finally someone in authority got the police to tell him to stop cut it out and that was all of that.

He married the hot gal but they didn't stay married as long as she probably planned on because about four or five years after they got married he got himself killed. He was a UPS driver after he graduated and managed to wreck one of those big brown trucks good enough to kill himself in the process. She taught little girls to dance and twirl batons and stuff, not just little but up through teens, so they could be majorettes and dancers and such. I seem to remember she was Miss Clay County and went to the state contest. The reason I remember is that she was a local celebrity for a while because of it and a dude from California that had moved to Twin Falls and fancied himself in show business because he had lived in Los Angeles and he had a show on the local radio station where he interviewed people. One of his shows on the local radio station he interviewed her and mispronounced her name every time.

Reply BG Twisted Mentat 1 hour ago iS Whatever. I wonder what he thinks about SpaceX rescuing the astronauts stranded by NASA? Musk gives away billions while the defense industry and others bilk the taxpayers for billions. It is by will alone I set my mind in motion. It is by the juice of Sapho that thoughts acquire speed, the lips acquire stains, the stains become a warning. It is by will alone I set my mind in motion. Reply +1104] -) Civil Whites 1 hour ago Most of what Musk sells they can't get anywhere else. And it's not like any business he does with the government isn't already under a microscope. I Would Rather Be Governed By the First 2,000 People in the Telephone Directory than by the Harvard University Faculty. — William F. Buckley Jr. Reply +3 (4+ ]-) Terminus Est 1 hour ago It was the Biden administration that did the ridiculous Cybertruck deal and then they tried to blame it on Trump. Too clever is dumb. ~ Ogden Nash Reply +3(+]-) Willow Kane 54 minutes ago I don't know what contracts he has with the government. Maybe some Strarlink stuff? Or the Teslas but that was the Biden regime. I'm not aware of contracts with NASA but what else are they going to do? Compassion is no substitute for justice. ~ Rush Limbaugh Reply 42(+]-) Nikki Niner 39 minutes ago Facts don't matter. I remember now I remember how it started I can't remember yesterday I just remember doing what they told me Reply 0G ]-)