saying yes to a 1994 Volvo

It was Sylvia's brother Brian who's been working on us to buy a new used car. He found a teal-colored '94 Volvo 850 turbo at his mechanic's shop in Vista - a town I hope never to see again, don't like that place - so we drove down and spent 4 gs (credit card) on the purchase...whew! Just like that. Then I drove home like 60...more like 70+, with power I didn't know existed.

By some weird mechanism, Russell Knowles, our Volvo mechanic called just after I got back, asking about Next Plane to London (Rose Garden). Will have the 850 at his shop Monday for him to check out and fix the glove box busted lock.

It was quite the day: Sylvia left in the Volvo wagon before I did, got home about 20 minutes before she did. She thought she saw me getting a ticket in Aliso Viejo. Thank goodness she didn't stop. Like that.

Happy birthday to Sylvia

This past weekend was spent enduring some rain, me going to Robby Russell's for a NY Yankees playoff party - Sylvia stayed home. Yankees kicked Boston's ass 19-9 or something like that, the last game they won before Boston took 4 straight and a woman died in the celebrations. I gave him a CD of Halloween songs I downloaded.

I had a thought that the victory might've been too sweet, that Boston didn't like being showed up and they didn't. Now it's St. Louis vs. Boston - Houston & Yankees are o...u...t...

Met some real characters, two, count em two, who watched my TV show, including one guy, forget his name, who was pestering me with questions all evening. There were 3 women, about ten guys there. Most were glued to the 4 or 5 TVs Robby has there. Had 2 beers, watched TV, talked, had a burger, and whoosh, I was gone.

Sunday was the O.C. Record show, this time I got some rare stuff, spent 17 bucks, best was Henry Strogin on Amazon for $10...and a few other goodies.

Wednesday, Shea & Rick came over to a big party for Sylvia: wine, sushi, wine, Chinese food, wine, cake, more wine...she loved the presents, and so did we. She got the following birthday calls: Heather (from DK, she sent a great classical music box set), Lanie (who has to drive thru the rain to testify in Riverside about her opposition to the motocross track next door), Louise Haley (from outside St. Louis, sent a great butter dish), Linda Tait (asked for Lady of the Lake), no Barb (said she got a busy signal), no Brian...but Brian did stop by Thursday night.
Shea got pretty drunk, pretty loud.

Got a few good stories. Wednesday morning, visited a carpet store that had a caved-in ceiling because of the rain, man, was that dude pissed and so was his floor, rained on, that is. Now I'm involved in a brouhaha over Farmer's Market and Norse Way.

This weekend, Sylvia goes to L.A. theater with Paulette on Saturday, and Sunday, we go to Mike & Paulette's for our Lee & Carrie et al get-to-gether that's been on hold ever since they moved to Lakewood.

Busy life for a coupla oldsters, huh?

concert, dinner and dancing

We haven't done any dancing...

But on Wednesday, the big day of the final Kerry-Bush debate, Jay Beeler sent out an emergency email, asking if a Beachcomber staff member would volunteer to go to the Carpenter Center and enjoy a really top notch jazz concert in the Cabaret room. Being the faithful freelance writer I am, we agreed.

Tickets were for the table immediately adjacent to the stage and let the show begin. Food in the form of a airline style rubber chicken (marsala) dinner were provided with cheap champagne in plastic glasses sold at champagne prices ($5 per) by Spaggatini, a forgettable Seal Beach in-crowd KTWV restaurant.

At least the jazz, sax player Eric Marienthal & Vesta Williams on comedic commentary and vocals (Use Me, Make It With You & Until You Come Back To Me) into two one hour sets. Very nice stuff indeed.

Saw Jerry & Flora Loeb there, from the old KLON days. He's changed, shaved head, goatee, still nice people, very friendly, yet distant, capiche?

Friday night, my first night as a restaurant reviewer, went to La Posada at Carson & Lakewood with Paul & Judy, almost like work, but they like it !!!

Food was good if not great. Will have to write the damned review now. Radio show today, Robbie's tonight, Record Show Sunday. Oh what a week it was.

Pachuco party

Yesterday, Bill Gardner came in to WPMD to play r&b and yakety yak about his KPFK show.
Fun stuff, though I hate the CD players. Didn't get jumped by Ramon.

Last night, Sylvia and I went to a Pachuco party at Ernie Vargas house in Hawaiian Gardens. Bring your own Mexican food, drinks - pop in afternoon, beer in evening - lots of friendly folks, and killer music: rockabilly, doo wop, country, garage, and mariachi.

My friend Dave Cadison of the the Pastel 6 & doo wop society was there, blowing sax and we had a great time, tho the mariachi horns had an impact on Sylvia's ears. There was even Pachuco Jose or Pachuco Joe who did a great Lalo Guerrero set.

An almost impossible night to describe.

During the party, two guys approached, said they knew me from my long-cancelled cable show - I didn't want to post that, make it look unseemingly boastful, but then I thought, what the hell! Good for the ego, spent the rest of the evening looking for that 3rd viewer ("do you know me?" nobody did). Just kidding about that part, but two in one place at one time is a definite first.


Ernie's mom Eva, turned 95, that was the premise of the party, and her sis-in-law Virgie was there. She was a Pachuca, told Sylvia she used to dress like a man in a zoot suit because she liked the girls...something Ernie confirmed. Talk about getting next to a group we don't hang out with much. Next week, Robbie Russell has a party, so we'll see.

Taliban U.S.A.

Today, while on a walk with Dorothy the Dog, I listened to a most enlightening show today on KPFK, a leftiePacifica station in L.A. Ian Masters was interiewing an authorabout how Bush has been able to create a coalition between theChristian right and the Republican minority in the U.S.

The author pointed out that Bush received a conversion from BillyGraham at Kennebunkport (sp?) when his daddy was running for president against Clinton, and though it didn't take immediately (hekept drinking for awhile), lo and behold, he used this conversion to conquer his substance abuse problem.Bully for him.

He became the spiritual advisor in his daddy's campaign, and tho he never goes to church (as do Clinton & Kerry -tho not together), he pretty much sticks to the religious right'sbelief system, including believing in the rapture, and what's laid out by the most extreme voices. Thus his policies on what should be medical decisions (choice, prescriptions, stem cell) are instead based on a religious platform.

Thus, his drinking problem, in a strange way, helped him to create his power base and influenced the direction of the U.S., up to andincluding the invasion of Iraq and the terrible 1000 plus loss oflife on the part of military and who knows how many Iraquis (will there ever be a count?) and others...like civilian workers who get beheaded.

Masters went on to say that the beliefs behind the rapture mean he's insane, and that insanity is a good basis for impeachment. I found it provocative.

I'm not a big fan of Bush's, and I'm not one to adhere to a party line - I also found fault with Michael Moore's F911 and with John Edwards in his debate with Cheney, tho I'm the JohnX2 camp. My question is, I guess: but does all of this make Bush crazy as Masters believes?

How I made it on Internet Radio

What’s the problem with radio? We all have one don’t we? A problem, this is. And actually a radio. I found out about radio in the late 40s when I was in my late fives, going on my early sixes, and my parents listened to “Dragnet” and I tried to figure out how these cops could do their work and we could hear about it as they were doing it. I guess I hadn’t quite nailed the concept of acting. Still haven’t.

So with that as background, my next specific memory was that of the Johnny Otis Show in Long Beach and I was about 13, with a black cloud following me, and everybody who associated with me, around. I can’t imagine how I could have been let loose by my parents to play without someone dying on accounta my stupidity or clumsiness or downright weirdness, but there were no reports of deaths, so I guess society-as-a-whole (or a hole) managed to survive.

Mom worked, dad didn’t. That’s about as tactfully as I could state it, so neither do I. My father would have an afternoon habit I could never understand – no, not that kind of habit. This must’ve been about ’55 or so. He’s listen to an ultra-conservative Mutual Radio commentator named Fulton J. Lewis, who was a defender of Joe McCarthy, if you can imagine that anyone would want that role; then he’d get super angry, sometimes at me – face it, often at me – the he’s listen to Ed Murrow on CBS, KNX in Hollywood, to get over his anger. And those were his good days.

He either didn’t know or at least didn’t like rhythm and blues & rock n roll, but I did, so I listened to Otis on KFOX right here in good old Long Beach. I remember a contest he had: name your favorite version of Stranded In the Jungle…the Jayhawks or the Cadets. Don’t recall who won, but the Cadets cover did better.

Then came KFWB in early 1958, KRLA in 1959, KHJ Boss Radio in 1966, but the best music was that played on KGFJ and Huggy Boy on KTYM in the same time frame. That’s what radio by appointment was all about – I’d never miss it if I could. Montauge, Huntin’ With Hunter, Huggy Boy, Art Laboe – I forgot, I remember his “Name It & Claim It” on KPOP when it switched formats & they were trying to get rid of their 45s: people were stuck on “At My Front Door.” I would’ve tried, but you had to go to the station to pick up the record. I never met Montague, met LaBoe – was the only man he ever paid for liner notes – interviewed and hosted Hancock and became friends with Huggy Boy – still am.

I was in heaven when KRTH began playing oldies in 1972, but still listened to KGFJ and KRLA for current stuff – KFWB and Mighty 690 (used to listen to them and KDAY for music in the late 1950s and early 1960s) were both news by then.
Now that’s radio. Nothing else is. Except for Internet radio.

records, records, did I mention records?

Forgot to mention that the reason I met Bob Hoover was because of over 700 LPs he wanted to sell. I found exactly 3: a Fats Domino, a Gobetrotters on Tempo & a James Brown (yewooo!). Today we talked, and he just wants to give them to me. Am I about to turn them down? The first response is probably correct.

Yesterday, I walked over to Greenmeadow & Faculty nr. LBCC and went through about 300 LPs, bought 9 for $10: Dickey Doo & the Don'ts on UA was the best, by far, but an interesting assemblage. Should've bought more. Will pass both leads on to Bagatelle.

Upcoming for the Beachcomber: maps of Long Beach neighborhoods that will be vaporized in a nuclear attack, courtesy of the www.nuclearterrorism.org website. Pretty scary stuff, ought to piss off a lot of people whose homes and businesses I destroy.

at war on the WPMD website

These were the messages traded back & forth on the WPMD Yahoo site (since then, deleted). It got pretty intense, Mr. Cardenas will probably be waiting for me with a baseball bat.

Ramon Cardenas Jr.: BUDGET CAR SALES/RENTAL OF NORWALK. I,RAMON CARDENAS JR want to inform you of a special promotion ONLY I can offer you. My district Manager is allowing me to sell any vehicle on our lot at a FLEET PRICE. This means that you can buy a vehicle at the same price a local dealer or local city would purchase a vehicle for. Bring this flier with you and receive a$250 off any vehicle you purchase from RAMON CARDENAS JR. SO, email me at rcbudget1@y... as soon as possible to set up your appointment with me and take advantage of the discounts I can offer you. Most of our cars are between 15K-40K miles. All in great condition. We specialize in Ford Cars/Trucks/Suvs, Lincoln and Mercury. But we have all kinds of cars. Certificate vehicle inspection. We are the only budget rental wholesale division in Southern California. So take advantage of the savings that only I can offer you. Flier must be presented to RAMON CARDENAS Jr at time of arrival to qualify for this promotion.

Steve Propes: Great, my mistake posting wasn't enough...now we've got advertising on the group page...nyet!!!

Ramon Cardenas Jr.: what's your problem with me adversting in the web site. i'm nt hurting nobody or wasting your time..

Steve Propes: If a web site is filled with advertising, people will go elsewhere lose interest in it. That's why most groups like this actively reject members who insist on advertising...those advertisers just don't get it. That's the bad news. The good news is if you don't make it in selling used cars (and telling people on the WPMD site that WPMD is a stupid station shows a lack of a good salesmanship), with your attitude, you'll do well in the spam industry, which just about everyone on the Internet hates, except the spammers. By the way, what makes your opinion more than just your opinion? Do you represent yourself only, or dozens of students? Be specific. And yes, when I have to go through your unwanted ad, then you are wasting my time. Look at it this way. If you get personal emails, but have to go through dozens or hundreds of spam, then you might think your time is being wasted. So unless you love the spam you have to wade through, what makes an ad on this group any different.

Just some friendly advice.

Herrson Preciado: ADVERTISEING ....that is not what this is for....go find something that dosent have a *send to everyone* feature and advertise then so you bug people who want to be bugged...this is for the sharing of musical views opinions and informing others about WPMD related special events (not every week flyer)...

Ramon Cardenas: wpmd is a supid radio station..i go to cerritos, so don;t tell me nothing about the music, nobody listen to that station anyways, cuz i know...have a nice day. and i'm not bugging people ok

Mike Stark: I think that maybe you should take a basic English class at Cerritos and hold off on advertising at a site that you consider stupid. I'm the moderator of this group and have never removed anyone from the group......until now. You're welcome to come back without the advertising and when you have something of value to contribute to the discussion.

William Moses: You guys are mean, give WPMD a chance. I love the station.

fahrenheit 911

It finally happened. Just after the finis of the Cheney-Edwards love fest, I means debate, we finally watched the Michael Moore opus. And to say I was disappointed in both Edwards and Moore would be correct. I just couldn't watch any more. It did work better for Sylvia, but during the debate, we kept wondering why Edwards scratched out those insufferable notes, noisily ripped pages from his yellow pad and licked his lips after he drank libations from his blue coffee cup. But I still like him better than Kerry, so figure that one out.

It wasn't powerful, but the use of clips was slanted, and I'm a fan. Just a few days previously, we viewed Bowling For Columbine and found that to be a much more effective documentary. But it's not politically correct for the left to criticize Michael Moore, so fuck it...I mean to heck with it. I doesn't really care, so there.

Just got the guidelines for food reviewer for the PT and am disappointed in the proposed pay ($125) per article, but I'll give it a whirl. Getting paid to eat seems like a good idea, after all, I've been doing it for free all this time. Pen name: Chuck B. Perkins, so look for it.

Met a super fascinating 80-year old today, Long Beach's first mobile DJ, seriously, who still has his original LPs and much of his set up still in the garage. Very memorable indeed.

Goldmine article

Things are a little tense around her since the giant fire. Through the magic of being nosy and listening out the window, the not-so-kindly widow next door wants to turn her misfortune into 'bumping out the porch" a bit. Insurance will pay all.

Before my 45s show, Heather called from DK. There's a possibility that they might move to U. Of Ill., or maybe not. I began a blog (www.45s-show.blogspot.com) for radio show comments, playlists. We'll see how well it works, so far 8 people have viewed it, no comments.

After my 45s show, I got Goldmine in the mail, and my Capitol Record Swap article is in there, big as life, with photos - me against the Capitol tower, Heather and Sylvia at the record show. Great stuff.

Then I got an email, I'll be doing restaurant reviews for the Press Telegram and Al Rudis wants me to select a pen name: Chuck B Perkins comes to mind - it's food, it's rock & roll, it's my dad's initials...Casey B. Post...and he always wanted to be in the P-T, so that's my way of getting at least his initials in there as a hopefully regular contributor.

Looked for records yesterday in Cypress area...total bust. Football today.