Otis Day and the Knights

AKA: DeWayne Jessie, born in 1953, Dallas Texas
Profession: Actor, Singer
Best known from the movie Animal House, also seen in The Bingo Long Traveling All Stars And Motor Kings, Car Wash, Sparkle, Fun With Dick And Jane, Which Way Is Up?, Thank God It's Friday, Where The Buffalo Roam, The Star Chamber and D. C. Cab which I believe starred Mr. T.

The appearances of DeWayne Jessie, singing "Shama Lama Ding Dong" and "Shout" were actually sung by Lloyd Williams and lip-synched by the actor. Later DeWayne Jessie recorded and released his own versions both songs.

Brother of singer, songwriter Young Jessie who wrote Mary Lou, made popular by Bob Seger and sang with both the The Coasters and The Flairs.

Later in the movie, in the bar scene, Peter Riegert , aka Boon, yells out "Otis My Man" . By way of Hartsfield Airport and a mispronounced page, my nickname became Otis Myman.

Stephen Hawking Weightless

British astrophysicist Stephen Hawking will experience weightlessness today on board a modified Boeing 727. His flight is expected to last one hour, dramatizing the potential values in space based civilization. Potential benefits weightlessness gives to individuals whose illnesses are made worse by the Earth's gravity. In application for the flight Professor Hawking wrote:

"I think that getting a portion of the human race off the ground is imperative for our future as a species. It will be difficult to do this with slow, expensive and risk-adverse government space programs. We need to engage the entrepreneurial engine that has reduced the cost of everything from airline tickets to personal computers. Personal spaceflight is the first mass market [outer-space venture] and zero-gravity flights are the first, most affordable step in that direction. I am hopeful that if we can engage this mass market, the cost of spaceflight will drop, and we will be able to gain access to the resources of space and also to spread humanity beyond the Earth."

Such people epitomize "carpe diem"!

Imus Backlash

The Miss Black America Contest has had to make some changes due to the firing of Don Imus:

There will only be 49 contestants in the Miss Black America Contest this year because no one wants to wear the sash that says IDAHO.

Thank you Mr. Phil.

This Day in 1913

Mary Phagan was found sexually molested and murdered in an Atlanta pencil factory. Initially a black janitor was accused, but as evidence proved innocence, blame shifted to the owner of the factory, a Jewish man named Leo Frank.
A popular politician, Tom Watson, told the case prosecutor

"Hell, we can lynch a nigger anytime in Georgia, but when do we get the chance to hang a Yankee Jew?"

The trial was was allowed to proceed when proof of innocence was presented to the magistrate. Hysteria prevailed, fueled by bigotry against Jews. Thousands of Jews had to leave the Atlanta during the trial.
Eventually a mob overwhelmed the prison farm where Frank was held, brought him to the Marietta square where he was hanged. The body was allowed to continue hanging from the tree while spectators had their pictures taken in front of the body.
In 1920 Tom Watson was elected the the U.S. Senate.
In 1986 Leo Frank was posthumously pardoned.

We are capable of awful things when ignorance is the motivating force.

Otis Blackwell

Born Brooklyn, New York, 1931.
As a boy Otis favored cowboy songs, especially those by Tex Ritter (father of John Ritter of Three's Company), and R&B songs by artists such as Chuck Willis.
Writer of nearly 1,000 published songs including:
All Shook Up, Don't Be Cruel and Return To Sender all recorded by Elvis Presley. All Shook Up was inspired by a shaken bottle of Pepsi Cola.
Fever recorded by by Peggy Lee.
Breathless and Great Balls Of Fire recorded by Jerry Lee Lewis.
Died 2002 in Nashville.

It Has Always Been That Way

"War is mainly a catalogue of blunders."

Sir Winston Churchill

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To watch experts in media and Congress discuss the war reveals naivety, an expectation that a good plan, borne of superior intellect, will guarantee a precise, scheduled conclusion. Our enemy is dynamic, resistant and resourceful. To succeed we must apply unrelenting force and continually bolster our courage to see it through.

Otis Boykin

Inventor of improved precision resistor types used in early IBM computers and and variable resistors used in equipment such as guided missiles. His most famous invention was a control unit for the pacemaker, which uses electrical impulses to stimulate the heart and maintain a steady heartbeat.

Born August 29, 1920 in Dallas, Texas.

Died in 1982 of heart failure.

Otis Boykin, at one time dropped out of high school, fought back to earn a bachelors degree from Fisk University and and Masters degree from Illinois Institute of Technology.

When started this was simple search for a notable Otis. On research it seems that Mr. Boykin should also be included in the BHM subgroup.

Don Ho Dies

Not Don Imus, not "nappy headed hos"

The singer of "Tiny Bubbles" died Saturday morning, April 14th, of heart failure. Born in 1930, he served in the Air Force before starting his singing career at his mother's night club. Don Ho was 76 years old.

Don Imus Sacked

Well they did it. First MSNBC suspended for two weeks, followed shortly by dismissal. Then the radio station in NewYork, WFAN, followed suit. The cable network and the radio station both succumbed to sponsor pressure which was initiated by the reverends Sharpton and Jackson. The reverends should feel proud for having leveraged a minority opinion into having dominance over a timid majority.

MSNBC now looks to Keith Olberman to be magnet program of its lineup. Good freaking luck, being lead by that loser isn't much better than having Jimmy Carter as your president. One thing is for sure, unless Imus comes back, I will NEVER watch MSNBC again.

A proportional punishment was deserved, temporary suspension, perhaps even FCC fines. At the time of this post a poll on the MSNBC site polled readers to answer the question "Did Don Imus deserve to be fired by CBS? ", 53% of respondents chose "The suspension was deserved, but firing him is an overreaction, 22% chose "No, the comment wasn't that big a deal", only 25% felt the firing was appropriate. That is 3 to 1 against firing.

Imus has fallen off the horse before, both literally and professionally. It is my hope that he finds another broadcast home and hammers both the industry and the black demagoguery till his retirement. He's just the man to do it.

Kurt Vonnegut Dies

My favorite author's (John Irving) collegiate advisor passed Wednesday night in Manhattan.
Mr. Vonnegut was born in Indianapolis in 1922.
During WWII he was in the Army, following the Battle of the Bulge was captured and placed in a prison camp in Dresden. Many of his books made reference that city and Allied bombing that created a firestorm which entirely engulfed the city.

My favorite book by Kurt Vonnegut was "Cat's Cradle".
On a scale of 1-10, "Cat's Cradle" gets a 9.

Don Imus Under Attack

Have been a fan of Mr. Imus back to seventies when he was a music jock at WNBC. Still miss the quacking and plastic Jesus song. WNBC changed its format to sports and became WFAN, the station kept him because of his popularity. Always acerbic, never timid, Mr. Imus has evolved into a political confidant and MSNBC stalwart. Last week Mr. Imus made an unfortunate remark about the Rutgers women's basketball team.

“nappy-headed hos”

This of course is well known to be in the common vernacular of hip-hop culture.
For this statement MSNBC has suspended Mr. Imus for two weeks. Leaders of black demagoguery, Reverends Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson are calling for more severe punishment, dismissal.
The hypocrisy of these demands is by Sharpton and Jackson is clear.

• Reverend Al Sharpton was found liable in the lawsuit where he was accused of making seven defamatory statements about the Pagones family relating to the Tawana Brawley rape and assault hoax. The initial award was for $395 million dollars. Riots were caused by the inflammatory statements made during the investigation of the incident.

• Reverend Jackson has been so politically correct as to describe New York city as "heimy town".

Simply put, both of these so called reverends are pigs that have no moral authority to pass judgement for anything said by anybody. Mr. Imus has made public apologies for his comment and will soon apologize in person to the members of the basketball team, the members of which appear to be serious and considerate. What results come from that will be what they are. If Don Imus is banished from the airways, America will loose an articulate entertainer.

Patton And Rommel

Just finished reading "Patton And Rommel, Men of War in the Twentieth Century", written by Dennis Showalter.
Like many books from the History Book Club, this was informative while maintaining a lack of entertainment value. The book did illustrate each soldier's life starting from childhood culminating with their deaths about the end of WWII.
Patton was born into money, and by heritage proudly connected to the CSA. An interesting fact was that earlier in their careers, Patton assisted Eisenhower with his notes and study guides, helping him through special schools such as the Army War College.
Rommel was from a more pedestrian background, entering the military as a career choice. His ascent starting during WWI, with innovative leadership in the mountains of northern Italy. The general chose suicide over public dishonor when tacitly connected to a failed assassination attempt on Hitler.

To repeat, the writing was factual.
To add the editing was poor, many errors are present, even by my poorly learned skills.
On a scale of 1-10, "Patton And Rommel" gets a 3.

Pay For My Stupid Daughter

A Marietta family is suing it's car insurance provider to cover damages incurred during a high speed chase with Cobb County police.
Officer Alstine reported that Jennifer Natbony led the way during a 20 minute long 5AM chase, speeds exceeding 100, lights turned off and travelling down one-way street. The police stopped the Lexus by bumping it into a spin.
Attorney Robert Windholz has filed a lawsuit against Progressive Casualty to collect $12, 612 against the damage caused, describing it as "lawful damage".
Jennifer a college student plead guilty to DUI, received probation and community service.

It is hard to believe that this driver did not receive jail time. At the time of the arrest there were 16 charges. The lawyer must have some special nerve to waste our taxpayer money dragging this bullshit into court. The parents, in their willingness to sue for the impact of their stupid bitch debutant daughter's misdeeds, show that they are also, most likely, under the influence.

IChThUS IMPRIMIS

"To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. To one without faith, no explanation is possible."

St. Thomas Aquinas

John Travolta Speaks Out

Global warming is a very valid issue. I'm wondering if we need to think about other planets and dome cities. Everyone can do their bit. But I don't know if it's not too late already. We have to think about alternative methods of fuel. I'm probably not the best candidate to ask about global warming because I fly jets. I use them as a business tool though, as others do."

John Travolta

Mr. Travolta, if domes are built over the cities, how will you be able to fly your jet there? Flying a personal jet to and from film sites every night is not business, it is excessive self indulgence. At least John admits that he is not a "Global Warming" role model. Wish I could be so self indulgent.

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What Would Mohammed Drive?

Had read about this cartoon, and it took me a couple of hours find. Have to give Doug Marlette credit, look at his site for more.