Just For Fun
While we all sit around and wait for indictments, I came across this on the weekend. Just when you start to think our whole damn country is screwed to hell and back, there’s a school of thought that we do some things right.
My list includes taco trucks or, for that matter, food trucks in general. In fact, taco trucks are so good that they almost cancel out crappy airports.
We have Dolly Parton, Aaron Sorkin, and Willie Nelson.
Almost everyone plays a musical instrument of some kind, many of them in public. Plus, there’s no yodeling. By the way, I am a giant fan of music on the streets. If you’re downtown and there’s a street musician, give them at least a dollar or all your pocket coins. We need to encourage this. It will make the world safer and better. Even if you don’t like their music or they are not very good, it’s just a damn dollar. Give them a dollar.
Have fun with the list and let us know if you have something to add or subtract from it.
Although under attack in too many places, public libraries are at the top of my list.
Story time: for each of her grandkids that turned six years old, my grandmother would get dressed up in her Sunday best, then get an equally geriatric relative to pick you up and take you to the library to get your first card. There she would sit down and say “any book here, you can check out and read”. And that was the family rule: if you can read it, then go ahead. Even the books that Boston disapproved of.
Also no one in the family would tell you what the surprise was; you had to also get dressed up (with shoes and everything) and wait to be picked up and find yourself in downtown, surrounded by what seemed like gazillions of books.
1The item about “peace” is really spot-on. We aren’t worried about being invaded by anybody. Bombed from afar by Russia or North Korea? Sure! But, an AK-47 won’t stop a missile, so why do we think everybody here needs to be armed to the teeth? That’s the real sickness here.
2I posted this a while back but it fits perfectly with JJ’s “just for fun” article. If you like feel good music, I highly recommend you open and play the video in the article. If you can’t smile after this, please seek help.
3https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/3/7/2147475/-Morning-Open-Thread-Tuesday-with-Playing-for-Change-Sittin-on-the-Dock-of-the-Bay
Surly Professor @1, what a lovely story! Your grandma helped create generations of readers, for sure
4You name 3 of our great musicians. I would also add The late Don Walser, whom Slaid Cleaves refers to as “God’s own Yodeler” and one of Texas’ finest contributions to American music. Just going to have to agree to disagree on this one JJ.
5In Mexico, performers of various ages and talents used to ride buses and “entertain” to earn money, no matter how good or bad. Sometimes they were wonderful, and sometime we gave them money just so they would go away. Having the courage to perform no matter how terrible in front of everyone can’t be an easy thing.
6Thanks Steve! You made my day.
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