Dave Lapham

He was a member of the Cincinnati Bengals offensive line, so therefore, his credentials as a broadcaster are solid. I never wished for a different color analyst more than I did today while watching Mizzou. I understand that your job is to tell us the most minutiae of detail but please can you just shut the hell up? Please? Can there be just one play that you don't wax poetic over until the quarterback snaps the ball? "You can't start the play until you start the play." What the hell was that? Really? Everybody was being punched in the mouth and on and on and ...zzzzzz. Why is it ordained that in order to do colour work in football you must have played the game? Can't real broadcasters broadcast while former football players do what they do best? Not sure what that is but it ain't being broadcasters. And more unemployed radio people wonder why...

Mortgages

At one time in my life, I was a loan officer. When I was sick, my good friend Glen took me under his wing at his mortgage company, allowed me to work to collect insurance. God bless him, I don't know what would have happened if he didn't. In ALL of my dealings with poeple, I steered them away from the adjustable rate mortgage. Why? At the time of my being in the business, rates were historically low. Unbelievably low. I refinanced my house at about 5 1/4 percent. I knew that if the rates were historically low, they weren't going to go much lower, only higher. My line was, "you'll love me now but in five years, you'll hate my guts." I wanted their business again and in order to that, I was completely honest. Some didn't listen, some did. Those who did are still paying about 5 1/2% and are building some decent equity. Those who didn't are probably in the throes of foreclosure. I feel very strongly about this...when dealing with something as important as your biggest expense ever, ya might want to do a little background work to a) find a reputable lender and b) read the doggone fine print. I feel bad for those who have put themselves in this position but buying a house with no down payment or buying too much of a house is entirely their fault. What would our parents have done? Probably buy a starter house, (or, what we did which was rent until we could afford a house we liked) then when you have the down payment saved, finding a house you can afford. But no, not this generation. It reminds me of an old Queen song "I want it all and I want it now!" About five years ago, there was a massive building boom around my house when all these Mcmansions went up. I thought to myself, who is buying all of these expensive houses? Five years later, 70% of them have for sale signs up. Now I know who was buying them...people who couldn't afford them.

Another Great Old Gas Station

Another Happy Family....What's Their Secret?

the Definition Of Ironic

in one tidy story....

A Manhattan restaurant that unveiled a record-breaking $25,000 (12,200 pounds) dessert last week has been forced to shut its doors temporarily due to an infestation of mice and cockroaches.
Serendipity 3 on the Upper East Side failed its second consecutive health inspection in a month on Wednesday night after health officials found a live mouse, mouse droppings in multiple places, flies and dozens of live cockroaches, the Heath Department said. "We're rectifying it as quickly as we can," said owner Steven Bruce, adding the restaurant would then be allowed to reopen.
Serendipity 3 set a Guinness world record on November 7 for the most expensive dessert when it partnered with luxury jeweller Euphoria New York to create "Frrozen Haute Chocolate," a blend of 28 cocoas fused with 0.2 ounces of edible 23-karat gold.
It comes with an 18-karat gold bracelet with 1 carat of white diamonds at the base of the goblet. The sundae is topped with whipped cream covered with more gold and a side of La Madeline au Truffle from Knipschildt Chocolatier, which sells for $2,600 a pound. The desert is a more decadent take on Serendipity's $8.50 "Frrrozen Hot Chocolate," which the talk show host Oprah Winfrey once endorsed by saying it made her want to "dance on the chandeliers." Bruce also has a $1,000 ice cream sundae on the menu called Golden Opulence.

Poster On My Wall

Another Raley One Hit Wonder Band

"Reflections of my Life" by the band Marmalade was released in December 1969. Probably heard on the radio in the beginning of 1970. I was getting ready to turn 14. My brother was in Vietnam, I was living in the middle of nowhere. I think this song may have helped save my life. Is that possible? The haunting, melancholy vibe of the song was plugged on to what I was feeling. The incredible backward guitar solo only enchanced it's reputation with me. I heard it on the radio for the first time and ordered the song from Cummin's Electric the next day (the only other place to buy 45s was at the drug store and all of their records skipped or weren't the latest on the charts). I played this song over and over and to this day, remains one of my all time favorites. Here's a very cool video of the band doing the song live (not lipsynching it). This is probably in my top 30 of all time. Funny the stuff you take from youth, huh? It's always the good stuff.

Dan Billings

Word reached me that Danny Billings passed. Most people don't know who Danny was, but for a brief shining moment, Danny was doing what I dreamed of doing...playing drums in a rock and roll band. Danny was the second drummer and a part of the most successful incarnation of the band Missouri.

Here's their story

Danny is the guy all the way to the right...think he had any problems with the ladies? He was also one of the first guys I met when I moved to Kansas City. I welcomed them on stage at Worlds of Fun right after I got there(at that venue I also announced Sammy Hagar and Mucheal Stanley) but,I digress. We became good friends and he was one of the nicest, most down to earth people I have ever met.
Apparently, he was killed in a car accident. He was 51.

Raley One Hit Wonder Band

Here's another in a list of bands that released just one song I liked. Made up of Charlie Farren on guitar and vocals along with David Heit on bass, combine the two and bingo, and you have "Ferrenheit". Cute. In 1987, KSHE played the song "Fool In Love" for about two weeks. I fell in love with it and enjoy the lush harmonies. The CD was produced by Keith Olsen (Fleetwood Mac, Journey) and mastered by Bob Ludwig. Excellent song, that was it, bye, they were gone after less than a month. Very nice pop tune. I enjoy good pop songs and this is a good one.

Thanks to my friend Steve K., here is the video:
It's a bit grainy and dark and you need to turn up the speakers, but hey, here they are:

The Raley's circa 1965

This was taken when I was nine. That's my dad on the lower right and his siblings. His mom in the middle (granny). Can you imagine how old she must have been for me at the age of nine?

To her left is a uncle Charles who lost his wife in a car accident in 1970. Aunt Bette in back. I never heard another woman swear as much as she did. I mean, holy cow. Uncle Wilbur in the back right. About 6'3". My dad was 5'7" damn it. I never really knew these people although Wilbur's wife got to meet her namesake, my daughter, before she died. They all grew up amongst the tobacco and hemp fields of Kentucky. Pretty well, I heard. I know my grandmother was an absolutely captivating, beautiful woman. In the pictures I've seen, it's a Katharine Ross in "Butch Cassidy" look.One of the people used to greet me by twisting my nipples. Ya want to really piss off nine year old? That'll do it. Anyway, I have an older brother and sister who will be in their eighties soon. Hard to believe.

11/11/07

Thanks for the chat today, bro. No matter what the temperature is, it's always cold on that hill. I know you are not there, but somehow, I get comfort just to be able to sit a spell. How I wish I had your guidance and love to lead me over the last 14 years. 14 years. How can that be? You would have just turned fifty nine and you know I would've given you shit about it. Words will never describe that hole in my heart. Godspeed, bro. I miss you. I suspect you know how much.