You're being inspected--have no fear...

If you’re wondering why I sometimes give my blog entries such non-sequitor titles, it’s because I try not to repeat the same ol’stuff all the time, like "Odds and Ends", "Misc. Thoughts", "This and That", etc.  Plus, I kinda like being irreverent now and then.

LET’S DO THE TIME WARP AGAIN…
Don’t forget to set your clocks ahead one hour tonight, as Daylight Savings Time is already upon us this year.  Although I prefer setting them back and gaining one hour instead of losing one, it’s still kinda fun to be able to manipulate time like this.

Speaking of the "Time Warp", I rented Rocky Horror Picture Show again on DVD this week.  I’ve seen this thing at least three times now, and I still don’t get what the big deal was.  I know it was a big cult classic and total camp and all—camp can be a lot of fun, sometimes—but I still think it’s overrated as hell.  I guess it’s one of those "you had to be there at the time" kinda things to appreciate the full impact of it.

SAD ALL OVER
I’ve been meaning to acknowledge the passing of Mike Smith, former lead singer of the Dave Clark Five, who died last week of pneumonia.  Smith suffered a debilitating fall in 2003 that left him paralyzed, which came on the heels of the accidental death of his son three months earlier, and I remember reading about a benefit concert staged for him to help offset his medical bills a couple years ago.  Like most people, I automatically assumed that Dave Clark was the singer of the band that bore his name, but in fact DC was the drummer and Mike Smith sang and played keyboards.  He's not to be confused with late drummer Mike "Smitty" Smith of Paul Revere & The Raiders, who died in 2001.  DC5’s Mike Smith’s passing is eerily similar to that of singer Dusty Springfield, coming just days prior to induction into the Rock ‘N’ Roll Hall of Fame.

While I’m on the subject anyway, here’s my all-time Dave Clark 5:
1) Try Too Hard (1966)
2) Any Way You Want It (1964)
3) Glad All Over (1964)
4) Catch Us If You Can (1965)
5) Bits And Pieces (1964)

ROCK YOU LIKE A HURRICANE
Quite possibly the flukiest Top 5 hit single in history was Hurricane Smith’s "Oh Babe, What Would You Say?" from late, 1972.  Smith warbled this piece of ‘30s-sounding pastiche that was unlike anything else on AM radio at that time, yet in the '70s it fit right in!  If you're not familiar with that song, here's what it sounds like, although this video is totally unrelated to it.  Born Norman Smith, Hurricane was nearly 50 when he recorded the song, and was already well-known in the music industry as the studio engineer on all of The Beatles’ albums up through Rubber Soul (John Lennon dubbed him "Normal"), and he passed away earlier this week at age 85.  He also worked with Pink Floyd and several other bands during his career.  I never even knew what the dude looked like until I found this video of him on YouTube doing a song that sounds similar to "Oh Babe".

ANOTHER THING I CAN REALLY DO WITHOUT
Is anyone out there as tired as I am of these stupid Internet ads with these two hoochie-mamas reacting to something as if they’d just won the lottery?  Yes, I know it’s just an attention-getting tactic, but one of these chicks looks like she’s about to wet her pants, and I’m finding it very hard to believe that anyone would get that excited over new low mortgage rates!

DUMB QUESTION, BUT…
…why is it most corporations only hold job fairs on weekdays when people who have jobs they hate can’t attend?  I see these things advertised on TV and in the papers all the time, and they’re always on weekdays, which is fine for the unemployed, but why don’t they ever conduct job fairs on weekends or in the evenings when normal nine-to-fivers who might be thinking of changing jobs/careers (like me, for instance) can attend without taking time off?

FAVRE OUT!
Packers QB Brett Favre announced his retirement this week, thus setting off the BFLF (Brett Favre Love Fest), which is still ongoing on ESPN.  Don’t get me wrong—I have nothing against Favre, but I’m so sick of the way the media fawns over him the way they do.  I was mildly surprised that he’s not coming back for one more season, but then again, what more does he have to prove?  Kind of a shame, too, that the last pass he ever threw was an interception.  Favre also violated one of the basic tenets of football during his farewell address Thursday:  There’s no crying in football—except at Dick Vermeil press conferences…

YOUR BOULEVARD UPDATE
The jury is still out on whether our new Rock station in K.C., 99.7 The Boulevard, is going to fly or not.  I'm still hearing way too much Bruce Springsteen, Van Morrison and Eric Clapton on there for my liking, but every once in a while they surprise me with some good stuff like Pete Townshend's "Slit Skirts" from 1982.  Unfortunately, one has to sit through drivel like Tracy Chapman's "Fast Car" and Edie Brickell's "What I Am" to get to the good stuff.  Station still needs some tweaking, but there's hope anyway...

IT WAS 27 YEARS AGO TODAY…
…that I officially became a working stiff.  I began my first real job on this date in 1981 as a busboy at Waid’s Restaurant just outside of Raytown.  Yes, for $3.35 an hour, I got to clean up after people in my itchy brown double-knit uniform.  Oh well, I had to pay for all those concert tickets somehow!  I eventually worked my way up the food chain and became dishwasher, baker and fry cook over the next five years.  If nothing else, I learned how to cook for myself there, and I can proudly say that I never worked at a McDonald’s…