Category Archives: We Didn’t Start The Fire

Pope Paul, Malcolm X, British Politician Sex

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Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini, Paulus PP. VI, Il Papa, Kick-ass caller of Vatican II

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Gio served on St. Peter’s Rock from 1963 until his death in 1978.  He succeeded Angelo Guiseppe Roncalli (John XXIII) and was followed by the brief Papal term of Albino Luciani (john Paul I).  JP I was gone in 33 days and followed by Karol Wojtyla (John Paul II).

This rapid progression of Papal Throne Owners resulted in 1978 becoming the most recent “Year of Three Popes”.  There was actually a “Year of Four Popes” in 1276, less of a result of multiple Popes dying within a calendar year and more of a result of schisms; multiple Papal claimants.

Amazing that The Church still sells the direct and continuous lineage thing.

Malcolm X was born in Omaha and assassinated in Manhattan’s Audubon Ballroom on February 21, 1965.

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British Politician is most likely a reference to The Profumo Affair.  John was 46, his inamorata Christine was a 19 year old dancer from London who spoke mostly of makeup and records.

This one was a SLOG.

Ole Miss, John Glenn, Liston beats Patterson

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In the course of this song, the “Ole Miss” reference is mostly likely tied (due to chronology) to James Howard Meredith

 

I certainly don’t have even a minuscule fraction of the courage Mr. Meredith has.  I hate Old Miss because they’re a horrible SEC school.  Mr. Meredith fundamentally changed how our educational institutions believe.

I can barely get off the couch.

John Glenn was born with a set of adamantium testicles.  I pretty sure NASA had about a 40% rate of confidence that they could get Glenn into space and back again safely.  After his first orbit aboard Friendship 7 the automatic systems designed to control the flight of the craft failed and he manually flew the remainder of the mission.  During subsequent orbits , his sensors reported that the heatshield, designed to keep him from turning into man-bacon upon re-entry, was “loose”. He came back to earth anyway.  This page has some EXCELLENT photos.

The 1962 Heavyweight Title boxing match between Charles “Sonny” Liston and Floyd Patterson was billed as “The Most Lucrative Fight In History”.  Ring-side seats cost $100 (or $782 in 2015 money).  Ring-side seats for the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight of May 2015 cost $87,000 (or the annual GNP of the Belgian Congo in 1962).  AND, Liston and Patterson actually HIT each other.

Dylan, Berlin, Bay of Pigs invasion

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I continue to suspect both my hearing and comprehension while I’m writing these. I thought that the first word of this stanza was “Building” filtered through Billy’s Long Island accent to sound like “Buildin'”.

I recently listened to the Piano Man (legacy edition) which includes a live performance of the entire “Cold Spring Harbor” album at WMMR in Philadelphia in 1972. It is perhaps one of the most amazing live performances I’ve ever heard. Billy at 22, sipping beers, playing tunes, and kicking ass with his band. This entire live recording is what I believe radio should be.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7j69C9Cd8Gw

But anyway, back to Bob from Billy.

I’ve seen Bob in concert (early 2000s, Wichita, KS Century II). My wife and I went. What I remember the most is how many times she asked me, “WHAT is he saying?”

I’ve also been to Berlin (1993 maybe 94). I went there with a group of Bluffton University (nee College) on a hastily planned Easter holiday trip.

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One of the people in this photograph is the biggest Bob Dylan fan I’ve ever known. Someone else is my second or third cousin. And another person hated the Jackson 5.

If you’d like to learn about the Bay of Pigs Invasion, I highly suggest reading this multi-volume history written by CIA historian Jack Pfeiffer. It is a definitive study of paranoia, Intelligence agency incompetence, and government/corporate collusion.