Weather: TOO MUCH rain is falling -- damaging garden crops, property, and roads.



Visit: A Tale of Two Movies

Wildlife: A big male Pheasant was eating in the box feeder this morning, perched six feet or more above the ground, while the various blackbirds awaited their turns. Good thing I reinforced it last week.

Charity Alert: Animal Rescue Site Feed a critter too!

In The Community: I delivered those six Winold Reiss paintings to the Hockaday Museum of Art without mishap after a three-day trip to Jackson Hole via West Yellowstone and Bozeman, Montana. Thanks to Christine in Wyoming, and Erin from the Nygard Gallery in Bozeman, for their help with wrapping them.


Media Watch: "Motown Monday" on Sirius Radio's Channel 6 -- helped liven up a miserable six-hour rush back to Kalispell. The "Funk Brothers," who did all those backing tracks for "Hitsville USA" made a full, near-symphonic sound with instruments usually assigned to the rhythm section of an orchestra. Whenever a producer added horns or strings, they were just sweeteners for the melody.
I noticed an echoing sound on Gordy's early records that developed into a resonant, more natural, ambience sometime in 1963 or 64. Motown kept a distictive "hiss" on their snare drum which other studios didn't seem to imitate.
My favorite studio drummer in the 60's was Al Jackson Jr. of Stax/Volt in Memphis. I heard Mustang Sally at least three times last weekend, so I got to savor the points where Motown imitated Mr. Jackson's delivery, without duplicating him, as I listened to Booker T & the MGs with the Memphis Horns backing Wilson Pickett.
Other satellite radio highlights -- Soul Makosa from the early 70's -- a super-funky international jam. Ma-ko-sa-ma-ko-sa ma-ko-sa-sa-sa! (A chant which was stolen by Quincy Jones and Michael Jackson for Pretty Young Thing, a decade later.)