Vagabonding

A friend of mine was recently de-hired when the large corporation where he worked did a little "down-sizing". After some initial resentment, he is now starting to look at the bright side of the situation. He told me that on June 2, he and his wife are going to get into their car and head west, destination unknown. For two weeks they are going to be just like that feather at the beginning of the movie Forrest Gump - floating free, unencumbered by obligations or motel reservations, letting fate and/or the need to use the bathroom whisk them where it may.

I envy them, and I hope their plan works.

I recently bought a book titled Vagabonding, by Rolf Potts. It is described as "An Uncommon Guide to the Art of Long-Term World Travel." Rolf gives tips about exploring foreign countries, which he likens to a return to infancy. You can't understand the language, you can't read the signs, and even crossing the street can be fraught with danger. Just like being a baby again.

His #1 tip for would-be vagabonders? Slow down! He finds laughable the fact that monastery and convent-based vacations are becoming a fad as busy over-achievers seek a simpler life. Says Rolf, "purchasing a package vacation to find a simpler life is kind of like using a mirror to see what you look like when you aren't looking into a mirror."

I would love to try vagabonding, but I am more inclined to give it a try in the U.S. first. Why bother to travel halfway around the world when you can visit Mexico and Cuba and Paris and Versailles, all within an hours drive from Jefferson City?

While world travel strikes me as dangerous, Rolf advises "Keep in mind that most people in the world will see you not as a political entity or an appendage of the "Great Satan", but as a guest in their country. They will invariably honor your individuality and regard you with hospitality and respect." (Unless you go hiking near the Iranian or North Korean border.)

Rolf says "traveling around the world is statistically no more dangerous than traveling across your hometown."   I think Rolf may be from Detroit.

I do have a friend who travels the world frequently. He says he has learned two words that seem to deflect any anger or resentment foreigners may express toward the United States. The magic words he recommends are:  I'm Canadian.

My New Walking Companion



Jack Drops By to Say "Hi"

I made a friend recently during my daily 3-mile walk.  At first I was startled when he popped out of a driveway unexpectedly, a big, somewhat ferocious-looking dog.  Then his tail started to wag and I discovered something we had in common - a love of walking.

His name is Jack,  a large brown and white dog with the head of a pitbull and the heart of a bunny.  Jack now frequently accompanies me on my walks.  That's when I discovered something else we have in common - we both enjoy seeing squirrels flee in terror. 

On Saturday he dropped by to help me bbq some burgers and hot dogs, patiently and unassumingly waiting nearby should a piece of meat come his way.  When I handed him a hot dog he politely and gently took it from my hand and laid down in the grass nearby to enjoy his good fortune.

When my grandkids arrived he greeted them at the car, his face bore an unmistakable dog-smile while his whole body wagged hello.  "Why does he have such big teeth?" asked my 4-year-old grandson cautiously.  I'd be cautious, too, if I was looking eye-to-eye with a dog, but a love of kids was another thing I shared with Jack. 

Josh Billings once observed that "a dog is the only thing on earth that loves you more than you love yourself."  Will Rogers said "I love a dog.  He does nothing for political reasons."  Will also said that if there are no dogs in heaven, he wanted to go where they go when he died.

If you have a couple of minutes, I think you will enjoy this song by Wendy J. Francisco.  She calls it GoD and DoG.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H17edn_RZoY 

From Turn Three to Eternity

Jimmy Reece prior to the 1958 Indy 500

Sunday, May 27, 2012 will be a big day for racing fans.  The Indy 500 kicks off at 11 AM in Indianapolis, followed by the Coca Cola 600 at 6 PM in Charlotte.  Though I have never been a huge racing fan, my wife uncovered some family history tied to the Indy 500.  One of my dad's cousins was a race car driver back in the 1950's.  Here is what she found:


“Jimmy Reece was a 6 time veteran of the Indianapolis 500, with Top Ten finishes in 1952, 1956 and 1958. While operating a home video camera, Reece captured 1955 Indianapolis 500 winner Bob Sweikert's fatal accident at the Salem (IN) Speedway on June 17. 1956. During a multi-car accident in turn three on the first lap of the 1958 500-mile classic, Reece was struck by Bob Veith, causing his car to spin in front of popular Pat O'Connor, who catapulted over Reece, flipped and was killed. Jimmy Reece reportedly held himself responsible for O'Connor's death due to his braking maneuver during the accident. This may have played a role in his death later that year during a championship car race at the Trenton (NJ) Speedway. Reece was dueling Johnny Thomson for second place on the last lap and got into an awkward position in a turn. Some feel that rather than braking and possibly putting Thomson at risk, Reece did not hit his brakes hard enough, if at all.  As a result, he plowed through a barrier and flew through the air to his death, landing over 50 feet from his badly damaged car.”

He was 29.

Based on the picture above, it's not hard to see how a driver could die in an accident driving 145 mph in an "open wheel" car with virtually no safety devices.  In fact, of the 33 drivers in the 1955 Indy 500, 17 subsequently died behind the wheel of a race car.  Jimmy Reece was among that number.

I found it interesting that Jimmy Reece had a movie camera back in the 50’s.  And that he operated it behind the wheel of his race car.  I can only imagine what his race movies must be like, filming cars traveling 145 miles per hour from behind the wheel of a car going 145 mph.  As proficient as my wife is becoming at geneological detective work, I expect to be seeing those movies before too long.

I wonder if Dramamine comes in Industrial strength?

Reece's Grave in Rose Hill Burial Park, 6001 NW Grand Blvd., Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

The 17 drivers in the 1955 Indy 500 Who Died Racing

1 Bob Sweikert (winner), at Salem, IN, sprint race, June 17, 1956;
2 Tony Bettenhausen (2nd), at Indy, May 12, 1961;
3 Jimmy Davies (3rd), at Willow Springs, IL, midget race, June 11, 1966;
4 Johnny Thomson (4th), at Allentown, PA, sprint race, September 24, 1960;
5 Walt Faulkner (5th), at Vallejo, CA, stock car race, April 22, 1956;
6 Al Herman (7th), at West Haven, CT, midget race, June 18, 1960;
7 Pat O’Connor (8th), at Indy, June 30, 1958;
8 Cal Niday (16th), Lancaster, CA, exhibition ~ midget , February 14, 1988;
9 Shorty Templeman (18th), at Marion, OH, midget race, August 23,1962
10 Keith Andrews (20th), at Indy, May 15, 1958;
11 Jimmy Bryan (24th), at Langhorne, PA, June 9, 1960;
12 Bill Vukovich (25th), at Indy, May 30,1955;
13 Jack McGrath (26th), at Phoenix, AZ, champ car, November 6, 1955
14 Al Keller (27th), at Phoenix, AZ, champ car, November 19,1961;
15 Ed Elisian (30th), at Milwaukee, WI, champ Car, August 30, 1959;
16 Jerry Hoyt (31st), at Oklahoma City, OK, sprint car, July 10, 1955;
17 Jimmy Reece (33rd), at Trenton, NJ, champ car, September 28, 1958


　

　

　

　

　

　

I Know When the Night Bird Sings



Buddy, If I Can't Sleep, You Can't Sleep!

Country living has many charms. Among them is the evening chorus of frogs, crickets, owls and coyotes. Nothing like falling asleep with the window open on a cool spring or summer night to a symphony of natural sounds.

One woodland creature that would be voted off “Nature's Got Talent” the very first week would be the small bird known as the whippoorwill. Known by the very appropriate scientific name of "Antrostomus vociferus", ounce for ounce this tiny bird can generate a song loud enough to wake the dead. Or at least those that are dead asleep. Though it’s call is seen as romantic and wistful to some, even to me as long as it occurs at dusk and at a distance, a whippoorwill immediately outside your window at 2 AM is a bird of a different feather.

Singing with a volume and a frenetic urgency that belies its small size, the whippoorwill must be 98% lungs. The other night I awoke to the song, and I use that word lightly, of the whippoorwill. I counted 52 straight extremely loud and shrill WHIPPOORWILL’S without a single pause. Then it caught its breath and let go 31 more loud WHIPPOORWILL’S just for good measure.

James Thurber once wrote a short story he named Whip-poor-will. The main character, Mr. Kinstrey, suffers from sleep deprivation due to the constant nighttime singing of a whippoorwill. Finally, at wit’s end, he kills his family and himself. At the end of the story, the policeman investigating the murders speculated:
"... takes a more’n a whip-poor-will to cause a mess like that?"

According to the website www.birdwatching.com, “a Whip-poor-will easily performs 1000 renditions without a pause.”

Mr. Kinstrey: I don’t approve, but I sort of understand.

If you don’t understand, listen to the following youtube video at full volume for an hour straight and get back with me.
　
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXwoHqjO3lA&feature=fvwrel

HEEEEERE'S (Remembering) JOHNNY!!!



A Young Johnny

Twenty years ago, May 22, 1992, Johnny Carson made his final appearance on The Tonight Show. On his next-to-the-last show, Johnny quipped "Okay, all we have is tonight and tomorrow and then that's it.  Boy, I haven't used that phrase since World War II."

Hard to believe that people under 30 probably have no recollection of the man I consider to be the gold standard for late-night talk shows. It's important to note that, just because they don't remember Johnny, doesn't mean he didn't play an important role in their lives.  It's hard to calculate how many people between the ages of 20 and 50 were conceived during The Tonight Show.  Johnny once joked that more babies were conceived with him in the room than any other person in history.

As a tribute to Johnny on the 20th anniversary of his last show, here is a sampling of his quotes:

To me, democracy means placing trust in the little guy, giving the fruits of nationhood to those who built the nation. Democracy means anyone can grow up to be president, and anyone who doesn't grow up can be vice president.

I know you've been married to the same woman for 69 years. That is marvelous. It must be very inexpensive. (Note: Johnny was married four times).

If variety is the spice of life, marriage is the big can of leftover Spam.

Married men live longer than single men. But married men are a lot more willing to die.

The difference between a divorce and a legal separation is that a legal separation gives a husband time to hide his money.

Mail your packages early so the post office can lose them in time for Christmas.

When turkeys mate they think of swans.

Anytime four New Yorkers get into a cab together without arguing, a bank robbery has just taken place.

In Hollywood if you don't have a shrink, people think you're crazy.

Johnny's advice to politicians: Only lie about the future.

If life was fair, Elvis would be alive and all the impersonators would be dead.

Democracy is buying a big house you can't afford with money you don't have to impress people you wish were dead.

Regarding guest host Chevy Chase: "He couldn't ad-lib a fart after a baked-bean dinner."

On his last show, Johnny quipped "I'm taking the APPLAUSE sign home and putting it in the bedroom."

Born on October 25, 1925 in Corning, Iowa, Johnny was a Nebraska Cornhusker alum. He hosted The Tonight Show for 30 years beginning in 1962. Johnny died January 23, 2005 at the age of 79. Ed McMahon, Johnny's faithful sidekick and straight man joined him June 23, 2009.
　
　


Johnny as Baby Boomers Remember Him

Heaven Can Wait

Muhammad Ali in 1970

On January 17, 2012, legendary boxer Muhammad Ali turned 70.  Ali, whose verbal prowess once earned him the nickname "The Louisville Lip", communicates much more subtly these days as a result of his long struggle with Parkinson's Disease.

In 1964, Ali was still known as Cassius Clay when he became a mega-celebrity.  His rise to fame had ties to Jefferson City, Mo.

Ali at Age 70

On February 25, 1964, Cassius Clay fought for
boxing's heavyweight championship of the world.  His opponent?  Sonny Liston.  Sonny learned to fight right here in Jefferson City as a resident of the Missouri State Penitentiary.  If you take a tour of the historic penitentiary his cell is still a featured stop.  There is also still a mural of him on the prison wall near the area that used to be occupied by the prison softball field.  You can schedule your tour of the historic facility at www.missouripentours.com.

At the time of the fight, Sonny Liston had won 50 fights, 39 by knockout.  I was 15 with visions of becoming a sportswriter.  The fight was not televised.  At least not on one of the 3 channels we got at our home.  I was, however, able to listen to the fight on the radio.  I still have the notes I took that night summarizing each round.  The fight ended in the 7th round when Liston failed to answer the bell.  It was then that Clay vaulted into the center of the ring and into history.  "I AM THE KING!  I HAVE UPSET THE WORLD!  I AM THE GREATEST!" he proclaimed.  His proclamations were not without merit.  He had been a 7-1 underdog.  Most experts had expected Liston to pummel him.

As Clay left the ring he shouted "Mom, didn't  I tell you I was the greatest?  I whupped him!  What do you think of me now?"

A few weeks later, Cassius Clay announced he had joined the nation of Islam and would no longer be known as Cassius Clay.  That was his slave name, he said.  He would forever more be known as Muhammad Ali.

Parkinson's Disease, the disease that has quieted Ali, was first recognized in 1817 in an article titled "An Essay of the Shaking Palsy" by British physician Dr. James Parkinson.  Parkinson's Disease affects the ability to talk, walk and even write.  It is the same disease that affects Dr. Billy Graham and Michael J. Fox.  It is an equal opportunity disease, affecting men and women of all races and socio-economic status.  It is usually diagnosed after age 50.  There are approximately 60,000 new cases a year.  Hello, Baby Boomers.

As for Sonny Liston, he died of a drug overdose six years after his lost to Muhammad Ali.  He is buried in Paradise Memorial Garden's in Las Vegas.

Before fighting Liston, Clay had predicted "I'll take him in seven and go to heaven!"

But, like the rest of us, he is in no hurry to make the trip.

Too Thick to Drink, Too Thin to Plow



Katy Trail Rest Stop Overlooking the Missouri River

On May 14, 1804,  the Lewis and Clark Expedition headed west on the Missouri River from near St. Louis.  On May 15, 2012, I retraced 27 miles of their route. 

I began the day by driving my wife to a doctors appointment in Columbia, Mo.  5+ weeks ago she had her knee replacement replaced.  After she was cleared to drive this morning, she dropped me and my bike off at the Martin Luther King Park trailhead of the MKT trail in Columbia, Mo.  The 8.8 mile MKT spur hooks up with the 238-mile-long Katy Trail near McBaine.  It's a favorite of mine for 2 reasons:

1.  It is especially scenic; and
2.  It is mostly downhill from Columbia to the Missouri River.

Mark Twain once described the Missouri River as "too thick to drink, too thin to plow."  Lewis and Clark would have agreed.  On June 21, 1804, William Clark wrote
"The water we Drink, of the Common water of the missourie at this time, contains half a Comn Wine Glass of ooze or mud to every pint."

When the expedition passed Jefferson City, William Clark described himself as having "a verry sore throat", adding "am Tormented with Musquetors & Small ticks."  I guess our ticks have gotten healthier.  While sitting on a bench overlooking the river I felt something on my neck.  When I checked to see what it was, I pulled off a tick the size of a watch battery before it could make it to a more secluded area of my anatomy for lunch.

I encountered no  "Musquetors" on my ride, though they were a common complaint of most adventurers.  On the Oregon Trail in Wyoming one journalist described the mosquitoes as "smaller than hummingbirds but larger than crickets."  Near Alcove Spring in Kansas, Joe Meek wrote in his journal that the mosquitoes weren't as bad as he expected.  "Though I heard reports of mosquitoes as big as turkeys, the biggest one I saw was no larger than a crow."

Four hours and 35 miles after my wife dropped me off I arrived at the North Jefferson trailhead, just across the river from Jefferson City.   When the Lewis & Clark Expedition passed by what would one day become the City of Jefferson,  Sgt. Charles Floyd wrote glowingly about this area in his journal.  "As butifull a peas a ground as ever I saw" he said.   Which, even though I had a great time, pretty much describes my feelings when I saw my truck waiting for me in the parking lot.

Traffic is Heavy So Hold My Chilli Dog While I Answer this Text Message



German Autobahn "NO SPEED LIMIT" Sign



A friend of mine is making a return visit to Germany right now. On his first visit he rented a Mercedes Benz to try out on the autobahn. He said he had it up to 130 when he got passed by a Lamborghini going, by his estimate, 160 mph. According to my friend, they do not ticket you for speeding on the autobahn. What they do ticket you for is passing and then not moving immediately over to the non-passing lane when you are beyond the other vehicle.

Would that be great or what? Missouri interstates are clogged by H.H.C. (human highway cholesterol): drivers that clog the highway arteries and prevent the free flow of traffic. They drive 65 mph in the passing lane and take the better part of a three-day weekend to get by a string of eighteen-wheelers.  Or an 18-wheeler trying to pass another 18-wheeler on a hill, gaining 6 inches on it every quarter-mile while traffic stacks up in both lanes behind them.

OR, even worse, drivers who drive in the passing lane even if they only thing they are passing is time.  While we may be amazed at the speeds on the autobahn, what amazes Germans is that Americans eat, drink, talk and send texts on their cell phone and fiddle with the radio station - maybe all at the same time - while attempting to drive. Driving is serious business to them.

I've eaten my share of burgers behind the wheel, but I would give them up in a heartbeat to have Missouri autobahns between KC and St. Louis and St. Louis and Springfield. Speed limit: 85 mph with zero tolerance for speeders and a 70 mph minimum. No 18-wheelers or RV's allowed. Make it a toll road. I'll pay with a smile.

All others use I-70 and I-44.   And bring your lunch.
　

When "The Andy Griffith Show" Role is Called Up Yonder

Another cast member of The Andy Griffith Show has died.  George Lindsey, aka "Goober" Pyle, died Sunday at age 83.  He joins Aunt Bee, Deputy Barney Fife, Floyd the barber, and Otis the town drunk in the hereafter.  Did you know that before joining the cast of The Andy Griffith Show as an auto mechanic Goober earned a bachelors degree in biology and taught high school science? 

George Lindsey as Goober Pyle

In memory of Goober, here's a memorable dialogue from a 1968 episode:

 

Goober Pyle: Hey, Andy
Sheriff Andy Taylor: Hi, Goob
Goober Pyle: I got Aunt Bee's car in tip-top shape.
Sheriff Andy Taylor: Oh, good.
Goober Pyle: What are you doin' with a Raleigh paper?
Sheriff Andy Taylor: Readin' it.
Goober Pyle: Andy, that's yesterday's paper.
Sheriff Andy Taylor: I know it.
Goober Pyle: You know that's not as stupid as it looks, readin' a day-old paper. I do it myself sometimes - kinda gives you a sense of power, don't it? I mean knowing how everything's gonna come out.
Sheriff Andy Taylor: I'm-I'm looking for the announcement of the auto show in Raleigh; it opened yesterday.
Goober Pyle: Well, you want to know where it's at? It's at the convention hall all weekend. Who's going to the auto show, Andy?
Sheriff Andy Taylor: Well, Aunt Bee wants to see the new models; she's thinking of trading in her old car.
Goober Pyle: That's a good thing - that car is on its last leg.
Sheriff Andy Taylor: You said it was in tip-top shape.
Goober Pyle: That's before I knew she was going to trade it in.
Sheriff Andy Taylor: She's just thinking of trading it in; she might keep it.
Goober Pyle: Well, it's still got plenty of miles on it.
Sheriff Andy Taylor: Anybody ever tell you you're a straw in the wind?
Goober Pyle: No. A feller in the service called me a hayseed though. I let him have it.

Sheriff Andy Taylor himself will be 86 on June 1.  If that doesn't make you feel old enough, Opie turned 58 on  March 1.  I still remember the question Opie asked that baffles mankind to this very day:  "Pa, just what can you do with a grown woman?"

George Lindsey - December 17, 1928 - May 6, 2012 R.I.P.

By the Light of the Super Moon

Our Yard  During the Cinco De Mayo Supermoon

Saturday night Mother Nature provided a light show courtesy of what astronomers refer to as the "supermoon".   The moon was the closest to earth it will be all year.  I think I could have mowed  my yard with no problem, aside from the neighbors calling to ask what the heck I was doing mowing my yard at 9:38 pm when this picture was taken.

Though "lunatic" is derived from the word lunar, scientists now declare there is no relationship between a full moon and crazy behavior.  I'm not sure if law enforcement and emergency room personnel agree.  If the moon's gravitational effect can alter the ocean's tides and a human is 75% water, well . . . it doesn't seem all that far-fetched that it could affect behavior. 

When my wife was expecting our son we toured the birthing facilities of Kansas City's Menorah hospital, the hospital of choice of her Doctor.  The facility included four individual rooms for women in  labor.  "What do you do if all four rooms are full?" we asked.  "Never happened!" we were assured.

When my wife's water broke on Easter Sunday, 1981, I rushed her to Menorah hospital in midtown Kansas City.  Other than running 25 of the 27 stoplights on the way to the hospital,  I remember 2 things:

1.  It was a full moon: and

2.  All four birthing rooms were occupied.

So what did they do with my wife?  She had her very own bed in the hallway until, thankfully, a birthing room opened up a few hours later.  My grandmother's maiden name was Hall, so while more than a few babies in our family came OUT of a "Hall",  I believe our son would have been the first baby in our extended  family to have been born IN a hall.

Of Banjos and Bikes and Goats and Goals

The temperature was nudging 90 last Thursday as I eased my bike onto the Katy Trail and started pedaling the ten miles from Jefferson City, Mo. to Hartsburg.  A couple of minutes after reaching my destination and was resting up for the return trip my eyes beheld an unusual sight.  A slender, well-tanned guy with an abundance of tattoos rode up on a heavily-laden bike. He was wearing only bicycle pants, running shoes and a smile.  That's not the unusal part.  The unusual part was the banjo he had firmly mounted on the rear of his bike.  

                                                                                       

The rider's name was Jacob George and he had just pedaled the 300 or so miles from Fayetteville, Arkansas to Hartsburg, Mo.   He is on his way to Chicago where a NATO meeting will be held later this month.   He plans to let world leaders know how he feels about the war in Afghanistan. As they might say in the Ouachita Mountains of Arkansas where Jacob was raised, "he's agin it".  He speaks from a position of knowledge - he's served 3 tours of duty there as a paratrooper.  In the meantime, he's pedaling his bike, plucking his banjo, making new friends - and burning calories.  In the past 2 years Jacob has ridden 7000 miles.  When he started he weighed 155 pounds.  Now he says it's a struggle to maintain 125 pounds.  His cholesterol is probably  -10.

Jacob George at the Hartsburg Station on the Katy Trail

Jacob is also promoting "Operation Awareness" about how riding bikes can be therapeutic for Vets.  You can learn more about his organization at http://www.operationawareness.org/

As it turned out, Jacob is not the only one crossing Missouri to promote a cause right now.  Five guys and a goat named "Wrigley" are currently walking between Springfield and St. Louis, also on their way to Chicago.  They started in California (the state, not the city in Missouri).  Their mission is to break the "Cubbie Curse" and bring a World Series Championship to the Chicago Cubs.  You can follow their progress at http://blog.crackthecurse.com/.  As I type this blog they are ending day 70 of their journey.   

Godspeed to Jacob on his way to Chicago.  I share his hope for an end to the war in Afghanistan.  I also share his love of biking and banjos.

Good luck also to those poor, crazy Cub fans as they trudge through Cardinal Country. 

An end to the Afghan war is an elusive but achievable goal.   A world championship for the Cubbies?  

Now that's just crazy talk.

The Band Side

Willard Band Member in happier times

In December, 2010, the Willard (Mo) Cutting Edge Band started working and saving to take the band trip of a lifetime this June.  They would travel to Hawaii, the "Aloha State".  By February of this year $360,000 had been saved and paid in advance to Performing Hawaii Tours, the organization chosen to handle arrangements.

Chiefs #1 Draft Pick Kissing NFL Commissioner

That's when Performing Hawaii Tours became "non-performing".  The company stopped responding to calls and emails.  The FBI is looking into the matter, but it now appears that the only thing members of the Willard band will be saying aloha to is the $360,000 they paid up front.

In the undaunted spirit of youth, the band has now scaled back their trip.  They will travel to Orlando and visit the house the mouse built instead of Hawaii. 

Though it may initially seem unrelated to you, the Kansas City Chiefs selected Dontari Poe as their #1 draft pick last week.  Dontari got his start in football when the high school coach saw him playing in the band and suggested he try out for football.   Dontari is 6'5" and weighs 346 pounds.  There is some concern that Dontari is a big teddy bear (see above picture) and not cut out to try to separate opposing players from one or more of their internal organs if they attempt to run past him while carrying a football.

I have a solution:  Do you remember the movie The Blind Side?  It is the true story of Michael Oher, also somewhat of a pussycat when he first started playing football.  His job was to protect the quarterback's "blind side".  He finally took his role seriously when his mother said he should consider the quarterback a member of his family and to keep anyone from hurting him.  It worked.

Perhaps the Chiefs could suggest that Dontari pretend that any opposing player carrying the football is the person who stole the money for the Willard band trip and his job is to stop them.  Band ties run deep.  Even if it's not in him to be mean, at least maybe he wouldn't kiss them.  If it works, I see another movie in the works:  The Band Side.

The new Willard band trip is being arranged by Great Southern Travel, a local company.  That's a good lesson in Economics for the Willard student body:  Whenever you can, buy local.  That might help them avoid the OTHER economics lesson they learned:  sometimes you get, sometimes you get got.

Subtracting the $1200 each bandmember lost in the scam, they still have to raise $228 apiece this month to go on the Orlando trip.  If you'd like to help out, send your donation to:  Willard Band Boosters, PO BOX 381, Willard, Mo. 65781

I'd Have Sworn We Had More Kids!

Did you know that in 1986, with very little publicity, seven million children vanished in the U.S.?  You would think that something like that would have made the headlines.  Amazingly, none of those children's faces ever appeared on a milk carton because none were reported missing to authorities.  That the children had disappeared at all was discovered only by a vigilant government agency - none other than our beloved IRS.

You see, beginning in tax year 1986, federal income tax returns had to include the social security numbers for children listed as dependents.  After April 15, 1987, when the IRS tallied the returns for 1986, seven million children that were reported as dependents in 1985 were missing in 1986.  You can draw your own conclusions.

This information was taken from the book Freakonomics:  A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything.  It was written by Steven Levitt, economics professor at the University of Chicago.  Read it and you will learn Professor Levitt's theory of how incentives - economic, social and moral - mould our behavior.

Remember who was President in 1986, the year all the children went missing?  It was Ronald Reagan, whose mantra when dealing with the Soviet Union AND the American taxpayer was "Trust, but verify!"