Moms, born in 1894 and died in 1975, was a star of "The Chitlin Circuit" which was the African-American Vaudeville circuit where black performers appeared. She eventually made it to the Apollo Theater where it is reported that she earned $10,000 weekly and by the 1960s she appeared at Carnegie Hall. Moms was a lesbian who dressed in mens clothing offstage. In the Black Renaissance of Harlem in the 1920s, Moms was friends with Langston Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston until a disagreement with Hughes made her choose the side of Hurston and then later she split with Hurston in the 1950s over political differences: Moms was supporting Progressive Democrats and Hurston was for Robert Taft!
In 1969 Moms was the oldest performer in history to have a Top 40 hit record with her version of Abraham, Martin, And John. Listen here for her moving rendition:
Bob Dylan's Like A Rolling Stone was chosen as the greatest rock and roll song of all time by Rolling Stone magazine. I, along with nearly every critic surveyed, agree with this assessment, and although I agree it is the greatest song, Just Like A Woman, performed by Richie Havens--not by Mr. Zimmerman--is my personal favorite Dylan song.
The video was crafted by a 27-year-old Israeli Vania Heymann and it is phenomenal! It is thrilling that this song, after forty-eight years, is still unbelievably powerful and speaks to all generations.
You can see an example below from YouTube.
But go to:
video/bobdylan.com
and you can see the song lip-synched by numerous people and you can flick back and forth from person to person. It is a channel-surfer's dream come true!
As I would have said in 1965: "COOL!"
For the first time since 1888, Thanksgiving and Hanukkah will converge, marking the first joint celebration of the two holidays aptly named Thanksgivukkah.
This year Thanksgiving Day will mark the first day of Hanukkah – the eight-day festival that celebrates the rededication during the second century B.C. of the Second Temple in Jerusalem, when Jews revolted against their Greek-Syrian oppressors called the Maccabean Revolt. Since Hanukkah starts on Wednesday at sundown, the second candle will be lit on Turkey Day.
The “once-in-a-lifetime” holiday is being marked by Jews across America by decorating their homes with turkey menorahs known as menurkies and dreidels decorated with birds known as turkels to commemorate the special event.
I said, "Just because you were irritated with this man, you shouldn't talk that way in front of a child!" I could tell she was furious by my lecturing her about her lack of parental skills and exposing her true motive! The little girl was hanging her head. The woman twisted around and gave me "the finger"! I said, "Oh, that's amazing that you can use your digits! Are you teaching THAT to the child also?" She then smacked her buttocks and I said, "Oh, that poor child; is this the kind of behavior you want her to EMULATE?" The man continued forcing her to move on down the aisle. I continued with my shopping but did not encounter them again.
I was nearly finished shopping when the child came back around to where I was and picked up some bread and I said, "I'm so sorry for you, little girl, that you have a mother like that."
When I left I noticed the three of them were in the middle of the store.
When I went home I told the story to Les and he chided me for speaking to the little girl. He said, "It wasn't her fault; until then, you had the HIGH GROUND!" I agree that I should not have spoken to the little girl, but I'm not QUITE as bad as that woman!
What would you have done with somebody calling you a bitch?
Les asked, "How about R. Dean Taylor?" The one-hit wonder from him is Indiana Wants Me.
I was thrilled to learn a new word: CRINOID. See below.
INTERESTING FACTS YOU MAY NOT HAVE KNOWN ABOUT INDIANA:
Tomato juice was first served at a French Lick, Indiana, hotel in 1925.
The first tomato juice factory was also in French Lick, IN.
The world's largest orchid species collection is found at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana.
The first regulated speed limit (20 - 25 mph!) was initiated on Indiana roads in 1921.
The steepest railroad grade in the world is in Madison, Indiana.
An average of 400 funnel clouds are sighted each year in Indiana.
The city of Gary, Indiana, was built on fill brought from the bottom of Lake Michigan through suction pipes (that explains a lot).
There are only two Adams fireplaces in the United States. One is in the White House and the other in the Diner Home in Indiana.
Josie Orr, wife of former Indiana Governor Robert Orr, flew bombers and cargo planes during World War II.
The Indianapolis Methodist Hospital is the largest Hospital in the Midwest.
One of the first complete bathrooms in Indianapolis was in the home of Hoosier poet, James Whitcomb Riley.
The career of Dorothy Lamour (famous for the Bing Crosby-Bob Hope Road Movies) was launched in Indianapolis.
Aviatrix Amelia Earhart was once a Professor at Purdue University.
Crown Hill Cemetery (Indianapolis) is the largest cemetery in the U.S.
The library in Fort Wayne, Allen County, Indiana, houses one of the largest genealogy libraries in America.
Wabash, Indiana, was the first electrified city in the U.S.
Pendleton, Indiana, was the site of the first hanging of a white man for killing Indians.
The Courthouse roof in Greensburg, Indiana, has a tree growing from it.
The world's first transistor radio was made in Indianapolis.
Clark Gable and wife Carole Lombard (born in Fort Wayne, IN ) honeymooned at Lake Barbee near Warsaw, Indiana.
The American Beauty Rose was developed at Richmond, Indiana.
Elkhart, Indiana, is the band instrument capitol of the World.
Frank Sinatra first sang with the Tommy Dorsey band at the Lyric Theater in Indianapolis.
Purdue Alumnus, Earl Butz, served as the Secretary of Agriculture (there are lots of jokes about that).
U.S. 231 is the longest highway in Indiana (231 miles).
Johnny Appleseed is buried at Fort Wayne, Indiana.
The singing McGuire Sisters spent their childhood summers at the Church of God Campground in Anderson, Indiana.
The main station of the Underground Railroad was in Fountain County, Indiana.
There are 154 acres of sculpture gardens and trails at the Indianapolis Museum of Art.
La Porte County is the only county in America having 2 functioning courthouses.
Nancy Hanks Lincoln is buried in Posey County, Indiana.
Crawfordsville, Indiana (Montgomery County), is the only site in the world where crinoids are found. (What is a crinoid, you ask? A form of deep-water marine life that looks something like a starfish.)
Pendleton, Indiana, was the site of the Fall Creek Massacre. A museum housing 3500 artifacts of pioneer heritage now exists on that site.
St. Meinrad Archabbey is located in Spencer County and is one of only 2 archabbeys in the U.S. and seven in the world (Abbey Press is an operation of the archabbey).
A buzz bomb (German - WW II), believed to be the only one on public display in the nation, can be found on the Putnam County Courthouse lawn in Greencastle, Indiana.
Roberta Turpin Willett was born in Indiana.
James Dean was born and is buried in Indiana.
The world's tallest woman, Sandy Allen, lived in Indiana.
Red Skelton was born in Vincennes, Indiana, and was a proud Hoosier until the day he died!
Mae West and Claude Akins were from Bedford, Indiana.
The inventor of the television, Philo T. Farnsworth, lived in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
Forrest Tucker was from Pendleton, Indiana.
You can't ship wine to Indiana. (So how does it get there?)
Bob Greise is from Evansville, Indiana, and was quarterback at Purdue University in West Lafayette, IN.
Toni Tenille (of The Captain and Tenille) is from Indiana.
Oprah Winfrey built her residence in N/W Indiana.
Florence Henderson is from Indiana.
The much sought-after Hoosier Cabinets are an Indiana product.
90% of the world's popcorn is grown in Indiana.
The Jackson Five are from Gary, Indiana.
The birthplace of the automobile, the pneumatic rubber tire, the aluminum casting process, stainless steel and the first push-button car radio was in Kokomo, Indiana.
Frank Borman, NASA astronaut, born in Gary, Indiana.
Pretty neat, huh? And you thought there was only corn in Indiana! Don't forget, breaded tenderloin sandwiches are seldom found anyplace else!
ALSO IN OHIO, PATTY!
