Saturday, July 29, 2017

'Muslim!' is the new 'Squirrel!'


Dear Rep. Bacon:


Meanwhile, as the Trump Administration prepares to deport Iraqi Christians back to almost certain death in a country they've not seen in decades . . . crickets from Republicans seeking to distract attention from our very own "What fresh hell?" regime.

For God's sake, man! Every damn time an alert sounds on my laptop or iPhone, I wonder what fresh hell is breaking loose now from Mad King Donald or our dysfunctional, pathological government. Every damn time. It's usually a doozy, and it's usually happening SEVERAL TIMES A DAY.

Yet you're outraged about what the g**damned Palestinian Authority is doing as you don Ray Charles sunglasses and stick your fingers in your ears and hum the "Star-Spangled Banner" while contractors measure the Oval Office for padded rubber wallpaper? Really?

How damned stupid do you think we are? (Obviously, stupid enough to have elected Donald Trump and yourself.)

Yeah, I am just so zip-a-dee-doo-dah, orgasmically THRILLED that you intend to kick some Palestinian Authority ass as you inexplicably exhibit ZERO concern that your own House leadership is considering Flat Eartherism so it could have a shot at sailing the ship of state off the g**damned edge.

And I can't even begin to express how grateful this woebegone nation is that you're devoting precious minutes and hours to some *obviously* existentially important Palestinian baiting while North Korea fires off ICBM after ICBM, and President Donald J. Trump may be the most unequipped person on planet Earth to deal with a REAL Korean crisis, as opposed to your ordinary, everyday Korean crises.

Good grief, don't you people even LISTEN to yourselves anymore? Is it possible that y'all are really that non-self aware?

Nah, can't be. I think you're just that flippin' cynical.

God help us, because we sure as hell aren't capable of helping ourselves anymore.

Sincerely yours,

Hoping We Don't Get Nuked Before
I Can Vote for Your Opponent

The neon beacon of Underwood Street

Shining over Underwood Street, July 28, 2017
April 1957
Like the rest of radio today, especially AM radio, the carrot shavings have become pretty shrived and the lettuce gone pretty brown since KFAB's salad days.

Omaha's onetime purveyor of Jerry Vale, Bert Kaempfert, Dean Martin and the most relied-upon school closing reports in the Great White North -- the News Beacon of the Great Midwest -- now trades in right-wing talk radio, gutted by an iHeartMedia filet knife called economies of scale. Or something that sounds better than "gutted."

Nevertheless, the neon KFAB sign that shines over Underwood Street in the Dundee neighborhood is as big and bright as always.

Shine on.

Thursday, July 27, 2017

3 Chords & the Truth: Staying on track

It don't come easy         
You know it don't come easy
It don't come easy         
You know it don't come easy
Ringo got it right. Love of music, like peace, is how we make it.

And I think I like how, back in my olden day, music didn't come easy. Well, at least as easily as today.

There's something to be said for stumbling across your musical passions the old-fashioned way -- happenstance, listening to the radio, a friend's record collection . . . something catching your eye at the record store. One in a building, not online.


Much also is to be said for having alien, uncool stuff imposed upon you via real Top-40 radio stations, as well as your parents' iron grip on the television . . . and the living-room console stereo . . . and the car radio, then being shocked, shocked when your youthful prejudice begins to waver.

THERE'S something to be said for having an 8 track instead of an iPod or iPhone to keep you in (CLUNK) tune. There's especially something to be said for music as a loudspeaker-based communal experience instead of an earbud-based solitary one.

What does any of this rumination have to do with this week's 3 Chords & the Truth? Beats me. I guess this -- the Not Easy way -- is where the show comes from.

We worked for it. And we're passionate about the music.


Modern times. Alas. . . .
THE BIG SHOW is music as a social exercise. And your Mighty Favog hopes you're playing it loudly on your stereo . . . sound system . . . whatever you call it today . . . and that your windows are open.

After all, it's so good it'd be a crime to keep it all to yourself.

It's 3 Chords & the Truth, y'all. Be there. Aloha.


Saturday, July 15, 2017

3 Chords & the Truth: Only the Big Show has it!


Now . . . add a new dimension of musiphonic enjoyment to any home or personal music system -- entertainment center, hi-fi setup, smartphone, boombox or Internet-enabled television.

Any sound or video system you have can sing out with the thrilling sounds of the world's finest music podcast, 3 Chords & the Truth. Now, our psychoacoustic thermistor keeps the music flowing at a steady rate and a comfortable volume -- easy to hear over the yapping dog, the whining kids, the nagging spouse or the constant negative press covfefe.

It even plays over the exciting new product of 1969 . . . the compact-sized clock radio / color television (adapters not included). Everything you need to amaze family and friends is now at your fingertips, and a wi-fi dance party can be organized in a snap!

THE BIG SHOW is the surprise revolutionary music product of the season, and you can have it all for the low, low price of . . . nothing.

Plays instantly at the finger-touch of a button or a touchscreen link. Comes in all colors of the rainbow.

Expert music curation is standard; some episodes may contain trenchant commentary. This week's edition may contain themes not fit for stupid people or the clueless. No offense intended but may be taken.

It's 3 Chords & the Truth, y'all. Be there. Aloha.


Saturday, July 08, 2017

3 Chords & the Truth: Don't Elvis the television


After watching the news the other day, I was gonna Elvis the television.

But my wife insisted that I calm down, instead. Wheel of Fortune was coming on.

So . . . we have the relaxing, chilled-out version of 3 Chords & the Truth. Listen to that, and don't be like Elvis Presley. You're not made out of money, and TV sets are expensive.

Or you could just stop watching the news. You'll still want to listen to the chill version of the Big Show, though.

Your television will thank you. So will Pat Sajak.

It's 3 Chords & the Truth, y'all. Be there. Aloha.


Sunday, July 02, 2017

Amerika uber alles


Civil war once again will come to this land. It's looking like it will be sooner rather than later.

That's the good news.

To watch this National Rifle Association recruitment video, which is quite literally Hitlerian in its language and in its demonizing, is to realize that civil war is the preferred option to the genocidal call to action which lies between every hissed line of the ad. Civil war at least presumes that one has a fighting chance.




WHAT DOES NOT have a fighting chance is the United States of America. As we approach the 241st anniversary of its birth, the former land of the free and home of the brave lies in hospice care. The attending physician, no doubt, is a descendant of Josef Mengele.


*   *   *

MORE: An earlier NRA effort also was decidedly Nazilike.

Saturday, July 01, 2017

3 Chords & the Truth: The spirit of '76


There's no percentage in the present, so let's try the past.

Does 1976 sound good? Sounds good to me -- '76 was a very good year to be young and in love with music.

So it's settled . . . and the spirit of '76 it is! And it's all goin' down on the Big Show.

Now fasten your seat belt for a journey to the center of the Seventies. Stay tuned for complimentary 8-track tapes and some really cool tunes.

Right on, man!

Next stop: Recaptured youth and another crack at high school.

It's 3 Chords & the Truth, y'all. Be there. Aloha.