Happy # 76 Stevie Wonder!

(P.S.  You can listen to my show.  If you like our posts, please look for ”Donate” on the right column of the blog page.)

We wish a very happy birthday to Stevie Wonder who was born in Michigan on this day in 1950.

From "Fingertips" to "My Cherie Amour" and so many others, Stevie Wonder was on the charts all of the time.

It's hard to pick a song.

It's not hard to pick an album.

"Songs in the key of life" was released in 1976 and belongs in every popular music collection. It sounds good so many years later.

My favorite tune from the album was: "Ngiculela-Es Una Historia-I Am Singing"!

It's a wonderful ballad in 3 languages, although I must confess that I don't understand the first one. The second and third verses are in Spanish and English, respectively:

1958: Musial got # 3,000

The great Stan Musial got # 3,000 on this day in 1958.    It happened at Wrigley Field.    Musial came into the game as a pinch-hitter.    He may be the only player to get # 3,000 as a pinchhitter.   

Musial went into The Hall of Fame in 1969.   He won 3 NL MVP's and retired with a .331 average, 3,630 hits, 475 HR & 1,961 RBI.

He was one of the greatest.

P.S.  You can listen to my show.  If you like our posts, please look for ”Donate” on the right column of the blog page.

Remembering Ritchie Valens (1941-59)

Richard Steven Valenzuela (Ritchie Valens) was born on this day in 1941 in Los Angeles.  He became one of the first Mexican-American rockers and the inspiration for "La Bamba", a great movie from the 1980's.   

His story was also part of Don McClean's "American Pie", a song written in the early 1970's about the crash that killed Buddy Holly, the Big Bopper & Ritchie Valens.

He was 17 when he died in February 1959.  Ritchie was not around too long but did record hits like "La Bamba", "Donna", "Come on let's go" and "We belong together".

P.S.  You can listen to my show.  If you like our posts, please look for ”Donate” on the right column of the blog page.

1981: What were you doing the day that Pope John Paul II was shot?

Do you remember what you were doing when you got the news that John Paul II was shot?

I was working for a US company in Mexico City and my desk phone rang:  It was my mother from Dallas telling me that John Paul II had been shot in Rome.

It was an eerie feeling.  She had called me weeks before:  “Reagan was shot” said my mom.

As with President Reagan, the early reports were confusing.  There were unconfirmed stories that the Pope had been killed. I remember turning to a senior partner in the office and asking the obvious question:  Has any Pope been killed before?  No one knew the answer.

Thankfully, Pope John Paul II survived and played a major role, along with President Reagan and PM Thatcher, in the fall of communism.

I always felt very close to John Paul II, from the moment that he was announced in 1978.

My connection with John Paul II was rooted in our mutual experience of having lived through communism and knowing its ugly side.  Of course, Pope John Paul II lived under the Nazis too.  I always told my friends that John Paul II saw the two great evils of the 20th century, the Nazis and the communists.

Over the next 24 years, or until his graceful death in 2005, I always looked at John Paul II on TV and asked myself several questions:

What if he had been killed that fateful day in 1981?

How different would events in Poland had turned out?   Don’t we all remember the reception that he got in Poland?

Who would have made all of those trips to every corner of the world?  No one did it better than John Paul II! 

Yes, we can see now that John Paul II made mistakes in how the “priest scandal” was solved.  It was a stain on his record.  However, he still stands in my mind as one of the great figures of the 20th century, a man admired and loved by more than just Cathoics.

It was many years ago but it still feels like yesterday when I heard my mom’s emotional voice on the phone.

P.S.  You can listen to my show.  If you like our posts, please look for ”Donate” on the right column of the blog page.

 

We remember Mary Wells (1943-1992)

Motown had 32 # 1 hits.     Who recorded the first one?   

The answer is Mary Wells who was born on this day in 1943.      She died in 1992.   

Back in 1964, she recorded "My guy", a song that later showed up in the soundtrack of "Sister Act".

P.S.  You can listen to my show.  If you like our posts, please look for ”Donate” on the right column of the blog page.

May 13, 1967: Mickey Mantle hit # 500

On May 13, 1967, Mickey Mantle became the first switch hitter to join the 500 HR Club.   

He finished his career with 536 HR & 1,509 RBI.   The Mick also hit 18 in World Series games.

P.S.  You can listen to my show.  If you like our posts, please look for ”Donate” on the right column of the blog page.

1981: We almost lost Pope John Paul II

(My new American Thinker post)

Do you remember what you were doing when you got the news that John Paul II was shot? 

I was working for a US company in Mexico City and my desk phone rang:  It was my mother from Dallas telling me that John Paul II had been shot in Rome. 

It was an eerie feeling.  She had called me weeks before:  "Reagan was shot" said my mom.

I walked out of the office and saw people filling up churches to pray for the Pope.  I remember several nuns in tears praying the rosary.  The Spanish news reports were very grim.  I found the Voice of America and BBC in my little short wave radio and heard flashes from the Vatican. Several people in the office turned on the TV and we watched the video of the shooting for the first time.  

As with President Reagan, the early reports were confusing.  There were unconfirmed stories that the Pope had been killed. I remember turning to a senior partner in the office and asking the obvious question:  Has any Pope been killed before?  No one knew the answer.

Thankfully, Pope John Paul II survived and played a major role, along with President Reagan and PM Thatcher, in the fall of communism.

I always felt very close to John Paul II, from the moment that he was announced in 1978. 

I never felt that connection with Paul VI or John 23rd. (I'm growing very fond of Pope Francis.  I love his sincerity although we need to work on his views about wealth distribution.)

My connection with John Paul II was rooted in our mutual experience of having lived through communism and knowing its ugly side.  Of course, Pope John Paul II lived under the Nazis too.  I always told my friends that John Paul II saw the two great evils of the 20th century, the Nazis and the communists.

Over the next 24 years, or until his graceful death in 2005, I always looked at John Paul II on TV and asked myself several questions:  

What if he had died that day?  

How different would events in Poland had turned out?   Don't we all remember the reception that he got in Poland?

Who would have made all of those trips to every corner of the world?  No one did it better than John Paul II!   

Yes, we can see now that John Paul II made mistakes in how the "priest scandal" was solved.  It was a stain on his record.  However, he still stands in my mind as one of the great figures of the 20th century, a man admired and loved by more than just Cathoics.

It was 33 years ago but it still feels like yesterday when I heard my mom's emotional voice on the phone.

P.S.  You can listen to my show.  If you like our posts, please look for ”Donate” on the right column of the blog page.

 

The week in review with Bill Katz, the editor of Urgent Agenda

Guest:   Bill Katz, the editor of Urgent Agenda.  Iran war update.   Trump off to China.  Democrats react to Virginia.  NYCity budget.  Yogi Berra (1925-2015).  

Retire the old judges?

Retire the old judges?:

Didn’t they used to call this “age-ism”?

It would have been better if Gov. Abigail Spanberger had stood up to the crazy left and told them to drop the stupid idea.  Didn’t she run as a moderate anyway?  Well, she wasn’t very moderate when it mattered.  She cracked when the left-wing decided to rewrite the districts by violating the law.  The governor is weak and she’s exhibit A that there is no such thing as a moderate Democrat.

Click to read: https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2026/05/retire_the_old_judges.html

We remember Yogi Berra (1925-2015)

We remember Lawrence Berra who was born in St. Louis on this day in 1925.  He died in 2015.

Like a lot of kids of my generation, we got to know the post-baseball Yogi Berra. 

We remember him on Johnny Carson or other baseball events. We laughed and admired all of those quotes.    

Yogi Berra was a great player, a Hall of Famer and 3-time MVP.   He made the AL All Star Team 15 times and played on 10 World Series champions.

Did he really say all of those things?   I don't know but they were great.

P.S.  You can listen to my show.  If you like our posts, please look for ”Donate” on the right column of the blog page.