Happy # 80 Rod Stewart

We say happy birthday to Rod Stewart who was born in the UK on this day in 1945.

We first heard about Rod Stewart with the release of "Maggie May" and "Reason to believe" on the B-side.  It was one of his best selling 45's.

After that, he had a bunch of hits in the 1970's like "Tonight is the night",     More recently, he is recorded songs like "My foolish heart" and traditional ballads.

Rod recorded lots of songs over the years.    My favorite is still "You wear it well" from 1972.

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

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Baseball family stories: The Boyer brothers

As a boy, I remember the Boyer brothers playing third base in New York and St. Louis.  

Back then, there was no ESPN so we read box scores, the weekly Sporting News or ran home to watch the afternoon games.

Want some brother trivia?  The Boyer brothers hit home runs in game 7 of the 1964 World Series.  

As I recall, Ken Boyer was a pretty good hitter:  .287 BA with 282 HR & 1141 RBI.  He was the 1964 NL MVP.  

Clete had the misfortune of playing third base when Brooks Robinson was winning gold gloves.

Clete hit 162 career HRs at a time when 20 HRs was a pretty good year. He played in five straight World Series with the Yankees, 1960-64!

Clete played on the 1961 NY Yankees or the magical season when New York won 109 games and Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle chased Babe Ruth's record.

By the way, older brother Clad also played in the major leagues.  He pitched in the mid-1950's or a few years before Clete and Ken.

P.S. Check out my blog for posts, podcasts and videos.

"Mojito" makes me think about Cuba's future

We spoke with Brian Lloyd French about his book "Mojito".

We would definitely recommend the book.  It is a good read.  It also made me think about Cuba's future, a topic of interest to many of us.

I happen to be optimistic about Cuba's future.  The island will probably go through a confusing transition after the Castro brothers die naturally or some other way.

My guess is that the US will step in and provide the kind of cash and assistance that the new government needs.  Also, Cuban-Americans in the US will be a part of remaking Cuba, from a communist country to a new democratic republic. 

Yes I am optimistic but also realistic enough to say that the transition will be hard.

Read Brian's book.  It is a good and compelling story.  At the same time, it will make you think about a future Cuba. 

Click here for our chat with Brian L. French: