I heard this one and recognized Aretha Franklin’s voice before Big Mo ever announced her on KCCK.
I also heard a little more about MayRee and her hand-battered catfish. It’s tenderized to perfection, but you already knew that. Big Mo said her establishment is located at what sounds like the corner of Highway 73 and Snowflake Road.
I suspect it’s not on any GPS. I might have to ask somebody to draw me a map.
See the CDC Weekly U.S. Influenza Surveillance Report as of the last week of October, 2022. While Iowa’s activity is listed as “minimal,” the Iowa Dept. of Public Health points out that individual cases are not reportable in Iowa. The best way to prevent influenza is to get the flu vaccine.
You know, what I wonder is whether there is a place for ugly juggling? Because that’s what I do. There might be such a thing as an ugly juggling stage in learning to juggle, and could there be an Ugly Juggling Society?
I could be the president. We could have annual meetings in warm climates and juggle ugly until we drop our balls. Careful. We could have ugly juggling contests, live music, and a hog roast.
I tried juggling my wife’s socks and even a cold or heat pack we got from the Iowa City Police. Don’t worry, I was not placed under arrest. It was a complimentary gift from a member of the local police force who attended the opening of the newly renamed James Alan McPherson Park in Iowa City.
I think I might be ready for the bronze trophy for getting 10 throws, more or less consistently (OK maybe a little less).
If you think my juggling is ugly, you’ve got to see the scandalous cat juggling event. I would never stoop that low, especially since I’m allergic to cat dander.
You can see the world’s largest dinosaurs exhibit at the Science Center of Iowa in Des Moines, Iowa from October 15, 2022 to April 16, 2023. It’s a traveling exhibit, so see it before it thunders off!
We saw these Blue Jays having breakfast in our back yard trees this morning. They’re pretty comical. They were also eating some kind of seeds they dug out of the trees. I can’t tell what kind of trees they are now that the leaves are all shriveled up.
I looked through an old bird book, Birds of Iowa, by Stan Tekiela. It doesn’t say anything very specific about what Blue Jays eat except the usual insects, fruit, seeds and nuts (like acorns and peanuts). They’ll eat raw eggs and baby birds. They also cache food.
If you can tell what kind of nut or seed that Blue Jay has in its beak, please let me know.
I was listening to John Heim aka Big Mo on the Big Mo Blues Show (radio KCCK 88.3) last night and he was talking about this time of year, calling it “Indian summer.” He second-guessed himself about calling it that and even wondered aloud whether it might be “politically incorrect.” Sometimes names are hard.
All of my life I’ve know that this time of year, which can be pretty warm and dry for autumn, has been called Indian summer.
Honestly, I have never given any thought to the term “Indian summer.” I looked into it and it turns out that the term can be offensive to Native Americans (indigenous peoples). One article pointed out that the American Meteorological Society removed the phrase from its official glossary in October 2020.
That was an eye opener for me. It also jogged my memory. I remember hearing about the name for the opposite time of year in North America when I was working as a land surveyor’s assistant and drafter for consulting engineers when I was a young man. It’s called Blackberry winter. According to the Farmer’s Almanac, it’s the time of year when there is a brief period of cold weather in the late spring about the time blackberries are in bloom.
It turns out there are a few other names for the season in which certain flowers bloom during the cold snap, like Locust winter and Dogwood winter.
Alternative names for Indian summer have been proposed; one of them is simply late summer or “Second summer.”
I guess Second summer is okay, although I wonder if we could come up with something snazzier and analogous to Blackberry winter. There are some flowers that bloom during that time of year. How about?
Marigold summer
Zinnia summer
Sunflower summer
I got these ideas from a web article entitled “Indian Summer Flowers; Summer Season Flowers in India.” I realize the meaning of the word “Indian” in this article refers to the country of India, which highlights another complexity of names. On the other hand, marigolds are the flowers a lot of people plant in their gardens in North America.
I also found a web site which calls the Black-Eyed Susan, “Indian Summer Black Eyed Susan.” This one didn’t connect the flower to India. I guess you couldn’t apply the same rule above to rename it to something like Marigold Summer Black-Eyed Susan—too confusing.
So, just call it a Black-Eyed Susan and leave it at that. Sometimes names are hard—which makes us think a little harder about the names we choose.
I heard John Heim aka Big Mo on the blues show tonight on KCCK radio 88.3 and he actually spelled the name of MayRee, the name of the cook who makes that good hand-battered catfish; it’s better because it’s battered and so the legend goes.
I knew a cook a long time ago in Austin, Texas, her name was Miss Mack. She ran the student cafeteria at Huston-Tillotson College (now Huston-Tillotson University) in Austin, Texas way back in the 1970s. It’s one of the country’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). And it’s one of the oldest.
Some students made fun of Miss Mack’s food. Some were brave enough to eat it. I was one of them, but I did make a Church’s Chicken run occasionally. Church’s Chicken was a fast food joint that got started in San Antonio, Texas in the early 1950s.
I also heard this old number by Eric Clapton, Going Down to the Crossroads.
As many of you know, I often listen to ‘da Friday Blues show on KCCK radio broadcast out of Cedar Rapids and Iowa City. Last Friday, he told listeners his email address and invited fans to get in touch with him. I can’t remember ever hearing any KCCK radio show host make that invitation.
So, I did. I sent him a message last Friday night telling him how much I appreciate his show, the Big Mo Blues Show. It airs fantastic blues music every Friday night starting at 6:00 PM.
John actually got back to me yesterday. We both got a big kick out of the whole thing. I’ve never done anything like cold-calling or emailing a celebrity—because that’s what John is. We shared some memories and really got a charge out of that. He’s a great guy.
And he runs a great show. So, give a listen to John Heim aka Big Mo every Friday night on KCCK 88.3 FM in Cedar Rapids and Iowa City. You can listen on internet radio if you’re not in the area.
And if you like Big Mo’s show, let him know, bigmo@kcck.org.
Learn about the use of intranasal Esketamine for Major Depressive Disorder at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics here.
Have you ever wondered if anyone ever made a movie about an attack on planet earth by fried rubber chicken livers? Boy, am I glad I’m not the only one. I suppose I could check the MeTV channel to see if any such film was ever aired by Svengoolie.
What do you mean you never heard of Svengoolie?
I used to watch Svengoolie a long time ago. It’s this guy called Svengoolie, played by Rich Koz, who hosts really awful horror movies. I could watch them for about 10 minutes before I had to switch to something which wouldn’t bore me or make me gag—which I realize often can’t be done nowadays.
Svengoolie would make corny jokes and get rubber chickens thrown at him. That was actually the best part of the show.
Part of what made me think about this was reminiscing about the early 1970s when I lived at the YMCA and worked for a consulting engineer company called WHKS & Co.
You got a single sleeping room at the YMCA and there was no kitchen. Frankly, it was for old guys who had no place else to go and for young guys trying to find out how to go somewhere else.
I ate in cafes a lot. I also picked up a lot of Kentucky Fried Chicken take out. I realize it’s called KFC nowadays. But back in the 1970s you could openly buy a box of fried chicken livers as a side dish at KFC. I think I began eating them because they’re actually a pretty healthy food item if you prepare them right. You could get a generous serving of them. They were occasionally a little tough to chew—a little on the rubbery side.
You can’t get any franchise owners to admit they sell them now. You’ll see web articles that mention you can still get them at what they call certain “regional” stores. You can also maybe still get KFC chicken gizzards. Neither is on any official menu.
The connection here is fried tough chicken livers and bad old horror movies hosted by Svengoolie who makes corny jokes and dodges rubber chickens. I can easily imagine somebody making a throwback classic B Horror movie called “Attack of the Giant Fried Rubber Chicken Livers.”
Wouldn’t that be great?
Try watching Svengoolie sometime. You might not like the movie, but you’ll get a big kick out of Svengoolie.
Go Retire Psychiatrist 