Iowa – Go Retire Psychiatrist

Florida Man News!

We saw the news story about the Florida Man who recently got busted by the cops in Ormond, Florida after he stole a BMW and when he was stopped for going 130 mph (about 5 mph over the local speed limit), he thanked the police for saving him from the extraterrestrials who evidently had teleported him into the BMW. Well, that explains everything!

This is just further evidence on top of what has already been thoroughly documented by Dave Barry in his 2016 documentary book, “Best State Ever; A Florida Man Defends His Homeland.”

Did you hear about the blackout in Florida?

People were stuck on the escalators for 4 hours.

I used to have a ton of Dave Barry books. I got hooked on his humor shortly after I graduated from Iowa State University back in the 1980s. I was in a post graduate program in Medical Technology in a Des Moines hospital and back then you could always find a newspaper on some tables in the cafeteria.

Over the years, I lost many of his books during moves. Sena would ask me something like “Do you really still want all these Dave Barry books?” I knew better than to say “These are very important examples of timeless prose exemplifying humor literature that will be excavated in the distant future by archaeologists who will preserve them in hermetically sealed glass bookcases so people can admire the covers.”

I just threw them out. Please don’t tell Dave.

Anyway, I have managed to preserve a photo of Florida Woman, taken in Miami many years ago. Let this be a lesson to you: never call your wife “Florida Woman” unless you want to live the rest of your life in a refrigerator packing box—although you can use duct tape to seal off those cracks to keep the wind and snow out.

Did you know there’s a song titled “Florida Man”? Believe it or not I heard it a couple of years ago on the Big Mo Blues Show on KCCK radio. It’s by Selwyn Birchwood who is from—that’s right, Tampa, Florida. The song was released by—you guessed it, Alligator Records.

And here’s Iowa Man:

Jim with 48 inch pusher plow shovel and new coveralls

Big Mo Pod Show: “California Bluesin”

Well, I listened to the Big Mod Pod Show today and I have a couple of thoughts. Big Mod mentioned something about some kind of an AI assistant maybe selecting some records on the KCCK Facebook site. He didn’t sound all that pleased with the choices the AI makes, specifically with the John Lee Hooker tune, “Mr. Lucky.”

Big Mo Pod Show 085 – “California Bluesin”

I may have the wrong understanding about the “AI guy blues buddy” on the Big Mo Facebook page but if it’s the AI guy like CoPilot or Gemini, then it would be great if you could deactivate it somehow. I know I get pretty annoyed with AI when I search the web (not always, but sometimes it’s annoying).

I just happen to have the 1995 CD called “The Very Best of John Lee Hooker.” Far be it from me to be the judge of what’s the best for any blues artist, but I think the CD is pretty good, though I haven’t listened to it in a while. The other thing I have to admit is that I’ve found differences of opinion on is whether “Hobo Blues” is a 12-bar blues type number or not.

If Big Mo says he can’t understand why Hooker would confine himself to a constraining 12-bar blues song, then I’ll have to agree with him.

Then, of course, I ran into something else I don’t know about and that’s something called “trance blues.” Supposedly, John Lee Hooker did trance blues. How I find out about things I don’t know anything about is to peck around the internet and I found this link that defines it as something that has “a strong electronic component.”

I don’t know about “electronic” and I noticed some authors describe trance blues as “repetitive and hypnotic.” Does that mean that 12-bar blues is not trance blues?

So, here’s the thing. I’ve got my own pesky AI assistant Gemini that I never ask for any advice from, but it never misses a chance to make a point about some query I have for the internet—like trance blues.

Gemini says Hooker’s “Boogie Chillen” is an example of trance blues and also mentions that “Hobo Blues” is another example of it.

I don’t know if I can get this straight. Is 12-bar blues an example of a chord progression pattern and is trance blues a genre of blues which has a repetitive, hypnotic rhythm? It’s over my head.

Sena Buys Me a Bigger Snow Plow Shovel!

Sena bought me a bigger snow plow shovel because we’re getting a fair amount of snow lately. I’ll try it out tomorrow because we’ll be getting a couple of inches or so starting tonight.

The new snow plow shovel is 48 inches wide. The one she got last year was 36 inches wide. We have 6-foot-wide sidewalks (really a trail) and with the driveway, it’s kind of a chore.

I never checked out the maker’s website until today. The About Us section indicates they are based in Iowa, starting in 1996. The company name is JM Enterprises, hence the website name jmenterprisesdotcom. All the materials are made in the U.S.A. but I couldn’t see what city they’re based in. Another interesting thing about the website is that they have a link to The Farmer’s Almanac, which I clicked on and from there found out that there are two versions of The Farmer’s Almanac—I guess.

The one called just The Farmer’s Almanac is going to stop publishing soon. The Old Farmer’s Almanac is not going to stop publishing.

It makes me wonder if the Snow Plow company will switch to displaying a link to The Old Farmer’s Almanac.

The other nice thing about the web site is the Shovel Safety page. Bob Vila recommends their snow pushers. The guidance for snow removal using both snow pushers and scoop shovels sounds like solid common sense. It’s another feather in Iowa’s cap.

What’s Up with the Van Meter Iowa Visitor?

OK, so last night I watched Don Wildman’s Van Meter Visitor (supposedly a mysterious Van Meter, Iowa cryptid) episode first seen over 100 years) from his show Beyond the Unknown. The season 3 episode first aired in October 9, 2021, and I’d never seen it before.

Wildman said that somebody investigated the history of this creature who was spotted in 1903 in Van Meter, Iowa and concluded that the 8-foot-tall monster with a huge shining beak was actually a great hornbill—a pretty big bird but hardly 8 foot tall (more like 3-4 foot).

Supposedly, according to some experts, this big bird escaped from an exotic pet enthusiast. It’s never seen in America and is native to India or Southeast Asia.

I can’t find anything on line that says anything about this explanation. By most accounts, the Van Meter Visitor is a cryptid that is unexplained to this day. I think there’s still an annual festival for it in Van Meter.

The cast of Expedition X (season 4, episode 2) also did a TV episode about the Van Meter Visitor on September 9, 2021. I might have seen it, but I don’t remember the conclusion. I’m pretty sure the team didn’t think it was just a big bird. I don’t know why the Expedition X episode appeared about the same time as the Beyond the Unknown episode. Maybe Don Wildman and Josh Gates joked about the Van Meter monster over lunch one day and decided they’d both do a show about it.

Hey, I’m open to the great hornbill explanation, but so far, I can’t find any links to web articles that agree with it. Heck, even AI says “There is no connection between the great hornbill and the Van Meter Visitor.” I didn’t ask AI; it just pipes up because I can’t block it.

If any readers know about the great hornbill explanation for the Van Meter Visitor, drop a comment!

A Bolt from the Blues!

The title of this post is inspired by a short comment I got today from an Iowa City musician named Ed English. It’s on my blog post from April 14, 2024 entitled “KCCK Big Mo News and More.” I blog a fair amount about the Big Mo (John Heim) Blues Show and the Big Mo Pod Show.

Ed says “Always available on the web and the KCCK App, too… ;0)”

I’m not up to speed on emoticons, but I wonder if it means amazement, although about exactly what I’m not sure. I really appreciate hearing from him.

Anyway, it turns out that Ed English is a long time Iowa City blues music scene guy and he’s part of The Beaker Brothers Band.

Ed (informally known as Uncle Ed) also started the Tanya English Band. Ed and Tanya are married.

I listen to the Big Mo Blues Show every Friday night. When he does the part of his show called The Shout Outs, he mentions Dr. Tanya, healing with the blues. I suspect a lot of the Shout Outs are to local blues musicians, many of them known by nicknames—I think.

I’m honored to get a nod and a wink from Uncle Ed. Now, can we talk about my MayRee’s Hand Battered Catfish tee shirt design?

Success of Johnson County Civil Mental Health Court in its First Year

I’ve been looking for other ways that Iowa addresses mental illness and its impact on homelessness and other adverse outcomes since my last post on the issue.

It turns out that, despite Iowa ranking 51^st out of all U.S. states for the low number of psychiatric beds according to the Treatment Advocacy Center statistics (in 2023, it had just two beds per 100,000 patients in need), a new mental health court established in in May of 2023 has made substantial progress in reducing the number of crisis contacts, psychiatric hospitalizations, and days in the hospital. Arrests, jailings, and days in jail were also reduced.

Participants in the new program include the University of Iowa Health Care, Iowa City VA Hospital, the Abbe Center, Guidelink Center, National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI), Shelter House, and several other mental health service agencies in Johnson County.

The Johnson Mental Health Court continues to operate since June of this year when the pilot program’s funding from the East Central Iowa Mental Health Region was supposed to have ended on June 30, 2025, due to the change in mental health regions. This is a program for patients under involuntary mental health commitment that avoids incarceration and placement in a state psychiatric hospital.

This civil mental health program didn’t exist until well after I retired and I hope for its continued success.

Luett, T. (2024, April 24). Civil Mental Health Court in Johnson County finds success in first year. The Daily Iowan. https://dailyiowan.com/2024/04/24/civil-mental-health-court-in-johnson-county-finds-success-in-first-year/ Accessed July 30, 2025

Mehaffey, T. (2024, April 14). News Track: ‘Challenging, rewarding’ first year of Johnson County mental health court. The Gazette – Local Iowa News, Sports, Obituaries, and Headlines – Cedar Rapids, Iowa City. https://www.thegazette.com/crime-courts/news-track-challenging-rewarding-first-year-of-johnson-county-mental-health-court/ Accessed July 30, 2025.

Extreme Heat Warning for I-80 Corridor

There’s an extreme heat warning from the National Weather Service for much of the I-80 corridor today and tomorrow. Heat indices of 95-110+ are expected.

Cooling Centers in Iowa City, IA

Cooling Centers in Coralville, IA

Consider donating to the Iowa City Shelter House Beat the Heat drive!

Extreme Heat Watch This Week in Eastern Iowa!

There’s an extreme heat watch starting tomorrow through Thursday in eastern Iowa. Heat indices of 95 to 105+ are expected.

There is a list available of cooling centers published by KCRG although that was published on June 20, 2025, so it is not current.

Heat safety tips are at this link.

After The Rain II

We were playing cribbage and Sena noticed a lot of birds out in the back yard—as well as the woodchuck again. We both grabbed the cameras and forgot about cribbage for a while.

You have to gaze at the pictures long enough to see there’s more than one or two birds perching in various places.

That juggler guy is back.

Svengoolie Movie: “The Black Cat” vs The Weather Report

The atmosphere for the Svengoolie TV show airing of the 1934 movie “The Black Cat” was nothing short of electric—as in electrical storm. I thought the mood of ambivalence in the film was firmly set for about the first half hour of the movie. That was how long the TV station weather alert was on screen, shrinking the viewing size of the movie somewhat to make room for a map of the counties at risk and the scrolling warnings about which east central Iowa counties were affected by the flood watch and guidance about what to do.

Anyway, the film is not related in any way to Edgar Allan Poe’s short story of the same title. The movie was directed by Edgar Ulmer and starred Bela Lugosi as the Hungarian psychiatrist and ex-WWI POW (that’s right, I said “psychiatrist”), Dr. Vitus Werdegast; Boris Karloff as the satanic and necrophiliac Hjalmar Poelzig, the former WWI commander of the Fortress Marmorisch and a famed architect who built an ultra-modern mansion on top of the grisly site where thousands of soldiers were killed. Vitus and Hjalmar play chess for the souls of the aspiring novelist Peter Alison (David Manners) and his wife Joan (Jacqueline Wells) who, unfortunately get stranded there along with Vitus after the bus carrying them crashes on the way from the train station to various hotels and Disney World.

The mood of ambivalence I thought was evident, contrasting the creepiness of Hjalmar and Vitus grimly gambling in a chess match for the lives of Joan and Peter and the comicality of the two policemen interviewing the Alisons and the two heavies about the bus accident. The lieutenant and the sergeant arguing with each other in a “My hometown’s better than yours” exchange reminds me of Abbott and Costello. I recommend you see it for yourselves on the Internet Archive; it’s about 35 minutes in.

Contrast this with the hysterical cat phobic Vitus (despite being a psychiatrist) throwing a knife at one of the many black cats prowling around the house after it ejects a hairball on the floor! Or Hjalmar thumb wrestling with Vitus until the latter chooses to pick up what looks like an emery board from an array of much larger knives and bazookas on a large table—and prepares to flay Hjalmar with it. This would only make Hjalmar look even more excruciatingly well groomed, along with the precisely trimmed haircut carefully smeared with a pound of Brylcreem.

I think “The Black Cat” is a hoot. It’s a litter box full of nuggets of melodramatic ailurophobia with here and there a hairball of ambivalence but hey, nobody’s purr-fect!