Country Music Icon Dolly Parton Dies At 80

by Kevin Burton    Sometimes at the movies, the writers ask you to suspend disbelief. For one 70s song, I couldn’t do it.    The song is “Jolene” by Dolly Parton.    In a quivering delivery, Dolly begs this Jolene character, “please don’t take my man.” I just never could buy that.    I thought, …

Note To Self: Make It Happen Already

by Kevin Burton    Sometime in the 90s when I worked at a photo lab, a co-worker asked me a question;.    “If you could do anything you wanted to do, what would it be?”    My answerer was something about spreading the gospel.    “What’s stopping you?” He asked.    His point was nothing …

Double Takes This Weekend In Twinsburg

by Kevin Burton   You know, if you’ve seen one twin, you’ve seen the other.    And you can see plenty this weekend, if you’re in the Cleveland area, at the 51st Annual Twins Days Festival.    Twinsburg, Ohio is about 26 miles south of Cleveland and north of Akron. The town of Millsville was …

Can True Love Be Found At A Flea Market?

by Kevin Burton    The Burtons love a good farmer’s market. And the local weather has been conducive to attending the outdoor version.    So this could happen pretty soon. Sign us up!    A farmer’s market of course, is the much yummier first cousin of a garage sale.    But what of a flea …

Pumping Life Into Super Sunday Won’t be Easy

by Kevin Burton    I’m trying to care. Honest to God, I’m trying.    I am a football fan. And I am going to watch the Super Bowl.    Somebody asked me the other day, “you going for Seattle or New England?” “I don’t care,” I said.    And that is mostly true. I would …

Opportunity Lost, Conscience, Laundry Clean

by Kevin Burton    I set the phone down in the office, just long enough to go downstairs and start a load of laundry.    How virtuous is that!    But alas, in doing so, I let a precious opportunity slip away. “Kicking myself” is not the half of it.    I don’t often leave …

Bombshells And Chill Pills, Slang In Our Times

by Kevin Burton    The 70s was the grooviest decade there ever could be.  I mean it was far out! I know because I was hip to the trip back then.    But to-ge-ther as we were, we didn’t invent slang. That has been spoken forever, and continues to this day.    Here’s a Dictionary …

Why Do People Hate ‘We Built This City’?

by Kevin Burton    I missed it, completely. It was totally over my head. I guess it’s just somebody’s else’s fight.    “We Built This City” by Starship was number one on the US Hot 100 40 years ago this month. It’s catchy. I liked it then, still do.    I loved the era when …

The Characters Behind 12 Famous Songs

by Dictionary Scoop    There’s a mixture of fiction and real life behind the people made famous by the hit songs on our list today.  From classic rock ballads to catchy pop tunes, here are 12 famous songs that feature people’s names—and the stories behind them. 1-Johnny B. Goode – Chuck Berry    We’ll start …

“You’re No Good” Singer Linda Ronstadt Is 79

by Kevin Burton    Gilbert Ronstadt was the owner of Ronstadt’s Hardware Store in Tucson, Arizona. He loved to play his guitar for this three children, two girls and a boy.    The kids formed a group called “The Three Ronstadts” and played at functions in the area.    One of the girls, you will …