Old-school news, just in time
by Kevin Burton My most recent place of employment was a three-story church, which had, on the third floor, a gymnasium. I almost never went up there because my work was on the other two floors. But the whole time I worked there, there was a basketball on the floor, in the office, …
Continue reading “The Last Jump Shot Of A Confirmed Gym Rat”
by Dictionary Scoop Social, economic, and technological changes, along with the emergence of new consumer habits, have led to the disappearance of certain jobs that were once popular and profitable. Here is a list of ten English words describing occupations and professions that are rare or have become obsolete: 1-Alewife Did you know that women …
Continue reading “A “Knocker-Upper” Isn’t What You Think It Is”
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 …
Continue reading “Pumping Life Into Super Sunday Won’t be Easy”
by Kevin Burton Those color-coded national weather maps always showed the true snow calamity hitting other regions. We in Central Kansas were to be spared. But there were breathless local forecasts calling for eight inches of snow on Saturday. My “rule of half” said we would get about four. Sure enough, by …
Continue reading “The Weather Outside Was Cold, Not Frightful”
by Kevin Burton With its march to number one, inexorable as the steamrolling force of the trucks it portrayed, “Convoy” by C.W. McCall ruled the radio road 50 years ago today. Ruled both lanes, the pop lane and the country lane – double number one. But make no mistake, Convoy is a …
Continue reading “Ain’t She A Beautiful Sight? ‘Convoy’ Turns 50”
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 …
Continue reading “Bombshells And Chill Pills, Slang In Our Times”
by Kevin Burton I’m supposed to be good with words, but sometimes there just aren’t any. I’m having trouble expressing my distress at the violent death of Actor/Director Rob Reiner. Reiner and his wife Michele were found dead Sunday and their son Nick is now facing two counts of murder. Sadness, disbelief, anger, …
Continue reading “Farewell To The Meathead, Closing Credits”
by Kevin Burton My very first ecstatic sports moment came via a baseball wild pitch. The Cincinnati Reds won the 1972 pennant by scoring two runs in the ninth inning of game 5. First Johnny Bench hit a tying home run. Then with two outs, Pittsburgh pitcher Bob Moose uncorked a game-ending wild …
Continue reading “You Never Forget Your First Hate (Dodgers)”
by Kevin Burton My sister and I had one last shared musical moment, in the days before her death Aug. 25 of last year. We had thousands of them over half a century together. What I wouldn’t give to have a few more of them now. The final one came last August, …
by Kevin Burton This bit of Burton family lore started small, sprung up unexpected. We had a maid named Mrs. Long. This was before the basement at my father’s house in Yellow Springs, Ohio was finished, when you could still practice hockey on roller skates and shoot a plastic puck into a 4-by-6 …
Page 7 