John's New Christmas Album

What would Christmas be with the music of one Johnny Mathis. The larger one is his new one just being released. The red one, upper right, I have nearby, looking at me right now. The one to the right in the ski togs I had many years ago and wore it out. Mr. Mathis is still around and singing on a regular basis, he does a lot of shows. I saw him perform at Lake Tahoe, Harrah's South Shore Room, I think he was one of Bill Harrah's favorites. Bill was old fashioned, he liked his entertainers to "dress up," which Mathis always did.

The room darkened, stayed that way for a short time, a spotlight suddenly went on, and there, on stage, framed in that light, Mr. Mathis. And then, he sang, sang and sang, his hit songs. After many of those hits, "I bet you didn't think I could talk, did you."Entertainment personified." He and I were both born on the 30th of September, he is a few years younger though, and, apparently much more active. In Reno we occasionally went to the running track at the University of Nevada, and watched Johnny train, he was a "world class"athlete in his younger days. He is a big part of our Christmas Music ....... Glad he is still around....... "Chances Are" you will like his new album.

Chalk one up for the good guys .....................

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A judge ruled Thursday that cheerleaders at an East Texas high school can display banners emblazoned with Bible verses at football games, saying the school district's ban on the practice appears to violate the students' free speech rights.

District Judge Steve Thomas granted an injunction requested by the Kountze High School cheerleaders allowing them to continue displaying religious-themed banners pending the outcome of a lawsuit, which is set to go to trial next June 24, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott said. Thomas previously granted a temporary restraining order allowing the practice to continue.

School officials barred the cheerleaders from displaying banners with religious messages such as, "If God is for us, who can be against us," after the Freedom From Religion Foundation complained. The advocacy group says the messages violate the First Amendment clause barring the government — or a publicly funded school district, in this case — from establishing or endorsing a religion.

Gov. Rick Perry, who appointed Thomas, a fellow Republican, to the district court to fill a vacancy, issued a statement welcoming the ruling.

Novice strikes it rich .... with gold

Armed with a basic metal detector, a first-time treasure hunter in Britain reportedly has uncovered a trove of Roman-era gold coins that experts believe represents one of the largest such finds in England's history.

The cache of coins - Roman solidi dating back to the 4 th century - is estimated to be worth £100,000, or about $160,000 in U.S. dollars.

According to the Helmel Gazette newspaper, the man - whose name has not been made public - reportedly bought a beginner's metal detector from a shop in the Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, area. A few weeks later, the man returned to the shop, showed the shopkeepers 40 gold coins, and asked them: "What do I do with this?"

The shop's owners, David Sewell and Mark Becher, were stunned. They told the novice treasure hunter to notify authorities of his discovery, the paper added. When he obtained the required permits, Sewell, Becher and others returned with the man to the discovery site.

"We went with them and took with us a couple of slightly more potent machines and we pulled 119 more coins out of the ground," Sewell told the Daily Mail newspaper. "These are 22 carat gold, they haven't got any damage and they came out of the ground looking like the day they were made."

"BINDERS FULL OF WOMEN"

A MESSAGE from the Democrats, put out for publication on blogs and other social media.....

"Binders full of women"—those four words encapsulate everything Mitt Romney's offering American women in this election. If that phrase makes you shake your head, help us make sure Romney is not setting policy on everything from health care to equal pay for the next four years.

Check out this email from our finance director, Hildy Kuryk, on why Romney just doesn't get it, then chip in $5 or whatever you can to fight back.

Friend --

Last night, Mitt Romney demonstrated beyond a shadow of a doubt to American women that he is not with us.

He does not share our dreams, or understand our experience. When asked about workplace equality, he only offered a revealing anecdote about "binders full of women."

Compare that to our president's response: "These are not just women's issues. These are family issues, these are economic issues, and one of the things that makes us grow as an economy is when everybody participates and women are getting the same fair deal as men are."

Romney was referring to a BINDER - FULL of resumes of qualified women in his state to fill jobs there. He felt there were NOT enough women on the state payroll ........ 

Statewide earthquake drill, ShakeOut, planned Thursday morning

More than 9.3 million Californians were expected to pause their routines Thursday at 10:18 a.m. to participate in what was being billed as the “largest earthquake safety drill in U.S. history.”

Across the state in schools, offices, hospitals and for the first time, Union Station in downtown Los Angeles, people were asked to drop, cover and hold on during the annual Great California ShakeOut drill. Los Angeles Metro trains were also slowed down at 10:18 a.m. as if a real earthquake occurred.

“This is the first time we’re focusing on commuters for a ShakeOut event,” said John Bwarie, a spokesman for the U.S. Geological Survey. “There’s about 250,000 just in Southern California, based on numbers from 2008, that commute across the San Andreas Fault.”

In Union Station, where more than 75,000 people pass through each day, a recording will broadcast over the loudspeaker asking commuters and passersby to drop to the ground, take cover underneath something sturdy and hold on until the shaking stops.

Metro trains across the county will slow down to restricted speeds -- slow enough to stop quickly and safely if there are obstructions on the track -- until all train operators on the line report back that the line is clear.

Trains won't be stopped, and the entire inspection should take about 15 minutes, said Marc Littman, a Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority spokesman.

“This is part of our emergency procedure, and the simulation drill is good training for us,” Littman said. “The whole process is during off-peak hours, so there will be minimal impact on service."

One more Mathis story

Mathis ran track and was quite athletic when he was in school, and contined to train while he was on the road.

Word got out one day that he was going out to the University of Nevada track in Reno to workout. At that time I lived not to far from the campus, and walked over.

The stands were pretty well filled mostly with girls, a nice crowd, just to see him workout.

Johnny Mathis

Watching TV, switching back and forth between the Little League game and a PBS Johnny Mathis special ..... got me to thinking of the last time I saw Mathis ..

Late 50's or early 60's, Mathis was at the South shore Room at Harrah's at Lake Tahoe, South Shore. I had seen him before, and he was a favorite, living the the 50's you had to like him. Spent a lot of time listening and dancing to Mathis, Tommy Edwards, his Christmas Album in December was a necessity.

Somehow, probably my friend Joe Francis at Harrah's, I got two "comps" to go see Mathis. I think I was with an old school friend, but regardless, went up the mountain to Lake Tahoe.

We were seated at a table for four, and the maitre de came over and asked if he could seat two people with us, we said sure.

The seated an elderly man, who was accompanied by a younger man. The younger man introduced his companion, Henry J. Kaiser, retired industrialist and millionaire,who was retired and lived at the lake. The younger man was his secretary.

For those who don't know the name, Kaiser Aluminum and other companies, built ships during the war, he had a car named after him, the Henry J., among other things.

We chatted some, ate a delicious meal, comps are always better, dinner was over, the lights dimmed .... the black stage curtains were closed, a small bright spot was turned on, and there was John, in the spot, all the women, and a few men, sighed. He was a good looking guy.

John started singing his first song, to a rousing ovation, "Chances Are," and in the darkened room, our companion, Henry J. Kaiser, an old man, arose, and started walking around the room. He even walked down close to the spotlighted Mathis, not sure if he saw him or not, to get a better look.

His companion finally got up and ushered his boss back to the table. In the darkness I am not even sure if many people saw him, but security made no attempt to get him. We were told that he had done it before .... no one else, other than Henry J. Kaiser could have gotten away with it.

Mathis just sang, all the favorites, one right after another, each song when he started was met with an ovation.

About half way through, at the end of one song, Johnny finally spoke, "Bet you didn't think I could talk, did you?"

I had a friend who lived in Vegas, was a fairly close neighbor of John and knew him rather well.

Almost any Mathis song brings back a flood of memories.