Patty Duke is dead at 69

Those of us old enough to remember her old TV show and her role in some really good movies will miss Patty Duke. She was a really good actor even if her TV show was kind of stupid.-SJ Otto

From USA Today:

Patty Duke, the teen who won an Oscar for The Miracle Worker and later played "identical cousins" in her own TV sitcom, has died. She was 69.

The news was confirmed Tuesday by one of her representatives, Mitchell Stubbs.

"Anna 'Patty Duke' Pearce passed away this morning March 29, 2016 at 1:20 am," his statement read. "Her cause of death was sepsis from a ruptured intestine. She was a wife, a mother, a grandmother, a friend, a mental health advocate and a cultural icon. She will be missed."

For the rest click here.

Patti Smith Group - Easter

A story of sex, nudity, depravity and cheesy philosophy- book excerpts

Excerpts from Memoirs of a Drugged-Up, Sex-Crazed Yippie Tales from the 1970s counter-culture: Drugs, sex, politics and rock and roll
By Steve Otto

“Surely you’ve had a few women since you left Janet?” Tony asked me shortly after I walked into his apartment one Thursday evening. “At least one?”
“No,” I answered.
“You’re kidding!”
“No. I just haven’t found any women who want to sleep with me yet.”
“It’s been almost eight months.”
“I know.”
“We got to do something about this. Let’s go to the 7th Spirit. I’ll drive.”
So away we went, downtown to a club that I was just getting to know and hang out in a little bit. When we got there, Tony parked on the side of the street and we went in. We both went to the bar and got a beer. It wasn’t long before we were standing in one of the darker back rooms of the club when Tony introduced me to Connie.
“This is a friend of mine,” Tony said to her.
“Glad to meet you,” Connie said as she shook hands. “Any friend of Tony’s is a friend of mine.”
Connie was a short, blond girl with short, bobbed hair. She was very tan, wearing a white knit top and blue jean pants over her voluptuous body.
“What do you do for a living?” I asked.
“I’m a stripper at a club south of Topeka. I dance both topless and nude. I like it real well. I’m an exhibitionist. I like getting naked in front of people.”
“I’m a student and I work part time at the Kansas Union.”
She was the complete opposite of most women I knew in Wichita, who would tell me they would never go skinny dipping or have anything to do with nudity.
“I’m not an exhibitionist,” they said often.
They said it with the assertion that they looked down on anyone who was. Some women at the skinny dipping ponds would scoff at the idea they were exhibitionists and say that nudity was simply a natural state. But this woman was clearly proud to be an exhibitionist. This was the first time I ever met a woman who was this open about it. We talked for a while at the bar
“You want to come to my place?” Connie asked.
“Sure.”
She had an apartment in the middle of town. She had a few roommates, but her room was in a loft. So we went in through the tiny kitchen with yellow walls and white appliances. She turned on the light.
“You want a beer?” she asked. “All we have is Coors.”
“Sure. That will do.”
We sat and drank the beers then headed up the brown wooden staircase to her loft. It was somewhat barren except for her dressers and the mattress on her floor. We got to the bed and we both undressed.
This ended my sexual dry spell. The year 1977 marked the beginning of a lot of changes. I was still living in Lawrence and continued to do so for the next few years. But a lot had changed in the last few months. Not only was I changing, but the world around me was also changing.
In the fall of 1976 there were many changes in the political climate. There were new cultural trends as well. The freak culture I had embraced in high school was beginning to fade away. That’s not to say the drug culture was coming to an end, but the music, the look, the dress and hairstyles were beginning to change.

My encounter with Connie came in the spring of 1977. I came back to her house, a week later, for a visit. She wore a pair of shorts cut so tight to the crouch that the lips of her virgina literally hung out over the thin strip of her pants that ran between her legs. Her auburn pubic hairs were always sticking out of her pants. She had a white blouse on.
“Do you want to go skinny dipping with me and some of my friends?” she asked.
“Sure.”
“We’re going to this new place called Bromalset.”
I sat there on the beach with her and her friends. By then I wasn’t thinking much about being a freak. That era had passed. I was becoming a modern day Cyrenaic. I was dedicated to a life of hedonistic pursuit. I no longer sought out enlightenment from drugs, only enjoyment.
I continued to study various Marxist writings, constantly trying to develop my own political philosophy. I had read Mao’s book, Analysis of the Classes in Chinese Society. I liked the way that he expanded on the divisions of different classes in society beyond Marx’s two classes; the bourgeoisie and the proletariat. I especially liked the way Mao saw the lumpen proletariat as a potential revolutionary class, since I considered myself a member of that class at that time.
Mao insisted these people had to be cured of their dangerous habits if they joined the revolution. Other Marxists writers believed this class was useless, dangerous and could not be trusted. I had a job that paid poverty wages and I tried to supplement it with petty drug deals. Naturally I appreciated a leader and philosopher who thought people like me had revolutionary potential.
This was how it was in 1977.

Now available for $12.95

Memoirs of a Drugged-Up, Sex-Crazed Yippie

Talesfrom the 1970s counter-culture: Drugs, sex, politics and rock and roll

By The publisher

‘Big Bang Theory’ Lands a Sitcom Legend as Leonard's Dad

From News to Share:

The Big Bang Theory Season 9 has already brought some big surprises. And we've been introduced to some often heard about, but never seen characters such as Sheldon Cooper's great Meemaw, played by June Squibb. Now, we're going to get to meet a member of Leonard's family that has long been absent. His dad! Yes, apparently Leonard Hofstadter comes from great stock. The character, played by Johnny Galecki, already has a mother played by Emmy-winning actress Christine Baranski. And now he's getting two-time Emmy winner Judd Hirsch as his dad! So who was Dr. Beverly Hofstadter formerly married to?

For the rest click here.

Another St. Patrick's Day- 2016

From last year's St. Patrick's Day:

Saint Patrick was just a missionary. He probably did little to improve the lives of the Irish and instead came to the island to fill people up with mysticism. He never drove out the snakes because there never were any to begin with.

Many of us celebrate this day because we are all or part Irish. Some of us support Irish nationalism and the Irish cause, with the symbol of the Starry Plough.

For many people this holiday is just an excuse to get drunk. Maybe that is OK too. Don't forget to drink an Irish Car Bomb, an Irish Stout or (yuck) green beer.

SJ Otto

 The Sick Bed of Cuchulainn by The Pogues

Miley Cyrus speaks out on International Women's Day

Miley Cyrus actually suggested famous women stop focusing on themselves long enough to think of those who have to work for a living.-SJ Otto

From NME:

The singer wrote: "Dear women, you ALL are acting tacky AF! Why don't we overly (myself included) fortunate women come together and try to create and bring jobs to other women in desperate need of them so they can support not only THEMSELVES but their families!"

'Bee Man' gives his gardening tips

We called him 'Bee Man'. He lived in north riverside, on Coolidge I believe. 'Bee Man' would bring us honeycomb to sell at the store, and always had a square for me to take home and enjoy.  There was something that tasted so good in that 1" square piece of honeycomb as I chewed it. First it was the sweet nectar and then the comb, which was like gum only better. 

Honey is nature's perfect food. According to medicaldaily.com, a few of the benefits of honey are: it alleviates allergies, is an all-natural energy drink, it boosts memory, acts as a cough suppressant (not for young children), aids in sleep, treats dandruff, wounds and burns. It is reported that honey will build your immune system, fight cancer and helps with .... hangovers!  Probably the best part of it is it never spoils and is very easy to store.  

Another overlooked benefit that is a product of honeybees is beeswax.  Uses that you would never think about, but it is the preferred product used.  Ukrainian egg painters use beeswax in their craft. Coat nails and screws with beeswax and it will not splinter the wood. Applied to sliding glass doors, wood windows and drawers and they will open smoothly.  Need a good shoe or boot waterproof material? Use beeswax. Beeswax candles burn longer, brighter and remove toxins from the air. I use it on my gardening hand tools, pruners, trowels and shovels to keep them rust free. It's the best lock tight that I've found for small nuts and bolts. I'm sure there are hundreds of uses for beeswax that are still being discovered.  

Are you wanting to learn more about beekeeping in general or have some questions about what it takes and how often you'll get stung?  Are these bees that I will potentially have in my backyard the 'killer bees' I've heard so much about?  

Stop by Johnson's @ West 13th St. this Saturday at 10:00 for our "Become A Beekeeper" Seminar presented by experienced beekeeper Wes Wolken. Signups and a bit more info are online, so check it out and we hope to see you there!

Happy Gardening,

Marty Johnson

Owner - Johnson's Garden Center

We mourn the death of George Martin- “the fifth Beatle”

We are all feeling the loss of the death of George Martin. His name was on every Beatle’s album I ever bought. It is too bad he is gone. - SJ Otto

From Yahoo News: Famed producer and "Fifth Beatle" Sir George Martin has died at the age of 90. The man who contributed to some of the classic songs the iconic group put out over the years affected so many and the likes of Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr immediately took to their websites and social media to pay tribute. "I’m so sad to hear the news of the passing of dear George Martin. I have so many wonderful memories of this great man that will be with me forever. He was a true gentleman and like a second father to me. He guided the career of The Beatles with such skill and good humour that he became a true friend to me and my family," McCartney wrote on his site. For the rest click here: From Paul McCartney:  I’m so sad to hear the news of the passing of dear George Martin. I have so many wonderful memories of this great man that will be with me forever. He was a true gentleman and like a second father to me. He guided the career of The Beatles with such skill and good humour that he became a true friend to me and my family. If anyone earned the title of the fifth Beatle it was George. From the day that he gave The Beatles our first recording contract, to the last time I saw him, he was the most generous, intelligent and musical person I’ve ever had the pleasure to know. #RingoStarr ✔ ‎@ringostarrmusic God bless George Martin peace and love to Judy and his family love Ringo and Barbara George will be missed xxx

International Women’s Day- for 8 March 2016

By SJ Otto

It is international Women’s Day. For a brief history of the day, I repeat an article from February 27, 2011, posted originally on Wichita Peace and Freedom Party Examiner:

InternationalWomen’s Day was declared following the decision agreed at Copenhagen in 1911. International Women's Day (IWD) was honoured the first time in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland, March 19. More than one million women and men attended IWD rallies campaigning for women's rights to work, vote, be trained, to hold public office and end discrimination. However less than a week later on 25 March, the tragic 'Triangle Fire' in New York City took the lives of more than 140 working women. This event drew significant attention to working conditions and labour legislation in the United States that became a focus of subsequent International Women's Day events.
Since that year Women’s Day is now celebrated all over the world, on or near March 8. It is celebrated in many countries, including China.

Here are some important Women who have shaped today's music scene:

Grace Slick was a ground breaking singer for the Jefferson Airplane. She also sang for the Jefferson Starship at times and she had her own solo career for a while. When Slick started singing acid rock music there were few other women playing that role. Today many women sing for hard rock bands. Slick was perhaps the first of them.

Yoko Ono, オノ・ヨーコ Is known for being the wife of the late Beatle John Lennon. But she has also been an artist, singer, songwriter, film maker and peace activist.

Katy Perry Is an up and coming singer, songwriter, and actress. She is an example of today's new women in music.

Patti Smith Is known for her contributions to the punk music scene of the 1970s.

Lady Gaga reveals family learned of her sexual assault during Oscars performance

This is interesting as Lady Gaga released a song "Til it Happens To You." Now it seems there may be some real experience behind the song. – SJ Otto

From Today:

Lady Gaga, who performed a moving rendition of her song "Til it Happens To You" at Sunday night's Oscars, has revealed that she had previously kept her status as a survivor of sexual assault a secret from her own family.

The song has been lauded as an anthem for survivors of sexual abuse and assault, though it's likely been a comfort to many other types of victims and survivors as well. Gaga made no effort to downplay this powerful element of the song on Sunday, with dozens of assault victims walking to the edge of the stage to join her toward the end of her performance.

RELATED: Lady Gaga delivers powerful Oscars performance of ''Til It Happens To You'

In an Instagram post Wednesday, Gaga said that it was also a moment of truth for her entire family. The day after her performance, she received a phone call from both her grandmother and aunt "because [she] never told them [she] was a survivor."

For the rest click here.