Open Thread - 6/16/23 - This will be naughty and bawdy
My older brother, let's just call him Mikey, enrolled at Blinn Junior College in 1967. The intent was for him to play football, but one of his final games in high school resulted in a concussion that could have killed him. He is 6 ft., wasn't eager to do tryouts against 6'5" rejects from University of Texas. So much for getting a scholarship.
So, he enrolled in a few classes. Before any tests, he would come home, and Mom would coach him.
But, he heard this rumor about a whorehouse nearby. Major academic distraction. That would be The Chicken Ranch in La Grange, Texas.
Well, it cost $8.00 for the entertainment. Parents were not going to fund that. So, he played pool in the student center. Gambled. Won.
He said his first trip was in a white truck packed with about 6 guys. He knocked on the door, said a woman resembling and dressed like Aunt Jemima opened the door. "What are you here for?" she said.
These teens were silent, and Mikey spoke up, "Girls."
The woman let 3 guys in, decided the others were too young.
Mikey remembers them being led to a room with lots of youngish women, directed to "pick one". The venereal disease of the day was the clap. All girls/women had medical cards displayed by the bed saying the Dr. had tested them.
Well, he started skipping class, playing lots of pool, became a regular at the famous house. While his interest in academics declined sharply, his respect for that type of working woman grew, remains in his psyche to this day. They work. They are not bad. They need respect. They need to be paid. Like in Las Vegas. And in Amsterdam.
Mikey told me he tipped generously.
Now, I have not exactly tied this with anything in particular, so I will disclose that during a Couples Cooking, my Dear One played music.
Including this:
Now, I do not expect this OT to bring out personal whorehouse tales, but hope it gives people some real thought about the connection between music and real life.
It isn't that often when a direct connection between some goofy rock song and someone you know really happened.
So, what is new, different, and exciting in your lives?
Comments
I woke up
not-dead again this morning, which I regard as something of a miracle. So that calls for some Rare Earth.
Let's hear it for all the singing drummers... And a big nod to the folks who were there for this show.
Twice bitten, permanently shy.
Cal Jam!
Hey UFS! So were you there at Cal Jam?
Capt. QMS and I both were. Were there any other folk here in this small circle of friends by chance at Ontario Motor Speedway April 6, 1974? Next year is 50 years. Holy passage of time! Love the vids of Cal Jam performances on youtube. Rare Earth was awesome too, I liked them prior, but they hit it out of the park for me, even with the short set. Earth, Wind, and Fire were surprisingly good too. ELP and Black Sabbath were both on or had just finished full tours, and I had seen both of their full shows just a couple months prior, so the festival short sets were great, but not the full monty they gave on their own tours of course.
We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.
Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.
both - Albert Einstein
No, unfortunately-
I was stuck in the wrong part of the country. The best show I got to see in '74 was Zorro and the Blue Footballs, and only because the band I was in at the time opened for them.
However, at least that band had a decent name: Stony Armadillo and the Hardshell Possum Band. That stint did a lot for me musically, and I got to turn punk at just the right time...
Twice bitten, permanently shy.
Good morning!
Mikey said the working women were all very attractive, and that there were lots of chicken coops full of clucking chicks.
If anyone just made a rhyme in your heads, keep it there.
If anyone has any opinion, news,photo, joke,or well wishes for EL, feel free to drop a line.
TGIF!
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
inflation
struck La Grange. ZZ says it costs $10 to get in.
Thank you for the open thread, otc.
heard this song this AM on The Gulch FM radio
in Jerome, AZ.
Sort-of related. Something about aging out.
They then played The World is a Ghetto by WAR.
It's where we go when we age out.
Thanks for the essay!
Good morning otc. No less than Rancid Ronnie Raygun
said:
I find such usages or humor or whatever it is to be unfair to the "ladies of the night". It is called the oldest profession and the key word there is profession. A service agreed upon in advance is provided for a fee, also agreed upon in advance. That is legit.
What RR and his ilk did and do is a betrayal of trust, having been elected (hired) to perform certain acts in accordance with set principles and procedures, they instead do the bidding of high rolling elites without regard to those principles and procedures as well as ethics and the law.
be well and have a good one
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
Sex work
is work.
The righteous hostility toward the women who do that kind of work is one of the few irrational prejudices that is not capitalistic in origin. It comes from religion, one of the rare conflicts between the two founding pillars of our civilization.
I cried when I wrote this song. Sue me if I play too long.
In many
cities in Germany there are redlight districts where
one could, for a nominal fee,
take a walkthrough the parlour and
‘peruse what was on offer’
my understanding that all the workers(supposedly men
were on ‘offer’ as well) were regulated, had health checkups, etc, . .
no point to my comment except a contrasting view
from long ago
and far away
Oh, a senior nco once told me
a shot of whiskey in the men’s room
afterward was ‘insurance’
give it a minute for thought
Ya got to be a Spirit, cain't be no Ghost. . .
Explain Bldg #7. . . still waiting. . .
If you’ve ever wondered whether you would have complied in 1930’s Germany,
Now you know. . .
sign at protest march
Men have always
been on offer: just look for the girl in the black dress...
Twice bitten, permanently shy.
I visited Amsterdam a few years ago.
The local guide lectured while we floated on a barge through the canals.
As we floated through the Red Light District, she said that taking photos of the naked or mostly naked women in the windows was impolite and not allowed. The women depend on customers coming to look at them as their way of advertisement. It hurts their business for photos to be spread around by people who were not on the business premises.
Furthermore, the guide said the prostitutes were very respected, and their average income was 80,000 Euro per year. Way more than a teacher or nurse.
Different strokes for different folks.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
Hi Fridayers
Hi all, Hey OtC, Thanks for the OT!
One of the greatest gulfs musically between my wife and I (we both loved Zeppelin and ELP for instance) is ZZ Top. She does not care for them, and I love 'em. Have seen them at least four times since first in '74. I love the song La Grange, it may be Mrs. dysto's least liked song. I can't even think about playing it when I plug in. I was in La Grange but did not see 'the chicken ranch'. Last half of 80's, don't know if it was still open then or not.
Never had the sort of experience those places are for, but did stop at a few a few times. Let me explain. First time a few of us seniors on the baseball team at Big Pine High School would follow the school bus to Death Valley for a game, in a vehicle. It was 5 hour drive to find a team to play up there sometimes. We went for league play at Shoshone (D.V. Junction), and non-league games at places like Beatty and Parhump/Indian Springs, Nevada. Incidently, there was an umpire in Beatty with a bad eye, I called him One-eyed Harry Hill. He didn't let depth of field get in his way calling balls and strikes.
Anyway we dragged a little behind the bus, the five of us, so we could do things that were not acceptable on the bus with the JV girls team on board. Smoke, cuss, etc., since we were nearly fully grown-up, at 17. Going east from Big Pine, at the junction over in NV where you turn south to D.V., there is only one big set of buildings, and a sign advertising a two mile airstrip (you can land a bomber on that!). You guessed it, the Cottontail Ranch. So we pull in, a bunch of 17 year-olds, and a few of us went to to see if they would sell us beer. We knew that was the only thing would might maybe could acquire there, we had enough for that. Which of course not, we were not old enough, and apparently that was obvious, fairly embarrassing, but it was worth it for the 17 year old boys to see a room full of scantily clad ladies. There wasn't anything like that in Big Pine.
Late 70's to early 80's I would go to Death Valley for what was usually the best weekend in CA birding annually, for eastern warbler vagrants on Memorial Day weekend. A good weekend could tally 20 species of warblers! Plus other eastern vagrants like Upland Sandpiper or Mississippi Kite, a LeConte's Sparrow one year, and so on. Hitting all the green spot oases out in the desert, it is called the D.V. Loop and goes from Furnace Creek through Scotty's Castle to Oasis NV, ending at Deep Springs (College) CA, from where 26 miles to Big Pine and a store, gas, motel, a 24 hr. diner.
In 81 & 82 after the big weekend I would wander around the nearest towns in Nevada selling signs, or trying to, and bird the loop again the next weekend which was often also very good for vagrants. I did have a good casino/bar sale in Goldfield, NV, a small one in Tonapah. Great makin' money in the middle of nowhere. So I made sales calls, in a suit, at a few of these lady businesses. Could not get in the door. Another failure to launch. This summarizes all my not very worldly experience with these businesses.
Certainly these are more honest businesses and trades than Big Pharma, health care, the MIC, financial, and a boatload of other things considered honorable which are much further from that.
I see we are having Electric Flag this evening at Joe's Blues... mmmm can't wait!
Sorry to go on so long ... Gotsta get back to work... have good ones all!
We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.
Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.
both - Albert Einstein
You are just full of fun stories, dysto!
I am so sorry your wife doesn't appreciate ZZ Top, and the brilliance of Bill Gibbons. Lotsa sound coming from 3 musicians.
I have seen them many times. I have met the drummer, a really good man, who spends a lot of time giving help to recovering addicts.
Last evening, we went out for dinner at a favorite restaurant, and were treated to 5 alligators and maybe 30 turtles. Kids, and grown up kids, were feeding them French fries. Dear One ate all of his.
The one man band played for 3 hours. A night that included covers of tunes by Vince Gill, George Straight, The Eagles, Jimmy Buffett, Neil Young, The Hollies, etc..., and ended with Waltz Across Texas.
He had a great voice.
When we checked in the motel, we found the door lock needed repair, the wifi didn't work, and the tv remote didn't work. It took about 45 minutes for the staff to get things fixed, and the property owner came to oversee it. At some point, I mentioned I needed wifi to get some work done. The owner asked what kind of work I did, I told him I was a lawyer. His eyes got big.
When I got home today, I had an email from the motel notifying me my room payment was fully refunded.
Happy bird watching!
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981