Big Leather Couch

Man, has it been hot here. Do not get me wrong, I prefer the heat to the cold, but the first two weeks of June have brought us 90 degree days continually. What is going to happen in July/August when it really gets hot?

I know Songbird from "The Ice Box" lives in the desert and they get higher temperatures and it is hot with or without humidity...but it sux getting in a car that has been sitting in the sun for 5 hours. 

To set the record straight, I am on Facebook (and have found it very useful in keeping up with family and friends and renewing old friendships) and I am on Twitter, but that is more a marketing tool for Music On The Couch.

Speaking of that, Monday's show featured interviews with Jeremy Bustillos, who talked about his life as a member of the US Navy Band, and Bryan Lee, who was fantastic. The man should be known by everyone. He mentored Kenny Wayne Shepard. Buddy Guy has him play on his albums - and plays on Bryan's newest - and is also a real person.

He does not pull punches at times and then at others showed his love of entertaining.

Hope you check it out...go on, just download it anyway!


And now...for Mimi of "Mimi Writes", because...well, because I want to give her a reason to smile...

"Ring Ring! Viiiibbbbbbbrrrrraaattte. Buzzzzzz Buzzzzz
It's Mimi on the line. Electronic gadgets have taken over our lives it seems. I can't go anywhere without seeing someone talking on a cellular phone or fixated on one of the newest toys. Doesn't it annoy you? On the other hand, how did we ever get along without them?
Call or text 1-800-Bloggingham. We'll chat!

1. How important is a cell phone in UR life?
Well, first I would never use UR...I do not use text-bonics. I spell it out.  But to answer the question, I use it for personal, for work, it helps me check emails and facebook and twitter, so I guess it is important - OH and let us not forget "Angry Birds!"

2. R U addicted to UR cell phone?
Addicted to it? No.  When I was on the cruise I did not miss the lack of phone. Are you like 12? See ARE YOU...YOUR, like that! = ]

3. R U a texter, an emailer, or a photo sender?
IR, IR, IR  (see how silly that looks! bwahahahahahahaaaaa)

4. In the normal course of a day, about how many times do U touch UR cell phone?
When I look at it in the morning when I wake, when I put it in my bag to leave, when i take it out at work, every time i leave my desk...umm alot

5. R U guilty of distracted driving?
Not any longer I am not.  


6. What is the 1 app never invented that needs to be made for UR cell phone?
One that would not allow people to use text-bonics and force them to spell the real words.

No, I guess -

One that would allow me to connect to my library of tuneage at home

7. What annoys U the most about cell phones these days?
That people use R U and U and all those other non-words

You better like Comcast, because they will now be buying NBC Universal to add to their other properties...Telemundo, USA, CNBC, Bravo and Universal Studios.

Don't like them and they can take away your programming. This is not really good news, is it?

Freakin Mimi does her Queen's Memes and i was hoping for one today to have some fun with and she turns around and sends me back to the time i was 8 years old, going to guitar lessons in a smelly room with a guy who would only let me play "Little Brown Jug" over and over...

OK Mimi....this is ALL your fault:

Welcome to The Queen's Meme #68.
It's called the Basic Music Theory Meme 101
It's simple! Answer the questions and/or identify the following very basic music symbols and tell us what you think they mean. You can answer correctly (don't peek in the dictionary!) or you can spoof 'em. I'm talking to you, Coopernicus. Can you snark something this academic?


I have a music degree which isn't a bit fair and caused me great angst trying to choose the correct answer or the funny ones. So I did both. What fun!! Hope you enjoy. And please play along with us!

Our friend MIMI from "Mimi Writes" does memes..in fact, she is the queen of the Memes...Now my one problem is that some of here memes are way too darn long.

Like this weeks...25 questions! I have a hard and fast rule...no memes over 10 questions...so i grabbed the first ten and if you want to check out the other 15, you can go look here.

Welcome to The Queen's Meme #63
Let's talk Christmas. I'm in a naughty and nice mood.
Some are one-word answers, others need a little explanation.
Feel free to elaborate when the blog spirit moves ya. And above all else...Have fun!

1. Amazon.com or the Mall
Maybe not Amazon...but online works better for me...going to the mall means knocking over three old ladies, pushing two kids to the floor and have a discussion with 1 police officer.



3. Expensive or sale tags
Depends on what I need...the gift counts, not the price tag

4. Long list or short
This year...way short

5. Wrapped packages or gift bags
See #2

6. Eggnog or vodka
Gentleman Jack

7. Have you finished your shopping?
bwahahahahahahahahahahahaaaa...oh, you were serious?



9. Are you Scrooge or Santa's Helper?
Wut's it to ya?

10. Did you ever catch Santa Claus in the act?
Sure, and he almost got away...but we caught him and locked him away until Easter.

I love to tease Queen Mimi that I can break out of her dungeon anytime I like...well, it is true, but I still like to tease her...

Welcome to The Queen's Meme #45, also known as the What Would You Do Meme.

1. You start out on your road trip. You are 90 miles down the road with not a care in the world until you remember you forgot the most important ingredient needed for your vacation. What was it and would you turn around and go back to get it?

Most important? hummm...is that my camera? my bathing suit? my money? If money, I would go back and grumble the whole time. Anything else except for tickets needed, I guess I could replace while away.

2. You are standing in the checkout line at the grocery store. A homeless man walks by and asks for food from your grocery cart. What would you do?

This bothers me because I do not like pan-handlers...I give to the food bank on almost every trip to the store. When they are collecting for homeless shelters or the military, I always grab their list and buy some items off of it...pan-handling, I do not like...though I have purchased food from a fast food place when I know there will be a homeless person outside.


3. The mailman delivers the wrong mail. It is your neighbor's. You can't stand your neighbor. You realize that inside the small brown package there must be something very secretive, very intriguing, and possibly incriminating. What do you do?

I have my own sex toys - thanks..what? OH, well when you said brown package I presumed...but unless it smelled badly or was leaking something that burned me, it would go on their front step...


4. Photography Class 101. First exam. The slide show you are presenting is the wrong one. You accidentally left last weekend's party pics in the camera instead. The whole class is watching....

Did the professor actually say nudist slide shows were not acceptable?

5. You find your boss' wife on Facebook. She is obviously carrying on with another man in blatant fashion and behind his back. What is the first thing that pops into your head when you see your boss the next day at work?

Pops into my head?...well that would be "gee dude, you need to check out facebook"...but nothing leaves my lips

6. Your plane lands in the wrong vacation spot but you like this one better.

Can I switch reservations to this place without losing my money? Was I meeting any friends at the other place, cause then I am gone on my way there...

7. You walk out of the doctor's office. The news after your yearly checkup is very very good but the news for the person you'd been sitting beside and chatting with in the waiting room is very very bad. You see them in the elevator on the way out and they are in tears. You...

Offer them a tissue if I have one...nothing more

The Federal overseers have decided to visit the facility Nancy was to work at on Thursday and Friday... this means she can not do the open enrollment those days, so she is coming home early...GOOD NEWS!!!...bad news is that this will probably add another trip to her schedule... as these things do...changes are at hand...Nancy and the person she is working alongside were able to reschedule a third facility they were to service in two weeks, so they are staying until the end of the week...oh my!

Off to Dallas once again this morning...will try and check in with your blogs. Have something to post the next couple of days, so don't forget to stop by and send all your friends to visit...The Couch is getting empty!

From our wonderful friend MIMI of "Mimi Writes"" she puts out a little meme each week and people play along.

Sometimes I do...sometimes I don't...today, I do!

The Blog Blizzard Meme

1. An unexpected blizzard occurs. The power goes out for 10 days. There is no food in the house, no gas in the car, no heat, no TV, no computer, nada! You are snowed in and can't get to the store for supplies. How would you survive? How would you get out of this mess?
No food in the house...bwahahahahahaha never happen, I have a freezer full of prepared meals. And there is always whiskey! Wanna come over?

2. Tell us about your last snowball fight.
Way too long ago ... have not had a snowball fight since probably 2005.

3. You have been asked to make a snowman. What is his name?
Whitey...well, he certainly would not be called anything else...well, unless he was in Manhattan and after a few days he would be covered in grime that comes from the cars and stuff, so then we might rename him.

4. I have mountains of snow outside my door. I would like to make snow soup. What is the recipe?
Two scoops of snow and 2 ounces of whiskey. Warm it up slightly and sip away

5. It is Day 5 of the Big Blog Blizzard. You have been hunkered down for a very long time and in danger of losing your sanity. Your blog neighbors (that would be us) come callin' to see if you're OK. We peek in the window. What do we see? What are you doing in there?
Stop looking at Nancy and I..this is private!

6. Who is the flakiest snowflake in your life? Past or present.
Simple question...even simpler answer....ME!

7. You are Snow White. Which dwarf is your favorite and why?
Dopey..go on you figure it out...pssst, Dopey stoke one up dude!

8. What is the most fun you've ever had inside during a snowstorm?
If you would stop staring in the window, I might just be able to answer this question.

9. What was Jack Frost nipping at?
My whiskey, which is why he met my blow-torch.

10. Due to blobal warming (that's blog + global for all you non-blog speakers) your snowman has prematurely melted. What was his last request?
Some whiskey of course!

And of course his name WAS JACK...GENTLEMAN JACK...silly Queen!

Just a little heads up. From September 4th through September 15, we will be in pre-automated mode here on The Couch.

I know the in thing is to ask people to guest host on your blog if you are going to be away, but HECK-A-DOODLE, y'all know what a narcissist I am! Why would I let someone else take over here!!! LOL

So, there will be posts every week day during that time. Most will be TUNEAGE TUTELAGE - NEW MUSIC posts. I have some most excellent artists to bring to your attention during my time away.

So please remember to come by and leave your comments and your votes on the polls, because these people know all about it. As I was pre-planning I ended up having multiple email exchanges with some of the people that will be featured.

I let them all know that this is not just some fluff 'focus group' that my guests tell it like it is and so far I have not had one complaint.

So, moving on...The Queen has resurrected a fun Meme of yore...Take it away O Queen -

Somewhere in a faraway bloggiverse on an island with a palm tree swaying in the breeze, a message bottle sits side by side with a Pina Colada and a cute little striped umbrella horizontally tilted in the beachy sand.

Did YOUR bottle make it to land? Have you checked lately?

There are now 285 bottles floating in the bloggy ocean just waiting to be mysteriously delivered to a tropical island near you. It's time you added yours!

Here are the rules:

You are about to send a virtual Message In a Bottle across the Blog Ocean.

Leave a message in the sand or on the bottle. Write anything you wish. Be a pirate or a poet. Serious or silly. Rant or ruminate.

Anonymous or not.

What message would you like to send out to the universe?

Message In A Bottle Meme

<a href="http://sendmessageinabottle.blogspot.com/"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5170633357549090402" border="0" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCmfeVdez5rKFdTeoReXUcIlhP17mMAnjXIF3oFDiGqiWUlknMkdjjSC2wMcHe_q3VilSaIqBIn1N9k7F7o2KJpYa2x4_jAB8qf5i7qX3ojx1-fegJ5JI3xBnZotXdHqYhR-cGCA/s200/logoblack.jpg" /></a>

1. Compose a message to place in your virtual bottle below.
It can even be ANONYMOUS message. I will not reveal your identity.

2. Right click and Save the graphic below

3. Use a graphics program of your choice to place the message on the picture

4. Post the meme and these rules on your blog

5. Tag a minimum of five people - or your entire blogroll - to do the same.
Notify them of the tag.


Your virtual bottle will remain afloat in the blogosphere ocean for all blogernity (That's a Mimism for blog + eternity.)I will add it to the master list of message bottles when you let me know you've completed the meme.

THIS IS THE FIRST TIME I'M ASKING YOU TO TAG. PLEASE DO!

I will also add it to Message In a Bottle blog with a link back to you.

OK, so there you have it...

Y'all are tagged...call it a virtual wedding present, I want Mimi inundated with Message In A Bottle notifications!

I have done three in the past and you can see them HERE.

Here is one I did for this meme...thought it was most appropriate with only 10 days left!!!!! WOOOO

Yes, Queen...I did alter the artwork...

bwahahahahahahahahahaha (clickie4biggie)

So, if you want to participate, just click on the banner...

The Queen says...

Every week, the Queen Of Meme, the glorious MIMI, puts up another meme at her palace. If you wold like to visit, just click on the graphic above.

Now, if you end up in the dungeon for any of the 10,000,000,000,000,000 reasons the Queen seems to come up with, y'all just reach out to me and I will have my band of merry pranksters break you out quick as two shakes of a lamb's tail.

This week, the Queen put on her Birkenstock's and jeans and flannel lumberjack shirt, pulled her hair back into a pony-tail and tied it with a wreath of sunflowers grabbed a lighter and a bong and came up with this ditty...

The scene: You are at Woodstock. You go alone but meet up with a beautiful man/woman. You spend three days together.

Put yourself inside the peace & love vibe. You can choose to be stoned or straight. I put it in the story for the sake of reality. Just don't inhale in this meme.
This is the conversation you have upon meeting or you can make it into what you overhear others say.

It makes no sense and has no continuity by design.

You must fill in the familiar blanks to finish the story. Some are song lyrics. You may use more than one word to fill in the blanks. (The blanks will be shown in my purple)

Oh! I forgot to tell you (must be the smoke in here) You have a new name. It must a combination of the first letter of your first name, the third letter of your middle name and the last letter of your last name.
Peace out! Somebody might wanna turn on a fan in here.

1. "Hello, my groovy name is VNI.

By the looks of those flowers in your hair, you must be Melanie.

Didn't they tell you? No Sha-na-na allowed!

2. Come on, Baby, light my Canned Heat .

When I lay me down to Swami Satchidananda I pray the HECK-A-DOODLE my Ravi Shankar to keep.

If I Bert Summer before I wake, I pray the Band my Tim Hardin to take. (Hey, this is Woodstock...well, they didn't use condoms much back then...or did they?)
**puff puff**

3. Because the first time ever I saw your Hendrix I realized that what the world needs now is Ten Years After a sweet Incredible String Band. Besides, I always feel guilty watching you Quill when I should be climbing a Mountain.
But I dig it!

4. Have I told you lately that Creedance Clearwater Revival(s) you? Hey! Don't step on that Santana !!
Dude. That guy is really weird but.....

5. There's a party in my sleeping bag and half a million of my Sly & The Family Stone friends are coming over tonight and we're gonna Jefferson Airplane my baby off my mind. Darn the luck. It's raining Crosby Still Nash & Young

Luckily, Papa was a Joe Cocker and I'm on a first name basis with the cops.
**puff puff**

6. I'm really digging your Blood Sweat & Tears but that Sweetwater has got to go. Those flowers in your hair are beginning to smell like The Grateful Dead.
Have I told you lately that The Who you?
** puff puff**

7. I'm beginning to see Richie Havens in those trees over there. Do you see it?
Out of all the millions of hippies here, you are the most Johnny Winter.

But I dig it, man.

**puff puff**

8. I'd use all my blood, sweat and Keef Hartley just to get next to your Joan Baez.

Love is free but I'd really like to buy that guy's Paul Butterfield.
It says "Make joints not Country Joe McDonald. " Far out!

9. I'm grateful to be Janis 'cause there's a bad Joplin rising in Jefferson's Airplane. But that's okay, 'cause Joe Cocker said I could get by with a little John Sebastian from my friends.

10. Oh, by the way, your Arlo Guthrie is on fire. But I dig it.

Anyone got a light???

I was able to mention all 32 bands that played at the original Woodstock Music & Arts Fair in 1969. OK, so some of them sort of worked, some of the worked and some of them were very very poor selections...but I think I stayed within the spirit of the meme...unless that is reason # 765,987,562,091 in The Queen's "Dungeon Offenses Handbook"....

Finally...OK, the picture...this is 1970 - 16 years old at a party where we were the band for the evening...

Maybe music will soothe our savage Queen...

So, Mimi, the Queen of the Memes has a new site for y'all to visit...you can find it HERE.

Each week she puts up a new meme and threatens to put people in the dungeon if they do not comply.

As I have a secret key and have built a secret passage way, I can get in and out of the dungeon anytime I want...

That said..I thought I would play along this week...

WBLOG TV: The Meme

The place where unbloggable news happens and sources are never a secret. You are the creator, producer, writer and news anchor of the WBLOG nightly news. It is your job to deliver the news in your own style from your own blog.

And oh, you get to make up the news! Here's your assignment:

COUCH NOTE: All audio is short - 10 seconds or less today...


1. The Weather Channel: Give me your personality forecast. Are you sunny, wet, windy, or cloudy? Why?
I am sunny. Life is great...I am hosting a big-a** party in 4 weeks with my wonderful Nancy and most of our friends will be there with us. (Not all and that makes us sad..and the single guys coming are sad too)

2. The News Channel: What is the breaking news story of the day in your world?
I won the lottery. YUP! Huge dollars...

OH wait, that was my dream last night --- never mind

3. The Economic Channel: How are things on the economic front? And more importantly, do you have ideas to save the planet from financial ruin?
My financial front? bwahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
I have a hard time keeping myself from financial ruin..how the heck can I save the world?

Now, if I could win the lottery...

4. The Entertainment Channel: Give us the latest blog celebrity gossip. Dish it!
Someone is getting married...someone is not coming to the party...pout


5. The Sports Channel: Make up a sport, give your team a name and choose five players from the list of names on the Mr. Linky list. What are the rules of the game?
The sport is Gopher Fishing. Our team is the "WHATCHANAMES". The team consists of Bud Weiser, Twisted Sister, Jen the Dust Bunny Hostage, Mimi Lennox and Vannie.

The rules are to find a long pole...swing it round and round over your head and make noises to attract the gophers. When the gophers show up, your teammates must try to herd them into a small pen surrounded by peppermint sticks and then try and coax the gophers to eat Live Saver candies dangling from string on sticks.

6. The Comedy Channel: How will you make us laugh today? Tell us a blunny (that's blog + funny for all you non-blog speakers)
A gopher walks into a bar with a string hanging out of his mouth...

7. The Religious Channel: Make up a blog religion. Tell us why your blog church will save our souls.
SAY HALLELUJAH MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS AND WELCOME TO THE SACRED CHURCH OF THE COUCH...YES INDEED MY FELLOW TRAVELERS, WE ARE ON A JOURNEY TO SALVATION THROUGH THE SIMPLE ART OF SITTING ON OUR A**ES!

8. (but who's counting?) The Soap Opera Channel: What is the name of your soap opera?
"As The Couch Turns" in yesterday's episode the intrepid travelers were all seen stting on their a**es on The Couch...


Now to go bust some bloggers out of a dungeon....

OK, so, some of you know that I have been accused of leading breakouts from the dungeons of Bloggingham Palace at various times over the last 3 bloears (that's blogger + years - ah, HECK-A-DOODLE who do I think I am The Queen?)

Anywho, she has a new blog (click on the banner above) and a new meme and because she is just so durn sweet when she asks, I have decided to comply and participate.

All Hail The Queen:
This meme is all about using your imagination. Step outside the proverbial blox (that's blog + box for all you non-blog speakers) and free your inner blogginess. Answer these ridiculous situational questions and post them on your own blog. Here's the situation for today. We won't tell a soul. And remember: Don't end up in the dungeon.

1. You are in court. You are in deep doo-doo. What did you do?
Well, I didn’t do anything! NOTHING I TOLD YOU! It was NOT me! Show me the DNA evidence!!! What? Cameras? Showing me unlocking the dungeon?

No…deny deny deny…Not me…someone who looks like me...that must be it.

2. Your blog just became a best-selling book. What is the title of the book?
“What’s Under The Cushions On The Couch”



3. It is midnight. The phone rings. It is Michael Jackson calling from the Great Beyond. What would you like to ask him?
Why the hell are you calling me now? You never called me when you were alive and could have loaned me some cash…go call Bubbles. Though I hear he has made it on his own and might not take your calls.







4. You are having your future told. The fortune teller looks in the crystal ball, screams and leaves the room in fright. What did she see?
A future where I lose all my hair?




5. You're blogging along minding your own blusiness (that's blog + oh...you know) when Google unexpectedly puts a Objectionable Content Warning on your blog. Your own mother is afraid to enter! What, pray tell, did you do to warrant it? How did this happen?Just how objectionable can you be? Do tell.
(First of all wouldn’t it be bloginess, not blusiness???)
I didn’t do anything. It was not me…but I know who did it..it was BUD from WTIT Tape Radio - The Blog”.
What? Don’t believe me? Go over there and see if there is not a warning because he has a potty mouth…go on.


6. You suddenly become God Of The Universe. What would your first Commandment be?
That on November 5th, 2009 The Queen is inundated with more Globes than even her little heart could imagine.

7. And finally, what secret would you like to tell the Queen?
(pssst pssssst psssssst pssssst psssst whisper) It said tell The Queen, not y’all…..