I wonder if it would have helped...

If instead of using strange names like the Buick Regal or the Ford Taurus or the Dodge Magnum, the domestic auto makers had used names that Americans could more easily relate to. Think about these naming possibilities for cars made in the good old U.S.A.: Atlanta Peach, Philadelphia Freedom, Dodger Blue, Seattle Rain, Yankee Clipper, Golden Gate, Chicago Bear. OK, so some could have sport team tie-ins. In fact, a model might be sold as the Chicago Cub in one area and as the Oakland Athletic in another. The possibilities are nearly endless.

Is it ever likely to happen? Nope, because the Big 3 are still caught up in thinking that we're living in the days when we knew the difference between a Chevy Bel Air and a Biscayne. As the Boss would say, those days are gone, son, and they're not coming back.

The L.A. Sky

The stars are on the ground not in the sky in L.A.

I'm not sure where we went wrong and lost our way, 'cause

The dreams die hard for those who sleep and wake in L.A.

(Click on the photo to see a larger version.)

The poet who wrote Her Song of Hunger...

We earlier posted a poem, Her Song of Hunger, by Brad Buchanan of Sacramento. Here is a photo of Brad with his three-year-old daughter Nora, the inspiration for much of his work. If you would like to find out how to order Brad's poetry collection, Swimming the Mirror, just Google the phrase Roan Press. Nora will thank you.

What is it exactly...?

That USC Trojan fans want out of the college football bowl championship series? One can only guess.

Cutting through the fog...

There seems to be a great deal of confusion over what exactly is ailing the Big 3 U.S. automobile companies, apart from a recession, poor leadership, a lack of focus on vehicles that get excellent gas mileage (which should be the real job one), new ideas and a proper vision of the future. A Sacramento-area car dealer, Scott Lasher of Lasher Auto Group, did a succinct job of clarifying matters in his comments to the Sacramento Bee on November 30, 2008. Lasher said that the number of dealers selling U.S.-brand cars will have to shrink. Four of his five major dealerships sell foreign cars.

Domestic automakers "built a business plan on owning 75 percent of the market... and they now have 45 percent of the market. The reality is, there are too many dealers, the domestic side more than the imports."

Sugar Mountain is out now!

An earlier posting, based on the information available then, indicated that Neil Young's retro-release of a November 1968 concert - entitled Sugar Mountain - would be placed on sale on December 12th. In fact, it was released today, Tuesday, December 2, 2008.

This is a CD/DVD audio-video release, similar to James Taylor's One Man Band. The NY concert was recorded and videotaped on the evenings of November 9-10, 1968. We've only had the chance to hear a couple of the tracks, but the recording sounds crystal clear and clean.

Neil Young was still just 22 when he performed on these dates at the Canterbury House on the campus of the University of Michigan. Let's hope that the Ohio-based fans of Shakey can get past this minor glitch.

These are the...

Albums (music CDs) recommended in the earlier post on Rick Nelson ("They called him a teenage idol...").