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Okay I admit it. Yes I watch American Idol. I keep telling myself I will stop watching this show. It is not a talent show but a popularity contest. It is not who has talent, but how many times can you dial the phone while lines are open, still, I admit it, I watch it. This year, the top two were both country and it got me thinking…

As I sat watching American Idol I realized I am a rocker… I love rock and roll so I am not a huge fan of country…I am not saying I dislike it, just not a huge fan.  However, I must admit, this all did remind me of what a big fan I am of Johnny Cash. I mean come on Johnny Cash should be put right next to Elvis. After all what Elvis did to rock and roll, Johnny Cash did to country music. 

At times, it is hard to just look at Johnny Cash as country. His music had a rockabilly influence and he belted the blues, wailed gospel, sang folk, and had an inner rock and roller. So to call Mr. Cash a country star doesn’t serve him the justice he requires and deserves.

To get into the business, Cash presented himself as a gospel singer but no one at sun records was buying that and he recorded his first single “Cry Cry Cry.” It hit the country charts at number 14. Not too bad for his first record. His second single was “Folsom Prison Blues,” that one reached the top five for country, finally recorded “I Walk the Line,” and he had a number one hit and it even crossed over to the pop charts at number 20.

He was like no other performer. When Cash appeared at the Grand Ole Opry most of his counterparts were in bright colors and wore rhinestone outfits. Not Johnny. Nope he stuck to the bad boy of country and wore black, each and every time and achieved success as “The Man in Black.” To me, this made him more mysterious and I loved the fact that he rebelled against the country western facade.

Cash left Sun records to record with Columbia Records. He had such hits as “Don’t Take Your Guns to Town” and “Ring of Fire.” He also met singer June Carter. Now of course we all know he struggled with drugs and with Carters help, Cash was able to move forward and continue to record not only with his wife June Carter but with others including  The Highwaymen with Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, and Kris Kristofferson.

Cash was interesting as he was a country singer who had an induction into the Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame in 1992, and then he went ahead and went on stage for the Lollapalooza alternative rock tour. How’s that for a country singer?

I think my all time favorite album was an album of covers called American IV: The Man Comes Around. Here we all get to listen to his interpretations of cover songs such as Nine Inch Nails’ “Hurt” Depeche Mode’s “Personal Jesus” The Beatles’ “In My Life” and “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face.” These songs are haunting and show you the demission of Johnny Cash.

Sadly, Johnny Cash died of complications from diabetes September 12, 2003.  They called it diabetes, but I just can’t help but think, the sweetness of his life went away when his wife June died on May 15, 2003.

No matter how you look at it, Johnny Cash was an Icon of the 50s and 60s music, and continued to be an icon until the day he died. We cannot think of music without thinking of what this man did the not only country music but many genres of music. I think of Johnny Cash as a true artist that had versatility, style and a lot of soul.

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I attended several rapture parties this weekend because radio evangelical and con artist Harold Camping, the 89-year-old founder of an independent a Christian radio station said it was the rapture this weekend. Of course he also predicted it in 1994.  Thanks Harold, this produced not only great parties throughout the world, but it produced lots of fun, food, friend for me and some fascinating conversations and it got me thinking…

I am not sure why so many people are eager to leave this earth. Many are waiting to be sucked up into a heavenly abyss while looking down on us heathens who simply lived our life day to day. I personally had a great day this rapture weekend and attended several parties and even the day after breakfast and must say with each and every prediction, the parties get better, and the technology through the use of Facebook and Youtube is absolutely hilarious.

I must say technology has come a long way from some of the first predictions of the end of the world and looking at some of these predictions can be interesting. For instance, let’s take a typical comet and turn it into the rapture. That is what was done in 1910. It was thought that Haley’s comet was an indication of the end of the world and people even sold comet pills to people for protection against the effects of the toxic gases.

Again another well known rapture rampage came in 1914 when the Jehovah’s Witnesses predicted the war of Armageddon. Predictions from this group also came in 1918, 1920, 1925, 1941, 1975 and I beleive 1994.

Then in 1953 David Davidson wrote a book titled “The Great Pyramid, Its Divine Message”. In it, he predicted that the world would end in August of that year. Then in 1963, when the city of Jerusalem was reclaimed by the Jews prophecy watchers declared that the end would come soon. It seems that people started getting more eager for the world to end by now. We wanted to trade in car hops, good music and drive–ins for a trip to heaven.

The 1970s came with an assortment of prophecies for the end of the world. It started off with Moses David (formerly David Berg) who was the founder of yet another religious group who predicted that a comet, yep another one,  would hit the earth, probably in the mid 1970′s and destroy all life in the United States. I am not sure if that counts as the rapture or not, hmmm. Also in 1970 another church made its claim to fame by incorrectly forecasting “second coming” and this time, people in the church had quit everything and gave away everything looking forward to the end of the world.

In 1973 there was another comet and yet another prediction. In 1975 several church groups announced it was time for the end of the world. Then it happened. There was a killer bee scare of the late 70′s. Hold onto your shorts because someone linked the killer bees to the Bible and sure as heck the rapture was on its way. I personally would have just called an exterminator.

Big predictions came again in 1979 by Walter M. Simmons a religious author. Apparently much like Camp, he did some calculations that seemed a bit off.  Then in 1981 and 1982 it was supposed to happen and this time due to the way the planets were aligned and the magnetic force would created an earthquake and bammo we are gone and a work hole to heaven would appear. Now if memory serves me magnetic forces, comets, and war would be the likely way rapture would occur.

The 1990s proved to have the most predictions and I counted 48 of them however, I suspect there were much more. Imaginations got much better in the 90s than in the 50s and 60s. People became more creative with their doomsday predictions and included such things as; it will come from outer space “he” will arrive in chariots of flaming steel. Then there was the Great Conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn and the magnetic field would wipe us out. Of course always there is talk of nuclear war and we cannot forget that in Texas on channel 18 in Garland, God was expected to broadcast a commercial. Finally another prediction of the 90s was “the Men from Planet X will arrive on Earth.”

The 80s and 90s were filled with end of the world, rapture prophecies and it wouldn’t be so bad I suppose if people did not sell all their worldly processions, quite their jobs. Rapture was big  bissiness.

Of course the year 2000 has predicted so many it is hard to keep track and some of the predictions I have read date up to 2047. These predictions can actually be dangerous because we must remember not everybody goes out and celebrates with parties and BBQ’s. Some people sadly take it seriously.

I guess the bottom line, as time goes on, the prophecies of the rapture will be predicted more often. It is just a natural state of the human race I suppose, so until the next rapture party…keep reflecting.

Recently I took a little spill out of the car, twisting my knee thinking it would heal.  I soon discovered that is was more than a twist and I find myself preparing for surgery on my knee in a few days. I am a little bummed, but I have good insurance. I pay quite a bit monthly to have good insurance; still, my phone keeps ringing with friendly people on the other end wanting to be paid up front for all the out of pocket expenses.  Thus far it is costing me about $2,000 and that is with good insurance, and though I am grateful for my insurance, it got me thinking…

Things sure have changed over the years with prices. I don’t need to tell you that, we all feel the pinch, but here is a friendly reminder that back in the 60s we had it made better than we thought we did.  Today what cost $100.00 in 1960 will now cost you $730. Not a pretty sight is it?

Indeed, how we long for the simple times when life seemed easier and certainly more affordable. Let’s face it a buck got us a lot more in the 60s than it ever could today. In the early 60s a buck could get you about three gallons of gas. Chances are the gas was a much better grade that you could put in your brand new car that set you back about $2,000.

In 1963 you could send about 16 letters or bills out because stamps were all of six cents. Today I do everything I possibly can online because quite frankly I would rather not pay the price for the stamp! Paying online is free and no hassles.

In the early 60s a buck got you a lot, why you could get a complete meal including dessert at a fast food joint. You could get a double decker burger, a large coke, French fries and ice cream or pie to top off that meal. Today a buck gets you a wrinkled burger with a patty that is as thin as a dime.

A buck got you a great deal of toiletries as well. You could get shaving cream for about 60 cents, toothpaste was about 55 cents, hair spray averaged 50 cents, a generic package of cold tablets cost about 60 cents, and cough drops were three packs for a quarter.

A meal for four could be made for a buck since food prices were so cheap. A dozen of eggs were under 50 cents, so was a gallon of milk. A loaf of bread was about 20 cents. That is a breakfast for a lot of people for about 1.20.

You could really snack out too. For a buck you could get 10 candy bars, 5 couple of cokes, 5 ice-cream bars, and ten packs of gum. That’s because each item was only 5 cents. If that wasn’t enough to snack you way to oblivion, you could get tips for a buck because a six pack of beer was about 99 cents.

Indeed a dollar used to go a long way. Doctors cost hundreds of dollars for a en minute visit, cars take 40 bucks or more to fill them up, fast food used to be considered cheap food but any longer it can cost a family of four up to 30 bucks to go through the drive thru. Times and money have changed, but many of us still have fond memories of what a buck used to get us.