Weights and Measures

I still use Mom's recipe (typed, on a 3x5 card) for Tuna Noodle Casserole. It calls for "2 cans (7 oz. each) tuna, well drained."

But when she first gave me this recipe, a can of tuna did not hold 7 oz. My recollection is that it was 6¾ oz. That was about 30 years ago.

A can of tuna has shrunk progressively (Is that right?) in the year since. About a year or so ago I first noticed it was now down to 5 oz. That's so they can still sell it at the grocery store for, when my brand is on sale (Sorry, Charlie, I listen to the mermaid.) , 99¢.

So now I use 3 cans.

It also calls for "1½ c. dairy sour cream (12 oz.)." Alas, a container of sour cream, for which apart from this casserole I have no need for, is 16 oz.

You shall not have in your bag two kinds of weights, a large and a small. You shall not have in your house two kinds of measures, a large and a small. A full and just weight you shall have, a full and just measure you shall have; that your days may be prolonged in the land which the LORD your God gives you. For all who do such things, all who act dishonestly, are an abomination to the LORD your God.

- Deuteronomy 25:13-16 RSV

Geoff Edwards: Thanks for the Good Times

Geoff Edwards, the mid-morning DJ on KMPC Los Angeles from 1968-1979, has died.

Apparently I'm at the age where I'm going to hear this more-and-more of those people who I never met or knew but were, nonetheless, part of my every-day life growing up. While the national news is focussing on his game show hosting, the LA Times's obituary hit exactly what popped into my mind when I heard the news this morning on the radio:

On radio, he was a clever talker who sprinkled music and news with homegrown bits like "The Answer Lady." That was simply Edwards answering listeners' questions, often comically, without even pretending to imitate a female voice.

Listeners called 520-8600 (Can you believe I remember the KMPC phone number?), Geoff'd say in his normal voice "Answer Lady," a question was asked (it could be about anything), he toss off a quick one-line answer and immediately push the next button on the phone, saying, "Answer Lady," and doing this bit quick-boom-boom for 3-5 minutes. Alas, you don't hear this kind of radio any more.

Edwards probably received more noteriety for his game show hosting and he was, for many years, the announcer for the California Lottery's The Big Spin. Perhaps the biggest moments of his career was when he was reporting on the events following President Kennedy's assassination in Dallas for KHJ/Mutual, including being at the scene when Jack Ruby shot Lee Harvey Oswald. A good retrospective of his career, including how he came to be in Dallas that day, appears right now on the front page of Don Barrett's LARadio.com, the place to remember over 6000 "LA Radio People".

While I remember him best from KMPC, it turns out Geoff was the morning man at KFI just prior to Lohman and Barkley -- which means I would have listened to him every morning when I first got my own radio for my bedroom. While they were indeed brilliant, Lohman and Barkley didn't do a whole lot for me when I was 9-10 years old, and I switched to KMPC. Of course, with a 9-Noon shift, I only got to hear him in the summertime.

You can listen to an air check of the 11 o'clock hour Geoff Edwards on KMPC from November 13, 1978. The first half,
and the second half,
.
No "Answer Lady" here -- she usually happened during the 10 o'clock hour -- but it's a good taste of the old full service AM radio that, alas, no longer exists. FWIW, it does run a wee bit slow, but that's noticeable mainly if you remember what he sounded like on the air.

Oh, cool!! One of Geoff's most famous radio bits, Mr. Kent calling the dry cleaners to see if his stuff (dropped off earlier by Miss Lane) is ready, appears on his web site.

Besides the Times' obit, there's this from the Hollywood Reporter (hey, local sources are best) and his Facebook page, which has some wonderful photos. I think he enjoyed a good life. I'm glad he was a part of mine. Requiescat in pace.

Happy New Year!

Bringing in the new year, 2014. It still seems best with Guy Lombardo and the Royal Candians playing "Auld Lang Syne," though here you get more than the 10 seconds the band got on NBC at the top of the hour a few moments ago.

Meanwhile, here on the South Side of Peoria, the firecrackers are going off outside, and inside I'm watching an episode of The Jack Benny Program, with guest Andy Williams, from 1964. And Madge Blake (you do know which TV show she is best known for appearing on, don't you?) as a member of the Jack Benny Fan Club! Imagine the big joke on a black-and-white program being the guests' blue eyes.

Blessings and joy to you in the new year!

Twenty Thousand Days

"It's a boy," said Dr. Carty that Tuesday at 5:39 pm (Pacific Time). The date: March 17, 1959.

The boy weighed in at 7 pounds, 1 ounce, and was 20 inches long. He would be named Steven Paul. That's 20,000 days ago.

This isn't my first picture, but it's the oldest one I have. That's Mom holding me up in the Living Room of our Canoga Park home.

Just Because

I only saw the following commercial once on TV. Nevertheless, it left a very positive impression. I never forgot it or, more importantly, the product it advertised. It made me desire that product even more. Actually, having found this commercial on YouTube, it still gets me desiring the product. Which makes it, in my book at least, one of the greats.


The thing is, I've almost always preferred the Mustang, or a Barracuda, to the Camaro. But right now, I want that car!

21 Years!!

Twenty-one years ago today, I was ordained into the Holy Ministry by Bishop J. Roger Anderson of the Southern California (West) Synod, ELCA. What follows is a slightly edited re-post of an entry I first posted five years ago, and have re-posted three and two years ago.
A blessed St. John Chrysostom's Day to you all. Zip+
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O Lord God, dear Father in heaven, I am indeed unworthy of the office and ministry in which I am to make known thy glory and to nurture and to serve this congregation.

But since thou hast appointed me to be a pastor and teacher, and the people are in need of the teaching and the instruction, O be thou my helper and let thy holy angels attend me.

Then if thou art pleased to accomplish anything through me, to thy glory and not to mine or to the praise of men, grant me, out of thy pure grace and mercy, a right understanding of thy Word and that I may also diligently perform it.

O Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, thou shepherd and bishop of our souls, send thy Holy Spirit that he may work with me, yea, that he may work in me to will and to do through thy divine strength according to thy good pleasure. Amen!

I pray this, Luther's Sacristy Prayer, every Sunday as I vest for the Eucharist. I'll sometimes think then that it would be good to post it here again, and it is particularly fitting to do so today [thank you, Father Will, for the idea], for it was 21 years ago today that the Rt. Rev. J. Roger Anderson, first Bishop of the Southern California (West) Synod [now called the "Southwest California Synod"], of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America addressed me as we stood in the Chancel of the Lutheran Church of the Resurrection (now called Faith Lutheran Church), Canoga Park, California, about 15 feet from where I had been baptized 33 years (less one week) earlier:

According to apostolic usage you are now to be set apart to the office of Word and Sacrament in the one holy catholic Church by the laying on of hands and by prayer.

Bishop Anderson was joined in the addresses that followed by the pastor loci and my pastor, the Rev. C. David Olsen (of blessed memory, who preached that afternoon), the Rev. Brian Eklund (pastor then at St. Mark's Lutheran Church, Los Angeles, who had supervised my seminary "Cross Cultural Experience"), and the Rev. Jeffrey Frohner (a friend and seminary classmate who had just begun serving his first call at Trinity Lutheran Church, Santa Barbara). With them standing around me, the Bishop then examined me:

Before almighty God, to whom you must give account, and in the presence of this congregation, I ask: Will you assume this office, believing that the Church's call is God's call to the ministry of Word and Sacrament?

I will, and I ask God to help me.

The Church in which you are to be ordained confeses that the Holy Scriptures are the Word of God and are the norm of its faith and life. We accept, teach, and confess the Apostles', the Nicene, and the Athanasian Creeds. We also acknowledge the Lutheran Confessions as true witnesses and faithful expositions of the Holy Scriptures. Will you therefore preach and teach in accordance with the Holy Scriptures and these creeds and confessions?

I will, and I ask God to help me.

Will you be diligent in your study of the Holy Scriptures and in your use of the means of grace? Will you pray for God's people, nourish them with the Word and Holy Sacraments, and lead them by your own example in faithful service and holy living?

I will, and I ask God to help me.

Will you give faithful witness in the world, that God's love may be know by all that you do?

I will, and I ask God to help me.

Almighty God, who has given you the will to do these things, graciously give you the strength and compassion to perform them.

After the Prayer of the Church and Come, Holy Ghost, they (though Brian and Jeffrey aren't really visible from this angle) were joined in the laying on of hands by the Rev. John Stump (of blessed memory; Pastor Olsen's predecessor and my pastor at Resurrection during most of my college years) and the 2 nearest neighboring ELCA pastors, the Rev. John Lundeen (then of St. Luke Lutheran Church, Woodland Hills, and whose father was the last President of the Augustana Lutheran Church) and the Rev. Bryan Woken (then and now at Shepherd of the Valley Lutheran Church, Canoga Park (West Hills). And thus they committed the Office of the Holy Ministry to me. Every time I attend an ordination, or simply take a few moments during devotions to review those promises -- many of us who have been in the Society of the Holy Trinity for a longer time have a card with them imprinted on the obverse of a holy card of Rublev's icon of the Old Testament Trinity -- I am struck once again by what I have been called to. How awsome! And how inadequate I am to bear that office.

Being reminded of that is a good thing. There is another similar Sacristy Prayer of Luther's that I don't use, but it always makes me smile. And then ponder:

Lord God, thou hast appointed me a bishop and pastor in thy church. Thou seest how unfit I am to undertake this great and difficult office, and were it not for thy help, I would long since have ruined it all. Therefore I cry unto thee; I will assuredly apply my mouth and my heart to thy service. I desire to teach the people and I myself would learn ever more and diligently meditate thy Word. Use thou me as thine instrument, only do not forsake me, for if I am left alone I shall easily bring it all to destruction. Amen.

What a glorious day it was 21 years ago. And in all I've done since, I've still not ruined it all. At least, not yet. ;)

What a gracious Lord God we have!

The Golden State: 163 Years

September 9, 1850 -- California is admitted to the Union.


Go ahead, let's sing together ---

California, here I come
    right back where I started from.
Where Bowers of flowers
    bloom in the spring.
Each morning at dawning,
    birdies sing an' everything.
A sunkist miss said, "Don't be late"
    that's why I can hardly wait.
Open up that Golden Gate,
    California here I come.

by Buddy DeSylva and Joseph Meyer
and (at least he's often credited) Al Jolson


Gil Imber at the Mighty Miditzer Presents...
Turn of the Century, California Here I Come.
Performed on the
Mighty Miditzer Style 216 Virtual Theatre Pipe Organ.
Doesn't that sound great? Or how about this transcription by Fats Waller?



Or this record from the California Ramblers in 1924?



Sure, it's really a repeat from 3 years ago, but I like it!