BOTB RESULTS: JULY 1, 2023 (PLUS, 'THE LONELIEST ROAD' VACATION NOTES)

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I thank each and every one of you who participated in my July 1st Battle Of The Bands installment HERE.
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I only escaped a shutout by the skin of my teeth, but I still really enjoyed the contest despite the massive blowout. I knew in advance that this would be an easy win for Glen Campbell, but I still wanted to share with y'all the uniquely different but lovely, lively version of 'Wichita Lineman' by the great Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66.
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It's pretty ironic that the iconic Glen Campbell rendition of the song is so saturated in [link> saudade. That's what one would have expected from the Brasil '66 version instead. Saudade is the way of Brazilian music / Bossa-Nova. Perhaps Sergio Mendes recognized that Glen had so thoroughly owned the saudade element in this great song that he should take it in a very different direction. It's a terrific song, either way, and I don't think Sergio could have recorded something bad even if he tried to.
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Oh, yeah, I broke one of the cardinal rules suggestions of BOTB by putting a relatively unknown cover up against a big hit by someone as exceedingly talented as Glen Campbell (member of the legendary "Wrecking Crew"). But I took a chance and managed to get away with it (thanks, John & Bryan), even though I was pretty much begging for a shutout.
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My vote went to Glen. I sided with the majority of "boters" this time. My ears say that Glen's 'Wichita Lineman' is a perfect song. With Glen's vocal tinged by that melancholic underpinning, and the unusual, remarkable string arrangement -- no, not even Sergio Mendes could beat that! 

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And as if that weren't enough, I even have a Spiritual connection to Campbell's version. On July 22, 2001, my Pa used the song to contact me from The Other Side (Pa passed away on April 10, 1996). At the time, I thought Pa was just acknowledging that he knew I would be going on "a small vacation" in a few weeks. It was in hindsight I realized that Pa was actually indicating that this upcoming "small vacation" was going to change the "Course" of my life through an encounter with Jesus Christ (in Reno of all places!)
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FINAL TALLY:
Glen Campbell = 10 votes
Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66 = 2 votes
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That takes care of this Battle Of The Bands installment. Thanks again to everyone who made it a success, and I hope to see you here again for my August 1st BOTB contest.
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VACATION NOTES FROM "THE LONELIEST ROAD IN AMERICA": 

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My Brother, Judge Al Bondigas, and I had a very nice trip driving Highway 50 completely across the middle of Nevada to Utah and back. I had done this alone once before, in April 2019. But this time it was better without the snow / threatening weather; having someone to share the driving and experience with; and having proper road music. We started the drive with my compact disc [link> 'ON THE ROAD AGAIN: Cruise Control'. You just can't go wrong by beginning the road trip soundtrack with the Pat Metheny Group  ('Are You Going With Me?')...
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Some other musical selections that blended beautifully with the road for us were Percy Faith's 'Theme From A Summer Place'; Oliver's 'Good Morning, Starshine'; 'Rainy Day People', 'Sundown', 'Beautiful', 'If You Could Read My Mind', and 'Carefree Highway' by Gordon Lightfoot. (The big disappointment for me when I did this drive in 2019 was that I didn't have any Pat Metheny Group music to play. I have always felt that the Pat Metheny Group's melodies are the world's greatest road music, and this time I had my self-compiled disc 'The Best Of The PMG' to keep us rollin' along in the wide open spaces.)
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I saved my CD [link> 'ON THE ROAD AGAIN: Pedal To The Metal' for the last leg of the journey, when we were pushing for home. (Again I wish to express my extreme gratitude to McBrother "Beer Boy" Bryan for recording my two 'On The Road' playlists on CDs for me some years back. I find them to be truly essential for road trips!)
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We saw lots of gorgeous scenery and several hauntingly enchanted 1800s old mining towns. 

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Sadly, the tiny restaurant in tiny Austin that had the fantastic pizza has not survived the You-Know-What:

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But here are the two peculiar incidents that occurred on this "small vacation":
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We stayed two nights at the Jackson House Hotel next to the Opera House in Eureka. One night I was suddenly, inexplicably *compelled* to look closely at the towel rack on the wall in the bathroom. Here's what I found: 
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Yip! Made in Wichita! How odd considering that I had this 'Wichita Lineman' Battle running, and considering that the song is an otherworldly connection between my Pa and I, going back to July 22, 2001. Mere coincidence? Maybe. But why was I suddenly *compelled* to get an up-close and personal look at the towel rack? Trust me, I don't normally go around examining items in the rooms I rent; and especially not in BATHROOMS!
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That's some beautiful scenery! But I suppose it would get old pretty quickly if you were stranded on 'The Loneliest Road In America' and walking through miles and miles and miles of that terrain in 89-degree heat.
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Judge Al was driving, and having left Ely, Nevada, we were heading eastbound for Baker, which is 7 miles from the Utah border. Somewhere in the middle, we saw a man in his mid- to late 30s walking westbound toward Ely. What the--?! Then about 3-4 minutes later (we were going 75 miles-per-hour) we saw an abandoned car in the brush off the side of the road. Despite my poor math skills, even I could do this addition: 1 + 1 = Man Stranded On 'The Loneliest Road In America'.
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The Judge and I were certain that someone would come along going westbound and give him a ride into Ely, the nearest & biggest town on 'The Loneliest Road'. Yeah, the traffic is sparse out there in the middle of Nowhere, U.S.A., but still cars *do* use Highway 50 in both directions.
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We dinked around in Baker, then drove to Garrison, a wide spot in the road a stone's throw from Nevada, just across the Utah border. Then we turned around and began driving westbound, stopping to dink at two different Visitor's Centers at Great Basin National Park. Finally, we were going back toward Ely in earnest, and then on to our hotel in Eureka.
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With me behind the wheel now, I remembered that guy and his car out in the middle of nowhere. The Judge and I discussed it and agreed that we would pick him up if we saw him anywhere on the way; although we were both about 99.9% certain that at this point someone would have already come along and helped him out.
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After awhile, we drove past the man's abandoned vehicle. And then sometime later I pointed out to the Judge what looked like it could be a man walking along the highway up ahead. A few moments later I changed my mind, thinking it was just a fence post in the distance. But then suddenly the "fence post" *DID* turn into a walking man! My Brother and I were ASTOUNDED that this guy was still trudging along toward Ely and that NO ONE had stopped to help him!! At this point he had been walking for 2 to 2.5 hours in approximately 89-degree heat (He later said the heat hadn't been "too bad".)
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I put on my emergency flashing lights and pulled over ahead of the man. He came up to the window and asked if we would give him a ride to Ely. I made some room for him in the back seat and we headed west again. The man's name was Chris. We introduced ourselves and offered him some water, peanuts and pretzels -- all of which he declined. He said that he had recently rebuilt the engine in his car and had been out camping when the vehicle mysteriously died on him.
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I asked him where he wanted us to take him in Ely and he said that any gas station would do. So, traveling at our customary 75 miles-per-hour, we saved Chris from having to walk an additional 16 miles, and I pulled into a very big Chevron station. While getting out of the car, he thanked us for the ride and then started limping toward the gas station convenience store. I called out to him, walked up and offered him a little money. He declined that as well.
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Chris was rather uncommunicative during the drive (too exhausted maybe?) 2 to 2.5 hours walking in that heat, and he didn't even want some of the water we had with us? Nothing to eat? On our way back to Eureka, Judge Al and I agreed that there was something very *peculiar* about the man and the entire scenario.
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Yeah, I know it's dicey in 2023, and Highway 50 isn't exactly crowded with traffic, but I still have trouble believing that NO ONE offered this man a ride for at least 2 hours. Judge Al and I surmised that Chris was possibly a criminal or an angel. Maybe no one else on the road could see him? Perhaps only the Judge and I could see Chris because he was an angel in disguise, and the entire scenario was a test to see if my Brother and I would do the "Christian" thing.
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Let brotherly love remain in you. And forget not hospitality toward strangers; for thereby some were worthy to entertain angels unawares.
~ Hebrews 13:1-2
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Judge Al and I had a very nice "small vacation", and we've even considered driving "The Loneliest Road In America" again sometime in the future. But for me, the most memorable part of this trip -- the one thing that will stand out most in my mind years from now -- is helping out Chris when he was stranded in the middle of pretty much Nowhere, U.S.A. Hopefully, if I ever find myself in a similarly bad situation, a "Chris" will come along and assist me. For as The Good Book says:
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...whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.
~ Galatians 6:7
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Bless And Be Blessed!! 

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~ (alias) Stephen T. McCarthy 

(pseudonym) STMcC 

(a.k.a.) D-FensDogG 

(nom de plume) Mr. Brenda Lee 
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