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November 02, 2009
Bob Sanders: Planes played big part in World War II
We were talking about, you’ll remember, essential books that must be kept near at hand. One mentioned but not discussed was “The Ragged, Rugged Warriors,” by Martin Caidin.
October 26, 2009
Bob Sanders: Priceless little books still make my day
In the first of these columns about a century ago, I told my reader that if we were to be able to carry on a decent conversation, there were a couple of reference books he needed to have close at hand.
October 19, 2009
Bob Sanders: Oops! I didn’t mean to kill the quail
Right at the beginning, I remind that “hunting” is the key word, not “killing.”
October 12, 2009
Bob Sanders: Fairs still stand the test of time
It’s fair time. There are fairs all over the place. Many counties have their fairs, and there are bigger regional fairs. I like the whole idea of fairs.
October 05, 2009
Bob Sanders: Cow Cow Boogie with Ella Mae
I just fell in love with Ella Mae Morse again. You will, too. Just follow the instructions of the old computer master.
September 28, 2009
Bob Sanders: Dr. Whoopee knows I’m a pushover
Something about me apparently radiates the fact that I am a patsy, a pushover.
September 21, 2009
Bob Sanders: Happenings in this nation very strange
As an old Red Buttons record puts it, “Strange Things are Happening.” Strange.
September 14, 2009
Bob Sanders: Water breaks are for sissies, right?
A few weeks ago, there was a story in the news about a couple suing a high school football coach because their son died of a heat stroke on the practice field.
September 08, 2009
Bob Sanders: Memoirs of the Class of ‘49
You’ll recall that last week, I was chiding the ancient members of the Class of ’49, the ones who had stayed home after graduation, about how they had let the town change ...
September 02, 2009
Bob Sanders: What do you say at a 60th class reunion?
Talk about dodging a bullet ... The high school class of 1949 recently had its 60th reunion. I am, of course, too young to be in that class, but a year ago, beautiful Barbara Bobo, who is old enough but doesn’t look it, persuaded me to say a few words to the class this year. Kind of a younger perspective, you see.
August 22, 2009
Bob Sanders: Never enough respect for arrangers
The pour old arranger never gets much credit. Even big band lovers, of which there are many (witness the Auburn Knights reunions), seldom remember that somebody had to write every note on those sheets, a different sheet for each instrument, and make them blend and come out together. And that’s just the physical part.
August 17, 2009
Bob Sanders: Revivals not what they used to be
Dog Days. Fish won’t bite, mad dogs are roaming. Scratches won’t heal. Dog Days.
August 10, 2009
Bob Sanders: Making use of serecia lespedza
I get a delightful little magazine called “Alabama’s Treasured Forests.” My land doesn’t meet the requirements to be called “treasured,” but I liked it, and enjoy reading about how I should treat it, even if I don’t heed the advice.
August 03, 2009
Bob Sanders: Small town America missed
I don’t like cities. Between cities and ghost towns, I’d take the ghost town every time. But that’s not a perfect situation, either.
July 27, 2009
Bob Sanders: The old sport of knocking off wasps
To show you how starved for recreational outlets we were back in the Great Depression, one popular sport was robbing wasp (pronounced “waust”) nests.
July 20, 2009
Bob Sanders: Jungle creatures on our doorstep
I’ll tell you, if it ain’t one dad-burned thing it’s another.
July 13, 2009
Bob Sanders: Flying Tigers earned stripes in my heart
I stand in awe of many particularly heroic groups that have done their deeds over the centuries. Soldiers at Bastogne, the B-24 crews on that Ploesti raid, the 8th Air Force, the Marines and soldiers on those God-forsaken Pacific islands and atolls, the Pony Express ...
July 09, 2009
Bob Sanders: Some choices are too tough to make
Speaking of big bands, if you absolutely had to make a choice between all of the recordings of Tommy Dorsey or all of the recordings of Jimmy Dorsey, which would you choose?
June 29, 2009
Bob Sanders: Old mule rode off into the sunset
In this newspaper a few days ago, there was a picture at the top of the front page of some type of wagon being pulled by a team of mules.
June 15, 2009
Bob Sanders: My money has gone to the birds
Help! I need some help from people in the very exclusive Prestige Plaza subdivision about feeding birds.
June 08, 2009
Bob Sanders: Let me tell you about my grandkids
Please indulge a doddering old man as he brags about his grandkids.
June 01, 2009
Bob Sanders: Chandler novels worth reading
Anybody who cares knows of my affection for the novels and short stories of Raymond Chandler.
May 26, 2009
Bob Sanders: Democrats should target Rush
As a Depression baby, I am of course a full-blooded, registered, purebred, yeller dawg Democrat. To us, Franklin D. Roosevelt had always been president and would always be president. Grandpa Boman’s house was plain, but it did have one decoration: a big portrait of FDR right there on the wall.
May 18, 2009
Bob Sanders: Taking a stroll down movie lane
The subject of movies came up, particularly scenes that bring a lump to the throat or a tear to the eye ... and stay with you. I submit a few for your consideration:
May 04, 2009
Bob Sanders: Pageants help fabric industry
Got my hometown newspaper the other day. I’ll tell you, the resourcefulness of those Borderer descendants never fails to arouse my admiration. They have lost just about all of their heavy industry: the water mills shut down, the blacksmith shops went out of business, the gin closed up shop. And for the final nail in the coffin, the mule collar factory went out of business.
April 27, 2009
Bob Sanders: All-day singings were socials
I find it hard to believe that a member of the Geneva Street Think Tank, by definition an intellectual, could be so ignorant about all-day singings.
April 20, 2009
Bob Sanders: What we saw wasn’t always what we got
Rita Hayworth was Fred Astaire’s new partner after Ginger Rogers, and she acquitted herself quite well, even though she didn’t have Roger’s legs (otherwise, ravishing). The name of the movie was “You Were Never Lovelier,” same as the featured Jerome Kern song. The plot was silly beyond description, as were the plots of most Astaire films, but you didn’t care; you came to watch him (and her) dance, and to hear his unique treatment of songs that would become all-time standards. He introduced so many of them.
April 13, 2009
Bob Sanders: Grace Jones made city better
What? You haven’t met Grace Jones? How in the world could you have missed her? For untold decades, she has been everywhere, getting into everything, going to parties, giving parties ...
April 07, 2009
Bob Sanders: Spring means more than flowers
Bugs, bugs, bugs. Good bugs and bag bugs. Somebody mentioned June bugs. I suppose they’re around. There used to always be some at certain times in Aunt Lessie’s little apple orchard. We’d catch one and tie a string to its leg and let it fly around like a toy helicopter. Some of my science education took place when me’n Howard and Herschel were digging for bait around their barn, and I came across a grub that was in the process of morphing into a June bug. Sonofagun! Loookie here!
March 30, 2009
Bob Sanders: Airwaves much better with Harvey
I don’t claim to be an expert on Paul Harvey, but I submit that I have probably heard him more than, say, 95 percent of the population.
