Tossing Salt Presents:
A Day of Dougie
Pippi Longstocking, Beam’s Choice, and The Dixie Hummingbirds
DougMaynard.com
Doug Maynard

So, did the rat see his shadow today, or what? It’s Groundhog Day, and we all sit in anticipation over whether a rat will come out of his hole into a shady spot or will the lights from the TV cameras make him see a shadow that erringly looks like Justin Beiber and scares the crap out of him. This is how humans decide if we’re having more cold weather or not for the next couple of months. The more I think about it, I’m beginning to understand why so many people have trouble deciding if they’re a boy, a girl, or an Ooopa Loompa. We go to a bloated rat for the weather report. Welcome to America. Oy vey!

So, how are you doing? I’m Doug, and this is a Day of Dougie. I was going to do an edition of the Ultimate Wrestling Q&A, followed by an edition of the Ultimate X Q&A, but I don’t feel like it. I have two editions of each outlined and waiting, but I want something different. Actually, I want to go to my room and lie down. I feel like absolute shit. But my mother has volunteered me to do some things and I need to be awake and available. Yes, my health is getting worse and it’s getting harder to walk every day, but that’s not important. I need to bring my truck to move things. Yeah, it’s a long and complicated story. It’s way too wild to go into here, but suffice it to say that I’m miserable, and what I think, feel, say, or anything else doesn’t matter… as usual.

But enough of that. Let’s do a Day of Dougie, where I reach into the infamous Magic Bag, draw out three very random topics of discussion, and then, with no prior knowledge or preparation, write and talk about said topic. It’s totally on-the-fly writing where I try to be insightful, entertaining, knowledgeable, and not look like a total moron while writing about something I may or may not have a clue about. Hell, it’s a great writing tool and usually fun. So, are you ready? Let’s find some topics. I’m reaching into the bag and I have Pippi Longstocking, Beam’s Choice, and The Dixie Hummingbirds. This shouldn’t be too bad. Let’s roll.

Pippi Longstocking

Pippi Longstocking is a 9-year-old girl who lives with a monkey and a horse, but no one cares. Just because she has access to gold coins and is super strong, she can take care of herself. Wasn’t there CPS at this time? Her deadbeat Dad was not Rey Mysterio, surprisingly, but a Sea Captain who either vanished or was out sailing on the Love Boat with Captain Stubing and Issac, the bartender. I can’t remember. But this character was very popular in the 70s with three movies that I can remember. And we watched them at school. Go figure. I don’t know why, but we did. And now, after nearly 45-plus years, I can still remember the movies, plus the song is currently in my head. The joys of a happy childhood, right? Good character that was a great role model for kids of those times. Explains a lot, doesn’t it?

Beam’s Choice

It’s a special blend of Jim Beam that my stepdad drank back when I was a kid. And of course, that means it was a special blend of Jim Beam that I drank when I was a kid. Solid green label and actually pretty damn tasty, as far as I can remember. I remember Raymond, my stepdad, had a half-gallon bottle stored in the cabinet. I remember myself, Jim, Greg, and most likely a few others drinking that bottle. We were probably 15-16 at the time. Good times. JimBeam doesn’t make this Blend anymore. I tried to find it when I worked at the ABC store. It was high-proof and sold well from what I understand, but Jim Beam wanted to push their mainstream brand and cut some brands out. The Choice was one of them. Too bad, because for a whiskey, it was actually pretty damn good.

The Dixie Hummingbirds

The Dixie Hummingbirds are a gospel quartet from South Carolina, that has been in existence, in some form, since 1928. They’re still around even today. And the song they’re famous for? They paired up with Paul Simon in 1972 for “Loves Me Like A Rock”. That’s a damn good song. I only know of them from that song, plus a cassette tape I have of the Dixie Hummingbird’s Greatest Hits.

Back when there were actual music stores and record stores, I would often go to the Mall in Fayetteville and buy music. And I would always go to the discount bin and find one or two cassettes that just looked cool and get those too. I discovered a lot of great music that way, from people I otherwise would never have heard of or listened to. And one of those tapes was The Dixie Hummingbirds. Gospel music is a guilty pleasure of mine and those guys were excellent. Here’s a video of their song.

And there you go. The rat saw his shadow. Be ready to bundle up for the next six weeks. Damn rat! My thanks for reading. Comments, thoughts, questions, and suggestions for future Days of Dougie are welcome and appreciated. And with that, damn waiting on Mom to decide what she’s going to do. I’m going to bed for a nap. Take care and be well, my friends. Stay well and have a great day. Hey K-Mak, I love you brother! I’ll see you guys and gals later.

Ubuntu!