Wednesday, January 30, 2008

as of this post : - 27 with the wind chill

by William H Danforth,
Ralston Purina Co

Preface of book:

"I Dare You" is for the daring few who are
headed somewhere. Those afraid to Dare might
as well pass it up. It will bore the sophisticated,
and amuse the skeptics. It will antagonize others.
Some will not even know what it is about.
It will not be ever popular because it calls for
courage, swift and daring. But in the eyes of
you, one of the priceless few, I trust will come
a gleam of battle as you read on. You can be
a bigger person than you are and I am
going to prove it to you. WHD

Many years ago I purchased this book,
not for its content, but the cover.
HR9 ; )

The concept of the author was to read the
book, and pass it on to 10 others.
Surprisingly, only one name is on the
inside of this book. It does offer positive
steps in dealing with people and everyday
situations, something many seem to
still need help with these days.

This song was a recent gift from someone
in Wisconsin (you know who you are) who
sent me an email a few days ago and asked
if I wanted a few songs from Uncle Vinty.
Of course I said, and I received 4.
(and Thank You again!)

Quite a few years ago, involved in something else
I mentioned out there on the "internets" that
in the late 60s on KSAN in SF, I heard a
concert by Uncle Vinty, with just himself and
his piano and I'd like to find that recording.

Following the previous post, I thought this song
would fit quite well. These recordings I am told
were from a Reel to Reel tape and stand as is.

Not much is known about him, except he is
now deceased, but did have a club in Alaska
where he'd play most every night.

I remember his upbeat, funny and positive thoughts.

gonna give it back - uncle vinty
no longer available


20 comments:

Cathy said...

Uncle Vinty is amazing.

Bobby D. said...

Yes i love the book cover too! I couldn't see it on my computer earlier today. I am guilty of buying CDs and books based on the cover--not too often, but often enough, and funny thing--I have never been disappointed! (just luck, maybe)

Uncle Vinty is pretty funny--

Bobby D. said...

Loved your link to the I Hate Starbucks site-- I really enjoyed the responses to people who traveled to his site simply to post a crazed pro-Starbucks rant. Those tirades are a waste of space. Go find a pro- starbucks site and enjoy yourself! Funny stuff.

Georg said...

Thanks for sharing Uncle Vinty and his Alaska music.

Georg

Daniel said...

With no broadband, Uncle Vinty is a no-go zone. Sad but true.

Hey, Coffee, how you doin'? I've been very busy what with blogging and all. The world doesn't seem to get any better, eh?

The elections are a hoot. What a mob of losers are left. None of them seem much better than George.

How about we move to the moon, Coffee, open up an eatery?

Anonymous said...

I thought this looked familiar!

Just looking at the cover gives me untold (or is that untoward?) powers!

Bobby D. said...

I want some untoward powers!

H said...

This book reminds me of these self-published nightmares that I"ve seen. They usually have crazy covers and even crazier content. Thanks for sharing! Wish I'd found this one.

Unknown said...

When I graduated from high school almost 44 years one of the awards I received was “The Danforth Award.” It came with a small amount of scholarship money and the “I Dare You” book. Through the years I’ve given several copies to young people.

Coffee Messiah said...

cathy: He was very fun and very funny as I remember.

dcb: Covers like this, grab you and actually the book itself is a good motivator if you're open to it. No BS either.

The IHSB site was useful prior to my 2 yrs there. I learned alot and saw even more. Sometimes the rants are quite silly, mostly though and sadly, especially about management, quite true.

georg: I'm glad you enjoyed him and really appreciate that someone out there in the ether shared them with me.

daniel: No moon for me, 'cause that's where they'll start the same stuff they're doing here, that I am sure. And yes, the election cycle this time is a comedy, in many ways. For a nation of supposed "freedom" I always find it amazing we only get to choose from 2 parties. ; (

hR9: Wasn't sure if you'd ever seen it.

h: I found this for a buck somewhere. Worth it and more.

ssn: Why do I not find this surprising? It's a nice gesture to pass it along. I hope the young folks consume the positive thoughts well.

s. douglas said...

To paraphrase George Constanza-

My entire life is a Dare.

s. douglas said...

Hope things are well up there in Hoosiertown.

How one ends up there from San Fran is beyond my ability to reason or rationalize:)

Coffee Messiah said...

fairlane: George Who? As for your second comment (and Thanks for stopping by and I need to go by your place!) it's all relative. Besides, where can you go, and be by yourself in thoughts and attitude and no one's the wiser. This state is one of them! Cheers to you and your daughter!

Unknown said...

Anyone have music or pics of Uncle Vinty? I ran into him in Milwaukee around 1972 when he was traveling in his white van with a guy named Garland. Came back to my place on Fratney St. down the street from the Co-op and almost burned it down with a candle after passing out in a pile with them and my partner. Several years later after moving to Albion in Northwest Nowhere saw him play at Inn of the Beginning in Cotati CA. Now I'm in Beijing thinking about past lives and loves. Wd love to hear his music again.

Rocky said...

I posted in another area, but will post here too. Does anyone have a CD they could send me of Uncle Vinty? I used to know him (and his band) real well back in the late 70's, as I seen him a number of times, and booked him a number of times. The one lady who replaced me as student social director even dated Peter, his guitarist, for awhile.

Somewhere, I think I even have some old Kodak photos of the band while they were playing I Am The Walrus around 1975'ish.

But I would just LOVE to hear his songs again.

Is it truly 100% though, that he passed away? Is any of his old band still alive?

Thanks!

Anonymous said...

To hear rare Uncle Vinty check out Milwaukeerockposters.com.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for that info. But all they had was one song - Whip the World, on a 60 min long MP3 podcast (touch and go trying to find the track LOL). But they did mention it came from a record called "Uncle Vinty wants you". But sadly doing a search on the Internet shows no such record :(

JP Bloch said...

I knew Vinty in California in the early 70s. There was nobody else like him. He died in the early 90's, according to another old friend.

Coffee Messiah said...

jon: Hey, Thanks for that! ; )

Anonymous said...

Actually if you look carefully there is an Uncle Vinty Track Called "Getting Ready" recorded live at UWM in 1972.

Thanks for cluing me in. I probably never would have found it otherwise.