Old friends Willie Nelson and Jimmy Carter discuss the White House rooftop marijuana incident

By Pablo Fanque, National Affairs Ed.

An article/interview with two of my favorite people, from Entertainment Weekly, almost ten years ago. At the end, they hilariously discuss an incident which at the time was pretty controversial. . .

The Prez sits in on harp

Old friends

On the porch

By Chris Willman | Dec 03, 2004

"That was one of the things that Willie 
and I never did discuss much. But I 
don't think there's  much doubt. . ." 

Willie Nelson has sung ''Georgia on My Mind'' for former president Jimmy Carter many times — first, on the campaign trail in 1976, and as recently as the 2002 ceremony in Oslo where Carter was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. He serenades his ''favorite president ever'' again on Dec. 4's CMT Homecoming: President Carter in Plains special, filmed in Carter's still-minuscule Georgia hometown, where EW caught up with the former farm boys and occasional jogging partners.

The Bush girls claim their dad is down with OutKast. But in '76, it was radical for a candidate to quote Dylan. Did you feel like you were doing something dangerous, aligning yourself with countercultural characters like him and Willie?

CARTER I think that was one of the reasons I won, because I did align myself with characters like these, who were admired by hundreds of millions around the world.... I think as much as any performer who has ever lived, Willie has had an intimate and natural relationship with working people.... When I was in trouble in the White House or needed to be alone, just to relax — I'm a fly fisherman, and I would tie flies in my study, where Truman used to work, while Willie Nelson's songs played on the hi-fi.... So all the good things I did or, of course, all the mistakes I've made, you could kind of blame half that on Willie.

Willie, you're political in some ways, stumping for Kucinich this year, but apolitical in others; you haven't sung the antiwar song you wrote for him in concert.

NELSON I think it's important we have a change in the direction our country is going, but I sing to Democrats and Republicans every night. I don't want to do or say anything that's going to make half my audience get up and leave the building.... I look at it like my job is to bring people together, singing ''Amazing Grace'' [at the end of a show].

Willie's book said he smoked pot on the White House roof. Mr. President, what did you know and when did you know it?

CARTER I would guess that Willie and my sons knew a lot more about that than I did. That was one of the things that Willie and I never did discuss much. But I don't think there's much doubt that there was—

NELSON Actually, short-term memory — I don't remember a lot that happened then.

CARTER [Both laughing] Yeah, my memory's kind of short on that subject, too.

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Foiled again: allthisisthat.com is not available, or, not dirt-cheap

By Mona, Jack, and Pablo, Eds. 

The All This Is That URL is owned by a link farm, with an ad for Bounty paper towels on the front page. We can still use allthisisthat.net if we're eally inclined to have our own domain.

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Thunder and lightning in Seattle

By Jack Brummet

Midnight, Friday:  What a great lightning storm tonight—from giant balls to hydra-limbed bolts raining down, and sometimes looking like they were shooting up—*from*, and not to, earth [1]. The lightning dances across the sky and I hear the muffled, slow-rolling thunder circle in the clouds overhead, and I'm swallowed up in the soft percussion of the warm falling rain.

[1] Someone just told me that lightning goes both up AND down.

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Favorite Photos of the Post-WWII Presidents

By Pablo Fanque, National Affairs Ed.

This is a compilation of some of our favorite pictures of the post-WWII presidents, Including HST, since he was President both during and after World War II. . .

Harry S. Truman:

on piano with Lauren Bacall

Harry at a hootenanny?

Dwight D. Eisenhower:

Ike cooks

Ike Lasso'd as part of the Inaugural festivities

John F. Kennedy:

Camelot

Jack

Jack attempts to stifle Lyndon

Lyndon B. Johnson:

Giving the Johnson treatment to his pal Abe Fortas

 Johnson, enjoyed spooking visitors at his Johnson City, Texas ranch by driving them downhill in his Amphicar, into his property's lake, shouting that the brakes wouldn't work.

Dick Nixon cornered by multiple LBJs

Richard M. Nixon:

Dick and Mao and history

Clowning for the press

The famous kitchen debate with Nikita Kruschev

Gerald R. Ford:

Watching election returns with his pal Joe Garagiola. He was stomped by Jimmy Carter. 

The President meets up with Billy Preston, George Harrison, and Ravi Shankar

Near the end of his life, a sweet moment with President Clinton 

James E. Carter:

On a campaign stop at his notorious brother Billy's gas station

Five Presidents

Jimmy plays harmonica for his pal Willie Nelson

Ronald W. Reagan:

George Bush:

William J. Clinton:

George W. Bush:

Barack H. Obama:

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Poem: Bird

By Jack Brummet

Carrying his dented horn in a paper sack, 

Pawned, lost, fifty times found and bought back,
He paid the price of a Stradivarius
To unhock his horn and blow for us.
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The Maldives+Ken Stringfellow at Barboza (with openers Sons of Warren Oates)

By Jack Brummet, NW Music Ed.

The Maldives and Ken Stringfellow played last night at Barboza. Barboza is in the basement below Numoes, which also means there is sonic competition with the metal bands playing upstairs.  This was a really fun, but poorly attended show.  The Sons of Warren Oates opened and were an unknown to me (I'd heard their name before and loved it).  They were one of the most listenable warmup bands I'd heard in ages...a trio with fiddle, guitar, and banjo.  They played for about 40 minutes.   The banjo player  (Kevin?)  joined KS and the Maldives for a couple of tunes on the accordion.  Ken played a lot of his album Danzig and a few earlier nuggets from his album Touched.  I bet there were never more than 60 people there, and at the end, maybe three dozen.  Before the Maldives came out, Ken got off the stage and told us to gather around and he sang un-mic'd with his Telecaster. Then he played a tune on the piano and brought out the Maldives. I look forward to seeing The Maldives on their own sometime soon. 

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The Alvord T. Bridge Closes

By Jack Brummet, Green River Valley Ed.

A protest against the T Bridge earlier this year

The Alvford T. Bridge was a couple of blocks from where I grew up and we spent a lot of time playing on and under it, riding bikes on it, and hanging from it and dropping into the river.  I never knew its name before.  We always called in The T Bridge.  It led to three junkyards and some farms.  

The bridge (a through truss bridge), built in 1914 over the Green River on S. 3rd Avenue in Kent, is scheduled for demolition and removal.   The bridge has been considered structurally deficient for years and the county closed the bridge and will demolish, but not replace it.  There are two other bridges across the river very close by.  

A snapshot I took last week

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