News and Grooves

News and Grooves May 7 2025 Pizza, Pawned Microwaves, and Power Ballads

• Jim Murray

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Music speaks what words cannot in this powerful episode celebrating resilience, honoring sacrifice, and exploring the beautiful strangeness of human experience. From heart-wrenching ballads to nostalgic melodies, we take you on an emotional journey that resonates deeply with the approaching Memorial Day.

Our original songs form the backbone of this special episode. "Help Me Stand" captures the universal human need for support during our darkest times with poignant lyrics like "Let your love be the anchor in the wave." The nostalgic "Drive-In" transports listeners to simpler days of "burger grease, whispers, tales divine," while "Road to Nowhere" explores the haunting feeling of searching for meaning. Most powerful is "Warriors," giving voice to veterans who continue battling long after returning home: "Little did I realize it would follow me home and bring havoc and pain to the only life I know."

Between musical performances, we share fascinating stories that range from heartwarming to bizarre. You'll hear about a pizza delivery driver asked to pawn a customer's microwave (apparently for the fourth time that month!), Billie Holiday's cross-genre musical influence, and the miraculous survival of Vesna Vulović after falling 33,333 feet from an exploded aircraft. We also offer a moving tribute to fallen soldiers with powerful poetry and reflection on what Memorial Day truly represents – the empty chairs at holiday tables and fading photographs that keep memories alive.

As Memorial Day approaches on May 26th, take a moment with us to remember those who gave "their full measure of devotion" while enjoying original music that touches the soul. Subscribe to News and Grooves for more unforgettable musical journeys that celebrate the full spectrum of human experience.

Speaker 1:

Thanks for joining us. We hope you have a fantastic time, enjoy the show and relax. You're listening to the News and Grooves podcast.

Speaker 2:

Muse and grooves will play undeniably the most amazing music you will ever experience this May.

Speaker 3:

I've been walking in the shadows, lost inside my mind. These heavy skies above me, no light I can find. A storm is roaring louder. It's pulling me below. I need a hand to guide me through the undertow. My knees are trembling weaker with every passing day. This heart of mine is breaking in a thousand shades of gray. The mirror shows a stranger I hardly recognize. I'm reaching for redemption beneath these jagged skies.

Speaker 3:

Help me stand when the world falls apart. Let your love be the anchor in the wave. Help me stand away from the edge of the grave. The echoes of my failures. They haunt me in the night. A choir of regretful voices stealing all the light. But your touch, it whispers softly. A reason to believe that even in the refuge there's love we can retrieve. I'm not asking to be perfect, just to find a way To rise above the ruins and fight another day. Your hope is like a beacon calling through the storm. Wrap me in your kindness, keep my spirit warm. The world can be a monster, cruel and full of spite, but your strength can be a monster, cruel and full of spite, but your strength can be my armor. Lead me to the light. I can't do this alone, love. You've got to understand. Without your heart beside me, I'll never learn to stand guitar solo. Help me stand when the world falls apart. Hold my soul and my fractured heart. Let your love be the anchor in the wave. Help me stand away from the edge of the grave.

Speaker 1:

Please don't forget that May 26th is Memorial Day. Don't ever forget all of our soldiers who gave their full measure of devotion for our country. God bless them all.

Speaker 4:

Customer asks delivery driver to pawn her microwave to pay for her bill. Delivered pizzas in North Dakota and always used to get some werdos. Dirt roads were always a bad sign. One time I arrive at the address in a trailer park and there is a note on the door that says Please come inside. Money is on the counter Whatever I head in there and there is a $20 bill sitting there for a $26 order.

Speaker 4:

Great, so I decide to wait, but after about 5 minutes it's starting to look like a lost cause. I call them up to see what's up and a woman answers. I explain to her that she's a little short and she says yeah, I know, didn't you see my note? I told her I did see the note, which is how I knew they were six dollars short. No, the other note, the one on the microwave.

Speaker 4:

Turning my head, I see a post-it note with the words pawn me scribbled on it. Do you want me to pawn your microwave to make up the difference? Yes, she said. We do it a lot. There's a pawn shop right next door and they usually give me around $20 for it. That should cover the bill and give you a tip for your troubles. I wasn't totally sure if this was legal, but I ventured over to the pawn shop and he did indeed give me $20 for it. I asked if this was common and the guy working the counter said I was the fourth delivery guy that month to come in with that microwave. Hey, at least I got a $14 tip out of it.

Speaker 5:

Hello. My mom and dad listen to news and grooves every week.

Speaker 2:

We bring you the best original music you will ever hear. We'll be right back.

Speaker 3:

Whispers, tales, divine, simple nights, man, they were fine. Lights reflect off the diner glass. Time slows, man, it'll never pass. Car hops glide, they strut and sway Words. We toss like dice and play. Hair slid back, shades on tide Crank the tunes. It feels so right. This town's alive. Every corner glows, the memory lives, the rhythm flows. Slide to the driving Under the stars, surf smiles Leaning on our cars, burger grease, whispers, tales, divine, simple nights, man, they were fine. Paint jobs, gleam. We park the line, every make, every model looking fine, the futures, murmur from the radio. But our hearts, they're here in the glow. Slide to the drive-in under the stars, serve smiles leaning on our cars, burger grease, whispers, tales, divine, simple nights, man, they were fine, were fine, they were fine, we're fine, yeah, we're fine. Paint jobs, gleam. We park the line, every make, every model looking fine, the futures, murmur from the radio. But our hearts, they're here in the glow.

Speaker 6:

Billie Holiday across genres. Throughout her tumultuous life and career, she recorded numerous iconic songs that showcased her ability to convey raw emotion through music, Despite facing numerous personal challenges and a tragically short career, her enduring legacy is one of the most important figures and it still is used.

Speaker 5:

Mama may have, papa may have but God bless the child that's got his own that's got his own.

Speaker 7:

Yeah, Vesnavulovic holds the record for the highest fall survived without a parachute. In January 1972, Vesna Vulevic was on a flight over what was then Czechoslovakia as a flight attendant for Jugoslaviansky Aerotransport. The aircraft broke up in midair when a bomb exploded on board, killing everybody with the exception of Vulevic. She fell an estimated 33,333 feet before landing on the ground and somehow managed to survive. She was seriously injured from the accident. However. She spent 16 months in the hospital and was in a coma for 27 days, as well as having dozens of broken bones. However, she went on to make a full recovery.

Speaker 2:

Muse and Grooves will play undeniably the most amazing music you will ever experience.

Speaker 5:

this May the signs passing by seem like whispers unheard. The neon hums softly as it cuts through the night. But the farther I go, the less I feel right. I'm on the road to nowhere and the sky doesn't change. Every mile that I wander Feels just as strange. The horizon's a promise that fades when it's near. I'm lost in the journey, but it's all I have here. The headlights ahead feel like ghosts in the mist. They vanish as quickly as the dreams that I've kissed. My shadow stays silent. It won't argue or fight, just a passenger trapped in this endless flight.

Speaker 5:

I'm on the road to nowhere and the sky doesn't change. Every mile that I wander feels just as strange. The horizon's a promise that fades when it's near. I'm lost in the journey, but it's all I have here. Each winding turn feels like deja vu. The cracks in the pavement seem to know the truth, but there's no turning back. I can't find the start. A world out of focus Feels just that's just. That's strange. Every mile that I wander feels just as strange. The horizon's a promise that fades when it's near. I'm lost in the journey, but it's all I have here, here.

Speaker 1:

Please don't forget that May 26th is Memorial Day. Don't ever forget all of our soldiers who gave their full measure of devotion for our country. God bless them all.

Speaker 8:

They shall grow not old as we that are left grow. Old Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn At the going down of the sun, and in the morning we will remember them. We gather here today with a shared attitude of gratitude. Twenty-three centuries ago, so Plutarch tells us, an old Spartan king observed it is not the places that grace men, but men grace the places. Today we know that he was right. More than a century ago, this 624-acre plot of land was a plantation on the Potomac scenic but hardly sacred. Now these fields hold the greatest treasure of our nation America's courageous dead, those who today we pause to remember. Not far from here lies the marker of Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr, a Civil War infantry veteran who later rose to be a Supreme Court justice. Who later rose to be a Supreme Court Justice.

Speaker 8:

Holmes said those who serve in our military have hearts that are touched with fire. Having known great things, he said, they are content with silence. If you have ever known one of the fallen, you've known greatness, but it is hard to be content with their silence, for we miss them. The empty chair on a holiday, empty every day. The photograph that goes wherever you do. The picture fades, but the person in it does not. Their fighting spirit persists, passed down through the ranks. Their spirit echoes in those who serve today in the air, on land and at sea.

Speaker 8:

In a world awash with change, some things stand firm, some things are, as Plato said, good and true and beautiful. The kid on the line who never had a chance to grow old will always be there to teach us that suffering has meaning if it is accepted out of love for others. To the families of the fallen, both here and at home, no words will ease your pain, but I beg you, let it have meaning pain, but I beg you, let it have meaning. Unite your sorrow to their awesome purpose. People do grace places, but people also grace people. We are blessed by our time with those now asleep, the mighty and the gentle. Let us share their story with others. Then, like the poet, we all can say sleep, soldiers still in honored. Rest your truth and valor wearing. The bravest are the tenderest, the loving are the daring.

Speaker 3:

In everyone's life there is joy and pain. Why it's hard to explain. Sometimes I'm down when I should be up. I never know which makes it tough. Screams at night with all the fright I can't shake the peace. I know my friends are all the same as me, looking over our shoulders to see what we feel. The war will last forever, clinging to my instinct To survive the weather. We are warriors, they taught us well. Maybe they taught us to go to hell.

Speaker 3:

When I shake it off and think of the family, I come back down with me, feet on the ground, thankful for my blessings and friends and knowing the Lord holds me to ground. For, as my days are near, in the end, thankful, I only bend and not break. It's another day, time to face the war that I left so long ago. Little did I realize it would follow me home and bring havoc and pain to the only life I know. So when you are around, one of us Understand this condition is hard to control. We are warriors, they taught us well. Maybe they taught us to go to hell when I shake it off and thunk of the family. Thank you, the days are near. In the end, thankful, I only bend and not break. It's another day time to face the war that I left so long ago. Little did I realize it would follow me home.

Speaker 1:

Thanks for coming in and listening on this special month.