Won't Be Long 'Til Summertime Is Through

Four part harmonies coupled with songs of cars, girls and surfing. Who else could it be but The Beach Boys?

The Wilson brothers, Dennis, Carl and Brian, were pushed into the music business by their father and were eventually joined by their cousin Mike Love to form The Beach Boys. Before the advent of The Beatles, they were the most popular rock band in the world.

All Summer Long has all the classic elements of a Beach Boys' song while lamenting the inevitable end of summer. Does summer ever really end in California?

In an ironic twist of fate, Dennis Wilson, the only Beach Boy who had ever actually surfed, drowned in 1983.

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The Dreams Of The Season Are Spilled Out On The Floor

"Never hit 17 when you play against the dealer, for you know that the odds won't ride with you." Sound advice, but it could use a little clarity.

The line might be better read as "Never hit a 'Hard 17' when you play against the dealer," but that doesn't really have the same poetic impact. A "Hard 17" being when you have a 7 and a 10 (or face card), versus a "Soft 17," a 6 and an Ace, which can have the value of either 1 or 11.

From a purely statistical standpoint, hitting a Hard 17 will likely bust your hand. If you're counting cards feel free to take your chances and do as you please, even split 10s if you are so daring (read stupid).

On the other hand, since a Soft 17 can also be played as a 7, go ahead and hit it if the dealer is showing a 2, 7, 8, 9, 10 or Ace. The rationale being that the dealer also has a 10 and your Soft 17 will lose to a 20, 19 or 18, push against the dealer's 17 and will perhaps improve your hand against the 2. Additionally, you should double-down on a Soft 17 if the dealer is showing a 3, 4, 5 or 6, based on the assumption that the dealer has a 10 and will draw another 10 (a 9, 8, 7, or 6 depending on the dealer's up card could work, too) and thus bust.

Similarly, it is also advised that you hit a Soft 18 when the dealer shows a 9, 10 or Ace, double-down to the dealer's 3, 4, 5 or 6, but stand on a 2, 7 or 8.

Of course, there is no guarantee that this will work every time. If the game was such that you could win every hand by following a simple set of guidelines, the casino would probably not offer it for you to play against them. However, adhering to a set of best practices will dramatically increase your odds of leaving the table with enough money to take the bus home.

In the end, the line is not incorrect in advising you to stand on a 17 since in the scenarios described above, you are actually hitting a 7.

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And The Living Is Easy

Excerpted from George Gershwin's opera, "Porgy and Bess," Summertime tells the story of a mother comforting her child in the heat of South Carolina while life speeds on around them.

Sarah Vaughan's rendition of the song is an excellent display of the lower end of her incredible vocal range, which encompassed virtually the entire female range.

Vaughan's rich and powerful vocals won her an early amateur contest at the Apollo Theatre at age 18 and launched her career as a professional singer during which she would work with jazz greats such as Count Basie, Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, and Charlie Parker.

Born: Sarah Lois Vaughan, March 27, 1924, Newark, NJ; Died: Sarah Vaughan "The Divine," April 3, 1990, Los Angeles, CA.

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My Fickle Friend

Recorded by Frank Sinatra in 1966, Summer Wind was originally a German song. It was first recorded in English by Wayne Newton and later by Perry Como.

Popularily known as "Old Blue Eyes," Sinatra was first given the nickname "The Voice From Hoboken," in reference to his birthplace, a place for which he rarely hid his disdain.

A lifelong performer who also became known as "The Chairman of the Board" and a member of the infamous "Rat Pack," Frank Sinatra passed away in 1998 at the age of 82.

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Lazy Raisins In A Room Up There

Long before the Seattle grunge music explosion of the 1990s, music lovers huddled beneath the great pines to take in the crafty compositions of the fabled Young Fresh Fellows.

Unimaginable Zero Summer plays well on one of those hot, humid summer days when you just want to sit around "face to face with absolutely nothing."

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