For the Persia Powerhouse

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Jak sie masz! This is for the smokin' redhead who keeps almost everything running on a rural settlement in far-western Iowa.



I recently observed her in action, bouncing between Persia, Omaha, and even Lincoln, Kansas, like a deranged skittle would, but somehow not showing any of the mania or signs of breakdown I'd expect of a woman her age (i.e., my age) trying to take care of everything at the same time. We visitors loved the part where she calmly requested her grizzled spouse to remain seated while she told him that there would be an unannounced dinner guest for Thanksgiving. His reply, something to the effect of "Jesus fucking Christ!", did not seem to faze Rusty at all, and she assured us that he would "be OK" a little later. Then she sent him on an errand that demanded him to pipe down. She's a top-drawer tactician in addition to being a dynamo.

This version of "Powerhouse" is new to me. We all know it from old Warner Brothers cartoons---the main melody and the bridge are used separately in the cartoons for different purposes. But I've never heard it played by harmonicas, or even imagined that such a thing could be done. But here are six swell-looking guys who make it so. If this weren't a gift to a Lady, I'd probably say something like "listen to those motherfuckers go!"

Powerhouse, The Six Philharmonicas (1940, performing the Raymond Scott composition in the Warner Brothers film short subject, "The Dipsy Doodler"), embedded for noncommercial critical discussion and educational purposes.