Wednesday’s Theme Music

This is one of those days when I awoke and for some unknown reason have some song snatch in the stream. Does this happen to others? Am I the only one with a playlist in my head that goes click when I get up and start thinking?

Sure, I’m not. These aren’t the same as earworms, mind you. Sometimes they are earworms, which is a song that’s stuck in your head. There’s a different feel to earworms than just a the mental jukebox flipping something on. These songs aren’t necessarily stuck, just present. I’ll heavily bet that they are related to some auditory cortex wiring, though.

Aside: remembered this WebMD post from a few years ago and dragged it into the light: “Songs Stick in Everyone’s Head”. It mentions reasons related to neurosis and obsessions, and the cognitive itch. As a writer, I become obsessed; that’s a large part of being a writer for me, getting obsessed with ideas, concepts, stories, and characters, and trying to wring them out of my head and into the world in a way that the rest of the world might understand.

Today’s song, “What’s My Age Again?” is from 1999 and a group named Blink-182. I really liked the album name: Enema of the State. Good play on words? With many people and orgs battling ‘the state’ for a variety of reasons, maybe that’s the cognitive itch that supplied my stream with this song.

Or maybe the cognitive itch is the song’s year, 1999. Seems like things really began spinning weird with Bush v Gore and the Florida hanging chads (which could be the name of some kind of group) in the next year. 1999 was a good year for me in my world. Maybe my mind lauds it as the last good year.

Well, here it is. The song, I mean, not my world. It’s a video. I’d not seen it before today, but it’s amusing to watch three naked men (except shoes and socks) running around.

That is all.

Diversity Fail

Saw an article today: “Friends Creator Marta Kauffman Tearfully Says She ‘Didn’t Do Enough’ for Diversity”.

No kidding, right? Black characters were few on that show. Past that, though, I thought, now there’s a timely sitcom: “Diversity Fail”. It would be about all the ways that diversity fails, and would feature a diverse cast, not just of races, but sexual identities and genders, sexual preferences and fluidity, and religion. It’d be a broad, rambling show focused on one person struggling to grasp it all without offending everyone. I’m thinking it’s more like “Fleabag” than “Friends”, though.

Got to stop thinking about it. It’s a distraction to the novel in progress. I’m already distracting myself with side stories trying to understand my characters. Gotta get more coffee. Then it’s back to writing like crazy, at least for a while longer.

Tuesday’s Theme Music

A bit of contra programming for myself today. Reading the news and watching videos of protesters losing eyes from police firing rubber bullets into crowds sickens me. Some respond, well, the protesters shouldn’t have been there. I disagree. They have the right to assemble right included in the bill of rights. Why huge police forces must escalate with violence is the disturbing part. Fighting fascism, the fascists say in classic double-speak.

It’s all hard to handle, which kicked the Black Crowes’ cover of the song by the same title into my music stream. Otis Redding wrote and recorded the song, and it’s been covered by many since the song’s first release in 1968. I enjoyed Otis Redding’s version and found the BC’s cover was a fatter, slightly up-tempo version that works for me. So here it is, from 1990.

Goo Goo Floofs

Goo Goo Floofs (floofinition) – American floof rock (flock) band formed in Floofalo, New York, in 1986. The band have achieved considerable success, selling over fifteen million albums.

In use: “One of Goo Goo Floofs’ many pop floof songs includes “Floof Balloon”. Released in 1999, the song reached number sixteen on the floofstream charts.”

Cell Floof

Cell Floof (floofinition) – An animal who guards, likes, steals, or uses cell phones.

In use: “Seeing the unsecured cell phone on the bench in the foyer, Tucker assumed his cell floof fur and curled up on it, allowing only a little to show, so his people could appreciate what he was doing.”

Tucker returns from his outdoor napping and sentry routine, and assumes duties as a cell floof (see it by his head?).

Puzzle #11 Is Finished

We finished the “Dream Garage” (Michael Fishel) jigsaw puzzle today. Took us three days to assemble the 1,000 pieces.

While the odd shapes put me off, I enjoyed the puzzle details and vivid colors. Remember how gas stations often blazed with neon signs? Seeing those logos invited television jingles into my head.

Lots of Coca Cola memorabilia, but give me A&W Root Beer!

“STP is the racer’s edge.”

“See the U.S.A in your Chev-ro-let.”

“Only Mustang makes it happen, only Mustang makes life great. Mustang, Mustang, ’68!”

“You can trust your car to the man who wears the star, the big bright Texaco star!”

Then the cars. Four of them were the sort of cars I slobbered over as a fourteen year old in 1970: Mustang, Corvette, Camaro, and Challenger. I ended up only owning a Camaro. It was a fun, memorable car, good gas mileage, excellent performance, and reliable. It was just a 327, though, not an SS 396 featured in the puzzle.

Besides the Coke and car stuff, there was a cigarette machine (how long since I’ve seen one of those?), a Wurlitzer jukebox (in the puzzle’s center), a pin-up calendar (over above the purple Challenger) and movie posters for Some Like It Hot and Bullitt. (See Steve McQueen up there in the right hand corner by the clock?)

Be a few days before we begin the next one. We have several in the closet awaiting their turn, but I’ve been eyeing a few on the net, so…we’ll see…

Monday’s Theme Music

War.

Climate change. Natural disasters.

COVID-19 pandemic. Rising deaths.

Black lives matter. Police brutality. Corruption. Protests. Riots. Looting. Tear gas.

Murder hornets. Asteroid heading for Earth. Forty thousand year old worms dug up, thawed out, and living again.

2020 is seen by many to be a year of worsening situations. Many read something new happening, fill with dread and ask, “Oh, no, is another disaster about to strike the planet?”

Chuckling to myself over this today, Europe’s song, “The Final Countdown” (1986) entered my musical memory stream.

The song is about leaving Earth, but you know, just pause a mo’ and shift words around, and it’ll work for this year.

If we need a theme song for this year, maybe this is it. Maybe it is the final countdown, not to leaving, but to another crisis.

Questioning Dreams

The two remembered dream segments from last night were questioning what was going on and what was happening next. None addressed the current news or anything, but used metaphors to express my concerns.

In the first dream exploration, I was at a start-up company. The dream featured many of the people associated with the first start-up employing me after I retired from the U.S. Air Force. A big event was happening, but it had flopped and fizzled. I was concerned; what was going to happen next? I wanted to know. I knew there’d been a plan in place, but it depended on some milestones, and weren’t due to happen for another twelve to eighteen months. What was going to happen in the meantime until then?

I kept asking people. My question confused most others but two friends said, “Here, play him the tape.” They took me into an office and played me a recording off an old-fashioned answering machine with a cassette tape. I listened but couldn’t understand any of it because it was in another language.

I told them that I didn’t understand. A woman came in to stop me from hearing the tape. One friend told the other, “Turn on the translator and play it.” The friend turned on the translator but the woman hurried me out, telling my friends, “He’s not supposed to hear that.”

So something is up, I thought. There’s a plan, but I don’t know it. I wanted to know it, and felt frustrated.

Another distraction struck in the form of the next door business. They’d closed for good. I was sorry that it’d happened. The doors were open and people were inside cleaning it out.

I went in to check it out. Bins overflowed with grain, nuts, and kibble. I said something to the effect the place needed to be cleaned up. The men told me, “Yes, that’s what we’re doing.” I asked if I could help. That amused them. “Go ahead.”

I shoveled loads of stuff into a large, wheeled silver bin. When it was full, I wheeled it out the door and parked it, setting the brake.

A young white woman happened along. A bubbly person, she wanted to know what was going on, peppering me with questions but not waiting for any answers. As I turned to return inside the store, I saw her moving my silver bin. “Careful,” I warned her.

We were on a hill. I told her, “Set the brake.” She went to do that but then turned around and started talking to other people. The bin started rolling down the hill. I shouted, “Look out.” Before I could move, it went completely down the hill and off the cliff.

I was shocked. I knew people were down below. I figured they were injured.

The woman turned around. “Where’d the bin go?”

“Down over the edge,” I replied.

She ran down to look. I followed. When we got down there, it was still going through the air. I was surprised that it hadn’t landed. It looked like it was going to hit people but landed in an empty space.

Shrugging, she walked away. “I guess everything is okay.”

The dreams ended.

The Everly Floofs

The Everly Floofs (floofinition) – An American musical floof duo who were active from 1956 to 1973, recording a succession of pop and country musical hits.

In use: “The Everly Floofs’ first hit came in 1957 with “Bye Bye Sleep”, which spoke to many house pets about their need to awaken their human hosts.”

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