Category: food

Friday’s Theme Music

Ashland, southern Oregon — Friday, July 24, 2026.

It’s a hot, sunny day. 85 F now, 95 later. But the air is free from smoke.

Fasted last night so I could go get some blood tests done today. So then went off and ate breakfast after that was completed.

Then the morning got a little complicated. My wife lost her cell phone. Children found it and wouldn’t return it. Yes, rewards were offered. She didn’t have the phone locator turned on, a choice she made years ago but now regrets. She also didn’t set up phone security. Fortunately, she used it for nothing except texting, games, and phone calls.

BUT —

It was the primary number for receiving security texts for different accounts. So I’ve been going through the very painful process of changing that number with several companies. It isn’t just ‘log in and fix it’; it’s log in — or, call us. Give us your name, DOB, address, social, UserID. Now, take a photo of both sides of your driver’s license. And a selfie. Now hop on your right leg three times, turn in one complete circle, spit toward the sun, and declare, “New phone number” three times.

Classic first world blues.

It’s pretty apparent these days that Trump’s shallow thinking has exhausted its ability to come up with new ideas. Deeply into repeating himself, Trump is inflicting new tariffs on us (even though the US is projected to refund $85B in tariffs and our customs duties receipts are negative $26B in June) and trying to add his name to another building as part of Operation Epic LOOK — SQUIRREL!

Not surprising, given Trump’s flat ideas and bullying leadership style, Trump is losing staff. Those he chose who were approved by the Senate are escaping while they can. Could be that they know that the mid-terms are looking like another Trump disaster — like:

No worries; he’s not.

We’re becoming the land of the poor, sick, and broken under Trump. According to a Harris Poll, 95% of U.S. adults believe the country is facing a severe affordability crisis.

Still living in a fantasy, Trump thinks the next president will have it great.

Your Trump Quote of the Day:

The other way that we can take this quote is that Trump made another Freudian slip. He’s actually acknowledging that he’s doing a shit job, and that anyone after him will look much better in comparison.

Given his declining physical appearance and the way he often babbles, I wonder if he’ll be alive to see the next Oval Office inhabitant.

Maybe Trump will pull a Mitch McConnell. That might be even why the GOP isn’t trying very hard to prove Mitch is still alive; they’re testing the waters to do the same with Trump.

Today’s song came to me as I was driving and thinking, returning home from my lab visit. I had the radio off, thinking about my dreams from last night. With my daily routine shifted, I thought, “Come up for air.” From that, “Miracle Mile” by Cold War Kids began playing in my morning mental music stream.

May the season’s winds carry you to a happy, healthy, and safe future.

Cheers

0

The Sisters Dream

I was with several of my sisters. We were all younger than now.

Don’t know where we exactly were. Outside. Mostly flat and sort of muddy to start.

I’d been off doing something and then returned, looking for them, as it was time to go. I found them by a large broken cement sewer pipe coming out of the base of a dirt hill. Multiple bottles and trash was there.

One of the sisters asked, “Michael, can you help us? We want to clean up these bottles but we don’t know how.”

They had two large plastic containers with a spout on top. Way too small to put the bottles in. So I tore the top of the plastic away. They thanked me and we loaded the bottles up, often breaking them. Some bottles were already broken. As they warned me to be careful, I picked up the bottles and put them in the plastic. Then I carried those away, depositing them somewhere safe.

I was ready to go, so I began walking. My sisters were several hundred yards away. I wanted time to myself. Deciding to avoid them, I began running. My sisters called my name: I ignored them, running faster.

I crossed the muddy plain and then ended up on a highway’s wide shoulder. Traffic was heavy to my right. Dusk was coming. Left was a lot of new constructions: houses and stores were being built, but was suspended for the night.

I thought, wow, that’s a lot of construction. The construction and changes threw me off. I hadn’t been in the area for a while. Confused about where I was going, I decided to go back to my sisters.

Turning around, I gawked with some amazement. I hadn’t realized how far and fast I’d run. Running back, my speed amazed me even more.

I reached the spot where I’d last seen my sisters. They weren’t visible. I called them; no answer.

Then I found them, along with their previous husbands, and more of my family. I looked for my wife but she wasn’t there. I saw my younger sister’s ex-husband, JJ, and said hello to him, adding, “Good to see you.”

The group told me we were going to Sharon and John’s. She’s my sister and that’s her husband. Then the group kind of wandered around, dawdling. Impatient, I went to Sharon and John’s house.

It was a small place. In the dining room was a large oval, polished wood table. Arrayed in front of it on one side were three rows of seven baby highchairs. They were different colors and ages. Each had a placard on it.

I was mystified. Like, what’s going on here? Is this where they expected us – adults – to sit? We wouldn’t fit in those chairs. No, they seemed to be set up for something. Classes for children?

Then the chairs rearranged themselves. Many disappeared. Matthew Perry was seated at one of the tables. Reprising his role as Chandler Bing from “Friends”, he did a few scenes. Except, he was the size of a baby.

John came in. I said, “How was that done,” gesturing to Perry/Bing in a highchair. John explained, “Oh, that’s Matthew Perry. He was in “Friends”.”

I answered, “I know all that, but that’s not him. That’s the size of a child. Is that a puppet? Animation?” It was completely lifelike.

We went back and forth, with John explaining the same thing in almost the same ways. I kept asking questions, trying to clarify it, but never got an answer. My sister came in, interrupting us to announce that there were sandwiches in the other room.

Dream end.

1

Monday’s Theme Music – Fears & Monsters

Ashland, southern Oregon — Monday, July 20, 2026.

Smoke lingered until about midnight. That kept the area heat sealed in. Overnight slowly dropped into the low seventies after a daytime high of 96 F at our house.

Less smoke here today. Tiny, scattered showers. Now 80, 91 is the expected high.

Our smoke is from several fires. Dominating the skies is the East Evans Creek Fire. From the reports we’re getting, this fire will continue for several more weeks.

My younger sister, Gina, continues preparing Mom’s home for a change of ownership. She began by trying to sell a few things. Then items were given to charity, thrift stores, or the scrap man. One young woman, though, came early and bought several things. Gina kept in touch with her, giving her more items as time went by. Gina reported that she gave the woman a vacuum cleaner yesterday.

The woman said, “You don’t know how it’s helped me with all that you’ve given me.”

Gina replied, “I hope you remember and can help someone in the future.”

“I will,” the woman replied.

More US troops have been killed in Trump’s war with Iran. Trump claimed the US won the war before — 32 times. He also claimed it was over as far back as March of 2026, less than a month after he started it. Here we are, though, 142 days later, still at war with Iran, and it seems to be escalating.

The war is part of Operation Epic BE VERY AFRAID, itself part of Operation Epic LOOK — SQUIRREL! On the one hand, Trump does things and then tries distracting us. Then, as that fails to distract us because we become inured to his lies, he pivots and tries to make us afraid. Then Trump claims only he can fix it.

For example, back when he was running for office in 2024, Trump was all about affordability.

Your Trump Quote(s) of the Day:

Anyone can do the research and see how Trump operates. In this instance — affordability — he blasted Democrats about affordability when running for office in 2024.

About 14, 15 months later, Trump declares affordability will be much better under him and Republicans.

But, as prices don’t go down, and even increase, Trump declares affordability is a hoax. Created by the ‘opposition’, of course.

Yet, he was the one running so hard on it back in 2024.

He’s essentially declaring that he ran on a hoax.

Sure, but his hoax was enough to dupe a sufficient number of people to vote for him.

Now, though — July, 2026 — fewer people are no longer buying Trump’s excuses.

Half of Americans struggle to afford groceries and gas, exclusive poll finds

Republicans Increasingly Say Finances Worse Under Trump

With plunging popularity and approval, Trump has accelerated fear tactics. Communists. Stolen elections. Iran with nukes.

And Trump’s war with Iran takes the biggest stage, the most political oxygen.

Expect more fearful hysteria coming from the White House in the days to come.

Today’s music is by David Bowie. The Neurons caught me shaking my head over Trump’s manipulating language and unfounded declarations. In response, they fired up “Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps).

The song came out in 1980. The chorus fits Trump and his ‘be-very-afraid’ style, but I’m more drawn to Robert Fripp’s guitar work on it.

Chorus:

[Chorus]
Scary monsters
Super creeps
Keep me running
Running scared
Scary monsters
Super creeps
Keep me running
Running scared

h/t to Genius.com

I hope the creeps, monsters and fears leave you and your friends and family alone, giving you time for happiness, love, and to gorw.

Cheers

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The CIA Dream

I was working in marketing again, as I had for several years in real life. I was about the same age as well, early 40s, after retiring from the military.

Just returning from a long trade show, I went to my office and opened my cabinets to put things away. There I found that someone had been delivering food to me! Much of it were three by three inch cubes with Kanji on them. The wrappers were white, with either a red, green, or blue.

They totally mystified me. I questioned others, where did the food come from? Who brought them? No one could say.

I figured out through examination that the colors on the cubes represented fish, beef, or dairy. That amused me but needing my space, I began clearing them out.

Next I found bags of candy. Like WTF? Then cans of soup and containers of melted ice cream.

I couldn’t believe it. Why would someone put that in my cabinet?

A female co-worker came by and explained that the same thing had happened to her. It was part of some lunch program. We didn’t go in to get our food, so they delivered them to us. We weren’t there, so they put them away for us.

“But ice cream?” I protested. “That doesn’t make sense. Also, how much food do they think I need? There must be weeks worth.”

I was amused more than I was angry.

While I was cleaning, basically trying to do with this food, I kept getting summoned to meetings or interrupted by people coming by.

Two of the people who came by were CIA agents. Or so they said.

Male, dressed in suits, with ties. They wanted a favor.

Something was being installed. It was down on the ground floor, outside. They gave me a red and white placard. A white 5 was in the middle.

“Just put this on the cover of what they make. That’s all you need to do.”

Sure. Why not? Made no sense but did I care? Not really. I was too busy with other things to wonder about this strange venture.

Resuming my cleaning, I was almost done when two more men – white, in suits – stopped by. They identified themselves as part of the CIA. These two wore sunglasses.

I wondered, is this a joke?

One explained, “There is new construction being completed downstairs.”

The other held up a white thing. Basically resembled a white tent peg. “We want you to put this about a foot behind the construction, about a foot to the right. That’s all you need to do. We’ll do the rest.”

I repeated all that because it made no sense.

Then I asked, why are you asking me to do this?

“We’ve seen your records,” the first said, as if that explained everything.

I figured he meant my military records, and all those security clearances, and just accepted it.

Later, I did what the two pairs of agents asked. Privately, kind of secretly, ensuring no one was around to witness it.

Then I laughed as I walked away.

Dream end.

1

Sunday’s Theme Music – Way it is

Ashland, southern Oregon — Sunday, July 19, 2026.

We’re into the endurance stage of summer. Today will hit 97 degrees F. A maybe is attached, for it depends on the smoke’s thickness and sprawl.

80 right now, thin white clouds and strips of gray smoke force the sky into a hazy shade of blue.

That’s just how it is in the summer here.

This headline caught my attention this week:

Gas is nearly $4 again and diesel just topped $5. It’s not what you think

The story reminds us that Trump’s Iran war is affecting oil and gas prices. But they also note that much of the gas products refined in Trump’s America are going to other places.

US refineries processed their largest amount of crude in the second quarter since 2019.

But a record amount of American-produced fuel is heading overseas – in the form of jet fuel (for Europe) and diesel (for Asia and Australia) to help the world bridge the gap in fuel supplies.

That has sent US gasoline inventories to their lowest levels since 2012.

The CNN article then goes on to mention that US refineries are struggling to produce products due to extreme heat.

Meanwhile, Trump, whose administration has rolled air and water pollutions standards back, is complaining about Canada ‘invading the US’ with filthy air. Classic Trump Double Standards.

Trump denies climate change, deriding it as a hoax, as he does many things which he can’t comprehend or doesn’t want to address.

“This ‘climate change,’ it’s the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world, in my opinion,” Trump said. “All of these predictions made by the United Nations and many others, often for bad reasons, were wrong. They were made by stupid people that have cost their countries fortunes and given those same countries no chance for success. If you don’t get away from this green scam, your country is going to fail.”

Your Trump Quote(s) of the Day:

Trump has chosen to treat our friends in Canada with more tariffs. That’s just the way he is. Instead of working with others to solve problems, he attacks, mocks, and derides.

Trump is so tone deaf. He claims that America “are a people like no other” and then goes to war with Americans, for example, referring to Democrats as “Dumbocrats”, significantly restricting, cutting, and altering healthcare benefits, and nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ+ individuals, with a heavy emphasis on transgender Americans.

This is how Trump ‘honors’ the people like no other.

That’s just the way he is.

No surprise for me, The Neurons have “The Way It Is” in the morning mental music stream. Bruce Hornsby wrote the song and he and his band, the Range, performed it. America’s civil rights movement of the 1960s inspired him when he wrote it.

Lyrics

They say, “Hey, little boy, you can’t go where the others go
‘Cause you don’t look like they do”
Said, “Hey, old man, how can you stand to think that way?
Did you really think about it before you made the rules?”
He said, “Son

That’s just the way it is
Some things will never change
That’s just the way it is”
Ha, but don’t you believe them
Mmm, yeah

That’s just the way it is
That’s just the way it is

Well, they passed a law in ’64
To give those who ain’t got a little more
But it only goes so far
‘Cause the law don’t change another’s mind
When all it sees at the hiring time
Is the line on the color bar, ooh, no

h/t to AZLyrics.com

Bruce Hornsby is a liberal, something that came from his mother, according to him in this 2020 interview in “The Independent”:

“Narrow-minded attitudes prevailed in my small southern town,” he tells me. “But my mum, Lois, was from a more forward-thinking family of New Englanders who’d moved down to Richmond when her dad got a job there as a church organist. Liberal Lois, my mum, married a big old handsome country boy. Bob Hornsby was from a fishing village and he was cut from the local cloth. My parents’ votes cancelled each other out in elections from 1948 to 1976 when my mum persuaded my dad to vote for Jimmy Carter and he never looked back and he voted Democrat for the rest of his life.”

As Bruce’s mother, Liberal Lois, proves, it doesn’t have to be the way it is, if people are willing to keep trying to open narrow minds and change their values.

Not Trump, of course. From Epstein to corruption and dishonesty, that’s just the way he is.

I hope comes complete with safe times, good times, and happy memories.

Cheers

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Missing Connections

Facts and reality continue their freefall in Trumpland.

Much of the US is caught in extreme heat as a heat dome covers the nation.

Air quality sucks in many states due to wildfires smoke.

Measles outbreaks continue to rise in the US. South Carolina, Texas, and Utah have the most outbreaks and the highest caseloads.

The rural hospital crises roars along, with more hospitals slated to close in rural areas.

Energy prices are increasing, along with food prices. Affordability is cratering. Grocery prices are 33% higher than in 2019.

Water shortages are rising because of widespread drought in the continental US, with 48% of the lower 48 states enduring some levels of drought. Besides affecting people’s abilities to hydrate, reduced water levels threaten livestock, agriculture, and hydroelectric power. As those areas are affected, expect food and grocery prices to increase more.

Personal bankruptcies are still increasing, continuing a trend which started several years ago.

The US debt is at a record high.

It’s flooding in Texas. Bridges have collapsed. Roads are impassible.

A cyclospora outbreak has hit 34 states.

ICE violence continues.

Over in the Department of Defense, another endless war is going on, this time with Iran. The Defense Secretary, Pete Hegseth, worries about testosterone levels in the military members. Denies promotions to women and people of color.

Trump uses a Disney cartoon character to text about how good he’s doing. Goes on television to promote hysteria about election fraud and election interference, offering no evidence for his claims, and ignoring the mountains of proof about how safe US elections are.

After paving over the historic Rose Garden, Trump is paving more of the White House grounds, ignoring again that it’s not his place, but belongs to We the People.

Treasury announced a gold coin with Trump on it will be coming out.

Good. We need a gold commemorative reminder of how horrible life is becoming under Trump.

Trump and his administration do little to address the real problems facing real people. All he does is go on about how wonderful he is, whining how people cheat and persecute him.

They’re still trying to fix the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool and still building the Epstein ballroom.

On to the next distraction.

4

Wednesday’s Theme Music — Blind

Ashland, southern Oregon — Wednesday, July 15, 2026.

Gonna be 95 F here again. 79 right now. Will drop tomorrow to 85, they say. We’ll see.

Happy birthday to my younger sister. A mother of two, grandmother of two, she just retired from a long and very successful career in banking, and continues to have a happy marriage after 48 years.

To the news.

Heather Cox Richardson’s letter for yesterday — July 14, 2026 — relates how the United States slowly created and built its national parks and monuments. Presidents from both parties embraced the idea of saving natural lands for people to enjoy.

Armed with Project 2025 ideas and declaring a national energy emergency, Trump has rolled back protections. Even though people love the parks and the parks bring income into the nation’s coffers and create jobs, Trump is more interested in what it can do for the timber, mining, and energy industries. Under him, the parks will be smaller and trashier than they’ve been since the 1890s.

Shaking my head.

This article made me laugh this morning:

Fox News viewers savage Donald Trump for ‘redneck garbage dump’ White House decorations

The best comments for me:

“White House every day is looking more like a red neck garbage dump,” someone else blasted, with a fourth viewer weighing in, “Just because it’s gold doesn’t make it elegant. At some point, it starts looking less like a palace and more like a casino lobby.”

An article from TNR asked a question which many of us wonder:

Can We Lose the Same War Twice? With Trump, Anything’s Possible

Nice summation of the current mess in Trump’s war with Iran right here:

“The two New Jersey property managers Trump sent to negotiate his surrender produced a poorly written memorandum of understanding, or MOU, that captured the new power relations—Iran got nearly everything it demanded, including a $300 billion reconstruction fund, while the United States got vague promises of talks on all the issues Trump had started the war to resolve.”

Now Trump is back at it, launching attacks, still after the same objectives that he claimed to have achieved before, fighting the way he claimed to have won before.

Feels like just more Operation Epic LOOK — SQUIRREL! to me.

Your Trump Quote of the Day:

Classic Trump word weave. Little meaning, less truth, far less connection with reality.

I’m not an expert but based on experts’ opinions and history, I believe this policy will dramatically increase the costs of goods in the US, thereby increasing inflation, straining affordability and healthcare for many Americans.

Today, in honor of MAGA and Republicans, Les Neurons served up a song called “Love is Blindness”. U2 came out with it first. It was too mellow and chill for me. I prefer Jack White’s harder, more challenging edge.

Sample Lyrics:

A little death
Without mourning
No call
And no warning
Baby, a dangerous idea
That almost makes sense

Love is drowning
In a deep well
All the secrets
And no one to tell
Take the money
Honey
Blindness

h/t to Bing.

May this day come with peace, grace, and joy for you, and gently carry you forward to the best times possible.

Cheers

1

The Rabbit Dream

I was at an outdoor gathering with others. None were ‘real-life’ friends. I knew them casually in the dream, as we’d just completed some kind of training or gathering.

Setup was very casual, and I was much young then my RL age. Just wrapping up, I received notifications and tickets about my travel plans. I glanced at them but didn’t read them deeply, just making myself aware of what they were.

Walking across a large swath of grass towards where the others were with food, grill, picnic tables, I came across a large brown rabbit. It was watching me as I walked by, and I realized, oh, it’s hungry.

So I said, “Are you hungry?”

Wagging it tail, it hopped toward me.

I chuckled to myself. “Why, you’re just like a cat or a dog, aren’t you?” Then, walking on, I added, “Wait here. I’ll get you something to eat.”

The others were sitting around the tables, bullshitting. We’d eaten earlier. I was trying to figure out, what does a rabbit eat? But I knew what a rabbit ate; I didn’t see anything like that on the table or grill. I only saw buns and cookies. Then I did notice a little salad left.

I casually picked up a few things, including a cookie, not wanting to share with the others that I was feeding the rabbit. The rabbit jumped up on the table and began eating.

Pretending to be upset, I chided the rabbit, “Get down off the table, you’re not supposed to be eating that.”

But I thought, that’s what I’ll give the rabbit to eat.

The rabbit jumped down. One of the guys there said, “You were going to feed that rabbit, weren’t you?”

I denied it, but he went on, “You were going to give him that cookie.”

Shrugging, I replied, “So what if I was?”

Giving the rabbit food, I walked away. Remembering my tickets, I pulled them out to check the details. Everything was washed out by water spots.

For a moment, I thought, how did that happen?

Then I was angry about it. One of the others walked past and asked, “How’s it going?”

I explained what had happened, showing my tickets. They said, “Same thing happened to me. What are you going to do?”

I replied, “I’ll just go to the airport. There will be someone there who can help me.” Shrugging, I thought, there could also be an administrator here who could help.

As I began looking around, trying to figure out where to go to find the administrator, the dream ended. 

0

Monday’s Theme Music — Sweet Lies

Ashland, southern Oregon — Monday, July 13, 2026.

We’re climbing through the 70s, on our way to 90 degrees F. Sunny. Blue sky. No clouds. Supposed to be different tomorrow, with a 55% chance of rain. We will see.

We took a moment at our house to talk about Sam Niell passing. We both enjoyed his work. I was just watching him in the television “Peaky Blinders” last night.

My wife said today, “Who could have guessed that the cease fire with Iran would unravel?”

Yes, a Trump deal unraveling? Perish the thought.

I’ve been following numerous stories in the press that analyze what Trump says and how much of it is a lie. It’s become like a hobby for me. It takes enormous time because Trump lies frequently.

Some of his recent lies are in these stories:

Analysts fact-check the president‘s latest claims about the US economy

Trump Justifies Money Made as President With Inaccurate Claims

Trump claims 59% approval, but recent polls show support far lower

And then there was this headline out of Fortune Magazine:

U.S. Treasury has borrowed $155 billion every month of this fiscal year—and is now paying $24 billion a week in interest on its debts

Tax cuts and spending increases have pushed current spending. The nation is expected to borrow $2T to finance the debt in 2026.

Trump still believes in magic, though, claiming he will balance the budget without doing a thing. Your Trump Quote of the Day:

I file this Trump declaration with Trump’s many other declarations, lies, and broken promises, including the one about no new wars, releasing the Epstein files, and that other one about lowering inflation.

Today’s morning mental music stream is “Sweet Lies” by Fleetwood Mac. The Neurons inform that they are playing this song for me because Trump tells sweet little lies. MAGAts and Republicans faithfully nod, agreeing with his lies. Does that make them liars by proxy?

Hope your day comes free of lies and full of joy, peace, and security.

Cheers

4

Saturday’s Theme Music — Uneasy Distractions

Ashland, southern Oregon — Saturday, July 11, 2026.

65 and cloudy, it feels like a comfortable 72 outside. The temperature will rise into the high 80s today in our valley.

It seems to me like Trump has been losing mojo. Just IMO. Gas prices are rising — again, after a brief reprieve while a ceasefire was in effect — and the recession vibe remains strong. People keep talking about it and they’re not pleased.

Although Republicans ‘support’ the war with Iran, it’s not very popular. His objectives are all over the place, as is the timetable. Only the triple impacts of death, destruction, and costs are clear.

Hustling to keep power, Trump is trying distraction after distraction under Operation Epic LOOK — SQUIRREL! This week, he rolled out the classic right-wing trope, ‘commies’.

Like many of Trump’s tactics, he’s going after emotional votes, and uses fear. Basic insights tell us that this shift is to attract anyone previously affected by communism, such as Cuban voters who escaped Castro. It’ll also speak directly to those cold war survivors who had the commie threat ingrained in them for decades.

Threat inflation, I believe it’s called, and it’s been used in politics forever, most recently when JD Vance and Trump made up stories about Haitians eating people’s pets.

Trump is hoping that the commie threat will distract us from the tangible and intangible expenses of his war with Iran. He also has his fingers crossed that it’ll be enough of a distraction to lower our concerns about the rising challenge of affordability in the US, extreme weather problems being fueled by climate change, his grifting, and the many other ways he’s broken promises and failed.

That emotional vibe is what keeps MAGAts riding the Trump bus.

Meanwhile, the rural hospital crises goes on. Measles outbreaks have already surpassed 2025’s total, and will get worse. Measles used to reflect the school-year cycle but now, as children attend summer camps, the spread of measles is no longer contained to the school systems as much as it was.

A new vision of Trumpland rises. The wealthy top five to ten percent enjoy life as poverty grows. People outside of the wealthy class increasingly struggle to keep up with needs — food, health, shelter, energy — or the house and health insurance to save them when things go wrong.

Trump keeps juggling distractions: Greenland! Ballroom! Security! Freedom 250! Formula 1 race in DC! Immigrants! Commies, commies, commies! Iran with nukes! The Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. Stolen elections! Election fraud!

Emotional voters will vote for him because he says it like it is, because he speaks to their fears.Yes, that’s a little reductive; others will vote for him because ‘the Bible’ or ‘woke’. More will vote for him because ‘Merica, or ‘Republican’.

That’s what we face to bring sensible change back into the national conversation.

Today’s song came out in 1973. The ballad of the “Uneasy Rider” was by the Charlie Daniels Band — CDB. It tells the story of a long-haired person driving through the south back in the early 1970s when they have a flat tire.

While waiting for their tire to be fixed, the narrator takes refuge in a bar, where he hides his hair up under his hat. But circumstances arise when he must ‘tip his hat to a lady’. He does, revealing his long hippie hair.

Suddenly he’s nervous and in danger. In order to escape, he starts accusing one of the others of various things — playing on fears. Here’s the lyrics that tell the tale:

And I knew I better think of something pretty quick
So I just reached out and kicked ol’ green teeth right in the knee
Now he let out a yell that’d curl your hair
But before he could move I grabbed me a chair
And said, “Watch him folks ’cause he’s a thoroughly dangerous man!”
“You may not know it but this man is a spy
He’s a undercover agent for the FBI
And he’s been sent down here to infiltrate the Ku Klux Klan!”
He was still bent over holding on to his knee
But everybody else was looking and listening to me
And I laid it on thicker and heavier as I went
I said, “Would you believe this man has gone as far
As tearing Wallace stickers off the bumpers of cars
And he voted for George McGovern for President”
“Well, he’s a friend of them long haired hippy-type, pinko fags!

I bet you he’s even got a commie flag
Tacked up on the wall inside of his garage”
“He’s a snake in the grass, I tell you guys
He may look dumb but that’s just a disguise
He’s a mastermind in the ways of espionage”

h/t Genius.com

The narrator plays on fears to distract so he can escape, just as Trump does to ‘change the narrative’.

Listening to the song, I heard a few differences in this version.

  1. He doesn’t mention peace signs on his car.
  2. The original mentioned voting for Wallace; it’s been changed Reagan.
  3. The narrator accuses green teeth of voting for Jimmy Carter for president.
  4. “Mario Andretti would have sure been proud” was the original reference; that was changed to Cale Yarborough.
  5. And the references to their peckers on fire has been changed…

Hope you have a distractionfree day of peace, grace, good food and good health.

Cheers

0

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