Day 37 – Conditions
Friday’s Theme Music
Back in 1985, I was traveling frequently with the military. Based in South Carolina, I was a frequent visitor to California, Florida, Virginia, and New Jersey. Between them, I spent months in South Korea and Egypt, dashed through Spain, and part of a week in Belgium. This travel all revolved around war readiness planning and exercising.
Somewhere in those travels, I picked up on a song called “Live is Life”. I’d heard the song but didn’t know who did it. It didn’t seem to have much playtime in America. Eventually I hunted it down and discovered it was by Opus, from Austria.
Anyway, as I adjusted to today’s limited agenda and travel plans and admired spring’s growing presence outside, the song returned to me. It’s a jaunty song without deep lyrics, kind of odd as a rock song — more pop than rock –but it’s easy to sing.
Tuesday’s Theme Music
After reading about South Dakota’s disparaging remarks about herd mentality and the subsequent spike in COVID-19 cases in that states, I thought of the phrase, against all odds.
Against all odds, Alabama held back until it was conclusively demonstrated that despite not being like California, Alabama was going to experience the coronavirus. Checking the news today, I see two thought-provoking headlines to use to compare and contrast:
Alabama Tourism Among States Least Affected By Coronavirus
Mobile sees surge, added the most coronavirus cases in Alabama last week
The first article tells that Alabama’s tourism industry has been one of the least hard-hit in the nation. In the second article, ADPH reports that Mobile surged from 158 cases last week to 468 this week.
Anyway, I can hammer the point that social distancing works, but against all odds, churches, some Republican governors, and Liberty University disbelieve the facts and refuse to take the recommended actions.
And anyway, now that I’ve made this a stupidly long post for a theme music entry, today’s theme music is Phil Collins with “Against All Odds (Take A Look at Me Now)”, a 1984 song written for the movies, “Against All Odds”. Kind of a slow song, bit of sappy movie montage behind it, and it doesn’t even mention odds (what are the odds of that?). Not much of a theme song. Don’t Rachel Ward and Jeff Bridges look pretty, though?
Oh, well.
Cheers
Monday’s Theme Music
“Geez, look at the friggin’ numbers, rising and rising, when will it end?”
“My god, did you read the news?”
“Look at those people! None of them wearing a mask, or gloves, and they’re not six feet apart!”
Such responses to things led to today’s song. Blasting out of 1978 right into today, it’s Chic with “Le Freak”. You can sing along with the refrain, “Ahhh, freak out!”
Yeah, read, think, talk, wonder, watch, and freak out. Perfect for today. Music, with a slice of humor and nostalgia.
Floofceuticals
Floofceuticals (floofinition) – Drugs and medicines meant for use on animals.
In use: “As with big pharma and human healthcare, the importance and cost of floofceuticals are rising for pet owners as animals live longer and require treatment for treat arthritis, cancer, leukemia, and other diseases and conditions.”
His Rules
He wears the same damn pants every day. They’re loose, so he doesn’t need to watch his weight.
He’s added pockets to his pants for the remotes so they’ll never be lost (not that he goes far – frig, microwave, shitter, couch). He wears a utility belt with Tums, cough drops, and other crap that he might need that he doesn’t want to get up to get. A small frig resides besides the couch for essential soda and beer.
Clocks and calendars have been removed; who needs time? Sleeping on the couch makes the whole damn thing easier. He doesn’t plan to bathe or shave until this whole damn thing is over, his protest against government overreach.
Still, his mouth is hurting, so he’s thinking, maybe he’ll break down and brush his teeth.
More
More cases, more deaths, more jokes about drinking wine.
More demands about re-opening businesses, and then everything will be fine.
More stories about valor and the sacrifices made.
More stories about lying, misinformation, and the debts to be paid.
Some things will not change, don’t seem they ever will,
But every time we go through something like, someone pays the bill.
It’s not usually the rich, nor the pols running the gov,
It’s the workers and the nurses and the people that we love.
Michael Seidel, writer 