Category: pop culture

Frieda’s Theme Music

Howdy men and women, boys and girls, and all others regardless of your name, gender, or orientation. Welcome to another installment of Frieda.

Today is March 7, 2025. Blue sky and sunshine are stamping Ashlandia’s scene. Although it’s 38 F now, warming sun will carry us into the upper 50s. I can dig it.

So the Jobs Report came out, and I think I smell a con.

The US economy added 151,000 jobs in February in first full jobs report under Trump’s second term It’s like, what? How? Given all that I’d read about job losses throughout the month of Feburary, suddenly it’s good news? Call me old-fashioned but if I step in a pile of shit and it smells like shit, I call it shit. Additionally, given how the Trusk Regime has infiltrated every Federal computer system, and PINO Trusk’s propensity of lying, cheating, and being generally untrustworthy, I think there’s every reason to believe that we’re being gaslighted. That economists believed 160000 new jobs would be added blew my mind.

This is an interesting piece of the article:

In recent weeks, the Trump administration has made monumental policy shifts — including large-scale federal layoffs, funding cutbacks, a back-and-forth on tariffs and mass deportations — that have spilled into the broader economy, shaking business and consumer confidence, and resulting in several data points flashing warning signals.

However, the Department of Government Efficiency-driven employment cuts weren’t expected to make a big splash in February’s jobs report. That’s partly because of timing of the two surveys that feed in to the monthly employment snapshot and also due to the structure of employment separation agreements.

Still, Friday’s report gave a hint of what could come: The federal government posted a loss of 10,000 jobs for the month, with 3,500 of those losses coming from the US Postal Service.

So, they’re saying this is all timing? I remain incredulous.

This being the anniversary of one of America’s version of Bloody Sunday, reading about it triggered The Neurons to fold U2’s song, “Sunday Bloody Sunday”, into the morning mental music stream. It’s the 60th Anniversary of the violence in Selma, Alabama, in 1965.

The U2 song is about another government killing citizens. “One of U2’s most overtly political songs, its lyrics describe the horror felt by an observer of the Troubles in Northern Ireland, mainly focusing on the 1972 Bloody Sunday incident in Derry where British troops shot and killed unarmed civil rights protesters.” h/t to Wikipedia.org

Little changes, it sometimes feels. Governments kill their protesting citizens. Reminds me of PINO Trusk’s first term. Remember when he wanted to have the military shoot protestors?

Coffee has rescued me again. Hope you have a solid day. Cheers

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Playin’ Favorites

Daily writing prompt
What is one question you hate to be asked? Explain.
View all responses

I so dislike questions about my favorite. I don’t care about the object: book, pie, food, beer, wine, music, movie…you get it. I don’t declare absolute favorites. I can’t speak for others but IMO, my favorites often slide along a spectrum that’s driven by mood and, or, circumstances. Sometimes memories float up and a song comes on, such as Tom Petty, “Running Down A Dream”, and I think, yes, this is my favorite song. But in another place and time, another song, such as “Us and Them” by Pink Floyd, or “Zombie” by The Cranberries or “Get It On”, is played and it strikes the note for the moment, finding a bit of sympatico with my soul.

I swing the same way with food and beverages. While I have regulars I turn to, they’re not necessarily the favorite. Same with movies — “Unforgiven”, “Bladerunner”, “This Is Spinal Tap”, “Men In Black” — and books — “Catch 22”, “Catcher In the Rye”, “Lincoln in the Bardo”, or series like the Murder Bots or Chronicles of Amber. Novels…authors…genres…

If I have an absolute favorite in anything, it’s

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Thirstda’s Theme Music

Someone kicked the bucket. Grays splashed across the sky. White highlights relieve the gray’s relentless hold and the sunshine skips in through whatever cracks it can find. Still, better than it was at 7:30 AM. I was on the road, northbound to a medical appointment then. Rain drizzled the traffic and motorways. 39 F then, we’ve jumped to 43 F now and may spring up to 50 F. Lot of the horizons were mystified as well, plying us with a wuthering heights vibe.

This is Thirstda, March 6, 2025. Remember, the holiday season begins less than nine months from now. Better get planning.

Coming back from ‘up north’…okay, ‘up north’ is actually almost due west northwest and just fourteen miles up the Innerstate. But it’s north and south on the maps, so, what am I going to do, just declare it differently because I think myself king of the world?

But coming back, heading east, snow topped the low northern mountains. The snow level looked like 2500 feet in elevation. The ridges on I-5’s southern side were snow free. That changed a bit as the valley pinched closed. Turning off the highway and climbing a surface street toward home, snow glazed the evergreens around 3000 feet in elevation. Nothing around our house, though. Typical of the period when seasons change, it all gets a little edgier, swirlier, and more unpredictable.

As far as medical updates from my appointments, my limbs are doing great and show no swelling. But appointments are necessary until the right side’s sock arrives. It seems lost in Truskland.

Didn’t have any sense of what today’s theme music should be. Like The Neurons in charge of that activity went on strike. Maybe they were fired. Terminated for poor performance. Who knows? Lot of that seems to be going around.

Fortunately, Dame Fortune stepped in and guided me to Rock n’ Roll HOF performance from 2008. Joan Jett, Billy Joel, John Mellencamp, John Fogerty and others were doing a cover of a Dave Clark 5 1963 teenbeat, “Glad All Over”. It’s a fun presentation, an excellent example of the thumping and rocking that attracted many to pop and rock. Hope you get a kick out of it, too.

Sunshine has made a breakthrough. Clouds are scurrying clear and blue sky is bowling in. I’m downing some coffee and hitting the writing circuit. Hope the day works out in good ways for you and yours. Cheers

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Floofbun

Floofbun (floofinition) – Prosifloofic poetry and prose that is about animals or relationships with animals. Origins: Japan, 17th century.

In Use: “One of the earliest recorded floofbuns is ‘The Trail of Shedding Fur’, written in 1784 by an unknown author about their floofs, while a more recent celebrated floofbun is ‘Floof Traveler Floofbun: 1999’ by Ima Katt.”

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Twosda’s Theme Music

For Twosda, March 4, 2025, in Ashlandia, the numbers are 44/50/37 F. Current, high, low. Showers spray us like a gardener going by with a squirt bottle. Some artist used spray paint of the sky. Layers of white with gray highlights. Some spray spills over the hills and mountains, obscuring the tops. Snow still streaks the northern ridges when they’re seen.

The household ant report is unchanged. I did several patrols and counted no more than twelve. They still wander without clear intentions or origins.

Well, as many of us predicted, the future of the PINO Trusk US economy has alarms sounding about bad things coming. Atlanta Fed model forecasts nearly -3% GDP growth in first quarter of this year

But the Feb. 28 update of GDPNow saw a plummeting forecast from roughly that same 2%+ mark to -1.5%. The model updated Monday with an even more pessimistic outlook: -2.8%.

The Atlanta Fed web page stresses that the GDPNow estimate is not an official forecast of the Atlanta Fed, and there are no subjective inputs to the model. 

“The estimate is based solely on the mathematical results of the model,” it states.

True to form of being an idiot, PINO Trusk’s response is said to be to try to conceal the truth, i.e., lie to people. Sure, that’ll work with the true believers, a.k.a. the MAGAts. And yea, verily, a subsection of low-informed ‘Mericans will be confused and taken in. But the tangibles will tell the truth. Economists not swallowing the Trusk pill will understand what’s going on. So will ‘Mericans filling up their cars, paying for ‘lectricity, buying food and goods, and looking for a job. PINO Trusk will try to paste it all up with shoddy gold leaf, you know, like his horrendous golden shows, but most of us will know that he’s taking the piss. Certainly, outside of the U.S., they’ll know and point out the descrepancies.

Whole thing has my spouse diligently doomscrolling and urgently prepping for rising prices and reduced supplies. The song being played in many parts of the progressive world is buy now, while you can.

That scripture has encourage The Neurons to resurrect a 2001 Gorillaz song. Part of this was due to my SO not being familiar with the Gorillaz. Said, “Never heard of them” when the Gorillaz were shown on a television talk show. True to my pedantic self, I had to educate and remind her of Gorillaz tune. I then found “Clint Eastwood” staying in my morning mental music stream cos of its lyrics.

I ain’t happy, I’m feeling glad
I got sunshine in a bag
I’m useless but not for long
The future is coming on

h/t to AZLyrics.com

Yep the future is now with Trusk’s shitty touch. Gonna be a looonnnggg, ugly, messy future, with a problematic, uncertain end. Many have hopes of guillotines being resurrected as part of Trusk’s finish, with Trusk Regime members making the regretful climb.

Oh, sorry. That’s not my music video. Sorry. Didn’t mean to share this video of MAGA Republicans getting booed. Also featured is the Rogan podcast featuring evil criminal Elon Reeve Musk calling social security a ponzi scheme.

Here is the music video.

Coffee has given me a hand up, and I’m ready to go. Hope your day is strong, wherever you are, whatever you do. Let’s rock on. Cheers

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Munda’s Theme Music

Munda, Munda. March 3, 2025, brings Ashlandia clouds, cloudy skies, rain, and sunshine. Temperatures have sunk from the warming late February interlude. We’re now 41 F and expect to see 51 F between bouts of showers.

Here’s a trick for you. If you write the date as 03/03/25, it can be reduced to a magic number. Like, subtract two from five and drop the leading zeroes. Now we have 3/3/3. If you divide 3 by three you have one. Divide 1 by 3 and 1/3 is the result. Or, multiply: 3*3 = 9. 9*3 = 27. 2 + 7 = 9. Oh, the things that occupy me while I’m doing the mornin’ kitchen shuffle. Kaprekar’s constant, it’s not.

PINO Trusk is set to address Congress. Now, the overall arc of the Trusk Regime’s early days is lawlessness. The U.S. Constitution’s systems of checks and balances have been ignored. Trusk has trampled the law and traditions and is subverting the free press’s abilities to report on what’s going on. Claiming to save money and reduce fraud, waste, and abuse, the regime has destabilized the Federal government and disrupted the soft power of foreign aid, forcing the U.S. into isolation.

The question from that setup: should elected Democratic officials even attend that speech? Doing so legitimizes the Trusk Regime. They are holding to traditions even as PINO Trusk mocks and destroys them.

The Democrats planning a rebuttal speech. Given the parameters of the nation’s polarization, which PINO Trusk has abetted by using it as a wedge issue, we can project how the coverage will go. Even if it’s a great speech, chances are three fold: one, the holy MAGAts won’t care. May not even see it. Two, words in the Democrat’s rebuttal speech will be twisted out of context. Three, the great uninformed will not pay it much attention. That would interfere with other things in their lives.

I believe the time for observing and honoring traditions and being respectful is gone. PINO Trusk should not be applauded. I believe that as soon as PINO Trusk tells a lie — and you know he will — Democrats should stand in unison and shout, “You lie.” Do this every time he tells a lie. Break that fucking speech. Don’t give PINO Trusk a stage. Do just as the GOTP has been doing since they stood up and interrupted Democratic Presidents’ speeches by false accusations of lying.

Yes, this will further the gap between the ‘two parties’. But one party, the GOTP, has already abrogated almost all of its power in support of the Trusk Regime. The other party must stand strong against it.

Do not go gentle into that good night.

Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

– Dylan Thomas

Today, The Neurons have filled the morning mental music stream with Shaboozey. This isn’t an accident. The Nigerian-American performer’s song, “A Bar Song: Tipsy” Is Now the Longest Hot Country Songs No. 1 by a Single Artist. Congrats to Shaboozey; it’s an impressive achievement.

And why not? The song is about the weariness which work sows, the grind of going to a place where tedium is often the rule, making up the numbers to earn enough money to stay alive while enriching others. Part of the American dream has always been work hard, get educated, and with a little luck, you can move up. That dream seems to have gone past its ‘Best By’ date. So people turn to games…partying…or things like getting tipsy at a bar with other people in the same boat. The water isn’t rising for many in that boat; instead, the boat is slowly going under. Yet, it’s a happy song that encourages many to sing along and dance.

Coffee and I have signed on to work together today to get my ass into gear and out into the world. Hope your day delivers for you in good ways. Let’s rock it.

Cheers

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Sunda’s Theme Music

The numbers for Ashlandia on this Sunda morning of March 2, 2025, are 43 F and 50 F, and the word is showers. Were this a jigsaw puzzle, there Twouldn’t be any blue sky pieces. Everything shimmers with a sheen planted by showers that began yesterday just before midights and stayed constant until an hour ago.

Today’s music, brought to me by The Neurons, is “The Long Run” by the Eagles. This easy-going rocker was let loose on the public in 1979 and quickly ascended to a rock classic staple. First, it was by a very successful country-rock-pop group. Second, the era was heavy with disco and punk influence, making rock of this nature more infrequent. Third, it has mellow hooks. Its straightforward lyrics makes it easy to sing along with. Then, its lyrics about relationships reflect what a lot of us wonder: who’s going to make it? What’s going to happen? We’ll find out in the long run.

Which brings us to the Great Undoing of 2025. What’s going to happen? Will the U.S. survive as a democratic republic? Will the ship be righted? We’ll find out in the long run.

“Saturday Night Live” captured the essence of the PINO Trusk White House, especially in regards to Elon Reeve Musk’s behavior, the meeting with President Zelensky, and the announcement about a new PINO Trusk program, DOUCHE. It’s funny but also stirs anger because SNL captures and conveys the vast impression left by this set of idiots.

Butter Butt, aka Papi the ginger blade, is here for a visit and my coffee is chillin’, so movin’ on. Hope your day works out to your advantage. Time to rock. Cheers

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Saturda’s Theme Music

Yesterday, sunshine was uncorked on us. Washing through blue skies, our air temp crested 70 F and lived there for a while. Gorgeous day, right?

Today, it’s 51 F and sunny. But we’re only expecting 63 F. And…rain. Still, pretty springish winter day. ‘Bout average for Ashlandia on Saturda, March 1, 2025.

Yep, a new month has begun. Sixteen percent of 2025 has been experienced. Those expecting a calm after the 2024 elections are probably disappointed. Those working for the Federal government in any capacity are likely stunned. Those hoping for lower inflation are probably too overwhelmed for emotions.

One thing unchanged are the lies that come out of Trump’s mouth. ‘Another lie’: MSNBC’s Nicolle Wallace smacks down Trump and Vance’s latest claims. No matter the subject, he will reliably lie, twist history, and bloviate, a fool who thinks himself a genius. He’s demonstrated these ‘qualities’ throughout his lifetime. Since he first announced his run for POTUS, it has been recorded and documented. And it sill goes on because his cult followers and the GOTP gleefully slurp it up by the spoonful.

Let me turn away from that. Take a coffee break for a while.

The Neurons dragged today’s song out of 2015. It came from a morning compound of wondering and cogitating as I slept-walked through the morning observances related to cleaning, feeding, eating, drinking. Prepping goes with all that. The routines induced a reflective miasma about being younger. Only, I was not the direct object of these thoughts; I was focused on Mom and Dad. Dad is with his third wife. In his nineties, he has issues but she’s younger than him by a decade and tends him well. His situation is solid.

Mom, though, is 89. She lives with her 95 year-old-fiance. It’s an old, three-story house. She falls a lot. Injuries and worries ripple out of each fall. She blames her back for her falls. I blame pride. I blame her refusal to accept her limitations and adjust her activities to their new scope. I understand; I don’t give up my routines. They’re routines because they comfort or reassure, or we enjoy them. These routines address something in our psychological makeup which isn’t easily altered.

The song is by Lukas Graham. As I went through the thought exercise of looking back, gazing forward, and reflecting on now, “7 Years Old” played in my morning mental music stream. The song is about reflections of being different ages and the attitudes and memories of that age prevail. So it was quite apt for my morning mental meandering.

Coffee and a doughnut are trespassing on my taste buds. Don’t know how they got past my defenses. Hope your day rocks in needed good ways. Here we go, in three…two…one…

Cheers

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Frida’s Theme Music

Spring continues its bold approach in Ashlandia. Winter will probably bound back in a few days but for now, it’s a beautiful day. 43 F with blue sky and sunshine. At one point in this aging morning, I walked into the kitchen and was met by a fierce shineslam of bright light. Haven’t had that kinda experience in months. The weather ‘they’ tell us we’ll crack 71 F today. But we saw 73 F at my abode’s weather thingy yesterday, so I cautiously hopeful that more the 70s will make it to the show.

This is Friday, February 28, 2025. Yes, the end of the year’s second month has arrived. The third month begins tomorrow. That’s how it used to work. But with PINO Trusk’s shitstorm and the Great Undoing, who knows what it’ll be? Maybe he’ll declare it February 29. Perhaps he’ll get it in his head that if the calendar doesn’t advance, then he’ll never leave office. He’ll just label every day as Trump and then append them with numbers.

No, that’s actually too reasonable and logical for him and his band of broken people.

Today’s song shouldn’t surprise. “Beautiful Day” by U2 came into this world at the turn of the century. Just decades ago, that seems like a far away time. It’s in the morning mental music stream because The Neurons heard me look out the window and say, “Wow, look at that, Papi, it’s a beautiful day.” For the record, Papi the ginger blade, aka Meep and Butter Butt, agreed. Or seemed to. He went out into the sunshine, stretched, and then eyed everything for threats and intrusions.

Hope it’s a beauty where you are, too. No matter what, try to make it a strong day for yourself.

Coffee has now crept into my system, somehow getting in there when I put it in a mug and raised the mug to my lips and tilted the mug back. So here we go, one more time. Cheers

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