Monday’s Theme Music

The sun kicked the door in on Monday, July 4, 2022, and announced it was going back to bed.

It’s a cool day in the valley. Showers are anticipated, the third day in a row in July, a treat for us. It’s but 18C outside now but we’re expecting a high of 76 F, no lie; on the nation’s celebration of 1776 and the signing of the Declaration of Independence, it’ll be 76. Must be an omen of some kind in there. I’ll look for it after I’ve had my coffee.

Sunrise was at 5:39 AM. The traveling sun show will cease it Monday ops today at (drumroll), yes, 8:50 PM. Again.

Today’s music was brought to us by the wonderful Minnie Riperton. She had a stunning voice but died of cancer when she was 31. Maya Rudolph is her daughter, an actor and comedian who I richly enjoy, so Minnie gave us her singing and her daughter. Her best-known song by the masses is probably “Lovin’ You” from 1975, a song created to distract her daughter when the girl was little and being cranky. I heard it on the radio yesterday and had to pause to listen, one more time. Thank you, technology. Thank you, Minnie.

Stay positive, test negative, and whatever needs done to survive, endure, and thrive. Coffee is one of those things that help me survive, endure, and thrive. At least that caffeine kick and seductive flavor urges me to believe and try, try again.

There go the jets on their flyover. The parade downtown has commenced. Obviously, I’m not there this year. Obviously.

Now where’s that coffee? Here’s the music. Cheers

Wait — another flyover. Right over our house. They must have smelled my coffee.

July 4, 2022 2

Sunday’s Theme Music

Yesterday, Saturday, July 2, offered us heavy rain, thunder, and lightning. We don’t experience a lot of this in Ashland. As my partner commented, we usually receive a rain like this at the end of July. We do get ‘dry’ thunderstorms, where the clouds pile up over the mountains and then roll across the valley, darkening the sky and dropping the temperature before singing their bass throat music. Far lightning came sometimes be seen. It was all different yesterday, the once-a-year storm that we typically experience.

Today is Sunday, July 3, 2022. It’s cool, just 10 C now, with predictions and forecasts that we’ll reach the upper to mid 70s F. Clouds have blanked the sunshine and blue sky. Mists cuddle up to the tree line on the mountains. The air smells of wet grass, dirt, and bark.

Sunrise was at 5:39 AM. The sun will do its disappearing act about 8:51 PM. Again. That sunset time hasn’t changed since before the solstice.

I went out and listened to the rain, alone, enjoying the smell and sound. Drops hurled down, dashing off the pavement, an unsynchronized drumline in a private public performance. Thunder erratically punctuated moments. As it faded, I enjoyed the silence. No cars, birds, cats, or people. Nothing but me and the storm as it carried its show north and away. The silence was a balm for the day, and I thought, I hope nothing breaks this silence. Just let me have this for a little longer.

Well, The Neurons said, “We know that song.” I replied, “What song?”

They responded with “Don’t Answer Me” by the Alan Parsons Project from 1984. I don’t recall when I’d last heard it. Lines in the song go, “Don’t answer me, don’t break the silence, don’t let me win. Don’t answer me, stay on your island, don’t let me in.” Oh, how The Neurons love playing these word association music games. I think they might be a little compulsive-obsessive about it.

Stay positive, test negative, wear a mask as and when needed and get the boosters as, when, and if you’re able. Time for a morning jolt, you know what I’m saying? Here’s the music. Cheers

July 3, 2022 0

Saturday’s Theme Music

Saturday has sauntered in like he owns the day. It’s July 2, 2022, part of the four day holiday weekend to celebrate Independence Day, aka July 4th or the 4th of July. All those phrases are employed to recognize the nation’s birthday. Of course, many are disappointed by the years SCOTUS rulings and attempts by GOP legislators and supporters to undermine our principles and drag us backwards. Scoffing at the holiday has grown stronger, especially after Hutchinson’s testimony at the Jan. 6 hearings in the past week. “How long can this nation remain united?” many ask. Others point to the long arc of history and change and remind people that it takes time and perseverance. History will judge it all.

It’s only 18 C right now, but it’s very pleasant. With thunderstorms and showers creeping through the area, projections for today’s high are mild, 78 F. Sunrise cameth (is too a word) at 5:39 AM while sunset cometh at 8:51 PM. Again. That sunset time has been unchanged for a week.

There won’t be fireworks in our town, BTW. Though we had more rain this year, overall, the land and vegetation was deemed too dry and too great a danger.

“Black Velvet” by Alannah Myles from 1989 was deposited in the morning mental music stream. My wife and I were watching television and saw a cute child give a sweet smile. After we talked about it, The Neurons were hooked on the words, “and that little boy’s smile.” I argued with The Neurons, pointing out that it was a little girl I saw. The Neurons don’t care ’bout no stinkin’ logic. They just turned up the volume and kept the song going.

So, anyway, it’s stuck in the mental music stream and must be shared to be dislodged. Them’s the rules. Not a problem, though. I enjoy Myles’ dusky style – it’s a vocalizing that I find attractive in many singers – and the song’s moodiness.

Here’s the song. Tell you what, you listen to it, cogitate on it, let me know what you think, and I’ll go get a cup of coffee. You stay positive and test negative, right? Right.

Cheers

July 2, 2022 4

Thursday’s Theme Music

Hold your breath! A new month begins tomorrow.

Yes, today is June of 2022’s final day, the 30, a Thursday, aka Thursday the Thirtieth. The sun clocked into our valley at 5:38 AM and will check out at 8:51 PM. Right now, it’s again a comfortable 20 C. I enjoy these days, when the temperature dips to 55 F in the night, then cruises up into the low 20 C range in the morning before kicking it up into the mid to upper 80s F in the mid-afternoon. That overnight cooling allows us to open some windows and let the heat out. We don’t like to run our air and have only done so one day so far this year. We use a small fan in the room where we sit.

The Neurons loaded many songs into the mental music stream yesterday where they still circulate like koi lazing in a pool. See, a fellow blogger posted an update on her issues. She’s always an interesting and frequently a humorous read, though you feel, too, sympathizing with her plight. Anyone, her reminder to herself was to breathe.

Well. You know The Neurons loved that. They brought up songs with the word breathe in it, but also songs about breathing. Heaviest in the playlist was Bush with “Machinehead” urging, “Breath in, breathe out, breathe in, breathe out, breathe in.” Also up there was Pink Floyd playing, “Breathe. Breathe in the air.” Rounding out the top three was Pearl Jam with “Just Breathe”. As it’s never been featured here, it won the daily theme music competition.

Stay positive, test negative, right? I’m gonna get a cuppa coffee and just breathe its aroma for a few. Have a listen. Cheers

June 30, 2022 1

Wednesday’s Theme Music

Take your cover off and salute Wednesday, June 29, 2022. It’s been selected as the day and date in the great quantum arcade where such things are decided. Okay, that’s it, let’s move on.

Sunrise for this august June day was 5:37 AM. The sun’s turning away will be at … drum roll … 8:51 PM – again. Sunset times are in stasis for us. Probably the wrong term but, coffee hasn’t come yet.

Temperatures remain around our average today. It’s again 20 C right now but we expect 86 F this afternoon. This is all so yesterday, except the day and date.

I wandered around the house singing Frank Sinatra’s cover of “Winchester Cathedral” this morning as I pursued the morning rituals. Mom was a fan of ol’ blue eyes. His album, That’s Life (1968), was heavily featured in her stereo rotation. She’d put that vinyl on, cranked it up, and clean the house. I got to know a lot of those songs and do a pretty good Frank imitation. It surprises people, which is always fun. Singing Winchester today surprised the cats. Might have surprised the neighbors, too.

I was singing the song after some dreams prompted The Neurons to insert the song “That’s Life” into the morning mental music stream. It was just a dreamvella, also known as a dreamette in some cultures, that is, a briefer dream than a full-length production, about being a child, but it made a sufficient impression on The Neurons that they felt it deserved music. I previously knew the The New Vaudeville Band’s version of the song but The Neurons perched on Frank.

Anyway, that probably all makes little sense (cuz, coffee, you know), but here we are. Stay positive and test negative, and so on and so forth. Hit it, Frank, while I seek coffee. Cheers

June 29, 2022 0

Tuesday’s Theme Music

Wednesday, June 28, 2022, come on down!

It’s 68 F outside right now, quite pleasant. Mild cool breeze scrubs off yesterday’s heat residuals. We only touched 95 yesterday, as the heat dome did move on. Weather human compared it to last year, when the dome lingered, and 111 to 120 F regularly scorched the area cities, including us. We’re popping up to 86 today. The sun cropped in at 5:37 AM and will take its heat and light away around 8:51 PM. Yeah, fascinating how the sunset time has remained stagnant at 8:51 PM while the sunrise slowly shifts to later times.

The Neurons fed “Spiderwebs” by No Doubt into the morning music feed. This was a blatant take on my activity as I walked around knocking webs down. I was gonna go with it for the music but thought, didn’t I do it before?

Yep, one year ago.

Astonishment. It firms a trend I’ve noticed. The Neurons bring up the same songs with disconcerting regularity. I’ve noticed it numerous times. It’s often also the same pattern behind recalling the song.

Anyway, I no doubt decided (ha, ha, see what I did there?) to go with something else. Fortunately, The Neurons used their word association magic to come up with “Linger” by The Cranberries. I’m surprised that it’s not been a song used as theme music before. A great possibility is out there that it was but it wasn’t properly indexed by moi.

Moving on, here is the 1993 song. Hope you enjoy it. Remind me to stay positive and test negative, okay? Yeah, I think this is the part where I go get coffee. Cheers

June 28, 2022 0

Monday’s Theme Music

Dropping down to 97 F today, a cooling trend for the week. By Sunday, it’ll be down to 73 F, they say, as they expect the heat dome to slide on across North America.

Today is June 27, 2022, the month’s final Monday for this year. We’ll be pushing on into July next week. Time is racing by in my life. Don’t know about yers. Sunrise kicked off at 5:36. It’s slowly sliding back toward six AM. Sunset is holding steady at 8:51 PM.

Today’s theme song was a sudden apparition from the memory mines. Don’t know what The Neurons were thinking. I suspect they played a game of randomly pushing buttons, giggling and telling themselves, “Let’s see what happens when we push these buttons.” Well, those buttons took me to an entertaining time of life on an island called Okinawa on the edge of the Pacific Ocean. between the East China Sea and the Philippine Sea. Yes, there’s a lot of water around it. This song, “Be Good Johnny” was part of that scene. Maybe, more rational neurons suggest, it was thinking about heat and mugginess. Okinawa was a muggy place. No A/C in the apartment we lived in for the first coupla years. Dripping with sweat was the day’s norm. If you weren’t sweating, people were liable to ask, “Are you okay? You’re not sweating.”

Here is “Be Good Johnny” by Men At Work from 1982. I enjoy Colin Hay’s vocal work in the song. Hope you to do. Coffee? Let’s go. Stay positive and test negative.

Cheers

June 27, 2022 2

Disagreement

We live in a divisive area. Few agree on anything. Just today, my house told me it was 105 degrees F, the car said it was 102, and Alexa said it was 100.

June 26, 2022 1

Sunday’s Theme Music

Sunday is living up to its name. The sky is asking, “What’s a cloud?” None are on the roster. Sunshine rules. Our overnight low of 68 F was the day’s high a little more than a week ago. It’s now 75 F. After seeing a C note yesterday, expectations are that we’ll be at 102 F today.

It’s June 26, 2022. Get your June tasks done, for only five June days remain. Hump day, the middle of the year, is almost over.

The sun came over the horizon at 5:46 this morning and will go metaphorically underground at 8:51 PM.

The Neurons are singing “Hold the Line” by Toto from 1978. The Neurons were again foolin’ with me. I was writing in my head after the formal session finished, and like a line which emerged. So I told myself, “Hold onto that line while I get paper and pen and write it down.” Yeah, The Neurons answered, “Playing ‘Hold the Line’.” I was like, what, no, but it was too late. The strains were already live in the stream.

Stay positive, test negative, wear a mask as need be, etc. I hear a coffee maker singing the morning song. Hot coffee on a day like this? You betcha! Here’s the tune. Cheers