Tag: autumn

Sunday’s Theme Music — Waiting

Sunday, September 6, 2026. Ashland, southern Oregon.

I went out with Vee — our visitor cat — to check the weather situation. Heavy gray asserted itself overhead, especially to the south. 48 F, one small cup of blue sky was visible and sunshine was lost behind the clouds. “Doesn’t look like it’ll be sunny today,” I said.

“Yeah, feed me, please,” Vee answered.

‘Bout ten minutes later, rain fell. Ten minutes after than, sunshine crashed through the clouds.

Bottom line for us, it’ll be 68 F as our high, with clouds, rain, and sunshine. More springlike weather on this late summer day. Autumn is on the way.

We can use more rain. Not far away, Emigrant Lake is down to just 4% of itself now because of the long drought and the lack of snow last winter.

All quiet on the family side of life. Last I heard from any of them was the other day, when sister Gina was caught in heavy downpour in Pittsburgh while taking her grandson, now a high school student, home from his clarinet lessons. Winds blew down trees and power lines. Streets were flooding, forces many route changes. But they made it safely. Bonding with weather, I can imagine them remembering this together when he has a family and he’s visiting grandma.

Meanwhile, the White House is pushing forward to stop voting by mail, challenging recent court setbacks in the Roberts Court. I wouldn’t be surprised if they rule that Trump can proceed, 5-4, with Roberts again dissenting, questioning the legality.

Trump’s approval rating remains anchored to about 35% of the nation’s voters. The rest of us disapprove of him. So it’s no wonder that Trump is trying to game the system. That’s how he’s always gotten ahead.

Trump Approval Rating: Underwater in the Newest National Polls

I’m basically drifting right now, waiting for the Roberts Court’s ruling, waiting for the next evolution in the Iran War, waiting for the midterms, waiting, waiting, waiting. I can’t wait until Trump is gone. He’s a pox on civilization.

I ended up with Stevie Nicks and “I Can’t Wait” in my morning mental music stream. The Neurons put the 1985 there because of the song’s title. But Stevie is singing about a different kind of anticipation when she’s waiting.

Sample Lyrics

I can’t wait, I can’t wait
Sometimes she talks to him
Sometimes, well, she’s only dreaming
Then, when she wakes up
Somehow, well, she still believes him
Yes, I know you
Though we’ve been out of touch
Yes, I know you
To be continued, it’s too much, well

Although that final line, “It’s too much”, does fit.

May your day proceed without waits to find out what the hell is going to happen. Be strong and go in peace.

Cheers

0

Friday’s Theme Music — Let’s Do It

Ashland, southern Oregon. Friday, September 4, 2026.

Another wet and cool, springlike late summer early autumn day. *smile* 58 F with light rain and a full load of clouds. Blue sky sometimes peeks out like a shy young kitten, darting back before we can see that’s it really there. Sunshine comes and goes with even greater speed.

Out in the world, it’s another day of sloppy bad news, mostly because Trump and his administration is still in office, along with those spineless enabling Republicans. Like, they’re crowing about how unexpectedly good the jobs report is when it’s well below what is needed. Then there’s the story about the damage done to the Grand Canyon parks in August — and the Trump administration’s stony silence about it.

More stuff happening on the Mom front, too.

There’s one thing after another. On the one hand, these can be written off as ‘that’s life’. Also, perspective is needed that others have it far, far worse.

Perhaps naively, I remain hopeful for all of us. Optimistic. Polls and commentary feed my hope and optimism. Science. Medicine. So I’m going with “I Got A Feeling” by the Black Eyed Peas as today’s theme music.

As the song says, “Let’s do it, let’s do it, let’s do it.” Get rid of Trump and his sycophants, minions, and enablers. Let’s return our nation to a responsible course where most of us were at least trying to be tolerant of others unlike ourselves and realize that we are better when we respect and help one another. Let’s build something better, and work with the world to take on the challenges to lift us all into a more egalitarian and safer, freer future.

Cheers

1

Wednesday’s Theme Music — Right

Ashland, southern Oregon. Wednesday, September 2, 2026.

Autumn landed in Ashland. Temperatures dropped. The heat came in. Thunderstorms and rain dominated the afternoon.

It was a hard rain — big silver drops falling in rapid succession. Not Portland or Seattle hard, and certainly not monsoon levels, but hard for us. 56 F now, just short of our 60 degrees high. 99% chance of rain today. Moving the needle a little back toward summer tomorrow, the high will be up to the mid 60s. Meanwhile, I am enjoying this rain.

I surfed the Tangle email this morning. In covering the Roberts Court decision to let Trump keep building the Epstein ballroom, they included a section about what conservatives are saying regarding the decision. They include Matt Margolis in PJ Media. Margolis compared Trump’s White House changes to those done by previous presidents, trying to make it seem like the same thing.

Which it isn’t. In all the instances Margolis cited, Congress was involved in approving the funding and construction. Margolis cites FDR’S swimming pool — oh, look, nobody complained about it! They’re treating Trump unfairly!

But FDR’s pool was built with private donations. And the Congressional Record makes this point explicitly: FDR was willing to accept the gift provided Congress authorized acceptance of it. Congress then passed the resolution.

Did Trump do that with the ballroom? We know the answer to that.

Margolis also wanted to compare Obama move to change the tennis courts to basketball courts, conflating it with $375M being spent and two years of construction. Except the records show the money was appropriated for Congress for a project approved for the Bush administration. President Obama just continued the project. And the basketball court didn’t require two years and millions of dollars. Nor did he destroy part of the White House to have it made.

This is all about Trump Double Standards and how MAGAts and Republicans attempt to justify them. Trump makes a mess of things, cutting down trees, removing art, breaking treaties, disrupting alliances, tearing down the White House, screwing up the economy as well as the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, fucking up the military, starting another war in the middle east, trying to rewrite American history, denying rights based on sex, orientation, and hiding Trump’s involvement in the huge Epstein mess. Much of this is happening while the GOP pantomimes see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil and gives way to Trump.

Watch how it will turn if the Democrats take control of Congress. Republicans will all suddenly be crying about law and order and precedence. If a Democrat is elected POTUS, the GOP will eagerly clamor for checks and balances. Meanwhile, the Democrats will be the ones fixing the Trump mess. Reverting names to what they were, addressing the rocketing national debt, pushing to address the growing measles outbreaks, coping with inflation. The GOP will demand cuts for the social safety nets but not for the wealthy.

That is their MO.

Meanwhile, Trump is making it clear to Republicans that he only cares about them if he needs them. For the most part, he’s dismissive of them, not willing to spend any campaign funds on them while collecting more — for what?

Today’s song came from thinking “bloody right”, as in that damn irritating US right wing. I’m sure they say similar about the left, Democrats, and Progressives. *smile* Anyway, as I mumbled to myself about the bloody GOP — I watch a lot of Brit and Aussie television — The Neurons powered up “Bloody Well Right” in the morning mental music stream.

Supertramp came out with the song in the early 1970s. (Pause to think, wow, fifty years ago. Unpause.) The song has a sharp anti-authority tone to it.

Sample Lyrics

So you think your schooling is phoney
I guess it’s hard not to agree
You say, “It all depends on money
And who is in your family tree”

Right (right), you’re bloody well right
You got a bloody right to say
Right, you’re bloody well right
You know, you got a right to say

Write your problems down in detail
And take ’em to a higher place
You’ve had your cry, no, I shouldn’t say wail
In the meantime hush your face

Sounds suitable for now.

May purrs of joy fill your ears and good companionship carry you through whatever tribulations you’re enduring.

Cheers

0

Monday’s Theme Music — Lake Ontario

Ashland, southern Oregon. This is it: Monday, August 31, 2026. August’s last day for almost another year.

Autumn is manifesting through leaves changing colors, shorter days, cooler temperatures, and the sun’s angles. We have a blue sky and sunshine right now. 64 F, the air feels fresh and clean. Papi indulged in a short zoom around the yard, clawed up a tree’s bark, and then rolled around in sunshine on the patio and bathed himself. He paused once to give me a look that said, “Are you still there?”

Supposed to hit 89 F today. Rain is presumably on the way later this week. As with many things, we’ll see.

All quiet on the Mom front.

We’re going to the movies this afternoon to see “Coyote vs Acme”. This seems like a fun and natural outcome of the old Roadrunner cartoons. Coyote was always trying to catch the bird, often by using Acme products. The products frequently failed. Now Coyote is suing Acme.

Well, this headline from The New Republic pretty much sums things up:

Trump is a liar. That’s bad. But he’s delusional—and that’s even worse

Trump is painting the Venezuela oil deal as a great thing for the United States and Venezuela. But as details emerge, the deal appears legally shaky because it violates Venezuela’s laws.

Not that laws ever matter to Trump. He forced the deal through to feed his ego and appease his base because he’s desperate. Right now, it’s more of Operation Epic LOOK — SQUIRREL! to me, an effort to distract everyone from how crappy everything else is going — if you’re not wealthy. If you’re wealthy, well, this K-shaped economy is doing just fine, thank you.

As with everything else about Trump, it’s shady.

So is his ICE campaign to ‘deport’ immigrants. Trump isn’t employing due process in his ICE campaigns.

ICE Arrests Soar as People With No Criminal Record Are Increasingly Targeted

Trump campaigned by promising he would begin by deporting the most violent criminals. But he never claimed that’s where he would stop. Now, people who voted for Trump find themselves in anguish because Trump is deporting their loved ones. Included in the wider, more aggressive crackdown are military members who have their family members being deported.

Reading about it, Laura Berlin began researching and found who profits from this crackdown. She created a website to document this information. Responding to criticism as the Trump administration does, Berlin’s website was labeled ‘a tool for domestic terrorism’.

Facts, truth, history, journalism, free speech. Every day brings more aggressive tactics from Trump to shut them down.

Today’s music is by a Canadian group, Blue Rodeo. I was not familiar with them, but they have a song, “Hasn’t Hit Me Yet”, which they released in 1993. The song features the lyrics, “Watching the snow fall on this cold December night, and out in the middle of Lake Ontario, the same snow is falling on the deep silent water.”

Trump thinks he can magically change things. We the People disagree. So I’m playing this song for Trump.

May this day find you strong and healthy, and you continue to thrive as we move into September of 2026.

Cheers

1

Wednesday’s Theme Music — Fools

Ashland, southern Oregon. Wednesday, August 12, 2026.

Cooler day today. 86 F is projected as the high while it’s 71 F outside my house right now. Wind is pretty calm and the sky is pretty blue. Pretty sunny today, too. And clear, although Oregon has many fires still burning east, north, and west of us, and California to our south, has some major fires.

Papi and I went outside a short while ago. Vee — my name for Papi’s frequent visitor — was out there. I petted her, gave her treats, and ensured she had water. Papi tolerates her. Vee is a young shorthaired gray tabby with white legs, chest, belly, and paws. Very sweet, friendly, and social, with a silent meow. I think she lives locally, and her people put her out when they go to work, as she arrives at specific times again and again.

A breeze kicked up while we were out there. Honestly felt and sounded like autumn.

The Year of Trump Follies continue. Trump apologists are digging in hard to avoid facing the truth.

Republicans will blame everybody but Trump for his actions | Opinion

“Everybody but Trump” is the GOP chorus when things go downhill, as so much of it is. “It’s all me,” Trump declares when it’s going well, especially when he had absolutely nothing to do with it.

It’s like, they’re resist facts and learning. Trump’s latest Executive Order about vaccines is another facet of their foolishness and ignorance. They’re changing something which has worked for decades to bow to misinformation about autism and vaccines. But hey, that misinformation is popular with the MAGA crowd.

This is double weird given what happened with military recruits and mandatory vaccines in June, just two months ago. The mandatory flu vaccine was dropped; it was now voluntary. Lo, a flu outbreak immediately rose, affecting training and readiness. The mandatory flu vaccine was reinstated forthwith.

Triply weird, when MMR vaccinations are down and measles outbreaks are increasing. Not Trump’s fault, the fools shout. No, it’s not Trump, it’s open Borders! It’s Fauci!

Shows in approval ratings. Trump’s disapproval has moved into historic levels. But Trump remains ‘approved’ by Republicans.

With all the things Trump — and his GOP — have done, he’s now out there trying to scare up more fools to support him. That’s why I have “Find Another Fool” in my morning mental music stream. This was a top twenty hit for Quarterflash in 1981.

Sample Lyrics

You pulled this once… you pulled it twice
It’s time you listened to my advice… oh, baby

I’d never take advantage of our love
I can’t imagine what you’re thinkin’ of
You’re over due… you think this storm is through.
Well, baby, I’ve got news for you

When the season of Trump finally ends, it’ll be like recovering from a major storm. So much will need to be fixed, rebuilt, and changed. I’m looking toward the MAGAts to be part of it. They seem beyond being reached at this point. Maybe, someday, that will change.

Not holding my breath.

I hope this day finds you in good health, good times, and good company.

Cheers

0

Twozdaz Theme Music

Another cold morning, although that stuff is relative. Cold for us for December 2, 2025, is 32 F on awakening. Climbed to 39 F now. Been sunny and clear all morning on this frosty Twozda. Looking for a high in the low to mid 50s.

Read that Trump fired some immigration judges in New York. They’ve probably been following the law and ruling in accordance with same, following rules of evidence and procedures, and going by precedence. All that is a no-no in Trump’s alter reality where his rule is law in accordance with standard playground rules where he’s the bully who gets to say what’s what. Judges are suing him for wrongful termination, adding to his stress levels. COSTCO is also suing the Trump Regime for the tariffs. COSTCO ate the tariffs instead of passing them on; now they want Deceiving Donny’s regime to pay back the tariffs because they were illegally declared and collected. Besides that, TACO is still sweating out Epstein files details, faces declining popularity due to rising prices, persistent failures, has had his attorneys general declared illegal, lost some court cases, and is using words or doing things that are finally pushing Republicans to say, “Enough.” Glad they’re starting to catch up. The rest of us have been shouting, “Enough,” since 2016.

WordPress tells me my stats are booming! Again. This seems to happen every seven to ten days, starting a few months back. I suspect bots seeking commentary on Trump. Don’t know who’s sending the bots or what they’ll do with the information they collect. So far, it just intermittently drives up my traffic.

The music today comes by way of convo with my wife. This is in conjunction with discussing something we were talking about buying. As part of the conversation, there was discussion about driving to a place that’s not real close but not real far, you know? Far enough that it’ll take gas and time but not so far that we’d need to stay overnight. Anyway, in this day and age, the alternative is to go online. So it was a question of “Do we want to go all that way?” Yes, we are essentially lazy.

Anyway, catching the surface vibes, The Neurons responded with a song from the 1970s by a group called the Raspberries, “Go All the Way”. The conversation was late last night but the song is stuck in the morning mental music stream. Found an interesting video of the song being ‘performed’. Looked like a classic lip-syncing event on The Mike Douglas Show. Wow, remember it?

The vocalist is Eric Carmen. After the band broke up, he went on to a successful solo career. Remember “Hungry Eyes” and “All By Myself”? Same guy. He also co-wrote “Almost Paradise”. He died in 2024, 74 years old.

Got my coffee in me and it’s time to rock on. Peace and grace aren’t here yet, but it could be the cold keeping them away. Maybe if I travel to somewhere warmer, I’ll find them there. But I’m not up to a trip today. Here we go. Cheers

0

Mundaz Theme Music

Greeting fellow humans. Welcome to the last month of the tumultuous year of 2025.

It’s Munda, December 1, 2025. 33 F at my house, though out there in Ashlandia’s sunnier spots, it’s reported to be up to 40 F. Clear skies blue with promise and bright sunshine arch over us. They’re suggesting that we’ll see the mid to upper 50s today. Yesterday never felt warm and hissed with a chill that whispered, “Winter is standing right behind you.”

Today’s music comes from dressing again. Yesterday and the previous day, I wore jeans. I told my wife I was going old school. That came from the realization that I used to wear jeans regularly and I don’t often wear them these days. Anyway from that, I laughingly sang to Papi, “Forever in Blue Jeans.” The Neurons jumped right on that and fed the 1979 Neil Diamond song to the morning mental music stream.

Trump released another trant. A trant is a text-based social media scree filled with typos, capital letters, incorrect information, and exclamation points. It’s a neologism formed from combining Trump with rant. Trant.

Dizzy Donny’s latest trant was about his misconception of Senator Kelly’s suggestion to military members to disobey unlawful or illegal orders. After releasing and deleting an error-filled version, Donny T came up with one that satisfied his low standards.

Trant #1

Trant #2

Dozy Donny finishes with a capitol letter scream, “DO WHAT HAS TO BE DONE!!!” Whatever happened to “Thank you for your attention to this matter!”?

I wish the nation would do what needs to be done and remove him from office and get him therapy. But MAGAts and the GOP like this sort of *cough* leadership.

But Senator Kelly is not suggesting that military members be insubordinate or disloyal. He and the other Democrats are reminding them, as others often do, that their duty is to the U.S. Constitution and to perform legal orders.

Coffee is making its way down the esophagus to the proper places. Hope peace and grace show today but not holding my breath. Here we go, into the years final month. Cheers

3

Sundaz Theme Music

This is it! November’s final day. Yep, it’s now Sunda, November 30, 2025. Like yesterday, it’s chilly. Up to F at my home. Fog took the day off though. We’ll break the fifties again, temp wise. Yesterday shifted in temperature and inclination sufficiently for me, out walking, to say, “Hey, it’s not bad out here.” Certainly is better than those places being buried in snow.

The ‘We Ain’t Buying It’ campaign rocks on as protest agin the corporations aiding and abetting the Trump Regime takedown of U.S. democracy. That right-wing campaign seems to be fumbling and flailing as Dizzy Donny hisself likewise stumbles, fumbles, and flails. Courts outside of the Roberts Court consistently rule against Trump decisions. Doesn’t matter. Enabled by Republicans in Congress, backed by a weaponized DOJ, supported by billionaires and the Heritage Foundation, Dozy Donny presses forward.

A stench floats from the TACO Regime. Look at what they’re doing. There was the Trump Epstein shutdown and the Epstein files. Constant grifting, whether it’s Trump phones, Donny T crypto, Melania schemes, the regime works hard to make money for the Trump mob. Meanwhile, they’re rewriting history to discount what anyone other than white men did. Overseeing the destruction of the actual White House building. Presenting a shambolic Russia-Ukraine ‘peace plan’. Flip-floppin’ over tariffs and wreckin’ the economy. Guttin’ of the Federal agencies and programs approved by previous Congresses and administrations. Wantonly, randomly disappearing people, including legal immigrants, including American citizens. That’s just a short, high-level list.

This is Trump’s vision in November, 2025, after eleven months. People are no longer overlookin’ this crap. Scales are droppin’ from people’s eyes. Polls are rolling in: they disapprove of Trump and what he’s doing. FAFO stories are spilling out as MAGAts, happy to do unto others but unhappy to have it done unto them, complain about what Trump is doing to them. All I can say is, ’bout fuckin’ time.

A bevy of dreams again last night. One was about me being a bear protecting other people. In another, I was flying some kind of ship, protecting people. I awoke, thought them over, began cleaning up and dressing. After considering the weather and picking out my clothes, I began singing a song about getting my blue jeans on. At first I thought it a song which I’d made up for myself once upon a time. Then instrumentation slipped into the song. By then, I thought it was a faintly remembered tune, dug up by The Neurons, slotted into the morning mental music stream. Using the little I remembered, I discovered “Jeans On” by David Dundas, from 1976.

Time to coffee up and head out. Hope peace and grace find us and does it soon. Till then, hang on. Cheers

3

Satyrdaz Theme Music

Ashlandia had another foghold morning. Temps were in the 30s on the F scale. They’ve now punched up to 41. Most fog has done an Oregon goodbye. Sunshine, blue skies, and thin clouds have slipped in to serenade the weary autumn landscape. 55 F is the hoped-for high. This is Satyrda, November 29, 2025.

The Neurons have been busy with dreams when I sleep. So many, and many are very long and richly detailed, it takes a while to mentally review and catalogue them each morning. The dreams seem to be churning up other thinking and memories. A song I don’t recall hearing in a long time is in the morning mental music stream. The song is “Never Been Any Reason”. It’s straight outta the 1970s. I enjoy the song’s vocalizations and harmonies, and its changing tempo. But The Neurons couldn’t answer why they were playing it in the MMMS today or who the group behind it was. I could only remember something about a head. Had to look it up to learn it was Head East.

Read a Trump classic in the NYTimes this morning.

Trump Announces Pardon for Honduran Ex-President Convicted in Drug Case

Juan Orlando Hernández was accused of receiving millions in bribes and partnering with cocaine traffickers. He was convicted in Manhattan in 2024 and sentenced to 45 years in prison.

President Trump announced on Friday afternoon that he would grant “a Full and Complete Pardon” to a former president of Honduras, Juan Orlando Hernández, who, as the center of a sweeping drug case, was found guilty by an American jury last year of conspiring to import cocaine into the United States.

The news came as a shock not only to Hondurans, but also to the authorities in the United States who had built a major case and won a conviction against Mr. Hernández. They had accused him of taking bribes during his campaign from Joaquín Guzmán, the notorious former leader of the Sinaloa cartel in Mexico known as “El Chapo,” and of running his Central American country like a narco state.

The judge in his case, P. Kevin Castel, had called Mr. Hernández “a two-faced politician hungry for power” who masqueraded as an antidrug crusader while partnering with traffickers. And prosecutors had asked the judge to make sure Mr. Hernández would die behind bars, citing his abuse of power, connections to violent traffickers and “the unfathomable destruction” caused by cocaine.

~snip~

‘Shock and surprise.’ After Dizzy Donny pardoned all the J6 criminals, I’m not at all shocked and surprised by this one. Hernández was called “a two-faced politician hungry for power” who masqueraded as an antidrug crusader while partnering with traffickers. That description defines Donny T quite effectively. The proof is that he keeps saying he’s against drugs, attacking Venezuelan ships without providing any evidence that there are drugs or smugglers onboard, and then releases actual convicted drug dealers and criminals. That’s life through TACO’s looking glass. Claims he’s the law-and-order president who regularly breaks and law, claims he ‘backs the blue’, and then releases people who killed actual police officers.

Peace and grace haven’t shown up yet. Maybe they’re waiting for just the right moment. Till then, I’ll coffee up for one more sally into the world. Here we go. Cheers

2

Blog at WordPress.com.

Up ↑