Tag: politics

Sat-er-day’s Theme Music

Mood: relief balanced with hope

This Saturday, Feb 17, 2024, is meh again. Like a giant gray spaceship is hovering above us, blotting out the natural sky and sunshine. Rain has begun streaking the windows again. The wind’s been gusting all morning, as if a giant wind machine has been turned onto four. There are eleven settings for the machine, of course.

It’s 54 F now. We’re closing on 1 PM. 56 F will be our high. Another late start to posting, caused again by reading (fiction and non-fiction books, along with netnews), and writing my own fiction. Had to read more stories about Trump travails. His rages about (fill in the space). Rage, lying, hating, he’s commendably capable of those three things and demonstrates them often.

Tucker is doing much better today. I reduced his pain med, and he’s adjusting, as they suggested he would. So happy to see that.

Papi is not happy today. After being denied permission to go out from dusk to dawn, I let him out this morning only for him to encounter the wind. When it finally reduced its strength, rain moved in. Papi no like wind and rain.

I’m not crowing about the NY fraud judgement against Trump. From what I read, justice has been served, though I know how malleable justice can be. My wife raged yesterday about Trump’s immunity matter. In her opinion, something like that should’ve been answered post haste. “The Supreme Court should have already said that nobody is above prosecution for crimes.” Slam dunk to her, with no offramp for any reason.

So why haven’t the Supremes acted? Why are they stalling, she demands. Well, we know much about this court by now, and Roberts’s concern about his legacy. And several of the Supremes were plugged into the court as Trump’s choice. What happens if they rule against him? There will probably be death threats against them and even possibly protests at the court or at their homes. My wife and I think they’re very worried about those matters. But to rule that Trump is immune seems hugely unthinkable. Yes, it’s high drama.

Musically, I read that the Beach Boys began recording the song, “Good Vibrations” on this date in 1966. Ten years old, I connected with this song as soon as it came out later that year, so without the need for much comment, I’ll tell you that The Neurons immediately put it on in the morning mental music stream (Trademark coming in two weeks). The song’s dramatic shifts in tempo and sound, and the lyrics about vibrations and love and attraction, all captivated me, along with the theremins’ use, and the softly melded piece with an organ that invokes the sense of being in a church. This is a song which I always used to crank up in volume and fall still to appreciate. I often still do, over sixty years later.

I was talking to one of the painters yesterday as they wrapped up. “How long have you been doing this?” I asked. He was so proficient. He ended up telling me he was 51, and he’s been doing this for 30 years. I reflected, I retired from the military twenty-nine years ago, just a year after he began his career.

Stay positive, remain strong, leeeaaannn forward, and vote. Strengthened by the power of coffee, I’ll do the same. Here’s the music. Cheers

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Thursday’s Theme Music

Mood: coffeespective

Thursday, Feb. 15, 2024, greets us with a bleakly ‘meh’ sky in Ashlandia. Rain has retreated to a background position, haunting the mountains, where it sometimes drops as snow; Grizzly Peak is now capped in white. It’s 46 F, though, and snow is not in our future. Might rain, later, though. Not going to get substantially warmer. Sunshine does look in on us once in a while but not long enough to post a significant presence.

The homefloofs continue serving their roles in a restricted position, with no outside activities permitted from dusk to dawn. It’s the cougar thing. Meanwhile, Tucker has been scheduled for a dental assessment after drooling this week. Problem teeth and gum infections associated with gingivostomatitis plagued him before his arrival at our place. We’ve had teeth removed and treated the problem by keeping him on a grain-free diet. But it seems to be blowing up on him again, poor guy.

I continue reading Prequel: An American Fight Against Fascism by Rachel Maddow in parallel to my fiction reading. I don’t recommend Maddow’s book; its revelations of deep racism in the US, with laws and attitudes toward segregation and how Blacks and others were treated inspiring Nazi Germany in their approach to the same in the 1930s, is fucking sickening. I was so damn naive. Maddow points out what the laws said, and then how they were applied and interpreted so that mistreatment and segregation continued. Several presidents even encouraged segregation and set laws into place that limited Black’s freedom and equality. Were I Black, I’d be one pissed off individual.

The Neurons have fed Joni Mitchell’s song, “Help Me” from 1974, into the morning mental music stream (Trademark coming in two weeks). Depending on my mood — sometimes it was too soft and schmaltzy for my mood — I’ve generally enjoyed this soft, jazzy tune and its reflections on falling in love with a man who doesn’t seem like a great choice for her. Yeah, I dig it; we often must make a choice that isn’t the greatest. That recognition in another matter being addressed in my head this morning, coupled with Joni Mitchell’s performance on the Grammy’s last week, is what probably inspired The Neurons to play the song.

Stay positive, remain strong, lean forward, and vote as if the future might depend on it. Here’s Joni with her song. There goes me with my coffee. Cheers.

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Tuesday’s Theme Music

Mood: jubtimism. (Yes, that’s a weird combo of jubilant and optimistic, weird in face of the dark news that keeps spitting in my face.)

Hey to all who are doing time with me on the third rock. Today is Tuesday, Feb. 13, 2024. Completely gray on gray today, again, with sunshine shifting and sliding through cloud breaks when it can. Daffs have broken out to spread their color across the sprinter landscape. 50 F now, no snow on the ground in the valley or nearby peaks. If you need to see some snow, hop onto I5 and drive a few miles south to Mt. Ashland. If you don’t turn off for Mt Ashland but keep going toward California, Mt. Shasta, just fifty miles away, will present a postcard image for you as the Interstate rises and falls.

I watched the Super Bowl last Sunday and saw some NFL commercials about bullying. That woke up some Neurons, who came up with a 1989 Chris Rea song, “The Road to Hell”, and have it playing in the morning mental music stream (Trademark coming in two weeks). See, these big NFL players quoted children and adults who were bullied. The survivors talked about facing daily fear. Terror. Likewise, we have this election campaign where fear and terror are being employed in lieu of policies or intelligent discourse. If Trump wins, he promised to be a dictator. Some of his followers tried overthrowing the election results back on Jan 6, 2021. They now promise greater violence if Trump loses, as do members of Congress who carry his water. Contrary to all presented facts and evidence, they insist that Trump win the 2020 election, but was cheated out of staying in office.

And now, facing all manner of trials and criminal charges, which seem to be stacking up, Trump wants to be declared immune from anything criminal he did while President. As the first judicial panel ruling on his claim noted, that would remove the POTUS from the checks and balances built into the Constitution. If that happened, what, beyond his character, would stop President Biden from saying, “Gosh, if Trump is immune, so am I.”

So there are fears out there for our democracy and republic. Hence, The Neurons pulled up the lines from Chris Rea’s 1989 song, “The perverted fear of violence chokes the smile off every face. Common sense is ringing out bells. This ain’t no technological breakdown. Oh, no. This is the road to hell.”

Sorry if I’m as dark as my coffee this morning. Been reading Rachel Maddow’s book, Prequel: An American Fight Against Fascism, yesterday and today. Illuminating, of course, but sometimes history can be depressing. She traces the efforts of paramilitary groups trying to end democracy in the US back in the 1930s to give fascism a chance. They worked under names like The Christian Front, the Silver Legion, and the American White Guard. These were lunatics with powerful friends, which aptly summarizes much of the MAGA movement and QAnon. In summary, both in the past and now, I didn’t realize that so many Americans harbored an authoritarian mindset. Being a Star Trek fan, I though boldly heading toward a new era of equality, freedom, and justice. I didn’t realize that a block of people exist who abhor those things.

On the flip side of my dark street, Jamie Lee Curtis’s performance as the matriarch in The Bear was powerful stuff. Yes, we’re just catching up with the second season. I’d heard about the hit series, and decided to check it out. Glad on did.

Also on the bright side, the house painting is moving closer to fini. That’s pretty darn exciting. Looking back, the project’s genesis was in the early months of 2020. We were just collecting names for bids when COVID landed and the shutdown commenced. In 2021, we moved toward getting quotes but supplies were limited because of supply chain issues in response to the COVID shutdown. Not much was done in 2022 about the painting because…(cough, cough) COVID. Finally, in 2023, quotes were gathered and agreements made, but the painting backlog pushed us back to this year.

I’ve had coffee, thanks. Be strong, remain positive, lean forward, and voOte. Register first, of course. Pitter patter, get ‘er at her. Here is Chris Rea with his slide guitar. Cheer

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Monday’s Theme Music

Mood: springy

Season’s greetings, everyone, no matter what season envelopes your existence this date. This day and date are Monday, Feb. 12, 2024. Spring has reasserted its stance here in Ashlandia, where the theater is above average. 51 F under a cloudy sky where the sun keeps breaking through, our high is supposed to be just one more degree over the current temp.

It’s another late start for posting for me. I assisted my wife’s Food & Friends deliveries. I’m her driver. That started at 10 AM. We were finished circulating around Ashlandia’s southern streets and home by II:30, having taken a hot meal to fourteen homes, part of a small army out there doing this almost every day.

In good news — for us in Ashlandia — our snowpack significantly scored with the last storms. It now stands at over 70% of normal, thanks to the atmospheric rivers that dumped on California and much of the PNW. Sad for CA and their losses. Brutal to read of the flooding, mudslides, destruction, and death, or see videos of it. Meanwhile, the northeastern US has another snowstorm descending on them. Fingers crossed that it doesn’t do too much to the area and that no one dies.

In stories about other worries and losses, did you see Donald Trump Jr’s post? I had to remind myself that this came from a supposedly educated and intelligent adult human. The crass humor demonstrates an adolescent’s maturity and a first-grader’s intelligence. That this comes from the son of the mighty GOP’s leader, that it involves a family member and not a candidate, that it involves a former first lady, that it’s racist and misogynistic, and that GOP leadership said nothing about it, speaks volumes about that side of the political spectrum. The Principles of the GOP: RIP.

By the way, the KC Chiefs beat the SF 49ers in the Super Bowl yesterday. Kelce Travis and Taylor Swift said nothing about voting for President Joe Biden, despite right wing predictions of that happening. Surprise.

Maybe I’ve mentioned this before, and maybe not, but my spouse enjoys reading Reddit threads about the modern dating scene in America. She enjoys, too, reading the stories tell while asking for advice about what to do in their marriages or relationships. In a recent one, a 27-year-old man was pursuing his dream of becoming a professional video game player. I knew such a position exists, but I didn’t know the rest, like they have teams, and coaches. It’s evolved much more since I’ve last paid attention to it. The girlfriend writing in was talking about how he was not supporting them while he accused her of the same.

She doesn’t believe he’s good enough to be a pro, and the evidence does stand against him. People commented, pointing out that he is too old at this point because the oldest pro gamer now is 25. However, I dislike telling people to give up their dreams. Hell, I’m pursuing my own of becoming a novelist, despite my age (I’m almost 28). Trying to look at it from both sides, I feel for him and his partner. Showing signs of my own fiction writing addiction, I immediately saw how it could be part of a novel.

I don’t know why, but today had The Neurons post “Missing You” by John Waite into the morning mental music stream (Trademark coming in two weeks). I enjoy the 1984 soft rock tune, having frequently heard it on the radio while buzzing around Okinawa during my final year of living there. Why that song today? Don’t know. I’d been doing cleaning after feeding cats previous to showering and dressing when I realized it had taken over the MMMS. No clues were found for why. Anyway, that’s today’s theme music.

Stay positive, be strong, lean forward, and vote when you can. Now fortified with coffee, I’ll do the same. Here’s the music. Cheers

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Friday’s Theme Music

Mood: enthusiastic

It’s Friday, it’s Febrary 9, it’s still 2024, it’s 40 F and it’s unrelenting cloudy. Layers of clouds, deepest dark in the forefront, light gray white serving as background, all blocking blue sky and warm sun. Sprinter has yielded back to winter. High will be a sweltering 43 F.

They’re masking the house today to begin painting tomorrow. I’m surprised by the conditions they work in, cold and rainy. But if it works, it works. We have two good guys, Brad and Gary, from Rick Stevens painting doing the work. They’re thorough and hardworking, clear professionals who have mastered the processes. Fun cheering them on toward the finish.

The weather has the cats playing in-out-in, a very popular game among floofs. Papi excels. Tucker took one turn, came back in, and headed for the bedroom and sleep. Papi, though, played at least five rounds, taking time between rounds to request food and pets. He’s a sweet little stinker.

I’m late with posting today. A few weeks ago, I wrote a little bit around a prompt about someone named Darla. I shared it with a few friends. They loved it and pestered me to write more. That wasn’t in my plans but I kept thinking about it, playing out different trajectories and concepts, etc. Today I awoke with more Darla in mind. I built out a long scene and then sat at the ‘puter and typed. With a few pauses to dress, eat, talk to the painters and my wife, and drive to the coffee shop, I wrote twenty pages today. It just kept pulling me along. Love writing days like this.

Songwise, nothing was homethere until I thought about the drive to write that piece after I stopped writing. Then The Neurons punted “Got to Get You Into My Life” into the no-longer-morning mental music stream (Trademark coming in two weeks, I promise). I guess The Neurons thought the song was playing into my writing urge. Well, okay.

This Beatle song was released in 1966, when I was ten. Paul McCartney wrote it, and in this video, he performs it at the White House for President Barack Obama, Michelle Obama, and a few guests in 2014.

Stay positive, remain strong, lean forward, and register and vote. That’s all I ask, except for coffee, security, kidness to animals, etc. Here’s the music.

Cheers

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Thursday’s Theme Music

Mood: nostalgic

Hello, fellow travelers through time and space. Welcome to Thursday, February 8, 2024.

It’s a cold day here, despite sunshine. The weather is deftly nicking us with a cold and sharp northern wind. Growling crowds are creeping in, darkening and getting fat. Rain is expected later this afternoon. It’s now 42 F, not far off from our expected high of 44 F.

Although keeping up with news, I don’t feel up to commenting on anything, so pressin’ on. Today’s theme music is brought to you by Nickelback. “Gotta Be Somebody” was released in 2008. The Neurons let it loose in my morning mental music stream (Trademark coming in two weeks) after I experienced deja vu when I stepped outside and breathed in the cold but fresh air this morning. Soaking in sunlight, watching the cats regarding the yard, I thought, I remember days like this from previous years. It was a marvelously bittersweet few minutes. Thinking, déjà vu, The Neurons pumped in more of NIckelback’s song:

It’s just like déjà vu, me standing here with you
So I’ll be holding my breath
Could this be the end?
Is it that moment when
I find the one that I’ll spend forever with?

‘Cause nobody wants to be the last one there
‘Cause everyone wants to feel like someone cares
Someone to love with my life in their hands
There’s gotta be somebody for me like that
‘Cause nobody wants to do it on their own (Their own)
And everyone wants to know they’re not alone (Not alone)
There’s somebody else that feels the same somewhere (The same somewhere)
There’s gotta be somebody for me out there

h/t to AZLyrics.com

Keep leaning forward, be strong, stay positive, and register and vote, right? Coffee has blessed my esophagus; time to move on with other activities. Here’s the music. Cheers

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Wednesday’s Theme Music

Mood: Optimungry. Yes, that’s that unique set of feelings of being strongly hopeful but very hungry.

Hey, all you Solsters*. Another day worth of declaring winter is still here. Up to 37 F now, and rain continues putting its shine on everything as the sun toils behind a thick stack of clouds. 46 F is the purported high for our neck of the valley.

Wednesday, Feb 7, 2024, has descended on Ashlandia without pomp or ceremony. Nothing special to write about it here in Ashlandia, but sometimes, nothing special is good. Everyone is going about their business and nobody is veering into another’s path to make their life difficult. The furnace is heating our house’s air, the cats have staked out their nap sites, and the neighborhood is quiet, even still. No people, machinery, birds, or dogs are heard. Grant’s Tomb is noisier.

Heading off to get our latest COVID-19 vaccination shortly. Finishing my coffee first. My wife is hosting her book club tonight, and I’m attending a brewery with a of friends. Meeting with them satisfies my need to socialize, have a beer with friends, discuss news, politics, etc, and keep close to remaining sane. I’m looking forward to discussing the ruling by the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit that Donald Trump isn’t above the law as a former POTUS, including actions he took while in office. The unanimous ruling by the three-judge panel validated what I remembered learning about the Federal government and the checks and balance system while in school. Now we’ll see if the SCOTUS gets involved, and if so, how they rule. Interesting days still ahead.

Today’s song is “Foolin'” by Def Leppard from 1983. The Neurons planted the song in my morning mental music stream (Trademark coming in two weeks) when I rhetorically asked of someone else, “Who do they think they’re foolin’?” Presto chango the song launched. I complain about earworms or involuntary musical imagery (INMI), but it doesn’t bother me much. I consider them an amusing process within my mental faculties. I’ve learned through research that 1 in 5 people experience an earworm a day, but they don’t usually lost long, just a few minutes. I’ve always wonder if experiencing and remembering vivid dreams are related to experiencing earworms as I do, and if it’s something in my mental processes and neural paths. At the same time, while I’ve always had a natural tendency for dreams, I began working to remember them when I was in my early teens and started keeping dream journals. Likewise, when I experience an earworm, I don’t often try shutting them down, but instead strive to recall all the details about my experience with the song.

If you’re still reading, you’re probably muttering, “Enough about you.” I agree. Stay strong, be positive, lean forward, register and vote. I’m trying for the same. Here’s the music. Cheers

* Solster: person who lives on a world dependent on the star called Sol.

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Tuesday’s Theme Music

Mood:

Good morning, fellow planet dwellers. It’s time again for Tuesday. As a first (as far as I know, but you know how tricky memory can be), this Tuesday is on February 6, 2024.

It’s a sunny day here in Ashlandia, where the coffee is strong and fresh. Not warm, though. Rain cooled the night and more rain is sashaying our way. 40 F now, today’s high will take us all the way up to 45 F. Even so, with the sun and the front that moved in, it feels 48 F right now. That’s weather for you. While many parts of this region are suffering from storms brought on by atmo rivers, quirks of mountains and the jet stream protects us from those streams, basically pushing the rivers around Ashland.

Painters have been scrapping the house in prep for painting it. Tucker, black and white floof, doesn’t care; he ate and went to bed, but he is an older feller, a young elder as felines go. Papi is just middle-aged. Papi was out when the painters arrived, sitting on our walk as they parked. I tried calling him in, but Papi had to sit down and watch the painters, neck craning, body leaning forward, as they went about meeting, talking, and getting out equipment.

Papi is always like that: ‘I must know what’s going on but I also must get the heck out of here.’ Curiosity wins, though. He and the dog that lives across the fence in our backyard share mutual animosity. Whenever Papi goes out, day or night, he first turns and stares at that wall for his nemesis. His stance and appearance is like a gunslinger at high noon in the wild west, with his eyes narrowing into an angry squint.

Just finished reading Annieasksyou’s post about the resistance. I’ve shared it on my blog and Facebook, and recommend it as a read. It picked up my spirits because mass media and its commercialized, monetized mentality works hard to keep it an interesting ‘horse race’. They want everyone to believe that Trump is slightly ahead, and wonder, can President Biden overtake him? What are all the things going President Biden, they constantly frame it.

For those reasons and more, I’m dubious of polls. I think many people use it as a space to complain and don’t always indicate how they will vote. Just my feel about it; they think they’re turning up the flame by being negative. Secondly, Democrats keep winning the popular vote but lose in the Electoral College. Do the polls reflect that aspect of how the vote will go?

On to today’s theme music. The Neurons apparently think that I need to complete the “Lady” song trilogy that came to me the other day. Jill D. began it with Lionel Richie singing “Lady” (written by Kenny Rogers). The Neurons countered with the Little River Band and “Lady”. But circulating in the morning mental music stream (Trademark coming in two weeks) is “Lady” by Styx. Released in 1973, it was Styx’s second hit, and goes full rock ballad.

Remain positive, be strong, lean forward, and vote. Are you registered? One of Oregon’s many things to admire is that as soon as you get a DL in our state, you’re registered to vote, and it’s all mail-in.

Coffee has been sucked up. Here’s the music. Carpe diem. Cheers

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Monday’s Theme Music

Mood: flexible

Good day, humans. Rise and shine. Time to try again.

Monday has opened its eyes. Today is Feb. 5, 2024. Cloudy is today’s sky description. Wind has calmed; rain is on a break. 47 F now, 51is the suspected high, after an overnight low of 38 F.

Haven’t read much news this morning, as I’m into a book by Colson Whithead, Crook Manifesto. I admire his language use, the phrases he turns, the characters he projects. Suberb pacing and plotting as well. He’s won a few Pulitzers for a reason.

When I did turn to the net for news, I sighed and thought, more coffee needs swallowed before I can take on those headlines and their stories. I wondered, when will we land on the Star Trek track where we make greater and more impressive changes? Will we ever reach that point, or will we forever fight the same wars again and again? At the rate we’re going, we’re going to ruin civilization, take down humanity and much of the planet in the same blink.

Yeah, I’m a bit pessimistic and cynical on this chilly AM.

Out of this, I remembered a song line, “I hope we see the light before it’s ruined.” Took me a few to recall it’s from “Ghetto Gospel” by 2Pac, and then the 2005 song began running the course in my morning mental music stream (Trademark coming in two weeks). Released in the year that I moved to southern Oregon, I caught the song on as I traveled back and forth to meet with my team in San Mateo, California, every month. I find the song has a lovely and intriguing melody and a powerful but hopeful message. I’ll take some hope with my coffee today.

Stay strong, be positive, lean forward, and vote. Back to the coffee cup for me. Enjoy the video and music. Cheers

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