Tag: pop

Friday’s Theme Music

“What a difference a day makes. Twenty-four little hours.”

It made a difference here. Blue skies. Unfiltered sunshine. Just a taste of smoke southern Oregon’s air. A tincture of dirty cloud on the western horizon. AQI is back down to 40 — the lower, the better — and in the green. Green is good. Most of Jackson County and southern Oregon remains yellow, with warnings to take precautions in effect. Our windows are open for now. A cool breeze bathes my back. Hopes this is a reflection that the fires are now out, or lined, contained, you know, no longer growing.

Today is Friday, August 6, 2021. Ashland’s temperature is expected to top out in the mid to upper eighties. Sunrise fell upon us at 6:09 AM. The Earth will turn us away from the sun at 8:24 PM.

Going with A-Ha and “Take On Me” from 1984 for my theme music. My wife and I were in a military cafeteria in Japan when we first saw the video for this song. It seemed interesting, different, attention-arresting. It’s in my head this morning due to dreams. Cogitating on their details, I said, “Aha.” And there’s the connection. It’s a little deeper in reality; the dreams were all superficially military oriented, hammering the point about change and the past.

Stay positive, test negative, wear a mask as necessary, and get the vaccine. Pleased to report that local pharmacies are suddenly swamped with people seeking one of the COVID-19 vaccines. Stories of people losing their lives or several loved ones from the virus because they were unsure about the vaccine have been circulating. They seem to be affecting people. Terrible reading about, example, a woman losing her husband, grandmother, mother, and husband’s father to COVID-19 because they wanted the vaccine to be more thoroughly tested first. Now she regrets their decision but she’s the only one who can get the vaccine. Too late for the rest.

Here’s the music. Cheers

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Thursday’s Theme Music

Say hello to our newest date. August 5, 2021 was born at midnight on a Thursday. We have high hopes for this little date. Hope it can live up to it. The date has had an eventful life already. Sunrise in our area came for August 5, 2021 at 6:08 AM. Sunrise will come much later for August 5, 2021, 8:27 PM. Like its siblings, August 2, 3, and 4 of this year, it’s hot and smoky here, highs in the nineties and smoke that blocks sun and sky, and scrapes your throat raw. Elsewhere, August 5, 2021 — the fifth to their friends, or August fifth — will be involved with NFL Football and the Olympics, along with multiple baseball games, politics, some weather matters, the stock market, economic issues…just about anything you can name!

Haven’t done this song in almost two years. It’s one of those I enjoy cranking up to the point that its sound drowns out life. It came to me after thinking about my dreams this morning. Surely there’s a connection. Here is Jane’s Addiction with “Been Caught Stealing” from 1990. Stay positive, test negative, wear a mask as needed, and get the vax. Cheers

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Wednesday’s Theme Music

They called it smoky Monday but Tuesday was just as bad. Lord, and Wednesday’s worse. Don’t know what it will be like Thursday but I don’t like the trend.

Today is Smoky Wednesday, August 4, 2021. The smoke continues to thicken from fires south of us in California in the Klamath National Forest. It’s miles away. The city and county keep putting out messages and alerts that evacuation in our area isn’t needed, the fires aren’t threatening us, but BTW, avoid breathing the air if you can. Limit it at least.

A ghostly pale sunrise was at 6:07 AM. The sun is a muted, cloistered presence. Sunset will come at 8:27 PM. The smoke keeps us a little cooler for most of the day with temperatures striding into the low nineties, but it’s a flat, still air. No wind at all. Stifling. Cool nights with temperatures falling to the low sixties are being experienced. But the smoke keeps us inside. I’ve learned that we must keep the western windows and doors closed, or the smoke comes in. Then we start sniffing, coughing, and sneezing as our throats grow dry and scratchy.

With all that, songs with smoke in them came to mind (you can already hear “Smoke on the Water”, can’t you) but no. I saw this video yesterday while stalking the net (or it was stalking me — such a relationship, you know?). It put a smile on my face and stuck with me. Not surprising, really. Music often sticks like peanut butter in my brain.

Here is Dave Grohl performing “Band on the Run” in front of Sir Paul McCartney and President Barack Obama and many other dignitaries in the White House in 2010. Hope you smile as I did.

Be safe. Stay positive. Test negative. Wear a mask as needed. Get the vax. On a mask aside, we went shopping in Medford, twenty miles away yesterday. We were masked, along with about ninety-five of the rest of the people in the stores.

Cheers

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Tuesday’s Theme Music

Cheers.

Let’s turn this thing around. Get vaccinated. Wear a mask as needed. Test negative. Stay positive. Here’s the music.

That triggered the 1982 song, “Digging Your Scene”. Fateful words. When I answered, I knew who it was — recognized the number, yeah? — and said, “I just got your message.” Courtesy of a telephone call. Have the Blow Monkeys invading my mind this morning.

Temperatures are again expected in the upper nineties, maybe low 100s F. Air quality is moderate right now (76). (Remember that song?) Wildfire smoke is blowing in from the south, turning the sun into a red rubber ball. Sunset will be at 8:28 PM. Sunrise was at 6:06 AM. It’s already August 3, 2021. Today is Twisted Tuesday. Good morning.

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Monday’s Theme Music

“Monday, Monday.” Some of us from a certain era will go on auto, bringing up the Mamas & Papas song. Or maybe it’s just me.

Today is Monday, the first of its kind in August, dubbed August 2, 2021. Our heatwave continues as our daylight hours decline. Sunrise in Ashland was 6:05 AM. Sunset will come at 8:29 PM. We’re again expecting our high temperatures to nip into the upper nineties/low 100s. Red flag alerts for fire dangers continue.

In COVID-19 matters, many of us are quietly preparing for another lockdown. Have some safe quiet gatherings. Stock up the frig, freezer, and pantry. Numbers are climbing. Vaccinations have stalled. ICUs are filling.

Enjoying the early morning light and wind, a 2012 song by the Swedish House Mafia began looping through my thinking.

Upon a hill across a blue lake,
That’s where I had my first heartbreak.
I still remember how it all changed.

My father said,
“Don’t you worry, don’t you worry, child.
See heaven’s got a plan for you.
Don’t you worry, don’t you worry now.”

h/t to AZLyrics.com

Of course, I am a perpetual worrier. No plan is ever perfect. Execution brings out more flaws. Others don’t share agendas, visions, and dreams. Clashes arise. Accidents happen. Nature interferes via disasters and disease. Stupidity, ignorance, and obstinance — sometimes by me, frequently by others — in my view, but this is my post — creates greater difficulty.

But I’m also an optimist. A believer in the long game. The arc’s inevitable bend.

Stay positive. Test negative. Wear a mask as needed. Get the vax. Here be the music. Cheers

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Sunday’s Theme Music

6:04, 8:30, 8/1/2021, 96. These are the numbers defining the day’s parameters. Sunrise in the AM, sunset in the PM, the first day of August, and another high forecast for the upper nineties. Little leery of that last. Said the same yesterday. Next thing I know, I glance at the thermometer and it’s claiming 108. Checked with Alexa. She assured me it was only 101.

Yes, it’s Sunday but things are little changed. Awoke with a cat eyeing me. Purring. Kneading. Drooling. Hungry, I suspected. Or possessed. I tried to pretend I wasn’t awake. He tapped my cheek with a claw. Rubbed against my nose. Hand. Smiled.

Well, I thought it was a smile. Looking into his eyes, I began singing “Space Age Love Song” to him. A Flock of Seagulls. 1982. “I saw your eyes. You made me smile. For a little while I was falling in love.”

The cat — this is Tucker, he of the long and thick black and white fur, large white paws, and helter-skelter curvaceous whiskers — dropped his smile. Frowned. Changed his gaze to, “I’m hungry and you’re singing? What’s wrong with you?” It all worked out. I turned away. He remained patient. Spoke up with a rusty, drawling meow laced with purring trills. Knew I’d crumble.

Here’s the music. Watch the video. Admire the hair. Note the style. Shake your head and tell yourself, “My, how things have changed.” Stay positive, test neg., wear a mask as needed and don’t be stupid or complacent about it, and get the vax if you’ve not done so, if you can. Cheers

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Saturday’s Theme Music

Thunderstorms passed through yesterday. A spritz of rain, some threatening rumbling, a bite of wind, done. Checked on new fires caused by lightning strikes. Nothing new found yet.

Today is Saturday, July 31, 2021, the final day of July, 2021. The year is half gone. Up in the northern hemi, daylight grows less. Heat still remains, though. And drought, out here in the American west.

Sunrise cometh at 6:02 AM. Sunset is at 8:31 PM. With more thunderstorms expected, our high is projected to top out at 95 degrees F.

A Mötley Crüe song pesters me today, leftovers from a walk the other evening. Caught up in my stride, enjoying a cool breeze, absorbed in writing in my head, I went further than planned. Suddenly, oh, it’s twenty minutes until sunset and you’re three miles from home. Turn about and start walking, dude. I kicked up my pace and did so, time to get home. Which led to home sweet home. Which invited in “Home Sweet Home” from 1985. This rock ballad features plenty of guitars, a touch of wistful piano, and strong vocals that range from soft, reflective humming to belting out, “Home sweet home”. The video depicts the rock and roll circus that so many of us think of when pondering the expression, ‘hard rock concert’. These bois were mos def into the glam.

Stay positive, test negative, wear mask as necessary, and get the vax. Wearing a mask seems like it has become more necessary once again. Case levels have leaped to April’s levels. Might even overtake those levels. Not surprising for here. Jackson County is a Trump stronghold. They eschew masking and vaxxing. My little town holds to both but it’s a destination spot for others. Tourism, you know? Interesting enough, we had to run an errand yesterday, sevenish PM. The vacant streets and empty parking spaces belied it being a Friday night. Were people voluntarily home, sick, or in isolation?

Here’s the music. Cheers

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Friday’s Theme Music

Today is Friday, July, 2021’s, final Friday offering, the fifth Friday of the month. July 30.

It’s a humid morning. 76 F at 7:30 AM. Sky of indiscriminate color. Maybe off-white. Tinged faint yellow. Little of this from smoke, little of that from clouds. Nothing blue. Just a long flat plain.

Sunrise — or daylight — began at 6:02 AM. Sunset will be 8:32. Anticipated highs will be like yesterday, touching 97 to 100, depending on small variations caused by geography. We were at 100 but other friends reported only 98.

Went with ZZ Top this morning for my theme music. “La Grange”. 1973. Dusty Hill – the bassist passed away so they’re on my mind. I first experienced ZZ Top in high school art class. Thanks to Scott M for bringing them in. Tres Hombres. Went out and bought that album as soon as possible. Introduced my wife to it. “Jesus Left Chicago”. “Beer Drinkers and Hell Raisers”. You know it. Maybe you don’t. Good album.

Anyone else having WordPress issues? I find that the toolbar for the blocks disappear. I can see it over on top on the left. Select a block. Gone. Oh, fun. Those features on that toolbar aren’t available once it disappears. Say, bold. Italics. Even the keystroke commands fail. For that matter, just selecting and highlighting a block is impossible. WordPress says, “Nope. Not gonna do it.” Not for all posts. Just for some. Here and there. Enough to make you ask your computer, “WTF, WordPress.” Enough for you to glower and grit and think, “Surely there’s something better out there.” Oh, but the inertia to search for a new one isn’t there. They know this, I think. Depend on it. I can hear their sinister little voices dripping with contempt. “They won’t leave. They’ll just post snide little comments and give us low ratings. But they’ll stay.” Snort. Snicker. I work around, using Word to type and format everything, then cut and paste. Anyone else having these issues? Or should I take it personally?

Stay positive. Test negative. Hope you can. D variant is striking even if you’re vaxxed. Difference is that less vaccinated head to the hospital. Fewer die. So wear a mask as needed. Looks like it’s needed again. And get the vax. Every little bit will help.

Here’s the music. Cheers

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Updated

Well, no avoiding it. Get it done. That had become her new motto. She had gotten it done for her husband. Children. Work. Now it was time for her to get it done for herself.

This, if anything, proved that she could not wait. COVID-19 had interrupted. Age was interrupting. Nature. No doubt. “Get it done.”

Coffee was first sipped. Comfort drink. And for fortitude. Then she pulled up Excel. Opened BucketList.exl. Found ZZ Top. She’d always wanted to see them. Her husband had seen them three times before dying. So when they’d been scheduled for the Britt Festival this year, she’d jumped all over it. Get it done.

Now the bassist was dead. Dusty Hill. Original. Sure ZZ Top would go on. But. Like Cream. She’d hoped to see them but Cream only had Clapton left. At least she’d seen the Beatles. Stones. Pink Floyd. Jethro Tull. Heart. Journey. Foreigner. All thanks to her husband. Get it done. Because time didn’t wait. She’d missed on The Who. Had put it off. Then. Moon was dead.

She would still go to the ZZ Top concert. Wouldn’t be the same. Just like with the Temptations. They’d done all the music but not with the members she’d known growing up.

It had not been the same.

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Thursday’s Theme Music

If this is Thursday, then this must be Ashland.

I chuckled at lines like that. During several times in life, I traveled a lot. First in a military life, then in a marketing life. When I traveled like that, my focus narrowed. What country-city-base-trade show am I at? What’s the agenda? Who am I meeting? Where do I go next? The actual dates little mattered, except for the travel portion. But I didn’t think of that in terms of days or dates. It was more, “I leave tomorrow” or the day after, etc, and “I go home next week.”

Anyway, this is Thursday, July 29, 2021. My wife had her teeth cleaned yesterday. She made her next cleaning appointment: 2/2/2022, at 2 PM. Yeah, it’s not a Fibonacci sequence, but it is interesting. To us, at least. Hey, it’s been slow.

Sun shine invaded at 6:01 AM. A retreat is in order commencing at 5:33 AM. Another heat dome has arrived. Although heat advisories are in effect, I thought we might be spared the heat. Clouds covered most of the AM sky. But they’ve slowly slip-slided away, leaving a hazy blue dome overhead. Like yesterday, temperatures close to 100 are anticipated. Yesterday, we clipped 98 F at our house.

“Ventura Highway” by America (1972) invaded my morning head space. Two parts of the song were speaking to me: “alligator lizards in the air” and “Come on, Joe, you can always change your name. Thanks a lot, son, just the same.”

The alligator lizards part was easy. I was looking at the morning clouds. We had scanty popcorn pieces. No alligator lizards. But it still triggered the music. The other aspect was about character names in the novel in progress. I thought that perhaps I should change two characters names. They’re not exactly the same names as friends, but close enough. They are parodies of these friends. But the name is an integral part to them. Changing their names changes my impression of them. The names stay as they are for now.

Stay positive, test negative, wear a mask as needed, and get the vax. Cheers

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