Fed the cats, used the restroom, woke up (yeah, that was the order, to the best of my recollection, your honor), and realized I was humming “My Hero” by the Foo Fighters (1998). Thought it a good song for these times, when people need everyday heroes to manage commonplace matters.
Emerson, Floof & Palmer (EF&P) (floofinition) – A progressive floof rock (flock) group from Floofland. Formed in 1970, EF&P are known for adapting classical arrangements and were early adopters of using synthesizers.
In use: “One of Emerson, Floof & Palmer’s early mainstream hits was “Lucky Floof”, written by Greg Floof when he was twelve years old.”
Many songs that I remember have specific moments attached. They follow traditional, predictable patterns of love, success, pain, and failure.
Today’s song is hotly linked to success. It was 1999. Retired from the military, I was working in a medical device startup company. I began as the customer service manager. Then the company was bought out. And on this day, the new VP of marketing from the company who bought us had offered me a big promotion, to become a product manager, and I’d accepted.
The world looked great. This was in the summer in the Peninsula portion of the SF Bay Area known as Silicon Valley. I was in my car, a vehicle I enjoyed The sky was blue, the sun was bright and warm, and the future seemed amazing.
Traffic wasn’t bad either, as I left Highway 101 and I-280 behind me and headed west toward home on highway 92. For that day, I put in Bush, Sixteen Stone, and selected “Comedown” (1995).
Here are the lyrics that drew me that day:
‘Cause I don’t wanna come back down from this cloud It’s taken me all this time to find out what I need I don’t wanna come back down from this cloud It’s taken me all this all this time
(BTW, I wanted to indent the lyrics to call them out, but can’t find the indent on this new, cumbersome, tedious, loaded WP editor. This is supposed to be a quick post; I don’t want to spend a lot of time searching through blocks and patterns, widgets and menus to find what used to be a simple matter. And where is the help? Oh, let me look for that.)
Don’t have a specific reason for this song in my head today. Just awoke to that beginning from the song. Maybe it was a dream thing, or a writing thing, or my generally foolish, optimistic nature.
Electric Floof Orchestra (EFO)(floofinition) – Floof rock (flock) band from Floofingham who fused a floof pop (flop) with orchestral arrangements and flock overtones. Formed in 1970, they achieved global floofstream popularity by the mid 1970s.
In use: “Electric Floof Orchestra, often called EFO, or El Floofo, recorded multiple albums, having hits such as “Can’t Get it Out of My Fur”, “Floof Magic”, “Floof A Little Love”, and “Don’t Floof Me Down”, in the seventies.”
I’m in the midst of a rebellion this morning. It began when my mind shouted, “No more news! Just back away for a little bit. Please do it. I don’t want to hurt you.”
Carefully, I backed away from my mind, eyeing it as I did, trying to gauge its temperament. “Is everything okay?” An innocuous question, I thought.
Too innocuous. “Is everything okay?” My mind launched into a rant that went in every direction at once. I let it rant, biding my time, until the rant petered out for lack of oxygen.
“Okay,” I said. “Okay. No Facebook for a bit.”
“For the day!”
“Fine, fine, and no news? Really? You want to — “
“Stop.” My mind’s eyes narrowed. “Don’t try to guilt me, dude. I won’t have it.”
“I’m not trying to guilt you.”
My mind scoffed. “Sure. Who do you think you’re talking to? Your asshole? I’m your mind, baby. I know you better than you know me.”
I’ve been in these situations before. Time and space were demanded, needed. I would accommodate my mind. “Okay, then. What sort of theme song should I use today?”
My mind glowered for moments. Dark emotions flit over its face. Suddenly, like sunshine had burst through, he brightened. “Spin Doctors. “Little Miss Miss”, 1992.”
“Really?” I remembered when it came out. I was stationed at Onizuka AFB, then called an Air Station, in Sunnyv —
“Stop.”
“What?”
“No trips down memory lane. I don’t want to do any of that bullshit today. Just play the song and write the post.”
I nodded. “Okay, chum, you got it.”
My mind faked a gag. “Don’t call me chum.”
And that’s how today’s theme music selection was made.
Today’s theme music has nuttin’ to do with politics, dreams, cats, or memories. It’s not prompted by introspection and self-questioning. It’s not in memory of a friend that passed away, and it’s not related to the news. It’s just a song by The Weeknd that I enjoy. “Blinding Lights” (2020) just keeps running in my mental stream. I suppose, if I think about the words — about being touched and empty cities — I can establish some rational reason why it’s jumped up out of slumbering brain masses, but it’s a good song, and I’m just going to enjoy it for a few minutes as just a good song.
Never saw the video before this. Takes half a minute to get into the song.
The Doobie Floofs (floofinition) California based floof rock (flock) band, who successfully mixed many line-ups and musical styles to create sustained success.
In use: “The Doobie Floofs came out with a cover of a gospel song, “Jesus Is Just a Floof to Me”, and had a hit with it in 1972.”
Today’s theme music is an Queen song from 1970, “Keep Yourself Alive”.
Keep yourself alive was my reflection to watching protests grow into riots as police and others escalate the situation. It’s been an ongoing mutter in my head as we deal with the novel coronavirus situation. Why practice social distancing, masking, isolation, and good hygiene? Well, to mitigate spreading the virus, to gain time to understand it, to gain time to allow our healthcare systems the chance to cope with it, and well, to keep ourselves alive until a vaccine can be found.
Thought it works well on this first day of June in the year of the riots and COVID-19.
Watching the riots remind me of my youth. Born in 1956 in the U.S., we had riots frequently in the sixties.
This month’s riot began when George Floyd, a black man, was apprehended by police, and died, allegedly for something involving forged documents.
Death by police officer is surely the response for such a heinous suspicion, right?
Watching police brutality in 1971, Obie Benson questioned what he was seeing. With Al Cleveland and Marvin Gaye, the thoughts were put into a song that became a Marvin Gaye hit. At that time, protesters were standing up against the Vietnam War. Police, demonstrating the restraint that we’ve come to know well from them, waded in, resulting in what became known as “Bloody Thursday”.
We’ve seen it many times; protests arise. Unless you’re white and armed (see Michigan this year), the police are gonna come hard. (Didn’t help that the POTUS (ever thoughtful and considered in his response) said, “When the looting starts, the shooting starts,” quoting the Miami police chief from the 1967 riots).
The government is by the people and for the people, until the people speak up against the government (unless, again, you’re armed and white in the woke United States) (witness the frequency of armed white males killers with automatic weapons being peacefully apprehended), then look out, people.
BTW, this post was created with the new WP editor. Initial question: WTF did it need to change? Evolutionary improvements, I understand. I thought the other was an intuitive system. Now they want me to ‘insert blocks’, which include such common blocks such as ‘paragraphs’. Christ.
Their little floating block editor jumps in front of text, forcing you to navigate around it to see WTF is going on.
Red Hot Chili Floofs (floofinition) – American floof rock (flock) band formed in Los Angeles in 1983, incorporating stylistic elements of floof funk (flonk), floof punk (flunk), alternative flock, and floofedeic rock in their music.
In use: “One of my personal favorite songs by the Red Hot Chili Floofs is “Snow (Floof Oh)”, a softly melodic song.”
