Tag: rock

Friday’s Theme Music

It’s Friday, April 28, 2023. If you had a goal to complete something by April’s end, you have until Sunday. Then April yields to May.

The sun isn’t yielding. It’s signed a contract extension for heat and shine. It’s 62 F in my Ashlandia, with focus set on taking temps into summer ranges of low 90s to high 80s. 6:10 AM signaled the sun’s rise into the blue and 8:06 PM will be seen before its last.

Spoke with a CASA volunteer yesterday. She said they used to have brown-bag lunches. That expression is no longer approved. Something about people’s skin color being compared to brown bags. Again, surprise was my result, but again, change is inevitable and we don’t always foresee how and why matters change. It is fascinating, though. In time, people will read about a brown-bag lunch in a novel and asked another, “What does that mean?” It’s going the way of using a dime to make a phone call at a telephone booth, the rotary dial on a telephone, the hands on a clock, padded shoulders, or the meaning of literally.

No news on sis to speak of. She’s always been very private and secretive. Won’t say what she was sick with but thanked me for the wishes that she’s feeling better.

Another health front had a friend telling us his wife had stage IV breast cancer and had a double mastectomy the night before. Another friend then mentioned she’s a two-time survivor of breast cancer and that her sister has survived stage IV cancer for four years. Involved discussions about her treatment and what she endured ensued.

You up for a little stadium rock? Today’s theme music was brought on by another’s comment. The Neurons heard someone mentioned they were taking a trip, nothing special, just to break the tedium because they’d been enduring the same ol’ same. A 1988 song, “Nothin’ but A Good Time” by Poison.

Stay positive and slay your dragons or at least tame them a bit. Here’s the coffee, here’s the music, and there’s the end.

Cheers

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Thursday’s Theme Music

Thursday, April 27, 2023, was on the radar yesterday. It arrived in Ashlandia without fanfare, slipping in under night’s protection at midnight. The day and date has little baggage and comes well-stocked with sunshine and spring warmth. It’s already 58 F with intentions of plying the mid-80s, the weather heads tell me. Sunrise was between six and six fifteen. The butt end of the daylight hours will be seen after eight, if you’re looking.

So I have “The Heat Is On” in the morning mental music stream. We spoke about the song at our beer gathering last night. Some thought it was done by Foreigner. Others believed it was Don Henley. I and another were certain it was Glenn Frey. Getting home last night, I queried the net for confirmation. I like the song and employed it as theme music twice but I never researched it. I was surprised. Frey didn’t write it; didn’t play the music. He was selected as the vocalist after trying out by invitation. The Neurons said, “What?”

Here’s a Songfact excerpt:

“The Heat Is On” was written for the film by Harold Faltermeyer and Keith Forsey, and they needed a popular artist to sing it. The Beverly Hills Cop soundtrack album was on MCA Records, which Glenn Frey recently signed with. MCA asked several of their male rock singers to audition for the lead vocal for the song. At first Frey thought this wasn’t something “rock stars” did, but he decided to go along, just for fun, never thinking they’d pick him. Harold Faltermeyer was impressed by Frey’s vocal (the instrumental tracks were already recorded) and shocked Frey by using his version. It was Frey’s biggest solo hit, reaching #2 in the US…”

In other things learned, I’ve been told that young people don’t use the word straight as we used to normally use it. For example, they do not say, “Drive straight.” That, to them, I was told, is about sexual orientation and can be construed as a slight to others. It’s astonishing to me but, it’s another emerging culture, I guess. Words and their meanings and impacts change year by year by generation, geography, and society. Instead of driving ‘straight’, they say, drive forward. Not the same meaning to me but…

For today’s theme music, I’m going with a crazy theme and “I’ve Always Been Crazy”, a 1978 song by Waylon Jennings also rotating in the morning mental music stream. I have a history of being contrarian with friends and family, and this seems like an appropriate song for me and the day.

Stay pos. Hope your weather is treating you well. As we used to say, ‘have a nice day’. That’s looked down upon now as meaningless, trite, and superficial. Some even respond, “Don’t tell me how to feel.” Here’s the music. I’m off to the coffee machine. Cheers

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Wednesday’s Theme Music

No snow! Again. It’s like days in a row. The weather at last feels like an Ashlandia spring. We’ll pop up to 80 F today. Low in the bottom 40s. Sunrise quarter past six. Sunset after eight in the evening. This is what Daddy likes.

It’s April 26, 2023. Sad news that ispace lost contact with Hakuto-R. Latest theory they’ve put out is it unexpectedly accelerated and crashed on the moon while attempting its approach. Back to the drawing boards.

I’ve always been a proponent of exploring space and trying to reach other planets. Curiosity of what’s out there drives me. I know, many argue that we’re already screwing up Earth and have demonstrated ourselves to be poor caretakers of our home planet, so why should we ‘be allowed’ to go somewhere else. Also, space exploration is a little pricy. Cost more than my annual coffee budget. And we have so many problems in our society, unintended consequences of systems, practices, laws and technology. So much we have here we need to fix.

But I’m an optimist. I hope that going to space more will lift our spirits and encourage us to change. I know, I know but space travel and exploration opens possibilities, and fires hope and optimism. Of course my background is white male. American, sure of food and shelter. I know in an intellectual way that it’s way different for others in ways that I struggle to fully imagine and comprehend. I try. I try to empathize and sympathize and help. And I want for others to have at least the levels of comfort, security, access to equity, and opportunities that I’ve experienced.

Had a plethora of dreams again. Some involved Dad and painting. I’ll explore that more, I think.

Thoughts of space impelled Les Neurons to fire up “Rocket Man” by Elton John and Bernie Taupin 1972. Found a lovely video of John in concert with the song in 1972. Just fifty plus years ago, hey?

Stay pos and don’t let your fuse burn out. I’ve got some coffee if you need it. Maybe we can pass the cup.

Here’s the music. Enjoy. Cheers

5

Tuesday’s Theme Music

’tis sunny enough for a shadeless desert but the sun is just waking the air’s warmth. 42 F outside but the weather sultans tell me 73 F is possible for Ashlandia today. The people are rejoicing. Sunshine’s appearance began about 6:15 this morning and will go until a few minutes after eight. The cats are happy with the weather, snoozing in sunshine in the front or back yard. Rest of the week is looking good. Summer is sliding toward us and gaining speed.

It’s Tuesday, April 25, 2023 today. A quiet time in Ashlandia, but it’s early. Politics are still ramping up. Homeless are camping out in a park. How much money is enough money for the Parks & Rec folks? What’s going on with the Oregon Shakespeare Festival? A cougar killed another deer in someone’s yard. Pets are missing and folks are worried.

Another storm of dreams has The Neurons rocking the morning mental music stream with “Rockin’ Into the Night” by 38 Special. The song came out in 1983, a good year for my kind of rock music. On Okinawa in service of the USAF at that time. This was one of those songs that became cranked in volume so we could sing along off key. It’s a good song for that purpose. I suspect that 1983 came up because I’ve been reflecting on life and recall that I broke my neck in 1982 on Okinawa. Wore a halo device for most of the humid Pacific summer. Anyway, part of me was saying, geez, that was forty-three years ago next month. Zowie.

A note on posting via WordPress. I was having issues. The issues grew, not just with WordPress but anything being used on MS Edge. I worked on fixing Edge for a while. Nothing worked. Yes, all the usual things. Anyway, I switched to Chrome this morning in frustration. Voila, as they say. No issues.

Seize the coffee. I’ve seized mine and slurped some down with a post-breakfast muffin. Window repair man coming to fix one that took a hit during a wind storm. It’s an outside panel. The inner one remains intact, so some heat loss but we weren’t exposed or anything. Stay pos and work the day.

Cheers

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Monday’s Theme Music

It was a whole night of dreams again. In one, I was looking for employment after being released in a — well, I’ll do that in another post. Maybe.

Cloudy spring day rolling through Monday, 4/24/23 or 23/24/4. Almost sounds like a Chicago song title. Almost. Song is playing in my head now, though. Temperature is 45. 6:16 and 8:02 are the morning and evening numbers for Ashlandia’s sunrise and sunset. Humidity is declared 86%. Weather underlings slipped the word, high is 61 F.

Huh, breaking news, Tucker Carlson is out of Fox News. Gosh, I wonder what THAT’s all about.

In family news, a younger sister is sick. Deets aren’t coming yet. Little sisters #2 and #3 don’t know what’s up with #1. Mom has deets but didn’t share. #1 little sister, grandmother to two, always shades her life with secrecy.

Uncle B, 79, had a fifth heart attack. Had his first when he was 45, followed by open heart surgery. He’s been dealing since. I hear that steroid therapy is to be attempted. Don’t know more yet. Mom has that info, too. When I thought of Uncle B, I thought of him as the favorite. Not true. He’s youngest of Dad’s siblings — Dad is he oldest, 91 — but they’re all very alike, smart, good sense of humor, friendly, fun to be with. Dad is the different one.

Cats are doing well, thanks. With the clouds taking over, they’ve remained in and are sleeping in the living room.

Today’s song is “I Can Change” by LCD Soundsystems, 2010. I haven’t heard it for a while, but Alex Borstein and her companions played it on her comedy show on Prime. The Neurons heard it and now it’s in the morning mental music stream, although it shared the space with “25 or 6 to 4” for a wee while. I enjoyed her show, which was more than comedy. It’s information rich, too. For examp., I learned about a mush tat. Yeah, look it up.

Stay as pos as you can, which can sometimes be a sigh-pulling, deep breaths experience. Least for me. May your Monday be better than you planned it. Here’s the coffee and music. Cheers

3

Saturday’s Theme Music

Sunshine! Blue skies. Been wondering when they’d come a-calling again. Beginning to think blue skies and sunshine were ghosting me. I thought we were getting on well but then suddenly, nothing. Honesty, this weather is so fickle.

Back home in the manse. Cats thrilled to see us, demanding that we show how much we missed them. Attention and affection. Treats and food. More attention and affection. More. More.

It’s 54 F outside and feels like a pastoral spring day under development. 6:17 AM saw the sun step into Ashlandia. It’ll be here until 8:01. Weather debates offer us a range of high temps from 67 F to 71 F possible. I’ll take the higher one, thanks.

Came back to news of a death, cousin’s wife. Cousin died two years ago, cancer. Few years younger than me. Nobody has details about her death. Just catching up on more general news, mostly political, and Alphabet’s CEO’s pay of $200M per, local news. Been off the grid basically.

Songwise, Der Neurons plugged “My Generation” by The Who from 1965. I was nine when it was released but I became an enduring Who fan. That line, “People try to put us down,” is pretty apt. We’re boomers and oh how some of the youngsters are pissed with us. Speaks huge tomes about generational attitudes toward one another, doesn’t it? We were being put down as teenagers and put down as oldagers. Well, screw ’em, we say, but with more words. Of course, the most famous line out of the song is, “I hope I die before I get old.” Talkin’ ’bout our cynicism. Let’s not all just f-f-f-fade away.

Stay strong and positive. Hope the sunrise favors you with a satisfying day on each and every one. Here’s the music. Half my coffee is already gone. Good stuff.

Cheers

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Friday’s Theme Music

It’s morning in Yachats. The mythical blue sky has still not been seen. The sun is playing hide and seek. We’ve been looking but it’s well hidden. Stormed all day on the coast. Rain from dawn to midnight. Gusts and gales. Rocking storm surge. Temperatures gamboled from 41 F to 42 F.

Birds returned today. They headed for shelter just like the rest of us yesterday. The rain paid a brief AM visit today, drops scampering across the roof and ground, tapering off to a mere shower. Supposed to be cresting 50 today but we’ll be gone, climbing back over the mountains and south to Ashlandia where the weather ghosts advise it’s more of the same. It’s Friday, April 21, 2023. My resting pulse is at its usual, 58. SP02 is down, 97%.

We turned off the news so we don’t know what’s going on. There’s not been a stream of cars heralding vast evacuations, no warning sirens, etc., so we think the world has trudged on without us. We ate at a favorite place, The Green Salmon. Vegan food, amazingly delicious, wonderful coffee, and that ideal coffee shop café air, where it’s less like a business and more like a passion.

Today’s music offered by The Neurons in the morning mental music stream is “Just Like Paradise.” David Lee Roth. 1987. Get it? Sure, it was just like livin’ in paradise there, even with the rain, as we were as relaxed as a cat sleeping in sunshine. Sure, the hotel wasn’t perfect. Couldn’t connect to the net, and half of the 54 listed channels on TV were advertisements or tutorials for Dish TV. But we were there to hear the waves, smell the sea, and gaze out as far as our eyes could roam the ocean’s horizon. The coast by Yachats remains raw, which is preferable to being filled with tourist bait.

Aside, Roth isn’t a favorite for me. One of my little sisters really liked him when she was a teenager but he never was my style of rock and roll when he separated from van Halen.

I’ve had coffee. Stay pos and ride Friday like it’s a magical unicorn carrying you to wherever you wish. Here’s the music. Cheers

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Thursday’s Theme Music

We’re on the Oregon coast in Yachats in the rain. Left the cats with a house sitter and bugged out. Drove from lightly falling snow through multiple rain showers to pouring rain on the coach. But the air is fresh and the ocean offers spiritual medicines you just can’t find anywhere else but the ocean.

Today is April 20, 2023, Thursday. Yes, it’s 4/20, if you’re into that. We just ate at a coast favorite, The Green Salmon, enjoying vegan egg and sausage sandwiches. Yep, the eggs were Just Eggs and the sausage was plant-based. Fantastic, as was the vegan glazed maple croissant we split. Seriously, you wouldn’t know it’s vegan if I’d not told you.

Except for being at the coast, the weather is the same. High 51 F, rain. But it’s the coast. We’re gonna go see Thor’s Well.

After doing tarot cards at breakfast, The Neurons planted “Changes” by D. Bowie (1972) in the morning mental music stream, supplanting “Hey, Baby”.

Off to walk the coast. Stay pos. Seize the Thursday, yeahhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJSv6JXKS_I? Here’s the music. I’m continuing with some delicious coffee. Cheers

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Wednesday’s Theme Music

“I love the smell of snow in the spring. It reminds me of winter.”

Yes, snow continues in Ashlandia’s April on Wednesday, Apil 19, 2023. Just another inch. Sort of fun, interesting, and unsettling for the cats, who firmly believe winter was supposedly over and sunshine was expected to be ruling. They go and seek it each day in their own way. Papi the young ginger fellow dashes out, finds the sun disappointing and dashes back in. Not trusting just one result, he duplicates his efforts at least three or four times to validate his findings.

Tucker, the black and white low-haired dude with the thick layers and big paws, strolls out, takes the sun he finds, tests the air with his nose and then grooms in the sun until a nap takes over.

Here in Ashlandia, where the coffee is made of ground roasted beans and boiling water, sunshine arrived without an entourage at 6:23 AM and will abandon our valley before eight PM strikes. If it doesn’t get out in time, the sun turns into a car shaped like a pumpkin and stays in Ashlandia giving floof rides. Weather scribes tell us — drum roll — it’s 30 F now, will reach about 50 F, and we can expect rain. Not much change from the last few days.

Today’s theme music is by Bob Marley and comes via The Neurons to the morning mental music stream from a streaming TV experience called Ted Lasso. “Three Little Birds” was released in 1980. I felt like a relaxing and hopeful song was essential for what could be a hump day for so many people.

Stay pos. Take a coffee break now and then. Think I’ll take one now. Here’s the music. Cheers

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Tuesday’s Theme Music

Sunshine beats down on snow-plated Ashlandia. Concerns about how this late snow and cold weather affects the growing season circulate among growers and friends. Everyone is reminded, this is just one corner of the growing season puzzle. Can’t worry about it now. Do as needed and press on.

It’s Tuesday, April 18, 2023. Sunrise was at 6:23 AM. 29 F last night, unseasonable for us. The snow is light and already burns off where the sun touched down earlier. Weather functionaries tell us it’ll rain today and the high will be about 50 F. So spring will show up for a bit. Sunset comes a few minutes before 8 PM.

Alexa told us yesterday that snow was going to happen during the night. We were surprised that she was right.

In other news, Nicolas Cage regrets eating cockroaches. Cats ask with puzzlement, “Why? They’re crunchy.”

Trips are being planned. Knowing this, the cats have subverted The Neurons and have them playing “Everytime You Go Away”. I had the Paul Young verson in my head but found this video from Farm Aid 1985 with John Hall singing it, backed by Billy Joel, Bonnie Raitt, and GE Smith. Has sentimental value for me, as I remember watching some of this concert on the telly.

Stay pos as you can. Coffee is being served and I shall partake. It’s my one weakness, along with fifty million other things. Here’s the music. Cheers

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