Tag: SRV

Fridaz Theme Music

Chill morning it is on 29 August, 2025, Frida. 59 F at my house. Worry not: blue sky mildly scored with white haze and a climbing sun promise we’ll be in the 90s F before the sun finishes its daily mission.

We went a-bluesing last night. A place called Revolution Wine Co. hosted a blues group called The Brisbane Project.

“Where’s that?” my wife asked.

“Who are they?” I asked.

Someone had dropped the info on my Facey page. Research was chased. Puzzlement ensued. “Revolution seems to be down on the corner of A and Oak,” I said. My wife and I hadn’t been to that area in yonks. We reminisced about the location and what used to be there. ‘Used to be’ are some of our favorite words. We also talked about Brisbane and Revolution to friends. None were familiar with either. We talked about it, bought $10 tickets, and headed to the show. Well, BP did an awesome job. The power trio offered us some excellent ZZ Top, Stevie Ray Vaughn, BB King covers, among others, along with some original, impressive blues tunes. Running from 6:30 to 9:00 in the P, this was well-spent time. Most noteworthy covers were “Voodoo Chile”, “Jesus Left Chicago”, and “La Grange”.

As Papi and I checked out the stars last night, we agreed that today should be a blues day. Something to shake our souls. The Neurons stayed rarely mute on the subject. After some shame casting, they finally brought up Beth Hart and Joe Bonamassa into the morning mental music stream with “I Wanna Know You”.

Gritting my teeth now, I note that our ‘august President’ is at it again. The man, one Donald J. Trump, can’t help but lie and crow with imaginary success. His brain-dead sycophants don’t help by showing him with adulation. They love to claim that he’s the most amazing, beautiful, healthy, and wonderful president ever. Logic, facts, history, truth — things that are MAGA and GOP Kryptonite — prove that’s Trump is none of the things they say. Doesn’t stop any of them. In his latest ‘gaffe’, as the press politely labels them, Trump claimed to stop ten wars. While unable to name them all, he did give birth to a nation, The Republic of Condo. Dunce Donald kept on with it though, undeterred by the stunned gazes on people listening to him, because nobody ever tells Donald the truth. He goes on the attack when they do, firing people for presenting correct information, calling the people and their questions nasty and ugly, and generally verbally assaulting and bullying them. His admirers think that makes him ‘strong’. We know it reveals that he’s an insecure coward.

On the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina’s appalling destruction of New Orleans, another news outlet reports about the Trump Regime’s cuts to programs which provide data critical to weather forecasting. As we see too often, PINO Trump thinks he’s taking the nation a step forward while leaping backward. ‘Drastic’: Life-saving California weather forecast data is about to disappear. It’s like claiming you’re saving money by leaving doors and windows off your house. You might save a dollar now, but such short-sighted moves cost magnitudes more later.

Hope peace and grace find their way to you. Coffee is providing The Neurons a pep talk as I type. Time to go crack this egg. Cheers

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Sundaz Theme Music

Greetings from Cape Perpetua. Two miles south of Yachats, Oregon, Cape Perpetua is part of the coast range, the Siuslaw. We visited this morning after breakfast. Breaky was again at a favored eatery, The Green Salmon. My choice was a “Only Murder” sausage (plant-based) and Just Egg omelet with red peppers and vegan Swiss and cheddar cheeses and rye toast. Awesome.

The view from Cape Perpetua overlooking the Pacific, where the weather stole the blue. August 24, 2025, about 12:30 PM. If you look closely, a road is spotted. That’s Highway 101. Runs all along the Oregon Coast and then goes into California to points south. Above/east of 101 is the Visitor Center. We hit it next.

It’s Sunda, August 24, 2025. Beat down by fog and wind, 64 was the day’s high. Still lovely. The casa’s regular routine has us punching back into our dwelling at 3ish. We then become the napping dead or silence is ordained by people reading books. After reading, I sucked in coffee and went on a brisk beach walk. The path was mostly mine as everyone shunned a chilly, damp wind. Now we’re settling in for dinner. Cooking rotates. Tonight’s chef is making salmon burgers with chips and guacamole. Dessert is chocolate ice cream, fruit, or fondue.

Today’s music is “Tightrope” by Stevie Ray Vaughn and Double Trouble. I don’t know why The Neurons called this up during my pre-breakfast stroll. Mine is not to question why, just sing along and go for the ride.

Coffee and wine have been imbibed. Hope peace and grace find and hold you today and every day. Cheers

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Frida’s Theme Music

And then, it was over as fast as it started. We’ve been on vacation. Florence, on the Oregon coast. Sunshine baked us across blue skies and light winds. Baked is relative. Temps only crossed into the sixties once. But when you’re not expecting sunshine, a wealth of it can feel skin melting. In a good way.

This morning, Frida, May 2, 2025, was our final day. Gone was the blue sky. Withered sunshine made little effort to offset the cold air. A light drizzle was falling by 9:30 AM. It amused me; last time that we stayed on the coast, we had a similar experience. I joked at that time, the sky was crying because we were leaving.

We had an update on Papi. Joanne, our traditional flooftender had taken on duties. Much easier when it’s just one floof. We used to have five.

Papi has always been skittish and standoffish. Wary. So we wore concern on our thoughts for his welfare while we were away. Lovely to hear from Joanne before we left the coast this morning that Papi was an absolute sweetheart. Either there and waiting for her when she arrived each morning and night, or immediately turning up when she called him. The Orange Boi was very pleased to see us and looks good.

Terrible news came to me by way of my sister. You may have heard about the windstorms that cut through part of the U.S. a few days ago. Mom’s house in Penn Hills, a Pittsburgh, PA, suburb, took on some damages. 100 year old trees were uprooted or lost substantial branches. The side porch was torn away, along with the roof to the tool shed. Fallen trees and branches conspired to keep vehicles from traversing the road. She lost electricity. Their phones were almost dead with no way to recharge them. Food in the frig and freezer was lost. Super sister sent her awesome hubby to check on them and discovered their state. Super hubby is a plumber and has friends and relatives in associated professionals. He soon had people over there clearing trees and writing estimates, others bringing by power banks to recharge their phones, electricians to assess the problems. While many things were addressed, Mom still lacks electrical power. Fortune did keep them safe and uninjured but it must have been a few traumatic days for this elderly couple, 89 and 95 years old.

Into the morning men..tal music stream today came Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble performing “Crossfire”. It’s one of SRV’s later efforts. A solid rocker, less bluesy than most of SRV & DT, I enjoy it. My wife is more of a purist and dislikes the song.

Politics had a part slotting it into my MMMS. The Neurons thought after reading about the quid pro quo nature of the Trusk Regime that “Crossfire” was ideal theme music for this second day of May. The song rhetorically inquires, “Whatever happened to the golden rule?” I believe that PINO Trusk has monetized it, along with every other thing in the U.S. He wasn’t alone in his efforts. Too many of us were far to willing to go along.

Back home now, we picked up some dinner and ate it. Unpacked all luggage. Washed the vacation clothes. Folded them and put them back into drawers and closets. Now we’re just resting and recovering from being away from home.

Hope your day has been spirited with happiness or at least some modicum of joy. If not, tomorrow is another chance. Cheers

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Monday’s Theme Music

Mood: Memsical: when musical memories preoccupy you

Monday’s been foisted on us and annointed as April 15, 2024.

This is Tax Day in America for some. Forges recall of past Tax Days for me, watching people get in line to mail it at the post office. There’d be lines. Sometimes, it was a line of cars as the PO set up to take them in and stamp the date. On and on the cars came as clocks approached midnight. Other times found people in line, snaking out of the PO’s customer service section, spilling out of the building and onto the sidewalk. Surreal scenes.

That’s less likely these days. I s’pose those folks are instead online somewhere, trying to get their forms posted and accepted.

Spring with wintry samples haunt Ashlandia today. It’s a dry, cloudy day. Our temp floats around 50 F. 60 F might be possible. It’s the air that brings up winter to my senses. Just smelled like winter this morning. I half-expected flurries to drizzle down around my head. Getting out where I could see the mountains, I scanned for white patches and tops. None were there. Guess it was all in my noggin.

Speaking of noggin, The Neurons cranked up Stevie Ray Vaughn and Double Trouble in the morning mental music stream (Trademark taketh away). The song was an instrumental called “Scuttle Buttin”. It amused me to little end that my wife suddenly became an SRV fan and a blues fan about 35 years ago. She was mostly a pop/dance person before that, although she gravitated toward female vocalists. She enjoyed Etta, Bonnie Raitt, Aretha. Suddenly, about a year before SRV’s death in a helicopter accident, he enthralled her.

I didn’t mind, mind you. I was always a rock and blues guy, oriented toward lead guitars and bent notes. Stevie delivered these and more. Once more, I find gratitude that we have technology that helps us relive our past.

Stay strong, be positive, and Vote Blue. I’m coffee’d up, and ready to rock. Here’s Stevie, burning up that guitar. Cheers

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Thursday’s Theme Music

Mood: Cheervernal

Salutations to all the other people traveling this space rock. Welcome to Thursday, March 7 2024.

Kicky weather today in Ashlandia, where the springs are above average. Sprinter is back as spring and winter mixes it up. We begin with cold temperatures and clear skies. Was 30 F when I pried myself out of bed and shuffled toward the coffee-making process. Flooftours took me to the petting, greeting, and feeding areas for our housecats. While the furnace rumbled up in the attic, sunshine refreshed us as a blue sky rose from the darkness.

But then…dun dun dun. Patchy fog began biting into the blue sky, casting dark shadows on the sunny green mountains in the south and the wintry snow-kissed realms to the north and east. Sluggish as a coffee-deprived human, the temperature is squeaking through the thirties toward the forties. The high, they say, will be around 48 F in these environs before night sweeps in, dragging winter back in with it.

I played “Fresh Air” by Quicksilver Messenger Service yesterday. I always thought it had a lot of Santana shadings. Those thoughts lowered The Neurons into my memory mines, where they went through Santana’s offerings and returned with several favorites. One ended up dominating the morning mental music stream, a 1971 song called “Everybody’s Everything”. Where a young Neal Schon, Journey’s eventual guitarist, shared guitar duties on the original song, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Jimmy Vaughn, and Los Lobos joined Santana on this video. Not the greatest video but still mesmerizing to see and hear the late SRV. Stay around for the lively percussions.

Be strong, lean forward, stay strong, and vote Blue. Coffee is already percolating around my system. Have a fab one. Here’s the music. Cheers

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Thursday’s Theme Music

Clouds and suns are clashing on this Thursday, Feb 24, 2022 morning. Winds are relatively calm, most snow have slipped into being as small residual mounds hazed brown and black, and the temperature is up to 29 degrees F. Like yesterday, we expect a high of 44 in our valley. Sunset will be at 5:55 PM, eleven hours and one minute after sunrise. In news, Russia has attacked Ukraine, as expected. Because, yeah, the world always needs another war, and more refugees. Yes, that was snark. Russia’s intentions had been transparent for some time. Also as expected, Trump praised the aggressor and told some lies in relation to the event. sigh

Stevie Ray Vaughn and Double Trouble inhabit the morning mental music stream. I have three younger sisters. I regularly check on them on Facebook. All are mothers, two are grandmothers, two are tremendously fit, and two are very successful. All are a treasure to me. Anyway, my Facebook scanning prompted my neurons to fire up “Look at Little Sister” from 1985. The original was from the Soul to Soul album. I listened to it frequently; my wife listened to it more. Weirdly, she didn’t start doing that until after his passing from a helicopter crash in 1990. I enjoy this live version from Austin City Limits and the guitar swap toward the song’s end due to a broken string.

Stay positive, test negative, wear a mask as needed, and get the vax and boosters when ye can. Here’s the tune. I need to step into the kitchen to help a cup of coffee with finding its destiny. Cheers

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Saturday’s Theme Music

A jay scatted about dawn at 5 AM. “You’re early,” he muttered at the window, covering his ears with pillows. His movement aroused the duty floof, who investigated him for signs of life, prodding his hand and tapping his nose.

Sol’s zingers jazzed the land at 5:36 AM. With sunrise officially arrived, the cats began their Saturday morning business. This June 26, 2021, saw them with a full slate of activities, including going out the pet door, coming in the pet door, and blocking the pet door so others could not go in and out.

Sol’s exit is anticipated at 8:51 PM. Should be a relief that most in the valley will want. Yesterday saw digital readouts tapped out at 99 degrees F. 103 is forecast for today.

As he processed through morning routines, his mental music app played a selection of tunes. Somewhere after shaving but before coffee, Stevie Ray Vaughn & Double Trouble began playing “Tightrope” from 1989.

We have been walkin’ the tightrope Trying to make it right
Walkin’ the tightrope every day and every night
Walkin’ the tightrope bring it all around
Walkin’ the tightrope from the lost to found
Walkin’ the tightrope stretched around the world
Walkin’ the tightrope save the boys and girls
Walkin’ the tightrope let’s make it right
Walkin’ the tightrope do it, do it tonight
Walkin the tightrope

h/t to Genius.com

Stay positive, test negative, wear a mask as needed, and get the vax. Here’s the music.

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Wednesday’s Theme Music

Sun broke in the day at 5:37 AM, kicking the heat up to 71 degrees F. We hit 101 at my house yesterday, and it only dropped to 64 during the night. We expect the high to be a more merciful 96 before the Earth’s rotation moves us away from the sun again at 8:41 PM.

Today is Wednesday, June 2, 2021. We’re almost to the year’s midpoint. As for COVID-19 vaccinations, we’ve passed 54 percent in Oregon for at least one shot. Our neighbors to the north and south, Washington and California, are about the same. Idaho to the east, though, is leveling off at below forty percent. It’s like they’re not even trying.

Today’s music is dream inspired. I joined the blues society in my dream. I thought one of my favorite performances of a song called “Why I Sing the Blues” would be a satisfying theme song. Thanks to technology, we can enjoy this moment. Here’s B.B King, Albert King, Gladys Knight, Etta James, Eric Clapton, Phil Collins, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Billy Ocean, Doctor John, Chaka Khan…and more. What a line-up.

Get the vax, wear a mask as needed, test negative, and stay positive. Enjoy the blues. Cheers

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Saturday’s Theme Music

Saturday, in the house, I think it was the eighth of May. Yes, it is May 8, 2021. I sometimes misplace the day and date during this pandemic. It rattles around my head and then sinks out of sight.

The heavenly bright thing’s initial appearance came at 5:58 AM in Ashland, and it’ll twig out at 8:18 in the PM. Spring temperatures are rolling along under a mix of cirrus feathers on an azure field. The high will nudge the upper sixties before returning to the lower thirties when darkness comes.

It’s Saturday and it’s been a while since I’ve indulged myself in a Stevie Ray Vaughn Saturday. I’m breaking that streak today with a performance from “Sunday Night”. Stevie is playing with the house band —   Omar Hakin, Tom Barney, Philippe Saisse, Hiram Bullock, and Don Alias. It’s an energetic, rocking performance by all. Look at Tom Barney move that bass. Nothing like some screaming bent notes, fiery keyboards, thundering beat, and a hot cup of java to stimulate your Saturday morning neurons. Here’s SRV with “Crossfire”, which was his only number one hit, from 1989. He was killed in a helicopter crash in the next year. Meanwhile, that guitarist, Hiram Bullock, died from cancer in 2008, 52 years old.

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

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Sunday’s Theme Music

Yes. Sunrise was at 6:59 AM in Ashland, Oregon, on this soddy Sunday, February 21, 2021. Sunset is at 5:51 PM. Outdoor temp is 39 degrees F but it’s a warm 72 in the snug. The rest of the house is a more proper 68 degrees. The snug stays warm. Might be the computers and bodies, feline and human. We’re all in there. The cats, of course, are surfing the net. Can’t seem to get them off the ‘puters these days. I’m always imploring them, “Don’t you want to go outside and get fresh air and exercise?” They just cling to their mouses and click on, occasionally swatting at the screen.

Today’s theme music is a jam with Stevie Ray Vaughn and Buddy Guy. Warning: it has a lot of guitar playing. It’s my music choice for today because I enjoy when two major talents get together, have fun, and share it with the rest. Plus, given the chill rainy presence, it’s a sortofa blues and reading day. I will mix in some coffee, of course. Every day is a coffee day. I do enjoy it when I sip back some hot black coffee and gaze out the window as rain splatters existence.

There will be writing. It’s a requirement. The muses have had their coffee, and are eagerly chattering in my ears about which character does what thing where. Feels like it’s gonna be an intensive writing session.

Stay pos., test neg., wear a mask, get the vac. Here is SRV and BG with “Champagne and Reefer” from 1989.

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