Tag: summer

Tuesday’s Theme Music

Mood: introspective

Sunshine glistens off a wet, clean sheen, complementing the air’s fresh smell with sigh-inducing vigor. Fall has been good to Ashlandia, so far. That could present further clues about why I like it. Summer in our zone becomes damaging. Blazing sun takes over, cooking the plants. Temperatures lunge into the nineties toward triple digits. Sweat pours off us as the heat broils us. Wildfires light up as summer lightning strikes parched vegetation. Smoke spreads, clotting our lungs and stinging our eyes.

Come fall, with soothing, “there, there” damp temperatures, the world relaxes; we the people relax with it. In my perfect world, I’d have fall weather but with the long stretch of daylight seen in the summer. That’s where fall fails me, as orbits and planes shift, moving the sun away from us, shortening the daylight.

Temperatures today will operate in a narrow zone. 56 F now, cloudy, 66 F later, with rains coming and going throughout the day.

A bevy of tunes fell into the morning mental music stream (Tradement teasing). Dreams sparked these. Such a myriad of wild, long dreams were experienced. The Neurons just rode the current. The song which ended up on top was “Who Can It Be Now?” by Men At Work from the 1980s.

It’s a true Aussie new wave sound. The part which The Neurons linked to a dream is a line, “It’s not the future that I can see, it’s just my fantasy.” That’s a true beat to my waking mind dealing with the dream mind.

Stay pos and hydrated, be strong and push forward. I can and will with help from my little dark friend steaming in a large mug. Here’s the music. Let’s enjoy some life. Cheers

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Tuesday’s Theme Music

Mood: focused

It’s Tuesday morning in Ashlandia, where the sky is blue and the trees are green. September 5, 2023, we’re teetering between summer and autumn here. 49 F upon rising, it’s now 58 F and heading for the low eighties. Trees haven’t begun turning yet but the air’s smell and feel seem shifted. Peaches are harvested from friends and neighbors’ places, and damn were they awesome. No cherries this year; didn’t work out weather-wise.

Had to drop off my car at the mech’s this morn. I’d had new pads, etc., installed in the rear, and the car developed this strange groaning. Took it back to the mech; they found a rock stuck in the caliper. That should fix it, no charge.

It didn’t.

So, I took it back and requested the mechanic drive around with me so he could hear it. He concluded it might be the bearings in the hub assembly. So they’re putting ears on the chassis, which sounds neat. They’re listening devices which can be isolated so you can define where the sound is originating. They’ll hopefully find and fix the cause today.

Anyway, that process forced me out of my rhythm. Had to have early AM coffee. Now I’m catching up. The Neurons are firing but have brought up “Beth” by KISS (1976) where it whirls around the morning mental music stream (Trademark outstanding). I’ve searched for reasons for the song and interrogated Les Neurons, but none of them will confess why they chose that song. Only thing that came to mind was that the singer is focused and struggling with a creative endeavor, suffering isolation and separation to achieve their end. I identify with that when I’m writing and my world focus draws in to go work on the book.

I’ll make it through. Hope you do, too. Stay pos, be strong, work it out. More coffee is due. Here’s the music. Cheers

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Thursday’s Wandering Thought

He’d been thinking about a song earlier, a childhood favorite, reflecting, it’d been a log time since he’d heard it. Then he entered the car and headed to the coffee shop to write. Presto, the song came on the radio. Such delight. Such serendipity.

For the record, the song is “Lola”, straight out of 1970, when he was fourteen, by the Kinks. Just remembering that, he was right there, on the rear patio of the house on Laurie Drive in Penn Hills, enjoying summer sunshine with his friends and sisters.

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Thursday’s Theme Music

It’s Thursday, June 22, 2023, according to most reliable data. We’re still sliding into summer mode in Ashlandia. 64 F now, the weather thinkers claim 84 F will be seen in Ashlandia. Last night at the beer ‘bibing, sitting outside, several men complained that the sun was too hot and changed seats to be in the shade. It was 78 F then. It was a wonderfully sun to me. I had no prob basking in its warmth. Maybe I’m part cat. Or part floof. Call me floofman. Sounds like the first line of a novel.

Our house floofs are certainly pleased that the sun’s heat made a comeback. Popping out the door into the backyard after eating, they sat in sunny pools, licking their lips and washing, pausing to look for a noise source or to eye a passing jay. It’s a sight like a calming tonic, seeing them in those relaxed activities. Sip some coffee and watch the cats while enjoying sunshine and relative quiet — distant machiney sounds — cars, trucks, lawnmowers and leaf blowers — crack the absolute stillness — is a fine way to launch a day.

The Neurons wadded up “Have A Nice Day” by the Ramones (1995) in the morning mental music stream. There’s some argument about when it was first used. In the last century, many people found it so trite and overused that it was empty. That’s exactly the Ramones’ point. The lyrics talk about hearing it after all kinds of bad things happen to him. Each time something happened, someone told the secret, “Have a nice day.”

Stay pos. Coffee help sustains me in that effort. Some days need more than others. Here’s the tune. Cheers

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Wednesday’s Theme Music

Surprised to find Bad Bunny is the world’s #1 musical superstar. But that’s the world’s state on the first day of summer, Wednesday, June 21, 2023. I know some of Bad Bunny’s music. His sound does not generally titillate The Neurons. That happens, and it’s no big deal. Different tastes, preferences, experiences, and interests dictate what we latch onto. But the overall music picture surprises me. Here’s a startling except, with a piece of another article embedded in it, for a rare triple embedding.

But if you want to really be shocked, read this article:

“No One Even Comes Close to Bad Bunny’s Stardom Right Now“

Here’s the meat of the story:

“Bad Bunny songs appeared in the Spotify top 100 more times over the last 2 months than those of Harry Styles, Olivia Rodrigo, Drake and Kendrick Lamar combined. Three of those four acts also released new albums. Post Malone, one of the most popular performers of the last few years, didn’t even crack the top 10.

Now let’s take it a step further. Bad Bunny beat every single record label in the industry. The only label that even came close is Columbia, which charted songs from more than a dozen artists, including Harry Styles, Lil Nas X, Adele and The Kid Laroi. Bad Bunny songs appeared more than twice as many times as acts from Atlantic, home of Ed Sheeran, Bruno Mars, Cardi B, Lizzo and Jack Harlow.”

That’s right, one single artist eclipsed the ENTIRE OUTPUT of every major label.

Talk about a blockbuster business.

As implied, I’m blown away.

It’s a chilly morning in Ashlandia, where the beer is superior and the wine is fabulous. Was 44 F but we’re making up heat, and now, after sunshine’s effects, we’re up to 52. Don’t despair; we’ll climb to 80 F, the weather sprites tell us. Not bad for summer.

This is the mythological longest day of the year for the northern hem. In Ashlandia, we achieved sunrise at 5:33 AM and will strike sunset at 8:52 PM. Not bad for a span of daylight hours.

The Neurons have plugged “The Boys of Summer” by Don Henley (1984) into the morning mental music stream, but I decided to go with The Ataris’ cover from 2003. Nineteen years passed between Henley’s release and The Ataris’ cover; it’s now been twenty since that happened. I think we’re due for another cover.

Stay pos, gang, seriously. The cat just fetched me a cup of coffee. Right. Can anyone imagine that? I can’t, and I have a decently strong imagination. Asked the cat to procure coffee. He just smiled and walked away. Had to get it myself.

Here’s the music. Cheers

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Saturday’s Theme Music

Saturday, June 17, 2023, and the temperatures are dropping, preparing for summer in Ashlandia. Now 67 F with a cool breeze sometimes goosebumping us, today’s high will entrench itself in the upper 70s F. Tomorrow’s high will be 65 F and Monday, a rain recipient, has low expectations, just 55 F. Then it’s supposed to start slowly rising.

The morning began slow for me, a leisurely petting of the floofs, followed by a leisurely floof-petting session, capped with leisurely coffee-sipping on the porches to experience the cool air and spy on the floofs. Some interesting dreams to contemplate , including one about building a complex while dealing with a lion.

Today’s song, from 1991, is “Kiss Them for Me” by Siouxsie and the Banshees. The song features lines about being delayed. I was in the coffee shop yesterday when a man stopped by my table, looked back, and called to the person they’d been with, “Tell them I’ll be delayed.” I was writing and thought little of it but The Neurons went into a tizzy. Soon the song melody was drifting through me like smoke from a distant fire. Then I’d hum some lyrics to myself. Then, awakening to a song in the mental music stream, I realized that I’d been ambushed.

Just an aside but when the song came out in 1991, I didn’t think it was Siouxsie and the Banshees. It seemed different to me than their usual fare. like “Spellbound”. This is the first time that I’ve seen the “Kiss Them for Me” video.

Stay pos, drink coffee, unwind, relax, carpe the moment. Let’s do this again next year. Here’s the music. Cheers

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Tuesday’s Theme Music

Solstice! The Musical.

Today is the first day of summer and the longest day in the northern lats, while the opposite holds — winter, shortest, etc — in the south. Your experience could be different. Tracking sunrise and sunset shows some interesting info about the lengths of the ‘day’. By day, of course, we’re speaking of the hours between sunrise and sunset.

Watching the weather dude on the news last night, I learned that our average temperature for yesterday is 83 F, that the record, set in 1972, was 104 F, that last year, we’d been mired in a string of triple-digit days and the temperature for last year was 102 F, and this year, it was 78 F. Locally, I only briefly experienced 74, according to my system.

Today, Tuesday, June 21, 2022, is clear and sunny. Highs today will reach around 86 F, which is about our average for the date. Sunset will be at 8:51 PM and sunrise was at 5:35 AM.

I have a song by ELO called “Hold on Tight” stuck in the morning mental music stream. The neurons started playing it for me after I awoke, thought about a dream, and then forgot it later. Snorting and snickering, pointing at me, muttering, “What a doofus,” — they are quite juvenile and not very supportive — they began singing, “Hold on tight to your dreams.” The song came out in 1981, when I was transitioning from living in Texas to living in Japan, on the island of Okinawa, in service to my country. I enjoy the song’s throwback rock and roll vibe.

Stay positive, test negative, wear a mask as the situation warrants, and so on. Time for my first cup of summer coffee.

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