Tag: theme music

Twosday’s Theme Music

We’ve now reached Twosday, August 9, 2022. Twosday is really Tuesday, of course, but there’s a tale behind Twosday.

A poor young woman in France was desperate to feed her family. One morning she went to the market. As she browsed the displays with a rumbling stomach, keen to help her starving siblings at home, she overheard merchants talking about the day of the week. Realizing it was Tuesday, she convinced others that the day’s origins came from Two-day, a day in which people could buy two items of fish, bread, and produce for the price of one. Inspired by her desperation, she passionately implored the shopkeepers to restore this tradition, and won the day. Eventually, Two-day fell out of use, becoming known as BOGO, or Buy One Get One free.

She went on at a young age to become a military hero. Her name was Joan and millions followed her. That’s right, this young woman later came to be known as Joan of Arc. And now you know the rest of the story, which I just made up.

It’ll be a warm Twosday here in the valley, with temperatures rising as soon as the sun slipped into the valley at 6:12 this morning. It’s 21 C now but we expect to achieve 97 F again. The sky is blue, the air is smoke-free, and finches are sitting on a telephone line singing. Sunset will be at 8:20 this evening.

In honor of Twosday, we — The Neurons and I — will give you two theme songs. One is from Olivia Newton John. ONJ passed away this week. As soon as The Neurons read the news, they began playing, “Physical” (1981), and it’s been in the morning mental music stream since. Part of that is because network news all played the song while talking about ONJ’s career and passing, reinforcing its presence in the MMMS, and keeping songs such as “I Honestly Love You” and “Please, Mister Please” out.

But as I typed this morning, a train passed through town, blowing its whistle to ensure we all knows it’s rumbling through. The train whistle prompted some of The Neurons to begin Johnny Cash’s 1955 song, “Folsom Prison Blues”. It came out the year before I was born so I’ve known that song my entire life. That I know it despite not yet being conceived when it was released is a testament to how often it was played in various media venues throughout my lifetime. No doubt, a large part of that is because it’s memorable.

Well, I have a coffee appointment which I need to get to. Stay positive, test negative, and so on. Here’s the tunes. Enjoy them both. Cheers

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Numbday’s Theme Music

Happy Numbday!

Today is Numbday, August 8, 2022. What makes it Numbday is personal. For some, it’s because of the work grind that commences with Monday. Others find the news creates Numbday — they just can’t take it anymore! Like when Trump was said to say that he wished ‘his’ generals were more like Hitler’s and denied that Hitler’s generals ever tried killing Hitler.

Price shock causes some Numbday reactions when folks buy a bag of groceries for $75 dollars or fill their car’s gas tank for $100. Smoke and heat exhaustion, flooding, and other weather events can cause Numbday. Revelations about a loved one’s halth or a deep personal betrayal have also been known to cause Numbdays.

My Numbday is caused by one of the oldest and most basic reasons: not enough sleep because of sleep interruptus CAUSED BY A CERTAIN FLOOF — yes, I’m talking about you, Tucker, and don’t you try to pretend that you don’t know what I’m talking about — and the need to get up early for an appointment. Woof.

The sun sprang up as if it were not a day over a billion, leaping into the sky at about, um, 6:11 AM, where it’ll stay until 8:22 PM, if standard rotation and orbital mechanics follow, which they should, unless there’s suddenly a black hole the size of a bowling ball coming into the scene. More on that later. Our temperature is a weirdly warm 68 F (20 C). We’ll be creeping up to 97 F today, so a little cooler than yesterday. Yeah, fires still rage out there, but our air remains clear. Fingers crossed, etc.

It was a bright moon last night, lighting up the local night as it waxes toward its full greatness. Out in the backyard to admire the night sky, because the moon was rendering it difficult with its light in the front, I caught a meteor’s streak. Blink and its gone. That kept me there for a few more minutes, hoping for another. No luck.

It did cause The Neurons to erupt with “The Reflex” by Duran Duran (1984). Simon and the lads remain in the morning mental music stream, a reflexive song in response to my reflexive need to try to see another meteor. Listening to the song, I often end up wondering, what exactly is the reflex? I know it’s a lonely child, yeah, I hear that, and it’s waiting by the park. Then there’s that chorus.

Oh, why don’t you use it?
Try not to bruise it
Buy time, don’t lose it
Oh, why don’t you use it?

h/t Genius.com

Is it the helping hand or the reflex that I’m thinking about using and trying not to bruise?

Well, some volunteer coffee has arrived to go down my gullet and lift my energy. Stay positive, test negative, wear a mask as needed, etc. Here’s the music. Enjoy your Numbday. Cheers

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Sumday’s Theme Music

This is it, Sumday, the beginning and the end. The circle remains unbroken, and here we are at the culmunation of hopes and prayers, work and play, getting ready and relaxing, all in one. For some. Your day might be different.

August 7, 2022 is upon us. For me, a wedding anniversary; we married at Wright-Patt AFB in Ohio on this date in 1975. Yep, still going, for better and worse, etc.

It’s about 22 C right now, a climb from 65 F. 100 F is anticipated for today. Sunrise punched in at 6:10 AM. As the world turns, the sun will depart our sky at 8:23 PM. The clouds have taken the morning off but a mass assembly is expected in the late afternoon.

Air quality remains excellent. I slipped out last night just after sunset to do a visual of the sky. All looked good except the northwest sector, which glowed with dirty purple and red malevolence. Nothing has come of it, so far. Fingers crossed, knock on wood, etc. Fires still burn in the area. Containment is growing but the rising heat makes everyone worry. Might not surprise you to learn that the wildfires thrive on hot weather.

I traipsed out again later to enjoy the cooling, silent night. The clock was leveling midnight and the moon was cruising low in the western sky, perhaps pondering a landing path into the mountain’s trees. White with silver icing, it was shifting toward three-quarter fullness, an inspiring sight against the blackened blue expanse. Light pollution was low. Stars, galaxies, and planets were all sailing the nocturnal firmaments. I watched for a while, thinking about photos sent back from the Webb telescope, contemplating history and science, the future and now. The Neurons brought out no songs. I wondered if they were napping or out of the office for the night. They hadn’t said anything to me about leaving. I’m always the last to know when The Neurons leave.

Thoughts continued into the novel-in-progress. That brought The Neurons back. They kicked a song called “Between Something and Nothing” by The Ocean Blue from 1989 into the mental music stream. The song is lifted from that late 1980s and early 1990s era of softly glittering electronic music and high questioning voices. What a time, but then, weren’t they all?

Stay positive, test negative, and so on to do as needed to protect and sustain yourself and others. The coffee truck is ringing its bell and coming up the street. Got to grab some money and dash out to get a cuppa. Have a peaceful one. Here’s the music. Cheers

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Sat-er-day’s Theme Music

Today is Sat-er-day, the day you get when someone asks, “What day is it,” and you begin to reply, “Sat-” and your brain yells, “Wait,” so you give a verbal pause, “er”, while the brain quickly reviews the answer — is it Saturday? — and then tells you, “Go ahead.”

It’s August 6, 2022, a lovely morning here in southern Oregon. The moon was silver and clear last night vice the pumpkin hues worn throughout the week’s first days, hues granted by fire particulates. Fires still rage but none closer than twenty to thirty miles. A shifting wind has dropped our AQI into small, healthy numbers. You feel for the others, of course. One person’s win is another’s loss. Wish it wasn’t so. The biggest threat is the closest conflagration, the McKinney fire, sixty thousand acres, ninety homes destroyed, thirty percent contained, just over the border. It’s rugged land.

It’s 20 C at the moment but will climb to 94 F before the day is done. Sunrise was an old-fashioned offering of pale silver light gracefully acquiring strength before turning white gold and warm. Started about 6:09 AM. Sunlight will rule until the setting commences at 8:24 this evening. Clouds? None to speak of.

I have “Stumblin’ In” by Suzi Quatro and Chris Norman playing in Sat-er-day’s morning mental music stream. Came about when The Neurons caught my wife stumbling. As the more rational brain rushed help to her and asked if she’s okay (and she was, it was a little trip over a hair on the floor or something), The Neurons began playing the 1979 song.

Alright, coffee is due, and then other activities will be engaged. Stay positive, test negative, and take care of thy self and thy loved ones and friends, and even those who aren’t loved ones or friends but need help, yeah? Let’s be careful out there as Sarge used to say on Hill Street Blues. Here’s the music.

Cheers

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Freeday’s Theme Music

Today is Freeday, August 5, 2022. Today you have the right to declare yourself symbolically free. Sounds like a waste but when you do so, using whatever styles desired short of hurting and killing other beings, it’s invigorating, liberating, stimulating, and intoxicating.

Weather is a very comfortable hazy and cool 72 F after an overnight low of 14 C. Highs of 94 F are expected. Freeday opened with a smooth and deliberate sunrise at 6:08 AM. Daylight hours will continue until the sun ‘drop’ at 8:25 this evening. All times are Pacific.

AQI is good. More fires have started, some have been partially contained, others have been extinguished.

Watched my cat, the ginger prince, study a large raccoon using the top of the back fence as a freeway about six thirty this morning. Meanwhile, as that went on, I tracked a skunk going around the yard. The skunk stayed to the perimeter, going through the leaves and making a lot of noise about it. Papi paid no mind to it. Once the Raccoon departed, Papi hopped up onto his patio condo – guess that’d be a pando – and went to sleep. What did fascinate me about the skunk was that a jay flew from tree to tree, spying on the skunk, never making a sound.

The Neurons had several Beach Boys and Beatles song skirmishing in the morning mental music stream. I called up Kings of Leon with “Sex on Fire” from 2008. The Neurons asked, “Why that song?” Tables turned, I replied, “Why not,” and laughed. It’s because I like the sonic influences, though, innit?

The coffee has commenced issuing its wake-up fragrance. I’m in the mood to have a cup. Stay positive test negative, etc. Here’s the music. Cheers

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Thursday’s Theme Music

A sibilant swishing announced that Thursday had arrived. Moving with the dignity of a powerful superyacht, it pulled into August 4, 2022 and docked. Although people crowded about to see the day, most were ambivalent. It’s Thursday, yes, but really, that meant that it’s closer to Friday, Saturday, or Sunday for most. A few deeply rooted pessimists said, “That just means it’s closer to Monday.” Apparently, they’re not Monday fans.

Sunrise painted a pretty summer dawn at 6:07 AM, all green sky and blue trees and grasses, then realized it had it reversed and fixed it. Sunset is planned for 8:27 PM in our valley, unless something goes wrong. Even when it goes wrong, they immediately alter reality so that everything seems right. We’re left feeling like something is off, something is different, without ever being able to point to one thing and say, “That’s it,” and settle our confusion.

Temperatures are milder on this day, 59 when I got up at 7:30 ish, and now 70 F two hours later. A high of 34 C is expected this afternoon. We’ll see what they’re like. Most of the nineties I’ve met are friendly but some appear to be hotheads.

Our air quality has improved. We were cruising through yesterday afternoon at around 118 as shown by Purple Air. Then, at about 5:30, the readings all through the valley plummeted to the range of 2 – 20 and remained low since. Must be that a low has jumped into the area, shifting the wind patterns.

I had a dream last night. Wasn’t nearly as inspiring as MLK Jr’s dream, that I recall. Little is recalled except that I saved a little brown dog and gave it to some children. It’s germane for the day’s theme music because upon waking from that dream, The Neurons began playing “Save Your Tears” by The Weeknd (2020) and have it looping through the morning mental music stream. I didn’t ask for further details from The Neurons about why that song is playing. I know their game. They’ll tease, mock, and smirk, but they won’t explain. It was the theme music in April of 2021 but I’d need to drink my coffee to find another one today.

The coffee has landed. Stay positive, test negative, wear masks as necessary to take care of you and yours, etc. Here’s the music. Stay safe, wherever you are, and have a better one. Cheers

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Wednesday’s Theme Music

Heard a loud crash reverberate through the night last night. Shook the windows and threw me out of my chair. Investigation revealed that Wednesday, August 3, 2022, had arrived.

Sunrise was at 6:06 this morning, a sketching of faint pastels relieving night’s fading grays. Our temperature pumped up to 21 C from a start of 65 F, with a high of 97 F in sight for today. Skies are clear except for charcoal scratchings brought on by smoke. The McKinney Fire still burns, still less than one percent contained, unlined, but rain slowed its spread. Other fires have sprung up and are being dealt with. We were fortunate that with all the lightning strikes of the last 24 hours, we were spared, knock on wood. Sunset was a bold, lingering red splash yesterday and I think we’ll have the same today at 8:28 PM.

I was watching my ginger sweetness do a dash. He’s a cat who loves to dash about doing good. As I teased him, “Why are you running from place to place,” The Neurons said, “Oh, we know this song.” That’s how I came to have “Saving Grace” by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (2006) in the morning mental music stream. I enjoy the song’s purer rock sensibilities, which is something I think that Petty always brought to his music. His was a simple approach.

Stay positive, try to be cheerful, test negative, have a nip of coffee. Don’t mind if I do. Here’s the music with the late Petty recorded live. Cheers

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Monday’s Theme Music

It’s 76 F this Monday morning, the first of August, 2022. Turn the page, as Seger sang.

A high of 90 F is expected today. So are thunderstorms. Thunderstorms rolled through in a big way last night around midnight. No local lightning. More fires were ignited in the Cascades.

The smoke has shifted away this morning. Our good fortune but others are suffering somewhere. Firefighters are strategizing and working to contain numerous blazes in California and Oregon. The fires’ names and situation replace city tax and budget matters and lost pets on our local social media.

Sunrise, at 6:03 AM, was more normal. Sunset will be at 8:33 PM. They say our temperatures are going to drop into the 80s F this week and return to average range in the mid to upper nineties next week.

The Neurons have songs in the morning mental music stream, oh yes. Saw the setting sun last night as the smoke thinned and the clouds parted to open the sunset show. It looked like a “Red Rubber Ball”. Written by Paul Simon, which I didn’t know for years, Cyrkle had a hit with it in 1966. I vividly remember hearing it as I played on the patio of our Vernoa rental house.

Second song, yeah, “Tequila Sunrise” by the Eagles, 1973, also a reflection of last night’s sunset. My mind keeps bringing up morning songs in response to evening settings. It’s like everything is reversed. Maybe it’s reverse week, you know, where up is down and left is right. Does that happen in your reality?

The third song is about the Fitbit missing from my wrist. I go to check the steps or the time every hour, as it’s trained me to do. The tracker isn’t there so The Neurons immediately rip off the Zombies song and sing, “It’s not there,” a pull on “She’s Not There” by the Zombies from 1964. Santana covered it later. Both versions have been theme songs here, along with the first two tunes. What to do?

Reject The Neurons, of course! Here’s “Here I Go Again” by Whitesnake (1982). Ha! Take that, Neurons!

BTW, it’s National Exclamation Day in my reality today!

Stay positive and test negative, my friends. Stay cool and safe, or warm and safe, or dry and safe, whatever works for your weather situation. Maybe you’re a fortunate and have a lovely weather day in progress. Enjoy it.

Here’s la musica! Where’s le coffee?!!

Cheers!

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Sunday’s Theme Music

The Neurons stuck “Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?” by Chicago into the morning mental music stream. I think the group may have been the Chicago Transit Authority when the song was recorded. It’s from 1970, when I was fourteen, instilling thoughts about what year it is and how old I am. The song was delivered when I looked to my wrist to check my Fitbit for the time. ‘Lo, it wasn’t there. Apparently, the FB faked me into believing all was well. Then its symptoms returned. I charged it and charged it again but had to remove it from my wrist because it was going off every three seconds — notification — which becomes v — notification — intrusive to m — notification — processes.

Yes, the Fitbit is no more. I thought about searching for DIY repairs. Had done that tentatively. Maybe later. Maybe I’ll purchase a new one. I don’t know. It’s too early to talk about replacing it. Plus, there’s the irritating issue of how to dispose of this technology piece without contributing to further environmental damage. Yes, it’s small, but it all adds up.

Sunday, July 31, 2022, finds us shrouded by smoke, sent to us by the McKinney fire a few miles away on the California and Oregon border. Truly nasty smell. You can’t breathe it, so keep the pets in and close up everything. Mask up when you’re outside or suffer the consequences.

The cats were very cool about being kept in. When I responded to their request to go outside with an explanation about what was going on with the heat and smoke, they replied, “Oh, that is very distressing to hear. Thank you for your concerns about our health, Michael. We appreciate it.” Then they groomed themselves and went to sleep.

What do you think we should call that fairy tale? Because that’s what that story was.

No, the cats took being kept inside like Mel Gibson screaming for freedom, constantly and persistently, hour after hour. OMG. The floof people insisted that they’re free animals, meant to roam the outdoors except for eating, having bowel movements, drinking water, and snuggling with humans. Oh, and playing with toys. Oh, yeah and catnip — mustn’t forget catnip — and looking out the window, observing people like a spies following troop movements.

Today’s sunrise was at 6:03 AM and sunset is at 8:31 PM. It’s presently 26 C outside. The high will ‘only’ be 99 F, which is much closer to our usual average. It’s supposed to cool for the rest of the week, dropping to 90 at one point. Of course, the hot weather has generated thunderstorms galore, adding to the wildfire threat, given the looonnnggg drought and the dried-out land that we’re enduring.

Stay positive and test negative and take care of yourself and your people and animals. I’ll try to do the same. Coffee? Yes, stat. Enjoy the music. Cheers

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Saturday’s Theme Music

Just after sunrise at 6:02 AM, the sun began clearing the mountains and threw unmistakable blood-orange light through the windows. Smoke hazes and clots the air. Wildfires are burning somewhere. We can smell it. Our AQI has jumped to 90 around our part of town, 117 downtown, two miles away. Either the fire is nearby, or the winds and terrains are lifting and channeling it in our direction.

Good morning! Today is Saturday, July 30, 2022. One more day and then July is history. On to August.

Yesterday reached 112 F at our house. That was my home weather station’s reading. The net claimed 109. Alexa agreed. At 8:30 AM, it’s 81 F. The humidity has gone up. It’s only 39% but it feels heavier. Today’s high is expected to reach 106 F before sunset @ 8:32 this evening. The overnight low was 75 F last night.

That overnight low staying so high hurt. We kept waiting for the air to cool down outside so we could open doors and windows. It finally dropped below 90 at 11 PM. Yes, some relief. Then a skunk struck. Maybe two. The house was re-sealed for an hour while the winds scrubbed the odor away.

The heat affected our big black and white cat, Tucker. He’s older, and older cats struggle to deal with extreme heat. I brought him in, dampened a washcloth with cold water, and rubbed him down a few times. He really enjoyed it and is quite energetic this morning, with a strong appetite. Now, he’s resting by my right hand, providing editorial guidance. Papi, of course, is all, “It’s cool. I’m good.” I keep an eye on him. He appears to be telling the truth.

The Neurons are playing “Lovesong” by The Cure in the morning mental music stream. They’d started with “Friday I’m In Love” and then segued into “Just Like Heaven” before launching “Lovesong”. I asked them, “What’s with the medley? What do you know that I don’t?” They, sipping their espressos, snickered and replied, “Ho, ho, a lot.”

“Lovesong” came out in 1989. I was still in the military, in Germany, then, and found I really enjoyed the song’s moodiness. Hope you enjoy it on this July Saturday, 2022.

Stay positive, test negative, and take care of yourself, yeah? Sure. Back to reading. Back to writing. Back to a cup of coffee. Then, things to do. It’s Saturday, you know. Cheers

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