Tag: weather

Tuesday’s Theme Music

Mood: Sunnymistic (sunshine fed optimism)

Hang on tight, fellow Terrans. It’s Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2024. We’re approaching the quadfecta of mid-week, mid-winter, end of month, and mid-quarter. These mids dominate as people and organizations assess where they want to be going compared to how their trajectory is shaping up. The year’s first quadfecta is daunting for some as they address resolutions introduced at the year’s beginning. Hope and optimism either take hits or they’re buoyed to new levels of encouragement.

Another sunny day in Ashlandia, where the buildings are old and the history is average. 64 F now, clouds are sneaking in and milling around, preparing to drop new rain later this afternoon. Temperatures are not expected to descend much below 50 F tonight, though. No word on more snow expected but lower temps are crawling our way later this week.

Papi inspired today’s theme music. Papi is my floofstar, a wondrous mix of furry ginger, cream, and orange fur, pink beans and nose, white whiskers and perfect triangle ears. Although a smart fellow, his friendliness is restrained by wariness and distrust. Whether that’s nature or previous interactions with humans isn’t certain.

I opened the front door to let him in. He did his usual thing, chirping hello at me, zipping an orbit around my legs with his tail up, furry side against my calves, and then whipped into a run on the hardwood floors through the house. Playing with him, I gave mock chase. Hearing me pounding up behind him, he spun into a slide to face me and then reproached me with a short but floofnest mew.

As soon as he slid, The Neurons sang, “Oh my my, oh my my, can you boogie, can you slide?” The 1974 Ringo Starr song launched fully into my morning mental music stream (Trademark coming in two weeks). Naturally I sang it to Papi as he sat beside me and I petted him. Then Tucker — my big black and white bruiser who used to be quite the fighter — meandered up to hear the singing and catch some strokes. Papi emitted a sharply enunciated meow and bolted off for the kibble bowl.

BTW, wouldn’t Kibble Bowl be a good name for a college bowl game? The Kibble Bowl by Purina, playing in the Floof Stadium in Kitty, Oregon. (I didn’t look it up, but I think I made up Kitty, Oregon.) Make sense when you have teams named the Oregon University Ducks and the Oregon State University Beavers. Someone somewhere should also name their teams for cats and dogs. Like, the Bangor Maine Coon Cats or the Jackson South Caroline Pit Bulls.

Stay positive, remain strong, lean forward, and vote. It’s an important election year, one which may require greater quantities of coffee. May as well start now. Here’s the music. Cheers

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Monday’s Theme Music

Mood: springergetic

Thou has come a distance, traveler. You’ve reached the holy land of Monday, January 29, 2024. Please sit and rest. Something to drink? Wine, coffee? Something stronger?

We have dense fog and high wind warnings out. Fog isn’t in my view; that’s blue with lazy lacy white ribbons of unrolling clouds. But wind is beating down those trees, shaking the bushes, and causing the cats to hunker and blast back in when they have a chance. Now 62 F outside my home, today’s high will be 70 F.

Wait, what?

Yeah, I read that right on my goto weather site. It’s wonderfully comfortable. Makes you feel like a new lover is touching you. But alas, it ain’t good for our general situation. Our snowbank is only 36% of the standard. We do have more wintering to do and there is generally a change in February and a final winter push in March, but to be at this snowpack level at this time of year is wince-inducing for what the summer will be like. Fingers and toes and legs and arms are crossed that summer won’t be life in a burning charcoal briquet again.

The Neurons have “I’m Just A Singer (In A Rock & Roll Band)” by the Moody Blues playing in the morning mental music stream (Trademark coming in two weeks). I was thinking about what I wanted and needed to do this day when Der Neurons began playing it and I sang along. I know the song well, even though the majority of my high school friends and people since weren’t Moody Blues fans, forcing me to enjoy them alone. Except for “Nights In White Satin”. Lot of my friends knew and enjoyed that song.

What interests me about this 1973 song, and it probably only interests me, is that I played this song last year, that is, January of 2023. What is it about January or this song that they meet in my mind in January?

Looking at last year’s Moody Blues post, I wrote:

Today will reach 55 F or so before the sun vanishes from the Ashlandia sky around the 5:20 PM time period — it’ll be earlier in the mountains’ shadows by an hour or seem like the sun has set — but the forecasters are warning us. Winter is going to get serious. Lower temperatures will be coming by, clouds are collecting, and rain and snow are possible. Then, fanfare, Monday will see an Arctic blast. Lows will freefall into the teens. Daytime highs will scrap into the thirties. Break out extra binkies and some space heaters, hope power doesn’t fail, and take measures to ensure your pipes don’t freeze. The hardest part, though, will be convincing Papi to stay in. He’s gonna test the temps, I know.

Lots to do today. Food and Friends deliveries in about thirty minutes. That’ll eat 90 minutes. Writing and editing. Call Dad. Text Mom. Catch up with Sis. Store for a few items, nothing critical. Finish and submit my taxes. I usually have them in by now. Can’t believe I’ve waited this long.

Stay pos, remain strong, and lean forward. Here we go. Coffee up and dance. Here’s the music. Cheers

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Sunday’s Theme Music

Mood: spirited

Boom goes the sunshine.

Hello, fellow third-rockers. Sunday, January 28, 2024, has risen. That sun we’re orbiting has taken over the day. Last night at midnight, it was 57 degrees F; now it’s 65 F. No clouds are playing with the sunshine. Precipitation trickled off yesterday afternoon, giving us a glorious day which is way more spring than winter. It feels like 73 F, they tell us, and I agree. The cats and I were wholly astonished by this twist of warmth, though the cats didn’t stay outside because, wind, they whined. They no like wind. Today’s high will be 68 F.

Three US military troops were killed in a drone strike in the middle East, and so tit-for-tat will begin as President Biden promises retaliation sometime and somewhere. I understand the position but don’t like it: each nation, when attacked for whatever reason, promises to get back at the attackers because otherwise there’s a perception of weakness. All that spills into politics; if President B orders retaliation, he’s reviled by many, but if he doesn’t, he’s reviled by many. Striking the balance between the two is difficult. Then there’s the long game about broader theater escalation, and the impact of retaliation on trade, goods and services, and the political machinations outside of that region. It’s a messy, messy world.

In other news, Trump has decried the border deal (yawn) being circulated to protect the US southern border. I say yawn about this because everyone expected this move by Trump. The Wall Street Journal editorial board even warned him not to do that a few days ago, reminding him of the potential damage to the GOP brand in some many words in this election year when the Republicans are trying to offer proof that Democrats are weak on border security. But come on, man. Trump is the man who lost a case against Jean Carroll, but couldn’t stop slandering and defaming her, was tried again and lost in court, and now needs to pay her 83 million dollars. Yet, he continues the very activity which brought him to that point. Will there be another case for Carroll v. Trump? I’m willing to bet there will be, and that Trump will lose again, but continue his ways, because he has no self-control and doesn’t listen to any advice except his own.

“Rock On” by David Essex from 1973 occupies the morning mental music stream (Trademark coming in two weeks). I enjoyed the song as a youngster because of its interesting, unusual sound. It’s so minimalist, with echoes and unusual beats, and a truncated stream of thought riff on rock and roll and youth. It arrived today because, as a boomer, “Rock on,” is one of my go-to phrases, just as Trump’s screaming “FAKE NEWS” is one of his go-to phrases. I say “Rock on” in response to my wife when she says she’ll be over by the home decor section of a store. Naturally, Les Neuons, being the characters they arecranked up the song. It’s their nature and they rarely swerve from it.

Side note, another heavy barrage of dreams were experienced overnight. I’m still recovering from the previous night’s barrage. It did inspire the start of another novel with Quantum Voodoo as the working title, although I’m still editing one and just began writing another with the working title of Level 7, the corollary to the novel in progress being edited, Why.

Be strong, stay positive, and lean forward. Coffee is being consumed in the phantom drawing room. Sorry, virtual drawing room; it’s a new era. Here’s the music. Cheers

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Thursday’s Theme Music

Mood: excited

Ahoy, brothers and sisters from other places and spaces. Today has arrived in the guise of Thursday, 1/25/24. Blue skies escorted the day in, with a few dancing clouds joining the sunshine parade. It rained earlier and will probably rain later. Temperature now is 49 F under a sunny sky, and today’s probable high is just below 60 F. Not bad for a sprinter day. Actually registers as typical.

Les floofs are enjoying this weather as it allows them to exercise their lion and panther sides and explore our yard without being cold or wet. It’s one thing to be wild, but quite another to be uncomfortable.

Nikki Haley inspired today’s music. She’s on the trail, campaigning to be the GOP nominee for POTUS. The schedule had her in New Hampshire for their part of the ritual, and the press was following her. One NTY writer, Charles Blow, addressed her campaign rally music, calling it an oddball selection. Among the performers whose music was used were Bruce Springsteen, Cheap Trick, Blake Shelton, Janis Joplin, Norm Greenbaum, REO Speedwagon, Queen. Hardly a staunch conservative list. Springsteen, for one, actively supported Barack Obama and Joe Biden in their campaigns. I agree with Blow’s conclusion, as he wrote, that the music choices are a headscratcher.

I wonder if the Haley campaign got permission to use these performers’ music and what they would think. Political campaigns’ use is a complicated issue involving copyrights, fair use, and the creator’s rights and intentions, and whether they’re comfortable with the politican’s views. As example, this week, The Smiths’ guitarist, Johnny Marr, told Trump’s campaign, stop. You don’t have the right to use that music, and we don’t want you to.

“I never in a million years would’ve thought this could come to pass,” guitarist Johnny Marr said in a message posted on social media on Tuesday, according to an article in The Hill.

“Consider this shit shut right down right now,” Marr added.

Anyway, after reading Mr. Blow’s piece, The Neurons began playing “No Surrender” by Bruce Springsteen in the morning mental music stream (Trademark coming in two weeks). That’s the Springsteen song Haley’s campaign used in NH. That’s just how The Neurons work in their diabolical way.

Be strong, stay pos, and keep leaning forward. I’ve been sucking coffee down, thank you, but you do what you need to do. Here’s the music. Cheers

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Whensday’s Theme Music

Mood: bubbly

Hello, fellow travelers. Today is Whensday, January 24, 2024. For some reason, when I started typing the date, the autotype tried changing the date to December 19. WTAF?

Moody gray clouds tease rain threats and wrestle with the blue sky. Sunshine shoots between them as the clouds jostle to takeover. There may be factions up in the troposphere, arguing over what the weather should be like in Ashlandia, where the deer are numerous and an annual subject for disagreement in our burg. It’s 52 F and mostly cloudy, and the high should have the thermometer pausing at 56 F. It’s rained and it’s windy and more might be on the way.

Reading some emails this morning, an update from Scottie’s Playground came up: Jesus 2.0/Christopher Titus/Armegeddon Update. Seeing that headline, The Neurons instantly shuffled “Personal Jesus” by Depeche Mode into the morning mental music stream (Trademark coming in two weeks). As Titus mentions, evangelicals have appointed DJT as their own personal Jesus. They tolerantly overlook his lying, cheating on his wives and affairs by declaring, “Everyone has a past,” and threat of violence, and snarl at the rest of us to stop being so mean to TFG and them. They’re just promoting this guy to make the world better, and they know this because god sent him!

While I cite the original Depeche Mode version of “Personal Jesus”, I also recommend and include the 2002 Johnny Cash cover. As his health was falling, JC — that’s Johnny Cash and not Jesus Christ — thoughtfully covered a number of rock songs, bringing a deeply personal delivery to them that makes ’em worth listening and thinking about.

In the means’ while, this is Whensday again because I’m weary of holding my breath and waiting for things to resolve, asking myself (drum roll), when will this be resolved? ‘This’, of course, is the Trump led, MAGA fueled, GOP supported, 3% funded effort to end Democracy in the United States. Whether that’s hyperbola is part of the whole Whensday question. We already know from experience that DJT was a sadsack of a POTUS, but weirdly, the MAGAs believe he was brilliant. I attribute a chunk of that to asymmetrical expectations.

Asymmetrical expectations were pointed out on Pondering Politics on Youtube when they dissected Gavin Newsome’s recent appearance on Bill Maher. Jessiah points out how differently the world, including the media, responds to the political parties in the US and their leaders when the MAGA segment unleashes a cruelly flavored shit storm versus reactions to when the Democratic side points something out, and Jessiah, our political nerd host, brings receipts. It’s worth a listen, IMO.

Stay pos, be strong, and keep leaning forward. Coffee has been sampled and approved, and is now being guzzled. Here’s the Cash and DM videos. Cheers

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Tuesday’s Theme Music

Mood: Exblueberant

Blue, blue, blue.

Today is January 23, 2024, and Tuesday. I awoke to a rich blue sky and booming morning sun. First time I’ve seen a rosy sunrise this year. The temperature was 39 F then but it’s already climbed to 52 F. Word is, 66 F might be reached. Super.

Tucker and I saw a hummingbird flitting around our bushes this morning when we went out onto the front porch. While I enjoy this stimulating clear, warm, weather, we need the snow on the mountains to survive the summer, so come on, nature. Give us snow in the mountains. Snow could become possible, my optimistic Neurons declared. Clouds are expected to steal in, and in fact can now be seen creeping over the southern mountains. So, rain can come, and cold temperatures can return, and snow can fall. Tick, tick, we’ll see.

Three pieces of political news struck me today. (Don’t worry, it wasn’t hard and didn’t bruise.) First up, Jamell Bouie’s simple observation in his NYTimes column.

DeSantis also refused to contest Trump’s election denialism, a choice that almost guaranteed his failure in the primaries. Can you seriously position yourself as a winner and Trump as a loser when the consensus of the voters you are seeking to win is that Trump didn’t lose?

So real; why do Republicans believe anything can change so long as they support Trump’s Big Lie? No evidence has been presented; it is simply his bombastic declaration it is so, and a legion of sycophants saying, “Yep, yep, yep, it’s true.” So bizarre, they are in that party, and getting more so.

Next, we had Rep. Pete Stauber (R). The government is financing a bridge to replace the Blatnick Bridge. Rep Stauber is crowing with pride for the bridge, these monies, and this plan, even though he voted against it. This is a common GOP tactic, and he got called out for his duplicity by many folk. Whether it’ll keep him from being re-elected is another matter; many voters have limited vision when it comes to their guy.

Finally, in this trifecta of info, the Doomsday Clock has been updated for 2024 and it’s still ninety seconds to midnight, the closest to midnight that it’s been since it was begun in June of 1947. The thinkers behind it point to threats posed by AI, climate change, and potential nuclear war. Don’t worry, though; we’re an intelligent, sophisticated species and are capable of thinking through these problems, arriving at effective solutions, and then implementing them. Yeah. Sure. (Yes, that is sarcasm.)

Enough of that stuff. To the music! I have the Rolling Stones’ song of 1966 in my morning mental music stream (Trademark doomed), “Mother’s Little Helper”. Reading and thinking about people’s health issues, I muttered something to myself about getting old. Les Neurons pounced. Although “Mother’s Little Helper” is about the drugs being prescribed to and abused by women in the 1960s, there’s a repeated line in the song, “What a drag it is getting old.” Yes, indeed, it can be a drag.

BTW, today marks the anniversary of the day in 1957 when the Pluto Platter inventor sold his product to Wham-o, who changed its name to Frisbee and began selling it.

Stay pos, be strong, lean way forward and vote for progress. My cells are already soaking in coffee. Here’s the music. Cheers

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Monday’s Theme Music

Mood: flippant

Hello, sugar plums. It’s Monday again, January 22 2024. Dawn broke open another day of sprinter — spring and winter — on us in Ashlandia, where the people are natural and spring is above average. Rain has stopped but temperature is now 54 F with high in the upper fifties. Looks like we’ll go below 40 F for the first time in a bit and a half.

Our weather change has the cats acting joyous. They’re like, “Meow hoo, it’s nice outside. Can we go outside and sleep? Can we, can we?”

“Alright,” I replied, “but stay close and safe, and be smart.”

“We will, we will,” the mewrished. I opened the door and they dashed out, tails streaming high, sat, and began washing.

Before letting them out, I was a-singing to my floofs when I fed them. The song was, “There’s only one way to eat,” based on “There’s Only One Way to Rock.” Natch, The Neurons fired up the song in the morning mental music stream (Trademark classified). Originally by Sammy Hagar and released in 1982, it reached new heights when Sammy joined Van Halen and cranked it out together. No wonder that Van Halen was sometimes called Van Haglen. But come on, Eddie’s guitar style carries it to a higher level of rock, proving that there’s more than one way to rock, and playing against him, Sammy brought energy to his lead guitar. Fun watching the two share lead guitar in this recording of a live performance in Tokyo in 1989.

Let us pause now to lament the end of DeSantis’ run for President, 2024. He’s slunk back to Florida, where he can resume his hypocritical existence as a government agent against small, unintrusive government and equal rights for anyone who isn’t CIS. For him, there’s only one way to live, so everyone should live his vanilla way. Such an unimaginative and closed mind.

That means, though, that it’s only Nikki Haley and DJ Trump running now. Gosh, it’s such an intense intellectual race, makes my spine tingle. Not. (Yeah, that was full snark.)

Stay pos, be strong, and keep leaning forward. Remember to vote this year. I recommend President Joe Biden, because he was sent by God. (Just sayin’ that if Trump was sent by God, so was Biden. Why not, if you take that stuff without any evidence one way or the other?)

Coffee is being sucked up; here’s the music. Cheers

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Sunday’s Theme Music

Mood: bitsy

Hello, fellow citizens of the Sol system. We have landed on Sunday January 21, 2024.

It’s a little bit day; little bit sunny, windy, rainy, warm, cold. Should be a little bit ‘o rainbow out there somewhere.

Once again, I come to you after reading some news, and end up a little bit disappointed, saddened, surprised, disturbed, and shocked. Pretty typical, really. Flipping through radio channels as I went downtown to coffee shop #2, I heard a woman on the radio saying how much Trump is needed now. Cuz, she said, crime is up and the economy is down, and our border is just a mess, stating all these things as a given without offering any stats or evidence. Don’t know if I’d trust her stats and evidence, anyway, as I was a little bit suspicious of her, especially when she ended by telling us that God sent Trump to us. Rebut: God sent Biden to us. That’s why he won, right? Debate.

Today’s theme music is “All Mixed Up” by 311 from 1996. My ginger floof, Papi, inspired The Neurons to choose this song. Rain was falling and the sun was shining and the wind was blowing when I opened the back door and let Papi bounce outside, tail up and energetic. Wind smooching his face caused him to turn away like he was gonna come back in, but then he remembered that he was a wild beast, king of the outdoors, so he redirected his course toward the sunshine, only to retreat as rain showered him. Again he began a return to inside the house only to recall his wild vows, and changed directions to head across the patio where he sat, washed, and debated his options.

Watching all that, The Neurons kicked “All Mixed Up” into the morning mental music stream (Trademark a little bit). But it’s a good song selection for other reasons, like the world’s state vice expectations and attitudes: the song declares, “You’ve got to trust your instinct, and let go of regret. You’ve got to bet on yourself now, star, ’cause that’s your best bet.” I like that aspect as it’s directing me to look forward and trust myself.

Be strong, stay pos, lean forward and trust yourself. I’m havin’ a little bit more coffee now. Then I’ll go on with a little bit of editing and home chores. Here’s the music. Cheers

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Saturday’s Theme Music

Mood: sketchy

Ahoy, friends. Today is January 20, 2024.

I have a weather report fresh from outside. Papi, my orange boi, reports miserable conditions. Blowing winds, rain, and no sun or warmth at all breaking free of the fortress of bulging grey and white clouds. “Quite miserable,” he miserably said. I stroked his back and found the fur soaked and cold. Pulling out a towel, I dried him as he finished his commentary. “Dogs might enjoy it but no civilized floof would.” He gave me a glance. “I think you’ll need more of that extra fur you wear.”

It’s 42 and will be 53 F for the record. He’s spot on with the rest.

I haven’t read any news this morning, occupying my time with reading a novel instead. So I’m in a good mood, but sketchy because I need to dash away soon. Having experienced so much trouble this week finding a good writing perch at the coffee shops, I decided I need to leave the house earlier, forcing me to step up from coffee sipping speed to at least coffee gulping.

Today’s theme music is a 1992 song called “Connected” by Stereo MC’s. The Neurons dished some of the lyrics into the morning mental music stream (Trademark half-baked) when I was busy with the early morning rituals. “Gonna get myself connected. I see through you. I see through you. Your dirty tricks. You make me sick.” Then there’s that chorus: “If you make sure you’re connected, the writing’s on the wall. But if your mind’s neglected, stumble you might fall.”

Yeah, somehow that fits this year’s early feel. If you’re not paying attention, you can stumble and fall because there’s so much information pouring through our lives about who said and did what and the ramifications of this stone getting turned over, or that nuance of someone’s expression. Yikes. Gotta pay attention.

I don’t think I’ve heard this song in a while but back in 1990s, while scurrying about the SF Bay Area on shopping trips and work commutes, I heard it often. I like it’s rythm, beat, and lyrics. It’s an easy song to sing when you’re alone in a car or driving with someone who will put up with your singing, or even join in.

Be positive, stay strong, test negative, and keep leaning forward toward better times. We can get there if we don’t stumble and fall. That’s why I drink coffee; keeps me moving forward. Kind of. Sometimes it’s a sideways shuffle but it’s often forward, even if it’s just by millimeters. Here’s the music. Cheers

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Friday’s Theme Music

Mood: bubbly

Hello, friends. It’s Friday, January 19, 2024, which means we have eleven months left in this year to get things done. 52 F here right now, we’re again trapped in a spring-like day in Ashlandia, where the valley is narrow and the days are pleasant. Striated clouds in shades of blues and grays are offering a promise of more rain and a high two degrees further up the thermometer.

Read news about a killing done with a hammer, new titanium dentures for a celebrity (just 850K if you want to get some), a messed up speech by Trump where he displayed confusion and forgetfulness, and an Oregon teen who witnessed a winter accident and saved a child. In the last, the individual said she saw a car slide on ice into a power pole. It killed three of the people in the car but she saved the fourth, a nine-month-old. Meanwhile, the US is in conflict with Houthi rebels in Yemen. The Houthi have been launching missiles at ships in international waters, and the US has begun conducting air strikes against these missile strikes. Will it escalate? Escalation seems to be the pattern in vogue when it comes to violence in this century but I hope not.

Out of nowhere this morning, The Neurons have offered “I Am A Man of Constant Sorrow” by the Soggy Bottom Boys to the morning mental music stream (Trademark all wet). The song has been around over one hundred years. I’d known it by others like Bob Dylan, Judy Collins, and Ginger Baker before this fictional singing group was featured in the movie, O Brother Where Art Thou? in 2000, but truly enjoyed the fake performance of a delightful song. Anyway, it came up today so it’s my theme music. These at the musicians and singers who put it together for the movie, although there are some substitutions here.

Of course, I sang a modified version to my cats, which could be called, “I Am A Floof of Constant Hunger”. As usual, they were not impressed. They seemed quizzical about why I was singing to them when they really wanted me to feed them.

Be strong, stay positive, and lean forward. Here’s the music. I got coffee and a cat sleeping by the ‘puter, but I need to put some pants on. Cheers

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