Dolly Parton: Dumb Blonde (1967)

 

Dolly Parton: Jolene (1974)

Silver Threads and Golden Needles (1993): Loretta, Tammy, Dolly

 I'm sorry, but... I just want to see George Jones bust in here!

Dolly Parton (1977): Here You Come Again / Two Doors Down

 

I grew up listening to Dolly on my dad's AM radio and on "Hee-Haw,"
but the first time I ever discovered her for myself was hearing "Here You Come Again" 

and "Two Doors Down" when I was listening to the radio for myself.

To this day, I still relate to the lyrics of "Two Doors Down," as I did when I was 12. 

At the time, I thought that would be a sad situation (with a happy ending).
When I was in college, being on the outside was the story of my life.
Today, pretty much the same!

Two doors down
They're laughing and drinkin', and having a party
Two doors down
They're not aware that I'm around

Cause here I am
Crying my heart out, feelin' sorry while
They're having a party just two doors down

I think I'll dry these useless tears
And get myself together
I think I'll wonder down the hall
And have a look around
'Cause I can't stay inside
This lonely room and cry forever
I think I really rather join 'em
Two doors down, yeah

Two doors down
They're laughing and drinkin', and having a party
Two doors down
They're not aware that I'm around

'Cause here I am
No longer cryin' an' feelin' sorry
We're having a party just two doors down

I can't believe I'm standin' here
Dry-eyed, all smiles and talkin'
Making conversation with the new love I have found
I ask him if he'd like to be alone and we start walkin'
Down the hall to my place waitin' two doors down, yeah

Two doors down
They're laughing and drinkin', and having a party
Two doors down
We're not aware that they're around

'Cause here I am
Feelin' everything but sorry
We're having our own party two doors down

Dolly Parton: 9 to 5

 

Back in October 2019, I posted the below to the YouTube page for this Dolly song:

"Monday, I found out that a 32-year-old tech guy with no editing experience was offered the same salary as me (20 years' experience in editing and 5 years at the company). This song is an inspiration. Gave my official letter asking for a raise yesterday. We'll see what happens."

Got 2.5 thousand views, and many responses! Which I had not gone back to check on until now, upon Dolly's death. Many people asked me what had happened. Tonight, I was busy responding after 6 years:
"I quit, and then was doing temp work for a few months. In March of 2020, I finally got a new job, which I still have today----at $13K more per year!"

Dolly Parton: Coat of Many Colors (1970)

 

RIP Dolly Parton (1946 - 2026)

 

My Cats

I just ordered/received a small wall-hanging from Amazon: 
"That's it, you're going in the soup."
I had a nook in my hallway that held bowls and stones and dried flowers----
and then some dancing cats figurines! The new hanging fit in perfectly!

-----------------------------------------------

My real-life 5 cats:

Mama: Mama Hennessy, Mama Cat, Mama-Moo, Hennessy Mon Amour.
Mini: Solomon Grundy, My Familiar, Moonshine, Baby Shine, Monkey Shine. Mini-apolis (City of Mini---Mini, o, Mini)
Sasha: "Biggest Kitten and Smartest Kitten," Nasha, Noodles.
Pete: My Boy. "Mr. Pete, fast on his feet." So Handsome. Boy of the House. Man of the House. Peter-Patsy. Patsy-Cat.

Cinco Beasly:  "Curly top and a curly tail." "Grease-monk." "Miss PEEsly." 
(She's not fixed and pees all over the place.)

Kinda Sad

I've been working at home since COVID struck in Spring of 2020. 

I'd quit my previous job in October 2019, was working temp stuff in the meantime, and then got hired at the new job in March 2020. Which, at the time, had a physical location only about 10 mins away from my apartment---so I was excited about the new job being so close to my home. 

As it happened, hardly anyone in the US went back to work for a couple of years. I continued to work for this company, which then got sold a couple of times. But basically the same group of people on the team.

When I first started, the local boss held "meet-ups" every 6 months or so. At a local bar, or even at his house. He left soon after, and the new boss held one meet-up a few years ago, then nothing since then.

People have come and gone. They usually leave without warning. One graphic artist, Ed, even died (I never learned the details; we got a brief e-mail that his wife has died----and then a month or so later, that HE had died).

My current boss is more of a technocrat: She has multiple degrees in Education; she's quite up on the unnecessary AGILE. She's not into "meet-ups."

Today, she requested that we all give our vacation plans thru next May. 

I've been working with her for the past 6 years. Have only interacted with her at the early "meet-ups" organized by the first boss back in 2020. 

When she requested our vacation plans, I mentioned this: That I might be away for a week in September 'cause I was being interviewed for a French TV doc about Joan Crawford! (But: In case the project fell through, I wouldn't be going.)

Now, you would think that any normal person would go: "WHAT?! You're being interviewed for a French TV show! How interesting!"

Nah. She just said: "Make sure that you have not worked over 1912 hours by next May."

WOW. No one that I work remotely with gives a shit about anything that happens in my life. (p.s. What ever happened to Ed?)

The Doors: Break on Through (1967)

 First song on their debut album.

Joy Division: Transmission (1979)

The more I listen to the rawness of Joy Division, 

the more I despise---yes, actually and actively DESPISE---

the insipidness of the aftermath band, New Order, and the hideously 

vapid vocals/keyboards of Bernard Sumner. 

[Intro]
Radio, live transmission
Radio, live transmission

[Verse 1]
Listen to the silence, let it ring on
Eyes, dark grey lenses, frightened of the sun
We would have a fine time living in the night
Left to blind destruction, waiting for our sight

[Verse 2]
And we would go on as though nothing was wrong
And hide from these days we remained all alone
Staying in the same place, just staying out the tide
Touching from a distance, further all the time

[Chorus]
Dance, dance, dance, dance, dance to the radio
Dance, dance, dance, dance, dance to the radio
Dance, dance, dance, dance, dance to the radio
Dance, dance, dance, dance, dance to the radio

[Verse 3]
Well, I could call out when the going gets tough
The things that we've learnt are no longer enough
No language, just sound, that's all we need know
To synchronise love to the beat of the show
And we could dance!

Joy Division: She's Lost Control (1979)

Is it really that a fictional SHE has "lost control again," or that we're waiting for
Ian Curtis to spaz out again? (Curtis had a calm wife and a calm girlfriend.)
Who's about to lose control? 
Curtis---an epileptic and soon-to-be-suicide---is singing/dancing about himself.



Confusion in her eyes that says it all
She's lost control
And she's clinging to the nearest passerby
She's lost control
And she gave away the secrets of her past
And said, "I've lost control again"
And of a voice that told her when and where to act
She said, "I've lost control again"

And she turned around and took me by the hand
And said, "I've lost control again"
And how I'll never know just why, or understand
She said, "I've lost control again"
And she screamed out, kicking on her side, and said
"I've lost control again"
And seized upon the floor, I thought she'd die
She said, "I've lost control"

[Chorus]
She's lost control again
She's lost control
She's lost control again
She's lost control

Not Dying of Breast Cancer in the Next 6 Months

 

After an unclear diagnosis months ago, I went back for a follow-up mammogram plus some ultrasounds today: 
Right breast has a non-cancerous cyst. If it doesn't bother me, it doesn't bother the doctors. (And I've never even felt it before, so it doesn't bother me.)
Left breast has a centimeter-wide spot that looks primarily benign. I'm to come back in 6 months to see if it has grown any. But in the meantime, I won't die of it. 

Me to my technician who'd taken the scans: "I won't die in the next 6 months?" Her: "We can tell you that you won't die OF BREAST CANCER in the next 6 months!" (We laughed---I could, after all, be hit by a bus on my way home.)

Hooray! I was already trying to figure out what to do with my cats.

"24 Hour Party People" + "Control"

This is a place-holder for what I want to say about these two movies, which I just watched in one night from the Criterion Channel.

To begin: The "24 Hour" movie showed Joy Division's Ian Curtis hanging himself to the sound/video of some squawking chickens on his TV. The film made a big joke of it. The whole movie made a joke of everything, all deaths, all losses. As I trudged my way through the film, I thought, "This can't actually be what the scene was like?" NO SCENE could have ever been this grim, sans some utter exuberance and joy.

Tammy Wynette: Apartment #9 (1966)

Story goes that George Jones first heard this song on the radio while driving around,
and then vowed to meet the singer...
Given the 15 years of extreme personal grief that followed, 
did he wish he HAD or HAD NOT ever met the singer?

Sylvia and Ted, 1958.

This is one of the best photos I've ever seen of the two of them.
(Other than the one while visiting his parents as newlyweds, 
when they were madly in love and literally glowing.)

 

Karma can sometimes be gentle.

I'm aware that I'm often abrupt and judgmental. 

"Judgmental," in my case, meaning more about doing obvious every-day things right rather than moral judgments---although I do very much think that trans-folks should focus on their personal mental health rather than trying to join the military and/or play women's sports. You've got bigger things to worry about. 
Similarly, as a bi/gay person, I don't think that gay people should be allowed to adopt kids. Why? Because procreation is a natural process, best left to those who do it naturally. Why would any gay person be interested in adopting kids, aside from societal reasons---trying to "prove they're normal"? There's no reason at all for gay people to be adopting kids, aside from posing. Just live your life. Leave having kids to those who can actually have them naturally.

----------------------

Above social soapbox aside, and my main point about my own behavior:

I go to the post-office 2 or 3 times a week 'cause I sell a lot of stuff online. 

Earlier this week, there was a "drama" at the PO---a homeless woman had ventured inside and was moaning piteously. A clerk called 911. OK, so EMS has been called and is on the way... But the two clerks on duty then took turns leaving their stations and running outside to see if the EMS was coming...

In the meantime: Only one clerk at the counter, and a long line of 10 or more people.

In this line, a couple of ladies who can't decide which stamps to buy... Seriously: There's a long line, and both of them are dawdling over which "Forever Stamps" they might want.

At this point, after waiting over 20 minutes, my impatience/obnoxiousness kicked in: I finally called out loudly: "Sir! While she's making her choice, can you take another customer?"

The counter-dude (whom I know from my weekly visits) said, "Patience, please!" Which was fair. The lady at the counter: "I've made my choice, thank you!" And then "Patience is a virtue" and then "Have a nice day" and then "You need to learn some manners" and "Bye-bye" as she walked on out the door. To which I juvenilely responded: "Toodle-oo!" and "Arrivederci!" as she walked out. 

SIGH.

Although I thought I had a point (when there's a long line behind you, try to move a bit faster): I felt creepy for days afterwards.

Today, though, I think I got a reprieve from Karma RE "patience"! 

Same post office: Long line; I didn't say a thing.
Returning stuff to UPS store: The clerk didn't correctly scan one of my items, so I had to go back to the store and wait in long line; I said "no problem" as the problem was fixed.
At my local gas station buying beer/cigs: Salesman in the shop offering allegedly free cig coupons if I did a survey and gave my e-mail. I asked specifically if I would get a free pack; he said Yes. After doing the survey, it was for a bunch of brands that I didn't smoke. But OK. I'll try "American Spirit," for instance. But, no, it wasn't for a "free" pack, just dollars off a purchase of two. 

I think the above today made up for my impatience earlier in the week! I was totally nice the whole time! :)  

Thanks, Karma! :)

I've just been entrusted with my Tante Barbel's early diaries and memories and photos.

My Tante Barbel (Barbara Armgart) was my German mother's older sister. She lived from 1926 to 2008. 
I knew her only as being a kindly aunt, whom I got to visit when I was 4 and 12 and 18. She had a modern house in Braunschweig, Germany, with a beautiful backyard, in which I played federball (badminton). I knew that she was the first female dentist in her German town of Braunschweig, in the early 1960s. 

Here's a very brief excerpt from her diary (12 January 1946), when she was 20 years old:
I don't even know his name. I don't want to know his name. I just want to dance with him!!

And an excerpt from 14 January 1946:
My family is of the opinion I was reckless yesterday, and as a result no one speaks to me. And what did I do? I spent an afternoon and an evening dancing. Am I not a grown-up, so why the theatrics? It's not my fault that Mutti can't get over her ridiculous fears. I am not going to beg forgiveness. I can be just as silent as you all, perhaps even better! Have you never been young?!? Nothing but dancing for 6 hours. With Rudi Rummel, Guenter Lieberodt, Maenne Metz, Heinz Schulze, Mr. Klimke, Mr. Behne, and many others. Mr. Behne invited us all to have supper at his farm, and we stayed there until 9:30 pm. That was all, and that's why they are mad at me!

------------------------------------------------------------

I think I just became aware of what I need to document, first and foremost, for the rest of my life. The notebook I received is massive, with multiple pages of text and photos. From a seemingly mild-mannered woman, who, as it turned out, led a quite-interesting internal life! My own mother took the time to translate her diaries and many other documents related to her older sister.

p.s. The innocence of "we stayed there until 9:30 pm" breaks my heart. (And the local mogul is also a bit tender for inviting folks after-hours to have "supper at his farm." I don't think that particular line has ever been used before.)

WHODUNNIT??!!

In the summer of 1976, my family moved from a house in a North Texas suburb outside of Wichita Falls to a house way out in the country (school district at a small town west of Fort Worth).

While living in city areas, my parents seemed able to maintain some surface decorum. Once out in the boonies, though, it was chaos:
We had to burn our own trash out in the country, but "we" started a fire and had to call local fire-fighters.
We decided to buy a horse for me to ride, but once she took off while I was on her, and I refused to ride her again, we sold her off. "Blitz" was her name.
We put our two long-time pet dachshunds in a side-pen, apart from our backyard, so there was very little contact with them after this.

There were 4 neighbor families on our new-found street. Most of us kids participated in softball games, relay races, etc. (My mom and dad never hung out for the games, though the other parents did.)

All of the above to remember this one awful thing that has stuck with me forever, even at age 60. About how much neither of my parents liked me---

One summer evening during a softball game at the next-door neighbor's house: A shout from next door: "STEPHANIE, GET IN HERE!!!!" How fast I left the middle of the game to RUN home----and how I was humiliated in front of everyone. 

When I arrived inside my house, my mother and father presented me with food scattered below the dining-room table. Whatever we'd had for dinner that evening, someone didn't like it, and had thrown bits of it below the table. Problem was: It wasn't ME who'd thrown the food down there. It was my younger brother. When I pointed out what side of the table all the rejected food appeared on, my parents seemed briefly sheepish---"Oh..."  They'd been SUPER-willing to overtly punish ME for something/anything. What to do now, since they'd made a public scene and now didn't have ME to punish? Their solution: "OK...well, um, tell your brother to come in here." Never would they have screamed at my brother to "get in here" in front of the neighbors. 

This is the every-day psychosis I grew up with. Before my father actually tried to shoot my mother in 1977. (Only because we now lived out in the country. He would not have dared do such a thing earlier while we lived in small towns or college towns.)

RE the original story, pre-shooting: Why in the world is any family dinner so traumatic that anyone, much less a 6-year-old, has to throw food on the floor rather than just being able to say he doesn't want to eat it? (Not to mention why a surrogate---ME---was blamed, because someone had to be blamed.)

"Come on movie, make it start!" (Portlandia)

 

Feelin' Stupid

When I was a freshman at 18, living at Jester Center in Austin:
I thought that people hung out on the steps outside the building just to be hanging out. One day, feelin' lonely, I went out there and took my place on the steps... Once the student shuttle bus arrived, everyone left, and I was left sitting there by myself like a dork!  

(Years later, when I lived in New York City: I saw that people did, indeed, hang out in outdoor spaces! Union Square, for one. I wasn't crazy, after all!)

Before I lived in NYC, was just visiting:
I sat atop a Tourist Bus. A man in a park that we passed seemed to be waving... I, the dork, waved back. (Turned out he was doing Tai Chi, not "saying Hi". Whoops.)

Garth Brooks in Ireland (1998): Friends in Low Places

Blame it all on my roots
I showed up in boots
And ruined your black-tie affair
The last one to know
The last one to show
I was the last one you thought you'd see there

And I saw the surprise
And the fear in his eyes
When I took his glass of champagne
And I toasted you
Said, "Honey, we may be through,
But you'll never hear me complain."

'Cause I've got friends in low places
Where the whiskey drowns
And the beer chases
My blues away
And I'll be okay
I'm not big on social graces
Think I'll slip on down to the Oasis
Oh, I've got friends in low places

Well, I guess I was wrong
I just don't belong
But then I've been there before
Everything's all right
I'll just say goodnight
And I'll show myself to the door

Hey, I didn't mean
To cause a big scene
Just give me an hour and then
Well, I'll be as high
As that ivory tower
That you're livin' in

'Cause I've got friends in low places
Where the whiskey drowns
And the beer chases
My blues away
And I'll be okay
I'm not big on social graces
Think I'll slip on down to the Oasis
Oh, I've got friends in low places...

Garth Brooks: The Dance (1990)

I hadn't heard this song for at least 30 years. 
A local country radio station played it today as I was driving around.

"How could I have known that you'd ever say goodbye..."

The voice of Garth was never profound, but, nonetheless, hearing this song on the radio made me cry!

It also flashed me back to when I was in grad school in San Francisco in the mid-90s---
after years of keeping up with mid-90s rock and rap, I was finally sick of it.
I think a mediocre Courtney Love album and a Warren G album were the final dull straws.
At the time, there was the "BMG Club," where you could order 12 CDs for a dollar, and then only have to buy 2 full-price CDs in the next year.
I ordered a bunch of Country CDs for the first time: Tammy Wynette Greatest, Johnny Cash, Garth Brooks, Waylon, Willie.
The Tammy CD, which had duets with George Jones, led me to buying George Jones for the first time. He's since become my favorite male singer.

The Garth Brooks CD was "The Hits," released in December 1994. Nearly everything on this is very good. (The most famous/greatest song being "Friends in Low Places." But here's "The Dance.")

I never went on to be a Garth Brooks fan. (From the Hits, I could tell that he wasn't going to get any more "soulful" or anything on any individual album! But this is a great "party" and/or "'90s memories album.")

Looking back on the memory of
The dance we shared 'neath the stars above
For a moment all the world was right
How could I have known that you'd ever say goodbye

And now I'm glad I didn't know
The way it all would end, the way it all would go
Our lives are better left to chance
I could have missed the pain
But I'd have had to miss the dance

Holding you I held everything
For a moment wasn't I a king
But if I'd only known how the king would fall
Hey who's to say you know I might have changed it all

And now I'm glad I didn't know
The way it all would end the way it all would go
Our lives are better left to chance
I could have missed the pain
But I'd have had to miss the dance

"I Wanna Be Sedated": Go-Gos in Central Park, 2001

 

"I Wanna Be Sedated": Return of Jackie/Judy in LA (July 2026)

 Thanks, Carrie and Fred. Nice of you to allow Corinne to participate...
And then there's your random DEI hire... There's no JOY in your version.
This song can't really go wrong, regardless of who does it.
Though the Go-Gos, above, do actually do it much better.

Deep Thoughts by Not-Jack-Handey

Life is like "The After Hours." It's a 1963 "Twilight Zone" episode. I saw it for the first time around 15 years ago or so. In a depressed state, but still: When I watched this, I felt a sense of epiphany: This is exactly how life is: We're part of the ether, then briefly, in cycles, get a chance at acting out in physical form. (The woman in the story was chastised for not wanting to go back.)

As for "black holes": Each black hole is kind of like an hour-glass in the universe. They draw stuff in, and then spit stuff out. The stuff they draw in: Where does it go? As with an hour-glass, to be sifted out/recycled into another universe.

Oh, and what is the "Dark Energy" that astrophysicists cannot explain? 
Says AI: "Dark energy and dark matter are two mysterious components of the universe. Dark matter makes up about 27% of the universe and exerts gravitational pull, while dark energy accounts for 68% and drives the accelerated expansion of the universe."

Souls? According to "Science": "Energy cannot be created or destroyed; it can only be transformed or transferred from one form to another."

I once knew a woman who thought she was the reincarnation of the Black Dahlia. Pretty much the saddest thing I've ever heard. When I think of my own reincarnation, I think of the real-life story of the horse being transported in a trailer whose leg was stuck outside a window of the trailer. The humans didn't have time to unload the trailer and re-adjust the horses within, so someone just sawed off the horse's leg that was sticking out of the window.

As EVERY religion in the world teaches you: Don't rely on the physical life for happiness. Now---if only one or another of dozens of cultures taught this, I might think it was just a shallow, cultural thing. But, going back thousands of years: The root of EVERY SINGLE CULTURE has taught to focus on the SOUL and the afterlife. Why is that? Was each and every one of these civilizations just stupid? Was it ALL a hoax concocted by those in power to subjugate the masses, as the Marxists later claimed?

The early Christians, for example, initially had ZERO power. They were complete low-lifes and outcasts, yet somehow later convinced major potentates like Justinian, for example, to accept their views. Why is that? What happened? Why are millions around the world following these beliefs today if there were not something to it?
 
Back in the mid-1990s, I travelled from Texas to California, and was stunned/awed by the barrenness of the landscape. "It looks like the bottom of the sea," I thought. As it turned out, that's exactly what this landscape had once been. 

Mars is known to have once had water. What if Earthlings are refugees from Mars as it ran out of resources? (Would that explain the dichotomy between advanced people and aborigines?) Or what if we were criminal outcasts from some other planetary society, given the Old Testament as a guide-post to our past history and how we should construct the new one?

It's all very mysterious. So thinks Not-Jack-Handey.

-----------------------------------

Addendum: I'm a "Portlandia" fan and was doing a search on Reddit, coming across a 12-year-old open forum from Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein, I think upon the release of their latest season of the show. Armisen asked the Reddit audience (paraphrased): "Which do you think is more accurate? What people of the time say, or what historians come up with centuries later?" If I remember right, he was referring specifically to the Egyptian pyramids. (And what a great question, though why ask it on Reddit, of all low-info places?) I was way-too-late to respond, but if I'd been there on Reddit:
People at the time. Because someone's dad or cousin or friend-of-a-friend would have been working on the pyramids and would have been able to tell you exactly how they hauled all of those rocks and what they ate for lunch. Centuries-later, only academics guessing.

German TV (1977): It's a Game / Rock-n-Roll Love Letter

 I was a 12-year-old BCR fan from the US in Germany this summer 
and saw this actual TV show!
(And, at the time, took Polaroids of the TV screen at my German aunt's house!)
While in Deutschland, my mom bought me the German version of 
Shaun Cassidy's debut album, plus the newly released "It's a Game" by the BCR---
much fancier than the US version, as I later discovered.

The Beatles: Happiness Is a Warm Gun (1968)

 

George and Tammy: We're Not the Jet Set (1973 on "Hee-Haw")

 

By a fountain back in Rome
I fell in love with you
In a small cafe in Athens
You said you loved me too

And it was April in Paris
When I first held you close to me
Rome, Georgia, Athens, Texas
And Paris, Tennessee

No, we're not the Jet Set
We're the old Chevrolet Set
There's no Riviera in Festus, Missouri
And you won't find Onassis in Mullinville, Kansas
No, we're not the Jet Set
We're the old Chevrolet Set
But ain't we got love?

No, we're not the Jet Set
We're the old Chevrolet Set
Our steak and martinis
Is draft beer with weinies

Our Bach and Tchaikovsky ("who's that?")
Is Haggard and Husky
No, we're not the Jet Set
We're the old Chevrolet Set
But ain't we got love?

No, we're not the Jet Set
We're the old Chevrolet Set
The Jones and Wynette set
Ain't the flamin' suzette set...

Tammy Wynette: Til I Can Make It On My Own (1976)

 

Tammy Wynette: It's Just a Matter of Time (1970)

 

Sleater-Kinney: A New Wave (2015 on Letterman)

 

Well every day I throw a little party
But a fit would be more fitting, fitting
And every time I come a little higher
Should I leap or go on living, living?
Hear the voices venomous and thrilling
In my head they're always calling, calling
But I wanna gotta go the way my blood beats
So I'm not fodder for their folly

No one here is taking notice
No outline will ever hold us
It's not a new wave, it's just you and me
Eyes are the only witness
Die to prove we ever lived this
Invent our own kind of obscurity

Let's destroy a room with this love
We can drain out all the power, power
Steal from the makers who unmade us
Leave them nothing to devour, devour
Well I am raw material
Make me plastic, make me fuel
I can be, I can be
I can be all

No one here is taking notice
No outline will ever hold us
It's not a new wave, it's just you and me
Eyes are the only witness
Die to prove we ever lived this
Invent our own kind of obscurity

No one here is taking notice
No outline will ever hold us
It's not a new wave, it's just you and me
Eyes are the only witness
Die to prove we ever lived this
Invent our own kind of obscurity

Sinead O'Connor: The Emperor's New Clothes (1990)

 Incredibly sad how bold and confident she sounded in 1990, yet how she ended up. 
By 2010, she was an oft-married, religion-switching, drug-addled nut-case 
who'd lost her kids, appearing on US talk shows and on the Internet 
discussing her mental problems. She died in 2023 at age 56.

Sinead O'Connor: Mandinka (from "The Lion and the Cobra," 1987)

 I have the below 1987 album cover on a T-shirt that I wore today.



(This was the European cover for the "Lion and the Cobra" album; 
the US album had a more demure shot, as shown on the video below.)

While doing errands today in my Sinead T: 

A 20-something homeless guy hanging around outside the post office as I left said: 
"Ma'am, I really like your shirt." 
(I love it! Now that I'm over 50, street-dudes and mechanics tend to call me "Ma'am" 
instead of giving me a hard time!)

And, later, in the UPS Store, the 30-something gay clerk said only: "Mandinka!"

This album came out a whopping 40 years ago!! 
And it's still known---among old ladies, gay store-clerks, random homeless guys!

 

I'm dancing the seven veils
Want you to pick up my scarf
See how the black moon fades
Soon I can give you my heart

I don't know no shame
I feel no pain
I can't see the flame
But I do know Man-din-ka
I do know Man-din-ka
I do know Man-din-ka

They're throwing it all this way
Dragging it back to the start
And they say, "See how the glass is raised?"
I have refused to take part
I told them, "Drink something new"
Please let me pull something through

I don't know no shame
I feel no pain
I can't see the flame
But I do know Man-din-ka
I do know Man-din-ka
I do know Man-din-ka

Merle Haggard + Tammy Wynette: Wembley Stadium UK (1988)

 I love Merle, but... TAMMY'S VOICE!!

George Jones: On the Back Row (1972)

 

Here I sit on the back row in a church down the street
Not too far from the place where we used to meet
And it's finally getting through to me, you found someone to love
But I'll go back to the place that I keep thinking of

It's not a fancy place just a tavern in the lonely part of town
Where lonely people find someone and hope to settle down
They tell me to go and I can't understand
Here I sit on the back row while you wed another man.

You'd never dream but after many years I may still be sittin' there
With just a bottle and two glasses right next to your favorite chair
And who knows, you might outlive him, and he might even do you wrong
There I'll sit in a tavern waiting for you all alone.

And it's not a fancy place just a tavern in the lonely part of town
Where lonely people find someone and hope to settle down
They tell me to go and I can't understand
Here I sit on the back row while you wed another man

George Jones: Moments of Brilliance (1987)

 

I wasn't the smart one in class
And I wasn't the one who ran fast
I begin things then I don't follow through
But I have moments of brilliance with you.

There are times when I'm flawless perfection itself
There are times when I'm even amazed at myself
I'll admit it my talents are few
But I have moments of brilliance with you.

I can't draw lines that look straight
I live life a half hour late
As a lover, I'm average, it's true
But I have moments of brilliance with you.

There are times when I'm flawless perfection itself
There are times when I'm even amazed at myself
I'll admit it my talents are few
But I have moments of brilliance with you.

Carrie Brownstein/Sleater-Kinney: Jumpers (2005)

 (please ignore Corin Tucker's screeching; she's Brownstein's Yoko)

I spend the afternoon in cars
I sit in traffic jams for hours
Don't push me, I am not ok

The sky is blue most every day
The lemons grow like tumors
They are tiny suns infused with sour

Lonely as a cloud
In the Golden State
The coldest winter that I ever saw
Was the summer that I spent

The only substance is the fog
And it hides all that has gone wrong
Can't see a thing inside the maze

There is a bridge adored and famed
The Golden spine of engineering
Whose back is heavy with my weight

Lonely as a cloud
In the Golden State
The coldest winter that I ever saw
Was the summer that I spent

Be still this old heart
Be still this old skin
Drink your last drink
Sin your last sin

Sing your last song
About the beginning
Sing it out loud
So the people can hear, let's go

Be still this sad day
Be still this sad year
Hope your last hope
Fear your last fear

You're not the only one
You're not the only one
You're not the only one
You're not the only one, let's go

My falling shape will draw a line
Between the blue of sea and sky
I'm not a bird, I'm not a plane

I took a taxi to the Gate
I will not go to school again
Four seconds was the longest wait

Four seconds was the longest wait
Four seconds was the longest wait
Four seconds was the longest wait
Four seconds was the longest

Carrie Brownstein/Sleater-Kinney: Modern Girl (2005)

 

My baby loves me, I'm so happy
Happy makes me a modern girl
Took my money and bought a TV
TV brings me closer to the world

My whole life
Was like a picture of a sunny day
My whole life
Was like a picture of a sunny day

My baby loves me, I'm so hungry
Hunger makes me a modern girl
Took my money and bought a donut
The hole's the size of this entire world

My whole life
Looks like a picture of a sunny day
My whole life
Looked like a picture of a sunny day

My baby loves me, I'm so angry
Anger makes me a modern girl
Took my money, I couldn't buy nothin'
I'm sick of this brave new world

"A Star Is Born": My favorite version (in order)

(1) 1976: Streisand and Kristofferson.

(2) 1937: Janet Gaynor and Fredric March.

(3) 1954: Judy Garland and James Mason.

(4) 2018: Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper. 

-------------------------------------------------------------

(1) 1976 -- Streisand's show-tunes did not at all fit in with the theme of her becoming a star via Kristofferson's country-rock fans. (They would have hated her.) And her closing "concert" is very "show-tune obnoxious." And her personality is kind of obnoxious throughout, yet their relationship (pushy-but-kind broad and laid-back dude) seems real. I felt something for both of them, and felt a heavy sense of loss at the end upon Kristofferson's death (not seen on screen, just the aftermath). 

And to think that Streisand first offered Elvis Presley this role in 1974. If he could have handled playing a real role (and handled pretending to be in love with Streisand)---this would have been TOO great!

(2) 1937 -- This is the first version I ever saw, on late-night TV, back when I was a very impressionable teen in the '80s. I felt a lot for this movie, and the people in it, and even wrote a poem about Norman's death at the time (one of my first poems ever, in 1985):

he will die within these waves
sunset-stripped to cloudy gray
and he will float beyond the tide
sinking to a stillness
not barren, not in need of hue

outstretched, he feels his cells divide
as the waters merge
as his salt explodes
as the ether parts
to let him live

(3) 1954 -- Just an entertaining movie. Felt nothing. Was especially annoyed by Garland and her big "show number" in the living room. (I've never found Garland to be as cute as she finds herself.)

(4) 2018 -- I couldn't get beyond the first 20 minutes.
 

Elvis Presley: 1956 in Tupelo, Mississippi

 

 

Erling Haaland's "Flow Kingz"

 10 years ago, a teen Erling and his soccer buddies doing a Norwegian rap about grilling, et al! :)

Norway's Erling Haaland in Dallas

Unfortunately, Haaland and his Norway team lost to England today, but 
he's still captured the attention/imagination of the world with his good-natured 

YouTube posts, like this one while visiting a Western boot/hat store in Dallas. 
(It's nice to see someone appreciating/enjoying America/Texas 

rather than the constant online deprecation from left-wing Americans/Europeans.)

Pool Companions

While tanning/swimming at my apt complex today, I got to hear a grand hours-long fight between a white gal and her Hispanic boyfriend, with her (not "their") 3-year-old son attendant. When I first arrived around noon, it was only the Hispanic guy and the kid. The second I walked over to a deck-chair, the guy, who was sitting under an umbrella, said to me: "Ma'am, if you need an umbrella, you can have this spot; we can move somewhere else."  !!!   #1: Do I look THAT old? :)   #2: There were 3 or 4 other seating areas with umbrellas available around the pool. He could see that... Me: "No, I really need to get some sun! Thanks for asking!"

Minutes later, his white girlfriend came out to the pool. An argument immediately ensued RE who had been disrespectful to whom previously. After loudly telling him to "fuck off" multiple times, he left the pool area. The little kid, who had previously been having a good time, immediately went over to a chair across the pool and started weeping copiously. The mom then made dramatic gestures: "What's wrong? Why are you crying?" And then dramatically gathered him to her breast... A half-hour later, the Hispanic dude reappeared. More "fuck you"s from the mom, plus "Me and my son are doing just fine on our own. I have a nice apartment, we have a happy home---until you always fuck things up!!" This time, SHE exited the pool area, with a dramatic slam of the pool gate, leaving the guy and the kid by themselves. Both seemed just fine afterward. (A real-life storm rolled in a few minutes later, so I went on inside. Don't know what happened to this "happy family.")

GOOD LORD. Who does this---and in front of a witness? And at a supposedly "happy place" like a pool? I feel bad for that little kid. Within 5 years, he'll be spouting "fuck you" just like mom.

Cultural Appropriation: Lupita Nyong'o as Helen of Troy

Helen of Troy, according to the new "Odyssey" movie, is best epitomized by Kenyan Lupita Nyong'o:

Helen of Troy (once of Sparta) is a figure out of Homer's Greek mythology:

"The most beautiful woman in the world." "The face that launched a thousand ships."
Her kidnapping by Paris led to the famous Trojan War.
It's argued whether or not Helen ever actually existed, but her mythological origins are certainly Greek. And the real city of Troy has been identified as existing in the Northwest area of modern-day Turkey:

 

 

Neither Greece nor Turkey are anywhere near the country of Kenya in Africa:

So why did the current "Odyssey" filmmakers choose to make Helen a very dark African woman, rather than relying on historical accuracy? 

On the BBC recently, two different "scholars" talking about the movie have said exactly the same thing (which is blatantly an example of received "talking points" rather than independent thought). 

To paraphrase their arguments: "We all want cultural figures who look like us. Like Jesus, or Santa. Helen of Troy falls into this category. Why is anyone disgruntled by a black Helen?" (Implied: You're only "disgruntled" if you're a racist.)
(1) Jesus: I agree---the Jewish Jesus should obviously never have been portrayed in 1950s US kitsch paintings as a blue-eyed blond! But, similarly, being from Judaea, he was certainly not a black African.
(2) Santa Claus: Initially a real-life 4th-century Greek bishop---St. Nicholas---he morphed with "Father Christmas" in 16th-century England, then was popularized by the northern European Dutch/Belgians/Swiss/Germans in the 18th-century, an image that remains prevalent today in Western countries. Again: If you're a purist, you might insist on a skinny, Greek-looking figure. But he was certainly not a black African.

(3) Helen of Troy: Greek/northern Turkish women do not look anything like Kenyans, or Lupita Nyong'o. Whether or not "Helen of Troy" actually existed, her concept was very much based on actual Greek/Turkish battles and literature, and on THEIR ideals of womanhood. NOT on 2026 politically correct images forced upon us.

Lupita Nyong'o is a pleasant-looking woman. Not a great beauty by any country's standards. But, more importantly, a Kenyan has nothing to do with Greek/Turkish history or standards of beauty, and so is obviously a big distraction in the role of "Helen of Troy." (Much as the Hispanic Rachel Zegler was a big distraction in the role of "Snow White"---based on a German fairy tale, with the name of the heroine based on the adjectival whiteness of her skin. The tale wasn't "Snow Brown." If you want a "Snow Brown," then write your own Hispanic version of it. Don't try to idiotically mangle the original.)
I also just read that Nyong'o was one of the stars of a couple of the "Black Panther" movies. Given that: Now, what if Hollywood liberals suddenly decided that Margot Robbie or Emma Stone should start appearing as heroines in "Black Panther" movies... Do you see how ridiculous that would be? Well, that's exactly as ridiculous as Nyong'o as "Helen of Troy" or Zegler as "Snow White." (Or any black actor as "James Bond.")

Don't like the Western culture that you now live in? 

#1: If you hate it, why are you here? Either make an intellectual effort to learn about/appreciate Western history and why it has worked, or go back home, where you might be happier in poverty rather than victim-complaining about how mean white people have obstructed your alleged potential advancement that never occurred until you started living in the West.

#2: Research your own myths and write about them/make movies about them. But attempting to change Jesus, Santa, and Helen of Troy into black Africans is ridiculous. Even white liberals know this (though they're currently loathe to admit it). But, hey, you still have Aesop!

Viking Row!

https://youtu.be/G5WUEqEkQZU?si=lfgxlxngChg1BW9b

And congrats to underdog England for beating Mexico in their home stadium!

 

HA! I despise Brazil! Congrats, Norway!

July 4th and New Year's Eve: The Fireworks Horror

For the solo person, July 4th and New Year's Eve are nightmares. 

I can easily handle being alone on these holidays, sans family/friends/acquaintances. What is nighmare-ish, though, is the fireworks going off around me. If they're from afar, that's OK. But often they're NOT from afar. Often they're within my apartment complex. Or else at the apartment complex across the street.

Mentally, I like to think that things will be OK when, on July 4, kids stop setting off things before midnight. On New Year's Eve, I think all might be well after 3am.

DEI Hires: Jewish Woman in Mexico, Asian Woman in Peru

The current leader of Mexico: Claudia Sheinbaum

The current leader of Peru: Keiko Fujimori 

Is it just me, or does it seem extremely odd that a Jewish woman is leading Mexico, and that an Asian woman is leading Peru? 

The populations of these countries would NEVER elect such. What Big Corporations are controlling these elections---and promoting these women in an attempt to gain Western money?

Oliver! (1968)

Oliver Twist

A couple of days ago, I had to call my tech company to re-set a password.  

I used "Oliver Twist" as part of my new password. The tech guy was amused at the funny name: "What is that, the name of a movie or something?" 

I tried briefly to explain: "Something Charles Dickens wrote back in the 1830s." I don't think the guy on the phone understood either "Charles Dickens" or "the 1830s." And I also don't think that he would have understood the clever 1968 movie!

Romy: Anatomy of a Face (1967 West German doc clip)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romy:_Anatomy_of_a_Face

And "Bee-Bom" by Sammy Davis, Jr, featured in the film:

Schneider also slept with Davis during this time. 

Apparently, it was de rigueur for many white actresses to sleep with 

token-black-ugly Sammy in the 1960s, to show how non-prejudiced they were!

Dan-o-Rama Joan Crawford Mega-Mix

"Country Roads": Japan stadium, 2019

 

One of the Most Profound Scenes I've Ever Seen On Film (1978)

 

I've never known a woman who bought her own house.

Hate to say this as a feminist, but it's true:

My mother got the house after my parents' divorce in the 1970s---the house initially paid for by my dad.

Every single friend that I had in college in the '80s or '90s is now living in a house that her husband paid for. Each husband has a high-paying, high-skilled job, while the wife is either not working at all or doing some sort of low-paying side-job like "Immigration Counselor" or "Chemist" (at her husband's brewery). 

I can't think of one woman I know who bought her own house! Pretty embarrassing for all of us ladies!

Andy Griffith + Joanna Moore: "Down in the Valley"

 I've posted this before, but I post again because the song itself is so pretty, 
and Moore and Griffith sing it so well together. 

And because of what ultimately happened with Joanna Moore's life.

Moore appeared in several episodes of "The Andy Griffith Show" as his love interest 
right before she married Ryan O'Neal in 1963. 
(I'm not a huge "Andy Griffith Show" aficionado online, but: 
No one likes the later "Helen Crump" and everyone likes Moore's "Peggy.")

Some accounts say Moore was sleeping with Griffith. (Which I'm sure O'Neal didn't like.) 
Moore also appeared in a 1962 Elvis movie ("Follow That Dream") and, according to reports,
slept with Elvis and then later tried to break down his door when he wouldn't respond to her.

She was married to Ryan O'Neal from 1963-1967.

She had a big drug/alcohol problem, but continued to work steadily in TV up until 1976 or so.
She died in 1997, age 63, of lung cancer, after being supported for years by her daughter, 
Tatum O'Neal, who was with her when she died.

Watching this beautiful song in 1962: How could anything bad ever happen??
 

Bay City Rollers: It's a Game (1977)

 

Summer o' 1977 (6 weeks in Germany)

 "Lay Back in the Arms of Someone" was big in Germany. 
Walking around, drunken young men on city streets were bellowing Smokie lyrics.
The Bay City Rollers had also just released their "It's a Game" album, 
which was also a very big deal.

"Country Roads" in Berlin (2025, NFL Football Game)

The Germans are a people, and they have a music that they like----

And it AIN'T hip-hop.

(Does anyone except shallow left-wing boy-writers in the US still like hip-hop?)

 

"Country Roads" English Pub Fans After Soccer Loss (2024)

 The English are a people, and they have a music that they brought over to the US. 
And it AIN'T hip-hop.

 

Crowd sings "Country Roads" post US/Australia World Cup game in Seattle

 

US National Anthem at US/Australia World Cup Game

Wow---I'm somehow sadly "grateful" that the players did not kneel. THANK YOU for representing your country! 

Though---why is 95% of the US soccer team black? Blacks are only about 13% of the US population. Same question for all of the Western Euro teams. Germany, England, Denmark---the teams are now primarily African, not European. 

No, Africans are not "better athletes"---the above Euro teams have won multiple World Cup championships with their own indigenous people.

Conversely: Most African teams at this 2026 World cup are 95% African; most Middle Eastern teams are 95% Middle Eastern; most Eastern Euro teams are 95% Caucasian. (South Americans mainly Hispanic, except for Brazil, which has long been mixed.) 

Do I need to ask what happened in US/Western Europe/Canada/et al since 2016? And the countries' leftist leadership led to DEI hiring, even among soccer players. For shame.

 

XTC: Dear God (1988)

Back when I first heard this XTC song in 1988, when I was 23---I was knocked out. "Things are so unfair! Why, God, why?? You must NOT be real!" This is how I'd been thinking since I first heard about God when I was a child: If he doesn't answer your prayers, he must not be real.

As I got older, I realized that all of humanity and its behavior was/is a test. The crucifixion of Jesus came about because the Jews failed to protect him against the Roman laws of the time. The Romans gave the Jews a choice of who to sacrifice. Had the Jewish leaders been brave enough, they would NOT have given up Jesus. Psychologically sick on the part of the Romans---they should have just let him go. But they decided to play a game: Since Jesus is the King of the Jews, who will the Jewish leaders pick to execute? And the weak Jewish leaders caved, and turned over Jesus instead of some common punks.

If there is a God testing humanity: Humans failed at this important crux. XTC didn't understand, intellectually, what was going on.

Dear God, hope you got the letter
And I pray you can make it better
Down here
I don't mean a big reduction in the price of beer
But all the people that you made in your image
See them starving on their feet
'Cause they don't get enough to eat
From God
I can't believe in you

Dear God, sorry to disturb you, but I feel
That I should be heard loud and clear
We all need a big reduction in amount of tears
And all the people that you made in your image,
See them fighting in the street
'Cause they can't make opinions meet
About God
I can't believe in you

Did you make disease, and the diamond blue?
Did you make mankind after we made you?
And the devil too!

Dear God, don't know if you noticed
But your name is on a lot of quotes in this book
Us crazy humans wrote it
You should take a look
And all the people that you made in your image
Still believing that junk is true
Well I know it ain't, so do you,
Dear God
I can't believe in
I don't believe in

I won't believe in heaven and hell
No saints, no sinners, no devil as well
No pearly gates, no thorny crown
You're always letting us humans down

The wars you bring, the babes you drown
Those lost at sea and never found
And it's the same the whole world 'round
The hurt I see helps to compound
That Father, Son and Holy Ghost
Is just somebody's unholy hoax

And if you're up there you perceive
That my heart's here upon my sleeve
If there's one thing I don't believe in
It's you
Dear God

My First Album, The First Song on Side One (1976)

The Skunks: Earthquake Shake (1979)

Jesse Sublett, Austin, Texas

 

Voyager left Earth in 1977. The "pale blue dot" is us in 1990, as seen from Voyager, 13 years away.

Books/vids ordered in the past 2 weeks

 

Music ordered in the past 2 weeks

Imagine a world constructed by Lead Belly, Guthrie, and Glenn Gould----

We'd all be driven insane with the ongoing horror-combo of 

murder/Commie dogma/total OCD.

Thanks, Belinda, for only having a coke habit!

 

Glenn Gould on Beethoven's Sonata No. 17 (1967)

 

Glenn Gould: Bach's Goldberg Variations (broadcast 1964, CBC)

 

Via the Criterion Channel, I finally watched "32 Short Films About Glenn Gould," 
which I'd been hearing about since it came out in 1993. 
It's "clever" (though star Colm Feore does not manage to channel the real Gould at all), 

but this film did what I think it was supposed to do:
Made me go learn more about the real Glenn Gould!

Belinda Carlisle (Leave a Light On---TOTP, 1989)

Belinda Carlisle covers Cream's "I Feel Free" (1987)

 

Belinda Carlisle: Circle in the Sand (1987)

 

You're up by 29 in the 3rd quarter...

And you're still up by 15 in the 4th. And then the Spurs absolutely blew it. (No, I'm not going to post any video---it's too horrible to watch!) I actually felt sick after last night's game, and I still feel sick the morning after. And I made myself watch all of the idiotic ESPN shows with Stephen A. Smith to make myself feel even worse. 

My god, what a nationally televised CHOKE by my team.

Sleater-Kinney: Modern Girl (2015)

 Carrie Brownstein is "sorta" my Dream Woman.
She's exceptionally drily/absurdly funny in "Portlandia." (As is her cohort, Fred Armisen.)

And I like her intelligence in personal interviews and in her song-writing.
But... I just don't like the bulk of her Sleater-Kinney music that much. 

This song and performance, though, are GREAT!
 

Spurs now down 2-0 against Knicks in Finals... (But some droll intro music!)

Very deflating to lose Game 2 tonight. (And first 2 games were both in San Antonio. We lost both. Not confident that we'll fare particularly well at Madison Square Garden for the next 2 games!)

But I must say, I did get a kick out of the fruity piccolo (flute? I can't tell) music the Spurs auditorium used to introduce the Knicks players before each of the first 2 games! 

It's usually a "thing" where the home announcer uses an intentionally-very-flat tone of voice to announce the opposing players, then amps everything up when announcing the home players. 

But this intro, with the piccolo/flute (played at intro of both games), was, I thought, especially humorous! 

(When I went to other sports sites online, though, turns out Knicks fans were not so amused!) 

The Go-Gos on Berlin TV (1982)

 

The Go-Gos in Central Park (2001): Head Over Heels

 

The Go-Gos in Central Park (2001): I Wanna Be Sedated

 Back to their punk roots!

My Current 48-inch TV + My Past 12-inch Experiences

While watching Game 1 of the Spurs vs Knicks game on my 48-inch color TV, I'm reminded of many past TV memories:

(1) In 1972 or so, my family had had a black-and-white console for all of my life. (I was 7 at that time.) One day, some strange men came in take it away. My mom and dad pretended that TV was going away forever---and so I cried. But, as it turned out, they'd actually just ordered a color TV replacement.

(2) In 1976, "Gone With The Wind" was shown for the first time on national television. At this time, I had a small 12-inch B/W TV in my bedroom. My dad acted like he didn't want to watch GWTW with me and my mom, so he retreated to my bedroom, ostensibly to watch sports or something. But when I went back there to visit him... he was also watching GWTW! :)

(3) In 1977, early evening, I was 12 and lying on my bed and watching my small TV while also reading. My dad came into my room and demanded to know what I was doing. He didn't seem to understand how one could possibly have the TV on while simultaneously reading. He demanded that I immediately stop reading (!). Yeah, whatever. I didn't stop reading. But he came back into my room a few minutes later. When he saw my book still open and the TV still on, he then dragged me by my hair down the hallway and threw me into the living room. (This was still in the early evening, and what was most embarrassing to me was that a neighbor kid happened to ring the door-bell at the time, and probably got to hear some of my shrieking. Sad that what the neighbor-kid thought was the most of my worries.)

(4) After my parents were (thankfully) divorced, I used to surreptitiously watch movies late into the night on my tiny TV. My mom was strict, so I'd stuff a towel under the door to block any light flickering. One night that I've remembered forever: "Wild in the Streets" and "Song of Bernadette." (There was another film in there, but I can't remember it.) At the end of the night, the sun was coming up. The first time that I'd EVER stayed up all night, along with my first-time realization that there was nothing so mysterious about "the night."

(5) While in college in the early '80s: Still all I had was a very small 12-inch B/W TV (up until about 1986, when I think I advanced to 18 inches). At one point, VHS videos were a relatively new thing. Some video stores allowed you to rent a machine along with your videos. I rented a machine once, when I was trying to entertain a friend (we watched "The Shining"). And when I wanted to watch older films that I hadn't seen before: I went to the college library, which allowed you to check out films and sit in a small room and watch them. (How I first saw "Grand Hotel" and "Anna Christie," for instance---I was a serious young thing.)

Lengthy Interview with Andy Griffith (1959)

 

Turn Your Radio On (1972) --- Andy Griffith

Do I want to believe this, or do I want to believe in nothingness? 

("This" is actually more logical---life doesn't exist in a vacuum. Oh, and actual physicists like Einstein say that energy "cannot be created or destroyed." So if you die, where does that energy go? PBS says: There's "Dark Energy" out there in space, but they don't know what it is... Hmmm... If both the left-wing PBS and astrophysicists don't know...)

Leave It to Andy! :)

Well, come and listen in to a radio station
Where the mighty hosts of heaven sing
Turn your radio on, turn your radio on
If you want to feel those good vibrations
Coming from the joy that His love can bring
Turn your radio on, turn your radio on

Turn your radio on and listen to the music in the air
        Turn your radio on, heaven's glory share
        Turn your lights down low and listen to the Master's radio
        Get in touch with God, turn your radio on

Don't you know that everybody is a radio receiver
All you got to do is listen for the call
Turn your radio on, turn your radio on
If you listen in, you will be a believer
Leaning on the truth that will never fall
Get in touch with God, turn your radio on

Congrats Spurs! On to the Finals!

I've been a Spurs fan since the 1990s, when my mother lived there. In 1999, I actually got to attend a Finals game, Spurs v. Knicks---the Spurs winning the series.

Popovich was called a "great" coach for many years---only when he had great stars like Robinson and Duncan. When he didn't have stars to work with, he was mediocre.

Popovich had a stroke in November 2024--which was the only way the Spurs org could get rid of him.
In the 7 or 8 years prior to that time under his leadership, the Spurs hadn't done anything.  
When new coach Mitch Johnson took over in November 2024: The Spurs were mediocre that one year. But in the very next year: They're now in the Finals! 

 

What would YOU do?

You've been with someone (in this case, my first lover) for about 6 months. She invites you to spend a weekend in Galveston with her. Going out to eat is fine. Walking on the beach is fine. You get home on Sunday. And are lazing about in bed on this Sunday, as lovers do...

While lazing, the girlfriend's roommate takes a call from the girlfriend's ex-lover and the girlfriend starts talking to her. WHILE I'M IN BED WITH HER. I wait a few minutes for the call to end, then maybe 10 minutes more, then I get the fuck out of bed and pack up my stuff and go home.

What should have been a pleasant, intimate ending to a nice weekend turned into shit. What happened here is pretty much what happened once me and this shitty GF actually moved in together the following December. We couldn't have people over without her coming on to every "femme" in the room. 

This was my first lover. And I do NOT blame myself, because I was young and had no idea how creepy and awful a "first lover" could be. I thought it would automatically be nice!

What would YOU do if, after a supposedly romantic weekend, your lover---while IN BED WITH YOU---took such a call?

How you know you're old:

Back in 2019, the feral Mama Cat that I'd been feeding for a few months had her babies in the yard next to mine, then moved them all into my yard. A Mama and three babies. I posted flyers at my workplace, and asked people that I worked with (especially two women who were cat-lovers) if they wanted a new kitten... One just didn't like ME, so she didn't want my kittens! The other told me, honestly, that she was now too old----in her mid-60s; she didn't feel that she could take on a baby pet that might outlive her.

That might have been the first time I thought seriously about being old, and about dying: You can't just adopt a new pet at random if you think their life-span might be longer than yours.

And still relevant to getting old:
I've been making decent money for the past 7 years or so, and so have been finally able to contemplate long-term finances (as opposed to just scraping by).  

One of my financial fantasies: Buy another good used car at 60; then at 70, buy a brand new car that will last me 'til the end! But---at age 60: I might not live to age 70. And I've never had a new car in my life. So, I think that at age 60, I should go ahead and experience getting a new car for the first time ever!

AND: A few years ago, I wrote here about shower curtains and couches----When you're young, the options seem endless and timeless. But at a later date in your life, you realize you're keeping these shower curtains and couches for around 5-10 years... And that you only have so many shower curtains and couches left in your life cycle....

Urban Cowboy: Bud + Sissy

That placing of the "Sissy" plate back in the window is
one of the most iconic of ALL scenes in ANY movie.

This whole movie was well-done in every way.
I loved "Bud." I loved "Sissy." I loved their whole white-trash relationship.
One of my favorite films ever.

Andy Griffith: Sourwood Mountain (1961)

Belly: Feed the Tree (1993: The last Alt album I ever bought at that time?)

I'd also just bought Courtney Love's "Live Through This" in 1994. 

Which was mediocre, but we were supposed to like it 'cause it was about Kurt.
Around 93-94, I stopped listening to Alt Rock altogether. 

I was in my late 20s, I'd just moved to San Francisco for grad school. I wanted a change.
Back then, there was no Internet or YouTube, 

but you could still order "12 CDs for $1" from newspaper ads! :)
So, just to shake up my music-listening, I used my $1 to order some rap and some old-school Country.
I remember Warren G sucking especially.
And I remember George Jones and Tammy Wynette being especially good!

----------------------------

But this last-call Alt Belly album was also good:

This old man I've talked about
Broke his own heart, poured it in the ground
Big red tree grew up and out
Throws up its leaves and spins round and round

I know all this and more
So take your hat off when you're talkin' to me
And be there when I feed the tree

This little squirrel I used to be
Slammed her bike down the stairs
They put silver where her teeth had been
Baby silver tooth, she grins and grins

I know all this and more
So take your hat off, boy, when you're talkin' to me
And be there when I feed the tree
Take your hat off, boy, when you're talkin' to me
And be there when I feed the tree

This old man I used to be
Spins around, around, around the tree
Silver baby, come to me
I'll only hurt you in my dreams

I know all this and more
So take your hat off, boy, when you're talkin' to me
And be there when I feed the tree
Take your hat off when you're talkin' to me
And be there when I feed the tree

Wemby Highlights in Game 1

 

Western Conference Finals: Game 1 (Spurs vs OKC)

I've been a Spurs fan since my mom lived in San Antonio in the 1990s. Even got to attend a Finals game between the Spurs and Knicks in 1999!

We've sucked for the past 7 or 8 years (Popovich's coaching decline and his refusal to give up the helm---until he was absolutely forced to by his stroke in late 2024). 

But we're back now, baby! Double overtime win against the defending champs: Go, Spurs, Go!