Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Friday, December 12, 2008
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Monday, December 1, 2008
Used to have an old upright piano like above, only in somewhat better shape. Never had it tuned, but it was a great boogie woogie piano. Talked about it in an early episode of this blog, if youre interested. Somehow survived Thanksgiving, though it was tense. Mark and Betsy (son and d.i.l.) cooked most of the food, which was great, although they substantially left us with the greasy clean-up. Enjoyed their company, though. The wife got a bit crabbly prior to, but mellowed out once the kids showed up. All in all, a nice time.
This is a boring entry, I guess, but not a lot to say. Will be interested to see Cadillac Records, a new movie about the early days of Chess Records. I like music biopics, like The Buddy Holly Story, in which Gary Busey makes up for all the subsequent insanity in his life. Also, there's one about Richie Havens, which is great, and I especially like Selena, starring Jennifer Lopez. She is great in that. Nobody to my knowledge has ever done a good one about the Beatles, so someone needs to step up.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Some astronomers recently discovered some planets; large gas giants, orbiting a star on the fringe of the Milky Way, about 500 light years (500,000,000 miles) from Earth. Significance was Hubble was able to actually take pictures of them. Not closeups, but enough detail to identify them as planets. As Carl Sagan used to say, with "billions and billions" of stars, there must be "billions and billions" of planets out there, and some of them must harbor life. Maybe intelligent life, perhaps superior to our own. We are incredibly arrogant to assume we are the only intelligent life in the universe. They why hasn't someone tried to get in touch yet? Thats one of the great mysteries!
On a more picayune scale, I don't think we should bail out the U.S. automakers; let them go bankrupt, and finally make the painful adjustments called for in a capitalist economy, when you manage your company very poorly. Sorry for the pain of the employees, but they will lay off hundreds of thousands anyway.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
I havent posted in quite awhile, so thought I would throw in two pictures, going along with the "old time" theme I am on lately. Been thinking a lot about the past, my childhood, etc. Dad had a couple Fords in the 50's, which were good, sturdy cars. I learned to drive in his '49 Ford convertible, with stick shift on the floor. He had two 55 or 56 fords; a coupe, with a Thunderbird v-8, which could really haul. Also had a 56 wagon, which was good, too. We had a 64 Ford Falcon convertible, red, with white top; a nice care. I miss the old days, which were much richer for me than the present. Our kids (and grandkids) don't have the freedom we had, and they missed the birth and mutation of rock and roll in the 50's, 60's, and 70's. I was a witness and participant in the mid-20th century show, and really appreciate that gift from the maker.
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Miscellany
Some old rockers, and a very old building. Nothing in common, except both old, like me. Old as the hills, and twice as dusty. Too old to cut the mustard anymore. However, there may be snow on the chimney, but there's still a fire in the furnace. My grandma had a coal bin in her basement. Coal truck would show up every year, and stick a coal chute through the basement window, directly into the coal bin. Her house was always hot in the winter, the way she liked it. I'm sure coal fired heat was dirty, but it was central PA., and nobody cared, in those days. I think they converted to fuel oil in the 60's. Not sure that's any great improvement, except way more expensive.
Friday, September 19, 2008
Friday
Here's acouple of kind of cool photos for you. Lightnin Hopkins was my favorite old blues man in the late 60's. He played a kind of slow, electrified country blues that appealed to me. My old pal, Chris called me "Lightnin Bill", because I liked to play slow blues, and appeared to be almost catatonic, and extremely laid back, a lot of the time. Still waters run deep, as they say.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Today is My Birthday, Today, Today!
Friday, September 12, 2008
Friday Again - How Original!
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
The Latest Thinking
The other picture is here because I like this chick - she has a loopy kind of sensuality that pleases an old dude like me. That's about as sexy as we get in Bill Bee's Basement, though.
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
The Basement Floods
Friday, August 29, 2008
More Friday Doldrums
Friday, August 22, 2008
Friday Doldrums
Here's just some good old stuff, no particular reason. I'm still downloading a lot of old R&R - Its amazing how much I actually missed, back in the day. I thought I was always up on the latest thing, but once married life kicked in for me in the mid-70's, I apparently missed a lot. Many of my old heros (like Neil) produced a lot of good stuff in the late 70's to current, and until about a year ago, I missed most of it. Thank God for old fanatics like myself, and the net. You can get just about anything you want, at Alice's Restaurant, as Arlo used to sing.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Latest and Greatest Post
Were are supposedly having a tropical storm in old Sarasota today, but fortunately, it blew further east, as far as the eye is concerned, and we are only getting a mild breeze and some rain. Pictures above represent the old rockers (CSNY, below), and a new rocker (top picture). Its all good, as they say. I will try to think of something more meaningful to post next time around.
Monday, August 11, 2008
At Last, A Post!
Monday, July 28, 2008
Miscellany
Friday, July 18, 2008
Here We Go Again
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Another Day, Another Dollar, and More Boredom
Monday, July 7, 2008
Finally, a Post!
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Arizona Trip
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Bo Diddley Dies
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Finally, a Posting!
Friday, May 23, 2008
Friday - Memorial Day Weekend!
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Thursday - Space Quest, and Rock and Roll!
This is the maintenance deck, on the Galaxy Queen. Note the robot maintenance guy. This was not to be first mission to another star system. There had been two prior, both since the discovery of fusion ion propulsion engines, in 2275. The first the Star Explorer mission, launched by the ISU (international space union), in 2300. The target was the closest star system discovered at that time to have a solar system, with possibly habitable planets. This was the Xperion system, about .5 light years distant, in the same general section of the Milky Way as our solar system. That mission was much smaller in scale, with a crew of about 200, and no colonists, since it was basically an exploration mission, with no colonization envisioned. The mission, which too about 6 months at near light speed, was a success, by all accounts, although no habitable planets were discovered. The system had 10 planets, four of them with detectable atmospheres, mostly of the hygrogen/methane variety, similar to our gas giants. The second mission, dubbed Star Trek, in tribute to the late 20th century science fiction phenomenon, was aimed at a system 1.5 light years distanct, closer to the core of our galaxy, and took almost 2 years to reach it's destination. At this time, in 2230, the reach of our space telescopes had extended our ability to assess the characteristics and potential of other system in a much more sophisticated manner. This solar system, include on planet that was definitely Earth-type, with with abundant carbon-based life in evidence, at least plant life, as well as extensive liguid water, and an oxygen-rich atmosphere. The mix of gases appeared to be different than Earth's, but might possibly be breathable. More in the next installment of this story......
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Tuesday
Monday, May 19, 2008
In the Basement Today
The other picture is not guitars, although it has guitars in it. It also has a nice looking young blonde girl, although I don't want to sound like a D.O.M. I do appreciate the beauty of God's creation, though. (Nothing wrong with that). The band is The Subways. The wife and I have been watching The O.C. (I know, it's aimed at teenagers, but we like it because it's a pretty good soap opera). The adults are very good, too. Anyway, they had the Subways playing in their fake beachside nightclub, and their song, "Be My Little Rock and Role Queen", intrigued me. Their sound, like all great r&r is spare, intense, repetitive and hypnotic. Great grinding guitars, nice harmonies (with a raw sound), and good drumming. Rock On!