Still miss Johnny and June. It disturbs me somewhat that our unique personalities are lost when we die. Of course, artists like Johnny and June achieve a certain type of immortality through their legacy of work, but unfortately, they aren't around to appreciate it any more. At least, I don't think they are around (unless it's like Ghost Whisperer, where they can hang around and watch what's going on, or as in Christian mythology, can watch over us from heaven. Hope its the latter.

Well, we survived our 9 day epic journey to Anderson, SC, and Louisburg (up from Raliegh), NC. Left Saturday last week at 9 am, got as far as just North of Macon, Ga. by nightfall. Stayed at a Comfort Inn - supposedly new, but not great. Left about 8 am next day, got to brother-in-laws house, where Sue's Mom is, by mid-day. Stayed there till Wednesday, mid-day. Overnight first night at a LaQuinta, that was obviously a converted old dump. Nice conversion, but it didn't smell too good, and the wife insisted we relocate for the second two nights. Moved to the Homewood Suites we had stayed at before, which wasn't much better, but didn't smell so bad. Adele (Jim's wife) cooked for us the whole time, so that was good. Ate too much , as usual, drank a lot of coffee to stay awake. Mom did pretty well. Sue put her little Xmas tree together, did a puzzle with her, showed her the Slovak dolls, etc. and basically spent a good deal of time with her. It was nice to be with her. On Wednesday, drove up I-85, past Greenville, Charlotte, Winston-Salem, Greensboro, Durham, to daughter's house in Louisburg. Had a nice thanksgiving dinner, which we didn't have to cook. Visited with the 2 granddaughters, endured the son in law, who was not thrilled we came, as usual. Weather wasn't bad (50's for highs), but too cold for us Florida people. We were glad to start for home on Saturday morning. Drove down I-95 as far as St. Augustine that day, put in at a Fairfield Inn for the night. It was new, clean, and by far the best motel we stayed at on that trip. Marriot does a good job, generally. At at a local Italian place recommended by the staff, which was pretty good. Left at 8:30 AM Saturday, stopped at Disney Marketplace. Took a baloon ride (tethered, goes up 400 feet), which was new, and cool - you can see all of Disneyworld. Then, at at the nearby steamboat restaurant (cant remember the name), which was cool too. Decent food. We browsed through the soveineer shops, particularly the Cristmas stuff, didn't buy anything, and left about 1 Pm. Got home as expeced by 3 PM. The house was in pretty good order - usually something is broken when we come back. Sure as shootin, next day the wife says the water-on-the-door of the refrigerator wouldn't work. Monday, I called a repairman, who charged me $40 to come out and tell me the water line in the freezer door was frozen cause we had it too cold, and didn't use it for a week. Told me to turn off the freezer, leave door open for awhile, and he left. Sure enough, it thawed within less than an hour. Next time I will know what to do, so guess it was worth $40. At least not a big deal.
Glad to be back in FLA~!

Going on the road again tomarrow. Up to Anderson, SC so the wife can visit with her mom for a couple days, and deliver some stuff to her. Then, up to Raliegh area, for Thanksgiving, to visit with daughter, her 7 and 12 year olds (and husband). Will be gruelling, but good to get away. Hope it doesn't rain too much - supposed to rain in Atlanta on Sunday, but we should be through there by noon (to Anderson).

This is a boring blog entry, I am sure. See that Oprah is quitting her show ! (horrors!). She should get by well enough, though, with her 20 or so Billion $$$, I think. She is starting her own cable network, so maybe she'll show up there as a news anchor. Who knows. She was good with Sarah Palin the other day, but too easy on her, I think. Sarah seems like a likeable, down to earth person, but not a great intellect. And some of the far-right ideas that come out of her mouth are pretty reactionary.

These pictures are what you would call "juxtiposed". They have little, if anything, to do with each other. I've been listening lately to a 2008 live show of The Who, who sound as great as ever. Pete's kid plays bass, and Zack Starkey (Ringo's boy, of course), plays drums. As good as ever. Makes me a little wistful, however, listening to them - how long can they keep it up? Bottom pic is Stan and Ollie, of course. They have achieved a kind of imortality. Still crack me up when I watch them - Stan drives Ollie nuts, but they still love each other. What a riot.

Eagles Mere is a little mountain town, in central Pa., my old home place. In the first half of the 20th century, it was somewhat of a resort town. Don't know if it still is, but is certainly remote (down around Bradford). I recall going there once, with my folks, and Nana (dad's mother), back in the 50's, when I was but a wee lad. Nana grew up in her early years in that area, where I was told her father was a country hotel keeper. Later, they moved to Williamsport (the big city), where he got into the gift store business, which she continued through the 1980's (till she was about 85). I have talked about my Grandmas in previous posts - they made quite an impression on me as a young man.

The second picture has absolutely nothing to do with anything, except it is a cool picture of Muddy in his prime, or more accurately on the brink of his world wide celebrity, when he had just been discovered by the folkie crowd. He was, of course, at the height of his powers earlier, in the 50's, but known mostly at that time only to the black blues audience.

Having a garage sale at my mother-in-laws house tomarrow, as part of a neighborhood sale. She's the one moved up to South Carolina, to live with her son for awhile. She can't live by herself these days, and unlikely she will come back to the Sarasota house. So, at the wife's behest, we are liquidating some (but not all) of her accumulated junk. She does have some nice collectibles, but much of it is garage sale stuff she bought. Somewhat of a pack rat, she was, but there are worse things. Cleaning out is good for the soul.

I got a call from my old friend, Don, this weekend - first in about 30 years. Don and I have exchanged Christmas cards over the years, and he kept threatening to call me. It was nice to talk to him, but somewhat of a strain as well. He didn't sound like he did in 1969. And a lot of water has flown under the bridge for both of us since that time of youthful drunkeness and hijinks. Like me, he married (Betty), had a bunch of kids, now has grandkids. He worked for the VA, now works for Purple Hearty, helping Vets lobby the VA for help. I am a real estate appraiser (hurrah). We talked about some of the old Crestview Heights gang (Endicott, NY); Pete C., Pete S., Randy M. He recently heard from Pete, who was trying to track me down (not sure why). Pete and I used to walk home a few miles from high school. He always had to stop for a milkshake or double cone, at Pat's. Remembered an embarrasing trip (for me), we took to Lake George, where I made a drunken ass of myself with her folks. Pete thought it was a hoot at the time. My how times have changed (much tamer). I don't drink much; it makes me sleepy and stupid. Used to think it made me more social. My wife says it did, and that I acted like an ass when I was drunk.

Some images from my old home place; central Pennsylvania. First is the old city jail, in Williamsport. My Nana had a gift shop near there, and I used to walk around town and check everything out. In those days (50's), a 10 year old kid could wander far and wide, even downtown, without being harrassed. Second is a 50's picture of World's End State Park. We used to go down there, about an hour southwest of Williamsport, in Sullivan County. Shallow rapids in a wide creek

Wow - 3 pictures! All things I love. First is Goldie, of course -in her 20's, best blonde I know of. The Moodies - kept me sane in the70's. Finally, a nice watercolor of one of the creek crossings in Sabino Canyon (Tucson). Sept 17 is my Birthday. Born in the last year of WWII. I am pleased to say I have some memory of the 50's (Elvis on Ed Sullivan, Bandstand, Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee, Little Richard, Rick Nelson, do-wop, etc. The 60's, I remember very well. Beach Boys, Beatles, Franki Valli, Supremes, MoTown in general, Stax/Volt, the Stones, Hendrix, Janis, Airplane, Moodies, Joni Mitchell, Muddy Waters, Procol Harum, Dylan, Who, Neil Young, etc. The 70's was Moodies, Stones, The Band, Dylan, Donna Summer, Talking Heads, etc. The 80's was good for REM, Hall & Oates, and a lot of decent music I can't remember very well. My daughter liked Bowie, Hall & Oates, stuff like that. The 90's, can't recommend much, and definitely nothing worthwhile in the 2000's, except old fogies doing good new work (like Neil Young, Who, Stones, Bob Dylan). Sue and i are survivors, still living the Dream.

I've got nothing to say, but it's OK; good morning, good morning, good morning-a!

(followed by great, GH guitar rif)

My birthday September 17; 63. Wife and I are going up to Wally World, for two days, staying overnite at the Movies motel. Take the bus around the World, no worries. Probably to Magic Kingdom, Epcot, maybe to MGM (Movies). Crowds shouldnt be too bad this time of year. Hope it doesn't rain too much. Still hot and humid in The Swamp. Determined to have a good time anyway.

We moved our offices Monday. No, the above pic has nothing to do with that - My grandmother used to have one of those, and old 78's. Low-tech is best! Just crank it up, and put the nail int eh groove, and it plays music. The new office is nice, not scummy yet. Only about a mile east of the old one, but closer to my house (about 5 min. drive now, instead of 10). That's great. I figure about 2 more years, till the wife wants to seriously move to Tucson, so will enjoy it for know. Not much going on for us this Labor Day weekend, except some yard and house chores - what fun. Maybe will see son, Mark and his wife, Betsy (maybe not). You know how 30ish kids are - they think we are a burden, most of the time. Were a lot more interesting than they give us credit for. They don't want to remember that they got to be the independent, smart and successful people they are because we raised them right. Oh well.

Just a couple of cool pics. I included the picture of Chuck because it is a cool picture of the great innovator, in his heyday. I just like the old shack too. Funky.

Not much in the mood for rambling today. Tired of the "health care" debate. Just settle it in Washington, and leave us out of it. Hope we get some reform, and better access cost, but the rightwingers are determined to ruin our fun, as usual. Oh well.

I don't go to the doctor much, but want to have the option, if I need to, without ruining myself financially. Don't know any other civilized country today where this happens like it does in the good old USA.

I think I talked about our trip up to South Carolina, do drop Mom at her son's house (Jim). We went weekend before last, driving 12 hours on Friday, straight through. I call it "driving miss daisy". She did really well, I think, using her walker, and though it was a slow go, showed some determination. However, since getting to Jim's, she has given him a good run for his money - getting up a night a few times, by herself, to the bathroom. Problem is, she is unsteady on her feet, and Jim is afraid she will fall and break something again. Old age is hell, and being the aging child of a WW2 generation person is no fun either. At least she's not our immediate problem this time, as she was for six month this year. I do miss her, though.

Listening to live Stones concert from 75, in Buffalo, NY; good stuff - Mick Taylor playing that snakey guitar, Keith churning out the chuncky Chuck riffs, Bill and Charlie providing the funky bottom, and I think Billy Preston on pianer. Mick, of course, doing his mid-70's funky best, including pseudo-Caribean accent, at times. Lost of stuff from Gimme Shelter, Exiles, etc. Great stuff.

The above picture symbolizes the Republican Party these days. Their tactics vs. Obama's health care reform proposals resemble those of the Nazi's, who used to send in goons to disrupt their opponent's meetings, often provoking fist fights, and always preventing the opposition (Democrates, socialists, etc.), from getting their message accross. Their propaganda supported this tactic with lies, and hateful stereotypes (of politicians, in this case). As Nancy Pelosi said recently, such behavior is unAmerican, and should be deplored. Indeed, the lastest polls show that the Republicans aren't really gaining in terms of support for their extremist positions. They are obviously well funded by powerful pharmaceutical and medical industry lobbyists, as well as the large insurance companies, who have a strong vested interest in preserving the lousy status quo. Do you love your insurance company? Then you are deluded! You love every increasing premiums, and disappearing coverage!

A cool train. There is something misisng in 21st century life; it has no substance. Steam trains prevailed into the early 20th century, and something is missing in their passing. They were noisy, dirty, but very impressive. Their passage through your little valley was an event. Any town of any size had train service. Until, in the mid-20th century, we decided in the U.S. that the automobile was superior to the train, and to build highways instead of maintain railways. Now we miss them badly. Mr. Obama want's to reinvigorate the rail system, and provide commuter and long distance rail services to most cities. I wish him luck.

See, old men can still rock. Lately, though, I feel like Bozo in his rocket ship, heading for a big crash. My wife's mom is 85, and we put her in the nursing home on Monday, for more "rehab". She doesn't know fact from fiction, and after hip surgery, is fighting them on getting her up and walking again. This has been going on for six months, since a "stroke" or siezure, in February, and we are both burned out on it. That's life in the "sandwich" generation, I guess.

On a more cheery note, I've been listening again to Robin Trower. Originally with Procol Harum, in 60's and 70's, he has had a strong solo career - in my opinion, about the best blues/rock guitar player from that era still left. They used to rap him for doing Hendrix rip-offs, but his style has evolved into his own over the years. Listening to an album he did with Jack Bruce (Cream bass player and singer), from 1989. About 15 strong cuts. Also, Robin's 2009 solo album, which is very nice.

I guess I need to download some more pictures for my Blog. This one's cute, though. Didn't know Imperial Japan liked Mickey Mouse. My wife's family is driving us nuts. Her Mom is 85, and having memory and physical problems, and has been living with us (joy). We have had a constant parade of her relatives in town all summer, all wanting to see and "help" mom, but basically just adding another layer of crap to deal with. Then they call from out of town, and try to armchair quarterback mom's care. I am ready to book a flight to Alaska, and rent a cabin indefinitely. I never see my family, including my parents and two brothers, who living out of state. Seems like our whole life centers around her mother, and her relatives. Sick of it. This blog entry is getting depressing, so will now discontinue this line of commentary.

I felt bad for Michael Jackson, although the media hype and hysteria is sickening. Michael was about 12 years younger than me, but he as been a star most of my adult life, from the Jackson 5, in early 60's, to the King of Pop in 80's, then persecuted ex-superstar in 90's and 2000's. Despite his strangeness in recent years, I doubt very much he was a pedophile, just a gentle, tortured soul who lived a highly artificial life. If you will recall, in the 80's, he was a promoter of children's rights and welfare, on a world wide scale, a very uplifting guy. It's a shame he was dragged through the mud of legal charges - he never fit the profile of a pedophile, in my opinion, who are more likely to be fat, 60 year old men. He may have been gay, but I think his love for children was genuine. It was touching to see his oldest daughter at the memorial, speaking up for her father. This didn't look like the kid of a pervert. So, I hope he will be remembered for the talented and gentle soul that I think he was. Enough said.

The new, and the old. First one, of course, is the young Dr. Spock. The second is the old Bob Dylan. Saw the new Star Trek last weekend, and it was very good. To my surprise, they honored the original characters, and the young actors tipped their hats to the old guys. The obviously better CGI-enhanced special effects were excellent, and didn't overwhelm the story. A good deal of humor as well. I've been listening to boots of recent Dylan concerts. Bob has a crack band these days - loose, but very good, and his is excentric as ever. Does many of the same songs, show to show, but always a slightly different approach. His voice sounds like gravel in a blender, most of the time, these days, but then he is the aging bluesman, isn't he?

Havein trouble coming up with new pics for the ol blog again -story of my pathetic life. Nothing really to say today, except tired of all the wrangling about nonsense. On the Today show, which I am pathetic enough to watch while getting ready for work, they spent 15 minutes gabbing about and interviewing a 10 year old boy who fell on his bike, and somehow managed to impail himself on the brake lever. All you have to do to get on national TV these days, and be interviewed by Matt Lauer, is to be a stupid jackass. Lauer didn't spend much longer with Pres. Obama. Oh well.
These talk shows are nothing but fluff these days-all gossip, and endless plugs for their networks' other shows - gets very tiresome. My wife likes the HGTV home improvement/decorating shows, but after about an hour of that, I'm ready to impale myself on anything at hand. An observation; just because your a gay male doesn't mean you have good taste in decorating - HGTV is proof positive.

I obviously have a talent for juxtaposing things that are totally unrelated, although nothing in this world is totally unrelated, is it? Everything is part of a continuum, although probably not pre-determined. The Stones were my band, in the late 60's; gritty, tough-sounding lads from London, who sneered at the post-war world. The guy in the other picture was also gritty and tough, but also totally insane, bitter, and ruthless. In no way do I hold him up as a model of anything good, other than style. Therein comes the lesson of the day; beware of those who put style over substance, as in most the "modern" pop music.

Long time, no post. I'm listening to this old Johnny Cash album (1960), as I post. Sounds good, even 49 years later. I miss JC every day. Even though I'm more of a rock/pop/jazz/soul kind of guy, I still appreciate good old fashioned country, and JC was unique; a very soulful guy. The Man in Black. Hope the world doesn't forget him.

Long time since last post! Doesn't matter, since I'm probably the only poor soul that reads it anyways. Pic from new Star Trek movie. My son, Mark saw it the first day out, and raved about it. Must see! Other pic is Bob Dylan, obviously, from a recent tour date in Europe. Been listening to a good live boot from some Amsterdam shows in March - gets me going on Bob again. Good, loose but very professional band, and Bob plays guitar, and a lot of organ on it - sometimes sloppy, but funky. His voice sounds increasingly like an aging Lightnin Hopkins, but appropriate, since he's 67 now. Older than me, by about 5 years. Gives me inspiration that i can still do things that matter. Never give up, never surrender!

I like cheesy Sci-Fi. Haven't read this one yet, but have read some of the Fred Saberhagen Berserker stories - good, basic sci-fi, not horror or fantasy. Space ships, ray guns, and mechanized aliens bent on destroying the human race - great stuff!

I've mostly been reading Larry McMurtrey Westerns recently, and just finished Streets of Laredo, hence the video cover above. Lots of apaches, comanchees, gruesome murders, scalping, shooting, suffering and dying - Ah, the Old West!

I didn't remember to do an Easter post, so here it is, a little bit late. Thought the cartoon was too funny to pass up. We had a quiet Easter, the wife and I - first one in a long time, without some family around. Mom (Sue's mom) is in South Carolina, with her son and family, and daughter and family (with grandgirls), are in North Carolina. Son, Mark, and wife Betsy are in same area as us, but his interest was limited to phone call to his mother, Saturday. In case this sounds too pathetic, it was actually nice, not having to cook, or deal with any people all day. We got up late, read paper, took a long walk. I did a few delayed chores, then we washed up and went to Dutch Valley (favorite Greek diner - go figure), for a big feed. I had turkey dinner, Sue had prime rib dinner. We fit right in with all the older regulars there - we qualify as the "young old" these days.

The wife and I might go to Disney World tomarrow, or maybe next day. Of course, it will be busy as heck, with spring breakers. Probably will go to Epcot; Magic Kingdom gets too zooie - too many stroller people. We don't care if all we do is stroll around, get on anything at Epcot that has a shortish line. Must go to fastpass at Soarin', of course, immediately upon getting through the turnstile. If you don't get a fastpass by about 10 AM, you won't get into Soarin til after 4 PM, and we like to go home early. Of course, must eat at Mexico (outside), and have a Margarita (maybe). We have annual passes, so no sweat if we don't do much there. Wife has the week off, from her job as Guidance Counselor at an elementary school. She doesn't need to see a lot of kids, on her time off.

I recently decided to sing up for "Twitter", since all the media wonks are raving about it. Maybe I don't get it, but so far, it looks like a very trivial waste of time. It doesn't seem to have any communities of interest, just allows you to search by keyword, which is pretty crude. Maybe I am misisng something. Don't see how it's any better than any other instant messaging system. We will see. Maybe if I link this blog up to Twitter, someone (besides BillBee), might actually read it!

This is a lonely picture, indeed. It's from some asian bbs - all pictures of trains, or train tracks, train stations, mostly looks like china, or Japan. Wonderous thing, this web, with such specialized little nooks and crannies to explore. I have always been fascinated by trains, especially old steam locomotives. Goes along with my love of the old west (American). We americans have a fundamental ambivalence about "the west" - It forms a large part of our cultural mythology of rugged individualism, and boundless adventure, but it was also an era of great violence, hatred and misery - an adventure that came at a great price. The frontier was effectively closed, when the last spike was driven on the transcontinental railway, in the 1870's. While there were still some very wild places out there, even into the early 20th century, we were well on our way to becoming the heavily industrialized, hyperdeveloped country we are now. We still treasure our myth of the wide open spaces, but they are dwindling fast. Still, you can get pretty lost in west, which I plan to do.

Some cool pics, having nothing to do with each other, or anything. It's wierd that these huge, metal behemoths, battle ships, were the state-of-the-art for about 30 years, and then totally disappeared, as soon as they figured out how to drop a bomb from an airplane. They proved totally defenceless against air power. Now airplanes are pretty much obsolete, given the accuracy of ground to air missles. Oh well. I read a sci-fi book recently about Martians invading (an update of War of the Worlds), in which the Martians sent a power disrupter in advance of their invasion fleet, which fried all computers and modern electronics on the planet, all at once. This technology exists now, although perhaps on a more narrow scale. This rendered obsolete all our advanced weapons. In a twist on the original HG WElls book, the earthlings finally were able to bring down the aliens, by introducing them to antibiotics. (They were germ-based lifeforms, very slimy and disgusting!). In the original, I believe, the Martians caught cold, and died.

I'm not sure what relevance the Nazi pic has, except it's a cool pic. No, I am not a Nazi sympathizer - quite the opposite- though I do find that period of history a fascinating study in social pathology. Also, the uniforms and weapons are cool. The 49 Ford looks like one my Dad had in the early 60's. It was the car I mainly learned to drive on. With a non-syncromesh transmission, and 3 on the column, it was quite a job. My first day out driving alone, I got stopped for driving too slow. Then I got stuck on a one-way bridge, and didn't know what to do. Foretunately, in this days, the cops were a little more patient, and just gave me a warning to try to keep my wits about me a bit more.

My 7 yo granddaughter, Meghan, built this snowman on Monday, when they had a rare snowstorm in Raliegh. Greatest snowman I ever saw.

Rush Limbaugh is a big fat idiot, according to Al Franken. Where does this guy come off squabbling with our elected officials, and why do they dignify him with their attention? The guy is a media wonk, and uneducated slob, with a big mouth, who has no official standing of any kind. I'm sick of people giving so much credence to these media people, especially the right-wing types, who think they can dictate what goes on in this country. They had their chance, for 8 years, an only succeeded in piling on massive debt, getting us stuck in two foreign wars/occupations, and ruining the economy. It's time to do our thing, and ignore the negative big mouths. Guess I told them.

I just got done writing a nice long blog entry, only to have Blogspot recent it because of an "edit conflict". It wasn't off-color, or anything - this is a nice, family-friendly blog. No profanity, nudity, or other dirty stuff. Mostly about music, family, my personal observations, musings, political rants, and the occassional sci-fi entry. Oh well. Now I don't have the energy to write anything. But at least I got my mandatory occassional blog entry in.

Life goes on, of course (or maybe not of course). Nothing is certain, in life, except death. (That's cheerful). Try to have as good a time as you can have, each day, and don't let anyone tell you how to live. If you can still appreciate the Stones, after 40 years, you can't be too dead in the head yet. I'm a die-hard. Also, a little slow on the up-take. I re-discovered Neil Young recently, after ignoring him for 30 years. Oh well.

I was always a big Stones fan. Back in "the day", in college, I had an old record player; vinyl covered, two-tone paper case, with stack-it-up record changer, hinged lid. It was old even at that time, mid 60's. I got The Rolling Stones Now, in brilliant Mono. Figured I didn't need stereo, for rock and roll. It was their second album in the states, and all Chuck Berry, and memphis soul covers. I played that til it wore out, and drove my roomate nuts.

I'm not sure what the theme of this pathetic post might be. That looks sorta like me, playing my old upright pianer, in the olden days. The pianer is long gone, gotten rid of in one of my wife's clean-out the junk campaigns. Yes, it had a musty odor, the finish was mottled and cracked (like mine), but It had a great, deep tone, and I could play my boogie woogie on it til the cows came home (or the Flamingos). The Jimi Hendrix cover I just thought was cool. Axis was a great influence on me, got me through my second year in the Navy. I have a bad attitude today, not given to working much. See you next week, maybe.