Wednesday, December 16, 2020
Tuesday, December 15, 2020
Christmas Lights
We drove around the area looking at Christmas lights over the weekend. I had trouble with the camera - no tripod, for one thing - so my photos did not turn out as well as I had hoped. I'm not sure I was using the right setting, either, as some of these are over-exposed. Maybe I will get a chance to try again, but we are looking at snowy weather for later in the week, so likely not.
Lots of folks had lights out, though, and I appreciated seeing them. Thank you!
Monday, December 14, 2020
Disco and Today: There is a Relationship
The other night we watched the HBO documentary, The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend a Broken Heart. The documentary was very good and informative.
I had no idea about the early recording history of The Bee Gees. I didn't realize they were famous long before Saturday Night Fever, especially overseas in England and Australia.
As a 14-year-old from hicksville, and one who played in a "Top 40" band at that, I loved disco. I still love disco. If I'm in a bad mood, I tell Alexa to play disco and I perk right up. It is hard to listen to disco and stay hurt, sad, or upset. It's such an upbeat, moving sort or music, the kind that makes your feet simply want to move around on their own.
When Saturday Night Fever came out, I did not see the movie. But I heard the songs. How could you not? Disco was all over the radio. The Bee Gees may have topped the charts, but they were followed up by songs from Donna Summer, ABBA, even Barbara Streisand.
And then disco went out of style, and the Top 40 songs of the 1980s had a different feel. Not as danceable, but ok.
I never knew why, because I never thought about it and because I was still a kid. Fads come and go.
What the documentary pointed out to me was the reason disco came and went.
Disco began underground, as a mixture of music from venues popular with African Americans, Hispanic and Latino Americans, Italian Americans, and gay culture in Philadelphia and New York City during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Some scholars say disco was a reaction to the 1960s counterculture.
This little ol' farm girl didn't know anything about that. I just knew it wasn't country and western, I could dance to it, and I could play it on the guitar. Well, some of it, anyway.
Then came the backlash. Actually, the backlash came with a mouth with a megaphone. Some fellow at radio station in Chicago hated disco. He bashed it and railed against it. He had the means to be in touch with probably millions of listeners in the Chicago area and beyond. Finally, on Thursday, July 12, 1979, at Comiskey Park in Chicago, Illinois, the mouth teamed up with a MLB team for a stunt.
The stunt was to blow up disco records in between a double-header game. People could enter the ballfield for 98 cents and a record to blow up.
What caught my attention during the HBO documentary was a commenter who said he was working at the ballfield that night. The records that 50,000 people brought in (apparently mostly young white males), were not copies of Saturday Night Fever, although I'm sure there were some. No, the records, the gentleman said, were R&B music, soul singers - black singers, Latino singers, i.e., anyone not white.
In other words, the mouth with the megaphone dialed into the latent and apparently inbred fear that lives in that most cowardly aspect of humanity, the fragile white (mostly male) ego. They came out not to blow up disco, but out of fear that the black people, the Latinos, the women, the homosexuals - anyone not them, were gaining traction.
They could not have this. So they blew up their records.
Rolling Stone critic Dave Marsh described this event as "your most paranoid fantasy about where the ethnic cleansing of the rock radio could ultimately lead". Marsh deemed the event an expression of bigotry, writing in a year-end 1979 feature that "white males, eighteen to thirty-four are the most likely to see disco as the product of homosexuals, blacks, and Latins, and therefore they're the most likely to respond to appeals to wipe out such threats to their security. It goes almost without saying that such appeals are racist and sexist, but broadcasting has never been an especially civil-libertarian medium."
Nile Rodgers, producer and guitarist for the disco-era band Chic, likened the event to Nazi book burning, according to Wikipedia. (Here's a good recap of the event, if someone wants further reading.)
This reminded me so much of the present day that it left me breathless. This is what the current Twit on Twitter has tapped into, this fragile white ego. The election of the soon-to-be-former president was a homophobic, bigoted, racist reaction to the election of Barack Obama. How dare a black man sit in the White House! And he looked good in a tan suit, too.
So for forty years, this racist, misogynistic, bigoted group of white fragility has simmered and boiled and no one in charge has addressed it. It's simply sat there, an underground music all its own, one that people with decency did not hear or understand if they did.
Then finally, another mouth with a megaphone tapped into this seething underground mash of decay, realizing it was there and ready to overflow, because he was a part of it.
And that's at least a little of the reason of why we are where are today - racists marching the streets of Charlottesville and Washington D.C., bigots in all areas of government, and a (leaving) administration that would sooner destroy democracy than see another black person (or a woman) in the seat of power.
It was an eye-opening few sentences for me, and certainly something I've given a lot of thought to since we watched the documentary.
Long live Democracy, and disco music, too.
Sunday, December 13, 2020
Sunday Stealing
1. Day 1 of serious isolation behavior:
A. I don't understand what this means.
2. First trip you had to cancel.
A. All of them.
3. Other trips canceled.
A. All of them.
4. Last trip out of town before isolation.
A. September 2019 to Myrtle Beach.
5. Farthest from home since isolation.
A. About 20 miles.
6. Last meal sitting in a restaurant before isolation.
A. Probably Cracker Barrel. I don't remember.
7. How many books have you read?
A. 24. Some of them were long, like 750 pages.
8. First event you didn’t attend due to virus.
A. A Melissa Etheridge concert.
9. Date and event of last over 200-person event.
A. Probably September 2019.
10. Last live music event.
A. About 1999.
11. Things you are eating more of since isolation.
A. Grapes.
12. Things you are eating less of since isolation.
A. Any restaurant food.
13. What restaurants have you gotten take-out meals from?
A. Cracker Barrel, Bellacino's, Pomegranite, and Wendy's. We've tried to patronize the local restaurants occasionally. However, we haven't eaten much restaurant food since March.
14. Have you found yourself bored in isolation?
A. Not really. I was pretty isolated anyway.
15. Have you gained or lost weight?
A. None worth mentioning.
16. Do you drink alcohol?
A. No.
17. If so, more or less in isolation? N/A
18. What entertainments have you explored?
A. Watched TV, read, played guitar, re-learned how to video tape things and edit videos.
19. Gotten into anything new?
A. Not really.
20. Have you done crosswords? Board games? Jigsaw puzzles?
A. I do jigsaw puzzles online.
21. Have you cleaned out some cabinet, drawer, closet, etc. thoroughly?
A. Yes.
22. Are you spending about the same amount of money?
A. No.
23. Done Zoom, Facetime, etc. meetups?
A. Yes.
24. Had a social occasion with a small group of people you consider safe?
A. Yes. Two other people besides my husband. My father and his wife came by on my birthday in June.
25. Did you vote? In Person? On Election Day?
A. I voted early in person.
Saturday, December 12, 2020
Saturday 9: Santa Baby
Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.
1) In this song, Madonna refers to Santa as "baby," "honey" and "cutie." What's the most recent endearment someone called you?
2) At the top of her list are a fur coat, a new convertible and a yacht. If you could receive any of those luxury items, which would you choose?
3) She would like to decorate her tree with ornaments from Tiffany's. Do you have a favorite holiday ornament or decoration?
5) Madonna has been a successful singer for decades, and 1985's "Into the Groove" is her top-seller. What's your favorite Madonna song?
6) Madonna was born in Bay City, MI, and traveled to New York City to find fame and fortune. When she first arrived, she supported herself by working at Dunkin' Donuts. What's your standard DD order?
7) The only Christmas card Sam has received so far this year is from her dentist. Have you received many cards this year?
8) Will you wrap many presents? Or do you prefer to use gift bags?
9) Madonna recorded "Santa Baby" to benefit The Special Olympics. Here's your chance to plug a cause or organization that's near and dear to you.
I encourage you to visit other participants in Saturday 9 posts and leave a comment. Because there are no rules, it is your choice. Saturday 9 players hate rules. We love memes, however.
Friday, December 11, 2020
A Teary Titmouse Tale
Around 12:45 p.m., I was sitting at my computer working when I heard something go wham into the house.
Or so I thought.
I looked out the window and I could see feathers wafting away in the wind. I thought a bird had hit the window. I jumped up and headed out the door to see if I could save it.
Outside, I found a pile of feathers, including a long gray-black tail feather. No bird.
While I am really pleased with my birdfeeder, I'm afraid I have set up a nice space for hawks to find lunch. Large red-tail hawks come through here about this time every year.
Perhaps the hawk clipped the house as he raced away with his prize. Or maybe the noise was simply the loud kill, the whoosh of loss of life echoing through air.
At any rate, I was sure a hawk had found a meal.
As I turned to go back into the house, a tufted titmouse landed on the birdfeeder. I saw the long tail feather, so similar to the one on the ground, and thought, Ah, it was a tufted titmouse that was no longer alive.
Then I listened to a sad song coming from the bird on the feeder. I shot a few photos and went back inside.
The bird sang its mournful tune for a long time. I cringed every time I looked out and saw the bird still sitting there. Finally, it flew away.
I looked it up, and apparently tufted titmouse are birds that mate for life. I am assuming it was the mate who sat on my bird feeder singing forlornly.
This makes me profoundly sad.
Thursday, December 10, 2020
Thursday Thirteen #685
These are 13 people who have passed away this year. The ones I list mean something to me - they are by no means indicative of all those who died, including but not limited the 280,000+ who have lost their lives to the Covid-19 virus.
1. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. This tiny woman was a giant who fought for women's rights. She was the second woman ever appointed to the Supreme Court, taking office in 1993.
2. Diana Rigg. I know this actress best for her work on Game of Thrones, where she played Olenna Tyrell, the woman who killed off the boy king. She also played Emma Peel in the Avengers TV series.
3. Charlie Daniels. His song The Devil Went Down to Georgia was one I grew up listening to, and it was a hit for its storytelling and music.
4. Sean Connery. He will always be the real James Bond to me.
5. Alex Trebek. The long-time host of Jeopardy! lost his fight with pancreatic cancer (the same disease which killed my mother). I remember watching him when he first started hosting the show in 1984, and I have spent many a half-hour playing this quiz show and watching Mr. Trebek's prowess with answers and questions.
6. Helen Reddy. I Am Woman singer Helen Reddy was well-known to me as I was growing up. Her song, Delta Dawn, was one of the first I learned on the guitar.
7. Little Richard. While I was not a big fan of this musician (he was a bit before my time), I have to honor the profound impact he had on music, especially rock and roll. He influenced many artists who came after him.
8. Eddie Van Halen. Here's another guitar player and I certainly couldn't leave him out of my list. He was famous for his licks and songs with the band Van Halen. I grew up listening to him.
9. Patricia Eva "Bonnie" Pointer. She was one of the Pointer Sisters, a group whose song I played when I was in my own little rock and roll band in the late 1970s. She died on my birthday this year.
10. Elizabeth Wurtzel. This author wrote the memoir Prozac Nation: Young and Depressed in America and opened up a dialogue about mental health and how we treat it in the United States.
11. Kenny Rogers. This singer sang the songs of my youth, from The Gambler to Islands in the Stream and many others. His low sultry voice was an attention getter.
12. John Prine. This singer-songwriter is well known for his story songs. My favorite is Angel From Montgomery.
13. Mac Davis. He was another singer I grew up listening to, and a favorite of my father's. He was also a songwriter and he wrote many of Elvis's hits.
Oh wow, there are two more I must mention. So a Thursday Extra:
Ian Holm, who played Bilbo Baggins in the original Lord of the Rings trilogy films directed by Peter Jackson, was superb in that role.
Lastly, I must note the passing of Representative John Lewis, whose notion of "good trouble" is one of the things that I hope will help America find her soul and heart again, so that all the mean goes away.
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Wednesday, December 09, 2020
The International Space Station
The streak is the space station as it flew over the house tonight. It was in the sky for about six minutes. I had to turn the camera around to catch it from north to south.
The weatherman said it would be 10% on the horizon but it was straight overhead. It's a bit wobbly in the first picture because I had originally placed the camera on a tripod and aimed it at the horizon. In the wrong direction.
At least I caught it!
Tuesday, December 08, 2020
Pandemic Journal - Day 263
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The Old Jail in Fincastle, Circa 1896. Ready for a new prisoner? |
The coronavirus rages on, and the federal government is at a virtual standstill while the loser-in-chief pouts and other Republicans do things that, frankly, I consider treasonous, to try to keep his status as president.
Many of these people belong in jail.
Locally, today we have 41 active cases. We are averaging about 16 cases a day. The state is at 10% positive testing, so it is safe to assume that for every 10 people you meet, one probably has or has had Covid.
Overall, this county of about 32,000 people has seen 895 cases. That's 2.797% of the population. Fourteen people have died locally. I knew three of them. Two other people I know who did not live locally have also perished from this virus.
I know these figures don't seem like much, but this isn't the flu, I don't care what "others" want to say about it. They aren't medical experts, they're just mouths with loud opinions, and frankly I am so sick of their mouths and their opinions, I don't care if I ever see or hear or talk to another one of them again.
I am especially sick of the one who is supposed to be the leader of this nation, who only plays a golf game that he cheats at, while people drop dead around him. I have spent four years trying to refrain from calling him names, but he is a fucking moron.
This morning I watched a feature on CBS about a man who had coronavirus. He lost his leg, his other foot, and both hands. Still think it's the flu? Ever hear about the flu doing that to somebody?
One of the most troubling things about the virus and the election, in tandem, is that it has reminded of me of something that I have always known: a whole lot of people in this nation are the most selfish people on the planet and totally incapable of thinking beyond the itch on their ass.
I'm not talking about "take my ball and go home selfish." I'm talking about, "Fuck you, I don't give a crap if you die, but die so I don't have to step over you or be bothered about it in any manner whatsoever" selfish. I have known this all my life, mostly because of smokers. Smokers didn't give a crap if they were causing me asthma or if I had to alter my entire life around their bad habit. Not a single one cared that I couldn't eat in restaurants, couldn't go dancing with my husband, couldn't even walk into a place of business for a long time without becoming ill. They needed their smoke, and to hell with me.
That's the way the anti-maskers/anti-virus hoaxers are. I am going to do whatever the fuck I want and to hell with you. Selfish. Mean. Vindictive. Evil, noxious people.
I rejoiced with the laws finally stopped smoking in various places, one by one here in Virginia, or when the corporations did it themselves. I could finally go out and do things. (Apparently I've been in training for a lockdown most of my life.)
But you know what? I won't rejoice when all of these dumbasses who aren't wearing masks become ill or drop dead. I will be sad, and I will feel sorry for them and their families. I will be angry at the federal government for its terrible messaging and its total mishandling of this pandemic, and I will be angry at the virus for killing them, and I will pity the person who caught the virus because of ignorance, stubbornness, and willful stupidity. I already cringe every day when I see the death toll. Sometimes, I even cry over it.
As far as thinking ahead - the vaccine will be months - literally months if not a year - in reaching everyone it needs to reach. This is like when my husband repairs a septic tank, hauling in a big backhoe and other equipment, and then the person goes, "Oh, I never realized it was going to tear up all of my grass." What the hell did you think was going to happen?
No, they don't think further than tomorrow. If it isn't going to happen tomorrow, they can't grasp it. They expect instant gratification, a vaccine yesterday, a new president immediately, election results on the night of the election, can't figure out how anything works, reject science all the while typing angrily on their cell phone that SCIENCE created.
Covidiots, someone called them.
I'm just tired of it all. Tired of all of these mouths, tired of stupid, tired of caring, even though I know I'll never stop caring, even if none of them deserve a second of my brain space.
Because I have always tried to be a nice person, and nice people care.
Sunday, December 06, 2020
Sunday Stealing
Saturday, December 05, 2020
Saturday 9: Feelin' Groovy
Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.
2) Paul Simon says he "loathes" this song and only performs it because fans want to hear it. What's your favorite Paul Simon song?
3) "Groovy" is such a 1960s word. What common word/phrase from 2020 do you predict will sound just as silly and quaint some day?
4) Paul is a lifelong Yankees fan and was thrilled to meet his all-time idol, Joe DiMaggio. Mr. DiMaggio was, at first, less than thrilled to meet Paul because he thought the song "Mrs. Robinson" made fun of him. Once Simon convinced him it was an homage, the men got along fine. Do you have a celebrity encounter to tell us about?
5) Art Garfunkle was the other half of Simon and Garfunkle. Art and Paul met in sixth grade, when they were both in a school production of Alice in Wonderland. Tell us about one of your school theatrical appearances.
6) "Artie" used to love needling Paul about his height -- or lack thereof. He maintained he was trying to be funny, but Paul thought is was mean and says the constant digs hurt. Is there anyone in your life who similarly enjoys teasing?
7) Paul told NPR that his impulse to write new music has always come "in bursts." He'll go years without composing, and then he'll write every day for months. Do you often feel creative?
8) In 1966, when this song was popular, First Daughter Luci Johnson married Patrick Nugent. Their reception was held at the East Room of the White House. The couple had an 8 ft. tall wedding cake and when the bride threw her bouquet, it was caught by her sister, Lynda. Sure enough, Lynda married a year later. Tell us about a wedding you attended (or your own).
9) Random question: Which do you regret more -- the times you were cautious or the times your were reckless?
I encourage you to visit other participants in Saturday 9 posts and leave a comment. Because there are no rules, it is your choice. Saturday 9 players hate rules. We love memes, however.
Friday, December 04, 2020
Thursday, December 03, 2020
Thursday Thirteen - #685
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Wednesday, December 02, 2020
Night Moves
The cosmos really is quite colorful, isn't it?
The first photo is of the full moon through the trees. The second is a long exposure star-trail. The white streak in the middle of the photo is the moon rising up.
I like how the star trails are different colors, white, yellow, blue, greenish. It's rather amazing.
Monday, November 30, 2020
Pandemic Journal - Day 255
Thanksgiving passed quietly here. We had no company and I sent my mother-in-law a plate. She did not complain about eating alone after having had to quarantine because she'd been to church with someone who a day later tested positive for Covid.
Also, a cousin close by has Covid, so we are all being careful and trying not to fall over one another. Not that we would, but now it seems even more incumbent upon us all to be careful.
I know people are being careful. I also know people are not being careful. Those are the ones I worry about. Then there is the decision about what "careful" entails. I am not going into the stores - but I will have to go into the pharmacy late next week to pick up my medications. The store I use doesn't have a drive-thru. While we are mostly doing food pick ups now - I call it adventure shopping - sometimes one of us has to go into a store.
My chiropractor is not seeing me now except in emergencies, at my request. I do better when I see her regularly, but I will have to get by as best I can. I am still having back issues and trouble playing the guitar, which is frustrating. I pulled out my little guitelele (which is like a six-string ukulele) and have been playing that. However, I put new strings on it and the thing simply will not stay in tune long.
Then there's the question of haircuts. I haven't had one in six weeks. I am contemplating one final trip to the hairdresser for this year and asking for a short cut. The woman I have decided to use assured me she could make me her first customer of the day and get me in and out in 20 minutes. We'd both be masked. No one else would be in her shop.
I do not speak often of how I feel about the pandemic and the things going on me. Not on a deep level, anyway. I am most fretted by my inability to simply pick up and go - make a stop at Walmart, for example. I haven't been in a Walmart since this started. Or go to the bookstore. I did not, as a rule, regularly visit people, but I did stop in and check on my mother-in-law and now I don't do that. My husband checks on her. This concerns me because he is a guy and they don't always get the hint that something needs to be fixed or changed.
People who do not take this seriously frustrate me. Yes, I know the survival rate is 98%. That means that two people out of every 100 people you know will die. Which two are you willing to sacrifice? Go to your Facebook page and look at all of those people who are Facebook friends with you. Which two do you want to see dead simply because you won't wear a mask or wash your hands, or stay home for the holidays? Odds are good that two of them will die. Will it be your fault?
Obviously, people don't think like that. I think like that, but it's an established fact that I'm not the normal sort of person and never have been. This is not a bad thing - it would be a boring world if we were all alike.
Sunday, November 29, 2020
Sunday Stealing
2. What is your relationship with food like?
3. What was the last time you had fun that made you smile for a few days?
5. What inspires you to be healthier?
6. Name two foods that you think are “bad."
7. Are your expectations for yourself too high?
8. Would you like more fun in your life?
9. What is your one comfort food?
10. How would you give someone encouragement?
11. Do you get enough sleep?
12. What activities make you feel more relaxed?
13. Where do you need to practice forgiveness in your life?
14. What is one thing you have not done because of how you looked?
15. What would you like more of in your life?
Saturday, November 28, 2020
Saturday 9: Black
Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.
1) This song was chosen because yesterday was Black Friday, the traditional day of sales. Have you begun your Christmas shopping?
2) Was there an adult beverage served with your Thanksgiving feast?
3) Did any pets enjoy scraps from your Thanksgiving table?
4) Are there any Thanksgiving leftovers in your refrigerator right now?
5) Football is a popular Thanksgiving weekend pastime. Will you be watching any games over the next few days? If yes, which team(s) are you rooting for?
8) In 2016, David Bowie died. Do you have a favorite Bowie song?
I encourage you to visit other participants in Saturday 9 posts and leave a comment. Because there are no rules, it is your choice. Saturday 9 players hate rules. We love memes, however.