He’s friendly and chill. He likes people and will let anyone pet him. Like a dog, in many ways.
Of course he likes sitting in boxes, and bags. Every cat seems to like this, and for us it’s endlessly entertaining. Put a box on the floor, wait a couple minutes, and he’s sitting in it. Just looking at you like “ha, look what I did!”
B. B. King
The blues legend wrote, recorded, and performed so many classic songs for so long that it’s difficult to choose just one or two (or four or five) for inclusion here …
But onward we must go.
“How Blue Can You Get” (live version, 1970)
He solos for a full two minutes and 45 seconds as the intro — and an incredible solo it is — before just ripping the vocals to shreds too.
You’re evil when I’m with you baby
And you are jealous when we’re apart
I said you’re evil, you’re so evil when I’m with you baby
And you are jealous when we’re apart
How blue can you get baby
The answer’s right here in my heart
Both his guitar playing and his singing convey tremendous and unmistakable emotional power and range to the listener, which is one major reason why he is one of a kind.
“You Upset Me Baby” (studio version, single originally from 1954)
A straight-ahead “uptown” blues number.
Like listening to AM radio late at night in 1954 on some Southern station, since this was before Elvis (and others) popularized “race” music (yes that’s what it was called by Billboard and the radio industry).
Later in the 1960s the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Animals, and countless other bands, plus individual guitarists like Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck, having immersed themselves in Blues and R&B during their youth, would go on to popularize it for a mass audience and pay homage to it by actually naming their influences and fully crediting the origin of their style of playing.
B. B. King was very high on all their lists.
None of that happened with the Elvis wave. They just kinda pretended they invented it. Which is unfortunate.
The influence on guys like Clapton from this next tune are obvious.
“Please Love Me” (studio version, single from 1953)
This one is new to me, his version of Leon Russell’s classic “Hummingbird” live from Japan in 1971 — he makes the song his own and the guitar tone here is fabulous.
“Hummingbird” (live version, 1971)
I could go on and on and on — the man recorded an incredible amount of great music, toured year-round for decades, and lived long enough to record albums with accomplished guitarists who claimed him as their hero like Keith Richards and Eric Clapton and John Mayer.
He was in a class by himself.
Finding the energy to post just twice this month and seven times last month means that I’m essentially taking the summer off, as it turns out. Wasn’t planned, it just happened.
When I return it will be in a somewhat different format and schedule (working through some ideas now).
See ya soon!
Last night it was a beautiful Spring evening so we used our fire table at our new digs for the first time.
For our listening pleasure and for reasons unknown I called up “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” on Spotify. As albums go, this is one of my oldest “friends”.
I got this when it came out in 1973, and played it all the time for a couple of years. Classic album, classic cover.
Obvious hits all over it, but there are several unknown gems, like “Harmony”.
We’re moving out of state next week and as a result our life has been a little chaotic recently.
Boxes everywhere, always more stuff to throw out, calling utilities and insurance companies and movers, organizing changes to every service imaginable.
In some ways that extra layer of chaos, change, and uncertainty is a good thing to distract us from the vague sense of dread that we are all starting to feel, increasing little by little as the days pass. It’s not paralyzing, but it’s there.
Right now, at 7:44am on Wednesday April 20, we’re at exactly T - 7 days on the countdown.
We all know that the move itself is the best thing we can do for our own future and important things like being close to family and a lower cost of living and a more secure future. We’ve talked about it a lot, my wife and two (remaining) adult children and me, and we are 100% on board with the goal and long-term benefits of moving away from our longtime home base.
But the things you know in your head sometimes fight with your emotions, which have a stubborn undeniable power over your world.
To add to all that, our two young adult sons will stay behind — one has already moved out but lives nearby and the other will live with him for the Summer — meaning that my wife and I become empty nesters at the same time we move 3 and 1/2 hours away. Still, this is good for them, and they know that, and need that and want that.
We’ve lived here for 22 years, raised our three kids here, made friends here, put down roots here. We’re “dug in” as the Kevin Kline character explained to his friends in The Big Chill.
But now we’re choosing to dig in somewhere else, where the future lies, for multiple reasons.
The next few months will be a challenge for all of us in multiple ways, and there will be some tough days and unexpected emotions that bubble up out of the blue, but out of such challenges we learn and grow and sometimes find unexpected delights too.
If you’re not on the path towards the future you see, what are you doing?
A picture is worth a thousand words, so here’s … 4,000 words I guess.
(1) Famous Photo of Famous NFL game: 1958 NFL Championship Giants vs. Colts
(2) Mickey Mantle Baseball Card, 1960
(3) Barcelona at Night
(4) The Garden of Eden with the Fall of Man, Peter Paul Rubens and Jan Brueghel, 1615
A Super Bowl Win over the Oakland Raiders, 33-14 (1/14/1968)
Their third NFL title in a row (1965-67) and fifth in seven seasons from 1961-67 with a 9-1 record in those playoffs, with the only loss in 1960 followed by 9 straight wins.
He coached just 9 years total for the Packers (1959-67) and won 98 games in that span (including playoffs) while losing just 30 — and this was back when they only played 14 games (just 12 games until the ‘61 season). That is a LOT of winning packed into a short time span.
The classic Sports Illustrated cover above tells a story about the extremely close relationship between Lombardi and his players; he drove them hard but they knew it was all about making them better and striving for excellence, and for that they loved him like a father.
It’s probably not a coincidence that a great number of his players became very successful in their post-football lives as business owners.
Sadly, Lombardi only lived another two years, coaching one final season for the Washington Redskins in 1969 before dying of lung cancer in September 1970. He was just 57 years old.
Image found at the great Twitter account @KevG163.
The legendary Lance Alworth making a leaping grab over (equally legendary) Chiefs DB Fred “The Hammer” Williamson.
From a great Twitter account by NFL historian Kevin Gallagher @KevG163 that publishes — every day — classic NFL and AFL photos mainly from the 50s, 60s, and 70s plus a few that are newer or older.
Many are absolute classics like this one. Lance Alworth was famous for his leaping catches — that’s why his nickname was “Bambi”.
As a fan of sports photography of any kind, but especially from that era, and even more especially football and baseball, one of favorite childhood possessions is a book of photos like these from the AFL called “The Other League”. I still have it, I think. I’ll look for that today.
Photo above from this tweet.
We found some change in the car recently and some of the coins had weird buildup on them, so I did a little “money laundering” with a wire brush.
This is the result. Pretty disgraceful. That’s Abe Lincoln’s face, dude, and it’s half gone.
Even the lowly penny used to have a little weight to it and engraving that looked good, befitting a unit of currency.
Pennies have always been at least 95% copper (excluding a short window from 1856-1864 when they were 88% copper) since 1793 when originally issued.
Until 1982, when they were changed to 97.5% zinc with copper plating and reduced in overall weight from 3.11g to 2.5g.
Nothing like this would ever — could ever — happen to pennies when they were 95% copper. They might tarnish and get dirty over time, but a little copper cleaner would make them bright and shiny like new, most of the time.
Like this. Notice the difference with the engraving quality, in particular. Real money looks like this, not like that embarrassment above.
... because twice in the last two days I’ve heard one of my all time favorite Gordon Lightfoot songs on two different radio stations ... “Rainy Day People”.
That steel guitar ... so sweet.
Current situation outisde our front window:
Two weeks ago:
Note how completely different the entire outfield looks compared to today … a square with outfield walls at right angles to the foul lines, the bleachers right at field level, and how far straightaway centerfield is ... 440’ according to the History of Wrigley Field article at Wikipedia (substantially further, at least 40 feet further, than today’s wall).
This extremely deep centerfield wall was very common for older ballparks, with outfield walls at right angles to the foul lines, creating a giant square, more or less. Forbes Field in Pittsburgh was 460’ and the Polo Grounds was 483’ — and 450’ to the power alleys! Lots of triples back in the day and fewer homers (but maybe more inside-the-park home runs).
Back to the Wrigley Field photo ... also note the temporary wooden bleachers, which the team also put up during the 1929 and 1935 World Series. And streetcars on Clark Street (the diagonal street at bottom right).
The scoreboard, bleachers, and outfield walls were completely rebuilt in 1937 to their rather unique dimensions, with the shortest power alleys but longest distance down the foul lines in the entire major leagues, as far as I know.
That same year the iconic ivy was planted by Bill Veeck, an executive of the team (his father William Veeck Sr, a former sportswriter, was president of the team starting in 1919 until his death in 1933).
Bill Veeck of course would go on to become a revolutionary owner of the Indians, Browns, and White Sox (twice). His autobiography “Veeck as in Wreck” is a fascinating story about a hard-working and creative entrepreneur, a must-read for any baseball fan. More on him later.
For those interested in old ballparks and their history, the above history of Wrigley article is worth reading.
Via Old Time Baseball Photos @OTBaseballPhoto on Twitter.
If you have a cat you know how much they love boxes and bags.
Leave any random box or bag lying around and they will be in that thing in seconds flat.
This is Simba, our male orange tabby that we got about 18 months ago. He loves his box.
Eventually we will throw that box in the trash and replace it with a new box, and he will love that box too.
He loves all the boxes.
And bags. Any paper or plastic bag that he can fit into becomes his new preferred hideout so he can keep a close watch on all of us.
Of course sometimes a cat can get himself into trouble trying to get into tight spaces.
Twenty years ago today our youngest son was born and right now I’m drinking coffee out of this mug he made for me in 2nd grade.
Happy Birthday son! And you even got a national holiday!
One of my favorite mugs for several reasons but the main one of course is that he made it for me. I am not big on physical possessions but I love using things every day that mean something to me.
Twenty is the first milestone age that sounds “adult” after some lesser milestones at sixteen and eighteen that are purely legal in nature (driving, voting) but otherwise not that notable.
I very much remember when I turned 20 and how different it felt when that first digit on your age is a “2” now.
Neil Young wrote a song about turning 20 called “Sugar Mountain” with a chorus that goes:
Oh, to live on Sugar MountainA live version:
30 minutes later it rained very hard, for the second time in two hours. But for at least these few moments, this was your reward if you looked up and stopped thinking and just observed with your senses.
Did you ever notice how many people spend their whole lives only looking ahead, never up, or back, or to the side? Literally and figuratively.
Seems to me that’s too much living inside your head, focusing on what’s next, checking items off of lists, missing out on beauty happening around you.
I’m not sure how that is much different from being a mouse on a treadmill. To each their own, I guess.
Out on a walk and I noticed this extremely odd situation ... a cellular tower or something like it rising up in someone’s backyard ... what exactly is going on here??
Trying to imagine the scenarios here ... you either bought the property with that cancer-factory monstrosity in the yard, or you as property owner allowed someone to install it, with some form of monetary compensation I would hope ... but still.
Yuck. Electromagnetic radiation, it’s a thing. Good luck with your health, and as a seller of that cursed property someday.
On the same walk I saw one of these annoying things:
I get why they use them — too many drivers speeding on a stretch of road, ostensibly causing dangerous conditions for bikes and pedestrians and little kids. This is on an arterial road with side streets crossing it, so it is exactly the kind of place we are used to seeing them. Yay for public safety, and all that. I’m on board.
However. They set these things to rudely flash your speed at you if you go even 1 MPH over the limit. ONE MILE PER HOUR.
Let’s review. My car does not suddenly become a dangerous missile on the transition from 30 MPH to 31 MPH. The very idea is idiotic.
We all know the actual problem is drivers who go 40+ in a 30 MPH. Even law enforcement admits that. But by setting it to flash my speed at me when it’s just 1 MPH over, you’re putting me in the same bucket as those that go 45+, the actual dangerous drivers. This is not just insane on a practical level, it’s annoying as hell.
On another street not far away, they cut the speed limit to 25 MPH for the same reason. And cops started camping out in strategic spots to pull people over and give them at least a warning for going — I kid you not — 26+ MPH.
Guys. Don’t do this. You’re criminalizing normal and safe driving to reduce the amount of 40+ MPH drivers.
Here’s what you should be doing: ignore the 26-35 MPH drivers, because I’ll bet you $100 right now you cannot quote me honest traffic studies that show attentive, suburban, responsible drivers — mostly moms in vans, let’s be honest here — are dangerous at any of those speeds. But target *all* of your efforts in this area to nail the 40+ MPH drivers, since that is where the danger arises.
Those are two very distinct groups, and we all know it, because we all see it with our own eyes every day. It’s not a big mystery how this works.
By doing it this way, you’re training people like me to laugh at and ignore this idiocy. I am not your problem. Don’t treat me like one.
For me this is just another reminder of the way policy makers and law enforcement ignore the incentives they create in everyone who is not the target of their genius plans.
There’s a downside to that: building distrust one small thing at a time, a “death by a thousand cuts” kind of thing. Law enforcement is facing quite a headwind with certain segments of the public these days; this obviously is a very small piece of the puzzle, but rebuilding law enforcement’s public image starts with small adjustments to actual enforcement practices.
A journey of 1,000 miles starts with a single step.
All photos in this post owned by me, copyright applies, etc.
One day a couple of weeks ago, I got into my car and looked up through the sunroof window quickly and noticed this ...
About a week ago on a long walk after a rainy couple of days I encountered this unfortunate flooding situation ...
Bridges don’t work too well when the nearby trail sits lower than the bridge so that floodwaters cover it.
Our cat Simba in the bright sun on a blue chair ...
... and sitting in a little box on a messy desk ... one of his favorite things to do 😂
Last one is a vehicle I was sitting behind in traffic ... LOL
All these photos are mine, copyright applies, etc.
This past Saturday June 12 was the 30th anniversary of the eruption of Mt Pinatubo in the Phillipines, the second largest eruption in the 20th century.
It started with earthquakes in April and then an initial explosion on June 7 followed on June 12 by this ash plume reaching 28 miles (40km) into the sky. The “cataclysmic” explosion occurred on June 15-16.
Here’s Clark Air Base afterward, covered with ash inches thick.
The atmospheric dust cloud as seen from space that cooled the planet by 1° C for a year or more.
There’s a photo at this article in a Manila newspaper marking the anniversary that you do not want to miss.
