Monday, February 25, 2013

I Will Wait

I have found a wealth of new music on SNL these days.  First came Fun, then came Mumford & Sons.

I became such a fan after this show.


New beginnings ...

I've been busy lately, which is good.  No posts, but I have been reading.  Shout out to Rix, hope he has gotten his situation under control. 

I have had a change of fortune in my life.  Hard to explain.  Seems the powers that be are still shining a light on me.  I will expand at greater length later.

I am in my new apartment and loving it to pieces. 

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Amy Winehouse, Grapevine ...

Amy is still my all time songstress hero.  I have not related to a female artist ever as I do to Ms. Winehouse.  Her demise was a truly sad event.

I Heard It Through The Grapevine




Sunday, February 17, 2013

"Through Music We Can Get Enlightenment" - One Love, Ya


Argentine Tango ...

"I like that bit where you spread her legs apart ..."

Catch it at the end of the dance.  Skip all the talk from the judges, this dance stands the test of time as one of the best Argentine tangos. 

Enjoy!


Saturday, February 16, 2013

Wild Couple - Mocking Bird?

These two remind me of me and my first husband.  I was Carly Simon, he was James Taylor.  I was the wild side, he was the cool dude.  This really is our song.




Keith and Melodi ...

Notice how James is looking lasciviously at Carly.  That is part of the relationship Keith and I had.  Add to that the fact that he played serious guitar and I sang as well.  We were this duo in our time ... sigh.  LOL

Younger Girls

It was sort of different back when I was a teenager in the 1960's.  There are a number of songs that speak of love and "sex" with an older man and a younger woman, that were hits.  It didn't seem to spark the outrage that it does today.

Listen to the lyrics of these songs.  If you view them through the eyes of the listener in the time they were being played, it's one set of emotions.  If you try to view them through the lense of today's bias ...

Young Girl



Younger Girl

"Get Off!" - David Steinberg

Back in the day when the Smothers Brothers had their television show, David Steinberg was one of the regulars.  He also wrote a number of the skits.  In fact, it was his skit about Moses that got the Smothers Brothers show canceled.

David had a recurring routine, which my family mimicked on a regular basis.  For years, I have been looking for a You Tube video of David doing this routine.  The best I could find was his psychiatrist bit which incorporated the "get off" phenomena.  What is not known to the new viewer is what David was trying to "get off" his shoulder!  It was an invisible creature/being.  My cousins and other friends would occasionally break out into a "get off" moment without explaining to anyone what we were doing, much like David does in this skit.  It was weird, and it was funny to us.  To this day, if you say "get off" most in my family will grab their left shoulder and throw the invisible creature off ...


Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Republican's Can't Help Themselves - They Are So In Bed With Their Lies, The Truth Cannot Find A Way In

I watched the State of The Union tonight.  It was normal, nothing to write home about.  But, watching Sen. Rubio give the Republican "rebuttal" to the SOTU was like watching Fox News!

There was nothing that came out of this man's mouth that was remotely true.  I was flabbergasted by the sheer amount of lies.  I thought perhaps using Sen. Rubio was to give a more lightened and cooperative response, less decisive (especially since the Tea Party was going to offer up their own rebuttal by way of Rand Paul) but it was a slice in the pie.  I guess they just wanted a gentler, kinder representative to give the Republican bull shit a better taste than it had when it was given by Mitt Romney.  Throw out the son of an immigrant who is not a so called millionaire, and voila, we have a representative of TRUE America.  Uh, not ...!

I thought it was interesting that the Republican response to raising the minimum wage was to ask how the "government" was going to be able to pay for this.  Equating raising the minimum wage to an increase in government spending is one of the little lie tricks that Republicans use to try to confuse those already stupid on economics.  But, it's quite simple - the EMPLOYER pays the wage increase, not the government.  And let's not confuse this with stating that a minimum wage increase will raise the cost of government by giving government employees money the government does not have.  Those employees are already paid above minimum wage, so raising the minimum wage does not impact government employees (thanks to their unions, cough, cough).  No, it is the rich CEO's making millions and billions on the backs of their poverty level income earning employees that will have to take a small percentage off of their profits to pay for the increase.  However, the mentality of the rich is "not in my back yard" because they just cannot fathom in this day and age how their money is not their right, and they cannot figure out how to justify paying even less money to their employees so as to make more money. 

The argument about the ACA causing "small" businesses to have to let their employees go because they can't "afford" to pay for the health care mandate is another lie the Republicans like to use.  When you actually research the type of companies that are laying off employees because of the ACA, they are the big, big, big, and let me say again, big companies that can afford to pay, but want to stick it to the agenda of the "left"  by sabotaging their own workforce and making a "statement."  The Papa John's, the Taco Bells, the Denny's, the Red Lobsters, the Olive Gardens etc. and their ilk are the ones laying off or cutting back to avoid paying their employees a fair wage over their ideological opposition to health care.  In fact, considering the number of fast food operations that are scaling back full time employees to fuck them over, I would personally not want to eat at a place where the workers are NOT HAPPY.  No telling what health hazards might be on the horizon at the hands of these workers.

Don't get me started on the energy companies.

Get ready for more bitter fighting, and probably an even more regressive Congress than the one that preceded it.

Thursday, February 07, 2013

RIP Donald Byrd

The influential jazz trumpeter Donald Byrd died on Monday at the age of 80, his nephew has said.

Alex Bugnon, a jazz pianist, reported his uncle's death on Thursday, though it has yet to be confirmed.

Bugnon wrote on his own Facebook page: "Donald passed away Monday in Delaware, where he lived. His funeral will be held in Detroit sometime next week. I have no more patience for this unnecessary shroud of secrecy placed over his death by certain members of his immediate family. "

Confirmed or not, the jazz radio station here reported it and played his music all day.

 

Tuesday, February 05, 2013

Moving Update

It has been exhausting moving.  As is usual, one finds out how much crap and garbage they have accumulated when they make a move.  Add to that the fact that I am moving from a spacious one bedroom to a concise and tight studio.  I don't have enough room for stuff I actually need, let alone stuff that is just useless. I am throwing away a lot of things, even mementos.  Other than pictures, I am trying to eliminate objects and items that have sentimental value, but clutter up my life at this point in time.

I love the neatness and serene atmosphere my new unit affords me.  Even going back to using the old computer desk I have had for 12 years brings back old memories.  The unit is an armoir and the doors fold so that it does not appear to be a desk, let alone, one that holds a printer, monitor, tower, work shelf, keyboard shelf and a filing cabinet.


 I also still have the futon bed I bought 12 years ago.  It is a great piece.
What I like about it, is that it is sturdy.  Not the flimsy type of futon that is generally on the market.  Of course, I paid a hefty price for this beauty, about $550, futon mattress included.  I need to replace an arm and if I can't get a certain type of bolt, I also need to replace the back, and I was able to contact the manufacturer! The replacements are inexpensive when taken in conjunction with the price paid for the bed.  However, they indicated I could get a brand new bed (sans drawers or mattress, which I already have) for $285 plus shipping.  Not bad.  However, I don't need a new bed, just an arm and possibly a back piece, but it is something to consider.

Feeling good.  New beginning.  New place.  Life is good.