Pet Sounds

I've given people ample time to participate without being too too nagging. We have a good selection. Some new. Some returning. All adorable. 

I love doing this annual post.  Thanks for all who joined in. 

Brenda Boxer, from Greg M. 

She made her debut here last year. She is stunning. 

OMG OMG OMG

Look how pretty Tasha is. She allegedly just had a brush out. You know those French girls - so high maintenance, but so worth it.  She keeps Walt around for such reasons. 

Grace and Peyton are first-timers here. Pretty & Handsome!

Dwight is their full-time servant. 

Chris sent me this beautiful shot of Luna. We don't have enough cat pics here this year. 

We need to change that. 

My friend Jon's poodles - Lilou (left) and Bruno (right). Cuties - each of them. 

Ollie - Mike and Pete's pooch. 

I only got to meet him once. He was stand-offish with me, but I still love him. 

I know I'll probably never have a chance, but I'd love to meet Harper. 

Spo & Someone love her and I adore those ears. OMG. 

Siggie is my cousin's dog.  He is a cutie - and it's a great pic. 

Meredity & Norman have Rollo and Boche. I've had the pleasure of meeting both of these dude. 

Brett US - Minnie and Rhaegar

Brett UK - Harley and Holden

Yes, the Brett referenced are the same guy. He has two sets of dogs on different continents. And yes, they're Rhodesians, as both countries seemingly have a huge Lion population problem. 

 Bob has his three:   Consuela, who is just gorgeous. Ozzo who looks like he needs cuddles all the time. And then there is Tuxedo, whom I can only assume has his own Only Fans page out there. 

Bailey!   My lord that dog. ...and my sister!

It is kind of adorable though. 

Shep's annual pic. 

For the life of me I can't figure out who Santa is. I thought I knew all the folks at daycare. 

In Memorium

Separating from a pet - a family member - is so difficult. I truly think we never forget them. We speak of Kylie, Tovah, Petey and Sophie often. Even Bonkers - my parent's cat.  Bonkers! I'm not sure I ever realized that a great name that was. 

So we shan't forget here either. 

Hounds.  They hold a special place in my heart. I love dogs, but I think we'll always have hounds. 

These two, Princess Anastasia and Nicholas the Ridiculous belonged to Will Jay.

Of course, HRH Sophie. 

I have loved all our cats, but Sophie was with us the longest and was the most interactive. And she allowed us to have dogs. And she was pretty as all get out. 

It's only been a few months, but I still look for her and still have yet to finish a cereal bowl without thinking I need to give the rest of the milk to her. I kind of hope that never goes away. 

Start planning - 2023 Annual Pet Post is a year away.  I really do appreciate all of you who joined in the fun. 

Song by: the Beach Boys

Heroes

Look, don't get the other guy's Super Hero merch..........buy mine!

It is from 2009*, so in this day an age, it's considered 'vintage'. 

I can NFT the fuck out of these, and my prices are HALF of what the other guys are going for. $49, and this can be yours!

For an additional $5, I'll even throw in the prototype.

In this version, I carry a brief case. 

Here's the kicker - I won't try to sell you wine, steaks, higher education, vodka, bleach for drinking, horse dewormer or Greenland.   .......or a load of horseshit, which the others are quickly eating up. 

Call now:  Operators are standing by!!!!

*in 2009, my facial hair was darker.

Song by: David Bowie

Sex (I'm a......)

It's not really a transgender theme or anything, but over last weekend there was a drop off for gifts for the two youths I selected at Bellefaire. 

In years past, you could select lists from girls or boys. This is no longer the case. 

Gender and pronouns are far more fluid than when I were these kids' age. For being a group of at-risk youths, parts of their life they have together far more than I did at that age - and possibly at my current age. 

I will fully cop to not 100% understanding some pronouns being used, but that's on me, not them / they / their.  I have a gay acquaintance who is the only 'mo in the HR department in which he leads. Everyone on his team has their pronouns in their email signature...................except him.  I have none on mine either. 

I'm a 'pushing retirement-aged, white gay male'.......that's all you need to know. 

Still, the non-gender thing for gifts kind of threw me. I had traditionally selected males / boys as the ones for whom I'd select. I did the same - kind of - this year, it was just twice as many pages with which to scroll.  I sorted by age. 

At-risk youth here can go up to 23. And it is not to say they're not deserving of things, I'm just a little out of that zone on how to buy.  As it turns out, regardless of the age and maybe because of Covid, most just want gift cards. 

Those are fine but a little meaningless. So I did look for kids who wanted certain items and hoped to fulfill their wishes. I did that too - kind of. 

I opted to buy for two - as I usually do.  One being a 12 year old who identified as non-binary, and the other, a 15 year old who was transgendered. I'm assuming by the name identifies as male now.  

The 15 year old wanted a gift card. Teenagers in general are picky and moody. Add to that the complexities of your identity, I say, give them what they want, should that make them happy. 

The 12 year old, going by the request for a gift card or Fidgets, spoked to me of a kid not just non-binary, but on the autism spectrum.  The fidgets I selected was a box of 70 sensory things that help calm people. Having an autistic nephew, I get it.  For good measure, he also got the gift card as well. 

Bellefaire does a lot of these kids, but when it comes down to it, I don't know how many successfully adjust to the outside world. Still, they set them up with the tools as much as possible. If my holiday gifts and yearly donations to the organization help, so be it. Some of it is on a grander scheme and some of it is a bit more personal. 

I do hope the kids like what they got and know that someone out there does care for their well being. Being in a place like that is tough - struggling (should they be)  with who they are makes it a little rougher, I hope even for a second, someone's thought of them makes an impact. 

Song by: Berlin

Ad of the Month

You know, I do have some goo under my crusty exterior. Not that kind of goo, though I do have that as well. 

J&B Scotch - which is never going to be my drink of choice - just released what I would call an incredible ad.........and on multiple levels. 

It isn't exactly what I expected, which isn't a bad thing. It won't sell a bottle of scotch probably, but that's ok too. It's an internet ad, as no one is buying three minutes of airtime anywhere.  It's not an ad for U.S. - in any way, shape or form.  'Murica wouldn't allow it and U.S. ad folk are castrated in this regard. 

There are no spoilers from me, but safe to say it had me choke up a little. 

12 of 12

 So I'm doing my 152nd 12 of 12.

Normally it is 12 pictures taken on the 12th of the month. Since I only post once per day, you get my images the following day. All pictures taken with my iPhone. Click images to enlarge, if you choose.

Created by Chad Darnell and picked up from, what I can tell, any number of random bloggers who then link back to him and vice versa. Chad is no longer doing this, nor is successor coordinating the linking of other 12 of 12'ers anymore. Erik is back and I think he's picking up 12 of 12 again.  

03:58.  Wordle. 

In 5!  Maybe my brain wasn't firing well before 04:00!!

04:34. Leaving for the gym. 

05:06.  Ab day.......

05:34.  ......and a four mile run. 

06:22.  Lifeflight landing. 

The helipad is unusable currently, so it lands in a parking lot next to my office. 

Forget me talking, if anyone else is on a call, I can't hear them at all. Then my office smells like diesel. 

06:38.  Hydrate and reports before a 07:30 meeting. 

13:04. Heading to one of my site locations. 

I get to give a corrective action!  YAY!

16:16.  Beer. 

I met a friend for one beer.  One. 

It was a semi-shitty day, so I was ok drinking on a Monday - and leaving early to get it. 

17:06.  Home. 

17:21. Prepping gym bag for tomorrow. 

17:27.  Tiding up the Wilfred Brimley eyebrows. 

I saw them after my shower at the gym early in the a.m. and was embarrassed. Luckily, my glasses covered the atrocity.  I ended up trimming the beard as well. That white shit is a lot pricklier than when I wasn't grey. It's not fun to wear a mask with it in that state. 

17:54.  Flipping me off, holiday style. Dog walk. 

Is it just me or does it look like that tree if giving me the bird? 

That's it. The last 12 of 12.................for 2022. 

My Music Monday

This is a random selection.  You know, the 10th song in shuffle. 

You're getting the B-52's "Juliet of the Spirits" from their last (final?) album, Funplex, which is now like 14 years old.  I'm guessing it's their final album, as recorded music rarely truly makes a profit and the band has just completed their final tour. 

"Juliet" it the only song on the disk that doesn't include Fred Schneider on vocals.  Phew. 

I like Fred, but in doses. And Cindy Wilson and Kate Pierson have always done nice vocals when it is just the two of them. That this song was a single is beyond me. It had the sound of a hit. 

Hit-ish. 

Save for a few songs in the last 80s, the B-52's didn't really have radio hits per se.  It comes down to "Love Shack" and "Roam", when you're talking chart / pop hits. 

"Juliet of the Spirits" should have been another one. 

Avatar

I'm a little lazy today. 

A few weeks ago, someone on FB asked a general question if anyone was going to the new Avatar movie. I saw the first one on January 1, 2010. Yes, I remember the date. So a new one is coming out 13 years later. 

I don't remember it being good enough to see a second time, or visit their corner of some theme park - or good enough that it deserved a corner of some theme park. I certainly am not all that interested in seeing the sequels. 

Yes. S.  Plural. 

James Cameron is giving us 3-4 additional Avatar movies. 

WHY?????

No one asked for that. Literally no one. 

Even the greediest or most hopeful studio exec is smart enough to know that each one isn't going to make $3,000,000,000 like the first one. Of course, when these were conceived, there was no such thing as Covid-19 and movie theaters actually had people in them. Not so much anymore. 

The only reason I'm for them is so Sigourney Weaver can make some dough. I think she died in the first one, but it's sci-fi and there is money to be made. They can bring her back,  I'm sure. 

It just won't be my money.  

But then I remembered that SNL did a skit that is Avatar adjacent with Ryan Gosling.  I gotta give it to Gosling (and would, given the chance!), but he totally commits to the segment.  And this is like 5-6 years old at this point.  But this is my laziness - you get an SNL video, but the bonus is: Ryan Gosling. 

Song by: Dead Can Dance

Gentlemen

One more week folks. For those who haven't submitted your pet pics, you have till Friday of next week (the 16th!) to it, should you want Spark or Meow Meow Kitty to be included in my annual pet post. 

Until then - you get this selection. 

Shep meets Phineas. It went well. 

Squirrel Stalking. 

Squirrels: 43,191

Shep:    0

He's forever hopeful. 

I cannot remember this pretty girl's name, but she was adorable and sweet. 

He's used the new sofa way more than we have. WAY more. 

There are days he can be a gentleman. 

I don't know who this guy or girl might be, but they are quite possibly the cutest thing alive. 

Adorable!

Not his official holiday pic. But he was curious about Santa. 

He thought he knew her, but the suit threw him a bit. 

Song by: Afghan Wigs

Love and Marriage

.....and in a continuation of yesterday's post..........

The House passed the Respect of Marriage Act, which goes to Pappy Joe for signature. d

The 'respect' in the title might be irony, or at least a little tongue in cheek. I really hope every republican fag  (yes, fag! - and I can't imagine a republican lesbian, can you?) who is married, or wants to be, looked at the break down of both the House and Senate vote. Your party does NOT respect you, or your love, or your civil rights. 

39 Republican House members voted for the Act. That means, 169 did not. Less than one-fifth of the GOP House motherfuckers voted to support same-sex marriage. 

Please. Tell me about 'respect' again?    I'll wait right here. 

(I think there is a better chance of a republican lesbian existing than a gay male GOP'er reading my blog. So I might be waiting a long time.)

In July, 47 republican senator said they supported the Respect Act. When it came down to it, only 36 of them did, with another 2 not voting. I guess they only supported it when they thought it wouldn't come up for an actual vote. 

Cookie and I had a brief back-and-forth on social media about this - and agreeing upon it all. Yay for the Act, but there is still SCOTUS - this version of SCOTUS - who isn't all that eager to pass legislation giving us rights. Actually repealing them. 

Yes, it's over a wedding website designer. I know it's bigger than that, because if you're reading this, you already know that any moron can create a website. 

Listen, like I said the other day: if it's about hate, say so. At least be honest. If you say it's religious based and you're not vetting other married couples who has pre-marital sex or are divorced with no annulment, then you're just a liar - and that kind of can't be good if you're espousing "religion" as your cover. 

But Alito and Thomas are scary motherfuckers and the other BLOTUS appointees are going to fall in line. For fuck sake, when we have to hope that Roberts is the voice of reason, we are just doomed. 

I haven't looked up each of the Justice's marriages, but I bet the years I've been with 710 are longer than most of their "traditional" marriages.   ....and unlike Kavanaugh, I didn't sexually assault anyone. 

Song by: Frank Sinatra

It Gets Better

Ted Cruz's daughter is his worst nightmare. Well one of them, I suppose. You gotta believe that man is haunted by dozens of demons. 

So, his 14 year old daughter, who allegedly came out as bisexual last year (I missed that one, should it be true) and tried to self-harm yesterday, or the day before.  Some are speculating it was beyond self-harm and was attempted suicide. 

Of course, I feel bad for the child. We - as an LGBTQ group - have advocated for "It Gets Better" and places like the Trevor Project for those who are at risk for suicide because you identify as LGBTQ. She is one of these who can be helped. 

I don't feel bad for her father. At all. Not an iota. Even if she was successful in her attempt, I wouldn't have an ounce of sympathy or empathy for the man. 

Does this make me a bad person?  

The question is rhetorical, because I really don't care. Much like Ted doesn't care - for the people who identify in similar fashions as his daughter does. 

He lives in, and represents, a state where is a reportable and investigational offense for anyone performing gender-affirming care to trans youths. Just last month, Ted was one of the 39 people in the senate to vote against the Respect of Marriage Act. 

And now he wants us to respect his family's privacy. 

FUCK.  YOU.  TED.

You are a man who gets, and deserves, zero respect. You're vile. You're a hater. You're a hypocrite. You're a liar. You look like you smell something bad 100% of the time. I mean, you can't be blamed for how you look, but I thought I'd throw it in there. 

At least Rob Portman had the gumption to vote for same sex marriage when his son came out as queer. Oh sure, he was a hypocrite about it because he talked about the hate of gay marriage till he found out his son was a nancy-boy.  While we benefited from that vote, let's make it clear - Rob didn't do it for you or me, he did it for his son.  Period. 

Honestly, with parents like Cruz and Portman, I'd consider a way out too - though it would be more with a duffle bag, my ATM card and my thumb. 

Teddy can't privately support his daughter while publicly vilifying the likes of her. I mean, how fucked up is that for a teenager to process?  Of course, that is assuming that he supports her privately and not just berates her and tells her what a horrible person she is.  If so, I'd self harm.  No doubt about it. 

Here's the real problem:  Ted won't learn from this.  

Even if he did - or allegedly did - I wouldn't believe a syllable he said.  Not one. Now, that would be my problem, but he hasn't made himself human on any level and only spews negativity and hate.  Honestly, can you show me one time where he hasn't, or hasn't attempted to pin blame on someone else (read: a democrat)?   I'll wait here, while you try to dig that up. 

So yes, Ted's daughter, it does get better.  Unfortunately for you, that will be when you become an Emancipated Minor and get the fuck out of your father's house and state in which you live.  Godspeed. 

Song by: Todrick Hall

Tax Man

It is not much, barely anything, but I'll take anything...........and have!

I am specifically talking about BLOTUS' family real estate business has been found guilty on all 17 charges of tax fraud. 

There is no jail time for this. At most there is only a $1.6 million settlement.  His CFO didn't even get a hand slap, and his "key" testimony didn't implicate BLOTUS.  ......and he still has his CFO job there, so.....no real repercussions per se.  

Still, it's pretty much the first thing that BLOTUS has been found guilty of, even if indirectly. It's got his fucking name all over it. 

Political witch hunt will be the talking points from his re-election team and the saps with no brains to know he's noting more than a house of cards. There literally is no there there. 

Let the chipping away continue. I mean, we knew it anyway - including his loyals. No tax returns have been shown, and that is because they / we / them / I / us knew they'd show inaccuracies, fraud, lack of payment, etc. Yet not showing them seemed to be ok to a lot of people. Deep down they knew the score - the problem is:  they just don't care.  Unless it was a democrat doing the exact same thing. 

Song by: the Beatles

Power to the People

I'll never say our Sunday Zoom Happy Hours™ are a downer, as they are the best part of my week (shhhhh....don't tell me husband that).  But this last week we made the mistake of getting into politics. 

BLOTUS, specifically. with hints of Ye, the Holocaust Denier, Musk and Ohio's governor.  

What a buzzkill. 

I guess we'll rip off the Band-Aid that is BLOTUS. 

Yes, by all means, let's get rid of the Constitution. 

I mean, what the fuck? Granted, it means very little these days. Ask the current SCOTUS. It might work better as Bansky Confetti Paper than an actual guiding document to a democracy / republic. 

One of us (well, not me), mentioned, that means the 2nd Amendment doesn't apply.  Fuck - it doesn't apply NOW.  It's not like that piece of paper in the National Archives is keeping semi-automatic weapons out of MURDERER Kyle Rittenhouse's hands. 

By that implication, the 5th Amendment wouldn't hold water either. So the 440 times alone he invoked it at a New York hearing couldn't happen. 

The reality is, if BLOTUS were to get the Constitution tossed, it is essentially a dictatorship. And you can cross out the word "essentially". 

My problem (well one of many) is: the media's complicity in all of this by barely mentioning it, to not mentioning it all. I was going to cite the Cleveland Plain Dealer as an example of the latter, but 2-3 days later they shoved something at the bottom of page 8.   Fuck them. 

This is how people don't care about this shit: because they don't KNOW about this shit. Hell, I try to avoid the news and I found it easily enough. Where is everyone else?  For the most part the GOP remains silent.  S-H-O-C-K-I-N-G. 

Almost as shocking at Kanye's intertwining of a Star of David and a swastika. Which is to say, my attempts at sarcasm are not coming across the page that easily on this. 

Honestly, I'm more surprised that Musk kicked West off of Twitter (temporarily, I suppose) instead of giving him an executive VP title. 

And don't give me the fucking line that BLOTUS didn't know the guy he had over to dinner was a Holocaust denier. You think everyone who goes to his Florida cesspool motel isn't vetted within an inch of their life. The guy marched in Charlottesville.......he was one of "very fine people" who rallied against Jews while carrying tiki torches. 

For fuck sake - if you're for hate, just say so. Ditto with the fucker at SCOTUS listening to some whiney breeder about not doing a gay wedding on their website. Stop cloaking in religion and say you just hate this or that. Oddly enough, I'll actually respect you for it more. 

I'm not even in the mood to get into Ohio's governor backing the dismantling of the Ohio Dept of Education. Rick DeSantis, anyone?  Or the Proud Boys and their dick extenders semi-automatic weapons, coming to intimidate drag queen reading to children. And they won. Not enough from the police our even our community showed up enough to say 'fuck you' to them. 

Of course, they weren't "proud". All, or almost all, hit their faces behind their hood........ooops, I mean, masks and bandanas. Proud enough to carry a rifle, scared enough to lose their jobs or have their neighbors officially know their assholes. 

I'm annoyed.  Can you tell? 

And it's only the 6th day of the month. 

Song by: Patti Smith

My Music Monday

I don't think I made it horribly clear in my post on football / soccer the other day:  I don't care one way or another for it.  I'm sure I played it in PE, and I've been to a game from one of my nephews..........like 22 years ago!

I have never been to a pro game, though allegedly, the 216 is getting a pro soccer team.  Oooh and Ahhhh, if you must, but honestly, I don't care. But I don't want to pay for their new stadium for sure. 

The world loves the World Cup though. I don't get the fascination, but it's there. 

Our song today has the World Cup as background piece.  "England 2 Colombia 0", by Kirsty MacColl is from her final album Tropical Brainstorm.  

In the latter part of her career / life, MacColl really started to take to Brazilian music themes. You see a bit of it in Electric Landlady, but it progresses, and Brainstorm has a lot of horns and such on the disk. It works. 

The song is about a might be blossoming relationship that goes bad on one date. The first date. The soccer match is on at the pub for said rendezvous. When you think about it, Kirsty's reaction is a bit over the top for a first date gone bad. It makes me think there are underlying problems. 

While the "Colombia - 0" looks liked "zero", the song title, is actually "England 2 Colombia Nil". Or as she sings, "Eng-a-land 2 Colombia Nil". 

Ad of the Month

I cannot say I'm a fan of the Backstreet Boys.  Men, really.  Aren't they all in their late 40s now? 

And one of their lead singer guys is a bit of a QAnon dickknob. Don't ask me the name, as I don't know or care that much. With the 2020 election results, he had some hissy fit and left Twitter for Parler for his "free speech".  I didn't hear the 'right' telling celebrities to shut up about politics when it's in their corner. 

The band has some catchy songs, what few I've heard, including "I Want it That Way". To a point, they a better sense of humour - and probably a need for cash if their act on something like Norwegian Cruise Lines doesn't break their way. 

Years back they turned their "Larger Than Life" song into "Lager for Life" for some beer company. Now they're using an extremely short snippet of "I Want it That Way" for an ad on laundry detergent. 

C'mon - a guy's gotta eat. 

The first part of the ad is ok. The closing of the ad made me laugh. But you'd need to be boy band proficient to get the joke. Women who are now doing laundry for their kids get it, as they were once the ones loving said boy bands. 

 

Ain't Too Proud to Beg

You know folks............tick tick tick.  Some of you have gotten your pet pictures in to me, but I know there is more of you. I've started reaching out to folks to submit. It's fun and an insight to readers and other bloggers. 

But now...........on with today's show. 

Master Manipulator of the Kitchen. 

It's those eyes, I tellz ya. 

This is Dakota. I know that now. 

I met her up at the vet when I went to pick up some meds for Shep. She was found roaming alone. The person who found her brought her to see if she was chipped (she wasn't. please do it to your pet!). 

I took pics, got contact info and went into saviour mode.  I posted it a few places myself. I also got a lesson from the office on how not to post.  It's post a partial picture only. Make them show you a full picture to match markings that are not shown in your photo. Make the respondent tell you the gender and name of the dog. Apparently a lot of folks take dogs who are not theirs. 

Turns out the woman walked the dog later that evening near where she had found it. The owners were out looking for her. And told her the name was Dakota.  She was a sweetie. I'd have taken her home for sure. 

Shep (maybe all hounds?) isn't a head out of the car window when the car is in motion. 

But here is his waiting for me to return. 710 let down the window so he'd have a better view.

710 and his sister - post Thanksgiving. 

Nothing fell on the floor.  The horror.  The HORROR!!!

Shep got a big tree not to pee on. 

Hopefully. 

Song by: the Temptations

Think About Me

Bummer about the passing of Christine McVie.

She being the oldest member of Fleetwood Mac at 79. The rest of them not far behind. It kind of reminds me of my age, and aging.  How can it not.

While Stevie Nicks certainly assumed a 'star' role in Fleetwood Mac, it was McVie who racked up the hits. Of their 16 'greatest hits', half of them were written and sung by her. The other half split between Lindsey Buckingham and Nicks. 

For the most part, her songs would be considered lower-key, but you hear a song like "Hold Me" and it became almost a perfect pop song. She made a 2022 comeback with "Everywhere", which being highly utilized in Chevy ads. 

It was her songs on Fleetwood Mac that truly broke-out the band in the U.S.. It was her "Don't Stop" that Bill Clinton used as a campaign song. It was her "Little Lies" that was used in a funny Super Bowl ad with Scarlett Johansson (or however you spell it) and her SNL husband. 

Actually, a year or so ago, McVie sold her music catalog for something estimated at $100 million. That's on top of the $50 million she was allegedly worth before that sale. As she had no current husband or any kids, someone is gonna inherit a boatload of dough. 

As a teen, Fleetwood Mac was my go-to band. My cohort liked Van Halen, Aerosmith, Billy Joel (ugh) and the Doobie Brothers (double ugh). I guess I stayed more poppier, though Tusk certain threw a wrench into that for most folks' perception of the band.  

I consider Fleetwood Mac's Rumours tour to be my first concert*.  It was 1977 and getting tickets was a stretch goal, as the band was at their most popular. I was young enough and stupid enough to send cash (!!!) in the mail to get them. And I got them!  My mother had to drive me. 

Over the years, I'd see Fleetwood Mac in concert eight times between 1977 and 2009 - two without McVie, once without Buckingham. She also came out and sang "Sentimental Lady" with Bob Welch when he opened for Jefferson Starship in Cleveland. That's a lot of air miles to sing on one song. 

When she returned to the band in 2015 (?) after a 16 year absence, I opted not to pay the hyper-inflated price to see them again.  Their set list had not changed much since 1997. It was a nostalgia act - albeit a well put together one, but still by-the-numbers.  Gotta give the folks what they think they want. 

Still, in their recorded music, she was the constant. I mean, I was never a fan of "Don't Stop" and a few things on Mirage I can do without. But her music on Tusk was probably as good as she (and Nicks) had ever been. It's just that save one song, none of it was commercial. Not a bad thing, but it went against the grain. 

Her 2017 disk with Lindsey Buckingham (really a Fleetwood Mac disk without Nicks), was fair. I would say she had one decent song and one really good one. Too little too late? 

Over the past two days, I've debated what song to feature here. I narrowed it down to four. Three from Tusk and one was "Hold Me", as it really is a well constructed song. Two from Tusk were deep cuts, but original. "Over & Over" which is so low key, was an odd track to kick off a two disk set, but I love it. And "Honey Hi" was just different for her. 

I almost went with "Think About Me", the only single song on that disk that truly had chart potential (I even completed the draft with the video and changed my mind last night). Yes, "Tusk" and "Sara" both were hits, but not HITS. Neither was "Think About Me",  but more because by the time it was released, the public had written off the album completely.  I assert, had it been the lead off single, it would have been the band's second #1 hit. But it didn't even crack the top 10. Barely the top 20. 

I ended up selecting another song, just pre-Buckingham / Nicks. Coming from the last Bob Welch iteration, Heroes are Hard to Find (1974), I picked "Come a Little Bit Closer". 

I'm sorry she's gone. It's a passing of an era as much as anything else. But the music lives on. 

*my mother dragged us to see Barry Manilow two years earlier. I refuse to let myself believe that was my first concert.  Mike - you remember him, right? - he would have thrown his BVD on stage there. 

Song by: Fleetwood Mac

Sick & Tired

*

Can I be honest here?

I know it's only one post per year, but I'm kind of sick about writing on World AIDS Day. **

There. I said it. 

This blog has been in business around 20 years (yeah, sorry for that!), and at least 15 of those I've written an annual post on this subject, as today is.........wait for it............World AIDS Day. 

Guess what?  There is nothing new to say. Absolutely nothing. 

I suppose if I were in HIV research or a serologist, I might take exception to that previous statement, but I'm 99.12% sure none are tripping over here to Blobsville (population: 1) to read my musings. 

Of course I support those who not only work in the field, but especially those who have to see those who work in the field..........you know........because......well......AIDS. 

I've lived long enough in my life that I now know far more people who live with HIV than I knew who died from AIDS.  Unfortunately, I know (and have known) plenty in both camps. 

But this isn't United States AIDS Day. 

Here, it is a "manageable disease" (for the record: I loathe that phrase). There are many many many far lesser developed countries in the world who struggle with containing and controlling the disease. They don't have the funds or the means to assist those affected, who will eventually affect and infect others. It's a problem. 

This clip from the West Wing is about the potential disbursement of AIDS drugs to third world countries. Mind you, the episode is - wait for it - 22 years old (!!!) and antiretrovirals have changed drastically in that time. But it's still an important clip - more then than now, but still......now. Still.

 

*the title image was taken at the Chicago Art Institute of Art. The banner, was the art instillation.  Here is the bio card that went with it. 

** pun fully intended. 

Song by: the Cardigans