As I prepared myself to face another mind-numbing day at the salt mines, I had a hankering to listen to “Merry Christmas From the Family” by Robert Earl Keene. It probably had something to do with the fact that I awoke to a winter wonderland this morning, with heavy snow and blustery winds. It certainly felt more like the week after Christmas than the week after Easter. So I said, “hey google, play Merry Christmas From the Family,” which google dutifully did. And then google decided to go on and play about 20 minutes worth of bluegrass and country versions of Christmas songs, as I brushed my teeth and watched the snow fall. All I needed was a yule log.
Google seems to fixate on one particular genre of music at a time. Left to its own devices (as in, “hey google, play music”), it uses some sort of algorithm based, I guess, on time of day and where I’m at and what I’ve listened to before. Despite the fact that I have a relatively diverse taste in music, it seems to think I want to listen to one specific genre at a time.
For instance, it often thinks I only want to listen to geezer music (can’t imagine where it gets that idea from). Or because I often listen to what I guess you could call “roots” music, it will decide that all I want to hear is Country and Western music (which, frankly, I do not). Some days it actually does a very good job of picking what I want to listen to, but if it settles in on something annoying (one morning it seemed to think I wanted to listen to what I’m guessing is classified as “urban contemporary” – not sure, really. I’m old and out of the loop on what the kids are listening to these days, which is one reason I’ve been totally uninterested in the Grammy’s for the past 30 or more years), I have to think of a song that fits my mood, and it will kind of take over from there.
Normally I wouldn’t care for X-mas music, but there was something therapeutic about having it on while watching the snow fall – especially the bluegrass stuff. More snow forecast for tomorrow morning. Maybe I’ll ask for James Brown’s “Santa Claus Go Straight To The Ghetto” and see where that takes me.
Cynthia Nixon is coming to our fair city for a visit today, which our lo-cal paper says is the first for her since she announced her campaign for governor. I’m willing to bet it’s the first for her – ever. No doubt her advisers told her she needed to get up here and kiss some hillbilly ass. I hope she likes snow. And cold. It’s in the 20s here, but the windchill makes it feel like it’s about 10°.
I’m trying to take a Zen attitude, personally. Though it’s not really working. Not only am I exhausted beyond words by this cold, shitty, snowy weather, but it’s really pissing me off and although I know it’s irrational, I’m taking it personally.
I mean, enough already, for chissakes. Isn’t Trump bad enough, the weather’s gotta suck, too?
OK, so I’m not an attorney (though I’ve watched a lot of LA Law and Law and Order and I used to be the web guy at a law college, so it’s not like I’m a total layman or anything), but I was under the impression that a contract that requires one party to do something that’s illegal is not enforceable (or at least the parts of the contract that require illegal activity).
Cynthia Nixon on Syracuse poverty, development, upstate: 3 takeaways from visit
Funny, these are not exactly the words I was uttering while waiting for the bus this morning.
Good start, but until you choke down a sausage sandwich at the State Fair, it doesn’t count.
I am not a bid xmas lover but I have collected a lot of the music through the years. I am trying to remember what my first xmas song was but I am guessing The Chipmunks or All I Want for xmas.
I worked with REK in his early years and always thought it funny that through all of his ambition and aspirations that song is probably the pinnacle of his career so far. It’s a good though. One of the best shows I have seen in the last few years was Robert and Lyle Lovett trading songs together like they used to do on a front porch in Austin.
I won’t bore Y’all with Elmo and Patsy stories but here is another Texas band that someone else from Minnesota nicked.
Stay warm while I try to stay dry. I hear this geezer is about ride the Pineapple Express.
and there was this
My favorite REK. The front porch may have been in College Station rather than Austin.
And another favorite.
I like this version, too, from Keenfest, with Darren Kozelsky.
I have to look up that album. I saw it in my meandering yesterday. Sounds like the Pineapple Express just rolled in a little late so I should batten down the hatches and find my raingear.
Hah. Through my bleary morning eyes, I saw that as ‘RFK’ and I was both impressed that you worked with him, and dumbfounded as to what song it was that overshadowed the rest of his career.
You weren’t one of the Front Porch Boys, were ya? 😉
No. But I had a friend who was and that as as well as the rekkid label connections gave me some entree when a lot of those Texas folks rolled through here. We were so young and I thank you for making me reminisce a lot yesterday.
I recall hearing one live version of the Road Goes on Forever or other, where he talks about what a thrill it was for The Highwaymen (and specifically Willie) to cover his song and how he got to meet Willie when he went to some festival and his car was parked on dry grass, and it caught on fire and his car burnt up. So the promoter or someone said to him “the least I can do is let ya meet Willie.” So he briefly met Willie, who said he’d like to stay and talk, but he had to get on stage and play. And little could he have imagined that some day Willie would be covering one of his songs.
Just saw a promo for what’s coming up on GMA (on the one – out of three – lo-cal teevee channels with morning news that isn’t owned or managed by Sinclair, though they’re owned by Texas-based Nexstar so who know what kinda shit they’re making their “news” people spew). Almost makes me glad I have to go to work. Almost.
Is it wrong of me to look at this and think, “man, that would make a great kegerator”?
Another great morning. Wind and cold so bad it burned my nose to breathe as I walked to work. And it’s supposed to be even worse tonight and over the weekend. This is really nice. I really love living here in the Great White North. And I love my job. And I love not eating anything I like and not drinking beer. Oh, and being tired all the time but never really being able to sleep is pretty cool, too. Getting old has, overall, been a really lovely experience so far.
Yep.
The only thing that bums me out a little is that it’s Friday already. Thank goodness Monday is only a couple days away.
Yes, I’m petulant. And I’m having a frenzy.
And now for something not so completely different…
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-03922-x
Wow, good to hear he’s still alive and kicking. Always got a kick out of his stuff – especially “Wernher von Braun” and the “Catholics hate the Protestant, and the Protestants hate the Catholics….” He used to do his PBS show from the Katherine Cornell Theatre at UB, which was in my freshman housing complex. Not that I went, but I remember passing by on show nights (it was on the way to the pub that was also in that complex – a bar in my dorm; is it any wonder it took me 26 years to get my undergrad degree?).
Geez out!
Train hauling 10M pounds of human feces stranded in Walker County town: ‘God help us if it gets hot’
Thank goodness this county is free of the horrors of government regulation. “Keep your hands off my shit!” And, really, what are the odds that Walker County, Alabama will get hot?
On the birght side, I see an opportunity for Yusuf Islam to put a modern, Alabama-syle spin on “Peace Train.”
Cynthina Nixon answers the tough questions.
This seems to be causing a bit of controversy (for god knows what reason), but it’s pretty close to being correct (and not bad for a NYC native). But if you start at Ithaca, you’re missing places like Binghamton, Elmira, Jamestown….
I always think of it as anything north of the 42nd parallel (that is, PA).
If she wants extra credit, she could say that there’s not a monolithic Upstate, NY, but several distinct districts, including Western NY, Central NY, The Southern Tier, Northern NY and the Adirondacks, and of course the Capital District.
Somebody choppin’ onions?
So, what’s more difficult to believe – that Syracuse won an NBA Championship, or that the final series went seven games and still finished before the tax filing deadline (never mind Memorial Day)?
Another fun fact – this (1955) was the first year the filing deadline was on April 15th. The first year there was a Federal Income Tax (1913), it was on March 1st. That was changed to March 15th in 1918, and April 15th in 1955.
This is why I can no longer watch the “local” teevee “news.” On the bright side, it’s up to 37° out there!
You’d have to be pretty wasted to think anybody would fall for this excuse.