Some folks have been talking about music to drive to.
Here are a few that would make me happy:
You’re the inspiration-Chicago
Walk like an Egyptian-The Bangles
Closer to Fine-Indigo Girls
Blister in the Sun-Violent Femmes
How Bizarre-OMC
Groove is in the Heart-Dee-Lite
What’s on your mind-Information Society
Everything I do-Bryan Adams
Hand in my Pocket-Alanis Morrisette
Girls just wanna have fun-Cyndi Lauper
First Newborn Bald Eagles in Years Seen in Southland
I grew up around Bald Eagles. THey ate the salmon in the river near my home in Alaska. The little Susitna River was fed by hot springs, and so it never froze all the way in the winter. The Eagles could have their eagle convention down there in the winter, with the river serving up the snacks.
I was surprised and horrified when I learned as a child that Bald Eagles were an endangered species. It seemed like a terrible thing, to have our national symbol die out.
They didn’t seem endangered where I was. It made me proud of my home state.
Well, the eagles are apparently recovering from the DDT poisoning that California inflicted on them the last century. Some babies have been born near my near home in L.A.:
If the 9-week-old eaglets survive, federal and state wildlife officials say, they will have begun repopulating the southern end of their historical nesting range before bald eagles were all but wiped out in California by coastal development and the manufacture and use of the pesticide DDT.
Good luck to them!
Jefferson was a young Luisiana black man in the 40s. He stood trial and was convicted of murder. He’s in jail, about to get the death penalty, but his godmother takes the local schoolteacher to come talk with him. That’s where the story begins.
It turns out that Emma, the godmother, wants the teacher to teach Jefferson how to die.
The Victorians were obsessesed with dying. They would think about how to do it right, author manuals about it. Some of them would create huge mausoleums. I guess we still do that today. Some of us do, anyway.
But in this case, this young man had to find a way to face the terrible injustice of prejudice with dignity. The whole community looked to him to be their representative.
Emma wanted the schoolteacher to teach Jefferson how to face death with courage. But Grant, the schoolteacher wanted nothing to do with it. Who would teach him how to face life with courage?
This is a very serious drama, about how a community interacts and relies on one another.
The power the women held in the story, the power of the preacher, and the lack of power of the sherriff were a very interesting juxtaposition.
Please god, let me never have to face such a terrible dilemma! But I would hope that i can remember to face my lesser trials with honor.
Once again, I am blown away by Train. These guys consistently put out albums that are good to the last drop.
I like Pat Monahan’s vocals. They are textured enough to keep my interest, and very singalong-able.
The music is catchy, and there is a lot of range. Energetic songs, slow depressing songs, and things in between.
The lyrics have good hooks, but they are abstract and intelligent. Wow! I love that about them. Every song on this album is a collaboration, usually involving almost everybody in the writing process.
That’s a sign of a tight band, they work together to create. I think that’s a sign that they will probably not split off into separate acts. I sure hope not, because I love their sound.
Well, I could say things about this specific album. But I think I can suffice to say that it is consistently good, like their other albums. It was not a disappointed at all, and I liked their other albums a lot.