Oh, the 1960s. Gotta luv 'em.

Sympathy for the Devil

Lately, many of the rock and roll veterans have been inducted into the Rock Hall of Fame. So many of the names that have me nodding, "Oh, yeah. They were something else."

Who are these leaders in what was the beginning of classics we find ourselves humming and/or mouthing the words? They may not have been Inductees, but that was the era of gems that shaped future performers. That was the 60s.

YouTube

These are some Fame-rs, some who should have become Fame-rs, and some that are just plain memorable.

Peter Frampton

Los Lobos, Tom Jones,   The Four Seasons – “Sherry”

Johnny Rivers,    Three Dog Night,    Stevie Wonder – “Uptight (Everything’s Alright)”,  Johnny Winter

Steve Winwood,    Donovan – “Catch The Wind",    Harry Nilsson,   John Mayall

Steppenwolf,  The Rolling Stones – “Sympathy for the Devil”

The list not chosen includes artists that I enjoyed, but the list could go on a long stretch of road.

Why did I not put The Beatles up in the list? Now this is something that may cause gasps or disapproval:  

I really do not like the Beatles.

In 1964, the Ed Sullivan brought them to national fame.  I was 7th gr. and all the farm girls were giggly. They all "claimed" Paul (he wasn't married). I preferred George. He seemed more intelligent.

But after all the hullabaloo, I started listening to them and the lyrics.  A few songs I liked, but there were only a few.  (They didn't have the depth of soul, like Simon and Garfunkel or Lou Rawls.)

Oh, Bologna!

 

So, then. We are watching YouTube and finding entertainment, some chuckling. It's a switch from vacuuming and laundry.

Here is one you might enjoy.  

YouTube, about 3 minutes long

We will sometime have Bologna for supper. It is a break from our usual fare. Did you know that Fridays are "Fried Bologna Fridays". Give it a shot. Mark your calendar, Friday is tomorrow.

Live well, eat well, walk around the block. Read good books, change out of pajamas.  

God loves us. He is the One in Charge. Don't forget that. Live large.

This is from April 2020.  Try some fried bologna on your own. It is darn good.

YouTube, 3 minutes long: we got eggs now.

And I won't back down....

 

Tom Petty was a talented, successful recording artist who died too young. This is one of my favorite songs. 

Well, I won't back down

No, I won't back down
You can stand me up at the gates of hell
But I won't back down
No, I'll stand my ground

Won't be turned around
And I'll keep this world from draggin' me down
Gonna stand my ground
And I won't back down
(I won't back down)

Hey, baby, there ain't no easy way out
(I won't back down)
Hey, I will stand my ground
And I won't back down

Well I know what's right
I got just one life
In a world that keeps on pushin' me around
But I'll stand my ground

And I won't back down
(I won't back down)
Hey, baby, there ain't no easy way out
(I won't back down)
Hey, I will stand…

Facing down the enemy (whoever that may be), standing up to face them, this is a timely song. I enjoy his talent, sadly gone.

Losing the battle

YouTube, 2017, 3 minutes

Too many returning military soldiers find that the world is not the one they left. After fighting and risking their lives, too many come home and some "lose the fight with demons".  

"In 2018, Veterans accounted for a lower proportion of suicide deaths among U.S. adults than in prior years. Veterans accounted for 13.8% of all deaths by suicide in 2018, compared to 19.2% in 2005 and 14.1% in 2017....Male veterans are 18 times more likely to kill themselves than their civilian counterparts, and female veterans are, sadly, 250 times more likely to commit suicide than their civilian counterparts. Another grave statistic is that it is estimated that an average of 20 veterans per day commit suicide — which translates to one veteran every 65 minutes...

Young enlisted troops are the primary concern. They account for 43% of the military population but 61% of deaths by suicide. Personally owned firearms, not military weapons, were the primary cause of death.

"None of us has solved this issue," said Karin Orvis, director of the Defense Suicide Prevention Office. "There is no quick fix." Military suicides

Fellow troops reach out to their comrades, especially comment section after videos like this were released:

I'm so sorry, Brother. I also served in Iraq, Fallujah as an Infantry Marine and I felt through every fiber of my body the words you wrote. Everyday is a struggle. Rest Easy Brother. I love You.

Amen. Thank you for posting. And he has 100% correct. My condolences to his friends and family. I'm sorry for your loss. And they give you the most deadliest mix of prescription meds. Chantix, antidepressants, a statin or opioids.

My father has struggled with this since the Vietnam War. He has good days & bad days, but can never sleep no matter what they try to give him. As soon as he closes his eyes, the nightmares begin & he is jumping up out of bed to make it stop. He naps an hour here or there & that is it all day every day it's a struggle for him to close his eyes & attempt sleep. This has been going on for decades & no one wants to open their eyes to see what the govt. has done. He had no choice either (drafted).

REPLY

PTSD awareness month — an average of 20 veterans per day commit s…

thehill.com/opinion/healthcare/392871-ptsd-awareness-m…


My WW2 veteran father suffered with PTSD for nearly 70 years. His struggles affected our entire family. But, that was a time of "suck it up, keep going" where people never talked about the sources or struggles.


One source of providing support is Supporting mental health , and I've purchased tee shirts, a car sticker, and other items. They honor those who are suffering. Check them out. They have goals, one of which is to rescue and recognize the humanity of tortured veterans.

Daniel Somers, about 2 min.

Everyone has to know someone who has wrestled with PTSD. Reach out to them and/or organizations that provide help for these Veterans.

My address site for information was seriously messed up. So Sorry.  Please come back!

Dangers of Reading

 Can you imagine a world without reading, if you were a woman?  At the time listed, women were little more than a breeder, servant, a stay-at-home mother and wife.  

life of a woman

fantasy vs. reality

Why were women discouraged from reading? “In Madame Bovary, I think Flaubert is channeling a century of worries about young women as particularly susceptible to the fantasies they find in novels and the seductions of reading,” Margaret Cohen, a professor of French language, literature and civilization, told Op-Talk.

From the late 18th century through the middle of the 19th, she added, women “were considered to be in danger of not being able to differentiate between fiction and life.”

Try that again, and bad things will happen to men who try to dictate who and what a woman was. Bring it, and see how women react to that.  

Discovering new Hobbies

 

In the 1950s in rural areas, my hobbies were limited to whatever was on hand. Mom and my two grandmothers quilted and sewed. I discovered writing and how much I loved it.  And, with a pencil and paper, I found out that I was pretty good at sketching.

Now, after being married for 3/4 of our time together, we have developed new, different hobbies.  Stay with me, here!

We have taken up cursing. Nothing vulgar, mind you. Just some pretty common swear words.

First biggie, is damn or dammit. Standard swearing, I know, but there you have it.

Second is one that my saintly mom yelled out when something goes wrong.  That would is, of course, shit or crap. While this is offensive, the farm wreaked of it and it was called "shit".  

   YouTube: George Carlin and his list of 7 awful words that

should or cannot be said on TV. I would not

ever say the obvious bad one, but he did

hit some of our words. This is about 5 min. long. Beginning

is funny.

Third is ass.  Now, it is seen as a common word in most ways. But in the George Carlin world, he uses his voice and mimics how the word could be used, unwisely.

Fourth is bitch, with the understanding is this in not referring to a female dog.  It is pretty common in the teen insults.

Fifth is its relative, bastard.  I have long called my brothers "bastards" for good reason. They were cruel to me in many ways. So I will use that word proudly.

Sixth is whore. When I was in 5th grade, a boy told me to look it up. I looked up "hoar" which is not particularly bad.

Seventh could be piss off. We don't use this one yet. Time will tell.

Oh, there are more, but we are staying away from them.  If you would like to be educated, go to this site: 35 words to avoid saying

We have not advanced or sunk down to Carlin's level, and will not.  But the words are available if we descend into a pit of depravity.

It's time to leave something behind

 

first left soup tureen; Lady carrying basket from my mom when 17; and Blue Ridge from Southern Pollenia?

At one point, all those precious items from your great-grandmother? Your offspring will not take them.  And that is where things go awry.

My children have looked at my treasures and said "Oh, we don't want that.  Means nothing to us."

This song tells how I feel.

Sean Rowe

Some descendants may someday thumb through my stuff, and say how cool we were.  I hope they recognize how cool we are. 

And I hope that maybe they appreciate my writing. Not so, yet.  Their lives are too busy, etc.

Home! Come home!

 

maneuvers along Israeli border

Helicopters fly

Gray and Green

Against a gray sky

Whoom-puh, Whoompuh

Blades cut through air

Shake leaves

Rattle glass

People watch from below.

Fly at night

Fly in day

Going where?  When?

Today, tomorrow.

Young men, young women

Sons and daughters all

Fly across

Desert ground, look down.

Whoom-puh, Whoompuh

Beating of their hearts

And

Beating of blades:

Same sound.

This was originally published September 12, 2012

Camp Pendleton is just 20-30 miles from us.  When we lived even closer, we could hear war maneuvers. Helicopters, munitions, half-tracks on the beach---something was about to happen.  Here, huge batches of Cipro were being stored in warehouses, ready for possibility of poisonous weapons being fired.

So, why is this being posted now?

Our men and women are coming home! After 20 years, they are coming home.

Needs of the Day

 

Children and tantrums

At one time or another, very young children need to express themselves, using their words, while other children throw themselves on the floor. The dropping to the floor and high wailing is irritating , if not infuriating. But we are the adults. We are the ones in charge.

These future adults are honing their skills in action and in words.

This video is 6 minutes long, worth every second!  This man is very wise.

From America's Funniest Video, about 1:30.

I wonder what became of this boy?

Remember: you are an adult. You do not throw tantrums. You do not stomp off and slam doors. You do not throw yourself on the floor.  You control yourself.  How is this working out for you? Oh, go ahead, cut loose!  

Books, stacked high, up to the Ceiling

 

"Heritage" is a word that should never be taken lightly. What was dreamed of and then built now must be torn down.  Happens all the time in America, where "eminent domain" trumps treasure. 

Old Cincinnati Public Library

                                        The little suitcases say "Public Library". 

And, then this...

AND, then this.....

                                         Parking garage and office building

"The cost of the lot and building was $383,594.53, about $7.7 million today. The Public Library contained 60,000 volumes, with an estimated capacity of 300,000. So why this building demolished? Talks for a new library building had already begun 30 years earlier when the book collection had started to outgrow the building. Books were stacked beyond reach. Ventilation was poor, the air stuffy. The paint was peeling.....

"Talks for a new library building had already begun 30 years earlier when the book collection had started to outgrow the building. Books were stacked out of reach, the 19th century ventilation system was already failing and the paint was peeling."

Past vs. Present?  Restore a building with unknown huge amounts of money? Or, build a new one?

Do you wonder what books were stacked there? They were packed and then stored until the new library was finished. Can you imagine what aged tomes might be in those boxes?