What Happened to the Birds

I filled the bird feeder up with seeds about a week ago and hardly any birds have come to the feeder in that time. This is very unusual and most of the time the feeder is swarming with birds right after I top it off. We always see a flock of the riffraff sparrows hanging around for days until the level drops. It has been cold and snowy but I really was expecting the birds to be doing their regular feeding. The birds have also not been visiting our neighbors feeder either. I've only seen a chickadee coming around a little bit in the past couple of days.

We also haven't seen squirrels around. This has made up suspect that there is a predator hanging around nearby. We often have hawks coming around but they usually don't stay very long and the animals return in an hour or so. This has been days. A week. 

It has also been a little weird that I have seen bunny tracks in the snow several days in a row in fresh snow. Probably early in the morning or maybe later in the evening but I haven't seen any rabbits in the yard lately. It's all been very strange.

Ever Since I Was A Young Boy - Songs 1969

Actually in 1969 I wasn't a young boy anymore. I was 17, graduating from high school, turning 18 and enlisting in the Navy. I was still buying lots of albums too and going out to see rock and folk music shows in clubs. Some big rock festivals too.

I was still working at the machine shop but then I was old enough to operate the lathes, drill presses, grinders, etc. and the money was mostly going towards my music obsession. I even had one of those album a month subscriptions to the Columbia Music Record Club.  I remember those 12 albums that cost a penny when joining the club and agreeing to buy one album a month for a year. That lasted about a year until I left for the Navy.

So here is the link to the mix on Spotify and once again it runs a little over an hour and a half. 

Ever Since I Was A Young Boy - Songs 1969

1. Pinball Wizard – The Who
2. Midnight Rambler – The Rolling Stones
3. Cold Turkey – John Lennon
4. I Wanna Be Your Dog – The Stooges
5. Space Oddity – David Bowie
6. The Narrow Way: Part 3 – Pink Floyd
7. A Salty Dog – Procol Harum
8. The Rose and The Thorn – 13th Floor Elevators
9. Moonlight On Vermont – Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band
10. Peaches En Regalia – Frank Zappa
11. Rivers of Babylon – The Melodians
12. Israelites – Desmond Dekker & The Aces
13. Sweet & Dandy – Toots & The Maytals
14. Cloud Nine – The Temptations
15. Stand! – Sly & The Family Stone
16. Sing A Simple Song – The Meters
17. Lament I, Bird’s Lament – Moondog
18. The Burning Of The Midnight Lamp – Rotary Connection
19. Bluebirds Over The Mountain – The Beach Boys
20. Introduction – Chicago
21. Don’t Forget About Me – Dusty Springfield
22. Soul Deep – The Box Tops
23. Venus – Shocking Blue
24. Blind – Deep Purple
25. Mendocino – The Sir Douglas Quintet

Anatomical Gift Program

I was out front shoveling some snow today when I noticed a blue UB van drive by the house but on the side of the panel was UB Anatomical Gift Program. When I went back inside a little later I had that van on my mind. What was it? I looked it up and right away I found the webpage for the UB Anatomical Gift Program which of course is run by the UB medical school to accept the donations of bodies to be studied by the students. Lots of info at the site including how to be a doner because not everyone is eligible. Having had Covid-19 would be a disqualifier. 

So I watched the body van go down the street thinking whether they were coming or going from a body pickup. Very weird. 

In The Past - Songs 1968

This is the first of 18 mixes of music in my collection from 1968 that will be eventually posted here and on Spotify. Each mix is a little over an hour and a half and were recently reworked from existing mixes that go back several decades. Once again these are all very personal selections and reflect my love of popular music... and some not so popular although this particular set is radio friendly.

1968 was an important year for my music life because my album collection probably doubled that year. I was also regularly going to see live music in several venues around the city which was easy to do because of the great public transportation system in Philadelphia. I had a job as a machine shop helper that gave me the money to buy records and go to shows which I did several times a month in local clubs like The Electric Factory, Trauma, The 2nd Fret, Kaleidoscope and The Main Point. I also attended the first couple of Quaker City Rock Festival shows that year at the recently opened Spectrum Arena in South Philly.

The first song in this set was from the only album in my collection that I purchased for the sole reason that I liked the album cover and had not heard of the band or the music. It turned out I did know some of the songs from an earlier album but not this one. I found the record in one of our neighborhood head shops near my house in an album rack surrounded by bongs and peasant shirts for sale. This album became one of my favorites. Here is a link to this mix on Spotify.

 

In The Past - Songs 1968

1. In The Past – The Chocolate Watch Band
2. Om – The Moody Blues
3. On The Road Again – Canned Heat
4. Wasn’t Born To Follow – The Byrds
5. The Weight – The Band
6. I Put A Spell On You – Creedence Clearwater Revival
7. Those Were The Days – Cream
8. Season Of The Witch – Mike Bloomfield, Al Kooper & Steve Stills
9. Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down) – Terry Reid
10. You Shook Me – Jeff Beck Group
11. Gypsy Eyes – The Jimi Hendrix Experience
12. Piece Of My Heart – Big Brother & The Holding Company
13. I’m So Tired – The Beatles
14. Pearly Queen – Traffic
15. I Got A Line On You – Spirit
16. Cry Like A Baby – The Box Tops
17. Midnight Confession – The Grass Roots
18. Bend Me, Shape Me – American Breed
19. Valleri – The Monkees
20. Elenore – The Turtles
21. Build Me Up Buttercup – The Foundations
22. Baby Come Back – The Equals
23. Time Of The Season – The Zombies
24. Sky Pilot - Eric Burdon & The Animals
25. Safe As Milk - Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band

Eagles to the Super Bowl

Earlier today I watched the Philadelphia Eagles significantly trounce the San Francisco 49ers 31 - 7 to win the NFL Conference Championship and earn a place in this year's Super Bowl. I had really been hoping that there would be an Eagles vs Bills Super Bowl this year but the Bills collapse last week killed that notion. So tonight I watched some of the Bengals vs Chiefs game and initially I really didn't care which team got in but as I was watching I got very annoyed by the Chief's fans doing their Indian chants which is obnoxiously racists and in bad taste. So... I would really like to see the Cincinnati beat Kansas City. But they didn't. It was a close game but the final score was Chiefs 23 Bengals 21. Eagles and Chiefs in the Super Bowl.

When I Was Young - Songs 1967

When I was young in 1967 I wanted to let it all hang out and talk about girls because I was a man and there was nobody but me that was all strung out over you, etc. 

In 1967 I was in my second year of high school at North Catholic, a boys only school of 4,000 kids that took about forty five minute ride on two trolleys. There were 4,000 girls at the Little Flower Catholic High School along the way and we rode the first trolley along with them. Then it was just all guys for the second part of the daily trip. Very loud too. Lots of transistors blaring despite the signs banning the playing of radios. This was some of that music.

Another set of selected songs from my collection that runs a little over an hour and a half.  Here is a link to this mix on Spotify.

When I Was Young - Songs 1967

1. When I Was Young – Eric Burdon & The Animals
2. Let It Out (Let It All Hang Out) – The Hombres
3. Let’s Talk About Girls – The Chocolate Watch Band
4. I’m A Man – Spencer Davis Group
5. Nobody But Me – The Human Beinz
6. All Strung Out Over You – The Chambers Brothers
7. Expressway To Your Heart – The Soul Survivors
8. Funky Broadway Part 1 – Dyke & The Blazers
9. Get On Up – The Esquires
10. Hip Hug-Her – Booker T. & The MG’s
11. Come On Up – The Young Rascals
12. (Loneliness Made Me Realize) It’s You That I Need – The Temptations
13. The Tears Of A Clown – Smokey Robinson & The Miracles
14. Higher and Higher – Jackie Wilson
15. Gimme Little Sign – Brenton Wood
16. Boogaloo Down Broadway – The Fantastic Johnny C
17. Little Bit O’Soul – The Music Explosion
18. David Watts – The Kinks
19. Romeo & Juliet – Michael & The Messengers
20. You Got To Me – Neil Diamond
21. I Can Only Give You Everything – The Troggs
22. Swlabr – Cream
23. Mr. Soul – Buffalo Springfield
24. Heroes and Villains – The Beach Boys
25. With A Little Help From My Friends – The Beatles
26. I’m Waiting For The Man – The Velvet Underground
27. Charlie – The Deviants
28. Mindrocker – Fenwyck
29. Baby Please Don’t Go – Amboy Dukes
30. Feel It For Me – Ten Years After
31. Sock It To Me Baby – Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels
32. Hey Baby (They’re Playing Our Song) – The Buckinghams
33. A Man With Money – The Who
34. Lucifer Sam – Pink Floyd
35. Pulsating Dream – Kaleidoscope

Chicken Soup from the Newspaper

Becky made a great chicken soup tonight from a recipe published by the New York Times in their special Winter Soup section. It made for a wonderful dinner.

I Saw Her Walking On Down The Line - Songs 1966

I saw her walking on down the line and you're probably wondering why I'm here. The sentiments of the opening and closing songs on this Songs 1966 mix I recently reconfigured and posted on the Side A / Side B Facebook group and on Spotify. 

As a young teenager I loved the Hanky Panky song and bought the single back in the day. I had a few other singles in this mix too... and all of the albums. I think I still have the 45s for the first three songs. Everything on the mixes are coming from my collection of music. Every song here means something to me personally or it wouldn't be on this mix. I probably have a story for every song. They were all part of my life and growing up as a Philadelphia teenager in 1966. Good radio stations back then too but underground radio was on the horizon. Here is a link to this mix on Spotify.

I Saw Her Walking On Down The Line - Songs 1966

1. Hanky Panky – Tommy James & The Shondells
2. Little Girl – Syndicate of Sound
3. Cherry Cherry – Neil Diamond
4. You Baby – The Turtles
5. Under My Thumb – The Rolling Stones
6. With A Girl Like You – The Troggs
7. Rosalyn – The Pretty Things
8. Talk Talk – The Music Machine
9. Call My Name - Them
10. Here, There and Everywhere – The Beatles
11. Go Where You Wanna Go – The Mamas and The Papas
12. Just Like A Woman – Bob Dylan
13. Burned – Buffalo Springfield
14. Somebody To Love – The Great Society
15. Substitute – The Who
16. Bus Stop – The Hollies
17. All or Nothing – Small Faces
18. She’s My Baby – The Mojo Men
19. Don’t Look Back – The Remains
20. Sometimes Good Guys Don’t Wear White – The Standells
21. Good Thing – Paul Revere & The Raiders
22. Somebody Help Me – Spencer Davis Group
23. I’m So Glad – Cream
24. I Can’t Keep From Crying Sometimes – The Blues Project
25. All Your Love – John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers
26. Mary, Mary – Paul Butterfield Blues Band
27. The Nazz Are Blue – The Yardbirds
28. Mustang Sally – The Young Rascals
29. Can’t Explain – Love
30. I Need Somebody – ? and The Mysterians
31. You’ve Got What I Want – The Sorrows
32. Mud In Your Eye – Les Fleur De Lys
33. You’re Probably Wondering Why I’m Here – The Mothers of Invention

Tom Verlaine RIP

I was very sad to see several postings this evening on social media concerning the death of Tom Verlaine at the age of 73. I always loved his albums with Television and his later solo albums. I immediately had to go upstairs and put one of his albums on the turntable while reading about his life and career on my tablet. There were lots of stories in the NY Times, Rolling Stone, Pitchfork, etc. 

It's amazing that the original lineup of Television included Tom Verlaine, Richard Lloyd and Richard Hell.

Tom Verlaine and Television albums in my collection:

• Television - Marquee Moon, 1977
• Television - Adventure, 1978
• Tom Verlaine, 1979
• Dreamtime, 1981
• Words From The Front, 1982
• Songs and Other Things, 2006

You Make My Heart Sing - Songs 1966

You make my heart sing, you make everything groovy. This is a set of Songs 1966 from the Songs by Year group in my Final Mix Series. Sounds complicated but it just means that after over fifty years of collecting music and making mixes I'm winding it down although it's going to take awhile. I was seriously collecting albums between 1966 and 2016 although I initially started out with a lot of 45 singles. I stopped when I retired. I grew up in Philadelphia which was a great place for rock 'n' roll and soul music. 1966 was the year I first started going out to see live music on my own although that would significantly increase in 1968. 

The Songs by Year mixes are all very personal and not a best of the year or even my favorites of any given year. It is all music that is in my collection and most of which were acquired during or near the year posted but of course I was always getting new music or old music too. There are hits, lots of them, but there are also deep cuts and obscure tracks unless maybe you were hanging out with us back in the day. This would then be a soundtrack.

The first dozen songs here I had on 45 singles and most of the others on vinyl LP back in the 60's. 1965-66 was my first year in high school. There is a link to this mix on Spotify here.

You Make My Heart Sing - Songs 1966

1. Wild Thing – The Troggs
2. Mother’s Little Helper – The Rolling Stones
3. Good Lovin’ – The Young Rascals
4. Devil With The Blue Dress On / Good Golly Miss Molly – Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels
5. Gimme Some Lovin’ – Spencer Davis Group
6. Gloria – Shadows of Knight
7. Hungry – Paul Revere & The Raiders
8. Friday On My Mind – The Easybeats
9. I Had Too Much To Dream Last Night – The Electric Prunes
10. Psychotic Reaction – Count Five
11. Over Under Sideways Down – The Yardbirds
12. Pushin’ Too Hard – The Seeds
13. You Better Run – The Young Rascals
14. Stop Stop Stop – The Hollies
15. Diddy Wah Diddy – Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band
16. Hungry Freaks, Daddy – The Mothers of Invention
17. Rainy Day Women #12 & 35 – Bob Dylan
18. She Said She Said – The Beatles
19. Wouldn’t It Be Nice – The Beach Boys
20. Time Won’t Let Me – The Outsiders
21. Along Comes Mary – The Association
22. Opus 17 (Don’t You Worry ‘Bout Me) – The Four Seasons
23. Dandy – The Kinks
24. Take A Giant Step – The Monkees
25. I’ll Prove I’m Right – Amboy Dukes
26. (We Ain’t Got) Nothin’ Yet – Blues Magoos
27. But It’s Alright – JJ Jackson
28. Hold On I’m Comin’ – Sam & Dave
29. River Deep Mountain High – Ike & Tina Turner
30. Sweet Talkin’ Guy – The Chiffons
31. Secret Agent Man – Johnny Rivers
32. Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down) – Cher
33. Got A Feelin’ – The Mamas & The Papas
34. Daydream – The Lovin’ Spoonful
35. I’m Not Sayin’ – Gordon Lightfoot

The Final Mixes - The Final Versions

What do I mean by The Final Mixes. These are the Final Versions of mixes I've been making for decades. Making mixes from music in my extensive collection has always been one of my favorite pastimes and my way to relax going back fifty years. I made some mixes back when I was in the Navy and we played our music on some of the earliest cassette tape decks. Some of the guys were using reel to reel tape decks. Most of our shipmates were putting albums on tapes while they were home and brought them to sea where turntables were not very useful. Back then a few times I just put a bunch of songs on a tape.

Later at the house on Seymour Street one of my friends had a tape deck and we put a few songs on a tape to play when we had a party. Most of the time we always played records on the turntable but when people were over for a party and dancing the turntable would constantly skip. No furniture worked. We actually built a shelf attached to the wall so the records wouldn't skip when people danced... which was a lot when we had parties. So we had a few mixtapes back in the late 70's. I had a group of mixtapes ready to play for our wedding in 1980 and from then on I became making mixes obsessed.

I've written about making mixes a few times on this blog.

I stopped collecting new music when I retired in 2016. I got a subscription to Spotify to keep up and listen to new releases. I also began at that time to seriously explore my music collection that I had amassed over the fast fifty years. My goal was to immerse myself in those thousands of albums I had obsessively collected.

So over the past six years and especially when the pandemic arrived and impacted on everything. I found different ways to explore my collection and to make more mixes. One new thing was to make mega mixes where I would string together many mixes that would go on for many many hours. Eight to twenty hours each. The idea was that I could put on a mix and just leave it play all day while I did other things around the house. It was like having my own personal non commercial no talking radio station with only the music I liked and wanted playing. I also put these mega mixes on flash drives that could be played in the car and used for our long all day drives to Philly with no need pick out a tape or CD to play. The original idea of the mega mix was something that I could put on as we left the driveway and didn't need to change or think about until we got to Katie's house. 

I then discovered that the mega mixes were fine in some situations but I really missed having the much shorter focused mixes that I had been putting together for so many decades. I also realized that at this stage of my life I wasn't going to be doing this for much longer. I decided it was time to make those final mixes.

So the Final Mixes are my final legacy of mixes. My last and final collection of mixes that will probably take me a couple of years to complete. Each mix will run a little over an hour and a half. Why that amount of time? It's a good time. Not too long, not too short. Brief but substantial also long enough to explore with the familiar and the not something I've heard so many times. It's room enough for the hits and for the deep cuts of any time period or theme.

Each of my various categories I've created over the years will have a new Final Mix version. I've started with my Songs by Year mixes. I'm also working on some Night Chill mixes. There will be lots more and I'm putting them on flash drives. I'm also putting them up as Spotify playlists and adding them to this blog with links to Spotify. I've posted some to a Facebook mix group. This is a process that I started this year.

Alt-America

Alt-America: The Rise of the Radical Right in the Age of Trump by David Neiwert, 2017

I read this scary book about the rise of right wing extremism in about a week. One of the things that made it so frightening was that it was written so early in the so called Age of Trump and five years of his extremism have gone by including his attempted coup to overthrow the elected government of our country. Scary indeed.

The author of this book has been tracking extremism in America for two decades and describes the history of the extreme conservative right wing. He details the rise of 9/11 conspiracy theories, militant militias and the Tea Party which all came to the forefront of American life following the election of the country's first Black president which really triggered the racist right wing which has been fueled by Fox News, Newsmax and other extremist right wing media in the online world. The author explores the background, mindset and growth of the far right movements and their embracing Donald Trump.

The book is really about the future of fascism in America in the form of right wing militias, christian identity groups and white nationalists coming together under the banner of Trump. It is about a country inundated with lies and misinformation coming from a president and now former president seeking to get elected again after his failed insurrection attempt. It's hard to believe that traitor to America is not currently in prison. 

Bills Lose Playoff Game

The Buffalo Bills season came to a screeching halt today with a blowout loss to the Cincinnati Bengals in a divisional series playoff game 27-10. The game score really did not reflect how bad the Bills played and the difference could have been much greater. The Bills were out of after the opening drive. They stunk up the place and were completely outplayed in every aspect of the game. It wasn't want any one player. They were all bad including the coaching staff too.

I really felt bad for Ashely and her father Tony who stayed at our house Saturday night and attended the game on Sunday. They drove here from their house while Sean stayed home with Andrew. They arrived a little after 6 pm and brought some pizza and wings from La Nova. Then we hung out and watched football. I was happy to see the Eagles crush the Giants. They went to bed with Tony in the guest room and Ashley in the kid's room. We got up early Sunday morning and they were out of the house by 8:30 in the morning. They planned to be at the stadium by 9:30 am with the game starting at 3 pm. That's a lot of tailgating. I think by 3:30 it looked like the Bills were playing bad and never recovered their mojo. That was certainly a long day for them getting excited about seeing the Bills move on in the playoffs and then have to sit through that debacle. They were planning to leave the game a little early because they were driving over four hours home after the game but must have left certainly knowing it was a lost cause. The Bills just didn't have it in them and the Bengals were playing like champs. It also looked like the Bills couldn't handle the weather too.

There is going to be a lot of wailing and gnashing of teeth in Buffalo over the coming days as the so called Bills Mafia slinks away in defeat like the creepy sleezy gang they named themselves after. 

Another Dinner at Shango

Last night we got a phone text from our friends and neighbors down the street asking us if we would like to join them for dinner at Shango. We said sure and Brian made reservations for 5:45 pm. We had first introduced them to Shango several years ago.

So this evening they picked us up at our house and drove us over to Shango. We had a great table in the dining room in the raised alcove. Very nice. We had a great dinner and since it was Friday night there was a Fish Fry special which Brian and I both ordered along with a cup of gumbo. This was a really special fish fry. It was a dark crispy coated catfish that was huge along with some very tasty sweet potato fries, cole slaw and potato salad. This was probably the best dinner I've ever had there and we have had many many meals there over the years. Becky and Anne both had Steak Po' Boys.

They always have a nice selection of beers on tap and tonight was no different. I had a pint of Great Lakes Christmas Ale followed by a wonderful pint of Sofie Belgium Style Farmhouse Ale from Goose Island. 

By 7 pm the restaurant was very full and really hopping. We left a little before 8 and then went back to Crescent Avenue where we stopped in and hung out for about an hour at their house down the street. It was a very good night overall. I just wish I took a picture of my meal which was really spectacular. I'm looking forward to going back there again soon and ordering that catfish fish fry again.

Jerry Blavat RIP

I just heard that Jerry Blavat, Philadelphia disc jockey known as The Geator With The Heator, died today at the age of 82. He was a very important music influence during my teenage years growing up in Philadelphia. He specialized in playing "oldies" back in the mid 1960's which means he was playing songs from the 50's and early 60's on his radio show and at his hosting live dance hops around town. He was a Philadelphia icon. He was also know as "The Big Boss with the Hot Sauce". As a teenager I collected most of his oldies compilation albums.

There other DJ's in town on other radio stations playing oldies such as Hy Lit and Joe Niagara who also had oldies compilation albums that I had in my collection. 

I spent many Sunday afternoons while in high school at the Jerry Blavat hosted dances at Wagner's Ballroom on Broad Street. It was actually on Old York Road where it connected with Broad Street near Chew and Olney avenues. I walked over there with friends down Logan street to Lindley and then over to Broad Street or sometimes up Ogontz to Olney. It was always about a 40 minute walk from home.

We did a lot of dancing at Wagner's. Line dancing too. I went to many dances back in the 60's while in high school. In addition to Wagner's we went to dances at both North Catholic and Little Flower high schools and Holy Child parish dances which was also on Broad Street about a half hour walk from home. We would also go to some of the dance clubs down the Jersey Shore.

Over the years I've made several mixes based on the music I heard and danced to at Jerry Blavat's dance hops at Wagner's Ballroom and on his radio shows. I'm listening to one of them now.

David Crosby RIP

Earlier today my FB newsfeed was suddenly full of pictures and comments about David Crosby who apparently died yesterday at the age of 81. He was always part of my music life and a young person growing up. In my teen years I was a big fan of those early Byrds albums and I saw them perform in 1967 with David Crosby. 

Later in 1969 I saw Crosby, Stills and Nash perform and then again in 1970 and 1974.  The 1970 concert I saw was in Chicago and was one of the shows recorded for their live album released in 1971. I never saw Crosby in his later years although he toured constantly. I did get a couple of his more recent albums.

With his long history of legal, drugs and health problems along with his decades of touring it was very surprising he lived to age 81. I had to go upstairs and put the first Crosby, Stills and Nash on the turntable.

David Crosby albums in my collection:

• Mr. Tambourine Man - The Byrds, 1965
• Turn! Turn! Turn! - The Byrds, 1965
• Fifth Dimension - The Byrds, 1966
• Younger Than Yesterday - The Byrds, 1967
• The Notorious Byrd Brothers - The Byrds, 1968
• Crosby, Stills & Nash, 1969
• Deja Vu - Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, 1970
• 4 Way Street - Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, 1971
• If I Could Only Remember My Name - David Crosby, 1971
• CSN Box Set, 1991
• The Acoustic Concert - Crosby, Stills & Nash, 1991
• Demos 1970 - Crosby, Stills & Nash, 2009
• CSNY 1974 Live Box Set, 2014
• Croz - David Crosby, 2014
• Lighthouse - David Crosby, 2016

Another New Bluetooth Speaker

In early December I bought another Bluetooth speaker on Amazon. I spent about twice as much money on this one as the last one and it sounds a lot more than twice as good. It actually sounds great with a wonderful bass enhancement and money well spent. It doesn't have a USB port like the other one which means I can't play music from a flash drive full of mixes but it does have an Aux port that allows me to play music from my iPod which sounds great. I have been using it with Spotify and also MixCloud where I have recently posted some mixes.

I had played the other speaker when we had people at the house over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend and it didn't sound very good. I knew I needed something better and got this new one for when we had people over for Christmas dinner but then we had the blizzard and no people coming by. 

The old speaker may still be used outside because it doesn't sound so bad in that environment. Most of the time it sounds OK but just not great for sitting around the house. I want the two laptops I use for music to be Bluetooth enabled devices recognized by the speaker. I'm trying to get the laptops to play the kitchen speakers and the Bluetooth speaker at the same time. I recently bought a Bluetooth adapter for the laptop.  Still working on it. 

Juncos and Cardinals

We have always loved having a bird feeder so close to our kitchen window in this house and I've written about our backyard birds many times over the years. It has made a significant difference in our bird viewer patterns being retired and then again spending so much more time at home because of the pandemic. We just spent more time in the kitchen during the day over the past six years.

I've been fascinated with the two birds in particular and their two different ways of approaching our bird feeder from each other and the other birds coming by for some seeds. We have a bird feeder with a cage around the seeds which is designed to keep the squirrels away and also to only allow small birds to get to the seeds. Cardinals and Blue Jays cannot get the seed but they come around. Especially the cardinals who are very persistent. They like to sit on the top of the feeder or along the pole or on the fence or on the nearby shed roof and watch the smaller songbirds get all the seeds. Well, not all the seeds. Some seeds do fall to the ground under the feeder and that is where the squirrels and the larger birds scramble for their fill including the much larger mourning doves.

The cardinals seem to love to watch other birds eat. The female will especially just hang around and seem to pay attention to everything going on around her. The cardinals and other larger birds get plenty of bird seed from the our neighbor's feeder next door and we can see all of that activity from our kitchen window too. The cardinals just seem to like to come over to our feeder to see what's going on.

The juncos come and hang out at the feeder. Sometimes one of them will sit there for ten minutes just looking around after having their fill of seed. They seem to be more pensive and like to feel comfortable in the feeder that they seem to claim as theirs. Now they will also go to the feeder next door but that was is often more active because of it's availability to all sized birds and they can't just sit there and contemplate their environment like they seem to do at our feeder.

The other birds also have their regular patterns. The chickadees dart in and out very quickly and seldom seem to linger at the feeder. The sparrows come in hordes and their numbers quickly overwhelm the feeder and drive away other birds. I've written about them as the sparrows riffraff.

The photo is a female cardinal watching a junco sitting in the bottom of the bird feeder.

The Art Stool

The seat of a stool from the painting studio of Becky's mother now sitting unused and alone in amongst the artworks of mother, father and daughter. 

I was over at Becky's studio recently helping her move and organize some of her large paintings in the storage areas. She's been very busy getting ready for her upcoming art show at NCCC next month. 

So I found this old stool. Becky took this stool from her mother's painting studio many years ago and moved it into her studio. Apparently my mother in law Catherine got the stool from the UB Art Dept when it was discarded sometime in the mid 1970's when the Dept was preparing to move over to Bethune Hall on Main Street. Catherine Catanzaro Koenig taught at UB in the 60's and 70's. This stool was old then and the paint on the seat came from decades of art students going back to the 1950's. 

Jeff Beck RIP

I was very sad today to hear of the passing of guitar great Jeff Beck at the age of 78 after a brief illness. I first heard his music when he was briefly with The Yardbirds and played on their brilliant album Roger the Engineer and in particular their great song Over Under Sideways Down. 

In October 1968 I saw The Jeff Beck Group play at the Electric Factory in downtown Philly. Rod Stewart was his vocalist back then. I had two of his albums from that time period; Truth, Beck-Ola and Rough and Ready. I also loved Donovan's album Barabagal from 1969 which featured the Jeff Beck Group on some of the songs. 

Later in the mid 1970's I would be back into Jeff Beck on his Blow By Blow and Wired albums. Although I liked and saw the Vanilla Fudge perform a couple of times I didn't care too much for the Beck, Bogart & Appice collaboration album from 1975. Much later in the 1990's I would start listening to Jeff Beck again and got his collection Beckology

Jeff Beck albums in my collection.

• Roger the Engineer - The Yardbirds, 1966
• Truth - Jeff Beck Group, 1968
• Beck-Ola - Jeff Beck Group, 1969
• Rough and Ready - Jeff Beck Group, 1971
• Blow By Blow, 1975
• Wired, 1984
• Guitar Shop, 1989
• Beckology, 1991, 3 CD box set
• Who Else, 1999
• You Had It Coming, 2001
• Jeff, 2003
• Live at Ronnie Scott's, 2008
• Emotion and Commotion, 2010
• Loud Hailer, 2016

Surprise Weekend Visit

Around 8:30 on Saturday morning we got a call from Sean asking us if it was alright if he and Ashley along with Andrew came and stayed with us over the weekend so they could go to the Bills game. And if we could watch Andrew on Sunday while they were at the game. Of course we said yes. He then said they would be leaving in about an hour or so for their four hour drive to our house.

Apparently their plan had originally been for Ashely to come to Buffalo with her sister and the two of them would stay at an AirBnB in the Southtowns for the weekend. Sean would stay home with Andrew. Her sister then got sick and could not make it so they went with plan B. Us. 

There were also other complications for Ashely. Her grandmother was in a hospital rehab center and she wanted to visit with her while on the trip. Her best friend's sister-in-law had just passed away and she also wanted to attend the wake and memorial service Saturday evening. So Ashely had a very busy weekend.

After Sean's phone call we shifted into high gear and got the house ready for weekend guests. I set up the baby crib and got the toys out along with baby proofing the downstairs. The usual stuff. Becky made the beds and vacuumed the rooms. Lots of straightening up. It seemed like we were still in recovery mode from the long holiday snowstorm week with Katie and the kids but he we go again. Luckily there was no weather problem predictions this time.

They arrived late Saturday afternoon after visiting with Ashley's grandmother at her rehab center and a short stop at the wake. We had a nice dinner of Mister Pizza wings and pizza and then Ashley went back to be with her friend at the memorial service. Sean and Andrew stayed at the house with us and we had a fun time. Then it was bath and bed for Andrew. 

On Sunday morning Sean and Ashley left for the Bills game and we had the day with Andrew. We had a great time with him, he played a lot and we took him to the zoo but that's another story. Then he played some more and even did some drawing with Becky after she spent quite a bit of time on the floor with him.

The Bills won and the kids got back for dinner where Becky made some great tacos. Andrew was fine all day but as with many toddlers his age he began acting up when his parents got back. He didn't have a nap and then instead of sleeping through the night he had a few episodes of keeping us all awake. Oh well, life with a not quite two year old. Looking forward to his 2nd birthday in April. They were on the road by around ten on Monday morning leaving us with some wonderful memories of our youngest grandson.

A Day With Andrew

Today we spent the day with our grandson Andrew while his parents attended the Bills game. They left him with us around ten this morning and he was wonderful all day with no problems for us except that he didn't want to take a nap after a day of activities. In the morning he played and played with the many toys we have around the house for our grandchildren. He especially loved the cars and trucks and of course the castle too. 

Around eleven we put him in the stroller and walked over to the zoo. It was a little cold but at least there was no wind blowing. Andrew loved strolling through the neighborhood and got excited about seeing houses, trees and especially delivery trucks. He was pointing out everything. 

It's nice being zoo members and this Sunday morning in January the zoo didn't have very many visitors. It was like we had the zoo to ourselves. There were a few other families there and Andrew was very interested in the other children. He was also interested in the many zoo vehicles. He also liked the bears, tigers and lions but didn't seem to care for the lizards, snakes and turtles. He was fascinated by the artic foxes and kept calling them dogs. He really loved the Rainforest House especially the waterfall. The birds and monkeys too.

We spent about an hour and a half at the zoo and on the way home we stopped and took his picture at the Josh Allen jumping mural on Parkside Avenue. I sent that to Sean and Ashley just before the Bills game was starting. They loved it.

While the Bills game was on Andrew played and played with the toys around the house. Then Becky got out some drawing materials and he had a great time making drawings in the notebook that Henry usually uses for his drawings.

We had a great time with Andrew even though he didn't want to take a nap. We didn't force the issue. He was so much fun and talked about everything with his small but very intense vocabulary.

We are looking forward to spending more time with Andrew in the Spring and especially around his second birthday in April. 

The New Bird Feeder vs The Squirrels

Sean and Ashely got us a new bird feeder for Christmas this year. They know how much we enjoy watching the birds at our feeders outside our kitchen window. Unfortunately it was squirrel proof enough for our backyard. I put bird feeder up. First hanging from the hook on the back porch which did work out too well. The squirrels quickly showed up and swarmed over it. Then suddenly they were fighting. There were four of them going crazy and attacking each other because the bird seed was so easy for them to get. It was somewhat entertaining but all the birds sat around nearby and watched the fracas while waiting for their turn at the feeder. I should have taken some pictures of the battle of the squirrels but it was all happening so fast. 

I took the feeder down and then put it up again on the hook on the back of the shed. That worked ok for awhile and the cardinals were enjoying the bird seed but then the squirrels found it again. They climbed down the bungy cord and got on to the feeder and stayed there eating. I tried a few different configurations of different bungy cords but the result was always the same. I was also afraid that the squirrels would knock down the feeder and break it. That has happened before.

We needed something a little more squirrel proof. I looked around the basement and the shed to see if I could gimcrack something together. I also looked online for some solutions. Becky ordered an inexpensive squirrel shield. We'll see how that works out when it arrives.

Congress Chaos

Today was supposed to be a very important symbolic political ritual where the new republican majority were to formally take over the leadership of Congress by electing a new Speaker of the House and perform the ceremony of swearing in to office the new members in that order. The vote for the new Speaker was to take place at noon today and it did but the presumed new speaker could not muster up enough votes in his own party. Kevin McCarthy proved himself to be a failed leader and a loser.

Three times today congress voted and three times McCarthy could not win the election of his peers, his party. This is the first time this has happened in a hundred years. The Republican Party and the jerk trying to become the speaker just looked pathetic but it was kind of funny watching the house clerk keep reading the votes and knowing that there was going to be another failed attempt to win the election. I guess we'll see more tomorrow.

Another Dead Pope

The old pope just died. That would be Pope Benedict XVI. He was the pope that quit his job. Resigned. He was the first pope to leave office alive in 600 years. He must have done something really bad to have been forced out of office after less than eight years. 

Joseph Ratzinger was a German right wing conservative nutjob who played politics his entire career in the Catholic Church and manipulated himself into getting elected pope in 2005 although he claimed to not want to be Pope. He really probably just liked being the power behind the throne which he did for many years.

His time in office was full of controversies and especially his protection of pedophile priest. He was also against the use of condoms by Catholics and was anti-gay. I guess that was only for non-priest. As a teenager he was a member of the Hitler Youth.

It was a weird way to start of the new year.

This was actually an unusual experience in the Church to have a dead pope's funeral planned but without the election of a new pope. There has been Pope Francis from Argentina for almost ten years now since Benedict gave up the office. 

I've seen a few dead popes now in my life and I remember them all. First was Pius XII who died in 1958 when I was in 2nd grade at St. Francis School. It was a big deal and we were getting indoctrinated into the church and the popes. Then there was Pope John XXIII and the Second Vatican Council. That was a really big deal but he died in less than five years. I saw another big papal funeral and another election conclave. Of course back then the popes were always Italian. The next one was too. Pope Paul VI lasted fifteen years until 1978 but of course by that time I was long gone from the catholic church. They elected another Italian Pope John Paul I who only lasted 33 days. I wonder what really happened to that guy.

Next up was the first non-Italian since the early 1500's. Pope John Paul II was from Poland and was relatively progressive compared to the previous popes. He was in office for 26 1/2  years, 1978-2005. His replacement was the German Ratzinger who died yesterday. 

Pope Frances, his replacement, was the first pope from outside Europe since the 730s, first pope from the Americas, first from the Southern Hemisphere. First Jesuit Pope too. Not that I really care anything about popes.