Last Day... grandkids selfie

We had a great family time in the Adirondacks this past week and of course on our last night together I had to take my usual grandkids selfie pic.

Earlier in the week I did some selfies with Henry, Clara and Violet. Andrew and Autumn were with us toward the end of the week but I'll get some individual selfies with them next week when they are in Buffalo.

Rich Lake Hike

We do this hike every year when we visit the Adirondack Interpretive Center at Rich Lake down the Newcomb road from Long Lake. We always hike the Peninsula Trail. We were all very impressed on how great the kids did on the trail.

This time, however, something was different. The trail itself was different and a little confusing. It didn't seem right, something was off and we had to double back on the trail back the way we came in. We could not hike all the way around the peninsula as we usually did. When we got back to the AIC building I talked with one of the staff and found out this past year a nearby dam had collapsed and a large section of the trail including the bridge along the marsh was wiped out. The trail had to be reconfigured to loop back to the AIC building. The map below is the new temporary trail configuration. They have plans to rebuild the trails this year.

Tougher Than The Rest - Songs 1987 FV

The 12th and final mix of my Songs 1987 set of songs from albums in my collection released in 1987 and part of my Final Version series. I really enjoyed putting these mixes together and I'm looking forward to starting on my revised versions of Songs 1988.

Bruce Springsteen in the pic.

Tougher Than The Rest - Songs 1987 FV

1. Tougher Than The Rest - Bruce Springsteen
2. Just Like Us - The Connells
3. Did I Tell You - Yo La Tengo
4. Rebel - Blue Rodeo
5. A Letter From St. Paul - The Silencers
6. Silver and Gold - U2
7. Little Johnny Jewel - Siouxsie & The Banshees
8. Soul Kitchen - Echo & The Bunnymen
9. Learning To Fly - Pink Floyd
10. Happy Nightmare Baby - Opal
11. Tango in the Night - Fleetwood Mac
12. Kicking Clouds Across the Sky - Balancing Act
13. Long Story Short - The Long Ryders
14. Nothing Comes Close - Bill Lloyd
15. Under the Sun - Paul Kelly & The Messengers
16. Nowhere Road - Steve Earle
17. Lord of the Highway - Joe Ely
18. Memphis in the Meantime - John Hiatt
19. Long White Cadillac - Dave Alvin
20. I Couldn't Leave You If I Tried - Rodney Crowell
21. Lone Star State of Mind - Nanci Griffith
22. 'Til That Moment - Marshall Crenshaw
23. Johnny B - The Hooters
24. We Never Danced - Neil Young

Another Wedding Anniversary

Today Becky and I are celebrating another wedding anniversary... #46. Katie & Todd and the kids were in town last week and we had a wonderful time. They just had a wedding anniversary too... #14. Next week we will be vacationing together in the Adirondacks. We are looking forward to spending time there with both Katie and Sean and all five grandchildren. Becky's sister too. We had a lot of fun with our three Philly grandkids last week including a walk over to the zoo with dinos, pizza & wings, a strawberry festival around the corner, evening walk in the neighborhood counting bunnies... 22 this time, lunch at Kostas and of course my regular selfies with the kids. Now we're getting ready for Long Lake. 

Have A Little Faith - Songs 1987 FV

A quieter mix of songs from albums in my collection released in 1987. More laid back with a porch sittin' country rock groove overall but some interesting deep cuts too.

An hour and a half set from my Final Version series of songs by years. John Hiatt in the pic.

Have A Little Faith - Songs 1987 FV

1. Have A Little Faith In Me - John Hiatt
2. Someone Like You - Van Morrison
3. I Didn't Know I Could Lose You - Rodney Crowell
4. From a Distance - Nanci Griffith
5. Try - Blue Rodeo
6. With or Without You - U2
7. When You're Alone - Bruce Springsteen
8. Big Heart - Paul Kelly & The Messengers
9. Without You - Bel Canto
10. Somebody Crying - Marshall Crenshaw
11. Reconsider Me - Warren Zevon 
12. I Don't Have To Crawl - Rosanne Cash
13. Those Memories of You - Emmylou Harris, Linda Ronstadt & Dolly Parton
14. Downtown Tonight - John Gorka
15. River of Fools - Los Lobos
16. Somewhere Down the Crazy River - Robbie Robertson
17. Temptation - Tom Waits
18. Let the Happiness In - David Sylvian
19. Apology Line - Barrence Whitfield & The Savages
20. Me and Billy the Kid - Joe Ely
21. Long Walk Home - Neil Young
22. Be Still My Beating Heart - Sting
23. Summoning of the Muse - Dead Can Dance
24. Verdi Cries - 10,000 Maniacs

Tempted - CD Mix

Tempted: Love Will Tear Us Apart. An old mix of mine from about 40 years ago when it was on cassette tape. I have hundreds of these CDs on some old book shelves. Lots of great songs here. I played all these songs in a artists hangout dive bar where I spun records in the 80's... The Pastime Lounge.

I still love to listen to these CD mixes in our backyard cabana room where I have a stereo. I'm going to post some of these CD mixes on BlueSky. I did the first one this evening.

WOW Tonight

Went to a Wine on Wednesday this evening at Russell and Summit. It was a small crowd but very social and on Joan's porch so there was a lack of seating. About 20 people and we knew most everyone there. Becky sat next to Greg and talked (or listened) with him for over an hour. Left a little before 9:30 pm. This was our second WOW of the season so far. We had a very nice time and we did get to sit as a few people left early. This is the only WOW location that happens on a porch instead of a backyard.

Then we went home and watched some World Cup soccer for an hour.

Motown Hitsville USA - Kitchen Listening

Kitchen Listening. Hitsville USA: The Motown Singles Collection 1959-1971, 1993. One of my favorite CD box sets in my collection. A nice five hour 4 CD compilation of hits. I've been listening to it again today and it is still awesome sounding. Reminds me so much of my teenage years growing up in Philadelphia listening to a lot of soul music. 

I did get to see a couple of those 60's Motown revue shows. One band and lots of vocalist taking turns on stage. Amazing performances from the classic groups and artists.

Angels Don't Cry - Songs 1987 FV

And here is the 10th set in my Songs 1987 series of mixes featuring songs from albums in my collection released in 1987. This set is a little more indie rockin' with some soul thrown in. The usual hits, favorites and deep cuts.

The Psychedelic Furs in the pic.

Angels Don't Cry - Songs 1987 FV

1. Angels Don't Cry - The Psychedelic Furs
2. Saint Julian - Julian Cope
3. Magick Power - Opal
4. She's In Love With Time - The Bevis Frond
5. Who Do You Want For Your Love? - The Icicle Works
6. Shining Star (Makin' My Love) - David Bowie
7. Heart - Pet Shop Boys
8. Love in the First Degree - Bananarama
9. Bad - Michael Jackson
10. I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man - Prince
11. So Emotional - Whitney Houston
12. I'll Never Turn My Back On You - Terence Trent D'Arby
13. Mad House - Barrence Whitfield & The Savages
14. Behind the Sun - Red Hot Chili Peppers
15. You're Lost Little Girl 0 Siouxsie & The Banshees
16. Big Love - Fleetwood Mac
17. Searching For This Thing - Balancing Act
18. I Can't Take This Place - The Del Fuegos
19. Can't Feel a Thing - The Original Sins
20. Can't Hardly Wait - The Replacements
21. You - X
22. Heart of Darkness - Hoodoo Gurus
23. Darklands - The Jesus and Mary Chain
24. The Light - Love & Rockets

Algae Frog - MAGA

From The Other 98%

Trump is now in a public feud with a person in an inflatable frog costume. He posted the frog's photo to attack it as a "crazy pro-algae (likely paid) protestor." This is the President of the United States.

He is losing a fight to a guy in a frog suit, and he started it.

Trump spent $14 million renovating the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool and dyeing it "American flag blue." It promptly filled with algae and the paint started peeling.
Rather than admit the job was botched, Trump invented a conspiracy about "vandals," sent in the National Guard, and had Park Police arrest a 67-year-old Olympian for touching a loose flap of paint.

It was already absurd. Then it went full idiocracy.

On Monday night, the President of the United States, leader of the world's largest economy and commander of its military, sat down and posted a photograph of a protester in a giant inflatable frog costume. The frog was labeled "Amphifa." It was holding a sign reading "First they came for the algae."
And Trump, apparently, could not let the frog win.

"Here is another example of a crazy pro-algae (likely paid) protestor," he wrote, deadly serious, before launching into a lengthy explanation of the Martin Niemoller poem the frog's sign was parodying. He took the bait so completely that he annotated the joke.

He fact-checked a frog.

Somewhere out there is an ordinary person who put on a novelty amphibian costume, made a silly sign about pond scum, and stood near a puddle. And the most powerful man on the planet saw it, felt personally threatened, and fired off an official presidential statement declaring the frog a paid agitator.

The protester won the entire exchange without saying a word. The frog didn't have to do anything. Trump did all the work himself, transforming a man in a costume into a national news story by being unable to ignore him.

A confident leader laughs at a frog. A secure man scrolls past. Trump cannot, because every joke at his expense lands like a wound, and he has to swing back at all of them, even the ones wearing inflatable green suits and standing next to an algae-filled pool he ruined himself.

The pool is still green. The paint is still peeling. And the President of the United States spent his Monday night at war with a frog. The frog is winning.