The Daughter of Doctor Moreau

The Daughter of Doctor Moreau by Silvia Moreno-Garcia, 2022

I just finished this new book based on the H.G. Wells 1896 science fiction novel The Island of Doctor Moreau. 

I read the original book by H.G. Wells back in the early 1960's when I was discovering science fiction. I also loved the early 1932 film adaptation of the book The Island of Lost Souls and then later the 1977 film The Island of Doctor Moreau. I think I may need to watch one of these films again and even go back and read the original novel. I have been reading some other books by H.G. Wells recently.

I enjoyed this book very much and read it in about ten days. It took a little longer because I was reading in on my tablet and most of the time I couldn't read it outside during the day because of the bright sunshine. It has been wonderful weather this past week and I spent a lot of time on the porch or the backyard reading in between longs sessions of gardening. I had a paper copy of some Sherlock Holmes to read during those times of outside sun glare. Most of my reading of this book was in the evenings and before bed.

So this book was a very interesting science fiction tale and historical drama that takes place in the Yucatan peninsula region of Mexico during a period of war and strife between the Mexicans and the Maya Indians of the area. This conflict is an important part of the story. It is also a story about moral choices. And a mad scientist too.

Another Marathon on the Street

Today was another marathon race through out neighborhood and down hour street. It was a beautiful warm day. We get the Buffalo Marathon coming by every Sunday during the Memorial Day Weekend. It's always interesting to sit on the porch for awhile and watch the runners passing by. Last week we had the Slow Roll bike ride with over 900 cyclist riding by our house but that only took minutes. The marathon runners takes hours.

Usually the first runners we see are the African contingent but not this year. For some reason they weren't there in the race. Instead of that large group in the very beginning we saw the runners coming past one by one and them more and more as the time went by. We also noticed not very many women in the early stages of the race but many more later. I also like watching the folks towards the end of the race and the stragglers. They are the ones really trying to make the race. We are also probably only about a quarter of the way into the race and it's already interesting to see the people struggling along about two hours into the race.

There were a lot of neighbors out on the street and porches clapping, yelling and banging on noise makers throughout the morning. Our new older neighbor across the street was particularly loud with her hooting and hollering throughout the morning. She really tried hard to interact with the runners as they came by her house.

Our new neighbor across the street was

No Surprises - Covers FV

This is another reworking of an older mix from a few years ago. The original No Surprises covers mix was an eight hour mega mix. This is an hour and a half version that shares the same opening group of songs. This is part of my Final Versions series of mixes.

I really like the reggae version of the Radiohead title song and the great songs and different versions just keep going from there. Some classic cover songs too.

No Surprises - Covers FV

1. No Surprises – Easy Star All-Stars (Radiohead)
2. Blister in the Sun – Nouvelle Vague (Violent Femmes)
3. Some Velvet Morning – Primal Scream (Lee Hazelwood & Nancy Sinatra)
4. Private Eyes – The Bird and The Bee (Hall & Oates)
5. You Keep Me Hangin’ On – Kim Wilde (The Supremes)
6. Don’t You Want Me – Future Bible Heroes (The Human League)
7. Couldn’t I Just Tell You – Game Theory (Todd Rundgren)
8. Dancing Barefoot – Simple Minds (Patti Smith)
9. Can’t Find My Way Home – Electronic (Blind Faith)
10. Strange Days – Thievery Corporation (The Doors)
11. The Passenger – Siouxsie & The Banshees (Iggy Pop)
12. I Think We’re Alone Now – Lene Lovich (Tommy James & The Shondells)
13. Come and Get It – The Hollywood Vampires (Badfinger)
14. The Slider – Ty Segall (T. Rex)
15. Under My Thumb – Social Distortion (The Rolling Stones)
16. California Sun – The Dictators (The Beach Boys)
17. Little Honda – Yo La Tengo (The Beach Boys)
18. Wild Thing – X (The Troggs)
19. Victoria – The Fall (The Kinks)
20. Somebody To Love – The Ramones (Jefferson Airplane)
21. Hanky Panky – Joan Jett (Tommy James & The Shondells)
22. I Got You Babe – The Cynics (Sonny & Cher)
23. She Said, She Said – The Black Keys (The Beatles)
24. Love Will Tear Us Apart – Swans (Joy Division)
25. Just Like Heaven – Dinosaur Jr. (The Cure)
26. Ride My See-Saw – Bongwater (The Moody Blues)

Tina Turner RIP

While I was playing Dylan music all day yesterday I was saddened to hear that Tina Turner passed away at the age of 83. I had first heard the music of Ike & Tina Turner in the mid to late 60's and the song that stood out for me was River Deep - Mountain High. 

In early 1971 I had just returned from a Caribbean cruise to the Navy base in Norfolk and went out with some shipmates to see Ike & Tina Turner. I hadn't heard very much radio in months and their cover of CCR's Proud Mary had recently been released as a single and was climbing the charts. It was a spectacular show.

I also enjoyed her 80's solo material. 

In my collection of have two Best of Ike & Tina Turner compilation albums and a Best of Tina Turner compilation from her solo years. I do have some other songs by her scattered throughout the collection including her songs with the Rolling Stones on their Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out album and her spectacular contributions to B.E.F album with Let's Stay Together.

Bob Dylan 82

Today is another Bob Dylan birthday! He is 82. I played a lot of Dylan's music throughout the day. I never get tired of his songs.

I've previously written in the blog about Dylan and his music... Bob Dylan 80, Reading About Dylan, Dylan in the Morning, Bob Dylan and the Prize and of course my Thin Man - Dylan Cycle mega mix. Probably the next time I write about him will be his passing which I hope isn't any time soon.

I also really like the endless interpretations of his music by other artists. I was recently updating my covers mixes and of course Bob Dylan songs seem to appear on every mix.

I spent some time going through my collection making a list and counting my Dylan albums. I was surprised to see that I had 62 albums including compilations and live sets. There are 32 studio albums in the collection. I stopped collecting albums when I retired in late 2016. He has released several albums since then which I've listened to on Spotify.

I also have several albums of Dylan cover songs including a 4 CD box set. They are a lot of fun and good source material for my cover mixes.

Bob Dylan albums in my collection:

• Bob Dylan, 1962
• The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan, 1963
• The Times They Are a-Changin', 1964
• Another Side of Bob Dylan, 1964
• Bringing It All Back Home, 1965
• Highway 61 Revisited 1965
• Blonde On Blonde, 1966
• John Wesley Harding, 1967
• Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits, 1967
• Nashville Skyline, 1969
• Self Portrait, 1970
• New Morning, 1970
• Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits Vol. 2, 1971
• Pat Garrett & Billy The Kid, 1973
• Dylan, 1973
• Planet Waves, 1974
• Before The Flood, 1974 (live)
• Blood On The Tracks, 1975
• The Basement Tapes, 1975
• Desire, 1976
• Hard Rain, 1976 (live)
• Street Legal, 1978
• Bob Dylan at Budokan, 1978 (live)
• Slow Train Coming, 1979
• Saved, 1980
• Shot of Love, 1981
• Infidels, 1983
• Real Live, 1984 (live)
• Empire Burlesque, 1985
• Biograph, 1985 (box set)
• Knocked Out Loaded, 1986
• Down in the Groove, 1988
• Oh Mercy, 1989
• Under The Red Sky, 1990
• Rare and Unreleased: Bootleg Series Vol. 1-3, 1991 (box set)
• Good As I Been To You, 1992
• World Gone Wrong, 1993
• MTV Unplugged, 1996 (live)
• Time Out of Mind, 1997
• Bob Dylan Live 1966, The "Royal Albert Hall" Concert: Bootleg Series Vol. 4, 1998 
• Love and Theft, 2001
• Bob Dylan Live 1975, The Rolling Thunder Revue: Bootleg Series Vol. 5, 2002 (live)
• Bob Dylan Live 1964, Concert at Philharmonic Hall: Bootleg Series Vol. 6, 2004 (live)
• Live at Carnegie Hall 1963, 2005 
• No Direction Home: The Soundtrack, Bootleg Series Vol.7, 2005
• Modern Times, 2006
• Dylan, 2007 (compilation)
• Tell Tail Signs, Rare and Unreleased (1989-2006): Bootleg Series Vol. 8, 2008
• Together Through Life, 2009
• Christmas in the Heart, 2009
• The Witmark Demos (1962-1964): Bootleg Series Vol. 9, 2010
• In Concert at Brandeis University 1963, 2010 (live)
• Tempest, 2012 (live)
• Another Self Portrait (1969-1971): Bootleg Series Vol. 10, 2013 (compilation)
• Sidetracks, 2013 (compilation)
• Have a Light, 2013 (compilation)
• From His Hears To His Heart To His Hands, 2014
• Shadows in the Night, 2015
• The Complete Basement Tapes: Bootleg Series Vol. 11, 2015
• The Cutting Edge (1965-1966): Bootleg Series Vol. 12, 2015
• The Real Royal Hall Concert 1966, 2016 (live)
• Triplicate, 2017

Dylan Tribute Albums

• A Nod To Bob: An Artists Tribute To Bob Dylan On His Sixtieth Birthday, 2001
• All Blues'd Up: Songs of Bob Dylan, 2002
• Chimes of Freedom: Songs of Bob Dylan, 2012 (box set)
• From Another World: Songs of Bob Dylan, 2013
• A Tribute To Bob Dylan in The 80's, 2014

Moments in Love - Night Chill FV

Here is another mix in the Night Chill series. Many of these songs have been used on prior mixes and many more are new to my mixes. Once again this is an hour and a half of groove and chill remixes. 

I've used the title track from the Art of Noise on several mixes over the past couple of decades. It has been one of my favorite songs to start a mix with a certain feel. It works again here.

Moments in Love - Night Chill FV

1. Moments in Love – Art of Noise, 1984
2. Is This Love (Ambient Dub Mix) – Bob Marley & The Wailers, 1999
3. Love – Air, 2009
4. You Don’t Know Her Name – Maps, 2007
5. We Fall In Love – Lamb, 2014
6. Fade Away (Maps Remix) – Susanne Sundfor, 2014
7. The Look of Love (Madison Park Vs Lenny B Remix) – Nina Simone, 2002
8. Fallen Snow (Skateboard Remix) – Au Revoir Simone, 2007
9. Always On My Mind (Extended Dance Mix) – Pet Shop Boys, 1987
10. Let’s Go (Nothing For Me) – New Order, 1994
11. Honey – Moby, 2006
12. There’s No Other Way (Blur Remix) – Blur, 1991
13. Epic – Delorean, 2016
14. Crazy For You – Ulrich Schnauss, 2007
15. Toxic Girl (David Whitaker String Remix) – Kings of Convenience, 2001
16. Chasing Pirates (Santigold & Snotty Remix) – Norah Jones, 2010
17. Holding On For Life (Zeds Dead Remix) – Broken Bells, 2014
18. Brimful of Asha (Norman Cook Remix) – Cornershop, 1998
19. Don’t Stop The Dance (Special 12” Remix) – Bryan Ferry, 2010

The Wheelbarrow Project

Probably about ten years ago we got a second bigger and better True Temper wheelbarrow for the backyard. The other one was a small rather awkward plastic one which was OK for small jobs and sort of worked for us over the years. The new one at the time was much better and easier to handle.

Last year the tire on the wheelbarrow went flat and we needed to be replaced. At the time I thought it was a project. Then early this spring we realized our handles on the wheelbarrow were rotting away. Especially on one side. We needed new handles or replacing the the whole thing. We looked into new ones and they were running about $140 and would have metal handles. Replacing the wood handles would cost about $40. We opted for the replacement handles. It turned out to be quite the project.

We went over to Home Depot to get some mulch and looked around for the wheelbarrow handles. We finally had to ask someone working there and we were accurately directed to the proper aisle. We had been down that aisle before but missed them. They were hard to find but we got them and put them in the car along with the ten bags of mulch.

A couple of days later I started working on the wheelbarrow first by taking it apart. It was a project. There were no illustrations but I went online and looked at some pictures and videos of the installing of the wheelbarrow handles. Of course the first problem was a big one. The new handles were about an inch wider than the original handles. I spent some time working on this puzzle before I realized that the original screw bolts were just too short to work with the new handles. I dropped everything and ran over to Value Home to pick up some new bolts. It took about an hour before I got the wheelbarrow all back together again. Next time would be a lot easier after the trial and error of putting all the parts back together. Now it works fine.

Daisy Jones & The Six - The Novel

Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid, 2019.

I had seen some promotion for this book and television series recently and it looked interesting especially since I had just finished reading two biographies of Sandy Denny. The novel tells a similar story of a young woman starting out in the music industry in the late 1960's and 1970's. In this case the singer finds success in Los Angeles during the mid 1970's before crashing and burning. It's also about a rock band from Pittsburgh that comes to LA to become stars. It works.

I downloaded the e-book in early May and finished it a week later. I enjoyed it very much. The book is written like an oral history based on interview transcripts of one of the best bands of the 1970's from a later perspective. The characters are very well developed and very fascinating. It is also an interesting portrayal of the music industry of the time and the songwriting and recording processes. The author really does capture the spirit of the 1970's music scene and pop culture. 

Time To Pretend - Late Night FV

Another mix that started out as a neo-psychedelic set in my Decade 6 collection. It was also the title of a decade 6 mega mix. Now it's back to an hour and a half mix with that original sound flavor of that decade.

Time To Pretend - Late Night FV

1. Time To Pretend – MGMT, 2007
2. You Lost Me – Sleigh Bells, 2012
3. I Knew – Lightning Dust, 2009
4. Doused – DIIV, 2012
5. Olm – Yo La Tengo, 2013
6. Totally True – Violens, 2012
7. Full Moon – Woods, 2014
8. You’re Tied – The Young Sinclairs, 2014
9. Play For Today – Belle and Sebastian, 2015
10. No Sensitive Man – Haley Bonar, 2014
11. Catamaran – Allah-Las, 2012
12. I Wonder Who We Are – The Clientele, 2009
13. Had To Hear – Real Estate, 2014
14. Too True To Be Good – Dum Dum Girls, 2014
15. Roses and Cherries – Ava Luna, 2015
16. Julia – Ray LaMontagne, 2014
17. Love To Love – Jonathan Wilson, 2013
18. You’ve Got A Lot On Your Mind – Sloan, 2014
19. Breakin’ The Chains Of Love – Fitz & The Tantrums, 2010
20. The Weight – Editors, 2013
21. Starlight – Rachael Yamagata, 2011
22. On Blue Mountain – Foxygen, 2013

Maybe I'm Amazed - Covers FV

Maybe I'm Amazed. Another covers mix. This one is more recent. I just put this together from scratch over the past week or so although a few songs had been used here and there over the years. Now this mix is part of my Final Versions series. It runs for an hour and a half.

Maybe I'm Amazed - Covers FV

1. Maybe I’m Amazed – Bettye LaVette (Paul McCartney)
2. Yesterday – Ryan Shaw (The Beatles)
3. A Case of You – Prince (Joni Mitchell)
4. I’m On Fire – Johnny Cash (Bruce Springsteen)
5. So Long, Marianne – Cobra Verde (Leonard Cohen)
6. After The Gold Rush – Patti Smith (Neil Young)
7. Tiger Mountain Peasant Song – First Aid Kit (Fleet Foxes)
8. Tupelo Honey – Dusty Springfield (Van Morrison)
9. You’re So Vain – Matthew Sweet & Susanna Hoffs (Carly Simon)
10. Run For Your Life – Cowboy Junkies (The Beatles)
11. Isn’t It A Pity – Jonathan Wilson (George Harrison)
12. I Don’t Like Mondays – Tori Amos (The Boomtown Rats)
13. Badge – Fanny (Cream)
14. I Am A Rock – Red House Painters (Simon & Garfunkel)
15. So Lonely – The Sweet Remains (The Police)
16. Paranoid Android – Easy Star All-Stars (Radiohead)
17. No One Receiving – Nouvelle Vague (Brian Eno)
18. Changes – Lewis & Clarke (David Bowie)
19. Pale Blue Eyes – Alejandro Escovedo (Velvet Underground)
20. Bird on the Wire – Rita Coolidge  (Leonard Cohen)

Hallwalls Opening

We went down to Hallwalls Art Gallery tonight for the Richard Huntington show opening. That man had 138 pieces of art in the show. For many years the 86 year old artist was the art critic for the Buffalo News.

The gallery was crowded and we had a nice time socializing with dozens of people. I hadn't talked to some many people over the course of an evening in many years. It was also interesting that in this crowded space this was the first time in several years that no one was wearing a mask. We had attended a small number of art openings since the beginning of the pandemic and there were always plenty of people wearing masks. Tonight it looked like people were moving on.

We both did have many conversations tonight. Some were odd. I guess we're all getting old.

Cafe 59

We had a wonderful dinner tonight at one of our favorite restaurants which we haven't been to in a long time. I think we've been there only once in the past three years and that was just to stop by for a drink after an art opening on Allen Street. 

Tonight we wanted to have a nice dinner somewhere before going over to the art opening at Hallwalls. We talked about a few places in the downtown area but it was a Friday night and expected to be busy. I then suggested Cafe 59 on Allen. It was a great pick. We parked at our usual spot on Franklin and walked down the street to the restaurant. It was surprising not very busy at about 6:15 on a Friday evening. There were plenty of empty tables on their recently expanded covered outside patio but we opted for a table next to the front window in the dining room. We had a great view of the people walking on Allen. 

I had a wonderful fish and chips dinner and Becky loved her turkey wrap. My fish dinner with potato wedges was done perfectly. Loved the cole slaw too. Becky's turkey wrap also had candied walnuts, gorgonzola, dried cranberries and balzamic vinaigrette. I'm going to order that one the next time we are there.

I had a nice Zero Gravity Green State Lager. 

And of course we ran into people we know there.

May Beer Club

Last night I went to a Beer Club. It has been awhile. I went to one last November and that was the first one I attended at Goodbar since the pandemic. This was only the second time. Like last time I didn't participate in the beer club selections but had used my pre-paid (the I won) pint card to have a couple of low alcohol lagers while socializing with friends. I wrote a post about that November beer club here. Tonight, like then, I didn't use a beer club ticket, didn't have the assortment of beers to taste, didn't have the soup, didn't have the cupcakes and didn't have any tickets in the raffles. I just hung out at our usual table and mostly talked with my old co-workers Lisa and Tom. 

I was also a little disappointed that we had a particularly small turn out at our table and several people I didn't see last time were also not at this session. Oh well. I'm not sure how many more of these I will attend. I'm just not up to drinking a lot of different beers in one big session. I've cut back on a lot of my drinking these past few years and especially more recently. I'm mostly fine with just having one or two beers. Often I will have one regular beer and then an NA. My 70 something body no longer tolerates a lot of drinking. I usually don't feel well the next day and it is not a hang over because I didn't drink very much. It's something different. Something in the beer besides alcohol and it is worse when I mix up different types of beer. I've really moderated my drinking habits these past few years. It also helps that Becky is not drinking much at all because of her gall bladder issues which cleared up nicely after drastically cutting back on what she drank. Now she may have an occasional beer or glass of wine at a restaurant dinner but not very often.

I did have fun seeing old friends and I did enjoy the two beers I had last night. Becky had dropped me off on Elmwood Avenue and I took a Lyft ride home.

Tears On My Pillow - Covers FV

Another covers mix. This time a collection of mostly slow love songs. This is a relatively new covers mix and I put it together sometime over the past couple of years. It does have a nice feel to it.

It's an hour and a half long and part of my Final Versions series.

Tears On My Pillow - Covers FV

1. Tears On My Pillow – Aaron Neville (Little Anthony & The Imperials)
2. You’re Lost That Lovin’ Feeling – Hall & Oates (Righteous Brothers)
3. Natural High – Joan Osborne (Bloodstone)
4. I Believe (When I Fall In Love It Will Be Forever) – Michael McDonald (Stevie Wonder)
5. Me & Mr. Jones – Amy Winehouse (Billy Paul)
6. Love is a Hurtin’ Thing – The Temptations 9 (Lou Rawls)
7. O-O-H Child – Angie Stone (Five Stairsteps)
8. Oh Me Oh My (I’m a Fool For You) – Ronnie Spector (Aretha Franklin)
9. I Shall Be Released – Nina Simone (Bob Dylan)
10. He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother – The Persuasions (Neil Diamond)
11. You Really Got A Hold On Me – She & Him (Smokey Robinson & The Miracles)
12. Time After Time – Tuck & Patti (Cyndi Lauper)
13. A Whiter Shade of Pale – Annie Lennox (Procol Harum)
14. Fire and Rain – The Isley Brothers (James Taylor)
15. (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman – Aretha Franklin (Carole King)
16. You’ve Got A Friend – Labelle (Carole King)
17. Hurt So Bad – Alicia Keys (Little Anthony & The Imperials)
18. You Don’t Own Me – Joan Jett (Lesley Gore)
19. Go Now – Lulu (The Moody Blues)
20. How Can I Be Sure – Dusty Springfield (The Rascals)
21. Walk Away Renee – The Four Tops (The Left Banke)
22. I Can’t Get Next To You – Al Green (The Temptations)
23. Let’s Get It On – Ken Boothe (Marvin Gaye)
24. The Dark End of the Street – Linda Ronstadt (James Carr)

Why Buffalo

Over the years, especially while in visiting Philadelphia, many people have asked me why I moved to Buffalo and why I stayed there for so many years. I've heard that question several times in recent years while out to dinner with Germantown friends in Philly. It's been over 44 years now since we left Philly and moved to Buffalo. At the time I originally thought we'd live in Buffalo for about two years. Well, that was the plan.

The plan started out by us making plans to get married in Buffalo and spending some time with Becky's family. Her father had started the art store on Elmwood Avenue and had recently moved it to Hertel Avenue... Koenig Art Supply. He had was also recovering from a heart attack and his health was not real good so we wanted to spend some time in Buffalo with him. We got an apartment on the West Side on Putnam Street between Richmond and Grant. We were only paying $65 a month. Then I got a job at Better Wire Products on Niagara Street doing shipping and receiving. I stayed there for the first two years we were in Buffalo.

We got married in June 1980 and a year later we took three weeks off to go out West for our belated honeymoon trip. We spent two weeks in Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks then we went to San Francisco for a week. When we got back I got laid off from Better Wire. I collected unemployment and was doing some garden and landscaping work off the books for a friend.

Jim, Becky's father, mostly did the outside sales for the art store and her brother Dave was working there. They needed help so I started working there too in the fall when my unemployment was running out. Becky had a waitress job and we got by. It was fairly easy to live in Buffalo. We liked living here and decided to stay in town a little longer. It was really convenient that everything we needed was close by and we never had to drive very far for anything.

Everything in Buffalo seemed to be about 10 minutes away or less. Most of the things we wanted to do, the restaurants, music clubs and bars, art galleries, family and friends were all close by and usually within those ten minutes. It seemed like nothing was ever more than 20 minutes away. That was so very much different from Philadelphia where everything not in your immediate neighborhood was an hour or more away. Sometimes a lot more. This was great city living and we were close to everything.

So we were happy in Buffalo and decided to continue living here. Then we had our first child and soon bought a home. Then a second child. Then we got them both in a great public magnet school.

There are lots of great music venues in Buffalo. Now certainly not as many as Philadelphia but they are much easier to get to, to park nearby and not as crowded. Over the years there have been many places to see good touring bands throughout the city and within ten to fifteen minutes. Certainly by twenty minutes.

I've always heard people asking me about the weather in Buffalo and I always start with how great the summer weather is every year. And then I tell them how efficient the city is in snow removal and in just dealing with a regular Buffalo winter. I also need to explain to them about the south of the city snow belt and how most of the time when they see something on the national news about multiple feet of snow in WNY they are not talking about the city... most of the time. Up until the recent years of serious climate change we would get a really nasty blizzard once every ten years or so in the city itself. There would be long lasting snow packs but the big crippling blizzards didn't happen in the city very often. Now recently there have been more big storms but they come and go quickly. Last year the big storm with several feet of snow was gone and melted away in a few days with no long lasting snow pack. The streets were also cleared fairly quickly. Now there is talk on the national media about Buffalo being a destination city in the new age of climate change for folks fleeing the extreme weather of other parts of the country. There is also plenty of water that cannot be drained off by pipelines to the drought stricken parts of the country like Arizona because the Great Lakes are international waters. Treaties with Canada make it impossible for other states to lay claim to the water here.

Another thing that makes Buffalo a nice place to live are the nearby colleges and hospitals. They make a difference. I am ten minutes away from four college campuses. Add a few more within another five minutes or so. There is a hospital five minutes away and several more about ten minutes from here including a world renowned neurosurgery hospital and a cancer institute. A great children's hospital too where our kids were born. It makes a difference.

It is also a liberal city. I don't see any trump signs anywhere in my neighborhood. In 2020 when President Biden defeated trump in the election there were church bells ringing throughout the city and especially in our neighborhood. It sounded joyous.

I'll continue this "Why Buffalo" in another post.

Walking After Midnight - Covers FV

Walking After Midnight... another covers mix that is part of my Final Versions series. Runs for an hour and a half and all the songs here are from my collection as are all my mixes.

Once again I really do enjoy making these mixes because I've always like a good cover version of a good song. Also a good cover version of just a so so song too.

Walking After Midnight - Covers FV

1. Walking After Midnight – Cowboy Junkies (Patsy Cline)
2. Dance Me To The End Of Love – The Civil Wars (Leonard Cohen)
3. Pink Moon – Teddy Thompson & Krystle Warren (Nick Drake)
4. Stop Your Sobbing – Jonathan Richman (The Kinks)
5. Everyday – Fiona Apple (Buddy Holly)
6. One Day – Winterpills (Sharon Van Etten)
7. Ballad of El Goodo – Matthew Sweet & Susanna Hoffs (Big Star)
8. Skinny Love – Birdy (Bon Iver)
9. South Central Rain – Hem (R.E.M.
10. Who’s Sorry Now – Angel Olsen (Connie Francis)
11. Can’t Help Falling In Love – Beck (Elvis Presley)
12. Always On My Mind – Elvis Presley (Willie Nelson)
13. Let It Be Me – Neil Diamond (Everly Brothers)
14. Wonderwall – Ryan Adams (Oasis)
15. The Crane Wife 3 – Marianne Faithfull & Nick Cave (The Decemberists)
16. Somethin’ Stupid – The Secret Sisters (Frank & Nancy Sinatra)
17. Love Song – Minnie Driver (Elton John)
18. Baker Street – Shawn Colvin & David Crosby (Gerry Rafferty)
19. Ever Fallen In Love – Katy Goodman & Greta Morgan (Buzzcocks)
20. Into The Mystic – Jen Chapin (Van Morrison)
21. Tracks of My Tears – Billy Bragg (Smokey Robinson & The Miracles)
22. Have a Little Faith in Me – Joe Cocker (John Hiatt)
23. Landslide – Smashing Pumpkins (Fleetwood Mac)
24. Golden Age – K.T. Tunstall (Beck)
25. In My Life – Judy Collins (The Beatles)

Yo Yo Ma on a Sunday Afternoon

Today we finally got to see cello player extraordinaire Yo Yo Ma perform with the Buffalo Philharmonic at Kleinhans Music Hall courtesy of the Bairds. Originally we had planned to go to the concert with the Bairds in November but the show was postponed because of a heavy snowstorm. Thankfully the event was rescheduled for May and the sell out show from November was still a sell out six months later. Fortunately we were able to go to this 3pm Sunday show which went on until 5pm. 

Barbara and Brian invited us to have lunch with them in their new condo they had recently purchased down on the waterfront in the Admiral's Walk building across from the Erie Basin Marina. It is a great place to live on the 10th with spectacular views of the waterfront and downtown Buffalo in three directions from large windows. They have lots of space in that condo including four bedrooms and a parking garage. We had a very nice lunch there and got a tour of their new digs.

They drove us down to the concert with them after lunch and we sat in their very special seats located in the middle of the first row of the balcony at the very center of that row. They are literally the best seats in the house.

It was a wonderful concert that started with the crowd pleasing William Tell Overture which immediately reminded us of Saturday morning cartoons back in the day. Eventually Yo Yo Ma came out after the break and he was amazing and certainly worth the wait. He also did a wonderful encore duet with the lead violinist where he riffed some amazing music that was quite funny in parts. Very entertaining. 

After the concert Brian drove us back to there condo where we picked up our car and then we went out for some dinner. First we went over to Elmwood Avenue to Cole's but they were not serving dinner on Sundays anymore so we headed over to The Steer where we had great sandwiches and a couple of beers. A nice way to end a great day.

E-book Comments

On Facebook this week there were a series of comments about reading e-books. There was a post from a long time friend that stated "I still haven't read an e-book" and then there were lots of comments. Some were very odd in their distain for e-books. The conversation also touched on audiobooks.

I responded with the following comment:

I am a retired computer technology systems librarian and I was working on online resources including e-books from the very beginning. Making it all happen was my job and I enjoyed every minute of it. These days I still have a stack of books next to my reading chair and my bed but I also always have a couple of e-books on my tablet. Probably half the books I read are e-books and I love the convenience quickly checking out a book from BECPL or NYPL. I was recently watching a political commentator with a new book on TV that I was interested in and before the interview was over I had that book on my tablet.

I certainly love reading books on my tablet and I find it so much easier to get access to current books. I'm currently reading the Daisy Jones and the Six novel which I was interested in after just having read two e-book biographies of Sandy Denny. The novel takes place in the same music time period. 

No No Mow May

I mowed the lawn today. The front lawn and half of the backyard. It's No Mow May again and Becky and I had a laugh. For us it's No No Mow May again. Until today our front lawn did look a bit overgrown and some neighbors may have thought we had embraced the no cutting lawns in May movement. We had been our of town for most of the previous two weeks and then it rained for most of the week since our return. Thus a lawn in need of mowing.

So several people in the neighborhood did ask us if we were following not mowing our lawn this spring to help save the bees but of course we assured them that our gardens had plenty of plants for the bees without needing to fill our lawn with weeds. This is the second year of NMM in Buffalo and the third nationally. The City of Buffalo recently issued a proclamation supporting it and the Parkside Community Association is selling NMM signs. Now there has been a lot of articles in the press and online arguing that NMM is well meaning but misguided and misinformed. Letting your lawn become an out of control meadow for a month probably does more harm to the insects, the plants and the environment in general than doing careful lawn maintenance. 

A lot of this NMM stuff was originally focused on the perfect manicured extensive lawns of the suburbs and not the urban gardeners with our plant diversity and careful planning. 

Well, it was a beautiful day today and perfect for getting started on our spring gardening including mowing the lawn. 

Pocono Vacations

Driving through the Poconos recently on our trip back and forth to Philly reminded me of the times my family vacationed there.

My extended family on the Emery side often went to the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania for vacation when I was growing up. My father and his brothers along with some of the older folks went there together almost every year that I remember in the late 50s and early 60s. I don't know how often we actually went but it was a lot and I have many memories of those times.

We always went to the same place that I remember. The name of the vacation place was the family name of Winkler's or Winkle's. I'll have to ask my siblings what they remember about the name and the place. Each of the families with kids had a cottage and the older folks stayed in the big lodge building. It had a large porch that went around the lodge and our grandmother and great aunts would sit and watch the kids play on the big lawn.

There was also a large club house / dining hall where dinner was served every evening for all of the guests. Each family had a large table. I remember each tables plates and water pitcher were a different bright color. After dinner the space was a big playroom with lots of games.

There was a large swimming pool on the property that was almost like a lake. It was a very different and was not at all what I was used to with swimming pools down the Jersey shore in at our neighborhood boy's club. 

I think the last time we went to this vacation spot was in 1964. The following summer was very tough for the family following the death in 1965 of Nana Emery and Uncle Joe. I don't remember ever going back there after that.

There was another time that we went with some of Mom's family added to Dad's family. This picture was probably taken by me Dad and it included Nana Emery, Mom-Mom and Mart, Aunt Mary and Aunt Francis, Mom, Betsy, me, Tom and Cathy. Mom is pregnant with Rita. That would make this photo from the summer of 1956.

Later in the 1960s we went up to the Lake Wallenpaupack area with just our family. We rented a cabin from the guy who delivered weekly produce and meats to our house in Germantown. Ed Kilpatrick. In 1968 we actually rented his cabin for a month. Dad was there for a week and then came up on weekends.

That summer of 1968 was the last time I ever stayed anywhere in the Poconos for a vacation. I was down the shore a lot the summer of 1969 after graduating from high school and then I was off to the Navy. Since then the only time I've been in the Poconos was driving through on my way back and forth between Buffalo and Philadelphia.

Dissolved Girl - Late Night FV

This is another recent reworking of an older mix from around 2012 that was originally part of my Ladies Night series of mixes. Still is kind of but now part of my Final Versions Late Night series. 

An hour and a half mix with a version on Spotify.

Dissolved Girl - Late Night FV

1. Dissolved Girl – Massive Attack
2. Hold Me Now – Elastica
3. No Wow – The Kills
4. The Love Gang – The Raveonettes
5. Down By The Water – PJ Harvey
6. Crucify – Tori Amos
7. Kiss Them For Me – Siouxsie & The Banshees
8. Big Time Sensuality – Bjork
9. #1 Crush – Garbage
10. You Oughta Know – Alanis Morisette
11. Rehab – Amy Winehouse
12. Black Sheep – Gin Wigmore
13. Rumour Has It – Adele
14. Set Yourself On Fire – Charlotte Gainsbourg
15. Cannonball – The Breeders
16. Supernova – Liz Phair
17. Blood Makes Noise – Suzanne Vega
18. Just A Girl – No Doubt
19. Super-Connected – Belly
20. Jump In The River – Sinead O’Connor
21. In Your Head – Kendra Smith
22. I Need Love – Sam Phillips
23. What’s Up – 4 Non Blondes

Music Is History

Music Is History by Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson, 2021

Sean gave me this book for Christmas last year and it spent several months sitting next to my upstairs reading chair. This was the kind of book that I would read bits and pieces of it over a larger period of time than I normally take with a book. Part of the reason was that it was something that was always around and not a limited time library book. It was also because of the way it was written. It was a year by year account of the music that had an influence on the author.

I enjoyed reading this very much and particularly loved the way he associated music with current events year by year.

I Can See For Miles - Covers FV

I Can See For Miles... another Covers mix in my Final Versions series. Lots of good stuff here.

Here is a link to the Spotify playlist.

I Can See For Miles - Covers FV

1. I Can See For Miles – Petra Haden (The Who)
2. Femme Fatale – Tom Tom Club (Velvet Underground)
3. Paly With Fire – Cobra Verde (The Rolling Stones)
4. Love Will Tear Us Apart – Alabama 3 (Joy Division)
5. More Than This – Lucy Kaplansky (Roxy Music)
6. Sweet Jane – Cowboy Junkies (Velvet Underground)
7. Every Grain of Sand – Giant Sand (Bob Dylan)
8. Willin’ – Matthew Sweet & Susanna Hoffs (Little Feat)
9. One – Johnny Cash (U2)
10. Love – Beck (John Lennon)
11. Ain’t No Way – Beth Hart (Aretha Franklin)
12. Blue – Cat Power (Joni Mitchell)
13. Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels) – Ane Brun (Arcade Fire)
14. Between The Bars – The Civil Wars (Elliott Smith)
15. Knives Out – The Flaming Lips (Radiohead)
16. Some Velvet Morning – The Webb Brothers (Lee Hazlewood & Nancy Sinatra)
17. End of the World – Anika (Brenda Lee)
18. Song to the Siren – Bryan Ferry (Tim Buckley)
19. Losing My Religion – Applewood Road (R.E.M.)
20. I Melt With You – Nouvelle Vague (Modern English)
21. Easy To Be Hard – Golden Smog (Three Dog Night) (Hair)
22. Dead Flowers – Whitey Morgan (The Rolling Stones)

It's Four In The Morning Again - Late Night FV

A little over a dozen years ago I posted this mix as an example of my looking for the perfect mix. It wasn't then and in subsequent postings and it still isn't now but it is a good mix. I have kept the image for the mix over the years. This mix has been part of my Late Night series.

Today I reworked it again as part of my so called Final Versions series of mixes. My latest efforts and my supposedly last efforts. All of these mixes are a little over an hour and a half long.

The opening fifteen songs of the mix have remained the same except for the Neil Young song which I replaced with a different song from the same album. The last seven songs come from a couple of different old mixes.

It's Four In The Morning Again - Late Night FV

1. Famous Blue Raincoat - Leonard Cohen
2. Pink Moon - Nick Drake
3. Waltz #2 - Elliott Smith
4. Five String Serenade - Mazzy Star
5. Nightswimming - R.E.M.
6. Crown of Love - Arcade Fire
7. Blonde on Blonde - Nada Surf
8. New Slang - The Shins
9. The Funeral - Band of Horses
10. The Way That He Sings - My Morning Jacket
11. I Believe In You - Neil Young
12. Perfect Day - Lou Reed
13. Song To The Siren - Tim Buckley
14. Hallelujah - Jeff Buckley
15. The Golden Age - Beck
16. Tiger Mountain Peasant Song - Fleet Foxes
17. In The Aeroplane Over The Sea - Neutral Milk Hotel
18. Knife - Grizzly Bear
19. Sunday Noises - Califone
20. Don't You Know - The Sleepy Jackson
21. Exit Music (For a Film) - Radiohead

Here is the mix on Spotify but of course without the Neil Young song.

Gordon Lightfoot RIP

Yesterday I was driving all day from Philadelphia and when we arrived in Buffalo I heard the sad news that Gordon Lightfoot had passed away at the age of 84. Today I went upstairs and listened to some of his records on vinyl and then played a couple of his compilation albums in the kitchen.

I saw him perform several times in Philly around the years of these early 70’s albums. Once at the Philadelphia Folk Festival and another show at either the Main Point or Second Fret. In early 1975 or late 1974 I saw him perform at the Academy of Music in Philadelphia. Also in 73 at a club outside the Navy base in Norfolk. They were all great shows and he is sadly missed.

Gordon Lightfoot albums in our collection:

• Sit Down Young Stranger, 1970
• Don Quixote, 1972
• Old Dan's Records, 1972
• Sundown, 1974
• Gord's Gold, 1975
• The United Artists Collection, 1993

I also very much enjoy the Various Artist album Beautiful: A Tribute to Gordon Lightfoot from 2003 that has his songs covered by Bruce Cockburn, Blue Rodeo, Cowboy Junkies, Maria Muldaur, Ron Sexsmith, Jesse Winchester, The Tragically Hip and many, many more artists.