Groovin' For Mr. G - Jazz Night FV

Groovin' with another mix of classic jazz from my album collection and part of my Jazz Night Final Version series.

Richard "Groove" Holmes in the pic.

Groovin' For Mr. G - Jazz Night FV

1. Groovin' For Mr. G - Richard "Groove" Holmes, 1971
2. Boo's s Tune - Hank Crawford, 1960
3. The Worm - Jimmy McGriff, 1968
4. The Rumproller - Lee Morgan, 1965
5. Somethin' Slick - Kenny Burrell & Brother Jack McDuff, 1963
6. Oleo - Grant Green, 1962
7. Just In Time - Stanley Turrentine, 1960
8. The Jumpin' Blues - Jimmy Smith, 1960
9. Three Little Words - John Coltrane & Milt Jackson, 1961
10. On Green Dolphin Street - Eric Dolphy Quintet, 1960
11. Make It Good - Duke Pearson, 1967
12. This Is For Albert - Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers, 1962
13. Decision - Sonny Rollins, 1957
14. Gettin' and Jettin' - Hank Mobley, 1961

Val's 75th Party

Steve and Patty along with Maria and Ron hosted Val's 75th birthday party at Steve and Patty's house. There were about 30 people in their backyard. Thankfully the weather cooperated. It was a beautiful day... warm but not hot and then cooler in the evening.

The food was all very good. It was a nice catered dinner. There were a couple of birthday cakes from Romeo & Juliet's which were amazing. Nice ice cream too. And of course Donna brought a bunch of her cookies. The deserts were the Gaspar Special.

I talked with a lot of people throughout the afternoon and evening. I especially liked spending some time with Steve Jr and Kati. It was also nice to talk with Nina and George.

Love Walked In - Jazz Night FV

Love Walked In. More classic jazz from the 60's and 50's. Music from my album collection and another mix in my Jazz Night Final Version series.

Lots of great jazz here. Love it all.

Kenny Burrell in the pic.

Love Walked In - Jazz Night FV

1. Love Walked In - Kenny Burrell & Brother Jack McDuff, 1963
2. Down By The Riverside - Jimmy Smith, 1966
3. Sorcerer - Herbie Hancock , 1968
4. On The Street Where You Live - Oscar Peterson, 1964
5. Imagine My Frustration - Ella Fitzgerald, 1966
6. I Don't Know - George Benson, 1964
7. Bumpin' - Wes Montgomery, 1965
8. Cool Blues - Grant Green, 1962
9. Darn That Dream - Dexter Gordon, 1959
10. Smoke Gets In Your Eyes - Thelonious Monk,1954
11. These Foolish Things (Remind Me Of You) - Randy Weston Trio,1956
12. Open Letter To Duke - Charles Mingus, 1959
13. Sermon - Jimmy McGriff, 1963
14. The Bridge - Sonny Rollins , 1962
15. Ruby, My Dear - John Coltrane & Thelonious Monk, 1957

Len's WOW

Our neighbors Len and Nancy had the WOW this evening. They have a wonderful backyard which we can see from our backyard. We went over there with Karen after spending the afternoon and early evening down on the waterfront. 

There was a good crowd and Karen got to experience one of our community backyard parties and she had a nice time. There were even some people there that she knew... Joe & Lori. 

We were tired from the day's activities and didn't stay very late. We went back to our house to hang out some more with Karen. 

On The Waterfront with Karen

We went down to the Buffalo waterfront with Karen today. It was a beautiful day but a little chilly and windy. We went down to Wilkinson Pointe and walked around. Last year that park was closed for a lot of construction but today it was open and we got to see all of the improvements including a new restaurant.

Karen was impressed with this conversion of an industrial site into a wonderful community park on the waterfront that includes a nice beach with downtown in the background.

Then we went down to the Outer Harbor where there now is a Buffalo Harbor State Park. Unfortunately that was mostly closed this summer because of more construction going on there. We're looking forward to going there next season. There again this is another industrial area that has been transformed.

From there we went up to Canalside and had some dinner at the Liberty Hound which was nice but a little windy on the patio. We loved it anyway.

E-Magazine Subscriptions

I recently realized that one could subscribe and download e-magazines from the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library using Libby. There are about 4,000 magazines available. I started looking and really wanted to see if The Atlantic was available. It wasn't and is probably one of the few that aren't in the system.

This was a couple of months ago. I did select a few magazines that included The Guardian Weekly, Bon Appetit, The New York Review of Books and The Week which is a collection of news stories from around the world.

New issues arrive in my Libby bookshelf each month and I get to read the magazine on my tablet. I'm really enjoying this service of the BECPL.

I have also recently subscribed to Mojo, Uncut, BBC Music, Smithsonian, Newsweek, National Geographic, Wired and Rolling Stone. 

St Marks Is Dead

St Marks Is Dead: The Many Lives of America's Hippest Street by Ada Calhoun, 2015.

I finished reading this book last night in bed. Took me 12 days to get through it and I enjoyed every moment.

I became aware of this book after reading a couple of Victoria Thompson crime novels that place in the St Marks Place neighborhood in the late 19th century. I had also explored the area as a teenager in the late 60's and also again with Becky in the mid to late 1970's.

The book is an amazing cultural history of a street and a neighborhood. It focuses on a three block stretch of that street in NY's East Village. It was a very interesting history of the neighborhood going back to the pre-colonial Dutch times in lower Manhattan and the Stuyvesant family. Then continues through to the twentieth century and beyond.

I really liked the oral history aspect of the book. Very entertaining and socially relevant.

Quincy Jones - Kitchen Listening

Quincy Jones Kitchen Listening. I have a lot of Quincy Jones albums in my collection from various stages of his career but this time I decided to listen to several of his compilation albums for the afternoon. These albums included music from his career as a band leader, a producer, a sideman, soundtracks, etc. Listening to these collections were a lot of fun.

I have a lot more of his music and I'll need to spend some more time with all the other albums in my collection.

But for now this group here was a lot of fun.

• Quincy Jones: The Ultimate Collection, 2002
• Quincy Jones: Greatest Hits, 1996
• Quincy Jones's Finest Hour, 2000
• Quincy Jones - Talkin' Verve, 2001

Eric Clapton - Kitchen Listening Pt. 1

Here is a set of Eric Clapton albums from the 1970's that made for a wonderful kitchen listening experience. This is just one of several of his album sets I've put together. This one goes on for about three hours.

I've always been amazed at Clapton's guitar playing and have many of his albums in my collection. I saw him perform a couple of times. Once with Derek & The Dominoes in 1970 and then solo in 1974. I'm sorry I never got to see Cream.

This set consist of the following albums:

Eric Clapton, 1970

461 Ocean Blvd., 1974

Slowhand, 1977

Plague of Big White Trucks

We have a plague of big white pick-up trucks on our block. There are three of them that neighbors own and park on our street. Not in the driveways but on the street where they often protrude into people's driveways and because of their extreme width make it harder to pull out of one's driveway and make the turn on the street. Especially when they are across the street from each other which does happen.

One of them in particular is really obnoxious and is the most recent one on the block. It has a really large exhaust pipe that is at least three times the normal size and it is very loud. Every time he starts the truck the house shakes if he is close by which he often is. He lives across the street a few houses down. He does try to park in front of his house but he comes and goes at all hours so he is mostly somewhere down or up the street almost across someone's driveway.

Dinner Party @ Dave & Donna's

Last night we were over at Dave and Donna's house for a backyard dinner party. Jim and Sonny were in town for the weekend but not with Cassie. So Dave and Donna had a bunch of family and friends over to hangout and have a cookout that Jimmy put together.

Dave and Donna, me and Becky, Mary and her boyfriend, Jim and Sonny, Joe and Lorraine, Amy and Doug with the two girls, Eric and Amy with Ivy, and Donna's nephew Mark. That makes 18 people including the two little ones. I was somewhat disappointed that Tom and Diane were not there. I really wanted to see Tom.

Jim made some wonderful food on the grill and there were plenty of side dishes that people brought. The gathering started at 5 pm. Most of the people left around 9 but Becky and I stayed until 10 pm talking mostly with Jim. We had a great time.

It was also perfect weather for an evening on the patio with many interesting conversations.

In The Heat Of The Night - Jazz Night FV

In The Heat of The Night gets going again with that great classic jazz from the 1950's and 1960's from albums in my collection. So many great artists here.

This hour and a half set is part of my Jazz Night Final Version series of mixes.

Hank Crawford from 1968 in the pic.

In The Heat Of The Night - Jazz Night FV

1. In The Heat Of The Night - Hank Crawford, 1968
2. I'm Glad There Is You - Rahsaan Roland Kirk, 1967
3. James and Wes - Jimmy Smith & Wes Montgomery, 1966
4. Cute - Stanley Turrentine & Shirley Scott. 1965
5. Monk's Dream - Thelonious Monk, 1962
6. Soulville - Horace Silver, 1957
7. Crisis - Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers, 1962
8. Salt Water Blues - Yusef Lateef, 1960
9. Saturday Afternoon Blues - Ben Webster, 1958
10. Arietis - Freddie Hubbard, 1961
11. Laura - J.J. Johnson, 1958
12. Raincheck - Ahmad Jamal, 1960
13. Epistrophy - Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, 1957
14. Softly As In A Morning Sunrise - Modern Jazz Quartet, 1952
15. Star Eyes - Charlie Parker, 1951
16. Yesterdays - Miles Davis, 1952

Chris Whitley - Kitchen Listening

The sounds of Chris Whitley and his first four albums makes up a very interesting Kitchen Listening experience. It was incredible to hear this artist the first time and to play his first album through. I heard him on a radio show back in 1991. I went out and got his CD right away. Then I acquired each album as it came out over the years.

It was shocking and sad when he passed away in 2005 at the age of 45.

This album set plays for about 3 hours. I have enough of his music for three more album sets running for about the same time.

This album set:

• Living with the Law, 1991
• Din of Ecstasy, 1995
• Dirt Floor, 1998
• Rocket House, 2001

Jack White on Trump

The White House melts down and attacks music legend Jack White after he insults Donald Trump's "disgusting" and "vulgar" redecoration of the White House — prompting White to unleash a scathing takedown for the ages.

MAGA should have just left well enough alone...

“Jack White is a washed-up, has-been loser posting drivel on social media because he clearly has ample time on his hands due to his stalled career,” claimed White House spokesman Steven Cheung.

In truth, White is still enormously popular and successful, far more so than any of the actually washed up musicians and "celebrities" that
MAGA likes to trot out as Trump supporters.

“It’s apparent [White]’s been masquerading as a real artist, because he fails to appreciate, and quite frankly disrespects, the splendor and significance of the Oval Office inside of ‘The People’s House,'” Cheung added.

The idea that agreeing with Trump's infamously tacky interior design sensibilities is a prerequisite for being a "real artist" is laughable. Donald Trump has always had awful taste in aesthetics.

Cheung's remarks led to White posting a lengthy screed on Instagram, in which he listed off Trump's staggering number of failures and scandals—

"Listen, I’m an artist and not a politician so I’m in no need to give my answer or opinion on anything if I’m not inspired or compelled, but how funny that it wasn’t me calling out trump’s blatant fascist manipulation of government, his gestapo ICE tactics, his racist remarks about Latinos, Native Americans, etc. his ridiculous 'wall' construction, his attacks on the disabled, his attempted coup and mob insurrection and destruction of the sacred halls of congress, his disparaging sexist and pedophilic remarks about women, his obvious attempts at distraction about being a close personal friend of Jeffrey Epstein and his inclusion in the Epstein files, his ignorance of the dying children in Sudan, Gaza, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, his lack of empathy for military veterans and those struggling with poverty, his attempts to dismantle healthcare, his obvious wimpy and pathetic kowtowing to the dictators Putin and Kim Jong Un, his nazi like rallies, his attempts to sell merchandise and products like Goya beans through the office of the President, his fake 'gunshot to the ear' that he showed no medical records or photographs of, his constant, constant, constant lying to the American people, etc. etc. etc." White wrote.

"No, it wasn’t me calling out any of that, it was the f*cking DECOR OF THE OVAL OFFICE remarks I made that got them to respond with insults," he continued. "How petty and pathetic and thin skinned could this administration get? 'Masquerading as a real artist'? Thank you for giving me my tombstone engraving! Well here’s my opinion, trump is masquerading as a human being."
"He’s masquerading as a christian, as a leader, as a person with actual empathy," he wrote. "He’s been masquerading as a businessman for decades as nothing he’s involved in has prospered except by using other people’s money to find loophole
after loophole and grift after grift."

"His staff of professional liar toadies like Steven Cheung and Karoline Leavitt have been covering up and masking his fascism as patriotism and fomenting hatred and division in this country on a daily basis," White went on. "And I have 'ample time on (my) hands'? That orange grifter has spent more tax payer money cheating at golf than helping ANYONE in the country. Improve. Anything. There is no progress with him, only smoke and mirrors and tax breaks for the ultra wealthy."

"So maga folk, enjoy your concrete paving over of the rose garden, your 200 million dollar ballroom in the White House, and your gaudy ass gold spray painted trinkets from Home Depot, cause he ain’t spending any money on helping YOU unless you fit into his white supremacist country club rich idiot agenda," he continued."
"Wow, he hates who you hate....good for you, be proud of yourselves, how christian of you all," White went on.

"The only way you can support this conman is because you are a victim of the 2 party system and you 'defend your guy no matter what he does.'" he wrote. "No intelligent person can defend this low life fascist. This bankruptor of casinos. This failed seller of trump steaks, trump vodka, trump water, etc."

"This man and his goon squad have failed upwards for decades and have fleeced the American people over and over," wrote White. "This professional golf cheat, this grifter who has hundreds of thousands of deaths from his inaction of the pandemic on his hands, this man that the majority of the country somehow were fooled into supporting and voting into office (through the flawed electoral college) and their love of reality television stars."

"Being insulted by the actual White House that this particular conman leads is a badge of honor to me, because anyone who trump supports and likes is a villain who gives nothing to their fellow man, only takes what can benefit themselves," he continued.
"And no I’m not a Democrat either, I’m a human being raised in Detroit, I’m an artist who’s owned his own businesses like his own upholstery shop and recording label since he was 21 years old who has enough street sense to know when a 3 card monte dealer is a cheap grifter and a thief," he concluded before signing his name.
In his Instagram post, White also shared a photo of Trump hawking his ugly golden sneakers, one of Trump selling MAGA merchandise at the White House, and memes about Trump scandals. 

He also wrote a caption—
"I was raised to believe that we defeated fascism in World War II and that we would never allow it again in the world. I don't always state publicly my political opinions, and like anyone I don't always know all of the facts, but when it comes to this man and this administration I'm not going to be like one of the silent minority of 1930's Germany. This man is a danger to not just America but the entire world and that's not an exaggeration, he's dismantling democracy and endangering the planet on a daily basis, and we. all. know. it. -JW III... 'To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public.' - Theodore Roosevelt"

By just about any metric, this is one of most brutal, comprehensive takedowns of Donald Trump to date. Let's hope that the White House hits back again, so that Jack White has an excuse to tear into him even more.

Canalside & The Liberty Hound

On a Friday evening. We wanted to go down earlier in the week. First we planned for Tuesday and then Wednesday but both times the weather didn't cooperate. It was cloudy and cool both days and we wanted sunny and warm. Today was sunny and warm but it was also a Friday. We got down there around 4 pm and we could see it was crowded everywhere on the waterfront. A lot of people had the same idea.

We originally planned to walk around Canalside and hang out for an hour before going to dinner at the Liberty Hound but when we going by the restaurant was saw that it was very crowded. It was packed. We went in to see if we could get a table on the patio in the shade and luckily we did. The inside dining room had plenty of empty tables but the patio was full but fortunately there was an ongoing turnover of tables.

We got a nice table overlooking the water and the ships. We got a couple of beers. Becky got an NA and I got a Flower Power IPA from Ithaca Brewery on tap. Then we ordered dinner. Becky got a Shrimp Po' Boy with fries and I got Fish Tacos with chips. 

The food was very good as usual and the service was great. The restaurant kept getting filled up as the tables cleared. We probably could have gone in there at 5 at got a table but it wasn't very clear at the time that we could have. People were constantly coming and going.

After dinner, and we ate it all, we walked down the wharf boardwalk to the other end of Canalside then we turned around and went the other way. The place was really jumping and the tour boats were crowded. We don't usually go down to the waterfront on Friday or Saturday evenings. We couldn't believe how many people were up and down the waterfront. We walked up towards the ships and beyond. When we were passing by the Liberty Hound and the ships we saw that the party on the Little Rock was starting. While we were having dinner we saw that people were starting to go up on to the party deck of the ship where they hold events but it was quiet. Now it was getting loud and people were singing. It turns out there was a big fundraising event for the Naval Park that was just getting underway. It would have been distracting having a dinner overlooking all of that.

We walked on up to the restaurants at the other end. Sully's Harbor Bar was very crowded. We thought we would get a seat somewhere and have a second beer but not only was it crowded but there were no seats left under any kind of umbrella. We moved on and enjoyed our walk along the waterfront.

We left a little after 6 pm so we spent two hours down there. We would have stayed longer if it wasn't so crowded. We plan to go again next week when Karen is in town but we will make sure we go on a weekday evening.

Trying to Terrorize His Critics

In the news this morning was the story that trump has ordered the raid and search of the home of his former national security advisor John Bolton's home in Maryland. Bolton has recently been a frequent harsh critic of the orange menace on the various news shows. We saw him on CNN yesterday going after trump and although there has been very little we agreed with him on policies over the years it has been kind of fun to see him go after his old boss who of course had fired him. Supposedly the government is looking for stashed away security documents. I wonder if they are looking in Bolton's bathroom like where trump stored his stolen documents.

This is an example of trump using the power of the federal government to go after his critics. In this case the FBI. He wants everyone to tow his line... or else.

Creedence Clearwater Revival - Kitchen Listening

Exploring my album collection earlier today with a kitchen listening session with the first four albums from Creedence Clearwater Revival that were released in the late 1960's. This was a lot of fun. For instance I can't remember when I listened to their first self titled album all the way through. It's been some time and that includes the others in this session too. It was interesting hearing some of those deep cuts that still sound great along with the many hits and familiar tracks.

I was also fortunate to have seen this band perform live four times during this early period. In 1968 I saw them in a small rock club... the Electric Factory. Then again that year at the The Quaker City Rock Festival at the Spectrum. Both shows in Philadelphia. Then in 1969 at the Atlantic City Pop Festival and then in Chicago in 1970 at either the Chicago Auditorium or the Aragon Ballroom back when I was stationed at a nearby Naval base.

This listening session:

• Creedence Clearwater Revival, 1968
• Bayou Country, 1969
• Green River, 1969
• Willy and the Poor Boys, 1969

I got a lot more Creedence in my collection to listen to.

Becky's Pizza & Another Chilly Day

Today was another chilly day. Long pants and long sleeve shirts. It feels like Fall. Becky made some of her delicious pizza on bread this evening.

We went for a walk the past couple of days and had to dress appropriately and that included a jacket of some sort. Yesterday I wore a fleece vest on our walk. It actually felt nice to be cool after so many days of heat and humidity. Also not putting on the air conditioner. We love to open windows instead. The only problem with these chilly days is that it is cloudy too. It would be nice to have some sun along with the coolness.

The days are getting shorter too. The sun sets by 8:30 pm now.

Blues Up - Jazz Night FV

Another jazz night mix that is part of my Jazz Night Final Version series. This set follows the sounds across many decades.

The photo is Dr. Lonnie Smith playing Straight No Chaser live in 2016.

Blues Up - Jazz Night FV

1. Blues Up and Down - Gene Ammons, 1950
2. Groove Junction - Hank Crawford, 1974
3. Straight No Chaser - Lonnie Smith, 2016
4. Wavy Gravy - Kenny Burrell, 1963
5. Blowin' The Blues Away - Horace Silver, 1959
6. Hoppin' John - Cannonball Adderley, 1961
7. Organ Grinder's Blues - Brother Jack McDuff, 1960
8. Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child - Ahmad Jamal, 2017
9. Boogie Stop Shuffle - Charles Mingus, 1959
10. Free For All - Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers, 1964
11. Dry Soul - Bud Powell, 1958
12. This Love of Mine - Sonny Rollins & The Modern Jazz Quartet, 1971
13. Bumpin' On Sunset - Wes Montgomery, 1965
14. Take Me In Your Arms - Red Garland, 1962
15. Stop - Pepper Adams, 1957
16. How Am I To Know? - Miles Davis, 1956

A Brit's Right On Rant

This Brit has a good way of putting it...

Ukraine & Trump

Once again it has become very obvious that trump is being controlled by Putin and Russia. The KGB must have something on trump and probably much worse than pee tapes. Nobody would be surprised by tapes of trump peeing on little children. There must be more.

Trump is actually blaming Ukraine for starting the war and Putin was only protecting Russian interests in the region. Of course everyone in Russia knows that Putin has been going on and on about recreating the Russian Empire and expanding into countries previously ruled by the Kremlin.

It was nauseating watching trump fawn all over Putin last week in Alaska. Rolling out the red carpet, military salutes, fly overs, excessive handshakes, etc all the while Putin smirked at him. Trump has been supporting Putin ever since the first shot was fired.

Change Up - Jazz Night FV

Change Up. Classic jazz deep cuts across the decades. A lot fun listening. Another mix in my Jazz Night Final Version series.

Charles Kynard in the pic.

Change Up - Jazz Night FV

1. Change Up - Charles Kynard, 1970
2. Let The Music Take Your Mind - Grant Green, 1971
3. Wham Bam Thank You Ma'am - Rahsaan Roland Kirk, 1976
4. Montara - Bobby Hutcherson, 1975
5. Opus 3 - Charles Mingus, 1974
6. A Weed in Disneyland - Gerry Mulligan, 1972
7. Blues For J - Jimmy Smith, 1973
8. What Games Shall We Play Today - Chick Corea & Gary Burton, 1973
9. It's You or No One - Sonny Stitt & Don Patterson, 1968
10. M.J.S. Funk - The Jazz Crusaders, 1961
11. Concerto for Billy the Kid - George Russell, 1957
12. Limelight - Ramsey Lewis, 1956
13. Minor Mishap - Pepper Adams, 1957
14. Das' Dat - Jackie McLean, 1964
15. Let It Go - Stanley Turrentine & Shirley Scott, 1966
16. I Could Have Danced All Night - Sun Ra, 1970

Refrigerator Water Line

Earlier today we went to get some filtered water from the dispenser in our refrigerator when suddenly it stopped working. We pushed the button several times to get it going and then realized there was a rapidly growing puddle of water on the floor under the cart next to the refrigerator. Yikes. 

I pulled back the cart and we cleaned up the water. We saw the hose had detached itself from the water input line into the water dispenser. I couldn't move the refrigerator forward to see better as to what was going on but it looked like the hose broke. It also looked like the water line to the ice maker was still OK and ice as being made. It was just the water coming out of the filtered system from the dispenser on the side of the fridge that was not working.

I use that water dispenser all of the time but now I'm using the water filter container that we fill up from the sink for the time being. Becky uses that a lot to make coffee. I'm glad there doesn't seem to be any more of a problem.

Now we need to get it repaired and I'm going online to find a refrigerator repair service that will take care of an old Kenmore appliance from Sears.

Moody Blues - Kitchen Listening Pt. 2

Then we listened to more Moody Blues today. Part 2 of our Kitchen Listening experience. This time we continued where we left off yesterday. More Moody Blues. Once again we enjoyed the albums that we hadn't listened to in quite some time. Started off with Every Good Boy Deserves A Favour from 1971. Some great songs on that album including The Story in Your Eyes. 

Then to Seventh Sojourn from 1972. That was always one of my favorite albums of theirs. I picked up that LP right after I got out of the Navy. I had been Lost in a Lost World where Isn't Life Strange and I'm Just a Singer in a Rock and Roll Band. Great album.

I didn't pick up Octave from 1978 until much later along with Long Distance Voyager from 1981. I enjoyed hearing these albums today.

• Every Good Boy Deserves a Favour, 1971
• Seventh Sojourn, 1972
• Octave, 1978
• Long Distance Voyager, 1981

Looking forward to listening to some more Moody Blues in my collection.

PM w/ Dave Again

Dave and I walked down to the PM last night for a couple of beers and to hang out talking. We were there from about 6:45 until around 9:30. We had a good time talking about all kinds of stuff and we also spent some time talking with neighbors. My friend Mike was there to pick up fish fry dinners for he and his wife and he was standing around with the containers but some other folks were buying him beers. At one point she called to ask about where was their food. LOL.

We were talking about making our get-togethers down at the PM a somewhat more regular thing. We've gone on Thursdays and Fridays. Should we make our night outs there one of those days but which one. 7 to 9 is a good time plus or minus a little. Maybe once a month but which week. First Thursday of the month or last Friday. Maybe somewhere in-between.

There are a few other people who may want to join us. Joe P for sure and Matt from around the corner. Brian down the street too. But it certainly doesn't have to be a guy thing. Sure it has started out as just me and Dave but Becky would want to come too and hang out with her brother. Then do we need to have a table instead of hanging out at the bar?

We're going over to Dave's house this weekend for dinner and to see Jimmy and Sonny so we can discuss this more then.

Moody Blues - Kitchen Listening Pt. 1

Listening to the Moody Blues and some of their albums from their classic years in 1967 - 1970. I was always of big fan of this band although there were times when they over did it a little with the drama and voice overs but overall they were a very intense and fascinating band. I did get to see them live a couple of times. Once in a small club and later in a large festival setting. Both in the late 1960's. 

This is part one of this Moody Blues listening experience this week because I played them quite a bit with eight albums on the stereo in consecutive order. Part 2 included albums from 1971 to 1981.  Later I will go back and play their first album from 1965 and then play their live album and box set.

This first set of four albums was awesome and really brought back some memories. I hadn't listened to these records all the way through in many years. I've had a lot of their song scattered among many mixes but it is certainly a whole different experience to listen to the albums completely and in sequence. There was one album from 1969 To Our Children's Children's Children I left out of this set. That was probably my least favorite of all of their albums from this period. I'll listen to it later.

Listening to these four albums together reminded me of many nights with friends playing these records either down in our basement rec room on Greene Street in the late 1960's or later in our music room on Seymour Street in the mid 1970's. 

Todays albums were

• Days of Future Passed, 1967
• In Search of the Lost Chord, 1968
• On the Threshold of a Dream, 1969
• A Question of Balance, 1970

Lee and Our Cabana

This afternoon I was surprised when a neighbor from down the street, Lee, came walking into our backyard area. He was surprised to see me too and apparently he thought we were out of town. He was at the WOW last night and was talking to some folks about his need to build an enclosure for his backyard patio. They remembered our backyard cabana from our previous WOWs and someone told him we were out of town but he should take a walk back there and see how our shed enclosure was constructed.

Anyway, I showed him around and he was impressed with how I made the place into a year round man-cave. He also got a kick out of the story of the windows coming from the discarded trash of St. Marks School.

He liked our chairs and tables, having a stereo, books to read, nice lights, computer setup, and a place for garden stuff. He didn't like that it wasn't directly connected to our house and I had to go outside to access the space. I said I didn't mind and was used to it. I had some serious privacy that way too. I was in my own little world. I also told him about both of us coming out to read and to enjoy the backyard where we could watch the birds, bunnies and butterflies.

Branches Coming Down

Over the past few weeks we've had a lot of tree branches either come down or just hang from the trees dead. Fortunately nothing big has come down taking wires with it but that is always a possibility and concern. It has probably been the recent heat wave and lack of rain that has caused these problems.

A couple of large branches have come down in Pat's yard next door. One was from our tree so I cut it up and bagged it. The couple of big logs left we will take out to bulk trash pickup next month.

There is one large dead branch in one of our trees directly over the area where we keep our backyard chairs positioned. Well, I moved the chairs several feet forward so that if the branch did come down while we were sitting in the chairs it wouldn't hit us.

The Baby's Shoes

Little Autumn left a pair of shoes at our house and we love it. We found them sitting on the floor in the front hall near the steps. They are still there. We can't seem to make ourselves move them. They are a reminder every day that she was here and we enjoyed her company so much. She is such a special little one and a half year old.

I wrote more about their recent visit here.

A Clean Shave

Shaved off my beard again. A clean shave and of course nobody noticed. I took a selfie in the backyard cabana. 

 After a few days of serious heat I thought it was time to take it off. I wonder how long I will continue to shave every day now that it is gone. Usually I will grow it back in a couple of months. I get tired of shaving around my mouth but don't seem to mind doing the neck every day.

Fox Pest Control

Yesterday we had our first experience with a professional exterminator at our home. We had decided on using Fox Pest Control. The young man who came by seemed very knowledgeable and went right to work spraying the foundation of our house and both the front and back porches after getting suited up.

The spray he was using on the bees would cling to them on contact and they would take it back to the hive to spread the infection. This was supposed to be very effective in stopping the spread of the bees and eliminating the hive.

By the end of the day we did not see any bees in the area.

We also had to purchase an extended agreement that will last a year which includes monthly spraying of the area around the house to ensure that the bees do not return and also as a deterrent for other pests such as carpenter ants which is a problem in the neighborhood although we haven't had them.

Update 8/18/25: We still have not seen any bees near our back porch. 

Fulbright Scholarship Board

The entire 12-person Fulbright Scholarship board quits in protest due to the MAGA administration's illegal political interference in their operations.

From Occupy Democrats:
"Effective immediately, members of the Congressionally mandated Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board voted overwhelmingly to resign from the board, rather than endorse unprecedented actions that we believe are impermissible under the law, compromise U.S. national interests and integrity, and undermine the mission and mandates Congress established for the Fulbright program nearly 80 years ago," the board wrote in its official statement.

The Fulbright scholarship program is one of our nation's most prestigious and helps fund foreign exchanges for brilliant American students while bringing distinguished foreign scholars, students, and artists to the United States.

The program is technically overseen by the State Department which is currently run by spineless MAGA hatchet man Marco Rubio. According to the board, this administration has "usurped the authority" afforded to them.

The State Department canceled roughly 200 scholarships for American researchers to work abroad, constituting a gross overreach of power in pursuit of partisan right-wing aims. An additional 1,200 scholarships to foreign nationals are currently under review.

"We believe these actions not only contradict the statute but are antithetical to the Fulbright mission and the values, including free speech and academic freedom, that Congress specified in the statute," the board wrote.

"It is worth noting that the awards that were overridden include studies in categories such as biology, engineering, architecture, agriculture, crop sciences, animal sciences, biochemistry, medical sciences, music, and history," they added.

The insinuation of Trump's ideology into the Fulbright program is part of a broader agenda to undermine academia, promote ignorance, and foment xenophobia.

The State Department's public diplomacy office sent rejection letters to scholars based on MAGA aversion to their research topics. Not coincidentally, the diplomacy office is run by suspected white nationalist Darren Beattie, who has stated that "competent white men must be in charge if you want things to work."

According to The New York Times, the board was also understandably concerned about Rubio's budget proposal which would gut funding for the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs from $691 million to $50 million. The Fulbright program falls under said Bureau.

"Our resignation is not a decision we take lightly. But to continue to serve after the Administration has consistently ignored the Board’s request that they follow the law would risk legitimizing actions we believe are unlawful and damage the integrity of this storied program and America’s credibility abroad," the board wrote.

"Indeed, the erosion of the Fulbright program weakens America and our national security interests. Institutions and the rule of law matter and have distinguished our country for almost 250 years. As a Board, we are proud of our stewardship of the program, the way we’ve worked to uphold its mission, integrity, and adherence to the law," they continued.

"It is our sincere hope that Congress, the courts, and future Fulbright Boards will prevent the administration’s efforts to degrade, dismantle, or even eliminate one of our nation’s most respected and valuable programs. Injecting politics and ideological mandates into the Fulbright program violates the letter and spirit of the law that Congress so wisely established nearly eight decades ago," they concluded.

Dinner Tonight @ Cafe 59

Becky and I decided to go out to dinner tonight. We had a stressful day dealing with the bees that invaded the back of our house and with the pest control company we called in response. We thought about a few different restaurants but decided to go to one of our favorites... Cafe 59.

We got there around 5:30 and were surprised how parked up Allen Street was. We parked a little further down on Franklin Street. The restaurant was crowded too for a Tuesday evening.

I had the Harvest Wrap which of course is one of my regular selections and Becky had their Turkey BLT. Great sandwiches along with some very nice potato wedges.  I had a couple of draft Let's Go Pils from Community Beer Works.

Whitewashing the Smithsonian

The Orange Turd as announced that there will be an aggressive comprehensive review of the Smithsonian Museum exhibits to restore "truth and sanity" to American history and reflect his vision of America. The White House says “Museums should begin implementing content corrections where necessary, replacing divisive or ideologically driven language with unifying, historically accurate, and constructive descriptions across placards, wall didactics, digital displays, and other public-facing materials.”

The first thing he is doing is removing all references to the two Trump Impeachments in 2019 and 2021 from an exhibit of Presidential Impeachments throughout American history.

Then it's probably on with removing references to African-American and Native American history and the white-washing of American history.

The Bees

The bees have swarmed over our back porch and have gotten worse over the past week or so. More and more of them. With the kids here this past weekend I wanted to be careful about spraying the area. It was too close to the house, the back door and the kitchen windows. We just made sure we didn't use that door to go in and out of the house.

Earlier in the week I tried putting some spray filler into the cracks where the bees were getting under the siding and around the windows. Then they went to other areas of the back wall around the door so I needed to spray that area too. The more cracks I filled the more they found elsewhere in the area. I guess the queen was in there somewhere and they would do anything to keep the queen alive. I also put some tape around the edges of the roof over the windows. That worked keeping them out of that spot but they just moved on to another area of the siding.

We finally decided that we needed to have an exterminator come by and spray around the house to get rid of these pests. Everything I was doing was not working. Becky called a couple of companies after reviewing the BBB ratings.

Sean and Ashley and the kids were here over the past weekend so we needed to make sure the area was cleared of sprays. I stopped with the Raid and putting down more foam. We made sure they used the side door to go in and out and not use the back door. There were just too many bees swarming about back there.

I also wanted the bees to be all gone before Dietrich came by in September to work on that roof over the back windows. I'll try to get rid of the foam stuff too but he can just tear it all out at the time.