Monday Morning Earthquake

Becky and I were suddenly jostled awake at 6:15 am this morning by a very loud bang and the house shaking. We had no idea what had happened. I initially thought a very loud truck had come down the street but Becky thought it was something much more serious. She thought something hit our house. I got up and looked around. I was especially concerned that a tree had come down in our backyard and had struck the house but everything looked alright. 

I got back into bed and looked at my phone and it was then that I saw all the postings about an earthquake in Buffalo. At first people were asking each other if they felt their house shaking. It turns out it was all over the region. The Earthquake measured at 3.8 so if was fairly small but it certainly felt big.

It turns out the really big earthquake today happened in Turkey and Syria where a truly devasting quake leveled many communities with over 2,000 people killed. The death toll will probably be much higher. It made us feel how lucky we were in Buffalo to have that comparatively small earthquake happening around the same time.

There is a fault line along the Niagara escarpment and there are small earthquakes here from time to time. This one today was supposedly the biggest in 40 years. The last one we remember happening was probably about 30 years ago when we were living on Shirley Ave. 

Feelin' Groovy - Songs 1966 FV

I can't say I remember anyone around my neighborhood in 1966 saying something like feelin' groovy but of course that would all change a year later with a few head shops in the neighborhood and a pot selling "hippie house" near the corner we hung out. So here is more of that soundtrack to my teenage years and we couldn't get away from those Monkees either. I was obsessed with Motown at that time and had already been to a couple of those Motown Revue shows with one band on the stage with a parade of different vocal groups singing the hits. I also loved everything that Simon & Garfunkel did during those years. I had a lot of these songs on 45 singles too. Spotify link here.

Feelin' Groovy - Songs 1966 FV

1. The 59^th Street Bridge Song (Feelin’ Groovy) – Simon & Garfunkel
2. California Dreamin’ – The Mamas & The Papas
3. Last Train To Clarksville – The Monkees
4. Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby – The Rolling Stones
5. Sunshine Superman – Donovan
6. Red Rubber Ball – The Cyrkle
7. A Groovy Kind Of Love – The Mindbenders
8. These Boots Are Made For Walkin’ – Nancy Sinatra
9. Solitary Man – Neil Diamond
10. My Love – Petula Clark
11. I Hear A Symphony – The Supremes
12. I’ve Got You Under My Skin – The Four Seasons
13. You Didn’t Have To Be So Nice – The Lovin’ Spoonful
14. No Matter What You Do – Love
15. Holiday In Waikiki – The Kinks
16. Mr. Spaceman – The Byrds
17. Nowadays Clancy Can’t Even Sing – Buffalo Springfield
18. Happy Jack – The Who
19. I Want You – The Troggs
20. Beg, Borrow and Steal – The Rare Breed
21. See See Rider – The Animals
22. Hideaway – John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers
23. Barefootin’ – Robert Parker
24. Summertime – Billy Stewart
25. Reach Out I’ll Be There – Jr. Walker & The All Stars
26. Too Busy Thinking About My Baby – The Temptations
27. Whispers (Getting Louder) – Jackie Wilson
28. Love Makes The World Go Round – Deon Jackson
29. Enter The Young – The Association
30. And Your Bird Can Sing – The Beatles
31. One Of Us Must Know (Sooner or Later) – Bob Dylan
32. She Moved Thru' The Fair – Marianne Faithful

Joe's 75th

My brother-in-law Joe Berret just celebrated his 75th birthday. Joe has been a part of our family for well over 50 of those years. Betsy and Joe were married in June 1971 right after he got out of the Navy. I first met him when he was in the Navy and dating Betsy. I had talked to him about my own enlistment plans and he told me in some detail what to expect at boot camp. At the time I was waiting for orders. Later when I was stationed on the USS Portland homeported in Little Creek VA  Joe was also stationed on a ship in that port. We rode together a couple of trips back and forth between Little Creek and Philly shortly before he got out.

Joe has always been a big collector of music just like me although he was more interested in the artifact of the record while I was mostly there for the music. He actually collected lots of stuff and was a big flea market guy just like his father. He would buy and sell records at flea markets too.

He has a great collection of records, posters and other music memorabilia in his basement rec room / bar. We have spent many nights there over the years.

We got to know Joe very well because after Becky and I moved to Buffalo we would stay at Betsy and Joe's house when we came to visit the family in PA. Early on we stayed with them at their home in Red Hill and then later at their current house. We were always made welcome and we always had a wonderful time there. Their home was our base of operations when we were visiting Mom and everyone else in the family.

Since Katie and Todd moved to Philadelphia we have not stayed at Betsy and Joe's house. We do miss it although it's a whole other thing to be staying with our grandchildren. 

Joe has had some health issues in recent years but he still looks good. Betsy and Joe always take the time to drive down to Mt Airy and spend some time with us at Katie's house when we are in town.

I Feel Free - Songs 1966 FV

A nice collection of warm songs for a cold day. Looking forward to that hot town summer in the city, back of my neck gettin' dirt and gritty. But at night it's a different world, go out and find a girl. Got that 45 back in the day. A few other singles and albums from the mix. Still have them. Played most of these songs in our basement rec room for our parties during those high school years.

Here is a link to this mix on Spotify.

I Feel Free - Songs 1966

1. I Feel Free – Cream
2. Good Vibrations – The Beach Boys
3. Tomorrow Never Knows – The Beatles
4. Eight Miles High – The Byrds
5. Paint It Black – The Rolling Stones
6. Kicks – Paul Revere & The Raiders
7. Help, I’m A Rock – The Mothers of Invention
8. Season Of The Witch – Donovan
9. Stuck Inside Of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again – Bob Dylan
10. Hey Joe – The Leaves
11. Tobacco Road – Blues Magoos
12. Reverberation (Doubt) – 13th Floor Elevators
13. Kicks & Chicks – The Zipps
14. 7 and 6 Is – Love
15. I’m A Boy – The Who
16. Sunny Afternoon – The Kinks
17. Summer In The City – The Lovin’ Spoonful
18. Blues From An Airplane – Jefferson Airplane
19. Pandora’s Golden Heebie Jeebies – The Association
20. Happening Ten Years Time Ago – The Yardbirds
21. Making Time – The Creation
22. If You Want This Love – The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band
23. Turn Down Day – The Cyrkle
24. Where Were You When I Needed You – The Grass Roots
25. Lightnin’ Strikes – Lou Christie
26. Kind Of A Drag – The Buckinghams
27. Poor Side Of Town – Johnny Rivers
28. Words of Love – The Mamas and The Papas

Still Cold

This morning it is still very cold here and everywhere in the Northeast US. The weather forecast does say that the temperatures will go up somewhat today.

Last night I woke up and looked at my phone and the temperature outside was 0 degrees with a wind chill of -7. Good thing it wasn't windy. We had the furnace up a little higher than usual and it seemed to be running all night.

This morning I got up and put on a couple of layers of shirts and a heavy sweater just like yesterday. I also put on my warm lined jeans. 

The birds have been visiting our feeder all morning. Hopefully the weather will get back to normal later today with the temps rising up to the 20s. 

The Bloodless Boy

The Bloodless Boy by Robert J. Lloyd, 2014

I started reading this book in mid January and finished it today which was a little over two weeks. This was a fascinating murder mystery literary thriller set in Restoration London in 1678. It was an amazing historical novel that with many real life characters involved in this very complicated plot filled with hysteria and rumors involving anti-royal catholic plots and foreign assassins. There are also murders of young boys used in medical experiments. The murders are investigated by a couple of early scientists members of the Royal Society for Improving Natural Knowledge and one young scholar in particular. It is a pursuit of truth applying scientific detection and evidence rather than paranoia and prejudice. The basic plot is actually based on a true historical unsolved murder of a government official. 

I enjoyed this book very much but it was somewhat difficult to read and understand with all the historical twists and turns and complicated plot devices. Apparently there is another book published with this detecting duo. The author is a retired college history professor and scholar who has turned to writing novels.

Cold Cold Cold

Today is cold. Very cold. Most of the day it was around 7 degrees with a wind chill of -14 degrees. Cold. It's like this all over the Northeast with an Arctic blast of weather coming down from Canada.

Went outside for a few minutes and you could really feel the intense cold and the wind certainly made it a lot worse. I could see people out walking their dogs and bundled up to the max. 

Tonight is a First Friday for art openings and there are at least five of them spread out around the city. The hardest thing would be finding parking spaces and then having to work from wherever to the gallery. We decided not to go out this evening. It's just not worth it. If it was a nice spring evening it would be great to go visit some galleries and have some dinner somewhere but it's the dead of winter.

This week the groundhog says six more weeks of winter. It sure feels like it.

Scuse Me While I Kiss The Sky - Songs 1967 FV

Another set of songs from my collection released in 1967. This is another old mix that has undergone several transitions over the years... decades actually.

This mix, like the others in this series, runs a little over an hour and a half and is part of my Final Version group of mixes. There is a link to the Spotify playlist below.

I got both of the Jimi Hendrix albums released in 1967 right when they came out as I would in 1968 too. My biggest music regret is not seeing him perform live when I had four opportunities. Each time I had something else going on or was at another concert that weekend and always thought I would catch him next time but of course he died in 1970. In 68 and 69 he played The Electric Factory, Temple University, the Spectrum, the old convention hall in Philadelphia. I could've made any of those shows except for reasons like a family dinner, a junior prom, a basketball game and playing my sax someplace. That being said, during that time period I did see Janis Joplin and Jim Morrison three times each. Gram Parsons too.

Here is a link to this mix on Spotify.

Scuse Me While I Kiss The Sky - Songs 1967 FV

1. Purple Haze – The Jimi Hendrix Experience
2. Night of the Long Grass – The Troggs
3. Plastic Fantastic Lover – Jefferson Airplane
4. See Emily Play – Pink Floyd
5. Pictures of Lily – The Who
6. She’s My Girl – The Turtles
7. Alone Again Or – Love
8. Expecting To Fly – Buffalo Springfield
9. Wear Your Love Like Heaven – Donovan
10. Neon Rainbow – The Box Tops
11. On A Carousel – The Hollies
12. My World Fell Down – Sagittarius
13. 10,000 Years Behind My Mind – Focus Three
14. Mirage – Tommy James & The Shondells
15. Ups and Downs – Paul Revere & The Raiders
16. Dandelion – The Rolling Stones
17. Itchycoo Park – Small Faces
18. Tuesday Afternoon – The Moody Blues
19. A Day In The Life – The Beatles
20. Waterloo Sunset – The Kinks
21. Conquistador – Procol Harum
22. Run, Run, Run – The Third Rail
23. My Back Pages – The Byrds
24. Are You Gonna Be There (At The Love In) – The Chocolate Watch Band
25. Slip Inside This House – 13th Floor Elevators
26. The Great Banana Hoax – The Electric Prunes
27. Underdog – Sly & The Family Stone
28. Fire – The Jimi Hendrix Experience
29. Joy – Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels
30. Too Many Do – The Peanut Butter Conspiracy

Timothy Leary's Dead - Songs 1968 FV

Back to 1968 with the opening line of the first song of the mix... Timothy Leary's dead. More music from my collection released in the year 1968 which was one of my favorite years for albums and attending live shows. Especially ones at the Electric Factory in downtown Philly. I also went to a couple of the Quaker City Rock Festival concerts that year.

Here is a link to the mix on Spotify.

Timothy Leary's Dead - Songs 1968 FV

1. Legend Of A Mind – The Moody Blues
2. Hurdy Gurdy Man – Donovan
3. Crown Of Creation – Jefferson Airplane
4. Still Raining, Still Dreaming – The Jimi Hendrix Experience
5. Journey To The Center Of The Mind – The Amboy Dukes
6. Open My Eyes – The Nazz
7. Magic Carpet Ride – Steppenwolf
8. Jumpin’ Jack Flash – The Rolling Stones
9. Shine On Brightly – Procol Harum
10. Purple Shades – The Troggs
11. Pictures Of Matchstick Men – Status Quo
12. It’s Wonderful – The Rascals
13. 40,000 Headmen – Traffic
14. I Walk On Guilded Splinters – Dr. John The Night Tripper
15. S.F. Sorrow Is Born – The Pretty Things
16. Voyage Of The Trieste – The Chocolate Watch Band
17. Hey Jude – The Beatles
18. To Claudia On Thursday – The Millennium
19. Friends – The Beach Boys
20. Like To Get To Know You – Spanky & Our Gang
21. I Met Her In Church – The Box Tops
22. Eli’s Comin – Laura Nyro
23. You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere – Joan Baez
24. White Houses – Eric Burdon & The Animals

I Can Hear Music - Songs 1969 FV

I Can Hear Music. Another mix of my music from 1969. Oh, the drama of John and Yoko back in 1969. I wonder what that lady in the picture is thinking?

I substituted non-Spotify Neil Young's Cinnamon Girl with the Crazy Horse version on the Spotify playlist upload and still runs a little over an hour and a half.

Here is a link to this mix on Spotify.

I Can Hear Music - Songs 1969 FV

1. I Can Hear Music – The Beach Boys
2. The Ballad of John and Yoko – The Beatles
3. Presence of the Lord – Blind Faith
4. Suite: Judy Blue Eyes – Crosby, Stills & Nash
5. He Ain’t Heavy He’s My Brother – The Hollies
6. Try (Just A Little Bit Harder) – Janis Joplin
7. With A Little Help From My Friends – Joe Cocker
8. Ramble On – Led Zeppelin
9. Gimme Shelter – The Rolling Stones
10. Soul Sacrifice – Santana
11. Rock Me – Steppenwolf
12. Bad Scene – Ten Years After
13. Eli’s Coming – Three Dog Night
14. Crystal Blue Persuasion – Tommy James & The Shondells
15. Paper Sun – Traffic
16. I’m Free – The Who
17. Spinning Wheel – Blood, Sweat & Tears
18. Beginnings – Chicago
19. Lovely To See You – The Moody Blues
20. Cinnamon Girl – Neil Young
21. Dark Eyed Woman – Spirit
22. Rock of All Ages – Badfinger
23. Listen to the Band – The Monkees
24. (The) Happy Song – The Box Tops