Monday, January 25, 2010

Hello. Saints and Vikings, what a game! What will Favre do now? We'll find out more about him with his next decision. He has time to think. Go Saints!

The music lovers have spoken...Thieving Magpies are great! A crowded Live Music Club made that very clear. They were the perfect appetizer for Brad Hoshaw & the Seven Deadlies. Friday night was a very cool night of original live music. Thank you Sioux City. If people will only trust the Sioux City Live Music Club and attend the shows, they'll be pleased. We don't do bad shows. Have faith...jump into the flame of the live music hotbed. Friday was an experience for the senses!

Some people can't see, or hear, through the fog of their closed mind. I have been guilty of this myself many times, but I am changing. Drop the veil and let the refreshing sights and sounds massage the senses. It is wonderful! There is a beautiful world out there. You have to look a little closer sometimes to see it, but it's there.

A lady I know was sharing her disgust with the people of Haiti the other day. She can't believe anyone would send help to "those people". "They don't want to do better for themselves," she said. I informed her that I'm sure they do want more than they have now. She tried to compare the homeless in Haiti to the people who lost their homes in California. NOT EVEN CLOSE! The people in California have plenty of options for short-term housing. The people of Haiti have the streets. If the people of Haiti were white, this woman would have a completely different outlook. Some of us are ugly Americans. Sad.

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Hello. A reflection from a previous post... Does anyone know of a dog named Fido? I've never met a Fido, yet it is the name most people associate with a dog. If no one names their dog Fido, how did it become the norm? If I ever get another dog-pet, I'm going to name it Fido.

Some people can clear a room just by opening their mouth...loudly opening their mouth. I was with some of my buddies last night having a good time and all of sudden, one guy starts shouting nonsense. He was saying things he doesn't even believe. I'll never understand why people make a spectacle of themselves. It sure killed a good buzz.

Our media is like that. These morons will carry on about something that they know is not true, yet they present it with conviction. I guess if filling the hours with "news" is your job, you have to create controversy. This is one of the reasons I think 24-hour news is a bad thing. However it can be addictive. When all there is on TV is reality shows, I prefer reality...or as close to reality as the media gets. CNN is also something you can be watching without paying any attention. It does give you something to talk about.

I just heard a U2 song on the radio. They were the number one selling band for 2009 according to Pollstar. Surprising? I've never been a big fan. I don't really dislike what they do, it's just not my thing. Their cross generation appeal must be the reason for all of the tickets. The top band for the decade was the Dave Matthews band. I might be missing something. I don't own any U2 or Dave Matthews music. I have a hard time fitting them into my obscure play list.

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Hello. 2010 is just like 2009...well except the numbers are different. The only way a new year, or decade for that matter, will change is if you do something different. Deep change. I'm ready.

Templeton Rye is very good whisky! A glass of Templeton with a little frozen water is grand. Once again I'm proving that the better the liquor, the better you feel the next day. However, for some reason, I can't drink like I used to. Maybe that's a good thing. Templeton is distilled in Templeton, Iowa. It was bootlegged until a couple of years ago. Now it is commercially available at most of your favorite booze huts. The bootlegged stuff had more mystique, but I rarely got to enjoy it.

All of the trees had a coat of frosting on them this morning. It is pretty. As pretty as cold, barren trees can be. I heard something on NPR yesterday about people who were such strangers to snow, they were afraid to walk on it. Put yourself in a mind-set that you have never seen snow before. It is a wondrous sight. My children and grandchildren have never seen snow like we have now. My daughter is 28. This is an unusual snow. I've seen worse. I need to go sledding.

Thursday, January 07, 2010

Hello. Snow. Blowing snow. Sucking snow. The forecast for today, "blowing and sucking snow"!

When I was younger, I loved snow days. As a little kid it meant no school and hours of new adventures. The bigger the drifts the better the forts. Then as I got older I owned a four-wheel-drive truck and my buddies and I lived for these days. Even until I was in my thirties snow was my friend. Now, there is very little I like about it. The local weather guy said last night during the six o'clock news that we have 43 inches of snow this winter! That is way more snow than we usually get all year. The other night driving home I imagined having never seen snow before. Instantly, for a brief moment, snow was cool. Then scooping my driveway popped into memory...auugghhh!

Last night as I scooped a path to my back door through 4' tall drifts, I noticed my half-buried Adirondack chairs sitting on the patio, staring longingly across my back yard. I think I heard one say to the other, "Heywood, is that you under all this white shit?" Seeing them sitting there, tall and firm, poking out of the drift made me realize it will be hotter than hell before we know it. Ah Midwest weather, if you don't like it wait a while it will change.

Yesterday, I saw a funeral procession battling the blowing snow and bitter cold, heading toward the final resting place for someone. A friend of mine is saying goodbye to an uncle today. Too bad we can't postpone death, like schools and businesses do. "John Deadman's death has been cancelled due to weather." Death must own a four-wheel-drive truck.