Saturday, August 2, 2014

Quote of the Day: Christopher Columbus on Courage

Not sure if this is historically accurate.  Nevertheless...

"You can never cross the ocean until you have the courage to lose sight of the shore."  - Christopher Columbus

Friday, August 1, 2014

Song of the Day: Spoon - The Ghost of You Lingers

Such a great vibe in this song.  Beautiful.  Haunting.  Just a hint of hope.  Yes, I've used those adjectives before.  Yes, this is my favorite type of song.  Listen to it a couple times.  Or ten.  :)

"Spoon's The Ghost of You Lingers"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKmgUdRAzxQ
My life
So light
Would you settle this part?

If you were here
Would you calm me down?

The ghost of you lingers
And leaves
I always think about it
Oh, would you calm me down?


Lyrics from AZLyrics:
http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/spoon/theghostofyoulingers.html

"The Ghost Of You Lingers"

If you were here
Would you calm me down?
You settled this part
Feelings I fight (all the strangers in town)
Feeling so bright (would know if you were here)
The feelings I fight (would you ease my mind?)
Yeah (Come on!)

The sleep fled from my eyes
And I, I know that I need some
Give a thought to the one that you know

Or would you calm me down
When the night gets shadowed
We fast

We put on the clinic
If you were here
It felt good to me
(would you calm me down)
Can't see I'm losing it
Must have set up the scene
(The man asleep knockup)
Put on a clinic
(I see it) But I will need to write
(we settled this part) They're all alive

Oh, would you ease my mind?
Yeah

(The ghost of you lingers)
Put on a clinic till we hit the wall
(And leaves)
Just like a sailor with his wools beat soft
Come on

I had a light bad noon that could be put back together

My life
So light
Would you settle this part?

If you were here
Would you calm me down?

The ghost of you lingers
And leaves
I always think about it
Oh, would you calm me down?

Thursday, July 31, 2014

Song of the Day: RAC - Let Go (featuring Kele, MNDR)

Light vibe to this one.  And something I need to do more of.  Let go.  Sometimes it's not giving up, it's letting go.  There is a difference.

"RAC - Let Go ft. Kele, MNDR"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SeXBiXcEBkY
So let go, let go of your fire
Let it go, let go of your fire
Live it up till we crash
In the smoke and the ash
let it go, let go of your fire
Don’t be so rough with me
You are a gem
And they ask how i can love you when all they see is this
But i see things that you cant contain
And what it does to you
You’re pure…


Lyrics from AZLyrics:
http://alyrics.ucoz.com/load/r/rac_let_go_feat_kele_and_mndr/4-1-0-45262

"Rac - Let go feat. Kele and MNDR lyrics"
 
You are golden
You are pure
You are golden, boy

Tell me
Your problems
I’m here for you
Just try to stay sober
It’s eating you
And they say you are a monster
But what I see is a child
Your eyes are glowing red
And your tongue has caught on fire

You’re pure
You are golden
You are pure boy
You are golden

So let go, let go of your fire
Let it go, let go of your fire
Live it up till we crash
In the smoke and the ash
let it go, let go of your fire

You play up to them
But they’re not around
Don’t be so rough with me
You are a gem

And they ask how i can love you when all they see is this
But i see things that you cant contain
And what it does to you

You’re pure…

Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Song of the Day: John (Cougar) Mellencamp - Small Town

Continuing with the retro vibe.  I love this song.  Yes, I'm from a small town and, yes, this song speaks to me.  Another boring romantic, that's me.   :)

"John Mellencamp - Small Town"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CVLVaBECuc

This is home.  I planted a lot of those trees.  We used to plant several thousand every spring.  (Not kidding.)

Tuesday, July 29, 2014

Song of the Day: Eddie Money - I Wanna Go Back" on YouTube

As long as I got into the retro vibe, with Billy Joel yesterday, here's a blast from the past that expresses how I feel sometimes.  How I'm feeling lately, for what it's worth.

"Eddie Money - I Wanna Go Back"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0JqC2UDpoE

 
And for a change of pace, here are two Eddie Money songs that I would prefer to be thinking about!  :)

"Eddie Money-take me home tonight"

"Eddie Money - Think I'm In Love"

Monday, July 28, 2014

Song of the Day: Billy Joel - Allentown

Here's a little blast from the past, from one of my favorite singers.

"Billy Joel - Allentown"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHnJp0oyOxs

Why this song, why now?  Well, I don't need any excuse to post any song I feel like, of course.  But in this case, the song is prompted by a recent visit to ... Allentown, Pennsylvania!

I had a trip to western New Jersey to visit a vendor (everything has to be made somewhere!), and I really didn't want to fly into Newark or La Guardia.  It turns out that flying to Allentown was just as cheap and just as close, and a lot simpler.  So that's what I did.

Initial reaction driving from the airport was that it was a typical, old, northeastern town.  Hilly, narrow roads not in the best of shape.  Then I drove to my meetings in New Jersey.

On the way back, due to flight schedules, I had an early morning return flight the following day, so I stayed a night in Allentown.  Booked a hotel downtown, with the intention of checking out the city a bit, do a little walking, see what it was all about.

Well, Allentown is a dump.  At least that is my impression.  Not even a cool downtown area with some good bars and restaurants.  Basically, the Billy Joel song paints a bleak picture of Allentown, and my opinion is that the city doesn't even live up to that bleak picture.

I asked about restaurants at the front desk, and was told about a brew pub, a Jamaican place, a Thai place, and a soul food place.  The brew pub was described as 150 steps in that direction, and the other restaurants were described similarly--all very close.  Why the mention of steps?  Well, not 1/4 of a block outside of the hotel a panhandler came up to me.  I think the hotel staff wanted to emphasize that the restaurants were very close.  Just fight through the riff-raff, you'll be there soon!

Anyway, I didn't feel like walking the city at all after seeing it.  The brew pub, Allentown Brew Works, was both very nice and very close, so that's where I ate.  It was Friday night, and the place was half empty.  Not a lively downtown.

Back at the hotel, I had a drink at the hotel bar.  The guy next to me strikes up a conversation.  He's wearing a suit, wearing some jewelry/bracelets, doing okay for himself it seems.  Turns out he's from Venezuela.  I've been to Venezuela and know a little about it so we had a decent conversation.

He came to the U.S., to Allentown, in 1999.  And he LOVES Allentown!  Cheap place to live, money to be made (he's in banking, he said), close to New York and Philadelphia.  He leaves his door open during the day, he claimed, so he must be in a nice neighborhood.

So you never know.  I could be completely wrong about Allentown.

On the other hand, he said that he voted for Chavez in Venezuela before he left for the U.S., back when he was 19.  So this guy may be completely and totally full of shit.

I repeat.  You just never know.

Sunday, July 27, 2014

Socialists are Cheaters

There are a lot of reasons to oppose socialism, but here's one more.  Socialism breaks down human morality.

"Socialists Are Cheaters, Says New Study" by Zenon Evans
http://reason.com/blog/2014/07/22/socialists-are-cheaters-says-new-study

The longer individuals were exposed to socialism, the more likely they were to cheat on our task," according to a new study, "The (True) Legacy of Two Really Existing Economic Systems," from Duke University and the University of Munich.
The results were that "East Germans cheated twice as much as West Germans overall," leaving the researchers to conclude the "the political regime of socialism has a lasting impact on citizens' basic morality."