It's imperative that I create a segment here. Absolutely imperative! I don't think I have Obsessive Compulsive Disorder or nothin'... but if I don't type this bit here then, well... the world will implode... or something. Okay, I know perfectly well that's not the case so maybe if I do have OCD, it's like a very minor form of it? On the 0 to 10 scale -- eh, about a 2.
But what to type? It's funny 'cause there are SOOOOOOOO many issues that I am concerned with, but it's takes so much effort and I know I'll really, really, really get into something and churn out a mini-book's worth of writing. Oi. So many topics... like the fact that Guamanians are seemingly Obamaniacs because they chose him over Hillary today. Actually that doesn't concern me that much.
Communist China concerns me and I've been wanting to type more about Tibet and how Communist China shouldn't have any glory from hosting the Olympics this summer. Some would say -- what place is it for America to criticize China when some things that go on because of our government are just plain despicable?! Those who've said that truly makes me wonder how bright they are. Yes, the United States has problems, a lot of them... but come on, Communist China is only about 4,000 times worse in the way they treat their citizens. If I was in that nation, I wouldn't be allowed to post these comments to Blogger right now because the Communist government forbids that. Not only do they forbid it but if I was posting this to the internet, they could arrest me and put me in a forced labor camp for speaking out against the policies they hold sacred.
And people think it's hypocritical for the American government to criticize China?!!? Give me a break. Last time I checked, we have freedoms the government of China deprives their citizens of. Human rights is nothing to take lightly. Some choose to ignore the suffering of others so they can go on doing what they want guilt-free. Others care and God bless them for caring!
Ugh..... so much to be said on that subject that I could do 5,000 words easy. I just don't have the time to. This afternoon I need to be selfish and run errands, do laundry, and get stuff done on this warm Saturday in Spring. Slept in, I did, then went for a just-before-noon run... showered and ready to go I am.... maybe. Mets are on but not on my TV, on Yahoo's MLB GameChannel dealie. Do I procrastinate or skip the game and get stuff done? I dunno. I know nothing! It's Saturday and when it's Saturday and I'm not working then I don't need to know a thing! Brain-dead having Daim Bramage can be the order of the day and that's ooooo-kay! I got my exercise in so the rest of the day can be full of nothing! UGH... but to spend it all inside?!? How much of the winter is spent cooped up inside? TOO MUCH here in these parts... UGH!
For now I will wrap this up, post these tunes, "watch" my Mets, and then we'll see what happens! G'day!
 | still muddy trail
...so still indoors
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| Saturday Noontime Run: 19 minutes 56 sec | +4 sec |
XXXXXXXX++++++· 19:52 sec ·++++++XXXXXXXX
| Run Time April: | 3 hours | 51 minutes | <-failed to pass March 
| | March: | 3 hours | 57 minutes | | February: | 3 hours | 11 minutes |
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2½ days gone in May -- 2 runs so far. This is the right frequency, not the horrible pace I was on in April. If I keep this up, not only will I easily surpass March, not only will I easily surpass what I should have hit in April, but I could even double that. We'll see. One run at a time.
This morning wasn't bad, especially considering that it was only about 14 hours since my last run last night. Usually, when I go on back-to-back days, I give myself just about 24 hours in between. Not this time. Nope. Wanted to git er done without the procrastination. If I'm not working and I wait until the end of the day, I could very easily get tired, get busy, or what-have-you, and decide not to run thereby wasting a day. NOT TODAY! HA! Good. And doubly good is the fact that I will achieve a new plateau next time out -- 20 minutes! For me that's sweet. Onward, baby!
 | Jimmy Buffett
Barometer Soup
1995 |
Not my favorite Jimmy album from the 1990's but I like it just fine. Not his most popular collection of songs as I'm not sure there's a single one here that he plays live on a regular basis... not even a semi-regular basis... maybe nothing here played for several years? Beats me -- just a guess.
In any case, there are some fun songs, some slow and quiet songs... and it's yet more music that can take one away from wherever he or she may be, and wash them and immerse them in a feeling of serenity, giving them a sense that they are somewhere altogether completely different from where they actually are, perhaps somewhere in a Caribbean paradise, where all your troubles are gone with a beautifully cold and delicious margarita... not to mention the sound of steel drums on the beach. Ahhhhh.....
Here's what Jimmy writes about the making of Barometer Soup...
"This album began with an idea Russell and I had to go back to Key West with several members of the band and write. It was February and in the rest of the world that means cold. There was little resistance by Roger, Pete, Jim and Jay Oliver to 'wintering in Key West'. In the old days before bridges and blenders 'wintering in Key West' had worked for a hell of a lot of writers before we came up with the idea. Besides, it was a great job description. So we loaded all our gear into the Fish Camp and built a little working studio with a waterfront view. Between the studio at the Fish Camp and the Old Monroe County Library, we searched the works of our collective favorite authors for source material. From Mark Twain to Carl Hiaasen we found the stories and titles that inspired us and we set about turning them into songs. When the songs were done, we peddled our bikes and mo-peds across town to Shrimp Boat Sound and in between the dockside departures of the schooner Wolf and the occasional intrusion by spring breakers, we cooked up our Barometer Soup. I have always thought of song writing as a form of Creole cooking. You start with a basic roux and then experiment with spices and flavors until you come up with a dish. So here is a serving of Barometer Soup. Bon Appetit y'all."
Jimmy BuffettApril 7, 1995Key West, Florida
| Barometer Soup |
Notes by Jimmy: "In the countries where I feel most comfortable the barometer doesn't dance much. Hot and humid sums up the climate I like the best. In those climates, you are bound to find characters worthy immortalizing in song. This song is about those who bare to be different when it is not the most popular thing. They plow the seas and we are fortunate to follow in their wake. The term Barometer Soup was first mentioned to me by Herman Wouk, a gentleman who has plowed a few seas himself. This is for Herman."
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| Barefoot Children |
"Around my house, clothing in general, and shoes in particular, seem to have a hard time staying on my children. As I sit here in this swanky hotel room in a Bob Marley T-shirt and a pair of jams with my bare feet dangling over an antique desk putting off the time until I have to get up and get dressed to go to dinner, I wonder where my children get this aversion to clothing and footwear?"
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| Bank Of Bad Habits |
"I don't make as many withdrawals from this bank as I used to and I am thankful for that, but every now and then I have to check my balance."
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| Remittance Man |
"One of my favorite stories in Mark Twain's classic book "Following The Equator", the remittance man was an unforgettable fictitious character who had to circle the globe, going from port to port to collect his remittance. It seemed a sad but intriguing voyage. I guess growing up in a water front town and watching the big ships sail up and down Mobile Bay was enough to put my imagination to work. So far so good"
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| Diamond As Big As The Ritz |
"F. Scott Fitzgerald will probably do a back flip in his grave when he hears that he and Pablo Escobar are co-inspirers of this song. As titles go, The Diamond As Big As The Ritz, is powerful enough to get anyone's attention. The Pablo connection came one night when I was channel surfing and came across a PBS documentary on Pablo Escobar, the Colombian tire thief turned drug lord. I couldn't stop watching it. The story of greed and the unattainable dream is as old as time, which is what most people do if they get too greedy."
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| Blue Heaven Rendezvous |
"In the hustle and bustle of modern day Key West, Dan & Richard Hatch, Bud & Corinne Crockett, and Suanne Kitchar have managed to save a bit of our hippie past in their wonderful restaurant Blue Heaven. God bless the war babies for hanging on to what they believe in. Patchouli oil forever."
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| Jimmy Dreams |
"This song is nearly seven years old but has never been recorded until now. It was my first reference to my fascination with the Pleiades which grew even larger in the shape of Desdemona in the Joe Merchant book. It stuns me when I run into people who actually don't dream or can't remember their dreams. Some mornings I can wake up tired from the places my mind has taken me while I was asleep."
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| Lage Nom Ai |
"One of the stories in Jim Harrison's classic novella, Legends of the Fall, was the inspiration for this song. Two of the three stories have been made into movies. The most recent of course starring Brad Pitt which I thoroughly enjoyed despite the sighs and comments exchanged by my oldest daughter and her mother when Brad rode over the hill time after time. Where the Zouk influence comes from, I haven't got a clue."
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| Don't Chu-Know |
"Inspired once again by the wisdom of that aviator, Frank Bama, the more we progress towards the end of the millennium, the more we realize that we are just cave men (excuse me cave persons) in faded blue jeans."
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| Ballad Of Skip Wiley |
"I am pleased to say that this song features the incredible vocal and hand clapping talents of my friend Carl Hiaasen who penned the wonderful book Tourist Season that sent a tremor through every Chamber Commerce building in the state of Florida. Skip Wiley has always been a favorite character of mine along with Skink, the ex-governor of Florida turned road kill connoisseur. It's too bad these kinds of people only exist in books. We could use a few more Skinks and a lot less Newts these days."
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| The Night I Painted The Sky |
"Captain Larry 'Groovy' Gray again gets credit for another inspiration, along with the lovely Caroline. They run a fireworks company in the French Antilles and have the delightful job of, as the French put it, 'painting the sky'. I was lucky enough to be a guest employee one night, digging in the sand on the beach of St. Maarten to bury the mortars and then I got to fire them off. The thunder of the explosions and then the sulfuric sensations afterwards thrilled my pyromaniac heart. At the end of the night, after we had cleaned up our mess and loaded the gear into the truck, Groovy said to me, 'Congratulations, Bubba, you are now a bombardier.' I loved the sound of that job description."
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| Mexico |
"Last summer in Nantucket, I had a brush with death, but was lucky enough to swim out of my sinking seaplane. In the days after that experience, the thing that stuck in my mind was that life is still just a tire swing, but the rope may break at any minute. I decided then to be even more spontaneous to sudden impulses. I was flying back to Key West from Palm Beach in February and James Taylor's Greatest Hits was in my headset. This song came on and I was reminded of how much I like listening to it and had thought about one day recording it, so we did. Chalk one up for sudden impulses."
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