Tunes for a Tuesday (since I missed Monday)

The Space Cowboy is still rocking me baby!  This guys older than me and still rips some sweet riffs.

Steve Miller

Music for a Monday

Nothing takes me back to the 70's like Boston...

 ...and those boys Randy and Fred from Canada, BTO eh!

Hawaii 5-OH?

One of my favorite...no scratch that...my favorite TV drama as a kid was Hawaii 5-0.  Steve McGarrett, Danno, Chin Ho Kelly, Kono (the big guy) and even Al Harrington were solid people with good hearts, guts and no crazy skeletons in their closets.  Sunday nights I looked forward to a taste of island life and cool cops who always got the bad guys.  Life was great! 

So it was with great anticipation that I waited for the new 5-0 to come out.  At first the characters seemed pretty legit.  Kono looks better as a skinny girl and I think the new Danno expresses himself with more eloquence than the old Danno.  Chin Ho is cool, someone you'd want to hang out with.  No body to dislike really, but something's missing.  Oh yeah, legitimate scripts.  I missed a few episodes and now I'm totally screwed up on the spaghetti-like twists and turns and side plots where everyone in the cast has some deep secret that gets thrown into every-freakin' episode.  I mean, come on!  Whatever happened to just simple-to-follow and compelling plots?  Jack Lords must be rolling over in his grave.

So my two favorite Hawaii-based TV shows are:
1. The original Hawaii 5-0
2. Magnum PI (Seriously, everyone wished they were Tom Selleck back then).

The new 5-0 is quickly dropping off my radar, sorry Danno!

Mid-life Chub

So, I've been trying to drop a few pounds for the past 2-3 years.  Not the easiest endeavor for guys of a certain age.  I've tried everything I can think of but the only thing that has worked is counting calories.  I hate counting calories.  I remember my mom going to Weight Watcher's meetings and using a scale to measure things that she was eating and then counting up the calories.  I'm glad she gave up on that. 

Counting calories seems so ... um, un-manly.  I know for a fact that as a teenager I could put away 6000 calories a day and not gain an ounce.  In fact, I tried to gain weight back then.  

I wrestled  back in high school (when I wasn't broken) and weighed a burly126 pounds.  To lose a couple of pounds to make weight I'd skip a Snicker's bar and drop weight.  Nowadays, I sneak a peek at a Snicker's in a magazine ad on the back shelf of a Walmart and gain 3 pounds.  I don't get it.

Well anyway, I have dropped about 30 pounds of middle-aged lard.  I had to buy new jeans because my daughter said I looked like a saggy old man with no butt.  And those jeans were just getting broken in!  Blood pressure is down, cholesterol is pretty good but my six-pack is still pretty well insulated.  So, onward and upward...or downward as it were.

Fish and sweet potato fries... about 850 calories and mmmmighty tasty!

Remember!

Let's remember those who gave all.  In memory of SSG Gregson Gourley - 101st Airborne.

Tunes for a Thursday

Slaid Cleaves...If you don't know this guy I'd suggest you check him out and get a good listen.  Great sound, great voice and very nice songs.

And don't forget The Gord eh! 

TV for Tuesday...or I Hope My Wife Doesn't Read This One!

If you're a fan of British comedies (which usually are pretty dry) then you might know this guy from "Keeping Up Appearances"  I think all of us can relate to him on occasion.  I consider him one of my role models!

The most patient man in the world!

Graduation Blues

My youngest is graduating from high school next week.  She'll be off to college in the fall.  Feeling mighty old right now.

A few things to keep in mind:

I won't have to help with stats homework (not that I'm much help anyway).
No more staying up late wondering when she'll be home from a date (I'll be staying up late worrying about college guys oogling her in Freshman Lit).
Fewer hair product expenses:)
I can run around in my underwear...sometimes.
I can crank the stereo in the car with good old rock and roll instead of ....whatever crap she's listening to.
No one to eat Cocoa Krispies with.
I truly will miss her.
Guess I'll take up paddle-boarding!

Music for a Monday (on Tuesday...?)

Alison Kraus - One of the sweetest voices I know of...and she's a pretty good fiddler too!

and from "The Band", the late great Levon Helm.  Makes ya feel all Americana!

Best "Drop Everything" Movie!

The Great Escape

Here's the scenario:  You're flipping through the channels on a rainy Saturday afternoon and looking for something to watch.  There is one movie that you will immediately stop searching and watch "this" movie.  What is yours?  Mine would be "The Great Escape".  

I first saw this movie probably as a youngster on a Sunday Night Movie on the old Admiral TV in our family room.  I'm not sure why but I have always loved this movie.  Captivating characters (both Germans and Allies), exciting mostly true story, great motorcycle scenes and great script.

As a teenager I learned that my best friend's dad had been a B-17 pilot who was shot down over Germany in WWII.  He spent the rest of the war in a POW camp, the same camp where the real "Great Escape" took place.  My friend's dad wasn't as cool as Steve McQueen but still a great hero in my mind.

What's your best "Drop Everything" movie?  Let me know which movie and why and I'll share it with everyone.

Music for a Monday

A little new and a little classic Americana.

The Avett Brothers

And no one should go without a little Possum.  Rest in Peace George Jones.

10 Comments you won’t (or shouldn’t) hear middle-aged men say to each other

        

1.    What kind of conditioner do you use?

2.   Nice mini-van!

3.   Does this camo pattern make me look fat?

4.   Can I borrow your lip balm?

5.    I feel bloated.

6.   I love Dancing with the Stars!

7.   Should we go to the hockey game or the home show?

8.   I’ll just have the salad.

9.   Trim the hedge or go fishing?

10.   This bratwurst goes straight to my hips!

Rock Legendz of the Basement!

If you were in a band in the 60's or 70's you can probably relate.  Rock on gray haired shredders!!!

Best Bike Ever!

Remember your first bike?  Mine was a Schwinn Stingray, banana seat and high rise handlebars.  This bike did everything and was built like a Mack Truck.  Mine is still in my mom’s basement waiting for me…

Music on Thursday

Who I’m listening to this week… getting my inner jazz groove going.

Pat Metheny – Always something unique and mellow. 

Ottmar Liebert – German Flamenco with a little Zen Buddhism mixed in.

We used to call a lot of Jazz "elevator music". Must be a sign of age that I really like it now.  Real musicianship instead of cookie-cutter pop.

Happy Monday?

You know it was a rough weekend when you actually look forward to going to work on a Monday morning.  If you have or have had teenage daughters you might know what I mean.

On the plus side, did somebody mention wings?

Music for a Thursday

As someone who loves and enjoys several kinds of music I’m often looking for sounds that hearken back to the bands and musicians I loved back in the 60's and 70's.

Who I’m listening to now:

O.A.R. – I love their “we make music the way we like and if you like it great if you don’t no worries” attitude.

Jack Johnson – His songs and sound remind me of many nights sitting with friends in the mountains and playing simple basic ballads with a pure acoustic soul.

Mumford and Sons – Unique and honest sound that I can’t really categorize right now but I like it.

Dreamin' about fishin...

Winter Melancholy

Deep dark days of winter always remind me of days spent on the beach of some distant Jimmy Buffett kind of island.  I’m very apt to put beach wallpaper on my computer at work to remind me of warm sunny peaceful days.  My computer has a few surfing pictures even though I’ve never surfed.  I grew up in the Rocky Mountains where skiing (not snow-boarding please) ruled our thoughts.  My friends and I would get our skis out and wax them in September and watch the mountains for that beautiful white smoke that would soon blanket our peaks.  I remember turning in pop bottles at the corner grocery store so I could get enough money for a lift ticket and then begging my brothers or friends for a ride up the canyon for a Saturday of cutting turns.

I have a few skiing pictures on my computer but always gravitate to the sunny beach and surfing pictures to warm my thoughts at this time of year.  I’ll get a few days of skiing in this year as my stumpy knees will allow but at this point in my life the beach sounds pretty good.