Random Wordplay for Wednesday 9/30/15

Pope and Circumstance.

Used in a sentence:  "I don't mean to offend anyone (and I'm NOT affiliated with any particular 24 hour news networks [you know who you are]) ... but now that it's over, I have to admit that I really don't get all the darn Pope and Circumstance of late."

Of course, I wasn't raised Catholic (for the most part, not counting a diversion into some independent churchery run by my father's wife's boyfriend [ex-boyfriend {allegedly}], I grew up with a Methodist influence).  I think I only may have attended regular mass once or twice ... and a Catholic wedding a few times ... and Catholic Christmas Eve services when it was in vogue as a holiday tradition for a few years in a row during the naughts.  I'm so decidedly un-Catholic that I used to genuflect in the style of Zorro, unaware that God wanted me to move my hand to make a cross instead.

Here's my problem.  I fear that institutionalized religion in general gets it wrong much more than it gets it right.  And that's the current version.  I'm pretty convinced that historic versions of institutionalized religion got it wrong 100% of the time.  I don't think that God mandates that folks dress up in robes ... or that God hates women so much as the rules of religion appear to dictate ... or that God wouldn't endorse a brand of condoms if birth control *literally* might be the only way to keep his creations alive in a few generations.

To be clear, I am impressed with many of the ways that Francis is being the most bad-ass pope ever.  But I tend to think he could accomplish those goals (God's goals, right?) without all of the additional expenditures ... the bureaucracy ... the money trail that corrupts.  I also don't think that he's the ONLY one that can execute this vision.

So I'm glad it's over ... and I wish him well ... but I also wish that it didn't have to go down exactly as it did ... or as it continues to do ... over and over again ... distracting from what should be the real mission of religion ...

THIS WORDPLAY WAS WAY TOO EASY SO I'M NOT THE ONLY ONE TO USE IT:
https://twitter.com/newseum/status/646331497029480448

THERE IS A RIGHT WAY TO DO IT AND A WRONG WAY TO DO IT:
http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/catholic-gestures-explained.html

JUST SAYIN':
http://www.alternet.org/story/155828/8_ugly_sins_of_the_catholic_church

Random Tune for Tuesday 9/29/15

It may be dangerous to post this photo whilst actually IN Nashville, but just so that I'm not run out of town, *this* pic is representative of my ongoing 'discarded cassettes' series, and I still have the Garth Brooks double live *CDs*.

As much as I considered featuring the oft covered Dylan classic 'To Make You Feel My Love' ... or the reworked for the rodeo Aerosmith tune of 'The Fever' ... or the special bonus third verse of the first song that introduced me to Mr. Brooks (aka Chris Gaines aka Mr. Yearwood) of 'Friends in Low Places' ... in the end, I turned to the end, and I have to give credit to the final track ... 'The Dance'.

Because there's not a better way to capture the true enlightenment that comes from looking back in hindsight at a life full of stories ... not all of which have happy endings ... but all of which are key to our development ... and all of which need to be appreciated for what they provided in the moment - moments to be forever remember and forever shared.

"I could have missed the pain but I'd have had to miss the dance."

OUR LIVES ARE BETTER LEFT TO CHANCE:
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1bfm0s_garth-brooks-the-dance-live-on-jay-leno_music

Random Memorial for Monday 9/28/15

Gone but not forgotten:  the changing leaves of fall.

To be most accurate, that should probably say *my witnessing of* the changing leaves of fall.  The leaves still change ... I just don't get to see all the pretty colors any more, now that I live in a place where there are little to no seasonal swings of temperature, and all the goings-on that stem from that weather phenomenon.

I had hoped that maybe this trip to Atlanta and Nashville in late September would have been enough to put in some serious leaf-peeping, but it's still a bit too early.

The best I could do was to close my eyes, and listen to the whispers on the wind, where I could all but hear them goading each other on to make the move ... "you go first" ... "no, *you* go" ... "does it hurt" ... "somebody's got to be the first one".  So close ... and yet so far.

Chlorophyll breaking down in front of *my* eyes, you are missed.

SCIENCE, YO:
http://dnr.wi.gov/eek/veg/trees/treestruecolor.htm

LOOKS LIKE I'M TWO WEEKS TOO EARLY:
https://www.yahoo.com/travel/the-best-places-for-fall-leaf-peeping-in-the-u-s-97097716647.html

A CONTRARIAN VIEW TO THE "FLORIDA HAS NO SEASONS" CAMP:
https://chronicallysickmanicmother.wordpress.com/2015/04/08/stop-saying-florida-has-no-seasonsinstead-open-your-eyes/

Random Scandal Sheet for Sunday 9/27/15

What New Zealand (and not me) is talking about this week:

Daylight Savings Time.

To be clear, my vacation within a vacation did not take me to New Zealand ... I'm in Nashlanta (Nashville or Atlanta, depending on the day and time).

However, because I didn't read the fine fine print on the calendar hanging up on the refrigerator at home, I *almost* was going to brag on the Facebook today that I got not one, but TWO hours free on this first day of vacation within a vacation (the guaranteed free hour is because being in Nashville has me back in the central time zone).

Just before I composed my post, I did a quick fact check and realized that the US still has many weeks to go before *we* fall back (November 1 this year) ... and concluded that the calendar on the refrigerator is much more worldly than I.

Oops (almost) ... and enjoy your extra daylight you hobbits and kiwis!

SPEAKING OF THE FACT CHECK, 'KIWI' IS *NOT* A SLUR (HOBBIT MAY BE):
http://www.rsdb.org/race/new_zealanders

SPEAKING OF TIME THERE:
http://www.timeanddate.com/time/zone/new-zealand/auckland

SPEAKING OF TIME HERE:
http://www.webexhibits.org/daylightsaving/e.html

Random Soapbox for Saturday 9/26/15

I don't mean to go off on a rant here, but ...

... I'm pretty sure that I was Bat-shamed at the local Barnes and Noble today.

Admittedly, I was actually unaware that today was the second annual Batman Day (after last year's successful 75th anniversary celebration) *until* I got the email from Barnes and Noble informing of such and suggesting that I stop in to participate in some raffles (and buy some merchandise).

Which is precisely what I tried to do, around 10am this morning.  After walking around the two levels in search of all things Bat (and despite my experience, I am still tickled to live in a town that still has a two story bookstore in it), I finally located a lonely table near the checkout line with two bat wallets, four identical Batman figurine boxes and four identical Batwoman figurine boxes (hip hip hooray for Bat-equality).

Feeling as sad as that display looked, I found my way to the information desk, where I was politely informed that "story time" was at 2pm and that I was way too early.  Looking puzzled, I mumbled something about raffles, and was assured that they'd be giving away a few things while they were reading to the kiddies that they expected to show up for the event.  I saw the judgment in her eyes that I was a middle-aged man inquiring about the Batman, and so I sputtered something about growing up on the old television show version of the superhero, but she was not interested in engaging in a dialogue about my interests.

And so I left, (because Adam West would never have approved of me saying "Batman is for all ages, bitch") ... and returned home to my personal Batcave surrounded by my personal Batthings... and vowed to have a better Batman Day come next year (likely far far away from the Barnes and the Noble).

THE BAT-SHAMING STRUGGLE IS REAL:
http://www.dorkly.com/post/63205/end-bat-shaming

THE SECOND ANNUAL BATMAN DAY:
http://www.ign.com/articles/2015/09/26/its-batman-day

ONE COULD POSIT THAT BATMAN ISN'T MUCH FOR KIDS AT ALL:
http://www.legionsofgotham.org/KIDSparentsguide.html

Random Posting for Penn State 9/26/15

Here are 9 Nittany Nuggets from today's game:

1.)  Maybe I'm a bit old fashioned, but I don't think I've ever seen so much long hair spilling out of football helmets.  I mean I get it ... San Diego is in CA, but really, was today's the game the Hippie Bowl?
2.)  Although, today's senior of the week, Matt ZANELLATO, was working the long hair look on our side as well.
3.)  More of this please ... this being the special belly flop touchdown stylings of Mark ALLEN.
4.)  Say it ain't so SAQUON.  Thoughts to you for a speedy recovery.
5.)  Ditto to LYNCH.
6.)  Dear announcermen:  feel free to retire the phrase "let's take one more look at the muff"!
7.)  Dear announcermen:  alternatively, feel free to continue to say more often about how the boys get "hit in the breadbasket".  Truth be told, I had to look it up because, at first, I thought maybe the breadbasket was the same basket where the berries and twigs are kept ... but it's not.
8.)  Our getting-sacked-per-game-average is still going down (although let's face it, it had nowhere to go *but* down) ... and it now stands at 3 even.  Congrats on slowly putting the memory of that first game to rest.
9.)  JO-EY! ... congrats now that your season long FG is 40 yards!

In closing, thanks to the ZETTEL family, for participating today despite the loss of the family patriarch this week ... and here's to next week's game when the boys play Army (with or without Buster Bluth).

SAY IT AIN'T SO SAQUON:
http://www.pennlive.com/pennstatefootball/index.ssf/2015/09/penn_state_standout_rb_saquon.html

AN ENLARGED AND MUSCULAR SAC-LIKE ORGAN OF THE ALIMENTARY CANAL:
http://www.memidex.com/breadbasket+general-anatomy

WITH AN EYE TOWARD NEXT WEEK, ENJOY THESE 90 SECONDS:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0sO1Dbw24FQ

Random Flashback for Friday 9/25/15

The answer to last week's comment about the location of the featured beach shot?  If the Billy Joel clue didn't give it away, then know now that it was indeed the shore of Long Island.

Turns out I made a trip up there twenty years ago to see the kid in this photo -- there with the bed-head between the giant Darth Vader and the Nirvana poster (I did mention this was twenty years ago, right?), my little brother, both figuratively and literally (Alpha Psi Omega, yo) from my return to LVC after my theatre internship in Uniontown way back in the day.

Note ... in my 1995 photo album (the actual version, not the e-edition on the Facebook), these pictures are placed as if they happened in the summer, but I recently found documented in the archives that the trip was in January (the archive picture was actually my post earlier this month on 9.4.15) .  And, upon reflection, I can now vaguely remember the piles of snow in the Blockbuster parking lot where I met him after his work.  (Again ... mid-nineties, remember?)

Regardless, recollecting this visit is all the more on point to post now, because Gully and I have plans to reconnect after two decades when I find myself in his new hometown in the ATL this weekend.  We'll undoubtedly re-live old times at LVC and, if he asks nicely, we may or may not recreate the scene where I ?accidentally? threw him through the door of the quiet room in the chapel during one of our audience participation murder mysteries of that era.

No matter what the discussion (over a burger as part of my ongoing burger quest ... because I can multitask like a champ), seeing him again will be the perfect way to kick off a #Nashlanta2015 vacation full of seeing a bunch of people who are family to me.

Random Thought for Thursday 9/24/15

Let's talk numbers.

[And despite how it sounds, know that this isn't a full-on rant and so it does belong *here* instead of on a Soapbox Saturday ... and, besides, I'm saving this particular Saturday for a comment or two about all this "pope and circumstance" going on ...]

So anyways ... let's talk numbers.

For instance, this screenshot from a program last night was accompanied by talking heads discussing the SURGE of those underneath the one unchanged at the top.

[In full disclosure, the one unchanged at the top considers this particular talking head a bimbo, but that's not germane to tonight's main point.]

Turns out that, if one checks the fine print, there's a MARGIN OF ERROR of 4.5 percentage points, which, means that the numbers in play can swing UP or DOWN 4.5 points .. which means that it is also possible that NO ONE.  MOVED.  ONE.  SINGLE.  BIT.

Surge.  Sheesh.  Give me a break.  Let's play nice with numbers, folks, and stop talking just because you have to fill time on the damn 24 hour news cycle.

LET'S TALK NUMBERS:
http://www.robertniles.com/stats/margin.shtml

LIKE A DOG WITH A BONE, THIS GUY IS:
http://www.businessinsider.com/donald-trump-megyn-kelly-fox-news-tweets-2015-9

HOW TO COPE WITH THE DAMN 24 HOUR NEWS CYCLE:
http://aplus.com/a/sanity-24-hour-news-cycle

Random Wordplay for Wednesday 9/23/15

#Nashlanta2015

Used in a sentence:  "It's almost here ... time for me to fill up social media with some #Nashlanta2015 Troytags representing my upcoming trip driving from Atlanta to Nashville and back."

Actually, first I have to get to Atlanta (that's just a quick hop, skip and a flight from southern Florida), and then the trip will begin in earnest.  Currently included in the itinerary ... sticking my nose in all four Kaplan locations in the Atlanta area (GA Tech and Emory included), hitting up my 11th stop of the ongoing Burger Quest (not updated since I was in NY this past February) and adding to my Hard Rock collection in Nashville.

Along the way, I'll also be looking for any signs of the Amish (they have them in Tennessee, right?) to get me a pumpkin whoopie pie AND I've also been instructed to stop at a certain exit for the best grits (which I assume can be fried in bacon grease).

Of course, those are just the side trips, because the main situation is all about the people ... namely those in the wedding of my little brother(-by-choice), the youngest Whitman boy, AND seeing my little brother(-by-college-era-greek-fraternity), Gully, now in Atlanta.  And maybe? Maybe? Might my nephew Ryan B be available in his new home of Nashville?

As with all my trips, it's already jam-packed ... and I can barely contain my excitement to get started!  #Nashlanta2015 ... here I come!

THINGS TO CONSIDER ON THE DRIVE:
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g55229-i154-k2839570-Driving_from_Atlanta_to_Nashville-Nashville_Tennessee.html

OH YEAH ... BURGER QUEST #11:
https://thevortexatl.com/locations/midtown/

THE BURGER QUEST IN CONTEXT:
http://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/2013/02/18/get-your-buns-to-zagats-top-25-burger-joints/1928829/

Random Tune for Tuesday 9/22/15

I'll return to the discarded cassettes series *next* week ... and tonight, I'll offer up this slightly more cryptic post instead.

98-99, 99-00, 00-01, 01-02, 02-03
03-04, 04-05, 05-06, 06-07, 07-08
08-09, 09-10, 10-11, 11-12, 12-13
13-14 and 14-15

That makes 17 years.  Whew!

Of course, the big social media celebration on my side isn't until year 20 in 2018 (Zuckerberg willing).

So ... until then ... there's always this (c):

WHO DOESN'T LIKE A LITTLE REBA:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2oSfSViO1nw

Random Memorial for Monday 9/21/15

Gone but not forgotten: the "other" Ray Charles!

I'll tell you one thing ... watching the awards show "In Memorium" sections is now something I approach with apprehension ... if only because, as I get older, it seems like I "know" those featured more and more.

Although there was one that caught my eye last night at the Emmys ... the reference to the "other" Ray Charles, who passed within the last year (in mid April, apparently).

I was somewhat intrigued that someone was known as the "other" Ray Charles, as opposed to the usual Hollywood custom of adding a middle initial, or extending a name, or changing it completely to remain uniquely identifiable.

And so I went to the old google today to learn about *this* Ray Charles, months after he died, and I was surprised at what I found.  So, musician who, along with Julie Rinker, sang the theme song to Three's Company (which I also *just* learned included the line "down at our rendezvous", as opposed to whatever mangled made up French phrasing I've been singing all these years instead), now that I know you existed in the first place, you will be missed!

THE OTHER RAY CHARLES:
http://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-ray-charles-20150410-story.html

WHO KNEW?  THIS GUY WAS SINGING IT!:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-TjDgcqa_H0

EVERY YEAR SOMEBODY'S GONNA GET MISSED:
http://www.eonline.com/news/698020/oops-the-emmys-2015-in-memoriam-segment-omitted-several-key-people

Random Scandal Sheet for Sunday 9/20/15

What southern Florida is talking about this week:

How another branch of the Breast Milk Depot has opened up nearby.  (Note that the image is from elsewhere ... the local branch is the first link below/to follow on the FB.)

Admittedly, of all the depots I knew existed (which, just as admittedly, was mostly the Home one), this was a depot I *didn't* know about ... until seeing the announcement in last week's local paper.

I took a closer look, and sure enough, this is a serious thing ... all the more serious because the Breast Milk Depot is all about giving support to babies born prematurely.  And, as it were, the extended Neidermyer family (one of my oldest blood-related nephews) just recently had preemie twins, and so I felt a little more drawn to the news (by several layers removed of course).

So ... seeing as how I can't contribute ... I thought I'd just help spread the word for those of you out there with some spare breast milk you'd like to donate to a (deserving) mouth!

THE NEW LOCAL BRANCH:
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/health/sfl-boca-raton-regional-hospital-opens-breast-milk-depot-20150909-premiumvideo.html

THE NEED, EXPLAINED:
http://www.breastmilkcounts.com/good-for-preemies.php

SPEAKING OF THE HOME DEPOT:
http://www.supercompressor.com/home/the-weirdest-stuff-you-can-buy-at-home-depot

Random Posting for Penn State 9/19/15

Here are 9 Nittany Nuggets from today's game:

1.)  So if I know my math, this means the average sacks per game is now 3.333 and getting lower each week!
2.)  It might be that I'm getting older (no, really?), or just that I'm still adjusting to what WAS life in the central time zone and IS now life in the eastern time zone ... but these night games just seem awfully late for college football.
3.)  Hey announcermen ... feel free to retire this commentary gem, since you're not doing plumbing play by play:  "he saw a crack in the backside ..."
4.)  Hey announcermen ... we can see through your multiple attempts to be wordsmiths when discussing JOEY's heft ... don't you know it's more polite to love folks as they are, curves and all?
5.)  Hey fill in Rutger's coach ... feel free to also retire this creepy statement:  "my babies are ready ... they don't need daddy".
6.)  Speaking of which, hey Coach Flood, did you not see the Golden Girls episode where the coach harasses Dorothy about the grade she gives the star player ... it doesn't work out well ... just sayin'.
7.)  I wonder if Jerry Sandusky's prison uniform inspired the stripe-out?  [What?  Too soon?  Or is it because prisoners don't wear stripes so much any more?]
8.)  I do believe it's to be the year of the SAQUON (SAY-SAY?)!
9.)  Please find and hire two more staff members to help QB coach Ricky Ronnie (spelled Rahne) ... named Bobby Mike and Johnny Ralph.  [Note ... you either get this or you don't.]

In closing, thanks to honoree Ben Kline -- not just for your lip-syncing skills on display tonight singing "Have You Ever Seen the Rain", but more for your work with Uplifting Athletes ... and here's to next week's late afternoon game vs San Diego State, when hopefully it won't rain for the THIRD week in a row!

OH COACH FLOOD ... WHAT YOU KNOW ABOUT GRAMMAR?:
http://www.nj.com/rutgersfootball/index.ssf/2015/09/kyle_flood_suspended_as_rutgers_coach.html

COULD IT BE THE YEAR OF THE SAQUON?:
http://www.pennlive.com/pennstatefootball/index.ssf/2015/09/penn_state-rutgers_halftime_an.html

CONGRATS TO BEN KLINE FOR ALL OF HIS GOOD DEEDS!:
http://www.upliftingathletes.org/ua-news/penn-state-chapter-president-ben-kline-named-2015

Random Soapbox for Saturday 9/19/15

I don't mean to go off on a rant here, but ...

... we HAVE to find the strippers.

Which strippers?

The 4700 women who are supposed to split the six million dollar settlement for being treated like independent contractors when they were *clearly* employees of Scarlett's (in nearby Hallandale OR up in Ybor City [near Tampa, because it's the stripper capital {heck, even Mike did his magic there}]) OR Toledo (Scartlett's was apparently an EMPIRE, yo!).

The problem?  According to the news, the claim forms were mailed out June 23 ... but the trick (pardon the turn of phrase) is that the performers only have until October 19 to claim at this link:  scarlettscabaretlawsuit.com.

Which gets me to my soapbox.  I see things go viral all the time on the social media ... lost pets ... missing children ... kids with cancer ... challenges with ice buckets ... etc etc.  Why not this?  Why not use the power of the social media to locate these performers and get them their bonus cash.

Please consider sharing ... for the strippers ...

MILLIONS AND MILLIONS OF DOLLARS AVAILABLE:
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/broward/article26200477.html

STRIPPERS, KNOW YOUR RIGHTS:
http://licensetopimp.com/stripper-labor-rights-101/

HOW I GET MY NEWS (IN CASE YOU WERE WONDERING):
http://digitalissue.browardpalmbeach.com/article/The+Pulp/2270060/272847/article.html

Random Flashback for Friday 9/18/15

Growing up in central PA as we did, we weren't a "go to the shore on vacation" kind of family.  And with my delayed social development, I missed out on a "traditional" spring break experience or two.  (Missed out or dodged a bullet -- I'll let you decide.)

All of that may be why the beach was still such a novelty to me back in 1995.  This picture wasn't the *first* time I had seen the Atlantic (to date, that's the only ocean with which I am acquainted), and it certainly wasn't the *last*, (what with how I now live within a handful of miles of the shoreline down here in southern Florida), but it was the *first* (and only) time I was seeing it from this particular vantage point ...

The exact location will have to wait for an explanation accompanying next week's photo, but suffice it to say that I was viewing these waves crashing on this beach the same way that Billy Joel does.  And, whether today or twenty years ago, I'm still drawn to the almost oxymoronic blend of power and peace that the vastness of the ocean offers ... a hint that there's more out there even though it can't be seen ... and a reminder that faith in the unknown or unexplainable is a key part of getting through this life on this planet ... plus ... you know ... SAND!

Random Thought for Thursday 9/17/15

As I wind down into the last day of work before a two week vacation (including a trip to Nashlanta [more about that next week]), it strikes me that we should be happy for the jobs we have (especially ones that allow you to take a two week vacation).

After all, somebody always has it worse than you do.  (And I'm not just talking about jobs that *don't* offer two week vacations.)

Take, for instance, those who served Pharaoh Pepi II, a pharaoh who wasn't a fan of  flies ... so much so that he had slaves put next to him smothered in honey so that he would be fly-free.

*That* could be your job.  Just sayin'!

YOU CATCH MORE FLIES WITH SLAVES SMOTHERED IN HONEY:
http://www.creatinghistory.com/pharoah-pepi-ii-flies-and-honey/

TONIGHT'S FACT IS JUST *ONE* OF TEN UNBELIEVABLE FACTS:
http://scoopempire.com/10-unbelievable-facts-ancient-egyptians/#.VftQXt9Viko

SOMEONE ALWAYS HAS IT WORSE THAN YOU DO, THE BUZZFEED EDITION:
http://www.buzzfeed.com/daves4/havin-a-rough-time#.brrgqPwXXy

Random Wordplay for Wednesday 9/16/15

Dive-in Movies.

Used in a sentence:  "Before moving here to sunny southern Florida, I had no idea that it was super trendy to host Dive-in Movies."

[See what they did there?  They got the rid of the R!  So clever ...]

There are likely a few reasons why I missed out on this trend.  First, I'm not the trendiest of folks.  Second, despite having reached what I hope is mid-life, I still don't know how to swim*.  Third, movie nights for me are about lights out, volume up and voices shushed ... which is why I'd rather watch at home than in a public setting.  Fourth, there's something to be said about avoiding places that have become shooting galleries for the mentally imbalanced.

[*Just because I don't know how to swim (I panic when I can't touch bottom), doesn't mean I don't like the water (triple-negative alert!).  Give me a floatie or two, and I'll stay in the water for hours on end ...]

Before researching for this post, I thought this idea was so cutting edge ... and then I found out that it's all over the country as a concept ... but it was still new and novel to me ... even if I doubt that I'll ever participate.  Although, as the great philosopher of our time, The Biebs, says ... "never say never".

THE SOURCE OF THE ACCOMPANYING IMAGE:
http://fortlauderdaleonthecheap.com/free-dive-in-movies-at-pool-in-pompano-beach/

STILL GOING ON DOWN IN MIAMI:
http://miamionthecheap.com/movies-grapeland-water-park/

TURNS OUT THIS IS ON TREND EVERYWHERE:
http://reinventingevents.com/2014/07/host-dive-in-movie-night/

Random Tune for Tuesday 9/15/15

Guess who was in town the other night?

Lita!

And I was like, "Hey ... I know her!"

Some points to clarify ... by "in town", I mean on tour down here in southern Florida with Slaughter and Kix and LA Guns.  Also, by "Lita", I do mean Lita Ford of the Runaways.  And finally, by "I know her", I mean that I was a child of the late eighties, and so I know, that to her, "it ain't no big thing" when she's out partying, after borrowing ten bucks from her old man, only to end up getting in a fight instead of getting laid.

Now I know I normally only put one link on my Tune Tuesdays, but I found both the ORIGINAL video AND a LIVE version from a PAST visit to Ft. Lauderdale on the youtubes, and so it seemed like I should put them both ... 'cause, you know ... it ain't no big thing!

KISS ME ONCE ... KISS ME TWICE ... CLASSIC VERSION:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3wZxEPMevo

KISS ME ONCE ... KISS ME TWICE ... LIVE IN CONCERT VERSION:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adnSuna_p1Q

Random Memorial for Monday 9/14/15

Gone but not forgotten:  the task of utter peacefulness that was ... reshelving library books.

Disclaimer:  for all I know, libraries no longer have books, so this might be an anachronistic post (if you don't know that word, ask a librarian).

You know what I miss?  My days working at the LVC library and taking two carts full of books that needed to put back in the stacks in the proper order so that the world of the biblioteka didn't collapse in on itself.  It was so peaceful to engage my brain this way deep within the dewey decimals and to accomplish a task until the carts were empty.

The closest I've come in my adult life is alphabetizing hundreds and hundreds of scantron grids and test results spread out over a whole classroom in my job when it was back in Chicago and we had administered a free test at a local gigantic high school.

Upon reflection, I'm guessing that what I *really* enjoyed was the ability to uni-task in a world where multi-tasking is the new normal ... to focus on just one thing at one time to completion.  So task that I enjoyed because it silenced the voice in my head (look -- if I only hear one and it sounds like me, then it's not mental illness yet, even if it is constantly yammering) .. you are missed.

RE-SHELVING IS FUN FOR ALL AGES:
https://subversivereader.wordpress.com/2013/04/04/library-activities-for-all-ages-shelving-books/

ONE VOICE ... MY OWN ... IS OKAY:
http://www.pathwaytohappiness.com/writings_voice_in_head.htm

SCREW YOU MULTI-TASKING:
http://blog.sandglaz.com/power-of-single-task-focus/

Random Scandal Sheet for Sunday 9/13/15

What southern Florida is talking about this week:

Lime burns.

Growing up as I did in PA, followed by a dozen years in Chitown, I was never made aware of the risks people take by exposing themselves to lime juice and the sun.

But moving here has made me knowledgeable that the sweet citrus juice and the powerful rays of the sun are a dangerous mix.  I mean, I guess if I had thought enough about it, I am familiar with the concept of ceviche ... I just never took it to the next level and considered how humans can also "bake themselves" if they end up doused in the acidic liquid.

Duly noted.  To all of you about to go into your winter months with a thought or two of coming down here to vacation, you best be damn careful when you make your margaritas!

STAY SAFE OUT THERE:
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/limes-sunlight-leave-florida-man-burns-mixing-margaritas/story?id=31505292

LIMES.  NOT JUST FOR LATINOS ANY MORE:
http://wlrn.org/post/why-lime-flavor-suddenly-everywhere

SPEAKING OF ODD FLAVORS:
http://justsomething.co/21-of-the-weirdest-food-flavors/

Random Soapbox for Saturday 9/12/15

I don't mean to go off on a rave here, but ...

... it is grandparents' day tomorrow, so that seems like a good enough reason to rave for a little bit.

[As you may recall, I normally RANT on Saturdays, but my doctor says it's good to balance that once a month with a RAVE instead.]

Sadly, though, I'm without any more grandfolk in my life ... both sets of maternal and paternal grandparents have passed ... as has my "surrogate" grandmother Joann (seen with me on one of her many trips from Uniontown PA to Dutch Country back in the day).  Of course, I can still rave about all of them ... starting with Joann, with whom I was the closest (seeing as how she lived the longest).  I met her through my creepy cousin's creepy theatre company, and she had just lost her only daughter a few years earlier.  She was convinced that Sally, said daughter, had sent me to her so that she'd have someone for which to care, and care she did.  Over and over again, through my eighteen months in her town, and during college, and law school, and the big move to Chicago.  I would visit as often as I could, and we spent many holidays with sparkling grape juice and her ambrosia salad and many phone calls reviewing Days of our Lives and the youngsters on American Idol.  She catered and doted and loved ... and was a constant in my young adult life.

Before Joann, there were my paternal grandparents, Paul and Esther (or, as I called them, Grandpa and Grandma), seen here below in color and black and white (the latter from 1966, according to a time stamp on the photo).  They were around very much in my youth, as we visited them and they visited us quite often.  Her broasted chicken was legendary ... and the story goes that she had no qualms chopping off the heads of the fowl in the back yard (chicken runs deep in my paternal family).  He passed first, after a long drawn out stint in the local VA center in town, and my most distinct memory of his was walking with him on a holiday up to the 7-11 a few blocks away, where I was shocked because he started eating the ice cream before he paid for it (funny the things we remember).  More than anything, though, I recall playing outside at their trailer while the older folks visited, with tag/hide and seek with my younger cousins amongst the trees that lined their driveway ... and the toys they had inside for us kids (so long as you could make it past the territorial angry lap dog miniature poodle).

The other picture (these are clearly taking the place of my customary companion links tonight) is of my maternal grandparents, William and Alice (or, as I called them, Pop-pop and Nanny), seen here below in color later in life and in black in white (allegedly on their wedding day, so in 1938).  In my family's divorce, I ended up farther away from my mother's family, and so I have fewer memories of them ... but I can picture Pop-pop's last small place in Reading (and I recall that he was a shorter man with gnarled hands who may or may not have smelled of cigar smoke) .. and Nanny's trailer and then one room rental right outside of Bethel.  My specific Nanny memory ... sitting on her bed? couch? fold out couch? watching the Donny and Marie show.

So there you go ... whether blood relatives or chosen family ... these are the grandest of grandfolk who were in my life ... and so I celebrate them ...

Random Posting for Penn State 9/12/15

Here are 9 Nittany Nuggets from today's game:

1.)  So after last week's 10 sacks, I was happy that, on our side, we went sack-free today.
2.)  So after last week's 10 sacks, I was half expecting the *final* number of false start penalties to *also* hit double digits.
3.)  Or, in the words of the announcerperson, it was quite a "flag fest" today, wasn't it?
4.)  I'm also considering stealing the words of the announcerperson for another reason, in that I might just start referring to JOEY as "the big number 99".
5.)  It's so early in the season, I'm still trying to figure out which player to geek out over ... and speedy Brandon POLK is in the running (get it?).
6.)  ... and so is two sport (the other being hurdles) Saquon BARKLEY.
7.) ... and so is all star Carl NASSIB, especially after today's game.
8.) ... and so is Troy REEDER, if only because I like to hear my own name called out on the TV.
9.)  So we'll see how the season progresses (having a win helps with that, of course) ... and who ends up being worthy of my praise (which, let's face it, is a low bar, I realize).

In closing, thanks to all the half-naked kids who proved that body paint + downpour = general messiness ... and here's to next week's first night game of the season with Rutgers (a stripe-out, I hear).

GO CARL GO:
http://www.pennlive.com/pennstatefootball/index.ssf/2015/09/penn_states_carl_nassib_impres.html

GO SAQUON GO:
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2565562-penn-state-rb-saquon-barkley-shows-off-hops-hurdles-defender-with-ease

GO STRIPES GO:
http://www.blackshoediaries.com/2015/8/31/9236833/beaver-stadium-will-be-striped-out-for-penn-states-game-against-rutgers-big-ten-nittany-lions

Random Flashback for Friday 9/11/15

It's customary for my Friday flashbacks to look back twenty years ... which would mean today's post would normally be about what I was doing on or around September 11, 1995.

According to the interwebs, that day twenty years ago was a Monday ... and according to my archives, I was a fresh faced new kid in law school ... so that Monday from two decades ago was probably a relatively boring one filled with me reading and reading and reading (and underlining, because I didn't like to highlight) and then reading some more, hoping that I might comprehended enough to do okay in class that night (as I was in night school).

However, the point of today is that I really don't remember what I was doing on 9.11.95 ... unlike the memories seared into my mind from 9.11 six years later (fourteen years ago, for those of you bad at math).

The short version of *that* story ... newly graduated from that same law school (yes, it took me six years), standing outside a hotel in downtown Chicago, watching Grand Avenue choked with non-stop traffic as the loop evacuated for fear that they were next ... barely in town in order to start the Chicago chapter of life, hoping to find an apartment and a job (and actually just lucky to land an apartment [finding a job took six more weeks]) ... and then heading inside to watch hour upon hour of television (quite possibly the one and only time I was *grateful* for the 24 hour news cycle), trying to make sense of the new world order unfolding for all of us.

I have no photos of mine of 9.11.95 nor of 9.11.01 to share tonight ... but I do have this one previously posted (and relatively recently taken) from a late afternoon of retrospection at the flight 93 memorial in PA.  To me, it seems appropo for any 9.11 ... of any year ...

Random Thought for Thursday 9/10/15

Wait one moment.

As the country continues on its long strange trip toward a new president in 2016 ... and as both parties come to grips with the viability of presenting an option for the "first" female president (assuming, of course, that the Republicans decide that Carly's face is electable after all [P.S. ... Republican Apprentice is my new favorite entertainment program] ... and that the Democrats decide that e-baggage can be overcome) ... let's be clear that we've already HAD our first female president.

Meet Edith Galt Wilson, the second wife of Woodrow -- he who was officially the 28th president, a title he kept even during the time frame in which he was incapacitated, which is also the time when she took over many functions of the office ... for almost a year and a half!  In her words, she was just delivering a "stewardship" during those many months at a key point in history, but the reality of the role speaks to her having done so much more.

Lest it eventually become Carly vs Hillary, I just wanted to make sure we're giving credit where credit is due once the bloviators start their bloviating ...

ON EDITH:
http://www.examiner.com/article/edith-wilson-the-first-woman-president

ON CARLY'S FACE:
http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/carly-fiorina-responds-after-donald-trump-insults-her-looks-n424801

ON OTHER FEMALE LEADERS OUTSIDE THE US:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/17/first-female-presidents_n_7052066.html

Random Wordplay for Wednesday 9/9/15

Moon Man.

Used in a sentence:  "They say that to get a nickname is a sure sign that you are loved ... so I guess I'll embrace the local plus-sized hooker calling me Moon Man from now on."

First, I'm not body shaming nor am I mocking sex workers.  I subscribe to the "love the body you have if it's what you want" and I don't deny anyone the right to make some spare change with some "strange".  (Ooh ... maybe that should have been my wordplay for Wednesday ...)

And the reality is that I created this situation, seeing as how I pass this woman every Tuesday on my lunch walk on the southwest route, as she perches on an upside down crate outside of a convenience store in the less than desirable part of town.  Last week, she was the first to reach out to me, commenting loudly as I passed that my "ass was really wet".  (I can't help it.  It's low nineties, and high humidity, and it's an hour long walk at the height of the midday.)

I also couldn't help the response that just happened, instinctively. Instead of engaging in dialogue, I reached back, hooked my thumbs in the waistband, and rolled my shorts down ever so quickly to show just how sweaty it was.

Hence ... as I discovered this week as I passed, I am, to her, Moon Man ... forevermore.

LOVE THE BODY YOU HAVE IF THAT'S WHAT YOU WANT:
http://breakingmuscle.com/sports-psychology/6-daily-practices-for-learning-to-love-your-body-and-your-self

LOVE THE JOB YOU HAVE IF THAT'S WHAT YOU WANT:
http://www.cnn.com/2015/08/11/world/amnesty-international-sex-work/

COME ON ... YOU KNOW YOU'RE CURIOUS:
http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2012/06/27/mooning_a_history_when_did_people_start_baring_their_butts_as_an_insult_.html

Random Tune for Tuesday 9/8/15

Tonight has the most authentically dirty trash can yet for this ongoing series known as "discarded cassettes" (cassettes that find themselves in said trash can because I already also have the exact same thing on the CD ... but not digitally, because ... you know ... I'm not some young kid).

Tonight also has yet another impossible choice for me to make ... to choose just one selection off of a greatest hits album for a duo that simply didn't put out non-great hits at any time.

It should be no surprise that I naturally gravitate toward the late 80's (a formative time in my personal development), and so, in the end, the tune from the Eurythmics featured tonight will be the one released in the summer of 1986 that went on to win a Grammy.

And the one that included a super swell harmonica AND this classic lyric:

Well I was born an original sinner.
I was borne from original sin.
And if I had a dollar bill
For all the things I've done
There'd be a mountain of money
Piled up to my chin

I'VE GOT A MESSAGE FOR YOU THAT YOU BETTER BELIEVE...BELIEVE...BELIEVE:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-Q3cp3cp88

Random Memorial for Monday 9/7/15

Gone but not forgotten:  all the places I've labored in my life to date.

In the modified words of Julio and Willie, "to all the jobs I've had before ... I'm glad they came along ... I dedicate this post ... to all the jobs I've had before ..."

Or, in chronological list form (yes, I'm about to do this):  the Lebanon Community Magazine print shop, the Lancaster County pig farm, Owen Landis Auctions at Roots and Green Dragon, McDonald's (East Lebanon), Hallmark Food Service (at LVC), Mund College Center (also at LVC), the LVC Library (um .. also at LVC), Hills Store #31 (in Lebanon), Maranatha Productions, Hills Store #10 (in Uniontown), Fright Farm III (that one time that Halloween), Cherry Tree Cafe, The Game Players, Hills Store #31 (a second time), The Game Players II (without original partner Jacquelyn), Public School Employes' Retirement System (my LVC internship), Gretna Theater, Cable AdCom (did you know I did voiceover work?), Quality Inn (Lebanon), Royer's Flowers, Feather and Feather, People's Light Theatre, Hills Store #31 (a third and final time), Quality Inn (a second time), Rite-Aid, the PA Lt. Gov's Weed and Seed Program (my Widener externship), Lantern Lodge, Harrisburg Hilton, TCF Bank and Kaplan Test Prep (in Schaumburg, Lincoln Park and at GSS, which all predate my current role with that same company).

Tune in next year when I list all of my bosses ... until then, it is with fondness that I recall "all the jobs I've had before ... the people who traveled in and out of those doors ... I'm glad they came along ... I dedicate this post ... to all the jobs I've had before" aka ... you are missed.

THE SONG I MODIFIED IN ITS ORIGINAL FORMAT:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVq0ONrSH-Q

JOB HISTORY CHALLENGES ON A RESUME:
http://www.quora.com/Resumes-and-CVs/What-should-I-put-in-the-employment-history-section-if-I-have-no-employment-history-relevant-to-the-field-to-which-Im-applying

FOR YOUR WEEKEND PLANNING:
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/best-2015-labor-day-weekend-freebies-deals/story?id=33541062

Random Scandal Sheet for Sunday 9/6/15

What southern Florida is talking about this week:

The attack of the mockingbirds.

(Had I known then what I know now, I could have included this in my post yesterday of prayers to say in Florida before walking out the door.)

Turns out that they are known to be very aggressive to those that get a step too close to their nests (and, really, can you blame them?), but even more interesting, they apparently are able to recognize and remember the faces of those they consider a threat (who's a bird-brain now, huh?), treating them differently than others.

It ALSO turns out that they upset some seniors (because they nested near an old folks' home), who went so far as to petition the government to strike the mockingbird from being this state's bird (turns it is also the state bird for five other states, who have yet to go on record it seems about the controversy).

So stay alert out there ... in a world gone mad ... beware the mighty mockingbird the most.

ATTACK OF THE MOCKINGBIRD:
http://www.browardpalmbeach.com/news/dive-bombing-mockingbirds-terrorize-south-florida-7160147

THEY WILL REMEMBER YOU!:
http://www.theguardian.com/science/2009/may/18/mockingbirds-human-recognition

FOR BALANCE, SOMETHING POSITIVE RELATED TO THE MOCKINGBIRD:
http://time.com/3931171/to-kill-a-mockingbird-go-set-a-watchman/

Random Soapbox for Saturday 9/5/15

I don't mean to go off on a rant here, but ...

... I will ... AND I will use today's post as my 11th (!) edition of my "Super-short sTROYies", called PRAYERS IN FLORIDA:

... here are the prayers we say here in Florida any time we leave the house ...

Dear flakka freaks:  Seeing as how it is customary for you to strip down to nothing as your body bakes from the inside, please only be a pretty person on the gravel.

Dear exit ramp panhandlers:  Please be the normal kind of beggars ... just average ordinary folk down on their collective lucks ... and not the kind that do like that one did down in Miami practicing some authentic zombie like flesh-eating behaviors.

Dear neighborhood watch people:  Please don't get all George Zimmerman on me as I walk through the 'hood.  I've spent enough time in the sun that my skin is darker now and I do tend to walk through topless with my tattoos on display (it's too hot for hoodies in this 'hood).

Dear hurricanes:  Keep me and mine most certainly out of your cones of uncertainty.

Dear killer gators and giant pythons:  Stay to the west in the Glades where you belong and never belonged (respectively).

Dear crazies of every flavor:  Please let today be the day you decided to MAINTAIN your medication regiment.

Dear avocado, mango and palm trees:  At least until I've successfully navigated underneath past each of you, please hold on to your fruit and coconuts and branches.

Dear daily afternoon storm:  Please direct your lightning strikes somewhere other than my position.

Dear I-95 drivers:  I want to live despite needing to traverse your trails on occasion.  So old folks with diminished reflexes and young folks with enhanced impulses, and international visitors whose cars must not have turn signals in your country of origin (the deadliest of driving cocktails), stay alert and out of my way.

In Rick Scott's name we pray ... AMEN.

SAVE ME FROM THE FLESH-EATING PANHANDLERS:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/29/rudy-eugene-identified-as-naked-cannibal-face-attack-miami_n_1552249.html

SAVE ME FROM THE GIANT SNAKES:
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/06/us/the-burmese-python-snake-thats-eating-florida.html?_r=0

SAVE ME FROM THE DEATHTRAP KNOWN AS I-95:
http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2010-06-07/news/fl-i-95-deadly-highway-20100607_1_i-95-lanes-broward-stretch

Random Posting for Penn State 9/5/15

Here are 9 Nittany Nuggets from today's game:

1.)  To tell the truth, I was considering doing 128 nuggets, in honor of the start of the 128th season, but even I have my limits.
2.)  Or I could have done 44, for the 44th meeting between these two teams ...
3.)  Or 32, for the number of consecutive wins against the Owls by Penn State ... EXCEPT that streak was stopped at 31 (wah-waaah).
4.)  Or I could have done just 3, for the number of years we've had Hackenberg at the helm.
5.)  Or, for that matter, 2 for the number of years we've had Franklin in charge.
6.)  But instead I'll do my usual 9 ... because that's my "shtick" and I'm "shticking" to it (insert groan here).
7.)  Speaking of groans, TEN SACKS?  I thought we had put the sceptre of "Sack"enberg behind us.
8.)  What is with the announcermen's fascination with the phrase, "hit 'em in the mouth"?  I counted *at least* three times that they said that was a side's strategy.  By the way, what I heard them say just once -- the name Paterno.  Just sayin'.
9.)  As any regular reader knows, I'm somewhat at a loss not being able to give any atta boy's to Ficken now that he's graduated ... so I'm warming up a "Good Job Joey" cheer for our 5'10", 259 lb kicker for this year ... for when we win, that is.

In closing, thanks to Jimmy Brodsky.  I know you're Temple's "ball boy", but as someone who grew up close enough to Philly, I did have to smile when you got your camera time, because you reminded me a little of Ben Franklin.  Now to learn from this game and to move on to something much much better next week ...

OH WELL ... ALL STREAKS MUST END:
http://www.sbnation.com/2015/9/5/9267111/temple-penn-state-losing-streak-win-christian-hackenberg

OH NO ... MORE SACKENBERG DRAMA:
https://twitter.com/search?q=hackenberg+sacks&ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Esearch

OH MY ... JOEY'S A BIG BOY ... JUST SAYIN':
http://www.sbnation.com/2015/9/5/9266561/penn-state-kicker-joey-julius-big-toe

Random Flashback for Friday 9/4/15

WANT MORE ... NEED MORE!

It seems wrong to close out the summer of 2015, which I've spent on Fridays flashing back to the summer of 1995 (because, well ... that's my shtick and I'm shticking to it [I'll pause while you groan]), without at least once referencing this trip, noted in my archives to have taken place in July of that year.

The list is what I kept back then of each time I crossed Pennsylvania state lines (proving that my love for travel has been a part of my personality for decades, and also hinting at the fact that I may have grown up in a small town of modest means).  So what was at exit 7A in the fine state of New Jersey?  Something I had actually visited *half* of once before on a school field trip when I was much younger ...

This was Six Flags Great America (it included the famed drive through safari section ... which was all we did during that aforementioned field trip), and for someone raised on Hersheypark and Knoebel's, it was the place to go amusement parking that was slightly more exotic.  My favorite memory of the trip is self-deprecating, and also speaks to personality traits of mine that have been present as undercurrents for many years.

Turns out that I *insisted* on wearing a long sleeve henley style green-shirt of long-john heft that day, despite it being the middle of July in a hot summer, because I was *certain* that we would be in the park getting ocean breezes and that it would be pretty darn cool on the rides.  My cohort of friends all tried to talk me out of it, but I.  Knew.  Best.  Fast forward to the middle of the afternoon, and picture a sun beating down directly for hours, and then picture a sweaty sweaty Troy who determined the only way to avoid a heat stroke was to ditch said shirt for the only replacement available ... a tank top in the park gift shop that included the park's advertising slogan of that era.  When I peeled off the shirt I was wearing, my skin had turned the same color green from the dye released by my buckets and buckets of sweat.

I found a way to suffer that consequence.  Much more difficult a burden to bear?  Having to go the rest of the day with my friends engaging in a call and response routine where one would shout half of the slogan I was now sporting ... WANT MORE ... and someone would reply with the answer ... NEED MORE!

Despite the ribbing ... it's actually one of my fondest recollections of the gang of us out and about (especially that year, which started with our group trip to DC, a story previously told on Fridays past).  Admittedly, that just might be because, to the best of my knowledge, no pictures of that day exist ... only the memories in our heads.

Random Thought for Thursday 9/3/15

I've said it before and I'll say it again ... we are living in apocalypse-adjacent times, of that I am certain.

As such, I want to provide what I consider to be useful information should you find yourself in the midst of a nuclear blast ... well, maybe more like in the *vicinity* of a nuclear blast, as if you are in the midst of a nuclear blast, you are already nothing but a shadow.

But if you are in the *vicinity* of a nuclear blast, a recent fear-mongering documentary I saw provided this advice:

FIRST, avert your eyes.  Think of it as an eclipse, and hear the voice of your elementary school science teacher saying "don't look directly into the sun"!

SECOND, open your mouth (momentarily ... see below), to save your ears.  Apparently the insta-pressure is enough to blow out the drums, and then you wouldn't be able to hear all the screams of the people around you.  On second thought ... maybe this is more an optional suggestion.

THIRD, close your mouth, for a good long time -- you know, to avoid breathing in the fallout ... for the next hundreds of millions of years or so.

After that, you're kind of on your own.  But, thanks to those tips, you'll be in a better place to explore a much worse place.

You're welcome.

MORE TIPS:
http://www.gizmag.com/survive-nuclear-bomb-shelter/31057/

AND MORE TIPS (WITH PICTURES):
http://www.wikihow.com/Survive-a-Nuclear-Attack

AND EVEN MORE TIPS (FOR GOOD MEASURE):
http://www.secretsofsurvival.com/survival/nuclear_attack.html

Random Wordplay for Wednesday 9/2/15

Kummerspeck.

Used in a sentence:  "Not every word in a foreign language can be easily translated to English ... for instance, take the German concept of Kummerspeck."

There is nothing like finding the connection between two things of which you are fond ... German (I'm a proud stubborn Prussian by partial ancestry who studied the language for years in high school and college, and capped all that off by a semester abroad in Cologne during the incorrectly named Wiedervereinigung [reunification])  and bacon (a stand-alone food group in my diet, worthy of daily servings in some form or fashion ...well  in *every* form or fashion).

As the image shows, Kummerspeck, translated to be *literally* "grief-bacon", is the word that explains "excess weight gained from emotional overeating" ... which, taken a step further, I guess means that too much Kummerspeck will give you a speck-muffin top.  Now you know.

OTHER WORDS WITHOUT ENGLISH COUNTERPARTS:
http://mentalfloss.com/article/28315/15-wonderful-words-no-english-equivalent

LOOKING BACK AT THE WIEDERVEREINIGUNG:
http://www.foothill.fhda.edu/divisions/unification/index.php

WIEDERVEREINIGUNG REPRISE FOR MODERN TIMES:
http://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/new-atlanticist/achieving-a-strategic-transatlantic-wiedervereinigung

Random Tune for Tuesday 9/1/15

If I were still in college ... and if Ms. Clarkson had been born back then ... (OK ... she *was* apparently born in the early 80's and I went to college [the first few times] in the early *90's* ... but she wasn't releasing albums in that timeframe) ... it may just be that *this* song would have been my go-to when I was looking to get myself all riled up instead of Don Henley's 'I Will Not Go Quietly'.

Of course, I'ma not about comparing artists or even choosing favorites from within one particular artist's collection ... I'ma just saying that there's something uplifting about a song that trumpets how "it's the low that makes the high so sweet" and that taunts the haters with the knowledge that "you can hate me, underestimate me ... do what you do cause what you do don't phase me ... just when you think I'm at the end, any second I'ma catch my second wind"!

[If you know the song, then you also know why I sprinkled three "I'ma"s throughout that last paragraph.  And come to think of it, "I will not go quietly" probably was just perfect to get fired up when I was younger, and tonight's selection suits a more mellowed aged me.]

YOU.  CAN'T.  FORGET ABOUT ME!:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7-EOUc1R4A