It's that time of year again

I assume they held the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade again, but I didn't tune in to any of it.  Early in the day, my wife went to her mom's to help prepare the festivities, and I got up sorta kinda early to see if I could finish up my leaf blowing and outdoor Christmas light connecting.  The front part of the house looks good now, and all the lights in front are in place except for a string of 50 LED lights destined for a bush near our door.  Just ran out of time, before it was time to go over to Thanksgiving dinner.

It was a small, simple gathering, six of us, but we all had our favorite Thanksgiving fare.  It was a quiet, restful afternoon and evening.

Not much else to say, but I did want to re-post a link to what I wrote on Thanksgiving 2008.  I'll even ask the question again...what characters would you like to see made into those big Macy's Thanksgiving helium balloons?

The Evening Rambler for November 10, 2010

I've been thinking about the last entry of the Music List Project. It bothered me for a while and I wasn't sure why; now I think I have the answer. The top 39 songs (including ties) I'd still say were my favorites for the year. The other songs on the list I like well enough when they come on the radio, but to describe them as "favorites" would be stretching the point. So I'll go back and edit that post a bit, and in the future, I'll try to keep the lists simpler.

How about a couple of fall photos?

The colors weren't as intense as last year, but it would have been hard to beat 2009. Anyway, here's our maple.


I didn't go on the pumpkin patch outing this year, so I'm seeing this picture for the first time.



My son, doing a great job carving...


...Pumpkin Bubs! You know, the Jack-'o-lantern version of this character, from the Strong Bad e-mail "Original", from the Homestar Runner site.

That's about all for now, other than a friendly reminder that tomorrow, November 11th, is Veteran's Day. By all means, if you see a veteran, thank him (or her) for his (her) service!

Who needs a clock radio, anyway?

That was new…I woke up from a late afternoon nap by dreaming about two songs that suddenly started up. They were songs I like, “What a Bringdown” by Cream, and the first bit of “I’m Bad, I’m Nationwide” by ZZ Top. It was like I had a built in clock radio alarm.

I could do without that. Sure hope it doesn’t become a habit.

Speaking of songs, a couple of weeks ago, I started a list of songs that I would just start thinking about during the day, for no apparent reason. So far:

Paul McCartney / Wings: Medicine Jar
Tom Petty: Learning To Fly
Mott the Hoople: All the Way From Memphis
Al Stewart: Broadway Hotel
Buffalo Springfield: Bluebird
Neil Young: Cinnamon Girl
Rory Gallagher: The King Of Zydeco
The Police: Spirits In the Material World
Talking Heads: Once In a Lifetime
Alvin Lee / Ten Years After: I’m Going Home

Many of these I’ve already listed on my “favorite songs” project…still in progress. Over 425 entries…help, I’ve created a monster…must…edit…list…

If there’s a pattern to the above list, I’m not sure what it is (other than the Buffalo Springfield / Neil Young connection, and that three of the songs – Learning To Fly, All the Way From Memphis, and Spirits In the Material World – were catchy enough that I thought of them more than once).

It does remind me of the time back in the eighties a college friend, who was a radio DJ in another city, asked me to keep track of songs I heard on K.C. radio stations for a week. He had written down what he thought I’d be hearing. Best as I recall, he had a song or two written down that I did hear, but not on the same days. No ESP there, anyway.

The other thing my list shows, yes, I’m of the “baby boom” generation, and I’ve listened to a whole bunch of classic rock. My wife and I were talking this evening, and I admitted that I don’t have the foggiest idea of what music is out there these days (well, that’s not entirely true…I have watched a bit of American Idol). But I’m – happily – mostly out of touch with the current trends.

If it weren’t for homestarrunner.com and Strong Bad’s email’s, I wouldn’t have any contact with today’s pop culture. Those guys will keep us informed.