Ramblings of an EdMan

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Dad’s Birthday Playlist

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Got my dad a 3rd iPad shuffle to fill with jazz at the nursing home.

The first two times I had the music in my computer, but not the stuff in my external hard drive.

This time it’s from my Blues and Jazz playlist which is 4 and 5 star Jazz and Blues songs.

Lots of vocal stuff.

Tons of Ella Fitzgerald (30 tracks), Billie Holiday (33 tracks). Lots of Duke Ellington (30 tracks), Muddy Waters (34 tracks).

Also good sprinklings of all sorts of good jazz and some blues that my dad and me love. Bo Diddley (7 tracks), Chet Baker (11 tracks), John Coltrane (6 tracks), Louie Armstrong (8 tracks), Miles Davis (8 tracks), Robert Lockwood Jr. (5 tracks), and Bill Evans (8 tracks).

233 tracks all stuff we both love. I love that my dad taught me a love for music. Ended being 71 blues tracks and 162 jazz tracks, good mix. And yes, I like lists and numbering things.

Some favorite albums (all highly recommended) on the playlist include: Kind of Blue – Miles Davis, The Aristocrat of the Blues (mostly Muddy Waters), The Best of the Songbooks – Ella Fitzgerald, Billie’s Best – Billie Holiday, and John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman.

Happy birthday, dad (yes it was on October 23rd), but will be there tomorrow.

The Symphony of the Woods

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It feels nice to be writing some poems again. Intention matters.

—————–

The symphony of the woods
of birds, of insects
of stuff falling around me.

The ephemeral summer,
becoming a person of cold weather,
used to 6-7 seven months of coats.
Confused by the month or two of shorts season.

The fall approaches
Leaves are slowly changing color.
The woods let you know of seasonal change.
Different birds, different insects, different sounds, different leaves.

The brown branches of winter
The budding spring
The greens of summer
The kaleidoscope of autumn.

It’s part of my cycle
I’m a creature of the woods.

The seventy degree January days of Claremont, California
were nice
were lovely
were decadent
But, I missed the cold, and
the reflective ability to see the winter there.
And knowing that the buds of spring will return soon.

Goodtimes on Saturday

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Usually I work Saturday, and it’s a long day. Fyi, doctor’s and insurance companies work bankers hours.

Today I didn’t work, worked last Sunday instead. So I go to have fun, fun, fun and some not, not, not.

Slept in until 11:30am .. yay.

Went to the in-laws house let the cat out and made sure all the windows were closed so I could try two fogger cans against the fleas. Not so bad, except when I knocked over the cat’s water. Loki (my in-laws’ cat) is definitely not a fan of all the fleas. We are doing the best we can but it’s awful … booo.

Went to lunch with Lanna at the Dancing Elephant in Westbrook and had delicious Indian food. … yay.

Went to the laundromat with Lanna and did a ton of laundry. Tiring but glad we got it done. Yay-ish.

Then I went to Twin Falls Golf Club on Spring St. in Westbrook and played 12 holes. Yaaaay! Not able to use the cart due to the rain the last 2 days, but got some good golf in. Was quiet so when I missed a shot I tried to see if I can do better. I’m amazed how much of your score is from the pitching wedge and the putter. Yes, drives matter but iron play, your short game and putting matters much, much more. Even got a kind of par today. Of course, I did play the best of my 3 drives. First was way, way right, and then hit 2 others to see how balls compare (they are pretty similar). The next 2 drives were fine. Then I tried the 6 iron with different success. The first two were terrible the third quite good. Then a nice 9 iron to the green and 1 putted (which is rare for me). So a “par” but definitely with some asterisks. I really enjoy golf and would love to play with people in Southern Maine.

Then I had to go back to the house and open up the windows, vacuum and deal with the kitty. Opening up the house was ok, except there were STILL FLEAS!!!! I think we have to call an exterminator next. And Loki was not very happy, and being kind of dumb. Laying down in the street, and with another kitty that was starting to annoy him. I tried picking him up a few times and getting him out of the street, but he kept doing dumb stuff. Then I put him in my car with the sunroof open. He was in there for a while, but when I tried to get him out almost an hour later (had to let the chemicals get out of the house and vacuum) he escaped, luckily he was close by and easy to get. But the fleas are still there. And I worry about them getting into our house. So far, so lucky. I’m glad we gave both the kitties Frontline. Unfun.

So got stuff done, got laundry done, did use the fogger again. Think this flea issue is beyond my control. And really happy I got to play some golf.

How was your Saturday?

edmund

Video Brought the YouTube Star

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So I thought for the review today I would share some of my favorite videos.

Some are music videos, some are just silly.

One is Mr. Rogers’ Goodbye that I got from @bexmith. Anyone who grows up with Mr. Rogers can’t help having a tear come into your eye. I like you just the way you are, and I am so grateful that you help that your keep children safe and bring healing.

Easily my most viewed video this week is the fantastic “Garden of Your Mind” by Symphony of Science. I have always been curious. This is just beautiful. “Did you ever grow anything in the garden of your mind, you can grow ideas in the Garden of Your Mind. It’s good to be curious about many things, you think about think about make believe, all you have to do is think and they’ll grow.” Watch this once, you will have to watch it again.

I considered doing a whole blogpost on this video alone. Amazing.

And of course as we all know the “Internet is Made of Cats.” One of my wife @lannalee’s favorite videos.

One of my favorite songs of all time is “Mahna Mahna” from the Muppets. See it in all of it’s wonderful weirdness. Mahna Mahna (do do do do)

I have always loved hearing the “Muppaphone” bit on my Muppets CD. This is the first time I watched the clip. Wicked fun.

And easily the video I have watched most this year: The Chemical Brothers “Salmon Dance.” We float upstream. And definitely the trippiest video of the group.

Mahna Mahna.