Back on the merry go round again. I can’t complain. With retirement I had all of the time in the world and was reluctant to do anything. Now, free time has become precious and I’m cattle prodded into doing stuff for the simple reason I want to get them done. Plus, I can’t deny it’s titillating to see my savings account going back toward the positive. One of my personal heroes was always my grandpa Burton who was, himself, a night watchman. And this is the role I’ve returned to. I worked security for years and it actually feels good to be back in the saddle again.
Mission Impossible: Season Six on DVD: This aired in September of 1971 when I was a kid. I didn’t watch it at the time because it was simply too adult for me. One glance at the screen revealed that it would have been a snorefest for me. Boy, was I wrong. The series at this point shifted from oppressive Eastern European or Central American government dictators (and their well deserved takedowns from the IMF forces) to syndicate kingpins right here in the good ole US of A. The real stars of the show at this point are the cars and the set dressings which evoke a time in the last century I remember vividly, but sometimes seem to have happened to someone else who lived ages ago.
Sanford and Son Season Five on DVD: My brother-in-law, Mark Nogelmeier turned me onto a term I was quite unfamiliar with called “jumping the shark.” The term came about when Fonzie jumped the shark in the show “Happy Days.” It was a testament at the time that the show was simply lingering. All of its best episodes were behind. Oddly, I’m getting that with this season of Sanford and Son. Most of the episodes are now occurring outside of the Sanford household (which was a great part of the show.) There is a lot of Fred and Lamont singing and dancing. It seems the series has shifted from their antics as junkmen to more loftier aspirations.
Nothing to Lose Jack Reacher 12 by Lee Child: This one involves two small towns called Hope and Despair (an allusion to The Oregon Trail and its travelers attempting to cross the Rocky Mountains.) Reacher discovers strange goings on in the tiny corporate town of Despair and is immediately arrested as a vagrant and rode out of town. He recoups and gathers his resources in neighboring Hope (along with a pretty young policewoman) and goes back with a vendetta. Typical Jack Reacher fare, but always entertaining and a quick read. A beach read for men.
Call of Cthulhu on PC: A nine hour point and click adventure without the awful pixely graphics. Nope, this one is a visual feast on modern systems. You play as a detective named Edward (that already makes it good!) hired to solve the mystery of a woman’s death in a small fishing village island in the 1920s. I’m just past the halfway point in the game. I’ve had to look up a few things, but nothing deal breaking. If, like me, you’re a fan of H.P. Lovecraft’s works (I’ve read his complete works) you’re going to fit right in with this one. Give it a playthrough.
Supertramp Breakfast in America on CD: This debuted when I was a high school senior, and oddly, it’s one of those albums I wouldn’t have gone out and purchased, yet many of its songs became background of my goings on at the time and have since cemented themselves as fixtures in my memories of those times. My stepfather was a big fan of this album because it became popular during his last year in the US Navy. I worked with him for a short time when he was discharged and just prior to my own departure for the Navy, and he always played this cassette as we worked. I had become somewhat jaded by it at this time. But now, picking it up on CD and learning that it’s a staple of audiophiles putting systems through their paces, I gave it a fresh listen. It truly is a remarkable piece of recording history and a sure testament to some really talented musicians. If you want to expose your ears to a real playground of music, give this CD a spin.
Mr. Mister Welcome to the Real World on CD: This, their second album, launched in 1985 is the one that put them on the map, and in a very big way. This whole album was the soundtrack of my first year post US Navy, my first big grown up job, and the relishing of my first taste of true independence. This album saw the band nominated for a Grammy as the best pop band for 1985, which they lost to the ensemble group who performed “We Are The World.” Still, the album produced three big hits, including “Broken Wings” which attracted me to the group in the first place, “Kyrie” and “Is It Love.” Spinning this was a memory churner, but listening now made me realize how good of a guitarist Steve Farris was. This guy can play!
New Bremen, Ohio: As you know, I went back to work again. The job included two weeks training in a delightful little village in central Ohio called New Bremen. Talk about a land of enchantment! There is a restaurant there in which I ordered baked salmon that came with two separate sauces. The sauces were so good I was drinking them out of their small plastic containers. Then there was The Bicycle Museum. When I spotted a 1970 Schwinn Stingray, I found my eyes begin to sting. And then there was the delight of seeing Pee Wee Herman’s bicycle used in the world’s first Tim Burton movie.
Idoru by William Gibson: Gibson coined the term “cyberspace” way back in 1984 with his famous novel, Neuromancer. He created a whole Blade Runner-ish world with the success of that book. His plots move around a lot and get a big confusing, but his set props make for perfect story elements and the characters always propel things along and around again to start making sense and it all makes sense in the end. Such was the case with Idoru. The story concerns a touring rock star who falls in love with a Japanese virtual being, an AI, to be exact. Sounds like a typical story today, doesn’t it? Yet this book was written in 1996. Sorry, Hollywood, William Gibson beat you first, and a long time ago.
Jeff Beck Blow by Blow on CD: Michael Stevens, my guitar teacher, is edumucating me with a song from this album. The song is truly Mr. Beck at his best. “Because We Ended As Lovers.” It’s truly the hallmark song on the album (and was actually written by Stevie Wonder.” Full of call and responses, the song is proof that a guitar can tell a story without words. The rest of the album which is more like a journey through jazz fusion, sounds like a soundtrack of mixed movies from “Goodfellas” to “Boogie Nights” and just maybe a light pinch of the series Sanford and Son. (This according to Reddit, which, oddly, does kind of make sense.) “Scatterbrained” is an interesting sonic journey into what Beck could do with a guitar. Also, this was Jeff Beck’s first album credited as a solo album.
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