Song of the Day: Merry Go Round Kacey Musgraves

Although I grew up listening to country (and western) music and am a fan of much of Country Music's "old-guard," I stopped listening to Country Music when I was 14 (early nineties) for the most part.  Oh, I still heard a lot of country music around, but I pretty much gave up the genre. The quality of country music on the radio about that time went down a lot (and ironically the quality of rock went up about that time) and I just wasn't interested any more in country music on the radio.  That being said, I still follow the genre somewhat.  Several of my favorite song-writers have been covered by mainstream country artists (Bob Dylan, Patty Griffin, Ryan Adams),  in the past 10 years and quite a few of the artists I listen to would be considered "alt-country."  I'd go see Dolly Parton perform in a heart-beat and I listened to several George Jones singles non-stop the week after he died last year.  So, anyway, last year I started seeing more and more articles in the newspapers and magazines (NPR, New Yorker etc.)  about the women in country music so I clicked on the single below and wow......this artist pretty much summed up settling in a small town perfectly.  The lyrics, the melody, the word-play....if you get a chance, just listen!

Song of the Day: Top of the World

I woke up with an "oldie" ('96) from Patty Griffin in my head, and since I couldn't get the CD player in my car to work this morning so I could hear the album "Top of the World" was originally supposed to be released on, I thought I'd post this song on here.  Wow, that was a run-on sentence.  Anyway, enjoy a gem from Ms. Griffin.

Movember Fails

As many of you know, November, is the month that many men wear mustaches and raise money for cancer research.  Well, although I'm a fan of Movember, I'd like to state the following.  A goatee is not a mustache.  I've known several individuals who proudly post photos of their mustaches when in reality.....its actually a goatee.

Case in point:  Brad Pitt looks pretty good here, but that's a goatee.  Not a mustache.

Brad Pitt with Goatee

Tom Selleck with Mustache

As much as a fan I am of Tom Selleck's mustache.........unless you are Nick Offerman, Sam Elliott, or Tom Selleck, a mustache takes a little bit of sacrifice.  A goatee usually does not.  So on that note..... HAPPY MOVEMBER!!

Great Article on the Yarnell Fire

As a former wild-land fire, I haven't really talked about the Yarnell Fire much until now.  19 fire fighters, members of a hot-shot crew, were killed last Spring.  In fact, although I shared this article with my brother, I didn't read the article until last night.  Once I started reading the article, I couldn't stop.  The author did a great job of describing the events that happened last Spring and I believe was the first journalist to interview the surviving firefighter.  One thing I liked about the article is that its clear where the supervisor made several mistakes but the author doesn't explicitly condemn him.
http://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-adventure/nature/YarnellFire.html

New

Like most people of a certain age, I've been a fan of the Beatles as long as I can remember, and specifically Paul McCartney (the cute Beatle, as my mom always calls him) post Beatles for many years.  Oh sure, Paul has written a few goose-eggs, but so has Bob Dylan (most of the 80's).  Anyway, Paul's new album is one of his strongest efforts in years and the first single off the album, New, is a song most people will enjoy.  Below is the lyrics video for the song.  About 3/4 of the way through the video is a shot of Paul laying a guitar pick on Elvis's grave.  My brother and I happened to be in Memphis the same day Paul visited Graceland (I really wanted to go to the concert that night but we didn't have time).  The bottom video is Paul singing "New" acoustically and demonstrates that Paul McCartney is still "the cute Beatle."

Quote of the Day

"What do you wish you were?
Do you wish you were the light of every star?
Nobody Knows, but maybe that's just what you are."

---Patty Griffin

True Roundy Feild and Keith Alma Feild

My cousin Trudy started a family blog recently called "Trudy's Tree."  Trudy's first two entries are family histories of our grandma, True Roundy Feild, and our grandpa, Keith Alma Feild.  Although my "gramma" was suffering when she died just two years ago, two weeks ago, losing her was losing my "third" parent. My mother and her siblings refer to my grandma as Mama..and my cousins and I called her gramma..which I think was partly out of laziness..and partly because our parents called her mama.  I know Grandma True is in a better place but I think I'll always think of her this time of year.  Grandma True's  birthday is this week though and I plan to celebrate by laughing, reading Robert Frost, and eating fish sandwiches; something we both did together as a treat. We would often go out and get fish sandwiches to celebrate my birthday..or just as a special little thing we would do.

True Roundy Feild on left...Keith Alma Feild on right.  Both pictures taken in the 1940's I believe. 

My grandpa, Keith, died when I was seven years old from a recurrence of lymphoma.  I only have "little kid" memories of Keith, but I still remember many things about him.  He was a huge reader and would read to me, even when he was sick.  When my younger brother was born, I was excited, but the only person I didn't want to share Richard with was my Grandpa Keith.  He was a quiet man, but very loving..and intellectually curious.  Grandpa Keith didn't get a chance to get a college education, but he read engineering journals that a friend dropped off.  My mom says that she wishes my grandpa would've lived long enough to meet my youngest brother because he would've gotten a kick out of Steven.  Grandpa Keith also was well-read and loved literature.  Although my grandma True didn't approve of novels, my grandpa often had a library book tucked away to read after he finished the chores.  His book collection was eclectic, and I remember seeing his copy of "Roots," after he died.  Both my grandparents loved poetry and rhyme..and I think they both realized that I thought in rhyme..or responded to rhyme, because they both had me memorize poetry at a young age.  Anyway, reading my grandparent's histories (which I've read before..but its been several years) was interesting.  It was interesting to read what the two talked about in their personal histories.
Here's the link again.  http://trudyanne.wordpress.com