September 14th, 2024
“ Dobroho ranku”, or “Good Morning!” in Ukrainian, is an Eastern Slavic language spoken mainly in Ukraine. I have decided that the UJT will remain focused on Ukraine until we can all rejoice at the end of hostilities. It has been 949 days since Russia invaded Ukraine.
This week I learned some stuff:
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- Our 20+ year-old pond is leaking. It was bound to happen but getting the liner replaced is neither free nor painless. I know my fish and I will be happier without the huge water bills and constant replenishment that disrupt their tranquil lives. I am going to attempt to remove and rebuild the waterfall using technology that didn’t exist 20 years ago. Keep your fingers crossed! And so it goes.
- I just finished “reading” (Is listening to an audiobook reading?) a really good book called, “The Women”. It’s about the women who served in Vietnam. I have always considered the way Vietnam Vets were treated when they came home and it was doubly true for the women vets. This book traces the tracks of a young woman nurse who went. I share many of the same memories of 1966. Life in Coronado Island. CA and Coral Gables, FL were very similar for 14-year-old kids trying to understand our world in turmoil both at home and across the planet. For example, both CA and FL had men who rode around on special tricycles that had dry-ice-cooled coolers on the front with a row of jangling row of bells across the handlebars. Their 5-cent popsicles, 10-cent Dreamcicles, and nutty buddies were wonderful treats on hot sunny afternoons both locations enjoyed. That led me to remember the fruit and veggies truck that came by every weekday. Our neighborhood vendor was named Dominic. He was an old-school Italian. He stopped coming after the Cuban Air Lift. I still remember his dark pock-marked face and giant smile. Anyway, “The Women” by Kristin Hannah is a great, very moving, book with a couple forgivable Soap-Opera-esque parts.
- You can find out all about today’s history here.
This week’s Website Update:
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- I was able to come up with my daughter’s new favorite veggie dish – Roasted Carrots.
- This week the Home Page will quote: “No great mind has existed without a touch of madness.”.
Bonsai Tree and Stained Glass, Update:
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- I updated this header to reflect my limited artistic pallet these days. I am down to one bonsai and am struggling to get a new stained glass project off the ground but the spirit is still willing..
Weird-Stuff-O-Meter:
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- By 1971 I was learning a new skill in the Navy. I spent the summer and fall of 1970 on how to learn to be a sailor on a ship and then in December I reported aboard the USS Vogelgesang (DD-862) and began to learn the skill of not being recognizable as a US Navy sailor. I learned about off-base lockers, and precision haircuts and that I had to work hard to keep my young hippie identity going under such conditions. I had a special way of combing my hair and started getting, my hair trimmed every other day or so to keep just within regs. WE divided the naval world into 3 loosely defined categories – lifers, officers, and cool humans. The key was not to make any of them too seriously. I found the Navy was much more fun when you looked for things to laugh about. You didn’t have to look very hard, there was always something laughingly stupid going on. So you get the pictur. When eve we were away from the boat the more we tried to disguise the fact that we were sailors. Roll ahead fifty years or so, I now have a T-shirt that says “NAVY” across my chest and a little BT symbol on the sleeve. To complete the story, I did all this reminiscing on my way to get a haircut that would have passed any Navy inspection!How weird is that ??!!!
- Another drop of irony for you. I was arrested when I was 17 for felony possession of one joint. We bitched and moaned that pot should be legal and taxed like booze. Well, again roll ahead 50+ years and I live in a state where I can get all the joints I want from a store. The condition of my lungs makes such a practice inadvisable but there are many other forms for me to partake but now I am not into getting high as much as I used to. I kind of love my life the way it is so I quit drinking too. It’s been a long strange trip.
Music Update:
This week’s selections are a celebration of just some of the amazing women who are making music. After making these selections (and even with adding a couple) I realized I didn’t even scratch the surface of the richness that women have brought to us through their music.
This week’s UJT Radio Program:
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- Robert Flack — Killing Me Softly — This beautiful song was the tittle track for her 1973 release. It was nominated for Album of the Year at the Grammys that year but lost out to Stevie Wonder’s
Innervisions”. If you are going to lose out thats not a bad selection to lose too. - Ricky Lee Jones — Chucky’s in Love — This one is another woman who introduced herself with huge hit from her debut self-titled album released in 1979.
- Janis Joplin – Summertime — I was able to see Janis and Big Brother about a 1ooo years ago and was completely blown away – by Janis (Big Brother and the holding company not so much). This was released on her iconic, “ Cheap Thrills” album with the R. Crumb cover cartoon in 1968.
- Jewel — Who Will Save Your Soul — This lady is an amazing story! Raised as a homesteader in the Alaskan wilderness, touring the bars in a duet with her dad, living homeless in the big city till she found her feet. This was a huge hit from her first album, “Pieces of You” in 1995.
- Sheryl Crow — Letter To God — This one is one of my favorites from her album,“Wildflower” in 2015. There is a soulfulness about her music that moves me.
- Taylor Dayne — I‘ll Be Your Shelter — I fell in love with Taylor’s unique voice when I heard it. I am not sure she is for everyone but I like her. She recently overcame colon cancer and a post op infection that kept her in the hospital for over a month. This one is from the “ Can’t Fight Fate” album released in 1990 and is her biggest hit todate.
- Phoebe Snow — Poetry Man — We lost Phoebe way too soon. She gave us a fresh magical look at music. This one is from her self-titled album released in 1974.
- Taylor Swift — Begin Again — I have to end this woefully limited selection of great women in music with a relative newby to the biz. This Taylor has taken complete control of her product and legacy. She appears to be a bright young woman with some musical and songwriting talent but that pond is much much deeper than anyone realized. Well Done! This on is from her wonderful (I love every track) album, “Red(Taylor’s Version)” released in 2021. By re-recording the album she obtained complete control over the ownership of the song masters.
- Robert Flack — Killing Me Softly — This beautiful song was the tittle track for her 1973 release. It was nominated for Album of the Year at the Grammys that year but lost out to Stevie Wonder’s
That’s it… Do the best you can; Laugh every chance you get; Always remember… The best is yet to come! As always, thank you for being my friend!