Musing For Today
When someone makes a statement like "Your rights end where the other person's begin" notice how they never mention just WHERE it is that other person's rights begin, or how large that other person's microcosmic bubble might be.
I'd be suspicious of the motives of anyone who would send such a specious cliche your way.

There are three kinds of music:
That which you like
That which you don't like
That which makes for ideal background noise or bathroom breaks

                                               Adages For Today

     Normal people are always so hard to get through to because they subsist on a diet of red herrings

                                         What is a jogger, but a bicyclist minus the wheels?

    They're killing off all the mockingbirds and hummingbirds, leaving the crows to take over

       This is why we can't have nice things ...
You fill your apartment with nice furniture, a nice stereo system, a spiffy flat-screen TV and home theater set-up, fancy stylish shelving units for books, art work and other artifacts.
You conscientiously strive to keep your unit neat, clean, and in overall good upkeep.


Then, one day, an explosion occurs in the unit occupied by the idiots who live above you who have apparently been operating a meth lab from their own place of residence.


...and, on account of someone else's greed and stupidity, you wind up losing everything you went so far out of your way to attain and obtain.


Such is life in a "free society" where "the other guy has rights and liberties too".

Double Song Analysis: The Man In The Raincoat and Last Time I Saw Him

The first song, "Man In The Raincoat", was a top-20 hit in 1955 for both Marion Marlowe and Priscilla Wright.


In this one the gullible protagonist gets taken for a ride by a con artist who "proposes marriage" to her, but "needs money" to set things up.
After a no-show on his part when she goes downtown to meet up with him the next day she figures out, too late, she's apparently been had.


The second song, "Last Time I Saw Him", a 1974 solo hit for Diana Ross, hits upon the same theme.  Except the protagonist in this story is a bit daft as she never catches on that she's been bilked by the guy who said he "had to borrow some money so he could get us both set up"
...and the only thing he "set up", of course, was her.


Even after all that she still refuses to believe the obvious, still sticking with her idealistic expectations and hopes
...even going so far as to eventually purchase a bus ticket to travel to his home town, figuring that if he "hasn't made it back by now something must have gone wrong" and that he "might be in some kind of trouble", so she's "going to him" because he probably "needs her by his side".

                                         Musing For Today
It amuses me to hear about President Trump stating that "the stock market will crash for sure" if he's ever impeached.
That one surely deserves a place in the annals of "most self-aggrandizing statements ever made".


This guy can't seriously believe he's really the "end all".  That the U.S. is going to "shut down" if HE gets shut down.
Like any president prior and in the future he, too, will have to "pass the baton" to whoever his successor is, whether it be after this term or, if he gets reelected, the next one.  He shouldn't be coming off as some kind of panacea.  He's not.  In fact his successes in life have all been as a professional robber-baron.  Hardly anything to boast about.


I remember I was 9-years-old and naïve when Kennedy was assassinated, and I was feeling panicky---like "What's going to happen (to this country) now?  How are we going to continue on, now that the President is dead?"


...but when Johnson got sworn in, I was "Oh, is that how it's done?  The country already has a back-up plan 'just in case'?"
One of my earliest lessons in Civics, for sure.

                                        Adage #2 For Today
                                        Opportunity cost is the norm, not the exception

                                              Adage #1 For Today
You must stay on top of things.  Otherwise things may wind up on top of you, crushing you under their weight.

CeleDeath: Aretha Franklin

It's about time I put my two-cents worth in on the final "waterloo" of the legendary R&B/pop singer/keyboardist last Thursday.
Ms. Franklin was also a part-time songwriter as well.  THINK, ROCK STEADY, and DAYDREAMING were self-penned.
Most of her other hits were improvised cover versions (well, okay, her remake of SEE-SAW did stick faithfully to the arrangement of Don Covay's original).

More Notable Songs Whose Themes Are Obvious

A Brand New Me
Dusty Springfield/Aretha Franklin
The benefits of having someone who's a good influence and who believes in you

Society's Child
Janis Ian
Does Your Mama Know About Me?
Bobby Taylor & The Vancouvers
Brother Louie
Stories
Parents against interracial dating (and/or engagements)

Blessed Is The Rain
Brooklyn Bridge
Never make anyone (or anything) your "personal guru"

I'd Love To Change The World
Ten Years After
Specious platitudes rambled off as an excuse for rationalizing resigning oneself to lazy narcissistic apathy

(Sittin' On) The Dock Of The Bay
Otis Redding
Clearly this song is a first-person account of experiencing clinical depression

It's Good News Week
Hedgehoppers Anonymous
"...they butchered up the sacred cow, they got enough to eat ..."
Terrific metaphorical double entendre, in that there are many kinds of "sacred cows".
It's true: If you can shed off the dogmas, the stigmas, and need to be "moral" or "correct", and just let loose and enjoy life for a change, you'll find the experience to be quite liberating and nurturing
...although also quite dangerous and risky if no-one else around you is keen on doing the same.
NOTE: The song itself is basically about slamming the news media for its habit of routinely indulging in hyperbolic sensationalism.

Paint It, Black
The Rolling Stones
Guy whose lover has obviously passed away suffering from depression over it so bad he just can't get on with life at the present time.
The Beatles' BABY'S IN BLACK has a similar theme, but with a role-reversal---about a guy whose girlfriend lost her previous lover and still can't get over him enough to assimilate herself into the new relationship

Long Long Time
Linda Ronstadt
Love Stinks
J. Geils Band
It always seems that those we're attracted to usually don't find us attractive---while those who DO find us attractive are often those we have no kind of interest in 

Roly Poly
Joey Dee & The Starliters
Fat Bottom Girls
Queen
Guys who are infatuated with heavy-set girls/women

Christine Sixteen
Kiss
A young dude openly expressing his intense lust for a well-groomed properly raised middle-class teenage girl

People
Barbra Streisand
An anthem of the universal need for human contact

Rainy Day People
Gordon Lightfoot
The antithesis of the "fair weather friend"---those who are still loyal to you even when you're at your lowest point in life

Instant Karma
John Lennon
We all have to share the same world whether we like each other or not

The Crusher
The Novas
Parody of "Big Time Wrestling" and all those "dance craze" songs that permeated the air waves in the 60s

Be Free
Loggins & Messina
Longing to leave the decay and corruption of the urban environment and return to nature and a simpler existence

If Walls Could Talk
Little Milton
Nowadays they CAN---and often DO

Barefoot In Baltimore
Strawberry Alarm Clock
About how "flower power" is now making its way to the east coast (circa 1968).
Although, if taken literally, the song's title comes across as more of a foolish dare. 

Don't Go Out Into The Rain
Herman's Hermits
Essentially somewhat of a latter-day incarnation of BABY IT'S COLD OUTSIDE

 Attention Pedestrians!!!!!
A new menace has arisen to further impede our right to move around freely on foot.

...battery-operated mini-scooters!!!

If it wasn't already bad enough that we can't walk anywhere without having to look over our shoulders constantly, on guard for stormtrooper-minded joggers, bicyclists, and skateboarders who seem to come out of nowhere and force us onto the curb or onto the grass or the side of buildings....or tolerate reckless stormtrooper-minded motorists who fly into side streets, parking lots, and alleys without slowing down, signaling, or yielding---with a driveway, alleyway, or side street every 30 feet at that, necessitating a mindset befitting "one driving on a remote two-lane highway known for having unmarked railroad crossings with no lights or gates, and with a speed limit of 60 MPH, on a dark night during a new moon" on our part---along comes this new flood of rich "environmentally conscious" trust-fund twits who abstain from driving so as to "not be responsible for contributing more to global warming", while still being too lazy to walk themselves, with their make-shift version of "alternative transportation".

                Pedestrians, you've been warned!
                                                      Take care, and be safe.

Residing in an apartment unit is a lot like being responsible for the care of a newborn.
The way it's completely helpless, totally dependent on you to take care of all its needs, the way it constantly uses up all your time, money, and resources.

Residing in a government subsidized apartment unit, on the other hand, is more like caring for an aging parent
...the same helplessness, dependency, and exhausting your time, money and resources
...except that it still assumes authority over you, and tries to "be boss over you", even though you're still expected to take care of everything yourself.

                                         Musing For Today
I've noticed ...
...that when I attach the AC cord to my phone and plug it into the wall the screen lights up and a pop-up panel states "Phone Charging"

...and that, when I pull the plug from the wall, the screen lights up again and a pop-up message states "Charger Disconnected".

It's imperative these devices remind me of what I'm already doing, lest I have a sudden mental lapse and I forget where I'm at and what I was doing ...

Being "Owned"
I hate anything that stagnates.  The only things that deserve to linger are those that entertain or amuse, or have some enhancing qualities to their existence.  Anything else (especially unpleasant) is only Sisyphean if they hang around indefinitely.

That's why I don't like it any time I need help from someone else.  That other party always seems to assume you "sold yourself to them willingly" anytime you ask them for their assistance or need their services.

And, sure enough, invariably, they assume license to "take over the rest of your life", and you find yourself constantly "on THEIR time", to the point where you find you don't have the time to tend to your other needs and pleasures.

Everyone does this: relatives, businesses, clinics, agencies, any charity you may have volunteered for, your employer---and so forth.

We're all "just one person".  We can't know everything, or have aptitude for all tasks, jobs and professions.  We're forced to co-depend at certain points in our life.
But to do so seems to envelop "giving ourselves away to another".

                              Just say "No" to Change
If I had to name one of the worst traits of society it would be its propensity for habitually making random changes, often without precedence or cause.

Even when everything is functioning smoothly, just right, the way it is, sooner or later whoever has just then acquired the company or organization gets the notion to rearrange this and that, or alter procedures without warning or prior announcement.

This is bad, as it throws one's ecosystem off, as one routinely interacts with a multitude of factions, so having everyone's arbitrary system memorized so that you always "automatically know what to do and when and how to do it" upon entering each establishment ensures smooth functionality on your part.

Unexpected changes cause confusion, as you wind up back to a "square one" mode of having to "learn the ropes" all over again.  This disrupts your ecosystem and makes you awkward.  And in a crowded society, where it's too easy to "get in the other person's way" if you hesitate or get clumsy, it's then too easy to fuck up if you haven't yet figured out "which end is 'east' and which end is 'west'".  Being a crowded society it's not possible to fuck up without also fucking up the guy behind you---which now makes you a "causation" and a "liability".

Being unfamiliar with anything can make one klutzy and awkward.  It's like the professional musician who also works part-time in a warehouse, but manual labor isn't exactly his forte, so he's constantly dropping things and running into inventory with his forklift.
To his coworkers he comes off as a total fucktard

...but, once back in the studio, in front of the keyboards or with a guitar in his hand, the notes and chords just pour out effortlessly, in perfect harmony and on tempo.
He is, once again, a true "secular sorcerer".

The New Dark Ages

Walk into a STARBUCKS, order a coffee, then try to find a place to sit...
...and just about anywhere you look, the tables are dirty, coffee spills and crumbs galore.  The floor is littered with napkins, wrappers, muddy footprints.
STARBUCKS cares not about its reputation as a corporate cafe catering to civilian aristocrats, it seems.

This whole society's like this now:
Doing everything on the cheap.  Laying off workers at a time when tax revenue for social safety nets is dwindling.  Eschewing the ethos of health and safety procedures and knowledge.  Business, government and authority all obsessed with the "bottom lines":  profit and power tripping.
Even legitimate businesses and companies are behaving like "snake oil" scam artists.  And those in charge are "taking lessons from Stalin and Draco".

Racism is in vogue again.
Rules and laws seem to just be a joke:  libraries are noisy; reckless driving is ubiquitous; bicyclists race their overpriced 20-speed two-wheel contraptions at full speed on crowded sidewalks; "normal" people behaving like storm troopers everywhere they go---pouring into public and commercial spaces "out of nowhere", acting aggressive and loud, taking up tons of space and blocking aisles and doorways, as if they just "bought the property" and "they're the new owners now" and "everything's going to done THEIR WAY from here on in" ...

Professionals perform their tasks half-assed and are seldom punctual when it comes to scheduled appointments, keeping customers/patients/clients waiting for long periods of time---or not even showing up at all.

                           2nd Musing For Today
I was just listening to I WANT TO TELL YOU, from the REVOLVER album.

One question:
Has there ever been a recording act who has had more "potential singles" that were never released on 45-RPM than The Beatles?
Of course because CAPITOL and PARLOPHONE realized, often ahead of time, that the albums would be multi-million sellers, hence it would be a waste of time, money, and resources to release more than a couple tracks from each LP as a single.

I guess Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley might also fit this category as well.

                                          Musing For Today
When one gets a letter from an official source---say, from their landlord, or a government agency, or a summons to appear in county court---one tends to regard such notification in a literal sense.

Landlords, don't send notices to your tenants stating "it's been determined that" their unit "has a bedbug infestation", followed by instructions for preparation for treatment by professional exterminators.

...and then, after possessions have been bagged and piled up in the middle of the front room and bedroom, mention that "it's merely an inspection to determine whether or not there is an actual cause for concern".
Then, after the inspection, tenant's unit is given the "all clear" ...AFTER their having gone through all the panic and time and expense of preparation for a problem that doesn't even exist.

"That's just a general notice.  We send it out to ALL the units".
Nothing like a good scare tactic to keep the tenants on their toes, I guess.

Also quite dishonest as well, if I may say so myself.  I don't know if it's intended to be some kind of psyop or what, but I think it's morally wrong to traumatize and shock another in order to "get them to take some kind of initiative".

...plus, when one receives an official directive they tend to take whatever's stated at face value.  One's not exactly going to read a notice from an employer, a landlord, a government agency, or a court order the same way they would read the works of William Shakespeare, Charles Dickens, Emily Dickenson, Robert Frost, or John Keats.
One doesn't reread a "summons to appear in county court" looking for subliminal metaphors and social commentary or hidden sarcasms.  It's just understood that official directives are intended to be interpreted literally.

That's why it's important for such directives to be precise and concise, to the point, and accurate.

Then again, I've long doubted the level of transparency of most businesses, professions, agencies, and institutions.  They've always seemed, to me anyway, to be big on psyops, power-tripping, and pigeonholing.