Happy Birthday to Randy Bachman!

Randy Bachman is 67 years young today!

He was born on this date in 1943 in Winnipeg, and per one of his songs "I was born standing up with a guitar in my hand!".  He's best known for being the founder of Bachman-Turner Overdrive, but he was also a founding member of Al & the Silvertones, who later went on to become The Guess Who.

I was searching YouTube to see if I could provide a link to one of the songs off of his Axe album, which was recorded in 1970 (and also one you'll want to pick up if you stumble across it), but can't find any.

So, I'm going to leave you with another one of his tunes.

Undun (Live)

Bachman & Turner!

After a week of turmoil on more than one front, I couldn't have asked for a better end to this week, as that in the mailbox this afternoon were the five copies of the new Bachman & Turner CD!  I haven't yet listened to all the tracks (I'm listening to it now as I type this) but I can already recommend this as a "must purchase".

The first thing that leaps out at me was how the essence of the 70's heavy duty rock has been captured by this.  There's a definite Hendrix influence on "Moonlight Rider" and a Not Fragile influence in the leadoff track "Rolling Along".  "Rolling Along" has been described as the "sequel" to "Roll On Down the Highway" and "Slave to the Rhythm" as a sequel to "Takin' Care of Business".

I look forward to emailing Fred Turner to tell him "well done, and can we have ten more like this please?"

Five thumbs up on this one!

On the Road....in Tucson?!

Greetings from the Coffee Xchange on Tanque Verde Road, near Camino Principal! Why am I here?

It's like this. A computer virus/malware infection surfaced on the home computer on Saturday, and after spending a lot of time yesterday trying to fight it I've decided to take it in. I'm taking a break from file backup to come out to the Coffee Xchange, so that I can download protection updates and at least keep the laptop as a viable option for maintaining what I can of being connected to that online realm we call "cyberspace".

My computer will be in the shop for a few days; they want to make sure that once the fix is in, that the fix really fixes the problem. At the worst I'm in for a complete disk wipe, at the best it'll be resolved quickly tomorrow.

* * * * * * *

On a more positive note, I placed an order for five copies of the new Bachman & Turner CD.

Yes, five copies.

One's for myself, and two others will be given as gifts to my housesitter/catsitter Barb and to my stepson Richard. That leaves two extra; hopefully I can get both those guys to autograph one of them if I can ever catch one of their shows.

They are playing in Coachella, California next month, where I can easily get to, but I'll be in Portland. Well those good people in Portland that I'm visiting are folks that I consider family, and family is more important. And Fred Turner told me several months ago that he thinks they'll play Arizona sometime.

* * * * * * *

I was about to report here that the monsoon season in southern Arizona is winding down. Rain is forecast for tonight, around midnight. We still have clouds gathering from the south and some wind gusts like it's about to start raining.

As it is, I think the monsoons are on the fade. This means that I can get some more outside painting done and perhaps a scouting run for mule deer down by Willcox.

* * * * * * *

Willcox is a small town along I-10 in southern Arizona. It's at a higher elevation than Tucson, and thus has different vegetation. You won't see saguaro cacti there.

Willcox is best known for its proximity to the Willcox Playa, which is where cranes come to visit, during the winter, I think. There's also an awesome pie place just north of I-10 that sells killer blueberry (and other) pies.

South of the freeway, on Rex Allen Drive, is La Salsa Fiesta Mexican restaurant, featuring New Mexico style cuisine. That comes highly recommended by two friends of mine and I will give this one the thumbs up too.

* * * * * * *

Willcox used to be linked to Tucson via the old Arizona state highway 86. A remnant of that old highway peels off from I-10 at exit 344, and passes to the south of Willcox until it rejoins Willcox some eight miles later. Along that strip are some buildings that used to be motels, back when 86 was the main drag thru town. I think that maybe one of them might still be in business but most of them folded, being overtaken by the chain hotels that are alongside I-10.

Whenever I drive by buildings like that, I can't help but think of what kind of stories those buildings would tell me if they could talk. They are from an era that is largely forgotten....an era of classic V-8 powered Chevrolets and Fords, and era of prosperity, an era where many of our greatest generation had been home from fighting the Nazis for a decade and were busy raising families.

The question I'm tempted to ask here, is what happened? Where did it all go?

Sometimes I ask that same question when I think about the 80s, the decade where I was launching my career and pursuing my aspirations. I'm still in my career, still pursuing aspirations, but sometimes there's this sense that some things are getting away from us, and I wonder if we'll be the better for it.

* * * * * * *

When I return home later this evening I've still got some work ahead of me, backing up photos and then getting in a little reading. Supper is also coming late as that I have not yet eaten aside from some light snacks. The computer repair place doesn't open until nine so I get a rare opportunity to sleep in......that is, to the extent that the cats will let me.

My cats are wonderful boys, but they like to manipulate the people that they own, and Moe especially can get quite vocal in the morning.

Whenever the food dish has one square inch of visible bottom surface, the cat considers the dish to be legally empty, and the cat reserves the right (and often exercises it) to let you know about it.

* * * * * * *

That's it for now. Good night.

The Saturday Evening Post, 9/18/10

There's been more than my fair share of turmoil recently.

On the job front, I'm in the process of looking for work internally within the company. We have been in the position for several months of overrunning the budget in my group, and well, those chickens have now come home to roost. It was unexpected, and I can't say that it is to my liking, but if the past is any guide I'll end up with a better assignment once the dust has fallen into place. I've already landed something temporary, and I hope to have something "permanent" lined up in a couple of weeks.

* * * * * * *

In all the confusion this week, the new Bachman & Turner CD was officially released, and I hate admitting that I haven't placed an order for it yet. I got wind that Barnes & Noble was carrying it; if they were, the nearest store is out of stock as of this evening's visit.

I'm going to have to go online to get this one, and while I'm at it I'm going to order five copies as that I will give some of these away as gifts. I've heard some of the tunes already and I can already tell you that this is going to get some heavy airplay in my household.

* * * * * * *

I booked airline tickets yesterday. Yep, it's coming up on time for my annual trip to Portland to see Ken & Gillian, and their children Felicity, Meredith and Alexander. I arrive Thursday the 14th, and return home on Monday the 18th. If I had more PTO on the books I'd make this a few days longer and visit some friends in the Seattle area.

As it is, I'll have to settle for a drive up the Columbia River Gorge on Friday (which I enjoy doing) and a visit to the small town of Mosier, Oregon.

Well, you'd go to a town that's been named after you, wouldn't you?

* * * * * * *

I have made the decision to get my house into sellable condition.

No, I am *not* planning to leave Tucson.

What it is, is that I've lived in it for ten years, and I've decided to make it look as nice as I possibly can, in case a situation emerges where I do have to sell.

A much-needed roof repair was done this week. I spent yesterday, one of my off Fridays, doing some painting on the exterior. I worked on the trim on the back patio, as that my back yard faces south, and the sun has been taking its toll on the surfaces to the south. I spent about three hours working on it and I'm pleased with how it looks so far! I figure that the next few weekends will be spent working on the exterior trim, though I'm going to have to hire part of that out as that I live in a two story house and I'll let the pros work on the second story.

After the outside painting is complete, I'll work on the inside painting, which I envision taking place during the winter holidaze. Next March I want all the carpets ripped out and new ones put in.

The dishwasher needs replacing, and the stove may be replaced too. Both are fully functional but the dishwasher door lost a spring. The stove just simply looks "old" and getting a new one that looks more modern will help bring the kitchen up to 21st Century Snuff.

* * * * * * *

I finally finished that Hitchcock anthology some time ago. The "fireball" novel was quite the story, with an ending that I wasn't quite expecting. I thought it would end with the human race on its way to a slow extinction, but that wasn't the outcome. However the human race did end up taking its toll and ended up never really knowing very much about what was after them.

I'm now working on an Asimov collection called "The Rest of the Robots". These are stories that were not originally included in I, Robot, but a few of them were included in Robot Visions.

I'm not sure what I'll read after that, but I'm sure I'll come up with something.

* * * * * * *

And now, to close this out for this evening, I'm going to present the new video from Bachman & Turner......"Rolling Along"

Rolling Along

Arizona Political SITREP, 9/4/10

The Arizona primary results have been in for several days now. I figured that I would weigh in with a report and pass along some thoughts on the results. Please note that I have never intended this to be a political blog, as that its prime mission is for people who want to know what I've been up to can find out what I've been up to.

However, what you read here is best described as, "I calls it as I sees it". I read commentaries and letters to the editor, I read emails and other blogs, but what I write here is from my perspective as a resident of the Grand Canyon State and from someone who hasn't been inside the Beltway since March of 1991.

As expected, the Republicans nominated incumbent Jan Brewer for Governor, while the Democrats selected Terry Goddard, who is presently our Attorney General. Terry Goddard can't stay as Attorney General forever as that we have term limits here, and like his opponent he's been involved in politics for quite some time.

I think Mr. Goddard is a competent Attorney General in most respects. In one respect he isn't. Governor Brewer could not trust him, as a Democrat, to fight the federal government's lawsuit against Arizona regarding SB1070, so she removed him from the legal team. Of course he raised something of a stink about that, but if he supports SB1070 then he risks losing support of the Democratic Party, and would not be well regarded by them in the event that he decides to pursue a federal office.

Anyway, before SB1070 emerged, I'd have bet my mortgage on him defeating Governor Brewer. However, SB1070 changed things dramatically, and with Governor Brewer defending it, I'd bet on her winning the race. The flip side is, is that November isn't tomorrow, there are some sixty days or so remaining in the campaign, and if she says or does something stupid then it will be a tight race.

For U.S. Senator, John McCain (Mr. Campaign Finance Reform), spent $20 million to win the GOP primary whereas J.D. Hayworth spent $2 million. I've been told, but not have not independently verified, that Senator McCain spent money left over from his run for the Presidency. We do know that he outspent Mr. Hayworth by a factor of ten to one, mainly working on a revisionist history that he's been for a secure border all along. He'll go back to fighting for amnesty on day one of the next session of Congress and will not remember the crocodile tears that he cried when that rancher in Cochise County was murdered by an illegal alien that he wants to give amnesty to.

McCain's opponent is Tucson City Councilman Rodney Glassman. Rod Glassman emerged out of nowhere, won election to the Council in a ward that's somewhere on the other side of town, a "blue" ward, if you will. Immediately upon his election there was speculation that he would run for Senator, which gathered momentum when President Obama nominated then-Governor Janet Napolitano to be the Secretary of Homeland Security, thus removing her as a challenger to John McCain.

Mr. Glassman hasn't cultivated much of a reputation for doing anything while on the Council. Once elected, he viewed himself as entitled to a higher calling, and he sought that higher calling once Primary Season was under way. He won the Democratic nomination with 34% of the vote, and faces an uphill challenge this fall. I don't normally make predictions, but I think he'll lose, as that there are several Democrats who would rather see Democrat John McCain in the Senate rather than Democrat Rodney Glassman. John McCain is an extremely vile traitorous rotten bastard who can be reliably counted upon to sabotage his own party when the Democrats need him the most. The Democrats might want to think twice about replacing him with Rodney Glassman.

Now we move over to the Attorney General's race. On the GOP side, Andrew Thomas launched a series of vicious attacks on Tom Horne, who is presently the incumbent Superintendent of Public Education. Mr. Horne is being forced out of that slot due to term limits, and thus decided to run for Attorney General. From what I can gather Mr. Horne has been a competent Superintendent, and not deserving of the smear campaign that Mr. Thomas ran against him. Andrew Thomas could not spend one minute telling us why he should be Attorney General; instead his focus was on why Tom Horne should not be Attorney General.

That was a close race, which finally resolved in the favor of Tom Horne. Personally, I would rather see him remain as Superintendent, but again, the term limits are forcing him out, which is that other edge of that double-edged sword.....you don't get to keep the people who you like in the office where you want to keep them.

I can't even remember now who the Democrats nominated for AG; whoever he or she is, doesn't have name recognition, and if I'm a bellwether then that bodes well for Tom Horne. I personally think he would do well as AG, but I'm going to have to ask myself if I'm going to be getting a good AG or a career politician for AG. If Mr. Horne wants my vote in sixty days, he's going to have to make a good case for it, although he might not have to work hard if his opponent is anti-SB1070.

For the state senate, the person who I most wanted to see win the nomination, Frank Antenori, has won the nomination. Marian McClure, who calls herself a Republican, can best be described as a McCain Democrat. She mounted a challenge to Mr. Antenori, and could only manage to collect one third of the primary vote. Marian McClure used to serve in the lower house of the Arizona legislature, and I even voted for her at one point, which I came to regret when I learned the hard way that she would never answer constituent email. She was termed out of that slot, ran for Arizona Corporation Commission, finished last in a state where the Republicans dominate, and she should have gotten on her broom to go ride off into the sunset, into the direction of California, which would be a better fit for her. I don't know what her plans are, but I would hope that she would pursue a career at Burger King bagging orders behind the counter, as that even someone like her would likely not fail at such a vocation.

Frank Antenori is facing Todd Camenisch for state senate, who I never heard of until this year, and Mr. Camenisch again is suffering from lack of name recognition. We here in Legislative District 30 know who Frank Antenori is, and we sent him to Phoenix. I plan on donating to his his campaign and it is my intention to contact his campaign to get a yard sign....which will be a first for me. I don't know yet if I'll be getting any other yard signs.

No, I did not forget the primary for Congressional District #8. I was intentionally saving that one for last.

On the Republican side, we had Jesse Kelly as the first to enter the race. He got his ads on the Drudge Report, and was out there early on to announce that he was taking on incumbent Gabrielle Giffords, a Democrat who reliably enjoys support from those vile traitorous bastards who are in leadership positions of the Republican National Committee. This district is 31% Republican, 27% Democrat, the rest independent or other/no party affiliation. By all rights Giffords should never have won in the first place, but that's really a subject that should be addressed on another day.

What Giffords did do against the wishes of this district, were to vote for the so-called stimulus package, and for ObamaCare. Her "town hall" meetings this year were contentious, and she became vulnerable. She has carefully tried to cultivate the image of being a "Blue Dog Democrat", but has been an even better Democrat than John McCain has.

But getting back to Mr. Kelly, he was the best known in the race, until state senator Jonathan Paton entered the race.

At that point I would have bet my mortgage that Mr. Paton would have won the nomination. He had the backing of the Republican Establishment, experience as a state legislator, was on leave from the legislature since he was (maybe still is) a reservist who was called up for military duty in Iraq (Frank Antenori's been over there too as a reservist). That's an impressive track record.

In the final days, there was all of a sudden a campain against Jesse Kelly. We don't know who funded it. It may have come from the Giffords camp, maybe from the Paton camp, or maybe even from the Republican National Committee itself. What I can tell you is that Paton was the Establishment candidate and Jesse Kelly wasn't. I didn't vote for either one, instead casting my ballot for Brian Miller since I felt that Mr. Miller was the best of the lot, but Jesse Kelly won with 49% of the vote, and Jonathan Paton is now wondering why he didn't win, and doesn't even want to speculate on it. If he's throwing his support behind Kelly, I am not aware of it. I don't know if his backers will close ranks and support Jesse Kelly, or if they'll take orders from the RNC and throw support to Giffords.

Anyway, Jesse Kelly has won the nomination, and I think he stands a chance at unseating Giffords. If Giffords had voted against the stimulus and against ObamaCare she'd be a shoo-in, but she defied the wishes of her district and got in bed with Nancy Pelosi.

The thing of it is, is that even though conventional wisdom says that the GOP will take the House in November and may even take the Senate, we as a nation will only be marginally better off with this kind of outcome. The Establishment Republicans will be in charge, and the Establishment Democrats will be in charge of a minority party that really isn't much different.

The reality is that the Republican Party is an extremely serious threat to our national security, as is the Establishment Democrats, and as is Al Qaeda.

Al Qaeda wants to bring down the United States with terrorist attacks and nuclear detonations, taking advantage of lax immigration policies put forth by both the Establishment Republicans and Establishment Democrats.

Establishment Republicans and Establishment Democrats also want to bring down the United States, but from within. They both agree that this is best accomplished by open borders, destroying the dollar, sending as many jobs as possible to China and by appointing judges who regard the Constitution as toilet paper.

This is something to think about as you enter the voting booth in early November.

Visitors!

Yesterday afternoon my brother rolled in from Santa Fe. He lives in the San Jose area, but decided to take a vacation touring the western states and stopping off to get in some serious bikeriding. He stopped off in Nevada, again in Colorado, then New Mexico, then he came here to Tucson.

It wasn't his first time here, but it has been a long while. Cousin Todd came down last night from Gilbert to visit, and the three of us were up late last night knocking off a New York style pizza and a few rounds of Corona.

He would have stayed one more day, but needed to get back to San Jose in time to resume work. I advised him to take two days to drive back instead of one, and that San Bernardino is the halfway point between here and San Jose.

Tomorrow afternoon I'm meeting two friends for dinner at one of Tucson's fine Mexican restaurants. One is in from Pennsylvania and another is in from Queen Creek. We'll probably be there for a few hours. Then Monday it's back to work.

* * * * * * *

I'm finally at that "fireball" story in the Alfred Hitchcock collection! This time I've gotten farther into it than I did some 37 or so years ago. It's building up nicely, and I hope to complete it this weekend.

The other stories were also good, with a few of them quite chilling. I didn't remember them all but the scariest ones I did remember, particularly "One of the Dead" by William Wood and "Journey to Death" by Donald E. Westlake. The "fireball" story is called "Out of the Deeps" by John Wyndham though Google research says that this was published as a different novel called "The Kraken Wakes".

* * * * * * *

On the world scene, we have Iran starting up their nuclear capability, a rumor that Israel will strike, and I have a sense of uneasiness that something big is going to happen in the very near future and it ain't going to be pretty.

The 1970s/80s rock band Styx had this song called "Borrowed Time", and I'm now wondering if we, as a nation, have been living on it a little too long.

* * * * * * *

That's going to be it for this evening. I don't have very much else to say right now.

So What Have I Been Up To Lately?

There's been some more spare time on my hands these past few weekends than I've been used to. Yes, a new normal, for lack of a better term has set in, and there are probably a few friends and family members wondering if I'm becoming a recluse.

Well, recluse would have been a fitting term two weekends ago. I've been busy working on getting my coin collection better organized, getting some clutter taken care of, getting some projects done, some barbecuing, some reading.....actually, a whole lot of reading. What I haven't done is catch up on my DVDs though I may take in an episode of Hawaii Five-O later on this evening.

* * * * * * *

My reading selection has been short stories. Before my trip to Wisconsin I found in a used bookstore an anthology of science fiction stories written in the 1930s, and compiled by Isaac Asimov. I found myself amazed at how well written these stories are. Dr. Asimov included some commentary on these stories, as that these were his favorites when he was a young teenager working at his father's candy store. They influenced some of his writing style, and as I was reading one of them I was wondering if that's where he got the idea to have the team of Greg Powell and Mike Donovan field test robots in I, Robot. After that story he mentioned that yes, that's where that came from.

I finished that anthology some two weeks ago, and now I'm working on an anthology compiled by Alfred Hitchcock.

* * * * * * *

When I was in the sixth grade or so back in Titusville, Florida, one of my favorite places to visit was the local library, where I would check out books on a regular basis. I read lots of science fiction and lots of mysteries. I was particularly drawn to the recurring characters called "The Three Investigators", and these were presented by Alfred Hitchcock. My thinking is that he wrote them, but I may be wrong on that.

Anyway, one book that I checked out was "Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Stories That Scared Even Me". I read all of them save for the last one, which was a novel at the very end of the book. I started that story, but never finished it. It had something to do with fireballs falling from outer space and landing in the ocean. My dad read that book too, and said that that last story was the best one of them all.

Some time ago, within the past year I'm sure, I had a dream where I got hold of that book again so that I could read that one last story. Yes, it got away from me, and when I would visit bookstores I would look in the mystery section, hoping that this long out of print collection would return.

I then forgot about trying to find it until a few weeks ago. Someone put the bug in my ear that maybe I could find it on amazon.com, and sure enough, there were several used copies available from various used book dealers around the country. I selected one, ordered it, and it quickly arrived.

It's really interesting re-reading some of these stories again as an adult, some 37 or so years later. Some of them I remember well; the one I read today I didn't remember it until I got to the very end. I haven't yet gotten to that very last story, but I figure on getting there soon. I will finally get to read it, and I think I'll tell you about it when I'm done with it.

* * * * * * *

While on the subject of books, I found my original copies of the "Foundation" trilogy by Isaac Asimov. I had them all along; they were in the bookcase downstairs! Oh well, it's just as well that I was forced to re-purchase a few of them as that that's got me going again on the robots, the Galactic Empire, and the Foundation series. I am trying to get the last book I need for the "Caliban" trilogy, which was not written by Asimov, but word has it that he approved the outline before he passed away. That will at least fill in some of the "history" between the Spacers and the Settlers before the Galactic Empire came into being.

As you might be guessing, I find the concept of a long series of novels tied together to be fascinating. Once I'm done, I should probably read another trilogy that I've been meaning to do for some time: The Lord of the Rings.

* * * * * * *

Last weekend I wasn't a recluse, although I wanted to be one. I went out and renewed some friendships last weekend, and there are a few folks out there that I need to touch base with. I have a standing invitation to share dinner and company with a good friend of mine who spends half her time in Tucson and the other half in Cochise County, and I really should give her a call tomorrow.

* * * * * * *

I learned of the deer tag drawing results two days ago. Todd and I were drawn for antlered mule deer, the middle hunt, and in the very unit that was our top choice! You have to select five "hunts" to apply for, and I'm pleased that we got our top choice. It's down by Willcox, which is some 75 miles or so from here.

Once the monsoon season winds down, we're going to try to get in some scouting runs. We've seen muleys north of I-10 before, halfway between Willcox and Safford. That was from a state highway, and of course they weren't in season.

* * * * * * *

Starting two days ago, it's been legal to carry a concealed weapon in Arizona without a permit. I've been reading the newspaper and listening to the scanner.

We have not had any shootouts, nor have we had an increase in people wanting to pick fights with someone else so that they could shoot them.

What we have had is some protests over SB1070, and no one got shot at the protests either.

* * * * * * *

And speaking of SB1070, it's been largely nullified by a federal judge. As is usually the case with a law that an overwhelming majority of the population is in favor of, a minority segment of vocal malcontents go out of their way to find a judge who will short-circuit the process of legislation and enactment.

In other words, the will of the people be damned.

* * * * * * *

One argument against SB1070 that its critics like to cite is that it isn't right for a state to enforce federal law.

Well......consider this.

A sheriff's deputy stops a car for speeding down the county road. He has probable cause to search the trunk, and asks that it be opened. He finds that the speeder has a suitcase stuffed to the gills with counterfeit $100 bills.

Should the deputy simply cite the driver for speeding and then send him on his way, since counterfeiting is regulated by federal law, which a state has no business enforcing?

* * * * * * *

The Tucson Unified School District has announced that they are not going to enforce immigration law. In their view, they don't want to be the eyes and ears of law enforcement.

If that's the case, then how come they don't raise similar objections when the state wants them to report suspected cases of child abuse to the authorities?

* * * * * * *

The next time you're on the interstate, please drive in the right lane, and use the left lane for passing.

It's the courteous thing to do.

It's also the law in some states.