Reflections of Me

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEMuEywHxcw ABBA. I can bore anyone within listening distance with my talk about ABBA. Now, I quit playing music the year ABBA won the Eurovision song contest ( 1974 ) with a little tune entitled 'Waterloo'. After I quit, I didn't follow music much for a while. I did get one of their early albums -- I believe it was 'Waterloo' -- but lost track of them. Partly due to my being quite busy with work and family, and partly due to my consciously trying to stay away from listening too much, as I would have missed playing. Too, here in America, ABBA was not as popular as in the rest of the world; probably mainly due to the fact that they did not tour here until 1979, and in the USA, we have some misguided notion that we won't like nor buy music from anyone who doesn't tour. Even though The Beatles had put the lie to that years earlier. Still, those in charge of promoting music in America did not promote those who did not tour for them...

Well, I suppose that's a given, with all the woes surfacing around the world. Here is the USA, there doesn't seem to be much in the way of good news this holiday ( CHRISTMAS) season. The Illinois governor gets busted. Not a shock ( in fact, I fail to understand why anyone in this country would be shocked ); corruption and politics are not unfamiliar bedfellows. Especially in States where corruption has been so widely known and even expected. Illinois has long been noted for it, has long been accepted as a powerful political machine. It isn't the only one, but of course, as Obama is a product of that machine, this one gets some great headlines. Politics, particularly in a free market capitalist society, involves compromise. Compromise can lead to deals. Deals can lead to personal gain. To make a deal resulting in personal gain is corruption -- yet, it is common business practice, if one can be totally honest. Why make a deal that doesn't benefit the dealers? As...

Okay, most days I have nothing; I just sit down and start typing, to see what comes out. It can be scary; my subconscious isn't subbed all that far, I fear. Spent most of this past weekend doing two things: playing the new Tomb Raider game, Underworld, and watching ABBA videos at YouTube. Tomb Raider; I do like PC gaming, and I do like Tomb Raider. It has been both one of the best games ever to play, and the most frustrating.....the new series, by Crystal Dynamics, has taken the adventurous Lara Croft into new realms, and the graphics are nothing short of stunning. Including Lara herself -- the detail is amazing, and the animation is wonderful, in Underworld. Some of the puzzles are still frustrating, and occasionally the direction you intend for her to go becomes another one altogether, but it's minor, and the auto-save system virtually guarantees you won't have dozens of steps to replay to get to where you messed up. When it comes to PC gaming, I have many I like, but few...

And headlines. First, our new President. Well, President-elect. He states, on Meet the Press, that the economy will get worse before it gets better. No. Really? But, I thought you said......oh, wait, right. Bush made it worse. I can hear all that now. Poor Obama...he had a plan, but, dang it, seems things have changed. Yup. Or...is it, as it seems to appear now, that the 'other guys' simply had a more realistic knowledge of and idea for what it would take? And suffered a loss because of it? One side told it as it needed to be told, the other told it as we wanted to hear. And the 'we wanted to hear' won out. Scary news report today: in Southern California, where they still encourage people to turn in firearms in return for certificates to shop at electronics or grocery stores, record numbers are turning out -- and turning in. Guns. Now, the scary part of this is multi-fold; seems the grocery gift cards are being asked for in record numbers, indicating that...

These are often the subject of much personal angst. I read them.....sometimes, I even read the articles they lead to. Though not often. When I do, the article usually bears little resemblance to the headline. Now, one thing a headline is supposed to do is attract one's attention. One of the problems with today's headlines is that the attention they are trying to attract provides the base for how the headline is worded. Too often, they read like a drunken gradeschooler's attempt at obscene graffitti. But sometimes they are just funny. Like today, from the MSN page: Obama plans vast public works projects : hmmmm, well, that is certainly eye catching. However, it would have interested me a lot more had it been about Obama's private works projects. Because I know -- and you should, too -- that he has some. As did McCain. Think about it; who in their right mind would have wanted the job of American President in these times if they didn't have something planned that would...

Title says it....and there are lots of these. Some make me go more than 'sheesh'. Some make me downright doubt there is any intelligence left on earth. Some are words: Infrastructure : Oh, gimme a break. Sure, it's a word. Even has a use. Which should be specific to it's intentions. Suddenly it is appearing everywhere. It is even being used to describe the gathering of a group of people to perform jobs. Except : people are not structured. You cannot build a human infrastructure. You can build a group of individuals. To call that a infrastructure is pure smoke and mirror misdirection. To use the term to describe economics is even worse, though I can accept it. In the form of -- we should tear down any existing infrastructures and start all over again. With a foundation. Then a structure. Leave the Infra to the Latin freaks. Multitasking : Oh, this one really pisses me off. See? I can do more than one thing at a time!! No!! Really? That's good,...

If you can call it a life. I do. I have to; I wake up each morning in the middle of it. Which, upon reflection, is probably preferable to waking up each morning in the middle of someone else's life. Unless there is someone else you are foolish enough to want to be rather than yourself. Thoughts today; memories. Memories are about all I have these days. Memories of better times, even easier times -- though they didn't always seem so at the time. There's a over-quoted saying: If I had known I was going to live this long, I'd have taken better care of myself. I say this once in a while, but I never really mean it. For if I had it to do all over again.....another oft-quoted line....I'd do it no differently. I had too much fun. Of course, much of that fun is why I hurt so badly these days.....but hey, you do have to -- ready? -- pay the piper. Yeah....I love cliched sayings. :--) Music. Music has always seemed to be a big part of my life. I can remember music...

Ok, not new to writing my opinions and ideas, but kinda new to this.....so, it's cherry-busting time. At my age, who'd have thought I'd have any of those left? About me: I am 59 years old ( feels like : 90 ). Born in Nebraska. Grew up in Iowa. Live now in California. Wish I didn't. Can't afford to go anywhere else. Not sure there is anywhere else worth going anyway. Certainly there are places I'd like to go. Australia, the Bahamas, England, Wales ( family roots ), Sweden, Switzerland. Back to Iowa and Nebraska. All just to visit....most are too cold for my tastes. I prefer a climate where it never gets below 60-70 degrees F. One will never hear me complain about hot weather, as the alternative is beyond my ability to tolerate. I have many interests: I know a little about a lot of things, but not a whole lot about any one thing. I have a cynical and pessimistic viewpoint which is often countered by some strange humorous optimism that sneaks in when...