100. I Want to Die Before I Get Old

I began following geriatric1927 on YouTube about a year ago. I think I was checking out videos of older folks on the internet, thinking, perhaps, my dad might want to be interviewed. I was interested in how videos of older people were accepted on YouTube. geriatric1927 has quite a following.

Last April he was involved in a media event to raise money for a cause called Age Concern. He, together with about 40 elderly folks formed a group called The Zimmers. They even have a myspace page which you should check out because of all the extra videos there. Here's their end product -- My Generation. Watch it to the end -- it's worth it.



This video is relevant for me these days, having spent a couple of weeks with my mother and her friends. (not that they are quite as old as the folks in the video).

Gave up the good life for me...

Oh boy - you're in for it now...

I found a stack of LPs and a few 45's from my childhood and just purchased an ION USB turntable so I can upload all those old songs to my web space (at least until the RIAA yells at me, or worse) and allow you to listen to them while you read my stories.

The most embarrassing of the finds is one I'd completely forgotten about, but remembered immediately upon finding it. (Ok, the B-side was a little worse -- maybe I'll upload that one if I run out of stories)

Glen Campbell released The Dreams of the Everyday Housewife in 1968. I was 12. Somehow I became the owner of the 45 with this song on it. Because I remember the song, I think I may have been older when I liked it, but who knows... Perhaps I was really 12.

Here's a copy from a 45 I found on a closet shelf in my mother's vacation home in Hazelhurst, Wisconsin.

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Now playing: Glen Campbell - Dreams of the Everyday Housewife
via FoxyTunes

Back to Bethesda

Not going to backdate this one, will just fill in between the day I stalled until this day.

Sitting in my childhood bedroom listening to WXRT. Don't Go Back to Rockville just came on the radio.

I've been in Elgin, caring for my dad, for 9 days now and look forward to seeing Rockville very soon. I miss my family. I miss my house. I miss Bethesda. And even Rockville.

Strange Fascination

We now have a decent radio station in the DC area called The Globe. Some of the same DJs that were on WHFS are on The Globe. Each time I listen in, I'm sure to hear at least one song that either brings back memories or is something I'd like to listen to again. This morning I heard David Bowie singing Changes. I actually didn't know it was David Bowie until the DJ announced it was him. While I would not have guessed the singer, I knew it was him on some level (thanks to hindsight).

It was appropriate that I was driving past morning-weary teens on their way to school when these lines were sung:

And these children that you spit on
As they try to change their worlds
Are immune to your consultations
They're quite aware of what they're going through

Not even sure that song holds many memories for me, but my ears perk up whenever I hear it.

Here's a YouTube video of Bowie singing Changes:

96. Meadowsweet and lady smocks Gentian, lupine and tall hollihocks

As silly as it may sound I like the song about English Country Gardens. Clare and I want to start growing one in our yard - we call it a fairytale garden. We've got the hollyhocks (for flower dolls) and foxglove. We really just need to make the space and fix the soil. (We have horrible soil here - mostly red clay).

I assumed it would be easy to find a source for this song, but it seems this is the only link to most of the song. I don't know who that character is. I'm going to have to buy a cd that contains the song and upload it. Or something.



Oh wait - if you like obnoxious midis, here you go.

95. A hat wouldn't have helped - maybe an asprin would have?

I've mentioned Jeremy before. He's the English guy I knew in the 70's. We were going to get married, but didn't.

I've not mentioned his stroke - at least not here. About 9 years ago he was taking a walk and had a stroke up on a moor. I didn't know the taking a walk on the moor part - I found that out today when I heard he'd been honored by the British Stroke Association with a Life After Stroke award in art.

That got me thinking about Ilkely Moor. Have you seen the moors of Yorkshire? They are desolate, but have an uncanny beauty - something that haunts you when you leave them. Ilkely Moor is just another moor, but there is a Yorkshire folk song written about it.

Basically it's about a guy who dated someone else's girlfriend but forgot to wear a hat on the moor while he was dating the girl. His friend warns him that if he continues to go on the moor without a hat he may get a cold, die, and be eaten by worms that in turn are eaten by ducks. The guy whose girlfriend he dated may the duck and "get his own back". Kinda gross, I know, but funny too. I have a tea-towel with the words and some cartoony drawings.

Here are the lyrics. A YouTube video of a bunch of rowdy Yorkshiremen singing the song follows.

94. Happy Birthday Kevin

Speaking about my brother - he's celebrating his 44th birthday today. I have no idea if he still likes the Georgia Satellites or not. He and his wife tried to get me interested in them, but I never saw the appeal.

But here they are singing in 1985 - about a year after I saw them at Popular Creek with Kevin.