I was going through my music collection on iTunes the other day and thought I’d take a look at the songs that I played the most or ranked the highest. Below, in alphabetical order, are 40 or so songs that made the first cut. I’m sure if I took more time or dug more deeply into my 9000 or so songs, I’d probably add or replace a few of these. I tried to strike a balance among several genres. They run the gamut from Instrumental (Yanni and Enya) to Easy Listening (Joni Mitchell and Cat Stevens) to Rock (Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin and Metallica). About the only thing you won’t find is Country. I do have a few Country songs that I like, but none are at the top of my playlists.
- All Along The Watch Tower – Jimi Hendrix
- Baker Street – Gerry Rafferty
- Born In Time – Eric Clapton
- Boulevard Of Broken Dreams – Green Day
- The Boxer – Simon & Garfunkel
- Broken Wings – Mr. Mister
- Diamonds & Rust – Joni Mitchell
- Drive – The Cars
- Dust in the Wind – Kansas
- Far Away – Nickelback
- Fire and Rain – James Taylor
- Fred Baer – Ted Nugent
- Good Heart – Jefferson Starship
- Hey Jude – The Beatles
- Hotel California – The Eagles
- The House Of The Rising Sun – The Animals
- I Just Want You – Ozzie Osbourne
- I’ll Remember – Madonna
- I’m Your Captain/Closer to Home – Grand Funk Railroad
- I Ran – Flock of Seagulls
- Layla – Derek and the Dominos
- Learn To Fly – Foo Fighters
- The Logical Song – Supertramp
- Nights In White Satin – The Moody Blues
- Nothing Else Matters – Metallica
- Old Man – Neil Young
- Only Wanna Be With You – Hootie & The Blowfish
- Owner Of a Lonely Heart – Yes
- Peace Train – Cat Stevens
- Pinball Wizard – The Who
- River Flows In You – Yiruma
- Mr Roboto – Styx
- Runnin’ Down A Dream – Tom Petty
- Sky Pilot – Erick Burdon
- Slide – The Goo Goo Dolls
- So Far Away – Staind
- Stairway to Heaven – Led Zeppelin
- Sultans of Swing – Dire Straits
- Time Has Come Today – The Chambers Brothers
- To The One Who Knows – Yanni
- Watermark – Enya
- White Wedding – Billy Idol
- Whole Lotta Love – Led Zeppelin
- White Room – The Cream
- You Wreck Me – Tom Petty
An Obituary printed in the London Times
Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was, since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape. He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as:
– Knowing when to come in out of the rain;
– Why the early bird gets the worm;
– Life isn’t always fair;
– and maybe it was my fault.Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don’t spend more than you can earn) and reliable strategies (adults, not children, are in charge).
His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a 6-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition.
Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly children.
It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer sun lotion or an aspirin to a student; but could not inform parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.
Common Sense lost the will to live, as the churches became businesses; and criminals received better treatment than their victims.
Common Sense took a beating when you couldn’t defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar could sue you for assault.
Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement.
Common Sense was preceded in death, by his parents, Truth and Trust, by his wife, Discretion, by his daughter, Responsibility, and by his son, Reason.
If you know me at all, you know I’m a chocolate addict. If it’s chocolate by itself or it has chocolate in it, on it or around it, I’ll eat it. I’m particularly fond of good dark chocolate. Give me some dark chocolate with a 60% to 80% cocoa content, and I’m your friend for life.
In a previous blog entry, I told you about how good Brookside Dark Chocolate Pomegranates were. My latest chocolate fix is courtesy of Pearson’s Mint Patties. These babies are good. The cocoa content for the dark chocolate portion of the candy mint is 66%. The peppermint portion of the candy is good, too. Once I open one up, I don’t think I eat less than 10-12 a day. It’s a good thing I buy them in the 5 lb. jar or it would be a real expensive addiction. I think I may have to attend a Chocoholic’s Anonymous meeting pretty soon – “Hi, my name is Ralph and I’m a Chocoholic.”
If you want to try them, they’re available at Costco, Sam’s Club, Wal-Mart, Walgreens, etc. Or, if you drop by my house, I might even share a few with you! There’s even a website for them here. Definitely worth a try. Plus, dark chocolate is actually good for you – in moderation, that is!
I hope everyone had a safe and enjoyable Memorial Day weekend. The weather here in Michigan was great. We spent some of the weekend with family and friends in Grand Haven and enjoyed a nice picnic at the park watching all the boats and people along the channel. There were definitely a wide range of people and clothing styles to both admire and be amused by. Later in the evening we had a little campfire and roasted some hot dogs, marshmallows and s’mores. The only thing missing was our daughter who is hard at work in Pennsylvania. We missed you Beaners!
As I’m writing this, I’m feeling a little guilty. This is supposed to be a day for celebrating all the fallen heroes who died in service of their country. I know that there were services and parades in many cities around the country to observe this fact. However, it seems that Memorial Day has just become another 3-day national holiday. It’s pretty much lost most of its true meaning and is now known more as the start of the summer season as anything else. I’ve become as guilty as everyone else so I’m certainly not pointing fingers at anyone. I think I’d like to see Congress change Memorial Day observance to the last Wednesday in May. Maybe that would remove it from the 3-day weekend mentality and bring its true meaning back into the limelight. What do you think?
As a final thought to maybe bring the true meaning of sacrifice to the forefront, below is the text of the letter that President Lincoln wrote to the mother who lost all five of her sons in battle during the Civil War.
Washington, Nov. 21, 1864.Dear Madam,–
I have been shown in the files of the War Department a statement of the Adjutant General of Massachusetts that you are the mother of five sons who have died gloriously on the field of battle.
I feel how weak and fruitless must be any word of mine which should attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming. But I cannot refrain from tendering you the consolation that may be found in the thanks of the Republic they died to save.
I pray that our Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement, and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost, and the solemn pride that must be yours to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of freedom.
Yours, very sincerely and respectfully,
A. Lincoln
I found some of the below songs on a few websites that claimed they’re actual song titles. I know that a few of them are real, but I didn’t bother to check them all. Even if they’re not actual song titles, who cares. They’re still pretty funny.
- There Ain’t Enough Room In My Fruit Of The Looms To Hold All My Lovin’ For You
- Get Your Tongue Outta My Mouth ‘Cause I’m Kissing You Goodbye
- I Ain’t Gone To Bed With No Ugly Women, But I Sure Woke Up With A Few
- I Kissed Her On The Lips, And Left Her Behind For You
- I’d Rather Pass A Kidney Stone Than Spend Another Night With You
- She Got The Gold Mine And I Got The Shaft
- My Wife Ran Off With My Best Friend And I Sure Do Miss Him Now
- Liked You Better Before I Knew You So Well
- I’ve Been Flushed From The Bathroom Of Your Heart
- You’re The Hangnail In My Life, And I Can’t Bite You Off
- How Can I Miss You When You Won’t Go Away?
- She Got The Ring And I Got The Finger
- I Fell In A Pile Of You And Got Love All Over Me
- I’m So Miserable Without You, It’s Like Having You Here
- I Never Really Loved You, I Just Drank Too Much
- She Broke My Heart, So I Busted Her Jaw
Another bucket list item bites the dust. I’ve always wanted to see a shuttle launch in person. I went down to Florida in late 2007 to finally see one, but it was cancelled at the last minute for technical problems. I was going to wait around for a day or two, but decided that there was no guarantee that it would make it, so I left. This particular shuttle did finally launch, but not until after a week had passed.
As luck would have it, my wife and I were recently invited to a wedding in Georgia. These were friends we had met over 25 years ago. We hadn’t seen them since 1986. One of their daughters was getting married who was only two years old the last time we saw her. We gladly accepted. At the time, I didn’t know that a shuttle launch was scheduled for April 5th, only two days after the wedding. A week or so before the trip, the shuttle launch was mentioned in a news article I was reading. What a great surprise and opportunity this was. We went to Georgia, had a great time attending our friends’ wedding, and left the next day for Florida.
We arrived in Titusville around 4pm the day before the launch. We didn’t have any plan as to where we would stay or watch the launch. We pulled into a bank parking lot next to a city park called Space View Park. As it turned out, this was one of the best public access areas to view a shuttle launch from. It’s on the Indian River, directly across from the NASA launch pads. You have an unobstructed view of the launch and there is a live audio feed from the mission control center. We were able to listen to all the audio going on between Houston Control, the local NASA launch site and the astronauts in the shuttle. We totally lucked out. Also, we arrived early enough so that we were able to secure a great spot. We ended up getting our sleeping bags out, and stayed the entire night in the park. That was definitely an adventure. I can’t remember the last time my wife and I went camping and slept in a sleeping bag. The weather was perfect for our outdoor camping adventure and there were plenty of people there to pass the time with. To top it off, we happened to be sitting by a Canadian gentleman who was a walking encyclopedia on all things space-related. This guy was telling us everything and anything related to the shuttle. He knew every fact and figure imaginable, and then some. It was really quite interesting listening to him.
As the scheduled 6:21am launch approached, people were excited and nervous. We were excited about seeing a night launch, but also nervous about the possibility of a cancelled launch for technical problems. After staying out all night, it would have been a big disappointment to have the launch scrubbed. It was pretty cool listening to all the live audio between the various control personnel and the astronauts aboard the shuttle. About 20 minutes before the final countdown, an announcement came over the PA system that a warning light had illuminated and the launch was put on hold. You could hear the crowd groan when it was announced. However, about 10 minutes later, the announcement was made that the problem had been fixed. There was a big cheer from the crowd. The weather was absolutely clear that evening. Not a cloud was in the sky. Because of that, we were able to see the International Space Station pass overhead about 10 minutes or so before the launch. That was an unexpected surprise.
At 6:21am, the launch went off as scheduled. Wow!!! What a sight. The sky really lit up as the rocket engines were ignited. The skyline went from almost total darkness to a brilliant white fireball. The people at the park were cheering and clapping like crazy. You can see and hear the shuttle for several minutes after the actual launch. It’s something truly amazing to see. Even after the shuttle finally disappeared in the sky, the people at the park were still pretty pumped up. To top it off, about 30-45 minutes after the launch, we were treated to a spectacular sunrise. We ended up doing quite a bit of driving in a short period of time to see this, but boy was it worth it.
This was the last scheduled night launch. However, there are three more daytime shuttle launches scheduled this year before the program is shut down. If you haven’t seen one yet, I highly recommend it. You won’t be disappointed.
Below is a short two minute video I took of the shuttle launch.
A teacher in Michigan asked her 6th grade class how many of them were Obama fans. Not really knowing what an Obama fan is, but wanting to be liked by the teacher, all the kids raised their hands except for Little Johnny. The teacher asked Little Johnny why he has decided to be different…again. Little Johnny says, ‘Because I’m not an Obama fan.’ The teacher says, ‘Why aren’t you an Obama fan?’ Johnny says, ‘Because I’m a Republican.’ The teacher asks him why he’s a Republican. Little Johnny answered, ‘Well, my mom’s a Republican and my dad’s a Republican, so I’m a Republican’.
The teacher asks, ‘If your mom was a moron and your dad was an idiot, what would that make you?’ With a big smile, Little Johnny replies, ‘That would make me an Obama fan.’
Well, I’m going to start a new category today – the “Bucket List”. I’m sure you’re all familiar with the term. It’s a list you make of all the things that you want to do before you “kick the bucket.” There was a movie by the same name that came out in 2007 and starred Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman. I just got the movie recently and watched it with my wife the other day.
I began thinking of compiling a bucket list last Fall. I don’t recall ever thinking too much about one before that. As you grow up, especially in your teenage years and early adult life, you don’t worry a whole lot about the future. There’s a certain feeling of immortality in those years and the idea that you’re going to die someday is pretty much pushed back into your subconscious somewhere. As you get older and begin to see more of your family, friends and acquaintances passing away, the idea of dying becomes more relevant. I think I’m at that point. The below bucket list is certainly not the final one, by any means. It’s more of a first cut of things that came to mind, initially. They’re not in any particular order. I’ll probably add more things as they come to mind.
Do you have a bucket list? If so, what sort of things do you have?
Bucket List
- Run a marathon (completed 10/18/2009)
- Run the Boston Marathon (completed 4/19/2010)
- Watch a shuttle launch (completed 4/5/2010)
- Go to Mt. Rushmore
- Go to Australia
- Go to Italy
- Go skydiving (completed 6/28/2013)
- Go hang gliding (completed 6/12/2013)
- Go bungee jumping
- Go zip lining
- Hike the Grand Canyon
- Compete in a triathlon
- Take a cross country motorcycle trip (completed 5/14/2015)
- Attend a session of Congress
- Go white-water rafting
- Ride in a hot air balloon (completed 8/10/2013)
- Go race car driving (completed 10/18/2014)
- Celebrate my 50th wedding anniversary
- Walk my daughter down the aisle
- Have a grandchild
Another bucket list item bites the dust. I completed the Boston Marathon last Monday. After raining on both Saturday and Sunday, the weather cleared up on Monday. The temperature was about 45° at the start and warmed up to about 55° by the end of the race. It was a little windy in spots, but all in all, a pretty good day for running. The race started in the little town of Hopkinton at 10am. My wife and I stayed at a hotel near this town and I took the hotel shuttle to the starting line. I arrived there at 9am and spent the hour or so before the race in the Athlete’s Village. The village was located on the grounds at the local school. There were several big white tents with bagels, bananas, power bars, coffee, Gatorade, water, etc. Music was blaring, the sun was shining, and there were hundreds of porta-potties for the runners. Just before the start of the race, a group of fighter jets from the local military unit flew overhead and made it to Boston in just about 4 minutes (cheaters!).
About 30 minutes before the race, they came on the PA system and told the runners to start heading for the starting line. The Athlete’s Village is about ¾ of a mile from the actual starting line. As you start the walk, you can feel the excitement and tension building. As you near the line, you enter your starting corral based on your bib number. When the race starts, it may take a few minutes before you actually begin to get into a racing stride, depending on how far back in the pack you are. With around 25,000 runners, it’s a little crowded, particularly at the start. As you’re running and looking down the racecourse, it looks like a solid wall of humanity with little heads constantly bobbing up and down. The first couple of miles are a little bit crowded, but after that, things spread out enough to where there’s plenty of room to run without constantly bumping into each other.
The run went pretty well during the first half of the race. At the 13-mile mark, you pass by Wellesley College. I think just about every girl there had a sign that said, “Kiss Me.” They were all there cheering us on and it was a pretty loud group of ladies. There were several guys that did take the girls up on their offer. However, since this was Hillary Clinton’s alma mater, I politely declined their offer. At the 14-mile mark, my calf muscles started to lock up on me. As some of you know, I injured my back two months before the race and I couldn’t run for a whole month. I was only able to run a total of 60-70 miles over the 2-month period leading up to the race. Most runners training for a marathon will run that much in only 1-2 weeks. My muscles just didn’t have the strength built up in them to handle a 26-mile run. For miles 14 to 23, I would run until my muscles cramped up and then walk until they un-cramped enough to start another short run. By the 23rd mile, my calf muscles completely locked up and I was unable to run any more. I then finished the last 3 miles by walking as fast as I could. When I got within about 100 feet of the finish line, I made my best impression of a running movement, and crossed the line with my arms raised up in victory.
Considering my situation, I’m pretty pleased that I was able to finish the race. It would have been nice to be more competitive, but it just wasn’t meant to be. I managed to get a copy of me crossing the finish line from a video feed from the local NBC station in Boston. The video below isn’t the greatest quality, but you can see me hobbling across the line.
One week from tomorrow is the 114th running of the Boston Marathon. I got my official Boston Marathon race packet in the mail last week. My bib pickup card is what you see on the left. I’ve decided to run in it, after all. I was able to get an 18-mile run in about 10 days ago and a 10-mile run in last Saturday. The 18-mile run was a tough one, but considering the little training that I’ve done over the past month, it was bearable. Like I said in a previous post, I’ve given up on trying to run any kind of competitive time. I’m just going to be happy if I can finish it.
Hopefully, a week from now, I can say that I successfully completed it. As much of a physical challenge that this race will be for me, I’m still pretty excited about competing in it. Running alongside half-a-million cheering spectators is not something that you get to do every day. It’ll definitely be an experience to remember!
