The enduring saga of Paul McCartney...
He sounds pretty good at 65...

Remember back "in the day", sometime around 1968 or thereabouts, when all of the hippies were saying, "don't trust anyone over 30"? I remember when I turned 30; there I was, sitting under a tree in total shock. I couldn't believe it. Me, 30. Say it ain't so! And that was 23 years ago. Back in 1969, the Beatles broke up. They'd known each other forever, and I suppose they all got tired of it all. They all recorded after the group broke up, but the output of Paul McCartney is more than his three former bandmates combined. Of course, Paul has the edge now, mainly because he is still alive (and he's waaay more productive than Ringo...but even before 1980, when John Lennon was taken away, Paul had been recording albums and singles by the dozen, something which he still does today. Here's the evidence...



Pictured above is "Memory Almost Full", Macca's 2007 album. And, it's, in my opinion, the best thing he's put out since 1995's "Flaming Pie" album (which was so good it was scary)...the leadoff track, an infectuous little song, "Dance Tonight" is deceptively simple, yet it has that old McCartney melodic charm. My favorite on the album right now is "That Was Me", a spiffy little rocker on which he sings about his past off-handedly. In still another track, "The End Of The End", Paul says he doesn't want anyone to cry when he dies; rather, his friends & family should gather 'round and tell well-worn tales in rememberance. He'd rather have a wake than a funeral, I guess. Another song, "Gratitude", ties the memory of his late wife Linda, who passed away in the late '90s, in with the complications of his relationship with Heatheryoko (whom he'll divorce soon, if not already); and the overall impression I get is, "Paul sure sounds good for a SENIOR CITIZEN". And even though Paul, nor Starbuck's, who now issues his records, doesn't need my money, I'm glad I got the album. I even bought a vinyl copy. Had to special-order it. It took almost two months for me to get it. And that's what puts the "snail" in MAIL. So now I'm helping to finance an ultra-rich artist, as well as a giant coffee conglomerate. Modern times, huh?

Say it isn't so, NASA: We all remember the Challenger disaster of the mid-80's; Christa McAuliffe, a teacher, and the rest of the crew lost their lives just after liftoff. Now, Barbara Morgan, an Idaho lady, a teacher, and McAuliffe's original 'backup' is herself now in space. So she and the crew have made it that far. But will they make it back? Evidently there are some protective tiles missing from the side of the spacecraft, potentially posing a dangerous space-walk in order to either slap some high-tech 'Bondo' on the spacecraft, or perhaps screw in some new tiles so it doesn't burn up upon re-entry. I'm keeping my fingers crossed here. I don't like how this feels, but I'm praying they all make it back safely.

He's gone to that great stage in the sky: Who among us, at least those of us who grew up in the '60s and '70's, DIDN'T know who Merv Griffin was? I always enjoyed his breezy demeanor and watched his daytime talk show a whole bunch of times way back when. And he thought up concepts for a whole lot of game shows such as "Wheel of Fortune" and "Jeopardy"...whether you enjoyed those game shows or were annoyed by them, the shows, and the man who created them were an undeniable cultural influence. Just think; without him, Vanna White would probably be serving time in a secretarial pool somewhere. Merv Griffin passed away over the weekend; he was 82. Yeah, another icon from my past has departed this planet. I try not to think about things like that. Makes me think about my own mortality.

I hope they don't flush all the toilets at once: One of the pranks dormitory residents were ALLEGED to have done was to flush all the toilets at once; evidently that gesture caused a whole lotta plumbing problems in the dormitory complex I lived in at the University of Idaho. Well, I was watching a report on Northwest Cable Nooze, and one of the stories was about expensive real-estate, about how many houses in the 5-million dollar (and above) range were located near the Seattle area. One hyooooge house on Mercer Island is so hyooooge that it has 15 BATHROOMS. The water bill alone has to be more than the yearly income of Joe Bluecollar. All I can say is, if yer gonna buy a house like that, make sure the PLUMBING is good.

News Flash...ding ding ding ding ding...I remember the old teletypes and how they would ring maddeningly whenever a hot news story would announce itself; the doggone machine would almost vibrate itself apart in the process...anyway, I've heard a bit of news, just now, that is shocking, but in the end, I'm not all that surprised...White House aide KARL ROVE is gonna be resigning at the end of this month. Is he a good guy who needs a break from all the pressure, or is he just another rat jumping off the sinking ship of this Prezzidential administration? Or, was he about to be chewed up and spit out by the Washington scandal machine? I don't know the answers to those questions, but I know who first reported the Rove story: A "Roving" reporter, ha ha......

It takes no talent whatsoever to breed Finch: My finch are now the proud parents of four little finch. Amazing how fast they grow; some days, it's as if they double in size. The oldest little baby-finch hops around the cage a little bit; he can fly, but he's not quite strong enough yet to hit the high perch with accuracy; he either bumps into something or has to settle for a lower perch. A finch learning to fly is like me learning to ride a bicycle. I was too afraid to steer and I smashed headfirst into a telephone pole. Ouch. Back to the finch: The baby finch are now sleeping in a corner of the cage; I didn't want any finch falling out of the nest and hurting themselves. And soon I'll have a cage full of finch flying helter-skelter in all different directions. Soon I'll be spending more money on bird food than I spend on people food. Why doesn't it take any talent to breed finch? They take after "Polaroid"; mating takes maybe half a minute, and in a month, presto, all kinds of little finch birds are running amok. It's probably a good thing that humans have a somewhat longer gestation period. Of course, humans have a way of running around helter-skelter too.
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Back to college pranks for a minute: I remember when someone ripped apart a cat-tail (you know, those things you see in rivers/swamps, etc)...and shoved it into the air blower at the end of the hallway. Then they hit the switch, and before you know it, cotton-like particles were floating everywhere, obscuring vision and making people sneeze. College education: Thousands and thousands of dollars. Learning new pranks: Priceless!