GO FLY A KITE...
If you've ever been told that, this would be the place!

EVERYONE KNOWS IT'S WINDY...Well, I'm counting down the hours...it's STORM TIME here on the southern Oregon coast. In addition, Garbage Day in my neck o'the woods is today (Monday). Not a good mix. So, I'm up late, but I suppose I'd be up late anyway. But this time around, Mother Nature is Letting Go...she's not shy; when she's not happy, she lets everyone know. So maybe I should stay up for a while. I've long thot that inclement weather comes about because "somebody just did something really wrong somewhere". (That's my neurotic side on display.) Anyway, I went out and checked, and my garbage can was blown over...thankfully the lid held tight, or the whole neighborhood would know what I've been having for dinner over the last week...wrappers, wrappers everywhere. Let's hope not. On Sunday, there were 100-mph wind gusts further up the coast; it's been windy on and off thru this evening into this morning.

The weather forecasters, who LIVE for times like this, are saying tides might be 40 feet higher than normal, Sunday, going into Monday...well, I'm a couple miles from the ocean, so there's land in-between me and the beach. It's about 1am right now, and I can hear the wind out there, over the TV volume...and occasionally, a quite-mighty gust rears up and makes its presence known. My parakeets, in their cage near the big window, got a 'wind scare' while trying to sleep...they don't know what's going on. So, I moved the 'keets away from the window and then went out and took the garbage can from curbside, and placed it back up next to the house. If the garbageman doesn't come today, well, that's okay. If all goes well, and I've got my fingers crossed, Monday will come and go without a tree falling on my house, my 'keets, or lil' ol' me. But I can hear that wind whipping out there as I type this. Oh, and for any kite-fliers in the vicinity...y'all better use some high-test line...you'll need it!
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SEEING AS HOW I'M GONNA BE UP ANYWAY...I tapped into WABC radio in New York City early this morning, and sure as shootin', the "I-Man", Don Imus, is back on the air. I was watching on that fateful morning last April when he uttered "the big no-no"...and I KNOW he didn't mean it; it was just a phrase that he uttered, and that's ALL. It was a phrase that was out there bouncing around in the 'vernacular'. He made the mistake of using that phrase over the mass media. He spent his first several minutes on the air going into a fairly detailed explanation of what down, but he put the blame squarely on himself for the "nappy" comment he used in tandem with the Rutgers' womens' basketball team. Imus explained that he and the Rutgers' lady basketball players had gotten together for a candid and sometimes emotional 4-hour session... and he said that in a way he was glad he had been fired...because otherwise it would've looked like he was trying to save his job. Imus said he already knew he'd been fired before meeting with the Rutgers team & coaches. I will tell you this unequivocally: Imus is NOT a racist.

So can Don Imus still be the "I-Man"? I think so. He said that the type of mistake he made would never again be uttered on his show, but that, otherwise, his show wouldn't change, and I have quotes: He said that (Vice President) "Dick Cheney is still a war criminal" and that "Hillary Clinton is still "Satan". That's how he referred to them before he got kicked off the air. That's not what got him into trouble. Judging from the ovation he got when he opened his show, he's still got a following. I am personally hoping that Imus can get past this, and he said he'd grown from this whole experience. And if he does so, he'll becomne that rarest of the rare: An old ornery coot who's set in his ways, with strong opinions, yet still capable of adapting. And, all the Prezzential candidates out there who are brave enough are going to find that appearing on Imus' show is going to get them a lot of exposure. John McCain appeared this morning. Although I don't think the I-Man is going to be interviewing "Satan" anytime soon. I only wish his program was on at a more convenient time...it's 5am...I gotta go to bed...
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MAYBE HE'S THE REASON FOR "MA" NATURE'S WRATH...Amazing, how sometimes, things get "circular", and something I wrote about before, comes back in a different form. In the first "section" (about the wind, etc.), I'd said that when the weather's bad, maybe it's Mother Nature's way of expressing displeasure with Someone Who's Done Something Really Bad? Well, if I had a radio station, I'd dedicate the late-70's song, "I Wouldn't Want To Be Like You", by the Alan Parsons Project, to Idaho Senator Larry Craig, who may just have a bit more to answer for this week. Four more young guys have come out, detailing their liaisions (I hope I spelled that right) with Senator Craig in past years. Is he the reason the wind's been blowing so hard this weekend? Of course, he could probably fill in for Ma Nature, because he's been such a WINDBAG about this whole mess he's gotten himself into. He said he'd resign, then he said he wouldn't. He confessed, and then said he was basically tricked into confessing. And, he waited a long time between getting arrested and telling his family. I imagine we'll be hearing a lot about Senator Craig this week.
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YOU GOTTA LOVE THOSE PUBLIC-TV FUNDRAISERS (or not...) Sunday night, on PBS, the really great program featuring the late Roy Orbison ("A Black and White Night") was aired. When I first saw the program, "in progress", I thot, "a-ha, must be time for another FUNDRAISER", and sure enough! If this wasn't so evident, I'd consider myself clairvoyant. After all, PBS only shows the REALLY GREAT concerts when they've got their hands out, asking for money. But, I've seen my share of really great concerts on PBS, although when I see an old and gray Eric Clapton singing the same old blues songs he's sung for the last 50 years, as I saw on PBS Saturday night, I kinda wonder if he's really enjoying what he's doing, or kinda just 'going thru the motions...after all, when you're Eric Clapton, what else can you do; you're The Greatest Living Guitarist In The World; what's left? So I guess you just let yourself relax by playing insufferably simple blues songs. Oh, Eric did play some "Blind Faith" and "Derek & The Dominos" stuff, too, so I guess he can still rock. So he's not quite over the hill. But he's getting there. Big surprise: Stevie Winwood ("Gimme Some Lovin", remember that 1966 tune?) , appeared for several songs with Clapton. And, Winwood has not aged AT ALL. And, in addition to keyboards, he also plays a mean guitar.
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It is now close to 5:30 in the morning. The house is still standing. The parakeets are asleep. No trees have fallen on my head yet. The wind comes and goes. Imus has been on the air for 2 and a half hours, and he hasn't lost his job yet. So, things are about as good as I can expect...for now, that is...