Music Friday: "Misty Morning Rain"

I got the most recent album by Ray LaMontagne, and this is one tune that stands out to me after the first listen. 

Enjoy. 

Musing of the Moment: Cocktails A-Go-Go or Boozemobile.

As a parent of travel baseball, there a many times when you ponder how you could make the experience of watching your son play even better. 

During the summer, kids used to have ice cream trucks. I guess they still might be around, but they aren't in my little village in east central Illinois. 

What I propose is creating a traveling cocktail bar that frequents baseball tournaments like an Ice Cream Truck. We'll call it Cocktails A-Go-Go or the Boozemobile (like the old school Bookmobile). 

Instead of having a song or jingle to get parents' attention, so they know it's around, the Boozemobile won't do a song or a jingle, it'll just have a girl or boy's boy saying, "Mom/Dad, do you have any money?"

Music Friday: "Ju$t"

I'm not a huge follower of contemporary hip hop, but from what I've heard, I am drawn to Run the Jewels because they have a "don't-give-a-fuck" attitude and Killer Mike is an smart activist. 

The group provided RTJ4 for free a good while back, so I downloaded it. One of my favorite tunes on the album is "Ju$t," which features Zach De La Rocha. 

Musing of the Moment: Biden's VP Picks

The Washington Post has a short little article that provides Biden's potential VP picks and features a significant quotation from each: "Under Consideration: Joe Biden's Potential Running Mates, In Their Own Words." 

For me, I'm fine with any of these picks, but I've always liked Kamala Harris even though I wouldn't consider all that left leaning. I'm also a fan of Val Demings. 

Music Friday: "Bayou Tortuous"

I read somewhere on the InterWebs that James McMurtry might have a new album coming out this year. 

If that's the case, I'm looking forward to it. 

Here's the opening song on Just Us Kids. 

Music Friday: "Killing in the Name"

Times they are a-changin'. Hopefully. 

Rage provided this anthem way back in '92. Still relevant. 

Random Notes from a Crank

With the Boutygate going on, there are a number of wild conclusions to reach:

• Moscow Don is a Manchurian Candidate selected by Russia
• Moscow Don is somehow leveraged by Russian interests to do their bidding
• Moscow Don has some kind of weird bromance with Putin

More sensible conclusions can be reached in this opinion piece: "Trump's Ugly New Spin on Russia Bounties Actually Incriminates Him." 

And here's a solid bit of analysis from The Globe and Mail: "A Presidency That Began with Bans on Foreign Travelers Now Sees Europe Off Limits to Americans." 

The column quotes a good talking point from Biden: "Because Trump can't do the most basic parts of his job, the United States is now viewed as posing a global health risk. Today, America is first in infections, first in deaths, and the EU has decided to bar Americans from traveling there as Europe reopens." 

I recently got a suet cake feeder for our front tree, and the birds are going through suet cakes like crazy. In particular, I've attracted some beautiful woodpeckers, specifically northern flickers and a red-headed woodpecker.

Stay Positive: NFL Washington ???

The Washington Post is reporting that DC franchise is finally getting around to changing its name and mascot: "Washington Redskins Launch Review of Controversial Team Name."

So this situation makes me think about possible replacement names for the Redskins:

• Washington Lobbyists (That's who really pulls the shots.)
• Washington Gridlock
• Washington Confederacy of Whores
• Washington Minutemen
• Washington Senators
• Washington Homeless (The nation's capital has a large homeless population.)
• Washington Taxation without Representation (D.C. has a larger population than Wyoming and has neither representatives nor senators.)
• Washington Beauty Roses
• Washington Green (one of the greenest cities in the nation)
• Washington Cherry Blossoms
• Washington Generals (after the Harlem Globetrotters' opponent)

Music Friday: "Stay Positive"

I have Stay Positive posts, but I don't think I ever featured the song that created the namesake of those posts. 

So here's "Stay Positive" from the The Hold Steady.