All posts by Jonathan

Al Gore searched

From today’s Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Al Gore searched twice during Wisconsin trip. First when he left the airport in Washington and the second time when he flew from Milwaukee to New York. What a perfect illustration of the lack of common sense these newer measures are from the office of homeland security. I’m sure that the former vice president was considering an act of terror on the plane, yet the possibility of a random screening dissuaded him from carrying out his plan.

Oh look, an elderly woman is getting on the plane. Make sure she doesn’t board with that crochet needle!

Miller Park / MLB

Last night I saw a baseball game at Miller Park for the first time. I must admit I was impressed. The retractable roof was very welcome on a cold, damp evening in Milwaukee. The Brewers even played a good game, beating the San Diego Padres 2-0. Too bad they lost today though. One of these days Major League Baseball has got to adopt some type of revenue sharing, like professional football and basketball do. It’s the only way small market teams (like the Brewers) will be able to compete. I admit I’m not the worlds biggest baseball fan, but I might be if there would be some hope of different teams playing in the World Series, instead of the same ones that keep buying championships year after year.

Neil Finn: One All

Yesterday I bought a new CD by one of the best singer / songwriters around, Neil Finn. He writes intelligent lyrics, beautiful pop melodies and he can also rock out a bit. The new CD, One All is his second solo album. Listening to music has always done a lot for my psyche and my sanity. Since Neil’s early days with Split Enz and later with Crowded House, his music has always been a big part of my “sanity maintenance collection.” It’s amazing to me that an artist of his caliper doesn’t seem to get the recognition he deserves, a least here in the United States. Hopefully he does better in his native country of New Zealand.

Classical ring tones

When I was at the grocery store today I heard someone’s cell phone ringing using Bach’s Fugue in D minor as the ring tone. I got to thinking about all the cell phones out there that use compositions by Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, etc. I wonder what those composers would think if they could hear the music they created being played with those tinny, annoying, electronic tones. I can just hear them now… “Who’s cell phone is that?? I can’t stand that song now! Turn it off!”

Or in Beethoven’s case: “What? They’re using Für Elise on that thing? Thank goodness I’m deaf.”

Wonders of the Universe

The wonders of the universe we live in never cease to amaze me. Today NASA released spectacular pictures taken from a new camera recently installed on the Hubble Space Telescope. Looking at those breathtaking images brings several questions to my mind. Will humans ever see beautiful scenes like this in person? If so, how long until we do? Are there beings out there pointing their telescopes toward our galaxy and pondering these same thoughts?

Spring ritual

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I’ve discovered that as I get older I have some seasonal rituals which I always do. Okay, the word ritual might be a little strong, maybe I should call them traditions. Anyway, today I performed one of my Spring rituals. Usually on one of the first warmer, sunny days of spring, I head out the door for a long vigorous walk with my walkman attached to my belt and the headphones in my ears. The album I always end up listening to on this first walk of Spring is Shadow Man by Johnny Clegg and Savuuka. It’s a definitely an album to listen to in the springtime with its blending of African and Western pop music styles. In my mind, it’s not Spring until I listen to that as I breathe in the fresh air and walk along the parkway with the sun on my back.

The Robins of Spring

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Spring is officially here. Today (about a week after the Spring Equinox) I finally got to experience a full day of sunshine and warm temperatures in the mid 40’s. I know what you’re thinking, but after a week or so of 20 degree, windy weather in Wisconsin, 45 really IS warm. The best sign of Spring I saw today happened when I decided to take the long way home from work and go through the park. As I was driving along I saw this big flock of robins. There must’ve been at least 30 of them. All I could think when I saw this whole flock of robins just hanging out together in the park was, what a great thing to do on such a nice day.

Dreams

I’ve always been fascinated by my dreams and what my unconscious mind comes up with while I’m sleeping. Sometimes I have dreams that are so interesting it’s like watching a really good movie. Then of course, I’m disappointed when the show’s over and I wake up. Last night I had this dream about someone I used to work with, but haven’t seen, spoken to, or even thought of in at least 10 years. Where did that come from? We were in some kind of scavenger hunt and not being very successful. I’ll leave it to you to interpret what that means…

Several years ago I used to keep a dream diary. Maybe it’s time to start that again. Pleasant dreams!