Tag / JFK

by admin

Travelling The 50 States – Texas

Over my 48 years, I’ve done my fair share of travelling across these United States.  I thought it would be an interesting experiment go look back at those trips to each of the 31 states I have visited (62% isn’t bad, is it?) and see if, and when, I may be returning.  Working in alphabetical order, we continue today with the 28th state to be added to the Union: Texas.

State: Texas
Joined the Union: 1845
Visits: 4

After my dad moved there while I was in high school, I’ve made four trips to the Lone Star State, first in 1992 and most recently in 2005.

My first trip to the Dallas metroplex came in the summer of 1992.  My dad had moved there about two years earlier, and this was the first time my sister and I had been invited to visit.  I was there for a week, while my sister stayed for two, since I was getting ready to go away to college for the first time.  The activities I remember from that week include a trip to the rodeo, spending time in the swimming pool, and going to the former book depository to see the exhibit on the assassination of JFK.

I returned solo in 1998.  My only recollection from this trip was making my first visit to The Ballpark In Arlington, seeing the Rangers defeat the Royals in a high scoring affair.

My next visit came three years later, in early May of 2001.  Again, I don’t remember much about the trip, other than two additional visits to the Ballpark, first to see the Rangers lose to the Tigers and then, two nights later, to see them top the White Sox 2-0.

My latest trip to the Metroplex was in 2005.  The things I remember from this trip include trying to scam free WIFI from the house next doon, since my dad did not have a network set up, and a four game series between the Rangers and White Sox at the renamed Ameriquest Field, which the Rangers took three games to two.

Will I return?  Probably, some day.  The Rangers have built a new ballpark and I’ve never been to Houston, so I have to make those trips at some point.  Thanks to Purdue’s epic collapse in the NCAA Tournament on Friday, I don’t have to worry about traveling to Houston in April for the Final Four.

by admin

Yet Another Mix Tape Monday – Volume 6

33 years ago, during my sophomore year of high school, I put together the first of what would eventually become a nearly 20 volume collection of mix tapes, containing my favorite songs that I had gathered either from the radio, a cassette tape, or (eventually) CD.  Today, we revisit those mix tapes for the fourth time and see how, or if, the soundtrack of my youth still resonates in today’s digital world and how much has changed over the past four years.

Volume 6 takes us through the end of high school, through the summer, and into the beginning of my freshman year of college.  That summer, my sister and I made our first trip to Texas to visit our dad.  He had moved at least two years before and I guess thought it would be a good idea to see us.  Since I was trying to get ready to leave for college, I only stayed for one week while my sister stayed for two.  I don’t remember much about my time there.  We went to the old book depository where Lee Harvey Oswald shot JFK.  We walked to a comic book store, where I found that some states charge sales tax on back issue purchases.  Aside from that, the trip holds no particular memory.

In the years since, visits have become fewer and farther between.  I last went to Texas in 2005.  His last trip to Illinois for a visit was 2006 and, if you include funerals, he hasn’t been here since 2010.  The last time I saw him was 2018, after he had moved to Arizona and he came to see me while I was in town for spring training.

Sadly, this is not the original version of volume 6, which was lost after being borrowed by my sister for a party.

Side A

Genesis – I Can’t Dance
iTunes stats: 15 plays, most recently on 12/7/2021

The second single from the 14th studio album from Genesis, which received a 1993 Grammy nomination for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group, notched a mere two in the past four years.

Ugly Kid Joe – Everything About You
iTunes stats: 24 plays, most recently on 9/25/2019

Hitting #9 on the Billboard charts, the first hit for the California-based band was last heard before months before the pandemic even started, adding just two spins.

Joe Public – Live and Learn
iTunes stats: 17 plays, most recently on 2/8/2022

Ranked 16th on complex.com’s list of the best new jack swing songs of all time, the tune managed to add five new plays since our last check.

Boyz II Men – Please Don’t Go
iTunes stats: 11 plays, most recently on 7/22/2019

Just three additional plays for the final single from Cooleyhighharmony, which failed to crack the top 40 and hasn’t been heard since nearly eight months prior to COVID lockdowns started.

Def Leppard – Make Love Like A Man
iTunes stats: 15 plays, most recently on 2/27/2022

The second single from Adrenalize, and the first video with new guitarist Vivian Campbell, added four plays over the past four years.

Guns N’ Roses – Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door
iTunes stats: 18 plays, most recently on 3/15/2022

The Bob Dylan cover has picked up eleven new listens since 2015.

Red Hot Chilli Peppers – Under The Bridge
iTunes stats: 20 plays, most recently on 7/22/2022

The first appearance of “alternative” music on these collections, which became the 8th biggest single of 1992, nearly doubled its play total with nine new plays.

Side B

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by jim

The Doctor’s 50th

1239465_716134781733885_1562432521_n_zpsb5ce47a850 years ago today, while the US was reeling from the assassination of President Kennedy, a new science fiction show debuted on the BBC in Great Britain.  Today, Doctor Who is bigger than ever, both in the UK and here in the US.

Up until last year, Doctor Who was one of the holes in my nerdom.  Growing up, I had never watched the classic episodes when they would air on PBS, nor did I catch on to the new series when it came over to the states in 2006.  Over the years, though, the show slowly started to pull me to it, thanks to the boys on the Nerdist podcast and the parody version of Inspector Spacetime in Community.  Last September, while I was in Belfast, I finally took the plunge and watched my first episode, on the BBC no less.

Back at home, I ended up watching the next 2 episodes on BBC America, leading up to the end of the first half of season 7 and the death of the Ponds.  Just about a year ago, during the week of Thanksgiving, I decided to start at the beginning, at least of the current series, and worked through the 7 seasons, finally catching up early this year in time for the second half of season 7.  Tonight brings the 50th anniversary special, picking up from the season 7 finale and featuring the first team-up between David Tennant’s 10th Doctor and Matt Smith’s 11th.  This will then lead in to the Christmas special, where Smith will hang up his sonic screwdriver and turn the role over to Peter Capaldi.

by jim

What Else Do I Have To Say

CBS-Screen-shot50 years ago, the nation lost a little more of its innocence when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas by Lee Harvey Oswald.  Today, we mourn the loss of the last president, to date, to die in office and the first president of the television era.  While conspiracy theorists continue to try and shift the blame off of Oswald and on to the CIA, Fidel Castro, the Russians, LBJ, and, possibly, Bozo the Clown, the allure of what might have been continues to hold sway over our country.

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Book 5 (of 52) – 11/22/63

Stephen King - 11/22/63

Imagine stumbling across a wormhole which allowed you to travel back in time, to September 1958.  Anything you did in the past affected the future, until you traveled back in time again and reset everything.  Could you invest the five years necessary to save President Kennedy from an assassin’s bullet?  Even if it meant giving up everything, and everyone, you’ve ever loved?  School teacher Jake Epping finds out in Stephen King’s gripping tale of time travel, patriotism, and the unintended effects of mucking with the past.

I first read King’s work during my freshman year of high school.  In fact, I remember reading Pet Sematary after finishing my Biology final, waiting for the class to be dismissed.  11/22/63 marks my 10th King work, but the first since 1993.  It is a great story about two men on a mission, one a man out of time, the other a man out of place.  Their lives will intersect on the fateful November morning, unless the past is able to defend itself against an interloper and the interloper doesn’t become too complacent in the new life he has made for himself in 1960s small-town Texas.  The only reason it took me so long to get through it is the 842 page count.  If this is indicative of King’s more recent output, then perhaps I won’t wait another 19 years before reading him again.