Today's Tune: "Ride On" And "Whole Lotta Rosie" By AC/DC

Bon Scott sang "One of these days, I'm gonna change my evil ways ...", but he didn't quite live long enough to do that. The Scottish born Australian lead singer for the hard rhythmic rocking band AC/DC, died on February 19, 1980. Thirty years later, I can still remember how I was left with a broken heart and total disbelief, when I heard the news.

In honor of the truly unique individual that was Bon Scott, with his equally unique voice, the first 'Today's Tune' song for this February 19th is "Ride On" (1976), by AC/DC. The slide-show tribute style video I've chosen includes pieces of different interviews in the last few minutes. Bon discusses the inspiration for the song "Whole Lotta Rosie" (1977), the riggers of long tours, and you can hear and feel his loneliness and depression while he's speaking. The person that put this thing together did a good job.

Since I mentioned "Whole Lotta Rosie", I've decided to include it bonus track. The performance you hear in the video is from the October 16, 1979 Towson Center concert at Towson University, in Towson, MD. I bought a good copy of this bootlegged show on cassette right after it happened. Later, I found out my cousin Keith was sitting on the stage during the concert.

AC/DC - "Ride On" And Bon Scott Interviews



AC/DC - "Whole Lotta Rosie" Live at Towson Center October 16, 1979


Band Members Included:
Bon Scott - Lead Vocals
Angus Young - Lead Guitar
Malcolm Young - Rhythm Guitar
Phil Rudd - Drums
Mark Evans - Bass Guitar on "Ride On"
Cliff Williams - Bass Guitar on "Whole Lotta Rosie" Live in 1979

Junior's Christmas 2009 Was Delicious!

Junior's Christmas 2009 was delicious! It was nice to spend a couple days with family and good food. Being able to enjoy the holiday locally made it a little easier as well.

A couple weeks have passed since I posted my last blog entry. Sorry about that. Various things, including a lack of spare time, a lack of energy and minor-ish health problems, have kept me away from updating Junior's Eyes as much as I would have liked. That's actually been the case for a few months now.

My having the occasional flare-up of eczema hasn't been sadistically entertaining enough for God. Over the summer, the Lord decided to add wheat to the list of things I'm allergic to. Oh yeah, that's a big one. You wouldn't believe how many things that means giving up!

Keeping the steroid cream on hand, well on both hands actually, is rather expensive. The selection of gluten-free items at the grocery store is probably getting better these days, but it all costs four times as much as the regular versions. The whole idea behind my eating more sandwiches, meatless pasta and other wheat filled food items, was to save some money. Well, that plan didn't work out too well. Anyway ......

I suppose the good part about not being able to eat normal bread, most cookies and cake is that I get to eat more candy. With that in mind, my younger sister Cherie and her family (husband Joe and the boys) included a case of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups in the Christmas presents they brought up from Fairfax County, VA. I believe my exact words were "This is the best Christmas present I've ever gotten".

Kim is my other sister. She and her family (husband Steve and the girls), the Christmas hosts, live in Harford County, MD as our parents and I do. From that group, my daughter Chelsea and I were smothered in kisses. Get your mind out of the incestial gutter, thank you. Chocolate kisses, mounted on flourless peanut butter cookies. Oh yeah. I couldn't eat a lot of my favorite things, but it was still a tasty Christmas holiday.

Today's Tune: "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" By Roberta Flack

The V-2 Number 13 Rocket, also known as the White Sands Rocket, was the first man made object to take a photograph of the Earth from outer space. It was launched on October 24, 1946, from the White Sands Missile Range in White Sands, New Mexico, USA.

The rocket managed to go as high as approximately 173 kilometers (107.5 miles), more than surpassing the boundary of space, which scientists see as being at 100 kilometers (62 miles). The black and white photograph was taken with the on-board 35 mm camera, when the rocket reached approximately 104 kilometers (almost 65 miles) in altitude.

Since this was the first time ever humans saw Earth's face, from actual outer space anyway, an old song written by Ewan MacColl comes to mind. He may have written it for his future folk singer wife Peggy Seeger, but it was a brilliant American R & B / Soul singer that really breathed life into his creation.

Our 'Today's Tune' for October 24, 2009 is "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" , sung by the incredibly gifted Roberta Flack. She was a favorite of my mother's, and listening to her truly unique voice when I was a child, I too became a big fan.

Roberta Flack - "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face"
Live on Top Of The Pops 2 in December of 1972.

Today's Tune: "Breadfan" By Budgie

I'm getting ready to head out and buy me Mega Millions Lottery ticket. To be honest I'm not a regular purchaser, only participating when the payoff hits a certain level. That way I don't throw as much money away, because I don't expect to win, anyhow.

What if it did happen, though? Thinking about it has me trying to decide what I would do with the loot. Getting four numbers plus the gold ball would mean $10,000, before taxes. That'd be great to me, but five of the white ball numbers would land me $250,000 before taxes, and what's left would more than pay off all my bills (mortgage, auto loan, etc.). Get all six numbers right, and I'm a very rich man. It would take a lot of thinking to map out where all that kind of money would go. Let's see ... pay off all current bills ... buy nicer house ... buy Lamborghini hybrid or electric car ... college fund for Chelsea (my daughter), etc. Oh my! What would you do? Huh? Oh yeah, it's not going to happen anyway. I forgot that for a minute.

Since we're on the subject of money ... Well we are, aren't we? OK, it was all just an excuse to post a music video from the finest rock band ever to come out of the most beautiful place on Earth, Wales (He wrote without any bias at all). The 'Today's Tune' for this October 13th is "Breadfan" , and the band is Budgie!

Budgie - "Breadfan" (1973)

Today's Tune: "Another World" By Brian May

Exoplanet image is from European Southern Observatory.

October 1st is an anniversary date for a couple major events in the history of Disney World, in Orlando, Florida, USA. The most popular amusement/theme park (Actually 4 theme parks and two water parks) and resort on the planet, Walt Disney's Disney World first opened to the public on October 1, 1971. The 1st of October became an important date again, when the Epcot theme park (Originally called EPCOT Center) area opened up on this day in 1982.

At the age of nine, I was lucky enough to visit the "Magic Kingdom" with my parents and two sisters a couple months after it opened up, during the Christmas holiday in December of 1971. I didn't make it back until I was grown up (At least physically) and had a daughter of my own. We were there to welcome the new Millennium. Now that was a special time. We of course spent time at Epcot during our stay, and it became my favorite place in Disney. It does give you enough atmosphere to almost make you feel like you are in the other countries that are represented there, even if you've actually been to those places before.

For this 'Today's Tune', we aren't going to match exactly the happy and playful feelings that would directly relate to memories of the subject matter above. We will have a song title that somewhat links to it though. I offer to you today, a song from within the solo works of Queen guitarist and songwriter Brian May. The tune is called "Another World".

Brian May - "Another World"
(Fan made video includes lyrics, part of another song.)

Take Me Home ... Please

My friend and fellow blogger Kameron Kiggins, of I May Have Been Born Yesterday But I Stayed Up All Night, lost his best girlfriend Claire on Wednesday January 28, 2009. Claire, who was about 16 years old, was a pet dog belonging to Kameron's brother and his brother's wife. I know what he's going through right now, having endured the death of a few pets in my ... well, let's just say many years living in this world. Being the sentimental (mostly mental) person I am, I know it can take some time to get over such a heartbreaking loss of a dear family member.

As I suggested to Kameron, eventually it may be a good idea to get another pet. Since I have a soft spot for animals, I'm including some resources that could be helpful to anyone who would like to acquire a pet or help those that have been rescued. These groups also provide information on how to give animals a better home than the current owner might be able to. Don't forget, many of these organizations get monetary donations from advertisers each time you visit their web sites. So you can often help without spending your own money.


Wikipedia's Animal Shelters page discusses the different types of shelters available.

ASPCA: American Society For The Prevention Of Cruelty To Animals
I found their book very helpful in deciding the right breed of dog to get.

AKC: American Kennel Club
Use this organization to find a reputable breeder.

The Humane Society Of The United States
Heavily involved in fighting cruelty via legal action.

PGAA's Rescue Contacts - National
Huge number of adoption and rescue organizations across the US.

Pedigree - Really Good Food For Dogs.
Visit this site! After the intro, you'll see a golden retriever that looks just like my Sydney. She loves their honestly nutritious food. Syd even has this site in her internet favorites list. They donate food to shelter dogs each time you watch one of their videos!

Pedigree 2009 Super Bowl Adoption Drive Ad.



Sarah McLachlan ASPCA Ad - Brings tears to my eyes everytime.
The song used is McLachlan's "Angel".
Sarah turned 41 on Wednesday January 28, 2009.
Yeah, the same day Claire died.

Do You Need A New Best Friend?

Why don't you take your best friend out for a cold one, or even meet a new best friend? I bet you could do both, if you wanted to. If this sounds interesting, check out the following event.

The Fallston Animal Rescue Movement, Inc. (F.A.R.M.)

bestfriendsfurever.com

Freddie's Birthday Is September 5th

Farrokh Bulsara, better known as singer, songwriter and musician Freddie Mercury, was born on September 5th, 1946 in Stone Town on Zanzibar, near the coast of mainland Tanzania. He and his family, of Parsi heritage, moved to London, England in 1964 due to the Zanzibar Revolution. Freddie died November 24th, 1991, just one day after publicly announcing that he had AIDS.

I often think of Freddie, and like many of his fans and loved ones, wonder what what would have been if he were still alive. I'm sure he would have created and performed much more amazing music. I get very sad when I think of him being gone. But it's mostly the beauty, energy and truly honest feeling he put into every bit of his music and his life, that often brings a tear to my eyes when I watch his videos and listen to the music.

Memories of Freddie and his music, whether with Queen or any of his solo or collaborative ventures, also puts me in a good mood many times. He still is my favorite singer. He was lead singer for my all time favorite band, Queen. I had a blast at the concerts, along with good friends and family (sisters - Kim and Cherie). It's incredible how this one person, whom I've never actually met, has been with me for some of the saddest and most joyous times of my life.

Thank you Freddie Mercury!

Queen - "The Show Must Go On"

Queen - "Too Much Love Will Kill You"

Queen - "These Are The Days Of Our Lives"