Getting Real Retro....

Now here's a song both my hubby and I totally related to back in the same era as "Gotta Wear Shades" (see last post)

This is "Every Little Kiss" by Bruce Hornsby..who actually is from our area. Yep, the area does look like this, just a little off the tourist tracks. His relatives live up the road. They're good folks.

Bruce Hornsby - Every Little Kiss
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The weird thing about the big 80's was that it was all over the media how great the economy was doing but these economic wonders were pretty much absent in most small towns we knew. Big box stores were still coming in and by then they were starting to put a real hurt on the Mom & Pop biz. Industry, what was left of it, concentrated in the cities. Virginia's economy, on the whole, wasn't hurting too badly in the late 80's but people still felt very competitive for what was 'left' in their home towns. Some were real ugly about it, and looked for ways to disqualify rivals in the same community. Old 'battle lines' tend to show up when benefits or good jobs are believed to be in limited supply. The most recent scars always strain first in the human body, singular or collective.

This area was & still is "Watertown" - with plenty of port cities, seafood, construction, and tourism - but a lot of the regular jobs but didn't pay that well outside the one big shipyard or higher levels with the Navy. Obviously, being a Navy family means a lot of deployments, but even merchant marine sailors, truck drivers, & union guys often get trained here and then have to look for a break in one of those well-paid, well-protected circles....or work elsewhere ...if they can. Construction will do that to you too, since that industry is dependent on all the others. Working out of town to get ahead has long been the norm for a lot of guys all over the country. We haven't been exempt.

Another song from Hornsby that more closely represents that era, as we knew it.
"Just The Way It Is" by Bruce Hornsby and the Range

Bruce Hornsby - The Way It Is
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Hornsby is advocating change in the song. His point is that people tend to excuse bad, selfish ways and prejudicial habits as established policy, or as so ingrained in that huge social construct we call civilization that its useless to fight. "But don't you believe them!"

Hornsby had another huge hit back then called "Mandolin Rain." Its a sad ballad but its just ssooo beautiful. I was very surprised that so few outside our country said they had heard Hornsby's songs. They've been off the top charts long enough a lot of US teens haven't heard them either. This is a serious shame, because he's a lot more than a local hero. Bruce Hornsby was & is a real artist worth remembering.



The economy was better for most people in the 80's. Reagonomics did seem to work when companies didn't ship too many local jobs overseas. BUT life was only spectacularly good for relatively few. I mostly remember people going from worrying about nuclear holocaust (apocalypse films, Mad Max et al- were also an 80's thing) to worrying about getting and holding a reasonable job. Manic Monday, Money For Nothing, Fast Car, Another Day in Paradise, She Works Hard For the Money -and a number of similar 80's songs made the same point.

After all that serious reflection I need a lighter, escapist note ~ so here's the only vaguely related 80's hit "Down Under" from the band Men At Work


& "Tarzan Boy" A truly silly, cheery one-hit-wonder from the same time..in its original cheesy music video. I'd not actually seen the video before looking it up today. Man, if this guy were any more obvious he'd be doing the time warp again... :D

Gotta Wear Shades...

Channel surfing the other night I happened to catch that late 80's hit "The Future's So Bright I Gotta Wear Shades" on Pop-Up video. I remembered the song, though I hadn't thought about it in literally years.

I had thought of it as an 'upbeat' song that nevertheless tended to depress people - especially since it was still hugely in play when the economy went south a year or two after it went gold. No - this was the OTHER Wall Street failure, kids..the S & L embezzlement scheme in the late 80's that nearly bankrupted the world....billions were suddenly lost overnight. Countries were still tottering years later from its domino effects.... Still the song reminded me of old hopes, and a time when the economy was doing better - for other people, grant you, but still...

VH1 Pop-Up Video was able to remind me of a lot of things I'd forgotten about that era...like how the movie 'Shades' went with- Real Genius had been the kiss of death for Val Kilmer's career. (All the younger ones are now saying "Val who?") Seriously, kids, he'd been very famous until that bomb of a movie. To this day, I don't know WHY it bombed. It was actually a decent enough flick, and Val was good in it.

So..it was interesting to read the pop-up notations that also mentioned that:

1. The ground the music video was shot on turned out to be Sacred, and adjacent to Burial Grounds for a tribe of Native Americans (the pop-up version points out the specific rocks of the Indian Burial Ground behind the band). There's usually a curse associated with fooling with those.

2. The Shuttle Challenger referenced in the video, blew up not that long afterward...

3. A decades-old beauty contest referenced in the video was permanently canceled right afterward...

4. and the song itself did not lead to anything lasting for the band themselves. As talented as they were said to be, this remained their One Hit Wonder.

5. Even the donkey used in the video died right afterward - admittedly, he was an elderly donkey. He'd been most famous for his appearances as the booby prize in Let's Make a Deal, the old game show.

..and I think I mentioned already that the economy went into a recession not long after, which, yes, slashed the budgets for the sort of high-paying entry level research jobs the song celebrated.

My Mom thinks even the trailer in the video was a recalled model....

You might just get the idea the song & projects associated with it WEREN'T "heavenly blessed & worldly wise," but the imagery in it has remained popular, especially with techies. A classy-looking MMO used similar imagery in its beginning to the music video and had slew of problems getting off the ground, far more than expected technical bugs, publisher support, funding issues, you name it. I couldn't help but wonder if the shades-wearing techies making that game had ever seen the Pop-Up Video version of the song? I'm guessing not...

Its interesting to me that everyone still remembers 'Shades' as a winners' song, and a reasonable way to encourage new and upcoming graduates with the tasty potential fruits of their labors. Others tend to remember it as a song to sing when they win big or whatever.

So - what do you think? Was it just really unlucky timing? If the music IS cursed...is it just because the band accidentally crossed an ancient shaman?

How many people thought this song was pretty innocent? Did you?

Do you think that because many people have gotten good opportunities for earthly success, everyone less blessed has only themselves to blame (unless they are rapidly dying of cancer or something)?

We talked it over and filtered it through the lens of our memories. What came back was how much the song had depressed most people we knew in the late 80's & early 90's. It highlighted the disparity in opportunities for those not in the favored programs/ colleges/ departments. I can recall the bitterness of grads with Master's & PHDs in less valued fields on hearing that song. Not everyone is an engineer or a computer person, you know? One Political Science grad we knew ended up shift manager at a local convenience store for awhile. It paid better than his other options! A Liberal Arts Master ended up flipping burgers to keep going, but eventually was able to switch to tutoring students & a banking job. (He is a wonderful actor, but that is such a competitive field.) A doctorate in Marine Biology ended up as a secretary in the early 90's. She'd have loved to have gotten that shift manager's job. She later died young of an unexpected brain disease. Out of maybe a couple of hundred people we've known with really GOOD educational credentials, exactly one had the sort of opportunities mentioned in the song. We haven't seen him in a few years.

..and yes, he liked sunglasses. He probably liked the song too, though we never asked him. Now I don't begrudge the guy his blessing, but it sure highlighted to me what is wrong with saying that everyone could be a worldly success, if they just tried hard enough. Not all talents are valued by companies (or society) equally.

(and here you thought I was going to discuss the hard-working millions of working class who couldn't go to college for whatever reason, or go for very long, and still heard "Future's So Bright" pushed on the radio day after day - right? right... I did think of mentioning the millions who are lucky to see even a whole meal from one day to the next, and all those 'basic' undervalued talents for say, growing the food we all depend on, but..nah...)

I always had ambivalent feelings about the song myself. Its perky sounding, but my life has been not been that easy. Seemed like hearing it kinda rubbed on old sore spots as I continued to struggle with finances and faith. As I grew in faith & saw God answer my prayers over the years it bothered me less & less to hear it. I believe it is good to rejoice with other people's blessings. I count on God for mine and hope others will praise God with me for what He gives me. I don't identify with a view of success as a high-paying job that 'buys a lot of beer' - so it got easier and easier to put the song out of memory when it wasn't on the radio. & Since I quit listening to the radio long ago, that limited possible exposure to this song to 80's retrospectives (lumped in with songs I liked better). Like I said, I hadn't thought about it in years. Now I am REAL glad I didn't identify with it more. I really do think it marked a turning point for American history somehow.

We talked about it here for awhile and came to the conclusion that its the theme itself, with its focus on worldly success & partying that wasn't likely to have pleased God. "Shades" tempted the abundantly blessed to pride and selfish attitudes, and those less blessed were tempted to envy or despair on hearing it. It probably wasn't so much the cause of the things that broke right afterward but a reflection of attitudes that already annoyed the Lord who loves those who humble themselves and brings down the haughty.

So - by now you are wanting to see the Macbeth of music videos for yourself, yes?

As it happens, even if it wasn't giving me the heebie jeebies, I couldn't play the song for you. The VH1 page was having technical issues when I tried to access it, and Youtube has been asked not to allow embedding elsewhere. I leave you the Youtube link to "The Future's So Bright I Gotta Wear Shades" on this paragraph only.

On an equally weird note, "Don't Worry, Be Happy" was meant to be sarcastic, according to Bobby McFerrin - instead it genuinely cheered up a lot of people who heard it, helping them cope with the rough times it referenced. After seeing the other video, you might want to treat yourself. Just clickee this paragraph :)

With Virtual Eyes, I See You

This is a Catholic article about treating online time & online relationships well ~ and its well worth the time to read & reflect on it. I have to say it agrees with my own findings over the years. I went fully online for the first time in the summer of 2000 (our BBS time doesn't really count, as it was too cranky to do more than turn in papers and play a few games). I arrived online after several years of relative solitude, freshly released from health worries for my family for a season, and with a full understanding that those I spoke to online were real human beings with real lives, problems, and feelings. This was strengthened by the intense closeness of the community I first joined, but the affectionate relationships I developed were the silver lining to what was becoming a pretty serious storm cloud. My husband eventually equated the situation to having a vacation in a demiletarized zone! I had gone to hang out and have fun with like-minded people, but it was a community under attack by ambitious, manipulative people, and several saw me as competition. (What can I say? My personality is rather good-sized too. :) Others came in believing they were under some religious obligation to attack anything that smelt of clean fun... yes, really.

A number of those I encountered had already had their sensibilities blunted by the limitations of online discourse. Now some of the most manipulative were already that way in real life ~ in other words, the medium had not made an appreciable difference in their message, but for many of the youngsters - oh, it made ALL the difference. They saw life through the eyes of public school and cartoon/avatar images in their imaginations. They couldn't "see" me. A friend actually made an online personality to try and open the eyes of the 'virtually blind.' I am not sure it worked for more than a few, but I always respected that valiant effort.

Being mean to people you can't see is all too easy for the childish and cowardly. Now understand that anyone can feel petty or childish on their worst days and add that to the incredible amount of misunderstandings available in rapidly TYPED messages (where one poor turn of phrase can start a feud) and its easy to see why so many online relationships sour if they have no offline, in person, physical reinforcement.

Don't think Christian-based communities are immune to this. All the Redeemed are on a different part of our journey with Jesus. Its also helpful to remember that there are a wide variety of churches out there, and many are very worldly in outlook. Its quite a downer to meet someone who believes they are irrevocably saved by their denomination's specific doctrine (which makes them 'more' saved than you ) and therefore 'fireproof' against God's requirements ...and subsequent corrections for disobedience. This is the type that usually doesn't think reading scripture & praying daily is all that important, and that, in any case, all that bad stuff that can happen is only judgment when it happens to someone else!

I will probably always remember the twit who claimed that the "loving your neighbor" didn't apply online because of the physical distances. I am REAL sure our 'neighbor,' in the Godly sense, is anyone we encounter in ANY MANNER (after all, none of the people who ignored the injured man in the Good Samaritan parable were said to be natural, next-door neighbors - and the Samaritan was a foreigner!) ...but be aware, there are self-professed 'Christians' who hold this other view. I can guarantee you that anyone who doesn't feel any obligation toward ethics or manners in online encounters is a problem for the entire community they join, not just you.

There are other pitfalls too. I understood that some of the folks that became strongly attached to the community were needing replacements for Real Life lacks. I love most people, and most people love to be loved, but the particularly needy can be hard to satisfy. It takes time to know that is what you are up against. Its hard to stop spending much time with these folks if you care, because they can get hurt so very easily, and because it feels so virtuous to be reaching out to those who seem to need your time and affection so very much, but it IS a trap...one that can swallow your life whole until you climb back out of it. I have already been down that road in real life, and spent much of my time with those I recognized as being in that category evangelizing (sometimes more than I was comfortable with) because I knew they need Jesus a lot more than they need me. They can hang on to Him for dear life here and hereafter and He'll never mind a bit, the Holy Spirit never has to shift His attention away (God is the ultimate multitasker), and will never disappoint their hunger for HUGE amounts of unconditional love. (His JUSTICE requires good behaviour out of us, but His LOVE never has been bounded and never will. He hates sin but not us. That's why there is so much mercy available to free us from our sins!) God is the only one who can do all they desire. God is the only one who can heal these deep aching needs and be with them everywhere, everywhen.

Others I met needed only a friend, but still needed Jesus to fix their self-loathing, cowardice, depression, and other ills. I tried not to push my faith at them, but sooner or later I was bound to briefly mention (as an option) the Answer I believe in with all my heart, soul, and life, ~ and that's bad enough for some. Mentioning the Blessed Hope made me a better target ~ but then, doesn't it always? If you love those you encounter enough to truly try to help them, I guarantee you will be a target too.

I ended up spending so much time trying to counsel those I found and cared about that I began to lose ground in my home. I had to back off in order to keep my family first, and I did, but I don't think it was ever really accepted that I was truly too busy to continue putting in hour after hour, visiting and comforting, day after day.

Backing off made it easier for the hostile-minded to turn more kiddos from me and what comfort I still had time to offer, since I wasn't doing so much for them anymore. I kept getting words from everyone who knew me that my time of intense involvement wouldn't last, and was essentially allowed by God as a learning experience - even when I was enjoying my time there the most. That helped, but I can't honestly say I have wanted to repeat those times so I have wondered what the lesson was preparation for, if you know what I mean.

...and all this was WITHOUT Orcut...Facebook...Myspace...Yahoo 360....Twitter... or even Blogger, whose restraint in formatting I appreciate ever more as time goes on. I don't mind sharing little essays when I have something to say, but I really don't want a page that recreates that sense of demand on my time I felt back in my early internet days.

I mention all this for those who read this and may be debating proper limits in an involving community setting. These community pages (Facebook, Orcut, and the like) are meant to organize and make easier to manage what I had going ~ sharing photos, chats, private messages etc ~ all on one page. That also means its MUCH easier for a Newbie to get sucked in to that whole online-centric lifestyle just by adding a few interest groups. Its easy to get overwhelmed by responses when you are recognized by a highly interactive group as a productive/valued member.

So what is the bottomline? I recommend caution now in making online friendships (and it saddens me to say that.) Those that you are sure you'd like to know better - well, pray a lot first, and give it a little time. Let the initial charm wear off a little bit. Keep in mind that online friendships need to be reinforced in real world terms to have any hope of being lasting. Use what options are available to you - visits, cards, phone calls, teamspeak, personal meetings... This helps determine who was being real with you online, though you will still have to be wary of the seasoned manipulators. I also recommend deliberately limiting how many hours you consider 'available' - using a timer or planned 'openings' in your personal schedule - and with your family understanding that they come first in any conflict of interest. I am in a lot of places these days, but am much harder to 'catch' ~ and that seems to be the right answer for me and mine right now.

Cute as a Speckled Pup....

He's getting more speckled-y all the time too ;)

Meet our new pup, cute as a button but full of mischief - yips, nips, chews, and cat chases. Jack is allegedly half chihuahua, half terrier (His dad is definitely half terrier-half Chihuahua, but we think his mom is really a Chiweeenie.) He's a fun pup, but definitely more of a challenge than you'd think when he enthusiastically licks your face and snuggles up to you. We will have to watch him around strangers, as he definitely will bite, especially when very excited. Mind you, right now that is not a big deal, with his little puppy teeth - and we're working with him, so hopefully we'll have him well socialized before too long!



We weren't honestly planning on getting a dog. Came about like this - a longtime fiend of DH kept bringing up his wish to give us a puppy when his Chiweenie grew up, as he was sad we didn't have one anymore. DH hubby said sure, that'd be great, knowing said friend was really wanting to offer an olive branch - and was letting him know he understood that. Its a Christian thing. We really should allow people to apologize and make amends when they sincerely want to do that. We were sure that is how Tom's friend meant it. We were also aware that it was going to be a long time before such a promise could be kept - who knew if she would even have puppies? She was a nice dog, and our friend was expressing a nice sentiment. That was the end of it for a long time - and then we get the news in late winter that she was expecting so we would soon have a puppy! (This was a surprise in two ways. Known him for over 20 years and I believe this is the longest this friend has ever remembered a promise. He keeps them when he remembers them, its just that his memory hasn't usually been this good.) Whee! Four pups were born, but the littlest one didn't make it. All three survivors were cute little males. A few weeks later we were asked to come and pick one. We chose the friendliest, which happened to be the biggest, while stressing that he didn't really have to do this...it was okay if he had other friends who wanted one.... etc. We spent some time praying about it, but decided to leave it in God's hands rather than reject the well-meant gift. I think my last prayer was, if you really want us to have this puppy, then let our friend give the pup to us directly. He showed up a week or three later (we usually go see HIM!) and handed the little guy over.

So now we have a companion while we work in the gardens, a little one making mornings come way too early. lol On the whole we like Jack very much. Even the cats like him, when he isn't too much in their faces. Usually he enjoys chasing them a small way, and then backs up when they turn around. Occasionally L & K chase Jack! LOL

Happy Easter!

Our Easter was quite nice :) Nice weather to cook a lamb roast by... We didn't get much chocolate or do baskets, but the kids did a few eggs as you can see. We spent a lot of the time thanking Christ for His sacrifice and for the many blessings He brings into our lives. Thank you, Jesus!

Spring Sights

~Above All ~ we should remember this Good Friday

another gem passed along by Aardvark (Thanks! :)