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Saturday Night Retro

Saturday November 20TH 2010
Volume 3 / Number 11 / Edition 108

31 years ago in November of 1979 66 Americans were taken hostage in Tehran Iran when the U.S. Embassy was invaded and seized by student radicals. This would begin an International crisis that would continue on for 444 days until January 20TH 1981 when President Ronald Reagan took the oath of office. President Jimmy Carter found opposition within his own Democratic Party, as Senator Ted Kennedy announced that he would seek the nomination for President in 1980.

I was 12½-years-old at the time and living with my Dad, Mom, and 4½-year-old brother on Red Wing Lane in Lanham Maryland. I was a 7TH grader at Robert H. Goddard Junior High School in Greenbelt Maryland – home of the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. Robert H. Goddard invented the liquid-fueled rocket back during the 1910s and 1920s. Many of my classmates were offspring of NASA employees. That would explain why many of them appeared to be ‘spaced-out’ most of the time.

In FM Stereo one of the hottest pop-country-crossover acts of the late-1970s was Dr. Hook And The Medicine Show out of New Jersey – although they certainly had a distinct ‘Southern Rock’ feel and style to them. As the Disco beat raged on in 1979 country music was quietly entering the pop music scene as an alternative to the club beat. One of Dr. Hook’s greatest hits was this cool track that kind of took on a subtle Disco beat to blend in with its pop chart neighbours. It even crossed the Atlantic Ocean to become a # 1 pop smash on the U.K. chart exactly 31 years ago this weekend. It tells the simple story of what happens “When You’re In Love With A Beautiful Woman”.

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Saturday Night Retro

Saturday November 13TH 2010
Volume 3 / Number 10 / Edition 107

Back during the Summer of 2004 I was living in my current home and driving around in my current car, but things were a bit different back then than they are now.

At home I had a vibrant cat by the name of Boots following me around and loving me. On the road I was driving around in my fairly new (one-year-old) car. On one particular road trip that Summer I drove further west than I had ever previously driven in my entire life – all the way to New Orleans and back. It was my very first visit ever to ‘The Crescent City’, and I got to see and experience it a full year before Hurricane Katrina damaged it.

Back then my Mom and Dad were healthy and living and working in Jacksonville Florida, and my brother was still married to his first wife and living near Columbus Ohio. My Grandmom died that Summer in Maryland at the age of 88. I got to see her one last time during the Summer prior (in 2003). It was my first visit back to the Washington D.C. area since 1996, and I haven’t been back since.

The more things change – the more they stay the same. My cat died. My Dad has passed on. My Mom is now retired and living in Fairview Texas about 5 miles away from my brother. He’s been happily married to his 2ND wife for the past 3½-years, and they have a beautiful 7-month-old daughter (my niece). Still living with them – Buddy – the dog that was featured on my blog post from last night. I’ll be there in just about 5 days to enjoy the holidays with all of them !

When I look back at the Summer of 2004 I hear this song in the background. It seems so long ago. It seems like I lived it in a previous life.

I’ve found a reason for me
To change who I used to be
A reason to start over new
And the reason is You.

2004 FACTOID OF LIFE – Myspace replaced AOL as the hottest place to hang out online. It began AOL’s long descent from its lofty peaks of 2002 that continues to this day. I was dragged onto Myspace in 2007 – and then quickly abandoned.

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Saturday Night Retro

Saturday November 06TH 2010
Volume 3 / Number 9 / Edition 106

25 years ago this weekend I flew on an overnight flight from Northern Virginia to London England to arrive at my new home for the next two years – my first permanent duty assignment as a young 18-year-old USAF Airman. I took British Rail from London Heathrow Airport to Reading – and then from Reading to Swindon further west. From Swindon I hired a cab to take me to my new home and workplace at RAF Fairford. During that cab ride on that sunny and cold morning of Sunday November 10TH 1985 I heard the chilling song “Road To Nowhere” by The Talking Heads on the radio. How appropriate.

My first couple of months at RAF Fairford were mostly spent on base either working at the office (as an aircraft maintenance systems analyst / statistician), or living in the dormitory. I lived in the old-style dorm buildings on base – small ones strategically built in a series of rows shortly after World War II. There were no bathrooms in any of the dorm rooms. They were down the hallway – community-style. Our ‘Day Room’ was where we hung out after work to socialize and watch TV and play card games – mostly Uno. There were some fun all-night sessions in that room. Good times and good memories with good buddies at the time. I can still see us all sitting around that big round table in the corner laughing and carrying on at 3 AM in the dead of the British winter. It made it easier for me during that first Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s holiday season away from home in a foreign land.

Shortly after 1986 arrived I got to upgrade to my own 2ND floor room in ‘the new dorm’ – with shared bathrooms in-between each dorm room. I also made my way out of the dorm and began exploring the vast U.K. countryside and historic European continent.

But my U.K. experience all began during those first two memorable months of November and December of 1985. One of the top pop / rock hits on both sides of the Atlantic during those early days and weeks at my new home was this comeback smash from Starship. Here’s “We Built This City” – the # 1 smash on the Billboard Hot 100 exactly 25 years ago this month – and one of my favourite songs of all-time !

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The Major’s Weekend Blast-Off

WEEKEND GRAB BAG O’ THOUGHT:
November has arrived. Winter has arrived here in South Florida. The cool and dry weather is finally here. It will actually be a cold Saturday with wind chills starting out near 40°F at sunrise. We’ll be stuck in the 60s all day long with wind chills in the 50s at times. This brief cold snap will stick around until about 12 noon on Monday, and then a rapid warm-up begins. 80°F temperatures return on Tuesday afternoon. This is also the weekend in which we ‘fall back’ an hour, as we say ‘good-bye’, ‘so long’, ‘adios’, and ‘get out of here’ to Daylight Saving Time. It’s done and over with at 2 AM on Sunday morning as we return to Standard Time. That’s my favourite time of the year – the real time zone. Everything just seems right when the Sun rises before 7 AM and sets before 6 PM. That’s just the way it’s supposed to be. I wish we stayed on Standard Time all year long. In a perfect world Daylight Saving Time would be abolished !

BEST LUNCH OF THE WEEK AWARD:
This past Wednesday I enjoyed Lunch at Red Lobster, and it was all over after that. I was cheerfully greeted at the front door by my regular greeter, and I was enthusiastically served at my regular table by my regular waitress. It’s like a home away from home for me. I belong. The food was hot and delicious as usual. I enjoyed a Caesar salad, the Crunch-Fried Fish, the Fried Bay Scallops, and a couple of melt-in-my-mouth Cheddar Bay Biscuits. I’ll be back for more sometime next week !

PUMPKIN DAY PHOTO OPPORTUNITY OF THE MONTH CLUB:
This picture was taken this afternoon by my brother in Fairview Texas.

Pumpkin - The Day Family Feline

THOSE CRAZY CRAZY CATS:

BLATANT PROMOTION:
25 years ago this weekend I flew from Northern Virginia to London England to begin 2 years of my young life in a foreign country. Tomorrow on my ‘Saturday Night Retro’ I’ll look back at that first month of living in the U.K., and I’ll feature the music video of one of my favourite rock songs of that month (and year). During the day tomorrow (Saturday) I’ll be out and about on Miami Beach enjoying the South Florida International Auto Show. I’m also planning to spend some quality time with the animals over at Jungle Island. It’s gonna be a great weekend here in South Florida to take advantage of the great outdoors, so let’s get to it. Be safe. Be smart. Love all.