Category: Music

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The Major’s Weekend Blast-Off

It’s time once again for the weekly blog series that’s 7 days in the making. Let’s kick-off this final weekend of September of 2010 !

WEEKEND GRAB BAG O’ THOUGHT:
Ever since this past Monday night I’ve been tracking a developing tropical system to the south of us deep down in the Caribbean. Once we get in to late-September and definitely October and November we stop looking east for any storms that may affect us – and start looking south and west. During the latter portion of the Atlantic basin storm season our tropical systems come from behind us – from our own backyard per se. Who can ever forget Hurricane Wilma – one of the most destructive in modern recorded history. It wrecked havoc on South Florida during the final week of October of 2005. Now we’ve got Tropical Storm Matthew. It formed in virtually the same exact spot as Wilma. Its trek through the southwestern Caribbean is virtually identical to that of Wilma. Up until last night it appeared that its entire trek would mimic that of Wilma (from the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico northeastward across South Florida). My weather models consistently placed a Category 1 or Category 2 Hurricane Matthew sweeping directly over South Florida for next Thursday and Friday (September 30TH and October 01ST). This morning I awoke and I updated my weather models with all-new overnight data, and for the first time in 5 days they no longer bring that system to South Florida. They keep it over the Yucatan Peninsula for a few days where it stalls and then degenerates into an open low pressure system. I’m not quite buying in to this new scenario, but we’ll see. It’s an interesting new development, and a positive one for us. I’ll keep my eyes on Matthew, and I’ll tweet any relevant news associated with him and how he may (or may not) affect us late next week.

BEST LUNCH OF THE WEEK AWARD:
This was the work week in which I said ‘good-bye’ to a good coworker friend over a Monday Lunch at Red Lobster. On Wednesday I enjoyed a delicious Shiner Bock BBQ Burger at Chili’s. But this week my ‘Best Lunch Of The Week’ occurred at downtown Homestead‘s quaint and historic White Lion Cafe. I enjoyed the Fried Chicken dinner (not what you think). This was a MASSIVE hunk of boneless chicken breast dipped in egg and flour and seasoned to juicy perfection (not at all greasy). The mashed potatoes, mixed veggies, and sweet ice tea complemented it perfectly. I also enjoyed this feast with a good friend of mine. In fact she’s one of my longest-running friends. I’ve known her for all 23 years that I’ve lived here in Homestead, and we celebrated her birthday at one of our city’s nicest restaurants. If you’ve never experienced the White Lion Cafe before for Lunch or Dinner then try to do so whenever you get the chance. You won’t regret it pal.

RETWEET:
NEXT weekend I will almost definitely see “The Social Network“. It’s all about one of the most demonic web sites ever created by mankind.

PANDA WITH AN ALLERGY:

BLATANT PROMOTION:
TOMORROW on the blog I’ll be presenting the remarkable 100TH edition of my ‘Saturday Night Retro’. It’s one of the many weekly blog series that were created during the frantic 2008 heyday of this blog, and it’s the lone survivor of them all. ‘Retro’ gives me a chance each week to look back at my life and highlight some of my most vivid memories – good and bad. I can’t change the past, but I can certainly learn from all of those mistakes that I’ve made in times gone by. In the similar-concept tradition of the long-running ‘Major’s MASSIVE Memories’ (from my old hit music web site) I always include a memorable pop song from the era that I’m flashing back on. The music is the soundtrack of my life – then and now. It instantly transports me to a time period  that was once present day time and space. Music was even used by God some 49 months ago to radically change my life. That’s Life. That’s ‘Retro’.

COMING SOON:
As announced on Twitter earlier this week I’m kicking-off ‘The Great Chris Day Winter Of 2011 Cultural, Historical, & Economical Stimulus Tour’. From October through February I’ll be visiting and exploring fun and exotic locations near and far such as Everglades National Park, Monkey Jungle, Jungle Island, Naples, Fort Myers, Sanibel Island, Panama City Beach, Dallas / Fort Worth Texas, the Bahamas, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and San Juan Puerto Rico. I’ll be tweeting and blogging every step of the way.

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Saturday Night Retro

7 years ago during the Autumn months of September, October, and November of 2003 remember when these 7 notable events occurred:

– Once Cat. 5 Hurricane Isabel strikes N. Carolina causing $4 billion in damage.
– Arnold Schwarzenegger is elected Governor of California.
– 11 die and 71 are injured in the Staten Island New York ferry crash.
– The Concorde flies for the very last time.
– Wildfires ravage San Diego County in California destroying over 2,200 homes.
– The Florida Marlins beat the New York Yankees in the World Series.
– Americans pay $1.40 to $1.60 for a gallon of gas.

European dance music had a spot on the South Florida radio dial via Party-93.1, and this was one of the hottest songs of the year on that memorable station that was an integral part of my life for two years. It’s a dance remake of the clasic Duran Duran # 1 smash “Ordinary World”. Here’s Aurora with Naimee Coleman:

Next week it’s the remarkable 100TH edition of my ‘Saturday Night Retro’ – now my only remaining original weekly blog series from the 2008 heyday. I’m not planning anything out of the ordinary for the milestone edition. It will all be routine standard fare. How ‘Retro’ of me. We’ll flashback to 39 years ago to the Autumn of 1971. I want you to meet an Uncle. He knows this Admiral.

See ya next week !

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Driving History Holidays Life Music People Travel

Saturday Night Retro

Saturday September 04TH 2010
Volume 3 / Number 1 / Edition 98

Although it certainly wasn’t as wild and crazy as the legendary Summer of 1990 this past Summer of 2010 will certainly be a memorable one for my own personal historical archives.

In June I stepped foot in New England for the very first time ever. I flew in to Hartford Connecticut, and I spent the better part of a work week up in ‘West Mass.’ as the natives refer to it. I enjoyed my short visit, and I can see myself returning for an encore visit on a future vacation. I wish to explore Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine as well.

In July I spent the long Independence Day holiday weekend out west in the Dallas Texas area with my family. I got to see my favourite Uncle and Aunt for the first time in about 7 years, and I also got to see another favourite Uncle and Aunt while I was there. It was like a ‘Day Family Reunion’ in Texas for a few hours on the 05TH of July, and as it turns out it would be the final time that my Dad got to see everyone together. He passed on to Heaven just 13 days later. He died of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (better known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease). I got the news just a few hours after returning home from a road trip up north and west in the rural panhandle of Florida.

I haven’t taken any trips since then, so I’m really looking forward to this upcoming vacation of mine that begins tomorrow. I’ll cap off the memorable Summer of 2010 on a high note out on the high seas as I visit Grand Cayman Island, Isla Roatan Honduras, Belize City, y Cozumel Mexico via the Carnival Valor. I’ll actually have a camera with me on this trip (for the first time ever), so I’ll try to take some pictures of my adventures on and off the ship and then post them on here and on Twitter upon my return back home.

This weekend’s ‘pick-hit video’ is from Milli Vanilli. It actually features LIVE footage from the “Club MTV” tour of 1989 that stopped over in Miami on June 30TH of that year that I was in attendance at. This was their 5TH and final smash hit in a row before the bottom fell out on their short yet extremely successful worldwide hit music career. From the Spring of 1990 I present to you the final song of ‘The Awesome ’80s In August International Dance Party’. It’s “All Or Nothing”. It’s ‘Retro’.

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History Internet Life Music People Radio

Saturday Night Retro

Saturday August 28TH 2010
Volume 2 / Number 48 / Edition 97

I’ve got a lot of hobbies and skills that you may or may not be aware of. Some of them I think I’m pretty good at (of course others may disagree). Some of these hobbies and skills I wish I could be better at and spend more quality time with. Some hobbies consume a lot of time, and some just occur naturally without much effort at all. Some hobbies have developed over time – while others have faded (thankfully and regrettably). Hobbies come and hobbies go – as we grow.

One of my lesser-known hobbies over the past 25 years of my adult life that pretty much came out of nowhere but has developed quite nicely over the years is that of a personal historian. It goes along with my fascination with dates and numbers, and it fits right in with my organizational skills. Nowadays my blogs and my tweets serve as the public recorded history of this new Life of mine. Previously my web site fulfilled that role during the latter portion of the 1990s into the new millennium. Before the evolution of the web I recorded the significant events of my life via pen and paper. Now that’s what I call ‘Retro’ !

Because of this hobby I can tell you that on Friday June 30TH 1989 I was at the original Miami Arena in downtown Miami to see ‘Downtown’ Julie Brown host a LIVE concert featuring The Information Society, Lisa Lisa And Cult Jam, Milli Vanilli, Tone Loc, and Was (Not Was). They were some of the biggest hit music artists of that era. I can also tell you that 21 years ago this weekend on Sunday the 27TH of August of 1989 I was at the Sunrise Musical Theatre for 8 hours for Y-100‘s Sweet 16 Birthday Concert featuring all of the Y-100 deejays at the time and their musical artist guests Bandera, K.C. And The Sunshine Band, Roxette, Cyndi Lauper, Michael Damian, and Buster Poindexter.

Another HUGE pop artist at the time was Ms. Paula Abdul – back during her heyday. She stormed onto the pop culture scene with 5 HUGE smash hits and videos in a row in 1989. Here’s one of them – originally a miserable flop in 1988 before anyone knew who she was. It was reissued during her 1989 pop chart explosion, and it was MASSIVE the 2ND time around !

History – It’s always occurring, and it’s always expanding. Recording it some way some how allows you to look back at it fondly from a different era in the future. It’s your ‘Retro’. Treasure it.