This weekend marks my 15TH anniversary back in Homestead following my original nearly 5-year residence from December 01ST 1987 through the destruction caused by Hurricane Andrew on August 24TH 1992. I was away from Homestead for nearly 19 months, and I never really thought that I would see it again – until just a few months before I actually moved back down here.
Homestead Air Force Base officially reopened as Homestead Air Reserve Station (now Base) on this exact weekend in March of 1994 as our Squadron of F-16 jets came roaring back to life across the subtropical blue skies of America’s Riviera.
It was “The Sign” that Homestead was starting to get back to normal again.
I present to you for your ‘Saturday Night Retro’ review – this U.S. platinum pop smash that spent 10 months on the pop charts in 1994. It was the runaway # 1 smash in the entire free nation as our jets returned back home again on that glorious 3RD weekend in March of 1994.
Nearly 16 months of historical statistics reveals that Tuesday is by far the busiest day here on the big green blog. I think that we all know why that is so:
1. We may actually receive some significant rainfall here in America’s Rivera between tonight and Sunday as a couple of old cold fronts from the north ease closer to us. Don’t expect a flood or anything close to that, but don’t be surprised if we manage to receive up to an inch of the much needed rain that we so desperately need. There’s also a very remote possibility that I may actually issue a late-season ‘Homestead Cold Weather Alert’ for both Saturday and Sunday mornings as wind chill temperatures may approach the upper-40s for a brief period of time.
2. I’m not exaggerating here when I state that most motorists here in America’s Riviera totally ignore the green traffic light arrow that points to the left that states that you have a protected path to make a left-hand turn. I guess they don’t teach that in traffic school down here. GREEN = GO !
3. Weight Check – I’m slowly easing down into the lower-170s. I just weighed in at 172.5. My goal is to get back into the more comfortable upper-160s. Yes I can !
4. We probably won’t find out that the recession has ended until at least six to nine months after it has actually ended. It may have ended already, but we won’t really know for sure until perhaps Thanksgiving or Christmas. Politics and policies aside I’m rooting for a strong and robust economy in 2009 and beyond. How can you not root for that ?
5. It’s St. Patrick’s Day in 2009, and I wore virtually all green today. I’m proud of my Irish heritage. My ancestors on the paternal side had a last name of ‘O’Day’. The ‘O’ was dropped when they emigrated from Ireland to The U.S. back in the late-19TH Century. For over 17 years our beloved cat Fluffy – a Manx – was an integral part of our family. The Manx breed originated from The Isle Of Man in the Irish Sea. I lived in the U.K. for exactly two years from 1985 to 1987, and I did quite a bit of traveling during that time. But one regret is that I never got to visit either Northern Ireland (part of the U.K.) or The Republic Of Ireland. Some day I hope to visit both countries. While living in the U.K. two Irish bands – The Pogues and The Dubliners – joined forces to become one, as they performed a traditional Irish song about a MASSIVE ship in the sea. Check out this 1987 performance of “The Irish Rover”. It was a U.K. TOP 10 pop smash back then, and I present it to you as a very special St. Patrick’s Day edition of the ‘Saturday Night Retro’.
I always look forward to doing this every Saturday night. The fact of the matter is that I’m constantly searching for old videos (music or otherwise) from You Tube to inspire me with new ideas for the ‘Retro’. For those (few) of you who have followed me on the web since the mid-1990s and the heyday of my once popular former web site you probably realize that the ‘Saturday Night Retro’ is essentially a modern-day version of ‘The Major’s MASSIVE Memories’.
I had intended to do a completely different ‘Retro’ tonight, but then my impromptu visit to Monkey Jungle earlier today inspired me to “Jump Around” instead:
It’s a U.S. platinum smash from the latter half of 1992 from American / Irish band House Of Pain in honour of St. Patrick’s Day coming up this Tuesday March 17TH. Incidentally on Tuesday night I’ve got a really cool special edition of the ‘Retro’ lined-up – St. Patrick’s Day style. I’ve got two classic Irish bands performing together as one a very traditional Irish song. It’ll make you want to dance a crazy jig right there in your living room mate.
Until then – May the good luck of the Irish be yours !
Exactly 18 years ago this weekend I returned home from the Saudi Arabian sands in support of Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. Here’s a timeline:
Sat. Mar. 09 1991 0326L – Departed Al Kharj AB Saudi Arabia.
Sat. Mar. 09 1991 0833L – Arrived Torrejon AB Spain.
Sat. Mar. 09 1991 1357L – Departed Torrejon AB Spain.
Sat. Mar. 09 1991 1656L – Arrived Dover AFB Delaware.
(Spent the night at a hotel in Philadelphia Pennsylvania.)
Sun. Mar. 10 1991 0756L – Departed Philadelphia Pennsylvania.
Sun. Mar. 10 1991 1001L – Arrived Miami Florida.
3 days later I drove nearly 1,100 miles from Homestead AFB to Northern Virginia to spend the rest of the month of March 1991 with my family. (The USAF gave us returning veterans that free time off following the war to spend with our families.)
And now for your ‘Saturday Night Retro’ review I present to you “Voices That Care”. Spot the stars from 1991. They cared for us back then. Unfortunately it’s a different world today.
CountUp 