What A Messed Up Week...(A Special Dolly Flashback)

Hello, everyone, and Happy Friday. This has been an unbelievably brutal week for not only most everyone around the United States, but in other parts of the world, especially in Nepal. Our president is off his rocker, again. The moon is currently under an eclipse, but I couldn't get pictures because there is a skitterish dog asleep in the room across from me and any sudden noise will startle him. But worst of all, the Grim Reaper is on a Jeremy Lin-esque streak this week. 

Within the past ten days, we've lost Hayden Panettiere, Jaye P. Morgan, Tim Curry, Shelly Fabares, Peter Cullen (voice of Optimus Prime), and most importantly to many of us, Dolly Parton. She was the first celebrity crush I had (for obvious reasons), but more importantly, she meant a lot of things to a lot of people from all walks of life, from royal dignitaries and world leaders to the common human being like you and me. She was so philanthropic in her endeavors, words alone cannot state how important and wonderful of a human she was. EVERYONE loved Dolly, and if you didn't, either you haven't paid attention or something is wrong with you.

Since it's been a few weeks since I last did a flashback, I thought I would honor her (if you could consider me posting a blog entry about her an honor) by posting a flashback of one of her biggest hits, and for this one, I'm choosing February 21, 1981. So, without further ado, here (according to Billboard Magazine) were the Top 40 hits from that above date.

40. Killin' Time by Fred Knoblock & Susan Anton
39. Don't Stand So Close To Me by Police

38. Precious To Me by Phil Seymour

37. Back In Black by AC/DC

36. (Ghost) Riders In The Sky by Outlaws.

There was some good news that came out of this week. Yesterday, the Tampa City Council voted 4-3 to approve funding for the new mixed-use development at the site of Hillsborough Community College that include a new ballpark for the Rays. Now the County Commission votes, and the result of which may come in as I write this. Stay tuned.

35. Guilty by Barbra Streisand & Barry Gibb

34. Love On The Rocks by Neil Diamond

33. Fade Away by Bruce Springsteen

32. Seven Bridges Road by The Eagles

31. Ah! Leah! by Donnie Iris.

Some other good news to report, my personal life has taken a turn for the better. Not to go into too much detail, but as the kids say nowadays (we) are so back!

30. Living In A Fantasy by Leo Sayer

29. It's My Turn by Diana Ross

28. Kiss On My List by Daryl Hall & John Oates

27. Hearts On Fire by Randy Meisner

26. What Kind Of Fool by Barbra Streisand & Barry Gibb.

You know, speaking of DeAr LeAdEr renaming things on a whim because he's a petty, miserable little man, I think for my next blog entry I should go around renaming various geographical names just for the hell of it.

25. Smoky Mountain Rain by Ronnie Milsap
24. Games People Play by Alan Parsons Project

23. Treat Me Right by Pat Benatar

22. Heartbreak Hotel by The Jacksons

21. A Little In Love by Cliff Richard.

And we're halfway through...

20. Miss Sun by Boz Scaggs

19. Rapture by Blondie

18. Together by Tierra

17. Hello Again by Neil Diamond

16. Every Woman In The World by Air Supply

15. Crying by Don McLean

14. I Ain't Gonna Stand For It by Stevie Wonder

13. (Just Like) Starting Over by John Lennon

12. The Winner Takes It All by ABBA

11. Passion by Rod Stewart. 

A quick thought about the date of this countdown. I had just turned seven years old and was in first grade at Orlando Christian School. In fact, I have still have a small certificate for a job well done from back in September of 1980:

Thanks to my late sister Gloria for saving it for me all these years later.

10. Hey Nineteen by Steely Dan

  9. Same Old Lang Syne by Dan Fogelberg

  8. Giving It Up For Your Love by Delbert McClinton

  7. The Best Of Times by Styx

  6. Keep On Loving You by REO Speedwagon.

Every time that song plays, I think of her...

  5. The Tide Is High by Blondie

  4. Woman by John Lennon

  3. Celebration by Kool & The Gang

  2. I Love A Rainy Night by Eddie Rabbitt

and the number one song on February 21, 1981 was of course...

  1. 9 to 5 by DOLLY PARTON

You know, looking at this chart, the top two songs were country crossover hits as well as hits by artists who are now deceased. Makes me think about doing a list of artists on these flashbacks that are dead or alive. 

THIS JUST IN: Hillsborough County APPROVES the new ballpark by a 5-2 vote! It's not a World Series win, but it's just as important in my eyes. What a way to end the week on a high note!

I should be writing again sometime this weekend or early part of next week, in the meantime, enjoy your Friday.

BonyScribe

Some Friday Thoughts

 Greetings everyone, except you, Pete Hegseth. What's been reported on this week as to what's happening on board the USS Abraham Lincoln is totally unsatisfactory and quite infuriating to a Navy Vet who served on an aircraft carrier (Eisenhower). Of course, Drunky McDrunkface is downplaying these reports saying that those reports are a complete misrepresentation of what he thinks is going on. Pete, the heat is on from Congress, and sooner or later you might end up with your drinking buddy in Trump's doghouse, if you're not there already (even though Trump is now defending him). What a debacle.

This coming Tuesday is primary day here in Florida, where for governor there's a battle brewing among Byron Donalds, James Fishback, and Jay Collins for the GOP nomination, to go against David Jolly, who will be the presumptive Democratic candidate in the general election. Of course, from what I've seen on local television, only Donalds is running campaign ads, something I alluded to in my last entry, probably because he got the almighty Trump endorsement, even though in recent weeks that seems to be a kiss of death of sorts. Right, MyPillow guy???

I do have one question though. Hey Democrats, DO YOU REALLY WANT TO WIN COME NOVEMBER?! Because by every indication, it doesn't seem like it, just like in years past. I have heard or seen ZERO campaign ads from ANY candidate on the left side of the aisle, the only mention I hear of the Democrats even running is from negative ads from Donalds or Kevin Steele (who I guess is running for Congress, I haven't paid too much attention). And it's the same ol' typical playbook that they use. "Radical left Democrat," "Conservative Republican," etc. Plus, the GOP loves to play on left wing stereotypes, like Democrats are America-hating radicals that want wonton abortions and don't believe in faith or the family. Pffft. How about their (GOP's) radical right-wing ideology? If you're looking for stereotypes for them, I guess it would be a mix of Bible thumping and the video for "America (F*** Yeah)!"

Seriously though, are the Dems even trying? As I recall during the 2016 Presidential election, I did not see a single placard for Clinton, nor do remember seeing one for Biden in 2020 (then again, thanks to COVID nobody could really go anywhere), and for this last cycle, I only saw ONE placard for Harris. I'd rather not get any news surrounding local Dems from "Chasing Oz," who can be somewhat annoying at times (Google it), and MSNOW is basically a shell of its former self. Locally, there was one story about David Jolly and the improbable, no IMPOSSIBLE task at hand of winning the state house is what has become an increasingly red state. I mean, Trump has said in the past that the system's rigged. Well, it kind of is. Almost every talk radio station (in this market at least) leans decidedly right-wing; it's like the Dems have no say at all. I guess there are a couple of programs on the radio that fall left, but I don't hear them because after 2016 I swore off talk radio, if not ALL radio altogether for that very reason. So I guess the strategy for the Democrats is kind of like Chinese President Xi Jinping's strategy for the Iran war; do nothing and win. In that video, I learned that Napolean (of all people) said that you should never interrupt an opponent while he's (she's) making a mistake. Well...

Football season is upon us. Whoop-dee-do. I really don't feel like making a prediction blog post this year; I don't have very high hopes for the Bucs after their monumental collapse last season. Plus, Jon Gruden is doing PxP for preseason games this year. Sorry, but after he decided to partner with Barf Tool Sports, I want nothing to do with him. Plus, there's a bad vibe going around training camp this year anyway. After this season, I'm sure Todd Bowles will be let go and the franchise will begin a years-long rebuild...again. Heck, I may not watch a snap of Bucs football this year, which I haven't done since my Navy days (before the Bucs were relevant and the advent of mini-dish systems and Sunday Ticket).

As I'm sure you've noticed, the country is virtually on fire, and it's getting worse for next week. Makes me wish for when Florida got soaking rains the other week. Of course, I can't go out in such weather, but I'd rather have that than non-stop swamp ass. Plus, the tropics are starting to ramp up, but I don't expect anything to form with Saharan Dust in the Atlantic and a massive El Nino affecting the world's weather. A tropical system named Cristobal did form, but since its name was a variation Chris, of course it fizzled out before it really got going. Anyway, next week it will be so hot, my favorite bartenders may have to team up the fight any fires that may occur. Who are they? Sorry, that's confidential, although I'm sure you have heard of at least one of them.

I had some family over this past week; one of my sister's grandkids (and her boyfriend), and another one comes this weekend (with HER boyfriend). As for me, I'm not sure what I'll do this week. I MIGHT try to live out a dream of mine and do PxP...hey there's an idea; why not try to do PxP of the Bucs game later today and possibly do a live stream of said game. Then again, since I've never done anything like this I probably won't. I would need to do some research of both teams instead of flying by the seat of my pants (and it would make me somewhat hypocritical provided what wrote earlier in this post), then again, I usually write these blog posts flying by the seat of my pants anyway, so who knows...

In any event, have a safe weekend. Take care, and just say no to data centers (and flock cameras)

Bonyscribe

A Very Special (Ginger) Flashback

 Hello everyone. It's been a rather interesting week in Bony Scribe land, I nearly died Tuesday when I decided to overindulge in liquor and wound up being hospitalized briefly. I mentioned on my Facebook page never again. I need to return to the days where I was a teetotaler. Which wasn't that long ago (2013) to be honest. I don't think I've ever been so ashamed of myself. What really stinks is that the one I really love is a bartender...water is cheaper anyway.

Enough of the bad news. Today was a special day for the one person that I give credit for my affinity towards redheads, Ginger Spice (Geri Horner) turned 54 today, so in her honor, I would flashback to one of the charts that featured the Spice Girls. Conveniently enough, this weekend twenty-nine years ago features one such countdown. So, without further ado, here were the Top 40 songs based on data from Radio & Records Magazine for August 8, 1997.

40. Whatever by En Vogue
39. Stomp by God's Property 
38. How Come, How Long by Babyface
37. Don't Leave Me by Blackstreet
36. Rhythm Of Love by DJ Company.

Pause here to fill in some of the blanks since my last entry, which I dimwittedly deleted. As of today, Mitch McConnell (allegedly because in the age of fake news and alternative facts, we don't know what is actually real anymore) left the rehab facility he was in in Kentucky. When and if he returns to Washington is yet to be determined, but good grief, what a rigamarole...

35. Gotham City by R. Kelly
34. The Impression That I Get by The Mighty Mighty Bosstones
33. Honey by Mariah Carey
32. How Do I Live by LeAnn Rimes
31. I Wanna Be There by Blessid Union Of Souls.

You know, between having to watch the local Fox station, the incessant number of ambulance chaser ads (looking at YOU, Morgan & Morgan), that Uncle Tom Byron Donalds taking thirty-leven takes to nail his jump shot in his latest political ad (by the way, he is STILL the only candidate, GOP or Democrat, to air commercials on the local Fox station; I wonder why??), and the constant spam ads I get from TEEMU or TEH-MU or Tamiflu or whatever the hell they're called this week, I've been giving my middle fingers quite the workout lately...

30. Building A Mystery by Sarah McLachlan (before the sad pet stuff)
29. When I Die by No Mercy
28. I Don't Want To Wait by Paula Cole (career killer)
27. Say You'll Be There by The Spice Girls (pause here for another Geri GIF):

26. If You Could Only See by Tonic
25. Invisible Man by 98 Degrees (I feel like one sometimes, really)
24. To The Moon And Back by Savage Garden
23. MMMBop by Hanson (redacted because it was worse than Macarena or Wannabe)
22. Coco Jamboo by Mr. President

uh, nice "hair," dude. Now are you going to end the needless war with Iran or are you still going to be wishy-washy with this whole deal as usual?

21. Crash Into Me by Dave Matthews Band
20. The Difference by The Wallflowers
19. One Headlight by The Wallflowers
18. More Than This by 10,000 Maniacs
17. Hard To Say I'm Sorry by Az Yet
16. Push by Matchbox 20.

One good thing about this week is that the Tampa area (especially points north of the bay where I'm at) got plentiful rain that really put a dent in the drought condition that we have in Florida. And yet, we're still behind. There are other areas of the nation that need rain even worse than we do right about now...

15. Foolish Games by Jewel
14. I'll Be Missing You by Puff Daddy & Faith Evans f/112
13. A Change Would Do You Good by Sheryl Crow (which contains one of my all-time favorite song lyrics)
12. Return Of The Mack by Mark Morrison
11. The Freshmen by The Verve Pipe.

One thing I have to say about this particular timeframe this countdown was in. It was a point in my life where I was more depressed than usual. I had wrecked my car in October of 1996, and was stuck using the bus system around Hampton Roads, which was not very reliable to say the least. Almost similar to the depression I've been in the better part of the last three months. At least I have family and friends here to fall back on, unlike back then...

10. Men In Black by Will Smith
  9. Where's The Love by Hanson (believe it or not, this may have been worse than MMMBop)
  8. All For You by Sister Hazel
  7. Sunny Came Home by Shawn Colvin
  6. 2 Become 1 by The Spice Girls.

And now, one last Geri GIF for your viewing pleasure:

5. Do You Know (What It Takes) by Robyn
4. Quit Playing Games (With My Heart) by The Backstreet Boys
3. Bitch by Meredith Brooks
2. How Bizarre by OMC
1. Semi-Charmed Life by Third Eye Blind.

So, this concludes my flashback for the time being. I really need to get on the ball and over my depressive state going forward. There's a lot of topics that I have left on the shelf for one reason or another that I think my depression has caused a direct factor in. But I would really like to delve into topics such as the so-called "War on Woke," but I think there are other topics that need to be talked about, such as the war on Big Data, the war on rampant conservatism, the war on big law, and the war on misinformation.

Mis(s)Information, get it?

I swear Tawny Laryngitis could be the resting b**** face of the conservative movement. And don't get me wrong, there's misinformation and propaganda on both sides of the political spectrum. You know that fake news is running roughshod when BBC News has to air a show called "BBC Verify." Speaking of misinformation, the FCC just overturned the cap on TV station ownership, much like they did for radio stations thirty years ago. I'm sure it was good in theory but look what it created; a wave of anti-liberal talk radio (think Rush), and ultimately, ultra-nationalism (remember the days after 9/11?). Why did Clinton sign that into law? I sometimes with he had a do-over on that, among other things. But I digress.

Enjoy the weekend, everyone!

BonyScribe