Davy Jones

In a recent post I mentioned that the only "non-real" monkeys I like is the group from the sixties, The Monkees.

I've been a fan of the group since I first saw and heard them on TV in 1966. The show was a mix of crazy gags, loose plots and music each week. To a seven year old, the silliness of the show had an attraction. At the time, the music was kind of secondary to the show, though I did find myself liking the music as well.

Even at that young age, I remember having my first "crush" on a celebrity. Davy Jones, with his cute face, and charming English accent sent pre-teen and teenage girls' hearts aflutter around the world.

In reality, The Monkees were a put together band, aimed at drawing attention away from the Beatles and the subsequent British Invasion of music. Though they were never taken as seriously as the Beatles, (having been weighed down with the "bubble gum music" moniker), The Monkees definitely made an impact in the music world.

Generations have grown up watching reruns of the show, and buying the group's music. And while members, Micky Dolenz, Mike Nesmith, and Peter Tork have all had their adoring fans, it was Davy who always had the largest following.

As with any celebrity, you hear good and bad about any one of them. Davy is no exception. Whether the stories are true or not, I can't say. I do know that when a friend and I met Davy after a show a few years ago, he was very kind and courteous.

I feel lucky to have met Davy Jones, especially in light of today's news that Jones died in Florida, due to an apparent heart attack. He was fairly young, in retrospect to most sixties teen idols; he turned 66 years old on December 30th last year.

Davy was still performing until his untimely death; his latest, (and last), performance being in Oklahoma, February 19th.

While Jones' death will never rival say, Elvis Presley, Michael Jackson, or Whitney Houston, his death is newsworthy. The news media, social networks and the like, are abuzz remembering Davy Jones today, and the memories he's left to all those former teenybopper girls. And I'll admit, for 66 years old, I think Davy aged pretty well!

Rest in peace Davy, knowing you made the lives of girls everywhere a little brighter.

Snow & Angels

First, aside from the subject of this post: Happy Leap Day everyone! And happy birthday to my former co-worker, Sheila McCluskey, who becomes a "teenager" today...13 years old...In leap years anyway!

On to the rest of this post. By now anyone who knows me, or reads this blog, knows I live up in the hills outside of Vancouver, Washington. This time of year can mean a lot of snow at times, and today is no exception. Right now I have about 4-5 inches at my house.

I already had today and tomorrow planned as vacation days, so no worries about that. Whenever I get snow here though, I have co-workers who insist I need to make a snow angel and send them the photo.

Finally after hearing this over and over this winter, I did what they asked. I made a snow angel, took a photo of it and sent it to them. They now tell me I cheated! I say I didn't. Technically no one said *I* had to LAY in the snow and make a snow angel; they just asked me to make one, and I did.

I think it's a pretty good snow angel, and it was much easier than laying in cold, wet snow. Just took a couple of jar lids and made it in the snow on the hood of my car.

So, did I cheat; or did I fulfill what my co-workers asked of me? (SMILE!)

2012 Daytona 500--History in the Making

(Today's word will be in ALL CAPS, BOLD, ITALIC, and STRIKETHROUGH.)

Held each year in February, the Daytona 500 is the start of the stock car race season. The one who wins this race will go down in the history books, and be known forever as a "Daytona 500 Race Winner".

The 2012 Daytona 500 was scheduled to run February 26th, though history was being made well before the green flag was finally waved.

The biggest hoopla surrounded race car driver, Danica Patrick; only the third woman in history to start in the Daytona 500.

Though she's not running a full Sprint Cup schedule in 2012, Danica has taken her place alongside Janet Guthrie and Shawna Robinson, as part of Nascar's most famous race.

When race day arrived though, more history was to be made. Light rain was falling that Sunday, and though all the pre-race rituals were taken care of, right down to the prayers and national anthem; in the end, the race was postponed until Monday morning. In it's fifty-four year history the Daytona 500 had never been postponed; until then.

That wasn't the end of the history making though. Monday morning came, and went, with more rain, and the race being delayed until 7 pm eastern time. The delay also made history as being the first time the Daytona 500 has ever been held at night.

It seemed like a let down, after the day before, to just have the cars on track, and the race start. No repeat of prayers, or the national anthem, just start the race. Such a grand race and start to a season reduced to a common, ordinary race.

That is, until just before lap two. Elliot Sadler caught the corner of Jimmy Johnson's car, causing Jimmy to spin out, taking other cars with him. Way too early in a five hundred mile race to be racing like that; and several drivers expressed that as well.

As the race went on, the usual things were happening; tagging, drafting, car problems,lead changes, all that. Then, with forty laps to go, the BIG one happened!

Usually that statement is made when there's been a major crash, with lots of cars involved. In this case, the "big" one involved Juan Montoya and a jet dryer that was on the track during a caution.

Montoya had been having trouble with his car, had gone in for work, and had just come back on the track from the pits. He was racing around the track to catch up to the rest of the pack, when his car let go and he had no control. As his car slid sideways, it slammed into the jet dryer, setting both vehicles on fire.

Fortunately both Montoya and the driver of the jet dryer were able to get away; though the driver of the jet dryer was flown to a nearby hospital for observation.

When two hundred gallons of jet fuel spills onto a track, and ignites, you can bet it will cause a red flagging of the race! It did; for a couple hours or so, at least. During the red flag, it was stressed several times that neither Montoya, or the driver of the jet dryer had done anything wrong; it was just a fluke accident.

As all the FOX Sports announcers said, in all their years of racing, none had seen a wreck like the one between Montoya and the jet dryer; another first for the history books.

It doesn't end there though. Unlike the old days of racing, today's drivers have more than just a steering wheel at their fingertips while in the car. This was proven in another history making event when driver Brad Keslowski tweeted the first photo of Montoya's wreck, while he was sitting in his race car.

Since that photo, it's been rumored that Keslowski picked up about 55,000 new followers.

When the race restarted, more history was to be made. The Daytona 500 race day started on a Sunday; was postponed to a Monday; and with 10 cautions, including the red flag, finished on a Tuesday at 1 am eastern time.

When all was said and done, Matt Kenseth was named the 2012 Daytona 500 winner, with Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Greg Biffle coming in second and third, respectively.

All in all, quite an eventful show, even if it did take three days to get through it!

One Of THOSE Days...

(Today's "KUPL Listener Blog Word" is in the post just below this one.)

Ever have one of those days? Not a bad day, nothing going wrong or anything.

Just kind of tired. Tired due to lack of sleep, yet not really sleepy.

Except your mind; your mind just races around dragging you with it, wherever it decides to go.

And it doesn't necessarily go anywhere it usually does; or stay in any one place for long.

That's me today! Added to the equation is that I talk a lot when I'm tired. Okay, those who know me will tell you THAT'S normal for me; I ALWAYS talk a lot!

The difference when I'm tired is that I drive myself crazy, as well as everyone around me.

Even when I'm not talking out loud, my mind is bouncing around, talking and just spinning, and I get silly. Not just the usual silliness, but really silly. Bad puns, bad jokes, chatter, chatter, chatter. It's like someone is playing multiple games of ping pong in the space between my ears!

And then it just goes, and goes, and goes, on, and on, and on. Music usually helps though. I can put on my headphones and drown myself out with music; unless I forget my mp3 player, like today. Then I'm just stuck with the racing, running and all. What happens when I get this way is, I have to find some way to get it out, which isn't easy. It's not easy because I can't type, or write as fast as I can talk or think. So after awhile everything just jumbles together into total chaos. Forget paragraphs and punctuation; I'm just lucky to actually spell things correctly! Even when I start out with paragraphs and all, it will usually end up being one big massive knot of words and symbols that don't make any sense to anyone but me, because it's what's in my head as I type. A friend once told me it's like my mind gets too full and has to throw up the excess; isn't THAT a pretty picture?! NOT! I guess it's true though, since I'm typing and this paragraph seems to be getting longer and longer, and I'm rambling more and more. Which is why the name of my blog is "Ramblings from a KUPL Listener", because that's what I do best; ramble!And in the course of rambling, other thoughts are brought to mind, so I go off in that direction, which leads to another, and another, and well, yeah, I think you're getting the idea. Really thought righting it out wood help; knot shure it did tho. Maybee it did, what dew u think? I'm thinking spelling is highly overrated. I think I should just right as I go, (or left, since I'm left handed); or maybe this should just be left a loan. Speaking of a loan, I could use won of those; a bit short on funds. Gnaw, knot really, just won of those there thoughts again. Gotta love puns! I do, four, (or is that "fore"?), shure! I think the punnier, the better! Just luv them! This is really getting annoying! This is what I've ben trying to explain here; hope its making some sense to someone! O good grief, somebody please save me from myself already!.....

Phil Vassar--"Don't Miss Your Life"

(Today's word will be in ALL CAPS, BOLD, ITALIC, and STRIKETHROUGH.)


To me, Phil Vassar has always been one of the most underrated singer/songwriters in country music.

While it might be true that Vassar's music leans more towards pop, his tunes are some of the best country music in recent decades.

Likewise, though Vassar's singing capabilities may be overshadowed by other artists, this doesn't mean he doesn't have a great voice; he does. Vassar's voice is distinctive, and recognizable almost immediately on any song he's performing.

This brings us to PHIL's latest contribution to country airwaves, "Don't Miss Your Life".

"Don't Miss Your Life" tells the story of two men meeting on a flight to the West Coast. Though it's the typical story of older person bestowing knowledge on an eager, go-getter, workaholic, Vassar has managed to tell this time worn tale in a fresh, interesting and very touching way.


"Don't Miss Your Life" has been enjoying some airplay on KUPL's overnight airwaves as of late. Hopefully it will gain momentum and become another hit for Phil Vassar; he's long overdue for one.

Whitney Houston

I've had people ask me why I haven't made a post about Whitney Houston's death; after all, it's been over a week since then. My answer is simple: because just about everyone else has already written about it, covered every angle, you name it; what's left to be said? For those who still wonder about my opinions though, please read on.

It's not that I have anything against Ms. Houston, I don't. I can see both sides of the whole situation of her death though.

On one hand, here's this person who had an incredible voice and presence, who helped set the course of music in the 80's. For this Whitney should definitely be remembered, and respected.

On the other hand, does this mean that I think her death should have been honored so far as to have flags flown at half staff? No, I don't. I think this is something that should be held for true heroes, the military, firefighters, police officers, etc.

While Whitney had a fantastic career, she also made some bad choices in her life; choices that affected her, her family and her career. Certainly, this can happen to anyone, anywhere, at any time; so it's not my place to pass judgement on her actions. What I'm trying to say is, we all have our own demons; in some cases it just seems the media has glorified Houston's in light of her untimely death.

I truthfully believe there should be tributes to the woman, she's earned it on some level. I just think they should be a bit more subdued than they have been. While she's left an indelible impact on the entertainment industry; Whitney is not a hero. I say this, not because of the drugs and alcohol, I say it because compared to those who lay their lives on the line every day, Whitney Houston doesn't even come remotely close.

This doesn't apply just to Whitney though. It's just my opinion, but I don't think there's an entertainer, athlete, or anyone who could, or should be considered a hero, unless they've actually been in the same footsteps of real heroes.

Now those reading this know why I wasn't going to write about Whitney's death; because of my definite opinions on the subject. I try my best to NOT offend anyone, and I'm pretty sure I may have with this post. If so, I do apologize.

The Reality Of Reality TV

(Today's word will be in ALL CAPS, BOLD, ITALIC, and STRIKETHROUGH.)

In one of my earliest posts, I wrote that I don't watch television much. I also noted that I especially try not to watch the "reality" shows that are on all the networks.

Since the long President's Day weekend though, I've realized that, while I don't watch a lot of TV, I do watch a lot of reality shows. Well, at least as real as any reality show can be, I suppose.

It's not the run-of-the mill reality shows like "Survivor", "The Amazing Race", "Celebrity Apprentice" or any of those; (though I have watched some of them in the past).

The reality shows I tend to watch are usually on A&E, I.D., TRU, BIO, and the like. In reality, (excuse the pun), I've come to realize I watch these particular programs more than I thought; a lot more.

I don't actually watch them ALL the time; instead, I tend to go through phases. I'll watch the true crime shows for awhile, or the shows about crazy things people do, those types of programs. Then I'll stop watching them for awhile. The shows about ghost stories are the ones I tend to watch on a somewhat regular basis.

I fully admit, the shows I watch probably aren't anymore realistic than the other so called reality shows. I guess I tend to watch them more, because they seem to be more entertaining. Not something to necessarily be proud of, I know, but it's the reality, (every pun intended), of my situation that I've become aware of.

I guess there are worse things in life that I could call a bad habit.