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Michael McLeod

This response has been a long time coming and it's directed to Mark for his astonishing and repugnant and wackadoodle - yes, I said it, wackadoodle! - remarks about Neil Young.

For starters: There is just something acute and astounding in his voice. 

I would guess it is a matter of taste but that alone distinguishes him among the rockers of our generation.

It's nasal yet compelling, lyrical -- I'm trying to thing of a classical instrument it reminds me of. Upper register oboe, maybe.

But to my point: You asked, in a snarky-snark tone I might add, how many songs of his have left their mark. Well. Prepare to be soundly chastised, my wackadoodle friend, because have I got a list for you:

Old Man Take a Look at My Life

Down by the River

Southern Man (trivia question: what song was written as a retort to this song?)

Cowgirl in the Sand

OHIO, fer cryin out loud

Heart of Gold!!!!!

Don't Let it Bring You Down

The Needle and the Damage Done.

And that immortal anthem with the deathless headbanger lyrics:

MY MY HEY HEY ROCK AND ROLL IS HERE TO STAY!

HEY HEY MY MY ROCK AND ROLL WILL NEVER DIE!

Mark: I don't even KNOW you anymore.

I was GOING to write about the tragedy of the rain forest burning and the various tragedies befalling the globe and the ongoing disinformation campaigns that monied interest are using to decieve the naive, and it does indeed feel like a long long time before the dawn in that regard, but I am obliged as a matter of honor to challenge you with regards to this critical and dare I say heretical remark about a dark god of rock and roll.

And remember: It's better to burn out than to fade away.

James Hamilton, M. D.

Dave M.,

Given your history of heat-related injuries, I am curious as to why you have chosen to live where you do. Granted, at our age, we are all pretty much staying where we are now, unless and until some change in our lives or health prompts us to relocate.

And while we are on this topic, how did we all end up where we are?  This might be interesting....

Jim 

Mark Schweickart

Mike – In the groveling spirit of a "sinner in the face of an angry God," let me say I accept your flagellating condemnation of my seeming heretical remarks about his holiness, Neil Young. I plead old-man, foggy-brained memory as my only excuse (and to paraphrase his worshipfulness, obviously this old man is not a lot like you). I see in your list of Neil Young songs that there were indeed quite a few that I didn't recall at the time of writing my post. However, I must still contend, that aside from Ohio, none of those listed, (although obviously hit songs and appreciated by me back in the day) had any sort of lasting impact on me personally.

And to answer your trivia question about Southern Man, I believe it was Lynyrd Skynyrd's Sweet Home Alabama.

In closing, let me just say that I feel my doodle deservedly whacked, and "Rave on curmedgeonly, Neil, rave on!"

Michael McLeod

I'm in Fla because the newspapers were livelier and more creative down here at the time.

Ohio rags seemed stodgy by comparison.

Now they're all in the same tepid soup bowl, save the giants -- Wapo and the NYTimes.

The Times in particular has made remarkable strides in presentation and new media and, contrary to he who must not be named, is not failing or fake but rather prospering and turning out some of the best journalism I've seen in my 50 years in the trade.

David Mitchell

Wow,

I am sooo glad that L.A. and Orlando are not in each other's back yard. At least that makes it kinda hard to throw pitchforks, or lob satchel bombs over the back fence. 

And I do realize we could be wasting our time discussing trivial matters - like the rain forest fires in Brazil, or the riots in Hong Kong, but it's refreshing to see that you two really have your priorities straight - - almost.

But what you two youngsters need to realize that it is not in fact, Neal Young that defined a generation, but rather, Donovan, Joe Cocker, and Van Morrison.  

I mean - really!

My advice to you is, as the Brits say,

"Keep Calm 

and take light doses of Tiny Tim before bed time every night."

(or does your chewing gum loose it's flavor on the bed post over night?)

David Mitchell

Jim, 

Okay I'll bite.

I landed on "planet Clintonville" becasue my mom and my dad fell in love at North High School around 1928 - and after a romance followed by a marraige, they decided to Choose Life, and take me home from the hospital and see if my big sisters could stand me. (a similar plight of my trusted ally, one John Jackson)

Later, I transfered to the "High Country" (Colorado) because there was a school that would accept me, and because it was located near of a "family of friends" by the names of Vail, Loveland, Steamboat, Aspen, Arapaho Basin, Keystone, Breckenridge, Copper Mountain, Winter Park, and Telluride. I regret that I have not been amongst them since many fresh powder snows ago.

There were stops along the way in Salzburg, Austria, and one quiet little cottage located conveniently between the banks of the muddy Mekong, and a dusty noisy runway.

Oh, and a return visit to the "Big -C" for 12 years.

But I am down here because a best buddy (from that same little Mekong retreat years ago) offered me a job with his homebuilding operation on Hilton Head, and he gave me (yet another) chance to get my life right side up in Bluffton. (when has it ever been right side up, you may ask?). I have lived in a small rental cottage in a sort of Shangri La location on the May River (Johnny Mercer's "Moon River") for 17 years - at the end of a private dirt, and I have two docks in front of the cottage where we chat and watch dolphins swim by in the evenings (that is, when I am home, and when the breeze keeps the mosquitos at bay). Fall and Winter are gorgeous. Spring can be nice at times. And Summers can get downright brutal!

And our "oystahs",  "shreeimp", and "Blue Crayab" are ta die fer!

(Jim, the real reason I landed here is because I was driving South, and I figured I'd better stop well short of Orlando, where all those crazy English Majors live - you know, the ones who don't seem to know their rock & roll music history from their hind ends -  and don't even know what "guage" their "American Flyer" was - - - Jeesh!  

Gives me the Willys - or the "Wackydoodles")

David Mitchell

I know some of you traveled the vast canyons from Clintonville to U.A.  and even Hilliard.

What about Espania!  

Or New Jersey!

So how did the rest of you get to wherever?

Michael McLeod

Don't be a dick, Dave.

Also learn how to spell gauge, gramps.

And apart from all that:

how you can possibly call yourself a patriot when you mock AMERICAN Flyer trains I'll never know.

David Mitchell

Nina is supposed to be doing my spell checking. I never got very far in our Spelling Beez. 'Sides, thoze dumm 6th-graid girls alwasy wun the gold ribonz.

I try to make up for it in long winded-ness. (is that a word? - you would know)

I just assumed that if I can bore y'all to tears, you won't notiss my spelling erors.

David Mitchell

Okay, so where has this been all my life?

("here, you drive. I need to put my blindfold on")

https://www.usatoday.com/videos/tech/2019/08/28/nissan-creates-self-driving-golf-ball-always-finds-hole/2138847001/

Mark Schweickart

As a matter of fact, Dave, as a child, my chewing gum did lose its flavor on the bedpost overnight, and unlike my rebellious little brother, who, when our mother said, "Don't chew it,"  would swallow it in spite. I did not because I feared it might get caught on my tonsils and wind up swinging left and right. But economic times being what they were back then, I deemed it wiser to let it rest on the bedpost overnight.

David Mitchell

Mark, 

Touche!  I see hope for you yet. I think there could be a song in there somewhere.

(BTW, You weren't one of those English Majors were you?)

-------------------

And Doctor Jim,

Do tell how your path led you to the "Garden of the Gods"?  

Or anyone? Class? Anyone?

Michael McLeod

Great. Another hurricane headed this way. 

Michael McLeod

In the meantime -- this is a continuating of the conversation/bitchfest Mark and I were engaged in: What songs and singers of our era had an impact on you?

I'll start with Paul McCartney. His sensitivity and his endurance as a talented but extremely humble, good-hearted, and well-balanced male has been an inspiration to me. One song of his I have come to love in particular is Let it Be, which as you may or may not know was based on a dream he had in which his mother, who had died years early, came to him in a dream and uttered those words of reassurance.

I don't know if you have ever had that experience of being "visited" by someone you lost in a dream. I have. 

It's compelling. It's a gift. 

That's what the music of Paul, and the other lads, will always represent to me. A gift.

I may write another time and relate the story about a Help album which was signed by all four Beatles and is now in the possession of my first wife, bless her heart. She managed to get John's and George's autograph while growing up in England; I got Paul and Ringo to sign it years later, here in the states. 

Michael McLeod

IS THERE ANYBODY ALIVE OUT THERE?????

LOVE THIS WEBSITE:

https://www.windy.com/?28.530,-81.481,5

David Mitchell

Mike, Tom, and Tess,

Looks like a fun Labor Day "celebration", doesn't it ?

David Barbour

Mike,  Thanks for the link

DB

Mary Margaret Clark (Schultheis)

Especially for my IC classmates of yesteryear.....a video and some "old" IC photos.

And that is all of the incriminating photos I will divulge today!!

John Jackson

Yikes, Mike! I think you're well away from the coast but it looks like your night-blooming-whatevers will get quite a drink...

Michael McLeod

Thanks, John:

Actually, however it looks on the map, Orlando is perhaps 50 miles as the crow flies from the Atlantic coast, so we can get quite a wallop when they come in from that side depending on the vector. And oddly enough, the worst hurricane I have ever been through - well, as a resident, rather than as a reporter - was a regular landlubber: Charlie, 15 years ago, basically crossed into south fla from the gulf side and came straight up 1-4, through the middle of the peninsula, like it was bent on going to Disney World. And boy howdy did it get its money's worth out of the trip. There is a chance, gulp, that the same thing will happen with Dorian: One possibility, which just got more likely, is that it will go straight across south fla. from the atlantic side, then make a sharp right hand turn and come straight towards us. But the storm weakens, rather than strengthens, when it travels over land.

At any rate: don't believe what you hear from the FAKE MEDIA!!!

And I am only half joking. What you get, as always, and especially from televised coverage, is news from the places where there is the most drama. It's not a deceptive view; just a selective one.

People will likely lose their homes. There may be deaths and injuries. But for most Floridians like me the worst thing will be losing power and internet service and having to clean up lots and lots of fallen limbs and -- actually this is the worst of it -- trying to sleep through the night without a.c. if we weren't smart enough to buy a generator in advance.

Thanks for the nostaligia photos mm. More proof, as if we needed it, that IC produced the most beautiful young ladies in the diocese. And then "dating Dave" Mitchell proceeded to hit on nearly all of them.

Jeanine Eilers (Decker)

Mike--Just in case:  We have room for you if you need to "blow" town (no pun intended).  Seriously, just head west, ignore the deep south and Texas, enjoy the scenery of New Mexico and come to Phoenix.  You would be most welcome.

David Mitchell

Jeanine,

I didn't think they allowed English Majors in Arizona.

And Mike,

Just make sure you don't let that thing turn right before it reaches land. I have been thinking of renting a helicopter to come down there and "Nuke" that thing. 

We here way up "north" in South Cacakalatchie are watching with bated breath.

(or Mark, is it baited?)

Michael McLeod

Thank you for the thoughtful offer, Jeanine.

I'm pointedly ignoring you, Dave.

James Hamilton, M. D.

I have not logged on for a few days but it seems there are several topics in play here on the Forum.

Most urgent is Hurricane Dorian which may "touch" Mike's abode in Orlando. Best wishes and prayers that you all and your property will be safe. Good thing you have that generator since power failure is one of the first things to occur in most storms whether they be wind, snow or fire related.

Mary Margaret's old IC photos were precious and certainly brought back a few memories of that Clintonville parish and school. I thank her for sharing those and await others she may have. I'm not sure Tom and Tess were thinking of those kind of pictures but it may help prompt others to add some of Watterson '62-'66 and other grade schools such as St. Agatha. I don't believe I have any from our IC days; I'll search for any from our BWHS years.

And, Dave M., in regards to how I ended up in Colorado (since I brought up the topic of how we all got to where we are), it is a long story of both getting here and why I (we) stayed here. The Cliff Note's version is that as the end of my residency was in sight, we looked, interviewed and/or communicated with practice opportunities in Worthington, OH, Marietta, OH, Wilmington, NC, Medford OR, and Colorado Springs. We both liked the Springs and I was offered a position with a large multispeciality group which I accepted. For several reasons that did not work to our advantage. We wanted to stay in the Springs so I interviewed at the Air Force Academy Hospital (a few miles north of our home) but decided to take a civilian job at Ft. Carson (something that I had never imagined). That allowed me to practice the way I like and do a lot of teaching. After a few years there, the Army instituted a RIF (Reduction in Force) of their civilian doctors and so, being the most recently hired civilian doc, I preemptively looked at a teaching/practice opportunity at St. Joseph Hospital in Phoenix, AZ, was contacted by a doctor in Lamar, CO who needed a partner and interviewed for  a partnership with another internist in San Leandro, CA. However, I survived the RIF and the rest is history.

That's my story. What's yours?

Jim

Michael McLeod

This administration in a nutshell.

NEW ORLEANS — President Trump has portrayed America’s cities as wastelands, ravaged by crime and homelessness, infested by rats.

But the Trump administration’s signature plan to lift them — a multibillion-dollar tax break that is supposed to help low-income areas — has fueled a wave of developments financed by and built for the wealthiest Americans.

Among the early beneficiaries of the tax incentive are billionaire financiers like Leon Cooperman and business magnates like Sidney Kohl — and Mr. Trump’s family members and advisers.

Former Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey; Richard LeFrak, a New York real estate titan who is close to the president; Anthony Scaramucci, a former White House aide who recently had a falling out with Mr. Trump; and the family of Jared Kushner, Mr. Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, all are looking to profit from what is shaping up to be a once-in-a-generation bonanza for elite investors.

The stated goal of the tax benefit — tucked into the Republicans’ 2017 tax-cut legislation — was to coax investors to pump cash into poor neighborhoods, known as opportunity zones, leading to new housing, businesses and jobs.

The initiative allows people to sell stocks or other investments and delay capital gains taxes for years — as long as they plow the proceeds into projects in federally certified opportunity zones. Any profits from those projects can avoid federal taxes altogether.

“Opportunity zones, hottest thing going, providing massive new incentives for investment and job creation in distressed communities,” Mr. Trump declared at a recent rally in Cincinnati.

Instead, billions of untaxed investment profits are beginning to pour into high-end apartment buildings and hotels, storage facilities that employ only a handful of workers, and student housing in bustling college towns, among other projects.