John

I remember John

Almost as a dream

After all the years past

His lightness of being

Now a low fog

That drifts close to my shore

Whispering

What if

2008 By David Jacobi

Neil Young

The first new Neil Young album I purchased was Rust Never Sleeps, acoustic on side one and electric on side two. It was love at first spin. That summer he immediately became one of my favorite musicians, and I began buying his previous albums. The way he could alternate between a tender acoustic ballad and a scorching electric rocker was amazing to my teenage ears. Soon I was spending hours listening to After The Gold Rush, Harvest, On The Beach, the harrowing, dark Tonight’s The Night, and Zuma, to name my favorites. I bought all of the other earlier albums, too, sometimes two or three at a time. I felt like I had discovered a gold mine of great music that wouldn’t end. And then came Re-ac-tor, his 1981 release. A Synclavier? Jokey choruses, stammering singing and silly lyrics? What was going on here? Maybe this was just something he had to get out of his system. The next one will find him back in fine form, I thought, until Trans came out in 1982. Again, some of it was okay, but he went crazy with a vocoder, like a kid with a new toy. One album review I remember from the time likened his vocals to a singing microwave. When you have Crazy Horse as a backing band and put out something like this, well, what is there to say? Next up was Everybody’s Rockin’, a rockabilly album, and that was followed by a country album. None of them to me were bad, just not what I was expecting after the joy of listening to his backlog. I can’t help but applaud when an artist trys a new direction, but that doesn’t mean fans will follow. As the years went by I kept my eye on what he was up to, and I still buy the occasional album. I consider myself a fan, but not like that teenager who first discovered him years ago.

The Roundup

Want to make your favorite restaurant dish at home? Check out CopyKat Recipies to search for the recipe.

“Claiming inspiration from “old-school American values mixed with a little punk-rock idealism,” Mike Brodie, aka The Polaroid Kidd, hopped trains across the U.S. for seven years, documenting his friends, lovers, and travels with a Polaroid and a 35-millimeter camera and amassing a critically acclaimed body of images.” His own site is static and he has supposedly given up photography.

Maps of War “was created to help people understand current events, as seen on TV and in our newspaper headlines, as being one small chapter in the much bigger and longer story of human history. Each map is well-researched and based in fact, and none of the work is meant to be biased or political. No spin or opinion, just fact-based conclusions about the history of war.”

Raise “is an online gift card marketplace where you can sell gift cards for cash or buy discount gift cards to all your favorite brands.”

August Ambiance

Having lived in Iowa my entire life, seeing vast acres of corn and bean fields became commonplace even as a child. As a city boy I was used to driving around the crops to get to other places, but now that we moved to the country we live in the crops. We are surrounded by a swaying wall of corn on all sides of our property, a living seven foot high privacy fence. We can only see from ground level the tree tops of our two neighbors a quarter mile away to the east and west. Living on two acres in the middle of a vast cornfield tends to turn the eyes up or down. Up, one studies and admires the clouds and the big blue sky they float through, and down are the wildflowers, flowering weeds, dragonflies, butterflies and toads. To find them all in one spot we walk out to the ten foot wide ditch that separates our front yard from the gravel road. We decided not to mow the ditch to see what would come up, which most of our neighbors do as well. There are a wide variety of grasses, flowers and weeds that I have not taken the time to try to identify yet but we do recognize Daylillies, Queen Anne’s lace, milkweed and lilac scattered throughout. The toads are most vociferous after a rain and if water is left in the ditch. They vary in color from browns to greens, but always with some bumps and intricate patterns on their skin. They seem unconcerned when picked up, and many times will not even hop away when set back down. The rabbits have multiplied as usual, which keeps the two dogs busy chasing them back into the corn when they see them. Come dusk the lighting bugs begin flying and blinking by the thousands, making for a wonderful glowing show while the robins chirp and chatter as they sing down the sun.

Website Review: Filmsite

Filmsite.org “is an award-winning website for classic film buffs, students, moviegoers and anyone else interested in the great movies of the last century. Detailed plot synopses, review commentary and film reference material are just some of the features available on the site.” They feature dozens of best of lists, a history of the Oscars, movie quotes (second worst quote: “Nobody buts Baby in a corner.”) greatest scenes, biography’s of stars and directors, and reviews. A comprehensive, fun and addictive site.

Anytime Potato Salad

Some meals are thought of as seasonal, and for most people potato salad is a summertime side dish. I can eat it anytime, so that is the title I came up with for our version. I rarely use measurements when I cook anything, so you will need to season to taste. It’s better to start with a little, then add more if desired.

Potatoes, cubed (boiled but not overdone, unless you want mashed potato salad)

Eggs (boiled and shelled and diced. Usually one egg per pound of potatoes)

Onion (diced, one for a medium size batch, two for a large)

Mayonnaise (we prefer the real stuff)

Ranch Salad Dressing (the secret ingredient, just add a dollop. That means just a bit, not too much)

Mustard (Spicy Brown!)

Ground Thyme, Dill weed, Paprika, Caraway Seed, Celery Seed, Parsley, Salt and Pepper

Mix it all together then eat it warm right out of the bowl. If there is any left chill it and serve as a side dish for your Memorial Day, Fourth of July or Labor Day picnics. It’s also great for your Thanksgiving, Christmas and Groundhog Day get togethers. Bon Apetit!

The First

Once a month I highlight a piece of art I have created and posted on my Fine Art America site. This one is titled The First, from the Collage Collection. It is watercolor and collage on paper.

Ray Bradbury

One of the reasons we share what we enjoy with others is because it gives us a chance to engage with like minded people. This book, music, series, movie is so terrific that I have to share it with you. And once I have done that if you enjoy it like I do, we can discuss it, we are both part of the club. That is how I think of Ray Bradbury. If you ask someone if they have read him and they have you end up in a conversation about your mutual enjoyment of his stories of imagined places, magical situations, thrilling action and strange people. Ray Bradbury was a master of fantasy writing, one of the best writers of the last 100 years. His stories can be humanistic, contain empathy, usually employs likable characters, and has enough mystery and weirdness to keep your attention through hundreds of short stories. Ray lived from 1920 to 2012 and in addition to short stories he wrote novels, poems, screenplays, essays, plays, operas and teleplays. His work was adapted for comics, movies, radio and television. I could go on about him but the best thing would be for you to visit your local library, bookstore or go online and get a copy of one of his short story collections. The novels can come later but first you have to sample the short stories. Try The Illustrated Man, The October Country or I Sing The Body Electric. If you like what you read don’t forget to spread the word, and welcome to the club.

The Roundup

Cooks.com is an extensive recipe and cooking site that also offers nutritional information, a forum and a free newsletter.

AdFlip says it is the “worlds largest archive of classic print ads.” It seems most of the content is for paying members, but you can browse through quite a few free examples.

Cyndi’s List “has been a trusted genealogy research site for more than 20 years. Cyndi’s List is free for everyone to use and it is meant to be your starting point when researching online.” I have relied on this site for research many times over the years. One of the very best genealogical resources on the web.

While Amazon has succeded in convincing many that they have the lowest prices online, take a minute to check out BookFinder. They have “made it easy to find any book at the best price. Whether you want the cheapest reading copy or a specific collectible edition, with BookFinder, you’ll find just the right book. BookFinder.com searches the inventories of over 100,000 booksellers worldwide, accessing millions of books in just one simple step.”

A Flying Fish Tale

It was the last day of our long summer weekend getaway with the family. Our son in law Jesse invited Shelly and I out for a cruise on the water in his new fishing boat. I sat in the fore, Shelly the middle and Jesse manned the outboard. Once we got out of the no wake zone Jesse opened it up and the cabins on the shore behind us got smaller and smaller. We were talking over the engine, commenting on the weather and landscape, and enjoying the little excursion. I was looking forward when suddenly there was a loud thud. I turned around and asked Jesse if we had hit something. He said no, a fish had just jumped in the boat. Peering over the bench between us sure enough, there was a silver carp over two feet long flopping around at his feet. Jesse had slowed the boat while we were looking at it, and we decided to leave it be for now and continue on our tour. He told us that the day before he had talked to some fellow fishermen, and they related the story of a boater who was knocked out by one of these fish, fell overboard and drowned. This tale, if true, meant these things could do more than injure you. We decided to continue on to a certain point then turn back. As we cruised along we looked back and could see big carp jumping out of the wake the boat was leaving. While Jesse was turned looking at them I tossed a life jacket at his leg. He jumped and cussed before chuckling at the prank. We headed back for shore, and I was thinking this was a memorable way to end our weekend when suddenly another huge carp jumped into the boat, smacking Jesse’s leg and shooting green poop all over the place. Shelly, who had been a little nervous about the situation before, was now making it known to anyone who could hear that we were being attacked and she wanted out of this boat NOW! We made it to shore and helped her onto land where she retreated to the safety of our cabin. While Jesse was washing the green goo off his legs in the water I thanked him for a memorable boat ride. He grinned, “Anytime!”