Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Bark louder, little dog.

Yeah, with this crowd one never knows.

The next time the wall street journal editorial board speaks the truth will be the first.

Republicans don’t want a speaker to lead them; they want a hostage.

Nothing worth doing is easy.

Wow, you are pre-disappointed. How surprising.

I’d like to think you all would remain faithful to me if i ever tried to have some of you killed.

I did not have telepathic declassification on my 2022 bingo card.

Whatever happens next week, the fight doesn’t end.

We cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation.

Republicans are radicals, not conservatives.

This blog will pay for itself.

Today’s GOP: why go just far enough when too far is right there?

You don’t get rid of your umbrella while it’s still raining.

We are builders in a constant struggle with destroyers. let’s win this.

Damn right I heard that as a threat.

Why is it so hard for them to condemn hate?

Within six months Twitter will be fully self-driving.

Tick tock motherfuckers!

Incompetence, fear, or corruption? why not all three?

Historically it was a little unusual for the president to be an incoherent babbling moron.

“Everybody’s entitled to be an idiot.”

A snarling mass of vitriolic jackals

When I decide to be condescending, you won’t have to dream up a fantasy about it.

You are here: Home / Music / Friday Night Music Open Thread: Unique Spirits

Friday Night Music Open Thread: Unique Spirits

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Come together, Boomers and Gen-X. Alyssa Rosenberg, at the Washington Post:

… We’re in a moment in American politics consumed by gender panic, from Donald Trump’s menstrual anxieties to the rise of and backlash to a movement for transgender rights. And now we’ve lost two men who had an expansive, almost luxuriant vision of what it meant to be a man and lived out that vision through decades when it was much less safe to do so…

Both Prince and Bowie often seemed more than merely human. Bowie was an ageless vampire in “The Hunger,” a human manifestation of an alien being as Ziggy Stardust, the rock star from “The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars.” Prince left language behind to adopt what became known as the “Love Symbol” as his moniker; his death prompted many people to remark that mortality seemed like the only garment that didn’t fit him, that he had transubstantiated or ascended rather than truly died…

57 is awfully early for anyone to die, but it feels especially so for Prince; he never reminded us that he was growing older by trying to seem young. Now he’s gone before we could possess him as fully as he always invited us to. But we’ll continue on into the weirder, more beautiful world he seemed to be living in decades before the rest of us arrived there.

Link your musical favorites in the comments…

Reader Interactions

258Comments

  1. 1.

    MobiusKlein

    One request: let’s play the shit out of musical greats still with us before they croak too. I nominate Dylan

  3. 3.

    Germy

    “Mick Jagger should fold up his penis and go home.” — Robert Christgau reviewing “Dirty Mind” in 1980

    (Saw on Patton Oswalt’s twitter from a few days ago)

  4. 4.

    Mingobat f/k/a Karen in GA

    It still feels like Bowie’s trying on another persona. There was Ziggy Stardust, Aladdin Sane, and this is Dead Bowie — I still expect him to be back in a few years with another album, going in a new direction.

    Prince feels like we never should have had him to begin with, and now he’s returned home to whatever unearthly realm he came from.

    Really, though, this whole year can just go fuck itself.

  5. 5.

    Mingobat f/k/a Karen in GA

    @MobiusKlein: @Germy: I saw a meme on FB today that made me laugh — a photo of Steve Wonder with a caption like “Somebody bubble wrap this man. He’s all we have left.”

    Made me start mentally listing all of the people we still have that it would suck to lose, but then I stopped before the universe got any ideas.

  6. 6.

    Miss Bianca

    There are a few guitar players, like Prince and Hendrix, who you can tell right away from the first lick. Neil Young. Mark Knopfler. George Benson. And this guy – Richard Thompson. One of the best solos from one of my favorite songs of his, very apropos for the occasion, Night Comes In:

    Night comes in
    Like some cool river
    How can there be
    Be another day
    Take my hand
    O real companion
    And we’ll dance
    We’ll dance ’till we fade away

  7. 7.

    Elizabelle

    I wish we could wake up and Prince would be back with us. Not ready to let him join eternity.

    Restaurant was playing some of his music at dinner. Both sad and comforting and some good vibes for eating.

    LA Times story makes it sound like a possible per c o c e t overdose, but who knows. TMZ reporting it was Prince being “unresponsive” due to Per c o c e t that required emergency landing in Moline. Also that Prince was at home by himself, which was both not unusual for him and a little surprising to me, given that he was obviously ill with something. No staff, no security. Dropped off at home about 8, alone. People couldn’t reach him next morning.

  9. 9.

    nutella

    Kudos to Niagara Falls for rolling with events in a classy way.

    And did you know Prince wrote “Just another manic Monday”? I had no idea until today.

  10. 10.

    Germy

    Last year I was in an “ocean state job lot” store and “Nothing Compares 2 U” started playing (the Sinead version). I hadn’t heard it in years and it surprised me how moved I was by it.

  11. 11.

    Technocrat

    @nutella:

    The Niagara Falls one was amazing. All the purple buildings were cool, but Niagra felt like mother nature chiming in.

    I wish I’d been able to see it up close(ish),

  12. 12.

    Elizabelle

    Another sad part: it seems Prince was becoming more approachable in recent years. He was famous for standoffish behavior earlier on (maybe due to shyness). Minnesotans make him sound positively neighborly.

    Also that he’d been working on his memoirs for a few weeks, but maybe not long enough …

  14. 14.

    Germy

    I didn’t know until tonight when I saw it on the Snooze HOur that Michelle Obama wore a purple dress to the U.K. in honor of Prince.

  19. 19.

    Mnemosyne

    @Elizabelle:

    The story that gossip site TMZ (so, grain of salt) is claiming is that he was in massive pain after a hip operation went wrong in 2010 and ended up addicted because of that. If so, a very sad story that’s way more common than it should be. It’s friggin’ 2016 — shouldn’t we have better pain treatment options than giving people a handful of highly addictive drugs?

  20. 20.

    Mnemosyne

    @Mike J:

    In her sleep. And I’m the same age, so it’s more than a little freaky.

    Plus their daughter is the same age I was when my mother died, so that’s adding to my empathy for the whole family.

  21. 21.

    JanieM

    Mark Knopfler talking about learning to play the guitar. Halfway through I just start smiling.

    There was an hour-long documentary with him that I enjoyed, but it has been blocked since whenever it was that I watched it.

  22. 22.

    geg6

    I couldn’t seem to fall asleep last night, so I put the tv on MTV for the first time in decades. It was great. They were pulling every music video or performance clip in existence and just rolling with them, one after another. I’d never seen a lot of the performance clips. Just such an amazing musician, songwriter and performer. I only saw him once (couldn’t manage to get tickets for any of the other times he played the ‘Burgh). I think it was in ’88. One of the best shows I’ve ever seen and totally worth the line I had to sleep in over night to get those tickets. I still have the stub somewhere with all the other souvenirs of my misspent youth. I’m pretty sure my ticket cost $25.

  25. 25.

    Technocrat

    @Mingobat f/k/a Karen in GA:

    Glenn Frey didn’t really register for me until my wife said “Uh, the Eagles”?

    I want George Clinton, Jagger and Sting on lockdown, stat. Keith Richards will probably outlive cockroaches.

  26. 26.

    lamh36

    As I said yesterday, this just feels different. for all their greatness Micheal Jackson and Whitney Houston, had years where they were literally trainwrecks…rich, famous trainwrecks. There was never a moment like that with Prince. Aside from that hip replacement, you never heard much about Prince using or abusing drugs. And in fact from all accounts, in all his 50+ years, even when he was surrounded by the excess of fame, he was not an habitual drug users. Raised as a debout 7th Day Adventist, then his conversion to Jehovahs Witness, he even opted for that hip replacement that wouldn’t involve the use of certain blood products (according to Toure’, music journo and Prince biographer).

    I imagine it was still painful, so yeah, I could see a prescription drug problem? But who really knows.

    What I do know, is he seemed to be an intensely private man off stage, and the idea of folks selling info the the highest bidder, like TMZ, sickens me…

    Anyway, just read this article by Van Jones on Prince…

    Prince — The man I knew by Van Jones

    24 hr & I’m still in shock…this one hit home in a weird way. I’m not a crier, but issues of death, mortality & aterlife panics me

  28. 28.

    Dr. McCoy

    IDK, I still can’t believe in the United States, in 2016, we have a crisis of potable water, in a major city in Michigan.
    I don’t know where you live, but I haven’t seen a road overlay in 10 years.
    On every off ramp, and intersection there are people begging for money/food, yet unemployment is at a level not seen since 2003.
    I realize people here are pretty comfortable, but let’s not get to the point of benign ignorance.
    There is a fundamental problem with what is going on in our society.
    And this is after 8 years with a Democratic President.
    You can not lay all the woes of this country at the feet of Republican intransigence.

  30. 30.

    Miss Bianca

    @Technocrat: Cheyenne Mountain has the advantage of being really, really close to me – now if I could only get the necessary security clearances…

  31. 31.

    BruceFromOhio

    So I guess it’s on all of us now to make the world feel more possible for weirdos.

    I welcome this challenge. Someone told me that compassion is an action word with no boundaries.

  34. 34.

    the Conster, la Citoyenne

    @Dr. McCoy:

    You can not lay all the woes of this country at the feet of Republican intransigence.

    I lay it at the feet of the people who vote to let Republicans control the levers of power, because they’re racists and don’t want government working for anyone, if it works to help those people. Imagine if it were a wealthy white community being poisoned? Oh right, you can’t.

  37. 37.

    Mingobat f/k/a Karen in GA

    @Germy: While we’re at it, let’s bubble wrap the entire Obama family and surround them with styrofoam peanuts.

    They just repeatedly show the world America at its best, and it sickens me to think of the shit they have to put up with.

  38. 38.

    Mnemosyne

    @Dr. McCoy:

    There is a fundamental problem with what is going on in our society.
    And this is after 8 years with a Democratic President.

    You realize that these two thoughts don’t follow each other, right?

    Homelessness is not new. Crumbling infrastructure is not new. Wages stopped rising in the late 1970s and never really moved again. Why did you only wake up and notice these things when a Democratic president was elected?

  39. 39.

    different-church-lady

    @Mnemosyne: Still cannot believe they let the phallic guitar silhouette through just three short years after nipplegate.

  41. 41.

    Jeffro

    @MobiusKlein: Just to piggyback on that, how about we try and recognize the folks still with us before they go? I bet Bowie would have loved to see Lorde singing “Life on Mars” earlier this year; I bet Prince couldn’t have imagined all of Minneapolis turning out downtown to sing “Purple Rain”.

  43. 43.

    BruceFromOhio

    @Dr. McCoy:

    You can not lay all the woes of this country at the feet of Republican intransigence.

    If one completely, blissfully, amazingly fucking ignores the heartrending fucking bloodsport that sucked away billions of dollars and lives beyond count of the previous Republican in-fucking-transigence.

    Now, watch this swing.

  45. 45.

    MomDoc

    @lamh36: Thanks for the article by Van. I saw his interview on CNN. I didn’t know they were that close.

    I agree about Michael and Whitney vs. Prince. My father and I used to argue when I was a child about the best artist — he like Rick James because he was a “tough” man and Prince wore high-heels and bikini underwear. My 15-year-old self tried to explain Prince’s genius but I didn’t really have the words.

    My uncle (my dad’s brother) finally got him to stop and listen to Prince’s music. He is much more appreciative now.

    I am currently listening to The Current’s 26 hour Prince marathon — all songs from A to W. So many gems that I did not remember or even know!

  49. 49.

    Mingobat f/k/a Karen in GA

    @Jeffro: I was thinking earlier today that news outlets, gossip sites, MTV, VH1 and E should do “artist appreciation” specials. Just ask themselves, “What would a tribute special look like if this artist died?” and then put it together and post/publish/air it now.

  53. 53.

    rikyrah

    @Elizabelle:

    Another sad part: it seems Prince was becoming more approachable in recent years. He was famous for standoffish behavior earlier on (maybe due to shyness). Minnesotans make him sound positively neighborly.

    I think living in Minnesota was good for him. The folks there consistently say that he was a good citizen there.

  55. 55.

    Betty Cracker

    Love, love, LOVE the “Little Prince” illustration of Bowie and Prince in the top tweet.

  57. 57.

    lamh36

    I think 20/20 wins, mostly cause they’ve got the guy who used to do MTV News as the primary reporter…

    NBC has Leslie Holt.

  59. 59.

    rikyrah

    @Mnemosyne:

    And if you haven’t seen the 8-minute documentary about the show, watch that, too. The NFL producers were totally blown away by Prince’s professionalism and showmanship.

    I watched the whole thing, and it still tickles me.

    Prince did that performance in a do-rag….and, it was like…Ok…..

    Only an extremely confident and secure man could get up and perform in front of hundreds of millions of viewers wearing a do-rag, and it’s perfectly fine.

  60. 60.

    the Conster, la Citoyenne

    @Dr. McCoy:

    I would bet good money that those poor whites voted Republican, and blame immigrants and lazy blacks for their immiseration. I have some experience with that kind of thinking.

  63. 63.

    A Ghost To Most

    @Miss Bianca:
    Skunk Baxter on “Reelin in the Years”

    I have a copy of Santana doing “All Along The Watchtower” that is just incendiary

  65. 65.

    Mnemosyne

    @Dr. McCoy:

    It did. We have health insurance available to most people. Wages are rising. Unemployment is down.

    I live in California. Things are pretty good here, because we have a Democratic governor and a Democratic legislature. My streets get fixed pretty promptly, and we’re getting major infrastructure improvements. What are your governor and legislature doing for you, and why aren’t you holding their feet to the fire to demand they do their fucking jobs?

    If you live in a state with a Republican governor and/or a Republican-dominated legislature, your life probably still sucks pretty bad, because the Republicans have decided to fuck with you. Obama was never going to change that. The only people who can change that are you and your neighbors. Are you going to do it, or are you going to whine that Obama didn’t magically fix everything for you?

  67. 67.

    Tissue Thin Pseudonym

    @JanieM:

    Mark Knopfler talking about learning to play the guitar. Halfway through I just start smiling.

    There was an hour-long documentary with him that I enjoyed, but it has been blocked since whenever it was that I watched it.

    Mark Knopfler comes off as someone who is just genuinely happy to have lived the life he has and is content with who and where he is, a giant “Fuck you” to the idea that great somehow requires misery. His song “Do America,” from Sailing to Philadelphia makes it clear that he doesn’t have any interest in going back to being a full fledged Rock Star, but that he doesn’t exactly regret having given it a try back in the day.

  68. 68.

    lamh36

    I was 8 when Purple Rain…I knew every word to Darling Nikki, wasn’t until I was a young adult that I realize what Nikki was doing…

    I knew a girl named Nikki
    I guess you could say she was a sex fiend
    I met her in a hotel lobby
    Masturbating with a magazine
    She said how’d you like to waste some time
    And I could not resist when I saw little Nikki grind

    I can remember my father had the vinyls (he was a Rick James fan), but if my mom heard me singing that…she’d say…”whatchu singing!…” And I’d shut up instantly, and continue singing under my breath :-)

  75. 75.

    Keith P.

    Having one of those really bad, clarifying moments in life. I turn 40 next month, and my house just flooded, turning my life upside down. If I wasn’t on dialysis, I would be on a plane to the tropics to live my midlife crisis as a beach bum, but instead I’m faced with having to move to where family is so when my health declines further, I’m not on my own like the last 6 years in Houston. It is simultaneously surreal and depressing that when the chips are down, I can’t find a damn soul that I called a friend whom I can talk to (had 4 different people blow me off today when I called in crisis).
    One of my most poignant moments in life was when I was in the hospital with heard/kidney failure and a single high school friend came to visit…one of my nurses told me “You need some new friends.” That stung a long then, but now it stings even more. I went to an old hangout to say my goodbyes and got blown off there, too. just a devastating week.

  76. 76.

    Mnemosyne

    @Dr. McCoy:

    Count up how many of the flyover states that are in trouble have a Republican governor and/or Republican legislature.

    Like it or not, party matters. It matters a lot. States that have Democrats in charge are doing fine. States that have Republicans in charge — not just Kansas, but also Louisiana and Michigan — are circling the drain. That ain’t a coincidence, bucko.

  79. 79.

    Mike J

    @Miss Bianca:

    Cheyenne Mountain has the advantage of being really, really close to me – now if I could only get the necessary security clearances…

    My first job required me to drive up Cheyenne Canyon everyday, Working the parking lot at 7 Falls. It also meant I got to race down the canyon every night when we closed in a Dodge Dart.

  80. 80.

    lamh36

    Alot being written about Prince sexy attire, sexual lyrics of his early years, and his virtuosity, but as a fan, the man also wrote some of the best R&B/Pop about love and relationship ..

    Diamonds and Pearls, When You Are Mine, The Beautiful Ones, If I Was Your Girlfriend, When 2 R I Love….

    Finally, Adore, hands down my fav Prince love song, heck onf of my all time favorite love songs

    Baby, yes
    Until the end of time
    I’ll be there for you
    You own my heart and mind
    I truly adore you
    If God one day stroke me blind
    Your beauty I’d still see
    Love is to weak to define
    Just what you mean to me

  82. 82.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Jeffro:

    This is exactly why I brought up (in one of yesterday’s Prince threads) the Kennedy Center Honors. Unfortunately, as far as I could determine by skimming the list of KCH laureates fairly quickly, Prince never received that national honor. It would be nice if they could award it to him posthumously, but of course that’s not the same.

    There are all kinds of Grammys/Oscars/Tonys/People’s Choice awards, not to mention a Hall of Fame for everydamnthing — but the Kennedy Center awards are on a different level

  83. 83.

    Mnemosyne

    @Keith P.:

    Ugggh. Yeah, you need some new friends, and to live closer to your family, and (assuming you’re a viable transplant candidate) to be in a state where you might be able to get a new kidney. Where is your family located?

  85. 85.

    MomDoc

    I have a special relationship with “Darling Nikki”. That happens to be the name I go by and with the exact spelling — which wasn’t common at that time. I remember buying the album the day it was released and listening to it with my friends until we got to “Darling Nikki”.Everyone looked at me — we all knew what the song was about (we were all 16-17). Embarrassing!

    I have been called Darling Nikki more times than I can count. It’s a great song but I spent a lot of time trying to distance myself from the titular character.

    Even now — my husband loves the song. I still get embarrassed! I know better but what can you do…

  87. 87.

    Technocrat

    @Keith P.:

    That’s fucked up, man. I’m sorry to hear. Do you have some good music to listen to? It’s no good to sit in the quiet and stew.

  88. 88.

    elftx

    Prince dying shocked me out of my mourning for Bowie whose work I’ve been obsessed with since he passed. Blackstar is haunting, exhilarating and unbelievably Bowie. He even has the harmonica line from “A New Career in a New Town” from the Low album on the last track, “I Can’t Give Everything Away”. So fucking Bowie!
    And I am thrilled to see others realize just what a helluva guitar player Prince was/is..

  89. 89.

    Keith P.

    @Mnemosyne: Alabama. I haven’t lived there since I was 13 (been in Texas ever since). I’m emotionally devastated right now, to be honest. I feel like I need to say my goodbyes, but so far, that hasn’t been in the cards. (after my kidney fiasco, I left Facebook since I found a few of my 200+ FBFs saying “Get well soon” to multiple organ failure to be wanting) it’s just a really bad place to be…like the last 20 years of friendships have been a mirage.

    @Omnes Omnibus: “Cream” is my favorite. LOVE the video (Prince and his splits), and the song is just awesome. And my love/respect of Prince bled over into Janelle Monae, who I think is Prince’s female alter ego.

  91. 91.

    Emma

    @gelfling545: Holy crap. An ad for GoT came on earlier and I thought, so that’s who’s writing the script”!

    Many thanks to whoever mentioned the Harrison tribute with so many artists playing “While my Guitar Gently Weeps.” Prince walks in half-way and just rewrites the damn thing. The look of joy in Dhani Harrison’s face is amazing to behold.

  92. 92.

    lamh36

    So as I said I was 8 when Purple Rain came out, so my formative music years was the MJ, Whitney, Prince era.

    So it’s funny looking back on the MJ vs Prince rivalry. Back in the day, MJ was the good, wholesome, parent friendly artist. Prince was the “dirty”, senusal, vulgar artist, that parents like Tipper Gore considered filthy…lol. The saying is, out in public, MJ was your guy, but at home and away from parents, Prince was your guy!

    Of course, the ladies, didn’t care one way or another…lol
    Looking back on it now…who would have thought, that it was Prince who actually was the more “wholesome” and simple, and classy of the the two of them.

  93. 93.

    geg6

    @lamh36:

    He really GOT women. The women in his songs, you picture them and imagine exactly who they were. And they were almost always strong and free and real. I don’t know another male songwriter who understood and respected women, all kinds of women–and all facets of them–the way he did. That’s what was so sexy about him.

  96. 96.

    Technocrat

    @lamh36:

    I think a lot of it is that he aged well. So many artists get freaky as they get older, they lose the script. Think of Elvis, Axl Rose, and yes MJ.

    Prince didn’t age a day. He was the same Prince as when I first heard of him.

    Also, too, what the hell did he use on his skin??

  97. 97.

    trollhattan

    @Miss Bianca:
    He’s the man when guitar and songwriting are the topic. Whatever one gleans from the recordings, seeing him expands tenfold.

  98. 98.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Keith P.:

    This is an absolutely serious question: is there some reason you can’t get dialysis in the tropics? Surely the technology exists, and if living in a more agreeable climate would help make you happier, it seems as though it would be worth investigating.

    Whatever you end up doing, and wherever it is, I wish you comfort. You’ve had way too much shit thrown at you recently. You (and your kitties!) deserve better, and I hope you emerge on the other side very soon.

  100. 100.

    Jeffro

    @Mingobat f/k/a Karen in GA: I’d second that in a heartbeat. Even for the singers and bands that I don’t appreciate a whole lot myself.

    Their home cities, labels, music associations, and others should get together and name some of these eighty gazillion summer music festivals after particular legendary artists once in a while. Not all of the bands at the festival that play would have to be from the same musical ‘branch’ of course, but it would be pretty cool to have several acts that clearly owed a lot to the ‘legend’ being honored.

    Anyway, just a tangent. The main thing is, let’s honor these folks while they’re here.

  101. 101.

    Mnemosyne

    @elftx:

    I’m sad and shocked about Prince, but Bowie held my heart from the time I was 12 years old, so that was much more devastating for me emotionally. Prince didn’t really break through until I was 16, so it was too late for him to be my “first love” the way Bowie was.

  102. 102.

    Keith P.

    @Emma: I absolutely LOVE watching Prince perform while playing. There are so few artists – ARTISTS – who can perform, and Prince just bled sexuality when he played (which is why Cream is my favorite…NOBODY commands the instrument like that). He’s not just playing an instrument. Hard to put it into words right now, but I just watch Cream or WMGGW or anything he did, and it was so organic.

  103. 103.

    Miss Bianca

    @Omnes Omnibus: FYWP won’t let me edit, so I’ll just say I wasn’t going to cop to its being my favorite, there are so many other goodies vying for top spot…it’s just that it does something to me every time I hear it, and I can’t put my finger on what makes it stand out from his other songs. Help, someone!

  106. 106.

    Mnemosyne

    @Keith P.:

    I really think you need to talk to your doctor and see if you can get some counseling. You have a LOT to work through right now before you make any big decisions, and all of it would be extremely stressful even if your health was perfect. Don’t let them try and fob you off with medication — insist on getting to talk to an actual human being. I have no idea what resources are available in Texas, but maybe some of the commenters who live there can chime in. Most colleges that offer psychology degrees have free or low-cost clinics where the therapists train, so that’s usually an option.

  107. 107.

    lamh36

    Breakups songs…he had some of the best… I mean even How Come You Don’t Call Me Anymore!!

    He also wrote what may just be my favorite break up/I miss you song, and the version with him and Rosie Gaines, put ALL the soul back in that was lost with Sinead O’Connor. Don’t get me wrong, I liked the Sinead version, but as it the case with song that hop genres, sometimes, you cant beat the original…

    This is with Mary J Blige, but as I said, I prefer the soulful version… Mary J. Blige & Prince – Nothing Compares 2 U – Live IHeart

  108. 108.

    seaboogie

    @Mike J:

    And condolences to Mr. Oswalt. Having his wife die suddenly at 46. That’s just horrifying.

    And on the same day that Patton tweeted about Prince’s passing…proof that life takes shocking and unexpected turns

    Fifteen years ago I was recovering from the sudden death of my husband from a heart attack, followed by the not entirely surprising death 15 months later of a lover after his months-long hospitalizaion in intensive care for an unspecified neurological illness. Then, while attending yoga classes with my late lover’s sister (after his passing), I met an amazingly sweet guy who looked like popular pictures of Jesus. Such a sweet man. He was affiliated with sort of a new age/ancient tradition monastery, and was considering taking vows of chastity, tho’ thankfully he had not done so yet.

    The head of the monastery was clairvoyant after a childhood NDE. So one Saturday afternoon I was cleaning the house in anticipation of Jesus-lover’s arrival to take me out to hear some musician friends of his perform, but I was so damn sad…just couldn’t shake the feeling. So I went outside to have a cigarette, and remember thinking that if I were clairvoyant and knew what would happen on a given day, I might not have the strength to get out of bed. I waited and waited, and lover did not show up. Called his beeper and phone, but no response. So then I called the cafe in Homestead, FL that the monastery owned, and they said they would go check on him and get back to me. Then I called the sister and BIL of my most recently passed lover and asked them to bring me a bottle of wine and a pack of smokes, because I was pretty sure that I was going to be getting some bad news. They were all “NO – not possible!” after what I had recently experienced, but did so anyway.

    After they left, I called the cafe back because I hadn’t heard from them and found out that my latest lover had passed away in his sleep from an epileptic seizure. So that marked the loss of one husband and two lovers in just under two years.

    The one thing that was lovely about this last loss was this: My last lover was a truly spiritual and sweet man who was trying to let go of some residual anger towards a previous lover who had betrayed him. I had gotten him a book by the Dalai Lama about healing anger that I gave to him at lunch on Thursday. On Friday night, before he passed away, he emailed me to tell me that he had only read the introduction thus far, and was already losing his feelings of anger towards his ex. So my role in that part of his life made some sense to me at least.

  110. 110.

    Waldo

    Coincidentally, I was in a hotel overlooking the falls last night when I saw the news about Prince. Unfortunately I didn’t make the purple lighting connection.

  111. 111.

    Jeffro

    @SiubhanDuinne: Yes – all of those awards and shows and the KCH are fine. I think it’s also a good thing (and much easier) to have home-city, honor-the-artist/band festivals and what not (see comment #101). Easy to agree on, relatively easy to arrange, and who better to make a long-time artist or band feel like they’d really ‘made it’ than several bands they’d influenced, plus 100,000 of their hometown fans and friends?

    (plus lots of barbecue and beer, of course…)

  112. 112.

    Keith P.

    @SiubhanDuinne: Right now, it’s half my cats and half my family (my father and brother mainly, plus my uncle). The cats I rescued from Balloon-Juice (Mandalay and Flash). It took 2-3 years for Mandalay to fully bond, and I can’t bear to have her got through another bonding process. Flash is old and contacted FIV, so he’s a different story, but Mandalay is my baby girl, and she needs to be spoiled. I would love to have no more responsibilities other than going to dialysis, though…work is getting more difficult, and at this point I could give two fucks whether anyone thinks I’m a moocher/taker for going on disability. But as it is, my life has gone from south to subterranean and I’m just in full-on crisis mode. My mortgage company even called an ambulance on me this week during the flood because they though I was suicidal. Just a really bad place all-around, and unfortunately, this blog forum is the only place I have to vent on all of this.
    @Mnemosyne: Actually did that, but after talking to 3 people on the dialysis emergency line (first two said “I don’t really know what to tell you” !!!!) I got a script for Xanax, which isn’t doing anything. Lemme just tell folks that medical staff are NOT what you might be led to believe. Many of them work off a script, and it absolutely sucks when the chips are down and you get professionals and friends tell you you’re on your own.

  113. 113.

    Technocrat

    @Mnemosyne:

    I fell in with Bowie about the time of “China Girl“. It still gives me chills.

    ETA: It’s amazing how many different Bowies there were. He is absolutely unique in that regard. Even Garth Brooks only reinvented himself once =).

  114. 114.

    lamh36

    even his collabs with other artists had his signature funk, soul, gospel, and sensuality…genre busting.

    I mean dude wrote a song for Kenny Rogers of all people!

    Hear the Song Prince Secretly Wrote for Kenny Rogers http://rol.st/1T1SOM2 via @rollingstone

    Credited as “Joey Coco”…WTF

  115. 115.

    Anne Laurie

    @Keith P.: I’m so sorry to hear that. Will be holding you in the light — for what little good that does.

    If there is something helpful can be offered by strangers on the internet, please let me know.

  116. 116.

    JanieM

    @Miss Bianca: Done with Bonaparte is my favorite, especially the version with Emmylou Harris.

    Then there’s the Local Hero soundtrack.

    Hard to choose.

  118. 118.

    lamh36

    @Keith P.: Damn…that rough…I agree with AL if there is anything, anyway, anyhow folks can help…please let us know.

    I came to BJ when my sis was looking for help with her cancer treatments (thank you all for donations) and like lightning…BJer’s helped and I really appreciate it.

  120. 120.

    lamh36

    I mean…Prince was like what 21-23 when he did Purple Rain! Wow. it hilarious to see it now and see the “sexy” things and realize that they aren’t even close to what they are ALLOWED to show for PG movies…lol

  122. 122.

    lamh36

    Pop Life…

    “Pop Life”

    What’s the matter with your life
    Is the poverty bringing U down?
    Is the mailman jerking U ’round?
    Did he put your million dollar check
    In someone else’s box?

  125. 125.

    lamh36

    @Omnes Omnibus: are we talking Idris? Cause if so, you already know (any NOLA people hear, should know how “we” say “You already knowww”), I love me some Luther and Idris.

    Last week they announced he’s coming back to TV

  127. 127.

    seaboogie

    Sorry – wrote my long comment after reading about Patton Oswalt’s wife and in the interim didn’t realize that this turned into a really great and celebratory music thread – which is exactly what Prince and Bowie would want!

  133. 133.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @lamh36: More like 25. 1999 dropped in 1982 and I presume he immediately started work on Purple Rain.

    The movie came out the summer I turned 20, I rode my Honda motorcycle to see it the night opened in town. It felt so cool to come out of that movie and get on a motorcycle.

  136. 136.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @lamh36: My local PBS is showing season 1. I have never seen it. Tonight was the episode that ends with bad things happening to Zoe.

  137. 137.

    lamh36

    @Omnes Omnibus: 25…still pretty darn young, and new to the business for a star turning role in a major picture with an almost ENTIRE cast of non-actors…I’d love to have been a fly on the wall for the pitch meeting…lol

    Speaking of Purple Rain, its gonna be show at select AMC theaters tomorrow until Apr 28th. I plan to see it Sunday, if “the Lord says the same and the creeks don’t rise”!

  138. 138.

    Technocrat

    @rikyrah:

    Charlie Murphy is an underrated raconteur. Eddie was better at delivering jokes, but I can imagine Charlie keeping you in tears just talking.

  142. 142.

    lamh36

    @Omnes Omnibus: Well, I loved it…no surprise right? Except there are Idris Elba shows and movies I haven’t seen.

    But Luther…Elba is a BEAST…in the hands of a lesser actor, Luther would be someone you really would NOT like.

  143. 143.

    Mnemosyne

    Okay, I finally had a chance to watch the whole Super Bowl performance and I have a question — does anyone know which marching band that was? I’m assuming it was from an HBCU, but I am clueless as to which one it would have been.

  145. 145.

    max

    @Miss Bianca: Cheyenne Mountain has the advantage of being really, really close to me – now if I could only get the necessary security clearances…

    Cheyenne can be cracked by modern nuclear warheads. (Since the 80’s actually.) Sorry.

    @Mingobat f/k/a Karen in GA: eally, though, this whole year can just go fuck itself.

    Huh.
    2000: Well this year ended really badly and can go fuck itself.
    2001: Jesus Christ on a moped the country has gone insane and that year can go fuck itself.
    2002: This is the year my country went and completely fucked itself.
    2003: Never mind, now my country has first fucked itself and then jammed its collective head up its own ass, so fuck this year.
    2004: This year can totally fuck itself.
    2005: OK, so this year was only mostly awful, but I have the sinking sensation that this year can go fuck itself.
    2006: This year is actually fucking itself entirely without my encouragement.
    2007: This year can go fuck itself and did I mention that I really hate living on the East coast?
    2008: This year can go fuck itself but Obama is awesome.
    2009: This year can go fuck itself and did I mention I hate deficit obsessives?
    2010: This year can go fuck itself and did I mention I hate Republicans?
    2011: This year can go fuck itself and did I mention I hate centrists and also what the fuck was that Obama?
    2012: This year can go fuck itself and did I mention I hate the Republican establishment?
    2013: This year can go fuck itself and did I mention I hate neoconservatives. (Actually, that’s applicable in any year.)
    2014: This year can go fuck itself and can I move to Uruguay?
    2015: Actually this year isn’t totally awful. It’s just that most things are awful. But Obama is still awesome.
    2016: Actually this year isn’t totally awful, but I totally forgot the reason that I hate all the people above is because they’ve been hating on me for 30-plus years so to hell with it I’m going to do what I want.

    max
    [‘The Flying Spaghetti Monster lives!’]

  146. 146.

    Davebo

    The word is Prince had a ton of music he never released and I’m fairly certain sooner or later his estate will decide to start putting at least some of it out.

  147. 147.

    Miss Bianca

    @lamh36: I’d love to see that again big screen. Doubt it’s coming anywhere close, tho’. I remember going to see it with a bunch of my geeky folk dance friends and all of us just being blown away. I think it was after I got back from Alaska…which would have been the summer that “Thriller” was still all over the damn place, even hitchhiking thru’ the Yukon…and then get back and *damn*…”Purple Rain” soundtrack just blew everything else off the damn turntable for a while.

  148. 148.

    redshirt

    @rikyrah: Just watched it again for the first time since it aired. Still hilarious.

    I like that it isn’t actually making fun of Prince, it’s making fun of how absurdly cool he is.

    “Pancakes?”

  150. 150.

    Mike J

    @rikyrah: When I was in HS, Prince was the music I heard in school. One day a week I did a blues radio show, three days a week at the top 40 station, and 1-3 nights a week at the punk club. Controversy didn’t get the radio airplay it deserved, but Prince is what I heard in school, in the hallways, in the lunchroom, in the parking lot. The morning guy from the top40 station in town was the DJ at my prom. I knew he didn’t pick the stuff he played n the air, but I assumed he didn’t know anything else., and I remember being shocked that he actually knew the music the kids listened to since it was never allowed on the radio (and he was oooold. Probably 25.)

  153. 153.

    Mnemosyne

    @Miss Bianca:

    The film major in me has to say that the movie Purple Rain proved that Prince is a great musician. Great actor, not so much.
    ;-)

    But I’m the one with a soft spot for Flash Gordon, so I have no room to talk.

  154. 154.

    lamh36

    @Technocrat: saw Charlie at the comedy club in Dallas, he was actually really funny…he told a more indept story about Rick James and his time as Chappelle show…funny as hell.

  156. 156.

    elftx

    @Mnemosyne: Bowie was only a few yrs older than me and I admit to not being his closest follower over time. He was just always there doing it for the rest of us who couldn’t and I would nod when he did..I don’t know how else to explain it. But it hit me so very hard when he died, like I lost a very close friend.
    Bowie and Prince did a lot for other artists. How cool was it to see the women in Prince’s band.

    And if not for Bowie, Tina Turner may never have had her breakthrough as a solo artist. He had Capital records come see her perform in NY. Should I also mention the two probably had a cpl one night stands..am I jealous ha!!

    I’ve been concerned about Aretha Franklin for awhile now. Tina is in her 70’s I think as well. Still have never seen a woman who could strut in heels like her..and yes I am jealous of that too!
    When Sinatra passed away I was working for a very wasp financial house and just sat in the underground parking lot cranking his music..as a remembrance and in defiance of how that place was. They should be glad I am no longer employed there.

  163. 163.

    lamh36

    @Steeplejack: yes, that first 6 (?) episode season packs a wallop! But I did binge watch the entire thing. The first couple of eps are slow burns, but by the time you get to Alice…you are hooked! At the end, I was already ready for season 2…

  165. 165.

    Miss Bianca

    @redshirt: “This bores me. How about a game of basketball.”

    Yeah, Charlie Murphy is a little more like Richard Pryor in his affect than his brother -he’s a story-teller, not a jokester.

    ETA: Damn it – every time I come back here, the state job website kicks me off.

  167. 167.

    Mike J

    @elftx:

    And if not for Bowie, Tina Turner may never have had her breakthrough as a solo artist.

    And Iggy might not be alive. When he was at his worst, Bowie took him off to Berlin and made incredible music with him.

  169. 169.

    lamh36

    @redshirt: and Prince (who apparently was a funny guy) liked it enough, that he made it his album cover for one of his recent single a few years back!

    According to Jimmy Jam (who knew Prince since H.S.), Prince was actually a pretty good ball player, and wanted to be a player (for the ladies) but no one wanted to give him a chance cause, hello dude was what 5’2” in non-heeled shoes…according to Jimmy, he found another way to get the ladies though…

  171. 171.

    lamh36

    @redshirt: Overshadowed by much more greater talented brother…

    the feeling the minor Baldwins, Rock, Murphy, Kennedy…brothers understand…lol

  173. 173.

    Steeplejack

    @lamh36:

    My friend is a schoolteacher and during the summer break has a tendency to go into hibernation mode and binge-watch a lot. I told her she needed to pace herself with Luther, but hell no. She did all four (?) seasons in a rush and then had to rehab with some really light stuff the rest of the summer.

  183. 183.

    Davebo

    @Davebo: Oops, London Homesick Blues was written by Gary P Nunn.

    Goodman write the iconic “You don’t have to call me Darlin”.

  188. 188.

    Felonius Monk

    @Davebo: Steve Goodman’s best known song is undoubtedly “City of New Orleans”.

    He was also a high school classmate of Hillary Clinton.

  189. 189.

    lamh36

    @Omnes Omnibus: He one of the costars. he plays the slumlord of the apartments where Jesus and his disciples stay.

    He looks real slim on the show. I hope he wasn’t sick but just maybe lost weight for health reasons?

    He came to the show thanks to Aaron McGruder, Boondocks dude.

  190. 190.

    seaboogie

    @redshirt: Yes, I did date again, and shared a residence with both of them. Both are extant and live in close proximity to where I live/work. Neither was a terribly good idea, and I’ve hung up my dating shoes for the last few years and the foreseeable future. Head and heart straight first. I think I’m meant to be a Buddhist nun.

  192. 192.

    ? Martin

    @Dr. McCoy:

    Plus it’s California, a country unto itself. Not really like the rest of the flyover states.

    No, it’s just that California has always been about a decade ahead of the rest of the country in terms of walking into and out of political disasters. Were were digging out of our anti-tax fetish just when most other states were entering theirs. In 2010 when everyone was electing tea partiers, we were sweeping Democrats into office. We’ve increased the number of Dems in DC since Obama entered office. Dems control the state from end to end now – which wasn’t true in 2008. We raised taxes on the rich and polling shows that we’ll probably do it again this year. We’ve radically expanded abortion access. We’ve passed a $15 minimum wage. We welcome undocumented immigrants – treat them like state residents. We didn’t just accept ACA, we went all in – active marketplace, actively replacing college health insurance plans with exchange plans, etc. We have cap and trade for carbon. We have plenty of problems still (water high on the list, transportation infrastructure overall) but we are taking a much more pragmatic and humane approach to solving them.

    Every state could have made the same decisions we did and put support behind Obama, but most didn’t. California doesn’t need to be some unique entity to explain our decisions, we made them because we didn’t fall for the GOP bullshit and lies. Fucking Nixon and Reagan came from our state, we learned how to read these motherfuckers long before anyone else ever heard of them.

    Obama said when he was elected that he needed our help. California stepped up and benefitted by taking advantage of every opportunity that Obama created and things are looking pretty darn nice here. That other states didn’t is hardly Obama’s fault.

  194. 194.

    Davebo

    @Felonius Monk: Without a doubt.

    But the audience participation in You don’t have to call me darling can be pretty intense, at least around these parts.

  195. 195.

    lamh36

    I’ve got to get to bed. Unfortunately, I’ve got work this weekend.

    So I’m leave the night owls with two videos i saw today…

    First up of all the night time show host, the best tribute was from CBS James Corben (although Fallon is on break, I expect the Roots may have something cooking):
    James Corden’s Tribute to Prince

    The final video of the night is Prince performing my FAV song “Baby I’m A Star” on the 1985 Grammys: Incredible performance from Prince at the Grammys in 1985. A legend doing what he does best.

    Night BJ…

  201. 201.

    ...now I try to be amused

    at a certain point you wonder if a higher power is rescuing the best people from the future

    This quote reminded me of a friend who died of cancer at age 46 in 2000. This good, gentle man didn’t have to witness the horror of 9/11 and the subsequent madness. A bad trade I know, but I take what comfort I can.

  205. 205.

    Ruckus

    @Keith P.:
    I think that most of us are lucky to have one real friend.
    I’m going through multiple medical issues myself, not to the same degree as you but more than ugly enough. BTW just Fuck Cancer.
    And I’m having a bit of a time learning to live with the stuff that doesn’t seem to be fixable as well as the stuff that is but at a cost to living. See what you can do to get some help to figure this shit out because it really can help. Ask your doc if you don’t know anyone else, they have to know what you are going through and how tough it is. I’ve gotten help before and it was a pretty good deal for me. I’m getting some again for the latest, and actually most serious crap of my lifetime.

  206. 206.

    max

    @efgoldman: Holy crap. What hockey!
    Islanders-Panthers went almost all the way to the end of two OT periods. NYI 2-1.

    YES! And Philly won! WOO!

    Minnesota-Dallas just went to OT
    LA Kings just tied Sharks 3-3 after trailing 3-0, with 2-1/2 minutes left in second period.

    Goin’ to the Cup!

    max
    [‘Ahem.‘]

  208. 208.

    Ruckus

    @Keith P.:
    I posted above before I read on down. If Anne Laurie is willing, and you of course, I’m willing to talk through email and phone if that works. Don’t know how much I can help but I have a bit of an idea about shitty situations and how to find help. And I’m willing to talk. For me that is helpful. It might be for you. And I can’t prescribe any medication nor will I make suggestions. Maybe we can help each other?

  210. 210.

    max

    @seaboogie: Yes, I did date again, and shared a residence with both of them. Both are extant and live in close proximity to where I live/work. Neither was a terribly good idea, and I’ve hung up my dating shoes for the last few years and the foreseeable future.

    I keep coming back to this comment because the gut speaks.

    Head and heart straight first. I think I’m meant to be a Buddhist nun.

    Buddhist maybe, nun no. One of the attachments you have to let go of is the attachment to suffering.

    max
    [‘I have never known what clairvoyant was supposed to be, so you’ll have to settle to a ‘nose for this kind of thing’.’]

  211. 211.

    max

    @efgoldman: More to the point: Caps lost.
    I thought they’d get at least to the second round before their annual flameout. They have the superior goalie, by far.

    Sure, and I like the Caps, but for whatever reason, besides the President’s Cup curse, I just want Philly to win, because that would be cool, man. 4 straight wins.

    Ack. Minn scores. Back to Minne.

    max
    [‘Can’t have everything all at once.’]

  212. 212.

    JordanRules

    This thread has been great read. Losing Prince has hit me much harder than I anticipated partly because I never anticipated. I think I forgot to appreciate him for a bit and now he’s just gone. Now there is just so much to process because of how he and his art existed in my life….for decades. I was introduced to him by my parents when I was a very pre-teen. I lucked up on a secret performance of his in Vegas at about 4AM as very much an adult. Everything swirling around now because of this loss resonates as chaos that I can still shape it into something that feels lovely and worthy and beautiful.

    Anyway, reading this thread has been very satisfying and comforting. lamh36 coming with all the links which I appreciate so much.

    Omnes and Steep doing their damn music thing which I’ve always appreciated but damn right now it just feels so good, so much like Prince. I could totally see him participating in a blog just loving music and having to share some jewels too with nobody ever knowing it was him.

    Pop Life…We All Got a Space to Fill

  216. 216.

    Miss Bianca

    The Current is going to be doing Prince A-Z all through tonight and tomorrow.

    Good night all

  217. 217.

    redshirt

    @seaboogie: I’m glad you were able to date again. I’m sure you were terrified you were cursed or something. But bad luck is bad luck and doesn’t mean anything more than that.

    Namaste.

  219. 219.

    NCSteve

    @JordanRules: It’s hitting all of us harder than we anticipated. There’s a lot too it. There’s the fact that he was too young to die. There’s the fact that the world is always diminished by the loss of a notable genius in any field.

    But today I realized that a big part of why its hitting us so hard it is that while most of us appreciated his genius, and many even appreciated the profound cultural impact he had, none of us really appreciated how many of us there were. How many of us, had had the same feeling about him and his music all along. People in their sixties and their teens, black, white, Latino, Asian, Indian, whatever. There were all of these people who shared this connection that, at one level, we were aware of but, at another hid from us in plain sight. None of us really saw that we all shared a connection with this man’s sheer genius until now, after he was gone, when we looked around for support and saw the multitude.

  222. 222.

    lamh36

    Don’t know who’s up, but yes, I’m still awake, but I swear I’m going to sleep.

    I found myself listening to Prince and came across this one that I just had to share. I’m even thinking about doing an entire blog post of just tributes (since so much of his work isn’t online).

    So I promise you this is where I leave you.

    For those still awake, Mumford and Sons, in Minnesota yesterdary!

    Beautiful!
    Mumford & Sons – Nothing Compares 2 U (Prince Tribute)

  224. 224.

    seaboogie

    @redshirt:

    I’m sure you were terrified you were cursed or something.

    Didn’t feel cursed* per se, but grew to understand in that experience that any and every difficult thing is possible in any moment, which is different from feeling like I was carrying my own personal black cloud. What is more interesting is finding that wonderful things can happen too, in the little nooks and crannies of life – if you are open to it.

    *I had some male friends who like to gamble on the slot machines in Palm Springs. One of their favorite machines was called “The Black Widow”, which they referred to as “The Beth” (my IRL name) when they played it. Yes, they shared this with me.

  225. 225.

    JordanRules

    @NCSteve:

    Nailed it, thank you!

    Sharing this lil clip of him joining Q-tip on stage very briefly.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jdw7wzNB-qg
    Not much to show musically but this highlights him being so damn cool and the stage being a siren. I love hip-hop immensely so this especially warms my heart.

    Mumford & Sons was so dope, thanks for another one lamh36.

    ETA: Linky skills are not on point.

  226. 226.

    Mike J

    @Ella in New Mexico: Yeah, we were laughing at how stupid that site was a couple of days ago. What a bunch of loons! (But probably not really a bunch just BiP in a basement with a markov chain generator)

  227. 227.

    Ruckus

    @seaboogie:
    Life can bestow or shit upon you at any moment. I think it’s what you do with it that is important, how you handle it usually makes the difference in how you come out the other side of anything.

  228. 228.

    Major Major Major Major

    @Mike J: I mean, CTR (the superpac in question) isn’t being secretive about it. It’s on their website. Although you’re not gonna get very many ratfvckers for a million bucks. It’s getting play because it plays into the Bernie persecution complex and the Hillary is evil narrative

    ETA: I posted for you Hillary now please stop pointing the gun at my dear little cat I’ll AstroTurf anywhere I swear

  232. 232.

    seaboogie

    @efgoldman:

    I’d fuck a whole room full of rats for a million bucks, but nobody’s offered.

    How big a room, and how many rats? Cole was offering hand-jobs for Hillary speech-ifying money the other day, saying the mucho dinero could buy a whole lot of soap.

  233. 233.

    seaboogie

    @Ella in New Mexico:

    So now I’m really gonna start compiling the Arya Stark-style kill list because my suspicions are confirmed about some of our more new and die-hard Hilary-fanatic lurkers:

    You have done an admirable job of typing your rabid, frothing talking points, but that whole “our” thang is not resonating in the Church of Tunch.

  237. 237.

    seaboogie

    @Major Major Major Major: Yes, the rats must survive. The Republicans probably have to also – at least to find out how wrong they were about every damn thing they turned their tiny minds to. It is how the karma thing works….

  239. 239.

    Ruckus

    @seaboogie:
    Did you just say that republicans have rat minds? Or at least rat sized minds?

    Not saying you’re wrong, just asking.

  240. 240.

    seaboogie

    @Ruckus:

    Did you just say that republicans have rat minds? Or at least rat sized minds?

    Nope – not at all – rats are very intelligent and I admire them greatly, including the feral one who inhabited my home for a less than brief, uncomfortable while. Took me a bit to find a comparable creature in the natural world for republicans, but I think this is it….

  241. 241.

    opiejeanne

    @? Martin: Part of the reason things are better in California is that a bipartisan panel of non-politicians undid the gerrymandered districts.

    Reagan’s run for President was what finally flipped the switch for me.

  242. 242.

    ruemara

    @Keith P.: I’m sorry. I know how that feels. Wish I was closer so I could visit you and help you get your things together. You deserve better friends in person, but, that’s a flaw in those people, not you.

    Thanks for all those details in the car thread. I think I’m going to go ahead and get another car. Old Thane is having too many problems for me to trust him, even in town. I need a vehicle. Looks like a Honda Fit.

  248. 248.

    opiejeanne

    @Ruckus: Ok, I wondered if that was the case. We drove through that area a couple of weeks ago and I guess I had forgotten that Morongo and Agua Caliente are there.

  252. 252.

    raven

    @OzarkHillbilly: We slept with the new bedroom windows open and at 4:30 some loud ass music was blaring from somewhere. That was it! The worst thing is at This Old House and Today’s Homeowner were both reruns!

  254. 254.

    John D.

    @Ella in New Mexico:

    So now I’m really gonna start compiling the Arya Stark-style kill list because my suspicions are confirmed about some of our more new and die-hard Hilary-fanatic lurkers:
    http://usuncut.com/politics/cl…..ac-busted/

    OK, name names. Your suspicions are confirmed of who? Put your credibility on the line. No bullshit innuendo. Make your accusation. Show your proof.

  255. 255.

    Just One More Canuck

    @Ella in New Mexico: yes I’m sure that Bernie isn’t using any troll-for-hire firms (cough, Revolution Messaging, cough) – that might explain the sudden increase in pro-Bernie trolls here

  256. 256.

    Zinsky

    @Dr. McCoy: It isn’t about who’s in the White House – it’s who controls Congress. They are the one who appropriate the money for road and bridge projects, and other infrastructure. Republicans have controlled the public purse for six years now and the country is crumbling. Water treatment plants are not getting built, bridges are not being maintained, roads are not being upgraded – let alone any talk about light-rail or high-speed trains between our major cities, like Europe already has! This link talks about the $3.6 trillion (with a “t”) the U.S. needs to spend just to get back to even. I don’t know why this isn’t a major strategic talking point against Republicans – they are criminally negligent in allowing this country’s infrastructure to deteriorate. Even Trump gets that….

  257. 257.

    Denali

    @Keith P.,

    I am so sorry. Don’t give up on counselors. It is a matter of finding the right one for you. Let us know how you are coming along. Sometimes friends feel it is too intrusive to ask enough questions to find out what is really going on.

  258. 258.

    Shana

    @Jeffro: I’m probably too late to this thread, but Davenport, IA, across “The River” from my home town, has an annual Bix Beiderbeck Memorial Jazz Festival every year. It’s become mostly dixieland jazz but it very popular. I think it’s been going on for more than 30 years by now. The community has also branched out at also have a blues festival (not too far from Chicago) and for a while at least at reggae festival. So festivals can breed festivals too.

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