Scotch and Soda

I haven't yet made a list of all the songs that were significant to my life.  If I did, "Scotch and Soda" by the Kingston Trio would be in the top 10.  Songs we loved often take us back to a specific time and a specific love, now lost to time but not to memory.

<

Working Out at the Gym Alleviates My Depression

Three weeks ago I started regular exercise at the gym.  I have a personal trainer who has shown me the exercises I need to strengthen my shoulders, back, legs and core.  I do feel a lot better physically since I started.  I also notice that my chronic depression, which has been very dark and awful for some time now, has diminished noticeably.

My main motivation in starting this regimen is to get stronger so I can better play bass.  Acoustic bass is a very physical instrument, and bass guitar involves heavy amplifiers, i.e. loading and unloading them into and out of my car.

"Blues In The Night," a great old jazz tune

Our big band, the Cats Jazz Band of Los Gatos, meets every Thursday for practice.  This past Thursday was our last meeting of the semester and we said goodbye to our bandleader. Russell Zimmer, who has taken a more full time job as music director for a school. 

I think the best song we played on Thursday was "Blues in the Night."  It was darn-near perfect.  Have a listen.

http://yourlisten.com/Stogiebass/blues-in-the-night-07272017

Primarily posted at my bass blong, "Playing Bass."

Moondance

From last night's practice with the Cats Jazz Band of Los Gatos, California:

http://yourlisten.com/Stogiebass/moondance-07272017

The Liberal Castration of the American Male: Why?

Since Hillary lost the election, the left has stepped up its assault on American masculinity.  "Gender identity" is the watchword of the day.  There are no longer men  and women, because gender identity is in a very fluid state.  You may have male genitalia, but if you imagine yourself to be a woman, then you are a woman.  Physical reality has been suspended, and if there is anyone who knows how to deny reality, it's a liberal.  Liberals now say there are 58 different genders, so take your pick.  Liberal parents who have a new baby say they can hardly wait until the baby can speak, so it can tell them whether it is a boy or a girl.

Clothes manufacturers have been featuring very feminine attire for men, and gender-bending gay boys strut the runways like something out of a cultural nightmare.  See right.  Good lord, what are we coming to?

A turn back towards sanity occurred this week when President Trump banned "transgenders" from service in the military.  If you're a man who thinks he's a girl, stay home.

We have been moving in this direction for some time.  Men are generally hated in the circles and seats of liberal thought.  White men are just not hired by colleges if there is any possible way to avoid it.

How can a populace who is utterly confused about who they are, resist reshaping into a new socialist/fascist society where government controls every thought, word and act?  They can't, and that's why the left is vigorously attacking the American identity.  The beliefs, traditions and culture of a society is the mortar that holds the bricks together in a solid wall. If you want to break down that wall, you work on weakening the mortar that holds it together.  After much pounding, the wall will eventually crumble, to be replaced by something else.

Personal Update

I started regular gym attendance a couple of weeks ago, and am getting plenty of exercise.  I do feel better, and the exercise lessens my chronic depression considerably.  I sleep a lot better, too.  I want more energy and to strengthen my core, my arms, shoulders and back.  I need the strength for playing bass, for loading and unloading heavy amplifiers and playing stand-up bass, which is physically draining.  I have a personal trainer, and that really helps:  he knows what exercises I should be doing, and it takes the guesswork out of it.

Tonight is the last meeting of the semester for the Cats Jazz Band of Los Gatos.  I may not go back for the new semester later in August.  Been there, done that.  I will look at alternatives for continuing my progress on bass.  I am thinking of getting a few lessons from a professional stand-up bass player, to perfect my technique in fingering and handling the bass.  If you don't do it right, you will get fatigued in the middle of a gig and barely able to play.  It's happened to me.

The political and social situation in this country is now insane.  Not as bad as in Europe or Canada, yet, but the Democrats are working on that.  California is moving to secede from the Union.  I doubt it ever will, but as a Californian, I will vote for it, should it make it to the ballot.  It would be better for the rest of the country to rid ourselves of this bastion of Marxism, and remove the automatic 50 electoral college votes for the left wing Democrats.

Blog Break

I haven't posted for a month.  I just haven't been moved to do so.  Generally, writing about politics in a blog implies hope for improvement in society and government.  I don't have much hope left at this point.

The Democrats are totally bat-shit crazy.  The Republicans are feckless, cowardly pussies, too timid to do what they promised:  repeal Obamacare.

Then there is the ongoing soft coup attempt to remove Trump from office.  When that happens, it will be time to pick up the gun.  Discussion will be over.  It's Civil War time.

I'll be back but right now my attitude is "F**** IT."

Gabby Giffords Shooting a Result of Democrat Propaganda Gone Awry?

This week the dirty Dems tried to resurrect their smear from 2011, that Sarah Palin's congressional map of "targeted" districts was a call for violence against Democrat candidates.  I debunked this big load of fertilizer at the time, with my post of January 10, 2011, Sarah Palin's "Cross-Hairs" Map:  Much Ado About Nothing.

The New York Times brought up this old manufactured controversy after a Democrat opened fire on Republican Congressmen last week, who were practicing baseball for a charity event.  Sarah Palin is considering suing the New York Times for libel.  This smear was vicious at the time, and hasn't improved with age.

What the Times didn't tell you is that the Democrats have used a similar map, not with cross-hairs, but actual bulls-eyes.  No one ever claimed that their map was a subtle encouragement for political assassination.  This, even though the Democrat map has the title "Targeting Strategy" and describes the Republican districts as "Behind Enemy Lines."  Sheer hypocrisy.  You can see that map at the link noted above.

I also posited that Gabby Giffords may have inadvertently targeted herself, by making the "cross-hairs" claim on local Arizona television.  The psycho who shot her, Jared Loughner, probably never saw Palin's map, which was on her website.  It is far more likely that he saw Gabby Giffords on local television claiming that Palin had targeted her for violence, and acted on that instead.  See my post of January 14, 2011 to that effect, Did Gabby Giffords Inadvertently Target Herself? (Video).

The lying, ruthless Democrats apparently never considered that their accusations might be acted upon by a maniac.

The S.S. Kathy Griffin (Photoshop)

A Real Shipwreck and All Washed Up

Kathy Griffin Has a History of Threatening to Attack Children of Conservative Politicians (#KathyGriffin)

Kathy Griffin is the lowlife "comedienne" who recently displayed a mock-up of a severed, bloody head of President Trump.  Her display elicited massive public revulsion and condemnation, even from most liberals.  Was she soliciting the terrorist murder of the President?  Inquiring Secret Service Agents want to know.

To make matters worse, Griffin recently stated that she was going for a "beat down" of President Trump's 11 year old son, Barron.  What she meant by this is not clear, but presumably she will mock or taunt or insult Barron simply because his father is Donald Trump, whom she hates.  This is more than mean-spirited, it is sick and perverted.  However, Barron is not the first child of a conservative that Griffin has targeted.  In 2011, she said essentially the same thing about Sarah Palin's youngest daughter, Willow.  I wrote about it here.

In 2011,

Kathy Griffin announced her New Year’s resolution to continue a verbal assault on the Palin family. Only in 2011, the comedian said she intends to target Sarah Palin’s 16-year-old daughter, Willow.
"I've already gone for Sarah, Todd and Bristol obviously," Griffin told The Hollywood Reporter. "But I think it's Willow's year to go down. In 2011, I want to offend a new Palin.”

This pig has a history of targeting children.  I was so enraged by this that I created a Photoshop of Griffin that showed exactly what I thought of her.  It is below the fold.  WARNING:  Not for the easily offended.