Ladies and Gentlemen, the Presidents of the United States of America!

It's spring, finally.  Time to get out and do fun stuff.  I've been busy, as usual.  Feels like there's never enough time for blogging, or reading or much of anything else.  Work just keeps getting in the way, and when I'm home I just want to hang out with Miss Mox, not do chores.  Oh, I do read some, mainly on the tablet she got me, so that's good.  I just need to be independently wealthy- not necessarily so I can afford to do stuff, just so I can have more free time, to get stuff done around the house, go out and do fun stuff, whatever.  I'm looking forward to this three-day weekend, but it will be fairly full with things that need done, plus some fun, and then the less-urgent stuff like reading and writing will fall through the cracks...

I've been listening to reggae a lot lately, and to these guys.  It's fairly light, summery music.  They only had one hit, but lots of good songs.  They are one of those bands that just seems like they're having fun.  Goofy, but good musicians.


Kitty- my introduction to POTUSA.  Definitely NSFW, but hilarious.


Lump- their big hit.  I don't quite get it, but hey, I don't need to.


Dune Buggy- reminiscences of childhood, playing with Hot Wheels...


Peaches- another fun one.


Bonus hidden extended track: George of the Jungle movie theme song!  When I was a kid my dad often sang this to me.  The cartoon came out around the time I was born; I guess it stuck in his head.  This video has the intro to the movie, and the theme, done by POTUSA.

Back On The Wagon

The Fox wagon was down for the last few weeks (part of what prompted my new-used car purchase.) Finally drove it yesterday.  I missed it.  It has no power anything, and I'm okay with that.

I like my new car.  It gets great fuel mileage (almost half again as good as the Foxes.)  It is fairly interesting to drive, not just a boring econobox.  Nothing zippy, but enough power to drive safely and with a bit of fun.  I'm coming to appreciate the comforts, and slowly figuring out how to use the doodads.  I just miss feeling like I'm driving.  It is more like riding; going A to B, with heated side mirrors of course.

All this power/automatic tech removes you from the road.  And I like driving.  With a manual transmission you can feel what is going on with the engine, and the tires.  You're much more connected to the road. Driving an automatic, who knows or cares what the engine is doing?  And what the tires are touching at this exact moment?  So, I get a bit disconnected.  And more easily distracted- there's just not much to do.  Aside from a manual making it hard to text and otherwise do non-driving activities, it just keeps you so much more engaged.  And losing even a little awareness of what's going on around you at 70mph is dangerous.

Power steering also takes away from the road feel.  I get it, especially on bigger cars: it's hard to turn manual racks at low speed.  And I appreciate the power when parallel parking.  But for my tasks, it's pretty unnecessary.

Don't get me wrong, I am quickly getting used to the niceties of the new one.  Automatics are nice in traffic.  The heated seats come in handy in Ohio.  But I'm ambivalent about the whole "power everything" setup.  Plus I still grab the shifter and press the floor where the clutch pedal would be...

I'm glad to have a new car.  Reliable, efficient, user-friendly.  But I'm also glad I have an older, simpler, more fun car for the weekends.  And I'm still happy I don't have a sunroof- I try to look at planes anyway, but now I can talk to my car-synched phone and ask what planes are overhead... I'd never look down.

Do You Remember Rock'N'Roll Radio?

Ah, the Ramones.  That title is one of their songs, an homage to old school radio.

I need to hear something to pick me up today.  I'm awake, but not fully conscious.  I need some energy; I did some stuff around the house and now I have to go to work.  So, a little fast music to get me going.

Fairly popular for a punk band, the Ramones never got much airplay on commercial radio until late in their career.  I remember the first time I heard them on the radio, and how happy it made me feel- not just to hear the song, but the realization that this kind of music was getting the audience it deserved.  Now there's a kid's TV show inspired by them.

This is another band with far too many excellent songs to choose from.  Don't worry, they're short songs...



Rock And Roll High School
From the movie of the same name, a delightfully trashy romp through school days.



I Wanna Be Sedated
Not a song for the kids.  Or their parents.



Spiderman
What a great cover!



What A Wonderful World (Joey Ramone)
Something a bit more laid back to finish up.