Copperhead Road

Out walking along the greenway this morning, I came across this fellow:


I walk five and a half miles each morning, five days per week. This is the time of year when I start to see more and more snakes, sometimes two or three in a single day. But they're usually Black Snakes or Green Snakes, both of which are far more afraid of you than you are of them.

I usually don't mess with any of the snakes I find, but I will take a branch and shoo them back into the brush. If they just lay there sunning themselves on the trail, they can get run over by a bicyclist.

But this was a big ol' Copperhead, just sitting there, right in the middle of the trail, which is paved. And I guess he didn't really appreciate me trying to shoo his ass away. He actually started attacking the branch I was using and moved closer to me. And that was a mistake.

I started wailing on that sumbitch like nobody's business. Beat him 'bout half to death. Then I picked him up (with a stick - I'm crazy, not stupid) and tossed his ass about 8 feet off the trail, into the short brush.

Ol' boy wasn't doing too well at that point. And now I felt bad for him. I didn't have anything to finish him off with. No big sticks, no rocks, nothing. So I left him there.

When I got home, I loaded my shovel into the car and drove back down there to find him and put him out of his misery. But he was gone. Either I'd only stunned him and he managed to crawl off to his cubbyhole, or he'd become lunch for one of the many hawks that roam around down there.

Wonder if he'll waiting to ambush me tomorrow…

April Fools My Ass...

Didn't have a single April Fool's prank pulled on me, nor did I pull one on anyone else. I've always thought AF was a lame-ass day, so it was just as well…

One of the things I'm trying to accomplish during my downtime at home is catching up on my backlog of magazines. Whenever I come off the road, I can have months and months of them to read. Not that I subscribe to very many anymore, maybe 4? Let's see, Rolling Stone, Sound and Vision, Stereophile, and Home Theater. Yep, just 4. Rolling Stone can be a 10-minute read or a 90-minute read, depending on content. These days, more likely a 10-minute read. The good news is that a few years ago, they ran a promotion where you could get a lifetime subscription for only $99.00. Yearly subs are $14.95 and individual copies on the newsstand are $4.50, so that was a hell of a deal, and of course, is no longer available. No matter, I'm hooked up for life.

So anyway, I was reading the "Special Double Issue" that came out at the end of 2007, with all the "Best Of" lists in it. They're always a hoot, cuz most of it is complete crap. But what freaked me out was the "50 Top Albums Of The Year", with something called M.I.A. as the number one album. What the heck is that? Who????????

I’m sorry, but I've been a music freak since the early/mid 60's, when I cajoled my Mom into buying me 45's of songs I heard on the radio (mostly Motown and other R&B stuff), then later on, releases from the Beatles, Herman's Hermits, The Monkees, The Association, Paul Revere and The Raiders, and anyone else on the planet who had a Top 40 hit. I own somewhere in the neighborhood of 2500 CD's, and still have (and listen to) about 1500 vinyl LP's. I've also worked in the biz for some time. I managed a record store (The Record Bar, which at the time, was the second or third largest chain in the U.S.) back in the 70's and have been in the touring end of the biz since the late 80's. I love music. I know music.

So just how the hell can the NUMBER ONE ALBUM OF THE YEAR be by an artist I've never heard of?????

Now, that's funny!

Where do they get this shit?

Just sayin'…