Just catching up on my inbox and saw this note. UGH. I hope by now you are much recovered. Something about this latest strain is catching all of us who managed to escape all the other versions. I know a good half dozen people (myself included) who'd never caught it, until now.
It wasn’t too bad. I had a fever for 36 hours and other than that it was like a cold. I just needed to recover in a week as I was going on vacation with friends and didn’t want to be testing positive. It was faint when I got there but my wife got it while we were gone so it was worse for her. Amazingly no one else got it from us.
I hope you get better soon! Do people still get tested for covid in the US? I've had covid multiple times but stopped getting tested because it's become so endemic now (at least here in the UK) that no one really gets tested anymore.
It depends on where you live. In the Bay Area where I am, people are still extra cautious and wear masks a lot. In most of the rest of the US you are considered a liberal snowflake if you even utter the word Covid. I barely exaggerate. I mainly am testing because I'm about to vacation with a group of friends and two of them are extra vigilant about it. I just tested this morning and I'm barely barely showing positive, so I think in a day or two I'll be my usual healthy body cooky minded self. Thanks for checking, Andres!
Sorry to hear you got Covid Steve, hopefully you’re well past the worst of it now and won’t have any lingering effects.
I too have soured on summer over the decades. Growing up in Bermuda I used to absolutely love the heat and humidity and being out on the beach. For six summer vacations I was doing roofing working alongside a bunch of my high school mates. In our late teens and early 20s we’d be out drinking most nights until 2 or 3 in the morning and still manage to be up on a roof by 8 where the temperatures would usually hit 100 by 10 am. Looking back I don’t know how I did it!
Over the last 20 years I’ve come to loathe the heat and humidity. We’re lucky enough to have ac and it’s usually on in the evenings between June and September.
One of the reasons we’re relocating to the UK in January is to get away from the heat and humidity. Summer hiking in the north of England means highs in the mid 70s which is amazing.
Thanks for reminding me of ‘The Other Side of Summer’. I’m with you - I don’t like the heat. Fortunately, in England, it’s not much of a problem usually. The past couple of days have been in the high twenties and that’s more than enough for me.
Hope you're feeling better, Steve! I must say, you're sleeping on a supergroup hidden in your post! The composer of the Robert Palmer hit, "Bad Case of Loving You" is Moon Martin, who had a handful of albums on Capitol starting in '78. He wrote "Cadillac Walk" that Willy DeVille recorded. Moon's debut, "Shots From a Cold Nightmare" houses a who's-who in punk and new wave of the late-'70s!
Phil Seymour from Dwight Twilley's band on drums, Blondie's early bassist, Gary Valentine, producer Craig Leon (Ramones, T. Heads), and Willie Alexander of the Boom-Boom Band (from Boston and on MCA, late-'70s). Here's Moon's "Bad Case": https://open.spotify.com/track/0WSilgRU3u7Bg66PAAhaVA?si=673f273d71584e39
Love it! Never heard of Moon Martin. And if I'm sleeping on the supergroup, at least I'm getting some sleep!:) And it's better than sleeping with the supergroup. Unless actual sleep is happening. And none of them snore.
Thanks for reading and your encyclopedic know-what.
Glad you dig the full Moon! He was, in his own way, as music-forward and gifted as anyone slapped with the new wave label, with the possible exception of the prodigious and prolific Elvis. But, he belongs in that era's discussion with the likes of John Hiatt, Joe Jackson, Willies DeVille, Alexander, and Nile, Steve Forbert, Robert Gordon, Tom Verlaine, and probably others!
As can be seen by his hits for others, his writing was attractive to many other artists...for some reason, HE never really got the airplay and press he deserved (but, how many hundreds of artists can THAT be said about)! And, he was on Capitol, so "t iny label" can't be an excuse. Lack of adequate promo by the label? Yep.
Moon needs to be written about at some point, and he's one I'd love to tackle. He died fairly recently (May 2020) at 74 of natural causes in Encino (of all places)! Cheers, and happy Thursday!
Sorry you're sick, but here's an "eff you, covid!" song you might enjoy and relate to, made during lockdown on the streets of Vegas -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ve3fcInpKj0
I would've hired that TTTP law firm in a heartbeat. Although I saw Duran Duran play outdoors in the summer on the plaza in downtown Boston and they were fab, so wouldn't want to be disloyal.
Thanks, Ellen. I'm pretty sure TTTP and DD have a mutuality clause that will allow you to retain their services and listen to their music simultaneously, with a signature.😀
Thanks for the FFDP video. I had never heard/seen it before. I am feeling less off today so that's good. Even if the test is still coming back positive....
I love summer, and really like the idea of half my workday not being in darkness, but going to bed in broad daylight sucks. Also, I'm "that guy" that will wear shorts well past when it's a good idea, so this time of year, I sweat. A lot.
Also: Huge +1 to sitting in the sun half baked, and dusting a bag of Doritos.
I have a friend I've known for 20 years and I've never seen the guy in full-length pants. Is that true? Okay, once when I went skiing with him, he had ski pants on. But that's it. My armpits and inner upper arms are stuck to my sides as I type this from dried sweat. Me no like. But hey, the days are getting shorter now! :)
As anti-summer songs go, it's hard to beat New Found Glory's "Call Me Anti Social," which aside from the anti-summer lyrics is just a killer rock track. I can't help thinking that if it had come out in the alt-rock glory days of the 1990s, it would have been a monster hit. The video is pretty funny as well https://youtu.be/3bLGyg9doVg?si=MQaEr1U0CA4mBays
Great video! I did not know that song. I'd heard of the band but don't think I've heard anything by them before this. Thanks for giving me another anti-summer song!
I love the summer Steve! I can feel the seasonal depression coming on when we start hitting October and November here in the Midwest! I also really like the Power Station song and its video. Hot!
I used to be like you regarding summer, but my new SAD seems to be this time of year now! Ha. It's been fun revisiting The Power Station for this piece. I'm on a Duran Duran kick right now.
I love summer, but likely only because they can be very mild here in Seattle. With climate change we are getting more days in the 90s to 100s, but historically our summers have been a nice range of 75 - 85 degree temps, with a nice Puget Sound breeze, and evenings that cool back down for relief.
I’m so excited you wrote about Power Station!!! I saw them play live on their tour, and until now I had NO IDEA (or recollection, maybe) that Robert Palmer was not singing on that tour! 😂 This is likely because I only cared about John Taylor. 😍
Sorry about the ‘rona. I am also one of those people who has never tested positive for it - the only one in my household! We’ll see how long that streak lasts. Glad you are starting to feel better!
One of my coworkers is from Eugene, and he just got back from there. We were trying to explain to a Wisconsin native what summers are like in the PNW, and might as well have been chattering in Latin.
Oakland isn’t so much warmer than Seattle, so I really shouldn’t complain. But I was raised in a family of professional complainers, and when you’ve got a talent, it hard to not want to share it with the world! Thanks, Jen. Tomatoes are starting to pop now! And I’ve been snacking on the cucumbers the past week….
One of the things I liked about this post was the reflections on aging. I was never a fan of the heat, but there are lots of examples of things that were minor discomforts (if that) when I was young which now, in middle-age, feel wearying.
One thing I miss -- I've always been a walker and through my mid-30s or so I wouldn't think twice about walking 3 or 4 miles to get somewhere. It's time consuming; so I would often bike or take the bus, but if I had an hour it was always nice to walk.
Now, it's _sometimes_ nice to walk for an hour but now my feet will get sore, and the joint at the base of my big toe occasionally hurts, and if I overdo it, it won't just automatically go away overnight . . .
It's all minor discomfort and it seems silly to complain except it really has changed how I think about, "oh, I have time, I could just walk."
Good tunes today, Steve! In my younger years I always liked the ear-wormy-ness of "The Other Side of Summer" It was later that I realized it wasn't the feel gooder I once thought it was. I was more a music guy back then, as opposed to a lyrics guy, and the tune was the hook for me.
*waves hand* For as long as I can remember, I've liked winter much more than summer. No songs are coming to mind, though; your earworms are doing their job too well for me!
I'm sorry 'Rona caught up with you. I hope you're back to 100% soon.
Thanks, Jackie. I'm definitely on the mend. I'm hoping it speeds up a bit as I'm supposed to see Joe Jackson in concert on Friday. I'll mask up, but won't go if symptomatic.
Stand tall and proud. You made it 4 years without getting Covid. There should be an award for people like you. Free Ivermectin. Hehe.
Just catching up on my inbox and saw this note. UGH. I hope by now you are much recovered. Something about this latest strain is catching all of us who managed to escape all the other versions. I know a good half dozen people (myself included) who'd never caught it, until now.
It wasn’t too bad. I had a fever for 36 hours and other than that it was like a cold. I just needed to recover in a week as I was going on vacation with friends and didn’t want to be testing positive. It was faint when I got there but my wife got it while we were gone so it was worse for her. Amazingly no one else got it from us.
I'm relieved you didn't get hit worse! Thank goodness.
I hope you get better soon! Do people still get tested for covid in the US? I've had covid multiple times but stopped getting tested because it's become so endemic now (at least here in the UK) that no one really gets tested anymore.
I’m sorry to hear you’ve had covid multiple times. Take care and get well soon.
Thank you! The first time was a bit rough but then it was just like another cold.
It depends on where you live. In the Bay Area where I am, people are still extra cautious and wear masks a lot. In most of the rest of the US you are considered a liberal snowflake if you even utter the word Covid. I barely exaggerate. I mainly am testing because I'm about to vacation with a group of friends and two of them are extra vigilant about it. I just tested this morning and I'm barely barely showing positive, so I think in a day or two I'll be my usual healthy body cooky minded self. Thanks for checking, Andres!
Insane that people still take it so seriously. But well, live and let live. Glad to hear you're on the mend and hope you enjoy your vacation!
I knew absolutely nothing about Power Station. This was super interesting!
Sorry to hear you got Covid Steve, hopefully you’re well past the worst of it now and won’t have any lingering effects.
I too have soured on summer over the decades. Growing up in Bermuda I used to absolutely love the heat and humidity and being out on the beach. For six summer vacations I was doing roofing working alongside a bunch of my high school mates. In our late teens and early 20s we’d be out drinking most nights until 2 or 3 in the morning and still manage to be up on a roof by 8 where the temperatures would usually hit 100 by 10 am. Looking back I don’t know how I did it!
Over the last 20 years I’ve come to loathe the heat and humidity. We’re lucky enough to have ac and it’s usually on in the evenings between June and September.
One of the reasons we’re relocating to the UK in January is to get away from the heat and humidity. Summer hiking in the north of England means highs in the mid 70s which is amazing.
Hope you continue to recover smoothly!
Thanks for reminding me of ‘The Other Side of Summer’. I’m with you - I don’t like the heat. Fortunately, in England, it’s not much of a problem usually. The past couple of days have been in the high twenties and that’s more than enough for me.
Get well soon, Steve.
Hope you're feeling better, Steve! I must say, you're sleeping on a supergroup hidden in your post! The composer of the Robert Palmer hit, "Bad Case of Loving You" is Moon Martin, who had a handful of albums on Capitol starting in '78. He wrote "Cadillac Walk" that Willy DeVille recorded. Moon's debut, "Shots From a Cold Nightmare" houses a who's-who in punk and new wave of the late-'70s!
Phil Seymour from Dwight Twilley's band on drums, Blondie's early bassist, Gary Valentine, producer Craig Leon (Ramones, T. Heads), and Willie Alexander of the Boom-Boom Band (from Boston and on MCA, late-'70s). Here's Moon's "Bad Case": https://open.spotify.com/track/0WSilgRU3u7Bg66PAAhaVA?si=673f273d71584e39
Love it! Never heard of Moon Martin. And if I'm sleeping on the supergroup, at least I'm getting some sleep!:) And it's better than sleeping with the supergroup. Unless actual sleep is happening. And none of them snore.
Thanks for reading and your encyclopedic know-what.
Glad you dig the full Moon! He was, in his own way, as music-forward and gifted as anyone slapped with the new wave label, with the possible exception of the prodigious and prolific Elvis. But, he belongs in that era's discussion with the likes of John Hiatt, Joe Jackson, Willies DeVille, Alexander, and Nile, Steve Forbert, Robert Gordon, Tom Verlaine, and probably others!
As can be seen by his hits for others, his writing was attractive to many other artists...for some reason, HE never really got the airplay and press he deserved (but, how many hundreds of artists can THAT be said about)! And, he was on Capitol, so "t iny label" can't be an excuse. Lack of adequate promo by the label? Yep.
Moon needs to be written about at some point, and he's one I'd love to tackle. He died fairly recently (May 2020) at 74 of natural causes in Encino (of all places)! Cheers, and happy Thursday!
Sorry you're sick, but here's an "eff you, covid!" song you might enjoy and relate to, made during lockdown on the streets of Vegas -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ve3fcInpKj0
I would've hired that TTTP law firm in a heartbeat. Although I saw Duran Duran play outdoors in the summer on the plaza in downtown Boston and they were fab, so wouldn't want to be disloyal.
Enjoy those tomatoes and cukes!
Thanks, Ellen. I'm pretty sure TTTP and DD have a mutuality clause that will allow you to retain their services and listen to their music simultaneously, with a signature.😀
Thanks for the FFDP video. I had never heard/seen it before. I am feeling less off today so that's good. Even if the test is still coming back positive....
First & foremost, I hope you feel better ASAP!
I love summer, and really like the idea of half my workday not being in darkness, but going to bed in broad daylight sucks. Also, I'm "that guy" that will wear shorts well past when it's a good idea, so this time of year, I sweat. A lot.
Also: Huge +1 to sitting in the sun half baked, and dusting a bag of Doritos.
I have a friend I've known for 20 years and I've never seen the guy in full-length pants. Is that true? Okay, once when I went skiing with him, he had ski pants on. But that's it. My armpits and inner upper arms are stuck to my sides as I type this from dried sweat. Me no like. But hey, the days are getting shorter now! :)
As anti-summer songs go, it's hard to beat New Found Glory's "Call Me Anti Social," which aside from the anti-summer lyrics is just a killer rock track. I can't help thinking that if it had come out in the alt-rock glory days of the 1990s, it would have been a monster hit. The video is pretty funny as well https://youtu.be/3bLGyg9doVg?si=MQaEr1U0CA4mBays
Great video! I did not know that song. I'd heard of the band but don't think I've heard anything by them before this. Thanks for giving me another anti-summer song!
I love the summer Steve! I can feel the seasonal depression coming on when we start hitting October and November here in the Midwest! I also really like the Power Station song and its video. Hot!
I used to be like you regarding summer, but my new SAD seems to be this time of year now! Ha. It's been fun revisiting The Power Station for this piece. I'm on a Duran Duran kick right now.
Great post! Sorry to hear about the Covid - hope you’re well enough in time to catch Joe Jackson!
Thanks, Michael. I'm hopeful I'll be good for Friday. I'm about 80 percent full speed.
I love summer, but likely only because they can be very mild here in Seattle. With climate change we are getting more days in the 90s to 100s, but historically our summers have been a nice range of 75 - 85 degree temps, with a nice Puget Sound breeze, and evenings that cool back down for relief.
I’m so excited you wrote about Power Station!!! I saw them play live on their tour, and until now I had NO IDEA (or recollection, maybe) that Robert Palmer was not singing on that tour! 😂 This is likely because I only cared about John Taylor. 😍
Sorry about the ‘rona. I am also one of those people who has never tested positive for it - the only one in my household! We’ll see how long that streak lasts. Glad you are starting to feel better!
One of my coworkers is from Eugene, and he just got back from there. We were trying to explain to a Wisconsin native what summers are like in the PNW, and might as well have been chattering in Latin.
Oakland isn’t so much warmer than Seattle, so I really shouldn’t complain. But I was raised in a family of professional complainers, and when you’ve got a talent, it hard to not want to share it with the world! Thanks, Jen. Tomatoes are starting to pop now! And I’ve been snacking on the cucumbers the past week….
I'm with you on not functioning well in heat. I often say that when it's over 80 I feel like I'm a little bit sick -- just slow.
Yeah. Spending as much time as I do outdoors, I really appreciate the cool so much more than when I was younger.
One of the things I liked about this post was the reflections on aging. I was never a fan of the heat, but there are lots of examples of things that were minor discomforts (if that) when I was young which now, in middle-age, feel wearying.
I’m so glad you picked up on that. Reflecting on aging sounds so much more wise than “bitching about getting older.” I appreciate it, Nick.
One thing I miss -- I've always been a walker and through my mid-30s or so I wouldn't think twice about walking 3 or 4 miles to get somewhere. It's time consuming; so I would often bike or take the bus, but if I had an hour it was always nice to walk.
Now, it's _sometimes_ nice to walk for an hour but now my feet will get sore, and the joint at the base of my big toe occasionally hurts, and if I overdo it, it won't just automatically go away overnight . . .
It's all minor discomfort and it seems silly to complain except it really has changed how I think about, "oh, I have time, I could just walk."
Good tunes today, Steve! In my younger years I always liked the ear-wormy-ness of "The Other Side of Summer" It was later that I realized it wasn't the feel gooder I once thought it was. I was more a music guy back then, as opposed to a lyrics guy, and the tune was the hook for me.
Hope you feel better soon, Steve!
Thanks so much, Paul! Yeah, that Mr. Costello is a sneaky chap with the incisive wit!
*waves hand* For as long as I can remember, I've liked winter much more than summer. No songs are coming to mind, though; your earworms are doing their job too well for me!
I'm sorry 'Rona caught up with you. I hope you're back to 100% soon.
Thanks, Jackie. I'm definitely on the mend. I'm hoping it speeds up a bit as I'm supposed to see Joe Jackson in concert on Friday. I'll mask up, but won't go if symptomatic.