W.M. Irwin's Blog: List

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Sunday, September 28, 2025

My Song of the Month for September 2025

Today it is approaching the end of September, and as I've done in previous months this year, I have a "song of the month" this time around as well. Once again, for the second month in a row, it is There's No Future in Optimism, by the British alternative group Garbage. Sung by Shirley Manson, it is a commentary on our times about protests and the State bearing down on them. But we can design our own futures, based on love, in the midst of all the turmoil. I like that message, and this song sits well with me in our troubled times. I don't see anything improving in our society in political terms, and the media, both social and mass, seems hell-bent on aggravating tensions, fear and anger among the population. Our president wants to wage war against any American who doesn't swear undying and unquestioning personal fealty to him. I don't feel like following his sick tune...no, I'm charting my own course and this song carries a much better message. So far this year, here are the "songs of the month":

September There's No Future in Optimism...by Garbage

August There's No Future in Optimism...by Garbage

July The Birds...by Franz Ferdinand

June Stuck in My Head...by Arcade Fire

May Walking on a Dream...by Empire of the Sun

April Nothing I Need...by Lord Huron

March Under the Rug...by Arcy Drive

February Starburster...by Fonraines DC

January Everyone Out...by DIIV

Monday, April 28, 2025

My Top Favorite Songs In April 2025

Back at the start of the year I wrote that it might be fun to revisit an old habit of mine from the early 1970's, which was to reflect on each of the calendar months at their close and select a "song of the month". For example, 52 years ago in April of 1973, it was Stealers Wheel and the Gerry Rafferty-led band's hit single Stuck in the Middle With You. This April is almost past, and I've picked a song for it as well: Nothing I Need by Lord Huron. Maybe it got some radio play, maybe not: since I generally don't listen to the radio for my music anymore, I wouldn't know. All I do know is that it is in the current rotation on Amazon Prime Music on their Fresh Indie channel. Another song, April's runner-up for me, is Before You I Just Forget by Fontaines DC. And for #3, I like Zero Sum by The Smile. I still consider Fontaine DC's Starburster as my "song of the year" so far, but there are still many months to go. I'm also think of researching recent album releases of different acts I like and see if I can't find some deep tracks on them. As for Nothing I Need, it sounds more like it belongs back in the seventies when there was a lot crossover between country and pop, with more than a few hits combining the two. This song fits the bill in that regard as it reminds me a little of some of Kenny Rogers' early tracks...

Thursday, April 3, 2025

Maybe "Greatest" Rock Band List Should be Rephrased as "Favorite"

Whatever the algorithm or AI on Facebook happens to be, it has decided that I'm a rock music fan, especially interested in the classic rock of the twentieth century. So I get a lot of posts on my newsfeed about this genre, much of it about the Beatles. The other day I got a post on it from Forbes Magazine listing the 30 greatest rock bands of all time. Okay, let's see what they've got. Uh-oh, the Beatles were only listed at number two: sorry, this list is bogus. Still, the top band in their estimation, Led Zeppelin, happens to be my own list's runner-up to the Fab Four. Where I have the biggest problems with this list is how highly they ranked acts I dislike and then omitted some of the best ones from their list. But it's all subjective anyway...better to present a list like this as their ranking of "favorite bands" instead of "greatest bands". Forbes had Queen at #3...okay, I generally like them but not that much. R.E.M., my all-time favorite American band, wasn't even on the list...neither were Yes, Soundgarden, the Police, Beach Boys, Moody Blues, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Doobie Brothers or Pearl Jam while several groups I dislike...like Van Halen, Kiss, Oasis, the Clash, Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden and Journey...were on it. I guess to each his or her own...here are my top ten favorite rock bands:

1 THE BEATLES

2 LED ZEPPELIN

3 R.E.M.

4 RADIOHEAD

5 THE POLICE

6 THE DOORS

7 THE WHO

8 YES

9 THE MOODY BLUES

10 PINK FLOYD

Sunday, March 30, 2025

My Songs of the Month for March 2025

March, by all accounts, should have been a month in which I listened a lot to music. After all, I had my prostate cancer surgery on the 6th and, for the most part, have been taking it easy at home recovering from it. But it's not as simple as it used to be when I was younger and we had a number of radio stations to easily tune in to for the current hits. Let's see, back in 1973 my songs of the month for January, February and March were You're So Vain (by Carly Simon), Love and Happiness (by Al Green) and Hummingbird (by Seals and Crofts). In this digital information era it should be easier to find good rotations of current hits...but other than Gainesville's local pop music station WYKS ("Kiss 105"), which plays a lot of (in my opinion) insipid, uninteresting music, there is no alternative rock station playing today's songs...and I'm just not attuned to country or hip-hop...although I kind of dig songs that fuse them with rock. True, 100.5 WHHZ plays alternative rock, but they're focused more on past hits, as are other local classic rock and oldies stations. Instead, I have been relying on channels on my Amazon Music account. Here's my list of favorites for March '25, overlapping quite a lot with the ones from the previous two months:

1 UNDER THE RUG by Arcy Drive

2 STARBURSTER by Fontaines DC

3 ZERO SUM by the Smile

4 BESTIES by Black Country, New Road

5 EVERYONE OUT by Diiv

Under the Rug has a magnetic, old-time rock sound to it...nice to hear that hasn't completely fallen by the wayside. But if I were to pick a "song of the year" for 2025 so far, it would have to be Starburster...

Sunday, October 20, 2024

Updated Personal Cumulative Running/Walking Race History Record

I've copied and pasted my May 11, 2024 article listing my record of public running/walking events and finishing times. I had been writing more recent races into the record, but feel that it's time to bring the list up to the present...

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I've updated below my cumulative running race record...you can see that since the previous update on December 10th 2023, most of my ventures have been to a single location: Gainesville's pretty Depot Park where, on Saturday mornings, they hold a free 5K race/run/walk called the "Depot Parkrun"...I've covered it 42 times at this writing on May 11, 2024. I also ran half-marathon and 10-mile races during the intervening weeks. Races 10K (6.2 miles) or longer I have highlighted in red. If you see a race you'd like to read more about, just click on the listed title to read my same-day blog article (the first five, though, are "ancient history" from the previous century). Each entry contains, from left to right: date, distance, my finishing time, event name, location. As for the distance abbreviations, m=miles, K=kilometers, M=marathon and HM=half marathon. And now, on to more running (and walking) adventures...

3-23-73 2m 11:56 Nova HS at Piper track meet Piper High School, Ft. Lauderdale

4-10-73 2m 11:35 Broward Country South Division Meet S. Broward HS, Dania

11-27-74 ~2m ?? Turkey Trot (BCC) (1) Davie, FL

11-?-75 ~2m ?? Turkey Trot (BCC) (2) Davie, FL

7-?-76 ~5m ?? -unknown- Hollywood, FL

10-04-08 5K 25:10 Red Cross University of Florida

10-18-08 5K 24:07 Hope Heels Westside Park

11-01-08    5K       24:28      Dog Days                               Westside Park
2-14-10     HM    2:17:10     Five Points of Life (1)                  Gainesville
3-27-10     15K    1:23:55    Climb for Cancer                                Haile Plantation
4-24-10      5K        23:05     Run Amuck                                        NFR Office Park
5-22-10    5K    25:00   Somer's Sunshine Run                   Orange Park
6-05-10    5K    23:23     Cpt. Chad Reed Memorial                  Cross City
7-04-10      3m        23:04     Melon Run (1) Westside Park
11-6-10    HM    2:01:41 Tom Walker Memorial (1) Hawthorne Trail
1-23-11      M       6:04:35    Ocala Marathon South of Paddock Mall
11-12-11    HM    1:59:38    Tom Walker Memorial (2) Hawthorne Trail
1-01-12      HM    1:56:07    De Leon Springs    De Leon Springs
7-04-12      3m        25:45     Melon Run (2) Westside Park
11-22-12   10K       53:10     Turkey Trot (1) Tacachale
1-20-13      HM    1:55:20    Ocala Half-Marathon South of Paddock Mall
3-03-13      HM    1:50:53    Orange Blossom Tavares
11-09-13    2m     untimed    Gator Gallop University Ave, SW 2nd Ave
2-01-14      5K        25:53     Education for Life Westside Park
2-16-14      HM    2:07:36    Five Points of Life (2) Gainesville
11-27-14   10K        56:56    Turkey Trot (2) Tacachale
12-20-14    HM    2:03:30    Starlight Half-Marathon Palm Coast
1-31-15     15K    1:18:21 Newnan's Lake (1)     West of Newnan's Lake
2-15-15     HM     1:58:48    Five Points of Life (3) Gainesville
3-14-15     10K        56:24    Run for Haven (1) Tioga
12-05-15   6.5m   1:03:52    Lumber Around the Levee Micanopy
1-30-16     15K    1:31:20    Newnan's Lake (2)    West of Newnan's Lake
3-12-16     10K       59:00    Run for Haven (2)     Tioga
5-14-16       5K       28:36    May Day Glow Run (1) Tioga

7-4-16 3m 28:22 Melon Run (3) Westside Park

11-24-16 10K 1:01:13 Turkey Trot (3) Tacachale

2-26-17 HM 2:24:29 Five Points of Life (4) Gainesville

3-11-17 10K 58:45 Run for Haven (3) Tioga

5-21-17 5K 33:00 May Day Glow Run (2) Tioga

1-27-18 15K 1:38:41 Newnan's Lake (3) West of Newnan's Lake

2-18-18 HM 2:19:37 Five Points of Life (5) Gainesville

3-17-18 5K 29:17 Chris Lacinak Scholarship Gainesville

12-8-18 15K 1:37:33 Season of Hope (1) Hawthorne Trail

1-5-19 5K 30:00 Depot Parkrun (1) Gainesville

2-9-19 5K 30:36 Depot Parkrun (2) Gainesville

3-16-19 5K 31:16 Miles for Meridian Tioga

4-27-19 10K 1:01:52 Run the Good Race (1) NFR Office Park

5-5-19 5K 30:38 May Day Glow Run (3) Jonesville

11-10-19 HM 2:35:20 Tom Walker Memorial (3) Hawthorne Trail

11-28-19 10K 1:02:16 Turkey Trot (4) Tacachale

12-7-19 15K 1:35:48 Season of Hope (2) Hawthorne Trail

4-3-21 5K 32:40 Headwaters (1) Gainesville

5-29-21 5K 30:50 Depot Parkrun (3) Gainesville

6-12-21 5K 33:06 Depot Parkrun (4) Gainesville

12-4-21 5K 33:03 Depot Parkrun (5) Gainesville

2-12-22 5K 31:28 Depot Parkrun (6) Gainesville

2-20-22 HM 2:33:51 Five Points of Life (6) Gainesville

3-19-22 10m 1:48:24 Micanopy Ten-Mile (1) Micanopy

3-26-22 5K 30:45 Depot Parkrun (7) Gainesville

4-9-22 5K 29:28 Headwaters (2) Gainesville

10-15-22 10K 1:04:55 Tom Walker Preview (1) Hawthorne Trail

10-22-22 10K 1:03:20 Run the Good Race (2) Gainesville

11-06-22 HM 3:05:29 Tom Walker Memorial (4) Hawthorne Trail

11-12-22 5K 31:38 Depot Parkrun (8) Gainesville

12-10-22 5K 31:46 Depot Parkrun (9) Gainesville

1-1-23 5K 32:59 Depot Parkrun (10) Gainesville

1-15-23 HM 2:34:42 FTC Mary Andrews (1) Hawthorne Trail (east end)

3-11-23 5K 34:02 Depot Parkrun (11) Gainesville

3-25-23 5K 33:19 Depot Parkrun (12) Gainesville

4-22-23 5K 32:47 Depot Parkrun (13) Gainesville

4-29-23 5K 33:34 Depot Parkrun (14) Gainesville

5-6-23 5K 33:08 Depot Parkrun (15) Gainesville

5-20-23 5K 31:46 Depot Parkrun (16) Gainesville

5-27-23 5K 45:14 Depot Parkrun (17) (speed-walk) Gainesville

6-3-23 5K 31:22 Depot Parkrun (18) Gainesville

6-10-23 5K 33:38 Depot Parkrun (19) Gainesville

8-19-23 5K 32:52 Depot Parkrun (20) Gainesville

8-26-23 5K 31:29 Depot Parkrun (21) Gainesville

9-9-23 4m 41:59 Is It Fall 4-Miler (1) Squirrel Ridge Park, G'ville

9-16-23 5K 32:17 Depot Parkrun (22) Gainesville

9 -23-23 5K 30:23 Depot Parkrun (23) Gainesville

10-14-23 10K 1:04:51 Tom Walker Preview (2) Hawthorne Trail

10-21-23 5K 30:19 Depot Parkrun (24) Gainesville

10-28-23 5K 30:38 Depot Parkrun (25) GaineGainesvillesville

11-4-23 5K 30:14 Depot Parkrun (26) Gainesville

11-12-23 HM 2:18:06 Tom Walker Memorial (5) Hawthorne Trail

11-25-23 5K 29:47 Depot Parkrun (27) Gainesville

12-2-23 5K 30:39 Depot Parkrun (28) Gainesville

12-9-23 15K 1:33:02 Season of Hope (3) Hawthorne Trail

12-16-23 5K 28:57 Depot Parkrun (29) Gainesville

12-23-23 5K 42:20 Depot Parkrun (30) (speed-walk) Gainesville

1-1-24 5K 27:38 Depot Parkrun (31) Gainesville

1-13-24 5K 1:00:40 Depot Parkrun (32) (walked with Melissa) Gainesville

1-14-24 HM 2:07:40 FTC Mary Andrews (2) Hawthorne Trail (east end)

1-20-24 5K 57:26 Depot Parkrun (33) (walked with Melissa) Gainesville

2-3-24 5K 1:10:25 Depot Parkrun (34) (volunteer walker) Gainesville

2-10-24 10m 1:39:18 Micanopy Ten-Mile (2) Micanopy

2-24-24 5K 27:36 Depot Parkrun (35) Gainesville

3-16-24 5K 28:19 Depot Parkrun (36) Gainesville

3-30--24 5K 28:18 Depot Parkrun (37) Gainesville

4-13-24 5K 28:47 Depot Parkrun (38) Gainesville

4-20-24 5K 39:43 Depot Parkrun (39) (speed-walk) Gainesville

4-27-24 5K 27:10 Depot Parkrun (40) Gainesville

5-4-24 5K 28:19 Depot Parkrun (41) Gainesville

5-11-24 5K 29:11 Depot Parkrun (42) Gainesville

5-18-24 5K 38:58 Depot Parkrun (43) (speed-walk) Gainesville

5-25-24 5K 49:27 Depot Parkrun (44) (social walk/running) Gainesville

6-1-24 5K 27:23 Depot Parkrun (45) Gainesville

6-8-24 5K 38:49 Depot Parkrun (46) (speed-walk) Gainesville

6-22-24 5K 27:41 Depot Parkrun (47) Gainesville

6-29-24 5K 27:01 Depot Parkrun (48) Gainesville

7-4-24 3m 26:55 Melon Run (4) Gainesville

7-27-24 5K 38:19 Depot Parkrun (49) (speed-walk) Gainesville

8-10-24 5K 38:19 Depot Parkrun (50) (speed-walk) Gainesville

8-17-24 5K 26:51 Depot Parkrun (51) Gainesville

8-24-24 10K 1:00:45 US Road Running (1) Gainesville

8-31-24 5K 27:25 Depot Parkrun (52) Gainesville

9-7-24 4m 36:46 Is It Fall 4-Miler (2) Squirrel Ridge Park, Gainesville

9-14-24 5K 39:15 Depot Parkrun (53) (speed-walk) Gainesville

10-5-24 5K 27:28 Depot Parkrun (54) Gainesville

10-12-24 5K 26:58 Depot Parkrun (55) Gainesville

10-19-24 5K 27:17 Depot Parkrun (56) Gainesville

11-2-24 5K 26:56 Depot Parkrun (57) Gainesville

11-10-24 HM 2:54:40 Tom Walker Memorial (6) (speed-walk) Hawthorne Trail

11-16-24 5K 26:31 Depot Parkrun (58) Gainesville

11-24-24 M 5:07:49 Mega Cupcake Marathon (1) Hawthorne Trail (east end)

11-28-24 5K 28:25 Depot Parkrun (59) Gainesville

12-7-24 15K 1:29:19 Season of Hope (4) Hawthorne Trail

12-14-24 5K 27:39 Depot Parkrun (60) Gainesville

12-21-24 5K 39:22 Depot Parkrun (61) (speed-walk) Gainesville

12-28-24 5K 27:32 Depot Parkrun (62) Gainesville

1-1-25 5K 1:11:58 Depot Parkrun (63) (walked with Melissa) Gainesville

1-1-25 1m 8:25 Frank Shorter Mile Gainesville

1-4-25 5K 27:42 Depot Parkrun (64) Gainesville

1-11-25 5K 27:51 Depot Parkrun (65) Gainesville

1-18-25 5K 27:45 Depot Parkrun (66) Gainesville

1-20-25 HM 2:05:13 FTC Mary Andrews (3) Hawthorne Trail (east end)

1-25-25 15K 1:25:22 Newnan's Lake (4) West of Newnan's Lake

2-1-25 5K 39:15 Depot Parkrun (67) (speed-walk) Gainesville

2-8-25 10m 1:36:50 Micanopy Ten-Mile (3) Micanopy

2-15-25 5K 27:32 Depot Parkrun (68) Gainesville

3-29-25 5K 44:52 Depot Parkrun (69) (speed-walk) Gainesville

4-5-25 5K 42:28 Depot Parkrun (70) (speed-walk) Gainesville

4-12-25 5K 41:23 Depot Parkrun (71) (speed-walk) Gainesville

4-19-25 5K 34:51 Depot Parkrun (72) (run-walk mix) Gainesville

5-3-25 5K 28:19 Depot Parkrun (73) Gainesville

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As for the standard-distance races from 2008 through the present, here are listed my total races finished for each distance along with my personal best time for them...

# of Finishes Personal Best

1 Mile 1 8:25 (1/1/25)

5K 87 23:05 (4/24/10)

10K 12 53:10 (11/22/12)

15K 9 1:18:21 (1/31/15)

10 Miles 3 1:36:50 (2/8/25)

Half-Marathon 19 1:50:53 (3/3/13)

Marathon 2 5:07:47 (11/24/24)

Thursday, December 28, 2023

My Top Ten Favorite Songs of 2023

Although there are still a couple of days left in 2023, I think I pretty much have down my top favorite songs of the year, not that much different than what I wrote down a few weeks a ago. Here they are, each listed entry with the song's title followed by the artist and the album in parentheses...

1 OIL by Gorillaz (Cracker Island)

2 MY COSMOS IS MINE by Depeche Mode (Memento Mori)

3 PEOPLE ARE GOOD by Depeche Mode (Memento Mori)

4 SHIT TALK by Sufjan Stevens (Javelin)

5 BOTTLE EPISODES by The New Pornographers (Continue as a Guest)

6 NEW GOLD by Gorillaz (Cracker Island)

7 WHO WOULD YOU BE FOR ME by Metric (Formentera II)

8 A HAIRDRYER by The Smile (A Light for Attracting Attention)

9 PONTIUS PILATE'S HOME MOVIES by The New Pornographers (Continue as a Guest)

10 MY FAVORITE STRANGER by Depeche Mode (Memento Mori)

Oil has nonsense lyrics although speaking in vague terms of love. What won it as my "Song of the Year" is its upbeat musical tone, sounding like a cross between alt-rock and Fleetwood Mac...the fact that Stevie Nicks sings on it was brilliant. Depeche Mode is a British industrial/Goth band that's been around for years...their 2023 album Memento Mori contains some jewels. My Cosmos is Mine is an assertive expression of identity, reminding me of Tom Petty's I Won't Back Down and Soundgarden's My Wave. People are Good expresses the opposite from its ironic title: they really aren't so good after all! Sufjan Stevens, a longtime favorite Indie recording artist, came out with the album Javelin this past fall, my favorite track Shit Talk actually a beautiful, emotional 8-minute plus work of art...don't get misled by this one's title, either. I recommend the whole list, naturally, and you can hear them all on YouTube. You know, I just gave Number One another listen and realized that the lyrics aren't nonsensical at all...

Sunday, December 10, 2023

My Updated Cumulative Lifetime Running Race Record

I've updated below my cumulative running race record...you can see that since the last update in April of this year, most of my ventures have been to a single location: Gainesville's pretty Depot Park where, on Saturday mornings, they hold a free 5K race/run/walk called the "Depot Parkrun"...I've covered it 28 times at this writing on December 10th. I also ran half-marathon, 15K, 10K and 4-mile races during recent weeks. Races 10K (6.2 miles) or longer I have highlighted in red. If you see a race you'd like to read more about, just click on the listed title to read my same-day blog article. As for the distance abbreviations, m=miles, K=kilometers, M=marathon and HM=half marathon. And now, on to more running adventures...

PS, I have been updating this article subsequent to today's December 10 date...