YouTube Channel Shows Making of Great Old Rock Albums

I've recently been checking out a YouTube channel, titled Film Retrospective, that covers the making of different famous albums by sixties rock groups.  The most notable ones are the Beatles and Rolling Stones.  Each posting covers an album in a chronological order, discussing the different tracks in the order that they were recorded, with a lot of footage showing the band members, producers, sound engineers, or anyone else who happened to be in the picture. I am the most interested in how the Beatles went about developing songs and recording them, as well as how they got along with each other and others.  With them, it seemed to me that the biggest change occurred over the years with John Lennon, who was very negatively affected by the torrid, whirlwind pace of concerts, public relations events and recording studio sessions that manager Brian Epstein imposed on him and the rest of the band.  Lennon had for years been floating around the idea of quitting the Beatles...it's really amazing, especially seeing him in an unstable state on some of these videos, that he waited until near the end of 1969 before pronouncing himself "divorced".  As for the Rolling Stones, they had their own problems with founding member Brian Jones, who like Lennon did not have the emotional constitution to handle the fame and limelight and allowed himself to become heavily dependent on mind-altering drugs. Watching these YouTube videos starkly exposes the frailty of human existence...these folks were the success stories that others only dreamed of becoming, yet there was a great amount of sadness and resentment with them that their striving never seemed to help with.  I think that so far my favorite video in this series was the one about the Beatles' making of the Magical Mystery Tour album in 1967...click HERE to see it.  I have a theory about Lennon's developing strategies of dealing with the stress placed on him, too.  He, in my opinion, came to collect people around him like Yoko Ono, Yannis "Magic Alex" Mardas, and their second manager, Allen Klein, to shield him from the pressure and influence of others (such as Paul McCartney, George Martin and the media).  But that's just my theory.  Check out some of these videos, especially if you know and like the Beatles and Stones...

My Dear Sister-in-Law Krista Passes Away

My dearly beloved sister-in-law Krista Bailey sadly passed away yesterday evening at 10:47 due to complications arising from an aggressive form of leukemia.  She had been staying at the ET York Hospice, Care Center off Northwest 39th Avenue here in Gainesville.  Krista was a beautiful person and a blessing to Melissa as her little sister.  She had such a wonderful, refreshing sense of humor, a direct way of communicating and in her own way was quite brilliant.  Her husband James, her true soul mate, had tragically died four years ago, and she moved back to Gainesville from Kentucky less than a year ago.  Krista is survived by Melissa and her brother Keith, as well as her daughter Amy and granddaughter Tabitha.  For me the month of July is becoming a rather dark month, with Krista's recent passing and my son Will's accidental death on the 18th last year.  May all who knew Krista derive comfort and peace from God in this time of mourning.  I am truly saddened by her absence.  Once again I'm a "survivor"...and it brings more grief...

Style Over Substance: Presidents Carter and Trump

When Jimmy Carter was running for president in 1976, he used a lot of symbology to carry him on to a narrow victory over incumbent Gerald Ford in November.  Jimmy was "plain folk" like you and me, not a privileged elitist, and he was a peanut farmer to boot, along with being a nuclear engineer should you begin suspecting him of being a country bumpkin.  Growing up in Deep South Georgia in Plains, just a few miles from where I was born in Albany, that very small town enhanced Carter's image of being accessible and "one of us".  His administration was going to be open and ethical, although not much in the realm of specifics was put out during the campaign.  Instead it was "style over substance"...even to the point where in the minutes preceding his inauguration to the presidency, he walked down the street with his wife Rosalynn, a refreshing symbol of open fearlessness that impressed many of us who were still fresh with the memories of recent assassinations.  During press conferences the "style over substance" questions kept surfacing, and apparently the new president was sensitive to this, transforming a promising, interesting presidency into an almost covert endeavor, replacing that corny-but-endearing wide, toothy grin with chronic frowning.  I'm writing this in reaction to Donald Trump's obvious "style over everything" presidency that, while polarizing intense opposition from large sections of the country, is also sealing fervent support among his base...unlike with Jimmy Carter, who found himself unpopular across the board.  With his tendency to exaggerate and boast, Trump is like the liar in that classic old Twilight Zone episode Hocus Pocus and Frisby, except that in no way is he to any degree likable like that episode's adorable protagonist, ably portrayed by Andy Devine.  Whenever Trump goes off on one of his delusional rants or boasts that terrible things will happen to his perceived enemies, the opposition press and opinion makers go to town against him, taking literally everything he says.  Inevitably the narrative goes back to the 1930s, the rise of Hitler in Germany and the lack of resolve of that nation's population to see what was happening and stand up to the dictator. I have no doubt that Donald Trump, who has no sense of compassion toward others that I can see, would gladly take on the role of a Hitler or Stalin had he the opportunity, but I'm convinced that he has the mentality of an underworld crime thug...for some reason the Woke community disapproves of that four-letter word but it fits him well, as far as I can see.  So Trump, unlike Carter, is promoting style deep into his administration.  Also, UNLIKE our late president, his style consists of being mean, self-congratulatory, oversensitive and vindictive...

Time Takes on Urgency During Aging

As I age, now into retirement for seven-plus months, my changing perception of the passage of time is causing me to reevaluate how best to spend it.  For one, with me it no longer seems that the future is as vast and wide open as it was during my youth...that's being pretty realistic, I think.  You can be pretty healthy...even athletic in your "golden" years, as Paul, an acquaintance in his 80's, demonstrated, and then quickly succumb to an aggressive cancer, organ failure or other ailment.  After my open-heart surgery four years ago, I recovered to the level of being once again able to do Parkrun 5Ks.  On one such run the following year, Paul and I found ourselves running side-by-side, and he revealed he had run many marathons in his past. He seemed very fit and at the close of our little talk, he then sped off and finished the 5K well ahead of me.  I hadn't seen Paul in a long time and just recently discovered that he had died this past February from pancreatic cancer.  Very sad, but that's a common part of being a senior: you're going along just fine, with what seems like an open future stretching out before you...and then, poof!, just like that, you're gone.  Well, that's one rapidly shifting perception of time that's recently affected me.  The other is my increased sensitivity to how, with each new day, I have things I want to do and how so-called "urgencies" that crop up tend to crowd them out, making me feel selfish and guilty should I assert myself and carve out my own time for them.  This also has to do with my sense that I don't have forever in this world to pursue my own interests and goals in spite of how well I physically feel or what encouraging words my doctors say...I'm developing my own personal sense of urgency regarding these things...

Sense of Community Important in Old Age

When my sister moved with her family to Texas in 1984, while I was living here in northern Florida, it left my parents by themselves back in my childhood home in Hollywood (near Miami).  My mother passed away in 2002, and that left my father living alone in the old house, albeit with a lot of stray neighborhood cats he took in and cared for.  But Daddy did not take to forming supportive relationships with others outside the immediate family, and as his vision and coordination gradually deteriorated with age, he found himself increasingly more in isolation, with my visits or those of Anita being special times when we could help him out with things. As Melissa and I are now the oldest surviving generation in our families, it gives me a sense of gratitude that she has some very good and deep connections with others.  For myself, though, on the other hand, it isn't quite so simple as I have almost instinctively been reclusive instead of pursuing a probably healthier level of social interaction. So although I'd rather spend time alone or with Melissa, I think that...at least while we're both still "up and about"...it just might behoove me to proactively engage in a more sociable context even if I start out feeling a bit critical and negative.  I think that's one reason I do the weekly Parkruns, but there are all kinds of groups like that get together, in real time and space, to unite around their shared interests.  Time for me to get down to figuring just how I'm going to step out of my isolationist comfort zone... 

Drove Out to West End Park, Joined Trial Parkrun There

The good folks at Depot Parkrun had mentioned more than once that on this present Sunday morning, six days before the inaugural West End Parkrun 5K gives Gainesville the status of a two-Parkrun town with its first race, they would welcome anyone to go to that park to check out its course and give feedback.  West End used to be a golf course before it became a community park, situated in the unincorporated town of Tioga just west of Gainesville on Newberry Road .  It's a bit out there from my house, which lies in the far-northern fringes of Gainesville.  I timed my drive to West End this morning.  It being Sunday morning around 7, it didn't surprise me that it only took 22 minutes, with much of the time spent waiting at traffic lights that stayed red for no apparent reason.  The people assembled there at West End were a mixture of runners and walkers...and some of the organizers, including the Depot Parkrun director...a fast runner in her own right. We were shown course maps, which displayed a course that wound through the park like it was still a golf course, with a lot of twists and turns.  There was plenty of concrete sidewalk, which alternated between stretches of grass connecting them.  It was also considerably more sloped than for the Depot Park course.  And there were no repeat laps here...you just stayed on course here until you finished it.  The West End Parkrun course reminded me a little of the old track/cross-country runs back in high school, near our campus, that would go across fields and down horse trails...that was cool.  But you do need to keep your attention on the ground ahead of you to avoid slipping or tripping.  Especially at the beginning, the sidewalk's concrete slabs were often a little out of place and easy to trip on.  And with the grass, on our trial run it hadn't been cut for a while and was overgrown and slick with dew moisture.  I had hoped to be able to keep up with the director on the run but even though she said she took it more slowly, there was no way I could gain any benefit from trying to stay even with her.  Eventually I finished the run after a long struggle trying to keep up with its meandering nature...one false turn and you're lost.  At the finish line I checked my Fitbit to see the mileage: 3.48 miles, some .38 mile longer than a 5K, or more than 10% too far.  Our director had asked for my feedback with this and I told her.  I don't know if they'll try to do anything to shorten the course between now and when the first "official" run is held next Saturday morning.  As for me, it was a good training run that I frankly hadn't been preparing myself to do this morning: I wasn't dressed for it and my clothes were soaked with perspiration after it ended.  I kept up a reasonable (for me) pace while attuning myself to the course, finishing at 31:44, a relatively slow time for me until you consider that I did say that the course was over 10% too long.  Next Saturday, though, if I do a Parkrun, I'm pretty sure that it will be at Depot Park again...and most likely will be a speed-walk...

Ran Today's Depot Parkrun 5K Here in Gainesville

This Saturday morning I once again arose before six...then I promptly went back to bed with the alarm set at 6:05.  Sure, I could have slept through today's Depot Parkrun 5K but that would have broken with this constructive personal habitual routine.  So I drove on down to Depot Park, a few blocks south of downtown Gainesville, to try my hand once again at their little multi-looping race course.  Before it started, I was uncertain whether I'd run it or speed-walk, seeing that the day before I had exerted myself a bit running the three-mile Melon Run at Westside Park.  But while standing there at the countdown to the "start" signal I made my decision: run that sucker!  The temperature/humidity combination was typical for North Florida summer mornings: 74 degrees at 98%...not conducive for setting any personal bests today.  And so that's how I handled the run, trying hard enough to finish below 30 minutes while not worrying about particulars.  I never was able to settle into a good running groove, but at the same time...compared to other runners who were clearly running out of gas early on...I managed to keep up a steady pace and even speed up a bit at the end in spite of struggling in my mind to continue on and resist the almost overwhelming temptation to just walk the rest of the way to the finish line.  As it was, I ran well enough to finish at 29:25...hooray!  I remember how, for years since I began doing the Depot Parkrun in 2019, breaking 30 minutes seemed an impossible dream.  But since I managed to cross over that threshold, the opposite has happened: same 30 minutes, but now it's a goal to consistently avoid finishing slower than. Of course, when I'm speed-walking, I have a different standard.  You can view today's results by clicking HERE. I noticed a few of the runners from yesterday's Melon Run race were present at today's event... 

Ran Gainesville's July 4th Melon Run

As alluded to yesterday, this morning I ran the Florida Track Club's annual 4th of July three-mile race, called the Jack Gamble Melon Run.  Held at Albert Ray Massey "Westside" Park off NW 34th Street here in Gainesville, I've run it a number of times in the past and have come to accept the sad truth that since this event seems to attract the most hard-core, competitive entrants, then there's no point in hanging around after it's over, hoping to get an age-category award. Besides, it's summertime and this hilly race course, coupled with the expected heat and high humidity, tends to test the ability of many naive runners to simply finish it. The race began at eight, but I got to the park at 7:30, just in time to snag one of the last available parking spots. Just walking around the place amidst the 73 degree temperature and foggy, 100% humidity, I could portend a challenging race since there seemed to be an inordinate amount of people there.  Then I discovered that they had changed the course...but in the end that was all right.  Since they don't time runners at the start...only the end...it took 14 seconds once the race began for me to actually get to the starting line, so in my mind at least I deduct that amount from my recorded finishing time.  I ran the first mile or so just to lightly run and get into a nice, easy groove.  Once that was accomplished I found myself gradually picking up the speed and passing lots of people.  By the end I was pushing hard and was tired, finishing with an official time of 28 minutes 31 seconds, some 1:36 slower than last year's Melon Run time when I weighed about twenty pounds less.  I will say this: I could have gone out running harder and maybe finished closer to my 2024 time, but I'd also be more exhausted while facing a more demanding recovery.  That's significant since I intend to run the Depot Parkrun 5K tomorrow morning, and then explore the new West End Parkrun course with others Sunday morning.  All in all, this race was a pleasant experience...the volunteers were great!  And along with the celebratory Independence Day vibes, plenty of chopped-up watermelon slices were there for everyone.  You can view today's results by clicking HERE. By the way, I noticed three other Depot Parkrun "regulars" besides myself who were in attendance for today's Melon Run...let's see if they also turn out for tomorrow...

Is Parainfluenza Infecting Our Community Right Now in Summer?

I'm not exactly sure what "para-flu" is, but earlier this evening a nurse used it to describe "what's going around everywhere"...including my dear sister-in-law Krista, who is now all-but-bedridden at our local Haven Hospice with terminal-stage cancer.  Melissa thinks she may have had it, possibly me...and, apparently half the people I run into in public are coughing and sneezing and sniffling.  Not that it's all the flu, or some related variety of sickness...I'm leaning toward the theory that I have seasonal allergies combined with post nasal drip issues.  I'm not going to let this annoyance keep me from my running or speed-walking, either: tomorrow morning it's the three-mile Jack Gamble Melon Run "run" by the Florida Track Club, of which I am a member with a "geezer" discount.  My plan: treat it, at least at the start, as simply a slow workout jog while trying to avoid getting trampled or doing likewise myself.  And immediately afterwards get the fudge out of there, as South Park's Eric Cartman would put it...   

Happy Hump Day of the Year

If Wednesday can be called "hump day" for the week that starts on Sunday and ends Saturday, then July 2nd can likewise be termed "hump day" for the year...that is, for non-leap years.  For exactly 182 days precede today and 182 are to come in 2025.  This morning I was watching the Weather Channel and the good meteorologists sitting around on the curved blue couch, apparently with nothing better to do, posed this question to the viewing audience: what is your favorite "half" of the year, January through June or July through December?  The poll's answer was that more thought July through December is better...I wonder, though, what the response would be if the question was posed at the beginning of January! For if you're standing smack in the middle of a calendar year, then one half is what you've just lived through and the other is right in front of you, about to happen.  So I suppose the responses that most folks gave...at least those who watch the Weather Channel in the morning...showed that they are generally optimistic about the future, that the next six months will be better than the previous six.  As for me, I am personally so much bound to focusing on each single day as it comes that I don't allow myself to get too hung up on "favorite" stretches of time.  I can find good and bad in every month and season I've lived through so far, and I'm guessing that that's probably going to continue.  This July, though, is considerably more trying for Melissa and me than in the past because our dear son Will passed away last year on the 18th...but that wasn't not July's fault, and I'm looking forward to good times and experiences on this early side of the "hump" in 2025... 

A Final Jeopardy! Answer, and Lifespans

The final Jeopardy! answer on tonight's episode of that long-lasting game show series concerned a topic I had no reason to be knowledgeable about: who is buried in England's Westminster Abbey.  It is where British royalty has historically been interred, but there is a place within, called "Poet's Corner", where standouts in the arts, most notably literary, have also been accorded burial spots.  I'm not sure exactly what the wording was in the Jeopardy! answer, but it did include the year of burial as being 1991...and I came up with the correct solution: "Who was Laurence Olivier?"  In case you didn't already know, he is widely acknowledged as being one of the greatest actors of all time...although, I'm sure to my own loss, the only movies I remember seeing him in were Marathon Man and The Boys from Brazil.  Yet in only those two films his performance was dazzling, especially in the former.  Being a dweller of the year 2025 as I write this, I was convinced that Olivier had already passed away...but was a little surprised that he died sometime in 1989, some 36 years ago.  As each of us passes, riding the "now" moment, through our own individual lifespans, we can only perceive the subjective reality of the years we remember being alive through our own experience and realities, depending on others' records and memories of those times preceding our births.  I don't know how long I will remain on Earth, but I'm confident that 36 years after my passing I will in no way be weighing in on the passage of time in that as-yet unknown, but inevitable year.  For each of us individually, as far as our own subjected perception is concerned, there is only one time, and it is now.  The nearly universal biography statistic of lifespan...the birth year, a hyphen, and the year of dying...is one of objective perception from outsiders.  Each of us can play a little at this and see ourselves as our birth years, a hyphen...and nothing, but never with that final year.  We belong to our lifespans, and that will always be real, as it has always been for every biological entity that has ever been.  The big mystery, which religion and philosophy tend to address, is what happens to that personally-experienced "now" at death.  If I say that I am defined for myself as being the "here and now", then not only does that mean that your "here" is by nature different from mine, but also that your "now" is different as well in spite of it seeming the same.  So my "now" doesn't depend on you or others or the so-called objective reality that trudges on ahead through time.  But enough of this metaphysical speculation, time to go get another coffee...

My June 2025 Running/Walking/Swimming Report

In June I continued working out with my running, walking and swimming, not reaching any milestones but rather letting my system and habits fill each day with meaningful activity.  Melissa and I didn't quite make it to our YMCA Pool as often as we did in May...she came down with a bad cold and the weather tended to be uncooperative later on during the afternoon/evening hours.  For the first three Saturdays in June I participated in the Depot Parkrun, running the first two and speed-walking the last.  I had planned to run the US Road Running event scheduled on the 28th at Westside Park, but upper respiratory issues...most likely simple post nasal drip...convinced me to instead sleep through it.  For mid-July we've planned a short cruise to the Bahamas and back, and on the other weekends in the month there will be race opportunities.  I've signed up for this coming Friday's three-mile Melon Run, starting and ending at Westside Park and organized by the Florida Track Club.  On the 5th will be another Depot Parkrun and the next morning interested folks will meet at West End Park to try out their new Parkrun course in an unofficial run...that second Gainesville Parkrun location starts its runs on the 12th.  On July 19th I plan, as stated, to be traveling, while on the 26th will be another US Road Running race at Westside.  I'm seriously entertaining the notion of focusing my running efforts on 5K and 10K races and speed-walking races of 15K, half-marathon and marathon length.  I'm also a little concerned that I've gained some twenty pounds since this time last year.  Sure, I've been doing more resistance training, which can put on some "muscle" weight.  But unfortunately a lot of the pounds I've recently been adding to the scale are due to diverging from my previously established eating pattern.  I need to address this matter before it gets out of hand...it certainly is interfering with my running and walking effectiveness. As for swimming, I have no interest in swimming fast or doing any timed races...which is good since I don't see any being offered anyway. What I do want is to develop a smooth freestyle form and the endurance to accomplish several pool-length laps per pool visit, nothing more...

My Song of the Month for June 2025

We're coming to the end of another month, so it's time for me to come out and announce my "Song of the Month" for June: Stuck in My Head by Arcade Fire. It's the final track on their newly released album Pink Elephant. When I first listened to Pink Elephant, I was full of excited anticipation for some for great Arcade Fire music...only to be greatly disappointed as track after track seemed weak and lame.  And then it came down to the very end, and wouldn't you know it, they came through with a big winner.  Singer/songwriter Win Butler gives a passionate performance with cutting lyrics and a robust, fast pace reminding me of the group's much earlier track Rebellion (Lies).  There are no other songs for June that, to me, come anywhere close to Stuck in My Head.  It's also, in my estimation, the "Song of 2025" so far.  Give it a listen and tell me what you think...

SONGS OF THE MONTH 2025

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 Fontaines DC

JANUARY Everyone Out by Diiv

Skipped Scheduled Race This Morning Due to Upper Respiratory Ailment

Today I skipped my scheduled 10K race at Westside (Albert Ray Massey) Park and instead slept in, suffering from some upper respiratory ailment that's either viral or allergenic in origin.  Yesterday, for the most part, I felt improved from the day before, going on a 4.1 mile speed-walk around the neighborhood.  My plan from last night was, should I feel up to it this morning, to likewise speed-walk the entire 6.2 mile race this morning.  But I was coughing too easily, although my energy level has always maintained a high level and I had no fever.  The rest of today I did some in-house exercising, and will then take it easy and see what Sunday brings me.  I like the habit of getting up early in the morning and running races on a weekly basis, and retirement has made this much easier since I'm no longer clocking out of work at 10 pm Friday nights.  So for now I'm just going to rest and recover...and enjoy life...

Podcaster's 8 Ways to Alleviate Stress and Anxiety

I usually check in on a daily basis whenever personal development podcaster Rob Dial posts a new episode on his Mindset Mentor show. Sometimes it's a bit wrenching to sit through a whole twenty-odd minutes when he's pondering aloud through the day's topic...maybe other listeners prefer those types of programs. My preference is when Dial picks his topic and then goes down a list of ways to effectively deal with it.  Today's show was like that, with Dial enumerating ways to handle stress and anxiety...he came up with eight:

1) Breathing exercises to lower blood pressure and alleviate stress

2) Focus on gratitude

3) Go for a walk

4) Write it all out, journaling

5) Get blood levels checked for possible imbalances

6) Watch ten minutes of comedy...laughter is a big stress-reducer

7) Ingest less caffeine...even better, eliminate it

8) Start listening to slower, more ambient music.  

I already do much of what Dial suggested...sometimes a different way from his specifications.  My breathing exercises diverge a bit from his, but he's right on target with most of his points. As for the blood testing, good luck with Medicare paying for that if you're like me.  I admire Rob Dial not only for his obvious sincerity in doing what he does for people's greater good: he promotes a healthy, positive outlook on living.  If there's any single one of the above eight suggestions he made that stands out in importance to me, it's #2: Be grateful.  I think too many of us, myself included, tend to look on the negative side of things instead of reflecting on the blessings we enjoy in our lives. Gratitude helps, especially in those areas we think are unduly stressful...

Feeling Better, Summer Pattern Weather Here

Feeling better today than yesterday...although not at 100%...I exercised more and was more generally active.  For the first time in a while, Melissa and I visited our nearby YMCA pool, where I practiced swimming.  We're well-entrenched here in northern Florida in the typical summer pattern weather for our area, with sunniness in the morning yielding to spotty periods of rain and thunder into the afternoon.  I'm wishing you and yours a happy summer...

Feeling a Rare Bit Under the Weather

Today was a rare occurrence: I felt under the weather, with a sore throat, headache, stiffness and a little weak.  My exercise was curtailed at a lower level and I took it easy at home, resting.  Yet no temperature to speak of, and life is good...

RIP, Bobby Sherman

Bobby Sherman was the young, brash-sounding singer I grew to avoid whenever he made one of his regular appearances on the mid-1960s rock and roll TV series Shindig!. No, I just didn't care for the dude although he most likely was doing his job well...forgive me, I was just 9-10 years old at the time and had no sense of musical sophistication.  That series didn't last long, and apparently neither did Sherman's fame...until his career was resurrected with him, as a teen idol, spawning a string of hit singles in the late sixties and early seventies.  His songs seemed to me a bit weak, but at least I didn't have to watch him perform them.  Then, in the spring of 1970 my entire perception of Bobby Sherman drastically changed for the better when I heard his new singles release Hey Mister Sun.  I was thirteen, and closing out my eighth grade year in junior high school, thoroughly depressed and beaten down by life.  But the radio...specifically Miami AM station WINZ on 940 khz...often played Sherman's minor hit, and it stuck with me, lifting my spirits in the midst of a difficult time.  After that I was on board with good ol' Bobby...the next year his song The Drum was another enjoyable, upbeat tune.  I'm mentioning him today because he just died of kidney cancer at the age of 81, and apparently after his musical career decided to devote his efforts in Los Angeles to promoting emergency medical care.  I think I'd like to check out some of those very old (sixty years ago) performances on Shindig! he did and see if...just maybe...my level of musical sophistication hasn't grown enough to at least appreciate his efforts way back then.  God bless you, Bobby Sherman...

About the US Raid on Iranian Nuclear Facilities

The news has just been announced yesterday evening that American forces bombed three Iranian nuclear facilities with deep-penetrating, powerful missiles, taking place early this morning Iran time. Trump used some misdirection, feigning that he would wait a few days...up to two weeks is what I think he said...before deciding whether to use the American military to aid Israel in their mutual bombing exchange with Iran.  According to Trump...who is unfortunately prone to extreme exaggeration with his rhetoric...the facilities were destroyed.  It also looks like all American planes and personnel safely returned from their "outing".  Now it remains to be seen how the Iranians will respond...and you know they will, most likely through terrorism directed at civilians or military personnel. I don't agree with a lot of the Democrats who say that as president, Trump had to consult with Congress in advance...Clinton invading Haiti and bombing Afghanistan, and Obama disposing of Osama bin Laden would render that argument to be selectively partisan.  The problems I have with Trump's decision are that (1) his own Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, had concluded that Iran was far from being able to develop nuclear weaponry, and (2) I think our president, in making the decision to attack, was doing the bidding of another foreign leader, that is, of Israel's prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. And I prefer that our national leaders act according to our own national interests over those of others, even our own allies. In this I find myself in an uncomfortable, rare agreement with far-right Republican representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, who quickly criticized Trump's raid on behalf of his Middle East ally and its leader...

Speed-Walked the Depot Park 5K This Morning

On this hot and humid first full day into the official summer season, I once again moseyed on down to Depot Park, a few blocks south of downtown Gainesville, to participate in their weekly Saturday morning Parkrun 5K.  The temperature was a warm 73 at the 7:30 race time with muggy conditions...although my insane phone app had the humidity only at 55%: no way! I had already decided a while back that I would...conditions permitting...devote one Parkrun per month to doing a speed-walk, and today that's what I did.  I've written before that I seem to have hit a wall regarding how fast I can walk.  My thinking is that were I to fully adopt the race-walking guidelines and commit them to habit, then I could once again start walking for personal bests.  But so far my race-walking form has never been evaluated by an expert and I'm guessing that I have some work to do in that regard.  So when the director started today's run/walk, I shot out of there...walking at (my) top speed.  Which, it turns out, was slower than last month's Parkrun walk...I finished at 41:05, more than a minute slower than May's time and considerably slower than my personal best 5K walk (38:19).  The field this morning was crowded, both with runners, walkers...and runners who were forced to go into walking mode after a lap or two.  I admire all these good people...in spite of our different personal reasons for doing Parkruns, we're still in a sense kindred spirits for getting up early in the morning and doing this thing.  For the whole race, a little boy who may just grow up into a track star, was serving as a Parkrun Walker volunteer and easily kept pace with me. In the final lap he casually walked on ahead...he seemed to have the race-walking form right!  I have a lot in my life to be grateful for, and being in a predicament about increasing my race-walking speed at my age with two recent major surgeries is indeed a blessed level to be concerned about.  Next week I'm signed up to run at Albert Ray Massey (Westside) Park in yet another 10K race organized by US Road Running.  Wonder what the weather will be like then. Click HERE to view today's posted results...