RenoVous

 10 years, Pa. A fan of Peanuts - and music, of course. I'm off today with Seester, to hit the record store and pick what we think he might have added to his own collection. I need to go through the vinyls though.  I know some of what he has, and things I expect that he has, but they're not in alphabetical order like the CDs are. The shelves may be static, but we keep his hobby alive. ❤️ I'll be back tomorrow before the Thanksgiving holiday. Share a song or two.

  Veteran's Memorial Wall in Henderson, NV. This holiday originated as Armistice Day, commemorating the end of World War I - "the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month," 1918. In 1954, it was changed to Veteran's Day to honor all those who have served. This was following the end of the Korean War, which my grandfathers fought in - one as Navy and one in the Air Force. The Navy was founded October 13, 1775 when the Continental Congress purchased two armed ships during the Revolution. The Air Force was originally part of the US Signal Corps.  In 1926, it became part of the US Army Corps, known as Army Air Forces during World War II.  In 1947, it was designated its own department.

  Jane Goodall passed away yesterday at the age of 91. In October 1960 she was in Tanzania's Gombe National Park observing chimpanzees. In fact, she witnessed them using tools and making tools - behaviors previously thought to be exclusive to humans. Goodall revolutionized the study of chimpanzees and forced science to reshape its views, thus forcing us to change the way we see animals. She remained in Gombe, more or less, until 1975.  Her assignment had come from paleoanthropologist Dr. Louis Leakey.  He wanted to better understand how humans' Stone Age ancestors may have behaved.  Goodall was not formally trained, had no college degree, but Leakey believed this would lead to more open-minded research, as she wasn't biased by traditional scientific wisdom. A global advocate for the environment, conservation, and peace - she spent the majority of her life dedicated to helping all wild animals. Thank you, Jane.

The Rainbow Bridge is part of a beautiful meadow where our beloved pets wait for us after they've passed away.  The original story was written in 1959 by Edna Clyne-Rekhy of Scotland, following the death of her dog, Major.  It was a loosely referenced thing until 1994, when "Dear Abby" printed the piece in full. Next month will be a year since our Chewber passed. One of my favorite forever movies is All Dogs Go to Heaven.

  Ozzy Osbourne, Prince of Darkness, died yesterday at age 76. In 2020, he revealed a diagnosis of Parkinson's disease, and he had his farewell concert just earlier this month.  You could tell he was struggling then, but he still wanted to give it his all. And so we salute a heavy metal hero. In 1968, the band that would become Black Sabbath got together, and in 1970 they released their debut. Their only top 10 single in the UK reached #4. In 1980, he went solo. 1991.

I came across an article this morning about a song. Yo-Yo Ma, Quinn Christopherson, and Pattie Gonia want you to remember Exit Glacier. I pulled the photo from Wikipedia, which was taken in 2004.  "And now it's nothing," says Gonia.  "Now it's the rocks underneath." Christopherson is an Indigenous Alaskan of Iñupiaq and Ahtna descent. "We're not going to give up on nature.  We're not going to give up on each other." From NPR: "Ma's cello in the song even evokes the weeping glacier." Nate Sloan, University of Southern California musicologist: "He's playing these ethereal harmonies which are beautiful and also a little haunting.  And that tension to me captures something about the subject of this song, which is preserving this beautiful planet we live on while acknowledging how delicate and fragile it is and how quickly it's being threatened." NPR

  The Queen of Rock n' Roll passed away yesterday at the age of 82. Simply. Share your favorites!!

  I was very much an MTV kid, so my first bits of news came from Kurt Loder.  In fact, I'm nearly positive he's who I heard about the OJ car chase from. This isn't much of a story since MTV has been dying for years and isn't even music anymore, but Paramount has closed the doors on the news portion. What this really comes down to is this song being stuck in my head since I saw the headline. Recognize the intro?  Plus it's a banger.

  Memory is a process of encoding, storing, and retrieving information. Long-term: Episodic memories are the details of past events you have experienced. Semantic memory comprises your knowledge about the world. Procedural memory allows you to learn and execute tasks. Short-term: Working memory is what holds a limited amount of information for immediate mental use.   Sensory memory is our perceptions of the world, and will sometimes persist in long-term memory. Prospective memory is to recall an intention to do something, a more future-oriented memory. The hippocampus and other parts of the medial temporal lobe are critical for many forms of memory, and the amygdala integrates emotional responses into memory. A memory engram is the set of changes in the brain, tracing the synapse connections as they are formed and strengthened. Research has shown that our first memories begin in the womb, but we're unable to recall them.  Most people tend to remember things from abou...

 I decided to post this in honor of one of my oldest, bestest friends. I'm not here to politic or explain, just accept. I know my friend well enough that I understood when he called to tell me, and I'll never forget the moment I really saw HIM. Watching him grow and find a sense of freedom since is all the reason I need to believe it was the right choice for him, his truth. Yesterday, the Human Rights Campaign marked 10 years of tracking violence against transgenders. November 20 is Transgender Day of Remembrance.  This year, 32 lives have been lost, although the number of deaths are likely under-reported. GLAAD

  On this day in 1986, an experiment on Reactor Number 4 led to a power surge, causing core explosions and radiation leakage at the Chernobyl Nuclear Plant in Pripyat, Ukraine. 32 people died and dozens more suffered radiation burns.  Many more died from the attempted cleanup, and approximately 5,000 people developed cancer from the airborne radiation exposure. Being under Soviet rule at the time, the incident wasn't reported until Swedish authorities detected the fallout at the Forsmark plant on April 28. Of course, Chernobyl was of concern again recently as Russia waged war on Ukraine, capturing the plant and digging trenches.  Ukrainian authorities say soldiers were very likely exposed to radiation, especially since levels were reported to be heightened following the activity. The director of the International Atomic Energy Agency released a statement today condemning Putin's reckless actions, but the good news is that radiation levels have returned to normal, or at le...

  André Leon Talley passed away yesterday at the age of 73. His career in fashion began in 1974, with an unpaid apprenticeship to Diana Vreeland at the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute.  She was so impressed with his work that she got him a job with Andy Warhol's Interview  magazine. He landed at Vogue  as fashion news director in 1983, and by 1988 he was named Creative Director, the first African American male to be so.  He was often the only black person in the front row at fashion shows.  He pushed designers to have more black models in their shows, and he was the first to write about black designers, such as LaQuan Smith. 1989, with Naomi Campbell With Anna Wintour, 1988 I just love this getup from 1980. 1997, with Cher 2003, with Renee Zellweger In 2007, he was named one of the 50 Most Powerful Gay Men and Women in America. In 2008, he advised Michelle Obama on fashion, introducing her to designer, Jason Wu. In 2010, he joined the judging...

 A favorite vocalist of mine, who passed away on this day in 2017. Growing up in the 90's, I found Soundgarden at an early age, on the radio and MTV.  I specifically remember this video. Superunknown was bigger on the radio, in large part to Spoonman and Black Hole Sun.  Songs I do love, but you hear a lot still to this day.  My favorite from the album: Songs from this album always make me *feel* the summer 1996. He went solo for a bit and I love this song. And then came Audioslave, with Chris leading the band that used to be Rage Against the Machine.  Of course I loved the very idea, and the album became very therapeutic for me during a rough time. And a brilliant mash up. #NoOneSingsLikeYouAnymore ❤️ 

  Remembrance Day in the UK was November 8. Tomorrow, in the US, is Veteran's Day. Today is Forget-Me-Not Day, meant to remember those injured in battle. Judge Robert S. Marx was a decorated World War I soldier who started selling the flowers in order to raise money for the disabled veterans, and to remind people of the sacrifices these soldiers had made.  He founded the Disabled American Veterans Foundation in 1920. Forget-Me-Nots are also used to promote Alzheimer's Awareness.  The top photo was taken at a Walk to End Alzheimer's event we participated in, raising money for care, support, and research. Don't forget. Days of the Year Alzheimer's Association

 Eddie Van Halen passed away yesterday at the age of 65. I never got big into the band, but of course I've grown up with them, and I can remember listening at a young age.  I will always know the sound of his guitar... The band was founded in 1972 in Pasadena, CA.  Eddie and his brother Alex were born in Amsterdam, having moved to Pasadena in 1962.  When they first started playing together, Eddie was on drums and Alex was on guitar - but Alex would sneak onto his drum set so Eddie angrily said, "Fine, then I'll play your guitar!" and the roles were forever changed.  With their first band, Genesis, Eddie was going to sing, but they needed to rent a sound system.  David Lee Roth was willing, and to save money, they let him join the band.  Upon realizing there was already a band named Genesis, they changed to Mammoth, before finally settling on Van Halen. Rest in Power Rock in Peace

January 28, 1986 73 seconds after takeoff the space shuttle broke apart, with hundreds of people watching on the ground and millions watching from home.  The televised event was on delay, and all major networks cut away, so many viewing from home did not see the explosion - but NASA had arranged a satellite broadcast into many schools... Challenger continued moving upwards after the fuel tank collapsed, but without the boosters, aerodynamic forces began to pull the orbiter apart.  The crew cabin reached 65,000 feet before falling, and it is believed the crew died from oxygen deficiency with the loss of cabin pressure. Pieces hit the water 2 minutes and 40 seconds after the initial break. (left to right, front row first) Michael Smith, Francis Scobee, Ronald McNair, Ellison Onikuza, Sharon (Christa) McAuliffe, Gregory Jarvis, Judith Resnick. McAuliffe was a high school social studies teacher from New Hampshire who won a competition to join the crew...

While Martin Luther King Jr Day is officially observed on Monday the 20th this year, the 15th is his date of birth - 1929. Born in Atlanta to a Baptist minister, King obtained a doctorate degree in theology. Following the teachings of Mohandas Ghandi, King advocated peaceful protests and nonviolent resistance. He organized the Montgomery Bus Boycott in December 1955 following Rosa Parks' personal stand against giving up her seat for a white man.  Approximately 40,000 African Americans refused to ride, demanding courtesy and a first-come-first-serve seating policy.  Ultimately the system was desegregated. In 1963 he participated in the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom - the event ended with King's famous "I Have a Dream" speech. When the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed, King said it was nothing less than a "second emancipation."  Later that year, he became the youngest person to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. His p...

BIFFER MINISTRIES Doctrine:  That anyone who plays, enjoys, or understands music can enjoy everlasting life. Precepts:  1. Belief in Rock and Roll as the gospel signifying good news. 2. Belief in long hair as portrayed by Jesus Christ. 3. Belief in that the Beatles were the resurrected singers of the Psalms. 4. Belief in that everyday is a good day. 5. Belief in that Rock and Roll will never die. 6. Belief in that a musician who plays from the heart hears the music he plays, and he plays it with love. I wanted to share this religion that Pa started - he became ordained through the Universal Life Church and even officiated a few marriages as Reverend Biff. Yesterday was the 4th anniversary of his passing, and I felt it necessary to celebrate him on my own blog.  A friend commented about the thought of losing the people who molded you....and there is an emptiness.  So much of who I am is because of my dad - but with that, there's al...

On this anniversary of 9/11 I wanted to share some photos from our trip to New York City in 2013.  We always vacation this time of year because our anniversary is the 14th, so we came into the city only a couple days after people had gathered for the annual memorial. We came in through Jersey City. We visited the WTC site. We came across this walking from Battery Park.