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Just checking in. Busy, busy, busy. Nothing posted for over six weeks now and nobody seems to have noticed...

Marilyn Monroe spotted at church

Our church building is almost 100 years old. But obviously the most fascinating thing about this wonderful old building is the floor vents. Imagine the joy of standing in church singing a hymn with the congregation, and looking over to find Marilyn Jr. bending over at the waist with her dress hiked up over her head and the air from the vent blowing up her pull up. Of course, by the time I got the camera out, she had moved to a more modest pose.

I hope we get to come back next week...

Random song lyric of the day

I've been trying to help my brother through some tough times for quite some time now. Unfortunately, he will never read this blog because he doesn't know what a blog is, how to use a computer, etc. A long time ago, he stepped off the merry go round while the world kept spinning on without him. Most people don't understand him, and I don't pretend to understand him all the time either, which is a true challenge when dealing with a troubled mind. But he always has been, and always will be, my brother. And I will be there to do whatever I can to help him for as long as I can.

With all due respect to him, this little known song hints at how someone like him could slip through the cracks, willingly or not, and how others can't, or won't, understand that the reason or cause runs much deeper than appears.

Every time I'm on the street
People laugh and point at me
They talk about my length of hair
And the out of date clothes I wear

They say I look like the living dead
They say I can't have much in my head
They say my songs are much too slow
But they don't know the things I know

I know I don't belong
And there's nothing I can do
I was born too late
And I'll never be like you

In my life things never change
To everybody I seem strange
But in my world now something's died
So I just stare with these insane eyes

I know I don't belong
And there's nothing I can do
I was born too late
And I'll never be like you

Born Too Late - Saint Vitus (1986)

Not so random song lyric of the day

Lyrics only my beautiful wife will remember and relate to from back when we first met. Happy Birthday Honey!

I could be your lover
Chained under the water
Under the water

I could be standing on a ladder
To make it easier
To make it easier

I could be your lover
Chained under the water
Under the water

I could be swimming out to save you
No one ever saves you
To make it easier

Merril Bainbridge-Under The Water (1996 US release)

Okay, so it's actually a song about a lover who drowns. But the lyrics were really goofy, as is the song, and they played it constantly on the radio where we worked when we first met. So every time it came on, we giggled at each other as we still do every time it comes up on the iPod or the rare times it still pops up on the radio. You should check it out if you've never heard it. The lyrics will make you go "Huh?!" Why is someone chained under the water? And will standing on a ladder really make it easier?

Are you Sirius?!

So our new car came equipped with factory-installed Sirius satellite radio. I love it so much, I decided to install it in our other car. The problem is that our other car is four years old, so it didn't come with it factory-installed. And it's a Volkswagen. A Beetle. But I figured what the hell. The car has been long-since paid for, so it doesn't matter if I destroy it. And I've lost some weight recently, so I figure I have a better chance at actually getting this done without getting pinned in the vehicle and having the fire department come out to extract me with the jaws of life.

So I gathered up all of the tools I would need to do the job: Satellite receiver. Check. Power cords. Check. Antenna with 100' of cable attached to it. Check. Mounting hardware. Check. Screwdriver (Torx of course since it's a VW.) Check. Shoe horn. Check. Five gallon bucket of Vaseline. Check. Yoga mat. Check. Loose pants for easily exposing butt crack to neighbors. Check. Short temper. Check. Instructions. HaHaHaHa...right...whatever...

Back in the day, I was a pro at car stereo installation. I was always putting in new cassette decks, speakers (The New Jensen Coaxial!) and big 'ole metal mast antennae. But cars have changed in the last 25 years...So imagine my joy when the Sirius antenna needs to be mounted over the hatchback in the rear of the vehicle, and I get to run the antenna wire all the way from hatchback to radio in dash. I discovered that body panels actually fit pretty tight in these cars. Carpet does not like to be moved. And the Germans are pretty good at designing cars with very little room for extra anything under the dash, not even an extra wire or two. If I ever have a water landing, this damn thing better float because it's pretty damn air tight all around.

But believe it or not, I actually managed to get the darn thing installed without anyone losing a limb or the car being driven over a cliff. It looks like a professional install job, and it sure sounds good. If you don't have satellite radio, I strongly suggest you check it out. Especially if you're like me, and you have a favorite decade or two, and you hate commercials. Now I can drive down the road in my VW listening to the 70's channel and flash back whenever I want. Now where did I put my bell bottoms..?

Random song lyric of the day

80's flashback time courtesy of Sammy Hagar. Believe it or not, I have seen this movie dozens and dozens of times, but have never sat down to watch it from start to finish in one sitting.

I got this strange fascination
For this chick down the hall
Reliable information, yeah
Says she ain't givin' up the ball
But Saturday night, I'll be checkin' it out
From the back of my van...
Fast times at Ridgemont High
Havin' a ball
Fast times at Ridgemont High
Writing on the wall

Sammy Hagar - Fast Times At Ridgemont High
From the soundtrack to the 1982 movie of the same name.
Sean Penn, Nicolas Cage, Forest Whitaker, Phoebe Cates, your favorite martian Ray Walston...You know you want to add it to your Netflix que...

Random song lyric of the day

It's Labor Day weekend, so here are some retro 80's lyrics to get the party started. Who remembers this gem of a one hit wonder from 1982?

Let's have a knock down, drag out rock 'n' roll party in the streets
Get all the boys together, have 'em tell everybody that they meet
Friday night at midnight, we're all gonna get what we need
Let's have a knock down, drag out rock 'n' roll party in the streets

Axe - Rock 'n' Roll Party In The Streets