Having been born in 1962, and liking and listening to music from the early sixties onward, I thought it might be fun to attempt a listing of my favorite albums each year since birth.

The initial post for this series of ideas began on December 26th, 2023.  You can look it up....

This time, I present my "Top Albums released in 1969, #51 through #60" 

... from that incredible Year in Music 1969!

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51 Fairpoint Convention            What We Did on Our Holidays

52 Status Quo                            Spare Parts

53 Melanie                                    Affectionately, Melanie

54 Moby Grape                            Truly Fine Citizen

55 Tim Buckley                            Blue Afternoon

56 The Beatles                           Abbey Road

57 The Bob Seger System           Noah

58 Doors                                   The Soft Parade

59 Elton John                           Empty Sky

60 Led Zeppelin                           Led Zeppelin

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Violent Femmes in Deerfield. 

Setlist:

• Prove My Love                         (Violent Femmes, 1983)            

• Promise                                    (Violent Femmes, 1983)     

• Breakin' Up                              (New Times, 1994)

• Country Death Song                (Hallowed Ground, 1984)           

• It's Gonna Rain                        (Hallowed Ground, 1984)         

• Blister in the Sun                     (Violent Femmes, 1983)              

• Kiss Off                                    (Violent Femmes, 1983) 

• Please Do Not Go                    (Violent Femmes, 1983)          

• Jesus Walking on the Water    (Hallowed Ground, 1984)                        

• Good Feeling                           (Violent Femmes, 1983)           

• Old Mother Reagan                 (The Blind Leading the Naked, 1986)      

• No Killing                                 (The Blind Leading the Naked, 1986)      

• I Held Her in My Arms             (The Blind Leading the Naked, 1986)                     

• Children of the Revolution       (The Blind Leading the Naked, 1986)   (T. Rex cover)

• Faith                                        (The Blind Leading the Naked, 1986)      

• Gimme the Car                       (Violent Femmes, 1983)        

• Black Girls                              (Hallowed Ground, 1984)   

• Add It Up                                (Violent Femmes, 1983) 

• American Music                      (Why Do Birds Sing?, 1991)   

• Gone Daddy Gone                 (Violent Femmes, 1983)                 

Bear Hole with K2, 3-Miles.

From the archives....

Hallockville Pond Marathon

August 11th, 2005 - Hawley, Massachusetts

Today I completed my 30th marathon.  

Locale was Dubuque State Forest and we named the event the "Hallockville Pond" Marathon.  

For company, I had Wuzzam being his norm good sport, and Tippi with her normal determination.  

Old Farmer Tom met us along the Notch Trail on bicycle, and enjoyed a few miles with us.

This was Tippi's 4th completed marathon.  Our time ended up at 5:21:16.

2.6-Miles at Bear Hole, right around 1 p.m. in the heat. 

It's been a while since we last watched the X-Files.

Originally, we watched the series live, as it was broadcasts, beginning in 1993.  Episodes were broadcast on Fridays at 9:00 pm Eastern Time for the series' first three seasons; the following six seasons aired on Sundays at 9:00 pm Eastern Time.  

This was must-see TV for us during these nine-years.

When JC was old enough, we revisited the series, watching on dvd. This would have begun somewhere about 2005, or slightly later by a year or two (at the most).

Since we completed that second run of viewing, X-Files has only really existed in our memories, with the exception of the two later seasons running January 24, 2016 to February 22, 2016 and January 3, 2018 to March 21, 2018.  These were Season's 10 and 11.

So, with some TV-Time available for the upcoming months, and nothing new really drawing us in, what better opportunity than revisiting old friends Scully, Mulder, Skinner, Cigarette Smoking Man, the Lone Gunman "Byers, Frohike, and Langly", Doggett and Reyes.

I will keep a log of episodes watched and progress, as we journey through over 200 episodes!  

August 3rd thru August 9th:

Overall / Season                    Title                                    Original Release Date                        

• Episode 1.18               Miracle Man                          March 18, 1994
• Episode 1.19               Shapes                           April 1, 1994
• Episode 1.20               Darkness Falls           April 15, 1994
• Episode 1.21               Tooms                           April 22, 1994
• Episode 1.22               Born Again                           April 29, 1994
• Episode 1.23               Roland                                   May 6, 1994
• Episode 1.24               The Erlenmeyer Flask           May 13, 1994
• Episode 2.01 (25)        Little Green Men                   September 16, 1994
• Episode 2.02 (26)        The Host                           September 23, 1994
• Episode 2.03 (27) Blood                                    September 30, 1994

Visit to Pop in Adams and Mom at Williamstown.

Continued with beginning hiking, again at Cowles, 1.8-miles. 

Warm day, 90's, but a nice 1.3-mile walk at Cowles Park. 

"High Points" along trails during November, 2025... 

• Laurel Hill - Wilcox Park, Bloomfield - Tarriffville, CT
• Sodom Mountain, Southwick, CT

Bands and Individual Artists completed discography.

Completed all albums by the following bands between January 2026 and June 30, 2026, with shortened discography exceptions noted:

• Aimee Mann & Til Tuesday

• Bardo Pond, 500 Mg, Hash Jar Tempo & Alumbrados

• Beverly

• Black Mountain

• Blondie

• Blue Orchids

• Blue Oyster Cult (through "Agents of Fortune", 1976)

• Butthole Surfers

• Crocodiles

• Crystal Stilts

• Captain Beefheart

• Canned Heat (through "Vintage", 1970)

• Clinic

• Comets on Fire

• Country Joe and the Fish

• Cramps

• The Damned (through "Anything", 1986)

• Darker My Love

• The Dead Boys

• Dead Meadow

• Dead Moon & Pierced Arrows

• Devo

• Donovan

• Echo and the Bunnymen

• The Fall

• Family

• Felt

• Galaxy 500

• Gang of Four

• Geese

• Graham Parker (through "Deepcut to Nowhere", 2001)

• Grand Funk

• Grant Hart

• House of All

• The Jam

• Jesus and Mary Chain

• Kustomized

• Led Zeppelin

• Lift to Experience

• Lorelle Meets the Obsolete

• Marine Girls

• John Martyn (through "Well Kept Secret", 1982)

• Dave Mason (through "Mariposa de Oro", 1978)

• Mazzy Star

• McCarthy

• Mink DeVille (Willy DeVille)

• Minor Threat

• Mission of Burma

• Moonrises

• Morgan Delt

• Motorhead (through "Orgasmatron", 1986)

• My Bloody Valentine

• Nova Mob

• The Only Ones & Peter Perritt (solo)

• The Pains of Being Pure at Heart

• The Paper Ornaments

• The Peoples Temple

• Pretenders

• Pretty Things

• Greg Sage

• The Saints (through "Nothing Is Straight in My House", 2005)

• Siouxie and the Banshees

• Six Organs of Admittance

• The Smiths

• The Stranglers (through "Feline", 1983)

• Sun City Girls

• Swell Maps

• Teardrop Explodes

• Thin Lizzy

• Doug Tuttle

• Velvet Underground

• Tom Waits

• Uriah Heep (through "High and Mighty", 1976)

• Van Cougar

• The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band

• The Wipers

• Wolf People

• Warren Zevon

ArchaeoEd Podcast

Get ready to embark on a time-traveling adventure with legendary archaeologist, Dr. Ed Barnhart!

Let's unearth the stories of the awe-inspiring civilizations of the Americas. 

These are the tales that only get a fleeting mention in western history books.

ArchaeoEd, S5E2 "El Dorado - Fact or Fantasy?"

Episode 5.2 - "El Dorado - Fact or Fantasy? S5 E2" - ArchaeoEd

When it comes to lost ancient cities that everyone wants to find, El Dorado runs a close 2nd to Atlantis.  Did it really exist?  Join Ed as he tries to unravel 500 years of stories and expedition accounts.

The Marathon Archive

Blast from the Past...

On this day in 1996 I completed my 12th marathon.  

My route took me along the Appalachian Trail, from Salisbury, Connecticut into Massachusetts.  

My turnaround point was at the summit of Mt. Everett.    

My time on the trail was roughly 6:27:53, which included a break for a lunch at Everett.

It's been a while since we last watched the X-Files.

Originally, we watched the series live, as it was broadcasts, beginning in 1993.  Episodes were broadcast on Fridays at 9:00 pm Eastern Time for the series' first three seasons; the following six seasons aired on Sundays at 9:00 pm Eastern Time.  

This was must-see TV for us during these nine-years.

When JC was old enough, we revisited the series, watching on dvd. This would have begun somewhere about 2005, or slightly later by a year or two (at the most).

Since we completed that second run of viewing, X-Files has only really existed in our memories, with the exception of the two later seasons running January 24, 2016 to February 22, 2016 and January 3, 2018 to March 21, 2018.  These were Season's 10 and 11.

So, with some TV-Time available for the upcoming months, and nothing new really drawing us in, what better opportunity than revisiting old friends Scully, Mulder, Skinner, Cigarette Smoking Man, the Lone Gunman "Byers, Frohike, and Langly", Doggett and Reyes.

I will keep a log of episodes watched and progress, as we journey through over 200 episodes!  

July 27th thru August 2nd:

Overall / Season                    Title                                    Original Release Date                        

• Episode 1.7                Ghost in the Machine            October 29, 1993
• Episode 1.8                 Ice                                        November 5, 1993
• Episode 1.9             Space                                   November 12, 1993
• Episode 1.10               Fallen Angel                         November 19, 1993
• Episode 1.11               Eve                                       December 10, 1993
• Episode 1.12             Fire                                       December 17, 1993
• Episode 1.13             Beyond the Sea                    January 7, 1994
• Episode 1.14             Gender Bender                     January 21 1994
• Episode 1.15             Lazarus                                 February 4, 1994
• Episode 1.16             Young at Heart                      February 11, 1994
• Episode 1.17             E.B.E.                                    February 18, 1994

Visit to see the Folks, and a stop at Balanced Rock State Park in Lanesboro on the drive home.

From our old friend Henry....

“A man’s ignorance sometimes is not only useful, but beautiful, while his knowledge, so called, is oftentimes worse than useless beside being ugly. Which is the best man to deal with, he who knows nothing about a subject, and what is extremely rare, knows that he knows nothing, — or he who really knows something about it, but thinks that he knows all?”                        

                                    ― Henry David Thoreau, quote from Walking