"Black Lizard / Vintage Crime #15 for 2024...

"The White Lioness" by Henning Mankell in 1993, the 3rd in his acclaimed Wallander series.

Swedish:  Den vita lejoninnan

The English translation by Laurie Thompson was published in 1998.

Julian Cope's "The Modern Antiquarian".

I had a tender right Achilles Tendon after Tuesday's run, so I have taken it cautiously.  

Today, I tested it out with a very easy three-miles with alternating walk breaks at Bear Hole.  

Everything went well. 

Visit with my Mom in Great Barrington early...  spent a half-hour walking the outdoor path around the facility in the bright sun and fresh air.  An excellent visit including donuts from Mrs. Murphy's.

Also, on this day in 2006, I completed a Metacomet Marathon with Tippi.

By 2005, most of my running turned toward exploring and mapping routes through the forest of Western Massachusetts and North Central Connecticut, with an emphasis on picking out ways to connect big tracks of land, and turn them into runs of marathon length.

This run began in Sunrise Park, Suffeld, Connecticut and flowed south through Penwood State Forest in Bloomfield and Simsbury, Connecticut.  

We spent 6:27:00 completing a little over 28-miles or so.  

This was my 31st marathon completed, and Tippi's 7th. 

Notes:  A great day;  started out 50 degrees at the 9:45 A.M. start time.  I believe it reached 70 degrees during the day, with most of it in the mid to upper 60’s.  Sunny and blue sky entire time, with a bit of a nice breeze every once and a while.

Tippi taking a look back off a ledge.

 

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....

I present my favorite Jazz albums of 1966...  

but Jazz releases are difficult to assign a year, as many were recorded and not released for many years, or even decades.  So, my yearly designations for these may not be accurate, but I'll live with it.

Jazz Albums released 1966:

1. John Coltrane Meditations

2. Albert Ayler Live in Greenwich Village – 

3. Joseph Jarman Song For

4. Wayne Shorter Speak No Evil 

5. Joe Henderson Mode for Joe 

6. Larry Young Of Love And Peace

7. Roscoe Mitchell Sound

8. Sonny Simmons Staying on the Watch

9. Pharoah Sanders Tauhid

10. John Coltrane Ascension

Jazz Honorable Mentions, 1966:

11. Cecil Taylor Unit Structures

12. Don Cherry Where Is Brooklyn? – 

13. Sam Rivers A New Conception

14. Henry Grimes The Call

15. Don Cherry Symphony For Improvisers

Short morning at work, followed by a drive to Great Barrington to visit my Mom at the Fairview Commons Rehabilitation Center.

We enjoyed our time together, especially a pair of fifteen minute walks through the facility.

"Non" Black Lizard / Vintage Crime #14 for 2024...

"A Fine Dark Line" written by Joe R. Lansdale, first published in 2002.

 Cowles Park after work, 3-miles in 33 minutes.

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 favorite "Rock" albums of 1966...

Albums released 1966

1. The 13th Floor Elevators The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators

2. Love Love

3. Buffalo Springfield Buffalo Springfield

4. Simon & Garfunkel Sounds of Silence

5. The Fugs         The Fugs

6. The Mothers of Invention Freak Out!

7. The Seeds The Seeds

8. The Seeds A Web of Sound

9. The Incredible String Band The Incredible String Band

10. Jefferson Airplane Jefferson Airplane Takes Off

Honorable Mentions (11 thru 20)

11. Them Them Again

12. Love Da Capo

13. Cream Fresh Cream

14. Bert Jansch Jack Orion

15. Simon & Garfunkel Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme

16. Bob Dylan Blonde on Blonde

17. The Yardbirds Roger the Engineer (aka Over Under Sideways Down)

18. The Byrds Fifth Dimension

19. Wilson Pickett The Exciting Wilson Pickett

20. The Beatles Revolver

Honorable Mentions (21 thru 30)

21. The Misunderstood The Lost Acetates 1965–1966

22. The Creation The Creation

23. The Who         A Quick One

24. The Kinks Face to Face

25. Donovan         Sunshine Superman

26. Blues Magoos Psychedelic Lollipops

27. West Coast Pop Art Exp Band Volume One

28. Fred Neil         Fred Neil

29. The Paul Butterfield Blues Band East-West

30. The Animals Animalization

Honorable Mentions (31 thru 40)

31. Small Faces Small Faces

32. The Troggs From Nowhere

33. The Rolling Stones Aftermath

34. Richard Fariña and Mimi Fariña Reflections in a Crystal Wind

35. The Deep Psychedelic Moods

36. Blues Project Projections

37. The Sonics Boom

38. The Beach Boys Pet Sounds

39. Gordon Lightfoot Lightfoot!

40. The Mamas & the Papas If You Can Believe Your Eyes and Ears

Honorable Mentions (41 thru 50)

41. John Fahey Great San Bernardino Birthday Party & Other Ex…

42. Roy Harper Sophisticated Beggar

43. Tim Buckley Tim Buckley

44. Tim Hardin Tim Hardin 1

45. The Young Rascals The Young Rascals

46. The Animals Animalisms

47. Blues Project Live at the Cafe Au Go Go

48. Bo Diddley The Originator

49. The Beau Brummels Beau Brummels '66

50. The Mamas & the Papas The Mamas & the Papas

Jazz Albums released 1966 (coming soon)

Took a 6-mile run between Bear Hole and Ashley Reservoir's in the morning, prior to driving back to BMC to visit my Mom in the hospital.  

Today had my mother much closer to her "normal" compared to yesterday.

Drove out to BMC Hospital to visit my Mom early morning to early afternoon.

Stopped at Berkshire Snow Basin in Cummington on the way home to climb Bryant Mountain to the FAA Tower on top.  3-miles round trip.

Run after work at Cowles, later in the afternoon.

Completed 6.1-miles at 5.1 mph pace.  1:12:00 more or less.

Dickie Betts passed today at age 80.

Allman Brothers Guitarist / Vocalist Dickie Betts passed away today.  I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that the "Live at the Fillmore East" album from 1971 by the Allman's must be some of the most inspired and impressive playing I have ever heard in my life.  

The twin guitars of Dickie Betts and Duane Allman have never, ever been matched in my opinion.  The rest of the band, Gregg Allman, Berry Oakley, Jai Johnny Johanson and Butch Trucks, were all one throughout this recording as well.  It was like a jazz group playing rock music, and really well.

Betts wrote many of the more well known Allman Brother's songs, including:

• Revival
• In Memory of Elizabeth Reed
• Les Brers in A Minor
• Blue Sky
• Ramblin Man
• Southbound
• Jessica

"High Points" along trails during March 2024... 

Still Trying...

• North Drake Mountain, Granville/Southwick, MA
• Crow Hill, Stafford, CT
• Peaked Mountain, Monson, MA
• Peaked - Copper Mountain, East Granby, CT
• West Suffield Mountain, Metacomet (NET) Trail, West Suffield, CT
• East Sweetman Mountain, Granville, MA
• Holden Hill, Granville, MA
• Drake Mountain, Granville/Southwick, MA
• Chestnut Hill, Granville/Tolland, MA

"Non" Black Lizard / Vintage Crime #13 for 2024...

"Header" written by Edward Lee, first published in 1995.  Truly, one of a kind...

From the Marathon Archives...

100th Boston Marathon

April 15th, 1996 - Boston, Massachusetts

I was fortunate to run the 100th Boston Marathon today. 

It was my 10th marathon completed, in a time of 3:24:14.

Mile Markers as follow:

•   5.0 -Miles -    45:05
• 10.0 -Miles - 1:23:25
• 15.0 -Miles - 2:02:28
• 20.0 -Miles - 2:42:59
• 25.0 -Miles - 3:22:35
• 26.2 -Miles - 3:32:15

Home from our Western Caribbean Adventure....  a day to unpack and hopefully rest.

Took a run at Cowles Park between rain drops, 7.6-miles.

 Arrive back in Fort Lauderdale (Port Everglades), Florida Cruise Port.

With some time before our flight back to Connecticut, we have a Land and Sea Excursion planned for the morning into early afternoon hours.

We took a bus tour and brief walk through the city, and then a 90-minute river boat tour on the New River (I believe).

From there, it was to the airport and back to CT by midnight. 

Full day at Sea, on our way back to Fort Lauderdale. 

Today's port is Cozumel, which is Mexico’s largest island.

We have an excursion planned labeled Secret River and Playa del Carmen.

Today's Port in Costa Maya, located 100 miles south of Playa del Carmen was cancelled due to high seas and incredible winds.

Our Excursion to Chacchoben, a Mayan ruin that dates back to 350 AD, didn't happen, but we had a wonderful time aboard the ship anyhow.

Port in Belize City, Belize.

Excursion to Xunantunich.

This is a large expanse of Mayan ruins where we experienced temples, palaces and six plazas.

Xunantunich is an Ancient Maya archaeological site in western Belize, about 70 miles west of Belize City, in the Cayo District. Xunantunich is located atop a ridge above the Mopan River, well within sight of the Guatemala border – which is 0.6 miles to the west. It served as a Maya civic ceremonial centre to the Belize Valley region in the Late and Terminal Classic periods. At that time, when the region was at its peak, nearly 200,000 people lived in the Belize Valley.

Xunantunich's name means "Maiden of the Rock" in the Maya languages Mopan and Yucatec, combining "Xunaan" (noble lady) and "Tuunich" (stone for sculpture). The "Stone Woman" refers to the ghost of a woman claimed by several people to inhabit the site, beginning in 1892. She is said to be dressed completely in white with fire-red glowing eyes. She generally appears in front of "El Castillo", ascends the stone stairs, and disappears into a stone wall. Like many names given to Maya archaeological sites, "Xunantunich" is a modern name; the ancient name is unknown.