Bands and Live Performances I've been a part of:
#8.
Primitives, Dong Show #1, Summer 1983.
We were asked after the fact if we ever "practiced".
The Duke said "No, but we talk about it quite a bit".
This was a no practice session. We were fueled by alcohol and youth.
We just didn't give a darn.
This was a Primitives before Aldo. He was in the audience and saw something in us, I guess.
Duke, K, TimB, Bruce, LA, Rollo and I. I imagine there may have been another or two, but memory of the occasion is fuzzy.
We played something like a slow "Kick Out the Jams" with K mumbling "Baby Baby Baby" over and over again. Bongos went flying into the audience, we got gonged.
Stopped off in Plainfield for a short run before visiting my folks.
Managed 3-miles, with one of the trails I had wanted to explore ending up dead-ending at a swampy pond or beaver pond.
I had a camera with me, and the stonewall network is very impressive within this area,
After the run, I stopped off at Plainfield Pond and took a dip to clean up. First open water "swim" of the year, and I can't remember if I had swam last year. I had taken a dip in the Ocean back in March.
Picked up some Chinese Food for the folks, had a great visit and drove home into some serious rain off and on.
2023 Unsupported "Non" Trail Race Unofficial Challenge #13
Granville Reservoir 10KM (6.2-Miler)
I thought I had until 2:00 p.m. until the rain hit, but I was wrong by thirty or so minutes and I got totally swamped.
The run itself went really well, I tried hard and managed 5 mph over the 6.2-miles.
It was a another opportunity to "field-check" all the trails I have cataloged and mapped in the Granville Reservoir Section around Drake Mountain.
Using my "Naming Conventions" I've used on my map I covered the following today:
On this day in 2007, Tippi and I finished the Notchview Marathon. We ran from Notchview Reservation in Windsor, Massachusetts into Dubuque State Forest in Hawley, then to Savoy Mountain State Forest in Savoy. We got crushed by a heavy rainstorm for the last 3-miles.
Suffield 5km Course #2 for 2023.
Very Hot, Humid and Sunny (~78-degrees @ 9:00 a.m.); 28:03..
Completed the 3.1-miles in 28:03, which considering the warmth of the day, I'll take.
1st loop in 13:46 and 2nd loop in 14:17.
Times for my Race Against Myself (plus official events) at this location:
A couple of Blast from the past, retelling from the Archives:
Curly's Marathon was held in Pittsfield State Forest on this day in 2008, and it was a beautiful day to run. I made the mistake of wearing old shoes rather than a new pair I had just purchased, and it was a very poor decision. The pain in my feet and lower legs was incredible for the last 6 or 8 miles, and I was lucky to finish in 5:54:36.
The Journey South Has Begun
During August, the monarch super generation will emerge and start their migratory journey south.
Monarch numbers reach their peak by fall migration. At no other time of year is the population as large as it is now. Monarchs produce four generations during the typical breeding season and the population grows with each new generation. By mid-month, the first members of the migratory generation will emerge in the north. These butterflies are the great-great-grandchildren of the monarchs that left overwintering sanctuaries along the coast of California in the United States and the Monarch Biosphere Reserve in central Mexico last spring. This generation has a long and challenging life ahead: they will migrate to their overwintering locations this fall, survive the winter, and return to their breeding territories in spring 2024.
We haven't had as many Monarchs this season as normal, but we did have a visitor today!
“If the building's still standing when we've finished then we've failed.”
―
xtraordinaire, who came to prominence in the 1990s after decades of obscurity, dies aged 80.
In the very early nineties, I was listening to an abundance of "Free Jazz". I came across a review of a musician that I was not familiar with (very few were at that time, evidently). The record being reviewed was "Repent" by Charles Gayle. It contained two pieces, the first being "Repent" at almost 24-minutes of un-interrupted genius. That was the short song. The lengthier composition was entitled "Jesus Christ and Scripture" clocking in at slightly over 50-minutes. I was sold before hearing a single note, and once I actually heard the record, I became a fan and quickly purchased everything I could find by Charles Gayle.
2023 Unsupported "Non" Trail Race Unofficial Challenge #12
Granville Reservoir 8 KM (5.0-Miler)
K2 joined me in Granville again.
I began thinking that a worthwhile goal for September through December would be to "field-check" all the trails I have cataloged and mapped in the Granville Reservoir Section around Drake Mountain.
Since I've named most of the obscure trails and paths I've explored, I will use that nomenclature.
Today, I rambled on the following:\
And, remembering a Musical Life....
Gary Wright, singer of Dream Weaver and Love is Alive, dies aged 80.
Like just about anyone who listened to FM Radio in the mid-70's, those two songs (Dream Weaver and Love is Alive) are etched into our collective mind's soundtrack.
I also really liked those Spooky Tooth albums, which group Gary Wright belonged to.
2023 Unsupported Trail Race Unofficial Challenge #11
Metacomet - New England Trial 10km (6.4-miles)
2023 Unsupported Trail Race Unofficial Challenge #10
McLean Reservation 4.5-miles
Hot and Sunny (~80-degrees); managed 52:50, running somewhat hard for the entire distance.
Averaged 5.2 mph pace.
I am looking forward to the rust coming off.
