Too much retro?

As a boomer, I went through a period of quasi-burn out on the music, cars and other icons of the 60s and 70s. Hearing great songs like Gimme Some Lovin' used for retirement planning commercials was quite depressing, so I attempted to escape. Then a wise friend told me not to abandon the past but to embrace it. So I changed my attitude and it has been for the better.

Now Mrs. Bear and I drive a 2006 Volkswagen New Beetle (Bug) in 1967 beige, listen to 60s-era music on XM Channel 6, and - as made clear by this site - I've also returned to listening to 70s music in heavy rotation.

Anyway, a major magazine's current issue makes the point that there's been a difference - at least in car design - between true retro and overly cute. Fortunately, they cite the VW New Beetle (whew!) and the Ford Mustang as current examples of retro truly inspired by the original 60s cars. Then they provide some bad examples, the chief one pictured here. This they felt was "retro cute," a car designed to imititate the new retros rather than the original Ford Thunderbird. Agreed. To my eyes, this car looked nothing like the old Bird.

This car is no longer around because, of course, it did not sell well. Was it the design or the engineering? It could have been either, as the New Bird was said to suffer from extreme cowl shake, meaning the car felt like it was falling apart when you drove it over a railroad track. Details, details...

Sacramento's Caron Vikre is a Musical Surprise

This review was written by Ken Volonte. The CD "Caron Vikre" was recorded in 1991.

A few weeks ago, I received a CD by Caron Vikre and I've been listening to it off and on ever since. This is a beautiful dark album made by a woman with secrets to explore. Her music is oddly familiar to my ears. It is distinctly Nordic in sensibility with dark swirling lyrics and surprising musical twists and turns.

How dark is Ms. Vikre's world? There is alcoholism here, and veiled references to suicide. There is love somewhere but nowhere found.

All of this angst is set against music that is, by turns cold and eerily funny. I can hear Stevie Nicks, the Beatles, and Neil Young with Cheryl Wheeler thrown in for good measure.

This music doesn't fit neatly into a category. It is, at once, rock, country, techno and torch song. I'm drawn to two songs in particular. Goodnight Kiss with its harmonies and instrumentation is glorious. Midnight in the Woods is every folk tale you've ever heard. This is fear, yet it skips along as though nothing is wrong. But time is inexorable and relentless and it only comes right with the final harmonic cord that lets you know everything's fine.

Caron Vikre's world is full of dangers and unresolved situations. Her music haunts me, but I have to put the CD aside, 'cause I don't want to live in a place where it snows all year round.

Beautiful cats...

The photographs of these two beautiful cats - Sophie the almost all-white cat and Joey the Sylvester cat - come from http://lisafavaro.blogspot.com .

Character & contentment

Character develops itself in the stream of life. - Goethe

What he had not learned, however, was this: to find contentment in himself and his own life. - Herman Hesse

Contentment is the only real wealth. - Alfred Nobel

Anxiously awaiting & helplessly hoping...

We're anxiously awaiting the release of the new Dido album, Safe Trip Home, and helplessly hoping that it will be at least half as good as her 2003 Arista release, Life for Rent. Rent featured - among its eleven lower case listed tracks - white flag, life for rent, mary's in india, don't leave home and who makes you feel.

The American release date for Safe Trip Home is Tuesday, November 18th. We plan on posting a review in the near future on this site.

Obstacles

For a long time it had seemed to me that life was about to begin... But there was always some obstacle in the way, something to be gotten through first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, a debt to be paid. At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life. - Alfred Souza

If you can find a path with no obstacles, it probably doesn't lead anywhere. - Frank A. Clark

Direction

You want to know how to make God laugh? Tell Him your plans. - Anonymous

Great things are not done by impulse, but by a series of small things brought together. - Vincent van Gogh

Life is work and work is life. - Florencio Pascua

Work hard. Be dedicated. That's all. - Charles Foster

If you are doing something with your life that you would do for nothing, then you are on your way to salvation. - George Sheehan