Yes, though the activity on my blog might suggest otherwise, I am still alive and kicking. I can't say that my time has totally been devoted to work, but even the social events I've been attending have been with friends I work with, so we manage to talk shop. Since this is a public blog, there are many topics I cannot simply blog about because I wouldn't want some people reading my true feelings about some issues. Not that lots of people are watching my blog, but it gets around more than I would imagine. Something happened this year that showed me I have to be circumspect when it comes to discussing certain issues. I guess I could set up a blog under a pen name, let my friends know about it, and then let it rip. Hmm. I'll have to think about that.

Anyway, I'm excited because Battlestar Galactica is back!! I watched the new episode this week that was broadcast Friday night. Wow!! Blew me away. I've also been watching the new show, JERICHO. I really like it so far. I've been fascinated by the survival scenario ever since I read ALAS, BABYLON by Pat Frank in 10th grade. I wonder what place I would find in the aftermath of nuclear war. It's not like I have a lot of practical skills that most people don't have (e.g. cooking). And when survival is the primary need, the ability to reason, analyze a poem, and recite Shakespeare isn't necessarily something that most people would prize. I guess I could sing to people. ;-)

If you haven't had a chance to watch the show, check it out. It airs at 7:00 Wednesday evenings on channel 9. Which is an odd time. A significant demographic for this type of show, set in small town Kansas, would seem to be a Heartland audience and Christians. Most of them are probably at church on Wednesday evenings at 7:00. Don't these network people understand their own audience?

But don't get me wrong. The show is much more than small town Kansas and Christian. It, so far, is a very balanced show. It isn't too smalltown, or sentimental, or Bible-belt thinking. It's about people, with flaws and strengths, secrets and lies, fear and love.

So, I am going home to have a tea party with my dear niece and then watch hours of SciFi.

Driving to work today, I heard the 70's song, "Seasons in the Sun." It got me thinking of all the songs in the seventies that were just darned depressing. Terminally depressing. Sure, there were anti-war songs like:
"Billy Don't Be A Hero" (1974) by Paper Lace

She said
Billy, don't be a hero, don't be a fool with your life
Billy, don't be a hero, come back and make me your wife
And as he started to go she said, Billy, keep your head low
Billy, don't be a hero, come back to me

I heard his fiancee got a letter
That told how Billy died that day
The letter said that he was a hero
She should be proud he died that way
I heard she threw that letter away ...

Or "One Tin Soldier" by Coven (Joan Baez also released the song).

But I'm talking about songs that go beyond social commentary or even "you broke my heart and I want to die" ballads. These are songs about real dying or suicidal thoughts. I have a lovely selection for you:

“Alone Again, Naturally” (1972)by Gilbert O’Sullivan

In a little while from now
If I’m not feeling any less sour
I promise myself to treat myself
And visit a nearby tower
And climbing to the top will throw myself off
In an effort to make it clear to who
Ever what it’s like when you’re shattered
Left standing in the lurch at a church
Where people saying "My God, that’s tough
She's stood him up
No point in us remaining
We may as well go home"
As I did on my own
Alone again, naturally

"Shannon" by Henry Gross (1976)(about a dead dog)

Shannon is gone I heard
She's drifting out to sea
She always loved to swim away
Maybe she'll find an island
With a shaded tree
Just like the one in our backyard

Terry Jacks (1974)

Goodbye Michelle it's hard to die
When all the birds are singing in the sky
Now that the spring is in the air
With the flowers everywhere
I wish that we could both be there

We had joy we had fun
We had seasons in the sun
But the stars we could reach
Were just starfish on the beach

SHEESH! And think of all the songs I didn't list: "Lonely Boy" and "Wildfire" to name a couple.

Don't get me wrong: I will caterwaul to "Alone Again, Naturally" and "Wildfire" with the best of them. But what was going on to produce such dismal pop and then what happened that led to the short reign of Disco just after? Sure, times were trying with the war and social protest, but that's happening today and we don't hear the same level of angst in any pop-music genre that I'm aware of.

"She ran calling W-i-i-i-l-l-d-f-i-r-e!"