We were blessed with a picture perfect autumnal weekend with lots of color and leaves.
The trees out by the treehouse were ablaze in yellow
Jakobi raked a pile of leaves and then jumped into them; a yearly tradition!
On Monday came the frost. We had several in a cold first half of September but until now October had been mild and warm.
Up Hobart Mt
On Sunday Jakobi was at Clara’s for the first time since Covid19 hit and Colleen and Ambiana were hiking somewhere with Sarah and Erika so I took advantage of the beautiful weather to hike up behind our land to the top of Hobart Mt which I am not so sure anymore IS Hobart Mt as there is a peak just behind it which just may be the real Hobart, Am going to have to do some investigating. The view from the top of whatever it is was spectacular. Mountains all around, I took up a pair of binoculars and was able to se the Worcester Church spire, LBJ’s convenience store and part of Rt 12. I hiked down the spine of the ridge making my way from one rock outcropping to another all beneath a glorious golden canopy.
Tree house update
The only work I did on the tree house was to poly the floor; 3 coats; one if Fri, Sat and Sun respectively.
Eddie Van Halen 1955-2020
Eddie Van Halen died on Tuesday October 6th. As many of you know Van Halen was my band back in the late 70’s and early 80’s/ Their albums with David Lee Roth are pretty much the soundtrack to my teenage years. When Roth left the band I pretty much left too. By then my musical taste was expanding and Van Hagar as I call the band once Sammy joined them was not to my taste
To be fair I was excited when he first joined the band and the first Van Hagar album 5150 was awesome with lots of hits.
OU812 was not so good, I was disappointed by the album and more intent on the local music scene in Boston with the Throwing Muses and Miracle Legion capturing my listening attention.
When For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge came out I had had enough.The title was so juvenile and the music was not any better. I think I maybe listened to it once in disgust and that was it I was done. I still revered the DLR era and VH I and VH II are two of the 12 albums I still have in my possession from a collection of over 500 but I never bought or listened to another Van Halen album until they re-united with Roth in the 2010’s.
With the outpouring of sympathy and tribute following Eddie’s death I decided to revisit the Van Hagar albums as well as Van Halen III made with the lead singer of Extreme to honor the legacy of Eddie and see if time had done anything to change my perception of these post 1984 albums. 5150 & OU812 hold up well. 5150 is a masterpiece, better than Fair Warning and Diver Down and I even liked OU812 better than I initially had but except for “Right Now” For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge is awful as is Balance. Gone are the synths and hooks that made “Jump” and the hits in 5150 so good. The music is a sludge of guitar and drums with Hagar’s banal lyrics recycled song after song and an all to familiar guitar solo thrown into the mix.
I had never listened to Van Halen III and had held out some hope that it might be a better album than the last 2 Van Hagar ones but it is all but unlistenable.
I need to find a copy of the 2011 album that Van Halen made with David Lee Roth to complete my listening journey but I don’t hold out much hope. I eagerly sought it our when it came out but can’t at this time recall a single song which doesn’t bode well for a re-listen.
