As a fan of a wide variety of popular (and not-so-popular) music from the 1950s (and sometimes even earlier) up through the present, one of my bucket list projects for years has been to put together a list of my 100 favorite songs of all time. At some point I decided that, once I got around to figuring that out, I could put it out on a blog, for the infinitesimally small proportion of the Internet world that might be interested. So, here we are. While the Top 100 will be a major focus, I also plan to post on a variety of other musical (and occasionally non-musical) topics, in which you may or may not be interested. (If a particular posting doesn’t ring your bell, you’re only a few clicks away from a dancing cat video on YouTube.)
“The safeguards that ensured [Trump] left office last
January after losing the presidential election may be crumbling: The election
officials who certified the counts may no longer be in place next time he
falsely claims victory; if Republicans take Congress, a compliant Speaker could
easily decide it’s simply not in his interest to let the party’s leader lose.”
In terms of hit singles, Booker T. & The MG’s were in a
relatively slow period when I first got into music in 1965: after reaching #3
in 1962 with their classic “Green Onions”, they didn’t have another national
top 20 hit until 1968’s “Soul-Limbo”. For some reason, however, even their
least successful singles managed to get airplay on Harrisburg’s WFEC, and once
I heard them I was hooked. Over the next few years, I bought (and still own)
five of their LPs, including a Best-Of collection. Of course, when they weren’t
recording and releasing their own music, they backed up nearly every Memphis
soul singer of the era, including Sam & Dave, Wilson Pickett, and Otis
Redding (most notably his take on the old chestnut “Try
A Little Tenderness”).
#3 – Juan Soto, who accounted for Washington’s second run
with a 454-foot third-inning homer to CF.
#2 – The Nats’ much-maligned bullpen. Yes, two of their five
relievers did walk the first batter they faced, but they collectively covered
the final 3.1 innings of the game without allowing a run, highlighted by the
just-recalled Tanner Rainey fanning the side in the top of the 7th.
#1 – Paolo Espino, who pitched into the sixth while keeping
Colorado off the scoreboard, allowing just three hits and three walks while
fanning seven.
The weather was perfect, and it was good to finally see the
home team win a game. (Heading into today, our personal August-September record
had been 2-6, after having much better luck during June and July.) We ordered
takeout from the &pizza on Half Steet, enjoying our meals on one of the
many shaded tables around the corner. Traffic was heavier than usual both
coming and going, closer to 2019 levels than to those of earlier games this
season. In a possibly-related item, I was quite surprised that the Nats managed
to attract over 75,000 fans to this three-game series between two non-contenders.
Maybe the promotions had something to do with it, although many who attended
Friday’s game were vocally unhappy that the 4-hour monstrosity of a Washington
loss prevented the launch of the promised fireworks.
