Tuesday

The new Home Page pic is Mt. Etna in Sicily.  I took the shot on our way down the mountain before we got into the congestion of the close-by major city of Catania.  Etna dominates the skyline for most of eastern Sicily, and that plume at the top is testimony to its status as an active volcano. (This is a pic looking down at Catania from from a pull-over near the Base Camp, 19 kilometers up from the city.)

And continuing the theme of Blogger irregularities, I don't know why the Home Page photo won't compress to fit the space in the heading.  Another software glitch.  Maybe I need to call in Verizon.  Heh, heh. :)

The chill definitely came in over night.  It was 27 according to Apple when I woke up at 0513.  I figured it was time to turn on the heat on Maplecrest for the first time of the season.  The furnace did fire-up on the second try.  When it didn't actually start on my first attempt, I took a look around the unit in my utility room, thinking I might need to manually light the pilot light.  When I couldn't figure out which side of the furnace to even find the pilot light, I decided that my only shot was to "re-boot the system".   Which worked.

The furnace joins an ever-increasing list of mechanical items that I have no skills to address in the case of malfunction.  Electronics.  Plumbing.  Household carpentry.  Outdoor power equipment.  Cars (with a manufacturing date after 1964).  Actually, when it comes to it, I can't fix anything.  My first option is my PN.  After that, I be dialin' for reinforcements.

Moving on...

My one-time fantasy-girl, Sheryl Crow was through town last week for a concert at the iWireless Center in Moline.  The review in the local paper was a good one, citing her stage presence and varied song repertoire.  Her co-headliner was Gary Allan, a mid-level country singer with a few hits over the years.  (Wiki says he's he's 46 and signed his first record deal in 1996...and I recognize some of his titles.)  They drew 4,500 or so which is less than half of the capacity of the arena.

My guess is that Sheryl never was a regular sell-out for 10K-plus venues.  And at now 50+, her fan base is certainly not growing.  Her latest music has tried to bring on the country side of her folk-rock genre.  One recently released single made the Top 40 on the Country charts, I think.  So her tour is likely an effort to keep herself relevant in her space.  (And Gary Allan is at a point where he will only be an opening act for a bigger name, except in smaller rooms.)

Sheryl Crow doesn't have quite the same low stature in my world as "Hanoi" Jane Fonda, but her venture into the global warming debate a few years back put her in the same time zone as HJF.  She did that publicity tour with the Seinfeld producer's wife, Laurie David, and came up with the outrageously funny idea of limiting toilet-paper squares per use.  (Jay Leno was grateful for the material!)  And recently, it came out that she ratted to the Feds on her one-time boyfriend, Lance Armstrong.

Fringe-ish fans like me remember these things.  And not usually in a good way.  Entertainers really need to limit their efforts to their craft.

In a bit of contrast, The Eagles played to a sell-out crowd last night at the same iWireless arena.  They're a little older than Sheryl Crow, but not a lot.  They are another of those older groups who continue to bring in the fans.  At premium ticket prices.

(Reflecting a more contemporary reality, country star Jason Aldean recently sold out a scheduled one-night January 2014 gig at the iWireless so quickly that they added a second night to capture the overflow.  Ya' gotta' strike when the iron is hot!)

Maybe snow here today?  Hello Winter!

Make it a good day in your neighborhood.

BCOT