Since we’ve been back from TIFF, about two weeks now, we’ve entered into this seemingly endless string of hot sunny days with thankfully cool nights. It’s bright and blue skies and down to the 50s at night, but up to the 80s in the daytime, case in point the current temp is 81°, although that was Tuesday, today, Thursday, it’s 82° and tomorrow and Saturday it’s supposed to go up to 88°. We were in Chicago last Friday and the sun on the back of my neck was almost unbearable. And it’s really humid, as soon as you take anything cold out of the fridge it gets all sweaty.
Most people are loving it, but I don’t like it. It’s just too hot for the almost October. And it seems a good metaphor for what’s going on in the country and the world, now, too. Looks nice, but oh my word.
The US government shut down last night, which is terrifying, as meanwhile anti-President Trump blowhards about sending troops to US cities, like Portland for cripes sake where yes, they found that decriminalizing drugs didn’t really help with unhoused people with a load of problems, and didn’t make the streets safer for soccer moms shopping for groceries, but jeez sending in the national guard won’t help either. (and it just now occurs to me, how’re they going to pay these troops if they do send them in, given the shutdown??). There is some encouraging news that volunteers in Chicago are chasing ICE away, and it also seems like maybe the military leadership was turned off (to put it mildly) by Trump & Hegseth parading in front of them in their weird meeting the other day in Virginia. Tammy Duckworth slammed Trump & Hegseth. “he’s [Hegseth] the least-qualified secretary of defense in history. We’ve got a five-time draft dodger for a president.
Meanwhile in Madison and the world, the good ones seem to be dying off at an alarming rate the last few weeks. Most of these people are older and have good long lives but it’s still a loss for all of us. The international losses are Robert Redford, who died Sept 16, and Ethan Hawke talked about him on the returned Jimmy Kimmel show.
And Jane Goodall died on October 1.
She was still on speaking tour in September
The Madison music scene has been hit hard. Paul Black died in July.
Bob Queen, who organized the east side music festivals that made our summers wonderful, died in mid-September.
And the hardest one so far is Dave Benton of Spooner and other Madison bands, encyclopedia of music history and record store proprietor, all round nice guy, died last Saturday. John & Al’s dad was really good friends with him, they were both record store guys. We were all worried at the big Spooner reunion in July because he looked so thin and was playing sitting down.
Good photo of Dave by Keith Wessel
And a less-good one by me from last year.
The ghost particles closing with Mr. Tambourine Man
There’s a memorial for Dave in about 2 weeks, and I have a story/remembrance to tell. If I don’t get a crack at the mic, I’ll post it all here instead. Or maybe in addition if I do get to do it live.
I’m going to save recent cooking adventures for another post but here’s nice one of Jasper to close. Well make that three.
We played with the bubble gun A LOT. We had to do an emergency Target run for more bubble stuff.
We got a Halloween pop up book, too