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January 12, 2006
Soundtrack for January thaw
Back in West Virginia, a January thaw was a pretty reliable—and wonderful—thing. Here it usually doesn't happen. Instead, it is just relentlessly cold and snowy. Everybody bitches relentlessly about the relentless cold and snow, but we're here, all the same. And in fact, the permanent residents hereabouts tend to bitch when the winter isn't cold.
This year, though, we've actually had a January thaw, and because December was so dang cold and snowy, I've heard no complaints whatsoever. Today the temperature in Syracuse reached 50°, and the sun shone all day. Though I spent the day in suspension hearings, I had the one-hour country drive to campus, with the sun shining and the sunroof cracked (albeit with the car heater running). The iPod cooperated, playing a very nice random mix indeed, starting off with some mellow tunes:
Scuttlebutt (Béla Fleck & The Flecktones)
Down South Camp Meetin' (Fletcher Henderson)
Nobody Knows You When You're Down & Out (Alberta Hunter)
Living Life (Eels)
Winin' Boy Blues (Jelly Roll Morton)
Ground Hog Blues (John Lee Hooker)
All Blues (Miles Davis and John Coltrane)
Boogie Chillun (John Lee Hooker)
Pachelbel Canon in D (English Chamber Orchestra & Raymond Leppard)
Blue Skies (Willie Nelson)
and then cranking up as I approached Syracuse:
Rockin' with the King (Canned Heat)
Should I Stay Or Should I Go? (The Clash)
Blue Moon (The Marcels)
Hide Your Love (Rolling Stones)
Pink & Blue (Outkast)
Seriously. The iPod did that all on its own, in a random rotation from 1766 songs. It's now my firm belief that iPods know the weather.
And finally, just as I arrived at the meeting, I was listening to Velvet Underground doing "Sweet Jane," and I was so involved in it that I burst into the meeting (just a coupla minutes late) wearing my sunglasses and iPod. And everybody burst out laughing.
Always good to keep your colleagues entertained.
Especially on a sunny January day. When you've just taken a beautiful one-hour country drive whilst listening to an ace concert.
Posted by senioritis at January 12, 2006 08:36 PM
Comments
For nine years, I had an hour-plus commute to my university (on highway roads, though). This soundtrack would've been a delight any day!
I changed schools two years ago and now have only a 10-minute drive to work. It's nice, but I sometimes miss those long, uninterrupted stretches of music-listening time!
Posted by: Deb at January 13, 2006 09:57 AM
my wife got me a radio broadcaster for my i-pod, making my 30-minute commute to Dearborn much more humane. i have no doubt that the shuffle feature has a mind of its own.
Posted by: Bill at January 13, 2006 10:51 AM