If you grew up in New England in the 70s and 80s, you were exposed to an incredibly diverse music scene. Chart rockers abound, Aerosmith, J. Geils and the Cars filled the airwaves. Radio playlists were laced with alternatives like the Mighty, Mighty Bosstones, Pixies, Til Tuesday and Watermelon Slim.
As is our tradition, no jokes today. I'm sorry. And I also apologize if I will be speaking about my faith. Good Friday is the most solemn day in Christiandom; for today, Jesus, the Christ, was wrongfully accused and crucified.
Fresh from catching glimpses of playful spinner dolphins navigating their way between Balicasag and Panglao Islands on an early Wednesday morning, we dropped anchor at a beach for a round of coffee and snacks. But our day was just beginning. Within an hour we were hauled off the beach in a small boat to a snorkeling spot not too far from Balicasag Island’s white sand shores.
One thing we know for certain about what weighed on Bernie’s decision to suspend his campaign is that there are things we do not know for certain. Before and after the October 1st medical adventure his heart embarked on, I wrote he’d be ticking like a Timex and coming from behind like Seabiscuit, both prediction and prayer. I acknowledge my disappointment but refrain from judgment on what I believe to be a clean call.
On the morning of April 3, 2020, the T-Boy Society of Film & Music met for the final vote in the top 20 Songs of the Road of all-time. Due to the coronavirus mandated quarantine, the 15-member group transmitted their lists via zoom. The theme of Songs of the Road turned out to be both popular and all-inclusive for members. For some it meant fantasizing about taking the same Road Trip in the song or a remembrance of one of their own.
The countdown to the T-Boy Society of film and Music's Top Twenty Songs of the Road continues with nos. 11-20.
Any list of Songs of the Road would be amidst by not having legendary Mississippi Delta bluesman Robert Johnson represented in the list. Johnson plied his craft on street corners and in juke joints, ever rambling and ever lonely – and writing songs that romanticized his plight on the road.
We may be stuck at home, but our minds and memories can take us anywhere in the world. So I would like to take this opportunity and look back at a memorable getaway from a couple years ago. It was a cruise through the Caribbean and an encounter with some of the most beautiful islands in the world.
You may not be traveling to far-away places in the immediate future, but we can bring them to you. Here’s T-Boy’s second installment of virtual trips by our staff, and we hope you’ll be able to go there and to other distant destinations soon.
It’s not necessary for me to say that we are living in difficult times – times that tax our ability to adjust to a life heretofore unknown to us. Like many of you, watching movies has been a way to escape from this dreadful reality into another world – one devoid of the challenges we are currently facing.