Ten Favorite Albums

1. Beethoven Symphony No 9: Herbert Von Karajan, Berlin Philharmonic 1976-77, Deutsche Grammophon. The definitive recording. Each movement is a masterpiece. After 20 years I still cry at the finale. “Music is the voice of God.” LVB
2. Paul Simon, Concert in the Park, 1991. Dazzling. A musical turning-point for the world. “…Losing love is like a window in your heart. Everybody sees you’re blown apart. Everybody sees the wind blow.”
3. Judy [Garland] at Carnegie Hall, 1961. Simply the greatest performance ever recorded. Mort Lindsey’s orchestration is unbelievable.
4. The Beatles, Rubber Soul, 1965. Norwegian Wood, Think for Yourself, The Word, Girl, I’m Looking Through You, Michelle, Run for Your Life.
5. The Beatles, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, 1967. She’s Leaving Home, Within You Without You, When I’m Sixty-Four, Lovely Rita, A Day in the Life.
6. The Rolling Stones, Flowers, 1967. Lady Jane, Out of Time, Let’s Spend the Night Together, Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby, Standing in the Shadow?
7. Muse, The Resistance. Uprising, Undisclosed Desires, Unnatural Selection, I Belong to You/Mon Coeur s’ouvre a ta voix, Exogenesis Symphony Parts 1-3.
8. The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Will the Circle Be Unbroken, 1972. Doc Watson, Mother Maybelle Carter, Jimmy Martin, Earl Scruggs, Roy Acuff, Merle Travis. Greatest Bluegrass Album ever recorded.
9. Greenday, American Idiot. Jesus of Suburbia, Holiday/Boulevard of Broken Dreams, Give me Novacaine/She’s a Rebel, Whatshername.
10. Otis Reading, The Very Best of Otis Reading, 2002. These Arms of Mine, Pain in my Heart, Mr. Pitiful, I’ve Been Loving You too Long, Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa (Sad Song), Try a Little Tenderness, (Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay, I’ve Got Dreams to Remember.

Cat Drama

Sam the regular cat met Chase the rescue cat last night. I have kept them separate since Sunday just to allow Chase a chance to get somewhat oriented, and Sam to calm down. He was really upset at first. (Ears back, crouching, hissing - even though he couldn't see the new cat.) So they met yesterday, me with some water to throw and a towel in case I needed to intervene, but all went well. I watched them watch each other for about 45 minutes. Ears were perked, and non-threatening postures were assumed, so I left to give them time. They stared at each other for about two hours, then I took Sam away and closed the door to give Chase some quiet time. Hopeful that a truce can develop over time, if not a friendship.

Shopping for Medical Care

I tried to shop for a new crown. Met Life would leave me with a huge gap payment (also, they disagreed with the dentist over required procedures). Try it yourself. No dentists post their rates and if you call them, no one in the office can help. Even the dentist says he/she must look at the tooth before estimating, and that will exclude complications. Shop for medical care: the worst idea since shopping for electricity. http://nyti.ms/gnoTCA

Who Needs Convenience?

You know that universal single payer health care is wrong, because what you really want to do after working 9 hours on the loading dock is to come home and search for a doctor who accepts your coverage from Joe's Insurance and Screen Door Company, whom your employer so wisely selected.