REPEAT FOR THOSE HIT BY SANDY

Please note that the videos embedded with the songs were posted by some great Parrotheads on YouTube and not my creation.

On a day when life was personally at its most confusing, I heard this song "Breathe In, Breathe Out, Move On" (2005) on Radio Margaritaville (where else) and thought what a great piece of advice Jimmy was giving me.

 

Then upon realizing that I had the song on CD, Take the Weather With You, I listened a little more closely to what Jimmy was actually singing about.  As many of you know, Jimmy Buffett grew up in Alabama and has strong ties to the Gulf Coast and here he is singing about when Hurricane Katrina and "Pontchartrain buried  the ninth ward to the second floor".  The song has a 2005 copyright so must have been written soon after this terrible hurricane hit in September 2005.  

At first it seemed rather banal advice to people whose loved ones died and had their homes ruined, but right after the storm what else was there to do but "Breathe in, Breathe out, Move on".  As he so often does, Mr. Buffett got it right again. 

WEEKEND JAZZ

Usually this blog features a Jimmy Buffett video for your "Weekend Song", but for this short weekend before the long weekend I thought we could all use some great jazz.  This is why I am introducing you to La Cuchina in case you aren't already into them.  What can I say about a group whose motto is "La Cuchina makes people want to dance to jazz again"!   It couldn't be better for a great spring weekend, so give the video a listen.

After that I know you will want to hear more and learn more about them.  They have great songs on the website so follow the link and become a fan.  LA CUCHINA

If Jimmy Buffett can play at Jazz Fest in New Orleans, these guys should be the headliner!!!!

MY GUILTY PLEASURE

For GBE2 #52: Guilty Pleasures

Most people think of pirate pleasures as being rum, a clear sail, booty, etc.  But, these are not guilty pleasures since most pirates have difficulty feeling guilt in any case.

I, however, not being the average pirate, do feel guilt and have quite a few guilty pleasures and the most ridiculous one (at least in some people's eyes) is HGTV"s "House Hunters".  Wait, not just "House Hunters", also "House Hunters International", "House Hunters World Tour" and any other variations on this show that HGTV wants to provide.  During rough times, when I've seen then all, I might even resort to "Property Virgins" and "For Rent".

When having a bad day, many of us turn to ice cream, chocolate, RUM, etc., but all I have to do is turn on an episode of "House Hunters"and am instantly cheered up.  Why?  I've always loved looking in other people's homes even if they are million dollar homes that have amenities that I would never hope to own.  But wait there's more, where else can you watch people with an amazingly low budget get upset because the house doesn't have stainless steel appliances.

Here are the must haves for almost all house hunters including the international ones:  Stainless steel appliances, double sinks in an en suite bathroom attached to the master bedroom, a master bedroom large enough to play tennis in, and a great back yard that requires no maintenance on the part of the owners (also no maintenance fees).  Are you beginning to see why this is fun?  The newer shows have actually been showing the exasperation on the part of the poor real estate agent who has been saddled with this couple.

Overseas, it's even worse.  People moving from Texas to Germany don't seem to get the idea that they won't have huge rooms, updated kitchens (sometimes there's no kitchen), at a reasonable price in German cities and the European countryside lacks even more of the amenities they can't live without.  Don't you just want to say "why didn't you stay home".  Is this a great distraction or what?  

The hardest part about this guilty pleasure is that HGTV has actually been cutting back on the hundreds of hours of House Hunters that they used to show in favor of OTHER SHOWS.  Still though there is a new one every weeknight at 10 p.m. eastern.  Check it out!!!

TITLE TUNE BY JIMMY BUFFETT

I promised on Thursdays that I would post the Jimmy Buffett song for your weekend listening and this week it is the one that this blog is named after, "A Pirate Looks At Forty".  Both Jimmy and I have are way past forty now, but it still rings true for whatever age you are.

My favorite line: "I made enough money to buy Miami, but I pissed it away too fast".  

Enjoy your weekend!!!

GREAT DRINKING SONG FOR THIS WEEKEND

Well, I'm no longer posting Jimmy Buffett everyday, but I do not want my fans to go without, so I'm going to try to post a favorite on Thursdays anyway.

"A Lot to Drink About" from Buffett Hotel  is an absolutely great song for the Cinco de Mayo weekend and the video is a great one of Jimmy and Mac MacAnaly doing an impromptu concert at the Margaritaville Cafe in Key West.  Why doesn't that happen when I walk into a Margaritaville Cafe????

So, listen, enjoy and I know you'll know all the words by the time you need a good drinking song. This one hits on everything that's happening now and just a bit more.  Thanks, Jimmy.  I need some RUM!!!

Z is for (USS) ZYDECOLDSMOBILE

Here we are at the final day of the A to Z Challenge and here is the Jimmy song that I found for "Z","USS Zydecoldsmobile" (2002) from the Far Side of the World CD.

Jimmy did not write this song, it was written by Sonny Landreth, but as usual with his lively performance and great band, Jimmy makes it his own.

Zydeco, for those that don't know, is from cajun music in Louisiana and you hear it all the time in New Orleans.  This is get up and dance, have a few more drinks and enjoy yourself music.

I hope that's what you've been doing here on "A Pirate Looks Past Sixty" during this challenge and PLEASE stay tuned, we'll be doing more Jimmy, more pirate info and more sailing and getting high!!!!  Thanks for joining.

X is for X RATED

Please note that the videos embedded with the songs were posted by some great Parrotheads on YouTube and not my creation.

Well, it is probably more PG 13 rated now, although it was a little wilder when it first came out in 1973.  From the weirdly named and great CD  A White Sports Coat and a Pink Crustacean, we have the infamous drinking etc. song, "Why Don't We Get Drunk and Screw".

Naturally this has become a concert favorite and listen hard, the words pretty much say it all.  Not my favorite Jimmy song, but one of the songs that will live on forever and ever and ever.

So have another drink, find your partner and follow Jimmy's advice.

R is for RHUMBA MAN

CMT music video


Today is "R" day and I'm finally putting up a song from one of Jimmy's most recent CDs.  The song is "Rhumba Man" (written by Jesse Winchester, who performs with Jimmy here) and it is on Jimmy Buffett's 2009 CD Hotel Buffett. 


I played it because today is a beautiful spring day and we're nearing summer and it's a great day to get out there and Rhumba as I know so many Jimmy fans are already doing in the parking lots prior to his concerts on the present tour.

RHUMBA BABY!!

D is for DELANEY TALKS TO STATUES

Please note that the videos embedded with the songs were posted by some great Parrotheads on YouTube and not my creation.


Jimmy Buffett seems to be at his song writing best when he is writing about his children and, as he says in the video, this one is for his daughter, Sara Delaney.  "Delaney Talks to Statues" (1994) is on the Fruitcakes CD.


I had some trouble finding a video for this song as so many people posted it with their children in it and, of course, restricted the video.  This one is of an acoustic concert that Jimmy did and it does have a certain intimacy and closeness with the crowd that is not seen in his larger concerts; although Jimmy is always good with a crowd.

I've always loved this song as it is such a nice anthem to a young girl just dancing around and living in her imagination.  She also gets to be in Rome which is certainly a bonus, but as any young kid will do, she talks to the statues and chases cats and enjoys her life as a little girl whose father loves her so very much.

C is for COCONUT TELEGRAPH

Please note that the videos embedded with the songs were posted by some great Parrotheads on YouTube and not my creation.


I chose "Coconut Telegraph"(1980)  from a large selection of "C" Buffett songs because it signifies what so much of Jimmy's repertoire is, JUST PLAIN FUN! It is from the CD of the same name, Coconut Telegraph.  

Here the story is about a bunch of party folk, who all live near each other on the same (knowing Jimmy) island in the Caribbean.  Every weekend there is a major party and from Sunday until possibly Wednesday there is much discussion among these friends about who did what crazy thing at that party on the "Coconut Telegraph".

When Friday rolls around again and everyone gets paid, they are ready to forget all that craziness and jump into it all again as so many of us did in our younger years, or may be even in these years.  Enjoy!!!

AN A-Z JIMMY BUFFETT CONCERT

That's right "A PIRATE LOOKS PAST SIXTY" will be having a spring concert of Jimmy Buffett songs for the A-Z challenge. STARTS TOMORROW!!! Each day I will post a song and (if all goes well) you'll be able to listen and see the great video some Parrothead on YouTube created, and then read what I think about the song. It doesn't end THERE though. Let's all discuss the song in comments!!! Could be fun!

PIRATES DON'T WORK OR VOLUNTEER!!!

Written for GBE2

 Well, this pirate has actually done both, work for pay and piles of volunteer work. As with many people, my first paying job was when I was 16 and I was a library messenger at the Providence Public Library downtown. Because I was working for a nonprofit they could pay under minimum wage at the time, lucky me. (So I was sort of volunteering). My paid jobs have gone from library messenger, secretary, medical transcriptionist, attorney, and now, sometimes I get paid for writing.

 However, some of my most interesting and fun work has been volunteer work. At 14, I was a candy striper (not the stripper you might expect from a pirate) at a local hospital. I worked in the pharmacy which was fun and made me want to be a pharmacist until I took chemistry and realized that wasn't going to happen. I came from a family that embraced volunteerism, my mother eventually becoming President of the Rhode Island YWCA. My parents took in refugees from Europe in the 1950s and did many other things pro bono, that's "attorneyspeak" for free. This stuck with me.

 While I always needed to have a paying job, I spent many interesting hours knitting hats and making meatballs for school bazaars; running fundraisers; and even was a Girl Scout Brownie leader for a year (pirates do not make good Brownie leaders!). In this period of my life with a newborn, a 5 year old and a husband overseas, I met many good friends through this "work".

 This blog is not about a pirate turned good person, (that never happened, still a pirate) but it is rather about the fact that some of the most fascinating work and people can be found in the volunteer sector. As an attorney, I did my pro bono through the bar association and elderly affairs being a guardian for people whose families were either living off them or disappeared. I enjoyed helping these folks through probate court. I also loved working with Lawyers in the Arts helping artists and creative folks with intellectual property issues. Once again I benefited the more than the clients from this work by meeting some great people and entering lives I would not have otherwise seen.

 Today, too crazy to be a lawyer any more and trying to make some money writing, i.e. retirement to some, I am back at the library. This time as a volunteer, shelving books and meeting people in our very diverse local branch. This is excellent exercise and a great way to find books you might not have thought to take out, but the pay is even lower the before, just plain 0, but the world opened by volunteering is "priceless". Or in pirate terms, that's something with ARRH  booty!

HOW THE WORLD LETS YOU KNOW THAT YOU ARE OLD!!

Tonight, on the eve of my 62nd birthday, I have enumerated how the world has made me feel incredibly old since I turned 60. Mind you, most of this activity happened after I turned 60 and after I allowed my hair to return to its natural beautiful white/gray shade.

1. I have suddenly became "hon" to most waitstaff that I run into and I have noted that even men in my age group have been referred to as the same. Also "sweetie" has come up more than I would like. If you are waitstaff, I know you mean to be polite, but it hits below the belt.

2. I have become invisible to anyone under say 47 and definitely anyone below 35. This is actually not a bad thing as I get to hear some interesting conversations. Also, I believe that boomers of my age group would make excellent spies for this very reason. We are just not there.

3. I get a senior discount; this is not at all bad and so not a complaint, just a sign.

4. I will start getting Social Security next month which is also not bad, that is assuming the government is in business at that time.

5. Lately in fiction that I have been reading, more than one author has identified a woman over 60 as an "old" woman. Oddly I think of an "old" woman as someone over 90, but I guess it's just perception.

6. Friends of my age group do not seem older or really any different than they did were when we were 20 and that includes my husband. Perhaps we have a few more physical complaints, but not really many. Interestingly the world does not believe it.

7. Younger people are amazed sometimes that I wear bizarre sneakers and know about TV shows and music that they like. Hello, we are in the same world and our generation was always on top of things.

8. Finally, even though I will be 62 in about 10 minutes, I don't feel it, however I guess I don't know what it should feel like. I have the same brain (for what it's worth), sense of humor and sense of fun that I've always had. I'll bet a lot of my faithful blog readers feel the same way.

THE "OLD" PIRATE PAM

DEAD MEN'S TALES

Speaking of great Pirate events, Dead Men's Tales will be opening shortly in Newport, RI. This is a great pirate historical tour of Newport with real pirates as guides. For more info go to: DEAD MEN'S TALES.

Keep your eye on the "Pirate Pages" for more fun pirate events.