Site Update / Poems Page Evolution

When I started adding my own poems to this site (see tabs on top), I decided I was also going to add famous speeches which moved me.  After a bit, I decided I would also add my favorite songs – again based on the words (in this case lyrics).  Over time, that evolved a little to also include some songs for humor or just because I liked them and not just for the words / lyrics themselves.  Again, after some time, I eventually decided to start adding the videos.  To be a little more honest, I started actually using YouTube to listen songs and watch their associated videos.  About three years ago, I started adding the videos to the lyrics pages.  Unlike in my postings though, I put the videos at the end of the lyrics (beneath the lyrics), instead of front and top.  At that time, I began indicating which had videos by placing an asterisk after the song title on my “Poems” (“menu”) page, with the promise I would go back to add them all “as time permitted”.
Well, after a couple of years, I finally made the big push to get it done.  Over the last week, I have updated the last fifty (50) or so songs which still did not have videos.  If any of you have time to go check them out, I’d appreciate any of your feedback.  I haven’t bothered to remove the asterisks, even though there is really no reason to retain them on the page.
Anyway, I hope some of you will enjoy the lyrics and the videos as much as I have enjoyed reading them and listening to them over the years…
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On This Day In:
2017	Our Thirst
2016	History Favors The Victor
2015	This We’ll Leave Them
2014	Sounds Like Faux News To Me
2013	Reasons
2012	American Libertarianism
2011	The Goal

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Thinking Out Loud

When your legs don’t work like they used to before
And I can’t sweep you off of your feet
Will your mouth still remember the taste of my love
Will your eyes still smile from your cheeks
And darling I will be loving you ’til we’re 70
And baby my heart could still fall as hard at 23
And I’m thinking ’bout how people fall in love in mysterious ways
Maybe just the touch of a hand
Oh me I fall in love with you every single day
And I just wanna tell you I am
So honey now
Take me into your loving arms
Kiss me under the light of a thousand stars
Place your head on my beating heart
I’m thinking out loud
Maybe we found love right where we are
When my hair’s all but gone and my memory fades
And the crowds don’t remember my name
When my hands don’t play the strings the same way, mm
I know you will still love me the same
‘Cause honey your soul can never grow old, it’s evergreen
Baby your smile’s forever in my mind and memory
I’m thinking ’bout how people fall in love in mysterious ways
Maybe it’s all part of a plan
I’ll just keep on making the same mistakes
Hoping that you’ll understand
But baby now
Take me into your loving arms
Kiss me under the light of a thousand stars
Place your head on my beating heart
I’m thinking out loud
That maybe we found love right where we are, oh
So baby now
Take me into your loving arms
Kiss me under the light of a thousand stars
Oh darling, place your head on my beating heart
I’m thinking out loud
That maybe we found love right where we are
Oh maybe we found love right where we are
And we found love right where we are
Songwriters:  Amy Wadge / Ed Sheeran
Performed by:  Ed Sheeran
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On This Day In:
2016	Fighting Change
2015	Get Change
2014	Trapped (Again)
2013	Someone Else Believes
2012	The Practical Value of Science
2011	Seize Gladly The Difficult Task
	A Constitutional Conversation
2010	The Fierce Urgency Of Now…

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Happy Meeting Day 33 (And Counting)

Thirty-three years ago I met my future (and current) wife …
I love you Hil.  I cherish our every day together…  I’m glad God took the extra time.    —    KMAB
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On This Day In:
2016	Picture Perfect
2015	Life Showed Compassion
2014	And Then I Met Her
2013	Defining Maleness
	The Run Continues
2012	All Set
2011	Not Always

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Ways

True Love Ways
Just you know why
Why you and I
Will bye and bye
Know true love ways
Sometimes we’ll sigh
Sometimes we’ll cry
And we’ll know why
Just you and I
Know true love ways
Throughout the days
Our true love ways
Will bring us joys to share
With those who really care
Sometimes we’ll sigh
Sometimes we’ll cry
And we’ll know why
Just you and I
Know true love ways
Throughout the days
Our true love ways
Will bring us joys to share
With those who really care
Sometimes we’ll sigh
Sometimes we’ll cry
And we’ll know why
Just you and I
Know true love ways
Songwriters:  Buddy Holly and Norman Petty
Performed by:   Buddy Holly
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On This Day In:
2015	Be Happy, Too
2014	At Least Smile
2013	Comfortably Bound
2012	Certainty
	Thinking About Fathers
2011	And In Every Level Of Media

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Picture Perfect

Thirty-two years ago I found my pearl of great price…
Oh, what is the color of love? What do you see?
Is it warm is it tender when you think of me?
I see the color of love when I’m thinking of you
As a picture perfect painting of love forever true
I love you Hil.  You are my “picture perfect painting of love forever true“…    —    KMAB
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On This Day In:
2015	Life Showed Compassion
2014	And Then I Met Her
2013	Defining Maleness
	The Run Continues
2012	All Set
2011	Not Always

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One More, Please

Realize deeply that the present moment is all you will ever have.
―    Eckhart Tolle
[Happy Birthday to me!    —   kmab]
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On This Day In:
2022	The Air Is Thinner, But It’s A Killer View
2021	Staying Young While Getting Old
	Mid-Afternoon (Hopefully)
2020	Still Measuring
2019	Living On The Couch
	Who Am I – One Interpretation
2018	A Gardening Goal: Feed The Flowers
2017	Freakishly Happy Cowboy
2016	One More, Please
2015	Infinite Adventure
2014	Unpaved
2013	Headstones
2012	Keeping Young
2011	Lessons Well Learned

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Focus

Realize deeply that the present moment is all you have.  Make the NOW the primary focus of your life.
―    Eckhart Tolle
[Sarah, Happy Birthday!!
This song reminds me of getting up on weekends to find you sleeping peacefully on the couch with the TV watching you…
Love Always,
Mum & Dad
—    kmab]
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On This Day In:
2022	Finding Your Strength
2021	Step By Step Find Strength
	Keep Searching
2020	Giving Thanks
2019	One A Day
2018	Try
2017	You’re Starting To Make Us Feel Old
2016	Focus
2015	Challenging Legacy
2014	Happy 21st Birthday!
2013	Expectations
2012	Trust Him Smile
2011	Why Change?

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The Hard Way Every Time

Everything I did in my life that was worthwhile I caught hell for.
—    Earl Warren
Former Chief Justice
United States Supreme Court
[You can find the song’s lyrics on my Poems page.    —    kmab]
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On This Day In:
2021	Too Heavy A Burden
	I Don’t Mind At All
2020	Compare, Contrast And Learn
	Some Dreams Do Come True
	Just In Case
2019	Can I Get A Witness?
2018	I’d Still Like To Try It Out
2017	In Every Thing
2016	Future Halo
2015	The Hard Way Every Time
2014	Indispensable Wits
2013	I’d Like To
2012	2012 National League Champions – San Francisco Giants!!
	2nd Viewing – No Change
	Light Shining Out of Darkness
2011	Just Kickin It
	Are These The “Real” Protectors Of America’s Constitution?
2010	Giants Advance To 2010 World Series!!!

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Life Showed Compassion

In a funny way, although it has been over thirty years now, it seems like just yesterday I met my wife.
I was a lonely man with empty arms to fill.
Then I found a piece of happiness to call my own.
And life is worth living again.
For to love you to me is to live.
A one in a million, chance of a lifetime.
And life showed compassion.
And sent to me
A stroke of love called you.
I love you Hil.  You are my “one in a million chance of a lifetime“…    —    KMAB
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On This Day In:
2014	And Then I Met Her
2013	Defining Maleness
	The Run Continues
2012	All Set
2011	Not Always

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Remembering Oklahoma City

At the time, I was living overseas in Liverpool, but I remember the days and days of news coverage…
On April 19, 1995, the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City was the site of a domestic terrorist bomb attack.  Carried out by two survivalist and white supremacists Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols, the bombing killed 168 people and injured more than 680 others.  They were seeking to punish Federal law enforcement agencies for perceived attacks on anti-Federal groups at Ruby Ridge, Idaho and in Waco, Texas.
The following year, Garth Brooks sang “The Change” which is a tribute to those lost and injured and to those who rushed into harms way to provide aid.
See the video on YouTube.com at:   http://www.youtube.com/embed/LAJ9tNXZfu8 or you can click through the embedded video below.
The lyrics are available on my poems page at:  “The Change“
The song – and the memories it stirs – still brings tears to my eyes…     KMAB
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On This Day In:
2014	Who Was That Masked Man?
2013	Enemy Mine
2012	Strengthen Me
2011	Service, Please
2010	The Church In Crisis…

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Beginnings

Over the last few weeks I’ve been “binge-ing” on the TV series:  “Star Trek: Enterprise“.   There are ninety-eight episodes representing over seventy hours of viewing so it was quite an investment of time!!  The series originally ran from 2001 through 2005 and I saw about twenty-five of the episodes when they originally aired.  I’m not sure why I never watched them all, but I’m nearly positive I didn’t as I remembered so few.  The series is about the first Starship Enterprise and humanity’s first attempts to explore “deep space” with the development of a Warp-5 capable spaceship.
Now, with full disclosure, I am a “Trekkie” and saw all of the original series (Star Trek:  TOS) in their initial broadcasts and have subsequently viewed them all at least three times and most of them far, far more than that as I used to watch them back in the ’70’s and ’80’s when they were in syndication.  Back then, you could watch them day after day and so see most of the 79 episodes four times in a single year.  In fact, you could see them more than that as the series ran on a couple of different channels a various times of day.  Yeah, I know, a bit OCD!!
Anyway, as SciFi goes, like most of the other Star Trek franchises, this is not very good.  In terms of special effects, it is pretty good to outstanding – particularly for TV.  In terms of acting, the series starts out MUCH better than TOS (The Original Series) or TNG (The Next Generation).  TOS never had a chance to explain much of its back history and TNG was incredibly stiff in its first season.  Picard (played by Patrick Steward) was particularly wooden.  In terms of “realism”, this series is pretty much the same as all the others – little or none.
Does any of that (bad science, poor realism) matter?  Not one iota!!  The show is about humanity and our efforts to deal with “ultimate” issues:  war, racism, sexism, slavery, social justice, etc.  All the things which have always made all of / each of the Star Trek franchise TV series great viewing.
This is a VERY good TV series which I thoroughly enjoyed watching!  I hate to say it, but it is every bit as good as the best episodes of TOS and TNG.
(I was never a big fan of DS9 (Star Trek: Deep Space 9) or Star Trek: Voyager and barely watched any of either.  Just a couple of seasons of each and then the odd episode.  I recognize that both of those series have their fans, but as neither of those series have had a sniff of interest in getting turned into a movie franchise, I think my opinion is justified.  I will admit, though, that now they are available (more or less free) on Netflix, I will be watching them both as and when I have time.  I doubt I’ll be binge-ing on them, though.)
As with both TOS and TNG, the stories all center around the senior staff and the most interesting characters are the Captain (Jonathan Archer played by Scott Bakula) and the main alien – as in TOS – the Vulcan First Officer (T’Pol played by Jolene Blalock).  Over the course of the series, the former goes from being an idealistic explorer to a military commander and diplomat while the latter goes from being an emotionally suppressed Vulcan to an openly emotional “almost human” female.  As such, the stories are mostly self-contained episodes with sub-story arcs which span a couple of episodes to the entire series.  Watching the whole series in compressed mode, therefore, made it seem much more understandable to me as I was easily able to remember nuances which I almost certainly would have missed (or forgotten) if I had viewed the series over a four year time span.
If you consider yourself a “Trekkie”, you must watch this series.  If you just want enjoyable SciFi about space exploration and humans meeting alien species, this is a great series.  As I said, it’s well written and character driven and I thoroughly enjoyed watching it and highly recommend it.
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On This Day In:
2022	First, To Understand
2021	So How Should We Persuade The Dangerous?
	Can A Loser Ever Win?
2020	Maybe More Than A Very Few
2019	Missing Failure
2018	Praise God
2017	Necessary Gaps
2016	Nor My Dogs
2015	Say What?
	I’m A Dog, Too!
	Beginnings
2014	Astonishing Choices
2013	Three Hard Tasks
2012	The Only Remains
2011	Personal Capability
	What Price Failure?
	Both Of W’s Elections
	Tea (Baggers) Anyone?

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And Then I Met Her

Love has no other desire but to fulfill itself.
But if you love and must needs have desires, let these be your desires:
To melt and be like a running brook that sings its melody to the night.
To know the pain of too much tenderness.
To be wounded by your own understanding of love;
And to bleed willingly and joyfully.
To wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving;
To rest at the noon hour and meditate love’s ecstasy;
To return home at eventide with gratitude;
And then to sleep with a prayer for the beloved in your heart and a song of praise upon your lips.
—    Kahlil Gibran
[Thirty years ago today, I met my lovely wife Hilary.  I have no words to adequately express the gratitude I feel for the gifts of her love and our three wonderful children.  It seems so small a thing to simply say:  “I love you now, more than ever.  And…  I will love you forever.  And…  God Only Knows what I’d do without you.”    —    KMAB]
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On This Day In:
2013	Defining Maleness
	The Run Continues
2012	All Set
2011	Not Always

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Feelin’ It

Last week I was driving home from work and decided to listen to some tunes instead of my normal “talk” radio or Giants game.
An oldie but a goodie came on:  “Emotion” by the BeeGees.  The song was written by Barry Gibb, but was actually made famous by Samantha Sang (with the BeeGees singing background).  The BeeGees later covered the song on a greatest hits album.  It’s simply one of those songs which sticks in you head for days…  I’m not sure there’s a better compliment than that.
A few songs later, another old favorite of mine came on:  December ’63 (Oh What A Night) as performed by The Four Seasons.  As you can imagine, for this one, I’m cruising along singing at the top of my lungs!  Fortunately, I’m alone in the car.  🙂
I haven’t gotten around to adding many videos to the other songs on my Poems page, but as promised, I have added video at the bottom of these new additions.
As always, check out the lyrics first and then watch the video at the bottom.  Enjoy!  And don’t forget to get out and support your local arts in person…
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On This Day In:
2021	Losing One’s Edge
	Can I Get An Up Front Seat?
2020	Are You Sure?
	Who Could It Be?
2019	Living Art
	Day 7: Week 1 – Mathematics
2018	Hey, #45: Are We Sick Of Winning, Yet?
	Day 40: Wrists
2017	Heart Vision
2016	A Labor Day / Pre-Election Hope
	Trust Me, Too
2015	Without Hope
	Things Known And Unknown
2014	A Wall Too High, A Bridge Too Far
2013	Glory = Danger
	Chicago Magic
	Feelin’ It
2012	How Did We Get Here?
2011	Labor Day Weekend Mishmash
	More, More, More

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Memorial Day Video

This weekend especially, I pray for our brave warriors, who are willing to place themselves in harms way to keep us safe.  God Bless You All.

(Thank you Russ at:  http://russtowne.com/2013/05/27/memorial-day-video/ and beebee at:  http://beebeesworld.wordpress.com/.)

beebeesworld

Beautiful tribute to our veterans

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