FIVE SECOND STORIES

His wife's new suitor was a red-winged blackbird who went by the name of RW. Whenever he saw her outside, he would fly up and sing to her.

Most folks gave the politician a backhanded compliment: "he's more vain than greedy."

Do not invite squirrels to your wedding. They will memorably ruin it.

The attempt at making a calzone failed with the crust having the chewiness of beef jerky.

An older couple discovered that their elderly cat had learned to read a clock. This cat also had developed a disagreeable habit of waking them at 5am. So, they set the clocks behind two hours which solved the issue although they struggled to keep remembering that they had done so.

One difference between him and his wife was that he could not abide spoilers, whether it be for film or book. A capital offense, he would grouse whenever someone violated his code. She, on the other hand, couldn't give a fig. But, she loved her husband and the adjustment of behavior on her part was quite slight in order to keep peace between them.

He and his brother were both born in September, prematurely. He wondered if his parents had a fun, private ritual that they always made love on Valentine's Day.

 

 

WINNING THE LOTTERY

 

A local guy won a one million dollar lottery and chose the lump sum payout option. He pockets a mere $634,000. Yikes! Talk about being taxed at the maximum rate, far above what the billionaire class ever pays. Sure, it's apples to oranges but geez, you'd think the State could put a bit more icing on this guy's good fortune. It feels like a penalty for taking lump sum rather than the 30 year payment scheme.

 

SQUIRREL NAMING

 

One of three nest mates who could very well be the last litter by Rolla. He caught our eye with his fearless behavior-he counted coup during the dustup between his smaller sibling (runt or female) with Mamachuck; another day Mamachuck was doing something typical, half in and out of her apartment under the shed-this guy just walks up within three feet which freaked Mama out enough to retreat, he just walked away; the big crow, who is featured in an earlier blog and stationed on the pool deck railing-dude here calmly walked under the deck; while he hasn't come up yet for peanuts (most squirrels sees us and run away), he doesn't flee, nor does he flee when he encounters Molls lounging on the deck. He really seems to be his Mother's son so we have named him Bhadra, short for Virabhadra. This is a mythic Hindu warrior who was a fierce manifestation of the God Shiva.

We saw the first black squirrels last Summer perhaps a couple of times. This April we saw this guy and occasionally two others. He has several bare spots on his side and back-perhaps attacks by predators. We named him Kieran-Irish for "little dark one".

YOGA ON THE DECK

C and Molls doing their evening yoga on the deck, to the background serenade of soloists RW and Mr. Red Bird and many others in the chorus.

Sun yoga

 

IN MEMORIAM: ROLLA

 

We sadly suspect that Rolla has died. We first met in the Summer of '19 and she has been our primary backyard squirrel since. I last saw her this May. Fox squirrels can live 18 years in captivity but it is noted in Wiki that most never see adulthood. For those that do, the maximum life expectancy for females is 12 years, 8 for males. I think we met Rolla when she was one for early photos do not show a mommy pooch that are apparent in recent pix. 

As I said in my initial post about her, Rolla's name was the feminization of Roland, the legendary warrior. She showed little fear of us or the cats, boldly grabbing peanuts a couple of feet away. Soon, she came to recognize us and would come on the pool railing or back deck and wait for some peanuts to be tossed her way. Later, C was thrilled to be able to open the slider screen and feed her by hand.

Now, she may have relocated although I cannot imagine why she would given the uninterrupted access to food. Who knows? If she has passed on, well, safe journey my friend. We enjoyed sharing the space with you. 

MR CROW

 

Early in the evening yesterday, a large crow came and perched on the pool deck railing directly across from C's office window. With our routine peanut throwing for the squirrels and jays (who also appear on the railing), it seemed like word had gotten around to the crows. I tossed out peanuts from the Great Room slider onto the deck but the crow flew off. It turned out to be a coy feint as he returned two minutes later stuffing three into his mouth, tried for a fourth before flying off. Repeat.

A guy after my own heart: why make three trips when you can do it in one?

SUMMER CRUISING MUSIC: TODD RUNGDREN "HELLO IT'S ME" 1972

QUICK FILM REVIEWS

A couple of off-beat films:

Nine Days-an arbiter interviews candidate souls for a singular position of becoming a living human being that has opened up. They must make it through nine days of questioning and be the final one chosen. Meanwhile, they learn about humans by watching an array of TV screens featuring the life POV of previous candidates that the arbiter had chosen. 

More than a whiff of "The Good Place" permeates this film complete with a constant flow of profound moral questions of "what would you do?" under circumstances such as "do you sacrifice one person's life to save many?" But where TGP was much lighter, this film is more serious and frankly, the choice the candidates have to make is rather harsh. Original and thought provoking. First feature by director Edson Oda with a fairly unknown cast.

Dean Spanley-set in Edwardian England when seances, reincarnation and the Theosophical Society were all the rage. Peter O'Toole stars in one of his final films as a wealthy curmudgeon Fisk, Jeremy Northam as his ever-suffering son Young Fisk and Sam Neill as the Dean. Essentially a shaggy-dog comedy (literally) where Dean, despite being a clergyman, is very much interested in the transmigration of souls. Indeed, he reveals to his new friend Young Fisk, after being plied with a rare and expensive Hungarian Tokay wine, that he remembers his life as a dog. 

Interesting and funny film although O'Toole is looking painfully cadaverous through the eyes. I felt it ended a bit too treacly Dickensian but perhaps that's just how it struck me.

Found on Prime via a trial period with STARZ.

SKY THE SQUIRREL

  

Sky with missing piece from tail, Mamachuck keeping an eye on things.

We were having supper last evening at the dining table watching the comings and goings of our wild friends in the backyard. Two of what we believe are squirrel litter mates were scrounging peanuts and sunflower seed around the giving stone. One, who had come from the East to rescue his mate during the bugtussle with Mamachuck, was sporting a 3" rectangle missing from tail. In fact, all the hair was gone all the way to the bony tail spine. We speculated as to the cause of removal: a big fight with another species or some kind of adulthood initiation like a notch taken from an ear in humans. At least with their species, the hair will grow back. 

We bantered names- literary: Noam Chompsky; ironic: Lucky; basic: Chunk and imagined the two siblings discussing the tail incident: 

"You're lucky to be alive" snapped his sibling. "That's what you get living off to the East by yourself. Strength in numbers, you idiot". 

Over the days, I noted a behavior quirk: he often looks skyward. Sometimes while he is on all fours while snacking, other times while prairiedogging. I named him Skyeye or Sky'ye or just plain Sky. I wonder if his tail wound was caused by an avian or is he just a curious guy?

A STORM CHASER'S TERRIFYING ENCOUNTER

 

Bear's Cage: a storm chaser colloquialism. From Wiki: The "bear's cage" refers to the area under a rotating wall cloud(and any attendant tornadoes), which is the "bear", and to the blinding precipitation (which can include window-shatteringly large hail) surrounding some or all sides of a tornado, which is the "cage". Most chasers strive to avoid this part of the storm.

The veteran storm chaser came across a nasty one in west Texas. F2 if not larger, at least a half mile across, reddish brown in color from the dust it was picking up. Thanks to the road system in that part of the state, he had to make a difficult approach but managed to stay in front of the beast. It was coming in from his right at about 60 degrees. Suddenly, it picked up speed forcing the chaser to make a split-second decision: outrun or hang back. He decided on the former and gunned his car. The roar of the twister was quite loud now and bearing down on him at 90 degrees, resembling a violent brown mist. He had to keep an eye on the road too and it's just as well. He remembered an Indigenous folktale warning against staring too long at the spinning wind lest it hypnotizes you into inaction and the storm ingests you.

He managed to get past the twister and prepared for the  heavy winds, hail and low visibility chaos in the Bear's Cage. He had been here before.The car was pelted with golf ball-sized hail that cracked his windshield in three places and blew out his rear window.  As the hail tapered, he took a good look around and to his left, saw another tornado forming up behind her older sister. He was in between them. He was heard to say "Had to do it" while the camera showed eight seconds of RFD horizontally pushing a brown mist around him. The video ends.

MESOCYCLONES

 

Mesocyclones are a development within a supercell thunderstorm where intense tornadoes form. These formations are known amongst storm chasers as Motherships.

AH, CAPITALISM

 

He was camped out in his mother's Palm Beach condo. She was in Europe for the season. He needed some spending money and one of his monetizing schemes was to create an 5 hour bossa nova soundtrack on YouTube as background music for studying or chilling out. Money would come in via advertisers and accumulated clicks from viewers. He needed an image so he set up his camcorder looking out on his Mom's patio overlooking the ocean and left to run errands. When he returned all seemed ok until he replayed the vid. Almost from the start in the lower left hand corner was a bug whose dark shape was contrasted against the bright Florida sky. "Fuck!" he spat out as he hit forward. The bug moved a bit but was still there 2-3 hours into the vid. "This just sucks" he thought. He was in a hurry and had multiple irons in the fire and didn't want to spend the time reshooting. An idea popped into his head: what if he just posted it as is. Give the potheads a bit of a mind-fuck. Is the bug on the vid or on their TV? He nearly cackled with delight of his twofer creation and loaded it on YouTube. 

A couple of months later, he received a curious post on the comment section. There seemed to be a growing number of devotees to this vid who had watched all 6 hours! It turns out that about 3 and a half hours into the playing time, a cat appears. A tabby/calico mix, she first wanders across the top of the patio fence then some lounging and cleaning. The cat is on screen for a good 45 minutes!!! The cat became a celebrity of sorts and had succeeded in creating a fan club. He marvelled at his skyrocketing numbers and the money that was coming in. You can just never tell what will catch on with the public! Ahh, the sweet smell of success.

WILD MOLLS

The bath area has become a prime hunting spot for Molls. Yesterday morning C, while exercising in the Great Room, watched in horror as Molls casually reached up and snatched a goldfinch who was perched on the edge taking a drink. We have a standard saying about our felines: deep down, part of them is still on the Serengeti. I'm going to pull out the familiar Attenborough voice-over trope:

Here we see Grey Molly in one of her favorite hunting grounds. Nineteen years old this August, she is still an active hunter. Her rippling grey coat echoes the color of the bath and retaining stones. Lying prone and moving little, her ears are erect, listening for prey flying in or potential ground foes-squirrels and other cats. Unlike her much larger cousins in the Serengeti, getting a kill for herself and her family is not a necessity. She is a well-fed domestic cat. Nevertheless, Grey Molly is doing what all cats do, which is hunting, retaining her natural wild instincts.

 

THE DOMAINS OF ENERGIZED CREATURES

In an earlier post, I had mentioned the annual appearance of fireflies. There are other light-emitting creatures that exist in particular domains.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                Doug Perrine

Bioluminescence-a number of creatures are found throughout marine habitats, from the ocean surface to the deep seafloor. One lovely folktale describes the above photo as a tapestry woven by mermaids.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                Arctic-Images

Aurora borealis-Energized particles from the sun slam into the ionosphere where Earth's magnetic field deflects these particles towards the Poles. These dancing lights to many ancient cultures represented spirits of the air.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                    John Sirlin

                                                                                                                                                                                                            Stephane Vetter

Sprites-Red Sprites can appear directly above an active thunderstorm 31-56 miles above the cloud top as a large but weak flash. They usually happen at the same time as powerful positive cloud to ground lightning strokes. Sprites are mostly red and usually last no more than a few seconds, and their shapes are described as resembling jellyfish, carrots, or columns. Because sprites are not very bright, they can only be seen at night. They are rarely seen with the human eye, so they are most often imaged with highly sensitive cameras.  

NEW PAWEL KUCZYNSKI ILLUSTRATIONS

 

Hope that the next generations will fully address the issue.

Fox News, QAnon and their toxic ilk. Don't think, just be afraid.

             "Journalist (vox populi)" who are getting killed at an ever increasing rate for doing their job.

NEW BOOK RELEASE FROM INTER-SPECIES BOOKS

 

THE SEVEN STONE GIANTS OF MANPUPUNER

 

click to enlarge

 

 

These 7 stone pillars are located in the Komi Republic, an autonomous region in Russia west of the Ural Mountains. Created some 200-300 million years ago, the pillars are the result of wind and erosion during the last ice age. Note scale to humans on top photo.

FIVE SECOND STORIES

He drove a Jaguar F type and was an asshole. He regularly challenged other sports car drivers to some high speed hi-jinks on the perpetually bumpy, four lane, 40 mph main artery in the city. His rear bumper sticker, located by the duo exhausts read "louder than your girlfriend last night".

Despite his efforts, the Japanese dappled willows were dying one by one. He tried to give them dignity in their final days by cutting out the deadwood so that as sparse as it was, all that could be seen was living.

A leading university began a study looking at the incidence of male rage and the frequency of Roundup use. 

His wife was dismayed that her husband was walking the dog most evenings with the leash attached to his pants belt. 

The author began work on a new novel set in the early '70's NYC about 2 hookers whose street names were Svelte Pelt and Cherry Pie. 

She was appalled when first meeting her new daughter-in-law's family. One sister wore a low, scoop-neck top that revealed a Confederate flag tattooed across her chest. "Heart of Dixie", while not written, was clearly implied. 

The professor noted that freshman Chinese girls in her class who were from Sichuan, Shaanxi and Gansu had a tried and true strategy as an ice breaker with American students, especially girls. They would share that they came from Panda country and this would be met with excited enthusiasm from the Americans.

He was a "git 'er done" kind of guy, one who had little patience for others who were hapless (in his opinion) in their actions. Once at a cookout at a friend's place in the country, there was going to be a bonfire after supper. Attempts to light the pyre kept failing and failing so he took action. He squirted 14 oz of lighter fluid into a big drink cup, walked over and flung it on the wood. He hollered out to folks a heads-up as to what was about to happen. After giving it a couple of beats, he threw a rolled wad of lit newspaper into the wood which ignited with a woosh startling many. He grinned, grabbed a glass of merlot and pulled up a lawn chair.

 

ADVANCED FILIUM TECHNOLOGY!!

          Ad quote "Intelligent transitional pieces for after work adventures!!!"                

Last week I saw an ad in the NYT trumpeting a new clothing line called Ably that features the Advanced Filium Technology. So, just what is AFT? What is Filium? We won't tell you. Have to kill you if we do. But what we can tell you is this (direct quote):

Imagine... a life where your clothes refuse to smell anything but fresh after weeks of wearing. 

That's right, those stubborn bastards just won't reek. Why, this stuff is miraculous and oh so Earth Conscious for all those virtual signalling devotees. 

Ably Clothes:

Anti-stink!

Quick dry!

Anti-stain!

Nano free!

Well, call up the Vatican-we have a bona fide miracle on our hands here! I mean, Christ Almighty, NANO FREE!

Testimonial from a grateful Mom:

"I have three teenaged boys who like most boys their age, smell like goats. I have to put on a haz-mat suit to go into their rooms to gather up dirty clothes as you know they are incapable of putting them into the clothes chute. Now, thanks to Advanced Filium Technology, the clothes are good for weeks! Now, I only have to enter rooms to collect dirty dishes and rotting food! Thank you sweet Jesus for AFT!!!"

My reaction was to shake my head WTF. This is clearly designed with the monied urbanites in mind. With all the things that are in sore need to be addressed on this planet, what is R&D investment being spent on? Let's help people out so they don't have to launder so often. OK, marginally Earth Conscious (cost of power to run the washer and dryer, use of precious water etc) but really? I'm sure the AFT folks would argue that they are on the cutting edge of clothing technology. All ready to roll when all the water is gone out West. They may be dying of dehydration, but at least they ain't stinking!

Nevertheless, I feel this ranks up there with other insanity such as creating sentient AI, space shots to the Moon and Mars and building $13 billion air craft carriers that can be taken out with a couple of cruise missiles. Such a waste of money and effort.

IN MEMORIAM: ROSIE MARIE MEHAFFEY

 

April 3, 1951 - June 18, 2022

Rosie was part of a circle of friends I met in the late '80s when I worked for the Lansing Art Gallery. We didn't know each other well but I can say that to my memory, there never was a cross word spoken between us. Rosie was good people and I am afraid this photo does not do her justice as when one would meet her, her eyes would spark up and you would receive a warm smile and greeting.

She is survived by her artist husband Mark and her beloved poodle Keshi as well as several siblings.

Fare thee well, Rosie.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

WELCOME HOME

C and I were playing around with mural ideas for the garage. Here is one.

SOLSTICE EVENING

 

First of the big daylilies began blooming.

 

Persian Shield and Scaveola, Calla Lilies by the Calla fountain, the raised bed with peppers, marigolds and coleus.

Molls hanging out, it was pretty warm for the poor dear in her fur pajamas.

Snow on the Mountain and Lily of the Valley in the back.

 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                            DTW

In the deepening twilight, the fireflies were active.

LIL CHUCKETTE, BIG MAMA AND INTER-SPECIES SQUABBLE

 

Our newest denizen of the Back 40 has made its first appearance! We spotted the Chuckette following her Mama last evening as the pair galloped to our place from Benny's next door. The little one immediately went into their apartment while Mama grazed on some grass. Evidently, this year it's been Mama that we have seen, not Chuck. As I noted in an earlier post, Mama and the squirrels have been pretty peaceful eating in close proximity until a couple of days ago when a squabble broke out. One of the latest gen of Fluffers was snacking under the feeder with Mama nearby when this youngun got ticked off about something. Now, if you have spent any time watching these critters, you will have noticed that they can be intensely agitated, loud, quarrelsome, tail twitching creatures. Their attitude if they were human:

Frank Sutton as Sgt. Carter on the '60's show "Gomer Pyle"

The young squirrel had been upright eating a seed when he pivoted around, went to all fours and faced Mama who was nonchalantly munching grass. Fluff went quite still and stared intently for about five beats then began moving closer, with eyes fixed. Surely a sign of aggression. Mama turned to ignore him but Fluff was having none of that. Mama got annoyed and whirled around sending Fluff into a vocal and tail twitching frenzy. His calls must have been a flare because to Mama's left and probably out of her line of sight came running another squirrel. This squirrel came flying up and joined his buddy and they feigned an attack. Mama wheeled to face them both when the newcomer rushed up close and touched her, reminiscent of the counting coup practice by the Plains tribes.  Mama turned her back again to ignore as the Fluffs ran off 20 feet away and held. We ended up with a Good, Bad and Ugly triangle:

In the end, tempers cooled and all parties wandered off.

UPDATE: Last night, there was a trio of young Fluffs snacking around the feeder. We think they are litter mates. They seemed quite familiar with each other and getting close which we think would not happen if they are stranger. Curious behavior: there was a frequent behavior where one would feint a charge on another. It reminded me of young boys who raise their fist to each other but it's all a mock attack. Certainly a favorite of older bullies upon freshman. But, I think in this case, it's a kind of young squirrel training: Don't be complacent while having a snack. Keep your guard up at all times! Be aware and stay alive!
 

 

HAPPY SUMMER SOLSTICE!

 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                        JessicaPhoto

THANKS, ASSHOLES RANT

 

The other day, we were coming home and noticed a helicopter circling low just ahead of us. Then we saw intersections being blocked by the police. I later read in the local paper that there had been a manhunt for a wanted, armed man. Days later, I was chatting with my neighbor about the incident and he asked if I had received a "shelter in place (SIP)" warning from the authorities. Both he and the neighbor across the street had gotten the call. I had not. No call, no text. Odd, I thought as I have received them from MSU in the past.

Is this the future envisioned by the Republicans as they slobber to gin up support of their base of 2nd Amendment nutjobs? As one politician remarked after the Uvalde shootings, "the public just needs to get used to reality", one that the Republicans have created: a citizenry armed to the teeth. "Get used to it you pussies. Stop whining and buy yourself a gun and be one of the good guys with guns who will stop the bad guys" is their mantra. SIPs will become commonplace to the point no one bothers to pay attention. 

This is not the environment I wish to live in, one that is slowly being forced upon me. Thanks assholes. 

What is conveniently forgotten (yeah, I know Bin, our lot as apes) is that one of the great uber-heros of the European push Westward, Wyatt Earp, openly violated the modern vision of 2nd Amendment rights. In the cattle towns in Kansas where he was sheriff, he banned guns within the city limits. Why? Having everyone armed to the teeth and getting blasted on rock-gut whisky meant there was a lot of gun play. The corpses were building up and ordinary citizens hollered that they and their families didn't feel safe. What really pushed the issue was not the aforementioned reasons. Nope, it was bad for business. The Earps and others had business interests in these towns and having constant murders in and around their establishments hurt their bottom line. So they, the authorities, began to confiscate guns. It was precisely this action years later, in Tombstone AZ, that led to the infamous "Gunfight at the OK Corral" where once again, the Earps were involved.

So, will the pendulum swing back to saner times? Not for awhile, I fear. Only a massive groundswell of citizenry, fed up with the constant gun violence and death, who finally wise up start booting out of office the dumbasses they employ, will things change. Probably not in my lifetime. We can have school kids in body bags by the hundreds and things won't change. Yeah, the same hypocritical bastards who wail and gnash teeth over the sanctity of the unborn, but then couldn't give a shit about them after their birth, will pivot as they are now and vehemently oppose any restriction to their precious guns. 

UPDATE: being trumpeted as the most important Federal gun control bill in 20 (yep 20) years, Congress actually did something. This best that can be said about it is that it is better than nothing. It's a flimsy tissue covering a gaping wound. It passed only because the GOP thought it was politically expedient to look like they give a shit about murdered school kids. Almost immediately, those Senators who voted for it are being targeted for removal. My view is that it's an exercise of "we did something, now shut up for the next 20 years-we have more important things to do." Like turning America into a theocracy.

A RARE BIRD INDEED

What luck! Yesterday, I was in the right place at the right time photographing this cardinal. I didn't think he was molting: too early in the season and pictures I have seen, they tend to molt heavily top down. So, I sent my images to MSU Extension and here was their reply:

Dear Jeff, here's the response to your question:

Hello and thanks for your inquiry. This is a rare and great sighting! It looks like you spotted a "partially leucistic" male northern cardinal. The link below provides more information on variations of this trait and explains other types of abnormal colorations observed in cardinals.

https://www.sibleyguides.com/2011/08/abnormal-coloration-in-birds-melanin-reduction/

"This is probably the most commonly seen plumage abnormality in wild birds. This mutation is extremely variable in appearance, as birds can have just a few white feathers scattered on any part of the body, or whole sections of the body white, or the entire body white (fully leucistic, above). The white feathers are often grouped in feather tracts, so that most of the head is white (as shown here), or some of the wing coverts are white, or most of the tail, etc."

Very cool!

CAMPFIRE ROULETTE

 

On a windy evening in late Spring, apes had built a fire and sat around it chatting and drinking beverages. The wind was swirly and was pushing hard and close to the apes. A female began screaming. "Ah, I nipped your ankle didn't I, my dear" said the fire.

HORSE TRADING TIPS

 

In the early '90s, C was married to a member of the French Olympic Equestrian team. They were involved in the buying, selling, transporting horse business to often very high end clients including the King of Morocco. She was telling me the other day about one of their marketing strategies: the best time to show an expensive horse is in the early evening so when the horse goes out for a "show" run, there is an interplay of light and shadow from the low-angled sun. The theory behind this is the thought that this time of day coincides with the natural melancholy in all of us, realizing that yet another day is waning, never to be seen again. Therefore the buyer, in the grips of sentimentality, would be more inclined to make the sale.

SATURDAY AFTERNOON

A steady stream of folks were in line to partake the waters at the bath where both drinking and bathing were allowed. All classes and races ate at the communal counter that was at elevation. At ground level, all were welcome as well. Where you ate was simply a matter of personal choice and comfort.

Occasionally, larger beings happened by for a meal, upsetting no one or even provoking skittishness. There seemed to be some mutual agreement between everyone to "chill, there's plenty for all and no one is looking to pick a fight".

The air was filled with song depending which groups lived in the area. Layers of sound: close, nearby and distant which changed as the singers moved around the neighborhood. This continued all afternoon while business waxed and waned. The giants were about but few thought it was cause for alarm.

As twilight approached, the number of participants dwindled at the bath and counter. The singing died down as well until there was only some persistent chap who just had to get the last word in before ceding the air waves to the night folks.

FIVE SECOND STORIES

He had been thrilled when the Grosbeak had visited his feeder one day in early May. The bird stayed a few days and left, continuing his breeding migration northward from Central America. For the next two years, the Grosbeak returned until one year it didn't. Part of him was wistfully missing this once a year visitor but he also grasped the reality that the bird probably didn't have a long lifespan. And to have survived those thousands of flying miles for three years. A small miracle in a world fully bursting with such events, all there for the viewing.

One of his wife's favorite gifts to him were cat themed socks.

Being brought up in the country, the first bird calls he remembers hearing were mourning doves and red-winged black birds.

Led Zeppelin soundtrack for many brokenhearted, straight, nineteen year old males from the early '70's: "Babe, I'm Gonna Leave You", "Dazed and Confused", and "Since I've Been Loving You".