I’m writing today from on top a mastiff. My boy Mack is lounged over top of my legs, so I’m using his right shoulder as a desk for my laptop as I click away at the keys. He seems unbothered so far. We shall see how long this lasts. Mastiffs play a key role in todays musings…

It was 9:45 p.m. on New Year’s Eve. I was putting a puzzle together on my laptop (Jigidi.) It was a puzzle of the Lowchen breed of dog. They are pretty rare. Ziva, our English Mastiff kept pestering my wife and I. She did not care what day it was, it was past our bedtime. She kept bothering me until I got up and did the nightly rituals before walking up the stairs to the bedroom. Once there we watched a little television, and Ziva was content to lay in one of her two beds keeping watch over us. We were asleep by 11:15 p.m. Holidays mean nothing to an animal. Cultural practices mean nothing. What separates us from the animal kingdom is a brain that can monitor the passage of time in larger intervals than sunrise and sunset. Dogs and cats remind us daily of how insignificant our cultural traditions are in the big scheme of things.

Speaking of mastiffs. We had a plethora of snack foods for our New Year’s Eve meal. Cookies, Breads, Cheeses, Spinach Artichoke Dip and an Artichoke spread. The dogs noticed. They eyed our stash more intently than a normal meal. The feed me eyes and slobber slingers were present. Pavlov must have experienced mastiffs in his conditioning experiments. Our three ginormous pups would have been excellent subjects. The dogs somehow knew that something was a little bit out of the routine, as they were ready for some snacks. They ate well… trust me…

We drove to the Cedar Rapids, IA metroplex on a geocaching, thrift store trip yesterday. As the day progressed the driving of our fellow motorists got worse. When we returned home to the QC the number of motorists who forgot to turn on their headlights or drive a legitimate speed (within 10 of the speed limit) had multiplied by a factor of four. We almost got t-boned less than four blocks from home by a motorist with no lights on at an intersection. The streetlights were on, but alas let’s drive a jeep without headlights… I feel they tossed what was left of their common sense out with the trash this week… This type of behavior appears to be common here in the Quad Cities whenever a holiday approaches. Visitors? Some. Residents? Often. I dissent with that driving nonsense. I just wish people paid attention to patterns.

Fireworks!!! What is the fascination with blowing s*** up? I have never understood the personal desire to set off fireworks. My reasons for never setting off fireworks include: It is a risk to your body, it is a risk to someone else’s property, and it costs a s*** ton of money. Why set fire to several hundred/thousand dollars when you can spend that on debt, food, or experiences (like travel?) There is another issue with fireworks. It terrifies the animals. Whether the animals are wild or domesticated fireworks explosions are deafening and the shockwave disrupts the nervous system. Our mastiffs are not fans of fireworks. They huddle with us humans for reassurance. I do not understand our species obsession with destruction. It is primitive.

Am I against fireworks displays? No. I do not mind cities, private agencies, or community groups that are trained to do a fireworks celebration. I enjoy one every now and again, but every New Year’s or American “Independence Day?” No thanks. I would rather spend Independence Day at a re-enactment of the signing (reading) of the Declaration of Independence. Better yet, I would rather watch Hamilton. Fireworks are an overdone cliche. Regardless of the culture or place in the world the use of fireworks is really an excuse to exercise our violent urgings. It isn’t a true celebration of anything… Ha Ha He He… We blew s*** up… It wuz cool!!! Rock on!!! (Gen. X Beavis and Butthead reference)

Parades… It’s a tradition… blah blah blah… It’s a cultural practice… blah blah blah… Unless we are marching for equality, to eliminate hunger, demand world peace, or remove zealots from political office I find the act of parading in a social context… a waste of energy. I’ve marched hundreds of parades as a musician. I’ve worn a bass drum, snare drum, tenors, carried a tuba, sousaphone, baritone, trombone, or trumpet in different stages of my career. The pomp and circumstance the public likes to see is a weary exercise in self gratification or self importance. The Macy’s parade? It is a multi-hour commercial with lip synching. It’s an honor to have your marching ensemble selected… If the expenses to New York were paid by the invitee, then it would be an honor. Why do we need to have organic matter on all of our floats in the Rose Parade??? I think we could solve the homeless problem in Southern California with the amount of money spent on the Rose Parade. Do the floats look nice? Sure, but they rot within days of the event. Thousands of man hours… trashed…

The only parade I have gone to since retiring from band directing was our local Pride parade. I support equality and this parade deserves my support. I never marched the Rose, Orange, Fiesta, blah blah blah parade, but I did march the Red River Festival Parade in Winnipeg, Manitoba (Canada.) That was the longest parade I ever marched. It took us 90 minutes to finish. We marched between four or five miles. My arms were eight feet long from carrying my baritone horn. I can only imagine what my tuba playing friends felt like… or our drummers… Parades are not what they are cracked up to be… my opinion. I left out Mardi Gras as I have not experienced it. This is a completely different cultural tradition outside my range of experience.

I feel for first responders having to enforce temporary parking bans, traffic snarls, rude people, and safety issues. Any time you bring the public out to an event like that it is a hassle. Then all you hear about the event is the tragedy that might happen rather than a community celebration. Parades… I dissent with thee…

Resolutions… waste of time. I set goals. I did not accomplish my full list of goals. I accomplished the geocaching goal. I didn’t accomplish my reading goal. My writing goal was a bit demanding, but I managed to write once or twice a week. I am finding that if I write at that pace, I enjoy it more. I can think and develop ideas. Writing more than that, begins to be a job. I’m not a reporter, I’m an observer… I share an opinion and reflect on what I take in. My blog is evolving away from full on politics… My goals this year? Read more… Learn more… Create a geo-art (in progress)… Work on replacing hundred year old windows slowly and methodically…

What are your goals? Write them out… whittle at them. Some progress is better than no progress. What observations of cultural traditions do you scoff at or dissent with? You may not be alone in that observation. BTW, I never understood why New Year’s Day corresponds with January 1. If I was in charge, I would set the winter solstice (summer solstice in the Southern hemisphere) as the start of the New Year. Or we could flip that to the summer solstice (winter solstice in the Southern hemisphere) as the start. I just think aligning ourselves with our star makes more sense… but what do I know… I’m just an old musician… Be at peace everyone… …so it goes…