Gave the Miata a drink this morning and paid nearly $3.50 a gallon for the higher octane juice it prefers. Gas prices are heading upward, which doesn't exactly break my heart. While I dislike spending more of my earnings just to fill the tank (though, let's face it, filling up a Miata's little gas tank every couple of weeks is hardly a major expense), $4.00 a gallon for regular fuel seemed, last time 'round, to be the tipping point to noticeable behavior change. Most of the ginormous oversized vehicles that people were using for their daily commute were parked and small fuel-efficient vehicles became all the rage. Traffic was noticeably lighter, public transit ridership was up, people actually talked about trip-chaining, and suddenly hybrid vehicles gained serious public buy-in. Those changes for the positive, in my opinion, are worth the added cost at the pump. And it only puts us about 20 years behind most of Europe.
Some morning playlists flow beautifully from one tune to the next, seemingly engineered for continuity. This morning, however, the transition from the mellow and smooth duet of Chris Botti's trumpet and Sting's crooning of the standard In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning was jarringly followed by Pink Floyd's crunchy Young Lust. There simply isn't a good possible segue between those two tracks. The rest of the playlist worked together just fine, and all of the tracks are good tunes in their own space.
I have no idea why an Alabama-born funk and jazz trumpeter (Fred Wesley), best known for his work with James Brown, should use the British spelling of "neighbourhood" for one of his track titles, but there it is. Spelling curiosity aside, this is a great album (Amalgamation, 2006) from a very good musician.
The full playlist:
- Chris Botti & Sting: In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning
- Pink Floyd: Young Lust
- The Beatles: From Me To You
- Fred Wesley: My Neighbourhood
- Phil Keaggy: Paka
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