Remember when Tom Petty was considered cutting edge? When he was breaking new ground in rock and roll? When a new album from the Heartbreakers raised people's expectations? When it mattered? It wasn't all that long ago. Even in the 1990's, TP was doing interesting things. Now he is playing the Super Bowl. It IS pretty cool to see this, but think about this: the NFL went to rock and roll for their Super Bowl half time show in the aftermath of the Janet Jackson-Justin Timberlake wardrobe malfunction, i.e. they wanted something safe, clean, and non-controversial. Acts like the Stones, Prince, and TP.

Have our standards of "wholesomeness" come to include rock and roll, the supposed soundtrack of rebellion and the counter culture? Or has rock and roll de-evolved to the point of being synonymous with "Up With People"? I suppose the truth is somewhere in the middle, but seeing Tom Petty at the Super Bowl is blowing my mind right now. He looks old, Christ, his roadie looks old. And where is Benmont Tench? Oh there he is, it was the full head of white hair.

Great, now he is on King of the Hill.

Another glorious fall day

I suppose I am quite a romantic, in that I tend to glorify the things that I love. Fall is one of them. The leaves here in Virginia are spectacular, as are the fall colors in Michigan. The beautiful part about the Michigan fall is the contrast between the vibrant autumnal burst of festive colors and the verdant grass lands. The Virginia fall is as colorful as the one I had experienced in Michigan but it does not have the desired effect due to the lack of a green background, although the blue skies are spectacular enough.

You can tell the weather is changing ever so slightly. The bite of the wind is such that the shivers are climbing up my spine early in the morning. The breeze that confronts me as I step out is ever so much more bracing than the same breeze two weeks ago. The humidity has dropped noticeably too, I am no longer covered in sweat whenever I step out of doors.

The smell of autumn is become more noticeable, that scent of cold earth and dead leaves combined with the smell of colder weather to remind me that my favorite time of the year is here, for however fleeting a moment. Of course, cocommittant with the weather are the holidays. Contrary to most, I much prefer Thanksgiving, the forgotten holiday. The holiday that is between Halloween and Christmas, the placeholder holiday. I love it because it comes in the middle of the autumn and it celebrates the harvest, a quaint and agrarian thought, one that we in our industrial age dominant thinking don't appreciate as much as we should.

The thought of giving thanks to nature for the bounty in which we participate comes straight from the heart and not from Wall Street. It is also in line with my Asian roots, of giving thanks to the land for its fertility. To say nothing of roast turkey, giblet gravy, mashed potatoes, and pumpkin pies.