T.G.I.F. Friday: Volume 72

Welcome to “Thank God I’m FI” Friday, Volume #72!

Here are some things I really like and that you might too.

Financial Independence/Retirement Articles

Retiring into Uncertainty (Landshark) – “That said, I really hope this current war doesn’t turn into a nuclear holocaust, but if it does, I doubt that I’d feel better if I was still employed.”

The Survival Instinct of Money (More To That) – “Money often evokes fear because it triggers our sense of survival.“

Video

Like most of us I’m guessing, I sometimes fall into YouTube rabbit holes. One night last week I found myself (re) watching the Kennedy Center Honors concert for Led Zeppelin.  If you’re not familiar with them, the Kennedy Center Honors series has famous artists paying tribute to a legendary artist.  For the Zeppelin show, they chose Heart to play Stairway to Heaven, probably the most famous song in rock history.  And holy crap did the Wilson sisters blow the roof of the place or what?  My absolute favorite moment is at timestamp 5:48 when the choir really kicks in after the guitar solo and you see Jimmy Page’s reaction.  He’s like “Fuck yeah!”, it’s pure joy.  He does it again at 6:15.  Robert Plant looks like he might cry. 

I could watch this over and over again, it gives me goosebumps.  Ann Wilson still sounds like she did in 1977 and whoever had the idea of the choir is a genius.

What I’m Grateful For

That a crash I was involved with in one of my recent cycling races was minor.  I didn’t get hurt, was able to fix the damage to my bike myself, and things could have turned out waaaay worse.

Lyrically Speaking

You need not to climb mountain tops
You need not to cross the sea
You need not to find a cure
For everything that makes you weak
You need not to reach for the stars
When life becomes so dark
And when the wind does blow against the grain
You must follow your heart  

From “Against The Grain” by City And Colour  

City And Color is one of the monikers of Canadian singer-songwriter Dallas Green.  His name is a city and a color, so there you have it.  After stints in several bands in the early 2000’s including a hardcore band Green started releasing songs independently on the internet in 2005 during the halcyon days of MySpace.  His ethereal voice and songwriting chops immediately got him noticed.  For my money he has one of the most unique voices in modern rock today.  His almost-falsetto is soothing, airy, and floats in a way that elevates his lyrics. 

The song highlighted above is a bare-bones acoustic guitar and harmonica piece from 2005, but if that’s not your taste check out his last few albums.  His sound has developed into full-on indie rock with lush instrumentation and excellent production. 

And those lines above….  well lets just say I’m trying to follow mine.  Big things might be on the horizon 🙂

Miscellaneous

Exercise shown to release protein reducing bowel cancer risk – “Scientists at Newcastle University have shown that physical activity causes the cancer-fighting protein, interleukin-6 (IL-6), to be released into the bloodstream which helps repair the DNA of damaged cells.“

Monitoring Employees Makes Them More Likely to Break Rules – “We found that monitored employees were substantially more likely to take unapproved breaks, disregard instructions, damage workplace property, steal office equipment, and purposefully work at a slow pace, among other rule-breaking behaviors.“

30,000-Year-Old Baby Mammoth Found Almost Perfectly Preserved in Canadian Gold Fields – “A gold miner found a mummified baby woolly mammoth in the Trʼondëk Hwëchʼin Traditional Territory in Yukon, Canada. “