Alternatives

Alternatives is a recurring post in which I give synonyms for an over used word. Click on the tab above for a "complete" list of over used words.

Today's word is:

Quick, what's the first synonym for the word end that comes to mind. No thinking about it. I came up with stop.  

"End", however, can be used in a number of different ways. I was a bit surprised.

For example:

stopping a process: cease, cutoff 

a real or imagined point beyond which you cannot go: boundary, cap, ceiling

an unused or unwanted item, usually small and of little value: scrap, oddment, refuse

something one hopes to accomplish: aim, ambition, dream

the last and usually sharp or tapering part of something long and narrow: apex, cusp, tip

the last part of a process or action: close, conclusion, finale

the line or narrow space that marks the outer limit of something: border, edge, rim, fringe

the permanent stopping of vital bodily functions: death, exit, fate

something belonging to, due to, or contributed by an individual member of a group: allotment, piece

Depending on how you use it, this list may come in handy for finding another way to say the same thing.

abeyance, aftermath, aim, allotment, allowance, ambition, annihilation, annul, anticlimax, apex, area, arrest/arrestment, aspect, aspiration, assassination, ax

balance, bar, barrier, border, borderline, bound, boundary, bourne/bourn, break/break off, brim, bring to a close, butt end

call off, cancel, cap/capper, cap stone, casualty, cease, ceiling, cessation, check, chip, climax, circumference, close/closing, closedown, closure, coda, come to a head, come to an end, compass, conclude/conclusion, confine/confines, consummation, copestone, coup de grace, crescendo, crown, culminate/culmination, curtail, curtains, cusp, cut, cutoff

deadline, death, decease, demise, denouement, design, desire, destination, destruction, discontinue/discontinuation, dissolution, dissolve , doom, downfall, draw to a close, dream, dying

edge/edging, endgame, epilogue, execution, expiration, exit, expiration, expiry, extent, extermination, extinction, extremity

fag end, fatality, fate, fence, field, finale, finis, finish, flake, fragment, frame, fringe, furthest point, foot

goal, grail, grand finale, grave, great devide

halt, head, hedge, heel, hem, holy grail, high-water mark, home stretch, hope

idea/ideal, intent/intention, interruption

kill/killing

lapse, layoff, leavings, leftover, letup, limit/limitation, line

margin, mark, martyrdom, massacre, meaning, meridian, mind, mop-up, moratorium, motive

neb, nib, nirvana

object/objective, oddment, odds and ends, offset, outside,

part, passage, passing, pause, peak, piece, perimeter, periphery, peroration, phase out, pickings, piece, pike, pinnacle, plan, plot, point, portion, postscript, pretension, project, prong, province, purpose, put an end,

quietus, quota

refuse, remain/remainder/remains, remnant, residual/residue, resolution, rest, restraint, ribbons, rim, ruin, ruination

scheme, scraps/scrapings, section, segment, self-destruction, self-murder, self-slaughter, shank, share, shred, shutoff, side, skirt/skirting, slaughter, sleep, slice, sliver, spire, splinter, standstill, stay, stop/stoppage, stub, stump, suicide, summit, surcease, suspension

tag end, tail, tail end, take, target, tatter, term, terminal/terminate/termination/terminus, thing, tip, top, tip-top,

ultimate

verge, vestige

wall, Waterloo, windup, wish, wrap-up

zenith

This was a  radical song when it came out in 1967. I was 17. Viet Nam was raging. Riots and protests were happening across the U. S. and tensions were high around the world.

Jim Morrison said of this song: "Everytime I hear that song, it means something else to me. It started out as a simple good-bye song... Probably just to a girl, but I see how it could be a goodbye to a kind of childhood. I really don't know. I think it's sufficiently complex and universal in its imagery that it could be almost anything you want it to be."

On the flip side... so as not to leave you broken and depressed... that same year The Beatles gave us, All You Need is Love.


My generation was schizophrenic. :)
Got a favorite alternative for the word end? Are you a Door and/or Beatles fan?

Where I Was

I usually post on Thursdays but about a week ago I realized that today is the 50th anniversary of John F. Kennedy's assassination.

Fifty years. Many of you probably weren't yet born and have no clear idea of how schizophrenic the '60s and early '70s were. There were horrible riots and the Summer of Love. The assassinations of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Bobby Kennedy and Woodstock. Viet Nam was funneled into our homes via the nightly news and we saw war in a way that had never been seen before but we also landed on the moon. The National Guard shot four students to death at Kent State and the Merry Pranksters took a road trip across the US.

For all the peace and love, drugs, sex and rock and roll, tune in, turn on and drop out, these were ten terribly turbulent years which, I think, began on November 22, 1963. It marked the end of innocence.

Sometime after 2:30 PM (JFK will killed at 12:30 central time which put the Virgin Islands 2 hours ahead) our school principal came into our classroom to make an announcement. That in itself was unusual because there was a PA system she could have used. I remember there was a worried or sad look on her face as she stood in front of the class and told us that our president, John F. Kennedy, had been assassinated, shot to death, in Dallas. She said our parents were being called and school would be let out early. We normally got out at 3:30, so our day was almost over anyway. It was also a Friday, so we had the week-end to try to wrap our heads around what had happened.

I was thirteen, very naive, and didn't understand the workings of government. I thought the United States was about to descend into some kind of anarchy, that civil war would break out and the country, as I knew it, would cease to exist.

It's odd, but that's really all I remember of that day. I'm sure when I was picked up, my parents explained things to me and that I was reassured. But I don't know. All I remember is how frightened I was.

Four years later, at 17, I got to spend a whole summer with a family in Arlington, Virginia. We kids were free to roam Washington, DC on our own. We spent a lot of time at the Smithsonian. I saw Macbeth on The Mall, walked up the Washington Monument twice, and stood at the feet of that great statue of Abraham Lincoln.

I also went to the Arlington National Cemetery.

The country didn't cease to exist. 

And that summer The Beatles came out with All You Need is Love. What a time to be a teenager.

Love, love, love
Love, love, love
Love, love, love

There's nothing you can do that can't be done
Nothing you can sing that can't be sung
Nothing you can say but you can learn how to play the game
It's easy

Nothing you can make that can't be made
No one you can save that can't be saved
Nothing you can do but you can learn how to be you in time
It's easy

All you need is love
All you need is love
All you need is love, love
Love is all you need

Love, love, love
Love, love, love
Love, love, love

All you need is love
All you need is love
All you need is love, love
Love is all you need

Nothing you can know that isn't known
Nothing you can see that isn't shown
Nowhere you can be that isn't where you're meant to be
It's easy

All you need is love
All you need is love
All you need is love, love
Love is all you need

All you need is love (All together, now!)
All you need is love (Everybody!)
All you need is love, love
Love is all you need
Love is all you need (Love is all you need)
Love is all you need (Love is all you need)
Love is all you need (Love is all you need)
Love is all you need (Love is all you need)
Love is all you need (Love is all you need)
Love is all you need (Love is all you need)
Love is all you need (Love is all you need)
Love is all you need (Love is all you need)
Love is all you need (Love is all you need)
Love is all you need (Love is all you need)
Love is all you need (Love is all you need)
Yee-hai! (Love is all you need)
Love is all you need (Love is all you need)

Yesterday (Love is all you need)
Love is all you need (Love is all you need)
Love is all you need (Love is all you need)
Love is all you need (Love is all you need)
Oh yeah! (Love is all you need)
She loves you, yeah yeah yeah (Love is all you need)
She loves you, yeah yeah yeah (Love is all you need)

What memories do you have that will always stay with you, where you'll always remember exactly where you were and what you were doing when you heard the news?

I have so many... Landing on the moon. The assassination of John Lennon. Apollo 13. The Challenger explosion. The tearing down of the Berlin Wall. The death of Jimi Hendrix. The first time I saw The Beatles on TV.

With a Little Luck

You still have plenty of time to sign up for my blogfest and gift give-away, click on the pumpkin above! 


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Many famous people have visited St. John. 


Back around 1965 or so, I was with a group of four or five friends walking along the beach in Cruz Bay when we saw two figures run down the pier and hop into a boat. They must have thought they were being chased by hoards of screaming teen-aged girls. 


But they weren't, it was just us. And we were singing the latest Dave Clark Five hit at the top of our lungs as we jumped up and down waving madly. We couldn't really see them all that clearly as they had towels over their heads, but we always felt it was Paul and Ringo running down the street.


Years later George stayed at Caneel Bay. There were a couple of evenings he showed up at the bar, and impromptu, picked up a guitar and played and sang. I'd love to be able to say I happened to be there the nights it happened, but alas I wasn't.

Left to right, Francis Bay, Lillie Maho (where we had our guest house) Big
Maho.

Now take a look at this photo. 


Back in May of 1977 three yachts anchored at Francis Bay.  There were all kinds of rumors.

This is a picture of a maho flower.
It's a tree hibiscus. 

And they were true. It was Paul McCartney and Wings. One of the yachts was called Fair Carol and was a recording studio. A second yacht was for the band. The third yacht was for Paul, Linda and their kids. 


No joke.They were anchored at Francis Bay from May 1st through the 31st.


They recorded seven songs that can be found on the album London Town.


With a little luck, we saw them occasionally. But no one ever took notice, which is probably why they picked St. John. They could wander around like other ordinary tourists. They could blend into the scenery like chameleons and enjoy themselves.



One of the songs they recorded at Francis Bay was, "With a Little Luck."


I like this early, rough version. Just Paul singing with his base line strong and clear.  You can almost hear the water washing on the shore, feel the rocking of the boat.


Have you ever been around anyone "famous"? Even met an idol in person?

It Was 47 Years Ago...

...today that the Fab Four played on the Ed Sullivan Show, introducing the U. S. to a whole new sound.

Some of you may remember. Some of you may not, having not been either too young or not born yet.

Why was their impact so profound? One thing to consider is we, as a nation were still in mourning. Just two months and 18 days before, on November 22, John F. Kennedy had been assassinated. We were confused, angry, sad and a whole lot of other emotions. Then came the Beatles.

Another thing to consider is that pop music was saccharine at best, forgettable at worst. On January 17th, the top ten songs were (from one to ten): "There I've Said it Again" by Bobby Vinton, "Louie Louie" by the Kingsmen, "Popsicles and Icicles" by the Murmaids, "Forget Him" by Bobby Rydell, "Surfin' Bird" by the Trashmen, "Dominique" by the Singing Nuns, "Hey Little Cobra" by The Rip Chords, "The Nitty Gritty" by Shirley Ellis, "Out of Limits" by The Marketts and "Drag City" by Jan and Dean.

I actually remember some of these songs and can sing their melodies. But really, how many of them or the artists are remembered? How many of them have become standards, songs that get covered over and over by other artists?

The next day on January 19th, #3 "Popsicles and Icicles" was replace by "I Want to Hold Your Hand." #4 was "Surfin' Bird."

This sandwich gives a pretty clear picture of the state of music in the United States.












I don't know about you, but there was something refreshing about that middle group. Whether you like them or not, The Beatles changed the face (or ear) of music. They seemed to be able to translate into their music all that we (baby boomers) were feeling.


They pulled us out of depression and rescued us from ourselves. They paved the way for ALL that has followed.

From me to you.