Clock Tower Photos From MidTown

Today on my way to work, I accidentally went up Fifth Avenue instead of Madison Avenue and stumbled on the below, which I subsequently took a picture of with my smartphone at lunch:


( two other photos beneath the cut )

Which, I realized is the same clock tower and building that appears on the cover of my novel - Doing Time on Planet Earth. Exactly the same. When I chose the cover - I hoped it was a photo of a building and clock tower in NYC, but had no way of knowing for certain. These "clock towers" appear all over NYC, some more ornate than others - and date back to the early 1900s.

The one that appeared on the cover of my novel is not only NYC but just a few blocks from where the principal action in the novel takes place.

R.I.P Glenn Frey of the Eagles

My Granny used to say they come in threes..and so they do. David Bowie, Alan Rickman, and now Glenn Frey of the Eagles.

Who was Glenn Frey - he was one of the headliner's of country folk rock band The Eagles - along with Don Henley. The Eagles were supposed to receive a Kennedy Center this year, but the Eagles opted to wait until next year - when Glenn Frey could join them, since he was deathly ill. He died of pneumonia and colitis. (Colitis also killed my good friend Maribeth Martell (aka embers_log a few years ago. I still miss her. She haunts the internet. A truly beautiful soul.)

When Frey's death was announced, the Guardian posted this article You Mourned David Bowie But You Mocked Glenn Frey - Why?.

What is it about social media that brings out the mob mentality in people? What is it about social media that can make someone credibly claim to be distressed at being mocked for their (very public) grief, and then only a few days later turn around and mock others for feeling precisely the same about someone different? Your taste is your own, but that does not give you a licence to claim it is superior to someone else’s. Nor does it give you a licence to mock a sense of bereavement. Perhaps such “music fans” should remember the John Peel axiom of popular music: there is no such thing as good or bad music, only good and bad listeners.

Why, indeed? Seems sort of cruel to me. But then, I'm an odd cat, I loved both musicians and have both on my ipod, along with the Beach Boys, Nine Inch Nails, Tom McCrae, Lady Gaga, Sand Sheff, Nick Cave, Leonard Cohen, Linda Ronstadt, The Kings of Leon, The Beatles, The Who, Led Zepplin, Luis Manueal, various musicals, Adele, Norah Jones, Ghost in the Robot, Sting, Rolling Stones, Lush, Bjork, Garbage, One Direction, Cold Play, Nirvana, Beethoven, Mozart, Gershwin, the list goes on and on. What? You all know I have wildly eclectic taste in everything. I'm the opposite of a culture vulture, I'm a culture junkie!

A little bit more back story? One of my buds in college adored the Eagles and introduced me to them along with Jimmy Buffet, who wrote a homage to Glenn Frey - A True Friend and an Inspiration

In case you've never heard of Glenn Frey and the Eagles, although I'm not sure how - considering the songs pop up in various television serials and have made an imprint on our culture.

Watch on YouTube

Glenn Frey is memorable for his theme music to the 1980s television series "Miami Vice". Particularly this hit, which every college kid in my dorm had on tape back in the 1980s:
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And let's not forget my personal favorites:

Hotel California - which the Eagles put up in Tribute to Glenn Frey.
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And..the iconic, Desperado

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I mourn Glenn Frey, who gave me pleasure on many a late night studying jam in college. And still does. I hope this post may bring him some more fans...