Jimi Hendrix would have been 83 tomorrow, and the Boomers who heard the great guitarist’s music in person always reserve Thanksgiving Eve to do some preparatory celebrating. We sympathize with Jimi Hendrix, whose birthday is on Thanksgiving and we feel he always got short-changed on his personal holiday. The traditional Turkey Day festivities normally overwhelm the actual birthday, so we consider the Eve to worth remembering as a separate event.

There is plenty to talk about. There is still some news about Senator Kelly and the other folks on the Hill who made a fancy video advocating military personnel to avoid following illegal orders. They did not mention which ones those are, so we await clarification in case any of us are recalled to active service to make determinations of legality.

There is news about the negotiations over a Ukrainian settlement, though some of the numbered fine-points seem unlikely. We think Senator Kelly could help them out. In the meantime, we are going to take the conference room boom box out to the patio behind the lobby and crank up the sound of Voodoo Child and conclude the afternoon festivities with the wail of Jimi’s tortured Star Spangled Banner.

Purple Haze is on our brains. Many things, they don’t seem the same. The Millennials and GenZ interns are mildly amused by the antics of the Old Salts and our section Leader Miles allows a certain pre-holiday levity to replace a more structured morning meeting. He made some cautionary remarks about Asia and shipbuilding, along with what the Chinese are doing with that enormous diplomatic building they are throwing up in London. Miles says it is part of a plot to muck up International Finance, but we have collectively decided to not worry about that until Friday.

Some things do seem the same, and we intend not to think about them until “6 Turns to 9,” a great tune from Jimi’s second album “Axis: Bold as Love.” It is an anthem of sorts, and was in the soundtrack for the rousing road film “Easy Rider” that marked some of our young lives.

Splash turned up the sound on the boombox to pump up the morning now that business was done in the conference room. The lyrics to the acid-filled blues song were prophetic, starting off with a blues riff and some spacey free-form improvisation. The end line tells the tale as Jimi wails:
“I’ve got my own life to live.
I’m the one that’s going to have to die,
When it’s time for me to die,
So let me live mu life the way I want to, Yeah!”

The Boomers are thankful they survived those times and the wild ride of the 1960s. They remember the real end to the singer of “6 to 9.” Jimi was found dead in the bed of the hotel where he was staying while on tour in 1970. He was 27.

We are thankful we are still able to dance to his music!

Copyright 2025 Vic Socotra
www,vicsocotra.com
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I’ve got my own life to live / I’m the …