School Integration Hero

A week before Mr. Anonymous was born. Read the entire front page editorial here. NPR has a story about the bravery of this paper's editor, Harry Ashmore, and the consequences his newspaper felt, here.

From Long Time Ago

Why I would be humming this song most of the day, I know not. Peter Gabriel, from his first solo album. Had the pleasure of seeing him in concert, college age, at some venue in the Bay Area. I believed him to be quite mad at the time. By the end of the concert, we were all up making some strange sounds at the top of our lungs. He and his band wore futuristic one-piece jump-suits (even before DEVO!) with little rotating circular LEDs on their chests. Too cool. Where did he find LEDs back then? Great performance.


Solsbury Hill

Solsbury Hill Climbing up on Solsbury HillI could see the city lightWind was blowing, time stood stillEagle flew out of the nightHe was something to observeCame in close, I heard a voiceStanding stretching every nerveHad to listen had no choiceI did not believe the information[I] just had to trust imaginationMy heart going boom boom boom"Son," he said "Grab your things,I've come to take you home."To keepin' silence I resignedMy friends would think I was a nutTurning water into wineOpen doors would soon be shutSo I went from day to dayTho' my life was in a rut"Till I thought of what I'd sayWhich connection I should cutI was feeling part of the sceneryI walked right out of the machineryMy heart going boom boom boom"Hey" he said "Grab your thingsI've come to take you home."When illusion spin her netI'm never where I want to beAnd liberty she pirouetteWhen I think that I am freeWatched by empty silhouettesWho close their eyes but still can seeNo on taught them etiquetteI will show another meToday I don't need a replacementI'll tell them what the smile on my face meantMy heart going boom boom boom"Hey" I said "You can keep my things,they've come to take me home."

Uh Oh

News from Russia, affecting little ol' me. Read here. I might only have about a 60 cent balance on AllofMP3. But I've got a few bucks still on From Russia With Love. Let the downloading begin! As George Harrison once sang, all things must pass. Downloading cheap music from the Russian mob is a small thing. He might have been thinking about deeper things in the song.

Beware of Darkness

Today marks the 5th anniversary of the death of Beatle George Harrison, the "quiet Beatle," the "spiritual Beatle." And many of his songs certainly were.

Great guitarist in his own right. Thinking of "Day Tripper." And what it did for me back at the roller rink on the Alameda in San Jose. Dad would take us kids there. Had a wonderful jukebox.

A fitting tribute to Harrison can be found here. Aired on NPR today.


Beware of Darkness, from The Concert for Bangladesh. (1971) Nice support from the great Leon Russell.

Watch out now, take care
Beware of falling swingers
Dropping all around you
The pain that often mingles
In your fingertips

Beware of darkness

Watch out now, take care
Beware of the thoughts that linger
Winding up inside your head
The hopelessness around you
In the dead of night

Beware of sadness
It can hit you (oh no)
It can hurt you (oh yeah)
Make you sore and what is more
That is not what you are here for

(Leon:)Watch out now, take care
Beware of soft shoe shufflers
Yeah they're dancing down the sidewalks
As each unconscious sufferer
Wanders aimlessly

Beware of Maya
(George:)Watch out now, take care
Beware of greedy leaders
They take you where you should not go
While Weeping Atlas Cedars
They just want to grow, grow and grow
Beware of darkness (beware of darkness)

Periodic Bathroom Reading

"The historian, Arnold Toynbee, had a mental illumination of history, fittingly enough, and in the incongruously prosaic setting of Buckingham Palace Road. There he suddenly found himself in "communion" not withjust some particular episode of history, but with "all that had been, and was, and was to come," an apt description of a mystical-autistic seizure. In that experience Toynbee was directly aware of the "Passage of History" gently flowing through him in a mighty current, his own life "welling like a wave in the flow of this vast tide." His communion both verified his life investment, and furthered it as a stimulus."

From: The Crack in the Cosmic Egg by Joseph Chilton Pearce, 1971

Lucky Toynbee. I would like something like this to happen to me. He must have been ready.

Faci-frigg'n-nating Debate

Four days of an email exchange between a currently fashionable atheist, Sam Harris, and a God-believing fellow named Dennis Prager. We should be exposed to more of this kind of thing. Most often both sides preach to their respective choirs.

Find the first salvo here: Why Are Atheists So Angry? And go from there if you are interested.

Passion or Pancakes?

or Can't We Have Both?

Mating in Captivity: Reconciling the Erotic + the Domestic by Esther Perel

Of Sex and Marriage - A Review by Cristina Nehring

This review, (and maybe the book?) is worth the read if you are in a "committed, monogomous, RELATIONSHIP"... or married.

Awkward Age

By Jim Warren. Visit his site here. Many imaginative things to see.

Just for Fun

Blogs are supposed to be fun. Double click on it. You can do this all you want here.

Einstein on the Debate

Definitively undefinitive, I'd say.

"Whoever undertakes to set himself up as a judge of Truth and Knowledge is shipwrecked by the laughter of the gods."

"A man's ethical behavior should be based effectually on sympathy, education, and social ties; no religious basis is necessary. Man would indeed be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear of punishment and hope of reward after death."

"There are two ways to live your life - one is as though nothing is a miracle, the other is as though everything is a miracle."

"Science without religion is lame. Religion without science is blind."

"God is subtle but he is not malicious."


Great inspiration to me regarding the Topic and hand.

"The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing."

The God Debate...

Rages. I think this is a very interesting article that covers pretty well the ideas of some scientists about religion. Some are downright hostile, few others are more sympathetic to religion. Some of atheism's current stars are quoted, Dawkins and Harris. I read Sam Harris's The End of Faith. It sure got me thinking, which isn't a bad thing these days. If I am to have faith, I want it to be because I drank the cool-aid consiously. In my past I have often blindly accepted what I was "supposed to," limiting my exposure to other (and others') ways of thinking and believing.

The Border Fence - Update

"Both Congress and the White House, our official deciders, will likely do in the next session what they did in the last: spend a lot of time trying to confuse people into thinking they're closing the borders without actually closing them. There will be talk again of fences, partial fences, fencelike entities and virtual fences. While they dither and mislead, towns and cities will continue to attempt to make their own immigration policy."
Peggy Noonan, November 24, 2006

Dusty Raps

Daydreaming from Dusty Springfield's "Reputation and Rarities" 1990 album. Produced by the Pet Shop Boys. I think this song's chorus melody is awesome to me. The album is great. Didn't hear much from Dusty, after she was famous for a time with "Son of a Preacher Man" but she was known as a British girl with American soul. She so was. She has quite a collection at amazon.


Daydreaming

Pix From Nangie's Farm

Where a wonderful Thanksgiving was spent.

From Drudge: NYPD Installs Watch Towers in Harlem

Here now. Watchtowers in New York City. They call them "Sky Watch."

This harked me back to:

Escape from New York, 1981

"The year is 1998. Due to huge crime rates, the United States turns its once great city of New York into a maximum security prison where hardcore criminals are put for life. All the bridges leading into the city are mined, a large wall is built along the shoreline and a large police force army is based there to stop or kill any attempted escapees."

Posterchild for Tragedy

Liked this song from the first time I heard it. Don't ask me why. Imagery I suppose. From an obsure band from Texas, Houston area I think, Sugarbomb. Album: Bully.

A Thanksgiving Psalm...

...I've Always Liked

May God be gracious to us and bless us
and make his face shine upon us,
that your ways may be known on earth,
your salvation among all nations.
May the peoples praise you, O God;
may all the peoples praise you.
May the nations be glad and sing for joy,
for you rule the peoples justly
and guide the nations of the earth.
May the peoples praise you, O God;
may all the peoples praise you.
Then the land will yield its harvest,
and God, our God, will bless us.
God will bless us,
and all the ends of the earth will fear him.
Psalm 67

Botched Paramilitary Police Raids:

An Epidemic of "Isolated Incidents"
"If a widespread pattern of [knock-and-announce] violations were shown . . . there would be reason for grave concern."
—Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy, in Hudson v. Michigan, June 15, 2006.

You can check out the details of these American Police Actions here.

Sometimes One Just Needs to Look Into

some things Eric Hoffer (1903-1983) said.

"People unfit for freedom - who cannot do much with it - are hungry for power. The desire for freedom is an attribute of a "have" type of self. It says: leave me alone and I shall grow, learn, and realize my capacities. The desire for power is basically an attribute of a "have not" type of self. "

"The capacity for getting along with our neighbor depends to a large extent on the capacity for getting along with ourselves. The self-respecting individual will try to be as tolerant of his neighbor's shortcomings as he is of his own. "

"Passionate hatred can give meaning and purpose to an empty life. Thus people haunted by the purposelessness of their lives try to find a new content not only by dedicating themselves to a holy cause but also by nursing a fanatical grievance. A mass movement offers them unlimited opportunities for both. "

"Wise living consists perhaps less in acquiring good habits than in acquiring as few habits as possible. "

"Fair play is primarily not blaming others for anything that is wrong with us. "

Hoffer wrote The True Believers

You're Missing

One of the most poignant songs post 9-11. From the Boss, Bruce Springsteen.

Pix above: "Poster for the Widows of 9-11" found on Google Images.

Beer For My Horses

As discussed on Sunday. Hang 'em high!

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah

Worth sharing. It's catchy.



Though I have no idea what it means.

"Over And Over Again (Lost & Found)"

I heard it from a friend
The Revolution never happened
Sigh
A little die
No more a child
Goodbye

No where's the woolen sweater
You mentioned in the letter?
Imply
The other guy
And scandalize the lion

A clean shave in the morning
And a full beard with no warning
Time has gotten by on alibis and wine

Success is so forbidding
But it makes me think I'm winning
Quiet
Dim the lights
Adopt another lifestyle

You look like David Bowie
But you've nothing new to show me
Start another fire
And watch it slowly die

(I think I'm liking very much my Hipcast subscription!)

One Sentence

True stories told, in once sentence. Cool!

"After being duped into thinking a hot girl actually was interesteed in me, that hooker stole my weed."

"Of all the 'weaknesses' I wish I had, forgiveness is one of them."

"When asked to name the one person absent from her life that she missed the most, she responded, "The person I hoped I'd be by this point in my life.""

Rain Watching by Acoustic Alchemy

Have heard it described (by me) as music to make love to. Enjoy.

I just subscribed to hipcast and it may be the answer I've been seeking to allow me to post music I like at a very low cost.

Now, not only will no one read my blog, neither will anyone hear it!



From their Positive Thinking album, 1998.

There's A New World Coming...

Global Orgasm Day.

This puts a whole new spin to a song that we used to sing in Catholic grammer school. I certainly don't remember the apolcolyptic verses though....

There's a New World Coming

There's a new world commin'
And it's just around the bend
There's a brand new mornin'
That belongs to you and me
A new world commin'
The one we had vision of
And its commin' in peace
Is commin in joy
and commin in love...yea...yea...yea

There's a new world commin'
And its just around the bend
There's a new day dawning
the one that's for you and me
A new world commin'
The one we've had vision of
and it's commin in peace
commin' in love
Commin' in peace
Commin' in joy
and commin in peace
commin' in joy
And commin in love

And I saw another sign in Heaven
Great and marvelous
Seven angels having the seven last plagues for in them is filled up the Wrath of God
And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire
And them that had gotten the victory over the beast
And over his image
and over his mark
and over his name,stand on the sea of glass
with the harps of God all around them.

There's a new world commin'
and its just around the bend
There's a new day dawning

Composed by Cynthia Weil, Barry Mann

Peanuts

A tour bus driver is driving with a bus load of seniors down a highway when he is tapped on his shoulder by a little old lady. She offers him a handful of peanuts,which he gratefully munches up.

After about 15 minutes, she taps him on his shoulder again and she hands him another handful of peanuts.

She repeats this gesture about five more times. When she is about to hand him another batch again he asks the little old lady,why don't you eat the peanuts yourself?

"We can't chew them because we've no teeth", she replied.

The puzzled driver asks,"Why do you buy them then?"

The old lady replied,?"We just love the chocolate around them."

(From an email received)

Great Music for Blowing Leaves With

Beer For My Horses

Well a man come on the 6 o'clock news
Said somebody's been shot, somebody's been abused
Somebody blew up a building, somebody stole a car
Somebody got away, somebody didn't get too far
Yeah they didn't get too far

Grandpappy told my pappy, back in my day, son
A man had to answer for the wicked that he done
Take all the rope in Texas
Find a tall oak tree, round up all them bad boys
Hang them high in the street for all the people to see that

Justice is the one thing you should always find
You got to saddle up your boys
You got to draw a hard line
When the gun smoke settles we'll sing a victory tune
We'll all meet back at the local saloon
We'll raise up our glasses against evil forces
Singing whiskey for my men, beer for my horses

We got too many gangsters doing dirty deeds
We've got too much corruption, too much crime in the streets
It's time the long arm of the law put a few more in the ground
Send 'em all to their maker and he'll settle 'em down
You can bett he'll set 'em down 'cause

Justice is the one thing you should always find
You got to saddle up your boys
You got to draw a hard line
When the gun smoke settles we'll sing a victory tune
We'll all meet back at the local saloon
We'll raise up our glasses against evil forces
Singing whiskey for my men, beer for my horses

Justice is the one thing you should always find
You got to saddle up your boys
You got to draw a hard line
When the gun smoke settles we'll sing a victory tune
We'll all meet back at the local saloon
We'll raise up our glasses against evil forces
Singing whiskey for my men, beer for my horses

Toby Keith and Willie Nelson sing it.

If you've not heard it, find it. It will make a man feel righteous and triumphant.

TGIF

Quoting A Friend

Adolescence Defined

On the way to the game last evening I ask son if if he knew what adolescence was.

His answer: "It's when you get more and more annoying to me and I become smarter and smarter."

How true. How true.

The Season is Over

Our Tigers were completely routed and dominated by the Southside Bulldogs last night, 22-0. A different team beat us than we beat a few short weeks ago. A different team was beat also. Sad ending to a great season. Tigers ended the season at 7-1.

Milton Friedman R.I.P

Died yesterday at the age of 94.

Autobiography.

Quotes of his that resonate with me:

"Concentrated power is not rendered harmless by the good intentions of those who create it. "

"I am in favor of cutting taxes under any circumstances and for any excuse, for any reason, whenever it's possible. "

"Many people want the government to protect the consumer. A much more urgent problem is to protect the consumer from the government. "

"The government solution to a problem is usually as bad as the problem. "

"We have a system that increasingly taxes work and subsidizes nonwork. "

"The most important single central fact about a free market is that no exchange takes place unless both parties benefit. "

On A Roll II

Robert Greenwald on Keith Olbermann

Pretty damning to a "fair and balanced" news organization. It does appear to be a smoking gun and Fox should respond and investigate. O'Rielly called Greenwald just to the right of Castro, but this is troubling to me. I intend to watch Greenwald's "OutFoxed" available in two parts on YouTube.

On A Roll

Inspired Today

Lean meat, ya think?

Emina II

Photographer: Reiner1

Courageous

GLENN BECK: The Extremist Agenda Exposed

Unfortunately I didn't know about this show and missed watching it or TIVOing it. The transcript of the show can be found here. (Transcript) Powerful! Awake from your slumber USA!

An article about the show is here.

Hats off to Glenn Beck and CNN.

I Am An "Animated Inventor"

Pretty cool personality assessment here.

What Were They Thinking?

Apparently they weren't.