A Papal Bull From The Emporium Of Spectacles
6 days ago
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
an eve
Snowstorm... not quite a blizzard up here. Went out to put windshield wiper fluid in the "new" used wife-n-child-mobile I'd recently purchased for $500 cash on the barrel head from a friend (after having my genius automechanic friend verify it's amazing condition), went to local pub where I've met Zoner.Very few there because of the weather, but the eccentrics where there, the owner who works for Lenny Kravitz (which he likes way better than working for the Blue Man Group as manager)... my artist friend Tim who is impoverished, but feeling better. I usually buy him a drink but this time offered to help him apply for unemployment bennies on the Internet, which he has no idea how to use. I may buy some art from him... he likes the river, boathouses, cooking, art, conversation... the big hootenanny group was playing, including the odd Larry Havluck from my hometown, the older brother of a good friend who is incredibly jaded. Met a guy who can't shut up, and admitted it... talked about the recent demise of the wonderful Liam Clancy with Bill Watkins, the self-centered but witty and entertaining host in kilt with dagger on his ankle. Bill had, of course, met Liam Clancy a number of times. Bill has also fought for the Sandinistas, and done other incredible things that may or may not be true.
Had a strange feeling that I would be able to find my way... went home in the cold bracing air and ate some almonds.
Had a strange feeling that I would be able to find my way... went home in the cold bracing air and ate some almonds.
Monday, December 7, 2009
Today's vinyl finds
Well, I may as well make my frequent acquisitions of "vinyl" (LPs that are generally pressed in the substance known as vinyl) part of this blog. Unlike digital music, this stuff can be picked up and you can even see the vibrations change throughout the recording.
Before I get to that, an article from today's New York Times about the resurgence of vinyl.
today I was bored and went overboard. I found:
1. The Dale Warland Singers, Sing We of Christmas. Eero seems to like christmass, and I'll give this to my ma-in-law
2. ", Carols of Christmas, also a gift for mom(s)
3. James Taylor's Greatest Hits
4. The Corries, Live from Scotland Volume 3, Recorded on Tour in 1975 (unknown to me folk duo)
5. Louis Killen, Old Songs and Friends, Front Hall Records, Voorheesville, NY, 1978 (unknown to me folk singer, interesting song titles)
6. The Joan Baez Ballad Book, Near mint (two volume set). This is a duplicate or triplicate for me, but I always buy mint Joan if I find it, no matter how many copies I have. If you are interested, we'll see what we can do.
7. Clancy Brothers & Tommy Makem and their families, "Irish Folk Airs", Everest Tradition label
8. Vladimir Horowitz, Listz: Sonata in B minor, Funerailles; Schumann:Toccata etc. recording from the 1930's on Seraphim "Great Recordings of the Century series."
Before I get to that, an article from today's New York Times about the resurgence of vinyl.
today I was bored and went overboard. I found:
1. The Dale Warland Singers, Sing We of Christmas. Eero seems to like christmass, and I'll give this to my ma-in-law
2. ", Carols of Christmas, also a gift for mom(s)
3. James Taylor's Greatest Hits
4. The Corries, Live from Scotland Volume 3, Recorded on Tour in 1975 (unknown to me folk duo)
5. Louis Killen, Old Songs and Friends, Front Hall Records, Voorheesville, NY, 1978 (unknown to me folk singer, interesting song titles)
6. The Joan Baez Ballad Book, Near mint (two volume set). This is a duplicate or triplicate for me, but I always buy mint Joan if I find it, no matter how many copies I have. If you are interested, we'll see what we can do.
7. Clancy Brothers & Tommy Makem and their families, "Irish Folk Airs", Everest Tradition label
8. Vladimir Horowitz, Listz: Sonata in B minor, Funerailles; Schumann:Toccata etc. recording from the 1930's on Seraphim "Great Recordings of the Century series."
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
absolutely fucked
We are so absolutely fucked, it's unbelievable.
Obama had his LBJ moment tonight.
Way to go, Big O.
The Athenians had the best speeches and speakers in the Peloponnesian War, too. But they lost.
And Athens lost its empire. And went into slavery and misery.
So it goes.
Obama had his LBJ moment tonight.
Way to go, Big O.
The Athenians had the best speeches and speakers in the Peloponnesian War, too. But they lost.
And Athens lost its empire. And went into slavery and misery.
So it goes.
Friday, November 20, 2009
Monday, November 2, 2009
Amazing book find, out-of-print.
Book title: The Darkness is Light Enough
Author: Dorothy Andrews
Fellowship Press, 1976, Inverness, California. Produced at the West Coast Print Center. Illustrations by Ruby Morris.
I still haven't found much of anything about the author. I know she was/is an artist.
Excerpt, chapter 5:
Do you remember when you were a child how you drenched yourself in fairy tales - those tales we loved not for their stories, but for their atmosphere? Always it was the atmosphere that was the hero. The things that happened, do you remember where? In the heart of a forest, or beside an old well, in an abandoned hut, or on a path covered with brambles, at the foot of an ancient tree, in the depths of a silent pond - only in such places did this self awake, only in secret places. In them one felt the flow of energy; roots grew beneath one's feet; below, the earth was turned and turned again by hundreds of creatures; waters flowed; in the hot liquids of the earth a smelter flamed; somewhere, perhaps in that copse, eyes were watched; sap was running through the hearts of trees; buds preparing to burst; cocoons at the very second of dehiscence - all hidden, all in the secret atmosphere.
...One forgets, one forgets too much in cities; nothing is hidden; even at night all is bared by yellow lights so shy spirits dare not appear....
When one was a child how simple it was - grasped at once. Turn a child loose in a field and watch him run till he drops, racing phantoms. Turn a child loose in a ravine where wild flowers grow and watch his face turn into a flower, metamorphosed by nothing but atmosphere.
How many creatures have we stifled by our indifference to atmosphere, so careless of it our eyes have turned blind in self-defense?
...Who has not walked with a friend down a quiet road in the night and through the stars suddenly found himself madly in love?
Author: Dorothy Andrews
Fellowship Press, 1976, Inverness, California. Produced at the West Coast Print Center. Illustrations by Ruby Morris.
I still haven't found much of anything about the author. I know she was/is an artist.
Excerpt, chapter 5:
Do you remember when you were a child how you drenched yourself in fairy tales - those tales we loved not for their stories, but for their atmosphere? Always it was the atmosphere that was the hero. The things that happened, do you remember where? In the heart of a forest, or beside an old well, in an abandoned hut, or on a path covered with brambles, at the foot of an ancient tree, in the depths of a silent pond - only in such places did this self awake, only in secret places. In them one felt the flow of energy; roots grew beneath one's feet; below, the earth was turned and turned again by hundreds of creatures; waters flowed; in the hot liquids of the earth a smelter flamed; somewhere, perhaps in that copse, eyes were watched; sap was running through the hearts of trees; buds preparing to burst; cocoons at the very second of dehiscence - all hidden, all in the secret atmosphere.
...One forgets, one forgets too much in cities; nothing is hidden; even at night all is bared by yellow lights so shy spirits dare not appear....
When one was a child how simple it was - grasped at once. Turn a child loose in a field and watch him run till he drops, racing phantoms. Turn a child loose in a ravine where wild flowers grow and watch his face turn into a flower, metamorphosed by nothing but atmosphere.
How many creatures have we stifled by our indifference to atmosphere, so careless of it our eyes have turned blind in self-defense?
...Who has not walked with a friend down a quiet road in the night and through the stars suddenly found himself madly in love?
Monday, October 26, 2009
guns and butter
Otto von Bismarck's philosophy, as I recall from high school history class, was "guns and butter."
That's what we have in the USA today.
The government is hell bent on spending obscene amounts of money and resources on war and welfare spending.
Make no mistake: the current debate on health care reform is just as misguided as the debate over the "wars" in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The only options that would make sense to a constitutional republic that believes in peace and freedom would be for the USA to leave Iraq and Afghanistan immediately. There is no end game. The welfare of the people of those countries is irrelevant to the political considerations win Washington. But leaving would cause the DC crowd to lose face on the world stage. Thus, what should be done cannot be done.
Health care: the primary problem is that people get sick and die, and that a lot of their health problems are the results of poor diet and no exercise (due to our post-industrial life styles). The best system would be for doctors to be paid in cash, and for doctors to give the poor a discount. My dad did that as a dentist. He treated basically everyone, and charged them what the could afford.
People need to accept that they don't have a right to extremely expensive and high-tech care at society's expense. They should learn to live with the fact that they are responsible for their own lives and deaths.
But this is too much to ask.
That's what we have in the USA today.
The government is hell bent on spending obscene amounts of money and resources on war and welfare spending.
Make no mistake: the current debate on health care reform is just as misguided as the debate over the "wars" in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The only options that would make sense to a constitutional republic that believes in peace and freedom would be for the USA to leave Iraq and Afghanistan immediately. There is no end game. The welfare of the people of those countries is irrelevant to the political considerations win Washington. But leaving would cause the DC crowd to lose face on the world stage. Thus, what should be done cannot be done.
Health care: the primary problem is that people get sick and die, and that a lot of their health problems are the results of poor diet and no exercise (due to our post-industrial life styles). The best system would be for doctors to be paid in cash, and for doctors to give the poor a discount. My dad did that as a dentist. He treated basically everyone, and charged them what the could afford.
People need to accept that they don't have a right to extremely expensive and high-tech care at society's expense. They should learn to live with the fact that they are responsible for their own lives and deaths.
But this is too much to ask.
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