Better late than never

I don't know why I never paid much attention to Shostakovich until now. But his music, introduced by the energetic Greenberg lectures/performance, speaks to me very emotionally. If I had discovered him as a young man, he would have influenced my work. No greater compliment.

So now to listen to as much as I can ...

Super ZZZZ

Can't get excited about this corporate extravaganza ... probably watch or go to a movie. Not a big Seahawks fan, not a pro football fan since a kid before players were millionaites. McElhenny said he took a salary cut turning pro ha ha. A favorite story of my dad's.

Looking forward to rooting for double digit seeds in March Madness. Women's Oregon State only team I am following. Triple Crown and women's World Cup ahead.

A problem

Disturbing number of people who believe in science ignore it: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/firedoglake/fdl/~3/YpOOTalVH6M/

Hard day

H still has a hard time doing simple tasks, getting lost or confused and frustrated: renewing a cell phone, sending a birthday card. She went to bed "to escape." If this is it, well, life will be tough.

BBC puts us to shame

PBS Newshour takes top spot for serious reporting on climate change: http://feeds.dailykos.com/~r/dailykos/index/~3/AWC_D2BfVk8/-PBS-Newshour-takes-top-spot-for-serious-reporting-on-climate-change

Recovery

H at Rio, I'm at nearby Starbucks, recovering from very stressful morning, various H crises, makes me want to throw in the towel and escape. Live my last years as a stranger far from here.

Ha ha ha.

Good news: I discovered Palouse brand lentils from eastern Washington. Delicious! And in a sexy burlap bag. A new staple in my diet, I think.

Pick her up at 4, rush home ahead of traffic.

Immortal books

Voltaire's Treatise On Tolerance is climbing the best seller lists in France.

Life Is A Film

Life Is A Film

sometimes my life feels like
a film studies course
and I just watched a great film
a true work of art
layered and complex and engaging
like The French Lieutenant's Woman
and I loved it

but now the professor
is explaining it
scene by scene by scene
talking on and on and on

and if he talks long enough
all this redundant
unnecessary critical gibberish
surely he will ruin the film

so I want him to shut up
I want him to shut up
I want him to shut up

so we can all go home

Greenberg on Shostakovich

Listening to a series of mesmerizing lectures with musical examples on the incredible life and work of Shostakovich.

June

Women's World Cup in Canada begins! Not sure how much I can watch without cable. I might do the Spike deal for ESPN. Or settle for radio, though soccer not a good radio sport.

But before then, March madness and the Triple Crown. Good diversions ahead.

posted from Bloggeroid

Andrew Sullivan

Sullivan is the conservative commentator I've paid most attention to over the years, one of the first political bloggers, a gay conservative who supported Obama, an intellectual.

Today he announced he is leaving blogging after 15 years. One reason: to think and write more slowly. Hear, hear! Our age has lost an appreciation for brooding and slow mental processes. I applaud him and look forward to a future book surely to come.

http://dish.andrewsullivan.com/2015/01/28/a-note-to-my-readers/

Cartoon

Cartoon: The future of climate debate: http://feeds.dailykos.com/~r/dailykos/index/~3/UVoO4EIoUy8/-Cartoon-The-future-of-climate-debate

Sketch

Got off a comfy couch to come stetch out on the floor at my feet - and now he's snoring. Talk about devotion...

Homebody

No doc appts today, so maybe I can catch up on a few things.

Good start, the Chronicle, shower, now baking bread.

Baking bread = tranquility!

Lots of late chores to catch up on. Would love a day without a crisis.

Youth

Youth

as a young man
naked with a woman
it never occurred to me
I was experiencing
something transitory
something remarkable
something haunting
that as an old man
I would remember
sweetly and sadly
forever regretting
that at the time
I never got around
to thanking the gods
for the passion
of my youth

Plan B

Black beans and rice from scrstch.

Sibelius! Saroyan's essay and Mozart In The Jungle both have me listening to more - and more carefully.

posted from Bloggeroid

No bbq

A chilly fog has settled in. What warm Sunday?

posted from Bloggeroid

Seahawk fans send off team

Breaking news on 2015 Super Bowl : http://www.breakingnews.com/topic/super-bowl-xlix/

posted from Bloggeroid

Present Tense

with noisy distractions
all around him
a man can spend
all the hours
of his day and night
in perpetual motion
never stopping
to reflect or consider
the meaning of
anything he does

posted from Bloggeroid

Terrible

A so-so Oregon bball team demolishing a terrible UCLA team ... no alma mater excitement on either end.

posted from Bloggeroid

Existentialism = no excuses

Accused Vanderbilt football player blames gang rape on university’s culture of ‘sexual freedom’: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheRawStory/~3/0vLiwnRN8YU/

posted from Bloggeroid

BBQ in Pdx in January???

60 outside and warmer tomorrow ... H a full day at church tomorrow with her art, maybe I'll get a bbq ready to go! Hmm.

posted from Bloggeroid

Old Flames

in my years of drinking
I had brief encounters with
a number of remarkable women

most of whom disengaged
once they realized they
could not compete with booze

and these separations caused
considerable pain and anger
an old, old story

but I have not forgotten
these women, so more evolved
than I was at the time

and I hope that somewhere
in the dark corners of memory
moments of joy and connection

emerge, not to erase pain
but to temper it with
a fuller story:

the past is neither dark nor light
experience neither wrong nor right

posted from Bloggeroid

Mornings

Mornings are my salvation, soft mellow jazz as I make myself breakfast, usually toast with scrambled eggs or oatmeal, iced coffee (deliriously tasty), reading the Chronicle, a few hours to myself before H rises late morning. Planning an activity or two if lack of a crisis permits. Baking every few days (and later today, H taking the new loaf to a dinner party with women's group).

Read Saroyan's essay Finlandia this morning, a unique voice too ignored today (like Baldwin, a very different unique voice). Crooks introduced me to Saroyan. The romantic artist personified.

Hope to pack a box or two for VA this afternoon.

Quotation of the day

"...the more places you reach the more you understand there is no geographical destination for man." --William Saroyan, "Finlandia"

The new rhythm

I am close to finding my retirement groove in this special context I am in. Ukulele studies, re-energized by the new class at UU. Love's Body blog, getting to a project I've been putting off for years, sharing a new reading of the most influential book I've ever read. Occasional blog poems, as before. And, of course, baking and cooking and less interesting chores.

H talking to doctor today in first step to get her driver's license back. I don't think she is ready - too emotionally unstable - but am staying out of it.

Doomsday

The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists just moved its Doomsday Clock 3 minutes closer to midnight. 11:58. But no one pays attention to this.

I subscribed to the journal in high school and have followed the clock all my life. I pay attention.

Waiting room 2

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Waiting room

First of two appts today, with a shrink, hope something constructive comes from it.

Rio this afternoon.

Looking forward to coffee with TS tomorrow morning, grocery store afterwards for some essentials.

A boot in the butt

Started a new 10 week, 30 video course on soloing over at Ukulele Underground, the stellar organization based in Hawaii. Best instructional videos I've seen. Not sure I can keep up but slow is better than not at all.

posted from Bloggeroid

A forgotten publisher

A look back at the US publisher imprisoned over James Joyce and gay novels: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheRawStory/~3/T6csxAlQAIw/

A post by TS nails it

http://roundbendpress.blogspot.com/2015/01/sawants-response.html

Man o man

Listening to Ramblin' Jack Elliott, a couple hours worth ... at his best, no one can touch him in his musical territory. Mind-boggling how good he is.

A rare evening

H off to hear Angela Davis at PSU with a girlfriend, giving me a rare evening alone. Grocery shopping after dropping her off, bake another loaf of bread so we have a choice (ran out, which is rare). Very busy with two appts tomorrow.

I have to get boxes ready for VA pickup next week.

Tempus fugit and all that. In pretty good spirits.

A new blog

An ambitious project I've been putting off for several years: Rereading Love's Body.

Pope v. Republicans

I can't wait until the Pope addresses Congress in the fall. I hope he takes off the gloves about climate change and our betrayal of Nature. This will put the science-denying Republicans on the spot. The Pope also could inspire grassroot protests of the Vietnam era magnitude.

Thornton Wilder marveled how humans escaped crisis after crisis "by the skin of out teeth." And we shall again ... by colonizing Mars. But meanwhile, we might still salvage a few things here on earth.

The stupidity of politicians may yet save us by being SO stupid it inspires universal outrage. I see this as the only positive scenario around at the moment. The Pope speaks to millions of common folk and has an essential role here. Will cops tear gas the Pope?

I hope we get to find out. A longshot but possible. Beats no alternatives at all.

Intensity

Baking bread, classical music, Harriet and Sketch asleep, an intense wondrous morning, counting my blessings. How very sad to belong to a younger generation. Children don't deserve what the West concocted for them.

Time to reread Brown's LOVE'S BODY, the book that explains this mess better than any I know. At the same time, as Brecht wrote, "Nothing you can do can help a dead man."

Nothing left but personal integrity, kindness and empathy, and holding onto a cosmic sense of wonder and humor for as long as possible.

Options

if it were up to me
in a few years
after my wife is back on her feet
just about the time my body's breaking down
and before the food and water riots dictate the future

I'd go to sleep one night
and not wake up
the perfect ending
to a remarkable life

but unfortunately
this gift is unlikely
and I'll be around past my time
perhaps far past my time

which will force me
to take charge of the circumstances
and select the best option for departure
all options distasteful

and the sane option unavailable
in our barbaric culture
a simple peaceful pill
taken after loving goodbyes
at my farewell wake

no, I'll have to make my exit alone
with some ugly awkward final act
for which I have no skill set
for which I have no stomach

but which is the only option
left to me to leave with
some semblance of integrity
some semblance of dignity

as Socrates knew
as Robin Williams knew

the only option left
in this crumbling City on a Hill

Doubtful

Liu: Can America handle the truth on race?
http://www.cnn.com//2015/01/18/opinion/liu-mlk-day-truth-and-reconciliation/index.html

Ambition with a good early track record

Amazon set to produce and fast-track its own slate of ‘indie’ films from theaters to video: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheRawStory/~3/Il1H7mp6gh0/

Good job

H had a very productive day for a change. Exhausted her, she's napping, but a busy, good, goal-oriented day for her. See how it registers.

Chores

Got H to begin a chore she has been putting off for over a month! Hope she finishes it. Meanwhile I did my laundry and now am baking bread, buckwheat seed, with caraway rye in the hopper.

H actually doing something constructive. I like it.

Happy holiday

MLK: Socialist, Conscience of America: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Truthdig/~3/C8_JydeuW9M/

Everybody's Fine

A quiet low key De Niro film about family, one of the great ones in the genre. Stellar cast and performances, well directed, brilliantly edited. Like this one a lot. Just stumbled upon it on Fire TV.

Radical memory

12 statements by Martin Luther King Jr. you won’t see conservatives post on Facebook today: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheRawStory/~3/kEqrVGICb-o/

Walkin' the Strings

Some consider this late 1940s Merle Travis album of instrumentals the best guitar album ever recorded. Sounds like it to me. I grew up on him, Travis a fixture on afternoon TV in LA in the early years. Doc Watson named his son after him. Both Travis and Watson finger picked with two, not three, fingers.

Sunday morning

A dinner project in the oven, breakfast on the stove ... low classical piano on Kindle Fire TV ... Sketch sprawled on the floor, snoring ... Harriet asleep in bed ... and I'm ready to pour my iced coffee.

Perspective

Perspective

in the past
when things went my way
I usually exaggerated
their staying power
so was surprised when
success became oblivion

in the past
when things went bad for me
I usually exaggerated
the negativity of the moment
so was surprised when
everything became better

in the past
what I believed about events
usually turned out wrong
which is why today
I am wise to believe
nothing at all

Yum 2

The 10 best places to stare in awe at the aurora borealis: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheRawStory/~3/1_PF11BBIog/

Yum

Food Sunday: Ham Bone, Beans and Greens Soup: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/firedoglake/fdl/~3/-hBA7QxPQpI/

Etc

Humans Have Brought World's Oceans to Brink of 'Major Extinction Event': http://www.commondreams.org/news/2015/01/16/humans-have-brought-worlds-oceans-brink-major-extinction-event

The danger ahead

Planetary Boundaries, Nutrient Pollution and Human Civilization: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/firedoglake/fdl/~3/MeO3b0bVTUQ/

Rainy afternoon

Classical music (Fire TV our music source now), quiet, solitaire, surfing, reading ... so much more relaxed than yesterday.

Retirement

I love retirement, even with the unexpected events. I like being out of the classroom. I was getting too cynical to teach and left just in time.

We want to move to an apt where we can walk for coffee and such, and have neighbors you meet, old school. We'll have time to find the right spot.

The isolation here was great when I was writing a lot. No complaints. But time for being more in the world.

A good start

H together ... may it last a while ... very pleasant like this.

Coming Home

Recorded on our new Tivo, my fav Vietnam based film.

Cutting the chord has been great!

...H up ... now we'll see how the rest of the day is ...

Old message, no progress

MLK’s Call for Economic Justice: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Truthdig/~3/Od7VfTfiTws/

History

Why Hitchcock’s horrifying film on the Holocaust was never shown: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheRawStory/~3/W-G_TDKC0ak/

Mary Cassatt

Saturday Art: Mary Cassatt: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/firedoglake/fdl/~3/6Sg2gKHGIHI/

Ssshhh

Maybe H will get up soon, I don't have to keep quiet. Already put in my day's work.

Always nervous about her waking mood, which sets the tone for the day.

This job really sucks.

The Short Version

The Short Version

throughout my life
I've had victories, defeats
but here's what is sweetest:
I never send tweets!

Sanity

Up at 4 to bake bread. Quiet piano music, so as not to wake Harriet.

She needs a good day, not day long grief on the divan like yesterday. She constantly worries over things out of her control. The serenity prayer gets lip service only. Nothing I do helps.

Shameful

Majority of public school students live in or near poverty: http://feeds.dailykos.com/~r/dailykos/index/~3/d5HJ4BzF9DQ/-Majority-of-public-school-students-live-in-or-near-poverty

Better

H had a bad day, doing nothing really. .. hopefully better tomorrow.

#9 OSU women survive

Visiting Cougs blow 16, lose by 3.

Comfort

A tad proud I had the patience yesterday to get the garbage disposal running again. Got the wrench I needed to turn the shaft from underneath ... the rest was patience and discomfort, on my back, working the shaft a little bit, over and over, slow progress, taking a break, back to it ... took about an hour. Resulted in a working disposal and a sore back. And saved some money.

zzzzzz

One of those days...

Out of the blue

Nice note from LA friend, thanking me for introducing her to Gerry Mulligan oh so many years ago. Listening to What Am I To Say? album brought me to mind. Sweet gesture.

Another app

This resembles PC blogging.

New blogging app

Looks pretty good ... wasn't after one until Bloggeroid crashed this morning.

Good Fortune

Good Fortune

despite heart attacks
despite brain injuries
despite world affairs
despite human atrocities

Chris Connor still sings
a ballad that moves me
and the end of Mahagonny
feels more wise and true
than anything I know

and on a cosmic scale
these are enough for me
to count myself among those
whom the gods have blessed

test

testing app

Handyman

Think I fixed our jammed garbage disposal. Cancel handyman coming tomorrow if so ... crossed fingers.

In waiting room at Rio. H seems to be okay at end of busy day.

Roasted chicken waiting ... free range and all that.

posted from Bloggeroid

Kindle Fire TV

What a great tool! Figured out how to ...

1. show H 's art work on the new HDTV (even as a slide show)
2. show my videos on same

How cool is that?

posted from Bloggeroid

Unusual day

Dropping off H at art museum to meet girlfriend, pick her up at 4 at RIO ... a day alone. No rest but a jillion chores to catch up on. Probably bake bread.

posted from Bloggeroid

Surprises me

92 Percent of College Students Prefer Reading Print Books to E-readers: http://www.newrepublic.com/article/120765/naomi-barons-words-onscreen-fate-reading-digital-world

posted from Bloggeroid

Modern times

Syria jihadists tie up woman in a public square and execute her for ‘adultery’: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheRawStory/~3/kVtlDQzeS8E/

posted from Bloggeroid

The Artsy Fartsy Shuffle

The Artsy Fartsy Shuffle

the literary powers that be
which used to adore me
with the most exaggerated praise
with perpetual attention
and reams of good press

haven't taken interest in me
for some time now
which upset me
when it first happened
and baffled me for some time
especially since my work
was better than earlier

until it occurred to me
that none of this
not the earlier prizes
not the earlier grants
not the earlier success
had much to do with my work

but rather was a calculation
in a literary marketplace
of current trends and fashions
over which
I had no control

and Ezra Pound warned me of this
and e. e. cummings warned me
this is common knowledge
if you know where to look

so I shouldn't waste time
fretting about the past
which was a one-night stand

but also don't fret about
the present or future

and just do what I do

and thank the gods
for whatever actual connections
I make along the way

posted from Bloggeroid

Perspectives

Perspectives

when I was younger
I imagined my old age
would be this way or that
and envisioned scenarios
to look forward to

a respected writer
an influential teacher
a recipient of honors
teller of war stories
fixture at the coffee shop

but none of this
has come to pass

so here I am
navigating a nightmare
in charge by default
barely making it
at a task I'm
not very good at

when Sketch leaps up
onto my lap
to lick my nose
with great dedication

and I come to realize
that to have a nose
cherished by a dog
is not the worst moment

of the human condition

posted from Bloggeroid

Reality bites

I keep thinking this nightmare will end. No evidence. No progress. H oblivious or hysterical. How much endurance do I have? Enough?

posted from Bloggeroid

Amazon signs Woody Allen

Amazon has a surprisingly good start as producer. Transparent won two Golden Globes. Mozart In The Jungle rocks. Now Allen will write and direct his first TV series.

Plus Kindle Fire TV is fantastic ... and affordable.

posted from Bloggeroid

Fiction and truth

What duty to historical accuracy does a film have?: http://feeds.dailykos.com/~r/dailykos/index/~3/kj1hSVgLoJA/-What-duty-to-historical-accuracy-does-a-film-have

See my essay on writing historical drama.

posted from Bloggeroid

Lost logic

Here's how frustrating a conversation can be ...

Charles, I just got an email receipt for something I didn't buy.

What is it?

X cream.

Wait, this afternoon you said you bought this.

No I didn't.

You did ... we had a list of activity at the bank site and you told me this one was legitimate.

No I didn't. I bought X cream.

That's what this is. X cream.

Oh.

posted from Bloggeroid

My o my

Saw on the news, a margarita at the game costs $14!

posted from Bloggeroid

Stress city

While I was out on an errand, H responded to a fraudulent email regarding a credit card ... luckily bank found charges suspicious, caught and changed but an hour of considerable stress before then. I keep pleading not to do anything financial without my approval ... she forgets and believes the world is a nicer place than I do. This could have been disastrous. Might still be ... will find out soon.

Man, we really don't need this.

posted from Bloggeroid

Corporate sports

ESPN's $7.3 billion college football playoff gamble pays off
http://money.cnn.com/2015/01/12/media/espn-college-football-playoff-pays-off/index.html

posted from Bloggeroid

Hear, hear

Critics decry media failure to cover Boko Haram massacre the way they did the Charlie Hebdo murders: http://feeds.dailykos.com/~r/dailykos/index/~3/SxxdTWFl73Q/-Critics-decry-media-failure-to-cover-Boko-Haram-massacre-the-way-they-did-the-Charlie-Hebdo-murders

posted from Bloggeroid

Gold mine!

Just discovered tubitv on our new Kindke Fire TV (which is great)... free movies including large section from international festivals!

posted from Bloggeroid

Shockingly easy ...

... to step out of the classroom and leave teaching. I miss some students and colleagues, have many pleasant memories, but mainly I feel relief from responsibility (grading). No desire to go back. Well, I also miss the money, especially now, but not enough to consider returning.

It's important to know when to leave. Most jocks don't. Many performers don't.

Rocky Marciano aced it. He retired undefeated.

posted from Bloggeroid

Busy week

4 medical appts.

posted from Bloggeroid

In the meantime ...

Boko Haram massacre: Bodies litter bushes
http://www.cnn.com//2015/01/12/africa/boko-haram-deadliest-attack/index.html

posted from Bloggeroid

Some violence more press worthy than others

Meanwhile, for those who must think the world could not care less…: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/firedoglake/fdl/~3/f4v82hlTUY0/

posted from Bloggeroid

An actual playoff

TS on football's best playoff system:
http://roundbendpress.blogspot.com/2015/01/a-real-champ.html

posted from Bloggeroid

Wishful thinking

Man, it would be nice to have a quiet, peaceful day.

H to dinner and women's circle meeting tonight. I'll listen to Oregon game on radio, still astounded it's not a freebie. The new America.

posted from Bloggeroid

For the record

2015 Golden Globe Awards: Winners List
http://www.cnn.com//2015/01/11/showbiz/feat-2015-golden-globes-winners-list/index.html

posted from Bloggeroid

Ditto

etc etc etc

posted from Bloggeroid

Stressful day

Too bad. No choice but to deal with it.

posted from Bloggeroid

Bad news

Everybody is moving to Oregon
http://money.cnn.com/2015/01/08/real_estate/oregon-moving/index.html

posted from Bloggeroid

Cartoon

Selma: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Truthdig/~3/CXlRvpQ4ZPU/

posted from Bloggeroid

Perils of romance

North Carolina soldier shot in chest trying to surprise wife with breakfast in bed: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheRawStory/~3/lzYhjWoxD5A/

posted from Bloggeroid

What a shocker!

What George Zimmerman Arrested For Aggravated Assault With A Weapon: http://crooksandliars.com/2015/01/george-zimmerman-arrested-aggravated

posted from Bloggeroid

And Sen. Wayne Morse demanded an educated citizenry

It's 2015, but Fox News viewers continue to believe in birtherism, Iraqi WMDs: http://feeds.dailykos.com/~r/dailykos/index/~3/HhkUvg_6b1w/-It-s-2015-but-Fox-News-viewers-continue-to-believe-in-birtherism-Iraqi-WMDs

posted from Bloggeroid

Q.E.D.

Elizabeth Warren's Warnings About Financial Reform Are Already Coming True: http://www.newrepublic.com/article/120733/democrats-pass-terrorism-risk-insurance-bill-weakens-dodd-frank

posted from Bloggeroid

Oregon fan speaks out

This Year's College Football Playoff Is a Sham. Blame ESPN.: http://www.newrepublic.com/article/120734/2015-college-football-national-championship-wont-decide-winner

posted from Bloggeroid

OSU massacre

Over lady Ducks by almost 40 points.

posted from Bloggeroid

Any chance?

Obama plan would make community college free: http://feeds.dailykos.com/~r/dailykos/index/~3/w5hVQmKJulk/-Obama-plan-would-make-community-college-free

posted from Bloggeroid

Corporate dominance

I'm trying to remember a major sporting event not available on FREE television: Olympics, Super Bowl, World Series, March Madness, Triple Crown etc ... is the new NCAA football playoff a first in being unavailable on free TV? And is this a sign of things to come?

posted from Bloggeroid

Dinosaurs

Dinosaurs

Dinosaurs have an easy life:
so much ignored, so little strife.
With little I like in anything new,
I choose the past to this modern zoo.

In our day we had a good run:
met some goals and had some fun.
I'm damn proud of what I did,
my books stand up against these kids.

But few folks read them, that's the truth.
I take my gin without vermouth.
I don't pay heed to modern ways
and wallow in my glory days.

posted from Bloggeroid

Gravity

Ocean Warming Speeds Up Cycle of Climate Change: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Truthdig/~3/U7-VcE4GZvI/

posted from Bloggeroid

Impressed!

Post Rio rehab as impressive as the first program for its hands-on rigor. Glad Kaiser, our insurance, has relationship with this other hospital's program.

H has no memory of 2 weeks in "rehab boot camp" the first time!

*

Baking bread, my therapy.

Determined to do ukulele tiday! Say behind on studies - well, physically, lots of chord work in my head.

posted from Bloggeroid

Prefer to Oscars

Golden Globes: The nominees list
http://www.cnn.com//2014/12/11/showbiz/golden-globes-nominees-list/index.html

posted from Bloggeroid

Waiting room

CPR class before H's workout therapy - most interesting. And it likely saved her life on Sept 16. Now an hour to kill, reading, blogging, solitaire.

posted from Bloggeroid

Not enough

Selma to Ferguson and back: What has changed?
http://www.cnn.com//2015/01/06/us/selma-then-and-now/index.html

posted from Bloggeroid

Ah me ...

The tech trends that will change the world
http://www.cnn.com//2015/01/08/opinion/tech-trends-changing-world-shelly-palmer/index.html

posted from Bloggeroid

Art fights back

Charlie Hebdo: Cartoonists pay tribute
http://www.cnn.com//2015/01/08/europe/charlie-hebdo-cartoons/index.html

posted from Bloggeroid

Duh

Islamic State radio praises Charlie Hebdo attackers as ‘jihadist heroes’: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheRawStory/~3/lFqR3xmgu8M/

posted from Bloggeroid

Lament

Lament

It's time to lament
and bring out the towels
when the subject at hand
is an old man's bowels.

Taken for granted,
ignored at best,
a young man's bowels
is good fodder for jest.

Jokes of the anus,
songs of the ass,
the bowels embrace humor
that's usually crass.

Anatomical PR
is not the strong suit
of a bodily function
inspiring hoots.

But tempus fugit
and all that stuff:
there comes a time
when enough is enough.

Low in priority
for years and more,
the bowels gets a chance
to even the score.

And it's the elderly
taking the brunt
of the bowels' revenge
with telling stunts:

an old man listens
to an old friend's rants:
then quite without warning
he soils his pants!

Or sweet Aunt Mary
in the choir at church
can't find her hymn book
we all have to search

by the time we find it
such time has passed
the chapel has filled
with fartiing and gas!

And so it goes
revenge of the bowels
no more crass humor
no more crude howls

stench isn't funny
when old men are tense
they've taken to diapers
their only defense

the bowels are triumphant
the victory done
the moral: be careful
of how you make fun.








.

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Why is horror surprising?

Folks surprised by the horrific attack in Paris - where do they think they are living? Muslim extremists have made their agenda abundantly clear. Paris event is terrible, yes, but not surprising unless one considers it a failure of security.

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Kind of Blue

http://roundbendpress.blogspot.com/2015/01/blog-post.html

From Round Bend Press site.

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Today's experiment

Buckwheat 3-seeds bread ...

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O say can you see

Elizabeth Warren rips GOP and Dems: They help the rich and powerful get richer and more powerful: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheRawStory/~3/YqDXjjq3ScQ/

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Big game

Oregon playing for the championship and the game isn't telecast over the free airwaves. Have to have ESPN, which we just cut. So I'd have to join the public madness, a natural when younger, but maybe I'll just listen to the radio at home. For the time being, radio still free.

A very bad precedence beginning here.

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Attack on satirical magazine

12 dead, gunmen loose in Paris attack
http://www.cnn.com//2015/01/07/europe/france-satire-magazine-gunfire/index.html

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In Tucson ...

... 75 under sunny skies. Sigh.

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Waiting room

H starts post Rio rehab program, 16 sessions in 8 weeks. Structure for 8 weeks! Damn the cost, this is important - to both of us. She needs a stronger guiding hand than mine, and I need her to have a routine, so I can have a routine. This will be great, I think.

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Possibilities

Wind Supplied 98 Percent of Scotland’s 2014 Household Power and Other Amazing Green Energy Stories: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Truthdig/~3/dD2BVk29_4g/

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Cartoon

Political Theater: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Truthdig/~3/3-ZWpQGwMp0/

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The fun begins

The GOP controls basically everything now, conservative legislation to follow: http://feeds.dailykos.com/~r/dailykos/index/~3/604qBS8Mjhc/-The-GOP-controls-basically-everything-now-conservative-legislation-to-follow

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Getting more intrresting ...

58-point lawsuit filed by juror in Darren Wilson case against St. Louis prosecutor Bob McCulloch: http://feeds.dailykos.com/~r/dailykos/index/~3/psj85UPzAi8/-58-point-lawsuit-filed-by-juror-in-Darren-Wilson-case-against-St-Louis-prosecutor-Bob-McCulloch

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Echoes

Heard from old drinking buddy, who quit and inspired me to quit, who relapsed (I didn't...he got it together again), Vietnam helicopter pilot, hell of a guy. Eager to catch up with him.

He saw Pbs show on environmental theater, wrote to say I was "far ahead of my time." Ha ha. One critic even credits me with coining term "hyperdrama." Try cashing these at the grocery store.

Want to send him a couple of my books, he would dig them, esp the army one.

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Oh boy ...

Darren Wilson grand juror suing prosecutor for botching the case and putting Mike Brown on trial: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheRawStory/~3/vHqqg-PDrtg/

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The American way

The Real Winners Of The Recovery: The Superrich: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/firedoglake/fdl/~3/OLSuwZ8T00c/

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Day freed up

Doc appt got cancelled ... H not getting up to go to Y ... no driving chores, lots of household chores instead. Good.

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Our new tech

We've left Directv after ten years. Our hardware is so old they don't even want it back!

We've replaced it with a low end smart hdtv, a kindle fire tv and our own low end tivo. Our basic monthly fee goes from 100 to 15 a month.

What we lose are the sports cable channels I watched. What we gain are high def and amazon prime on a big screen instead of tablet.

Kindle Fire TV is fantastic.

Low end hdtv looks miraculous to tech dinosaurs like us. Jaw dropping picture.

A smart move! Football playoff in HD at home ... wow. 40" screen is perfect for us.

A smart move! ( And back to radio for most sports.)

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Optimists

New Hope for the Climate Crusade: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Truthdig/~3/1i2lpDqUmZQ/

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What we like to forget

Remembering the Rosewood Massacre: http://feeds.dailykos.com/~r/dailykos/index/~3/lKm1rPQjknE/-Remembering-the-Rosewood-Massacre

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The Chef

The Chef

There's a barbecue in heaven, haven't you heard?
A new chef has called the angels together
and delighted them with chicken and ribs.
They sing for their supper, a chorus of contentment
and a karma of kindness beams into the darkness.

Here on earth, in the silence of grief,
I hear the heavenly chorus
and feel the good karma
and smile, knowing that Tee
still conducts music at the grill,
spreading joy with chicken and ribs,
and a smile, and a gigantic heart,
and only his home address has changed.

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Low key

H finally up and functional ... reading for her book club. Glad post Rio rehab starts Tues, think the structure will be good for her.

She hasn't started painting again. Won't let me do her laundry but she doesn't do it either, though she complains about it a lot.

It's walking on eggshells around here ... I do the best I can but doesn't seem to move us forward.

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Cutting the cord

Just closed Directv ... affects me most, no more sports channels, but I can still use radio app and text gamecasts and catch network games. Money saver.

H back to bed.

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O well

Not a great aura this a.m. ... H had a bad night. I'll try to watch a little football, hope she can get it together. I wish she could have stayed in Rio for six months ... they are better at this.

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Future of film

VR movies will dominate Sundance in 2015
http://www.cnn.com//2014/12/09/tech/innovation/virtual-reality-sundance-2015/index.html

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Hear, hear!

In a fast-moving world, practice 'stillness'
http://www.cnn.com//2014/12/31/living/cnn-ideas-stillness/index.html

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Hear, hear!

We need to rethink dying
http://www.cnn.com//2015/01/01/tech/cnn-10-ideas-dying/index.html

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Memory to be remembered

Saturday History: Some of the Drastic Changes During Our Young Lives, 1932 – WWII: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/firedoglake/fdl/~3/9IfLo_GVKqg/

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Mahagonny ... brilliant production!

Watching a Spanish production in HD. Incredible! Art with balls and apparently eternal relevance.

I endorse this review ...

January 13, 2012

Format: DVD Verified Purchase

I was NOT prepared for this dvd. Diffidently (after all, what does Madrid know about Weill?), I ordered it simply to have another copy of MAHOGANNY, a work I adore.

Can you spell "schmuck"? That's what I was calling myself ten minutes into the performance. It is, simply, the most intelligent production of this "opera" I have seen (pray, be not impressed; I've seen only three others, but I've re-seen them many times).

Conducting: one couldn't wish for better. The cast: not one dud amoung them, not a one (check out Jenny's trill in "Moon of Alabama" - it is to swoon). The mise en scene? Oh, man, don't get me started. It's like a Broadway show; it's like the best of contemporary opera; it's like the old 60's days of the Living Theater. Yet it's too something "also" on which right now I can't put my finger. To borrow a phrase from Talulah B, it's a goddamn miracle. The chorus? Spot on.

Underlying all is the translation of Brecht's libretto into American English. It's superb, comperable to the translation (Blitzstein's ?) of the Threepenny Opera that put Weill/Brecht on the Manhattan scene back in the 50's. For a while my Inner Purist (who can be SUCH a bore!) fussed about losing the German...until I remembered that Weill, upon coming to Manhattan and claiming a historical place among Broadway's greats, being so ashamed of his native country rolling over for the Nazis, refused to speak a word of German. That made it all right. That made it OK. In this performance, Mahoganny, takes its place in musical history in an entirely new context: Weill in Manhattan. I think he would have loved it.

But all that's intellectual twaddle. If you have a love for Weill and his works, please do not deny yourself the pleasure of this performance. And don't expect a better one anytime soon.

I know of none better, though I know of one very close.

Madrid, bravo!

Er...make that bravissimi! Tutti!

Disclosure: I am not acquainted with anyone involved in the production of this dvd, nor do I have any financial interest therein.

 from Bloggeroid

R.I.P.

People we lost in 2014
http://www.cnn.com//2014/01/09/world/gallery/people-we-lost-2014/index.html

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Survival

Buzz Aldrin: Next stop, Mars
http://www.cnn.com//2014/07/15/opinion/aldrin-my-moon-walk-mars/index.html

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Here's mine ...

America in five words: How we see ourselves
http://www.cnn.com//2014/12/30/living/america-in-five-words-twitter/index.html

City On A Hill sucks.

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Noted earlier, obit

Opry star Little Jimmy Dickens dies at 94
http://www.cnn.com//2015/01/02/showbiz/little-jimmy-dickens-obit/index.html

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Reality

Faces of Skid Row
http://www.cnn.com//2015/01/02/us/gallery/skid-row-portraits/index.html

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Musical medicine

H off with a girlfriend to admire a new baby ... and Chris Connor and now Mulligan-Baker are getting me "home" after last night's chaos. West coast jazz is great medicine.

Who knows what will happen when H returns.

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Sixties debacle

Jean-Paul Sartre’s refusal of Nobel prize came too late to avoid debacle: reports: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheRawStory/~3/kYG5_Q2eiC8/

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Progressive energy

Mario Cuomo, Pope Francis, and Not Preaching to the Choir: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/firedoglake/fdl/~3/XIl7QLuWGpM/

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Baking bread to Chris Connor

Post-stress therapy. Olive, half to TS. May make white/quinoa later today.

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Stress

Bad night. That'll teach me to get optimistic ha ha.

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R.I.P. Little Jimmy Dickens

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Post-Rio rehab ...

... is s go. Tues and Thur for 16 weeks ... I think this "hands on" physical training program will be great for her.

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Rhetoric v. reality

Every other developed nation is more pro-family than the U.S. when it comes to this: http://feeds.dailykos.com/~r/dailykos/index/~3/eQuJWu6eHJE/-Every-other-developed-nation-is-more-pro-family-than-the-U-S-when-it-comes-to-this

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Mornings

Best new year gift I could get is to have my peaceful mornings back. Movement in that direction actually, with H having recent mornings without nightmares or hallucinations. Knock on my wooden head.

2015 definitely a year for change. Hope we sell the house for a good price in Sept, find an apt in a neighborhood with walking convenience. I'll never convince H to move to the southwest.

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How reality works

Bad Luck—Not Bad Genes—the Cause of Most Cancers: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Truthdig/~3/Br3FlShCJ8A/

Yes, God does play dice with our lives.

See my 1985 play The Sadness of Einstein.

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Lack of character

Neither team made points for good sportsmanship after the blowout yesterday. Most of the FSU team sprinted for the lockeroom, the hell with the post game ceremony. Meanwhile a few Duck players chanted No Means No!, mocking the Florida QB's rape controversy. Didn't see many "Good game" moments.

I'm more interested in women's bball now.

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Oregon v. Ohio State

The championship game sounds like old school Rose Bowl. No SEC. Love it.

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The story: Ducks demolish FSU

http://mobile.belo.stats.com/cfb/cfb_story.aspx?id=CFB_RECAP$201501010060.XML

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Fat chance

U.S. Must Face Up to the Dark Side of Climate Change: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Truthdig/~3/dcwGgv2eraU/

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I nailed it

Oregon demolishes Florida State. Put that in your Seminole chop ha ha!

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Good start

National Anthem played by Oregon band WITHOUT A SINGER. Perfect. Go Ducks!

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War stories

Check out stories from my amazing life at The Years.

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Ha ha

Cartoon: Oregon woman gives birth to Hindu baby: http://feeds.dailykos.com/~r/dailykos/index/~3/5kVDr3A7F3k/-Cartoon-Oregon-woman-gives-birth-to-Hindu-baby

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Happy New Year!

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Hiss boo

The Rose Bowl game has always been available on FREE tv ... until now. It's ESPN, not available to everyone. Hand in hand with the playoff system, more corporate control of college sports. Really, really sucks.

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Big day

I grew up in Pasadena, 1948-59, returning after the Army, so the parade and game are big deals. We lived 2 blocks from the parade route!

Hey, I saw in the New Year! First time in ages. Low key, at home, watching public tv specials, counting our blessings.

Go Ducks!

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