How to tell a story

How to tell a story

Sunday, February 28, 2016

Variation

Irony of art

Housing bubble movie ‘The Big Short’ entertains us as greedy banks edge closer to creating a new one: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheRawStory/~3/fSQk2vyYb6s/

Writers as spies

Forgotten poets

Digital downside

Toughest job

Virginia policewoman shot dead on first shift - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-35681240
posted from Bloggeroid

Plot thickens

Overwhelmed

So much prep before we can put this house on the market ... but a year or two to do it. But H has to help, which hasn't happened yet.

Good decision

Report: Broncos' Peyton Manning To Retire - http://huff.to/1TeBCIC

Variation on a theme

Tweaked my buttermilk roll procedure this morning ... see what happens.

Consequences

I thought you might like this story from The Washington Post.
California’s drive to save water is killing trees, hurting utilities and raising taxes
http://wapo.st/1QmT7k2

Saturday, February 27, 2016

Clinton's delegate lead

543-85

posted from Bloggeroid

Landslide

Hillary Clinton Wins A Resounding Victory In South Carolina - http://huff.to/1QE4gMm

Clinton got higher % of SC black voters than Obama did! If this mirrors national voting, Sanders is in deep doodoo.

posted from Bloggeroid

U Conn W

Scored only 6 in first Q, shooting under 10%, down double digits for first time this season. Then defense turned it up, amazing sequence of 3 steals/scores in a row ... final 80-40. Incredible team.

Zzzzzz

Emissions Could Make Earth Uninhabitable: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Truthdig/~3/c1LXl-e-fFQ/

And worse ...

Iowa H.S. Students Chant 'Trump' After Loss To Racially Diverse Basketball Team: http://crooksandliars.com/2016/02/iowa-hs-students-chant-trump-after-loss

Daily Life

my mental health depends
on thinking as little as possible

analysis only reveals
considerable horror to come

our bickering leaders are
impotent to address it

handing the rest of us
a miserable waiting game

which I'd rather not think about

The age of rude

Not one thank you from a dozen recent gifts. What a world.

Emotion trumps reason

The most depressing discovery about the brain, ever: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheRawStory/~3/TBu57pMNbb8/

Friday, February 26, 2016

Ups and downs

I thought you might like this story from The Washington Post.
The best African American figure skater in history is now bankrupt and living in a trailer
http://wapo.st/1pcarBn

posted from Bloggeroid

Bad news

TS has shingles. That sucks.

Hopeful news

Monarch butterfly migration to Mexico jumps after years of decline

http://gu.com/p/4h577?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Bloggeroid

Who can blame her?

I thought you might like this story from The Washington Post.
SMU women’s coach says kids these days drove her into retirement
http://wapo.st/1LK5yUY

Chomsky on Trump

Donald Trump Is Winning Because White America Is Dying - http://huff.to/1TaD9PS

Perspective

I thought you might like this story from The Washington Post.
Strong African American support for Clinton emerging as decisive factor
http://wapo.st/1KPeTQv

We shall see.

Running on empty

Low energy. Struggling to finish what feels like my last book. I've said that before. One day it will be true.

Thursday, February 25, 2016

Early Spring

International film

Meryl Streep: Setting the Record Straight from Berlin - http://huff.to/1XOGOSv

posted from Bloggeroid

Mariners projected lineup

Batter up!

I am REALLY ready for baseball audio, very old school. Daily after Sunday!

posted from Bloggeroid

Old age

One of those days when everything that moves hurts. But no space age replacement parts for me! I resist becoming a bionic man.

Sun. Assess the lawn later.

Perspective

This racist backlash against refugees is the real crisis in Europe

http://gu.com/p/4h36f?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Bloggeroid

Freedom

I am a citizen of the world,
which means I'm powerless
except for whatever I hold
privately close to my vest:
my thoughts, attitudes, values.

Given all this, freedom
amounts to wiggle room,
existing under the radar,
disappearing from authority,
minding my own business.

Traps are everywhere, usually
called a Sale or Free Sample
to feed the insatable appetite
of our consumer culture,
measuring souls in dollars.

If you buy, you die.
Amen.

Here we go ...

I thought you might like this story from The Washington Post.
Secret police? Virginia considers bill to withhold all officers’ names
http://wapo.st/1LGSsYD

Fool's errand

As a kind of last hurrah, I sent a dozen artistic directors in town a copy of my short memoir about hyperdrama. In the days of civility, a thank you note would have followed, even if it was deep sixed. Not a peep.

Wednesday, February 24, 2016

Experimental bread

When I began baking bread, I tried all variety of flours. Now I have two as staples: buttermilk and cracked rye. Now and again I do olive or whole wheat.

Tonight I baked something different: olive, caper, sun dried tomato. Haven't tasted it yet.
posted from Bloggeroid

Can't get worse? Ha!

Poll Shows Almost 20 Percent of Trump Supporters Disapprove of Lincoln Freeing the Slaves: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Truthdig/~3/jqosr1JW_4s/

posted from Bloggeroid

Making it official

TS gave me an ISBN number for the book edition of my 3 new plays at Round Bend Press. Summer or fall, no rush but lots of grunt work. Security blanket.

posted from Bloggeroid

OJ miniseries

Outstanding! New episode every Wed. I read Toobin's book on which it is based. Extraordinary story about race in America. Terrific cast, great script.

posted from Bloggeroid

Greatly exaggerated!

Oregon Is Living The Political Revolution Bernie Sanders Is Fighting For - http://huff.to/1T7bMX2

Perspective

Chomsky: Trump’s Rise Is Due to the ‘Breakdown of Society’: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Truthdig/~3/PTTm3ipAr9s/

The armed university

Texas academics told to avoid 'sensitive topics' if gun law goes into effect

http://gu.com/p/4h35p?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Bloggeroid

Against the boycott

Jamie Foxx: black stars – including Will Smith – need to #actbetter to win Oscars

http://gu.com/p/4h2g7?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Bloggeroid

End Times

personal good fortune
baffles me as much
as worldly horror

you can't explain it
it just happens
and always happened

under the circumstances
the best I can do
is avoid wrong doing

is cherish friends
and manufacture moments
of laughter and joy

a riff by Mulligan
trumps a suicide bomber
if you know how to listen

Uphill battle

'Wake Up, South Carolina!' Endorsing Sanders, Spike Lee Slams Rigged System: http://www.commondreams.org/news/2016/02/23/wake-south-carolina-endorsing-sanders-spike-lee-slams-rigged-system

Sign of the times

Donald Trump Lauds The 'Poorly Educated' In Nevada Victory Speech: http://crooksandliars.com/2016/02/donald-trump-lauds-poorly-educated-nevada

Political revolution

Clearly it's happening - headed by Trump! Sad but true. The numbers speak for themselves.

Once again, progressives get "the people" wrong. Historically we're very good at that. Sanders wears idealistic blinders. Folks aren't as smart as he dreams.

May you live in interesting times.

Shrinking Universe

the older I get
the smaller the universe
in which I find

Comfort

Tuesday, February 23, 2016

Party? What party?


posted from Bloggeroid

Awwwwww...


posted from Bloggeroid

Starbucks adding liquor

Read samples

Important step

Meet the 24-year-old who could change how the US handles sexual assaults

http://gu.com/p/4hx38?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Bloggeroid

Just watched THE HUNTING GROUND, doc about sexual assault on campus. University corruption is appalling on this issue, esp when jocks are involved. Brave victims carrying the load for change, as here.

Life in America

From The Chronicle:

Marie Hatch, who has cancer, was served with a 60-day notice this month to vacate the Craftsman cottage she has lived in for 66 years. In 1950, Hatch was given a verbal agreement, which was passed down through generations of owner ship, that she could live in the cottage for the rest of her life.

Monday, February 22, 2016

Hey, Ducks in the Post!

I thought you might like this story from The Washington Post.
The Oregon Ducks may be the nation’s quietest Final Four contender
http://wapo.st/1oDPL5k

posted from Bloggeroid

Here we go ...

Think I caught H's virus ...

posted from Bloggeroid

Dog power

Sometimes You Need A Dog To Remind You What It Is To Be Human - http://huff.to/1XBCplC

Rising seas

Tennessee W drop out of rankings

Bukowski wisdom

Adventures in home improvement

Two kitchen track lights burned out. Never replaced these before, looked tricky, but how to video on YouTube looked easy - with the right tools. Don't have, and so couldn't budge lens clip. An idea! H's work bench for art projects, a large pile of clutter - where I found needle nose pliers and got bulb out. At store, learned how expensive they are, could only afford one today. Replaced, works but can't get lens clip back on. Not sure it makes a difference.

R.I.P. Duncan Carter

Head of Eng Dept at PSU who hired. me; great fan of hyperdrama; long bout with cancer but amazingly active to the end.

A mystery

NASA Reveals Astronauts Heard Unexplained Music At The Moon - http://huff.to/1Q7Jb16

Sanders

My take:
1. If elected as Dem, impotent one term Pres.
2. If Hillary is candidate and he supports her, most likely scenario, same old story.
3. If Hillary is candidate and he runs as independent, elected honorary Republican for helping them so much.
4. If H, and he urges supporters to go Green, supporting Stein, he can stir the pot and begin a political revolution to change the corrupt two party system. ThIs could be a major step.

The energy is there! But it must be focused in a revolutionary way. THE MEDIUM IS THE MESSAGE.

Old age!

I forgot to brew my coffee last night. Can't believe it. No iced coffee ... get dressed and go out, I guess. Damn.

It ain't over

After Nevada, Bernie Sanders Supporters Haven't Lost Faith - http://huff.to/1QaEkw1

If he moved to the Greens, he could really stir the pot. But he won't. He's a politician. Another unintended con job, just as Hedges points out.

Perspective

I thought you might like this story from The Washington Post.
If only Hunter S. Thompson could have lived to take on this election
http://wapo.st/1RTtHPr

When civilizations end

I thought you might like this story from The Washington Post.
In shards of glass, a new sign of how the enigmatic Easter Islanders met their demise
http://wapo.st/1QablIK

Sunday, February 21, 2016

Political revolution

Here's the long shot how Sanders could make it happen.

1. Clinton gets nomination.
2. Sanders convinces his supporters to bolt to Greens, already on ballot. Many do, enough to contest election. The two party system is destroyed.

And there's your political revolution.

posted from Bloggeroid

Brilliant!

INGENIOUS INVENTION - http://huff.to/1XBIu1F

posted from Bloggeroid

Hedges for Stein

Why I Support Dr. Jill Stein for President: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Truthdig/~3/IPli6v-QL1E/

I think he's right. But no way she has a shot, though I might vote for her myself.

Her best shot would be for Sanders to send his supporters to her after Hillary gets the nomination. But he will be grinning on stage, holding Clinton's hand. That's life.

"O say can you see ...?"

posted from Bloggeroid

Dumb shits

Civil Rights Legend Says Sanders Supporters Yelled 'English Only' At Her - http://huff.to/1XEDppl

Scenario for change

Imagine Bernie Sanders wins the White House. Then what?: http://feeds.dailykos.com/~r/dailykos/index/~3/Luk42yRHmGk/-Imagine-Bernie-Sanders-wins-the-White-House-Then-what

Same scenario used in my six day wonder play! Astounding! But it doesn't work in my play. Because the play is realistic and therefore dark in this regard.

So I consider Sanders naive and absurdly optimistic. Not all young people are progressive, maybe not even most. Sanders is more hopeless than I thought, if that's really his plan. Get real, man!

Demographics

In Nevada, young voters overwhelmingly went for Sanders. Blacks overwhelmingly for Clinton. They split on Latinos. But C won the unions, the women and the poor.

If this holds, plus C's astronomical superdelegate advantage, no way Sanders can win. Will he cave or split? I predict cave. Holding hands and smiling on the podium with Hillary. It's called American politics.

Something to look forward to: a debate between Trump and Clinton should be surreal!

Saturday, February 20, 2016

Delegate count

Clinton 500
Sanders 70

posted from Bloggeroid

Losing brain power

I thought you might like this story from The Washington Post.
Americans can study in Germany for free, in English. An increasing number are doing it.
http://wapo.st/1oudm87

posted from Bloggeroid

Read sample

Perspective

Why Reading Mark Twain Is The Key To Understanding Donald Trump - http://huff.to/1Q4djub

About bullshit in science

Spin city, or consider the source

Politics brings out the worst in everyone.

The establishment press bashes Sanders, the progressive press bashes Clinton. Sickening and getting worse.

I remember the old woman who told me why she quit voting: "I don't want to encourage them."

Same o politics

The Fight Between Bernie Sanders And Hillary Clinton Is Officially Super Ugly - http://huff.to/1XC97U4

Fighting the establishment

From The Chronicle, regarding Sanders' uphill battle:

"After the contests in Iowa and New Hampshire, Sanders has a small 36-32 lead among delegates won in primaries and caucuses. But when superdelegates are included, Clinton leads 483-55, including two new superdelegate endorsements she picked up on Friday, according to the AP count. It's essentially a parallel election that underscores Clinton's lopsided support from the Democratic establishment."

##

Sounds rigged and makes primaries a little irrelevant.

Friday, February 19, 2016

R.I.P.

Italian author and philosopher Umberto Eco dies at 84: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheRawStory/~3/RAFjeJW7Unc/

Peace

I'm at peace with myself, which hasn't been true until recently. I spent time fretting about my career, in particular devoting so much energy to such an esoteric, avant-garde form as hyperdrama. Should I have remained "a traditional playwright"?

Then I learned my one act hyperdrama is in the canon of first generation hypertext, that there are faculty who respect my work at many universities in the UK, Europe, Scandanavia, South America. I didn't waste time on hyperdrama at all. I'm an esoteric, elitist kind of guy, I deserve an esoteric, elitist reputation.

At peace, I return to traditional drama with 3 new plays and nothing to prove. I am marketing them, and what happens, happens. Round Bend Press will publish them. I'd love to see one done here, for old time's sake before I pass. What happens, happens.

Peace rocks.

Buttermilk rolls


posted from Bloggeroid

Giggling fit

I finished the taxes ... and when I told H, she said she'd better check them. And that got me started.

She always did the taxes before her heart attack. I hate doing it and she's better at it. Now she can't and I must by default.

This trick of the gods came to mind by her habitual remark. I reminded her why I was doing them in the first place.

posted from Bloggeroid

Nevada black caucus feels Bern

R.I.P.

I thought you might like this story from The Washington Post.
Harper Lee, elusive author of ‘To Kill a Mockingbird,’ dies at 89
http://wapo.st/1Q5CQ6c

posted from Bloggeroid

Take it easy

The pattern: H gets sick, I pick it up much worse. Feeling the start now. If I can finish taxes first ...

Quotation of the day

"Politics is pissing in public." --Norman O. Brown

posted from Bloggeroid

2016!

Texas A&M rife with tension after another incident of campus racism

http://gu.com/p/4gpjq?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Bloggeroid

posted from Bloggeroid

Getting ready for an exodus

Canadian Island Welcomes American Refugees Fleeing Trump - http://huff.to/1Q2Y8S5

posted from Bloggeroid

Press trash

The progressive press is trashing Clinton, the establishment press is trashing Sanders. A sorry sight. Thank the gods for the BBC.

posted from Bloggeroid

No fan of Sanders

I thought you might like this story from The Washington Post.
Bernie Sanders’s outlandish plans make Republicans look serious
http://wapo.st/2127kx3

Conventions will be ugly, with party establishments fearing Sanders and Trump. I only fear Cruz. If blacks and Latinos rally behind Clinton, she might pull it out. I don't fear Clinton - in fact, I think she could rise in office as the first woman president. A longshot. I'd vote for Sanders if Warren was his VP but he strikes me more and more as an impractical dreamer. If the convention is brokered, it might be Biden.

I may not vote at all. Unless I vote against Cruz.

posted from Bloggeroid

Tick tock

I thought you might like this story from The Washington Post.
Scientists are floored by what’s happening in the Arctic right now
http://wapo.st/1SUyT75

posted from Bloggeroid

Ah, "environmentalists"!

I thought you might like this story from The Washington Post.
Endangered baby dolphin dies after swimmers pass it around for selfies
http://wapo.st/20Hk3zH

posted from Bloggeroid

Long time coming

I thought you might like this story from The Washington Post.
‘Race’ looks at the big picture of Jesse Owens and the 1936 Olympics
http://wapo.st/1oOaKCc

posted from Bloggeroid

Thursday, February 18, 2016

A draft for everyone

I thought you might like this story from The Washington Post.
How drafting women became a wedge issue for Republicans on the trail
http://wapo.st/1SUBsGk

House of zzzzz

I have no energy, H is sick, Sketch is sleeping most of the day ... nothing happening!

Energy

It's appalling how little energy I have in my old age. I ran out and did a few chores this morning ... and my energy tanked. Taxes? Maybe tomorrow. Shocking how I drag through the day.

Harriet is no better. She's in bed, feeling sick.

posted from Bloggeroid

Dilemma

Socrates said
the unexamined life
is not worth living

Socrates never said
the examined life
IS worth living

posted from Bloggeroid

Consequences

Fixing Wall Street

They Talk Tough — but Can Bernie or Hillary Actually Take on Wall Street and Win?: http://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/138632383/0/alternet~They-Talk-Tough-%e2%80%94-but-Can-Bernie-or-Hillary-Actually-Take-on-Wall-Street-and-Win

A lot of pundits and professional economists have been weighing in on the financial reform plans of candidates like Sanders and Clinton. Paul Krugman, for example, has strongly stated his preference for Clinton’s proposals to reform Wall Street. You’ve noted the problem of lack of detail in the plans you’ve seen. As an economist, does that make it difficult for you to access their merits?

EK: It does. These proposals lack the specificity to allow me, acting only as a professional economist, to draw many conclusions.

##

In other words, the usual smoke and mirrors from BOTH candidates.

Cracked rye

Might be my favorite bread now.


Slow progress

With luck, might finish tax prep today. The last deadlined responsibility facing me for a while.

Need a project. Not necessarily a writing project.

I think H is getting worse physically but better mentally.

On the island of Lesbos

On the BBC
I heard a woman
who owns a restaurant
on the island of Lesbos
where in recent years
boats filled with refugees
have landed on her shore
men, women and children
cold, hungry and frightened
fleeing war and despair

and so this amazing woman
put her staff to work
making sandwich after sandwich
and she called on friends
to gather warm clothes and medicine

and she continues to help
the endless fleet of refugees
to this very day, sounding
on the BBC
like it's just another day

at her bayshore restaurant
on the island of Lesbos

Ignorance

Until recently
I've regarded the cliche
"ignorance is bliss"
with a scorn reserved
for philistines and dunces

but the digital revolution
has opened my eyes
to overwhelming realities
universes of ignorance
the future of mankind

how much more blissful
if I didn't know
a conspiracy of stupidity
now determines the fate
of humans and Earth

Wednesday, February 17, 2016

Class society

San Francisco tech worker: 'I don't want to see homeless riff-raff'

http://gu.com/p/4gp39?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Bloggeroid

Grim future

I thought you might like this story from The Washington Post.
Warming oceans are turning sea stars to goo and killing lobsters, scientists say
http://wapo.st/1TqUYtu

Revolution

Afghanistan's First Female Street Artist Brings Burqas And Feminism To City Walls - http://huff.to/1Q1raBr

posted from Bloggeroid

Optimist

Thomas Piketty: Bernie Sanders Heralds a New Era in American Politics: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Truthdig/~3/9_D9rNPDxqA/

Read sample

The screenplay on which this novella is based on had serious interest from an executive at Robert Wise Productions and from an actress who wanted to come out of retirement to star in it. Another close call, in other words. I've had half a dozen of them, including one that ended right after a "check's in the mail" phone call. It's as tough a business as there is.

Ah, youth!

Every now and again
someone does something special
to inspire outrageous praise
and all kinds of hype
and I go check it out
curious what the fuss is about
and discover something that someone
of my generation did thirty
or forty or fifty years ago
and did considerably better
which makes me laugh at your ignorance
and capacity for self-congratulation
though I don't laugh one bit
about the disrespect for old age
in this day care center called America

Tuesday, February 16, 2016

From former student

Email from one of better grad students I ever mentored, unsuccessful in landing teaching job instead landed well paying exec asst position at environmental foundation, sounds well suited to her, solves $$$, and later she'll have time to write. I'm very excited for her! GO GO GO!

Read sample

Some years back I received an email from a woman who identified herself as a literary agent employed by a major agency. She was leaving to start her own agency. To this end, she had been searching the internet for potential clients and came across my archive. Was I represented? If not she would like to represent me because ... and here followed the most over-stated and outrageous praise of my work I'd ever read, or even imagined.
If she had cooled down on the praise, I may have responded because I was, in fact, between agents. But this was ridiculous. Obviously a scam. I deleted the letter.
A few weeks later I received an email from a former student. Is this legit? he asked, forwarding me the same letter with the same boilerplate praise!
There's a special place in hell for such scammers. This novella was inspired by this experience, a kind of fantasy about how a writer might respond. It's one in my CineFicion series, novellas that originally were screenplays.



A Writer's Lament

The trouble with what is called success
is that later when you lose the attention
it's easy to leap to the conclusion
that the change actually has something
to do with you and is not just another
roll of the dice that your culture likes to call
"support of the arts" when in fact nothing
here is valued except commodities
in the marketplace of pop culture
which makes success as well as failure
irrelevant concepts with regard to the work
you should be doing instead of wasting
so much time fretting about bullshit

Democrats

The issue is not Hillary Clinton's Wall St links but her party's core dogmas

http://gu.com/p/4gkdt?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Bloggeroid

Monday, February 15, 2016

A novel about Shostakovich

Left becomes Right

Sanders' strength

He tells the truth that we're not the best of much of anything any more. Where do you learn that software in China makes ours look primitive? Sanders pops our bubble. Good for him.

China smokes the west

WeChat: want an app that lets you do everything at once?

http://gu.com/p/4gdj6?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Bloggeroid

WeChat, a Chinese messaging app, dwarfs most western products both in scale – it has around 700 million active accounts – and ambition: despite being first released only in January 2011 as a text/voice/photo-sharing app, it has expanded to provide functionality so that you can order cabs, buy film tickets, play games, check in for flights, pay bills … the list goes on and on.

Good damn question

Why don't we treat climate change with the rigor we give to terror attacks?

http://gu.com/p/4gkbj?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Bloggeroid

Best hope

Best hope I see in this mess of an election is a brokered Dem convention, maybe Repub as well, out of which a new progressive party emerges, which then gets more votes than the Dems. Brokered convention possible but if Sanders splits, probably as Indie, no help in establishing new party. I'd like to see a conservative party as well. Let's create honest labels.

None of this will happen.

National politics

What pisses me off is that I much more often have voted AGAINST someone I don't want to be President than for someone I do. This is shaping up to be another election like that.

Family values?

I thought you might like this story from The Washington Post.
Kentucky lawmaker’s bill forces men to get note from wives before purchasing Viagra
http://wapo.st/1RDGjdl

Hedges on Sanders

Bernie Sanders’ Phantom Movement: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Truthdig/~3/xL_342NJqxs/

"The Democratic Party is a full partner in the corporate state. Yet Sanders, while critical of Hillary Clinton’s exorbitant speaking fees from firms such as Goldman Sachs, refuses to call out the party and—as Robert Scheer pointed out in a column in October—the Clintons for their role as handmaidens of Wall Street. For Sanders, it is a lie of omission, which is still a lie. And it is a lie that makes the Vermont senator complicit in the con game being played on the American electorate by the Democratic Party establishment."

The two party system is part of the problem.

Hedges articulates my doubts about Sanders: it's a bigger problem. 

Sunday, February 14, 2016

FBI at Oregon refuge

I thought you might like this story from The Washington Post.
This time, the FBI got it right
http://wapo.st/2435vyO

A different attitude

I thought you might like this story from The Washington Post.
Canadians crack down on guns, alarmed by flow from U.S.
http://wapo.st/212rvYb

Campus protests on rise with freshman class

I thought you might like this story from The Washington Post.
http://wapo.st/1oBJTJK

"Almost one in ten said they expected to participate in protests — the highest it has been in the 50 years the survey has been given."

Go, Galen!

Perspective

Here’s what Antonin Scalia’s death means for climate change: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheRawStory/~3/U5mHFo1WL3M/

How many voters like this? I can sympathize.

How Bernie Sanders lost me ... and Hillary Clinton won me over: http://feeds.dailykos.com/~r/dailykos/index/~3/rstvDV7-_uQ/-How-Bernie-Sanders-lost-me-and-Hillary-Clinton-won-me-over

I, too, get more disappointed the more the Bern sounds robotic.

Bowl of the soup of the wife of Kit Carson

A specialty since grad school 50 yrs ago ... for Sunday early dinner. I'll add photo later.

Closing hours at refuge

I thought you might like this story from The Washington Post.
Getting to Hallelujah: The frantic final hours of the Oregon refuge occupation
http://wapo.st/1TgbThd

Higher stakes

The election now more important than ever ... and dysfunction and nastiness will explode. This is our politics today.

Will get worse

More Than Half the World’s Population Faces Severe Water Scarcity: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Truthdig/~3/ZjIVrsavUd0/

Breakfast prep

Saturday, February 13, 2016

Black support

Cornel West urges black voters to back Bernie Sanders in op-ed slamming Clintons for Wall Street ties: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheRawStory/~3/H5CwmLXzyd4/

New conflict

Galen Rupp wins his first marathon, heads Olympic team

Aging

1
I have much physical evidence
that years ago an impostor
stole my identity and used it
to put plays on a stage
to publish books and articles
to win grants and awards
in a frenzy of literary activity
that finally has come to an end
so that I can be myself again

2
I have vivid memories of being naked
in the presence of beautiful naked women
to the mutal satisfaction of all
but recently have begun to doubt
the veracity of my memory
since I find no concrete evidence
not a photo, not a momento
in any of various family albums
that such encounters actually happened

3
I have a vague feeling that I'm waiting
around for something or someone
who will explain to me the point
of all this spare time on my hands
now that I'm just another forgotten
and ignored and irrelevant senior citizen
who once upon a time had purpose
and was far too busy and productive
to wonder what in hell is going on

Small funk

I typically rise feeling great. Indeed 3-10 a.m. are the feel good hours of my day.

So why this funk this morning? Because I still face doing taxes?

Maybe a glass of buttermilk will help.

Stereotypes

I thought you might like this story from The Washington Post.
Your assumptions about Native Americans and alcohol are wrong
http://wapo.st/1QwmTlP

The human factor

I thought you might like this story from The Washington Post.
More than 5 million people will die from a frightening cause: Breathing
http://wapo.st/1TgyNGq

Public land

I thought you might like this story from The Washington Post.
Obama to designate new national monuments in the California desert
http://wapo.st/1PHeLzb

Non white power

Can Nevada #FeeltheBern? Only if young Latinos turn out to support Sanders

http://gu.com/p/4gk6h?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Bloggeroid

Same o same o

The phony in American politics: how voters turn into suckers

http://gu.com/p/4gjth?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Bloggeroid

Friday, February 12, 2016

Too much to ask?

What if Sanders changed tactics? What if he refused to jump in the gutter with Clinton and duke it out old school? What if he instead focused on a vision of what America would look like if he won? What if he let us know in detail how he will make this happen? What if he shared how he would overcome an obstructionist Congress?

What if were less angry and more excited, more celebratory, about the possibility of a new world, a political revolution beyond glib rhetoric?

What if he were inspirational?

Post mortem

https://www.hcn.org/articles/malheur-occupation-oregon-ammon-bundy-public-lands-essay

"I went to the Malheur looking for kindred spirits. I found the mad, the fervent, the passionately misguided. I found the unknowing pawns of an existential chess game, in which we are, all of us, now caught. Driving home across the snow-packed Malheur Basin, through mile after mile of sage, with towering basalt cliffs in the near distance, herds of mule deer appearing as gray specks in the tongues of slide rock and wind-exposed yellow grass, I did not wonder what Edward Abbey would have said about all of this, or Kropotkin or the lugubrious monarchist Thomas Hobbes. I thought instead of the old C.S. Lewis books of my childhood, and of Lewis’ writings on the nature of evil, where evil is never a lie, because lying implies creation, and evil, by its nature, has no creative power. Instead, the nature of evil is to take a truth and twist it, sometimes as much as 180 degrees. Love of country becomes hatred of those we believe don’t share our devotion, or don’t share it the same way. The natural right of armed self-defense becomes the means to take over a wildlife refuge, to exert tyranny on those who work there, or those who love the place for the nature it preserves in a world replete with man’s endeavors. The U.S. Constitution, one of the most liberal and empowering documents ever composed, becomes, with just a slight annotation or interpretation, the tool of our own enslavement."

Film history

Second showing: unearthing the lost history of African American cinema

http://gu.com/p/4gjg2?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Bloggeroid

Enjoying the madness

I'm beginning to enjoy this election. I guess because I don't have a candidate ... and because I'm sure no prez can stop Nature. Sanders bores me and I don't trust Hillary, though if she threw Bill out of the house I'd look again. I think Clinton is more flexible than Sanders, good or bad depending on context.

So I want chaos and excitement. Brokered conventions! No one wins!

Stevenson + Rubio = Sanders

Content doesn't win elections, style does. Sad but true. Sanders' style reminds me of Stevenson - except last night, when he reminded me of Rubio, repeating himself constantly. Clinton won in a blow out, although the choir loves the song repeated.

Sanders has victory in his grasp if he gets help from some acting coaches and focuses on a positive future. We already know the rest.

I agree

Sanders squandered his lead while Clinton shone at the latest debate

http://gu.com/p/4gjm3?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Bloggeroid

Buttermilk rolls

Fireworks

2 brokered conventions! It could happen. Everybody plays it safe after many ballots. Biden v Romney! Trump and Sanders both run independently. No one wins, To Repub controlled House ... Pres Jeb Bush! Ha ha!

Reminds me of how writing grants are given.

Living well ...

... is the best revenge. Classical guitar, breakfast ...


The last slow dance

Feb 28 the spring broadcasts begin. The leisurely pace of baseball will feel SANE in this noisy world. Eager to begin.

Perspective

Democratic Debate Exposes The Real Divide Between Clinton And Sanders - http://huff.to/1XmXDUh

HA HA!

Batter up!

Getting closer, as a renewal notice reminds me this morning. I have the At Bat MLB audio app, every spring, regular, post game broadcast, both home and away stations. Bargain price. Love it. New season version available soon.

Sanders' broken record

I thought you might like this story from The Washington Post.
Winners and losers from the 6th Democratic presidential debate
http://wapo.st/1QZjbnA

Clinton looked good because Sanders is beginning to sound like a one hit wonder. He needs help! We may have two brokered conventions this summer.

Thursday, February 11, 2016

Gravity waves

I thought you might like this story from The Washington Post.
Cosmic breakthrough: Physicists detect gravitational waves from violent black-hole merger
http://wapo.st/1Qu4GoR

I accomplished something today

Cracked rye


What a glorious world ...

... that has Chris Connor in it. Fuck the extremists. Fuck the morons. Listen to your music.

Very curious ...

... how The Guardian trumped OPB for online live coverage of refuge end today, esp since sometimes G used OPB as a source! Maybe it was tech superiority?

Toward theocracy

Denying happiness

Procrastination

Should be doing taxes. More fun to listen to post refuge interviews and recap.

Eye opener on twitter. Many shocked at level of miseducation of these extremists. I think their use of social media has been counter productive to their cause. Happily surprised at how much the dingbats were outnumbered on Twitter.

A non tax day, looks like.

H a mess, taxes reminding her of changes in her mental capacity.

The Guardian

Oregon militia standoff: occupation ends after dramatic surrender

http://gu.com/p/4gj59?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Bloggeroid

Casting the movie

Twitterverse already casting the refuge movie. Some decent folks out there. Encouraging.

Raw Story

Oregon standoff finally over: Holdout David Fry surrenders after threatening suicide or war: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheRawStory/~3/OEIQKIzZKYE/

Against Bernie

Civil rights hero John Lewis burns Bernie: In all my years of activism ‘I never saw him, never met him’: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheRawStory/~3/ydSOWUH65gg/

Ta da!

Finally ... now damage assessment

Last man occupying Oregon wildlife refuge surrenders to federal authorities after lengthy negotiations; standoff over http://www.breakingnews.com/item/2016/02/11/last-man-occupying-oregon-wildlife-refuge-surrende

The Guardian at refuge

Live Q on Twitter: why are best live updates from a British newspaper? Very good question!

OPB RADIO also good.

Major news!

Gravitational waves: discovery hailed as breakthrough of the century

http://gu.com/p/4gj7c?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Bloggeroid

Get facts straight

70000 listening to audio feed of dingbats does NOT mean 70000 supporters, MSM. Read the twitterverse. 99% sees them as deluded idiots. Most encouraging part of this story?

Bundy arrested II

FBI Arrests Cliven Bundy As Pressure Mounts On 4 Remaining Wildlife Refuge Occupiers http://www.opb.org/news/article/npr-fbi-arrests-cliven-bundy-as-pressure-mounts-on-4-remaining-wildlife-refuge-occupiers/

Father of Bundys arrested, hooray!

Wednesday, February 10, 2016

Against Clinton

Here's Why Black People Should Think Twice Before Voting For Hillary Clinton - http://huff.to/1Xi8TBh

Against Sanders

The Biggest Reason I Just Can't #FeelTheBern - http://huff.to/1XgFSWN

Overview of tonight at refuge

I thought you might like this story from The Washington Post.
FBI closes in on last Oregon refuge occupiers
http://wapo.st/1T9dCVv

Plot thickens

I thought you might like this story from The Washington Post.
Democrats scramble for pivotal bloc in the next 2 contests: Minority voters
http://wapo.st/1Q8xL92

Surrender II

Oregon wildlife refuge occupier heard on live audio stream says FBI 'not leaving, but they said they're not going to escalate or do anything;' says FBI has given them instructions on surrendering: 'We have to walk to them with our hands raised, no weapons, I told them we'll be carrying an American flag' http://www.breakingnews.com/item/2016/02/11/oregon-wildlife-refuge-occupier-heard-on-live-audi

Refuge coverage

Blown away that best coverage by far on this eventful night was not OPB but ... The Guardian! Scooped by the UK!

Surrender

Occupiers say they are coming out at 8 a.m. But anything can happen with these loonies.

Burns

Crazy now, FBI surrounding refuge, helicopters, live audio feed, rightwing politicians interfering, dingbat occupiers panicked, praying, delusional ... So this is what America became. Downright embarrassing.

Generation gap

How Madeleine Albright and Gloria Steinem Betrayed Women Everywhere - http://huff.to/1XeLwbS

Here we go

Here's Why Black People Should Think Twice Before Voting For Hillary Clinton - http://huff.to/1Xi8TBh

Marty Christensen

Oh boy ...

Watch this spacetime: gravitational wave discovery expected

http://gu.com/p/4gh6q?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Bloggeroid

The superdelegate hurdle

How Hillary Clinton Might Actually Win In N.H., Even Though She Lost Big http://www.opb.org/news/article/npr-how-hillary-clinton-might-actually-win-in-nh-even-though-she-lost-big/

Man, this makes it hard to buck the establishment.

Sanders' VP

Will Sanders, if he wins the nomination, follow conventional wisdom and "balance the ticket"? What kind of revolution is that? Or will he go for Warren and a progressive dream ticket? It would be a revealing moment.

Theater online

From Wikipedia ...

Notable performancesEdit

In its first year ATHEMOO hosted numerous performance events, in March 1996, Charles Deemer reproduced his hyper drama, "Bride of Edgefield," a play made entirely out of hypertext in the ATHEMOO space. Charles Deemer is an award winning playwright who has worked since 1991 creating 5 different hyperplays. The second performer to use ATHEMOO as a performance space in March 1996 was Cat Herbert who produced a piece in conjunction with Crosswaves Festival in Philadelphia.[10]

###

Some think this performance was the first dramatic performance on the Internet. Certainly was one of the first.

True enough

The Democratic Primary Is About To Get REALLY Messy - http://huff.to/1T6529S

Read sample

Romeo and Juliet meets 9/11

Read sample

Finalist for the Oregon Book Award.

Defending Clinton

From the Guardian: I'm glad Sanders won New Hampshire, but I want Hillary Clinton to be president

http://gu.com/p/4ghgb?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Bloggeroid

"Call me a bad progressive, but I still think the job of president should go to the most qualified candidate and not the one who tells me what I want to hear even though we both know he’ll never accomplish it. It should go to the person who has been the senator of a state with a diverse population of 20 million, as opposed to a state with a 95% white population of 600,000 and the person who has been secretary of state, rather than the one who pivots back to the domestic economy every time he’s asked about our relationship to the rest of the world."

Jazz and film

The Sound Of Film To Come: how jazz fell in love with the movies

http://gu.com/p/4ghch?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Bloggeroid

So far, so good

Sanders defied the pragmatists. Don't count him out in the weeks ahead

http://gu.com/p/4ghj9?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Bloggeroid

Tuesday, February 9, 2016

Pleasures of retirement

A Loser: Sanders victory speech!

I thought you might like this story from The Washington Post.
Winners and Losers from the New Hampshire primary
http://wapo.st/1V2sVOI

Exact!y! Instead of broadening appeal, instead of inspiring us, a very long stump speech. Same old stuff. He has to do better than this.

Democracy at work

OJ miniseries

Watched first episode ... Impressed! Well written, well directed, great cast. Based on Jeffrey Toobin's book that asks, How did guilty man get off? I'm hooked.

Death in Montana

Montana Has The Highest Death Rate For White Americans -- And It's Rising - http://huff.to/1XcsKBY

Bernie winning the women

I'm a woman and I will vote for the best feminist for president: Bernie Sanders

http://gu.com/p/4gggh?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Bloggeroid

Who will win non whites?

Come on, Warren!

The primaries need your energy. Pick a side and jump in.

IF YOU WANT MY VOTE, INSPIRE ME!

Toll of technology

http://www.nybooks.com/articles/2016/02/25/we-are-hopelessly-hooked/

"What does it mean to shift overnight from a society in which people walk down the street looking around to one in which people walk down the street looking at machines? We wouldn’t be always clutching smartphones if we didn’t believe they made us safer, more productive, less bored, and were useful in all of the ways that a computer in your pocket can be useful. At the same time, smartphone owners describe feeling “frustrated” and “distracted.” In a 2015 Pew survey, 70 percent of respondents said their phones made them feel freer, while 30 percent said they felt like a leash. Nearly half of eighteen-to-twenty-nine-year-olds said they used their phones to “avoid others around you.”

I may become a neo-Luddite.

Tired and cranky

Under the weather, sick and tired of same old politics ("the medium is the message"), want to be inspired by a visionary but none to be had, feel like the the dark ages are getting to me. Need to lay low now and forever.

Same old methods

I thought you might like this story from The Washington Post.
Bernie Sanders is no revolutionary
http://wapo.st/1omyuxf

Monday, February 8, 2016

Man, they are good

Conn. by 12.

Idealism

AUDIO: Robert Scheer Speaks With Jill Stein About the Green Party and the 2016 Election: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Truthdig/~3/XwYJhbmnXwc/

Stir the pot

Michael Bloomberg reportedly eyeing presidential run as independent: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheRawStory/~3/EM9ry67ILOQ/

May the gods help us

An actual idealist



Dirty politics

Vicious attack on Bernie by Bill today. Very early rounds of this mess. Bern may rise above it, or try to, but his followers are in for the kill. I hear nothing that I want to hear from Bernie ... He is great at defining enemies, not so great otherwise. And his leftwing ideologues are as bad as the rightwing for meanness. I am beginning to lean to the Green Party. The only real idealism I see. Make it 0-3 ha ha.

Dems may be heading to a brokered convention if it's close. It already is nasty. Sanders can unilaterally save the tone, and would if he were a King or true visionary, but he is an ordinary politician in style. Trump is more creative in this regard.

Sanders reminds me of Stevenson in angry aloofness.

The more I think about the Greens, the better it feels!

Energy ...

... tanked. A full day as an old man is a fraction of an earlier day. Reality.

#1 v #2

Conn v SC, 4pm, should be good. Women bb, of course.

The dark side

Manning's Budweiser plug may be 'most valuable celebrity endorsement' ever

http://gu.com/p/4gg8p?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Bloggeroid

Perspective

Female voters voice deep division over Hillary Clinton: 'Passion is everything'

http://gu.com/p/4ggd2?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Bloggeroid

A very old story

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/our-humanity-naturally/201506/anti-intellectualism-is-killing-america

Nothing new here ... Hofstadter wrote the classic study over half a century ago, recent update by another author. Anti-intellectualism our shameful legacy.

No wasted food

It's Now Illegal For Supermarkets To Waste Food In France - http://huff.to/1X8Caye

Gore Vidal

Grunt work

Getting tax stuff ready ...

Read sample

Read sample

In three out of four years in the early 1970s, I placed literary stories on the Roll of Honor in the BEST AMERICAN SHORT STORIES anthology. Agents were writing me to see if I had a novel. I was working on one, THE IDAHO BLUES, and a young agent, later to be a major player, liked the early chapters he saw. But I couldn't figure the form out at the time. My weakness was descriptive prose, establishing a strong sense of place, essential in the longer form. Soon I abandoned fiction for drama, where a set designer solved this burden.

Many of these stories come from that period. Later I would return to the novel with minor success, a better writer and a greater acceptance of minimalism in the form. I still love the short story form but never have returned to it with the energy and passion of my early years as a writer.

Krugman v Sanders

It Is Paul Krugman Who Lives in a Fantasy World, Not Bernie Supporters: http://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/136603713/0/alternet~It-Is-Paul-Krugman-Who-Lives-in-a-Fantasy-World-Not-Bernie-Supporters

Another version of pragmatism v idealism.

I am 0-2 as an idealist.

But I don't think pragmatism will do it either. When I look at history, I see that systemic changes come after violent revolutions. Bloodshed. We may be in that cycle of history once again. The extremists are ready for it.

A contentious election with Republican winners might radicalize a lot of people.

All this reads like a chapter in LOVE'S BODY. Politics as mental illness.

Perspective

American Capitalism Has Failed Us: We're Overworked, Underemployed and More Powerless than Ever Before: http://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/136601255/0/alternet~American-Capitalism-Has-Failed-Us-Were-Overworked-Underemployed-and-More-Powerless-than-Ever-Before

Worried about Bernie

Democratic donor contacts Biden allies about possible run: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheRawStory/~3/YKi3nqZLJ84/

This will get very messy.

How long patience?

Malheur Malcontent David Fry To FBI: 'F*** Your Charges': http://crooksandliars.com/2016/02/malheur-malcontent-david-fry-fbi-f-your

Starting the week

What a bad sport looks like

Perverted pleasure

Not sure which I enjoyed most, Manning's possible storybook ending (retire!) or seeing the egomaniac Newton sulking like the bush league character he is.

Nasty press

I wish the left press would spend less time bashing Clinton and more extolling Sanders' vision for a makeover America. Nothing revolutionary about these tactics! Strikes me as old school avoidance.

Bush league Newton

Sunday, February 7, 2016

A man of principle

Sanders Condemns ‘Bernie Bros’ - http://huff.to/1SWFig6

An angry "senior" woman defends Clinton

What Young Voters Don't Understand About Hillary - http://huff.to/1SQQNpr

DEFENSE does it

Nervous

Denver Broncos lead Carolina Panthers 16-7 at end of third quarter of Super Bowl 50 http://www.breakingnews.com/item/2016/02/08/denver-broncos-lead-carolina-panthers-16-7-at-end

Carolina outplaying them.

Defense gives Denver lead

Denver Broncos lead Carolina Panthers 13-7 at halftime of Super Bowl 50 http://www.breakingnews.com/item/2016/02/08/denver-broncos-lead-carolina-panthers-13-7-at-half

Denver ahead on breaks. Will be a tough second half.

Rubio

Insists Obama wants America to join the rest of the world. Hello? This is not a bad thing!

Clinton looking good

Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton tells Flint, Mich., she will stand with city during water crisis, says what happened is 'immoral' - MLive http://www.mlive.com/news/flint/index.ssf/2016/02/hillary_clinton_tells_flint_sh.html

Yes, a keeper!

Cooking fool

Having fun ... Cheese omelette for breakfast, H finally up for her share ... Slow roasting turkey legs in oven ... The new ceviche guacamole started ... Busy morning chef, listening to MJQ ... HAPPY CAMPER.

New info

TS Eliot letters reveal anguish over failure of first marriage

http://gu.com/p/4gf7m?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Bloggeroid

Right on

Bill Moyers: Ted Cruz is America’s ‘God Squad’ bully-boy goon: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheRawStory/~3/N6MDP5iocMU/

MJQ

Haven't listened to the Modern Jazz Quartet for a while. VERY NICE!


The hole in the heart

The worst part about growing old for me personally is having outlived my closest male friends. They were my daily or frequent relief from bullshit and cultural madness; they reminded me that absurdity is comic at root. They shared my world. Mostly they were there, present, available on a daily basis.

The only relationship close to those is with a surrogate sister in LA. But this is distant and different.

I have a few good friends, still, and a loving wife, and a great dog. I'm not hurting. But there is no one I can crack up with by no more than a raised eyebrow. There is no one who knows what I've said before I say it. Those are significant losses.

I like this, will try it

Be the most popular person at a Super Bowl party: make my 'ceviche method' guacamole

http://gu.com/p/4gdp9?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Bloggeroid

1956

Sunday paper ritual

I miss it. I think the last time I participated was in the late 1970s in Maryland.

Takes at least two people. A fat print edition of a Sunday paper. A table. Coffee. You read and swap sections for an hour or more. Breakfast is usually in there somewhere.

Not the same alone. Closer in a bar with regulars.

Definitely not the same with a digital edition, which is what I read now.

Another lost social ritual.

Bad performance

Marco Rubio's broken record blunder costs him New Hampshire debate

http://gu.com/p/4gfcz?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Bloggeroid

But does it matter?

Saturday, February 6, 2016

The consequences of football

Joe Montana details post-NFL injury woes: 'I can't really run or do much'

http://gu.com/p/4gfad?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Bloggeroid

Hornet's nest

Gloria Steinem: women are supporting Bernie Sanders 'for the boys'

http://gu.com/p/4gfcb?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Bloggeroid

If Steinem is for Hillary, does this mean Warren might be?

Pundits

I have opinions. Everybody has opinions. But we're all powerless. We engage in a parlor sport. Hot air and harmless.

I think so

Elizabeth Warren Looms Large In 2016 Presidential Race - http://huff.to/1XadS6Y

Read sample

I wrote this as a screenplay originally, rather out of frustration because I was reading so many student screenplays about vampires. Could I do something different with the genre? Later I created a series of novellas based on screenplays, utilizing "vertical writing" and brevity, with the intention that they would be read on small electronic devices ... writing for the hardware, in other words. I still think someone will make good money developing this idea.

Read sample

A libretto that needs a composor. I had one but personal circumstances made it impossible to continue. Meanwhile, I really like this libretto but it's rather worthless without music. I keep hoping a young composer in search of material with stumble upon it. Not so far. Probably not while I'm alive, if ever. An unresolved career moment.