Hurricane Gustav

  
Out of respect for the residents of New Orleans, the rest of the Gulf Coast and all the survivors and non-survivors of Katrina, there will be no more blog postings until we see which way the wind blows.


   

... time of your life

 
if i were a better blogster i'd have titled this piece, "Something Unpredictable," rather than 3 silly ellipses followed by "time of your life."  how gauche.  and i'd think up my own topics, persuading the reader on the merits rather than on the emoting which inevitably comes to my aid when the reader hears the music and lyrics.  what an exploitative carbetbagger i am.

BUT WAIT - burb ...
that's better.  now, where was i?  oh, yeah, it's laa l-la la LAA la la, but laa la la la laa.  that's it, you got it, now you:

it's something unpredictable,
but in the end it's right.
i hope you had the time of your life.

thar ya go, music and lyrics of 'good riddance (time of your life)' by Green Day, released in 1997, used as the emoting background of Seinfeld's last episode.   let it run through your mind awhile.  bounce it off your ears.   very nice.   but in the words of 'llb,' the first person to comment on my blog,  'what's your point?'  yup, well, without going into the background of this strange little group (with its energy saving name and lead singer shorter even than i am, wearing all that cute dark makeup), the words, ah those words, go on ...

so take the photographs, and still frames in your mind
hang it on a shelf in good health and good time
tattoos of memories and dead skin on trial
for what it's worth it was worth all the while

impressive mix, don't u think?
a little like Talking Heads. u know, '(nothing but) flowers'

you got it, you got it

lots of us here already, with lots of us coming.  it's seems something unpredictable, alright.  but in the end do you think it's right?  and what did the little man mean
by 'tattoos of memories and dead skin on trial?
don't just think, write.
a nice little smiley face to ya.


 * * *

Credits -
           Music and lyrics: by Green Day, album Nimrod (1997)
           youTubelink1 (by pane92) , youTube link2 (by bloo2jay)
           Music and lyrics: by Talking Heads, final album Naked (1988)
           youTubelink3 (by marquee84)


     

Things That Make Your Head Hurt

   
--->  counting to infinity
--->  visualizing the edge of the universe ahead of you
--->  visualizing the edge of the universe getting smaller behind you
--->
--->  trying to thread a needle
--->  trying to thread a needle with two threads at once
--->  listening to Elvis sing in the ghetto

Well the world turns
And a hungry little boy with a runny nose
Plays in the street as the cold wind blows
In the ghetto

And his hunger burns . . .

--->  drinking the last beer in the refrigerator
--->  waiting for someone to comment
--->  dreaming of dragons
------> 
--->  dreaming of really big angry fire breathing red dragons
----->
--->  wondering what gravity really is
--->  asking how light can be a wave and a particle at the same time
->
--->  wondering what gravity really is
--->  hitting your head in a car wreck
---->  hitting your head on the corner of the mantlepiece
--> hitting your head on your brother's head

you try
 
 
  * * *
 
Credits -
         Words and Music:  In the Ghetto, by Scott Davis

        

Sirens in the Night

   
At one of my homes it is so quiet the sounds of a distant train will travel slowly down a hill, wander across the water, drift up my lawn and sidle through my bedroom window.  Mournful.  Pleasant.  Sometimes with a soft wail under a light northern wind.  Forgotten.

Here, as I work late into the southern california night, crafting my words, absorbing the yellow light from a distant streetlamp and just now sensing the cool drift of the desert’s evening air through the open window, the on again, off again sound of the traffic below me is suddenly pierced with the scream of the sirens.  Police perhaps?  No, fire engine and then the ambulance.  Red light floundering violently off the bottom of the branches and stucco overhang.  Light and sound fading slowly.  Painfully.

In Vegas, my apartment was in a poor neighborhood.  Off the street, way at the back.  Hot and heavy the summer air.  Cold and sweet the winter wind.  Window never closed.  No matter.  The sirens there were almost always police.  Fire trucks and ambulances more cautious in their approach.  The unmistakable crack crack sound of pistol fire.  The eerie sound of the wailing voice.  The harsh reality of the fierce angry one.  Once, sometimes twice a week.  For a year.  Not forgotten.  Sirens in the night.

           
  

California Slots

    
Glorious.  Roll of $20s.  Try one out.  See how far it goes.  Not too bad.  Try another, and another.  Push the buttons, pull the lever, load up.  Try a different selection, a different machine.  Keep hoping.  Keep peeling them off and trying those bills.  Try them one at a time, try 3 or 4 together.  Wait a few days.  See if anything improves.  Figure that if you just push enough buttons, pull enough levers, you might somehow get a few gallons, of free gas.


   

Clarity of the Question

 
Ok, I'm winging it a little.  I wanted to research each posting very carefully, but it's Saturday, August 16, my life companion and I have a movie to see shortly, and I'm excited about that.  Ain't Life Great.  So no time for research.  Right off the top of my head.  Zowee!

I'm one of those who thinks we should think clearly.  Whamo!  Who doesn't agree with that!  Emerson, pick up your room.  Emerson, organize your thoughts.  Sort of the same thing really. 

A little like getting your head out of the gutter.  Well, maybe not quite the same thing.  Or is it your mind that's . . .  Anyway, thought 1, thought 2, thought 3.  But even further I'm one of those who believes half the battle is finding the right question and then stating the question clearly.

Take religion and evolution, for example.  You know, to pick something not too complicated, or controversial.  If we're going to tackle a subject like that one day, we're going to have find the right questions and state them clearly.  I hope we do.  I think we can.  But we'll need a little groundwork.  Should we go that way, or steer clear?  Anybody?

             

Housekeeping, Lucky 13

        
Hola!  Mi amigo:

Willkomen, bienvenue, welcome!
Fremde, etranger, stranger.
Gluklich zu sehen, je suis enchante,
happy to see you . . .
im Cabaret, au Cabaret, to Cabaret.

Bonjour, mon ami,
time for a little howskeep-een,
for your blogging pleasure.

A few readers have asked me . . .

How to see the comments more easily.  Click on the title of any of the postings listed in the left margin. This will display that posting with its comments (if any) below.  Otherwise the software will not display the comments on the main page.  Sorry, désolé, perdón.

How to post a comment.  Click the tiny little statement at the bottom of the post that says "x comments, click to submit or read."  Luv'n it!   But if you have already clicked on the title of a posting in the left margin, then you must scroll to the bottom of the comment area and click on the tiny little statement that says "Post a Comment."  Go figure.

How to find the best posting.  Trial and error.

How to subscribe.  I've added a "Subscribe To" gadget in the left margin.  I have NO IDEA how it works. Warning, I sometimes edit a posting after it has been published, so I don't know what that will do to your automatic feed.  Hey, I make mistakes, mit ihr leben.

How old am I.  Hush your mouth.

How dumb am I.  Grr..

Why doesn't my comment show up right away.  Because I'm usually asleep at the wheel.

Vendrá otra vez, come again, por favor.  You see, I set a setting in the settings so that I must approve a comment before it is displayed.  This is the only way I can screen out spam, advertising and all the negative remarks some of you make.  Just kidding.  As long as a comment is clean and not an advertisement, I'll probably publish it.  No, I cannot edit it.  It's all thumbs up or thumbs down for ye.

Can I keep my name out of this.  YES, please do.  I probably don't want to know who you are anyway.  So just make up something secretive or funny or illustrative and plug it into the name slot below the comment box and then SKIP over the URL slot.

Note, if you include your real URL along with a secretive name above it I'LL KNOW WHO YOU ARE  ( . . . and one of you wanted to know how dumb am I . . . hehe . . . just kidding . . . luv'n it, LOL).  Brb, k?  AFK.  Ty, np, keep the comments coming.  Omg, the comments are the surprise packages under the Christmas Tree.  Omg.  Bff?  Did you know there is a dictionary for this texting stuff?  And we all thought Chaucer sounded funny.

I'm sure I've overlooked somebody's pleasant and thoughtful question.  Resubmit.

Oh . . .

Why all the foreign words.  Just trying to make everyone feel at home here.  Vielen dank.

Hey: 13 is my lucky number, today is August 13, I have a child born on the 13th of one of the months, this is the 13th posting on this blog.  Ain't Life Great!

So get giggy with it - -

Bienvenido ................ Spanish
Vítejte........................ Czech
Witamy...................... Polish
Benevento.................. Italian
Barach Habah ............ Yiddish
καλώς όρισες............. Greek

 مرحبا ........................... Arabic
歡迎............................ Chinese
ようこそ.......................  Japanese
환영............................ Korean
स्वागत......................... Hindi


     * * *

Credits -
      Lyrics:  the musical, Cabaret (1972)
      Translations:  Google Translation Tool at
                                           http://translate.google.com/translate
                                     Dictionary of Judaica at
                                           http://www.jewishgen.org/infofiles/dict.txt

    
            

Life Sucks, Ain't Life Great

  
I was planning a quick piece on Socrates, but Seinfeld spoke to me instead.  He is headlining at Caesars Palace in Celine Dion's space, where Bette Midler, Elton John and Cher all perform from time to time.  Celine Dion finished her 5 year run last December (I remember the night well because I had one of my very rare straight flushes that night just down the hall), but as far as I'm concerned it's her space until someone dominates that particular scene again.  I don't mean Vegas, since that's just not possible anymore.  I mean the Coliseum at Caesers Palace.  Seinfeld easily filled the 4298 seats last Saturday night.  We laughed for 2 straight hours.  Well, maybe not straight during the audience warm-up, but for 90 minutes straight after that.  I'm not going to quote any of his jokes, but stop reading now if it will spoil things for you if I discuss the theme that caught my attention.  Oops, too late.  I put it in the title.  Sorry.  Life sucks.  But being in Vegas, that was great.  I mean, life's great, when it doesn't suck.  Jerry's right about that.   He said it himself, his life is just like all of ours, it sucks.  But he felt great about being there.  He said so.  Hey, how you doing?  I'm great.  I got sick last week.  Oh, that sucks.  But that little play on words by itself wouldn't have gotten Seinfeld in and Socrates out.  No, no.  It was the philosophical (psychological?) point he made that for we (us?) humans it's all one and the same thing (I'm paraphrasing).  Sucks, great, great, sucks, same thing.  What?  How's that?  Well, now I have to briefly repeat one (just one of a thousand) of his jokes.  He explained it so well, the way only Jerry Seinfeld can do.  Out he walks from the ice cream parlor with his doubledip cone, when the ice cream falls off the cone, plops on the sidewalk.  Down he looks and says, "oh,   great."   There you have it.  That's it.  So I got to agree,  life sucks, ain't life great.


    

Wolf Pack Dream

  
All Hail!

Come listen now to Elunei Doninel, night elf, reading from an aging text.

A human, she reads, is standing at the edge of a clearing.  It is dusk.  The cold night air creates a fine mist which dances on the tops of the grasses.  A lone wolf enters from the back right side of the clearing, heading generally towards the black left side.  The human watches the wolf move across the clearing.  Half way across, the wolf stops and directs its attention towards the human . .

                                                  

The wolf gazes quietly at the human for a few moments, and then continues on her way.

Elunei asks you to count the number of relationships you see in what she has read.

What say ye?

Public Pronouncement, Anno 043
Fromen Dirksil, Town Recorder

     * * *

Credits -
     Photograph:  th_wolf  by BlackRoseMii, Photobucket
     Quoted text: Thought Experiment #4, by c emerson (1994)