Life.. Don't Talk to Me About Life...

"Life... is like a grapefruit. It's orange and squishy, and has a few pips in it, and some folks have half a one for breakfast."

- Douglas Adams

Trust

Not much I can add to this:

The only way to make a man trustworthy is to trust him.

- Henry Stimson

Yes, HIM Again!

Notice a theme today? No, me either.

God is Now Taking Calls

"From the Hindu point of view each soul is divine. All religions are branches of one big tree. It doesn't matter what you call Him just as long as you call. Just as cinematic images appear to be real but are only combinations of light and shade, so is the universal variety a delusion. The planetary spheres, with their countless forms of life, are naught but figures in a cosmic motion picture. One's values are profoundly changed when he is finally convinced that creation is only a vast motion picture and that not in, but beyond, lies his own ultimate reality."

- George Harrison (emphasis mine)

UPDATE: Rereading the second half of this quote I am struck by some of the similarities between the Hindu outlook on the universe and that expressed by Jewish Kabbalists (Some of which I'm just becoming exposed to via an introductory course at the Seminary). Perhaps its just that all mystic systems have their similarities, as do all religions in general. Or perhaps they were both on to something. Something I'll have to ponder (as if I don't have enough already!)

Life Goes On...

George and Olivia Harrison, 2001

"In the end, 'Life goes on within you and without you.' I just have a belief that this is only one little bit, the physical world is one little bit of the universe. So in the end it doesn't really matter."

George Harrison

More George

To mark this sad anniversary, GeorgeHarrison.com has posted some special graphics on thier opening pages:

Elijah Wilbury

I don't think I've actually mentioned it here yet, but my alter ego Elijah Wilbury now has his own myspace page:

Elijah Wilbury @ MySpace

George Harrison (1943-2001)

29 November 2006 marks the fifth anniversary of the death of ukulele enthusiast George Harrison (oh, he was also in a band of some sort back in the 60s...)

"There was never a time when I did not exist, nor you.

Nor will there be any future when we cease to be."

- from the Bhagavad Gita

---

אני הלך אליו והוא לא־ישוב אלי

”I shall go to him, but he will never return to me”

- 2 Samuel 12.23

---

"There'll come a time when all of us must leave here

Then nothing sister Mary can do

Will keep me here with you

As nothing in this life that I've been trying

Could equal or surpass the art of dying

Do you believe me?"

-from "The Art of Dying" by George Harrison

Those looking for a way to honor George should think about making a donation to either George's Material World Foundation or the George Harrison Fund for UNICEF

An Urgent Letter from Willie Nelson

Another bulletin via our friends in Folk Uke:

Dear Friends,



Following passage in the House of Representatives, the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act is pending in the Senate. As you know, the measure would ban the slaughter of horses for human consumption and the domestic and international transport of live horses or horseflesh for the same purpose. Efforts from concerned constituents like us have made all the difference in this fight – please continue to contact your Senators.



We hope the bill will be voted on by the Senate when Congress reconvenes on December 5th, but there will be limited time available and only issues seen as essential are expected to be addressed. We need to be sure Congress recognizes that this legislation is critical, as approximately 2,000 horses are being hauled to slaughter and brutally killed with every week this bill awaits action in the Senate.



Please contact both of your Senators today, urging their co-sponsorship of S. 1915, the Senate companion bill to H.R. 503, and requesting a vote on the legislation when they return on December 5th, which is their last chance to vote.





Thanks, Willie Nelson





P.S.



To find your Senators, go to: www.compassionindex.org/search.htm



or call the Capitol Hill operator at (202) 224-3121 and request to be connected to their offices.



For more information on horse slaughter and how you can help make a difference for America’s horses, please visit: www.saplonline.org/horses.htm

The UkeCast

If I haven't already I'd like to recommend taking a listen to the UkeCast, a weekly ukulele themed podcast by Chris of Ukeland fame and UK uker Nipper. The show is very well done and has introduced me to many new ukulelists I'd not heard before. The website even includes an archive of past episodes, so you can listen to them all over and over and over and over again (or not).

The Doifter

A new ukulele blog of note: The Doifter is chronicling her musical journey as she learns to be a better ukulele player. There's video clips and a healthy dose of humour. Highly recommended.

No Peace Here

Ok, this is just silly. From Yahoo News:

DENVER - A homeowners association in southwestern Colorado has threatened to fine a resident $25 a day until she removes a Christmas wreath with a peace sign that some say is an anti-Iraq war protest or a symbol of Satan.



Some residents who have complained have children serving in Iraq, said Bob Kearns, president of the Loma Linda Homeowners Association in Pagosa Springs. He said some residents have also believed it was a symbol of Satan. Three or four residents complained, he said...



Lisa Jensen said she wasn't thinking of the war when she hung the wreath. She said, "Peace is way bigger than not being at war. This is a spiritual thing."

For the full story click here.

Rules for Writing

Matthew Cheney presents Rules for Writing.



Thanks to Neil for the tip!

Photo Reference

I just realized that I've posted several quite old pictures of myself here and that some readers out there may not know what I look like now. So, for comparison, here is a picture I just took of myself:

There Are Places I remember...

And while I'm in a nostalgic mood, here's another high school era photo (much less embarrassing than the last one! *L*) . This was taken sometime around 1990 or 1991 in Seattle

Toga!!

While searching for a few pictures for a friend (which, of course, I still can't find!!) I ran across this little gem. Its me getting ready for West Albany High's annual Toga dance in 1989:

And lest anyone get the impression I was actually "cool" in high school, the dance was put on by the West Albany Latin Club, of which I was a proud member.

NY UkeFest Logo Contest

The folks over at the New York UkeFest are holding a competition to design the new logo for the 2007 UkeFest. Click Here for details.

Blogger Help for a Friend

My blogger buddy Erica is having some major issues with her blog since switching to "beta blogger." The problem is that her page will load, but people with Firefox or the new IE can't scroll the page at all. I have a feeling it may be a problem with her layout/template, but don't know enough about the code to know what might be wrong. If anyone out there has any ideas stop by her blog (http://ericasherman.blogspot.com/ ) and let her know.

Thanks!

How to Improve Your Life

Top Ten Reasons to Buy a Folk Uke CD

Folk Uke posted this over at their myspace page & I thought it was cute enough to repost here (that and I won't pass up another opportunity to plug a GREAT ukulele CD!)

TOP TEN REASONS TO BUY A FOLK UKE CD THIS HOLIDAY SEASON:
10. It's got a bar code.
9. Ray Price hates it.
8. One of the songs is pretty good.
7. If you play it backwards, it sounds like someone is playing it backwards
6. For classic high-end coasters, buy a set of four.
5. No animals were harmed in the making of this CD.
4. Cathy's been embezzling fives of dollars and now we're broke.
3. We're tired of hookin' and pimpin' is hard.
2. Critics agree.... well lets just leave it at that.
1. Perfect for suckers who will buy anything.

Visit us at www.folkuke.com

To join our private mailing list, write to mail@folkuke.com.

15 Years

Today marks the 15th anniversary of the death of Freddie Mercury. Freddie was a fantastic singer and performer and one of the few people to be truly a one of a kind. He is still missed.

Freddie Mercury
(aka Farrokh Bulsara)
5 September 1946 - 24 November 1991

"Those were the days of our lives - yeah
The bad things in life were so few
Those days are all gone now but one thing's still true
When I look and I find
I still love you
...
I still love you"
"Following the enormous conjecture in the press over the last two weeks, I wish to confirm that I have been tested HIV positive and have AIDS. I felt it correct to keep this information private to date to protect the privacy of those around me. However, the time has come now for my friends and fans around the world to know the truth and I hope that everyone will join with my doctors and all those worldwide in the fight against this terrible disease. My privacy has always been very special to me and I am famous for my lack of interviews. Please understand this policy will continue."
- Freddie Mercury, 23 November 1991
(His last public statement.)


From the Mercury Phoenix Trust website:

Immediately after the death of Freddie Mercury from AIDS related causes in London on 24th November 1991, the remaining members of Queen and Jim Beach their manager took the decision to raise money and awareness about AIDS in his memory. Together they organised the 1992 Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert for AIDS Awareness to launch The Mercury Phoenix Trust to distribute the monies raised from this concert.

Since 1992 the Mercury Phoenix Trust have been responsible for donating more than £8 million in the fight against AIDS making over 600 grants to charities worldwide. Applications for grants have come in from many countries around the world and collaboration has been realised with groups as far removed as the World Health Organisation to grass-root organisations run partly by voluntary workers in Uganda, Kenya, South Africa, Zambia, Nepal, India and South America. The Trust is following the latest developments in drug therapies and adapting funding policy to the changing needs of those affected by HIV/AIDS, and current concentrating it’s efforts on education and awareness in the Developing World.

More information about HIV/AIDS worldwide can be obtained from the World Health Organisation web site UNAIDS www.unaids.org, in the UK from the National AIDS Trust www.nat.org.uk and those interested in the latest developments on finding a vaccination against HIV infection should check out the web of the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative www.iavi.org. A very good source of general information is the www.aidsmap.com.

Our Own Inclination

"Everyone ought to worship God according to his own inclinations, and not to be constrained by force." - Flavius Josephus

Who's Playing Ukulele Again

Over at the News Section of Pete Townshend's website they've posted some pictures--taken by Tim Herrlinger--from the recent Attic Jam in LA. The one that caught my eye, not surprisingly, was of Pete playing his ukulele (on Blue Red and Grey). For more pictures from the LA Attic Jam, including more of Pete's ukulele, check out Tim's Picasa album.

Note: For more info about Pete's uke playing, check out his entry @ UkeWiki.

Ukulele Holiday Songbook

The boys over at Ukulelia have been compiling a "Virtual Holiday Songbook." They recently added a slew of Hanukkah songs that I recommended (and were nice enough to give me a link back). Go check it out & if you have any links you think they should add, just drop them a line.

Ukulele Noir 19

On Wedsday I had the pleasure of attending a relatively rare NYC edition of the celebrated New England review-style Ukulele Noir show. The show was fantastic! Featured at this edition of Ukulele Noir were the following ukulelists:

• Craig Robertson -the MC of Ukulele Noir and a great player/songwriter
• Craig's MySpace
  
• Bliss Blood - Bliss' site contains links to her many projects and sites. Check em all out!
• Sweet Soubrette
• Sonic Uke (The surprise Guests!)
• Mary J. Martin
• M. David Hornbuckle & the Dixieland Space Orchestra

The show was a great sucess and a spledid time was had by all!

Sweet Soubrette (with the flower in her hair), Craig Robertson (in the foreground) and myself (far right of frame) enjoying the show.

Its a State of Mind

From a recent Diary entry from Pete's website:

"I now find myself thinking, and sometimes even singing, ‘I hope I die before I get old’. This time I am not being ironic. I am 61. I hope I die before I get old. I hope I die while I still feel this alive, this young, this healthy, this happy, and this fulfilled... But I am not old yet. If getting older means I continue to cherish the lessons every passing day brings, more and more, then whatever happens, I think I’ll be happy to die before I get old, or after I get old, or any time in between. I sound like a fucking Greetings Card.

Death is not what is important in life, it is life itself. If you’re young and reading this, let me pass on to you the words of my teacher and master since 1967 Avatar Meher Baba, these are words that were beyond my comprehension when I was 24 years old:

‘Don’t worry, be happy. Do your best and leave the results to God’.

I think I understood the second part, because I thought then I knew what God was, or was not. But the first part? Don’t worry? Be happy? How do you do that? Get drunk? Take drugs? Meditate? Be a hippy? Go live in a cave? Laugh when someone beats you up and steals your bag? How is that possible? If you are 24, you have plenty of time to work it out. Trust me, in the end it becomes possible."

The Light

Being the Heschel-Freak I am, I've likely posted this before, but I think its worth a rerun:

"God is not a hypothesis derived from logical assumptions, but an immediate insight, self-evident as light. He is not something to be sought in the darkness with the light of reason. He is the light."

- Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel

Word for Word, I Swear!

"Quotation, n: The act of repeating erroneously the words of another."

Ambrose Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary
US author & satirist (1842 - 1914)

Akkadian Coffee Mug @ Eisenbrauns

Great timing, since I'm taking my first Akkadian class this term!

Enuma Elish cuneiform mug
(Price: $7.50)

The text is the opening lines of Enuma Elish, the creation story from Babylonian mythology, much of which parallels the creation story found in Genesis.

This Should Be a Suprise, but Its Not...

Yudel points out this article in which David Kuo, deputy director of the White House Office of Fatih-Based and Community Initiatives, spills the beans on Republican-style Religion:

My wife Kim and I were together with a group of friends and acquaintances. Someone mentioned that I used to work at the White House in the faith-based office.

A woman piped up and said, "Really? Wow, I was on the peer-review panel for the first Compassion Capital Fund." I asked her about how she liked it and she said it was fun. She talked about how the government employees gave them grant review instructions – look at everything objectively against a discreet list of requirements and score accordingly. "

But," she said with a giggle, "when I saw one of those non-Christian groups in the set I was reviewing, I just stopped looking at them and gave them a zero."

At first I laughed. A funny joke. Not so much. She was proud and giggling and didn't get that there was a problem with that.

I asked if she knew of others who'd done the same.

"Oh sure, a lot of us did." She must have seen my surprise, "Was there a problem with that?"

I think this pretty much speaks for itself...

This Has Been My Motto For Quite A While

"If we couldn't laugh, we would all go insane."
- Jimmy Buffett

He's Still Alive, He's Still Not "Old"

I can only hope I'm in as good a shape when I'm 61!
Via PeteTownshend.com

Updates

As you have no doubt noticed, I am in the process of reworking the blog template after the migration to "beta blogger." Please excuse the mess!

More than Enough Rope

I've been listening to Roger Waters' Amused to Death album tonight and the following verse stood out for me. I think it speaks for itself:

You don't have to be a Jew
To disapprove of murder
Tears burn my eyes
Moslem or Christian, Mullah or Pope
Preacher or poet, who was it wrote
Give any one species too much rope
And they'll fuck it up...

Sir Elton v God

Sir Elton John has recently made some statements that firmly place him in the camp (members of which I encounter on a regular basis) that seems to believe that "religion" is to blame for pretty much everything wrong with the world today (I know, I should just be thankful he's not blaing the Jews directly...)

"I think religion has always tried to turn hatred towards gay people. Religion promotes the hatred and spite against gays... From my point of view I would ban religion completely... the reality is that organized religion doesn't seem to work. It turns people into hateful lemmings and it's not really compassionate...

The world is near escalating to World War Three and where are the leaders of each religion? Why aren't they having a conclave? Why aren't they coming together?"

My first thought on this kind of mindset is that people, in general, are assholes. They often use religion as a justification for their actions. If religion was "banned," the assholes would just find something else to justify themselves with.

He, of course, also ignores the large number of religious people who campaign FOR gay rights and AGAINST war. But I guess just demonizing your perceived opponent as a monolithic whole is much more fun..

Second, I find it funny that someone who has had to deal with so much intolerance of his sexual orientation and lifestyle is so intolerant of other peoples' belief systems. Can you say "hypocrite," children? I knew you could!

The Mike Cunningham Memorial Fitness Center

Long time readers of this blog will recall my cousin, Mike Cunningham who died from ALS last year. Last night the school he worked at as a teacher and football coach (and from which we both graduated High School), West Albany High, dedicated its Fitness Center in his name. I don't think there could be a better tribute to Mike. He was an athelete and he LOVED that school. Having a part of it named for him, especially a part of it that will be used by other West Albany athaletes, would make him very proud.

Below are a few pictures my mother took at the dedication ceremony:

On the 11th Hour of the 11th Day of the 11th Month...

1916
by Lemmy Kilmister
16 years old when I went to war,
To fight for a land fit for heroes,
God on my side, and a gun in my hand,
Chasing my days down to zero,
And I marched and I fought and I bled and I died,
And I never did get any older,
But I knew at the time that a year in the line,
Is a long enough life for a soldier,
We all volunteered, and we wrote down our names,
And we added two years to our ages,
Eager for life and ahead of the game,
Ready for history's pages,
And we brawled and we fought and we whored 'til we stood,
Ten thousand shoulder to shoulder,
A thirst for the Hun, we were food for the gun,
And that's what you are when you're soldiers,

I heard my friend cry, and he sank to his knees,
Coughing blood as he screamed for his mother,
And I fell by his side, and that's how we died,
Clinging like kids to each other,
And I lay in the mud and the guts and the blood,
And I wept as his body grew colder,
And I called for my mother and she never came,
Though it wasn't my fault and I wasn't to blame,
The day not half over and ten thousand slain,
And now there's nobody remembers our names,
And that's how it is for a soldier.

---

Carl's Home-Made Apple Pie Recipe

"If you want to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first create the universe."

- Carl Sagan (1934 - 1996)

Liberal JudenHass

I have to admit, this one had me stunned speechless for a while. When I first read Y-Love's report on his blog I just kept telling myself that he just had to be exaggerating. That a self-proclaimed liberal, anti-corporate, seemingly radical blog could spew such unbelievable bile seemed just plain silly. And then I read it. And found that Y-Love hadn't even posted some of the worst parts of it... I hope you all will excuse me for quoting so much of the piece, but I think its important for people to see what individuals like Mr Glenn write and a short snippet didn't really do it justice.

From Mark Glenn's "Crescent and Cross" blog, which was crossposted to The People's Voice:

Let’s face it–the only reason we are allowed (not to mention willing) to talk about it these days is because it begins with the letter ‘z’ and not the letter ‘j’. That is the single barrier demarcating the two items–a simple issue of letters and pronunciation, despite the fact that they are basically the same animal. Stay within that safe ‘z’ zone and all will be relatively fine. You will be championed as a friend of humanity and a warrior for the truth. Venture into that other area though and bring up that dreaded ‘j’ word and suddenly the same ‘open-minded’ people who a moment before were erecting a monument in your honor start to loosen their collars and clear their throats uncomfortably...

…Remember, no one ever killed a snake by cutting off its tail.

I must admit though that it is a very tempting proposition, the business of simply stopping at the one and of going no further. After all, it’s not as if the one with the ’z’ in the first part of its name–meaning Zionism–hasn’t given us plenty to talk about for the next umpteen number of centuries. As far as evil goes, it certainly suffices as a real-life, genuine, fire-breathing dragon. The images it has brought before humanity to consider have certainly been extreme enough to generate ample discussion–tanks…bombs…innocent children with their brains or guts blown out all over the place…Parents wearing a mask of sheer agony as they embrace the remains of what was a son or daughter given to them as a gift from God…the snide, callous remarks of those who perpetrated these crimes and who snicker without remorse and say in effect ‘Big deal…Who gives a shit?’…
...
And so, making statements depicting what is the organic ugliness of Zionism is tantamount to saying ‘Lung cancer is a bad thing’ but then going no further. Of course Zionism (and more importantly, its physical evidence) is ugly.

I, of course, would argue with the notion that Zionism is obviously "ugly," but the rest of this gets so bad that this barely registers for me now.

The reason why condemning only Zionism (and then stopping short of going any further) is not enough is that–as hideous as it is and as much as it may be directly related to the problems the world is facing today–in truth Zionism is only a by-product of something else. Yes, that’s right folks, as ugly as it is, it has an even uglier side to it, hard-to-believe as that may be. If Zionism is Godzilla, then imagine Godzilla on steroids and in a really bad mood from a splitting headache. Zionism is a side-effect. It is not the action but rather the reaction. Not the tree, but rather the fruit that the tree produces. Contrary to what the gatekeepers would like us to believe, Zionism did not spring forth out of nowhere. It was not just some ideological pimple that erupted without warning. It, like all cancers, has a cause, and a very definite, easily-definable one at that and which has been around for quite some time.

We all know what the score is…There is no reason to wait around for the blank of this fill-in-the-blank exercise to be filled in. It’s as obvious as the ‘elephant in the room’ that was mentioned previously. It’s name is whispered with the same kind of quiet, timid respect that people used to employ when talking about the ‘Syndicate’ or the ‘Black Hand’ nearly a century ago. It is the most exclusive, the most clannish, the most discriminating of all religions when it comes to dealing with others on an eye-to-eye/man-to-man business, and it’s name is Judaism.

‘Oh, right, that one’ they say, as if it weren’t as obvious as the odor emanating from an over-used public outhouse in mid-July. Yes, that’s right, I did say ‘Judaism’ and not Zionism. No, I did not mispronounce anything. It was not a slip of the tongue. I meant exactly what I said–the dreaded ‘j’ word that no one wants to mention…that ‘thing’ that causes people’s hearts to race and their eyes to dart from side-to-side and that causes them to run for cover and find something heavy to which they can anchor themselves when mentioned…. Judaism, the thing that separates those who are ‘God’s chosen people’ from the rest of the ‘Goyim‘…The religion of the tribe of Judah that is said to be the basis of Western Civilization…The thing that brought monotheism, the Ten Commandments and, as we are told on a minute-by-minute basis these days, Christianity…
...
Wake up and smell the Knishes, my friends, Judaism has been at war with us for over 2,000 years, ever since this man named Jesus of Nazareth came and blew the lid open on what Judaism‘s real agenda was. Judaism is a declaration of war and manifested by thousands upon thousands of acts of intentional malice directed by Rabbinical generals against the rest within the non-Jewish world in matters involving money, business, politics, and culture. For those of us in the Christian world who seem to have forgotten, it would be wise to remember that it was our forefathers who were being hunted down, imprisoned, tortured and killed for the crime of abandoning the ‘wise council’ of the tribal leaders known as the Pharisees and for daring to follow that ‘other guy’ who preached a message of complete contradiction to Judaism, and it is a situation that has not changed a bit since that time.

Besides, if wanting to avoid a war is the reason for side-stepping this uncomfortable discussion then we are ‘big-time’ wasting our time. Armageddon is not only a done deal, it is well on its way to being an heirloom that will be passed down generation after generation after generation. Our kids and grandkids will be dealing with it in a way that we cannot even begin to imagine. Because of the fact that we have spent so much time wet-nursing the egos of one small minority of people who are said to have had a rough time during WWII we have allowed WWIII to be born. Because of our fear of the Jews we will be sacrificing our life’s blood and that of our children for generations to come.
...
That’s right, JUDAISM is nobody’s friend, not ‘ZIONISM is nobody’s friend’, like the essay that bounced all over the internet for months and which caused people to go absolutely gaga because of its ‘gut-wrenching bravery’. As we said before, a good number of people already know (or are coming to know) that Zionism is nobody’s friend, that is obvious. It is JUDAISM that is the real problem. J-U-D-A-I-S-M, the tree from which Zionism sprung forth, the seedling that has brought the world to the brink of extinction. JUDAISM, the cancer that is eating the body away and left it a skeletonized hull of what it once was. JUDAISM, the root of all mankind’s present evils, and if not all of them, then what is certainly an impressive number. (emphasis mine, JWL)
...
While the other two Middle Eastern faiths that are Judaism’s organic enemies–meaning Christianity and Islam–elevate the virtues of humility, charity and righteousness, Judaism not only elevates, but institutionalizes and legislates the vices of haughtiness, supremacism and callous disregard for other human beings. It is the codified mindset of mankind’s first murderer, Cain, who slew his brother Abel over reasons of envy and economics. Gentiles exist to serve the Jews. Rape of gentile children, murder, lying, theft, usury, all these things that have been condemned in every other religion around the world are given full sanction in Judaism when it benefits the tribe.
...
What’s that, you say? Judaism is the basis of Western Civilization and Christianity? Humanity owes a great deal to this religion for getting the rest of us ’back on track’ when it comes to what the Almighty expects from us? That it is the intellectual basis for all the progress and freedom of the Western world?

Bull biscuits. Judaism is no such thing. The creed of the Pharisees is backwards and superstitious and totalitarian all the way to its core, something that this man named Jesus of Nazareth tried to tell us. Putting Judaism in the same class with other religions whose aim is progress and the betterment of man’s corrupt nature is like saying that battery acid makes a good mouthwash.
...
Let’s see a show of hands here–Does anyone in the room remember that little thing known as the Crucifixion of Jesus? How about the stoning to death of Stephen and the murders of Peter and Paul? How about the scapegoating of the Christians after Rome was burned? Judaism’s involvement in WWI and WWII? Bolshevism? The destruction of the moral, political and economic fiber of every country in the West? Hundreds of millions of dead children through abortion? The destruction of families and the elevation of sexual deviancy as a virtue?

…and of course, last but certainly not least, the war to end all wars that is taking place in the Middle East and which bears the fingerprints of the Pharisees all over it.

When I started this I had fully intended on refuting as many of his dilusions as I could. But to be honest, I don't have the energy right now. I would hope any half-way intelligent person would be able to see this for what it is without me footnoting it for you. If you have a strong stomach, try reading it in its entirety: Judaism is Nobody's Friend

Post-Election Day Blues

Go figure, but this lyric has been blowing through my head since Tuesday morning:

There's nothing in the street
Looks any different to me
And the slogans are replaced, by-the-bye
And the parting on the left
Is now the parting on the right
And the beards have all grown longer overnight
...
Meet the new boss
Same as the old boss

- from Won't Get Fooled Again by Pete Townshend

I'd also like to take the opportunity to shout-out a hearty "Yasher Koach" to Kinky Friedman. While he didn't win the governorship of Texas, he ran a hell of a campaign. I think he was defeated by the fact that too many people are afraid to look outside the Republican/Democrat dichotomy. Of course, the fact that he was out-spent 15-1, despite reportedly having 8 times as many contributors, may have had a slight impact as well. Regardless of his stance on individual issues (many of which I did agree with him on), I loved what he represented as a truly independent candidate. And heck, 13% of the vote seems pretty impressive to me. Don't fret, Kinky. You done good, son!

"So ride, ride em Jew-boy,
Ride em all around the old corral.
I'm, I'm with you boy
If I've got to ride six million miles..."

The Albany Project

You really can find anything on MySpace. Including music written about my hometown: Albany, OR! If you didn't grow up there, this may not make sense to you, but I LOVE it!

The Albany Project

Hmm it does seem warm in here..

Via JewSchool:

Condemning Jews and all other “heathen” to an eternity of suffering seems to be a recent requirement for the office of Governor of Texas.

SAN ANTONIO, Nov. 6 (UPI) — Texas Gov. Rick Perry has drawn criticism from rival candidates for saying he agrees non-Christians are condemned to spend eternity in hell.

Perry was among some 60 mostly Republican candidates for Tuesday’s midterm election attending a Sunday service at San Antonio’s Cornerstone Church, where pastor John Hagee said in his sermon non-Christians were “going straight to hell with a non-stop ticket,” The Dallas Morning News reported.

Afterward, Perry told reporters there was nothing in the sermon he could disagree with, prompting quick condemnations from opponents.

Kinky, God bless him, came back with a rejoinder comparing Perry to the Taliban.

Full story.

Oh the Times They a Never Change

"When they call the roll in the Senate, the Senators do not know whether to answer 'Present' or 'Not guilty.'"

- Theodore Roosevelt

Quote for the Day

"Great people talk about ideas, average people talk about things, and small people talk about wine."
- Fran Lebowitz

Another Blast from My Past

Lord knows why I still have it, but I found this gem tucked inside a book:

Compare with the more recent version (and yes, its 15 years later and I'm still in school!)

Pic from the Past

Amazing the kinds of stuff you find when unpacking old boxes. This was in an old photo album of mine. Its me and an old friend in the winter of 1990 (was that really 16 years ago?)

Prayer Request for an old "friend"

In a recent diary entry Pete Townshend mentioned that long time Who keyboardist John "Rabbit" Bundrick's wife, Sue Bundrick, is very ill and may be facing the end. Rabbit is bowing out of the current leg of The Who's world tour to be by her side. Pete ended his post with the following request, which I am passing on:

"Prayers and positive thoughts please for Sue, Rabbit and Sue's family and friends."

Sue, Rabbit and thier entire family (including the Who-family) will certainly be in my prayers.