Tuesday Tunes

This 53-year-old tune is somewhat spooky and weird. I heard it on late-night TV and scribbled down the title to share with you all. The verses remind me of another song (can't put my finger on which one, though, faster tempo) and the vocalized harmonies ending the chorus sound especially familiar.

I am sure both were mined for some later rock song(s), so if you can recognize the melodies, let me know. Driving me crazy.

Green Fields - Brothers Four (1960)



~*~

Early techno brilliance from the celebrated producer of the Beatles' ABBEY ROAD, as well as Pink Floyd's DARK SIDE OF THE MOON.

I Robot - Alan Parsons Project (1977)



~*~

He really needs NO introduction.

Rebel Music - Bob Marley and the Wailers (1974)

Collective security for surety

Last year, I wrote a piece called On the Future of Small Blogs... which turned out to be fairly prescient. Blogs like mine are closing shop right and left, even as the number of feverishly-self-involved Tumblr-blogs, which I admit I don't really get, expand exponentially as we speak.

Even though I don't get Tumblr, I do understand the reason for it (see link to last year's meanderings). It is a totally ungoverned, anonymous, proudly-mean place, like Reddit. When there are too many 'gated communities'--as the late genius JG Ballard often reminded us--people become hungry for chaos. And the stronger the gates, the more toxic and damaging the chaos will be.

The internet keeps splitting into more and more subcategories, subdynasties and sparkly-new social media sites ... I am reminded of the end of THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING MAN, in which our beleaguered protagonist realizes he is not going to die after all, but will instead get smaller and smaller and tinier and tinier... until he is microscopic. But he will still be here. I feel the exactly same way as a blogger.

The last line of the movie is every old-school bloggers cry into the night: I... STILL... EXIST!!!!

~*~

Lately I've been enjoying the fabulous Dubatomic Particles on Sunday nights.

Sharing the words of the prophet. He was right, you know.

Rat Race - Bob Marley and the Wailers



When you think is peace and safety:
A sudden destruction

Collective security for surety
Don't forget your history
Know your destiny

In the abundance of water
The fool is thirsty

~*~

PS: Speaking of small blogs, linking my friend Virgil's new blog. Wish him your best!

One man gathers what another man spills

Hey you crazy kidz! I shall now explain another way the Tarot works, in addition to those ways we have already discussed.

I drew The Star today! Yeah! And now I am ready to rock and roll, recite the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, hike my beloved Swamp Rabbit Trail to a fare-thee-well and then go chow down at the Pita House. Exercise and healthy food! This is all because I drew the right card. If I had drawn this one, or this one, or God forbid, this one, I would just stay home and watch Turner Classic Movies, eating popcorn and fiddling on Facebook.

See how it works now?

To the skeptics who bray in unison (squawk!) self-fulfilling prophecy, I answer: well, no shit Sherlock! Whoever said that didn't count or wasn't a factor? You say this triumphantly, as if it nullifies everything, whereas to me, that is just more proof of how it works.

If all of these millions of people can express happiness with their very expensive placebos put out by pharmaceutical companies (some of which I subsidize with my taxes), then I guess I can blog about my placebos, which are just as good as theirs.

~*~

Going on record as very happy with the gay marriage decision in New York. Here is a cool article about the changes in the culture regarding gay couples and acceptance; those who seem to be unlikely supporters of same-sex marriage have had their opinions influenced by knowing someone who is gay: To Know Us Is to Let Us Love (New York Times)

I should be back to trashing Nikki Haley in the next week... what with murdering mommies taking center stage in our national consciousness, I all-but-forgot about the right wing governor attempting to gut our state economy even further... but rest assured, I shall be back on the case soon. (One wonders what ELSE she can find to destroy, but I'm sure she'll find something.)

~*~

I have been reading an amazing Buddhist text titled An Unentangled Knowing, written by the late Thai Buddhist lay woman Upasika Kee Nanayon (aka K. Khao-suan-luang). This text is part of the Thai Forest Tradition --which I think sounds as cool as the Catholic term "The Desert Fathers"--conjuring up visions of mystics who have left civilization to find their own way.

I had attempted the book many years ago and ended up tucking it away in profound spiritual confusion, because I found it unaccountably disturbing and weird. When I found the book again, I was finally ready, even hungry, for it.

It is, quite simply, the Buddhist book I've needed and have been waiting for. Many years ago, I had not studied the texts necessary to get to this point and hence, didn't understand a word. The concept of "emptiness"--in the West--tends to translate to NIHILISM, and no, it isn't the same thing at all. But I didn't truly understand this until last year. I am now ready to fully engage the text, and I have. I have carried the book with me for about two months, reading and re-reading, studying carefully at every available moment and applying what I have learned to my meditations... and...

It has made me very happy!

Not sure why.

But isn't that what we are really doing all this for, when its all said and done?

(The whole text is online here.)

~*~

Your fun Saturday afternoon tune--I've discovered this one goes really good with the Swamp Rabbit Trail--

Exodus (original) - Bob Marley and the Wailers



Movement of Jah people! (Is that the greatest thing you ever heard or what?)

Have a fabulous weekend and hope you find a little bit of The Star for yourself, too. See you on the Swamp Rabbit Trail!

~*~

*derivation of blog post title is HERE. I always assume people know this stuff, then they email me and ask! Sorry about that!

Lively up yourself and don't be no drag

Always excellent advice!

~*~

Bob Marley and the Wailers - Lively up yourself (1974)

Happy Inauguration Day!

Lots of great stuff happening... unfortunately, I'll be working this evening and will miss the local MoveOn.org party, at Connolly's. (((waves at everyone there!))) I am glad to be home to watch it as it happens, though. You can't have everything!

I think I will find the mention of his middle name HUSSEIN, during the swearing-in, the most inspiring. If you need any more proof that this country has CHANGED, obviously, you didn't grow up with presidents with boring-ass names like Johnson and Ford.

Too thrilling for mere words. The Angry Black Woman and Vanessa of Plucky Punk, are both ON THE SCENE--check out their blogs!

~*~

Below: From Boing Boing, comes Obama as Bob Marley and St Martin de Porres.

Interestingly, the folks at Boing Boing (not well-versed in Catholic iconography) thought the image on the vigil candle was supposed to be Jesus. (The photo was taken in the Mission District of San Francisco.) In fact, St Martin de Porres was a Peruvian Dominican of mixed-racial heritage, the patron saint of the poor. I just realized this meant that the folks at Boing Boing didn't fully get the reference that was being made with that candle.

Madonna fans, of course, will remember St Martin's famous appearance in her controversial 1989 video, Like a Prayer.

~*~

And finally, it's time to throw our virtual shoes at the departing Dubya! Good riddance, and thanks for screwing everything up beyond belief!

This act is in solidarity with Iraqi shoe-thrower Muntader al-Zaidi, who made world-headlines throwing his shoe at George W. Bush.

Let us also throw our shoes today, with aplomb!

If you haven't thrown yours yet, there's still time!


~*~

I had my final X-ray yesterday, and I have moved up from the leg cast/boot in this photo, to a sort of corset-looking thing, that laces up around my ankle. At long last! So, I am finally FREE to THROW this cast at Bush. (Is that great timing or what?)

I throw this leg cast in solidarity with all the people not lucky enough to get a final X-ray, not lucky enough to get their broken and twisted bones healed by modern medicine. I throw this leg cast in hopes we will AT LAST HAVE A CIVILIZED MEDICAL SYSTEM IN THIS COUNTRY, that does not throw people out in the cold when they have no money. That does not look only at the bottom line, but attempts actual healing. That doesn't let Big fucking Pharm rule the roost! WE PRAY THAT THE PEOPLE WILL BE HEALED, AMEN.


What might our economy look like, if people weren't so bogged down with health-insurance concerns, that they (we!) are too afraid to change jobs? How can we start dynamic new businesses (like the capitalists are always burbling about) when we are worried that one simple illness could totally take us down? If we were free to actually move up, as the so-called American dream has promised? How many people stay in one awful job forever, when they have so much to contribute, all because they are afraid to lose usually-shitty health-insurance, that is indeed, still better than none at all? How many kids drag-out their time in college, since they know when they finally graduate, they probably won't have any health insurance on their entry-level job?

How many people with disabilities do not bother to find jobs, afraid they will lose the few benefits they have? (Some are having benefits cut constantly, as it is.)

THIS STATE OF AFFAIRS is disgusting... the fact that we are supposed to be THE GREAT WESTERN CIVILIZATION, and pronounce on the affairs of other nations, and still can't even take care of our own sick and disabled citizens? This is totally and completely fucked up, maybe the most fucked up thing about this country. As an alternative-medicine practitioner, I hear about it daily. It is stagnating us. We must change.

Amen.

As Bill O'Reilly would say, there's the memo.

And now, I log off and join the virtual festivities, as HOPE comes to our nation.

Again, Amen.

JW's tarot reading

Left: I worried the tarot reading would reflect my negativity about JW's imminent relocation, so I did some clearing with sage first. We relaxed and put on a DVD of Bob Marley to get in a mellow and enlightened mindset. (My friend, JW, is in her 20s, and finds it amazing that I actually saw Bob Marley in person, in 1978.)

~*~

A dear friend is moving to the West Coast. The upstate is losing another progressive, another great soul, a Buddhist with no place to practice.

Sometimes I wonder if there is any hope for upstate South Carolina; any way to hold on to the artists, the drifters, the nonconformists, the young idealists. The big-money movers and shakers are here, but the gentle, questing souls move away. This has happened to me so many times; friends leave. It's difficult. I can only hope they remember me fondly, when they recall their times in SC.

I can also try to make the environment more hospitable, personally and politically, so that the "cool people" stick around, instead of beating a hasty retreat.

Meanwhile, I mourn the loss of my friend to the "cool state" of Oregon.

~*~

JW is one of the young people with a more spiritually-advanced soul than I have. We have taken turns counseling each other. Although I had always heard that there were highly-spiritually-evolved young people, I haven't met many that I would assign this designation...except JW. She has proven an age-old truth to me, that age does not necessarily equal wisdom.

Losing this person, as I said, is difficult.

The tarot reading was very mixed, but accurate. We had a long conversation over the cards. Obviously, she has a lot of contempt for the place she is leaving; the constant harassment to seek Jesus, the lack of openness concerning spiritual matters and Buddhism in particular. The Emperor reversed, the nine of swords--her fears of the (complicated) relocation possibly getting all-botched-up, are right out there. (There are other issues, of course, that I know she would not want me to share here.)

But as always, she has The Star in her reading, as befits a spiritually-advanced soul.

I tell her she can always fall back on her practice, her meditation, yoga, centering, spirituality... this is her great strength.

There is never a time I have done JW's reading without encountering The Star.




~*~

As a return gift for my reading, JW arranges stones for the necklace she is making for me. This will be the way I remember her, a lasting spiritual mark of her almost-daily presence in my life. She fiddles with pendulums and various crystals and seashells in the busy, jewelry-making hub of her home. She brings them to me and calibrates their energy.


~*~





Left: JW finally assembles the precise stones and design for my necklace.

We talk about the technicalities of the long-distance move, her daughter, her partner, the work ahead of her. She has about half of their stuff packed up already, but plenty is left to do. It is daunting, but she is very happy to leave our locality, which does sadden me. But I am glad to see their life together finally taking off in the direction that I know will make them happy.


~*~


Left: Time for Jerry.

~*~

And then we relax again, with another DVD and a somewhat more distracted conversation. I tell her how nice it would be to live in a civilized state where I could get medical marijuana for my bad knees and dilapidated shoulder. Apparently, it is embarrassingly easy. Ah, Oregon sounds nice.

She extends the invitation: please come see us anytime.

And finally, I leave, happy yet sad. Shedding tears for my own loss, but happy for their gain.

Vaya con Dios.

Odds and Sods - "Say WHAT?" edition

Rachel (at Rachel's Tavern) asks the pertinent question:

So far [Obama] is the candidate who is leading in the most number of pledged delegates and states, but we’ve gone from him waiting his turn to taking second place? What is it with Hillary Clinton Feminists who rationalize their vote by employing racist narrative?

Rachel refers to Huffington Post columnist Roseanne Barr, who wrote the following directive to Senator Obama (titled, if you can believe it, "Bow to the Woman"--with no sense of how, um, unpleasant that might sound):

Premiere Hillary represents the soul of the Democratic Party: the women who support her, Latinas, Latinos, 30 percent of the black voters, the blue collar worker, male and female, as just proven in Ohio, and the Baby Boomers...quit bitching and moaning and whining now! Be a man and take vice, bow to the woman who is the last vestige of the New Deal which represents universal health care. You can't win without the votes of the people who support Clinton. You do not have the working class vote; you do not have the majority on your side even with independents. The states you win are not swing states or even Democratic states. You are a spoiler and your campaign is alienating the Clinton vote. Many of Clinton's backers are turned off due to the shrillness of the attacks your campaign has let loose on your opponent.

This is directed to the person who is ahead, mind you. You know, the person who is WINNING?!?

Why is HE expected to back out, while he's winning? Why doesn't SHE back out, since she is the one behind?

And why does anyone take such a dopey statement seriously enough to enlist a TV star to write it on a top-ten blog?

The sheer sense of entitlement of the Clinton gang, never ceases to amaze me.

~*~

Left: Bob Marley, photo from Swingin the Blues.

Iriegal writes that Rita Marley will produce Bob Marley's life story -- can't wait for this one:

Rita Marley is executive producing the first-ever biopic of her late husband Bob Marley, and if she has it her way, the reggae icon's daughter-in-law R&B singer Lauryn Hill will play her on screen.

"No Woman No Cry: My Life With Bob Marley," a chronicle of the musician's childhood and their tumultuous 15-year marriage through his death from cancer in 1981.

~*~

If you've been keeping up with the whole sordid Eliot Spitzer scandal, please check out Amanda's excellent posts at Bound, Not Gagged, for some much-needed balance and perspective on the prostitution angle:

A pen-pal wrote me: “They keep saying things along the lines of “He wasn’t a guy who had issues with women”, as if any man who spends time with a call-girl (which seems to be the preferred word on NPR) must.” I hope NPR got a hold of some sex workers who could tell them that just because a man sees a female sex worker does not mean he has “women issues.” In fact, it takes a measure of self-honesty to respect a woman enough to pay her for her time/services, instead of assuming it’s her God-ordained female role to do it all for free.

I heartily dislike the use of the phrase “prostitution ring.” It was an agency and a very well-managed one at that. No “ring” about it. It was a business, people. Kind of like saying Congress is a “governmental ring” or police stations are “authoritarian rings.”

She also has a great round-up of Spitzer-oriented links, for those interested in expanding their consciousness around this particular witch-hunt.

~*~

Lotus - Surviving a Dark Time comments on something scary called "Coplink" (even the name is a trifle unnerving, no?):

[The commercial data-mining system] Coplink, now used by over 1500 jurisdictions, [puts] connections among the mass of data inputted by police and gathered from other records by Knowledge Computing, Coplink's makers and marketers, into the hands of cops everywhere - and, of necessity, into the hands of Knowledge Computing.

Apparently, after running your name through the invaluable Coplink, any inquiring party will know everything about you, forever and ever, amen.

[We] are forgetting all the lessons painfully learned about what happens when you turn cops, prone to think every non-cop person is a suspect and every non-cop thing is a threat, loose with virtually unsupervised abilities to collect and collate personal data. And we are apparently not only supposed to embrace this amnesia, we are supposed to do it with a "Wow! Way cool stuff!" grin.

Yes, I find that very "unsettling."

I'm with you, dude.

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Listening to: The Paul Butterfield Blues Band - Two Trains Running
via FoxyTunes