Predictions for the Coming Year

Tonight and tomorrow night Art Bell is back with his annual Predictions Show on Coast to Coast. I'll just skip that Tylenol PM tonight and hope I wake up to catch at least part of the show which runs on our local affiliate (the link is the map of stations) from 1 - 6AM in the morning. The best part is the "dings and bonks." (last year's predictions)

Art determines which happened and which did not.

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I never called into the show myself, but I have given a little thought to predictions for the year ahead. Be sure and check this post next year to see how many I get correct!

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I predict:

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We still won't see peace in the mideast.

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Food prices will continue to go up, and gas prices will rise again to at least $3.00 a gallon.

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Sarah Palin's daughter will never marry her baby's father.
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Tom Cruise will check into a hospital suffering from some type of breakdown.

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Someone will be critically hurt on Survivor because of some stupid contest and the show will be taken off the air due to public outcry.

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At least two members of Congress will resign their seats because of sex scandals, and one member of the Senate will be named in questionable financial dealings that will cause this person to retire early.

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Life will unequivocably be declared on Mars. ( I'm not saying they'll unearth cromagnon man or anything.... but some little, tiny spec of something was there in that frozen water. I just know it.)

The Sunday Morning Muse, December 28, 2008

I live in a small town where nobody really goes out all that much on New Year's Eve. I asked around, and got the typical blah responses.

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"It's amateur night."

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"Too many drunks on the road."

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"I don't go out because of the chance of getting a DUI. (the limit is .08 here and that is rather easy to reach with a few drinks...)

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"There's no where to go here...and I don't want to drive out of town."

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One positive response I got today was from a mentally challenged fellow who gleefully informed me he was going to a local pub where there will be a band from "out of town."

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I see him out a lot. He can't drive but there is always someone willing to take him home. He also gets a lot of hugs from many women.

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Today he was also sporting a Steeler shirt with Big Ben's number on it and was excited for the big football game today against Cleveland.

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He sure seems happy.

Getting Ready for the New Year

It seems everyone I talk to is more than ready to close the book on this year. I myself could list more misery than glee in 2008 but I don't feel like dwelling on it. Suffice to say it wasn't a banner year for me. The highs weren't especially high and the lows... well. The year couldn't even end on a high note. I've been really sick these past few days with the bug that's going around. Having to stay at home did give me the time to get reacquainted with my couch and listen to some CD's I got for Christmas.

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Sometimes it helps to look at how things could have been worse. It puts things into perspective. I still have a job and roof over my head. There are thousands who don't.

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As Aunt Millie used to say, that's the way the mop flops.

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So there's a new year coming. I can't believe it's 2009. It seems we all were just worrying about whether the computers would work in the year 2000. I remembered I set the date back on mine just in case.

Happy Christmas!

So this is Christmas

And what have you done

Another year over

And a new one just begun

And so this is Christmas I hope you have fun

The near and the dear one

The old and the young

A very merry Christmas And a happy New Year

Let's hope it's a good one Without any fear

And so this is Christmas

For weak and for strong

For rich and the poor ones

The world is so wrong

And so happy Christmas

For black and for white

For yellow and red ones

Let's stop all the fight

Mark Twain Said. . .

"There are women who have an indefinable charm in their faces which makes them beautiful to their intimates, but a cold stranger who tried to reason the matter out and find this beauty would fail."





-- Mark Twain


Perhaps that's a long way of saying beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Or the beer holder.

Winter Solstice 2008

Last night was the Winter Solstice party. The fire was incredible this year. The "outside" of the bonfire was big 6 foot logs...about 40 of them stacked into a teepee…and the center was completely packed with other firewood and newspaper. The winds were gusting at 30 miles an hour and switching direction constantly….. so there would be big "wooshes' of flames out the side and way over the top…. I threw in a wish for Suki. For a new back.

The labyrinth walk was enlightening. On the way into the labyrinth I asked about present moment living. What is the best way to maintain it? I really want to rid myself of the guilt and worry….. I've just been overwhelmed worrying about the future lately…and then I get these bouts of regrets about things in the past.

I opened myself up to the labyrinth and I got signs. While on the stepping stones in the middle of the labyrinth I first saw a rock of an old foundation. I took this to mean that I have to build a foundation… then I saw some ornamental grass swaying in the high winds… which to me was obvious. Bend with the flow. Don't be rigid. Next I saw the fence on the other side of the field, but it was squarely in "front " of me. I took this to mean that there are always obstacles, but they are able to be crossed. And last I saw the entrance to the lane that leads over the hill to the rest of the woods and down to the railroad tracks. It was a road calling me.
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On the way out of the labyrinth, it got especially cold and windy. I just kept my head down and kept following the footsteps in the snow in front of me. I tried to be "in the moment" and be conscious of every twist and turn in the labyrinth. Then I sped up…going faster… to get …done.

Then it came to me… it's the journey not the destination. Which of course, is the motto for The Goosepath. The journey.

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Just slow down. So I did. What a great metaphor for 2009.

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The Sunday Morning Muse, December 21, 2008

Welcome to the shortest day of the year. As I write, I was startled by a ray of sunshine that came through the window onto my computer screen. Haven't seen sun in awhile. The Northeast is in the midst of gloom, ice, rain, darkness and snow. But.... we're at the halfway point. It's Winter Solstice.
The days will get longer now. I say get out and enjoy the lights, ring the bells, eat some food, drink some wine and celebrate any way you can. Maybe even under the mistletoe!

Wikipedia

Mistletoe, which was sacred because it mysteriously grew on the most sacred tree, the oak, was ceremoniously cut and a spray given to each family, to be hung in the doorways as good luck. The celtic Druids also regarded mistletoe as sacred. Druid priests cut it from the tree on which it grew with a golden sickle and handed it to the people, calling it All-Heal. To hang it over a doorway or in a room was to offer goodwill to visitors. Kissing under the mistletoe was a pledge of friendship. Mistletoe is still forbidden in most Christian churches because of its Pagan associations, but it has continued to have a special place in home celebrations.

Ding Fries are Done

So I'm walking around in the midst of three and a half hours of Xmas shopping yesterday and realized I was thirsty, my feet hurt and I could barely breathe from what I sense to be a lack of oxygen in the stores. I had long lost track of my friend who was also getting somewhat confused and disoriented, tired and a bit oxygen deprived herself.

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I sat down on a chair in Sears, and it occurred to me I've been wandering around for seems like years and all I bought was a pair of socks. (In that store, anyway)

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Then, it also occurred to me I'm humming aloud to a Xmas song... but I can't think of what it is. The only thing that entered my mind was Ding! Fries are Done.

It was time to go home.

The Good King

"Good King Wenceslas last looked out,
On the feast of Stephen,
When the snow lay round about
Deep and crisp and even.
Brightly shone the moon that night
Though the frost was cruel,
When a poor man came in sight
Gathering winter fuel."
- Christmas Carol




Wikipedia

"Good King Wenceslas" is a popular Christmas carol about a king who goes out to give alms to a poor peasant on the Feast of Stephen (the second day of Christmas, December 26). During the journey, his page is about to give up the struggle against the cold weather, but is enabled to continue by the heat miraculously emanating from the king's footprints in the snow. The legend is based on life of the historical Saint Wenceslaus I, Duke of Bohemia (907-935), known in the Czech language as Svatý Václav.

The Ditty Bops - Wishful Thinking

Into the Fire

Another year is quickly coming to a close. Solstice is Sunday. It's been a tradition to throw into the fire a wish for the coming year. I hate to wait until the last minute and just write something stupid down. Which leads me to this night's muse. Other than the obvious... hitting the lottery....what would you want if you could have anything? Do you know?
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More important, do you spend much time dreaming about what it is you really want? Or instead do you get through the daily routine...collapse into your bed at night and wonder where the day went? No time to dream at all?
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There are general wishes....like the lottery thing, good health, etc. But is there something, maybe ONE THING, that... if you could have it with no strings attached, it could be yours. Without complications, taxes or consequences.

Hmmm.

Shoe Me Once, Shoe Me Twice

One Toke Over the Line- Brewer and Shipley

What's great about this is the intro. If you listen to it you find out that this song, clearly about smoking dope, was performed on the Lawrence Welk show as a gospel tune! You can't make this up. If you are really bored and want to see a few
seconds of it....click here

The Sunday Morning Muse, December 14, 2008

Quid pro quo. One hand washes the other. You scratch my back and I'll scratch yours. What's good for the goose is good for the gander. This is pretty much the way the system works. A slight nod and a wink. The deal is sealed.

No, it's not pretty. People don't flaunt it. Unless they possess a degree of hubris that lands them in front of the cameras. That's what happened to Governor Bad Hair of Illinois.

Backroom deals, politicking for votes, for money, for jobs... sounds like your average day in Congress actually. Who doesn't believe that legislator's votes aren't heavily influenced by people who donate money to them? But somewhere is this line people are talking about. Kinda like the ones on the TV when football is on. People cross over them all the time... unnoticed. But then, some plays are more important than others and the cameras are watching... and now it's up close and personal on the big screen. THERE is the foot.... CROSSING ... OVER THE LINE.

Keep On Smilin - Wet Willie

This song reminds me of older Van Morrison stuff. First time I heard it I thought it was him.

Thursday Thoughts

There is something, well, unseemly about a 39 year old Jennifer Aniston taking it all off on the Cover of GQ Magazine. Go ahead, look. I know you want to. Let me first say I never liked the TV show FRIENDS. I thought it was stupid. That said, who didn't feel a bit of a pang when Brad Pitt dumped this woman for Angelina Jolie.

Now it's like she is trying to prove something. Hey look at me at 39... I work out. I don't have 6 kids. Look at what you are missing! Or how about...I'm not covered in super ugly weird-ass tattoos.

She's So Cold- The Rolling Stones

The Sunday Morning Muse, December 7, 2008

“To shorten winter, borrow some money due in spring.” W.J. Vogel


You know, I'd like winter more if it wasn't for the cold. I make no apologies for how much I hate winter. I could list a million reasons but most of them would ultimately fall into two categories. The Cold and the Darkness.

Yesterday we put up some lights. Should have done it weeks ago when it was warm.

CoCo Update

The picture at the left is not CoCo. That's an advertisement cat. The point is.... I just ordered an outdoor heated cat mat... with a "kitty pad cover" that comes separate. I also sprung for a "thermo-cube" to turn it on whenever it reaches 35 degrees...and shut it off at 45 degrees.

I felt sorry for CoCo with the cold temperatures these past few nights, because she will not go into a box.

There's a special insulated cat box on the porch. I also made a "homemade" bed out of a beer box and some rags... but she won't go "INSIDE" anything. She just crawls under the glider and sits in a small fleece cat bed. I think she was stuck in something for a long time... and now has claustrophobia. I can relate. I barely tolerate elevators, but that is another story.

And yes, I'm still hoping I can get her adopted to someone who can bring her into their loving home. Big bright eyes, healthy appetite, a loving nature and she eats any kind of food. But in the mean time I'm making sure she is well cared for under the glider in the closed in breezeway.

PS-- She actually PLAYED for the first time this week. It was a big deal. She was so traumatized before that playing just wasn't something that interested her. But she is getting better, and happier everyday.

On the Couch

As a huge fan of the Sopranos, I couldn't wait to dive into this book. I wasn't disappointed. First, let me say what this book is NOT. It is not a gossipy, name dropping tell-all of her glamorous, movie star life. Instead it is a memoir that is refreshingly candid, revealing intimate details of her family life, her career, her loves, and her bout with depression.

As it read it, I kept thinking, wow, if I wrote a memoir of my own life could I even go that deep? Reveal that much? At times I feel like a voyeur reading her journal. Reading about her custody battle over her daughter Stella was gut-wrenching. I felt like I was on a seesaw with her... one day up...next day down, wondering how could it get worse? And then seeing it happen.

And through it all, she seeks to work through her mistakes and keep going.

Yes, there are a few good "Sopranos" stories and insights. Like how she was first offered the part of Carmela, and why she turned it down. What it was like to be Tony's psychiatrist, and other little tidbits that fans will like.

It is one of those books where, when you turn the last page, you feel sad because you lost a friend. There is a consolation prize. In the back she serves up a list six "lessons from the couch." The list offers sound advice for anyone--- not just those suffering depression.

You can hear an archived interview with Lorraine Bracco about the book at NPR.

H.H. Munro Said...

"The young have aspirations that never come to pass, the old have reminiscences of what never happened."

-H.H. Munro

It's Too Late to be Drinking Coffee

Save Me From Ugly Christmas Clothes

I can pretty much guarantee you will never see me in one of these tacky Christmas sweaters. It doesn't really entice men to kiss you under the mistle toe, does it?

This sweater was on Ebay when I searched ugly Christmas Sweaters. They have a whole bunch of them.

Though I hate to admit it, I wore one at Christmas a long time ago that I got as a gift. Mine was black, and it was that itchy "rabbit" fur that was popular in the 1980s.... complete with shoulder pads.... yikes... and had MERRY CHRISTMAS in big bright red and gold sequins across my chest. It least it didn't light up.

Let X = X

This video of Laurie Anderson's song is well done.Someone put a great deal of thought and talent into making it. It suits the song, and it is just trippy enough to be compelling to watch. Especially full screen while in the dark. Laurie Anderson's music takes me back to college when I was taking a painting class, and the professor would play an eclectic mix of music while we painted.

The Sunday Morning Muse, November 30, 2008

"Religion has actually convinced people that there`s an invisible man -- living in the sky -- who watches everything you do, every minute of every day. And the invisible man has a special list of ten things he does not want you to do..And if you do any of these ten things, he has a special place, full of fire and smoke and burning and torture and anguish, where he will send you to live and suffer and burn and choke and scream and cry forever and ever `til the end of time! ...But He loves you."

-George Carlin

By the Light of the Silvery Moon.. Day and MacRae

Look Up in the Sky Monday

Alert! Get the binoculars out Monday December 1st at twilight... or just look toward the moon just after sunset... you will see Jupiter and Venus and a crescent moon all together in a beautiful little group! Read more about it. -
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Also on Monday evening, you may be able to see the full globe of the moon, its darkened portion glowing with a bluish-gray hue interposed between the sunlit crescent and not much darker sky. This vision is sometimes called "the old moon in the young moon's arms." Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) was the first to recognize it as what we now call "earthshine."

Black Friday Blues

Is everyone getting a new TV except me?

If Jesus had a Palm Pilot

Four different versions of the Bible on his Palm Pilot. That's what the Reverend showed me today.

We were having a conversation about his new Blackberry, which he quickly pulled out of his other pocket. But he talked about what a big decision it was to upgrade. He was used to his Palm Pilot. It had everything in it.

Not having use for four versions of the Bible, I had never seen it on a Palm Pilot and asked him to demonstrate it. He quickly handed it to me...told me to pick a version... King James.... Spanish....there were two others... abbreviated such that they could be in the original Aramaic(sp?)and I wouldn't question it.

So I settled for King James, Genesis. Chapter 2, Verse One. Boom. Right there in my hand. He then showed me with one touch how to make it Spanish. This comes handy on his Mission trips to Ecuador.

If it were me, I'd go to some village...and just for fun, pretend I knew the Bible by heart...and cleverly conceal the Palm Pilot... well... in my palm. And spout chapter and verse to the delight of my little audience. Okay, they would get bored pretty quickly with all the "begats"...

It got me to thinking.... what if Jesus had a Palm Pilot? What would He keep in it? Probably nothing, since he would know everything already, right?

I wonder if he knew that someday someone would invent a Palm Pilot. Or maybe he was too preoccupied with Pontius Pilate? (Couldn't resist that one. Sorry.)

Life in a Northern Town - The Dream Academy

I've always liked this song...and I love the imagery in the video. Make sure you watch it "full screen". . . it's better that way. It's hypnotic.

Precious and Few- Climax

Caught myself humming along with this song in a grocery store. Really. Haven't heard it in years. It's a nice song. Dig the guy's shirt. Fringe.

Emmanuel Kant Said...

“He who is cruel to animals becomes hard also in his dealings with men. We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals.”

-Emmanuel Kant

CoCo Update, November 22, 2008

I am so far now from the fear I had of this sad creature on the first day. To think we were ready to trap her and take her away. Maybe even kill her because she was a "threat" to the neighborhood cat and was obviously very sick.

She doesn't have that kind of strength... or teeth, really. She has a mean growl, still... but her meows have become more and more pitiful. More of a conversation with me... all with sad words.

Coco eats four meals a day now. I gained her trust this week. Even stroked her head and felt her body to see if she was okay. She is not. I don't know what horror her life has been these past few weeks but I could feel every rib under that fur. Every nubby on her spine. It made me sad to think how she reached this point, and I'm determined to fatten her up and see what I can do to help her recover.

There is a sweetness to her under all that anguish. I feel bad now for saying that no one would want her. I think she'll make a great human companion once I get her healthy and spayed. She is improving everyday.

Pay No Attention to the Slaughtering behind You

What makes this video especially hard to watch is the brain tension you get while trying not to watch the turkeys being slaughtered, and at the same time trying to tune out Palin talking her usual crap. It just keeps getting worse when the worker guy starts strangling the second turkey and it struggles to live.

Oh...and as for Sarah prattling with her run on sentences:

The kingdom for just ONE complete thought that doesn't go on and on and on and on...

I'm Mad as Hell. . .Speech from "Network"

I know I emailed this a while back to a lot of you... but incase I missed anyone...here it is again. Go ahead, watch it again. I know you want to.

The Sunday Morning Muse, November 16, 2008

The Muse is a bit late today. Suffice to say it simply couldn't be helped. I went shopping.

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The best part was when an old friend caught me staring at the wall of digital TVs in Walmart like I was in a trance. I couldn't hide it, I was. My brain was in wish mode. Yeah, I want this, but I also want to get a computer...and I want new clothes...and I would actually like to buy OTHER people presents... so how much do I want a TV? Especially when every time I turn on the TV I do have the stock market and the economy is all doom and gloom...and the bobble heads on the Sunday shows are saying we could get into a WORSE depression than ever if the politicians screw up the big bailouts. Yikes.
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No TV for me. Off to save the world!

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Alas, I can't save everyone. I could however improve the miserable life of this scruffy cat who showed up this past week. It has been hiding under a porch glider after beating up a neighborhood cat. I judged him harshly for that, but I thought about it, and decided to fatten him up a bit and see if his outlook on life gets better. Maybe he'll learn to play nice. I can't take him to a shelter, because no one would want him. I'd hate to see him killed.

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No that baldish spot on his shoulder isn't mange. But his hair sticks up in the most ridiculous way on top his back. He has a mean growl, too. I'll keep you posted.

The Piano has been Drinking- Tom Waits

Tom Waits fans will LOVE this. Stay with it... it gets funnier as it goes along. The song itself is short... and he sits down for an interview on Fernwood 2 Night, a parody talk show which aired in the 1970s.

Beth Ann Kucinich Passes Away at age 48

Congressman Dennis Kucinich's youngest sister, Beth Ann, passed away on Veteran's Day.


CLEVELAND, OH (Tues. Nov. 11) - Proud Army Veteran, Beth Ann Kucinich, beloved youngest sister of Congressman Dennis Kucinich, died today, Veteran's Day, at Veteran's Hospital in Cleveland, after a battle with acute respiratory distress syndrome. She was 48 years old.

Her family was at her side throughout the three week ordeal, as she struggled to survive while on life support.

Beth Ann Kucinich served in the US Army at Ft. Campbell, Kentucky. A talented musician as well as an artist, she sold many of her works of art to her fellow veterans at the Brecksville Veterans Center. Her specialty was drawing famous cartoon characters for friends and loved ones on special occasions.

An avid heavy metal fan, she attended many local area concerts and practiced her own music with a guitar, with an extraordinary impression of Janis Joplin.

"She was pure love. Every action, every sentiment, every piece of art, every word she spoke was an expression of love. Beth Ann was our family's angel, our 'Heavy Metal Angel', said her eldest brother Dennis.

"Our brother, Perry, passed away last December. Beth Ann never got over Perry's sudden passing. The two had been inseparable. She talked about Perry constantly and she longed to be with him," Dennis said.

She was the beloved mother of Asher; treasured sister of Dennis, Frank, Gary, Teresa, Larry, and the late Perry Kucinich; and dear aunt and a great aunt.

The Kucinich family will receive visitors at Golubski Funeral Home, 6500 Fullerton Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio on Wednesday, November 12, 4pm to 9pm, and on Thursday from 9:30 am until 11:00. The funeral service will begin at 11:00 am, with interment at Calvary Cemetery

The Re-Elect Congressman Kucinich Committee

New World Coming - Cass Eliot

Timely!

The Sunday Morning Muse, November 9, 2008

On this day in 1967 the first issue of Rolling Stone was published. The magazine said it was not simply a music magazine but was also about “...the things and attitudes that music embraces.”

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Here is John Lennon on the cover all those years ago.

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Flash forward to this week at the online version where there are reactions by rockers to our new President Elect, Barack Obama... an interview with Rahm Emanuel, the new Chief of Staff, and a "Special Report" on how the Republicans Blew It.
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As for music, I saw some things that just jumped out immediately. Van Morrison did a live concert featuring songs from ASTRAL WEEKS--- which aired LIVE on KCRW, (a very cool radio station you can listen to over the net) and will be available in the future for sale. What is amazing is that this album came out in 1968. It was considered a failure. It was not heavily promoted, yet it withstood the test of time and became a defining album of rock history. ("Astral Weeks was like a religion to us," E Street Band guitarist Steven Van Zandt has said.)

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Bruce Springsteen has a new CD to be released in January. He joined Billy Joel and members of both bands on the campaign trail for Barack Obama in New York City. Obama told the crowd,
"What a magical evening, I just told Michelle backstage that the reason I’m running for president is because I can’t be Bruce Springsteen.”

Symphony in Blue- Kate Bush

I spent a lot of my time looking at blue,
The colour of my room and my mood:
Blue on the walls, blue out of my mouth;
The sort of blue between clouds, when the sun comes out,
The sort of blue in those eyes you get hung up about.

Gandhi Said...

Be the change that you want to see in the world.
-Mohandas Gandhi

On Saturday Afternoons in 1963

For my old college roomie... who loved this album so much. It's Rickie Lee Jones's birthday today!

Somebody to Love- Queen

How I loved this song.... and what a crush I had on Roger Taylor. To this day my Queen I album has a gaping hole in the cover. I cut his face out and put it in my locket.

Yes We Can

It's taken a day or two just to sink in. I can quit whistling everytime I hear an attack ad on the TV. I can listen to the radio from across the room again without worrying about jumping up to shut it off because I can't listen to those horrible commercials. We are free.... free at last. Free from the fake outrage and vicious smears. Free from incessant robo-calls and fear mongering emails. It's over. We won.

Hope trumped fear. I feel I can breathe again.

Once in a Blue Moon. . .Edie Brickell

Once in a blue moon... there comes somebody like you.

The Sunday Morning Muse, November 2, 2008

It's Sunday morning, and by next week all this political hype will be over and once again I'll be writing about music and art, philosophy and science and many other things I care about and have written about before. (Provided the election IS over this week. . . ya never know.)

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For now, I'm anxious to cast my ballot, and start this country moving forward again. There is so much work to be done. It's time for Miss Alaska to exit stage right...and John McCain to enjoy his 9 homes and his wife's riches.

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I'm voting for Barack Obama. He is more of a uniter than a divider, that was obvious in the kind of campaign he ran. And he is smart. I said all along that "smart" is the big thing for me. Combine that with his ability to inspire people, and what I have seen as a steady temperment and an inclusive management style, and I feel he is destined to be a force for good.

Carl Sagan Said. . .

"You can not convince a believer of anything; for their belief is not based on evidence, it is based on a deep-seated need to believe."

-Carl Sagan

Happy Halloween--Trick or Treat with the Muppets!

Christopher Hitchens Said. . .

This is what the Republican Party has done to us this year: It has placed within reach of the Oval Office a woman who is a religious fanatic and a proud, boastful ignoramus. Those who despise science and learning are not anti-elitist. They are morally and intellectually slothful people who are secretly envious of the educated and the cultured. And those who prate of spiritual warfare and demons are not just "people of faith" but theocratic bullies. On Nov. 4, anyone who cares for the Constitution has a clear duty to repudiate this wickedness and stupidity.

--Christopher Hitchens

Jethro Tull- Elegy (3/16/1985)

This is just so pretty! Check out this one, too of the band doing Bach. A whole different side of their talent. I was always a big Aqualung album fan. I have maybe one or two others (Living in the Past and Heavy Horses(?). But I've never heard this stuff before.

The Sunday Morning Muse, October 26, 2008

This morning my muse is Jamie Lee Curtis. I saw her interviewed for the 30 year anniversary of the movie "Halloween" this week. I've also seen her on The View recently talking about her children's books and more to the point her "au naturale" look. She is striving to be authentic and is embracing her age... 50.

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I congratulate her for doing this, yet at the same time I know that I'll be buying hairdye until I'm 80. I just can't let go of the illusion of youth. I think that any morning now, I'm going to wake up and be my "real" self again. I won't look so tired when I'm not, my thighs will be back and I'll fit into that little black dress in the back of my closet which hasn't seen the light of day in years.

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In the mean time, I'll make do with Champagne Blonde.

Alexander Pushkin Said. . .

"Better the illusions that exalt us, than ten thousand truths."
-Alexander Pushkin

Bruce Springsteen,Youngstown,(Live- in Youngstown)

The Sunday Morning Muse, October 19, 2008

Oh....the stress of it all this week. Stock market ups and downs... a big hit in my 401k, more mudslinging with terrorist innuendos from the right wingers.... and now...THE FIRST FROST.

I had to scrape the car windows this morning.... in my heavy wool shirt and gloves...and I thought: "This is it. I'll be doing this till next April." Major Bummer.

It's a crisp autumn day as I write, but the sun is shining and the trees are still quite beautiful. Their fading glory always make me a little sad thinking of what is ahead. The early darkness, the cold... the feeling that you have to drag yourself out of bed in the morning, and put on layers of clothes. Then, when darkness hits at 5 PM it's hard to fight the comfort of the couch and blanket to go out in the evenings at all. It's hibernation.

As I take a sip of my friend's homemade apple cider, I wish that fall could stay awhile longer. I even bought more candy corn today, but I passed on the last of the "mums" for 5 bucks in front of the store. Too late for that. Then it occurs to me, I've been "wishing away" the days till the election is over, so maybe I'm sending mixed messages. I want the Nov. election done and over with.... yet I want more time in the garden.

Halloween candy on one side of Walmart... Xmas trees on the other. Really rushing things now.

And I'm still just putting away summer shorts.

Synchronicity

Yesterday I was listening to a CD a friend had bought me and I decided to go ahead and email that person since I hadn't spoken with him for a few weeks. I composed a short note and the strangest thing happened. I hit the send button, and my incoming email message popped up at the same time. It was him sending ME an email. I thought it was quite a coinsedence.... to send an email at that exact moment... on that day... during that week to each other.


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A small example of Synchronicity. A word coined by Carl Jung.
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I looked up some examples, and thought I'd like to share them.


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Wikipedia

The French writer Émile Deschamps claims in his memoirs that in 1805, he was treated to some plum pudding by a stranger named Monsieur de Fortgibu. Ten years later, the writer encountered plum pudding on the menu of a Paris restaurant and wanted to order some, but the waiter told him that the last dish had already been served to another customer, who turned out to be de Fortgibu. Many years later, in 1832, Émile Deschamps was at a diner and was once again offered plum pudding. He recalled the earlier incident and told his friends that only de Dortgibu was missing to make the setting complete—and in the same instant, the now senile de Fontgibu entered the room.

I also liked this example:

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During the production of The Wizard of Oz, a coat bought from a second-hand store for the costume of Professor Marvel was later found to have belonged to L.
Frank Baum, author of the children's book upon which the film is based.

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Speaking of the Wizard of Oz there is also that example of playing Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon album while you are watching the movie. I can remember in the early 1990's when radio stations actually held parties for people who gathered together to experience the so called "Dark Side of the Rainbow" effect.

Wikipedia

Fans have compiled more than one hundred moments of perceived interplay between the film and album, including further links that occur if the album is repeated through the entire film. This synergy effect has been described as an example of synchronicity, defined by the psychologist Carl Jung as a phenomenon in which coincidental events "seem related but are not explained by conventional mechanisms of causality."

Penguin VS Batman

Uncanny.

Debate Prep

John Cleese on Sarah Palin

A Word About Partisan Politics. . .

I'm amusing myself watching old episodes of my favorite show of all time, The West Wing. I loved the debate between Bartlett and his opponent, the Gov. of Florida.

The Sunday Morning Muse, October 12, 2008

So... the third quarter statement arrived in the mailbox yesterday. Thousands of dollars....gone.

My elderly mom asked, "Where did the money go?"

It's a good question. But where do you start? A simple explanation doesn't exist. Just like that "money" we think we have in stocks, in mutual funds, etc. It really doesn't exist at all. As I read it, stock values are really the "best guess" of what someone thinks the stock is worth.

I did a search and this article explains on an elementary level anyway, what I'm trying to say.

But rest assured, the money IS gone.

Fortunately we were never ones who ran up credit. My parents taught me to live within my means, and I've done that. Saved first, then spent. And now it's up to us.... the people on the bottom to bail out the folks at the top who didn't take that tried and true advice.

It sucks.

We Need Change

Are you better off than you were eight years ago?

A New Earth- Eckhart Tolle

Let me first say this is not a book that you just read straight through and expect to grasp it all as you would a light fiction novel. I struggled through the first half of the book and then I got about midway and that's when it began to speak to me. Mind you, it is not a lot of new ground for someone familiar with books of similiar themes... for example--controlling the ego, or living in the present moment. There are some practical suggestions in the book.... and it is worth using it as a guide or at least a reminder to stop and let the world unfold as it is, and quit hallucinating through your life... living for some future that may never happen, or waddle in past mistakes, that keep you from living in the NOW.
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I learned something from this book. I learned that we don't see a lot of things as they really are because our own thoughts about them get in the way. Familiarity with something makes it worse. In the book the author says some people feel more alive when they visit foreign countries... because their senses heighten. PERCEPTION takes up more of their consciousness than their thinking.
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I'll buy that. We all think too much. We all "label" too much. The point is... it causes great suffering and misunderstanding. And I say it leads to a great deal of miscommunication...and to an unauthentic experience. A made up in your head way of looking at the world, instead of seeing it... or seeing someone .... for who they really are inside: A soul with a common purpose.
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True communication with one another... the bonding that you feel instantly,without words, the joy that you feel when you are understood-- there is no need to label it or to try to understand it. To me that joy is a great starting point for peace.

I also liked the part about bringing joy Into what you do...don't expect to get joy OUT of what you do. And if you can't bring joy into it... move on. Do something else.
As Pollyanna as that sounds there is a lot of sense in it.

Finally, for someone looking for their life's purpose... the book offers an interesting perspective that made me look at my own purpose in a different light.

Homer Tries to Vote for Obama

Guest Muse: Excerpt from "My Gal"

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Explaining how she felt when John McCain offered her the Vice-Presidential spot, my Vice-Presidential candidate, Governor Sarah Palin, said something very profound: “I answered him ‘Yes’ because I have the confidence in that readiness and knowing that you can’t blink, you have to be wired in a way of being so committed to the mission, the mission that we’re on, reform of this country and victory in the war, you can’t blink. So I didn’t blink then even when asked to run as his running mate.”

Isn’t that so true? I know that many times, in my life, while living it, someone would come up and, because of I had good readiness, in terms of how I was wired, when they asked that—whatever they asked—I would just not blink, because, knowing that, if I did blink, or even wink, that is weakness, therefore you can’t, you just don’t. You could, but no—you aren’t.

That is just how I am.

Do you know the difference between me and a Hockey Mom who has forgot her lipstick?

A dog collar.
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Read the rest:
(link)
George Saunders, The New Yorker


Thanks Suki for passing this along.

Palin Vlog #3: Cramming for the Economic Debate

Sippin' on Haterade? Gotta love this. Sara Benincasa rocks.

Palin Debate Chart

Click on it to enlarge. (From AmericaBlog)

Playing with the Big Dogs

"Can I Call you Vlad?" (wink wink)
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-Sarah Palin, (sometime in the future, God forbid)


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Maybe if Hillary had winked more--flirted, wore a skirt and heels, acted like a girl, carried a baby around for while, we wouldn't be where we are today. Men love that. I can't tell you how many men have joked, "I'm votin' for her because she is purdy."
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(To be fair, one man I spoke with said he would NOT sleep with her, even though she is pretty. What would they TALK about afterwards? Oh... there's another column writing itself....)
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Maybe if Hillary had just let her "handlers" sequest her from the media, or if she would only answer questions she wanted to answer. UNFILTERED. WITH NO FOLLOWUPS. PERIOD. And only gave those answers in the pathetic, generalized soundbytes that were stamped and approved, tried and tested by the party... (read this: all those men who control her.)
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Baloney. Bullshit. Hillary never would. It's undignified to play the "girl" card. And it is pathetic to be like this Mrs. Beasley doll with a string in her back... spouting out talking points. It's insulting to every woman who has to watch this unfold.
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That's what I'm left feeling after the VP Debate Thursday night.
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I heard a Republican woman, who is an attorney, make the remark on local TV that she can't believe how much women HATE Palin. I see where she is coming from but it is not HATE. Women are INSULTED that this woman is even the Governor of Alaska let alone a candidate for Vice President of the United States.
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She strung sentences together. Wow. (Still needs a diction coach, but that's my own snark) Now if she only had anything of value to say. (Like a relentless crow outside my window... caw...he's a maverick!!!! caw, caw....)
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A shame there is not swim suit competition for Vice President.

A Beauty Queen Flash Back

Okay, I'm amusing myself killing time before the Biden/Palin debate.

Big Debate Tonight

I will watch until my cringe reflex gets too great.

That voice gets to me. It's a chalkboard thing.

Wow... She Can't Name ONE Magazine or Paper

The Complete Ignorance continues... She has a frigging journalism degree and can't name one newspaper or magazine that the reads?
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COURIC: . . . I was curious, what newspapers and magazines did you regularly read before you were tapped for this to stay informed and understand the world?
PALIN: I’ve read most of them, again with a great appreciation for the press, for the media.
COURIC: Like what ones specifically?
PALIN: Umm… all of them. Any of them that have been in front of me over all these years.
COURIC: Can you name any of them?
PALIN: I have a vast variety of sources where we get our news… Alaska isn’t a foreign country where it’s kind of suggested it seems like, wow how could you keep in touch with what the rest of Washington, DC may be thinking and doing, when you live up there in Alaska. Believe me, Alaska is like a microcosm of America.
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Not even Guns and Ammo? How about Wasilla's Shopper Guide?

Banned Book Week

It's Banned Books Week.(If Sarah Palin is reading this... Banned Book Week DOES NOT mean to go to your local libary and ask how to ban books, like you did in Wasilla.)

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I simply can't imagine any ENLIGHTENED or INTELLIGENT person would, in this day and age DO such a thing. But then again I can't imagine anyone picking her for a Vice President, and it happened.

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"I am not worried, Harry," said Dumbledore, his voice a little stronger despite the freezing water. "I am with you."

The Sunday Morning Muse, September 28, 2008

Paul Newman is gone. Sad. I went to the Internet Movie Database and searched for his movies. Turns out I didn't see as many Newman movies as I thought I had. Maybe that's a good thing. I'll have the rest of my life to watch his movies and they will be new to me.


Beautiful blue eyes. The kind you get lost in. A screen presence that defied age. It's like you could see into the inside of him. So handsome in this picture.


150 million in charitable donations and counting. I'm gonna buy some Newman's Own Spaghetti Sauce next week. I don't know why I didn't buy it before.

Governor Sarah Palin- Vlog#1

This woman is very funny and talented. I don't know who she is, but she has made me laugh aloud.

Grandpa Forgot Something... Look Close Now

Okay...I watched the debate. I saw pretty much what the polls showed. Obama held his own, McCain got in his war stories, and it was pretty much a tie. Both displayed some knowledge of foreign affairs, and both expressed very different ideas on how to proceed forward from here.

Grandpa McCain seemed so angry at times...and kept saying that he wasn't Mr. Congeniality back in Washington. Sure proved it to me! I felt more at ease listening to Obama when he spoke because he was very cogent, affable and stuck pretty close to the time frames given to him.He also didn't interrupt. He raised his hand a bit in a wave to the moderator. Dignified. McCain rattled on more and was rather mean at times. He looked kinda surly and kept addressing the moderator instead of Obama or the camera. It's like they forgot to tell him HE HAS TO CONNECT with people.

(read: HEY YOU KIDS GET OUTTA MY YARD!!!!)



HE wouldn't even look at Obama let alone engage him in the debate...what's up with THAT?
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He IS a bit of an "odd duck" to quote McYapper.
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Anyhow. Part one is done. Looking forward to Palin... who must memorize all her Cliff notes before next Thursday. If she is as bad as she was in the Couric Interview, it won't be pretty.

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And who goofed up by forgetting GRANDPA'S FLAG PIN?

Monty Python- Money

Searched and searched to find the perfect song to end this horrible week of financial chaos.

Well, There Goes the Wiccan Vote!

In case you haven't seen this.... it was a real toss up to me as to what was scarier. Sarah Palin's interview with Katie Couric or this African pastor praying over her in this strange voice to bring money to her campaign...and KEEP HER SAFE FROM WITCHCRAFT.
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You can't make this up. I kept thinking this had to be a spoof video or something... but it is not.
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It is an African "Pastor" praying over Sarah Palin at her church. See the video yourself. It is about a minute and a half into the dialogue.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsDfkAnCvKY&feature=related
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If you didn't see the Katie Couric interview segments, you missed out. It is kinda like passing a car wreck... you HAVE to look. She is in SOOOO far over her head.
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http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/09/25/couric-presses-palin-on-alaska-is-close-to-russia-nonsense/


COURIC: Explain to me why that enhances your foreign policy credentials.
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PALIN: Well, it certainly does because our– our next door neighbors are foreign countries. They’re in the state that I am the executive of. And there in Russia–
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COURIC: Have you ever been involved with any negotiations, for example, with the Russians?
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PALIN: We have trade missions back and forth. We– we do– it’s very important when you consider even national security issues with Russia as Putin rears his head and comes into the air space of the United States of America, where– where do they go? It’s Alaska. It’s just right over the border. It is– from Alaska that we send those out to make sure that an eye is being kept on this very powerful nation, Russia, because they are right there. They are right next to– to our state.
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OH MY..... PUTIN REARS HIS HEAD??????? Beam me up Scottie.