Thursday, July 31, 2008

John McCain erupts at advance man over somnambulant crowd



By Pablo Fanque,
All This Is That National Affairs Editor

Following his less than successful town hall meeting yesterday in Sparks, John McCain gave a rousing speech today in Altoona, Pennsylvania. However, a fair number of people in the audience appeared to be sleeping. Senator McCain greatly abbreviated his prepared remarks and left early for his next campaign stop. A fellow reporter heard the Senator call his advance man on the carpet as he walked to a waiting limousine: "I flew back here from f***ing Nevada to be greeted by this crowd? Where did you round these ***holes up? At the narcolepsy treatment center?!"
---o0o---

John McCain: Maverick or Redneck? The Republicans are not quite sure.



By Pablo Fanque,
All This Is That National Affairs Editor


At a town hall meeting yesterday in Sparks, Nevada, Republican presidential candidate John McCain attempted to maintain the precarious equilibrium between the independence he boasts of and his purported conservatism. Was the audience buying it? Not so much.

"As many of you know, I've been called a maverick, someone who marches to the beat of his own drum," McCain said proudly before being assaulted with questions on offshore oil, taxes and stem cell research from a mostly Republican audience.

McCain swore he would not raise taxes if elected president and promised to appoint judges like Bush nominees Samuel Alito and John Roberts.

"Anything you can tax he wants to tax it more," McCain said of his Democratic opponent, Barack Obama.

But McCain then told a disabled woman facing home foreclosure that he would step up enforcement of the Americans With Disabilities Act. He told a cancer survivor that he supported stem cell research, which pushed a local, Doug Englekirk, to tell McCain that he and other conservatives weren't happy to be supporting the Arizona senator. "There's a lot of us voting against Obama more than anything else," Englekirk said to McCain. "There are a lot of issues I've disagreed with you about, and I would like to know how do you assure me and other conservatives that you will hold to our values and give me something to be excited about?"
---o0o---

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

National Enquirer new claim: Rielle Hunter is receiving $15,000 a month hush money/child support from John Edwards' pal


John Edwards with his "other" family?

In an "exclusive," [ed's note: of course anything fictional would be exclusive] the NATIONAL ENQUIRER claims that John Edwards’ purported girfriend and mother of his “love child,” Rielle Hunter, is secretly receiv­ing $15,000 a month "as part of an elaborate cover-up orchestrated by the former presidential contender."



The money is purportedly funneled to Rielle Hunter by a wealthy colleague who was involved in the Edwards’ campaign. "This same man is also shoveling cash to Edwards’ pal and former aide Andrew Young – who tried to take the heat off the ex-Senator by claiming he is the father of Rielle’s baby."
---o0o---

Music, video and lyrics: Ben Lee's Catch My Disease (a/k/a The TBTL Theme song)

This is my favorite song this week.








This is a fan video of a TV show called House (I think) set to Catch My Disease. The link may not have long to live. No other version on YouTube would allow you to embed, and virtually all fan versions were pulled, (in short, Ben has some vigilant people combing the internets for copyrightviolations).

Not only is this a wonderful song, it's the theme song for my favorite radio show, TBTL, which you really need to hear (live in Seattle, on iTunes, and KIRO always has one week of downloadable shows).

My head is a box full of nothing
and that's the way I like it
My garden's a secret compartment
and that's the way I like it
and that's the way I like it
Your body's a dream that turns violent
and that's the way I like it
and that's the way I like it
The winter is long in the city
and that's the way I like it

So please
baby please
Open your heart
Catch my disease

I was backstage in Pomona
and that's the way I like it
She drank beer with coca-cola
and that's the way I like it
and that's the way I like it
She told me about the winds from Santa Anna
and that's the way I like it
and that's the way I like it
She told me she loved me like fireworks
and that's the way I like it

So please
baby please
Open your eyes
Catch my disease

So please (PLEASE!)
baby please
Come on
Catch my disease
Catch it

Na na na na na na na na na

They play Good Charlotte on the radio
and that's the way I like it
They play Sleepy Jackson on the radio
and that's the way I like it
and that's the way I like it
I hear Beyonce on the radio
and that's the way I like it
cos that's the way I like it
and they play me on the radio (whoo!)
and that's the way I like it

So please
baby please
Open your heart
and catch my disease
So please
baby please
Come on
Catch my disease
(catch my disease)
nanananananananana
(catch my disease)
nanananananananana
(catch my disease)
nanananananananana
(catch my disease)
---o0o---

Aphrodite sculpture from the National Archaeological Museum in Athens


click to enlarge
This marble statue of Aphrodite, now residing in the National Museum of Archaeology, was in private hands until about 1924. It was sculpted in the second century, and was later restored by the Italian sculptor A. Canova in the early 19th century. I like nude sculptures, but in this one, aside from the toothsome Aphrodite herself, it is the drapery, discretely covering the naughty bits, that knocks you out...
---o0o---

Boo-hoo: Senator Ted Stevens is headed for the hoosegow


click Senator Ted Stevens to enlarge

By Pablo Fanque,
All This Is That National Affairs Editor

U.S. Senator Ted Stevens (Republican, Alaska) was charged Tuesday with hiding more than a quarter million dollars in "gifts," including home renovations, that he received from an Alaska oil company, the Justice Department said. That only includes the hiding, friendos, not the taking and soliciting.


The Alaska politician, who has been in the Senate longer than almost any other Senator (40 years) was indicted by a grand jury indictment on seven counts of lying on Senate financial disclosure forms. Not surprisingly, he is also one of the biggest scolds in Congress. He joins fellow Republicans like Senator Larry Craig who was busted for atempting to have sex in an airport bathroom; David Vitter who cheated on his wife with prostitutes while haranguing us about "family values;" and even disgraced ex-Governor Elliott Spitzer, who also had a yen for prostitutes, while publicly campaigning to shut down "call girl rings."



Soon to be Ex-Senator Stevens denied the charges, of course, and swore he would be exonerated. But he had to step down from his various committees in the Senate. He has thus far, given no indication he plans to resign from the Senate."I am innocent of these charges and intend to prove that," Stevens said in a statement. "I have never knowingly submitted a false disclosure form required by law as a U.S. senator."

There was no immediate signal that Republicans would pressure Stevens to resign, but give it a few days. On the other hand, the Senator may well continue with his re-election campaign. I suspect the Senator would want us to believe that he, along with us, are victims of the deviancy amplification spiral.
---o0o---


Photo: The Brummet-Curran clan dine al fresco at sunset with a view of the Santorini caldera


Click to enlarge
---o0o---

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Obama's VP-stakes--> Come on Barack! Go with Smilin' Joe



While the campaign and Barack himself have been very circumspect about his choice for running mate, they have floated at least the following names:



  • Virginia Governor Tim Kaine
  • Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius
  • Indiana Senator Evan Bayh (an olive branch to Hillary supporters)
  • Senator Joe Biden (my personal favorite)
  • Georgia Ex-Senator Sam Nunn
Pick Smilin' Joe, Barack! He's got the foreign policy experience you need, and he's great on the campaign trail. He never gets tired of talking!
---o0o---

Photo: Aphrodite's legs, from the museum at Afrodesia, Turkey


click to enlarge
---o0o---

Monday, July 28, 2008

Painting: Colum, Claire and Del on the beach in Naxos, Greece



click to enlarge

---o0o---

The John Edwards-Rielle Hunter "love child" story bubbles along with no new facts or information



These political scandal stories sometimes leave you wanting more...or at least quick resolution. More in this case means to either excoriate The National Enquirer for irresponsible mud-slinging, or, alas, to write off John Edwards politically, for good.

When the "story" first broke late last year, people wrote off Edwards's presidential campaign. But, then, the story faded away rapidly. Now, with the National Enquirer alleging to have caught him red-handed with the mother of the purported love child, Rielle Hunter, at an LA hotel, the story exploded into national news once again, with the conservative press, talk shows, and republican bloggers fanning the flames. But. once again, the National Enquirer seems to be hanging fire, and have printed or said nothing new since their bombshell late last week.

There has been some follow up, like this piece on foxnews.com, "A Beverly Hills hotel security guard told FOXNews.com he intervened this week between a man he identified as former Sen. John Edwards and tabloid reporters who chased down the former presidential hopeful after what they're calling a rendezvous with his mistress and love child.


"It's not my baby." "It's not his baby."

"The Beverly Hilton Hotel guard said he encountered a shaken and ashen-faced Edwards — whom he did not immediately recognize — in a hotel men's room early Tuesday morning in a literal tug-of-war with reporters on the other side of the door."

Numerous news outlets have reiterated that good Edwards friend, and former Clinton Administration cabinet member, Andrew Young claims paternity of the alleged Edwards and Rielle Hunter love child. However a lot of people don't seem to believe that story....

Google News lists about 68 stories on this one (but incredibly not All This Is That's editorial piece). For Rielle Hunter's part, she maintains, as does Young himself, that Andrew Young is the father of the child.
---o0o---

Sunday, July 27, 2008

Alien Lore No. 135 - More on Edgar Mitchell's alien revelations - an interview with Moonwalker Dr Edgar Mitchell



Following up on our earlier article here (Alien Lore No. 134), here are some more of Dr. Edgar Mithchell's revelations from an interview.

Astronaut and Apollo 14 moon-walker Dr Edgar Mitchell claims that aliens exist. He says extra-terrestrials have visited Earth on several occasions - but the alien contact has been repeatedly and systematically covered up by The Government for six decades. Dr Mitchell, 77, said on the radio that sources at the space agency described the beings as basically textbook greys.

He also claimed our technology is "not nearly as sophisticated" as theirs. In itself that's not so shocking if you believe his story. Greys merely appearing on earth would indicate a civilization exponentially more advanced than ours, where our greatest success so far is to have a dozen people walk on the earth's nearest satellite, the moon. . .about 239,000 miles away.

The good part? "Had they been hostile," he warned, "we would be gone by now". Like Virgil Solozzo said to Tom Hagen in The Godfather. "If I wanted you dead, you'd be dead already .'




---o0o---

Saturday, July 26, 2008

Bronze statuary group by the beach in Rhodes


click to enlarge The last thing we saw in Rhodes.

This bronze statuary group sat near the beach in Rhodes, fifty feet from where we caught a bus to the port, to sail to the wonderful madhouse that is Santorini/Thira. I have no idea what the subject matter is, or the provenance of the sculpture. . .but I liked it. Then again, I am a sucker for bronzes...
---o0o---

Poem: σχετικότητας (Relativity)

Πριν από μία εβδομάδα,
ήμουν ευτυχής να εγκαταλείψει την Ελλάδα.
Σήμερα, είμαι ευτυχής που προτίθεστε να είναι πίσω.
---o0o---

Friday, July 25, 2008

Does the paternity of Rielle Hunter's baby determine our next Attorney General?


Rielle Hunter

Well, even the National Enquirer is right sometimes, although I hope not in this case. I have been looking forward to John Edwards as Attorney General. If he has been caught with his pants down like this, I suspect we'll know the truth in a couple of days. If this affair and baby are true, how long did he really think he could pull the wool over our eyes? I dunno...he's just seems too smart to be this stupid.
---o0o---

The Stadium and other goodies at Aphrodesias/Afrodesia, Turkey


Afrodite in all her glory, but minus her cabeza,
in the museum at Afrodesia - click to enlarge


Del runs out from the gladiator's entrance to the stadium - click to enlarge


another section of seats - click to enlarge

Aphrodisias, a/k/a Ἀφροδισιάς a/k/a Afrodesia, is in Asia Minor, about 230 km from İzmir.

Aphrodisias was named after Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of Love (and if you've seen her sculptures, you'd believe it), and at this site there once existed her cult image, Aphrodite of Aphrodisias. The city was built near a marble deposit that that was heavily quarried during the Roman period, and the marble sculptors from Aphrodisias became famous in Rome. See Keelin Curran's post about Turkey in Ruins for more information and Afrodesia photos.


A long shot of the stadium - click to enlarge

The Temple of Aphrodite is a focus of the ruins, and restoration is ongoing. However, what really knocked me out most about Aphrodesias was the stadium. But so did the temple, the statuary, the fantastic relief friezes, The absolutely amazing Bouleuterion (Council House) is on the north side of the North Agora, and is fantastically reconstructed, and on a more human scale. But it was the stadium that enchanted us most--partly because it was used for gladiatorial and wild beast exhibitions (e.g., slaughters), but mostly because of the grand scale. You could feel those 30,000 citizens filling the marble seats.

Can you imagine charging out here to fight your fellow
gladiator with a trident? Click to enlarge


another long shot of the stadium - click to enlarge
The stadium is thought to be the best preserved of its kind except for the Sanctuary of Apollo at Delphi (which we didn't get to see...yes, we did miss a few ruins!). I would love to see a rock show there one day.


A section of seats at the top of the stadium - click to enlarge
---o0o---

How many five year olds could you take on in a fight?

15
Click to find out how many five year olds you could whup in a fight.
---o0o---

The Posies 20th Anniversary: performing Definite Door at Neumos, May, 2008





We were unable to make this show, alas, being stuck at an under-attended party we couldn't gracefully exit....it looks like it was a good night. . .

---o00---


Alien Lore No. 134 - Moon-walker claims alien contact cover-up


News.com.au reports today that Dr. Edgar Mitchell, an astronaut who has walked on the moon, claims that aliens exist and their existence has been covered up by the government. [Thanks to Pete, for pointing out this article].

"FORMER NASA astronaut and moon-walker Dr Edgar Mitchell - a veteran of the Apollo 14 mission - has stunningly claimed aliens exist. And he says extra-terrestrials have visited Earth on several occasions - but the alien contact has been repeatedly covered up by governments for six decades. Dr Mitchell, 77, said during a radio interview that sources at the space agency who had had contact with aliens described the beings as 'little people who look strange to us.' He said supposedly real-life ET's were similar to the traditional image of a small frame, large eyes and head.

"Chillingly, he claimed our technology is "not nearly as sophisticated" as theirs and "had they been hostile", he warned "we would be been gone by now". Dr Mitchell, along with with Apollo 14 commander Alan Shepard, holds the record for the longest ever moon walk, at nine hours and 17 minutes following their 1971 mission.

"I happen to have been privileged enough to be in on the fact that we've been visited on this planet and the UFO phenomena is real," Dr Mitchell said. "It's been well covered up by all our governments for the last 60 years or so, but slowly it's leaked out and some of us have been privileged to have been briefed on some of it. "I've been in military and intelligence circles, who know that beneath the surface of what has been public knowledge, yes - we have been visited. Reading the papers recently, it's been happening quite a bit."

"Dr Mitchell, who has a Bachelor of Science degree in aeronautical engineering and a Doctor of Science degree in Aeronautics and Astronautics claimed Roswell was real and similar alien visits continue to be investigated. He told the astonished Kerrang! radio host Nick Margerrison: "This is really starting to open up. I think we're headed for real disclosure and some serious organisations are moving in that direction." Mr Margerrison said: "I thought I'd stumbled on some sort of astronaut humour but he was absolutely serious that aliens are definitely out there and there's no debating it."




"Officials from NASA, however, were quick to play the comments down. In a statement, a spokesman said: "NASA does not track UFOs. NASA is not involved in any sort of cover up about alien life on this planet or anywhere in the universe. 'Dr Mitchell is a great American, but we do not share his opinions on this issue.' "
---o0o---

Thursday, July 24, 2008

John McCain may just want to hang up his rock and roll shoes after Obama's Berlin speech

By Pablo Fanque,
All This Is That National Affairs Editor




Obama speaks to an adoring throng of Berliners


I listened to Obama's speech in Berlin this morning, on the anniversary of the American-British Berlin airlift, in answer to the blockade of West Berlin by the reds. It was a nuanced, well-modulated speech than had the crowd roaring and on its feet as much as any speech he has given to partisan Obamanites in America.

Senator John McCain, already running scared this week, with Obama scoring all the praise and headlines and sound bytes, should probably just stick his head in the oven and crank up the gas.

Maybe McCain can get some mileage out of whatever hacks he selects for Vice-President. Maybe he can continue to hammer away at Obama as an appeaser of terrorists. Maybe he can somehow seem young and vigorous. But I don't think so. This morning, hearing Barack Obama speak in Germany, I knew McCain was in deep, deep trouble.
---o0o---

Painting: self portrait 22


click to enlarge
---o0o---

The Doors perform The End live, with lyrics





I've always liked the lyrics from select Doors' songs (usually when Jim was able to somewhat restrain the Lizard King/Mr Mojo Risin side). I especially like these chillling lines


The killer awoke before dawn, he put his boots on
He took a face from the ancient gallery
And he walked on down the hall


--------------------------
The End
Music and Lyrics by The Doors



This is the end
Beautiful friend
This is the end
My only friend, the end

Of our elaborate plans, the end
Of everything that stands, the end
No safety or surprise, the end
Ill never look into your eyes...again

Can you picture what will be
So limitless and free
Desperately in need...of some...strangers hand
In a...desperate land

Lost in a roman...wilderness of pain
And all the children are insane
All the children are insane
Waiting for the summer rain, yeah

Theres danger on the edge of town
Ride the kings highway, baby
Weird scenes inside the gold mine
Ride the highway west, baby

Ride the snake, ride the snake
To the lake, the ancient lake, baby
The snake is long, seven miles
Ride the snake...hes old, and his skin is cold

The west is the best
The west is the best
Get here, and well do the rest

The blue bus is callin us
The blue bus is callin us
Driver, where you taken us

The killer awoke before dawn, he put his boots on
He took a face from the ancient gallery
And he walked on down the hall
He went into the room where his sister lived, and...then he
Paid a visit to his brother, and then he
He walked on down the hall, and
And he came to a door...and he looked inside
Father, yes son, I want to kill you
Mother...i want to...fuck you

Cmon baby, take a chance with us
Cmon baby, take a chance with us
Cmon baby, take a chance with us
And meet me at the back of the blue bus
Doin a blue rock
On a blue bus
Doin a blue rock
Cmon, yeah

Kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill

This is the end
Beautiful friend
This is the end
My only friend, the end

It hurts to set you free
But youll never follow me
The end of laughter and soft lies
The end of nights we tried to die
---o0o---

The pop quiz clock



I like this pop quiz clock. You can buy it here. Click to enlarge.

---o0o---


Wednesday, July 23, 2008

I Met The Walrus: a film of Jerry Levitan's close encounter with John Lennon

This short animated film was a hit at last year's Brooklyn International Film Festival, and was an Academy Award short film nominee. I Met The Walrus takes a 1969 audio interview with John Lennon animated into a short film. According to the film blurb, 14-year-old Jerry Levitan nabbed this interview by sneaking into Lennon's Toronto hotel room during his "bed-in" phase.



I may be mixing him up with another girl who managed to get into the hotel, but I know many of the visitors actually participated in the taping of "Give Peace A Chance," which John and Yoko Ono recorded in the hotel room.

It's short, it's charming, and it's worth hearing just to hear John Lennon be interviewed by, and very respectfully respond to, a 14 year old fan...
---o0o---

America v The United States, in Greece or Turkey, anyway...

In both Turkey and Greece, when people asked where I was from. I said "The Unites States'" For a while. . .but when ever you said United States, they would almost always say back "ah, America." And so it became America. And I got to like saying it.

People were careful about demarcating America from the United States. The United States was President Bush and his war. America was Coca Cola, rock and roll, hip hop, and blue jeans; America was where relatives immigrated and did OK for themselves. I don't think I ever met a Greek (and a number of Turks as well), in our month there, who didn't have a cousin, uncle, or sister living in America. I've heard it's jingoistic to call ourselves America, when you also have our pals in the frozen north, Mexico, and Central America, who might also lay claim to that name. America.

Not only did I begin using the word America, but I was often reduced to describing where I hailed from as California. Maybe 10 or 20% of the people had heard of Seattle--but surprisingly enough, I met people who had been there, knew where it was, or had a shirt-tail relative there. But most people's faces fogged when you said Seattle, so it became sometimes this place up near Canada, or, more often, "just up the coast from California." And they got that. Images of California are common due to all the movies and television shows. Everyone knew New York City. And people often mentioned Los Angeles, Chicago, and Florida.
---o0o---

Painting: Caligula, after a statue in Athens


Click the emperor to enlarge
---o0o---

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Welcome Home to America: an interesting exchange on Internet Messenger

I'll admit, I am a little rusty on "cybercommunication" after my month in Europe and Asia. So, when someone IM'd me, saying "Hi" and asking "A/S/L?" I didn't quite get it. Naturally, my 20-30 year younger fellow workers down the hall knew it meant Age, Sex, Location? And that I was being porn-phished. So naturally, I responded.
_______________________________


---jack on--- says:
hi


---jack on--- says:
I am a female, nine years old. I am in Saskatoon. Do you have nekkid pictures you can send me?

Bridgette says:
hey whats up babe, U got a webcam? finally someone adds me, I am soo f***in horny today for some reason lol

---jack on--- says:
I don't have the webcam, but here is a picture of me. Now show me your stuff on the webcam!



Bridgette says:
listen hun, I am just about to start my webcam show with jen, come chat me there in my chat room? We can cyber, I will get naked if u do..lol!
---o0o---

Rock and roll: 101 versions of Stairway To Heaven" (downloadable)

Our good friends at NYC's WFMU Beware of the Blog (one of my favorite blogs, especially for the vast variety of legal downloads of the crazy, sublime, and obscure) have assembled 101 versions of the Led Zeppelin tune "Stairway To Heaven." And they're all downloadable... jump here to listen, read about, and download these 101 versions of STH...Following is some text and the artist's names from BOTB....

Stairways to Heaven, Stairways to Hell (MP3s) - Here are 101 versions of the song you often hear strummed at the Guitar Center, from british music hall versions to a backwards version, Much of this came from former FMU DJ KBC's CD of the same name, which took much of it's content from this 1992 LP. "

The artists from WFMU's web post on the 101 (including, among others, Iron Maiden, The London Symphony Orchestra, The Hard-ons, Dolly Parton, and many more):

Dusty Cowshit Hard-Ons Little Roger & amp; The Goosebumps Rock Lobsters
Neil Pepper SCTV Glass Harp Leonard Teale Beatnix
Ludwig Von 88 Leif Norbergs John Paul Young Pardon Me Boys
Kalocin Fargone Beauties Richard Cheese Robyne Dunn
Rolf Harris GS Incorporated Australian Doors Show
Dixie Power Trio Kate Ceberano & Ministry of Fun Thomas Dimuzio
Sandra Kahn & Michael Turkic Pat Boone Tiny Tim & Brave Combo
Nashville Super Pickers Congo Natty
Foo Fighters Vienna Symphonic Orchestra Dolly Parton
Nileppez Del Dread Zeppelin Leningrad Cowboys & The Red Army Chorus
Frank Zappa Vegimite Reggae
Dutch artist Jeroen Offerman learned how to sing Stairway backwards. Here's a page about it from listener Neil's blog, with the full video. Thanks Mike and Neil!
Here's version number 39, an instrumental from Redd Kross. Thanks Arthur!
Mitsuhiro Nishiwaki (Musicbox) Nick Barker and The Reptiles Splice of Life, Inc
Venetian Snares and Speedranch Norelpref Barry Crocker & The Doug Anthony Allstars
Etcetera Theater Company Helen Jones James Kochalka Superstar
Jodie Gillies Judi Connell London Symphony Orchestra
Far Corporation Stanley Jordan Sydney Philharmonia
Those Darn Accordians Toys Went Berserk
Also, here is the Stairway Suite page, with MP3 samples of the song as if it were composed by six well known composers.
Iron Maiden Me First and The Gimme Gimmes
Milish Rodrigo y Gabriela
National Cynical Network DJ Earworm
Heavy Fuel A Pretty Sunset
Die Zorros Richard Cheese Michael Mills (Spoken Diatribe)
Bellanova Gregorian Masters of Chant Guster
Vogelfrai Not Moby Final Fantasy X
Unknown Jose Padilla
Todd Taylor Camper Van Beethoven Mary Schneider, Yodeling Queen of Australia
Sisters of Mercy White Skull Sons of Ishmael Whipper Snappers
Stereofeed String Quartet Orchestra National De Jazz Havanarama
Reverend Billy C Wirtz Zakk Wylde Johnny Bic
The Raleigh Ringers The Sauerkraut Project Steve Morse
The Lounge-O-Leers Helloween The Dick Twang Band (Dick's page)
The Symphonic Led Zeppelin
Dash Rip Rock (Stairway to Freebird) Short Attention Span Stairway
Jana Iron Horse Ann Wilson

---o0o---

The Temple of Olympian Zeus in Athens


The Temple of Olympian Zeus - click to enlarge

The Temple of Zeus, a/k/a The Olympieion, is a massive ruins in the heart of Athens, a couple of blocks from our hotel in The Plaka. The temple was once dedicated to Zeus, king of the gods. Construction began in the 6th century BC but was not completed until the reign of Emperor Hadrian in the 2nd century AD (650 years later!). It was famous as the largest temple in Greece and its Zeus sculpture was one of the largest cult statues in the ancient world.

The temple was pillaged in a barbarian invasion in the 3rd century AD and was probably never restored or repaired. After the fall of the Roman Empire, the temple, like so many acient monuments, was used as a makeshift quarry for marble and stone for other projects. However it still stands, more or less, and is one of the more impressive ruins in Athens, aside from the buildings on The Acropolis.



The Temple of Olympian Zeus (Ναός του Ολυμπίου Διός) with the fallen 16th column - click to enlarge

The temple is maybe half a mile or less from the Acropolis, and was built on the site of another building or monument. After the death of Pisistratus, his sons, Hippias and Hipparchos began building the temple. They hoped to outdo two famous contemporary temples, the Heraion of Samos and the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus (which we visited in June, in Turkey/Asia Minor), which was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World (the second of the seven wonders we have seen on this trip).



Fifteen columns are still standing today. A sixteenth column lies on the ground where it fell during a wind storm in 1852. A wind storm! That column (you can clearly see it in one of my photos) has been on the ground for 156 years now. 156 years ago, the neighborhood I live in was an old growth forest.
---o0o---

Monday, July 21, 2008

The Beach Boys Perform All This Is That With The Monster Saxaphonist Charles Lloyd


---o0o---

Blue Monday

"Blue Monday" is a song by Fats Domino and Dave Bartholomew from 1955. It was popularized in a recording by Domino in 1956, on Imperial Records. It was one of the earliest R&B tunes to hit the Billboard magazine pop music charts.

This Monday feels like Blue Monday.




Blue Monday
by Fats Domino

Blue Monday how I hate Blue Monday
Got to work like a slave all day
Here come Tuesday, oh hard Tuesday
I'm so tired got no time to play

Here come Wednesday, I'm beat to my socks
My gal calls, got to tell her that I'm out
'Cause Thursday is a hard workin' day
And Friday I get my pay

Saturday mornin', oh Saturday mornin'
All my tiredness has gone away
Got my money and my honey
And I'm out on the stand to play

Sunday mornin' my head is bad
But it's worth it for the time that I had
But I've got to get my rest
'Cause Monday is a mess
---o0o---

Sunday, July 20, 2008

Nine Jack Brummet poems from Greece and Turkey June-July, 2008



Click on a poem title to go to that poem elsewhere on All This Is That.

The listing freighter in the harbor at Kato Zakris

Rocks, flowers, and walls

Prayers In Istanbul

Sailng To Athens

That Cold Island Across The Sea

Moslems vs. Nazarenes vs. Pagans

Just Beneath The Topsoil

Sailing To Naxos, or, The Vortex

Aristophanes' Plutus at the Odeon Theatre on the Acropolis

As I mentioned once or twice before, on our last night in Athens, we attended a performance of Aristophanes' last play, Plutus, at the Odeon Theatre. This restored ancient theatre also hosts music and dance performances, including Yanni's famous Live At The Acropolis (all I remember about Yanni is that he was famous about 20 years ago).


click to enlarge

All we knew going in about the play were the bare bones of its plot: Chremylus, a poor but just man, accompanied by his body-servant Cario consults the Delphic Oracle concerning his son, and whether he should be instructed in injustice and knavery and the other arts whereby worldly men acquire riches. The god tells him to follow whoever he first meets upon leaving the temple. This proves to be a blind and ragged old man, actually Plutus himself, the god of riches, whom Zeus has robbed of his eyesight, so that he may be unable henceforth to distinguish between the just and the unjust. Helped by Chremylus and brought to the Temple of Æsculapius, Plutus regains the use of his eyes, and then, all just men, including the god's benefactor, are made rich and prosperous, and the unjust are reduced to indigence.

It was surreal watching a play in Greek. And the theatre group from Cypress performed an over the top version. The Greek chorus often broke into song, dance, and acrobatics. The show opened with a chase scene that was a strange combination of Greek theatre and something from Waiting for Godot, with a touch of Laurel and Hardy thrown in for good measure. The performance was so over the top it barely made any difference whether we understood the language or not. It was great fun.

The stage was made from wood rolled out in various heights, creating hills and valleys along the length of the stage. The only prop on stage (at the beginning) was a gigantic Carpusi(aka watermelon). Early on, the chorus divided up the watermelon and ate it...for no reason we could discern (this harkens back to Eric Cartman's declaration on South Park that "all independent films are about cowboys eating pudding").


click stage to enlarge


Although we were in the dark, I think some of the Greek-speaking audience were as well, having come to see an ancient play and seeing it given something like the Mabou Mines treatment. In that sense, I was probably as up to speed, or better, than they were on post-modern theatre production. Anyhow, as strange as it all was, I wouldn't have missed it. Here are a few photos. Unfortunately I followed the rules and did not shoot any photos during the play itself.
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Saturday, July 19, 2008

Last day in Athens: The National Archaeological Museum and ruminations of the renaissance of Athens


You may have noticed already, but one of my favorite modes of ancient art is the relief frieze. This is an excellent example of one, and yet they still lose their extremities...fingertips, nipples, noses, and penises seem to suffer the most from those tumbles to the ground, and from being battered by other marbles. Click to enlarge.

On our last day in Athens (July 17th), we went, via bus, to the National Archaeological Museum. This massive and comprehensive museum would take three days to go through wth any real scrutiny. We did it in a few hours, by focusing on the artifacts and antiquities we were really interested in, and especially those from the many ruins and excavations we had visited the previous month in both Asia Minor and in Greece.

The best part of the museum, by far, is the massive collection of statuary from Cycladic and earlier periods, up to a huge collection of Roman and Greek sculpture. You see a lot of the statuary you've seen in books, in art history class, and on book covers (of Penguin books and literary anthologies). After three hours, you are completely weary and there are still whole collections and periods of antiquity you've missed. I am posting photos of some of my favorites...but hundreds of my favorites aren't here. You'll just have to go to the museum if you get the chance. If you ever do get to Athens (and I highly recommend it), and you only have a day, split it between the Acropolis and the Museum.

Before I go onto the handful of photos, I wanted to say one thing about Athens. When I was there 25 years ago, it was a congested, hot, smelly, polluted town. Over the years, and especially before the Olympics, they have fixed a lot of that. The pollution was not all that much more than any city. They have implemented restrictions on cars, and they have created many pedestrian streets with no cars at all. And on top of that, for the first time in a month, we could actually drink tapwater! And it was great. It was such a great surprise to see the progress Athens had made. When Keelin originally scheduled us for three days there, I was very skeptical. As it turns out, I could have stayed there a week. The subways and buses are good, and if you stay in the Plaka, you can walk almost anywhere you need to go. Highly recommended!



Cycladic statuary (from the Cycladic Islands, like a couple we visited, Santorini and Rhodes). One of my favorite schools of sculpture. I love the abstracted, gestural figuration. Click to enlarge.


A bronze Zeus. You've seen this one on the cover of Penguin Books and literary anthologies. Click to enlarge.


Jack Brummet on the rooftop of our hotel, with a close view of the Acroplis' less-flashy backside.


A bust of Caligula (or head from a statue), from the 1st Century. Click to enlarge. This is one of my favorites, probably because I've read a few books about this mad emperor.


This is allegedly (although highly unlikely) Agamemnon's pure gold death mask, recovered from Grave Circle V, from the 15th Century BC. Note: the two holes were used with string to hold the mask to the deceased's face. Click to enlarge.


I loved this fantastically sculpted bronze of a horse and jockey recovered from a shipwreck. This was sculpted sometime in the second century BC. Click to enlarge.

I'll post some more favorites when I get out photos sorted out... /jack, in Seattle
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Bush to Schwarzenegger in latest 'hot mike' incident: "I ought to whip your ass, Arnold"


a snapshot during the exchange - click to enlarge

By Pablo Fanque
All This Is That National Affairs Editor
San Clemente, California, June 18, 2008

President Bush offered federal aid and words of encouragement on Thursday to the 25,000 firefighters battling wildfires in California. "I always come to make sure the federal government is coordinating closely with the state government," Bush said. "I know Gov. Schwarzenegger well enough to say that if we weren't, he'd let me know."

President Bush shakes hands with a firefighter glad to know the President is looking out for his best interest. Click to enlarge.

Since a lightning storm on June 21, over 2,000 fires have ignited in the tinderboxes of California, wiping out at least a million acres. Governor Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency in 12 counties affected by wildfires and called in the National Guard to help. President Bush also appeared, offering additional help and encouragement.

"I'd like to let the people out here know that we're paying attention in Washington, D.C.," Bush said. "We care about you and we'll respond as best as we possibly can."

Following the press photo opportunity The President leaned over and said "I ought to whip your ass, Arnold," to the startled Governor. "I might actually give a s**t about your pleas except every other time I pick up a f***in' newspaper, I read about you tearing me a new one. . .how the President is ignoring the climate, 'the people' and all this other horses**t."

As Schwarenegger protested, the President hushed him, "How do you f***in' think it makes me feel having a man in my own party toss garbage in my face?! I don't give a rat's ass what you say to me privately. But you better put a lid on it out here. That would be just great Arnold. It may even speed up that federal aid..."

Governor Schwarzenegger snapped back at the President, "If it's anything like New Orleans, I'd be better off asking Hugo Chavez for help."

At that moment in the tense conversation, an aide pointed out a small ground of reporters near a media truck laughing and jotting notes on the exchange. A Press Office functionary hurriedly tried to convince the handful of reporters to not write about the incident in return for exclusive interviews and entree to limited access White House events. All This Is That, however, has nothing to lose, since our White House press credentials were pulled months ago.
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Friday, July 18, 2008

Kara Güneş - great street music from Istanbul, Turkey

One of my favorite musical experiences in Turkey were the times I watched Kara Güneş play on the Istikal Cad (a block or two from our apartment in Istanbul). I bought a great CD of music from them (it home-made, burned), with 13 tunes. You can hear four or five of their songs on their myspace site.



They play on the street a lot, as well as other venues, and are very good, and pretty young. I don't know a lot about them, other than they attract large crowds on Istikal (a very musical neighborhood) and most of what is written about them is in Turkish. They play native instruments and drums, but listening to their music, they I hear hints of musics from the west like rock and blues and folk/country accents of string band music. At times, their music reminds me of the jazz band Oregon, when they were really soaring...

Among the little I've been able to discover about them is that the late Kemal Kan, a Turkish director and writer, directed a movie of the same title once. I don't even know the titles of their songs, since the CD I bought from them didn't have functioning ID3 tags...so they're song 1, song 2, etc.
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Thursday, July 17, 2008

Jack Brummet painting: Map of the inside of my head


Click to enlarge
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The Brummets & One Curran return to America

We departed Athens this morning at 6:00 AM via two extremely fast cabs to the airport (10 PM Pacifc Time) and arrived at our house in Seattle at around 6:00 PM (4 AM Athens time), after flying on two large transatlantic jets (747s) and one turb-prop from Vancouver to Seattle, for a total of 22 hours on the road. The three flights, Athens-->London-->Vancouver included a four hour layover in London and a mad scramble through customs and immigration in Vancouver before we caught a blessedly uncrowded and peaceful project to Seattle (a 25 minute flight over the San Juan and other Islands).

It's nice to be home...it's sweatshirt weather tonight. We haven't felt anything in the 60s since we left. And it's great to be in a town where you can actually drink the tap-water. Other than Athens, we have bought every drop of water we drank. For some reason, Athens has great tapwater. Everywhere else we went, even the natives purchased their water.

I will write some more about the trip in the next few days, and share more photos...
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Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Jack Brummet and Colum Brummet video clips from Greece

Here are two video clips: One is Jack showing how to order food in Turkish, and the other is of Colum singing.



Colum sings


Jack shows how to order in Turkish

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Aristophenes' Play Plutus at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus


Odeon of Herodes Atticus, shot from up the hill, on The Acropolis - click to enlarge

Tonight, we will go see Aristophane's last play, Plutus at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus, just a few blocks from our hotel. The play is being put on, oddly enough by the Cyprus Theatre Organisation. It is part of a drama, music and arts Athens Festival that takes place most of the summer in Athens.

When Pausanias visited Athens during the reign of Marcus Aurelius, he described the Herodeon as "the finest building of its type". I was not longer after destroyed by fire, and later, rebuilt in 161 AD by Herodes Atticus in memory of his wife. It was originally a steep-sloped amphitheater with a three-story stone front wall and a wooden roof, and was used as a venue for music concerts with a capacity of 5,000. It was later buried, plundered for its stone, and restored in the middle 20th century. It is probably best known (is this pathetic or what) as the venue for Yanni's Live At The Acropolis in the early 1990's.

Here are the opening lines of Aristophenes' play, Plutus [1]. We will be watching it in Greek, but I do have an English text. We suspect it will somehow be captioned (like they do in opera).

[The Orchestra represents a public square in Athens. In the background is the house of CHREMYLUS. A ragged old blind man enters, followed by CHREMYLUS and his slave CARIO.]

CARIO What an unhappy fate, great gods, to be the slave of a fool!
A servant may give the best of advice, but if his master does not
follow it, the pool slave must inevitably have his share in the disaster;
for fortune does not allow him to dispose of his own body, it belongs
to his master who has bought it. Alas! 'tis the way of the world.
But the god, Apollo, (in tragic style) whose oracles the Pythian
priestess on her golden tripod makes known to us, deserves my censure,
for surely he is a physician and a cunning diviner; and yet my master
is leaving his temple infected with mere madness and insists on following
a blind man. Is this not opposed to all good sense? It is for us,
who see clearly, to guide those who don't; whereas he clings to the
trail of a blind fellow and compels me to do the same without answering
my questions with ever a word. (To CHREMYLUS) Aye, master, unless
you tell me why we are following this unknown fellow, I will not be
silent, but I will worry and torment you, for you cannot beat me because
of my sacred chaplet of laurel.

CHREMYLUS No, but if you worry me I will take off your chaplets,
and then you will only get a sounder thrashing.

CARIO That's an old song! I am going to leave you no peace till you
have told me who this man is; and if I ask it, it's entirely because
of my interest in you.

CHREMYLUS Well, be it so. I will reveal it to you as being the most
faithful and the most rascally of all my servants. I honoured the
gods and did what was right, and yet I was none the less poor and
unfortunate.

CARIO I know it but too well.

CHREMYLUS Others amassed wealth-the sacrilegious, the demagogues,
the informers, indeed every sort of rascal.

CARIO I believe you.

CHREMYLUS Therefore I came to consult the oracle of the god, not
on my own account, for my unfortunate life is nearing its end, but
for my only son; I wanted to ask Apollo if it was necessary for him
to become a thorough knave and renounce his virtuous principles, since
that seemed to me to be the only way to succeed in life.

CARIO (with ironic gravity) And with what responding tones did the
sacred tripod resound?

CHREMYLUS You shall know. The god ordered me in plain terms to follow
the first man I should meet upon leaving the temple and to persuade
him to accompany me home.

CARIO And who was the first one you met?

CHREMYLUS This blind man.

CARIO And you are stupid enough not to understand the meaning of
such an answer! Why, the god was advising you thereby, and that in
the clearest possible way, to bring up your son according to the fashion
of your country.

CHREMYLUS What makes you think that?

CARIO Is it not evident to the blind, that nowadays to do nothing
that is right is the best way to get on?

CHREMYLUS No, that is not the meaning of the oracle; there must be
another that is nobler. If this blind man would tell us who he is
and why and with what object he has led us here, we should no doubt
understand what our oracle really does mean.

CARIO (to PLUTUS) Come, tell us at once who you are, or I shall
give effect to my threat. (He menaces him.) And quick too, be quick,
I say.

PLUTUS I'll thrash you.

CARIO (to CHREMYLUS) Do you understand who he says he is?

CHREMYLUS It's to you and not to me that he replies thus: your mode
of questioning him was ill-advised. (To PLUTUS) Come, friend, if
you care to oblige an honest man, answer me.

PLUTUS I'll knock you down.

CARIO (sarcastically) Ah! what a pleasant fellow and what a delightful
prophecy the god has given you!

CHREMYLUS (to PLUTUS) By Demeter, you'll have no reason to laugh
presently. . .

[1] The plot: The plot is of the simplest. Chremylus, a poor but just man, accompanied by his body-servant Cario--the redeeming feature, by the by, of an otherwise dull play, the original type of the comic valet of the stage of all subsequent periods--consults the Delphic Oracle concerning his son, whether he ought not to be instructed in injustice and knavery and the other arts whereby worldly men acquire riches. By way of answer the god only tells him that he is to follow whomsoever he first meets upon leaving the temple, who proves to be a blind and
ragged old man. But this turns out to be no other than Plutus himself, the god of riches, whom Zeus has robbed of his eyesight, so that he may be unable henceforth to distinguish between the just and the unjust. However, succoured by Chremylus and conducted by him to the
Temple of Æsculapius, Plutus regains the use of his eyes. Whereupon all just men, including the god's benefactor, are made rich and prosperous, and the unjust reduced to indigence.

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