Penis-pumping Judge finally goes to trial

"Serving on the jury in an indecent-exposure trial unfolding in this conservative Oklahoma town has been a giggle-inducing experience. "

"Former Judge Donald D. Thompson, a veteran of 23 years on the bench, is on trial on charges he used a penis pump on himself in the courtroom while sitting in judgment of others. "

Click here to link to the entire lurid Associated Press story.

Thompson's former court reporter, Lisa Foster, in a bizarre chunk of testimony said that she heard the pump during the emotional testimony of a murdered toddler's grandfather.

This strange story hit the wires a couple of years ago, and the judge is now finally on trial. Judge Thompson just didn't seem to understand that this is why we give them Judge's chambers.
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Flag burning amendment up in smoke

On Tuesday, the Senate failed by one vote to approve a constitutional amendment prohibiting flag burning. The House, of course, passed the measure, like they did in 2000. The last time these knuckleheads tried to pass the law, they lost by four votes in The Senate. Obviously the Republicans are looking for another hot-button issue to motivate their "base" to vote in this fall's elections.

Would you like to burn a virtual flag? Go here.

The ritualized burning of the American flag is considered the appropriate way to dispose of a damaged or soiled flag. According to The Flag Burning Page, "the American Legion and Boy Scouts burn thousands of flags every year in respectful retirement ceremonies". A picture of a (permitted) flag burning cermony appears below.

And yet, and yet. . .flag burning is a conundrum. You can burn a flag respectfully; you cannot burn a flag at a protest. To enforce this law, you will somehow need to suss out the motive of the burner. Is it OK to burn a flag if you're wearing a VFW jacket but not if you're wearing a Dead Kennedy's t-shirt? Are there loopholes in the law? Will people quit burning flags and begin urinating on them?

I think of myself as a patriot, and yet, I find flag burning amusing, mainly because it is always funny when a symbolic act triggers such vitriolic responses in folks. And, after all, why should The Vets have all the fun?


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Lyrics to Yes We Can Can by Alan Toussaint:

The lyrics to Yes We Can Can by Alan Toussaint:


Now is the time for all good men
To get together with one another
Iron out our problems
And iron out our quarrels
And try to live as brothers
And try to find a piece within
Without stepping on one another
And do respect the women of the world
Just remember you all have mothers
Make this land a better land
Than the world in which we live
And help each man be a better man
With the kindness that you give
I know we can make it
I know darn well we can work it out
Oh yes we can, I know we can can
Yes we can can, why can't we
If we wanna get yes we can can
I know we can make it a world
I know we can make it if we try
Oh yes we can, I know we can can
Yes we can can, great, got your money
Yes we can, I know we can can

Take care of the children
The children of the world
They're our strongest hope for the future
The little bitty boys and girls

Make this land a better land
Than the world in which we live
And help each man be a better man
With the kindness that you give
I know we can make it (I know that we can)
I know darn well we can work it out
Oh yes we can, I know we can can
Yes we can can, why can't we
If we wanna get yes we can can
I know we can make it a world
I know we can make it if we try
Oh yes we can, I know we can can
Yes we can can, great, got your money
Yes we can, I know we can can

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Photograph: LBJ agonizing over the Vietnam War

. . . .Click photograph to enlarge. . . .

One of the focuses of this blog over the last two years has been, along with aliens, alien lore, and UFOs (not so popular with the readership, these Grey/Alien articles), The Presidency, art, politics, poems, parody, Americana, history, and, over time, a lot about LBJ. In this classic photograph, President Lyndon B. Johnson listens to a tape sent by Captain Charles Robb from Vietnam in July 1968. Charles was his son-in-law who was serving in the Vietnam War.

We don't see the bellicose statesman, but an agonized father-in-law who happened to be the wartime commander in chief. LBJ slumps over in a chair in the Cabinet Room as a reel-to-reel tape recorder plays a recording by Captain Robb. "When I left for Vietnam," he explained, "the president gave me a small battery-operated tape recorder ... so that I could send Lynda occasional recordings. I think [those tapes] gave him some of the texture of the war at company levels."
Some other recent LBJ photos from All This Is That:

LBJ and Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King meet up
LBJ howls like a dog
Another good LBJ photo
And another. . .
One of the heroes and villains paintings
LBJ In A Characteristic Pose
Running Mates: Senators Lyndon Johnson And JFK
The Johnson Treatment, Part 6: The Hump and Senator Russell get the treatment
The Johnson Treatment, Part 5: Senator Richard Russell (Dem., Georgia) Undergoes The Treatment
The Johnson Treatment, Part 4: President Johnson Gives The Treatment To Supreme Court Justice Abe Fortas
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Elvis Costello & Allen Toussaint Seattle Set List

As a follow up to the concert, and my post yesterday, here is the full set list from last night's tremendous show at the Chateau Ste. Michelle Winery in Woodinville. The setlist has them performing two long encores. I swore they came back three times... /jack


01. (What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love And Understanding?
02. Monkey To Man
03. On Your Way Down
04. A Certain Girl
05. Clown Strike
06. Tears, Tears And More Tears
07. Tears Before Bedtime
08. Working In A Coal Mine
09. Broken Promise Land
10. Freedom For The Stallion
11. The River In Reverse (song)
12. Who's Gonna Help Brother Get Further?
13. Nearer To You
14. Deep Dark Truthful Mirror
15. Play Something Sweet (Brickyard Blues)
16. Bedlam
17. Watching The Detectives
18. Pump It Up
19. I Can't Stand Up For Falling Down
20. High Fidelity
Encore 1
21. Allen Toussaint does Longhair
22. Ascension Day
23. Wonder Woman
24. International Echo
25. Alison / Tracks Of My Tears
26. Clubland
Encore 2
27. The Greatest Love
28. That's How You Got Killed Before
29. Yes We Can Can
30. Shoo-Ra
31. Fortune Teller
32. The Sharpest Thorn
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Montage: President George W. Bush's Bald Fetish

click montage to enlarge
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Elvis Costello and the Presidential action figure

. . .click cartoon to enlarge. . .

Elvis Costello lampooned The President at the concert last night, mainly for his Hurricane Katrina response. . .the reason this band got together in the first place. In fact, on center stage, was a five inch Bush action figure that Elvis called "life-sized."

This reminded me of David Rees's great cartoon on the Administratin and Katrina.
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Rock show of the year (so far):::::::Elvis Costello & The Impostors with Allen Toussaint

Elvis Costello and Allen Toussaint rocked the winery last night in Woodinville, Wash. You can read the story elsewhere--like http://elviscostello.com/ --but the collaboration was brought about by Hurricane Katrina.

Allen Toussaint, the New Orleans legend, has written tunes like "Working in the Coalmine", "Brickyard Blues", "Get Out My Life Woman" and "Everything I Do Gonna Be Funky". He's been covered and recorded by hundreds of people, including Devo, Jerry Garcia, Otis Redding, The Meters, and others, including dozens of samples snagged in various hip-hop songs.

The show included members of Toussaint's horn and rhythm section, along with Elvis's Impostors. The band opened with a thundering version of Nick Lowe's What's So Funny About Peace, Love, and Understanding? It included Toussaint tunes (my favorites Workin' In The Coal Mine, and his tune for the Pointer Sisters, Yes, We Can Can), collaborations from the just released Toussaint-Costello album, The River in Reverse, and lots of Costello chestnuts. Toussaint arranged nine songs from the Costello catalog, and they played many of them as well. The new arrangements of Clown Strike, Pump It Up, Clubland, Watching The Detectives, High Fidelity, and I Can't Stand Up For Falling Down were thoughtful, new, and they were sparkling and wonderful.

There were some crooners, but this was mainly a rock fest. Right before the show, I was trying to explain to my cousin Sean (whom I bumped into, along with his wife, Lori Mason Curran, a clerk I know at Tower Records, a sister- and brother-in- law, co-workers, Keelin's yoga instructor, and a Posies show buddy I've met at various venues) the difference between an Elvis crooning show and an Elvis electric show, and how I tended to avoid the croonfests. I knew this show would kick out the jams.

See them when they come to your town:

6/28/2006
O'Shaughnessy Theater
SAINT PAUL, Minnesota

6/29/2006 - 8:30 PM
Summerfest
MILWAUKEE, Wisconsin

6/30/2006
Promowest Pavilion
COLUMBUS, Ohio

7/5/2006
Cape Cod Melody
HYANNIS, Massachusetts

7/10/2006 - 7/11/2006
Beacon Theater
NEW YORK, New York
(212) 496-7070

7/12/2006
Fleet Center
BOSTON, Massachusetts
(617) 624-1050

7/14/2006
Blossom Music Center
CUYAHOGA FALLS, Ohio

7/17/2006
Chastain Park
ATLANTA, Georgia

7/18/2006
House of Blues
NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana

This was probably my favorite Elvis Costello show ever. I go into some of the others here: http://jackbrummet.blogspot.com/2005/09/favorite-rock-and-jazz-shows-1966-last.html

and here: http://jackbrummet.blogspot.com/2005/09/more-shows-ive-seen-over-years.html

My one beef with a lot of rock concerts I attend these days: 1) everyone is practically clean and sober (somewhat mitigated in this instance by many bottles of very good Ste. Michelle wines. Some blanket encampments seem to have purchased actual cases), and 2) everyone is seated. Since I came up in the rock festival world, and attended numerous Grateful Dead and CBGB shows, it just doesn't seem right to sit down! You need to be able to move to enjoy a show. I don't remember ever being seated at a Posies show, or any of the great Seattle Center shows I've seen over the years, and especially at a Dead show.

Fortunately, with Elvis's well-known half hour+ encores, we got the chance to stand up and shake our bones! Finally the audience got up, or, at least moved! And it was good. In that half hour encore (they returned three times), the band performed a cover of Fortune Teller, that you may know from The Rolling Stones' or The Who's covers. Wow! As it turns out, the tune was written by Naomi Neville (mom, sister? of the Nevilles, and The Meters) along with none other than Allen Toussaint)...
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Poem (and drawing): Scarred for life

click drawing to enlarge


It could be watching
Your family being slowly diced up

By a madman with a machete
Or the time your brother let you down

A trauma from a car wreck
Or when you were wrongfully accused

Finding out your wife is sleeping
With your best friend

Or when your parents let you
Cry yourself to sleep 30 years ago

It could be your motorcycle accident
Or the time you saw your Uncle naked

Under a bad moon
It could leave you scarred for life.
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Index of Jack Brummet poems on All This Is That

The Red Flag
Don't look backThe Tenth Planet (Or An Incredible Facsimile?)
The Armies Of The NightAnger management is a slippery slope
Dream Of The Grey
Torches & Pitchforks
the vault
The Moon's In Tune
The Way We Were Scarred for life The Red Flag
Don't look back
The Tenth Planet (Or An Incredible Facsimile?)
The Armies Of The Night
Anger management is a slippery slope
Dream Of The Grey
Torches & Pitchforks
the vault
The Moon's In Tune
The Way We Were
Scarred for life
Changes 13/Fellowship
Changes twelve/standing still
Changes Ten/treading
Changes Eleven/Peace
Another politician resigns in disrace
Changes Nine/The taming power of the small
Rub-a-dub
Tendrils
The Candidate
Reds
Making Room
Changes Eight/Holding Together
Changes Seven/The Army
Changes Six/Conflict
Changes Five/The waiting
Changes Four/The Young Shoot
Changes Three/Trouble Ahead
Changes Two/The Receptive
Changes One/Action
The revolt in heaven
Found Poem: The Richmond Hill Oracle
Poem (and painting): The Robot Wars
I don't believe
I'm here
Ten ways of looking at lies
The Broken Chord
With our heads in the sand during the transit and eclipse
the sun plays its red song
Litany
Poem: The Developers
A raindrop's life
The mystery of the first amendment to the Ten Commandments
The Bay Of Delusion
Mad Song
Reasons To Keep On
Conspiracy Theory
The Moon Race
Mr. Flue's Grave In Hillcrest Cemetary, Kent, Wash.
The World Seems Especially Calming And Verisimilitudinous Today
Kent, Washington
Rollover
[It's the Lee Harvey Oswald smile]
Zombie Breakdown
Heaven
The Variations
You Rehearse Dying
Sonnet For Hari
Defensive Daydreaming
The Dream
Dogpaddling
The Prostethic Head & The Absence Of Blood
Tetuan - "No Paranoia, My Friend"
The Grey Visitors & Painting: The Grey Ambassador
The Bad Movie
The Bucket
The Man In The Mirror
Liftoff
Optimism Perspective
A Flight Of Swallows
Audioblog - The Prevaricator
Weather Report
Your Wooden Leg
The Revelations
Sermon At The First Church Of The Mojo Apocalypse
Dosvidaniya, Ivan Ivanovitch
The Late Excavation (Text And Audio)
Jack Kerouac, Meet John Barleycorn
The Gideon Bible In My Nightstand
At The Acropolis
When Aliens Land, Or, The Return Of The King
The sous-chef is a sociopath]
James Wright
Falling
[Life Is Not A Hardy Novel]
Seven
Coyote Comes Home Like A Salmon
Shorts For Jerry Melin ca. about 1988
Bird
Monism
The Golden Rule
The Countdown
When Aliens Land, Or, The Return Of The King
AT HILLCREST CEMETARY IN KENT, WASHINGTON, I WALK BY THE GRAVE OF SAM THE GRASSEATER
Notes On Flying
Daybreak
Explosions
Not Past Tense Yet
the glass is not half-full
It's Getting Crowded Here
Li Po In Disgrace
The Clock
A Love Song
Bad Timing
The Killer
The Absence of Footprints
Growing Up
Gone Fishing
The M.D.s A Poem -
Acrylic
The Marriage
Driving Home To Seattle, We Watch Deer Drinking from the Skookumchuck River

Our allies at war on the soccer fields

I don't really think of myself as all that jingoistic, but it does get old after a while, hearing our allies, the British, French, and Germans talk about what a bunch of fat, rude, ignorant rednecks Americans are. At no time does it ever seem more ridiculous that when the Limeys, Frogs, and Krauts are fighting each other (up to and including killing each other) over a soccer match, as they are right now, during the world cup. . .
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Laura Bush's imaginary friend

click to enlarge...
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