Poem: The eyes have it

Do amoeba have eyes?
Or electrons, or neutrinos, or quarks?
I'm sure oysters don't.
I don't know about bottom fish.
Does God only issue
Eyes on a need-to-have basis?
And which of us have souls?
When an electron fades away—
If electrons and atoms ever fade away—
Are they also issued a harp and wings?
I could find all of this out
In five minutes, except the soul part,
For which I must wait until I die,
If then.
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The concert to save Town Lake

click the poster to enlarge

I have tickets to a benefit at Stubb's Barbecue tonight--the concert to Save Town Lake (town lake, a/k/a The Colorado River as it runs through Austin). A lot of great music all at once: Bob Schneider, Jimmy Lafave, Dale Watson, Stephen Bruton, Bob Livingston, and some surprise guests. This should be great! /jack from Austin (btw, on a Sleep Number tm bed, I dialit all the way up to 100...rock hard)...
---o0o---

Another pathetic travel day

Jack writing in from Austin, Texas. Getting here was not easy. . .There were thunder storms all over the tri state area, hundreds of planes were cancelled, and the ones that weren't were stacked up waiting to land and take off.

My plane from Boston was two hours late, and I was about to miss my connection in Newark. So, our assistant in Seattle rigged up a plan where I would wait at the airport until 9:30 (my original plane was at 5:30), grab a plane to Cleveland that would take me to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where I would wait two hours and hop on a plane to Dallas and then another plane to Austin and arrive in the morning around 10:30. But at the last minute they found a seat on another plane heading to Newark, and I made my connection--because it was two hours late. And I finally arrived in Austin at 1:30.

Of course, I was too wired to go to bed, so I walked over the warehouse district and had a beer. And now I am back in another grim corporate hotel. Hoping to sleep five hours. But all that aside. . .it doesn't matter, because I am here in one of my favorite cities in the world, albeit for about 36 hours. I am going out for music tomorrow night. About which, see the next post. And this one was supposed to be about hobo drawings...so let's get started!

---o0o---

Hobos! A Link to a great art site: 700 hoboes

Even though they form the plural of hobo as hoboes [sic], this is a great site! When I was growing up, dozens of hobos tramped through our town, bracketed as it was between the Northern Pacific and Burlington Railroad lines. They would often come to the back door, offering to work for food. The 700 hobos project enlisted 700 artists to each draw a hobo picture.

From the web site: "In the beginning, there were hoboes. Then, a notable non-historian wrote some lies about them in his wonderful and wholly inaccurate almanac. That man was John Hodgman. The book was The Areas of My Expertise. Amongst the lies was a comprehensive list of notable historical hobo names, numbering 700. After Hodgman read the list into a music flattening device, one Mr. Mark Frauenfelder of the Boing Boing teletyped a suggestion that 700 cartoonists volunteer to draw one hobo each as a public service or for no particular reason. And so it was, more or less, and here they are. "

About the website - In March of 2006, 65 years after the end of the Hobo Wars, several members of the 700 Hoboes project decided to build a new, majestic home for these noble hoboes. Check this one out! Love, jack (I'm going to sleep).

---o0o---

Elvis reprises his Radio Radio performance

Jack writing in from Boston, Mass:

You remember the wonderful Saturday Night Live appearance when Elvis Costello burned Lorne Michaels and played Radio Radio? He stopped in the middle of the song Michaels wanted, and started over, playing Radio Radio. This video is a callback to that episode, performed with the Beastie Boys on a Saturday Night Live anniversary show.

The original performance is also here on All This Is That: Video (and lyrics): Elvis Costello performs Radio Radio on SNL after a false start on Less Than Zero



Bonus video, since were here: Oliver's Army. Weak videom great song.



Other Elvis Constello links on All This Is That:

Elvis Costello And The Attractions Play "I Don't Want To Go To Chelsea (lyrics included"
The Elvis Costello Benefit—Seattle Does Elvis For David Egger's 826 Seattle
My five favorite Elvis Costello albums
Video and Lyrics: Elvis Costello Performs Nick Lowe's (What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love, And Understanding?
Video (and lyrics): Elvis Costello performs Radio Radio on SNL after a false start on Less Than Zero
Elvis Costello interviews Joni Mitchell
My ten favorite albums: Elvis Costello & The Attractions' Get Happy
Elvis Costello & Allen Toussaint Seattle Set List
Elvis Costello and the Presidential action figure
Rock show of the year (so far):::::::Elvis Costello & The Impostors with Allen Toussaint
Beyond Belief Lyrics by Elvis Costello
Favorite Rock And Jazz Shows (1966-Last Weekend)
Heroes And Villains No. 22---> Elvis Costello & Billy The Kid (a/k/a Declan McManus & Wiliam H. Bonney)
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Bill Gates flips his wig/orders cancellation of the XBox

According to Microsoft insiders, Robbie Bach will announce in August that Microsoft is pulling out of the game console business. Sources blame sluggish sales and massive losses accumulating from replacing defective XBox 360s, as well as extending the warranty on all XBox 360s. One program manager estimates that, in the worst case, Microsoft will need to replace around 30 million XBox 360s. Although the 360 has sold just shy of 12 million units, Microsoft now expects most of those replacement units to fail as well, and in some cases, fail multiple times.

The decision to jettison the XBox 360 was made after a heated meeting between the part-time executive/full-time philanthropist billionaire and the XBox "team."

Three slides into the Powerpoint presentation of XBox financials, Bill Gates stood up and began screaming:

"What the f*** are we doing here Robbie? All I ever hear from you a**holes is how fantastic the XBox is! How you're so much better than the PS/3 or the f***in' Wii! And look at this! We're f***ing hemorrhaging money on this g**damned thing and now you tell me it will cost ONE BILLION dollars to fix the f***ing things because you had to make it FASTER! You just had to make it the hottest thing and now the motherf***ing things are blowing up and catching on fire! S**t! What the f*** were you thinking, a**hole? Tell me when you're going to turn the corner on this! They make a profit on every f***ing Wii they sell! And they're kicking our asses all over Redmond. So what the f*** are you genuises going to do? How do you fix this? You know how many orphans I could immunize with the g**damned money you lose every single hour on this thing?! You better have an answer in the morning. And you tell Ballmer I'm going to kick his ass all over Medina the next chance I get. How do you think it looks for Microsoft to be getting its ass kicked like this!? Maybe you a**holes think that motherf***ing Zune is going to make up the difference? Take your f***ing Powerpoint and get the f*** out of here!"

Robert J. Bach, President, Microsoft Entertainment
& Devices Division in happier days

Sources say Microsoft will continue to support the XBox and XBox 360, mainly to prevent the flood of class action suits sure to follow the cancellation. All hardware development on the 360 has now been ended. Software titles still under development will be released, however, all game titles that have not reached an "alpha" stage may be cancelled. Some insiders told us that Microsoft is exploring porting 360 games under development, as well as top selling titles like Halo 2, to both the PS/3 and Wii platforms in a move similar to Sega's strategy when it pulled out of the hardware market.

---o0o---

The Curran and Ericksen family in Nicaragua

click to enlarge

My brother and sister-in law, Dean, Mary, and their young children Declan. Althea, and August are on a two month trip to Nicaragua. Read his harrowing and endlessly fascinating account of life in Central America in his sporadic dispatches right here on BlogSpot.



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Senator Fred Thompson swamps The Mayor of 9/11 Rudy Giuliani

It's been a bad month for Rudy Giuliani. First the firefighters come out swinging, blaming Rudy's decisions for causing deaths and health problems following the World Trade Center collapse and cleanup, and now Fred Thompson leaps in and surges to the top of the field.

Senator, Reagan wannabe, and husband to Jeri Kehn, Fred Thompson has soared to the top of the Republican presidential nominees in national polling done by John Zogby.

For the first time since February, the former mayor no longer leads the Republican field. Thompson's support comes at the expense of Giuliani and John McCain, who has fallen to fourth place after losing massive support over his positions on immigration and ther Iraq war. Only a short year ago, McCain was the presumptive nominee.

The Republican Fred Thompson has grown his lead with support in his homeland, the South, and the Midwest. And maybe just a little bit because of Mrs. Thompson.

---o0o---

Armed Forces: Jack's parents in World War II

Click all the photographs to enlarge.



Jack, Sr. in the army, shortly before World
War II, clowning with a serious looking buddy


Jack, Sr. in "dungarees" displaying his
rifle and bayonet at boot camp, in
about 1940.


Jack, Sr. a/k/a John Newton Brummet II
clowning with Navy buddies in about 1943.
World War II began just after he was
discharged from the army. He immediately
enlisted in the navy. I'm not sure the army
wanted him back. He served in the Navy
for the duration of the war.


Betty Echo Jones Brummet, with her twin brother
Bill a/k/a William Raymond Jones. Bill enlisted in
the Navy the day after Pearl Harbor. He was a
senior in high school. This picture was taken in
the spring, when the Navy allowed him to return
to Ballard High School to graduate with his class, and
sister.


Betty Brummet on leave from her post in
the Marine Corps. Betty worked for a while
during the war as the iconic Rosie The Riveter
at The Boeing Company in Seattle. During
the war she enlisted in the Marine Corps and
served in Santa Ana, California, and Cherry
Point, North Carolina. She followed my
Grandfather, William Jennings Bryan Jones
into the Marine Corps. Grandpa Bill served
in the Marines in both World War I and World
War II. In this photo, she is walking in
downtown Seattle with my step-grandma
Sally Jones.
---o0o---

Katie Couric, drugged, kidnapped, making a hostage tape?

Former CBS News producer Mary Mapes said she is "uncomfortable" watching Katie Couric conduct the evening news because the anchor looks like she has been "drugged, kidnapped, and is making a hostage tape."

---o0o---

Backlink of the day: The Six Faked Moon Landings?

click photo to enlarge


The original article on All This Is That: The Six Faked Moon Landings?
---o0o---

More Jeri Kehn photos--> A follow-up to "Meet the Thompson Twins: Fred Thompson's wife, Jeri Kehn (with photos) "

Not long ago, searches for photos of Fred Thompson's wife, Jeri Kehn Thompson soared to the top of various search sites "most popular searches," along with the usual suspects. . .whoever got into hot water that week, and whoever was in the news for whatever reason (often folks like Britney Spears, Lindsay Lohan, Anna Nicole Smith, Osama bin Laden, Scooter Libby, and other "newsmakers" or news-victims).



Our article on June 26, Meet the Thompson Twins: Fred Thompson's wife, Jeri Kehn (with photos) was high on the Technorati list of searches for Jeri Kehn, and even now, three weeks later, about 50 people a day stop to look at the post.



The rumbling has quieted down somewhat, as people have learned that Kehn is a smart attorney who has consulted for the G.O.P. and worked for one of the largest political consulting firms in Washington. The speculation now focuses on whether the G.O.P., the neo-cons, and the red state denizens can accept a smart, good looking first lady who barely looks 40 years old alongside a husband who looks every day of his 64 years. Let's not even go into their tans!

Only a handful of Jeri Kehn photos are extant, and many of them are not photos of her at all. When the Kehn story first broke, there was an explosion on blogs and websites of people debating whether or not she would be a fit first lady, whether she was "just a trophy wife," and MSNBC's Joe Scarborough (a conservative I normally like) speculated that she might "work the pole." This might have been Scarborough's Don Imus moment, but somehow he survived this execrable moment of misogynism.

SCARBOROUGH: Have you seen Fred Thompson's wife?
CRAWFORD: Oh, yeah.
SCARBOROUGH: You think she thinks she works the pole?
CRAWFORD: That's what a Hollywood career will do for you, I guess.
SCARBOROUGH: What do you mean?
CRAWFORD: You get wives like that.

Jeri Kehn
---o0o---