Poem: Endurance & Limits

We all like to secretly believe
We could endure anything for eight minutes

But those neat theories cooked up
In your hermetic study or bedroom

Come apart at the seams instantly
When you imagine being on fire

Or having crows feast
Upon your eyes.

[A tip of the hat to Luke Burbank of Too Beautiful To Live, who inspired this poem by mentioning being on fire and crows pecking your eyes]
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Brit Parliament OKs Manimals

The Times online has an article about parliament backing the creation of human-animal embryos.

"The amendment to ban all admixed embryos was defeated by 336 votes to 176. The prohibition on true hybrids was defeated by 286 votes to 223."

"British scientists will be allowed to research devastating diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s using human-animal embryos, after the House of Commons rejected a ban yesterday. "

An amendment to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill that would have outlawed the creation of “human admixed embryos” for medical research was defeated in a free vote by a majority of 160, preserving what Gordon Brown regarded as a central element of the legislation.

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Obama has a Holy S**t! Moment in Oregon

click to enlarge the Obama rally


Even Senator Barack Obama has to be stunned by the turnout for his speech in Portland, Oregon. 65,000-75,000 people showed up to hear his stump speech. Meanwhile, his opponent, Senator Clinton is speaking in churches, meeting halls, and schools to crowds numbering in the dozens to several hundred. Read an NYC Daily News article here on the flabbergasting crowd that gathered in Portland to hear our man...
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New Demos by Del Brummet on MySpace (with lyrics here)

Click on the Isla Nublars to enlarge...

Del Brummet a/k/a The Isla Nublars has three new song demos on MySpace:

Earth
The Meteor
Ranger

I'd also recommend my favorite tune by the Nublars so far: Planet Of Ice. They're all here, on his MySpace page.

Earth

Lyrics and Music Copyright © 2008 by Del Brummet/Isla Nublars

You taught us to think, you taught us to give.
You showed us how to love, and how to live.
But now we have forsaken you,
Left you to wither like a mangy old shoe. Oo-oo-oo

We’re calling from Alpha Centauri
And we’ve got a lot to say.
We are sorry we abandoned you, and we will come back to you some day.

Mother Earth we watched in sorrow as your eco system died, we knew with all our heart that in us the blame did lie.

But we ran away to Alpha Centauri,
We didn’t look back, and now were sorry.- ooo ooo ooo

We’re calling from Alpha Centauri
And we’ve got a lot to say.
We are sorry we abandoned you, and we will come back to you someday.

The wonders of Alpha Centauri were nothing up to you, we miss you like a bare foot man, will eventually miss his shoes.

We miss the trees, the fish the forest the lakes and the sun. We hope with all our hearts that we can repair what we’ve done.

We’re coming to you now, on our big space ship, a city of us, a city ready to live.

We hope you are the same, we hope you will forgive.
–ooo—ooo—ooo

We are coming to you Earth
And were coming today.
We hope you will take it in your heart to let us stay!

Entering the atmosphere, with everyone in tears.

The Earth below is a changed place, and it looks to be our fears.

But we can save you, we will put you back together,
We will cure you, even if it takes forever.
Ooo-ooo-ooo

Earth we have come back to you and your not a pretty sight.
It is all of our faults, and we hope to shed some light.

But we can save you, we will put you back together,
We will cure you, even if it takes forever.
Ooo-ooo-ooo

But we can save you, we will put you back together,
We will cure you, even if it takes forever.
000-000-000

The Ranger
Music and Lyrics Copyright © 2008 by Del Brummet/Isla Nublars

Oh! I think I love this one king, who I have never known.
He’s braver than the bravest man, and I have seen him in war he PWNS!

He would sacrifice himself if it meant the people could live in peace.
He would wield the sword once broken, if it meant that evil would cease.

He was called the ranger, and he fought with heart pure an true.
He wandered the world by horse, and in his heart he knew.

He would sacrifice him self if it meant the people could live in peace.
He would wield the sword once broken, if it meant that evil would cease.

He strode into the mountain of the dead and told them what was what.
With them he went to Gondor, and every orc they say he cut.

For his sword was sharp and his hearts so true, as he dug a path for the people anew.
He held his blood streaked sword to the sky and yelled “Frodo this is for you!”

ooooooo oo o ooooo

For his sword was sharp and his heart so true, as he yelled “Frodo this for you”
And the soldiers were fighting as they cheered frodo on, they said, “Give Sauron the old 1-2”

Oh! I think I love this one king, whose name is known to all.
Aragorn the ranger king, who they say would never fall.

The Meteor
Music and lyrics by Copyright © 2008 by Del Brummet/Isla Nublars


Can you see what I can see right now?
People dancing all around, they are eating apples all day.

It’s a future that I do see. How to attain it is a mystery.
But Ill laugh anyway, in December and in May.
OH YES ILL laugh all day, in the future and today!

Because keeping on the bright side is all we have, when science is incapable and religion is a sham.

Do you hope what I do hope right now?

That the world is not hopeless, And that Dark could never be endless.

It's a future that some do see. How it will come is a mystery.
But Ill laugh anyway, in December and in May.
OH YES ILL laugh all day, in the future and today!

Because keeping on the bright side is all we have, when science is incapable and religion is a sham.
Can you see what I do see right now?
A meteor approaches with a gleam in its eye, all will die all will die.
As the meteor approaches, I think a strange thought, that as the human race ends
Another race willll noooooooot!
Will we be in museums, will they study our bones?
Will the squids be the ones to see the sun explode?
But Ill laugh anyway, as the meteor ends our days

OH YES ILL laugh all the way, into the abyss and the last light ray.
Because keeping on the bright side is all we have, when the world’s about to explode from beneath us and our lives aren’t worth a damn.
So as the meteor approaches, I do one last thing.
I laugh to the sun and then I sing:

The meteor makes the humans no more. Were about to become extinct, like the dinosaur.
After all we have done, every thought we have thought, we can all calm down and laugh a good lot.
Screamin' through the street in the middle of the night, the people are so alone and full of fright. Their lives are about to end from a gleam in the sky, all will die, all will die.

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Gary Busey Quotes, Part II

"He's a lot different than I am. He's always telling stories about monkeys and toads and rockets. I can never understand what he's talking about." - Gary on his Dad

"Nothing changes like changes, because nothing changes but the changes."

"It's good for everyone to understand that they are to love their enemies, simply because your enemies show you things about yourself you need to change. So in actuality enemies are friends in reverse."

"Your shadow, the dark side. C.G. Hume writes about it, in terms of the fact that every one of us has a dark side. And my dark side, my shadow, my lower companion is now in the back room blowing up balloons for kids' parties. "

"One night...at [the hospital], I was sitting in bed...and saw the Grim Reaper standing in the corner. He was seven feet tall, with a brown robe. He pointed to me and said, 'Relax, it's not your time to go. You have been given gifts. These gifts are ready to be received by mankind. So get on your feet and improve.' Then he laughed, spun his scythe and left. I wasn't asleep and I hadn't been for days. Whether this was a premonition or an angel in disguise, I don't know. But it was a positive reinforcement to stay on the road to recovery, which I've done." [People Magazine, 1990]
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Poem: [revised] Scarred For Life

It could be watching your family
Diced up in slow-motion
By a madman with a machete,
Or the time your brother let you down.
It might be when you are wrongfully accused
Or the night you rat out a friend
Whether they figure it out or not.
Maybe you discover your wife is sleeping
With her Yoga teacher
Or remember the time your parents
Let you cry yourself to sleep.
It could be your motorcycle accident
Or the time you saw your Uncle naked.
Under a bad moon
It can all leave you scarred for life.
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Spread-eagled in Hungary: The Madonna Interview translated from Hunglish

Years ago, while filming Evita in Hungary, Madonna[1] sat for an interview with an interpreter with the Budapest newspaper Blikk. USA Today later offered the interview translated into English, more or less, with improbably hilarious results. The translation originally appeared in USA Today, the favorite newspaper of bad hotels in North America.


Blikk: Madonna, Budapest says hello with arms that are spread-eagled. Did you have a visit here that was agreeable? Are you in good odor?

Madonna: Thank you for saying these compliments (holds up hands). Please stop with taking sensationalist photographs until I have removed my garments for all to see (laughs). This is a joke I have made.

Blikk: Madonna, let's cut toward the hunt: Are you a bold hussy-woman that feasts on men who are tops?

Madonna: Yes, yes, this is certainly something that brings to the surface my longings. In America, it is not considered to be mentally ill when a woman advances on her prey in a discotheque setting with hardy cocktails present.

Blikk: Is this how you met Carlos, your love-servant who is reputed?... Were you dating many other people in your bed at the same time?

Madonna: No, he was the only one I was dating in my bed then, so it is a scientific fact that the baby was made in my womb using him. But as regards these questions, enough! I am a woman and not a test-mouse!

Blikk: OK, here's a question from left space: What was your book Slut about?

Madonna: It was called Sex, my book.

Blikk: Not in Hungary. Here it was called Slut...

[1] Madonna, (Louise Veronica Ciccone) is a 50-year old American actress, singer, and entrepreneur.
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Gary Busey Quotes, Part I

click the Buse to enlarge

When you get lost in your imaginatory vagueness your foresight will become a nimble vagrant.

[Gary Busey is driving crazy and Adam is in the passenger seat]
Adam: Have you ever driven in a movie before?
Gary Busey: Yeah! In 'Lethal Weapon'!
Adam: 'Lethal Weapon'? You were crashing into everything in that movie!

Men are failed women at birth.

Drinking your own blood is the paradigm of recycling.

Your imagination is the hood ornament on your car of creativity.

Friends are just enemies in reverse.

Fear is the dark room where the devil develops his negatives.

[Gary is coaching Adam on a date] Ask her if she's ever played "Name that Smell."
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That Not So Fresh Feeling

Click the opponents to enlarge

Here we are, looking forward to another round of Democratic primaries--in Kentucky, and in Oregon. And it will be another split: Oregon for Obama, and Kentucky for Portland.

It's no wonder we have that "not so fresh feeling." It's frustrating on both ends: that Obama can't close the deal in the last two weeks, and that Hillary, the energizer bunny, keeps on keeping on despite running on empty, the odds, and the excoriations and pleas of Dems and the pundits.
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Rolling Stones Shattered video from Shine A Light: Shadoobie!

The use of the word Shadoobie is one of my favorite Rolling Stones vocal bits, almost right up there with the Woo-woos from Sympathy For The Devil...



Shattered

Shattered, shattered
Love and hope and sex and dreams
Are still surviving on the street
Look at me, Im in tatters!
Im a shattered
Shattered

Friends are so alarming
My lovers never charming
Lifes just a cocktail party on the street
Big apple
People dressed in plastic bags
Directing traffic
Some kind of fashion
Shattered

Laughter, joy, and loneliness and sex and sex and sex and sex
Look at me, Im in tatters
Im a shattered
Shattered

All this chitter-chatter, chitter-chatter, chitter-chatter bout
Shmatta, shmatta, shmatta -- I cant give it away on 7th avenue
This towns been wearing tatters (shattered, shattered)
Work and work for love and sex
Aint you hungry for success, success, success, success
Does it matter? (shattered) does it matter?
Im shattered.
Shattered

Ahhh, look at me, Im a shattered
Im a shattered
Look at me- Im a shattered, yeah

Pride and joy and greed and sex
Thats what makes our town the best
Pride and joy and dirty dreams and still surviving on the street
And look at me, Im in tatters, yeah
Ive been battered, what does it matter
Does it matter, uh-huh
Does it matter, uh-huh, Im a shattered

Dont you know the crime rate is going up, up, up, up, up
To live in this town you must be tough, tough, tough, tough, tough!
You got rats on the west side
Bed bugs uptown
What a mess this towns in tatters Ive been shattered
My brains been battered, splattered all over manhattan

Uh-huh, this towns full of money grabbers
Go ahead, bite the big apple, dont mind the maggots, huh
Shadoobie, my brains been battered
My friends they come around they
Flatter, flatter, flatter, flatter, flatter, flatter, flatter
Pile it up, pile it high on the platter
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The Great Sex Letter

A short film--a video performance of Neal Cassady's famous sex letter to Jack Kerouac. It is quite a letter. If you want to read it, pick up Neal's amazing autobiography The First Third, published by City Light books...



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Jazz Superstars on film

This is a pretty cool video...starting off with Bird watching Coleman Hawkins play and then Coleman watching Bird play. This is followed by various other luminaries like Ray Brown, Lester Young, Ella Fitzgerald, and Phil Harris dropping in and out, and ending with the whole band and Ella taking a couple of choruses to scat sing. I have to admit, also, that Phil Harris's trombone is spectacular...

Here is the rough rundown of who appears when and with whom:

Charlie Parker - Saxophone
Coleman Hawkins - Tenor saxophone
Hank Jones - Piano
Ray Brown - Double bass
Buddy Rich - Drums
Bill Harris - Trombone
Lester Young - Tenor saxophone
Harry Edison - Trumpet
Flip Phillips - Tenor saxophone
Ella Fitzgerald - Vocals, Scatting

The Lineup(s):

0:18 - Coleman Hawkins,
Hank Jones, Ray Brown, and Buddy Rich.

2:53 - Charlie Parker,
Hank Jones, Ray Brown, and Buddy Rich.

5:15 - Hank Jones,
Ray Brown, and Buddy Rich.

7:12 - Bill Harris, Lester Young,
Hank Jones, Ray Brown, and Buddy Rich.

10:43 - Flip Philips, Harry Edison,
Ella Fitzgerald, Bill Harris, Lester Young,
Hank Jones, Ray Brown, and Buddy Rich.

14:56 - The End
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