Wikipedia's list of counterculture films

You have to love the Wikipedia sometimes. This is a "list of counterculture films" made in the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. Some of my favorite movies are on this list. The list might lead you to think the counterculture ended in 1984. That's probably about right. The titles and years are from the Wikipedia. The inane comments and actors and directors names are mine.

My favorites=****

Look Back in Anger (1958)
Pull My Daisy (1959) I know Kerouac wrote the text. I think he appears in the movie too.
Shadows (1959)
The Savage Eye (1960)
Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (1960)
Dog Star Man (1961-1964)
The Misfits (1961)**** A great John Huston movie with Marilyn Monroe, Gable, and Clift. Marilyn falls for a burned-out cowboy.
Knife in the Water (1962)**** (actually titled Nóz w wodzie) A great Polanski film--better than Chinatown.
The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (1962)
Flaming Creatures (1963)
Scorpio Rising (1963)
Bande à part (1964)
Guns of the Trees (1964)
Dr. Strangelove (1964)**** In my top ten for sure. Kubrick's best?
Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! (1965)**** Russ Meyers. Some people call this the Citizen Kane of B Movies. Three big-breasted strippers kill and go on a tear in the desert.
The War Game (1965)
Blowup (1966)**** Antonioni. . .an amazing film
Chappaqua (1966)
Chelsea Girls (1966) (Andy Warhol)****I wouldn't call it a good film, but it is Warhol, and worth seeing even if you don't get to see Edie Sedgwick or Viva naked. It is four hours long, and done in a split screen, with basically two different movies side by side. It's either the height or nadir of modernism...
Hallucination Generation (1966)
Masculin, féminin (1966)
Morgan! (1966)
The Endless Summer (1966) An interesting surfing movie by the king of surf movies
The Wild Angels (1966)
You're a Big Boy Now (1966)
The Graduate (1967)**** A great Mike Nichols movie. It cleaned up at the Oscars.
How I Won the War (1967) Richard Lester's movie with John Lennon in the cast.)****
Bonnie and Clyde (1967)**** The first movie I dug Warren Beatty in
I Am Curious (Yellow) (1967) One of the first mainstream porn movies
I Am Curious (Blue) (1967) A sequel
Magical Mystery Tour (1967) I thought this sucked. And the Beatles are deities to me.
The Trip (1967) Did Peter Fonda direct this, or just star in it? I'm too lazy to IMDB it...
Week End (1967)
Message for Posterity (1967)
Barbarella (1968) Jane Fonda's breakout movie. She doesn't wear a lot of clothes.
Faces (1968)
Flesh (1968)
Head (1968) - this was a surrealistic Monkees movie--written by Jack Nicholson!
I Love You, Alice B. Toklas (1968)****
If... (1968) (Malcom McDowell starred, I think)
Maryjane (1968) Do you wonder what this one is about?
Psych-Out (1968)
Revolution (1968)
Skidoo (1968)
Three in the Attic (1968)
Wild in the Streets (1968) **** This is one of the greatest B movies of all time. The voting age in lowered to 16 and a youth becomes president. I have always loved this film! Rent it!
Yellow Submarine (1968)****
Alice's Restaurant (1969)
Easy Rider (1969)**** Great soundtrack. Directed by Dennis Hopper.
The Magic Christian (1969)**** Not as good as the book.
Medium Cool (1969) This is a Haskell Wexler film. This great cinematographer's movies all have stunning camera work. But he was probably a better camera guy than director.
Midnight Cowboy (1969)**** This film still holds up, in a lot of ways.
More (1969)
Putney Swope (1969)**** I saw this at a drive-in in 1969. A fun movie by Robert Downey Sr.
Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (1970) Russ Meyer ****
Catch-22 (1970)**** Not as good as the book. A Mike Nichols movie with an all star cast.
El Topo (1970)
Five Easy Pieces (1970)****
Getting Straight (1970)****
M*A*S*H (1970)**** Another of my favorite Altman's (are they all on the counterculture list because Altman smoked a lot of pot?)
Performance (1970) A Rolling Stones movie I think.
Punishment Park (1970)
The Revolutionary (1970)
The Strawberry Statement (1970)****
THX 1138 (1970) George Lucas' tragically underrated and almost forgotten film.
Watermelon Man (1970)
Woodstock (1970)**** I love this movie, including much of the music.
Zabriskie Point (1970)
A Clockwork Orange (1971)**** Whew. Disturbing, a great use of music, and McDowell's best work I think (although he is pretty good in Entourage).
A Safe Place (1971)
Billy Jack (1971)
Gas-s-s-s (1971)
Harold and Maude (1971)**** A tearjerker by Hal Ashby with Bud Courte and Ruth Gordon.
McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971)**** Tied w/ Nashville as Altman's best in my booklet.
Shaft (1971)**** But I'm talkin' bout Shaft...
Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song (1971)****
The Last Movie (1971) I saw this Dennis Hopper directed movie, but don't remember it. That's OK. Hopper probably doesn't remember making it.
Two-Lane Blacktop (1971) With Beach Boy Dennis Wilson and James Taylor****
Vanishing Point (1971)
W.R.: Mysteries of the Organism (1971)
Drive, He Said (1971)
Cisco Pike (1972)
F.T.A. (1972) F*** the army!
Pink Flamingos (1972)**** Jon Waters
The Final Comedown (1972)
Fritz the Cat (1972)
Last Tango in Paris (1972) Never understood this movie's appeal other than seeing Maria Schneider naked.
Silent Running (1972)
Electra Glide in Blue (1973)
American Graffiti (1973)*** Lucas' second movie.
Flesh for Frankenstein (1973)
Jesus Christ Superstar (1973)
The Final Programme (1973)
Godspell (1973)
The Harrad Experiment (1973)
The Holy Mountain (1973)
La Maman et la Putain (1973)
The Wicker Man (1973)
Serpico (1973)***
Themroc (1973)
Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974)
Steppenwolf (1974)
Dirty Duck (1974)
The Nine Lives of Fritz the Cat (1974)
The Trial of Billy Jack (1974)
A Woman Under the Influence (1974)
Zardoz (1974)
Sweet Movie (1974)
Tommy (1975)**** A messy but interesting flick.
Dog Day Afternoon (1975) One of my all time favorite movies. Cazale and Pacino are heartbreakingly great here.****
Nashville (1975) **** A stunning, gorgeous, brilliantly casted masterpiece by Altman. This may be my favorite movie. Ever.
The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)
Lisztomania (1975)
That's the Way of the World (1975)
Helter Skelter (1976)
The Killing of a Chinese Bookie (1976)
Salò o le 120 giornate di Sodoma (1976)
The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976) David Bowie stars.
Opening Night (1977)
Coming Home (1978)
The Deer Hunter (1978)****
The Last Waltz (1978) The Band. Controversial but wonderful.****
Up in Smoke (1978) Cheech and Chong ****
Apocalypse Now (1979) Coppola's third greatest movie****
The China Syndrome (1979)
Hair (1979)
More American Graffiti (1979)
Over the Edge (1979)
The Rose (1979) Bette Midler
Out of the Blue (1980)****
Repo Man (1984) I haven't seen it since it came out, but I loved it then...****
Suburbia (1984)
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Video and lyrics: Bob Dylan's Subterranean Homesick Blues

This is the famous opening of the Pennebaker movie Don't Look Back. In some ways, it was one of the earliest music videos. The movie/mockumentary Tim Robbins starred in and directed, Bob Roberts, has an excellent parody/tribute of this scene. Bob Dylan's lyrics appear below the video.


You may need to click twice to see the clip...


Subterranean Homesick Blues
by Bob Dylan

Johnny's in the basement
Mixing up the medicine
I'm on the pavement
Thinking about the government
The man in the trench coat
Badge out, laid off
Says he's got a bad cough
Wants to get it paid off
Look out kid
It's somethin' you did
God knows when
But you're doin' it again
You better duck down the alley way
Lookin' for a new friend
The man in the coon-skin cap
In the big pen
Wants eleven dollar bills
You only got ten

Maggie comes fleet foot
Face full of black soot
Talkin' that the heat put
Plants in the bed but
The phone's tapped anyway
Maggie says that many say
They must bust in early May
Orders from the D. A.
Look out kid
Don't matter what you did
Walk on your tip toes
Don't try "No Doz"
Better stay away from those
That carry around a fire hose
Keep a clean nose
Watch the plain clothes
You don't need a weather man
To know which way the wind blows

Get sick, get well
Hang around a ink well
Ring bell, hard to tell
If anything is goin' to sell
Try hard, get barred
Get back, write braille
Get jailed, jump bail
Join the army, if you fail
Look out kid
You're gonna get hit
But users, cheaters
Six-time losers
Hang around the theaters
Girl by the whirlpool
Lookin' for a new fool
Don't follow leaders
Watch the parkin' meters

Ah get born, keep warm
Short pants, romance, learn to dance
Get dressed, get blessed
Try to be a success
Please her, please him, buy gifts
Don't steal, don't lift
Twenty years of schoolin'
And they put you on the day shift
Look out kid
They keep it all hid
Better jump down a manhole
Light yourself a candle
Don't wear sandals
Try to avoid the scandals
Don't wanna be a bum
You better chew gum
The pump don't work
'Cause the vandals took the handles
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Eight Years Ago Today. . .President Bill Clinton Was Acquitted!

Eight years ago today, President Bill Clinton was acquitted in the U.S. Senate. The House of Representatives impeached Clinton on Dec. 19, 1998, and charged him with perjury and obstruction of justice during Lewinsky scandal investigations. The public was fascinated by the machinations of Linda Tripp, the blue dress, and tales of Oval Office sexual encounters. However, they also considered the march toward impeachment a partisan witch-hunt, and not germane to national affairs, and not an impediment to running the United States.

The public in general, while disgusted, considered this investigation to be possibly even less important than the earlier one investigating "Whitewater." In January, 1999, two impeachment counts were tried in the Senate. On February 12, the Senate acquitted Clinton.

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Lyrics to Johnny Cash's 25 Minutes To Go

These are the lyrics to a Johnny Cash tune from the At Folsom Prison album. When I was in Austin earlier this year, we heard Roger Wallace cover this song in a show at the Hole in the Wall. Wallace's rendition moved me. I later wrote him and asked if he had recorded the song, and could he send me the lyrics. He told me—without even hinting I was an imbecile—that it was a Johnny Cash tune Cash recorded at Folsom Prison (the same concert that made A Boy Named Sue famous)...

25 Minutes To Go

by Johnny Cash

Well they're building a gallows outside my cell I've got 25 minutes to go
And the whole town's waitin' just to hear me yell I've got 24 minutes to go
Well they gave me some beans for my last meal I've got 23 minutes to go
But nobody asked me how I feel I've got 22 minutes to go
Well I sent for the governor and the whole dern bunch with 21 minutes to go
And I sent for the mayor but he's out to lunch I've got 20 more minutes to go
Then the sheriff said boy I gonna watch you die got 19 minutes to go
So I laughed in his face and I spit in his eye got 18 minutes to go
Now hear comes the preacher for to save my soul with 13 minutes to go
And he's talking bout' burnin' but I'm so cold I've 12 more minutes to go
Now they're testin' the trap and it chills my spine 11 more minutes to go
And the trap and the rope aw they work just fine got 10 more minutes to go
Well I'm waitin' on the pardon that'll set me free with 9 more minutes to go
But this is for real so forget about me got 8 more minutes to go
With my feet on the trap and my head on the noose got 5 more minutes to go
Won't somebody come and cut me loose with 4 more minutes to go
I can see the mountains I can see the skies with 3 more minutes to go
And it's to dern pretty for a man that don't wanna die 2 more minutes to go
I can see the buzzards I can hear the crows 1 more minute to go
And now I'm swingin' and here I go-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o!

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Photo: Jack conducting anatomical research with an assistant

Anatomía (del griego, anatomē, ‘disección’), rama de las ciencias naturales relativa a la organización estructural de los seres vivos. Es una ciencia muy antigua, cuyos orígenes se remontan a la Prehistoria. Durante siglos los conocimientos anatómicos se han basado en la observación de plantas y animales diseccionados. Sin embargo, la comprensión adecuada de la estructura implica un conocimiento de la función de los organismos vivos. Por consiguiente, la anatomía es casi inseparable de la fisiología, que a veces recibe el nombre de anatomía funcional. La anatomía, que es una de las ciencias básicas de la vida, está muy relacionada con la medicina y con otras ramas de la biología.
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The Real Big Bird a/k/a the Diatryma or Gastornis

Taken by David Fuchs; reconstruction of Diatryma

Ever since I learned of their existence in this story in The Seattle Times I have been fascinated by this seven foot, 350 pound Big Bird Diatryma, or, Gastornis, that used to walk in my old haunts along the Green River in Southeast King County. Also living there were 18 pound horses, and tiny hippopotamuses (or hippopotami).

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Sha Na Na Video: At The Hop (Woodstock Festival 1969)

I was a little shocked when I first saw Sha Na Na perform in the movie Woodstock. I didn't really know the difference between Doo Wop and Perry Como. If you grew up when I did, it was all Beatles, and British Groups, all the time (and around '66, Dylan, and the emerging American bands and musicians like Love, The Doors, Chicago, Joni Mitchell , The Grateful Dead, The Zombies, and others). But Sha Na Na played 50's music, and we just couldn't hear it. It was only later I came to appreciate Buddy Holly, Chuck Berry, the Doo-wop bands, Elvis and the other 50s music. Sha Na Na's spirited performance at Woodstock helped change all that, and I think their performance, in some ways, helped ignite a revival of earlier music, and probably helped lead to that great movie The Buddy Holly Story starring Gary Busey. This is absolutely the best and most frantic performance of this song I've heard.

Poem: Changes 35/Progress

The sun rises over the earth.
We have another day.
That is progress.
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John Lennon Video: Watching The Wheels

I remember this song playing that terrible December day (Dec. 8, 1980), when John Lennon was assassinated. I was at home on the Upper West Side of NYC, and could hear dozens of sirens. Just a few blocks away, John Lennon had just been shot.

I was listening to Vin Scelsa on the WNEW-FM 102.7, and he broke in crying, telling us his good friend John had just been killed at The Dakota. Friends like Jerry Melin called, and my friend Cheryl Hardwick called and insisted we needed to drink some wine together. Of all the stupid killings over the years, this one hurt the most. It's hard to convey how much this one hurt. 27 years later, things have not much improved. No one knows what the years would have brought, but I don't think it would have been so bad to hear John's take on the 21st century.


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The New York Times May No Longer Be Actually Printed In Five Years

This echoes Michael Corleone telling Kay "The Corleone family will be entirely legitimate in five years." But I think the New York Times may keep its promise. Arthur Sulzberger, a very rich dude, owner, chairman and publisher of the most respected newspaper in the world, is in the middle of a transition from print to internet. He may be thrown out of the wagon before it gets there, however. Morgan Stanley, his banker, recently seems to have launched a campaign that will cost Sulzberger control of the paper.

"I really don't know whether we'll be printing the Times in five years, and you know what? I don't care either," said Arthur Sulzberger.

Read the story by Eytan Avriel on haaretz.com here. This is a shocker. The New York Times is a great 'paper, and it hurts to think of the day when I can't carry it along with me. We have subscribed every since we moved from NYC 25 years ago. It's hard to picture the day when we are cut off. Sure, we'll still be able to print it all out on 8 1/2 x 11" paper. But that is not the same. On the other hand, when is the last time you saw anyone under, say, thirty holding a newspaper?
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Painting: Old Glory

. . .click the painting to enlarge. . .

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Poem: Changes 34/ The Power of the Great

1
A goat butts against a hedge
It cannot go backward
It cannot go forward

2
You can give up
Your stubborn ways
And not live to regret it

When your inner worth rises
And comes to power
Its strength passes the median

That deadly middle point where
You rely on your head of steam
Asking what's next instead of what's right

3
The gates of success begin to open
Resistance falters
And you forge ahead

If you perservere chiseling away
At the resistance
The obstructions fall into pieces

4
Your power may not show
Like a prairie schoover

Whose strength lies in its axle

Your tenuous hold on earth

Is disguised by a long shadow

When you are tethered

To the ground

By the soles of your feet
And a theory of gravity.

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Fear Of Flying, Fear of Dying

What do Jack Brummet, Isaac Asimov John Madden, Dennis Miller, Billy Bob Thornton, Kate Bush, Muhammad, Ray Bradbury, Cher, Florence Henderson, Glenda Jackson, Michael Jackson, Bob Newhart, Ronald Reagan, Elisha Cuthbert, Doris Day, Aretha Franklin, Tony Kornheiser, Kim Jong-Il, Matthew Sweet, Richard Wright, David Gilmour, and John Gotti have in common? We're all scared s***less of flying (or were, in the case of the departed. . .none of who actually perished in an airplane); we're all aviophobes.

There are even fictional characters in our ranks, like B. A. Baracus of the TV series The A-Team. They usually have to slip him some heavy drugs, or knock him out with a punch to get him on a 'plane. And Tyler from Snakes On A Plane is in the same boat.


illustration from http://www.fearofflyingdoctor.com/

When my fear of flying comes up in conversations, people remind me that being a hard core commuter, I am at far more risk going to work than I am flying off somewhere. False! According to the wikipedia "there is no way to unambiguously validate or invalidate this notion. While there are far more automobile deaths per year, that is mostly due to the far greater number of automobiles in society. In the United States, the number of fatalities per 100 million miles traveled is slightly higher for commercial air travel than for driving! with rates of 1.9 versus 1.3, per 100 million miles traveled, respectively.

"The risk, however, that someone randomly selected from the general population will die in an aviation accident during a single year is far higher for motor vehicles (1 in 7700) than for aircraft (1 in 2,067,000). The air travel statistic includes small commuter flights, which, if excluded, would improve the air travel statistics; however, the number of motor vehicle deaths do not include motorcycles, which, if included, would substantially worsen the motor vehicle risk." I don't ride motorcycles.

Travel on commercial airlines is reasonably safe; when you toss in the Cessnas, Lear Jets, home-builts, and Beechcrafts, flying becomes far more dangerous. And air travel in developed countries is several times safer than air travel in developing countries, a statistic I remember every time I fly to Mexico.

Another thing people tell you is that most aviation accidents (like car accidents) are due to human error rather than mechanical failures. But, you know, that does little to assuage my angst. In fact, however, I am probably less afraid of flying than I am of flying and then not flying; it's not the air that spooks me so much as the ground!

Link to my poem, "Notes On Flying."
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Reverend Haggard says he is "cured," and no longer gay

Ted Haggard, the disgraced former president of the National Association of Evangelicals, and head of one of the largest churches in the country, says he has emerged from three months of intensive counseling convinced he is now "completely heterosexual." Reverend Haggard was outed about three months ago by a male prostitute he patronized. He lost his pulpit and he lost his position with the evangelical association.

All This Is That articles on the Reverend:

"I am a deceiver"

President Bush Silent On Recent Ted Haggard Revelations

Rev. Haggard hauls out the old reliable "just the tip" and "I didn't inhale" defense

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Happy Birthday To Ronald Reagan (President, 1981-89)

Happy birthday to 40th President Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004). Ronald Reagan was also the 33rd Governor of California (1967–1975) a film and television actor, and a spokesman for General Electric. At 69, he was the oldest person ever to be elected President of the United States.

You think we were shellacked in the 2004 Presidential election? Take a look at how Reagan owned Walter Mondale in '84:

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Prince at the Superbowl

Prince slyly outdid Janet Jackson without even whipping out his willie! No outrage, no FCC fines, no blacklisting. . . Which reminds me of a story. After Jim Morrison was busted for indecent exposure at a concert, the other Doors were very angry. At the band meeting they asked him why he had exposed himself. "I wanted to see what it looked like in the spotlight."
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Bright lights reported over Midwest skies: Have the Chicago UFOs headed west?

From Wisconsin to Des Moines and St. Louis, people reported seeing balls of fire, possibly meteors, streaking across the sky Sunday night, according to the Associated Press

"No major meteor showers were expected in the northern hemisphere on Sunday night, "said Jim Lattis, director of the University of Wisconsin-Madison astronomy department's Space Place.

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Painting: the heat signature of my head

click painting to enlarge

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Lyrics and video: The Pretenders' "Back On The Chain Gang"

click 2x to play...


I found a picture of you, oh oh oh oh
What hijacked my world that night
To a place in the past
Weve been cast out of? oh oh oh oh
Now were back in the fight
Were back on the train
Oh, back on the chain gang

A circumstance beyond our control, oh oh oh oh
The phone, the tv and the news of the world
Got in the house like a pigeon from hell, oh oh oh oh
Threw sand in our eyes and descended like flies
Put us back on the train
Oh, back on the chain gang

The powers that be
That force us to live like we do
Bring me to my knees
When I see what theyve done to you
But Ill die as I stand here today
Knowing that deep in my heart
Theyll fall to ruin one day
For making us part

I found a picture of you, oh oh oh oh
Those were the happiest days of my life
Like a break in the battle was your part, oh oh oh oh
In the wretched life of a lonely heart
Now were back on the train
Oh, back on the chain gang
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Up With. . .Down With People

Last night, we went to see Down With People play at the Lo Fi performance gallery (what a fantastic space), on Eastlake Avenue. My old friend Scott Boggan's band rocked the house, accompanied by a fascinating, pulsing light show by Michael Laton! And four go-go dancers! Ron Nine has a great array of pedal effects, and used a Theramin to great effect. This band takes the best of the psychedlic and garage worlds and put on a flat out great show.

Down With People play high-octane garage-psychedelic-pop music. They sounded great tonight--better than the last time I saw them at the Crocodile two years ago (although I really hoped they'd play Brian Eno's Needle in the Camel's Eye, which they played as an encore the last time I saw them). Ron Nine returned to the band after Love Battery called it quits a few years ago, and these three high school pals, resurrected their band from 20 years ago. Michael Laton's light shows are always fantastic. I think he got his start in the San Francisco 60's doing light shows for some of the heavy groups. If you get a chance, go see these guys.

You have to admit, this is about the best band name of all time...
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Video: The Doors Peace Frog

Not a music video, but a compilation of various artsy clips interspersed with other clips of the Doors performing set to Peace Frog. It includes a nice clip of Jim Morrison being arrested on stage. . .

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All this is that reheated: Painting - The Maze

click the maze to enlarge. . .
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Governor Ann Richards 1988 Democratic National Convention Keynote Address

Governor Richards made this wonderful speech at the 1988 Democratic convention. This was not a good year for Democrats. Our front-runner, Senator Gary Hart, was blown out of the water in a sex scandal. Governor Mario Cuomo was heavily recruited (see his 1984 Keynote speech here: it's one of the greatest speeches in American political history). In the end, we nominated Senator Michael Dukakis. And you know what happened next. Governor Richards (R.I.P.) was a hero, a steadfast yellow dog Democrat, and never shied away from taking shots at either of the two Presidents Bush.



[Text authenticty certified by AmericanRhetoric.com: Text version below transcribed directly from audio]

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, very much.

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Buenas noches, mis amigos.

I'm delighted to be here with you this evening, because after listening to George Bush all these years, I figured you needed to know what a real Texas accent sounds like.

Twelve years ago Barbara Jordan, another Texas woman, Barbara made the keynote address to this convention, and two women in a hundred and sixty years is about par for the course.


But if you give us a chance, we can perform. After all, Ginger Rogers did everything that Fred Astaire did. She just did it backwards and in high heels.

I want to announce to this Nation that in a little more than 100 days, the Reagan-Meese-Deaver-Nofziger-Poindexter-North-Weinberger-Watt-Gorsuch-Lavelle -Stockman-Haig-Bork-Noriega-George Bush [era] will be over!

You know, tonight I feel a little like I did when I played basketball in the 8th grade. I thought I looked real cute in my uniform. And then I heard a boy yell from the bleachers, "Make that basket, Birdlegs." And my greatest fear is that same guy is somewhere out there in the audience tonight, and he's going to cut me down to size, because where I grew up there really wasn’t much tolerance for self-importance, people who put on airs.

I was born during the Depression in a little community just outside Waco, and I grew up listening to Franklin Roosevelt on the radio. Well, it was back then that I came to understand the small truths and the hardships that bind neighbors together. Those were real people with real problems and they had real dreams about getting out of the Depression. I can remember summer nights when we’d put down what we called the Baptist pallet, and we listened to the grown-ups talk. I can still hear the sound of the dominoes clicking on the marble slab my daddy had found for a tabletop. I can still hear the laughter of the men telling jokes you weren’t supposed to hear -- talkin' about how big that old buck deer was, laughin' about mama puttin' Clorox in the well when the frog fell in.

They talked about war and Washington and what this country needed. They talked straight talk. And it came from people who were living their lives as best they could. And that’s what we’re gonna do tonight. We’re gonna tell how the cow ate the cabbage.

I got a letter last week from a young mother in Lorena, Texas, and I wanna read part of it to you. She writes,

“Our worries go from pay day to pay day, just like millions of others. And we have two fairly decent incomes, but I worry how I’m going to pay the rising car insurance and food. I pray my kids don’t have a growth spurt from August to December, so I don’t have to buy new jeans. We buy clothes at the budget stores and we have them fray and fade and stretch in the first wash. We ponder and try to figure out how we're gonna pay for college and braces and tennis shoes. We don’t take vacations and we don’t go out to eat. Please don’t think me ungrateful. We have jobs and a nice place to live, and we’re healthy. We're the people you see every day in the grocery stores, and we obey the laws. We pay our taxes. We fly our flags on holidays and we plod along trying to make it better for ourselves and our children and our parents. We aren’t vocal any more. I think maybe we’re too tired. I believe that people like us are forgotten in America.”

Well of course you believe you’re forgotten, because you have been.

This Republican Administration treats us as if we were pieces of a puzzle that can’t fit together. They've tried to put us into compartments and separate us from each other. Their political theory is “divide and conquer.” They’ve suggested time and time again that what is of interest to one group of Americans is not of interest to any one else. We’ve been isolated. We’ve been lumped into that sad phraseology called “special interests.” They’ve told farmers that they were selfish, that they would drive up food prices if they asked the government to intervene on behalf of the family farm, and we watched farms go on the auction block while we bought food from foreign countries. Well, that’s wrong!

They told working mothers it’s all their fault -- their families are falling apart because they had to go to work to keep their kids in jeans and tennis shoes and college. And they’re wrong!! They told American labor they were trying to ruin free enterprise by asking for 60 days’ notice of plant closings, and that’s wrong. And they told the auto industry and the steel industry and the timber industry and the oil industry, companies being threatened by foreign products flooding this country, that you’re "protectionist" if you think the government should enforce our trade laws. And that is wrong. When they belittle us for demanding clean air and clean water for trying to save the oceans and the ozone layer, that’s wrong.

No wonder we feel isolated and confused. We want answers and their answer is that "something is wrong with you." Well nothing's wrong with you. Nothing’s wrong with you that you can’t fix in November!

We’ve been told -- We’ve been told that the interests of the South and the Southwest are not the same interests as the North and the Northeast. They pit one group against the other. They've divided this country and in our isolation we think government isn’t gonna help us, and we're alone in our feelings. We feel forgotten. Well, the fact is that we are not an isolated piece of their puzzle. We are one nation. We are the United States of America.

Now we Democrats believe that America is still the county of fair play, that we can come out of a small town or a poor neighborhood and have the same chance as anyone else; and it doesn’t matter whether we are black or Hispanic or disabled or a women [sic]. We believe that America is a country where small business owners must succeed, because they are the bedrock, backbone of our economy.

We believe that our kids deserve good daycare and public schools. We believe our kids deserve public schools where students can learn and teachers can teach. And we wanna believe that our parents will have a good retirement and that we will too. We Democrats believe that social security is a pact that can not be broken.

We wanna believe that we can live out our lives without the terrible fear that an illness is going to bankrupt us and our children. We Democrats believe that America can overcome any problem, including the dreaded disease called AIDS. We believe that America is still a country where there is more to life than just a constant struggle for money. And we believe that America must have leaders who show us that our struggles amount to something and contribute to something larger -- leaders who want us to be all that we can be.

We want leaders like Jesse Jackson. Jesse Jackson is a leader and a teacher who can open our hearts and open our minds and stir our very souls. And he has taught us that we are as good as our capacity for caring, caring about the drug problem, caring about crime, caring about education, and caring about each other.

Now, in contrast, the greatest nation of the free world has had a leader for eight straight years that has pretended that he can not hear our questions over the noise of the helicopters. And we know he doesn’t wanna answer. But we have a lot of questions. And when we get our questions asked, or there is a leak, or an investigation the only answer we get is, “I don’t know,” or “I forgot.”

But you wouldn’t accept that answer from your children. I wouldn’t. Don’t tell me “you don’t know” or “you forgot.” We're not going to have the America that we want until we elect leaders who are gonna tell the truth; not most days but every day; leaders who don’t forget what they don’t want to remember. And for eight straight years George Bush hasn’t displayed the slightest interest in anything we care about. And now that he's after a job that he can’t get appointed to, he's like Columbus discovering America. He’s found child care. He’s found education. Poor George. He can’t help it. He was born with a silver foot in his mouth.

Well, no wonder. No wonder we can’t figure it out. Because the leadership of this nation is telling us one thing on TV and doing something entirely different. They tell us -- They tell us that they're fighting a war against terrorists. And then we find out that the White House is selling arms to the Ayatollah. They -- They tell us that they’re fighting a war on drugs and then people come on TV and testify that the CIA and the DEA and the FBI knew they were flying drugs into America all along. And they’re negotiating with a dictator who is shoveling cocaine into this country like crazy. I guess that’s their Central American strategy.

Now they tell us that employment rates are great, and that they’re for equal opportunity. But we know it takes two paychecks to make ends meet today, when it used to take one. And the opportunity they’re so proud of is low-wage, dead-end jobs. And there is no major city in America where you cannot see homeless men sitting in parking lots holding signs that say, “I will work for food.”

Now my friends, we really are at a crucial point in American history. Under this Administration we have devoted our resources into making this country a military colossus. But we’ve let our economic lines of defense fall into disrepair. The debt of this nation is greater than it has ever been in our history. We fought a world war on less debt than the Republicans have built up in the last eight years. You know, it’s kind of like that brother-in-law who drives a flashy new car, but he’s always borrowing money from you to make the payments.

Well, but let’s take what they are most proudest of -- that is their stand of defense. We Democrats are committed to a strong America, and, quite frankly, when our leaders say to us, "We need a new weapons system," our inclination is to say, “Well, they must be right.” But when we pay billions for planes that won’t fly, billions for tanks that won’t fire, and billions for systems that won’t work, "that old dog won’t hunt." And you don’t have to be from Waco to know that when the Pentagon makes crooks rich and doesn’t make America strong, that it’s a bum deal.

Now I’m going to tell you, I'm really glad that our young people missed the Depression and missed the great Big War. But I do regret that they missed the leaders that I knew, leaders who told us when things were tough, and that we’d have to sacrifice, and that these difficulties might last for a while. They didn’t tell us things were hard for us because we were different, or isolated, or special interests. They brought us together and they gave us a sense of national purpose. They gave us Social Security and they told us they were setting up a system where we could pay our own money in, and when the time came for our retirement we could take the money out. People in the rural areas were told that we deserved to have electric lights, and they were gonna harness the energy that was necessary to give us electricity so my grandmamma didn’t have to carry that old coal oil lamp around. And they told us that they were gonna guarant[ee] when we put our money in the bank, that the money was going to be there, and it was going to be insured. They did not lie to us.

And I think one of the saving graces of Democrats is that we are candid. We talk straight talk. We tell people what we think. And that tradition and those values live today in Michael Dukakis from Massachusetts.

Michael Dukakis knows that this country is on the edge of a great new era, that we’re not afraid of change, that we’re for thoughtful, truthful, strong leadership. Behind his calm there’s an impatience to unify this country and to get on with the future. His instincts are deeply American. They’re tough and they’re generous. And personally, I have to tell you that I have never met a man who had a more remarkable sense about what is really important in life.

And then there’s my friend and my teacher for many years, Senator Lloyd Bentsen. And I couldn’t be prouder, both as a Texan and as a Democrat, because Lloyd Bentsen understands America. From the barrio to the boardroom, he knows how to bring us together, by regions, by economics, and by example. And he’s already beaten George Bush once.

So, when it comes right down to it, this election is a contest between those who are satisfied with what they have and those who know we can do better. That’s what this election is really all about. It’s about the American dream -- those who want to keep it for the few and those who know it must be nurtured and passed along.

I’m a grandmother now. And I have one nearly perfect granddaughter named Lily. And when I hold that grandbaby, I feel the continuity of life that unites us, that binds generation to generation, that ties us with each other. And sometimes I spread that Baptist pallet out on the floor, and Lily and I roll a ball back and forth. And I think of all the families like mine, like the one in Lorena, Texas, like the ones that nurture children all across America. And as I look at Lily, I know that it is within families that we learn both the need to respect individual human dignity and to work together for our common good. Within our families, within our nation, it is the same.

And as I sit there, I wonder if she’ll ever grasp the changes I’ve seen in my life -- if she’ll ever believe that there was a time when blacks could not drink from public water fountains, when Hispanic children were punished for speaking Spanish in the public schools, and women couldn’t vote.

I think of all the political fights I’ve fought, and all the compromises I’ve had to accept as part payment. And I think of all the small victories that have added up to national triumphs and all the things that would never have happened and all the people who would’ve been left behind if we had not reasoned and fought and won those battles together. And I will tell Lily that those triumphs were Democratic Party triumphs.

I want so much to tell Lily how far we’ve come, you and I. And as the ball rolls back and forth, I want to tell her how very lucky she is that for all our difference, we are still the greatest nation on this good earth. And our strength lies in the men and women who go to work every day, who struggle to balance their family and their jobs, and who should never, ever be forgotten.

I just hope that like her grandparents and her great-grandparents before that Lily goes on to raise her kids with the promise that echoes in homes all across America: that we can do better, and that’s what this election is all about.

Thank you very much.
---o0o---

Video and Lyrics: Neil Young's Rockin' In The Free World

You *may* have to hit the play button twice...

The video is the "original" for Rockin' In The Free World. Whether it's Crazy Horse, or Crosby Stills Nash and Young, it's always good to hear this tune.

Rockin' In The Free World

by Neil Young

There's colors on the street
Red, white and blue
People shufflin' their feet
People sleepin' in their shoes
But there's a warnin' sign
on the road ahead
There's a lot of people sayin'
we'd be better off dead
Don't feel like Satan,
but I am to them
So I try to forget it,
any way I can.

Keep on rockin' in the free world,
Keep on rockin' in the free world
Keep on rockin' in the free world,
Keep on rockin' in the free world.

I see a woman in the night
With a baby in her hand
Under an old street light
Near a garbage can
Now she puts the kid away,
and she's gone to get a hit
She hates her life,
and what she's done to it
There's one more kid
that will never go to school
Never get to fall in love,
never get to be cool.

Keep on rockin' in the free world,
Keep on rockin' in the free world
Keep on rockin' in the free world,
Keep on rockin' in the free world.

We got a thousand points of light
For the homeless man
We got a kinder, gentler,
Machine gun hand
We got department stores
and toilet paper
Got styrofoam boxes
for the ozone layer
Got a man of the people,
says keep hope alive
Got fuel to burn,
got roads to drive.

Keep on rockin' in the free world,
Keep on rockin' in the free world
Keep on rockin' in the free world,
Keep on rockin' in the free world.

---o0o---

Video And Lyrics To "I Won't Back Down" By Tom Petty, From The Full Moon Fever Album That Many People Say Is Actually The Traveling Wilburys, Vol. 2

Remember a couple of days ago, I said that The Traveling Wilburys never made a Volume 2 because they dedicated it to Roy Orbison? As it turns out, many people think Volume 2 was Full Moon Fever, one of Tom Petty's great albums. About 3/5 of the Wilbury's play in this video, along with Ringo Starr. Dylan was probably touring, and Roy Orbison had just passed on.
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Poem: Changes 32/Duration

If you remain at the mercy
Of moods of hope or fear
Aroused by the outer world

You need to tunnel within
And build a virtual igloo
Against the prevailing winds.
---o0o---

Calling Kevin Brummet/A Response To My Story "The Time I got Drunk With Roy Rogers"

My long-lost cousin, Kevin Brummet, wrote a comment to me on the story ("we look like we could be brothers") I wrote in 2005, "The Time I Got Drunk With Roy Rogers." The story was about his father, who he only met twice, much later in life, my uncle Gould Boyd Brummet. You can click the link to read his comment. It was a wonderful email, but Kevin forgot to let me know how to contact him! Kevin, if you happen to come back here, send me an email, or call me (206-399-9866). I want to hear from you! If you know Kevin Brummet, hook us up!
________________________________________________


The Time I Got Drunk With Roy Rogers

In July 1971 I had just graduated from Kent Meridian High School. My Uncle Gould (1919-1988) and Aunt Henriette Brummet (the bride he brought home from Germany in WW II) invited me to their ranch in the desert between and east of Los Angeles and San Diego. They grew avocados. I had never been outside the northwest before. A 25-hour Greyhound ride deposited me in Oceanside. Road runners scurried in front of the jeep as we drove up to the house which was circled with orange trees. I spent my days swimming in their pool and driving their jeep, and hiking in the barren, rolling hills. I drove to the nearby observatory at Mt. Palomar [1] one day, where the students and scientists gave me the grand tour.

My Aunt and Uncle gave me a choice: we could go to Disneyland or visit Tijuana. I chose Tijuana, of course, and made the first of many trips to Mexico.

Gould had retired from the Army and was able to go to El Toro, and use the P.X. and officers club. We went there twice for dinner. My long hair was just as popular with the retired officers as it was with my Uncle.

The Vietnam war raged on under President Nixon. I had recently been trained as a draft counselor, and had applied to my draft board for consideration as a conscientious objector [2]. Needless to say, this did not sit well with my uncle. After jousting the first couple of nights, we finally reached a most tentative impasse; an armed truce.

Most days, my Uncle worked the ranch, and my Aunt worked at her beauty parlor in Bonsall. I was on my own. My Aunt's mother--Muti--was there and we spent our days swimming, puttering around the house, picking avocados and oranges, and drinking beer. We knew about five words of each other's language, but made it work. She called me the milch-brudder (because I liked milk) and I called her Bier-frau because every day at 5:00 she brought out the stoneware mugs and poured the first of several Lownbraus as we sat in chairs and watched the sun slowly recede over the dusty ochre hills.

Out in the orchard (or whatever they call an avocado plantation) one day, Uncle Gould and I bumped into Roy Rogers, whose estate bordered my uncle's ranch. I was a little in awe, of course—I had grown up watching Roy, Dale, Trigger and Bullet Saturday mornings.

My Uncle was going into town for parts and Roy decided to join us. We jumped in a dusty station wagon and headed down the long trail that led to the road into town.

After making various stops in town, and waiting as Roy signed autographs for a family of star-struck tourists, we hit the package store where my Uncle purchased various potions, including a few bottles of Mateus [3], one of which we corked and passed back and forth on the ride home. Roy told us a story about a couple of movies he had starred in with Trigger.

I was not an experienced drinker. Yes, I got drunk with Roy Rogers, but to the best of my recollection, he remained sober as a judge. I was shocked when one of them lobbed the empty Mateus bottle out the window into an arroyo. I did not make a total ass of myself or demand to be taken to see Trigger at the Roy Rogers Museum (I would go there later in the week).

I know--you all expected me to tell you a story about how we got trashed and headed into a San Diego bordello. We didn't. All I really remember is that Roy was a sweet man who told some great stories. He was remarkably upbeat for a guy whose life was marred again and again by tragedy.

We saw Roy Rogers a couple more times while I was there, but nothing memorable happened. He was just a very nice, corny guy with a heart of gold. Look him up on the internet. Roy starred in dozens of horse operas (that is, low budget films) and had a long-running show on television. His excellent country recordings in the 30's and 40's with the Sons of the Pioneers became best sellers. You may have heard "Cool Water" and "Tumbling Tumbleweeds." The music is solid roots Americana (I have two of their albums on my iPod). Roy also recorded a wonderful LP about Pecos Bill, with song interludes by the Sons. I had a dub of that album and played it many times for my children Colum and Claire. I don't think I even told them Roy and I spent a little time together in the desert.

[1] Palomar was famous because the the (5.1 m) Hale Telescope (f/3.3)-- was the world's largest telescope for 45 years (1948-93).

[2] In the end, the Draft Board never gave me a hearing. I had already sent them a copy of The Bible and numerous other documents, as well as a long essay on why I didn't believe in making war. It's just as well my case never came up because it was always difficult for me to be 100% conscientious objector. It was The Nazis that poked holes in my philosophy. I could never truly reconcile my pacifism with the fact that shortly before I was born we had to stop The Nazis. To successfully press your case as a C.O., you needed to be against all war under any circumstance. I could never make that complete leap. In the end, my draft lottery number was 186, and I was off the hook unless President Nixon went bananas and escalated the war. By 1972 that was no longer an option for him, since he would spend the rest of his Presidency embroiled in the Watergate Cover-up.

[3] A Portuguese "rose." Portugal actually makes some great wines (their No. 1 customer is France), but Mateus is not one of them. It is probably not even good enough to call a gateway wine. But this was 1971.
---o0o---

"The Time I got Drunk With Roy Rogers" was originally posted by Jack Brummet 8/03/2005

My Favorite Blind Musicians

Blind Lemon Jefferson
Homer (who was allegedly blind, and sang his poems)
Art Tatum
Stevie Wonder (little and big!)
Ray Charles
Reverend "Blind" Gary Davis
The Blind Boys of Alabama
Doc Watson
Rahsaan Roland Kirk
George Shearing
Blind Willie McTell
---o0o---

2008 Presidential Candidates Reshuffle Again

Joseph Biden, a Senator, I have always liked, experienced a serious stumble this week as he was announcing his candidacy. I suspect he may be able to recover, but you never know.

There have been other dropouts and announcements this week. As far as I can tell, this is the lineup as of today:

Declared, or about to declare Democrat —

Senator Hillary Clinton
Ex-Vice-President and Ex-Senator Albert Gore
Sen. Barack Hussein Obama
Ex-Senator John Edwards
The Reverend Al Sharpton (he's making noises)
Senator Joe Biden, Delaware
Gov. Bill Richardson, New Mexico
Gov. Tom Vilsack, Iowa
Senator Christopher Dodd, Connecticut
Ex-General Wesley Clark
Ex-Governor Mark Warner, Virginia

Democratic dropouts —
Senator Evan Bayh, Indiana
Senator John Kerry, Massachusetts

Declared or about to declare Republican —
Governor Mike Huckabee, Arkansas
ExGovernor George Pataki, New York
Ex-Governor Mitt Romney
Ex-Mayor Rudy Giuliani
Senator John McCain, Arizona
Sen. Sam Brownback, Kansas
Sen. Chuck Hagel, Nebraska
Ex-Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich

Republican Dropouts—
Ex-Senator George Allen
Ex-Senator Rick Santorum

The Dingbat Party —

Congressman and Ex-mayor Dennis J. Kucinich - Kuchinich recently "declared."
"Crusader" Ralph J. Nader - He's always a threat, but most folks have long since written him off as the dingbat who put George W. Bush into office in the first place, while acting as a spoiler in the ill-fated 200 Presidential election.
---o0o---

Painting: He's Our President, Right Or Wrong

click the big guy to enlarge
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Traveling Wilburys Out Of Print

Following up yesterday's post about The Traveling Wilburys, I realized that both of their albums are out of print around the world! Vol. 1, at least, is an album Rolling Stone put in the top 100 albums of all time. But you can't find it. I have a cassette of the album, but I need the CDs!

According to the Wikipedia, "The two Traveling Wilburys albums have extremely limited availability and have been left out of print in most territories. This has been said to be due to rights issues between the different members of the band, most notably Roy Orbison's widow. However, Tom Petty announced on his XM radio show that both albums would be re-released sometime in the near future, with bonus tracks, a claim further substantiated in the February 2007 edition of Q Magazine in an interview with Jeff Lynne."
---o0o---

Poem: Changes 33/Retreat Is Not Surrender—

click the white flag to enlarge

I've been writing these Changes poems since March, 2006—very loosely based on the I-Ching. Today I have worked through half of the i ching hexagrams. No. 33 is the turning point. I crib from three versionsof the book—James Legee's I Ching: Book of Changes; Wilhelm, and Baynes' The I Ching or Book of Changes, with a suitably strange forward by Carl Jung (my favorite version, and it's a beautiful book with a great dust jacket); and a version I keep at the office, Rediscovering The I Ching.

______________________________________________


Poem: Changes 33/
Retreat Is Not Surrender—


We are at not at liberty to retreat
When the way ahead is fogged
When doubt and darkness set in

When reason degenerates
And bedevils the heart
Flight is not retreat

Flight is a mad scramble
For the exits
Flight is throwing in the towel

Retreat is tactical
A gathering of reason
As the dark forces assemble

A provisional retreat
Is choosing the right moment
While you are still under

A full head of steam
And biding your time
For the counter-attack.
---o0o---

Lyrics and video to The End Of The Line By The Traveling Wilburys

The End Of The Line is an rollicking tune, with slyly shifting choruses, and the all so familiar (and beloved, for me at least) voices trading verses and choruses. Supergroups have always been a mixed bag (*cough cough* Beck Bogart and Appice; Blind Faith; Super Session; The Highwaymen). Does anyone even remember the Super Super Blues Band (Bo Diddley, Muddy Waters, Little Walter, and Howlin' Wolf)? Crosby Stills, Nash and Young pulled it off frequently. So did Derek And The Dominoes. Supergroups have mainly been short-lived, primarily due to the difficulty of reigning in multiple massive egos. The Wilburys decided to not reach for the stars, and just write, play, and sing music together. It was funny, it was touching, and it was at times moving. They refused to become ponderous and collapse under the weight of their egos. They just made music. The lineup:

Volume 1:
Nelson Wilbury - George Harrison
Otis Wilbury - Jeff Lynne
Lefty Wilbury - Roy Orbison
Charlie T. Jnr. - Tom Petty
Lucky Wilbury - Bob Dylan

Volume 3 (there was no Volume 2; it was skipped in memory of Roy Orbison):
Spike Wilbury - George Harrison
Clayton Wilbury - Jeff Lynne
Muddy Wilbury - Tom Petty
Boo Wilbury - Bob Dylan



You may have to hit the play button twice!

The End Of The Line
by The Traveling Wilburys

(chorus 1)
Well its all right, riding around in the breeze
Well its all right, if you live the life you please
Well its all right, doing the best you can
Well its all right, as long as you lend a hand

You can sit around and wait for the phone to ring
Waiting for someone to tell you everything
Sit around and wonder what tomorrow will bring
Maybe a diamond ring

(chorus 2)
Well its all right, even if they say youre wrong
Well its all right, sometimes you gotta be strong
Well its all right, as long as you got somewhere to lay
Well its all right, everyday is judgement day

Maybe somewhere down the road aways
You'll think of me, and wonder where I am these days
Maybe somewhere down the road when somebody plays
Purple haze

(chorus 3)
Well its all right, even when push comes to shove
Well its all right, if you got someone to love
Well its all right, everything'll work out fine
Well its all right, were going to the end of the line

Dont have to be ashamed of the car I drive
Im just glad to be here, happy to be alive
It dont matter if youre by my side
Im satisfied

(chorus 4)
Well its all right, even if youre old and grey
Well its all right, you still got something to say
Well its all right, remember to live and let live
Well its all right, the best you can do is forgive

(chorus 5)
Well its all right, riding around in the breeze
Well its all right, if you live the life you please
Well its all right, even if the sun dont shine
Well its all right, were going to the end of the line
---o0o---

The Zombie Survival Guide

click the zombie, Tor Johnson, to enlarge

The Zombie Survival Guide: Complete Protection From the Living Dead (2003), by Max Brooks, is a detailed physiology and genealogy of the undead, with a road map for survival against zombie attacks—random attacks as well as more concerted, global uprisings. I am reading this book now. The Survival Guide delves into the zombie myth from the ground up and explains the role of the solanus virus in creating the undead. It's a good read. . .at least if you're a zombie fan. There are clearly parallels with the world of greys and aliens, although the promulgators of the zombie myth seem to have—shall we say?—more of a sense of humor about their subject matter than the UFOlogists. This isn't surprising when you consider that Max Brooks is the son of Mel Brooks.

Top 10 Lessons for Surviving a Zombie Attack

1. Organize before they rise!
2. They feel no fear, why should you?
3. Use your head: cut off theirs.
4. Blades don’t need reloading.
5. Ideal protection = tight clothes, short hair.
6. Get up the staircase, then destroy it.
7. Get out of the car, get onto the bike.
8. Keep moving, keep low, keep quiet, keep alert!
9. No place is safe, only safer.
10. The zombie may be gone, but the threat lives on.

Some of my favorite horror movies star zombies, notably, Romero's The Night of the Living Dead and Dawn of the Dead/Day of the Dead/Land of the Dead series. But don't forget White Zombie, and Zombi II, Peter Jackson's Braindead, and of course, the recent Shaun of the Dead, and 28 Days Later. As for videogames, I do have a soft spot in my heart for games like Silent Hill, Resident Evil, House of the Dead, and one of my quirky Japanese favorites, Typing of the Dead.



The guide goes into detail on:

1.1 Myths and Realities
1.2 Weapons and Combat Techniques
1.3 On the Defensive
1.4 On the Run
1.4.1 Terrain types
1.5 On the Attack
1.6 Living in an Undead World
1.7 Recorded Attacks
1.8 Appendix
2 Solanum
2.1 How it works
2.2 Cross-species infection
2.3 Symptoms
3 Cultural appeal
3.1 Humor fans
3.2 Zombie fans

Brooks' suggests that the best defense is an M1 Carbine semi-automatic rifle, a good handgun with a mounted sight, and a machete. Shotguns and swords also do the job, of course. Brooks warns against fully automatic weapons (only one bullet will takw down a zombie; using any more is a waste of ammo). If you love zombies, you'll want to buy this book! The chapter on Recorded Attacks provides enough ammo to spook any group ranged around a campfire.
---o0o---

Poem: toast

Down the hatch to the tapsters, barkeeps, barmaids, bartenders, and Mistresses Quickly; l'chayim to the vintners, brewmasters, corkers, rumrunners, and distillers; skoal to the grogshops, ginmills, roadhouses, bars, taverns, rathskellers, and saloons; here's how to the supporters of coffin varnish, hootch, whiz, crazy water, and gargle; a toast to those twisted, boiled, hammered, wrecked, tanked, corked, tight, pie-eyed, oiled, shellacked, crocked, ripped, and fried to the hatline. Tomorrow the bill comes due again.
---o0o---

The Tooth Fairy

If you're already thinking about this year's Halloween get-up, may I recommend the Tooth Fairy costume?
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Poem: Changes 31/Influence

A mountain lake
Is egalitarian
It gives and receives in equal measure

Taking in rain
And glacial runoffs
And giving water back

To the animals and bugs
That carve tracks
To the shore.
---o0o---

Barrister Harry Coy & Me & How My Ship Is About To Come In

I recently had an interesting epistolary exchange with a London Barrister, Harry McCoy. Read from the bottom up. . .

___________________________________________

Sat. 27 Jan 2007

To: BARRISTER HARRY COY
HARRY ASSOCIATES AND CHAMBERS
128 DESTMOND AVENUE KENT LONDON
Tel PHONE ; +447031945240,
DATE 26th JAN 2007 .

Dear Barrister Coy:

Enclosed in the personal information you requested. Please let me know if you need any further information to effect the transfer of funds.

As to meeting with you, rather than forcing you fly all the way over to the states, I’d be glad to fly over and meet with you in your London offices. I guess once I have the funds, I can probably afford to fly first class!

Let me know when you would like to meet. I, of course, look forward to hearing from, and meeting with you soon.

Sincerely,

Jack Brummet
___________________________________________

From: HARRY COY To: johnbrummet@hotmail.com
Subject: Can we proceed? FROM HARRY COY ESQ
Date: Fri, 26 Jan 2007 03:49:19 +0000 (GMT)

DESK OF BARRISTER HARRY COY
HARRY ASSOCIATES AND CHAMBERS
128 DESTMOND AVENUE KENT LONDON
Tel PHONE ; +447031945240,
DATE 26th JAN 2007 .

Dear Jack,

It’s my pleasure to receive your mail dated 26th Jan 2007 , well I must tell you that the contents of your mail were well noted, and to make you really Understand that I am who I claim to be I will need you to Work with me and be honest in all things, its rightfully said that a mans word is his bond, so let us keep to what ever we agree on.

I must also make you understand that it’s my duty to educate you in your role in this transaction and to provide every document needed for this transaction, of which I will need your consent in some aspect.

I will need you to send me some information which Shall help me open a pay file in the security company Where these funds are deposited, note that in due Cause of this transaction I will need you to give me An address where I can meet up with you in your Country to have my own share of the funds of which I Will need also a good business to invest on with your advice.

Here are the following information’s ;

[1] Complete name
[2] Phone number [cell phone]
[3] Address
[4] Age and sex
[5] Marital status
[6] Job type and years of experience.

Note that whatever information I give you here should Be kept under the confirms of your person and should Not be disclosed to any one, it is also applicable to me as I will keep every information about you secret.

Finally I must also reminder you that you should be rest assured that this transaction is 100 % risk free, so keep your mind relaxed.

Sincerely,
Harry Coy Esq.
+44 703 194 5240

___________________________________________

Fri, 26 Jan 2007

To: BARRISTER HARRY COY
HARRY ASSOCIATES AND CHAMBERS
128 DESTMOND AVENUE KENT LONDON
Tel PHONE ; +447031945240,
DATE 26th JAN 2007 .

Dear Barrister Coy:

While I was deeply saddened to hear of the death of Martin Brummet, I am glad you contacted me. I am, of course, eager to discuss the disposition of the $5.4 million dollars. Please let me know what your fee will be, and what information you might need from me.

Will I need to make a good faith payment to you to set this transfer in motion? If so, please give me the information as to where and how much I need to send.

I am naturally eager to set this transaction in motion. Again, I thank you for seeking me out. And I also greatly appreciate your offer to protect me from commiting any legal trangressions as we move forward.

I look forward to hearing from you!

Sincerely,

Jack Brummet

___________________________________________

From: "HARRY COY" Reply-To: harry_coy1@yahoo.co.uk
Subject: YOUR DECEASED RELATIVE, BRUMMET
Date: Thu, 25 Jan 2007 07:46:21 +0000

HARRY ASSOCIATES AND CHAMBERS
128 DESTMOND AVE KENT LONDON
DESK OF BARRISTER HARRY COY
PHONE +447031945240
DATE 25th/JAN/2007

ATTN : Jack Brummet

I am Barrister Harry Coy, a solicitor at law.I was a Personal Assistant to late Martin Brummet,a national Of your country, who died on the 30th of April 2004, my client was involved in a car accident in London .All occupants of the vehicle unfortunately lost their lives. Since then I have made several enquires here to locate any of my clients extended
relatives, this has also proved unsuccessful. After these several unsuccessful attempts, I decided to search through with his name which motivated me to contact you, to locate any member of his family hence I contacted you.

I have contacted you to assist in repatriating the fund valued at US$5.4 Million (Five million, Four Hundred Thousand United State Dollars) left behind by my client Before it gets confiscated or declared unserviceable by the Security Administration, which has issued me a notice to provide the next of kin or have his account confiscated within the next Finance Firm (Bank) where this huge amount were deposited. The said Security Finance official has given us ten working days. Since I have been unsuccessful in locating the relatives,I seek the consent to present you as the next of kin to the deceased
,since you have the same last name with my client, proper documentation will
be made so that the proceeds of this account can be paid to you.

Therefore, on receipt of your positive response, we shall then discuss the
sharing ratio and modalities for transfer. I have all necessary information
and legal documents needed to back you up for claim. All I require from you
is your honest cooperation to enable us see this transaction through. I
guarantee that this will be executed under legitimate arrangement that will
protect you from any breach of the law.

Thanks as i await your urgent response.

Yours Faithfully,
Barr Harry Coy (esq.)
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Photo: another gem from 10eastern found photos

click to enlarge

This photograph comes from—where else?—10eastern found photos. You could spend hours coming up with captions for this odd couple. . .
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The Grateful Dead - Video/tribute: Liberty by Justin Kreutzman

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Hillary Clinton gives Linda McCartney a run for her money, singing national anthem on open microphone

While this doesn't change how I feel about Senator Clinton's candidacy, I'd tell the staff to have her pull back a couple of feet from the microphone when she sings.
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Image: Blue Steel

click photo to enlarge
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Joni Mitchell Performs "Coyote: With The Band Circa 1976

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"Not suitable to live in this world" — A new collage of a grey alien (artist unknown)

click this grey image to enlarge. . .

I bumped into this collage/image on an Italian website. I ran the text through free translation which produced this bizarre (and unedited) Italian to English translation. It didn't tell me much about where the image came from, or what it meant, but it did provide a interestingly bent Italglish text:

"Awful days. rare the moments in which I take again myself from my autismo. in those moments - rare - I leave me. I is not suitable to live in this world. learned to do it. and the results are better of those of those who retain themselves native. but to live in this world does not stick to my nature..

"I like Isserly already. I like Isserly - That you are a sort of Mantis to hunting of vodsel I had had to long strokes the suspect. Then it dispels from the empathy. To find myself it it nude and raw here I confess you a little one puts the shudders. But you put however the shudders. "

The Itaian version:

"giorni pessimi. rari i momenti in cui mi riprendo dal mio autismo. in uei momenti - rari - mi abbandono.io non sono adatta a vivere in questo mondo. ho imparato a farlo. e i risultati sono migliori di quelli di coloro che si ritengono autoctoni. ma vivere in questo mondo non attiene alla mia natura..

"io come Isserlygià.io come Isserly

"Che tu sia una sorta di Mantide a caccia di vodsel ne avevo avuto a lunghi tratti il sospetto. Poi fugato dall'empatia. Ritrovarmelo nudo e crudo qui ti confesso un po' mette i brividi. Ma tu metti comunque i brividi. "sottopelle"

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Jumpers From Seattle's Aurora Bridge Become A Hazard On The Ground

An Associated Press story today by Donna Gordon Blankinship goes into the toll Aurora Bridge jumpers take on office workers in Seattle's Fremont neighborhood.

"Seattle is becoming hazardous to the mental health of the dot-com employees and other office workers below, who keep seeing people jump to their deaths from the span.

"Thirty-nine people over the past decade have committed suicide off the 155-foot-high Aurora Bridge _ eight in 2006 alone _ and counselors are regularly brought in to help office workers deal with the shock of seeing the leap or the bloody aftermath. "

The bridge now has numerous signs and billboards and ads for the local suicide prevention center.




Bridge graffiti "You are magnificent."
and "Don't jump."
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Poem: Changes 30/Clinging

click the sunset to enlarge

1
Fire has no form but clings
To the burning object.
Water pours down from heaven

And fire flames up from the earth.
What is dark clings to what is light.
A luminous body emitting light

Must have within itself
Straw for the fire,
Or it will burn itself out.

Everything that gives
Light depends on the object
To which it clings.

The sun and moon cling to heaven,
And the bugs, trees, and people
Cling to the earth.

2
The mind shut off from the outside
In sleep reconnects with the world
And the yellow light streaming down.

Later, in the setting sun
We bewail the approach of old age
And peek with dread

At the day
When all the revels
Are ended.
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