Poem: The islands from eight miles high

Beneath a cerulean blue chiseled frieze,
The islands recede into the sea
Or settle down to the sea floor

Like an archipelago of Atlantises.
Islands come and go,
Bobbing up and bobbing down

Like corks lost in the ocean,
Drifitng around the seven seas
And threading through seven continents

And millions of other islands and straits.
They sail along, cresting the waves
Beneath gathering clouds

And flocks of birds
Circumnavigating the globe,
Shuttling from landfall to landfall.
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I didn't want to talk about politics today - But Michelle Obama's speech changed that

I was thinking about folklore, aliens, or posting some poetry today. Instead, I wrote down all the childhood rhymes I could remember...and it turned out to be about 15 or so! It felt pretty good ignoring politics. I was feeling sluggish about politics in general, even though I've been a convention junkie since 1968. And then I listened to, and watched, Michelle Obama's speech tonight. Content: 100%; Tone: 100%; Inspiration: 100%. Was her speech the pivot of the entire Obama campaign? I don't know, but it felt like it was. And I wonder how he tops this magnificent oratory. Whoever wrote this speech, Barack, it's probably time to give them a serious bump. I came into this as a Michelle Obama doubter. I've watched her and read about her. Tonight she absolutely and forever convinced me she is the real deal.
---o0o---

Playground rhymes from my youth: Popeye the sailor man

I'm Popeye, the Sailor Man
I live in a Garbage Can.
I eat all the worms
And I spit out the Germs
I'm Popeye, the Sailor Man.

I'm Popeye, the Sailor Man
I live in a frying pan
I turn up the heat
And I burn up my feet

I'm Popeye, the Sailor Man
I live in a frying pan
I turn up the gas
And burn off my ass
I'm Popeye, the Sailor Man

I'm Popeye, the Sailor Man
I like me spinach and eggs
I like to go swimmin'
With bow-legged women
And swim between their legs!
---o0o---

Short playground rhymes from my youth in the early 1960's

Everybody's doing it, doing it, doing it.
Picking their nose and chewing it, chewing it, chewing it.
______________________

Jingle bells,
Batman smells,
Robin laid an egg.
The Batmobile lost a wheel
And Joker took ballet.
______________________

Engine Engine Number Nine
Going down Chicago line
If the train falls off the track
Do you want your money back?
______________________

Whistle while you work.
Hitler is a jerk.
Mussolini bit his weenie.
Now it doesn't work.
______________________

Whistle while you work
Hitler is a jerk
Rosellini bit his weenie
And now it will not squirt.

[Albert Rosellini is now 98 years old, and at least a couple of years ago was still practicing law in Seattle! He was governor of Washington State in my formative years from, 1957-1965.]
______________________

Tra la la boom de-ay
There was no school today.
Our teacher passed away,
She died of tooth decay!
Tra-la-la Boom de ay!
I took your pants away...
______________________
Tra-la-la Boom de ay!
Baffaro passed away
We threw him in the bay
And watched him float away.

[Peter Baffaro was the longtime principal of Kent Elementary, Kent, Washington]
______________________

Liar,Liar!
Pants are on fire!
[Reply]
I don't care,
I don't care!
I can buy another pair!
______________________

Row, row, row your boat, gently down the stream
Throw the teacher overboard and listen to her scream!
______________________

School's out, school's out,
The teacher let the monkeys out.
One went in, and one went out,
And one fell in the sauerkraut.

[At around the time I heard, and sang this ditty, Kent, Wash. was one of the largest sauerkraut producing regions in the country. I remember taking several tours of the Libby Sauerkraut plant. And they weren't alone...there were others. Not many Germans or Eastern Europens lived in Kent, so I have to assume it was because Kent was a prime cabbage-growing area.]
______________________

It's Howdy Doody time
It ain't worth a dime
We'll turn to Channel Nine
And watch Frankenstein
______________________

Lincoln, Lincoln, I've been thinking,
What the hell have you been drinking?
Taste like beer smells like wine.
Oh my God it's Turpentine.
______________________
---o0o---

Post-Columbine/Virginia Tech - 1960's playground rhymes from Kent, Wash. - Mine eyes have seen the glory

I suppose, in a post-Columbine/Virginia Tech. world, our song would, in all likelihood, get you expelled. We sang this at Kent Elementary in the early 1960's.



Mine eyes have seen the glory
Of the burning of the school
We have tortured all the teachers,
We have broken every rule
We have barbecued the principal,
And destroyed the PTA,
Our school keeps burning on.
Glory, glory hallelujah.
Teacher hit me with a ruler.
I met her at the door with a loaded .44
Now she won't be teaching anymore!
---o0o---

Playground rhymes from my youth: Johnny had a steamboat

I remember this ditty from Kent Elementary, now a suburb of Seattle, from the early 1960's. As it turns out, there are variants (some quite different) from regions all around the country.


Johnnie had a steamboat, johnnie had a bell,
Johnnie pulled the wrong cord and blew it all to
Hello operator, give me number nine,
If you disconnect me, I'll kick you in the
Behind the 'fridgerator, there's a piece of glass,
Johnnie slipped on it, and it went up his
Ask me no more questions, tell me no more lies,
If you ever get hit with a bucket of s**t
Just be sure to close your eyes.
---o0o---

Popular Photography ages the current crop of candidates for President

Before, and after photos of the current President

Popular Photography online has a fascinating article, The Candidates: How will they look in four years? They took photos of Obama, Hillary Clinton, and John McCain and applied various aging (e.g., wrinkling, filling out, greying, sagging) to them to show how they might look in the future.

I've seen editors "unage" people before, and I've seen police sketches where they tried to show what a missing child or criminal might look like many years later. In any case, this is utterly fascinating. Go to the article and roll over the photos to see the effects of age. Of course, we do know that some of the tabloid photo editors do their best to emphasize the bad over the good, but in this case, of course, older is not worse. It's just older. Obviously in a race where one candidate is 20+ years older than the other, there will be some visible wear and tear!

This is really incredible work. You probably don't want to see your own pumpkin given the same treatment, do you?

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Photo: The Contenders - Senators McCain and Obama

Click to enlarge Obama and McCain

---o0o---

Senator John McCain floats Dwight Eisenhower as possible running mate

In response to a reporter's question about running mates today at a press conference in Altoona. Pennsylvania, Republican Presidential candidate John McCain wondered aloud about bringing Ike out of retirement. "I wonder if, uh, uh, Ike, President Eisenhower, would consider joining the ticket?," the senator said in response to a question from Pablo Fanque. "Who better to take over if something--God forbid--were to happen to me than someone who has actually done the job. And done it admirably, I might add. We should talk to Ike's people...if we've ever needed the General, it's now. It may be tough to get Mamie on board 'though..."

As reporters chuckled, Senator McCain said "Who is better suited for the job? Any of you guys notice it's getting dark in here?" Two aides urged McCain offstage while a spokesman told the press corps that "The Senator is already behind schedule, and we'll catch up with the press after the rally in Bayonne, New Jersey."

According to our national affairs editor, Pablo Fanque, who attended the press "briefing" in Altoona, stunned reporters were quiet at first and then exploded in a frenzy of typing and cell-phone dialing.

"In New Jersey," Fanque wrote this morning, "after the press plane landed, yet another aide explained to the press corps that the Senator was "adjusting his schedule to spend some 'quiet time' before continuing his campaign swing."

---o0o---

Map of where I've been in the world

Click to enlarge. Isn't it nice they didn't use the Mercator projection?

This is from the facebook application, "where I've been." This is by country and state. The city map, I am struggling with...anyhow, where I've been is dark, and where I haven't been (but mostly hope to go) is grey...

More on Joe Biden & four choice Joe Biden video clips

Despite what the Republicans may tell you about Smilin' Joe, this is a great pick by Obama, and it has to have them running scared. I can't tell you how happy I am that he is running, albeit just a little sad that he isn't at the top of the ticket. Joe is extremely bright, funny, articulate (yeah, and a little long-winded), has been great on the Judiciary Committee as well as the Foreign Relations committee, and is skilled politically, while still being able to get things accomplished. Joe Biden is a brawler in the best sense of the word. He knows how to play hardball. He brings depth, experience, knowledge, and humor to the ticket, and it will be a pleasure to see him debate, and act as the designated attack dog. Run Joe Run!

The Republicans will remind you that he plagiarized a couple of lines from Neil Kinnock speeches in the 80's. Yeah, he did. Once. The other times he used the lines in speeches, he attributed Kinnock. He didn't once, and it cost him his run for the Presidency. (You don't believe me?...here is the Wikipedia note on it: Then in September 1987, the campaign ran into serious trouble when he was accused of plagiarizing a speech by Neil Kinnock, then-leader of the British Labour Party.[26] Though Biden had correctly credited the original author in all speeches but one, the one where he failed to make mention of the originator was caught on video; the New York Times reported "Senator Biden began his remarks by saying the ideas had come to him spontaneously on the way to the debate."]

Most people don't know it--but they will soon--that Joe is not the Washington insider you might have heard. Well, he is and he isn't. He has commuted to D.C. an hour a half each way since 1973! He was elected at the age of 29 and became the fifth youngest Senator ever. He was elected in November, but before he even took office, his wife and daughter were killed, and his two sons were seriously injured (but later recovered) in a car accident.



He was talked out of resigning office, and ended up taking the oath of office at his sons' bedsides in the hospital. And to stay close to his family in their own home, he began his lifelong habit of commuting. I suspect he will move to the Naval Observatory (the traditional VP residence) once they air the place out and get rid of the Cheney vampire stench. Finally, I think you'll find that Joe Biden only owns one house.




---o0o---

The long-awaited VP text message from Senator Obama

They didn't quite keep the the news of Obama's VP selection bottled up until the very end. The story had to spread beyond the tight inner cir4cle of the campaign, and by late Friday night, the story was being confirmed by various parties and news sources. Therefore, we got the text message at 1:56 AM...

From: Barack Obama [mailto:info@barackobama.com]
Sent: Sat 8/23/2008 1:56 AM
To: Jack Brummet
Subject: The Next Vice President

jack --

I have some important news that I want to make official.

I've chosen Joe Biden to be my running mate.

Joe and I will appear for the first time as running mates this afternoon in Springfield, Illinois -- the same place this campaign began more than 19 months ago.

I'm excited about hitting the campaign trail with Joe, but the two of us can't do this alone. We need your help to keep building this movement for change.

Please let Joe know that you're glad he's part of our team. Share your personal welcome note and we'll make sure he gets it:

http://my.barackobama.com/welcomejoe

Thanks for your support,

Barack

P.S. -- Make sure to turn on your TV at 2:00 p.m. Central Time to join us or watch online at http://www.BarackObama.com.

Paid for by Obama for America
---o0o---