Poem by Jack Brummet: The Recurring Dream

The Recurring Dream
By Jack Brummet

I drag my wooden leg
Up a shattered staircase,

Across sagging boards
On a crumbling porch.

Light filters in
Through banks of cloud and fog

Radiating in waves from
A cockeyed half moon.

I hear sounds
In the dark basement.

The door is locked.
I twist the knob.

The door groans open.
I take a deep breath and shuffle in.
---o0o---

Jack Brummet poem: Escape

Escape
by Jack Brummet

1
Take the worst that could happen.
Add two zeros.

2
High fidelity clouds gather over
The tattered stage flats of a world on fire.

3
There is no one to clear our lift-off.
We sort our way between the shrapnel.

4
The ground rolls away behind us.
You and me.
---o0o---

Three Jack Brummet iPad Face Drawings

click to enlarge

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"Sure gonna miss her" -- Patricia Jane "Pat" Curran

A salute to my friend, and mother in law, Pat Curran.  I'm not quite ready to write about her.  But, let's just say that after a rocky start, we've been pals for 36 years, and traveled together, wrote poetry together, cooked, babysat, and debated politics, religion, and ethics many times.  Her greatest legacy, aside from all her great civics works, patronage of the arts and political causes, is, of course, her children, all of whom I love like my own brothers and sisters.  I will miss her very much, and will always be reminded of her by Keelin, the child who most closely resembles her (see the third to last photo).

Her obituary can be found here.

Here are some pictures of her at various times, in various places.

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Poem by Jack Brummet: The Candidate

The Candidate
by Jack Brummet

It's you Up There
Trying to explain

To The Lamplighter
The Scoutmaster of all Scoutmasters

How you believed you were made
By a being of purity and love

But how do you choose?
Allah Jesus Krishna Buddha

Yaweh The White Goddess Frigg
Hailie Selassie Zeus Gyhldeptis

Turan Bikeh Hozho Lono
Waheguru Mithra Achiyalatopa

Jeebo Manannan mac Lir
Eight Immortals Baal Moloch?

How you do pick one
Without a sign

And then pick the right one
Where you at least have a shot

At getting it right
As opposed to choosing nothing?

They pull out the list
Of everyone you've ever

Lusted after fornicated with
Cheated on stole from lied to

Conspired against or harmed
Willingly or unwillingly

Written up it doesn't look so good
But you always knew there'd be time

To make amends recoup your losses
Or even repent

In a last minute bid
For a spot near the throne

You always bet you'd have enough warning
To carry on and save the clean living

For the very end
On the positive side of the ledger

In your chest beat
The heart of a Good Samaritan

Who never quite got off
The starting blocks

You're looking earnest now
At the Starthrower

And they tell you
To have a seat.
---o0o---

The Dwarf throws in the towel: Sen. "Crazy" Joe Lieberman announces he is not running for re-election

By Pablo Fanque
National Affairs Editor

Sen. "Crazy" Joe Lieberman has announced he is not running for re-election in 2012.  I hope retirement enjoys that treacherous, sawed-off scumbag as much as we have!   Below are a few links to stories we've run on The Dwarf in the last few years.  Good riddance.

http://jackbrummet.blogspot.com/2010/02/senator-crazy-joe-lieberman-on-going-it.html
http://jackbrummet.blogspot.com/2009/10/joe-lieberman-has-finally-made-richard.html
http://jackbrummet.blogspot.com/2008/11/senator-crazy-joe-lieberman-lives-to.html
http://jackbrummet.blogspot.com/2008/11/joe-lieberman-reckoning.html
http://jackbrummet.blogspot.com/2008/08/speaker-of-house-rips-into-dwarf.html
http://jackbrummet.blogspot.com/2008/08/crazy-joe-liberman-on-vp-short-list-for.html
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Electronic sign hacks, and a link to how to do them.

By Jack Brummet,
Persiflage and Pranks Editor

click images to enlarge/zoom

 

Road sign control pads are usually encased in a lock box, but that box is almost always unlocked. And while most road signs have password protection, that password is usually the default "DOTS"—or you can reset the password by holding "shift" and "control" while typing "DIPY" (so it defaults to "DOTS" again).

Jalopnik.com has an article giving step by step instructions on how to hack digital road signs, with the caveat "DO NOT under any circumstances run around hacking into electronic road signs using the information contained in this step-by-step guide of how to transmit hilarious messages to passing motorists."

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Faces drawing No. 189 - the couple

By Jack Brummet

click to enlarge

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One more awesome freeway sign hack

One more great road sign hack. If you look around on the inets, you can find instructions for how to break in & program these babies. But that would be wrong. . .sorta.

click to enlarge

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The Stuxnet Worm-->Noble American-Israeli Mischief?-->Cyber Warfare Begins-->Revenge of the Nerds?

By Jack Brummet
Digital Warfare Editor

The most fascinating news--actually rumor and speculation [ed. note: hey, how much difference is there in 2011?]--to emerge recently concerns the possible genesis of the Stuxnet Worm. The Stuxnet worm (which most people call a virus) was discovered last summer. "It is the first discovered worm that spies on and reprograms industrial systems."

Computer security people think Stuxnet was created to target "high value infrastructures."

News reports state that the infestation by this worm has damaged Iran's nuclear facilities in Natanz and probably delayed the start up of Iran's Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant--by four or five years! I think most of us in the West agree that is a good thing.

Interestingly, the Stuxnet worm--unlike almost all other "malware"--does no harm to most PCs and servers. According to Wikipedia "the attackers took great care to make sure that only their designated targets were hit..." The worm does this because it attacks in layers: first Windows, then the Step 7 industrial software that runs on top of Windows, and finally, it hits a Siemens PLC (a programmable logic controller rootkit).

On those very specific machines, the worm patches into the variable frequency drives, and changes their speeds, which hamstrings or cripples the computer under attack.

Symantec says whoever created the worm was well-funded, with numerous programmers (up to ten) on the project. They also estimate it would have taken six months to complete.

It is little wonder, then, that people are speculating that the worm was created by American or Israeli Intelligence, or even by the US Dept. of Homeland Security.  Sunday's New York Times reports that

"Though American and Israeli officials refuse to talk publicly about what goes on at Dimona, the operations there, as well as related efforts in the United States, are among the newest and strongest clues suggesting that the virus was designed as an American-Israeli project to sabotage the Iranian program."

Israel has acknowledged recently that it has a cyber-warfare with both offensive and defensive branches. What a fascinating story.

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Painting: Map 12 -- The Dawg Islands and surrounding territories

By Jack Brummet

Acrylic and pen and ink on raw (unprimed) canvas.  Approximately 18" x 24".

click to enlarge

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The Rolling Stones' Connection (with lyrics)--one of their best songs ever

By Jack Brummet
20th Century Music Editor

This has always been one of my very favorite Rolling Stones songs.  I had almost forgotten about it, when I heard it again in the movie and soundtrack of "Shine A Light."   Keith Richards usually sings it when it pops up in concert with the Stones, or the X Pensive Winos.



Connection
by Jagger/Richards


Connection, I just can't make no connection.
But all I want to do is to get back to you.


Everything is going in the wrong direction.
The doctor wants to give me more injections.
Giving me shots for a thousand rare infections
And I don't know if he'll let me go


Connection, I just can't make no connection.
But all I want to do is to get back to you.
Connection, I just can't make it, connection
But all I want to do is to get back to you.


My bags they get a very close inspection.
I wonder why it is that they suspect on.
They're dying to add me to their collections
And I don't know if they'll let me go


Connection, I just can't make no connection.
But all I want to do is to get back to you.
Connection, I just can't make no connection.
But all I want to do is to get back to you.
---o0o---