Sunday, December 31, 2006

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another day, another image, another lost year.

the "lost year" bit is not as forlorn as it sounds. in many ways 2006 was lost while we were living it.

i lean towards the belief that it is all the same, which means, for instance that a certain new years eve during another life, when i was young and hip and smart, and pulling into grand central station about 5 in the morning new years day, strolling through passed out people some in formal wear, top hats, whatever you call that stuff, into the city of women i knew who knew me, is as lost as last year.

Saturday, December 30, 2006

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today's psychograf indicates that the discussion i heard last nite on the savitch show about why saddam's execution should be on pay-per-view says more about the world we have stumbled into than the execution itself.

Friday, December 29, 2006

yesterday was another day i totally spent in front of computer monitor, finishing revisions to witd (book at top of right sidebar - new and improved) and obsessivly learning live pro 6 which is an eye opener. by the time it was time to go to drinking liberally i was so wiped out i couldn't see staright so i went to bed instead.

in the middle of the night, in that wierd twilight i have come to experience instead of sleep, i heard bits and pieces of coast2coastAM which featured a couple of hours of art bell talking with Graham Hancock, who i have never heard of before. his new book is superstition and the discourse was a pleasant change from talk about ufos and ghosts.

maybe pleasant is not the right word because this was a no holds barred very serious discussion. the book apparently is about today's world: nation state control resulting in the catastrophe we feel around the corner. and the unmanifest world of spirit which has been banished from "reality" of late. some interesting points. one was the author's contention that the creative revolution of 30,000 years ago was probably sparked by plants, for instance mushrooms of the psychoactive kind. a whole lot about terence mckinna. much about why the only hope ishuman conciousness taking a great leap foward or else, and why this can only be done in the personal domain, not the statist brand name scam cililization has become.

below is a pretty fair retort to the email fowarded to me yesterday. i don't know the writer of the origional email nor the reply.




By now you've all seen the Democrats' latest campaign slogan:
>
> * "A New Direction For America -- Vote DEMOCRATIC!" *
>
> Let's analyze this:
>
> The stock market is at a new all-time high and America's 401K's are
> back. A new direction from there means what?
>

The stock market has been on the rise consistently and constantly since
1984, and that reflects changes in regulation and an increase in credit
facilities. Its only major drop since then was in 2001-2004 which one
could blame on the Republicans in office but truly we all know it's
because of the impacts of 9/11. IN ANY CASE, THE STOCK MARKET MOVES THE
WAY INVESTORS CHOOSE, NOT THE GOVERNMENT. FOR THE LAST 23 YEARS THAT
HAS BEEN UP.


>
> Unemployment is at 25 year lows. A new direction from there means what?
>

The same forces that cause an up market (see first answer) mean that
those companies hire people, which means that (no surprise here)
unemployment IS at a 25 year low BECAUSE it continues to drop annually
without regard to who is in office. It's driven by there being JOBS
which are a direct result of a successful economy which in the last two
decades is a function of increased credit facilities so companies can
spend money they don't have developing products and services they sell
to people who don't have money.

>
> Oil prices are plummeting. A new direction from there means what?
>

Oil prices are going up. They are AT AN ALL TIME HIGH and expected to
rise depending on how the Iran situation is handled. A new direction
from going up is "going down" but again, this is YET ANOTHER FACTOR
which is hardly influenced by which Democrat is in Congress.

>
> Taxes are at 20 year lows. A new direction from there means what?
>

Who makes up this stuff? Taxes are not at 20 year lows or any other
lows. They are at the same levels since the last big raise -- during
George HW Bush's reign. (He was a "conservative".) Republicans had the
opportunity to lower or eliminate estate and other taxes and didn't.
Taxes have not changed. Sorry.

>
> Federal tax revenues are at all-time highs. A new direction from there
> means what?
>

Federal Tax Revenues are a direct function of the REALLY HIGH TAX RATES
and the LOW RATE OF UNEMPLOYMENT. You see, if you have LOTS OF PEOPLE
WORKING and you charge them A LOT OF TAXES your Federal tax revenues are
at a high. To suggest that somehow tax rates got lowered and yet tax
revenues are at an all time high is to continue to make up nonfacts. Sorry.

>
> The Federal deficit is down almost 50%, just as predicted over last
> year. A new direction from there means what?
>

The Federal defecit is at an all time high led by over $200B spent on
the Iraq conflict. It's not "just as predicted last year" or in any
other time. It's incredibly high. The national debt is at an all time
high as well.

>
> Home valuations are up 200% over the past 3.5 years. A new direction
> from there means what?
>

We already talked about unemployment being low and the market being up.
These factors cause inflation. Inflation is what makes prices go up.
THIS IS why the Fed raised interest rates 7+ times in the last year. To
compensate, CORRECT, and FIX the crap that is happenning in our economy.

This point "Home valuations" is a nice way to spin "Half as many people
can now afford a home."

>
> Inflation is in check, hovering at 20 year lows. A new direction from
> there means what?
>

Nope. It's not. I'm too tired to explain why so just see raw data at
http://inflationdata.com/inflation/Inflation_Rate/Inflation_trends.asp

>
> Not a single terrorist attack on US soil since 9/11/01. A new direction
> from there means what?
>

This is a non sequitur. It's like saying "Everyone breaths AIR, A new
direction from there means what?" Nobody's suggesting creating
Terrorist attacks on US soil or stopping the breathing of air. The
original statement when taken in context means "We'll do a new direction
from all the BAD STUFF the Republicans represent... like corrupt gay
page-butt-fucking pork-barrel-politics $200B Iraq-loving
no-Osama-finding losers." BTW, more American Boys have been killed in
Iraq (thanks, Republicans) than in the 9/11 attack.

> Osama bin Laden is living under a rock in a dark cave, having not
> surfaced in years, if he's alive at all, while 95% of Al Queda's top
> dogs are either dead or in custody, cooperating with US Intel. A new
> direction from there means what?
>

Uh, Osama HAS SURFACED and made SEVERAL appearances, SEVERAL videotapes,
and SEVERAL audiotapes. His "dark cave" can't be all that dark because
his white robes are whiter than most Americans' bleached T-shirrts. Al
Qaeda has no "U" in it, and they're not cooperating with US Intel ( a
chip manufacturer) or US intel (short form of US military intelligence
apparatus)-- according to the CIA they've had no new intel on Al Qaeda
in over two years. Quote: "The trail is cold." A new direction from
there means getting some good intel.

>
> Several major terrorist attacks already thwarted by US and British
> Intel, including the recent planned attack involving 10 Jumbo Jets being
> exploded in mid-air over major US cities in order to celebrate the
> anniversary of the 9/11/01 attacks A new direction from there means
> what?
>

Again, a non-sequitur. Nobody has said that we all stop at red lights
and go at green lights and WE'LL DO A NEW DIRECTION so that gets
flipped. Nobody said any regime would encourage more terrorism. This
is a poor and immature way to attempt to make a point without having one.

>
> Just as Bush had planned and foretold us of on a number of occasions,
> Iraq was to be made "ground zero" for the war on terrorism -- and just
>

Yes, unfortunately Osama is in Afghanistan, and his recently captured
aide is in Afghanistan, and the Al Qaeda guys are in Afghanistan, so
it's great that Bush makes Iraq "ground zero" because that's what he's
accomplished there -- zero.

>
> as Bush said they would, terrorist cells from all over the region are
> alighting the shadows of their hiding places and flooding into Iraq in
> order to get their faces blown off by US Marines rather than boarding
> planes and heading to the United States to wage war on us here.
>

Perhaps someone doesn't understand global politics. There are so many
things wrong with one:
1. Bush didn't say they would
2. The word "alighting" doesn't mean what you think it means
3. The US Marines are the ones getting their faces blown off -- some
right on Al Jazeera
4. This isn't INSTEAD of boarding places to head to the US, this is in
addition to plotting against the US

>
> A new
> direction from there means what?
>

Hopefully an end to these biased, immature, anti-analytical false-logic
emails that make an ass of the sender and appeal to the Rush and Savitch
audiences but don't actually contain facts of anything useful. An
America divided is not an America United, and it's this kind of CRAP
that is divisive and stupid.

>
> Moreover, bear in mind that all of the above occurred in the face of the
> 1999 tech crash,
>

There was no 1999 tech crash. There was a mid 2000 devaulation of
Internet stocks led by Merryll Lynch analyst Joseph Abbie Hoffman. This
has no relevance to ANYTHING since the 20 year trends and 25 year trends
and the Inflation trends all show a dip but then the continue what
THEY'VE ALWAYS BEEN DOING.

>
> the epidemic of corporate scandals throughout the 90's,
>

Once again the author is confused. Which corporate scandals? Enron?
Not the 1990s. Worldcom and Bernie Ebbers? Not the 90s. The stuff
that led to Sarbanes-Oxley? Not the 90s. What was the point of the
bringing up of this "epidemic" that didn't exist, never occurred, and
the individual unrelated incidents were not in the 90s?

>
> and the 9/11/01 terrorist attacks on NYC years in the planning which
> collectively sucked 24 trillions dollars and 7.8 million jobs out of the
> US economy even before G.W. Bush had time to unpack his suitcases in the
> White House.
>

George bush was elected and took office in 2000. He was in office and
HAD RECEIVED WARNINGS about these events. Trying to deflect
responsibility for his stuff... well he proved AFTERWARDS his inabilty
to go after the terrorists (Afghanistan) and his obsession with
completing Dad's work in Iraq. Still ---
if it sucked 7.8 million jobs, how could the guy say in the beginning of
the note that unemployment is at an all time low? WHich is it?
if it sucked 24T dollars out of the economy why is there no such
reference in any publication, and how could this suckage occur AND YET
the market continues its trend and INFLATION continues its trend and
HOME VALUES continue their trend. Answer: the "facts" in the above
paragraph are pure hogwash.

>
> It's easy for the Democrats to attempt to discredit, disgrace and defame
> our commander in chief, George W. Bush -- that's what they do. What's
> not so easy for them to do is to refute irrefutable facts, no matter how
> they might try.
>

Right. You can't refute irrefutable facts. You can refute the bullshit
above.

>
> Do yourself and this country of ours a favor and don't be a mindless
> sheep or a blind liberal lap dog, bent on hate and blame-shifting simply
> in the name of hate and blame-shifting. Take heed of reality, use your
> head and cast your vote wisely in the upcoming elections. The stakes
> are far too high today, as America's very future, and yes, even its very
> survival is now at stake.
>

Do yourself a favor and don't be a mindless re-mailer of non-facts,
half-truths, twisted reduction-ad-absurdiums, as well as just plain lies.

Do yourself a favor. Don't be a DIVIDER, be a JOINER, and share this
message withthose people you "blessed" with your previous note.

>
> God bless America.
>

To he who sent this to you: Welcome to America. God does not bless
liars, hypocrites, and idiots. Try not to be one.

Thursday, December 28, 2006

DSC04459AZLEAF.jpg

foto from phoenix.

i got this forwarded to me this morning. it exemplifies the brand name conditioned logo thought that dominates political discourse today. what do you think?


"This is one that resonates. Please send it to everyone that you know.

By now you've all seen the Democrats' latest campaign slogan:

* "A New Direction For America -- Vote DEMOCRATIC!" *

Let's analyze this:

The stock market is at a new all-time high and America's 401K's are
back. A new direction from there means what?

Unemployment is at 25 year lows. A new direction from there means what?

Oil prices are plummeting. A new direction from there means what?

Taxes are at 20 year lows. A new direction from there means what?

Feeral tax revenues are at all-time highs. A new direction from there
means what?

The Federal deficit is down almost 50%, just as predicted over last
year. A new direction from there means what?

Home valuations are up 200% over the past 3.5 years. A new direction
from there means what?

Inflation is in check, hovering at 20 year lows. A new direction from
there means what?

Not a single terrorist attack on US soil since 9/11/01. A new direction
from there means what?

Osama bin Laden is living under a rock in a dark cave, having not
surfaced in years, if he's alive at all, while 95% of Al Queda's top
dogs are either dead or in custody, cooperating with US Intel. A new
direction from there means what?

Several major terrorist attacks already thwarted by US and British
Intel, including the recent planned attack involving 10 Jumbo Jets being
exploded in mid-air over major US cities in order to celebrate the
anniversary of the 9/11/01 attacks A new direction from there means
what?

Just as Bush had planned and foretold us of on a number of occasions,
Iraq was to be made "ground zero" for the war on terrorism -- and just
as Bush said they would, terrorist cells from all over the region are
alighting the shadows of their hiding places and flooding into Iraq in
order to get their faces blown off by US Marines rather than boarding
planes and heading to the United States to wage war on us here. A new
direction from there means what?

Moreover, bear in mind that all of the above occurred in the face of the
1999 tech crash, the epidemic of corporate scandals throughout the 90's,
and the 9/11/01 terrorist attacks on NYC years in the planning which
collectively sucked 24 trillions dollars and 7.8 million jobs out of the
US economy even before G.W. Bush had time to unpack his suitcases in the White House.

It's easy for the Democrats to attempt to discredit, disgrace and defame
our commander in chief, George W. Bush -- that's what they do. What's
not so easy for them to do is to refute irrefutable facts, no matter how they might try.

Do yourself and this country of ours a favor and don't be a mindless
sheep or a blind liberal lap dog, bent on hate and blame-shifting simply
in the name of hate and blame-shifting. Take heed of reality, use your
head and cast your vote wisely in the upcoming elections. The stakes
are far too high today, as America's very future, and yes, even its very survival is now at stake.

God bless America

Monday, December 25, 2006

DSC05576natscreen.jpg

my grandaughter natalie looking down the line. what do you suppose she sees?

i visited my posts from christmas es past.

from 2001:

woven wonder
delightful heart
simple enough: only start
complex beauty
accelerates pain
like the sky jewel
accepts the rain
it is nothing
converse with care
mind images dancing
written in air


2002:


well i'm not running and i'm not hiding but it's not christmas anymore. i guess cause it's the day after in 30 minutes.

no resolutions - i already (didn't) do them.

i guess i guess that i will pay more attention to focus in the next year, or maybe focus on attention more.

That's if nothing comes up to distract me, like the world and stuff.

which world? why, all of them. so far.

2003:

day after xmas. posting so vast throngs of modernpeasants out there - or here - know i'm all right and it's all good.

beautiful drive down the mountains yesterday, saw everything with new eyes so to speak.

spent yesterday and last night at eli & melissa's, good company, everything moves slow and clear enough to be just what it is, and it is a blessing. good times.

2004:



i'll be under my bed till the dust clears.




2005:



the last day of the year. i get flashes of ancestors huddled in caves dreaming while the icepack outside decides to fade away. hibernation heebie-jeebies.

i don't think I've posted the image above before, but it is a rubbing taken from les oiseux qui rit neanderthal cave complex high in the mountains between france and spain.

but that's another story.

here is another one. lately it has been running in and out of my mind from time to time so i read it this morning:

September 1, 1939

I sit in one of the dives
On Fifty-second Street
Uncertain and afraid
As the clever hopes expire
Of a low dishonest decade:
Waves of anger and fear
Circulate over the bright
And darkened lands of the earth,
Obsessing our private lives;
The unmentionable odour of death
Offends the September night.
Accurate scholarship can
Unearth the whole offence
From Luther until now
That has driven a culture mad,
Find what occurred at Linz
What huge imago made
A psychopathic god:
I and the public know
What all schoolchildren learn,
Those to whom evil is done
Do evil in return.

Exiled Thucydides knew
All that a speech can say
About Democracy,
And what dictators do,
The elderly rubbish they talk
To an apathetic grave;
Analysed all in his book,
The enlightenment driven away,
The habit-forming pain,
Mismanagement and grief:
We must suffer them all again.

Into this neutral air
Where blind skyskrapers use
Their full height to proclaim
The strength of Collective Man,
Each language pours its vain
Competitive excuse:
But who can live for long
In an euphoric dream;
Out of the mirror they stare,
Imperialism's face
And the international wrong.

Faces along the bar
Cling to their average day:
The lights must never go out,
The music must always play,
All the conventions conspire
To make this fort assume
The furniture of home;
Lest we should see where we are,
Lost in a haunted wood,
Children afraid of the night
Who have never been happy or good.

The windiest militant trash
Important Persons shout
Is not so crude as our wish:
What mad Nijinsky wrote
About Diaghilev
Is true of the normal heart;
For the error bred in the bone
Of each woman and each man
Craves what it cannot have,
Not universal love
But to be loved alone.

From the conservative dark
Into the ethical life
The dense commuters come,
Repeating their morning vow;
'I will be true to the wife,
I'll concentrate more on my work,'
And helpless governors wake
To resume their compulsory game:
Who can release them now,
Who can reach the deaf,
Who can speak for the dumb?

All I have is a voice
To undo the folded lie,
The romantic lie in the brain
Of the sensual man-in-the-street
And the lie of Authority
Whose buildings grope the sky:
There is no such thing as the State
And no one exists alone;
Hunger allows no choice
To the citizen or the police;
We must love one another or die.

Defenceless under the night
Our world in stupor lies;
Yet, dotted everywhere,
Ironic points of light
Flash out wherever the Just
Exchange their messages:
May I, composed like them
Of Eros and of dust,
Beleaguered by the same
Negation and despair,
Show an affirming flame.

W.H. Auden

Sunday, December 24, 2006

nicole got off, heading east. should arrive about five.

another beautiful day. we took a short walk to the store.

a flurry of unfocus this morning as i rushed to print this and that for nicole to take with her, presents for my children and grandchildren.

long ago, when i was exiled to arizona, i either made a concious deciscion (which i doubt) or found myself giving xmas presents that i had made, not bought. i've been doing this for a longtime now, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

so this christmas seems very easy, very light weight. tomorrow i think i'll drive up to the parkway.

jigsaw.jpg

dou you, as i, feel that in a few days a release will happen? something to do with the circle of the year, the solstice, and, to use a phrase once familiar to many, the ruins of circular time.

Friday, December 22, 2006

x5x10.jpg

Thursday, December 21, 2006

DSC05804tomm.jpg

solstice? winter?

don't know but i remain fascinated by this image which i keep playing with.

a few days before xmas and i have yet to turn on heat. i guess i did use it a couple of evenings awhile back, but not for some time now.

so is the weather changing? of course. that's what it does.

Wednesday, December 20, 2006

K2.jpg

a kerouac doodle. totally out of ideas today. thank goodness.

if i could play the guitar like hooker, the piano like bud powell or teddy wilson, paint like kandinski, and sit like ramana maharishi, what deserted train station would i be stranded at around midnight? how many trains would arrive suddenly? would somebody be selling oranges out of a basket when they arrive?

would waves of insect chorus cascade thru the 100 watt bulb illumination?

and would maps be freely available and if so, why?

Tuesday, December 19, 2006

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yesterday: cleared out closets, turned one into storage space for large useless objects, like midi keyboard hard case, boxes of photos etc. Rearranged computer room, recabled everything placing cables out of way, taped labels on in and outs. archived many photos, sent a few more xmas cards, dropped laundry off in leicester, stopped at pharmacy to pick up too many meds. today calls for another trip to leicester to pick up laundry, stop at staples for 2 color ink cartridges, finish shuffling objects, clean kitchen and bath, continue watercolor i started last night.

isn't life exciting?

Sunday, December 17, 2006

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weird photo taken in the dark. i am going to turn this blog into a "one a day" foto/ art/ music blog so look out for changes.

i'm feeling more and more at home with solitude. time for a change? at home with that too.

the body is our only home. and the soul contains the body.

this from book i mentioned yesterday.

i could not publish this post - blogger acting funny i don't know why - so i'm adding to it. it's now early monday morning. had a huge day yesterday moving large physical objects around, sorting thru data disks, gouping labeling etc. today i have to continue. i figure it's a four day job. working, you understand, slowly and unsteadily as is my present custom.

meanwhile in and out of new music set-up, unsnarling cables etc.

visited t and kim briefly, let the dust settle here.

Saturday, December 16, 2006

dec15wc06.jpg

hmmm... finished this watercolor last night. too blue on my monitor.

ready for giant cleanup tomorrow.

i have been tied up for the last ten days or so with a new configuration of electronic modules, all winking and blinking at me as if crying out "fix me! make me work!", which hasn't quite happened yet.

the way it looks to me there is a certain time that arrives when you can organize what you've done or assist creative novelty into the world and oneself and let it organize itself.

Friday, December 15, 2006

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another cyberdoodle, this one taken on the last leg home from the exotic west. it was taken in NC on hwy 40 heading east towards aville. interesting how it seems to drag the western sunset along with it.

the book i'm reading now - in short brief bursts, which seems to be the way i have come to read - marshall macluhan redux - is Anam Cara -- A Book of Celtic Wisdom (with a dot over the "c") by john o'donohue. i like it very much, despite the blurb on the cover by deepak chopra, mostly because of the frequent sentences that float by reflecting some sort of deep resonance with... what? something that has meaning, but no meaning i can describe. a few examples grabbed at random:

"the year is a circle."

"the body is your only home in the universe."

"in the human face, the anonymity of the universe becomes intimate."

"part of the wisdom of spiritual soulful self-presence is to be able to let certain aspects of your life alone. this is the art of spiritual noninterference."

"... silence is one of the great victims of modern culture. we live in an intense and visually aggressive age; everything is drawn outwards toward the sensation of image... with the continued netting of everything, chosen images can immediately attain universality."

Thursday, December 14, 2006

DSC05455E.jpg

yesterday was a thought provoking one. going thru my mail i found something that resulted in a quick visit to the county social services. something affecting medicare. when i got there i was in a different world than the branded secular commercial world we "live" in. nobody in the building was "pretty" or healthy in the manner of the neon world.

but there was quiet conversation and no problem with any "negative" attitudes.

got home and completely enmeshed in reconfiguring what is turning out to be a multi-media production rig. step by step, got it up and running by 7pm.


time to go to "drinking liberally" asheville style.

arrived about 8. lots folks crowding bar, nonone i knew. so young, so colorful and bright. i walked to another place where i thought DL homebase might have been changed to during my absence. same deal, so i drove back home.

was i angry? no. it was a good if pointless outing. perhaps i should say "good because pointless.

anyway, back in my domestic module i booted up computer and noticed it was wednesday, not thursday. i was a day early.

so i'll go tonight: hope i'm not a day late.

Wednesday, December 13, 2006

stamp.jpg

taken out front door night before last.

got a lot done yesterday but i don't exactly remember what.

as someone once said, my nightlife is killing my daylife.

but for entirely different reasons.

my need for white noise when i sleep has been a constant for most of my life and been supplied at times by 1) an ocean; 2) wind in the pines AKA high lonesome; 3) a.m. radioland turned down low; 4) fan.

lately it's been the radio, and it has taken on an isolated dark tone. pieces of our world unraveling:

no fish in the ocean in 40 years
no ice in the artic summers
intersection of critters: west nile, aids, malaria, other surprises
syntax replaced by proximity
neon light replacing the stars
organizations of all kinds becoming paradies of themselves
meaningless sex a la mode
daily running amuck; ie someone with a weapon in a public space

Tuesday, December 12, 2006

bark.jpg


listened to a coast2coast rerun last night. subject: the contemporary proliferation of evil. a metaphysical question. opinions, thoughtful and wacky.

back in the days when the web or something like it was dimly visible over the horizon, there was a feeling that information and communication would be instantly available to all; now that now is here, it is interesting to take note of what words are becoming. who would have thought emails would sling all over the cyberworld words like these that i recieved yesterday?

"garibaldi taken palindromic paintbrush scab algaecide dream special devil . , slip detriment lenten barber jackpot rebelled coriander washout homosexual winifred injustice bate cytosine corey sheave durance signpost severalty graven meritorious carbonic . may in ridiculous pond convair alike ginkgo archival botch augustan imperil divisor steam merriment bridgewater shrank gastronomy glassine it."

shades of william burroughs.

Monday, December 11, 2006


whatever. pic taken from hospital roomette window where fiend is temporarily lodged. talked to nicole yesterday who is coming up for brief visit to old collage reunion friends. is it next weekend?

MORE


found a thing out. festina lente, a saying i am fond of, and a possible cure for many of today's dilemmas, was used by manutius, as the "colophon" for the first book publishing house.

Festina lente (said Aldus Manutius)

did i find this out by industrially combing the web for information?

no, i found it out by eating breakfast. one of my many habits is to browse (not read) a book while i eat and i grabbed a copy of the discoverers by boorstein.

browsing and puttering are my modes.

Saturday, December 9, 2006

DSC05602E.jpg


seems like i'm out of everything daily maintenance-wise: stamps, glasses, furry hat for cold, gas cap, prefrontal cortex, you know, the usual. then again i know they are not lost, i just can't put my hands on them.

picture above: one treatment of granddaughter lily whirling like a dervish. probably will skip source of these psychodoodles in the future because thery are just words that interfere with just image. still the early morning image i pull out of a hat each morning is the only healthy addiction i have at present so it's a present.

Friday, December 8, 2006

DSC05558E.jpg

yet another travelogue pic, this one from eli & melissa's yard in chatham county.

no or very little sleep last night which is not that unusual. what is unusual is i was up and active until 3 AM. fooling with routers and organizing paints. started a watercolor which is going to be my main preoccupation for awhile.

i'm not planning, just doing.

but what i really want to talk about is billie holiday and bob dylan. they both have something in common besides being discovered by john hammond sr.

there is a piece of vintage film i have seen several times. filmed in late 30's? black and white footage of lady day singing with a small group, believe ben webster is on sax.

billie's face is the center of interest. flickers of dreams light up her face as with eyes closed she "plays" with the group. the slightest subtle changes illuminate what she is doing, all in all ultracommunication with the players and the music. the subtlety and restraint makes her contribution that much more intense.



this might not be the footage i remember - or think i remember - but it is the same session, i recall gerry mulligan and webster, but not the flash you see of lester young. if i can find the footage i have in mind i'll put it up, but this ain't bad.

dylan's last cd modern times deluxe features a bonus dvd (first one i ever owned). the last of 4 cuts is a video of him and band playing cold irons bound. the intensity, grace, focus and total collaboration with the music and band is unmistakable even though offhand and possibly too microscopic to observe, altho i think it hits me in the face as billie's footage does.

both of these recorded moments are in another league from "music videos". they are as close to manifesting the soul or spirit as any footage i have ever witnessed, and i use the term advisedly.

Thursday, December 7, 2006

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photo taken in the middle of the sonoran desert. honest.

idiogrammatically it reads duck not in a row.

i am really slopping around now, bouncing from one task to another and accomplishing not much.

so today must be, has to be, there is no other option: kleenup day.

during which i hope to find: missing library book; steel slide for dobro; many pages scattered here and there of notes about something or another; strips and lancet device for glucose meter; laundry - coming (clean) and going (wash) - and small bag of false teeth accoutrements.

Wednesday, December 6, 2006

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yet another photo from phoenix. along a canal, water.

doctor's appt at 12 today. lots of loose ends to do, bills, banks, library.

i came back with notion to spend no more than 30 minutes a day recording and mixing audio and painting the rest of the day. so far, mostly because i totally took apart audio recodring software and hardware, it's been the reverse. but i am

getting it together.

ran across this just a moment ago from t's blog. i am assuming rod brezney wrote it. whoever did, amen.

"
PRAYER FOR YOU

by Rob Brezsney

This is a perfect moment. It's a perfect moment because I have been
inspired to say a gigantic prayer. I've been roused to unleash a divinely
greedy, apocalyptically healing prayer for each and every one of you—
even those of you who don't believe in the power of prayer.

And so I am starting to pray right now to the God of Gods … the God
beyond all Gods … the Girlfriend of God … the Teacher of God … the
Goddess who invented God.


DEAR GODDESS, you who never kill but only change:

I pray that my exuberant, suave, and accidental words will move you to
shower ferocious blessings down on everyone who reads this benediction.

I pray that you will give them what they don't even know they need—not
just the boons they think they want but everything they've always been
afraid to even imagine or ask for.


DEAR GODDESS, you wealthy anarchist burning heaven to the ground:

Many of the divine chameleons out there don't even know that their souls
will live forever.

So please use your brash magic to help them see that they are all wildly
creative geniuses too big for their own personalities.

Guide them to realize that they are all completely different from what
they've been led to believe about themselves, and more exciting than
they can possibly imagine.

Make it illegal, immoral, irrelevant, unpatriotic, and totally tasteless for
them to be in love with anyone or anything that's no good for them.


O GODDESS, you who give us so much love and pain mixed together that
our morality is always on the verge of collapsing:

I beg you to cast a boisterous love spell that will nullify all the dumb
ideas, bad decisions, and nasty conditioning that have ever cursed the
wise and sexy virtuosos out there.

Remove, banish, annihilate, and laugh into oblivion any jinx that has clung
to them, no matter how long they've suffered from it, and even if they
have become accustomed or addicted to its ugly companionship.

Please conjure an aura of protection around them so that they will receive
an early warning if they are ever about to act in such a way as to bring
another hex or plague into their lives in the future.


DEAR GODDESS, sweet Goddess, you sly universal virus with no freaking
opinion:

Please help all the personal growth addicts out there to become
disciplined enough to go crazy in the name of creation, not destruction.

Teach them the difference between oppressive self-control and liberating
self-control.

Awaken in them the power to do the half-right thing when it is impossible
to do the totally right thing.

Arouse the Wild Woman within them—even if they're men.


DEAR GODDESS, you pregnant slut who scorns all mediocre longing:

I pray that you will inspire all the compassionate rascals communing with
this prayer to kick their own asses and wash their own brains.

Provoke them to throw away or give away all the things they own that
encourage them to believe that they are better than anyone else.

Show them how much fun it is to brag about what they cannot do and do
not have.

Give them bigger, better, more original sins and wilder, wetter, more
interesting problems.

Most of all, Goddess, brainwash them with your freedom so that they
never love their own pain more than anyone else's pain.


O GODDESS, you wildly disciplined, radically curious, shockingly friendly,
fanatically balanced, mysteriously truthful, teasingly healing, lyrically
logical master of rowdy bliss:

Cultivate in yourself a fervent yearning for the intimate companionship of
these budding messiahs. Play with them every day. Answer their
questions. Listen to their stories. Inspire them to love you so much they
lose all their hatred forever.


DEAR GODDESS, you psychedelic mushroom cloud at the center of all our
brains:

Bless the insanely poised creators out there with lucid dreams while they
are wide awake. Provide them with their own spin doctors, and vacuum
cleaners for their magic carpets, and solar-powered sex toys that work
even in the dark.

Give them a knack for avoiding other people's hells, and a thousand masks
that all represent their true feelings, and secret admirers who are not
psychotic stalkers.

Arrange for a racehorse to be named after them, or an underground river,
or a thousand-year-old storm on Saturn.

Teach them to be their own prophets and pray to themselves and right
their own wrongs and sing their own songs and be their own wives and
save their own lives.


DEAR GODDESS, you riotously tender, hauntingly reassuring, orgiastically
sacred feeling that is even now running through all of our soft, warm
animal bodies:

I pray that you provide all the original sinners out there with a license to
bend and even break all rules, laws, and traditions that keep them apart
from the things they love.

Show them how to purge the wishy-washy wishes that distract them from
their daring, dramatic, divine desires.

And teach them that they can have anything they want if they'll only ask
for it in an unselfish way.


And now dear God of Gods, God beyond all Gods, Girlfriend of God,
Teacher of God, Goddess who invented God, I bring this prayer to a close,
trusting that in these mysterious moments you have begun to change
everyone out there in the exact way they've needed to change in order to
become the gorgeous geniuses they were born to be. Amen. Awomen.


P.S. Goddess: And please also give them each an emerald green
parachute, ruby slippers, a canoe covered with jewels, a black-market
orchid and a bouquet of organic broccoli, a donkey clown piƱata full of
crickets, a protective gargoyle lifted from the Chartres Cathedral, a guitar
string actually played by Jimi Hendrix, a strawberry chocolate cake baked
in the shape of a question mark, a human DNA map drawn up by the
Human Genome Project, fistfuls of sparklers, a bottle of holy water from
the River Jordan, photos of lightning on a giant poster, a refrigerator
magnet cast in the likeness of the Dalai Lama, and the key of life
accidentally placed insid e a box of Cracker Jack."
cross-posted from http://eyesinthepine.zaadz.com/blog".

Tuesday, December 5, 2006

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the night journey. taken sat while driving home. enhanced by pshop.

dark, huh?

been installing and organizing apps and files on computers. and clearing the decks of domestic logjam. have much to do today, beginning significantly enough with putting out the garbage which i have to do right now before the weekly roar of the truck approaches.

the next few weeks will take a lot of balance on my part. not my strong suit.

Monday, December 4, 2006


yet another image from my last voyage out west. met him at a cowboy bar in barstow ca. he stole my boots.

Sunday, December 3, 2006


back. from. long. trip.

i'll write about it in a few days.

because i'm just not into verbal discrirtion nowdays.

but it was a good trip, renewel of ancient friendships, the slow tilt of the kosmos showing on every face, and the invisible luminosity of grace peeking thru.

meanwhile a picture i took on the last leg back, sat twilight of hwy 40.