Tuesday, September 30, 2008

globeandmail.com: Dylan to stream next album

globeandmail.com: Dylan to stream next album:
"Bob Dylan's new album will be released one week early as a free online stream on National Public Radio's website.

NPR Music will stream the entire two-CD, Tell Tale Signs, beginning at 12:01 a.m. EDT Tuesday. It will be available for listening at least until Oct. 7, when the album is officially released by Columbia Records."

Monday, September 29, 2008


the endless simplification. yearlong cleanup at home starting to pay off. yesterday i was into closets and among the items found were two of the above. i-ching coins from who knows when. before new year i might even find the third one.

today i get into CD & DVD disks used in projects and backups. a headache job a more methodical person would not have to look forward to.

economic meltdown: the fix is or will be an extension of the problem. same oligharchs, same metaphysics - what is value? - and same answer - value is more value. the infinite regress of smoke and mirrors.

Sunday, September 28, 2008



'nother beautiful day. been lashed to the computer for awhile. modernpeasant video presence should manifest soon.

was going to the BlogAsheville third anniversary do last night. to see a few old friends. haven't been real active in this group of late. but they are rolling and the 3rd annual extravaganza there were i'm sure a lot of new bloggers in attendance.

but i got a call from some friends that have just returned from a 6000 mile jaunt to glacier national park hauling firewood, a motorcycle and two dogs. adventure still has a place in the world so spent a quiet evening with (now) old friends,

Saturday, September 27, 2008


photp iaken by the side if the road after a truck breakdown. few years back.

i've been assembling video collection online. ready in a few days.

i now have my first neighbor in a few years. turns out to be ninian's friend matilda.

i watched the debate. sort of. i was practicing scales on the dobro which kept my attention from the box whose look and feel to me was so archaic and stylized. it was like a bad memory. the camera angle on pbs anyway was of interest: camera on left showing both "contestants" put mccain closer, bigger and obama in background, apparently mccain had been dosed w/ some drug that made him totally unaware of another presence on stage so he monologued like a stump speech. obama was relegated to the background looking exaserbated at mcmain trying to get a word in edgewise. all in all i imagine the buzz this morning will be that mccain "won". i have no idea what either one of them said and don't think it matters

Friday, September 26, 2008


don't know about you but i had a very unusual day yesterday. endocrinologist appt at 11. the doctor took one look at my left foot and more or less freaked, sending me immediately to st joe emergency room to see an internal disease specialist. i arrived and was put into nice little cubical with one of those nice new very expensive hospital beds. blood was drawn and the very pleasant nurse was the last person i saw for 2 1/2 hours. i fell asleep. when i woke up i left the nap place and told the staff i had been forgotten. flurry of activity. i got dressed and ready to leave. the doctor who was in charge encouraged me to stay, that blood work had been done and the doctor was on his way. turned out to be a nice and very competent doc, and told me there was no problem.

the nap was about the most restful time i have spent in a long time and i guess i surprised the staff by being calm cool and pleasant. i mentioned to the nurse that it was absolutely the last time i would go to the hospital w/out a book. so she rustled up three, one of which was the first eagle by tony hillerman. i had thought i had read all of his books but this is a new one and i took it home.

so what happened? my endocrinologist simply was making sure the bad thing was not happening which would be cellulitus turning into drug resistant staph and morphing into "flesh eating bacteria" which is not happening.

the doc also told me to walk which was good to hear.

Thursday, September 25, 2008

the republicans "have merely been using populism as cover for the Establishment's most enduring wet dream: an unregulated economy; that freest, hands-off, carefree, happy-go-lucky, socially Darwinistic marketplace of clear winners and losers."
buzzflash

Wednesday, September 24, 2008


what a mess. i've got a bum leg that may take 6 weeks to be right - i hope. was going to camp out for three days with a large circle of new old friends but that is not happening now. plus there is a problem w/ getting gas in the area that may take a week to resolve. of course it may take forever.

the masters of the universe have one day left to "fix" the economy. what a dismal joke. what is it, $300 billion to be used to buy what won't sell and no law applies? he could buy you and me and that would be that. come to think of it, maybe it is a good thing to make a law that law does not apply to the "fix", since the dept of justice has become an arm of the big criminals and little more.

a democracy requires the rule of law. a fascist dictatorship requires smoke and mirrors - and that is what our economy is made of today - and no giggling.

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Crooks and Liars : The Shock Doctrine: The evil of “Disaster Capitalism”:
"There has been no shortage of books chronicling the dystopia that is the Bush Administration. And in this job, I’ve read quite a few of them. None of them have made as powerful an impact as Naomi Klein’s The Shock Doctrine. I promise you, it will change how you look at government policy and responses. It also finally sealed forever, for me at least, the coffin of the utter bollocks of Friedman economics. Listen to me carefully, you free market fanatics: FRIEDMAN. POLICIES. DO. NOT. WORK. PERIOD. His version of ‘free market economics’ STIFLES democracy. They create an oligarchy that is the opposite of democracy."

Marc Cooper: We Want You: Join HuffPost's On-The-Ground Citizen Reporting Brigade

Marc Cooper: We Want You: Join HuffPost's On-The-Ground Citizen Reporting Brigade:
"As Campaign '08 comes to a dramatic close are you as bored, frustrated and often outraged as we are about the blizzard of totally predictable media bloviating that seems to blanket us 24/7? Then help fight back by enlisting in the growing army of HuffPost's OffTheBus citizen reporters. After you sign up for our Special Ops reporting team, we'll be issuing weekly assignments targeted at your local communities. Our ranks are open to everyone, everywhere, but we're especially interested in those living in battleground states who can regularly report. And those who are adventurous, curious, and passionate about communicating their observations and experiences to a national audience."

Donald Craig Mitchell: McCain Camp Lawyer Illegally Advising In Alaska; Palin Attorney General In Hiding

Donald Craig Mitchell: McCain Camp Lawyer Illegally Advising In Alaska; Palin Attorney General In Hiding:
"The first new development was the decision by the McCain presidential campaign to fly New York City attorney Edward O'Callaghan into Anchorage to elbow Palin attorney Tom Van Flein aside and assume command of the governor's effort to run out the clock on the investigation until after the November election.

O'Callaghan told Newsweek that 'he and another McCain campaign lawyer (whom he declined to identify) are serving as legal 'consultants' to Thomas Van Flein, the Anchorage lawyer who at state expense is representing Palin and her office in the [Troopergate] inquiry. 'We are advising Thomas Van Flein on this matter to the extent that it impacts on the national campaign. I'm helping out on legal strategy.''

The pickle O'Callaghan's wagging tongue has gotten its owner into is that, pursuant to Alaska Statute 8.08.230, a person who is not a member of the Alaska Bar who while physically present in Alaska 'engages in the practice of law' is guilty of a class A misdemeanor. And in Alaska the 'practice of law' includes 'rendering legal consultation or advice.'"

David Schrader: Last Exit Before The Abyss

David Schrader: Last Exit Before The Abyss: "after years of supporting massive de-regulation and profiting from unnecessary war, oil speculation, and the buildup of a phony 'ownership society' stuffed with junk loans, they and their cronies have finally driven the SUV completely off the cliff."


if the fictional "we" - you may remember "john q. public" - were living in other times, other places - we would know we had been raped and pillaged. the masters of the universe have run a con game on humans, and the old story is reaching another climax.

to be ready for it may be a contradiction in terms.

Monday, September 22, 2008

Congressional Leaders Stunned by Warnings - NYTimes.com

Congressional Leaders Stunned by Warnings - NYTimes.com:
"As Senator Christopher J. Dodd, Democrat of Connecticut and chairman of the Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, put it Friday morning on the ABC program “Good Morning America,” the congressional leaders were told “that we’re literally maybe days away from a complete meltdown of our financial system, with all the implications here at home and globally.”"

Sunday, September 21, 2008

September Surprise- by Justin Raimondo

September Surprise- by Justin Raimondo:
"I don't see why the defeat of the Georgians in Saakashvili's war on the Ossetians has to mean the plan to strike Iran via Georgia has been canceled."

Time: New McCain Attack Ad Plays Race Card

Time: New McCain Attack Ad Plays Race Card
surprise

Huff TV: Arianna on the CBS Early Show Discussing the Politics of Palin

Huff TV: Arianna on the CBS Early Show Discussing the Politics of Palin
a far sighted women, i hope she is right.

Menachem Rosensaft: McCain Campaign Cries Wolf Over Anti-Iran Rally Fiasco

McCain Campaign Cries Wolf Over Anti-Iran Rally Fiasco:
"The organizers had initially invited Governor Palin without ever contacting, let alone inviting, anyone from the Obama campaign. When they finally issued a belated invitation to the Obama side, it was accepted, and a prominent Democratic Member of Congress was going to speak at the rally. The organizers then disinvited both Governor Palin and Representative Wexler. And whom does the GOP hold responsible for this fiasco? Barack Obama, of course."

Dan Lyons: A Gloomy Vista for Microsoft | Newsweek Daniel Lyons | Techtonic Shifts | Newsweek.com

A Gloomy Vista for Microsoft :
"'Nobody here looks at Vista as a fiasco,' says Brad Brooks, a Microsoft marketing vice president. If that's true, and nobody at Microsoft thinks Vista has been a public-relations nightmare, then the company is in trouble."


nice photo. somewhere in NC.

am not hitting on all cylinders. bum leg but it is getting better. i can hobble along pretty well.

hope i'm well enough to camp out in surry county next weekend.

Saturday, September 20, 2008

When Their Mouth Is Moving ... | BlueNC

When Their Mouth Is Moving ... | BlueNC:
"During the debates that took place during the Constitution's ratification conventions, it was specifically stated that lying to Congress about matters of war would be an impeachable offense. Congress has also made it a crime."


the election: third-world shenanigans. evade the noise machine and you will discover that high crimes and felonies have been looting and pillaging the nation's wealth for a long time, probably forever, but certainly since reagon.

i can't find the book i was going to quote which is a must read for anyone dissatisfied with rule by (fictitious) story line. disaster capitalism by naomi klien.

the only phrase i can remember from it is "rolling coup", a little more descriptive than my own "invisible coup".

anyway this century's fascist take over goes something like this: anything "public" is for sale. the military, the hospitals, prisons, infrastructure and so on. usually done via no bid contract. cost plus. to profit making entities. note that tax dollars paid for most of this stuff. also of great interest is the notion that should one of these unregulated entities fail to profit or actually lose money, they are backstopped by infusion of more tax dollars.

forget adam smith's dictum, "one man's greed can benefit the public".

the "tax and spend" rep that the republicans successfully trot out is, like most of the republican talking points, some sort of defense mechanism, complimentary to the truth. as the broad post ww2 middle class becomes a memory, the real action is "tax and steal it".

Friday, September 19, 2008

i'm layed up for a few days w/ slight but painful ding on the shin. antibiotics. will lay down elevate foot for three days. over and out.

Homeland Security team up for surveillance project :
"'They will analyze for subtle changes, such as people forming in groups or loitering,' said Nick Lombardo of the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, project manager for the field test."

Medicare Reaches Out to Caregivers - The New Old Age Blog - NYTimes.com:
"This is why we are a third world country.

Pay taxes for a lifetime and then find that we have no national healthcare system at the end of our days."

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

BBC NEWS | Special Reports | Vote USA 2008 | Washington diary: Troubled times:
"In the rolling, rollicking ballad that is American politics, last week was dominated by burlesque musings on pigs and lip-stick.
A trader on the New York Stock Exchange
The bad news from Wall Street now dominates the campaign

This week is overshadowed by the bleak realisation that we are all at the mercy of forces well beyond our control."

BBC NEWS | Business | Turmoil sends US stocks tumbling:
"President George W Bush has not answered questions on the economic situation and had cancelled a statement he was set to make on Tuesday.

When asked by a reporter in the Oval Office on Wednesday to comment, Mr Bush said he had not heard the question and joked: 'I'm old.'"

BBC NEWS | Special Reports | 'Emergency' fear for 220m people:
"the number of people living 'on the edge of emergency' has nearly doubled to 220m in just two years, one of the world's biggest aid agencies has said."


another day another holler.

still have not joined obama effort. knocking on doors and telephone banks are not in my skill set. feel the need to put into words what this election signifies. maybe tonight.

hope to drive to doug's hideout near celo tomorrow and camp out a day or two. might take a drive from there around the north of linville gorge to the base of hawk's bill mountain. might climb it and return to hideout for another night.

Tuesday, September 16, 2008


nicest day we've had since spring. that i remember.

Monday, September 15, 2008

Barack Obama and Joe Biden: The Change We Need | "Honor" -- On the air...
a new ad by the obama folks. it is exactly the right direction, i repeat what i have been saying, obama and biden quickly need to stop responding to each day's meaningless meme tossed into the cloud of attention grabbers and instead talk about the process pf cartoon electororial shennanigans.

Amazon.com:
The Image: A Guide to Pseudo-Events in America: Daniel J. Boorstin: Books
:
"nor is this a book describing the ills of the world. it's an essay describing the changing nature of the world in which we live. if we are to be active participants on this world, we should be informed and study how it changes. technology's effects are not demonized, their impact is just described.

the age of the book, some 40 years or so, makes some of the events under discussion seem quaint or outmoded, but frankly they're just a foundation of today's media.

highly reccomended."

i read this book years ago and thought it was the clearest exposition of how and why commerce and poiltics currently bumble along in a haze of imagery instead of discourse. i thought it was out of print. but it is available thru amazon and you'd better read it.

Finance | Air America Radio:
"It was a busy weekend for the magical money people of high finance as they dragged more of the walking wounded from the killing fields of our economic meltdown."

reading naomi klein's shock doctrinehas reinforced my belief that the nation state is no longer the bedrock of our communal existence. it is instead the corporate power world: the small circle of good old boys who are tearing this world apart.

bubble after bubble collapsing, and when each does, they are paid for their pillaging by jail time (rarely) or money from the people.

Sunday, September 14, 2008


1:30 sunday already.

the news has been canceled. throw away yr tv.

i got first batch of postcards, i'll go downtown monday and flog them. maybe i can stand under a bridge to do this. they look great, unfortunately i forgot to include copyright.

Saturday, September 13, 2008

GOP Contempt: What This Election Is Coming Down To | BuzzFlash.org: "As the national conversation increasingly shifts from GOP charges to an examination of GOP charges and their contemptuous deployment, independent voters should start abandoning McCain-friendly territory en masse."

i like this statement, because it is exactly what obama must do. no tit for tat boucing sound bytes. instead RIGHT NOW he must respond to every lie by examining the republican methodology of making up anything to demean obama. the voters will respond to it, they hunger for discourse on the way the repugs take an obama posituve, eg big crowds, flip it to a negitive, eg a celebrity, and push it out the next day. and if it takes a lie to do it, no problem.

obama could change the discourse by not tit for tatting but simply point out why political discourse and the mccain stratagy cannot exist together.


another morning's work. my brother in law fred with his grandchild nic who i guess is my grand-nephew. photo from my sister i couldn't help messing with.

Friday, September 12, 2008



a morning's work. from an ink drawing circa mid 70's.

check this out: i got the email fwded sometime last week. wanted to post it to this blog. but didn't i'm well trained. so someone else did.

McClatchy Washington Bureau | 09/08/2008 | An e-mail to friends from Wasilla becomes Internet hit

My Way News - Creator of Web spots a flaw in Internet Explorer

My Way News - Creator of Web spots a flaw in Internet Explorer: "Tim Berners-Lee, the British-born inventor of the World Wide Web, says he doesn't like to express preferences among Web browsers. But he does have an issue with one of them: Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) (MSFT)'s Internet Explorer."

Thursday, September 11, 2008

Tom D'Antoni: Cindy McCain's Family Ties: Suds and Murder
i had an uncle who worked in the liquor distribution. if a tenth of the stories he told about the bizzness, mafia, and outright crime is true, the above link is the tip of another iceberg.

another gossip point: the lipstick on a pig buzz actually is a cliche, a slang phrase used by many, including mccain last summer talking about h. clinton. yesterday this could be viewed on youtube; today it has been "removed by contributor".

Wednesday, September 10, 2008



new - to me - site. got an email today w/ link. good and robust presentation you won't see on the corporate media.

http://www.goasheville.com/election/

Tuesday, September 9, 2008


obama and folks are blowing it. he has to back of off he said they said he said political pr blather and go ahead and talk like you or me. forget about code, or better yet, talk about code words.

"experience": code word for political hack at home w/ status quo. "earmarks": something that has been built into system and yes all congress has had to deal with them to do their job, including him, but he would like to change that. "elite"; he has been around the block, familiar with more than the mono-world of dc.

i saw part of interview w/ (shiver) o'reilly. he succinctly stated he would increase tax for superwealthy and lower it for remaining 95% of us, o'reilly shot back "class warfare". code word for rich against poor. refine code. the rich have declared war against the poor. and not recently. his tax proposal is attempt to end that war.

etc. etc. obama needs to quit defending himself against republican talking points. shake it off. point out the meaninglessness of this type of discourse and say it plain and clear. and start now.

good live performance of grateful dead below, click the link and take a break.


Internet Archive: Details: Grateful Dead Live at Swing Auditorium on 1977-02-26

Monday, September 8, 2008


yesterday during the eternal kleenup i recabled all hardware. my phone was out all day as well as Internet (for a few hours). also was printing color, but somehow the calibration drifted off. i messed with the phone and color on and off most of the day until good sense told me to start fresh today. i sorted thru color prints and paintings i had stored successfully.

i fixed phone this morning and short story is... very long.

the image above is gum bichromate i did living in a small house with wife and 4 beautiful children. talk about working in a tight space.

Saturday, September 6, 2008

yesterday the usual - eliminating redundant files from hard drives; getting there. printingpictures to go in frames; getting there. sorted and disposed of lots of tape cassettes; mostly old 4 tracks done in the nineties. some of the mixdowns were not bad. today the same, the end is not in sight. going to see the free movie at library this afternoon oh death by coen bros.

Friday, September 5, 2008

Thursday, September 4, 2008


ah yes right around the corner.

which reminds me, the word "experience" is one i've been experiencing.

the political circus i mean. in that domain the battle is of course over which side has the team experienced enough to run the machinery.

and in this regard palin's nomination somehow makes obama look like an effete egghead etc. IMHO it is the cultural wars that has never entirely gone away during my current phase (adulthood).

there is still a vast fear and unease between groups and identity, experience if you will.

if you won't it's

still

already all ready.

but we all experience self. the shorthand "experience=competence" is not always the case.

the republicans are masters at this game show.

the election gets more and more like reality show. like high school gossip.

the know-nothings have proptrf up the power masters for some while now.

possible way to break up this pattern is full on obama ads where he ignores political form and talks from a higher logical and personal ground: damned if he does - eastern educated pointy head liberal with documented plans on all fronts

or

inexperienced fuzzy lack of political maneuvers, all you know is that yr taxes will increase and be spent.

his branding machine needs to let him talk about these word games.

Tuesday, September 2, 2008


monday evening at tom and erin's.

got this email from denise in denver who attended obamarama:

Hi Chris - Well, it was a cross between a carnival and a police state. The streets were packed with people - like living in New York; there was art everywhere, all kinds of performances, people from everywhere. The Code Pink women, anarchists, Tent State folks, along with gobs of celebrities, both political and Hollywood. The most indelible memory though, will be the incredible energy in the air. Denverites, at least a lot of us, were excited to have this historic event in our city and, in a sense, it made the significance of the event even sharper. On Friday, I was thinking that I had an emotional hangover. Party's over, everyones gone home, now what?

Monday, September 1, 2008

got this email today:

Hey,
like you, we're sharing the memory today of the vets who made it possible for us to be camping in this great national park, free and unmolested, and for you to visit family, make art, clean house and enjoy the blessings of liberty.
Have a peaceful Memorial Day.

pretty much says it all.