June 26, 2009
THE QUESTION REMAINS
Song of Myself, III
I have heard what the talkers were talking, the talk of the
beginning and the end
But I do not talk of the beginning or the end.
There was never any more inception than there is now,
Nor any more youth or age than there is now,
And will never be any more perfection than there is now,
Nor any more heaven or hell than there is now.
Urge and urge and urge,
Always the procreant urge of the world.
Out of the dimness opposite equals advance, always substance and
increase, always sex,
Always a knit of identity, always distinction, always a breed of
life.
To elaborate is no avail, learn'd and unlearn'd feel that it is
so.
Sure as the most certain sure, plumb in the uprights, well
entretied, braced in the beams,
Stout as a horse, affectionate, haughty, electrical,
I and this mystery here we stand.
Clear and sweet is my soul, and clear and sweet is all that is not
my soul.
Lack one lacks both, and the unseen is proved by the seen,
Till that becomes unseen and receives proof in its turn.
Showing the best and dividing it from the worst age vexes age,
Knowing the perfect fitness and equanimity of things, while they
discuss I am silent, and go bathe and admire myself.
Welcome is every organ and attribute of me, and of any man hearty
and clean,
Not an inch nor a particle of an inch is vile, and none shall be
less familiar than the rest.
I am satisfied—I see, dance, laugh, sing;
As the hugging and loving bed-fellow sleeps at my side through the
night, and withdraws at the peep of the day with stealthy tread.
Leaving me baskets cover'd with white towels swelling the house
with their plenty,
Shall I postpone my acceptation and realization and scream at my
eyes,
That they turn from gazing after and down the road,
And forthwith cipher and show me to a cent,
Exactly the value of one and exactly the value of two, and which is
ahead?
--Walt Whitman
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June 25, 2009
A TERRIBLE BEAUTY IS BORN
Now and in time to be,
Wherever green is worn,
Are changed, changed utterly:
A terrible beauty is born.
-- William Butler Yeats
(song by Mike Scott)
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June 22, 2009
June 18, 2009
IRAN III
Translation:
"First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.” -- Mahatma Gandhi
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June 17, 2009
IRAN II
update: the MSM started noticing. it's too big now not to do so. but by now it's too late for conventional journalism, as Iranian authorities have taken steps to shut down traditional media sources. So now it's up to bloggers and twitters and youtube to get out the word on what is happening. Last night I made sure my 5-year old daughter watched the video of people marching, and told her that she'd probably be studying this when she got older. and even if the MSM coverage seeks out the most sensational and violent, please note that the movement thus far has been a peaceful one. I salute the brave protestors and stand with them.
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June 15, 2009
IRAN
Whoever you are and whatever you're doing this week, please make a point of seeking out information on the situation in Iran. The mainstream media is basically ignoring what is happening (so far, anyway) and therefore we need to be paying attention to what is happening in the blogosphere and anywhere else you can find it. If I find any particularly good sources I'll post them here. I've heard there is some activity worth monitoring on twitter (finally a good use for that silly app), for example...
a revolution is happening and no one is bothering to report on it. stay tuned...
June 07, 2009
THE LATEST IN SHINY
...audio technica AT4033CL large diaphragm condenser mic...thus far I've done one vocal track with it and quite happy with results...
...ibanez jet king...just because it looks like this...built in coil-tap switches, so I'm already thinking of what to do with the pickups that'll be fun..I can also picture a bigsby on this one...
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June 06, 2009
CUZ IT'S ALL ABOUT THE L.O.V.E.
The Look
Strephon kissed me in the spring,
Robin in the fall,
But Colin only looked at me
And never kissed at all.
Strephon's kiss was lost in jest,
Robin's lost in play,
But the kiss in Colin's eyes
Haunts me night and day.
--Sara Teasdale
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June 03, 2009
AND IT'S NOT EVEN MY BIRTHDAY
I just bought one of these on craigslist, looks just like this pic. real cheap. not sure what I'll do with it. first time I ever bought a guitar just because of looks. the out-of-pocket was so low that I'm not too concerned--I might leave as is or start replacing parts. a bigsby might be fun. the previous owner wasn't nuts about pickups either. we'll see. if nothing else, a fun toy, and small enough to pass along if one of the kids gets interested (the neck isn't particularly huge).
in other news, I finally took delivery on a nice new microphone, which I'll mainly use for vocals & acoustic guitar. very excited about that. and tonight we'll make another visit to the open jam at the blues dive. gonna rock the frankenstrat with the rawk-krusha....
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