DISAPPEARING LIGHT
we have become so enthralled
self-absorbed in our own light
when we look up at the night sky
we cease to see the stars
fleeing
from our own manufactured urban brightness
when all we do is watch
we’ve stopped looking
we are trapped by the light of our devices
and all that we see stops us from seeking
Stars have disappeared
City lights prevail at night
Leaves fall from the tree
*el camino translated to english means “The Way” – more than a vehicle.
EL CAMINO
Out in the wilds
in my rusted 1969 El Camino
pulled off the side of a desert road
the only light
a cigarettes glowing ember end
the stars my only friends
“Buenos Noches From A Lonely Room”
on the radio
quiet like
listening outside to inside conversations
yet here I am alone
staring off into the night at
a glow
far off on the horizon
the site of an alien invasion?
just another boring city
that never sleeps
I decide to NOT “go toward the light”
comfortable under the shadowy blanket of night
resting in my inspired darkness
sitting in the bed of
El Camino
Well the headlines keep getting worse – stranger and stranger – like the story of the Michigan Militia group Wolverine Watchmen arrested for a plot to overthrow the government in Michigan by arresting the Governor and trying her in the groups own makeshift court. The Michigan Militia has been troubling to the history of the state that goes back decades. Formed in 1994 by a former US Air Force veteran. First made the news in 1995 after the Oklahoma City bombing carried out by members Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols.
Militia activity is increasing and is linked to white supremacy but the federal government has repeatedly failed to dismantle and disband these organizations with their “criminal” ideologies and activities. We now pay the price – forget about terrorism from abroad. We create our own!
Canadian music group, Moxy Fruvous, known for their ability to mock, attack, chide, parody, satirize and lampoon life’s insanities, wrote and recorded a song titled Michigan Militia in 1997 after the Oklahoma City bombing. Sadly it continues to be relevant – maybe more so – in the trump era. I’ve always loved this music group and I post this song here (lyrics below).
FYI- this will be my last post for this month. I’m taking off the rest of September. God willing, I will see you all in October 2020. Peace Out.
Got a problem? Too Bad, “Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na, Hey Hey Goodbye!” 😉
It’s time to fly this acid world, retool and re-energize.
Have you ever heard a song or album and the weather seemed such an integral part of the experience – so much so, that every time the weather conditions are right you still remember that song or album? Well it’s happened to me. Repeatedly.
Today, it’s “raining cats and dogs” and I spent a fair amount of time on the road looking from some rainy day photo ops. It was raining so hard it was keeping time with Led Zeppelin’s song “Bonzo’s Montreax” (from the CODA album) which was playing in my car. But this is not about that song.
During my drive I realized it was exactly a day like today when I purchased my very first RUSH album, A FAREWELL TO KINGS (on cassette and vinyl). The album was released September 1st, 1977. I was 17 and only had a drivers permit. I was only working on the family farm and had saved my allowance for this purpose. I got to the car and greedily unwrapped the cassette to play in the car. The weather was dark and cloudy not unlike the cover art with the post apocalyptic setting – the landscape crumbled and the crown of the king lying on the ground. The king plopped down on the throne like a puppet whose puppeteer had fled or a jester frozen in time – the joke had been played once to often. I popped the cassette in the player and it started to rain. I took the scenic route home through the countryside past hill and dale, field and farm listening in amazement and feeling transfixed as “Xanadu” blasted from the car speakers. by time “a thousand years had come and gone…” I was completely enthralled, mesmerized in my rainy day drive. I got home during “Cinderella Man” and felt lost in the myth, the poetry and story telling. I continued to just sit in the car and listened thru to Cygnus X-1 (Book One) as the rain continued to beat on the car roof. Wipers off I mused and wondered if Cygnus X-1 would have a Book 2 in this musical adventure. The transformation was complete I was a RUSH fan. For years to come A FAREWELL TO KINGS, HEMISPHERES, PERMANENT WAVES and MOVING PICTURES would be my favorite RUSH albums. I would listen to them frequently.
Well with Todays rain it was time to revisit the memory and the feeling of that first listen. And though I am older I find it still extremely enjoyable and satisfying. It’s just one of those things. 🙂
keep this in mind for this first video: part 1 us men will never grow up and that’s why you love us. Part 2 looking for Alan VS Steve … but it’s really Gerald. LOL.
and for this second video… Part 1 – a good running joke…. Still hasn’t figured out it’s Gerald. Part 2 Practical jokers are birds of a feather.
And okay since the first video drew a connection between animals and James Bond. Enjoy this from the Muppet Show. Teeheee
A very cool video about one of my favorite painters by one of my favorite YouTube channels.
The following video is from a science channel that I follow.
Does anyone else feel like social amputees since the pandemic started?
Happy Dog Day. August 26, 2020. For all my friends who are dog lovers.
This has always been my favorite dog song.
And of course, another favorite artist Laurie Anderson had a great movie and soundtrack called HEART OF A DOG. here are two tracks from the soundtrack.
Finally a track by Rush
we need more laughter.
some favorite songs about laughing
I’m Gonna Laugh You Right Out Of My Life – by Sarah Vaughan
Funeral Tango by Jacques Brel covered by Scott Walker
Only Want to Laugh by Dusty Springfield
The Laughing Gnome – by David Bowie
Laughter by Bruce Cockburn
The way immigration should look = empty cages.
Congratulations to the International Space Station as it celebrates 20 years of continuous habitation. The things that are possible when we dream and work together.
