tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-68606477536519087232024-02-18T20:38:31.028-08:00Days Go By"It's all a tragedy, Ross, but it's a miracle that any of this ever happened at all."Pohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13486159080473237559noreply@blogger.comBlogger102125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6860647753651908723.post-85424134379050158052009-05-16T10:13:00.000-07:002009-05-16T10:16:11.157-07:00"Sacred War"This is an interesting and rather ominous-sounding march that was composed during "The Great Patriotic War" to inspire the men and women of the Red Army. The title is translated sometimes as "Holy War".<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/bWwE56y-THM&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/bWwE56y-THM&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>Pohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13486159080473237559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6860647753651908723.post-64348687787787276872009-05-11T19:24:00.000-07:002009-05-11T19:45:59.665-07:00A Splendid WeekendMila and I hit the road with the girls for the first time in ages for a very pleasant weekend in Plano with Dr. Bezant (aka the good Doctor Pheasant) and his wife Winnifred. <br /><br />We were more than glad to escape Austin's 95-degree daytime highs. At one point I checked Weather.com and saw that it was 90 degrees in Austin and only 66 in Plano. What a difference 200 miles can make!<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP__Xt1-p1wCpt5OH1bfU1dCXRnsK6ODW99n3kTzKCWqPDiwp4KBNz3p-_tYQl2pg8JlZvb2TrMN5WhvWyuVuc6PEvcKrnI3-MLWfhhXrP30a0gAjQr6nqeseMvqI_vsiVtQE1919agEKu/s1600-h/GL_tut.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 207px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP__Xt1-p1wCpt5OH1bfU1dCXRnsK6ODW99n3kTzKCWqPDiwp4KBNz3p-_tYQl2pg8JlZvb2TrMN5WhvWyuVuc6PEvcKrnI3-MLWfhhXrP30a0gAjQr6nqeseMvqI_vsiVtQE1919agEKu/s320/GL_tut.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5334759256113534658" /></a><br />Saturday we went to the King Tut exhibit-- a wonderful treat from our ever-thoughtful hosts. Words cannot do justice to the experience, but I will record two of my impressions here. 1) Remarkably, our youngsters were able to hang with an hour and a half of the exhibit. 2) The craftsmanship evident on some of the artifacts is surprisingly primitive while many of the artifacts show a breath-taking degree of perfection. One must wonder how they were able to create with such precision all those centuries ago.<br /><br />We also visited the Nasher Museum and another museum that houses a permanent collection of Asian art. Perhaps more on those in a later post.<br /><br />Sunday Dr. Bezant and Winifred treated us dinner and a show at Medieval Times. I had taken this to be clearly something for the girls and had prepared myself to tolerate it, but I must confess that I found the experience very enjoyable. Perhaps the most memorable part was our green knight (each color-coded section of the audience is assigned a knight) chose Onni to be his "Queen of Love and Beauty" by presenting her a green scarf on the end of his lance. She was thrilled, as was Davis who got a pink carnation from the knight.<br /><br />This video, shot at the Toronto Medieval Times, will give you a slight feel for what it is like.<br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/mPh43l1VAwQ&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/mPh43l1VAwQ&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>Pohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13486159080473237559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6860647753651908723.post-54058161294309751952009-05-03T00:04:00.001-07:002009-05-03T00:28:12.607-07:00song evolutionHere is my song-writing process exposed.<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><br />The seed:</span><br />Several months ago, I came up with the idea to do a song that was primarily just an Em chord played very loosely and ponderously with a vocal melody sung above it using a somewhat bluesy scale.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">The inspiration:</span><br />Back in high school one of my good friends had a friend named Mary whom he really liked. I don't think that the relationship ever reached the point, in terms of romance, that my friend wanted it to and, very sadly, a few years after graduation, Mary was killed in an automobile accident.<br /><br />So, after several months of this song idea going nowhere, I awoke this morning (May 2) and decided to play it on guitar and ad lib some lyrics. This had worked wonderfully once before. "Riding the Wave" was done completely in one hour-- from zero concept to finished piece. I don't think this one will be so tidy, but here it is (first draft/rough draft) no edits, just the rough flow that I scrawled out in barely legible handwriting (whether satisfied or not) as I strummed from verse to verse in a 10 minute free-flow.<br />-----------------------------------<br /><br />understanding <br />the color of the rain<br />says you could be here once again<br />oceans narrowing, the beating of a wing-<br />undaunted, fearless, unafraid<br /><br />(verse)<br />come back, Mary<br />come back, Mary<br />come back, Mary<br /><br />just to picture the way it used to be-<br />two people standing in the reeds<br />breathing like the hour- it may not come again<br />listing the things you mean to me<br /><br />(verse)<br />come back, Mary<br />come back, Mary<br />come back, Mary<br /><br />(bridge)<br />oh, hail Mary<br />full of grace<br />say, what's up with you today<br />you've got your horn of plenty<br />poised above ? ? ? ? ? (no words here)<br />say, what's up with you today<br /><br />(verse)<br />come back, Mary<br />come back, Mary<br />come back, Mary<br />------------------------------------<br /><br />So, there it is. Naked and raw. I have already started making changes from this morning. We'll see where it goes from here.Pohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13486159080473237559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6860647753651908723.post-48482737278698838392009-04-24T23:37:00.000-07:002009-04-24T23:38:03.260-07:00wordcraft songcraft<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/cBhj73WtiZU&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/cBhj73WtiZU&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>Pohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13486159080473237559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6860647753651908723.post-74179887892978708272009-04-21T21:50:00.000-07:002009-04-24T23:40:13.726-07:00Teaching: Good for the Body as Well as the Mind?Out of curiosity, I stuck Mila's pedometer on my belt this morning before heading out the door. 8,450 steps later (over 4 miles) I was back home again.Pohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13486159080473237559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6860647753651908723.post-76509338449321345812009-04-20T22:04:00.000-07:002009-04-20T22:31:19.956-07:00April 17 Dentones gig<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvkBj1h3IDUhWek8F_lCH7yqHy7z5j3Oy_FvCX6quHMJbyWojHudIXjb7I2rwHwfQH32B2wmq1PCwGHbLaj3pw4k9t03lAKkyra6mOiFTQpR7hF5WhoDczFOOES2CiwO8UGrQH1YCtCVh0/s1600-h/Dentones+April+gig.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvkBj1h3IDUhWek8F_lCH7yqHy7z5j3Oy_FvCX6quHMJbyWojHudIXjb7I2rwHwfQH32B2wmq1PCwGHbLaj3pw4k9t03lAKkyra6mOiFTQpR7hF5WhoDczFOOES2CiwO8UGrQH1YCtCVh0/s320/Dentones+April+gig.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5327006400773078530" /></a><br /><br />A couple of weeks ago I was looking at the Carousel Lounge website and noticed that local 90s alternative rock heroes The Wannabes were playing at the club but apparently had no opening band. A quick call to Nikki, the club's manager, put an end to that vacancy. The Dentones would open for the Wannabes starting at 7:00. <br /><br />It was a strategic move. I was resigned to the fact that there was not enough time to muster much of a turnout from our fan-base, but I figured that Wannabes fans would start showing up toward the end of our second set. If nothing else, it would be a chance to reconnect with Wannabes guitarist Kevin Carney.<br /><br />I was 33% right. Very few Dentones fans showed up. No other fans showed up until way after we were done. Kevin didn't arrive until almost an hour after we had stopped.<br /><br />There was a band in the middle. A very good one, actually. The Ron Titter Band was chutzpah incarnate. Imagine a mixture of Elvis and the Stooges and the New York Dolls (what other component am I missing here?) performed by a set of fellows who mostly look like Dell tech support lads. My, but looks can be deceiving!<br /><br />The evening was far from a waste. The band played quite well. Alexei, a newish friend and the sound engineer who is recording the Dentones in his studio, got the PA very nicely balanced. The bartender liked us a lot, offered the consoling words that early shows are notoriously hard to populate, and gave me free beer for the rest of the evening. Also, Garrett Williams, the drummer for Right or Happy (with whom we are doing a May 29th gig) caught the last few of our tunes. He was probably there on a fact-finding mission to make sure our PA is acceptable and that the Dentones are, too. He talked to Big A for a bit (they have a mutual friend who was the genesis of this upcoming gig), introduced himself to the rest of us, and said we sounded good.<br /><br />That was music to my ears.Pohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13486159080473237559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6860647753651908723.post-5808826856410956362009-04-08T20:17:00.000-07:002009-04-08T20:18:49.976-07:00Ha Ha Tonkawatch and be amazed<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/SwDbvIUZrV8&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/SwDbvIUZrV8&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>Pohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13486159080473237559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6860647753651908723.post-41681364518550292792009-04-02T21:51:00.000-07:002009-04-02T21:56:10.460-07:00Ticket to RideWe had our friends Tap and Maggie over for dinner on Saturday and, as it turns out, they love games just like we do. I was glad to hear that they have hosted "game nights" at their house in the past-- even though it was mainly trifling things such as Yahtzee, Scrabble, and the like.<br /><br />Anything's a start. Right?<br /><br />To ease these newbies in to the world of respectable gaming we chose "Ticket to Ride- Europe". Tap and Maggie learned the rules very quickly, and we launched into the thick of things right off. Oddly, unlike previous games that have been played like four-way solitaire, this game was much more interactive, with people blocking each other off early on and 80% of the first third of the game taking place in France and Italy alone.<br /><br />Base scores:<br /><br />Maggie 86<br />Mila 96<br />Tap 116<br />Po 122<br /><br />But, there is a bonus for longest rail. Toward the end of the game, Mila brought up the topic of longest rail and we paused to count out the length of everyone's rails. We all assumed Tap's rail was longest. It just LOOKED like it was. However, looks can be deceiving and when we counted it out, my rail was a bit longer. I sort of wished the issue had not come up when it did.<br /><br />The game proceeded a few turns longer, and the issue of longest rail seemed to be forgotten as everyone concentrated on meeting the obligation of their Destination cards.<br /><br />When the game was over we counted the base scores and came up with the numbers above.<br />My rail was 29 cars long. Tap's rail was 31 cars long.<br /><br />Final score:<br /><br />Maggie 86<br />Mila 96<br />Po 122<br />Tap 126<br /><br />2 train cars made all the difference! It was, all in all, a very enjoyable game.Pohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13486159080473237559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6860647753651908723.post-68493324144083527342009-03-14T19:45:00.000-07:002009-03-14T19:49:00.537-07:00King BurgerIn 1988 when I was traveling through France, I stayed in a hotel/restaurant in Amiens, France that was called (and I kid you not) "King Burger". That, however, is a different story that will have to wait for a later post as it is nearing bedtime for me and I am leaving long before dawn for a week in the mountains of North Carolina.<br /><br />In the meantime, I hope you enjoy <span style="font-style:italic;">this</span> King Burger.<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/jZkdcYlOn5M&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/jZkdcYlOn5M&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>Pohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13486159080473237559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6860647753651908723.post-78710665044927813002009-03-13T22:18:00.000-07:002009-03-13T22:19:23.044-07:00Paradigm Shift<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/pQHX-SjgQvQ&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/pQHX-SjgQvQ&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>Pohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13486159080473237559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6860647753651908723.post-59023452929664741762009-03-06T20:51:00.000-08:002009-03-06T21:03:50.491-08:00New Song'Haven't shown this to the other Dentones yet, but here are the lyrics to a new song I'd like to break out of the box once we get this recording thing wrapped up.<br />===================================================<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Pride of Barbados</span><br /><br />Cut your loss, old Antaeus, half-buried in the sand-<br />there's a dearth of inspiration in the land.<br />No herculean effort can alleviate the curse<br />when the stream of consciousness flows in reverse.<br /><br />When this conversation ends, it will all be over.<br />When this conversation's done, it will all be through.<br /><br />Ranger Rick said-- Sunday morning's really not my style,<br />Why sit inside when all the world's a hymn-<br />Every leaf on every tree is scribed in holy verse<br />dedicated to the one, the great "I Am".<br /><br />You know the pride of Barbados will still be blooming--<br />the poor man's bird of paradise-- there in the yard.<br /><br />But over on the West side-<br />not a thing for everybody-<br />Join your little boys' club--- Alpha Beta Chi.<br />Is this a sin?<br />Not everybody can get in-<br />They like to ball.<br />They like to ball.<br />They like to ball.<br /><br />Hey, ho, here we go!<br />Skip the Light Fantastic!<br />Journey down to Mexico and buy a saint that's made of plastic.<br />Oh, no! Johnny on the run--<br />live your live completely-<br />Iron all the wrinkles out and fold the corners very neatly.<br /><br />Over on the East side-<br />gonna pop another baby--<br />maybe make the biggest family in 11th grade.<br />Is this a sin?<br />The baby just don't look like him.<br />She likes to ball.<br />She likes to ball.<br />She likes to ball.Pohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13486159080473237559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6860647753651908723.post-34601335467710449742009-02-28T23:29:00.000-08:002009-02-28T23:40:09.358-08:00Leonard Cohen is my hero!Such a powerful medium is song. No need to fuss with characters, narration, or story arc. Music drives simply inward toward the heart. <br />God save Mr. Cohen, never the best vehicle for the expression of his own formidable muse. Here is one, my dear friends, that you can sing at my funeral--- those of you who might still be carrying on once I am tapped to begin whatever comes next.<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/H-myjV64xfs&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/H-myjV64xfs&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>Pohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13486159080473237559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6860647753651908723.post-83871844761146079832009-02-19T21:36:00.000-08:002009-02-19T21:47:21.946-08:00Biorhythms?All times below are measured in days and are compared to my brothers Deeb and Rev. Bunny.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Age when married:</span><br />Deeb------------11,697<br />Rev. Bunny----11,172<br />Po---------------11,803<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Age at birth of first child:</span><br />Rev. Bunny------13,025<br />Po-----------------12,995 <br /><br />30 days apart.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Age at birth of second child:</span><br />Rev. Bunny------13,918<br />Po-----------------13,906 <br /><br />12 days apart.Pohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13486159080473237559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6860647753651908723.post-63949952970154129272009-02-10T21:37:00.000-08:002009-02-10T21:47:23.208-08:00Words of Comfort and JoyLast Friday evening at the local HEB express lane----<br /><br />Po approaches the counter and sets a sixer of IPA's thereupon.<br /><br />Po- "Hey, how's it going?"<br />Clerk- "Good. Can I see some ID?"<br />Po- "Certainly!"<br />Clerk- "Wow! Okay. Thanks, man." <br />Po- (laughing) "You can check my ID any time you want!"<br />Clerk- "You're younger than I am!"<br />Po- "It must be my low-stress job."<br />==============================<br /><br />This may be the last time I ever get carded, so I wanted to record it somehow. I got carded almost every time I bought beer the first five years or so after we moved into our new house. Then it started tapering off. I was carded last May when a bunch of us Social Studies teachers went out for happy hour. I was carded about twice in the Fall. Now this. And that might be it for ever and ever.<br /><br />But I hope not!Pohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13486159080473237559noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6860647753651908723.post-90876720556065068472009-02-09T22:23:00.001-08:002009-02-09T22:23:46.837-08:00Something from memory's farthest edge...<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/C-yLYz6ejqw&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/C-yLYz6ejqw&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>Pohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13486159080473237559noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6860647753651908723.post-57659137007756571812009-02-05T18:17:00.000-08:002009-02-05T18:19:59.783-08:00Tax-and-Spend DemocratsClick <a href="http://www.lafn.org/gvdc/Natl_Debt_Chart.html">here</a> for proof positive of a very disturbing trend.Pohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13486159080473237559noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6860647753651908723.post-54940703876439936962009-01-22T17:24:00.000-08:002009-01-22T18:04:08.930-08:00Are We Fading Away?I remember reading several years ago that the replacement fertility rate is 2.1 births per couple. The 2 part is easy, but obviously to get the .1 you have to use an average of the fertility rate of a number of couples. I also noticed that of all my many friends and associates, only two couples have had more than two babies. After pondering this every now and then and lacking anything else very compelling to blog about, I decided to generate the following list of pseudonyms using my own nuclear family, our siblings, and the names in my email address book.<br /><br />Round Rock Thomassens 2<br />Austin Thomassens 1<br />Brevard Thomassens 2<br />Sherbans 2<br />Wokkers 3<br />Chapkin 1<br />Mookie & mate 2<br />Mookie's sister 1<br />Schwinns 2<br />McMormans 0<br />Petersons 2<br />Bostons 0<br />Cheeres 0<br />Bakkers 0<br />Cranfields 2<br />Bratleys 0<br />Marxs 1<br />McMarthy 2<br />F. Roddys 1<br />Bailey 0<br />Blewett 2<br />Hewes 2<br />Humppers 2<br />Blaiges 0<br />Humpties 2<br />Nickels 2<br />Smacks 0<br />Brewflott 1<br />Pubigs 0<br />Minkelmanns 3<br />J-Carnes 1<br />Tutz's 2<br /><br />So, all these happily "coupled" folks, all 64 of my closest friends and relatives, would have to have produced 67.2 babies just to meet the replacement rate. In the event, we have only had a total of 41 children. That's 1.3 kids per couple. If this trend continues, my peer group will produce only 27 grandchildren and only 18 great grandchildren.<br /><br />In the long run, if everyone on the planet were following this trend, it might not be such a bad thing. But as it stands, it seems that our cohort group (which I would describe as consisting mainly of members of the "creative class") seems to be virtually alone among the various social classes that is not growing.Pohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13486159080473237559noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6860647753651908723.post-46945276060082831952009-01-20T18:59:00.000-08:002009-01-20T19:21:54.059-08:00Another Disappointment from the Spoetzl BreweryI want to like Shiner beer. I really do. It's regional. It has a long history. It used to be really good. Shiner Bock was the beer of choice for my first 8 years in Austin--- years that admittedly came before the Beer Revolution that swept our country starting in about 1994. I'll save my longer lament about Shiner Bock for a later post, but suffice it to say that I think my growing disappointment in what we once termed "the creamy creamy" had less to do with the rising standards for beer that accompanied the Beer Revolution than with the falling quality of the once-vaunted products coming from the the little brewery in Shiner.<br /><br />The latest disappointment is "Shiner Commemorator", brewed to celebrate Spoetzl's 100th birthday. Like many Shiner beers, it is not all bad--- it's only half bad, as if each bottle consisted of 6 ounces of a mildly decent craft brew and 6 ounces of downstream American wank. Add two drops of vanilla extract and, Voila!, there you have it-- Shiner Commemorator. Even at the bargain price of $5.99 for a sixer, it proved a bitter disappointment... though without the bitterness, which would have been a step in the right direction.Pohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13486159080473237559noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6860647753651908723.post-87860577741735449192009-01-13T21:31:00.001-08:002009-01-13T21:35:20.670-08:00inspirationSeeds in a dry pod,<br />tick, tick, tick...<br /><br />---<br /><br />Can you name the poet? The "poem"?<br />Can you do this without internet assistance?Pohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13486159080473237559noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6860647753651908723.post-635685811960689432009-01-09T18:31:00.001-08:002009-01-09T18:33:20.323-08:00An Oral History of the Bush White House<a href="http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2009/02/bush-oral-history200902">Read and be disturbed.</a>Pohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13486159080473237559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6860647753651908723.post-86799527983377534432009-01-07T22:29:00.001-08:002009-01-07T22:29:59.123-08:00Books 101The 101 best novels of all time, as voted for by Exclusive Books customers.<br /><br />What do you think?<br /><br /> 1. The Lord of the Rings - J.R.R. Tolkien<br /> 2. The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini<br /> 3. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen<br /> 4. To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee<br /> 5. The Harry Potter series - JK Rowling<br /> 6. The Poisonwood Bible - Barbara Kingsolver<br /> 7. The Alchemist - Paulo Coelho<br /> 8. Life of Pi - Yann Martel<br /> 9. The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown<br /> 10. The God of Small Things - Arundhati Roy<br /> 11. Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden<br /> 12. Spud - John van de Ruit<br /> 13. The Power of One - Bryce Courtenay<br /> 14. The Hobbit - J.R.R. Tolkien<br /> 15. Captain Corelli's Mandolin - Louis de Bernieres<br /> 16. Shantaram - Gregory David Roberts<br /> 17. Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte<br /> 18. Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger<br /> 19. Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte<br /> 20. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams<br /> 21. One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez<br /> 22. Disgrace - J. M. Coetzee<br /> 23. My Sister's Keeper - Jodi Picoult<br /> 24. The Time Traveller's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger<br /> 25. Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks<br /> 26. Catch-22 - Joseph Heller<br /> 27. Pillars of the Earth - Ken Follett<br /> 28. Gone with the Wind - Margaret Mitchell<br /> 29. Cry, the Beloved Country - Alan Paton<br /> 30. The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald<br /> 31. A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry<br /> 32. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time - Mark Haddon<br /> 33. Great Expectations - Charles Dickens<br /> 34. Atonement - Ian McEwan<br /> 35. Atlas Shrugged - Ayn Rand<br /> 36. The Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck<br /> 37. The English Patient - Michael Ondaatje<br /> 38. Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy<br /> 39. Midnight's Children - Salman Rushdie<br /> 40. Love in the Time of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez<br /> 41. The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon<br /> 42. I Know This Much is True - Wally Lamb<br /> 43. A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth<br /> 44. Nineteen Eighty-Four - George Orwell<br /> 45. War And Peace - Leo Tolstoy<br /> 46. Clan of the Cave Bear - Jean M. Auel<br /> 47. The Unbearable Lightness of Being - Milan Kundera<br /> 48. The Little Prince - Antoine de Saint-Exupery<br /> 49. The Secret History - Donna Tartt<br /> 50. Possession - A. S. Byatt<br /> 51. Perfume - Patrick Suskind<br /> 52. The House of the Spirits - Isabel Allende<br /> 53. Chocolat - Joanne Harris<br /> 54. The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency - Alexander McCall Smith<br /> 55. Q & A - Vikas Swarup<br /> 56. Dune - Frank Herbert<br /> 57. Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame<br /> 58. Fugitive Pieces - Anne Michaels<br /> 59. River God - Wilbur Smith<br /> 60. Little Women - Louisa May Alcott<br /> 61. Lord of the Flies - William Golding<br /> 62. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe - C.S. Lewis<br /> 63. Mort - Terry Pratchett<br /> 64. Crime and Punishment - Feodor Dostoyevsky<br /> 65. The Blind Assassin - Margaret Atwood<br /> 66. East of Eden - John Steinbeck<br /> 67. The Name of the Rose - Umberto Eco<br /> 68. The Other Boleyn Girl - Philippa Gregory<br /> 69. The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas - John Boyne<br /> 70. The Prince of Tides - Pat Conroy<br /> 71. Rebecca - Daphne du Maurier<br /> 72. Bridget Jones' Diary - Helen Fielding<br /> 73. The Shipping News - E. Annie Proulx<br /> 74. Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll<br /> 75. Animal Farm - George Orwell<br /> 76. The Red Tent - Anita Diamant<br /> 77. Watership Down - Richard Adams<br /> 78. Magician - Raymond E Feist<br /> 79. Middlemarch - George Eliot<br /> 80. The Day of the Jackal - Frederick Forsyth<br /> 81. We Need to Talk About Kevin - Lionel Shriver<br /> 82. The Magus - John Fowles<br /> 83. The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro<br /> 84. Agaat - Marlene van Niekerk<br /> 85. The Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas<br /> 86. The Shell Seekers - Rosamunde Pilcher<br /> 87. The Colour Purple - Alice Walker<br /> 88. The Beach House - James Patterson<br /> 89. Doctor Zhivago - Boris Pasternak<br /> 90. Kringe in 'n Bos - Dalene Matthee<br /> 91. The World according to Garp - John Irving<br /> 92. Northen Lights - Phillip Pullman<br /> 93. Middlesex - Jeffrey Eugenides<br /> 94. Shades - Marguerite Poland<br /> 95. Kane and Abel - Jeffrey Archer<br /> 96. Fiela se kind - Dalene Matthee<br /> 97. Story of an African Farm - Olive Schreiner<br /> 98. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl<br /> 99. The Magic Faraway Tree - Enid Blyton<br /> 100. Things Fall Apart - Chinua Achebe<br /> 101. Winnie-the-Pooh - A.A. MilnePohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13486159080473237559noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6860647753651908723.post-21670647755781109892008-12-29T11:50:00.000-08:002008-12-29T11:56:06.874-08:00Deafening SilenceIf the sudden cessation of the usual stream of comments from my friends here is any indication, my last post must have been a bit over the top. Please know that my criticism is of the culture at large. There were no hidden jabs at my own family or any other family or individual. Really.<br /><br />Also, I hope that there is a positive subtext there. It is possible to reject the way that we've been led to believe that Christmas must be. We can always choose to do it differently.Pohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13486159080473237559noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6860647753651908723.post-18556486993659714342008-12-27T22:57:00.000-08:002008-12-28T09:54:01.654-08:00Christmas Day 3Traditionally, Christmas was a twelve-day feast that started at sundown in Christmas Eve and went on through the Epiphany-- January 6th. People would hang out, eat food, sing to their neighbors, attend services, give a few simple gifts day by day, and generally have fun and take it easy.<br /><br />Our consumer/capitalist culture has transfigured this very human affair into something with a very different time table. The first harbingers of the assault make their appearance in late August, just after the "Back to School" festival has ended. The first wave is subtle, after all-- the market days of Halloween and Thanksgiving are not to be eclipsed. Still the net is cast early, for every dollar is dear.<br /><br />By careful orchestration, the festivities <span style="font-weight:bold;">really</span> take off the day after Thanksgiving, which now has its very own name, "Black Thursday". With this day of communal gathering at the local mall, the whole thing begins to ramp up to a fevered pitch that ends at precisely 11:00 AM on December 25th when all the purchases have at last been shorn of their concealing wrappings and an air of quiet disaffection begins to settle in. <br /><br />Sometimes we extend the self-inflicted misery by volunteering to cook many complicated dishes for the Christmas meal. The stress causes us to become snappish and worried, the meal (however well executed) cannot make up for the deficiency of good karma. And then there is a mountain of dirty dishes to contend with. Fun!<br /><br />The message here is mainly a negative rant. Fear no "Jesus is the reason for the season" agenda here. That particular blandishment really makes me wince. In a mere ten syllables it cheapens the whole thing just as badly as that awful image of a hatless Santa kneeling at the side of the manger.<br /><br /><br />My point here is simply this--- something that was supposed to be <span style="font-weight:bold;">for</span> us and for our benefit has been twisted into something that benefits a monstrous system--- and usually at our personal expense. It is hard to remain immune to its depredations.<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/qbq1cnpe7Kc&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/qbq1cnpe7Kc&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>Pohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13486159080473237559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6860647753651908723.post-40025413718359978342008-12-16T20:01:00.000-08:002008-12-16T20:15:11.647-08:00Roots of the Dentones-- 1983Satsy learns first guitar chord during senior year of high school.<br />Satsy moves to Austin and enrolls at University of Texas. Most time spent listening to Who records and trying to learn to play mother's Yamaha classical guitar. Learns some more chords and about 30 Beatles songs from songbooks.<br /><br />Po, Mooky and Papoose are, by this time, the core of a budding band. Various people they play with include Pod, John Christy, and Chris Walker. <a href="http://candlepunch.blogspot.com/2008/02/roots-rock.html#links">Days Go By: Roots Rock</a> Eventually they form "The Paisley Ascot" with James Moore.<br /><br />Pod buys first electric guitar, an Aria SG copy and Peavey Bandit amp, from Glen’s Pawn shop on the square.<br /><br />Pod buys Black and white telecaster from Snackplate. Snackplate tries to teach Pod his first chord and shakes his head in dismay and says, “Man, I don’t know” because Pod’s hands are too weak to make a barre chord for the first E chord of “Can’t Explain”.<br /><br />Pod sells Aria SG and buys yellow 1972 Fender Stratocaster after chance encounter with person at Prodigal Sound Music. As of 2008, this is still his primary electric guitar.<br /><br />Pod begins to hang out and jam often with Snackplate, Lonnie Gann, Joe Bleese, Jeff LaForte, Scott Marder, Craig Enos, (and a couple of times with Micheal Fabrizio, later Vegetarian Bluejay of Austin) mostly playing two hour versions of “Down by the River”.<br /><br />Pod attends NTSU in the Fall and meets Kipp Schwalm in English class, they begin playing regularly and recording with a Fostex four track recorder.Pohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13486159080473237559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6860647753651908723.post-56881131902618968032008-12-12T20:35:00.000-08:002008-12-12T20:48:22.507-08:00Roots of the Dentones-- 1982Spring- Po sees the Mudflaps (with Mike Austin, Les Black, and Donal Hinley) play "Suffragette City" in the DHS auditorium and is impressed by the sound of the bass guitar, which he had never before heard in a live, loud setting. Po (tuba) tells Mooky (trumpet) that if Mooky ever buys a guitar, Po will buy a bass. <br /><br />DHS talent show also includes Matt Johnson’s band that plays “Freewill” by Rush.<br /><br />Fall-- Po's brother Deeb buys a beginner's electric guitar and amp. Po is surprised at how cheap rock n' roll gear can be. <br /><br />Late Fall, Po begins to buy a Kay bass guitar from Trey Darby on a payment plan. Mooky buys a guitar and an amp. In December they begin playing with BM and The Toy in an unheated shed in BM's backyard. The inside walls are covered with old, hippy-ish paintings from kids of the previous owners of the house. The Toy uses pots, pans, a Sprite bottle, and his motorcycle helmet as a drum kit. <br /><br />Mudflaps play New Years Eve party at Pod’s house, put on by his brother D'Erik; hardwood floor is permanently damaged.Pohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13486159080473237559noreply@blogger.com4