Tonight, live at the Fabulous Midland Theatre...

Kansas..............................................Carry On My Wayward Son




Info on the Midland is here

Mellow out.............................................

Lee Ritenour..............................................................Pavane

Tell the sky.............................................

R.E.M.................................................................Fall On Me

Opening paragraphs.....................

     The District Attorney for Bristol County has told the receptionist in the foyer of North American Group's main office on the 20th floor of 200 Federal Street in Boston that he had an appointment with Mr. Baldwin, and she smiled and asked him to have a seat.  The District Attorney was fifty-three years old and had his best suit on, a slubbed silk glen plaid with a muted red stripe he had had custom-tailored at Jason's, the best men's store in New Bedford.  His necktie was a Sulka repp stripe that had cost him forty dollars in New York, and he was wearing his Johnston and Murphy black tasseled loafers.  He was nonplussed when she asked him to sit down.  He glanced over his shoulder at the blue crushed velvet armchairs and three-cushion couch grouped around the glass coffee table, but did not move from in front of her desk.  He looked at his watch, a gold Audemar's Piguet that said 10:30, and spoke to the receptionist again.
-George V. Higgins,  Imposters

And so, it came to pass............................

"If given the choice, many thoroughly honest people are so fearful of freedom that they would choose to live in a minimum security prison."
-One of many important Random Thoughts from The Execupundit

Often so.....................................................

Fifty years ago..........................................

On the television............................................The Wild Wild West

Real wealth...............................

Contrary to popular belief, food does not come from stores.  It comes from a process contingent upon "healthy topsoil, adequate water (preferably rainwater), sunlight, salubrious seasons and ... human intelligence."  We would do well not to forget that. 

Nature’s stock isn’t gold or any other symbol but, instead, available goods beginning and ending in what feeds us. There are other goods, certainly, but none as important as food (after which I would name, without ranking them, clothing, shelter, and fuel). If you aren’t being fed you’re not going to be distracted into an intellectual stupor by an electronic device, much less become a coal baron or a railroad tycoon and then, if luxury affords it, a philanthropist. You’re going to be a corpse with only the worms and grass and trees to thank you for your generosity. The fellowship of dust cares nothing about “texting” or donor intent.

-As excerpted from this post at the Front Door Republic

We should all look this good......................

..................................................when we are 126 years old.

The historic (and now closed for business) Licking County jail occupies an important location in downtown Newark, as well as an important place in our local history.  At the present time, many of those interested in preserving and protecting history are trying to figure out how to save, fix, and adaptively re-use, the old jail.  If you drive by it today, your first thought might be, "What a dreary and foreboding place."   The passage of time has obscured the beautiful original rose hue of the sandstone.  It is amazing what a little cleaning might do:

An amazing number of good things are going on right now in downtown Newark.  The restoration of the historic Licking County jail would be a wondrous addition to the list.

I suspect the artist took some liberties with coloration (much too much red), but here is a 1909 post-card painting of the jail (if you squint real hard you can see, in the lower left hand corner, a boy fishing in the old (and long ago filled in) canal.

Please consider....................................

..................................that "crony capitalism" is closer to mercantilism that it is to capitalism.  But, her point is still correct.

"Crony capitalism is alive and well. Big business and big government go hand in hand."
-Carly Florina, via

Great moments on the Television............

.................................................................The Cone of Silence.

Maxwell Smart and the Chief employing the cone - here

Short but sad.................................

Spirit.......................................................Why Can't I Be Free



I don't know what it is to be free
And I cry when you say that you can't free me
Please free me, I just can't go on
Why can't I be free? Why?

Namaste..........................................

“When I say it's you I like, I'm talking about that part of you that knows that life is far more than anything you can ever see or hear or touch. That deep part of you that allows you to stand for those things without which humankind cannot survive. Love that conquers hate, peace that rises triumphant over war, and justice that proves more powerful than greed.” 
-Fred Rogers

Inside out........................................

“Peace comes from within.  Do not seek it without.” 
-Gautama Buddha

Fifty years ago.........................................

On the television...................................................Get Smart

A virtue.......................................

“Peace is not the absence of war, it is a virtue, a state of mind, a disposition of benevolence, confidence, justice.” 
-Baruch Spinoza

"Extortion by mob rule".................................

.........................................Friend Bilbo has some thoughts on the question of justice versus vengeance.

Beautiful.................................................

“Don't be afraid. Change is such a beautiful thing", said the Butterfly.” 
-Sabrina Newby

gif via

Sometimes.........................................

Richie Havens..........................................................Freedom

This feels very true............................

"Progress is made via bursts of focus."
-Michael Wade, from here

Opening paragraphs..............................

     The statutes of limitations have run.   For noncapital crimes, the commonwealth's is six;  the federal one is five.  Nobody killed anybody, at least as far as I know, successfully defending Billy Ryan.
      But then I didn't always know a lot, defending Billy Ryan, including, until much later, all who'd been involved.  So there may still be a couple loose ends that I haven't spotted yet.  Nevertheless, so far as I can tell, two of us who seem to have taken part in Billy Ryan's defense now survive to tell the tale.  The other fellow's given his permission to report on it on the provision that he will, if questioned by any other person, stoutly deny the whole of it, and say I made it up.  So although he is my client, I violate no privilege in giving this account.  And I've known him a long time.  If you question him, he will do exactly what he promised, and deny every syllable.  Cadillac Teddy's like  that:  as variable as the Maytime breeze, but he never makes a threat he's unprepared to carry out.

-George V. Higgins,  Defending Billy Ryan

Feeling like a bullseye..................

via

Fifty years ago.....................................

Beach Boys.........................................She Knows Me Too Well

Ouch.........................................

thanks Todd

More than you might want to know.....................

.................................................about when to use what potato.

courtesy of

UPDATE:  This just in on the "potato renaissance."

OK class, let's have a brief discussion.....

..........................................about which side is the "wrong" side.

Whither inflation.....................................?

Over the course of the last 7 years there have been a series of excuses for why bad inflation predictions turned out to be bad.

The most prominent excuse is that the bad inflation predictions weren’t wrong, but merely haven’t been right just yet.

This is a classic move in economics. If you want to ensure that you’ll never be wrong you make a prediction, but never apply a time line. That way you can always kick the can on your prediction and say you haven’t been wrong, but merely early. This is a wonderful way to go bankrupt in the financial markets and is often a strategy utilized by morally bankrupt economists.

-as excerpted from this Business Insider post

As we have mentioned before, in our wee corner of the universe, we are a bit more concerned about the prospects of deflation than we are about inflation.  While acknowledging the need to be careful about what one wishes for, just a smidgen of inflation might be a useful thing right now.

So, I've always wondered about "pompitous"......

Steve Miller Band...................................................The Joker



Some people call me the space cowboy, yeah
Some call me the gangster of love
Some people call me Maurice
Cause I speak of the pompitous of love

People talk about me, baby
Say I'm doin' you wrong, doin' you wrong
Well, don't you worry baby
Don't worry
Cause I'm right here, right here, right here, right here at home

Cause I'm a picker
I'm a grinner
I'm a lover
And I'm a sinner
I play my music in the sun

I'm a joker
I'm a smoker
I'm a midnight toker
I sure don't want to hurt no one

I'm a picker
I'm a grinner
I'm a lover
And I'm a sinner
I play my music in the sun

I'm a joker
I'm a smoker
I'm a midnight toker
I get my lovin' on the run
Wooo Wooooo

You're the cutest thing
That I ever did see
I really love your peaches
Want to shake your tree
Lovey-dovey, lovey-dovey, lovey-dovey all the time
Ooo-eee baby, I'll sure show you a good time

Cause I'm a picker
I'm a grinner
I'm a lover
And I'm a sinner
I play my music in the sun

I'm a joker
I'm a smoker
I'm a midnight toker
I get my lovin' on the run

I'm a picker
I'm a grinner
I'm a lover
And I'm a sinner
I play my music in the sun

I'm a joker
I'm a smoker
I'm a midnight toker
I sure don't want to hurt no one

Wooo Woooo

People keep talking about me baby
They say I'm doin' you wrong
Well don't you worry, don't worry, no don't worry mama
Cause I'm right here at home

You're the cutest thing I ever did see
Really love your peaches want to shake your tree
Lovey-dovey, lovey-dovey, lovey-dovey all the time
Come on baby and I'll show you a good time

"Pompitous"..................................

According to the Oracle Google:

The word pompatus, also spelled pompitous, /ˈpɒmpɨtəs/,
 /ˈpɒmpətəs/, is a nonce word used in the lyrics of Steve Miller's 
1973 rock song "The Joker".^[1]

Well, that helps a bit, but..............................................

A nonce word is a lexeme created for a single occasion to solve an immediate problem of communication.^[1][2] The term is used because such a word is created "for the nonce"^[3] and is thus "an invented or accidental linguistic form, used only once".^[4] All nonce words are also neologisms (newly created words that have not entered the lexicon of a language).^[5] Some nonce words have a meaning and may (or may not) become an established part of the language, while others are essentially meaningless and disposable and are useful for exactly that reason, for instance in child language testing. ^{[citation needed]} The term nonce word was apparently the creation of James Murray, the influential editor of the Oxford English Dictionary.^{[citation needed]}

Well, that helps a lot.

Maurice....................................

it's all his fault

Dare...................................................

                                                     24

We dare more when striving for superfluities than for necessities.  Often when we renounce superfluities we end up lacking in necessities.
-Eric Hoffer,  as excerpted from The True Believer:  Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements

Just one more..............................................

..........................................................or, when is "enough" enough. A pondering from the Heartland.

Fifty years ago................................

At the movies.......................................................Cat Ballou

This is a comfort.................................

"It turns out that, in the prehistory of our species, almost all of us were invaders and usurpers and miscegenators."

My favorite optimist pens an essay about new insights in human history that are coming from the study of "ancient DNA".  He concludes:

"The lessons of this DNA revolution are not just scientific, however; they are social and political as well. The discoveries made possible by our new access to ancient DNA show that very few people today live anywhere near where their distant ancestors lived. Virtually no one on the planet is a true native—an instructive fact to consider at a time when ethnic and national differences still abound and the world continues to throw human beings together in new and unexpected ways."

Footing......................................

Two perceptions cast their shadows over my existence.  One consists in my realization that the world is inexplicably mysterious and full of suffering;  the other in the fact that I have been born into a period of spiritual decadence in mankind.  I have become familiar with and ready to deal with each, through the thinking which has led me to the ethical and affirmative position of Reverence for Life.  In that principle my life has found firm footing and a clear path to follow.

-Albert Schweitzer (1875-1965), as excerpted from Out of My Life and Thought:  An Autobiography

Opening paragraphs.............................

There is a lovely road that runs from Ixopo into the hills.  These hills are grass-covered and rolling, and they are lovely beyond any singing of it.  The road climbs seven miles into them, to Carisbrooke;  and from there, if there is no mist, you look down on one of the fairest valleys of Africa.  About you there is grass and bracken and you may hear the forlorn crying of the titihoya, one of the birds of the veld.  Below you is the valley of the Umzimkulu, on its journey from the Drakensberg to the sea;  and beyond and behind the river, great hill after great hill;  and beyond and behind them, the mountains of Ingeli and East Griqualand.
-Alan Paton,  Cry, The Beloved Country

Another paradox......................................

Can't you see.......................................

Willie Nelson....................................................All Of Me

Self................................................

                                                      8

Faith in a holy cause is to a considerable extent a substitute for the lost faith in ourselves

                                                      9

The less justified a man is in claiming excellence for his own self, the more ready he is to claim all excellence for his nation, his religion, his race or his holy cause.

                                                     10

A man is likely to mind his own business when it is worth minding.  When it is not, he takes his mind off his own meaningless affairs by minding other people's business.  
     This minding of other people's business expresses itself in gossip, snooping and meddling, and also in feverish interest in communal, national and racial affairs.  In running away from ourselves we either fall on our neighbor's shoulder or fly at his throat.

                                                     11

The burning conviction that we have a holy duty toward others is often a way of attaching our drowning selves to a passing raft.  What looks like giving a hand is often a holding on for dear life.  Take away our holy duties and you leave our lives puny and meaningless.  There is no doubt that in exchanging a self-centered life for a selfless life, we gain enormously in self-esteem.  The vanity of the selfless, even those who practice utmost humility, is boundless.

-Eric Hoffer, as excerpted from The True Believer:  Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements

I am sure it will come to me, but until it does, my deep appreciation to whoever it was who pointed me to Hoffer.

So, I whistled up Amazon and ordered at least one new book today......................

The Highlights of My Day.  What a great blog idea!

George Carlin.......................................

........................................revisits the Ten Commandments.

One of the reasons I was a History major....

While visiting the awesome APOD site Sunday morning, the question arose, "Why do so many galaxies have the 'spiral' shape?"  The Oracle Google was consulted - here, here, and here.  I still don't know why so many galaxies have the "spiral" shape.

"These arms are in fact density waves passing through the galaxy, with stars moving in and out of the waves. The arms themselves aren’t permanent structures made of the same clumps of stars." (1)

Oh.  After five minutes of Intertunnel research, one comes to the conclusion that the scientists don't really know either.  I find great comfort in that notion.

Fifty years ago........................................

Tom Jones............................Thunderball (James Bond) Theme

Beauty..........................................

Opening paragraphs..................................

The truth is, if old Major Dover hadn't dropped dead at Taunton races Jim would never have come to Thursgood's at all.  He came in mid-term without an interview, lat May it was though no one would have thought it from the weather, employed through one of the shiftier agencies specialising in supply teachers for prep schools, to hold down old Dover's teaching till someone suitable could be found.  'A linguist,' Thursgood told the common room, 'a temporary measure,' and brushed away his forelock in self-defence.  'Priddo.'  He gave the spelling 'P-R-I-D' - French was not Thursgood's subject so he consulted the slop of paper - 'E-A-U-X, first name James.  I think he'll do us very well till July.'  The staff had no difficulty in reading the signals.  Jim Prideaux was a poor white of the teaching community.  He belonged to the same sad bunch as the late Mrs Loveday who had a Persian lamb coat and stood in for junior divinity until her cheques bounced, or the late Mr Maltby, the pianist who had been called from choir practice to help the police with their enquiries, and for all anyone knew was helping them to this day, for Maltby's trunk still lay in the cellar awaiting instructions.  Several of the staff, but chiefly Marjoribanks, were in favour of opening that trunk.  They said it contained notorious missing treasures;  Aprahamian's silver-framed picture of his Lebanese mother, for instance;  Best-Ingram's Swiss army penknife and Matron's watch.  But Thursgood set his  creaseless face resolutely against their entreaties.  Only five years had passed since he had inherited the school from his father, but they had taught him already that some things are best locked away.

-John Le Carre,  Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Can I get an Amen..................................?

"I generally think that the majority of investors are better served by trying to create a competitive advantage over their own emotions rather than worrying about what others around them are doing."
-Ben Carlson, as excerpted from here

Transitions........................................