Down The Road and Up The Road

I'm riding passenger in the back of my friend Su's car with Jim to my left, Su driving and her hubby Kenn riding shotgun. As I wrote this, we were east of Show Low heading into NM where we'll pass along the plains of San Augustine, through Quemado, then thru to Pie Town, up to Socorro with the Very Large Array radio telescope then home to Albuquerque. Along the way back I've seen part of the Salt River, any number of flickers diving in an out of their Saguaro cactus nests, a large red tail hawk soaring on the early afternoon thermals, and a golden eagle with its limp catch gripped in its talons. Ummm, the scenic route home. Happy stuff.

Last night's concert with Lorenna McKennitt was an intimate setting in Scottsdale's civic center amphitheater. The programme had a nicely worded request to not take pictures which I was happy to honor as the reasons were to keep the mood of the night and to respect the artist's right to the control of her image and hence her privacy. Seemed reasonable to me. (I don't think artists "owe" fans unlimited access to their lives anyway.) I did get a snap of the stage set before the festivities began, though. Seating was open on a nice lawn fairly close to the library. We spread our blankets and settled down with anticipation.

A little after 7 Lorena and her troup of 9 musicians took the stage launching the nights show with a gentle welcome followed by a song from her newest album with her playing Celtic harp and then moving to electric piano while her breathy soaring soprano voice flowered in the night air to the accompinaiment of divers instruments including lute, Greek lyra, tabla, hurdey gurdey and even castanets. Against a backdrop of a blue & gold with ornate brass lanterns, together they lead us on a musical journey inspired by the Celtic diaspora - a journey that goes from as far back and afield as Mongolia to the waves of Irish immigrants spreading through the new world up into Canada. We were.... captivated.

For more about Lorena McKennitt and her music, and current tour please see her official site at http://www.quinlanroad.com/homepage/index.asp

Shrub Again

Gosh, I sure miss Molly Ivins. I was reading that Time Magazine new issue of the 100 Most Influential People In The World and "George Bush is not listed!" What fun Molly would have with that choice little nugget! She was the first to call Georgie boy Shrub, by the way.

internetweekly.org/iwr/cartoons/cartoon_shrub...

Crossroads

A few nights ago, 4.19.07, I was watching a PBS broadcast of Crossroads In America and there was an excellent episode "Faith Without Fear; Struggle for the Soul of Islam." It was brilliant and as a westerner, as an American, I realize all along that what I had grown up appreciating about Islam in the first place came out its accomplishments -- like in the Alhambra in Spain, through "idjihad" It was based on reason and critique rather than tribalism and warfare. It was that culture that gave the world the tools of algebra, early chemistry (alchemy), and medicine. I remember myself as a starry eyed young reader of imagining Scherezade's 1001 Tales, rapt in the romance of it all. I can understand Muslims who want the practice of "idjihad" to come back in this modern era. But, then I've always been an ecumenical soul anyway. But still, wouldn't a little extra tolerance be nice these days?

You Oughta See This Interview**

**Clicking on my blog title will take you to an interview Bill Moyers did with Joshua Michael Marshall from the Talking Points Memo about the chicanery going on with the Justice Department and Alberto Gonzalez.

The three branches of Government are supposed to be separate. The way this looks with the AG's office, reminds me of what our teachers back when taught about both the rise of communism and fascism. Party hacks put in to make sure everyone else is hewing to the party line rather than putting the law of the land foremost. What Russians used to call political officers. Spies. Internal spies. Just sayin....

Da Nooz, Da Nooz....

Well guys and gals, can y'all say "Potemkin Village"? Betcha can.

The House Committee on Reform and Oversight has been conducting the Tillman-Lynch Hearings. Fairly early in the war, both Pat Tillman and Jessica Lynch were misrepresented by the Army for propaganda reasons. Tillman, you'll remember quit a pro- football team and joined up as a patriotic response to the events of 9/11. He was also killed by friendly fire while his group was being ambushed by the enemy. But rather than own the truth --that his death was due to friendly fire -- the Pentagon went to great pains to prevent his family from learning about the real cause and put their own spin. It took over a month for the real truth to get out. In the hearings, a fellow platoon member testified that he had been ordered not to tell anyone the truth. Kevin Tillman said the Army used his brother and set him up as a hero for it's own purposes. Jessica Lynch was that young gal rescued from an Iraqi hospital after her convoy was attacked and her driver, Lori Piestewa was killed. Ms. Lynch testified that she was there to be sure the truth got out -- that she did nothing extraordinary or heroic. "The bottom line," Lynch said, "is the American people are capable of determining their own ideals of heroes and they don't need to be told elaborate lies."

Yet another section of the House, the Judiciary Committee, today gave US Attorney General Gonzalez' aide Monica Goodling immunity for her cooperation. He really ought to resign. I tell you. And this business with dismissed U.S. Attorney, David Iglesias is just getting better and better. Newsweek's Michael Iskoff and Mark Hosenball reports that one of the reasons he was canned was because of being an "absentee landlord." The "absentee landlord" reason has been cited previously in other related documents and commentaries about the reason Iglesias was pink-slipped. That means, that he's not taking care of his work and spending too much time "off the reservation" that is the Justice Department. Now the kicker is that Iglesias is also a Navy Captain, and was doing his military reserve duty, "teaching classes on the war on terror. And there is this thing about not firing reservists for the performance of their reserve duty. Even Shrub backs that up. Alberto, seriously -- if ya need help burying your career, you've dug down as far as you can go.

Ah well... there is no place like Earth. But some several billion miles away, in a far galaxy, a planet is said to "resemble" earth. Well it's ain't like we're ready to go colonizing. I can imagine political regimes around the world with their key players salivating at the thought of being able to ship off a bunch of malcontents. Get away from Earth - settle new land -- take what you can and make of it what you will. Of course there'd be a mix of others from the professions and trades who would sign on for the adventure of it all. If I was in my 20's I'd be out in a shot! Heinlein was right. When they start wanting ID, things are way too crowded! (pardon my paraphasing. ) Oh well, I'd still sign up to help build or support building space craft for exploration. Give me a decent apartment close to work, even on site, a reasonable canteen and bookstore, a reasonable stipend and yeah...

I see Russ Simmons - a hip-hop pioneer/mogul - this week came out and said that "artists" really should refrain from the unholy trio of rap (the N-word, B***** and Ho'. ) That's nice. He listens to the market. Now about that "don't snitch" business. Man, oh man, that is some fugly shit my friends! That is saying the poorest neighborhoods are lost to us; that the lives of people within them have no value, deserve no justice when harmed or exploited and that the criminal parasites can prey on them freely whenever they want. It says there isn't anything to protect the decent folks who just want to live and prosper by the work of their minds and hands. I do NOT believe that decency and aspiration should be the sacrificial blood feeding the parasites. It's crap. I don't think that's what Douglass, Du Bois, King and others envisioned writing for freedom and dreams and ridding society of the shackles of oppression.

Ego Boo - How Many Of You Are There

HowManyOfMe.com

There are: 5 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

Relevant Quotes

Do you lead an examined life? How's your self-mirror? Are you satisfied with what you see? Could you be doing better?

No man remains quite what he was when he recognizes himself." -- Thomas Mann

Happy To Be Me

In another blog I read, we were to match our zodiac sign with the color of our eyes. Hence:

VIRGO: Dominant in relationships. Sexy. Someone loves them right now. Freak in bed. Always wants the last word. Caring. Smart. Addictive. Attractive. Loud. Loyal. Easy to talk to. Hard to forget. Love at first sight. Everything you ever wanted. Easy to please. The one and only. Ultimate sexiness.

Blue Eyes-People with blue eyes last the longest in relationships. They are pretty or handsome & very good kissers. They always fall in love with their closest friends and never understand why, they are very funny and outgoing and don't care what people think or say. They are very satisfying and love to please. They will always exceed your pleasure standards. The best of all. If you repost this and you have blue eyes you will have the best kiss sometime in the next 4 days.

Dang, it's good being me! LOL!

Big Media & Bad News

If you want real News - speak up. Entertainment news is NOT real news. It's just bread and circuses to spare you from having to think critically and analytically about serious things like foreign policy, civics and good government, human rights and more.

Little Bites

The last few days, I've had a helluva a time getting anything written. The only things that have come easily is commenting on other blogs.

This last week I read Zainab Salbi & Laurie Berklund's "Between Two Worlds; Escape From Tyranny: Growing Up In The Shadow Of Saddam." It is a compelling and harrowing read of Salbi's life as the daughter of Saddam's personal pilot and the stark fear in which silence becomes one of the keys to survival in the face of Hussein's rule. Reading this makes me aware again how privileged we Americans and Europeans really are. Don't pass this book by.

21 on the 21st. DH and I will be celebrating our 21st Anniversary the day before this year's Winter Solstice. I was really kind of hoping the Solstice would be on the 21st this year as well, but :::sigh::: it isn't to be. Does this mean our marriage is now adult, too?!?

Pedalling my ass. Later this afternoon, DH and I are going to get me a new bicycle. The weather is NOT perfect for bicycling, but that's ok - it will give us time to get the tires puncture proofed and the bike set up comfortably for me . I've already scoped it out and it's not going to be anything fancy, but it will have some nice features -- like a wider seat and shocks with a 'soft tail'.

Two weeks of hell. PDA Training at work. Starting tomorrow: from 6 a.m. in the morning to 2:30 p.m. :::whimper::: I'm not a morning person. Really. I promise. I've got to start waking up at 4:15 in order to be up on my feet and out the door by 5:20. This means bed time by 9:30 at the latest. And I still won't be really alert until somewhere around 10 a.m. :::grumble:::

Jay's memorial service is finally set for January 13th in San Francisco. My time off was approved, I've got my and place to stay. All I need to do when I get there is pick up a Muni pass and I'm set for getting around. I do hope the weather's good because when I'm there I love walking up most of the hilly streets there - it does wonders for my legs and arse. That kind of exercise also means I can enjoy things like clam chowder in sourdough bread bowls on the wharf and chocolate truffles from Joseph Schmidt's. Mmmm... chocolate....