HOWS BUSINESS?

"WE BLEW IT...."
EASY RIDER

CAN'T GET THIS ONE OUT OF MY HEAD

Rex's blues
by Townes Van Zandt

Ride the blue wind high and free
She'll lead you down through misery
Leave you low come time to go
Alone and low as low can be

If I had a nickel I'd find a game
If I won a dollar I'd make it rain
If it rained an ocean I'd drink it dry
And lay me down dissatisfied

It's legs to walk and thoughts to fly
Eyes to laugh and lips to cry
A restless tongue to classify
All born to grow and grown to die

Tell my baby I said so long
Tell my mother I did no wrong
Tell my brother to watch his own
Tell my friends to mourn me none

Chained upon the face of time
Feeling full of foolish rhyme
There ain't no dark till something shines
I'm bound to leave this dark behind

Ride the blue wind high and free
She'll lead you down through misery
Leave you low come time to go
Alone and low as low can be

MY DADS BEST FRIEND

Hey Bruce!
Good to see you up and running again! You sent me something last year that I have hanging on my bulletin board about an old man getting a room at a Nursing home and he thinks its just marvelous….one of his little sayings is ‘Give More-Expect less” and I like that a lot.
I’ve told you before that I can hardly think about Dad without thinking about you, and vice-versa.
Dad used to say something on occasion that I didn’t quite know what it meant when I was a Kid; these days while I think I know what it means, it does not sound like something Dad would say…it goes like this…

Someone would ask Dad “So how are you doing, Jack”
and Dad would reply back ‘Oh anyone I can!”…

Bruce, this just doesn’t sound like something my Dad would say, but I heard him say it a lot!

THE LINKS

DO YA'LL HAVE ANY IDEA HOW MUCH I LIKE YOU?

THE PARACLETE

donum creatum/donum increatum

I know, I know I haven't posted in a long time and this one is pretty much a cop-out. The bare bone fact of the matter is that I have really been quite bored with it all and fairly steady/busy/occupied/with my other life as a Double Agent/ Power Ranger/Game Show Host/ Big Purple Dinosaur.
Unless you are Davy, I haven't been by your site in some time.
We will have some catching up to do one of these days.
But instead of a post about a New Species of Mammal, or The Blind Venetian, Or Winkum Blinkum and God, Davy's Sweet Weepin' Butter Jesus, or My Gay Dream...I'll give you my Easter Song...
Its like the Preacher preachin' to the Paraclete.


When you're lost in the rain in Juarez
And it's Eastertime too
And your gravity fails
And negativity don't pull you through
Don't put on any airs
When you're down on Rue Morgue Avenue
They got some hungry women there
And they really make a mess outa you

Now if you see Saint Annie
Please tell her thanks a lot
I cannot move
My fingers are all in a knot
I don't have the strength
To get up and take another shot
And my best friend, my doctor
Won't even say what it is I've got

Sweet Melinda
The peasants call her the goddess of gloom
She speaks good English
And she invites you up into her room
And you're so kind
And careful not to go to her too soon
And she takes your voice
And leaves you howling at the moon

Up on Housing Project Hill
It's either fortune or fame
You must pick up one or the other
Though neither of them are to be what they claim
If you're lookin' to get silly
You better go back to from where you came
Because the cops don't need you
And man they expect the same

Now all the authorities
They just stand around and boast
How they blackmailed the sergeant-at-arms
Into leaving his post
And picking up Angel
whoJust arrived here from the coast
Who looked so fine at first
But left looking just like a ghost

I started out on burgundy
But soon hit the harder stuff
Everybody said they'd stand behind me
When the game got rough
But the joke was on me
There was nobody even there to call my bluff
I'm going back to New York City
I do believe I've had enough

just like tom thumb's blues
b.dylan

A GOOD WAY...

To start the day is with a Diet Dr pepper and a Moon Pie.
Enriched Flour, Niacin, Riboflavin, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Corn Syrup, Sugar Syrup, Sodium Acid Pyrophoshate....
Everything a growin' boy needs!

A BAD WAY...

To spend a Saturday afternoon is to see a good friends name on the news and find that he has been killed on his motorcycle.
I knew Curtis way before I ever met him.
Joe Friday says its all about young and old souls and past and future friendships.
Its all very confusing to practical fellows like me.
Gobless...
Gobless you Curtis...
Gobless us all.

I GOTTA...

...Stumble just to stay put.

My World..

...is a Million miles wide, but only one inch deep.

PETER HIMMELMAN

I asked Water Baby to post lyrics to a song on her site. They come fromm the movie 'Juno' that she also has posted there and you can listen to them.
They remind me of one of my favorite little known Artsists, Peter Himmelman. He is very Jewish, from Minneapolis/St. Paul and writes a terrific song both Musically and in verse.

The Lyrics below are from the first of a trio of Albums he did in the early 90's. Through the three Albums you can hear the sound and message evolve and refine...they culminate in a very good album called "Skin"from 1994.
'Skin" is a concept album the way "Dark Side of the Moon" or "Tommy" are. It tells a story from start to finish.

I first heard it in its entirety on the Radio and recorded it. A few years later, I picked up the CD and found Himmelman's explanation of the concept in the liner notes.
They were unnecessary as I understood the concept from the first time I heard it.
That is how his music and lyrics are. Very simple, very nice. Clean.
For several years I could scarce but keep from cryin' at some point while playing it through.

This is from the first of the three albums and Water Babys song reminded me of this one.

This song has always reminded me of my good friends Kem and Alana. They seem to be on a mission, committed and resolved to take care of each other.


Mission Of My Soul
From the album "From Strength to Strength" (1991)

When you need me, I'll stand beside you
I'm there for you wherever you go
When you're hungry, I'll satisfy you
That's the mission of my soul

When you need confession, I'm there to listen
When you're crossing the ocean, I've got a boat to row
When you need attention, your audience won't be missing
That's the mission of my soul

When you're sleepy, I'll make your bed now
When you're unsure, I'm a gonna let you know
I’ll say, “Baby, don't trouble your head now.”
That's the mission of my soul

When you're making plans, and you need a partner
Baby I'm your man, just tell me when do we go
You be my flower, I'll be your gardener
That's the mission of my soul

RATED "R"

I’ve known her for years. She is my friend, but last Valentines Day something happened.
She looked at me with those Ice Blue eyes and said so sweetly:
“I would have Sex with you if it weren’t that time of month”

If she meant it, it would be the best offer I’ve had since I can't remember when.
If she did not mean it, it would be the closest thing to an offer that I have had in about the same.
Either way it was the nicest thing anybody has said to me in a long time.

I looked up and flashed her my best smile, wrapped my arm around her waist, drew her slowly to me till we were knee to knee and hip to hip.
I touched her forehead gently with my own. We were eyeball to eyeball.
I said in my best Leonard Cohen voice:
“I must look especially cute tonight” and licked my lips.
‘I don’t know what it is, but there is just something about the way you are looking at me that is kinda getting’ to me” she says as she parts her lips.
“Well, Babe, in that case I’ll just have to give you my stock answer”
‘And whats that?” she whispers.
‘Get a towel”


Happy Valentines Day!

KITCHEN FUN

FOR GEWELS AND A MOVEABLE FEAST

The Chef gets an order in for one Hamburger.
He puts the patty on the grill, seasons it lightly and puts the Bun under the Broiler to toast. He crosses his arms and watches the patty cook, waiting to turn it over.
Smoke begins to pour from under the Broiler.
“Oh crap” he mutters to himself and removes the bun, in flames, from the Broiler.
He replaces the burned bun with a new one in the Broiler and turns his attention back to the Patty, which is now ready to turn.
He gently turns the patty, and again lightly seasons to perfection.
He crosses his arms and contemplates the beauty of a perfectly cooked hamburger patty.
‘Oh crap” he mutters as smoke pours again from the Broiler….
He replaces the Bun; this will not happen again.
He crosses his arms and watches the bun slowly turn to golden brown.
He smiles to himself satisfied, having learned his lesson, when suddenly flames erupt from the grill.
‘Oh crap!”
The Patty is on fire!

PG-13

I am (almost) out of good, clean, and wholesome stories to tell...

that, coupled with the fact that I am so busy I can't shoot straight....

"Busy as snot" as I have been known to say.

PIZZICATO

One of the two songs from when I was a kid that stick with me is” Theme from “A Summer Place””. It was written by Max Steiner and performed by Percy Faith and his Orchestra. I can remember as a child being fascinated by the long smooth notes of the Strings coupled with the syncopated rhythm of a Piano playing what sounded almost like ‘Chopsticks” in the background.
If you think you do not know this tune click here for a really cheesy rendition that may jog your memory.
As soon as I was able to work the turntable on the Hi-Fi I would play this song over and over again. I was about 5 years old.
I did not really know what a Violin was, or who Max Steiner might be.
To this day I have never seen “A Summer Place” and can't name another Max Steiner tune.
But at the age of 5 I thought this was the most wonderful piece of music ever written.
It still falls into the top 20, and it is a pretty good song for makin' out.

The other song, from a little later in my childhood was “Can’t Get Over Losing You” by Andy Williams. I thought the vocals were good, and te melody real nice but what really got me was when the violin players would “Pluck” their strings. They call this “pizzicato” and when I was 8 years old and this song would come on the Hi-Fi I could hardly wait for that part of the song to come on and wished it would go on forever.

The 60’s were a wonderful time for Music, and I don’t think there is a period of time anywhere that music made such a transition.

Within a few years, that same Hi-Fi would be playing music very far removed from Messer’s Mancini and Williams.

My buddy Dave over at the Mower Shed asked if we have ever bought an Album based on the Cover.

Indeed we have!

When we were kids, my sister and I used to dance about the Living Room on weekends, with an 1000 piece Jigsaw Puzzle set up, while the Hi-Fi played Andy Williams, Andre Kostelanetz, Dean Martin and Herb Alpert.

But neither of us bought the above pictured album; my Dad did along with several million other guys.

WASN'T BORN NO YESTERDAY

Well, I had me a look and if I got it figgered rightly my 250th post came right at the New Year.
I don't know that my writing has improved on this Blog that much, but I write one of the clearest prettiest little EMails you ever did see.
Ever saw.
Clapped an eye on.
I present myself as a well spoken boy from a good family, mostly.

So, you and I... we... have come a long ways and I have to thank you for that.


Georgia on a Fast Train
billy joe shaver
On a rainy Wednesday morning that's the way that I was born in
That old sharecropper's one room country shack
They said my mommie left me the day before she had me
Said she hit the road and never once looked back
And I just like to mention my grandma's old age pension
Is the reason why I'm standing here today
I got all my country learning a milking and a churning
Picking cotton raisin' hell and baling hay

I been to Georgia on a fast train honey
I wouldn't born no yesterday
I got a good Christian raisin' and an eight grade education
Ain't no need in y'all a treatin' me this way

Now sweet Carolina I don't think I'll ever find
Another woman put together like you are
I like your wiggle in your walking and your big city talking
And your brand new shiny Plymouth ragtop car
Well it's hurry up and wait in this land of give and take
It seems like haste it makes for waste everytime
I declare to my soul when you hear those ages roll
You better know I'm gonna get my share of mine

I been to Georgia on a fast train...
I wouldn't born no yesterday
I got a good Christian raisin' and an eight grade education
Ain't no need in y'all a treatin' me this way

HALLMARK DREAM #1

From a few weeks ago...I don't usually have dreams like these, and have to wonder where this came from...

Had the strangest dream last night...could be a book....it was in the
third person.
A man kept telling the woman he loved that he would wait
for her forever, and showed her the spot by a pond where he would be
waiting...

Though he loved her, they were not lovers.

The dream covered the period of years quite quickly as dreams can do...
He planted a garden in the springtime and reminded the woman of where he would meet her...
Harvested that fall, reminded her again...
Fishing in a boat the next year he tells her again...
Then a war, like WWII starts, he is a pilot.
Flies many missions and on leave he sees the woman, tells her he will wait.
He is very insistent about telling this woman he will wait, forever, and showing her the spot by the pond.

It seems like there is even a bench there he will be waiting, sitting upon.

As the War is drawing to a close, he is not shot down , but runs out of
gas. Bails out of the plane and his parachute does not open.
not fully anyway, and in the dream I am wondering if he will survive the fall.
He hits the ground and in the dream I am wondering if it kills him.

Then a German runs by him and laughs, saying "I was shot down but your 'chute did not open and now we are dead just the same, no?" and the German keeps going as though he has someplace he needs to be.

So my man, the pilot, gathers up his chute, (still third person, I'm
like 100 yards away) and I watch him start walking away.
He is smiling and happy and I wonder why he is so pleased.
He walks with a purpose, like the German, and seems to have a place in mind he needs to be.

Thats when I realize where he is walking to, to wait forever and in the dream I see the bench by the pond.
I wake up.

PEEL AND EAT

Had a dream that featured my old friend Danny last night.
We were Chefs together.
In my dream we had two boats and an elaborate system of nets and we would troll for shrimp at the nearby freshwater lake.
Then we would take them back to my Apartment.
We would clean them and cook them and eat all we could and sell the rest.
It was like a cross between Forrest Gump and Blue Bell Ice cream.
We were quite successful and decided to take the show on the road and steam on down to Australia in search of Jumbo Tiger Shrimp.
But on the way we stopped at the Cook Islands and were not able to leave because of all the young Virgins we were required to service.
We ate a lot of Breadfruit.
Didn’t this happen to another famous crew?
Was it the Bounty or Horatio Hornblower?
No matter, because we lived a life of ease in a tropical Paradise.
It could happen, I suppose.
They say somehing similar happened to Tony Romo.

WOMAN, GO AND SIN NO MORE

When I was in the 8th Grade we had a Lay Witness Mission at the Church. On Saturday night at the Youth meeting I accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as my personal Savior. I was not alone in doing this, as Kandi , Steve, and Nancy were among the many that night having similar experiences. They would come to be among the best friends I ever had and for the next two years some of my fondest memories were made.

I was awkward, I was not cool, I was shy, and like a lot of kids, still looking for a group that would make me feel at home
I was still a few weeks away from being elected President of the Rocket Club and the honor of being “Rocket Renfro”.
I was’nt too sure if I liked Rock and Roll or not.
I was the skinniest knock-kneedest kid to ever drag a Trombone with him everywhere he went. I was on the Football team, but tied for last place with another skinny knock-kneed kid for ability and whatever else it takes to play the game.
I had a crush on the girl that lived across the street, Jeri, and had not a clue as to what to do about it. Sometimes clueless is best.

At the Lay Witness Mission I learned that God loved even awkward me and even more stunning, he loved the Rock and Rollers and the Band people and the 'Ropers and the Jocks and the people who hung out in the restroom smoking cigarettes.
On a folder I carried I put a sticker on it that said
“GOD LOVES ME AND HE LOVES YOU TOO”
and waited , hoping someone would ask me about this so that I could help to spread the good news, and strengthened my Faith through daily fellowship with Kandi and Nancy and Steve.

In Mr. Georges Math Class I got my wish.
My fervent prayer for the opprtunity to Witness was answered.

There was a girl who sat next to me, a bad girl with too much mascara and too much lipstick. She smelled faintly of tobacco. I think her name was Debbie and she wore miniskirts and fishnet hose and high heels. She had long dark hair and hung out with thugs.
One day she saw my sticker and asked if I believed what it said.
This was my big break because not only was I going to spread the GOOD NEWS but I was going to spread the word to someone who so desperately needed it.

I told her that yes I did believe it and that I knew it too be true beyond any doubt.
She said she didn’t think it could possibly be true.
Being young and awkward and shy and somehow very attracted to those fishnet hose I was unable to just come right out and witness.
I needed a little nudge to get me started so I asked why she could not believe that
"God loves me and he loves you too"
I just knew I had the answer as to how God Could love a mascara wearin, tobacco smoking miniskirtin, Rockand Rollin girl like her, because God Loved everyone.
I expected she was about to "open up" to me and confess her sins, all her deepest most Carnal desires, and that i would be able to lead her into self-acceptance.

Instead she looks at me like I am an insect and says
“I can’t believe that God could love a numb-nut knucklehead like YOU!”

I never saw it coming!

I look back and I think this story is hilarious, but when I tell it to a group of Church people, they always look at me with sad and sympathetic eyes and say something like "Oh how horrible for you!"

Maybe I have just gotten to be too cool to know the difference.

FOR GRIZZBABE

THEY DANCE LIKE YOU WOULDN'T BELIEVE

After placing 4 posts in draft in the last 24 hours, I have finally found inspiration enough through the likes of Barbara and UF Mike to go (now theres a pairing) to go ahead and let Greg Brown speak for me. From "The Poet Game"



LORD, I HAVE MADE YOU A PLACE IN MY HEART
Oh Lord, I have made you a place in my heart
among the rags and the bones and the dirt.
There's piles of lies, the love gone from her eyes,
and old moving boxes full of hurt.
Pull up a chair by the trouble and care.
I got whiskey, you're welcome to some.
Oh Lord, I have made you a place in my heart,
but I don't reckon you're gonna come.

I've tried to fix up the place, I know it's a disgrace,
you get used to it after a while -
with the flood and the drought and old pals hanging out
with their IOU's and their smiles.
bare naked women keep coming in
and they dance like you wouldn't believe.
Oh Lord, I have made you a place in my heart,
so take a good look - and then leave.

Oh Lord, why does the Fall get colder each year?
Lord, why can't I learn to love?
Lord, if you made me, it's easy to see
that you all make mistakes up above.
But if I open the door, you will know I'm poor
and my secrets are all that I own.
Oh Lord, I have made you a place in my heart
and I hope that you leave it alone.