1:40 pm
Starbucks
Dundas and Richmond
London, Ontario
I am ugliness, therefore I can see beauty.
It looks as if it is going to be a very white holidays after all. We are getting hit by a "nice" snowstorm and have been since around 6 this morning. Blizzard like conditions, snow in need of shovelling, even after it has been shovelled. People are walking snowmen or snowwomen, cars are like giant sleighs.
I am actually enjoying the weather, it is my weekend and I am in no hurry. I will be heading to my grandparents soon for another Friday night dinner.
I have 2 more nights of work until I am off into the new year and it can't come soon enough. Working midnights is killing me, and I am teaching myself to grow old doing it.
I have as many as 5 books on the go, and can't seem to make it through any of them. I hate the fact that I haven't seen a good movie, for too long.
Today's song is A Falling Through by Ray LaMontagne. I assume it is about some break up or another, the evolution of relationships and their passings. Life is but a breath. Remember. Forget. It is your choice. Though doing one is harder than the other, take your pick.
Possibilities are not endless, they are limited. A simple fact, unless you are an intellectually stupid dreamer.
The holidays (Christmas) is no more significant than the rest of the year. No matter what, some people will tell you.
There might be tangerine trees but I haven't seen any. I see fake metal coloured trees outside the window. Swirling snow, rushing people and insignificant hindsight.
Make a snow angel, because angels are only things we create.
jr.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2T-CUPWsXg
Friday, December 19, 2008
Sunday, December 14, 2008
"The first time ever I saw your face, I thought the sun rose in your eyes and the moon and stars were the gifts you gave......"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3iScH1XpjTA
First Time Ever I Saw Your Face by Stereophonics
I absolutely love the Stereophonics cover above.
"Death is a mystery. And life is but a breath." From Daughter of the Killing Fields Asrei's Story by Theary C. Seng.
It has been raining much of the day today. With the temperatures rising throughout the night and into tomorrow, only traces of snow will remain. The temperature is supposed to go from a high of 9 on Monday to a high of -7 on Tuesday, no wonder so many people get sick.
Today was much the same for me, a search for some perspective in my solitary life. Pages of novels read, cups of tea drank, eyes of strangers observed and in some cases momentarily lost in. Also the piece of writing below.
"I want to live, I want to give
I've been a miner for a heart of gold
It's these expressions I never give
That keep me searchin' for a heart of gold
And I'm gettin' old......"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57lMuywZUJQ
Heart of Gold by Neil Young (December 1, 2008 Montreal)
Accidental Conversations
December rain is falling on this city
The old harmonica in Heart of Gold
Slices through mine like a cold knife
All the white snow is washing away
Christmas might be brown or green
Nothing of its potential to be beautiful
A woman in a knitted sweater thinking
Oblivious to her ability to inspire me
The few rambling words written here
Under lights framed by black plastic
A Sunday afternoon beginning quietly
With its usual assortment of accessories
Books, music and growing cold black tea
The contents of my heart are not empty
Surprisingly it is full of things to give
Love might not be one of them anymore
How can I know for sure without feeling
Kindness has never been enough thus far
Life is but a breath and it is quickly taken
Long after we have inhaled and exhaled
There will be a secret story to be written
My words fail me and they have failed her
What do I know about myself except nothing
Everything is not as it used to be or will be
The days wait for accidental conversations
Nothing has a real purpose for me anymore
These words continue and the woman is gone
Not even leaving behind a thread of herself
My sweater also knitted but not out of love
Wears its grey colour well like my own eyes
Winter comforts me because of its requirements
Hibernation, toques, scarves, mittens and coats
Things I can wear well unlike my usual loneliness
Eventually all metal rusts and music is muted
The length of the afternoon remains unlived
History can write it as beautiful or repulsive
Everything needs definition in our vain society
Until this afternoon receives its own description
It will be in transition like rain falling on snow
12/14/08
The last work week before holidays begins soon, I suppose I should try and sleep.
john.
First Time Ever I Saw Your Face by Stereophonics
I absolutely love the Stereophonics cover above.
"Death is a mystery. And life is but a breath." From Daughter of the Killing Fields Asrei's Story by Theary C. Seng.
It has been raining much of the day today. With the temperatures rising throughout the night and into tomorrow, only traces of snow will remain. The temperature is supposed to go from a high of 9 on Monday to a high of -7 on Tuesday, no wonder so many people get sick.
Today was much the same for me, a search for some perspective in my solitary life. Pages of novels read, cups of tea drank, eyes of strangers observed and in some cases momentarily lost in. Also the piece of writing below.
"I want to live, I want to give
I've been a miner for a heart of gold
It's these expressions I never give
That keep me searchin' for a heart of gold
And I'm gettin' old......"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57lMuywZUJQ
Heart of Gold by Neil Young (December 1, 2008 Montreal)
Accidental Conversations
December rain is falling on this city
The old harmonica in Heart of Gold
Slices through mine like a cold knife
All the white snow is washing away
Christmas might be brown or green
Nothing of its potential to be beautiful
A woman in a knitted sweater thinking
Oblivious to her ability to inspire me
The few rambling words written here
Under lights framed by black plastic
A Sunday afternoon beginning quietly
With its usual assortment of accessories
Books, music and growing cold black tea
The contents of my heart are not empty
Surprisingly it is full of things to give
Love might not be one of them anymore
How can I know for sure without feeling
Kindness has never been enough thus far
Life is but a breath and it is quickly taken
Long after we have inhaled and exhaled
There will be a secret story to be written
My words fail me and they have failed her
What do I know about myself except nothing
Everything is not as it used to be or will be
The days wait for accidental conversations
Nothing has a real purpose for me anymore
These words continue and the woman is gone
Not even leaving behind a thread of herself
My sweater also knitted but not out of love
Wears its grey colour well like my own eyes
Winter comforts me because of its requirements
Hibernation, toques, scarves, mittens and coats
Things I can wear well unlike my usual loneliness
Eventually all metal rusts and music is muted
The length of the afternoon remains unlived
History can write it as beautiful or repulsive
Everything needs definition in our vain society
Until this afternoon receives its own description
It will be in transition like rain falling on snow
12/14/08
The last work week before holidays begins soon, I suppose I should try and sleep.
john.
Saturday, December 13, 2008
"When it's grey in L.A. I sure like it that way....."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hVqORXrWOw
Grey In L.A. by Loudon Wainwright III
I want to see but I don't want to be seen.
Last night I managed to stay awake until shortly after midnight. This is rare for a Friday night but I was up shortly after six. I once again realized there is not very much to do at that time of the morning. I get bored quickly at home and decided to go out, I had some breakfast and spent much of the morning reading while drinking my tea.
I finished Memories of John Lennon and The Secret River. The Lennon book was a very good read and much different compared to my usual serious novels. The short pieces written by those with some intimate knowledge of John was fascinating. I really found the piece written by Richie Yorke describing Lennon's trips to Canada interesting and in particular his nervousness about meeting Trudeau. It was conveyed by Yorke and echoed by Lennon a very important moment for the music legend. The fact that Lennon was nervous about meeting Trudeau was because he knew how important his support would be to his message of peace. Lennon was seen as a God but he would say he was only a man, but he was a man rarely intimidated, this nervousness was an example along with his feet kissing upon meeting Jerry Lee Lewis. In a perfect pairing of fate, the champion of the peace movement would return to Toronto from his Ottawa meeting on the same plane as Lester B. Pearson. The Canadian Prime Minister responsible for creating the modern concept of Peacekeeping, though peacekeeping is no longer possible, it is peacekeeping.
Speaking of keeping the peace, in doing so in Afghanistan, Canada lost another 3 soldiers today. The country is not getting any more stable and it seems like a waste of our young men and women. This is hard for me to admit, considering I feel there is a legitimate enemy there but perhaps one Canadians should not be fighting and being killed by.
There is a passage by Loudon Wainwright III about Lennon and included is the following piece about John's death.
Oh No, Not John
The limousine was waiting outside the studio
In stepped poor John Lennon and his wife Yoko
Oh no, not John
On up 44th Street, left at 8th Avenue
Up to the Dakota; a man waits there for you
Oh no, yes John
The man's name it is Chapman, come from Honolulu
He really loved your music, John, got a Japanese wife, too
Oh no, poor Sean
Five bullets in your body, that's what the experts say
They say you signed an autograph for him on that very day
Oh no, not John
There was a vigil at the Roosevelt, at the Dakota too
Silence in Central Park, they had a riot in Liverpool
Now Chapman's in the jailhouse - what's he doing there?
He went and he shot John Lennon. All you heroes best beware
Oh no, not John
The limousine was waiting outside the studio
In stepped poor John Lennon and his wife Yoko
Oh no, not John
Loudon Wainwright III
On a side note below is an article comparing their sons Rufus and Julian.
http://crawdaddy.wolfgangsvault.com/Article/Sons-of-Rock-Rufus-Wainwright-vs-Julian-Lennon.html
The rest of my day was spent doing some shopping until I couldn't stand the crowds and the inability of people to walk in any form of a straight line. Then I went to my grandparents for dinner, macaroni with cheese and tomatoes, along with fresh bread and banana cream pie for dessert.
Back to Loudon Wainwright, his song Grey In L.A. has been stuck in my head for the last couple of days. The link to the song is at the start of the entry.
"It seems like the daylight is coming, no one is watching but me, but I don't mind the dark discovering the day....." (Or the day discovering the dark)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yzw00CvYuDg
I guess sticking with the L.A. theme, above is Counting Crows Goodnight L.A., a very underrated song. The song is rarely played live, the version above is from 2003 @ the Pinkpop festival in Holland, it is followed seamlessly in the soft rain by A Long December.
Observations should be made without reservations.
jr.
Grey In L.A. by Loudon Wainwright III
I want to see but I don't want to be seen.
Last night I managed to stay awake until shortly after midnight. This is rare for a Friday night but I was up shortly after six. I once again realized there is not very much to do at that time of the morning. I get bored quickly at home and decided to go out, I had some breakfast and spent much of the morning reading while drinking my tea.
I finished Memories of John Lennon and The Secret River. The Lennon book was a very good read and much different compared to my usual serious novels. The short pieces written by those with some intimate knowledge of John was fascinating. I really found the piece written by Richie Yorke describing Lennon's trips to Canada interesting and in particular his nervousness about meeting Trudeau. It was conveyed by Yorke and echoed by Lennon a very important moment for the music legend. The fact that Lennon was nervous about meeting Trudeau was because he knew how important his support would be to his message of peace. Lennon was seen as a God but he would say he was only a man, but he was a man rarely intimidated, this nervousness was an example along with his feet kissing upon meeting Jerry Lee Lewis. In a perfect pairing of fate, the champion of the peace movement would return to Toronto from his Ottawa meeting on the same plane as Lester B. Pearson. The Canadian Prime Minister responsible for creating the modern concept of Peacekeeping, though peacekeeping is no longer possible, it is peacekeeping.
Speaking of keeping the peace, in doing so in Afghanistan, Canada lost another 3 soldiers today. The country is not getting any more stable and it seems like a waste of our young men and women. This is hard for me to admit, considering I feel there is a legitimate enemy there but perhaps one Canadians should not be fighting and being killed by.
There is a passage by Loudon Wainwright III about Lennon and included is the following piece about John's death.
Oh No, Not John
The limousine was waiting outside the studio
In stepped poor John Lennon and his wife Yoko
Oh no, not John
On up 44th Street, left at 8th Avenue
Up to the Dakota; a man waits there for you
Oh no, yes John
The man's name it is Chapman, come from Honolulu
He really loved your music, John, got a Japanese wife, too
Oh no, poor Sean
Five bullets in your body, that's what the experts say
They say you signed an autograph for him on that very day
Oh no, not John
There was a vigil at the Roosevelt, at the Dakota too
Silence in Central Park, they had a riot in Liverpool
Now Chapman's in the jailhouse - what's he doing there?
He went and he shot John Lennon. All you heroes best beware
Oh no, not John
The limousine was waiting outside the studio
In stepped poor John Lennon and his wife Yoko
Oh no, not John
Loudon Wainwright III
On a side note below is an article comparing their sons Rufus and Julian.
http://crawdaddy.wolfgangsvault.com/Article/Sons-of-Rock-Rufus-Wainwright-vs-Julian-Lennon.html
The rest of my day was spent doing some shopping until I couldn't stand the crowds and the inability of people to walk in any form of a straight line. Then I went to my grandparents for dinner, macaroni with cheese and tomatoes, along with fresh bread and banana cream pie for dessert.
Back to Loudon Wainwright, his song Grey In L.A. has been stuck in my head for the last couple of days. The link to the song is at the start of the entry.
"It seems like the daylight is coming, no one is watching but me, but I don't mind the dark discovering the day....." (Or the day discovering the dark)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yzw00CvYuDg
I guess sticking with the L.A. theme, above is Counting Crows Goodnight L.A., a very underrated song. The song is rarely played live, the version above is from 2003 @ the Pinkpop festival in Holland, it is followed seamlessly in the soft rain by A Long December.
Observations should be made without reservations.
jr.
Friday, December 12, 2008
"Woman I know you understand, the little child inside of the man, please remember my life is in your hands and woman hold me close to your heart....."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3kPBIewPOk
Woman by John Lennon (Studio acoustic version)
I could write endlessly about John Lennon and not articulate anything previously unwritten, so I will not ramble. Well supposedly out shopping for the holidays on Thursday I came upon the book Memories of John Lennon very much marked down. I couldn't resist buying the book edited and introduced by Yoko Ono for $10. Since then I have had a hard time putting it down, the book is a collection of memories writtten by those who knew or where influenced by Lennon. The vast array of talent arranged alphabetically is impressive and I am about 3/4 through, the next entry is from Iggy Pop. The book also contains some very good pictures and not of the usual variety. For me a highlight thus far was Ronnie Hawkins writing about John and Yoko coming to Canada to stay with him before their famous meeting with Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. The longest and most candid thoughts are from Elliot Mintz, a media advisor and close intimitate friend of John and Yoko. Elliot was almost a daily part of their lives from the early 1970's until John's death in December of 1980. He remains close to Yoko Ono. Below are some of his words.
"John not only made music, he used the interview format to paint word pictures. He wrote books, created drawings, lithographs, assembled collages, marched in the street, took out full-page ads, rented billboards, spoke out publicly about everything, made movies, created bed-ins, contributed grenerously to causes he believed in, sometimes behaved outrageously, defied convention, added an essential link to the chain of musical expression, advanced the concept househusbandry, provoked dialog and debate, and commanded attention through revelation. It really didn't matter if you thought of him as saint or sinner, mediocre or brilliant, heroic or naive, a working-class hero or an isolated dreamer, everybody had an opinion. He touched you."
Below is a poem from his woman.
Season of Glass
Spring passes
and one remembers one's innocence
Summer passes
and one remembers one's exuberance
Autumn passes
and one remembers one's reverence
Winter passes
and one remembers one's perseverance.
There is the season that never passes,
And that is the season of glass.
Yoko Ono
Picking a favourite John Lennon song would be nearly impossible because like all good artists, they have different songs for different moods. My list would include the brilliant Imagine, the acoustic version of Watching The Wheels, the whistling honesty of Jealous Guy, the intelligence of Mind Games and the beauty of Woman.
Below is a poem I wrote tonight. A Friday night in December, the coldest thus far to accompany the brighest moon of the year. I took a solitary walk with no particular destination in mind as I often do and it influenced my writing. Being muted doesn't mean you have to be quiet.
john.
Muted
My life is the Weather Network on mute
A familiar lyric being sung in the silence
I will not love and it no longer matters
Friday night snow falls on Richmond Street
Dusting my footprints after their creation
The city feels calming and peaceful tonight
Victoria Park is illuminated by holiday lights
Light blue ones have always been my favourite
Strings of them join Norwegian maples together
Above the full moon is pale behind clouds
Come midnight it will be a cosmic flood lamp
I pull my scarf tighter against the cold wind
Warming skin easily scarred and weathered
There is a contentment to my thoughts lately
Piano played melodies without sorrow or pain
Only the honesty of introspection and acceptance
I will grow old like a gentleman with kindness
Not the bleeding type of my youth and fervour
A maturated fruit left hanging on the branch
Passed over one too many times to reach out
There is no hope left of being carried off happily
I must walk alone like usual and this is alright
All of life is famously a stage and this is my role
The final scenes might not be scripted thus far
Hopefully I get one last long walk in the snow
Reminiscent of those taken by Pierre Trudeau
Through the streets encompassing old Montreal
I blink as a single falling flake enters my eye
They are supposed to be each individually unique
Sort of human in this aspect of their existence
Even more fleeting than our own insignificance
Here and now only matter and nothing else does
The past is on the radio being sung by Lennon
We could have been so much better than this
Reality is what it is and will always be such
A human society can never find utopian peace
The flaws like those in my head are too many
Love is a woman who is waiting for another man
I can see this clearly despite the December snow
There is still beauty in the scene and it will last
After every sound is muted and every eye closed
History like the universe will begin again one day
For an instant purity can exist in its wonderment
Before like a snowflake or a footprint it is tainted.
12/12/08
Woman by John Lennon (Studio acoustic version)
I could write endlessly about John Lennon and not articulate anything previously unwritten, so I will not ramble. Well supposedly out shopping for the holidays on Thursday I came upon the book Memories of John Lennon very much marked down. I couldn't resist buying the book edited and introduced by Yoko Ono for $10. Since then I have had a hard time putting it down, the book is a collection of memories writtten by those who knew or where influenced by Lennon. The vast array of talent arranged alphabetically is impressive and I am about 3/4 through, the next entry is from Iggy Pop. The book also contains some very good pictures and not of the usual variety. For me a highlight thus far was Ronnie Hawkins writing about John and Yoko coming to Canada to stay with him before their famous meeting with Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. The longest and most candid thoughts are from Elliot Mintz, a media advisor and close intimitate friend of John and Yoko. Elliot was almost a daily part of their lives from the early 1970's until John's death in December of 1980. He remains close to Yoko Ono. Below are some of his words.
"John not only made music, he used the interview format to paint word pictures. He wrote books, created drawings, lithographs, assembled collages, marched in the street, took out full-page ads, rented billboards, spoke out publicly about everything, made movies, created bed-ins, contributed grenerously to causes he believed in, sometimes behaved outrageously, defied convention, added an essential link to the chain of musical expression, advanced the concept househusbandry, provoked dialog and debate, and commanded attention through revelation. It really didn't matter if you thought of him as saint or sinner, mediocre or brilliant, heroic or naive, a working-class hero or an isolated dreamer, everybody had an opinion. He touched you."
Below is a poem from his woman.
Season of Glass
Spring passes
and one remembers one's innocence
Summer passes
and one remembers one's exuberance
Autumn passes
and one remembers one's reverence
Winter passes
and one remembers one's perseverance.
There is the season that never passes,
And that is the season of glass.
Yoko Ono
Picking a favourite John Lennon song would be nearly impossible because like all good artists, they have different songs for different moods. My list would include the brilliant Imagine, the acoustic version of Watching The Wheels, the whistling honesty of Jealous Guy, the intelligence of Mind Games and the beauty of Woman.
Below is a poem I wrote tonight. A Friday night in December, the coldest thus far to accompany the brighest moon of the year. I took a solitary walk with no particular destination in mind as I often do and it influenced my writing. Being muted doesn't mean you have to be quiet.
john.
Muted
My life is the Weather Network on mute
A familiar lyric being sung in the silence
I will not love and it no longer matters
Friday night snow falls on Richmond Street
Dusting my footprints after their creation
The city feels calming and peaceful tonight
Victoria Park is illuminated by holiday lights
Light blue ones have always been my favourite
Strings of them join Norwegian maples together
Above the full moon is pale behind clouds
Come midnight it will be a cosmic flood lamp
I pull my scarf tighter against the cold wind
Warming skin easily scarred and weathered
There is a contentment to my thoughts lately
Piano played melodies without sorrow or pain
Only the honesty of introspection and acceptance
I will grow old like a gentleman with kindness
Not the bleeding type of my youth and fervour
A maturated fruit left hanging on the branch
Passed over one too many times to reach out
There is no hope left of being carried off happily
I must walk alone like usual and this is alright
All of life is famously a stage and this is my role
The final scenes might not be scripted thus far
Hopefully I get one last long walk in the snow
Reminiscent of those taken by Pierre Trudeau
Through the streets encompassing old Montreal
I blink as a single falling flake enters my eye
They are supposed to be each individually unique
Sort of human in this aspect of their existence
Even more fleeting than our own insignificance
Here and now only matter and nothing else does
The past is on the radio being sung by Lennon
We could have been so much better than this
Reality is what it is and will always be such
A human society can never find utopian peace
The flaws like those in my head are too many
Love is a woman who is waiting for another man
I can see this clearly despite the December snow
There is still beauty in the scene and it will last
After every sound is muted and every eye closed
History like the universe will begin again one day
For an instant purity can exist in its wonderment
Before like a snowflake or a footprint it is tainted.
12/12/08
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
"Tell me you never wanted more than this and I will stop talking now, one perfect partner, one eternal kiss......."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDGzB82bIZc
Take Back The City by Snow Patrol
I have been fighting a cold for almost two weeks now. I am fine at home, but once I go outside my nose starts running. Also working in an environment where I am exposed to different spice smells doesn't help either. I am hoping the up and down temperature changes expected this week doesn't make it worse.
After a weekend of more snow and cold, it is raining and above freezing today. The snow has been turned into slush and the rain is waiting to turn into ice. Though I don't think it is supposed to be below freezing until tomorrow, so it might not be so bad.
The Liberal Party of Canada looks like it is prepared to make Michael Ignatieff its new leader. The other major contender Bob Rae has given his support to Ignatieff and presenting an united party. This is an important move for the Liberal party and its battle against Stephen Harper. Ignatieff isn't as much in favour of the coalition with the NDP and the Bloc. He is taking a more wait and see approach when parliament resumes in late January.
I feel sorry for Stephane Dion. He is a highly intelligent man, a nice man and a man who cares about his country. He was troubled by his inability to speak normal English and plagued by embarrassing moments. Dion rose to the leadership of the Liberal party, when he should have remained in the background and would have been able to use his skills more appropriately. Also I think the Canadian media was more negative than necessary towards Dion. Everyone needs someone to pick on, and they were too much in the pocket of the Prime Minister to go after him.
It is not only time Canadians took back their cities but we need to take back our country. Hopefully 2009 is the end of the Conservative dictatorship and arrogance.
One of my favourite baseball players and one of the greatest pitches of all-time Greg Maddux retired from baseball yesterday. Maddux won 355 games, eighth on the all-time list and an amazing 18 gold gloves. His best season statistically was in 1995, when he was 19-2 with a microscopic ERA of 1.63. Below is an article about one of the most classy athletes of all-time.
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/columns/story?columnist=crasnick_jerry&id=3755781
"Make a circle in the sand, make a halo with your hand, I'll make a place for you to land.........."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLMLbzH2JAM
Above is a beautiful acoustic version of Miami by Counting Crows. If only it was as easy as making a place for someone to land. It is making a place for them once they land that is hard. Many of us are used to being alone and it is a way of life, and it gets harder to believe in anything else.
I guess I think I feel alright.
john.
Take Back The City by Snow Patrol
I have been fighting a cold for almost two weeks now. I am fine at home, but once I go outside my nose starts running. Also working in an environment where I am exposed to different spice smells doesn't help either. I am hoping the up and down temperature changes expected this week doesn't make it worse.
After a weekend of more snow and cold, it is raining and above freezing today. The snow has been turned into slush and the rain is waiting to turn into ice. Though I don't think it is supposed to be below freezing until tomorrow, so it might not be so bad.
The Liberal Party of Canada looks like it is prepared to make Michael Ignatieff its new leader. The other major contender Bob Rae has given his support to Ignatieff and presenting an united party. This is an important move for the Liberal party and its battle against Stephen Harper. Ignatieff isn't as much in favour of the coalition with the NDP and the Bloc. He is taking a more wait and see approach when parliament resumes in late January.
I feel sorry for Stephane Dion. He is a highly intelligent man, a nice man and a man who cares about his country. He was troubled by his inability to speak normal English and plagued by embarrassing moments. Dion rose to the leadership of the Liberal party, when he should have remained in the background and would have been able to use his skills more appropriately. Also I think the Canadian media was more negative than necessary towards Dion. Everyone needs someone to pick on, and they were too much in the pocket of the Prime Minister to go after him.
It is not only time Canadians took back their cities but we need to take back our country. Hopefully 2009 is the end of the Conservative dictatorship and arrogance.
One of my favourite baseball players and one of the greatest pitches of all-time Greg Maddux retired from baseball yesterday. Maddux won 355 games, eighth on the all-time list and an amazing 18 gold gloves. His best season statistically was in 1995, when he was 19-2 with a microscopic ERA of 1.63. Below is an article about one of the most classy athletes of all-time.
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/columns/story?columnist=crasnick_jerry&id=3755781
"Make a circle in the sand, make a halo with your hand, I'll make a place for you to land.........."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLMLbzH2JAM
Above is a beautiful acoustic version of Miami by Counting Crows. If only it was as easy as making a place for someone to land. It is making a place for them once they land that is hard. Many of us are used to being alone and it is a way of life, and it gets harder to believe in anything else.
I guess I think I feel alright.
john.
Sunday, December 7, 2008
"No one lives forever and the devil never sleeps alone....."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvh4xitM2qI
The Devil Never Sleeps By Iron and Wine
Today I watched the movie Shake Hands With The Devil. The movie is about the genocide in Rwanda from 1993 to 1994, which killed 800,000 Rwandans, most of them Tutsi. The major focus of the movie is on the actions of Canadian General Romeo Dallaire and his inability to get the U.N. to support his recommendations to stop the genocide. Below is a link to information about the movie and an article about Dallaire which appeared last week on CNN.com.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0472562/
http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/africa/11/13/sbm.dallaire.profile/index.html?iref=newssearch
From Dallaire's book Shake Hands With The Devil, which I should read soon.
"I know there is a God because in Rwanda I shook hands with the devil. I have seen him, I have smelled him and I have touched him. I know the devil exists, and therefore I know there is a God."
From the movie Shake Hands With The Devil, I am not sure if I wrote it down correctly but it is close.
"Loving a beautiful child is easy, it is loving a not so beautiful child that is hard."
Shake Hands With The Devil isn't as popular a movie as Hotel Rwanda was but it is an important film to watch, in particularly if you are Canadian. Also a heartbreaking book to read about the time period is A Sunday At The Pool in Kigali by Gil Courtemanche. The story like good fiction blurs reality and fiction, but the story is believable because much of it actually happened only the names and faces are different.
Well I guess my weekend is nearly over. Yesterday was my niece's third birthday party, she was very adorable and made everyone from four to those in their eighties smile. This is the beauty of a child on their day.
john.
The Devil Never Sleeps By Iron and Wine
Today I watched the movie Shake Hands With The Devil. The movie is about the genocide in Rwanda from 1993 to 1994, which killed 800,000 Rwandans, most of them Tutsi. The major focus of the movie is on the actions of Canadian General Romeo Dallaire and his inability to get the U.N. to support his recommendations to stop the genocide. Below is a link to information about the movie and an article about Dallaire which appeared last week on CNN.com.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0472562/
http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/africa/11/13/sbm.dallaire.profile/index.html?iref=newssearch
From Dallaire's book Shake Hands With The Devil, which I should read soon.
"I know there is a God because in Rwanda I shook hands with the devil. I have seen him, I have smelled him and I have touched him. I know the devil exists, and therefore I know there is a God."
From the movie Shake Hands With The Devil, I am not sure if I wrote it down correctly but it is close.
"Loving a beautiful child is easy, it is loving a not so beautiful child that is hard."
Shake Hands With The Devil isn't as popular a movie as Hotel Rwanda was but it is an important film to watch, in particularly if you are Canadian. Also a heartbreaking book to read about the time period is A Sunday At The Pool in Kigali by Gil Courtemanche. The story like good fiction blurs reality and fiction, but the story is believable because much of it actually happened only the names and faces are different.
Well I guess my weekend is nearly over. Yesterday was my niece's third birthday party, she was very adorable and made everyone from four to those in their eighties smile. This is the beauty of a child on their day.
john.
Saturday, December 6, 2008
"I guess the winter makes you laugh a little slower, makes you talk a little lower about the things you couldn't show her..........."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxzK0lN7U6o
A Long December by Counting Crows (Acoustic 2003 S.F.)
So I wrote a blog entry on Thursday and when I went to publish it there was an error message. I thought nothing of it as it has happened before and the post still published. I guess this time, something was wrong and it didn't post. I can't find it anywhere, so I guess that collection of words is lost forever. I am sure it is no great loss though.
Winter is here in Canada and it always arrives prior to the calendar saying it is so and it often stays beyond spring. Though here in Southern Ontario we are prone to strange changes of weather, no matter the seasons, right now it looks and feels like winter. The time of the year, where we do talk a little lower about the things we could show her.
Canada is being pulled apart by our regional differences and an inability of anyone in government to work together. Each party is to blame but most of my blame is aimed at our arrogant and self indulged Prime Minister Stephen Harper. Who has with the support of the Governor General been able to suspend our democracy and our parliament until the end of January. Technically he should have put his economic update to a confidence vote and been defeated, thus losing the confidence of the house. Instead he delayed a vote and was able to prorogue parliament, despite a coalition of the opposition with an agreement in place to govern. Not giving the opposition, no matter what composition it takes, the chance to govern goes completely against the Canadian Constitution. Below is an educational article about the process, which is irrelevant now because Michelle Jean made a huge mistake siding with a sure to be defeated Prime Minister.
http://www.raisethehammer.org/blog.asp?id=1170
"I stand transfixed before this street light watching the snow fall on this cold December night.........."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crfpN3n8lR0
Hasn't Hit Me Yet by Blue Rodeo
Above is one of my favourite "winter" songs by the very good Canadian band Blue Rodeo. I wrote the following piece of writing earlier this morning.
Frowns and Scars
A gathering of blackbirds scatter
Through swirling and blowing snow
December tears slide down her face
Momentarily warming exposed skin
Before freezing like this year’s images
A collection of memories still forming
While the mercury falls in a thermometer
Nuclear winter taking her heart hostage
The price of its ransom is too high for me
I am always disappearing amid my thoughts
Reappearing with a different frame of mind
Optimistic yesterday and pessimistic today
Carrying poetry and romance for tomorrow
Realism hiding it in the days of next week
A few hours closer to needing a new calendar
Each new month symbolically photographed
The picture to greet us each day of its passing
I am usually captured wearing frowns and scars
Love like stars are sprinkled across this country
Women’s hearts belong to the west or east of me
Places called Kelowna, Jasper, Moncton and Halifax
Where summer memories have been made yearly
All I seem to do each year is get a little older
Living among mistakes never intended to repeat
How easily they are made again and usually worse
The soldiers coffins are lining up on the tarmac
Three more Canadian flags covering broken bodies
Bringing this war’s total to an even one hundred
An emblematic number representing the whole
Individuals should not be forgotten in a group
Their deaths on foreign soil is a confusing sacrifice
Are they really fighting for us or for someone else
Questions hang in the air like dust from a bomb
There is an enemy but are they really ours to kill
Answers come in many colours like rust on metal
There is a country but can it really be like ours
Fortune has given us peace among the violence
Does this mean we must be killed for having peace
A flock of monks chant prayers on a morning walk
I wonder what any God would think of this world
Surely they would not have created such disillusion
Only random explosions of gases and liquids could
Billions of years in the future life will finally implode
Hopefully its result will mirror very little of Earth
Such a reflection like this belongs in nightmares.
12/06/08
"You'll sit alone forever, if you wait for the right time....."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsgtHf9Bewo
23 by Jimmy Eat World
I don't know if I can remember being 23, all the years seem the same now.
I finished reading Elle by Douglas Glover earlier this week and the following passage is from it.
"Founding a colony in the New World is like the act of love. You make camp in the heart of the other. Nothing is the way you expected it. You have to learn to talk another language. Translation fails. The languages get mixed up with each other. You're both disappointed. You ask yourself why you came there in the first place. You both feel invaded. You try harder and harder to make the other person do as you want, all the while feeling that this defeats the purpose. You would rather be alone. The thing you love seems altered, even dead. You are not the same as you were before you fell in love. When it's over, you leave part of yourself behind. If you survive, you are worse off than when you started."
In late October Counting Crows played 3 nights opening the Wellmont Theatre in New Jersey. Below are some very good clips from those nights.
"There's a girl on a car out in the parking lot......"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=caRcWCTggTw&feature=related
Round Here
"Thought I might get a rocket ride when I was a child but it was a lie....."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxQA8zQN7Uk&feature=related
All My Friends
"I dreamt I saw you walking up a hillside in the snow casting shadows on the winter sky as you stood there counting crows..."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxQA8zQN7Uk&feature=related
A Murder Of One
"Wherever I have gone, the blues run the game...."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyZMhyL6EaE
Blues Run The Game
"Beneath the dust and love and sweat that hangs on everybody, there's a dead man trying to get out......."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNOJn8dikgY
Perfect Blue Buildings
"Get away from me, get away from me, this isn't going to be easily but I don't need you, believe me......."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BArBUziWs1I
Have You Seen Me Lately?
"So why'd you come home to this sleepless town......."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gSGQDenA8Q
Recovering The Satellites
"I'm running but I take my time......."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8sBEgQ6ycs
Friend of the Devil
"We are never quite as close as we are led to believe...."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2YNBveCrLo
When I Dream of Michelangelo
"Suck my blood, break my nerve......"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZdFiA_RnTs
Angels of the Silences
"I got to rush away she said......."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txcZN2IbHlA
Walkaways
A couple of the clips cut off before the end but everyone has to rush away. There is always somewhere else to be and someone else to be with, well for some of us anyway.
john.
A Long December by Counting Crows (Acoustic 2003 S.F.)
So I wrote a blog entry on Thursday and when I went to publish it there was an error message. I thought nothing of it as it has happened before and the post still published. I guess this time, something was wrong and it didn't post. I can't find it anywhere, so I guess that collection of words is lost forever. I am sure it is no great loss though.
Winter is here in Canada and it always arrives prior to the calendar saying it is so and it often stays beyond spring. Though here in Southern Ontario we are prone to strange changes of weather, no matter the seasons, right now it looks and feels like winter. The time of the year, where we do talk a little lower about the things we could show her.
Canada is being pulled apart by our regional differences and an inability of anyone in government to work together. Each party is to blame but most of my blame is aimed at our arrogant and self indulged Prime Minister Stephen Harper. Who has with the support of the Governor General been able to suspend our democracy and our parliament until the end of January. Technically he should have put his economic update to a confidence vote and been defeated, thus losing the confidence of the house. Instead he delayed a vote and was able to prorogue parliament, despite a coalition of the opposition with an agreement in place to govern. Not giving the opposition, no matter what composition it takes, the chance to govern goes completely against the Canadian Constitution. Below is an educational article about the process, which is irrelevant now because Michelle Jean made a huge mistake siding with a sure to be defeated Prime Minister.
http://www.raisethehammer.org/blog.asp?id=1170
"I stand transfixed before this street light watching the snow fall on this cold December night.........."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crfpN3n8lR0
Hasn't Hit Me Yet by Blue Rodeo
Above is one of my favourite "winter" songs by the very good Canadian band Blue Rodeo. I wrote the following piece of writing earlier this morning.
Frowns and Scars
A gathering of blackbirds scatter
Through swirling and blowing snow
December tears slide down her face
Momentarily warming exposed skin
Before freezing like this year’s images
A collection of memories still forming
While the mercury falls in a thermometer
Nuclear winter taking her heart hostage
The price of its ransom is too high for me
I am always disappearing amid my thoughts
Reappearing with a different frame of mind
Optimistic yesterday and pessimistic today
Carrying poetry and romance for tomorrow
Realism hiding it in the days of next week
A few hours closer to needing a new calendar
Each new month symbolically photographed
The picture to greet us each day of its passing
I am usually captured wearing frowns and scars
Love like stars are sprinkled across this country
Women’s hearts belong to the west or east of me
Places called Kelowna, Jasper, Moncton and Halifax
Where summer memories have been made yearly
All I seem to do each year is get a little older
Living among mistakes never intended to repeat
How easily they are made again and usually worse
The soldiers coffins are lining up on the tarmac
Three more Canadian flags covering broken bodies
Bringing this war’s total to an even one hundred
An emblematic number representing the whole
Individuals should not be forgotten in a group
Their deaths on foreign soil is a confusing sacrifice
Are they really fighting for us or for someone else
Questions hang in the air like dust from a bomb
There is an enemy but are they really ours to kill
Answers come in many colours like rust on metal
There is a country but can it really be like ours
Fortune has given us peace among the violence
Does this mean we must be killed for having peace
A flock of monks chant prayers on a morning walk
I wonder what any God would think of this world
Surely they would not have created such disillusion
Only random explosions of gases and liquids could
Billions of years in the future life will finally implode
Hopefully its result will mirror very little of Earth
Such a reflection like this belongs in nightmares.
12/06/08
"You'll sit alone forever, if you wait for the right time....."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsgtHf9Bewo
23 by Jimmy Eat World
I don't know if I can remember being 23, all the years seem the same now.
I finished reading Elle by Douglas Glover earlier this week and the following passage is from it.
"Founding a colony in the New World is like the act of love. You make camp in the heart of the other. Nothing is the way you expected it. You have to learn to talk another language. Translation fails. The languages get mixed up with each other. You're both disappointed. You ask yourself why you came there in the first place. You both feel invaded. You try harder and harder to make the other person do as you want, all the while feeling that this defeats the purpose. You would rather be alone. The thing you love seems altered, even dead. You are not the same as you were before you fell in love. When it's over, you leave part of yourself behind. If you survive, you are worse off than when you started."
In late October Counting Crows played 3 nights opening the Wellmont Theatre in New Jersey. Below are some very good clips from those nights.
"There's a girl on a car out in the parking lot......"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=caRcWCTggTw&feature=related
Round Here
"Thought I might get a rocket ride when I was a child but it was a lie....."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxQA8zQN7Uk&feature=related
All My Friends
"I dreamt I saw you walking up a hillside in the snow casting shadows on the winter sky as you stood there counting crows..."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxQA8zQN7Uk&feature=related
A Murder Of One
"Wherever I have gone, the blues run the game...."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyZMhyL6EaE
Blues Run The Game
"Beneath the dust and love and sweat that hangs on everybody, there's a dead man trying to get out......."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNOJn8dikgY
Perfect Blue Buildings
"Get away from me, get away from me, this isn't going to be easily but I don't need you, believe me......."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BArBUziWs1I
Have You Seen Me Lately?
"So why'd you come home to this sleepless town......."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gSGQDenA8Q
Recovering The Satellites
"I'm running but I take my time......."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8sBEgQ6ycs
Friend of the Devil
"We are never quite as close as we are led to believe...."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2YNBveCrLo
When I Dream of Michelangelo
"Suck my blood, break my nerve......"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZdFiA_RnTs
Angels of the Silences
"I got to rush away she said......."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txcZN2IbHlA
Walkaways
A couple of the clips cut off before the end but everyone has to rush away. There is always somewhere else to be and someone else to be with, well for some of us anyway.
john.
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