What We Got Here Is...

Strother Martin and Paul Newman, Cool Hand Luke, 1967.

Conform? NEVER. Sure the eggs were fun and all, but this scene was burned into my little brain forever.

THERE WILL BE SOUP!

As captioned. Image: United States Social Security Administration.

I have been trying to remain positive by declaring a ban on reading or watching any US media outlets, but it still seeps through. It's just tough because folks like those smart English kids at at The Financial Times, have been warning of bank failures for nearly a year. It is ridiculous to hear about how this is such a calamitous "surprise". And oh my goodness, even Tony Blair is shocked and stunned. (hmmm... I'm wondering if I have an "I told you so" post in the archive).

I'm sure you have noticed the disclaimer in bright yellow at the top of the SSA's page. Hilarious.

Old And In The Way (click here)

These poor little bastards were cast-out just across the street, and down one

Okay. This sort of thing is getting to be a freaking regular occurrence. A case of Ergo-Gnomics?

My new friend Betty emerged from behind her garage door just after I arrived on the scene. She looked to be an octigenerian, with gnarled hands, black teeth, and a huge, infectious smile.

"I'm unable to take care of them any more. They need paint, too".

"It sure is nice to know someone on this street."

" I used to know everyone on the street, but not anymore."

"I have lived in this house since 1951."

"I know the people next door, but I'm afraid they were taken off to a retirement home."

"If you have a place for them, you may have them."

Wow. A little bit more than I bargained for, but pretty much to the heart of the matter. Verbatim.

Half A Rose, (And Half A Buck)

Rose Maddox, 1947, age 19. Rockabilly Hall Of Fame

Rose Maddox began her music career with her brothers at age 11, billed as, "The Maddox Brothers And Rose". Most folks have this duet, (Mental Cruelty, 1964), with Buck Owens in their catalog , but few know all that much about Rose Maddox, and the profound influence she had on her contemporaries and future country music giants. I couldn't find a picture with Rose and Buck together, so I guess it's actually fitting.

"[Rose] hit it big after World War II when she toured with her four brothers as The Maddox Brothers and Rose. They were billed as "The Most Colorful Hillbilly Band in America."

Maddox had a reputation as a lusty firebrand, with uptempo songs such as "Hangover Blues" and "Pay Me Alimony." Her musical styles ranged from hillbilly to rockabilly to gospel.
Known for her colorful Western costumes, Maddox once shocked a Grand Ole Opry audience by appearing on stage with a bare midriff, a stark contrast to her sometimes staid female contemporaries. "

"Kitty Wells would stand up there and not even
move," said biographer Jonny Whitesides. "Rose
would get on stage and high-kick and
shimmy-shake. That drove people crazy."

Associated Press Obituary, Via : ElvisPelvis.com/Fuller up Dead Musicians Directory

Paul Newman 1925-2008

Cool Hand Luke, 1967. imdb

it's been a bad week.

I Got A Crush On Buck #2

Fillmore West, 1968 Art by: Pat Hanks
Bill Graham Collection/Old Handbills Dot Com

Here He is with Them Buckaroos at The Fillmore West, 1968. I am no guitar player, but what particularly stands out for me in this tune is the really brief Telecaster, (I think), solo. My friends that play typically owe some thanks to Buck and probably Dick Dale for this.

I STRONGLY recommend that you visit Old Handbills. There is a wealth of great handbill art, and the Bill Graham collection of music handbills alone is incredible. (Many good medium+rez) All the artist info, dates, everything one needs, if one needs.

Where Does The Good Times Go?

"Bakersfield" hillbilly guitar hero, Buck Owens

I first heard, and saw Buck Owens on Hee Haw in the early 70's when I was still a young kid, (cough). I watched it every week. The Honky-Tonker's and guitar players of our generation owe a great deal to this man. It's kind of like how even a Jazz player I know learned Travis Picking as a fundamental early on.

This is a great picture I found over yonder at If Charlie Parker Was A Gunslinger(...). Many thanks to the illustrious benhästen. Now I have to compliment these folks for all of the incredibly awesome stuff they post over there, but I have noticed that they are not sticklers about sourcing images, or taking care of the attribution chore. Please folks, I got more information than I ever needed from one of your posts, by just looking at the embedded documention in Photoshop. Please try to do better. These other folks are just as important as Eudora Welty and Diane Arbus. Besides, I wanna KNOW. Thank you, that is all.

The Dilemma Of Grief Part 3

Ocean tragedy, Boca Raton, Florida 1986

I apologize for this, but as I go back through a bunch of film that is over 20 years old, I'm feeling the need to work through some conflicts that go with these memories. The main premise, I first posted here, and also here, where I set out my main problem:

"Grief pictures shouldn't be made unless something good can come from it. That almost never happens. In this case, I was assigned to shoot everything, including invading this poor woman's home when her daughter was only dead two days. It's funny though, they always welcome you, and want to talk. I sat with one woman, (I had witnessed the recovery of her son ) , for an hour once, and she showed me his pictures, and told me all about what he was like. They sent me over there only a day after his death. She was still in shock."

The picture I posted above shows the friends of that boy, who was cavalier about diving in the ocean without a dive flag, and was tragically killed. This was the one case where I thought that some of my pictures might help prevent another tragedy just like it. I did what I was taught not to do, (as since I had no supervisor at the time), I edited the rescue effort and recovery pictures as more like a story, not allowing the above picture or overt grief to be the central object. I guess I "got away with it". This was the first time I had to deal with the violent death of children, while working, anyway. And I hadn't been at all prepared to go to his house the next day and face his mother.

The other half of the conflict remains: Do we withhold the grief and suffering of Genocide? Or of Oppression, or the plight of Tsunami victims?

I Heart Seamonsters

Hamburg-Amerika Line/ Germany to Whitehills, Kentucky 1907

How to get the power company to turn your juice back on

Hurricane Ike kicked our butts, and I’m in Louisville, Kentucky. The ornery old bastard swung up to our country after it finished with Texas and Louisiana. On Sunday we were suddenly hit with 80 MPH+ winds, and our huge maples and tulip poplars came tumbling down on the power lines. Don’t think I’m making any comparisons with Galveston because I’m not, but we were without power for six days. I have never been without electricity that long in my whole life. It was a revelation. I can’t imagine what the folks in south Texas and Louisiana are going through. If our misery was only a minute fraction of theirs, my prayers are with them tonight.

But, I’ll tell you what: this storm has opened my eyes. It puts a whole new spin on those interesting speculations that we do about survival and “WTSHTF” scenarios. I’ll be doing some more on this in the days to come. I spent a lot of time doing audio recordings, verbal journals of what was happening. I’ll post some of those as I’m able to process through them.

Oh yeah, how do you get the power company to turn your power back on? Get really desperate, go to Home Depot and lay down $800 for a 5000 watt generator, and when you get home, your lights will be on.

Syd

And I Thought We Had Suffered The Worst

.

"We can see Russia from land here in Alaska"

"The war in Iraq is God's task"

"Nucular weapons"

Bush Doctrine? Huh?

Any of this sound familiar?

James Fallows had this to say:

"A further point. The truly toxic combination of traits GW Bush brought to decision making was:

1) Ignorance
2) Lack of curiosity
3) "Decisiveness"

That is, he was not broadly informed to begin with (point 1). He did not seek out new information (#2); but he nonetheless prided himself (#3) on making broad, bold decisions quickly, and then sticking to them to show resoluteness.

We don't know for sure about #2 for Palin yet -- she could be a sponge-like absorber of information. But we know about #1 and we can guess, from her demeanor about #3. Most of all we know something about the person who put her in this untenable role."

I say: The world is oscillating between hysterical laughter and tears. Who cares about the Constitution, or anything else for that matter, so long as I don't have to pay Capital Gains Tax? Or, (insert issue here).

I also say James Fallows and "Softball" Charlie Gibson, were extremely gracious for not calling this idiot out. Charlie Black's strategy of brandishing the sexism card like a club from the beginning, has predictably cowed the national media. This is the " look the other way" policy that got us George Bush, Dick Cheney, a war, an assault on the Constitution, torture, and the list goes on forever. And I thought we had been through the worst.

A Sign That Fall Is Near

Green is the color of Autumn

The Squirrels and the Jays are hopping and scurrying around with great excitement. The Oaks, (mostly Live Oaks), have begun to rain raw acorns, pelting me in the head at times, and blanketing even the street with the Green Gold that is a spectacular windfall for the critters. I don't know how these guys think, but even with the Jay's higher intellect, I think that the evolutionary urge to grab as many Acorns as possible and go about planting them, by the thousands, must be purely automatic. I only learned just last season that the Jays swallow these things whole for safekeeping until they reach the burying ground.

Aaaaaagh!

This is how I feel right now. I don't want to turn this place into a Mood Ring or Confessional Barometer, but it is what it is for now. Sorry.

Ancient Alien Space Cowboy

Ancient Alien Space Cowboy
by

Stonefish Graphics

I embellished this thing a little bit, but it's important to remember that one can't improve much on art that's over a thousand years old, and which still gets our attention. Another card in this series got the attention of the man, (or woman) , behind the curtain at Zazzle. It's a long story, but basically it's bittersweet recognition.

"Drill Now" Idiots: Read 'em And Weep

CNG Molecule

September 2, 2008
The Honorable Samuel W. Bodman
U.S. Department of Energy
1000 Independence Avenue, SW
Washington, DC 20585



Dear Secretary Bodman,

On June 3, 2008 and July 30, 2008 respectively, your Department issued and affirmed an order pursuant to Section 3 of the Natural Gas Act that will allow two major integrated oil companies – ConocoPhillips and Marathon Oil – to export 98.1 billion cubic feet of Alaskan natural gas to Japan and other Pacific Rim countries. This order, which will allow the export of as much natural gas as is used by 1.4 million American families in a year, comes at a time when the President had demanded that the moratoria on oil and gas drilling along our environmentally-sensitive coastal areas be lifted and Americans are being warned that their winter heating bills are going to be dramatically higher. The Administration is trying to have it both ways – arguing that we need to drill everywhere because we don’t have adequate energy supplies, while finding that we have so much energy that big oil companies can export it overseas and keep prices here at home higher than they would otherwise be. On its face, the order that Department has issued to allow the continued export of Alaskan natural gas does not meet the public interest test required by the Natural Gas Act and I respectfully request that you review and revoke it.

[Nor does it support the idiotic claim that drilling anywhere, will produce lower gas prices in the immediate future.]

The full letter is here.

Have A Great Time!

The Violent And Often

Create. Not because you want to or because the mood grabs you or just because you happen to feel like it. Create because you need to. Because it feels like if you don't, you might die.

From: I Wrote This For You: The Violent And Often

Provided through: Benhästen (Because she finds the BEST stuff.)

Liberty

Liberty In a Cage

Via: BigHappyFunhouse, Found Photos, Free Pie. (Go there. You will thank me.)

Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge

Frances Farmer, by Edward Steichen, Sept. 21, 1937
From The George Eastman House Collection

REPOST I first read about Frances Farmer, in the late 80's when I read 2 books about her. of which there are now three. In addition, there are songs and also a movie, titled, Frances. In a nutshell, Frances Farmer was a young, beautiful, talented actress from Seattle, Wa, who coincidentally had a mental illness. Most folks with a untreated serious mental illness any time before 1970, (likely Manic-Depressive disorder),usually ended up incarcerated, or deceased. (I can think of two of these sort of people currently in the news, and several who have died accidentally, or have taken their own lives. (And this is not the 1940's, mind you.) Well, Frances assaulted her mother during an episode, and her mother did what most folks did then: She had her involuntarily committed to a State Hospital for six years, where she received Electroconvulsive Shock Treatments, was assaulted repeatedly by other patients and mistreated by staff. Horrible? Yes, but the norm in most institutions in America until the late 60's. I'm not going to give the rest away. Read one of the books, or rent the movie. As an interesting footnote, (Warning: BIRG). Frances Farmer ended up living in my birthplace, (Indianapolis, In), where she hosted a sad little television show, and also 40 minutes south, in Nashville, IN, (where I spent a lot of time on a family farm), where she allegedly drove her car into the county jail one night. Yeehaw! Happy reading/watching.

What got me going on this:
An interesting resource I found recently, a very scholarly data base called the Movies and Mental Illness Filmography. For some reason Frances didn't make the cut. Have a look, you might be surprised by some entries, but I caution you that it is not entirely accurate.
Note: Have a look at Kurt Cobain, another untreated Manic-Depressive, who was fascinated with the kinship he had with Frances Farmer, resulting in the song Frances Farmer will Have Her Revenge on Seattle. Okay, so the lives of Cobain, Woolf, Jarrell, Roethke, Berryman, Sexton, Van Gogh, Ochs, Hemingway, Arbus, Shelley, Plath and countless others ended in suicide. But what about not-as-gifted average people? Who remembers them?


I thank God often for the fact that my mother is nothing like Frances Farmer's.

Prior To Being Chosen...

Be afraid. Be very, very, afraid.

Please Tell Me This Is A Joke

Straight from the nominee's wife's, (and fellow beauty queen), mouth: Living adjacent to Russia makes one more qualified to be in the White House. Apparently, this is a Republican talking point, because this is the second time I have heard this, the first coming from a talking head on Fox News.

"This Election Is not About Issues"

Rick Davis, McCain Campaign Manager,

Rick Davis, campaign manager for John McCain's presidential bid, insisted that the presidential race will be decided more over personalities than issues during an interview with Post editors this morning.

"This election is not about issues," said Davis. "This election is about a composite view of what people take away from these candidates." Washingtonpost.com

Before "Maverick" John McCain accepts his party's nomination for president, he's got to spend every penny of the tens of millions of dollars of Primary donations from wealthy individuals and corporate donors and lobbyists. The attacks will be fierce, not to mention the fact that the truth will suffer dearly. The distortions and lies began last night at the convention. The only thing being stressed about McCain, is his military service and experience as a Prisoner Of War. I found the irony palpable when the laziest man in the Republican party, Fred Thompson, described in excruciating detail the mistreatment and TORTURE McCain endured while a captive. While the rabid Republican faithful will conveniently put it out of mind out of sight, the rest of us are poignantly reminded of Senator McCain's opposition to torture by the United States until very recently. Like every other major position held by McCain before the middle of the Primary, it has been utterly abandoned. It goes on and on, but I don't have the energy. The little I have said thus far on this blog about politics or this miserable country has been utterly factual. If not, it has been an honest error, not calculated to mislead anyone. The sadness I have is that most Americans believe everything they are told, without much exception. The Democrats are not angels about spreading lies or distortions, but they look like cupcakes when held up to Republicans. The other, is even worse. Ordinary rank and file Republicans will carry the poison water as long and as far as it takes to get the job done. They have marching orders from on high: Win at any cost.

From now on, I am going to remind myself, and everyone else, that i have been a registered Independent for 28 straight of my 30 eligible voting years. I have been correct about the character of every president that has served in my lifetime, including some when I was too young to vote. I am fascinated by those who righteously bellow about their positions given the miserable and in some cases criminal behavior of their lottery picks.

Temple? We Got Temple! (and altar too!)

The Baboon in chief spoke tonight to Republican National Convention via satellite, flanked by huge granite columns. Above is the set for his acceptance speech for the 2004 presidential nomination, replete with altar. Kinda makes Obama's ascension look kind of puny, don't it?

The only weeping I saw last week, was during Senator Clinton's speech, and rightly so. No fainting, no sobbing, no fascist salutes. I believe John Kerry pontificated before 100,000 worshipers in 2004. So far as I know, he hasn't built any gulags or reeducation camps since.

The Opossum Gulag

When I stumbled out of the bed and out the door sleepy and confused, this is what met me as I opened the door. Leaving a wastecan outdoors overnight can bring the visitors every time.


PS: I was born in the Year Of The Rat.