Frustrated

Well, I almost managed to blow a long weekend. Finally got to The Owl on Tuesday for a couple green chile cheeseburgers. Also got hold of a realtor in central NM where we have been looking on our own to set up a tour of some properties.

I have followed the political doings in our capitol over the past couple of weeks. The elected representatives in Congress have basically tabled environmental legislation. Cap and trade only works if there's some payment and the special interests have convinced our representatives to represent them, not the people. So a lot of the caps are not traded but given away. Maybe, hoping against hope, the Congress will realize over recess that this idea stinks worse than a coal fired power plant and change the bill to allow and enforce a carbon tax with the proceeds going to provide affordable renewable clean energy.

Next is the Sonia Sotomayor hearings in which a bunch of old white men proved that a "wise Latina" is, in fact, smarter and wiser than them. Of course, some senators absolutely have to play politics so they will oppose the nomination not because of anything the nominee said or did during the hearings; nor are they in total disagreement with her record as a jurist. They even admit she'll be confirmed. So why are Cornyn and Hatch voting no if not for purely partisan reasons??

Finally there's health care. What the hell is Barack Obama thinking leaving the shepherding of this most important of all reforms in the hands of Pelosi and Reid!!!! At best these two are political hacks. At worst they are absolute proof that absolute power corrupts absolutely. They go out of their way to antagonize the minority---I would hope after their years of being out of power they might realize that allowing the opposition to inject a few ideas might make the bipartisanship that Obama seeks possible. But, oh no, these two dunderheads just keep ramming through their agendas and the poor citizens,as well as the G O P, be damned. I guess I'll be spending a lot of time watching "West Wing" dvds---at least when Jeb, Toby, Leo, CJ, Sam, and Josh screw up I don't pay for it.

Some Music Thoughts

I'll be right up front about this---The Pirate Dogs love the version of "Jingle Bells" done by those barking, howling dogs. And it is a bone of contention in our house that I refuse to download a copy of it. Of course, we don't have "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer" either.

Now the wife is a librarian and decided to improve the storage and cataloguing of the cd collection. She decided to eliminate all those plastic jewel cases and get everything in order by artist. So the Pirate Dogs and I went sifting thru them to find material for the Ipod.

One song we definitely agreed on was John Lennon's "Hey Bulldog" from Yellow Submarine "Sheepdog/Standing in the rain/Bullfrog/Doing it again/Some kind of happiness is measured out in miles/What makes you think you're something special when you smile.."

But there was much discussion over female singer songwriters. After much listening to songs and debate, with Weetz growling a lot at Bertequila, here's something of a consensus:

Tori Amos--We love the EP Crucify. There's a great cover of Led Zeppelin's "Thank You"but the perros really love "I feel stupid /and contagious/here we are now/entertain us/So mulatto/an albino/a mosquito/malabito/or denial..." the Cobain classic "Smells Like Teen Spirit." And the Strange Little Girls cd is nothing if not that.....especially the intro to "Happiness is a Warm Gun."

Laura Nyro--Now the Pirate Dogs don't recognize her but they sure know the hits: "And When I Die" made famous by Blood Sweat & Tears; "Wedding Bell Blues"--The Fifth Dimension smash chart topper; "Eli's Coming" from 3 Dog Night. Maybe I'm very partial because my name's Bill???

Lucinda Williams----name a better album than Car Wheels on a Gravel Road. I love her voice, her emotion, her riffs, and her lyrics---"you can't depend on anything really/there's no promises there's no point/ there's no good there's no bad in this dirty little joint/no dope smoking no beer sold after 12 o'clock/ Rosedale Mississippi magic city juke joint/ Mr Johnson sings in a corner by the bar/ sold his soul to the devil so he could play guitar/ 2 kool 2 be 4-gotten hey hey.."

But since you asked, or rather we asked, the best album by a female songwriter is Carole King's Tapestry. She's backed by James Taylor and his band. Already an established hit maker as part of the Goffin-King team that wrote hits for the girl groups of the '50's and early '60's, this was her debut as a solo act. And it's a must have for anyone who appreciates the music of the era post-Beatles. "My life has been a tapestry/ of rich and royal hues/ an everlasting vision of an ever changing view/... / Now my tapestry's unraveling/He's come to take me back." Written for an entire generation................

Feeling Like Lord Voldemort

Horcruxes----splitting the soul and storing the pieces in special places. Now according to Dumbledore and wizarding lore, this occurs with each killing by the creator of the horcrux---very dark magic. But is that the only way???????? Can't the soul be split by natural forces, like loving and longing??

Dad feels his spiritual place is Pecos, specifically the ruins of the ancient (did you know people settled there as early as 800AD???) pueblo, in the kiva-- Horcrux #1.

I've been with him on a pilgrimage to The Owl Bar and Cafe, home of the BEST Green Chile Cheeseburger in the world (and the green chile cheese fries too!!!)---#2.

Of course there's the Sacramento Valley where the kids and grand-kids reside----#3.

I know we Pirate Dogs are #4:

Now according to the books, the most powerful magic would be to have 7 horcruxes. We'll see what Dad does for the other 3.

Leny

"Quo Vadis?"

On my "Igoogle" page this morning there was a quote attributed to Muhammed Ali to the effect that if you are 50 and view life the same way as when you were 20, you have wasted 30 years.

When I was 20, big issues were ending the Vietnam war, considered by many as unnecessary and unjust; protecting the environment and reducing waste; and making politics more representative and less about special interests.

Now, 40 years later, 10 more than in Ali's nugget of wisdom, the big issues are ending a war that is both unnecessary and unjust; protecting the planet from global warming; making politics more transparent and representative; and we can add, restoring America's moral leadership in the world.

So is what we have a generation that has learned nothing and wasted 30 or 40 years????

Harvest

I was planning a light post on a discussion about music with the Pirate Dogs. That will have to wait until later.

I've been off on vacation last Friday and over the weekend. So when I saw the news Sunday night about the US soldier captured by the Taliban, it was news, by the classic definition of that word. Hadn't kept up with things over the long weekend. (I'm still on vacation Monday and Tuesday,too.)

What isn't news or surprising is the reaction of some people about the Taliban's parading the prisoner in front of video cameras and other acts one does not usually associate with prisoners of war. Why, these dastards are violating the Geneva Conventions!!!! And we citizens of the USA are surprised and outraged????? Seems our previous administration said these conventions did NOT apply to the war on terror. Jihadists were enemy combatants, not soldiers. Now the horses have returned to the burning barn and the chickens have come home to roost. One of our boys is a prisoner and being treated very much like the Islamist extremists in our capture. We have ceded the high moral ground, thank you Messrs. Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, et al. So while we hope and pray that this soldier is either rescued very quickly or the Taliban realizes the tremendous advantage they could gain by one-upping the "Great Satan" in humanitarian treatment, let's not add to our hypocrisy with demonstrations of outrage that we are being done to as we have done.

HP VI HBP: The Movie

Ok, the Pirate Dogs are not exactly enamored of their parents. They had to spend over 3 hours in the Nargle while we and Bucksnort went to see Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Since their crate is named after one of Luna's creatures, they felt justifiably indignant at not being allowed to go with us. I'm sure they'll get over it by the time we get the Blu-Ray.

As for HBP itself, I was disappointed. Oh, it's got fine effects and I'd certainly seen the online reviews and knew not to expect a faithful retelling of the book. Just too many subplots and details. But seriously, burning down the Burrow????????? That was pathetic. In fact the entire sequence with Harry and Ginny in the swamp dueling Bella and Fenrir had NOTHING to do with the story!!! What about Marvolo Gaunt and Merope!! What about a real explanation of what horcruxes are. These are central to understanding both HBP and The Deathly Hallows.

Sorry, but in my humble opinion, given the extra time before W-B released this (remember--it was supposed to hit last Thanksgiving????), the producer and director could have given us more meat. The snogging is all well and good, as is portraying the humanity of the Malfoys. But crucial information was left out. I really hope they do a complete job on the last book, since they are splitting it into 2 films. Maybe they should have done that to this attempt.

An Appreciation of Eric Andersen

As part of my job, I travel from Clovis to Roswell and Artesia, NM almost every Thursday. It's about 120 miles each way, 160 when I go to Artesia. So it's a good road trip for one day.

Now US Route 70 is 4 lanes with a 70MPH speed limit. It bisects a number of ranches and oil fields. If I pass a half dozen cars, that's a lot. It's pretty empty space--high plains, cattle, deer, oil wells. It parallels railroad tracks and honestly there's more trains than cars.

So I usually have my Ipod loaded and ready. Now there's the usual "road songs"--"Born to Run" by Bruce is one of my favorites, along with some good old honk from Lynyrd Skynrd.

But for evoking the loneliness of the road, Eric Andersen has no equal. I guess his most well-known song is "Thirsty Boots"--"So take off your thirsty boots and stay for awhile/Your feet are hot and weary from a dusty mile/And maybe I can make you laugh/Maybe I can try/I'm just looking for the evening/The morning in your eyes." For me, however, it's his first album, "Today is the Highway", which really made an impression on me. I first saw a poster in a coffee-house in Bryn Mawr, PA for an appearance by this artist back in 1966 when I was in college in that area. I don't recall if we made the show but I must have heard some of his music because I went out and bought this record. (I now have the cd and all of it is on my computer as well.)

I wonder what Eric would have written if he saw the trains as they are presently constituted. One of my favorites on this album is "Dusty Boxcar Wall"--"I'm going away my darling/I'm gonna leave you pretty girl/ A train pass you by while you lay sleepin'/I'll write you a letter on a dusty boxcar wall." Now most of the freight trains around here, and there's a ton since Clovis was founded as a freight depot and major terminal on the southern branch of the old Santa Fe railroad, are container cars. I guess the proper term is "inter modal transport." Just seems pretty hard to hitch a ride on one of them---those containers are sealed, unlike the old box cars.

But the title song really expresses the weariness of the traveler heading home:

"Do you see my face in the rain that's fallin' freely?/Do you hear my voice in the whisperin' in the trees?/ Do you taste my love in a glass of wine?/Do you touch your heart and feel the beat of mine?/Along this darkened roadway your love will always shine/For today is the highway and tomorrow is the time."

I loved this song on the train going from Philly to NYC to see my girlfriend back home when I was in college and first heard it and I think I appreciate it even more traveling US 70 East towards home now.