
Thursday, April 22, 2010
We asked for this!

Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Goldwater Country!

First, the Republican-dominated Arizona legislature passes a bill which the Governor signs, allowing people to carry concealed weapons without a permit or any training. Actually that followed an earlier bill which allows people to carry concealed weapons into bars and restaurants but states that they then can't drink alcohol.
Then, the Republican-dominated Arizona legislature passes a bill which the Governor signs, which states that people may carry concealed weapons without having a permit or any training in how to use such a weapon.
Then the Republican-dominated Arizona legislature passes a bill which the Governor has yet to sign which would make it a state crime to be in the country illegally and requires local law enforcement to determine an individual's legal status if there is reasonable suspicion that he or she is in the U.S. illegally. Arizona's current U.S. Senator and twice-failed presidential candidate, John McCain, who is locked in a tight primary race to make it back to Washington with a right-wing yahoo named J.D. Hayworth, endorses the bill as a "good tool" because he says the federal government isn't doing the job of protecting our border with Mexico.
And finally, the Republican-dominated Arizona House has passed a "birther" bill requiring the Arizona Secretary of State to verify the citizenship of U.S. presidential candidates! That one came from the mind of Representative Judy Burges of a tiny town called Skull Valley. Even the current Secretary of State, former Senate President Ken Bennett, said the bill is of questionable constitutionality.
Back in the day, former Republican Governor Evan Mecham rescinded the state's holiday for Martin Luther King and a boycott strained the state's finances for a year or so when Arizona became a national laughing stock. Mecham later was impeached.
There is a lot of talk about a boycott of Arizona once again, folks, and right now the state can't afford it!
I'm embarrassed. And Barry is shaking his head.
Monday, April 19, 2010
Goodbye, Reed




May you go well, Reed, and may we all live our lives as well as you did.
Mag 10

A diller, a dollar, a ten o’clock scholar!
What makes you come so soon?
You used to come at ten o’clock,
But now you come at noon.
What kind of Zen koan is that?
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Anniversaries
Today is their daughter's 25th birthday.
Yesterday was Jeanne's 5th anniversary of being free from breast cancer.
Both girl's are doing great.
What a treat!
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Cell phones
Do you get my drift? I'm too old for this crap.
Monday, April 12, 2010
FDR

Likewise, in Abraham Lincoln's day the vitriol directed at him was sickening. He was portrayed in editorial cartoons as an uncivilized ape. Yet many admired him and he became perhaps the most beloved president of all time, by politicians and citizens of both parties.
I can understand that people of different persuasions can have differences with politicians of "the other party". What I can't understand is the outright hatred and the lies that people believe and spread.
We all need to calm down and try to think rationally.
Sunday, April 11, 2010
..and that's jazz!
I wish I could bring you the sounds but you'll just have to imagine it.




Saturday, April 10, 2010
Mag 9

It was the 1950’s, a much simpler time. Or was it? I had gone to the dance with Johnny Jay, the captain of the football team. Johnny and I had been going together for about three weeks and I just knew it was true love and going to last forever.
Anyway, we were at the dance and Johnny said he was going to go get a soda and he’d be right back. Well, gee, he was gone for over half an hour! I was about to go looking for him when he finally came back. At first I was really glad to see him. But then I noticed something else.
"Lipstick on your collar
Told a tale on you
Lipstick on your collar
Said you were untrue
Bet your bottom dollar
You and I are through
'Cause lipstick on your collar
Told a tale on you."
"Oh, Johnny, how could you do this to me?"
"What?"
"You’ve been necking with another girl. There’s lipstick all over your collar."
"Huh? Oh, don’t you remember when we were in the car before we came in here? It got a little hot and heavy there and it was just you and me."
Well, a little flush went through me as I remembered that. I was about to forgive Johnny and apologize for accusing him. But then . . .
"You said it belonged to me
Made me stop and think
And then I noticed yours was red
Mine was baby pink
Who walked in but Mary Jane
Lipstick all a mess
Were you smoochin' my best friend
Guess the answer's yes!"
"Oh, Johnny! You’re just a liar! Go on and dance with Mary Jane, I’m going home!
With Karl, who’s been after me all night."
"Lipstick on your collar
Told a tale on you
Lipstick on your collar
Said you were untrue
Bet your bottom dollar
You and I are through'
Cause lipstick on your collar
Told a tale on you, boy
Told a tale on you, man
Told a tale on you, yeah."
=====================================
(With apologies to Connie Francis, who sang this song in the Fabulous 50’s!)
Jackie


Jackie was, and is, a legend as he kept his mouth shut and his volatile temper under control in the face of bigotry from his competition and even many of his fellow players. He also became one of the greatest players to ever don a uniform, especially famous for his base stealing feats, including stealing home.
Regrettably, complications of heart disease and diabetes brought Jackson's life to an end at the age of 53. But he will be remembered always by baseball fans.
Friday, April 9, 2010
Springing into color
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
A Guitar Hero
I ran across this video while doing a Google search on Stevie Ray Vaughan. Stevie was one of those fantastic Texas musicians who come along once every once in awhile, that can make your hair stand on end. Take a look and listen.
Stevie died at the age of 35. Not of drugs. But because some dumbass helicopter pilot flew him into a hill in Wisconsin in the middle of the night.
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Easter dinner

It's even better when coated with gravy, accompanied by dressing (not stuffing) and some delicious sweet potatoes.
Mag 8
Or is it a Phoenix Bird,
campfire?
I gaze at the scene,
unfolding its miniature terror,
and I wonder . . .
What bird is this?
And, Willow, thanks for driving me crazy with this prompt!
Thursday, April 1, 2010
A little mystery
"Boss, there's a new girl in town. Dark hair, nice eyes, sassy. Goes by the name of Tess. Tess Kincaid. We're not sure yet what her racket is but she looks dangerous."
"Tess Kincaid. Now that's a monicker. You got any background on her at all?"
"Well, we hear she came from Dillinger country . . Indiana . . but she turned up here around Columbus some time back. And get this . . . we only just found out her real name. She's been goin' by the name of Willow and claims she lives in a haunted house that she calls Willow Manor."
"A haunted house?"
"Yeah, she claims people have heard strange noises at night and even seen wispy spirits walkin' around. But she doesn't seem scared of 'em at all, just kinda laughs it off."
"Hmmm, that's a little strange. Any idea what she does to keep payin' the rent?"
"Apparently she doesn't have any problems there. She's got some guy who travels a lot who takes care of that. So she just stays at home and writes poetry."
"Poetry!"
"Yeah, she's pretty good, too. Whimsical, I think they call it."
"Well, she sounds harmless but let's keep an eye on her."
"O.K. Boss. That'll be a pleasure."
"Tess Kincaid, aka Willow. Interesting."
===============================
This little mystery was prompted by a blog posting here this morning. I just couldn't resist.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Yellow is the color of Spring
Monday, March 29, 2010
Mag 7

"We all live in a yellow submarine,
a yellow submarine, a yellow submarine,
We all live in a yellow submarine,
a yellow submarine, a yellow subm . . ."
What’s that?
A daffodil?
Are you quite sure?
Hmmm.
Well.
Never mind, then.
=======================
I told you it was different. To see the other creations click here.
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Sunday, Sunday
I haven't posted since Monday. Living on my Mag 6, you say.
Well, not really. I just haven't had a thing to say. I've been watching the NCAA basketball tournament and following, with glee, the fortunes of Butler's Bulldogs, which are in the Final 4 next week.
I've been keeping tabs on a friend, who is in the hospital.
I've been reading "Game Change". It's a book in the likes of those written by Theodore H. White but it's more superficial. Maybe it's perfect for this era but it's fun, with lots of gossip on the 2008 presidential race.
And I've watched a couple of movies - "The Men Who Stare at Goats" - a totally mindless hour and a half but a bit funny; and "Broken Embraces" - with the perfectly lovely Penelope Cruz and her favorite director, Pedro Almodovar. That one was better.
So, you see, I've been kind of busy. I'll be back.
Monday, March 22, 2010
Mag 6
I passed through the gates at the institution for the criminally insane, past thick iron bars, past stolid armed guards. I was told bluntly to stop, to raise my arms and was frisked thoroughly. As the guards eyed me, seemingly hostile, I felt a nervous tremor in my stomach. I was not a threat but they didn’t know that. They knew only that I was here to visit one of their most dangerous prisoners.
Burt Jensen had been born in a tarpaper shack on a dirt poor northern Wisconsin farm. He lived through his childhood in that shack with only a small iron stove for heat, sleeping on a ragged pad with one blanket on the floor in one corner of the single room that housed them all. His mother had died giving birth to him. He had one brother four years older, who used to beat him nearly every day and steal food from the tin plate on which he ate. Those were the good days. The day his father, Olav, didn’t beat him.
One night they both beat him, kicked him into a small bundle and left him on his pallet while they laughed and drank the evil smelling alcohol they brewed out of potatoes. Later that night, after they had passed out, he took a knife and cut both of their throats.
When the police came to take him away, he was hollow-eyed and chanting, over and over
Fratricide,
Patricide,
Cops call it
Homicide.
That’s all the authorities ever got out of him. Just that mad rhyme. That was all he had ever spoken since that horrible night.
So now he was here. In the bowels of this huge grey institution. And so was I.
I was a reporter. After months and months of effort, I finally had been granted this opportunity to talk to Burt Jensen. Was I fearful? Oh, yes. Even in spite of knowing that he would be shackled, hand and foot, and I would be "protected" by the armed guard in the same room.
So I entered. And waited. The room was empty except for a small wooden table and two straight-backed wooden chairs.
I jumped as I heard the door clang open. And Burt Jensen came in, with a guard holding tightly to one arm. His dark hair was disheveled and hung down on his forehead. His eyes were on the floor. The guard roughly pushed him down into the chair by the table opposite me. I sat and, slowly, his eyes rose to my face. They were blank.
My long sought interview was a disaster. Burt Jensen didn’t answer any of my questions, he didn’t respond at all, he just stared. Not at me, exactly, but through me. He sat still for the entire time, just staring.
Finally, I had enough. I gave up. I turned off my recorder, looked at the guard and nodded. He took Burt Jensen’s arm and raised him from his chair. And I turned to leave. As my back turned, I heard, for the first time, Burt Jensen’s voice.
Nails in his arms,
Spear in his side,
Jesus Christ
Was crucified.
I stood there, stunned, as he repeated the words over and over again as the guard shouldered him down the hall. His words grew fainter as my hands gripped the edge of the table in an effort to stop the trembling.
==============================
This is the sixth in series of weekly writing exercises initiated by Willow, who posts a photo and invites people to write a poem or a story or an essay based on it. You can learn more and read other entrants' writings at Magpie Tales.
Sunday, March 21, 2010
R.I.P. Stuart Udall

My favorite line from his obituary in today's New York Times reads as follows:
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
A nearly private concert






Spring is here!
A fine day for a bit of drinkin' of the Guiness!
Update - 4 p.m. - the high reached 71 degrees (F). What a fine day it is!
Monday, March 15, 2010
Mag 5

It never worked very well. It was supposed to be controlled by nerves in what was left of his arm. But it didn’t. When he wanted to put it forth to grasp another’s hand, it frequently shot up the middle finger in what was thought to be an obscene gesture.
==================================================
This is the fifth in a series of writing tests based on photo prompts put forth by Willow. You can read other entrants' offerings at Magpie Tales.
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Sunday night
Arizona State University's basketball team was passed over for the N.C.A.A. tournament today. The N.I.T. tournament picked them as the #1 seed. The University of Arizona was passed over by both tournaments.
Glenn Beck has suggested that anyone who is a member of a religion that supports "social justice" shoud leave it. Beck is a member of the Mormon Church. No word yet on when he's leaving it.
The "media" is saying this is crunch week for the Obama administration's push for health care reform. Time will tell.
The weather is warming here in Arizona. The forecast is for the 60's all week. I'm ready.
That is all.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
This godawful winter
By 5 o'clock this afternoon it was 50 degrees and the weather person says it will reach 60 tomorrow.
How can a person achieve any stability in his life if the weather can't?
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Another recommendation
Monday, March 8, 2010
Spring in Indiana
Mag 4

"What the hell is that thing?"
"It’s an elephant."
"Awfully small elephant."
"It’s a baby. A young one."
"Well why do you have it? You carry it with you all the time."
"It brings me good luck."
"Good luck! We’ve been in this damned prison for nearly 27 years! Some good luck."
"But we’re still alive aren’t we?"
"Sometimes I wonder about that."
"Have to keep on believing though. One of these days it’s all going to get better."
"Yeah, one of these days we’re gonna die and then it all WILL be better."
"Ah, now, you’ve got to have hope. Be like the elephant."
"Ha! How long does an elephant live?"
"They say it can live for some 70 years."
"Yeah, and how old are you now? 72?"
"Oh not quite. But I still have hope."
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Several weeks later – the guard opens the cell door. It is February 11th, 1990. After 27 years, Nelson Mandela and his cellmate are released from prison. Mandela leaves the small elephant on the sill of his barred window, smiles and walks out into a changed world.
It has been questioned as to whether this story is true or not. One fact is accurate. Nelson Mandela was released from prison on February 11th, 1990 after 27 years of confinement. The rest . . . is all my imagination.
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Oscars
But . . . all in all . . . 5 for 7 isn't bad.
Me and my big mouth!
Yesterday I was bragging to some friends back East that it was pushing 60 degrees here. This morning, it became evident that rain had fallen during the night. And a little while ago . . . WHAT? SNOW? AGAIN? YeGods!


Saturday, March 6, 2010
Friday, March 5, 2010
Recession? What recession?

Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Lily and Jet

Sunday, February 28, 2010
Magpie Tales 3

Brought a package that brings joyful sounds,
A box of fresh weed
All foil-wrapped, indeed,
A kilo that weighs two-plus pounds.
Saturday, February 27, 2010
A rant
Our sainted Arizona legislature, overcome by Republicans, has decided rather than try to solve its budget crisis that the most important thing to do is to object to President Barack Obama's right to serve. To wit, that he is not a citizen of the United States. He has never produced a birth certificate that confirms that he was born in Hawaii (a state) but that his birthplace was in Kenya. There is a photo circulating on the Internet showing a sign that says "Welcome to Kenya, birthplace of President Barack Obama." Of course, it has been shown to have been Photoshopped and is totally false. But the "birthers" still proclaim it.
Now, a crazy woman from a place known as Skull Valley, in Arizona, has introduced a bill in the Arizona legislature to insist that future candidates for the presidency proclaim their birth as U.S. citizens.
It is obvious hatred.
What is painful is that some 40 members of the legislature (Republicans all) have signed onto this crazed piece of legislation.
What is wrong with them? Are they crazy? Or are they just so biased against a popularly elected president of the United States that their sensibilities have become enraged and biased?
Lucy Mason, Andy Tobin and their co-horts in the legislature should be ashamed of themselves.
And most of all . . . Judy Burges, who sponsored this abominable legislation.
If you, as responsible voters, have any common sense at all, you will vote against all of these people in the future.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
An Elvis breakfast
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Olympics Fever
I obediently padded down the hall and said "What?"
She said a woman from a two-woman bobsled team had just been thrown out of her sled and skidded down the track on her backside.
I asked if the sled had run over her and SWMBO responded "No, she was behind it."
I unfeelingly said "I don't really have any use for the Olympics, winter or summer."
SWMBO responded sharply "Oh, yes, you'll watch 9 months of baseball or football games on television."
. . . . .
After thinking that over, I returned to the fray and said, smartly, "Baseball is the national pastime and I'd certainly rather spend my time with it than to watch a bunch of silly girls fall out of sleds or a bunch of girly-guys use brooms to sweep the ice in front of what they call a stone!"
. . . . .
I know.
I'm going to pay for that.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Catalyst's big Oscar predictions
Foreign Language Film:
"The White Ribbon" *
Supporting Actress:
Mo'Nique in "Precious: Based on the novel 'Push' by Sapphire" *
Supporting Actor:
Christoph Waltz in "Inglorious Basterds" *
Actress in a Leading Role:
Meryl Streep in "Julie and Julia"
Actor in a Leading Role:
Jeff Bridges in "Crazy Heart"
Best Director:
Kathryn Bigelow for "The Hurt Locker"
Best Movie:
The Hurt Locker
I know this goes against the huge push for "Avator" and James Cameron and I have not seen the movie. But I was so impressed by the Hurt Locker and by the fact that this high testosterone movie was directed so well by a woman that I can't overlook it. And things I've read about Avatar and its big-ego director make me believe the Academy may turn on it.
March 7th . . we'll all see.