10,000 Things

Pilgrimage

2007-01-31T13:53:00.000-08:00

Meditation is a long journey, a pilgrimage into the mind itself.

Generally, we become aware that there is such a thing as meditation after the material world has lost its attraction to us, and previous desires no longer bind us to patterns of fear, greed, attachment, and ramification.

We then seek through philosophy and religion to answer the questions, "Who am I? Where did I come from? Where am I going?"

Kind Girls

Technorati tags: mind, pilgrimage, journey, meditation, Kind Girls,Our Daily Dead

Space Cowboys

2007-01-30T09:21:00.000-08:00

Does this sound like a reference to Bush and the Boys?

I see the show downs, slow downs, lost and found, turn arounds

The boys in the military shirts

I keep my eyes on the prize, on the long fallen skies

And I don't let my friends get hurt

All you back room schemers, small trip dreamers

Better find something new to say

Cause you're the same old story

It's the same old crime

And you got some heavy dues to pay

I'm a space cowboy

Bet you weren't ready for that

I'm a space cowboy

I'm sure you know where it's at

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

~~ 'Space Cowboy', The Steve Miller Band

Kind Girls

Technorati tags: Steve Miller, Space Cowboy, Bush, Kind Girls,Our Daily Dead

Bois D'Arc Fence Posts

2007-01-18T05:49:00.000-08:00

Ruth Ann and Lynn come down from Baxter Springs

That's one hell raisin' town way up in Southeastern Kansas

Got a biker bar next to the lingerie store

That's got them Rolling Stones lips up there where everyone can see 'em

And they burn all night

you know they burn all night

you know they burn all night

Ruth Ann and Lynn they wear them cut off britches and those skinny little halters

And they're second cousins to me

Man I don't care I want to get between 'em

With a great big ol' hard on like a old bois d' arc fence post

You could hang a pipe rail gait from

Do some twisted sisters 'til the cows come home

And we'd be havin' us a time

Uncle Slayton's got his Texan pride

Back in the thickets with his Asian bride

He's cut that corner pasture into acre lots`

He sells 'em owner financed

Strictly to them that's got no kind of credit

'Cause he knows they're slackers

When they miss that payment Then he takes it back

He plays that Choctaw Bingo every Friday night

Drinks that Johnny Walker at that Club 69

We're gonna strap them kids in give 'em a little bit o' Benadryl And a cherry coke
we're goin' to Oklahoma Gonna have us a time

~~ 'Choctaw Bingo' from Live In Aught Three by James McMurtry and the Heartless Bastards

Kind Girls

Technorati tags: James McMurtry, Choctaw Bingo, Bois d'Arc, Kind Girls,Our Daily Dead

The First Days

2007-01-16T15:10:00.000-08:00

Well the first days are the hardest days, don't you worry any more

'Cause when life looks like easy street, there is danger at your door

Think this through with me, let me know your mind

Wo-oh, what I want to know is, are you kind?

It's a buck dancer's choice my friend, better take my advice

You know all the rules by now, and the fire from the ice

Will you come with me, won't you come with me?

Wo-oh, what I want to know, will you come with me?

God damn, well I declare, have you seen the like?

Their walls are built of cannon balls

Their motto is "don't" tread on me"

Come hear Uncle John's Band, playing to the tide

Come with me or go alone

He's come to take his children home

~~ 'Uncle John's Band' from "Workingman's Dead" by the Grateful Dead

Technorati tags: Grateful Dead, Uncle John's Band, The First Days, Our Daily Dead

Random Stop

2006-12-12T08:05:00.000-08:00

Toss the book into the air to see what page is delivered....From 1,000 Places To See Before You Die our toss brings us the page about the Trans-Siberian Express. Tis the world's longest continuous rail line stretching almost 6,000 miles or one-third of the way around the Earth. Rember to jump nude into the snow!

All aboard!

Technorati tags: nude, Trans-Siberian Express, Our Daily Dead

Wet Cement

2006-11-28T09:17:00.000-08:00

"Now not just his feet but his legs to the knees were exposed. Irving rose from his kneeling position and offered his arm, and Bo Weinberg took it, just like some princess at a ball, and delicately, gingerly, placed one foot at a time in the laundry tub in front of him that was filled with wet cement. I had of course seen from the moment I had come through the door how the tubbed cement mad a slow-witted diagram of the sea outside, the slab of it shifting to and fro as the boat rose and fell on the waves." ~~ Billy Bathgate

Our Daily Dead

Technorati tags: Billy Bathgate, E. L. Doctorow, Bo Weinberg, wet cement, Our Daily Dead

Oddly Enough

2006-03-10T09:00:00.001-08:00

ODD Man Out

ODD Thomas

ODD Project, "The Second Hand Stopped"

Our Daily Dead

Technorati tags: Odd Man Out, James Mason, Dean Koontz, Odd Thomas, Odd Project, Our Daily Dead

Barbed

2006-03-08T10:36:00.000-08:00

Joseph Farwell Glidden (1813-1906) started out life in New Hampshire, and became a school teacher. But once married he and his bride eventually found their way out west where Joseph become an Illinois farmer. Wonderful yes?

This was no ordinary Glidden however. Not even the paint Glidden.

Joseph Glidden invented a little thing that let settlers on the vast expanse of the plains fence their livestock in thus preventing the roaming far and wide of said stock.

In 1874 Joseph Glidden patented barbed wire. He would go on to become one of the richest men in the US.

Technorati tags: Joseph Glidden, barbed wire

A Happy Death

2006-03-07T12:29:00.000-08:00

"In a minute, in a second," he thought. The ascent stopped. And stone amoung stones, he returned in the joy of his heart to the truth of the motionless worlds.

~~ "A Happy Death", Albert Camus

Technorati tags: Albert Camus, A Happy Death

The Peeler and the Goat

2006-03-04T07:52:00.000-08:00

The Peeler and the Goat

Oh, the Penshaw peeler went one night
On duty and patrolling
He spied a goat upon the road
And took him for a-strolling

Bayonet fixed, he sallied forth
And he caught him by the wizzen
There swore out a mighty oath
He's send him off to prison

Have mercy, sir, the goat replied
And let me tell my story
I am no rogue, no ribbon man
No cockey, Whig, or Tory

I'm innocent of any crime,
Of petty or high treason
For my tribe is active at this time
It is the mating season.

"Do not complain," the peeler said
But give your tongue a bridle
You're absent from your dwelling place,
Disorderly, and idle

Your hoary locks will not prevail
Nor your sublime oration
For the penal laws will you transport
On your own information

No penal laws have I transgressed
By deed or combination
It's true I have no place of rest,
No home, or habitation

But Penshaw is my dwelling place
Where I was bread and borne-o
I'm of an honest working race
That's all the trade I've learned-o

I wager, sir, that you are drunk
On whiskey, rum, and brandy
Or you wouldn't have such gallant spunk
To be so bold and manly

You readily would let me pass
If I had money handy
I'd take you to the parting glass
Its then I'd be the dandy
~~ "The Peeler and the Goat"

By way of Infospigot we found this excellent last child in the woods post over at the National Parks Travel blog.

Technorati tags: peeler, Penshaw, Infospigot, National Parks Traveler

Longitude

2006-03-03T05:52:00.000-08:00

"Dirty weather," Admiral Sir Clowdisley Shovell called the fog that had dogged him twelve days at sea. Returning home victorious from Gibraltar after skirmishes with the French Mediterranean forces, Sir Clowdisley could not beat the heavy autumn overcast. Fearing the ships might founder on coastal rocks, the admiral summoned all his navigators to put their heads together.

The consensus opinion placed the English fleet safely west of Ile d'Ouessant, an island outpost of the Brittany penninsula. But as the sailors continued north they discoverd to their horror that they had misguaged their longitude near the Scilly Isles. These tiny islands, about twenty miles from the southwest tip of England, point to Land's End like a path of stepping stones. And on that foggy night of October 22, 1707, the Scillies became unmarked tombstones for two thousand of Sir Clowdisley's troops.

The flagship, The Association struck first. She sank within minutes, drowning all hands. Before the rest of the vessels could react to the obvious danger, two more ships, the Eagle and the Romney, pricked themselves on the rocks and went down like stones. In all, four of the five warships were lost.

Only two men washed ashore alive. One of them was Sir Clowdisley himself, who may have watched the fifty-seven years of his life flash before his eyes as waves carried him home.

~~"Longitude" by Dava Sobel

Poor Admiral Clowdisley. Supposedly a woman combing the beach where he washed ashore fell in love with an emerald ring the Admiral wore. She killed him for the ring.

And all because in those days sailors could not find their longitude.

Technorati tags: longitude, Dava Sobel

Odds and Ends

2006-03-02T09:29:00.000-08:00

We note that a couple of very distinguished gentlemen passed away recently. Our Daily Dead tells us that Frederick Busch and Owen Chamberlain are recently passed.

Mr. Busch was the essence of a writer. In fact his obit states he was a "...writer's writer...". Lofty praise for someone once quoted as saying that his goal was to be “a really honest, minor writer of the 20th century.”

Mr. Chamberlain could be said to have held the universe in his hands. Three things stand out in his obit: first, his work on the first atomic bomb (and his $5 bet that the first test device would not explode), second, his apology to the Japanese people regarding the bomb, and third, of course, his discovery of the antiproton. Adding a stone or two to the edifice called science.

Another favorite blogger 8763 Wonderland has picked up on a Four Things theme currently wandering about the LA bloggersphere. We would have both Chavez Ravine and Wildwood Canyon Park in our Rather Be list certainly - the latter being central to the David Quammen coyote story "To Live and Die in L.A." found in his Wild Thoughts From Wild Places book.

Technorati tags: Our Daily Dead, Owen Chamberlain, Atomic Bomb, Frederick Busch, 8763 Wonderland, David Quammen, coyote

Hinges of History

2006-03-01T11:53:00.000-08:00

"On the last cold day of December in the dying year we count as 406, the river Rhine froze solid, providing the natural bridge that hundreds of thousands of hungry men, women and children had been waiting for. They were the barbari- to the Romans an undistinguished, matted mass of Others, not terrifying, just troublemakers, annoyances, things one would rather not have to deal with - non-Romans. To themselves they were, presumably, something more, but as the illiterate leave few records, we can only surmise their opinion of themselves."

~~ "How The Irish Saved Civilization", by Thomas Cahill

Technorati tags: Irish, Thomas Cahill

Rules

2006-02-28T15:27:00.000-08:00

From Yahoo...

Gladiators may have fought and died to entertain others in the brutality of the Roman arena but they appear to have abided by a strict code of conduct which avoided savage violence, forensic scientists say.

Tests on the remains of 67 gladiators found in tombs at Ephesus in Turkey, center of power for ancient Rome's eastern empire, show they stuck to well defined rules of combat and avoided gory free-for-alls.

Injuries to the front of each skull suggested that each opponent used just one type of weapon per bout of face-to-face contact, two Austrian researchers report in a paper to be published in Forensic Science International.

Savage violence and mutilation, typical of battlefields 2,000 years ago, were out of order.

And the losers appear to have died quickly.

Despite the fact that most gladiators wore helmets, 10 of the remains showed the fighters had died of squarish hammer-like blows to the side of the head, possibly the work of a backstage executioner who finished off wounded losers after the fight.

The report confirms the picture given of battles in the arena by Roman artwork, which suggests gladiators were well matched and followed rules enforced by two referees.

Our Daily Dead indeed.

Technorati tags: gladiator, Roman, Our Daily Dead

Irish Eyes

2006-02-27T08:45:00.000-08:00

From the book "1,000 Places To See Before You Die":

"In yesterday's gastronomically challenged Ireland of corned beef and cabbage, seaside Kinsale's role as the country's culinary capital may have been take as a comical oxymoron. But since the so-called Irish cooking revolution, this beautiful yachting and fishing town on the Irish Sea and its impressive (and still growing) profusion of excellent restaurants large and small has drawn pampered palates from near and far. The increasingly popular Kinsale International Gourmet Food Festival might include everything from a cooking demonstration by the Housewife of the Year to oyster husking."

Get there. An excellent town, beautiful setting, wonderful people, great pubs, and of course tons of history including the magnificent and vast star shaped Charles Fort, which was built in 1677.

Technorati tags: Kinsale, Ireland, food festival, star fort

Fried-Day

2006-02-24T05:34:00.000-08:00

Something to consider - Nikola Tesla was beyond a genius, had abnormally long thumbs, a peculiar love of pigeons, and a horror of women's pearls. Strange Brains and Genius indeed.

Oh, and if perchance you are a budding numeroligist, you'll want to read Infospigot's Trivial By Nature.

Forbes reports that Tinky Winky strikes fear again: China Bans 'Teletubbies,' 'Mary Poppins'--Not Spielberg. Although Forbes does say that China's ban is not for the same reasons that Jerry Falwell trembles at the sight of ol' TW. The Color Purple indeed, eh what?

Technorati tags: Nikola Tesla,Infospigot,Forbes,Daily,Our Daily Dead,On Deck,Jerry Falwell

1776

2006-02-23T09:28:00.000-08:00

"Here we are at loggerheads," wrote the youthful brigadier general from Rhode Island, appraising the scene at Boston in the last days of October 1775.

I wish we had a large stock of [gun]powder that we might annoy the enemy wherever they make their appearance...but for want thereof we are obliged to remain idle spectators, for we cannot get at them and they are determined not to come to us.

At age thirty-three, Nathanael Green was the youngest general officer in what constituted the American army, and by conventional criterion, an improbable choice for such responsibility. He had been a full-time soldier for all of six months. Unlike any of the other American generals, he had never served in a campaign, never set foot on a battlefield. He was a foundryman by trade. What he knew of warfare and military command came almost entirely from books.

~~ "1776", by David McCullough

Technorati tags: David McCullough,1776,history

Untitled

2006-02-22T08:13:00.000-08:00

Who have I left to please?
Take what you've yet to seize.
No more questioning
'Cause love is what love should be.
Unveil to me all that you want me to do.
But why should I stop bearing allegiance to you?

See, I don't believe in the sorcerers or the preachers.
I just believe in you.
And I don't believe in the scholars or the wise men.
I just believe in you.

What have I left to prove?
I speak all the words you choose.
Confine me in walls of truth
'Cause love does what love should do.
No more sentence.
All of my pain has been freed.
Why should this end when your mercy's all I need?

See, I don't believe in
The sorcerers or the preachers.
I just believe in you.
And I don't believe in the scholars or the wise men.
I just believe in you.

~~ "Untitled", Collective Soul

Our Daily Dead reports on the death of Sid Fellor - not that he was related in any way to Collective Soul. But he was very instrumental in Ray Charles' "Georgia On My Mind" - rather a pleasant tune that. And if you're still in a music mode go read Infospigot's writeup on Bill Cowsill.

Technorati tags: Collective Soul,Our Daily Dead,Sid Feller,Ray Charles,Infospigot,Billy Cowsill

Into The Darkness

2006-02-21T07:52:00.000-08:00

Down, down, down into the darkness of the grave

Gently they go, the beautiful, the tender, the kind;

Quietly they go, the intelligent, the witty, the brave.

I know. But I do not approve. And I am not resigned.
~~ Edna St. Vincent Millay

Technorati tags: Edna St. Vincent Millay, grave, darkness

Voices

2006-02-20T11:38:00.000-08:00

I read the news today oh boy...Curt Gowdy passed away today. See the details over at Our Daily Dead.

And while your surfing sashay over to Rodger Jacobs blog 8763 Wonderland site for a great piece on the notorious Mr. James Frey.

Technorati tags: Curt Gowdy, Rodger Jacobs, life, Daily Life, 8763 Wonderland, news, blog, Our Daily Dead

The Goshawk

2006-02-20T06:05:00.000-08:00

All the time there was a single commandment to be observed. Patience. There was no other weapon. In the face of all set-backs, of all stupidities, of all failures and scenes and expasperating blows across the face with his wings as he struggled, there was only one thing one could seek to do. Patience ceased to be negative, became a positive action. For it had to be active benevolence. One could torture the bird, merely by giving it a hard and bitter look.
~~ "The Goshawk", T.H.White

Technorati tags: T. H. White,The Goshawk

The Death of Ivan Ilyich

2006-02-19T09:42:00.000-08:00

"Its all over," said someone standing beside him.

He heard these words and repeated them in his soul.

"Death is over," he said to himself. "There is no more death."

He drew in a breath, broke off in the middle of it, stretched himself out, and died.

"The Death of Ivan Ilyich", Leo Tolstoy

Technorati tags: Leo Tolstoy,The Death of Ivan Ilyich

Burns

2006-02-18T05:15:00.000-08:00

I know...we are a couple days late...

Is there a whim-inspired fool,
Owre fast for thought, owre hot for rule,
Owre blate to seek, owre proud to snool,
Let him draw near;
And owre this grassy heap sing dool,
And drap a tear.

Is there a bard of rustic song,
Who, noteless, steals the crowds among,
That weekly this area throng,
O, pass not by!
But, with a frater-feeling strong,
Here, heave a sigh.

Is there a man, whose judgment clear
Can others teach the course to steer,
Yet runs, himself, life's mad career,
Wild as the wave,
Here pause-and, thro' the starting tear,
Survey this grave.

The poor inhabitant below
Was quick to learn the wise to know,
And keenly felt the friendly glow,
And softer flame;
But thoughtless follies laid him low,
And stain'd his name!

Reader, attend! whether thy soul
Soars fancy's flights beyond the pole,
Or darkling grubs this earthly hole,
In low pursuit:
Know, prudent, cautious, self-control
Is wisdom's root. ~~ "1786", Robert Burns

Technorati tags: Robert Burns

Whale Dreck

2006-02-17T08:28:00.000-08:00

The Nome Nugget, Alaska's oldest newspaper, reports that mangtak (whale blubber with skin) found in Gambell has been dated to A.D. 936.

The Nome Nugget web site also displays a tag line of Illegitimus non carborundum. You know of course that this is not really Latin, but a psuedo-Latin joke perhaps started by British Intelligence in WWII. The phrase was popularized by one U.S. General Joseph W. "Vinegar Joe" Stilwell (1883-1946)who made the phrase his motto.

Don't Let The Bastards Grind You Down, eh?

Technorati tags: mangtak,Nome Nugget,Illegitimus non carborundum

The Pelican

2006-02-16T15:16:00.000-08:00

"A wonderful bird is a pelican,
His bill will hold more than his belican.
He can take in his beak
Food enough for a week;
But I'm damned if I see how the helican. "
~~ "The Pelican", Dixon Lanire Merrith (1910)

Note that this Mr. Merrith's limerick above is often atributed incorrectly to Ogden Nash.)

Technorati tags: Ogden Nash,I'm A Stranger Here Myself