~~~~~~~~~
NOTHING BUT BEAUTY
It's hard to keep politics from being onyermind these days, not just because the politicians seem to be dismally below average (I grew up in the shadow of what was the oldest political machine in the country, so I'm not much of an optimist in this regard anyway). Still, it's hard to ignore all that hot air and lie breath and bad vibes and horrible karma coming to roost atop the chicken coop of the world, it's unfair to all those who yearn to pause now and then and focus a good long gaze and remark upon, say, those tiny looklike violets coming out of the ground right there at this time of year, isn't that amazing, and the color of that gingko tree over there against the dark green of the cedars, what a sunbeam to the heart, and who'd like to keep on going just in that vein for a while, but sooner or later they see a headline or hear folks talking or walk by a blabbering tv or a smarmy radio and realize to their horror it's all true, and that there are people who actually love and honor and hang on every word of psychociphers, when wildflowers and gingko leaves and bright red berries in the forest and clouds gilded in red gold by the just-gone sun are so much more real, so straight from the same long ago as ourselves and with nothing but beauty to offer, our hallowed governing institutions have become so homely in comparison. Is that truly the best we can do?
Monday, November 17, 2003
Sunday, November 16, 2003
~~~~~~~~~
WHAT DO THEY KNOW THAT WE DON'T?
"Thomson Financial reports that last month's ratio of insider sales to buys hit a record 59 to 1. That's 59 shares sold for every one purchased! And it surpasses the previous record of 41 to 1, set in May 2001, by a mile.
In May of 2001, by the way, the market completed its first official "sucker's rally", having gained more than 21% before plunging another 41% over the next 1-1/2 years. Today, insiders are selling stock at an even more frenzied pace!"
WHAT DO THEY KNOW THAT WE DON'T?
"Thomson Financial reports that last month's ratio of insider sales to buys hit a record 59 to 1. That's 59 shares sold for every one purchased! And it surpasses the previous record of 41 to 1, set in May 2001, by a mile.
In May of 2001, by the way, the market completed its first official "sucker's rally", having gained more than 21% before plunging another 41% over the next 1-1/2 years. Today, insiders are selling stock at an even more frenzied pace!"
~~~~~~~~~
AN INSULT TO MOJO
The fact that some ostensibly perceptive, capable, even professional journalist actually believed that Rumsfeld had lost his mojo-- in other words, that Rumsfeld had at one time had mojo, but had left it in the Lincoln bedroom or something-- just cracks me up whenever I think about it. Imagine genuine mojo coming anywhere near a life like that! Mojo is above all an entity of righteous discernment! It is never found in Washington.
AN INSULT TO MOJO
The fact that some ostensibly perceptive, capable, even professional journalist actually believed that Rumsfeld had lost his mojo-- in other words, that Rumsfeld had at one time had mojo, but had left it in the Lincoln bedroom or something-- just cracks me up whenever I think about it. Imagine genuine mojo coming anywhere near a life like that! Mojo is above all an entity of righteous discernment! It is never found in Washington.
Saturday, November 15, 2003
~~~~~~~~~
ENDLESS LAUGHTER
About four times a year the bubbly mountain stream up in the forest whence we get our water plays its pranks on us, as nature in all its ways is wont to do to the straight-line plans we humans make, and following a heavy rainstorm or snowstorm or windstorm or leafstorm, as of the past few days (we're early up here compared to the flatlands), the stream chuckles as it carries leaf after leaf to the mesh pipe that drains into our cistern, blocking the mesh or in other times covering it with sand or pebbles or twigs, whatever it has at hand.
So we've been getting some pretty slow and aerated water the past few days, making our bath look like a genuine onsen (hot spring bath) and our tap water look like milk, though it settles clear in a minute or two, but still you can never be sure for that minute or two, which can be trying after a while, say when I am making tea, for which my standards are much more stringent than, for example, those at NASA.
This morning, since I finally wasn't going off to work in the city, and though there are about 27 other things that urgently need doing at last count, I put on my tool belt and high boots, grabbed a pick and shovel and headed on up the road into the forest, on the way checking out the nice new log house a young couple has just built in the woods above, and meeting another neighbor on the other side who had been laboring mightily moving a refrigerator-sized rock from the edge of his property into precisely the right place along his garden walk. He had just finished, so I could be no help.
Continued on up over carpets of acorns onto a mossy road to the stream up on the edge of a meadow surrounded by cedars, noting the good wild fruit and herb places for future reference (especially some nice wild persimmons and red berries), offroad into the sunlight along the stream to the pipe inlet, moved some rocks to improve inlet and outlet, cleaned off the mesh pipe, checked it all over for general rightness, then just stood there in the stream in the sunlight until I'd gathered about all the sunlight and stream I could take with me. Nothing like standing in forest sunlight, knee deep in endless laughter. The water from our tap is now clear and bright and soft as rain, thanks to all the laughing that goes on and on up there in the forest.
ENDLESS LAUGHTER
About four times a year the bubbly mountain stream up in the forest whence we get our water plays its pranks on us, as nature in all its ways is wont to do to the straight-line plans we humans make, and following a heavy rainstorm or snowstorm or windstorm or leafstorm, as of the past few days (we're early up here compared to the flatlands), the stream chuckles as it carries leaf after leaf to the mesh pipe that drains into our cistern, blocking the mesh or in other times covering it with sand or pebbles or twigs, whatever it has at hand.
So we've been getting some pretty slow and aerated water the past few days, making our bath look like a genuine onsen (hot spring bath) and our tap water look like milk, though it settles clear in a minute or two, but still you can never be sure for that minute or two, which can be trying after a while, say when I am making tea, for which my standards are much more stringent than, for example, those at NASA.
This morning, since I finally wasn't going off to work in the city, and though there are about 27 other things that urgently need doing at last count, I put on my tool belt and high boots, grabbed a pick and shovel and headed on up the road into the forest, on the way checking out the nice new log house a young couple has just built in the woods above, and meeting another neighbor on the other side who had been laboring mightily moving a refrigerator-sized rock from the edge of his property into precisely the right place along his garden walk. He had just finished, so I could be no help.
Continued on up over carpets of acorns onto a mossy road to the stream up on the edge of a meadow surrounded by cedars, noting the good wild fruit and herb places for future reference (especially some nice wild persimmons and red berries), offroad into the sunlight along the stream to the pipe inlet, moved some rocks to improve inlet and outlet, cleaned off the mesh pipe, checked it all over for general rightness, then just stood there in the stream in the sunlight until I'd gathered about all the sunlight and stream I could take with me. Nothing like standing in forest sunlight, knee deep in endless laughter. The water from our tap is now clear and bright and soft as rain, thanks to all the laughing that goes on and on up there in the forest.
Friday, November 14, 2003
~~~~~~~~~
SHADES OF BEAUTY
When Japanese farm ladies work outside they wear traditional big-brimmed sunbonnets with neck covers, and special forearm and wrist covers so that they can work all day in the sun and still look as pale as if they never spend any time outdoors (not to mention the tacit ancient awareness-wisdom as to the dangers of long-term exposure to sunlight). They live linked to the old tradition that a woman's beauty is at its best when pale and hidden away indoors but for rare showings. The young city office ladies, in contrast, who put their beauty on display every day on the train and in the office, go to tanning salons (where ancient awareness-wisdom is pretty much a non-starter), where they uncover themselves and lie in the pseudosun so that after a few sessions they're dark enough to look as though they never any spend time indoors. Countrypale women and citytan women. There must be a bunch of morals here somewhere, both light and dark.
SHADES OF BEAUTY
When Japanese farm ladies work outside they wear traditional big-brimmed sunbonnets with neck covers, and special forearm and wrist covers so that they can work all day in the sun and still look as pale as if they never spend any time outdoors (not to mention the tacit ancient awareness-wisdom as to the dangers of long-term exposure to sunlight). They live linked to the old tradition that a woman's beauty is at its best when pale and hidden away indoors but for rare showings. The young city office ladies, in contrast, who put their beauty on display every day on the train and in the office, go to tanning salons (where ancient awareness-wisdom is pretty much a non-starter), where they uncover themselves and lie in the pseudosun so that after a few sessions they're dark enough to look as though they never any spend time indoors. Countrypale women and citytan women. There must be a bunch of morals here somewhere, both light and dark.
~~~~~~~~~
A THOUGHT FOR VETERANS DAY
Having read and heard all the praises for all the troops who have been sent to do the impossible in Afghanistan and Iraq, so many of whom have made the ultimate sacrifice, let's add our praise for all the sons and daughters of the Washington elite responsible for the war, we mustn't ignore the sacrifices they're making: let's say thanks to the Bush children and family relatives over there in Tikrit, who are putting their lives on the front line in service to their country just as did the President himself back when he was a man of courage, and then there's the Cheney grandkids in the bulletmarked humvees in Nasiriyah, the Rumsfeld nephews there in the alleys of Afghanistan, and all the soldiers from the Powell, Perle and Wolfowitz families now under fire in Baghdad, and so many others from the patriotic Washington uppercrust, sent straight into harm's way on the other side of the world-- who can thank them enough for their noble sacrifice?
A THOUGHT FOR VETERANS DAY
Having read and heard all the praises for all the troops who have been sent to do the impossible in Afghanistan and Iraq, so many of whom have made the ultimate sacrifice, let's add our praise for all the sons and daughters of the Washington elite responsible for the war, we mustn't ignore the sacrifices they're making: let's say thanks to the Bush children and family relatives over there in Tikrit, who are putting their lives on the front line in service to their country just as did the President himself back when he was a man of courage, and then there's the Cheney grandkids in the bulletmarked humvees in Nasiriyah, the Rumsfeld nephews there in the alleys of Afghanistan, and all the soldiers from the Powell, Perle and Wolfowitz families now under fire in Baghdad, and so many others from the patriotic Washington uppercrust, sent straight into harm's way on the other side of the world-- who can thank them enough for their noble sacrifice?
~~~~~~~~~
KNOWING WHAT'S NICE
"Some people are born deaf, some are born blind or whatever, and this book is about congenitally defective human beings of a sort who are making this whole country and many other parts of the planet go completely haywire nowadays. These are people born without consciences. They know full well the pain their actions may cause others to feel but do not care. They cannot care. They came into this world with a screw loose, and now they're taking charge of everything. They appear to be great leaders because they are so decisive. Do this! Do that! What makes them so decisive is that they do not care and cannot care what happens next."
This is an exerpt from "excerpts from some of what I myself said onstage at the University of Wisconsin in Madison on the evening of September 22, 2003, as we touch off the last chunks and drops and whiffs of fossil fuels."
KNOWING WHAT'S NICE
"Some people are born deaf, some are born blind or whatever, and this book is about congenitally defective human beings of a sort who are making this whole country and many other parts of the planet go completely haywire nowadays. These are people born without consciences. They know full well the pain their actions may cause others to feel but do not care. They cannot care. They came into this world with a screw loose, and now they're taking charge of everything. They appear to be great leaders because they are so decisive. Do this! Do that! What makes them so decisive is that they do not care and cannot care what happens next."
This is an exerpt from "excerpts from some of what I myself said onstage at the University of Wisconsin in Madison on the evening of September 22, 2003, as we touch off the last chunks and drops and whiffs of fossil fuels."
Thursday, November 13, 2003
~~~~~~~~~
THE SOCIETY FOR THE PROTECTION OF UNBORN CHILDREN
"Newborn babies whose mothers watched Neighbours during pregnancy have been seen to stop crying and become alert when they hear the theme tune after birth."
From Human development from conception to birth
THE SOCIETY FOR THE PROTECTION OF UNBORN CHILDREN
"Newborn babies whose mothers watched Neighbours during pregnancy have been seen to stop crying and become alert when they hear the theme tune after birth."
From Human development from conception to birth
Wednesday, November 12, 2003
SHOWTIME
I love how, on bright shiny Autumn days like this one, when in the growing cold all the leaves are turning brown or have already been taken in the wind's big airy bag (and dumped on my spinach), the heart-shaped mukago vine leaves turn from a demure and indistinct green into the brightest showtime yellow strung along the bamboo like lights along Broadway, and hang on there flashing in the gusts for days and days, saying Here I am! Over here, you hungry birds! Like strawberries in Spring, tomatoes in summer, pumpkins in Autumn, persimmons in Winter, the mukago leaves too are bright signs of the big consideration given throughout every season to hungry birds and hungry non-birds, such as myself.
I love how, on bright shiny Autumn days like this one, when in the growing cold all the leaves are turning brown or have already been taken in the wind's big airy bag (and dumped on my spinach), the heart-shaped mukago vine leaves turn from a demure and indistinct green into the brightest showtime yellow strung along the bamboo like lights along Broadway, and hang on there flashing in the gusts for days and days, saying Here I am! Over here, you hungry birds! Like strawberries in Spring, tomatoes in summer, pumpkins in Autumn, persimmons in Winter, the mukago leaves too are bright signs of the big consideration given throughout every season to hungry birds and hungry non-birds, such as myself.
Tuesday, November 11, 2003
~~~~~~~~~
LDP ELEPHANT LIMPS INTO A FUTURE THAT LOOKS AN AWFUL LOT LIKE THE PAST, ONLY WITH MORE HIGHWAYS
Almost 60 years in power now, the LDP elephant got an annoying thorn stuck in its foot by the opposition at yesterday's elections, which won't slow the great grey eminence much; as the yelling gets louder around the pork barrels, don't expect anything to change except maybe the price of pork. And watch out for that highway.
LDP ELEPHANT LIMPS INTO A FUTURE THAT LOOKS AN AWFUL LOT LIKE THE PAST, ONLY WITH MORE HIGHWAYS
Almost 60 years in power now, the LDP elephant got an annoying thorn stuck in its foot by the opposition at yesterday's elections, which won't slow the great grey eminence much; as the yelling gets louder around the pork barrels, don't expect anything to change except maybe the price of pork. And watch out for that highway.
~~~~~~~~~
BILLIONAIRE GEORGE SOROS: DEFEATING BUSH "IS THE CENTRAL FOCUS OF MY LIFE."
Excellent and worthy focus. Soros has a pretty good sense of how the big deal goes down, what is genesis and what is nemesis. He has given $5 million to MoveOn.org, and more is coming for worthy causes aimed at the defeat of Bush in 2004. Fascinating insights from an insightful man, and a great closing line in this WP article.
BILLIONAIRE GEORGE SOROS: DEFEATING BUSH "IS THE CENTRAL FOCUS OF MY LIFE."
Excellent and worthy focus. Soros has a pretty good sense of how the big deal goes down, what is genesis and what is nemesis. He has given $5 million to MoveOn.org, and more is coming for worthy causes aimed at the defeat of Bush in 2004. Fascinating insights from an insightful man, and a great closing line in this WP article.
Monday, November 10, 2003
FRAGRANT PANACEA
Yesterday afternoon the house was filled with the wonderful almondy fragrance of raw biwanotane, the kernels of the seeds of the biwa (loquat; Eriobotrya japonica). The fragrance was even more profound because I was smunching them juicily on an oak slab with a hammer
in preparation for making biwashu, a traditional home health remedy made by tincturing thus-prepared biwanotane in shochu (sort of a sake brandy) for a minimum of two months, the biwashu getting darker the longer it's aged. The intense fragrance, in a kind of serendipitherapy, lifted my thoughts to very sunshiny places, making me feel both hungry and satisfied, which I guess is about as close as you can get to the Tao and exist at the same time.
Matured biwashu can be used internally or topically in the mouth or on the skin. It's a panacea for small home emergencies: burns, bug bites, bruises, aches and pains, infections, gum problems, canker sores etc. We always carry a small bottle of it with us when we travel. It did wonders in abbreviating my sciatica, and I still think it played a miraculous role in making my one and only kidney stone disappear in a half hour.
Every temple has a biwa tree somewhere in its precincts for just such use; the sliced leaves thus tinctured make a superior topical medicine as well, excellent for, among many things, taking the itch out of mosquito bites. We used about a kilo of biwa kernels in about 2 liters of gemmae (brown rice) shochu, enough to share with friends.
Sunday, November 09, 2003
~~~~~~~~~
BOBBY HATFIELD SINGS FOREVER
Upon reading that Bobby Hatfield of the Righteous Brothers had died (he was born the same year as I), I went immediately to my musical archives and put on Unchained Melody and let it just repeat. Like any classic, that performance never ages, just gets better as you grow enough to sense the nuances that were there all along.
I read an interview with Bobby in which he said that he'd liked the song so much and wanted to do his own version of it so much that he went into the studio to do it as a B-side and nailed it in one take.
To think at the age of 25 Bobby went into a major studio, with Phil Spector producing, and rendered that classic in just one take. As I listened to that amazing performance, one that I've loved and gone back to many times over the years since it first swelled from all the jukeboxes in 1965, it filled me as it always has, with the passion of its rendering and astonishment at the singer's instinctive understanding and fluid literacy regarding every technical and emotional nuance of the song, right from the very first "Woh..." (not merely "Oh").
Phil Spector's wall of sound is mere background to one of the most beautiful renderings by one of the most amazing voices in modern music. What a take that was. Thanks forever, Bobby.
[Also posted on BlogCritics.]
BOBBY HATFIELD SINGS FOREVER
Upon reading that Bobby Hatfield of the Righteous Brothers had died (he was born the same year as I), I went immediately to my musical archives and put on Unchained Melody and let it just repeat. Like any classic, that performance never ages, just gets better as you grow enough to sense the nuances that were there all along.
I read an interview with Bobby in which he said that he'd liked the song so much and wanted to do his own version of it so much that he went into the studio to do it as a B-side and nailed it in one take.
To think at the age of 25 Bobby went into a major studio, with Phil Spector producing, and rendered that classic in just one take. As I listened to that amazing performance, one that I've loved and gone back to many times over the years since it first swelled from all the jukeboxes in 1965, it filled me as it always has, with the passion of its rendering and astonishment at the singer's instinctive understanding and fluid literacy regarding every technical and emotional nuance of the song, right from the very first "Woh..." (not merely "Oh").
Phil Spector's wall of sound is mere background to one of the most beautiful renderings by one of the most amazing voices in modern music. What a take that was. Thanks forever, Bobby.
[Also posted on BlogCritics.]
Saturday, November 08, 2003
~~~~~~~~~
"JAPAN INCHES TOWARDS MEANINGFUL DEMOCRACY"
Says the FT headline. They use metric here in Japan, though, so "centimeters towards meaningful democracy" would be more correct, but in reality the change is closer to micrometric. The trappings of Western democracy are newly seen in the stridently promissory campaigns (work of a US campaign management firm) and the more specific intimations of voter appeasement (The Manifesto!), but the end result of all these cosmetics will be the same old LDP face (longest single-party rule in the world) until Japan is changed fundamentally by globalization, which should take another lifetime or so to work its way through the tight-knit social fabric...
[Later addition: though this is the first time I've ever heard major Japanese candidates actually get promise-hoarse by the day before elections, as always happens to US presidents by November, so I at least that's a beginning; to what end remains open to question.]
"JAPAN INCHES TOWARDS MEANINGFUL DEMOCRACY"
Says the FT headline. They use metric here in Japan, though, so "centimeters towards meaningful democracy" would be more correct, but in reality the change is closer to micrometric. The trappings of Western democracy are newly seen in the stridently promissory campaigns (work of a US campaign management firm) and the more specific intimations of voter appeasement (The Manifesto!), but the end result of all these cosmetics will be the same old LDP face (longest single-party rule in the world) until Japan is changed fundamentally by globalization, which should take another lifetime or so to work its way through the tight-knit social fabric...
[Later addition: though this is the first time I've ever heard major Japanese candidates actually get promise-hoarse by the day before elections, as always happens to US presidents by November, so I at least that's a beginning; to what end remains open to question.]
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