Unwell, Rudy, Zulus, Enya, Elfin Women and band stuff
Not feeling well this am – I’d say I was depressed – it surely feels like I am depressed – except for the sight fever, the odd muscle pain and the bad way my stomach responds to food – which taken together suggests I’m just sick and not depressed.
Which cheers me up – not in a way that’s really makes me feel better just a kind of grim satisfaction.
I note with the same grim satisfaction that Rudy’s little trysts with his current wife before she was he current wife have gotten back into the news – not because of their being wrong (and frankly the sex lives of ugly politicians really is not something I care much about and that whole thing was between his current wife, him and his ex – we should just butt out). No not the affair (which again proves the rule it’s okay if a republican does it) no, the current deal is that he may have been going to the Hampton’s for some afternoon delight on the government’s dime – which is a) wrong as heel and b) our business since it’s our money.
Rudy’s explanation – at last nights GOP debate where each person took turns saying how badly Hilary Clinton has been doing as president and how much the love the Jesus and hate teh gay – was that he wasn’t to blame (not the best answer for the buck stops here guy he’s trying to present himself as) and the money was for security.
I remember talking to someone I knew who worked at a newspaper in the late 1990’s when Rudy was mayor in New York and I was informed that Rudy was a) sleeping around and b) he was taking his security detail with him – the security detail consisted of at least one detective and several uniforms – along with a bunch of big cars.
I asked “why the hell does he need so much security? When was the last time somebody shot at a mayor?”
I didn’t get an answer – I think mostly because I was an outsider and not hip to the inner workings of the political world – i.e. not a member of the village.
But anyway – the thing is – I don’t give a damn if Rudy was going to the Hamptons every damn weekend and having sex with the road cast of Cats – what bugs me is city taxpayers were footing the bill.
Anyway somebody took great pains to hid the bills – “the New York City Loft Board, the Office for People With Disabilities, the Procurement Policy Board, and the Assigned Counsel Administrative Office all proved good hiding places for expenses ($34,000, $10,054, $29,757, and $400,000, respectively)” (from TMP Muckraker )
If these bills were just for the cops that followed him around it’s bad enough these were hidden –but knowing Rudy’s rather shaky grasp of ethics (“if I do it it’s okay” seems his guiding principle.) I wouldn’t be shocked if some other things turn up in the bills (say jewelry). We shall see.
Granted this will not derail the enormous support Rudy has been getting from the Media (the NY Post for example isn’t even running the story) but judging by the polls he seems to have peaked even with the daleks, sorry the gop faithful.
Again let’s see what happens.
I also woke up the other day confronted by my poetry collection – it’s over by the left side of bed and usually don’t sleep facing that side – that night was different – and have ended up reading Beowulf – the translation by Seamus Heaney. The introduction talked about how unfamiliar this world and world view was but for anybody who watched Lord of the Rings or read the books a couple of times (okay 4 in my case) this is not that alien world view. At least not to me.
There is a great strain of fatalism in the poem – everybody knows things are probably going to not work out well – indeed after Beowulf’s death the Geats (his people) will be vanish – much like Gandalf knows that in saving the world he is going to change it forever to the point where he can not stay. There is a real emphasis on doing well under the circumstances “such an end as may be worth a song” to quote Tolkien.
There is or was a great strain of fatalism in my family as well – a movie that echoes that feeling was one we all watched many times growing up was Zulu which told the story of the battle of Rorke’s drift in south Africa during the Zulu war of 1879. A company of British soldiers (about 120 men) held off the attack of some 6,000 Zulu warriors – it helped they had guns and the Zulus didn’t but still the odds were awful.
It was Michael Canes first film – first of about 10,000 or so – but anyway there is a moment in the film where a preacher (whose mission is at Roake’s drift) rides away while screaming that the troops are all going to die. The kid (there is always a kid in these kind of films – and you know he’s not going to last the film) gets panicked by this and says to the Color Sergeant “he’s right you know. Why us?”
The Color Sergeant hoists his rifle on his shoulder and says
“Because we’re here lad, and nobody else, just us.”
Which kind of echos a family saying
“ That’s the ticket you got punched, that’s the train you got on”
I think it has its roots in our irish/scotish ethnic background – it’s okay for dealing with bad things when they happen – the trouble is when they aren’t happening you are sitting around waiting for the next shoe to drop – I get nervous when things are going well – it’s silly but there you are.
Meantime – meantime - I also have pulled my copy of Baudelaire’s Flowers of Evil out as well (I get gloomy when I get sick).
Meantime, meantime, meantime I’ve realized I have finally dropped a torch I’d been carrying for a bit – while I’m relived I’m not burning my hand anymore – there is a certain flatness in my feelings today. This is really nothing new for me – indeed I’ve carried torches more often then I’ve actually had someone in my life (awwww) but that doesn’t mean you don’t hurt – not like a broken heart hurt (awwww) but still it’s not something I enjoy (or maybe I do, hell I do it often enough). There is just a sense of futility and a bit of self abuse for fooling ones self again (did you really think it was going to be different this time? really? ).
Like I said I get gloomy when I’m not well. Really all I want to do when I get home is get a bowl of soup from the Japanese take out place near by and watch a gloomy movie or listen to Enya – maybe both we’ll see.
Enya’s a guilty pleasure of mine – there are several of women singers in that elfen pre-Raphaelite style that I like to listen to from time to time – when I’m like this. It maybe that I am craving some kind of nurturing or maybe I just like elfin not quite on this planet women – which I know for sure is true – I’ve fallen for them often enough (see note above about carrying torches).
Well this is quite enough of the gloom blog yes?
We have a gig on Tuesday 12/11 and hope you can make it. We are also going – once we have a meeting – going to be involved in something called the Emergenza – it’s a big battle of the bands where we play along with six other bands and based on crown reaction and a panel of judges move on – and if we are judged the winner in NYC we end up going on to Berlin of all places for the finals – and if we win that we end up with I think something like 3 weeks recording time at some big time studio – of course the way we record 3 weeks is enough time for us to do about 7 albums worth of material.
Frankly the odds of us getting to that level are pretty remote – still if we make it to the second round we would get to play at the Bitter End – which has been a dream of The Enemy Below and mine since we founded the band
“We want to get thrown out of the Bitter End.”
While in this case we probably wouldn’t get tossed out, I know Stacy would seriously warp their tiny minds – it’d be worth doing this just for that, the stunned look on the faces of the resident folkies there as our songs unfold would be worth the hassle.
As such worth a song yes?
Peace Love Stacy
Which cheers me up – not in a way that’s really makes me feel better just a kind of grim satisfaction.
I note with the same grim satisfaction that Rudy’s little trysts with his current wife before she was he current wife have gotten back into the news – not because of their being wrong (and frankly the sex lives of ugly politicians really is not something I care much about and that whole thing was between his current wife, him and his ex – we should just butt out). No not the affair (which again proves the rule it’s okay if a republican does it) no, the current deal is that he may have been going to the Hampton’s for some afternoon delight on the government’s dime – which is a) wrong as heel and b) our business since it’s our money.
Rudy’s explanation – at last nights GOP debate where each person took turns saying how badly Hilary Clinton has been doing as president and how much the love the Jesus and hate teh gay – was that he wasn’t to blame (not the best answer for the buck stops here guy he’s trying to present himself as) and the money was for security.
I remember talking to someone I knew who worked at a newspaper in the late 1990’s when Rudy was mayor in New York and I was informed that Rudy was a) sleeping around and b) he was taking his security detail with him – the security detail consisted of at least one detective and several uniforms – along with a bunch of big cars.
I asked “why the hell does he need so much security? When was the last time somebody shot at a mayor?”
I didn’t get an answer – I think mostly because I was an outsider and not hip to the inner workings of the political world – i.e. not a member of the village.
But anyway – the thing is – I don’t give a damn if Rudy was going to the Hamptons every damn weekend and having sex with the road cast of Cats – what bugs me is city taxpayers were footing the bill.
Anyway somebody took great pains to hid the bills – “the New York City Loft Board, the Office for People With Disabilities, the Procurement Policy Board, and the Assigned Counsel Administrative Office all proved good hiding places for expenses ($34,000, $10,054, $29,757, and $400,000, respectively)” (from TMP Muckraker )
If these bills were just for the cops that followed him around it’s bad enough these were hidden –but knowing Rudy’s rather shaky grasp of ethics (“if I do it it’s okay” seems his guiding principle.) I wouldn’t be shocked if some other things turn up in the bills (say jewelry). We shall see.
Granted this will not derail the enormous support Rudy has been getting from the Media (the NY Post for example isn’t even running the story) but judging by the polls he seems to have peaked even with the daleks, sorry the gop faithful.
Again let’s see what happens.
I also woke up the other day confronted by my poetry collection – it’s over by the left side of bed and usually don’t sleep facing that side – that night was different – and have ended up reading Beowulf – the translation by Seamus Heaney. The introduction talked about how unfamiliar this world and world view was but for anybody who watched Lord of the Rings or read the books a couple of times (okay 4 in my case) this is not that alien world view. At least not to me.
There is a great strain of fatalism in the poem – everybody knows things are probably going to not work out well – indeed after Beowulf’s death the Geats (his people) will be vanish – much like Gandalf knows that in saving the world he is going to change it forever to the point where he can not stay. There is a real emphasis on doing well under the circumstances “such an end as may be worth a song” to quote Tolkien.
There is or was a great strain of fatalism in my family as well – a movie that echoes that feeling was one we all watched many times growing up was Zulu which told the story of the battle of Rorke’s drift in south Africa during the Zulu war of 1879. A company of British soldiers (about 120 men) held off the attack of some 6,000 Zulu warriors – it helped they had guns and the Zulus didn’t but still the odds were awful.
It was Michael Canes first film – first of about 10,000 or so – but anyway there is a moment in the film where a preacher (whose mission is at Roake’s drift) rides away while screaming that the troops are all going to die. The kid (there is always a kid in these kind of films – and you know he’s not going to last the film) gets panicked by this and says to the Color Sergeant “he’s right you know. Why us?”
The Color Sergeant hoists his rifle on his shoulder and says
“Because we’re here lad, and nobody else, just us.”
Which kind of echos a family saying
“ That’s the ticket you got punched, that’s the train you got on”
I think it has its roots in our irish/scotish ethnic background – it’s okay for dealing with bad things when they happen – the trouble is when they aren’t happening you are sitting around waiting for the next shoe to drop – I get nervous when things are going well – it’s silly but there you are.
Meantime – meantime - I also have pulled my copy of Baudelaire’s Flowers of Evil out as well (I get gloomy when I get sick).
Meantime, meantime, meantime I’ve realized I have finally dropped a torch I’d been carrying for a bit – while I’m relived I’m not burning my hand anymore – there is a certain flatness in my feelings today. This is really nothing new for me – indeed I’ve carried torches more often then I’ve actually had someone in my life (awwww) but that doesn’t mean you don’t hurt – not like a broken heart hurt (awwww) but still it’s not something I enjoy (or maybe I do, hell I do it often enough). There is just a sense of futility and a bit of self abuse for fooling ones self again (did you really think it was going to be different this time? really? ).
Like I said I get gloomy when I’m not well. Really all I want to do when I get home is get a bowl of soup from the Japanese take out place near by and watch a gloomy movie or listen to Enya – maybe both we’ll see.
Enya’s a guilty pleasure of mine – there are several of women singers in that elfen pre-Raphaelite style that I like to listen to from time to time – when I’m like this. It maybe that I am craving some kind of nurturing or maybe I just like elfin not quite on this planet women – which I know for sure is true – I’ve fallen for them often enough (see note above about carrying torches).
Well this is quite enough of the gloom blog yes?
We have a gig on Tuesday 12/11 and hope you can make it. We are also going – once we have a meeting – going to be involved in something called the Emergenza – it’s a big battle of the bands where we play along with six other bands and based on crown reaction and a panel of judges move on – and if we are judged the winner in NYC we end up going on to Berlin of all places for the finals – and if we win that we end up with I think something like 3 weeks recording time at some big time studio – of course the way we record 3 weeks is enough time for us to do about 7 albums worth of material.
Frankly the odds of us getting to that level are pretty remote – still if we make it to the second round we would get to play at the Bitter End – which has been a dream of The Enemy Below and mine since we founded the band
“We want to get thrown out of the Bitter End.”
While in this case we probably wouldn’t get tossed out, I know Stacy would seriously warp their tiny minds – it’d be worth doing this just for that, the stunned look on the faces of the resident folkies there as our songs unfold would be worth the hassle.
As such worth a song yes?
Peace Love Stacy
posted by Unknown at 10:30 AM
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