"Need to Know Metallica."























I was coming out of Raley's grocery tonight. This is what I found on the bulletin board in the foyer. While I was taking it down, Michelle Doyle came into the store, so I showed her what I was doing. I handed it to her so she could have a look. She laughed, and said that Sean is in her class.

Red Eye

The World Is a Beautiful Place
by Lawrence Ferlinghetti

The world is a beautiful place
to be born into
if you don't mind happiness
not always being
so very much fun
if you don't mind a touch of hell
now and then
just when everything is fine
because even in heaven
they don't sing
all the time

The world is a beautiful place
to be born into
if you don't mind some people dying
all the time
or maybe only starving
some of the time
which isn't half bad
if it isn't you

Oh the world is a beautiful place
to be born into
if you don't much mind
a few dead minds
in the higher places
or a bomb or two
now and then
in your upturned faces
or such other improprieties
as our Name Brand society
is prey to
with its men of distinction
and its men of extinction
and its priests
and other patrolmen

and its various segregations
and congressional investigations
and other constipations
that our fool flesh
is heir to

Yes the world is the best place of all
for a lot of such things as
making the fun scene
and making the love scene
and making the sad scene
and singing low songs and having inspirations
and walking around
looking at everything
and smelling flowers
and goosing statues
and even thinking
and kissing people and
making babies and wearing pants
and waving hats and
dancing
and going swimming in rivers
on picnics
in the middle of the summer
and just generally
'living it up'
Yes
but then right in the middle of it
comes the smiling
mortician



Your Catfish Friend
by Richard Brautigan

If I were to live my life
in catfish forms
in scaffolds of skin and whiskers
at the bottom of a pond
and you were to come by
one evening
when the moon was shining
down into my dark home
and stand there at the edge
of my affection
and think, "It's beautiful
here by this pond. I wish
somebody loved me,"
I'd love you and be your catfish
friend and drive such lonely
thoughts from your mind
and suddenly you would be
at peace,
and ask yourself, "I wonder
if there are any catfish
in this pond? It seems like
a perfect place for them."



Happy Valentine's Day - bb

Did they ever find that kinetic energy model site with the dancing diagrams?

Life With Bob & Ted

Hi, Bob....I just sent you the payment for the Stuyvesant Hotel shot glass via PayPal.And, If you can....please mail it to :Peggy McMahon14R Stockholm AvenueRockport, MA 01966I'm assuming that the shipping will be the same, if not please send it to me. But, I'd really like her to get it, so please help me on this if you can...Thanks...I had a little trouble with PayPal, in that I did not want to pay via credit card, because of the charges that you would incur. So, I paid by echeck. This was disappointing, because I thought that the money would be taken from my PayPal balance, but it was really taken from my checking account. Not to mention adding time to the deal.But it was enlightening, in that if this happens again, I'll try to transfer from my PayPal account with a direct email to the recipient.Also, I removed the PayPal option from my own listings as now I know why people were having such trouble trying to pay me. With the PayPal listing on the sheet, it seems as buyers are funneled into paying via Credit card.So I deleted the PayPal heading, and listed in my payment option block that I accept PayPal balance transfers, but NO CREDIT CARDS. This is how I had previously listed items, and had no trouble. As I say, this was enlightening to me. And, I hope that it helps you, too. Let me know.... After the item is received by either me (in PA or Peggy in MA) positive feedback will posted for you.Thanks again....Ted Straub


This came in my email today.

Sun Down Moon Up

Here is the moon.

More Black Sun

The sun goes down another day in the Great Basin. The Big Empty. Tonight is nearly a full moon, so sundown and moonrise happen together.

Black Sun




















This black sun was no invention of Harry’s, but the alchemist’s Sol niger, prime matter, the unconscious in its unworked, base state. The black sun is at its nadir, hidden, and all is night. In the Rig-Veda the sun during its night crossing is at its most magical and portentous. It must and shall be resurrected, as Harry knew he should persist again, in and like the sun, beyond his own sun-fall. Here again, paradox and ambiguity: the sun that gave sea, soil and life also stared down without pity at its creations and withered them, dried them out, burnt them. Or failed to shine, winking while life failed. Where the sun is, there also find the death principle, the chaos that reigned before light dispelled it, the chaos that Harry’s life and work replicated in miniature.


When I saw this post from the TRANSPLANT, the first thing that came to my mind was Ed Abbey's "Black Sun", but then that story takes place on a mountian top surrounded by the Sonoran Desert. Then I went looking for Black Sun and this is what I found.

Holidays


















This is Hazel. She had a great time opening presents. It was the biggest, best nest she ever saw. Covered the entire room, and the whole thing was carpeted. In this photo she can be seen hanging around with the man of the house.

























Thanksgiving Morsa wore the hat, then donated it to Hazel for a house. When she is inside, Hazel thinks she might still be on Morsa's shoulder, but she is not really sure.






















This one may be reading up on vermin control, it's hard to say. He just smiled when I asked him.

It's never to early to start planning.


















This is about Christmas, the birth of a man of peace.

I thought this was a pretty amazing photo. I did a screen capture to get this one. The original is much better. There is another great shot of the protestors swimming. They are in a slide show here.

Sugar Factory

I was reading the news online the other day and found myself on a website that reminded me of the trip to NYC.
























We gave this place a pretty close look because the transplant wants to live there one day. I didn't realize at the time that the place had shut down so recently.

The article I was reading was about the recent changes to the bankruptcy laws, and it was describing the line of folks outside of the Alexander Hamilton Customs House in lower Manhattan with a link to pull up a site to view the building and its interesting statues.

Then I started looking around.

Here is the site.

Nose















Smell that?

m and e make love!

The last moments between Nguyen and his mother.

"Well I actually wasn't in the room when that happened but there was a grille and they were able to hold each other's hands and Kim was able to, at least for some time, I'm not sure how long, was able to touch Van on the face," he said.

THERE SEEMS TO BE A LOT OF THIS GOING AROUND . - bb

Look. You want evil? Groupthink is evil. Mediocrity is evil. Hopelessness is evil. Decision by committee is evil. Glittery kitten sweaters are evil. Loveless marriage is evil. McDonald's marketing is evil. Spiritual homogeny is evil. Family sitcoms. Microsoft Windows. Disney cruises. Food poisoning. Yeast infections. Cruelty.

As for the rest, these warmongers and power sluts, well, theirs is merely an evil bred of ignorance and gurgling ego and impotent weeping in the night. Theirs is an evil so lukewarm and spongy it makes you recoil and shudder as if you accidentally touched a raw calf's tongue at the Japanese market. Hell, I can find better, more gut-wrenching evil in the Wal-Mart music aisle under "Simpson, Ashlee." The others, they're just the same ol' boring noisemakers howling into the Void.

Langroise Trio
Geoff, Dave and Sam














Here is what we did on Friday night. These guys were spellbinding.

It was quite an evening. We almost began the concert three times, only to be inturrupted by another group of people coming into the room. We were sold out, and people just kept on coming. Twice, after starting the introducion, I had to carry in extra chairs and help people find all the empty seats in the room. At last, about 15 minutes after the scheduled start, we were ready. Geoff, Dave and Sam were great about the whole ordeal, and just started talking to the audience until everyone sort of settled down.

They played wonderfully, and the crowd rewarded them with warm applause. At the break Geoff said this is one of the most amazing places I have ever played. Sam asked if they could come back. By the middle of the intermission they had sold all the CDs they had brought along.

During the second half they were intrurrupted once by the train whistle just on the downbeat when they were about to start a piece, and again during the middle of a piece when the diswasher came in the backdoor and began to dig ice out of the machine in the back of the room. These guys just sort of ground to a halt and waited. As the diswasher left, with his two buckets full, the door was slammed shut, locked at his back, and after a thunderous applause, we were off to the races again.

I didn't think I would ever see a classical combo do an encore, but they were ready again.

It was a wonderful evening.

Invade, Conquer, Occupy.















It's Halloween. I had my camera out to catch some goblins, but they have come and gone, and I don't have a single image. The treats are all gone, and I'm hiding in the dark, in the basement, trying to wait them out.

This is the only picture I got.















I just looked at that first photo, and noticed the blue flare. I'll have to keep a sharp eye out for those.

Road Trip














Ely. My fall trip. Ten hours of driving for a four hour meeting.















Austin, Eureka, Ely; its like driving into the past. The places all look like they had their best days many years ago. It's interesting how much they all feel like towns I remember from childhood trips to the Applachian Mountains. Mining towns.















Lots of churches, but almost all of them seem deserted. This one is about half pink.

I went downtown last Friday night with my camera. Thought I might see what kind of images I could capture in the dark. What I found out was that people were very curious about what I was doing with a camera and tripod on the streets at 10:30 PM. A number of people went by, and most of them stopped to talk, and then asked me to take their picture.















These two guys were driving down the steet, saw me, then stopped, backed up and found a parking place. They got out of the car and posed for me in the glow of a neon light in the window of the Dubble SS Saloon.















The Shonehouse was my last shot. A cold autumn wind was whipping down the street and it was time to go home.

On Message

I knew that Lewis Latham was a liberal, but man, he is really getting mad now. Did you read the latest? Make the good ol' US of A the best damn fascist state the world has ever seen, since we are already well on our way.

I must admit, my knowledge extends about as far as the results witnessed in Germany, Italy and Spain, and I had little idea about the background ideology.

It will be interesting to see how this is received. The man's courage to speak his mind is something to behold.

For more background here is the 1995 Umberto Eco article Latham refers to.