Thursday, July 31, 2008

FRIDAY'S JOKES. A DAY EARLY TO GO WITH THE POST BELOW!









A writer died and was given the option of going to heaven or hell.

She decided to check out each place first. As the writer descended into the fiery pits, she saw row upon row of writers chained to their desks in a steaming sweatshop. As they worked, they were repeatedly whipped with thorny lashes.

"Oh my," said the writer. "Let me see heaven now."

A few moments later, as she ascended into heaven, she saw rows of writers, chained to their desks in a steaming sweatshop. As they worked, they, too, were whipped with thorny lashes.

"Wait a minute," said the writer. "This is just as bad as hell!"

"Oh no, it's not," replied an unseen voice. "Here, your work gets published."









There was once a young man who, in his youth, professed his desire to become a great writer.

When asked to define great, he said, "I want to write stuff that the whole world will read, stuff that people will react to on a truly emotional level, stuff that will make them scream, cry, howl in pain and anger!"

He now works for Microsoft writing error messages.

THE FUCKING FUNK DANCERS!








an update on my (ahem, ho, ho)book:

every damn page is shoved back onto my file drawer.
i'm just not emotionally up to looking at my stuff and trying to not only
put the poems into some sort of order but i might just scream and hide under the covers if i start thinking that they really SUCK! i know that some of them are good, some are o.k. but god, i have been in a fucking funk for months(ah, that just trips off the tongue doesn't it?)and i can not tell the difference!

ah well.
WHY? WHO? and i hope i never run into them!






Queen Victoria's Bloomers Sell for $9,0000

By EMILY RISTOW, APposted: 18 HOURS 18 MINUTES AGOcomments: 104PrintSharefiled under: World NewsText SizeAAALONDON (July 30


) - Her majesty would not be amused. A pair of Queen Victoria's bloomers, with a 50-inch waist, were snapped up for $9,000 by a Canadian buyer at a central England auction Wednesday.




Auctioneer Charles Hanson said Queen Victoria's underpants belonged to "a very big lady of quite small stature with a very wide girth." She was said to be 5 feet tall.
The handmade knickers -- which date back to the 1890s -- bear the monogram "VR" for Victoria Regina. They are open-crotch style, with separate legs joined by a drawstring at the waist, a popular style in the late Victorian era.
The royal drawers belonged to a family in western England whose ancestor was a lady-in-waiting for the queen.
"These pants, considering their provenance and pedigree, are very exciting," Hanson said. "They are monogrammed and crested and we know that they are hers."
Also up for auction was Queen Victoria's chemise, with a 66-inch bust, sold for $8,000. Her nightgown sold for $11,000.
Before the auction, Hanson valued the underwear at $1,000, while the chemise and nightgown were valued at $600 each.
Queen Victoria lived from 1819 to 1901. She became queen at age 18 and was the U.K.'s longest-reigning monarch. Her reign is noted for both imperial expansion and the decreasing political power of the monarch.
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one of my older poem-wordled!


unbidden,

yet


i am behind blind eyes
with visions
begged
clouding philosophies.

a memory sharp with the taste of
salt, soundless moans of pleasure
lest
the sound give form to me.









a cold ache deep in the
pit
of the stomach but hot
in the blood still.




(frankly i am dropping the last part of this poem. it doesn't need it)
it POURED yesterday. in about 15 minutes a town up the road from me got over 2 inches of rain.

we were real close to that mark! couldn't even see outside.
but then, the sun came out over the back of the house as it was still raining in the front street and a big bright fat rainbow appeared right in front of me.

too cool!

now, it is muggy and the air is hugging the ground holding in all the nasties.

it smells of deer pee and skunks in the distance.

phooey.

Tuesday, July 29, 2008




been trying to evict the freaking gremlins and get everything where i can find it and access it, including my video stuff.

i think i've got the camera thingy down pat now.

be kind, o.k?

blue gal says she looks like nigella lawson(and she does)

do i look like anyone?

other than an elf?




i don't think i look like anyone but me.





my computer is STILL infested, INFESTED i tells ya,by gremlins.

did anyone see the 'starlight' on the food network's diner show?

that's real close to me and has been there forever and the fish 'sammitch' is to die for if ya like fish. i haven't been there in ages but damn, they make their own perogis!

i think when the weather cools i'm going to be heading there!
tues. hot, humid on the way. right now, not too bad.
max and i have been outside 3 times already.

he's a good boy, very few accidents!

Monday, July 28, 2008

from the nyt:





As Senator John McCain waited to speak at the annual awards dinner of the International Republican Institute, a democracy-building group he has led for 15 years, lobbyists and business executives dominated the stage at a Washington hotel ballroom.




Election GuideMore Politics NewsFirst up that night in September 2006 was the institute’s vice chairman, Peter T. Madigan, a McCain campaign fund-raiser and lobbyist whose clients span the globe, from Dubai to Colombia. He thanked Timothy P. McKone, an AT&T lobbyist and McCain fund-raiser, for helping with the dinner arrangements and then introduced the chairman of AT&T, Edward E. Whitacre Jr., whose company had donated $200,000 for the event.

AT&T at the time was seeking political support for an $80 billion merger with BellSouth — another Madigan client — and Mr. Whitacre lavished praise on Mr. McCain, a senior member of the Senate Commerce Committee. When Mr. McCain finally took the podium, he expressed “profound thanks” to AT&T before presenting the institute’s Freedom Award to the president of Liberia, a lobbying client of Charlie Black, an institute donor and McCain campaign adviser.

The parade of lobbyists and fund-raisers at the dinner is emblematic of Mr. McCain’s tenure at the institute, one of a pair of nonprofit groups — taxpayer-financed and each allied with one of the two major political parties — that were created during the Reagan era to promote democracy in closed societies.

Over the years, Mr. McCain has nurtured a reputation for bucking the Republican establishment and criticizing the influence of special interests in politics. But an examination of his leadership of the Republican institute — one of the least-chronicled aspects of his political life — reveals an organization in many ways at odds with the political outsider image that has become a touchstone of the McCain campaign for president.

Certainly the institute’s mission is in keeping with Mr. McCain’s full-throated support for exporting American democratic values. Yet the institute is also something of a revolving door for lobbyists and out-of-power Republicans that offers big donors a way of helping both the party and the institute’s chairman, who is the only sitting member of Congress — and now candidate for president — ever to head one of the democracy groups.

Operating without the sort of limits placed on campaign fund-raising, the institute under Mr. McCain has solicited millions of dollars for its operations from some 560 defense contractors, lobbying firms, oil companies and other corporations, many with issues before Senate committees Mr. McCain was on.

Recently, he has drawn criticism for involving lobbyists in his presidential campaign; under Mr. McCain, 14 of them have served on the institute’s board, some representing governments or organizations in countries where the group was carrying out programs.

These are sensitive issues for Mr. McCain, who as a champion of campaign finance and lobbying reforms has made a point of eschewing unlimited “soft money” contributions to his political committees. During his Senate investigation of the lobbyist Jack Abramoff, Mr. McCain highlighted the risks of business interests’ use of donations to nonprofit organizations as another way to gain access to a member of Congress.

Beyond rubbing shoulders with contributors, Mr. McCain could use the chairman’s perch to score points with important Republican figures — he presented Freedom Awards to President Bush, former Secretary of State Colin L. Powell and, in 2003, the incoming Senate majority leader, Bill Frist. At least seven board members have been involved in his presidential campaign, along with the institute’s president, Lorne W. Craner, a former Senate aide whose father was in the same Hanoi prison as Mr. McCain.

Mr. McCain declined to be interviewed for this article. Brian Rogers, a campaign spokesman, said the senator “has never requested nor offered to take a position on legislation in exchange for, or because of, contributions to I.R.I.” He added that Mr. McCain was “proud of I.R.I.’s work in countries from Peru to Serbia to Mongolia.”

“In traveling overseas,” Mr. Rogers said, “Senator McCain has repeatedly been complimented on I.R.I.’s work by prime ministers and presidents, U.S. ambassadors and ordinary citizens. Many have told him that freedom in their country would not have been possible without I.R.I.’s work.”

The institute’s work in some of those countries resonates with important ethnic voting blocs at home.

When Mr. McCain’s Democratic rival for president, Senator Barack Obama, traveled to Miami in May to address Cuban-Americans, Republicans circulated a memorandum to reporters that quoted an anti-Castro group criticizing Mr. Obama’s willingness to talk to Cuba’s communist leaders. Not mentioned was that the group, the Cuban Democratic Directorate, was financed for years by the International Republican Institute — it got more than $8 million during Mr. McCain’s tenure. Though the directorate does not endorse candidates, its leaders are effusive in praising Mr. McCain.

“I want to stress that we are very thankful to Senator McCain for everything he has done through I.R.I. to support our cause,” said Janisset Rivero, joint national secretary of the directorate.

A Leadership Shift

Shaken by the loss of the White House in 1992, Republicans scrambled to reinvigorate their party by giving higher profiles to some of its promising prospects. Mr. McCain, just re-elected by a convincing margin, was given two new positions: head of fund-raising and recruiting for the Senate Republicans and chairman of the International Republican Institute.

Enlisting Mr. McCain, with his no-nonsense image, was a way to impose some much-needed discipline at the institute. Party leaders had been hearing disturbing tales of mismanagement and questionable expenditures, such as Concorde flights for staff members and bottles of wine with a private I.R.I. label.

Mr. McCain quickly put his stamp on the organization after taking over in January 1993. Within months, the board fired the institute’s president, Jack W. Buechner, a former Republican congressman from Missouri, and Mr. McCain announced plans to shift much of the institute’s focus from Latin America to the former Soviet bloc.

In an interview, Mr. Buechner characterized his dismissal as “less than gracious,” saying Mr. McCain did not call beforehand to discuss it. He attributed his ouster, in part, to a reluctance to give jobs and appointments to Republicans left adrift by the transition to a Democratic administration.

“The theory before I came aboard at the institute was you needed to reward the party faithful,” Mr. Buechner said. “The attitude was that I.R.I. was supposed to be a repository for unemployed Bushies.”

Mr. Buechner’s assertions reflected criticism that has dogged the institute and its Democratic counterpart since their creation. While Mr. McCain was an early supporter, other members of Congress believed the groups were essentially partisan pork barrels. Former Senator Hank Brown, a Colorado Republican who tried several times to kill federal financing for the institutes, still harbors doubts about them.

“I know John’s interest in it was very sincere, and he put a lot of time into promoting democracy himself,” Mr. Brown said. “But the reality is that politicians and well-heeled business leaders taking free trips abroad doesn’t bring democracy.”

An Expanding Role

Today, with a budget of about $78 million and 400 employees working in 70 countries, the Republican institute has grown in size and stature. Its recent work has included organizing debates for candidates in Iraq, conducting a rare public opinion poll in Cuba and training political parties in Belarus.

Yet while the institute says its activities are nonpartisan and peaceful, left-leaning groups have long accused it of improper meddling in pursuit of a neoconservative agenda. A former American ambassador to Haiti has asserted that institute operatives undermined reconciliation efforts among Haitian political rivals, contributing to a coup in 2004. Two years earlier, the institute was criticized after its president at the time, George A. Folsom, praised a coup attempt against Venezuela’s leftist president, Hugo Chávez.

Major staffing decisions and appointments are a board matter; as chairman, Mr. McCain has played a significant, often decisive, role. His early choices show an attempt to balance the demands of politics, professionalism and personal loyalty. Bucking party officials, Mr. McCain successfully pushed for R. Bruce McColm, a human rights expert who was not an active Republican, to replace Mr. Buechner. John Dowd, the senator’s personal lawyer in the Keating Five scandal during the savings-and-loan crisis, became the institute’s general counsel, and Mr. Craner became vice president.

In his autobiography, Mr. McCain wrote of his deep debt to Mr. Craner’s father, Lt. Col. Robert R. Craner, for his help in surviving imprisonment in North Vietnam, and when he was elected to the Senate in 1986, Mr. McCain hired the younger Mr. Craner as his legislative assistant. Before joining the institute, Mr. Craner also worked at the State Department and the National Security Council.

While Mr. McColm’s arrival seemed a departure from past partisan practices, he was gone within two years. (He did not respond to messages seeking comment for this article.) Former institute directors said Mr. McCain simply sent them a fax asking for approval to elevate Mr. Craner to the top job, which he has held since, except for three years at the Bush State Department.

Mr. McCain was also becoming increasingly involved in the institute’s finances. Arguing that the organization should wean itself from taxpayer dollars — its prime source of financing — he set about greatly expanding fund-raising from the private sector. That initiative was in line with the institute’s goal of bringing the business community into efforts to spread democracy — and an environment conducive to capitalism — around the world.

Typical of his efforts was a May 1995 letter to an executive at Philip Morris asking for help in underwriting the institute’s Freedom Awards. The company agreed to give $25,000.

Reaping New Ties

By the time Mr. McCain began his unsuccessful run for president in 2000, his time spent tending to the institute was yielding political dividends.

Jeane J. Kirkpatrick, the former ambassador to the United Nations and an institute board member, endorsed him, saying that working “under his leadership in the I.R.I.” had convinced her of his foreign policy credentials. A number of major institute donors were also campaign contributors, and some institute directors volunteered as fund-raisers.

That synergy reflects the ways in which the boundaries between the institute and Mr. McCain’s political activities and foreign policies have blurred over the years. If anything, the overlaps seem more pronounced in his latest quest for the presidency, and they involve institute board members associated with his campaign and donors with interests before the Senate. Mr. Madigan, the institute’s vice chairman and a McCain fund-raiser, represented the government of El Salvador in 2004, when the institute was monitoring presidential elections there. Mr. Madigan’s firm has represented six foreign governments and sometimes lobbied Mr. McCain’s Senate office.

Among those clients is the government of Colombia, which has paid the firm at least $590,000 over the last 18 months. One issue Mr. Madigan has been pushing on behalf of the Colombians is a pending free trade agreement with the United States. Several weeks ago, Mr. McCain traveled to Colombia and, in keeping with his views on trade, spoke about the need for the accord.

Another board member is the McCain campaign’s chief foreign policy adviser, Randy Scheunemann. Until March, he was registered as a lobbyist for several foreign governments, and he represented the government of Georgia last January when the institute sent election monitors there. Since joining the institute in 2004, Mr. Scheunemann has spoken with Mr. McCain or his Senate aides at least 42 times on behalf of his foreign lobbying clients, Justice Department records show.

Mr. Madigan did not respond to messages seeking comment. Mr. Scheunemann’s lobbying business, Orion Strategies, referred questions to the McCain campaign, which declined to make Mr. Scheunemann available.

In its responses to written questions, the campaign said that the presence of lobbyists on the institute’s board did not pose a conflict, and that Mr. Madigan and Mr. Scheunemann “recused themselves from I.R.I. decisions regarding the countries they represented.” The campaign also said donations to the institute had never been linked to Mr. McCain’s Senate activities.

But at least one donor apparently saw it differently — Philip Morris stopped giving to the institute after Mr. McCain began urging stronger tobacco regulation — and many had an interest in issues before Congress. For example, CTIA — the Wireless Association, a national lobbying group representing the cellphone industry, has been a consistent donor to the institute and often had an interest in legislation Mr. McCain sponsored or shaped.

In 2003, when Mr. McCain’s Commerce Committee was considering legislation to regulate e-mail spam, wireless companies were worried that it could cause problems if applied to spam text messages received on cellphones. CTIA sent an update to its members noting that Mr. McCain had “raised the wireless-specific issues and pledged to work to resolve them,” and he eventually co-sponsored an amendment instructing regulators to study how best to apply the new rules to cellular devices.

By the time AT&T financed the 2006 institute awards dinner, Mr. McCain was no longer the committee’s chairman, but the firm’s merger with BellSouth, pending before the Federal Communications Commission, was of major interest in Congress, which has significant sway over the F.C.C. Mr. McCain rarely opposed telecommunications mergers, but he had raised questions about a previous AT&T merger, with MediaOne, during the 2000 presidential campaign and pledged to hold hearings on telecom industry consolidation. In 2006, however, Mr. McCain remained silent on the AT&T-BellSouth deal, which was eventually approved by the F.C.C.

Mr. Rogers, the campaign spokesman, said that Mr. McCain’s silence was in keeping with his practice of not commenting on mergers, and that his remarks about the earlier AT&T proposal were intended as a broad criticism of telecom legislation and not that merger. On the subject of CTIA, as Mr. Rogers pointed out, the group has opposed Mr. McCain on some legislation, and the senator’s amendment to the spam bill reflected a compromise after he had objected to a more sweeping exemption sought by CTIA.

“Any suggestion that CTIA’s donations to I.R.I. were somehow offered (and accepted) in exchange for Senator McCain’s work on the Senate Commerce Committee is categorically false and baseless,” Mr. Rogers said.




(geez what a guy!!! real maverick, ha!)







found this site via pittgirl.

it's called wordle and this is what it made of my blog!
The Great Figure

William Carlos Williams


Among the rain
and lights
I saw the figure 5
in gold
on a red
firetruck
moving
tense
unheeded
to gong clangs
siren howls
and wheels rumbling
through the dark city.
last night was one of those bizarre nights.

we were sitting around pud'n boy's pool and having some snacks and some drinks
listening to the oldies on the radio and cheering on my buddy rich, gl's dad, as he had to drink the gallon of ' swamp water' that you have to drink the night before a colonoscopy.
yep, bizarre.

that stuff is just gawdawful and comes in what looks like a handled square jug of antifreeze!!!!

rich got it down and was really trooper about the whole ordeal.
bless him.

Sunday, July 27, 2008

went to a reunion yesterday. then home and i finally got to see 'bukowski, born into this' painful and great. i love bukowski but if he had been my neighbor or, fates forbid, a lover, i think i might have gone mad or killed him with a frying pan to his head!

what a magnificent poet and what a tormented soul.

Friday, July 25, 2008

always loved this:







You signed a petition to FOX. They received the message







Dear MoveOn member,
Big news! Your petition signature telling FOX to stop their racist smears against the Obamas had a really exciting day on Wednesday. Here's what happened:


1:00 p.m. Your signature was printed off at a New York City Kinko's along with 620,126 others—filling 19 big boxes.
2:00 p.m. The signatures were piled in front of FOX's national headquarters at 6th Avenue and 48th Street.

3:15 p.m. Hip hop star Nas (whose new album had just risen to #1 on the Billboard charts hours earlier) joined over 100 activists and delivered the petitions to FOX on behalf of ColorOfChange, MoveOn, and Brave New Films.

3:30 p.m. FOX refused to accept the petitions. (Sometimes, the truth hurts.)

4:00 p.m.—9:00 p.m. News of FOX's racism and the star-studded petition delivery made its way around the world—with stories in Rolling Stone, Billboard, USA Today, Associated Press, Reuters, India Express, Huffington Post, MTV, OpenLeft, and over 200 other places.

11:30 p.m. Stephen Colbert welcomed Nas as his guest on the Colbert Report and dedicated over half of his show to FOX's racism. The boxes containing our signatures were stacked prominently on Colbert's set in place of his normal interview table and chairs—and he conducted the entire interview surrounded by petitions! Then, Nas performed his new song "Sly Fox," which is all about FOX's racism.

12:00 a.m. Several MoveOn staffers, jaws dropped open, got on the phone and engaged in several rounds of, "Wow!" :)

Since then, the news has kept spreading around the world. You sent a message to FOX, and that message was very much received!


And the fight's not over. Together, we've denied FOX the legitimacy that would come by hosting Democratic presidential debates, and we got a company to stop advertising on Bill O'Reilly. This week's delivery made an impact, and we'll continue to push back together against FOX's racism and their smears against Obama.


But for now, enjoy the video of Wednesday's petition delivery—led by our friends at ColorOfChange—and the video of Colbert. Both videos are at this link:

http://www.moveon.org/r?r=3980&id=13330-1209316-F9qAKNx&t=4


Thanks for all you do.

–Adam G., Laura, Ilyse, Justin, and the rest of the team

P.S. You can listen to Nas's new single "Sly Fox" on the Colbert video at the link above. If you like it and want to buy the full album, it's available here:
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=3979&id=13330-1209316-F9qAKNx&t=6

Want to support our work? We're entirely funded by our 3.2 million members—no corporate contributions, no big checks from CEOs. And our tiny staff ensures that small contributions go a long way.

Man Behind 'Last Lecture' Sensation Dies

By RAMIT PLUSHNICK- SizeAAAPITTSBURGH (July 25) --


Randy Pausch, a Carnegie Mellon University computer scientist whose "last lecture" about facing terminal cancer became an Internet sensation and a best-selling book, has died. He was 47.
Pausch died early Friday at his home in Virginia, university spokeswoman Anne Watzman said. Pausch and his family moved there last fall to be closer to his wife's relatives.
A Dying Man's Celebration of LifePam Panchak, Post-Gazette Randy Pausch, who had terminal pancreatic cancer, delivers his now-famous "last lecture" Sept. 18 at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pa. His talk on his inspirational approach to life swept the Internet and has been viewed by millions of people. Pausch succumbed to his cancer Friday. He was47




Pausch was diagnosed with incurable pancreatic cancer in September 2006. His popular last lecture at Carnegie Mellon in September 2007 garnered international attention and was viewed by millions on the Internet.
In it, Pausch celebrated living the life he had always dreamed of instead of concentrating on impending death.
"The lecture was for my kids, but if others are finding value in it, that is wonderful," Pausch wrote on his Web site. "But rest assured; I'm hardly unique."
The book "The Last Lecture," written with Jeffrey Zaslow, leaped to the top of the nonfiction best-seller lists after its publication in April and remains there this week. Pausch said he dictated the book to Zaslow, a Wall Street Journal writer, by cell phone. The book deal was reported to be worth more than $6 million.
At Carnegie Mellon, he was a professor of computer science, human-computer interaction and design, and was recognized as a pioneer of virtual reality research. On campus, he became known for his flamboyance and showmanship as a teacher and mentor.
The speech last fall was part of a series Carnegie Mellon called "The Last Lecture," where professors were asked to think about what matters to them most and give a hypothetical final talk. The name of the lecture series was changed to "Journeys" before Pausch spoke, something he joked about in his lecture.

"I thought, damn, I finally nailed the venue and they renamed it," he said.
He told the packed auditorium he fulfilled almost all his childhood dreams — being in zero gravity, writing an article in the World Book Encyclopedia and working with the Walt Disney Co.
The one that eluded him? Playing in the National Football League.
"If I don't seem as depressed or morose as I should be, sorry to disappoint you," Pausch said.
He then joked about his quirky hobby of winning stuffed animals at amusement parks — another of his childhood dreams — and how his mother introduced him to people to keep him humble: "This is my son, he's a doctor, but not the kind that helps people."
Pausch said he was embarrassed and flattered by the popularity of his message. Millions viewed the complete or abridged version of the lecture, titled "Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams," online.
Pausch lobbied Congress for more federal funding for pancreatic cancer research and appeared on "Oprah" and other TV shows. In what he called "a truly magical experience," he was even invited to appear as an extra in the new "Star Trek" movie.
He had one line of dialogue, got to keep his costume and donated his $217.06 paycheck to charity.
Pausch blogged regularly about his medical treatment. On Feb. 15, exactly six months after he was told he had three to six months of healthy living left, Pausch posted a photo of himself to show he was "still alive & healthy."
"I rode my bike today; the cumulative effects of the chemotherapy are hurting my stamina some, but I bet I can still run a quarter mile faster than most Americans," he wrote.
Pausch gave one more lecture after his Carnegie Mellon appearance — in November at the University of Virginia, where he had taught from 1988 to 1997.
Pausch often emphasized the need to have fun.
"I mean I don't know how to not have fun. I'm dying and I'm having fun. And I'm going to keep having fun every day I have left. Because there's no other way to play it," he said in his Carnegie Mellon lecture. "You just have to decide if you're a Tigger or an Eeyore. I think I'm clear where I stand on the great Tigger/Eeyore debate. Never lose the childlike wonder. It's just too important. It's what drives us."
Born in 1960, Pausch received his bachelor's degree in computer science from Brown University and his Ph.D. from Carnegie Mellon.
He co-founded Carnegie Mellon's Entertainment Technology Center, a master's program for bringing artists and engineers together. The university named a footbridge in his honor. He also created an animation-based teaching program for high school and college students to have fun while learning computer programming.
In February, the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences in California announced the creation of the Dr. Randy Pausch Scholarship Fund for university students who pursue careers in game design, development and production.
He and his wife, Jai, had three children, Dylan, Logan and Chloe.








( he was a TRUE hero!)
A Woman Waits for Me.

by Walt Whitman



A WOMAN waits for me—she contains all, nothing is lacking,
Yet all were lacking, if sex were lacking, or if the moisture of the right man were
lacking.

Sex contains all,
Bodies, Souls, meanings, proofs, purities, delicacies, results, promulgations,
Songs, commands, health, pride, the maternal mystery, the seminal milk;
All hopes, benefactions, bestowals,
All the passions, loves, beauties, delights of the earth,
All the governments, judges, gods, follow’d persons of the earth,
These are contain’d in sex, as parts of itself, and justifications of itself.

Without shame the man I like knows and avows the deliciousness of his sex,
Without shame the woman I like knows and avows hers.

Now I will dismiss myself from impassive women,
I will go stay with her who waits for me, and with those women that are warm-blooded and
sufficient for me;
I see that they understand me, and do not deny me;
I see that they are worthy of me—I will be the robust husband of those women.

They are not one jot less than I am,
They are tann’d in the face by shining suns and blowing winds,
Their flesh has the old divine suppleness and strength,
They know how to swim, row, ride, wrestle, shoot, run, strike, retreat, advance, resist,
defend themselves,
They are ultimate in their own right—they are calm, clear, well-possess’d of
themselves.

I draw you close to me, you women!
I cannot let you go, I would do you good,
I am for you, and you are for me, not only for our own sake, but for others’ sakes;
Envelop’d in you sleep greater heroes and bards,
They refuse to awake at the touch of any man but me.

It is I, you women—I make my way,
I am stern, acrid, large, undissuadable—but I love you,
I do not hurt you any more than is necessary for you,
I pour the stuff to start sons and daughters fit for These States—I press with slow
rude muscle,
I brace myself effectually—I listen to no entreaties,
I dare not withdraw till I deposit what has so long accumulated within me.

Through you I drain the pent-up rivers of myself,
In you I wrap a thousand onward years,
On you I graft the grafts of the best-beloved of me and America,
The drops I distil upon you shall grow fierce and athletic girls, new artists, musicians,
and singers,
The babes I beget upon you are to beget babes in their turn,
I shall demand perfect men and women out of my love-spendings,
I shall expect them to interpenetrate with others, as I and you interpenetrate now,
I shall count on the fruits of the gushing showers of them, as I count on the fruits of
the gushing showers I give now,
I shall look for loving crops from the birth, life, death, immortality, I plant so
lovingly now.

beautiful day. just beautiful!
my little sweetie was here last night so today's joke is from her:

knock knock

who's there?

orange!!!!


orange who?

ORANGE YOU GLAD TO SEE ME!!!!!!


(loads of self satisfied giggles and a hug followed)

Thursday, July 24, 2008

just indulging in a little nostalgia:
pagan baby, for all the little "pagan babies!"








Pagan Baby, won't you walk with me? (ccr lyrics, love em)
Pagan Baby, Come on home with me.
Pagan baby, Take me for a ride.
Roll me, baby, Roll your big, brown eyes.

Yeah! Ooh! Ooh!

Pagan Baby, Let me make your name.
Drive it, baby, Drive your big love game.
Pagan baby, What you got, I need.
Don't be savin', Spread your love on me.

Aah! Mm-mm-mm!

Pagan Baby, Now won't you rock with me?
Pagan baby, Lay your love on me.

Yeah, yeah!
Aah! Hey, hey!

Aah! Hey! Yeah!
Hey! Hey! Haaaaaaay!
got this over at 'crooks and liars' a really good blog:








Time to start rationing veterans’ healthcare?
By: Steve Benen on Thursday, July 24th, 2008 at 5:30 AM - PDT It seems hard to imagine a presidential candidate, running in the midst of two wars, openly speculate about cutting back on veterans’ healthcare. And yet, here we are.

Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain appeared Tuesday to suggest rationing of veterans’ health care may be needed so combat veterans can receive the care they deserve.

At a town hall meeting in Dover, N.H., McCain talked about the need to “concentrate” veterans’ health care on people with injuries that “are a direct result of combat.”

“Right now, there are people who drive a long way and they stand in line to stand in line to get an appointment to get an appointment,” McCain said.

McCain’s campaign press office did not return a telephone call asking for clarification of the remarks.

Well, that’s not good at all.

The Washington Monthly ran a terrific cover story a couple of years ago, heralding the success of the VA system, and the quality of the medical care veterans receive. McCain may hold some kind of ideological grudge against the VA system — it is, after all, a form of socialized medicine — but even raising the prospect of rationing veterans’ health care seems like a remarkably bad idea. It’s not good policy, and it’s certainly not good politics.

Time’s Ana Marie Cox noted, “A year ago, it would have been difficult to believe that Obama could legitimately make McCain look bad on veterans’ issues. Then again, he’s had some help [from McCain].”

I think that probably sounds more draconian than it actually is; both campaigns acknowledge that there are massive problems with VA and in veterans’ care. And, having heard McCain speak passionately about the need to increase coverage for veterans’ mental health, it’s strange to hear him use the “direct result of combat” formulation. There are, unfortunately, a thousand different ways a soldier could come out of the military with PTSD; which ones would get priority under McCain’s formulation? Does having been shot at make you and more or less worth treating than, I don’t know, having been sexually traumatized?

What’s more, it offers us an opportunity to consider McCain’s record of veterans’ issues in a broader context.

[McCain] received a grade of D from the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America and a 20 percent vote rating from the Disabled Veterans of America; Vietnam Veterans of America noted McCain had “voted against us” in 15 “key votes.”

As for the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars — with whom McCain claims to have a “perfect voting record” — both groups vigorously supported Sen. Jim Webb’s (D-VA) GI Bill that McCain tirelessly opposed.

And Phillip Carter, Barack Obama’s National Veteran Vote Director (and himself an Army veteran of the war in Iraq), explained why McCain’s suggestion is a mistake:

“While we respect John McCain for his service to our country, we disagree with him strongly on how our nation should care for its veterans. Limiting VA Care to veterans who have ‘injuries that are a direct result of combat’ is a dramatic shift in policy with potentially devastating effects on millions of veterans who currently depend on the VA. The VA does not distinguish between combat-related conditions and conditions caused by non-combat service. There is no difference between an injury caused on a battlefield and one caused on the deck of an aircraft carrier or in training. The VA should not start to ration care with this criterion. Barack Obama wants to honor the sacred trust we have with all our nation’s veterans and not ration care. When troops serve, they are not divided by priority groups. Yet, today the VA is picking and choosing which veterans to serve. Barack Obama is committed to ending the unfair ban on healthcare enrollment of ‘Priority 8′ veterans who often earn only modest incomes. As president, one of Barack Obama’s first acts will be signing an executive order reversing this ban.”


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
about the cartoon below,
on a serious note-

if anyone tells you that you should take a drug named

REGLAN, get a 2nd and 3rd opinion before you do.


just my little 2 cents worth.









NEW CARTOON: "Squirrel Songs VI"
Pilz-E sings of all things medicated in a new Squirrel Songs episode!
www.illwillpress.com
_______________________________



some days he looks a lot like me, or i look a lot like him some days

weird weather, but welcomed.
58 degrees and a breeze that smells like fall.

low humidity finally.

every little critter here has been fed, watered and walked a few times
(that would be max)

not too much to do today and eric is going to try and stop up to see why aol is beset by gremlins again.

i've been jotting down some poem ideas in a notebook, nothing that really grabs me yet.

Wednesday, July 23, 2008






max trying to look innocent after dragging my blouse thru the house with me chasing him!
crows are back for their bedtime snack.

they are out of luck. i'm out of triscuts.

wonder if they'd settle for a few stale girl scout cookies?
Passion

by Charlotte Bronte


SOME have won a wild delight,
By daring wilder sorrow;
Could I gain thy love to-night,
I'd hazard death to-morrow.

Could the battle-struggle earn
One kind glance from thine eye,
How this withering heart would burn,
The heady fight to try !

Welcome nights of broken sleep,
And days of carnage cold,
Could I deem that thou wouldst weep
To hear my perils told.

Tell me, if with wandering bands
I roam full far away,
Wilt thou, to those distant lands,
In spirit ever stray ?

Wild, long, a trumpet sounds afar;
Bid me?bid me go
Where Seik and Briton meet in war,
On Indian Sutlej's flow.

Blood has dyed the Sutlej's waves
With scarlet stain, I know;
Indus' borders yawn with graves,
Yet, command me go !

Though rank and high the holocaust
Of nations, steams to heaven,
Glad I'd join the death-doomed host,
Were but the mandate given.

Passion's strength should nerve my arm,
Its ardour stir my life,
Till human force to that dread charm
Should yield and sink in wild alarm,
Like trees to tempest-strife.

If, hot from war, I seek thy love,
Darest thou turn aside ?
Darest thou, then, my fire reprove,
By scorn, and maddening pride ?

No?my will shall yet control
Thy will, so high and free,
And love shall tame that haughty soul?
Yes?tenderest love for me.

I'll read my triumph in thine eyes,
Behold, and prove the change;
Then leave, perchance, my noble prize,
Once more in arms to range.

I'd die when all the foam is up,
The bright wine sparkling high;
Nor wait till in the exhausted cup
Life's dull dregs only lie.

Then Love thus crowned with sweet reward,
Hope blest with fulness large,
I'd mount the saddle, draw the sword,
And perish in the charge!







and it's all good

enjoy the music.
i feel like some risque blues. how about you?

whoopee, now, mail and no book marked places again!




not panicked, just pissed!
my herd o crows are outside my window. they know i'm up and are demanding a handout(or their rightful due as they see it!)

Tuesday, July 22, 2008


aol is a big damn tease!

i finally had access to my bookmarked places this afternoon.
i had a grand time checking in on blogs and sites that i wasn't sure of the names of to use google.

now, NOW now access and no access to my mail.

freaking aol!

got a shower, much better now!!!
ah, water!

and max has had his bath.

now i need one!
someone's laughing at me!!!

no water and max decided to roll in what must be deer pee just a bit ago!
freaking water authority! freaking water main breaks!!

aaarrrrgggghhhhhhhhhhh!
got this in my e-mail from 'fine living' just now:












Caf'Cino Freeze

By Stephen Phillips


If your significant other loves morning coffee, you'll be making these for him or her morning, noon and night!

Ingredients:


1 cup brewed coffee
1 cup of milk
1/3 cup sugar
1-1/2 cup vanilla ice cream
2 cups crushed ice
Whipped cream
Chocolate shavings
2 soft ladyfingers or butter cookies
Preparation:


Add the coffee, milk, sugar and slightly softened ice cream in a blender.

Add ice and blend until smooth.

Pour into large cocktail glass or Irish-style coffee mug.

Top off with whipped cream and sprinkle with chocolate shavings.

Serve along with ladyfinger or butter cookies.





looks tasty huh??

poor joe, he was there so i did get my haircut but it is his birthday today and he had to work even tho he was scheduled for his vacation to start.

i am happy and joe is a trooper. he was his usual kind self.

happy 35th joe!


eat 2 pieces of cake!!!!
rainy morning.

i got myself a new bukowski book in the mail yesterday.
'the pleasures of the damned'. i have more than a few of
his books of poems. i have been drawn to his writings for years now.
there is something in them that just feels right.

going to try to make it for a haircut today. not sure if joe will be there or not.
he said he was taking a vacation but i've forgotten the dates.

max has been up for almost 2 hours and has been out 3 times and has had his breakfast(i haven't) bob and layla are just hanging out.

Monday, July 21, 2008








god only knows! HA!
banned boop!





looks like a friday at the owls!





been thinking in poems today.
not of poems but in them.

i can tell when i begin because i tend to
write e-mails as if i were drafting a poem.

then i start to remember people and places and events of my life as poems.
odd that.
it makes things a bit less real in ways,
more real in others.

i see things in words.

some good news for the american way of life:







Forward this e-mail | Subscribe to People For's Action Alerts
PEOPLE FOR THE AMERICAN WAY July 21, 2008











Dear sherry,



We won! And I can't thank you enough!



You and 14,000 other people signed People For the American Way Foundation's petition to California State University after they fired me because I wouldn't sign a state-mandated "loyalty oath" without being able to attach an explanatory statement -- a statement I felt was necessary to protect my beliefs as a Quaker and a pacifist.



But with your help -- and People For Foundation's lawyers behind me -- we won!



I've got my job back, and Cal State has agreed to let me attach a statement to the oath explaining my religious and free speech concerns, enabling me to sign the oath in good conscience. And I'm confident, and most proud, that others in the future will be able to do the same.



So thank you again for exercising your first amendment right to free speech and religious liberty in support of mine.



If you'd like to join me in celebrating this victory, please show your support by donating to People For the American Way. I know they'd be grateful for your generosity.



Without the important work of People For the American Way and its Foundation, citizens like you and I would not be able to successfully stand up for our rights. They have the know-how and grassroots strength needed to make sure we are taken seriously, so that our freedoms and liberties are not compromised.



I'm proud to support them and I know you are too.



With deepest gratitude,



Wendy Gonaver

tired, hot, humid, another storm coming later.
had a wind gust yesterday clocked at 71 mph! it nearly blew my poor mom over in the parking lot.

not much energy to do much, even think!

(yeah, i know!) ; )
FOG!

seeps thru then
creeps thru
the bone china beneath


ME

Sunday, July 20, 2008









We Ain't Got No Money, Honey, But We Got Rain

by Charles Bukowski



call it the greenhouse effect or whatever
but it just doesn't rain like it used to.
I particularly remember the rains of the
depression era.
there wasn't any money but there was
plenty of rain.
it wouldn't rain for just a night or
a day,
it would RAIN for 7 days and 7
nights
and in Los Angeles the storm drains
weren't built to carry off taht much
water
and the rain came down THICK and
MEAN and
STEADY
and you HEARD it banging against
the roofs and into the ground
waterfalls of it came down
from roofs
and there was HAIL
big ROCKS OF ICE
bombing
exploding smashing into things
and the rain
just wouldn't
STOP
and all the roofs leaked-
dishpans,
cooking pots
were placed all about;
they dripped loudly
and had to be emptied
again and
again.
the rain came up over the street curbings,
across the lawns, climbed up the steps and
entered the houses.
there were mops and bathroom towels,
and the rain often came up through the
toilets:bubbling, brown, crazy,whirling,
and all the old cars stood in the streets,
cars that had problems starting on a
sunny day,
and the jobless men stood
looking out the windows
at the old machines dying
like living things out there.
the jobless men,
failures in a failing time
were imprisoned in their houses with their
wives and children
and their
pets.
the pets refused to go out
and left their waste in
strange places.
the jobless men went mad
confined with
their once beautiful wives.
there were terrible arguments
as notices of foreclosure
fell into the mailbox.
rain and hail, cans of beans,
bread without butter;fried
eggs, boiled eggs, poached
eggs; peanut butter
sandwiches, and an invisible
chicken in every pot.
my father, never a good man
at best, beat my mother
when it rained
as I threw myself
between them,
the legs, the knees, the
screams
until they
seperated.
"I'll kill you," I screamed
at him. "You hit her again
and I'll kill you!"
"Get that son-of-a-bitching
kid out of here!"
"no, Henry, you stay with
your mother!"
all the households were under
seige but I believe that ours
held more terror than the
average.
and at night
as we attempted to sleep
the rains still came down
and it was in bed
in the dark
watching the moon against
the scarred window
so bravely
holding out
most of the rain,
I thought of Noah and the
Ark
and I thought, it has come
again.
we all thought
that.
and then, at once, it would
stop.
and it always seemed to
stop
around 5 or 6 a.m.,
peaceful then,
but not an exact silence
because things continued to
drip
drip
drip


and there was no smog then
and by 8 a.m.
there was a
blazing yellow sunlight,
Van Gogh yellow-
crazy, blinding!
and then
the roof drains
relieved of the rush of
water
began to expand in the warmth:
PANG!PANG!PANG!
and everybody got up and looked outside
and there were all the lawns
still soaked
greener than green will ever
be
and there were birds
on the lawn
CHIRPING like mad,
they hadn't eaten decently
for 7 days and 7 nights
and they were weary of
berries
and
they waited as the worms
rose to the top,
half drowned worms.
the birds plucked them
up
and gobbled them
down;there were
blackbirds and sparrows.
the blackbirds tried to
drive the sparrows off
but the sparrows,
maddened with hunger,
smaller and quicker,
got their
due.
the men stood on their porches
smoking cigarettes,
now knowing
they'd have to go out
there
to look for that job
that probably wasn't
there, to start that car
that probably wouldn't
start.
and the once beautiful
wives
stood in their bathrooms
combing their hair,
applying makeup,
trying to put their world back
together again,
trying to forget that
awful sadness that
gripped them,
wondering what they could
fix for
breakfast.
and on the radio
we were told that
school was now
open.
and
soon
there I was
on the way to school,
massive puddles in the
street,
the sun like a new
world,
my parents back in that
house,
I arrived at my classroom
on time.
Mrs. Sorenson greeted us
with, "we won't have our
usual recess, the grounds
are too wet."
"AW!" most of the boys
went.
"but we are going to do
something special at
recess," she went on,
"and it will be
fun!"
well, we all wondered
what that would
be
and the two hour wait
seemed a long time
as Mrs.Sorenson
went about
teaching her
lessons.
I looked at the little
girls, they looked so
pretty and clean and
alert,
they sat still and
straight
and their hair was
beautiful
in the California
sunshine.
the the recess bells rang
and we all waited for the
fun.
then Mrs. Sorenson told us:
"now, what we are going to
do is we are going to tell
each other what we did
during the rainstorm!
we'll begin in the front row
and go right around!
now, Michael, you're first!. . ."
well, we all began to tell
our stories, Michael began
and it went on and on,
and soon we realized that
we were all lying, not
exactly lying but mostly
lying and some of the boys
began to snicker and some
of the girls began to give
them dirty looks and
Mrs.Sorenson said,
"all right! I demand a
modicum of silence
here!
I am interested in what
you did
during the rainstorm
even if you
aren't!"
so we had to tell our
stories and they were
stories.
one girl said that
when the rainbow first
came
she saw God's face
at the end of it.
only she didn't say which end.
one boy said he stuck
his fishing pole
out the window
and caught a little
fish
and fed it to his
cat.
almost everybody told
a lie.
the truth was just
too awful and
embarassing to tell.
then the bell rang
and recess was
over.
"thank you," said Mrs.
Sorenson, "that was very
nice.
and tomorrow the grounds
will be dry
and we will put them
to use
again."
most of the boys
cheered
and the little girls
sat very straight and
still,
looking so pretty and
clean and
alert,
their hair beautiful in a sunshine that
the world might never see
again.
and

MAX SEZ:


"too freaking hot!"
brought my mom some shrimp and my daughter and son-in-law and my little sweetie then took her to lunch. not sure where she wanted to go. they were still trying to decide when i left.
HEY, HOWS BOUT THIS?


got this via spork in the drawer (who almost always finds things way before i do )











Netroots Nation is Coming East
by BooMan
Sat Jul 19th, 2008 at 09:22:52 PM EST

Next year's Netroots Nation will be held on the East Coast (sort of) for the first time ever.

Netroots Nation organizers announced today that the fourth annual gathering of the online progressive community will be held August 13–16, 2009, at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh, PA. Convention organizers say Netroots Nation provides a unique opportunity to help build online and offline infrastructure in the host region, as well as in surrounding states like Ohio, Kentucky, West Virginia, Michigan and New York.
Hey, I wanted it to be in Philadelphia but at least they got the state right. And they have a very good reason for choosing the Steel City.


Pittsburgh is a leader in green building, touting the first and largest LEED certified convention center in the country.
As part of newly announced effort to make Netroots Nation the most environmentally-sustainable bloggers gathering ever, organizers say they plan to introduce a carbon offset program in 2009. The city’s accessibility to rail travel will also cut down on the overall carbon footprint.

In keeping with the leadership that Al Gore displayed today, the progressive movement is making sure to highlight the environmentally-friendly aspects of Pittsburgh's convention center.

Austin has been great, but it's too damn hot. Hopefully we'll be cooler in Pittsburgh.




( i wanna go!!!!)
sunday morning.

went to a graduation party yesterday afternoon and to pudd'n's and gl's last night.

i had too much weekend!!! oh my!

going to see my mom later today. much quieter, i'm sure.

Saturday, July 19, 2008

haapy 90th and happy retirement!!!!!














Porky Chedwick - The Daddio of the Raddio( from google search)

"Any entertainer of my era who say they don’t know who Porky Chedwick is ... they’re damn lyin’! That’s the cat that played the records. I know." - Bo Diddley

"Porky Chedwick?! Now you’re taking me back!" - Dick Clark

"Porky Chedwick is a legend!" - Charlie Thomas, The Drifters

Back in the late 1940s and early 1950s, a relatively unknown DJ was making quite a splash here in Pittsburgh. His selection of vinyl was heavily laden with the "Doo Wop" sound, something that caused many parents to raise their eyebrows. Here was a white man presenting a program of "negro" music; blues, R&B, gospel and jazz. This was music that many back in those times considered "race" music. Some parents went as far as to label this controversial DJ a satanic influence on their children.

But, in a time when Frank Sinatra and the big bands were king, Craig "Porky" Chedwick broke all the rules, and the young listeners that flocked to this new sound knew that they were part of something fresh and exciting. "Pork the Tork", the "Daddio of the Raddio," your "Platter Pushin' Papa," the "Boss Hoss with the Hot Sauce" had opened the door to the new genre of Doo-Wop, and the airwaves have never been quite the same since.



Porky Chedwick, now in his eighties, makes his home right here in Brookline. He is a frequent guest at many of the social events here in the neighborhood. You can generally find the "Boss Hoss" hanging out with his good friend Charlie McLaughlin, and if you're lucky you can spend a moment or two chatting with a radio legend whose achievements have been duly honored with a prestigious spot in the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame.

At 87 years of age, Porky is still doing what he loves the most, spinning tunes on Sunday evenings for WLSW in Scottdale, Pennsylvania. Like many old sounds, the Doo-Wop beat has made a big comeback on the oldies circuits. The old artists and fans can still listen to their favorite tunes courtesy of a man often refered to as "Radio's Ignored Pioneer", Brookline's own Craig "Porky" Chedwick.

Porky Chedwick was born in Homestead back in 1917. His career in radio began in 1948 with a stint on WHOD, a tiny station located behind a Homestead candy store. The station was subsequently renamed WAMO. Porky began playing blues and R&B records, albums by musicians like Bo Diddley and bands like Little Anthony and the Imperials. White teenagers devoured this music, establishing a trend that has continued ever since.



And, to his infinite credit, Chedwick refused to play covers of these songs played by white musicians. As the "Boss Hoss" told the Tribune-Review in 1998, "I wouldn’t even play Elvis Presley’s version of ‘Hound Dog.’ I played Big Mama Thornton’s."

With WAMO broadcasting such sounds in the late 1940s and early 1950s, Pittsburgh was on the cutting edge of a musical trend. This was perhaps the first and only time this ever happened. Neither WAMO nor WHOD had the broadcast strength to compete with giant stations like KDKA directly, so Chedwick and other DJ's compensated by developing signature styles. Chedwick came up with many nicknames for himself, so many in fact that to recite them all would take several minutes and leave a tongue twisted for several more.

Porky invented so many crazy words that he claimed his own "Porkology" dictionary. The Daddio struggles to convey the wonder of his life’s work. "I got a calling, an inspiration, I was getting certain vibrations to be in big-time radio. When a community radio station opened up in Homestead in 1948, there was a place for me to get on the air."



Among his many notable achievements, Pork the Tork essentially invented the concept of oldies. While Chedwick often spun the records of new acts, he had a special interest in music recorded years ago. They were oldies even when Chedwick first played them. He bought unwanted dusty 78s, records by black acts, and dropped the needle on them. "The falsettos, the bass, the togetherness. They wrote about poverty and handicaps I could understand. This was a message nobody was getting. I blew the dust off them. I was giving kids the music. One day they would know I was speaking the truth." He had invented his signature "Porky Sound."

Porky Chedwick's career moved from WHOD and WAMO to KQV in 1972, and then to WNRZ from 1985 to 1986. After a 10 year "retirement", Pork returned to WAMO in 1996, then moved to WWSW in 1998 and finally WLSW in 2000. The call letters might have changed, but the doctrine of "Porkology" has remained the same after all these years. Whenever Porky Chedwick takes control of the microphone, you can expect a generous helping of the Doo-Wop classics that have become his trademark sound.



Pork the Platter Pushin' Papa has been, and continues to be, honored and feted at various tribute concerts, the most prominent of which may have been "Porkstock," an annual summer gathering in the late 1990s where fans of R&B oldies gathered to hear their favorites. In 1998, Chedwick was enshrined in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland. He’s the only Pittsburgh disc jockey to be so honored.

To the Daddio of the Raddio, Pittsburgh's Platter Pushin' Papa and Boss Hoss, the community of Brookline is honored to have such a wonderful, charismatic and charming person as one of our neighbors. May the legendary spinster continue to grace the airwaves with the doctrine of Porkology.



Remarks by Congressman Ron Klink, House of Representatives

The following are remarks of Congressman Ron Klink on the floor of the House of Representatives, Washington, DC, at 8:55pm, October 5, 1998, as reported in the Congressional Record:

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Klink) is recognized for five minutes.

Mr. Speaker, we deal in particular in these days on the floor of the House with such weighty matters and such serious issues as warfare and impeachment, health care reform, Social Security, budgets. I rise tonight for a little lighter of an item. I think sometimes we have to talk about these lighter things to give ourselves a perspective on the serious matters that we occasionally talk about.

Mr. Speaker, I stand tonight to really pay tribute to a friend of mine who has been in radio in the Pittsburgh area for the last 50 years. Fifty years in a career that sometimes only lasts a few weeks or months, those who may have been in the radio business.

If one goes to Pittsburgh, PA and talks about "The Boss Man," "Your Platter-Pushing Papa," "Your Daddio of the Raddio," everybody knows who they are talking about. It is Porky Chedwick, or as he called himself, "Pork the Tork," the "Boss Hoss with the Hot Sauce."

Mr. Speaker, he developed all of these lines of patter back starting in 1948 when really no one in the country was doing anything really strong entertainment wise in radio.

Porky is a white disk jockey. And I mention that because he played what then was known as "race music," the old R&B music, the sweet doo-wop sounds. And for those young people, Mr. Speaker, who may be in the House or watching at home and say what is doo-wop, it is that street corner harmony where you snap your fingers and it sounds so wonderful.

He would play that music that oftentimes was covered by white performers like Pat Boone, but he played it back before people had heard of people like Little Richard and Fats Domino and Bo Diddley. And a lot of those performers pay tribute to Porky Chedwick for giving them their first air play, because back then it was very difficult for black performers to get a wide audience anywhere in the country. There were certainly not many mainline radio stations that would play music by black performers.

Lou Christie, who also comes from the Pittsburgh area said being cool growing up, and Lou Christie had a lot of big records, he said being cool as he grew up meant listening to Porky Chedwick. He says he is still in awe of him, and he still reverts to being a 15-year-old child when he is around him. He will never know how important Porky was to his career. He was the first disk jockey in the country to play "The Gypsy Cried."

Jimmy Beaumont, who has been with the Skyliners around for 40 years playing in the Pittsburgh area and all around the world, Jimmy said he has known Porky for 40 of the 50 years, and he says that growing up hearing that stuff, that is when Jimmy Beaumont of the Skyliners decided he wanted to become a singer and sing that same doo-wop and that same sound that he heard Porky playing on the radio all the time.

There actually is a group in the Pittsburgh area known as P.O.R.C. It is an acronym for Pittsburgh Old Records Club, and one of the members of the club, Jim Sanders, said, "When I was a kid, when you would listen to Porky, you knew you were cool." It goes back to Porky being the very first white disk jockey to program the music. It was a revelation to white teenagers to hear some of this great music.

Porky started out in 1948 on a little radio station, doing a 5-minute sports program, called WHOD in Homestead, Pennsylvania. And he would go back and he says he played the "dusty disks." They were really dusty, 78 RPM records. And because nobody was playing them, the record store owners would give them to him. He knew they were talented musicians and he put them on the air and teenagers all over the Pittsburgh area wanted to hear more and more of them.

In fact the story is told of when Porky did a live show at the Stanley Theater. An hour before he went on the air, 500 people crowded around the Stanley Theater. Before the show was over, 10,000 people were crowded around the Stanley Theater. Downtown Pittsburgh came to a screeching halt. Kids were stuck on buses in the logjam created by Porky Chedwick. They got off the buses, crossed the bridges on foot to get to the Stanley Theater to see Porky Chedwick.

As a disk jockey, he saw the highest recognition of his career before the Beatles. In 1963, the Beatles came to America. A lot of performing artists saw their careers go downhill and a lot of disk jockeys that had that signature type of music similarly saw music change a great deal. But still, many of the great disk jockeys in America today credit Porky Chedwick with beginning it all.

As Porky said, "I had more lines than Bell Telephone. I was the original rapper." And he probably was.

Mr. Speaker, I say to Porky, "We are honored for you and your 50 great years in radio. We are honored that you are in the disk jockey portion of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and we hope you are still playing that music for 50 more years. God bless you.
sitting by the opened window.
not too hot yet.

went to a retirement party for my friend joann.
time seems to fly.

Friday, July 18, 2008

Forward this e-mail | Subscribe to People For's Action Alerts
PEOPLE FOR THE AMERICAN WAY July 18, 2008



Politics should have no place in the Census. Accuracy should be the only criterion.

Legally married same-sex couples who report themselves as such should be counted that way.






Dear sherry,



The Bush administration's at it again -- denying reality that doesn’t fit its political agenda (as it's done with global warming, the war, the economy and so much more).



The press this week reported on an offensive protocol by the Census Bureau for how it intends to handle married same-sex couples during the 2010 Census. The Bureau will NOT count legally married gay couples as married, and will instead EDIT the data submitted by married gay couples to change their status to "unmarried partners."



Please sign on to our petition to the Census Bureau urging them not to do this.



Sadly, supporters of the Census Bureau's actions may hide behind a federal law, the so-called Defense of Marriage Act ("DOMA"), and argue that the federal government doesn't recognize the marriages of same-sex couples. But a number of states and other countries do, and gay and lesbian couples who are legally married are, in fact, just that -- married.



So the policy -- besides being highly offensive -- would lead to the reporting of inaccurate demographic data, completely contrary to the Bureau's mission and goals!



Please sign on to our petition now telling the Census Bureau to do its job and collect and report ACCURATE data about all Americans, including married same-sex couples.



Officials at the Census Bureau seem to be in denial, but here's an inconvenient truth for them: gay families exist. No matter what the Census says, gay couples who are legally married ARE married.



Please join the petition now and then forward this to your friends and ask them to do the same.



Thank you.



-- Your Allies at People For the American Way



P.S. We wanted to share with you the irony of the Census Bureau's own mission statement*:



"Our Mission -- The Census Bureau serves as the leading source of quality data about the nation's people and economy. We honor privacy, protect confidentiality, share our expertise globally, and conduct our work openly. We are guided on this mission by our strong and capable workforce, our readiness to innovate, and our abiding commitment to our customers."



Quality data? Commitment to their customers? Guess that doesn't apply to gay families...



Take action now by signing on to our petition!



http://www.pfaw.org/go/Census



* http://www.census.gov/contacts/www/c-mission.html, 7/17/08




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People For the American Way 2008


been busy helping to put up new curtains.
the ols ones were 15 years old and tho i liked the color, they've seen better days and i wanted something different. they also were hung on those old drawstring pinch pleat huge rods from 1953! very hard to do anything with one person as to cleaning etc.
the old ones were a midnight blue sateen type of dealie. these are a soft moss green suede-like material in clip rings and a rod made to look like bronze. the sheers are cream instead of the bright white i had.(more restful now)

i am very happy. don't know how long it will be til layla and bob and max make them look "antiqued!"

today's joke from pudd'n boy!





Two robins were sitting in a tree. "I'm really hungry," said the first one. "Let's fly down and find some lunch."

They flew down to the ground and found a nice plot of newly plowed ground that was full of worms. They ate and ate and ate till they could eat no more. "I am so full, I don't think I can fly back up into the tree," said the first one.

"Let's just lay back here and bask in the warm sun," said the second.

"OK," the first one said. So they plopped down, basking in the sun.

No sooner than they had fallen asleep, when a big fat tomcat sneaks up and gobbles them up. As the cat sat washing his face after his meal, he thought...



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'I JUST LOVE BASKIN ROBINS.'

Thursday, July 17, 2008

Midsummer, Tobago

by Derek Walcott



Broad sun-stoned beaches.

White heat.
A green river.

A bridge,
scorched yellow palms

from the summer-sleeping house
drowsing through August.

Days I have held,
days I have lost,

days that outgrow, like daughters,
my harbouring arms.