Music never stops

“There is a road, no simple highway

Between the dawn and the dark of night

And if you go, no one may follow

That path is for your steps alone”

            Ripple by the Grateful Dead

        

The head of network services where I used to work had calendars from the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s covering his wall with well over a thousand dates circled in red. Each one represented a Grateful Dead concert he had attended. On occasion, I would catch him leaning back and staring at them all glassy-eyed. He’d ask me to pick a date, any date ..and he could tell me not only what city they played, but how he managed to get there, who he was with and what songs the band played that night. You can verify the playlists online. We’re looking at a period of time spanning 3 decades. I have a hard time remembering what movie I saw at the theater last week.

i never dreamed

advice to newlyweds

Question...

"What do you think matters most in marriage?"

Answer...

"A short memory."

Little boxes

Little boxes on the hillside, little boxes made of ticky tacky. Little boxes, little boxes, little boxes all the same. There’s a green one and a pink one and a blue one and a yellow one. And they’re all made out of ticky tacky and they all look just the same.

Thoughts and impressions are arriving in packages that are way too small today. I need a bigger picture. I put on my Merrells and find the shortest path up to Franceschi. I start on residential streets because the canyon would be too tortuous today. I pass by stately homes and funky California cottages. I concentrate on loosening the suspension joints in my hips ..and experience a more cushiony ride. The street gives way to a woodsy trail bordered by pine, oak and eucalyptus. Feels spongy. I reach the top of Franceschi where I get a panoramic view of the coast ..from Rincon to Gaviota ..then out to sea where white clouds are beginning to roll over the tops of the islands. South of me the fog has already breached the coastline and filled Sycamore Canyon. I inhale .. like a wave crashing ..and exhale .. washing away the debris. No quarrels or nagging doubts here. Like water seeking it’s own level ..I listen to the narrative in my head expand to fill the space available ..both inside and out. Calm and undisturbed. I throw the packaging material over the edge and watch it sail away.

Little Boxes by losttimeblues

frida with monkeys

Nascent Scream

There is a nascent scream

forming in my throat

its origin runs deep

within the labrynth of

my psyche,

embedded in the fabric of

my persona,

beneath the scaffolding that

supports the beating of my heart

intermingled with my breath.

I’ve endured for far too long

the pathetic nature of the

human condition,

the endless stream of senseless violence

that circumnavigates the globe,

pointless murders based on

an infrastructure of crazed logic

embellished with religious beliefs

that tolerate no answer except the

ridiculous ones purported to come out of

the mouth of psychotic deities,

untimely deaths of men, women children,

victims of ludicrous struggles for power

wrought by nations that seek nothing but plunder

disguised as self-righterousness.

I’ve lived through too many wars,

too numerous to detail,

too horrid to contemplate,

too stupid to be believable,

wars that have grinded bodies

to dust,

buried alive thousands too

weak to resist,

wars that have wasted entire cities,

turned civilization to rubble,

sent mothers and their children

to screaming deaths,

wars that sacrificed reason and intellect

to the desire for oblivion and ruin,

wars that have murdered hope and

offered free license to despair,

wars that thwart human progress and

consign many to an early grave,

wars that unwind the clock of the future,

launching history into the

darkness of the dreaded past.

I’ve grown weary of the

endless streams of nonsense that

fill the bandwidth of the present with

tidal waves of petty thoughts and

nearly useless information.

I’ve come to tire of the

misuse of language,

vocal chords no longer the

gateways to our minds,

words strung together haphazardly in

nonsensical arrays,

communication no longer a tool for

exploration of self and other,

all has become insufferable vanity.

There is this nascent scream

lodged within the signature of my

innermost self,

brief sojourn of life so delicate and

wondrous,

turned into a shadow play

filled with circus and

steeped in illusion.

Reality has become sidelined,

the trumpets sound,

the noise deafening,

humanity herded into

a vast and perplexing hall of mirrors

where all protest is muted and

within the blazing lights of a

multitude of artificial suns,

what is essentially black and dismal

seems somehow golden,

young and agile children

armed with baskets

filled with a bounty of ornaments

disperse wondrous arrays of color

without substance,

fill the domed enclosure

shrouded from the incessant darkness

with idle and cheerful songs.

Dread has become enshrouded by apathy,

fear by pitiful amusement,

architects of the future

have crafted a world

impossible for humanity to endure.

This nascent scream

nesting within my belly

is an incipient cry of anguish

over all the needless suffering

carried by so many for

no acceptable reason,

for all the mindless insanity.

Mary Jane

Anti anxiety

The complaint I most frequently hear from former pot smokers of my generation (those who came-of-age during the 60’s and 70’s) ..is that smoking marijuana makes them feel nervous. Some describe it as so intense, it borders on paranoia. Consequently they quit and never came back. In the day, little was known about cultivating for the psychoactive effects of marijuana.

The times they are a’ changing. A new breed of cultivator has revolutionized the field. They can grow sophisticated varietals with a range of psychoactive properties. “The THC component is the same ..it is the mixture of other elements that play a vital role in changing the psychoactive effect.” Two decades ago, most marijuana smokers bought whatever their dealer had. It was illegal even for research purposes. Consequently nothing was known about marijuana other than its THC content.

One of these newly found elements is a compound called Cannabidoil or CBD. It’s responsible for the calming and pain relieving effects found in medicinal marijuana. Takes the buzz off THC so to speak. CBD is also helpful in treating a range of problems, including arthritis, the side effects of chemotherapy, asthma, sleep disorders and post-traumatic stress disorder [ link ]. CBD is measured in grams. Your local dispensary should carry varieties containing different amounts of CBD .. 0.35 grams being considered ‘good’.

what's your message ?

This is the back of my Ford F-150 pickup...

and this is my message to the world...

What's your message?

roof of the world

war games

GLOBAL THERMONUCLEAR WAR

the art of peace

The Art of Peace is medicine for a sick world. There is evil and disorder in the world because people have forgotten that all things emanate from one source. Return to that source and leave behind all self-centered thoughts, petty desires, and anger. Those who are possessed by nothing possess everything.

"The Way of the Warrior has been misunderstood. It is not a means to kill and destroy others. Those who seek to compete and better one another are making a terrible mistake. To smash, injure, or destroy is the worst thing a human being can do. The real Way of a Warrior is to prevent such slaughter - it is the Art of Peace, the power of love." Morihei Ueshiba.

THE Garrett Cook?: Bizarro by the Gallon

THE Garrett Cook?: Bizarro by the Gallon:

'via Blog this'

Trayvon Martin

On his way from a convenience store with an ice tea and a bag of skittles, Trayvon Martin was headed to his fathers girlfriends apartment when George Zimmerman followed and questioned Trayvon, what happened next was an example of suspicion, fear and racism followed by the killing of Trayvon Martin, a 17 year old kid. (read more)

L.E.A.P.

perspective

mass contacts

party time

Remember remember the 5th of november

if you see what i see

"ONE ART"

Wonder Woman

i want candy

god and evil-lution

Okay,

you've all been wondering...

so here's the answer...

...God created evolution...

everybody happy now?

take me to your leader

Dawn

Your face

In the morning

Lined by nothing but the sun

and that stubble that says "I worked for this

this life I have for you."

Your eyes

Glinting like a river in the fall

Golden and deep

Promising a rich tomorrow

full of giggles and magical fingertips

Your heartbeat

Beneath chest plated with iron and love

Makes mine swell

And my eyes

Become an ocean

and the moon

is our purpose.

The Nightmare

The Nightmare

John Henry Fuseli 1781

15 years ago today: The Phoenix Lights

second class citizen

"The Female Eunuch"


Germaine Greer argues that scaring women is

"big business and hugely profitable."

It is fear, she wrote, that "makes women comply

with schemes and policies that work against their interest".

Sexism is indeed creating a second class citizen,

and fear works equally well on men,

don't be a slave to either.

(art by John Holmes)

Return Of Godzilla: Japan's Nuclear Meltdown

Godzilla (ゴジラ, Gojira?) is a daikaijū, a Japanese movie monster, first appearing in Ishirō Honda's 1954 film Godzilla. With the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki still fresh in the Japanese consciousness, Godzilla was conceived as a monster created by nuclear detonations and a metaphor for nuclear weapons in general.

Although his origins vary somewhat from film to film, he is always described as a prehistoric creature, who first appeared and attacked Japan at the beginning of the Atomic Age. In particular, mutation due to atomic radiation is presented as an explanation for his size and powers. The most notable of Godzilla's resulting abilities is his atomic breath: a powerful heat ray of fire from his mouth.

Godzilla is one of the most recognizable symbols of Japanese popular culture worldwide and remains an important facet of Japanese films, embodying the kaiju subset of the tokusatsu genre. He has been considered a filmographic metaphor for the United States, as well as an allegory of nuclear weapons in general. The earlier Godzilla films, especially the original, portrayed Godzilla as a frightening, nuclear monster. Godzilla represented the fears that many Japanese held about the nuclear attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the possibility of recurrence. (read more)

(godzilla trailer) (nuclear boy)

One year ago - today