March 11th, 2016
Goeije morn! (A western Flemish good morning to you !!!)
It was kind of refreshing to get some of flu behind me and some of the righteous indignation inspired by the current presidential election in front of me. I got up in the wee hours of the morning and started drafting a paper and several letters to the editor for various publications around the US. I am trying to answer the question..What does a 240 year old world power suffering from a failing political party system do to remedy itself. Historically, the answer would be bloody warfare between factions internal and external until the strongest prevailed over the weaker. The scars and damage of war distracts winners and losers alike until some next terrible travesty inspires us to take up arms to create change.
I, being the unashamed and unrepentant optimist/romantic that I am and always have been, believe that there must be a non-violent way for the most sophisticated form of government to: 1) Recognize a serious flaw; 2) Create a peaceful and legal means to address that flaw; and 3) Find a way to implement that means and remedy within the amazingly resilient and brilliant framework provided for by our forefathers in the Constitution. A way to create a Constitutional Congress to address original representation limitations eliminated by technology and apply lessons learned in the mechanics of governance. Hope to finish this weekend. It should be interesting at least.
This week I learned some stuff:
We lost George Martin, our 5th Beatle this week. Talk about unsung heroes!!! Try to imagine our world without the impact of this brilliant orchestrator of greatness. Its like trying to imagine a world where Steve Jobs was less driven. Impossible. To George and his ilk we owe a debt that can never be repaid…none of us will live long enough. Who is our world’s next George Martin? John Lennon? Steve Jobs? Marie Curie? Should we have seen the signs of their arrival yet?
Website Update
Week number 2 for our “new” Vocabulary Quiz.
Painting Update:
Slowly, step by step, I am making my way to the paints.
Writing Update:
I took the week off from still finding typos in GPS.
Weird-Stuff-O-Meter:
Senator Lee from Utah endorsed his senatorial colleague, Ted Cruze this week. That makes 1 Senator who has endorsed Mr. Cruze. These boys have got themselves in a pickle that is just so sad that it would be funny except for the fact that their job is supposed to be leadership! It just makes me crazy to contemplate a world where Donald Trump and Ted Cruze are anyone’s idea of an answer to any problem.
Music Update:
I have kind of an eclectic mix for you this week. I hope you enjoy it:
Grand Funk RailRoad – Some Kind of Wonderful — Just let this sweet little funky tune get your ass to shaking and a smile break out all over your face. No need to worry what others might think, just go on and be one with this happy song.
Santana – EL Farol — From the Vinyl!!!1 This amazing, stupendous, outrageous, inclusive and impressive “Supernatural” album… just play this song and it can set you free.
The Beatles – Michelle – Every time I hear this song I think about and thank George Martin. He somehow got the boys to put together Rubber Soul and it simply changed everything for every one…
Badfinger – Baby Blue — This the song that made me think that Badfinger was just Beatles spelled wrong. Its a cute song
Blodwyn Pig – Change Song – From the Vinyl!!! This is sweet little song by a strange band that was far too good to survive.
Don Henley – Not Enough Love In the World — From the Vinyl!!! His “Building the Perfect Beast” album. It was good to see Don behind his drum kit this week on some show saying good bye to Glenn.
Donovan – Season of the Witch – Patchouli oils, Sandalwood incense smoke, tie dyes t-shirts, day glow posters on the wall, beautiful carved candles and hand crafted leather belts holding up our worn jeans on our skinny asses… this song brings it all back with a smile.
Fleetwood Mac – Don’t Stop — This is another cut from The Greatest Hits from one the greatest bands. I always loved how their music used to just build and build and then crash over their audiences like a big beautiful wave. They were always fun to watch and sing with.
That’s it… Do the best you can; Laugh every chance you get; And always remember, the best is yet to come!
As always, thank you for being my friend!
James