celebrating Holi with prayers and prasad with Kenny Uncle and Kiran Auntie.

Quote of the Day - Pam Grier

I can't talk about myself. I just can't. I know I've influenced people, and I'm proud of that. But as I see it, I really haven't done anything. I haven't saved anybody from a burning building.

There is freedom within, there is freedom without ...

Song of the Day - "Don't Dream It's Over"

Erik Sanjurjo: Crowded House is a nice little band from New Zealand. This is their hypnotizing high point as a band, I think. Included are video, live version and cover version; Six Pence None the Richer version was a hit in '90s.

Don't Dream It's Over

There is freedom within, there is freedom without
Try to catch the deluge in a paper cup
There's a battle ahead, many battles are lost
But you'll never see the end of the road
While you're traveling with me

Hey now, hey now
Don't dream it's over
Hey now, hey now
When the world comes in
They come, they come
To build a wall between us
We know they won't win

Now I'm towing my car, there's a hole in the roof
My possessions are causing me suspicion but there's no proof
In the paper today tales of war and of waste
But you turn right over to the T.V. page

Now I'm walking again to the beat of a drum
And I'm counting the steps to the door of your heart
Only shadows ahead barely clearing the roof
Get to know the feeling of liberation and relief

Hey now, hey now
Don't dream it's over
Hey now, hey now
When the world comes in
They come, they come
To build a wall between us
Don't ever let them win

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZZfuCJ970w&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y49G_rbvzP8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYNolE3FRZI&feature=related

Poem of the Day - Nikki Giovanni

I read this the other day and thought I could've used it in the past. "Sorry. It's you, not me. I'm just doing some housecleaning." ;)

Housecleaning

I always liked housecleaning
even as a child
I dug straightening cabinets
putting new paper on shelves
washing the refrigerator
inside out
and unfortunately this habit
has carried over and I find
I must now remove you
from my life.

Source: Giovanni, Nikki. (1975) "The Women and the Men" William Morrow and Company: New York

Cartoon - Surly Patrons

Palentology

"Take over the Republican Party, tea partiers," she said. "Get them to see the light. They are seeing the light clearer and clearer every day. Get them to understand what built this country. Get back to the foundation of America."

Source: Barr, Andy. "Sarah Palin to tea parties: 'Take over' GOP" POLITICO 2/26/10.

off to Coro CrossTalk for a special panel on Solutions for Reforming California--with Mark Paul, Tony Rubenstein, Bob Stern and Kathay Feng.

just finished Nikki Giovanni's powerful "The Women and the Men." And still hummin' Nina Simone's "Sinnerman" in my head ... I said rock ...

Limerick of the Day - On Limericks ...

The limerick's callous and crude,
Its morals distressingly lewd;
It's not worth the reading
By persons of breeding -
It's designed for us vulgar and rude.

Source: A Thousand and One Limericks. Charwell Books: New Jersey, p. 35.

Rule No. 550 "Villians"

The best villians have accents and walk slowly.

Source: Esquire. 2008. "Esquire: The Rules," Hearst Books: New York, p. 204.

Quote of the Day - Charles Dickens

I hope that real love and truth are stronger in the end than any evil or misfortune in the world.

Source: Dickens, Charles. David Copperfield

Cartoon - Leftovers

knows satire can be easily misunderstood as Chris Matthews suggests but like jazz, it can be in the moment and manna for discerning ears.

Quote of the Day - Gary Hart

We describe our form of government as liberal democracy. It embodies principles of freedom, liberty, equality, and justice. Its principles were set forth by John Locke and embodied in our Bill of Rights. We engage in wars to bring this same government to others.

Source: Hart, Gary. "Liberal is ... Evil," Huffington Post, 2/23/10.

American Idioms - Burn the Candle at Both Ends

My grandmother used to always tell me NOT to do this--but I still do. Not to be punny, but I wax nostalgic when I hear this. ;)

Burn the Candle at Both Ends

- to exhaust oneself by doing too much, for example by working very hard during the day and staying up very late at night.

Source: Spears, Richard A. (1999) Phrases and Idioms: A Practical Guide to American English Expressions NTC Publishing Group: Chicago, p. 25.

Yiddish Word of the Day - Megillah

Megillah
ma-GILL-uh

Noun

1 - a long drawn-out story, tediously slow usually boring, full of tireless details

Source: Perr, Janet. Yiddish for Dogs: Every Word Your Canine Needs to Know. Hyperion: New York, p.55.

Rep. Steve King Explaining His "Implode the IRS" Comment

According to reports, Rep. Steve King (R-IA) told a crowd at the recent CPAC event last Saturday that he could "empathize" with the suicide bomber who attacked an IRS office in Austin, Texas. What is more, the Congressman is said to have encouraged the audience to "implode" other IRS offices. Below is his explanation:

Source: Roth, Zachary. "Steve King To Conservatives: 'Implode' IRS Offices," Talking Points Memo, 2/22/10.

Quote of the Day - The Beatles

No one I think is in my tree/I mean it must be high or low

Source: The Beatles, "Strawberry Fields Forever" 1967.

thinks it never gets old sucking on a lollipop a la Kojak & asking "Who loves ya, baby?" Works best with a Greek heritage I'm told. OPA!

no reason but I'm hummin' along to H&O's Maneater: "She`ll only come out at night ..." http://ping.fm/mOc9r

Got in a little soccer. HR up to 188 and burned 1400 cals. Off to the Alpha Kappa Psi BBQ in Monterey Park. Fight On!

Sufi Ertur @ the Cobalt Cafe

http://vimeo.com/9607392 from Edward Headington on Vimeo.

UFC 110 predictions

The UFC's first card in Australia. Here are the Gorilla's predictions:

1. James Te Huna vs. Igor Pokrajac (Decision)
(Prediction: Pokrajac – I don’t really know either fight; gotta go with tougher sounding name: Igor)

2. CB Dollaway vs. Goran Reljic (Ground and Pound TKO)
(Prediction: Dollaway – Reljic has been out of action for a while and CB needs a win badly)

3. Chris Lytle vs. Brian Foster (Knockout)
(Prediction: Lytle – He has been on a streak of late and I expect that to continue)

4. Stephan Bonnar vs. Krzysztof Soszynski (Ground & Pound TKO)
(Prediction: Soszynski – He is the stronger fighter albeit with less experience.)

5. Mirko Cro Cop vs. Anthony Perosh (Knockout)
(Prediction: Cro Cop – He’s hungry and needs a win.)

6. Keith Jardine vs. Ryan Bader (Ground & Pound TKO)
(Prediction: Bader – He is a fast up-and-comer with a strong wrestling base)

7. Joe Stevenson vs. George Sotiropoulos (Submission)
(Prediction: Stevenson – He’s been doing well of late and his experience should be enough to overcome the stronger Australian)

8. Wanderlei Silva vs. Michael Bisping (Knockout)
(Prediction: Silva – This is tough because The Count is the faster fighter and may fight the Rich Franklin gameplan; Silva’s experience and new training should knock him out though)

9. Minotauro Nogueira vs. Cain Velasquez (Submission)
(Prediction: Big Nog – Cain has crazy cardio but he doesn’t have punching power and will be overmatched on the ground)

Rick Lupert Reads the Group Poem

Rick Lupert Reads the Group Poem from Edward Headington on Vimeo.

Poem of the Day - Nikki Giovanni

I was at Illiad Bookstore here in the Valley the other day and found a few Nikki Giovanni poetry books from the 1970s. What a find!

I just finished "Cotton Candy On A Rainy Day" and there were a lot of underlined passages. I particularly liked what Paula Giddings wrote about her in the introduction: "She was an honest poet and believes in confronting the big issues as well as the secret insecurities." Here is one of my favorites:

A Poem Of Friendship

We are not lovers
because of the love
we make
but the love
we have

We are not friends
because of the laughs
we spend
but the tears
we save

I don't want to be near you
for the thoughts we share
but the words we never have
to speak

I will never miss you
because of what we do
but what we are
together

Source: Giovanni, Nikki. "Cotton Candy On A Rainy Day," Quill: New York, p. 88 (1978).

Cartoon - The Metaphorical Wolf-Boy

thinking of Edvard Munch and Reinhold Niebuhr today--probably more of the former's "Scream" than the latter's "Serenity Prayer." Oy ...

Inspecting the Bay Area Delta with Curt Schmutte. So much fog. Hard to see all the levies--and the Smelt of course.

is over to the Cobalt Poets. Reading 2 new poems--Dashing LA & Barbershop--and Rumi's This Marriage--which I discovered only yesterday.

looking forward to touring the Bay Area Delta with MWD this week and learning more about California's water crisis.

Cartoon - Fatherhood

Rule No. 604 "Envelopes"

Mail that comes in envelopes with windows is never good.

Source: Esquire. 2008. "Esquire: The Rules," Hearst Books: New York, p. 222.

Yiddish Word of the Day - Ongepatchket

Ongepatchket
OONG-ga-PATCH-kid

Adjective

1 - gaudy, overly done, decorated beyond normal limits

2 - slapped together

Source: Perr, Janet. Yiddish for Dogs: Every Word Your Canine Needs to Know. Hyperion: New York, p.77.

Poem of the Day - Alfred Austin

Love's Blindness

Now do I know that Love is blind, for I
Can see no beauty on this beauteous earth,
No life, no light, no hopefulness, no mirth,
Pleasure nor purpose, when thou art not nigh.
Thy absence exiles sunshine from the sky,
Seres Spring's maturity, checks Summer's birth,
Leaves linnet's pipe as sad as plover's cry,
And makes me in abundance find but dearth.
But when thy feet flutter the dark, and thou
With orient eyes dawnest on my distress,
Suddenly sings a bird on every bough,
The heavens expand, the earth grows less and less,
The ground is buoyant as the ether now,
And all looks lovely in thy loveliness.

Quote of the Day - Jules Verne

Liberty is worth paying for . . .

Source: Verne, Jules. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

Cohen on Palin

... Alas, for both the right and the left, Palin is not a leader. She neither founded nor leads a movement and, as far as anyone can tell, has no ideas of her own. She's a validator, satisfying her audience's narcissistic urge to be told they are correct in their thinking. They look at her and see themselves. Ah, love.
... The lady from Alaska is a phony. She has sold out for money, quitting office so that she could cash in. She asserted her small-town bona fides, her antipathy both to the establishment and the mainstream media -- and then got herself a ghostwriter, a booking agent and a (Fox News) network contract. She is rich, famous for the metaphorical 15 minutes Andy Warhol allotted us all and, elbows swinging, is forging her way to oblivion. She was neither a threat (the left) nor an opportunity (the right), but just a fantasy -- until the American people turned the lights on.

Source: Cohen, Richard. "Sarah Palin, finally a fallen star," Washington Post, 2/16/10.

Song of the Day - Roy Orbison "In Dreams"

Erik Sanjurjo: Here's an oldie but goodie--bit of a surreal song. Apparently he turned David Lynch down for use of it in "Blue Velvet." Lynch went ahead and used it and Orbison later agreed that it worked!

Roy Orbison
“In Dreams”

A candy-colored clown they call the sandman
Tiptoes to my room every night
Just to sprinkle stardust and to whisper
"go to sleep. everything is all right."

I close my eyes, then I drift away
Into the magic night. I softly say
A silent prayerlike dreamers do.
Then I fall asleep to dream my dreams of you.

In dreams I walk with you. in dreams I talk to you.
In dreams you’re mine. all of the time we’re together
In dreams, in dreams.

But just before the dawn, I awake and find you gone.
I can’t help it, I can’t help it, if I cry.
I remember that you said goodbye.

It’s too bad that all these things, can only
happen in my dreams
Only in dreams in beautiful dreams.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dp-WCVWlCDchttp://www.metacafe.com/watch/1315763/roy_orbisons_in_dreams_in_blue_velvet/

Dionne on Clinton and Obama

Confronting the highly disciplined Republicans, Obama and Clinton both had to rely on a Democratic Party whose ranks, especially in the Senate, include a lot of people ready to abandon the battlefield at the first sign of bad poll numbers.

And they share a major weakness: Both believe so devoutly in their capacity to convert adversaries and to get lions and lambs to lie down together that they spend more energy trying to win over their enemies than rallying their friends. This leaves them helpless when the lions continue to devour the lambs.

I am pleased that after the scary tidings, Bill Clinton is doing well. And it may turn out to be providential that he burst into the news at precisely this point. It's hard to escape the sense that a young and promising Democratic president is too closely replaying the opening act of another young and promising Democratic president -- and that Republicans need only recite the same lines they came up with 16 years ago.

Obama needs to rewrite the script. And as a script doctor, Bill Clinton has no equal.

Source: Dionne Jr., E.J. "What Bill Clinton could teach President Obama," Washington Post, 2/15/10.

Poem of the Day - Charlotte Mew

My Heart is Lame

My heart is lame with running after yours so fast
Such a long way,
Shall we walk slowly home, looking at all the things we passed
Perhaps to-day?

Home down the quiet evening roads under the quiet skies,
Not saying much,
You for a moment giving me your eyes
When you could bear my touch.

But not to-morrow. This has taken all my breath;
Then, though you look the same,
There may be something lovelier in Love's face in death
As your heart sees it, running back the way we came;
My heart is lame.

Quote of the Day - Charles Dickens

To conceal anything from those to whom I am attached, is not in my nature. I can never close my lips where I have opened my heart.

Source: Dickens, Charles. Master Humphrey's Clock

Cartoon - Homeschool

working out with the kettle bells--finally--and have Alice In Chains playing. "Feed my eyes, can you sew them shut ..."

Song of the Day - Leonard Cohen "Take This Waltz"

Erik Sanjurjo: Hope everyone has a nice Valentine's Day. This is an oldie but goodie from Leonard Cohen based on a poem by Federico Garcia Lorca--he of course being my favorite Spanish poet.

Now in Vienna there's ten pretty women
There's a shoulder where Death comes to cry
There's a lobby with nine hundred windows
There's a tree where the doves go to die
There's a piece that was torn from the morning
And it hangs in the Gallery of Frost
Ay, Ay, Ay, Ay
Take this waltz, take this waltz
Take this waltz with the clamp on its jaws
Oh I want you, I want you, I want you
On a chair with a dead magazine
In the cave at the tip of the lily
In some hallways where love's never been
On a bed where the moon has been sweating
In a cry filled with footsteps and sand
Ay, Ay, Ay, Ay
Take this waltz, take this waltz
Take its broken waist in your hand

This waltz, this waltz, this waltz, this waltz
With its very own breath of brandy and Death
Dragging its tail in the sea

There's a concert hall in Vienna
Where your mouth had a thousand reviews
There's a bar where the boys have stopped talking
They've been sentenced to death by the blues
Ah, but who is it climbs to your picture
With a garland of freshly cut tears?
Ay, Ay, Ay, Ay
Take this waltz, take this waltz
Take this waltz it's been dying for years

There's an attic where children are playing
Where I've got to lie down with you soon
In a dream of Hungarian lanterns
In the mist of some sweet afternoon
And I'll see what you've chained to your sorrow
All your sheep and your lilies of snow
Ay, Ay, Ay, Ay
Take this waltz, take this waltz
With its "I'll never forget you, you know!"

This waltz, this waltz, this waltz, this waltz ...

And I'll dance with you in Vienna
I'll be wearing a river's disguise
The hyacinth wild on my shoulder,
My mouth on the dew of your thighs
And I'll bury my soul in a scrapbook,
With the photographs there, and the moss
And I'll yield to the flood of your beauty
My cheap violin and my cross
And you'll carry me down on your dancing
To the pools that you lift on your wrist
Oh my love, Oh my love
Take this waltz, take this waltz
It's yours now. It's all that there is

http://s0.ilike.com/play#Leonard+Cohen:Take+This+Waltz:117066:s308248.27754.7406046.0.1.6%2Cstd_c981b105256795b97df6c694f1e4cd5d
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2sZzJAxfD-4
http://www.webheights.net/speakingcohen/waltz.htm

Quote of the Day - William Dean Howells

It was this willingness to find poetry in things around them that kept his life and Isabel's fresh, and they taught their children the secret of their elixir.

Source: Howells, Wiliam Dean. Their Wedding Journey

working on my billet-doux for Valentine's Day. Shall I compare thee to a summer's day and/or think about she being Brand-new? :-x

Poem of the Day - e.e. cummings

she being Brand

-new;and you
know consequently a
little stiff i was
careful of her and(having

thoroughly oiled the universal
joint tested my gas felt of
her radiator made sure her springs were O.

K.)i went right to it flooded-the-carburetor cranked her

up,slipped the
clutch(and then somehow got into reverse she
kicked what
the hell)next
minute i was back in neutral tried and

again slo-wly;bare,ly nudg. ing(my

lev-er Right-
oh and her gears being in
A 1 shape passed
from low through
second-in-to-high like
greasedlightning)just as we turned the corner of Divinity

avenue i touched the accelerator and give

her the juice,good

(it

was the first ride and believe i we was
happy to see how nice she acted right up to
the last minute coming back down by the Public
Gardens i slammed on

the
internalexpanding
&
externalcontracting
brakes Bothatonce and

brought allofher tremB
-ling
to a:dead.

stand-
;Still)

Republicans on Healthcare

... But the small ideas the Republicans are championing would barely make a dent in the most critical problems threatening the health care system: the huge number of Americans without insurance and the ever-escalating costs of health care.

... The most fundamental difference between the two parties is that the Republicans say it is too costly to cover all Americans. They oppose mandates requiring everyone to buy insurance and employers to provide it. And they resist any large expansion of the Medicaid program and new government subsidies to help the uninsured buy policies.

Source: Editorial, "Small Ideas Won't Fix It," New York Times, 2/14/10.

Rich on Palin

This G.O.P. populism is all bunk, of course. Republicans in office now, as well as Palin during her furtive public service in Alaska, have feasted on federal pork, catered to special interests, and pursued policies indifferent to recession-battered Americans. And yet they’re getting away with their populist masquerade — not just with a considerable swath of voters but even with certain elements in the “liberal media.”

Source: Rich, Frank. "Palin's Cunning Sleight of Hand," New York Times, 2/14/10.

Sitting in a sandpit, life is a short trip ... The music's for the sad men.

Poem of the Day - Victor James Daley

Passion Flower

Choose who will the wiser part—
I have held her heart to heart;
And have felt her heart-strings stirred,
And her soul’s still singing heard

For one golden-haloed hour
Of Love’s life the passion-flower.

So the world may roll or rest—
I have tasted of its best;

And shall laugh while I have breath
At thy dart and thee, O Death!

End Senate "Holds"

We hope the revelation that Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) had placed "holds" on some 70 of President Obama's nominations will energize opposition to this outrageous practice by which one senator, sometimes out of personal pique, can block a vote on a nominee.

... Holds, whether for a noble purpose or a parochial one, allow one member to usurp the roles of all the others. Senators from both parties must recognize that getting rid of them is a matter of self-preservation. Whatever else the "tea party" movement signifies, it is in part a reaction to the backroom deals and lack of transparency in Washington. Holds, like earmarks, filibusters and blatant logrolling, are emblematic of the capital's insider culture that is now under siege. Republicans -- and Democrats -- who want to distance themselves from that culture should heed Obama's call to rein in this abuse.

Source: Editorial "Senate 'holds' serve no one," Los Angeles Times, 2/13/10.

Song of the Day - "Forever Young"

Alphaville - "Forever Young" (1984)

Erik Sanjurjo: Romantic '80s song (is that redundant?). Alphaville is a synth pop band from Germany. Included are video, live version, dance remix

Let's dance in style, lets dance for a while
Heaven can wait we're only watching the skies
Hoping for the best but expecting the worst
Are you going to drop the bomb or not?

Let us die young or let us live forever
We don't have the power but we never say never
Sitting in a sandpit, life is a short trip
The music's for the sad men

Can you imagine when this race is won
Turn our golden faces into the sun
Praising our leaders we're getting in tune
The music's played by the mad men

Forever young, I want to be forever young
Do you really want to live forever, forever and ever
Forever young, I want to be forever young
Do you really want to live forever? Forever young

Some are like water, some are like the heat
Some are a melody and some are the beat
Sooner or later they all will be gone
Why don't they stay young

It's so hard to get old without a cause
I don't want to perish like a fading horse
Youth's like diamonds in the sun
And diamonds are forever

So many adventures couldn't happen today
So many songs we forgot to play
So many dreams swinging out of the blue
We let them come true

Forever young, I want to be forever young
Do you really want to live forever, forever and ever
Forever young, I want to be forever young
Do you really want to live forever, forever and ever

Forever young, I want to be forever young
Do you really want to live forever?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5Yx2TnN9mc&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zotQv-XRQA&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfCNcbuCP0Y&feature=related

Quote of the Day - L. Frank Baum

I think you are wrong to want a heart. It makes most people unhappy. If you only knew it, you are in luck not to have a heart.

Source: Baum, L. Frank. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

Cartoon - Hips

Broder on Palin

More important, [Sarah Palin] has locked herself firmly in the populist embrace that every skillful outsider candidate from George Wallace to Jimmy Carter to Ronald Reagan to Bill Clinton has utilized when running against "the political establishment."

It doesn't always win. There are more John Edwardses and Mike Huckabees than I can count. But it wins more often than you'd guess and for a greater variety of people, especially when things are not going well for the country.
... But in the present mood of the country, Palin is by all odds a threat to the more uptight Republican aspirants such as Mitt Romney and Tim Pawlenty -- and potentially, to Obama as well. ...

Source: Broder, David. "Sarah Palin displays her pitch-perfect populism," Washington Post, 2/11/10.

I guess Captain America only drinks coffee now. ;) http://ping.fm/5Wfnz

Brooks on Obama

If, a year ago, you had been asked to describe the administration’s goals in one sentence it would have been this: Barack Obama will usher in the third great wave of Democratic reform. Franklin Roosevelt had the New Deal. Lyndon Johnson had the Great Society. Obama would take the third step, transforming health care, energy, education, financial regulation and many other sectors of American life.

... A president can’t lead a social transformation without a visceral bond with the center of the electorate and without being in step with the rhythm of the times. Obama is lacking these things. As a result, the original Obama project, the third Democratic wave, is dead.

Source: Brooks, David. "What's next, Mr. President?" New York Times, 2/12/10.

Poem of the Day - Robert Browning

Never The Time And The Place

Never the time and the place
And the loved one all together!
This path--how soft to pace!
This May -- what magic weather!
Where is the loved one's face?
In a dream that loved one's face meets mine,
But the house is narrow, the place is bleak
Where, outside, rain and wind combine
With a furtive ear, if I strive to speak,
With a hostile eye at my flushing cheek,
With a malice that marks each word, each sign!
O enemy sly and serpentine,
Uncoil thee from the waking man!
Do I hold the Past
Thus firm and fast
Yet doubt if the Future hold I can?
This path so soft to pace shall lead
Thro' the magic of May to herself indeed!
Or narrow if needs the house must be,
Outside are the storms and strangers: we
Oh, close, safe, warm sleep I and she, --
I and she!

Quote of the Day - Mark Twain

It is better to keep your mouth shut and appear stupid than to open it and remove all doubt.

Cartoon - Elvis Presley

Robinson on the Tea Party Queen

Where does any of this really take her, though? It's certainly true that Palin has a knack for expressing the restlessness and anger of many Americans who are buffeted by economic crisis, fed up with a dysfunctional political culture in Washington and tired of feeling as if their voices are being ignored. So far, however, all that Palin's talent has accomplished is to make her the Tea Party Queen. That could be a valuable platform for a national campaign, but even a politician with Palin's undeniable charisma is eventually going to have to, you know, say something. Beyond nostrums about "common-sense solutions," I mean.
...There's a word for those who, like Palin, act as if the voters are mere sheep who don't need to be troubled by discussion of what their government should actually do. The word -- and Palin might want to cover her ears -- is elitist.

Source: Robinson, Eugene. "The Tea Party Queen," Washington Post, 2/12/10.

Song of the Day: Breath of Life

Erik Sanjurjo: "Had a request for some Erasure today. Here's an oldie but goodie from them. Andy Bell is hilarious on the live video. Alice in Wonderland theme video is fun."

Artist: Erasure
Song: Breath Of Life
Album: Chorus 1991

Cause my mind was always someone else's mind

I never had to tell a lie
Cause I left the choices up to them
Don't know why but I did

Oh I want life
Life wants me
To breath in it's love

Take me I'm yours
Now I'm comin' up for air
I'm gonna live my time
For the rest of my life
Then I'll be comin' back for more

I never had to call the tune
'Cause I always drifted with the tide of the moon
(Ah la luna, my love, my love, my love)

I would go out every night
Looking for someone to treat me right
Not a chance (chance) not a hope (hope) in this world (world)

Oh I want life
Life wants me
To breath in it's love

Take me I'm yours
Now I'm comin' up for air
I'm gonna live my time
For the rest of my life
Then I'll be comin' back for more

Take me I'm yours
Now I'm comin' up for air
I'm gonna live my time
For the rest of my life
Then I'll be comin' back for more

(More)

Take me I'm yours
Now i'm comin' up for air
I'm gonna live my time
For the rest of my life
Then I'll be coming back for more (more)
(oh yeah) (More)

Never had a point of view

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PW4jWtyv2_k&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=scVZuQfLoho&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=diaDSQweN7U&NR=1

heading to Off the Presses radio show. We have Ron Kaye in studio with us to talk about politics & public policy in the City of Los Angeles.

Confirm Maldonado IV

... Wake up, Democrats. Californians are already leaving both parties. Democrats can play the same game as their Republican counterparts, banishing all but the most ideologically pure candidates -- and consequently worsening the gridlock in Sacramento -- or they can take the high road, and in so doing may just find they have appealed to independent voters by demonstrating that they reward, rather than punish, moderates like Maldonado.

This page isn't crazy about every Maldonado vote or position. We disagree emphatically with his stance against same-sex marriage, for example, and if the job he's been nominated to were key to changing California marriage laws, we might well consider his position on the issue disqualifying.

But the job is lieutenant governor, for goodness' sake. None of the reasons for keeping Maldonado out has anything to do with the best interests of the state. Assembly Democrats should drop the self-destructive political chess-playing and confirm him.

Source: Editorial, "Time to confirm Maldonado," Los Angeles Times, 2/11/10.

Rule No. 468 "Wild Animals"

If you own a wild animal, there's a two-in-three chance that you live within walking distance of all your relatives.

Source: Esquire. 2008. "Esquire: The Rules," Hearst Books: New York, p. 175.

Poem of the Day - Anna Akhmatova

Solitude

So many stones have been thrown at me,
That I'm not frightened of them anymore,
And the pit has become a solid tower,
Tall among tall towers.
I thank the builders,
May care and sadness pass them by.
From here I'll see the sunrise earlier,
Here the sun's last ray rejoices.
And into the windows of my room
The northern breezes often fly.
And from my hand a dove eats grains of wheat...
As for my unfinished page,
The Muse's tawny hand, divinely calm
And delicate, will finish it.

Quote of the Day - G. K. Chesterton

I know that journalism largely consists in saying "Lord Jones Dead" to people who never knew that Lord Jones was alive.

Source: Chesterton, G.K. The Wisdom of Father Brown

Cartoon - Interior Decorators