see you on the other side

to say the truth, those pictures are mine - but who cares, we all share...

I'm sucking on your sagging tits of mercy...

...this line popped up in my mind when I gave notice to quit my job just yesterday.
At 6:30 AM I roll in with a beat up Ford pick-up truck,
she rolls out whenever she wants in her Mercedes Benz.
Twelve hours later I leave.
That was my day.

She cares little what I did - or did not do that day.
She is all about protocol, procedure, inherited traditions
Beyond her written memos all stays blank
Creativity is doomed to recipes of frozen foods
Did you follow each step by step?
Now see, you did good, yes you did!

I gave notice to leave, until they can find
an other one who can suck the sagging tits of mercy
and drool upon lost droplets of grayish milk
__________________________________________________________________________

of course the above is the "dramatic" version; the people in question are actually very fine people - just couldn't stand the vibes anymore from the only four (no man) running the place, their mental state - or should I say instability - have a range from bi-polar manic depressive to borderline Alzheimer's . If the "caretakers" are such, it makes it less enjoyable to take care of the actual "tenants" who are shizophrenic and live on heavy drugs and love alone.
I will find a new job now.

dog days of summer

Praise the dreams
that fair laundry wears
touched by light breezes
in late summer warmth.

The stain is gone, so is the sweat
sweet smell of flowers to be instead
waiting, turnaround -
dog days are here

Young girls turn giddy
the boys act like fools
and before you know it
they are back in schools

Every last drop I savor,
as it's dripping from my skin
the salty dog days of summer
did finally move in.

Saying goodbye

... was cut off the internet for days. Need not to explain what that means. Said goodbye to fair friends today. Drove home by a swamp and then took a picture of my painting, and the one that is to come. That's all.

Appendix

Why do so many people cut out their appendixes in the western world, as this fair woman in the photograph did?
Why not sweat through a fever and keep it?
Blows my mind.
All auxiliary items cut for the benefit of pain reduction.
A typical "western" behavior. Cut out the evil culprit, eradicate the symptoms, reduce pain with drugs. Who needs an appendix when the road without it shines gloriously.
But a thing to remember is, that an appendix comes in handy in times of need.
Sure, we are not built like cows or sheep, though we act like them at times. We don't need an appendix to double-digest lettuce and grass. We simply eat the cows an sheep. Bloody carnivores we are. But in the back of my mind I still remember - appendixes are useful for something, otherwise God would have not created them in the first place. To just cut them out because you feel pain is a travesty to me.
We are such whiners.

one step at a time

This blog has no consistency. It rambles on about this and that.
I wish I was a heroic and a passionate fan of some kind of sports, a deliberate specialist on a pinned down issue, a professional with attitude. Then I could talk to you about specific things, follow the calling of the one and only theme of choice. Since this is not so, my steps continue to fumble with the accuracy of a "renaissance-man", someone who is interested in too many things at any given time. It's a curse really. All people who are passionate about only one ore two things have it much easier in life. Devotion becomes focused. They follow their their sports-team, collect stamps or other things, are addicted to their fitness workout program, watch their favorite show on TV, are ambitious and happy with their jobs ... and so on. I am jealous of people who know exactly the one thing in life they wish to foster. It seems so easy, you just lock-in, end of story; whereas we renaissance-people ramble from one thing to an other.
One of my brothers lamented about the same issue the other day. He is passionate about music and makes his living that way. But he plays more than just one instrument. Fair enough - he is also interested in splitting firewood, gourmet cooking, philosophy, politics, yeah and sex, good movies, sports, playing pool while having a beer, renovating houses etc. His ambition to become the next Pablo Casals ceased, when he realized that life for him is like a stain-glass window, many facets and multiple colors. He also carries the curse of a "renaissance-man".
Life would be so much easier being a butterfly. You live a couple of days, and towards the end of your life-span you rise up to the stratosphere and disintegrate into multiple particles of colored dust.
Humans only have the choice to advance one step at a time, and sometimes it feels like the journey takes forever, lead on the soles of your shoes... not diamonds, as others wish to think.

competition

Competition, the survival of the fittest, the Darwinian doctrine of bullshit is everywhere.
Except in my garden, there I nurture other aspects.
The sunflower poses for my pole-beans and doesn't mind to help out, blooms and shines anyway. The beans I do harvest, the sunflower-seeds I leave for the birds. Maybe it is not correct to say that fruit and seeds are in competition, perhaps they merely supplement each other.

In human terms one could observe this on many levels. You plant a seed in a growing individual which later on might bloom and finally bear fruit in years to come (teaching).
The millions of seeds from the sperm of a male specimen are on a mission to find that one "fertile fruit" that will enable new life (reproduction). Co-existence is the key in nature, not survival of the fittest. The latter is just a bi-product of materialistic thinking. But we do have competition.
Love - what is love? An expression of co-existence beyond the thresh-hold of egotism, again defying the imposed laws of Darwinism.
Sex is a bit closer to Darwinism: Fun for the one who finds the most compatible prey. A drag for the one who downgrades due to limitations of any kind. So again, a certain kind of competition.

I don't preach peace, peace is an artificial state of mind (concept) fostered by a frightened human condition. Co-existence should replace the idiom "peace". We don't' need to all love each other in this competing world. If we manage instead to just get along though and learn not to trample on each others pathways by intent, then the roads of our journey will be bordered by sunflowers, smiling in bright yellow.
That's almost perfectly peaceful!

give me a break

I am stuck,
I miss island life so much
I can't bear not to be surrounded
by the ocean - oh fuck
that it must be such,
I'm grounded.

So I paint
the missing piece
colors scattered,
but no stroke flatters
my fancy at all
there is no way
to replace
the real thing with
pigments on a flat face




At least I have a fine pool at my work-site, and I can plunge in whenever needed. Not everybody can share such luxury. But it is not the ocean, that's for sure.

So yeah, I paint to create the inner illusion that I am there, that I can smell and feel the salty breeze. This is my placebo for the real thing. Carving wood or chipping stones has to be put on hold - for now...

OK, so this is the stuff I do in my days off.
And now you know, and now you know also that I am a sick puppy catching up with life, limping down the alley called 'Atlantic Avenue' in search for the shores and the endless expanding horizons of a real ocean.
One day I will be free to call it "mine". And trust me, it will happen. I say this with confidence, because only artists are visionaries. The scientists (limp, LOL) scramble to catch up for every step done ahead by persons with creative intuition.
Scientists define boundaries, artists break them.
Scientists analyze what is, artists depict what can become. Scientists content themselves with mostly dead matter, artists observe the living world.
Scientist define chlorine as a deadly substance for living organisms when assimilated in certain quantities, artists just jump into the pool head on, no matter what.
I have a pool at my job-site.
But it will never replace the ocean.

the actual yodeling clip

Focus- Hocus Pocus (live '73)

...its worth a peek!

What amazes me is, that in the early seventies, sound was still generated by genius and skill, where-else often nowadays sampling and technology gadgets replace the human condition.

The machine took over and talents are sparse.

Yeah, there are fine troubadours today, the folky and sometimes punky radicals; they make fine sounds, and sometimes they are even entertaining. But most of mainstream pop, rock, hip-hop, grunge, techno and what have you not, seem to fade compared to the efforts of earlier bands. There is no breaking grounds in the commercial sound production these days.

... unless you find me some good examples I will stay convinced, that within the genre of popular music, there is mostly rehash of the old and no new ground braking explorations.

Where are the Beethoven's or the Hendrix'es of present time???

634 posts later

Dear occasional reader of this Blog!

I admit it, I did run out of steam and out of stories/pictures for the last few weeks, though there would have been plenty a tales, at least on a personal level, work related and so on. But everyone has those sagas, over and over again. Life often throws us in a dead end one-way street confined, that's the repetitive story really - and unless you are willing to take the chance to step into a side alley once in a while, decrease the inevitable lust of escaping on the highway and instead trust this desperate maneuver to exit, the one you had never planed for in advance, then that dead end turn-around in your street might become a possibility. This is never a comfortable solution, but the only one. Isn't that what it is, in a nutshell of all peoples stories, work, eat, sleep - work, eat, sleep ... and then you wake up one fine morning and ask yourself: Why?

That little clip, done with a shitty still camera, still shows how spontaneous you can improvise, and step into a side alley with ease. It happened just today.
My friend, who is presently visiting, just proved this fact. Take a movement of the moment and dance to it, even if you have to improvise to yodeling to Hokus Pokus from the group Focus, An early 70's band from Holland.

VEGETARIAN?

Fifth of July the day after 4th of July, also known as
Independence Day - we celebrated having a barbecue, listened to patriotic music and songs, some good ones, some rather faded ... and gobbled down tons of meat.
Question - could you do without it, would you be able to eat only vegetables and perhaps dairy products, and then once in a while a couple of eggs mixed into your food? Could you do it?
I know I could, and often I follow this kind of diet in long stretches, feels just fine...
You see, if you are even only slightly concerned about food distribution around the globe, and perhaps world hunger, then you will know about the fact that it takes about ten times more acreage to produce one unit of animal protein compared to growing - let's say beans, or other crops of that nature.
So, all your non-smokers, and diligent which-hunters, could you imagine to be a vegetarian?

Tell ME!!!

I couldn't decide

I couldn't decide if I should cut my wig or stop smoking, or both. So I came here to make a compromise - cut my hair with one of these buzzing machines ... and continue smoking. It was the fourth of July, Independence day here in the US. The Brits got booted then, but they still have a grip on our throats. Colonies never change charisma, and face it, the US is a colony at heart. They never parted properly after the tea-party in Boston was spoiled. Sure, Washington and others did a great deed, the modern formula of Democracy was born, retrieved from a concept that was inaugurated in ancient Greece. Where am I going with this? I actually don't know.
All I know, is that the State of the Union on this 4th of July is still shaky - that Democracy in the general population is still phrased with that "what can I have next?" question - instead of looking at the slogan "how can we share sensibly what we have?"
But fireworks will distract that mission, let us not come to our true senses. And forget the smokes, which oh so insensitively escaped from my cigarette and escaped as whimsical puff into the bedroom of my brothers wife's son. I got reprehended twice for smoking outdoors "close to vicinity" - while the grill was spewing monoxide and other goodies into the air.
I hate nerds, especially on independence day, when all the people of New York State payed a fair price to finally get back into the crown of the statue of Liberty. It is now open again. But climbing stairs just a bit higher leaves no warranty towards freedom. You see, the difference between Democracy and Freedom is such: Democracy is a concept, Freedom is a vision.
On that note, Happy celebrations for Independence Day.

in between fractions

I guess he burnt his heart out, so Michael Jackson made it to be 50 in human years. Pretty good record. And some of his early stuff was brilliant, no matter if you liked his genre or style. You got to give him one thing, he was a sensitive, skillful artist who strived for perfection, both in dance and music. His pedophile charges of recent only reflects on his psychological and physical loneliness, his alteration of skin color and his other bodily changes, a sign of permanent insecurity and maybe also the fact that he had a rare skin disease that would have left him blotchy after the pigments go on a rampage - hence his effort to turn "white". Oh well, I wish I had the ability to whisk out 60 or 70 records and get away with it at 50 in my lifetime. So, bless his soul - he did good timing to die when he did!
John Lennon died with a bullet and Jackson bought all his rights and also the one of the Beatles catalog. Perhaps dancing with the devil only brought Michael a heart attack.
The only one who survived so far is Mick Jagger, he greeted Satan: "Pleased to meet you, don't I know your name???"

Noe for mine Norske venner

Det går en strøm av slitere fra verksted og kontor. I huset venter fruene, å får kjøkkenet som mor. De få som er igjen har kun en chance, og går i heksedans.
De tusen marionetter spreller inn i tusen hjem, med teddybjørn i senga og små ting å vise frem, men ute maner månen uten stans: Kom til heksedans. Lalala ...
Jeg ser en naken kvinne, hennes tro er uten tvil. Hun bærer ingen fane, som et sverd er hennes smil, hun varmes av sin synd og sjette sans - og går i heksedans.
En mann i mørket roper at hans kirke er en skog, at stahet er hans styrke, og at hans våpen er en plog. Han vandrer som en Kristus uten krans, ut i heksedans. Lalala ...
På gullstol sitter biskopen og nører sine bål. Hans himmel er en vakker drøm, hans vilje er som stål, men ute synges sårt om skjebnen hans, i en heksedans.
De følger kun sin egen lov og sår sitt eget frø, mer religiøs enn paven og mer radikal enn rød. De spår en bedre verden med sin glans, fra en heksedans. Lalala ...

__________________________________________________________

Yes, I have been absent for a month. Oh, by the way, press the pause button on the player below before you get too annoyed. That will stop the circus of blasting sound.
The song is from a friend of mine - he recorded it late 70's.
I am not going to translate this whole Norwegian "Heksedans" song for you, but I will translate one line:

A man in darkness shouts out that his church are forest trees,
that stubbornness his only strength and his weapon a plow with ease,
he walks like Christ without the crown of thorns - into a witch-dance breeze...
____________________________________________________________

The creativity at my new job is limited (taking care of war-veterans) in how to cook soggy fish sticks because many of them refuse to wear their dentures, if they have any in the first place. So there is not much to report from that side.
I could tell you hilarious stories of the characters and their behaviorism of those four woman I work with. But general decency, and a certain refusal to blab out personal info into public domain, restricts me from telling the juicy bits.
On my own personal avenue, I gradually and cunningly systematical clean up my work space. Now that I have four days a week to my disposal, I might even get a second wind and start to be creative again -
All is well, but transitions come hard ... at times.

(picture: one of my clients as we celebrated independence day)

Add to my Page

Peace Through Music

The eighth session "Playing for Change" is good. The link is below in case I don't manage to embed this thing. Enjoy!
Playing For Change: http://shar.es/MYQ
...for change

Last frost (I hope) the day before yesterday. Covered my tomatoes, peppers and beans. They all survived.
I am such a "garden-nut" these days. This actually represents my present ways and tranquility, the prime choice of drug, my only salvation. The hardships of keeping a chemical balance, a rescue remedy of mental health - this activity neutralizes the brain, immediately, while digging into the earth (that's a fact) and then speaking to flowers and vegetables alike and so on. You will then notice them prosper and flourish. I wish I had the same ability with humans, dig into their dirt, shaking it loose, and watch those new blossoming buds sprout. There is a long way towards this goal, but I will keep trying. In the mean time the "blogshere" will receive the pulled out weeds, my sarcasm, spite, and the never ending mission to provoke - and sometimes positive things.
You see, without occasional disturbance, we might as well be dead.
Cheers and regards,
Zee (Lukas)

123

...more later

what does it take?

So yeah, I watched a movie last night called "City of Ember". The sun was setting and the light reflected a ghost image on my laptop screen. There I was, together with the actress, common reflections, so I had to take a picture, hence what you see of my monitor on the left is from 12 or so hours ago.

Do you remember the Limerick contest?
I am so sorry that I did not follow up on this one and did not do the "drawings" to choose three winners.
So, in my despair I changed the rules!
Whoever sends me their postal address via e-mail (my e-mail should be on the blogger profile) will receive a hand written postcard with a bit of an illustration, nothing fancy. (personalized)

You'll have a great weekend then!!!!!

From Pigs to Swines

It is an odd sentiment of humans that they often see themselves as a separate entity of the global ecological community. The world is not made like this. Animals, plants and humans live together, they are interconnected.
I will kill ants with a swift punch of my index finger if they dare to come too close to my desk. Honey bees I catch with bare hands and escort them gently out of my studio. Animals who disturb my vegetable garden, I shoot them at blank point; flowers that grow on my lawn, I don't cut grass there and leave those plants to strive. My philosophy is to keep a kind of balance.
When God tossed Adam and Eve out of Paradise, He involuntarily (or voluntarily) gave them the power to destine their future in regards of "life and death". This resulted in this form of "freedom" we now enjoy today...
This freedom is a subtle thing, and this by all means doesn't make us instantly superior to the rest of the living creatures on this globe. We are all co-dependent. As a matter of fact, since we enjoy all this "power" and "freedom", the responsibilities did increase.
The Avian Flue, the Nile Virus, the Mad Cow disease and now the Swine Flue are just responses and products of our own failures. We presently stopped to comprehend and act responsibly in accordance with the laws embedded in nature, all those creations and creatures who are part of our well being in this world.
Does it really surprise you that disease spreads the globe?

He pulled out

After decades on Wall-Street he moved to the countryside and started a small scale farm.
The other day I helped him with odds and ends on the structure of his house yet to be finished in its entirety. The dwelling has an almost perfectly round footprint (twelve facets I believe) and its interior finished tastefully by the former businessman, now turned farmer.
Hopefully I will be allowed to take some more pictures soon, the dwelling is quite stunning really.





As for now, you will have to content with mother-pig and her piglets. They bring good luck! ... at least it is so in the German speaking world.
"Du hast Schwein gehabt" translates to: You had unexpected luck! (literally, you have had "pig").
Have a great and luck-enriched weekend!








(as always - you can enlarge the pigs, uhps ... the pic's by left clicking on them)

Pirates

What are your thoughts about the latest pirate hype? I have mixed feelings. One thing I do not understand and where there is very little info: Where does all the ransom money go to? Does it feed back to the people of Somalia in one way or an other; and then, which people? Everybody is talking about the heroic adventures in the gulf of Aden, nobody explains what lies behind it. Who then is afraid to talk?
It is actually interesting to point out, that until now the people in their speedboats are being called pirates - and not terrorists. Why? The common approach had been always to stamp any agitation as terrorism that goes against the grain of imperialistic capitalism. Why now this sudden change of mind?
__________________________________________________________________
update by Lindsay, a moderate and very knowledgeable person:

Somalia piracy arose after the invasion by Ethiopia (you will recall large-scale backing by the USA for Ethiopia to invade Somali as part of the so called war on terror) leaving the country in a perpetual state of anarchy without effective coastal patrol to quell the rising opportunistic overseas illegal fishing within its coastal waters.

Somali fishermen were able to obtain small-arms and portable rockets left over from the civil war and joined together to attack against these illegal fishing fleets.

Over time that purpose changed completely along with their growing sophistication in armory to finally represent the current piracy and ransom demands directed against ships operating in the nearby busy shipping routes.

Not much is known about the money trail except it would have to be supported by bankers - probably in Africa and Europe.

I doubt if much money materially goes back to the Samalian peoples although presumably the pirates will want to keep various groups ‘on side’ so to speak. But there are reports that most of the money goes back into re equipping the “Mother ships’ which guide the speedboats. - Recent reports estimate refurbishments of over $ 300 Million.

my work

Some of "my residence clients" relaxing. Gradually I am putting together the bits an pieces of their stories when they voluntarily talk about their past. War and it's aftermath broke their bodies and psyche, but not their spirits despite that almost all of them used drugs and alcohol to chase the demons away.
As the individual puzzles form coherent pictures, I will attempt to sketch their individual bios.
This should be interesting!

bending all over?

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Equilibrium

Equilibrium is the basis of Great Work.
Alchemical saying


...I wish I had a bit of that in these turmoil times, but everything moves fast, too fast to catch a glimpse of what is essential. Sometimes I think we live in this big scheme that urges us to catch up, indoctrinates us with that notion that we always are a bit behind.
Why do we subscribe to that foolish thing that time works against us, that I don't know. The essence in my view is to make time, and not just to simply follow time blindly. This way we create a state of equilibrium around us, living in the present. instead of lurking in the past or the future.

No big or large stories today. You all know what is going on, either in your personal life, or the global community.
On my own threshold I do something that could be described as micro-management. What is that? Well, I got my new job taking care of war veterans. That is one aspect. Besides of working 12 hour shifts three times a week, the employment is brilliant. What makes it work so well, is that the staff, the boss and the "resident clients" are wonderful people. So, despite the fact that my pay is a third of what I used to earn, I am content.
And so, as long as I get by somehow and find people who are able to put a smile on my face once in a while, the world and my work is a good place to embrace. Hovering here still around freezing temperatures, but crocuses on the lawn saw the day of light.

The bitching and moaning about politics, the postings of sensual ladies, the updates of real time musical jams, the serious contemplations of environmental issues, poems and such - and don't forget, the mundane, will continue. Don't worry, just stick around.

I wish you all a good week (speaking on Tuesday, my day off)

Music To My Ears

So I finally secured and accepted, committed to - what have you not, a new job.
It is music to my ears!
The people I work with seem to be truthful, dedicated and open to creative input, and so on.
So yes, I am excited.
Their pay is not exuberant, but the schedule is totally fair, so I will still be able to do other things (like music and sculpture) on the side.
Just installed a new rack above the piano in the studio to hang up instruments. We'll see how that goes.
Be well all. Beware, my posts will become sluggish in the near future, sentiments will focus on personal things at hand and not this blog (unless I get whiled up and feel the urge to talk anyway...).
Will still visit my favorite blogs now and then, don't worry!
Cheers, Zee.

Limerick contest

An investor at Wall Street, New York
ate his pork with a knife and a fork
when stocks went a tumbling
he started some fumbling
and killed himself just like a dork

(just a silly example of mine. you'll do better)


Basically five lines. Lines three and four are shorter, constructed of two anapests each and again rhyming with each other. Thus, the overall rhyme structure of a, a, b, b, a, with the beat pattern

a:da-da-daah da-da-daah da-da-daah
b:da-da-daah da-da-daah

------------------------------------------------------
The three winners (randomly picked) will receive a hand-painted simple postcard on quality watercolor paper.



cart in disarray in Vinalhaven Maine

musings

The Loon

by James Tate

A loon woke me this morning. It was like waking up in another world. I had no idea what was expected of me. I waited for instructions. Someone called and asked me if I wanted a free trip to Florida. I said, "Sure. Can I go today?" A man in a uniform picked me up in a limousine, and the next thing I know I'm being chased by an alligator across a parking lot. A crowd gathers and cheers me on. Of course, none of this really happened. I'm still sleeping. I don't want to go to work. I want to know what the loon is saying. It sounds like ecstasy tinged with unfathomable terror. One thing is certain: at least they are not speaking of tax shelters. The phone rings. It's my boss. She says, "Where are you?" I say, "I don't know. I don't recognize my surroundings. I think I've been kidnapped. If they make demands of you, don't give in. That's my professional advice." Just then, the loon let out a tremendous looping, soaring, swirling, quadruple whoop. "My god, are you alright?" my boss said. "In case we do not meet again, I want you to know that I've always loved you, Agnes," I said. "What?" she said.
"What are you saying?" "Good-bye, my darling. Try to remember me
as your ever loyal servant," I said. "Did you say you loved
me?" she said. I said, "Yes," and hung up. I tried
to go back to sleep, but the idea of being kidnapped had me
quite worked up. I looked in the mirror for signs of torture.
Every time the loon cried, I screamed and contorted my face
in agony. They were going to cut off my head and place it on
a stake. I overheard them talking. They seemed like very
reasonable men, even, one might say, likeable.

"The Loon" by James Tate from Return to the City of White Donkeys. © Ecco Press, 2004.

smoke

I am always amazed and startled when I see posts or signs like this, like this one planted at the ferry-terminal in Vinalhaven Maine. We can do things, then we can't. We can move forward but first have to take steps backward before moving on. We create music, and only then we learn to listen. We aim for "green-solutions" - but toxins will forever haunt us, nevertheless - solutions come, solutions fade. We have a chance today. Smoke is not the way I'll say, no cigarettes, nor SUV's, not even the unregulated factories. No aftershave on a bald shaven chin, no wasted fried oil from old "Burger King".
"Old MacDonald had a farm - hiah, hiha hoohh". And on this farm were piglets new, hiah, hiah how...
And oh my Lord, one of them, one of them is you...
So what are you gonna do, just stand by, push the pause button on the remote?

What we need to emote, is more enthusiasm for creative solutions today. Participation highly recommended. You think my liturgy is a blobbing blab of nonsense. Fair enough, your hesitation to respond is understandable. But do you really care?
SMOKE is not the evaporating puff of a cigarette when standing on a forlorn corner anymore, smoke is the demon in your head because you don't know where to go in the first place.
It was never physical yesterday, it became metaphysical nowadays!
The pollution of our planet is not due to smokers, but instead fostered, executed and delivered by the greed of leeches such as bankers, lawyers and insurance folks. Those are the true culprits of "smoking" our assets away, while the politicians smile and support their ways.
I find this depressing - where is my medication?
Perhaps I'll have a cigarette...

So vomit then

Stop looking at my repulsive graphics
my maps and charts - from where the world is ruled
it means little, since we all have become acquainted and still seem to know little at all
the fall is not the gesture but the pinch, the last little twitch that kills the head of a tick
maybe that is the rescue, the remedy - it could be seen that way
that we eliminate the itch by twisting heads, some might snap
what's all about that, persuasion was never gentle, so breathe
and find little issues that bridge the gap, you know - that gap.

best blow-job so far in the 21st century

Ministers from the G20 group of rich and emerging countries are to meet in England amid growing rifts over how to tackle the worst downturn in decades.
The ministers, joined by central bankers, are to discuss stimulating their economies out of recession.
Since when do the rich care about the poor, unless there are substantial personal gains to be made. The representatives of the G20 are just such a bunch, a horde of fat old guys who demise equality and love self-serving enrichment on the backs and shoulders of us all. But you know, the bright side of this recession is that common folks will stick together more than ever. No blow job by cooperate gangsters will turn that course. I am mighty tired to hear the words over and over again about "injection", "stimulation" and "erection", may it be about the economy or other issues. Time is here to create, not to stimulate or erect...
If you thought this was funny, it is not. I am dead serious.

wuff

Bettina started this folly and then Sera followed suit. Now it's my turn.
Use a random pic from Flicker as image - a random entry from Wikipedia as band name - a random quote as title, paste it all together.
And voila, you get yourself a CD cover. All that is now missing are the songs ... we'll work on that! the "get together" with Bernd was actually fun, revived some old songs where the lyrics were half lost; what a dilemma - improvise!
Oh, "uppland county" is the area north of Stockholm, now called Uppsala. Can't remember what "all his friends hate him" quote was all about in the random quote search. Despite Sera's cheers, who's CD cover design was actually great, I still am discontent with mine. I guess this is true designer desease, a virus out of control. So I will go back to the "drawing-board" and update that sleeve, just give me a minute...

re-inventing the wheel

It is of course possible to fix my rusty wheel-wells with Bondo or some kind of other epoxy based smear that plugs into rusty holes. Trouble is, it will only last a year or two. After that, the culprit will reacquire. Rust wins, no matter what, unless you galvanize your assets.
Same applies to the present economy, no "smear" or stimulus will prevent decay. We have to be more inventive than that. Maybe even go to the place where we re-invent the wheel

UV light rising

We "spring" forward each year, for about an hour
it just happened to be so yesterday night
and on my flight to see more light
I am confused by the change
a gray bureaucrat pushed into place.

Time is determined by the sun, a real revelation
the equinox of spring and fall, nature's breath
so who are we to make the call of change
and switch the blades of time
just for the fun to screw up our own mind.

The political arena is a Zoo, includes Obama too
no one has a clue what to do, and you just faint
by the imagery of collapsing ailing coasters
all the card houses that were temporary,
never ment to withstand Katrina's storm or a saint.

Well spring is near, and times do change by the hour
instead of forwarding my watch, compromising such
I will take that time that does remain
by planting a garden, sowing seeds
and after that, I do not aspire much,
we'll just have to wait an see what actually will happen
and then reverse our thinking, depending on our needs.___________________________________________________________________________
the pictures: snow is melting, spring is around the corner, the neglected silo and the neglected chair cry for something, maybe "spring rejuvenation"

side view

Nato ministers agree to resume formal ties with Russia, with a call to tackle the challenge of Afghanistan. (BBC news)

This is ironic, "tackle Afghanistan" - what a blast. Didn't the ten year USSR occupation trigger the sponsorship of the Mujaheddin by the US (aka the freedom fighters with the name Osama Bin Laden attached to it?) And now the Brits (oh yeah Nato) wish to regain territory, all the precious poppy-fields, the narcotics, the borders they had clustered in that region during the 1800's, trying then to establish capitoned countries of some kind which would come to haunt them now, more than two hundred years later?
If I would be doped with soccer, the Liverpool legends, the crying fields of the common man, the dose they drug you with to be silenced, the poppies that never bloomed in England... I'll be darned to have to carry that inheritance.

Two airlines in South Korea are to re-route flights after North Korea said it could no longer guarantee their safety.The North's threat follows its warnings that a US-South Korean military exercise due to take place next week, could trigger a military clash. (also BBC)

So what's the issue? After Iraq, the South Korean peninsula has the largest deployment of US troops abroad. If they do want to do exercise some funky military actions there, don't be surprised that the North Korean regime starts to be ancy.

traveling sculpture class

All right then, here is an counter idea and also a response to the worn-out educational system, may it be "private" or state endorsed.
Two years ago I was still able to attract 12 students to pay $500 Dollars to attend a seminar for a week, excluding food and overnight stay. That was extra at the College I taught.
Yes, why don't we shift the gears around and drop the cozy cushion that colleges can provide. What if I would offer instead a $300 Dollar a week course and people can congregate and learn from each other without institutional limitations. Now, this thing would be set up like this:

1. Create a changing environment, different locations
2. Start with just a one or a two week course during the summer in 2009/2010
3. Make the "location" the theme
4. For practical purposes, it could be in Vinalhaven, Maine - for stone carving. My own studio for woodcarving, Amherst Massachusetts for clay-modeling and painting, and so on... There are even possibilities on the West Coast, or even in Europe. Dream it up, and I will consider all possible avenues.

The grand plan is to create a "traveling-school" that is affordable, unique and sensitive to its physical location, may it be urban, country, island ... or whatever else. I am grateful for your feedback, post your suggestions.
Thanks!

school demises and other collapses

Like these seals, we all were floating on some kind of rigs during the 90's, not clearly knowing the extend of our confinement and the rigid posts we were still tied to invisibly. All we did then was to consume what was given to us without asking pivotal questions of how our life purpose could extend beyond the parameters of a crowded pier.
Human society has in many respects a disadvantage when you compare them to animal-world. Animals are happy when they find their prey, get fed, lurk around and mate. Humans have made their own life miserable by adding a component of "consciousness" to the multiple pallet of existence. This dwells in the background of every move we make. Some of us even strive to reach enlightenment despite all odds, may it be through meditation, a change of life-style, a focused orientation on a path towards compassion, or even an enhanced understanding of all the wonders and secrets to this very nature that surrounds us. However, this "human urge" to find clarity and "consciousness" is both a blessing and a curse. How many of you would't like to take Solomon's sword and see the tied knotted riddle cut in half, thereby exposing the truth of the matter... and solve it?

In respect to Waldorf Schools, and perhaps also the so called other independent organizations in the educational sector, this time we live in represents a wake up call.
As you all know, civic human life is categorized/organized into three main sectors, law, free spiritual activities (for example education/ arts) and economics. It is so, even if you don't comprehend or acknowledge the issue, it really still remains a reality and will exist no matter if you want to see it or not. These three categories need to function independently from each other, thrive autonomous, otherwise there will be even more trouble on the horizon in the future if continued "prostitution" across floating platforms breach boarders and are indiscriminately allowed to blackmail each other. Today we see this happening all the time. Politicians are the lackeys and servants of economic/corporate interests who dictate the lawmakers to create laws in their favor, politicians dictate the rules of how schools should run their programs, streamlining people to be part of the project - and the "free" spiritual life of schools have no say in it. So the three ideals of equality in the "rights sphere", liberty in the "economic sphere" and freedom in the "spiritual sphere" have been severely compromised. Unless we untangle consciously the dependency from one to the other, our lives will be ruled by the very few, those who could care less about equality, liberty and freedom in the first place and only strive to promote personal gain, their own personal agenda.
To view this in a more practical manner, the demise or "downfall" of Waldorf or any other private school with a mission is simple. They give in into the illusion that diversity will create more enrollment by scrapping the foundations they originally stood for. As an example I name Sunbridge College, the institution I worked for over ten years. For the last five years they have striven to schmooze with the state of New York, spend horrendous amounts of money to be compliant, including a person who's sole function was to run around campus smiling, and meeting with state officials now and then. That position was $65,000 or so, wasted cash that could have been spend on improving educational programs. This is just one example. It all went sour thereafter because you can't just "schmooze" the system, that is a illusion only acceptable to a con-man.
Same thing is presently happening in front of my own eyes, at the school where my wife works. Low enrollment, and as a result substantial cuts in programs. Bad choice. In the crisis we experience right now, the emphasis should not be on cutting, but strengthening the things we already have in place, enhance the "product" at hand, if you wish to put it that way. The technique of bowing down to unknown entities that might or might not be helpful are a waste of time and resources. There is no bail-out package available for schools that are truly free spirited. That would be against the very grain of what the establishment stands for. Independent thoughts and an education towards a liberated and free mind was always a thorn in the eye of the political, and mostly the economic apparatus, no matter if it happened in the east, west or at a somewhere altogether different location.
So the survival kit I propose, is that educational institutions (who rightfully belong to the sphere of free spiritual activity) reorganize and focus their mission on grounds they once cherished when they started, invigorate the impulse that inspired them to begin with and then rejuvenate the life-seed that was planted in the past. Only then, by focusing on your original mission, without watering down what you have to offer, only then you will have a chance of survival in our trying times. (this sounds almost "religious" I know, but I did not place it that way...)
One positive aspect of this present recession/depression is, that all of us have to reinvent ourselves, dig deep into the coffers that we carried around, unopened for years, find that little genius tucked away, like the genie of the fairy tale who needed to escape the confinements of the bottle. By raking through these assets, a crisis can turn around and become an opportunity to lift our very life existence to new levels of being. May YOU be on your way!