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!

the demise of Waldorf Schools

Waldorf Schools mean very well, but they are presently in a constant battle of survival. Being the largest world wide entity of private education globaly, surpassing Montessori and such educational streams, it is a burden, if not challenge, to stay true to their initial cause.

... more to follow on this subject, too tired tonight, will go to bed and catch up in the following days and will elaborate on this issue when "fully there". Just came back from California yesterday, so you will have to excuse my jet-lag...

Pictures are gardening projects for middle-school students and a straw-bail house building that houses both gardening and clay-modeling/woodcarving programs in the East Bay Waldorf School. While I was there I designed a logo and started to carve a street sign with such, a start - but it has to be finished by the resident woodwork teacher John, carved meticulously and placed at the entrance. OK, more later.

California calling

Of course I was disappointed. "California Dreaming" from the Mama's and Papa's was still ringing in my head when I landed in San Francisco.
What then met me was torrential rains, mist, chilly temperatures and general ghastliness.
"It never rains in Southern California" was an other pop song on my mind, but heck, it never materialized in the north; they need water there though, urgently. I stopped complaining when I heard that and savored the rain instead as best as I could.
The college course in clay modeling went well as far as I can tell. It was good to meet people who are enthusiastic and open minded, and that is how they were...









The pictures: Some random people on the cable car in San Francisco, one of the Rudolf Steiner College buildings in Fair Oaks, Sacramento - two buildings from "the hood" in West-Oakland, a mostly black neighborhood where I am staying for my last three days in Cali. The rest are random picks, ending with that fisherman, preparing his gear on a bridge crossing the American river in Sacramento.

reflections

I don't want to sound mean, but I got a call today to step in for someone (clay modeling) who could not make it. So I am flying to California on Saturday, after I have done adequate preparations. There is no money per say "in for me" at all, but it is all about networking and such.... So in essence don't expect me to post much for a week or so from now on. I'll be busy getting my seven senses together, and this will be a task in itself.
As for the reflections on my driveway (the picture) I am pondering loosely about the spring to come, and the joy it will bring. So, in this spirit, I will beg you to be patient, until I return home safely again, before that time I will only sparesly respond to the comments of your fabulous thoughts.
Be well, be strong - Lukas (Zee)

The right to die

Eluana Englaro, the Italian woman at the center of a right-to-die debate, has died. She was in an incurable coma since 1992 due to a car accident. She died because they finally pulled out all the tubes, wires and other animosities to keep her artificially alive in a vegetative state.
The Vatican, which had described the decision to let Englaro die as "abominable", asked for God's forgiveness for those who are responsible.
"May the Lord welcome her and forgive those who led her there (to her death)," the Vatican health minister Javier Lozano Barragan told the press.
Well, the question for me is, how long do you let someone dangle
between heaven and earth. Don't we all have a right to die ... eventually?

more on "stimulus"

response to move on dot org

To Noah T. Winer - at MoveOn.org (open letter)

It isn't that easy.
The stimulus packages propel the same old, same old avenues, the ones which got us into trouble in the first place. Obama means well, and I voted for him. But when I glance through the glory, he is just an other politician, someone who has to play by the rules of the system.
The aching economy can not be solved by injections, same as the inability of Viagra to support true love - just an other "hard on" that will limp eventually. The conservatives instinct themselves what to do, so do the liberals. Both have been selected (elected) to be the keeper of the house, the dorm that we, the people, inhabit.
We have to become much more radical than just "move-on". Time is near when the whole narcissistic system of greed and Darwin's capitalism of survival of the fittest will collapse. No "stimulus" or "hard-on" will halt that path.
Well, the solution is pretty easy. Rely less on centralized "father" and "mother" figures - like Obama... and instead grow local independence from Washington (in the case of the USA). This sounds like I am a Libertarian, but I am not. What I do though have in common with their views, is that centralized economics and power-politics drive society into complete dependence by large cooperation's and political parties.
So no, I will not donate $25 for an advertisement that will support a "stimulus-package". I believe I will buy seeds instead for that amount of money and plant more vegetables for the next season to come.

Regards, Lukas


___________________________________________________________________________________
On Wed, Feb 4, 2009 at 1:58 PM, Noah T. Winer, MoveOn.org Political Action wrote:

Conservatives are playing politics with Obama's stimulus plan while Americans suffer. Can you write a letter to the editor about the real cost of inaction?
Write a letter
Dear MoveOn member,
President Obama's economic stimulus plan is in trouble. Conservative talking points are dominating the media's coverage and there's lots of misinformation around. Here are a few things you may not have heard about it:
1) This is a very, very good bill. As The Nation writes, "If enacted, the economic recovery plan will be one of the biggest and boldest pieces of progressive legislation in the past forty years."1
Here are some facts about what the bill really does:
* Creates or saves 3 million to 4 million jobs in the next two years.
* Averts "literally hundreds of thousands of teacher layoffs"—and doubles funding for the Department of Education.
* Creates 500,000 green jobs and doubles our clean energy production.4
* Immediately helps unemployed folks get affordable health insurance.5
Some folks are arguing that it should be bigger, and they're probably right, but this is the best down payment on economic recovery we have seen, and it needs to be passed.
2) The stuff that's being singled out for criticism amounts to a tiny fraction of the bill—like anti-smoking programs that make up less than one-ten-thousandth of the spending.6 They would have you believe this is the centerpiece of the bill. It is not. This kind of nit-picking is pure politics.
3) If it doesn't pass, we're in deep trouble. Even John McCain's economic adviser estimates that without the stimulus, unemployment would top 11% by 2010, the highest level since the Great Depression.7
____________________________________________________________________________
my comment:
If it doesn't pass, we will not be in deeper trouble than we already are. The so called "stimulus package" included provisions to encourage to buy American goods. Now that's a funny joke indeed. All we have here is Chinese t-shirts and cheap underwear, BMW's and VW's made in Germany and assembled in Mexico and Taiwan, oil from the Saudi's, telephone help for product info on computers from India... and peanuts from Georgia. What's left? Seriously, what is left? Bye bye buy! There is nothing left to buy "American" anymore besides steel and corn. Levis sold out a while ago, and all the rest of them corporates followed suit. No more American pants to pet your legs, no more American Colgate to brush your teeth, no more Marlboro's to make them teeth dirty again. They are all gone ... overseas. All they do here is keep their patented name in the USA. Gloria, hallelujah.

Uruguay calling

This is really rough, just one take, harmonica ok, my voice just dry and improvised on the spot - oh well...
There is a friend of mine in Uruguay - REVERB who builds the most awesome surf-boards, but he also plays music, a bit more upbeat than the famous surfer kid Jack Johnson and his "On and on..." albums. Don't be taken aback, I actually like some of Jack Johnson's tunes, really!

The picture is from a top of a mountain in Hawks Bay NZ, particularly posted for Aggie, since she doesn't get turned on by naked woman (maybe man), but she might also get aroused by barren hills, naked and eaten away by imported British sheep. It is too bad that 90% of New Z's indigenous forest got chopped away for mammals that go "BAAAEEEH" for two legged creatures who go "maaaeeehh".
Sorry, no nudes today, only the naked truth.

It works

It is still in an experimental league, this song... but most of the technical kinks have been sorted out. Peter and I took some time to get over these hurdles, now we can do multitrack recordings from whoever wishes to participate on this globe. It is fairly easy to contribute from wherever you are, and if you need help with it, we will "walk" you through.
There is a friend of mine from Paraguay - he plays some mean Rock'n Roll ... and he is interested! (he is also a fantastic surf-board builder). So watch out, there might be surprises coming down the "pipeline".
If you wish to participate in a project, or you happened to know someone who would - please let me know, OK?!
(PS. On G-cast, the embedded player, I can NOT delete old uploads. Sorry for the inconvenience of having several versions of same old, same old. Just stop the player with that pause button or search "posts" for a completely other tune, I would suggest "Valley Below". Thanks)

son of a ....

I just realized that my latest postings tended to become more and more negative and depressing. My apologies, it was never my intention to drag you down!

But the fumes of poison still surrounds us, the outcome inevitable.
I might not experience or see the next dawn,
though I am fairly clear that I will be witnessing the break-down
before the dust settles.
The Lazarus tree was never there,
it was always a song in the air
and the birds chanting so fair
are just a melody.

OK, I will post sexy maidens, pictures of beauty, other nature lovers delights - from now on, for a while
until I grow tired and old of living a lie.

Davos

... and the greedy 2% of the world population who don't give a shit and still smile on the verge of collapse of the global economy whilst raking in gorgeous profits as we common folks just stumble along, barely...
That is what it is all about at the G-9 conference. Are there more than nine "G"'s right now, in Davos Switzerland? So the theme on the invitation is:

How can we suck the last morsel out of every ordinary sucker and exploit them until they all drop dead.
Question is, what will happen with those infamous smiling guys from these meetings once thereafter, at a time, when there is no one else left .... to exploit. What will they do?
Or is exploitation a repetitive theme - forever, on this earth?
As I said previously, send those suckers up to the moon. They can have their own party there. Maybe we even supply them with a few containers of air. Once the oxygen runs out, the party will be over; last waltz for them.