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Post by SeattleDan on Jan 12, 2007 0:06:35 GMT -5
J*, thanks for the heads-up on Olbermann. Why that man is not being waterboarded in Gitmo as I speak, I can only say is due to the liberal spirit that belongs to that military genius who is our Commander-in-Chief.
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Post by hartlikeawheel on Jan 12, 2007 2:08:18 GMT -5
"What a long, strange trip this has been."
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Post by hartlikeawheel on Jan 12, 2007 2:36:24 GMT -5
Thanks, BL, for your "Ain't no Sunshine" parody. You scan very nicely!
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Post by booklady on Feb 19, 2007 21:13:32 GMT -5
"Please Don't Go Topless, Mother" - written by Ron Hellard. Performed by Troy Hess.
Mother dear, I know you must work though the job you got is really not the answer I'm so ashamed to be the only guy in my gang whose mother is a topless Go-Go dancer
Oh, please don't go topless, Mother. I hate to be quite so blunt. The kids all laugh but I don't cry You're not the only one who's putting up a front.
Oh, please don't go topless, Mother But I just can not tell a lie You're ruining your reputation and I can give you two big reasons why.
Please don't go topless, Mother Even though it buys me clothes to wear I'd rather wear old rags, Mother You've got a burden you shouldn't have to bear.
[talks] Oh, please don't go topless, Mother. Little friends won't come to see me (but their Daddy's do) I'll shine shoes, I'll collect pop bottles anything to help out. Then we'll go off together and start over with no shame for the people to talk about.
Oh, please don't go topless, Mother. I hate to be quite so blunt. The kids all laugh but I don't cry You're not the only one who's putting up a front.
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Post by joew on Feb 19, 2007 23:23:28 GMT -5
bl's in shock from the fasting!
Give her some meat: unscramble her brain. Give her some wine: bring her back again.
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Post by slb2 on Feb 19, 2007 23:39:11 GMT -5
With apologies to Bill Withers: Ain't no CHATTER here no more Brit's not comin' here to play. Ain't no CHATTER here no more And no one comes round to talk Any time, night or day. Decider wants to send more troops. Seems J-star'd have somethin' to say. But she's not arguin' indignantly And neither's Joe or rmn who might Feel a different way. slb's off writing for dollars Brutus' been around but not that much And who know what ole Mike's been doin' Cuz he also ain't been Keepin' in touch. And I know, I know, I know, I know, I know I know, I know, I know, I know, I know I know, I know, I know, I know, I know I know, I know I know, I know, I know Hey, I oughta leave the dang place alone And grade those papers while you're all gone. And it's not fun when you're away. Ain't no CHATTER here no more And this place don't seem like home Anytime you're all away. Oh, man, booksie, I just read this. It's fantastic! Love the song by Bill Withers and love the way you let loose on it, too. I'm trying to remember who sang it that I loved so much. Definitely NOT when it came out somewhat recently on that movie with Hugh Grant or hmmm, I can't remember his name, but he's got these puppy dog eyes and el-yuck-o, I do not care for his personna. But the movie, the name of that movie is something like Rothschild's Blues or some weird name like that. Ace had the soundtrack on loan from the library and Ain't No Sunshine was playing one day in the car. Cripes, I'm rambling. I love that song.
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Post by Trusty on Feb 20, 2007 9:21:15 GMT -5
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Post by slb2 on Feb 20, 2007 11:07:38 GMT -5
Ooo, trusty, you sure know how to please a woman. ;D
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Post by slb2 on Feb 26, 2007 10:58:11 GMT -5
Use Me by Bill Withers (damn, if he isn't growing on me!)
My friends feel it's their appointed duty They keep trying to tell me all you want to do is use me But my answer yeah to all that use me stuff Is I wanna spread the news that if it feels this good getting used Oh you just keep on using me until you use me up Until you use me up My brother sit me right down and he talked to me He told me that I ought not to let you just walk on me And I'm sure he meant well yeah but when our talk was through I said brother if you only knew you'd wish that you were in my shoes You just keep on using me until you use me up Until you use me up Oh sometimes yeah it's true you really do abuse me You get in a crowd of high class people and then you act real rude to me But oh baby baby baby baby when you love me I can't get enough I and I wanna spread the news that if it feels this good getting used Oh you just keep on using me until you use me up Until you use me up Talking about you using me but it all depends on what you do It ain't too bad the way you're using me Cause I sure am using you to do the things you do Ah ha to do the things you do
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Post by juliastar on Feb 26, 2007 19:50:21 GMT -5
I don't know who Bill Withers is or how the song goes, but the lyrics are nice. It's kind of funny, no one has ever sat me down with that advice before. It kind of reminds me of the opposite problem, one C.S. Lewis noted in his last book of The Chronicles of Narnia. I play with the image in my next chapter if I survive the first round on Gather:
Edmond and Lucy have met up with Eustace and Tirian they are catching up on the news of what has happened since they last were together. From The Last Battle:
"And after that," said Edmund, "came about a dozen Dwarfs: and then Jill and Eustace, and last of all yourself."
"I hope Tash ate the Dwarfs too," said Eustace. "Little swine."
"No, he didn't," said Lucy. "And don't be horrid. They're still here. In fact you can see them from here. And I've tried and tried to make friends with them but it's no use."
"Friends with them! cried Eustace. "If you knew how those Dwarfs have been behaving!"
"Oh stop it, Eustace," said Lucy. "Do come and see them, King Tirian, perhaps you could do something with them."
"I can feel no great love for Dwarfs today," said Tirian. "Yet at your asking, Lady, I would do a greater thing than this."
Lucy led the way and soon they could all see the Dwarfs. They had a very odd look. They weren't strolling about or enjoying themselves (although the cords with which they had been tied seemed to have vanished) nor were they lying down and having a rest. They were sitting very close together in a little circle facing one another. They never looked round or took any notice of the humans till Lucy and Tirian were almost near enough to touch them. Then the Dwarfs all cocked their heads as if they couldn't see anyone but were listening hard and trying to guess by the sound what was happening.
"Look out!" said one of them in a surly voice. "Mind where you're going. Don't walk into our faces!"
"All right!" Said Eustace indignantly. "We're not blind. We've got eyes in our heads."
"They must be darn good ones if you can see in here," said the same Dwarf whose name was Diggle.
"In where?" asked Edmund.
"Why you bone-head, in here of course," said Diggle. "In this pitch-black, poky, smelly little hole of a stable."
"Are you blind?" said Tirian.
"Ain't we all blind in the dark!" said Diggle.
"But it isn't dark, you poor stupid Dwarfs," said Lucy. "Can't you see? Look up! Look around! Can't you see the sky and the trees and the flowers? Can't you see me?"
"How in the name of all Humbug can I see what ain't there? And how can I see you any more than you can see me in this pitch darkness?"
"But I can see you," said Lucy. "I'll prove I can see you. You've got a pipe in your mouth."
"Anyone that knows the smell of baccy could tell that," said Diggle.
"Oh the poor things! This is dreadful," said Lucy. Then she had an idea. She stooped and picked some wild violets. "Listen, Dwarf," she said. "Even if your eyes are wrong, perhaps your nose is all right: can you smell that?" She leaned across and held the fresh, damp flowers to Diggle's ugly nose. But she had to jump back quickly in order to avoid a blow from his hard little fist.
"None of that!" he shouted. "How dare you! What do you mean shoving a lot of filthy stable-litter in my face? There was a thistle in it too. It's like your sauce! and who are you, anyway?"
"Earth-man," said Tirian, "she is the Queen Lucy, sent hither by Aslan out of the deep past. And it is for her sake alone that I, Tirian your lawful King, do not cut all your heads from your shoulders, proved and twice-proved traitors that you are."
"Well if that doesn't beat everything!" exclaimed Diggle. "How can you go on talking all that rot? Your wonderful Lion didn't come and help you, did he? Thought not. And now -- even now -- when you've been beaten and shoved into this black hole, just the same as the rest of us you're still at your old game. Starting a new lie! Trying to make us believe we're none of us shut up, and it ain't dark, and heaven knows what."
"There is no black hole, save in your own fancy, fool," cried Tririan. "Come out of it." And leaning forward, he caught Diggle by the belt and the hood and swung him right out of the circle of Dwarfs. But the moment Tirian put him down, Diggle darted back to his place among the others, rubbing his nose and howling:
"Ow! Ow! What d'you do that for! Banging my face against the wall. You've nearly broken my nose."
"Oh dear!" said Lucy. "What are we to do for them?"
"Let 'em alone," said Eustace: but as he spoke the earth trembled. The sweet air grew suddenly sweeter. A brightness flashed behind them. All turned. Tirian turned last because he was afraid. There stood his heart's desire, huge and real, the golden Lion, Aslan himself, and already the others were kneeling in a circle round his forepaws and burying thieir hands and faces in his mane as he stooped his great head to touch them with his tongue. Then he fixed his eyes on Tirian, and Tirian came near, trembling, and flung himself at the Lion's feet, and the Lion kissed him and said, "Well done, last of the Kings of Narnia who stood firm at the darkest hour."
"Aslan," said Lucy through her tears, "could you -- will you -- do something for these poor Dwarfs?"
"Dearest," said Aslan, "I will show you both what I can, and what I cannot, do." He came close to the Dwarfs and gave a low growl: low, but it set all the air shaking. But the Dwarfs said to one another, "Hear that? That's the gang at the other end of the stable. Trying to frighten us. They do it with a machine of some kind. Don't take any notice. They won't take us in again!"
Aslan raised his head and shook his mane. Instantly a glorious feast appeared on the Dwarf's knees: pies and tongues and pigeons and trifles and ices, and each Dwarf had a goblet of good wine in his right hand. But it wasn't much use. They began eating and drinking greedily enough, but it was clear that they couldn't taste it properly. They thought they were eating and drinking only the sort of things you might find in a stable. One said he was trying to eat hay and another said he had got a bit of an old turnip and a third said he'd found a raw cabbage leaf. And they raised golden goblets of rich red wine to their lips and said "Ugh! Fancy drinking dirty water out of a trough that a donkey's been at! Never thought we'd come to this." But very soon every Dwarf began suspecting that ever other Dwarf had found something nicer than he had, and they started grabbing and snatching, and went on quarreling, till in a few minutes there was a free fight and all the good food was smeared on their faces and clothes or trodden under foot. But when at last they sat down to nurse their black eyes and their bleeding noses, they all said:
"Well, at any rate there's no Humbug here. We haven't let anyone take us in. The Dwarfs are for the Dwarfs."
"You see," said Aslan. "They will not let us help them. They have chosen cunning instead of belief. Their prison is only in their own minds, yet they are in that prison; and so afraid of being taken in that they cannot be taken out."
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Post by liriodendron on Feb 26, 2007 21:01:59 GMT -5
I don't know who Bill Withers is or how the song goes, but the lyrics are nice. Somewhere in my basement, I believe, Bill Withers lurks on vinyl.
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Post by slb2 on Feb 26, 2007 22:32:10 GMT -5
C'mon. Bill Withers? Lean on Me...Ain't No Sunshine When She's Gone...Use Me
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Post by juliastar on Feb 26, 2007 23:08:57 GMT -5
C'mon. Bill Withers? Lean on Me...Ain't No Sunshine When She's Gone...Use Me I've heard of the first two, of course, but you lost me on Use Me and I don't think the versions I'm familiar with are Bill Withers. Great songs though, you're right.
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Post by booklady on Mar 7, 2007 16:59:06 GMT -5
These lyrics make me think of a few things I've read here recently.
What Good Am I? (B.D. 1989)
What good am I if I'm like all the rest, If I just turned away, when I see how you're dressed, If I shut myself off so I can't hear you cry, What good am I?
What good am I if I know and don't do, If I see and don't say, if I look right through you, If I turn a deaf ear to the thunderin' sky, What good am I?
What good am I while you softly weep And I hear in my head what you say in your sleep, And I freeze in the moment like the rest who don't try, What good am I?
What good am I then to others and me If I've had every chance and yet still fail to see Bridge: If my hands tied must I not wonder within Who tied them and why and where must I have been
What good am I if I say foolish things And I laugh in the face of what sorrow brings And I just turn my back while you silently die, What good am I?
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Post by gailkate on Mar 8, 2007 10:15:50 GMT -5
Good grief, is that Dylan? I hate it. I want to say "what good, indeed?" and push him into a dumpster.
Not that I care.
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Post by booklady on Mar 8, 2007 19:42:59 GMT -5
I'm surprised at your reaction, Gail. To me these lines are a call to compassionate activism. Or as St. James said, "faith without works is dead." Do you hate the lines because they are syrupy and trite? Or am I misreading them?
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Post by gailkate on Mar 9, 2007 0:07:25 GMT -5
I'm very sorry, BL. I read it literally, that he's saying he is guilty of all that careless self-centeredness. (I told you I get just the teensiest bit depressed sometimes. )
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Post by booklady on Mar 9, 2007 5:37:30 GMT -5
I read this later last night and it made me think of those lines:
"Another major ethical quation that arises in these discussions [Bioethics], and rightfully so, is the issue of access to care. This is particularly vexing in the United States, where at this writing more than 40 million of its citizens lack health insurance coverage. Of all the developed nations in the world, we in the United States seem most able to turn our heads and look away from this failure of moral responsibility."
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Post by juliastar on Mar 10, 2007 7:01:42 GMT -5
I thought I had everything Leonard Cohen had written but I discovered a few this past week that I hadn't heard before. This one is from a CD I just purchased, Perla Batalla, Bird on a Wire/the songs of Leonard Cohen. Batalla is a Canadian singer/songwriter who sang back up with Cohen.
The following, "Ballad Of The Absent Mare," blows me away. It is a fast walz, with an accordion that gives it a melancholy French feel. It is sung as a duet with David Hidalgo and the way the parts solo and come together in places is very nicely done.
BALLAD OF THE ABSENT MARE
Say a prayer for the cowboy His mare's run away And he'll walk til he finds her His darling, his stray but the river's in flood and the roads are awash and the bridges break up in the panic of loss. And there's nothing to follow There's nowhere to go She's gone like the summer gone like the snow And the crickets are breaking his heart with their song as the day caves in and the night is all wrong
Did he dream, was it she who went galloping past and bent down the fern broke open the grass and printed the mud with the iron and the gold that he nailed to her feet when he was the lord
And although she goes grazing a minute away he tracks her all night he tracks her all day Oh blind to her presence except to compare his injury here with her punishment there
Then at home on a branch in the highest tree a songbird sings out so suddenly Ah the sun is warm and the soft winds ride on the willow trees by the river side
Oh the world is sweet the world is wide and she's there where the light and the darkness divide and the steam's coming off her she's huge and she's shy and she steps on the moon when she paws at the sky
And she comes to his hand but she's not really tame She longs to be lost he longs for the same and she'll bolt and she'll plunge through the first open pass to roll and to feed in the sweet mountain grass
Or she'll make a break for the high plateau where there's nothing above and there's nothing below and it's time for the burden it's time for the whip Will she walk through the flame Can he shoot from the hip
So he binds himself to the galloping mare and she binds herself to the rider there and there is no space but there's left and right and there is no time but there's day and night
And he leans on her neck and he whispers low "Whither thou goest I will go" And they turn as one and they head for the plain No need for the whip Ah, no need for the rein
Now the clasp of this union who fastens it tight? Who snaps it asunder the very next night Some say the rider Some say the mare Or that love's like the smoke beyond all repair
But my darling says "Leonard, just let it go by That old silhouette on the great western sky" So I pick out a tune and they move right along and they're gone like the smoke and they're gone like this song.
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Post by booklady on Mar 10, 2007 7:22:46 GMT -5
With David Hidalgo of Los Lobos?! Great! Those are beautiful lyrics, and I'd love to hear the song.
Julia*, did you see the movie about Leonard Cohen?
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Post by juliastar on Mar 10, 2007 11:46:50 GMT -5
With David Hidalgo of Los Lobos?! Great! Those are beautiful lyrics, and I'd love to hear the song. Julia*, did you see the movie about Leonard Cohen? Yes, David Hidalgo of Los Lobos. Yes, I recently saw the movie on DVD. I liked the background on Suzanne, the pieces of reality that made its way into and inspired his poetry. The movie prompted the purchase of the Batalla CD.
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Post by gailkate on Mar 12, 2007 10:04:25 GMT -5
And I think we can take that as the definitive Extended Metaphor. I'm ordering that CD this minute.
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Post by juliastar on Mar 12, 2007 10:20:10 GMT -5
And I think we can take that as the definitive Extended Metaphor. I'm ordering that CD this minute. I'm thinking that maybe friends don't let friends read poetry. Perhaps we should turn back. Playing with some of the words on the inside of the CD jacket, poetry has ruined more than one good life.
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Post by gailkate on Mar 12, 2007 13:29:34 GMT -5
I'm completely lost.
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Post by liriodendron on Mar 12, 2007 13:53:50 GMT -5
Join the crowd, and not just in relation to this thread, either.
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Post by slb2 on Mar 13, 2007 0:31:14 GMT -5
Je suis perdue, aussi.
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Post by booklady on Mar 18, 2007 20:39:57 GMT -5
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GaeduCM-wYJust a minute before you leave, girl, Just a minute before you touch the door. What is it that you're trying to achieve, girl? Do you think we can talk about it some more? You know, the streets are filled with vipers Who've lost all ray of hope, You know, it ain't even safe no more In the palace of the Pope. Don't fall apart on me tonight, I just don't think that I could handle it. Don't fall apart on me tonight, Yesterday's just a memory, Tomorrow is never what it's supposed to be And I need you, yeah. Come over here from over there, girl, Sit down here. You can have my chair. I can't see us goin' anywhere, girl. The only place open is a thousand miles away and I can't take you there. I wish I'd have been a doctor, Maybe I'd have saved some life that had been lost, Maybe I'd have done some good in the world 'Stead of burning every bridge I crossed. Don't fall apart on me tonight, I just don't think that I could handle it. Don't fall apart on me tonight, Yesterday's just a memory, Tomorrow is never what it's supposed to be And I need you, oh, yeah. I ain't too good at conversation, girl, So you might not know exactly how I feel, But if I could, I'd bring you to the mountaintop, girl, And build you a house made out of stainless steel. But it's like I'm stuck inside a painting That's hanging in the Louvre, My throat start to tickle and my nose itches But I know that I can't move. Don't fall apart on me tonight, I just don't think that I could handle it. Don't fall apart on me tonight, Yesterday's gone but the past lives on, Tomorrow's just one step beyond And I need you, oh, yeah. Who are these people who are walking towards you? Do you know them or will there be a fight? With their humorless smiles so easy to see through, Can they tell you what's wrong from what's right? Do you remember St. James Street Where you blew Jackie P.'s mind? You were so fine, Clark Gable would have fell at your feet And laid his life on the line. Let's try to get beneath the surface waste, girl, No more booby traps and bombs, No more decadence and charm, No more affection that's misplaced, girl, No more mudcake creatures lying in your arms. What about that millionaire with the drumsticks in his pants? He looked so baffled and so bewildered When he played and we didn't dance. Don't fall apart on me tonight, I just don't think that I could handle it. Don't fall apart on me tonight, Yesterday's just a memory, Tomorrow is never what it's supposed to be And I need you, yeah. Copyright © 1983 Special Rider Music
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Post by slb2 on May 31, 2007 1:50:11 GMT -5
Just caught a few minutes of an Elton John special last night, or night before that, rather. Ace and I had seen him perform several years ago. I still love his songs. Especially his old stuff. Of course, my older sister also loved him. She liked to play a couple of his songs on the piano. Daniel was one of them, her hubby's name is/was? --anyone wanna suggest how that's grammatically correct? Dan still is, but the marriage isn't. Anyway, this next song was another that I can still hear her sitting down and playing and singing. Although my words are green, I'm damn blue. Comes and goes, doesn't it, gk? It's the last stanza that's the killer. Your Song Music by Elton John Lyrics by Bernie Taupin Available on the album Elton John It's a little bit funny this feeling inside I'm not one of those who can easily hide I don't have much money but boy if I did I'd buy a big house where we both could live If I was a sculptor, but then again, no Or a man who makes potions in a travelling show I know it's not much but it's the best I can do My gift is my song and this one's for you And you can tell everybody this is your song It may be quite simple but now that it's done I hope you don't mind I hope you don't mind that I put down in words How wonderful life is while you're in the world I sat on the roof and kicked off the moss Well a few of the verses well they've got me quite cross But the sun's been quite kind while I wrote this song It's for people like you that keep it turned on So excuse me forgetting but these things I do You see I've forgotten if they're green or they're blue Anyway the thing is what I really mean Yours are the sweetest eyes I've ever seen
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Post by booklady on May 31, 2007 4:30:23 GMT -5
:-*This one's for you, my passion sister: I hope the day will be a lighter highway For friends are found on every road Can you ever think of any better way For the lost and weary travellers to go
Making friends for the world to see Let the people know you got what you need With a friend at hand you will see the light If your friends are there then everything's all right
It seems to me a crime that we should age These fragile times should never slip us by A time you never can or shall erase As friends together watch their childhood flyAnd remember: don't let the sun catch you cryin'.
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Post by slb2 on May 31, 2007 9:00:52 GMT -5
Thanks bookie, I'd just posted part of that song on that Game thread, but had been studying the words 'cuz I like 'em so much. I like thinking about how, in our little noggins, the same song was running through at the same time. And the kisses don't hurt, either.
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