we'll take a cup of kindness yet

...just so you know
(it's from robert burns, though he "adapted" it from some earlier source)
happy new year:

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind?

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And auld lang syne?

For auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld lang syne,

We'll tak a cup o' kindness yet,
For auld lang syne.


And surely ye'll be your pint-stowp,
And surely I'll be mine!

And we'll tak a cup o' kindness yet,
For auld lang syne.

For auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld lang syne,

We'll tak a cup o' kindness yet,
For auld lang syne.

We twa hae run about the braes,
And pu'd the gowans fine;

But we've wandered mony a weary fit
Sin' auld lang syne.

For auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld lang syne,

We'll tak a cup o' kindness yet,
For auld lang syne.

We twa hae paidled i' the burn,
Frae morning sun till dine;

But seas between us braid hae roared
Sin' auld lang syne.

For auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld lang syne,

We'll tak a cup o' kindness yet,
For auld lang syne.

And there's a hand, my trusty fiere,
And gie's a hand o' thine!

And we'll tak a right guid-willie waught
For auld lang syne.

For auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld lang syne,

We'll tak a cup o' kindness yet,
For auld lang syne.

just a second

I read today that "scientists" are adding a second to the new year (it last happened 7 years ago) to synchronize the clocks and calendars with various things extra solar...

But where does this extra second come from?

Is it being taken away from this year? I'll feel cheated!!

Is there some big machine that creates seconds? And can I have one?

Will it come out of next year's allotment of time? And so 2007 will be shorter?

Will this affect Daylight Savings Time?

I'm feeling like Andy Rooney (whom I hate) so I will stop now. No, now. Well, now for me. The past for you.

But now.

blue christmas

well, this being the first x-mas since i moved out from the ex-wife and child (we do share custody) i find myself truly dreading x-mas eve without my little one...

this year has been especially rough on her (she's a very sensitive 9 year old)... we've always had a great many rituals associated with the night, and i won't be around this time to repeat those rituals (I'm all about the rituals)...nothing religious, just family time.

and now the family is split. it's hard, but at least I'll see her x-mas day.

it gets me a-wondering...who else is out there in the same boat and how do you deal with this?


perhaps a nod from the recovery groups will help (IE: share)...maybe this is too sad to discuss?

well, you're not alone.

yes, it's true

truely bizarro...

(from the bbc, dec 22, 2005)

Alistair Cooke's bones 'stolen'

Alistair Cooke was mourned on both sides of the AtlanticAn investigation is under way in New York into allegations that the bones of the late broadcaster Alistair Cooke were stolen before his cremation.
Cooke, known for the Letter from America he broadcast for the BBC, died almost two years ago, aged 95.
According to the New York Daily News his bones were stolen by a criminal ring trading body parts.
They were later sold by a biomedical tissue company now under investigation, the paper claims.
When Cooke died of lung cancer that spread to his bones in March 2004, his body was taken to a funeral home in Manhattan.
Two days later, relatives of the iconic broadcaster received his ashes, which were then scattered in New York's Central Park.
I'm most shocked... that my stepfather's ancient and cancerous bones should have been passed off as healthy tissue to innocent patients
Stepdaughter Holly Rumbold
Now they have been told that body snatchers allegedly surgically removed his bones and sold them for more than $7,000 (£4,000) to a company supplying parts for use in dental implants and various orthopaedic procedures.
The US attorney general's office in Brooklyn is investigating an elaborate ring involving funeral directors, surgeons and entrepreneurs.
This is a grim and ghoulish tale which has understandably appalled everyone who knew Cooke, says the BBC's Guto Harri in New York.
Cooke's stepdaughter, Holly Rumbold, told the BBC's World at One programme she was outraged by the claims.
"I'm most shocked by the violation of the medical ethics, that my stepfather's ancient and cancerous bones should have been passed off as healthy tissue to innocent patients," she said.
"I'm furious, I'm enraged, I'm outraged. My stepfather is not the only one that's been used for this macabre purpose and people are making billions of dollars out of it."
Cooke's daughter, Susan Kittredge, also said she was shocked and saddened.
And, as the cause of his death was at least partially bone cancer, she said she was equally appalled that patients in need of healthy transplant pieces could have received diseased bones.
The use of cancerous bone for transplant is a violation of the US Food and Drug Administration's rules, the New York Daily News says. The use of tissue from very elderly people is also against transplant guidelines.

ah, new york in a transit strike

ny transit strike
it's interesting watching this from the left coast...

on the one hand, being a union man, i feel solidarity for the workers in their striking for their rights..

on the other hand, i can remember all to well the last 2 transit strikes here in LA, where contrary to popular belief, not everyone has a car. i don't recall too fondly walking 5 miles each way to work for 40 some odd days during the last one.

the fact that the NY strike gets front page and top of the hour coverage, whereas the LA strikes warranted (except in LA) under the fold or random news coverage.

it's also galling to note that in all the coverage that I've seen, the media always speaks to: mayor bloomberg (really there for the little guy) or to (understandably) upset commuters, but never to a union rep.

that's fair.

can i put you on hold?

a few years ago, i was a preschool teacher at a fairly progressive school filled with all sorts of little geniuses and their obnoxious parents (the parents were the main reason i stopped teaching), and Halloween was upon us.

since we had a rule about no "superhero" outfits or violent toys (swords, guns, ropes, etc)
the parents had to be a tad more creative.

of course, the very obnoxious parents who broke the "no superhero" rule had their kid sent home when he would just walk up to another kid and announce "I'm Batman" and proceed to punch the other kid straight in the face.

besides all that, we saw kids dressed as a bi-plane, firemen and firewomen, vegetables, animals, 2 Sikhs, and my favorite (and most disturbing):

the kid who was dressed as "my dad" whose outfit consisted of a white shirt, black slacks, power tie, a cardboard car (held up with suspenders) and a cellphone, which he would not put down all day. he would hold up his hand whenever you spoke to him.

hmmmm.

daddy, where does nusrat go?

i find myself needing to re-organise my cd's...

having worked in three different music stores in my past (including a five year stint at one of the largest ones in the world), and as a pirate radio station librarian, there were, on many occassions, the dreaded discussions of how to organize one's own collection.

it is a bit of a nerdy thing, and the average joe/jane has only a few discs to their name, so no problem...but the collector/clerk may have thousands...and what to do?

now, every store has it's own way, and every individual music collector has their own way, but the general consensus is some kind of alphabetical order, at least for the individuals (joe jackson in the j's) or a band (beach boys in the b's)...even that there is contension (quick, where do you file van morrison or captain beefheart, or los lobos?-the last store i worked at insisted on "los", but they were gringos).

don't get a clerk started on customers (we all want to find the store that files the beatles under "T" or all artists by their first names). and never ever mention "high fidelity" the movie or book. just don't.

because of the already monumental task of alphabetizing, we then find ourselves with the connundrum of "sub-dividing": do rock bands from other countries go into world music? or rock? do we separate country from folk? blues from new orleans? jazz from big bands? where would hoyt axton go? how about experimental music? or sesame street records?

don't get me started on compilations or soundtracks... so, where does nusrat fateh ali khan go?

now, when you come over my place, you will understand why there are stacks of cd's and records all over the place.

'tis a gift to be simple

my ex wife and i share a passion for all things Carter Family, and to some extant, other players on the "folksy" realm...God bless Harry Smith and Alan Lomax... well, a very strange group of Quaker off-shoots, the Shakers, have themselves a little theme song, known as "Tis A Gift To Be Simple", or "Simple Gifts" with some very dada lyrics, to wit:

'Tis the gift to be simple,
'tis the gift to be free.
'Tis the gift to come down
where we ought to be.
And when we find ourselves
in the place just right,
'Twill be in the valley of love and delight.
When true simplicity is gained,
To bow and to bend
we shall not be ashamed.
To turn, turn will be our delight,
'Till by turning,
turning we come round right.

now, by co-incidence, our daughter sang and danced to that tune at her public school's "holiday" show, and that just made me all misty-eyed and proud...

i was reminded that the tune was lifted by Copeland for his "Americana" suite or somesuch, so often, the Shaker bit is used in Western movies to depict a simple folk or majestic sweep of prairie or mountains...

well, some wise ass also used that folksy Americana bit during Bush II's pre-inaugural fete, to be played as Georgie walked up to the podium... my thought: were they aware of those lyrics, or were they just trying to cue the down-home American bit?

train speek gut

for those who need to know, i am one of those oddballs in Los Angeles that (until recently-like last year) had no driver's license, let alone a car...i ride public transport...

in Los Angeles i might as well admit to being an axe-murderer...

"YOU DO WHAT?"

in reality there are millions who ride our 3rd world bus lines and a few thousand that ride the growing network of trains...it's just that in this town, most of those riders are latino, black, and poor, single mothers and a few scattered office workers, so they "don't count" when it comes to the Baywatch/OC view of LA...i mean you would never see Gwyneth or Jennifer or Kevin on the trains here(NY subways are OK, i guess)...

sometimes i amuse myself while riding the trains trying to figure out just what the conductors are saying over the intercom...usually it's "no eating, smoking, et." type reminders and on occasion, a frightening snippet ("emergency evacuation.....security...package") that goes nowhere.

most often it's plain old stop announcements, and here the driver's have a field day:
"Washington" becomes "gassing"
"San Pedro" becomes "Sah Pedro"
"Vernon" becomes "bern"
and my favorite: "Firestone" becomes "porn"

well, lo and behold, last night the train i was on suddenly had pre-recorded announcements for all the stops, and the pair (male=English, female=Spanish) sounded like Fred and Ginger about to begin singing and dancing they were so happy!!

of course, often interrupting was the live conductor with mutterings that were as pleasantly incomprehensible as always... something along: "peas en the all train stasseens showned conshiderasheen an keep feetoff the patferm ahn benchis ad owl times..."

the rosa parks fellow

every day on my way to work via rail (until lately a pipe dream in LA) i transfer from the blue line south to the green line west at what is labeled "Rosa parks station" but which, until last month, most train drivers called "imperial/green line"...

since the death of Rosa parks (for whom the station was already named) the drivers have all switched to the proper name, and I've noticed a strange little man occasionally braving the double, ground level tracks to get to the sign announcing to all southbound travelers that this stop is "Rosa parks"...

this little man (60? 70?) in a threadbare suit, white, balding, thin, seems to go out of his way to wipe the sign down, and since ms. park's death even has from time to time left some flowers, much to the chagrin of the security officers who check for tickets and passes. well, today, one of those officers (30's, stocky, possibly Latino) was helping the old fellow, keeping an eye out for trains, and judging from his nervousness, his superiors.

it was a sweet LA moment that one can see only when one is disconnected from the auto...

me & it's a wunnerful life

yes, it's that time of the year and that now ubiquitous Capra film begins showing around...

don't get me wrong, i actually love the pic (best mainstream explaination of an alternate world theory---sci-fi geek stuff, but then again, that's me), it's just that i always seem to catch it in a lousy mood...

a few years back, my then best friend had died, and i found myself alone at home for the first time since the funeral...and guess what came on? sure nuff, my roomate found me weeping when he came home (at this point in the movie, george bailey is hugging his kids just before the big sappy finish)... he never brought it up again...i didn't have to explain....

well this year, the ex-wife announces that i will soon be served with our divorce papers (mind you, the split is amicable and basically friendly, and the separation has hit almost a year)...but still, 12 years of marriage and a great (jointly raised) daughter did make me a tad sentimental, so i had a few (rare) glasses of wine and blew everything off, turned on the T.V. and, you guessed it...

let's just say, the idea of watching it was a bad one, at least alone on such a day...or evening... it really is a great film, full of amazing character actors and a great story (sacrifice! true love! true friendship! upstate new york!)...

but in my slightly sad buzz, i could only laugh when i realized that george's best friend (the cop & the taxi driver) are named "bert and ernie"...

talk about weird loops