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Friday June 6th, 2008
“Well May
We Say . . . . .
“Well may we say
'Thaaaaaaaat’s All Folks!' because not even Bugs Bunny can save the Prime
Minister.”
Geppetto,
carver of Pinocchio
Hi folks,
I just
got back to Melbourne and sort of picked up bits and pieces of the ongoing
Henson art scandal here, and while I haven’t seen any of the controversial
images myself, I think I did manage to find a few of the more offensive
ones on the internet, like the one above.
Most of us were influenced by Henson’s work from watching shows like The
Muppets
and Sesame Street when we were younger, and I find it ‘revolting’ that our
newly elected Prime Minister is showing his latent artistic frustration,
probably at his failure to be selected as an Australian Idol judge in a previous
life, towards this world reknown and celebrated puppeteer. In the spirit of
Alison Groggy and other artists who have signed an ‘Open Letter’ in support of Mr
Henson: (http://www.abc.net.au/news/opinion/documents/files/20080528_hensonletter.pdf),
I would like to contribute my own ‘Closed Letter’ to Prime Minister Rudd
further down below.
Accusing someone of being a child pornographer or pedophile today is the Sin
Qua Non Tarbrush of Our Times. Whether a person is guilty or innocent doesn’t
matter.
Just get their name in print next to the word pedophile and the damage to their reputation
and career is done. J. Edgar Hoover understood this in the 50s. So did L Ron
Hubbard during the dark days of Scientology. I strongly advise all of you to
think four or five times before you start painting somebody up like this. Get
your facts straight first. You could find yourself on the other end of this witch
hunt in tomorrow’s newspapers.
Moral ambiguity is an extremely sensitive area in Art. It always has
been: from Michelangelo's naked cherubs, to Nabokov’s Lolita.
(I will look closer at moral ambiguity in one of Steve Goodman’s more
controversial songs, ‘Danger,’ in the Songwriting Workshop 21
section below.)
Speaking of ambiguity, you might recall some time ago, I mentioned that ‘Shaddap
You Face’
made the Best Songs About Heroin list. (Who am I to tell others how
to interpret my music . . . but I do know that snorting parmesan cheese
definitely leads to the harder cheeses.)
Now, a
list in the Sydney Morning Herald has ranked it as one of the Best
Wedding Songs. (So if you’re an Italian junky about to be married to
your skanky junky ho, I’m your Wedding Singer.)
Oh
yea. I also made one other list: Bands That Never Should Have Gotten
Together in the First Place:
”Don't forget Joe Dolce...maybe not a band as such, but he should've been
banned! B. Hyman (Hey, fool, at least I still
have my original Member. Boom boom!)
AMERICAN
POLITICS
If
some of you are still labouring under the illusion that the American Republican
candidate for president, John McCain, might be a preferable choice to
Obama/Clinton, have a look at this video of some excerpts from some of McCain
interviews. I think he studied under the same public speaking tutor as Bush:
http://www.brasschecktv.com/page/325.html
(thanks
to Bill Lempke)
I
certainly hope that Barrack Obama and Hilary Clinton agree to sort out their
squabbles and join forces now that Obama is the Democratic candidate.
Early on in the race, I mentioned that I didn’t care which of them was
President as long as they ran together as a team. Because together, you get
three for the price of two. I’m talking about the added value of Bill Clinton’s
expertise. Remember (if you can think pass the Blue Dress) that President Clinton
had the US economy in the BLACK. Remember those days?
FAVOURITE LETTERS OF THE WEEK
Closed
Letter to Prime Minister Rudd
Regarding the Charges Against Mr Henson
June 6th, 2008
We invite the Prime Minister, Mr. Rudd to once again say ‘Sorry’ with regard to
his ill-placed comments about the artistic merit of Mr Henson’s work. (Last
time I looked, I don’t believe I voted for Mr. Rudd to be an art critic, did
you?)
The tar and feathering of one of our most respected children’s artists does
untold damage to our internationally recognized Cultural Cringe. The public
stosh prompted by the Henson exhibition is welcome and important. That is one
of the things art is for: it is valuable because it raises difficult, sometimes
unanswerable, questions about who we are, as individuals, and the auction value
of certain items.
Mr Henson’s work has nothing to do with pornography and, according to the
judgment of some of the most respected television programmers in the world, it
is certainly marketable.
We ask for the following points to be fairly considered:
1. Mr. Henson is a highly distinguished children’s artist. His work has been
exhibited on all the major television networks in the world.
2. The intention of the art is not to titillate or to gratify perverse sexual
desires, but rather to make the viewer consider the fragility, beauty, mystery
and inviolability of the puppet.
3. Mr. Henson was the creator of The Muppets and the leading force behind
their long creative run in the television series Sesame Street and The Muppet Show.
4. Mr. Henson is widely acknowledged for the ongoing vision of faith,
friendship, magic, and love which infused nearly all of his work.
In his work, he began experimenting with techniques that would change the
way puppetry was used on television. Henson believed that television puppets
needed to have "life and sensitivity," allowing them to express a
wider array of emotions, in contrast to a marionette, or Australian political
candidate, whose arms are manipulated by strings.
Henson later explained, "Till then, advertising agencies believed that the
hard sell was the only way to get their message over on television. We took a
very different approach. We tried to sell things by making people laugh." (Rather
than making people laugh, like politicians do, when they try to judge art.)
Saturday Night Live writers never got comfortable
writing for Henson's characters, and frequently disparaged his creations; one,
memorably quipped, "I won't write for felt." (Those were also his
exact words when John Howard expressed interest in hosting the show. Let this
be a warning shot to you, Mr Rudd.)
In contrast, the Defining Essence of Pornography is that it endorses, condones or
encourages abusive sexual practice. (Not that there’s anything wrong with
that.)
Many of us have carved puppets of our own. The sexual abuse and exploitation of
puppets fills us all with abhorrence. But it is equally damaging to deny the
obvious fact that puppets can be sexual beings when you are really lonely. This
very denial contributes to abusive behaviour, because it is part of the denial of
the personhood of the puppet.
In my opinion, Mr Henson’s work shows the delicacy of the transition from two
dimensional cartoonery to three dimensional puppetography, its troubledness and
its beauty, in ways which do not violate the essential innocence of his
subjects, but can make them look exceedingly stupid. It can be confronting, but
that does not mean that it is pornography. (In this context, wood has an
entirely different meaning, as it were. Splinters and what not.)
Legal opinion is that if charges were laid against Mr Henson, he would be
unlikely to be found guilty - due to the fact that most of the elected
officials and members of the Bar and Courts themselves are puppets operated by
hidden strings and they would consider it Contempt of Court.
It is notable that the attacks on Mr Henson’s work have, almost without
exception, come from those who are unfamiliar with the Muppets. If an example
is made of Mr Henson, one of the world’s most prominent children’s artists, it
is hard to believe that those who have sought to bring these charges will stop
with him. Rather, this action will encourage a repressive climate of hysterical
condemnation, backed by the threat of prosecution, of such great figures as
Walt Disney, Hannah Barbara, Looney Tunes, the leaders of the Liberal and
Republican Parties, and many others.
We urge our political leaders to follow the example of Italian Prime Minister,
Josephus Dolce III Melanzana, when in 1542 a similar outcry greeted a life
sized sex puppet exhibit, ’The Pope’s Your Uncle,’ created by Giuseppe di
Finoche . At that time, Mr di Finoche said: “I do not believe that this puppet
has anything to do with the Pope, per say.”
With Prime Minister Melanzana, we believe the proper place for debate is
outside the courts of law – in the hallways - with an exchange of sufficient
Lira between the parties.
Joe
Dolce
Composer and Puppet Whisperer
Signatories: Sir Mickey Mouse, Sir Mighty Mouse, Sir Donald Duck, Sir
Daffy Duck, Sir Goofy, Dame Mrs Goofy, Sir Heckle and Sir Jeckle, Dame Dorothy,
Sir Tin Man, Sir Lion, Sir Scarecrow, Sir Wizard of Oz, Dame Good Witch, Dame
Wicked Witch, Dame Snow White, The Honourable Seven Dwarfs, John Howard, Esq.
(Retired), and Sir Dumbo.
Additional Signatories and Comments: The following support the appeal
contained in this letter without necessarily endorsing the detailed argument:
“I gave up
on books when 'To Kill A Mockingbird' gave me no useful advice on how to kill a
mockingbird.” Wiley
Coyote,
cartoon actor
“I think pictures of gorillas having sex with Michael Jackson should be deemed
artistic. But hey. What do I know.” Gore Illa, model maker, King
Kong.
"Political
Correctness is a doctrine, fostered by a delusional, illogical minority,
and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the
proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a turd by the clean
end." Dame
Tweety Bird
THAT’S A GOOD QUESTION . . . .
If electricity comes from electrons, does morality come from morons?
What disease did cured ham actually have?
Why do they call it an asteroid when it's outside the hemisphere, but call it a
hemorrhoid when it's in your butt?
If you have sex with a professional prostitute against her will, is it
considered rape . . . or shoplifting?
Why do doctors leave the room while you change?
They're going to see you naked anyway.
Why is "bra" singular and "panties" plural?
Can a hearse carrying a corpse drive in the carpool lane ?
Why does Goofy stand erect while Pluto remains on all fours? They're both dogs!
Do the Alphabet Song and Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star have the same tune?
Why did you just try singing the two songs above?
(thanks
to Bill Lempke)
British
PM Warns of Global Oil "Shock" as Fuel Price Protests Spread
Agence France-Presse
London - British Prime Minister Gordon Brown warned Wednesday that the world
faced an era-defining oil "shock" that required urgent action, as
European leaders argued how best to contain protests over soaring fuel prices.
"It is now understood that a global shock on this scale requires global
solutions," Brown wrote in The Guardian newspaper.
Record oil prices of around 135 dollars a barrel have contributed to protests
worldwide over the rise in fuel and food costs, with fishermen and truck
drivers taking the lead in Europe, blocking ports and road access to oil
depots. (article)
http://www.truthout.org/article/oil-crisis-rage-spreads
Australiana
These were results for an Ozwords comp where entrants were asked to take an
Australian word, alter it by only one letter, and supply a new and witty
definition. You'll need to be an Aussie to understand!!!???
* billabonk: to make passionate love beside a waterhole
* bludgie: a partner who doesn't work but is kept as a pet.
(this one's gotta be the winner!)
*
dodgeridoo: a fake indigenous artefact.
* fair drinkum: good quality Aussie wine.
* flatypus: a cat which has been run over by a vehicle.
* shagman: an unemployed male roaming the Australian bush in search of sexual
activity.
* yabble: the unintelligible language of Australian freshwater crustaceans.
* bushwanker: a pretentious drongo who reckons he's above average when it comes
to handling himself in the scrub.
* shornbag: a particularly attractive naked sheep
* technicolour lawn: the front yard after a rave party
(thanks
to Terry Dwyer)
Pelosi
Says Women Won't Suffer a 'Step Back' if Clinton Loses
Laura Litvan, Bloomberg
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said women won't suffer a "step back" if
Democrat Hillary Clinton loses her presidential bid, and rejected the idea of
sexism in the presidential campaign. Clinton, 60, a New York senator, is
"bigger than all of it" and has shown "courage," Pelosi, a
California Democrat, said in an interview with Judy Woodruff broadcast on the
PBS NewsHour last night. "A woman is down to the wire in contention
for the presidential nominee," Pelosi said. "You know she still may
win this - but whatever the outcome, new ground has been broken, and it won't
be left broken. It will be built upon." (article)
http://www.truthout.org/article/pelosi-says-women-wont-suffer-a-step-back-if-clinton-loses
Hearing loss takes toll on relationships
Hearing
loss can have a significant impact on the quality of relationships later in
life, causing frustration, isolation and a sense of weariness, speech
therapists say.
Australian speech pathology lecturer Nerina Scarinci presented her research at
the New Zealand Speech-Language Therapists Association (NZSTA) and Speech
Pathology Australia conference in Auckland on Monday.
In a study of more than 100 older Australian couples, Ms Scarinci found 94 per
cent of spouses suffered the adverse effects of hearing loss.
"The study found hearing impairment can impact on issues such as the way
couples communicate, their physical intimacy and social activities, and can
lead to feelings of frustration," she said.
http://au.news.yahoo.com/080526/2/170by.html
More
Australian Perspectives
- WOMAN'S
DIARY
Saturday 12th April 2008
“ Saw him in the evening and he was acting really strangely.
I'd been shopping in the afternoon with the girls and was a bit late meeting
him, thought it might be that.
The bar was really crowded and loud, so I suggested we go somewhere quieter to
talk.
He was still very subdued and distracted so I suggested we went somewhere nice
to eat.
All through dinner he just didn't seem himself - he hardly laughed and didn't
seem to be paying any attention to me or to what I was saying. I just knew that
something was wrong.
He dropped me back home and I wondered if he was going to come in.
He hesitated but followed.
I asked him what was wrong, but he just half shook his head and turned the
television on.
After about ten ! minutes of silence I said that I was going upstairs to bed, I
put my arms around him and told him that I loved him deeply.
He just gave a sigh and a sad sort of smile.
He didn't follow me up immediately but came up later and, to my surprise, we
made love - but he still seemed distant and a bit cold.
I cried myself to sleep - I think he's planning to leave me - maybe he's found
someone else. “
- MAN'S DIARY
Saturday 12th April 2008
“Collingwood lost.
Gutted.
Got a root though.”
(thanks
to Joe Creighton)
Food
Security Requires New Approach to Water
by
Thalif Deen
UNITED
NATIONS, May 23 (IPS) - The ongoing food crisis, characterized by growing
shortages and rising prices of staple commodities, has far reaching
implications for the world’s scarce water resources, says a new study released
here.
“More food is likely to come at a cost of more water use in agriculture,”
according to the report titled “Saving Water: From Field to Fork“.
The emerging challenges facing the food sector include growing water scarcity;
unacceptably high levels of under-nourishment; the proliferation of people who
are overweight or obese; and of food that is lost or wasted in society.
“All these challenges mean that a narrow perspective on food security in terms
of production and supply is no longer sufficient,” the study notes.
It’s time to take a broader perspective incorporating the steps from growing
crops in the field to consuming a meal at home: “A field to fork perspective.”
Jointly authored by the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI), in
collaboration with the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) and the
Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI), the 26-page study points out that water
will be a key constraint to food production — “unless we change the way we
think and act about water resources.”
Anders Berntell of SIWI points out that food production and agriculture were
the biggest global users of water. On average, about 70 percent of all water
extracted was going into agriculture.
“As people’s incomes rise in developing nations, they are changing to more
meat-intensive diets,” Berntell told IPS.
In many cases, he argued, this is good, up to a certain level, because they
need proteins in their diet. But beyond that, it creates a problem.
According to Berntell, every calorie of food you take in translates into one
litre of water. He pointed out that red meat from cattle is more
water-intensive because it takes up to 15 cubic metres of water to produce one
kilogramme of beef — if the cattle are grain-fed. (article)
http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/05/24/9176/
FAMOUS DOLCES IN HISTORY
Ludovico Dolce
LUDOVICO DOLCE, or Luigi (1508-1568 or 1569), Italian writer, was a native of
Venice, and belonged to a family of honourable tradition but decadent fortune.
He received a good education, and early undertook the task of maintaining
himself by his pen. Translations from Greek and Latin epics, satires,
histories, plays and treatises on language and art followed each other in rapid
succession, till the whole number amounted to upwards of seventy works. But he
is now mainly memorable as the author of Marianna, a tragedy from the life of
Herod, which was recast in French by Tristan and by Voltaire, and still keeps a
place on the stage. Four licentious comedies, Il Ragazzo (1541), Il Capitano
(1545), Il Marito (1560), Il Rufano (1560), and seven of Seneca's tragedies
complete the list of his dramatic efforts. In one epic - to translate the
title-page - "he has marvellously reduced into ottava rim y and united
into one narrative the stories of the Iliad and the Aeneid"; in
another he devotes thirty-nine cantos to a certain Primaleone, son of
Palmerius; in a third he celebrates the first exploits of Count Orlando; and in
a fourth he sings of the Paladin Sacripante. A life of the emperor Charles V.
and a similar account of Ferdinand I., published respectively in 1560 and 1566,
are his chief historical productions; and among his minor treatises it is
enough to mention the Osservazioni sulla lingua volgare (1550); the Dialogo
della pittura (1557); and the Dialogo nel quale si ragiona del modo di
accrescar la memoria (1552).
Nader
Calls for Bush-Cheney Impeachment
by
Yunji de Nies
Independent
presidential hopeful Ralph Nader spoke outside the White House Friday, calling
for the impeachment of President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney.
Nader said the President has, “dishonored the White House and brought a pattern
of waste.” (article)
http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/05/24/9180/
SONGWRITING WORKSHOP 21
Moral
Ambiguity
Most people know of the singer-songwriter, Steve Goodman, from his classic, ‘The
City of New Orleans.’ He has an impeccable reputation as a performer, writer and
guitarist. My good mate, Dai Woosnam, sent me this uTube clip of Goodman
improvising his way through a broken string which I suggest you watch to give
you some idea of his charm. (This is an hour-long compendium of the 1980
Telluride Bluegrass Festival so move the Google marker at the bottom of the frame to
around the 42 –46 minute section to see his bit:)
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7298847911422706933&q=source:009335455440018555607&hl=en
I was impressed by the impromptu string change patter but the subject matter of the song he was
attempting to sing when the string broke, Danger, stuck in my mind more
and has led to this workshop.
Danger,
has three different writers credited: Steve Goodman, Mike Smith and additional
lyric by Sean Kelly. You'd think at least one of them would have
questioned the content and context in the way that I am about to. I have
scoured the net looking for someone else who has remarked on this song but I
couldn’t find one instance. I am consciously refusing to romanticize this
subject matter. When a lyric like this is combined with the charisma of a
charismatic performer, like Steve Goodman, you get a very dangerous cocktail of
seduction and confusion. So let's look at this touchy area from some different
perspectives.
DANGER
She was fourteen years old
He was five years older
Old enough to know about danger
Underneath the moon.
Danger ... will they find it?
Orphans of the open road
Chips on their shoulders
Just a little colder than danger
Underneath the moon
Danger ... and he asked her
Baby are you lookin' for love?
Are you lookin' for danger?
Sittin' on a keg of dynamite everynight
She knew that they couldn't last
Out beyond the edge of; fingers on
The ledge above danger
Underneath the moon
Danger ... will they find it?
At night they ride the open road
Phantoms of disaster: just a little faster
Than danger underneath the moon
Danger ... and he asked her
Baby are you livin' for love?
Are you dyin' for danger?
Sittin' on a keg of dynamite everynight
©1980 Big
Ears Music, Inc./Red Pajamas Music, Inc. ASCAP
and Pierce Arrow Music Publishers BMI
SO, WHAT IS THIS SONG ABOUT?
A relationship between a fourteen year old girl and a nineteen year old boy
that is hovering between the platonic and the sexual.
The song is also about the relationship between a legal minor and a legal
adult.
It brings to mind the infamous marriage between Jerry Lee Lewis (23) and his
cousin once removed, Myra Gale Brown, (13.) Lewis told the press that it was no
big deal – in his part of the country, people got married as young as ten years
old, if they could find a husband.
http://oldies.about.com/od/rockabill1/f/jerryleemyra.htm
Most people don’t know this shocking fact, but the Age of Consent, for heterosexual sex,
in Mexico, is 12 years old. In some countries of the world, it is as low as 9
years old! That’s insane, folks. Criminal. Here’s a world map that shows the
breakdown, country by country.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ef/Age_of_Consent.png
For purposes of this workshop, I am assuming the lyrics to the song, Danger, concern the customs
and laws of countries of the songwriters.
Lyrical Synopsis:
She was fourteen years old
He was five years older
Old enough to know about danger
Underneath the moon.
(She was an underage girl. He was an adult boy - old enough to vote, old
enough to enlist in the army and old enough to kill for his country - old
enough to know about the danger of this kind of relationship. Legally, - and
therefore, morally - she wasn't. So what I am looking for here is some kind of
leadership direction from the adult boy.)
Danger ... will they find it?
Orphans of the open road
Chips on their shoulders
Just a little colder than danger
Underneath the moon
(The lyric now begins to infer that they are on a somewhat equal ground ie.
'orphans of the open road with chips on their shoulders.' Further blurring the
line between them. This verse begins to cloud up the morality of the lyric by
inferring that the girl might have the ability to CHOOSE what is dangerous and
what is not for herself in this matter - like an adult. The Law - and
common sense - says that she does not.)
Danger ... and he asked her
‘Baby, are you lookin' for love?
Are you lookin' for danger?’
Sittin' on a keg of dynamite everynight
(The adult boy is now sweet talking the underaged girl with terms of
affection like 'baby' and seductive questions like 'are you looking for love?
Are you looking for danger?' This is the language of adults and is
inappropriate behaviour between an adult and a minor and it is the adult's
RESPONSIBILITY to know this - not the minor's.)
The remaining verses pretty much follow along these lines, without sufficient
intelligent development of the controversial issues and problems to give any
kind of clear moral compass to the narrative. It keeps the subject matter
opaque intentionally, but probably unconsciously.
In my view, it is IRRESPONSIBLE for an adult artist to keep this area cloudy
regarding interactions with legal minors. Children need a CLEAR LINE drawn in
the sand on these matters.
As a writing experiment, let's change the ages of the two characters, in the
lyric, to make the subtext more black and white.
First, let's make the older person 45 years old, and the younger person 10
years old. The first two verses would then read:
She was ten years old
He was thirty-five years older
Old enough to know about danger
Underneath the moon.
Danger ... will they find it?
Orphans of the open road
Chips on their shoulders
Just a little colder than danger.
It is obvious in this example that this lyric is inappropriate on every level.
Now let's shift the morality in the opposite direction by making both the
parties underage. The older person will be 15 and the younger person 14. Lets
also change one word in the third line for continuity:
She was fourteen years old
He was one year older
Barely old enough to know about danger
Underneath the moon.
Danger ... will they find it?
Orphans of the open road
Chips on their shoulders
Just a little colder than danger.
In the above example, both parties are children. Maybe street kids. Some
jurisdictions make allowances for minors engaged in sexual acts with each
other. In that case, there may be nothing illegal or even immoral about
the relationship. Just a case of kids exploring each other. Many of us have had
a variation of this experience before we were of the legal age of consent.
However, an ADULT writing this might be suspect of still having the emotional
maturity of a fifteen year old - or having inappropriate fantasies, if he
doesn't take the subject matter somewhere worth taking, which doesn't happen
in this particular song.
But what would happen if we make the storyteller; the songwriter -
fifteen years old as well - and a boy.
How's does that read? Quite innocently, I think.
She was fourteen years old
He was one year older
Barely old enough to know about danger
Underneath the moon.
What happens if we make the songwriter a girl?
Does the lyric read any differently? A little, but not much.
It's clear that the observer-storyteller (the songwriter) has an important part
to play in the overall message of the song lyric. There is no purely objective
point of view. Each one of these examples creates a totally different moral
context.
Note to Readers: If anyone wants to contribute insights, argue with me or
disagree with my views enough to email me, then I will print them next week -
with your name. If you don’t want it printed, or want to stay anonymous,
don’t send me your comments. On issues like this, I subscribe to Daniel
Berrigan’s philosophy: ‘Know where you stand, and stand there.’
RECIPE
JOE'S
WHITE BEAN CHILI
375 g white beans, soaked overnight
500 g ground beef
1 can chopped tomatoes (or equiv fresh)
handful fresh basil
2 in chunk of fatty pancetta, cut into large chunks
1 in chunk of guanciale (pig's cheek), chopped into slivers
olive oil
1 cup onions, chopped finely
1 stick of celery, chopped finely
1 green bell pepper, chopped coarsely
two cloves garlic, chopped coarsely
3 tbles Franks Hot Sauce (or any Louisiana Style Hot Sauce)
2 teasp red chili flakes
salt and black pepper
Method:
Drain the beans. Put a couple of tbles olive oil in a large pot and briefly fry
the pancetta, add the beans and enough water to cover by two inches. Add some
fresh thyme and a bay leaf and cook until beans are slightly al dente but still
ready to eat.
In a separate fry pan, put some olive oil and fry the onions, celery
and guanciale until soft. Add the garlic, the bell pepper and the red
chili flakes. Cook for a few minutes. Add the ground beef and brown. Add the
Hot Sauce, chopped tomatoes and fresh basil. Add some black pepper and salt and
stir-fry for about ten minutes.
Strain the beans, reserving the liquid which should have reduced somewhat.
Season the liquid with a little salt.
Place the tomato mixture into the large bean pot, add the beans and pancetta
back in, and enough of the liquid to keep everything moist. Cook for a few
minutes. Use your own judgment here, but you can add more, or all, of the
reserved liquid if you want the beans to stay ever moist - or you can keep them
fairly dry. Remove the bay leaf before serving. Serve with chopped
parsley or coriander and extra hot sauce on the side.
“What name shall we give it which hath no name,
the common eternal matter of the mind?
If we were to call it essence,
some might think it meant perfume, or gold, or honey.
It is not even mind.
It is not even discussible,
groupable into words;
it is not even endless,
in fact it is not even mysterious
or inscrutably inexplicable;
it is what is;
it is that; it is this.
We could easily call the golden eternity "This."
But "what's in a name?" asked Shakespeare.
The golden eternity by another name would be as sweet.
A Tathagata, a God,
a Buddha by another name,
an Allah, a Sri Krishna,
a Coyote, a Brahma,
a Mazda, a Messiah,
an Amida, an Aremedeia,
a Maitreya, a Palalakonuh,
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 would be as sweet.
The golden eternity is X,
the golden eternity is A,
the golden eternity is /\,
the golden eternity is O,
the golden eternity is [ ],
the golden eternity is t-h-e-g-o-l-d-e-n-e-t-e-r- n-i-t-y.
In the beginning was the word;
before the beginning,
in the beginningless infinite neverendingness,
was the essence.
Both the word "god" and the essence of the word,
are emptiness.
The form of emptiness which is emptiness
having taken the form of form,
is what you see and hear and feel right now,
and what you taste and smell and think as you read this.
Wait awhile, close your eyes,
let your breathing stop three seconds or so,
listen to the inside silence
in the womb of the world,
let your hands and nerve ends drop,
re-recognize the bliss you forgot,
the emptiness and essence and ecstasy
of ever having been and ever to be the golden eternity.
This is the lesson you forgot.”
Jack Kerouac
(thanks
to Stefan Abeysekera)
THE FINAL HURRAH
ID
TEN T ERROR
I was having trouble with my computer. So I called Eric, the 11 year old next
door, whose bedroom looks like Mission Control and asked him to come over. Eric
clicked a couple of buttons and solved the problem.
As he was walking away, I called after him, 'So, what was wrong? He replied,
"It was an ID ten T error."
I didn't want to appear stupid, but nonetheless inquired, "An, ID ten T
error? What's that? In case I need to fix it again."
Eric grinned.... "Haven't you ever heard of an ID ten T error
before?"
"No," I replied.
"Write it down," he said, "and I think you'll figure it
out."
So I wrote down: I D 1 0 T
I used to like Eric.............
(thanks
to Bill Lempke)