Dancing Happy Boy

 Mona sketched a picture that I think captures the Real Me.

You Don't Have To

 

The Nazz

Transcription HERE.

"And The Nazz say, 'Dig Infinity!' And they dug it!"

This is not how I am

 

The first part of the song is so spot-on like the original that I wondered what the point was. Then came the quitar solo… 

Full lyrics HERE.

Curves

 

(clicking imbiggens)

I felt like such a grown-up when I learned cursive writing in the third grade!

Beautiful

 

 

It was pointed out to me once that every time Jesus healed someone he was on his way to someplace else.

He'd be walking down the road and hear someone cry out for him, and he would stop to help them every time.  Not once did he say, "Sorry, man, I'm running late."

That's a trait worth emulating.

The Whole Universe

 

"Mr. Natural" is a creation of artist Robert Cumb.

Carpe Diem

 

(clicking imbiggens)

I have a brittle, fading, yellowed copy of this hanging on my wall that I clipped out of the newspaper many, many years ago.

It's probably my favorite comic strip of all time.

Pickles by Brian Crane can be found on the web HERE.

Peace / Yin Yang

 

You Don't Need a Weatherman

 

(clicking imbiggens)

I've lived all over the country, and I've never seen any place work themselves into a panic over the weather the way East Texas does.

Every time it sprinkles the weatherman interrupt programming.  It's annoying and it's dangerous; like the little boy who cried wolf, the day will come when there really is a danger but nobody will believe them.

Zippy by Bill Griffith is on the web at ZippyThePinhead.com.

And that reminded me of this:

 Full lyrics at BobDylan.com.

Who are you?

 

 

And that reminded me of this:

 

Full lyrics HERE.

The Miracle of Plywood

Acceptance

Full lyrics HERE.

 

Full lyrics HERE.

 

It's rare to find a song about accepting a situation.

Usually a song is about action: finding someone new, getting good and drunk, winning the girl back.

I guess it's hard to write a song about something passive.

 

Right now...

“I’m fuckin’ lucky. I don’t know if I have two weeks left of life or 10 years, but it doesn’t matter. What matters is what you do with the time. If you sit there on your butt and worry about dying, then you fucking wasted it. I haven’t been wasting it. I’m having a really good time, and feeling wonderfully about it. Sooner or later, something is going to break. Right now, my life is pretty great.” ~David Crosby to Rolling Stone, 2021 (source)

Croz

 

“Ask Croz” was David Crosby at his most charming. The series was equal parts funny and touching.

A Wider Lens

"Years ago, someone asked me what I would say to my younger self if I could. Without hesitating I answered: “That’s easy. I’d have said, ‘Be quiet.’” Not forever. But until I could stand back and look at things through a wider lens. Until I understood that words have consequences, and they last a really long time."  ~Patti Reagan Davis (source)

"Hit it, Hal!"

 

 

The fig was played by actor James Harder.

Radio Radio

 

(clicking imbiggens)

This is my old GE radio, model 7-2945A. It dates back to the late 80s/early 90s.

The cool thing about it was that back in the days of analog television it could pick up television audio. I could listen to David Letterman while I drifted off to sleep.

Even though it's mono, you get surprisingly clear sound through the one big speaker.

I still use it.

 

Set the Table

 

Dandapani's website describes him as "a Hindu priest and entrepreneur," basically a for-profit prophet. I think it's fair to be a bit skeptical in these circumstances.

But I do like this thought.

 

Wonderful

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum probably isn't read very much these days, but it's a fun read and I recommend it.  It can easily be read in an afternoon.

There are a lot of things in the book that never made it to the movie.  The Winged Monkeys in particular are fleshed out and better explained- it turns out they're not really such bad guys after all.

It is in the public domain, and available for free download.  There is a nice edition available at Standard Ebooks HERE, and of course it's available at Project Gutenberg, HERE.

Grateful Resources

 Three sources to torrent legal copies of Grateful Dead concerts:

• bt.etree.org
• The Trader's Den
• Lossless Legs (requires registration)

And for looking up lyrics, I recommend The Annotated Grateful Dead.

Hawaii

This is John Lydon's love letter to his wife, who he is slowly losing to Alzheimer's Disease. 

Full lyrics HERE.

Wrong

 

Full lyrics HERE.

Friendship

“In each of my friends there is something that only some other friend can fully bring out. By myself I am not large enough to call the whole man into activity; I want other lights than my own to show all his facets. Now that Charles is dead, I shall never again see Ronald’s reaction to a specifically Caroline joke. Far from having more of Ronald, having him ‘to myself’ now that Charles is away, I have less of Ronald. Hence true Friendship is the least jealous of loves. Two friends delight to be joined by a third, and three by a fourth, if only the newcomer is qualified to become a real friend. They can then say, as the blessed souls say in Dante, ‘Here comes one who will augment our loves.’”  ~C. S. Lewis, The Four Loves ©1960

Tear You Apart + Bela Lugosi's Dead

 

Somehow the dancing seems both completely appropriate and completely unsettling.

(Some of the lyrics are NSFW)

Limits

 

And that reminded me of this:

"Argue for your limitations, and sure enough they’re yours."  ~Richard Bach

One little trick is to add the word "yet" to the end of your sentence.  "I can't play the guitar" ends the story; "I can't play the guitar yet" leaves room for growth.

Cuts

 

If the song isn't sad enough for you, click over to the YouTube page and read the comments. 

Full lyrics HERE.

Shareing a Coat

 

(clicking imbiggens)

9 Chickweed Lane by Brooke McEldowney is on the web HERE.

Unity in Diversity

 I've been reviewing old backup disks, and found this:

 

Unity in Diversity
by Padmapani Dasa
Originally Posted November 24, 2002

On July 29, 1971, Srila Prabhupada was interviewed on television at the University of Gainesville in Florida (which His Divine Grace described as "a remote corner of the world, thousands of miles from the birthplace of Lord Caitanya"). At one point, Srila Prabhupada was asked the following question:

Interviewer: "How would I recognize a true follower of the Krsna consciousness movement by his behavior? What would his traits be? What would his outward expressions be?"

Srila Prabhupada: "He'd be a very perfect gentleman, that's all. You could not find any fault in him."

What's particularly striking about his reply is that Srila Prabhupada never mentioned any external symptoms such as dress, title, social position, or even what religious or spiritual practices one followed. His evidence was the result -- or fruit -- of spiritual advancement. As he often said, "You can judge a thing by its result."

Earlier in the conversation, Srila Prabhupada informed the interviewer that, "We are not concerned with how one man deals with another man." Rather surprised, the interviewer asked, "Isn't that part of your Krsna consciousness movement?" Srila Prabhupada replied, "No, this is not important because we know that as soon as one understands how to deal with God, he will automatically deal very nicely with others."

In the early seventies, I remember hearing a conversation where Srila Prabhupada warned the devotees about the dangers of "party spirit." He said it could ruin everything. At the time, who could have imagined the possibility of Prabhupada's movement splitting into various factions? It was simply inconceivable. Obviously a lot has transpired over the years since then. Who can deny that we haven't had our ups and downs, and that we haven't made mistakes along the way? We've all gone through changes, but hopefully, we've matured and gained some wisdom as well. For most of us, our youthful idealism has given way to a more reserved attitude in our views and dealings. There are probably few among us who haven't spent many sleepless nights trying to figure out how we can actually get it right for Srila Prabhupada. How many times did he instruct us all to get along? But how in the world are we going to do it?

While leafing through a selection of Prabhupada's letters recently, I came across the following statement:

"Although there may be some difficulties within our society, these things are not very important. What is important is that we should simply fix our mind on Krishna's Lotus Feet. This is His instruction in the Bhagavad-gita. So we associate with one another so that we can assist each other in hearing and chanting about Krishna. That is the purpose of our Society." (Srila Prabhupada letter, November 22, 1974)

Here, in a short paragraph, Srila Prabhupada dispels all illusions as to what is important and what isn't, proving once again that "discretion is the better part of valor." It is said that a swan is able to extract the milk (or essence) from a mixture of milk and water. Since Prabhupada is forever the supreme swanlike devotee, his words, books, letters, and conversations all contain the very essence of truth. And the truth is always simple, never complicated:

"I am glad to understand that you are living and working peacefully with the others there. This is required. If we also fight and preach Krishna consciousness, what will people say? Therefore Lord Caitanya has stated: trnad api sunicena taro api sahisnuna. Another symptom of a sadhu or spiritually advanced man is described in Srimad-Bhagavatam by Lord Kapila: titiksavah karunikah suhrdah sarva dehinam. (3.25.21) The symptoms of a sadhu is that he is tolerant, merciful, and friendly to all living entities." (Srila Prabhupada letter, December 8, 1974)

Lord Krsna Himself confirms in the Bhagavad-gita that a wise person (panditah) sees every living being with equal vision (sama-darsinah). He or she makes no distinctions on the basis of bodily identification or designation. Srila Prabhupada said that when making an analogy, one should gather together as many similarities as possible to draw a conclusion. Using this logic, we can factually understand that we all have so much in common. We are eternal spirit souls, part and parcel of the Supreme Lord. In the process of transmigration from one body to another, we have reached the human form of life. In this particular lifetime, we have come in contact with Srila Prabhupada, a pure unalloyed devotee of Krsna, who is described in the scriptures as the "mercy incarnation of the Lord." We have each adopted (to one degree or another) the process of reviving our true spiritual nature through the practice of Krsna consciousness as revealed to us by His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada. These similarities alone far eclipse any temporary differences based on natural variety. As Prabhupada clearly advised: "To have some little disagreements among yourselves is not very unnatural because we are all individual beings. But as we are working on behalf of Krsna, we should always forget our personal interests and see to the prime cause."

So ultimately, it's this "prime cause" or higher vision of Krsna consciousness that we are after. Differences are there, most certainly, but they pale in comparison to the wonderful spiritual commonalities that we all share. By focusing on these simple but eternal truths so kindly revealed to us by Srila Prabhupada, we can look forward to further progress in Krsna consciousness, both individually and collectively.

(Excerpt from The Prabhupada Connection website, Editorial, Notes #4, by Padmapani das) 

Soho

We watched our friends grow up together
And we saw them as they fell
Some of them fell into Heaven
Some of them fell into Hell

Full lyrics HERE.

That Portion Which Is Yours

"How can you sit so comfortably with the indifference that you're evidencing with this tragedy (famine in Africa), when you could, in fact, take some part of that tragedy and fix it and make a difference?  Not all of it.  Don't sit there and be overwhelmed by the enormity of the problem.  Just pick out that portion which is yours, and kick butt.  Go out there and make a difference.  Change it.  Change it.  CHANGE IT."  ~Harry Belefonte to Ken Kragen, 20 Dec 1984, as quoted in Stand and Deliver by David Crosby, ©1999

"Have fun, don't hurt each other, and screw politics. Okay? You'll be all right."

Lakota Prayer

Sioux Prayer
by Chief Red Cloud, Oglala Lakota Sioux

Oh Great Spirit, whose voice I hear in the winds;
and whose breath gives life to all the world,
hear me!  

I am small and weak,
I need your strength and wisdom.

Let me walk in beauty, and make my eyes ever behold the  red and purple sunset.

Make my hands respect the things you have made, and my ears sharp to hear Your voice.

Make me wise so that I may understand the things You have taught my people.

Let me learn the lessons you have hidden in every leaf and rock.

I seek strength, not to be greater than my brother, but to fight my greatest enemy- myself.

Make me always ready to come to You with clean hands and straight eyes.

So when life fades, as the fading sunset, my spirit may come to You without shame.

There's a chill to every evening when you're all alone…

Full lyrics HERE.

Silhouttes

 

I've listened to this song for years, and always enjoyed the harmonies.

Then I made the mistake of listening to the words, and they're so stupid they kind of ruined it for me.

Full lyrics HERE.

Liberal vs. Conservative

 

"It's much harder to be a liberal than a conservative.  Why?  Because it's easier to give someone the finger than a helping hand."  ~Mike Royko

The Moon

 

(Clicking Imbiggens, image via Provocative Proclivities)

 

And that reminded me of this:

 

Full lyrics available at The Annotated Grateful Dead, HERE.

Lemmy Holly

 

Even though Lemmy is featured front and center on the album cover, he's not on most of the songs. 

But he does sing on this one.

How To Play Bass

 

I love how he pauses to turn the amp up to 11.

Jesus

 

(clicking imbiggens)

I see this as a non-traditional representation, a reminder to see the inherent divinity in all.

You Got That Right

(clicking imbiggens)

Get Fuzzy exists only in reruns now, but is online HERE.
 

Awesome Jar