I should have learned by now: When there are no new comments, the Publish function has misfired again. Sorry.
A friend who knows my interest in cycling asked if I’d like to join her and her family for their annual bike trek to the Fisher Mansion for the free Sunday-evening dinner put on by the Hare Krishnas, who now occupy the 1920s-era Mission-style building. Lawrence Fisher was quite the swell, and if the Krishnas’ belief in reincarnation has legs, it’s amusing to think whether he’s somewhere on another spiritual plane, contemplating the scene outside his former home.
Tonight, a birthday party:
Actually, more than one. I think four cakes were presented and sung over. The Hare Krishna birthday song is in the familiar tune, but wishes “Hare Krishna to you,” etc. But there are three verses, the Hare Rama and another I couldn’t identify. Which meant, three verses times four cakes with all the accompanying ceremony, that the food was late. We’d already had an extended discussion with one of the Krishnites, so I felt I’d earned my dal. Alas, no dal. Nothing even Indian, except for a few samosas. Two pasta dishes, a soup of some sort, and birthday cake.
And then the ride home, under the rising full moon. It was chilly, but I banished it with hard pedaling and the mantra: hare krishna hare krishna krishna krishna hare hare hare rama hare rama rama rama hare hare. It made the miles slip by, I’ll say that for it. I also wondered if we have eternal souls, if we must pay a karmic debt for eating animals, as they believe. Strange to think of arriving in hell and greeting a crowd of angry cows, pigs and chickens. (And one goat. But I didn’t know what I was eating!) And a few deer. The HKs don’t do heaven and hell, so I’m mixing my religions here a bit. Forgive me.
One note to the folks in robes: If you turn that abandoned boat down by the canal upside-down, you might observe a dramatic improvement in your mosquito problem. I swatted more than a dozen, increasing my karmic debt only a little.
Oh, and because we mentioned it while we were eating: Steve Jobs used to go to his local Hare Krishna temple for the free food when he was young and poor. It led him to his trips to India, among other things. This was the Steve Jobs Memorial Bike Ride to the Hare Krishna manse.
Sucktastic Monday, so a quick jump to the bloggage:
There’s a year-round haunted-house attraction in Niagara Falls called Nightmares Fear Factory. Evidently there’s a spot on the tour where you get your picture taken. The pictures? Are fantastic. HT: Hank.
The recession is over, but you’re still poor, right? Join the club.
And now, because it’s Goddamn Monday, I must run. Hare Krishna to you all.
Sue said on October 10, 2011 at 1:30 pm
Last Wednesday Sarah Palin said the following:
“I believe that at this time I can be more effective in a decisive role to help elect other true public servants to office — from the nation’s governors to congressional seats and the presidency.”
On Thursday Joe the Plumber filed paperwork to run for congress.
It should be interesting watching Joe trying to get Sarah’s attention.
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Bitter Scribe said on October 10, 2011 at 1:44 pm
From the NYT article you linked to:
Unhappiness and anger have come to dominate the political scene, including the early stages of the 2012 presidential campaign.
If only the anger would be directed at the right people, instead of those Teabagger idiots fulminating about “the deficit” and “Obamacare.” Those Wall St. protests are a step in the right direction.
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Dorothy said on October 10, 2011 at 1:48 pm
The Fear Factory pictures are terrific, but I’d rather see what it is they are reacting to. It’s probably a “You had to be there” kinda thing anyway.
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Suzanne said on October 10, 2011 at 1:50 pm
Falling incomes abound! This as I caught a bit of 60 Minutes interview last night with the CEO of GE touting the fabulousness of economic globalization. For him, maybe. The interesting thing was the interviewer asking him about his loyalty to his country. His response was that first and foremost his concern was his shareholders and his profits (this is a paraphrase). ‘Nuff said.
And this on top of the piece I heard on the radio last week discussing the German reaction to the economic meltdown, which was, in essence, that the government paid companies to keep people on the payroll while they were being retrained. That way, the economy would keep clipping along, workers could move towards something productive, keep themselves out of poverty, and the government could keep collecting taxes. Seems so simple, doesn’t it? Oh, but I guess you have to give a darn about the country first to want to keep it going.
Sorry, crabby Monday.
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Joe Kobiela said on October 10, 2011 at 2:01 pm
Suzanne,
You do know that the ceo of GE,is one of Obama’s best buddies right?
Just waiting out the day,after hauling some mean old business owners to wonderfull Cedar Rapids Iowa.
Pilot Joe
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beb said on October 10, 2011 at 2:02 pm
I never much like whatever algorithm they use to determine whether we’re in or out of a recession. By their definition unemployment is a lagging indicator of a recession to from my point of voice unemployment should be a leading indicator. After all, when people aren’t working the economy is in the toilet. It’s crazy to talk about a jobless recovery because until there are jobs the recovery isn’t over.
But I rant.
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Chris in Iowa said on October 10, 2011 at 2:09 pm
Pilot Joe:
Welcome to the Hawkeye State. You couldn’t have picked a prettier day to waste waiting around in an airport.
As to your earlier comment, all that proves is that Obama isn’t the socialist he is made out to be.
Chris
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caliban said on October 10, 2011 at 2:37 pm
EJ Dionne takes George Will to the cleaners and hands the bloated windbag his lunch.
Joe the Plumber campaign theme song. (I doubt these guys would let him use it for long, but maybe they’d be happy to let him make an ass of himself.
Finally met my grandson born last January for an extended Columbus Day weekend. Best weekend in forever. First extended time with my son-in-law, and he’s a great guy. And it was my brother’s birthday (daughter’s favorite uncle). One extended party, and tomorrow I”ll check my bank balances online. But what the hell, local economic stimulus and we did spend one night in for dinner. I made some great carbonara sauce with some seriously smoky, tasty pancetta, over fresh tortellini, with a romaine and escarole salad, and wicked good
Joe, I have good friends and a brother with whom I cannot discuss politics without bad blood surfacing quickly. I know of no evidence that Obama and Immelt are “best buddies”. Yeah, the President appointed Immelt to the Jobs Council, but anybody that claims there is some contradiction involved there is not thinking it through. This is a big talking points ingredient in Freeper Nation, but Gawd, that is spectacular hypocrisy on the wingnuts’ part. Isn’t he a golden idol of “job creation”, i.e. obscenely wealthy and doesn’t pay an effective tax rate of 10%. And these rightwing critics are the same people that won’t consider approving the appointment of Alan Krueger to replace Austan Goolsbee, despite the fact that Krueger has cleared previous Senate vetting. On the left, people should consider Alan Krueger and Goolsbee before they get on high horse, Deanie Baby deja vu, progressiver than thou Immelt downs and do something incredibly stupid like encourage Darth Nader. Friends of Wall Street? Not fucking likely.
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Joe Kobiela said on October 10, 2011 at 2:44 pm
Chris,
I like Iowa, friendly people. I was in Waterloo on Fri and I love to run in Des Moine and Fort Dodge when I have the time. I just think its a bit odd to have a guy that continually ships jobs overseas and parks Billions in cash off shore to be your “jobs czar” don’t you?
Pilot Joe
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caliban said on October 10, 2011 at 3:00 pm
Seriously Joe,
You know as well as I that “czar” is an idiotic and loaded term with unpleasant undertones and little or no meaning, and that the more obstructionist the Congressional opposition is the more a President has to try to work around “advise and consent” since, in the case at hand, the Senate has replaced that particular Constitutional duty with “obfuscate and demonize”. Salling a Presidential appointee a czar is a great deal like saying Waaahhh!!!
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coozledad said on October 10, 2011 at 3:01 pm
I wouldn’t worry too much about an afterlife filled with bovine revenge. I think the closest the Hare Krishnas get to the concept of hell is the ongoing cycle of birth and death. The inability to escape from this cycle is sort of like being forced to watch Fox or CNN all day for forty or fifty thousand years.
I’ve always figured I’ll know I’m in Christian hell when I find myself playing UNO with my dead relatives and Ronald Reagan.
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Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on October 10, 2011 at 3:26 pm
Etymologically speaking, the fun fact about “czar” is that like “Kaiser” and “Tsar” and “Qaysar” and “Caesar” itself used as chief imperial titles for Russia & Germany & in Slavic nations or for the Ottomans, let alone Imperial Rome (in the same order as the previous list) all go back to Julius’ nickname of “The hairy one.”
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caliban said on October 10, 2011 at 3:30 pm
l’enfer, c’est les autres
Jean Paul Coozledad.
Comprehending that hell is other people, Garcin tells Ines and Estelle, in hell’s waiting room:
You’re crazy, both of you. Don’t you see where this is leading us? For pity’s sake, keep your mouths shut. Now let’s all sit down again quite quietly; we’ll look at the floor and each must try to forget the others are there.
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moe99 said on October 10, 2011 at 3:42 pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98VBUYisZZg&feature=share
Bert Jansch, founder of Pentangle. RIP 1943-2011.
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coozledad said on October 10, 2011 at 4:30 pm
Occupy Wall Street is starting to scare the grifters. They’ve put rat-faced would-be rapist and Alfred E. Newman manqué James O’ Keefe on the case! You just know he’s going to spend all day at the ANSWER table (unless, of course, someone offers him a Cleveland steamer).
http://gawker.com/5848327/james-okeefe-reportedly-creeping-around-occupy-wall-street
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caliban said on October 10, 2011 at 4:42 pm
Moe, Jansch and John Renbourne and Jacqui McShee(map of Erin physiognomy) in one band was an embarassment of riches. I still have Pentangle vinyl, though a bigger fan of Fairport convention, with Richard Thompson, thankfully, still alive and kicking. (As soon as I figure out how to put together this USB turntable, I’ll play it again, I used to be aces at stereo components, thanks a lot Jobs.) I always wondered how one generation of Brits could produce so many brilliant finger-pickers.
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Judybusy said on October 10, 2011 at 5:31 pm
Oh, Moe, thanks for that. My ex was nine years older than I, so just older enough to introduce me to a world of music. I knew instantly who Pentangle was and enjoyed listening to the clip. And Prospero/Caliban Richard Thompson is also amazing…
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beb said on October 10, 2011 at 5:40 pm
Coolezedad, not only is James O’Keefe getting into the act but then there’s this:
http://www.americablog.com/2011/10/american-spectator-editor-admits-being.html
Where the editor of The American Spectator admits to being an agent provocateur for a pepper spraying incident at the Air and Space Museum yesterday. It’s not enough for them to rail at the dirty effing hippies, now they’ve got to start riots, too.
Pilot Joe, I actually am in agreement with you that the CEO of GE is hardly the best choice to be put on a jobs panel. Let’s get someone instead who has actually created new jobs in America.
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caliban said on October 10, 2011 at 5:51 pm
Stunning cover of a jazz classic composition by Mingus, performed by Jansch and Renbourne.
And I was looking for a version of Night Train by Larry Coryell and Phillip Catherine that reminds me of that Jansch/Renbourne version of Porkpie hat when I came across this rare gem, with JB vamping and letting Maceo do his thang.
Nobody weighing in on McCartney’s serial marrying? Just hope he knows what he’s doing after that haridan gold digger last time.
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moe99 said on October 10, 2011 at 6:03 pm
Richard Thompson will be in Seattle Nov. 2 for a concert. He’s opening for the Webb Sisters. Anyone want to join me?
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coozledad said on October 10, 2011 at 6:59 pm
Beb: Here’s the likely source of Joe’s spew today.
http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/01/after-obama-appointment-tea-party-calls-for-ge-ceos-ouster-video.php
More Art Pope and Koch Brothers crap. Probably on the Limbaugh show, too.
The agent provocateur stuff is incitement to violence, and American Spectator boy needs a little time in jail. I doubt his cellblock exchange rate exceeds a couple of generic cigarettes.
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LAMary said on October 10, 2011 at 7:20 pm
Hey, Mc Cartney’s only been married three times and wife number one died. Only one divorce. This one has plenty of bucks herself so she’s probably not a gold digger. And she’s 51. He’s not robbing the cradle.
Moe, I’ll be in Seattle one of these weeks. I’ve been scheduled twice and cancelled twice, but sometime between now and Christmas I will have to be trained on the new software we’re getting so I can train other people. Actually, I’ll be in Renton. Just far enough away for it to be a pain in the ass to get to Seattle
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coozledad said on October 10, 2011 at 7:25 pm
I always wondered if Bush was actually duped by the Iranians in the person of Chalabi, or if Bush and the Republicans viewed the medieval totalitarianism of Iran as an asset, and decided to cede Iraq to them as a sort of token for future illicit shares in their oil production: After all, the Koch brothers are funneling money to the Iranian petroleum industry in violation of the sanctions regime, and this woman might expect similar treatment in any militant Christianist Republican backwater. Topeka comes immediately to mind:
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/envoy/iran-sentences-film-actress-90-lashes-214527275.html
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caliban said on October 10, 2011 at 8:05 pm
Chalabi was a crooked crony and accomplice to the neocon defacto citizens of hardcore Israel that tried to convince Clinton to invade Iraq with the 1998 PNAC letter: Elliot Abrams, Rummy, Wolfowitz, Bolton, Perle, Wee Willie Kristol, what do you make of that disreputable rogue’s gallery of war criminals, Cooze?
Chalabi was their shill to dupe rubes like W, but his services were probably not necessary with the Pretzeldent. I mean, Saddam tried to kill his daddy, who was never up to Saddam and didn’t get rid of him. This was Shrub’s chance to win the Oedipal struggle, although with Madame First Lady Quaker Oats (Poppy’s mom) playing Jocasta, this bit of Freudian melodrammer is particularly grotesque. And W had to figure that this time he was being let into the Heman Women Haters Club that had spurned him in ’98.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/01/27/444438/-Blast-from-the-Past:-PNACs-1998-Letter-to-Clinton
In the end, Chalabi was a bigger liar than the infamous 8Ball, with more irons in the fire, and the slick neocons were either bamboozled or saw exactly what they wanted.
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coozledad said on October 10, 2011 at 8:37 pm
caliban: Someone needs to take a good hard look back at that period. With a special prosecutor, grand jury and guillotine.
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caliban said on October 10, 2011 at 9:36 pm
Does anybody have the slightest idea WWMD if the Mittens were to get elected? This is rather a remarkable compendium of talking out of both sides of his head.
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caliban said on October 10, 2011 at 10:22 pm
And can Reince Priebus (current most hilarious name in GOPer politics that isn’t Zach Wamp) or somebody from the GOPers refute the facts in the Great Vote Fraud Bamboozle. And remind the assholes that ACORN never committed vote fraud (self-reported a very few phony registrations with names like Elmer Fudd for which $10/hr. contract workers stole credit, probably employed by Breitbart as moles, that were so clearly bogus even nincompoop GOP poll watchers would have caught them), and, furthermore, has been dead as a doornail for more than two years, though you wouldn’t know it if you get news from Drudge or the Freeper press.
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Dexter said on October 10, 2011 at 11:05 pm
I enjoyed this lede today because I have recently watched the Scorsese two-part docu on George Harrison.
George really didn’t give a damn about earthly possessions, feeling most content alongside The River Ganges splashing water on himself, and associating with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and Ravi Shankar.
George believed in the power of chanting, also, just like nance.
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alex said on October 10, 2011 at 11:44 pm
Caliban, the Dionne takedown of George F. Will shows Dionne to be a man of conscience, a rare thing in GOP circles these days. I’ve heard a lot of intelligent, upper-class Republicans repudiating their own party because it has come to rely on cynical efforts to mobilize retardates to vote against their own interests, and not even the biggest of bourgeois pigs seems to think this is a good thing except for those born without intellect or conscience or either.
Here’s the work of one of our local right-wing extremists. Tell me—does he believe his own shit or does he just think everyone else is stupid?
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Dexter said on October 11, 2011 at 2:45 am
One more time, here’s an interview with Martin Sheen and son Emilio Estevez.
http://www.theinterrobang.com/2011/10/martin-sheen-and-emilio-estevez-talk-about-the-way/
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Suzanne said on October 11, 2011 at 7:43 am
I think Mr. Leininger does believe his own crap and does think everyone else is stupid. How in the world does he think a CEO being paid millions in salary creates wealth? Those millions spread out to hire more people in his company, yes. Kept up at the top? No. I just heard the tail end of a bit on the radio about the NBA and how the huge salaries to star players is killing the league. Even in Legoland, something too top heavy eventually tips over and falls apart.
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caliban said on October 11, 2011 at 8:41 am
Suzanne, with regard to the NBA, if exorbitant salaries in the NBA compare with those of CEOs, shouldn’t LeBron be eligible to abscond to Europe or an Israeli League with his golden parachute ’bout now? He’s done wrecked two franchises. Of course, the players are actually the rank and file, though not the way they are in the NFL, where most money is not guaranteed and the risk of permanent injury is far greater. In either case, something’s wrong when ownership can enforce lockouts without even pretending they are within US labor law.
Sheen Interview: So daddy Martin and brother Emilio reinterpret Heart of Darkness. Mr. Charley lives it. And isn’t “cult classic” a strange term? Sort of like “iconic” but with a denigratory connotation? Rocky Horror? OK. It’s good bad, but not evil. Repo Man? Nah, just a very clever allegory on consumerism and cults. Blade Runner? Not hardly. One of the best movies ever, even the botched studio cut. The director’s cut is a magnificent work of art. I think application of this term to the latter results from the fact that most critics were too dumb to understand the movie’s greatness on it’s original release, and they don’t want to admit the inadequacy of their original responses.
Right wing commentary on OWS is 100% fact free delirium, starting with the Soros-induced hysterical grand scheme theorizing, with obligatory insistence that Teabanging is “organic”, not Astroturfed. Well, bullshit’s organic, but the Gangbaggers smell more like cholera diarrhea and old Kochhead farts. Believe it or not, Occupy is alive and kicking in Savannah GA, undoubtedly because of the liberal influence of Savannah College of Art and Design. Ironically, there’d be no downtown Savannah left and unemployment would be in the mid-20s without the entrepreneurship of the ultra-liberal founders of SCAD. The Poetters put their money where their mouths were, and the results are a rejuvenated jewel of a historic downtown, full of architectural grandeur and thriving businesses, in the face of tremendous old South conservatism, plus a school that rivals RISD in prestige and accomplishment.
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Suzanne said on October 11, 2011 at 9:59 am
Caliban, I don’t know the ins and outs of the lock-out, but what I see is similar to corporate America. LeBron brings down two franchises and what happens? He makes more! Who suffers? The rookie who is trying to prove himself, hoping against hope he doesn’t get injured before he can make his mark and knowing that even if he succeeds as a 2nd tier player, his days are numbered. Isn’t that corporate America? The guy at the top keeps making more and more, regardless of his performance, but the guy near the bottom, well, it sucks to be him, or in the words of Herman Cain, it’s his own fault.
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caliban said on October 11, 2011 at 10:19 am
Suzanne, I was not disagreeing. But in professional sports, if the big contract players are CEOs, the owners are uberlords of gross capitalism. The NFL lockout centered on the owners’ desire to change profit sharing from 50/50 to 60/40 while refusing to show the players’ union their books. My opinion on this subject always comes back to Robert Edwards, a superb running back that I tutored when I worked for the UGA athletic department (study halls were mandatory for all scholarship athletes.) He was drafted by the Patriots, and then forced by the team and the league to participate in a mindless game of flag on a beach in Hawai’i, in which he trashed his knee after an outstanding rookie season. The Pats cut him loose without further compensation. Robert managed his own rehab from a necrotized bone injury that nearly cost him his leg, and went on to play for Grey Cup champions in the CFL. To this day, I wish for the Pats to lose every game they play because of this disgraceful treatment of a good guy.
Meanwhile, what part of this argument does one have to be an abject ignoramus or liar to misunderstand? American exceptionalism? Exceptionally stupid Americans. They hate our freedom and our democracy.
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coozledad said on October 11, 2011 at 10:20 am
Herman Cain will not be president, and it’s not because of the endemic racism of the Republican party (although that’ll be a big part of it) and it’s not because reporters will be out to prove that he can’t possibly understand the complex world whites have created (Fox, CNN). It’s not because he’s an unlikable guy who reminds you of that driver’s ed teacher they arrested for mail fraud, either. It’s because he had every opportunity to educate himself, and he preferred to remain comically ignorant, and proud of it. In short, it’s his own fucking fault.
http://wonkette.com/454499/ask-herman-cain-a-foreign-policy-question-and-hell-respond-in-tongues
Seriously, Republican candidates ought to know who heads up a country we use in our rendition program. Especially one given to boiling detainees.
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caliban said on October 11, 2011 at 10:58 am
Funny thing about Cain and Uzbekistan is how easy a name Islam Karimov is to remember with a negligible effort. Maybe pronouncing Islam just gives Herman Moses the heebie-jeebies. And when is some poop-scooper GOPer functionary in Orange County CA going to draw a picture of Cain food stamps? Wouldn’t Cain be bollocksed if you could use WIC credits for dogass pizza at Godfathers? That’d be like privatizing public schools.
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Suzanne said on October 11, 2011 at 12:30 pm
I get it Caliban. In other words, we are in agreement, only I didn’t realize that.
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