Joe The No-Show

...one of the more cringe-worthy moments of the presidential contest...almost felt pity for a second, almost being the key word here...and since we're all plumbers now Senator McCain, i know a whole bunch of folks that would love to hunker down and salute you with a world class display of butt cleavage...

in this dangerous age, these songs make me feel safe and warm...i remember the refrigerator-sized radio i talked Pop and Uncle George into hauling up to my attic bedroom...the large round lighted dial glowed like a full moon every night in my room as i searched the airwaves for sounds from exotic places, sounds that started my musical heartbeat, a never-ending thump-thump-thump that has driven me quite happily mad...

Klaatu, where are you?

we need you...

Obama - McCain Dance Off

...this is how all disputes should be settled...or perhaps a rousing game of "yo mama is so fat" (and/or ugly) for those of us who are choreographically challenged...

...from where do dreams spring?...

...after an epic mountain bike ride in the desert today, i came home and stretched out on the sofa and had a very bizarre dream...
...i was in a wooded, mountainous area, a winter chill was in the air and there was a light dusting of snow on the ground...through the trees and up over a rise i could hear a commotion...animal sounds, human sounds, all riled up and all spun together...i made my way toward the noise and imagine my surprise when i saw Ted Nugent and Sarah Palin, he dressed in the standard Tarzan loin cloth, and she wearing the fetching suede one-piece sported by Maureen O'Sullivan as Jane...they were standing back to back, a herd of pissed-off, snorting, stomping moose on one side and a pack of snarling, snapping wolves on the other...they were without the aid of aircraft, high-powered rifles or even bow and arrow, and clutching only hunting knives and making furtive lunging motions as the animals circled ever closer...then Ted spied me on the hillside and yelled, "Hey brother, do you have a gun on you?" to which i replied, "Sorry brother, don't you remember that God made all the guns disappear?"...

well...one can dream, can't one?

...this image should be familiar to some...

whoa...that's a tough hombre...i wonder if they stuffed his banjo into an autoclave to sterilize it...

...i'd have to roll a bass rig into the operating theatre...that would be much harder to de-germ, considering all the funky stages it has inhabited...

so...

what's the difference between a banjo and a lawnmower?...you can tune a lawnmower...

what's the difference between a banjo and a trampoline?...you don't wear golf spikes when you're jumping on a trampoline...

(apologies to all my banjo playin' brothers out there)

Levi Stubbs ~ 1936 - 2008

...in the pantheon of great singers on the Motown label, Levi Stubbs of the Four Tops was my all time favorite...even as a young (caucasian) boy in the farming hinterlands of Ohio, when i would hear his huge edgy voice leap from the tiny speaker of my transistor radio it would make my heart ache and my knees buckle...

...to this day i can't listen to "Bernadette" without going absolutely mental...

...rest well, Levi...your voice lives on in the hearts and memories of millions around the world...

Breaking News...

the soul pumpkin, aka Augie Patchouli, has been returned to this earthly plane to participate in the reunion of the infamous 90's musical force, The Patchouli Brothers...Garth and Augie are rehearsing in an undisclosed location and are planning widespread sonic guerilla activities of love...

...updates as they become available...

Other Iconic Figures I Promise Not To Satire, Poke Fun At, Lampoon, Roast or Disparage In Any Way (A Partial List)

1. Mothers
2. Grandmothers
3. Fathers
4. Grandfathers
5. Great Aunt Cleo (and Uncle Tug)
6. Santa Claus
7. The Easter Bunny
8. Captain Kangaroo (and Mr. Greenjeans)
9. Mr. Rogers
10. Jesus
11. Mohammed
12. Buddha
13. Zarathustra
14. Confucious
15. George Washington
16. The Rest of the Founding Fathers (and Mothers)
17. Frank Zappa (speaking of Mothers)
18. Marion Morrison
19. NASCAR drivers (boy oh boy, talk about some sensitive fans)
20. Willie Nelson (hey, didn't he write "Mama, Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys"?)
21. Ben & Jerry
22. Martin & Lewis
23. George & Gracie
24. Lewis & Clark
25. Peter & Gordon (for all you Merseybeat folks)
26. Rowan & Martin
27. Mary Martin
28. Martin Landau
29. Martin VanBuren
30. Van Johnson
31. Van Halen
32. Van Gogh

...to be continued...

as some might recall, i originally come from where the east meets the midwest, where the corn belt meets the bible belt meets the rust belt, at the upper end of tornado alley... i have now resided in the desert long enough that i now consider myself a "westerner" but i am frankly baffled by the mystique of "the cowboy"...(and i don't mean the pro football team of that name)
...it all starts with the word itself..."cowboy"...firstly, they ride horses, not cows...and some don't even ride horses anymore...never been near a horse...all hat and no cattle, as they say...and the wranglers of other critters aren't called "sheepboy" or "goatboy"...at least not in polite society, anyway...
...hey, what do you expect from a city slicker?...but i do like a nice Stetson and a pair of Tony Lamas as much as the next buckaroo...

...all that's missing from this cretin and his fellow miscreants are the white hoods and flaming crosses, longing for the days when "darkies knew their places"...

this sort of stuff makes my heart hurt and puts boils on my brain...

UK Scrummies

...i have succumbed to the mystery and marvel of Marmite...fortunately, there's a Brit store up the road a bit where i can feed my new-found addiction...

thanks Mel...

Happy Birthday, John

peace...

The Most Alive Moment

The most living moment comes when

those who love each other meet each



other's eyes and in what flows

between them then. To see your face



in a crowd of others, or alone on a

frightening street, i weep for that.



Our tears improve the earth. The

time you scolded me, your gratitude



your laughing, always your qualities

increase the soul. Seeing you is a

wine that does not muddle or numb.

We sit inside the cypress shadow



where amazement and clear thought

twine their slow growth into us.

~ Rumi ~

okay...i know graffiti is generally sophomoric, but there i was in the belly of the beast with a Sharpie in my possession and well, dang it, i just couldn't help myself...actually i think Judge Scalia looks more like Oliver Hardy than Der Fuehrer...

canyon images

...a few pictures from the grand canyon taken during daily hikes along the south rim...numerous deer calmly walk through the village and graze next to the railroad tracks...

...played music to the usual assortment of folks from all over the planet...i strongly suspect there were a few extraterrestrials as well, not to mention drunken mule wranglers, drunken Aussies, drunken Brits, drunken Irishmen...are you catching a thread here?...after the sun goes down, there's not much left to do but hobble into and stagger out of the pub...

...and we supply the sound track to this wilderness Bachanaal...

it's good to be home...