Where did we go wrong?

Factotum

While doing more research on Charles Bukowski I came across the movie version of Factotum. Some of the story had already been covered in Barfly and Matt Dillon didn't measure up to Mickey Rourke but he still did a decent job of doing Chinaski. Matt comes off as too much of a pretty boy to fully pull off the skid row bard.

I suspect a lot of academia looks down on Bukowski but I owe him a debt. I think reading his poems helped give me courage to write. While he gave me some courage, Claudia Emerson's Late Wife sweetly guided my heart. I connected with the work in this book deeply.

one by Charles Wright

Signature

Don't wait for the snowfall from the dogwood trees.
Live like a huge rock covered with moss,
Rooted half under the earth
and anxious for no one.

J. J. Cale

I love it when someone mistakenly leaves a good CD behind at my place. J. J. Cale accompanied grilling on the hibachi with a good friend last eve.

Kate Vaiden

Earlier this year I read Kate Vaiden by Reynolds Price, one of my favorite short story writers. I highly recommend the book.

in memory of the farm down the road, now a golf course

I wish a buck was still silver.
It was back when the country was strong.
Back before Elvis; before the Vietnam war came along.
Before The Beatles and "Yesterday",
When a man could still work, and still would.
Is the best of the free life behind us now?
Are the good times really over for good?

Are we rolling down hill
like a snowball headed for hell?
-Merle Haggard, some lyrics from "Are the Good Times Really Over for Good"

Thought for 5/12

Surely all art is the result of one's having been in danger, of having gone through an experience all the way to the end, where no one can go any further.
-Rainer Maria Rilke 1875-1926, German Poet

musical/literary finds

I had the pleasure of visiting this really big used book/CD/DVD store over the weekend and came away with a few treasures. I've been wanting to obtain a Roger Miller hits collection for quite a while and did so. I used to have it but either loaned it out for it to not be returned or lost it in a divorce. If the latter is the case, it's fitting. She was as much or more so, a fan. I also picked up Tunnel of Love by Bruce Springsteen. I've never considered myself a B. S. fan but then my recent speculation about favorite albums of all time has two by him in my top 20. The other being Nebraska. Lastly, I picked up a book of poems by Charles Simic. It's curious that I find some of Simic's work that has received high acclaim difficult to connect to. Then some of his work inspires me to write. Obviously his work is good enough to me to sit on my shelf. Not that many writers make it that far.

Thought for 5/7

There's a dark side to each and every human soul. We wish we were Obi-Wan Kenobi, and for the most part we are, but there's a little Darth Vader in all of us. Thing is, this ain't no either-or proposition. We're talking about dialectics, the good and the bad merging into us. You can run but you can't hide. My experience? Face the darkness. Stare it down. Own it. As brother Nietzsche said, being human is a complicated gig. So give that ol' dark night of the soul a hug. Howl the eternal yes!
-Chris in the Morning from Northern Exposure. The last good t.v. show. (98% of t.v. sux) That's 2% for Anthony Bourdain and Braves Baseball.

Rediscovering Grand Funk

One of my first musical memories is of momma buying this bag of potato chips that had two smaller bags of chips inside of it. Also with those two bags was a 45rpm record of Walk Like A Man by Grand Funk Railroad. It was, I think, 1973. Track one of the soundtrack of my life . . .

Remembering an old movie

There is this little shoulder shimmy "Slim" does right at the end of To Have and Have Not that is easily one of the sexiest things I've ever seen. There aren't very many famous people I'd like to meet but if you told me I could share a bottle of wine with Lauren Bacall

(yes, even present day) and chat her up, I'd go for it. You wonder if I have a thing for older women. . . of course I do.

a little rainy day humor:

today's thought

For all of us who need to drop some of the past off of a high cliff and not even bother listening for the crash:

Oh, would that my mind could let fall its dead ideas, as the tree does its withered leaves!
-Andre Gide, author, Nobel laureate (1869-1951)

musing my all time favorite albums

Yes, albums. Meaning the whole recording. If you've read High Fidelity by Nick Hornby (please note I said read the book NOT watched the movie. There's no comparison. The book is far better even though the movie is a bit endearing) then you know some of the importance of of ranking your favorite albums. Here are some I have on the table: Learning to Crawl by the Pretenders. The aforementioned Starfish by the Church. Ghost in the Machine by The Police. Louder than Bombs by The Smiths. Jack's Crows by John Gorka. Miles Ahead - Miles Davis. Now I have to go peruse my old box of cassettes. Stay tuned for some attempt at a comprehensive list and some sort of ranking. Lists are just good anal fun!

a memory

This image was taken in May 2006 by a former colleague of sorts. We were riding mountain bikes and stopped at this spot for respite. It is a grateful memory- of the man and the place. Especially the place.

"Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it. The river was cut by the world's great flood and runs over rocks from the basement of time. On some of the rocks are timeless raindrops. Under the rocks are the words, and some of the words are theirs. I am haunted by waters."
- Norman Maclean, A River Runs Through It

"One of life's quiet excitements is to stand somewhat apart from yourself and watch yourself softly becoming the author of something beautiful, even if it is only falling ash."
-Norman Maclean, A River Runs Through It

Today's Quote

Some men of a secluded and studious life have sent forth from their closet or their cloister, rays of intellectual light that have agitated courts and revolutionized kingdoms; like the moon which, though far removed from the ocean, and shining upon it with a serene and sober light, is the chief cause of all those ebbings and flowings which incessantly disturb that restless world of waters.
Charles Caleb Colton, author and clergyman (1780-1832)

more Neko

I love this verse from Neko's song The Next Time You Say Forever:

I CAN'T STAY HERE TO HOLD YOUR HAND
I'VE BEEN AWAY FOR SO LONG
I'VE LOST MY TASTE FOR HOME
AND THAT'S A DIRTY, FALLOW FEELING...
TO BE THE DANGLING CEILING
FROM WHEN THE ROOF CAME CRASHING DOWN

Oh, I do relate so well. Thank you, Ms. Case. I'm here if you need me . . .

McDave Tribute

I listened to Starfish by The Church this morning in honor of my true friend, Dave McManus. Happy hunting Dave, as you learn anew the perils of young love and live the adventure of moving to a new place. May we raise our glasses together in Fort Worth before another year passes.

Another recommendation to imbibe

While Chardonnay is usually a "sissy" wine and not one I usually go for, the bartender at a favorite restaurant of mine recommended the Louisvale Unwooded Chardonnay to my high satisfaction. Fortunately, it can be found at the grocery much cheaper than what I paid for it that night. For the record, I'm more of a rich, hearty, red wine fan.

I think it's funny-