Furor Erupts Over Atheist Display At State Capitol

Comptroller Candidate William J. Kelly Tries To Take Down Sign, Is Escorted From Building

The sign reads:

"At the time of the winter solstice, let reason prevail. There are no gods, no devils, no angels, no heaven or hell. There is only our natural world. Religion is just myth and superstition that hardens hearts and enslaves minds.

Chopin's Hand - Playlist For A Snowy Sunday

Frederyk Chopin :

Etude No. 1 - Opus 10 No. 1 - in C
Etude No. 3 - Opus 10 No. 3 - in E (Tristesse)
Piano Sonata No. 2 - Opus 35 - in Bfm (Marche Funebre - Lento)
Piano Sonata No. 1 - Opus 4 - in Cm (Menuetto)
Piano Sonata No. 1 - Opus 4 - in Cm (Larghetto)
Piano Sonata No. 1 - Opus 4 - in Cm (Finale - Presto)
Piano Sonata No. 2 - Opus 35- in Bfm (Grave - Doppio Movimento)
Piano Sonata No. 2 - Opus 35- in Bfm (Scherzo)
Piano Sonata No. 3 - Opus 58 - in Bm (Allegro Maestoso)
Piano Sonata No. 3 - Opus 58 - in Bm (Scherzo - Molto Vivace)
Piano Sonata No. 3 - Opus 58 - in Bm (Largo)
Piano Sonata No. 3 - Opus 58 - in Bm (Finale - Presto non tanto- gitato Maestoso)
Piano Sonata No. 1 - Opus 4 - in Cm (Allegro)


Arthur Rubinstein plays Sergei Rachmaninoff  : Rhapsody on a theme of Paganini

Romantic song of the day

By the long forgotten genius that was Gilbert O' Sullivan. Stupid cap and shorts and all, the guy had a genius knack for writing pop songs of very high quality.

I remember singing below quote out loud when I was about 10 year old, without actually realizing what the man sang about of course. And coming back to make an impression on me year later when I finally paid attention to the words.

"When I'm drinking my Bonaparte Shandy
Eating more than enough apple pies
Will I glance at my screen and see real human beings
starve to death right in front of my eyes"

'Nothing Rhymed', 'We Will', 'Matrimony', 'I'll believe it when I see it', and so on and so on. One brilliant pop song after the other.


About the lyrics below : I heard the words again by chance yesterday evening : 'In a world so distorted, where the worst is best reported' and I can still totally relate to the words. Although they were written in the 70ies nothing has changed. The more things change the more they stay the same.

Anyway; there is something to be said for songs with lyrics that are not extremely idealistic or downright stupid. Songs that are about life as we experience it,  about the human condition, instead of life as we wish to experience it.

Then again: I ain't no 16 years ol' anymore so it's probably an 'age-thing'!

Links : Gilbert O' Sullivan Homepage / Gilbert O' Sullivan at Wiki.

When the evening is over
Put your head upon my shoulder
And I'll tell you something
I believe is true
Happiness is me and you

In a world so distorted
Where the worst is best reported
Love maybe something
That will see us through
Happiness is me and you

There maybe girls that I'll remember
That made me happy for a while
But none of them compare with you my love
However hard they all may try

If the bus that we're taking
Has for ages kept us waiting
What does it matter
Even in a queue
Happiness is me and you

There may be days when you discover
I'm not the man you think I am
But through it all we will recover
Without the aid of any plan

When the weeks turn to hours
And in June it's April showers
I'll tell you something I believe is true
Happiness is me and you
Happiness is me and you
Happiness is me and you

From the archives...

A weblog-posting I published some time ago. Worth reading, still relevant.


"One wonders just how vast and gratuitous a catastrophe would have to be to shake the world’s faith. The Holocaust did not do it. Neither did the genocide in Rwanda even with machete-wielding priests among the perpetrators. Five hundred million people died of smallpox in the 20th Century, many of them infants. God’s ways are, indeed, inscrutable. It seems that any fact, no matter how infelicitous, can be rendered compatible with religious faith. In matters of faith, we have kicked ourselves loose of the Earth."

Setlist December 14th 2009

Al Stewart All Over... :

Clifton in the rain
Almost Lucky
Time Passages
Running Man(!)
Merlin's Time


Gilbert O' Sullivan :

We Will
Happiness Is Me And You



Aries...

Alright, let's get the whole thing cooking...

I try to run in a different race
But every time I seem to lose faith
Making it is hard, but taking is easy
But I got to keep trying to lessen my pace
Oh, dubidaidai, dubidaidaidada...
Aries...
I try to walk down a city street
I say hello to the people I meet
They're walking their way, thinking I'm crazy
But I have so much trouble just keeping the beat

Well my way of life is simple
'Cause I just do what I please
Whatever I was blessed with
It wasn't a life of peace
It's all right, yeah, here she comes

Oh, maybe I'm just a country boy
The city life will bring me no joy
Well it's bringing me down, it's making me lonely
You see I'm fooling with life and it ain't no toy

Well my way of life is simple
'Cause I just do what I please
And whenever I got problems
I just call upon Aries

All right yeah
Here she comes
Here she comes

Setlist Wednesday December 9th

And On It Goes

Chris Cornell : Billy Jean(live)
Caravan : The Show Of Our Lives
Counting Crows : Hard Candy
Harry Chapin : W.O.L.D.(live at 'The Bottom Line')

Hall & Oates : 

Wait For Me
Open All Night

Gruppo Sportivo : Armee Monica

Gentle Giant : In A Glass House
808 State : Mozes
Adam F. : The Tree Knows Everything
Bruce Springsteen : Growin' Up(demo version from 'Tracks')

Dave Matthews Band :

Cortez The Killer
All Along The Watchtowe l r



Developing...

Wooden keyboard

Pretty awesome. 

No explanation necessary...

...

And by the way people :


"columbia now nine times the speed of sound."
"roger that, dan, I've got a solid tacan
Locked on, uh, tacan twenty-three."
"the, uh, tracking data, map data and pre-planned
Trajectory are all one line on the block"
"roger (? ) your (? ) block (? ) decoded (? recorded? )"

Hello, earth.
Hello, earth.
With just one hand held up high
I can blot you out,
Out of sight.

Peek-a-boo,
Peek-a-boo, little earth.
With just my heart and my mind
I can be driving,
Driving home,
And you asleep
On the seat.

I get out of my car,
Step into the night
And look up at the sky.
And there's something bright,
Travelling fast.
Look at it go!
Look at it go!

[a men's choral passage in either czekh or russian is sung here.]

("listen!")

Watching storms
Start to form
Over america.
Can't do anything.
Just watch them swing "columbia now nine times the speed of sound."
"roger that, dan, I've got a solid tacan
Locked on, uh, tacan twenty-three."
"the, uh, tracking data, map data and pre-planned
Trajectory are all one line on the block"
"roger (? ) your (? ) block (? ) decoded (? recorded? )"

Hello, earth.
Hello, earth.
With just one hand held up high
I can blot you out,
Out of sight.

Peek-a-boo,
Peek-a-boo, little earth.
With just my heart and my mind
I can be driving,
Driving home,
And you asleep
On the seat.

I get out of my car,
Step into the night
And look up at the sky.
And there's something bright,
Travelling fast.
Look at it go!
Look at it go!

[a men's choral passage in either czekh or russian is sung here.]

("listen!")

Watching storms
Start to form
Over america.
Can't do anything.
Just watch them swing
With the wind
Out to sea.

All you sailors,
("get out of the waves! get out of the water!")
All life-savers,
("get out of the waves! get out of the water!")
All you cruisers,
("get out of the waves! get out of the water!")
All you fishermen,
Head for home.

Go to sleep, little earth.
I was there at the birth,
Out of the cloudburst,
The head of the tempest.
Murderer!
Murder of calm.
Why did I go?
Why did I go?

[the men's choral passage is sung again several times here.]

"tiefer, tiefer.
Irgendwo in der tiefe
Gibt es ein licht."

Go to sleep little earth.
With the wind
Out to sea.

All you sailors,
("get out of the waves! get out of the water!")
All life-savers,
("get out of the waves! get out of the water!")
All you cruisers,
("get out of the waves! get out of the water!")
All you fishermen,
Head for home.

Go to sleep, little earth.
I was there at the birth,
Out of the cloudburst,
The head of the tempest.
Murderer!
Murder of calm.
Why did I go?
Why did I go?

[the men's choral passage is sung again several times here.]

"tiefer, tiefer.
Irgendwo in der tiefe
Gibt es ein licht."

Go to sleep little earth.

A thumbs up to TPR

I can recommend Ron's Little Texas Progressive Radio Station in the middle of nowhere..


Email with requests : ron@trueprogressiveradio.com

Setlist Saturday december 5th

Peter Gabriel :

Mercy Street
Red Rain
In Your Eyes


Paul Simon :

Graceland
Diamonds On The Soles Of Her Feet
Under African Skies



The Alan Parsons Project :

You Won't Be There
Step By Step
You Lie Down With Dogs(You Get Up With Flees)
Ammonia Avenue
I Don't Want To Go Home
The Turn Of A Friendly Card
Nothing Left To Lose
The Turn Of A Friendly Card(Finale)


Saint Etienne    : Side Streets
Jamie Cullum   : Twentysomething
James Blunt     : Same Mistake
Razorlight         : America
Al Stewart         : Merlin's Time
Cat Stevens      : My Lady D'Arbanville


Al Stewart :

Running Man
Time Passages


Peter Skellern                 : You're A Lady
Sammy Davis Jr.            : Mr. Bojangles
Steely Dan                       : Time Out Of Mind
Supertramp                     : From Now On
Fairport Convention       : Fotheringay
Rush                                : Tears
Fairport Convention       : Who Knows Where The Time Goes
King Crimson                 : Epithaph
Renaissance                   : Northern Lights
UK                                   : Rendez Vous 6:02

Jeff  Wayne                    :


Forever Autumn
The Spirit Of man

PS : I can recommend the 2002 remix of the album. Rarely have I heard such a positive difference compared to the original.

Supertramp                    :


Surely
It's A Long Road
Aubade and I Am Not Like Other Birds Of Prey
Words Unspoken
Maybe I'm A Beggar
Home Again
Nothing To Show
Shadow Song
Try Again
Surely(II)
Aries
A Soapbox Opera

(This is almost all very old Supertramp before they became famous. And it is GOOD! Hippies!!)



Al Stewart                  : Year Of The Cat(Live)
10CC                          : The Things We Do For Love
10CC                          : I'm Mandy Fly Me

Bruce Cockburn       : If I had A Rocket Launcher
RUSH                         : 2112

developing...

R.I.P. Eric Woolfson

And thank you.

Art Rock Will Never Die 


Now is the hour and moment
Don't let a day pass by
Your ship is sailing with the high tide
You could be standing on the inside



Same Old Sun

Eric Woolfson - Lead Vocal

Tell me what to do
Now the light in my life is gone from me
Is it always the same
Is the night never ending

Tell me what to do
All the hopes and the dreams went wrong for me
There's a smile on my face
But I'm only pretending

Taking my life
One day at a time
Cause I can't think what else to do
Taking some time
To make up my mind
When there's no one to ask but you

The same old sun would shine in the morning
The same bright eyes would welcome me home
And the moon would rise way over my head
And get through the night alone

And the same old sun will shine in the morning
The same bright stars will welcome me home
And the clouds will rise way over my head
I'll get through the night on my own

Tell me what to do
Now there's nobody watching over me
If I seem to be calm
Well it's all an illusion
Tell me what to do
When the fear of the night comes over me
There's a smile on my face
Just to hide the confusion

Taking my life
One day at a time
Cause I can't think what else to do
Taking some time
To make up my mind
When there's no one to ask but you

The same old sun would shine in the morning
The same bright eyes would welcome me home
And the moon would rise way over my head
And get through the night alone

And the same old sun will shine in the morning
The same bright stars will welcome me home
And the clouds will rise way over my head
I'll get through the night on my own 






Good Night My Art Rock Brother

Peter Gabriel

Now for THIS I'll walk to the store...

Gonzo!!!

Bohemian Rhapsody

Setlist Saturday 28 November 2009

Al Stewart :

Time Passages
 A Small Fruit Song
 Life In Dark Water
Clifton In The Rain
Timeless Skies
Running Man

Chris DeBurgh :

Broken Wings
Crusader

Chris Rea :

Fool If You Think It's Over
Road To Hell - Part II

Genesis :

You Might Recall
Me And Virgil
Evidence Of Autumn

Easy Star All Stars :

With A Little Dub From My Friends
A Dub In The Life

Maybe there still is room for an internet radio station for old people...? ;)

Nena : 99 Luftballons

"99 Jahre Krieg
Liessen keinen Platz fuer Sieger
Kriegsminister gibt es nicht mehr
Und auch keine Duesenflieger
Heute zieh ich meine Runden
Seh die Welt in Truemmern liegen
Hab' nen Luftballon gefunden
Denk' an Dich und lass' ihn fliegen"

Cowardly Republicans With A Big Mouth - Episode 219b

Perhaps you have followed American Politics under George Bush. In that case you may have heard of John Bolton. Bolton was Bush's candidate for the post of United States Permanent Representative at the United Nations. He did not survive all the criticism so after he filled the Permanent post Temporarily(...) he left the job before the Senate could throw him out.

As somewhat informed people know, the US government/Obama has decided to put the 9/11 mastermind(Khalid Sheikh Mohammed) on trial in New York. This has resulted in a lot of criticism from the Republicans(of all people!). They think that it is not wise to put a foreign moslim terrorist on trial in the US. The reasoning behind this criticism is that the trial may be the/a reason for other extremists to strike again.

I find it utterly ridiculous that the same political group that started the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq now crawls under their tables out of fear for more attacks.  These people are the bloodspitting over-the-top militaristic warmongers of 6 years ago yet they come up with 'security-reasons' to prevent terrorists from being tried in the US.

Anyway : I found this article about John Bolton's hypocrisy. It is just as valid for a Hell of a lot of Republicans.

Host Melanie Morgan: Given the nature and danger of bringing these terrorists to American soil, where do you think is the most safe place to be when they get here and this trial begins? Where would you put your family?

John Bolton: Well, not New York City, I'm afraid to say. This is part of the callousness and the really, lack of professionalism and judgment to put them on trial anywhere in the United States in civilian courts.

Declaring that you are 'afraid' of trials in the US is downright cowardly. Terrorists have already been on trial in Germany, the UK, Spain, etcetera. I guess the people in those countries do take their responsibilities.

The US Republicans apparently don't have the stamina to go through with this. Instead, they are organizing 'Tea-parties'. As Marie Antoinette said : "Let them eat cake".

Update : As an  extra : one of the sublinks in the article goes to this German site. 

In Paris, the headlines and the political talk I heard and read did not focus on our president or our prospects, but on the selection of a new — and no longer merely symbolic — leader for a United Europe. Europeans were talking to each other directly; Americans were not, as far as I could tell, very much a part of the conversation.

The narcissism of the 'American Elite' is indeed strikingly misplaced. For once I fully agree with the German(s) :

Look, man, the fact that your mom and your dad happened to conceive your pasty white ass on the hunk of soil known as the United States of America doesn’t make you Luke Skywalker. Grow up and get real.

Indeed.

Only for true fans

"The satirical newspaper The Onion contained a tribute to him soon after he died, with a reference to one of his works, stating that he shouldn't be referred to as dead "without checking Dresden for his younger self first"


I think it's time for 'Hocus Pocus' again soon.

Music - Al Stewart

Recently laid my hands on some Al Stewart. That guy from 'Year Of The Cat'. Songs like 'Time Passages', 'Almost Lucky', yes, sometimes the old times weren't so bad.

I'll have to write a better entry about Al soon. The man has been quite pivotal in the British Folk Scene and I've noticed that even among the older music fans there aren't too many people who know that. Due to the success of Year Of The Cat and Time Passages the rest of his impressive career got snowed under a bit.

Anyone who can write and sing with feeling about a love affair between an apple and an orange can't be all bad...

Said the apple to the orange
Oh I wanted you to come
Closer now and kiss me to the core
Then you might know me
Like no other orange
Has ever done before

Expression of the day

And one I may use more and more often...


NOBODY puts baby in the corner!

Web Query and how one often must return to The Old Days Of ICT

Well well,

Just got a question or two from the management at the company I work for : Can we use WebQuery/400 to generate graphical overviews and spreadsheets on PC's using data on the AS/400(oooooppppsss, sorry ; System I...).

Of course you can and the graphical Query Application/Workbench/DevelopersSuite/LatestBuzzword(...) is actually free if you already use the old version.

So now it's back to the JavaScript fast-track tutorials because I haven't seen that shit in years. Apparently the WebQuery/400 software generates PHP which in turn generates JavaScript/JSON. JSON in turn, is the latest preferred DB-access method in browsers nowadays and is supported fully in FF 3.5 and IE 8.0.

Mind you : I probably have the idea above completely wrong and the experienced JavaScript coders howling and shedding tears of laughter right now...

Oh well, One Keeps Learning and that is, I think, perhaps the main purpose of life.

To be continued...