Born With The Moon In Virgo

by Michael Franks

Tried hard to find religion
But all I could find was sin
I perched in the church like a pigeon
But I dreamed about women and gin

Please baby jesus won’t you come out to play
Your plaster good looks are appealing
Your shepherd companions are obviously gay
Won’t you please show some feeling.

Tried hard to find a woman
But all I could find was a wife
She has me convinced I was no one
And I had her convinced she was right

Please pretty woman, when you come out to play
Just check your guns at the door
Just want to love you, don’t want to stay
I’ve already been there before

Tried hard to find a wise man
But I could find was a fool
His history books full of lies and
His PhD for a soul

We all love these heroes, we struggle to find
Are really just freaks in a circus
Take off their costumes and rewind their minds
In the end they desert us

Religiosity in America

Nothing is quite as frustrating for me as the religiosity in America.  Many of you live in parts of the world where it is not quite so prevalent, but its effects I fear are felt nonetheless.

Is greater awareness not so exclusive, but rather hidden by most, sheltered from others in self preservation?  We exist in a society which is so entrenched in a hodge podge of superstition and ignorance.

I read and listen with great detail the words of those that are on some spiritual track and am astonished at how faith can substitute itself for fact and reason.  The damage is not always immediate and by group association unpersonalized, yet the laws and damaging impact on free thinking are evident.

I watch the elections with their religious bend.  Hoping that this lip service to the make believe is only a calculated draw to the sleepy electorate so that some common sense good can become of greater ideals our country so badly needs.  Church and State need to be separate.

Usually I end up warning people that they don’t want to discuss such topics with me if god comes up in a conversation, but for those that do I hold little back.  I see however how they have been conditioned to recoil when someone challenges their thought and their  make-believe friend(s.)

Pick up your shit ppl!!!

I don’t know how it is where you live, but around here I am seeing more and more litter. I don’t even consider littering, so it baffles my mind as to why others do.

I guess people fall into two categories when littering, either plain laziness or an indifference to the environment they live.  I look at the crap on my drive home and I see more litter than trash I recycle in a year. It almost makes my effort seem futile. Maybe its a sign the society is in the process of giving-up.

Funny paper

Clipped from the local newspaper had me laughing out loud in the middle of the hospital waiting room. Bet the editor wishes he had this one back.

Spring is almost here!

Well the weather is turning nice and Spring is just around the corner.  Been enjoying the outside with my new hot tub, and extravagance I bought on a whim.  It’s a good excuse to get away from the keyboard (and the worries of life) for a time.

Got a dandy sunburn already catching some rays over the weekend.

Make a date with your Hate

Native American metaphor

A grandfather was talking to his grandson about how he felt.
He said, “I feel as if I have two wolves fighting in my heart.
One wolf is the vengeful, angry, violent one.
The other wolf is the loving, compassionate one.”
The grandson asked him,
“Which wolf will win the fight in your heart?”
The grandfather answered, “The one I feed.”

Think you can’t change the world? Too late, you already have.

sorry

I’ve been neglecting you, my little blog….lots of time on the web, but little spent with you.  I will try to do better sweetie…promise.

Once in a Blue Moon

I stopped by the Blue Moon Bar and Restaurant today. It’s old and rather limited in seating, especially this time of year when the beer garden is closed. I had passed by it often (for years,) and had seen the lot full, wondering if the food was any good, but would always decide not to stop and just drive on.

Today however I thought about it, and thought it strange, the game I would play with myself. Wondering if the reaction to my entrance would be awkward, wondering if the food would be awful, wondering if it would be smoke filled, or if drunks would single me out for some sort of confrontation. The little preconceptions and misconceptions I had allowed to control such a trite decision all these years, so I decided they would not rule this situation any more.

The coffee was good, my sandwich was good, the waitress was pleasant, and although they had a non-smoking room I opted to sit in the main room where the most people were because unbeknown to them, they are my entertainment. Elvis singing “Blue Christmas” seemed so appropriate and the rest of the music ranged for pop to country. There was an interesting bar, wooden and more of a half circle that a traditional style.

Sometimes the only fear that really exists is our own anticipation and by our own imaginations. The phrase, once in a blue moon today has come to mean “every now and then” or “rarely.”  Today I made it fit quite nicely.

Books I Read This Year (2006)

PIHKAL, A Chemical Love Story ~ Ann & Alexander Shulgin
TIHKAL, The Continuation ~ Ann & Alexander Shulgin
The Da Vinci Code ~ Dan Brown
1776 ~ David McCullough
After The Ice ~ Mithen
God Without Religion ~ Sankara Saranam
Thus Spoke Zarathustra ~ Nietzsche
The Prehistoric Mind ~ Mithen
The Goddess and the Bull ~ Michael Balter
The Exception to the Rulers ~ Amy Goodman
HTML & CSS, Build Your Own Website The Right Way ~ Lloyd
The Demon Hauted World ~ Carl Sagan
The Dragons of Eden ~ Carl Sagan
Dreaming Reality ~ Griffin & Tyrrell
Freedom From Addiction ~ Griffin & Tyrrell
Unpopular Essays ~ Bertrand Russell
The God Delusion ~ Richard Dawkins
The Journals of Lewis and Clark ~ Lewis and Clark
The Floating Brothel ~ Sian Rees
50 Secrets of Magic Craftsmanship ~ Salvador Dali (translated)
From Lucy To Language ~ Johanson an Edgar
Catal Huyuk;: A neolithic town in Anatolia ~ James Mellaart

A father and son Bond

There’s a new James Bond movie out. Staring the “Blond Bond,” Daniel Craig. I will so see it, I’ve seen all of them, over and over, but that’s not what this post is about, its about my dad.

Growing up my father and I had little in common. I tended to stay to myself, I didn’t get into a lot of the traditional things boys did like sports, but rather ran around with my over active imagination. My older brother satisfying all his “son needs,” excelling in sports and academics.

One thing I do remember was my father started taking me to 007 movies beginning with “Dr. No.” For whatever reason it was always just he and I.

The movies then were almost controversial in their tidbits of sexuality and innuendo. It didn’t take me long to understand why my father was there. It wasn’t for the gadgets or the lasers, but for the women, those beautiful women. I watched his reactions as much as I watched the movies. I can remember almost turning away at the introduction of the films as women seemingly nude would swirl around the screen.

I have a low voice like my dad, his dry humor, artistic flare, and I tend to favor his features over those of my mother, so whenever some tells me that I remind them of him I take pause and then politely agree, smile to myself and say “Yeah, I suppose we have a few things in common.”