Thursday, December 25, 2008
A Very Waits Christmas
A Twofer. "Silent Night" followed by "Christmas Card from a Hooker in Minneapolis" and then back to "Silent Night." Good stuff. As with most Waits, especially good in the late night hour.
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Wednesday (that's right, Wednesday!) Musical Tribute
When Harrogate reflects on the relationship between the following glorious drinking song, and the TRS Board Members, his thoughts turn naturally to Paperweight first, because Harrogate knows DAMN WELL that Paperweight has loved this song for a long time, even though he and Harrogate have never spoken of it.
But the song certainly casts a broad net. Chances are high that this song has a special place in the hearts of p-duck and m, for example. And perhaps even if you caught him in the right mood, Roof Almighty would admit that this is indeed the "perfect country-western song."
"Well I was drunk the day my mom got out of prison;
And I went to pick her up in the rain.
But before I could get to the station in my pickup truck,
She got run over by a damned ole train!
And I'll hang around as long as you will let me;
I never minded standin' in the rain.
And you don't have to call me 'Darlin,' Darlin:
You never even called me
(I wonder why you don't call me),
Why don't you ever call me by my name?"
But the song certainly casts a broad net. Chances are high that this song has a special place in the hearts of p-duck and m, for example. And perhaps even if you caught him in the right mood, Roof Almighty would admit that this is indeed the "perfect country-western song."
"Well I was drunk the day my mom got out of prison;
And I went to pick her up in the rain.
But before I could get to the station in my pickup truck,
She got run over by a damned ole train!
And I'll hang around as long as you will let me;
I never minded standin' in the rain.
And you don't have to call me 'Darlin,' Darlin:
You never even called me
(I wonder why you don't call me),
Why don't you ever call me by my name?"
List, list, O list
Brief let me be.
Sleeping within my orchard, my custom always of the afternoon, upon my secure hour thy uncle stole, with juice of cursed hebenon in a vial, and in the porches of my ears did pour the leperous distilment; whose effect holds such an enmity with blood of man that swift as quicksilver it courses through the natural gates and alleys of the body, and with a sudden vigour doth posset and curd, like eager droppings into milk, the thin and wholesome blood: so did it mine; and a most instant tetter bark'd about, most lazar-like, with vile and loathsome crust, all my smooth body.
Thus was I, sleeping, by a brother's hand of life, of crown, of queen, at once dispatch'd: cut off even in the blossoms of my sin, unhousel'd, disappointed, unanel'd, no reckoning made, but sent to my account with all my imperfections on my head:
O, horrible! O, horrible! most horrible!
If thou hast nature in thee, bear it not; let not the royal bed of Denmark be a couch for luxury and damned incest.
But, howsoever thou pursuest this act, taint not thy mind, nor let thy soul contrive against thy mother aught: leave her to heaven and to those thorns that in her bosom lodge, to prick and sting her.
Fare thee well at once! The glow-worm shows the matin to be near, and 'gins to pale his uneffectual fire:
Adieu, adieu!
Sleeping within my orchard, my custom always of the afternoon, upon my secure hour thy uncle stole, with juice of cursed hebenon in a vial, and in the porches of my ears did pour the leperous distilment; whose effect holds such an enmity with blood of man that swift as quicksilver it courses through the natural gates and alleys of the body, and with a sudden vigour doth posset and curd, like eager droppings into milk, the thin and wholesome blood: so did it mine; and a most instant tetter bark'd about, most lazar-like, with vile and loathsome crust, all my smooth body.
Thus was I, sleeping, by a brother's hand of life, of crown, of queen, at once dispatch'd: cut off even in the blossoms of my sin, unhousel'd, disappointed, unanel'd, no reckoning made, but sent to my account with all my imperfections on my head:
O, horrible! O, horrible! most horrible!
If thou hast nature in thee, bear it not; let not the royal bed of Denmark be a couch for luxury and damned incest.
But, howsoever thou pursuest this act, taint not thy mind, nor let thy soul contrive against thy mother aught: leave her to heaven and to those thorns that in her bosom lodge, to prick and sting her.
Fare thee well at once! The glow-worm shows the matin to be near, and 'gins to pale his uneffectual fire:
Adieu, adieu!
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Tuesday, December 23rd
Monday Musical Tribute
This is perhaps Harrogate's favorite Christmas Song. And this version is up there with the best of em. It just makes Harrogate so freakin' happy to watch this. So very, very happy. He suspects it will make YOU happy, too.
But. If you want the Real Deal. Nat King Cole. Nuff Said.
But. If you want the Real Deal. Nat King Cole. Nuff Said.
Monday, December 22, 2008
I worry that the Situation is dying on us.
Goddammit, you bitch! You never backed away from anything in your life! Now fight!
Fight!
Fight! Right now! Do it! Fight goddammit! Fight! Fight! Fiiiiight!
Monday Night Waits
Megs, here is a side of Waits we did not explore when you guys were down here in Texastown. But you need to get to know this side of him. And do not worry, CDs will come, at least one of which will allow you to explore the side of which Harrogate speaks.
Tip of the Hat to Roof Almighty, who feels this is a song that deserves to be taken seriously.
Tip of the Hat to Roof Almighty, who feels this is a song that deserves to be taken seriously.
Is She Being Ironic?
An in interview, Sarah Palin told Human Events (via CNN) that she regrets she did not "seize the opportunity" to speak more to the American through the media. This quote seems priceless:
Palin's rhetoric style downplays any conception of irony. Her calling for more interviews is quite odd since in her interviews she did quite poorly (see here) and is quite hostile to the media and the first amendment.
Yet, her ignorance of irony on one level works to her advantage as she negates McCain's handlers by praising McCain.... "I did not come to bury McCain, but to praise him..."
Only four more years till she runs a campaign on her own....
“I was not allowed to do very many interviews, and the interviews that I did were not necessarily those I would have chosen. But I was so thankful to have the opportunity to run with John McCain that I was not going to argue with the strategy decisions that some of his people were making regarding the media contacts.
“But if I would have been in charge, I would have wanted to speak to more reporters because that’s how you get your message out to the electorate.
Palin's rhetoric style downplays any conception of irony. Her calling for more interviews is quite odd since in her interviews she did quite poorly (see here) and is quite hostile to the media and the first amendment.
Yet, her ignorance of irony on one level works to her advantage as she negates McCain's handlers by praising McCain.... "I did not come to bury McCain, but to praise him..."
Only four more years till she runs a campaign on her own....
Friday, December 19, 2008
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
A Little Drag to Start the Day
Here's an awesome image of RuPaul dressed as both Michelle and Barack Obama (found at eonline.com, of course). Apparently, the pic is part of the promotional campaign for RuPaul's new show.
Happy Wednesday!
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Tuesday Musical Tribute....
It's Tuesday, Harrogate. Tuesday.
To celebrate the Roof's last, great tag and to leave a tribute to the past few wonderful days, my one and only post from this Texas trip is: Yakety Sax. Sweet Toddler J (or Jeezey) danced to this sing while devouring lunch. Hence, it must be good.
For a shorter version, click here.
To celebrate the Roof's last, great tag and to leave a tribute to the past few wonderful days, my one and only post from this Texas trip is: Yakety Sax. Sweet Toddler J (or Jeezey) danced to this sing while devouring lunch. Hence, it must be good.
For a shorter version, click here.
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Friday, December 12, 2008
"Normal Birth"
To follow up to M's last post (and my comment that got cut off somehow), what disturbs me about the Orgasmic Birth site is the idea that there is such a thing as a "normal" birth. If we were to poll the TRS mothers we'd find many different birthing experiences; none more "normal" than others. While an unmedicated home birth might be a more "natural" way to give birth, the truth is that the process does carry inherent risks for mothers and babies. Furthermore, the idea that one way of giving birth is more "natural" and "normal" ostracizes women who, for whatever reason, cannot have an unmedicated home birth.
"A large part of the reason is that technocratic practitioners are deeply afraid of birth. As a result, they overuse technology in an effort to make themselves feel in control of a process they don’t really understand. [...] Why isn’t that OK? Because, as I say in Orgasmic Birth, the overuse of drugs and technology interferes with the normal physiology of birth and causes far more harm than good. It is a sad fact that obstetricians are not trained in and do not understand the normal physiology of birth. How could they be? Only about 3% of births in the United States, including those that take place at home, are normal; drugs and technology dominate all the rest. Doctors almost never see normal birth. Therefore, they have no opportunity to learn about it. "
According to this logic, duckling's birth was abnormal and my doctor was scared.
Drugs and technology kept my baby breathing when she was having difficulty, drugs protected my heart from infection (I have a heart condition), forceps helped prevent a c-section, pitocin (evil satan's syrup that it is) sped up stalled labor, etc. None of the technology or drugs was used without my consent, my doctor exuded confidence and did not want to intervene until she had to, and all of it seemed normal to me at the time.
Aaahh... I could write on this much more, but sadly mediocre student papers beckon.
"A large part of the reason is that technocratic practitioners are deeply afraid of birth. As a result, they overuse technology in an effort to make themselves feel in control of a process they don’t really understand. [...] Why isn’t that OK? Because, as I say in Orgasmic Birth, the overuse of drugs and technology interferes with the normal physiology of birth and causes far more harm than good. It is a sad fact that obstetricians are not trained in and do not understand the normal physiology of birth. How could they be? Only about 3% of births in the United States, including those that take place at home, are normal; drugs and technology dominate all the rest. Doctors almost never see normal birth. Therefore, they have no opportunity to learn about it. "
According to this logic, duckling's birth was abnormal and my doctor was scared.
Drugs and technology kept my baby breathing when she was having difficulty, drugs protected my heart from infection (I have a heart condition), forceps helped prevent a c-section, pitocin (evil satan's syrup that it is) sped up stalled labor, etc. None of the technology or drugs was used without my consent, my doctor exuded confidence and did not want to intervene until she had to, and all of it seemed normal to me at the time.
Aaahh... I could write on this much more, but sadly mediocre student papers beckon.
Look, up in the sky, it's a stupid man
While out walking The Woof Almighty (aka Harley Reads / aka The Harlequin / aka The Brown Double / aka Montana Slim), she and I, I am pretty sure, saw Marine One stroke by on the way to campus.
I fu
[Editpost motivated by Thinkpol]
Yay! America achieved!
I fu
[Editpost motivated by Thinkpol]
Yay! America achieved!
Orgasmic Childbirth
My friend L sent me a link to an article on Orgasmic Childbirth. I'm curious to know what everyone at TRS thinks about this.
This is why parents get angry at teachers
I want to preface this post by saying that I generally think parents are too quick to blame teachers for their children's bad behavior or bad grades. Most teachers in this country are overworked and underpaid, and many parents are unwilling to acknowledge problems with their children, preferring to heap all the blame on teachers.
That said, reading this story entitled "Teacher sorry for binding girls in slavery lesson," reminds me that sometimes teachers are to blame. On some level, I understand the pedagogy behind a move like this, I really do. When I teach Harriet Jacobs's Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, I mark off a space that is 3' high, 7'long, and 9' wide, which are the dimensions of the crawl space that Jacobs occupied for 7 years to escape slavery. I have my students lie down in this space and imagine what it felt like to be in the space for 5 minutes, let alone 7 years. So I understand wanting students to understand as much about slavery as possible. But binding the hands and feet of students is taking things a bit too far.
That said, reading this story entitled "Teacher sorry for binding girls in slavery lesson," reminds me that sometimes teachers are to blame. On some level, I understand the pedagogy behind a move like this, I really do. When I teach Harriet Jacobs's Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, I mark off a space that is 3' high, 7'long, and 9' wide, which are the dimensions of the crawl space that Jacobs occupied for 7 years to escape slavery. I have my students lie down in this space and imagine what it felt like to be in the space for 5 minutes, let alone 7 years. So I understand wanting students to understand as much about slavery as possible. But binding the hands and feet of students is taking things a bit too far.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
"If the Pope is right, we are seriously fucked": Understanding Polution as Sin
On March 10th, M uncovered the Vatican's new list of sins, which includes pollution. Megs follows with a post about prescription drugs in our drinking water.
Drawing her first premise from M's post, Megs constructs a frightening argument.
Premise #1: The Pope says Pollution is a Sin.
Premise #2: Pharmaceuticals Pollute Our Water.
Conclusion: Therefore, We Are Seriously Fucked.
Enjoy hell, everyone!
Drawing her first premise from M's post, Megs constructs a frightening argument.
Premise #1: The Pope says Pollution is a Sin.
Premise #2: Pharmaceuticals Pollute Our Water.
Conclusion: Therefore, We Are Seriously Fucked.
Enjoy hell, everyone!
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