CLICK THE image to enlarge:

AN EXPERIMENT WITH GOOGLE EARTH (from the hotel, keeping the neurons from stagnating). This could, with 2nd LIFE realize the World of the Martix. look, a RABBIT!

http://earth.google.com/

http://earth.google.com/userguide/v4/ug_mapfeatures.html#3dbuildings

If I am moving I am not taking a vacation, so a walk down a NYC steet??

Bid made, countered, accepted.

333 Kimberly, FAIRLAWN HEIGHTS in Akron, 44313. IN a month or so we move. CLICK hybrid AND SEE the corner its on, and the house from up high in the sky.






2500 sq ft plus; 2 master suites, a bit dated, but not warn. Like it was in a box and just take out 30 years late. Move in ready.

an evening with friends, borsch and wine......

http://www.dreamsoft.us/preview/art/index.html

sergey, marina, and anita . . . . .Marina cooked, the best borsch anyone has eaten in the past 10 years!

Can you spell Akron?

HOW DO YOU SPELL AKRON? Have you read The Midwich Cuckoos by English author John Wyndham, in the year of my birth? made into that fine movie: VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED. Now, can you spell AKRON?

On the CHICAGO STREETS (across from the Ritz Carlton). baby? bomb? hum...... bit of both? and it was 95 degrees!

As we pack, and I grow lazy we get takeout. I get a cobb salad for Paul at California Pizza Kitchen; and I get a spicy kung pao chicken rice bowl for myself.

Today at WOW BAO at the Water Tower (right by Macy's!) I took a picture of the sign, big bright and orange, the menu and the cooking area while I waited.

The kid then told me, "NO PICTURES HERE." Had I stumbled upon some secret government operations -- Americans who eat Kung Pao Chicken monitoring station? A secret recipe (my eyes are bad, I would not know what's being used); a patented form of Menu Signage? The signs are interesting.

I was told this WOW BAO was the first in the country, but left to figure out if that was a Secret.

The food is spicier than good, the chicken tender if not plentiful, IF ONLY the real Thai place on Deleware had not closed . . . is ther Panang Chicken in Akron??

smile you are on WOW BAO CAMERA!!







WOW BAO- NO CAMERAS NO PICTURES at WOW BAO at the water tower!
WOW BAO BAO WOW BAO camera cameras pictures pictures wow bao

On the way to Potash, the grocery store. This is the corner of Chestnut and State (the othere side of Michigan Avenue from where we live, of course).

THIS guy was saying to diners, ''give me five bucks, you have all that food." beyond him you see a foot sticking out, that guy has been begging right there, foot out, for years. A few feet before you get to him is a door you cannot see -- a guy asleep in cardboard with a bottle.

There are a few things I won't much miss.......

7 July 07

GETTING READY TO SAY GOODBYE
6 July 07

GETTING READY TO SAY GOODBYE

We continue to pack, I'd say we are 80% done (and have about 3 weeks to go, july 25th). Boxes tower over us. The sale continues with little hiccups and this and that (I want it over, to be house hunting will be a relief compared to this). My books and dvds are packed, but the art (pictures, paintings, etching, water colors . . .) is left to pack (wrapped in bubble wrap then in boxes). A hot wave, not like yours -HUMIDITY, is anticipated. As biblical Floods and fires cover the country - - in a bad for Karma way I'lll point out the worst are in Red States. So, the countdown to moving continues. Just in time, they are renovating the exterior of the building -- a harder sale (or easier: see how well maintained it is?). I want to physically hug a tree in my own yard. I'll mapquest the route to the nearest psychiatric ward later (downtown akron, I know . . . .). I had a freelance request this week, well two of them of the same person: Are people wearing under garments - trends; and Celebrities on Reality TV - I await the hybrid question. Someone pitching stories to SLATE.COM.

OLTL



w/ marcie

AH, a trip to the Library!



but where is Toto? no dogs allowed?

PERFECT PEAR GALLERY (Anita's Gallery)
Chicago 22 June 2007

CLICK IMAGE FOR LARGER IMAGE!!
Sergey, Anita and Marina


An evening of Art at my friend Anita's PERFECT PEAR ART GALLERY
http://www.perfectpeargallery/

Where I drank wine with old friends and new. And ate meatballs. and a bit of guacamole.
Sergey and Marina were there, Sergey, well you can see into his mind by looking at his art:
http://www.dreamsoft.us/preview/art/index.html his art is what brought us together. Marina, his better half as they say, is a pure joy to talk to.

***********
The evening was dedicated to the art of Ogi Yanakiev, http://www.ogiart.com/menu.html a Bulgarian magician with metal (and every other artistic method). I have never met anyone from Bulgaria, I lead a very limited existance . . . as close as I ever came was a novel by an Albanian, Ismail Kadaré's wonderful The Palace of Dreams. Albania, close to Bulgaria on the map, and in my mind's eye ..... from Tirana to Sofia is just over 500 kilometers by car ... nearly neighbors..... a fascinating conversation . . . talk of the Old Days and the New.

Sergey, Ogi and Marina, chatting in front of beautiful works by Tanya Miller (Sergey and Marina's Daughter)

Sergey, Mary, Ogi and Marina paying homage to an Ogi sculpture.

a fine evening of drink and art and CONVERSATION above all.

June 19th, Chicago's Michigan Avenue, around 430 North (by Walgreens). Such Diversity on the street today. I represented the pagan druid element fresh from a sanctioned arson stint in France last week, can you pick me out (I took the picture, look hard). This USofA is target rich for me and my satanist allies! [click for larger]

ENJOY:

Nuns and budhist monks, camera toting monks, some brilliantly dressed Indian women (not a burka in sight!)

Be well.

seeing is believing? what is hearing?

are these not the BEST SNEAKERS?



the real thing:




seeing is believing, what is hearing? how 'bout reading?

Pretenders › My City Was GONE

I went back to ohio
But my city was gone
There was no train station
There was no downtown
South howard had disappeared
All my favorite places
My city had been pulled down
Reduced to parking spaces
A, o, way to go ohio

Well I went back to ohio
But my family was gone
I stood on the back porch
There was nobody home
I was stunned and amazed
My childhood memories
Slowly swirled past
Like the wind through the trees
A, o, oh way to go ohio

I went back to ohio
But my pretty countryside
Had been paved down the middle
By a government that had no pride
The farms of ohio
Had been replaced by shopping malls
And muzak filled the air
From seneca to cuyahoga falls
Said, a, o, oh way to go ohio

THE SEARCH FOR A NEW HOME. in AKRON OHIO

A house, not an apartment. A first for us; not in 25 years have we entertained such a thought....

here are some locations:








Here is constantly updated list of homes just listed or with modified listings:

just another test:

SEARCH for news from select Ohio Sources:

how does it look, searchs an assortment of ohio media.

Have you seen TRAVELER on ABC? I heard this......



Intense?

an experiment based on librarything - where I keep track of my books:



++++++

Search My home library! the blanket of insanity is light, eg plug in an author: burgess:



+++++++++++++

recent additions:

an experiment using the google rss reader, for those curious about Ohio:




if you click 'read more' you will exit my blog (and give thanks). but those are from today in general; if you click this you might see news from 20 minutes ago from tv stations / wires from the BUCKEYE State

http://www.google.com/reader/view/user/13672695236396171624/label/ohio-news


note to self:
keep in mind manage subscriptions and tags to share

Paul has been trolling for a home from coast to coast, the best bang for the buck from Bangor to San Diego? Akron (and other reasons: Hurricanes in the Gulf Coast; Quakes in California; a desire for 4 seasons -- climactic not travel) Akron, more bang per buck.

He found this location, country club adjacent, quiet, pretty . . .






4 bedrooms, fire place, stunning grounds (more than a yard) in the back.

The mere thought of moving makes me jittery . . . but

http://www.homes.com/Content/ListingDetail.cfm?propid=51750122#

its tempting to sell the condo, buy it, and wait for what the TRIBUNE does next....

hum.....

Youtube v. Vimeo. Half of my uploads to youtube.com failed, one would work, then the 2nd would work, but after that FAILURE -- and failure with no explanation. I'd click upload video and upload and wait, then see FAILED (instead of LIVE). I did a google, and found a blog writer with the same problem. They suggested vimeo (http://www.vimeo.com/). It takes seconds to sign up (youtube is a bit nosey) and uploads fast, AND none have failed -yet. And it easy to embed. Maybe youtube grew too fast and gets digital constipation, but they atleast could say FAILED and give a reason, not just leave you frustrated. VIMEO has no content, so YOUTUBE is great for finding a tv snip or music video -- vimeo great for your own stuff, a free bank of space.... -john

___

Friday was a beautiful day in Chicago. On my lunch I walked down to Millennium Park (between the office and the Art Institute) to take a few pictures of the Cloud Gate, aka “the Bean.” It’s a large piece of art, shiny as a mirror, shaped like a bean, but a giant bean.

I found a crowd of people taking pictures. Its photogenic – as it always changing. A curved mirror, you can see the skyline, others, distorted as they approach, elongated then cloned into multiples . . .



And this from under:




I also found some exciting public art by MARK DI SUVERO, who is that? Well you can check, www.millenniumpark.org/documents/MicrosoftWord-DiSuvero.pdf


Johnny Seed looks like it walked a million years ago . . with the dinosaurs maybe.


the pieces up close






Johnny Appleseed - Millennium Park Chicago from john on Vimeo

++++++++ from afar






Johnny Appleseed by MARK DI SUVERO MILLENNIUM PARK 2007 2 from john on Vimeo




Its really large as well, a hodpodge of industrial refuse, two large steam shovels, giant rings, steal beams, it looks like the skeleton of the industrial age. But then I realizeed I had seen it before, not as an image or object; but described in the prose of George Saunders in The Brief and Frightening Reign Phil. The book is populated by giant shapes, they are the walking talking characters – with LOAFD of personality.

http://www.bookslut.com/fiction/2005_12_007305.php

http://www.reignofphil.com/map.html you will want to read it after this…..

Look at the video of JOHNNY APPLESEED by Di Suvero and think of Saunder’s characters:

Saunders wrote, of one of the less lovable creatures, Phil:

Phil had another problem, which was that the bolt holding his brain in position on his tremendous sliding rack occasionally fell out, causing his brain to slide rapidly down his rack and smash into the ground. This happened now. His brain slid down, fell off his rack, and rolled into a ditch.

Phil had a crush on Carol, who married another, Carol was:

He was captivated by her glossy black filaments and transparent oscillating membranes, the delicate curve of her exposed spine, her habit of demurely scratching one bearing with a furry glovelike appendage . . .

IS JOHNNY APPLESEED a subject of King Phil?? If not King Phil in some way??

Ah, a great Friday walk…..


Of course, I saw the Bean/Cloud Gate in 1957 a few weeks ago when I was tooling about the continuum in my TIME SHIP from Nieman Marcus’ X-mas Catalog:






TIME TRAVEL and the BEAN from john on Vimeo


hasta luego,
JUAN

The CLOUD GATE, and its proud, if not pained Parents, "YOU MEAN YOU LAID THIS, Come on, really?"

Johnny Appleseed by Di Suvero

THE CLOUD GATE in SUNSHINE SPLENDOR

standing under the bean:

a walk during lunch on Friday, May 18th, 2007; thr u Millennium Park. The shiny bean is the CLOUD GATE; the construction hodge podge JOHNNY APPLESEED.....

++++

I just love the minor candidates: GOP Debate II: Fox Goes After Ron Paul

Paul: "You-you have to realize that the base of the Republican Party shrunk last year because of the war issue, so that percentage represents less people. If you look at 65-70% of the American people, they want us out of there, they want the war over."



read more | digg story

the debate on fox 15may07 Shocking Mainstream Media Defense of Ron Paul's 9/11 debate comments

Osama's reasons for 911 v. Rudy's freedom rant reasoning: This is rock solid proof that Ron Was Right when he tried to school Rudy!!



read more | digg story

Dynamite for the Brain:


MOMA: Salvador Dalí. The Persistence of Memory. 1931


time to think, some verbal nitro to go with the dynamite:

Time present and time past
Are both perhaps present in time future,
And time future contained in time past . . .
all time is eternally present.

T.S. Eliot's Four Quartets' -the opening lines

from: http://mum.edu/msvs/9199terry.html




tic toc tick toc tic tok . . .


But this is my historic favorite...... thru the ages to the ages . . . the thoughts that bind us . . . . what would you ask Ari? Homer?

a bit of art . . . dame una sonrisa....

put your neurons in high gear and discover something . . .

California Dreaming, Woodland Hills, Denny's, Daily News

Back in 1989 Paul and I moved to LA for 18 months (from NYC, then back to NYC). We lived in the San Fernando Valley suburb of Woodland Hills. We were surprised to find apartments did not include fridges, and got a small one. Thank god there was a Denny's right across the street. And I could walk to work - at the LA DAILY NEWS, pretty good for LA, right? We met some of our best friends in that short 18 months. As well as saw it snow and experienced dozens of small earthquakes.

In blue is the Denny's (where we once found a purse belonging to Melody Records, I kid you not, that was her name).

zoom in with the + button..... click hybrid to see Denny's roof . . . fly that kite high mr google:






I am practicing using my maps on google, and my maps plus to generate a code to embed that shows up as the map above.....

MAP of WOODLAND HILLS

This is where I grew up, in theory. If you zoom to the blue box you can see a car in the driveway. 2770 Hametown Road, in Norton, OHIO, near a lake. No idea when the picture was taken, but . . the camera must have been attached to a very high flying kite.

Click Satellite or hybrid and see that mysterious car. I have not lived there since the early 1980s - don't think it was my car. I feel like Captain Kirk, and now I am going to lock on the phasers! there goes OHIO!!!!






This is tougher than sticking a video in youtube.com and linking / embedding it.

ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh SUNNY HERE.... is it as sunny in Norton? New York? Portland? Atlanta? Paris? Baghdad?


http://www.mymapsplus.com/Home

http://maps.google.com/maps

http://earth.download.googlepages.com/


==

In our land of Orwellian dreams and candy coated surges ... the country followed a religious man to save us, and a spider, WELL A FEW SPIDERS . . . . at his side . . .

V for Vendetta, a bit of analysis......

enjoy




Its a lot of fun. Hope it works....

CHICAGO:
Dropping a curtain on stage smokers City aldermen won't let actors light up in the line of duty

+++++++++++

what next? would a seditious book with these lines be banned:

I took a sip from my second martini, feeling as decadent as one of those jazz piano players who smoke a lot and drinks a lot and are found dead in a gutter at the end of every film.


Chicago's new laws:

1) large dogs are deemed dangerous, ART INSTITUTE told to cover all graven images of Large Dogs in paintings and sculpture and all works of art. Mayor announces ban on yellow t-shirts, color yellow ban in art sought by City Council

2) Police dept split up, traditional ticket giving police and the NEW CHICAGO MINISTRY OF VICE AND VIRTUE PATROL (eating foie gras penalty: Death by stoning)

3) several large statues of Budha like figures have been discovered in Wicker Park, there is a reward for information leading to the artists involved, contact Ayatolla One-eye at the Chicago Police Dept 312-555-vice

The police are pleased to announce the capture and re-branding of 13 creative writing students engaged in blasphemy.get the idea, no?

well, impossible??:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/health/chi-0705042052may05,1,1285317.story

Dropping a curtain on stage smokers City aldermen won't let actors light up in the line of duty

By Dan Mihalopoulos and Azam AhmedTribune staff reporters
Published May 5, 2007

During the recent Chicago production of the classic play "Twelve Angry Men," George Wendt and other actors portraying the bickering, deadlocked jurors lit up cigarettes on the stage of the LaSalle Bank Theatre.

In following the play's script, the actors violated the city's anti-smoking ordinance.

This clash between art and public-health concerns became fodder for Chicago's aldermen Friday, as a City Council panel considered -- then rejected -- a proposal to create a loophole in the ban so actors can smoke on stage.Ald. Burton Natarus (42nd), proposed the exemption at the behest of Lou Raizin, president of Broadway in Chicago.

The group presented the recent run of "Twelve Angry Men" and a long list of other works that have brought clouds of smoke to stages at downtown theaters.

Forbidding actors to smoke in cases where the playwright would have wanted them to puff away amounts to "asking an artist to change his art," Raizin told members of the council's Buildings Committee at City Hall.

Committee members voted 4-2 against the ordinance granting an exemption for actors who smoke in the line of duty.

******************

Tulips and the Moon: views from Chicago

The Third of May, 2007

The way to work, in the morning, just around the corner, TULIPS at Tulip level;

later

From a living room window at 10:30 at night, you can see the moon, a thin, thinnest of line of lights across the lake, the shimmer of reflected moonlight; then right above the shortest building the lights of Navy Peer. (click it to see it larger)

I finished a book a few days ago, with a few lines the moon returns to me, rich in sentiment and atmosphere:

I took a sip from my second martini, feeling as decadent as one of those jazz piano players who smoke a lot and drinks a lot and are found dead in a gutter at the end of every film. (p. 202)

and

Who can resiste sleep at two or three in the afternoon in these sunlit parts of the Mediterranean? (215)

Both are from Andre Aciman's CALL ME BY YOUR NAME, a phrase to whispered in the closest of moments. Set in Italy it is a serious story of youth and love; opposed to the fun and funny novels by James Hamilton-Paterson stories. If you like peaches you should skip the Aciman . . .

+++++++++++++

MY GENERATION:

from the WIKIPEDIA

The term viral video refers to video clip content which gains widespread popularity through the process of Internet sharing, typically through email or IM messages, blogs and other media sharing websites. Viral videos are often humorous in nature and may range from televised comedy sketches such as Saturday Night Live's Lazy Sunday to unintentionally released amateur video clips like Star Wars kid, the Numa Numa song, or The Dancing Cadet.

oh, here's one now:




a bit different from - older, from 1969 - and not VIRAL:
The Who - My Generation [Woodstock 1969]

MAY DAY, CHICAGO, Grant Park, 2007

I went to a May Day Immigration March today. Pictures, and some of my trademark blurry video!

There were so many flags I thought I was at a Republican Fundraiser!



ah, video, blurry video:



and one last try:



SO THERE . . . the news from Chicago.......

V for Vendetta (a 2 disc dvd set being priced at the moment)

I remember when it came out, I wanted to see it. But I don't go to movies often, I wait for the DVD. If I am too anxious there is always piracy. DVD's offer all that commentary, all those little insights, captioning for those hushed high impact whispers.

SO I SUGGEST THIS MOVIE - you may have to click 2X:





now to demonstrate the value of captioning,

(via: http://www.whysanity.net/monos/vendetta.html )
(broadcasting from a captured TV station.) V: Good evening, London. Allow me first to apologize for this interruption. I do, like many of you, appreciate the comforts of the everyday routine, the security of the familiar, the tranquility of repetition. I enjoy them as much as any bloke. But in the spirit of commemoration - whereby those important events of the past, usually associated with someone's death or the end of some awful bloody struggle, are celebrated with a nice holiday - I thought we could mark this November the fifth, a day that is sadly no longer remembered, by taking some time out of our daily lives to sit down and have a little chat.There are, of course, those who do not want us to speak. I suspect even now orders are being shouted into telephones and men with guns will soon be on their way. Why? Because while the truncheon may be used in lieu of conversation, words will always retain their power. Words offer the means to meaning and for those who will listen, the enunciation of truth. And the truth is, there is something terribly wrong with this country, isn't there?Cruelty and injustice...intolerance and oppression. And where once you had the freedom to object, to think and speak as you saw fit, you now have censors and systems of surveillance, coercing your conformity and soliciting your submission. How did this happen? Who's to blame? Well certainly there are those who are more responsible than others, and they will be held accountable. But again, truth be told...if you're looking for the guilty, you need only look into a mirror.I know why you did it. I know you were afraid. Who wouldn't be? War. Terror. Disease. There were a myriad of problems which conspired to corrupt your reason and rob you of your common sense. Fear got the best of you and in your panic, you turned to the now High Chancellor Adam Sutler. He promised you order. He promised you peace. And all he demanded in return was your silent, obedient consent.Last night, I sought to end that silence. Last night, I destroyed the Old Bailey to remind this country of what it has forgotten. More than four hundred years ago, a great citizen wished to embed the fifth of November forever in our memory. His hope was to remind the world that fairness, justice and freedom are more than words - they are perspectives. So if you've seen nothing, if the crimes of this government remain unknown to you, then I would suggest that you allow the fifth of November to pass unmarked. But if you see what I see, if you feel as I feel, and if you would seek as I seek...then I ask you to stand beside me, one year from tonight, outside the gates of Parliament. And together, we shall give them a fifth of November that shall never, ever, be forgot!

---- OK, now isn't that 1776 all over again?

this could bring a tear to your eye:





Can trust a movie, maybe buy American only? maybe this then:

I hold it that a little rebellion now and then is a good thing, and as necessary in the political world as storms in the physical. Unsuccessful rebellions, indeed, generally establish the encroachments on the rights of the people which have produced them. An observation of this truth should render honest republican governors so mild in their punishment of rebellions as not to discourage them too much. It is a medicine necessary for the sound health of government.

Letter from Th. Jefferson to James Madison
Paris, January 30th, 1787

The experimentation continues, there are bicycles on Michigan Avenue, sculptures by high school students. its called FLIGHT OF FANTASY. They are riding in the tulips.

A picture is easy-see above; a video, stuck into youtube.com almost as easy; but to embed the thing here, I tried before . . . now to try again.......

CLICK THE ARROW in the picture!

for the story on them: http://www.themagnificentmile.com/SeasonalEvents/Spring/Flights_of_Fancy.cfm

my god that seems to have worked, I can look and come back.

There some other bikes, sad bikes waiting for the Kafka moment:

WHAT DO YOU THINK??

DUCK

On sunday I roasted a duck. Paul does not like duck, so I had a few lunches too.

I took pictures, duck in a wrapper, duck out of the oven. The recipe is so easy, you can do laundry while you make it, or burn dvd's or read . . . salt, pepper and a roasting pan. and it was as good as it looks.

TRY IT! From GOURMET, SEP. 2006

A whole roasted duck doesn't have to be fussy. With just a few hours' roasting and hardly any work at all, you can have a juicy bird with crisp skin—the best of both textures. This duck is delicious with the plum applesauce.

serving size

Makes 4 servings.

ingredients
1 (5- to 6-lb) Long Island duck (also known as Pekin)
2 cups boiling-hot water
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon black pepper

preparation
Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 425°F.

If necessary, cut off wing tips with poultry shears or a sharp knife. Remove and discard excess fat from body cavity and neck, then rinse duck inside and out. Prick skin all over with a sharp fork. Fold neck skin under body, then put duck, breast side up, on a rack in a 13- by 9- by 3-inch roasting pan and pour boiling-hot water over duck (to tighten skin). Cool duck, then pour out any water from cavity into pan. Pat duck dry inside and out, reserving water in pan, then rub duck inside and out with kosher salt and pepper.

Roast duck, breast side up, 45 minutes, then remove from oven. Turn duck over using 2 wooden spoons, and roast 45 minutes more. Turn duck over again (breast side up), tilting duck to drain any liquid from cavity into pan. Continue to roast duck until skin is brown and crisp, about 45 minutes more (total roasting time: about 2 1/4 hours). Tilt duck to drain any more liquid from cavity into pan. Transfer duck to a cutting board and let stand 15 minutes before carving. Discard liquid in roasting pan. Gourmet, September 2006

A visit to The Perfect Pear, a rendezvous with friends.

I took Friday, the 20th of april off. Cleaned blinds, windexed windows.

That night Paul and I went to The Perfect Pear, a gallery ran by a dear friend of ours for an evening show.

There we saw Sergey and Marina, two more great friends. Sergey is an artist (we have a collection of his works). They are here for a few months . . . before they return to the lands of the Czar.

Check this out, you won't be dissapointed:

http://www.dreamsoft.us/preview/art/index.html

an incredible trip . . .

and the weather was incredible . . . if you click the photos they will grow (in theory, and I added captioning).

HAS JOHN DONE GONE LUDDITE??
Experience a sense of jungian loss……….

I’ve always enjoyed looking up at the stars . . I have not seen them much since I left Ohio in 1983. They are calming, especially with a light summer breeze. Simple beauty.

Then a few magical lines evoked the lost feeling. I was reading AMAZING DISGRACE and found them, the first sentence sets the context…. Then its pure admiration of nature:

I have long since grown tired of explaining that my reasons for living here are not so much because I find Italian culture, cuisine and general approach to the art of living superior to those of contemporary Britain-though I do-but because it is still a place where one can affordably combine those advantages with non-negotiable essentials such as silence and being able to see the stars. Almost the only lights visible in the night sky in southern England are those of police helicopters and passenger jets stacked for Stansted, Heathrow and Gatwick. I doubt if the Milky Way has been visible to Londoners since the blackout during the Second World War. What kind of a place is that to live? Of what use the intellectual delights of libraries, cinemas, galleries and concert halls if one's whole sensory apparatus is dulled and occluded, one's pores irretrievably blocked? Tonight, it is true, I can't actually sit out on my terrace because it is too chilly. But when I turn off the kitchen lights and sit by the window I can see a canopy of stars despite the ever-growing puddle of lights far below spreading to blur Camaiore into Viareggio. And I need only step outside the door to hear the night breeze finding its way through the grasses and the leaves letting go autumn's branches. For reasons I can't explain, such things are important to see and hear; and not just once (seen that, heard that) but as a daily constant, as necessary as my pulse.



From: James Hamilton-Paterson’s AMAZING DISGRACE, Europa Editions, 2006, pages 281 and 282.


++ isn’t that wonderful???? IT’S A great book, a lot of FUN.

I had no say in the banishment of the heavens by light pollution, but I can control the next loss:

Today ipods smother the natural audio stimulus with predetermined playlists. The next vital sensorial loss: SOUNDS –birds, wind, voices . . . Its Ironic, the warning came in a song’s vatic lyrics: “Just listen to the music of the traffic in the city; Linger on the sidewalk where the neon signs are pretty; How can you lose?” That was what the melodious philosopher queen PETULA CLARK told to us years ago - …. 1964 . . . . then her disciples hummed about the rythym of the falling rain (jason donovan is my favorite). NOW ALL LOST IN AN iPod deafened hell. . . . écoutant la pluie . . .

NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW:
Look up and find the firmament; or refer back to a picture in your mind . . . or block out sound with an ipod and live like a deep sea clam….. , people will be starless and soundless, like deep sea bacteria.
Look up like an ancient greek, find a dream, a story . . . and listen to hear Zephyr speak . . . set sail.

+++++++++++++

some more from the very very funny James Paterson-Hamilton

FROM: James Hamilton-Paterson’s COOKING WITH FERNET BRANCA, Faber and Faber 2004, pages 226 and 224.


I had finished preparing several slices of this tempting snack and had just put them under the grill when, with the punctuality of the inevitable, the phone rang. It turned out to be Filippo Pacini, owner of the best haircut in Tuscany, the nicest profile, the most absurd car. I was at once all ears. He said that, quite independently of our 'fascinating' meeting at Marta's house that morning ('affascinante', eh? Doubters of the Samper charisma please note), his father had been considering a small addition to the film. Towards the end of Arrazzato there was apparently a scene where some young members of a hippie commune or something go to town for a night out and then return to their beach, whereupon the film reaches its climax of dissent and mayhem. I hadn't the faintest idea what Filippo was talking about, I just liked listening to him saying it. It seemed that the hippies' night out on the town was supposed to provide an ironic contrast between their comfortable bourgeois roots and the radical discomforts of their beach-squatting Greenery, something I would scarcely have thought needed emphasis. But Piero Pacini had now decided to add a further twist by having them briefly attend some sort of pop concert. The idea of this was to show the brainless seduceability of modern youth. More specifically to the film, it would illustrate the ubiquitous siren song of postmodem capitalism undermining whatever idealism has been left in some young minds already worked on by insidious fascist influences. Crikey. At this moment my lychees burst quietly into flame beneath the grill and I had to dash over and extinguish them in the sink, where they floated on a series of charred rafts. Too sad.


+++++++++++++++++

FROM: James Hamilton-Paterson’s COOKING WITH FERNET BRANCA, Faber and Faber 2004, pages 112 and 113.


GERALD SAMPER, a ghost writing biographer to the stars (depicted as brain dead lunatics) talks to Nanty, a boy band wunderkin about ethical cooking: Nanty first:

'Beetroot can feel pain?'

'Definitely. Not pain like ours, maybe, at a death in the family or on hearing bagpipes, but certainly anguish of a kind. You must have seen that famous Kirlian photo of half a beetroot? You can clearly see the outline of its phantom other half; its missing limb. I ask you, what could be better evidence of lack _ the absent "twin or brother without whom the amputee beet can never again feel whole?'

' 'You're shitting me: Bacon dangled momentarily from his lower lip.

'Absolutely not, Nanty. Such are the cruelties committed in the name of vegetarianism even as they're concealed by a cloak of virtue. Come to that, imagine dropping a live potato into boiling water:.’

'Nah, you're shitting me, man: said Nanty again. 'Spuds don't have nerves. Someone's been having you on.’

'On the contrary. Did you never see that programme about scientists recording the sounds made by individual cells? It's a new technique called CS, or coherent sonagrammetry. They actually took this potato, hooked it up to electrodes and dropped it into boiling water. Unbelievable. Horrible. As it died each cell gave out this awful squeak. Millions and mil­lions of them, rising in a crescendo and then fading into silence. Even the scientists doing the experiment looked shaken. It really made you think about the everyday veg­etable agonies that take ,place below our crude sensory thresholds. We're not aware of even a fraction of the pain we cause each day.’

Nanty was listening with the remnants of a sceptical expression on his face, a last morsel of cold bacon hnpaled on his arrested fork, but his eyes were round.

'So how can you even make french fries humanely?' he asked.

'My very question when I was scripting a video recently for the London Institute of Ethical Culinary Practice. They told me the kindest way to dispatch a potato is to plunge a Sabatier knife cleanly between its eyes." Or else it may be placed gently in cold water and brought slowly and merci­fully to the boil. Peeling is agony, of course, so you need to soak the potato first for half an hour in a solution of local anaesthetic. They were using xylocaine.'

'Nah . . . Are you having mean?' ,

'I wouldn't dream of it. Now the trouble with vegans is they're even crueller than ordinary vegetarians because they don’t stop at the usual tortures. It's a good thing there aren't more vegans because if there were their beliefs would cause massive environmental damage as well, by helping to drain the gene pool. How? Think about it. By outlawing all animal husbandry, as vegans would like to do, you'd bring to an end domesticated species such as the humble cow and the humble hen, to say nothing of the humble pig. If at the same time you also outlawed their slaughter, the only ethical thing would be to turn farm animals loose to live out their natural lives. But they've been selectively bred for centuries - genetically engineered, if you like - so they're not proper wild animals and anyway there aren't any wilds left for them to return to. Whoever saw a feral cow wandering the pedestrian precincts of Milton Keynes? I mean, it's not New Delhi. As for chickens, are we to believe this ex-tropical jungle fowl would happily revert to its natural state in Epping Forest? I know some para­keets have found niches in the London suburbs, but can we really imagine vast flocks of rehabilitated chickens darkening the sun as they migrate over the South Downs? And consider pigs. What is the pig's natural predator, other than man? Nothing. Or nothing in Europe, at any rate. After five years of the vegans' benign sway the whole of the EU would be knee-deep ill famished porkers, grubbing up and devouring innocent potatoes and beetroot all oblivious to the vegetables' anguished screams.'What does your 'guru have to say to that, Nanty?' '
'Er, well, I'd have to ask her.' My guest was looking a little abashed. Unconsciously he had pulled from his T-shirt a bunch of amulents, pendants, and stones . . .

I made mac n cheese from scratch for dinner, well I did not raise the chicken (used egg beaters)

Mac macaroni and cheese was IDEAL with the cold snap, the snow, rain, now a winter warning with THUNDER (that is real natural, snow and thunder....) It was served with boneless skinless chicken breast and broccoli. (I DID ADD chopped green onions to Nancy's, something healthy.....)


SO: Who says nothing good came out of the Reagan years?

RONALD REAGAN'S FAVORITE MACARONI AND CHEESE

This dish circulated during former President Reagan's terms of office and became a non-partisan favorite of readers.

½ pound macaroni
1 teaspoon butter
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 tablespoon hot water
1 cup milk
3 cups shredded sharp Chedder cheese

Cook macaroni in boiling salted water until tender then drain. Stir in butter and egg. Mix salt and mustard with hot water and add milk. Add cheese, reserving some to sprinkle on top.

Turn macaroni mixture into buttered casserole. Add milk mixture. Sprinkle with reserved cheese. Bake at 350 degrees 45 minutes or until custard is set and top is crusty. Makes 6 servings.

From: Dear S.O.S.: 30 Years of Recipe Requests to the Los Angeles Times by Rose Dosti, page 156.

Mine looked like this:

HAPPY EASTER!

Paul set up his paean to Easter in the Den, and the candy is vanishing. The bunny is getting fat, is there a relationship?

HAPPY EASTER!!!!!!!!!!!

scroll to the previous post for pics of lifechurch in secondlife.....

now, to try to embed a video - my first so be patient, no camera, no hands, just recorded of the screen (a secondlife option)

?

if not: this link might do it: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2640181485618166200&pr=goog-sl


click this, the play button:

dateline: SECONDLIFE, the particular place lifechurch.tv

the mission: Find Tammy Baker

PICS:

first the oustide, you can see the building, on the list are places you can 'teleport' too.

first I went to the main lobby, no one was there.

then, as it was early morning I went to Daycare, no one.

then, I went to Studio 45, thinking it was like studio 54, but no one was there. like the twist, 45 instead of 54?

clicking on the pictures should make them larger....

It does look like the sign in front of any church, except for the options.

In the main lobby are computers, my god, can I click from these to my own reality and move myself around, shakespeare’s play within a play? Can I steal one, from a church?

Will some kind of virtual police follow me. I could sell it at the pawn shop by the school and buy drugs and get high in my alternate reality…..

Buts its Too lonely in this church

OH!

Some has appeared

[4:57] You: hi
[4:57] Tobe Tone: hi
[4:57] You: is there anyone here?
[4:57] Tobe Tone: no one else
[4:58] You: when to people arrive? am I too early?
[4:58] Tobe Tone: for what?
[4:58] You: meetings and freindship
[4:58] You: talk and understanding
[4:59] Tobe Tone: Apparently the place is full US evenings
[4:59] You: where are you from?
[4:59] You: I am from the USA
[4:59] Tobe Tone: I'm in Australia
[4:59] You: How did you fnd this place?
[5:00] Tobe Tone: I read about in in RL somewhere I think
[5:00] Tobe Tone: Yourself?
[5:00] You: a friend emailed me, what is RL?
[5:01] Tobe Tone: Real Life
[5:01] You: I am going to walk around. We will meet again?
[5:01] Tobe Tone: Sure..

[4:57] You: hi
[4:57] Tobe Tone: hi
[4:57] You: is there anyone here?
[4:57] Tobe Tone: no one else
[4:58] You: when to people arrive? am I too early?
[4:58] Tobe Tone: for what?
[4:58] You: meetings and freindship
[4:58] You: talk and understanding
[4:59] Tobe Tone: Apparently the place is full US evenings
[4:59] You: where are you from?
[4:59] You: I am from the USA
[4:59] Tobe Tone: I'm in Australia
[4:59] You: How did you fnd this place?
[5:00] Tobe Tone: I read about in in RL somewhere I think
[5:00] Tobe Tone: Yourself?
[5:00] You: a friend emailed me, what is RL?
[5:01] Tobe Tone: Real Life
[5:01] You: I am going to walk around. We will meet again?
[5:01] Tobe Tone: Sure..
[5:02] Tobe Tone: thanks.. I'll see you around..
[5:03] Tobe Tone is Offline


ANOTHER PERSON CAME IN:


[5:10] Orkymon Masala: hi is this a church
[5:10] You: hello
[5:10] You: Are you in charge of it? I am john
[5:10] Orkymon Masala: im looking for a church
[5:10] Orkymon Masala: no
[5:10] You: how did you find this one?
[5:10] Orkymon Masala: by the search tool
[5:11] You: have you been here before?
[5:11] Orkymon Masala: and a friend told me you are different
[5:11] You: I am just here, as you, I have only seen one other person here
[5:11] Orkymon Masala: may i enter??
[5:11] You: where are you from?

Where I work has been sold. A wave of uncertainting, grim uncertainty has washed over the company. I am searching for laughs in novels (James Hamilton-Paterson) at the moment. Work has been busy. I see a season of change ahead.....

hum.