"Low Jumping"
"Whooping Crane Expert"
"The Paperclip Factory"
November 18, 2008
November 15, 2008
Adventures In Groceryland
Charlene and I went to Kroger today and I usually don't mind going, being the helpful 
husband I am. It seems that people are more rude now than ever. I always man the shopping cart and am always mindful of the people around us, trying to stay out of way of everyone and say things like "excuse me", "go ahead", and "thank-you". You see fewer smiles given away nowadays. it seems most people are oblivious or could care less, leaving carts 
unmanned in the center of the aisle for you to play bumper cars with or being obviously impatient with people in front of them with the rolling of eyes or exagerated sighs. I'm not giving into the frustrations though and will keep trying to be my civil self. Though there are still friendly people, it seems to me the ratio of friendly/impolite is getting smaller than say... twenty years ago.
husband I am. It seems that people are more rude now than ever. I always man the shopping cart and am always mindful of the people around us, trying to stay out of way of everyone and say things like "excuse me", "go ahead", and "thank-you". You see fewer smiles given away nowadays. it seems most people are oblivious or could care less, leaving carts 
unmanned in the center of the aisle for you to play bumper cars with or being obviously impatient with people in front of them with the rolling of eyes or exagerated sighs. I'm not giving into the frustrations though and will keep trying to be my civil self. Though there are still friendly people, it seems to me the ratio of friendly/impolite is getting smaller than say... twenty years ago. Twenty-one years ago the Kroger we went to today opened for their first day of business in Middletown. Charlene and I were dating then and we went to the grand opening that day. That was when 
Middletown was much smaller than it is today but the opening still generated alot of traffic of both cars and people. Most everyday is like that now. Is it that the greater the crowds, the more impersonal it gets and this breeds the rudeness in people? Charlene, who grew up in Middletown, will sometimes say "Who are all these people and where did they come from?"
Middletown was much smaller than it is today but the opening still generated alot of traffic of both cars and people. Most everyday is like that now. Is it that the greater the crowds, the more impersonal it gets and this breeds the rudeness in people? Charlene, who grew up in Middletown, will sometimes say "Who are all these people and where did they come from?"Maybe in another twenty years I'll be saying things in the grocery like "get the hell outta my way", "bite me", and "I was here first dammit". I hope not.
Volcano
Any music I buy I feel the need to find my favorite song on the CD. This is "Volcano" from Beck's Modern Guilt. It's got a funeral dirge beat but I like it, don't ask me why.
Nobody realizes that some people expend tremendous energy merely to be normal.
- Albert Camus
"Volcano"
I've been walking on
These streets so long
I don't know
Where they're
Calling me anymore
But I think
I must have seen a ghost
I don't know
If it's my illusions
That keep me alive
I don't know what I see
Was it all an illusion?
Or a mirage gone bad?
I'm tired of evil
And all the things
That I don't know
And I've been drifting
On this wave so long
I don't know
If it's already
Crashed on the shore
And I've been riding
On this train so long
I can't tell
If it's you or me
Who is driving us
Into the ground
I don't know
If I'm sane
But there's a ghost
In my heart
That's trying
To see in the dark
I'm tired of people
Who only want
To be pleased
But I still want
To please you
And I heard
Of that Japanese girl
Who jumped
Into The Volcano
Was she trying
To make it back
Back into the womb
Of the world?
I've been drinking
All these tears so long
All I've got left
Is the taste of salt
In my mouth
I don't know
Where I've been
But I know
Where I'm going
To that volcano
I don't want
To fall in though
So I want my bones
On the firing line
Nobody realizes that some people expend tremendous energy merely to be normal.
- Albert Camus
"Volcano"
I've been walking on
These streets so long
I don't know
Where they're
Calling me anymore
But I think
I must have seen a ghost
I don't know
If it's my illusions
That keep me alive
I don't know what I see
Was it all an illusion?
Or a mirage gone bad?
I'm tired of evil
And all the things
That I don't know
And I've been drifting
On this wave so long
I don't know
If it's already
Crashed on the shore
And I've been riding
On this train so long
I can't tell
If it's you or me
Who is driving us
Into the ground
I don't know
If I'm sane
But there's a ghost
In my heart
That's trying
To see in the dark
I'm tired of people
Who only want
To be pleased
But I still want
To please you
And I heard
Of that Japanese girl
Who jumped
Into The Volcano
Was she trying
To make it back
Back into the womb
Of the world?
I've been drinking
All these tears so long
All I've got left
Is the taste of salt
In my mouth
I don't know
Where I've been
But I know
Where I'm going
To that volcano
I don't want
To fall in though
So I want my bones
On the firing line
November 13, 2008
Wilko
I was watching Soundstage on PBS one night and the band was Wilco, one of my favorites. It was in Hi Def and was one of the best concerts I've ever seen, and I wasn't even there! I found one song they did at that performance on youtube. This is Wilco's "Handshake Drugs". A very inventive band.
Modern Guilt
This is the title cut of Beck’s latest CD “Modern Guilt”. This release has references to global warming and pollution. May he should have titled it “Collective Guilt”. The first time I listened to this song I thought it would be good to play on Halloween.
Modern Guilt
I feel uptight when I walk in the city
I feel so cold when I’m at home
Feels like everything’s starting to hit me
I lost my bearings ten minutes ago
Modern guilt, I’m stranded with nothing
Modern guilt, I’m under lock and key
Misapprehension is turning in convention
Don’t know what I’ve done but I feel ashamed
Standing outside the glass on the sidewalk
These people talk about impossible things
And I’m falling out of the conversation
Like a pawn piece in a human shield
Modern guilt is all in our hands
Modern guilt won’t get me to bed
Say what you will smoke your last cigarette
Don’t know what I’ve done but I feel afraid
November 12, 2008
Ben's Belated, UK vs GA, and Charlene's Luncheon
I happened to be off work the day Charlene hosted a women's luncheon. I took these pics beforehand. When the time came I was banned from home. I got revenge by eating a Wendy's baconator. After that I went browsing for music to buy. I got Beck's latest CD "Modern Guilt". I'll post some music from it later. November 7, 2008
Fruitcake, The Magic 8-Ball, And Thomas Merton
The other day we received the Gethsemani Farms catalogue in the mail and this always reminds me to order my favorite luscious bourbon fruitcake that is the best on the whole planet. I know many people don’t care for it and when I was younger, I thought it was the most disgusting food you could put in your mouth. I have since, however, developed a taste for it.
Charlene told me not to order it yet and that it would be a fun drive to Trappist, KY and buy fruitcake from their shop right there at the monastery. I wondered how the monks, who take a vow of silence, would communicate with the visitors. Are the monks required to carry a Magic 8-Ball with them?
Q. “Is your fruitcake considered the best?” (The monk turns the 8-Ball towards the visitor)
A. ‘It is decidedly so’
Q. “Do you find peace of mind living here as a monk?”
A. ‘Reply hazy, try again’
Q. “Do you find it frustrating communicating in this way?”
A. ‘Concentrate and ask again’
The Gethsemi Monastery is fifty miles south of Louisville and was home to Thomas Merton, the famed author of “Seven Story Mountain”. There is a plaque in downtown Louisville where he often visited and where he had a spiritual epiphany while watching the pedestrians at the corner of Fourth and Walnut Street (which is now Mohammad Ali Blvd.)
From Thomas Merton's private journal, March 19, 1958:
Yesterday, in Louisville, at the corner of 4th and Walnut, suddenly realized that I loved all the people and that none of them were, or, could be totally alien to me. As if waking from a dream — the dream of separateness, of the “special” vocation to be different. My vocation does not really make me different from the rest of men or put me is a special category except artificially, juridically. I am still a member of the human race — and what more glorious destiny is there for man, since the Word was made flesh and became, too, a member of the Human Race!
Thank God! Thank God! I am only another member of the human race, like all the rest of them. I have the immense joy of being a man! As if the sorrows of our condition could really matter, once we begin to realize who and what we are — as if we could ever begin to realize it on earth.
It is not a question of proving to myself that I either dislike or like the women one sees on the street. The fact of having a vow of chastity does not oblige one to argument on this point — no special question arises. I am keenly conscious, not of their beauty (I hardly think I saw anyone really beautiful by special standards) but of their humanity, their woman-ness. But what incomprehensible beauty is there, what secret beauty that would perhaps be inaccessible to me if I were not dedicated to a different way of life. It [is] as though by chastity I had come to be married to what is most pure in all the women of the world and to taste and sense the secret beauty of their girl’s hearts as they walked in the sunlight — each one secret and good and lovely in the sight of God — never touched by anyone, nor by me, nor by anyone, as good as and even more beautiful than the light itself. For the woman-ness that is in each of them is a once original and inexhaustibly fruitful bringing the image of God into the world. In this each one is Wisdom and Sophia and Our Lady — (my delights are to be with the children of men!).
Charlene told me not to order it yet and that it would be a fun drive to Trappist, KY and buy fruitcake from their shop right there at the monastery. I wondered how the monks, who take a vow of silence, would communicate with the visitors. Are the monks required to carry a Magic 8-Ball with them?
Q. “Is your fruitcake considered the best?” (The monk turns the 8-Ball towards the visitor)
A. ‘It is decidedly so’
Q. “Do you find peace of mind living here as a monk?”
A. ‘Reply hazy, try again’
Q. “Do you find it frustrating communicating in this way?”
A. ‘Concentrate and ask again’
The Gethsemi Monastery is fifty miles south of Louisville and was home to Thomas Merton, the famed author of “Seven Story Mountain”. There is a plaque in downtown Louisville where he often visited and where he had a spiritual epiphany while watching the pedestrians at the corner of Fourth and Walnut Street (which is now Mohammad Ali Blvd.)
From Thomas Merton's private journal, March 19, 1958:
Yesterday, in Louisville, at the corner of 4th and Walnut, suddenly realized that I loved all the people and that none of them were, or, could be totally alien to me. As if waking from a dream — the dream of separateness, of the “special” vocation to be different. My vocation does not really make me different from the rest of men or put me is a special category except artificially, juridically. I am still a member of the human race — and what more glorious destiny is there for man, since the Word was made flesh and became, too, a member of the Human Race!
Thank God! Thank God! I am only another member of the human race, like all the rest of them. I have the immense joy of being a man! As if the sorrows of our condition could really matter, once we begin to realize who and what we are — as if we could ever begin to realize it on earth.
It is not a question of proving to myself that I either dislike or like the women one sees on the street. The fact of having a vow of chastity does not oblige one to argument on this point — no special question arises. I am keenly conscious, not of their beauty (I hardly think I saw anyone really beautiful by special standards) but of their humanity, their woman-ness. But what incomprehensible beauty is there, what secret beauty that would perhaps be inaccessible to me if I were not dedicated to a different way of life. It [is] as though by chastity I had come to be married to what is most pure in all the women of the world and to taste and sense the secret beauty of their girl’s hearts as they walked in the sunlight — each one secret and good and lovely in the sight of God — never touched by anyone, nor by me, nor by anyone, as good as and even more beautiful than the light itself. For the woman-ness that is in each of them is a once original and inexhaustibly fruitful bringing the image of God into the world. In this each one is Wisdom and Sophia and Our Lady — (my delights are to be with the children of men!).
November 4, 2008
The Special Needs Pumpkin
This is a pic of the pumpkin I carved for Halloween that Charlene thought looked like a special needs pumpkin. After looking at this pic I thought it looked kinda like John McCain.Election Day Walk
October 31, 2008
RadishJack RoundHead
All day yesterday I was looking forward to carving a pumpkin for Tristan while he watched. It's been awhile since I've made a Jack-O-Lantern. I came home and laid out news
papers on the table, set the pumpkin down and with Tristan by my side, I went to work on a hoped for masterpiece. The TV was on and while I'm carving away Tristan's paying more attention to SpongeBob SquarePants. After about a half hour I put a candle in to test it out and call for Charlene to come see it. I turn out the lights. Charlene says it's eyes are too close together and it looked to her like a special needs pumpkin. Tristan doesn't seem much impressed either. Tristan goes in the kitchen with Charlene and she lets him help make the Halloween cup cakes. Tristan really gets into it. I'm left feeling sorry for myself and sat down on the couch to watch another episode of SpongeBob SquarePants while they have their jollies in the kitchen.
I was curious about the origins of the term Jack-O-Lantern, so I looked it up on Wikipedia:
"An old Irish folk tale says that says that a lazy farmer named Jack was getting chased by some villagers from whom he had stolen, when he met the Devil, who claimed it was time for him to die. However, the thief stalled his death by tempting the Devil with a chance to bede
vil the church-going villagers chasing him. Jack told the Devil to turn into a coin with which he would pay for the stolen goods (the Devil could take on any shape he wanted); later, when the coin/Devil disappeared, the Christian villagers would fight over who had stolen it. The Devil agreed to this plan. He turned himself into a silver coin and jumped into Jack's wallet, only to find himself next to a cross Jack had also stole in the village. Jack had closed the wallet tight, and the cross stripped the Devil of his powers; and so he was trapped. Jack only lets the Devil go when he agrees never to take his soul. After a while Jack dies, as all living things do. Of course, his life had been too sinful for Jack to go to heaven; however, the Devil had promised not to take his soul, and so he was barred from hell as well. Jack now had nowhere to go. He asked how he would see where to go, as he had no light, and the Devil mockingly tossed him an ember that would never burn out from the flames of hell. Jack carved out one of his turnips (which was his favourite food), put the ember inside it, and began endlessly wandering the Earth for a resting place. He became known as "Jack of the Lantern", or Jack-o'-Lantern."
You gotta love those folk tales.
papers on the table, set the pumpkin down and with Tristan by my side, I went to work on a hoped for masterpiece. The TV was on and while I'm carving away Tristan's paying more attention to SpongeBob SquarePants. After about a half hour I put a candle in to test it out and call for Charlene to come see it. I turn out the lights. Charlene says it's eyes are too close together and it looked to her like a special needs pumpkin. Tristan doesn't seem much impressed either. Tristan goes in the kitchen with Charlene and she lets him help make the Halloween cup cakes. Tristan really gets into it. I'm left feeling sorry for myself and sat down on the couch to watch another episode of SpongeBob SquarePants while they have their jollies in the kitchen.I was curious about the origins of the term Jack-O-Lantern, so I looked it up on Wikipedia:
"An old Irish folk tale says that says that a lazy farmer named Jack was getting chased by some villagers from whom he had stolen, when he met the Devil, who claimed it was time for him to die. However, the thief stalled his death by tempting the Devil with a chance to bede
vil the church-going villagers chasing him. Jack told the Devil to turn into a coin with which he would pay for the stolen goods (the Devil could take on any shape he wanted); later, when the coin/Devil disappeared, the Christian villagers would fight over who had stolen it. The Devil agreed to this plan. He turned himself into a silver coin and jumped into Jack's wallet, only to find himself next to a cross Jack had also stole in the village. Jack had closed the wallet tight, and the cross stripped the Devil of his powers; and so he was trapped. Jack only lets the Devil go when he agrees never to take his soul. After a while Jack dies, as all living things do. Of course, his life had been too sinful for Jack to go to heaven; however, the Devil had promised not to take his soul, and so he was barred from hell as well. Jack now had nowhere to go. He asked how he would see where to go, as he had no light, and the Devil mockingly tossed him an ember that would never burn out from the flames of hell. Jack carved out one of his turnips (which was his favourite food), put the ember inside it, and began endlessly wandering the Earth for a resting place. He became known as "Jack of the Lantern", or Jack-o'-Lantern."You gotta love those folk tales.
October 29, 2008
Breathe Me
I can't decide which I like better, the music video, or the music. This is "Breathe Me" by the Australian singer, Sia.
October 28, 2008
October 24, 2008
Louisville's Own
There a born and bred Louisville musician who's gaining in popularity nationally. His name is Ben Sollee. This is "It's Not Impossible". He made the music video at Louisville's Extreme Skate Park which many Louisville orthopedists have coined "Broken Bone Central".
October 23, 2008
Oops
We're going to a wedding tomorrow. Thankfully, the ceremony isn't being held next to a swimming pool.
October 22, 2008
Subterranean Homesick Blues
The forerunner of the music video, Bob Dylan's "Subterranean Homesick Blues". Dylan's working the cue cards while the Beat poet, Allen Ginsberg talks in the background. It was filmed in an alley next the the Savoy Hotel in London, England around 1965.
October 18, 2008
Scanning
We purchased a new printer/copier/scanner a couple of months ago and I've never played with the scanner part. Tonight was the night. First I scanned a picture of my niece, Tricia, and a friend of hers. I'm guessing Tricia is about seven years old in this pic. Tricia...please comment and tell who your play mate is and how old you think you are. 
They're both cuter'n hail.
Next is a rare picture of my maternal grandfather, Gilbert Jones. He wouldn't look natural without the ever present cigarette in his hand and a pack of Kent filters in his pocket. He was a farmer and his main money maker was tobacco.
Back then every man, woman, and child in the state of Kentucky smoked cigarettes, maybe even a few babies.
My late big sis Janet McClain Johnson (Tricia's mother).
The McClain family circa 1963. The goofiest looking one is moi. Left to right: Joyce with Amy in her lap, Janet, Clueless, Bradley, and Bobby B McClain. The actual physical picture looks rather ordinary but when scanned and viewed in it's digital format it's rather unsettling to look at on a computer, at least to me it is. At the time this picture was taken, IBM had developed the first main frame computer which was almost as big as a small home and had far less computing power as the one I'm typing on now.
They're both cuter'n hail.Next is a rare picture of my maternal grandfather, Gilbert Jones. He wouldn't look natural without the ever present cigarette in his hand and a pack of Kent filters in his pocket. He was a farmer and his main money maker was tobacco.
Back then every man, woman, and child in the state of Kentucky smoked cigarettes, maybe even a few babies.My late big sis Janet McClain Johnson (Tricia's mother).
The McClain family circa 1963. The goofiest looking one is moi. Left to right: Joyce with Amy in her lap, Janet, Clueless, Bradley, and Bobby B McClain. The actual physical picture looks rather ordinary but when scanned and viewed in it's digital format it's rather unsettling to look at on a computer, at least to me it is. At the time this picture was taken, IBM had developed the first main frame computer which was almost as big as a small home and had far less computing power as the one I'm typing on now.
October 17, 2008
An Upstairs Golf Course
Well, it’s that time of year again. It’s time to move Abby and Tristan to yet another abode. Ever since Abby’s worthless husband left her in June of ’06, Abby and Company have mo
ved every fall. In the fall of ‘06 they moved to Dorsey Lane. In the fall of ‘07 they moved to The Paddock Apartments. This time they’re moving to a home on Ledges Drive in Middletown. Tristan is turning out to be quite the well travelled little guy. A couple of weeks ago we went to the future home to do some general cleaning up. Tristan has a backyard to play in again and for whatever reason, he called his future bedroom a golf course. He told me that the other spare bedroom could be my golf course. What goes through a little child’s mind is a mystery. Abby got off work today and we traded vehicles so she could start moving the smaller stuff with my truck. I hope she doesn’t forget Tristan’s toy golf club and ball.
ved every fall. In the fall of ‘06 they moved to Dorsey Lane. In the fall of ‘07 they moved to The Paddock Apartments. This time they’re moving to a home on Ledges Drive in Middletown. Tristan is turning out to be quite the well travelled little guy. A couple of weeks ago we went to the future home to do some general cleaning up. Tristan has a backyard to play in again and for whatever reason, he called his future bedroom a golf course. He told me that the other spare bedroom could be my golf course. What goes through a little child’s mind is a mystery. Abby got off work today and we traded vehicles so she could start moving the smaller stuff with my truck. I hope she doesn’t forget Tristan’s toy golf club and ball.I remember the first move from their first home in Shelbyville. It was a very sad affair after all the work we had all put into it. When they first bought it we painted, built new closet space, refinished the hard wood floors, tore out paneling in the basement, put in new ceiling fans, base moldings…etc, etc, etc.
A while after Abby’s first move to Dorsey Lane, I went to the Shelbyville house to bury a tiny statue of St Joseph in the back yard in our hopes that it would help sell the house as well as to pick up a few leftover stray items. I walked through the empty house which was no longer a home and almost cried. How could he, how dare he leave Abby and one year old Tr
istan like that. Didn’t he know what he had? He left for another woman, married only five years and he left. He dropped the bomb on his family and left.This weekend we’ll all but finish moving Abby and Tristan into their new home, a home where Tristan will have his golf course bedroom, start grade school from, start high school from, play high school football or basketball, and have his first crush on a pretty little girl. We all have high hopes that this will be the last move for a long time for the sake of stability and consistency in Tristan’s life.
October 16, 2008
Scary Times
From time to time, especially in the last few weeks, I think of the future and the things we have that aren’t paid for yet. We aren’t heavily in debt by any means compared to the national averages for per capita debt I see, but it still puts a knot in your stomach. The corp
oration I work for went through a period of serious doubt at the end of the summer regarding whether we were going to get the capital needed to make student loans, and stay in business without layoffs. We had our own mini-bailout, when the US Department of Education made available the funds to keep us in business. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief but the capital will last only another year or so. The stock market slide doesn’t bode well for the future and you wonder when the shock waves are going to spread and hit your neck of the woods.
I watched the final debate last night and was thinking what other people were probably thinking….Are the huge problems facing America too big for our future president and the present congress to handle? Is it economic fate that no one can do anything about and the time has come to pay the economic piper for our past easy credit sins? I tend to think the answer to both is yes.
oration I work for went through a period of serious doubt at the end of the summer regarding whether we were going to get the capital needed to make student loans, and stay in business without layoffs. We had our own mini-bailout, when the US Department of Education made available the funds to keep us in business. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief but the capital will last only another year or so. The stock market slide doesn’t bode well for the future and you wonder when the shock waves are going to spread and hit your neck of the woods.I watched the final debate last night and was thinking what other people were probably thinking….Are the huge problems facing America too big for our future president and the present congress to handle? Is it economic fate that no one can do anything about and the time has come to pay the economic piper for our past easy credit sins? I tend to think the answer to both is yes.
October 14, 2008
October 13, 2008
The Verve
Brand new CD out from The Verve. This is "Love Is Noise". They played it on WFPK the other day. It was love at first listen.
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