Mickey Z

Cool Observer

Saturday, April 14, 2007

To be or not to be

Posted by Mickey Z on 04/14 at 06:26 AM

Woody Allen says:
“More than any other time in history, mankind faces a crossroads. One path leads to despair and utter hopelessness. The other to total extinction. Let us pray we have the wisdom to choose correctly.”
http://tinyurl.com/2p5jq7

how can such dire thoughts get me laughing so much? I guess I have a sick sense of humour. Oh well......

Posted by Frances on from bc 04/14 at 08:00 AM

death and destruction in the name of progress.
Dr. Dahlia Wasfi talking about her family’s experience in Iraq.
http://tinyurl.com/36oqpw

captcha says: industry

Posted by Frances on from bc 04/14 at 08:19 AM

Hello Expendables...from a sunny, but still cool Astoria.

Hi Frances. I guess the “sick sense of humor” you mention is sort of a gallow’s humor. The laughter of a condemned species waiting in vain for an eleventh hour reprieve instead of planning a prison break.

Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 04/14 at 10:10 AM

Hmm… speaking of all this, if I leave now I might make it out to this: http://www.seaofpeople.org/

A pointless protest to be sure, but then, so would my sitting here websurfing be.

Posted by James on from Hell's Kitchen 04/14 at 10:19 AM

The question to be or not to be…
despair, hopelessnes…
death, destruction called progress?
plant a flower, eat a plum
pet your cat, pet your dog,
hug your wife, hug your friends wife
hug your wife’s husband
feel your self doing these things…

Posted by Joe of Maine on from 04/14 at 10:39 AM

Odds and Ends
(those with the energy to explore-- make of it what you will)

Kurt Vonnegut:
http://tinyurl.com/2ldakz

academic echo
http://tinyurl.com/29elrb

question
http://tinyurl.com/38yo4c

reservations (see review “Unsvelte Revelations")
http://tinyurl.com/2a5c5z

titillating
http://tinyurl.com/yqqztg

nauseating
http://tinyurl.com/2mgyay

restoring
http://tinyurl.com/d8nwl

Posted by Robert B. Livingston on from San Francisco, California 04/14 at 10:45 AM

This is an extremely crucial time in the history of human kind. As the title of Chomsky’s book “Hegemony or Survival” suggests, the species’ survival is at stake. The power that be seems to be out of control. In the past, other major powers went down in history causing suffering for lots of people in different regions. If the imperial US crashes in near future - dominant power can’t remain for perpetuity - I’m afraid it’s gona take us “all” down with it.

I guess I’m just being cynical, so I’ll stop now.

Cheers.

Posted by Ehtesham on from Canada 04/14 at 11:01 AM

Thanks for the reminder Joe of Main.
The Hugger Busker leads the way!
http://tinyurl.com/3c5l65

Posted by Frances on from bc 04/14 at 11:07 AM

“What have we done to the earth? What have we done to our fair sister? Ravaged and plundered and ripped her and bit her, stuck her with knives in the side of the dawn, tied her with fences and dragged her down.”

Jim

Posted by JOS on from Oak Park 04/14 at 11:08 AM

“The laughter of a condemned species waiting in vain for an eleventh hour reprieve instead of planning a prison break.”

Now that’s a classic quote...nice, Mick.

Posted by JOS on from Oak Park 04/14 at 11:10 AM

for JOS of Oak Park...and it also was a musical masterpiece in my opinion...one of my fondest memories, high, mesmorized by the organ, driving to virginia beach, saw a sign that said, new york 40 miles...."father, yes son, I want to kill you”
turned around, turned it down, made it by 7am in time...the military didn’t allow you to be late, doesn’t allow you to be human...great composition...JOS...JOE

Posted by Joe of Maine on from 04/14 at 11:17 AM

Yeah Joe...those guys rocked...those words are poetry.

Posted by JOS on from Oak Park 04/14 at 11:26 AM

You’re right Frances!

The ‘net is bit limited in this respect.

Posted by Robert B. Livingston on from San Francisco, California 04/14 at 11:52 AM

Hello again. It’s warming up here in NYC and I see it’s heated up here, too. I was hoping to attend the Anarchist Book Fair today but I’m laying low this weekend. Listening to my body.

Love the links above. Robert pretty much created his own “mystery links” post. Bravo.

On the topic of classic lyrics, every time I hear this one from Neil Young, I’m forced to contemplate how we never heed warnings:

“Look at Mother Nature on the run in the 1970s.”

Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 04/14 at 11:53 AM

“...and thanks to hallucinogenic drugs, I see through you.” - Bill Hicks. (I don’t need religion ‘cause I got Bill Hicks CDs. - Zen Prole)

MZ, I concur with JOS - #3 is puro. And getting some rest this weekend is even better.

My favorite Doors songs are “Horse Latitudes/Moonlight Drive” - keynotes for their sound and style ("The Wasp” is another). At my graduation dinner (18 years in the making) I had a Morrison lyric on the dozen place settings: “I love the friends I have gathered together on this thin raft,” along with “Miyutake Oyasin” (All My Relations).

Robert’s Vonnegut link has this gem: “I was never trained for the infantry. Battalion scouts were élite troops, see. There were only six in each battalion, and nobody was very sure about what they were supposed to do. So we would march over to the rec room every morning and play ping-pong and fill out applications for officer candidate school.”

Surprising TV: PBS hits a rare triple with their American Experience show on Jim Jones and The People’s Temple. A superior production, it is a blend of history and biography that has thematic links to the US today. I was left wondering how it got on the air. Four Stars.

Posted by Zen Prole on from Urth 04/14 at 01:20 PM

hello fellow expendables.

since i got home i have not had the chance to get out of the city much but today i did and we went to my favourite little secret spot near loch lomond.

i currentl;y smell very badly of campfire but that is the only way to be!

here are some pictures so you get the idea. i live in glasgow which is a large city of a million people but the beauty of scotland is that if you go a bit out of town it looks like this

after a year in a very far away place it finally feels good to be home.

Posted by michael on from scotland/euphoria 04/14 at 06:16 PM

By yon bonnie banks and by yon bonnie braes,
Where the sun shines bright on Loch Lomond
Where me and my true love were ever wont to gae,
On the bonnie, bonnie banks o’ Loch Lomond.

(P.S. Hello Zen)

Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 04/14 at 06:37 PM

Spring cleaning! I’ve been rolling up rugs, moving furniture around, giving away stuff and potting up my captive plant friends. It feels like a totally new place...fresh. Even my outlook is a bit brighter.
Ehtesham: I often have those same thoughts, especially when contemplating my childrens future. So much seems to be riding on the leadership in the US.
Hugs and a good afternoon/evening to everyone here. Awesome photos Michael Scotland is a beauty.
captcha says ‘along’ as in All Along The Watch Tower.....Hendrix absolutely ROCKS

Posted by Frances on from bc 04/14 at 06:48 PM

I agree about Hendrix, Frances. As for spring cleaning, we just did a version for my parents when we were in Texas. It was fun and very satisfying. With a Nor’Easter headed towards NYC tomorrow, I think I might train my focus on this place next. Great way to spend a lousy weather day.

Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 04/14 at 08:16 PM

thanks for that mickey. it really is only 45 minutes out of town and despite gary kasparov being arrested i can only describe my feeling at the moment as elated. it has been a year and a half since i got to one of these places and i love them so much

i believe the phrase is happy as a pig in shit.

and that is despite the fact that we had to avoid a few highland cows on the way… ever seen a highland cow? when i showed the koreans they seemd quite confused. we have lots of them here, obviously…

i make no apologies for the elation#

captcha is ‘ground’

maybe finally ‘grounded’ again after a long time away from home

Posted by michael on from scotland 04/14 at 08:39 PM

in fact.... i was at exactly this spot.. nice eh?

Posted by michael on from scotland 04/14 at 08:44 PM

Thanks for all the upbeat posts, Michael. If I saw that animal photo without any context, I’d have thought it was a yak. Now what’s this about Kasparov?

Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 04/14 at 08:50 PM

kasparov - bit of a joke but its true. he was arrested because he was in a demo against putin and putin has banned all demos against putin.

bbc news is shit but the general story…

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/6554989.stm

Posted by michael on from scotland 04/14 at 08:58 PM

Sort of “Kasparov’s Gambit Denied,” huh?

Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 04/14 at 09:04 PM

indeed.

i always wanted to go to russia but i know a couple of russians and there only advice was… and i quote… “don’t”.

we all know about putin tho. the only reason the kasparov story was exceptional for me was that i spent a few months living in nepal in the middle of what can only be described as the jungle. no electricity, no running water etc etc. i LOVED it. it is amazing how quickly you dont need it - less than a week and you have adjusted to your local situation, or maybe thats just me.

anyway, the point is that with no other forms of entertainment i spent 2 months getting consistently fucked at chess by the chief dude of the village and therefore i spent a while wishing i was gary kasparov.

Posted by michael on from scotland 04/14 at 09:14 PM

Greetings from a wet Concord CA. The sky just turned a very strange color...almost the color it gets before a tornado...but we don’t get tornados out here...or do we?

One of the mainstream press organs had a piece on the overfishing of the oceans...wow, if they’re getting it, then we’re seriously screwed. But then they had a “sad” piece about how Prince William and his girlfriend broke up,so the world must not be ending this weekend.

I saw Sonny Rollins out here in San Francisco about two years ago. Amazing. The man was 75 (I think) years old at the time and he played like he was out to impress all for the first time. So humble, too. When he asked what the audience would like to hear someone shouted out a tune. He looked
a bit surprised and said, “Wow, you really bought the albums.” Great evening.

Posted by The CultureGhost on from Concord, CA 04/14 at 09:39 PM

Nice to see you, Ghost.

Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 04/14 at 09:42 PM

Michael, you make me envious. I’ll have to come visit you there. Actually, I’m of Scottish descent (half Scot, I think, if you do the math), of McKinnon, McCallum and Sutherland clans. My grandma took a trip to the land of her parents some years back, to the Isle of Skye.

Posted by Jeremy on from Taipei, Taiwan 04/14 at 10:37 PM

I’m quite a big chess fan myself. Poor Gary. It’s good to see chess players doing stuff like that. Being into chess I read a lot of chess books. The older ones have intros where they talk about mastery of chess translating into genius in other areas and all kinds of wacko ideas away from the game itself.

By far the best book is Bobby Fischer’s “My 60 memorable games”. The best player and also the biggest casualty. He dissapeared after winning the Worlds against Spassky then turned up in a trailer in California handing out white power leaflets. He also got barred from the USA and had all his assets frozen after he played in former Yugoslavia while it was under sanctions.

If anyone wants to get into Chess or see Chess as a colourful exciting sport - start with Fischer. His life and his game are as exciting to look at as any sport. It has all the highs - and the lows too.

Posted by Andy on from Shanghai 04/15 at 12:40 AM

You really have the best quotes of any blogspot I have ever visited, Mickey!
And if you or any of my fellow expendables are interested in more on Vonnegut, here is an interesting interview with him which was first broadcast in October 2005 on Australian radio:
http://www.abc.net.au/rn/latenightlive/stories/2007/1896960.htm

And ‘hi’ to Frances, James, Joe of Maine, Robert B. Livingston, Ehtesham, JOS, Zen Prole, Michael (beautiful photos!), TheCultureGhost, Jeremy and Andy from an unseasonally warm Daylesford: although we are into the second month of autumn/fall down under, we had almost 80F yesterday and 76F today. Not that I am complaining but we badly need rain.

And is there an Anarchist Book Fair in NYC as well, Mickey? We attended its San Francisco equivalent in late March 2003 - that was quite an experience.

Bye from down under ..

Posted by Helga Fremlin on from Daylesford, Australia 04/15 at 01:43 AM

Here’s an article I wrote about Bobby Fischer. I’ll re-post on Sunday’s blog.

Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 04/15 at 07:14 AM

Hi Frances, All Along the Watch Tower is one of my favorite Hendrix song too.

Take care everyone.

Cheers.

Posted by Ehtesham on from Canada 04/15 at 11:21 AM