May 22, 2010 archive

Popular Culture (Music) 20100521. Mungo Jerry

Mungo Jerry was a sensation starting in 1970 because of its signature song, In the Summertime.  Now days, that is the only memory that most folks have about them.  This is unfortunate, because they actually were quite excellent.

Their initial LP, self named, is a classic, and I have it both in vinyl and on eight track.  That is right, I still have lots of eight track tapes, including Lord Sutch and Heavy Friends Hands of Jack the Ripper.  I used to have that one on vinyl, but a “friend” stole it from me.

Original v. Cover — #26 in a Series

Buddy Holly Pictures, Images and Photos

The lyrics for this week’s feature song could have very easily been lifted from the script of a lobbyist from one of our largest corporate rulers when they are meeting with their leased members of Congress. The song conveys a message that propels the matter of taking someone for granted to new heights.

That aside, this week’s selection is far more about the original performer and some of the greats who covered this song, including a then seemingly insignificant, but ultimately a major turning point in rock and roll history.  

The inspiration from this week’s feature song was derived from a trip to the movies by members of the band. A phrase frequently used by John Wayne in the film, “The Searchers” would become the title of this song.  

Scientists outraged over the LACK of Science …

Science is one of those subjects I’m passionate about. Without Science, we’d still be casting spells, and coaxing The Fates.

If we’re not careful, we may be headed back to those “bad old days”.

Scientists Fault Lack of Studies Over Gulf Oil Spill

Justin Gillis, NYTimes – 05/19/2010

“It seems baffling that we don’t know how much oil is being spilled,” Sylvia Earle, a famed oceanographer, said Wednesday on Capitol Hill. “It seems baffling that we don’t know where the oil is in the water column.”

The administration acknowledges that its scientific resources are stretched by the disaster, but contends that it is moving to get better information, including a more complete picture of the underwater plumes.

We’re in the early stages of doing that, and we do not have a comprehensive understanding as of yet of where that oil is,” Jane Lubchenco, the NOAA administrator, told Congress on Wednesday. “But we are devoting all possible resources to understanding where the oil is and what its impact might be.”

Maybe NOAA was too busy, texting BP?

Utopia 22: Jeff Revisited

Your honor, I ask no mercy, I plead for  no immunity. I realize that finally the right must prevail. I never more  fully comprehended than now the great struggle between the powers of  greed on the one hand and upon the other the rising hosts of freedom. I  can see the dawn of a better day of humanity. The people are awakening.  In due course of time they will come into their own.

When  the mariner, sailing over tropic seas, looks for relief from his weary  watch, he turns his eyes toward the Southern Cross, burning  luridly above the tempest-vexed ocean. As the midnight approaches the  Southern Cross begins to bend, and the whirling worlds change their  places, and with starry finger-points the Almighty marks the passage of  Time upon the dial of the universe; and though no bell may beat the glad  tidings, the look-out knows that the midnight is passing – that relief  and rest are close at hand.

Let the people take  heart and hope everywhere, for the cross is bending, midnight is  passing, and joy cometh with the morning.–Eugene V. Debs

Contemplating Cucumbers: Open Thread

My sister-in-law, who knows that I am “Going Green”, sent me this article about the nutritional and practical uses for the consummate salad component, the cucumber. While I can attest ot some of the accuracy of the nutritional information, I have yet to try out cleaning the sink or eating cucumber slices to ward off a hangover. So for something amusing

WOW WHAT A LITTLE GEM THE CUCUMBER IS. I WILL LOOK AT IT DIFFERENTLY NOW.

Photobucket

1. Cucumbers contain most of the vitamins you need every day, just one cucumber contains Vitamin B1, Vitamin B2, Vitamin B3, Vitamin B5, Vitamin B6, Folic Acid, Vitamin C, Calcium, Iron, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Potassium and Zinc.

2. Feeling tired in the afternoon, put down the caffeinated soda and pick up a cucumber. Cucumbers are a good source of B Vitamins and Carbohydrates that can provide that quick pick-me-up that can last for hours.

3. Tired of your bathroom mirror fogging up after a shower? Try rubbing a cucumber slice along the mirror, it will eliminate the fog and provide a soothing, spa-like fragrance.

4. Are grubs and slugs ruining your planting beds? Place a few slices in a small pie tin and your garden will be free of pests all season long. The chemicals in the cucumber react with the aluminum to give off a scent undetectable to humans but drive garden pests crazy and make them flee the area.

Obama: Nothing But Talk

On April 30, 10 days after the start of the biggest oil spill in history, Obama finally woke up enough to promised to use :

“every single available resource at our disposal”

Since then, here’s what has he accomplished:

1. By May 3rd the armed forces touted that they had deployed 66,000 feet of boom.

Uh, guys, that’s only 12 miles.  

Yes, that includes this:

2. The armed forces assigned two aircraft to spray toxic dispersant.  

Whether they ever did or not is unclear.

3. Twenty federal government agencies, combined with BP to  hire a public relations firm–which started a website, a facebook page, and an account on twitter.

Blog Post

Really don’t mind if you sit this one out

My words but a whisper — your deafness a SHOUT

I may make you feel but I can’t make you think

Your sperm’s in the gutter — your love’s in the sink

So you ride yourselves over the fields

and you make all your animal deals

and your wise men don’t know how it feels

to be thick as a brick

And the sand-castle virtues are all swept away in

the tidal destruction

the moral melee

The elastic retreat rings the close of play

as the last wave uncovers the newfangled way


Friday Philosophy: The Normativity Prison



Earlier this week, Caractacus ventured into the world of Michel Foucault.  It’s a world which with, although I am not a philosopher, I have become quite familiar.

We people of the trans variety have often had to deal with the concept of normativity, a concept which Foucault wrote about rather extensively.

If you have not read any Foucault, you probably should, though I should warn you that there will be heavy lifting.  After all, in 2007, Foucault was classified as the most cited intellectual in the humanities.

First off, let’s try to get a grip on the word “normativity”.  

In philosophy, normative statements affirm how things ought to be, how to value them, which things are good or bad, which actions are right or wrong.  Normative is usually contrasted with positive…  Positive statements are factual statements that attempt to describe reality.

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