Wednesday, April 30, 2008

The Stuff of Life

Inspired by a cool article in the new "design issue" of Paper Magazine, Betty & Bimbo are asking their readers and bloggers to consider the following question and categories, and to please respond with your thoughts!

Which [specific] objects in your everyday life fit into each of these categories, and why?

1. Aesthetically Pleasing and Useful


2. Useful, but Dull


3. Beautiful and Useless


4. Just Plain Ugly, and Doesn't Work Very Well, Either


Bimbo says:

1. My wooden briefcase - It holds all my work papers and looks like a tree trunk.

2. My computer at work - I mean, it's a Dell.

3. My Japanese tea pot - I never drink tea, but I love my pot. It's brown and tiny and could probably hold only two cups of tea.

4. My appendix? (I can't really think of anything that's not useful or interesting looking.)

Betty says:

1. My Fender Telecaster guitar - My soul, my beautiful one. With the colors of a banana that's still ripe, but just barely. You know what's inside will be soft and sweet.

2. My cell phone - It's grey and bulky and takes horrible dark photos and can't do anything special but it still works.

3. Stuffed monkey - Purchased in Chicago. It has a look on its face that reminds me of a sweet look Bimbo sometimes gets.

4. This IS the hard one, isn't it? In the magazine piece, one of the designers chose his Time Warner cable remote, which is both impossible to understand and visually drab. I can't argue with that choice.

Awaiting your replies!
xoxoxo
Betty & Bimbo

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

executions and such


Venus is frankly confused by this brouhaha.
It was a zero sum, and then again, the zero sum is always the most difficult one. That is why the Mayas, Indians and Arabs had a zero, and the Europeans (and it turns out, the Supremes) didn't. Venus confesses a rejected attempt to file amicus curiae. Venus has had plenty of those three-part lethal cocktails, part vodka, vermouth and bitter, and vive le royal headache the morning after--that's what makes them lethal in the first place! Venus infers somebody had a hang over at the Suprème, tout court! "Off with their heads."

On to the more recent things, and we countenance again how that Mr O goes uh-oh right when he should be thinking Wright. Now Venus thinks (sometimes Venus does), that this disavowal sounds too much like Peter before dawn (apostasy, it is called where Venus came from) and it is not entirely befitting to the type of O, the oh! if you will, who our darling senator wants to be.

A certain someone said that in the middle of the road there is nothing but yellow stripes and dead armadillos, and Venus must add that it's also dead skunks, and that those stink. Mr O, do not disavow who you are, that's why Venus liked you in the first place. (Particularly because people that make obscene amounts of money should be concentrating on spending it all to repeal the recession, rather than trying to get a relatively low-paying job.)

Ah, anyways, it's all such a blood sport that Venus feels like a Bloody Mary, off with her head, dammit.

The Supreme Court Sucks Part 2

Poll tax receipt, 1896

Two weeks ago, I pointed out that the court had said that a three-part lethal injection cocktail was constitutional, further ensconcing the barbaric practice of capital punishment in our country.

What are they up to this week? Well, yesterday the court decided by a 6-3 margin that Indiana's law requiring voters to show a government-issued photo ID at the polls was constitutional.

The result, the Times suggests, will be more such laws around the country.

For the vast majority of us with drivers' licenses and passports, this is no biggie. But for the very poor and elderly without them: biggie. It is admittedly not the same as a poll tax, but it has the same intent and effect - limiting voting rights for those with little power in our society. What better way to keep them on the bottom?

Lest we think of the justices as some lofty group above politics, it should be noted that all six of the justices who voted in favor of Indiana's law had been appointed by Republican presidents, and the court's two Democratic appointees both dissented. (Only David Souter, long derided by conservatives as a "bad pick" by George H.W. Bush, crossed the court's party lines by dissenting).

Of all the long-lasting damage that George W. Bush has done to our country, little will have longer-lasting effects than his appointments of Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito.

Monday, April 28, 2008

"The Wire" on Fire

For Betty and Bimbo, the Time-Space continuum is fluid and subjective. Betty thinks the Beatles had a big influence on Buddy Holly, Lucinda Williams on the Pretenders, and Green Day on the Ramones. Also, just because a TV show might have been celebrated and famously concluded many months or years, ago, that doesn't mean that we shouldn't announce its greatness here today!

Halfway through Season 2, Episode 2 of "The Wire", Betty is convinced she has a new favorite show. Even though the show is about sensing, intuiting, and hearing, the way "The Wire" LOOKS is a revelation. The camera moves like a hand-held, but not in a jittery way, not with fanfare. The Port of Baltimore in Season Two resembles nothing more than an orange and blue movie set by the sea. Quite the reflection on our post-industrial minds! And in Season One, you felt you could see each blade of grass in the low-rise projects, even without HD cheating! There's just nothing to distract you from the essentials. This means the script has to be really good -- and it is!

Betty is won over by the illusion that they could have shot this show with no props, costumes, or make-up and that would be fine -- it just looks like Life. Isn't so much great art like this? The illusion of effortlessness after hours of matching skin hues and hair strands to the reflection off the pavement. Kind of like being a detective!

Betty even likes it more than "The Sopranos"! [Maybe.] The crime stories have an irresistible populist, pulpy feeling that creates a nice tension with the beautiful industrial grittiness of the cinematography. Dominic West is a vulnerable and boundlessly curious Jimmy McNulty, a character who, like Helen Mirren's Det. Lt. Jane Tennison, answers the question "What would we be capable of if we weren't in love all the time?!". But even though McNulty is the character with whom the viewer is asked to relate, he is even less central, less dominant in "The Wire"'s many-peopled cast than Tony was on "The Sopranos".

Now, the show can at times fall off the wagon and get a little cheesy. Betty found the pawn shop detective in Season One epitomized this tendency. This is "The Wire"'s Achilles Heel. We'll see how it struggles with this temptation in Season Two.

Please chime in if you have thoughts on this breath-taking program. But please don't spoil the plot!

Sunday, April 27, 2008

America's Mayor?


Hi bloggers. I just caught a cameo of Michael Bloomberg on 30 Rock, and it set me wondering about this chameleon of a politician. Frankly, I don't hear a whole lot about him aside from vague fawning and musings over his political aspirations. Oh, and I hear he's started a pretty successful media company. I'm wondering what the New Yorkers among us think of this fellow. Good for the city? A candidate for higher office? Or over-hyped?

Thursday, April 24, 2008

Support our troops: take away their porn

This is not a joke:

Concerned that the military is selling pornography in exchange stores in spite of a ban, one lawmaker has introduced a bill to clean up the matter.

“Our troops should not see their honor sullied so that the moguls behind magazines like Playboy and Penthouse can profit,” said Rep. Paul Broun, R-Ga., unveiling his House bill April 16.

His Military Honor and Decency Act would amend a provision of the 1997 Defense Authorization Act that banned sales of “sexually explicit material” on military bases.

And this is also a real photo of Paul Broun

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Scorsese's "Shine A Light": The Best Movie Ever?

So, Betty has seen it twice on the IMAX now!

What impresses her most about the Stones' musicianship is how tight they are as a unit (Watts can't falter, Jagger can't forget) and yet how loose, relaxed, and warm their playing remains, especially the interplay between Woods and Richards on guitar. They know no boundaries! Rhythm? Lead? Nah, we'll just do everything. It's not blues, it's not rock, it's not messy, it's not clean, it's not a riff, it's not an accompaniment...it's Rolling Stones guitars, sirs.

The film brings up questions even as it clobbers you with sound and image. Why do the Stones keep playing? The answer seems infuriatingly elementary, even as the roll on and on and on, the branded Super Bowl champs of rock. Also - what is the point of a rock band full of 60 year olds? Why should that be weird/problematic when they play this well and alight an audience with thrills and chills as effectively as anyone? Can old songs keep sounding new when played live, to the point that new songs aren't necessary? Betty was raised on recorded music, so this whole live band for life thing is quite new to her, ears and brain still lodged between naive headphones. Also, cover songs -- if you can play 'em, you're as great as the greats! Who knew?

Also- in this movie, Scorsese manages to both continue his obsession with "feeling, not thinking" artists (see also the Dylan pic "No Direction Home") while simultaneously poking fun at his own uptight artistry, here on display in glorious quantities.

Paul Auster: The Accidental Rebel

Friend of the blog Paul Auster has a very thoughtful piece on today's Times op-ed page about a student protest he participated in at Columbia 40 years ago today.

Being crazy struck me as a perfectly sane response to the hand I had been dealt — the hand that all young men had been dealt in 1968. The instant I graduated from college, I would be drafted to fight in a war I despised to the depths of my being, and because I had already made up my mind to refuse to fight in that war, I knew that my future held only two options: prison or exile.
Auster studiously avoids making parallels to the present moment or present war, and with good reason: that lack of a draft is certainly a huge difference. But clearly, it's not just that. We're also just far from the political spirit that captured so many people all over the world in 1968.

The only clear parallel he makes:
I hesitate to draw any comparisons with the present — and therefore will not end this memory-piece with the word “Iraq.” I am 61 now, but my thinking has not changed much since that year of fire and blood, and as I sit alone in this room with a pen in my hand, I realize that I am still crazy, perhaps crazier than ever.

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

A Sermon for Earth Day


From a brother in arms, Ken Ward. I don't agree with every word he says (like the potential need to go to war to reverse climate change) but overall this is a powerful call to arms:


The Rainbow Covenant
An Earth Day Sermon
Ken Ward
Delivered Sunday, April 20, 2008
First Church Jamaica Plain/Unitarian-Universalist

Reading: Genesis 9: 8-17

Earth Day is supposed to be a day of celebration, but there is little to celebrate today.

As Kurt Vonnegut once said...

"I wish I could bring light... but there is no light. Everything is going to become unimaginably worse. If I lied to you about that, you would sense that I'd lied to you, and that would be another cause for gloom, and we have enough causes already."

It is true that there are fewer bald-faced lies being told about the state of the earth - even our President now admits that climate change is, well shucks, kind've problem - but fewer lies does not mean that there is more truth.

Jim Hansen, the world's foremost climate scientist, is circulating a draft paper arguing that the climate "tipping point" must be reset at 350 ppm of atmospheric carbon, a point we passed two years ago.

If we do not immediately return below that level, Greenland and Antarctic ice shelves will collapse with a catastrophic rise in sea levels.

From the study of ancient ice cores and sea sediment, we now know that sea level change is episodic and quick... measured in feet per decade, rather than inches per century.

Neither civilization nor global eco-systems can adapt to change this rapid.

Hansen sketches a solution of appropriate scale: immediate halt to burning coal; crash Marshall program to replace it with renewables; limit oil and gas use to known, economically viable reserves, massive reforestation and adoption of carbon-storing agricultural practices.

Nothing that we are doing, nor even seriously contemplated, comes anywhere near such massive a transformation, yet every actor on the political stage - including major environmental organizations, "green" corporations, and Presidential candidates of both major parties - downplay the terrible realities and trumpet small-scale solutions, wrapped in upbeat rhetoric.

We are racing toward the end of the world and have no plan of escape, but it is considered impolite to acknowledge that fact in public.

In private, though, we are more and more terrified - especially those of us who are parents or grandparents.

I know from conversations with my own grandparents how heavily the burden of parenting during the Great Depression fell on their shoulders, but anxiety over earning a livelihood is dwarfed by feelings of parents today, who face the prospect of the very fabric of civilization fraying during the lifetime of our children.

To watch the evening news pass seamlessly from stories about an ice free arctic to nightly business reports enthusiastic about oil sector sector stocks is to enter a rabbit hole where ordinary rules of logic, common-sense and cause-and-effect are overturned.

Though it pains me to say it, environmentalists bear a good deal of responsibility for the dreamy, Alice in Wonderland state we find ourselves in. Two decades ago we adopted an approach to climate change that could been summed up with the slogan, "Stop Global Warming and Have a Nice Day!"

We cannot count on environmentalists to deal with this terrible reality, nor is there any reason to look to corporate leaders or politicians, but there are good reasons why religious leaders and communities of faith can and must do so.

3 reasons are particularly important.

FIRST, we can't leave apocalypse to those who find it seductive. As things begin to go haywire, the cockamamie "End of Days" eschatology will be buttressed and made more appealing. "End of Days" believers are the folks who are looking forward to global catastrophe, which they believe signals that the time is at hand when a handful of true believers will be whisked directly to heaven.

A 100 foot Jesus will then appear over the Temple Mount - presumably reaching down with one huge, sandaled foot to brush off any Muslins still hanging around – and all those left behind on earth choose up sides for Armageddon.

Anyone sitting in Unitarian-Universalist pews can pretty much count on being "Left Behind," but I don't think this should be a great worry.

The "End of Days" is so antithetical to Christian word and spirit that this splinter theology must be considered "blasphemous" in the old fashioned meaning of the word. (For those who are interested, a good critical analysis of "End of Days" theology is available in the Austin Lounge Lizards song "Jesus Loves Me, But He Doesn't Love You.")

Apocalypse is not the last gift of a vengeful God, and we need to challenge the misguided and spiritually cramped who proclaim that it is.

SECOND, to avert cataclysm we must give up dirty, expensive and finite sources of energy for clean, free renewables, and make that transition available to all peoples of the world, irrespective of their ability to pay for it. It is in our interest to do so.

Once this is accomplished, we may move on to solve other global problems waiting in the wings, like the shortage of potable water or impending collapse of ocean fisheries.

Thus, by avoiding cataclysm, we will set out on a new road that holds out promise of a happy, productive and secure life for all people, while averting the destruction of the few remaining wild things and places.

Seems like a easy call, so what stands in the way?

Greed, for one. Foolish consistency, selfishness, murderous anger, folly and the lust for power, as well.

We are not engaged here in a public policy debate. This is the same, old, familiar, fundamental struggle between good and evil, between things of the world and things of the spirit, between the Principalities of War and Peace, between that which is Godly and that which is Satanic.

It is a clash between the best and worst of our natures, a reality that has been obscured in the measured, moderate, negotiated outcomes of our representative democracy. To save our world and our skins, we must cut through the grey fog of collective irresponsibility, planned obfuscation and policy relativity and cast things in black and white.

THIRD, as a practical matter, no global solution is possible without the leadership of the US, the world's sole superpower. The current US climate agenda of advocates and activists is entirely focused on reducing US carbon emissions, but that objective is too small. Our goal must be to bring the full weight of American power, capital, ingenuity, technical acumen and, yes, military might, to bear in desperate, last minute drive to avert cataclysm.

In a civic landscape of bloated SUVs and war-for-oil, this may seem impossible, but it is the genius of America that in times of great need we are able to shrug off the shackles of indolence and greed and act quickly, with purpose and great self sacrifice.

Every great surge of democracy and expansion of human rights in our history has been achieved by political and sometimes military means, but a moral groundwork was first laid by communities of faith. It required a civil war to end slavery, but that war could not have been fought until slavery was first understood as immoral.

And in each evolution, the bible has been reinterpreted.

I suggest that in the story of Noah, the Flood and God's Covenant of the Rainbow we find the keys to a theology of hope with a very practical application.

After the flood waters recede and Noah offers thanks, God grants dominion over all living things to Noah and his generations and promises never again to wantonly flood the earth. As a token of this covenant, God sets a rainbow in the clouds.

The deal is not between God and Noah alone. This is three-party contract that includes "every living thing upon the earth." The tripartite nature of the covenant is reiterated no less than 6 times in 19 consecutive verses of Genesis (8:21, 9:9-10, 9:12, 9:13, 9:15, 9:16, 9:17).

Why is this meaningful? It emphasizes that God's promise to refrain from destruction covers humankind and all living things. Though not explicit, that promise is binding on Noah, and transfers with the power of dominion.

Small echoes of that covenant resound through both books of the bible. When Jesus is baptized, the spirit of the Lord descends in the form of a dove (as it did for Noah), and Satan appears to drive Jesus into the wilderness for the First Temptation – but he is not alone. According to Mark, Jesus "was with the wild beasts."

We, Noah's descendant's, have broken the covenant because we have not, as God promised, refrained from destroying other living things. Extinction rates continue to climb from over hunting and fishing, habitat destruction and climate change. If God's attorney reads it the same way, then God may decide that he is no longer bound by the covenant - in other words, he's free to flood again.

If, however, we accept our responsibility for all living things – just as we came to accept that no human being should be owned by another – than we would be moved to precautionary action, not on our own behalf, but because extinction of God's creations is unthinkable. We must take immediate action to halt the certain death of all coral reefs within a couple decades, for example.

By caring for God's creatures we fulfill the terms of the covenant and avert a second flood.

WE LIVE NOW in twilight years before the storm, like the peoples of Europe in the years before World War 11. Our leaders are desperate to avoid direct confrontation, just as the democracies sought to avoid confronting Hitler.

But there is no escape now, as there was none then. We do not know what will be the equivalent Pearl Harbor event that will blow America out of our complacency - two Katrina-level hurricanes crossing Florida in one year would probably do it.

That moment will be our greatest opportunity to turn American -- and through America, the world -- onto a livable path in keeping with the Rainbow Compact. But it will also be a moment of chaos and fear and there will be great pressure to turn to crack-pot, quick fix technical schemes, like lofting billions of small Mylar balloons into orbit between the earth and the sun.

So we have a lot of work to do.... lets get cracking.

Oh, and I don't know about you, but I'm keeping a sharp eye on the sky on rainy days.

Monday, April 21, 2008

We're Moving...to New York!!

Betty and Bimbo have been considering a move across the country for the last couple of weeks, following an exciting job offer for Bimbo.

At the end of all the weighing and considering, the back and forthing, the fantasizing and dreaming and hoping, they decided they love New York! And they won't be leaving anytime soon.

Go Yankees.

Love,
Betty & Bimbo

Friday, April 18, 2008

Summer Job

Reviewing her, uh, "finances," Betty was struck today by the inevitable: she needs a summer job. Is there a dignified form this could take for a 26 or 27 year old radical/animal enthusiast/rock singer/hippie? Maybe Betty could pet-sit for Bruce Springsteen. He must have a couple of decorative shark tanks at the very least.

Thursday, April 17, 2008

Hang em high


The fucking supreme court sucks. And three-shot lethal injection cocktails will continue.

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

American Racism

I had the wonderful opportunity to attend a Red Sox - Yankees game this past Sunday night at Fenway Park. While I had a great time, three things dampened my enjoyment somewhat: the Yankees losing; the bitter cold; and an incident that reminded me just how deep racism still runs in America.

Along with our free tickets, a friend and I had also been given a parking pass to the Ipswich Garage. When we got to the garage before the game, an east African immigrant came over and took our keys to park it - and explained that the lot was valet parking.

When we returned around 11pm, others were in line waiting to get their cars back. But one pair of young white men, probably in their late 20s, were extremely agitated. After a moment, I discovered that the problem was that the valets were unable to find their car keys.

All of the people working in the garage were immigrants of various nationalities, a fact that was not lost on one of the young men, whose buddy was worried that he would be late to work if their keys weren't found shortly. "If you don't find those keys, I'm going to call the fucking INS on you!" he yelled, among other profane threats.

To his credit, the man running the operation did ask him not to yell at them, but that only occasioned more yelling, including "fucking Mexican piece of shit!"

I am embarrassed to admit that I was too fearful of how these two young white men would respond, and as such did not intervene.

The whole incident reminded me of the 2004 flap over Barry Bonds' comments that he would not consider ending his career in Boston. Dave Zirin wrote about this then:

In an interview with the Boston Globe, Bonds was asked a cream puff question about whether he would consider finishing his career in Beantown. Bonds shook his head and said, "Boston is too racist for me. I couldn't play there. That's been going on ever since my dad (Bobby) was playing baseball. I can't play like that. That's not for me, brother." When the reporter countered that the racial climate has changed in Boston, Bonds responded, "It ain't changing. It ain't changing nowhere.

Sure, Bonds' insistence that "it ain't changing" was overly grim. But I would certainly say that "it ain't changing fast enough".



Sunday, April 13, 2008

Congestion Pricing: A Follow Up

Mayor Ken Livingstone of London: feminist, socialist, and more effective congestion pricing advocate than Mickey Bloomberg.

For a view on the political possibilities of congestion pricing, one need to look no further than this week's New Yorker (article not online) and Calvin Trillin's piece on the London mayoral election. London already has a congestion pricing scheme - and as soon as next year, the cost of going into the center city on vehicle will rise to 25 pounds ($50!)

Wow.

Wednesday, April 09, 2008

For Realz?

Is really no one going to join Twitter with Montse and me? It's so fun! And so easy!

Come on, you know you wanna!!!

Tuesday, April 08, 2008

Dear Albany: Here are Some Healthier Ways to Travel

On your feet...




Floating along on your back, not a care in the world...



Using public transit, like a bag...




Humbly Submitted,
Cocoa
proud citizen of New York City

Monday, April 07, 2008

Shelly, You Can Drive Your Car

Tonight Betty and Bimbo are disappointed and depressed by the fact of another dream deferred. The silent death came today to the idea of congestion pricing in New York City -- the plan that would charge drivers $8 to drive into Manhattan during peak hours, and use the money to improve and extend public transportation. The proposal passed in New York City, but never even came to an open vote in the New York State assembly.

The plan would raise the cost of entering Manhattan on the bridges by only a few dollars. The first priority of the money raised by the initiative (and by a generous federal grant for the project -- also lost today) would be to extend the subway line into parts of Queens that are currently underserved by NYC's public transportation system.

While some analysts will (predictably) blame the death of congestion pricing on Mayor Bloomberg's unpolitic style, the real culprit is one of the most craven power-hungry and morally bankrupt politicians in America: State Rep. Sheldon Silver.

Rep. Silver, of course, "represents" the interests of Lower Manhattan in Albany. Even the most no-nothing opponents of congestion pricing grasp that this area would benefit dramatically were a congestion pricing plan to pass.

Our one hope is that Speaker Christine Quinn, if elected New York City's next Mayor, will carry the torch that Bloomberg lit in the name of environmental and transportation justice. Our job is to continue fighting to realize the dream of better public transit and improved air quality in New York City (where asthma rates are above the national average, of course). Further, we must hold accountable the politicians who quashed at the state level a plan that many New Yorkers would have benefited from. The major culprits are: Sheldon Silver, U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner, Assemblyman Mark Weprin, City Council Member David Weprin and Westchester State Rep. Richard Brodsky.

Throw the bums out!

***UPDATE***: Today's New York Times scorches Sheldon Silver:

Without congestion pricing, the public can expect to pay in other, less equitable ways: additional taxes, higher fares, reduced transit service or all of the above. Mr. Silver now owes it to New York to come up with an alternative plan to provide a steady source of new funds for the financially strapped Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

We’ve seen Mr. Silver’s style of leadership before. In 1999, he cavalierly killed the commuter tax, costing the city, so far, more than $5.5 billion. It’s always difficult to pinpoint the motivations of the opaque and narrowly political Mr. Silver. Certainly, the speaker has made little effort to disguise his personal dislike for Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who proposed congestion pricing. But there is no place for personal grudges in leading the state and city of New York.

The congestion-pricing plan was not perfect, but it improved over time. Mr. Silver did not seem to put any effort into addressing the concerns of its opponents or into moving his members to do the right thing.

He failed to put New Yorkers’ needs before his personal agenda. That makes him unworthy of his office.

Dr. King and Mr. Clemente


I could probably post Dave Zirin every week, but this one seems particularly blog-worthy.

Common Bond for Uncommon Men: Roberto Clemente and Martin Luther King
By Dave Zirin

As we remember the 40th anniversary of that dark day of April 4th 1968, when Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was gunned down in Memphis, it's worth recalling the reaction by Pittsburgh Pirates All-Star Roberto Clemente.

Clemente was devastated by the news of King's assassination but didn't suffer in silence. Instead, he led a charge to prevent the Pirates and Astros from opening their season on April 8th, the day before King's burial. He convinced his teammates on the Pirates, which included 11 African Americans, to stand with him. Opening Day was moved to April 10th, and Roberto Clemente had put sports in its proper perspective.

It might seem odd that Clemente, a proud Puerto Rican national, would have led such an extraordinary action. But Clemente, who had a passionate belief in social and economic justice, considered King a personal hero. He had even met face to face with Dr. King, spending a day together on Clemente's farm in Puerto Rico.

The rest of the article is here.

Sunday, April 06, 2008

English & Physics Prof. Van Morrison Teaches Betty Sweet New Word on His Amazing & Fabulous New Album

You by the countryside
Oh you when you reach the sky
You and you’re climbing up that hill
Well you when we’re listening to the little whippoorwill

You when the sun goes down
You in the evening, in the morning when the sun comes round
You with your ballerina dance
Well you put me back in a trance

Well you take my breath away
Oh you even on a cloudy day
You make me holler when you come around
You make me holler when you shake ‘em on down

That’s entrainment, that’s entrainment, that’s entrainment, that’s entrainment
That’s entrainment, that’s entrainment, that’s entrainment


Well you take my breath away
Oh you even on a cloudy day
Well you on that old sea shore
Ah you when you’re holding out your hand for more

Well you when you come around
Well you make me shake ‘em on down
Well you in the morning, in the morning when the sun comes up
Well you in the evening when the sun goes down

You make me holler, make me holler when you come around
Oh want you to shake your money maker, want you to shake ‘em on down
Shake your money maker, shake your money maker, shake ‘em on down


That’s entrainment, that’s entrainment, that’s entrainment
Called that’s entrainment, that’s entrainment, that’s entrainment
That’s entrainment, that’s entrainment
That’s entrainment, that’s entrainment

Now you put me back in a trance
That’s entrainment, that’s entrainment, that’s entrainment
That’s entrainment, that’s entrainment

What the hell are you DOING?!

On Montse's always contemporary and passionate suggestion, Betty has joined Twitter. Can we all join Twitter? It will be way more fun and cool if we do.

Betty, high modern that she is, is totally down with the idea. The ever present NOW. Or the ever present just-flown past. Opportunities for concision, humor, gripped inspiration, hollers, resistence, and poetry. Like an echo champer of love! Or like the blog, only EVEN LESS WORK!

All blogistas and blog groupies are encouraged to join up for unpredictable fun and maybe learning, thinking, busting out, etc.

Check it out, porfa.

Obama reggae tune

I only feel ok posting this here because the performer is named "Cocoa Tea"


Wednesday, April 02, 2008

The Harry Potter Generation

It seems my alma mater is taking bold steps in the world of athletics.


Tuesday, April 01, 2008

El Presidente John

So there we were, the three of us having a very nice dinner at the hotel restaurant. The dessert was on the table, after a long and warm debate about impossibly everything that matters.

In the middle of some accurate description of a guy we met in Africa, and my juicy, but somewhat exaggerated details on a mexican foreign minister, I had the most wonderful thought.

"Well, John, I have decided that you would be an excellent president of the US of A. I think basically you can save the world...I mean, you have the looks and that latina wife of yours. And the head for it. So, you should...We'll fundraise for you in Texas and Santiago!". My optimism was rock-solid.

Mark liked the idea and we started plotting the campaign in front of John.

John gave us a movie star smile, shaking his head, not saying much.

I tried again. "Think about it. You would be the guy that inspires! And all the latinos would vote for you in a heart-beat!"

We continued for another 5 minutes until we almost got him on the ticket. For a brief second, John looked at both of us and said "You would have to convince Patri first"...

We all laughed, and John then told us he was looking forward to some Yankees game that was about to start on the TV, and that some crucial analysis about it with Ale&Gabi was involved.

So here we are now, 7 years after and reminding ourselves -as always- what a better world this would be if only John was around...

XOXOX

In Memoriam: Father of the Blog

April 2nd marks the third anniversary of the death of Ambassador John J. O'Leary, pere of Betty and Gabriela an important influence on many of us on the blog.

I still miss John, and I do wish he were here to weigh in on the blog's many Obama-Clinton debates, even though I know he would come down forcefully -- and quite intelligently -- on the other side.

I also wish John was around for some political strategizing. I am currently running a campaign for Congress in the same Southern Maine district that John ran in 26 years ago (when I was an infant) and I hope we have learned the lessons of his hard-fought primary defeat. In particular, it's all about Biddeford-Saco!

And finally, I just miss his goodness and warmth and gregarious nature. He has inspired the work I do in my life, and I'm glad that his spirit lives on in many of us here.

Fundraiser for McCain 2008 Tonight at Betty's!

I don't know about you, but when I think "President," I think "grizzled white man." I think you'll find history is on my side here. That's why I'm supporting John McCain for President in 2008. - Betty

Betty is holding a fundraiser tonight in support of the inspiring McCain '08 campaign. Cocoa will perform tricks such as "sea otter" and "jump for the carrot". We will play ROCK BAND and feel the aggression and transcendence Mr. McCain brings to the race as we shred our way through "Detroit Rock City" and "Ballroom Blitz". Finally, Betty will recite original poetry written in the dawning of her new political awakening. Words to watch for include "McRain", "McBane", and "Lick Pain"!

Be there or be a big wuss!! 9 p.m. SHARP!
Cereal and apple slices will be served.
Suggested donation: $500

BETTY ENDORSES MCCAIN IN '08

On the pages of this blog, Betty has long maintained that there is no compelling difference between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton when it comes to substantive policy positions. Now, after much brain-wringing and frantic, slightly abusive chihuahua-petting, Betty is putting it all on the line to defend this point of view. She has finally made up her mind about whom to throw her weight and influence behind in the months leading up to November 2008: John McCain.

First of all, McCain is the only major candidate who shares a first name with one of the Beatles.

Secondly, small government is what it's ALL ABOUT. Betty is into things that are small: small dogs, small government.

Third of all, Barack and Hillary are simply not OLD enough to be president.

And finally, Betty has always considered herself a "maverick," so McCain is the obvious choice for her.

In Conclusion, Betty Endorses McCain '08 -- Change you can Vote For.