alphasong

Principles of Stuff

For what are your possessions but things you keep and guard for fear you may need them tomorrow? And tomorrow, what shall tomorrow bring to the overprudent dog burying bones in the trackless sand as he follows the pilgrims to the holy city? (Kahlil Gibran)

1. Do not give people STUFF just because of the season or occasion. Use the classic definition of a gift: something you KNOW someone would appreciate, but is not likely to buy for themselves.
2. Assume that people view STUFF as a liability, not an asset. Ask permission before giving and never assume STUFF is wanted by family members.
3. When you buy or accept STUFF, realize you are committing to maintaining it (repairing and replacing), and disposing of it responsibly. STUFF is always a liability. Whether it is also an asset is the question you must answer.
4. There is nothing intrinsically wrong with wanting and having STUFF. Want and have as much as you can deal with. But be prepared for your STUFF to depress and weigh you down, if you accumulate it in a way or in a quantity that no longer serves you.
5. Acquire and dispose of STUFF in balance, for the most part (major life events excepted).  
6. Some STUFF is valuable ONLY because it contains information. Consider putting that information on a computer and reducing the cubic feet of STUFF you have. You may be able to free up entire rooms! Digital STUFF carries a psychic burden as well, but it is less.
7. Return STUFF back into the supply chain as soon as you possibly can, once you have determined you no longer need it. Return even trivially cheap unopened items to the place you purchased them immediately, if they will not be used. It's not about the money - it is basic STUFF hygiene. 
8. Do not divide stocks of STUFF. Keep like with like. You won't remember where you squirreled the extra STUFF away.
9. Keep entropy at bay. Protect STUFF from weather, wear, and breakage. Repair immediately.
10. The most evil words in the English language are "this STUFF could come in handy someday." They may have been useful before our supply chain matured. But in a society with a well functioning supply chain they are dysfunctional.
11. Used STUFF can be sold on Ebay and Craigslist. Learn the routine (including posting good pictures) and practice it so you don't feel too much resistance when you need to get rid of STUFF.
12. Used STUFF you can't sell can be given away via Craigslist and Freecycle. It's amazing how many people are watching those posts and how quickly even obscure and apparently useless STUFF is snapped up. Charities are also good for basic STUFF but if you give them obscure things, they may just trash them.Try to find someone who is consciously looking for the exact STUFF you no longer need.
13. Trust in your resourcefulness and ability to find the STUFF you need when you need it.
14. Finally, understand your stock of STUFF as an expression of the life you are creating. 

SURREALLY SUITABLE NAMES

Topic is SURREALLY SUITABLE NAMES.

I'm sure someone else somewhere has done this, but I must not be searching on the right keywords.

Bernie MADOFF with the money
That talking head Jessica is always YELLIN
Sally went for a RIDE in the Space Shuttle
Watch Usain BOLT to victory at the Olympics
Christopher at the National Hurricane Center tracks storms from LANDSEA and space.

No surprise that Loreena would ..... oh, some things are just too obvious even for this post.

In memory of Julie Norwall

Friends, and colleagues who care:

My mother passed away yesterday (April 9^th) at 4 AM, of complications from a recurrence of abdominal cancer. She was well attended by friends and family throughout her final passage, which was peaceful. She was conscious of her loved ones through her last day of life, which was a great blessing. We are eternally grateful to the hospice staff at The Gathering at Boutwells Landing.

Here is her obituary as it will run in the metro Twin Cities papers this Sunday:

Norwall, Julianne

Age 69, Marine on St. Croix, passed away peacefully on April 9, 2008 after a courageous battle with cancer.

She is survived by husband, Jim Johnson; son, Charles (Suzanne Magdalene) Betz; daughter, Ann (Robert Richman) Betz; grandchildren, Noah Betz-Richman, Keane Betz; sister, Donna Lee Johnson; other family and friends.

Avid hiker, cyclist, skier, artist, world traveler, and beloved companion. Member of North Star Ski Touring Club, North Star Watercolor Society, Minnesota Austin-Healey Club and past member of Minnesota Rovers.

Memorial Service 3 PM, Monday, April 14, 2008 with a gathering of friends from 1 to 3 PM at BRADSHAW CELEBRATION OF LIFE CENTER, 2800 Curve Crest Boulevard (NW corner of Hwy 36 & Co Rd 5), Stillwater, 651-439-5511.

Memorials are welcomed to Standing Cedars Community Land Conservancy, P.O. Box 249, Osceola, WI  54020

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Producers of West Wing file suit against DNC, RNC

“Shameless plagiarism” alleged in 2008 presidential race

Monday, February 11, 2008
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA

    Attorneys for the popular drama The West Wing filed suit against the Republican and Democratic National Committees today, arguing that the 2008 presidential race constitutes a “notably derivative work” with “clear and shameless plagiarism of key characters and plotlines” from the hit series’ seventh and final season, aired in 2005-2006. “We had a moderate, aged Republican from California [the character Sen. Arnold Vinick, played by Alan Alda] – they have a moderate, aged Republican from Arizona,” noted producer John Wells. “We had the first Latino [Rep. Matt Santos, played by Jimmy Smits] to run as a major party candidate for the presidency – they have the first African American apparently about to do so.”

    DNC Communications Director Karen Finney vehemently denied the allegations, stating that “Although Senator Clinton’s surprising loss of momentum to a young, charismatic person of color may bear some superficial similarities to that last West Wing season, clearly she is no Bingo Bob Russell,” referring to the series’ inept vice-president and unsuccessful Democratic contender.

    “This is liberal hypocrisy at its finest,” stated Danny Diaz, RNC Communications Director. “For years, the West Wing lifted all of their best material from the Congressional Record and other publicly-funded sources, and now the shoe's on the other foot. Besides, John McCain is not a wimp like Alan Alda.” However, he did not deny that John McCain's unpopularity with conservatives bears a resemblance to struggles the West Wing's Vinick also encountered.

    Wells struck back at such criticisms from the courthouse steps today, saying that he had “inside information” that a young, vigorous Southern religious conservative would be selected as Senator John McCain’s running mate, and that, in his VP search, Senator Barack Obama was interviewing a series of Democratic elder statesmen with significant military and foreign affairs experience.  "Obama will choose a clone of our great Leo McGarry character [played by the late John Spencer]," he continued. "And it's even clear that the DNC is considering a brokered Democratic convention for the 2008 election plotline, something they haven't done for decades - until we revived the idea in 2005. Our fans will recognize that all of these themes are drawn directly from the creative minds of our award-winning writers," Wells concluded, "and we expect due compensation and damages for their unauthorized use."

original, with apologies to The Onion

Shadows and Light

I find this Joni Mitchell album one of the towering achievements of 20th century music. Many talk lightly of synthesizing jazz, folk, and rock, but too often the result is the worst of all three - pretentious, unsubtle, and loud. This album is perhaps the only synthesis I'm aware of that gets it right. It's been in my top ten list for twenty plus years, and will probably be there when I die.

Joni simply could not have found a better backup band, by anyone's standards.

Pat Metheny - virtuouso jazz guitarist, and for my money head and shoulders above his rivals of the time. The 1970s saw the rise of the jazz-rock "fusion" guitarist, but too often all these artists "learned" from instrumental jazz was that it gave you license to get rid of the vocalist and play 20-minute solos at warp speed. The standard tunes, the sophisticated chromatic chord progressions, the rhythmic subtlety-- all were lost. Pat came from a more jazz traditionalist approach, paying his dues learning from the jazz greats like Wes Montgomery, and while he's been an enthusiastic adopter of electronic technology, has always remained loyal to his roots.

Lyle Mays - Pat's keyboardist. (Little known fact: he graduated from the University of North Texas's music program, where I also spent a couple years). Another "they don't come any better" musician.

The late Jaco Pastorius I'll leave to a brief (hopefully fair use) quote from Pat Metheny:

"jaco pastorius may well have been the last jazz musician of the 20th century to have made a major impact on the musical world at large. everywhere you go,sometimes it seems like a dozen times a day, in the most unlikely places you hear jaco's sound; from the latest tv commercial to bass players of all stripes copping his licks on recordings of all styles, from news broadcasts to famous rock and roll bands, from hip hop samples to personal tribute records, you hear the echoes of that unmistakable sound everywhere."

Michael Brecker - top LA session sax player, and winner of multiple Grammys as a soloist and leader.

Don Alias - noted percussionist and session player

The black soul group the Persuasions.

The music is the culmination of Joni's delving into jazz, following on the heels of The Hissing of Summer Lawns (1975), Hejira (1976), and Mingus (1979). (It's interesting that by her discography, Don Juan's Reckless Daughter followed Hejira, but no songs from it are on S & L.) Perhaps it's a matter of hearing the material on Shadows and Light first, but generally I find the arrangements and performances there more convincing than the studio work!

Many songs are memorable - Coyote and Amelia for imagery, Good Bye Pork Pie Hat for sophistication and profound jazz sensibility (it's Joni writing lyrics to a Mingus classic tune, in turn written in memory of tenor great Lester Young). The Persuasions make notable appearances on the call-and-response, gospel-like "Shadows and Light," the just-for-fun classic "Why Do Fools Fall In Love", and "God Must Be a Boogie Man." They invented the word "tight" for these guys. The DVD is well worth picking up, and on it you can see the Persuasion's lead man cueing off Joni; great musical interaction.

My favorite is Black Crow - what jazz-rock fusion should be. Turbulent, ominous, hypercharged, and when Michael Brecker's solo comes, he takes it over the top, going "outside" the conventional rhythm and harmony in a manner that's completely appropriate to the song.

My new weblog

This is my new weblog, focusing on spiritual, musical, social, and other non-technological, non-employment-related issues. (Of course there will be bleed through.) For the other stuff see my weblog www.erp4it.com.