I don't really care that much about moral issues myself

...I usually find most concerns about morality to be subjective, actually.

Like:  If someone smacks me upside the head everyone is "You must have really said something awful to offend him.  Or, maybe, did something awful to him.  You have to be careful you know.  Always try to be aware of other people's feelings and sensitivities".

But, if I get outraged at something someone says or does and I smack that person upside the head, everyone is "God!!! Did you see THAT? He assaulted that guy!  Someone call the police.  This guy's dangerous!! He's displaying 'violent tendencies'!!  A psychopath!!"

              Studies on alcohol consumption and stroke risk
          Two alcoholic beverages per day:  8% decrease in stroke risk
       Three or more alcoholic beverages per day:  14% increase in stroke risks


                  "Hold it!  I already had two beers.  If I have another one now I'm done for.
                    I'll just have to wait until tomorrow night to have my next one."

Song Analysis: First Of May

If one listens closely to the lyrics of this song one notices the song addresses a long-standing romance between the main character in the song and his one-and-only lover which apparently started in their early childhood.

And I don't mean their young teen years.  More like, maybe, grade school.  Or even before.

That's what makes this song so unique.
Most songs about either "young love" or about romances that start early address "teenage romance".  It's a common belief one doesn't start dwelling on romantic fare or have desires for the opposite sex until "the hormones start kicking in" during periods of particular physical changes and developments.  But most of human desires are as much emotional and psychological as they are about hormones.

This is what gives FIRST OF MAY a degree of credibility and believability.  I can remember, myself, having feelings and urges for attractive girls as far back as first grade.

But popular social prejudices (coupled with a kind of collective amnesia) always dictate that "suddenly, overnight, one's mind suddenly turns to matters of romance and sexuality upon entering adolescence".
And that prior to adolescence one's mind is focused on just the "basics" of the-existential-in-general.

It's good that a song exists that addresses a prepubescent romance, especially one that winds up lasting into and through adulthood.

      (Side note:  Some of those early hits of the Bee Gees were a bit quirky and eccentric)

                         Adage For Today
     You can guess what another might be guilty of by whatever it is they're accusing you of.





                                                     Another site to check out: www.clarissasblog.com
                                                            And, still, another one: www.verydumbgovernment.blogspot.com

                     Is Donald Trump simply a pawn?
I think the U.S. government is about to embark on making a number of radical changes.  The kind of changes that'll affect the lives of a substantial number of its citizens.  And not in a good way.  The kind that can create a lot of collective unrest.

Perhaps ...changes affecting social security? Or ...Medicare?  Medicaid?  Private property rights?  The rights of the disabled?  Regulations on business, industry, the medical professions and government agencies?

Maybe the reason the U.S. government wants a Republican in the White House at this point in time is so when these changes are implemented they have a convenient scapegoat for the average person to pin all the coming atrocities on.

It's no trade secret the Democrats are stereotyped as the party of compassion and concern for the disadvantaged and fringe members of society, and crusaders of the Constitutional rights of the average person.
While Republicans are stereotyped as being more hard-nosed, insensitive, catering to the whims of the financial and business interests, favoring laws and law enforcement over personal rights.

And, since so many adhere to their partisan beliefs so religiously, having these radical changes correspond with the advent of a Republican administration (especially one following a Democratic administration) makes for a perfect red herring, one that obscures the fact that the U.S. already has its agendas mapped out by whatever secret organizations and factions actually control its governmental systems.

Recently read about the passing of guitarist/composer/bandleader Al Caiola (he was 96).

I always liked following up his 1961 instrumental hit THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN with Arthur Conley's 1967 hit SWEET SOUL MUSIC.

                                                 Musing For Today
Are people still "dumpster diving" in this day and age?

I know it was "fashionable" among the homeless sector during the 1980s  (I also remember it was during the 1980s when the term "homeless" was coined to refer to the winos, vagrants, destitute and those who no longer have a place of residence and now have to "join the ranks of" those other three types).

I knew some guys who would dumpster-dive a McDonald's after closing time to recap assorted "surplus" unsold Big Macs and pies to chow down on later on when they returned to their "unofficial" hang-out.
I took a bite out of one of those Big Macs and spit it right out immediately.  Too rank.  Plus, I know not to eat cooked food that's been sitting out in the open for more than a couple of hours (especially meat).  About the risk of botulism that one learns about in Biology class and from working in restaurants.

There seems to be this tendency among people who are despondent and desperate to look for gold and treasures in landfills and sewers as a sort of "last resort".

Donald Trump

who has his own line of clothing, which are all manufactured overseas.

Now, as part of keeping his promise to "Make America Great Again", he'll invariably have to shut down those overseas factories of his and build factories here on these shores so as to be able to "hire only American workers" to make his products.

It's only right that he stays in good with those who supported him.
After all, his promise to "Make America Great Again" meant a return to the glory years of the '60s and '70s.  I figured he meant not only in terms of the social climate but also in terms of prosperity as well.

I mean, it's not like we're expecting the guy to bring back the British Invasion or Psychedelic Rock or Southern Rock or Singer/Songwriter or Concept Rock or Soul/Funk or even Disco.   Nor anti-Vietnam War demonstrations.  (Of course we all know he already "does his own thing"---that part is for sure.)

But without the prosperity aspect of the past periods what's going to be so "great" about a return to an anachronistic America?

Song Analysis: Express Yourself

Charles Wright was a singer/multi-instrumentalist/producer and Mississippi native who led the Los Angeles-based R&B group The Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band.

Their 1970 hit, EXPRESS YOURSELF, yields some interesting lyrics on its two middle-eight verses:


                    It's not what you're doing when you do what you're doing
                It's, when you're doing what you're doing, what you look like you're doing

                                                          and

                    Some people have everything and other people don't
                But "everything" don't mean a thing if it ain't the thing you want


                             Interpreting from street lingo to a more literate form:

How one's actions are perceived by others is not always going to correlate with whatever one's true intentions are when committing said acts.
One's always at the mercy of any preconceived notions or prejudices the other person or persons may have when in their presence, which could lead to misunderstandings or assumptions on their part.

And wealth and material possessions are purely subjective like much of anything else.
There's always "something special" one wants or craves over everything else.  If one has any of those "special" items it pretty much won't matter anymore what else one may or may not have.
You could have all kinds of money and nice things, but if you still don't have that "special" item you crave above all else you'll still be lacking and "wanting more".

                            Just a reminder for the holidays
The post office is no longer delivering.

That's right!
The mail carriers have gotten into the habit of discarding or destroying the mail they haul instead of delivering it.

My guess is that way they can simply cruise around randomly behind the wheel while on the clock and still get paid for their time without going through the hassles of walking on the treacherous bicycle/skateboarder-ridden sidewalks, or of having to go through the trouble of figuring out address numbers or having to read out the street names at every block.

                                                  What this means is:
Don't waste your time and effort sending Christmas cards (especially ones with money) through the mail as there's no longer any guarantee of them arriving at their destinations.

Donald Trump

the inventor of all racism, misogyny and manners of hate-speech reincarnated.

Now that he's to take office on January 20 it'll be a return to the Dark Ages of Jim Crow once again.

Gone will be the last 8 years of unbridled racial harmony utopia we had with our black President, Obama (the ultimate social engineering panacea for the U.S.).

It's not like racism, sexism or xenophobia are merely all-around frailties of humanity, having been around a good 6-million-+ years, or anything like that.  

It's not like such things ever existed in, say, ancient Egypt.  You know, the country that obviously employed contract construction workers to build its pyramids.  They couldn't have used slave labor.  I mean, who could they have enslaved?  Ancient Egypt didn't have a black population at the time.

Also, just think:  If Hillary Clinton had won instead we could have also embarked on a second utopia of also eradicating sexism alongside this momentary eradication of racism and slavery.   A total abolishment of all forms of discrimination.

Instead we get 
                      ...."Trumped"!

                                                   Living Single
                                            and may it stay that way.

I pray I'm never in a position where I would have to take in a roommate or become one myself.

I couldn't handle being forced to compromise or sacrifice.  I've already grown up in an environment like that and have been in  enough situations where it's "the other person's world" and I'm present in it by "default".  If I find myself in that situation again I don't think I'd tolerate it very well this time around.

In fact, I wouldn't put cold-blooded murder past me as people can be extremely invasive and coercive in their quest to dominate and have command over things.

And, even as a single apartment dweller, I already put up with having enough things put upon me by other tenants (especially the "where they live is also their workshop" kind, as well as the "eternal home remodeling" type), the noisy world just outside my window, and dimwitted apartment managers.

Donald Trump

who, during his Presidential campaign, was constantly going off about how "this election is being rigged against me by the corrupt media" ...
...now, as newly President-elect, appoints Steve Bannon---a media mogul---as chief White House Strategist.

O-o-o-o-oh-h-h-h-h, the irony ...

This Trump fella is full of them.

In an offhand way I'm not all that sorry he won the election.  Trump should make ideal fodder for many a comedian in the coming four years.

Although if Clinton won the U.S. would have finally met its quota of "having a female leader".

But I didn't even bother to vote in this election myself.  So kick me in the head ....

                                       Musing For Today   
Life is but a fishing expedition:
We cast our nets into the water always "looking for certain things".

But there are also other fish swimming in the same waters as the ones we're after.
So, in casting our nets in pursuit of salmon and trout, we find---after pulling our nets back in---that we've also snared clams, baby turtles, baby dolphins, baby whales, and a host of other irrelevant and unwanted specimens.  

             2016: The Year The Music Died

Let's see now:  The latest casualties are Leonard Cohen and Leon Russell.

I SWEAR:

I'm figuring even Paul McCartney might have but less than two months to live.

Wouldn't surprise me.

                         Automation (and its mindset)
It's not bad enough they lay people off (contributing to the downfall of the economy), replacing them with machines and computer programs.

It's also that, in order for automation to work, the programming has to be set up in the most perfunctory and formulaic manner.

Which means reliance on algorithm patterns as a sort of make-shift panacea for making self-sufficient operations efficient.

The thing is, reality isn't linear.  It cannot be predetermined or manipulated by simply figuring out the "set patterns" of personal life rituals of individuals or of economic trends or of consumer spending habits or of demands for specific products or of progress in certain areas of medical science---and the like.

Reality is fluid, and regimented algorithm patterns can't anticipate or catch the nuances, unexpected happenstances, or capricious decisions and changes made by any one person or party (either willingly or out of necessity).

They would have any individual person going through their entire life with the same personality, the same interests, the same propensity for engaging in the same behaviors repeatedly.  No "life-changing" situations or revelations resulting in enlightenment, no "change-of-heart" for wrongdoers.  If one has done wrong it automatically means they must be a "deviant" or a "scumbag" of some kind.  Scrub any influences that come down the pike that may make an individual decide to "change course".  Their character and personality has already be "determined" so any said changes would never be "recognized" by the system.

It's like:  If you move the system will take forever to catch up with you.  It's like you're expected to live at the same address and have the same phone number indefinitely.  If you try to inform the system of your new address (or new phone number) it'll just "get confused".  It's like "everyone lives in the same place all their life".  You're "the first person in the history of mankind to ever move and change their address".

So, if tragedy befalls you---say a tornado or fire or earthquake or flood devastates your home or place of residence---you may find your mail in the future being delivered to two addresses:  your current one and your previous one which no longer even exists. 

                                                         Adage For Today
Multitasking is like being a jack-of-all-trades:  You do a little bit of everything and none of them very well.

Song Analysis/CeleBirthdates

Joni Mitchell turned 73 on Monday.
Among the songs she penned:  BOTH SIDES NOW.  A single hit for folk/pop singer Judy Collins in 1968, the song is a commentary on how a lot of the things we're familiar with in life we still don't really fully understand intimately.  How what we do know about anything and anyone is based solely on how they affect us and on the impressions they make on us.  We never bother looking into what the things around us are really all about.


Gordon Lightfoot turns 78 a week from now (the 17th).