Suggestion: A new national anthem for the United States

The national anthem of the United States of America is an awkward tune that tests the limits of our vocal ranges. It is also not a very good song, clunky and lacking a catchy melody, barely lending itself to harmony. Singers at ball games often try to improvise on it, adding a note or two to show off their range. Even so, after singing it perhaps 50,000 times most of us are (or should be) tired of it.

I see that the European Union chose Ludwig von Beethoven’s Ode to Joy, part of the fourth movement of his Ninth Symphony, a very moving piece of music. They added new words as follow:

Europe is united now
United it may remain
Our unity in diversity
May contribute to world peace.
Faith and Justice
And freedom for its people
In a bigger motherland.
Citizens, Europe shall flourish
Golden stars in the sky are
The symbols that shall unite us.

Those are good words, appealing to our higher values with no reference to war or rockets going off.

That in mind, with Europe having set a precedent of sorts by using classical music for an anthem, I thought perhaps I could get a movement going in this country to do the same. See below the tab for my suggested national anthem of the United States of America.

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Postcard from Denver, home of fake events …

I only had to look at this once before thinking “fake, fake, fake.” What do you think? He needed to choose a larger hostage, one big enough to cover both his front and back. He leaves the store thinking the only police are stationed to his right front?

Placement of police car conveniently hides him as he takes his fall.

For those who believe in TV news, video is beneath fold. Proceed with caution.

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This house is clean? Maybe.

I spent my morning going through old posts, and deleted many. At one time I was going to review all of the twins, but finally decided face splitting, while somewhat useful, was not reliable enough to make bold conjectures. More evidence was needed. So on the menu on the left what is left of twins are those in which I am confident I am on to something. Drake, Lindsay Lohan, Rihanna, for instance – we have photos of the two of them together. The others – McCartney, Dr. Phil, Buddy Holly, Joplin – I have worked very hard on them and stand by the work.

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Harry Dean is trying to tell me something

Harry Dean Stanton, venerable character actor, slipped the guards and went on his merry way yesterday. My old man knew him long before he established a name for himself, and allegedly HDS would watch us toddlers from time to time. I have no recollection of those early years but Harry would always bring his guitar, sez the old man, and serenade anyone within earshot. Continue reading “Harry Dean is trying to tell me something” →

11111111111……

IMG_2474As might be readily apparent, we are killing time here before flying back home tomorrow. Yesterday we walked in the wine country on the north shore of Lake Geneva near the town of St. Saphorin. This part of Switzerland is low in elevation (about 1,200 feet) and so supports vineyards and wineries.

I noticed that the official growing season begins after September harvest with pruning and removal of older vines, and that it is traditionally on the feast of St. Martin of Tours, which falls on 11/11, or if the much older calendar is used, 9/11. (“Nova” is nine, so that “making a novena” is attendance at nine masses in a row, as all current and fallen-away Catholics know, including those of us who never did one).

The insertion of January and February caused the last ten months to be pushed back two months (so that the last four, Septa, Octa, Nona and Deca, 7, 8, 9 and 10, became 9, 10, 11 and 12 .) Quintilus (fifth month) and Sextillus (sixth month) were renamed July and August, but this did not cause the two-month pushback.

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Clinging to a shrub?

This is from Tolstoy, according to Colin Wilson in the book The Outsider, citing an Eastern fable:

“… a man clings to a shrub on the side of a pit to escape an enraged beast at the top and a dragon at the bottom. Two mice gnaw at the roots of the shrub. Yet while hanging, waiting for death he notices some drops of honey on the leaves of the shrub, and reaches out and licks them.”

Good lord! I realize that by comparison to many I have had an easy life. At the same time, I have had my share of tragedy, as we all must experience to wake up and grow. Through it all I have come out an optimist. There is meaning in life, and death is either the end of consciousness or a continuation of life in some other form … I cannot know but in either case, it does not scare me. Continue reading “Clinging to a shrub?” →

Fires, glaciers, hurricanes and hype

I have been waiting for our writer Steve Kelly to jump in in on the forest fires that are burning in Montana and other states. Looking at photos, it seems like a conflagration. People get very upset by them, as green forests are turned to char and dust. However, is a natural process. All of the organic matter is recycled. True, it is not pleasant to walk in a ghost forest, but people will be surprised when it is all over how much forest is still standing. The amount of smoke these fires put out is impressive.

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Canadian tourists

In dinner discussions on the Haute Route, people who learned we are Americans gingerly approached the topic of Donald Trump. The most in-depth conversations were with a young and very intelligent German man, and two people from Wales.

What I learned, and to my mild surprise, is that these folks, just like most Americans, take him at face value. They assume he really is the president, that he really was elected, and that all of his antics intended only for effect are quite real. When I suggested to Allan, the man from Wales, that Melania Trump is just a beard, his wife had to explain the meaning of the term to him. It was a delightful exchange. He is an accomplished man with a great sense of humor, educated in one of the best universities. But I find that virtually all people, no matter the baseline intellect and education, are encased in a hard shell of propaganda. The psyops from Trump to Obama the intellectual juris doctor all work on them. They do not question reality as presented by news.

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Musical crap factories

Traveling and hiking in Switzerland there has been one constant: bad music. A few days ago we were waiting on a tram and did not feel we could leave the building and chance missing it. We felt like prisoners in a psychiatric ward undergoing torture. It was loud, and one bad singer after another assaulted our ears, often enough that throaty and emotive teen-something girl pouring out her deep and bitter angst.

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