With or without religion, you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion.
The good life, as I conceive it, is a happy life. I do not mean that if you are good you will be happy - I mean that if you are happy you will be good.
Too much sanity may be madness and the maddest of all, to see life as it is and not as it should be.
I enjoy paying taxes. With them I buy civilization.
April 22, 2003 - 12:21 p.m.
I’m been remiss about updating lately. I just haven’t had the time.
On Sunday I went to the Met-Marlin game. The Mets aren’t every good but the Marlins are perhaps worse. The Mets tried hard to lose the game but the Marlins wouldn’t let them. I’ve rarely seen so many runs scored without a ball leaving the infield. I’d have a good time at the games even if I didn’t like baseball. It’s fun to spend time with Alan and Larry.
Sunday night I went to see Cadence Carroll at Meow Mix. That’s one of the most convenient venues for me to go to, it’s right across the Williamsburg Bridge and it takes me less than twenty minutes to get there if there isn’t any traffic. It was Easter so the drive was a breeze and I found parking right out front. When I got there Cadence was standing out front and I we stood around and talked for a while. I even got a nice hug hello. Brenda Evans the opening act who plays with Cadence was there too. I knew I knew her but I didn’t know from where. I figured out it was from SMAF and Carey confirmed it. When Lisa arrived we went inside. It was a small crowd, I knew almost everyone there and Cadence knew most of the ones I didn’t. It looked to me like there was only one person there who didn’t come specially to see Cadence. Cadence asked for requests from everyone and mine gave her trouble. I asked for what I called The Season Song. It isn’t recorded and I don’t think it has an official title. She asked me where I heard it and I told her the Town Crier. She’s only played it twice. It’s a wonderful song but she has trouble with the lyrics and even more with the guitar part. She got through it without too much trouble. I hope she puts in into her repertoire. It reminds me quite a bit of the lighter side of Joni Mitchell. Cadence was happy to hear that. One person requested “The Sex Song,” which elicited a strange response from someone in the audience. He asked “is that the whale song?” um no it’s the sex song. Does the guy have some sort of whale fetish? She did do the whale song next. After the show we hung around for a bit and I found out that Cady is a Früvous fan. She was at the SONO shows that I went to. I knew I loved her. Can I take her home with me?
After the show and some pizza I drove Lisa home. She sang a song that she had just written that has parts of Carey and me. It’s a scary world where people want me to sing on their songs.
I gave my calculus class a test yesterday and my finite math lass a test today. So far the results aren’t too good. The thing that really gets me is that they don’t even make an effort to make their graphs look good. I pointed out to them that they might never have to draw a graph again in their lives but there is a good chance that at some point they will have to make a presentation and that they way it looks is very important. It didn’t seem to sink it. People do all the things that I tell them specifically not to do. They don’t use rulers, the make the graphs too small, they make the scale too small, and they don’t center it well.
People seem to be losing interest in Iraq just when the most important decisions have to be made. Strangely enough Bush is agreeing with the most anti-American Iraqis and is promising the most disastrous course of action, getting out of Iraq quickly. We had to remain in Germany and Japan for years to set up a working government and they had much more experience in running a civil society. Iraq is in total disarray and has deep ethnic divisions. It isn’t going to be easy to make the country work and we shouldn’t make believe that it will be. If we leave to early and the country falls apart then the war will have been fought for nothing. Instead of providing of setting a model for democracy in the Middle East it will show the dangers of giving up authoritarian rule.
I’ll get off my soapbox now. I’ve been earwormed with Redemption Song today. I was humming it all during the test. Bob Marley held many views that I consider absurd but there are times that he said just the right thing.
Old pirates, yes, they rob I;
Sold I to the merchant ships,
Minutes after they took I
From the bottomless pit.
But my hand was made strong
By the 'and of the Almighty.
We forward in this generation
Triumphantly.
Won't you help to sing
These songs of freedom? -
'Cause all I ever have:
Redemption songs;
Redemption songs.
Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery;
None but ourselves can free our minds.
Have no fear for atomic energy,
'Cause none of them can stop the time.
How long shall they kill our prophets,
While we stand aside and look? Ooh!
Some say it's just a part of it:
We've got to fulfil de book.
Won't you help to sing
These songs of freedom? -
'Cause all I ever have:
Redemption songs;
Redemption songs;
Redemption songs.
Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery;
None but ourselves can free our mind.
Wo! Have no fear for atomic energy,
'Cause none of them-a can-a stop-a the time.
How long shall they kill our prophets,
While we stand aside and look?
Yes, some say it's just a part of it:
We've got to fulfil de book.
Won't you help to sing
Dese songs of freedom? -
'Cause all I ever had:
Redemption songs -
All I ever had:
Redemption songs:
These songs of freedom,
Songs of freedom.
The International Jewish Banking Conspiracy - October 07, 2008
On the Road to Westchester County - October 06, 2008
Inside the Madison Square Studio - October 05, 2008
I'm a Bosniac and I'm debating like I've never debated before - October 03, 2008
Islands in the Stream of Consciousness - October 02, 2008
Email me: GordonLew at gmail
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 License. Horvendile April 22, 2003
