bronxlou

10:37 pm: A really funny sign
I was walking down a street in Manhattan and saw a sign on what had to be a bar and/or restaurant, "Perdition is closed for Easter Sunday. We are sorry for the inconvenience."
Perdition means eternal damnation or hell. What I loved about it is that I'm sure it was completely unconscous.

05:59 pm: Rachel Rosses and her cd Rated R
Rachel is an engaging woman I know. She has put out a fine CD. What I like about it is her strong voice and her excellent guitar work. Right now I'm am listening To Blue-eyed Blonde-haired which is my favorite. Though that might change when I listen again.

It is available rachelalexandra.com

10:45 pm: Weird experience
I've had an experience lately that has really affected how I view myself. A few months ago a woman from a summer Shakespeare group I'm in said to me, "Lou, you are so practical minded." A few weeks ago I was at a meeting of the BDSM group I belong to (maybe I just outed myself to someone) and someone made a remark about how I might make some practical suggestion. The thing is that I've always thought of myself as an abstract intellectual.

12:50 am: The Song Taps
The Glorious Fourth having just past I thought this would be appropriate.

Few people know the song "Tap" played by bugle at military funerals and

in military bases at nightfall has words. The weird thing about it is

literally a lulaby but for soldiers not babies.



This is from the Marine Corp Band Site, http://www.lyricskeeper.com/usa_marine_corps_band-lyrics/204720-taps-lyrics.htm


Day is done
Gone the sun
From the lakes
From the hills
From the sky All is well,
safely rest.
God is nigh.
Fading light Dims the sight
And a star Gems the sky,
Gleaning bright From afar,
Drawing nigh,
Falls the night.
Thanks and praise,
For our days,
Neath the sun,
Neath the stars,
Neath the sky,
As we go,
This we know,
God is nigh

Nigh means near

10:19 pm: Some of my favorite films
The Godfather I and II. Try to find the version where the two films are interrated into one.

The Search This take place in Germany after WWII and is about the efforts of a mother and son to reunite, meanwhile the boy is bonding with an American.

Birth of a Nation I know, it is as racist as they say, but it is still a great film.

Foreign Affair Marlene Dietrich and Robert Lund are great in this film.

Metropolis Perhaps the greatest of Science Fiction films.

2000, a Space Oddessy, although you have to read the book to understand it.

Samurai Rebellion is about an embittered, humiliated man who has finally had enough.

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington I love Jean Arthur and Jimmy Stewart is really good, but Claude Rains is incredable.

BTW I am reading The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huck Finn for the first since I was a kid and both are really good.

08:53 am: Stupid Test
I thought i thought a would do better then this, but it would be stupid to worry.

04:17 am: A great holliday experience and a book reccemendation
Today I was, as is my wont, I was sitting in my local Doncin' Donuts. The place is run by a group of Indians and four members of a nominally muslim west African family. The Africans call their boss "dada," which means father and "kaka," which means uncle. I laugh inside myself whenever I hear it.

I am good friends with one of the Africans, Fatima. Today, she with one of the Indians, whose name I forget was putting up the Christmas tree. It was sweet not only because neither one of them had participated in Christmas traditions before but because they were standing there trying to remember how to decorate it and I was able to give them some good advice. Tomorrow, I am going to buy them some tinsel and a star for the top and maybe a Hannakah tree.


The book is The Brief History of the Dead, by Kevin Brockmeier, published by Pantheon.

It begins with two stories which eventually merge into one. One is a adventure story of a woman who is trying to survive in Antarctica. The other is about a place the dead go, though only as long as they are remembered. As part of these subplots a terrible plague hitting the world. The characters are effectively drawn, they seem like people we might meet or be. The dead have the same existential problems we do. They wonder how they came to be there and if they will go anywhere after they "die." What I will remember the most is that I really like the personality of Laura the woman fighting to live.

By the way I have the television going on behind me. There was a news story about some scientists in China who had a problem; two porpoises had consumed plastic objects that indangered their lives. So they brought in a "specialist;" they asked the tallest man in the world to reach inside them with his three foot arms to remove the things.

04:10 am: A great book
Suite Francaise by Irene Nemerovsky

This is a great book by a woman who was actually living through the great events she describes. She was born in what was then called The Ukraine in 1919. She moved to France with her family and had a successful career as a novelist. Her, her husband and her children had to live through the fall of France, and occupation by the Nazis even thought they were Jewish by blood. Unfortunately, she and her spouse died at Auschwitz but her daughters survived.

What was not realized until the 90's when her daughter went through hers papers was that she was writing a novel of the events she was living through though she didn't even know the results of the war. Ms. Nemerovsky projected a five section book but only completed the first two sections, about the German invasion and the fleeing of refuges, and and the occupation of a small village.

What I like about it is that she is good at about action and also how the characters think and feel. She's really good at conveying the viewpoints of everyone the ways they struggle to survive and deal with a terrible disaster.

Also she has a great writing style.

06:38 am: Is Nancy Pelosi holding a whip?
Is this a picture of Nancy Pelosi the House Minority Leader and Speaker
presumptive if the Democrats win, holding a whip? http://www.drudgereport.com/ I seem to remember that she once held the post of "Democratic Whip," which meant that she worked to ensure that her party members voted the way the leadership wanted. That title carries on a tradition established by our cousins across the water.

By the way, she would make history as the first woman to lead a branch of the American government.

03:13 am: To Everyone reading this:

Since you are on my "friends list", I would like to know 28 things about you. I don't care if we've never talked, never liked each other, or if we already know everything about each other. I really don't. You are obviously on my list, so let me know with whom I am friends!

Your Middle Name:

Age:

Single or Taken:

Favorite Movies:

Favorite Songs:

Favorite Bands/Artists:

Dirty or Clean:

Tattoos and/or Piercings:

Do we know each other outside of LJ?

What's your philosophy on life?

Would you have my back in a fight?

Would you keep a secret from me if you thought it was in my best interest?

What is your favorite memory of us?

Would you give me a kidney?

Tell me one odd/interesting fact about you:

Would you take care of me when I'm sick?

Can we get together and make a cake?

Have you heard any rumors of me lately?

Do you/have you talk(ed) crap about me?

Do you think I'm a good person?

Would you drive across country with me?

Do you think I'm attractive?

If you could change anything about me, would you?

What do you wear to sleep?

Would you come over for no reason just to hang out?

Would you go on a date with me if I asked you?

If I only had one day to live, what would we do together?

Will you repost this so I can fill it out for you?

1 comment | Leave a comment
divalano @ 03:39 pm: Massive Attack
Rocks! Excellent show last night :D

05:51 pm: Weird coincidence
Talk about a weird coincidence; my kitchen light is out because when I went the unscrew a dead lightbulb the screw thing didn't unscrew but the lower part of the light did and since I am afraid of hights I to wait for someone to come over to help. Then the bathroom lightswitch broke. So I have to wait till tomorrow to get it all fixed.

04:23 pm: Meeting
If you read this, if your eyes are passing over this right now, even if we don't speak often, please post a comment with a memory of you and I. It can be anything you want- good or bad. When you're finished, post this little paragraph on your blog and be surprised (or mortified) about what people remember about you.