Dirty Blues Sunday #1

“And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music.”
- Friedrich Nietzsche

I had no idea this genre of the Blues existed. I have always loved the Blues. I saw BB King in person from a box near the stage in Madison Square Garden. 

Now, that I know about Dirty Blues, I am going to share some of it with you.

Thomas A. Dorsey

Dirty Blues is about taboo subjects and was played only on jukeboxes. Too dirty for the airwaves. Sex and marijuana?

The Sun is finally shining. I am feeling good. I have to do something until the Bodega opens and I can get some coffee. No one had time to stop at the Reading Terminal Market.

This is Rosetta Howard from Chicago. Singing with Harlem Hamfats. Her songs are still on sale here. In the 1950s she sang with Thomas A. Dorsey at the Pilgrim Baptist Church in Chicago. Both Rosetta Howard and Harlem Hamfats transition between Swing and Blues. Jukebox music. Dancing Music.

78: Decca Sepia Series No.15. Rosetta Howard vocal, accomp. by the Harlem Hamfats

Despite their name, the "Harlem" Hamfats were a Chicago band in the 1930's whose members came from various places; for example, the McCoy brothers hailed from Mississippi, Herb Morand, John Lindsay and Odell Rand were from New Orleans and Horace Malcolm and Freddy Flynn came from Chicago. This is The Weed Smoker's Dream.

Being Neither White Nor Black

CROSS by Langston Hughes

My old man's a white old man
And my old mother's black.
If ever I cursed my white old man
I take my curses back.
If ever I cursed my black old mother
And wished she were in hell,
I'm sorry for that evil wish
And now I wish her well
My old man died in a fine big house.
My ma died in a shack.
I wonder where I'm going to die,
Being neither white nor black? 

 

Sign of the Month - July 2015 - Socialist Snow

Go Bernie!  It's your birthday. Go Bernie!

Burlington Snow written for Bernie Sanders by Allen Ginsberg

Socialist snow on the streets
Socialist talk in the Maverick bookstore
Socialist kids sucking socialist lollipops
Socialist poetry in socialist mouths
—aren’t the birds frozen socialists?
Aren’t the snowclouds blocking the airfield
Social Democratic Appeasement?
Isn’t the socialist sky owned by
the socialist sun?
Earth itself socialist, forests, rivers, lakes
furry mountains, socialist salt
in oceans?
Isn’t this poem socialist? It doesn’t
belong to me anymore.

Undocumented Labor News on Labor Day

During World War II, Mexico joined the Allies to fight against Nazi Germany. The cartoon artist is Lalo Alcaraz.

Contrast and compare with now when the U.S.A. is “led” by its very own homegrown fascist.

Back in the good old days, the U.S. Office of Inter-American Affairs produced and released the propaganda flick Mexican Moods praising our new Amigos south of the border, the place where cheeto boy wants to build his wall.

Meanwhile, success for the Taco Master brings on the woes and triumphs of Capitalism and Small Businesses everywhere.

Last but not least, a box of strawberries is going to cost the earth now. Read more about migrant farm workers here. Mexicans have better things to do now at home. 

Melania is a Doll

I mostly ignored former First Lady Melania Trump. I see no reason to be interested in her much less criticize her. I have seen her nude pictures and I do not mind. There are a few of my nude pictures somewhere in netland. I think maybe Melania has a hard row to hoe. Yes, that is a pun and I committed it. 

I am researching White House holiday decorations over the years. The photograph is her twitter-posted Xmas card selfie. My still small voice said "She is a Japanese Comfort Doll."

I used my magic google finger and searched Japanese comfort doll. Whoa Josephine! I do not know what to think about any of this. I will just show you some photographs. The perfect woman is always willing. Silence optional.

Zheng Jiajia, a 31-year-old artificial intelligence expert in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, created a robot which could eventually become his “lifelong partner,” South China Morning Post reported, citing Qianjiang Evening News. Read more...

This man loves his doll so much he got two more of them. Them? 

“Whatever problems I have, Mayu is always there waiting for me. I love her to bits and want to be with her forever. I can’t imagine going back to a human being. I want to be buried with her and take her to heaven.” Read more about doll love...

Hen & Chicks

Hen and Chicks is a Succulent. A succulent, is any plant with thick fleshy tissues adapted to water storage. I have discovered where one can learn about Succulents in Philadelphia.

The Philadelphia Cactus and Succulent Society was founded in 1942 to exchange knowledge of and experience with succulents among its members. Membership is open to anyone with an interest in growing and learning more about succulents. There are more than 100 members at all levels of expertise - beginners and experts, collectors and growers.

Gardening is a lot of work. I am a lazy gardener. I like plants that are easy to grow, good to look at and fill odd spots in the garden that would be otherwise filled with pesky weeds.

Hen and Chicks meets all my qualifications. This link directs you to a Succulent Lover's gorgeous blog. I have fallen in mad love with succulent plants. 

https://su-su-su-succulents.tumblr.com/tagged/creative%20planters

This plant will grow in partial shade and not much soil - both good qualities in a city garden or on a sunny window sill in Winter. Hen and Chicks produces flowers when the Hen reaches maturity. 

Donald is The Shyte - Magic Google Finger

Use a picture. It's worth a thousand words.
Arthur Brisbane

I am feeling angry today. I need to find something to do instead of pop bubble wrap. So PLUNK! my MAGIC GOOGLE FINGER (TRUMP SHIT).

Man is the Great Ape. Some Apes fling POO.

I always make attribution of the Artist's work if I can find it.  Often the creator is Anon Y. Mous. Always sign your work, Artists. Always.

Cartoons by Dave Lynch

by HANKSY

Time for a Break in the Day's Hostilities

Time for some healing quiet. I love this video. Meditation works if you work it. Try it; you will like it.

My best advice: if this way does not work for you, there are other techniques. Try the Practice of the Presence of God. Or Vernon Howard's books. Or read Wild Geese by Mary Oliver.

Art is a way to meditate. The feeling you get when you read Wild Geese is satori. Adepts experience satori not for a moment or two but all the time. It is called Paradise. Most of the rest of us do not have the stamina for it.

Wild Geese

You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting-
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.

- Mary Oliver