The Nature of Things

Got a minute? Well, actually, about fourteen minutes. If so, here is a crash course in the founding of the United States of America and the origins of Thanksgiving. Spoiler alert: It's not the version that Texas school children will be reading about in their new social studies textbooks. Moses doesn't bring the Constitution down, fully written, from Mt. Sinai. 

These are college students in Texas, USA. This is just sad. I'm speechless. Really...just speechless.

I've had this song rattling around in my brain for the last couple of weeks, so it's time to get it out! Maybe if I share it with you as my poem of the week... It's an old Jimmy Webb song that was very popular back in the day. That day was the late '70s, early '80s. It was recorded by a number of artists, including Webb himself in 1977, but the most popular cover of it was probably that done by Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, and Kris Kristofferson in 1984. It's an unusual lyric about reincarnation - not a subject that is often written about in a pop lyric - but for those of us who believe that nothing is ever really destroyed but only changed, matter into energy or energy into matter, it is very meaningful.      Highwayman       by Jimmy Webb I was a highwayman. Along the coach roads I did ride With sword and pistol by my side Many a young maid lost her baubles to my trade Many a soldier shed his lifeblood on my blade The bastards hung me in t...

Ah, you've been so good this week, you deserve a treat. How about a mashup of a popular song and a popular TV show? It's really pretty much on point. I'm sure you remember the song from the movie "Frozen" that won the Oscar for best original song in a movie from 2013. That's right - "Let it go." And even if you don't watch it on HBO or read George R.R. Martin's books, you are probably at least aware of "Game of Thrones." So, how about we put them together and come up with a new winner? WARNING  - If you haven't watched season four through the third episode or if you haven't read The Song of Ice and Fire through book three: There be spoilers here!

We're going into the Labor Day weekend after a week of hot air filled with blatant lies swirling around Tampa. Hurricane Isaac may have done a lot of damage in Mississippi and Louisiana, but Hurricane Romney/Ryan has certainly done more damage to our body politic. Not to mention the truth. Oh, well, let's forget all of that for the moment. We need something to make us smile. And here it is. If this doesn't make your edges of your lips twitch upward, there's probably no hope for you. Happy Labor Day weekend! Be safe.