"Gauguin at the Tate" - Tour with art critic Alastair Sooke

"Gauguin at the Tate"
--------------
Tour with art critic Alastair Sooke

source: Telegraph.co.uk 

"A Little Less Conversation" - by Elvis Presley

 
Elvis Presley (1935-1977)
------------------
"A Little Less Conversation"

A little less conversation, a little more action please
All this aggravation ain't satisfactioning me
A little more bite and a little less bark
A little less fight and a little more spark
Close your mouth and open up your heart and baby satisfy me
Satisfy me baby.

Baby close your eyes and listen to the music
Drifting through a summer breeze
Its a groovy night and I can show you how to use it
Come along with me and put your mind at ease

A little less conversation, a little more action please
All this aggravation ain't satisfactioning me
A little more bite and a little less bark
A little less fight and a little more spark
Close your mouth and open up your heart and baby satisfy me
Satisfy me baby.

Come on baby Im tired of talking
Grab your coat and lets start walking
Come on, come on
Come on, come on
Come on, come on
Don't procrastinate, don't articulate
Girl its getting late, gettin' upset waitin' around

A little less conversation, a little more action please
All this aggravation ain't satisfactioning me
A little more bite and a little less bark
A little less fight and a little more spark
Close your mouth and open up your heart and baby satisfy me
Satisfy me.

Come on baby I'm tired of talking
Grab your coat and lets start walking
Come on, come on
Come on, come on
Come on, come on
Don't procrastinate, don't articulate
Girl its getting late, gettin' upset waitin' around

A little less conversation, a little more action please
All this aggravation ain't satisfactioning me
A little more bite and a little less bark
A little less fight and a little more spark
Close your mouth and open up your heart and baby satisfy me
Satisfy me.   

"Incivility" in the U.S.A. - by TPO (aka J J Sefton)

Incivility in the U.S.A
------------
by TPO (aka J J Sefton)

In Response to Gordon Stewart's article in MinnPost
(http://www.minnpost.com/community_voices/2010/09/21/21600)...

Thank you, Rev. Stewart, for this refreshing, thoughtful, and timely assessment of the times we are living in. I am sorry I was not aboard as soon as you posted it, and I apologize for the slight delay in my response. But perhaps this is not a bad thing altogether. I think that maybe, for me, it is better that I haven't rushed in to post my two-cent worth of comments (reactions.)

Let me venture now to give the points you brought up the gravitas they deserve. I promise not be flippant, and not to show my colors (my party affiliation or political persuasion.) But, I will confess my heroes are Sinclair Lewis and George Orwell.

So to begin .... Civility, that precious social virtue, seems to be a thing of the past in this country, unfortunately. The media have cynically opted for the low road, which apparently they have also found to be profitable. The big icons of the day are the shock jocks and the false prophets whose ravings and rantings are greedily and invisibly slurped up by many people. Shame is thrown out the window, and any sensible approach to problems or issues of the day are dismissed as naive, or high-brow elitism. For example, you mention the word "race", and you are immediately and preemptively labeled a "racist" for even bringing it up.

Another issue to which you have alluded and that I find does not get addressed enough is: Ignorance.

And today, ignorance combined with anger has given birth to the latest developments in the political arena. I am not very sure about their lasting power or even if they would amount to anything huge. But of one thing I am sure: they appeal more to an individual's selfish (almost greedy) instincts than to feelings for the community and the nation as a whole. To be sure, all kindly sentiments one may have for others would be labeled socialist, communist, or some such nonsense.

To conclude, I will leave you with this thought. Where, oh where, is our sense of humor these days? The other day, right here on MinnPost, I was joshing a regular commenter who happens to be present on this page. We were both at another posting; and I was mocking myself, using his favorite catch-phrases in a satirical fashion, to get my point across. Lo and behold, another commenter took serious exception to that and started to get more than personal in his response. Very sad. So much anger, so much ignorance, and so little patience and understanding for our fellow citizens.

Thank you again, Reverend. And maybe, sometime, I may take you up on that chat over a cup of coffee!

"In Your Eyes" - Jeffrey Gaines

Jeffrey Gaines
-------------

 "In Your Eyes"
-----------  Love I get so lost, sometimes  Days pass and this emptiness fills my heart  When I want to run away  I drive off in my car  But whichever way I go  I come back to the place you are     All my instincts, they return  And the grand facade, so soon will burn  Without a noise, without my pride  I reach out from the inside    In your eyes  The light, the heat  In your eyes  I am complete  In your eyes  I see the doorway to a thousand churches  In your eyes  The resolution of all the fruitless searches  In your eyes  I see the light and the heat  In your eyes  Oh, I want to be that complete  I want to touch the light  The heat I see in your eyes     Love, I don't like to see so much pain  So much wasted and this moment keeps slipping away  I get so tired of working so hard for our survival  I look to the time with you to keep me awake and alive    And all my instincts, they return  And the grand facade, so soon will burn  Without a noise, without my pride  I reach out from the inside    In your eyes  The light, the heat  In your eyes  I am complete  In your eyes  I see the doorway to a thousand churches  In your eyes  The resolution of all the fruitless searches  In your eyes  I see the light and the heat  In your eyes  Oh, I want to be that complete  I want to touch the light  The heat I see in your eyes  In your eyes, in your eyes  In your eyes, in your eyes  In your eyes, in your eyes  

Thoughts on Fall - by TPO (aka J.J. Sefton)

Thoughts on Fall
------
by TPO (aka J J Sefton)

The following is in response to Jane Ahlin's, "The beauty of fall: It can be savored, but not saved." ....

Thank you, Ms. Ahlin.

It is very true, Fall does indeed bring out the romantic, the philosophical, and the spiritual in all of us.

Often, Fall evokes sadness, wistfulness, or tearful exhilaration. And "Nature" reflects to us what our lives have been about. This is a time of self-evaluation, a kind of urgent audit at a critical stage when we still may have some control on our lives.

Have we loved, and have we loved right? Have we appreciated enough the gifts of life and love? Have we given back in at least the same measure as we've received?

And those "cattails" ... oh, those cattails ... they evoke images of empty nests, parents letting their children go out into the world. Transition time, or the baton hand-off. Poof, and they are gone!

Fall is a time of fulfillment, a glad time actually if your life has meant something to you or others. If not, then Fall is still a time of hope, of a chance for redemption. Fall is a hurry-up time, a time of preparation before Winter sets in and finality (death) is at the door.

It is good that "Thanksgiving Day" happens to fall in the Fall. But why did they have to put it all the way out at the end of November?! 

 

 

 

 

 

"High Noon" - by Tex Ritter

Tex Ritter (1905-1974)   "High Noon" (1952) (Starring: Gary Cooper and Grace Kelly)  --------------- Do not forsake me, oh my darlin'
On this, our weddin' day
Do not forsake me, oh my darlin'.

Wait,
Wait along.

A noon day train
Will bring Frank Miller
If I'm a man I must be brave
And I must face a man who hates me
Or lie a coward, a craven coward
Or lie a coward in my grave.

Oh, to be torn 'twixt love and duty
S'posin' I lose my fair-haired beauty
Look at that big hand move along
Nearin' high noon.

He made a vow while in state's prison
Vowed it would be my life or his'n
I'm not afraid of death but oh
What will I do if you leave me?

Do not forsake me, oh my darlin'
You made that promise when we wed
Do not forsake me, oh my darlin'
Although you're grievin', I won't be leavin'
Until I shoot Frank Miller dead.

Wait along, (wait along, wait along)
Wait along, (wait along, wait along)
Wait along,
Wait along.    

TPO a.k.a. J J Sefton Strikes Again!

Today, the article in MinnPost about Steele's "Fire Pelosi" bus enticed TPO (as J J Sefton) to respond ....

<< So, here's a scenario for you ...

Steele's "Fire Pelosi" bus is headed west, fast and furious, on a mission of salvation and revival. Simultaneously, another similar vehicle, the Tea Party's "Fire Steele" bus, is coming east with the pedal to the metal.

Somewhere on the turnpike in Missouri, the two buses go out of control, cross into the median, and careen into each other. Witnesses of this horrific collision later tell the media that they'd never seen anything like it before. But one particular witness, a grizzly veteran of WWII, said it reminded him of the Battle of Midway ... ships blowing up in great blaze of glory.

Fox News immediately assembled a team of conspiracy theorists and regular, steamed pundits to run a program tentatively titled: "Restoring Truth: What Really Happened To Our Buses?" >>

FireBird - Igor Stravinsky (1965)

Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971)