We need to attend. First of all, read Bob Hill's outstanding article about him. This is a continuation of the theme recommended by WmJ as he has discussed the wonderful book The Omnivore's Dilemmawith us. Then check out the information about the author's upcoming visit to Louisville here
We really need to go to hear this guy!
Monday, December 31, 2007
Friday, December 21, 2007
They are called ConnectKentucky and they should be ashamed
This is a subject I first addressed a few weeks ago but it continues to deserve our attention. The background is that this organization, whose members are generally the big, rich, telephone companies and privately owned cable companies, ConnectKentucky, is hanging around our state legislature looking to siphon off our tax revenues for their own selfish purposes. They have been quite successful at this in the past. During the last couple of legislative sessions they have already been successful in getting millions of our tax dollars by claiming that they have a magic potion that results in more broadband facilities being built for the people of Kentucky.
Of course, the truth is that their members are having to build more broadband facilities (at a snail's pace) due to the fear of losing customers to more fleet-footed competitors. These competitors, like the Glasgow EPB, are never as wealthy or well financed as the members of ConnectKentucky, but, curiously, they have always been able to raise their own capital and purchase their own hardware without asking the State to fund them. This is not the case for the ConnectKentucky folks. They feel that the likes of AT&T, Windstream, and others similar poor and downtrodden telecommunications companies should get money from the Kentucky Revenue Cabinet to help them do what they have been responsible for doing for decades.
Would you not be ashamed to lobby the Kentucky Legislature for additional funding for already wealthy companies when the finances of our Commonwealth are already so dire? That is not my word, those are the words of our new Governor as expressed on the front page of today's Courier Journal. Normal folks would be ashamed, but ConnectKentucky is not. During the holidays if you should happen to run across one of our legislators, let them know that you are watching them and ConnectKentucky and that the bill they are trying to sneak through in the next legislative session must die as well as ALL future funding for this cabal.
Of course, this sort of attempt to further enrich the already rich is not new and it was not invented by ConnectKentucky. Rather, this is a continuation of the river of greed that cuts so deeply through the landscape of our republic. More than a century ago, Orestes A. Brownson wrote in The American Republic, "The men of wealth, the business men, manufacturers and merchants, bankers and brokers, are the men who exert the worst influence on government in every country. . . . They act on the beautiful maxim, 'Let the government take care of the rich, and the rich will take care of the poor', instead of the far safer maxim, 'Let government take care of the weak, the strong can take care of themselves.'" Are these words not still true today. Are we going to do anything to make sure our elected officials recognize this truth?
So I make this simple suggestion, let's make the safe assumption that the members of ConnectKentucky are the strong, and they should get the heck out of our state legislature and get busy taking care of themselves. Let's drive this message home whenever and wherever we can.
Of course, the truth is that their members are having to build more broadband facilities (at a snail's pace) due to the fear of losing customers to more fleet-footed competitors. These competitors, like the Glasgow EPB, are never as wealthy or well financed as the members of ConnectKentucky, but, curiously, they have always been able to raise their own capital and purchase their own hardware without asking the State to fund them. This is not the case for the ConnectKentucky folks. They feel that the likes of AT&T, Windstream, and others similar poor and downtrodden telecommunications companies should get money from the Kentucky Revenue Cabinet to help them do what they have been responsible for doing for decades.
Would you not be ashamed to lobby the Kentucky Legislature for additional funding for already wealthy companies when the finances of our Commonwealth are already so dire? That is not my word, those are the words of our new Governor as expressed on the front page of today's Courier Journal. Normal folks would be ashamed, but ConnectKentucky is not. During the holidays if you should happen to run across one of our legislators, let them know that you are watching them and ConnectKentucky and that the bill they are trying to sneak through in the next legislative session must die as well as ALL future funding for this cabal.
Of course, this sort of attempt to further enrich the already rich is not new and it was not invented by ConnectKentucky. Rather, this is a continuation of the river of greed that cuts so deeply through the landscape of our republic. More than a century ago, Orestes A. Brownson wrote in The American Republic, "The men of wealth, the business men, manufacturers and merchants, bankers and brokers, are the men who exert the worst influence on government in every country. . . . They act on the beautiful maxim, 'Let the government take care of the rich, and the rich will take care of the poor', instead of the far safer maxim, 'Let government take care of the weak, the strong can take care of themselves.'" Are these words not still true today. Are we going to do anything to make sure our elected officials recognize this truth?
So I make this simple suggestion, let's make the safe assumption that the members of ConnectKentucky are the strong, and they should get the heck out of our state legislature and get busy taking care of themselves. Let's drive this message home whenever and wherever we can.
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Now this Young Lady has Something to Say
Wm J got us all interested in Michael Pollan and his book The Omnivore's Dilemma. Now he has another one coming out at the first of the year In Defense of Food
and we should all read that one too. This blog also has a lot to say about what we are eating and how we are eating it. Check it out! Click here
and we should all read that one too. This blog also has a lot to say about what we are eating and how we are eating it. Check it out! Click here
Friday, December 14, 2007
Good Grief...
Ah, he is one of our Senators...are you proud?
Act now to prevent leaders from rewriting their own history
By Charles Davis
SPJ FOI Committee
If your holiday shopping this season finds you in a bookstore, take a moment and do me a favor.
Ask for the section on presidential history, and go take a peek. I’ll hazard a guess you’ll find literally hundreds of works of presidential history, from the scholarly tomes with hundreds of footnotes to the downright sill works on presidential pets.
Now, take a moment and imagine it’s 2033, and you’re looking for a nice downloadable e-book history of the Clinton or Bush presidency.
What you find is truly disappointing: they look and feel like history, but sit down and read one for a moment, and the experience is wholly unsatisfying. Where is the background, the context provided by all of those once-classified memos detailing the West Wing intrigue that makes history truly come to life. Instead, we get the learned best guesses of the nation’s finest historians working without their tools: the primary documents that make history, well, history.
Sounds like a nightmare, eh? It’s reality, for the moment, and it will rob us of our nation’s historical record unless We The People wake up and do something about it.
A bit of history we do know: In November 2001, just as the National Archives was preparing to release a small portion of the records of the Reagan administration, President George W. Bush issued Executive Order 13233. The order gives former presidents and their assignees the right to prevent the release of presidential papers — forever. It also allows a sitting president to block the release of a former president's records, even after that former president has signaled his approval. It requires that those who challenge the action of either a former president or the sitting president seek redress in court.
Historians, most of Congress and Americans who know that our history begets our future, howled in protest, and our elected representatives slowly but surely swung into action. The House passed The Presidential Records Act Amendments of 2007 (H.R. 1255/S. 886) by a veto-proof margin (333-93) with 104 Republicans breaking ranks with the Administration.
The bill would nullify the Bush executive order and re-establish procedures to ensure the timely release of presidential records that the Presidential Records Act was designed to ensure. The bill also has broad bipartisan support in the Senate, and cleared the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee by voice vote earlier this year.
We were well on our way to reclaiming our history, when on September 24, 2007, Senator Jim Bunning (R-Ky.) objected to floor consideration of H.R. 1255/S. 886 under unanimous consent, holding up a vote on the bill. Despite repeated requests from a host of historical, news media and open government organizations, Senator Bunning has refused to state the reasons for his opposition to the bill. Recently, the White House reiterated its threat to veto the bill should it pass Congress.
For the second time this year, a lone senator has acted in the least democratic way possible to commit an act of legislative hostage taking. You may recall Sen. Kyl’s secret hold on meaningful reforms to the federal Freedom of Information Act. Sen. Kyl, to his credit, ultimately chose to voice his objections and work to address them. No such luck with Sen. Bunning, who prefers his lawmaking be done in silence. The World’s Greatest Deliberative Body is neither great nor terribly deliberative in this instance.
When the history this sad spectacle is written, it will note that the Presidential Records Act gutted by the president and aided and abetted by the callous silence of Sen. Bunning comes with a rather remarkable history of its own.
It’s worth remembering that the Presidential Records Act of 1978 emerged from the tattered remnants of the Nixon presidency, in direct reaction to another presidential power grab. It’s a remarkably straightforward piece of legislation: Under the law, the U.S. government asserts complete "ownership, possession, and control" of all Presidential and Vice-Presidential records. Upon conclusion of the President's term in office, the National Archivist is required to assume custody of the records, and to make them available to the public when permissible under the PRA. Access to the records can be denied after the end of the 12-year embargo only if a former or incumbent president claims an exemption based on a "constitutionally based" executive privilege or continuing national security concern.
It’s simple, really: the Bush administration wants to write its own history. Future presidents, Republican or Democrat, will find that sort of control downright intoxicating. If this Executive Order is not overturned by Congress it will allow any president, their heirs, and — for the first time — the vice president and heirs, to deny the American people access to the full historical record of all future administrations.
And that is guaranteed to produce some tired pickings at your local bookstore in the near future.
Charles N. Davis, a member of SPJ’s Freedom of Information Committee, serves as the executive director of the National Freedom of Information Coalition at the University of Missouri School of Journalism.
Act now to prevent leaders from rewriting their own history
By Charles Davis
SPJ FOI Committee
If your holiday shopping this season finds you in a bookstore, take a moment and do me a favor.
Ask for the section on presidential history, and go take a peek. I’ll hazard a guess you’ll find literally hundreds of works of presidential history, from the scholarly tomes with hundreds of footnotes to the downright sill works on presidential pets.
Now, take a moment and imagine it’s 2033, and you’re looking for a nice downloadable e-book history of the Clinton or Bush presidency.
What you find is truly disappointing: they look and feel like history, but sit down and read one for a moment, and the experience is wholly unsatisfying. Where is the background, the context provided by all of those once-classified memos detailing the West Wing intrigue that makes history truly come to life. Instead, we get the learned best guesses of the nation’s finest historians working without their tools: the primary documents that make history, well, history.
Sounds like a nightmare, eh? It’s reality, for the moment, and it will rob us of our nation’s historical record unless We The People wake up and do something about it.
A bit of history we do know: In November 2001, just as the National Archives was preparing to release a small portion of the records of the Reagan administration, President George W. Bush issued Executive Order 13233. The order gives former presidents and their assignees the right to prevent the release of presidential papers — forever. It also allows a sitting president to block the release of a former president's records, even after that former president has signaled his approval. It requires that those who challenge the action of either a former president or the sitting president seek redress in court.
Historians, most of Congress and Americans who know that our history begets our future, howled in protest, and our elected representatives slowly but surely swung into action. The House passed The Presidential Records Act Amendments of 2007 (H.R. 1255/S. 886) by a veto-proof margin (333-93) with 104 Republicans breaking ranks with the Administration.
The bill would nullify the Bush executive order and re-establish procedures to ensure the timely release of presidential records that the Presidential Records Act was designed to ensure. The bill also has broad bipartisan support in the Senate, and cleared the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee by voice vote earlier this year.
We were well on our way to reclaiming our history, when on September 24, 2007, Senator Jim Bunning (R-Ky.) objected to floor consideration of H.R. 1255/S. 886 under unanimous consent, holding up a vote on the bill. Despite repeated requests from a host of historical, news media and open government organizations, Senator Bunning has refused to state the reasons for his opposition to the bill. Recently, the White House reiterated its threat to veto the bill should it pass Congress.
For the second time this year, a lone senator has acted in the least democratic way possible to commit an act of legislative hostage taking. You may recall Sen. Kyl’s secret hold on meaningful reforms to the federal Freedom of Information Act. Sen. Kyl, to his credit, ultimately chose to voice his objections and work to address them. No such luck with Sen. Bunning, who prefers his lawmaking be done in silence. The World’s Greatest Deliberative Body is neither great nor terribly deliberative in this instance.
When the history this sad spectacle is written, it will note that the Presidential Records Act gutted by the president and aided and abetted by the callous silence of Sen. Bunning comes with a rather remarkable history of its own.
It’s worth remembering that the Presidential Records Act of 1978 emerged from the tattered remnants of the Nixon presidency, in direct reaction to another presidential power grab. It’s a remarkably straightforward piece of legislation: Under the law, the U.S. government asserts complete "ownership, possession, and control" of all Presidential and Vice-Presidential records. Upon conclusion of the President's term in office, the National Archivist is required to assume custody of the records, and to make them available to the public when permissible under the PRA. Access to the records can be denied after the end of the 12-year embargo only if a former or incumbent president claims an exemption based on a "constitutionally based" executive privilege or continuing national security concern.
It’s simple, really: the Bush administration wants to write its own history. Future presidents, Republican or Democrat, will find that sort of control downright intoxicating. If this Executive Order is not overturned by Congress it will allow any president, their heirs, and — for the first time — the vice president and heirs, to deny the American people access to the full historical record of all future administrations.
And that is guaranteed to produce some tired pickings at your local bookstore in the near future.
Charles N. Davis, a member of SPJ’s Freedom of Information Committee, serves as the executive director of the National Freedom of Information Coalition at the University of Missouri School of Journalism.
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Washington is so beautiful at Christmas...
Beautiful that is if you are one of our Congressmen or Senators being treated by your favorite lobbyist! If you didn't see this story on ABC tonight, take a look and prepare to be, ummmm...disturbed.
http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2007/12/its-a-holly-jol.html
http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2007/12/its-a-holly-jol.html
Monday, December 10, 2007
Breakfast Club Becomes Tradition
We had another great meeting of The Immaculate Cast Society at breakfast on Sunday. It was the first time WmJ had missed, but that gave us a wonderful opportunity to talk about him. What an interesting subject! We needed someone new since Marvin has yet to attend and we have pretty well worn that subject out. We also got a tour of the new palatial estate being constructed for the Craddock's and we all came home with souvenir mud samples from the site. It is going to be one nice home and we all agreed that it needs to be filled with rustic decor items from the O'Koon shop.
I figure nearly all of the members of our society already subscribe to the newsletters from Unicoi Outfitters and have likely already read this most recent one, but it is so good I felt like posting it here anyway. We all know how special the north Georgia area is and how great the Unicoi gang is as well. Seems they have lost one of their crew and Jimmy Harris does one of the best jobs of eulogizing him I have ever seen. Here it is:
The following is not "shop newsletter" material, but rather some personal thoughts I want to share with you. Jimmy Harris
In this season of love, giving and receiving, I want to ask each and every one of you to take time to reflect on the place each of these words occupy in your life. As we have all heard, there is a season for all things and that is certainly true for these: love, giving, receiving. Our challenge is to make the most of these seasons in our lives and, hopefully, cultivate them to where they become an integral part of who we are. Some of you may be blessed to the point that the mere mention of your name invites images of these traits. Would that we may all be this fortunate.
Yesterday, Saturday the 8th of December, I attended one of the most amazing events of love, giving and receiving that I have ever witnessed. What had begun as a luncheon among friends to express their appreciation to Tom Landreth grew into something no one had expected. Tom was battling cancer again and this time it was back with no regard for the doctors or their treatments. It was doing its best to dim the light that had beamed so brightly over north Georgia trout fishing and the art community. The luncheon had been planned for several weeks and was anticipated with both joyfulness and a heavy sense of melancholy. We all wanted one more opportunity to look into those smiling eyes and tell Tom how much he has meant to us as a friend, as a leader, as a man.
Driving up to Dillard I got a phone call telling me that Tom was too ill to attend the gathering. Okay, I thought, we're going to be there anyway, so we'll do some reminiscing, sign a card for Tom, maybe record a big Rabun "Waa-Hooo!" that can be played back for him at home and collectively send him our prayers. As I pulled into the parking lot in front of the Dillard House banquet room, it became clear that this was going to be more, much more. A steady stream of folks was already pouring into the room and one of the first faces I saw was Tom's brother Walt. With his typical huge grin, Walt greeted me and thanked me for coming. "I wouldn't have missed it" I replied with sincerity. Working my way around the room I heard someone say that June was there along with their daughters. Wow! What strength she has to be here. It must be difficult to look at all the video images on the screens of a healthy Tom. What strength she has, when Charlie's voice cracked as he tried to open the luncheon with a prayer, to announce to the room that this was a celebration of Tom's life. And the strength to gracefully hold the hands and look into the eyes of every person who approached to tell her how much she and Tom are loved.
Over 200 people made the trip to Dillard yesterday to tell Tom how grateful they were that somehow they had been chosen to share some of life's experiences with him. Two hundred people who had in probably two hundred different ways been touched by Tom's loving and giving. Now it was time for Tom to receive. To receive the genuine emotions of gratitude and respect for his life. While there were certainly tears shed throughout the day, it was indeed a celebration of Tom's life and I am blessed to have been there with all the others, each with their own Tom Landreth story.
My own "Tom" story is a simple one of being the recipient of his giving personality. In the mid-70's I had decided I wanted to learn how to flyfish. Living on the banks of the Arkansas River in Russellville, Arkansas at the time afforded me plenty of opportunities to practice my skills on bream, bass and even a catfish one time. With no tutoring other than a book I checked out of the Arkansas Tech University library, I actually became a somewhat decent caster and a terror on the neighborhood bream beads. About 1980 I moved back home to Georgia and began to pursue the wily trout with my flyrod. I must admit, I looked good up on the Chattooga River as I aerialized that fly line and cast only to rising trout. It wasn't that I was being snobbish, I just didn't know that you could catch them with anything but a dry fly. For two seasons (two years!) I kept traveling to the Chattooga and the upper Chattahoochee Rivers to flyfish for trout, and I never hooked a fish. Never! One day I happened to read a small announcement in the Tri-County Advertiser inviting anyone interested in trout fishing to a meeting of Trout Unlimited. A phone number was listed at the end of the announcement so I called to find out more. The phone number belonged to Tom and, like a sinner at confession, I began to tell him of my pitiful attempts to learn how to flyfish for trout. If the thought ever crossed his mind that he was on the phone with a nut, he never let on. In fact, he invited me out to his home without ever having met me. That was my introduction to Rabun TU and a group of folks who took me under their wings and literally taught me how to catch a trout on a flyrod. It was intimidating at first but the desire to learn was so strong within me that my fears took a backseat. I have told Tom's family that he is the reason I am where I am today. Now, he may not have wanted to take credit for that but in my mind it's a fact and I will forever be indebted to him as are so many others.
At 11:57 PM last night (December 8th), Tom Landreth passed away. How ironic is life that it would occur on the same day as our gathering to show him our appreciation. Tom was not there in person but his spirit filled not only that banquet hall but the hearts of everyone in there. It is only fitting that those of us whose lives have been impacted by Tom (and you are one if you trout fish in Georgia regardless of whether you knew him personally or not) will make a more concerted effort to love more and to give more. Reach out to someone else, even if you think they may be a nut, and teach them some of what you know. Help them to see the beauty of our sport and the natural resources we have been blessed with in which to enjoy it. Help them to understand the work that has gone on before them by people like Tom to insure they had this opportunity today and will tomorrow if they'll only take up the torch and move forward with it. Tom Landreth helped set the standard and for that we are grateful. And in his memory we will try to uphold that standard.
Tight Lines, Tom!
I figure nearly all of the members of our society already subscribe to the newsletters from Unicoi Outfitters and have likely already read this most recent one, but it is so good I felt like posting it here anyway. We all know how special the north Georgia area is and how great the Unicoi gang is as well. Seems they have lost one of their crew and Jimmy Harris does one of the best jobs of eulogizing him I have ever seen. Here it is:
The following is not "shop newsletter" material, but rather some personal thoughts I want to share with you. Jimmy Harris
In this season of love, giving and receiving, I want to ask each and every one of you to take time to reflect on the place each of these words occupy in your life. As we have all heard, there is a season for all things and that is certainly true for these: love, giving, receiving. Our challenge is to make the most of these seasons in our lives and, hopefully, cultivate them to where they become an integral part of who we are. Some of you may be blessed to the point that the mere mention of your name invites images of these traits. Would that we may all be this fortunate.
Yesterday, Saturday the 8th of December, I attended one of the most amazing events of love, giving and receiving that I have ever witnessed. What had begun as a luncheon among friends to express their appreciation to Tom Landreth grew into something no one had expected. Tom was battling cancer again and this time it was back with no regard for the doctors or their treatments. It was doing its best to dim the light that had beamed so brightly over north Georgia trout fishing and the art community. The luncheon had been planned for several weeks and was anticipated with both joyfulness and a heavy sense of melancholy. We all wanted one more opportunity to look into those smiling eyes and tell Tom how much he has meant to us as a friend, as a leader, as a man.
Driving up to Dillard I got a phone call telling me that Tom was too ill to attend the gathering. Okay, I thought, we're going to be there anyway, so we'll do some reminiscing, sign a card for Tom, maybe record a big Rabun "Waa-Hooo!" that can be played back for him at home and collectively send him our prayers. As I pulled into the parking lot in front of the Dillard House banquet room, it became clear that this was going to be more, much more. A steady stream of folks was already pouring into the room and one of the first faces I saw was Tom's brother Walt. With his typical huge grin, Walt greeted me and thanked me for coming. "I wouldn't have missed it" I replied with sincerity. Working my way around the room I heard someone say that June was there along with their daughters. Wow! What strength she has to be here. It must be difficult to look at all the video images on the screens of a healthy Tom. What strength she has, when Charlie's voice cracked as he tried to open the luncheon with a prayer, to announce to the room that this was a celebration of Tom's life. And the strength to gracefully hold the hands and look into the eyes of every person who approached to tell her how much she and Tom are loved.
Over 200 people made the trip to Dillard yesterday to tell Tom how grateful they were that somehow they had been chosen to share some of life's experiences with him. Two hundred people who had in probably two hundred different ways been touched by Tom's loving and giving. Now it was time for Tom to receive. To receive the genuine emotions of gratitude and respect for his life. While there were certainly tears shed throughout the day, it was indeed a celebration of Tom's life and I am blessed to have been there with all the others, each with their own Tom Landreth story.
My own "Tom" story is a simple one of being the recipient of his giving personality. In the mid-70's I had decided I wanted to learn how to flyfish. Living on the banks of the Arkansas River in Russellville, Arkansas at the time afforded me plenty of opportunities to practice my skills on bream, bass and even a catfish one time. With no tutoring other than a book I checked out of the Arkansas Tech University library, I actually became a somewhat decent caster and a terror on the neighborhood bream beads. About 1980 I moved back home to Georgia and began to pursue the wily trout with my flyrod. I must admit, I looked good up on the Chattooga River as I aerialized that fly line and cast only to rising trout. It wasn't that I was being snobbish, I just didn't know that you could catch them with anything but a dry fly. For two seasons (two years!) I kept traveling to the Chattooga and the upper Chattahoochee Rivers to flyfish for trout, and I never hooked a fish. Never! One day I happened to read a small announcement in the Tri-County Advertiser inviting anyone interested in trout fishing to a meeting of Trout Unlimited. A phone number was listed at the end of the announcement so I called to find out more. The phone number belonged to Tom and, like a sinner at confession, I began to tell him of my pitiful attempts to learn how to flyfish for trout. If the thought ever crossed his mind that he was on the phone with a nut, he never let on. In fact, he invited me out to his home without ever having met me. That was my introduction to Rabun TU and a group of folks who took me under their wings and literally taught me how to catch a trout on a flyrod. It was intimidating at first but the desire to learn was so strong within me that my fears took a backseat. I have told Tom's family that he is the reason I am where I am today. Now, he may not have wanted to take credit for that but in my mind it's a fact and I will forever be indebted to him as are so many others.
At 11:57 PM last night (December 8th), Tom Landreth passed away. How ironic is life that it would occur on the same day as our gathering to show him our appreciation. Tom was not there in person but his spirit filled not only that banquet hall but the hearts of everyone in there. It is only fitting that those of us whose lives have been impacted by Tom (and you are one if you trout fish in Georgia regardless of whether you knew him personally or not) will make a more concerted effort to love more and to give more. Reach out to someone else, even if you think they may be a nut, and teach them some of what you know. Help them to see the beauty of our sport and the natural resources we have been blessed with in which to enjoy it. Help them to understand the work that has gone on before them by people like Tom to insure they had this opportunity today and will tomorrow if they'll only take up the torch and move forward with it. Tom Landreth helped set the standard and for that we are grateful. And in his memory we will try to uphold that standard.
Tight Lines, Tom!
Friday, December 7, 2007
Harry Chapin...A Guy Who Deserved More Time
In case you did not notice it in the Courier Journal today, Harry Chapin was born on December 7, 1942. They reprinted a lyric from one of his songs called "I Wonder What Would Happen To This World." It is the epitaph on his headstone. Oh if a man tried/ To take his time on Earth/ And prove before he died/ What one man's life could be worth/ I wonder what would happen/ to this world.
See? I told you he deserved more time. Here are the lyrics to that song in total:
I Wonder What Would Happen to this World
by Harry Chapin
Oh well I wonder
Yes I wonder
What would happen
What would happen to this world
Well I wonder what would happen to this world
Now if a man tried
To take his time on Earth
And prove before he died
What one man's life could be worth
Well I wonder what would happen to this world
And if a woman
She used a life line
As something more than
Some man's servant mother wife time
Well I wonder what would happen to this world
Oh well I wonder
Yes I wonder
Oh yes I wonder
'Bout what would happen
What would happen to this world
Well I wonder what would happen to this world
As I look around us
There's such strange things
There's muggers and there's jugglers
And we are led by clowns
If an answer ever found us
Would we change things
Or are we just a people
Rotten ready for the ground
And if our future
Lies on the final line
Are we brave enough
To see the signals and the signs
I wonder what would happen to this world
We see the people
We see them marchin' down
Do we join the parade
Or do we try and turn around
Well I wonder what would happen to this world
Disciple children walk the streets
Selling books and flowers
Can they be last ones
With a semblance of a dream
If we say that no one's out there
And we say we're goin' nowhere
And we avoid the question
Is this all that it means?
Oh if a man tried
To take his time on earth
And prove before he died
What one man's life could be worth
I wonder what would happen to this world
See? I told you he deserved more time. Here are the lyrics to that song in total:
I Wonder What Would Happen to this World
by Harry Chapin
Oh well I wonder
Yes I wonder
What would happen
What would happen to this world
Well I wonder what would happen to this world
Now if a man tried
To take his time on Earth
And prove before he died
What one man's life could be worth
Well I wonder what would happen to this world
And if a woman
She used a life line
As something more than
Some man's servant mother wife time
Well I wonder what would happen to this world
Oh well I wonder
Yes I wonder
Oh yes I wonder
'Bout what would happen
What would happen to this world
Well I wonder what would happen to this world
As I look around us
There's such strange things
There's muggers and there's jugglers
And we are led by clowns
If an answer ever found us
Would we change things
Or are we just a people
Rotten ready for the ground
And if our future
Lies on the final line
Are we brave enough
To see the signals and the signs
I wonder what would happen to this world
We see the people
We see them marchin' down
Do we join the parade
Or do we try and turn around
Well I wonder what would happen to this world
Disciple children walk the streets
Selling books and flowers
Can they be last ones
With a semblance of a dream
If we say that no one's out there
And we say we're goin' nowhere
And we avoid the question
Is this all that it means?
Oh if a man tried
To take his time on earth
And prove before he died
What one man's life could be worth
I wonder what would happen to this world
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
We Really Should Have Been There...
Are we all talk about how we should be living every day like it was our last? Look what we missed last night!
Fogerty mines Creedence songbook for killer show
By Jeffrey Lee Puckett
jpuckett@courier-journal.com
Courier-Journal Critic
During a show I'll often scratch notes in the dark just so I won't forget any brilliant thoughts. Sometimes they're even legible and almost helpful. After Monday night's John Fogerty concert at the Louisville Palace, they read something like this:
"bad moon rising -- killin' it!"
sweet hitch-hiker! killin' it!"
"fortunate son. absolutely killin' it!!"
You get the idea. Fogerty and an airtight band pretty much killed it. The set was loaded with Creedence Clearwater Revival classics, major solo hits and choice material from his new album, "Revival." All of them were played with fire, but a few approached inferno level.
"Sweet Hitch-Hiker," by far the best song of CCR's later years, was delivered with an unreal intensity, as if Fogerty were still 25 and lusting after hippie girls with their thumbs out. "Fortunate Son" rivaled its energy, but its class-warfare pedigree made it resonate more deeply. "Travelin' Band" began the encore like a jet taking off.
Fogerty, 62, bounced around the stage all night, playing guitar better than ever and still shredding his larynx like a kid in his first band. He was driven by a manic Kenny Aronoff on drums (he was killin' it) and backup guitarists Hunter Perrin and Billy Burnette, of the legendary rockabilly Burnettes.
The band sounded full but kept everything simple, which is the key with Fogerty's songs; they're essentially rhythm machines, built to rock, groove or bring you down easy. Aronoff was key to the groove songs, making sure that "Born on the Bayou" and "The Old Man Down the Road" floated on swamp water, while the entire band unloaded on a wild "Ramble Tamble," which Fogerty unearthed from the "Cosmos Factory" album.
Of his new songs, "Longshot," "Creedence Song" and "I Can't Take It No More" best rekindled the CCR magic, while "Broken Down Cowboy" was nearly the night's prettiest song, trailing only "Have You Ever Seen the Rain?" Of course, just about everything trails "Have You Ever Seen the Rain?"
Fogerty mines Creedence songbook for killer show
By Jeffrey Lee Puckett
jpuckett@courier-journal.com
Courier-Journal Critic
During a show I'll often scratch notes in the dark just so I won't forget any brilliant thoughts. Sometimes they're even legible and almost helpful. After Monday night's John Fogerty concert at the Louisville Palace, they read something like this:
"bad moon rising -- killin' it!"
sweet hitch-hiker! killin' it!"
"fortunate son. absolutely killin' it!!"
You get the idea. Fogerty and an airtight band pretty much killed it. The set was loaded with Creedence Clearwater Revival classics, major solo hits and choice material from his new album, "Revival." All of them were played with fire, but a few approached inferno level.
"Sweet Hitch-Hiker," by far the best song of CCR's later years, was delivered with an unreal intensity, as if Fogerty were still 25 and lusting after hippie girls with their thumbs out. "Fortunate Son" rivaled its energy, but its class-warfare pedigree made it resonate more deeply. "Travelin' Band" began the encore like a jet taking off.
Fogerty, 62, bounced around the stage all night, playing guitar better than ever and still shredding his larynx like a kid in his first band. He was driven by a manic Kenny Aronoff on drums (he was killin' it) and backup guitarists Hunter Perrin and Billy Burnette, of the legendary rockabilly Burnettes.
The band sounded full but kept everything simple, which is the key with Fogerty's songs; they're essentially rhythm machines, built to rock, groove or bring you down easy. Aronoff was key to the groove songs, making sure that "Born on the Bayou" and "The Old Man Down the Road" floated on swamp water, while the entire band unloaded on a wild "Ramble Tamble," which Fogerty unearthed from the "Cosmos Factory" album.
Of his new songs, "Longshot," "Creedence Song" and "I Can't Take It No More" best rekindled the CCR magic, while "Broken Down Cowboy" was nearly the night's prettiest song, trailing only "Have You Ever Seen the Rain?" Of course, just about everything trails "Have You Ever Seen the Rain?"
Monday, December 3, 2007
Don Imus Returns to TV
Well, I have to admit that when our own WmJ started lobbying for the addition of RFD-TV to our digital cable lineup, I saw no real reason to do so. However, since the EPB is so accommodating, we did it anyway. However, now I do see a reason to watch RFD-TV (Channel 129 on our digital tier). Don Imus is being resurrected and his radio show will now be simulcast live with RFD-TV from 5 a.m. to 8 a.m. on weekdays. It will also appear as a rerun of the morning show on RFD-TV HD (a service we don't yet carry) from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. on weeknights. Talk about a commitment!
I don't know if he will still be as good as he was before his fall. I don't know if the top shelf personalities will still agree to be on his show. But at any rate it will be worth watching just to see.
I don't know if he will still be as good as he was before his fall. I don't know if the top shelf personalities will still agree to be on his show. But at any rate it will be worth watching just to see.
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