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The City of New Orleans
by Steve Goodman

Riding on the City of New Orleans,
Illinois Central Monday morning rail
Fifteen cars and fifteen restless riders,
Three conductors and twenty-five sacks of mail.
All along the southbound odyssey
The train pulls out at Kankakee
Rolls along past houses, farms and fields.
Passin' trains that have no names,
Freight yards full of old black men
And the graveyards of the rusted automobiles.

CHORUS:
Good morning America how are you?
Don't you know me I'm your native son,
I'm the train they call The City of New Orleans,
I'll be gone five hundred miles when the day is done.

Dealin' card games with the old men in the club car.
Penny a point ain't no one keepin' score.
Pass the paper bag that holds the bottle
Feel the wheels rumblin' 'neath the floor.
And the sons of pullman porters
And the sons of engineers
Ride their father's magic carpets made of steel.
Mothers with their babes asleep,
Are rockin' to the gentle beat
And the rhythm of the rails is all they feel.

CHORUS

Nighttime on The City of New Orleans,
Changing cars in Memphis, Tennessee.
Half way home, we'll be there by morning
Through the Mississippi darkness
Rolling down to the sea.
And all the towns and people seem
To fade into a bad dream
And the steel rails still ain't heard the news.
The conductor sings his song again,
The passengers will please refrain
This train's got the disappearing railroad blues.

Good night, America, how are you?
Don't you know me I'm your native son,
I'm the train they call The City of New Orleans,
I'll be gone five hundred miles when the day is done.

We are riding on a railroad, singing some else's song.
Forever standing by that crossroad, take a side and step along.
We are sailing away on a river to the sea. Maybe you and me can meet again.
We are riding on a railroad, singing someone else's song, sing along.

Time to time, I tire of the life that I've been leading, town to town, day by day.
There's a man up here who claims to have his hands upon the reins,
there are chains upon his hands and he's riding upon a train.

Oh Lord, we been riding on a railroad, singing some else's song.
Forever standing by that crossroad, take a side and step along.
We are sailing away on a river to the sea. Maybe you and me can meet again.
We been riding, we been riding upon a railroad, singing someone else's song.

James Taylor

Fish-slapping dognappers jogged down the road
skirting the tower, push pulling their load.
They came to a stop, all startled like deer
as low-flying turkeys zoomed up from the rear.

and here is the fine tail of fishslapping herringdo -

http://www.able2know.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=1235089#1235089

So long and thanks for all the fish, he said, without a Salmon of a doubt.

For our listeners here on WA2K radio, the Lord via Osso via me:


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ANCIENT ENGLISH FOLK CUSTOMS.

"THE FISH SLAPPING DANCE"

The fish slapping dance was in fact first invented in the form of a martial art in Alaska in about 50,000 BC. Warring tribes of Eskimos would attack one-another with frozen fish.
Depending upon the kind of fish, the frozen animal could inflict much pain on one's enemy, a well trained Ngaburaha (Eskimo form of Samurai), could indeed fell an untrained opponent with a simple frozen trout.

The dance was first introduced to England via the Vikings, who demonstrated its deadly effectiveness by severely injuring our King Wilfred the Weary, causing a bloodclot to the left ear due to "Herring Impact".

It is now performed outside the Tower of London, on the 3rd of each month, mainly for tourists.

So very many things to do,
I've put them off and on as you
The bowl of night is put away,
And now I must do stuff today.

My way of saying I gotta lot of livin' to do, and I'll do a review later listeners.

Among our celebs that Raggedy is so dear to present,
A clue and a hint:

The Carpet Baggers alluded to what recent movie starring the short man?

Dys, I thought that I knew all of James' songs, but that one on the train does escape me. The New Orleans music was faintly familiar, however.

And now, devoted fans and staff, here's an interesting news item from Iceland:

Iceland Grants Citizenship for Chess Star



REYKJAVIK, Iceland (AP) - Iceland's parliament voted Monday to grant citizenship to U.S. chess star Bobby Fischer, who is detained in Japan and wanted in the United States for violating international sanctions against the former Yugoslavia.

The legislation, which passed with 40 lawmakers voting in favor and two abstaining, took effect immediately.

Fischer has been in Japanese custody since his July 13 detention while trying to board a flight with an invalid passport and is fighting a deportation order to the United States.

He beat big blue once, but failed in his second try.

Ode to the chess board:

The rooks and knights, and pawns, and queens,
The bishop, as it often seems,
Reflects our armies en passant,
To stale mate in the king's domain,
And count the many that were slain.

So many coincidences recently....today, in my newspaper, I read that the original location of the "House of the Rising Sun", a cat-house, is to be excavated in the old French Quarter in New Orleans.

Also, a great programme on our TV this evening, about how gaelic church services, and the way they were sung with call and response, was a seminal influence in the gospel music of the deep South.
Immigrants, some forcibly ejected from their ancestral lands in the highlands and islands of Scotland, took their religion and their language with them, and taught it to slaves in the Carolinas and Alabama plantations.
Fascinating programme. I thought it might interest ehBeth and others.

I suspect that you and I got our information from the same source, McTag. New Orleans is, indeed, the place where they may have discovered the brothel.

What program is that? I remember when I taught, that the Scots who left to come to America did indeed try to imitate the bagpipe by using the "country" fiddle. There is no difference, really, between a violin and a fiddle, just the technique.

Gospel music is, of course, religious, but not all country is gospel. Can you cite some examples for our listeners? Call and response is an interesting expression. Are you saying that the early gaelic churchs were rather like the Anglican church in that the leader sang, and the congregation responded in song or chant?

McTag! That is the kind of program I always enjoy. Do you know the title or the producer? Sometimes we can get videos or dvd's of British shows.

Have you ever seen the film: The Song Catcher? It is about songs that came to the States from the UK and, in some cases, remained truer to the original than the same songs currently being sung in the UK. So much of the folksongs, cowboy songs (not modern country and western) are clearly derived from celtic music.

Weather information:

March names for the full moon, which is coming on the 21st:

Snow Blind, Maple Sugar, Worm

These names are perfectly self-explanatory, at least for the States. There are sugar maples in the upper New England states that have scars hundreds of years old from the days when Native Americans were tapping the trees for that luscious, sugary sap.

For the following statistics, MST stands for Mountain Standard Time.
March 21, 2005 Sun Rise Sun Set
Actual Time 6:08 AM MST 6:19 PM MST
Civil Twilight 5:43 AM MST 6:44 PM MST
Nautical Twilight 5:13 AM MST 7:14 PM MST
Astronomical Twilight 4:43 AM MST 7:44 PM MST
Moon 2:27 PM MST 4:15 AM MST
Length of Day: 12h 11m, tomorrow will be 2m 14s longer
Length Of Visible Light: 13h 01m
Moon Phase: Waxing Gibbous, 85% of moon illuminated
Star Chart
Today 3 / 25 4 / 1 4 / 8 4 / 16
Full Last Quarter New First Quarter

Paris
Updated: 11:00 PM CET on March 21, 2005
Observed at PARIS, SOISY S/S MONTMORENCY, VAL D'OISE
This is a Personal Weather Station (History)
Weather condition observed at Paris-Aeroport Charles De Gaulle.
Elevation: -
Temperature: 59.5 °F / 15.3 °C
Humidity: 68%
Dew Point: 49 °F / 9 °C
Wind: Calm
Pressure: 29.86 in / 1011.1 hPa (Rising)


Frankfurt
Updated: 10:50 PM CET on March 21, 2005
Observed at Frankfurt, Germany (History)
Elevation: 371 ft / 113 m
43 °F / 6 °C
Clear
Windchill: 38 °F / 3 °C
Humidity: 61%
Dew Point: 30 °F / -1 °C
Wind: 8 mph / 13 km/h from the ENE
Pressure: 30.01 in / 1016 hPa
Visibility: -


London
Updated: 9:20 PM GMT on March 21, 2005
Observed at London, United Kingdom (History)
Elevation: 79 ft / 24 m
57 °F / 14 °C
Clear
Humidity: 72%
Dew Point: 48 °F / 9 °C
Wind: 10 mph / 17 km/h from the SE
Pressure: 29.68 in / 1005 hPa
Visibility: -

A little more moon information:
Full Worm - March Moon As the temperature begins to warm and the ground begins to thaw, earthworm casts appear, heralding the return of the robins. The more northern tribes knew this Moon as the Full Crow Moon, when the cawing of crows signaled the end of winter; or the Full Crust Moon, because the snow cover becomes crusted from thawing by day and freezing at night. The Full Sap Moon, marking the time of tapping maple trees, is another variation. To the settlers, it was also known as the Lenten Moon, and was considered to be the last full Moon of winter.

Thanks, Diane. I'm certain that all our listeners will appreciate the alternate moon names, especially the creek fishermen who watch that worm moon like a hawk.

McTag should be back and answer both of our questions, if he doesn't get embroiled in pet peeves.

A quick piece of church history:

The beginnings of the Presbyterian Church: One of those who came to Switzerland to study under Calvin was John Knox. In approximately 1535-1540 he came over from Scotland. Knox took the teachings of Calvin back to Scotland where the Roman Catholic Church was no longer permitted to function, and the Presbyterian Church eventually came into existence. The first actual organization of the Presbyterian form of government took place in France in about 1559 when the French Reformed Church was organized into four levels or judicatories which are similar to the Presbyterian Church of today. This was also known as the Huguenot Church.

Stay tuned listeners.

This is cyberspace, WA2K radio.

Letty, I think both you and I were raised in the Presbyterian church. If you know of anything more waspy than white Presbyterians, I'l love to hear. LOL

As a matter of fact, Diane. I was raised in the Baptist church. I used to hang out with the janitor in the summer.

Everyone has a grandmother story, listeners.

When I was a wee thing my only known grandparent, Ganny Gay, (that's what the kids called her) used to come visit and I dreaded it. It didn't matter who came to visit me, I just knew what Ganny's question would be:

What church do you go to, honey.

Methodist.

Well, I've heard some mighty fine sermons preached by Methodists, but the Baptists stick closest to the Bible. (then a tiny, condescending laugh)

I was always soooooo embarrassed.

Later my mom explained about her life, and I have come to admire the woman.

good choice letty

e.e. cummings is quite possibly my favoutite poet

kicking myself i didn't think of that one

when cav died i thought alot about this poem

dying is fine)but Death

dying is fine)but Death

?o
baby
i

wouldn't like

Death if Death
were
good:for

when(instead of stopping to think)you

begin to feel of it,dying
's miraculous
why?be

cause dying is

perfectly natural;perfectly
putting
it mildly lively(but

Death

is strictly
scientific
& artificial &

evil & legal)

we thank thee
god
almighty for dying
(forgive us,o life!the sin of Death

ee cummings

Well, dj, I see that you're not just another pretty song.

e.e. cummings was quite a rebel, wasn't he.

Love these lines:

Death

is strictly
scientific
& artificial &

evil & legal)

More coincidences: John Knox was a question on Jeopardy.

Hey, folks. I'm beginning to get a sense of something that I can't explain.

A feel of ozone in the air.

and as for Cav, I got a dear cyber card from the Mrs. today.

Here's quite a coil, listeners. As reported on ABC news tonight, it seems that America is spending more on their pets than they do on other other compulsive things of little value. Perhaps it's a sign of filling the void.

If this message to you out there seems stream of consciousness in it's import, that's because it is.

From the pen of William Blake:

A POISON TREE

I was angry with my friend;
I told my wrath, my wrath did end.
I was angry with my foe:
I told it not, my wrath did grow.
And I water'd it in fears,
night and morning with my tears;
and I sunned it with smiles,
and with soft deceitful wiles.
And it grew both day and night,
till it bore an apple bright;
and my foe beheld it shine,
and he knew that it was mine,
and into my garden stole
when the night had veil'd the pole:
In the morning glad I see
my foe outstretch'd beneath the tree.

Well, as I have often remarked. It's that time of night.

Who By Fire


And who by fire, who by water,
who in the sunshine, who in the night time,
who by high ordeal, who by common trial,
who in your merry merry month of may,
who by very slow decay,
and who shall I say is calling
And who in her lonely slip, who by barbiturate,
who in these realms of love, who by something blunt,
and who by avalanche, who by powder,
who for his greed, who for his hunger,
and who shall I say is calling

And who by brave assent, who by accident,
who in solitude, who in this mirror,
who by his lady's command, who by his own hand,
who in mortal chains, who in power,
and who shall I say is calling

and for Francis:

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/7258300/

What's a 35 hour work week? When I taught it was 40 hours in house, but don't even ask about all the preps and the grading and the lesson plans and the endless sponsoring...

and you listeners? What did you do today. <smile>

edgar, a powerful song. Yes, simple words. Who shall I say is calling.

Putting you on hold for a moment, which, of course is an eternity.

Listeners, no one shall put you on hold here nor ask you who is calling.