I Think

....and then there were ten left!

991. Last night, I watched a 1935 version of A Christmas Carol. I don't recall the actors' names. I was disappointed at the shortcuts they took in the telling, but there were some good scenes, such as one, in which the lords and ladies were dining sumptuously, while hungry crowds clamored at the barricades. Marley's ghost was invisible, and not at all inspiring. Too, in many ways, it seems a rehearsal for the Alistair Simm version that followed in the early 1950s.

992. They are building a movie house near the edge of Tomball, one with the screen so gigantic it hurts your head trying to ecompass all that picture. It's just like the one in The Woodlands. I don't go to movies that often, but I just may give it a try a bit more often, in the near future.

993. A mysterious o'possum has been terrorizing the apartments, lately. It began for us one afternoon, when a resident reported seeing a rat, as it attempted to enter an apartment via the patio. On being questioned, the person living there corrected the report. She said it was a baby possum. Well, I set out the trap, but the possum was on the move. The next report came, that it was at an apartment on the far side of the building. "It's trying to get in," the bearded man living there reported. Moved the trap. No possum caught.

Two days later, it was said the possum was at a building at the far west end. I gave up trying to catch it. I instead brought the trap home, for a family of possums has taken up residence under the mobile home I live in. So far, I have caught one possum and one cat. The cat, I let go. But, I drove until I found a secluded place to release the possum. Funny thing about these animals. They don't eat the cat food I use for bait, until it becomes old and raunchy.

Cat food for bait????? For a possum???

Use friut edgar.

Half an apple.

A lady gave me some fresh trout one time. That possum almost beat me to the spot.

My wife and I went to the movies on a somewhat regular basis until earlier this year, when the price of tickets got jacked up twice.

Now, we just wait until it's released on DVD and rent it.

I've been watching DVDs for a long time. I'm ready to bust out occasionally, just to be doing it a bit differently.

Yeah, I hear ya, but on the same matter (here anyways), I hate getting ripped off badly.

But, a night /afternoon off is nice to do something different.

994. I am a Roosevelt liberal. I don't see anybody, from either party, fighting for the common persons. The best I can hope for with the coming elections is to get Bush out of there. That's something, at least.

995. Well, I've put off signing up with a Medicare plan for two and a half months. Time to wade through all the bullshit and choose a company. I might as well close my eyes and pick one from the pile, for all it seems to matter.

996. Pacifism. I am, essentially, anti war. I have not supported Korea, Vietnam, The Gulf War, or the current fiasco. I grudgingly accepted the action in Afghanistan, but now believe we ought to scale back and then get out. I would have served in WWII.

997.

Man thinks 'cause he rules the earth he can do with it as he please
And if things don't change soon, he will.
Oh, man has invented his doom,
First step was touching the moon.

Now, there's a woman on my block,
She just sit there as the night grows still.
She say who gonna take away his license to kill?

Now, they take him and they teach him and they groom him for life
And they set him on a path where he's bound to get ill,
Then they bury him with stars,
Sell his body like they do used cars.

Now, there's a woman on my block,
She just sit there facin' the hill.
She say who gonna take away his license to kill?

Now, he's hell-bent for destruction, he's afraid and confused,
And his brain has been mismanaged with great skill.
All he believes are his eyes
And his eyes, they just tell him lies.

But there's a woman on my block,
Sitting there in a cold chill.
She say who gonna take away his license to kill?

Ya may be a noisemaker, spirit maker,
Heartbreaker, backbreaker,
Leave no stone unturned.
May be an actor in a plot,
That might be all that you got
'Til your error you clearly learn.

Now he worships at an altar of a stagnant pool
And when he sees his reflection, he's fulfilled.
Oh, man is opposed to fair play,
He wants it all and he wants it his way.

Now, there's a woman on my block,
She just sit there as the night grows still.
She say who gonna take away his license to kill?




Bob Dylan

998.
Avalanche

Well I stepped into an avalanche,
it covered up my soul;
when I am not this hunchback that you see,
I sleep beneath the golden hill.
You who wish to conquer pain,
you must learn, learn to serve me well.

You strike my side by accident
as you go down for your gold.
The cripple here that you clothe and feed
is neither starved nor cold;
he does not ask for your company,
not at the centre, the centre of the world.

When I am on a pedestal,
you did not raise me there.
Your laws do not compel me
to kneel grotesque and bare.
I myself am the pedestal
for this ugly hump at which you stare.

You who wish to conquer pain,
you must learn what makes me kind;
the crumbs of love that you offer me,
they're the crumbs I've left behind.
Your pain is no credential here,
it's just the shadow, shadow of my wound.

I have begun to long for you,
I who have no greed;
I have begun to ask for you,
I who have no need.
You say you've gone away from me,
but I can feel you when you breathe.

Do not dress in those rags for me,
I know you are not poor;
you don't love me quite so fiercely now
when you know that you are not sure,
it is your turn, beloved,
it is your flesh that I wear.

Leonard Cohen

999. I want to thank all my friends of a2k for their kindness (some, more than others). I never dreamed, when I went online for the first time, that such a phenomenon could happen, as a2k and Abuzz. In fact, I was frightened, knowing there were millions of others online, and that I could, potentially, be in touch with any one or any group of them. I was fortunate to find these forums early on.

I have been at times an ass, and I knew it, but, I don't think most of you hold grudges for the sort of things I am guilty of (except perception and a couple of people who are opposed to my politics). I think I may have hurt Frank Apisa's feelings a few times, but, I meant him no ill. May have hurt Nick Fun's feelings, by making a few observations about the Buddhism he practices. I meant no attack on the people practicing Nichiren, but only pointed out the materialism of some practitioners. Any of you I have slighted or wronged, however inadvertently or neglectfully, I'm sorry.

.......so, now what?

Drum roll, please . . . .

1,000.


[Spoken:]
A young man goes to Paris, as every young man should. There's something in the air of France that does a young man good.

[Chorus:]
[On the album, Dave sings the beginning of the chorus in phonetic French. Actual French is as follows:]
Ah! les fraises et les framboises et les bon vins [que] nous avons bus.
La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la. Raspberries, strawberries, the good wines we brew.
Here's to the girls of the countryside, the ones we drink 'em to.

[Spoken:]
Paris nights are warm and fair. The summer winds are soft. A young man finds the face of love in every field and loft.
In every field and loft.

[Chorus]

[Spoken:]
An old man returns to Paris as ev'ry old man must. He finds the winter winds blow cold. His dreams have turned to dust.
His dreams have turned to dust. His dreams have turned to dust.

Ah! les fraises et les framboises et les bon vins que nous avons bus.
La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la. Raspberries, strawberries, the good wines we brew.
Here's to the girls of the countryside, whom we must bid adieu.

The Kingston Trio

So, as I mentioned before, now what?

Fats Waller often observed, "One never knows, do one?"