We have a new president.

Barack Obama is the President of the United States.  America has taken a step toward maturity by electing the right candidate no matter what race.  Finally, a dream has been realized.  Many people are very happy and there is a sense of hope all over the world.  I join in that pride and re-post Dr, King’s dream as it comes true with the first African American President being sworn into office.  The world is watching this momentous occasion and I am so excited to be able to witness it.

President Barack Obama

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. I Have a Dream Speech

Martin Luther King Jr. dedicated his life to a cause he felt was worth fighting, yet he never believed in violence. He was one of the greatest orators, but he was reluctant and could be shy. People oppressed saw in him the possibility. He gave them hope, for he was brave and determined. He led a march on Washington that changed the world, although he may not have seen it that way at the time. He is the voice of many today as he was the day he uttered the words “I have a dream.” And did he ever? His words are inspiring, poetic and proud. These passages are my personal favorites from that historic day.  Many resonate so much today.

• I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.
• I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.” (Today that dream has become reality)
  
• I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
• This will be the day when all of God’s children will be able to sing with a new meaning, “My country, ’tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim’s pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring.”
• And if America is to be a great nation this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania!Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.
• And when this happens, when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, “Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!”

That dream has come true Dr. King, and you must be very proud. Congratulations to the Obama family on this historical achievement!!

 

Ode to Winter Time

My Perfect Winter Day

Ski slopes braved with red faces and frozen toes.

Colorful pajamas worn moments after being unwrapped.

Blankets strewn around the fireplace.

“A Christmas Story” reliably on.

Lazy long supper to warm the bones and replenish strength

For the next day’s adventures.

Snowboards, Skis, Skates and Snowmobiles just waiting

To glide through the fresh snow giving the rider a thrill

 

Holidays Through John Lennon’s Eyes.

The year end holidays are supposed to be a  time of joy and giving. No matter what happens through the year, no matter who you are, Christmas/New Year’s/Hanukkah etc.. always come around and we pause to acknowledge them.  John Lennon’s “So This Is Christmas” is not the typical holiday song. Rather it is an observation of what millions of children around the world deal with to this day. Not much has changed since Lennon recorded this song. Yes, perhaps the children are in other third world countries today, but they are still hungry and lacking the basic necessities of life. I think John Lennon would have been dismayed to know that fact.  Yet there are those who continue to work for bettering the lives of these children and to them I say thank you.  Let us hope that the New Year will truly be one where change will be possible and children will have a chance to live better than they do now.  For those suffering this holiday season, you are in my thoughts.  For those who have something to share, there are many many ways of helping some of these children make it to another New Year, give to The Red Cross, The Children’s Charities of America, and/or any charity of your choosing.

Happy Xmas (War Is Over) – John Lennon

 So this is Christmas
And what have you done?
Another year over
And a new one just begun

And so this is Christmas
I hope you have fun
The near and the dear one
The old and the young.

A very Merry Christmas
And a Happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear

And so this is Christmas
For weak and for strong
For rich and the poor ones
The road is so long

And so Happy Christmas
For black and for white
For yellow and red ones
Let's stop all the fight.

A very Merry Christmas
And a Happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear

So this is Christmas
And what have you done?
Another year over
And a new one just begun

And so Happy Christmas
I hope you have fun
The near and the dear one
The old and the young.

A very Merry Christmas
And a Happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear

War is over!
If you want it
War is over!
War is over, Now!

 

Sunday special: T.I. and why I like rap.

T.I. – Whatever You Like

The video above is the latest from rapper T.I. This young man currently has a hit disc Paper Trail and has been on several talk shows such as Chelsea Lately (hilarious) and Tyra Banks (horrendous) among others. The song he sings is uplifting and deals with love, has a cute, catchy tune and shows off his other trademark, his very appealing look. He is a triple threat in that he can sing, write music, act and look great doing it all. Women LOVE him and the second of his two No. 1 singles features Rihanna another stunner.

On the flip side to Tip (his real name) is a former pimp, called the “rubber-band man” for wearing rubber bands around his wrists in order to keep all the money he made selling women organized. He was serving his house arrest sentence when he wrote the disc that is now a massive selling hit. Shortly he will be serving out a sentence of one year and one day in prison for possession of numerous machine guns. T.I. is twenty-eight years old and has six children, three with the woman he is currently with.

Watching the video and seeing this charming and attractive guy sing a Cinderella song with a sweet message and great tune, makes me feel several emotions simultaneously. First there is the attraction which can be blinding. Then there is this feeling after learning a few basic facts that this young man is making good, paying his debt to society and I feel proud of how far he has come. At the same time, seeing his rubber bands still prominently worn on the wrists makes me wonder whether he is glorifying his past? The newer charges and impending jail term seem so reckless for someone who is on top of his game. Why the machine guns now? The lawyers that his success can pay for are the best and yet he still got time, begging the question, what else was he charged with and what kind of deal was made?

T.I. has clearly seen a lot in his twenty eight years. Living as both a criminal and a star with an extensive entourage one might think he will stay on the straight and narrow. However, success can make the ego so delusional as to empower the individual to develop a sense of invincibility.  What’s in store for T.I. is impossible to predict, yet I am curious enough to pay attention to this talented hustler as he navigates stardom.

King

 

Everybody Knows

Concrete Blonde – Everybody Knows

I named my blog Who Knew? almost exactly one year ago.  I had no idea how aptly I had titled the blog and as a year passes it reinforces within me a certain innate ability to honestly say “I have no idea what the future holds.”

I am someone who lives in the day, which has it’s distinct positives i.e. I am very spontaneous and most of my travels have occurred very spur of the moment, and it’s devastating drawbacks.  It is who I am however and I make no apologies or excuses, it is how I live.

Things tend to come full circle in life so this post features a song called Everybody Knows by a legendary performer Leonard Cohen.

Cohen rose to the opportunity this audience represented by releasing two consecutive albums, I’m Your Man (1988) and The Future (1992), that not only rank among the finest of his career, but that perfectly capture the texture of particularly complicated times. Cohen had long documented the high rate of casualties in the love wars, so the profound anxieties generated by the AIDS crisis were no news to him. Songs like “Ain’t No Cure for Love,” the wryly titled “I’m Your Man” and, most explicitly, “Everybody Knows” (“Everybody knows that the Plague is coming/Everybody knows that it’s moving fast/Everybody knows that the naked man and woman – just a shining artifact of the past”) depict Cohen surveying the contemporary erotic battleground and reporting on it with characteristic perspective, insight and wisdom.

I first heard the song in a movie called “Pump Up The Volume“  in 1990 and it was performed by the band Concrete Blonde.  Later I learned it’s origins and became a Leonard Cohen fan.  It came at a time when everything was changing, I was going off to college and my senior year in high school was marked by a clinical depression which almost prevented me from going off to University.  Thankfully I was able to get through it and I remember listening to this song on repeat in my car almost compulsively.  I think it quite fits the brooding and scared teen I had become for the song is not very hopeful, and in many ways very true.

So here I am 17 years and half a lifetime later posting my first post-hiatus entry into this blog.  Who Knew? the poem I wrote asks many questions.  Everybody Knows offers many answers, some all too true and others can be debated.  I know though that it evokes for me a great deal of truth, some fear and it does so in a very poetic fashion.  Leonard Cohen wrote what he knew.  I say who knows?

Everybody knows that the dice are loaded

Everybody rolls with their fingers crossed

Everybody knows that the war is over

Everybody knows the good guys lost

Everybody knows the fight was fixed

The poor stay poor, the rich get rich

That’s how it goes

Everybody knows

Everybody knows that the boat is leaking

Everybody knows that the captain lied

Everybody got this broken feeling

Like their father or their dog just died

Everybody talking to their pockets

Everybody wants a box of chocolates

And a long stem rose

Everybody knows

Everybody knows that you love me baby

Everybody knows that you really do

Everybody knows that you’ve been faithful

Ah give or take a night or two

Everybody knows you’ve been discreet

But there were so many people you just had to meet

Without your clothes

And everybody knows

Everybody knows, everybody knows

That’s how it goes

Everybody knows

Everybody knows, everybody knows

That’s how it goes

Everybody knows

And everybody knows that it’s now or never

Everybody knows that it’s me or you

And everybody knows that you live forever

Ah when you’ve done a line or two

Everybody knows the deal is rotten

Old Black Joe’s still pickin’ cotton

For your ribbons and bows

And everybody knows

And everybody knows that the Plague is coming

Everybody knows that it’s moving fast

Everybody knows that the naked man and woman

Are just a shining artifact of the past

Everybody knows the scene is dead

But there’s gonna be a meter on your bed

That will disclose

What everybody knows

And everybody knows that you’re in trouble

Everybody knows what you’ve been through

From the bloody cross on top of Calvary

To the beach of Malibu

Everybody knows it’s coming apart

Take one last look at this Sacred Heart

Before it blows

And everybody knows

Everybody knows, everybody knows

That’s how it goes

Everybody knows

Oh everybody knows, everybody knows

That’s how it goes

Everybody knows

Everybody knows

Leonard Cohen