Well, everything changes all the time, and that includes me. I don't work any more. Except for some things I like doing. That'll change too -- my savings are exhausted. I'm really happy. I have some ideas about what I'm doing next, but it's not time to share them yet.
I don't know whether to continue with this blog. I started it a year ago because I needed to work some things out about what I was doing and living with. I've stopped living with the things that were wrong for me.
I think this is a long leave of absence -- but I'm not sure. I'm sorry -- I don't know what to say.
I was at SandBay, off Georgian Bay, off Lake Huron, last week, just outside of Parry Sound.I don’t know if a sound is a Canadian geographic term or if it’s general – a sound is a large, wide body of water that connects two other bodies of water – in this case, Georgian Bay and FiveMileBay.There’s Parry Island on the east side of Georgian Bay, and the Sound is north of it, and Five Mile Bay is south of it and feeds back into Georgian Bay.A little confusing.
We went on a couple of picnics a short boat ride from my sister-in-law’s cottage. On PicnicIsland, where else?Here’s a couple of pictures I took at PicnicIsland.We are on the Canadian Shield here, an enormous slab of granite that includes Greenland, most of eastern Canada from the Great Lakes to the Arctic Ocean, and the Adirondack Mountains are part of it too.In the Pleistocene era giant continental ice sheets 1,500 to 3,000 metres thick receded over it – they carried off most of the topsoil, exposing the bedrock and carving lakes and rivers into the rock.There are grooves cut in the bare rock, left by those ice sheets.I just love it there – for me, it’s another one of those “thin places” that Ellie told us about recently.
I was taking pictures of those trees, and trying to remember a poem our Grade 8 teacher, Mrs. Dyment, had us memorize.All I could remember was the line, “and the pine trees leaned one way”.Thank heavens for Google.Here it is (and by the way, I didn’t understand this when I was 13, and it reinforces my view that children should not be made to memorize adult poetry like this or “In Flanders Fields” or prayers like The 23rd Psalm and the Our Father):
The Lonely Land
Cedar and jagged fir
uplift sharp barbs
against the grey and cloud-piles sky
and in the bay
blown spume and windrift
and thin, bitter spray
snap
at the whirling sky;
and the pine trees lean one way.
A wild duck
calls to her mate
and the ragged
and passionate tones
stagger and fall,
and recover,
and stagger and fall,
on these stones –
are lost
in the lapping of water
on the smooth, flat stones.
This is a beauty
of dissonance,
this resonance
of stony strand,
this smoky cry
curled over a black pine
like a broken
and wind-battered branch,
when the wind bends
the tops of the pines,
and curdles the sky
from the north.
This is the beauty
of strength
broken by strength
and still strong.
A.J.M. Smith
It also made me think about Tom Thomson, member of the Group of Seven, a Canadian painter who loved and painted and died in northern Ontario.He’s a Canadian cultural icon for certain sure.I think if you went to school here in the ‘50’s through the ‘70’s, you’d be able to look at a painting and guess by the style it was by Thomson, even if you hadn’t seen it before.Beautiful paintings.A fisherman and canoeist.Thomson’s death adds to his legendary status.He went canoeing in AlgonquinPark one day, and was never seen again.The official verdict was accidental death by drowning, but there have been rumours of arguments and speculation that it was homicide, ever since. That's not what matters, though, the paintings are.
Stan Rogers lived in town with us; his kids went to Montessori with my best friend, Lisa's. He was killed in a plane fire in Cincinnati or someplace. I believe the fire started with some bastard smoking in the can, and he was off the plane and went back in to help the others get off, and died of smoke inhalation.
This is wonderful. I've known it for years -- we had the "Between the Breaks" album as vinyl for a turntable. Tom used to go around singing the chorus to Barrett's Privateers when he was about three: "God damn them all! I was told we'd cruise the seas for American gold. We'd fire no guns; shed no tears. Now I'm a broken man on a Halifax pier, the last of Barrett's Privateers." A little embarrassing sometimes. I’m posting two videos – Barrett’s Privateers, just mentioned.The second is The Mary Ellen Carter, and the beginning of the video is important -- it's not the singer, it's what the song can do to someone. Here's the words:
THE MARY ELLEN CARTER (Stan Rogers)
She went down last October in a pouring driving rain. The skipper, he'd been drinking and the Mate, he felt no pain. Too close to Three Mile Rock, and she was dealt her mortal blow, And the Mary Ellen Carter settled low. There were five of us aboard her when she finally was awash. We'd worked like hell to save her, all heedless of the cost. And the groan she gave as she went down, it caused us to proclaim That the Mary Ellen Carter'd rise again.
Well, the owners wrote her off; not a nickel would they spend. She gave twenty years of service, boys, then met her sorry end. But insurance paid the loss to us, so let her rest below. Then they laughed at us and said we had to go. But we talked of her all winter, some days around the clock, For she's worth a quarter million, afloat and at the dock. And with every jar that hit the bar, we swore we would remain And make the Mary Ellen Carter rise again.
Rise again, rise again, that her name not be lost To the knowledge of men. Those who loved her best and were with her till the end Will make the Mary Ellen Carter rise again.
All spring, now, we've been with her on a barge lent by a friend. Three dives a day in hard hat suit and twice I've had the bends. Thank God it's only sixty feet and the currents here are slow Or I'd never have the strength to go below. But we've patched her rents, stopped her vents, dogged hatch and porthole down. Put cables to her, 'fore and aft and girded her around. Tomorrow, noon, we'll hit the air and then take up the strain. And watch the Mary Ellen Carter Rise Again.
For we couldn't leave her there, you see, to crumble into scale. She'd saved our lives so many times, living through the gale And the laughing, drunken rats who left her to a sorry grave They won't be laughing in another day. . . And you, to whom adversity has dealt the final blow With smiling bastards lying to you everywhere you go Turn to, and put out all your strength of arm and heart and brain And like the Mary Ellen Carter, rise again.
Rise again, rise again - though your heart it be broken And life about to end No matter what you've lost, be it a home, a love, a friend. Like the Mary Ellen Carter, rise again.
Well, trolls, Lambeth, guys who run the red at the last second meaning they’re on the way INTO the crosswalk while you’re crossing through it with the light …We all need a little lightness in our lives.
What we need is The Arrogant Worms!It’s kinda hard to explain The Arrogant Worms, and it’s probably better not to try.You can look at them on Wiki, from which I’ve borrowed this (I think it's SO COOL that the links copy when I do this):
The Worms usually perform the following songs at every show:
"The Last Saskatchewan Pirate" — a ballad about a farmer who takes up piracy on the Saskatchewan River. The song was also covered by Captain Tractor.
"Mounted Animal Nature Trail" — an audience interaction song about a real place [1] on Manitoulin Island: Terry's Taxidermy and Mounted Animal Nature Trail.
"We Are the Beaver" — a tribute song to one of Canada's symbolic animals, the beaver. The song mentions how the peaceful rodent compares to other nations' animals like America's bald eagle, Russia's bear and India's tiger.
"Canada's Really Big" — A satirical national anthem for Canada.
"Log In to You" — a love song using computer network euphemisms for sex.
"Rocks and Trees" — A song describing the distinguishing features of Canada.
"Jesus' Brother Bob" -- A song about Jesus' brother, Bob, who is always in the shadow of his brother. Bob is seen as "A nobody relative to the son of God", and states that "If only I'd been born just a little sooner, I'd be more than just the brother of God junior."
And, there’s a semi-religious quality to what I’m doing here, so I’m picking one of their best songs.I think this can stand as the Canadian Cultural Icon tonight too, since it’s my landlady and landlord’s wedding anniversary today and I’m invited for Shabbos supper, and then I’m going out to drink coffee on an outdoor patio at 10:30.Don’t know when I’ll get another chance.
Three posts in a day!Holy Mackerel!That virus I’ve had must be going.
Sarah McLaughlin is one of my favourite singers.Period.And, I like the songs – her poetry, the music, the way she plays her voice makes me SO jealous.She’s a Canadian Cultural Icon if I ever saw one.The hard part was picking which song to put on the blog.I’ve asked Pagan Sphinx to teach me how to post music files, without all the videos, and then I’ll put more of McLaughlin's music up.Here’s two, cuz she’s special.The first one, "Possession".She had a video released for this in Canada that wasn’t released elsewhere.YouTube told me I couldn’t see one video of the song in this country, and the other had no embedding.This is the one I saw on TV when it was released though.See how many characters you recognize.And the second, I wanted "Ice Cream", cuz it’s just lots of fun.It'll have to wait. You get "In the Arms of an Angel" instead.
Sarah McLachlan has made a career out of putting herself on the line emotionally; fans are repeatedly drawn in to her candor and forthrightness in her lyrics and music, and in her efforts in putting together Lilith Fair, an all-female artist festival which successfully toured North America for three years in a row.
I’m posting the Canadian Cultural Icon now.But you gotta promise that first, you’ll go over to FranIAm and see the electric Jesus pickle.I laughed so hard I got hiccoughs.
I had coffee with Tracy this afternoon.Her Mom had got an infection and spent five days back in hospital, but is home now, and going out for short walks.She brought me two CD’s for my birthday – Joni Mitchell’s Hejira, “for my wanderlust” and Cat Stevens’ Teaser and the Firecat, “for the hippie-girl”.Wanna-be.But I’m allowing myself to indulge that these days.Leaving her, I said, “I have to go decide who’s going to be the Canadian Cultural Icon,” and she said, “Joni Mitchell”.
Of course!One of my favourite songs is on Hejira – “Song for Sharon”.So here it is, with love and gratitude for Tracy, and I know a few others out there who’ll love this too.
We regret to inform you that due to circumstances beyond our control, the Friday night Canadian Cultural Icon will be postponed until Saturday.Wednesday night I slept very badly, for no reason I can think of.Thursday night I went to bed early and woke at 10:30 p.m. with a migraine.I’m fine now, just tired, and I'm posting this when I oughtta be sleeping again.
Go over to Pagan Sphinx’s place and look at the Friday Evening Nudes instead -- it's easy to guess the theme tonight.
Ben Heppner is an extraordinary dramatic tenor.His voice is, well, you’ll get to listen to it.Reviewers say his dramatic talent is excellent, and so are his diction, phrasing and interpretation of his roles.
He’s 52 years old now, and was born on the Canadian west coast, and lived in British Columbia and the Yukon Territory, and studied music at University of British Columbia.He’s just performed Siegried in Aix-en-Provence last week – Siegried as a lumberjack.The production didn’t get a great review, but he did.If you’re out in lumberjack country, he has concert dates in Seattle, Lethbridge, Vancouver, White Horse, Yellowknife and northern Alberta and Saskatchewan from mid-August through mid-October.
Siegried is one of his signature roles, as are Tristan and Lohengrin, but he doesn't confine himself to Wagner.It would have been easy enough to post a video of one of those, and I probably will, some other day.Tonight, you’re getting one of my favourite arias – “Nessun Dorma” from Puccini’s Turandot.Stunning, stunning.If you already like opera, it’s wonderful.If you don’t think you know or like opera,you’ll probably recognize it.If you really don’t think you like opera, well, it’s only three minutes and eight seconds long …And maybe this will change your mind.
Jane Siberry’s my age, almost.She’s got this sweet, sweet voice, and her songs are as lovely and complicated and interesting as they come.She’s kind of a cult hit.
A couple of years ago, she changed her life radically – sold all her stuff, changed her name to Issa, which she says is a female variant on Isaiah.As Kate Morningstar, I know that reaching 50 and changing my life and name, the new choice is intensely personal.
For today, for this post, I’ve put Jane Siberry, because it’s also her choice that the music she recorded when that was her name be sold with that name.
Nobody says the Icon has to be non-fiction.I was over at Ann’s place, reading the RevGalBlogPals’ summer reading meme, and someone mentioned the Anne of Green Gables books.I was at the post office yesterday, and the Anne of Green Gables stamps are out.It’s the 100th anniversary this year of the publication of Anne of Green Gables.How much more of a Canadian Cultural Icon could THAT be?So, you get a twofer today.
Anne, for those of you who don’t know, is an orphan who is adopted by a brother and sister on Prince Edward Island.They had “ordered” a boy from the orphanage, to help with the farm work … and they got Anne Shirley instead.She transformed their lives, and everyone else’s she touched, and they transformed hers.That’s the way it should be.
Marilla was strict with Anne, and Matthew adored her and was shy.Marilla thought that the current fashions in women’s dresses were ridiculous and wasteful, and when everyone else had huge puffed sleeves, Anne’s were plain.
Part of the reason I picked this episode is that it’s about wanting something very badly, and being loved into joy.And part of it is, the woman at the counter in the store, when the shop clerk goes to the window to get the dress for Matthew.I do believe that’s my former sister-in-law – she and my brother-in-law were extras in the show.
There’s a whole lot of ways this could be a Canadian Cultural Icon post.For one thing, there’s Paul Gross – a Canadian actor/director/producer/writer/singer.(That's not an official website, BTW.) He played Constable Benton Fraser in the television program Due South (also unofficial) for four years in the ‘90’s – a tall, gorgeous, polite Mountie (even the Mounties found him awkward to deal with in his honesty and diligence) who was unhappily posted in Chicago to keep him out of the way.He played the lead Sasha/Alex in the movie Getting Married in Buffalo Jump, and wrote, directed and starred as Chris Cutter in Men With Brooms.He will be an icon in his own right pretty soon, probably as Benton Fraser.
There is the Battle of Passchendaele itself.One of the horrific follies of World War I battles.Passchaendale is the town the English called Wipers. This is what Wiki has to say (I’ve taken out the links, except for the one to the article itself – you can go there and follow any you want to):
The 1917Battle of Passchendaele, also known as the Third Battle of Ypres or simply Third Ypres, was one of the major battles of World War I, in which British, ANZAC, Canadian and South African units engaged the Imperial German Army. The battle was fought for control of the village of Passchendaele (Passendale in modern Dutch, now part of the community of Zonnebeke) near the town of Ypres (Ieper in Dutch) in West Flanders, Belgium. The plan was to drive a hole in the German lines, advance to the Belgian coast and capture the German submarine bases there. It was intended to create a decisive corridor in a crucial area of the front, and to take pressure off the French forces. After the Nivelle Offensive the French Army was suffering from extremely low morale, resulting in mutinies and misconduct on a scale that threatened the field-worthiness of entire divisions.
Although the period of the battle saw spells of good weather lasting long enough to dry out the land, Passchendaele has become synonymous with the misery of fighting in thick mud. Most of the battle took place on largely reclaimed marshland, swampy even without rain. The extremely heavy preparatory bombardment by the British tore up the surface of the land, and heavy rain from August onwards produced an impassable terrain of deep "liquid mud", in which an unknown number of soldiers drowned. Even the newly-developed tanks bogged down.
The Germans were well-entrenched, with mutually-supporting pillboxes which the initial bombardment had not destroyed. After three months of fierce fighting the Canadian Corps took Passchendaele on 6 November1917, ending the battle, but in the meantime the Allied Powers had sustained almost half a million casualties and the Germans just over a quarter of a million. The Allies had captured a mere five miles of new front at a cost of 140,000 lives, a ratio of roughly 2 dead soldiers per inch gained.
Compounding this staggeringly Pyrrhic figure was the fact that the area was not even considered particularly valuable from a strategic standpoint; in March 1918--a mere 4 months later--the Allies abandoned to the Germans every inch of territory gained at such cost at Passchendaele in order to free several divisions to cover more strategically valuable terrain during the German Lys Offensive towards Ypres.
Passchendaele was the last gasp of the "one more push" philosophy which posited that the stalemate of attritional trench warfare could be broken by brute offensive action against fixed positions. The massive and tactically meaningless casualty levels--coupled with the horrendous conditions in which the battle was fought--damaged Field-Marshal Haig's reputation and made it emblematic of the horror of industrialised attrition warfare.
This fall, there will be a movie released about the battle.I’m going to that fount of all knowledge, Wikipedia, again:
And now, I’m posting the trailer to the movie.I don’t do a lot of serious stuff here on Fridays – but I’m pretty passionate about the stupidity of warfare in general, and of some specific decisions, made by people who are supposed to know better.This is one.You can all draw a straight line from here to the things that require our attention and prayer in 2008.
Okay – it’s Saturday morning, not Friday night.I went out with friends tonight and saw the 9:20 showing of the Sex and the City movie, which takes two-and-a-half hours.It was Saturday by the time I got home.
Tonight’s Canadian Cultural Icon is Rick Mercer.He’s a political comedian out of Newfoundland.He used to be in a group called CodCo; then most of them started a show called “This Hour Has 22 Minutes” on the CBC.It was a take-off on a news commentary show from the ‘60’s, called “This Hour Has Seven Days”.“22 Minutes” satirizes Canadian life and politics.One of the best segments was Rick Mercer’s Rant.It was so good, he got his own show.It started out as “Rick Mercer’s Monday Report” or RMMR – but now it’s on Tuesdays.
He does more than satire now.There are a lot of different Canadian cultures, and he introduces us to ourselves.In this segment, he’s in Yellowknife, covering the Arctic Winter Games.He doesn’t just show you people doing the sports and cultural activities – they try to teach him how.This is a double-dose of Canadian Cultural stuff tonight – you get the Games and Rick Mercer.
One of the things I really like about living in Canada is that our tax dollars, through the CBC, have always funded really good political satire, and it’s widely heard (on CBC Radio) or viewed.Free speech in action.
Margaret Atwood is certainly a Canadian Cultural Icon.She’s been publishing since the early 1960’s – she has a terrific volume of much-honoured public work.When I was in high school in the early 1970’s, we read Surfacing.When I was in college we read Survival: A Thematic Guide to Canadian Literature and The Edible Woman.Lady Oracle is still one of my favourites, and my sister has every Atwood novel, first edition, hard cover, usually autographed.I’ve been reading poetry this year, and I have Morning in the Burned House and The Door on my bedside table right now.
This is a list, from Wikipedia, of her published novels and books of poetry – there are short stories, anthologies, children’s books and non-fiction also listed.
She’s an activist – a feminist and environmentalist.I tried to find a link to her reading some of her own work – but I found this video instead, and I like it.
This video has all the earmarks of being illegally recorded on a cellphone.The colour and brightness and focus are bad.The sound’s not really great either.The song’s kinda mushy too.
But it’s a totally classic Anne Murray song.One of the best.She has a fabulous voice.She still looks, after all these years, like a phys ed. teacher, in a good way.And face it – if she’d been a phys ed. teacher, she’da been the one you loved.The one you could ASK stuff – even the hard stuff.
This was recorded last month, in Moncton, New Brunswick, which isn’t far from home for Anne.The sound worked a little better for me when I turned it down on the computer, and let the speakers do the work.Enjoy!!!
Just because I’m going away doesn’t mean you don’t get a Friday culture pick.Well, this one’s easy.I really wanted to put “The Canadian Railroad Trilogy” up here, a Gordon Lightfoot epic from the 1960’s.It’s beautiful, and I love it, and I have a kind of love-song attachment to it, which I won’t go into here.It takes a long time though.
And this “Song for a Winter’s Night” is just sweet and lovely.MadPriest has a Send In Your Favourite Love Song thing going on now – this is in my Top Five.Haven’t sent him one yet though.
Song For A Winter's Night Lyrics Artist: Gordon Lightfoot (Buy Gordon Lightfoot CDs) Album: The Way I Feel
The lamp is burnin' low upon my table top The snow is softly falling The air is still within the silence of my room I hear your voice softly calling If I could only have you near To breathe a sigh or two I would be happy just to hold the hands I love Upon this winter night with you
The smoke is rising in the shadows overhead My glass is almost empty I read again between the lines upon each page The words of love you sent me If I could know within my heart That you were lonely too I would be happy just to hold the hands I love Upon this winter night with you
The fire is dying now, my lamp is growing dim The shades of night are liftin' The morning light steals across my windowpane Where webs of snow are driftin' If I could only have you near To breathe a sigh or two I would be happy just to hold the hands I love Upon this winter night with you And to be once again with with you
Tonight’s Cultural Icon is Dr. David Suzuki. He is so much a part of the culture, it’s hard to know what to say about him. I’m going to let the CBC tell you, and show you himself. He is a scientist – trained in genetics. He has become Canada’s most widely recognized environmental activist. He has hosted a television program called “The Nature of Things” for decades on the CBC. One thing I'll tell you is that he’s beloved here. Not by everyone, and the ones who he aggravates are really aggravated. That CBC article is from a series asking people to vote for the Top Ten Canadians -- he made the top ten. He takes a very spiritual approach to environmental initiatives – the video clip here is almost eight minutes long, but do watch all of it. And I’ve linked to another, a Canadian Perspective, that has the embedding disabled. In it, he talks about why his Home has so much more value than the real property he owns.
This is part of the article on the CBC's Top Ten Canadians page -- you can check out the whole thing through the link at the top of the page. Then the video.
In 1990, he founded the David Suzuki Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to finding innovative solutions to help conserve the natural world. Most recently the organization has advocated for Canada to back the implementation of the United Nations Kyoto Protocol on greenhouse gas reduction.
David Suzuki PHOTO: CBC
Suzuki has been awarded numerous recognitions, including a UNESCO prize for science, a United Nations Environment Program medal and an induction as an Officer of the Order of Canada. He has 15 honorary doctorates from universities in Canada, the U.S. and Australia. In addition, Canada's First Nations people have honoured him with five native names and he has been formally adopted by two tribes.
Now retired from teaching, Suzuki has dedicated himself full-time to educating the public about the importance of the natural world. It's a role that places him alongside the likes of Carl Sagan and Jacques Cousteau, and makes him one of the world's most effective ambassadors of science - and our future.
It’s Friday night, so it’s Canadian Cultural Icon time.Honest, I was thinking about going high-culture this time – Margaret Laurence, Margaret Atwood, Ben Heppner – something like that.Then I thought of this, and I couldn’t give it up.It’s a land of ice and snow, and I’ve got ice for you again – this time, the 1997 World Figure Skating Championships in Lausanne, where Elvis Stojko came from fourth place after the short program to win the whole thing, with this.It was the first time a quad-triple jump competition had been landed in competition.
Okay, I know there’s more jargon in that paragraph than in a software manual.Can’t be helped – either you know your culture, or you don’t.
I’m really sorry I couldn’t find a copy of this onYouTube from the CTV television network.Canadian commentators are, by and large, quiet during the skating program, except for, “If he’s going to do the quad, it’s coming up next,” and then, “WOW!”There was a lot of WOW with Elvis.The analysis comes in the replays.This is from ABC and the commentators from the Estados Unidense yak and yak all through skating programs.It’s very distracting – they have that music in skating events because you’re SUPPOSED to be able to hear it …
I’d been thinking about saving this up for a Friday night, to be a cultural icon, cuz Bruce Cockburn is one.But I changed my mind.
Two years ago last month, God got hold of me in a way I’d never felt before.This song became the anthem of my healing.“Had another dream about the lions at the door, and they weren’t so frightening as they were before.And I’m thinking about eternity.Some kind of ecstasy’s got a hold on me.”
It’s not that the lions don’t show up at the door.It’s that I wasn’t so scared of them any more.Eternity.Ecstasy.That’s what I was able to pay attention to.
Tonight, the lions seem to be right outside the door, and I’m not so aware of the ecstasy’s hold on me.I suspect that like the lions, it’s still here – I’m just wonderin’ where it is right now.I’ve asked for help, and now this is my finding expedition.
I sure hope you guys all like Bruce Cockburn, cuz I love him and you’re bound to hear more.Still writing great protest songs, and songs about God, and the poetry of his songs speaks to me.And he does great fingerwork on that guitar.
I realized this week that two Fridays in a row, I’ve given you Canadian cultural icons.That was accidental, but now it’s a tradition.Technically, it’s Saturday, but since I haven’t gone to bed yet ….
I ain’t apologizing for this.In 1966, when Robert Gordon Orr first stepped onto the ice as a Boston Bruin, I was 11 years old.I haven’t fallen out of love since.I don’t watch NHL hockey these days – too many teams and the talent’s spread too thin.(I watch Coach’s Corner when I’m home on Saturday nights though.)
But this – it hadn’t occurred to me to look up Bobby on YouTube before tonight.I watched four separate videos.Watched this one twice. The man was stupendous.There’s a goal at 45 seconds into the video that’s impossible; and a play at about the three-minute mark that would be unbelievable, except he did it all the time.
I can’t believe I watched the breakaways in the videos tonight, sitting at my desk, saying, “Go, Bobby, go!Go!Go!”Like I’d never seen it before.I ain’t apologizing.
I haven’t left you anything new in a week.Quick update – Dad’s home from the hospital; supposed to be seeing a specialist de temps en temps, on restricted fluids, and very low salt.In the hospital last week, I said, “Are you supposed to stay on the low-salt thing when you get home, Dad?”“Supposed to.”“Yeah, that’s what I thought …”I might post what I’ve felt and written, and I’ll warn you in the title – it ain't fun.
But for tonight, I'm tired and need uplifting, so …Everyone, meet Moxy Fruvous and “The King of Spain”.The video quality here’s awful; the audio’s good enough to hear the lyrics.This song was their first single, off the Bargainville album of 1994.
For those of you east of the pond or south of the 49th Parallel, “the Habs” are the Montréal Canadiens, of the NHL.
I’ve just watched Leonard Cohen singing “Hallelujah” his own self over at PJ’s, and I liked it more than I usually like his singing. (Except for “Suzanne”.) So here’s some Leonard Cohen to enjoy in silence.
Beneath my hands your small breasts are the upturned bellies of breathing fallen sparrows.
Wherever you move I hear the sounds of closing wings of falling wings.
I am speechless because you have fallen beside me because your eyelashes are the spines of tiny fragile animals.
I dread the time when your mouth begins to call me hunter.
When you call me close to tell me your body is not beautiful I want to summon the eyes and hidden mouths of stone and light and water to testify against you.
I want them to surrender before you the trembling rhyme of your face from their deep caskets.
When you call me close to tell me your body is not beautiful I want my body and my hands to be pools for your looking and laughing.
I heard of a man who says words so beautifully that if he only speaks their name women give themselves to him.
If I am dumb beside your body while silence blossoms like tumours on our lips. it is because I hear a man climb stairs and clear his throat outside the door.
