globalnook

In Memory of Edwin Arlington Robinson (1869-1935)

      "So on we worked, and waited for the light,
      And went without meat, and cursed the bread;
      And Richard Cory, one calm summer night,
      Went home and put a bullet through his head."

                                                         From "Richard Cory"

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Bob Marley Did Not Invent Reggae!

    My grandson says Bob Marley is the end all and be all of Reggae. He says with songs like “No Woman, No Cry”, “Redemption Song” and “Jammin’, there is no other Reggae and the subject was closed.

    “That’s like saying Elvis invented rock and roll,” I protested. “Elvis the pelvis merely only built upon the music that went before him. All of human history is the result of each new generation extending the previous generation. Marley didn’t invent Reggae just like Elvis didn’t invent rock and roll.”

    He looked at me as if I were full of crap.

    “Bob Marley was only great because he built upon the works of Jimmy Cliff, the Melodians, Desmond Dekker, Scotty and especially Toots and the Maytals,” I continued. “Any creative person can only built upon the foundations they were laid for him.”

    My grandson started shaking his head and laughing with self-righteousness.

    “You think your generation in the be all and end all of human history,” I said.

    The minute I said that I knew that statement was all TOO true because I just like him when I was his age.

    He smiled and gave me one of those "I-love-you- but- you're wrong!" looks.

    With that, I popped Jimmy Cliff’s “Harder They Come” into the CD player.

    We listened to “Rivers of Babylon”, “Sitting in Limbo”, "Many Rivers to Cross” and “Pull the Brakes”.  As we listened, I explained how the various combinations of voice and music, rhythm, harmony and melody compared to songs like “Redemption Song”, “I Shot the Sheriff”, "No Woman, No Cry" and “Jammin'”.

    ‘That’s some good Reggae,” he said when I finally took out the CD.

    I continued by diatribe.

    “Sir Isaac Newton once said: ’I have stood on the shoulders of giants…’ meaning he was who he was because he had built upon the works of Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo and others. In later years, Einstein would stand on the shoulders of Newton and all of the others who went before him. It’s like Socrates, Plato, Aristotle and Alexander the Great. Each one’s greatest is measured by how much he built upon the works of his predecessor.”

     He looked at me and didn’t say anything at first.

     “I don’t know much about Aristotle…” he replied apologetically.

     There was a dead silence between us.

    After a while, he looked over thoughtfully at me and said: ”Who did you say the other guy was?”

    “What guy?”

     “Cliff…,” he said. “The guy that Bob Marley built on….”

     “Jimmy Cliff!” I replied quickly.

     He looked at me curiously and didn’t say anything.

     Maybe he learned something after all!

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In Memory of Edgar Allen Poe (1809-1849)

For the moon never beams without bringing me dreams
         Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And the stars never rise but I feel the bright eyes
         Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;

                                                    From "Annabel Lee"

                                                                ******

Tebow Deserved Another Heisman!

   Sports has a truth to it which reason cannot imagine.

   Men spend their lives trying to discover truth and the nature of reality, but sports produces a blunt cold truth which extends beyond human reason. It proves superiority in the most majestic, truly irrefutable manner.

    Never has superiority been demonstrated more convincingly than Tim Tebow’s performance during last week’s Florida/Oklahoma game.

    Since we know that football is an art form which human beings have created to release their aggressions, modern college football is a civilized form of war. Human beings can release their aggressions without killing one another.

    If football is war, then Tim Tebow is Achilles. He has proven his true mastery of football against his toughest opponents over the past two years

    But the Heisman committee didn’t think so.

    They didn’t want Tebow hogging the spotlight two years in a row. They needed some fresh blood. After all, Tebow set a precedent last year when he won the Heisman as a sophomore. The Heisman folks decided:”Wasn’t that enough? Who does this guy think he is?”

    Not that Sam Bradford is not a great quarterback and a great football player. It’s just that, if the Heisman trophy pretends to select the best college football player in the land, then it should go to the BEST.

    Last Thursday night, Tebow led his troops to a resounding victory over the Heisman winner and his fellow soldiers.

    The Heisman Committee didn’t believe—or didn’t want to believe—just how good Tebow is.

    Of course, it’s pretty stupid for the Heisman committee to pick the winner before the season ends. It’s like critiquing an actor for his performance before the play has ended.

    In this case, TRUE greatness went unrecognized and the Heisman committee missed the boat.

    Let’s see what happens in 2009!

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Palin Missed It on Caroline!

     Sarah Palin said yesterday that the press has been softer on Caroline Kennedy than they were on her during her recent vice presidential campaign because Caroline is from another social class.

     I thought Sarah Palin was smarter than that.

     The reason why the press is softer on Caroline than they were on Palin is because Caroline is a Democrat!

     It has nothing to do with social standing.

     The biological nature of the press is intrinsically liberal. The last presidential election proved the liberal bias of the main-stream media like no other time in American history.

      The mainstream-media--newspapers, television and internet outlets--were the biggest promoters that Obama had.

      With innuendo, half-truths and interesting lies, they made it possible for Obama to win the election.

      Palin represents the party of Nixon and Reagan and the Bushes.

      Deep in their hearts, the liberal press considers those three administrations to be their mortal enemy.

      So, Sarah dear, don’t be glossing over the truth with feminine nicety.

      The press is easier on Caroline because she is a member of the Kennedy dynasty.

      That dynasty has always been deeply democratic.

       The press is not going to severely demean the candidates who represent their personal agenda.

      As you witnessed during the recent presidential campaign, they went after you and  like ravenous dogs after a frightened rabbit. All of your personal problems—real and imagined—made major headlines across the world as a result of the press’s quiet promotion of the Democratic candidate.

      Not only did major announcers like snotty Charles Gibson and his fat, half-sister Katie Couric go out of their way to embarrass her publicly and make you look stupid (which you aren’t), but they launched a personal attack which was tabloidesque in nature.

      They were going to destroy John McCain and his presidential bid no matter what it took.

      And they succeeded.

      So don’t dare imagine they would ever treat Caroline the way they treated you.

      She’s sacred. She represents their personal political agenda and they would NEVER launch the personal attacks on her they spewed forth on you.

       Never have!!

       Never will!!

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