I love. . .

. . . to speak with Leonard(o). . .

(from wikipedia.com)
". . . Leonard Norman Cohen is a Canadian singer-songwriter, musician, poet, and novelist. His work often explores religion, isolation, sexuality, and interpersonal relationships. Cohen has been inducted into the American Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and both the Canadian Music Hall of Fame and the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame. He is also a Companion of the Order of Canada, the nation's highest civilian honour.

While giving the speech at Cohen's induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on 10 March 2008, Lou Reed described Cohen as belonging to the "highest and most influential echelon of songwriters."

The critic Bruce Elder wrote an assessment of Cohen's overall career in popular music, writing, "[Cohen is] one of the most fascinating and enigmatic. . .singer/songwriters of the late '60s. . . [and] has retained an audience across four decades of music-making. . . Second only to Bob Dylan (and perhaps Paul Simon) [in terms of influence], he commands the attention of critics and younger musicians more firmly than any other musical figure from the 1960s who is still working at the outset of the 21st century."

The Academy of American Poets has commented more broadly on Cohen's overall career in the arts, including his work as a poet, novelist, and songwriter, stating that "[Cohen's] successful blending of poetry, fiction, and music is made most clear in Stranger Music: Selected Poems and Songs, published in 1993, which gathered more than two hundred of Cohen's poems . . .several novel excerpts, and almost sixty song lyrics. . .While it may seem to some that Leonard Cohen departed from the literary in pursuit of the musical, his fans continue to embrace him as a Renaissance man who straddles the elusive artistic borderlines." . . . "

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From the ridiculous. . .

. . . to the sublime. . .

On August 1st, 2012, Rep. Kelly made a comparison between a woman's right to chose contraception and having it covered by the Affordable Care Act to the attacks of Pearl Harbor and 9/11. Stating that "I know in your mind, you can think of the times America was attacked," he said at a press conference on Capitol Hill. "One is Dec. 7, that's Pearl Harbor Day. The other is Sept. 11, and that's the day the terrorists attacked. I want you to remember Aug. 1, 2012, the attack on our religious freedom. That is a day that will live in infamy, along with those other dates."  (from Wikipedia.com)

Statement by Senator Inouye
in response to Representative Mike Kelly's (R-Pa.) comment linking the birth control mandate to the attack on Pearl Harbor and 9/11 terrorist attacks

Wednesday, August 1, 2012
“I witnessed the attack on Pearl Harbor and had the privilege of serving in the United States Army during World War II and I find the comments made by the Congressman from Pennsylvania to be misguided and insulting.  It is complete nonsense to suggest that a matter discussed, debated, and approved by the Congress and the President is akin to a surprise attack that killed nearly 2,500 people and launched our nation into the second World War or a terrorist attack that left nearly 3,000 dead and led to fighting and dying in Afghanistan and Iraq.  Having fought for this nation in Europe, I find that I have a special kinship with those who served in Afghanistan and Iraq and I routinely visit with the most severely wounded veterans of those conflicts. Just yesterday I met with a brave young man who lost all four of his limbs in Afghanistan.  I hope the Congressman from Pennsylvania has the courage to share his comparison with them,” said Senator Daniel K. Inouye.

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Outlaws. . .

 (from IT'S EVEN WORSE THAN IT LOOKS;  HOW THE AMERICAN CONSTITUTIONAL SYSTEM COLLIDED WITH THE NEW POLITICS OF EXTREMISM by Thomas E. Mann and Norman J. Ornstein)

". . . A new law that flatly outlaws the super PACs would be the best route.  But as  the DISCLOSE Act vote in the 111th Congress shows, passing any campaign reform law without sixty Democrats in the Senate and a Democratic majority in the House is next to impossible.  Also close to impossible would be reform of the FEC or a new set of commissioners, at least as long as Mitch McConnell remains Senate Republican Leader;  he has made it clear that protecting the FEC as it now exists, that is, as a lawless agency, is a top priority for him.  As Public Citizen's Craig Holman has noted, "[McConnell] is really the whole key to the FEC. . . . He realized several years ago that a very effective way to minimize the effect of federal laws is to undermine the regulator."  So absent a recess appointment strategy on the part of the president, the government has to look for other options to provide disclosure and prevent brazen and illegal coordination.  As a first option, the Justice Department could prosecute violations of the coordination bans in cases where the brazen behavior has been most evident.  Justice does not need to wait for the FEC. . . "

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Mama said . . .

. . . there'd be days like this . . . 

. . . and Mama was always right.  Well, at least mostly.

First, well it actually happened Sunday, not today. . . Russ' smart phone fell off the arm of the couch and did the triple back flip dive right into a glass of water. Pretty smart, in my estimation.  Not sure I could have done it.  They don't call it that for nothing.  (Hailey said the sound of the phone hitting the water will live with her for years.) 

He said he bought insurance for it but never heard from the provider about the insurance. Seems they have some kind of bogus email address for him and didn't call, write or otherwise pursue him regarding the insurance.

Then, the new business cards show 396 instead of 369 on the telephone exchange.  And darned if the Office Depot guy didn't have me proofread the card on the screen, in the store, before he pushed the "GO" button, and I missed it.  Matter of fact, it took me about two months to notice it.  Maybe that's why I haven't been getting any new calls!

The bathroom scale has also been behaving less than famously.  We noticed that we both weighed approximately five lbs more than formerly and that we care to. Discussions on purchasing a new scale have been underway for weeks.  We finally made our move and when ‘testing’ various models in the retail outlet we discovered that the most promising one actually adds about ten lbs.  Not a happy development.  Sometimes ignorance is, indeed, bliss.

Last, at the end of the evening as I sat down to write this, add graphics and music and get it ready for posting but remembered Pam said that no incoming email has been received.  I re-booted the router, twice now.  Nothing.  Checked the other hardware for the incoming fiber-optic line and discovered that the BATTERY NEEDS REPLACEMENT.

THE BATTERY NEEDS REPLACEMENT.  At 10:00PM when I want to sit down and relax and use the internet LIKE I DO EVERY NIGHT the BATTERY NEEDS REPLACEMENT.

Well. . . (De Capo Al Fine)

 

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All Eyes . . .

. . . on OHO. . .

Jay Graboski, David Reeve & Ray Jozwiak
(with special guests Lisa Griffee & Matt Graboski)
Friday, August 31, 2012@ 9:00PM On The Patio at
Bread & Circuses Bistro
27 E. Chesapeake Avenue
Towson, MD  21286
410-337-5282
http://bandcbistro.com/

Make your plans now.

Please visit http://www.ohomusic.com
for all things OHO

CLOSE BUT NO CIGAR
(from BRICOLAGE by Oho)
© Copyright-OHO Music (700261236407)
Record Label: OHO Music




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For Now . . .

. . . it may need a little aging. . .

(Just follow the bouncing cursor;  oh yes, you have to make it bounce. . . )

You never want to have to hear a word
From me again
Never want to have to see my face
At your door
If there's so much as the mention of
My name
You can feel an uncontrollable
Fit of pain

I'm the one
That you said
You would love
Til the bitter end

This must really be
This must really be the end
Nothing could be fitter
This must really be
This must really be the end
Make no mistake it's bitter

You never want us to be seen again
In public places
Can't explain it to another friend
How it goes
You say there's torment that you feel inside
From many things
I can tell you that I still don't know
What that means

Long ago
We were friends
Far removed
From this bitter end

This must really be
This must really be the end
Nothing could be fitter
This must really be
This must really be the end
Make no mistake it's bitter

There's no candy coating
To make it go down easier
Not so simple to digest
No bright colors and no
Exotic flavors sweetening
What you see is what you get

You never want to have to hear a word
From me again
Never want to have to see my face
At your door
If there's so much as the mention of
My name
You can feel an uncontrollable
Fit of pain

With one fell
Swoop you sent
Me direct to the bitter end

This must really be
This must really be the end
Nothing could be fitter
This must really be
This must really be the end
Make no mistake it's bitter


The Bitter End
©2003 Raymond M. Jozwiak




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Worse. . .

. . . than it looks?. . . is that possible?. . .

(from It's Even Worse Than It Looks [How the American Constitutional System Collided With The New Politics of Extremism] by Thomas E. Mann and Norman J. Ornstein ©2012 Thomas E. Mann and Norman J. Ornstein)
". . . The Problem is Mismatch
We believe a fundamental problem is the mismatch between parliamentary-style political parties-ideologically polarized, internally unified, vehemently oppositional, and politically strategic-that has emerged in recent years and a separation-of-powers system that makes it extremely difficult for majorities to work their will.  Students of comparative politics have demonstrated that the American policy-making system of checks and balances and separation of powers has more structural impediments to action than an other major democracy.  Now there are additional incentive for obstruction in that policy-making process.  Witness the Republicans' immense electoral success in 2010 after voting in unison against virtually every Obama initiative and priority, and making each vote and enactment contentious and excruciating, followed by major efforts to delegitimize the result. And because of the partisan nature of much of the media and reflexive tendency of many in the mainstream press to use false equivalence to explain outcomes, it becomes much easier for a minority, in this case the Republicans, to use filibusters, holds, and other techniques to obstruct. The status quo bias of the constitutional system becomes magnified under dysfunction and creates a take-no-prisoners political dynamic that gives new meaning to the late Daniel Patrick Moynihan's concept of "defining deviancy down.". . . "

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