"To The Substitute Art Teacher" by Jordan Bolton

The talented illustrator Jordan Bolton (previously here) has released a book of his tender, stunning--and dare I say it, life-changing--pieces called "Blue Sky Through The Window Of A Moving Car." Here is "To The Substitute Art Teacher." Beauty can be found anywhere, and everywhere.

You can buy his book here.
Visit his Instagram page to see more.
https://www.instagram.com/jordanboltondesign

Happy Thanksgiving 2024!

Once again, we find ourselves approaching a holiday season with uncertainty in our nation and indeed, the world. Such challenges make us look to what we have in our own lives, close to us, and cherish those people, things, and places even more. On this holiday of gratitude, let's give thanks for the things that make us good, strong, honorable, and loving human beings. Let's give thanks to the people who bring light and calm and love to our lives and to the world. Let's give thanks for the generous actions and goodwill in our lives--whether done by others or ourselves--that strengthen the fabric of humanism and the choices to unite, protect, and find value in this existence, and which can combat the turbulence, pain, uncertainty, and darkness. Hold dear these things and live up to these ideals for which we are grateful. Let's find value in ourselves and others, and express this gratitude in our intentions, deeds, and words. Let's be grateful for the value of the human experience, love, and life itself.

Floral arrangement and table setting by Holly Chapple

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Thanks, Jesus 2024

As we eat our Thanksgiving meal, let us thank not an imaginary figure in the sky but those who are TRULY responsible--migratory agricultural workers--for helping to bring our food to our tables, through their numbingly long days of low-wage, backbreaking work.

"Window" by The Weather Station

This beautiful new song, "Window" by The Weather Station is chasing me, catching me. It is swirling, moaning, quietly urgent...

My heart is racing as a window opens somewhere to let me out. Streaming down the windowpane, some cold metaphorical literal rain - I’m in physical pain, visceral shame breaks for a second and I can see out again. Outside the street just looks like a painting - what am I doing standing dizzy on my own landing - a change of clothes hastily packed and the key to some apartment cold in my hand - and I know - my heart is racing as a window opens somewhere to let me out - to let me in. To somewhere I already was, softly there in the margins of this so-called love - I touch the edge of it - just a glimpse of it - my own life I guess - streaming wild like a ribbon in the wind, unruly, static, this noise within this must-do can’t-say kind of feeling. I can’t explain right now - just that I’m leaving this time. My heart is racing as a window opens somewhere to let me out.

https://www.theweatherstation.net/

BEAUTY: Watercolor Illustration--Joanna Blémont

Artist Joanna Blémont is an illustrator in Edinburgh who creates extraordinary watercolors of haunting narratives...vast empty places, the passage of time, and lone figures. Their simplicity is arresting.

Prints of her work are available at her shop through her website!
https://joannablemont.com/

BEAUTY: Clothing--Moncler x Jil Sander (Lucie and Luke Meier)

Wow, look at this collection created by Jil Sander creative directors Lucie and Luke Meier for the venerable skiwear/winter outerwear brand Moncler's City of Genius project. Such simple, monastic beauty certainly fits the winter season.

https://www.moncler.com/
https://www.jilsander.com/

"People Watching" by Sam Fender

Sam Fender is a wonderfully sensitive songwriter, evidenced by his intense, breakthrough song "Dead Boys" previously here. He continues his oeuvre with this new track, "People Watching": powerful music that reminds me a bit of The War On Drugs, but with raw, touching lyrics...I love that combination.

https://www.samfender.com/

"Like The End" by James Blake

As I posted the other day, Bertolt Brecht wrote, "In the dark times/Will there also be singing?/Yes, there will also be singing./About the dark times."

So James Blake has given us a mirror called "Like The End" which I was going to post on Inauguration Day but, well, hey, it's already here...and not just the incoming Empire of Darkness, but the whole she-bang, the floods, the fires, the viciousness, the vitriol, the apathy, the tornadoes, the hurricanes, the willful ignorance, the rabid zealotry, the scams, the greed, the famines, the targeted destruction, the sanctioned crimes, the abdication of justice, the fetishization of force, the mass shootings, the self-medicating numbing. He's just giving the facts.

As I separate my cardboard
Set my tax aside to fund another war
My spirit wakes up asking
If we're spending what we can't afford

Would you come home
If you didn't recognise it?
Home's tryna be America
They just don't advertise it

But doesn't it feel like the end?
Something's coming for us
And maybe we're not prepared
That this might only be day one
But doesn't it feel like the end?
Something's coming for us
I think we're not prepared
That this might only be day one

Thinking of ourselves, we are divided
But if you fly your flag, they'll weaponise it
Doesn't it feel like the end?
When we can't even agree on what was said

Would you come home
If you didn't recognise it?
Home's tryna be America
They just don't advertise it

But doesn't it feel like the end?
Something's coming for us
And maybe we're not prepared
That this might only be day one
But doesn't it feel like the end?

Something's coming for us
I think we're not prepared
That this might only be day one

https://www.jamesblakemusic.com/

"Heaven Up There" by Palace

"Heaven Up There" by Palace. One more chance to hug, to say I love you, to say goodbye...just one more.

 

Well the night is gone

And the shadows clear

When I hear my song

Will the grave be near?

See what you want

But I'm the rising tide

I'm no force of god

I'm a thousand lives

I take what I want

'Cause I'm the frightening sky

I'm a selfish man

Designed to die

But is it heaven up there?

Is it heaven up there?

Is it heaven up there?

'Cause it's hell down here

Believe in existence spent

To separate us from them

To know that your blood runs thin

Is to live with the truth within

So scrape up the bruise I wear

And eradicate all my fears

Prepare me to walk these stairs

I don't know where my future is

I don't know where my future is

Is it heaven up there?

Is it heaven up there?

Is it heaven up there?

Is it heaven up there?

Say I've been blind

For the use of my time

Wanna be a better man

On the ground that I stand

There's something out there

Just know that I've cared

Do this side by side

Motion with the tide

Ooh ooh ooh Ooh ooh ooh

Is it heaven up there?

Is it heaven up there?

Is it heaven up there?

'Cause it's hell down here

Yes, it's hell down here

Is this heaven up there?

I know there's heaven up there

I know there's heaven up there

'Cause there's heaven up there

https://www.wearepalace.com/

Happy birthday mom. Is it heaven up there?

The Shot That Was Heard Around The World

Today, sixty-one years ago, a man was shot in Dallas, Texas, at 12:30 P.M.

All day
Hiding from the sun
Waiting for the golden one
Waiting for your fame
After the parade has gone

Outside was a happy place
Every face had a smile like the golden face
For a second
Your knuckles white as your fingers curled
The shot that was heard around the world
For a second

It took seconds of your time to take his life
It took seconds

Seconds

For a second

https://www.jfklibrary.org/
https://www.thehumanleague.co.uk/

I Miss My Mom

Take one if you miss your mom too.

"Rhubarb Orc. 19.53 Rev" by Aphex Twin

There is an interesting story to this Aphex Twin (the nom de musique of electronic musician Richard James) track, "Rhubarb Orc. 19.53 Rev" which was recently released on the Aphex Twin retrospective album "Selected Ambient Works Vol. II (Expanded Edition)." It was originally performed live at the Barbican in London in 2012 as part of an experiment James called The Remote Orchestra: a 48-piece orchestra and a 24 person choir all wearing wireless headphones took sound and visual cues (colored bars displayed on a large monitor overhead) to sing or play certain notes and in certain styles or volumes from James working on a laptop computer backstage. In effect, he turned the orchestra and choir into a sort of electronic instrument he could play by clicking on his software.

The track has been reworked and is presented here in reverse, which recalls something Brian Eno might have done. The idea that ambient music is holistic, meaning one can take any small section and have it represent the whole, is apparent here. It does not matter if the track is heard as it was recorded or played backward. The cumulative sense is the same.

But what is truly touching are the liner notes from "Selected Ambient Works II (Expanded Edition)" about this track:

Rhubarb notes:
My mum gave me so much love, dedicated her life to me, filled me to the brim with confidence and somehow managed to be a nurse at the same time. That love she gave can now be felt by millions of people all over the world and beyond through this music.
Thanks for everything Lorna James!
I watched both my mum and dad die in front of me recently, was so very grateful to have been able to be with them then, as scary as it was to see. She was cracking jokes hours before she left, even though she was in a lot of pain, she told the awkward doctor on the last day, 'I should be shot, put down', she was very funny. I opened the lovely french doors to the room she was in on the last morning, it was sunny and she said, 'ah that beautiful Champagne air', will remember that til I die.
I still meet them in my dreams regularly and have relaxing normal chats about nothing in particular, I'm going to see if all three of us can listen to this track next time we meet up.
Richard D. James, June 2024

Considering I am between the anniversaries of my own parents' deaths, I am very moved by the story, his notes, and certainly the heavenly music.

https://aphextwin.warp.net/

I Miss My Dad

Take one if you miss your dad too.

Hunter's Moon

"Magnetic" by Tunde Adebimpe

I like TV On The Radio and therefore, Tunde Adebimpe. Especially his new song "Magnetic." And damn, he looks particularly sexy here...

https://www.instagram.com/tadebimpe

"Motto" by Bertolt Brecht

Motto

In the dark times,
Will there also be singing?
Yes, there will also be singing.
About the dark times.

--Bertolt Brecht

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bertolt_Brecht

Veteran's Day 2024

"Regardless of feelings on conflicts past or present or military action in general, it is best to understand that the men and women who are or have been in the Armed Forces do not choose their wars, but they do their work no matter what the cost."

"I hate war as only a soldier who has lived it can, only as one who has seen its brutality, its futility, its stupidity."
--Dwight D. Eisenhower, Address before the Canadian Club, Ottawa, Canada, 1/10/46

I want to honor two of my own relatives, veterans of two world wars, who fought Fascism...one died in World War I and the other fought valiantly in World War II. I am sure my relatives are rolling in their graves, after fighting and dying to make sure that Fascism did not spread around the world and to the United States. That was a time when Republicans thought Fascism was a bad thing, unlike today when they--and the in-coming administration--support dangerous regimes in Russia and others around the world. I know both of my relatives (one of them an Italian immigrant), if they were alive now, would be appalled and outraged that Fascism is being institutionalized by the Republican party, and welcomed and encouraged by its supporters. My relatives died so the very thing that is happening now, wouldn't. And it makes me infinitely sad and frustrated that these men seemingly died for nothing...and that segments of the population of this country support the kind of nationalism, totalitarianism, disdain for facts and humanity, and suppression that are the hallmarks of Fascism.

Word Of The Day

https://www.instagram.com/susiedent

"Sonder: The Realization That Everyone Has A Story" by John Koenig

Last year I posted about the marvelous John Koenig, author of THE DICTIONARY OF OBSCURE SORROWS, a book of neologisms to express new terms for subtle emotions. One of his words in particular, was meaningful to me.

sonder - n. the realization that each random passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as your own.

Koenig made a short video to illustrate the concept of this word and it is lovely and moving.

There are more video illustrations of his words at his Youtube channel.

"Sonder" reminds me of the incredible, life-changing film "Wings of Desire" (previously here) by auteur Wim Wenders. When I first saw this film in 1987, I was literally awestruck and truly emotionally devastated by its scope of humanity and the clear presence of the "animus mundi" in the story. For the first nearly ten or fifteen minutes, we follow a pair of angels as they listen in on the voice of humanity itself, going from person to person, hearing thoughts of love, pettiness, despair, hope, regret, and forgiveness from men, women, young and old. I wept openly through that stunning and powerful opening sequence, overwhelmed by the force of so much existence, so much life, so much sorrow and so much joy (listening in, through an angel, to the thoughts of a dying motorcyclist who has just been in an auto accident is heart-rending). And by extension, not just now, but in the past and the time humanity has left.

https://www.dictionaryofobscuresorrows.com/

"Mad World" x 3

The original is absolutely sublime...

...but there have been some lovely covers.

https://tearsforfears.com/
https://www.garyjules.com/
https://linktr.ee/flosomusic

Time To Save The Country

"We can disagree and still love each other, unless..."

This seems like a good time to repost this:

Here We Are Again

Hello, readers. I have started to write this post several times already, approaching it from different angles each time: talking about resisting, talking about disappoinment, using humorous images to address looming dystopia, posting a list of rules on How To Survive An Authoritarian Regime, but none of it seemed right. None of it captured the entirety of the swirl of conflicting thoughts and emotions I am sure all of us are feeling. So I just want to say two things:

I still believe in everything I did before last night, with even more conviction. For whatever the next administration has in store for us, I intend to be a grain of sand in the eye of heaven, which will manifest itself against them in many ways.

Just like the last time we did this, living well is the best revenge. I re-dedicate myself to beauty in all its forms. The arts are a healing balm and they come to our aid in distressing times. I pledge to continue to live my life, and turn the volume up a bit. They don't get my liberal tears...they get my liberal self.

We are not going away.

VOTE HARRIS 2024!

http://kamalaharris.com

VOTE HARRIS-WALZ 2024!

https://kamalaharris.com/

VOTER PROTECTION HOTLINE NUMBERS!

Do not tolerate anyone intimidating or harassing you or anyone you know at a voting location. Phone one of these numbers immediately.

VOTE 2024!

"American history is a record of small groups of people who keep remaking this country over and over, and who reveal to us all that the perpetual remaking is the greatest statement of fidelity to our creed and our national purpose, which is not to be like Russia, white and stagnant and oligarchic, or like China, monoethnic and authoritarian and centralized, but to be more like America, hybrid and dynamic and democratic and free to be remade."
--Author and activist Eric Liu

And please, for the love of democracy and our country itself,
VOTE DEMOCRAT!

"If You're Out There..." VOTE TOMORROW 2024!

I want to believe that you're out there, I want to believe that the United States still believes in the principles of humanism, dignity, fairness, actual democracy, liberalism and its promise of progress toward a better future. If you're out there, please vote tomorrow (if you haven't already voted by mail or by early voting) and PLEASE vote Democrat to defeat the rise of Nationalism and Fascism.

If you hear this message, wherever you stand
I'm calling every woman, calling every man
We're the generation
We can't afford to wait
The future started yesterday and we're already late

We've been looking for a song to sing
Searched for a melody
Searched for someone to lead
We've been looking for the world to change
If you feel the same
Then go on and say

If you're out there
Sing along with me
If you're out there
I'm dying to believe that you're out there
Stand up and say it loud
If you're out there
Tomorrow's starting now
Now, now

No more broken promises
No more call to war
Unless it's love and peace that we're really fighting for
We can destroy hunger
We can conquer hate
Put down the arms and raise your voice
We're joining hands today

Oh I was looking for a song to sing
I searched for a leader
But the leader was me
We were looking for the world to change
We can be heroes
Just go on and say
If you're out there
Sing along with me
If you're out there
I'm dying to believe that you're out there
Stand up and say it loud
If you're out there
Tomorrow's starting now
Now, now

Oh now, now

If you're ready we can shake the world
Believe again
It starts within
We don't have to wait for destiny
We should be the change that we want to see

If you're out there
If you're out there
And you're ready now
Say it loud
Scream it out
If you're out there
Sing along with me
If you're out there
I'm dying to believe that you're out there
Stand up and say it loud
If you're out there
Tomorrow's starting now
If you're out there
If you're out there
If you're out there

If you hear this message, wherever you stand
I'm calling every woman, calling every man
We're the generation
We can't afford to wait
The future started yesterday and we're already late

https://democrats.org/
https://www.johnlegend.com

Why Your Vote Matters: "Against Nihilism: The Power of Government Policies" by David Leonhardt

Your vote matters. Because our government matters. And it can accomplish wonderful things. Yes, the personal is political and vice versa. This wonderful article from The New York Times' The Morning newsletter by David Leonhardt shows that leaders with a To Do List can actually make a difference in the lives of United States citizens.

"The Power of Government Policies: Against nihilism"

The New York Times
The Morning
October 17, 2024
By David Leonhardt

We live in a time of cynicism about what government can accomplish. Most Americans say they don’t have much trust in Washington, regardless of which party is in charge. Even when the federal government sets out to do something that Americans support, many wonder whether it can succeed.

In today’s newsletter, I want to connect four news stories from the past few years and argue that this cynicism has gone too far — that government can indeed accomplish what it promises. I recognize some readers will support the policies I describe, while others will oppose them. But that’s OK. I’m not trying to persuade you that these policies are good or bad.

The point instead is that the U.S. federal government remains a powerful force that can alter the course of American life. The country has the capacity to address its biggest problems. Whether it does is a different matter.

1. The Covid vaccine
The pandemic was so miserable and divisive that it can be easy to overlook the triumph of the federal government’s vaccine development. Before Covid, the creation of any new vaccine took years. But Operation Warp Speed — a public-private partnership that received $18 billion in federal funding — led to the discovery of a Covid vaccine within months. That speed likely saved millions of lives worldwide.

Yes, the pandemic was also a case study of government failure. Republican politicians (including Donald Trump, who deserves some credit for Warp Speed) refused to embrace the vaccines, leading to hesitancy that cost lives. And many Democratic-run school districts shut down for a year or longer, causing lasting damage to children.

All of this, though, was a reminder of the power of government, for good and ill.

2. Immigration
In the debate over immigration, you sometimes hear the suggestion that the U.S. is powerless to change migration flows. “Border Enforcement Won’t Solve the U.S. Migrant Crisis,” as a typical op-ed argued in 2022. One way or another, according to this argument, people will find ways to enter the U.S.

But that argument is mostly wrong, as the past four years show.

President Biden took office promising a more welcoming approach to immigration than any president in decades. Sure enough, immigration surged. During the first three years of Biden’s administration, annual net immigration (the number of people arriving, regardless of legal status, minus the number of immigrants leaving) averaged 2.4 million, according to the Congressional Budget Office. That’s about three times as high as during Trump’s presidency. It’s more than twice as high as under Barack Obama.

Late last year, Biden changed course. The administration first worked with Mexico to reduce migration flows and then tightened border policies, as my colleague Hamed Aleaziz has explained. Almost as quickly as immigration spiked in 2021, it has fallen in 2024:

A restrictive approach to border security won’t keep out everybody, but it makes a huge difference. Many experts believe that the ideal immigration system would involve both a more secure border and more legal pathways to entry. That combination is well within Congress’s power.

3. Economic policy
Biden’s economic record is obviously mixed. But he made a set of specific promises about using the federal government to rebuild infrastructure, reduce medical costs, promote clean energy and expand certain kinds of manufacturing. In each of these cases, it’s happening.

New semiconductor factories are being built in Arizona, Missouri, Texas and elsewhere. Roads and bridges are being rebuilt. The cost of insulin has plunged for many people. Clean energy production has increased.

Biden’s industrial policy has been a reminder of the vital role that the federal government has historically played in creating industries like aviation, biotechnology, fracking and the internet.

4. Taxes
As with immigration, you sometimes hear the claim that federal laws don’t much matter — and particularly that the wealthy can find ways to avoid any tax increases. That’s not correct.

After Obama raised taxes on wealthy Americans, they paid more in taxes. After Bill Clinton raised income taxes at the start of his presidency, the same thing happened. And after Clinton later cut capital-gains taxes, tax payments fell.

If Democrats control both the White House and Congress next year, they really will be able to increase taxes on the rich. And if Republicans sweep into power, they will cut taxes on the rich.

The bottom line: The fact that governments remain powerful forces even in a globalized, digitized economy doesn’t answer many of the hard questions about what policymakers should do, of course. But it at least offers an antidote to the nihilism that sometimes dominates political debates.

Link to original article:
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/17/briefing/taxes-immigration-economy.html

THIS HORRIFYING FUTURE CAN BE STOPPED

This possibility is making me sick to my stomach. PLEASE VOTE.
AND PLEASE VOTE FOR HARRIS/WALZ TO STOP WHAT YOU SEE IN THE VIDEO ABOVE, TO STOP PROJECT 2025 FROM HAPPENING.

THIS IS NOT A RUN-OF-THE-MILL ELECTION, THIS IS AN EMERGENCY.

VOTE 2024!

Daniel Pelavin bases his VOTE art on popular logos, to catch your eye. Please vote.

PLEASE VOTE BLUE DOWN THE TICKET!

https://www.instagram.com/dpelavin/