Random Thinking

Mikey turned 12 on April 11th. We had a party at Michel’s sister, Eileen’s house on Easter Sunday. Mikey was pretty good and enjoyed playing with his cousins. I can’t believe that Mikey is in his last year before turning into a teenager. He still seems like my little boy.

The weather has quickly heated up here into the 80′s and the trees are blooming with flowers before they show off their summer leaves. Only six weeks ago we had 8 inches of snow.

The maple trees are full of yellow flowers.

And so is the ground under them.

I used to have a stair on our deck but it was poorly made and didn’t last too long. Even though the deck is less than a foot and a half high, for Michel with her spine problems it was very difficult to get up and down. (And for our old, obese cocker spaniel, it wasn’t possible.) So I took the challenge and made a stair and hand rail for the deck this past weekend. After I took these picture I power washed the deck with my sister-in-laws power washer (I only borrowed it about a year ago) and the deck looks brand new. A couple of boards need to be replaced so I’ll do that this week. The next job is to put a railing around the deck and then paint it gray.

I’m not a handyman so please no comments about how you can look at the pictures and see how I did this or that wrong. I know it isn’t perfect but for me it is a pretty good accomplishment.

And besides all this work in the 80 degree weather with the blazing sunshine (did I mention I got a sun burn) I also made a huge pan of baked ziti for Beth. I would say this was a darn good weekend.

The National Day of Silence is a day for students to brings attention to the name-calling, bullying and harassment in schools against lesbian, gay bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) students. During this day, participants do not speak during school hours. This year the Day of Silence occurred during the week Beth’s school was on vacation so the day was moved to last week at her school. Beth is a strong believer in equal rights for all so she is a member of the Strides club which promotes tolerance among students and of course she participated in the Day of Silence. Here is the card that Beth was giving out to anyone who tried to speak to her during the day.

Please understand my reasons for not speaking today. I am participating in the Day of Silence (DOS), a national youth movement bringing attention to the silence faced by lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people and their allies. My deliberate silence echoes that silence, which is caused by anti-LGBT bullying, name-calling, and harassment. I believe that ending the silence is the first step toward building awareness and making a commitment to address these injustices. Think about the voices you are not hearing today.

I am very proud of you Beth!

On a related note: Same-sex couples began applying for marriage licenses at government offices across Iowa today and the first couple has tied the knot in a ceremony in Des Moines.

Time again for the song of the week from my iPod. This week I am letting Mikey pick the song. Mikey is a huge fan of punk and loves The Ramones and The Clash.

The Clash was the greatest and most talented punk rock group ever. The Clash consisted of Joe Strummer (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Mick Jones (lead guitar, vocals), Paul Simonon (bass, backing vocals, occasional lead vocals) and Nicky “Topper” Headon (drums, percussion). Joe Strummer died in 2002 from an undiagnosed congenital heart defect. The group lasted 10 years, from 1976 until 1986 but their prime years were from 1977 until 1983 when they released the albums London Calling, Sandinista!, and Combat Rock. Their music was a brilliant combination of punk rock, reggae, ska, dub, funk, rap and rockabilly.

The “Only Band That Matters” was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003. Rolling Stone ranked The Clash number 30 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. They ranked “London Calling” at number 15 on the list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

The song, Should I Stay or Should I Go was from the album Combat Rock which was released in 1982. The album spent 61 weeks on the Billboard charts reaching #7 and was certified platinum. The song is the only song by The Clash to reach #1 on the charts. It became #1 almost ten years after it was originally released when it was re-released in combination with an ad for Levi jeans. The backing vocals are in Ecuadorean Spanish because at the last minute Joe Strummer decided to sing the backing vocals in Spanish and the translator was the mother of one of the technicians who happened to be from Ecuador.

Michel and I (and Michel’s brother Jimmy) saw The Clash at Shea Stadium in NYC in October of 1982 (I told you I am old) in what was possibly the greatest concert of all time. The Clash were the warm up group for The Who that night and they put on an amazing concert. 26 years later, a live CD of The Clash’s performance from that night has been released. Click on the album cover above to get it from Amazon.

Should I Stay or Should I Go
Darling you gotta let me know
Should I stay or should I go?
If you say that you are mine
Ill be here til the end of time
So you got to let know
Should I stay or should I go?

Always tease tease tease
Siempre – coqetiando y enganyando
Youre happy when I’m on my knees
Me arrodilla y estas feliz
One day is fine, next is black
Un dias bien el otro negro
So if you want me off your back
Al rededar en tu espalda
Well come on and let me know
Me tienes que desir
Should I stay or should I go?
Me debo ir o que darme

Should I stay or should I go now?
Should I stay or should I go now?
If I go there will be trouble
An if I stay it will be double
So come on and let me know

This indecisions bugging me
Esta undecision me molesta
If you dont want me, set me free
Si no me quieres, librame
Exactly whom Im supposed to be
Diga me que tengo ser
Dont you know which clothes even fit me?
saves que robas me querda?
Come on and let me know
Me tienes que desir
Should I cool it or should I blow?
me debo ir o quedarme?

Should I stay or should I go now?
yo me frio o lo sophlo?
If I go there will be trouble
Si me voi – va ver peligro
And if I stay it will be double
Si me quedo es doble
So you gotta let me know
Me tienes que decir
Should I stay or should I go?
yo me frio o lo sophlo?

The Day Wall Street Exploded
A Story of America in its First Age of Terror
by Beverly Gage

Very few people recall the event. Even many of those who every day pass the pock marked wall on Wall Street have no idea what happened there on September 16, 1920. That day a horse drawn wagon full of dynamite exploded outside the J.P. Morgan building, killing 39 people and injuring hundreds, many very seriously. Until the Oklahoma City bombing, it was the deadliest terrorist bombing on American soil.

Who committed this terrible deed? Was it an accident, a wagon transporting dynamite where it wasn’t supposed to be? Or was it labor anarchists, protesting the brutal arrest of many of their brothers including Sacco and Vanzetti? Or was it communists trying to stir up anti-labor feeling in the US after their recent success in Russia? Beverly Gage starts by taking us to the Haymarket riot of the 1880′s and leading us through the successes and failures including the violence of the anarchist labor movement. With World War I and Woodrow Wilson’s anti-sedition laws, many in the labor movement found themselves in prison and those on the outside became more inflamed by the anti-union position of the Federal government. Were they the ones who placed the bomb on Wall Street?

Next, Gage takes us through the investigation and describes perhaps the most inept attempt at solving a crime ever attempted by the Federal government. The predecessor to the FBI was assigned the task and two directors found themselves out of jobs, not because of their failure to solve the crime, but because of the embarrassing way they failed to solve it. Only a few short years after the bombing, with the Roaring 20′s in full bloom, the bombing became a thing of the past and the investigation was never concluded.

Gage makes some interesting points about how the government used the fear after the bombing to ignore civil rights and jail suspects secretly and without trials that can perhaps be tied to more recent history. But she avoids the mistake of trying to tie 1920 to 1995 or 2001. Each of these bombings has its own history and its own cause. Gage does a brilliant job of discussing the bombing and the history of the suspects, especially the US labor movement, as well as the investigation that became a wasted effort of forcing the evidence to fit preconceived notions. This is an excellent book about a mostly forgotten piece of American history that is well worth reading.

Time again for the song of the week from my iPod:

Patent Pending is an American pop punk band from Mt. Sinai, New York that formed in 2001. Although the band has done extensive touring including Bamboozle and the Warped Tour, they have had little commercial success. The members of the band are, Michael Ragosta (lead vocals), Joe Ragosta (guitar and vocals), Marc Kantor (guitar), Anthony Mingoia (drums), and Jason Beiner (bass). The group has had several other members who have left mostly to start careers in other fields. Beth was supposed to see the group at the Crazy Donkey recently but it didn’t work out.

The song, Decemberween is from their album “Don’t Quit Your Day Job” which came out in 2004.

Decemberween
It’s a long long way to December.
I’ll never even close my eyes,
won’t let you take me by surprise. noooo
I’ll leave no pages left unturned
I’ll leave no candles left unburned,
I’m gonna keep you by my side.
Please don’t fade away

these lonely nights seem lonelier without you
and if you fade away these summer days
will never be the same
Jack be nimble Jack be quick
Please stop the car
I’m feeling sick
and i won’t make this trip without you
I’ve come a long long way from home
I’ve come a long long way for you
and I’m not leaving here alone

I know that you dont like too
but if you could for just a while
let me stare into your prefect eyes
let me see your pretty smile
There’s no place I’d rather be tonight
There’s no face I’d rather have in sight
I wont let go

Jewish tradition says that people of each generation must imagine that they personally had departed from Egypt, and the sages say that each generation must tell the story in its own terms. How better for anyone under 30 to tell it today… Click the image for the whole enchilada.

Time for this week’s song from my iPod:

3OH!3 (pronounced three-oh-three) is an American hip hop/electronica band from Boulder, Colorado that was formed in 2007. The members of the band are Sean Foreman and Nathaniel Motte. The name of the band comes from the area code the two members come from in Colorado. The music of the group is inspired by a combination of electronica and rap and has been praised for their unique sound. My daughter introduced the group to me (as most of the music I listen to has been). She told me that she hates them but can’t stop listening to them.

The group has been very successful, touring with the Warped Tour, Bamboozle, the Katy Perry European tour, and the Alternative Press tour. The group has had two albums. Their most recent album Want, released last year, peaked at 89 on the Billboard 200. The band’s single, “Don’t Trust Me,” came off this album and has been a huge success, certified gold and getting in the top 30 on two of the Billboard charts.

Don’t Trust Me
Black dress with the tights underneath,
I got the breath of the last cigarette on my teeth,
And she’s an actress (actress),
But she ain’t got no need.
Shes got money from her parents in a trust fund back east.
T-t-t-tongues always pressed to your cheeks,
While my tongue is on the inside of some other girls teeth,
T-tell your boyfriend if he says he’s got beef,
That I’m a vegetarian and I ain’t f***ing scared of him.

She wants to touch me (Woo ooh),
She wants to love me (Woo ooh),
She’ll never leave me (Woo ooh, Woo ooh, ooh, ooh),
Don’t trust a ho,
Never trust a ho,
Won’t trust a ho,
‘Cause a ho won’t trust me.

X’s on the back of your hands,
Wash them in the bathroom to drink like the bands.
And your setlist (setlist),
You stole off the stage,
Had red and purple lipstick all over the page.
B-b-b-bruises cover your arms,
Shaking in the fingers with the bottle in your palm.
And the best is (best is),
No one knows who you are,
Just another girl alone at the bar.

She wants to touch me (Woo ooh),
She wants to love me (Woo ooh),
She’ll never leave me (Woo ooh, Woo ooh, ooh, ooh),
Don’t trust a ho,
Never trust a ho,
Won’t trust a ho,
‘Cause a ho won’t trust me.

Shush girl shut your lips,
Do the Hellen Keller and talk with your hips.
I said, Shush girl shut your lips,
Do the Hellen Keller and talk with your hips.
I said, Shush girl shut your lips,
Do the Hellen Keller and talk with your hips.

Woo ooh, Woo ooh, Woo ooh…

She wants to touch me (Woo ooh),
She wants to love me (Woo ooh),
She’ll never leave me (Woo ooh, Woo ooh, ooh, ooh),
Don’t trust a ho,
Never trust a ho,
Won’t trust a ho,
‘Cause a ho won’t trust me

The video (in an edited version) is available on MTV so click here to see and hear.

I didn’t even know that this existed. Two years ago, on September 11, 2006, the Russian government dedicated this memorial in Bayonne Harbor, New Jersey, across the river from the World Trade Center. It is a gift from Russia to the US to memorialize those who died in the two attacks on the World Trade Center in 1993 and 2001.

The memorial stands 100 feet tall and depicts a teardrop. The memorial is named “To the Struggle Against World Terrorism.” It was designed and created by Russian sculptor Zurab Tsereteli.

Thank you Prime Minister Putin and all the Russian people.