We have had a landslide of hurricanes this year, which caused us to use Greek letters to name all of the storms. Hurricane Eta devastated Central America causing a massive landslide in Guatemala that buried 150 homes. Tropical storm Eta is now 60 miles north-northwest of the western tip of Cuba with maximum sustained winds of 60 mph and is not moving, but it is expected to slowly move north through the Gulf and arrive on Florida’s panhandle or one of the other Gulf coast state shores by this weekend as tropical depression. This tropical wave over the eastern Caribbean is producing disorganized showers and thunderstorms.
Sub-Tropical Storm Theta is moving east at 12 mph and is about 960 miles southwest of the Azores with maximum sustained winds of 50 mph. This storm is expected to gain wind strength up to 60 mph by Wednesday, but it is closer to Africa, than it is to us. Theta is expected to become a tropical storm later Tuesday as it separates from the upper-level trough, but little change is expected after. A tropical depression is expected to form over the next few days. This storm has a 70% chance of becoming a tropical depression or a tropical storm in the next five days. If the latter were to happen, it would be the 30th named storm and receive the Greek letter Iota.
Written for Fandango’s One-Word Challenge FOWC where the prompt is landslide.
‘Dignity’ is a Bob Dylan song that was recorded during the sessions for Dylan’s 1989 album Oh Mercy, but was not released till it came out in 1994 on Bob Dylan’s Greatest Hits Volume 3 and it was also released as a CD single a month later. Later it appeared on The Essential Bob Dylan reissued 2010 compilation album, released as a double-CD. This is one of Dylan’s longer songs and it always amazes me how he can remember all of the words to it.
Socrates searched for dignity by questioning all sorts of experts in the form of a living dialogue. He intended to touch his opponents in such a way that would start thinking and by doing so would find the real truth and meaning of life. The Oration on the Dignity of Man is a famous public discourse composed in 1486 by the Italian scholar and philosopher Pico della Mirandola. The seventeenth-century French philosopher Blaise Pascal identified man’s ability to think as essential to his dignity saying, “Man is but a reed, the feeblest in nature, but he is a reed that thinks. … All our dignity … consists in thought. By this we must raise ourselves, not by space and time which we could not fill.”
Bob said that the death of basketball player Pistol Pete Maravich was on his mind when he wrote this song. In this song, the singer along with many other characters, are looking for dignity. Their attempts to find dignity differ from each other, depending on the circumstances they are in. A fat man looking in a blade of steel evokes the thought of ancient nobility fighting battles and thereby hoping to gain dignity. The thin man looking at his last meal, could be the last meal of someone who has been sentenced to death or of a starving man who tries to remember the last time he was able to dine in a dignified manner. The hollow man refers to enslaved African people who are forced to work on plantations in the South of the USA until the 19th century. The wise man is looking at a blade of grass, turning to nature to find dignity. The young man looking in the shadows that pass might be afraid of what he will find as he searches for dignity, where the poor man looking through painted glass is probably in church looking for dignity.
Fat man looking in a blade of steel Thin man looking at his last meal Hollow man looking in a cotton field For dignity
Wise man looking in a blade of grass Young man looking in the shadows that pass Poor man looking through painted glass For dignity
Somebody got murdered on New Year’s Eve Somebody said dignity was the first to leave I went into the city, went into the town Went into the land of the midnight sun
Searching high, searching low Searching everywhere I know Asking the cops wherever I go Have you seen dignity?
Blind man breaking out of a trance Puts both his hands in the pockets of chance Hoping to find one circumstance Of dignity
I went to the wedding of Mary Lou She said, “I don’t want nobody see me talking to you” Said she could get killed if she told me what she knew About dignity
I went down where the vultures feed I would’ve gone deeper, but there wasn’t any need Heard the tongues of angels and the tongues of men Wasn’t any difference to me
Chilly wind sharp as a razor blade House on fire, debts unpaid Gonna stand at the window, going to ask the maid Have you seen dignity?
Drinking man listens to the voice he hears In a crowded room full of covered-up mirrors Looking into the lost forgotten years For dignity
Met Prince Phillip at the home of the blues Said he’d give me information if his name wasn’t used He wanted money up front, said he was abused By dignity
Footprints running across the silver sand Steps going down into tattoo land I met the sons of darkness and the sons of light In the border towns of despair
Got no place to fade, got no coat I’m on the rolling river in a jerkin boat Trying to read a note somebody wrote About dignity
Sick man looking for the doctor’s cure Looking at his hands for the lines that were And into every masterpiece of literature For dignity
Englishman stranded in the black-heart wind Combing his hair back, his future looks thin Bites the bullet and he looks within For dignity
Someone showed me a picture and I just laughed Dignity never been photographed I went into the red, went into the black Into the valley of dry bone dreams
So many roads, so much at stake So many dead ends, I’m at the edge of the lake Sometimes I wonder what it’s going to take To find dignity
I see Trump supporters as being part of a cult, because they will listen to and follow everything that he says or does, never wavering because they think he is what is best for America. They will willingly fall on their swords to their deaths for their leader, thinking this is the patriotic thing to do. Trump has divided this country so much that it may never recover and he has become the most “like him” or “hate him” guy in my time. I chose to hate him and I see him as a cancer that must be cut out, he has created a mercer like infection in this country that may never heal. I am dumbfounded because other people don’t see him the way I do. These mindless followers look at him through their rose-colored glasses while he only cares for himself.
Jim said, “I hate studying, why would you say that Melanie?” Melanie said, “I agree with you Jim, as I also hate to study and I was talking about Geology, were we get to learn about rocks. Rocks are the windows to the universe and you know how I am interested in religion and since St. Peter was called the rock upon which Christ would build His church, that makes petrology a very important subject to me.” Jim said, “Now I am lost, as I thought you were talking about rocks and now you mentioned pets and I know you love your dogs, so what is it, do you like studying, or is it rocks, or pets?” Melanie said, “I like rocks and pets, but petrology is the branch of science concerned with the origin, small-scale structure, and composition of rocks.”
If we could control the wind patterns, then we could have all the rain that is dumped on us delivered to the places where the fires are burning, but we are at the mercy of mother nature. I can control what I watch on TV, but if my cable goes out, or my power is down, or my internet connection is lost, then I must find some other way to occupy myself. You can have some control over your career, but if you are not independently rich, you may have to swallow your pride and perform certain undesirable tasks, or work with people that you don’t like. It is great when things just happen without us having to control them, like going to sleep and having a dream, as without spontaneity, we might as well be robots. Nobody wants to be in control of every breath that they take, or having to direct our hearts to pump blood, or telling our hair and nails how much they should grow, as these things must occur automatically, otherwise our brains would be all scrambled with extraneous flotsam and jetsam taking over our whole lives.
Some people have arraigned marriages and many of them work out fine, but even though you can pick your seat and pick your nose, you can’t choose your relatives. You get stuck with a lot of things in life and it is up to you to determine how you are going to deal with that. Many of the mundane things that I do, I have control over, like if I decide to brush my teeth or take a shower, but many other things in life are out of my control, even the writing that I do is mostly controlled by prompts. Just because somebody puts out a prompt, that does not force ne to write about that topic, as I have control on what interests me. When I decide to write about something, I have already taken the plunge and I am along for the ride wherever it takes me.
Keith Richards and Mick Jagger wrote a song titled ‘You Can’t Always Get What You Want’ which is about the control that someone has in their life and their solution is that a person can get what they need out of their life. Joni Mitchel summed this up pretty well with her song ‘Both Sides Now’ saying, “I’ve looked at life from both sides now – From win and lose and still somehow – It’s life’s illusions I recall – I really don’t know life at all”.
Written for FOWC with Fandango – Extraneous and for Fandango’s Provocative Question #88 which asks, “To what degree have you been able to control the course that your life has taken? Or is being in control of your life just an illusion?”
‘Blackout’ is a David Bowie song written and recorded in 1977 for the Heroes album. Bowie said that the song did refer to power cuts, and the New York City blackout of 1977 seems to have left an impression on him. Bowie sings long, meandering lines about a beauty in a cage, a need to see a doctor and this song seems to get stranger line by line, as he shouts out random lyrics and continues to mutter. This song may be about Bowie going to a club that had cage dancers which he thought were too expensive for his taste. Maybe Bowie did some cocaine in the club, and he blacked out and when he woke up, he wanted to see a doctor. He pleads with this girl to stay with him, because he wants to kiss her in the rain. I’m not really sure about much of the rest of this song, but it might be about drugs, or a relationship, or a blackout and I won’t even try to guess.
Oh you, you walk on past
Your lips cut a smile on your face
(Your scalding face) to the cage, to the cage
She was a beauty in a cage
Too, too high a price
To drink rotting wine from your hands
(Your fearful hands) get me to a doctor’s, I’ve been told
Someone’s back in town the chips are down
I just cut and blackout
I’m under Japanese influence and my honor’s at stake
The weather’s grim, ice on the cages
Me, I’m Robin Hood and I puff on my cigarette
Panthers are steaming, stalking, screaming
If you don’t stay tonight
I will take that plane tonight
I’ve nothing to lose, nothing to gain
I’ll kiss you in the rain
Kiss you in the rain (kiss you in the rain)
Kiss you in the rain (kiss you in the rain)
In the rain (in the rain)
Get me to the doctor
Get me off the streets
(Get some protection)
Get me on my feet
(Get some direction)
Hot air gets me into a blackout
Oh, get me off the streets
Get some protection
Oh, get me on my feet
while the streets block off
Getting some skin exposure to the blackout (get some protection)
Get me on my feet (get some direction, woo-hoo)
Oh, get me on my feet
Get me off the streets (get some protection)
Get a second, get a (woo-hoo)
Yeah, get a second breath and pass, second go, blackout
Untouched books crowded his shelves, shiny leather spines and faded first editions, meticulously dusted and never read. The books were just illusions to impress others, and they made his life bearable, because they impressed his friends. He had no intention of ever reading any of them, as knowing too much would take away his individualism, and his sense of style. He was as phony as a three-dollar bill, but what nobody knew was that the book shelves were hiding a secret passage to his panic room. He was not sorry for all of the lies that he feed to the press and he hoped that Trump would exonerate him one day.
They finally caught up to Julian Assange and his long-time friend Pamela Anderson felt he would not survive an extradition from the U.K. to the U.S. He breached his bail in June 2012 and took refuge in the Embassy of Ecuador in London. In January 2018, Julian was granted Ecuadorian citizenship. Assange was arrested in 2019 after being evicted from the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, where he had sought refuge to avoid being sent to Sweden over allegations of rape and sexual assault. The 48-year-old Australian has been indicted in the U.S. on 18 charges over the publication of classified documents. Prosecutors say he conspired with U.S. Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning to crack a password, hack into a Pentagon computer and release secret diplomatic cables and military files on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Trump stood on his soap box and threw a conniption saying that he loves Wikileaks and he publicly encouraged Russians to hack Hillary’s emails, but now he changed his mind and he is currently saying, “I know nothing about Wikileaks”. Assange chose to play around in espionage and the First Amendment doesn’t give anyone a license to jeopardize national security, especially an unsavory character that is using dubious methods. Julian has set a bad precedent for the future of the internet and he made his bed, so he should have to sleep in it. Whether he is found guilty or innocent, doesn’t really bother me, but I am interested in what the final decision is about him. Many people think he is a good guy who got a bad deal, but I disagree as united we fell to the hackers.
Written for Sheryl’s Daily Word Prompts – Exonerate, for the Daily Spur prompt – Feed, for Mindlovemisery’s Menagerie First Line Friday hosted by Dylan, for FOWC with Fandango – Survive, for Jibber Jabber by Sue – Box, for August Monthly Writing Prompts – United we fell, for Ragtag Community – Lies, for Reena’s Exploration Challenge prompt 150 – Illusions, for Di’s Three Things Challenge prompt words – Play Sorry Final and for Word of the Day Challenge Prompt – Conniption.
Wait I just came up with something, “So it begins”, a phrase that was used by King Theoden the leader of Rohan in the Lord of the Rings movie The Two Towers, right before the major battle at Helms Deep. The phrase can be used to signify the start of a major or significant event, and it is very appropriate when a shitstorm is coming. It is easy to hate orcs, because they were created to be hated. Tolkien needed these particular monsters, so his heroes would have a continual supply of enemies to fight against, that nobody would feel sorry for, even when they were killed. Everyone appreciates the concept of violence being used against evil despicable characters.
Written for Fandango’s Dog Days of August FDDA #26 where the prompt is your favorite quote and for FOWC with Fandango – Nothing.
The feeling has gone away, and now that I have lost that loving feeling, I am thinking about calling it quits. Maybe it was inevitable that I would not last as the host for Song Lyric Sunday, but at one time, I really did enjoy doing this, however lately this has not been a day at the beach. For the past two weeks, I had to include rants on this challenge that was once all about having fun. I thought that I was doing a pretty good job, and even though I read every song post that was submitted, this was not being reciprocated with the posts that I wrote. I don’t enjoy arguing, and I don’t like quitting either and if people could just be a little bit nicer, I would stick around.
I have prompts scheduled till November 8, 2020 and in the mean time I will be looking for a new host to take over. It is just a few bloggers that have been getting on my nerves and if they quit before I do, then I will stick around. Song Lyric Sunday was my favorite day of the week, but lately it has become a hassle and maybe it is time for new blood. The thrill of coming here every week to see which songs everybody will pick has gone away and maybe it is not gone for good, but without the fun that this challenge once had, it is not worth it for me to continue.
Written for FOWC with Fandango – Inevitable and for Ragtag Community – Beach.
Happy Birthday Bugs Bunny, and I want to say that you are looking really great for someone who turned 80 years old today. I am so happy that I grew up with you and your fellow cartoon characters and that I was able to go on many an escapade together with you. I never made it all the way down your rabbit hole, but beneath the surface of the night while I was laying in my bed, I did dream about you. When I was young, I had trouble distinguishing between my R’s and W’s which had nothing to do with the locale that I was from, it was natural for a kid my age that watched Elmer Fudd, and I often said wabbit instead of rabbit. My speech teacher had me say things like, “Bitter bananas” and I had to repeat many things to satisfy her. Elmer Fudd may have been the worst hunter ever and even though he could never get a break from that wascally wabbit, he would have never made any money at this, despite all of the labor that he put into his hunting. I just ran out of shows to watch on Netflix and I am thinking about checking out Umbrella Academy.
Written for Sheryl’s Daily Word Prompts – Locale, for the Daily Spur prompt – Natural, for FOWC with Fandango – Escapade, for Midwest Fantasy Devereaux Frazier and Beth Amanda Tuesday Writing Prompt Challenge – Beneath the surface of the night, for Jibber Jabber by Sue – Satisfy, for August Monthly Writing Prompts – Bitter bananas, for Ragtag Community – Umbrella, for Di’s Three Things Challenge prompt words – Labor Money Break, for GC The Main Aisle and Sue W Nan’s Farm Weekly Prompt – Characters and for Word of the Day Challenge Prompt – Dream.
